New York: Staying positive through the cold season could be your best defence against getting ill, new study findings suggest.
In an experiment that exposed healthy volunteers to a cold or flu virus, researchers found that people with a generally sunny disposition were less likely to fall ill. The findings, published in the journal Psychosomatic Medicine, build on evidence that a “positive emotional style” can help protect us from the common cold and other illnesses.
Researchers believe the reasons may be both objective----as in happiness improving immune, function----and subjective----as in happy people being less troubled by a sore throat or funny nose. "People with a positive emotional style may have different immune responses to the virus," explained lead study author Dr Sheldon Cohen of Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh. "And when they do get a cold, they may interpret their illness as being less severe."
Cohen and his colleagues had found in a previous study that happier people seemed less likely to catch a cold, but some questions remained as to whether the emotional trait itself had the effect.
For the new study, the researchers had 193 healthy adults complete standard measures of personality traits, self-perceived health and emotional "style." Those who tended to be happy, energetic and easy-going were judged as having a positive emotional style, while those who were often unhappy, tense and hostile had a negative style.
The researchers gave them nasal(鼻的) drops containing either a cold virus or a particular flu virus. Over the next six days, the volunteers reported on any aches, pains, sneezing or congestion they had, while the researchers collected objective data, like daily mucus production. Cohen and his colleagues found that based on objective measures of nasal woes, happy people were less likely to develop a cold.
【小题1】Which is the best title for the passage?

At 3:30 a.m. Pearl Carlson was shaken awake by a forceful pull. King, the family dog, was trying to pull her out of bed.Then she smelled smoke and heard the sound of fire from her parent's room. Pearl's screams awaked her mother， Fern and father, Howard, who had recently been in hospital for lung disease. Helping Howard to a first-floor window, Fern told him to climb out, then ran to her daughter.
Still inside, King appeared at Pearl's window, making squeaking (短促尖叫) sounds. When running toward Pearl's bedroom, Fern realized her husband hadn't yet escaped. She made her way back through the smoke and flames, following King's sound to where Howard lay semiconscious (半昏迷) on the floor. Fern helped him get outside. King came out only after both were safe.
As day dawned, the Carlsons saw that King's paws were badly burned, and his entire body was burned too. His chain collar had gotten so hot that it burned his throat, making it impossible for him to bark (叫) normally. Only after the seven-year-old dog refused food did they find pieces of wood in his mouth and realize that King, who slept outside, had bitten through a wood door to warn his family.
1. Who was King in this story?
A. The family sore                               B. The family daughter.
C. The family dog.                               D. The master.                              
2. According to the story, the first one who was completely out of danger could be          . 
A. Howard                   B. Fern                 C. Pearl and Fern                 D. Pearl
3. After reading this story, we've learnt that the following statements could be reasonable except               .
A. the dog made a big hole in the door
B. the dog awoke mother first
C. the dog was the last one to escape from the burning room
D. the dog was badly burned , hurt and not able to eat
4. From this story it can be inferred that              .
A. Pearl loves her parents very much
B. Howard is the best man of the family
C. the woman loves her children more deeply than her husband
D. the dog is man's best friend

A walk along the Wall -- Beijing Hikers is organizing a hike in a village along the Great Wall in Changping District, north of downtown Beijing. The walk will take around three hours covering a distance of 10 kilometres.
Time: 8:30 a.m-4:30p.m, Dec.4
Cost: 200 yuan (US $25) per adult, 150 yuan (US $18.50) for under-12s.
Meeting place: 8:30a.m. in front of Starbucks at Lido Holiday Inn, Jiangtai Lu
To sign-up (one day before the hike) and more information, contact Huijie at info@beijinghikers.com or 139-1002-5516.
Skiing and hot springs -- Cycle China plans a day’s skiing fun at a resort（度假中心） around Beijing followed by an outdoor hot spring bath for your sore body.
Cost: 350 yuan (US $43.40) & Time: 8:30 a.m-6:30p.m, Dec.4
Location: Meet at the office of Cycle China, opposite to the east gate of Jingshan Park, Xicheng District.
For more information and reservation, email reserve@cyclechina.com or call 139-1188-6524.
Horse riding -- This is a trip to a professional horse-riding club with well-trained bilingual instructors, offering lessons to people who love riding and those willing to learn more. The club is located in Hebei Province next to the Kangxi Grassland.
Time: 1:30 a.m-4:30p.m, Dec.4
Cost: 330yuan (US $40.74) including one hour’s riding, transportation, guide, lunch
To sign-up and more information, contact Lucy at 8580-5080, 130-1117-1326 or Lucy@highclub.cn.
【小题1】This passage is written mainly for _______.

