14. The study led by Dr. Green indicates that people ________.

A. prefer to hear good news　　　　　　　 　　　　 B. tend to find out the truth

C. can accept some bad news　　　　　　 　　　　 D. have the right to be informed

D

Managers and office busybodies might be keen on a clean desk--but it seems that in terms of productivity, they could have it all wrong. A messy desk can actually lead people towards clearer thinking, say researchers from Germany.

　 　The researchers found in a series of linked studies ---- using a messy desk and a messy shop front --- that people actually thought more clearly when all around was chaos, as they sought to simplify the tasks at hand. That is ,visual and mental clutter（杂乱）forces human beings to focus and think more clearly. For instance, famous thinkers and writers such as Albert Einstein and Roald Dahl have been notorious for their untidy desks.

　 　“Messy desks may not be as detrimental as they appear to be, as the problem-solving approaches they seem to cause can boost work efficiency or enhance employees’ creativity in problem solving,” say the authors.

Oddly, the effect seems to work most on conservatives-political liberals are less liable to be worried about mess in the first place, say the researchers.

　“Business and government managers often promote ‘clean desk’ policies to avoid disorganized offices and messy desks, for the purpose of boosting work efficiency and productivity.” Writes a researcher, Jia Liu of the University of Groningen, “This practice is based on the conventional wisdom that a disorganized and messy environment can clutter one’s mind and complicate one’s judgments”

“However, not all evidence supports this conventional link between a messy environment and a messy mind”. The scientists tested people’s response in various messy environments , including a messy shop front, a disorganized desk, and even a work environment where a language task reminded people of messiness.

The authors found in the series of six studies that people tended towards simplicity in their thinking.

“They categorized products in a simpler manner, were willing to pay more for a T-shirt that depicts a simple-looking picture, and sought less variety in their choices”, said the researchers.

13. The underlined part “freak out” in Paragraph 5 is closest in meaning to “_______”.

A. break down　 　　　　 B. drop out　　　　　　　　 C. leave off　　　　　　　　 D. turn away

12. According to Paragraphs 3 and 4, if a person is at a higher genetic risk, it is________.

A. advisable not to let him know　　　　　　　　 B. impossible to hide his disease

C. better to inform him immediately　 　　 D. necessary to remove his anxiety

11. Which of the following is true of James Watson?

A. He is strongly in favor of the present genetic tests.

B. He is more likely to suffer from Alzheimer’s disease.

C. He believes genetic mapping can help cure any disease.

D. He doesn’t want to know his chance of getting a disease.

10. The first paragraph is meant to ________.

A. ask some questions　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 B. introduce the topic

C. satisfy readers’ curiosity　　　　　　　　　　　　　 D. describe an academic fact

9. The passage is mainly about ________ .

A. ways to teach students to earn money　　　　　 B. how Diane Ray learns to value money

C. the push to teach personal finance in school D. how students choose a proper financial class

C

How far would you be willing to go to satisfy your need to know? Far enough to find out your possibility of dying from a terrible disease? These days that’s more than an academic question, as Tracy Smith reports in our Cover Story.

There are now more than a thousand genetic tests, for everything from baldness to breast cancer, and the list is growing. Question is, do you really want to know what might eventually kill you? For instance, Nobel Prize-winning scientist James Watson, one of the first people to map their entire genetic makeup, is said to have asked not to be told if he were at a higher risk for Alzheimer’（老年痴呆症）.

“If I tell you that you have an increased risk of getting a terrible disease, that could weigh on your mind and make you anxious, through which you see the rest of your life as you wait for that disease to hit you. It could really mess you up.” Said Dr. Robert Green, a Harvard geneticist.

“Every ache and pain,” Smith suggested, could be understood as “the beginning of the end.” “That ’s right. If you ever worried you were at risk for Alzheimer’s disease, then every time you can’t find your car in the parking lot, you think the disease has started.”

Dr. Green has been thinking about this issue for years. He led a study of people who wanted to know if they were at a higher genetic risk for Alzheimer’s. It was thought that people who got bad news would, for lack of a better medical term, freak out. But Green and his team found that there was “no significant difference” between how people handled good news and possibly the worst news of their lives. In fact, most people think they can handle it. People who ask for the information usually can handle the information, good or bad, said Green.

8. After completing the financial class, Diane Ray is likely to _______ .

A. pay off all her debts．　　 　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 B. handle her money better

C. find a job in a bank．　　　 　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 D. manage the family income

7. According to the passage, taking money-management courses will ______ .

A. better students’ learning methods　　　　 　　　　　　　　　 B. prevent students going into debt

C. help students get accepted by colleges 　　　　 D. make students become very wealthy

6. How does the writer show us that schools’ interest in teaching financial classes has increased in paragraph 2 ?

A. By giving examples. 　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 B. By providing data.

C. By raising questions.　 　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 D. By making comparisons.

5. The “stock market game” mentioned in Paragraph 1 is meant to _______ .

A. introduce a new course to students　　　　 B. help students learn about investment

C. teach how to apply for a credit card　　　　 D. encourage students’ personal savings