【推荐1】More than half of the world’s population are city residents, and, by 2050, the United Nations predicts that seven in ten people will be. Architects are having to consider how architecture influences our emotional well-being in urban settings.

According to Colin Ellard, a research psychologist at Waterloo University, Canada, there is a lot of evidence which shows “the profound impact that the design of buildings has on how we feel, how we treat one another, and our overall psychological well-being”. A study from the University of Heidelberg concluded that people raised in the countryside are less likely to have mental disorders than those raised in the city. The city of Vancouver in Canada, which is surrounded by mountains and ocean, recognises the need to connect with nature. It has included protecting ocean and mountain views in its urban planning guidelines. For example, tall buildings are set up in strategic locations that don’t block scenic views for downtown residents.

The British designer Thomas Heatherwick wants to make architecture less soulless and boring. He told The Guardian, “We need to fearlessly demand interestingness and make buildings that enrich our senses.” He has listed seven characteristics of a boring building. These include being too flat and straight. He says lack of depth means light and shadow cannot play on surfaces, while straight lines are at odds with nature and make buildings dull.

However, making buildings interesting is not always easy, as architect Rafael Vinoly found out in 2013 when he created the 37-store y skyscraper in London. The building was admired for its curved exterior walls covered in reflective glass. However, it acted like a magnifying glass and reflected light which melted nearby cars and almost set fire to a carpet. A screen had to be added to prevent the building causing further damage.

So, for your own well-being, surround yourself with buildings that bring you joy, and ideally a view of nature.

1. Why are tall buildings located in certain places in Vancouver?

A．To protect people’s mental health.	B．To follow the tradition of the city.
C．To caution people against disorder.	D．To reveal the prosperity of the area.

2. Which kind of building is Thomas’ preference?

A．One with straight lines.	B．One having flat surfaces.
C．One having a security system.	D．One with innovative patterns.

3. What did Rafael Vinoly fail to consider in his design?

A．Boldness.

B．Creativity.

C．Practicality.

D．Flexibility.

4. What is the purpose of the passage?

A．To call on people to live in big cities.

B．To compare buildings in different cities.

C．To stress the importance of healthy emotion.

D．To convince people of emotional impact by buildings.

【推荐3】From Marie Tussaud’s Chamber of Horrors to Disneyland’s Haunted Mansion (鬼屋) to horror-themed escape rooms, haunted house attractions have terrified and delighted audiences around the world for more than 200 years.

These attractions turn out to be good places to study fear. They help scientists understand the body’s response to fright and how we perceive some situations as enjoyably thrilling and others as truly terrible. One surprising finding: having friends close at hand in a haunted house might make you more jumpy, not less so.

Psychologist and study co-author Sarah Tashjian, who is now at the University of Melbourne, and her team conducted their research with 156 adults, who each wore a wireless wrist sensor during their visit. The sensor measured skin responses linked to the body’s reactions to stress and other situations. When the sensor picked up, for example, greater skin conductance — that is, the degree to which the skin can transmit an electric current — that was a sign that the body was more aroused and ready for fight or flight. In addition to this measure, people reported their expected fear (on a scale of 1 to 10) before entering the haunted house and their experienced fear (on the same scale) after completing the haunt.

The scientists found that people who reported greater fear also showed heightened skin responses. Being with friends, Tashjian and her colleagues further found, increased physiological arousal during the experience, which was linked to stronger feelings of fright. In fact, the fear response was actually weaker when people went through the house in the presence of strangers.

Other investigators have used haunted houses to understand how fear and enjoyment can coexist. In a 2020 study led by Marc Malmdorf Andersen, a member of the Recreational Fear Lab at Aarhus University in Denmark, scientists joined forces with Dystopia Haunted House. The Danish attraction includes such terrifying experiences as being chased by “Mr. Piggy”, a large, chain-saw-wielding man wearing a bloody butcher’s apron and pig mask. People between the ages of 12 and 57 were video recorded at peak moments during the attraction, wore heart-rate monitors throughout and reported on their experience. People’s fright was tied to large-scale heart-rate fluctuations; their enjoyment was linked to small-scale ones. The results suggest that fear and enjoyment can happen together when physiological arousal is balanced “just right”.

1. Studying haunted house attractions helps scientists to learn about ________.

A．the psychological effects of fear on individuals

B．the history of horror-themed entertainment

C．the body’s response to material rewards

D．the impact of technology on people’s enjoyment

2. How did Sarah Tashjian and her team conduct their research on haunted house experiences?

A．By surveying participants.	B．By analyzing historical records.
C．By employing wireless wrist sensors.	D．By using virtual reality simulations.

3. What did Tashjian and her colleagues discover in their study?

A．Being with friends elevated level of physiological arousal.

B．The fear reaction was stronger in the company of strangers.

C．Psychological effect was unrelated to intensified feelings of fright.

D．Those reporting lightened fear showed increased skin responses.

4. It can be concluded from the 2020 study led by Marc Malmdorf Andersen that ________.

A．fear and enjoyment can not happen at the same time

B．large-scale heart-rate fluctuations were linked to enjoyment

C．the age of the participants was not related to the study’s findings

D．fear and enjoyment can coexist under certain conditions

【推荐1】During space missions, astronauts can experience a loss of some of the inner structural support in their bones. For trips in space lasting at least six months, that loss is equal to about 20 years of aging. Luckily, a new study finds a year back on Earth rebuilds half of the strength lost in the affected bone.

