Many of the 85 million people in Irene's path -- from the Carolinas to Maine -- had not experienced hurricanes, or had only been through storms that were weaker, smaller and less damaging. For those unfamiliar with severe hurricanes, Irene was either abstract or not particularly frightening, something to get excited about more than to fear.   Given that the way we perceive  and respond to risk is affective --not merely objectively analytical, but the sum of the facts and how scary those facts feel -- it was likely that many people might be ignorant of the storm's threat. So it was heartening to see how many did in fact take the warnings to heart and prepared. The long lines at grocery stores, the high demand for batteries and bottled water, and even the patience and understanding about local government orders to evacuate  or shut down mass transit systems, show that people took the potential danger seriously. There are two possible lessons from this storm. As much as our affective risk perception system can sometimes produce a dangerous "perception gap" between our fears and the facts -- when we sometimes fear more than we need to, or less than we should -- it's also reasonably good at recognizing risk when  _ . Though most of us didn't lose power, we know that 7 million people did. Though most of us did not suffer property damage, we know that millions did. Most of us did not lose loved ones, but we know that at least 21 families did. We know hurricanes can be dangerous, even if for many of us this one wasn't. The other lesson is that rare risks do hide and can spring up with little or no warning, and few of us are prepared for those. Remember the East Coast earthquake last week?   It might have been annoying to wait in line for hours for those extra D batteries or food supplies, but it was careful to do so, and it's a good idea to keep them on hand. Just because a risk might not be staring us in the face or feel all that scary, it doesn't mean that it doesn't make sense to be ready. Just in case. According to the passage, one of the lessons learnt from this storm is   _  . A) people fear the storm more than they need to B) a dangerous storm will become less damaging if forecast accurately C) people are always prepared for risks that happen without warning D) It's reasonable to be aware of risk facing us
D

There are people in Italy who can't stand soccer. Not all Canadians love hockey. A similar situation exists in America, where there are those individuals you may be one of them who frown when somebody mentions baseball. Baseball to them means boring hours watching grown men in funny tight outfits standing around in a field staring away while very little of anything happens. They tell you it's a game better suited to the 19th century, slow, quiet, and gentlemanly. These are the same people you may be one of them who love football because there's the sport that values "the hit". By contrast, baseball seems abstract, cool, silent, still. On TV the game is divided into a dozen perspectives, replays, close-ups. The geometry  of the game, however, is essential to understanding it. You will view the game from one point as a painter does his subject; you may, of course, project yourself into the game. It is in this projection that the game affords so much space and time for involvement. The TV won't do it for you. Take, for example, the third baseman. You sit behind the third base and you watch him watching home plate. His legs are apart, knees flexed . His arms hang loose. He does a lot of this. The skeptic  still cannot think of any other sports so still, so passive. But watch what happens every time the pitcher throws: the third baseman goes up on his toes, flexes his arms or brings the glove to a point in front of him, takes a step right or left, backward or forward, perhaps he glances across the field to check his first baseman's position. Suppose the pitch is a ball. "Nothing happened," you say. The skeptic and the innocent must play the game. And this involvement in the stands is no more intellectual than listening to music is. Watch the third baseman. Smooth the dirt in front of you with one foot; smooth the pocket in your glove; watch the eyes of the batter, the speed of the bat, the sound of ball on wood. If football is a symphony of movement and theatre, baseball is chamber music, a spacious interlocking ... The author admits that    _    . A) baseball may seem boring when watched on TV B) football is more attracting than baseball C) baseball is more interesting than football D) baseball is too peaceful for the young
A

Sometimes you'll hear people say that you can't love others until you love yourself. Sometimes you'll hear people say that you can't expect someone else to love you until you love yourself. Either way, you've got to love yourself first and this can be tricky. Sure we all know that we're the apple of our parent's eyes, and that our Grandmas think we're great talents and our Uncle Roberts think that we will go to the Olympics. But sometimes it's a lot harder to think such nice thoughts about ourselves. If you find that believing in yourself is a challenge. It is time you built a positive self-image and learn to love yourself. Self-image is your own mind's picture of yourself. This image includes the way you look, the way you act, the way you talk and the way you think. Interestingly, our self-images are often quite different from the images others hold about us. Unfortunately, most of these images are more negative than they should be. Thus changing the way you think about yourself is the key to changing your self-image and your whole world. The best way to defeat a passive self-image is to step back and decide to stress your successes. That is, make a list of you need to, but write down all of the great things you do every day. Don't allow doubts to occur in it. It very well might be that you are experiencing a negative self-image because you can't move past one flaw or weakness that you see about yourself. Well, roll up your sleeves and make a change of it as your primary task. If you think you're silly because you aren't good at math, find a tutor. If you think you're weak because you can't run a mile, get to the track and practice. If you think you're dull because you think it doesn't mean it's true. The best way to get rid of a negative self-image is to realize that your image is far from objective, and to actively convince yourself of your positive qualities. Changing the way you think and working on those you need to improve will go a long way towards promoting a positive self-image. When you can pat... You need to build a positive self-image when you  _  . A) dare to challenge yourself B) feel it hard to change yourself C) are unconfident about yourself D) have a high opinion of yourself

C