It is most startling to hear a watch or clock clicking away the seconds, each click in

he immune defenses of lower animals too. In one experiment, for example, behavioral immunologist (免疫学家) Mark Laudenslager, at the University of Denver, gave mild electric shocks to 24 rats. Half the animals could switch off the current by turning a wheel in their enclosure, while the other half could not. The rats in the two groups were paired so that each time one rat turned the wheel it protected both itself and its helpless Partner from the shock. Laudenslager found that the immune response was depressed below normal in the helpless rats but not in those that could turn off the electricity. What he has demonstrated, he believes, is that lack of control over an event, not the experience itself, is what wakens the immune system.

Other researchers agree. Jay Weiss, a psychologist at Duke University School of Medicine, has shown that animals who are allowed to control unpleasant stimuli don't develop sleep disturbances or changes in brain chemistry typical of stressed rats. But if the animals are conditioned to confront with situations they have no control over, they later behave passively even when faced with experiences they can control. Such findings reinforce psychologists' suspicions that the experience or perception of helplessness, is one of the most harmful factors in depression.

One of the most startling examples of how the mind can alter the immune response was discovered by chance. In 1975 psychologist Robert Ader at the University of Rochester School of Medicine conditioned (便形成条件反射) mice to avoid saccharin (糖精) by simultaneously feeding them the sweetener and injecting them with a drug that while suppressing their immune systems caused stomach upsets. Associating the saccharin with the stomach pains, the mice quickly learned to avoid the sweetener. In order to extinguish this dislike for the sweetener, Ader reexposed the animals to saccharin, this time without the drug, and was astonished to find that those mice that had received the highest amounts of sweetener during their earlier conditioning died. He could only speculate that he had so successfully conditioned the rats that saccharin alone now served to weaken their immune systems enough to kill them.

Laudenslager's experiment showed that the immune system of those rats who could turn off the electricity ______

A．was altered

B．was strengthened

C．was weakened

D．was not affected

A.that

B.which

C.what

D.it

Exploration of the Titanic

After resting on the ocean floor, split asunder and rusting, for nearly three-quarters of a century, a great ship seemed to cone alive again. The saga of the White Star liner Titanic, which struck an iceberg and sank on its maiden voyage in 1912, carrying more than 1,500 passengers to their death, has been celebrated in print and on film, in poetry and song. But last week what had been legendary suddenly became real. As they viewed videotapes and photographs of the sunken leviathan, millions of people around the world could sense her mass, her eerie quiet and the ruined splendor of a lost age.

Watching on television, they vicariously joined the undersea craft Alvin and Jason Jr. (J.J.) as they toured the wreckage of the luxury liner, wandering across the decks past corroded bollards, peering into the officer’s quarters and through rust-curtained portholes. Views of the railings where doomed passengers and crewmembers stood evoked images of the moonless night 74years ago when the great ship slipped beneath the waves.

The two-minute videotape and nine photographs, all in color and shot 12,500ft.under the North Atlantic, were a tiny sample of 60 hours of video and 60,000 stills garnered during the twelve-day exploration. They are released at a Washington press conference conducted by Marine Geologist Robert Ballard, 44, who led the teams from the Wood Hole Oceanographic Institution that found the Titanic last September and revisited it this July.

Recounting the highlights of what has already become the most celebrated feat of underwater exploration, Ballard revealed some startling new information. His deep-diving craft failed to find the 300-ft. gash that, according to legend, was torn in the Titanic’s hull when the ship plowed into the iceberg. Instead, he suggested, the collision had buckled the ship’s plates, allowing water to pour in. He also brought back evidence that the ship broke apart not when she hit bottom, as he had thought when viewing the first Titanic images last September, but as she sank: the stern, which settled on the bottom almost 1,800ft. from the bow, had swiveled 180 on its way down.

1. What is the best title for this passage？

[A] New Information about the Sunken Ship.

[B] Exploration of the Titanic.

[C] To watch the Videotape.

[D] To explore the Titanic with High Tech.

2. How did the viewers feel when watching the videotape？

[A] They felt rather sad, and felt they themselves took part in the exploration.

[B] They felt keenly for it.

[C] They felt rather bad about it.

[D] They felt out of spirits.

3. When did the great ship sink？

[A] In 1912.

