【推荐3】We are in the midst of a battle for our attention. Our devices have affected our brains and destroyed our collective ability to concentrate. Journalist Johann Hair’s new book, Stolen Focus, has just joined the voices complaining about the great influence of the digital age. His and other recent books reflect a public perception that our focus is under attack.

Indeed, in our new research, we found some clear concerns. We surveyed a nationally representative sample of 2,093 UK adults in 2021. Half of those surveyed felt their attention spans were shorter than they used to be, compared with a quarter who didn't. And three quarters of participants agreed we're living through a time when there's non-stop competition for our attention between a variety of media channels and information outlets (渠道).

There has long been a worry about the threat to attention brought by new cultural forms, whether that’s social media or the cheap paperback sensation novels of the 19th century. Even as far back as ancient Greece, the philosopher Socrates complained that the written words created “forgetfulness in our souls”. There has always been a tendency to fear the effects that new media and technologies will have on our minds.

The reality is that we simply don’t have long-term studies that tell us whether our attention spans have actually shrunk. What we do know from our study is that people overestimate some of the problems. There’s no such thing as an average attention span. Our ability to focus varies hugely depending on the individual and the task at hand.

It’s also important not to ignore the many benefits that technology brings to our life. Much of the public surveyed recognized these, so while half thought big tech and social media were ruining young people’s attention spans, roughly another half felt that being easily distracted was more to do with people’s personalities than any negative influence that technology may or may not have. Also, half of the public believed multitasking at work and switching frequently between emails, phone calls, and other tasks can create a more efficient and satisfactory work experience.

1. What might be the theme of the books mentioned in Paragraph 1?

A．The main focus of social media.	B．The great influence of public opinion.
C．The attention crisis in the digital age.	D．The fierce competition in the digital age.

2. What can we know about some of the participants in the new research?

A．They were frequently disturbed by digital devices.

B．They felt it hard to acquire useful information online.

C．They had shorter attention spans than average people.

D．They felt challenged by fierce competition from others.

3. Why does the author mention Socrates in Paragraph 3?

A．To stress new cultural forms have limitations.

B．To show worry about attention is an age-old problem.

C．To prove the important role be played in literary history.

D．To explain cultural differences between the past and the present.

4. What can be inferred from the last paragraph?

A．People tend to overestimate their abilities.

B．Digital distractions might have potential benefits.

C．Technology’s benefits have been largely ignored.

D．Switching between different tasks frequently is difficult.

5. What message does the author want to convey?

A．Digital devices can benefit our work.	B．We should say “No” to digital devices.
C．We should think highly of new cultural forms.	D．Digital distractions really affect us so much.

【推荐1】The Case for and Against Homework

Homework is typically defined as" any tasks given to students by school teachers that are meant to be carried out during afterschool hours". Homework has been a hot topic of debate in education. Throughout the first decade of the 20th century, educators commonly believed that homework helped create disciplined（遵守纪律的）minds.     1    Since then, arguments for and against homework have continued to grow.

A number of studies have been carried out on homework. Two analyses by Cooper and his colleagues are the most comprehensive（全面的）.They concluded that the relationship between homework and students' achievements was found to be positive.     2    

    3    The authors of How Homework Is Hurting Our Children and What We Can Do About It criticized both the quantity and quality of homework. They provided evidence that too much homework harms students’ health and family time. They insisted that teachers reduce the amount of homework and avoid homework over breaks and holidays.

One of the most controversial（有争议的）problems in the homework debate is the amount of time students should spend on homework. Researchers have offered various suggestions.    4     Another question regarding homework is the degree to which schools should involve parents. Some studies have reported minimal positive effects or even negative effects of parental involvement.    5    

Finally, homework should cause students and their parents or other family members to take part in conversations and thus help the students' learning.

A．Improper homework may produce little or no benefit.

B．Teachers are to blame for providing too much homework.

C．Doing homework caused improved learning achievements.

D．Experts suggest parents receive clear rules and that teachers not expect parents to act as experts.

E．Although the research supporting homework is powerful, the case against homework is popular.

F．By 1940, the growing concern that homework affected other home activities caused a reaction against it.

G．For example, 5 to 10 minutes per subject might be enough for 4th graders, while 30 to 60 minutes for high school students.

