Question

A Charlotte N.C. man was charged with first-degree murder of a 79-year-old woman whom police said he scared to death. Can the guy be held responsible for the woman’s death? Prosecutors (公訴人) said that he can under the state’s murder rule, which allows someone to be charged with murder if he or she causes another person’s death while committing or fleeing from a severe crime—even if he or she doesn’t kill someone on purpose.

But, medically speaking, can someone actually be frightened to death? We asked Martin Samuels, chairman of the neurology department at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston.

Absolutely, no question about it.

The body has a natural protective method called the fight-or-flight response, which was originally described by Walter Cannon，chairman of Harvard University’s physiology department from 1906 to 1942. If, in the wild, an animal is faced with a life-threatening situation, the automatic nervous system responds by increasing heart rate, increasing blood flow to the muscles, and slowing digestion, among other things. All of this increases the chances of succeeding in a fight or running away from an aggressive beast. This process certainly would be of help to early humans. However, in the modern world there is obvious decline of the fight-or-flight response.

The autonomic nervous system uses the chemical messenger to send signals to various parts of the body to activate the fight-or-flight response. This chemical is poisonous in large amounts; it damages the organs such as the heart, lungs, liver and kidneys. It is believed that almost all sudden deaths are caused by damage to the heart. There is almost no other organ that would fail so fast as to cause sudden death.

By the way, any strong positive or negative emotions such as happiness or sadness can cause the same result. There are people who have died in excitement or in religious passion. There was a case of a golfer who hit a hole in one, turned to his partner and said, “I can die now”, and then he dropped dead.

1.What is Martin Samuels’ attitude to the possibility of being frightened to death?

A. Approval.            B. Disapproval.                            C. Doubtful.     D. Indifferent.

2.What can we learn about the fight-or-flight response according to the passage?

A. The fight-or-flight response was raised and proved by Martin Samuels.

B. It is a natural protective method that can’t be found in all creatures but humans.

C. The ancient humans had a better fight-or-flight response than modern ones.

D. The fight-or-flight response is beneficial to both our actions and organs.

3.What activity can we infer is less likely to damage the organs?

A. Winning an unexpected fortune.

B. Missing a dead family member.

C. Watching a horror movie.

D. Listening to a sweet song.

4.The purpose of the passage is ______.

A. to explain why people will die of a heart attack

B. to offer some advice on protecting us from heart failure

C. to compare different kinds of feelings to cause a death

D. to show strong emotions can cause a sudden death

 

Answer 1

【答案】

 

1.A

2.Ｃ

3.Ｄ　

4.Ｄ

【解析】

試題解析：生活常識類文章閱讀。本文通過一個案例提出問題：人會被嚇死嗎，通過一系列的說明讓人們知道：答案是一定的。

1.A推理判斷題。根據最后一段第一句話：順便說一下，任何一種強烈的無論是積極的還是消極的情緒的波動比如高興或者傷心都有可能導致同樣的結果，即死亡，也就表明了作者對于被嚇死是贊成的，A. Approval. 贊成的 B. Disapproval反對的. C. Doubtful. 懷疑的  D. Indifferent.冷漠的，所以A正確。

2.C 推理判斷題。根據第三段內容：身體有一種自然保護機制叫做對抗反應,最初被(1906年至1942年)哈佛大學的生理系主任描述的：如果在野外,動物面臨威脅生命的情況下,自主神經系統會增加心率,增加血液流到肌肉,擴張,減緩消化,所有這些增加了在戰斗中成功或從具有攻擊性的野獸逃跑的機會，這個過程肯定是對早起的人類是有幫助的，所以C正確。

3.D。細節推理題。本文說明了一個人在極度強烈的情緒之下，對人的身體器官有害，甚至會導致死亡，而A ＢＣ都屬于會產生強烈情緒的動作，而D聽甜美的音樂，使人心情舒暢放松，而不會極度波動，所以Ａ正確。

4.D主旨大意題。本文從一個案例入手，解釋和說明強烈的情感給人體器官帶來的傷害甚至會導致死亡，所以D正確。

考點：考查生活常識類短文閱讀。