1 . Storytelling is an ancient art form that has been used to hand down legends, tales and factual stories. Perhaps the first thing that springs to mind when you think of storytelling is the fantasy land that took shape in your mind while Mom or Dad told you stories about princes, castles and monsters, with a unique voice for each character.
Storytelling does not just take place at bedtime or round a campfire, however. It can take some other forms, either via the books we read or the films we watch. But they usually have some elements in common: rather than a list of dry facts, stories have plots and they introduce characters. We respond to stories, particularly when there is emotional detail.
And unlike what we suppose, storytelling is not just a form of entertainment, but a form of learning as well. Long before reading and writing became widely spread and available, oral storytelling had already been a form that the wisdom and knowledge of the people were passed down from elders to children. A good story engages our curiosity, emotions and imagination.
Storytelling helps with learning also because stories are easy to remember. Research has found that learning obtained from a well-told story is remembered more accurately, and for far longer, than from facts and figures.
And above all, stories have a transformative power to allow us to see the world in a different way than we do if we just encounter it on our own. Stories are an entry point to understanding a different experience of the world.
This aspect of storytelling-presenting a different perspective of the world — is important when it comes to connecting with each other. It gives us an opportunity to learn from another person’s experience and it can shape, strengthen or challenge our opinions and values. So, when someone tells us their own personal story, we catch a glimpse of a view of the world that may be slightly or significantly different from our own. When we see the world as they see it, or walk in their shoes, the experience can inspire empathy (共情;同理心) with them.
1. What occurs to us the moment we think of “storytelling”?| A．A child’s imaginary world. | B．Voices of Mom or Dad. |
| C．An ancient art form. | D．Factual stories. |
| A．It carries more wisdom and knowledge. |
| B．It is more widely available to young learners. |
| C．It satisfies our imagination and releases our emotions. |
| D．It makes what is learned more precise and longer lasting. |
| A．By offering us more opportunities to know people. |
| B．By helping us stay connected with the contemporary world. |
| C．By allowing us to understand the world the way they see it. |
| D．By enabling us to tell reality from imagination. |
| A．The History of Storytelling | B．The Power of Storytelling |
| C．The Forms of Storytelling | D．The Art of Storytelling |
2 . Screen time before bedtime may leave people feeling sleepy in the morning. Cell phones, computers and TVs emit (发出) blue light. And exposure to that bluish light during the two hours before bed can keep us from getting a good night’s rest, a new study finds. It cuts down on the length of people’s sleep. It also leaves them feeling tired in the morning and can disrupt the body clock. Data shows that this blue light tends to make us more alert at night, making it harder to get all the rest we need.
Green and his team surveyed 19 people — all in their 20s — for a sleep study. All spent two hours on a computer right before bedtime. But they didn’t all experience the same light exposure. Looking at screens that gave off intense blue light cut someone’s sleep by about 16 minutes, compared to when they had used screens with red light. Those exposed to blue light also woke up more often at night than if they had been exposed to red light.
“The normal blue light emissions from the computer screen also affect how much melatonin (褪黑素) each volunteer makes. It is released into our blood around 9 p.m. When our bodies make less melatonin, we may still feel too alert at bedtime to fall asleep when the body is tired. And body temperature won’t drop as expected after we use devices emitting lots of blue light. Using screens before bed damages the body’s biological clock,” Green says. “More and more kids are using screens nowadays. Sleep is important, especially during the first few years of life when ‘neural plasticity’ (神经可塑性) is at its greatest. Their brains are still developing the ability to learn and pay attention. That makes the new results worrisome,” Green says.
Rahman says that the new work makes a good point about how blue light from screens can be bad for our bodies. However, he points out, the light in this study is extremely bright. It is far brighter than what a normal computer, tablet or TV will emit. Still, Rahman says the results remind us to think about how we should use screens before bed.