【推荐2】For the most part, American children aren’t great at math. But Chinese children tend to be excellent. It’s consistently found Chinese students at the top of the academic pile and Americans much nearer the bottom.

In Lenora Chu’s book “Little Soldiers: An American Boy, a Chinese School”, she begins to reveal the cultural differences that lead to this gap. The differences she notices in children’s focus and discipline are dramatic, but she also notices cultural differences that influence how Chinese schools are run, and the reason why its students test so well. Along with factors such as highly trained teachers and an emphasis on memorizing before pursuing deeper understanding, the difference comes down to a belief that has begun slowly making its way across the US: achievement is the result of hard work, not natural ability.

This approach comes from a firm belief that anything is possible with hard work, with chiku, or “eating bitter”. Studies show that for kids who score poorly. Chinese teachers believe a lack of effort—rather than of smarts — is to blame.

Stanford psychologist Carol Dweck, author of “Mindset (心态)”, is responsible for making up the terms “growth mindset” and “fixed mindset”. Chinese students are trained to have a growth mindset: if they aren’t doing well, they’11 work harder, and they’ll be successful. American children tend to be trained to have a fixed mindset about academics: their abilities are largely predetermined and static. If they aren’t doing well, it’s because they’re not good at it.

In America students are told that learning is fun and easy. But real learning is actually very difficult and takes suffering and anxiety. If you’re not willing to go through that you’re not going to learn deeply. The downside is these students often give up when something gets hard or when it’s no longer fun.

1. According to Lenora Chu, what contributes most to the Chinese students’excellent academic performance?

A．School operation model.	B．The emphasis on memorizing.
C．High-qualified teachers.	D．Chinese culture.

2. According to Chinese teachers, students failing an exam are______.

A．lazy	B．slow
C．unfocused	D．foolish

3. Which of the following is TRUE according to Carol Dweck’s theory?

A．A majority of Chinese students are born excellent learners.

B．American students tend to believe learning ability is genetically determined.

C．Amerlcan students should choose a Chinese school to achieve success.

D．American students are lacking in a fixed mindset, compared to Chinese students.

4. What can we learn from the last paragraph?

A．Students should study in a fun way.

B．American students are always anxious about their study.

C．American students have no difficulty in learning deeply.

D．Diligence plays an essential part in learning.

【推荐1】As the Hubble Space Telescope celebrates 25 years in space this week, NASA and its international partners are building an even more powerful tool—the James Webb Space Telescope. This telescope will be 100 times more powerful than Hubble.

“JWST will be able to see back to about 200 million years after the Big Bang,” NASA said on its website. “What the Webb will really be doing is looking at the first galaxies of the universe,” Mark Clampin said. “We will also be able to look in very dark parts of the universe where stars are being born.”

Inside a large clean room where no dust can harm the telescope, a team of engineers dressed in white, work on building the JWST. The space telescope will weigh 6.4 tons. Its main mirror will be 6.5 meters in diameter(直径), three times as large as Hubble’s. JWST will carry four instruments, including cameras and spectrometers(分光仪) that can catch extremely weak signals.

“The Webb will have 70 times the light-gathering capacity of Hubble. So the combination of the large size and the infra-red(红外线的) capacities will allow us to observe this epic of the universe past,” explained Matt Greenhouse.

Even more the telescope should further the search for life elsewhere in the universe by opening a new window on planets outside the solar system—known as exoplanets—that might have water and orbit their stars at a suitable distance to prevent freezing or boiling. “Webb is big enough to have a high probability of finding evidence of life in the atmosphere of exoplanets,” said Greenhouse.

Unlike the Hubble Space Telescope, which circles the Earth, the JWST will go even further, to a place 1.5 million kilometers away in space. That distance will keep the telescope cold, prevent it from being blinded by its own infra – red light and shelter it from radiation. The heavy telescope is scheduled to launch from French Guiana in October 2018. “Just as Hubble rewrote all the textbooks, Webb will rewrite it again,” said Greenhouse.

1. What’s the major purpose of building the James Webb Space Telescope?

A．To replace the 25-year-old Hubble Space Telescope.	B．To find aliens outside the solar system.
C．To rewrite all the textbooks.	D．To look at the first galaxies of the universe.

2. Which of the following is true?

A．Hubble can see back to about 200 million years after the Big Bang.

