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Part II Reading Comprehension
(35 minutes)
Directions: There are 4 passages in this part. Each passage is followed by some questions or unfinished statements. For each of them there are four choices marked A), B), C) and D). You should decide on the best choice and mark the corresponding letter on the Answer Sheet with a single line through the center.
Passage One
Questions 21 to 25 are based on the following passage.
In the 1960s, medical researchers Thomas Holmes and Richard Rahe developed a checklist of stressful events. They appreciated the tricky point that any major change can be stressful. Negative events like “serious illness of a family member” were high on the list, but so were some positive life-changing events, like marriage. When you take the Holmes-Rahe test you must remember that the score does not reflect how you deal with stress—it
only shows how much you have to deal with. And we now know that the way you handle these events dramatically affects your chances of staying healthy.
By the early 1970s, hundreds of similar studies had followed Holmes and Rahe. And millions of Americans who work and live under stress worried over the reports. Somehow, the research got boiled down to a memorable message. Women’s magazines ran headlines like “Stress causes illness!” If you want to stay physically and mentally healthy, the articles said, avoid stressful events.
But such simplistic advice is impossible to follow. Even if stressful events are dangerous, many—like the death of a loved one—are impossible to avoid. Moreover, any warning to avoid all stressful events is a prescription (處方) for staying away from opportunities as well as trouble. Since any change can be stressful, a person who wanted to be completely free of stress would never marry, have a child, take a new job or move.
The notion that all stress makes you sick also ignores a lot of what we know about people. It assumes we’re all vulnerable (脆弱的) and passive in the face of adversity (逆境). But what about human initiative and creativity? Many come through periods of stress with more physical and mental vigor than they had before. We also know that a long time without change or challenge can lead to boredom, and physical and metal strain.
21. The result of Holmes-Rahe’s medical research tells us ________.
A) the way you handle major events may cause stress
B) what should be done to avoid stress
C) what kind of event would cause stress
D) how to cope with sudden changes in life
22. The studies on stress in the early 1970’s led to ________.
A) widespread concern over its harmful effects
B) great panic over the mental disorder it could cause
C) an intensive research into stress-related illnesses
D) popular avoidance of stressful jobs
23. The score of the Holmes-Rahe test shows ________.
A) how much pressure you are under
B) how positive events can change your life
C) how stressful a major event can be
D) how you can deal with life-changing events
24. Why is “such simplistic advice” (Line 1, Para. 3) impossible to follow?
A) No one can stay on the same job for long.
B) No prescription is effective in relieving stress.
C) People have to get married someday.
D) You could be missing opportunities as well.
25. According to the passage people who have experienced ups and downs may become ____.
A) nervous when faced with difficulties
B) physically and mentally strained
C) more capable of coping with adversity
D) indifferent toward what happens to them
Passage Two
Questions 26 to 30 are based on the following passage.
Most episodes of absent-mindedness—forgetting where you left something or wondering why you just entered a room—are caused by a simple lack of attention, says Schacter. “You’re supposed to remember something, but you haven’t encoded it deeply.”
Encoding, Schacter explains, is a special way of paying attention to an event that has a major impact on recalling it later. Failure to encode properly can create annoying situations. If you put your mobile phone in a pocket, for example, and don’t pay attention to what you did because you’re involved in a conversation, you’ll probably forget that the phone is in the jacket now hanging in you wardrobe (衣柜). “Your memory itself isn’t failing you,” says Schacter. “Rather, you didn’t give your memory system the information it needed.”
Lack of interest can also lead to absent-mindedness. “A man who can recite sports statistics from 30 years ago,” says Zelinski, “may not remember to drop a letter in the mailbox.” Women have slightly better memories than men, possibly because they pay more attention to their environment, and memory relies on just that.
Visual cues can help prevent absent-mindedness, says Schacter. “But be sure the cue is clear and available,” he cautions. If you want to remember to take a medication (藥物) with lunch, put the pill bottle on the kitchen table—don’t leave it in the medicine chest and write yourself a note that you keep in a pocket.
Another common episode of absent-mindedness: walking into a room and wondering why you’re there. Most likely, you were thinking about something else. “Everyone does this from time to time,” says Zelinski. The best thing to do is to return to where you were before entering the room, and you’ll likely remember.
26. Why does the author think that encoding properly is very important?
A) It helps us understand our memory system better.
B) It enables us to recall something form our memory.
C) It expands our memory capacity considerably.
D) It slows down the process of losing our memory.
27. One possible reason why women have better memories than men is that ________.
A) they have a wider range of interests
B) they are more reliant on the environment
C) they have an unusual power of focusing their attention
D) they are more interested in what’s happening around them
28. A note in the pocket can hardly serve as a reminder because ________.
A) it will easily get lost
B) it’s not clear enough for you to read
C) it’s out of your sight
D) it might get mixed up with other things
29. What do we learn from the last paragraph?
A) If we focus our attention on one thing, we might forget another.
B) Memory depends to a certain extent on the environment.
C) Repetition helps improve our memory.
D) If we keep forgetting things, we’d better return to where we were.
30. What is the passage mainly about?
A) The process of gradual memory loss.
B) The causes of absent-mindedness.
C) The impact of the environment on memory.
D) A way if encoding and recalling.
