阅读材料，回答下面试题：

Professor Smith recently persuaded 35 people, 23 of them women, tokeep a diary of all their absent-minded actions for a fortnight.When he came to analyze theirembarrassing lapses (差错) in a scientific report, he wassurprised to find that nearly all of them fell into a few groupings.Nor did the lapses appear to be entirely random (随机的).

One of the women, for instance, on leaving her house for work onemorning threw her dog her earrings and tried to {ix a dog biscuit on her ear."The explanation for this is thatthe brain is like a computer," explains the professor."People programme themselves to do certain activities regularly.It was the woman's custom every morning to throw her dog twobiscuits and then put on her earrings.But somehow theaction got reversed in the programme." About onein twenty of the incidents the volunteers reported were these "programmeassembly failures".

Altogether the volunteers logged 433 unintentional actions thatthey found themselves doing—an average of twelve each.There appear to be peak periods in the day when we are at ourzaniest (荒谬可笑的).These are twohours some time between eight a.m.and noon,between four and six p.m.with a smaller peak between eight and ten p.m."Among men the peak seems to be when a changeover in brain‘programmes’ occurs, as for instance between going to and from work." Women on average reported slightly more lapse-12.5comparedwith 10.9 for men probably because they were more reliable reporters.

A startling finding of the research is that the absent-mindedactivity is a hazard of do-ing things in which we are skilled.Normally, you would expect thatskill reduces the num-ber of errors we make.But tryingto avoid silly slips by concentrating more could make things a lot worse, evendangerous.

第26题单选 In his study Professor Smith asked the subjects __________.

A.to keep track of people who tended to forget things

B.to report their embarrassing lapses at random

C.to analyze their awkward experiences scientifically

D.to keep a record of what they did unintentionally

参考答案：D

第27题单选 Professor Smith discovered that__________.

A.certain patterns can be identified in the recorded incidents

B.many people are too embarrassed to admit their absent-mindedness

C.men tend to be more absent-minded than women

D.absent-mindedness is an excusable human weakness

参考答案：A

第28题单选 "Programme assembly failures"(Para.2) refers to the phenomenon that people__________.

A.often fail to programme their routines beforehand

B.tend to make mistakes when they are in a hurry

C.unconsciously change the sequence of doing things

D.are likely to mess things up if they are too tired

参考答案：C

第29题单选 We learn from the third paragraph that __________.

A.absent-mindedness tends to occur during certain hours of the day

B.women are very careful to perform actions during peak periods

C.women experience more peak periods of absent-mindedness

D.men's absent-mindedness often results in funny situations

参考答案：A

第30题单选 It can be concluded from the passage that __________.

A.people should avoid doing important things during peak periods oflapses

B.hazards can be avoided when people do things they are good at

C.people should be careful when programming their actions

D.lapses cannot always be attributed to lack of concentration

参考答案：D

阅读材料，回答下面试题：

In the 1960s, medical researchers Thomas Holmes and Richard Rahedeveloped a checklist of stressful events.They appreciated the tricky point that any majorchange can bestressful.Negative events like"serious illness of a family member" were high on the list,but sowere some positive life-changing events, like marriage.Whenyou take the Holmes-Rahe test you must remember that the score does not reflecthow you deal with stress—itonly shows how much you have to deal with.And we now know that the way you handle these events dramaticallyaffects your chances of staying healthy.

By the early 1970s, hundreds of similar studies had followedHolmes and Rahe's.Andmillions of Americans who worked and lived under stress wereworried over thereports.Somehow, the research gotboiled down to a memorable message.Women's maga-zinesran headlines like "Stress Causes Illness!" If you want to stayphysically and mental-ly healthy, the articles said, avoid stressful events.

But such simplistic advice is impossible to follow.Even i{ stressful events aredanger-ous, many like the death of a loved one are impossible to avoid.Moreover, any warning toavoid all stressful events is a prescription(处方) for staying away from opportunities aswell astrouble.Since any change can be stressful, a person whowanted to be completelyfree of stress would never marry, have a child, take anew job or move.

The notion that all stress makes you sick also ignores a lot ofwhat we know about people.It assumes we're all vulnerable (脆弱的) and passive in the face ofadversity (逆境).But what abouthuman initiative and creativity? Many come through periods of stress with more physicaland mental vigor than they had before.We also know thata long time without change or challenge can lead to boredom, and physical andmental strain.

第31题单选 The result of Holmes-Rahe's medical research tells us__________.

A.the way you handle major events may cause stress

B.what should be done to avoid stress

C.what kinds of events would cause stress

D.how to cope with sudden changes in life

参考答案：C

第32题单选 The studies on stress in the early 1970s led to__________.

A.widespread concern over its harmful effects

B.great panic over the mental disorder it could cause

C.an intensive research into stress-related illnesses

D.popular avoidance of stressful jobs

参考答案：A

第33题单选 The score of the Holmes-Rahe test shows__________.

A.how much pressure you are under

B.how positive events can change your life

C.how stressful a major event can be

D.how you can deal with life-changing events

参考答案：A

第34题单选 Why is "such simplistic advice" (Para.3) impossible to follow?

A.No one can stay on the same job for long.

B.No prescription is effective in relieving stress.

C.People have to get married someday.

D.You could be missing opportunities as well.

参考答案：D

第35题单选 According to the passage, people who have experienced ups and downsmay be-come__________.

A.nervous when faced with difficulties

B.physically and mentally strained

C.more capable of coping with adversity

D.indifferent toward what happens to them

参考答案：C