C.O.P.D(慢性障碍性肺病) blocks air flow through the lungs. It makes breathing difficult. The leading cause of C.O.P.D. is cigarette smoking. Experts at the National Institutes of Health in the United States say there is no cure to the damage to the lungs.

Dawn Demeo is an assistant professor at Harvard Medical School in Boston, Massachusetts. She said, “By 2020, C.O.P.D. may be the third leading cause of death across the world.”

C.O.P.D. is a new name for emphysema（肺气肿） and chronic bronchitis（慢性支气管炎）. These are the two most common forms of the disease. Many people with C.O.P.D. have both of them. And Doctor Demeo says more women than men now die from the disease.

She is the lead author of a study by a team from Harvard’s Brigham and Women’s Hospital and the University of Bergen in Norway. The new study adds to findings that women may be more at risk than men from the damaging effects of smoking.

The team examined results from a Norwegian study of 954 people with C.O.P.D. Inga-Cecilie Soerheim co-wrote the team’s findings. Doctor Soerheim says they show that women suffered the same level of C.O.P.D.as men. But the female smokers were younger and had smoked a lot less.

The team also looked at two groups among the people in the study. These were people under the age of 60 and those who had smoked for less than 20 years. In both cases, women had more serious C.O.P.D. and a greater loss of lung function (功能）than men.

1.Which of the following statements about C.O.P.D is NOT true ______.

A. Cigarette smoking is likely to cause C.O.P.D.

B. C.O.P.D. makes it hard for a person to breathe

C. C.O.P.D will be one of the most life-threatening diseases.

D. Many people with C.O.P.D. have either emphysema or chronic bronchitis.

2.It can be known from the study that_____.

A. female smokers die faster than male ones.  

B. women are more likely to suffer from the damaging effects of smoking than men.

C. women who suffer the same level of C.O.P.D as men were older and weaker.

D. in the group of people under the age of 60, men suffered more from C.O.P.D than women.

3.Which of the following can be the best title for the passage?

A .Smoking Kills

B. Smoking Triggers Diseases

C. The Leading Causes of C.O.P.D.

D. Women Suffers More from C.O.P.D. than Men  

4.In which part of a newspaper would you most probably read this passage?

A. Science      B. Health report      C .Education      D. Business report

 

A team from Krakow, in Poland, used functional magnetic resonance imaging （机能性核共振成像）（FMRI）to assess brain activity when 40 volunteers were shown various images．Men showed activity in areas which dealt with what action they should take in order to avoid or face up to danger．But the study found more activity in the emotional centers of women's brains．The researchers, from another university, carried out scans on 21 men and 19 women．Brain activity was monitored while the volunteers were shown images of objects and images from ordinary life designed to remind different emotional states．

The images were displayed in two runs．For the first run, only negative pictures were shown．For the second run, only positive pictures were shown．

While viewing the negative images, women showed stronger and broader activity in the left thalamus（神经床）．This is an area which passes sense information to the pain and pleasure centres of the brain．Men showed more activity in an area of the brain called the left insula（脑岛）, which plays a key role in controlling natural functions, including breath, heart rate and digestion．Generally, activity in this area tells the body to either run away from danger, or meet it head on - the so-called "fight or flight response"．

While viewing positive images, women showed stronger activity in an area of the brain associated with memory．With men, the stronger activity was recorded in an area associated with visual processing．Dr Urbanik believes these differences suggest women may analyze positive stimuli（刺激）in a broader social context and associate positive images with a particular memory．

For instance, viewing a picture of a smiling child might remind memories of a woman's own child at this age．On the contrary, male responses tend to be less emotional．

1．The research shows that men response differently to__________compared with women．

A．different images    B．ordinary life 

C．different activities        D．medical scan

2．According to the passage, when faced with danger, ____________．

A．women react more slowly than men       B．women usually try to avoid it 

C．men usually have no reaction         D．men react to it more directly

3．What is discussed in the 4 th paragraph?         ．

A．Men and women’s different memories   B．The different responses to the children

C．Different reactions to positive stimuli    D．Negative results of the visual processing

3．The passage mainly develops______．

A．by inferring                   B．by comparing  

C．by listing examples       D．by giving explanations

 

   Happiness, rather than working hard, is the key to success, according to research published yesterday. Cheerfu1 peop1e are more 1ikely to try new things and challenge（wk战） themselves， which strengthens their good emotion and leads to success in work，good relationships and strong health，say psychologists（心理学家）.

   The findings suggest that happiness is not a “ feel-good” luxury（奢侈品），but is necessary for people’s well-being. What is more, happiness can also reach an entire nation，with people in” happy” nations being more likely to help others.

   The link between happiness and success was studied by a team from the University of California Riverside，led by Professor Sonja Lyubomirsky.

   First, they examined questionnaires that ask peop1e about their 1ives. “ For example, they show that happy people are likely to earn higher incomes” said Lyubomirsky. Having established the link，they wanted to discover the cause.

   “Almost always it has been taken for granted that things that connect closely to happiness are the causes of happiness，but it could be just the opposite that those things are likely to be caused by happiness，” said Professor Ed Diener from the University of Illinois，another author on the paper.

   “ There was strong evidence that happiness leads people to be more sociable，more generous and more productive at work，to make more money，and to have stronger immune（免疫）systems，”said Lyubomirsky.

