D. It?s not easy for others to notice a patient wearing the hearing aid.
B
In 1880, the traveller and journalist Lafcadio Hearn was living in New Orleans and writing for a couple of local papers, Daily City Item and Times-Democrat. Hearn sensed that New Orleans exists in a state of insidious disintegration (蜕变) — “crumbling into ashes” — thanks to its dangerous geography and its “frauds and maladministrations.” And yet, Hearn wrote to a friend, “It is better to live here in sackcloth and ashes than to own the whole state of Ohio.” New Orleanians have always resembled New Yorkers; they tend to share the sense that to live anywhere else would lead inevitably to a stupid and pitiable existence beyond the bounds of understanding.
In part, the spirit of New Orleans is rooted in the city?s below-sea-level unsteadiness, the condition of looking out — and even up — at the water all around you, the knowledge that water saturates (浸透) the ground you stand on. Katrina, the fierce hurricane that destroyed the Gulf Coast on August 29, 2005, tested the self-possession of every citizen who survived it. More than eighteen hundred people did not survive it, and hundreds of thousands lost their homes. The stormand the terrible flooding that followed — a natural disaster worsened by a range of man-made disasters — revealed much that had been fragile, or rotten, in Hearn?s time and grew worse with every decade: shabby civil engineering; corrupt and inefficient government institutions; and it turned out thatan Administration in Washington witnessedfor days a city drowning — a largely black city drowning — and reacted with annoying indifference. And yet, in the face of abandonment — in hospitals, on rooftops, on highway overpasses — the residents of New Orleans behaved with resilience (不折不挠). Rebecca Solnit, an acute observer of Katrina and its aftermath, has written, “The belief that a Hobbesian war of all-against-all had broken loose justified treating the place as a crime zone or even an unfriendly country rather than a place in which grandmothers and children were trapped in frightful conditions, desperately in need of food, water, shelter and medical attention.”
Alec Soth, a photographer who lives in Minneapolis and travels the Midwest and the South with the energy of a latter-day Walker Evans, did not join the artists who came to New Orleans a decade ago to capture what he calls the “eye candy of rot and ruin.” Instead, he waited, preferring to capture the city of water ten years later, a city in a state of both persistent suffering and persistent renewal. Soth shows us the upsetting image of a freestanding column — all that is left of a house in the hard-hit Lower Ninth Ward — but he moves toward a vision of promise, a lonely figure at his leisure, staring into the waters of today?s New Orleans.
58. New Orleanians are similar to New Yorkers in that ______. A. they refuse to leave their homeland B. they exist in insidious disintegration C. they possess dangerous geography D. they have a sense of boring existence 59. What can we know from the hurricane Katrina and its damaging consequences? A. A range of man-made disasters led to the fierce hurricane. B. The hurricane happened following a terrible flooding.
C. The American government failed to provide help and support. D. The residents of New Orleans have a deep hatred for governors.
60. Why did Alec Soth refuse to join other artists to take photos of New Orleans a decade ago? A. He also treated New Orleans as a crime zone.
B. He had high expectations of the future of New Orleans. C. He couldn?t put up with the suffering the hurricane caused. D. He was traveling the Midwest and the South with Walker Evans.
C
A little social support from your best buds goes a long way, whether you?re a human or a
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chimpanzee (黑猩猩). A new study that followed a chimpanzee community in the forests of Uganda has found that quality time with close companions significantly decreased stress hormone levels in the primates — whether they were resting, grooming or facing off against rival groups.
The findings, described this week in the journal Nature Communications, shed light on the physiological effects of close companionship in chimpanzees — and could have implications for human health too.
Researchers have long known that stress can worsen health and raise the risk of early death in humans as well as other social mammals.
“It can have effects on immune function, cardio function, fertility, cognition, and even your mood,” said study coauthor Kevin Langergraber, a primatologist at Arizona State University.
Maintaining close social bonds can help these animals (humans included) reduce some of that stress, potentially minimizing some health risks. But scientists have yet to pin down the exact physiological mechanisms at work.
“Social bonds make you survive and produce better — but how do they do that?” Langergraber said.
To find out, the international team of researchers studied members of the Sonso chimpanzee community in Uganda?s Budongo Forest, a group consisting of 15 males, 35 females and 28 juveniles and infants during the study period from February 2008 to July 2010.
Like humans, chimpanzees tend to have besties — bond partners with whom they appear to feel close. The researchers wanted to see whether interactions with these bond partners led to lower stress levels during particularly stressful situations, such as when fighting rival groups, or whether time spent with friends helped lower stress levels more generally, throughout the day.
