People have smoked cigarettes for a long time now. The tobacco which is used to make cigarettes was first grown in what is now part of the United States. Christopher Columbus, who discovered America, saw the Indians smoking. Soon the dried leaves were transported to Europe . In the late 1800s, the Turks made cigarettes popular.
Cigarette smoke contains at least two harmful substances, tar and nicotine. Tar, which forms as the tobacco burns, damages the lungs and therefore affects breathing. Nicotine, which is found in the leaves, causes the heart to beat faster and increases the breathing rate. Nicotine in large can kill a person by stopping a person’s breathing muscles. Smokers usually take in small amounts that the body can quickly break down.
Nicotine can make new smokers feel dizzy(头晕) or sick to their stomachs. The heart rate for young smokers increases 2 to 3 beats per minute. Nicotine also lowers skin temperature and reduces blood flow in the legs and feet. It plays an important role in increasing smokers’ risk of heart disease and stroke.
Smoking cigarettes is dangerous. Cigarette smoking was the cause of lung cancer and several other deadly diseases.
【小题1】.
Tobacco first appeared in_________.

People who speak or perform before the public sometimes may suffer from “Stage Fright. ” Stage fright makes a person nervous. In the worst case(情况) it can make one's mind go back and forget what one ought to say,  or to act. Actors, musicians, dancers, lawyers, even radio show hosts(节目主持人) have suffered from stage fright at one time or another.
Diana Nichols is an expert in helping people free from stage fright at a medical centre in New York City. She helps actors learn to control themselves. Miss Nichols says some people have always been afraid to perform before the audience. Others, she says, develop stage fright after a fearful experience.
She offers them ways to control the fear. One way is to smile before going onto the stage. Taking two deep breaths also helps. Deep breathing helps you get control of your body.
Miss Nichols persuades her patients to tell themselves that their speech or performance does not have to the perfect. It's all right to make a mistake. She tells them they should not be too cautions(谨慎的) while they are performing. It is important that they should continue to perform while she is helping them. After each performance, they discuss what happened and find out what advice helped and what did not. As they perform more and more, they will fear less and less as much as 50%. Miss Nichols says the aim is only to reduce stage fright, not to eliminate it completely. This is because a little stage fright makes a person more cautious, and improves the performance.
1 One who is suffering stage fright may        .
A. forget one's part before the audience
B. smile all the time on the stage
C. make a speech fast than ever
D. be cautious to improve his performance
2 The underlined word “eliminate” in the last paragraph means        .
A. keep          B. reduce           C. change          D. get rid of
3 The wrong way to overcome stage fright is        .
A. to smile before going to the stage.
B. to take two deep breaths to calm oneself
C. to pay less attention to one's mistakes in performance
D. to perform less and to watch more
4 Which of the following statements is right?
A. We can get rid of stage fright completely.
B. A little stage fright can make actors perform better.
C. We can reduce stage fright as much as one third.
D. A little stage fright leads to complete failure.

Women consistently lie on social networking sites such as Facebook or Twitter to make their lives appear more exciting, a survey has found.

Researchers found that at least one in four women exaggerated or distorted what they are doing on social media once a month. The survey of 2000 women found they mostly pretended to be out on the town, when in fact they are home alone, and embellished about an exotic holiday or their job.

The most common reasons for women to write “fibs” included worrying their lives would seem “boring”, jealousy at seeing other people’s more exciting posts and wanting to impress their friends and acquaintances.

Psychologists suggested that as people attempt to “stay connected” on social media, they can in fact “paradoxically” be left “more isolated”. They also said that the “more we try to make our lives seem perfect, the less perfect we feel”.

According to the OnePoll survey, one third of women surveyed admitted to “dishonesty” on social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter at some stage.

Almost one in four admitted to lying or exaggerating about key aspects of their life online between one and three times a month while almost one in 10 said they lied more than once a week.

Nearly 30 percent of women lied about “doing something when I am home alone”, almost a quarter overstated their alcohol consumption while one in five were not truthful about their holiday activities or their jobs. Almost one in five women even lied about their “relationship status”.

“We work very hard presenting ourselves to the world online, pretending and attempting to be happy all the time which is exhausting and ultimately unfulfilling,” said Dr Michael Sinclair, a leading British consultant psychologist.

“Omitting the less desirable imperfections of our lives from the conversations with our `friends` online leads to less opportunity to feel empathized with(与…产生共鸣), resulting in a greater sense of disconnection from others.”

The survey was commissioned by Pencourage, a new anonymous “diary-style” social media website.

1.Which of the words below is closest in meaning to the underlined word “fibs” in Para 3?

A．life experiences                        B．short stories

C．careful thoughts                        D．insignificant lies

2.A woman tends to tell a lie online when she__________.

A．hopes to make more friends               B．envies other people’s exciting life

C．feels lonely at home                     D．gets tired of the boring life

3.A woman might pretend to be happier online than she actually is by __________.

A．avoiding conversations with friends

B．describing her holiday activities

C．leaving out the imperfections in life

D．overstating her trouble at work

4.According to Dr Michael Sinclair, constantly lying online may __________.

