【推荐2】Whenever you read text, your brain processes the visual stimuli (刺激物) to create meaning and understand the content. Chances are, you don’t pay much attention to the way the information is presented- particularly the font (字体) choice. That’s because your main target is reading comprehension, not aesthetics.

Although typography(排印) is missed by most of us, it’s essential in making texts legible, readable and appealing for audiences. Beyond the visual aspect, research shows that fonts play a significant role in the mental processes of understanding that happen while we read. A font’s impact on the way you learn and memorize information might be hard to notice consciously, but your brain is certainly tuned in. Perhaps surprisingly, hard-to-read fonts such as Bodoni, Comic Sans, or Monotype Corsiva are better for memorizing information than fonts like Arial or Times New Roman, according to some studies.

“Difficulty can function as an alarm signal, giving the reader a sense that the task is challenging and will require mental effort,” says Daniel Oppenheimer, a professor of psychology at Carnegie Mellon University and one of a 2010 study authors, “Additionally, slowing down the reading speed to deal with the disfluency may increase the probability of spotting errors in a text.”

Font characteristics such as style, size and color play a role in information retention memory or recall as well, says Stephen Banham, a typography lecturer at RMIT University in Melbourne, Australia. Experiments have proved a U-shape relationship between font size and memory: Large-font items may predict higher recall regardless of style, but very small font sizes can also introduce a desirable difficulty.

A document’s specific method of formatting information also makes an impact. Using font styles like bold or italics to indicate significance can also improve memory. That’s because people are better able to remember information they consider important, says Oppenheimer. Researchers found that bolded text has a higher recall than text in italic or regular styles, regardless of the font size. However, if an entire document is bolded, the emphasis is lost, and readers can no longer spot vital passages.

1. Why do readers often ignore the font choice?

A．They lack aesthetic knowledge.	B．They aim to understand the meaning.
C．Their brains are not sensitive to the font.	D．Fonts are of little significance in reading.

2. What does Daniel Oppenheimer say about hard-to-read fonts?

A．They can lead to desirable challenges.	B．They may distract readers from the text.
C．The meaning of the text may be mistaken.	D．They will affect reading performance negatively.

3. What can improve people’s information retention or recall?

A．Using fonts of medium size.	B．Choosing bright font colors.
C．Putting the words in italic type	D．Making the whole passage bold.

4. Which of the following is the best title for the text?

A．What Fonts Make Reading Easy	B．What Fonts Make Memory Lasting
C．Why Fonts Impact Retention and Recall	D．How Fonts Affect Learning and Memory

【推荐1】WE COMBAT ANIMAL DISEASES TOGETHER!

We want to prevent serious animal diseases such as foot and mouth disease, classical swine fever and African swine fever from spreading to Finland. These and other animal diseases can be transmitted from one country to another by animals or by meat and dairy products even if they are packed for personal consumption or intended as gifts. Travelers like you play an important role in preventing the spread of animal diseases.

Don’t bring meat, meat products, milk and dairy products from non-EU countries to Finland!

A ban on personal imports applies to meat and dairy products brought into Finland by travelers or ordered and sent through the post. The ban applies to food stuffs intended for personal consumption or as gifts and to pet food. If you have food products of animal origin with you, throw them in a waste container in the point of entry or contact Customs!

Bringing meat-containing products as presents and for personal use from an EU country to Finland

At the moment, there are EU countries with cases of African swine fever. In those countries there are restriction areas and, as a rule, pork and wild bear meat or products containing these meats may not be imported from these areas into Finland. Import is allowed only under very strict criteria controlled by local authorities. However, the sales of these meat products within the country may be allowed. In the EU, the disease has been detected in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Belgium and Italy (Sardinia), for instance. It is difficult for travelers to know and prove from which area meat products originate and whether the products on sale meet all criteria. This is the reason why we recommend that people avoid importing any meat products containing pork or wild bear meat as presents or for personal use from countries with African swine fever.

PLEASE NOTE! Never leave any food waste or leftover in the environment or places where they may be eaten by wildlife. Never give food waste or leftover to production animals or to pet pigs.

Thank you for helping us to prevent the spread of animal diseases. We wish you a pleasant journey!

1. Whom is this notice intended for?

A．Food importers in Finland.	B．Travelers to Finland.
C．Citizens in EU countries.	D．Medical staff from non-EU countries.

2. Why does the Finnish Food Authority issue the notice?

A．To protect endangered wildlife.	B．To secure the domestic economy.
C．To promote vegetarian lifestyle.	D．To prevent the infectious diseases.

3. Which of the following behaviors is IMPROPER, according to the notice?

A．A Russian official threw a beef burger in a dustbin at the Finnish airport.

