Biologists believe that love is fundamentally a biological rather than a cultural construct, because the capacity for love is found in all human cultures and similar behavior is found in some other animals. In humans the purpose of all the desire is to focus attention on the raising of offspring. Children demand an unusual amount of parenting, and two parents are better than one. Love is a signal that both partners are committed, and makes it more likely that this commitment will continue as long as necessary for children to reach independence. But what does science have to say about the notion of love at first sight?
In recent years the ability to watch the brain in action has offered a wealth of insight into the mechanics of love. Researchers have shown that when a person falls in love, a dozen different part of brain work together to release chemicals that trigger feelings of euphoria, bonding and excitement. It has also been shown that the unconditional love between a mother and a child is associated with activity in different regions of the brain from those associated with pair-bonding love.
Passionate love is rooted in the reward circuitry of the brain—the same area that is active when humans feel a rush from cocaine. In fact, the desire, motivations and withdrawals involved in love have a great deal in common with addiction. Its most intense forms tend to be associated with the early stages of a relationship, which then give way to a calmer attachment form of love one feels with a long term partner.
What all this means is that one special person can become chemically rewarding to the brain of another. Love at first sight, then, is only possible if the mechanism for generating long-term attachment can be triggered quickly. There are signs that it can be. One line of evidence is that people are able to decide within a second how attractive they find another person. This decision appears to be related to facial attractiveness, although men may favor women with waist-to-hip ratio of 0.7, no matter what their overall weight is. (This ratio may indicate a woman’s reproductive health.)
Another piece of evidence comes from work by a psychologist at Ben-Gurion University, who found in a survey that a small percentage (11%) of people in long-term relationships said that they began with love at first sight. In other words, in some couples the initial favorable impressions of attractiveness triggered love which sustained a lengthy bond. It is also clear that some couples need to form their bonds over a longer period, and popular culture tells many tales of friends who become lovers.
One might also assume that if a person is looking for a partner with traits that cannot be quantified instantly, such as compassion, intellect or a good sense of humor, then it would be hard to form a relationship on the basis of love at first sight. Those more concerned with visual appearances, though, might find this easier. So it appears that love at first sight exists, but is not a very common basis for long-term relationships.
1.When a person falls in love, _____________.
A. he feels as if he were addicted to cocaine.
B. he will be committed to the beloved as long as necessary.
C. he will experience complex feelings brought on by different regions of his brain.
D. he will experience a calmer attachment form of love before he feels the extreme love.
2.We can infer from the passage that ________.
A. pair-bonding love comes from a long stable friendship.
B. the mechanism for creating long-term attachment ensures love at first sight
C. it is impossible for those ordinary-looking people to fall in love at first sight.
D. men may be attracted by a girl whose figure suggests her admirable reproductive capacity.
3.The underlined word “traits” in the last paragraph probably means ______.
A. characteristics
B. something typical in your temper
C. particular quantities in your personality
D. attitudes that show your moral standards
4.Which of the following may be the best title of the passage?
A. The stages of passionate love
B. The science of love at first sight
C. The biological construct of pair-bonding
D. The mechanism for generating long-term love
One of India’s top engineering schools has restricted Internet access in its boarding houses, saying addiction to surfing, gaming and blogging was affecting students’ performance, making them lonely and even suicidal.
Authorities at the best Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) in Mumbai said students had stopped socializing and many were late for morning classes or slept through them. “Now, a student doesn’t even know who lives two doors away from him because he is so busy on the Internet,” said Prakash Gopalan, dean of Student Affairs. “The old dormitory culture of companionship and socializing among students is gone. This is not healthy in our opinion.”
IIT-Mumbai, with about 5,000 students, is one of the seven IITs across India which are considered to be among the finest engineering schools in the world. They are also a talent pool for global technology giants. But their hard courses, tough competition and lonely campus lifestyle have taken an effect on students. Depressive and dysfunctional lifestyles are known to be common among IIT students, and at least nine have committed suicide in the past five years. Students have unlimited free Internet access in their boarding houses to help them in their studies, but many also use it to surf, chat, download movies and music, blog and for gaming.
“Starting Monday, Internet access will be banned between 11 p.m. and 12:30 p.m. at IIT-Mumbai’s 13 boarding buildings to encourage students to sleep early and to try and force them out of their shells.” Gopalan said. But the move has not gone down well with students who say they hate their lives being regulated. “Now they will say we need to listen to a lullaby (摇篮曲) to go to sleep.” said Rajiv, an electronics student.
1.According to the text, the students addicted to the Internet in IIT-Mumbai are likely to ______.
A. perform well in studies B. participate in social activities
C. know their classmates better D. feel lonely and even suicidal
2.The underlined word “dysfunctional” in Paragraph 3 most probably means “______”.
