Findings from a new study were presented at a recent meeting of the American Psychosomatic(身心的) Society. Researchers in the United States studied 100,000 women during an eight-year period, beginning in 1994. All of the women were fifty or older. The study was part of the Women’s Health Initiative organized by the National Institutes of Health.

The women were asked questions measuring their beliefs or ideas about the future. The researchers attempted to identify each woman’s personality eight years after gathering the information.

The study found that hopeful individuals were 14% less likely than other women to have died from any cause. The hopeful women were also 30% less likely to have died from heart disease after the eight years.

Hilary Tindle from the University of Pittsburgh in Pennsylvania was the lead author of the report. She said the study confirmed earlier research that linked optimistic feelings to longer life.

The researchers also gathered information about people’s education, financial earnings, physical activity and use of alcohol or cigarettes. Independent of those things, the findings still showed that optimists had less of a chance of dying during the eight-year period.

Some women who answered the questions were found to be hostile (怀敌意的), or highly untrusting of others. These women were 16% more likely to die than the others. They also were 23% more likely to die of cancer.

The study also found women who were not optimistic were more likely to smoke and have high blood pressure or diabetes. They were also more likely not to exercise.

Tindle says the study did not confirm whether optimism leads to healthier choices, or if it actually affects a person’s physical health. She also says the study does not prove that negative (消极的) emotions or distrust lead to bad health effects and shorter life. Yet there does appear to be a link that calls for more research.

In which part of a newspaper can you read the above passage?

   A. Nation     B. Opinion   C. Science    D. Business

Researchers carry out the study to ________.

A. decide who is more likely to enjoy a happier life

B. find out the link between personality and health

C. gather information for the National Institutes of Health

D. compare each woman’s personality changes

What can be inferred from the text?

A. Negative emotions cause a shorter life indeed.

B. There may be some link between personality and health.

C. It’s uncertain whether optimism affects one’s health.

D. The more optimistic you are, the longer life you may enjoy.

Who is more likely to die of cancer according to the text?

A. A woman who always doubts what others say.    B. A woman who doesn’t exercise.

C. A woman with high blood pressure.            D. A woman with poor physical health.

What’s Hilary Tindle’s opinion of the study?

A. Unfair.       B. Useless.      C. Necessary.     D. Reliable.

短文改错 (共10小题;每小题1分,满分10分)

英语课上，老师要求同桌同学相互修改作文。假设以下便条为你同桌所写，请你对其进行修改。便条中共有10处错误，每句中最多有两处。错误涉及一个单词的增加、删除或修改。

增加：在缺词处加一个漏词符号（/\），并在此符号下面写出该加的词。

删除：把多余的词用斜线（\）划掉。

修改：在错的词下划一横线，并在该词下面写出修改后的词。

注意：1、每处错误及其修改均仅限一词；

2、只允许修改10处，多者（从第11处起）不计分。

As students, we have classes for early morning till late afternoon．Therefore, take a ten-minute break between class is definitely important, even necessary. Otherwise we may feel both physically or mentally tired. During the ten-minute break we did something to get rid of tiredness．What we need is to have real rest, instead of getting even tired．So don't do anything that will make you too excited．My ten-minute break is always pleased．I usually take some exercise．Sometime I have a free chat with my classmates．When the new class begins, I feel freshly again.

With a travelling speed of up to 350 kilometres per hour, the railway to be built between Beijing and Shanghai _______ the journey time from 12 hours to 5 hours．

    A．cuts     B．will cut     C．is cutting  D．has cut

The Red Cross goes into areas _______ help is badly needed.

A. why     B. which     C. where    D. that

Frank put the medicine in a top drawer to make sure it would not be ______ to the kids.

    A. accessible      B. relative       C. acceptable      D. sensitive

I don’t doubt _____he will come next week.

  A. that        B. if            C. what      D. when

Convenient ___private cars are for us, they may also cause traffic accidents and pollution.

A. while              B. as               C. if                D. since

--- Have you finished reading Jane Eyre?

  --- No, I _________ my homework all day today.

     A am doing     B will do     C has done       D do

In a few years, you might be able to speak Chinese, Korean, Japanese, French, and English

— and all at the same time. This sounds incredible, but Alex Waibel, a computer science professor at US's Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) and Germany's University of Karlsruhe, announced last week that it may soon be reality. He and his team have invented software and hardware that could make it far easier for people who speak different languages to understand each other.?

One application, called Lecture Translation, can easily translate a speech from one language into another. Current translation technologies typically limit speakers to certain topics or a limited vocabulary. Users also have to be trained how to use the programme.?

Another prototype(雏形机) can send translations of a speech to different listeners depending on what language they speak. “It is like having a simultaneous translator right next to you but without disturbing the person next to you,” Waibel said.?

Prefer to read? So-called Translation Glasses transcribe(转录) the translations on a tiny liquid-crystal(液晶) display(LCD) screen.?

Then there’s the Muscle Translator. Electrodes capture the electrical signals from facial muscle movements made naturally when a person is mouthing words. The signals are then translated into speech. The electrodes could be replaced with wireless chips implanted in a person's face, according to researchers.?

During a demonstration held last Thursday in CMU's Pittsburgh campus, a Chinese student named Stan Jou had 11 tiny electrodes attached to the muscles of his cheeks, neck and throat. Then he mouthed — without speaking aloud — a few words in Mandarin(普通话) to the audience. A few seconds later, the phrase was displayed on a computer screen and spoken out by the computer in English and Spanish: “Let me introduce our new prototype.”?

This particular gadget(器械),when fully developed, might allow anyone to speak in any number of languages or, as Waibel put it, “to switch your mouth to a foreign language”. “The idea behind the university's prototypes is to create ‘good enough’ bridges for cross-cultural exchanges that are becoming more common in the world,” Waibel said.?

With spontaneous(自发的) translators, foreign drivers in Germany could listen to traffic warnings on the radio, tourists in China could read all the signs and talk with local people, and leaders of different countries could have secret talks without any interpreters there.?

Which of the following statements is not TRUE?

A. A lecture translation can translate what you said into other languages easily.?

B. There is no Muscle Translator in the world now.?

C. Muscle Translators can translate what you think into speech if you just move your mouth.?

D. The spontaneous translators will help us a lot.

What kind of equipment is NOT mentioned in this passage?

A. Lecture Translation.                       

B. Muscle Translator.?

C. Multiple Translator.                       

D. Translation Prototype.

What’s the final destination of inventing the language translators??

A. To make cultural exchanges between different countries easier.?

B. To help students learn foreign languages more easily.?

C. To make people live in foreign countries more comfortably.?

D. To help people learn more foreign languages in the future.

What can be inferred from the seventh paragraph?

A. The translator is so good that it can translate any language into the very language you need.?

B. The translator is becoming more and more common in the world as a bridge.?

C. With the help of the translator, you only need to open your mouth when you want to say something without saying the exact words at all.?

D. The translator needs to be improved before being put into market.

Where can this passage probably be excerpted from?

A. A newspaper.                         

B. A magazine on science.?

C. A fairy tale.                                

D. A scientific fantasy book.

For many cities in the world, there is no room to spread out further, ______ New York is an example.

A. for which        B. in which           C. of  which           D. from which