In a recent announcement, Harvard and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology（MIT）said that they have joined forces to offer free online courses in an effort to attract millions of online learners worldwide.
Beginning this fall, a number of courses developed by teachers at both universities will be offered online through a new $60 million program, known as edX. “Anyone with an Internet connection anywhere in the world can use our online courses,” Harvard President Drew Faust said during a meeting to announce the plan.
MIT has offered a program called OpenCourseWare for ten years that makes materials from more than 2,000 classes free online. It has been used by more than 100 million people. In December, the school announced it also would begin offering a special certificate, known as MITx, for people who complete certain online courses. Harvard has long offered courses to a wider population through a similar program.
The MITx will serve as the foundation for the new learning platform.
MIT President Susan Hockfield said more than 120,000 people signed up for the first MITx course. She said Harvard and MIT hope other universities will join them in offering courses on the open-source edX platform.
“Fasten your seatbelts,” Hockfield said.
Other universities, including Stanford, Yale and Carnegie-Mellon, have been experimenting with teaching to a global population online.
The Harvard-MIT program will be monitored by a not-for-profit（非盈利的）organization based in Cambridge, to be owned equally by the two universities. Both MIT and Harvard have provided $30 million to start the program. They also plan to use the edX platform to research how students learn and which teaching methods and tools are most successful.
1. According to this text, edX is _______.| A．a part of the free MIT OpenCourseWare |
| B．a free computer program by MIT and Harvard |
| C．a Harvard-MIT platform of free online courses |
| D．a free program online for universities worldwide |
| A．Universities have been trying online courses. |
| B．About 2,000 online courses have been offered. |
| C．Over 100 million people have finished courses online. |
| D．Stanford and Yale together have courses similar to edX. |
| A．Get ready for the difficulties |
| B．Get ready for this educational change |
| C．Get prepared to complete the online courses |
| D．Get prepared to make materials for the edX courses |
| A．It is first offered as part of the edX learning program. |
| B．It is another free MIT-Harvard online learning program. |
| C．It is a standard to recognize online learners’ achievement. |
| D．It is a new kind of free online course of Harvard and MIT. |
相似题推荐
【推荐1】Bill Gates recently has predicted that online learning will make place-based colleges less significant, and five years from now, students will be able to find the best lectures in the world online. I applaud Mr. Gates. But what’s taking us so long?
As early as 1997, MIT(麻省理工) decided to post videos of all university lectures online, for free, for all people. But today, how many students have you met who mastered advanced mathematics or nuclear physics from an MIT online video? Unfortunately, the answer is not many. The problem is the poor quality of online education websites and the experience they provide to students. Those who go to the MIT website and watch courses online are surely very smart people, but it’s not like playing a video game such as World of Warcraft. Only the most ardent students, those who are highly motivated, will devote themselves to studying these boring online videos.
The real question is why we aren’t spending more to develop better online education platforms. Where is the Avatar of education? Think about this. The market for Hollywood films per year is worth around 30 billion USD. Education in the world is a trillion-dollar-a-year market, hundreds of times bigger than Hollywood movies. Yet the most expensive digital learning system ever built cost well under 100 million dollars.
Bill Gates’ prediction is going to happen. There is no doubt about it. But it will only happen when we create high level educational content and experiences that engage and excite more than has ever been possible in the real world.
1. What has Bill Gates forecast about online learning?| A．It will concentrate on physics lectures |
| B．It will completely replace real universities |
| C．It will help to make universities more successful |
| D．It will play an increasingly important role in education |
| A．Creative | B．Enthusiastic |
| C．Well-behaved | D．Experienced |
| A．The lack of lectures available online |
| B．The high cost of access to the websites |
| C．The low standard of educational websites |
| D．The competition with online computer games |
| A．To show that Hollywood produces many successful movies |
| B．To prove that education is more profitable than entertainment |
| C．To argue that movie directors should produce educational content |
| D．To urge that more money be spent developing educational websites |
【推荐2】The Tutorial System of Oxford University
In the University of Oxford, teaching is conducted primarily through the tutorial system. It is one of the most unique and well-known methods of teaching across the world.
