1 . Stressed About Coronavirus? Monitor Your Body Language

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and other health professionals, have maintained that the recent coronavirus can be spread by touching people or surfaces infected by the virus, and then touching your face-particularly your mouth, nose, and eyes, where the virus can gain access to your body. No doubt, fears of this potentially deadly virus is causing people around the world a great deal of stress.     1    

You may have seen clips of health professionals warning about face-touching in press conferences, but then absent-mindedly touching their own faces-even licking a finger to turn a page on their written speeches!     2     Unfortunately, stress can increase the incidence of face-touching behavior.

A common body reaction to stress is self-touching. Some of that might consist of chin or cheek rubbing, which can bring infected fingers dangerously close to the mouth. Of course, there is also nail-biting, which provides the virus with direct access to the mouth.

Research on nonverbal signals of lying has focused on common body language signals connected with stress.     3     Stress from telling a lie has been associated with people touching their noses or faces. It has been suggested that temporary increases in tension or stress-such as when someone is telling a lie-may cause the nose to itch (发痒). This leads to response of scratching or rubbing the nose

Stress may also lead to dry eyes, mainly because the automatic reaction to fear-induced stress is to widen the eyes and blink less frequently, thus drying out our eyes. Our responses can include eye rubbing behavior-opening the way for the virus to enter our bodies.

Don’t get me started talking about greetings.     4     However, greeting behaviors such as touching hands (handshaking), cheek-kissing and hugging all open the door for viral transmission (病毒传播). Moving to more safe forms of greeting -waves, fist-bumps, or even bowing-should become the norm during these troubling times.

    5     We need to become more aware of our nonverbal behavior and go into social situations more mindfully.

A．To sum up, what should we do?

B．Some of these same signals could lead to infection.

C．It is probably because they have been under too much stress.

D．In other words, nonverbal signals of stress might lead to infection.

E．That is why people may touch their noses or faces when telling a lie.

F．In social gatherings people almost automatically extend their hands or hug.

G．What’s worse many of our unconscious reactions to stress can lead to infection.

2 . Researchers at Brigham found about one in five teenagers now have some degree of hearing damage. The researchers did not say why hearing loss has risen, but other experts have strong suspicions. One likely culprit, they say, is MP3 players.

An MP3 player can be dangerous to hearing when its decibel level is turned up too high. High-decibel sounds can damage nerve endings, called hair cells. If a sound is loud enough, the damage can be permanent. A loud sound can shake the membrane (薄膜) on which the hair cells sit- “like an earthquake”. That shake can break or even uproot hair cells. When that happens, the hair cells are finished. Human ears cannot regrow hair cells. Therefore, when listening to an MP3 player, set a volume limit and avoid exposure to loud sounds.

On the other hand, the loudness of today’s music may not be totally under your control. Music companies have been purposely turning up the volume. It’s a trend called the fight for loudness.

Play a CD from the 1990s. Then play a newly released tune. Don’t touch the volume control. You’ll probably notice that the new CD sounds louder than the old one. Why? Sound engineers who create CDs are using dynamic range compression (压缩), a technology that makes the quiet parts of a song louder and the loud parts quieter. The overall effect of compression is a louder recording.

Many musicians and sound engineers aren’t pleased. They say that compression is driving down the quality of today, s music, making it sound flat and blaring. Gray Hobish, a sound engineer, explains that music should be a combination of loudness and softness. But music companies want to make music louder so it will stand out. That’s important in the competition among recording companies.

What about listeners? Many teenagers listen to music on the go in noisy places and through headphones, all of which reduce sound quality. So young listeners may not notice the poorer quality of modem recordings. “To their ears,” says Hobish, “the music sounds fine. And they are not aware of the hidden threat of the music they are enjoying.”

1. The phrase “like an earthquake” in Para. 2 aims to explain       .

A．that volume can strongly affect parts of the ear

B．how our body is unable to regrow hair cells

C．how much damage the ear can avoid

D．that hair cells are easily damaged

2. What can we learn about today’s music business?

A．New technology improves the quality of music.

B．Young listeners today prefer louder sound.

C．Music companies sacrifice quality for loudness.

D．Sound engineers face tough competition.

3. What is probably the best title for the passage?

A．The Loudness War

B．Your Hearing Is Going!

C．The Damaged Ears

D．Are You a Good Listener?

3 . It was a cold March day in High Point, North Carolina. The girls on the Wesleyan Academy softball team were waiting for their next turns at bat during practice, stamping their feet to stay warm. Eighth-grader Taylor Bisbee shivered (发抖) a little as she watched her teammate Paris White play. The two didn’t know each other well — Taylor had just moved to town a month or so before.

Suddenly, Paris fell to the ground. “Pairs’s eyes rolled back,” Taylor says. “She started shaking. I knew it was an emergency.”

