Smart phones are greatly changing the way we walk down the street. Office workers and young people are walking like the old as they check emails and messages.
Scientists have found mobile phones make us walk more slowly, with modest steps, to avoid falling over. The leader of the study said the walk is just like someone in their eighties. Researchers found people writing a text message walk more than twice as slowly as those without a phone, finding it harder to stay in a straight line.
The scientists examined 252 people walking while reading a text message, writing one, speaking on their phones or without their phones at all. Writing a text is the hardest activity, causing people to look down at their phone 46 percent more, and 45 percent longer, than when reading a message. This led people to walk 118 per cent more slowly than when they were without their phones. People walked almost a third more slowly while reading a text and 19 per cent while talking on the phone.
Smart phones were found to stop people from walking in a straight line, putting them at greater risk of running into other people, cars or street lamps. This increased the need to slow down and take more careful steps.
John Timmis said the idea for this study came from following someone walking down the street in the afternoon, who was walking as if he had had several drinks. I thought it was a bit early for that, then walked up alongside him and saw that he was on his phone. Simply being on the phone changes the way people walk.
1. What does the underlined word “modest” mean in the second paragraph?| A．Young. | B．Straight. |
| C．Low. | D．Small. |
| A．Those not carrying phones. |
| B．Those writing a text message. |
| C．Those reading a text message. |
| D．Those speaking on their phones. |
| A．The need to walk straight. |
| B．The desire to use their phones. |
| C．The chance of possible accidents. |
| D．The traffic jams during rush hours. |
| A．Seeing office workers walking like the elderly. |
| B．Seeing people walking in the street hurriedly. |
| C．Watching young people who were walking normally. |
| D．watching a person who was walking in the street in a strange way . |
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【推荐1】By now it's almost common knowledge that spending time in nature is good for you. Areas with more trees tend to be less polluted, so spending time there allows you to breathe easier. Spending time outdoors has been linked with reduced blood pressure and stress and seems to motivate people to exercise more.
“So it'll come as surprise that there's research showing that spending time in nature is good. There are dozens of papers showing that,” University of Exeter Medical School researcher Mathew P.White said.“We get this idea-patients are coning to us and they are asking, ‘Doctor, how long should I spend? ’And the doctor is saying,‘I don't really know.’”
So White and his team decided to find out by using data collected from nearly 20,000 people in England through the Monitor of Engagement with the Natural Environment Survey. And their answer? Two hours a week. People who spent at least that much time in nature either all at once or totaled over several shorter visits were more likely to report good health and psychological well-being than those with no nature exposure.
Remarkably, the two-hour standard applied to men and women, to older and younger folks, to people from different ethnic backgrounds, occupational groups, socioeconomic levels, and so on. Even people with long-term illnesses or disabilities benefited from time spent in nature- as long as it was at least 120 minutes per week.
While the findings are based on a vast number of people, White cautions that it's rally just a correlation. Nobody knows why of how nature has this benefit, or even if the findings will stand up to more strict investigation.
“I want to be rally clear about this. This is in very early stages.We're not saying everybody has to do 120. This is really to start the conversation, saying, what would athresholdlook like? What research do we need to take this to the next step before doctors can have the true confidence to work with their patients? But it's certainly a starting point.”
1. What does White want to figure out in the survey?| A．The benefits of being outside. |
| B．How long we should stay in nature. |
| C．The significance of outdoor activities. |
| D．Whether the British spend enough time in nature |
| A．The two-hour standard applies to everyone. |
| B．The reason why nature is beneficial is clear. |
| C．Further study is needed to confirm White's result. |
| D．The findings of White's survey have bee widely used. |
| A．Strict investigation. | B．Following step. |
| C．Healthy lifestyle. | D．Staring point. |
| A．Nature and Health | B．Two-hour Staying in Nature |
| C．Tips to Improve Health | D．The Starting Point |
During her time in the cave, Stefania had been completely alone except for two white mice. Her living place had been very comfortable, but there had been nothing to tell her the time. She’d had no clocks or watches, no television or radio. There had been no natural light and the temperature had always been kept at 21℃.