B．A Finnish girl fed milk to pigeon at the park in her neighborhood.

C．A Japanese traveler bought some Hungarian homemade sausages in Finland.

D．A German brought German cheeses to his Finnish girlfriend as a gift.

【推荐2】August 1990, Boston

Dear Maya Shao-ming,

To me, June 6, 1990 is a special day. My long-awaited dream came true the minute your father cried, “A girl!” You are more than just a second child, more than just a girl to match our boy. You, little daughter, are the link to our female line, the legacy of another woman’s pain and sacrifice 31 years ago.

Let me tell you about your Chinese grandmother. Somewhere in Hong Kong, in the late fifties, a young waitress found herself pregnant (怀孕) by a cook, probably a co-worker at her restaurant. She carried the baby to term, suffered to give it birth, and kept the little girl for the first three months of her life. I like to think that my mother—your grandmother—loved me and fought to raise me on her own, but that the daily struggle was too hard. Worn down by the demands of the new baby and perhaps the constant threat of starvation, she made the painful decision to give away her girl so that both of us might have a chance for a better life.

More likely, I was dropped at the orphanage (孤儿院) steps or somewhere else. I will probably never know the truth. Having a baby in her unmarried state would have brought shame on the family in China, so she probably kept my existence a secret. Once I was out of her life, it was as if I had never been born. And so you and your brother and I are the missing leaves on a family tree.

Do they ever wonder if we exist?

Before I was two, I was adopted by an Anglo couple. Fed three square meals a day, I grew like a wild weed and grasped all the opportunities they had to offer—books, music, education, church life and community activities. In a family of blue-eyed blonds, though, I stood out like a sore thumb. Whether from jealousy or fear of someone who looked so different, my older brothers sometimes teased me about my unpleasing skin, or made fun of my clumsy walk. Moody and impatient, burdened by fears that none of us realized resulted from my early years of need, I was not an easy child to love. My mother and I conflicted countless times over the years, but gradually came to see one another as real human beings with faults and talents, and as women of strength in our own right. Lacking a mirror image in the mother who raised me, I had to seek my identity as a woman on my own. The Asian American community has helped me regain my double identity.

But part of me will always be missing: my beginnings, my personal history, all the delicate details that give a person her origin. Nevertheless, someone gave me a lucky name “Siu Wai”. “Siu” means “little”, and “Wai” means “clever”. Therefore, my baby name was “Clever little one.” Who chose those words? Who cared enough to note my arrival in the world?

I lost my Chinese name for 18 years. It was Americanized for convenience to “Sue”. But like an ill-fitting coat, it made me uncomfortable. I hated the name. But even more, I hated being Chinese. It took many years to become proud of my Asian origin and work up the courage to take back my birth-name. That, plus a little knowledge of classroom Cantonese is all the Chinese culture I have to offer you. Not white, certainly, but not really Asian, I try to pave the way between the two worlds and bridge the gap for you. Your name, “Shao-ming”, is very much like mine—“Shao” means “little”. And “ming” is “bright”, as in a shining sun or moon. Whose lives will you brighten, little Maya? Your past is more complete than mine, and each day I cradle you in your babyhood, generously giving you the loving care I lacked for my first two years. When I pat you, I comfort the lost baby inside me who still cries for her mother.

Sweet Maya, it doesn’t matter what you “become” later on. You have already fulfilled my wildest dreams.

I love you.

Mammy

1. Why is June 6, 1990 a special day for Mommy?

A．Her dream of being a mother came true.	B．She found her origin from her Chinese mother.
C．She wrote the letter to her daughter.	D．Her female line was well linked.

2. How does Mommy feel about her being given away?

A．It is bitter and disappointing.	B．It is painful but understandable.
C．She feels sorry but sympathetic.	D．She feels hurt and angry.

3. What does “I stood out like a sore thumb” in Paragraph 5 mean?

A．I walked clumsily out of pains.	B．I was not easy to love due to jealousy.
C．I was impatient out of fear.	D．I looked different from others.

4. What can be inferred from Mommy’s Anglo family life?

A．She used to experience an identity crisis.	B．She fought against her American identity.
C．She forgot the pains of her early years.	D．She kept her love for Asia from childhood.

5. Why did Mommy name her daughter “Shao-ming”?

A．To match her own birth-name.	B．To brighten the lives of the family.
C．To identify her with Chinese origin.	D．To justify her pride in Chinese culture.

6. By “Your past is more complete than mine,” Mommy means______.

A．her past was completed earlier than Shao-ming’s

B．Shao-ming has got motherly care and a sense of roots

C．her mother didn’t comfort her the way she did Shao-ming

D．her past was spent brokenly, first in Asia, then in the US