1. The blue light from the screens may cause people to ________.| A．tend to work at night | B．get attentive in the morning |
| C．be less sleepy before bed time | D．be affected less by the body clock |
| A．People’s concern about light exposure. |
| B．A study on blue light’s effects on sleep. |
| C．Reasons for blue light’s effects on sleep. |
| D．Effects of various types of light on sleep. |
| A．Melatonin may affect people’s neural plasticity. |
| B．Blue light may affect children’s brain development. |
| C．Exposure to normal screen has little impact on sleep. |
| D．The low temperature of body helps produce melatonin. |
| A．Uncaring. | B．Approving. |
| C．Objective. | D．Critical. |
3 . 阅读下面材料，在空白处填入适当的内容(1个单词)或括号内单词的正确形式。
Northwest China’s Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region has adopted digital technology
Workers have copied more than 2,000 immovable rock carvings and paintings at Helan Mountain to digitalize the overall views as well as
Rock carvings
The protection of rock paintings and carvings is a worldwide issue. At present, there is no
4 . You’re in the shower. You grab the showerhead. What do you do? You sing.
Have you ever wondered about this phenomenon? Some of us wouldn’t sing in public if someone paid us. Yet we’ll sing in the shower without embarrassment. Believe it or not, there’s a scientific explanation behind it.
First, let’s look at why we’re relaxed enough in the shower to burst into song. Think about it: you don’t sing when you’re sad (unless you’re singing the blues, of course). For many people, shower time is the only time they’re alone all day. You’re in a warm, small, safe environment. You’re comfortable enough to be yourself! When you relax, your brain releases dopamine (多巴胺), which can give your creative juices an extra kickstart.
Warm water is rushing over you, and now you’re relaxed and feeling good. It turns out that singing makes you feel even better. Singing, because of the breathing you put into it, gets more oxygen into the blood. This gives you better circulation, which in turn improves your body and mood. And because you have to breathe a little deeper to belt out a song, you get some of the same relaxation and mind-clearing benefits as meditation (冥想). Another neat thing is that when you’re singing, you really can’t think about your problems—more stress relief.
But the best thing about singing in the shower? The acoustics (音响效果)! You can never ask for a better sound system than a bathroom. Because bathroom tiles (墙砖) don’t absorb sound, your voice bounces back and forth around the room before fading away, which makes your voice hang in the air longer. And because the shower is a small space, it boosts your voice, making your singing sound more powerful. So you will sound better than you actually are, which is a confidence boost.
We don’t sing in the shower simply because we have “Call Me Maybe” stuck in our heads. It turns out we do it for many reasons: stress relief, happiness, great acoustics, or maybe just because we like to hear our own voices. Whatever the reason, keep it up. It’s good for you. And if you’ve never tried it, pick a song, grab the showerhead and put on your own private concert.
1. Why do many people feel comfortable singing in the shower?| A．The acoustics are perfect in public places. | B．Shower time is relaxing and private. |
| C．Singing boosts stress levels. | D．Showering improves vocal abilities. |
| A．Released dopamine due to relaxation. | B．Increased exposure to blues music. |
| C．Enhanced oxygen absorption from water. | D．Strengthened lung capacity. |
| A．The bathroom’s small size encourages relaxation. |
| B．Breathing while singing improves circulation. |
| C．Singing removes the need for deep breaths. |
| D．Tile walls absorb sound and stress. |
| A．Science. | B．Technology. | C．Culture. | D．People. |
5 . Scientists have discovered how plants manage to live alongside each other in places that are dark and shady. Plants in the deep darkness of a thick forest, where natural supplies are not very great in amount, wont attempt to top their neighbors in growth as those in moderate (中度的) shade do. In deep shade conditions, it would be a waste of energy and harmful to survival because green shoots would never be able to top their larger neighbors in growth.
So how do plants prevent such growth in deep shade conditions? The arcanum lies in the clocks inside them, say scientists from the John Innes Centre and the University of Bristol.
They have discovered that when plants notice deep shade, this changes the expression of genes in certain parts of the circadian clock (昼夜节律时钟) — the internal daily timer found in plants and other living things. These clock components perform an additional role in preventing plants from lengthening and overtopping neighbors.
The work identifies a previously unknown role of the circadian clock in controlling plant development, and the findings may have possible effects on both natural plant populations and crops. Professor Antony Dodd of the John Innes Centre said, “The biological clock of plants plays a big part in their development and fitness. This work casts new light on a new role of the circadian clock in adapting plants to competition with other plants in their environments.” “It also gives us new insights into how plants adapt to very deep shade, where resources are very limited,” said Professor Kerry Franklin at the University of Bristol.
