Imagine this situation. You pass a group of people. The people are talking to each other. You cannot hear what they are saying. But suddenly they start laughing. What would you think? Would you think they were laughing at something funny that one of them said? Or -- be honest with yourself -- would you think they were laughing at you? Yes, you.

Being laughed at is a common fear. But a major study published in two thousand and nine found that this fear is not the same around the world. It differs from culture to culture.

People in Finland were the least likely to believe that people laughing in their presence were making fun of them. Less than ten percent of Finns in the study said they would think that, compared to eighty percent of people in Thailand.

Some people in the study said they felt unsure of themselves in social situations but hid their feelings of insecurity. Others said they avoided social situations where they had been laughed at before.

The study found that people in Turkmenistan and Cambodia were more likely to be in the first group. They would hide their feelings of insecurity if they were around other people's laughter. But people in Iraq, Egypt and Jordan were more likely to try to avoid such situations if they felt they had been laughed at before.

Shy people often avoid situations that would force them into close contact with other people. They worry that something they say or do will make other people laugh at them. But some people worry much more than others. They may have a disorder called gelotophobia. Gelos is a Greek word. It means laughter. Phobia means fear. This fear of laughter can be truly sad for those who live with it. It can affect how they lead their lives.

In the study, a team from the University of Zurich led more than ninety researchers from around the world. They wanted to understand the difference between normal shyness and true gelotophobia. Another purpose of the study was to compare the levels of fear of being laughed at in different cultures. The researchers surveyed more than twenty-two thousand people in forty-two different languages. The findings appeared in the scientific journal Humor.

1.People in Finland don’t believe other people are making fun of them if _________________.

2.What’s FALSE of the study led by a team from the University of Zurich?

3.The passage is likely to occur in _______________.

4.According to the passage, people who suffer from gelotophobia ______________________.

New Zealand

What can you see?   Mountains, volcanoes, rivers, lakes, waterfalls, forests, beaches. Both islands are mountainous. In fact, only 30% of New Zealand is flat.

The Maoris

When the Maoris first arrived in New Zealand, they lived in villages and were excellent fishermen, hunters and farmers. About 50 years ago many Maoris started to live and work in the large cities and took jobs in government, industries, medicine and education. They are proud of their culture and are determined to keep many of the customs which are part of their way of life.

Who can you meet?  Most people live on North Island. Eighty-five percent of New Zealanders are “pakeha” (“white men”), which means their “great grandfathers” came from Europe. Ten percent are Maoris. The Maoris came to New Zealand from the Polynesian islands probably around the tenth century. The “pakeha” started to arrive in New Zealand from Europe about 200 years ago as farmers and traders.

Fact box: New Zealand

Position: South of the Equator ;  Nearest neighbor: Australia, 1600 km away.

Size: Two main islands — North Island and South Island: together they are 268.680 sq. km.

Population: 4 million

Capital: Wellington

Languages: English and Maori   

1.Which of the following is a fact about New Zealand?

A．20% of the population being Maoris.

B．Four million white people.

C．About 1600 km south of the Equator.

D．Nearly 1/3 of the country being plains.

2.The country’s population is mainly made up of  _________.

A．the white people and the Polynesians

B．the white people and the “pakeha”

C．the Maoris and the white people

D．the Maoris and the Polynesians

3.When did the white people begin to live in New Zealand?

A．1000 years ago.                        B．200 years ago.

C．85 years ago.                           D．50 years ago.

4.What do the Maoris value most in life?

A．Living in small villages.                    B．Developing farming skills.

C．Keeping their own culture.                D．Taking up government jobs.

Just by living, it is apparent that the media has profound effects on people. How or why or to what degree, only the individual can judge for himself/herself. No matter if the media is small or major, everyday events are what effects people. A commercial about ice cream can send millions running to the nearest grocery store ready to try the new flavor.

While reading the online article about how poor sleep contributes to health problems, I was surprised to hear that not getting enough sleep was such a big problem. I was absolutely freaked out (使震惊) by this article, so right after I decided to get a good night's rest from then on. That night I drank hot tea, took a long bubble bath and listened to peaceful music before bed. I didn't sleep a wink that night, and it's because of the pressure I was putting on myself to “sleep well”. This article has macro effects because it is possible that many people have read the article and been affected.

