Several Eye-Opening Facts about Tears
Humans make three different versions of tears.Basal tears help our eyes move smoothly,reflex tears form in response to irritants(刺激物）such as smoke and dirt,and emotional tears flow when we're sad or over-joyed.Onion tears are obviously of the reflex variety-but what's the irritant?It turns out onions produce a chemical to defend themselves.To cut down on its release,freeze the onion before slicing,then use a sharp knife to reduce the damage to the onion and the release of the chemical.
Crying can be good for you.Some studies have shown a good cry can cause the release of certain chemicals that make us feel better.Crying can also improve people's sense of well being by bringing about social support.On the other hand,crying can sometimes make you feel worse than if you haven't cried at all.One study found that people who tend to cry in general more often feel worse after crying during a movie than people who seldom cry.
According to Entertainment Weekly,the biggest Hollywood tearjerker of all time is Terms of Endearment,about how a family deals with a cancer diagnosis.Number 2:Bambi.According to Merriam-Webster,the term tearjerker first appeared in 1912,which happens to be the same year the Titanic sank.(The movie Titanic is 16th on EW' s tearjerker list.)
In medieval(中世纪）times,crying was perfectly acceptable,even manly.In the Anglo-Saxon poem Beowulf,when Beowulf was killed by a dragon,his soldiers were extremely sad and cried aloud for his death.King Arthur was also known to turn on the waterworks.
Speaking of war,tear gas was banned on the battlefield via the Chemical Weapons Convention of 1993,which was made to happen by Iraq's use of chemical weapons in Iran in the 1980s.That said,American police can still legally use tear gas for crowd control.
21.Why do people have tears while cutting onions?
A.Because they are sad. B.Because their eyes are affected by a chemical.
C.Because they are over-joyed. D.Because their eyes can't move smoothly.
22.The underlined word"tearjerker"in Paragraph 3 probably refers to
A.a popular newspaper B.a touching movie
C.a deadly disease D.an interesting book
23.What can we learn from the passage?
A.Crying is always beneficial to people.
B.Tear gas is strictly forbidden in any case after 1993.
C.Emotional tears only form in response to negative feelings.
D.It is socially acceptable for men to cry in medieval times.
24.Where does the text probably come from?
A.A guidebook. B.A chemistry paper. C.A medical report. D.A popular science magazine.
