Roboticists at the University of California San Diego have developed an affordable, easy to use system to track the location of flexible surgical robots inside the human body. The system performs as well as current state of the art methods, but the whole system, including the robot, magnets and magnet localization setup, costs around $100. Many current methods also require exposure to radiation, while this system does not.
The system was developed by Tania Morimoto, a professor of mechanical engineering at the Jacobs School of Engineering at UC San Diego, and mechanical engineering Ph. D. student Connor Watson.
“Continuum medical robots work really well in highly constrained (受限的) environments inside the body,” Morimoto said. “But it becomes a lot harder to track their location and their shape inside the body.” The researchers used existing magnet localization methods, which work very much like GPS, to develop a computer model that predicts the robot’s location.
GPS satellites ping (发送) smartphones and based on how long it takes for the signal to arrive, the GPS receiver in the smartphone can determine where the cell phone is. Similarly, researchers know how strong the magnetic field should be around the magnet placed in the robot. They rely on four sensors that are carefully spaced around the area where the robot operates to measure the magnetic field strength. Based on how strong the field is, they are able to determine where the tip of the robot is.
Morimoto and Watson went a step further. They then trained a neural network to learn the difference between what the sensors were reading and what the model said the sensors should be reading. As a result, they improved localization accuracy to track the tip of the robot. “Ideally we are hoping that our localization tools can help improve these kinds of growing robot technologies. We do want to push this research forward so that we can test our system in a clinical setting and eventually translate it into clinical use,” Morimoto said.
1. What be learnt about the system according to the text?| A．It’s complex. | B．It’s low-cost. |
| C．It’s delicate. | D．It’s radioactive. |
| A．The system’s working principle. |
| B．The function of GPS satellites. |
| C．The reason for inventing the system, |
| D．The necessity of inventing the system. |
| A．It’ll be environmentally-friendly. | B．It’ll be sold on the Internet soon, |
| C．I’ll be easy for us to operate. | D．It’ll be tested with real patients. |
| A．A diary. | B．A guidebook. |
| C．A magazine. | D．A novel. |
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【推荐1】Mayen was born on the way to a refugee camp (难民营) in Uganda during wartime. His parents fled from South Sudan and its decades-long civil war. For 22 of his 24 years of life, he grew up there, with no electricity. When Mayen saw a laptop at a registration station for the refugee camp, he told his mother he wanted one. She saved up for three years to buy one for him. When she gave it to him in 2013 , he burst into tears.
He took it to an Internet café, charged his computer and discovered the joy of playing games. He didn’t know how video games were made. But he knew in his heart he wanted to learn to code.
He needed instruction. A friend gave him coding tutorials as well as a copy of video game: Grand Theft Auto, which encourages players to take violent actions. But as a child born in a violent war, Mayen thought about how to create a game that could inspire peace. He taught himself to make games and formed his own company, Junub Games.
“I realized the power of gaming,” he said. “Games can be helpful for peace and conflict resolution.”
With the inspiration, he created a game called Salaam (an Arabic word that means peace), about protecting communities from destruction. Mayen shared the game on his Facebook page, and that’s when he started attracting international attention.
In 2018, Mayen appeared at The Game Awards in Los Angeles, where he was named a Global Gaming Citizen for using gaming to promote “positivity” and community. His vision is to use the game to inspire empathy for refugees. He’s working on a charitable component so that when players make in-app purchases of extra resources in the game, a portion would go to an organization at a refugee camp. In this way, they’re supporting actual refugees’ lives.
Mayen now lives in Washington, D.C. working with a small team on a virtual reality game. “Maybe one day, my dream will come true, making the biggest video game studio that makes games for peace,” Mayen said.
1. Mayen’s journey to becoming a game developer can be described as ________.| A．rare and amazing | B．smooth and lucky |
| C．rocky and rough | D．painful and tearful |
| A．His dream to distinguish himself in the field. |
| B．Games’ power of promoting peace and community. |
| C．His hope to earn enough money to support his family. |
| D．Games’ function as a charitable activity. |
| A．A Man’s Struggle for Peace. |
| B．From Refugee Camp to Washington D. C. |
| C．A Man’s Road to Success. |
| D．From Refugee to Game Developer. |
【推荐2】Pigeons in London have a bad reputation. Some people call them flying rats. And many blame them for causing pollution with their droppings. But now the birds are being used to fight another kind of pollution in this city of 8.5 million.
