1 . Is there a friend of yours who always sings out of tune but never realizes it? Don’t blame them-they may have amusia (失歌症), a disorder in the brain.

Apart from singing out of tune, people with amusia may also find it hard to recognize music they’ve heard before without the help of song lyrics. Amusia can range from difficulty in recognizing melodies to a total inability to distinguish between different musical notes, according to Live Science. However, people with amusia can recognize common environmental sounds as well as the high and low sounds in human voices, meaning that this inability can be specifically related to music.

In many cases, people who have amusia are born with it, as 46 percent of these individuals’ relatives were found to have similar conditions, according to a 2017 study. Brain imaging shows that their brains receive and respond to music pitch (音高) information, but it is not reaching conscious awareness, meaning that the mind can’t understand the information.

Scientists at the University of Otago in New Zealand also think that amusia is related to people’s spatial (空间的) processing skills. They invited people with amusia, musicians and students from non-musical backgrounds to perform a task related to spatial imagination. They were asked to judge whether pairs of images are the same object rotated (旋转) or mirror images.

The result showed that the amusia group made more mistakes than the other two groups. Amusia might be related to the way the brain stores information about the high and low notes in melodies, according to the study.

Although those who aren’t confident about their singing skills often say they are “tone-deaf”, people with amusia only make up about1. 5 percent of the population, as estimated by the2017 study. “Like dyslexics (诵读困难者) can learn how to read, those with amusia should be able to improve their ability to recognize tones if they start early enough,” Isabelle Peretz, a professor of psychology from the University of Montreal in Canada, told Live Science.

1. According to the article, what do people with amusia find easy to do?

A．Recognizing melodies.	B．Recognizing tunes.
C．Identifying human voices.	D．Distinguishing between different musical notes

2. What did the 2017 study tell us about amusia?

A．Amusia is a result of brain damage.	B．Amusia is common among children.
C．Many individuals with amusia are born with it.	D．Those who are tone-deaf often suffer from amusia.

3. What did the study by scientists at the University of Otago show?

A．People with amusia have strong spatial imagination skills.

B．People with amusia struggle to judge the shape of images

C．Amusia may be related to one’s level of music education.

D．Amusia may be linked with how the brain stores note information.

4. How can people with amusia improve their musical ability, according to Peretz?

A．Learn how to read earlier in life.	B．Start to explore and learn music early.
C．Seek medical treatment.	D．Sing frequently with friends.

3 . Wouldn’t it be wonderful to travel to a foreign country without having to worry about the headache of communicating in a different language?

In a recent Wall Street Journal article, technology policy expert Alec Ross argued that, within ten years or so, we would be able to communicate with one another through small earpieces with built-in microphones. That’s because technological progress is extremely fast. It’s only a matter of time. Such is the belief among certain parents that the technology is imminent and they’re wondering if their kids should learn a second language.

It’s true that an increase in the quantity and accuracy of the data loaded into computers will make them cleverer at translating “Noes Bueno dormer mucho” into “It’s not good to sleep too much”. Replacing a word with its equivalent (对等词) in the target language is actually the easy part of a translator’s job. But even this seems to be a difficult job for computers.

It’s so hard for computers because translation doesn’t — or shouldn’t — involve simply translating words, sentences or paragraphs. Rather, it’s about translating meaning. And in order to infer meaning from a specific expression, people need to understand a lot of information all at once. Think about all the related clues that help us understand what someone is trying to say: volume, gesture, situations, and even your culture. All are likely to convey as much meaning as the words you use.

Therefore, we should doubt a machine that can’t understand our world like we do. If people from different cultures can upset each other without realizing it, how can we expect a machine to do better? Unless engineers actually find a way to breathe a soul into a computer, undoubtedly when it comes to conveying and interpreting meaning using a natural language, a machine will never fully take our place.

1. What does the underlined word “imminent” in Paragraph 2 probably mean?

A．Ready.

B．Confusing.

C．Unpractical.

D．Coming.

2. Why is it hard for computers to replace a word with its equivalent?

A．The real meaning of words can vary.

B．Their data is not rich enough.

C．Their accuracy needs big improvement.

D．A man’s soul hasn’t been breathed in them.

