A study found that young people have a strong...

A study found that young people have a stronger and more unpleasant scent (气味) than the elderly，while elderly people’s smell was the most distinctive，less intense and unpleasant. Researchers said the change in our smell is driven by the chemicals we release through our glands (腺) and the bacteria on our skin.

To test whether or not it really exists，scientists collected a series of samples from three groups of 12 to 16 donors，aged 20 to 30，45 to 55 and 75 to 95.Volunteers wore special T－shirts fitted with underarm pads (护垫) as they slept for five nights，after which the pads were cut up and put in glass jars. A separate group of 41 people aged 20 to 30 was then asked to smell two jars at a time and asked which group of the donors was older，as well as rating how strong and unpleasant each smell was.

When asked to specify whether a particular sample was from a young，middle aged or old person，they were much more successful at identifying older people. Despite being the most distinctive，the older people’s smell was also rated as being obviously less intense and less unpleasant than those from the other groups.

Researchers said their findings appeared to contradict people's negative ideas about the old person’s smell but admitted other factors，like smelly breath or skin，could be to blame for its bad reputation.

“Similar to other animals，humans can give off body scents that allow us to identify biological age，avoid sick individuals and pick a suitable partner. Elderly people have a distinctive scent that younger people consider to be not very unpleasant. This was surprising given the popular conception of old age scent as smelly. However，it's possible that other sources of body scents，such as skin or breath，may have different qualities,” said Dr Johan Lundstrom，who led the study.

1.What do we know from the study?

A．People of different ages give off different scents.

B．People's scent can only be changed by the bacteria on their skin.

C．People show great interest in old people's scent.

D．People's scent can help distinguish a man and a woman.

2.Which of the following ages of people have the chance to participate in the study?

A．16　 B． 77　 C．74　 D．56

3.According to the passage, people usually think that________．

A．old people's scent is simply from their breath

B．old people have a bad reputation mainly for their skin

C．old people's scent is terrible and unpleasant

D．old people give off a more pleasant scent

4.What is the author’s purpose in writing this passage?

A．To tell old people how to remove their terrible scent.

B．To prove that people often hold wrong ideas.

C．To show how researchers carried out their study about the scent.

D．To report the findings of a study about people's scent.

高二英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析

Are people less happy or more happy the older they get ? A study found that people generally become happier and experience less worry after age 50. In fact, it found that by the age of 85, people are happier with their life than they were at 18.

The finding came from a Gallup survey of more than 340,000 adults between the age of 18 and 85 in the United States.

Arthur Stone in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science at Stony Brook University in New York led the study. His team found that levels of stress were highest among adults between the ages of 22 and 25. Stress levels dropped sharply after people reached their fifties.

Happiness was highest among the youngest adults and those in their early seventies. But the people least likely to report feeling negative emotions were those in their seventies and eighties. The survey also found that men and women had similar emotional patternsas they grow older. However, women at all ages reported more sadness, stress and worry than men did.

The researchers also considered possible influences like having young children, being unemployed or being single. But they found that influences like these did not affect the levels of happiness and well-being related to age.

So why would happiness increase with age ? One theory is that, as people get older, they become more thankful for what they have and have better control of their emotions. They also spend less time thinking about bad experiences.

The original goal of the study was to confirm the popular belief that aging is connected with increased sleep problems. The survey did find an increase during middle age, especially in women. But except for that , people reported that they felt their sleep quality improved as they got older.

1.Old people may be happier probably because _________

A. their children have grown up.　　 B. they don’t have to work every day.

C. they can do whatever they like best.　　 D. they are most likely satisfied with life.

2.According to the survey, when will adults feel most stressful?

A. In their twenties.　　 B. In their fifties.

C. In their seventies.　　 D. In their eighties.

3.What may make Arthur Stone a bit surprised?

A. Women usually live longer than men.　　 B. Middle-age men mostly are very rich.

C. Old people usually have a better sleep.　　 D. Most of old people can’t sleep well at night.

4.Which of the following may be the topic of this passage ?

