Section C

Directions: There are 2 passages in this section. Each passage is followed by some questions or unfinished statements. For each of them there are four choices marked A)， B), C) and D). You should decide on the best choice and mark the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet 2 with a single line through the centre.

Passage One

Questions 56 to 60 are based on the following passage.

The first week of July 1776 was a busy one for Thomas Jefferson. The Declaration of Independence, which he largely wrote, was adopted on the fourth. But he chose the same week to begin keeping a record of the temperature change in a notebook. This wasn’t a single example: for eight years, as president, Jefferson made detailed notes on the seasonal availability of various vegetables in the markets of Washington, DC.

This wasn’t because he couldn’t focus, says Joshua Kendall, author of America’s Obsessives (强迫症者):The Compulsive Energy That Built a Nation. Rather, his obsessional habits were a self-soothing response to anxiety. When his wife died, he responded by cataloguing the tens of thousands of letters he’d sent or received. "A mind always employed is always happy," he liked to say. But that wasn’t a platitude (陈词滥调): some of Jefferson’s compulsive industriousness made history, but all of it helped keep him mentally healthy.

The core of Kendall’s argument is that many successful people show symptoms of obsessive-compulsive personality disorder (强迫型人格障碍). Steve Jobs would get angry over a misplaced comma; he rejected one version of the Apple II computer because the lines on its internal circuit boards weren’t straight enough. But, if Kendall is correct, Jobs wasn’t a person consumed solely by his own ambition: he focused on shaping and perfecting the physical world just to avoid confronting his innermost self.Kendall quotes a psychiatrist who says it often begins with an insecure growing-up: "Children who have little control over the key events and people in their lives begin to focus on something they can control." Avoiding self-reflection, they make poor parents and partners. But their avoidance also leads to their success.

This is disturbing, since the "experiential avoidance"---the effort not to feel certain feelings, or think certain thoughts--is widely considered as a bad thing. It’s blamed for everything from social anxiety to self-harm; the fast-developing acceptance and commitment therapy is dedicated to overcoming it, by helping people safely to "feel their feelings". Could it really bring benefits?

The question strikes deep at how we think about psychological disorders. By definition, they interfere with life. But what counts as interfering is subjective: is it "better" to be a great innovator than an ordinary spouse, or vice versa? The happiest among Kendall’s obsessives are those with self-awareness: they chose to embrace their obsessions, accepting the downsides. The tragic ones kept trying to make their relationships conform to their rigid demands. A Wired magazine cover last year asked readers, “Do you really want to be like Steve Jobs?" In a work culture that increasingly uses "obsessive" as a compliment, it’s worth pausing to ask the question.

56. What was the main reason for Thomas Jefferson being busy in the first week of July 1776?

A. The adoption of the Declaration of Independence.

B. The recording of the temperature changes.

C. The recording of the availability of vegetables in the markets.

D. All of the above.

57. According to Kendall, why did Jefferson catalogue these letters when his wife died?

A. Because he couldn’t focus on one matter.

B. Because he had sent and received too many letters.

C. Because he was industrious in order to make history.

D. Because he wanted to get relieved from the pain.

58. According to the passage, which of the following statements is NOT true about Steve Jobs?

A. He paid close attention to details.

B. He showed some symptoms of obsessive-compulsive personality disorder.

C. He easily lost his temper over little things.

D. He tried to avoid facing his true self.

59. What does the underlined "it" (Line 4, Para.4)refer to?

A. Acceptance and commitment therapy.

B. Experiential avoidance.

C. Social anxiety.

D. Self-harm.

60. What can we infer about the author’s attitude towards "obsessive"?

A. It interferes with life.

B. It can be taken as a compliment.

C. It may lead to huge success.

D. It is widely blamed for everything.