3. What view does the author hold about translation?

A．Proper translation can be difficult for computers.

B．Slight differences doesn’t matter in translation.

C．Machines will translate our world properly.

D．Cultures need more attention than words used.

4. What is the best title for the text?

A．An Expert’s Prediction.	B．Travel without Headache.
C．The Pleasure of Translation.	D．Will the Language Barrier (障碍) Actually Fall?

4 . Is It Worth Buying Organic Food?

Organic food, grown without artificial chemicals, is increasingly popular nowadays. Consumers have been willing to pay up to twice as much for goods with organic labels (标签). However, if you think paying a little more for organic food gets you a more nutritious (有营养的) and safer product, you might want to save your money. A study led by researchers at Stanford University says that organic products aren’t necessarily more nutritious, and they’re no less likely to suffer from disease-causing bacteria, either.

The latest results, published in the Annuals of Internal Medicine, suggest that buyers may be wasting their money. “We did not find strong evidence that organic food is more nutritious or healthier,” says Dr. Crystal Smith-Spangler from Stanford. “So consumers shouldn’t assume that one type of food has a lower risk or is safer.”

For their new study, Smith-Spangler and her colleagues conducted a review of two categories of research, including 17 studies that compared health outcomes between consumers of organic against traditional food products, and 223 studies that analyzed the nutritional content of the foods, including key vitamins, minerals and fats.

While the researchers found little difference in nutritional content, they did find that organic fruit and vegetables were 20% less likely to have chemicals remaining on the surfaces. Neither organic nor traditional foods showed levels of chemicals high enough to go beyond food safety standards. And both organic and traditional meats, such as chicken and pork, were equally likely to be harmed by bacteria at very low rates. The researchers did find that organic milk and chicken contained higher levels of omega-3 fatty acids, a healthy fat also found in fish that can reduce the risk of heart disease. However, these nutritional differences were too small, and the researchers were unwilling to make much of them until further studies confirm the trends.

Organic food is produced with fewer chemicals and more natural-growing practices, but that doesn’t always translate into a more nutritious or healthier product. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) states that “Whether you buy organic or not, finding the freshest foods available may have the biggest effect on taste.” Fresh food is at least as good as anything marketed as organic.

1. The new research questions whether organic food ________.

A．should replace traditional food

B．has been overpriced by farmers

C．is grown with less harmful chemicals

D．is really more nutritious and healthier

2. Smith Spangler and her colleagues found that ________.

A．organic food could reduce the risk of heart disease

B．traditional food was grown with more natural methods

C．both organic and traditional food they examined were safe

D．there was not a presence of any forms of bacteria in organic food

3. Which of the following is relatively healthier according to the passage?

A．Organic chicken and pork.

B．Organic milk and chicken.

C．Traditional chicken and pork.

D．Traditional fruit and vegetables.

4. What is the author’s attitude toward organic food?

A．Doubtful.

B．Positive.

C．Unconcerned.

D．Approving.

5 . Being able to take advantage of truly unlimited data is a smartphone user’s dream, but everyone I’ve talked to about 5G is more excited about the usage unlocked by next-generation wireless devices. From smart home security to self-driving cars, all the Internet-connected equipment in your life will be able to talk to each other at lightning-fast speed with reduced delay.

“5G is one of those forerunners, along with artificial intelligence, of this coming data age,” said Steve Koenig, senior director of market research for the Consumer Technology Association. Self-driving vehicles are emblematic in this data age — they show application of data completely. With one single task, driving, you have large amounts of data coming from the vehicle itself, and a variety of sensors (传感器) are collecting a lot of information to model its environment as it moves. It’s pulling in data from other vehicles about conditions down the road. There’s lots of data behind that task, which is why we need the speed and lower latency (延迟).

AR glasses and virtual (虚拟的) reality headphones haven’t yet been inside the mainstream, but tech companies are joyfully saying that such equipment will eventually replace our smartphones. With 5G, that could actually happen. This is notable because companies such as Apple are reportedly developing AR glasses to improve — or even replace — smartphones.

Ericsson showed at February’s Mobile World Congress in 2019 how smart glasses could become faster and lighter with a 5G connection, because instead of being weighed down with components, the glasses could rely on outside equipment for processing power.

