Dear Mom and Dad,

I'm afraid I have some very bad news for you. I have been very naughty and the school master is very angry with me. She is going to write to you. You must come and take me away from here. She does not want me in the school any longer. The trouble started last night when I was smoking a cigarette in bed. As I was smoking, I heard footsteps coming towards the room .I did not want a teacher to catch me smoking, so I threw the cigarette away. Unfortunately, the cigarette fell into the waste-paper basket. It caught fire.

There was a curtain near the waste-paper basket. It caught fire too. Soon the whole room was burning. The master phoned the fire brigade. The school is a long way from the town and before the fire brigade arrived, the whole school was on fire. The master said that the fire was all my fault and I must pay for the damage. She will send you a bill for about a million dollars.

I'm very sorry for this.

                                                 Much love   

                                                       Sarah     

Why did Sarah write to his parents?

A．He missed them very much for they hadn’t seen each other for a long time.

B．He told his parents what he had done in school.                              

C．He was tired of studying, and wanted to leave school.

D．He thought he was old enough to help them do something.

Where did Sarah smoke?

A．In the classroom     B．In the Dinning hall  

C．In the street        D．In the dormitory

Why was the school master angry with him?

A．Because he was too naughty      

B．Because he was too lazy

C．Because he caused a big fire        

D．Because he stole something from the school

According to the passage, what should the students not do?

A．They should not smoke, because smoking is dangerous to them

B．They should not dance, because dancing would waste a lot of money

C．They should not make friends, because making friends would take them absent

D．They should not wear expensive clothes because they would waste a lot of money

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), 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.

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.

2. What is Martin Samuels’ attitude to the possibility of being frightened to death?

A. Approval.              B. Disapproval.                  C. Doubtful.          D. Indifferent.

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.

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.

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

 

There is no other five-year –old like him. He has a potato-shaped head , thick eyebrows and a voice that is not easily forgotten. He is not evil, but trouble follows him wherever he goes.

Crayon Shinchan（蠟筆小新）enjoys great popularity in China. He has many fans in Hong Kong , Taiwan and on the mainland. And he is one of the hottest cartoon characters in his home country, Japan.

But, the trouble-maker’s show was ranked the No. 1 most unwanted cartoon program by Japan’s Parents’ Association on April 18.

More than half the parents who took part in the study thought Shinchan was a negative role model for children. They believed his actions and speech were adult in nature and not suitable for kids.

Many parents and education experts in China agree with them. Shinchan, they say, is really offensive. He looks out for pretty ladies on the street; at the bookstore he reads magazines full of sexy women; he pretends to be kidnapped by his teacher when he sees a police car; and he raises his mum’s skirt and shouts out the color of her underpants if she doesn’t buy him what he wants.

“Crayon Shimchan is full of dirty humor. The boy shows some terrible adult mentality(心態(tài)),which doesn’t match his age,” said Pang Lijuan, professor of the Education Department at Beijing Normal University. Pang further pointed out that Shinchan destroys the traditional image of a polite, hard-working boy. She fears that some teens may copy his behavior and harm their psychological development. Pang and many others in China think that Shinchan is a cartoon for adults-----not for children.

But some kids disagree. Jiangxin, a senior 2 student in Luhe Middle School in Beijing, became a fan of Shinchan after he first saw the cartoon two years ago. He said it is Shinchan’s humor , courage, and cleverness that makes him and his friends love the little cartoon character . “Shinchan looks at the adults’ world with kid’s eyes. He uncovers the hypocrisy(虛偽) and selfishness in a childish way,” explained Jiang. “We watch it just for fun.” But Jiang also admitted that Shinchan is not good for all ages. “It may not be suitable for primary school kids. They may try to blindly copy him.”

Shinchan’s “father ”, Japan’s popular cartoonist, Yoshito Ushi, never thought Shinchan would cause such a heated discussion. He argued that Shinchan is a childish copy of Japan’s middle-aged men. The boy does everything adults would like, but don’t dare to do. “People can easily forgive him because he’s only five years old,” said Yoshito.

1. Teachers and parents dislikes Crayon Shinchan because         .

A. he looks very ugly                      

B. he caused a heated discussion

C. the character was created by an adult cartoonist

D. he was regarded as a negative role model for children to follow  

2.Many children are crazy about Shinchan mainly because        .

A. he looks very funny                    

B. the cartoon character is suitable for all ages

C. they think he is humorous, clever and brave

D. he is a childish copy of Japan’s middle-aged men

3.The underlined word “offensive” in Paragraph 5 probably means        .

A. humorous     B. ugly-looking     C. funny    D. unpleasant 

4.What is Yoshito Ushi’s explanation of Shinchan’s behaviour?

A. Shinchan is such a naughty boy that he can’t behave himself.

B. Shinchan is trying to draw people’s attention by doing some offensive things.

C. Shinchan wants to set a role model in a different way.

D. Shinchan’ s behaviour is just a childish copy of Japan’s middle-aged men.

 

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), 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.

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.

2. What is Martin Samuels’ attitude to the possibility of being frightened to death?

A. Approval.         B. Disapproval.             C. Doubtful.     D. Indifferent.

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.

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.

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

 

LONDON - A British judge on Thursday sentenced a businessman who sold fake(假冒的) bomb detectors(探測器) to 10 years in prison, saying the man hadn't cared about potentially deadly consequences.
It is believed that James McCormick got about $77.8 million from the sales of his detectors - which were based on a kind of golf ball finder - to countries including Iraq, Belgium and Saudi Arabia.
McCormick, 57, was convicted(判罪) of cheats last month and sentenced Thursday at the Old Bailey court in London.
"Your cheating conduct in selling a great amount of useless equipment simply for huge profit promoted a false sense of security and in all probability materially contributed to causing death and injury to innocent people," Judge Richard Hone told McCormick. "you have neither regret, nor shame, nor any sense of guilt."
The detectors, sold for up to $42,000 each, were said to be able to find such dangerous objects as bombs under water and from the air. But in fact they "lacked any grounding in science" and were of no use.
McCormick had told the court that he sold his detectors to the police in Kenya, the prison service in Hong Kong, the army in Egypt and the border control in Thailand.
"I never had any had results from customers," he said.
【小題1】Why was McCormick sentenced to prison?

A．He sold bombs.	B．He caused death of people.
C．He made detectors.	D．He cheated in business.

【小題2】 According to the judge, what McCormick had done _______.

A．increased the cost of safeguarding

B．lowered people's guard against danger

C．changed people's idea of social security

D．caused innocent people to commit crimes

【小題3】Which of the following is true of the detectors?

A．They have not been sold to Africa.

B．They have caused many serious problems.

C．They can find dangerous objects in water.

D．They don't function on the basis of science.

【小題4】It can be inferred from the passage that McCormick _______.

A．sold the equipment at a low price

B．was well-known in most countries

C．did not think he had committed the crime

D．had not got such huge profit as mentioned in the text