短文填词（共10小题；每小题1分，满分10分）
Women are playing a much more important part in society today.
Now women are working 1. teachers, scientists and even leaders. We have to admit the fact that almost all jobs 2. used to be done by men are done perfectly well today by women. Women are no longer l 3. down upon in society. 4. these changes in their social role, women’s position in the family has been 5. (改善) as well. It is hard to find the wife is busy ____6.____ the husband is sitting in an armchair, watching TV. In spite of all these changes, a great n_____7. of men still guard their rights. They t 8. of women as incapable creatures. Sometimes few women are allowed to 9. (出席) importing meeting. This is the problem we should try to 10. (解决) now.
A German study suggests that people who were too optimistic about their future actually faced greater risk of disability or death within 10 years than those pessimists who expected their future to be worse.
The paper, published this March in Psychology and Aging, examined health and welfare surveys from roughly 40,000 Germans between ages 18 and 96. The surveys were conducted every year from 1993 to 2003.
Survey respondents (受访者) were asked to estimate their present and future life satisfaction on a scale of 0 to 10, among other questions.
The researchers found that young adults (age 18 to 39) routinely overestimated their future life satisfaction, while middle-aged adults (age 40 to 64) more accurately predicted how they would feel in the future. Adults of 65 and older, however, were far more likely to underestimate their future life satisfaction. Not only did they feel more satisfied than they thought they would, the older pessimists seemed to suffer a lower ratio (比率) of disability and death for the study period.
“We observed that being too optimistic in predicting a better future than actually observed was associated with a greater risk of disability and a greater risk of death within the following decade,” wrote Frieder R. Lang, a professor at the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg.
Lang and his colleagues believed that people who were pessimistic about their future may be more careful about their actions than people who expected a rosy future.
“Seeing a dark future may encourage positive evaluations of the actual self and may contribute to taking improved precautions (预防措施),” the authors wrote.
Surprisingly, compared with those in poor health or who had low incomes, respondents who enjoyed good health or income were associated with expecting a greater decline. Also, the researchers said that higher income was related to a greater risk of disability.
The authors of the study noted that there were limitations to their conclusions. Illness, medical treatment and personal loss could also have driven health outcomes.
However, the researchers said a pattern was clear. “We found that from early to late adulthood, individuals adapt their expectations of future life satisfaction from optimistic, to accurate, to pessimistic,” the authors concluded.
1.According to the study, who made the most accurate prediction of their future life satisfaction?
A. Optimistic adults.
B. Adults of lower income.
C. Adults in poor health.
D. Middle-aged adults
2. Pessimism may be positive in some way because it causes people ______.
A. to fully enjoy their present life
B. to take measures against potential risks
C. to estimate their contribution accurately
D. to value health more highly than wealth
3.How do people of higher income see their future?
A. They will suffer mental illness
B. They will become pessimistic.
C. They will earn less money..
D. They will have less time to enjoy life.
4.What is the clear conclusion of the study?
A. Pessimism guarantees chances of survival.
B. Good financial condition leads to good health.
C. Expectations of future life satisfaction decline with age.
D. Medical treatment determines health outcomes.
The technology is great. Without it we wouldn’t have been able to put a man on the moon, explore the ocean’s depths or eat microwave sausages. Computers have revolutionized our lives and they have the power to educate and pass on knowledge. But sometimes this power can create more problems than it solves.
Every doctor has had to try their best to calm down patients who’ve come into their surgery waving an Internet print-out, convinced that they have some rare incurable disease, say, throat cancer. The truth is usually far more ordinary, though: they don’t have throat cancer, and it’s just that their throats are swollen. Being a graduate of the Internet “school” of medicine does not guarantee accurate self-health-checks.
One day Mrs. Almond came to my hospital after feeling faint at work. While I took her blood sample and tried to find out what was wrong, she said calmly, “I know what’s wrong; I’ve got throat cancer. I know there’s nothing you doctors can do about it and I’ve just got to wait until the day comes.”