The weekly tutorial consists of a one-hour meeting between the tutor and small numbers of students (usually two to four). During this time, an essay prepared specifically for that tutorial is read by students and commented upon by the tutor. At the end of the tutorial, the tutor will assign the topic of study for the coming week and suggest readings.
Tutorials have gained their reputation because of the close relationship they maintain between the tutor and the student. The tutorial system provides undergraduates with direct and in most cases weekly contact with tutors in their academic fields.
Before the weekly tutorial, students are required to prepare an essay or other works, which they read or present to the tutor. During each tutorial, students are expected to communicate, debate, analyze and critique the ideas of others as well as their own in conversations with the professor and fellow-students. The tutorial system has great value that it creates learning and assessment opportunities which are highly authentic (可靠的) and difficult to fake, as the student’s work is discussed on the spot.
However, during tutorials, students have the opportunity to explore their own ideas directly with experts in particular subjects.
| A．The greatest advantage of the tutorial system is the individual attention that students receive. |
| B．Tutorials can be considered the backbone of undergraduate teaching at Oxford. |
| C．Sometimes, the student may leave a tutorial with only a reading list and the title of the next essay. |
| D．Tutorials can greatly enhance the undergraduates’ academic performance. |
| E．The greatest advantage of the tutorial system is the various curriculums that students receive. |
| F．In the meantime, tutorials are also beneficial for developing students’ skills of critical analysis. |
【推荐3】The Broadcom MASTERS competition aims to find a balance between celebrating individual accomplishments and acknowledging that science seldom happens alone.The competition takes off when students from around the country are teamed up and have to solve a series of hands—on challenges in the spotlight.
Nowadays，kids are fed with“the myth of the lone scientist”，so placing such challenges in the middle school period has a huge potential for impact.The focus on teambuilding skills gets students excited before more fears and stereotypes(成见)set in.
The initial pool of qualified students comes from the participants in nation-wide science fairs.Those who score in the top 10％(about 1 0，000 kids)have the qualification to apply.The judges select the top 300 young scientists，and that group is finally narrowed to 30 finalists.
Selection at this stage is clearly an honor in itself，but it counts as step one for the finalists.They are then flown to Washington，D.C.and placed into teams of five for the hands-on part of the competition.Each team is made up of students with different talents and skills，including academic focus and experience.
Unlike the science fairs，where most of the work takes place behind the scenes and students share a polished outcome，the hands-on challenges create a space where the work is the competition itself.The students take up a range of challenges in science，technology，engineering，math and so on.Each of the challenges will need the insight and skills of multiple team members.
Judges observing the challenges aren’t just looking for outcomes but also for leadership，teamwork and problem solving.
The Broadcom MASTERS attracts increasing numbers of passionate and talented young people who are eager to take part in a program that helps them grow as scientists，engineers and inventors.It lets the students experience a sense of coming together with true peers.More importantly，it provides them with new skills to tackle future challenges.
1. What does the Broadcom MASTERS competition mainly focus on?| A．Individual accomplishments. | B．Hands-on challenges. |
| C．Academic performance. | D．Team work. |
| A．A large number of kids take part in the science fairs. |
| B．It’s not easy to be qualified as a member of the finalists. |
| C．The judges are too strict with the participants. |
| D．The nation-wide science fairs are well organized. |
| A．The Broadcom MASTERS competition has an increasing impact. |
| B．Middle school students prefer to challenge each other. |
| C．Students can learn more new skills from the Broadcom MASTERS. |
| D．The science fairs will be completely replaced by the Broadcom MASTERS. |
| A．Learning to Take on Scientific Challenges |
| B．Outstanding Students are Publicly Honored |
| C．Bringing Individual Potential to a Team Opportunity |
| D．The Science Fair:A Platform Where Students’Dreams Take off |
【推荐1】Swot satellite is scheduled to be launched Thursday morning to conduct a comprehensive survey of Earth’s vital resource. By using advanced microwave radar technology it will collect height-surface measurements of oceans, lakes and rivers in high-definition detail over 90% of the globe. It’s really the first time to observe nearly all water on the planet’s surface.
