A 70-year study of personality suggests that pessimism is a risk factor for early death, especially among men.

　　The study results also indicate that pessimism can be linked to increased risk for sudden death from accidents or violence, according to the report published in the March issue of Psychological Science.

　　Christopher Peterson of the University of Michigan and his colleagues analyzed data from the Terman Life-Cycle Study, which began by studying California public-school children with high IQs in 1921 and followed them through their life. Most of the 1,528 children were teenagers when the study began. Those still living are now in their 80s. In 1936 and 1940, participants were asked to complete a questionnaire designed to obtain information about difficult life events and their effect on overall outlook. One such question was, “What do you regard as your most serious fault of personality or character?”

　　Pessimists were defined as fatalistic(宿命論的)people who tend to blame themselves when things go wrong and who believe that one bad event can ruin the rest of their life. They also tend to expect bad things to happen to them and feel that they have little or no ability to change their situation.

　　Males were more likely than females to be classified as pessimistic. Compared with individuals with a more cheerful and optimistic outlook, pessimists were more likely to die from accidents and violence (including suicide).

　　A pessimistic personality may lead to poor problem-solving ability, social difficulties and risky decision-making. Taken together, these variables put the pessimist at higher risk of untimely(不適時(shí)的) death, say the researchers. Such a person is less likely to avoid or escape potentially dangerous situations, the researchers concluded. “A pessimistic way of thinking in which people worry too much about bad events, predicts untimely death decades later,” according to Peterson.

1.According to the passage, you may be a pessimistic person, if one failure makes you feel________.

A．other people have been unfair to you.

B．other people will help you.

C．you cannot change a bad situation.

D．you can do better next time.

2.According to the passage, pessimists may feel all of the following EXCEPT________

A．helpless when faced with difficulties.

B．cheerful when faced with troubles.

C．hopeless when one bad event occurs.

D．guilty when things go wrong.

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

A．Pessimists believe that everything in life depends on fate.

B．There are more pessimists among women than among men.

C．Most pessimists will end up committing suicide.

D．All pessimists will eventually die from accidents.

4.The Terman Life-Cycle Study is a research program that studies________.

A．people over 70 years old.

B．people since their childhood.

C．pessimistic people over 80 years old.

D．only younger people.

5.The analysis made by Christopher Peterson and his colleagues shows that pessimistic people________

A．will die from violence if they learn to be optimistic.

B．will more likely die from violence than optimistic people.

C．will die from violence because their IQs are low.

D．will die untimely if they are not able to learn to be cheerful and optimistic.

 

In the UK, students’ residence halls are run as profit-making business, but this can occasionally be to students’ disadvantage.

As many universities choose to contract out their hall’s management to private companies, room rents are rising and student rights are suffering.

In 2006, 55 percent of student rooms were managed by private companies --- only 27 percent by universities and colleges, the National Union of Students (NUS) has reported.

These private companies are improving the hall’s facilities in return for higher room rents. The most noticeable example of this trend is the growth in luxury halls. These are halls for students willing to pay more for larger rooms with better services.

Chancellors Court, at Edinburgh University in Scotland, is one such luxury hall. Rooms are divided between standard and large, with larger rooms costing 173 pounds each week, 40 pounds more than smaller rooms. They come with a scenic view, color TV, fast Internet connection and a modern bathroom.

Other luxury halls have private gyms for their residents. Private companies capitalize (用…以牟利) on their investment by renting out the students rooms to travelers over the summer vacation period.

But the NUS is concerned that luxury halls are affecting room rents at standard un-privatized halls. Most students in the UK pay on average 126 pounds a week for a private room in catered (提供餐飲的) halls of residence, the International Students Advice and Welfare organization has reported. According to the NUS, rent in UK halls of residence has risen by almost a quarter from 2005 to 2007.

Veronica King, NUS vice-president of welfare, wants the privatization of university accommodation to stop.

“For the students for whom luxury is not affordable, there is a significant risk that accommodation costs, coupled with the burden of complete fees, may reduce the choice of where to go to university,” she said.

Legal quarrels with privatized (私有化了的) halls may also account for some of the 10 percent per year rise in student complaints to the office of the Independent Adjudicator(裁定者) for Higher Education (OIA). The OIA is an independent student complaints scheme that has authority over all higher education institutions in England and Wales.

Rob Behrens, chief executive of the OIA, said he was unsurprised by the rise in complaints. “The bottom line is that students today are more self-confident in thinking about what their rights are and what are the things they can get form the commitments they make.”

Why are room rents rising in British universities?

A. Because the world is facing a financial crisis.

B. Because most universities are getting bored about students’ complaints.

C. Because many universities let private companies run students’ halls.

D. Because not all universities can meet the demands of the students.

Which of the following is not mentioned about a luxury hall?