Exercise scientist Leigh Gabel was part of a team that tracked 17 astronauts, each of whom had spent four to seven months in space. The team measured the 3-D structure of bone. They focused on the structure of the tibia (胫骨) and the lower-arm bone. The researchers took images of the bones 3 times—before spaceflight and again six months and one year later when the astronaut s returned home from space. From these pictures, Gabel’s team calculated an astronaut’s bone strength and density (密度) at each of those times.

What did they find through comparison of the pictures? Astronauts in space for less than six months regained their preflight bone strength after a year back on Earth. But those who stayed in space longer suffered permanent hone loss in their tibias. That loss was equal to a decade of aging. The lower-arm bones showed almost no loss. That was likely because these aren’t weight-bearing hones on Earth, Gabel explains. In fact, those arms can get a bigger workout in space than on Earth as astronauts use them to move around their craft by pushing off handles and doors.

“Inereasing weight-lifting exercises in space could help alleviate (缓解) bone loss in the legs,” says Steven Boyd, also in exercise scientist.

“With longer spaceflight, we can expect bigger bone loss—and probably a bigger problem with recovery,” says physiologist Laurence Vico. “Space agencies should also consider other bone health measures, such as nutrition, to reduce bone loss and increase bone formation.”

1. Why did Gabel’s team take pictures at different times?

A．To offer evidence for their predictions.

B．To show their respect for the astronauts.

C．To compare the changes in the astronauts’ bones.

D．To find out the proper length of staying in space for astronauts.

2. Which of the following may Gabel agree with?

A．A spaceflight in less than half a year does no harm to astronauts.

B．Astronauts coming back from a spaceflight look much older.

C．Astronauts can avoid bone loss through doing enough exercise.

D．There is almost no difference in the astronauts’ lower-arm bones.

3. What can we conclude from this text?

A．People on Earth never suffer bone loss.

B．The finding of the new study is good news for astronauts.

C．The 17 astronauts knew the bone loss before their spaceflights.

D．Astronauts can regain their bone strength as soon as they return to Earth.

4. What does the text mainly talk about?

A．How to prevent bone loss in space.

B．Problems faced by astronauts in space.

C．Astronauts’ suffering from bone loss in space.

D．Astronauts’ contributions to the development of science.

【推荐2】Do you want to celebrate your birthday in space? It would be very different from what you might do on earth. For example, your birthday cake would be flying. The candles could not be lit because astronauts can not start a fire in the spaceship.     1     Voices are almost the only things that are not changed by being weightless, which means that everything has almost no weight in space.

Some astronauts feel sick for the first few days in space. Some feel as if they have a cold all the time. That’s because without gravity(引力), the fluids(液体) in their bodies move towards their heads. Their faces look a little fatter.     2    .

And because gravity is not pressing on the spine(脊椎). The spine relaxes and stretches(舒展).     3     But when they come back on earth, they turn to their regular height.

Since nothing has weight, astronauts can lift(举起) heavy objects easily.     4     However, it is harder to stay still in space than to move around, so the astronauts always hold onto something or tie themselves to something.     5    

A．For the same reason, their waists(腰围)get smaller.

B．They can even lift each other.

C．There are pieces of Velcro to stick things in order to keep them from floating(漂浮) around.

D．Your friends could still sing Happy Birthday to You.

E．Astronauts grow one or two inches(英寸)in space.

F．In space, bone and muscles get weaker.

【推荐3】Scientists have long believed that Mars was wet around three billion years ago and then lost much of its water. But a new study presents evidence of water activity from about 700 million years ago, posing a new puzzle about Mars and its history for scientists to crack in their future studies.

The new study is based on data from China’s Zhurong rover (“祝融号”火星车), part of the Tianwen-1 mission that touched down on the surface of Mars in May 2021. In particular, the scientists used data the rover gathered during its first 92 Martian days, at its landing site in Utopia Planitia. Yang Liu, a researcher from the Chinese Academy of Sciences(CAS), and his colleagues analyzed data from three different instruments on Zhurong. Those instruments studied minerals that suggest the presence of a large quantity of liquid water at the site about 700 million years ago, which scientists previously thought was dry.

“This is a very interesting result. We have very little recorded evidence of young liquid water systems on Mars. And for the ones we have, they were usually in the form of salt minerals,” says Dr. Scheller, a scientist at the California Institute of Technology. He explained Zhurong’s instruments spotted water molecules locked away in the rock, which was different from other young liquid water environments that have been observed.

“One of the major things we’ll have to find out and that I look forward to seeing from the Zhurong rover is how extensive these ‘young’ water-bearing minerals are,” Dr. Scheller said. “Are they common or uncommon in these ‘young’ rocks?” Zhurong has now covered about two kilometers during its more than 350 Martian days and has analyzed a range of features on its travels, meaning more new Martian insights are likely still to come from the rover.

NASA has so far sent its Mars rovers to ancient landing sites, dating back to more than 3.7 billion years ago. Zhurong is not just an extra set of wheels on Mars, but a powerful suite of instruments exploring a new, geologically young site to open new windows of opportunity for research on Mars.

1. What does the underlined word “crack” in paragraph 1 mean?

A．Keep.

B．Doubt.

C．Solve.

D．Create.

2. What does the new study show according to paragraph 2?

A．The inaccuracy of data gathered on Mars.

B．Functional limitations of instruments on Mars.

C．Main reasons for the failure of the Tianwen-1 mission.

D．The misconception of past thinking about Martian water.

3. Which of the following does Dr. Scheller convey?

A．The result has been recorded by many scientists.

B．Zhurong’s wide analyses will bring more surprises.

C．Salt minerals are younger than water-bear ing minerals.

D．Young water-bearing minerals are common in young rocks.

4. Which word can best describe Zhurong?

A．Ancient.

B．Common.

C．Alarming.

D．Promising.