75.Professor Alex Michalos found that people feel less happy if　　　　 .

　　　 A.the gap between reality and desire is bigger

　　　 B.they have a stronger desire for friendship

　　　 C.their income is below their expectation

　　　 D.the hope for good health is greater

答案　 72.A　 73.C　 74.C　 75.A

Passage 52

(07·湖北E篇)

lmagine you’re at a party full of strangers. You’re nervous. Who are these people? How do you start a conversation? Fortunately, you’ve got a thing that sends out energy at tiny chips in everyone’s name tag (标签). The chips send back name, job, hobbies, and the time available for meeting-whatever. Making new friends becomes simple.

　　　 This hasn’t quite happened in real life. But the world is already experiencing a revolution using RFID technology.

　　　 An RFID tag with a tiny ehip can be fixed in a produet, under your pet’s skin, even under your own skin. Passive RFID tags have no energy source-batteries because they do not need it. The energy comes from the reader, a scanning device(装置),that sends out energy (for example,radio waves)that starts up the tag immediately.

　　　 Such a tag carries information speeific to that object,and the data can be updated.Already, RFID technology is used for recognizing each car or truck on the road and it might appear in your passport. Doctors can put a tiny chip under the skin that will help locate and obtain a patient’s medical records. At a nightclub in Paris or in New York the same chip gets you into the VIP (very important person)section and pays for the bill with the wave of an arm.

　　　 Take a step back:10 or 12 years ago,you would have heard about the coming age of computing. One example always seemed to surfact: Your refrigerator would know when you needed to buy more milk. The comcept was that computer chips could be put everywhere and send information in a smart network that would make ordinary life simpler.

　　　 RFID tags are a small part of this phenomenon. “The world is going to be a loosely coupled set of individual small devices, connected wirelessly,”predicts Dr.J.Reich. Human right supporters are nervous about the possibilities of such technology. It goes too far tracking school kids through RFID tags, they say. We imagine a world in which a beer company could find out not only when you bought a beer but also when you drank it. And how many beers. Accompanied by how many biscuits.

　　　 When Marconi invented radio, he thought it would be used for ship-to-shore communication. Not for pop music. Who knows how RFID and related technologres will be used in the future. Here’s a wild guess:Not for buying milk.

74.Aged people are more likely to feel happy because they are more　　　 .

　　　 A.optimistic　　　　　　　　　 B.successful　　　　　 　　 C.practical　　　　　　 　　 D.emortional

72.Some actors would like to accept poorly-paid jobs because the jobs　　　 .

　　　 A.make them feel much better

　　　 B.provide chances to make friends

　　　 C.improse their social position

　　　 D.satisfy their professional interests

72.According to the passage, the feeling of happiness　　　　 .

　　　 A.is determined partly by genes

　　　 B.increases gradually with age

　　　 C.has little to do with wealth

　　　 D.is measured by desires

68.What can be inferred from the last sentence in the passage?

A.Overheating the earth can be stopped.

B.Not all animal species are so adaptable.

C.The planet will become hotter and hotter.

D.Not all animals are as smart as desert elephants.

答案　 65.C　 66.A　 67.B　 68.B

Passage 51

(07·湖北D篇)

Over the last 70 years, researchers have been studying happy and unhappy peopke and finally found out ten factors that make a difference. Our feelings of well-being at any moment are determined to a certain degree by genes. However, of all the factors, wealth and age are the top two.

　 Money can buy a degree of happiness. But once you can afford to feed, clothe and house yourself, each extra dollar makes less and less difference.

　 Researchers find that, on average, wealthier people are happier. But the link between money and happiness is complex. In the past half-century, average income has sharply inereased in developed countries, yet happiness levels have remained almost the same. Once your basic needs are met, money only seems to increase happiness if you have more than your friends, neighbors and colleagues.

“Dollars buy status, and status makes people feel better,” conclude some experts, which helps explain why people who can seek status in other ways-scientists or actors, for example-may happily accept relatively poorly-paid jobs.

In a research, Professor Alex Michalos found that the people whose desires-not just for money, but for friends, family, job, health-rose furthest beyond what they already had, tended to be less happy than those who felt a smaller gap (差距)。Indeed, the size of the gap predicted happiness about five times better than income alone. “The gap measures just blow away the only measures of income.”says Michalos.

　　　 Another factor that has to do with happiness is age. Old age may not be so bad“Given all the problems of aging, how could the elderly be more satisfied？”asks Protessor Laura Carstensen.

　　　 In one survey, Carstensen in tervicwed 184 people between the ages of 18 and 94, and asked them to fill out an emotions questionnaire. She found that old people reported positive emotions just as often as young people, Some scientists suggest older people may expect life to be harder and learn to live with it, or they’re more realistic abour their time running out, older people have learned to focus on things that make them happy and let go of those that don’t.

　　　 “People realize not only what they have, but also that what they have cannot last forever,” she says. “A goodbye kiss to a husband or wife at the age of 85, for example, may bring far more complex emotional responses than a similar kiss to a boy or girl friend at the age of 20.”

67.The author answers the question raised in the first paragraph with　　 .

A.stories and explanation

B.facts and descriptions

C.examples and conclusion

D.evidence and argument

66.Desert elephants are called careful feeders because they　　 .

A.tarely ruin trees

B.drink only every 3-4 days

C.search for food in large groups

D.protect food sources for their young

65. The underlined part in Paragraph 2 means“　　 ”.

A.remains in the African countries

B.drinks 120 liters of water a day

C.manages to live in desert areas

D.eats 150 kilograms of food daily

47. What do we learn from this text?

　 A. What ones says reflects how one feels.

　 B. Aphasics have richer feelings than others.

　 C. Normal people often tell lies in their speeches.

　 D. People poor at one thing can be good at another.

答案　 45.D　 46.C　 47.D

Passage 50

(07·湖北B篇)

How can a creature weighing over 5 tons and normally taking 150 kilograms of food and 120 liters of water per day survive in a desert environment?

In the southwest African country of Namibia, and the Sahara lands of Mali further north, the desert elephant does just that.

Although not regarded as a separate species from the African elephant, the desert cousin differs in many ways. Their bodies are smaller, to absorb less heat, and their feet are larger for easier walking across sandy surfaces. They are taller, to reach higher branches. They have shorter tusks (象牙)， and most importantly, longer trunks to dig for water in riverbeds.

Desert clephants can travel over 70 kilometers in search for feeding grounds and waterholes, and have a larger group of families, They drink only every 3-4 days, and can store water in a “bag” at the back of their throat, which is only used when badly needed. Desert elephants are careful feeders-they seldom root up trees and break fewer branches, and thus maintain what little food sources are available. Yong elephants may even eat the dung (粪便)of the female leader of a group when facing food shortage.

During drought they are unlikely to give birth to their young but with good rains the birthrate will increase greatly. Desert elephants have sand baths, sometimes adding their own urine (尿液) to make them muddy!

As we continue to overheat our weak planet, it can only be hoped that other animal species will adapt as extraordinarily well to change as the desert elephant.

46. How did the scientists study aphasics?

　 A. By asking them to watch TV together.　　　　 B. By organizing them into acting groups.

　 C. By comparing them with normal people.　　　 D. By giving them chances to speak on TV.