第四节 完形填空（共20小题，每小题1分，满分20分）

Once upon a time, there was an island where all the feelings lived: Happiness, Sadness, Knowledge, and all of the others, including    26  . One day it was announced to the feelings that the island would   27  , so all constructed boats and left, except Love.

    Love was the   28   one who stayed until the last possible moment. When the island had almost sunk, Love decided to ask for   29  .

    Richness was   30   Love in a grand boat. Love said, “Richness, can you take me with you?” Richness answered, “No, I can’t. There is a lot of   31   and silver in my boat. There is no  32   here for you.” Love decided to ask Vanity who was   33   passing by in a beautiful vessel. “Vanity, please help me!” “I can’t help you, Love. You are all wet and might   34   my boat,” Vanity answered. Just then Sadness was   35  , so Love asked, “Sadness, let me go with you.” “Oh…Love, I am so   36   that I need to be by myself!” Happiness passed by Love, too, but she was so   37   that she did not even   38   Love when Love called her.

   Suddenly, there was a voice, “Come, Love, I will   39   you.” It was a(n)   40  . So blessed and overjoyed, Love even forgot to ask the elder   41   they were going. When they arrived at dry   42  , the elder went her own way.

43   how much was owed the elder, Love asked Knowledge, another elder, “Who helped me?” “It was   44  ,” Knowledge answered. “Time?” asked Love. “But why did Time help me?” Knowledge   45   with deep wisdom and answered, “Because only Time is able to understand how valuable Love is!”

26. A. Vanity                   B. Richness             C. Time                    D. Love

27. A. float                   B. sink                 C. fly                        D. fall

28. A. very                   B. only                   C. likely                  D. first

29. A. advice                   B. help                C. money                D. time

30. A. passing by      B. looking at           C. facing to            D. thinking of

31. A. water                   B. food             C. gold               D. value

32. A. wealth         B. place                C. need                   D. chance

33. A. still               B. also                 C. even             D. just

34. A. dirty                  B. damage          C. turn              D. steal

35. A. far                    B. near              C. distant            D. closed

36. A. joyful                  B. surprised         C. sad                D. hurried 

37. A. happy              B. angry               C. amazed       D. proud

38. A. saw                  B. notice              C. catch                 D. hear

39. A. take                B. fetch                C. ask                  D. carry

40. A. adviser         B. elder                C. younger             D. helper

41. A. how                B. why                 C. when                 D. where

42. A. shore               B. grass              C. land                  D. room

43. A. Realizing            B. Believing          C. Understanding  D. Questioning

44. A. Kindness             B. Time               C. Power              D. Strength

45. A. cried                B. shouted          C. smiled               D. flushed

A Charlotte N.C. man was charged with first-degree murder of a 79-year-old woman whom police said he scared to death. Can the guy be held responsible for the woman’s death? Prosecutors (公诉人) said that he can under the state’s murder rule, which allows someone to be charged with murder if he or she causes another person’s death while committing or fleeing from a severe crime—even if he or she doesn’t kill someone on purpose.

But, medically speaking, can someone actually be frightened to death? We asked Martin Samuels, chairman of the neurology department at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston.

Absolutely, no question about it.

The body has a natural protective method called the fight-or-flight response, which was originally described by Walter Cannon，chairman of Harvard University’s physiology department from 1906 to 1942. If, in the wild, an animal is faced with a life-threatening situation, the automatic nervous system responds by increasing heart rate, increasing blood flow to the muscles, and slowing digestion, among other things. All of this increases the chances of succeeding in a fight or running away from an aggressive beast. This process certainly would be of help to early humans. However, in the modern world there is obvious decline of the fight-or-flight response.

The autonomic nervous system uses the chemical messenger to send signals to various parts of the body to activate the fight-or-flight response. This chemical is poisonous in large amounts; it damages the organs such as the heart, lungs, liver and kidneys. It is believed that almost all sudden deaths are caused by damage to the heart. There is almost no other organ that would fail so fast as to cause sudden death.

By the way, any strong positive or negative emotions such as happiness or sadness can cause the same result. There are people who have died in excitement or in religious passion. There was a case of a golfer who hit a hole in one, turned to his partner and said, “I can die now”, and then he dropped dead.

1.What is Martin Samuels’ attitude to the possibility of being frightened to death?

A. Approval.            B. Disapproval.                            C. Doubtful.     D. Indifferent.

2.What can we learn about the fight-or-flight response according to the passage?

A. The fight-or-flight response was raised and proved by Martin Samuels.

B. It is a natural protective method that can’t be found in all creatures but humans.

C. The ancient humans had a better fight-or-flight response than modern ones.

D. The fight-or-flight response is beneficial to both our actions and organs.

3.What activity can we infer is less likely to damage the organs?

