The thing that _______ is not whether you fail or not, but whether you try or not.
A. matters B. cares C. considers D. minds
Compared with his sister, Jerry is even more ________ to, and more easily troubled by, emotional and relationship problems.
A. skeptical B. addicted C. available D. sensitive
One of the requirements for a fire is that the material _________ to its burning temperature.
A. is heated B. be heated C. would be heated D. shall be heated
In the USA, _______ Thanksgiving Day is a harvest festival. Traditionally, it is _______ time to give thanks for the harvest and express gratitude in general.
A. the; a B. /; the C. /; a D. the; the
On his bench in Madison Square Soapy moved uneasily, and he realized the fact that the time had come for him to provide against the coming winter.
The winter ambitions of Soapy were not of the highest. In them there were no dreams of Mediterranean voyages or blue Southern skies. Three months on the Island was what his soul desired. Three months of assured board and bed and good company, safe from north winds seemed to Soapy the most desirable thing.
Just as the more fortunate New Yorkers had bought their tickets to Palm Beach each winter, Soapy had made his arrangements for his annual journey to the Island. And now the time had come.
There were many institutions of charity in New York where he might receive lodging and food, but to Soapy’s proud spirit the gifts of charity were undesirable. You must pay in humiliation of spirit for everything received at the hands of mercy. So it was better to be a guest of the law.
Soapy, having decided to go to the Island, at once set about accomplishing his desire. He left his bench and went up Broadway. He stopped at the door of a glittering cafe. He was shaven and his coat was decent. If he could reach a table in the restaurant, the portion of him that would show above the table would raise no doubt in the waiter’s mind. A roasted duck, with a bottle of wine, a cigar and a cup of coffee would be enough. Such a dinner would make him happy, for the journey to his winter refuge.
But as Soapy entered the restaurant door, the head waiter’s eye fell upon his shabby trousers and old shoes. Strong hands pushed him in silence and haste out into the street.
Some other way of entering the desirable refuge must be found.
At a corner of Sixth Avenue Soapy took a stone and sent it through the glass of a glittering shop window. People came running around the corner, a policeman at the head of them. Soapy stood still, with his hands in his pockets, and smiled at the sight of the policeman.
“Where is the man that has done that?” asked the policeman.
“Don’t you think that I have had something to do with it?” said Soapy, friendly.
The policeman paid no attention to Soapy. Men who break windows don’t remain to speak with policemen. They run away. He saw a man running and rushed after him, stick in hand. Soapy, disgusted, walked along, twice unsuccessful.
On the opposite side of the street was a restaurant for people with large appetites and modest purses. Soapy entered this place without difficulty. He sat at a table and ate beefsteak and pie. And then he told the waiter he had no money.
“Go and call a cop,” said Soapy. “And don’t keep a gentleman waiting.”
“No cop for you,” said the waiter. “Hey!”
Then Soapy found himself lying upon his left ear on the pavement. He arose with difficulty, and beat the dust from his clothes. Arrest seemed a rosy dream. The Island seemed far away.
After another unsuccessful attempt to be arrested for harassing a young woman, Soapy went further toward the district of theatres.
When he saw a policeman standing in front of a glittering theatre, he thought of “disorderly conduct”. On the sidewalk Soapy began to sing drunken songs at the top of his voice. He danced, cried, and otherwise disturbed the peace.
The policeman turned his back to Soapy, and said to a citizen, “It is one of the Yale boys celebrating their football victory. Noisy, but no harm.”
Sadly, Soapy stopped his useless singing and dancing. The Island seemed unattainable. He buttoned his thin coat against the north wind.
In a cigar store he saw a well-dressed man who had set his silk umbrella by the door. Soapy entered the store, took the umbrella, and went out with it slowly. The man with the cigar followed hastily.
“My umbrella,” he said.
“Oh, is it?” said Soapy. “Well, why don’t you call a policeman? I took your umbrella! Why don’t you call a cop? There stands one on the corner.”
The umbrella owner slowed his steps. Soapy did likewise. The policeman looked at them curiously.
“Of course,” said the umbrella man, “well, you know how these mistakes occur…if it’s your umbrella I hope you’ll excuse me – I picked it up this morning in a restaurant – if it’s yours, I hope you’ll…”
“Of course it’s mine,” said Soapy.
The ex-umbrella man retreated. The policeman hurried to help a well-dressed woman across the street.
Soapy threw the umbrella angrily. He was angry with the men who wear helmets and carry clubs. They seemed to regard him as a king who could do no wrong.
At last Soapy stopped before an old church on a quiet corner. Through one window a soft light glowed, where, the organist played a Sunday anthem. For there came to Soapy’s ears sweet music that caught and held him at the iron fence.
The moon was shining; cars and pedestrians were few; birds twittered sleepily under the roof. And the anthem that the organist played cemented Soapy to the iron fence, for he had known it well in the days when his life contained such things as mothers and roses and ambitions and friends.
The influence of the music and the old church produced a sudden and wonderful change in Soapy’s soul. He thought of his degraded days, dead hopes and wrecked faculties.
And also in a moment a strong impulse moved him to battle with his desperate fate. He would pull himself out of this pit; he would make a man of himself again. Those sweet notes had set up a revolution in him. Tomorrow he would be somebody in the world. He would…
Soapy felt a hand on his arm. He looked quickly around into the broad face of a policeman.
