专业英语八级-阅读理解(十六)及答案解析.doc

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1、专业英语八级-阅读理解(十六)及答案解析 (总分：100.00，做题时间：90分钟)一、BREADING COMPREH(总题数：0，分数：0.00)二、BTEXT A/B(总题数：1，分数：25.00)Of all the lessons taught by the financial crisis, the most personal has been that Americans arent too slick with money. We take out home loans we cant afford. We run up sky-high credit-card debt. W

2、e dont save nearly enough for retirement.In response, proponents of financial-literacy education are stumping with renewed zeal. School districts in states such as New Jersey and Illinois are adding money-management courses to their curriculums. The Treasury and Education departments are sending les

3、son plans to high schools and encouraging students to compete in the National Financial Capability Challenge that begins in March.Students with top scores on that exam will receive certificates but chances for long- term benefits are slim. As it turns out, there is little evidence that traditional e

4、fforts to boost financial know-how help students make better decisions outside the classroom. Even as the financial-literacy movement has gained steam over the past decade, scores have been falling on tests that measure how savvy students are about things such as budgeting, credit cards, insurance a

5、nd investments.We need to figure out how to do this the right way, says Lewis Mandell, a professor at the University of Washington who after 15 years of studying financial-literacy programs has come to the conclusion that current methods dont work. A growing number of researchers and educators agree

6、 that a more radical approach is needed. They advocate starting financial education a lot earlier than high school, putting real money and spending decisions into kids hands and talking openly about the emotions and social influences tied to how we spend.Other initiatives are tackling such real-worl

7、d issues as the commercial and social pressures that affect purchasing decisions. Why exactly do you want those expensive name-brand sneakers so badly? It takes confidence to take a stand and to think differently, says Jeroo Billimoria, founder of Aflatoun, a nonprofit whose curriculum, used in more

8、 than 30 countries, aims to help kids get a leg up in their financial lives. This goes beyond money and savings.Amid such a complicated landscape, some experts question whether there could ever be enough education to adequately prepare Americans for financial life. A better solution, these critics c

9、ontend, is to reform the system. What works is creating institutions that make it easy to do the right thing, says David Laibson, a Harvard economics professor who, like Mandell, has decided after years of research that education isnt a silver bullet. One idea being discussed in Washington is the au

10、tomatic IRA. Employers would have to enroll each worker in a personal retirement-savings account unless that worker decided to opt out.Yet even the skeptics are slow to write off financial education completely. More than anything, they say, we need to rigorously study the financial decisions of alum

11、ni of programs like Ariel and Aflatoun and compare them with those of peers who didnt get the same sort of education. Until you have experimental evidence, its all a little speculative, says Michael Sherraden, a professor at Washington University in St. Louis who is conducting a seven-year, randomiz

12、ed, controlled study on whether giving children bank accounts inculcates the habit of saving. Yes, good, solid research like this takes a lot of time and resources. But if what were doing right now isnt working, its in our own best interest to figure out what does.（分数：25.00）(1).What is said about tr

13、aditional financial-literacy education? A. School districts in states add financial courses to their curriculums. B. The benefits from learning financial courses last a lifelong time. C. Financial know-how from class is also helpful in real life. D. Financial-literacy movement has been failed over t

14、he past decade.（分数：5.00）A.B.C.D.(2).A growing number of researchers and educators advocate a radical approach that A. tackles real-world issues that affect purchasing decisions. B. starts financial education from high school instead of adults. C. puts kids in financial environment to learn from life

15、 experiences. D. avoids discussing the emotions and social influences about spending.（分数：5.00）A.B.C.D.(3).What does Michael Sherraden think of the financial education of programs like Ariel and Aflatoun? A. Its fruitful without any doubt. B. Its still under experiment. C. It turns out to be a failur

16、e. D. It needs evidence to prove its success.（分数：5.00）A.B.C.D.(4).All of the following statements contain a metaphor EXCEPT that A. . but chances for long-term benefits are slim. (Para.3) B. Even as the financial-literacy movement has gained steam over the past decade. (Para.3) C. . aims to help kid

