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 mitting 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.
【小题1】What is Martin Samuels’ attitude to the possibility of being frightened to death?A．Approval.B．Disapproval.C．Doubtful.D．Indifferent.【小题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.【小题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.【小题4】The purpose of the passage is .A．to explain why people will die of a heart attackB．to offer some advice on protecting us from heart failureC．to pare different kinds of feelings to cause a deathD．to show strong emotions can cause a sudden deathA
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(答案→)A
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。
【小题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。
【小题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。
【小题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。
【小题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。