The major mission is to explore how oceans help to minimize climate change by absorbing atmospheric heat and carbon dioxide in a natural process. Oceans are estimated to have absorbed more than 90% of the extra heat trapped in the Earth’s atmosphere by human-caused greenhouse gases Swot will scan the seas from the orbit and precisely measure fine differences in surface elevations (高度) around smaller currents and eddies (漩涡), where much of the oceans’ decrease of heat and carbon is believed to occur. “Studying the mechanism will help climate scientists answer a key question: What is the turning point at which oceans start releasing, rather than absorbing, huge amounts of heat back into the atmosphere and speed up global warming, rather than limiting it,” said Nadya Shiffer, Swot’s program scientist.
By comparison, earlier studies of water bodies relied on data of rivers or oceans taken at specific points, or from satellites that can only track measurements along a one-dimensional line, requiring scientists to fill in data gaps through extrapolation (外推法). Thanks to the radar instrument, Swot can scan through cloud cover and darkness over wide ranges of the Earth. This enables scientists to accurately map their observations in two dimensions regardless of weather or time of day and to cover large geographic areas far more quickly than was previously possible.
“Rather than giving us a line of elevations, it’s giving us a map of elevations, and that’s just a total game changer,” said Tamlin Pavelsky, Swot freshwater science leader.
1. What does the underlined expression “vital resource” in the first paragraph refer to?| A．Technology. | B．Climate. | C．Oceans. | D．Water. |
| A．To explore the influences of greenhouse gases. |
| B．To explain the consequence of global warming. |
| C．To identify the causes of water absorbing heat and CO2. |
| D．To study the mechanism of oceans influencing climate. |
| A．The high-definition computer. |
| B．Advanced radar technology. |
| C．The three-dimensional image. |
| D．An accurate map of elevations. |
| A．A Solution to Climate Change |
| B．A Breakthrough in Space Travel |
| C．First Global Water Survey from Space |
| D．The Successful Launch of Swot Satellite |
【推荐2】Solving great space mystery
Monkey King, the hero in the classic Chinese novel Journey to the West, is making headlines again. On Nov 30, China’s Dark Matter Particle Explorer(DAMPE, 暗物质粒子探测卫星), which is named after Monkey King’s Chinese name Wukong, found mysterious signals in the universe that may help scientists learn more about dark matter, according to Xinhua News Agency.
“This is the first time scientists have found such detailed and precise signals, ” Chang Jin, vice director of the Purple Mountain Observatory of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (中国紫金山天文台), told Xinhua.
Dark matter is a type of hypothetical(假设的)matter in the universe. Scientists believe that it influences the movement of galaxies. However, no one has ever directly observed it.
Swiss astronomer Fritz Zwicky first used the term “dark matter” in 1933, when he spotted something very unusual. Some galaxies that Zwicky saw were spinning so fast that they should have scattered into all comers of the universe, but they didn’t. He realized there must have been something else there that had a strong enough gravitational pull to hold everything together. He called it“dark matter”.
In one sense, dark matter is like the wind：we can’t see it, but we know it’s there.
Finding out more about dark matter could help us understand how the universe began, but being able to do so isn’t easy. Scientists believe that when two dark matter particles crash together, they form new particles and produce high amounts of energy and heat. This is why explorers like Wukong are sent to find such particles.
Indeed, “Wu” means “understanding” and “kong” means “void(空的). ” The nickname symbolizes the main goal of DAMPE’s mission, which is to understand dark matter better.
