When people reunite with their loved ones, it’s usually all extremely happy moment. But what is their most common response to seeing them again? It may seem strange,but most of the time they break down in tears.

Now a group of psychologists from Yale University say they have found the reason why, and that crying tears of joy may well be the body’s way of keeping emotional balance. “They seem to take place when people are overtaken by strong positive emotions, and people who do this seem to recover better from those strong emotions,” Oriana Aragon, the lead researcher said.

Aragon and her fellow psychologists looked at hundreds of participants’ emotional responses to different things, including happy reunions and cute babies. Many participants said they would react in a negative or aggressive way to the positive things —— to cry at happy moments and want to pinch(捏)a cute baby’s face or even tell them “I want to eat you up!” But then researchers found that these people were able to calm down from strong emotions more quickly.

There are many other examples of times when people respond to a positive experience with a negative emotional reaction. At an exciting concert, fans scream at their idols(偶像). People who have just had a big lottery win are often in floods of tears. “These findings advance our understanding of how people express and control their emotions, which is importantly related to mental and physical health, the quality of relationships with others, and even how well people work together.” said Aragon.

1.What have professors from Yale University found in their research?

A. The reason why people cry with tears.

B. Crying tears of joy helps to balance emotions.

C. Strong negative feelings are useful to people.

D. People recover slowly from strong emotions.

2.Which of the following agrees with the findings of the research?

A. Crying at good news.

B. Crying at a failure.

C. Kissing a cute baby.

D. Laughing at happy reunions.

3.Where does the passage most likely come from?

A. A science fiction novel.

B. A psychological science journal.

C. A popular biology book.

D. An adolescent literature book.

Some of the world’s most significant problems never hit headlines. One example comes from agriculture. Food riots (暴动)and hunger make news. But the trend lying behind these matters is rarely talked about. This is the decrease in the growth in production of some of the world’s major crops. A new study by the University of Minnesota and McGill University in Montreal looks at where, and how far, this decline is occurring.

The authors take a vast number of data points for the four most important crops: rice, wheat, corn and soyabeans. They find that on between 24% and 39% of all harvested areas, the improvement in production that took place before the 1980s slowed down in the 1990s and 2000s.

There are two worrying features of the slowdown. One is that it has been particularly sharp in the world’s most populous countries, India and China. Their ability to feed themselves has been an important source of relative stability both within the countries and on world food markets. That self-sufficiency (自给自足) cannot be taken for granted if productions continue to slow down.

Second, production growth has been lower in wheat and rice than in corn and soyabeans. This is problematic because wheat and rice are more important as foods, accounting for around half of all calories consumed. Corn and soyabeans are more important as feed grains. The authors note that “we have preferentially focused our crop improvement efforts on feeding animals and cars rather than on crops that feed people and are the basis of food security in much of the world.”

The report also states the more optimistic findings of another new paper which suggests that the world will not have to dig up a lot more land for farming in order to feed 9 billion people in 2050, as the Food and Agriculture Organisation has argued.

Instead, it says, thanks to slowing population growth, land currently ploughed(犁)up for crops might be able to revert (回返) to forest or wilderness. This could happen. The trouble is that the prediction assumes continued improvements in productions, which may not actually happen.

1.What significant problem does the writer think we should pay more attention to?

A. The decline of the grain production growth

B. News headlines in the leading media.

C. Food riots and hunger.

D. The food supply in populous countries.

2.Why does the author mention India and China in particular?

A. Their big populations are causing worldwide concerns.

B. Their food yields have begun to decrease sharply in recent years.

C. Their self-sufficiency is vital to the stability of world food markets.

D. Their food self-sufficiency has been taken for granted.

3.What does the new study by the two universities say about recent crop improvement efforts?

A. They fail to produce the same remarkable results as before the 1980s.

B. They contribute a lot to the improvement of human food production.

C. They play a major role in guaranteeing the food security of the world.

D. They focus more on the increase of animal feed than human food grains.

4.What does the Food and Agriculture Organisation say about world food production in the coming decades?

A. The growing population will greatly increase the pressure on world food supplies.

B. The optimistic prediction about food production should be viewed with caution.

C. The slowdown of the growth in yields of major food crops will be reversed.

D. The world will be able to feed its population without expanding the area of farmland.

5.How does the author view the argument of the Food and Agriculture Organisation?

A. It is built on the findings of a new study.

B. It is based on a doubtful assumption.

C. It is backed by strong evidence.

D. It is open to further discussion.

Mr. Brown was going away for a week. Before he left, he said to his son, "if anyone asks for me, you can tell him that your father has been out for doing something, and will be back in a week, then be sure to ask him to sit down for a cup of tea." "OK, Dad," said his son. But he was afraid his son couldn't remember this, he wrote these words down on a piece of paper and gave it to him. His son put it into his small pocket, took it out and looked at it every now and then.