B．JWST is 100 times more powerful than Hubble.

C．JWST will be sent out of the solar system.

D．JWST is 70 times heavier than Hubble.

3. How long is Hubble’s main mirror?

A．About 2 meters.

B．About 3 meters.

C．About 1 meter.

D．About 6 meters.

4. What does the underlined word “exoplanets” in Paragraph 5 mean?

A．Planets outside the solar system.	B．Planets outside the earth-moon system.
C．Planets without water or atmosphere.	D．Planets in the first galaxies.

【推荐2】There is an old saying that America and Britain are “two nations divided by a common language.” No one knows exactly who said this, but it reflects the way many Brits feel about American English. But are American and British English really so different?

Vocabulary

The most obvious difference between American and British English is vocabulary. There are hundreds of everyday words that are different. For example, Americans go on vacation while Brits go on holidays; New Yorkers live in apartments while Londoners live in flats. There are far more examples than we can talk about here. Fortunately, most Americans and Brits can usually guess the meaning through the context of a sentence.

Past Tense Verbs

You’ll also find some differences with past forms of irregular verbs. The past tense of “learn” in American English is “learned”. British English has the option(选择) of “learned” or “learnt”. The same rule applies to “dreamed” and “dreamt”, “burned” and “burnt”, and “leaned” and “leant”. Americans tend to use the -ed ending; Brits tend to use the-t ending.

Spelling

There are hundreds of slight spelling differences between British and American English. Noah Webster, an author, politician and teacher, made an effort to reform English spelling in the late 1700s.

Webster wanted to spell words the way they sounded. You can see Webster’s legacy(遗产) in the American spelling of words like color (from colour), honor (from honour), and labor(from labour).

Not So Different After All

British and American English have far more similarities than differences. With the exception of some regional dialects, most Brits and Americans can understand each other without too much difficulty. They watch each other’s TV shows, sing each other’s songs and read each other’s books. They even make fun of each others’ accents.

1. Which of the following is a group of American words?

A．Vacation; holiday.	B．Apartment; flat.
C．Vacation; apartment.	D．Holiday; flat.

2. What do we know about British and American English from the last paragraph?

A．They both have some strange words.

B．They are affecting people using them.

C．They connect people of the two countries.

D．Their differences have little effect on communication.

3. What can be the best title for the text?

A．Ways to tell British English from American English

B．Differences between British and American English

C．Development of British and American English

D．Difficulty for Brits and Americans to understand each other

【推荐3】While every dog owner knows their dogs can read their moods perfectly,scientists have always been a little doubtful. Now thanks to some researchers at the University of Veterinary Medicine in Vienna, Austria, we finally have some convincing evidence.

For their study. biologist Corson Miller and his team exposes eleven selected dogs to digital images of women that were either angry or happy. Half the dogs were rewarded for touching the screen when shown a happy face, while the other half got their treat for selecting those that appeared angry.

Interestingly,the dogs were not provided with the entire face. Some dogs were shown only upper halves while the others observed lower halves. That's because the scientists believe humans show their emotions on their entire face.

After some training like how to recognize small differences like the wrinkles between the eyes or the changes in their shape that accompany the happy or angry expressions, the dogs were mostly able to identify the correct expression not only on a familiar face but on a strange face. The researchers concluded the dogs were smart enough to read human emotions.

They also found those being trained to read angry expressions took a longer time to learn. They guess it may be because dogs find angry faces disgusting, causing them to withdraw quickly. However, once the smart dogs realized they were getting rewarded, the trepidation seemed to disappear. In fact, the dogs had such a good time playing the computer "game". That scientists had a hard time keeping them away from the touch screens after the study was completed.

The researchers also noticed only dogs with a male owner had a harder time understanding the expressions correctly. Since the touch-screen models were all females, this confirmed what has been observed in previous studies dogs are more efficient at reading facial expressions of people that are the same gender as their owner.

1. How did the scientists conduct the experiment?

A．By leaving dogs to women who are either happy or angry.

B．By mixing the selected dogs together.

C．By rewarding only half of the dogs touching the screen

D．By showing digital pictures of women's happy or angry faces.