The results were very interesting. Stefania had been in the cave for over four months, but she thought she had been there for only two. Her body clock had changed. She hadn’t kept to a 24-hour day, she had stayed awake for 20-25 hours and then had slept for 10 hours. She had eaten fewer meals and had lost 171bs in weight as a results! She had also become rather depressed (抑郁).
How had she spent her time in the cave? As part of the experiment she’d done some physical and mental tests. She’d recorded her daily activities and the results of the tests on a computer. This computer had been specially programmed for the project. Whenever she was free, she’d played cards, read books and listened to music. She’d also learned French from tapes.
The experiment showed that our body clocks are affected by light and temperature. For example, the pattern of day and night makes us wake up and go to sleep. However, people are affected in different ways. Some people wake up naturally at 5:00 am, but others don’t start to wake up till 9:00 or 10:00 am. This affects the whole daily rhythm. As a result, the early risers, on the other hand, are tired during the day and only come to life in the afternoon or evening!
1. Stefania stayed in the cave for a long time because ______.
| A．she was asked to do research on mice |
| B．she wanted to experience loneliness |
| C．she was the subject of a study |
| D．she needed to record her life |
| A．Eating fewer meals. |
| B．Having more hours of sleep. |
| C．Lacking physical exercise. |
| D．Getting no natural light. |
| A．A novel. | B．A news story. | C．A pet magazine. | D．A travel guide. |
【推荐3】Scientists have known for years that plants respond to sounds around them. For example, flowers make sweeter nectar (花蜜) to the sound of buzzing bees. But now scientists in Israel have shown that plants also seem to be doing some “talking”.
Professor Lilach Hadany and her team at Tel Aviv University set up microphones to record tomato and tobacco plants under different conditions. Their recordings revealed that the plants made ultrasonic sounds (超声波) .
It’s not clear how the plants make the sounds. One idea is that air bubbles (气泡) form inside the plant’s stem, and that these popping bubbles make a clicking sound. It’s also not clear if the plants are making the sounds on purpose. Sometimes people’s knees creak, too, but they’re not doing it on purpose.
But the plants are definitely making noise, and creating much more noise when they’re stressed than when they’re not.
In fact, the researchers trained an Artificial Intelligence (AI) system to identify the different kinds of clicking sounds. The system was able to tell the difference between plants that needed water and plants with cuts about 70% of the time.
The result suggests that researchers may one day be able to use a plant’s sounds to figure out when it is having trouble, and what trouble it is having. They hope that could be very helpful to farmers.
The new discovery raises many more questions. One important question is: Do plants make sounds to communicate with each other?
Other research has shown that plants do seem to communicate in some ways. Plants being attacked by insects send chemicals into the air. Soon, nearby plants that haven’t been attacked yet start to make other chemicals that don’t taste good to insects. It’s possible that the ultrasonic sounds could work in a similar way.
Another big question is: Is anything listening to the plants? Dr. Hadany points out that mice and moths, for example, depend on plants, and can hear ultrasonic frequencies. The clicks may tell these animals when a plant isn’t healthy, so they can avoid it.
The team’s research has already changed our ideas about plants. As Dr. Hadany says, “Even in a quiet field, there are actually sounds that we don’t hear, and those sounds carry information.”
1. Why does the author mention flowers in Paragraph 1?| A．To prove plants can hear the sounds. | B．To show plants make ultrasonic sounds. |
| C．To make a comparison with other plants. | D．To arouse the readers’ interest in the text. |
| A．The plants convey information by touch. | B．The attacked plants make ultrasonic sounds. |
| C．The attacked plants send poor-taste chemicals. | D．The wind blows the odor of the attacked plants. |
| A．To prove plants can talk. | B．To make a new discovery. |
| C．To promote plants’ better growth. | D．To have more knowledge of plants. |
| A．Plants “Talk” | B．Amazing Plants |
| C．Ultrasonic “Dances” | D．Wonderful Sounds |
【推荐1】It is commonplace to come across instances of students or young professionals of the same age groups renting together.
