When I was 17 ,I read a quote that went something like: "If you live each day as if it was your last,someday you'll most certainly be right. " It made an impression on me,and since then,for the past 33 years,I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself:"If to?day was the last day of my life,would I want to do what I am about to do today?" And when?ever the answer has been "no" for too many days in a row,I know I need to change something.

Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything — all external (夕卜表的) expecta?tions,all pride,all fear of embarrassment or failure―these things just fall away in the face of death,leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.

About a year ago I was diagnosed with cancer. I had a scan at 7:30 in the morning,and it clearly showed a tumor on my pancreas (肢腺) .I didn't even know what a pancreas was. The doctors told me this was almost certainly a type of cancer that is incurable,and that I should ex?pect to live no longer than three to six months. My doctor advised me to go home and get my affairs in order,which is doctor's code for prepare to die. It means to try to tell your kids everything you thought you'd have the next 10 years to tell them in just a few months. It means to make sure that everything is buttoned up so that it will be as easy as possible for your family. It means to say your goodbyes.

I lived with that diagnosis all day. Later that evening I had a biopsy (活体检视) ,where they stuck an endoscope (内窥镜) down my throat,through my stomach and into my intestines (肠) , put a needle into my pancreas and got a few cells from the tumor. I was sedated (麻醉) ,but my wife,who was there,told me that when they viewed the cells under a microscope,the doctors started crying because it turned out to be a very rare form of pancreatic cancer that is curable with surgery. I had the surgery and I'm fine now.

(   ) 5. What does the last sentence of the passage imply?

   A. After the surgery,the writer is now fully recovered from his illness.

   B. Before the surgery,the writer knows it is hard for him to be well again.

   C. During the surgery,the writer feels quite lucky the cancer is curable.

   D. When the writer had the surgery,he is sure that cancer is nothing to fear.

(   ) 6. The underlined words "get my affairs in order" in the third paragraph most probably means         .

   A. put my things in the case in order

   B. have my things packed in order

   C. arrange everything in proper trim

   D. replace something as planned

(   ) 7. Which of the following words best describes the author's attitude towards his cancer?

   A. Disordered. B. Depressed. C. Disturbed. D. Deliberated.

(   ) 8. Which of the following might be the best title for the text?

   A. Cherish Life and Make It Meaningful

   B. Appreciate Life and Pursuit What is Important

   C. Understand Life and Ignore Any Kinds of Illness

   D. Treasure Life and Enjoy Every Minute of It

Efforts to educate people about the risks of substance abuse (毒品滥用) seem to deter (阻止) some people from using dangerous substances,if such efforts are realistic about what is genuine?ly (真正地) dangerous and what is not. Observed declines in the use of such drugs as LSD(摇头丸) ,PCP(迷幻药) ,and Quaalude (安眠酮) since the early 1970s are probably related to in?creased awareness of the risks of their use,and some of this awareness was the result of warn?ings about these drugs in " underground" papers read by drug users. Such sources are influential (有4艮大的影响) ,because they do not give a simple " all drugs are terrible for you" message. Drug users know there are big variations (变化) in danger among drugs,and antidrug education that ignores or denies this is likely to be ridiculed. This is illustrated by the popularity among young marijuana (大麻) users of Reefer Madness,a widely unrealistic propaganda (宣传) film against marijuana made in the 1930s. This film made the rounds of college campuses in the 1970s and joined rock music videos on cable television's MTV in the 1980s. Instead of deterring mari?juana use,it became a cult (风靡一时的) film among users,many of whom got high to watch it.

Although persuasion can work for some people if it is balanced and reasonable,other peo?ple seem immune to the most reasoned educational efforts. Millions have started smoking even though the considerable health risks of smoking have been well known and publicized for years. Moreover,the usefulness of education lies in primary prevention:prevention of abuse among those who presently have no problem. Hence,Bomier's contention (看法,观点) that "if the Pepsi generation can be persuaded to drink pop wine,they can be persuaded not to drink it while driv?ing" is probably not correct,since most drunken driving is done by people who already have significant drinking problems,and hence seem not to be dissuaded (劝阻) even by much stronger measures such as loss of a driver's license.