As a matter of routine I ordered a chest X-ray. I looked at it and the blood results an hour later. Something wasn’t right. “Did your local doctor do an X-ray?” I asked. “Oh, I haven’t been to the doctor for years,” she replied. “I read about it on a website and the symptoms fitted, so I knew that’s what I had.”
However, some of her symptoms, like the severe cough and weight loss, didn’t fit with it—but she’d just ignored this.
I looked at the X-ray again, and more tests confirmed it wasn’t the cancer but tuberculosis (肺结核)—something that most certainly did need treating, and could be deadly. She was lucky we caught it when we did.
Mrs. Almond went pale when I explained she would have to be on treatment for the next six months to ensure that she was fully recovered. It was certainly a lesson for her. “I’m so embarrassed,” she said, shaking her head, as I explained that all the people she had come into close contact with would have to be found out and tested. She listed up to about 20, and then I went to my office to type up my notes. Unexpectedly, the computer was not working, so I had to wait until someone from the IT department came to fix it. Typical. Maybe I should have a microwave sausage while I waited?
1.Mrs. Almond talked about her illness calmly because ______.
A. she had purchased medicine online
B. she thought she knew it well
C. she graduated from a medical school
D. she had been treated by local doctors
2.It was lucky for Mrs. Almond ______.
A. to have contacted many friends
B. to have recovered in a short time
C. to have her disease identified in time
D. to have her assumption confirmed
3.Mrs. Almond said “I’m so embarrassed” (Para. 7) because ______.
A. she had caused unnecessary trouble
B. she had to refuse the doctor’s advice
C. she had distrusted her close friends
D. she had to tell the truth to the doctor
4.By mentioning the breakdown of the computer, the author probably wants to prove _____.
A. it’s a must to take a break at work
B. it’s unwise to simply rely on technology
C. it’s vital to believe in IT professionals
D. it’s a danger to work long hours on computers
It happened to me recently. I was telling someone how much I had enjoyed reading Barack Obama’s Dreams From My Father and how it had changed my views of our President. A friend I was talking to agreed with me that it was, in his words, “a brilliantly （精彩地）written book”. However, he then went on to talk about Mr. Obama in a way which suggested he had no idea of his background at all. I sensed that I was talking to a book liar.
And it seems that my friend is not the only one. Approximately two thirds of people have lied about reading a book which they haven’t. In the World Book Day’s “Report on Guilty Secrets”, Dreams From My Father is at number 9. The report lists ten books, and various authors, which people have lied about reading, and as I’m not one to lie too often (I’d hate to be caught out), I’ll admit here and now that I haven’t read the entire top ten. But I am pleased to say that, unlike 42 percent of people, I have read the book at number one, George Orwell’s 1984. I think it’s really brilliant.
The World Book Day report also has some other interesting information in it. It says that many people lie about having read Jane Austen, Charles Dickens, Fyodor Dostoevsky (I haven’t read him, but haven’t lied about it either) and Herman Melville.
Asked why they lied, the most common reason was to “impress” someone they were speaking to. This could be tricky if the conversation became more in–depth!
But when asked which authors they actually enjoy, people named J. K. Rowling, John Grisham, Sophie Kinsella (ah, the big sellers, in other words). Forty-two percent of people asked admitted they turned to the back of the book to read the end before finishing the story (I’ll come clean: I do this and am astonished that 58 percent said they had never done so).
1.How did the author find his friend a book liar?
A. By judging his manner of speaking.
B. By looking into his background.
C. By discussing the book itself.
D. By mentioning a famous name.
2.Which of the following is a “guilty secret” according to the World Book Day report?
A. Charles Dickens is very low on the top-ten list.
B. 42% of people pretended to have read 1984.
C. The author admitted having read 9 books.
D. Dreams From My Father is hardly read.
3.By lying about reading, a person hopes to .
