Across the planet there are millions of people who engage in some type of meditation, the practice of concentrating and clearing the mind to bring the body into a state of peace, at least a semi-regular basis. For some, particularly among practitioners of Eastern religions such as Buddhism and Hinduism, this is part and parcel of their religious practice.
For others, particularly in Western cultures, meditation tends to be a response to stress. With the world economy approaching meltdown and people worried about their job or their ability to keep their home, it’s a way for people to attain a state of peace of mind and well-being.
For those interested in taking up the practice, instruction in meditation for beginners can be found in literally thousands of sources.
One of the most popular styles of mediation in the West, with classes offered in most major cities, is called Transcendental Meditation. TM, as it is known among its practitioners, first came to worldwide attention when the Beatles began practicing it in 1967. For direct, guided, personal instruction in meditation for the beginner, TM may be the hallmark.
Part of the confusion about how to practice meditation effectively is due to the fact that there are literally hundreds of techniques championed by various groups and individuals. As a general principle, it might be said that all meditation techniques seek to have the practitioner attain a state of consciousness that is different to our ordinary state of awareness. They attempt to train people to clear their minds and achieve a sense of inner peace. It sounds simple enough, but of the huge number of people experiment with meditation, very few are able to maintain its practice over the long haul. In most cases, this is due to frustration over the inability to experience any dramatic, instantly recognizable effects.
This is quite a sad state of affairs, that so few these days are willing or equipped to persist in something that doesn’t provide immediate life-changing results. It reflects a culture in which demands for discipline and sustained effort are considered unnecessary or even unfair. It is no surprise therefore that many people abandon their efforts at meditation before they have a chance to bear fruit.
But for anyone who does decide to take up this worthwhile practice, please remember. You must clear your mind, relax and “take it as it comes”. Maintain the practice with a sense of discipline and devotion, and eventually benefits of inner peace and calm will be yours.
【小题1】The underlined part “part and parcel of” in paragraph 1 is nearest in meaning to ________.

A．closely associated with	B．very different to
C．usually sent from	D．an important element of

【小题2】The goal of meditation is ________.

A．to clear the mind	B．to practice a religion
C．to develop a technique	D．to carry out an experiment

【小题3】What can we infer about meditation from the passage?

A．It has two main types.

B．It is practiced by many famous artists.

C．Its benefits are not immediately obvious.

D．Most people find it a very good way to relax.

【小题4】According to the writer, what has attracted many Western people to meditation practices in recent years?

A．Their improved understanding of foreign culture.

B．The need to fill in their growing free time.

C．Increasing employment instability.

D．Migration from countries in which meditation is traditional.

【小题5】Who is the probable audience for this article?

A．Experienced meditation practitioners.

B．People interested in starting to learn meditation.

C．Buddhists and Hindus.

D．People who are very religious.

Have you ever had the strange feeling that you were being watched? You turned around and, sure enough, someone was looking right at you!

       Some parapsychologists （心理学家）say that humans have a natural ability to sense when someone is looking at them. To study whether such a “sixth sense” really exists, Robert Baker, a psychologist at the University of Kentucky, performed several experiments.

       In the first one, Baker sat behind unsuspecting（毫无戒心的）people in public places and stared at the backs of their heads for 5 to 15 minutes. Those people were eating, drinking, reading，studying, watching TV, or working at a computer. Baker made sure that they could not tell that he was sitting behind them during those periods. Later, when he questioned everyone, almost all of them said they had no idea that someone was staring at them.

       For the second experiment, Baker told the subjects that they would be stared at from time to time. They had to write down when they felt they were being stared at and when they weren’t. Baker found that the subjects were no better at telling when they were stared at than if they had just guessed.

       Baker’s experiment concludes again that people do not have the ability to sense when they’re being stared at. If you doubt the outcome of his two experiments, I suggest you repeat the experiments and see for yourselves.

1．The first experiment made by Baker shows that _________.

       A．people can’t realize it when they are watched secretly

       B．one can't sense other people’s watching when they are talking

       C．people have no idea about the sixth sense of human beings

       D．the sixth sense doesn’t work during the first 5 or 15 minutes

2．The second experiment differs from the first one in that ________.

       A．the people were not directly stared at from time to time

       B．the people had to write something down

       C．the people were good at guessing when they were stared at

       D．the people were informed of the purpose of the experiment

3．What is the author’s attitude（态度） towards the result of the experiment?

       A．Support               B．Doubt                 C．Sympathy            D．Surprise

4．We can infer from the passage that _________.

