As the pace of life continues to increase, we are fast losing the art of relaxation. Once you are in the habit of rushing through life, being on the go from morning till night, it is hard to slow down. But relaxation is essential for a healthy mind and body.

    Stress is a natural part of everyday life and there is no way to avoid it. In fact, it is not the bad thing it is often supposed to be. A certain amount of stress is vital to provide motivation and give purpose to life. It is only when the stress gets out of control that it can lead to poor performance and ill health.

The amount of stress a person can withstand depends very much on the individual. Some people are not afraid of stress, and such characters are obviously prime material for managerial responsibilities, others lose heart at the first sign of unusual difficulties. When exposed to stress, in whatever form, we react both chemically and physically. In fact we make choice between "flight or fight" and in more primitive days the choices made the difference between life or death. The crises we meet today are unlikely to be so extreme, but however little the stress, it involves the same response. It is when such a reaction lasts long, through continued exposure to stress, that health becomes endangered. Since we can't remove stress from our lives (it would be unwise to do so even if we could), we need to find ways to deal with it.

46. People are finding less and less time for relaxing themselves because _____.

A. they regard working as their greatest enjoyment

B. they believe that work is superior to relaxation

C. they are traveling fast all the time

D. they are becoming busier with their work than ever before

47. According to the author, the most important character for a good manager is his _____.

A. strong will to hold out stress

B. knowing the art of relaxation

C. high sense of responsibility

D. having control over performance

48. Which of the following statements is TRUE, according to the passage?

A. We can find quite a few ways to avoid stress.

B. Stress is always harmful to people's health

C. It's easy to change the habit of keeping oneself busy with work.

D. Different people can bear different amount of stress.

49. In the last sentence of the passage, "do so" refers to _____.

A. "expose ourselves to stress"

B. "find ways to deal with stress"

C. "remove stress from our lives"

D. "establish links between diseases and stress"

50. According to the author, the right attitude toward stress is _____.

A. to avoid it                         B. to try to cope with it

C. to regard it as a vital motivation        D. to find some relaxation   

As the pace of life continues to increase, we are fast losing the art of relaxation．Once you are in the habit of rushing through life, being on the go from morning till night, it is hard to slow down．But relaxation is essential for a healthy mind and body.

Stress is a natural part of everyday life and there is no way to avoid it．In fact, it is not the bad thing it is often supposed to be．A certain amount of stress is vital to provide motivation and give purpose to life．It is only when the stress gets out of control that it can lead to poor performance and ill health.

The amount of stress a person can withstand depends very much on the individual．Some people are not afraid of stress, and such characters are obviously prime material for managerial responsibilities, others lose heart at the first sign of unusual difficulties．When exposed to stress, in whatever form, we react both chemically and physically．In fact we make choice between "flight or fight" and in more primitive days the choices made the difference between life or death．The crises we meet today are unlikely to be so extreme, but however little the stress, it involves the same response．It is when such a reaction lasts long, through continued exposure to stress, that health becomes endangered．Since we can't remove stress from our lives (it would be unwise to do so even if we could), we need to find ways to deal with it.

People are finding less and less time for relaxing themselves because _____.

       A．they regard working as their greatest enjoyment

       B．they believe that work is superior to relaxation

       C．they are traveling fast all the time

       D．they are becoming busier with their work than ever before

According to the author, the most important character for a good manager is his _____.

       A．strong will to hold out stress

       B．knowing the art of relaxation

       C．high sense of responsibility

       D．having control over performance

Which of the following statements is TRUE, according to the passage?

       A．We can find quite a few ways to avoid stress.

       B．Stress is always harmful to people's health

       C．It's easy to change the habit of keeping oneself busy with work.

       D．Different people can bear different amount of stress.

In the last sentence of the passage, “do so” refers to _____.

       A．"expose ourselves to stress"

       B．"find ways to deal with stress"

       C．"remove stress from our lives"

       D．"establish links between diseases and stress"

According to the author, the right attitude toward stress is _____.

       A．to avoid it                      

       B．to try to cope with it

       C．to regard it as a vital motivation     

       D．to find some relaxation

A technique that controls immediate gas explosions by spraying them with large droplets of water is being tested by scientists at the University of Wales, United Kingdom．Instead of using the traditional fine water sprays when a gas leak is detected, the researchers have discovered that large droplets help to draw in some of the force of any explosion and provide a better way of controlling fire．

The research is based on studies made of the Piper Alpha oil rig （油井） explosion that occurred in the North Sea nine years ago killing 167 workers．The Welsh team found that by covering the gas-leak area with water droplets, the explosion and its effect can be greatly reduced．

Dr Gerand Thomas, a good lecturer in physics at the university’s Center for Explosion Studies, said that it was impossible to deal with gas explosions in the same way as fires because the whole event may only last a quarter of a second and normal water sprays do not have time to be effective．

Using the droplets of water to hold explosions resulted in the water being turned into a mist that allows some force of the explosion to be reduced．The mist slows down the combustion （燃烧） process and can stop a large amount of the gas igniting （点火,燃烧）, thus greatly reducing damage by limiting pressure development．With such a system, the operator has to decide at what point after a gas leak to activate the sprays．

The Center for Explosion Studies is the first of its kind in the UK and has been purposely-built for the study and implication of industrial explosions on land and sea．Research is developed to the causes of accidental explosions and they might be prevented．Full-sized imitative buildings can be built at the center where explosions and fires are created to test preventative equipment using sensors to monitor their efficiency．

Another area that the Welsh researchers have been looking at is how materials respond to explosions．The center also carries out research requested by individual customers．

Which of the following would be the best title for the passage?

