【推荐1】Remember switching the radio channels, hoping a tune you liked would pop out? You never had to listen too long to know you’d landed on a hit. Maria Chait, an auditory cognitive neuroscientist （听觉认知神经学家）at London University, and her team recently studied how quick that reaction is. They started by asking 10 volunteers to name a feel-good, familiar song.

Then the researchers selected a second tune that sounded similar but was unfamiliar to the volunteers. They divided both songs into tiny bits — each less than a second long and then randomly inserted them into a six — and — a — half — minute — long track of song pieces. As the pieces played, the scientists measured the volunteers' brain activity and monitored changes in pupil, too — a sign of excitement. And the researchers found that the listeners‘ pupils widened more rapidly when they heard familiar versus （与......对比）unfamiliar tunes — within just a tenth to a third of a second! Familiar tunes also caused a two-step pattern of brain activity where the brain first recognizes something as familiar and then brings back more detailed information about it. That pattern was absent for unfamiliar songs.

The study does have limitations：it used a small number of songs; it was hard to mask the purpose of the study from the participants; and the control group ended up being primarily international students from Asia —since they had to be unfamiliar with every single song — so their native languages and music backgrounds differed from the experimental group from a European background.

Still, for doctors who want to use music as a helpful tool for patients with memory loss, for example, that might be useful in the situation, for participants are not required to indicate anything. They just listen passively. Doctors simply have to observe the neural（神经的） fingerprints of hearing that same old song.

1. How did the researchers conduct the study?

A．They asked volunteers to sing along.

B．They separated songs for comparison.

C．They observed the listeners’ expressions.

D．They took two steps to draw the conclusion.

2. What does the author think of the study?

A．It proves to be persuasive.	B．It is based on practical theory.
C．It needs further research.	D．It should use Asian language.

3. What can be inferred from the last paragraph?

A．The research is helpful in some medical way.

B．Doctors are delighted with the research result.

C．It's easy to cure patients with memory loss.

D．Patients need treating with music like songs.

4. What is the best title for the passage?

A．How Gan We Use Familiar Songs

B．Music Is Good for Our Brains

C．Familiar Tunes Awake Brains Quickly

D．Doctors Practice Musical Treatment

【推荐3】When couples have an argument about things like finances, jealousy, or other interpersonal issues, they tend to employ their current feelings as fuel for a heated argument. But thinking about the future helps overcome relationship conflicts, according to a University of Waterloo study just published online in Social Psychological and Personality Science. Alex Huynh, a doctoral candidate in psychology is the lead author of the study, which he published with Igor Grossmann from the University of Waterloo, and Daniel Yang from Yale University.

Previous research has shown that third-perspective reasoning can be a positive strategy for reconciliation (调解) of interpersonal struggles. Huynh and his collaborators investigated whether similar benefit can be induced by simply thinking about the future. Study participants were instructed to reflect on a recent conflict with a romantic partner or a close friend. One group of participants were then asked to describe how they would feel about the conflict one year in the future, while another group was asked to describe how they feel in the present.

The team examined participants’ written responses through a text-analysis program for their use of pronouns—such as I, me, she, he. These choices of pronouns were used to capture participants’ focus on the feelings and behaviourofthoseinvolvedintheconflict.Writtenresponseswerealsoexaminedforforgivenessandreinterpreting the conflict more positively, both of which implied the participants’ use of reasoning strategies.

The researchers found that envisioning future relationship affected both participants’ focus on their feelings, and their reasoning strategies. As a result, participants reported more positivity about their relationship altogether, especially when study participants extended their thinking about the relationship a year into the future.

“Our study demonstrates that adopting a future-oriented perspective in the context of a relationship conflict —reflecting on how one might feel a year from now may be a valuable coping tool for one’s psychological happiness and relationship well-being,” said Huynh.

1. What do romantic partners do in face of most disagreements?

A．They lose faith in their future.	B．They focus on their present feelings.
C．They look forward to a fierce conflict.	D．They care more about financial problems.

2. What does the underlined word “induced” in Paragraph 2 most probably mean?

A．Caused.	B．Explained.
C．Reduced.	D．Influenced.

3. What were participants asked to do in the study?

A．Argue with their romantic partners.

B．Examine their use of pronouns.

C．Respond to a text-analysis program.

D．Write down their feelings about a conflict.

4. What is the main idea of the text?

A．Reasoning properly is necessary for reconciliation.

B．Extending a year is a solution to your personal problems.

C．Thinking about future is helpful to relationship maintenance.

D．Focusing on current feelings is the real cause of your arguments.

【推荐2】Behavior Under Risk: How Animals Avoid Becoming Dinner

By: Renee L. Rosier & Tracy Langkilde © 2021 Nature Education

Most animals face the risk of being eaten. To avoid becoming someone’s dinner, an organism must be able to identify predatory threats and employ effective strategies to avoid detection by predators. In the event that avoidance fails, animals can use strategies that will increase their chances of surviving attack if they do encounter predators.

Detecting predators (捕食者):

a. Visual — Many animals respond to general visual cues(提示), such as the presence of a new object or sudden movement. Other visual cues, including an animal’s size and behavior, can provide specific information about the identity and intention of a potential predator. For example, prey may be able to visually identify a predator based on its shape, size, and color, and can use the predator’s behavior to determine the immediate threat that it poses.

b. Auditory—Auditory cues can provide reliable, direct information about a predator’s presence, identity. These cues are especially helpful for nocturnal (夜间活动的) prey species or animals that avoid predators that frequently use sound to hunt or communicate. For example, toadfish recognize sound of dolphins when they are looking for food, one of their main predators, and reduce their activity levels in response.

c. Chemical — Chemical cues can be present in the air, in water, or on the ground, and can be detected by prey through smelling or tasting, providing a reliable indication of a predator’s presence even if it is visually undetectable. Some species are even able to determine how old a predator scent is, and will avoid only fresh scent cues as they indicate a predator’s recent presence.   Animals can also use changes in the concentration or age of a scent to determine which direction a predator was traveling, in order to better avoid it.

d. Vibration (震动) — Vibration cues can provide useful information about a predator’s presence, and can be difficult for predators to hide. Many animals, including some spiders, caterpillars, and tadpoles, use vibrations as indicators of predator presence, and can distinguish vibrations made by predators, non-predators, and abiotic (非生命的) cues (such as rainfall). It is important for prey to be able to distinguish cues from threats versus non-threats, as responding to every tactile stimulus (触觉刺激) would waste time and energy, and may actually attract the attention of predators.

1. How many kinds of visual cues are mentioned in the passage?

A．Two.

B．Three.

C．Four.

D．Five.

2. How does toadfish avoid threat from dolphins?

A．By making noises.	B．By looking for food.
C．By responding actively.	D．By reducing their move.

3. Which of the following cue can best be used to detect the direction of predators at night?

A．Visual.

B．Auditory.

C．Chemical.

D．Vibration.

4. According to the passage, which of the following statements is NOT true?

A．Chemical cues fail to function if the predators are out of sight.

B．Visual cues can be used as an indication of predators’ intention.

C．Vibration cues are reliable as predators can hardly stop vibrating.

D．Auditory cues help prey to figure out what kind of predators they meet.

5. Which of the following topic might be talked about in the following paragraphs?

A．Prey species and their behaviors	B．Distinct Characteristics of Predators
C．Surviving Encounters with Predators	D．Effective Ways to Find out Prey species