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(公訴人) 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(戰(zhàn)或逃反應(yīng)), 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.
【小題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.
【小題2】 What is Martin Samuels’ attitude to the possibility of being frightened to death?

A．Approval.

B．Disapproval.

C．Doubtful.

D．Indifferent.

【小題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.
【小題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.

【小題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

“Any time! Any where! Decades ago there was no such thing” – “Communication”.
Then, September 7th 1987, the global system for mobile communication or GSM was born. And international agreements that laid out the standards, regulations and practices gave rise to a global mobile phone industry.
To be honest, the world’s first mobiles were not so attractive and the range of effectiveness wasn’t very good. But they became a must-have among those wealthy people who could afford that. However, by advantage of GSM which has many different elements to it, we can all enjoy the ability to go around the world in 217 countries, land in that country and know that a phone would work.
There are other cell phone systems using different technology in the world. The majority of the United States and parts of South America have been using something called CDMA which is very rare in Europe. In some Asian countries like China, GSM and CDMA both exist at the same time. But the GSM Association claims 85% of the global mobile phone market. They estimated there are now about 2.5 billion different users who make more than 7 trillion minutes of calls everyday, and that’s not all.
20 years later, the mobile phone is so much more than just a phone. You can use it to send text messages, take pictures, show video, even surf the internet.
“The phone itself is involved from just being a communication tool, to be a tool for round-the-clock connectivity, you can not live without it even in a minute.” Mobile consultant Nick Lane also points out with so many customized styles and features, your mobile phone will become a symbol of you.
Where will the global mobile phone industry be in another 20 years? Certainly, there will be more connections than better coverage. As for where else technology will take us, one can only imagine.
【小題1】According the passage, we can know that GSM is ____________.

A．a(chǎn) global-used mobile phone	B．a(chǎn) global mobile phone industry
C．a(chǎn) global mobile phone association	D．a(chǎn) global mobile communication system

【小題2】It's most difficult to find a CDMA mobile phone in ____________.

A．the United States

B．South America

C．Europe

D．China

【小題3】From this passage, we can infer that ____________.

A．a(chǎn)s soon as the first mobiles appeared, they became popular and many people have one

B．with a GSM mobile phone, you can make a phone call in most parts of the USA

C．there are only two cell phone systems in the whole world: GSM and CDMA

D．most of the mobile phone users in the world now are using the GSM mobile phone

【小題4】By pointing out “your mobile phone will become a symbol of you”, what does Nick Lane want to tell us about the mobile phone in the future?

A．You can have a mobile phone with the unique look and functions as you like.

B．Others can find us without any difficulties if we carry our mobile phone.

C．The mobile phone can be used as a permit when you enter some places.

D．The mobile phone we carry can show others how wealthy we are.

【小題5】What does the writer feel about the GSM development in the following 20 years?

A．Satisfied.

B．Worried.

C．Confident.

D．Confused.

Paracutin was born in Mexico in February, 1943. At the end of one week Paracutin was 500 feet high, and it is now over 9, 000 feet high. Today Paracutin is asleep.
What is Paracutin? It was the first volcano(火山) in the world which was seen from its birth right up to the present day. On February 20, 1943, a peasant and his wife set out to work in their corn fields from the Mexican village of Paracutin. They were surprised to find the earth warm under their feet. Suddenly they heard noises deep in the earth and a small hole appeared in their field. In the afternoon there was a sudden loud noise and stones were thrown high in the air. The peasants ran from the field and turned to watch. They saw the birth of a volcano.
Large quantities of stone and lava(巖漿) broke out and a little hill began to form. By evening this hill was 100 feet high and hot ashes(灰燼) were falling on the village. At night the strong light of the hot lava lit up the countryside. The trees near the village were killed and the villagers had to leave their houses. When the village was destroyed, its name was given to the volcano. The news quickly reached Mexico City, far to the east. Many people came to watch the scene. The volcano grew and grew for ten years and hundreds of square miles of forest were destroyed. Then Paracutin went to sleep.
【小題1】Paracutin was once the name of ________.

A．a(chǎn) peasant

B．a(chǎn) village

C．a(chǎn)n old mountain

D．a(chǎn) Mexican

【小題2】What was destroyed in the growing up of the volcano?