2. The underlined word "Trepidation" in Paragraph s probably means ________.

A．fear and hesitation

B．curiosity and eagerness

C．excitement and happiness

D．doubt and sadness

3. According to the last paragraph, dogs with female owners ________.

A．are fond of the male faces

B．are uninterested in telling the emotions on the entire faces

C．have difficulty telling the moods on the faces of males

D．can only recognize emotions of females

4. What is the best title for this passage?

A．Mood Changes Influence Dogs

B．Dogs Identify the Moods

C．Dogs and Their Owners

D．Dog's Mood Research

5. Where might this passage come from?

A．A science report.

B．A cooking book.

C．Children's story.

D．A travel journal.

【推荐1】More than 2,000 years ago, when the last shovelful(一铲) of dirt fell on the Tarracotta Warriors, it was thought that they would never see the sunlight again and would spend the rest of their “lives” guarding and protecting the first Chinese emperor, Qinshihuang, who died in 210 BC.

But things got better off these clay soldiers. Ever since they were discovered in Xi’an in 1974,by a group of farmers; they’ve been able to see the bigger world-traveling from one museum to the next.

They are now on display in New York at Discovery Times Square, reported the New York Times.

However, the story doesn’t end here. The roughly 2,000 soldiers found so far are estimated to be only one quarter of the total number. Moreover, scientists haven’t yet dared to touch the central tomb, which is believed to contain the body of the emperor himself.

“Partly it’s out of respect for the elders,” explained Kristin Romey, consultant for the exhibition. “But they also realize that nobody in the world right now has the technology to properly go in and excavate(挖掘) it.”

This is true. According to ancient writings, the emperor’s tomb is circled by rivers of liquid mercury(水银) which is highly poisonous but can keep the body in good condition. Studies of the soil around the tomb also found a large amount of mercury. This makes exploring the tomb very dangerous.

The other reason that scientists have been hesitating is that they are afraid of the damage they might cause by opening the tomb.

“When we began excavating ‘the soldiers’, the minute they were exposed to air and sunlight, the pigment(颜料) just flaked off (剥落),” Romey told the Fox News.

But he believes that the solution will come when science advances. Perhaps a visual robot can be sent into the tomb first to investigate and help figure out the best way to protect it.

In the end, scientists and historians must weigh their desire to know against the damage their digging might cause. “Archaeology, ultimately (最终),is a destructive science,” Romey said. “You have to destroy stuff in order to learn about it.”

1. What is the point of the article?

A．To tell about the mysteries of Qinshihuang’s tomb.

B．To analyze why archaeology is a destructive science.

C．To explain the risks of further excavating Qinshihuang’s tomb.

D．To introduce the Terracotta Warriors exhibition in New York.

2. What can be concluded from the article?

A．The decision whether to open the tomb or not is likely to be influenced by the pace of technological progress.

B．It is estimated that about 10,000 clay soldiers were buried with Qinshihuang in his grave.

C．The highly poisonous mercury was used by Qinshihuang to keep away those who attempt to destroy his tomb.

D．Scientists won’t excavate Qinshihuang’s tomb until they think of a good way to preserve the body of the emperor.

3. The underlined word “investigate” in the second-to-last paragraph probably means________.

A．settle down	B．arrange
C．take over	D．explore

4. What should scientists and historians pay attention to in their work according to the article?

A．They should respect the ancient world during their work.

B．They should balance the value and damages of their work.

C．They should always take their own safety into consideration.

D．They should have a continuous desire to know new things.

【推荐2】How fit are your teeth? Are you lazy about brushing them? Never fear: An inventor is on the case. An electric toothbrush senses how long and how well you brush, and it lets you track your performance on your phone.

The Kolibree toothbrush was exhibited at the International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas this week. It senses how it is moved and can send the information to an Android phone or iPhone via a Bluetooth wireless(无线的) connection.

The toothbrush will be able to teach you to brush right (don’t forget the insides of the teeth!) and make sure you’re brushing long enough. “It’s kind of like having a dentist actually watch your brushing on a day-to-day basis,” says Thomas Serval, the French inventor.

The toothbrush will also be able to talk to other applications on your phone, so developers could, for example, create a game controlled by your toothbrush. You could score points for beating monsters among your teeth. “We try to make it smart and fun,” Serval says.

Serval says he was inspired by his experience as a father. He would come home from work and ask his kids if they had brushed their teeth. They said “yes,” but Serval would find their toothbrush heads dry. He decided he needed a brush that really told him how well his children brushed.

