A. Life is hard for one to predict.       B. Everything comes for a reason.

C. It’s unwise to keep bad company.   D. False pride costs more than expected.

22. What was the result of Mrs. Packletide’s shooting?

A. The old tiger was shot to death.

B. Neither the tiger nor the goat was shot.

C. The old tiger missed being shot.

D. Both the goat and the tiger were shot.

23. Mrs. Packletide planned to shoot a tiger because she ________.

A. would leave India safer             B. hated the wild animal

C. admired her good friend            D. disliked a certain person

B

Occasional self-medication has always been part of normal living. The making and selling of drugs have a long history and are closely linked, like medical practice itself, with the belief in magic. Only during the last hundred years or so has the development of scientific techniques made it possible for some of the causes of symptoms to be understood, so that more accurate diagnosis has become possible.   The doctor is now able to follow up the correct diagnosis(诊断)of many illnesses with specific treatment of their causes. In many other illnesses, of which the causes remain unknown, it is still limited, like the unqualified prescriber (出具处方者), to the treatment of symptoms. The doctor is trained to decide when to treat symptoms only and when to attack the cause: this is the essential difference between medical prescribing and self-medication.

The advance of technology has brought about much progress in some fields of medicine, including the development of scientific drug therapy (治疗法). In many countries public health organization is improving and people's nutritional standards have risen. Parallel with such beneficial trends have two harmful effects. One is the use of high-pressure advertising by the pharmaceutical(制药)industry, which has tended to influence both patients and doctors and has led to the overuse of drugs generally. The other is the emergence of the sedentary (需要久坐的) society with its faulty ways of life: lack of exercise, over-eating, unsuitable eating, not enough sleep, too much smoking and drinking. People with disorders arising from faulty habits such as these, as well as from unhappy human relationships, often resort to self-medication and so add the taking of pharmaceuticals to the list. Advertisers go to great lengths to catch this market.

Clever advertising, aimed at chronic (慢性的) sufferers who will try anything because doctors have not been able to cure them, can induce such faith in a preparation, particularly if steeply priced, that it will produce—by suggestion—a very real effect in some people. Advertisements are also aimed at people suffering from mild complaints such as simple colds and coughs, which clear up by themselves within a short time.

These are the main reasons why laxatives, indigestion remedies, painkillers, tonics, vitamin and iron tablets and many other preparations are found in quantity in many households. It is doubtful whether taking these things ever improves a person's health; it may even make it worse. Worse because the preparation may contain unsuitable ingredients; worse because the taker may become dependent on them; worse because they might be taken in excess; worse because they may cause poisoning, and worse of all because symptoms of some serious underlying cause may be masked and therefore medical help may not be sought.

24. The first paragraph is intended to ________.

A. suggest that self-medication has a long history

B. define what diagnosis means exactly

C. praise doctors for their expertise

D. tell the symptoms from the causes

25. Advertisements are aimed at people suffering from mild complaints because ________.

A. they often watch ads on TV

B. they are more likely to buy the drugs advertised

C. they generally lead a sedentary life

D. they don't take to sports and easily catch colds

26. Paragraphs 2 and 3 explain ________.

A. those good things are not without side effects

B. why clever advertising is so powerful

C. why in modern times self-medication is still practised

D. why people develop faulty ways of life

27. The best title for the passage would be ________.

A. Medical Practice B. Clever Advertisin C. Self-Medication D. Self-Treatment

C

In ancient Japan, if you saved someone’s life, they would make it their duty to spend the rest of their life serving you. Nowadays, if you rescue someone’s story, he or she will feel the same kind of gratitude (感激).

It happens all the time. Someone in a group is telling a story and, just before their big point, BOOM! There’s an interruption. Someone new joins the group, a waiter with a plate of biscuits comes over, or a baby starts crying. Suddenly everyone’s attention turns to the new arrival, the food on the plate, or the “charming” little child. Nobody is aware of the interruption — except the speaker. They forget all about the fact that the speaker hasn’t made his or her point.

Or you’re all sitting around the living room and someone is telling a joke. Suddenly, just before their big punch line (妙语), little Johnny drops a dish or the phone rings. After the crash, everyone talks about little Johnny’s carelessness. After the call, the subject turns to the upcoming marriage or medical operation of the caller. Nobody remembers the great punch line got unfinished — except the joke teller. When it’s you entertaining everyone at a restaurant, have you ever noticed how you can almost set your clock by the waiter coming to take everyone’s order just before your funny punch line?