17、s get a leg up in their financial lives. (Para.5) D. . has decided after years of research that education isnt a silver bullet. (Para.6)（分数：5.00）A.B.C.D.(5).Whats the authors attitude towards financial education? A. Suspicious. B. Objective. C. Supportive. D. Critical.（分数：5.00）A.B.C.D.三、BTEXT B/B(总题

18、数：1，分数：25.00)We all know that emotions originate in the brain. But we usually talk about our emotions coming from our hearts. If someone you know doesnt give up easily, you might say, Hes got a lot of heart. Not every culture would agree for instance, when Italians want to say someone has heart, the

19、y say instead, Ha legato: He has liver.But what about bad emotions? When you feel so sad or so angry that your heart aches, could it actually be true? Two new studies add support to the theory that, yes, what goes on in your mind can, literally, break your heart. In the first study, just published i

20、n the Journal of the American College of Cardiology (J.A.C.C.,) a team of eight researchers looking at more than 63,000 women who were participants in the ongoing Nurses Health Study, found that those who reported basic symptoms of depression (like feeling down and incapable of happiness) had a high

21、er-than-normal risk of coronary heart disease. And women who were clinically depressed were more than twice as likely as other women to suffer sudden cardiac death. None of the participants had heart problems at the studys outset, but nearly 8% had symptoms of depression.The researchers theorize tha

22、t depression might have some direct physiological impact on the heart like causing it to work harder in the face of stress. The study also found that the more depressed women were, the more likely they were to smoke cigarettes or have high blood pressure and diabetes not exactly heart-healthy condit

23、ions. Or it may be that the antidepressants prescribed to treat those with mood problems were associated with heart ailments; in the study, sudden cardiac death was linked more strongly with antidepressant use than with womens symptoms of depression.The anti-depressant theory is just that a theory.

24、It could be that the anti-depressant takers in the study were simply the most depressed. But if the theory is substantiated by further research, it would add to a growing body of evidence suggesting that anti-depressants carry a high risk (particularly for teenagers) when weighed against the drugs s

25、till uncertain benefits. Scientists have already shown that anti-depressants are a bad idea for those about to undergo coronary artery bypass surgery.No one is sure exactly how depression hurts the heart, and one plausible explanation is that the train runs in the opposite direction a damaged heart

26、and its consequent stress on the body might activate, somehow, genes or other physiological changes that contribute to depression.But another new paper, also published in the J.A.C.C., lends credence to the idea that it is our moods that work on our hearts and not the other way around. In this paper

27、, researchers from University College London reviewed the findings of 39 previously published articles and found that men who are angry and hostile are significantly more likely to have a cardiac event than those who arent. That may sound unsurprising we all know that anger can stress your heart. Bu

28、t its important to note the difference between aggression and just being aggressive. Previous studies (heres one) have found that so-called type As those who are driven, competitive and obsessed with deadlines are not more likely to experience heart disease. In other words, your type A co-workers wh

29、o are annoyingly ambitious and dutiful are no more likely to have a heart attack than you are. Rather, its the seething, angry types with underlying hostility who are the ticking time bombs. Anger, it turns out, is physiologically toxic.The authors of the second paper offer the standard theories abo

30、ut bow an angry emotion translates to a physical heart attack: angry people have a harder time sleeping; they take prescribed drugs less often; they eat worse, exercise less, smoke more and are fatter. These things add up: compared with the good-humored, those who were angry and hostile but had no s

31、igns of heart problems at the outset ended up with a 19% higher risk of developing coronary heart disease, according to the University College London paper.The two studies reify gender stereotypes: women get their hearts broken through sadness; men break their hearts (via heart attack) through anger

32、. But both studies suggest that men and women have a common interest in understanding that some causes of cardiac disease poor diet or lack of exercise or bad sleep habits may have a precipitating cause themselves. Whether male or female, letting yourself get overwhelmed by emotion can damage not on