A. unpopular B. meaningful
C. abnormal D. exciting
3.What measures have been taken in IIT-Mumbai?
A. Students must go to bed before 11 p.m.
B. Students are forbidden to surf the Internet on campus.
C. Students have unlimited free Internet access in their dormitories.
D. Internet access is unavailable in deep night in boarding buildings.
4.We may infer from the last paragraph that ______.
A. all electronics students hate the banning order
B. some students complain about the banning order
C. there is no Internet access on the IIT campus ever since
D. more students prefer listening to music to surfing the Internet
Have you ever been to the world’s smallest bookstore?
The World’s Smallest Bookstore, whose official name is just these three words, sits quietly about 100 miles northeast of Toronto.
The bookstore is about 10 feet by 10 feet，so it is easy to imagine how tiny it really is. The bookstore is open 24 hours a day. Inside the bookstore are various books, especially literary books and classic authors’ works. So if you are looking for something less popular, you may get a bit disappointed there.
Another special feature of this bookstore is that each book only costs three dollars. All the expenses are paid on the honor system, which means buyers should make a note of what they’ve bought and leave their money by themselves. So the tools of the trade in this bookstore are quite simple: pens, papers, light bulbs and a label-maker.
In order to catch passers-by’s attention, the billboards (广告牌) of the bookstore are several times bigger than the store itself. With these large eye-catchers, many people are willing to stop by and have a visit.
1.What’s the passage mainly about?
A. The popular books nowadays.
B. A strange way of selling books.
C. The world’s smallest bookstore
D. The popular bookstores in the world.
2.Which of the following books might you most probably get in the store?
A. Books on popular science.
B. Books on economic control.
C. The year book of a university.
D. Literary books.
3.How could you buy a book from the store?
A. Choose the book(s) and leave the money there.
B. The salesman will get the money for the book.
C. The salesman will help you find the book.
D. Pay on the net and then get the book(s) in the store.
Food production does great harm to our environment.There are many procedures involved in the manufacture of food that result in greenhouse gases and other pollutants.Some procedures require the consumption of large amounts of fossil fuels,such as the transportation and storage of food products.Other factors that cause great damage to our environment include the overuse of fresh water.
The production of beef is more damaging to the environment than that of any other food we consume,Raising large numbers of cattle requires the production of large amounts of food for the animals.It’s estimated that producing one pound of beef requires seven pounds of feed.
Land use is also a problem.If the cattle are free-range cattle,large areas of land are required for them to live on.This has led to disastrous forest cutting and the loss of rare plants and animal species,particularly in tropical rain forests in Central and South America.
Another problem specific to beef production is methane emissions (甲烷排放).Although many people are aware of the damaging effects of carbon dioxide,they don’t realize methane’s global warming potential is 25 times worse,making it a more dire problem.
Unfortunately,beef consumption is growing rapidly.This is the result of simple supply and demand factors.Specifically,there are two main causes of demand that are encouraging the production of more supply.First,the increase in the world population means there are more people to consume meat.The second factor is socioeconomic advancement.As citizens in developing nations become financially stable,they can afford to buy more meat.
Therefore,one way to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions is for people around the world to significantly cut down on the amount of beef they eat.
1.Which of the following is TRUE?
A. Raising free-range cattle is eco-friendly.
B. People cut down trees for animal habitats.
C. Producing beef can damage the environment.
D. Carbon dioxide causes far more harm than methane.
2.The underlined word “dire” in Para.4 means .
A. urgent B. common
C. typical D. avoidable
3.Beef production is growing rapidly because .
A. more people are in demand of beef
B. developing countries raise more cattle
C. more land is available to raise cattle
D. the cost of raising cattle is relatively low
4.The author writes this article to .
A. describe the booming of the beef production
B. emphasize the advantages of beef production
C. condemn the deforestation of the rain forest
D. argue for a decrease in beef consumption
听下面一段独白，回答以下小题。
1.Why was the Mesa Verde National Park built?
A. To attract more visitors. B. To earn money. C. To protect the culture of ancient Native Americans.
2.What language do the words “Mesa Verde” belong to?
A. English. B. Spanish. C. French.
3.How many ruins were discovered in all?
A. One. B. Two. C. Three.
听下面一段较长对话，回答以下小题。
1.How has the man been feeling lately?
A. Lonely. B. Unhappy. C. Depressed.
2.What does the woman advise the man to do?
A. To learn English. B. To join a club. C. To do exercise.
3.What can we learn from the conversation?
A. The man is the woman’s elder brother.
B. You don’t feel alone when you have a close friend.
C. The man comes from north America.