“The problem for air pollution is that it’s been largely ignored as an issue for a long time,” says Andrea Lee, who works for the London-based environmental organization Client Earth. “People don’t realize how bad it is, and how it actually affects their health.” London’s poor air quality is linked to nearly 10,000 early deaths a year. Lee says, citing(引用)a report released by the city manager last year. If people were better informed about the pollution they’ re breathing, she says, they could pressure the government to do something about it.
Nearby, on a windy hill in London’s Regent’s Park, an experiment is underway that could help—the first week of flights by the Pigeon Air Patrol. It all began when Pierre Duquesnoy, the director for DigitasLBi, a marketing firm, won a London Design Festival contest last year to show how a world problem could be solved using Twitter. Duquesnoy, from France, chose the problem of air pollution.
“Basically, I realized how important the problem was,” he says. “But also I realized that most of the people around me didn’t know anything about it.” Duquesnoy says he wants to better measure pollution, while at the same time making the results accessible to the public through Twitter.
“So”, he wondered, “how could we go across the city quickly collecting as much data as possible?” Drones were his first thought. But it’s illegal to fly them over London. “But pigeons can fly above London, right?” he says. “They live—actually, they are Londoners as well. So, yeah, I thought about using pigeons equipped with mobile apps. And we can use not just street pigeons, but racing pigeons, because they fly pretty quickly and pretty low.”
So it might be time for Londoners to have more respect for their pigeons. The birds may just be helping to improve the quality of the city’s air.
1. What can we infer about London’s air quality from Paragraph 2?| A．Londoners are very satisfied with it. |
| B．The government is trying to improve it. |
| C．Londoners should pay more attention to it. |
| D．The government has done a lot to improve it. |
| A．entertain Londoners. | B．solve a world problem. |
| C．design a product for sale. | D．protect animals like pigeons. |
| A．Because they are too expensive. | B．Because they fly too quickly. |
| C．Because they are forbidden. | D．Because they fly too high. |
| A．Clean air in London. | B．London’s dirty secret. |
| C．London’s new pollution fighter. | D．Causes of air pollution in London. |
【推荐3】One of the things that makes your smart-phone so smart is that if you pull it out in the sun, it senses that—and dials up the screen brightness to compensate. But it’s not a perfect solution.
“First of all, it’s still not bright enough—you have to remember how respectable sunlight is.” Shin-Tson Wu, a physicist at the University of Central Florida. The other problem, he says of the brightened screen, is it kills the battery. So Wu and colleagues have produced a battery-sparing alternative: an anti-reflective screen-coating. Based on the eyes of moths. “Nature is so rich! We can learn a lot from nature. “The thing Wu and others have learned about moth eyes, is that they’re uneven, dotted with tiny projections. That uneven surface reduces the reflection of light off their eyes- thought to help the bugs escape predators (捕食者), and see better in low light. So Wu and his team built a similar surface with tiny dimples (凹), to cut down on glare. He says the dimpled coating could improve the readability of a screen by five to 10 times, compared to a normal smart-phone screen. The details are in the journal Optica.
The tech hasn’t been commercialized yet, and that could take a few years. Which gives researchers time to take advantage of another property of these surfaces: they’re flexible. Meaning the possibility of bendable displays. Combine that with the bendy batteries we reported on in a recent podcast(播客), and it looks the smart-phones of the future could be set for a real transformation.
1. Why do the researchers develop the anti-reflective screen-coating?| A．To brighten the screen. | B．To make profits. |
| C．To take in the sunlight. | D．To save the use of battery. |
| A．The predators. | B．The reflection of light. |
| C．The eyes of moths. | D．The smooth surface. |
| A．It helps bugs escape. |
| B．It slows down reading. |
| C．The smooth surface protects our eyes. |
| D．The rough surface decreases the reflection of light. |
| A．I’ll transform itself. | B．I’ll be environment-friendly. |
| C．I’ll reach consumers soon. | D．I’ll be powered by recyclable batteries. |
【推荐1】On Tuesday, the Amazon Company introduced Amazon One, which connects your palm (手掌)print to a stored credit card so you can place your hand above a sensor to enter and leave easily after buying at checkout-free Amazon（AMZN）Go stores.