33、ly your mind but also that crucial organ, the heart.（分数：25.00）(1).The relationship between the first and second studies is that A. each presents a different issue. B. the second proves the first. C. the second generalizes the first. D. each presents one side of the picture.（分数：5.00）A.B.C.D.(2).By ci

34、ting the two studies, the author aims to indicate that A. emotions influence men and women in quite different ways. B. negative emotions have a negative effect on the heart. C. men and women have different causes of heart diseases. D. both positive and negative emotions have effects on the heart.（分数

35、：5.00）A.B.C.D.(3).Which of the following expressions is used literally, NOT metaphorically? A. Hes got a lot of heart. (Para.1) B. Break your heart. (Para.2) C. The train runs in the opposite direction. (Para.6) D. Who are the ticking time bombs. (Para.7)（分数：5.00）A.B.C.D.(4).Which of the following i

36、s NOT the factor that may lead to a physical heart attack? A. Sleep disorders. B. A poor diet. C. A heavy body. D. An ambitious character.（分数：5.00）A.B.C.D.(5).Which of the following has been proven both practically and theoretically? A. Anger and hostility may contribute to a heart attack. B. Anti-d

37、epressants are closely related to heart diseases. C. Depression has some direct physiological impact on the heart. D. Anti-depressants disadvantages outweigh their advantages.（分数：5.00）A.B.C.D.四、BTEXT C/B(总题数：1，分数：25.00)Michael Porter, who has made his name throughout the business community by advoca

38、ting his theories of competitive advantages, is now swimming into even more shark-infested waters, arguing that competition can save even Americas troubled heath- care system, the largest in the world. Mr Porter argues in Redefining Health Care that competition, if properly applied, can also fix wha

39、t ails this sector.That is a bold claim, given the horrible state of Americas health-care system. Just consider a few of its failings: America pays more per capita for health care than most countries, but it still has some 45m citizens with no health insurance at all. While a few receive outstanding

40、 treatment, he shows in heart-wrenching detail that most do not. The system wastes huge resources on paperwork, ignores preventive care and, above all, has perverse incentives that encourage shifting costs rather than cutting them outright. He concludes that it is on a dangerous path, with a toxic c

41、ombination of high costs, uneven quality, frequent errors and limited access to care.Many observers would agree with this diagnosis, but many would undoubtedly disagree with this advocacy of more market forces. Doctors have an intuitive distrust of competition, which they often equate with greed, wh

42、ile many public-policy thinkers argue that the only way to fix Americas problem is to quash the private sectors role altogether and instead set up a government monopoly like Britains National Health Service.Mr Porter strongly disagrees. He starts by acknowledging that competition, as it has been int

43、roduced to Americas health system, has in fact done more harm than good. But he argues that competition has been introduced piecemeal, in incoherent and counter-productive ways that lead to perverse incentives and worse outcomes: health-care competition is not focused on delivering value for patient

44、s. he says.Mr Porter offers a mix of solutions to fix this mess, and thereby to put the sector on a genuinely competitive footing. First comes the seemingly obvious (but as yet unrealized) goal of data transparency. Second is a redirection of competition from the level of health plans, doctors, clin

45、ics and hospitals, to competition at the level of medical conditions, which is all but absent. The authors argue that the right measure of value for the health sector should be how well a patient with a given health condition fares over the entire cycle of treatment, and what the cost is for that en

46、tire cycle. That rightly emphasizes the role of early detection and preventive care over techno-fixes, pricey pills and the other failings of todays system.If there is a failing in this argument, it is that he sometimes strays toward naive optimism. Mr Porter argues, for example, that his solutions

47、are so commonsensical that private sectors in the health system could forge ahead with them profitably without waiting for the government to fix its policy mistakes. That is a tempting notion, but it falls into a trap that economists call the fallacy of the $20 bill on the street. If there really we

48、re easy money on the pavement, goes the argument, surely previous passers-by would have bent over and picked it up by now.In the same vein, if Mr Porters prescriptions are so sensible that companies can make money even now in the absence of government policy changes, why in the world have they not done so already? One reason may be that they can make more money in the current suboptimal equilibri