Passage 3

The world is full of new horrors and there’s no place to hide. Who says so? Disaster psychologists, for a start. They are the people who take in the big picture of our collective reactions to human-created disaster, the ways these reactions are caused, and our coping mechanisms. And research into disaster psychology is growing fast.

Among the big issues being addressed by these researchers are understanding the terrorists’ weapons, assessing the full impact of terrorism—and, crucially, working out which psychological approaches actually work. It’s a deeply controversial area.

Take the work of Dennis Embry as an example. He argues that we have overlooked the obvious: the purpose of terrorism is to create terror. This works best “if the very symbols of everyday life become conditioned fear and anxiety stimulant”. The top targets will be the most symbolic of a nation’s daily life, preferably served up for prime-time television. Crashing planes from United and American Airlines into the Twin Towers and the Pentagon from 8.46 am on met those objectives all too perfectly. After the attacks, people stopped flying. Why? Not because they had made a rational risk assessment but because the mere thought of flying made their palms sweat.

From terrorism to rail crashes, counseling and “debriefing” (盘问) are the standard response to help those caught up in disasters. But there are growing doubts about their effectiveness. What might be going wrong? Debriefing focuses on getting people to talk through the trauma (损伤)and its emotional consequences soon after the incident. Could it be that some people are better by distancing themselves from what happened, rather than retelling it?

41. Disaster psychology refers to the study of how to __________.

A. avoid human-created disasters

B. cope with human reactions to disasters

C. reduce the worst natural disasters

D. prevent growing terrorism

42. The passage tells us that disaster psychology is __________.

A. a highly controversial area

B. a well-established science

C. not associated with terrorism

D. not a part of scientific study

43. According to Dennis Embry, how do terrorists reach their goals?

A. By overlooking the most obvious of everyday life.

B. By setting up new symbols for a nation’s daily life.

C. By turning symbols of everyday life into fear and anxiety stimulant.

D. Through hijacking big planes from the most famous international airlines.

44. Why do people usually stop flying after terrorist attacks?

A. Because they are terrified of flying.

B. Because they believe in rational risk assessment.

C. Because their palms will become too sweaty for them to fly.

D. Because they can’t decide which airline will be the safest.

45. Counseling and debriefing may not be effective methods because __________.

A. there is fierce controversy in this area

B. many research have proved this

C. some people may hide their true feelings

D. some people may feel better to forget the disaster

Passage 4

By the mid-nineteenth century, the term “icebox” had entered the American language, but ice was still only beginning to affect the diet of common citizens in the United States. As the time went on, ice was used in hotels, and hospitals, and by some forward-looking city dealers in fresh fish, and butter. After the Civil War (1861~1865), it came into household use. Even before 1880, half the ice sold in New York, Philadelphia, and one third of that sold in Boston and Chicago, went to families for their own use. This had become possible because a new household convenience, the icebox, an earlier form of the modern refrigerator, had been invented.

Making an efficient icebox was not as easy as we might now suppose. In the early nineteenth century, the knowledge of the physics of heat was undeveloped. The common sense that the best icebox was one that prevented the ice from melting (融化) was of course mistaken, for it was the melting of the ice that performed the cooling. However, early efforts to save ice included wrapping the ice in blankets, which kept the ice from doing its job. Not until near the end of the nineteenth century did inventors find the ways needed for an efficient icebox.

But as early as 1803, a Maryland farmer, Thomas Moore, had been on the right way. He owned a farm about twenty miles outside the city of Washington, for which the village of Georgetown was the market center. When he used an icebox of his own design to transport his butter to market, he found that customers would refuse to buy the rapidly melting butter of the other farmers to pay a higher price for his butter, the butter still fresh and hard. One advantage of his icebox, Moore explained, was that farmers would no longer have to travel to market at night in order to keep their produce cool.

46. This passage is mainly about ______________.

A. the importance of the icebox in the mid-nineteenth century

B. the development and improvement of the icebox

C. how to make an efficient icebox

D. an important invention of a Maryland farmer

47. In paragraph 1, the word “forward-looking”(line 3) probably means ___________.

A. greedy B. generous

C. longing for greater profit D. having modem ideas

48. It can be inferred from the passage that after 1880 ____________.

A. ice began to be widely used in hospitals and hotels

B. ice began to affect the diet of common citizens in America

C. many American families had the icebox

D. one third of the ice sold in America went to families for their own use

49. In the early 19th century, most people believed that ____________.

A. it was the melting of the ice that performed the cooling

B. the best icebox was one that prevented the ice from melting

C. to wrap the ice in blankets would keep the ice from doing its job

D. they lacked knowledge of the physics of heat

50. Customers would like to buy Thomas Moore’s butter because _______________.

A. his butter was fresh and hard

B. his butter was transported to market at night

C. his butter was rapidly melting

D. the price of his butter was lower