Passage Two
If you know something is bad for you, why can‟t you just stop it? 70% of smokers say they would like to quit. Drug and alcohol abusers struggle to give up addictions that hurt their bodies and tear apart families and friendships. And many of us have unhealthy excess weight that we could lose if only we eat right and exercise more. Then why don‟t we do it?
Most people know it is very hard to resist a bad habit—smoking, eating fatty foods, gambling—even if you managed to give it up a long time ago.
Why are bad habits so hard to break? Scientists have been searching for answers. They have studied what happens in our brains as habits form. They have found clues to why bad habits, once established, are so difficult to kick. Their explanation is: Old habits don‟t die. They hibernate.
When habits are formed, the habitual activity creates neural activity patterns in the region of the brain responsible for habits, addiction and learning.
These neural patterns can be changed. But when a stimulus from the old days returns, the dormant pattern can wake itself up, according to a new study from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), US.
“It is as though the brain keeps a memory of the habit context. This pattern can be triggered if the right habit cues come back,” said Ann Greybiel, a professor of neuroscience at MIT.
“The situation is familiar to anyone who is trying to lose weight or to control a well-ingrained habit. Just the signal of a piece of chocolate can reset all those good intentions.”
Bad habits may be hard to break, but it can be done. One way is to avoid tempting situations. If you always stop for a donut on your way to work, try a different route. You can keep fatty foods, cigarettes, alcohol out of your home. If you can‟t avoid a tempting situation, you can prepare yourself in advance. Think how you want to handle it and mentally practice what you plan.
In the opening paragraph, the author gets directly to his point by _____.
文章第一段接连使用“...why can‟t you just stopit?”“Then why don‟t we do it?”两个疑问句以引出话题， 故C项“raising questions”正确。
Researchers have found that old habits don‟t die. They only _____.
文章第三段提到， “Old habits don‟t die. They hibernate.”句中的hibernate原意为“（动物） 冬眠”， 在此表示旧习只是暂时“沉睡”， 它们并没有消逝， 还会在此“复苏”， 即“积习难改”。 c项与其含义相近， 故选C。
The word “dormant” in Para. 5 probably means _____.
dormant一词出现的语境为“But when a stimulus from the old days returns,the dormant pattern can wake itself up”此句对应上文中的“Old habits don‟t die. They hibernate.”由此可推断， 该词意思为“蛰伏的， 休眠的”。 permanent永久的。 invincible无敌的， 不可战胜的。 powerful强有力的。 inactive不活跃的。 d项与其意思相近， 故选D。
Once a bad habit is formed, _____.
作者在第四段中指出， 习惯一旦形成， 就会在大脑中产生神经活动模式。下文又提到， 这些模式一经外界刺激就很容易重现， 即习惯是会根深蒂固的。 选项B中的“deep-rooted”与之对应， 故正确。 最后一段中说“Bad habits may be hard to break, but it can be done.”即坏习惯很难打破， 但还是可以改掉的。 因此a项never说法错误。C、 dD两项在文中并没有提及， 故也排除。 因此答案为B。
Which question best expresses the main idea of this passage?
文章首段先提出疑问， 为什么我们改不掉坏习惯， 下文中则以比喻与拟人的修辞讲述了坏习惯根深蒂固难以改掉的原因， 故选项A“Why are bad habits so hard to break?”即为文章大意。 C项文中未提及， A、 D项都只占用很小的篇幅作简单说明， 不能概括全文， 故正确答案为A。