Since its launch in 2015, DAMPE has already recorded 3. 5 billion high-energy particles, reported Newsweek. And according to Science, the satellite has a lifespan of five years, which means it still has three more years to “understand the void”. “DAMPE has opened a new window tor observing the high-energy universe, unveiling new physical phenomena beyond our current understanding, ” Chang told Xinhua.
1. On Nov 30, DAMPE______________.| A．was named Wukong by Chinese scientists |
| B．was successfully launched into space |
| C．located dark matter in the universe for the first time |
| D．detected clear signals related to dark matter |
| A．is a spinning galaxy |
| B．is a type of gravitational pull |
| C．is made up of invisible particles that hold galaxies together |
| D．makes mysterious stars scattered in the universe |
| A．the movement of galaxies |
| B．the origin of the universe |
| C．how crashes happen between dark matter particles |
| D．how to make use of high energy caused by crashes |
| A．It has recorded 35 billion high-energy particles so far. |
| B．It will be able to keep working for another five years. |
| C．It was made to observe and identify dark matter in the universe. |
| D．It could help prevent dark matter particles crashing together. |
【推荐3】China dropped is decades-long, one-child policy several years ago to allow each family to have two children.This change has put 270 million married women of childbearing age in the position of choosing between family and work.The employers also face big challenges as more female workers will have two maternity leaves（产假）for a total of seven to eight months.
In a survey published by classified advertising website Ganji.com，career women who might be considering having a second child were asked what kinds of pressure they might expect.More than 76 percent of the women who were questioned mentioned concerns about the financial burden of raising two children, while more than 71 percent said it would be difficult to balance career and family. In addition, nearly 56 percent said that having a second child would definitely have a negative effect on their career.
Another survey conducted by Chongging-based human resources website job. cg. qq. com found that over 70 percent of job seekers believe that having a second child would make females less popular in the job market, although two-thirds of the employers said the policy will make no difference in their employment of staff.
Feng Lijuan,a senior expert on human resources at 51 job. com, a leading Chinese job finding platform, said she would not say “there is prejudice against career women.” Feng said Chinese women shoulder more family responsibility. “It is not only about maternity leave; a female employee might only fully get back to work after three to five years after having her first child.”
Wang Yixin,a senior employment adviser, said the positive side is that more companies are trying to attract more talents by providing support to career women. “Different from before, it is not only employers choosing employees. Many talents, including professional career women, also chose employers.” said Wang. “According to our survey, many large companies are very open to their employees' choice of having a second child.”
1. According to the second survey, having a second child would .| A．have no effect on career women |
| B．have a negative effect on career women |
| C．have a positive effect on career women |
| D．have both positive and negative effects on career women |
①Financial burden of raising two children
②Fewer opportunities to get a pay rise
③Negative effects on their career
④Difficulty in balancing career and family
| A．①②③ | B．②③④ | C．①③④ | D．①②④ |
| A．there is more prejudice against career women |
| B．they shoulder more family responsibility |
| C．they have longer maternity leaves to enjoy |
| D．having a second child makes them less popular |
| A．Effects of Two-child Policy on Women |
| B．Disadvantages of Raising Two Children |
| C．Responsibilities of Career Women |
| D．Different attitudes of Employers to Women |
【推荐1】SYDNEY —Australian scientists have designed a system which uses microwaves to break down plastic into an environmentally friendly by-product.
Head of Electrical Engineering at Australia’s James Cook University, Prof. Mohan Jacob revealed on Thursday that by using microwaves, plastic waste can be converted into biochar(生物炭), charcoal that can be used as a soil conditioner.
“We are developing a processing room, which could process many kinds of plastic materials, up to 5 kilograms of waste,” Jacob said. “It will be a typical example system for the development of biochars from different types of plastics under various conditions.” Jacob explained that microwave energy is used to heat the plastic waste above 600 degrees centigrade within the custom-made room, where it ends up as a biochar, which can then be used to improve the properties of soil.