A．The little hill of stone.	B．The villagers living close by.
C．The forests and fields round Paracutin.	D．The Mexican peasant and his wife.

【小題3】In this passage the writer is trying to ________.

A．tell us an interesting happening	B．explain a scientific theory
C．make us believe something	D．make up an interesting story

【小題4】What can we learn about volcanoes from this passage？

A．New volcanoes may appear in places where people do not expect them to be.

B．Volcanoes are always growing.

C．Volcanoes are active from time to time.

D．New volcanoes are active for only ten years.

The Man of Many Secrets — Harry Houdini — was one of the greatest American entertainers in the theater this century. He was a man famous for his escapes — from prison cells, from wooden boxes floating in rivers, from locked tanks full of water. He appeared in theaters all over Europe and America. Crowds came to see the great Houdini and his “magic” tricks.
　　Of course, his secret was not magic, or supernatural powers. It was simply strength. He had the ability to move his toes as well as he moved his fingers. He could move his body into almost any position he wanted.
　　Houdini started working in the entertainment world when he was 17, in 1891. He and his brother Theo performed card tricks in club in New York. They called themselves the Houdini Brothers. When Harry married in 1894, he and his wife Bess worked together as magician and assistant. But for a long time they were not very successful. Then Harry performed his first prison escape, in Chicago in 1898. Harry persuaded a detective to let him try to escape from the prison, and he invited the local newspapermen to watch.
　　It was the publicity(宣傳) that came from this that started Harry Houdini’s success. Harry had fingers trained to escape from handcuffs and toes trained to escape ankle chins. But his biggest secret was how he unlocked the prison doors. Every time he went into the prison cell, Bess gave him a kiss for good luck — and a small skeleton key, which is a key that fits many locks, pass quickly from her mouth to his.
　　Harry used these prison escapes to build his fame. He arranged to escape from the local prison of every town he visited. In the afternoon, the people of the town would read about it in their local newspapers, and in the evening every seat in the local theater would be full. What was the result? World-wild fame, and a name remembered today.
【小題1】According to the passage, Houdini’s success in prison escapes depends on _______.

A．his special tricks and supernatural power	B．his unusual ability and a skeleton key
C．his magic tricks and supernatural powers	D．his wisdom and magic tricks

【小題2】In the fourth paragraph, the underlined word “this” refers to _______.

A．his first prison escape	B．the year 1898
C．the publicity	D．Harry Houdini’s success

【小題3】It can be inferred from the passage that Houdini became famous _______.

A．in 1894	B．before he married
C．a(chǎn)t the age of 17	D．when he was about 24

【小題4】Which of the following is the best title for the passage?

A．A Skeleton Key	B．A Man of Many Secrets
C．World-wild Fame	D．Great Escape

Dior was born in Normandy in 1905, and his family’s original plans for him included a career in the diplomatic (外交的) service, but by the time he was twenty—three, with his parents’ money，he opened a small art gallery in Paris．By 1931，the money had been used up. Dior’s friends in the art gallery asked him to draw and he took his first step at designing and drawing．His first job was with Lucien Lelong from whom Dior learned his craft（手藝）．

In February,1947, Dior started the New Look in his first major Paris collection．He was backed by a famous textile (紡織品) producer, Boussac，who looked after the dollars, while Dior looked after the fashions．Dior knew nothing about cutting and sewing，but he was good at fashion design．
The New Look started an entirely different look to costume, with a tiny waist, a rounded shoulder and a shapely bust（胸圍），usually with a low-cut neckline and a long, full skirt．To women who had lived through the war years, the femaleness of the New look was a great success, for people were tired of tile extremely plain, wartime restrictive fashions．
It is said that dresses by Dior were “constructed like buildings.” But young people were attracted to his design，and all over the western world, manufacturers plunged（投入）into the production of his new style．Dior’s revolutionary designs lighted up a whole cycle of fashion，rounded，gentle，feminine, a delight in elegance．A New Look House of Dior opened in 1948，followed by one in London．Considered as King of Couture（women’s clothing）for years, the Dior empire grew until it covered every country in the western world，and included furs, hosiery, jewelry, perfumes, men’s wear and on and on．More than 1,000 people worked at the Paris headquarters then．
His sudden death in 1957 when he was 53 years old did not stop the growth of the House of Dior. Even now, so many years after his death，his name is closely connected with fashion throughout the world，and indeed is one of the most recognized names in the world. His first，great New Look，with its long skirts was an expression of freedom in the late 1940s．
【小題1】Which of the following designs is close to Dior’s?

