A Charlotte, N.C., man was charged with first-degree murder of a 79-year-old woman whom police said he scared to death. In an attempt to evade policemen after a bank robbery, the Associated Press reports that 20-year-old Larry Whitfield broke into the home of Mary Parnell. Police say he didn’t touch Parnell but that she died after suffering a heart attack that was caused by terror. Can the guy be held responsible for the woman’s death? Prosecutors(公诉人) 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 like robbery—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(战或逃反应), which was originally described by Walter Cannon，the 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 autonomic 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 primitive 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 toxic 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. Kidney failure, liver failure, those things don’t kill you suddenly.
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 intercourse 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. For about seven days after the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon there was an increase of sudden cardiac death among New Yorkers.
Why the Charlotte, N.C., man was charged?
A. Because he threatened the policemen to kill an old woman.
B. Because he caused an old woman’s terror and she died.
C. Because he beat an old woman and caused her heart attack
D. Because he murdered an old woman while robbing a bank.
Which of the following about the fight-or-flight response is true?
A. The fight-or-flight response was raised and proved by Martin A. Samuels.
B. It is a natural protective method that can’t be found in all creatures but humans.
C. The ancient humans had a superior fight-or-flight response than modern ones.
D. The fight-or-flight response is beneficial to both our actions and organs.
What activity can we infer is less likely to damage the organs?
A. Winning a big lottery. B. Missing a dead family.
C. Watching a horror movie. D. Listening to a sweet song.
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
名校课堂系列答案科目：高中英语 来源： 题型：阅读理解
Collections were the inspiration(灵感) for a project at Thomas Tallis School, which formed part of the Imagine Children's Literature Festival last autumn. Each child (aged 12-13) beautified a box and wrote a story on the subject of collections to throw inside it. The boxes were spread within the Royal Festival Hall's Ballroom. Some were left empty to encourage visitors to write their own stories.
The subject chosen by Lauren was an imaginative one. "It's a sort of Cinderella (灰姑娘) story," she told me, inspired by a collection of letters from her cousin, In the story these become love letters, burned by a cruel stepmother. Lauren's best friend Charlotte is the stepmother. "I'm in Charlotte's story too," says Lauren, "and I get run over." Charlotte's tale was inspired by the girls' coin collection. "We've collected foreign coins for years – since our families went on holiday to Tenerife." she explains. "That was before the Euro, so we put pesetas in." Lauren continues: "I find a coin in the road, go to get it and get run over. I'm in hospital and then I die." Charlotte adds: "Or she might not die. I haven't decided yet."
Millie Murray, who is a teen-novel author, thinks that setting the subject of collections was a useful inspiration to their creativity rather than a restriction(限制). "In the beginning I thought, 'Will the children be able to do it?"she says. "But it's been fruitful. Some have their own collection, some have parents who do, and some have written complete stories. It's made them think about something they wouldn't have otherwise, which can only be a good thing."
59. What were the children asked to do in the project?
A. To meet friends at Thomas Tallis School. B. To write stories on the subject of collections.
C. To encourage visitors to write their own stories.
D. To have their friends for characters in the stories.
60. The underlined word "pesetas" in Paragraph 2 is a kind of _____.
A. story B. collection C. inspiration D. foreign coin
61. From the stories by Lauren and Charlotte, we know that _____ .
A. Charlotte hurt herself when getting a coin
B. both of them developed their imagination
C. both of them will die in each other's stories
D. Lauren's cousin posted her some love letters
62. Millie Murray thinks ________.
A. collections could inspire writing creativity
B. it was good for parents to have collections
C. inspirations were very useful in writing stories
D. setting collection subjects restricted inspirations
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科目：高中英语 来源：2011届河南省开封市高三上学期第一次模拟考试英语卷 题型：阅读理解
A Charlotte, NC, lawyer bought a box of very rare and expensive cigars, and then insured them against fire among other things．Having smoked his entire great cigars within a month, the lawyer filed claim （索赔） against the insurance company．
In his claim, the lawyer stated the cigars were lost "in a series of small fires"．Of course the insurance company refused to pay, giving the obvious reason that the man had consumed the cigars in the normal way．
The lawyer brought the case to the court and out of everybody’s expectation, he actually won! At the end of the trial the judge agreed with the insurance company that the claim was crazy．But the judge said that the lawyer held a policy （保险单） from the company in which it had promised that the cigars were insured and that it would insure them against fire．Because the company didn’t say what is considered to be unacceptable fire, it had to pay the claim．
Rather than put up with long and costly appeal process, the insurance company accepted the punishment and paid $ 15 ,000 to the lawyer for his loss of the rare cigars lost in the "fires．"
After the lawyer cashed the check, the insurance company had him arrested and accused him of arson （纵火罪）．With his own insurance claim from the previous case being used against him, the lawyer was charged with burning his insured possessions on purpose and was sentenced to 24 months in prison and a $ 24,000 fine．
【小题1】The lawyer had smoked all the cigars ___．
| A．by design | B．by mistake | C．by accident | D．by contract |
| A．ecabd | B．acebd | C．ecdab | D．cedba |
| A．the box of cigars | B．the insurance company |
| C．the policy | D．the claim |
| A．Whoever sits against heaven, it falls in his face． |
| B．A bad beginning makes a bad ending． |
| C．Accidents will happen． |
| D．Even the wise make mistakes sometimes． |
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科目：高中英语 来源：2014届四川成都石室中学高三10月月考英语试卷（解析版） 题型：阅读理解
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 (公诉人) 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
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科目：高中英语 来源：2010-2011学年浙江省六校高三2月联考英语卷 题型：阅读理解
A Charlotte, N.C., man was charged with first-degree murder of a 79-year-old woman whom police said he scared to death. In an attempt to evade policemen after a bank robbery, the Associated Press reports that 20-year-old Larry Whitfield broke into the home of Mary Parnell. Police say he didn’t touch Parnell but that she died after suffering a heart attack that was caused by terror. Can the guy be held responsible for the woman’s death? Prosecutors(公诉人) 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 like robbery—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(战或逃反应), which was originally described by Walter Cannon，the 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 autonomic 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 primitive 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 toxic 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. Kidney failure, liver failure, those things don’t kill you suddenly.
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 intercourse 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. For about seven days after the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon there was an increase of sudden cardiac death among New Yorkers.
1. Why the Charlotte, N.C., man was charged?
A. Because he threatened the policemen to kill an old woman.
B. Because he caused an old woman’s terror and she died.
C. Because he beat an old woman and caused her heart attack
D. Because he murdered an old woman while robbing a bank.
2. What is Martin Samuels’ attitude to the possibility of being frightened to death?
A. Approval. B. Disapproval. C. Doubtful. D. Indifferent.
3. Which of the following about the fight-or-flight response is true?
A. The fight-or-flight response was raised and proved by Martin A. Samuels.
B. It is a natural protective method that can’t be found in all creatures but humans.
C. The ancient humans had a superior fight-or-flight response than modern ones.
D. The fight-or-flight response is beneficial to both our actions and organs.
4. What activity can we infer is less likely to damage the organs?
A. Winning a big lottery. B. Missing a dead family.
C. Watching a horror movie. D. Listening to a sweet song.
5. 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
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