     A．Piper Alpha Oil Rig Explosion

     B．Large Droplets of Water

     C．A New Way of Controlling Gas Explosions

     D．The center for Explosion Studies

The research finds that _____ in holding immediate explosion．

     A．small water sprays are better than large droplets of water

     B．small water sprays are not as good as large droplets of water

     C．both small water sprays and large droplets of water are good

     D．neither small water sprays nor large droplets of water is good

Dr Geraint Thomas implies that ______．

     A．normal water sprays can put out fire effectively

     B．gas explosions break out more quickly than fires

     C．fires are easier to be held than explosions

     D．gas explosions break out so quickly that there is no way to control it

Which of the following is not included in the research area of the Center for Explosion Studies?

     A．To test the result of gas explosion．

     B．To get some implications of industrial explosions on land and sea．

     C．To find out how materials respond to explosions．

    D．To find out when material respond to explosions．

As we grow up, we gradually develop a set of our own values or beliefs. These are influenced by society, our family, the education we receive and so on. Once this value system is set up, it’s not easy to change later in life. Financial experts say that everyone also has his own belief of how to manage his money. According to our different values, experts put us in three catagories---the ant, the cricket(蟋蟀) and the snail.

★ The ant — work first

Just like ants who work heart and soul in summer in order to store food for winter, these people don't care about enjoying the moment. They work very hard and save money they earn so that they can enjoy life when they get old and retire. The ant loves to save, but they could make more out of their money if they were willing to invest in some funds and stocks with low risk.

★ The cricket — fun first

The cricket wants to enjoy everything now and doesn't think too much about the future. They even borrow money when they really want something. Many young people now belong to this group. These people have little savings. When they get old, they might have problems. They should learn to save and buy insurance.

★ The snail — life under pressure

The snail refers to people who make life difficult for themselves. They take big long-term loans(贷款) from the bank in order to buy things such as luxury houses. They are happy to take big loans even though they are not sure they can afford them. This can cause problems in the future. They should plan more carefully.

 One’s values may________.

A. be his ways of managing money

B. be his beliefs about society

C. be connected with his education

D. influence his behavior

 Mr. Smith always enjoys spending a weekend with his friends, fishing, hunting and playing cards. Besides, he spends money in a very luxurious way. So_______.

A. Mr. Smith belongs to the ant type

B. Mr. Smith belongs to the cricket type

C. Mr. Smith belongs to the snail type

D. it’s hard to tell which kind of person Mr. Smith is

The writer of the passage intends _______.

A. to introduce to us the three types of people with different life style

B. to show us his special attitude to the different people

C. to tell us life is full of joy and happiness all the time

D. to warn us how to live a better life in a new way

According to the passage, the most suitable title would be _______.

A. Nature of Spending

B. What Comes First

C. How to Understand Your Belief

D. Work and Fun

A story from the Bible tells of old Babylon, where the men decided to build a tower that would touch the sky．But God was unhappy, and he made them speak different languages．They couldn’t understand each other, so their dream never came true．

Yet the dream remains alive: if all men speak the same language, they can do anything．L．L．Zamenhof from Poland was among the men who pursue this dream．He developed Esperanto（世界语）between 1877 and 1885．

As the most successful man-made world language, it is spoken by over two million people around the world．Last month, the World Esperanto Congress（大会）, dealing with language rights, ended in Sweden．The 2004 conference will be held in Beijing．Most Esperanto speakers are in Central and Eastern Europe and in East Asia, particularly Chinese mainland．

Esperanto has two advantages．First, it’s easy．Each letter has exactly one sound and there are just 16 basic grammar rules．The second advantage is that it belongs to no one country．But Esperanto has only reached a small number of people compared with natural languages widely used around the world-such as English or Chinese．While these languages are deeply connected with their nations and cultures, Esperanto doesn’t have this background．

Will Esperanto really become a global language? It remains a question．

The writer tells us a story at the beginning to          ．

           A．explain why men have been making the effort to create a language shared by all

              B．explain why men now speak different languages

              C．show the relationship between man and God

              D．prove that language is very important

What does the underlined word “pursue” in the second paragraph mean?

              A．“Realize”．     B．“Work for”．   C．“Be against”． D．“Follow”．

What is the basic difference between Esperanto and English?

              A．More people speak English than Esperanto．

              B．Esperanto words are easier to spell．

              C．Esperanto has fewer grammar rules．

              D．Esperanto is not supported by any country or culture．

What does the story mainly talk about?

              A．Advantages and disadvantages of Esperanto．

              B．Men’s dream of sharing the same language．

              C．The most successful planned language-Esperanto．

              D．Comparison of Esperanto and other languages like English and Chinese．