课程列表 - 笔果题库

Passage 4 Questions 16 to 20 are based on the following passage. Some estimates are that as many as 8% of adolescents suffer from depression at some time during any one-year period, making it much more common than, for example, eating disorders, which seem to get more attention as a source of adolescent misery. Even among psychiatrists and other mental health care professionals, the extent of the disability caused by depression is vastly underestimated. The World Health Organization has found that major depression is the single greatest cause of disability in the world—more than twice as many people are disabled by depression as by the second leading cause of disability，iron-deficiency anemia (贫血症).Other diseases and disorders may get more press coverage or more research money, or more sympathy and concern from a well-meaning public, but major depression causes more long term human misery than any other single disease. When I was a resident in psychiatry，we believed that true depression was rare among teenagers, or that insofar as it existed, it was just a normal phase of adolescent development with no lasting consequences. It didn’t take long after I began treating troubled kids to see that this couldn't possibly be true. Research over recent decades has confirmed my impression. These beliefs, if any still holds them, are false and dangerous. In fact, early onset of depression is not normal, and can predict numerous unhappy life events for youngsters, including school failure, teenage pregnancy, and suicide attempts. Although depression is increasingly common today, it is among the oldest diseases recorded in the history of medicine. As early as the fourth century, the symptoms of “melancholia” were well known. In other words，depression was first thought of as an exclusively physical illness-the loss of appetite， sleeplessness，irritability，and general depression was believed to have a physical，not a psychological cause. It wasn’t until the nineteenth century-when the term depression was invented to substitute for melancholia-that a psychological understanding of the illness began to develop. Eventually this psychological explanation of depression would become the only one, although today it no longer is. We now know that depression has both psychological and physical symptoms, and that both psychological and medical treatments can help to alleviate them. The word “alleviate” in Paragraph 4 is closest in meaning to_____.

Passage 4 Questions 16 to 20 are based on the following passage. Some estimates are that as many as 8% of adolescents suffer from depression at some time during any one-year period, making it much more common than, for example, eating disorders, which seem to get more attention as a source of adolescent misery. Even among psychiatrists and other mental health care professionals, the extent of the disability caused by depression is vastly underestimated. The World Health Organization has found that major depression is the single greatest cause of disability in the world—more than twice as many people are disabled by depression as by the second leading cause of disability，iron-deficiency anemia (贫血症).Other diseases and disorders may get more press coverage or more research money, or more sympathy and concern from a well-meaning public, but major depression causes more long term human misery than any other single disease. When I was a resident in psychiatry，we believed that true depression was rare among teenagers, or that insofar as it existed, it was just a normal phase of adolescent development with no lasting consequences. It didn’t take long after I began treating troubled kids to see that this couldn't possibly be true. Research over recent decades has confirmed my impression. These beliefs, if any still holds them, are false and dangerous. In fact, early onset of depression is not normal, and can predict numerous unhappy life events for youngsters, including school failure, teenage pregnancy, and suicide attempts. Although depression is increasingly common today, it is among the oldest diseases recorded in the history of medicine. As early as the fourth century, the symptoms of “melancholia” were well known. In other words，depression was first thought of as an exclusively physical illness-the loss of appetite， sleeplessness，irritability，and general depression was believed to have a physical，not a psychological cause. It wasn’t until the nineteenth century-when the term depression was invented to substitute for melancholia-that a psychological understanding of the illness began to develop. Eventually this psychological explanation of depression would become the only one, although today it no longer is. We now know that depression has both psychological and physical symptoms, and that both psychological and medical treatments can help to alleviate them. The passage mainly deals with depression by informing the reader of_____.

Passage 5 Questions 21 to 25 are based on the following passage. People in the developed countries are living longer. In 2005 in the U.S. the average lifespan was 77.6 years, as against 54 years in 1920 and just 34 years in 1780. By 2050 it is estimated that the average lifespan will be in the mid 80's. By 2025 in the developed countries the share of the population over 60 will be 26 percent. This increasing longevity is starting to impact on public finances, economic growth and general living standards. This impact is greater in countries with low employment rates, such as countries in the European Union, of which Italy is a good example. In addition, as baby boomers (those bom from 1946 to 1960) reach retirement age, there is increasing pressure on social security systems and public funds for retirement and health care expenses. Economists are increasingly questioning the sustainability of the European social model with its current high welfare standards. “Active aging” is now being advanced by policy experts. The current division of life into three cycles—education, employment and retirement—should be changed. According to these experts, governments need to remove barriers that prevent older people from continuing to work and should extend the average working life. Schemes for lifelong learning need to be established to keep the aging workforce equipped with up-to-date job skills. The U.S. agricultural firm Monsanto is encouraging the government to allow it to introduce “phased retirement” for its workforce. Back in 1991 the company set up a Resource Re-entry Centre (RRC). Monsanto found it difficult to hire qualified temporary administrative assistants. Through the RRC it began to offer this work to retired administrative workers. The centre now sources human resources amongst its retired workforce for a diverse range of projects. In so doing, the company retains the skills, knowledge and social networks of its workers. Much of the work is project-based and highly flexible. Over 60 percent of the projects are given to workers over 60. A key feature of the scheme is workers' access to cost-effective computer-based training to maintain and update job skills. The centre strives to educate company managers regarding the cost efficiency and quality of the work achieved by the service. From 1780 to 2005, the average lifespan in the U.S. ____.