A. The difference between men and women.　　 B. Old people’s feeling of happiness.

C. The young people and the old people.　　 D. The connection of sleep and happiness.

高二英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析

Are people less or more happy when they get older? A study in 2018 found that people generally become happier and experience less worry after age 50. In fact, it found that by the age of 85, people are happier with their life than they were at 18.

Arthur Stone in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science at Stony Brook University in New York led the study. His team found that levels of stress were the highest among adults between the ages of 22 and 25. 1.

Happiness was the highest among the youngest adults and those in their early 70's. But the people least likely to report feeling negative emotions were those in their 70’s and 80’s. The survey also found that men and women have similar emotional patterns as they grow older. 2.The researchers also considered possible influences like, having young children being unemployed or being single. Bu, they found that influences like these did not affect the levels of happiness and well-being related to age.

3. One theory is that, as people get older, they become more than thankful for what they have and have better control of their emotions. They also spend less time thinking about bad experiences.

4.In another study, people in their 80’s reported the fewest problems with the quality of their sleep. The original goal was to confirm the popular belief that aging is connected with increased sleep problems. 5.But except for that, people reported that they felt their sleep quality improved as they got older.

A.So why will happiness increase with age?

B.Researchers surveyed more than 150, 000 American adults.

C.At that time, the people were between the ages of 18 and 85.

D.Stress levels dropped sharply after people reached their 50's.

E.Happiness is not the only thing that apparently improves with age.

F.The survey did find an increase during middle age, especially in women.

G. However, women at all ages reported more sadness, stress and worry than men.

高二英语七选五困难题查看答案及解析

A new study has found that it may be possible to train people to be more intelligent, increasing the brainpower they had at birth．

Until now，it has been widely assumed that the kind of mental ability that allows us to solve new problems without having any relevant previous experience—what psychologists call fluid intelligence—is innate and cannot be taught（though people can raise their grades on tests of it by practicing）．

But in the new study，researchers describe a method for improving this skill，along with experiments to prove it works．

The key, researchers found, was carefully structured training in working memory—the kind that allows memorization of a telephone number just long enough to dial it．This type of memory is closely related to fluid intelligence，so the researchers reasoned that improving it might lead to improvements in fluid intelligence．

First they measured fluid intelligence of volunteers using standard tests．Then they trained each in a complicated memory task—the child’s card game，in which they had to recall a card they saw and heard．During the course, they needed to ignore irrelevant items, monitor ongoing performance，manage two tasks at the same time and connect related items to one another in space and time．

The four groups experienced a half-hour of training daily for 8, 12, 17 and 19 days, respectively．To make sure they were not just improving their test-taking skills，the researchers compared them with control groups that took the tests without the training．

The results, published Monday in The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences，were striking．Improvement in the trained groups was a lot greater．Moreover，the longer they trained, the higher their scores were．All performers，from the weakest to the strongest，showed significant improvement．

“Our results show you can increase your intelligence with proper training．” said Dr Jaeggi, a co-author of the paper．“No one knows how long the gains will last after training stops,” he added, “and the experiment’s design did not allow the researchers to determine whether more training would continue to produce further gains．

1.By writing the article，the writer intends to ______________．

A. inform the readers of a new study

B. call on people to be trained to increase intelligence

C. prove one’s born brainpower can be improved

D. tell people the improved intelligence will last forever

2.The researchers thought the key to improving the intelligence was ______________．

A. memorizing telephone numbers　　　

B .improving working memory

C. training in concentration　　　　　　　

D. recalling a card

3.The following aspects of the training help increase intelligence EXCEPT___________．

A. ignoring irrelevant items　　　　　　　　

B.monitoring ongoing performance

C.managing two tasks at the same time　　

D.using previous experience

4.When the experiment was conducted, the researchers______________．

A.trained the four groups for the same period of time

B.only made comparisons between the four groups

C.compared the four groups with control groups

D.trained the four groups together

高二英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析

A new study has found that it may be possible to train people to be more intelligent, increasing the brainpower they had at birth．