“What are you doing here?”
“Nothing.”
“Then come along,” said the policeman.
“Three months on the Island,” said the Judge the next morning.
1.Soapy regarded the Island as his winter ambition because _____.
A. he wanted to go on Mediterranean voyages and enjoy blue Southern skies
B. he wanted to spend the cold winter somewhere warm other than New York
C. he wanted to be put into prison to survive the coming winter
D. he wanted to buy a ticket to the Island to spend the cold winter
2.Which of the following is the reason for Soapy’s not turning to charity?
A. His pride gets in the way.
B. What the institutions of charity offer isn’t what Soapy needs.
C. He wants to be a citizen who obeys the law.
D. The institutions of charity are not located on the island.
3. How many times did Soapy try to accomplish his desire?
A. 4. B. 5. C. 6. D. 7.
4. From the passage, we can see what the two restaurants have in common is that _____.
A. they are both fancy upper class restaurants
B. neither of them served Soapy
C. they both drove Soapy out of the restaurant after he finished his meal
D. neither of them called cops
5.Hearing the Sunday anthem at the church, Soapy _____.
A. was reminded of his good old days and wanted to play the anthem again
B. was reminded of his unaccomplished ambition and was determined to get to the Island
C. was reminded of his disgraceful past and determined to transform himself
D. was reminded of his rosy dream and wished to realize it
6.By ending the story this way, the author means to _____.
A. show that one always gets what he/she wants with enough efforts
B. make a contrast and criticize the sick society
C. surprise readers by proving justice was done after all
D. put a tragic end to Soapy’s life and show his sympathy for Soapy
Women who own cats are more likely to have mental health problems and kill themselves because they can be infected by a common parasite that can be caught from cat litter, a study has found.
Researchers found women infected with the Toxoplasma gondii (T. gondii) parasite(刚地弓形虫), which is spread through contact with cat waste or eating undercooked meat or unwashed vegetables, are at increased risk of attempting suicide.
The study involved more than 45,000 women in Denmark. About a third of the world’s population is infected with the parasite, which hides in cells in the brain and muscles, often without producing symptoms.
The infection, which is called toxoplasmosis(弓形虫病), has been linked to mental illness, such as schizophrenia(精神分裂症), and changes in behavior.
The study’s senior author Doctor Teodor Postolache, an associate professor of psychiatry(精神病学) at the University of Maryland School of Medicine in the United States, said, “We can’t say with certainty that T. gondii caused the women to try to kill themselves, but we did find a predictive association between the infection and suicide attempts later in life that deserves additional studies.”
Doctor Albert Reece, vice president of medical affairs at the University of Maryland, said, “T. gondii infection is a major public health problem around the world, and many people don’t realize they’re infected.
“Dr Postolache is a leading expert on suicide neuroimmunology(神经免疫学). Suicide is a critically important mental health issue. About one million people commit suicide and another 10 million attempt suicide worldwide each year. We hope that this type of research will one day help us find ways to save many lives that now end too early in suicide.”
Dr. Postolache’s research team at the University of Maryland was the first to report a connection between T. gondii and suicidal behavior in 2009. He is cooperating with researchers in Denmark, Germany and Sweden to confirm and investigate the way leading to this association.
The T. gondii parasite thrives in the intestines of cats, and it is spread through their waste. All warm-blooded animals can become infected through contact with it. Humans can become infected by changing their infected cats’ litter boxes, eating unwashed vegetables, drinking water from a polluted source, or by eating undercooked or raw meat.
Not washing kitchen knives after preparing raw meat before handling another food item also can lead to infection. Pregnant women can pass the parasite directly to their unborn babies and are advised not to change cat litter boxes to avoid possible infection.
Babies don’t produce antibodies to T. gondii for three months after they are born, so the antibodies present in their blood represented infection in the mothers. The scientists studied Danish health patients to determine if any of these women later attempted suicide, including cases of violent suicide attempts which may have involved guns, sharp instruments and jumping from high places.
The study found that women infected with T. gondii were one and a half times more likely to attempt suicide compared to those who were not infected, and the risk seemed to rise with increasing levels of the T. gondii antibodies.
Dr Postolache noted limitations to the study, such as the inability to determine the cause of the suicidal behavior.
The findings were published online in the Archives of General Psychiatry.
1.The objects of the research are women from _____.
A. Demark B. the USA C. Germany D. Sweden
2.The common way which is more likely to be infected with the disease is _____.
A. to eat unwashed vegetables or undercooked meat
B. to clean a place where a cat once lived for a time
C. to pass the infection to her unborn baby during a woman’s pregnancy
D. to reuse kitchen tools which have been used to cut raw meat
3.What is the consequence if a woman is infected with the parasite in the passage?
A. Having a high fever. B. Doing deliberate self-harm.
C. Keeping a depressed mood. D. Becoming bad tempered.
53.
4. What can be inferred from the passage?
A. Women have a higher risk to be infected by the parasite than men.
B. The result of the research may help the scientists to find ways to stop suicide in advance.
C. The scientists will continue their research into the possible connection.
D. The risk of being infected seems to rise with the decreasing levels of the antibodies.
5.Which of the following statements would probably be the best title of the passage?
A. Why are women more likely to commit suicide?
B. Women should keep away from cats.
C. Ways found to deal with women’s mental problems.
D. Are women who own cats at a suicide risk?
