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While still catching-up to men in some spheres of modern life, women appear to be way ahead in at least one undesirable category. “Women are particularly susceptible to developing depression and anxiety disorders in response to stress compared to men,” according to Dr. Yehuda, chief psychiatrist at New York’s Veteran’s Administration Hospital.

Studies of both animals and humans have shown that sex hormones somehow affect the stress response, causing females under stress to produce more of the trigger chemicals than do males under the same conditions. In several of the studies, when stressed-out female rats had their ovaries (the female reproductive organs) removed, their chemical responses became equal to those of the males.

Adding to a woman’s increased dose of stress chemicals, are her increased “opportunities” for stress. “It’s not necessarily that women don’t cope as well. It’s just that they have so much more to cope with,” says Dr. Yehuda. “Their capacity for tolerating stress may even be greater than men’s,” she observes, “it’s just that they’re dealing with so many more things that they become worn out from it more visibly and sooner.”

Dr. Yehuda notes another difference between the sexes. “I think that the kinds of things that women are exposed to tend to be in more of a chronic or repeated nature. Men go to war and are exposed to combat stress. Men are exposed to more acts of random physical violence. The kinds of interpersonal violence that women are exposed to tend to be in domestic situations, by, unfortunately, parents or other family members, and they tend not to be one-shot deals. The wear-and-tear that comes from these longer relationships can be quite devastating.”

Adeline Alvarez married at 18 and gave birth to a son, but was determined to finish college. “I struggled a lot to get the college degree. I was living in so much frustration that that was my escape, to go to school, and get ahead and do better.” Later, her marriage ended and she became a single mother. “It’s the hardest thing to take care of a teenager, have a job, pay the rent, pay the car payment, and pay the debt. I lived from paycheck to paycheck.”

Not everyone experiences the kinds of severe chronic stresses Alvarez describes. But most women today are coping with a lot of obligations, with few breaks, and feeling the strain. Alvarez’s experience demonstrates the importance of finding ways to diffuse stress before it threatens your health and your ability to function.

21.Which of the following is true according to the first two paragraphs?

[A] Women are biologically more vulnerable to stress.

[B] Women are still suffering much stress caused by men.

[C] Women are more experienced than men in coping with stress.

[D] Men and women show different inclinations when faced with stress.

22.Dr. Yehuda’s research suggests that women

[A] need extra doses of chemicals to handle stress.

[B] have limited capacity for tolerating stress.

[C] are more capable of avoiding stress.

[D] are exposed to more stress.

23.According to Paragraph 4, the stress women confront tends to be

[A] domestic and temporary.

[B] irregular and violent.

[C] durable and frequent.

[D] trivial and random.

24.The sentence “I lived from paycheck to paycheck.” (Line 6, Para. 5) shows that

[A] Alvarez cared about nothing but making money.

[B] Alvarez’s salary barely covered her household expenses.

[C] Alvarez got paychecks from different jobs.

[D] Alvarez paid practically everything by check.

25.Which of the following would be the best title for the text?

[A] Strain of Stress: No Way Out?

[B] Responses to Stress: Gender Difference

[C] Stress Analysis: What Chemicals Say

[D] Gender Inequality: Women Under Stress

21.A

题目问的是通过对前两段的了解选出正确选项。通过对原文的了解可知，文章前两段主要描写男女因为生理上的差异，所以可能在相同的情况下，女性可能更容易在压力下产生焦虑和沮丧。B项和C项不符合文意，B项所指的女性遭受压力多来自男性偏离文章线索。C项所说的女性相比男性更有处理压力的经验也是断章取义 。D选项只是单纯描述男女之间在面对压力的差异，与中心偏离。

22.D

Dr.Ychuda 的研究中指出，女性实际上或许更善于容忍压力，是因为面对的压力比男性要多得多，所以才容易在压力面前表现出焦虑。A项意思错误，文章含义是指其因为身体所具备的化学物质而更易焦虑。B选项错在文中第三段第三行所提的女性容忍压力的能力或许比男性要更好。

23.C

第四段中指出，女性面临的压力大多来自家庭内部而且时常发生，并非如男性所面临的压力大多是战争和具有偶然性的动态情况中。C选项中的“持久性”和“频繁性”符合文意。A项意思是“家庭内部的”和“暂时性的”，B项是“不规则型的”和“暴力性的”，D项是“琐碎的”和“偶然的”。

24.B

句子意思是指“我活在不停的支付支票生活中”。从文中我们可以看出，因为是单身母亲，Alvarez面临很大的生存压力，付房租，支付用车花销，偿还贷款等。只有B项中所指的她的薪水几乎不能满足日常生活开销符合文意。

25. D

因为性别上的差异，女性在压力面前的主要表现。A项过于宽泛，离开了文中关于性别之间讨论的中心。C项只是文章中的一个具体知识点，不能概括文章全部内容。B项只是单纯指出了男女在压力面前的差异，但没有注意文章中侧重女性压力前表现的文意。