Less than a year ago marketing director David Smith 33 was b

Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to indicate the correct answer to each of the questions from 43 to 50. Less than a year ago marketing director, David Smith, 33 was behaving like a secret agent. He used to secretly taped all his conversations, he refused to sign his name and he would ask his secretary to check all his emails. Anything he wrote was photocopied and kept as “evidence”. But David isn’t mad, or even mildly eccentric. He suffers from ‘responsibility OCD’, one of more common forms of obsessive compulsive disorder, or OCD, as it is usually known.OCD is now recognized as the second most prevalent mental-health problem, after depression – and the number of reported cases is soaring. Experts estimate that 2% - 3% of the population suffer from the full-blown syndrome, with as many as one in five suffering from a milder form.OCD sufferers are tortured by obsessional thoughts, such as worrying that their hands are contaminated by germs. The terrible anxiety is only relieved by performing a particular set of behaviours. Unfortunately, any sense of relief is short-lived, which is why the behaviour must be repeated again and again. OCD sufferers know their behavior is irrational, yet feel powerless to stop.Common treatments are either antidepressants or behavioral therapy with a psychologist, but only 60% of patients show some improvement. However, a new treatment from America is bringing fresh hope to sufferers.One of the OCD gurus and neuropsychiatrists, Jeffrey Schwartz, has designed the Four Steps program which employs meditation techniques with the aim of teaching sufferers to manage their symptoms by themselves. “The goal is to learn to override false brain messages”, explains Schwartz.There are different theories about what causes the disorder. Most experts recognize a genetic element that can be triggered by a stressful event. Schwartz believes that the OCD ‘worry circuit’ is a direct result of faulty brain chemistry.  ‘When someone experiences an OCD thought, one part of the brain knows quite clearly that the hand is not dirty’, explains Schwartz ‘Some part of the brain is standing apart from the symptoms, reflecting on the sheer bizarreness of it all. The objective is to harness this impartial spectator so that patients can use this healthy part of their brain to resist the compulsions.’David Smith is delighted with the results of Schwartz’s treatment. ‘ Now I can sign cheques without a problem’, he says brightly. ‘And I don’t photocopy them either. OCD used to feel like a huge stigma, but I don’t feel handicapped by it anymore. You just deal with it.’

Câu 1: Which could be the best title for the passage?

A. A day in the life of an OCD sufferer          

B. Good news for OCD sufferers

C. The misery of living with OCD      

D. Living with new OCD patients

Câu 2: What is the word “mildly” in paragraph 1 closest in meaning to?

A. relatively  

B. comparatively    

C. slightly    

D. absolutely

Câu 3: What do experts say about OCD?

A. The treatment doesn’t seem to be working.

B. It has become more common than depression.

C. A third of population suffers from it.   

D. There are more cases now than ever before.

Câu 4: Why do OCD sufferers repeatedly perform the same action?

A. to decrease their anxiety  

B. to clear their problems off their mind

C. to keep their hands clean          

D. to be relieved from their thoughts

Câu 5: What does the word ‘their’ in paragraph 5 refers?

A. sufferers 

B. steps

C. techniques

D. neuropsychiatrists

Câu 6: What does the word ‘override’ in paragraph 5 closest in meaning to?

A. overact       

B. stop  

C. stimulate

D. correct

Câu 7: Jeffrey Schwartz believes that OCD is caused by                          .

A. a genetic imbalance 

B. a malfunction of the brain

C. a stressful event  

D. a biochemical malfunction

Câu 8: The healthy part of an OCD sufferer’s brain                      .

A. needs to be protect in order to treat OCD

B. is tricked into believing that there is no problem

C. recognizes that the person’s behaviors is strange

D. cannot resist the person’s new obsessions

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