Many people turn to doctors or self-help books, but they ignore a powerful thing that could help them fight illness: their friends．

Researchers are only now starting to pay attention to the importance of friendship in health．A 10-year Australian study found that old People with a large circle of friends．A large 2007 study showed an increase of nearly 60 percent in the risk （危险） for obesity （肥胖） among people whose friends gained weight．And last year, Harvard researchers reported that strong social ties could improve brain health as we age．

“In general, the role of friendship in our lives isn’t well realized,” said Rebecca, a professor at the University of North Carolina．“Friendship has a bigger effect on our psychological （心理的） health than family relationships．”

While many friendship studies are about the close relationships of women, some research shows that it can do good to men too．In a six-year study of 736 middle-aged men, having friendships reduces the risk of heart attack．Only smoking was as important a risk factor （因素） as having little social support．

Exactly why friendship has such a big effect isn’t entirely clear．While friends can send a sick person to the hospital or pick up medicine, the advantages go well beyond physical help．Friendship clearly has a big psychological effect．“People with stronger friendships feel like there is someone they can turn to,” said Karen, a doctor．“The message of these studies is that friends make your life better．”

1．The three studies in paragraph2 show that              ．

       A．old people need friends the most．

       B．friends can help us lose weight．

       C．social ties （关系） are connected to health

       D．more friends make us healthier．

2．What do Rebecca’s words in paragraph3 mean?

       A．Friendship is more important to women than to men．

       B．What people need most is a friend’s care．

       C．Friendship is more important than family relationship

       D．The value of friendship hasn’t been fully understood．

3．The author mentioned smoking in the text to discuss              ．

       A．the cause of heart attack．                   B．the risk of having no friends．

       C．smoking is bad for men．                    D．friends’ influence on habits．

4．What would be the best title of the text?

       A．Friends are the best medicine．

       B．Friends are as important as a family．

       C．Having good friends leads to a longer life．

       D．Friendship makes people happy．

Many people turn to doctors or self-help books, but they ignore a powerful thing that could help them fight illness: their friends.

Researchers are only now starting to pay attention to the importance of friendship in health. A 10-year Australian study found that older people with a large circle of friends were 22 percent less likely to die during the study period than those with fewer friends. A large 2007 study showed an increase of nearly 60 percent in the risk (危险) for obesity (肥胖) among people whose friends gained weight. And last year, Harvard researchers reported that strong social ties could improve brain health as we age.

“In general, the role of friendship in our lives isn’t well realized,” said Rebecca, a professor at the University of North Carolina. “Friendship has a bigger effect on our psychological (心理的) health than family relationships.”

While many friendship studies are about the close relationships of women, some research shows that it can do good to men too. In a six-year study of 736 middle-aged men, having friendships reduces the risk of heart attack. Only smoking was as important a risk factor (因素) as having little social support.

Exactly why friendship has such a big effect isn’t entirely clear. While friends can send a sick person to the hospital or pick up medicine, the advantages go well beyond physical help. Friendship clearly has a big psychological effect. “People with stronger friendships feel like there is someone they can turn to,” said Karen, a doctor. “The message of these studies is that friends make your life better.”

51．The three studies in paragraph2 show that              .

A. old people need friends the most.

B. friends can help us lose weight.

C. social ties (关系) are connected to health

D. more friends make us healthier.

52．What do Rebecca’s words in paragraph3 mean?

A. Friendship is more important to women than to men.

B. What people need most is a friend’s care.

C. Friendship is more important than family relationship

D. The value of friendship hasn’t been fully understood.

53．The author mentioned smoking in the text to discuss              .

A. the cause of heart attack.                             

B. the risk of having no friends.

C. smoking is bad for men.                              

D. friends’ influence on habits.

54．What would be the best title of the text?

A. Friends are the best medicine.                       

B. Friends are as important as a family.

C. Having good friends leads to a longer life.      

D. Friendship makes people happy.

阅读下列短文，根据所读内容在文章后的表格中填入恰当的单词（注意：表格中的每个空只填一个单词）

For more than twenty years scientists have been seeking to understand the mystery of the ‘‘sixth sense" of direction．By trying out ideas and solving problems one by one，they are now getting closer to one answer．

One funny idea is that animals might have a built-in compass(指南针)．

Our earth itself is a big magnet(磁体)．So a little magnetic needle that swings freely lines

itself with the big earth magnet to point north When people discovered that idea about a thousand years ago and invented the compass，it allowed sailors to navigate (航海)on ocean voyages, even under cloudy skies.

 Actually the idea of the living compass came just from observing animals in nature．

 Many birds migrate twice a year between their summer homes and winter homes．Some of them fly for thousands of kilometers and mostly at night．Experiments have shown that some birds can recognize star patterns．But they can keep on course even under cloudy skies．How can they do that?

A common bird that does not migrate but is great at finding its way home is the homing pigeon．Not all pigeons can find their way home．Those that can are very good at it，and they have been widely studied．

One interesting experiment was to attach little magnets to the birds’ heads to block their magnetic sense—just as a loud radio can keep you from hearing a call to dinner．On sunny days, that did not fool the pigeons．Evidently they can use the sun to tell which way they are going．But on cloudy days，the pigeons with magnets could not find their way．It was as if the magnets had blocked their magnetic sense．

Similar experiments with the same kind of results were done with honeybees．These insects also seem to have a special sense of direction．

In spite of the experiments，the idea of an animal compass seemed pretty extraordinary．How

would an animal get the magnetic stuff for a compass.

An answer came from an unexpected source．A scientist was studying bacteria that live in the

mud of ponds and marshes．He found accidentally little rod-like bacteria that all swam together inone direction—north．

Further study showed that each little bacterium had a chain of dense particles inside，which

proved magnetic．The bacteria had made themselves into little magnets that could line up with the

earth’s magnet．

The big news was that a living thing，even a simple bacterium，can make magnetite．That led

to a search to see whether animals might have it.. By using a special instrument called magnetometer，scientists were able to find magnetite in bees and birds，and even in fish．In each  animal，except for the bee．the magnetic stuff was always in or closer to the brain．Thus．the idea of a built—in animal compass began to seem reasonable．

 

The Magnetic Sense — The Living Compass
Passage outline	Supporting details
The existence of the earth magnet and the invention of the navigating compass	◇Our earth is a big magnet and a little freely (56)        magnetic needle lines itself with the earth magnet to point north and south. ◇(57)       on the idea above, the navigating compass was invented.
The possibility of birds’ built-in compasses	◇ One piece of evidence is the (58)        of many birds between their summer homes and winter homes. ◇ Birds can recognize star patterns on clear nights and keep on course (59)         under cloudy skies
The  (60)         on pigeons’ and bees’ built-in compasses	◇Little magnets were tied to the pigeons’ heads to (61)         their magnetic sense. ◇The pigeons’ magnetic sense seemed to be affected on (62)        days. ◇Similar things with the same results were done with bees.
The  (63)         of the magnetic stuff for the animal compass	◇Little rod-like bacteria were found by chance to swim together in the direction of (64)        . ◇Some animals had a chain of dense magnetic particles in or close to the (65)         inside their bodies.