Ever walked to the shops only to find, once there, you’ve completely forgotten what you went for? Or struggled to remember the name of an old friend? For years we’ve accepted that a forgetful brain is as much a part of aging as wrinkles and grey hair. But now a new book suggests that we’ve got it all wrong.

According to The Secret Life of the Grown-Up Brain, by science writer Barbara Strauch, when it comes to the important things, our brains actually get better with age. In fact, she argues that some studies have found that our brain hits its peak between our 40s and 60s—much later than previously thought.

Furthermore, rather than losing many brain cells as we age, we keep them, and even produce new ones well into middle age. For years, it’s been assumed that brain, much like the body, declines with age. But the longest, largest study into what happens to people as they age suggests otherwise.

This continuing research has followed 6,000 people since 1956, testing them every seven years. It has found that on average, participants performed better on cognitive（认知的）tests in their 40s and 50s than they had done in their 20s. Specifically, older people did better on tests of vocabulary, verbal memory (how many words they can remember) and problem solving. Where they performed less well was number ability and perceptual speed—how fast they can push a button when ordered. However, with more complex tasks such as problem-solving and language, we are at our best at middle age and beyond. In short, researchers are now coming up with scientific proof that we do get wiser with age.

Neuroscientists are also finding that we are happier with age. A recent US study found older people were much better at controlling and balancing their emotions. It is thought that when we are younger we need to focus more on the negative aspects of life in order to learn about the possible dangers in the world, but as we get older we’ve learned our lessons and are aware that we have less time left in life; therefore, it becomes more important for us to be happy.

21. Barbara Strauch probably agrees that             .

   A. the young are better at handling important things

   B. people’s brains work best between their 40s and 60s

   C. aging leads to the decline of the function of the brain

   D. wrinkles and grey hair are the only symbols of aging

22. The continuing research has found older people perform better on         .

   A. perceptual speed          B. number ability

   C. vocabulary tests           D. body balance

23. People are happier with aging because                .

   A. they learn to value the time left

   B. they know how to share feelings

   C. they cannot focus on negative aspects

   D. they do not realize the possible dangers

24. What is the main idea of the passage?

   A. People get happier with age.

   B. People get wiser with age.

   C. People get more forgetful with age.

   D. People get more self-aware with age.

 Bad news sells. If it bleeds, it leads. No news is good news, and good news is no news. Those are the classic rules for the evening broadcasts and the morning papers. But now that information is being spread and monitored in different ways, researchers are discovering new rules. By tracking people’s e-mails and online posts, scientists have found that good news can spread faster and farther than disasters and sob stories.

“The ‘if it bleeds’ rule works for mass media”, says Jonah Berger, a scholar at the University of Pennsylvania. “They want your eyeballs and don’t care how you’re feeling. But when you share a story with your friends, you care a lot more how they react. You don’t want them to think of you as a Debbie Downer.”

Researchers analyzing word-of–mouth communication—e-mails, Web posts and reviews, face-to-face conversations—found that it tended to be more positive than negative, but that didn’t necessarily mean people preferred positive news. Was positive news shared more often simply because people experienced more good things than bad things? To test for that possibility, Dr. Berger looked at how people spread a particular set of news stories: Penn. colleague analyzed the “most e-mailed” list for six months. One of his first findings was that articles in the science section were much more likely to make the list than non-science articles. He found that science amazed Times’ readers and made them want to share this positive feeling with others.

    Readers also tended to share articles that were exciting or funny, or that inspired negative feelings like anger or anxiety, but not articles that left them merely sad. They needed to be aroused（激发） one way or the other, and they preferred good news to bad. The more positive an article, the more likely it was to be shared, as Dr. Berger explains in his new book, “Contagious: Why Things Catch On.”

25. What do the classic rules mentioned in the text apply to?

A. News reports.    B. Research papers.

C. Private e-mails.    D. Daily conversations.

26. What can we infer about people like Debbie Downer?

   A. They are socially inactive.

   B. They are good at telling stories.

   C. They are inconsiderate of others.

   D. They are careful with their words.

27. Which tended to be most e-mailed according to Dr. Berger’s research?

   A. Sports news.                    B. Science articles.  

   C. Personal accounts.                D. Financial reviews.

28. What can be a suitable title for the text?

   A. Sad Stories Travel Far and Wide.

   B. Online News Attracts More people.

   C. Reading Habits Change with the Times.

   D. Good News Beats Bad on Social Networks.

 “Did you hear what happened to Adam last Friday?” Lindsey whispers to Tori.

 With her eyes shining, Tori brags, “You bet I did. Sean told me two days ago.”

 What are Lindsey and Tori talking about? It just happens to be yours truly, Adam Freedman. I can tell you that what they are saying is (a) not nice and (b) not even true. Still, Lindsey and Tori aren’t very different from most students here at Linton High School, including me. Many of our conversations are gossip（闲话）. I have noticed three effects of gossip: it can hurt people, it can give gossipers a strange kind of satisfaction, and it can cause social pressures in a group.

