第二部分阅读理解 (共两节，满分40分)

第一节  (共15小题;每小题2分，满分30分)

阅读下列短文 ，从每题所给的四个选项 (A 、B 、C  和 D )中 ，选出最佳选项 ，并在题卡上将该项涂黑。

A

Brrriiinnng.The alarm clock announces the start of another busy weekday in the morning.You jump out of bed, rush into the shower, into your clothes and out the door with hardly a moment to think.A stressful journey to work gets your blood pressure climbing.Once at the office, you glance through the newspaper with depressing stories or reports of disasters.In that sort of mood, who can get down to work, particularly some creative, original problem-solving work?

The way most of us spend our mornings is exactly opposite to the conditions that promote flexible, open-minded thinking.Imaginative ideas are most likely to come to us when we’re unfocused.If you are one of those energetic morning people, your most inventive time comes in the early evening when you are relaxed.Sleepy people’s lack of focus leads to an increase in creative problem solving.By not giving yourself time to tune into your wandering mind, you’re missing out on the surprising solutions it may offer.

21.According to the author, we are ore creative when we are________?

A. focused.     B. relaxed      C. awake.    D. busy.

22. What does the author imply about newspapers?

A. They are normally full of bad news.  B. They are solution providers.

C. They are a source of inspiration.     D. They are more educational than websites.

23. By“tune into your wandering mind”in Para.2,  the author means “_______”.

A. wander into the wild                B. listen to a beautiful tune

C. stop concentrating on anything        D. switch to the traffic channel

24.The author writes the last paragraph in order to _______.

A. establish a routine for the future      B. summarize past experiences

C. advocate diverse ways of life        D. offer practical suggestions

B

Researchers found that people become happier and experience less worry after they reach the age of fifty. In fact, they say by the age of eighty-five, people are happier with their life than they were when they were eighteen years old.

Arthur Stone in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science at Stony Brook University in New York led the study. His team found that levels of stress were highest among adults between the ages of twenty-two and twenty-five. The findings showed that stress levels dropped sharply after people reached their fifties. Happiness was highest among the youngest adults and those in their early seventies. The people least likely to report feeling negative emotions were those in their seventies and eighties.

The findings appeared in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Researchers say they do not know why happiness increases as people get older. One theory is that, as people grow older, they grow more thankful for what they have and have better control of their emotions. They also spend less time thinking about bad experiences.

The researchers considered possible influences like having young children, being unemployed or being single. But they found that influences like these did not affect the levels of happiness and well-being related to age.

The study also showed that men and women have similar emotional patterns as they grow older. However, women at all ages reported more sadness, stress and worry than men.

25. What is the best title of the passage?

A. The older a person is, the more stressed he feels.

B. The more lighthearted a person is, the happier he is.

C. The older a person is the more clever he grows.

D. The older a person is, the happier he grows.

26. We can learn from the research that _________.

A. only when people get older, will they feel happier

B. older people usually have no worries in their life

C. stress levels among the youngest are the highest of all

D. older people are more likely to be thankful in life

27. According to the researchers, what is probably the reason why people grow happier when they get older?

A. When people get older, they can’t remember bad experiences.

B. When people get older, they have no young children to care about.

C. When people get older, they learn to adjust their feelings.

D. When people get older, they don’t care about their feelings.

28. What would the writer probably deal with in next paragraph?

A. Advice to the young people on how to keep happy.

B. Advice to the old people on how to live longer.

C. Why women at all ages are more sad, stressed and worried.

D. Why people will grow happier with their ages.