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In Greek mythology(神話), the gods punished Sisyphus by forcing him to roll a rock up a steep hill for eternity(來世). But he was probably better off than if they’d forced him to sit and stare into space until the end of time, conclude the authors of a new study on keeping busy. They found that people who have something to do, even something pointless, are happier than people who sit around. “The general phenomenon I’m interested in is why people are too busy doing what they are doing in modern society,” says Christopher K. Hsee, of the University of Chicago. “People are running around, working hard, the way beyond the basic level.” Sure, there are reasons, like making a living, earning money, and so on. But, Hsee says, “I think there’s something deeper: We have extra energy and we want to avoid idleness.” In a study 98 students were asked to complete two surveys. After they had completed the first they were made to wait 15 minutes to receive the next one. They were given a choice of either handing in the first survey nearby or at a more distant location they had to walk to. Whichever option they chose, they received a chocolate bar. Not everyone chose to go to the faraway location. Two-thirds chose the lazy option. Yet those who chose to stay busy by going to the faraway location were found to be happier than those who had stayed put. But if the chocolate bars offered at the two locations were different, they were more likely to choose the far location—because they could make up a good and acceptable reason for the trip, Hsee and his colleagues say. Hsee thinks it may be possible to use this principle—people like being busy, and they like being able to show being busy right or reasonable—to benefit society. “If we can find a way for idle people to engage in activity that is at least not harmful, I think it is better than destructive business,” he says. Hsee himself has been known to give a research assistant a useless task when he doesn’t have anything to do, so he isn’t sitting around the office getting bored and depressed.
1.
The author starts the passage with the Greek mythology story to ________.
A.
make it easier to understand the passage
B.
draw readers’ attention to Greek culture
C.
show Greek people enjoyed being busy
D.
bring about the subject of the passage
2.
According to Hsee, people are busy in modern society because they want to _________.
A.
make others think they are not lazy
B.
keep their energy at the basic level
C.
earn more money to support their family
D.
avoid the state of having nothing to do
3.
The underlined phrase “stayed put” in Paragraph 3 probably means __________.
A.
remained there
B.
kept occupied
C.
got around
D.
stayed awake
4.
How does Hsee’s assistant probably feel while performing a task?
A cancer-stricken British teenage girl said Thursday she had been moved by messages of support from around the world after writing an online “Bucket List” of things she wanted to do before dying. Alice Pyne, l5, created an Internet blog in which she described her fight against a cancer of the white blood cells. “ I've been fighting cancer for almost four years and now l know that the cancer is gaining on me and it doesn't look like I'm going to win this one,” she wrote. For her list, the teenager took inspiration from the 2007 film “The Bucket List”, in which two terminally ill (患絕癥的) men, played by Morgan Freeman and Jack Nicholson, draw up a list of things they wish to do before they die. On her list, at the site www. alicepyne. blogspot. com, she has included making everyone sign up to be a bone marrow donor (骨髓捐贈者), swimming with sharks, meeting boy band Take That and getting a purple iPad computer. Messages of support and offers of help quickly flooded her webpage and it became one of the most talked about subjects on Twitter. “Oh dear and I thought that I was just doing a little blog for a few friends!” she wrote after her site attracted huge attention. “Thank you so much for all your lovely messages to me.” Pyne, who lives with her family in the northwest English town of Ulverston, revealed (透露) the management of Take That had arranged for her to see the band after reading her blog. A group of local lawmakers have also joined forces with the Anthony Nolan blood cancer charity to encourage people to join its stem cell register.
1.
What happened after Alice Pyne wrote her“Bucket List”?
A.
The media called on people to help her.
B.
People sent gifts to her from all over the world.
C.
A lot of people offered to donate bone marrow to her.
D.
People around the world sent messages to support her.
2.
Alice Pyne wrote her “Bucket List” to.
A.
express her last few wishes
B.
say goodbye to a few friends
C.
give comfort to two terminally ill men
D.
catch people's attention
3.
It can be inferred from the second paragraph that Alice Pyne .
A.
is unaware of her own conditions
B.
is calm to know that death is approaching
C.
is very sad to know that she will die
D.
is still quite confident in fighting against cancer
4.
Which of the following is NOT on Alice Pyne's “Bucket List”?
Last Sunday, I waked into the house in the afternoon to find my brother rushing around in a hurry. As soon as I took my coat off, my little brother placed a bunch of papers in my hands and asked me to fold them up so they could fit into an envelope as quickly as possible. He said it needed to get done quickly before it turned dark. I was a little surprised that something could be so urgent on a Sunday. It wasn’t until I was halfway through that I actually looked at what I was folding. After I read it, it put the biggest smile on my face. It was a lovely letter to all the residents (居民)in my neighborhood. My brother was asking everyone to let him know if anyone needed help. He left his contact information and said that anyone that needed help should get in touch with him and he would figure something out. He also asked people to get in touch if they were able to help out. London received an unusual amount of snow last week, and the city was completely under- prepared for it. So it was quite difficult to get anywhere. Only the major roads had been cleared, and smaller roads and pavements could be quite treacherous. There are a good number of old people in our little community. So my brother thought that the snow may have posed (造成)some difficulty for some of them, particularly because we live on a hill. A few elderly people got in touch with him asking for help for things they needed. One of them was especially grateful because his caregiver couldn’t make it. To our surprise, he got more responses from people offering to help. Then he received help from people who wanted to help. Everyone was really touched and wrote to my brother wonderful email. One of our neighbors wrote email saying that although she wasn’t able to help, she was “very proud of having a neighbor like him who puts other people’s interests first.”