Currently underway is step one of the project, testing the room, after which, step two will involve improving the energy efficiency of the system and maximizing the yield of by-products. If all goes to plan, step three will be to construct a medium scale waste processing system which is customizable and can be installed remotely.
Jacob said that with the average person using 130 kg of plastic every year, there is an urgent need for developing better ways of processing it.
“Perhaps contrary to popular opinion, plastic is an indispensable material in modern life. It is cheap, competent, lightweight, and has many benefits like maintaining food quality and safety and preventing waste,” he said.
However, “abandoned plastics endanger our marine wildlife, and have begun to enter the food chain. There is an urgent need for developing technologies to recover plastic waste.”
1. How does the system function?| A．Microwaves are used to produce plastic. |
| B．Plastic waste is heated in the microwaves. |
| C．Plastic waste is cut into pieces and buried into the soil. |
| D．Microwaves change plastic waste into biochar by heating. |
| A．Plastic consumption now is acceptable. |
| B．Plastic should be abandoned in our life. |
| C．The system of processing plastic has come into use. |
| D．Finding better ways to deal with plastic waste is urgent. |
| A．Make up for a loss in time. |
| B．Find or regain lost possession. |
| C．Extract or recycle an energy source for reuse. |
| D．Return to a normal state of health, mind or strength. |
| A．3 steps of processing plastic waste. |
| B．A way of producing plastic products easily. |
| C．A new system of breaking down plastic waste. |
| D．A program designed for plastic use in the daily life. |
【推荐2】Robyn Rihanna Fenty has rocked the entertainment world with her contributions to pop music. She was born on February 20, 1988, in Saint Michael, Barbados. In her early teens, Rihanna was greatly inspired by reggae (雷盖音乐) singer Bob Marley and pop singer Madonna. She was lucky enough to get her first opportunity at the age of 15, when her friend introduced her to an experienced music composer Evan Rogers from New York.
Rihanna moved to US to start a career in music, and recorded under the guidance of Rogers and his partner Carl Sturken. Later, Shane Carter recognized her talent and had her sign a contract with Def Jam Recordings.
Rihanna has been musically influenced by famous artists, such as Beyonce Knowles, Madonna, Mariah Carey, Alicia Keys, and Bob Marley. In 2005,Rihanna released her debut album (首张专辑) “Music of the Sun'”, which included the single hit “Pon de Replay”. This single broke all records and peaked at No. 2 on the US Billboard Hot 100 charts, as well as the UK charts. Her second single “If It’s Lovin’ That You Want” was at No. 36 on the Billboard Hot 100 charts, and No. 11 on the UK charts.
Rihanna released her second album, “A Girl Like Me” in 2006, which included the hit song and lead single “S.O.S” (Rescue Me). This single peaked at the number one position on the Billboard Hot 100.
In 2006, Rihanna also tried her luck in films, and made her acting debut playing a role in “Bring It On: All or Nothing”. The next year, she released her third album “Good Girl Gone Bad”',which had hit tracks like “Umbrella”, “Hate That I Love You”,and “Don’t Stop the Music'”, among others. In the same year, at the MTV Video Music Awards, Rihanna won two awards for the hit single “Umbrella”. In 2008, Rihanna won her first Grammy Award for her hit single “Umbrella”. So far, Rihanna has won 45 awards in various categories.