Dilip Kumar, Amazon’s vice president told CNN Business that Amazon One had been used since long before the COVID-19. But the timing could be a positive for Amazon: Customers may find such payment convenient, and businesses also find it hopeful.
Yet the use of the Amazon One could raise eyebrows, too. Amazon has once come under fire from people who care about its facial-recognition software. When it comes to Amazon One data. Kumar said all palm pictures are coded and Amazon stores them online.
“I encourage people to try it, see how they like the experience,” Kumar said. You can hold your palm above an Amazon One scanner to enter the store. Then, anything you take will be automatically (自动地) charged to the credit card connected to their palm. Amazon One will make shopping faster and more convenient. Before trying it, users must place a credit card in an Amazon One device and hold a palm above it, facing down, so it can be scanned. The camera in it takes many pictures of the fine lines of the palm, and catches some details, which can’t be seen in typical photographs.
Amazon One now can be bought at two of the Amazon Go stores in Seattle, at 7th Avenue and Blanchard Street, and in the South Lake Union neighborhood.
1. Why is Amazon One introduced?| A．To ensure the safety. | B．To have a test. |
| C．To see credit cards. | D．To pay easily. |
| A．Being quite hot. | B．Receiving ill comments. |
| C．Getting on fire. | D．Gaining wide recognition. |
| A．Doubtful. | B．Objective. | C．Supportive. | D．Unclear. |
| A．Pay with your palm. | B．The Amazon Company. |
| C．Pay with your face. | D．Ways to attract customers. |
【推荐2】The UK is already a world leader in developing the technology of connected and automated vehicles（also known as CAVs）. Aware of its potential benefits—from improving road safety and reducing traffic congestion, to enabling greater travel independence—the government has been playing an active role in encouraging the technology. One initiative that received government backing is FLOURISH, a research and development project looking at how CAVs can help people less able to travel.
"We're on the cusp of one of the most profound changes ever to happen to our transport system, enabled by new technologies such as self-driving vehicles," said lain Forbes, head of the Centre for CAVs. "These changes could transform the lives of some disabled or older people who currently find it tough to use the transport system.
"However, we won't get there unless those designing the technology engage properly with a wide range of transport users. That is why the government is investing in projects such as FLOURISH, which bring technology companies together with transport users to help ensure our future transport system works for everyone."
FLOURISH adopted a user-centred approach to design and development, with the needs of older adults being the focus of their work. Several trials with older adults have been held over the past three years using simulated environments and self-driving pods, similar to cars.
One of the participants in the trials, Robin, a 76-year-old former BBC journalist says: "It's going to be quite awful when I can't get in a car and go where I want to. It's all very well using the bus, but your friends don't necessarily live by a bus stop and, as you get older, you don't want to walk that far."
Mervyn Kohler, an Age UK spokesman, who has contributed to discussions about mobility and older people for the last 30 years, believes FLOURISH's approach will be key to the positive impact self-driving cars have on older adults. "There is obviously a connection between loneliness and mobility. If you are finding it difficult to get around or are experiencing poor health, either physical or mental, your quality of life is going to be lower." says Mervyn. "We've got to help people get out and about, and this points expressly to the idea of driverless cars."
"FLOURISH is important because it has particularly worked with older people to help develop the technology they would use to interact with a CAV," says Tracey Poole, FLOURISH's project manager. "They often find it difficult to programme the computer with their bad arthritis and poor eyesight. Thus, if we can provide them with a voice recognition way of controlling their journey, that is probably a good idea."
1. According to Iain, what is the purpose of investing in projects like FLOURISH?| A．To call for greater concentration on the needs of older adults. |
| B．To promote technology companies' engagement with transport users. |
| C．To encourage the most profound changes brought by self-driving vehicle. |
| D．To transform the lives of some disabled or older people unable to travel. |
| A．Unconcerned. | B．Critical. |
| C．Favorable. | D．Opposed. |
| A．The UK government attaches greater importance to improving road safety. |
| B．Driverless cars have been widely accessible to older adults. |
| C．Mervyn believes people's loneliness is caused by difficulty in getting around. |
| D．FLOURISH is likely to apply voice recognition to self-driving cars. |
| A．Self-driving cars have a positive effect on older adults. |
| B．How can CAVs help people less able to travel in the future? |
| C．FLOURISH makes self-driving cars beneficial to older people. |
| D．Whether or not could self-driving cars soon be a reality? |
【推荐3】The fire at Notre-Dame de Paris has been put out, but its spire and a large part of its wooden roof have been damaged. The terrible damage causes a sudden pain for people all over the world. What a pity that we cannot see the damaged parts of the wonder anymore.