       A．it’s most probable that humans have six senses

       B．the so-called sixth sense doesn’t exist in human beings

       C．the experiments done by Baker hardly explain anything

       D．people should make conclusions by themselves

 

       Have you ever had the strange feeling that you were being watched? You turned around and, sure enough, someone was looking right at you!

       Some parapsychologists （心理学家） say that humans have a natural ability to sense when someone is looking at them．To study whether such a "sixth sense" really exists, Robert Baker, a psychologist at the University of Kentucky, performed several experiments．

       In the first one．Baker sat behind unsuspecting people in public places and stared at the backs of their heads for 5 to 15 minutes．The subjects were eating, drinking, reading, studying, watching TV, or working at a computer．Baker made sure that the people could not tell that he was sitting behind them during those periods．Later, when he questioned the suspects, almost all of them said they had no' idea that someone was staring at them．

       For the second experiment．Baker told subjects that they would be stared at from time to time from behind a two-way minor in a lab setting．The people had to write down when they felt they were being stared at and when they weren’t．Baker found that the subjects were no better at telling when they were stared at than if they had just guessed．

       Baker’s experiment concludes again that people do not have the ability to sense when they are being stared at．If you doubt the outcome of his two experiments, I suggest you repeat the experiments and see for yourselves．

1.The first experiment made by Baker shows that ____．

       A．people can’t realize it when they are watched secretly

       B．one can't sense other people’s watching when they are talking

       C．people have no idea about the sixth sense of human beings

       D．the sixth sense doesn’t work during the first 5 or 15 minutes

2.The second experiment differs from the first one in that ____．

       A．the subjects were not directly stared at from time to time

       B．the subjects had to write something down in a lab sitting

       C．the subjects were good at guessing when they were stared at

       D．the subjects were informed of the purpose of the experiment

3.What is the author's attitude towards the result of the experiment? ____．

       A．Support          B．Doubt            C．Sympathy         D．Surprise

4.We can infer from the passage that ____．                       

     A．it’s most probable that humans have six senses

       B．the so-called sixth sense doesn’t exist in human beings

       C．the experiments done by Baker hardly explain anything

       D．people should make conclusions by themselves

 

阅读理解

　　Week after week in recent months, various cities throughout Europe have been the scene of violent clashes (冲突) between youths and the police.

　　While they seem to have little in common with the 1968 students protests, the clashes are beginning to be regarded with increasing alarm.

　　In the past few days, television audience throughout Europe have looked on with shock at news broadcasts of pitched street battles (街头阵地战) between angry youths protesting about the inadequacy (不充分) of low-cost housing in Zurich and Amsterdam and forces of special riot police.

　　The riots, which have stunned (使惊吓) complacent (自满的) authorities and citizens in Holland, Switzerland, Denmark, Germany, Britain, France and other European countries in recent months, are seen as being fundamentally different from the wave of rebellion that swept across the political firmament (苍天) of the late 1960s' rebellions associated (联合) with the names of Rudi Dutschke and Cohn-Dendit.

　　“They seem more mindless than in 1968,” noted one Bruessels-based European official who deals with the problems of young people. “They are less ideological (意识形态的) and seem to have no intellectual (智力的) or political overtones, (含义)” he added. According to this expert, the riots may be reminiscent (使人想起的) of the 1968 disturbances, in which they are “a protest (抗议) against the inequalities and inadequacies of society.”

　　But despite the fact young Europeans are among the hardest hit by recession (不景气) and record levels of unemployment, few of the recent disturbances have been closely linked to this type of frustration. (挫折)

　　If there is any thread to the series of otherwise random (随便的) riots and clashes that began erupting in the Europe in April of this year, it is the violent reaction of young people to the destruction of their low-cost housing units or youth centers to make way for middle-class projects. (计划) Such explosions against eviction (逐出) have taken place in Copenhagen, Amsterdam, and Zurich in the past few months.

1．The most possible reason for the riots is ________.

[　　]

A．to protest the complacent officials

B．to save Rudi Dutschke and Cohn-Dendit

C．to protest inadequacy and “eviction”

D．to protest unemployment

2．Comparing with 1968 student rebellions, the riots are

[　　]

A．with more political purposes

B．more ideological

C．more violent

D．more lacking in intelligence

3．In which of the following cities, there's no scene of students riots?

[　　]

4．The most probable meaning of the word “disturbance” in line 2, para. 6 is ________.

[　　]

5．What can we infer from the passage?

[　　]

A．The recent students rebellion resembled the one in 1968.

B．Neither the government nor the citizens cared much about the rebellion.

C．The rebellion is caused by the economic depression in Europe.

D．The rebellion is not for any political purpose.