1.
The author’s brother wrote the letter to _______.
A.
ask for help from his neighbors
B.
give a hand to those in need of help
C.
require his neighbors to clear the snow
D.
raise money for the old people in his community
2.
What can we learn from the text?
A.
Few people were willing to help out.
B.
The snow was unexpectedly heavy.
C.
Most residents in the community are elderly people.
D.
The community was completely cut off from the outside world.
3.
The underlined word “treacherous” in Paragraph 3 probably means “_______”.
A.
dirty
B.
dangerous
C.
safe
D.
crowded
4.
One of their neighbors sent email to the author’s brother to ________.
Recently Dr. Cleiman has proved that everyone has a daily energy cycle. During the hours when you labor (work) through your work, you may say that you are “hot”. That is true, the time of day when you feel most energetic is when your cycle of body temperature is at its peak (頂峰). For some people the peak comes during the forenoon (上午前). For others it comes in the afternoon or evening. No one has discovered why this is so. Much family quarrelling ends when husbands and wives realize what this energy cycle means and which cycle each member of the family has. You cannot change your cycle, but you can learn to make your life fit it better. “Habits can help,” Dr. Cleiman believes. If your energy cycle is low in the morning but you have an important job early in the day, rise before your usual hour, and then you will work better at your low point. Get off to a slow start which saves your energy. Get up with a lazy yawn(哈欠) and stretch(伸展). Sit on the edge of bed before putting your feet on the floor. Avoid the troublesome searching for clean clothes by laying them out the night before.
1.
Dr. Cleiman did not explain in the passage ___________.
A.
how people can make their life fit their cycle
B.
whether everyone has a daily cycle or not
C.
why people have their energy cycle at different times
D.
what will happen in the family if the couple fail to realize which cycle each member has
2.
For what reason may husbands and wives quarrel with each other?
A.
Either of them gets up late in the morning.
B.
Husbands and wives have different cycles of energy.
C.
Either of them wants to change the cycle of the other’s.
D.
They do not know which cycle they themselves have.
3.
According to the passage, ____________.
A.
one works better at one’s peak energy point
B.
if you know your cycle you can change it to fit your life.
C.
whenever you feel hot, your energy cycle reaches the highest
D.
your energy cycle must be in the morning if you can get up early
4.
Which of the following can save your energy in the morning?
How Good Are US Drivers? The CBS-TV“National Drivers’ Test”,showed that many US drivers have a lot to learn.Here’s why. CBS picked 1799 sample drivers to take the test in TV studios in New York,Philadelphia,Chicago,and Los Angeles.More than two out of five of the drivers failed the test.And the average score was the lowest passing mark—51 points out of a possible 80. Chicago drivers did best with an average of 53 points.Los Angeles drivers came next with 52 points.New York and Philadelphia drivers got 50 points—a failing score.Drivers with 50 points or less were rated“poorly informed”by the judges. Here are some of the test results: 1.Are men drivers better informed than women ones? Yes.Men averaged 52 points.Women got an average of 49. 2.Are older drivers better informed than younger drivers? No.Drivers under 26 averaged 52 points.Drivers from 27 to 45 averaged 51.Drives over 45 failed with a 48-point average. 3.Does education make a difference? Yes.College graduates averaged 52 points.High school graduates averaged 50.Those without high school diplomas(畢業(yè)證) got 48.And people who had taken driver education courses scored an average of 53 points—three more than those who hadn’t. 4.Does driving experience make a difference? Yes.Drivers with three or more years of experience averaged 51 points.Drivers with less experience averaged 49. Here are some surprising facts brought out by the test: 1.More than one out of three drivers did not know that a blinking red light means a full stop. 2.Three out of ten drivers did not know that an octagonal(eight-sided)sign means stop. 3.More than two out of three drivers did not know what to do when being“tailgated(追尾)”. The answer:slow down,drive to the right,and let the driver behind pass. The results of the test were turned over to the National Safety Council(委員會).They will help future safety planning.
1.
The author’s purpose is to_________.
A.
prove that men are better drivers than women
B.
give you safe driving directions
C.
tell you the results of a national drivers’ test
D.
require you to get an education
2.
From the information in this article,which of the following is TRUE?
A.
Older drivers are better informed than younger drivers.
B.
Experience makes a difference among drivers.
C.
Most drivers failed the test.
D.
Most people don’ t know what a blinking red light means.
3.
The test covered the following areas about drivers except_________.
A.
education
B.
years of driving experience
C.
sex
D.
health
4.
Which of the following as a group was rated“poorly informed”by the judges?