阅读
Passage1：Roman一条河的遗迹研究
待补充
Passage2：盐 TheHistory Of Salt
原文：
A
Salt is so simple and plentiful that we almost take it for granted. In chemical terms,salt is the combination of a sodium ion with a chloride ion, making it one ofthe most basic molecules on earth. It is also one of the most plentiful: it has been estimated that salt deposits under the state of Kansas alone could supplythe entire world’s needs for the next 250,000 years.
B
But saltis also an essential element. Without it, life itself would be impossible sincethe human body requires the mineral in order to function properly. The concentration of sodium ions in the blood is directly related to the regulationof safe body fluid levels. And while we are all familiar with its many uses incooking, we may not be aware that this element is used in some 14,000commercial applications. From manufacturing pulp and paper to setting dyes intextiles and fabric, from producing soaps and detergents to making our roadssafe in winter, salt plays an essential part in our daily lives.
C
Salt hasa long and influential role in world history. From the dawn of civilization, ithas been a key factor in economic, religious, social and political development.In every corner of the world, it has been the subject of superstition,folklore, and warfare, and has even been used as currency.
D
As aprecious and portable commodity, salt has long been a cornerstone of economiesthroughout history. In fact, researcher M.R. Bloch conjectured thatcivilization began along the edges of the desert because of the natural surfacedeposits of salt found there. Bloch also believed that the first war – likelyfought near the ancient city of Essalt on the Jordan River – could have beenfought over the city’s precious supplies of the mineral.
E
In 2200BC, the Chinese emperor Hsia Yu levied one of the first known taxes. He taxedsalt. In Tibet, Marco Polo noted that tiny cakes of salt were pressed withimages of the Grand Khan to be used as coins and to this day among the nomadsof Ethiopia’s Danakil Plains it is still used as money. Greek slave tradersoften bartered it for slaves, giving rise to the expression that someone was“not worth his salt.” Roman legionnaires were paid in salt – a solarium, theLatin origin of the word “salary.”
F
Merchants in 12th-century Timbuktu – the gateway to the Sahara Desert and the seat ofscholars – valued this mineral as highly as books and gold. In France, Charlesof Anjou levied the “gabelle,” a salt tax, in 1259 to finance his conquest ofthe Kingdom of Naples. Outrage over the gabelle fueled the French Revolution.Though the revolutionaries eliminated the tax shortly after Louis XVI, theRepublic of France re-established the gabelle in the early 19th Century; onlyin 1946 was it removed from the books.
G
The ErieCanal, an engineering marvel that connected the Great Lakes to New York’sHudson River in 1825, was called “the ditch that salt built.” Salt tax revenuespaid for half the cost of construction of the canal. The British monarchysupported itself with high salt taxes, leading to a bustling black market forthe white crystal. In 1 785, the Earl of Dundonald wrote that every year inEngland, 10,000 people were arrested for salt smuggling. And protesting againstBritish rule in 1930, Mahatma Gandhi led a 200-mile march to the Arabian Oceanto collect untaxed salt for India’s poor.
H
In religion and culture, salt long held an important place with Greek worshippersconsecrating it in their rituals. Further, in the Buddhist tradition, saltrepels evil spirits, which is why it is customary to throw it over your-shoulder before entering your house after a funeral: it scares off any evilspirits that may be clinging to your back. Shinto religion also uses it topurify an area. Before sumo wrestlers enter the ring for a match – which is, inreality, an elaborate Shinto rite – a handful is thrown into the center todrive off malevolent spirits.
I
In the Southwest of the United States, the Pueblo worship the Salt Mother. Othernative tribes had significant restrictions on who was permitted to eat salt.Hopi legend holds that the angry Warrior Twins punished mankind by placingvaluable salt deposits far from civilization, requiring hard work and braveryto harvest the precious mineral. In 1933, the Dalai Lama was buried sitting upin a bed of salt. Today, a gift of salt endures in India as a potent symbol ofgood luck and a reference to Mahatma Gandhi’s liberation of India.
J
The effects of salt deficiency are highlighted in times of war, when human bodiesand national economies are strained to their limits. Thousands of Napoleon’stroops died during the French retreat from Moscow due to inadequate woundhealing and lowered resistance to disease – the results of salt deficiency.
Questions14-16
Choose THREE letters A-H.
Write your answers in boxes 14-16 on your answer sheet.
NB: Your answers may be given in any order.
