Passage Three

When trying to understand why some people have trouble living within their means, we tend to blame factors such as high interest rates and irresponsible spending. Now researchers have found another possible factor to add to the list: a gene linked to credit-card debt.

Earlier work has shown that genetics plays a role in how we handle money. But a recent study was the first to show that a particular gene affects financial behavior outside the lab.Researchers at the University of California, San Diego, and the London School of Economics looked at genetic data and questionnaires already collected from more than 2,000 young adults aged 18 to 26 as part of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health. In particular, they looked at whether these young adults said they had any credit-card debt and what version of the MAOA gene they had.

Monoamine oxidase A (MAOA) (甲型单胺氧化酶) is an enzyme that breaks down the signaling chemicals called neuro-transmitters in the brain. Previous studies have linked the low-efficiency versions of the MAOA gene - the variants that cause less MAOA to be produced by brain cells - to impulsiveness.

In the new study, people with one “low” MAOA gene and one “high” MAOA gene reported having credit-card debt 7.8 percent more often than did people with two “high” versions, the researchers found, even when they controlled for factors such as education and socioeconomic status. For people with two “low” versions of the gene, that number jumped to 15.9 percent.

The researchers were surprised by the magnitude of the difference. “The effect is almost as big as financial literacy,” meaning people’ s ability to digest complicated financial information, says Jan-Emmanuel de Neve, an author of the study.

But, de Neve cautions, an individual’ s version of the MAOA gene does not predict whether he or she is carrying debt. The gene affects credit-card debt the way other genes have been found to play a role in breast cancer: a particular version of the gene increases risk, but many other genetic and environmental factors are important, too.

Questions 11-15 are based on Passage Three.

The recent study has found that __________.

Our society is consumer oriented - dangerously so. To keep the wheels of industry turning, we manufacture consumer goods in endless quantities, and, in process, are rapidly exhausting our natural resources. But this is only half the problem. What do we do with manufactured products when they are worn out? They must be disposed of. Unsightly junkyards full of rusting automobiles already surround every city in the nation. Americans throw away 80 billion bottles and cans each year, enough to build more than ten stacks to the moon.

It wasn’ t always like this.( 46. Only 100 years ago man lived in harmony with nature. There weren’ t so many people then and their wants were fewer.) Whatever waste were produced could be absorbed by nature and were soon covered over. Today this harmonious relationship is threatened by man’ s lack of foresight and planning, and by his carelessness and greed. For man is slowly poisoning his environment.

Pollution is a “dirty” word. To pollute means to contaminate - to spoil something by introducing impurities which make it unfit or unclean to use. Pollution comes rn many forms. We see it, smell it, taste it, drink it, and stumble through it. (47. We literally live in and breathe pollution, and, not surprisingly, it is beginning to threaten our health, our happiness and our very civilization .)

Once we thought of pollution as meaning simply smog - the choking, stinging, dirty air that hovers over cities. But air pollution, while it is still the most dangerous, is only one type of contamination among several which attack the most basic life function.

Through the uncontrolled use of insecticides, man has polluted the land, killing the wildlife. By dumping sewage and chemicals into rivers and lakes, we have contaminated our drinking water. (48. We are polluting the ocean, too, killing the fish and thereby depriving ourselves of an invaluable food supply.)

Part of the problem is our exploding population. More and more people produce more wastes. But this problem is intensified by our “throw-away” technology. Each year Americans dispose of 7 million autos, 20 million tons of waste paper, 25 million pounds of toothpaste tubes and 48 million cans. We throw away gum wrappers, newspapers, and paper plates. It is easier and cheaper to buy a new one and discard the old, even though 95 percent of its parts may still be functioning. Baby’ s diapers, which used to be made of reusable cloth, are now paper throwaways. (49. Soon we will wear clothing made of paper: “Wear it once and throw it away,” will be the slogan of the fashion conscious.)

Where is this all to end? Are we turning the world into a gigantic dump, or is there hope that we can solve the pollution problem? Fortunately, solutions are in sight. A few of them are positively ingenious.

Take the problem of discarded automobiles, for instance. Each year over 40,000 of them are abandoned in New York City alone. Eventually the discards end up in a junkyard. But cars are too bulky to ship as scrap to a steel mill. They must first be flattened. (50. This is done in a giant compressor which can reduce a Cadillac to the size of a television set in a matter of minutes. )Any leftover scrap metal is mixed with concrete and made into exceptionally strong bricks that areused in buildings and bridges. Man’ s ingenuity has come to his rescue.

We can reduce pollution, even if we can’ t eliminate it altogether. But everyone must do his part. Check your car to see if the pollution-control device is working. Reduce your use of electricity. Don’ t dump garbage or other waste on the land or in the water. Demand that government take firm actions against polluters. We can have a clean world, or we can do nothing. The choice is up to you.

Paragraph Nine

The US Federal Reserve raised American interest rates last night for a thirteenth time in a row and signaled that, while it remains set to push them still higher, its 18-month campaign of increases will start to wind down next year.

This year’s repeatedly rising interest rates will probably f____________ next year.

Paragraph Ten

Probably the most primitive reason for teenage rebelliousness is physical in nature. At about the beginning of adolescence, children are undergoing profound hormonal changes as their bodies go through puberty. Their bodies are telling them that they are no longer children, and yet their parents are still treating them as children.

Reasons why teenagers r_____________ their parents.

Paragraph Eight

Knowing our genetic makeup can help us gauge whether or not we may be stricken by a particular illness, such as cancer. Even before birth, we are able to do genetic screenings to determine what a child’ s genetic disorders will be. In addition to predicting genetic predispositions toward diseases, gene therapies may provide new treatments or cures for serious diseases.

Great progress in g___________ engineering.

Paragraph Six

Love and knowledge led me upward toward the heavens. But always pity brought me back to earth. Children in famine, helpless old people and the whole world of loneliness, poverty, and pain make a mockery of what human life should be. I long to destroy the evil, but I can’ t and I too suffer.

S___________ is one of the essential qualities of the speaker.

Paragraph Seven

It is important to remember that all children who live through a divorce do not react in the same way. Self-blame virtually disappears after the age of 6, fear of abandonment diminishes after the age of 8, and the confusion and fear of the young child is replaced in the older child by shame, anger, and self-reflection.

There is some r_____________ between age and children’ s characteristic reaction to divorce.

Paragraph Five

There are a large number of dieting programs to be found online, each promising you significant weight loss. Experts warn people against going for any and every diet program. If your diet is too strict you might harm your health. Your motive should be to lose weight in a healthy way.

Strict dieting is an u__________ way of losing weight.

Paragraph Two

Some pessimistic experts feel that the automobile is bound to fall into disuse. They see a day in the not-too-distant future when all autos will be abandoned and allowed to rust. Other authorities, however, think the auto is here to stay. They hold that the car will remain a leading means of urban travel in the foreseeable future.

Possible p___________ of automobiles.

Paragraph Three

In the past, making structures quake-resistant meant firm yet flexible materials, such as steel and wood that bend without breaking. Later, people tried to lift a building off its foundation, and insert rubber and steel between the building and its foundation to reduce the impact of ground vibrations. The most recent designs give buildings brains as well as concrete and steel supports. These are called smart buildings.

Different ways to i__________ quake-resistance of a building.

Paragraph Four

Common interests appear to be a significant factor in selecting friends. Very close and trusted friends share faith in each other. They feel secure that they will not be ridiculed, and their faith will be respected. Betraying a trust is a very quick and painful way to terminate a friendship.

Common faith helps k_________ friendship.