[B] She sank in its maiden voyage in 1912.

[C] She sank in its second voyage in 1912.

[D] She sank in its first voyage in 1912.

4. What did Robert reveal at a press conference？

[A] He revealed some startling information.

[B] He said nothing.

[C] He complained the exploration was very hard.

[D] He revealed the success of their work.

r possible answers that follow the paragraph.

Perhaps the most startling theory to come out of kinesics, the study of body movement, was suggested by Professor Birdwhistell.He believes that physical appearance is often culturally programmed.In other words, we learn our books, but we are not born with them.A baby has generally unformed facial features.A baby, according to Birdwhistell, learns where to set the eyebrows by looking at those around family and friends.This helps explain why the people of some regions of the United States look so much alike.New Englanders or Southerners have certain common facial characteristics that cannot be explained by genetics.The exact shape of the mouth is not set at birth;it is learned after.In fact, the final mouth shape is not formed until well after permanent teeth are set.For many, this can be well in adolescence.A husband and wife together for a long time often come to look somewhat alike.We learn our looks from those around us.This is perhaps why in a single country there are areas where people smile more than those in other areas.In the United States, for example, the South is the part of the country where the people smile more frequently.In New England they smile less, and in the western part of New York state still less.Many Southerners find cities such as New York cold and unfriendly, partly because people on Madison Avenue smile less than people on Peachtree Street in Atlanta, Georgia.People in densely populated urban areas also tend to smile and greet each other in public less than do people in rural areas and small towns.()

A.Ray Birdwhistell can tell what region of the United States a person is form. by how much he or she smiles

B.Ray Birdwhistell is a leader in the field of kinesics

C.Ray Birdwhistell says that our physical appearance is influenced by the appearance of people around us

D.People who live in the country are more friendly than people who live in densely populated areas

A、The students were too noisy and naughty.

B、The art teacher was too strict.

C、The teaching methods were very different from the ways of teaching in her own country.

D、She feels uncomfortable in the new place.

mal rough-and-tumble(混战) is impossible to make, or so the argument runs: This position may appeal to our inclination for legalism, but the truth is most of us know quite well when an act of needless savagery has been committed, and sports are little different from countless other activities of life. The distinction is as apparent as that between a deliberately aimed blow and the arm hailing of an athlete losing his balance. When a player bails his hand into a fist, when he drives his helmet into an unsuspecting opponent in shorts, when he crosses the boundary between playing hard and playing to hurt he can only intend an act of violence.

Admittedly, rough acts in sports are difficult to police. But here, too, we find reflected the conditions of everyday life. Ambiguities in the law, confusion at the scene, and the reluctance of witnesses cloud almost any routine assault case. Such uncertainties, however, have not prevented society from arresting people who strike their fellow citizens on the street.

Perhaps our troubles stem not from the games we play but rather from how we play them. The 1979 meeting between hockey(曲棍球) stars from the Soviet Union and the National Hockey League provided a direct test of two approaches to sport—the emphasis on skill, grace, and finesse(技巧) by the Russians and the stress on brutality and violence by the NHL. In a startling upset, the Russians embarrassed their rough-playing opponents and exploded a long-standing myth: that success in certain sports requires excessive violence.

Violence apologists cite two additional arguments: First, they say, sports always have been rough; today things are no different. But arguments in America's Old West Were settled, on Main Street with six-guns, and early cave-dwellers chose their women with a club. Civilizing influences ended those practices; yet we are told sports violence should be tolerated. The second contention is that athletes accept risk as part of the game, and, in the case of professionals, are

paid handsomely to do so. But can anyone seriously argue that being an athlete should require the acceptance of unnecessary physical abuse？ And, exaggerated as it may seem, the pay of professional athletes presumably reflects their abilities, not a payment against combat injuries.

"Clearly we are in deep trouble," says perplexed former football player AL DeRogatis. "But how and why has it gotten so bad？"

According to the author, the distinction between violent acts and non-violent ones in sports is ______.