Intergenerational housing whereby Gen Zers and Millennials rent a room from an elderly homeowner is not limited to a particular region.
In recent years, the high cost of living makes it nearly impossible for young adults to find affordable accommodations in major urban areas.
The elderly find renting their homes to young people a win-win proposition. They have someone able and energetic for company and the additional income helps them offset (抵消) the cost of home ownership.
| A．It is now widespread in many parts of the U.S. |
| B．Living with the elderly is challenging for the young. |
| C．However, recently, a different trend has been observed. |
| D．It drives the demand for intergenerational housing arrangements. |
| E．Nowadays, many young people prefer to live independently after finishing school. |
| F．The students find living with seniors better than sharing rooms with several roommates. |
| G．Another person in an empty home also relieves the loneliness many old people experience. |
【推荐2】At one point in June last year, Zeng Jinpeng was more than 10,000 yuan in debt to a smart phone app. The 23-year-old Shanghai citizen pays for his online purchases of food, clothes, and travel with Huabei, a virtual credit card that's part of Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. 's spreading stable of e-commerce. His spending often used to go beyond his only source of income: the 8,000-yuan monthly allowance from his parents. He tried to repay the debt in installments(分期付款), even borrowing from Jiebei, another Alibaba-owned credit service, but eventually his mother and father had to help him out.
Zeng's story is typical of members of China's Generation Z. These young consumers，born from the mid-1990s to the early 2000s, have little income and therefore actually no credit history. Yet they have easy access to credit from a variety of banks, financial-tech companies, and peer-to-peer(P2P)Lenders(网络借贷平台), plus other channels that are unregulated. The spending habits of the young in particular are causing concern. In some cases the younger generation is being tempted to overconsume via credit secured through technology. Unsecured consumer leading has expanded 20% a year in China since 2008. The amount of consumer finance available through the Internet will more than double, to 19 trillion yuan, by 2021, from 7.8 trillion yuan last year. Official data showed that almost 70%. of China's 50 million P2P borrowers were younger than 40.
As for Zeng, he's trying to be a little more frugal, even though he is now trying to earn a little by himself. “I deliberately set the credit limit at a lower level,” he say, “so that hopefully I can better match my income with spending.”
Regulators(监管部门)last year launched a breakdown on peer-to-peer lending, which, besides being a source of easy credit, had also become a popular investment tool. The sector has shrunk to less than half its peak size as a result of forced shutdowns.
1. What can we learn about Zeng Jiapeng from the first paragraph?| A．He was in debt because he bought smart phone app. |
| B．He liked purchasing on the app Huabei of Alibaba Group. |
| C．He depended on his parents to support him to repay his debt. |
| D．He always spent more than he earned from his salary in the past. |
| A．Impractical. | B．Hardworking. |
| C．Avoiding waste. | D．Relying on others. |
| A．Overconsumption—A Bad Habit | B．China's Generation Z—Hooked On Credit |
| C．Chinese Youth In the E-commerce Age | D．Zeng Jinpeng's Financial Crisis |
After the accident, my roommate called a doctor for me. I was very grateful and determined to repay him one day. But the next day, he asked me to pay him $200 for what he had done. I was astonished. He had good reason to charge me, he said. And if I wanted to collect money from the person who was responsible for my injury, I’d have to have a good lawyer. And only a good doctor can help me get a good lawyer. Now that he had helped me find a good doctor, it was only fair that I should pay him.
But every day I went to see the doctor, I had to wait about 50 minutes. He would see two or three patients at the same time, and often stop treating one so as to see another. Yet he charged me $115 each time. The final examination report consisted of ten lines, and it cost me $215.