   The research shows that while success can put a spring in someone’s step，peop1e need happiness in the first place to achieve success.

   According to the study， around 4 out of 5 people in modern industrialized nations arc happy at any one time.

   Success was not just about earning lots of money. “ We describe success as having the things that culture or society values，whether it be friends，close family, money and income，or long life，”said Diener.

    However，sorrowful people arc not predetermined to lead a life of failure.

In this passage，which of the following viewpoints does Professor Lyubomirsky state？

  A. People in less happy countries are more likely to help others.

  B. Things connected to happiness are brought about by happiness.

  C. Happiness results in richer and healthier people.

  D. Success means possessing things that a cu1ture or society thinks highly of.

The underlined phrase “ put a spring in someone’s step” means          .

  A. put you in good spirits            B. put spring water on your feet

  C. have a pleasant walk in spring      D. step into a cheerful spring

According to the passage，which of the following is true？

  A. People arc happy because they earn more money.

  B. People earn more money because they are happy.

  C. Working hard is important for being successful.

  D. We can do whatever we like as 1ong as we feel happy.

We can infer from the passage that          .

  A. fee1ing good is a cause and not an effect of achievement

  B. our life would be a failure if we were not happy

  C. happiness is just a personal problem

  D. being successful mainly means being wealthy

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia – One of the world’s most famous fossils (化石) – the 3.2 million-year-old Lucy skeleton (骨骼) unearthed in Ethiopia in 1974 – will go on an exhibition tour abroad for the first time in the United States, officials said Tuesday.
Even the Ethiopian public has only seen Lucy twice. The Lucy on exhibition at the Ethiopian National Museum in the capital, Addis Ababa, is a replica while the real remains are usually locked in a secret storeroom. A team from the Museum of National Science in Houston, Texas, spent four years discussing with the Ethiopians for the U.S. tour, which will start in Houston next September.
“Ethiopia’s rich culture of both the past and today, is one of the best kept secrets in the world,” said Joel Bartsch, director of the Houston museum.
The six-year tour will also go to Washington, New York, Denver and Chicago. Officials said six other U.S. cities may be on the tour. But they said plans had not been worked out.
Travelling with Lucy will be 190 other fossils.
Lucy, her name taken from a Beatles song that played in a camp the night of her discovery, is part of the skeleton of what was once a 3-foot-tall ape-man (猿人).
【小题1】The author writes this text mainly to ___ .

A．introduce a few U.S. museums

B．describe some research work

C．discuss the value of an ape-man

D．report a coming event

【小题2】What does the words “a replica” in Paragraph 2 refer to?

A．A painting of the skeleton.

B．A photograph of Lucy

C．A copy of the skeleton.

D．A written record of Lucy.

【小题3】How many cities has Lucy’s U.S. tour plan already included?

A．Four.

B．Five.

C．Six.

D．Eleven.

【小题4】What was the skeleton named after?

A．An ape-man.

B．A song.

C．A singer.

D．A camp.

Imagine this situation. You pass a group of people. The people are talking to each other. You cannot hear what they are saying. But suddenly they start laughing. What would you think? Would you think they were laughing at something funny that one of them said? Or -- be honest with yourself -- would you think they were laughing at you? Yes, you.

Being laughed at is a common fear. But a major study published in two thousand and nine found that this fear is not the same around the world. It differs from culture to culture.

People in Finland were the least likely to believe that people laughing in their presence were making fun of them. Less than ten percent of Finns in the study said they would think that, compared to eighty percent of people in Thailand.

Some people in the study said they felt unsure of themselves in social situations but hid their feelings of insecurity. Others said they avoided social situations where they had been laughed at before.

The study found that people in Turkmenistan and Cambodia were more likely to be in the first group. They would hide their feelings of insecurity if they were around other people's laughter. But people in Iraq, Egypt and Jordan were more likely to try to avoid such situations if they felt they had been laughed at before.

Shy people often avoid situations that would force them into close contact with other people. They worry that something they say or do will make other people laugh at them. But some people worry much more than others. They may have a disorder called gelotophobia. Gelos is a Greek word. It means laughter. Phobia means fear. This fear of laughter can be truly sad for those who live with it. It can affect how they lead their lives.

In the study, a team from the University of Zurich led more than ninety researchers from around the world. They wanted to understand the difference between normal shyness and true gelotophobia. Another purpose of the study was to compare the levels of fear of being laughed at in different cultures. The researchers surveyed more than twenty-two thousand people in forty-two different languages. The findings appeared in the scientific journal Humor.

1.People in Finland don’t believe other people are making fun of them if _________________.

A．they suddenly start to laugh.

B．they keep on laughing

C．they laugh in their presence

D．they stop laughing suddenly.

2.What’s FALSE of the study led by a team from the University of Zurich?

A．They wanted to study the difference between normal shyness and true gelotophobia.

B．They wanted to compare the levels of fear of being laughed at in different cultures.

C．They did such a survey in order to prevent people from being laughed at in public.

D．They surveyed more than 22 thousand people coming from different cultures.

3.The passage is likely to occur in _______________.

A．an advertisement	B．a science magazine
C．a science fiction	D．a storybook

4.According to the passage, people who suffer from gelotophobia ______________________.

A．care more about being laughed at by others

B．shouldn’t hide their feelings of insecurity

C．should avoid having close contact with other people

D．will lead a happy life so long as they care