Which THREE statements are true of salt?
A .Anumber of cities take their name from the word salt.
B .Saltcontributed to the French Revolution.
C. The uses of salt are countless.
D. Salt has been produced in China for less than 2000 years.
E. There are many commercial applications for salt
F. Saltd eposits in the state of Kansas are vast.
G. Salt has few industrial uses nowadays.
H .Slaves used salt as a currency.
Questions17-21
Complete the summary.
Choose NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS from the passage for each answer.
Write your answers in boxes 17-21 on your answer sheet.
Salt issuch an 17 ________ that people would not be able to live without it. As wellas its uses in cooking, this basic mineral has thousands of business 18____________________ ranging from making paper to the manufacture of soap.Being a prized and 19 __________________ it has played a major part in theeconomies of many countries. As such, salt has not only led to war but has alsobeen used to raise 20 _____________ by governments in many parts of the world.There are also many instances of its place in religion and culture, being usedas a means to get rid of evil 21 ________________
Questions22-27
Do the following statements agree with the information in Reading Passage 2?
In boxes 22-27 on your answer sheet write
TRUE, ifthe statement is true
FALSE,if the statement is false
NOTGIVEN, if the information is not given in the passage
22 I thas been suggested that salt was responsible for the first war.
23 The first tax on salt was imposed by a Chinese emperor.
24 Salt is no longer used as a form of currency.
25 Most of the money for the construction of the Erie Canal came from salt taxes.
26 Hopilegend believes that salt deposits were placed far away from civilization topenalize mankind.
27 Alack of salt is connected with the deaths of some soldiers.
答案：
题型：多选+填空+判断
多选
14-16. B、E、F
填空
17. essential element
18.applications
19.portable commodity
20.taxes
21.spirits
判断
22. TRUE
23. NOTGIVEN
24. FALSE
25. FALSE
26. TRUE
Passage3：关于乐观Optimismand Health
原文：
Mindset(心态) is all. How you start the year will setthe template for 2009, and two scientifically backed character traits hold thekey: optimism and resilience (if the prospect leaves you feelingpessimistically spineless, the good news is that you can significantly boostboth of these qualities).
A
Faced with 12 months of plummeting economics and rising human distress, staunchlymaintaining a rosy view might seem deucedly Pollyannaish. But here we encounterthe optimism paradox. As Brice Pitt, an emeritus professor of the psychiatry ofold age at Imperial College, London, told me: optimists are unrealistic.Depressive people see things as they really are, but that is a disadvantagefrom an evolutionary point of view. Optimism is a piece of evolutionaryequipment that carried us through millennia of setbacks.
B
It has been known that optimistic has something to do with the long life, andoptimists have plenty to be happy about. In other words, if you can convinceyourself that things will get better, the odds of it happening will improve -because you keep on playing the game. In this light, optimism "is a habitualway of explaining your setbacks to yourself', reports Martin Seligman, thepsychology professor and author of Learned Optimism. The research shows that when times get tough, optimists do better than pessimists - they succeed betterat work, respond better to stress, suffer fewer depressive episodes and achievemore personal goals.
C
Studies also show that belief can help with the financial pinch. Chad Wallens, a socialforecaster at the Henley Centre who surveyed middle-class Britons’ beliefsabout income, has found that “he people who feel wealthiest, and those who feelpoorest, actually have almost the same amount of money at their disposal. Theirattitudes and behaviour patterns, however, are different from one another.”
D
Optimists have something else to be cheerful about – in general, they are more robust.For example, a study of 660 volunteers by the Yale University psychologist DrBecca Levy, found that thinking positively adds an average of 7 years to yourlife. Other American research claims to have identified a physical mechanismbehind this. A Harvard Medical School study of 670 men found that the optimistshave significantly better lung function. The lead author, Dr Rosalind Wright,believes that attitude somehow strengthens the immune system. "Preliminarystudies on heart patients suggest that, by changing a person's outlook, you canimprove their mortality risk," she says.
E
Few studies have tried to ascertain the proportion of optimists in the world. But a1995 nationwide survey conducted for the American magazine Adweek found thatabout half the population counted themselves as optimists, with women slightlymore apt than men (53 per cent versus 48 per cent) to see the sunny side.