My lawyer was all smiles the first time we met. But after that he avoided seeing me at all. He knew very well the other party was responsible for the accident, yet he hardly did anything. He simply waited to collect his money. He was so irresponsible that I decided to dismiss him. And he made me pay him $770.
Now I had to act as my own lawyer. Due to my inexperience, I told the insurance company the date I was leaving America. Knowing that, they played for time…and I left without getting a cent.
My experiences taught me two things about America: firstly, in a country like America money is everything. It is more important than friendship, honor or professional morality (道德). Secondly, foreigners are still being unfairly treated. So when we talk about America, we should see both its good and bad sides.
1. The author’s roommate offered to help him because ________.
| A．he felt sorry for the author |
| B．he thought it was a chance to make some money |
| C．he knew the doctor was a very good one |
| D．he wanted the author to have a good lawyer |
| A．be properly treated |
| B．talk with the person responsible for the accident |
| C．recover before he leaves America |
| D．eventually get the responsible party to pay for his injury |
| A．be responsible | B．accuse | C．ask as a price | D．claim |
| A．friendly | B．selfish | C．professional | D．busy |
| A．Going to court is something very common in America. |
| B．One must be very careful while driving a car. |
| C．There are more bad sides in America than good sides. |
| D．Money is more important than other things in the US. |
【推荐1】National Museum of Singapore 130th Anniversary Celebrations
People are now celebrating the 130th birthday of one of Singapore’s beloved and iconic cultural institutions-National Museum of Singapore!
Come and discover the fascinating history in the museum!
Come and enjoy live music performances, craft activities for children, giveaways, some retail therapy, food and more!
Highlights
Free admission to all galleries during the whole week!
Mon—Thu, 12 Oct | 10 a.m.—7 p.m. (last admission 6:30 p.m.)
Fri—Sun, 13—15 Oct | 10 a.m.—10 p.m. (last admission 9 p.m.)
Reservation is required. You can click here to get more ticket information.
Birthday Cake Cutting
Sat, 14 Oct | 2:45 p.m.
Glass Passage, Level 2
Sing “Happy Birthday” to the National Museum and witness the cake-cutting ceremony with museum staff and volunteers!
Special “Happy Birthday to You” singing and choir performance by The Joyful Voices.
Birthday Cupcake Giveaway
Sat & Sun, 14 & 15 Oct | 4 p.m.
Gallery Theatre Foyer, Basement
Enjoy a Cedele cupcake when you visit the museum on our birthday weekend!
Here’s how:
1) Follow the National Museum of Singapore on Facebook or Instagram.
2) Snap and post a photo of yourself in the museum with your birthday wishes.
3) Show us your post at the giveaway booth to get your cupcake, while stocks last.
The National Museum birthday cake and cupcakes are supported by Cedele.
Family Activities
PRESENCE Pictures Playscape (游戏场景）：Little Artists for Virtual Reality
From Mon,9 Oct | 10 a.m.—7 p.m.(last registration at 6 p.m.)
Concourse Gallery, Level 1
The creative Playscape has PRESENCE Pictures’ signature activity, Little Artists for Virtual Reality (VR),an art-meets-tech programme that enables young minds to think big and create VR worlds just by drawing. With a special programme designed for the National Museum, kids can draw their imaginary future museum and cartoon Museum Buddy, animate (使······活灵活现) it by using their own body movements, and interact with their final artworks in VR! Young visitors may also participate in a drop-in activity to experience the basics of creating a VR artwork. Click here to get a detailed schedule and the pricing.