Four days passed, but no one came to see his father. The boy thought that there was no man to come and that the piece of paper was of no more use for him, so he burnt it that evening.

The next afternoon, someone knocked at the door. The boy opened it. A man was standing at the door and said, "Where is your father?" The boy put his hand into his pocket at once and looked for the piece of paper. He could not find it. He suddenly remembered he had burnt it, so he shouted, "No more." The man was very surprised. He asked, "No more? I met your father last week. When did it happen?" "Burnt yesterday evening."

1.Mr. Brown told his son that _____.

A. he would be away from home for four days

B. he would be back in seven days

C. he would be back in a month

D. he liked a cup of tea

2.A man came to visit the boy's father on ________.

A. the second day B. the third day

C. the fourth day D. the fifth day

3.The man was very surprised because _________.

A. he thought the child's father was dead

B. the child didn't ask him to sit down

C. the child gave him a cup of tea

D. he couldn't find that piece of paper

4.What was burnt? ___________.

A. The piece of paper B. Mr. Smith

C. The visitor D. The boy

An old man lived in a certain part of London, and he would wake up every morning and go to the subway. He would get the train right to Central London, and then sit at the street corner and beg. He would do this every single day of his life. He sat at the same street corner and begged for almost 20 years.

His house was dirty, and the bad smell coming out of the house was horrible. The neighbors could not stand the smell any more, so they asked the police officers to clear the place. The officers knocked down the door and cleaned the house. There were small bags of money all over the house that he had collected over the years.

The police counted the money, and they soon realized that the old man was a millionaire (百万富翁). They waited outside his house expecting to share the good news with him. When the old man arrived home that evening, one of the officers told him that there was no need for him to beg any more as he was a rich man now, a millionaire.

But the old man said nothing at all; he went into his house and locked the door. The next morning he woke up as usual, went to the subway, got into the train and sat at the street corner and continued to beg.

Clearly, this old man had no great plans, dreams or anything significant for his life. We learn nothing from this story other than staying focused on the things we enjoy doing. What makes us happy is what matters in the end, not what we acquire.

1. Why did the police officers clear the old man’s house?

A. Because the old man had no time to clear it himself.

B. Because the neighbors of the old man asked them to do.

C. Because they couldn’t stand the terrible smell.

D. Because the police officers were kind-hearted.

2. The police officers stood outside the old man’s house in order to __________.

A. Tell the old man that they knocked down his door

B. Ask the old man to clean his dirty house

C. Make the old man count the money in small bags.

D. Tell the old man that he was a millionaire.

3. What did the old man do after the police officer told him the news?

A. He did what he usually did the next day.

B. He stayed at home doing nothing.

C. He locked the door and went to the subway at once.

D. He sat in front of his house and continued to beg.

4. From the story we can infer that__________.

A. the old man cared about nothing but money

B. the old man wanted to do what he enjoyed doing

C. the policemen would take away all the money.

D. the old man would not beg any more

七选五

How to Love Your Parents

Even if you think that your parents are mean-spirited at times, loving your parents is a normal and fulfilling part of life. You love them for the fact that they created you, raised you, and are in part a source of who you are. Here are some ways to love your parents.

1.A gentle “good morning” and “I love you” will warm a coldest heart. Remember that they brought you into this world. Without your parents, we might still wander at an unknown corner in an unknown world. Respect them more and cherish these moments. You can use these moments to learn from them when you’re off on your own. It’s OK to get angry but angry actions don’t help you or your parents. Act calmly, cool off, journal about your feelings, or talk to a friend. 2.Obey their requests. It will make your attitude better and earn you more respect from them. It may seem like you are going through hell when you don’t get what you want or you have to clean. However, you had better remember they keep a roof over your head when it’s cold, raining, snowing, or too hot. Understand that parents are human beings and make mistakes.3. Since you can forgive your friends, why not forgive your parents?

Keep company with them. Do things with your parents like watching TV, or go somewhere with them. 4.Listen to their old stories and learn from them. You will find they are your teachers in this way or another.

Some people simply may not be able to love their parents.5.Seek help if you are being abused(虐待) in any way. Parents do not have a right to harm you.

A. Forgiveness is the key.

B. Tell them you love them every morning.

C. Parents will in turn express their love to you.

D. After this, share your feelings with your parents.

E. Anyway, spend as much time with them as you can.

F. Please remember parents are as important as friends.

G. There can be realistic reasons for this, family violence for example.

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