题目内容
NEW YORK - People who keep doing some work in their field after they retire may enjoy better physical and mental health than those who stop work completely or switch to another area of work, according to a U.S. study.
Researchers from the University of Maryland said the findings suggest that prospective retirees should consider moving into so-called "bridge employment" as a transition to full retirement.
"In essence, if someone is in a field where part-time work or self-employment is possible, he or she should consider it as they plan for retirement," researcher Dr. Mo Wang, an assistant professor of psychology, told Reuters Health.
For their study, Wang and his colleagues used data on more than 12,000 workers in a U.S. health study begun in 1992. Participants, who were between the ages of 51 and 61 at the outset, were surveyed every two years over a six-year period.
Overall, Wang's team found, people who went into some form of bridge employment reported lower rates of major diseases like high blood pressure, heart disease, diabetes and arthritis during the study period than their counterparts who went straight into full retirement.
The findings were not explained by older age or worse initial health among people who opted for full retirement, the investigators report in the Journal of Occupational Health Psychology.
On top of their better physical health, "bridge" workers also tended to report fewer mental health problems, such as depression.
The same mental health benefits were not seen, however, when retirees took part-time work in other fields -- possibly, Wang said, because many of these people may have taken those jobs out of financial need rather than choice.
He noted that the lack of benefit could also stem from the fact that these retirees had to adjust to an unfamiliar job position or had to make lifestyle changes.
Bridge work, particularly in one's accustomed field, may benefit physical and mental health for a number of reasons, according to Wang.
In general, he explained, such work may help older adults maintain the active lifestyles they had during their careers and decrease any stress they might feel from the transition into retirement. wwwWang said when it comes to mental health, for instance, bridge work may help by allowing people to keep some of the "role identity" that they have formed over their careers.
Staying active in general, not only through work, can also benefit retirees' physical health, Wang noted. He added, however, that any mental health benefits are likely to depend on the type of activity -- whether it is something that the person truly enjoys, and that helps ease any stress of moving into retirement.
"These findings," Wang said, "suggest that for retirees and prospective retirees, carefully considering whether to engage in bridge employment -- and if so, what types of bridge employment -- is quite important."
【小题1】 What does the underlined phrase “at the outset” mean?__________
| A．at least | B．at least | C．at the beginning | D．at last |
| A．arthritis | B．heart disease | C．diabetes | D．low blood pressure |
| A．As long as retirees move into “bridge employment”, they must be healthier than those who do not. |
| B．The participants in the study were between 51 and 61 years old. |
| C．The bridge workers are also less likely to get depression. |
| D．Staying active is beneficial to the retirees’ physical health. |
| A．The study was begun in 1992 and lasts for two 6-year periods |
| B．If a bridge worker is older than 61 years old, it does not mean that he will get a better health than others who enjoy full retirement. |
| C．Only by moving into “bridge employment” can the retirees enjoy better health both physically and psychologically. |
| D．Any activity can benefit the retirees’ mental health. |
| A．A US study |
| B．Bridge Work |
| C．Working after retiring can be good for your health |
| D．Stay active |
【小题1】C【小题2】D【小题3】A【小题4】B【小题5】C
解析
At Dallas/Fort Worth Airport, the lights are controlled by sensors that measure sunlight. They dim immediately when it’s sunny and brighten when a passing cloud blocks the sun.
A wall of windows at a University of Pennsylvania engineering building has built-in blinds (百叶窗) controlled by a computer program that follows the sun’s path. Buildings are getting smarter and the next generation of building materials is expected to do even more.
Windows could catch the sun’s energy to heat water. Sensors that measure the carbon dioxide breathed out by people in a room could determine whether the air conditioning needs to be turned up.
Many new materials and technology have been designed in the last 15 years. They are now being used in a wave o
f buildings designed to save as much energy as possible. They include old ideas, like “green roofs”, where a belt of plants on a roof helps the building keep heat in winter and stay cool in summer, and new ideas, like special coating for windows that lets light in, but keeps heat out.
As technologies such as sensors become cheaper, their uses spread.
