The human body has developed its millions of nerves to be highly aware of what goes on both inside and outside of it. This helps us to adjust to the outside world. Without our nerves and our brain, which is a system of nerves, we couldn’t know what’s happening. But we pay for our sensitivity. We can feel pain when the slightest thing is wrong with any part of our body. The history of torture(折磨) is based on the human body being open to pain.

But there is a way to handle pain. Look at the Indian fakir(苦行僧) who sits on a bed of nails. Fakirs can put a needle right through an arm, and feel no pain. This ability that some humans have developed to handle pain should give us ideas about how the mind can deal with pain.

The big thing in withstanding pain is our attitude toward it. If the dentist says, “This will hurt a little,” it helps us to accept the pain. By staying relaxed, and by treating the pain as an interesting sensation (感觉), we can handle the pain without falling apart. After all, although pain is an unpleasant sensation, it is still a sensation, and sensations are the stuff of life.

 56. What does the writer mean by saying “we pay for our sensitivity” in the first paragraph?

A. We have to take care of our sense of pain.

B. We suffer from our sense of feeling.

C. We should try hard to resist pain.

D. We are hurt when we feel pain.

57. When the author mentions the Indian fakir, he shows that _________.

A. fakirs possess magic power             B. Indians are not afraid of pain

C. people can learn to cope with pain    D. some people are born without a sense of pain

58. What is essential for people to stand pain according to the writer?

A. Their relaxation.                 B. Their interest

C. Their nerves.                    D. Their attitude.

59. The author believes that _______.

A. feeling pain is part of our life          

B. pain should be avoided at all costs

C. feeling pain can be an interesting thing   

D. magic power is essential for reducing pain

A moment’s drilling by the dentist may make us nervous and upset．Many of us cannot stand pain．To avoid the pain of a drilling that may last perhaps a minute or two，we demand the “needle” —— a shot of Novocain （一种麻醉药） —— that deadens the nerves around the tooth.

Now it’s true that the human body has developed its millions of nerves to be highly aware of what goes on both inside and outside of it．This helps us adjust to the world．Without our nerves——and our brain．Which is a bundle of nerves —— we wouldn’t know what’s happening．But we pay for our sensitivity．We can feel pain when the slightest thing is wrong with any part of our body．The history of torture（酷刑）is based on the human body being open to pain.

     But there is a way to handle pain．Look at the Indian fakir（苦行僧）who sits on a bed of ails．Fakirs can put a needle right through an arm，and feel no pain．This ability that some humans have developed to handle pain should give us ideas about how the mind can deal with pain．The big thing in withstanding（经得起）pain is our attitude toward it．If the dentist says, “This will hurt a little,” it helps us to accept the pain．By staying relaxed, and by treating the pain as an interesting sensation, we can handle the pain without falling apart．After all, although pain is an unpleasant sensation, it is still a sensation, and sensations are the stuff of life.

1．A system of nerves enables us to           

   A．suffer pain     B．avoid pain    C．feel pain       D．enjoy pain

2．The sentence “But we pay for our sensitivity.” in the second paragraph implies that     .

   A．we should pay a debt for our feeling

   B．we have to be hurt when we feel something

   C．our pain is worth feeling

   D．when we feel pain, we are suffering it

3．The author uses the Indian faki as an example to show that         .

   A．Indians are not at all afraid of pain

   B．people may be senseless of pain

   C．some people are able to handle pain

   D．fakirs have magic to put needles right through their arms

4．_______ helps us most to handle pain.

   A．Attitude        B．Interest      C．Nerves          D．Life

5．The author's attitude towards pain is______.

    A．pessimistic      B．optimistic     C．critical   D．practical

Ever since humans have lived on the earth, they have made use of various forms of communication．Generally, this expression of thoughts and feelings has been in the form of oral speech．When there is a language barrier(障碍), communication is completed through sign language in which motions stand for letters, words, and ideas．Tourists and the people unable to hear or speak have had to turn to this form of expression．Many of these symbols of whole words are very lively and exact and can be used internationally; spelling, however, cannot．

Body language sends ideas or thoughts by certain actions, either meaningfully or not．A wink（眨眼）can be a way of showing that the party is only joking．A nod means agreement, while shaking the head indicates disagreement．

Other forms of nonlinguistic language can be found in Braille (a system of raised dots read with the fingertips), signal flags, Morse code, and smoke signals．Road maps and picture signs also guide and warn people．While language is the most common form of communication, other systems and techniques also express human thoughts and feelings．

Which of the following statements is NOT true?

