The QR-code menu- which you access by scanning a black-and-white square with your smartphone-has taken off. It may dominate going forward.
For restaurants, QR-code menus offer potential benefits beyond putting germ-averse (厌恶细菌的) diners at greater ease. In the near future, rather than offer the same unchanging selections to every diner, restaurants might employ dynamic menus from which dishes disappear as the kitchen runs out.
For diners, however, QR-code menus are not really an advance. You may just be checking to see what you want your next drink to be, but from there it’s easy to start checking texts and emails. Even if everyone resists the temptation (诱惑) to check an incoming text message, merely having a phone out on the table makes a meal less fun for all involved. In the study “Smartphone Use Undermines Enjoyment of Face-to-Face Social Interactions”, the social-psychology researcher Ryan Dwyer and his colleagues randomly assigned some people to keep their phones out when dining with friends and others to put it away. “We found that groups assigned to use their phones enjoyed the experience less than groups that did not use their phones,” Dwyer said, “primarily due to the fact that participants with phones were more distracted.”
QR-code menus reduce privacy, too. Many of the codes “are actually generated by a different company that collects, uses, and then often shares your personal information,” the ACLU has warned.
“In fact, companies that provide QR codes to restaurants like to brag (吹嘘) all the personal information you are sharing along with that food order: your location, your demographics such as gender and age group, and other information about you and your behavior.”
The next few years may determine to what degree the restaurant of the future embraces the digital era or conserves the traditional focus on sociability and connection by deliberately avoiding it. There’s one thing for sure: their success is not appointed in advance.
1. Which kind of menu may a restaurant offer in the near future?| A．A paper menu. |
| B．A clean menu. |
| C．A changeable menu. |
| D．A personalized menu. |
| A．It forces them to check texts. |
| B．It takes their attention away. |
| C．It offers a discount. |
| D．It recommends better drinks. |
| A．QR-code menus will be forbidden. |
| B．Restaurants tend to share diners’ location. |
| C．QR codes aim to collect diners’ personal information. |
| D．Scanning QR-code menus may put diners at risk. |
| A．Problems brought by QR-code menus. |
| B．Restaurants’ difficulties in the digital era. |
| C．Diners’ concerns about privacy exposure. |
| D．Technology challenges of QR-code menus. |
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【推荐1】Since his students began using Quizlet, English teacher Tristan Thorne has noticed an improvement in their ability to learn and use new words. Quizlet is a learning App, a computer program you use on your mobile phone. It can help users build and test their knowledge of English words. Quizlet has word sets for millions of subjects. And, it is quickly becoming a useful mobile tool for language learners.
Thorne teaches at Columbia University in New York City. Thanks to learning Apps, Jeff Strack, another English teacher, has also noticed improvement in his students’ ability to remember information. He teaches at Hostos Community College, also in New York. He and Thorne are part of a growing number of language educators adding mobile Apps to their classes.
Strack and Thorne seem to agree that the days when teachers would not permit the use of mobile phones are gone. When they use Apps, language learners communicate more differently than in a traditional classroom. Users act on or respond to something, instead of just listening to new information.
Thorne believes that Apps can help learners become more active in learning. For example, each week, his students are required to add vocabulary words into Quizlet for others to use. He says some Apps also make it easy for students to know their language strengths and weaknesses.
The biggest improvement Strack has seen in his students is that they are much more active in wholeclass or smallgroup discussions. “Apps let all students take part in the activity, whether it’s a game, quiz or practice activity, ” he says.
Many existing learning Apps are designed for students of all ages and levels. Some are designed for group activities. Some support independent learning. Still some are good for homework. Thorne says he especially likes Quizlet and three other Apps: QR Codes, Socrative and Evernote.