Many people believe the glare from snow causes snow-blindness. Yet, dark glasses or not , they find themselves suffering from headaches and watering eyes, and even snow-blindness, when exposed to several hours of “snow light”. The United States Army has now determined that glare from snow does not cause snow-blindness in troops in a snow-covered country. Rather, a man's eyes frequently find nothing to focus on in a broad expanse of barren (少植被的) snow-covered terrain (地形). So his gaze continually shifts and jumps back and forth over the entire landscape in search of something to look at. Finding nothing, hour after hour, the eyes never stop searching and the eyeballs become sore and the eye muscles ache. Nature eases this irritation by producing more fluid which covers the eyeball. The fluid covers the eyeball in increasing quantity until vision blurs (模糊), then is obscured (遮蔽), and the result is total, even though temporary, snow-blindness.

Experiments led the Army to a simple method of overcoming this problem. Scouts ahead of a main body of troops are trained to shake snow from evergreen bushes, creating a dotted line as they cross completely snow-covered landscape. Even the scouts themselves throw lightweight, dark colored objects ahead on which they too can focus. The men following can then see something. Their gaze is arrested. Their eyes focus on a bush and having found something to see, stop scouring the snow-blanketed landscape. By focusing their attention on one object at a time, the men can cross the snow without becoming hopelessly snow-blind or lost. In this way the problem of crossing a solid white terrain is overcome.

1. To prevent headaches, watering eyes and blindness caused by the glare from snow, dark

glasses are _________.

A. indispensable and essential   B. useful                       C. ineffective      D. available

2. When the eyes are sore tears are produced to _________.

A. balance the pain                                                       B. treat snow-blindness 

C. clear the vision                                                            D. loosen the muscles 

3. Snow-blindness may be avoided by _________.

A. concentrating on the solid white terrain

B. searching for something to look at in snow-covered terrain

C. providing the eyes with something to focus on

D. covering the eyeballs with more fluid 

4. The scouts shake snow from evergreen bushes in order to _________.

A. prevent the men behind losing their way 

B. beautify the landscape of the terrain

C. warm themselves in the severe cold

D. give the men behind something to see

5. A suitable title for this passage would be _________.

A. nature's cure for snow-blindness       B. snow-blindness and how to overcome it

C. soldiers marching in the snow          D. snow vision and its effect on eyesight

D

Life has changed in Mexico City．Streets normally filled with people are empty．One of the most popular professional soccer teams recently played a game in an empty stadium that can seat more than100,000 people．It's swine （猪）flu that has made life in Mexico City grind to a halt （慢慢停了下来）．

Seemingly out of nowhere, swine flu has caused confirmed deaths in 12 countries as of April 30．It has sent a wave of alarm around the world．Governments are trying to find ways to prevent further out-breaks．The World Health Organization has raised its swine flu global threat level to five out of six．

People may be familiar with bird flu, but they know little about swine flu．Swine flu is a contagious（传染性） respiratory（呼吸的）disease in pigs．It is caused by a type-A influenza virus．

Humans can also catch swine flu．The virus causes regular outbreaks in pigs, but people usually do not catch it．However, there have been cases of the virus spreading to people, and then from one person to another．

The symptoms of swine flu are similar to the common flu．They include fever, lethargy （无精打采）, lack of appetite, coughing, runny nose, sore throat, nausea（恶心）, and vomiting （呕吐）．The high proportion of young adults among the deaths is one of several mysteries about this virus．Most of the dead had lung damage．What caused it is not yet known．

The virus spreads the same way the common flu does．When an infected person coughs or sneezes around another person, the latter is put at risk．People can get the disease by touching something with the flu virus on it and then touching their mouth, nose or eyes．

There are medicines to treat swine flu．Doctors suggest using anti - viral drugs．They keep the virus from reproducing inside the body．

And there are vaccines for it now, several everyday steps can also help prevent the spread of the virus: washing hands frequently; avoiding close contact with people who are sick; and avoiding touching surfaces that might have the virus on it．

People may worry that they will get swine flu from eating or preparing pork．In fact, you cannot catch the virus from pork products if they have been properly prepared and cooked．Cooking food at temperatures of 71℃ kills the virus．

69．What is the main idea of the passage?

       A．It mainly tells us how swine flu broke out in Mexico City．

       B．It presents the reader with some information concerning swine flu．

       C．It tells us the differences between swine flu and bird flu．

       D．It mainly tells readers the dangers caused by swine flu．

70．The following tips can protect us from swine flu EXCEPT _________．

       A．keeping us away from other people

       B．washing hands frequently

       C．avoiding close contact with sick people

       D．avoiding touching surfaces that might have the virus on them

71．What's the main idea of the first paragraph?

       A．Mexico City is really a place of horror now．

       B．People in Mexico City like staying at home．

       C．People in Mexico City don't like soccer．

       D．Swine flu has seriously affected people's life in Mexico City．

72．What can we infer from the passage?

       A．At present there still aren't effective vaccines for swine flu．

       B．Swine flu is preventable，controllable and curable．

       C．From now on, people can't eat pork if they want to be safe．

       D．All of the dead killed by swine flu had lung damage．