Until now，it has been widely assumed that the kind of mental ability that allows us to solve new problems without having any relevant previous experience—what psychologists call fluid intelligence—is innate and cannot be taught（though people can raise their grades on tests of it by practicing）．

But in the new study，researchers describe a method for improving this skill，along with experiments to prove it works．

The key, researchers found, was carefully structured training in working memory—the kind that allows memorization of a telephone number just long enough to dial it．This type of memory is closely related to fluid intelligence，so the researchers reasoned that improving it might lead to improvements in fluid intelligence．

First they measured fluid intelligence of volunteers using standard tests．Then they trained each in a complicated memory task—the child’s card game，in which they had to recall a card they saw and heard．During the course, they needed to ignore irrelevant items, monitor ongoing performance，manage two tasks at the same time and connect related items to one another in space and time．

The four groups experienced a half-hour of training daily for 8, 12, 17 and 19 days, respectively．To make sure they were not just improving their test-taking skills，the researchers compared them with control groups that took the tests without the training．

The results, published Monday in The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences，were striking．Improvement in the trained groups was a lot greater．Moreover，the longer they trained, the higher their scores were．All performers，from the weakest to the strongest，showed significant improvement．

“Our results show you can increase your intelligence with proper training．” said Dr Jaeggi, a co-author of the paper．“No one knows how long the gains will last after training stops,” he added, “and the experiment’s design did not allow the researchers to determine whether more training would continue to produce further gains．”

1..The researchers thought the key to improving the intelligence was ______________．

A.memorizing telephone numbers        B.improving working memory

C.training in concentration                             D.recalling a card

2..The following aspects of the training help increase intelligence EXCEPT___________．

A.ignoring irrelevant items                             B.monitoring ongoing performance

C.managing two tasks at the same time                   D.using previous experience

3..When the experiment was conducted, the researchers______________．

A.trained the four groups for the same period of time

B.only made comparisons between the four groups

C.compared the four groups with control groups

D.trained the four groups together

4..By writing the article，the writer intends to ______________．

A.inform the readers of a new study

B.call on people to be trained to increase intelligence

C.prove one’s born brainpower can be improved

D.tell people the improved intelligence will last forever

高二英语阅读理解简单题查看答案及解析

Over the last 70 years, researchers have been studying happy and unhappy people and finally found out ten factors that make a difference．Our feelings of well-being at any moment are determined to a certain degree by genes．However, of all the factors, wealth and age are the top two.

Money can buy a degree of happiness．But once you can afford to feed, clothe and house yourself, each extra dollar makes less and less difference.

Researchers find that, on average, wealthier people are happier．But the link between money and happiness is complex．In the past half-century, average income has sharply increased in developed countries, yet happiness levels have remained almost the same．Once your basic needs are met, money only seems to increase happiness if you have more than your friends, neighbors and colleagues.

“Dollars buy status, and status makes people feel better,” conclude some experts, which helps explain why people who can seek status in other ways—scientists or actors, for example—may happily accept relatively poorly-paid jobs.

In a research, Professor Alex Michalos found that the people whose desires—not just for money, but for friends, family, job, health—rose furthest beyond what they already had, tended to be less happy than those who felt a smaller gap (差距)．Indeed, the size of the gap predicted happiness about five times better than income alone．“The gap measures just blow away the only measures of income.” says Michalos.

Another factor that has to do with happiness is age．Old age may not be so bad．“Given all the problems of aging, how could the elderly be more satisfied? ” asks Protessor Laura Carstensen.

In one survey, Carstensen interviewed 184 people between the ages of 18 and 94, and asked them to fill out an emotions questionnaire．She found that old people reported positive emotions just as often as young people, but negative emotions much less often.

Why are old people happier? Some scientists suggest older people may expect life to be harder and learn to live with it, or they’re more realistic abour their goals, only setting ones that they know they can achieve．But Carstensen thinks that with time running out, older people have learned to focus on things that make them happy and let go of those that don’t.