It certainly was. Paris had suffered a sudden heart failure. Without immediate medical care, Paris would die. At first, no one moved. The girls were in shock. Then the softball coach shouted out, “Does anyone know CPR?”

CPR is a life-saving technique. To do CPR, you press on the sick person’s chest so that blood moves through the body and takes oxygen to organs. Without oxygen，the brain is damaged quickly.

Amazingly, Taylor had just taken a CPR course the day before. Still, she hesitated. She didn’t think she knew it well enough. But when no one else came forward, Taylor ran to Paris and began doing CPR. “It was scary. I knew it was the difference between life and death,” says Taylor.

Taylor’s swift action helped her teammates calm down. One girl called 911. Two more ran to get the school nurse, who brought a defibrillator, an electronic device (器械) that can shock the heart back into work. Luck stayed with them: Paris’s heartbeat returned.

“I know I was really lucky,” Paris says now. “Most people don’t survive this. My team saved my life.”

Experts say Paris is right: For a sudden heart failure, the single best chance for survival is having someone nearby step in and do CPR quickly.

Today, Paris is back on the softball team. Taylor will apply to college soon. She wants to be a nurse. “I feel more confident in my actions now,” Taylor says. “I know I can act under pressure in a scary situation.”

1. What happened to Paris on a March day?

A．She caught a bad cold.

B．She had a sudden heart problem.

C．She was knocked down by a ball.

D．She shivered terribly during practice.

2. Why does Paris say she was lucky?

A．She made a worthy friend.

B．She recovered from shock.

C．She received immediate CPR.

D．She came back on the softball team.

3. Which of the following words can best describe Taylor?

A．Enthusiastic and kind.

B．Courageous and calm.

C．Cooperative and generous.

D．Ambitious and professional.

4 . 根据短文内容，从短文后的七个选项中选出能填入空白处的最佳选项。选项中有两项为多余选项。

Depressed? Do What You Love

About 350 million people around the world suffer from depression. Therapists can use many different techniques to help, but none has more accurate scientific evidence behind it than cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT). This “inside-out” technique focuses mainly on thought patterns, training patients to recognize and reframe their thinking.    1    

BA is an outside-in technique in which therapists focus on adjusting actions rather than thoughts. “The idea is that what you do and how you feel are linked,” says David Richards, a health services researcher at the University of Exeter in England. If a patient values nature and family, for example, a therapist may encourage him to schedule a daily walk in the park with his family members.    2    This could create an alternative to more negative pastimes such as thinking on loss. BA has existed for decades, yet until now it has never been tested with the scale and exactness needed to assess its relative strength as a stand-alone approach.

In one of the largest studies of its kind, Richards led a group of 18 researchers working at three mental health centers in the U.K. who put BA and CBT head-to-head. They assigned 440 people with depression to about 16 weeks of one of the two approaches, then followed the patients’ progress at six, twelve and eighteen months after treatment began.    3    A year on, about two thirds of the patients in both groups reported at least a 50 percent reduction in their symptoms.

    4    For instance, patients with depression could begin with simpler therapies such as BA, and then seek out more specialized care if they do not respond to that treatment. “We believe that BA is a good first step in treatment, and the report addresses that point,” says George Alexopoulos at Weill Cornell Medical College, a key member of the team.

In addition, Richards and his colleagues found that junior health workers could provide BA after a brief training period, which makes it significantly cheaper compared with CBT, for it requires highly specialized therapists.    5    

A．These findings could change treatment guidelines.

B．As shown in a report, the team found the treatments equally effective.

C．In doing so, it helps increase the rewards of engaging more with the outside world.

D．The disorder of depression is characterized by continuous sadness and also interference with day-to-day work.

E．Trained medical professionals should diagnose depression not only by a physical examination, but by asking the right questions.

F．This distinction could make the former a blessing to developing countries, where resources for mental health are especially in need.

G．Now, however, mental health professionals have another option: a technique called behavioral-activation (BA) therapy is just as effective.

5 . Rediscovery

I used to be a happy child with a loving family and many friends. I had a ______ that could brighten a cold winter day and I had a special love for life.

At twelve, my life had a huge breakdown. It was then that I _____ OCD (强迫症). I started to wash my hands ten times an hour, and I constantly ______ my kitchen oven to make sure that it was off. This way of lifecontinued for four painful years, and by then, my OCD had led to depression (抑郁). I was no longer the ______ little girl I had been.

In the tenth grade I finally ____ to my mother that I was suffering from depression along with my OCD. My mom took me to a doctor and I started taking _____. Over a few months, the medicine did help the OCD, but I still was struggling with depression.

One autumn evening, I hit rock bottom. I thought suicide (自杀) was the only _____to my depression problem, so I decided to write a suicide note. As I was ______ it, my eyes fell on a photo. It was a ______ of an adorable little girl, wearing her red soccer uniform and holding a bike helmet. She had a bright smile that showed she was full of life.

