A Charlotte, N.C., man was charged with first-degree murder of a 79-year-old woman whom police said he scared to death. In an attempt to evade policemen after a bank robbery, the Associated Press reports that 20-year-old Larry Whitfield broke into the home of Mary Parnell. Police say he didn’t touch Parnell but that she died after suffering a heart attack that was caused by terror. Can the guy be held responsible for the woman’s death? Prosecutors(公诉人) said that he can under the state’s murder rule, which allows someone to be charged with murder if he or she causes another person’s death while committing or fleeing from a severe crime like robbery—even if he or she doesn’t kill someone on purpose.

But, medically speaking, can someone actually be frightened to death? We asked Martin Samuels, chairman of the neurology department at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston.

Absolutely, no question about it.

The body has a natural protective method called the fight-or-flight response(战或逃反应), which was originally described by Walter Cannon，the chairman of Harvard University’s physiology department from 1906 to 1942. If, in the wild, an animal is faced with a life-threatening situation, the autonomic nervous system responds by increasing heart rate, increasing blood flow to the muscles, and slowing digestion, among other things. All of this increases the chances of succeeding in a fight or running away from an aggressive beast. This process certainly would be of help to primitive humans. However, in the modern world there is obvious decline of the fight-or-flight response.

The autonomic nervous system uses the chemical messenger to send signals to various parts of the body to activate the fight-or-flight response. This chemical is toxic in large amounts; it damages the organs such as the heart, lungs, liver and kidneys. It is believed that almost all sudden deaths are caused by damage to the heart. There is almost no other organ that would fail so fast as to cause sudden death. Kidney failure, liver failure, those things don’t kill you suddenly.

By the way, any strong positive or negative emotions such as happiness or sadness can cause the same result. There are people who have died in intercourse or in religious passion. There was a case of a golfer who hit a hole in one, turned to his partner and said, “I can die now”, and then he dropped dead. For about seven days after the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon there was an increase of sudden cardiac death among New Yorkers.

1.Why the Charlotte, N.C., man was charged?

A. Because he threatened the policemen to kill an old woman.

B. Because he caused an old woman’s terror and she died.

C. Because he beat an old woman and caused her heart attack

D. Because he murdered an old woman while robbing a bank.

2. What is Martin Samuels’ attitude to the possibility of being frightened to death?

A. Approval.              B. Disapproval.                  C. Doubtful.          D. Indifferent.

3.Which of the following about the fight-or-flight response is true?

A. The fight-or-flight response was raised and proved by Martin A. Samuels.

B. It is a natural protective method that can’t be found in all creatures but humans.

C. The ancient humans had a superior fight-or-flight response than modern ones.

D. The fight-or-flight response is beneficial to both our actions and organs.

4. What activity can we infer is less likely to damage the organs?

A. Winning a big lottery.                               B. Missing a dead family.

C. Watching a horror movie.                            D. Listening to a sweet song.

5.The purpose of the passage is_________.

A. to explain why people will die of a heart attack

B. to offer some advice on protecting us from heart failure

C. to compare different kinds of feelings to cause a death

D. to show strong emotions can cause a sudden death

--- She should not have done that sort of thing.

---Whatever she did was reasonable, _____ what you had done. Besides, it’s none of your business.

80. Poets often _________ spring to hope; autumn to harvest .

Michael’s new house is like a huge palace, ______ with his old one.

A. comparing       B. compares       C. to compare        D. compared

You have the ability to decide whether you are happy or not. Happiness is a choice.

You can’t depend on someone else to make you happy. That is a lesson I learned early in my marriage. I realized that I couldn’t rely on my husband as my source of happiness. I learned that my happiness depended on myself and not my husband’s actions. I learned that you have to choose to be happy.

You can choose your emotions. True happiness comes from within, and it can’t be forced by outside force. So how do you choose happiness? The same way, you choose to smile or choose to wear a certain outfit（一套衣服）. You choose it because that’s what you want to experience in you life.

You want to buy a new pair of shoes so you choose a pair that you like and feels good. You wouldn’t buy a pair of shoes that you don’t like or that doesn’t fit well, right? So why do we keep choosing emotions and feelings that don’t make us feel good?

Choosing to be happy after you realize your anger has shown up (or even choosing to be calm) can be beneficial. We choose our feelings; no one else can do that for us. If we let others get to us, influence our emotions — we are giving them power over us. When others cause us anger or pain, we are giving them our power.

We need to keep our feelings in check and not to react（反应） automatically to what is thrown at us. We need to think our actions out instead of just reacting to what someone says or does.

Remember that we can always choose happiness. At first it will be difficult to just switch（使转变）your thoughts and feelings from anger, self-doubt, or fear to joy and happiness. But it is only a thought away. Don’t dwell on（细想） what happens to you unnecessarily but realize what is causing you to feel that way. Realize that thoughts, feelings and emotions can change. Then move on and choose to be happy.

64. What’s the best title of this passage?

         A. Pretend to Be Happy

         B. Choose Your Emotions

         C. Choose to Be Happy

         D. Find Happiness

65. The lesson the writer learned in her marriage is          .

         A. one can’t depend on someone else to make himself or herself happy

         B. balancing the relationship between husband and wife is an art

         C. she can depend on her husband to find happiness

         D. happiness can be influenced by outside force

66. Why did the writer mention buying shoes?

         A. To offer advice on how to choose comfortable shoes.

         B. To use it as an example to illustrate（阐述）her point of view.

         C. To compare choosing shoes and choosing an outfit.

         D. To help move to the next paragraph easily.

67. The writer suggests that we should          .

         A. let others control our feelings

         B. respond immediately to others’ words

         C. hold back our feelings properly

         D. pay more attention to words than actions