The scientists observed the chimps perform three types of activities: resting, grooming or quarrelling with other groups of chimps. The researchers kept track of whether the chimps were doing any of these three things with their bond partners or with other chimps in their group.
A team of up to six observers watched the chimps and followed them around to collect urine (尿液) samples. The samples, collected from nine adult male and eight adult female chimps, were tested to see how much of the stress hormone cortisol they contained. The scientists found that chimpanzees? levels of urinary cortisol were 23% lower, on average, during the activities when they were with their bond partner. This was especially true for stressful activities, such as the intergroup rivalries, where any chimp on the front line might face physical harm or even death.
The findings in chimpanzees, some of our closest living relatives, could shed light on the role such close social relationships play in human health too, he said. Such friendships may be just as important during good times as bad — though more research needs to be done before any conclusions can be drawn.
“This has interest for a lot of people in a medical context as well,” Langergraber said. 61. The scientists carried out a research into chimpanzee community in Uganda ______. A. to seek evidence of benefits of social bonds from physiological angle B. to uncover whether social bonds make humans survive C. to study how chimps perform three types of activities
D. to train chimps to maintain close social bonds with each other 62. What does the underlined word “they” in Paragraph 10 refer to? A. Observers. B. Chimpanzees. C. Urine samples. D. Bond partners. 63. The chimps? levels of urinary cortisol decrease most when ______. A. they are with other chimps in their group
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B. they face the intergroup rivalries with friends C. they perform three different types of activities D. they spend time with friends throughout the day 64. What?s the author?s purpose in writing the passage? A. To point out stress is harmful to all social mammals. B. To illustrate how chimps control their stress level.
C. To urge scientists to do more research into chimpanzees. D. To inform us friendships benefit both chimps and humans.
D
Dad and I loved baseball and hated sleep. One midsummer dawn when I was nine, we drove to the local park with our baseballs, gloves, and Yankees caps.
“If you thought night baseball was a thrill, just wait,” Dad told me. “Morning air carries the ball like you?ve never seen.”
He was right. Our fastballs charged faster and landed more lightly. The echoes of our catches popped as the sun rose over the dew-sprinkled fields.
The park was all ours for about two hours. Then a young mother pushed her stroller toward us. When she neared, Dad politely leaned over the stroller, waved, and gave the baby his best smile.
The mother stared at him for a second, and then rushed away.
Dad covered his mouth with his hand and walked to the car. “Let?s go, bud,” he said. “I?m not feeling well.”
A month earlier, Bell?s palsy (贝尔氏神经麻痹) had struck Dad, paralyzing the right side of his face. It left him slurring words and with a droopy eyelid. He could hardly drink from a cup without spilling onto his shirt. And his smile,which once eased the pain of playground cuts and burst forth at the mention of Mick Jagger, Woody Allen, or his very own Yankees, was gone.
As I slumped in the car, I began suspecting that our sunrise park visit wasn?t about watching daylight lift around us. This was his effort to avoid stares.
It was a solemn drive home.
After that day, Dad spent more time indoors. He left the shopping, driving, and Little League games to Mom. A freelance editor, he turned our dining room into his office and buried himself in manuscripts. He no longer wanted to play catch.
At physical therapy, Dad obeyed the doctor: “Now smile as wide as you can. Now lift your right cheek with your hand. Now try to whistle.”
Only the sound of blowing air came out. My earliest memories were of Dad whistling to Frank Sinatra or Bobby McFerrin. He always whistled. He had taught me to whistle too.
Of the roughly 40,000 Americans suffering Bell?s palsy every year, most recover in several weeks. Other cases take a few months to heal. But after nine weeks of therapy, the doctor confessed she couldn?t help Dad.
“I?ve never seen anything like this,” she told him after his final session. Then she handed him the bill.
Dad coped through humor. He occasionally grabbed erasable markers and drew an even-sided wide smile across his face. Other times, he practiced his Elvis impersonation, joking that his curled lips allowed him to perfect his performance of “Hound Dog”.
By the time I entered fourth grade that September, Dad could blink his right eye and speak clearly again. But his smile still hadn?t returned. So I made a secret vow: I would abstain from smiles of any kind.
Nothing about fourth grade made this easy. Classmates were both old enough to laugh about
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pop culture and young enough to appreciate fart jokes. Kids called me Frowny the Dwarf. (I was three foot ten.) Teachers accompanied me into hallways, asking what was wrong. Breaking the promise I had made myself was tempting, but I couldn?t let Dad not smile alone.
When I asked my PE coach, “What?s so great about smiling?” he made me do push-ups while the rest of the class played Wiffle ball. Then he called Dad.