It took me a few minutes to______who the girl in the photo was. The photo had been taken when I was seven years old. I almost couldn’t believe that smiling child was me. I felt a chill go down my spine (脊柱). It was like my younger self had sent me a ______. Right then and there I knew I couldn’t kill myself. Once I had been a strong little girl, and I had to become ____ like that again.

I tore up my suicide note and _____ that I would not rely only on my medicine. I would have to fight the depression with my mind, too. I could make myself happy again.

It has been two years since I _____ myself. The real reason I am healed is that I took action and refused to let depression ______my life. I learned a lifelong _____: Never give up. Everyone has challenges in life, but everyone can _____. I am living proof of that.

Now I am prepared for whatever _____ life may bring. I have a role model to ______up to for strength, and who is guiding me ______ life. My hero is a seven-year-old girl, smiling back at me from a photo on my desk.

1.

A．dream

B．thought

C．hope

D．smile

2.

A．prevented

B．treated

C．developed

D．discovered

3.

A．checked

B．fixed

C．touched

D．tested

4.

A．pretty

B．happy

C．popular

D．lovely

5.

A．admitted

B．suggested

C．showed

D．replied

6.

A．classes

B．medicine

C．exercise

D．notes

7.

A．response

B．door

C．entrance

D．solution

8.

A．posting

B．copying

C．finishing

D．revising

9.

A．picture

B．figure

C．model

D．shadow

10.

A．explain

B．realize

C．question

D．describe

11.

A．gift

B．card

C．message

D．letter

12.

A．open

B．strong

C．lively

D．athletic

13.

A．advised

B．doubted

C．promised

D．imagined

14.

A．rejected

B．replaced

C．recalled

D．rediscovered

15.

A．risk

B．abandon

C．ruin

D．waste

16.

A．lesson

B．skill

C．class

D．experience

17.

A．escape

B．quit

C．recover

D．survive

18.

A．adventures

B．benefits

C．opportunities

D．challenges

19.

A．come

B．look

C．make

D．add

20.

A．through

B．over

C．across

D．from

6 .        A university graduate described as a “respectable and intelligent” woman is seeking professional help after being convicted of (证明有……罪)shoplifting for the second time in six months.

Ana Luz, recently studying for her PhD, has been told she could end up behind bars unless she can control the desire to steal from shops.

Luz, who lives with her partner in Fitzwilliam Road, Cambridge, admitted stealing clothes worth ￡9.95 from John Lewis in Oxford Street, London, on March 9.

Phillip Lemoyne, prosecuting(起诉), said Luz selected some clothes from a display and took them to the ladies’ toilet in the store. When she came out again she was wearing one of the skirts she had selected, having taken off the anti-theft security alarms.

“She was stopped and caught after leaving the store without paying,” Mr. Lemoyne said.

He added that she was upset on her arrest and apologized for her actions.

Luz, 28, was said to have been convicted of shoplifting by Cambridge judges last October, but Morag Duff, defending, said she had never been in trouble with the police before that.

“She is ashamed and embarrassed but doesn’t really have any explanation why she did this,” Miss Duff said. “She didn’t intend to steal when she went into the store. She is at a loss to explain it. She is otherwise a very respectable and intelligent young lady. She went to her doctor and asked for advice because she wants to know if there is anything in particular that caused her to do this.”

Judge David Azan fined Luz ￡50, and warned: “You’ve got a criminal record. If you carry on like this, you will end up in prison, which will ruin your bright future you may have.”

Luz achieved a degree in design at university in her native Spain, went on to a famous university in Berlin, Germany for her master’s degree and is now studying for a PhD at Cambridge University, UK.

1. What does the underlined sentence “She is at a loss to explain it” mean?

A．In her opinion it was a loss to the clothes shops where she stole things.

B．She doesn’t have any idea why she has the desire to steal from shops.

C．She thinks it is a loss for her to explain why she stole things from shops.

D．Personally she feels ashamed and embarrassed for her shoplifting actions.

2. Which of the following best explains the meaning of the word “shoplifting” used in the passage?

A．Carrying goods in a lift for a shop.

B．Taking goods to the ladies’ toilet.

C．Selecting some goods from a display.

D．Taking goods from a shop without paying.

3. From the passage we can learn that ________.

A．Ana Luz is already got her PhD at Cambridge University, UK

B．Ana Luz is ashamed and embarrassed and knows why she often did so

C．the university graduate will be put in prison if she steals in shops once more

D．Phillip Lemoyne is the “respectable and intelligent” woman’s defense lawyer

4. What would be the best title for the passage?

A．Shoplifting Shame of a PhD Student

B．Apologizing for the Actions in Shops

C．Seeking Professional Help from Experts

D．Controlling the Desire to Steal from Shops