【小題2】According to the passage, in Dior’s life，he did NOT           ．

A．make creative fashion designs	B．work in a diplomatic service
C．1earn craft as his first job	D．open a New Look House

【小題3】We can infer from the passage that      ．

A．Dior and his supporter had different interests in business

B．Dior’s New Look had little influence on people then

C．Dior is only a brand of women’s fashion

D．Dior’s fashion was not accepted at first

【小題4】What is probably the best title for the passage?        ．

A．The History of the New Look	B．The Growth of the Dior Empire
C．An Expression of Freedom—Dior	D．The Founder of the New Look—Dior

閱讀下列短文，從每題所給的四個(gè)選項(xiàng)（A、B、C和D）中，選出最佳選項(xiàng)，并在答題卡上將該項(xiàng)涂黑。
C
In any family with more than one child, chidren seem to naturally compete for their parents’ love and attention. Parents say they love every child equally. But is that true?
Susan, founder of a consulting firm in Chicago, interviewed 216 women and found that even though none of her questions asked directly about a parent favoring one child over another, about two-thirds of the women said there was a favored child. And they also remembered their experience when they were young. One of the women said, “My mother always liked my brother better, and he got to go to summer camp in 1968 and I didn’t.”
Plumez, who interviewed parents with both biological children and adoptive children for an adoption book in 2008, found that what matters most is whether your temperaments(性情) are pleasing. “In some cases, parents would say they felt closer to their adopted children,” she says, “Some parents like the children with characters similar to theirs. Two people who are shy and withdrawn might get along well, unless the shy parent doesn’t like that aspect of themselves and they try to push the naturally withdrawn child to be more extroverted.”
It could be a result of gender, birth order or how easy or difficult a child’s temperament may be, but a parent’s different treatment has far-reaching effects. Students have found that less-favored children may suffer emotionally, with decreased self-esteem and behavioral problems in childhood. Favoritism is a reason for the next generation not to like each other.
Experts say it is not realistic to say everyone should be treated equally, because no two people are the same and they relate differently to others.
“It does not mean that parent loves or likes one child more. It has to do with which one of them is independent,” says psychologist Laurie Kramer of the University of Illinois.
【小題1】The study carried out by Susan shows that ______.

A．showing favoritism is common in many families

B．most mothers like their sons better than their daughters

C．only two-thirds of the women interviewed have more than a child

D．it is a favoritism that leads to absence of harmony in most families

【小題2】The underlined word “extroverted” in the third paragraph means _______.

A．independent

B．outgoing

C．clever

D．brave

【小題3】What can we infer from the passage?

A．Favoritism is not beneficial to the development of children

B．Parents’ favoritism to a certain child can’t be avoided in families

C．Parents may be favoring one of their children and don’t realize it

D．People are very much shaped by how they were treated by their parents

【小題4】What is the best title for the passage?

A．Parents’ favoritism can affect children deeply

B．Why do parents show favoritism to children?

C．Parents should give attention to all their children

D．Building a harmonious family is important to children

Robert Fredy was general manager of a large hotel in Ashbury park. New Jersey. One cold day two years ago when he stopped his car at a traffic light, Stephen Pear man, an out-of-work taxi and truck driver, walked up to Fredy’s car hoping to earn some change by washing his windshield．Like many motorists who try to keep the beggars off, Fredy turned on the wipers to show he wasn’t interested．
Pearman put his head close to the window．“Come on, mister．Give me a chance．I need a job,” he said．Something in Stephen Pearman’s voice moved Robert Fredy．In the seconds before traffic started moving again, Fredy handed a business card and told him to call if he was serious．
“My friends told me he was just pulling my leg, ”said Pearman．“But I said, “ No, he’s a
businessman．I need to give it a shot．”
Two days later,29-year-old Pearman appeared in the manager's office of the big hotel．Fredy gave him a job and housing and lent him pocket money while training him．
Today, Pearman works full time setting up the hotel's dining halls for business meetings．In the past two years, he has found a flat, married and repaid Fredy’s loans．
“Mr．Fredy gave me a second chance, “says Pearman, ” And I took advantage of it．I could have just come here a while, eaten up and left．But there is no future in washing windshields．”
Ordinarily, Fredy keeps away from the street people．“But Pearman seemed so honest and open, asking for a chance rather than just money,” Fredy says, “I don’t hand my business card to just anybody．But I’m glad I did in this case．”
【小題1】When Pearman first appeared before Fredy, ．

