Oscar the cat seems to have an unnatural ability for predicting when nursing hom

Oscar the cat seems to have an unnatural ability for predicting when nursing hom

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Oscar the cat seems to have an unnatural ability for predicting when nursing home patients are going to die, by curling up (蜷伏) next to them during their final hours. His accuracy, observed in 25 cases, has led the staff to call family members once he has chosen someone. It usually means the patient has less than four hours to live. "Many family members take some comfort from it. They appreciate the companionship that the cat provides for their dying loved one," said Dosa, a doctor and assistant professor of medicine at Brown University.
The 2-year-old cat was adopted as a kitten and grew up in a third-floor dementia (痴呆) unit at the Steere House Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, where the facility treats people with Alzheimer"s, Parkinson"s disease and other illnesses. After about six months, the staff noticed Oscar would make his own rounds, just like the doctors and nurses. He"d smell and observe patients, then sit beside people who would end up dying in a few hours. Dosa said Oscar seems to take his work seriously. "This is not a cat that"s friendly to people," he said.
"Oscar is better at predicting death than the people who work here," said Dr. Joan Teno of Brown University, who treats patients at the nursing home and is an expert on care for the terminally ill. She was convinced of Oscar"s talent when he made his 13th correct call. While observing one patient, Teno said she noticed the woman wasn"t eating, was breathing with difficulty and that her legs had a bluish color, signs that often mean death is near. Oscar wouldn"t stay inside the room, though, so Teno thought bis streak was broken. Instead, it turned out the doctor"s prediction was roughly 10 hours too early. Sure enough, during the patient"s final two hours, nurses told Teno that Oscar joined the woman at her bedside.
Doctors say most of the people who get a visit from the sweet-faced, gray-and-white cat are so ill that they probably don"t know he"s there, so patients aren"t aware he"s a predictor of death. Most families are grateful for the advance warning, although one wanted Oscar out of the room while a family member died. When Oscar is put outside, he paces and meows his displeasure.
No one"s certain if Oscar"s behavior is scientifically significant or points to a cause. Teno wonders if the cat senses mysterious scents or reads something into the behavior of the nurses who raised him. Nursing home staff aren"t concerned with explaining Oscar, so long as he gives families a better chance at saying goodbye to the dying. The staff recently gave Oscar a wall sign publicly praising his "sympathetic care."
小题1:What makes Oscar the cat so special?
A.He observes the cases of dying patients.
B.He curls up next to the patients.
C.He calls family members to the hospital.
D.He senses when patients are to die.
小题2:The passage tells us Oscar_____.
A.would go round and observe patients
B.may sometimes fail to predict death
C.is friendly and liked by every nurse
D.was born and grew up in the hospital
小题3:The underlined words "his streak was broken" probably mean ____.
A.his bones were severely injured
B.his magic power stopped working
C.his devotion to work got changed
D.his friendship with patients ended
小题4:From the passage, we learn that_____.
A.Oscar"s behavior is scientifically significant
B.Oscar can read something of the nurses" behavior
C.Oscar might like to stay with the dying patients
D.Oscar is sympathetic to the dying patients
小题5:The best title for this passage is "____".
A.Cats Can Be Used for Looking After Patients
B.Oscar, the Sweet-Faced, Gray-and-White Cat
C.As Death Comes Calling, So Does Oscar the Cat
D.Oscar the Cat, the Best Helper of Our Hospital