“People realize not only what they have, but also that what they have cannot last forever,” she says．“A goodbye kiss to a husband or wife at the age of 85, for example, may bring far more complex emotional responses than a similar kiss to a boy or girl friend at the age of 20.”

1.According to the passage, the feeling of happiness ________.

A．is determined partly by genes              B．increases gradually with age

C．has little to do with wealth                    D．is measured by desires

2.Some actors would like to accept poorly-paid jobs because the jobs ________.

A．make them feel much better                B．provide chances to make friends

C．improve their social position                  D．satisfy their professional interests

3.Aged people are more likely to feel happy because they are more ________.

A．optimistic                                            B．successful

C．practical                                             D．emotional

4.Professor Alex Michalos found that people feel less happy if ________.

A．the gap between reality and desire is bigger

B．they have a stronger desire for friendship

C．their income is below their expectation

D．the hope for good health is greater

高二英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析

Over the last 70 years, researchers have been studying happy and unhappy people and finally found out ten factors that make a difference. Our feelings of well-being at any moment are determined to a certain degree by genes. However, of all the factors, wealth and age are the top two.

Money can buy a degree of happiness. But once you can afford to feed, clothe and house yourself , each extra dollar makes less and less difference.

Researchers find that, on average, wealthier people are happier. But the link between money and happiness is complex. In the past half-century, average income has sharply increased in developed countries, yet happiness levels have remained almost the same. Once your basic needs are met, money only seems to increase happiness if you have more than your friends, neighbors and colleagues.

“Dollars buy status, and status makes people feel better,” conclude some experts, which helps explain why people who can seek status in other ways---scientists or actors, for example—may happily accept relatively poorly-paid jobs.

In a research, Professor Alex Michalos found that the people whose desires—not just for money, but for friends, family, job, health—rose furthest beyond what they already had, tended to be less happy than those who felt a smaller gap. Indeed, the size of the gap predicted happiness about five times better than income alone. “The gap measures just blow away the only measures of income.” Says Michalos.

Another factor that has to do with happiness is age. Old age may not be so bad. “Given all the problems of aging, how could the elderly be more satisfied?” asks Professor Laura Carstensen.

In one survey, Carstensen interviewed 184 people between the ages of 18 and 94, and asked them to fill out an emotions questionnaire. She found that old people reported positive emotions just as often as young people, but negative emotions much less often.

Why are old people happier? Some scientists suggest older people may expect life to be harder and learn to live with it, or they’re more realistic about their goals, only setting ones that they know they can achieve. But Carstensen thinks that with time running out, older people have learned to focus on things that make them happy and let go of those that don’t. “People realize not only what they have, but also that what they have cannot last forever,” she says. “A goodbye kiss to a husband or wife at the age of 85, for example, may bring far more complex emotional responses than a similar kiss to a boy or girl friend at the age of 20.

1.According to the passage, the feeling of happiness ________.

A．is determined partly by genes              B．increases gradually with age

C．has little to do with wealth                 D．is measured by desires

2.Some actors would like to accept poorly-paid jobs because the jobs_____.

A．make them feel much better               B．provide chances to make friends

C．improve their social position               D．satisfy their professional interests

3.Aged people are more likely to feel happy because they are more______.

A．optimistic         B．successful         C．practical          D．emotional

4.Professor Alex Michalos found that people feel less happy if _______.