1. Where is this passage probably taken from?| A．A website. | B．A magazine. | C．A travel brochure. | D．A newspaper. |
| A．he can have free access to the gallery as long as he has booked a ticket |
| B．he cannot take part in any activity organized for the anniversary |
| C．together with other visitors, he can cut birthday cakes offered by the museum |
| D．he can enjoy a Cedele cupcake when he visits the museum |
| A．By creating an art-meets-tech programme. |
| B．By moving their bodies to create an imaginary world. |
| C．By interacting with their final artworks. |
| D．By holding a ceremony with museum staff and volunteers. |
【推荐2】In choosing a friend, one should be very careful. A good friend can help you study. You can have fun together and make each other happy. Sometimes you will meet fair-weather friends. They will be with you as long as you have money or luck, but when you are down, they will run away. How do I know when I have found a good friend?
In my opinion, understanding is the most important quality in choosing a good friend. A good friend tries to understand how another person is feeling. He is not quick to judge. Instead, he tries to think of ways to be helpful. He is also a good listener.
At the same time, however, a good friend is honest. He does not look for faults in others. He notices their good points. In short, a friend will try to understand me and accept me.
Another quality of a friend is reliability. I can always depend on a good friend. If he tells me he will meet me somewhere at a certain time, I can be sure that he will be there. If I need a favor, he will do his best to help me. If I am in trouble, he will not run away from me.
There is a fourth quality that makes friend special. A special friend is someone with whom we can have fun. We should enjoy our lives, and we would enjoy our friendship. That is why I especially like friends who are fun to be with. A good friend likes the same things I like. We share experiences and learn from each other. A good friend has a sense of humor, too. He likes to laugh with me. That is how we share in the joy of being friends. And I know that he is looking for the same quality in me.
When I meet someone that is reliable, honest, and understanding, I know I’ve found a good friend.
1. In the opinion of the writer, what is the most important in choosing a good friend?| A．A sense of humor. | B．Sharing experiences. |
| C．A good listener. | D．Understanding. |
| A．you will be refused when you get into trouble. |
| B．they will give you all that they have when you need help |
| C．you will become rich |
| D．you can be sure that you get real friends |
| A．have money or luck | B．understand each other’s feeling |
| C．be helped with money | D．always point out each other’s mistakes |
| A．how to get along with friends | B．where to choose friends |
| C．the qualities of friends | D．the importance of having a friend |
| A．rely on | B．call on | C．go on | D．hold on |
【推荐3】A Japanese company has announced the successful test drive of a flying car. SkyDrive Inc. conducted the public demonstration on August 25. The company said in a news release at the Toyota Test Field, one of the largest in Japan, “This is the first time the flying car was exhibited to the public.”
“We are extremely excited to have achieved Japan’s first-ever manned flight of a flying car in the two dozen months since we founded SkyDrive...” CEO Tomohiro Fukuzawa said in a statement. “We want to realize a society where flying cars are an accessible and convenient means of transportation in the skies and people are able to experience a secure, and comfortable new way of life.”
The car, named SD-03, manned with a pilot, took off and circled the field for about four minutes. It is the world’s smallest electric vertical takeoff and landing vehicle and takes up the space of about two parked cars, according to the company. It has eight motors to ensure “safety in emergency situations”.
“We wanted this vehicle to be futuristic, charismatic and desirable for all future customers, while fully incorporating the high technology of SkyDrive,” Design Director Takumi Yamamot said. The company hopes to make the flying car a part of normal life and not just a commodity. More test flights will occur in the future under different conditions to make sure the safety and technology of the vehicle meet industry standards.
The success of this flight means that it is likely the car will be tested outside of the Toyota Test Field by the end of the year. “The company will continue to develop technologies to safely and securely launch the flying car in 2024,” the news release said, “No price has been announced.”
1. What does the underlined word “demonstration” mean in the first paragraph?| A．Announcement. | B．Exhibition. | C．Experiment. | D．Statement. |
| A．Convenient and safe. | B．High-speed and splendid. |
| C．Comfortable and large-sized. | D．Space saving and economical. |
| A．It is similar to plane. | B．It is self-driving. |
| C．It is bigger than a common car. | D．It is energy saving. |
| A．To make it safer. | B．To reduce its price. |
| C．To test it in the laboratory. | D．To put it to the market at once. |