答案

小题1:D
小题2:A
小题3:B
小题4:C
小题5:C
解析
文章讲述的是一个猫喜欢呆在临死的病人身边
小题1:实施细节题,根据第一段的Oscar the cat seems to have an unnatural ability for predicting when nursing home patients are going to die, by curling up (蜷伏) next to them during their final hours可知。
小题2:实施细节题,根据第二段的the staff noticed Oscar would make his own rounds, just like the doctors and nurses. He"d smell and observe patients, then sit beside people who would end up dying in a few hours可知
小题3:推理判断题,该处指的就是文章开始讲到的它有预测病人死亡的能力
小题4:推理判断题,根据这个猫的特殊能力可知,它喜欢和快要死去的病人呆在一起。
小题5:主旨大意题,文章讲述的是一个猫喜欢呆在临死的病人身边,这让它非常独特。
举一反三
In the early 1950s, researchers found that people scored lower on intelligence tests if they spoke more than one language. Research in the sixties found the opposite. Bilingual people scored higher than monolinguals, people who speak only one language. So which is it?
Researchers presented their newest studies last month at a meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. The latest evidence shows that being bilingual does not necessarily make people smarter. But researcher Ellen Bialystok says it probably does make you better at certain skills.
Ellen Bialystok said, “Imagine driving down the highway. There’re many things that could capture your attention and you really need to be able to monitor all of them. Why would bilingualism make you any better at that?”
And the answer, she says, is that bilingual people are often better at controlling their attention — a function called the executive control system.
Ms. Bialystok is a psychology professor at York University in Toronto, Canada. She says the best method to measure the executive control system is called the Stroop Test. A person is shown words in different colors. The person has to ignore the word but say the color. The problem is that the words are all names of colors.
Ellen Bialystok said, “So you would have the word blue written in red, but you have to say red. But blue is so salient(显著的), it’s just lighting up all these circuits(电路) in your brain, and you really want to say blue. So you need a mechanism(机制) to override that so that you can say red. That’s the executive control system.”
Her work shows that bilingual people continually practice this function. They have to, because both languages are active in their brain at the same time. They need to suppress(抑制) one to be able to speak in the other.
This mental exercise might help in other ways, too. Researchers say bilingual children are better able to separate a word from its meaning, and more likely to have friends from different cultures. Bilingual adults are often four to five years later than others in developing dementia or Alzheimer’s disease.
小题1:What’s the best title of the text?
A.Bilingual People, Smarter
B.Monolingual People, Smarter
C.Bilingual People, Longer Lives
D.Bilingual People, Better at Some Skills
小题2:The underlined word “override” in Paragraph 6 probably means ____.
A.pay attention to B.take no notice of
C.take an interest inD.take care of
小题3:In the Stroop Test, supposing you have the word yellow written in white, you will have to say ____.
A.whiteB.yellowC.blueD.red
小题4:Which group of people can most likely pass the Stroop Test?
A.People who can speak only Chinese.
B.People who can speak only Japanese.
C.People who can speak more than one language.
D.People who can speak only English.
小题5:Which of the following statements is FALSE according to the text?
A.A bilingual child is better at separating a word from its meaning.
B.A bilingual child can more easily make friends with a foreign child.
C.Bilingual people are more able to monitor several things at the same time.
D.It’s not possible for bilingual people to develop Alzheimer’s disease.

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There once lived a young man who was always unhappy and complained about his poverty. One day, he went to see a fortune teller to inquire how to become      16    . The fortune teller said, "Young man, you are already wealthy now."
"Where is my wealth?" the young man asked     17   .
"It is with you. Your     18    is (are) your wealth. You use them to see this world. You use them to see all the     19   things in this world. You can read, study and learn. Your hands are your wealth. You can use them to work. You can use them to hug your beloved ones. Your     20    are your wealth. You can go to any places..." the fortune teller said.
"You call these wealth? Everyone has them," the young man said.
"These are wealth. What you have now are not what others can luckily have. Are you     21    to give your eyes to me? I am willing to give you a lot of money to     22     for them," the fortune teller said.
"No, are you crazy? I am not going to exchange my eyes for money! They are     23    to me!" the young man     24    .
"Precisely, these are wealth to you. You will not exchange them for money. Furthermore, although a lot of people have their wealthy things, they do not     25    them or treasure them. They are not     26    to Heaven for giving them their wealth. They even complain that Heaven is unfair to them. Do you want to    27    one of them before you will treasure them?" the fortune teller said.
Everyone is wealthy. But we should not     28   it for granted. We need to treasure our wealth, take care of it and use it     29    . We should not overuse it because once it is     30    , it is gone forever. Remember it is our wealth that we do not want to lose.
小题1:
A.happyB.youngC.wealthyD.poor
小题2:
A.anxiouslyB.sadlyC.quietlyD.patiently
小题3:
A.knowledgeB.skillsC.brainD.eyes
小题4:
A.uglyB.beautifulC.strangeD.useful
小题5:
A.legsB.carsC.jewelsD.banknotes
小题6:
A.lovelyB.optimisticC.angryD.willing
小题7:
A.chargeB.buyC.exchangeD.change
小题8:
A.preciousB.uselessC.extraD.special
小题9:
A.weptB.demonstratedC.smiledD.yelled
小题10:
A.seeB.realizeC.keepD.hold
小题11:
A.gratefulB.carefulC.meaningfulD.faithful
小题12:
A.getB.graspC.haveD.lose
小题13:
A.takeB.makeC.setD.sell
小题14:
A.wronglyB.wiselyC.naturallyD.really
小题15:
A.oldB.usedC.goneD.dead

