Songs that make our hearts happy can make them stronger too, US researchers reported on Tuesday.

They found that when people listened to their favorite music, their blood vessels（血管）dilated in much the same way as when they are laughing, or taking blood medications.

"We have a pretty impressive effect," said Dr Michael Miller, director of preventive cardiology（心脏病学）at the University of Maryland Medical Center in Baltimore.

"Blood vessel diameter improved," he said. "The vessel opened up pretty significantly. You can see the vessels opening up with other activities such as exercise. " A similar effect is seen with drugs such as statins.

When blood vessels open up more, blood flows more smoothly and is less likely to form the clots（凝块）that cause heart attacks and strokes. "We are not saying to stop your statins or not to exercise but rather to add this to an overall program of heart health," said Miller, who presented his findings to a meeting of the American Heart Association in New Orleans.

Miller's team tested 10 healthy, non-smoking men and women, who were told to bring their favorite music. They spent half an hour listening to the recordings and half an hour listening to music they said made them feel anxious while the researchers did ultrasound tests designed to show blood vessel function.

Compared to their normal baseline measurements, blood vessel diameter increased 26 percent on average when the volunteers heard their joyful music. Listening to music they disliked—in most cases in this group heavy metal—blood vessels narrowed by six percent, Miller said.

Miller said he came up with the idea after discovering that laughter caused blood to literally flow more smoothly. "I asked myself what other things make us feel real good, besides calories from dark chocolate of course. Music came to mind. . . . It makes me feel really good," he said.

Most of the volunteers chose country music but Miller said the style is not so important rather than what pleases each individual.

51. The underlined word dilate（in paragraph 2）is closest in meaning to “_____”.

A. widen             B. move         C. change              D. increase

52. According to the passage, which of the following will NOT cause blood vessels to open up?

A. Taking exercise.                    B. Listening to unpleasant music.

C. Bursting into laughter.           D. Taking drugs like statins.

53. It can be inferred from the passage that _____.

A. blood clots are caused by heart attacks and strokes

B. music is better than chocolate for your health

C. the style of music has different effects on different people

D. a person’s overall health is more influenced by how much exercise he gets

54. What is the passage possibly taken out from?

A. A scientific journal.                B. A school textbook.

C. A medical brochure.                      D. A local newspaper.

55. What’s the best title of the passage?

A. Pleasant Music Cures         B. Research into Blood Vessel

C. Music and Heart Attack            D. Music and Happiness

In the case of mobile phones, change is everything. Recent research indicates that the mobile phone is changing not only our culture, but our very bodies as well．
First, let's talk about culture. The difference between the mobile phone and its parent, the fixed-line phone, is that a mobile number corresponds to a person, while a landline goes to a place. If you call my mobile, you get me. If you call my fixed-line phone, you get whoever answers it．
This has several implications（含义）. The most common one, however, and perhaps the thing that has changed our culture forever, is the “meeting” influence. People no longer need to make firm plans about when and where to meet. Twenty years ago, a Friday night would need to be arranged in advance. You needed enough time to allow everyone to get from their place of work to the first meeting place. Now，however, a night out can be arranged on the run. It is no longer “see you there at 8”，but "text me around 8 and we'll see where we all are."
Texting changes people as well. In their paper, “Insights into the Social and Psychological Effects of SMS Text Messaging", two British researchers distinguished between two types of mobile phone users: the “talkers” and the “texters”-those who prefer voice to text messages and those who prefer text to voice.
They found that the mobile phone's individuality and privacy gave texters the ability to express a whole new outer personality. Texters were likely to report that their family would be surprised if they were to read their texts. This suggests that texting allowed texters to present a self-image that differed from the one familiar to those who knew them well．
Another scientist wrote of the changes that mobiles have brought to body language. There are two kinds that people use while speaking on the phone. There is the “speakeasy”: the head is held high, in a self-confident way, chatting away. And there is the “spacemaker”: these people focus on themselves and keep out other people.
Who can blame them? Phone meetings get cancelled or reformed and camera- phones intrude（侵入）on people's privacy. So, it is understandable if your mobile makes you nervous. But perhaps you needn't worry so much. After all, it is good to talk

1. 1.

   According to the two British researchers, the social and psychological effects are mostly likely to be seen on            
   

   1. A.
      talkers
   2. B.
      the “speakeasy”
   3. C.
      the “spacemaker"
   4. D.
      texters
2. 2.

   We can infer from the passage that the texts sent by texters are

   1. A.
      quite revealing
   2. B.
      well written
   3. C.
      unacceptable by others
   4. D.
      shocking to others
3. 3.

   According to the passage, who is afraid of being heard while talking on the mobile?