The elevators (电梯) at Seven World Trade Center, which is under construction in New York, use a system that groups people traveling to nearby floors into the same elevator, thus saving elevator stops. People who work in the building will enter it by swiping (刷) ID cards that will tell the elevators their floor, readouts will then tell them which elevator to use. The building also has windows with a coating that blocks heat while letting in light.
M
ore new building materials and technology are in development. A Philadelphia building firm is now working on “smart wrap” that uses tiny solar collectors to catch the sun’s energy and transmitters (传输器) as wide as a human hair to move it. They are expected to change the face of the construction industry in the next ten years or so.
【小题1】________ will be developed and used in the construction industry.
| A．“Green roofs” that cool or heat buildings |
| B．“Smart wrap” that catches the sun’s energy |
C．Sunlight-measurin g sensors that control lights |
| D．Window coating that lets light in, but keeps heat out |
A．se nd people to floors with fewer stops | B．teach people how to use their ID cards |
| C．make people stay very cool in summer | D．help people go traveling in the building |
| A．a human hair | B．smart wrap | C．the sun’s energy | D．a transmitter |
| A．Buildings Are Becoming Smarter | B．Buildings Are Getting More Sunlight |
| C．Buildings Are Lacking in Much Energy | D．Buildings Are Using Cheaper Materials |
Good Genes Mean Long Life
Scientists have discovered that living to the age of 100 may have nothing to do with the lifestyle you lead and everything to do with the type of genes you have.
For the lucky carriers of “Methuselah” genes, worries over smoking, eating unhealthily and not getting enough exercise may not be as necessary as to those of us without the special gene pattern (组合).
The “Methuselah” genes could give extra protection against the diseases of old age such as cancer and heart disease. They could also protect people against the effects of the unhealthy lifestyles that we believe will lead us to an early death, scientists say. However, the genes are very rare.
The genes include ADIPOQ, which is found in about 10 percent of young people but in nearly 30 percent of people living past 100. They also include the CETP and the ApoC3 genes, which are found in 10 percent of young people, but in about 20 percent of people over 100 years old.
Some of those genes were discovered by a research group at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York, led by Professor Nir Barzilai. The team studied the genes of over 500 people over 100 years old, and their children.
The studies show that tiny mutations (变异) in the make-up of some genes can greatly increase a person’s lifespan (寿命). Barzilai told a Royal Society conference that the discovery of such genes gave scientists clear targets for developing drugs that could prevent age-related diseases, allow people to live longer and stay healthy.
David Gems, a researcher at University College London, believes that drugs to slow ageing will become widespread.
“If we know which genes control longevity (长寿) then we can … target them with drugs. That makes it possible to slow down ageing,” he told The Times.
“Much of the pain and suffering in the world are caused by ageing. If we can find a way to reduce that, then we are obliged (义不容辞的) to take it.”
【小题1】According to the article, which of the following is the most important if a person is to live to the age of 100?
| A．Eating healthy food every day. | B．Having the right types of genes. |
| C．Having a healthy lifestyle. | D．Taking drugs that prevent ageing. |
| A．10% | B．20% | C．30% | D．50% |
| A．The team studied the genes of over 100 people over 100 years of age. |
| B．The researchers found that mutations in certain genes lead to longer life. |
| C．The researchers found ways to develop drugs that could cure age-related diseases. |
| D．The study suggested that most people have genes that could lengthen their lives. |
| A．drugs to slow ageing will be very expensive |
| B．modern science will be able to find more longevity genes |
| C．it is the duty of medical scientists to fight the problems of ageing |
| D．scientists can make new genes that will allow longer life |
My father’s reaction to the bank building at 43rd Street and Fifth Avenue in New York city was immediate and definite: “You won’t catch me putting my money in there!” he declared, “Not in that glass box!”
Of course, my father is a gentleman of the old school, a member of the generation to whom a good deal of modern architecture is upsetting, but I am convinced that his negative response was not so much to the architecture as to a violation of his concept of the nature of money. In his generation money was thought of as a real commodity (实物) that could be carried, or stolen.