题型:不详难度:| 查看答案
When I was six years old, my mom told me that I could find anyone"s number in the phone book. I used to look through the phone book for hours trying to find Michael Jordan"s phone number. When I couldn"t find it, I just dialed seven numbers. When someone answered, I"d ask, "Is that Michael Jordan?" Obviously, I always had the wrong number.
A year later I started playing basketball at my local recreation center. It was very big. I never thought in my wildest dreams that a basketball court could be inside a building. The recreation center had a special smell in it, sort of like hot rubber. I guessed it was from the shoes hitting the floor so fast and hard. The atmosphere on the court was carefree. Our biggest excitement of the day was when we actually made a shot. We celebrated wins over ice cream at a fast food restaurant.
I got good at it, and my confidence grew. I played it all the time until the sixth grade. As soon as junior high school came, I stopped playing basketball and focused on school. When senior high school started, I tried out for the school team and made it. We worked hard. Every week we did 300 push-ups and 300 sit-ups on our own. Our coach encouraged the sit-ups to keep stomach power, because it gave us so much control when we were playing basketball. If we didn"t want to do the sit-ups and push-ups, we could practice dribbling (运球) and shooting more. It"s just us, the ball, the court and the net. But don"t take my word for it. See for yourself. After all, I"m just one kid playing the game.
小题1:From Paragraph 1 we know that ____.
A.the author"s mother gave him some wrong phone numbers
B.the phone book contained everyone"s phone number except Michael Jordan"s
C.the author wanted to contact Michael Jordan very much
D.the author didn"t know how to use a phone at that time
小题2:What is Paragraph 2 mainly about?
A.The days of the author playing basketball at a recreation center.
B.The author"s excitement of making shots when playing basketball.
C.The days before the author went to senior high school.
D.The author"s happy childhood with his teammates.
小题3:What surprised the author most at the recreation center?
A.That it was very near to his home.
B.That there was a basketball court inside the building.
C.That there was a special smell in it.
D.That there was a fast food restaurant in it.
小题4:The author"s coach encouraged them to do sit-ups because ____.
A.it is the basic preparation to play basketball
B.it is more useful than dribbling and shooting
C.it is the only way to make people stronger
D.it helps keep stomach power
小题5:What"s the author"s purpose in writing this passage?
A.To introduce some skills in playing basketball.
B.To tell us about his dream of becoming a basketball star.
C.To introduce his own experience of playing basketball.
D.To tell us how to balance playing basketball and studying.