Passage 5 Questions 21 to 25 are based on the following passage. People in the developed countries are living longer. In 2005 in the U.S. the average lifespan was 77.6 years, as against 54 years in 1920 and just 34 years in 1780. By 2050 it is estimated that the average lifespan will be in the mid 80's. By 2025 in the developed countries the share of the population over 60 will be 26 percent. This increasing longevity is starting to impact on public finances, economic growth and general living standards. This impact is greater in countries with low employment rates, such as countries in the European Union, of which Italy is a good example. In addition, as baby boomers (those bom from 1946 to 1960) reach retirement age, there is increasing pressure on social security systems and public funds for retirement and health care expenses. Economists are increasingly questioning the sustainability of the European social model with its current high welfare standards. “Active aging” is now being advanced by policy experts. The current division of life into three cycles—education, employment and retirement—should be changed. According to these experts, governments need to remove barriers that prevent older people from continuing to work and should extend the average working life. Schemes for lifelong learning need to be established to keep the aging workforce equipped with up-to-date job skills. The U.S. agricultural firm Monsanto is encouraging the government to allow it to introduce “phased retirement” for its workforce. Back in 1991 the company set up a Resource Re-entry Centre (RRC). Monsanto found it difficult to hire qualified temporary administrative assistants. Through the RRC it began to offer this work to retired administrative workers. The centre now sources human resources amongst its retired workforce for a diverse range of projects. In so doing, the company retains the skills, knowledge and social networks of its workers. Much of the work is project-based and highly flexible. Over 60 percent of the projects are given to workers over 60. A key feature of the scheme is workers' access to cost-effective computer-based training to maintain and update job skills. The centre strives to educate company managers regarding the cost efficiency and quality of the work achieved by the service. Italy has seen the great impact of the increasing longevity because of its____.

Passage 5 Questions 21 to 25 are based on the following passage. People in the developed countries are living longer. In 2005 in the U.S. the average lifespan was 77.6 years, as against 54 years in 1920 and just 34 years in 1780. By 2050 it is estimated that the average lifespan will be in the mid 80's. By 2025 in the developed countries the share of the population over 60 will be 26 percent. This increasing longevity is starting to impact on public finances, economic growth and general living standards. This impact is greater in countries with low employment rates, such as countries in the European Union, of which Italy is a good example. In addition, as baby boomers (those bom from 1946 to 1960) reach retirement age, there is increasing pressure on social security systems and public funds for retirement and health care expenses. Economists are increasingly questioning the sustainability of the European social model with its current high welfare standards. “Active aging” is now being advanced by policy experts. The current division of life into three cycles—education, employment and retirement—should be changed. According to these experts, governments need to remove barriers that prevent older people from continuing to work and should extend the average working life. Schemes for lifelong learning need to be established to keep the aging workforce equipped with up-to-date job skills. The U.S. agricultural firm Monsanto is encouraging the government to allow it to introduce “phased retirement” for its workforce. Back in 1991 the company set up a Resource Re-entry Centre (RRC). Monsanto found it difficult to hire qualified temporary administrative assistants. Through the RRC it began to offer this work to retired administrative workers. The centre now sources human resources amongst its retired workforce for a diverse range of projects. In so doing, the company retains the skills, knowledge and social networks of its workers. Much of the work is project-based and highly flexible. Over 60 percent of the projects are given to workers over 60. A key feature of the scheme is workers' access to cost-effective computer-based training to maintain and update job skills. The centre strives to educate company managers regarding the cost efficiency and quality of the work achieved by the service. The author uses Monsanto's example to show that____.

Passage 6 Questions 26 to 30 are based on the following passage. There are guavas (番石榴）at the Shop & Save. I pick one the size of a tennis ball and finger the prickly stem end. It feels familiarly bumpy and firm. The guava is not quite ripe: the skin is still a dark green. I smell it and imagine a pale pink center, the seeds tightly embedded in the flesh. A ripe guava is yellow, although some varieties have a pink tinge. The skin is thick, firm, and sweet. Its heart is bright pink and almost solid with seeds. The most delicious part of the guava surrounds the tiny seeds. If you don't know how to eat a guava, the seeds end up in the crevices between your teeth. Some years, when the rains have been plentiful and the nights cool, you can bite into a guava and not find many seeds. The guava bushes grow close to the ground, their branches laden with green then yellow fruit that seem to ripe overnight. These guavas are large and juicy, almost seedless, their roundness enticing you to have one more, just one more, because next year the rains may not come. As children,we didn’t always wait for the fruit to ripen. We raided the bushes as soon as the guavas were large enough to bend the branch. A green guava is sour and hard. You bite into it at its widest point, because it，s easier to grasp with your teeth. You grimace, your eyes water，and your cheeks disappear as your lips purse into a tight O. But you have another and then another, enjoying the crunchy sounds, the acid taste, the gritty texture of the unripe center. At night, your mother makes you drink castor oil, which she says tastes better than a green guava. That’s when you know for sure that you，re a child and she has stopped being one. I had my last guava the day we left Puerto Rico. It was large and juicy, almost red in the center, and so fragrant that I didn't want to eat it because I would lose the smell. All the way to the airport I scratched at it with my teeth, making little dents in the skin, chewing small pieces with my front teeth, so that I could feel the texture against my tongue, the tiny pink pellets of sweet. Today，I stand before a stack of dark green guavas，each perfectly round and hard, each $1.59. The one in my hand is tempting. It smells faintly of late summer afternoons and hopscotch under the mango tree. But this is autumn in New York, and I’m no longer a child. I push my cart away，toward the apples and pears of my adulthood, their nearly seedless ripeness predictable and bittersweet. The Shop & Save is a(n) ____.