题目内容

Think about the last time you felt afraid. Was it a fear of height? Did you oversleep on a weekday and fear you’d get into trouble at the office? In any case, you know what it feels like to feel fear.

But one woman doesn’t The woman, code-named “UM”, gave her first-ever interview after years of being studied by a team of researchers. The woman is given a code name because the researchers want to protect her from anyone who would take advantage of her inability to feel afraid.

UM can’t tell you what fear is because she’s never experienced it. “I wonder what it’s like to actually be afraid of something,” she said. The formal name for the disease is Urbach-Wieth disease, which is characterized by a hoarse(粗哑的)voice,small bumps around the eyes, and calcium deposits(钙沉积的)in the brain.

In the case of UM,the disease has transformed the part of her brain that controls the human response to fear. In the interview, UM talks about an event in her life where she was held at knifepoint and gunpoint, “I was walking to the store,and I saw a man on a park bench.He said. “Come here,please,” so I went over to him. He grabbed me by the shirt,put a knife to my throat and told me he was going to cut me. I told him, “Go ahead and cut me,” I wasn’t afraid at all. And for some reason,he let me go.”

Doctors who have been studying UM’s condition for years have been trying different things that could strike fear into her. They finally figured something out—increasing UM’s carbon dioxide levels.Extra carbon dioxide concentration in the blood is known to cause fear and panic in health individuals. Increasing UM’s carbon dioxide levels did manage to give her a fright.

1.The text starts by_______.

A. challenging the reader

B. solving daily problems

C. listing situations

D. giving explanations

2.Why is the woman with Urbach-Wieth disease given a code name?

A. To tell her case from other patients

B. To respect her privacy

C. To meet the researchers’ demands

D. To ensure her safety

3.From UM’s case,we can know that Urbach-Wieth disease may________.

A. stop the brain from functioning normally

B. lead to a decrease in calcium deposits

C. stop the brain from responding quickly

D. lead to an increase in carbon dioxide

4.What will probably happen to UM from the last paragraph?

A. Dying of the Urbach-Wieth disease.

B. Getting the sense of panic.

C. Experiencing another danger.

D. Speaking with a hoarse voice.

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My oldest child, Emma, just returned to campus after a long holiday break to finish up her last period of college. These days, friends and family have begun flooding me with one question: What is she going to do after graduation?

The job market is, after all, awfully tough. Just this month the Federal Reserve Bank published a study showing that “recent graduates are increasingly working in low-paid jobs or working part-time.” The bright spot, according to the study, is for students who majored(主修) in STEM — science, technology, engineering and mathematics — areas in which recent graduates “have tended to do relatively well”.

But Emma is a student of the humanities(人文) at a small college. She’s an American Studies major with a focus on the politics and culture of food. For quite a while, I think her field of study is so fashionable right now that I’m not the least bit worried she will find a good job. Yet the more I’ve thought about it, the more I’ve decided to be honest. “I’m not sure what Emma is going to do,” I now say. “But she’s gotten a great education and has really found her interest. — and I know those things will serve her well over the course of her life.”

Nowadays, more and more universities and colleges are being measured by the salaries of their recent graduates. In this climate, encouraging your kid to study the humanities, seems, at best, unwise or, at worst, unconcerned with earning a living. But a college is not a vocational(职业) school. And promoting STEM subjects should not be society’s only answer to helping the next generation grow in a competitive world.

From the beginning, we never urged Emma to pick a college or a major with an eye on its expected return on money, as more and more families are doing. To Emma, what really matters will be something that we may not be able to measure for quite a long time: Emma’s contribution to the world and how happy she is in it.

1.The author’s friends and family_________.

A. are worried about Emma’s safety

B. have been worrying about the flood

C. are concerned about Emma’s future

D. are worried about the job market

2. What can we learn from Paragraph 2?

A. The number of the graduates is increasing.

B. STEM graduates can be better employees.

C. STEM graduates are in relatively greater demand.

D. More and more graduates like to do a part-time job.

3.Why did Emma choose a major in the humanities?

A. Because she is interested in it.

B. Because her mother told her to.

C. Because it is increasingly popular.

D. Because she wants further education.

4.According to the author, what matters most in choosing a major is that_________.

A. it should be among the STEM

B. it should be fashionable and interesting

C. it should allow a good job and a high salary

D. it should bring achievements and happiness

After the examination, the doctor told my parents my sight would get worse and that I would lose my sight finally. On the way home from hospital, no one said a word. One day, would I only imagine the scenery beyond the glass rather than see it?

That September, I entered middle school. Most nights I had homework that included an armful of books to read. To keep up with other children, I took great trouble to finish the task. With my nose a couple of inches from the page, I was tired easily. What’s worse, after I had read several pages on my own, the words slipped off the page into inky pools.

However, then I did not have audio books and electronic devices like kids do now. Instead, Mom volunteered to read out loud. Mom worked part-time, cleaned the house, cooked and spent time with Grandma. In spite of being so busy, she showed up in my room like clockwork. She put on her reading glasses. Mom always thought those glasses made her look old. To me, she looked like a teacher.

In my room, Mom’s voice raced with the ticking of the clock. Being forced to focus on listening, I found a way to keep my marks up and compete with the other kids. When the teacher asked a question, I raised my hand with confidence. Teachers praised me for having a good memory. Reading removed my fear for my failing sight, reading also made me curious about other people’s challenges and how they managed. Though I could not use my eyes to fix on each passage, my mind lit up with every new book.

True to what the doctor said, the worst came, but thanks to Mom, my sense of hearing now allows me to “see”. This was the most precious gift from a mother to her child.

1.Why did the author and his parents keep silent on their way back home from hospital?

A. They all wanted to have a good rest.

B. The author didn’t do well in the exam.

C. What the doctor said made them worried.

D. They focused on the scenery along the road.

2.How did the author manage to get high marks?

A. By being confident.

B. By listening carefully.

C. By getting help from his classmates.

D. By reading as many books as possible.

3.We can learn from the text that ____________.

A. the author’s sight recovered finally

B. reading made the author more sensitive

C. the author’s mother didn’t work to look after him

D. reading made the author not worry about his sight

4. Which of the following could be the best title of the text?

A. My eyesight trouble

B. An unforgettable experience

C. With ears wide open

D. About Mother’s love

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