III. Reading Comprehension

Section A 

Directions: For each blank in the following passage there are four words or phrases marked A, B, C and D. Fill in each blank with the word or phrase that best fits the context.

We all laugh. We all hurt. We all make mistakes. We all dream, that’s life. It’s a journey. Please follow these rules to make the journey of your life a journey of joy!　
__50___ positive through the cold season could be your best __51___ against getting ill, new study findings suggest.
 In an experiment that __52___ healthy volunteers to a cold or flu virus, researchers found that people with a __53___ sunny characteristic were less likely to __54___ ill. The findings, published in the journal Psychosomatic Medicine, build on evidence that a “positive emotional style” can help __55___ the common cold and other illnesses.

Researchers believe the reasons may be both objective as in happiness increasing immune(免疫的) function and subjective as in happy people being less __56___ by a scratchy throat or runny nose. “People with a positive emotional style may have different immune __57___ to the virus,” explained the lead study author Dr Sheldon Cohen of Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh. “And when they do get a cold, they may __58___ their illness as being less severe.”
Cohen and his colleagues had found in a __59___ study that happier people seemed less likely to catch a cold, but some questions remained as to whether the emotional tendency itself had the effect.
 For the new study, the researchers had 193 healthy adults with complete standard measures of personality tendency, health-consciousness and emotional “style”. Those who __60___ be happy, energetic and easy-going were judged as having a positive emotional style, __61___ those who were often unhappy, tense and unfriendly had a negative style. The researchers gave them drops through their noses __62___ either a cold virus or a particular flu virus. Over the next six days, the __63___ reported on any aches, pains, sneezing they had, while the researchers collected __64___  data, like daily mucus(黏液) production. Cohen and his colleagues found that based on objective measures of nasal woes(鼻部的不适), happy people were less likely to develop a cold.

Section B

Directions: Read the following three passages. Each passage is followed by several questions or unfinished statements. For each of them there are four choices marked A, B, C and D. Choose the one that fits best according to the information given in the passage you have just read. 

(A)

I needed to buy a digital camera, one that was simply good at taking good snaps (快照), maybe occasionally for magazines. Being the cautious type, I fancied a reliable brand. So I went on the net, spent 15 minutes reading product reviews on good websites, wrote down the names of three top recommendations and headed for my nearest big friendly camera store. There in the cupboard was one of the cameras on my list. And it was on special offer. Oh joy! I pointed at it and asked an assistant, “Can I have one of those?”  He looked perturbed (不安). “Do you want to try it first?” he said. It didn’t quite sound like a question. “Do I need to?” I replied, “There is nothing wrong with it?” This made him look a bit insulted and I started to feel bad. “No, no. But you should try it, ” he said encouragingly. “Compare it with the others. ”
 I looked across at the others: shelves of similar cameras placed along the wall, offering a wide range of slightly different prices and discounts, with each company selling a range of models based around the same basic box. With so many models to choose from, it seemed that I would have to spend hours weighing X against Y, always trying to take Z and possibly R into account at the same time. But when I had finished, I would still have only the same two certainties that I had entered the store with: first, soon after I carried my new camera out of the shop, it would be worth half what I paid for it; and second, my wonderful camera would very quickly be replaced by a new model.

But something in the human soul whispers that you can beat these traps by making the right choice, the clever choice, the wise choice. In the end, I agreed to try the model I had chosen. The assistant seemed a sincere man. So I let him take out of my chosen camera from cupboard, show how it took excellent pictures of my fellow shoppers and when he started to introduce the special features, I interrupted to ask whether I needed to buy a carry-case and a memory card as well.

Why do we think that new options(选择) still offer us anything new? Perhaps it is because they offer an opportunity to avoid facing the fact that our real choices in this culture are far more limited than we would like to imagine.

65. The shop assistant insisted that the writer should ________.

A. try the camera to see if there was anything wrong with it.

B. compare the camera he had chosen with the others.

C. get more information about different companies.

D. trust him and stop asking questions.

66. What does the writer mean by “it would be worth half what I paid for it ”(paragraph 2)?

A. He should get a 50% discount.

B. The price of the camera was unreasonably high.

C. The quality of the camera was not good.

D. The camera would soon fall in value.

67. The writer decided to try the model he had chosen because he ________.

A. knew very little about it

B. didn’t trust the shop assistant

C. wanted to make sure the one he chose would be the best

D. had a special interest in taking pictures of his fellow shoppers

68. It can be inferred from the passage that in the writer’s opinion, ________.

A. people waste too much money on cameras

B. cameras have become an important part of our daily life

C. we don’t actually need so many choices when buying a product

D. famous companies care more about profit than quality

(B)

69. You can choose 12 months’ Airport Angel membership, if you________.

A. deposit at least $60,000 within 90 days of account opening

B. have qualified for the service

C. deposit an equal amount of money within 90 days

D. open a Premier account on 30 April

70. The advertisement is mainly aimed at________.

A. people who want to do business

B. people who are over 34 years old and still single

C. people who have friends and relatives in foreign countries

D. people who have settled down abroad

71. Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the advertisement?

A. You must know the detailed information before opening an account.

B. To make the best of your money, you are sure to open a premier account.

C. To enjoy the service, you must surf the Internet.

D. It is certain that you can deal with your banking in 24 hours.