We don’t plan to cry, but it just happens. In fact when we feel sad or angry, a good cry is almost impossible to resist. But if you didn’t know what crying was, you’d have to wonder why some strong feelings started water streaming from people’s eyes and why they seemed to feel better afterwards.
Now a US researcher had found there may be more in crying than we think. William H. Frey II, author of “Crying: The Mystery of Tears,” believes it may really be one of the body’s clever self-repair mechanisms. Crying may be a way of getting rid of the by-products of stress, he says.
He has found that tears contain some chemicals which can cause stress. One of these is the hormone prolactin (激素), which is set free when one is feeling stressed. Since women have more of this than men, that might explain why they usually cry more, he suggests.
Unsurprisingly, Dr Frey’s study seemed to prove that most people feel better after a good cry. And sex has nothing to do with it ––– the result was true for women and men. So, next time you feel like bursting into tears, go ahead. If Dr Frey is right, you’ll be doing yourself a favour.
【小题1】The best title of this passage would be ________.

As kids, my friends and I spent a lot of time out in the woods．“The woods” was our part-time address, destination, purpose, and excuse．If I went to a friends house and found him not at home, his mother might say, “Oh, he’s out in the woods, ” with a tone（语气） of airy acceptance．It is similar to the tone people sometimes use nowadays to tell me that someone I’m looking for is on the golf course or at the gym, or even “away from his desk．” For us ten-year-olds, “being out in the woods” was just an excuse to do whatever we feel like for a while．

We sometimes told ourselves that what we were doing in the woods was exploring（探索）．Exploring was a more popular idea back then than it is today．History seemed to be mostly about explorers．Our explorations, though, seemed to have less system than the historic kind: something usually came up along the way．Say we stayed in the woods, throwing rocks, shooting frogs, picking blackberries, digging in what we were briefly persuaded was an Indian burial mound．

Often we got “lost” and had to climb a tree to find out where we were．If you read a story in which someone does that successfully, be skeptical: the topmost branches are usually too skinny to hold weight, and we could never climb high enough to see anything except other trees．There were four or five trees that we visited regularly—tall beeches, easy to climb and comfortable to sit in．

It was in a tree, too, that our days of fooling around in the woods came to an end．By then some of us had reached seventh grade and had begun the rough ride of adolescence（青春期）．In March, the month when we usually took to the woods again after winter, two friends and I set out to go exploring．We climbed a tree, and all of a sudden it occurred to all three of us at the same time that we really were rather big to be up in a tree．Soon there would be the spring dances on Friday evenings in the high school cafeteria．

The author and his friends were often out in the woods to _______．

     A．spend their free time               B．play golf and other sports

     C．avoid doing their schoolwork  D．keep away from their parents

What can we infer from Paragraph 2 ?

     A．The activities in the woods were well planned．

     B．Human history is not the result of exploration．

     C．Exploration should be a systematic activity．

     D．The author explored in the woods aimlessly．

The underlined word “skeptical” in Paragraph 3 is closest in meaning to ______．

     A．calm       B．doubtful   C．serious      D．optimistic

How does the author feel about his childhood?

     A．Happy but short．            B．Lonely but memorable．

     C．Boring and meaningless．      D．Long and unforgettable．

American society is not nap (午睡)friendly . In fact , says David Dings , sleep specialist at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine , “There’s even a prohibition (禁止) against admitting we need sleep”. Nobody wants to be caught napping or found asleep at work . To quote a proverb : “Some sleep five hours , nature requires seven , laziness nine and wickedness(淘气的) eleven.”

The way not to fall asleep at work is to take naps when you need them . “We have to totally change our attitude toward napping ,” says Dr. William Dement of Stanford University , the godfather of sleep research .

Last year a national commission led by Dement identified(发现) an “American sleep debt” which one member said was as important as the national debt . The commission was concerned about the dangers of sleepiness : people causing industrial accidents or falling asleep while driving . This may be why we have a new sleep policy in the White House . According to recent reports , President Clinton is trying to take a half---hour snooze (瞌睡) every afternoon .

About 60 percent of American adults nap when given the opportunity . We seem to have “a mid afternoon quiet phase ,” also called “a secondary sleep gate .” Sleeping 15 minutes to two hours in the early afternoon can reduce stress and make us refreshed . Clearly , we were born to nap .

We superstars of snooze don’t nap to replace lost shut--eye or to prepare for a night shift . Rather , we “snack” on sleep ,whenever , wherever and at whatever time we feel like it . I myself have napped in buses , cars , planes and on boats ; on floors and beds ;and in libraries ,  offices and museums .

1.The research done by the Dement Commission shows that Americans     .

2.The purpose of this article is to     .

1. warn us of the wickedness of napping 

B. explain the danger of sleepiness

C. discuss the side effects of napping

D. convince the reader of the necessity of napping

3.The “American sleep debt”(Line 1 , Para .3) is the result of      .

1. the traditional misconception the Americans have about sleep
2. the new sleep policy of the Clinton Administration
3. the rapid development of American industry
4. the Americans’ worry about the danger of sleepiness

4.The second sentence of the last paragraph tells us that it is      .

