[单项选择]　　To understand why someone becomes an optimist or a pessimist, it helps to understand what distinguishes them. Say you crash your car. Do you expect good things to happen after the accident ― an easy recuperation(挽回损失), a fat check from your insurer Or do you worry that your neck will hurt forever 　　"Optimistic people tend to feel that bad things won’’t last long and won’’t affect other parts of life," Seligman says. Pessimists tend to believe one negative incident will last and undermine every- thing else in their lives. 　　Also important, researchers say, is the story you construct about why things happen -- your explanatory style. Optimists believe that bad events have temporary causes ― "The boss is in a bad mood." Pessimists believe the cause is permanent ― "The boss is a jerk." 　　This sense of control distinguishes one type from the other. Positive thinkers feel powerful. Negative thinkers, Seligman says, feel helpless because they have learned to believe they’’re doomed, no
A. go below
B. weaken
C. effect
D. destroy

[单项选择]　　To understand why someone becomes an optimist or a pessimist, it helps to understand what distinguishes them. Say you crash your car. Do you expect good things to happen after the accident ― an easy recuperation(挽回损失), a fat check from your insurer Or do you worry that your neck will hurt forever 　　"Optimistic people tend to feel that bad things won’’t last long and won’’t affect other parts of life," Seligman says. Pessimists tend to believe one negative incident will last and undermine every- thing else in their lives. 　　Also important, researchers say, is the story you construct about why things happen -- your explanatory style. Optimists believe that bad events have temporary causes ― "The boss is in a bad mood." Pessimists believe the cause is permanent ― "The boss is a jerk." 　　This sense of control distinguishes one type from the other. Positive thinkers feel powerful. Negative thinkers, Seligman says, feel helpless because they have learned to believe they’’re doomed, no
A. how some bosses act displeasingly
B. how optimists explain some bad events
C. how pessimists think about the unhappy things around them
D. how the writer suggests people should do when facing something unpleasant

[单项选择]It is relatively easy to understand how and why nations engage in international trade.
A. 相对而言，国与国之间要发展国际贸易是比较简单的。
B. 国与国之间如何并为什么从事国际贸易是比较容易理解的。
C. 很多国家为什么并怎样加入国际贸易，这是相当容易理解的。
D. 一些国家为什么和怎样致力于国际贸易，这是相对简单的问题。

[单项选择]I didn’t understand at first why he couldn’t pass the test, no matter（）hard he had tried.
A. when
B. where
C. what
D. how

[单项选择]Researchers are beginning to understand why lasting weight loss is so hard. They believe it has to do with damage to the part of the brain that’s involved in weight control.
If obese people stop overeating, switch to a healthful diet and start exercising, they lose weight. However, they may quickly gain it back again. The reason, say researchers, is not a lack of willpower but injury to brain cells, or neurons, in the hypothalamus (下丘脑)—a structure deep in the brain that helps control a number of body functions including appetite and weight.
The notion that brain damage might play a role in body weight is not a new one, according to Michael Schwartz of the Diabetes and Obesity Center at the University of Washington in Seattle.
Scientists have known for about five years that the hypothalamus of overweight animals—including humans—displays inflammation (炎症), a typical reaction to injury. But researchers, led by Schwartz, wanted to determine the role hypothalamus injury pla
A. the man has an unhealthy diet and makes little exercise
B. the brain cells in the hypothalamus suffer from damage
C. the man is lack of willpower to keep on losing weight
D. the body function of appetite is out of control

[简答题]Consequently, it is easy to understand why little girls often perform school tasks better than boys, especially if the task requires sitting still, obeying commands, and accepting the teacher’s ideas. A girl may pass easily through the first few grades.

[填空题]Scientists now understand why people’s mental faculties decline at different rates.’

[填空题]To understand why we should be concerned about how young people read, it helps to know something about the way the ability to read evolved. Unlike the ability to understand and produce spoken language, the ability to read must be painstakingly (36) by each individual. The "reading circuits" we construct in the brain can be (37) or they can be robust, depending on how often and how (38) we use them.
The deep reader enters a state of hypnotic trance (心醉神迷的状态). When readers are enjoying the experience the most, the pace of their reading (39) slows. The combination of fast, fluent decoding of words and slow, unhurried progress on the page gives deep readers time to enrich their reading with reflection and analysis. It gives them time to establish an (40) relationship with the author, the two of them (41) in a long and warm conversation like people falling in love.
This is not reading as many young people know i