This work provides evidence for the stability of the circadian clock in stressful environments, and information that may be useful in developing new generations of crops in a challenging climate.
1. What do plants normally do in moderate shade?| A．Struggle to preserve energy. | B．Compete for limited resources. |
| C．Depend on each other to survive. | D．Try to outgrow their neighbors. |
| A．Secret. | B．Note. | C．Grammar. | D．Award. |
| A．It changes their gene expression. |
| B．It makes them realize light change. |
| C．It controls their growth in deep shade. |
| D．It helps them adapt to the darkness. |
| A．To introduce the role of the deep shade. |
| B．To share a new discovery about plants. |
| C．To explain plants’ secret of living in the water. |
| D．To compare plants living in certain conditions. |
6 . In the days before the Internet, critical thinking was the most important skill of informed citizens. But in the digital age, according to Anastasia Kozyreva, a psychologist at the Max Planck Institute of Human Development, and her colleagues, an even more important skill is critical ignoring.
As the researchers point out, we live in an attention economy where content producers on the Internet compete for our attention. They attract us with a lot of emotional and eye-catching stories while providing little useful information, so they can expose us to profit-generating advertisements. Therefore,we are no longer customers but products, and each link we click is a sale of our time and attention. Toprotect ourselves from this, Kozyreva advocates for learning the skill of critical ignoring, in which readers intentionally control their information environment to reduce exposure to false and low-quality information.
According to Kozyreva, critical ignoring comprises three strategies. The first is to design ourenvironments, which involves the removal of low-quality yet hard-to-resist information from around. Successful dieters need to keep unhealthy food out of their homes. Likewise, we need to set up a digital environment where attention-grabbing items are kept out of sight. As with dieting, if one tries to bank onwillpower not to click eye-catching “news”, he’ll surely fail. So, it’s better to just keep them out of sightto begin with.
The next is to evaluate the reliability of information, whose purpose is to protect you from false and misleading information. It can be realized by checking the source in the mainstream news agencies which have their reputations for being trustworthy.
The last goes by the phrase “do not feed the trolls.” Trolls are actors who internationally spread false and hurtful information online to cause harm. It may be appealing to respond to them to set the facts straight, but trolls just care about annoying others rather than facts. So, it’s best not to reward their bad behaviour with our attention.
By sharpening our critical ignoring skills in these ways, we can make the most of the Internet while avoiding falling victim to those who try to control our attention, time, and minds.
1. What can we learn about the attention economy from paragraph 2?| A．It offers little information. | B．It features depressing stories. |
| C．It saves time for Internet users. | D．It seeks profits from each click. |
| A．To discuss the quality of information |
| B．To prove the benefits of healthy food. |
| C．To show the importance of environments. |
| D．To explain the effectiveness of willpower. |
| A．Reveal their intention. | B．Turn a deaf ear to them. |
| C．Correct their behaviour. | D．Send hard facts to them. |
| A．Reasons for critical thinking in the attention economy. |
| B．Practising the skill of critical ignoring in the digital age. |
| C．Maximizing the benefits of critical ignoring on the Internet. |
| D．Strategies of abandoning critical thinking for Internet users |
7 . Fathers can give their children an educational advantage at primary school by reading, drawing and playing with them, according to a newly published report. Research led by the University of Leeds has found that children do better at primary school if their fathers regularly spend time with them on interactive engagement activities like reading, playing, telling stories, drawing and singing.
Analysing primary school test scores for five- and seven-year-olds, the researchers used a representative sample of nearly 5,000 mother-father households in England from the Millenium Cohort Study.
According to the research, dads who regularly drew, played and read with their three-year-olds helped their children do better at school by age five. Dads being involved at age five also helped improve scores in seven-year-olds’ Key Stage Assessments.
Dr Helen Norman, who led the research, said, “Mothers still tend to assume the primary care r role and therefore tend to do the most childcare, but if fathers enthusiastically engage in childcare too, it significantly increases the likelihood of children getting better grades in primary school. This is why encouraging and supporting fathers to share childcare with the mother, from an early stage in the child’s life, is critical.”
