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  Every February, across the country, candy, flowers, and gifts are exchanged between loved ones, all in the name of St. Valentine. But who is this mysterious saint and why do we celebrate this holiday?

  The history of Valentine's Day—and its patron saint(守护神)—is covered in mystery. But we do know that February has long been a month of romance. St. Valentine's Day, as we know it today, contains signs of both Christian and ancient Roman tradition.

  So, who was Saint Valentine and how did he become connected with this ancient tradition? Today, the Catholic Church recognizes at least three different saints named Valentine or Valentinus, all of whom were dead . One legend describes that Valentine was a priest who served during the third century in Rome. When Emperor Claudius Ⅱ decided that single men made better soldiers than those with wives and families, he outlawed (使……不受法律保护) marriage for young men—his crop of potential soldiers. Valentine, realizing the injustice(不公正)of the rule, fought against Claudius and continued to perform marriages for young lovers in secret. When Valentine's actions were discovered, Claudius ordered that he be put to death. Other stories suggest that Valentine may have been killed for attempting to help Christians escape cruel Roman prisons where they were often beaten, even killed.

  According to one legend, Valentine actually sent the first “Valentine” greeting himself. While in prison, it is believed that Valentine fell in love with a young girl—who may have been his jailor's daughter—who visited him during his imprisonment. Before his death, it is said that he wrote her a letter, which he signed “From your Valentine”, an expression that is still in use today. Although the truth behind the Valentine legends is gloomy, the stories certainly emphasize his appearance as a sympathetic, heroic, and, most importantly, romantic figure. It's no surprise that by the Middle Ages, Valentine was one of the most popular saints in England and France.

1.Why candy, flowers, and gifts are exchanged between loved ones every February?

[  ]

A.Mainly to show their love to their lovers.

B.Mainly to remember a person named Valentine.

C.Because they can't spend that day without these things.

D.Because February is a romantic month.

2.From this passage, why have people called that day Saint Valentine's Day?

[  ]

A.A priest called Valentine performed marriages for young lovers in secret.

B.A person called Valentine helped to save many Christians.

C.A person called Valentine wrote her lover a letter, which he signed “From your Valentine” .

D.It doesn't tell us exactly.

3.In the fourth paragraph, what's the meaning of the second “Valentine”?

[  ]

A.The person “Valentine”.

B.A thing as a gift in that day.

C.A signature in the lovers' day for the first time .

D.No real meaning.

4.What does the passage mainly talk about?

[  ]

A.How to spend Saint Valentine's Day.

B.The history of Saint Valentine's Day.

C.Why we should spend Saint Valentine's Day.

D.Why we should remember the person named Valentine.

     When I was small and my grandmother died I couldn’t understand why I had no tears. But that night when my dad tried to cheer me up, my laugh turned into crying.

      So it came as no surprise to learn that researchers believe crying and laughing come from the same part of the brain. Just as laughing has many health advantages, scientists are discovering that so, too, does crying.

    Whatever it takes for us to reduce pressure is important to our emotional (情感的) health, and crying seems to study found that 85 percent of women and 73 percent of men report feeling better after crying.

     Besides, tears attract help from other people. Researchers agree that when we cry, people around us become kinder and friendly and they are more ready to provide support and comfort. Tears also enable us to understand our emotions better; sometimes we don't even know we' re very sad until we cry. We learn about our emotions through Crying, and then we can deal with them.

      Just as crying can be healthy, not crying — holding back tears of anger, pain or suffering — can be bad for physical (身体的) health, Studies have shown that too much control of emotions can lead to high blood pressure, heart problems and some other illnesses. If you have a health problem, doctors will certainly not ask you to cry. But when you feel like crying, don't fight it. It's a natural  — and healthy — emotional response (反应).

60. Why didn't the author cry when her grandmother died?

A. Because her father did not want her to feel too sad.

B. Because she did not love her grandmother.

C. Because she was too shy to cry at that time.

D. Tie author doesn’t give the explanation.

61. It can be inferred from the text that ______.

A. there are two ways to keep healthy

B. crying does more good to health than laughing

C. crying and laughing play the same roles

D. emotional health has a close relationship to physical health

62. According to the author, which of the following statements is true?

A. Crying is the best way to get help from others.

B. Fighting back tears may cause some health problems.

C. We will never know our deep feelings unless we cry.

D. We must cry if we want to reduce pressure.

63. What might be the most suitable title for the text?

A. Power of Tears         B. How to Keep Healthy

C. Why We Cry             D. A New Scientific Discovery

In our life, we face situations where we are either asked to choose between trust and disbelief. Many of us would say we have to choose trust over disbelief. Actually we are given intellectual(智力的) power to choose what we want, and what we choose certainly need not be the one that sounds pleasing. That is, we can choose both trust and disbelief, but we have to know when to choose between these two.

We should all realize that we are living in a world which is unfortunately mixed with people of various types. We have been given the power of judging who we are working with and who we are partnering with. We cannot give an excuse for believing a scheming(诡计多端的)person, just because he looked or sounded nice, unless we consider ourselves mentally unskillful.

   This world was there before us and it does not owe us a single thing. We are asked to take care of ourselves and our belongings. Trust, too, has to be saved for the deserving(值得的) people. When we give trust universally to all, we end up troubled by the undeserving common cheat. People say trust is life. True! But only wisely exercised trust is life.

   When we start a conversation with someone, the first things that we usually notice would be their dress, behavior, style and their language. What sometimes we all forget to look at is the person’s intention. Now how to look at a person’s intention is a lesson everybody has to learn for themselves in their own way -- there is no single standard for it. But it is certainly possible to discover the purpose if we seek a little bit more.

   Certainly a false offer of friendship or guidance cannot stand undiscovered for long; we are therefore called to exercise disbelief over trust at least momentarily till we find out that we certainly are in agreement with a mutual(相互的)good-willed person.

The world teaches you lots of lessons and if we are willing, we can learn all that we want.

1.In the first paragraph, the author ________.

A. concentrates on the reason why we make different choices

B. focuses on how to choose between trust and disbelief

C. suggests that trust should be wisely exercised

D. implies that people are forced to make the choice

2.. We can infer from the passage that _________.

A. people who we are working with are in fact those who we are partnering with

B. the first thing we notice tends to mislead our judgment

C. the mentally healthy people will not judge a person by his looks 

D. the standards of looking at a person’s intention are not various

3.. The underlined sentence means __________

A. trust and disbelief go hand in hand with each other.

B. disbelief is necessary if you aren’t wise

C. trust is established if two people know each other

D. doubt may serve as the precondition for trust

4.Which of the following can serve as the best title for the passage? 

A. Trust or Disbelief?                                      B. Trust Is Life.

C. Trust over Disbelief?                     D. Disbelief over Trust?

 

 

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