People with less education suffer fewer stressful days, according to a report in the current issue of the Journal of Health and Social Behavior．

　　However, the study also found that when less-educated people did suffer stress, it was more severe and had a stronger effect on their health．

　　From this, researchers have concluded that the day-to-day factors that cause stress are regular．Where you are in society determines the kinds of problems that you have each day, and how well you will cope with them．

　　The research team interviewed a national sample of 1031 adults daily for eight days about their stress level and health．People without a high school diploma reported stress on 30 percent of the study days, people with a high school degree reported stress on 38 percent of the time, and people with college degrees reported stress on 44 percent of the time．

　　“Less advantaged people are less healthy on a daily basis and are more likely to have downward turns in their health．”Leading researcher Dr．Joseph Grzywacz of Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center, said in a prepared statement, “The downward turns in health were connected with daily stressors(紧张刺激物), and the effect of daily stressors on their health is much more damaging for the less advantaged．”

　　Grzywacz suggested follow-up research to determine why less-educated people report fewer days of stress when it is known that their stress is more acute and chronic(急性和慢性)．

　　“If something happens every day, maybe it’s not seen as a stressor,” Grzywacz says, “Maybe it is just life．”

(1)

(2)

(3)

阅读理解

　　Time talks．It speaks more plainly(明白地)than words．Time communicates in many ways．

　　Consider the different parts of the day, for example．The time of the day when something is done can give a special meaning to the event．Factory managers in the United States fully realize the importance of an announcement made during the middle of the morning or afternoon that takes everyone away from his work．

　　In the United States, it is not customary(通常的，习惯的)to telephone someone very early in the morning．If you telephone him early in the day, while he is shaving(刮脸)or having breakfast, the time of the call shows that the matter is very urgent(紧急的)and requires immediate attention．It is the same with telephone calls made after 11∶00 p.m. If someone receives a call during sleeping hours, he probably thinks it is a matter of life or death．The time chosen for the call communicates its importance．

　　The meanings of time differ in different parts of the world．Thus, misunderstanding arises(出现)between people from cultures that treat time differently．In the United States, people tend(趋向于)to think of time as something fixed in nature, something from which one can not escape．As a rule, Americans think of time as a road into the future, along which one progresses．The road has many sections(段), which are to be kept separate…“one thing at a time”．Thus, an American may feel angry when he has made an appointment(约会)with someone and then finds a lot of other things happening at the same time．

　　Americans look ahead and are concerned(与……有关系)almost entirely with the future．The American idea of the future is limited, however．It is the foreseeable future and not the future of involving(牵连)many centuries．

　　Since time has much different meanings in different cultures, communication is often difficult．We will understand each other a little better if we can keep this fact in mind．

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

阅读理解

　　Email has brought the art of letter writing back to life, but some experts think the resulting spread of bad English does more harm than good．

　　Email is a form of communication that is changing, for the worse, the way we write and use language, say some communication researchers．It is also changing the way we interact(交流)and build relationship．These are a few of recently recognized features of email, say experts, that should cause individual and organizations to rethink the way they use email．

　　“Email has increased the spread of careless writing habits,”says Naomi Baron, a professor of linguistics at American University．She says the poor spelling, grammar, punctuation(标点符号)and sentence structure of emails reflect a growing unconcern to the way we write．

　　Baron argues that we should not forgive and forget the poor writing often shown in emails．“The more we use email and its tasteless writing, the more it becomes the normal way of writing,”the professor says．

　　Others say that despite its poor prose(文字), email has finished what several generations of English teachers couldn't： it has made writing fashionable again．

　　“Email is a critical new communication technology,”says Ian Lancashire, a University of Toronto professor of English．“It fills the gap between spoken language and the formal methods of writing that existed before email．It is the purest form of written speech．”

　　Lancashire says email has the mysterious ability to get people who are scared by writing to get their thoughts flowing easily onto a blank screen．He says this is because of email's close similarity to speech．“It's like a circle of four or five people around a campfire,”he says．

　　Still, he accepts that this new-found freedom to express themselves often gets people into trouble．“Almost everyday I get emails that apologies of previous emails,”he reports．

　　In the US, the number of emails sent in a day exceeds(超过)the number of letters mailed in a year．But more people are recognizing the content of a typical email message is not often exact．

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

阅读理解

　　Norah had a cottage on a cliff above a big bay．In winter it could be very nasty because of strong winds and sea spray．In fact, when a gale was blowing, Norah and her husband got used to sleeping in a small room downstairs, because their bedroom upstairs, which faced the gales, had a very big window, and they were afraid that an extra violent gust might break it and blow pieces of broken glass over them．

　　Also, the salt spray from the sea put an end to many of the colourful plants Norah planted in her garden．She tried putting up a fence to protect them, but the wind just hit it, went up over the top and then down the other side, so in the end she filled the garden with trees and bushes that liked salt．

　　But most of the summer Norah enjoyed her cottage and garden very much．At weekends she could sit out of doors in the sun, looking at the beautiful view, with interesting ships and boats passing by, and she could very easily cycle down to the sea for a swim．

　　Now, Norah and her husband had plenty of friends and relations．In the summer lots of them used to come to enjoy the beautiful place, and in the end it really became quite annoying for Norah and her husband．When they were at home, they found friends and relations arriving, expecting to be given unlimited drinks and meals, and to sit in the sun for hours, talking as if Norah and her husband had nothing else to do but entertain and listen to them．

　　This went on for several years．Norah did not wish to appear rude by refusing to let her friends and relations in, but on the other hand, she was getting tired every summer．

　　Then one day Norah was complaining about this to her hairdresser while she was doing her hair．“You're disturbed by too many uninvited guests, are you?”said the hairdresser．“Why don't you try my way of escaping?”