Another media effect is a movie. It is originally a novel that is adapted into a movie. I normally hate literature that is put into film, but this was an exception. My mother was in love with the book Pride and Prejudice, so when I went to Blockbuster the other night it caught my eye. I rented the movie and fell in love with it. I was in fact so inspired by the movie that I decided to read the book. Thus, it was an unintended (无意识的) effect because the writer/adapter did not produce this movie thinking that it would make viewers want to read more classic books.

1. What is mainly talked about in the passage?

A. The different kinds of the media.

B. The effects of the media on people.

C. Our pressure under the influence of the media.

D. Our addiction to the media.

2. The author decided to read the book Pride and Prejudice because ________.

A. his mother liked reading it

B. the movie was well produced

C. he didn't like the movie

D. the producer wanted viewers to do so

3. The last paragraph is written to show that ________.

A. the media can influence us in a positive way

B. a movie is usually a poor betray of a classic book

C. people usually like movies instead of original works

D. we can't love a classic without reading the original work

4. The author probably believes that________.

A. the influence of the media is usually misleading

B. we should remain calm under the influence of the media

C. the media can cause great pressure to people

D. people can't avoid the influence of the media in their daily life

5. The author's attitude towards the media can be described as ________.

A. subjective    B. negative  C. objective  D. positive

Maybe it is true that we do not know what we have got until we lose it, but it is also true that we do not know what we have been missing until it arrives.

It takes an hour to like someone, and a day to love someone, but it takes a lifetime to forget someone. Giving someone all your love is never an assurance that they will love you back. Do not expect love in return; but if it does not, be content it has grown in yours. Do not rely on one’s appearance; it can trick you. Do not rely on wealth; even that fades away. Rely on someone who makes you smile, because it takes only a smile to make a dark day seem bright.

There are moments in life when you miss someone so much that you just want to pick them from your dreams and hug them. Dream what you want to dream; go where you want to go; be what you want to be, because you have only one life and one chance to do all the things you want to do.

The brightest future will always be based on a forgotten past. You cannot go on well in life until you let your past failures and heartaches go off. May you have enough happiness to make you sweet, enough trails to make you strong, enough sorrow to keep you human, enough hope to make you happy. The happiest of people do not necessarily have the best of everything; they just make the most of everything that comes along their way. Happiness waits for those who cry, those appreciate the importance of people who have touched their lives. Always put yourself in others’ shoes. If you feel that it hurts you, it probably hurts the other person, too.

When you were born, you were crying and everyone around you was smiling. Live your life so that when you die, you are the one who is smiling and everyone around you is crying.

1.In this passage, the writer wants to tell us ______.

2.Which of the following statements is true according to the passage?

3.If you put yourself in another person’s position, ______.

4.In the last paragraph the writer is actually telling us that a person in the world should be one who ______.

Early one morning the sub­inspector at a station at the other end of the town rang me. An elephant was damaging the town. Would I please come and do something about it?

I did not know what I could do, but I got onto a horse and started out.  I took my gun, maybe too small to kill an elephant, but I thought the noise might scare him. Various local people stopped me on the way and told me about the elephant's doings.

It was not, of course, a wild elephant, but a tame one. It had been chained up but last night it had broken its chain and escaped. Its owner, had set out to run after it, but had taken the wrong direction. He was now twelve hours' journey away, and in the morning the elephant had suddenly appeared in the town. It had already destroyed somebody's bamboo hut (棚屋), killed a cow and turned over fruit­stalls.

I came round the hut and saw a man's dead body sprawling in the mud.  He was an Indian, and he could not have been dead many minutes. The people said that the elephant caught him with its trunk, put its foot on his back and grounded him into the earth. This was the rainy season and he was lying on his stomach in the soft mud, the__peacebreaker standing beside, looking innocent.

As I lifted my gun, I hesitated a few seconds. Then I fired. That was a shot that did for him.

You could see the pain of it knock the last strength from his legs. But in falling he seemed for a moment to rise, his trunk reaching skyward like a tree. He trumpeted, for the first and only time. And then down he came, with a crash that shook the ground.

1.Which of the following statements about the author is TRUE?

2.The elephant made so much trouble because ________.

3.The underlined words “the peacebreaker” in Paragraph 4 refer to ________.

4.It can be inferred that the author felt ________ when he shot the elephant.