But the good news is that we can see them through a video game called Assassin’s Creed Unity. In this game, the player can travel to one city after another and enter the buildings exactly like what they are in reality, and see Notre-Dame as it was before the fire. Further, with virtual (虚拟的) reality technology one can even look around the undamaged Notre-Dame as if it were still there. Maybe digital technology could help to better protect the architectural cultural heritage.
The idea of making digital models of ancient buildings to save their data dates back to the 1990s and the necessary technology has continued to advance since then. By scanning (扫描) the ancient buildings, building 3D models with a series of images, as well as measuring (测量) everything accurately, engineers can make a copy as accurate as the real one.
As computers and smartphones are hugely popular, the digital model has great useful value. First, it allows tourists to feel the cultural relics without touching them. The virtual tour of the Mogao Caves in Gansu Province is a good example of this as tourists can view the paintings without standing near them. Furthermore, it can make the digitized cultural relics more famous through the Internet. In 2000, a virtual tour of the Great Wall became very popular at the Hanover World Expo, which increased the number of foreign tourists visiting the site in the following years. Above all, it preserves all the information of the cultural relics.
Of course, however accurate a model is, it is not the original (原件). Maybe we will have better technologies in the future, but digital technology offers a useful way to preserve the architectural cultural heritage at the moment.
1. What can we see about Notre-Dame in the game?| A．The big fire. | B．Its original look. |
| C．Its wooden shape. | D．The damaged Notre-Dame. |
| A．Build 3D models of full size. | B．Scan photos of the buildings. |
| C．Measure all their parts exactly. | D．Take apart the ancient buildings. |
| A．By giving examples. | B．By classification. |
| C．By comparison. | D．By listing data. |
| A．Delighted. | B．Supportive. | C．Doubtful. | D．Unconcerned. |
【推荐1】A scanning system combined with artificial intelligence is automatically assessing cows’ health status twice a day on dozens of “smart” dairy farms across the UK.
Overhead three-dimensional cameras film the animals’ backs as they leave the milking bam, while sensors read their individual identity tags. The associated computers then use machine learning to process the data, providing farmers with critical daily information about each cow’s weight, body condition and mobility. “We can detect certain health conditions, including lameness (跛行) , just by scanning the cows walking past, without even having to see their hooves (蹄子),” says Wenhao Zhang at the University of the West of England (UWE) in Bristol, UK.
While farmers are well trained to recognise such issues as early as possible, they often miss subtle, day-to-day changes in individual cows. Because they are a prey (猎物) species, cows will also naturally hide signs of discomfort, such as lameness, when they think they are being watched, says Melvyn Smith, who designed the system with Mark Hansen, both at UWE.
In an initial study of 200 dairy cows on one farm, Smith, Hansen and their colleagues placed a computer and 3D cameras in a milking bam. They aimed the cameras over an arrow walkway that cows pass through when they are finished milking. A near tag reader,set at the cows, head level, sets off the cameras to record. “The beauty of this equipment is that it’s just passively sitting there, unobserved by the animal,” says Smith. “And every time they go past — so every time they’re milked, which is usually twice a day — it’s gathering data.”
Kate Dutton-Regester at the University of Queensland in Australia says the system is “a great innovation”. “The dairy industry needs an automated, non-intrusive (非侵入式) monitoring system that can aid dairy farmers in observing the health of their herd in a timely and efficient manner, and this technology meets those criteria,” she says.