1. What do Strack and Thorne do to improve their teaching?| A．They design learning Apps for their students. |
| B．They allow their students to use mobile Apps to study. |
| C．They don’t allow their students to use Apps after class. |
| D．They order their students not to use mobile phones in class. |
| A．save much time and money | B．take an active part in learning |
| C．remember their weaknesses | D．improve personal designing skills |
| A．They are designed for different uses. | B．They are too few to choose from. |
| C．They are only designed for homework. | D．They have three types in total. |
| A．Great Changes in Science and Technology | B．The Use of Mobile Phones Will Be Gone |
| C．Ways to Choose from Different Mobile Apps | D．Better Language Learning with Mobile Apps |
【推荐2】New apps provide more sources of information and bring convenience. Here are some of the newest free apps. If you are interested, download them to your smartphone!
iEDU It allows students to search for iEDU advising center information, where you can discover new educational information, aid, opportunities and advice. | Indie Shuffle It allows you to look through lesser-known artists’ music. You can save songs or artists you like and find bands with similar sounds. |
BrainPOP It mixes learning and technology in a fun and simple way. It is free and teaches you something new in English every day. | Todoist It is a time saver, an app helping you manage your time, add a task and even assign tasks to other people who need a quick reminder! |
| A．Professors. | B．Doctors. | C．Drivers. | D．Students. |
| A．iEDU. | B．Indie Shuffle. | C．BrainPOP. | D．Todoist. |
| A．In a newspaper. | B．In a fashion magazine. |
| C．In a movie poster. | D．In an academic report. |
【推荐3】Ways Your Cell Phone Affects Your Body and Mind
First, some good news. Your phone can keep you safer. A study found that 137 more lives were saved per 100,000 patients when people called 911 from a mobile phone rather than from a fixed one.
Scanning your phone right before bed can cause sleep disorder. To avoid that, make a habit of not using your phone for at least 30 minutes before you close your eyes.
When you are awake, a single sound on your phone can signal the coming news. However, this can weaken your ability to focus on a task.
Memory suffers too.
It would be easy to avoid all these problems by simply putting down your phone. The problem: It isn’t so easy.
| A．But there are plenty of worries too. |
| B．Your phone can do damage to your eyes. |
| C．Silence your phone or simply put it away can help. |
| D．Walking with your face in your phone can be dangerous. |
| E．People may feel painful when separated from their phones. |
| F．Your hand may feel painful when you hold your phone too long. |
| G．Using a map and trying to remember it may be better for your brain. |
【推荐1】Advertising uses repetition to increase consumers’preference for brands. Particularly for novel brands, much exposure and repetition is necessary to establish the brand name in the first place. Do you still remember your feeling when you see or hear the names YAHOO or GOOGLE for the first time? Now they are imprinted in your brain. Basic psychological research has already shown that repeatedly perceived (感知) information is easier to be remembered for the brain process.
Recent research has shown that repetition effects actually are originally caused from the mouth. Each time we come across a person’s or product name, the lips and the tongue automatically simulate (模仿) the pronunciation of that name. This happens without our awareness and without actual mouth movements. During inner speech, the brain attempts to say the novel name. When names are presented repeatedly, this simulation happens repeatedly. However, if this inner speech is disturbed, for instance during chewing gum or whispering another word, the repetition effect vanishes.
An interesting experiment was conducted in movie theaters. 96 participants were invited to a real movie theater and were presented a block of commercials and a movie later on. Half of the participants received popcorn to eat. For them, the mouth was occupied with chewing the popcorn so the mouth muscles could not engage in inner speech when watching the ads for the novel brands. The other half of the participants only received a small sugar cube, which dissolved quickly in their mouth so that the mouth muscles were free to simulate the pronunciation of the brand names. The participants were invited to the lab one week after the cinema session. They were presented with images of products. Half of these products had been advertised in the cinema session; the other half were completely novel products. Participants were asked to indicate the products that they liked, and their physiological responses were measured. Those participants who had only received a sugar cube proved that there was a clear advertising effect. They preferred advertised novel products and also showed positive physiological responses of familiarity for advertised products. However, those participants who had eaten popcorn while watching the commercials one week before showed no such advertising effect.