1. What plays an important role in Rihanna’s success?| A．The support of her friends. |
| B．The encouragement of her family. |
| C．The education she received at school. |
| D．The help and influence of successful musicians. |
| A．She started a career in music. |
| B．She began to act in films. |
| C．She began to release albums. |
| D．She won her first Grammy Award. |
| A．It was released in 2006. |
| B．It was included in her third album. |
| C．It was not as successful as her first single. |
| D．It was more successful than her third single. |
| A．Umbrella. | B．Pon de Replay. |
| C．Hate That I Love You. | D．Don't Stop the Music. |
【推荐3】Cooperation at work is generally seen as a good thing. The latest survey by the Financial Times of what employers want from MBA graduates found that the ability to work with a wide variety of people was what managers wanted most. But managers always have to balance the benefits of teamwork, which help ensure that everyone is working towards the same goal, with the dangers of “groupthink” when critics are reluctant to point out a plan’s drawbacks for fear of being kept out of the group. The disastrous Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba in 1961 was a classic case of groupthink. Skeptics were reluctant to challenge John F. Kennedy, the newly elected American president.
Modern communication methods mean that cooperation is more frequent. Workers are constantly in touch with each other via e-mail messaging groups or mobile calls. But does that improve, or lower performance? A new study by three American academics, tried to answer this question. They set a logical problem (designing the shortest route for a travelling salesman visiting various cities). Three groups were involved: one where subjects acted independently; another where they saw the solutions posted by team members at every stage; and a third where they were kept informed of each other’s views only intermittently.
The survey found that members of the individualist group reached the premier solution more often than the constant cooperators but had a poorer average result. The intermittent cooperators found the right result as often as the individualists, and got a better average solution. When it comes to ideal generation, giving people a bit of space to a solution seems to be a good idea. Occasional cooperation can be a big help: most people have benefited from a colleague’s brainwave or (just as often) wise advice to avoid a particular course of action.
Further clues come from a book, Superminds, by Thomas Malone of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He says that three factors determine the collective intelligence of cooperating groups: social intelligence (how good people were at rating the emotional states of others); the extent to which members took part equally in conversation (the more equal, the better); and the cooperation of women in the group (the higher, the better). Groups ranked highly in these areas cooperated far better than others.
In short, cooperation may be a useful tool but it doesn’t work in every situation.
1. The author cites the example of The Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba in paragraph 1 to _______.| A．prove that team players are skilled at communication |
| B．show that teamwork cannot always be beneficial |
| C．prove that critics are unwilling to challenge anybody |
| D．show the danger of groupthink is not very serious |
| A．those who do not cooperate but reach the best solution |
| B．those who are seldom informed of other’s views |
| C．those who cooperate with others occasionally |
| D．the constant cooperators with a poor average result |
| A．Group members cooperating all the time. |
| B．Group members in a good emotional state. |
| C．Equal distribution of men and women. |
| D．Equal participation in the communication. |
| A．When Teamwork Works | B．What Teamwork Is About |
| C．How Teamwork Operates | D．A Useful Tool: Cooperation |
【推荐1】We were five minutes into a severe winter storm — approaching Boston’s Logan International Airport — when I turned to the woman next to me and said, “Hey, would you mind chatting with me for a few minutes?” My seatmate seemed friendly and I suddenly felt desperate for a human connection.
“Sure. My name is Sue,” the woman replied, smiling warmly. “What brings you to Boston?” I started to explain that I was on a business trip. Then the plane trembled violently, and I blurted out, “I might need to hold your hand too.” Sue took my hand in both of hers, patted it, and held on tight.
Sometimes a stranger can significantly improve our day. ① A pleasant meeting with someone we don’t know, even an unspoken exchange, can calm us when no one else is around. It may get us out of our own heads — a proven mood lifter — and help broaden our vision. Sandstrom, a psychologist and senior lecturer at the University of Essex, has found that people’s moods improve after they have a conversation with a stranger. And yet most of us resist talking to people we don’t know or barely know. We worry about how to start, maintain, or stop it. We think we will keep talking and disclose too much, or not talk enough. We are afraid we will bore the other person. We’re typically wrong.
② In a study in which Sandstrom asked participants to talk to at least one stranger a day for five days, 99 percent said they had found at least one of the exchanges pleasantly surprising, 82 percent said they’d learned something from one of the strangers, 43 percent had exchanged contact information, and 40 percent had communicated with one of the strangers again.