A. Students have to pay more for a luxury hall.

B. Students can have a good view in a luxury hall.

C. Students can enjoy their own gym in a luxury hall.

D. Students can have an Internet connection free of charge.

Why do some students want to pay more for a luxury hall?

A. Because they just want to show that they are rich. 

B. Because they are better served in a luxury hall.

C. Because there are too much complaints about small rooms.

D. Because there are no other choices.

What may happen to those who can’t afford the accommodation fee?

A. They may borrow more money from the bank.

B. They may go to work in OIA.

C. They may not go to college.

D. They may go abroad for further study.

 

 --You look troubled.

    --Father asked me to finish this task today. How can I _________ ？

    A. manage to      B. attampt to        C. decide to         D. happen to

 

Due to the increasing number of violent acts produced in schools all over the world, more and more parents prefer to have their children educated at home rather than at school. This way they can assure their safety and well-being. Teachers and school representatives are trying to improve the situation in schools by increasing the number of the persons charged with the safety of the students.

The main reason for violent acts are the films and cartoons that fill the children’s time. They want to do everything. They watch on TV and never think of the results, and they may hurt a classmate or a teacher.

On the other hand, parents are not fully satisfied with the children’s results obtained in classes and they consider private classes would have better results.

When a teacher has to watch 30 students in class he can’t probably see what each of them is doing, how he is writing, or if he understands the explanations. At home the teacher can explain in detail everything the child doesn’t understand as many times as he considers proper.

And many times, the child grows fond of the teacher at home, who becomes his best friend, and who helps him whenever he needs someone to talk to. 

However, the best solution would be a mixture between the education received at school and that at home, because school makes children communicate and socialize. Keeping a child at home for fear that something bad might happen to him only makes the child’s character weak and prevents him from knowing what real life is. Staying in a glass bowl only does harm to the child.

All in all, schools have been created to help children, not to harm them, so it’s best to keep children in these special places, where they learn, laugh, have fun and make new friends.

1.The writer’s purpose in writing the text is to      .

A．teach parents the ways to keep theft children safe

B．show solutions to developing children’s character

C．explain the main reason for violence acts in schools

D．a(chǎn)nalyze an education problem and give opinions.

2.What does “a glass bowl” in the passage refer to?

A．A toy that can be used for entertainment．

B．A safe and comfortable environment．

C．An object that is made of crystal．

D．A setback that is hard to overcome．

3.We can infer from the passage that      .

A．violent TV programs have bad effects on children’ behavior

B．the teacher at home is more patient than the teacher at school

C．children today are weak from lack of sense of right and wrong

D．there are too many students in class for a teacher to teach

 

Students who date (約會(huì)）in middle school have significantly worse study skills, are four times more likely to drop out of school and report twice as much alcohol and tobacco use than their single classmates, according to new research from the University of Georgia.

"Romantic relationships are a trademark of adolescence, but very few studies have examined how adolescents differ in the development of these relationships," said Pamela Orpinas, study author and professor in the College of Public Health and head of the Department of Health Promotion and Behavior.

Orpinas followed a group of 624 students over a seven-year period from 6th to 12th grade.

Each year, the group of students completed a survey indicating whether they had dated and reported the frequency of different behaviors, including the use of drugs and alcohol. Their teachers completed questionnaires (調(diào)查表）about the students* academic efforts. He found some students never or hardly ever reported dating from middle to high school, and these students had consistently the best study skills according to their teachers. Other students dated infrequently in middle school but increased the frequency of dating in high school.

"At all points in time, teachers rated the students who reported the lowest frequency of dating as having the best study skills and the students with the highest dating as having the worst study skills,” according to the journal article. Study skills refer to behaviors that lead to academic success such as doing work for extra credit，being well organized, finishing homework, working hard and reading assigned chapters.

"Dating a classmate may have the same emotional complications of dating a co-worker," Orpinas said, "when the couple break up. they have to continue to see each other in class and perhaps witness the ex-partner dating someone else. It is reasonable to think this could be linked to depression and divert (轉(zhuǎn)移）attention from studying.”

Dating should not be considered a ceremony of growth in middle school，”O(jiān)rpinas concluded.

1.When doing his study, Orpinas_____.

A．followed a group of students of 6th and 12th grade

B．completed a survey and a report each year

C．completed questionnaires about the students’ academic efforts

D．found that the students’ study skills have connection with their frequency of dating

2.Study skills may include the following behaviors and qualities Except_____

A．being diligent                          B．being well organized

C．being kind and helpful                    D．finishing assigned schoolwork

3.What can possibly happen to the school couples after they break up?

A．They don’t want to see each other any longer.

B．Their attention to studying will be affected.

C．They will miss their ex-partners sometimes

D．They will think it’s reasonable to get depressed.

4.Orpinas’attitude towards dating in middle school is_____

A．supportive         B．positive           C．negative          D．indifferent