A．There are many forms of communication in use today．

B．Language is the most common form of communication．

C．Tourists are unable to use an oral form of communication．

D．Ideas and thoughts can be expressed by body language．

Which form other than oral speech could be most commonly used among blind people?

A．Picture signs．                      B．Braille 

C．Body language                      D．Signal flags．

Sign language is said to be very lively and exact and can be used meaningfully except for ______．

A．spelling            B．idea            C．whole words      D．expressions

How many different forms of communication are mentioned here?

A．Five           B．Seven         C．Nine             D．Three  

Amazed zoo visitors watch as an orangutan(猩猩) named Bonnie swings along cables way above their heads. She’s not making a great ape escape; she’s taking a “highway” to higher learning.

Bonnie is traveling on the Orangutan Transit System, called the O-Line, at the National Zoo in Washington, D.C. The O-Line stretches from the Great Ape House, where Bonnie lives, to an exhibit called Think Tank. There she and other orangutans participate in a study trying to answer the questions: Do animals think?  If so,  how?

    Think Tank scientists look for clues that an animal is thinking. A baby orangutan following its mother is probably not thinking. But an orangutan using a stick to reach honey in a beehive probably is thinking. It’s figuring out how to obtain a sweet treat.

    To learn more about what the orangutans are thinking, Think Tank scientists are teaching orangutans a language of symbols. The apes don’t actually speak. They point to the symbols to show their thoughts.

    Each symbol stands for a word. Different categories of the symbols have their own shapes. Food symbols, for example, are rectangles(矩形); object symbols are circles; and verbs are diamonds.

    Computers help the orangutans learn the symbolic language. After the apes are shown an apple, for example, their task is to touch the apple symbol on a computer screen. They can do so. All six orangutans have learned a few symbols, but only Azy and Indah have learned eight symbols and can use the computer.

    Azy and Indah choose to live at Think Tank. The others commute(往返) from the Great Ape House on the O-Line. All attend Think Tank sessions, though none are made to do so. “They’re eager to learn”, one of the scientists says. “They never turn me down!”

What is the main idea of the passage?

Scientists are doing research on whether animals can think and how they think.

Biologists have found that orangutans are more intelligent than other animals.

Orangutans at the National Zoo can be taught to communicate with humans easily.

Animals are being taught by scientists to speak to one another at the National Zoo.

     The Orangutan Transit System refers to _____.

a way that can teach animals to learn things and communicate quickly

a place for various animals in the National Zoo to participate in the study

a walkway for the orangutans to travel to different sections of the zoo

a line for the orangutans to travel between the Great Ape House and the Think Tank

     According to the passage, scientists use a system of symbols to help _____.

find out which orangutan can learn the symbolic language fast

attract all the orangutans to live together at Think Tank

communicate with the orangutans and understand them better

understand whether animals can learn a language and express themselves by using it

     It can be inferred from the passage that _____.

a baby orangutan has his own intention though following his mother

many animals in the wild can learn symbolic languages to express their thoughts

the cleverer the animals are, the more knowledge they would like to learn

orangutans can form mental images in their minds when they see objects

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       The United States is facing a growing concern: rising obesity(肥胖) rates. A new report says adult obesity rates rose last year in 23 of the 50 states. And, the percentage of obese children was at or above 30% in 30 states. Mississippi had the highest rate of adult obesity in the new study. 32.5% of the state’s adults were obese. Mississippi also had the highest rate of obese and overweight children. 44.4% of all children between the ages of ten and seventeen years were obese or overweight.

The study used a system of measurement called the Body Mass Index(B-M-I) to define words like obese and overweight. To find your B-M-I, divide your weight in kilograms by height in meters squared. A normal B-M-I is between 18.5 and 24.9. The B-M-I of someone overweight is between 25 and 29.5. And, an obese person has a B-M-I above 30.

The new report says widespread obesity is increasing the rates of long-lasting diseases, such as heart disease. Obesity is also responsible for an increasing part of health care costs in the United States. Health care costs have grown while many Americans are getting fatter. A lack of physical exercise, watching TV too much and eating junk food contribute to the rising obesity rate. The report says the current economic recession(经济衰退) could worsen obesity rates by increasing food prices. This would make healthy foods cost more. The report blames the recession for rising rates of depression, anxiety and stress, which are closely linked to obesity in many cases.

The report offers some ideas for dealing with obesity within government health care reforms. They include making sure that every adult and child has a right to preventive medical services. Also, people should do more physical exercise, drive less and eat less junk food to fight obesity.

Widespread obesity in the US