A．Fredy took him as a beggar

B．Pearman was told to do it later

C．Fredy gladly agreed to let him do it

D．Pearman knew Fredy was a kind man

【小題2】When Fredy told Pearman to call if he was serious, he meant if          .

A．Pearman was really hardworking

B．Pearman was really looking for a job

C．Pearman’s conditions were truly scrious

D．Pearman was really interested in washing windshields

【小題3】By saying “he was just pulling my leg (paragraph 3)”, Pearman’s friends meant.

A．Fredy knew Pearman intended to ask for a job

B．Fredy was making fun of Pearman

C．Fredy wanted to help the poor

D．Fredy was tired of being stopped

【小題4】Pearman is now            .

A．in charge of Fredy’s loans

B．still washing car windshields

C．full – time employed at the hotel

D．a(chǎn)rranging dinner parties for the hotel

【小題5】What can we learn about Fredy?

A．He helps those who will work hard themselves．

B．He likes to give his help to anyone in need．

C．He always gives help to the unemployed．

D．He is easily moved by poor people．

It is not often realized that women held a high place in southern European societies in the 10 th and 11 th centuries. As wife, the woman was protected by the setting up of a dowry (嫁妝) or decimum. Admittedly, the purpose of this was to protect her against the risk of desertion (遺棄)，but in reality its function in the social and family life of the time was much more important. The decimum was the wife’s right to receive a tenth of all her husband’s property. The wife had the right to withhold consent, in all transactions the husband would make, And more than just a right: the documents showed that she enjoyed a real power of decision, equal to that of her husband. In no case did the documents indicate any degree of difference in the legal status of husband and wife.
The wife shared in the management of her husband’s personal property, but the opposite was not always true. Women seemed perfectly prepared to defend their own inheritance(遺產(chǎn)，繼承物)against husbands who tried to exceed their rights, and on occasion they showed a fine fighting spirit. A case in point is that of Maria, Vivas, a Catalan woman of Barcelona. Having agreed with her husband Miro to sell a field she had inherited, for the needs of the household, she insisted on compensation. None being offered, she succeeded in dragging her husband to the scribe to have a contract duly drawn up assigning her a piece of land from Miro’s personal inheritance. The unfortunate husband was obliged to agree, as the contract says, “for the sake of peace.” Either through the dowry or through being hot-tempered, the Catalan wife knew how to win herself, within the context of the family, a powerful economic position.
【小題1】 A decimum was      .

A．the wife’s inheritance from her father

B．a(chǎn) gift of money to the new husband

C．a(chǎn) written contract

D．the wife’s right to receive one-tenth of her husband’s property

【小題2】 In the society described in the passage, the legal standing of the wife in marriage was      .

A．higher than that of her husband	B．lower than that of her husband
C．the same as that of her husband	D．higher than that of a single woman

【小題3】 What compensation did Maria Vivas get for the field?

A．Some of the land Miro had inherited.	B．A tenth of Miro’s land.
C．Money for household expenses.	D．Money from Miro’s inheritance.

【小題4】 Which of the following is Not mentioned as an effect of the dowry system?

A．The husband had to share the power of decision in marriage.

B．The wife was protested from desertion.

C．The wife gained a powerful economic position.

D．The husband was given control over his wife’s property.