1. What can we know about the scanning system?| A．It was designed by Wenhao Zhang. |
| B．It can monitor the health of the cows. |
| C．It can help cure the lameness of the cows. |
| D．It provides farms with farming information. |
| A．To compare different scanning devices. |
| B．To demonstrate their high skills in farming. |
| C．To stress the advantage of the scanning system. |
| D．To introduce the operation of the scanning system. |
| A．It includes a 3D camera. | B．It can gather data. |
| C．It can’t be noticed by cows. | D．It is beautifully designed. |
| A．The dairy industry needs improving. |
| B．Well-trained farmers will be replaced. |
| C．The scanning system has been widely used. |
| D．The scanning system benefits the dairy industry. |
【推荐2】Life doesn't always turn out the way we'd like.When situations take an unfriendly turn，we become upset，frustrated and angry.When others don't agree with us, live their lives the way we think they should not，or act in a manner we find disturbing，anger is a typical reaction.It seems that we feel anger gives us the momentary feeling of power in a situation where we feel we have lost authority(权威). However，in fact, with the exception of a few cases，an angry reaction rarely improves the situation.It only makes the situation worse.Thoughtful consideration of what feelings and replies are most advantageous actually restores our real power.So consider the following alternatives(替代) to anger.
One is compassion，which consists of both understanding and empathy.If we view an individual whose behavior we find unacceptable，we should think each person has a right to live life according to their beliefs，dreams，needs and so on.Even if someone is acting improperly，you should understand them rather than get bent out of shape. If they are struggling，lost，or in pain，you should choose to feel empathy for their suffering，hoping that they soon pass through their current challenge to a more joyful place.If you do so，your anger will disappear.
Humor is another powerful tool for stopping anger because it can help you stay calm when things get bad.Sometimes we take life far too seriously.That is bad for us and anger is easy to happen.We need to use humor to turn any serious situation into a light one.Humor acts as a protective barrier to emotional pain.
Therefore，when others behave badly，find it in your heart to forgive them for their unwise behavior rather than complain(抱怨) them.When life hands you the exact opposite of what you requested，take no notice of it instead of getting angry.After all，the bad situation is only temporary.So choose these alternative reactions to soften our heart and prevent anger from happening so that we can enjoy our life to the fullest.
1. What can we infer from Paragraph 1?| A．Anger can make people powerful. |
| B．People are all easy to get annoyed. |
| C．Anger always makes situations worse. |
| D．Anger can do some good in a few cases. |
| A．Bored. | B．Angry. |
| C．Excited. | D．Worried. |
| A．We should complain about it. |
| B．We should ignore it. |
| C．We should show mercy to it. |
| D．We should get mad. |
| A．Ways to Get Rid of Anger |
| B．The Bad Effects of Anger |
| C．Why People Often Get Angry |
| D．Benefits of Being Active in Life |
【推荐3】Schoolchildren across the United Kingdom will learn how to fend off loneliness. In January, British Prime Minister Theresa May appointed the first “minister of loneliness”. This week, her administration released an 84-page plan detailing the actions it will take to prevent loneliness. Starting in primary school, students will have lessons in “relationships education”.
The Brigham Young University psychologist Julianne Holt-Lunstad, one of the foremost scholars on loneliness in the United States, warns that the U.S.has a significant loneliness problem of its own and that schools desperately need to follow the U.K.’s lead and include preventive measures into their lessons.
Indeed, according to a recent report by the health-care company Cigna, nearly half of adults in the U.S. reported feeling alone. Marriage rates and religious-participation rates are also dropping and both are risk factors for social isolation and loneliness. The prevalence (普遍) of loneliness seems to be especially acute among young adults. One study found that Americans aged 21 to 30 reported feeling lonely twice as many days as adults aged 50 to 70. Studies suggest loneliness results in a variety of health issues, such as decreased immunity to viral infections, poor sleep, and cardiovascular (心血管的) issues．
The ideal school curriculum (课程) for teaching loneliness prevention would target social isolation as well as the cognitive processes that make people feel lonely. “Recognizing that it’s something that we need to take seriously for our health is a primary and critical step,” Holt- Lunstad says. She advocates for a sort of “social education” that would be put into existing health-education curriculum to teach students how to build and maintain friendships and relationships.