③ Multiple studies show that people who interact regularly with passing acquaintances or who engage with others through community groups, religious gatherings, or volunteer opportunities have better emotional and physical health and live longer than those who do not. One person took up the cello after chatting with a woman on the subway who was carrying one. Another recalled how the smile of a fruit salesman from whom he regularly bought bananas made him feel less lonely after he’d first arrived in a new city.
④ When Sue took my hand on that scary flight to Boston, I almost wept with relief. “Hey, this is a little bumpy, but we will be on the ground safely soon,” she told me. She looked so encouraging, and confident. I asked her what she did for a living. “I’m a retired physical education teacher, and I coached women’s volleyball,” she said. Immediately, I could see what an awesome coach she must have been.
When we said goodbye, I gave Sue a big hug and my card. A few days later, I received an e-mail with the subject line “Broken hand on Jet Blue.” “I have to admit that I was just as scared as you were but did not say it,” Sue wrote. “I just squeezed your hand as hard as I could. Thank you for helping me through this very scary situation.” She added that when she’d told her friends about our conversation, they teased her because they know she loves to talk. I told my friends about Sue too. I explained how kind she was to me, and what I learned: It’s OK to ask for help from a stranger if you need it. Now if I mention to my friends that I am stressed or worried, they respond, “Just think of Sue!”
1. The writer struck up a conversation with her seatmate because ________.| A．they were heading for the same city on business |
| B．she was in urgent need of emotional comfort |
| C．the plane’s abrupt movement was unbearable |
| D．the woman was friendlier than other passengers |
| A．It lights up our otherwise unsuccessful life. |
| B．It saves us the trouble of talking too much. |
| C．It improves our ability to think and understand |
| D．It guarantees us a lasting feeling of happiness. |
| A．To present the benefits of interacting with acquaintances. |
| B．To show it lifts mood to make and meet with new friends. |
| C．To stress it is necessary to associate with unknown people. |
| D．To relieve anxiety about communicating with strangers. |
| A．① | B．② | C．③ | D．④ |
| A．The writer was impressed with Sue’s ability to inspire others. |
| B．The writer herself could have been a volleyball player. |
| C．Sue possessed obvious characters of a qualified PE teacher. |
| D．Sue became the coach of the writer as a consequence. |
| A．Regretful. | B．Surprised. | C．Disappointed. | D．Satisfied. |
【推荐2】Selecting what to wear can be a difficult problem, especially if you’re a fashion victim.
Trying to follow the latest styles involves regular visits to the shops and sometimes spending much money on expensive designer clothes．But when the fashion changes, these clothes had to stay in the back of cupboards gathering dust, or just get thrown away.
There are many stores that now offer cheap “fast fashion”—low-price items that imitate the styles of more expensive designer brands.
Environmentalists are angered by the amount of energy involved in making these clothes and that many of them are made from non-recyclable materials. This means that items are just burned or go into landfill.
Writing about this for the BBC, Eleanor Lawrie says that people in the UK are the worst in Europe for doing this—with a million tons of unwanted textiles a year being thrown away.
And she says, “on top of often poor labour conditions for garment workers, the fashion industry is responsible for 20％of the world’s waste water, and 10％of carbon emissions.”
This is something the fashion industry is becoming more aware of and has led to a new crop of biomaterials that replace wasteful textiles like cotton and leather.
Examples include Piňatex, a leather-like substance made from pineapple leaves. It’s been used in collections by Hugo Boss and H&M. And there’s mycelium, the root structure of mushrooms, that’s being used to create food, packaging and textiles. Cotton is a very resource-intense crop to grow. Eleanor Lawrie says, “about 15.000 litres of water are required to make one pair of 1eans.