A．the gap between reality and desire is bigger

B．they have a stronger desire for friendship

C．their income is below their expectation

D．the hope for good health is greater

高二英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析

Over the last 70 years．researchers have been studying happy and Unhappy people and finally found out ten factors that make a difference．Our feelings of well-being at any moment are determined to a certain degree by genes．However of all the factors，wealth and age are the top two．

Money can buy a degree of happiness．But once you can afford to feed，clothe and house yourself, each extra dollar makes less and less difference．

Researchers find that，on average，wealthier people are happier．But the link between money and happiness is complex．In the past half-century, average income has sharply increased in developed countries，yet happiness levels have remained almost the same．Once your basic needs are met，money only seems to increase happiness if you have more than your friends，neighbors and colleagues．

“Dollars buy Status(社会地位)，and status makes people feel better,” conclude some experts，which helps explain why people who can seek status in other ways-scientists or actors，for example-may happily accept relatively poorly-paid jobs．

In a research，Professor Alex Michalos found that the people whose desires-not just for money，but for friends，family, job，health-rose furthest beyond what they already had，tended to be less happy than those who felt a smaller gap(差距)．Indeed，the size of the gap predicted happiness about five times better than income alone．“The gap measures just blow away the only measures of income，”says Michalos．

Another factor that has to do with happiness is age．Old age may not be so bad．“Given all the problems of aging，how could the elderly be more satisfied?” asks Professor Laura Carstensen．

Why are old people happier? Some scientists suggest older people may expect life to be harder and learn to live with it，or they're more realistic about their goals，only setting ones that they know they can achieve．But Carstensen thinks that with time running out，older people have learned to focus on things that make them happy and let go of those that don't．

“People realize not only what they have，but also that what they have cannot-last forever,” she says．“A goodbye kiss to a husband or wife at the age of 85，for example，may bring far more complex emotional responses than a similar kiss to a boy or girl friend at the age of 20.”

1.According to the passage，the feeling of happiness _________.

A．has little to do with wealth       B．increases gradually with age

C．is measured by desires           D．is determined partly by genes

2.Some actors would like to accept poorly-paid jobs because the jobs _________.

A．make them feel much better       B．provide chances to make friends

C．improve their social position     D．satisfy their professional interests

3.Aged people are more likely to feel happy because they are more _________.

A．optimistic      B．practical      C．successful     D．emotional

4.Professor Alex Michalos found that people feel less happy if __________.

A．the gap between reality and desire is bigger

B．they have a stronger desire for friendship

C．their income is below their expectation

D．the hope for good health is greater

高二英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析

The study surveyed 500 families and found that the main ________ problem people suffered was tiredness, followed by loneliness and anxiety.

A. domestic　　　　　　　　 B. public

C. psychological　　　　　 D. biological

高二英语单项填空中等难度题查看答案及解析

A study published Monday found that people who sleep less tend to be fat，and experts said it’s time to find out if more sleep will fight fatness.

“We’ve put so much emphasis on diet and exercise that we’ve failed to recognize the value of good sleep，”said Fred Turek，a physician at Northwestern University.

Monday’s study from Eastern Virgnia Medical School in Norfolk covered 1,000 people and found that total sleep time decreased as body mass index－a measure of weight based on height increased.

“Men slept an average of 27 minutes less than women and overweight and fat patients slept less than patients with normal weights，”it said.In general the fatter subjects slept about 1.8 hours a week less than those with normal weights.

“Americans experience insufficient sleep and fat bodies.Clinicians are aware of the burden of fatness on patients，”the study said.

“Our findings suggest that major extensions of sleep time may not be necessary，as an extra 20 minutes of sleep per night seems to be associated with a lower body mass index，”it added.

“We caution that this study does not set up a cause­and­effect relationship between restricted sleep and fatness，but investigations indicating success in weight loss via extensions of sleep would help greatly to set up such a relationship.”

The study was published in the Archives of Internal Medicine along with an editorial by Turek and Northwestern colleague Joseph Bass commenting on it and related research.

Inan interview，Turek said some studies have shown the lack of sleep causes declines in an appetiteholding back protein hormone，and increases in another hormone that cause a longing for food.“In addition neuropathies(神经疗法)in the brain governing sleep and fatness appear to overlap(部分重叠)，”he said.

“Fatness has been rising dramatically in developed countries and reached epidemic(流行病)levels in the United States，”it added，“leading to a variety of health problems.”

高二英语任务型阅读困难题查看答案及解析