   1. A.
      Talkers
   2. B.
      The“speakeasy”
   3. C.
      The “spacemaker”
   4. D.
      Texters
4. 4.

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

   1. A.
      The SMS Effect
   2. B.
      Cultural implications of Mobile Phone Use
   3. C.
      Changes in the Use of the Mobile
   4. D.
      Body Language and the Mobile Phone

Japanese people,who never miss a chance to be photographed,were lining up to get their pictures on a postage stamp．Vanity（虚荣）stamps with personal photographs went on sale for the first time in Japan as part of an international postage stamp exhibition．The customer’s photo was taken with a digital camera and then printed on stamp sheets,a process that takes about five minutes．Sold in a sheet of 10 stamps for $8．80,little more than the cost of lunch in Tokyo,each stamp printed a different scene from a traditional painting along with the photo．
The stamps can be used normally to mail a letter,and postal officials hope they will help encourage interest in letter writing in the Internet age．“Certainly e-mail is a useful method of communication,but letters are fun in a different way,”said Hatsumi Shimizu an official in the Post Ministry．“We want to show young people that letters can be fun too．”
While similar stamp sheets appeared in Australia in 1999 and are now sold in some nations and territories,Japan’s fondness for commemorative photos is likely to make them especially popular here．Indeed,officials had prepared 1 000 sheets but they were sold out in less than 30 minutes．Although the stamps are currently only available as a special service during the exhibition,postal officials said they may start selling them on a regular basis in the future．
【小题1】The best title of this passage might be______．

Japanese people,who never miss a chance to be photographed,were lining up to get their pictures on a postage stamp．Vanity（虚荣）stamps with personal photographs went on sale for the first time in Japan as part of an international postage stamp exhibition．The customer’s photo was taken with a digital camera and then printed on stamp sheets,a process that takes about five minutes．Sold in a sheet of 10 stamps for $8．80,little more than the cost of lunch in Tokyo,each stamp printed a different scene from a traditional painting along with the photo．
The stamps can be used normally to mail a letter,and postal officials hope they will help encourage interest in letter writing in the Internet age．“Certainly e-mail is a useful method of communication,but letters are fun in a different way,”said Hatsumi Shimizu an official in the Post Ministry．“We want to show young people that letters can be fun too．”[
While similar stamp sheets appeared in Australia in 1999 and are now sold in some nations and territories,Japan’s fondness for commemorative photos is likely to make them especially popular here．Indeed,officials had prepared 1 000 sheets but they were sold out in less than 30 minutes．Although the stamps are currently only available as a special service during the exhibition,postal officials said they may start selling them on a regular basis in the future．
【小题1】The best title of this passage might be______．

Japanese people,who never miss a chance to be photographed,were lining up to get their pictures on a postage stamp.Vanity（虚荣）stamps with personal photographs went on sale for the first time in Japan as part of an international postage stamp exhibition.The customer’s photo was taken with a digital camera and then printed on stamp sheets,a process that takes about five minutes.Sold in a sheet of 10 stamps for $8.80,little more than the cost of lunch in Tokyo,each stamp printed a different scene from a traditional painting along with the photo.
The stamps can be used normally to mail a letter,and postal officials hope they will help encourage interest in letter writing in the Internet age.“Certainly e-mail is a useful method of communication,but letters are fun in a different way,”said Hatsumi Shimizu an official in the Post Ministry.“We want to show young people that letters can be fun too.”
While similar stamp sheets appeared in Australia in 1999 and are now sold in some nations and territories,Japan’s fondness for commemorative photos is likely to make them especially popular here.Indeed,officials had prepared 1 000 sheets but they were sold out in less than 30 minutes.Although the stamps are currently only available as a special service during the exhibition,postal officials said they may start selling them on a regular basis in the future.

1. 1.

   The best title of this passage might be______.

   1. A.
      Never Miss a Chance to be Photographed
   2. B.
      Your Own Face on a Postage Stamp
   3. C.
      First Japanese Postage Stamps with a Photo
   4. D.
      Letters are as Fun as E-mails
2. 2.

   By saying“little more than the cost of lunch in Tokyo”,the author really means______.

   1. A.
      this service is not very expensive
   2. B.
      the cost of this service is very high
   3. C.
      food in Tokyo is very dear
   4. D.
      $8.80 is a very small amount of money
3. 3.

   The purpose of this activity is______.

   1. A.
      to make the international postage stamp exhibition more interesting
   2. B.
      to make more stamps for normal use
   3. C.
      to draw interest in writing letters
   4. D.
      to satisfy Japan’s fondness of commemorative photos
4. 4.

   Which of the following is true according to the passage?

   1. A.
      Japanese people like to take photos.
   2. B.
      This kind of stamps must be used to mail letters.
   3. C.
      Japanese people can get this kind of stamps easily after the stamp exhibition.
   4. D.
      This service is more popular in Japan than in other places.