A 70-year study of personality suggests that pessimism is a risk factor for early death, especially among men.
　　The study results also indicate that pessimism can be linked to increased risk for sudden death from accidents or violence, according to the report published in the March issue of Psychological Science.
　　Christopher Peterson of the University of Michigan and his colleagues analyzed data from the Terman Life-Cycle Study, which began by studying California public-school children with high IQs in 1921 and followed them through their life. Most of the 1,528 children were teenagers when the study began. Those still living are now in their 80s. In 1936 and 1940, participants were asked to complete a questionnaire designed to obtain information about difficult life events and their effect on overall outlook. One such question was, “What do you regard as your most serious fault of personality or character?”
　　Pessimists were defined as fatalistic(宿命论的)people who tend to blame themselves when things go wrong and who believe that one bad event can ruin the rest of their life. They also tend to expect bad things to happen to them and feel that they have little or no ability to change their situation.
　　Males were more likely than females to be classified as pessimistic. Compared with individuals with a more cheerful and optimistic outlook, pessimists were more likely to die from accidents and violence (including suicide).
　　A pessimistic personality may lead to poor problem-solving ability, social difficulties and risky decision-making. Taken together, these variables put the pessimist at higher risk of untimely(不适时的) death, say the researchers. Such a person is less likely to avoid or escape potentially dangerous situations, the researchers concluded. “A pessimistic way of thinking in which people worry too much about bad events, predicts untimely death decades later,” according to Peterson.
【小题1】According to the passage, you may be a pessimistic person, if one failure makes you feel________.

A 70-year study of personality suggests that pessimism is a risk factor for early death, especially among men.
　　The study results also indicate that pessimism can be linked to increased risk for sudden death from accidents or violence, according to the report published in the March issue of Psychological Science.
　　Christopher Peterson of the University of Michigan and his colleagues analyzed data from the Terman Life-Cycle Study, which began by studying California public-school children with high IQs in 1921 and followed them through their life. Most of the 1,528 children were teenagers when the study began. Those still living are now in their 80s. In 1936 and 1940, participants were asked to complete a questionnaire designed to obtain information about difficult life events and their effect on overall outlook. One such question was, “What do you regard as your most serious fault of personality or character?”
　　Pessimists were defined as fatalistic(宿命论的)people who tend to blame themselves when things go wrong and who believe that one bad event can ruin the rest of their life. They also tend to expect bad things to happen to them and feel that they have little or no ability to change their situation.
　　Males were more likely than females to be classified as pessimistic. Compared with individuals with a more cheerful and optimistic outlook, pessimists were more likely to die from accidents and violence (including suicide).
　　A pessimistic personality may lead to poor problem-solving ability, social difficulties and risky decision-making. Taken together, these variables put the pessimist at higher risk of untimely(不适时的) death, say the researchers. Such a person is less likely to avoid or escape potentially dangerous situations, the researchers concluded. “A pessimistic way of thinking in which people worry too much about bad events, predicts untimely death decades later,” according to Peterson

1. 1.

   According to the passage, you may be a pessimistic person, if one failure makes you feel________

   1. A.
      other people have been unfair to you
   2. B.
      other people will help you
   3. C.
      you cannot change a bad situation
   4. D.
      you can do better next time
2. 2.

   According to the passage, pessimists may feel all of the following EXCEPT________

   1. A.
      helpless when faced with difficulties
   2. B.
      cheerful when faced with troubles
   3. C.
      hopeless when one bad event occurs
   4. D.
      guilty when things go wrong
3. 3.

   Which of the following statements is true, according to the passage?

   1. A.
      Pessimists believe that everything in life depends on fate
   2. B.
      There are more pessimists among women than among men
   3. C.
      Most pessimists will end up committing suicide
   4. D.
      All pessimists will eventually die from accidents
4. 4.

   The Terman Life-Cycle Study is a research program that studies________

   1. A.
      people over 70 years old
   2. B.
      people since their childhood
   3. C.
      pessimistic people over 80 years old
   4. D.
      only younger people
5. 5.

   The analysis made by Christopher Peterson and his colleagues shows that pessimistic people________

   1. A.
      will die from violence if they learn to be optimistic
   2. B.
      will more likely die from violence than optimistic people
   3. C.
      will die from violence because their IQs are low
   4. D.
      will die untimely if they are not able to learn to be cheerful and optimistic

.

Sunday is more like Monday than it used to be. Places of business that used to keep daytime "business hours" are now open late into the night. And on the Intemet, the hour of the day and the day of the week have become irrelevant. Half a century ago in the United States, most people experienced

strong and precise dividing lines between days of rest and days of work, school time and summer time.Today the boundaries still exist but seem less clear.

The law in almost all states used to require stores to close on Sunday; in most, it no longer does. It used to keep schools open in all seasons except summer and in most, it still does. And whether the work week should strengthen its legal limits, or whether it should beco:me more¨flexible"' is often debated.How should we, as a society, organize our time? Should we go even further in relaxing the boundaries of time until we live in a world in xvhich every minute is much like every other?

These are not easy questions to ask. Part of the difficulty is that we rarely recognize the“law of time". even When we meet it face to face. We know as children that  we  havcto artend school a certainnumber of hours. a certain number of davs, a certain nLunbcr or x'etlrs --- bLll unless x~'e meet the truanrofficer  (学监)  , we may well think that we should go to school due to social customs and parents' demand, rather than abide by. As adults, we are familiar with ';extra pay for overtime work" , but less familiar with the fact tiat what constitutes  (构成)  "overtime" is a matter oflegal definition,   

When weturn the clock forward to start daylight-saving time, have we ever thought to ourselves: '*Here is the law in action"? As we shall see, the law has a great influence on how we organize and use time: compulsoryeducation law, overtime law, and daylight-saving law      as well as laws about Sunday closing,holidays, being late for work, time zones and so on. When we begin to look more closely, we will haveno trouble finding a law of time to examine and assess!