1. How does Holt-Lunstad find the loneliness problem in the United States？| A．It is not serious and easy to deal with. |
| B．It is serious and needs measures to control. |
| C．It is not as serious as in the United Kingdom. |
| D．It is more serious than it is in the United Kingdom. |
| A．Popular. | B．Average. | C．Severe. | D．Frequent. |
| A．Poor sleep. | B．Higher religious-participation rates. |
| C．Lower marriage rates. | D．Increased immunity to viral infections. |
| A．Finding the Cause of Loneliness. |
| B．Learning to Fight Loneliness at School. |
| C．Loneliness — the Cause of Many Health Problems. |
| D．Loneliness — a Serious Problem in Modern Society. |
【推荐1】For many, music is as important to the human experience as eating and breathing. We hear music everywhere—at home, the gym, parties and stores. But what kind of music do we prefer to listen to, and when and why do our musical preferences change?
The relationship between the change of seasons and musical preferences was the focus of a study led by psychologist Terry Pettijohn. He and his team based their research on a previous study that examined the relationship between popular music preferences and the Environmental Security Hypothesis(假设). The results showed that over time, when social and financial conditions were more risky, the songs of the year that were slower, longer, more comforting and serious were most popular. And during periods in which social and financial conditions were generally stable, the result was opposite.
Building on these findings, Pettijohn and his team wondered if the Hypothesis could also be applied to the change of seasons. For college students, the participants in this study, autumn begins at the start of the school year. Gone are the carefree days of summer, when school is out. Winter means colder temperatures, shorter days, and, in many places in the country, snow. Spring, however, is a different story. It represents a fresh start and when clocks spring forward, we gain an extra hour of daylight. As students walk into summer, they’re absorbed in the sunshine and social activities—and enjoy a break from school.
But do changing seasonal conditions influence musical preferences? To answer this question, the researchers designed two studies. What did they find? Both groups of college students favored more serious music during the seasons of fall and winter, and more active and energetic music during the spring and summer seasons. And these findings, Pettijohn argues, have practical significances.
1. The purpose of the question raised in Paragraph 1 is to ________.| A．present a different opinion on music |
| B．prove where to listen to music matters |
| C．stress the importance of music to humans |
| D．introduce the topic on musical preferences |
| A．Whether one has enough free time. |
| B．Whether one lives in a stable situation. |
| C．Whether one is exposed to sunlight. |
| D．Whether one chooses to change his life. |
| A．It’s unexpected. | B．It’s humorous. |
| C．It’s discouraging. | D．It’s significant. |
You’re only three years old, and at this point in your life you can’t read, much less understand what I’ll tell you in this letter. But I’ve been thinking a lot about the life that you have ahead of you, about my life so far as I reflect on what I’ve learned, and about my role as a dad in trying to prepare you for the trials(磨难) that you’ll face in the coming years.
You won’t be able to understand this letter today, but somebody, when you’re ready, I hope you will find some wisdom and value in what I share with you.
You are young, and life has not yet to show a cold face to you, to throw disappointments and loneliness and pain into your path. You have not been worn down yet by long hours of thankless work, by the slings and arrows of everyday life.
For this, be thankful. You are at a wonderful time of life. You have many wonderful stages of life still to come, but they are not without their costs and perils.
I hope to help you along your path by sharing some of the best of what I’ve learned. As with any advice, take it with a grain of salt. What works for me might not work for you.
Life Can Be CruelThere will be people in your life who won't be very nice. They’ll tease you because you’re different, or for no good reason. They might try to bully you or hurt you.
There’s not much you can do about these people except to learn to deal with them, and learn to choose friends who are kind to you, who actually care about you, who make you feel good about yourself. When you find friends like this, hold on to them, treasure them, spend time with them, be kind to them, love them.
There will be times when you are met with disappointment instead of success. Life won’t always turn out the way you want. This is just another thing you’ll have to learn to deal with. But instead of letting these things get you down, push on. Accept disappointment and learn to persevere, to pursue your dreams despite pitfalls. Learn to turn negatives into positives, and you’ll do much better in life.
You will also face heartbreak and abandonment by those you love. I hope you don’t have to face this too much, but it happens. Again, not much you can do but to heal, and to move on with your life. Let these pains become stepping stones to better things in life, and learn to use them to make you stronger.
But Be Open to life AnywayYes, you’ll find cruelty and suffering in your journey through life, but don’t let that close you to new things. Don’t move back from life, don’t hide or wall yourself off. Be open to new things, new experiences, new people.
You might get your heart broken 10 times, but find the most wonderful woman the 11th time. If you shut yourself off from love, you’ll miss out on that woman, and the happiest times of your life.
