A Charlotte N.C. man was charged with first-degree murder of a 79-year-old woman

A Charlotte N.C. man was charged with first-degreemurder of a 79-year-old woman whom police said he scared to death. Can the guybe 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 anotherperson’s death while committing or fleeing from a severe crime—even if he orshe doesn’t kill someone on purpose.

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

Absolutely, no question about it.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

3.What activity can we infer is less likely to damagethe 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 heartfailure

C. to compare different kinds of feelings to cause adeath

D. to show strong emotions can cause a sudden death

试题答案

【答案】

1.A

2.Ｃ

3.Ｄ　

4.Ｄ

【解析】

试题解析：生活常识类文章阅读。本文通过一个案例提出问题：人会被吓死吗，通过一系列的说明让人们知道：答案是一定的。

1.A推理判断题。根据最后一段第一句话：顺便说一下，任何一种强烈的无论是积极的还是消极的情绪的波动比如高兴或者伤心都有可能导致同样的结果，即死亡，也就表明了作者对于被吓死是赞成的，A. Approval. 赞成的 B.Disapproval反对的. C. Doubtful. 怀疑的  D. Indifferent.冷漠的，所以A正确。

2.C 推理判断题。根据第三段内容：身体有一种自然保护机制叫做对抗反应,最初被(1906年至1942年)哈佛大学的生理系主任描述的：如果在野外,动物面临威胁生命的情况下,自主神经系统会增加心率,增加血液流到肌肉,扩张,减缓消化,所有这些增加了在战斗中成功或从具有攻击性的野兽逃跑的机会，这个过程肯定是对早起的人类是有帮助的，所以C正确。

3.D。细节推理题。本文说明了一个人在极度强烈的情绪之下，对人的身体器官有害，甚至会导致死亡，而A ＢＣ都属于会产生强烈情绪的动作，而D听甜美的音乐，使人心情舒畅放松，而不会极度波动，所以Ａ正确。

4.D主旨大意题。本文从一个案例入手，解释和说明强烈的情感给人体器官带来的伤害甚至会导致死亡，所以D正确。

考点：考查生活常识类短文阅读。