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One evening I heard a loud crash in our quiet neighborhood.  26 that evening, my wife had asked me to go to the store to get some soft drinks.It was a good time to let my teenage daughter Holly practice her  27  , so I sent her to the store in my truck.At dinner my son talked about how much he liked my 28 .I enjoyed having it, but I said: "Guy, my heart is not set on that truck.I like it but it is 29  metal and won" t last forever." After hearing the loud noise, the whole  30  ran outside.My son shouted: "Dad, Dad, Holly crashed your truck."
My heart sank and my mind was  31 with conflicting thoughts. Was anyone hurt? Who else was involved? As I ran to the door, I heard a voice in my   32 saying: "Here is a chance to show Holly what you really  33 .She" 11 never forget it."
The accident had occurred in my own driveway.Holly had crashed my truck into our other car. Holly was not  34 physically but when I reached her, she was crying and saying: " Oh, Dad, I’m sorry.I know how much you love this truck." I held her in my arms as she cried.
Later that week a friend  35 by and asked what had happened to my truck.I told her the whole  36 .Her eyes moistened(润湿) and she said: "That happened to me when I was a girl.I  37 my dad" s car and ran into a log that had fallen  38 the road.I ruined the car.When I got home my Dad knocked me to the ground and began to kick me.
Over 40 years later, she still felt the  39 of the night.It was a deep wound on her  40  .
I remember how  41  Holly was on the night she crashed our truck, and how I  42 her.One day, when Holly thinks  43 in the future, I want her to know that I love her a thousand times more than anything else
I repaired the car, but the dent(凹陷)in my truck is   44 there today.Every day it reminds me of what really  45 in my life
小题1:
A.AfterB.BeforeC.LaterD.Earlier
小题2:
A.studyingB.cookingC.drivingD.operating
小题3:
A.truckB.familyC.neighborD.house
小题4:
A.stillB.justC.alsoD.always
小题5:
A.brothersB.friendsC.neighborsD.family
小题6:
A.filledB.satisfiedC.surroundedD.confused
小题7:
A.heartB.houseC.neighborhoodD.truck
小题8:
A.hateB.loveC.refuseD.worry
小题9:
A.beatenB.woundedC.hurtD.worried
小题10:
A.stoodB.ranC.stoppedD.drove
小题11:
A.accidentB.storyC.adventureD.experience
小题12:
A.gaveB.boughtC.rodeD.borrowed
小题13:
A.acrossB.throughC.againstD.over
小题14:
A.accidentB.painC.carD.sorry
小题15:
A.bodyB.headC.faceD.soul
小题16:
A.angryB.surprisedC.disappointedD.sad
小题17:
A.blamedB.scoldedC.comfortedD.beat
小题18:
A.backB.forwardC.upD.of
小题19:
A.alreadyB.stillC.neverD.no longer
小题20:
A.worksB.needsC.mattersD.values

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Recently, I have begun to do rides with a group of guys who ride professionally (老练地). The first day, I finished the ride with great   36 , though I tried hard to keep up with one guy for most the ways. To my   37 , I did a little better the second time.
I decided to work harder to   38 . Yesterday, I   39  so much on my ride that I missed the short route (路线) I usually take;   40 , I stayed on the long route. I had never used this route, so I wasn’t really sure about which   41  I should take. Thankfully, a group of four riders   42 , and I just followed them.
A few minutes later, one of the guys got a flat tire (爆了的轮胎), and, with the help of the others, he had it   43  in about a minute. We all waited there   44  he changed his tire. After we started riding again, I noticed something   45 . The guy at the front would ride   46  for a couple of minutes, then he would move over to the side,   47  his way to the end of the line, and the guy behind him would move into the lead position. The process (过程) would   48  every few minutes. This was a lot easier than riding alone, trying to   49  the first rider. This time I had a great time – and I think it is the   50  I’ve ever gone.
This made me realize how important teamwork is, and the   51  of having a great team. The point is that you don’t have to be at your best   52 . You give it your all for a while, and then you let the guy   53  you do the same. The entire team improves because you don’t have to be the   54  all the time. You get your time to shine, and so does everyone else. You cannot get anywhere – or even make any worthwhile improvement – without a   55 . Who else will stop and help you to change your flat tire?
小题1:
A.comfortB.carefulnessC.difficultyD.bravery
小题2:
A.delightB.disappointmentC.surpriseD.amazement
小题3:
A.adjustB.improveC.approveD.increase
小题4:
A.turnedB.checkedC.carriedD.focused
小题5:
A.thereforeB.otherwiseC.insteadD.still
小题6:
A.endB.directionC.routeD.place
小题7:
A.developedB.formedC.leftD.appeared
小题8:
A.usedB.workedC.changedD.stopped
小题9:
A.ifB.sinceC.whileD.before
小题10:
A.naturalB.unusualC.simpleD.regretful
小题11:
A.suddenlyB.quicklyC.immediatelyD.finally
小题12:
A.makingB.leadingC.gettingD.keeping
小题13:
A.showB.passC.continueD.repeat
小题14:
A.catch up withB.end up withC.put up withD.come up with
小题15:
A.longestB.highestC.biggestD.fastest
小题16:
A.planB.aimC.valueD.effort
小题17:
A.at a timeB.at the timeC.for some timeD.all the time
小题18:
A.beforeB.betweenC.behindD.above
小题19:
A.heroB.speakerC.juniorD.organizer
小题20:
A.friendB.teamC.practiceD.rid

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