You might get teased and bullied and hurt by people you meet, and then after meeting dozens of jerks, find a true friend. If you close yourself off to new people, and don’t open your heart to them, you’ll avoid pain…, but also lose out on meeting some incredible people, who will be there during the toughest times of your life and create some of the best times of your life.
You will fail many times but if you allow that to stop you from trying, you will miss out on the amazing feeling of success once you reach new heights with your accomplishments. Failure is a stepping stone to success.
Life Isn’t a CompetitionYou will meet many people who will try to do better than you, in school, in college, at work. They’ll try to have nicer cars, bigger houses, nicer clothes, cooler gadgets. To them, life is a competition—they have to do better than their peers to be happy.
Here’s the secret: life isn’t a competition. It's a journey. If you spend that journey always trying to impress others, to outdo others, you’re wasting your journey. Instead, learn to enjoy the journey. Make it a journey of happiness, of constant learning, of continual improvement, of love.
Don’t worry about having a nicer car or house or anything material, or even a better-paying job. None of that matters a whit, and none of it will make you happier. You’ll acquire these things and then only want more. Instead, learn to be satisfied with having enough—and then use the time you would have wasted trying to earn money to buy those things… use that time doing things you love.
Finally, know that I love you and always will. You are starting out on an unknown, tiring, scary, but badly wonderful journey, and always remember I will be there for you when I can. Godspeed
Love, Your Dad
1. According to the father, all of the following are trials the son has to face except ________.| A．disappointment |
| B．pain |
| C．failure |
| D．loneliness |
| A．eating something together with some salt |
| B．taking it for granted |
| C．not accepting something completely |
| D．believing something firmly |
| A．You are too busy to spend time with your parents. |
| B．You fail in the mid-term exam despite your hard work. |
| C．Your best friend betrays you by giving away your secrets. |
| D．Your classmates tease, bully or hurt you. |
| A．telling stories |
| B．making comparisons(作比较) |
| C．analyzing causes(分析原因) |
| D．asking and answering questions |
| A．share some important wisdom and value with his son |
| B．try to persuade his son to get along well with his friends |
| C．make his son realize failure is unavoidable and he should get ready for that |
| D．prepare his son for the challenges he will face in the future |
【推荐3】We know that our smartphones are expertly-designed distraction devices that weaken our efforts to resist. But, we also know that resistance is important if we’re ever going to find a workable middle ground with our phones – and a recent study has served up another reason to strengthen our resolve.
Here it is: when you pick up your phone while doing anything mentally challenging, you're handicapping your brain’s ability to recharge and performance predictably decreases.
That’s the conclusion of a study that put roughly 400 college students to task solving challenging word puzzles. When they were about halfway through, the researchers allowed most of the students to take a break either using their phones, using a computer or reading a print circular. Other students were told to just keep on working without any sort of break.
The results showed that the students who took a break with their phones were the worst performers of all the groups. They took 19% longer to finish the tasks and they solved 22% fewer word-problems than all the other groups combined. In fact, the cell-phone group’s efficiency and processing speed was about the same as the group that took no break.
The reason offered by the researchers isn’t merely because digital devices are inherently engaging(迷人的), but because our smartphones are attention gates into so many other attention-catching areas, each pulling our mental energy in different directions.
This research stresses that we ignored the energy reduction from using our smartphones, and that we were over-confident about what our brains can handle. We also overlooked the emotional connection we'd developed with our phones. It's no longer just a device. It's a companion.
“It is important to know the costs associated with reaching for this device during every spare minute,” Kurtzberg added. “We assume it’s no different from any other break – but the phone may carry increasing levels of distraction that make it difficult to return focused attention to work tasks.”
1. What does “resolve” in Paragraph 1 refer to?| A．Finding a workable phone. | B．Resisting using phones. |
| C．Making full use of phones. | D．Upgrading personal phones. |
| A．strengthening | B．performing |
| C．weakening | D．changing |
| A．There are two groups of students in the research. |
| B．All the students can not take a break in the research. |
| C．The cell-phone group did best in solving the puzzles. |
| D．Students have to complete word puzzles before the break. |
| A．The phone is no longer favored by people. |
| B．The phone is not as powerful as expected. |
| C．People cannot connect emotionally with phones. |
| D．People didn’t fully understand the effect of phones. |