71. Which of the following is the closest in meaning to the underlined word irrelevant?

A. different        B. unrelated         C. connectedD. useless

72. By saying, "Sunday is more like Monday than it used to be" . in Paragraph l, the author means that_______

A. work time is equal to rest time

B. many people have a day off on Monday

C. it is hard for people to decide when to rest

D. the line between work time and rest time is unclear

73. The author raises the questions in Paragraph 2 to introduce the fact that people_______

A. fail to make full use oftheir time

B. enjoy working overtime for extra pay

C. are unaware of the law oftime

D. welcome flexible working hours

74. According to the passage, most children tend to believe that they go to school because they_______

A. need to acquire knowledge

B. have to obey their parents

C. need to find companions

D. have to observe the law

75. What is the main idea of the passage?

 A. Our life is governed by the law of time.

 B. How to organize time is not worth debating.

 C. New ways of using time are changing our society

 D. Our time schedule is decided by social customs.

Sunday is more like Monday than it used to be. Places of business that used to keep daytime “business hours” are now open late into the night. And on the Internet, the hour of the day and the day of the week have become irrelevant (不相关的).A half century ago in the United States, most people experienced strong and precise dividing lines between days of rest and days of work, school time and summer time. Today the boundaries still exist, but they seem not clear.

The law in almost all states used to require stores to close on Sunday; in most, it no longer does. It used to keep the schools open in all seasons except summer, in most, it still does. And whether the work week should strengthen its legal limits, or whether it should become more “flexible,” is often debated. How should we, as a society, organize our time? Should we go even further in relaxing the boundaries of time until we live in a world in which every minute is much like every other?

  These are not easy questions even to ask. Part of the difficulty is that we rarely recognize the “law of time” even when we meet it face to face. We know as children that we have to attend school a certain number of hours, a certain number of days, a certain number of years but unless we meet the truant officer (学监) ,we may well think that we should go to school due to social custom and parents’ demand rather than to the law. As adults we are familiar with “extra pay for overtime working,” but less familiar with the fact that what constitutes(构成) “overtime” is a matter of legal definition. When we turn the clock forward to start daylight – saving time, have we ever thought to ourselves: “Here is the law in action?” As we shall see, there is a lot of law that has great influence on how organize and use time: compulsory education law, overtime law, and daylight – saving law as well as law about Sunday closing, holidays, being late to work, time zones, and so on. Once we begin to look for it, we will have no trouble finding a law of time to examine and assess.

67. By saying” Sunday is more like Monday than it used to be,” the writer means that __________.

A. work time is equal to rest time

B. many people have a day off on Monday,

C. it is hard for people to decide when to rest

D. the line between work time and rest time is unclear

68. The author raises the questions in Paragraph 2 to introduce the fact that people____.

A. fail to make full use of their time

B. enjoy working overtime for extra pay

C. are unaware of the law of time

D. welcome flexible working hours

69.According to the passage, most children tend to believe that they go to school because they_____.

A. need to acquire knowledge

B. have to obey their parents

C. need to find companions

D. have to observe the law

70. What is the main idea of the passage?

A. Our life is governed by the law of time.

B. How to organize time is not worth debating.

C. New ways of using time change our society.

D. Our time schedule is decided by social customs

Sunday is more like Monday than it used to be. Places of business that used to keep daytime “business hours” are now open late into the night. And on the Internet, the hour of the day and the day of the week have become irrelevant （不相关的）. A half century ago in the United States, most people experienced strong and precise dividing lines between days of rest and days of work, school time and summer time. Today the boundaries still exist, but they seem not clear.  

The law in almost all states used to require stores to close on Sunday; in most, it no longer does. It used to keep the schools open in all seasons except summer; in most, it still does. And whether the work week should strengthen its legal limits, or whether it should become more “flexible,” is often debated. How should we, as a society, organize our time? Should we go even further in relaxing the boundaries of  time until we live in a world in which every minute is much like every other?  

These are not easy questions even to ask. Part of the difficulty is that we rarely recognize the “law of time” even when we meet it face to face. We know as children that we have to attend school a certain number of hours, a certain number of days, a certain number of years ― but unless we meet the truant officer （学监）, we may well think that we should go to school due to social custom and parents’ demand rather than to the law. As adults we are familiar with “extra pay for overtime working,” but less familiar with the fact that what constitutes （构成） “overtime” is a matter of legal definition. When we turn the clock forward to start daylight-saving time, have we ever thought to ourselves: “Here is the law in action”? As we shall see, there is a lot of law that has great influence on how we organize and use time: compulsory education law, overtime law, and daylight-saving law ― as well as law about Sunday closing, holidays, being late to work, time zones, and so on. Once we begin to look for it, we will have no trouble finding a law of time to examine and assess.  

67. By saying “Sunday is more like Monday than it used to be”, the writer means that      .  

A. work time is equal to rest time  

B. many people have a day off on Monday  

C. it is hard for people to decide when to rest  

D. the line between work time and rest time is unclear  

68. The author raises the questions in Paragraph 2 to introduce the fact that people  

A. fail to make full use of their time                 B. enjoy working overtime for extra pay  

C. are unaware of the law of time                   D. welcome flexible working hours  

69. According to the passage, most children tend to believe that they go to school because they ______.  

A. need to acquire knowledge                          B. have to obey their parents  

C. need to find companions                             D. have to observe .the law  

70. What is the main idea of the passage?  

A. Our life is governed by the law of time.  

B. How to organize time is not worth debating.  

C. New ways of using time change our society.  

D. Our time schedule is decided by social customs.