THE BRONTE FAMILY
Yorkshire, England was the setting for two great novels (小說(shuō)) of the 19th century. These were Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre and Emily Bronte’s Wuthering Heights. The youngest sister, Anne, was also a gifted novelist, and her books have the same extraordinary quality as her sisters’.
Their father was Patrick Bronte, born in Ireland. He moved with his wife, Maria Bronte, and their six small children to Haworth in Yorkshire in 1820. Soon after, Mrs. Bronte and the two eldest children died, leaving the father to care of the remaining three girls and a boy.
Charlotte was born in 1816. Emily was born in 1818 and Anne in 1820. Their brother Branwell was born in 1817. Left to themselves, the children wrote and told stories and walked over the hills. They grew up largely self-educated. Branwell showed a great interest in drawing. The girls were determined to earn money for his art education. They took positions as teachers or taught children in their homes.
As children they had all written many stories. Charlotte, as a young girl, alone wrote 22 books, each with 60 to 100 pages of small handwriting. Therefore, they turned to writing for income. By 1847, Charlotte had written The Professor; Emily, Wuthering Heights; and Anne, Agnes Grey. After much difficulty Anne and Emily found a publisher(出版商), but there was no interest shown in Charlotte’s book. (It was not published until 1859.) However, one publisher expressed an interest in seeing more of her works. Jane Eyre was already started, and she hurriedly finished it. It was accepted at once; thus each of the sisters had a book published in 1847.
Jane Eyre was immediately successful; the other two, however, did not do so well. People did not like Wuthering Heights. They said it was too wild, too animal-like. But gradually it came to be considered one of the finest novels in the English language. Emily lived only a short while after the publication of the book, and Anne died in 1849.
Charlotte published Shirley in 1849, and Villette in 1853. In 1854 she married Arthur Bell Nicholls. But only a year later, she died of tuberculosis(肺結(jié)核) as her sisters had.
【小題1】We know from the text that      .

A．Jane Eyre was published in 1847

B．Charlotte Bronte wrote 22 books in all

C．the Bronte sisters received good education

D．Patrick Bronte helped his daughters with their writing

【小題2】The underlined words “the other two” in the 5 th paragraph refer to      .

A．Shirley and Villette	B．The Professor and Agnes Grey
C．Agnes Grey and Wutheriing Heights	D．The Professor and wuthering Heights

【小題3】 What do we know about the Bronte sisters from the text?

A．Their novels interested few publishers.

B．None of them had more than two books published.

C．None of them lived longer than 40 years old.

D．Emily was the least successful of the three.

One day, I happened to talk to a stranger (陌生人) on the bus. When he found out that I was from Chicago, he told me that one of his good friends lived there and he wondered if I happened to know him. At first I wanted to say that it was foolish (愚蠢的) to think like that, for from all the millions of people in Chicago, I could not possibly know his friend. But, instead, I just smiled and said that Chicago was a very big city. He was quiet for a few minutes, and then he began to tell me all about his friend.
He told me that his friend was an excellent tennis player and that he even had his own tennis court (網(wǎng)球場(chǎng)). He added that he knew a lot of people with swimming pools, but that he only knew two people in the country who had their own tennis courts. And his friend in Chicago was one of them. I told him that I knew several people like that, for example, my brother and my next-door neighbor. I told him that my brother was a doctor and he lived in California. Then he asked where my brother lived in California. When I said Sacramento, he said that last year his friend spent the summer in Sacramento and lived next door to a doctor. The doctor had a tennis court. I said that my next-door went to Sacramento last summer and lived in the house next to my brother’s. For a moment, we looked at each other, but we did not say anything.
“Would your friend’s name happen to be Roland Kirkwood?” I asked finally. He laughed and said, “Would your brother’s name happen to be Dr. Ray Hunter?” It was my turn to laugh.
【小題1】 Which of the following is true?

A．The story happened in Chicago.

B．The writer’s brother lived in Sacramento.

C．Both the writer and the stranger lived in Chicago.

D．Both the writer and his brother lived in California.

【小題2】 The writer said that Chicago was a very big city. That means _____________.

A．it was possible for him to happen to know the stranger’s friend

B．he didn’t want to look for the stranger’s friend

C．he didn’t know the stranger’s friend

D．it was impossible to find the stranger’s friend

【小題3】 How many persons does the story involve (涉及)?

A．Four.

B．Five.

C．Six.

D．Seven.

【小題4】Which is the best title of the story?

A．On a bus	B．Two tennis players
C．One in a million	D．Chicago is a large city