It’s hard to memorize through brute force the groceries we need to buy.

A.rude B.skillful C.emphasized D.abnormal

The predictability of our mortality rates is something that has long puzzled social scientists. After all, there is no natural reason why 2,500 people should accidentally shoot themselves each year or why 7,000 should drown or 55,000 die in their cars. No one establishes a quota for each type of death. It just happens that they follow a consistent pattern year after year.A few years ago a Canadian psychologist named Gerald Wilde became interested in this phenomenon. He noticed that mortality rates for violent and accidental deaths throughout the Western world have remained oddly static throughout the whole of the century, despite all the technological advances and increases in safety standards that have happened in that time. Wilde developed an intriguing theory called “risk homeostasis”. According to this theory, people instinctively live with a certain level of risk. When something is made safer, people will get around the measure in some way to reassert the original level of danger. If, for instance, they are required to wear seat belts, they will feel safer and thus will drive a little faster and a little more recklessly, thereby statistically canceling out the benefits that the seat belt confers. Other studies have shown that where an intersection is made safer, the accident rate invariably falls there but rises to a compensating level elsewhere along the same stretch of road. It appears, then, that we have an innate need for danger.In all events, it is becoming clearer and clearer to scientists that the factors influencing our lifespan are far more subtle and complex than had been previously thought. It now appears that if you wish to live a long life, it isn’t simply a matter of adhering to certain precautions: eating the right foods, not smoking, driving with care. You must also have the right attitude. Scientists at the Duke University Medical Center made a 15-year study of 500 persons’ personalities and found, somewhat to their surprise, that people with a suspicious or mistrustful nature die prematurely far more often than people with a sunny disposition. Looking on the bright side, it seems, can add years to your life span.1. What social scientists have long felt puzzled about is why ______.

2. In his research, Gerald Wilde finds that technological advances and increases in safety standards ______.

3. According to the theory of “risk homeostasis”, some traffic accidents result from _______.

4. By saying “...statistically canceling out the benefits that the seat belt confers” (Para. 2), the author means ______.

5. Which of the following may contribute to a longer life span?

这些读者既“温故”，读文史，了解过去；又“知新”，爱科学、展望未来。他们愿意从各种各样的书籍中探索找寻生活的乐趣、人生的乐趣、思维的乐趣和智慧的乐趣。他们看市井风俗、社会百态，看多彩人生和丰富感情。他们生活在现在，同时也生活在过去和未来，他们最大限度地体会读书带来的追求智慧的乐趣。正如王小波说的：“智慧本身就是好的。有一天我们都会死去，追求智慧的道路还会有人在走着。死掉以后的事我看不到，但在我活着的时候，想到这件事，心里就高兴。”

If you want to clarify the fact, you need two witnesses to ______ that this is your signature.

Governor (州长) Paterson and Mayor Bloomberg agree on at least one thing—that the top priority for rebuilding Ground Zero is the creation of a memorial, which could be built by the 10th anniversary of September 11 Attack.“I mentioned that to the mayor, and he agreed wholeheartedly,” Paterson said after a half-hour City Hall meeting with Bloomberg. “I wanted him to know that if we can agree, we’d work on both ends to try to make that happen. We will be going in a direction that I think all New Yorkers would be proud of.” The governor said that while the PATH station and the commercial projects planned for the city were also important, finishing the memorial will send a powerful message to the people of New York. “I just expressed to the mayor, and he expressed the same thing to me that it has a lot to do with the morale (士气，民心) of the city,” Paterson said.Earlier, on his weekly radio show, the mayor chaired the National September 11 Memorial & Museum at the World Trade Center, which raised the $350 million necessary for building the complex and is now raising money for a museum endowment (捐赠). Fifteen relatives of 9/11 victims wrote a letter last week calling for faster progress, saying, “We hope that you ensure everything possible is done so that we can share a beautiful and inspiring memorial with the world on 9/11.”1. Paterson and Bloomberg agreed that the creation of a memorial will be built in ______.

2. “We’d work on both ends to try to make that happen” means ______.

3. The mayor chaired “the National September 11 Memorial & Museum” in this text refers to a ______.

4. What did the mayor do to respond Paterson?

5. The title of the text would be ______.

There is an old saying that you can never ______ unless you give your consent.