For years, smokers have been exhorted to take the initiative and quit: use a nicotine patch, chew nicotine gum, take a prescription medication that can help, call a help line, just say no. But a new study finds that stopping is seldom an individual decision. Smokers tend to quit in groups, the study finds, which means smoking cessation programs should work best if they focus on groups rather than individuals. It also means that people may help many more than just themselves by quitting: quitting can have a ripple effect prompting an entire social network to break the habit. The study, by Dr. Nicholas Christakis of Harvard Medical School and James Fowler of the University of California, San Diego, followed thousands of smokers and nonsmokers for 32 years, from 1971 until 2003, studying them as part of a large network of relatives, co-workers, neighbors, friends and friends of friends. It was a time when the percentage of adult smokers in the United States fell to 21 percent from 45 percent. As the investigators watched the smokers and their social networks, they saw what they said was a striking effect—smokers had formed little social clusters and, as the years went by, entire clusters of smokers were stopping en masse. So were clusters of clusters that were only loosely connected. Dr. Christakis described watching the vanishing clusters as like lying on your back in a field, looking up at stars that were burning out. "It’s not like one little star turning off at a time," he said,"Whole constellations are blinking off at once. " As cluster after cluster of smokers disappeared, those that remained were pushed to the margins of society, isolated, with fewer friends, fewer social connections. "Smokers used to be the center of the party," Dr. Fowler said, "but now they’ve become wallflowers." "We’ve known smoking was bad for your physical health," he said,"But this shows it also is bad for your social health. Smokers are likely to drive friends away. " "There is an essential public health message," said Richard Suzman, director of the office of behavioral and social research at the National Institute on Aging, which financed the study. "Obviously, people have to take responsibility for their behavior," Mr. Suzman said. "But a social environment," he added, "can just overpower free will. " With smoking, that can be a good thing, researchers noted. But there also is a sad side. As Dr. Steven Sehroeder of the University of California, San Francisco, pointed out in an editorial accompanying the paper, "a risk of the marginalization of smoking is that it further isolates the group of people with the highest rate of smoking—persons with mental illness, problems with substance abuse, or both. \ The word "en masse" (Line 4, Paragraph 3) most probably means______.
A. at large
B. all together
C. in the end
D. respectively
One day Tom bought, for two dollars, a large number of used books. He put them in a (36) and pulled them to the (37) . He was to (38) at work until three in the morning. At three, he (39) to walk home. The streets were dark. Tom could (40) wait to arrive home and began to read his new books." (41) !" a voice shouted. But Tom was too (42) to hear the shout well.A moment later, a gunshot (43) his ear. He heard the shot. Tom turned to see what was (44) . An angry policeman ran toward him. The policeman thought that the bag did not (45) Tom. He shouted at Tom, "Drop it !"" (46) !" the policeman ordered.Tom opened it and the old books (47) out of it."Why not stop (48) when I shouted" the policeman asked, "If I had shot (49) , you would have been dead." "I didn’t (50) you," Tom said, "I am almost deaf."The policeman told Tom he was (51) for having shot at him." (52) would be better for you not to walk on the (53) at night." he said.Tom smiled, and told the policeman that his job (54) a telegrapher was a night job. The policeman could think of (55) to answer this. 50()
A. see
B. hear
C. know
D. understand
As Philadelphia grew from a small town into a city in the first half of the eighteenth century, it became an increasingly important marketing center for a vast agricultural hinterland. Market days (1) the crowded city even more crowded, as farmers from within a (2) of 24 or more kilometers brought their sheep, vegetables, cider and other products for direct sale to the (3) . The High Street Market was continuously (4) throughout the period until 1736, (5) it (6) from Front Street to Third. By 1745 New Market was opened on Second Street. The next year the Callow Hill Market began (7) .Along with market days, the (8) of twice-yearly fairs persisted in Philadelphia (9) after similar trading days had been discontinued in other colonial cities. The (10) provided a means of bringing handmade goods from (11) places to would-be buyers in the city. Linens and stockings from Germantown, (12) , were popular items.Auctions were another popular (13) of trade. Because of the competition, retail (14) opposed these as well as the fairs. (15) governmental attempts to eradicate fairs and auctions were less than successful, the ordinary (16) of economic development was on the merchants’side, as increasing business specialization became the (17) of the day. Export merchants became differentiated from their importing counterparts, and specialty shops began to appear (18) general stores selling a variety of goods.One of the reasons Philadelphia’s merchants prospered was because the surrounding area was undergoing tremendous economic and demographic growth. They did their business, (19) , in the capital city of the province, (20) to not only the governor and his circle, but citizens from all over the colony. Read the following text. Choose the best word(s) for each numbered blank and mark [A], [B], [C] or [D] on ANSWER SHEET 1.11()
A. outweighing
B. outreaching
C. outlying
D. outrageous