One dictionary broadly defines the word “crisis” as “a crucial turning point in the progress of an affair or of a series of events, as in politics, business, a story, or play…” This paper will attempt to define a much narrower but extremely significant aspect of crisis: personal crisis.

Sometimes our more or less steady progress through life comes to a jolting halt(止步). Something unexpected, shocking, frightening, threatening, and disastrous happens --- a crisis. Such a development can disturb relationships, interfere with work efficiency, and cause confusion, disorganization, and serious emotional upheaval(剧变). Solutions that have worked for us in solving past problems no longer prove adequate. As anxiety increases, our powers to cope with it correspondingly decrease. The crisis quickly leads to frustration; we feel helpless either to escape from the problem or to resolve it successfully.

Many people think of crisis as being connected only with unhappy or unpleasant events. This is not the case. Crisis can occur as a result of any change, even one that is generally welcomed: marriage, birth of a child, graduation from school or college, or election to public office.

Crises are generally of two types. First, there are the expected, maturational crises we experience at times of life development and change. Examples of this include a child’s first enrollment in school or his transfer at a later age to new school. These events may precipitate(促成) a crisis --- both for the youngster and his parents. Another time when crisis can be expected is during adolescence.

The second type of crisis is the unexpected, accidental kind. This can stem from many sources: becoming involved in a legal suit, having an automobiles crash, being fired from a job, losing a large sum of money, or falling suddenly ill. Severe illness will create a crisis not only for the individual concerned but also for his family. And an illness may itself be caused by an emotional crisis, such as the death of a spouse, offspring, or sibling.

In a recent attitude survey, researchers gathered information to determine which crisis situations in life were most likely to precede(领先于)illness. The study showed that the three most stressful life events were death of a spouse, divorce, and marital separation. Other events that fell toward the top of the crisis scale were a jail term, death of a close family member, personal injury or illness, marriage, losing one’s job, marital resolution, retirement, change in the health of a family member, pregnancy, gain of a new family member, business readjustment, and change in financial state.

【小题1】According to the passage, which of the following is the most proper definition of “crisis”?

A．A point or moment of great danger, difficulty, or uncertainty.

B．A crucial turning point in the process of an affair or of a series of events, either expected or   unexpected.

C．The time in a serious illness at which there is a sudden change for better or worse.

D．A result of change.

【小题2】All the following may be causes of a crisis EXCEPT________.

A．pregnancy	B．graduation from high school
C．steady progress through life	D．adolescence

【小题3】The word “maturational” in line 1 Paragraph 4 most probably means ________.

A．related to growth	B．related to youngsters
C．pleasant	D．welcomed

【小题4】Illness, in the author’s opinion, is________ crisis.

A．a cause of	B．a result of
C．neither a cause nor a result of	D．either a cause or a result of