A. control the conversation B. make more friends
C. learn about the book D. appear knowledgeable
4.What is the author’s attitude to 58% of readers?
A. Favorable. B. Uncaring
C. Friendly D. Doubtful
They baby is just one day old and has not yet left hospital. She is quiet but alert （警觉）. Twenty centimeters from her face researchers have placed a white card with two black spots on it. She stares at it carefully. A researcher removes the card and replaces it by another, this time with the spots differently spaced. As the cards change from one to the other, her gaze（凝视） starts to lose its focus — until a third, with three black spots, is presented. Her gaze returns: she looks at it for twice as long as she did at the previous card. Can she tell that the number two is different from three, just 24 hours after coming into the world?
Or do newborns simply prefer more to fewer? The same experiment, but with three spots shown before two, shows the same return of interest when the number of spots changes. Perhaps it is just the newness? When slightly older babies were shown cards with pictures of objects (a comb, a key, an orange and so on), changing the number of objects had an effect separate from changing the objects themselves. Could it be the pattern that two things make, as opposed to three? No again. Babies paid more attention to squares moving randomly on a screen when their number changed from two to three, or three to two. The effect even crosses between senses. Babies who were repeatedly shown two spots became more excited when they then heard three drumbeats than when they heard just two; likewise （同样地） when the researchers started with drumbeats and moved to spots.
1.The experiment described in Paragraph 1 is related to the baby’s .
A. sense of sight B. sense of touch
C. sense of hearing D. sense of smell
2.Babies are sensitive to the change in______.
A. the size of cards B. the colour of pictures
C. the number of objects D. the shape of patterns
3.Why did the researchers test the babies with drumbeats?
A. To reduce the difficulty of the experiment.
B. To carry their experiment further.
C. To see how babies recognize sounds
D. To keep the babies’ interest.
4.Where does this text probably come from?
A. Science fiction. B. Children’s literature.
C. A science report. D. An advertisement.
Some people will do just about anything to save money. And I am one of them. Take my family’s last vacation. It was my six-year-old son’s winter break form school, and we were heading home from Fort Lauderdale after a weeklong trip. The flight was overbooked, and Delta, the airline, offered us $400 per person in credits to give up our seats and leave the next day. I had meetings in New York，So I had to get back. But that didn't mean my husband and my son couldn't stay. I took my nine-month-old and took off for home.
The next day, my husband and son were offered more credits to take an even later flight. Yes, I encouraged—okay, ordered—them to wait it out at the airport, to "earn" more Delta Dollars. Our total take: $1,600. Not bad, huh?
Now some people may think I'm a bad mother and not such a great wife either. But as a big-time bargain hunter, I know the value of a dollar. And these days, a good deal is something few of us can afford to pass up.
I've made living looking for the best deals and exposing （揭露） the worst tricks. I have been the consumer reporter of NBC's Today show for over a decade. I have written a couple of books including one titled Tricks of the Trade: A Consumer Survival Guide. And I really do what I believe in.
I tell you this because there is no shame in getting your money’s worth. I’m also tightfisted when it comes to shoes, clothes for my children, and expensive restaurants. But I wouldn't hesitate to spend on a good haircut. It keeps its shape longer, and it's the first thing people notice. And I will also spend on a classic piece of furniture. Quality lasts.
1.Why did Delta give the author's family credits?
A. Their flight had been delayed.
B. Their flight had been cancelled.
C. They had early bookings
D. They took a later flight
2.What can we learn about the author?
A. She rarely misses a good deal.
B. She seldom makes a compromise.
C. She is very strict with her children
D. She is interested in cheap products.
3.What does the author do?
A. She's a teacher. B. She's a media person
C. She's a housewife. D. She's a businesswoman.
4.What does the author want to tell us?
A. How to expose bad tricks. B. How to reserve airline seats.
C. How to make a business deal. D. How to spend money wisely