So, buying organic cotton is a better choice. And there is also Tencel(天丝绒), also known as Lyocell(莱赛尔纤维绒), a natural product that’s now growing in popularity. It’s made by obtaining fibre from trees; its manufacture is thought to use 95％less water than cotton processing.
But creating sustainable(可持续的)textiles is only part of the battle-buying ethically(符合道德准则地), buying second hand and buying fewer clothes are the obvious environmentally friendly choices．
1. What does “fashion victim” mean according to the first paragraph?| A．People who are fed up with fashion． | B．People who pursue fashion blindly． |
| C．People who show no concern about fashion． | D．People who oppose fashion strongly． |
| A．Pineapple leaves． | B．Mushroom root． | C．Lyocell． | D．Cotton． |
| A．Cloth producers should produce less clothes． |
| B．Customers should be sensible when purchasing clothes． |
| C．Customers should wear old clothes rather than buy new ones． |
| D．Fashion industry should sell second hand and environmentally friendly clothes． |
| A．Many of the clothes that can’t be recycled are just burned or go into landfill． |
| B．About 15，000 litres of water are required to make one pair of jeans with cotton but Tencel is thought to use 95％of the water than cotton processing． |
| C．People in the UK are the worst in the world for throwing away unwanted textiles according to Eleanor Lawrie． |
| D．There is no crop of biomaterials that replace wasteful textiles like cotton and leather． |
【推荐3】Store owners have been inventing new tricks to get consumers into their stores and purchasing their goods. Even as we find new strategies to resist, neuroscientists (神经科学家) are employed at marketing agencies across the country to best figure out what is going through a consumer’s brain at each point in the decision process.
We consumers overspend due to the fact that we have a fear of missing the really good deal or having to pay more for the same thing and lose money. Normally, the prefrontal cortex ( 前 额皮 层 ) controls our emotional reactions to things, and keeps us from acting unreasonably by calming down our fears. But an advertiser can disturb our prefrontal cortex just by displaying flashy deal signs, encouraging it to do math on how much money we might save now by buying more of something we don’t actually need yet.
Nostalgia, that regretful affection for past events, is another strong influencer during the holiday season, and it’s shaped by emotion. Emotion—whether good or bad—enhances the formation of memories, engaging more parts of the brain. So hearing a nephew singing a carol, for instance, might reawaken memories associated with that particular song in a much more powerful way than hearing that same nephew sing another song. These kinds of memories are brought back even more easily by sensory input. This might be why we are often greeted by a sensory reminder everywhere we go in a month.
Wherever you purchase gifts, there are social influences on what you buy as well. The holidays are a time when we are especially conditioned to pay more for the label because we’re buying gifts. Receiving a brand-name gift sends the message that “this person has spent more on me, so he or she must value me more.” And it makes sense. If two things seem pretty much the same, how do I know which to choose? Humans have survived as a social species, and we have to rely on each other. So when our brains are trying to make decisions, one of the shortcuts is to assume that if a lot of other people prefer something (and higher cost is often a predictor of that), then there must be a reason.
Much of our holiday spending is driven by unplanned purchases. Plan ahead, resist the urge to purchase in the moment, make notes for comparison shopping, and if the deal is actually good, then it will hold up to inspection and you’ll feel good about your purchases later. Before you blow your budget this season, remember that your brain might be fooling you into that next purchase.
1. From Paragraph 2, we learn that ______.| A．the prefrontal cortex is the calculation center |
| B．the common consumers always act unreasonably |
| C．the sight of flashy deal signs may fill consumers with fear |
| D．the advertisers make consumers pay more for the same thing |
| A．Creating a festival atmosphere. | B．Following the current fashion. |
| C．Preparing more free samples. | D．Offering a bigger discount. |
| A．They are more reliable. | B．They are a sign of social status. |
| C．They make people feel valued. | D．They are favored by most people. |
| A．buy in the moment | B．reduce our budget |
| C．return unnecessary products | D．make a plan in advance |