But don’t get too excited. There’s still a lot of work to be done in the meantime, including some necessary testing to make sure the radio plays nicely with basic systems and service construction so that 5G isn’t concentrated only in big cities.

1. What does the first paragraph focus on?

A．The potential of 5G.	B．The super speed of 5G.
C．The usage of smart equipment.	D．The future of smart equipment.

2. Which word can replace “emblematic” underlined in paragraph 2?

A．Available.

B．Productive.

C．Symbolic.

D．Popular.

3. What is tech companies’ attitude towards the replacement of smartphones?

A．Uncertain.

B．Cautious.

C．Optimistic.

D．Disapproving.

4. Why does much work still need to be done according to the last paragraph?

A．To make radio play nicely.	B．To construct big 5G cities.
C．To do 5G trials effectively.	D．To expand 5G coverage fully.

7 . Is future you? It might seem like a strange philosophical question. But the answer to how you think about your future self could make the difference between decisions you ultimately find satisfying and ones you might eventually regret.

The brain patterns that emerge on an MRI (核磁共振成像) when people think about their future selves most like the brain patterns that arise when they think about strangers. This finding suggests that, in the mind’s eye, our future selves look like other people. If you see future you as a different person, why should you save money, eat healthier or exercise more regularly to benefit that stranger?

However, if you see the interests of your distant self as more like those of your present self, you are considerably more likely to do things today that benefit you tomorrow. A paper in the journal PLoS One revealed that college students who experienced a greater sense of connection and similarity to their future selves were more likely to achieve academic success. Relationships with our future selves also matter for general psychological well-being. In a project led by Joseph Reiff, which includes 5, 000 adults aged 20 to 75, he found that those who perceived a great overlap (重叠) in qualities between their current and future selves ended up being more satisfied with their lives 10 years after filling out the initial survey.     

So how can we better befriend our future selves and feel more connected to their fates? The psychological mindset with what we call ”vividness interventions“ works. We have found, for instance, that showing people images of their older, grayer selves increases intentions to save for the long term. Besides, you might try writing a letter to-and then from-your future self. As demonstrated by Yuta Chishima and Anne Wilson in their 2020 study in the journal Self and Identity, when high-school students engaged in this type of ”send-and-reply“ exercise, they experienced elevated (升高的) levels of feelings of similarity with their future selves.

Letter-writing and visualization exercises are just a couple of ways we can connect with our future selves and beyond, but the larger lesson here is clear: If we can treat our distant selves as if they are people we love, care about and want to support, we can start making choices for them that improve our lives-both today and tomorrow.

1. What’s the function of paragraph 2?

A．Generating further discussion.	B．Introducing a research result.
C．Showing the effect of the finding.	D．Concluding various viewpoints.

2. How does the author prove his statements?

A．By offering relevant statistics.	B．By using quotations.
C．By referring to previous findings.	D．By making comparisons.

3. What is paragraph 4 mainly about?

A．Benefits of befriending our future selves.

B．Ways of connecting with our future selves.

C．Methods of changing psychological mindsets.

D．Possibilities of us becoming our future selves.

4. What does the article want to tell us?

A．Making future plans makes a difference.

B．Our future selves look like other people.

C．Getting to know your future self benefits.

D．Your choice affects the fates of strangers.

8 . How does the man probably feel on hearing the news?

A．Angry.

B．Surprised.

C．Nervous.

9 . In the movie The Wrong Trousers, a pair of futuristic trousers lets people walk on walls and ceilings. Inspired by the movie, researchers in England created “The Right Trousers,” a set of trousers embedded (嵌入) with electrical pumps to force air into tiny tubes (软管) that expand and can help elderly or disabled people with issues like getting up or improving blood flow. Now, material scientists, computer programmers and fabric designers are working to advance robotic clothing.

In June, researchers in Australia created robotic fibers, which can make fabric move automatically. Last year, scientists at MIT built fiber batteries that could be embedded into clothes and power robotic clothing. In recent years, Google partnered with brands like Levi’s and Adidas to put sensors in jackets, backpacks and shoes, letting users access their phones instantly. Researchers said they could soon unlock an era where clothing will act more like a computer, sensing how your body feels and telling your clothes how to help.