1. preferable to have a sound sleep before a night shift
2. good practice to eat something light before we go to bed
3. essential (基本的) to make up for lost sleep
4. natural to take a nap whenever we feel the need for it

As kids, my friends and I spent a lot of time out in the woods. “The woods” was our part-time address, destination, purpose, and excuse. If I went to a friend’s house and found him not at home, his mother might say, “Oh, he’s out in the woods, ” with a tone(语气) of airy acceptance. It’s similar to the tone people sometimes use nowadays to tell me that someone I’m looking for is on the golf course or at the gym, or even “away from his desk.” For us ten-year-olds, “being out in the woods” was just an excuse to do whatever we feel like for a while.

We sometimes told ourselves that what we were doing in the woods was exploring(探索). Exploring was a more popular idea back then than it is today. History seemed to be mostly about explorers. Our explorations, though, seemed to have less system than the historic kind: something usually came up along the way. Say we stayed in the woods, throwing rocks, shooting frogs, picking blackberries, digging in what we were briefly persuaded was an Italian burial mound.

Often we got “lost” and had to climb a tree to find out where we were. If you read a story in which someone does that successfully, be skeptical: the topmost branches are usually too skinny to hold weight, and we could never climb high enough to see anything except other trees. There were four or five trees that we visited regularly----tall beeches, easy to climb and comfortable to sit in.

It was in a tree, too, that our days of fooling around in the woods came to an end. By then some of us has reached seventh grade and had begun the rough ride of adolescence（青春期）. In March, the month when we usually took to the woods again after winter, two friends and I set out to go exploring. We climbed a tree, and all of a sudden it occurred to all three of us at the same time that were really were rather big to be up in a tree. Soon there would be the spring dances on Friday evenings in the high school cafeteria.

The author and his fiends were often out in the woods to _______.

   A. avoid doing their schoolwork

   B. play gold and other sports

   C. spend their free time

   D. keep away from their parents

What can we infer from Paragraph 2?

   A. The author explored in the woods aimlessly.

   B. Human history is not the result of exploration.

   C. Exploration should be a systematic activity.

   D. The activities in the woods were well planned.The author explored in the woods aimlessly.

The underlined word “skeptical” in Paragraph 3 is closest in meaning to ______.

   A. doubtful

   B. calm

   C. serious

   D. optimistic

How does the author feel about his childhood?

   A. Long and unforgettable.

   B. Lonely but memorable.

   C. Boring and meaningless.

   D. Happy but short.

A well-known speaker started his speech by holding up a $20 bill. In the room of 200, he asked, “What is this piece of   1  and is it worth anything?”

Hands started going up. “It is a $20 bill, encashable(可兑现的) in international and national   2  .”replied one of the   3  who raised their hands.

The speaker continued, “I am going to give this $20 to one of you, but first, let me do this.” He continued to crumple the 20 dollar bill using both his hands. He then               4  it and asked, “Who still wants it?” Still the hands were up in the air.

“Well,” he said, “what if I do this?” He dropped it on the  5  and started to step on it. He picked up the crumpled and   6  bill and said, “Now, who still wants it?”  

7  went back into the air. “I think this bill is still   8  its value”, said a young man in an unsure  9 . “We can still use the bill to   10  goods worth 20 dollars,” said the other people.

“My friends, you have all learned a very   11  lesson in this exercise that we are just through with. You’ve   12  that I can crumple the $20 bill during the process as the effects can be seen clearly.   13 , no matter what I did to the piece of paper, you were   14  in your mind that my actions did not actually decrease its   15 . It was still worth $20.”

“Many times in our lives, we feel like as if we are   16 , crumpled, and ground into the dirt by the decisions we make and the circumstances that come our way. We feel as though we are   17 ; but no matter what happened or what will happen, please   18 , you will never lose your value.” Values that you keep in your heart will always   19  you from a difficult situation.

Dirty or clean, crumpled or not, you are still priceless to those who love you. The worth of our lives comes, not in what we do or who we know, but by ...WHO WE ARE.” “You are   20 — don’t ever forget it.”

1.                A．paper          B．advice          C．information    D．luck

2.                A．organizations    B．flights          C．markets  D．conferences

3.                A．family          B．teachers        C．speakers  D．audience

4.                A．hid            B．bought         C．carried   D．unfolded

5.                A．square         B．beach          C．ground   D．playground

6.                A．thin           B．dirty           C．new D．clear

7.                A．Hands          B．Books          C．Heads    D．Smoke

8.                A．losing          B．reducing        C．increasing     D．holding

9.                A．sound          B．voice           C．noise D．shout

10.               A．deliver         B．buy            C．sell   D．produce

11.               A．boring         B．difficult         C．valuable   D．painful

12.               A．heard          B．seen           C．forgotten  D．doubted

13.               A．However       B．Therefore       C．Besides   D．Otherwise

14.               A．sure           B．curious         C．proud D．sad

15.               A．price          B．growth         C．value D．size

16.               A．dropped        B．turned         C．looked    D．talked

17.               A．important       B．confident       C．selfish D．useless

18.               A．accept         B．argue          C．remember D．decide

19.               A．leave          B．search         C．save  D．beat

20.               A．especial        B．normal         C．ordinary   D．special