between male dancers and male non-dancers was nearly as large. What explains that difference? Probably it has something to do with the psychology of ballet dancers --- a group known for self-discipline, physical fitness, and competitiveness, as well as by a high rate of chronic (慢性) injury. Their driven personalities and competitive culture evidently accustom them to pain. Other studies along these lines have shown that outgoing people have greater pain tolerance and that, with training, one can reduce one’s sensitivity to pain.

There is also striking evidence that very simple kinds of mental suggestion can have powerful effects on pain. In one study of 500 patients undergoing dental procedures, those who were given a placebo injection (安慰剂) and promised that it would relieve their pain had the least discomfort --- not only less than the patients who got a placebo and were told nothing but also less than the patients who got actual drug without any promise that it would work.

Today it is abundantly evident that the brain is actively involved in the experience of pain and is no more bells on a string. Today every medical textbook teaches the gate control theory as fact. There’s a problem with it, though. It explains people who have injuries but feel no pain, but it doesn’t explain the reverse, which is far more common --- the millions of people who experience chronic pain, such as back pain, with no signs of injury whatsoever. So where does the pain come from? The rope and clapper are gone, but the bell is still ringing.

36. The primary purpose of the passage is to ________.

A. describe a modern theory about pain

B. support a traditional view on pain with new data

C. promote a particular attitude towards pain

D. suggest a creative treatment for pain

37. Which statement best describes Descartes theory of pain presented in paragraph 1?

A. The brain can shut pain off at will.

B. The brain plays no part in the body’s experience of pain.

C. Pain can be caused in many different ways.

D. Pain is an automatic response to bodily injury.

38. The author implies that the reason why the gate control was “amazing” was that it _______.

A. offered an extremely new and original explanation

B. was just opposite to people’s everyday experiences

C. was grounded in a ridiculous logic

D. was so sensible that it should have been proposed centuries before

39. The author refers to “chronic back pain” as an example of something that is _______.

A. costly, because it troubles millions of people

B. puzzling, because it sometimes has no obvious cause

C. disappointing, because it does not improve with treatment

D. worrying, because it lies beyond the reach of medicine

40. From the passage we know that ________.

A. all the theories about pain are not correct

B. some data from the researches on pain is wrong

C. there has been no perfect theory about pain so far

D. one’s mood can’t affect the pain one feels

B

“Luck is a matter of preparation meeting opportunity,” said the American talk show host Oprah Winfrey. I’ve never watched her show, but when a self-made billionaire gives life advice it’s probably worth listening to.

Her point is that blind luck is very rare. You may have to be lucky to find a good job these days but that does not mean you should sit at home waiting for the opportunity to come to you. If you’re a Chinese, you may already be familiar with the tale of a farmer waiting by a tree stump for a rabbit to run out and break its neck.

A book by the UK psychologist Richard Wiseman, called The Luck Factor, argues we can all make ourselves luckier. It’s not about going to a temple to burn some incense (香) in hopes that the gods will give you good fortune; it’s practical advice you can follow each day.

Wiseman conducted an experiment as part of his studies. First he divided volunteers into two groups: those who said they were lucky in life and those who said they were not. He gave everyone a newspaper and asked them to look through it to count how many photographs it had inside. On average, the unlucky people took about two minutes to count the photographs while the lucky people took just seconds. Why? On the second page of the newspaper, a command, “Stop