A. Winning an unexpected fortune.

B. Missing a dead family member.

C. Watching a horror movie.

D. Listening to a sweet song.

4.The purpose of the passage is ______.

A. to explain why people will die of a heart attack

B. to offer some advice on protecting us from heart failure

C. to compare different kinds of feelings to cause a death

D. to show strong emotions can cause a sudden death

III. 阅读理解

阅读下列短文，从每题所给的A、B、C、D选项中，选出最佳选项。

I’ve written 14 movies. My characters smoke in many of them, and they look cool and glamorous doing it. Smoking was an integral（必需的） part of many of my screenplays because I was a heavy smoker. It was part of a bad-boy image I’d cultivated for a long time— smoking, drinking, partying, rock ’n’ roll.

Smoking, I once believed, was every person’s right. The second-hand smoke was non-existent problem invented by professional do-gooders. I put all these views into my plays.

Remembering all this, I find it hard to forgive myself. I have been an accomplice (帮凶) to the murders of untold numbers of human beings. I am admitting this only because I have made a deal with God. Spare me, I said, and I will try to stop others from committing the same crimes I did.

Eighteen months ago I was diagnosed with throat cancer, the result of a lifetime of smoking. I am alive but disabled. Much of my larynx (喉) is gone. I have some difficulty speaking; others have some difficulty understanding me.

I haven’t smoked or drunk for 18 months now, though I still take it day by day and pray for help. I believe in prayer and exercise. I have walked five miles a day for a year, without missing even one day. Quitting smoking and drinking has taught me the hardest lesson I’ve ever learned about my own weakness; it has also given me the greatest affection and empathy(同感) for those still addicted.

I don’t think smoking is every person’s right anymore. I think smoking should be as illegal as heroin. I’m no longer such a bad boy. I go to church on Sunday. I’m desperate to see my four boys grow up. I want to do everything I can to undo the damage I have done with my own big-screen words and images.

Screen writers know, too, that some movie stars are more likely to play a part if they can smoke —because they are so addicted to smoking that they have difficulty stopping even during the shooting of a scene.

My hands are bloody; so are Hollywood’s. My cancer has caused me to attempt to cleanse me. I don’t wish my fate upon anyone in Hollywood, but I beg that Hollywood should stop putting it upon millions of others.

1. The main idea of this passage probably is _________.

A. the writer is ashamed of the bad effects his screenplays have had on human beings

B. the writer’s smoking experience nearly killed himself

C. the bad effects that Hollywood screenplay have brought to children

D. the determination of the writer to overcome his illness

2. How do you think the writer has realized his mistake?

A. So many people have found the habit of smoking due to his plays.

B. His plays have brought great harm to teenagers.

C. He himself suffered greatly from smoking.

D. His screenplays have been doing more and more harm to human beings.

3. What is the writer determined to do in future?

A. He has made up his mind to give up smoking forever.

B. He will try his best to prevent others from writing screen plays encouraging smoking.

C. He will try his best to bring up his four children.

D. He has decided to write his screenplays without smoking scenes.

4. It can be inferred from the passage that _______.

A. the writer will soon be recovered from his illness thanks to his exercise

B. the writer will soon die because of his deadly disease

C. smoking will be got rid of in all Hollywood films

D. smoking in Hollywood films is still doing great harm to human beings

A Charlotte, N.C., man was charged with first-degree murder of a 79-year-old woman whom police said he scared to death. In an attempt to evade policemen after a bank robbery, the Associated Press reports that 20-year-old Larry Whitfield broke into the home of Mary Parnell. Police say he didn’t touch Parnell but that she died after suffering a heart attack that was caused by terror. Can the guy be held responsible for the woman’s death? Prosecutors(公诉人) said that he can under the state’s murder rule, which allows someone to be charged with murder if he or she causes another person’s death while committing or fleeing from a severe crime like robbery—even if he or she doesn’t kill someone on purpose.

But, medically speaking, can someone actually be frightened to death? We asked Martin Samuels, chairman of the neurology department at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston.

Absolutely, no question about it.

The body has a natural protective method called the fight-or-flight response(战或逃反应), which was originally described by Walter Cannon，the chairman of Harvard University’s physiology department from 1906 to 1942. If, in the wild, an animal is faced with a life-threatening situation, the autonomic nervous system responds by increasing heart rate, increasing blood flow to the muscles, and slowing digestion, among other things. All of this increases the chances of succeeding in a fight or running away from an aggressive beast. This process certainly would be of help to primitive humans. However, in the modern world there is obvious decline of the fight-or-flight response.

