听力原文:M: This terrible weather has ruined our weekend plan.
W: Anyhow, we might as well have dinner at the Italian Restaurant and then go to the theatre instead of a picnic and camping at the beach.
Q: What will they do for the weekend?
(15)
A. Do whatever has been planned.
B. Have a picnic and go camping.
C. Eat out and see a play.
D. Go to the beach.
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Section B
Directions: There are 2 passages in this section. Each passage is followed by some questions or unfinished statements. For each of them there are four choices marked A, B, C and D. You should decide on the best choice.
It's official: Money can't buy happiness.
Sure, if a person is handed $10, the pleasure centres of his brain light up as if he were given food, sex, or drugs. But that initial rush does not translate into long-term pleasure for most people. Surveys have found virtually the same level of happiness between the very rich individuals on the Forbs 400 and the Maasai herdsmen of East Africa. Lottery winners return to their previous level of happiness after five years. Increases in income just don't seem to make people happier--and most negative life experiences likewise have only a small impact on long-term satisfaction.
"The relationship between money and happiness is pretty darned (非常) small," says Peter Ubel, a professor of medicine at the University of Michigan.
That's not to say that increased income doesn't matter at all. There is a very small correlation between wealth and happiness-accounting for about one percent of the happiness reported by people answering the surveys. And for some groups, that relationship may be considerably bigger. People who are poor seem to get much happier when their monetary prospects improve; so do the very sick. In these cases, Ubel speculates, people may be protected from negative circumstances by the extra cash. Another possibility is that the money brings an increase in status, which may have a greater impact on happiness.
Why doesn't wealth bring a constant sense of joy? "Part of the mason is that people aren't very good at figuring out what to do with the money," says George Loewenstein, an economist at Carnegie Mellon University. People generally overestimate the amount of long-term pleasure they'll get from a given object.
Sometimes, Loewenstein notes, the way people spend their money can actually make them less happy. For example, people derive a great deal of pleasure from interacting with others. If the first thing lottery winners do is to quit their job and to move to a palatial (富丽堂皇的) but isolated estate where they don't see any neighbours, they could find themselves isolated and depressed.
The first sentence of the passage means______.
A. it is announced by government that money can't buy happiness
B. it is justified that money can't buy happiness
C. it is authoritative that money can't buy happiness
D. it is fair that money can't buy happiness
What is the main idea presented in paragraph 3?
A. The violin has been modified to fit its evolving musical functions.
B. The violin is probably the best known and most widely distributed musical instrument in the world.
C. The violin had reached the height of its popularity by the middle of the eighteenth century.
D. The technique of playing the violin has remained essentially the same since the 1600's.
According to the passage, the main disadvantage of person-on-the-street interviews is that
A. are not based on a representative sampling
B. are used only on television
C. are not carefully worded
D. reflect political opinions
听力原文: As I am sure you are aware, history is full of people who were so admired that over the centuries they become almost mythical figures. George Washington is a good example. Everyone knows this story about his chopping down the cherry tree when he was young and bravely confessing to his mischief later. People greatly admired Washington's integrity. And so, out of that, this story evolved, even though no one knows for sure whether the incident ever occurred. Then there is the American Indian, Poke Hunters, beloved by history for making peace between the English Colonies and the American Indians. The history of her life has also become somewhat mythical. At the historical society exhibit next week, we'll see many artistic works depicting the major events of her life. And while we are there, keeping in mind that much of what you'll see in the paintings reflects how much she was admired, but not necessarily the fact of her life. For instance, one painting shows her saving the life of Jon Smith, an English Colonist, who had been captured by her tribe. Smith, so the story goes, was about to be executed when twelve-years-old Poke Hunters lay her head on top of his. Tells you a lot about her courage. But Jon Smith himself related this story only years after Poke Hunters had become famous, which suggests that he may have embellished the truth a little bit, as many of the works that we'll see in next week may have done. Something else to remember: paintings portrait her physical appearance in many different ways, but always flattening ways. Yet only one picture of her was ever painted while she was living.
(48)
A. To demonstrate George Washington's survival skills.
B. To show that some stories about famous people may be historically inaccurate.
C. To describe a historical event that was portrayed in a painting.
D. To tell a story that George Washington told about himself.