Most joke and story tellers are too shy to say, after the interruption, “Now, as I was saying …” Instead, they’ll spend the rest of the evening feeling bad they didn’t get to finish. Here’s where you come in. Rescue them with the technique I call “Lend a Helping Tongue.”

Watch the gratitude in the storyteller’s eyes as he stabilizes where his story sunk and he sails off again toward the center of attention. His expression and the appreciation of your consideration by the rest of the group are often reward enough. You are even more fortunate if you can rescue the story of someone who can hire you, promote you, buy from you, or otherwise lift your life. Big winners have excellent memories. When you do them subtle favors like Lend a Helping Tongue, they find a way to pay you back.

28. Very often, a storyteller cannot make his point because _________.

A. people are more interested in food than his story

B. many guests bring their babies to the party

C. he is interrupted by something unexpected

D. his story is easily forgotten by the listeners

29. From Paragraph 3, we know that when someone is telling a joke, _________.

A. something bad will surely happen just before their punch line

B. listeners’ attention is often drawn to something else

C. the only person really interested in the joke is the joke teller

D. the waiter knows when to take everyone’s order

30. How can we help the joke and story tellers when they are interrupted?

A. By giving them a chance to finish.

B. By comforting them to make them happy.

C. By going on telling the story for them.

D. By teaching them some useful techniques.

31. What is the text mainly about?

A. People should learn how to take turns in a conversation.

B. We can win someone’s heart by getting him back to his story.

C. Telling jokes will make you the center of attention.

D. It is impolite to cut in on someone’s talk.

D

Once upon a time, science fiction was just a style among other styles. There were crime stories, there were horror stories, there was literary fiction–and there was science fiction. But today science themes dominate these other styles. It’s difficult to think of much modern crime, horror or “serious” fiction that doesn’t involve science.

And it’s not just books. With every second movie and computer game having a sci-fi element, science fiction seems to have controlled our entire entertainment culture. It’s clear that if we want to define science fiction we should relate it to the role that science plays in our lives. Perhaps the place to start is by noting when it began.

Although some experts have claimed to be able to trace sci-fi back to ancient times, it is more plausible to find it in initial form in the 19th century, when industrial societies arose. One of the features that set industrial societies apart from other kinds was the increasing part that science played in everyday life. Factories with vast machines turned out huge quantities of goods, which were transported by trains, motor vehicles and ships all over the world. Cities were built on the back of technology, with electricity in homes and hospitals helping everyone to lead healthier, more convenient lives. All of these changes had great effects not only on people’s real lives, but on their imaginative ones.

Writers began to articulate these changing physical and mental landscapes, eventually giving science fiction a large and devoted fan base of especially young readers, who found that it spoke to their curiosity about the future that science would create.

But sci-fi reflected fears about science more than it did hopes. These typical early science fiction novel might be a UK novel like H.G. Wells’ The War of the Worlds (1897). With great skill, Wells played upon the fears of technology by imagining Earth under threat by a civilization –that of men from Mars.

The science fiction of today expresses the impact of the computing revolution, robotics and our environmental challenges, while it is less concerned with “little green men from Mars” and other themes of past sci-fi.

Given that science, technology and politics are always intertwined (交织), contemporary science fiction often has a great deal to say about power. Many recent novels – like American Cory Doctorow’s Little Brother (2008) – are concerned with government and security service “conspiracies (阴谋)” against the people, particularly as the revelations of whistleblowers like Edward Snowden sink in. This can give sci-fi writing a “skeptical” feel.

This underlines one of the features that remains constant between the beginnings of the empire of science fiction and its state today.

As then, so now: We want to read about how fearful the future will be, not how it will be a paradise (天堂).

32. The underlined word “dominate” in Paragraph 1 probably means “_________”.

A. induce         B. represent         C. interfere          D. influence

33. What caused science fiction to appear in the 19th century?

A. The curiosity of young readers about the future.

B. The changes that the industrial revolution brought about.

C. People’s stretched imagination affected by their real life.

D. People’s fears about science rather than hopes.

34. What is mostly conveyed in contemporary science fiction?

A. Our earth is threatened by aliens from Mars.

B. Modern crime and horror are involved in science.

C. Power is a very important element to ensure security.

D. Entertainment culture and environmental issues are crucial.