A．eventually make one’s life more exciting

B．actually lead to a sense of isolation

C．really improve one’s sense of happiness

D．scarcely have any influence on relationships

My Fellow Americans,

I have recently been told that I am one of the millions of Americans who will be suffered from Alzheimer’s Disease (老年痴呆症).

Upon learning this news, Nancy & I had to decide whether as private citizens we would   36   this a private matter or we would make this news known in a   37   way.

In the past Nancy suffered from breast cancer   38   I had my cancer surgeries (外科手术). We found that after we told it to the public, we were able to   39   public awareness(意识). We were happy that   40   many more people went to have a test. They were treated in early stages and able to   41   to normal, healthy lives.

So now, we feel it is   42   to share it with you. In opening our hearts, we hope this might promote greater   43   of this condition. Perhaps it will encourage a clearer understanding of the individuals and families who are   44   by it.

At the moment I feel just fine. I’d   45   to live the remainder of the years God gives me on this earth doing the things I have   46   done. I will continue to share   47    journey with my beloved Nancy and my family. I plan to enjoy the great outdoors and stay in touch   48   my friends and supporters.

Unfortunately, as Alzheimer’s Disease   49  , the family often suffers a lot. I only wish there was some way I could spare Nancy from this   50   experience. When the time comes I am confident that with your help she will   51   it with faith and courage.

At last, let me thank you, the American people for giving me the great honor of   52    me to serve as your President. When the Lord calls me home,   53   that may be, I will leave with the greatest love for this country of ours and endless optimism (乐观) for its future.

I now begin this   54   that will lead me into the sunset of my life. I know that for America there will always be a bright   55   ahead.

Thank you my friends. May God always bless you.

                                                                                                         Sincerely,

                                                                              Ronald Reagan

A. stay                    B. keep                        C. hold                         D. pretend

A. proper                   B. good                        C. public                   D. suitable

A. and                    B. but                          C. or                            D. so

A. raise                   B. make                       C. take                         D. turn

A. by the way             B. on condition             C. in a whole             D. as a result

A. repeat                    B. cover                    C. return                   D. replace

A. impossible             B. important              C. pity                      D. obvious

A. care                B. encouragement       C. awareness           D. decision

A. protected            B. affected                    C. examined              D. effected

A. intend                  B. want                        C. love                      D. continue

A. finally                 B. seldom                     C. always                      D. rarely

A. life’s                   B. one’s                     C. other’s                   D. today’s

A. for                   B. with                         C. by                        D. on

A. progresses            B. cures                    C. removes                D. recovers

A. meaningful          B. useful                   C. careful                      D. painful

A. treat                    B. see                           C. face                      D. consider

A. having                 B. allowing                   C. showing                D. declaring

A. whoever                  B. wherever                  C. whenever              D. whatever

A. life                   B. road                         C. line                       D. journey

A. evening            B. day                          C. night                     D. dawn

Pacing and Pausing

       Sara tried to befriend her old friend Steve's new wife, but Betty never seemed to have anything to say. While Sara felt Betty didn't hold up her end of the conversation, Betty complained to Steve that Sara never gave her a chance to talk. The problem had to do with expectations about pacing and pausing.

       Conversation is a turn-taking game. When our habits are similar, there's no problem. But if our habits are different, you may start to talk before I'm finished or fail to take your turn when I'm finished. That's what was happening with Betty and Sara.

       It may not be coincidental that Betty, who expected relatively longer pauses between turns, is British, and Sara, who expected relatively shorter pauses, is American. Betty often felt interrupted by Sara. But Betty herself became an interrupter and found herself doing most of the talking when she met a visitor from Finland. And Sara had a hard time cutting in on some speakers from Latin America or Israel.

       The general phenomenon, then, is that the small conversation techniques, like pacing and pausing, lead people to draw conclusions not about conversational style but about personality and abilities. These habitual differences are often the basis for dangerous stereotyping (思维定式). And these social phenomena can have very personal consequences. For example, a woman from the southwestern part of the US went to live in an eastern city to take up a job in personnel. When the Personnel Department got together for meetings, she kept searching for the right time to break in--and never found it. Although back home she was considered outgoing and confident, in Washington she was viewed as shy and retiring. When she was evaluated at the end of the year, she was told to take a training course because of her inability to speak up.

        That's why slight differences in conversational style--tiny little things like microseconds of pause-can have a great effect on one's life. The result in this case was a judgment of psychological problems---even in the mind of the woman herself, who really wondered what was wrong with her and registered for assertiveness training.

1. What did Sara think of Betty when talking with her?

      A. Betty was talkative.

      B. Betty was an interrupter.

      C. Betty did not take her turn.

      D. Betty paid no attention to Sara.

2. According to the passage, who are likely to expect the shortest pauses between turns?

      A. Americans.    B. Israelis.        C. The British.     D. The Finns.

3. We can learn from the passage that ____________

      A. communication breakdown results from short pauses and fast pacing

B. women are unfavorably stereotyped in eastern cities of the US

      C. one's inability to speak up is culturally determined sometimes

D. one should receive training to build up one's confidence

4. The underlined word "assertiveness" in the last paragraph probably means ____________

      A. being willing to speak one's mind

B. being able to increase one's power

C. being ready to make one's own judgment

      D. being quick to express one's ideas confidently