1 . Like the rest of us, scientists have long suspected the healing capacity (修复能力) of a good hug. Unlike the rest of us, they’ve gone about trying to prove it.

“Laboratory studies suggest that things like hugs help us feel safer. They can also make us less sensitive to physical pain and less reactive when we’re faced with threatening experiences,” says Michael Murphy. He is a research professor in the department of psychological sciences at Texas Tech University. “This lab work has shown that hugs and other touch behavior are related to stress. The more stress we have, the more our heart rates and blood pressure go up. At this time, hugs and other forms of personal touch may give off all sorts of feel-good chemicals, so that stress can be reduced.”

“There’s a lot that we still need to learn, and there’s a lot we don’t know,” Murphy says. “However, what seems to be rising up is that hugs, as well as other forms of loving and gentle touch, are really powerful. They remind people that they’ re cared about and that they have someone in their corner.”

We expect touch. When we were born, we were placed in our mothers’ arms almost immediately. In that first year of our life, we spend a lot of time being held by other people. And as we grow up, we seek out hugs and touch as a way of connection. I think what we have lost in the past few years are these really easy opportunities to be reminded of connection.”

While he was at Carnegie Mellon, Murphy was the lead author of a hug-centered 2018 article in the scientific journal PLOS One. In a series of interviews with 404 adults over a two-week period, the researchers found that receiving a hug is associated with the attenuation of negative emotions that occur on days with interpersonal conflicts. That is to say, generally, hugs help to reduce the negative impacts that personal conflicts may cause in our daily lives.

1. What can we infer about hugs from the laboratory studies?

A．They show people’s good social relationships.

B．They can cure us of our mental disease.

C．They can put much pressure on people.

D．They make us feel calm and at ease.

2. Why do people seek out hugs and touch as they grow up?

A．To recall childhood memories.

B．To keep connected with others.

C．To solve relationship problems.

D．To express their social politeness.

3. What does the underlined word “attenuation” in the last paragraph probably mean?

A．Expression.	B．Influence.
C．Suffering.	D．Reduction.

4. What can be a suitable title for the text?

A．The Power of Hugs

B．How to Reduce Stress

C．How to Care for Others

D．The Importance of Interpersonal Relations

2 . 阅读下面材料，根据其内容和所给段落开头语续写一段，使之构成一篇完整的短文。 续写词数应为80左右。

Wind whistled round the corner of the house, thunder rolled and rain beat against the windows — not a night to be outside but rather to sit by the fire. Thanks to the solid walls and roof overhead, I could imagine Dr. Frankenstein's frightening creation wandering on such a night. I was alone, my husband away and the nearest neighbor a quarter miles down the road. Alone, that is, except for Lassie, a hairy, black and white dog, who sat with her head on my lap, her intelligent, brown eyes gazing up at me as if to say, don't worry, we'll be all right.

Through the years she was with us, she proved time and time again to be a superb judge of character. We never knew if it was a result of her sense of smell or sound-but, whatever it was, she definitely possessed a talent we humans lacked. On first meeting she would either wag the tip of her tail a couple of times to indicate that the visitor was acceptable, or slightly curl her top lip, exposing her sharp teeth which told you to be alert. Always accurate, her gift was never more obvious than on this night.

The doorbell rang. I decided not to answer it. It rang again, much longer this time. Whoever was there was not going away. Still I hesitated. On the fourth ring, with Lassie by my side, I finally answered the door. My heart beat fast and my mouth went dry, for there, stood the monster himself. A twisted body under a heavy overcoat, one shoulder bumped higher than the other and his head leaned slightly forward and to one side.

“May I use your phone?” The voice came from somewhere back in his throat and, although the request was polite, his tone was rude.

Reaching in his pocket and producing a piece of paper, he handed it to me. I refused to take it. Believing he might try and force his way in, I looked at Lassie to see if she was ready to defend the home.

Surprisingly, she sat by my side, the tip of her tail wagging.

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3 . When I was seven, my parents explained to me that my sister would be different.     1     But now I realize I see the world in a much different way, all thanks to her.

Throughout our lives, my sister has often got stared at because she has Down syndrome (唐氏综合征), which makes her appear abnormal. There were times when I had to struggle with her.     2     I simply thought. “Everyone else is just staring and that is wrong. They should offer us help instead of staring at us like it’s a circus act (马戏表演).”

I had this in mind when I was traveling alone recently and saw a mother and a son with special needs at the airport gate.     3     They were heading towards the gate of their second departure of the day. The mother was obviously stressed out and trying to keep her son calm while some items were falling out of her un-zipped (拉开拉链的) backpack. The son was pulling strangers’clothes, and she appeared to be embarrassed about it. Then the boy began to scream, looking very scared and confused.

Some people gave the son and mother strange looks, the same kind of looks my sister and I would sometimes get.     4     I tried to help calm the boy down by assuring him he was going to see his grandmother as his mom kept telling him. When the boy finally calmed down, I returned to my seat. At the time, an older gentleman turned around and said to me. “I thought about doing what you did, but I just thought about it. You did it.”

To be honest. I didn’t even really regard what I did as something different or good.     5    

A．They had got off another plane.

B．People would stare at us even more.

C．I don’t know what I should do to help.

D．But I went up and asked if I could lend a hand.

E．I just consider it as the only choice in that situation.

F．I was so angry that I shouted loudly at the strangers.

G．I had no idea what impact she would have on my daily life.