　　“What's that?”asked Norah．

　　“Well,”the hairdresser answered,“when the bell rings, I put on my coat and take my shopping bag．If it's someone I don't want to see, I say innocently, ‘I'm sorry, but I've got to go out．' But…”

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

阅读理解

　　Among various programmes, TV talk shows have covered every inch of space on daytime television．And anyone who watches them regularly knows that each one is different in style(风格)．But no two shows are more opposite in content, while at the same time standing out above the rest, than the Jerry Springer and the Oprah Winfrey shows．

　　Jerry Springer could easily be considered the king of“rubbish talk”．The contents on his show are as surprising as can be．For example, the show takes the ever-common talk show titles? of love, sex, cheating, and hate, to a different level．Clearly, the Jerry Springer show is about the dark side of society, yet people are willing to eat up the troubles of other people's lives．

　　Like Jerry Springer, Oprah Winfrey takes TV talk show to its top, but Oprah goes in the opposite direction．The show is mainly about the improvement of society and different quality(质量)of life．Contents are from teaching your children lessons, managing your work week, to getting to know your neighbors．

　　Compared to Oprah, the Jerry Springer show looks like poisonous waste being poured into society．Jerry ends every show with a“final word”．He makes a small speech about the entire idea of the show．Hopefully, this is the part where most people will learn something very valuable．

　　Clean as it is, the Oprah show is not for everyone．The show's main viewers are middle-class Americans．Most of these people have the time, money, and ability to deal with life's tougher problems．Jerry Springer, on the other hand, has more of a connection with the young adults of society．These are 18-to-21-year-old whose main troubles in life include love, relationship, sex, money and drug．They are the ones who see some value and lessons to be learned through the show's exploitation．

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

阅读理解

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

阅读理解

　　An old man was going home late one night with his horse and cart after a day's hard work．When he was not far from his house, the light on the cart went out．He tried but could not mend it．

　　He was near his home, and so he went along the road without a light．When a policeman saw this, he stopped the old carter．

　　“Where's your light?”asked the policeman．“No one may take a cart along a road at night without a light．You know that．You've broken the law．”

　　“I had a light,”said the old man,“but it has just gone out．”

　　“I don't believe that story,”said the policeman．He took out a book and got ready to write．“What's your name and where do you live?”he asked．

　　“Please don't take my name,”said the old man．“My house is just there．You can see it from here．I had a light nearly the whole way．I haven't come far without a light．”

　　“You came all the way without a light．What's your name?”

　　The carter quickly took the policeman's hand and put it down on the top of the light．The light was still hot, and burnt the policeman's hand．He jumped and he was very angry．

　　“Now, what do you think?”said the carter．“Did I come all the way without a light?”

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

(5)

阅读理解

　　Why Is the Sun Important?

　　The sun is a huge, hot, bright star．It is important because without it there would be no life on Earth．The sun gives us light and heat．

　　All living things need light and heat from the sun to live．Plants need light and heat to grow．They use the light from the sun to make food．We cannot make our own food, but plants can．All the food we eat comes from plants in a food chain(链)which starts with the sun．For example．

　　Animals need sunlight, too．Just like us, their food comes from a food chain which begins with the sun and the plants．

　　sun→leaf→caterpillar(毛虫)→bird

　　sun→seaweed(海藻)→small fish→whale(鲸)

　　Sunlight means we can see during the day．If there was no sun, it would be dark all the time．Even when the sky is cloudy, the sunlight is very strong and it shines through the clouds．

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

(5)

阅读理解

　　It seems to be strange to you there is a blind spot(盲点)on the eyes．Here is an interesting experiment that can make something disappear, when one eye is open．

　　Make a card about the size of a postcard and write two English letters L and R on it, L on the left and R on the right．First, hold the card about 80 cm away and you see both the letters．Then close your right eye and look at the letter R only with your left eye．And now, as you move the card slowly towards you, you'll find the letter L disappearing．But if you move the card nearer to your face, the letter will be seen again．Now do the same experiment with your left eye closed, you'll find the letter R disappearing．

　　Why does the letter disappear? It is because there is a blind spot on the eye．When the image(影像)of the letter falls on the blind spot, it won't be seen．That is why either of the letters disappears．

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

(5)

阅读理解

　　In the sea there are many islands．In its warm waters there are some little ones．We call them“coral Islands”．

　　A coral island is very nice to look at．It looks like a ring of land(一圈陆地)with trees, grass, and flowers on it．One part of the ring is open to the water．There is a little round lake inside the island．

　　If you look into this lake, you will see beautiful coral．You may think they are flowers．If you look at a piece of coral, you will see many little holes in it．In each of these holes a very small sea animal has lived．These sea animals make the coral．

　　They began to build under the water．Year after year, the coral grew higher and higher．At last it grew out of the water．

　　Then the sea brought it small trees and something else．After some years, these things changed into earth．Sometimes the wind brought seeds(种子)to this earth．Sometimes birds flew over it and brought seeds to the island．

　　The little seeds grew．In a few years there were plants all over the island．In a few more years there were trees growing there．

　　So you see, these islands were built little by little．The workers were very small．Do they not teach us a lesson? Can you think what the lesson is?

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

(5)