Say you are a 17th century construction worker who’s worked long and hard to build a splendid tower for the dead wife of your emperor.

       Now say that the emperor orders your fingertips cut off so you can never build another one. Yes, that is the Taj Mahal, one of the most famous buildings in the world. And the tale behind the construction is just as impressive（印象深刻的）as the building itself.

       First, there’s the emperor of northern India, Shah Jehan, also called the King of the World. In 1612, Shah Jehan married Mumtaz Mahal. Madly in love, they had 14 children over the next 20 years. But then sadness came. As Mumtaz was about to give birth to child number 14, she said she had heard her unborn baby cry out. It was a sign of death. And as Mumtaz lay dying, she asked Jehan to build a lasting memorial（纪念物） to celebrate their love.

       When the heartbroken Jehan appeared eight days after his wife’s death, his people were shocked to see that his coal-black hair had turned snow-white.

Putting away his sadness, Jehan ordered his wife’s dying wish carried out. More than 20,000 workers labored nearly 22 years to complete the construction. In 1653, Jehan placed Mumtaz’s remains in the center under the building.

       And then, son number five, Aurangzeb, murdered his brothers and took over the power from his aging father. Hehan lived the rest of his days－eight years, to be exact － imprisoned not far from the Taj Mahal. Jehan was only allowed to climb onto the top of his prison to see the timeless treasure from a distance. But never again would he be allowed to visit it－until he was buried next to his wife.

       Today 25,000 people visit the Taj Mahal each day. Though the reason for building the tower was a strange, sad story, those who see its breath-taking beauty are reminded of the happiness that inspired（激发……的灵感） its construction.

59．The first two paragraphs were written to show that _____.

       A.the Taj Mahal is an unusual historic building

       B. ancient Indian emperors were cruel

       C. construction workers led a hard life in ancient India

       D. India has some of the most famous buildings in the world

60．The Taj Mahal was first built as _____.

       A. a prison           B. a gift to Mumtaz     

       C. a memorial building        D. a tourist attraction

61．We learn from the text that Mumtaz probably died in _____.

       A. 1626           B. 1632            C. 1634            D. 1653

62．The underlined word “happiness” in the last sentence refers to _____.

       A. the married happiness of the emperor and his wife

       B. the great pleasure Jehan once found in exercising his power

       C. the happiness Jehan felt on completing the Taj Mahal

       D. the pleasure tourists experience when visiting the Taj Mahal

Say sorry to your wife---it may help her live longer, according to scientists.
“Sorry” may be the hardest word, but scientists say it could be one of the healthiest. Researchers have discovered that women who receive an apology for hurtful behavior suffer less stress and possible damage to their heart than those who don’t.
It is said that the heartbeat of a wronged woman returns to normal 20 percent quicker after a well-timed “sorry” than without it. But for men, their heartbeat takes longer to recover, according to the research.
The research was undertaken by American scientists using 29 men and 59  women whose diastolic blood pressure was measured throughout an experiment. Diastolic blood pressure
is a measure of pressure in the blood vessels( 血管 ) between heartbeats---if it is continuously high it can increase the chances of heart attacks.
The men and women were asked to undertake a difficult mathematical task. They were told they had five minutes to complete it but were disturbed after a minute and told rudely to carry out the task more quickly. They were disturbed twice more before five minutes had passed and told to speed up. Finally they were told, “ You’re obviously not good enough.” Two minutes later researchers said sorry to half of the men and women.
The researchers found that, on average, the women’s diastolic blood pressure dropped back to normal 20 percent---quicker if they received an apology from the researchers, while the men’s took 20 percent longer to return to normal. One of the researchers said, “Results indicates that the effects of apology and forgiveness on women are greater.”
【小题1】The term “sorry” is considered as one of the healthiest words because it _________.

Say you meet with difficulty, what’s the first thing you do? Call your best friend and ask for help? It turns out that doing this may be better for you than you think. Researchers find that friendship has a big influence on your health, well-being and business.
One study from scientists recently found that older people with a large circle of friends were 22% less likely to die during a 10-year period than those with fewer friends. Other researchers discovered that having a strong social network could improve brain health as we age.
Even more interesting, feeling close to your friends may give you a different view on things. Researchers gathered 34 college students out side and asked them to estimate the steepness(估计陡峭程度) of a hill after climbing it. Those standing with friends gave lower estimates, and the longer the friends had known each other, the less steep the hill appeared.
What is the reason that friends can make obstacles seem less difficult? “People with stronger friendship networks feel that there is someone they can turn to,” said Karen A. Roberto, director of the center of the hospital at Virginia Tech. “Friendship is a valued resource (宝贵的资源).”
It is truly the fact. Friends make your life better. They provide support in hard times. They inspire you to make changes in your life, encourage you to set goals and cheer you on every step of the way until you reach them.
Want to find out more about the power of friendship? Read “Be a Better Friend”, “Make New Friends” and “Keep the Old”.
1. According to the author, if you’ve lost your job you should        .
A. turn to your best friend      B. ask for advice from your teacher
C. face it bravely by yourself    D. ask your parents for help
2. We can learn from the study in Paragraph 2 that        .
A. people with a lot of friends can stay away from illnesses
B. people with many friends may enjoy a longer life
C. 22% of the people who have fewer friends have a short life
D. those who have fewer friends may die 10 years earlier.
3. The underlined word “obstacles” in Paragraph 4 probably refers to some thing___________
A. that you are hoping to achieve by a plan
B. that happens to you when you are working
C. that makes it difficult for us to achieve something
D. that you have been trying to do
4. The fifth paragraph was written to tell us that        .
A. we should make many friends  B. true friendship lives long
C. friend ship has changed us     D. friendship should be valued