The autonomic nervous system uses the chemical messenger to send signals to various parts of the body to activate the fight-or-flight response. This chemical is toxic in large amounts; it damages the organs such as the heart, lungs, liver and kidneys. It is believed that almost all sudden deaths are caused by damage to the heart. There is almost no other organ that would fail so fast as to cause sudden death. Kidney failure, liver failure, those things don’t kill you suddenly.

By the way, any strong positive or negative emotions such as happiness or sadness can cause the same result. There are people who have died in intercourse or in religious passion. There was a case of a golfer who hit a hole in one, turned to his partner and said, “I can die now”, and then he dropped dead. For about seven days after the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon there was an increase of sudden cardiac death among New Yorkers.

1. Why the Charlotte, N.C., man was charged?

A. Because he threatened the policemen to kill an old woman.

B. Because he caused an old woman’s terror and she died.

C. Because he beat an old woman and caused her heart attack

D. Because he murdered an old woman while robbing a bank.

2. What is Martin Samuels’ attitude to the possibility of being frightened to death?

A. Approval.         B. Disapproval.             C. Doubtful.     D. Indifferent.

3. Which of the following about the fight-or-flight response is true?

A. The fight-or-flight response was raised and proved by Martin A. Samuels.

B. It is a natural protective method that can’t be found in all creatures but humans.

C. The ancient humans had a superior fight-or-flight response than modern ones.

D. The fight-or-flight response is beneficial to both our actions and organs.

4. What activity can we infer is less likely to damage the organs?

A. Winning a big lottery.                    B. Missing a dead family.

C. Watching a horror movie.                  D. Listening to a sweet song.

5. The purpose of the passage is_________.

A. to explain why people will die of a heart attack

B. to offer some advice on protecting us from heart failure

C. to compare different kinds of feelings to cause a death

D. to show strong emotions can cause a sudden death

III. 阅读理解
阅读下列短文，从每题所给的A、B、C、D选项中，选出最佳选项。
I’ve written 14 movies. My characters smoke in many of them, and they look cool and glamorous doing it. Smoking was an integral（必需的） part of many of my screenplays because I was a heavy smoker. It was part of a bad-boy image I’d cultivated for a long time— smoking, drinking, partying, rock ’n’ roll.
Smoking, I once believed, was every person’s right. The second-hand smoke was non-existent problem invented by professional do-gooders. I put all these views into my plays.
Remembering all this, I find it hard to forgive myself. I have been an accomplice (帮凶) to the murders of untold numbers of human beings. I am admitting this only because I have made a deal with God. Spare me, I said, and I will try to stop others from committing the same crimes I did.
Eighteen months ago I was diagnosed with throat cancer, the result of a lifetime of smoking. I am alive but disabled. Much of my larynx (喉) is gone. I have some difficulty speaking; others have some difficulty understanding me.
I haven’t smoked or drunk for 18 months now, though I still take it day by day and pray for help. I believe in prayer and exercise. I have walked five miles a day for a year, without missing even one day. Quitting smoking and drinking has taught me the hardest lesson I’ve ever learned about my own weakness; it has also given me the greatest affection and empathy(同感) for those still addicted.
I don’t think smoking is every person’s right anymore. I think smoking should be as illegal as heroin. I’m no longer such a bad boy. I go to church on Sunday. I’m desperate to see my four boys grow up. I want to do everything I can to undo the damage I have done with my own big-screen words and images.
Screen writers know, too, that some movie stars are more likely to play a part if they can smoke —because they are so addicted to smoking that they have difficulty stopping even during the shooting of a scene.
My hands are bloody; so are Hollywood’s. My cancer has caused me to attempt to cleanse me. I don’t wish my fate upon anyone in Hollywood, but I beg that Hollywood should stop putting it upon millions of others.
1. The main idea of this passage probably is _________.
A. the writer is ashamed of the bad effects his screenplays have had on human beings
B. the writer’s smoking experience nearly killed himself
C. the bad effects that Hollywood screenplay have brought to children
D. the determination of the writer to overcome his illness
2. How do you think the writer has realized his mistake?
A. So many people have found the habit of smoking due to his plays.
B. His plays have brought great harm to teenagers.
C. He himself suffered greatly from smoking.
D. His screenplays have been doing more and more harm to human beings.
3. What is the writer determined to do in future?
A. He has made up his mind to give up smoking forever.
B. He will try his best to prevent others from writing screen plays encouraging smoking.
C. He will try his best to bring up his four children.
D. He has decided to write his screenplays without smoking scenes.
4. It can be inferred from the passage that _______.
A. the writer will soon be recovered from his illness thanks to his exercise
B. the writer will soon die because of his deadly disease
C. smoking will be got rid of in all Hollywood films
D. smoking in Hollywood films is still doing great harm to human beings