Consequently, to attract the custom of a sensible man, a bank had to have heavy walls, barred windows, and bronze doors, to affirm the fact, however untrue, that money would be safe inside. If a building’s design made it appear impenetrable（难以渗透的), the institution was necessarily reliable, and the meaning of the heavy wall as an architecture symbol reflected people’s prevailing attitude toward money.
But the attitude toward money has, of course, changed. Excepting pocket money, cash of any kind is now rarely used; money as a tangible commodity has largely been replaced by credit. A deficit (赤字) economy, accompanied by huge expansion, has led us to think of money as product of the creative imagination. The banker no longer offers us a safe: he offers us a service in which the most valuable element is the creativity for the invention of large numbers. It is in no way surprising, in view of this change in attitude, that we are witnessing the disappearance of the heavy-walled bank.
Just as the older bank emphasized its strength, this bank by its architecture boasts of imaginative powers. From this point of view it is hard to say where architecture ends and human assertion (人们的说法) begins.
36. 【小题1】The main idea of this passage is that________.
| A．money is not as valuable as it was in the past |
| B．changes have taken place in both the appearance and the concept of banks |
| C．the architectural style of the older bank is superior to that of the modern bank |
| D．prejudice makes the older generation think that the modern bank is unreliable |
| A．The former thinks more of money than the latter. |
| B．The younger generation values money more than the older generation. |
| C．Both generations rely on the imaginative power of bankers to make money. |
| D．To the former money is a real commodity but to the latter be a means to produce more money. |
| A．that can be replaceable | B．that is usable |
| C．that can be touched | D．that can be reproduced |
| A．ambitious and friendly | B．reliable and powerful |
| C．sensible and impenetrable | D．imaginative and creative |
| A．cautious | B．regretful | C．positive | D．hostile |
As the world watched the twin towers of the World Trade Center come under attack, a common phrase was repeated:” It looks like a movie.”
But this time there was no superman to save the people or the famous building. The attack destroyed one of the world's highest skyscrapers and left 5,000 people dead or missing.
Movie fans have become used to such events after years of Hollywood films showing disasters, terrorism and danger. The Empire State Building, the White House, New York City and even the American president himself have all been threatened(威胁) by terrorist attacks in these exciting films. The film” True Lies”, released in 1994, is considered to be a good example of this kind of movie. The special effects, including explosions and missiles, make the action look like a real thing.
“Independence Day” in 1996 took this type of movie one step further by blowing up the White House. This science fiction(科幻) movie is about a war between human beings and aliens from another planet. In the movie, the World Trade Center towers are destroyed.
Violence has become a major part of Hollywood movies. And this is what people enjoy. Soon after the attacks, many famous film companies stopped the planned releases of some of their new movies, especially if their films showed terrorist attacks or plane crashes. “Swordfish” was top of the American box office in June. But the movie's story was frighteningly similar to the Sept. 11 disaster. The film would have been stopped in American and British cinemas after the attack. But it's unlikely that Hollywood will stay quiet for long. It is already waiting for the feeling in America to calm down.
【小题1】What is the main subject of the newspaper article?
| A．The relationship between the Sept. 11 attack and Hollywood films. |
| B．The effect of the Sept. 11 attack and Hollywood films. |
| C．The response Hollywood made to the Sept. 11 attack. |
| D．The result of Hollywood films showing violence and disasters. |
| A．Hollywood made a lot of money out of the film “Swordfish” in June. |
| B．Hollywood stopped making films showing terrorism and disasters after the Sept. 11 attack. |
| C．“Swordfish” was not allowed to be shown after the Sept. 11 attack. |
| D．The World Trade Center was destroyed because no superman came to save I t. |
| A．Hollywood is a film making center making films of violence and disasters. |
| B．too many Hollywood films showing terrorism and disasters resulted in the Sept. 11 attack. |
| C．people who were used to the Hollywood films were not shocked at the Sept. 11 attack. |
| D．in fact, the Sept. 11 attack had nothing to do with Hollywood films. |