F
Although some optimists may be accurate in their positive beliefs about the future,others may be unrealistic-their optimism is misplaced, according to AmericanPsychological Association. Research shows that some smokers exhibit unrealisticoptimism by underestimating their relative chances of experiencing disease. Animportant question is whether such unrealistic optimism is associated withrisk-related attitudes and behavior. We addressed this question byinvestigating if one's perceived risk of developing lung cancer, over and aboveone's objective risk, predicted acceptance of myths and other beliefs aboutsmoking. Hierarchical regressions showed that those individuals who wereunrealistically optimistic were more likely to endorse beliefs that there is norisk of lung cancer if one only smokes for a few years and that getting lungcancer depends on one's genes.
G
Of course, there is no guarantee that optimism will insulate you from the crunch'sworst effects, but the best strategy is still to keep smiling and thank yourlucky stars. Because (as every good sports coach knows) adversity ischaracter-forming-so long as you practise the skills of resilience. Researchamong tycoons and business leaders shows that the path to success is oftenlittered with failure: a record of sackings, bankruptcies and blistering castigations.But instead of curling into a foetal ball beneath the coffee table, theyresiliency pick themselves up, learn from their pratfalls and march boldlytowards the next opportunity.
H
The American Psychological Association defines resilience as the ability to adaptin the face of adversity, trauma or tragedy. A resilient person may go throughdifficulty and uncertainty, but he or she will doggedly bounce back.
I
Optimism is one of the central traits required in building resilience, say Yale Universityinvestigators in the Annual Review of Clinical Psychology. They add thatresilient people learn to hold on to their sense of humour and this can helpthem to keep a flexible attitude when big changes of plan arc warranted. Theability to accept your lot with equanimity also plays an important role, thestudy adds.
J
One of the best ways to acquire resilience is through experiencing a difficultchildhood, the sociologist Steven Stack reports in the Journal of SocialPsychology. For example, short men are less likely to commit suicide than tallguys, he says, because shorties develop psychological defense skills to handlethe bullies and mickey-taking that their lack of stature attracts. By contrast,those who enjoyed adversity-free youths can get derailed by setbacks later onbecause they've never been inoculated against agro.
K
Learning to overcome your fears. If you are handicapped by having had a happy childhood,then practising proactive optimism can help you to become more resilient.Studies of resilient people show that they take more risks; they court failureand learn not to fear it. And despite being thick-skinned, resilient types arealso more open than average to other people. Bouncing through knock backs isall part of the process. It's about optimistic risk-taking - being confidentthat people will like you. Simply smiling and being warm to people can help.It's an altruistic path to self-interest - and if it achieves nothing else, itwill reinforce an age-old adage: hard times can bring out the best in you.
Questions14-18
Summary
Completethe following summary of the paragraphs of Reading Passage.
Using nomore than TWO words from the Reading Passage for each answer. Write youranswers in boxes 14-18 on your answer sheet.
Optimistsgenerally are more robust. Yale University psychologist Dr Becca Levy foundthat an extension of around 14 to your life will be achieved by positiveattitude toward life. A Harvard Medical School conduct a research which studyof 15 male volunteers found that the optimists have remarkably better 16 And DrRosalind Wright believes optimistic life may enhance the 17 some initiativestudies on 18 indicate that people can improve their mortality risk by changinginto a positive outlook.
Questions19-23
Use theinformation in the passage to match the people or organization (listed A-E)with opinions or deeds below. Write the appropriate letters A-E in boxes 19-23on your answer sheet.
A .BricePitt
B. AmericanPsychological Association
C.MartinSeligman
D. ChadWallens of Henley Centre
E. AnnualReview of Clinical Psychology
F. StevenStack
G.American magazine Adweek
19Different optimism result found according to gender.
20 Thereis no necessary relationship between happiness and money.
21Excessive optimism may be incorrect in everyday life.
22Optimists is advantageous for human evolution.
23Occurrence of emergency assists resilient people in a positive way.
Questions24-27
Do thefollowing statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage 2?
In boxes24-27 on your answer sheet, write
YES ifthe statement is true
NO ifthe statement is false
NOTGIVEN if the information is not given in the passage
24 Thelink between longevity and optimism has been known.
25Optimists have better personal relationship than those pessimists.
26People who had a happy childhood do not need to practise optimism.
27Experience of difficulties will eventually help people accumulate the fortune.
答案：
1.7 years
2.670
3.lung function
4. immune system
5. heart patients
6-7
6. G
7. D
8. B
9. A
10. E
11 YES
12 NOT GIVEN
13 NO
14 YES
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