A．impossible to make

B．not very clear in any circumstances

C．too obvious to escape observation

D．not very difficult to make if enough attention is paid to

ch year they plunder the bay's ice floes, smash open the snow caves of seals, and stuff themselves on seal pups. But in recent years the bears' feast has turned into slimmer pickings. Why？

Temperatures at Hudson Bay have risen by one half degree Fahrenheit every decade since 1950. Winter ice on the bay melts three weeks earlier than it did just 25 years ago, which means three fewer weeks of polar bear mealtime. Result: Polar bears are 10 percent thinner and produce 10 percent fewer cubs than they did 20 years ago. And though climatologists hotly debate the causes behind Earth's Arctic meltdown, "these changes are startling and unexpected,' says James McCarthy, co-leader of the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

The plight of polar bears is just the tip to the iceberg when it comes to mounting evidence of global warming. "There's definitely a stark contrast with the way things were at the start of the 20th century," says atmospheric scientist Leonard Druyan, of Columbia University. Recent data show the volume of Arctic sea ice has shrunk 20 percent since the 1950s; glaciers around the world are melting at rapidly increasing rates. Rivers and lakes in North America, Asia, and Europe now freeze about nine days later and thaw 10 days earlier than they did a century ago.

Most scientists believe the only effective strategy to halt global warming is to drastically reduce emissions of powerful air pollutants like carbon dioxide, which accounts for two-thirds of all greenhouse gases. In the last 150 years, the surging use of fossil fuels coal, oil, and natural gas -- has released 270 billion tons of carbon into the air in the form. of carbon dioxide. Fortunately, oceans, plants, and soils absorb more than half of all atmospheric carbon dioxide -- without them world temperatures might have already soared at an alarming rate.

By saying "Spring is usually prime food time for 1,200 polar bears"？ (Line I, Para. 1), the author means that ______.

A．spring is usually a good time for polar bears to carry out their mating rituals

B．the polar bears usually eat a lot in the spring

C．spring is generally a good time to hunt polar bears

D．polar bears usually hibernate in the spring

The teenage years should be the best years of your life!

Young people often hear adults say this, but many teenagers disagree. They simply don’t feel like they’re in the midst of their best years. The pressures of school exams and concerns about relationships with family and friends create a great deal of stress for the average teenager. Many find ways to cope with the stress. But for a large number of teens, their problems seem impossible to deal with. When this happens, the young person may fall into depression.

In mainland China, a survey found that 16 percent of college students suffered from fear, anxiety, or depression. Increasing mental health problems have prompted the government to look for possible solutions.

This growing trend extends beyond Asia, too. Studies in the U.S. and the UK show that teenage depression is on the rise. A 2004 report stated that emotional problems among Britain’s youth have increased by 70 percent over the past 25 years.

Faced with these startling numbers, mental health professionals are hoping to raise awareness. Depression can range from mild unhappiness to thoughts of suicide. For this reason, adults should take the illness seriously. Parents can do this by learning about the causes and symptoms of teen depression.

Some factors that may lead to teenage depression are:

●Overwhelming expectations by parents and other adults

●Parental separation or divorce

●Death of a loved one

●Moving to a new location

●Physical illness

Most of the time when teens are depressed, there’something wrong in their lives, says UCLA psychology professor Constance Hammen. Kids often get depressed because bad things happen to them that they don’t have the coping skills to deal with.

If you are experiencing any symptoms of depression, you need to talk with someone. There’s no shame in being depressed. Most people suffer from it at one time or another.Unfortunately , feelings of depression may cause you to feel hopeless about your life and your future. But another person can help you put things in perspective.

(1)In paragraphs 3 and 4, a survey in mainland China and a 2004 report are mentioned to ______________.

A、indicate the contrast between mainland China and UK

B、show teenage depression is a serious problem in mainland China

C、show teenage depression is a growing problem in UK

D、indicate teenage depression is a growing problem in many countries.

(2)Why do kids often get depressed according to Constance Hammen？

A、Because bad things often happen to them.

B、Because there’s something wrong in their life.

C、Because they can’t deal with the problems.

D、Because they are weak.

(3)All of the following can fall into the category of depression EXCEPT __________.

A、stress

B、mild unhappiness

C、some mental or emotional problems

D、thoughts of suicide

(4)If you feel depressed, you should __________.

A、be ashamed

B、feel hopeless

C、talk to someone

D、enjoy your best years

(5)The word it in the last paragraph refers to ______________.

A、a problem

B、depression

C、shame

D、a disease