(   ) 5. The purpose of the passage is to show that the author thinks antidrug education

   A. has made all people see the danger of drugs

   B. has succeeded in dissuading people from using drugs

   C. has been effective only to a certain degree

   D. has proved to be a total failure

(   ) 6. What is the main reason to stop some people from using drugs?

   A. Efforts to reduce drug using.

   B. Increased awareness and warning of the risk of their use.

   C. Punishments seem to be an effective way.

   D. Primary prevention is a useful method.

(   ) 7. The message "all drugs are terrible for you" is not influential because         .

   A. it ignores the fact that drugs vary greatly in danger

   B. it gives a false account of the risks of drug use

   C. some drugs are good for health

   D. it does not appear in underground papers

(   ) 8. Which of the following might be the best title for the passage?

   A. Are All Drugs Terrible for You?

   B. Do People Believe What Underground Papers Say?

   C. Is There an Increased Awareness of the Risks of Drugs?

   D. Can Persuasion Reduce Drug Abuse?

I just finished taking an evening class at Stanford. The last lecture was on the mindbody connection―the relationship between stress and disease. The speaker (head of psychiatry (精神病学) at Stanford) said,among other things,one of the best things that a man could do for his health is to be married to a woman,whereas for a woman,one of the best things she could do for her health was to nurture (培育) her relationships with her girlfriends. At first everyone laughed,but he was serious.

Women connect with each other differently and provide support systems that help each other to deal with stress and difficult life experiences. Physically this quality "girlfriend time" helps us to create more serotonin一a neurotransmitter (神经传递素) that helps combat depression and can create a general feeling of well being. Women share feelings whereas men often form relationships around activities. They rarely sit down with a buddy (伙伴) and talk about how they feel about certain things or how their personal lives are going. Jobs? Yes. Sports? Yes. Cars? Yes. Fishing,hunting,golf? Yes. But their feelings? Rarely. Women do it all of the time. We share from our souls with our sisters,and evidently that is very good for our health. He said that spending time with a friend is just as important to our general health as jogging or working out at a gym.

There's a tendency to think that when we are "exercising" we are doing something good for our bodies,but when we are hanging out with friends,we are wasting our time and should be more productively engaged―not true. In fact,he said that failure to create and maintain quality personal relationships with other humans is as dangerous to our physical health as smoking!So every time you hang out to schmooze (闲谈) with a gal pal,just pat yourself on the back and congratulate yourself for doing something good for your health!We are indeed very very lucky. So let's toast to our friendship with our girlfriends. Evidently it's very good for our health.

(   ) 5. It can be concluded that women tend to share feelings to deal with stress whereas men

   A. often sit down with a friend to talk about their feelings

   B. seldom share their feelings of depression with friends

   C. sometimes exchange their feelings about personal lives with friends

   D. always do different activities to combat depression with friends

(   ) 6. The underlined phrase "working out" in the second paragraph most probably means

   A. figuring out the algebra problems 

   B. puzzling out the answer to the problem 

   C. doing physical exercise  

   D. solving the difficult problem

(   ) 7. The purpose of the first paragraph is to show that         .

   A. marriage is good for men while relationships with girlfriends essential for women to be healthy

   B. it is a best thing for men and women to get married in order to keep healthy

   C. the speaker was serious to talk about the relationship between stress and disease

   D. one of the best things women could do for health was to nurture the relationships with boyfriends

(   ) 8. What can we learn from the last paragraph?

   A. "Exercising" good for our bodies, "hanging out" wasting our time.

   B. A disagreeable relationship with other persons is similarly dangerous to our health.

   C. We have reasons to toast to the friendship with our girlfriends.

   D. Hanging out with friends should be more productively engaged.

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