The company says the Kolibree will go on sale this summer, from $99 to $199, and the U.S. is the first target market.

Serval says that one day, it’ll be possible to take the place of the brush one the handle with a brushing unit that also has a camera. The camera can even examine holes in your teeth while you brush.

1. Which is one of the feature of the Kolibree toothbrush?

A．It can help users find their phones.	B．It can track users’ school performance.
C．It can detect users’ fear of seeing a dentist.	D．It can sense how users brush their teeth.

2. What can we learn from Serval’s words in Paragraph 3?

A．You will find it enjoyable to see a dentist.

B．You should see your dentist on a day-to –day basis.

C．You can brush with the Kolibree as if guided by a dentist.

D．You’d like a dentist to watch you brush your teeth every day.

3. What is Paragraph 5 mainly about?

A．What inspired Serval to invent the toothbrush	B．Why Serval thought brushing teeth was necessary.
C．How Serval taught his kids to brush their teeth.	D．How Serval found out his kids lied to him.

4. What can we infer about Serval’s children?

A．They were unwilling to brush their teeth

B．They often failed to clean their toothbrushes.

C．They preferred to use a toothbrush with a dry head.

D．They liked brushing their teeth after Serval came home.

5. What can we learn about the future development of the Kolibree?

A．The brush handle will be removed.	B．It will be able to check users’ teeth
C．It will be used to fill holes in teeth	D．A mobile phone will be built into it.

【推荐3】Nikola Tesla Long overshadowed in public memory by his onetime employer, Thomas Edison. Tesla(1856—1943) was a brilliant scientist and engineer who earned more than 700 patents. He is famous for developing alternating current, but his work also led to advances in wireless communications, lasers, X-rays, radar, lighting, robotics, and much more.

Tesla was born to Serbian parents in what is now Croatia, but he emigrated to the U. S. as a young man where he eventually became a naturalized citizen. Besides Edison, who later became his bitter rival, Tesla often worked with inventor George Westinghouse. In 1893, the pair demonstrated their advances in lighting and motors in the “White City” at the Chicago World’s Fair. In 1895, Tesla and Westinghouse developed the world’s first hydroelectric power plant, at Niagara Falls.

At the turn of the century, Tesla set up a laboratory called Wardenclyffe in the small community of Shoreham Long Island, where he conducted some of his most ambitious experiments. The building was financed by J P. Morgan and designed by acclaimed architect Stanford White.

The most prominent feature was Wardenclyffe Tower, also called Tesla Tower. a 187-foot-tall metal lattice tower topped with a big antenna that was intended to beam communications and even energy across the Atlantic. Tesla ran out of money while building the tower and was foreclosed on twice. As with his previous Colorado Springs lab, assets were sold to pay up his debts. In 1917, the U.S. government blew up the tower, fearing that German spies were using it in World War I. The metal was sold for scrap. For decades, the building was used for photo processing.

“The tower is long gone, but the three-quarter-length statue of Tesla unveiled last week is a fitting memorial,” said Alcorn, a retired teacher. “This is the last remaining Tesla laboratory anywhere in the world,” she said. “He inspires those who work hard but don't get recognition, and people are starting to recognize how important his contributions are.”

As a sign of that growing appreciation, Elon Musk’s start-up electric car company Tesla Motors was named after the visionary inventor in 2003.

1. We can infer from Para. 1 that Tesla belonged to those       .

A．who weren’t brilliant enough as an inventor	B．who worked hard but didn’t get recognition
C．who have worked only for one employer	D．who helped Edison to earn many patents

2. Why did the U. S government destroy the tower?

A．To treat it as a sign of Germans failure in WWI.

B．To stop it from being used for photo processing.

C．To get its metal for the material of war.

D．To prevent it being used by German spies in WWI.

3. Which of the following can be seen as a sign of growing appreciation towards Tesla?

A．An electric car company was named after him.	B．A new statue of him was built in Croatia
C．People collect money to rebuild Tesla Tower	D．A lab was opened as a museum to Tesla

4. The purpose of writing this passage is to        .

A．explain why a car company was named Tesla	B．introduce the achievements of tesla
C．inspire us to learn from a famous scientist	D．record the contribution made by Tesla in WWI