At the University of New South Wales in Australia, researchers are creating fabrics that car shape-shift. Thanh Nho Do, a senior lecturer at the school, said his team has created tiny tubes that can weave into sheets of fabric. These tubes can make fabric take various preprogrammed shapes. But challenges still remain for Do’s team, especially around making these robotic tubes smaller so they can weave easily with other fabrics.

Rebecca Kramer-Bottiglio from Yale University agreed that many challenges remain before smart clothing reaches their full potential. “It will be challenging to make these clothes, equipped with fibers and technology, strong enough to go through multiple cycles in the laundry (衣店),” she said. Despite that, she says researchers will figure out a way forward. “Recent breakthroughs,” she said, “point toward a not-so-distant future where smart clothing will be a part of our everyday life. ”

1. What did scientists at MIT do last years?

A．They put sensors in clothes.

B．They created movable robotic fibers.

C．They made batteries for robotic clothing.

D．They released smart clothing connected to cellphones.

2. What is the main challenge faced by Do’s team?

A．Ensuring the quality of the fabric.

B．Finding suitable materials for the fabric.

C．Programming the tubes to change shapes.

D．Adjusting tubes to weave with other fabrics.

3. What can be inferred about smart clothing according to Rebecca’s?

A．It struggles to stand repeated washes.

B．It will not be a part of everyday life soon.

C．It will never overcome laundry-related challenges.

D．It has all related challenges solved by researchers.

4. Which could be the best title for this passage?

A．The evolution of smart trousers

B．The future of laundry innovations

C．Smart fabric may shape future wardrobe

D．Smart clothing’s impact on everyday life

10 . In habitats across the planet, animals periodically drop everything to walk, fly or swim to a new place. Some animals such as whales and geese learn migration paths by following their parents. Others, including small songbirds, gain the distance and direction of their migration within their genetic code. And some animals use a combination of genetics and culture to guide their migration.

Another group of migrators does not quite fit either model, and researchers have only recently started to figure out how they find their way. The Cory’s shearwater is an oceangoing seabird that migrates over the Atlantic every year. The young do not migrate with their parents, so culture cannot explain their journeys. And the exact paths vary wildly from individual to individual, making genetics equally unlikely.

Cory’s shearwaters are long-lived, rarely producing young successfully before age nine. This leaves an opening for learning and practice to develop their migration patterns. Researchers call this the “exploration-refinement”, and until now it has been hypothetical (假设的) because of difficulties in tracking migratory animals’ movements.

But a team of researchers has done that by attaching small geolocators to more than 150 of the birds aged four to nine. They found that younger birds traveled longer distances, for longer periods, and had more diverse paths than older birds. “We finally have evidence of the ‘exploration-refinement’ for migratory birds,” says Letizia Campioni, who led the study. Younger Cory’s shearwaters are able to fly just as fast as the adults——but they do not, suggesting that the young do more exploring, which gradually fades as they mature and settle into a preferred course.

“Although it may seem less efficient than other strategies, exploration refinement could be beneficial to birds and other organisms in a rapidly changing world due to unpredictable man-made changes,” says Barbara Frei. “It might be safer to repeat a behavior that was recently successful than to rely on patterns that were perfected long ago but might no longer be safe.”

1. What is the first paragraph mainly about?

A．It describes animals’ habitats.	B．It compares different species.
C．It talks about migration models.	D．It introduces a tracking technology.

2. What does the underlined word “this” in Paragraph 3 refer to?

A．The opening for learning and practice.

B．The unique living habit of Cory’s shearwaters.

C．The process scientists track Cory’s shearwaters’ movements.

D．The way Cory’s shearwaters form their migration patterns.

3. What does Letizia’s study find about the younger Cory’s shearwaters?

A．They travel as much as adult birds.	B．They lower the speed for exploration.
C．They move in a predictable manner.	D．They look for a course with their parents.

4. What can we conclude from the last paragraph?

A．Exploration refinement contributes to birds’ adaptability.

B．Man-made changes make migration easier.

C．Animals make a safer journey via a fixed track.

D．A combination of strategies assures migration success