Dads’ involvement impacted positively on their children’s school achievement regardless of the child’s gender (性别), race, age in the school year and household income, according to the report.
There were different effects when mums and dads took part in the same activities—the data showed that mums had more of an impact on young children’s emotional and social behaviors than educational achievement.
The researchers recommend that dads carve out as much time as they can to engage in interactive activities with their children each week. For busy, working dads, even just ten minutes a day could potentially have educational benefits. They also recommend that schools and early years education providers routinely take both parents’ contact details (where possible) and develop strategies to engage fathers.
1. What can we learn about the research?| A．Mums had more impact on young children’s educational achievement. |
| B．Dads’ positive impact on kids learning had nothing to do with the gender. |
| C．Dads’ involvement at age 3 helped promote academic performance at age 7. |
| D．The researchers investigated nearly 5,000 single parent families in England. |
| A．A father who is totally busy with his work. |
| B．A father who is really good at playing basketball. |
| C．A father who has absolutely low household income. |
| D．A father who actively shares childcare with the mother. |
| A．Dads should spare ten minutes a day to apparently benefit kids. |
| B．Dads should maximize time to interact with their kids each week. |
| C．Schools should generate strategies to involve parents in management. |
| D．Schools should regularly contact parents to develop mother-engagement. |
| A．It’s crucial that fathers can have a lasting impact on children. |
| B．Young children can get brilliant childhood with father-engagement. |
| C．Fathers and mothers should share childcare in family early education. |
| D．Young children do better at school if their dads read and play with them. |
1. What is Perelman?
| A．A researcher. | B．A doctor. | C．A reporter. |
| A．Strange adults. | B．Babysitters. | C．Other babies. |
| A．They may start to cry. | B．They may show much fear. | C．They may touch each other. |
| A．Much more parenting time with babies. |
| B．An increase in family-based day care centers. |
| C．A greater demand for experienced babysitters. |
9 . A decadelong study of older adults in China has found that a healthy lifestyle is linked to slower memory decline even when people carry a risky gene for Alzheimer’s.
Memory loss is a common part of aging. While there is no cure for most conditions that cause cognitive decline, lifestyle has received increasing attention as it is relatively easy to manage with potential benefits for overall health, including memory.
In a report in the latest issue of British Medical Journal, researchers from China’s National Center for Neurological Disorders and other medical institutes followed 29,000 people aged at least 60 years with normal cognitive abilities for up to 10 years. Forty-nine percent of the participants were women.
The participants were from 12 provinces from the north, south and west of China, representing the geographical characteristics, degree of urbanization, economic status, dietary patterns, and cultural and social differences in China.
At the beginning of the study in 2009, the researchers tested participants’ memory function with the Auditory Verbal Learning Test, one of the most widely used word-learning tests. They were also tested for the APOE gene, the most common gene linked with Alzheimer’s. Around 20 percent of the participants were carriers of the risk gene.
The participants received assessments in 2012, 2014, 2016 and 2019. In the follow-ups, six healthy lifestyle factors were analyzed: a healthy diet (adherence to recommended food items), regular physical exercise (at least 150 minutes of moderate intensity or 75 minutes of vigorous-intensity exercises per week), active social contact (for example, seeing friends and family at least twice a week), active cognitive activity (for example, reading, writing, playing chess at least twice a week), non-smoking and never drinking alcohol.
1. According to the study, what can help us reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s?| A．Regular mental training. |
| B．A healthy diet. |
| C．Non-smoking habit. |
| D．All of above. |
| A．By giving examples. |
| B．By stating arguments. |
| C．By explaining statistical data. |
| D．By providing research results. |
| A．Causes of memory loss. |
| B．Lifestyle to rate of memory decline. |
| C．The study about memory decline. |
| D．Healthy diet and memory loss. |
Thanks to advances in technology, how we make friends and communicate with them has changed
Social media tools let us see what our friends are up to and maintain friendships. The digital age also enables us
However, the “friends" online don’t necessarily become our real friends. If people always exchange true