Say you are a 17th century construction worker who’s worked hard to build a splendid tower for the dead wife of your emperor.

    Now say that the emperor orders your fingertips cut off so you can never build another one. Yes, this story is about the Taj Mahal, one of the most famous buildings in the world. And the tale behind the construction is just as impressive (令人赞叹的) as the building itself.

    First, there’s the emperor of northern India, Shah Jehan, also called the King of the World. In 1612, Shah Jehan married Mumtaz Mahal. Mad in love, they had 14 children over the next 20 years. But then sadness came. As Mumtaz was about to give birth to child number 14, she said she heard her unborn baby cry out. It was a sign of death. And as Mumtaz lay dying, she asked Jehan to build a lasting memorial (纪念物) to celebrate their love.

    The heartbroken Jehan ordered his wife’s dying wish carried out, and more than 20,000 workers worked nearly 22 years to complete the construction. In 1653, Jehan placed Mumtaz’s remains under the center of the building.

    Later, son number five, Aurangzeb, murdered his brothers and took over the power from his aging father. Jehan lived the rest of his days, eight years, imprisoned not far from the Taj Mahal. Jehan was only allowed to climb onto the top of his prison to see the timeless treasure from a distance. But never again would he be allowed to visit it until he was buried next to his wife.

    Today 25,000 people visit the Taj Mahal each day. Though the reason for building the tower was a strange and sad story, people who see its breath-taking beauty are reminded of the happiness that inspired its construction.

1.The first two paragraphs were written mainly to show that ______.

A. the Taj Mahal is an unusual historic building

B. India has some of the most famous buildings in the world

C. ancient Indian emperors were cruel

D. construction workers led a hard life in ancient India

2.The Taj Mahal was first built as ______.

A. a memorial building          B. a tourist attraction

C. a prison                   D. a gift to Mumtaz

3.From the passage we can learn that Mumtaz probably died in ______.

A. 1626            B. 1653    C. 1632        D. 1634

4.The underlined word “happiness” in the last paragraph refers to “______”.

A. the happiness Jehan felt on completing the Taj Mahal

B. the pleasure tourists experience when visiting the Taj Mahal

C. the married happiness of the emperor and his wife

D. the great pleasure Jehan once found in exercising his power

Say sorry to your wife---it may help her live longer, according to scientists.

“Sorry” may be the hardest word, but scientists say it could be one of the healthiest. Researchers have discovered that women who receive an apology for hurtful behavior suffer less stress and possible damage to their heart than those who don’t.

It is said that the heartbeat of a wronged woman returns to normal 20 percent quicker after a well-timed “sorry” than without it. But for men, their heartbeat takes longer to recover, according to the research.

The research was undertaken by American scientists using 29 men and 59  women whose diastolic blood pressure was measured throughout an experiment. Diastolic blood pressure

is a measure of pressure in the blood vessels( 血管 ) between heartbeats---if it is continuously high it can increase the chances of heart attacks.

The men and women were asked to undertake a difficult mathematical task. They were told they had five minutes to complete it but were disturbed after a minute and told rudely to carry out the task more quickly. They were disturbed twice more before five minutes had passed and told to speed up. Finally they were told, “ You’re obviously not good enough.” Two minutes later researchers said sorry to half of the men and women.

The researchers found that, on average, the women’s diastolic blood pressure dropped back to normal 20 percent---quicker if they received an apology from the researchers, while the men’s took 20 percent longer to return to normal. One of the researchers said, “Results indicates that the effects of apology and forgiveness on women are greater.”

1.The term “sorry” is considered as one of the healthiest words because it _________.

2.We can know from Paragraph 3 _________.

3.Which of the following is the RIGHT time order for events in the study?

a. Half of them received apologies.

b. They were disturbed a minute later.

c. They were told that they weren’t good enough.

d. They were asked to finish a math task in five minutes.

e. They were disturbed two more times during the study.

4.The research confirmed (证实) that _________.