An important negative effect of gossip is that it can hurt the person being talked about. Usually, gossip spreads information about a topic—breakups, troubles at home, even dropping out—that a person would rather keep secret. The more embarrassing or shameful the secret is, the juicer the gossip it makes. Probably the worst type of gossip is the absolute lie. People often think of gossipers as harmless, bur cruel lies can cause pain.

If we know that gossip can be harmful, then why do so many of us do it? The answer lies in another effect of gossip: the satisfaction it gives us. Sharing the latest rumor can make a person feel important because he or she knows something that others don’t. Similarly, hearing the latest rumor can make a person feel like part of the “in group”. In other words, gossip is satisfying because it gives people a sense of belonging or even superiority（优越感）.

Gossip can also have a third effect: it strengthens unwritten, unspoken rules about how people should act. Professor David Wilson explains that gossip is important in policing behaviors in a group. Translated into high school terms, this means that if everybody you hang around with is laughing at what John wore or what Jane said, then you can bet that wearing or saying something similar will get you the same kind of negative attention. The do’s and don’ts conveyed through gossip will never show up in any student handbook.

The effects of gossip vary depending on the situation. The next time you feel the urge to spread the latest news, think about why you want to gossip and what effects your “juicy story” might have.

29. An important negative effect of gossip is that it           .

A. breaks up relationships.

B. embarrasses the listener.

C. spreads information around.   

D. causes unpleasant experiences.

30. In the author’s opinion, many people like to gossip because it            .

A. gives them a feeling of pleasure

B. helps them to make more friends

C. makes them better at telling stories

D. enables them to meet important people

31. Professor David Wilson thinks that gossip can            .

   A. provide students with written rules

   B. help people watch their own behaviours

   C. force schools to improve student handbooks

   D. attract the police’s attention to group behaviours

32. What advice does the author give in the passage?

A. Never become a gossiper.

B. Stay away from gossipers.

C. Don’t let gossip turn into lies.

D. Think twice before you gossip.   

Life can be so wonderful, full of adventure and joy. It can also be full of challenges, setbacks（挫折）and heartbreaks. Whatever our circumstances, we generally still have dreams, hopes and desires—that little something more we want for ourselves and our loved ones. Yet knowing we can have more can also create a problem, because when we go to change the way we do things, up come the old patterns and pitfalls（陷阱）that stopped us from seeking what we wanted in the first place .

This tension between what we feel we can have and what we are seemingly able to have is niggling（烦人的）suffering, the anxiety we feel. This is where we usually think it is easier to just give up. But we are never meant to let go of the part of us that knows we can have more. The intelligence behind that knowing is us—the real us. It’s the part that believes in life and its possibilities. If you drop that, you begin to feel a little “dead” inside because you are dropping “you”.

So, if we have this capability but somehow life seems to keep us stuck, how do we break these patterns?

Decide on a new course and make one decision at a time. This is good advice for a new adventure or just getting through today’s challenges.

While, deep down, we know we can do it, our mind—or the minds of those close to us—usually say we can’t. That isn’t a reason to stop, it’s just the mind, that little man or woman on your shoulder, trying to talk you out of something again. It has done it many times before. It’s all about starting simple and doing it now.

Decide and act before overthinking. When you do this you may feel a little, or large, release from the jail of your mind and you will be on your way.

33. It can be inferred from the first two paragraphs that we should           .

A. slow down and live a simple life

B. be careful when we choose to change

C. stick to our dreams under any circumstances

D. be content with what we already have

34. Which of the following best explains the underlined part in the last paragraph?

A. Escape from your punishment.

B. Realization of your dreams.

C. Freedom from your tension.

D. Reduction of your expectations.

35. What does the author intend to tell us?

A. It’s easier than we think to get what we want.

B. It’s important to learn to accept sufferings in life.\

C. It’s impractical to change our way of thinking.

D. It’s harder than we expect to follow a new course.

Both men and women are living longer these days in industrialized countries.   36    . In general, they can expect to live six or seven years more than men. One reason for this is biological.

One important biological factor that helps women live longer is the difference in hormones between men and women.     37    . Between the ages of about 12 and 50, women produce hormones that are involved in fertility（生育能力）. These hormones also have a positive effect on the heart and the blood flow. In fact, women are less likely to have high blood pressure or to die from heart attacks.

    38    . They help the body defend itself against some kinds of infections. This means that women generally get sick less often and less seriously than men. The common cold is a good example: women, on average, get fewer colds than men.

    39    . Scientists are still not exactly sure how genes influence aging, but they believe that they do. Some think that a woman’s body cells have a tendency to age more slowly than a man’s. Others think that a man’s body cells have a tendency to age more quickly.    40    .

A. However, women, on average, live longer.

B. The biological factor plays an important part.

C. Women are also helped by their female genes.

D. The female hormones also protect the body in another way.

E. Recent research seems to support both of these possibilities.

F. Therefore, women are healthier than men and can live a better life.

G. Hormones are chemicals which are produced by the body to control various body functions.