I never learned what they discussed. But when I got off the school bus that afternoon, I saw Dad waiting for me, holding ourgloves and ball. For the first time in months, we got in the family car and went to the park for a catch.
“It?s been too long,” he said.
Roughly a half-dozen fathers and sons lined the field with gloved arms in the air. Dad couldn?t smile, but he beamed, and so did I. Sundown came quickly. The field?s white lights glowed, and everyone else left. But Dad and I threw everything from curve balls to folly floaters into the night. We had catching up to do.
65. Why did Father choose to play baseballs one summer dawn? A. They could perform better in the morning. B. He tried to escape others? attention to his face. C. Morning air was more suitable for playing baseball. D. The park was empty and they could enjoy themselves.
66. The underlined phrase “abstain from” in Paragraph 16 is closest in meaning to ______. A. seek for B. recover from C. give up D. break into 67. What can we infer from the underlined sentence in Paragraph 17? A. The boy lost his ability to smile.
B. The boy must have suffered many wrongs. C. The boy couldn?t appreciate pop culture. D. The boy tried his best to make Father smile.
68. Why did the father accompany his son to the park for a catch that night? A. He had made a complete recovery. B. He thought night baseball was a thrill. C. He intended his son to return to normal. D. He was instructed by the PE coach to do so.
69. Which of the following can best describe the author?s father? A. Selfless and lucky. B.Generous and determined. C. Sensitive and stubborn. D. Responsible and humorous. 70. What is the best title for the passage? A. Losing my father?s smile B. Making a hidden secret C. Playing baseball in the morning D. Recovering from a face illness 第四部分 任务型阅读(共10小题；每小题1分，满分10分)
请认真阅读下列短文，并根据所读内容在文章后表格中的空格里填入一个最恰当的单词。 ．．注意：请将答案写在答题卡上相应题号的横线上。每个空格只填1个单词。
Until about 18 years ago, it was widely assumed that most of brain development occurs in the first few years of life. But recent research on the human brain has shown that many brain regions undergo prolonged development throughout adolescence and beyond in humans. This advancement in knowledge has increased old worries and given rise to new ones. It is hugely worrying that so many teenagers around the world don?t have access to education at a time when their brains are still developing and being shaped by the environment. We should also worry about our lack of
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understanding of how our rapidly changing world is shaping the developing teenage brain.
Decades of research on early neurodevelopment suggested that the environment influences brain development. During the first few months or years of life, an animal must be exposed to particular visual or auditory stimuli (听觉刺激) for the associated brain cells and connections to develop. In this way, neuronal circuitry (神经元回路) is shaped according to the environment during ?sensitive periods? of brain development. This research has focused mostly on early development of sensory brain regions. What about later development of higher-level brain regions, which are involved in decision-making, control and planning, as well as social understanding and self-awareness? We know these brain regions continue to develop throughout adolescence. However, we have very little knowledge about how environmental factors influence the developing teenage brain. This is something that should concern us.
There?s a lot of concern about the hours some teenagers spend online and playing video games. But maybe all this worry is misplaced. After all, throughout history humans have worried about the effects of new technologies on the minds of the next generation. When the printing press was invented, there was anxiety about reading corrupting young people?s minds, and the same worries were repeated for the invention of radio and television. Maybe we shouldn?t be worried at all. It?s possible that the developing brains of today?s teenagers are going to be the most adaptable, creative, multi-tasking brains that have ever existed. There is evidence—from adults—that playing video games improves a range of cognitive functions such as divided attention and working memory. Much less is known about how gaming, social networking and so on, influence the developing adolescent brain. We don?t know whether the effects of new technologies on the developing brain are positive, negative or neutral. We need to find out.
Adolescence is a period of life in which the brain is developing and shapable, and it represents a good opportunity for learning and social development. However, according to UNICEF, 40% of the world?s teenagers do not have access to secondary school education. The percentage of teenage girls who have no access to education is much higher, and yet there is strong evidence that the education of girls in developing countries has multiple significant benefits for family health, population growth rates, child mortality rates, HIV rates as well as for women?s self-esteem and quality of life. Adolescence represents a time of brain development when teaching and training should be particularly beneficial. I worry about the lost opportunity of denying the world?s teenagers access to education.
Worrying about the teenage brain Different from the previous researches, a new one reveals that brain development will(71)▲even in the teenage years and beyond, which (72)▲some worries. Introduction Various factors ●Particular visual or auditory stimuli are a must for animals to (74)▲ (73)▲the neuronalcircuitry at the early time of life. teenage brain ●We should be (75)▲about what influencethe environment has on the and new worries developing teenage brain. - 10 -