1. Why does the author mention Yahoo and Google in Paragraph One?| A．To remind readers of brand names. |
| B．To prove the influence of repetition. |
| C．To compare the effects of two brands. |
| D．To draw readers’ attention to the research. |
| A．Disappear. | B．Improve. | C．Reduce. | D．Occur. |
| A．held positive attitude toward movies |
| B．showed preference for advertisements |
| C．tended to choose the advertised products |
| D．felt familiar with the commercials and the movies |
| A．A psychological report. |
| B．An entertainment website. |
| C．A commercial advertisement. |
| D．A popular science magazine. |
【推荐2】The most intuitive argument against immigration we come across is that immigrants are causing higher unemployment rate or lower wages for low-skilled workers within the nation, which is probably not true in the US. Statistics show that in the US, wages and unemployment rate are rarely affected for the reason that immigrants move more flexibly for jobs than local workers.
Immigration boosts economy by driving up both demand and supply. Official data show that immigrants have a far more diverse composition than the native-born. They have a higher percentage of doctoral degree owners while also a higher percentage of worse-educated. The effect is that companies actually adjust to the change in job market in the long-run and figure out their way to deal with a mix of workers with different skills and levels, which at the end of the day fits them into different jobs.
For those who have a bachelor or a doctoral degree, they are the driving engines whose innovation largely boosts the US economy. Immigrants to the United States tend to generate more patentable technologies than natives: though they constitute only 18 percent of the 25 and older workforce, immigrants obtain 28 percent of high-quality patents. Immigrants are also more likely to become Nobel winners in physics, chemistry, and physiology or medicine. These innovations can increase productivity and job supplies in the long run.
For those badly-educated, even though they did cause a negative impact to net financial contribution to the US government, the impact is rather small compared to those undereducated native people. It is because as immigrants who come to seek for a change for their life, it is more likely for them to take a job rather than accepting the basic living standard provided by government subsidy like those desperate native-born Americans who have lost faith in the so-called “American Dream”. In the long run, it eases the burden of government and brings in more tax income. In this sense, their stable income also brings about more domestic demand in the US.
All in all, immigrants are actually beneficial for the US economy, largely owing to the values created by those highly-educated. The expulsions of unauthorized immigrants may bring about negative impact to the economy.
1. Why does the author write this passage?| A．To appeal to more foreigners to immigrate to America. |
| B．To urge the US to treat unauthorized immigrants equally. |
| C．To confirm what’s long been believed about immigration. |
| D．To argue for the positive economic effects of immigration. |
| A．They contribute less to government finances. |
| B．They have less access to government subsidy. |
| C．They’re more confident of the American Dream. |
| D．They’re more likely to go where jobs are available. |
| A．Companies are more willing to employ immigrants. |
| B．Immigrants are more adaptable than native Americans. |
| C．Most Americans with a doctor’s degree are immigrants. |
| D．Immigration creates more job opportunities for America. |
| A．By listing specific statistics. | B．By making a detailed analysis. |
| C．By presenting typical examples. | D．By comparing different opinions. |
【推荐3】To improve road safety and raise awareness among Russia’s notoriously (臭名昭著地) careless drivers, Russian police have tried to get drivers to slow down at zebra (斑马) crossings by having painted horses as zebras walk across on the busiest streets in some of the big cities.
The light grey horses, painted with black stripes (条纹), carried signs on their backs reading: “Careful, children are on their way to school.” The police sent the “zebras” to several different locations in the Russian capital, where officials in orange vests walked them over zebra crossings and handed out leaflets (传单) to passing drivers.
Some held up rainbow-coloured umbrellas over the painted animals to protect them from the rain. Russian roads are notoriously dangerous and drivers still rarely take steps to avoid pedestrians (行人). Nearly half of all traffic accidents in the country’s big cities are caused by cars hitting pedestrians, and a third of those occur on crossings, according to traffic police figures published last month.
In the first six months of this year, 378 people were killed and more than 6, 600 injured on pedestrian crossings in Russia, according to police. In Moscow alone, 43 people were killed, including two children.
Though police officials said that only safe paint would be used on the animals, animal rights activists still disagreed with the idea, accusing the police of “treating animals like garbage”.
“Children understand that paints are bad for animals,” the Interfax news agency quoted president of Vita animal rights group Irina Novozhilova as saying.
Let’s hope this part of the campaign is over and animals are left out of future attempts to raise pedestrians’ awareness.
1. Why do Moscow police have “zebras” walk across on the busiest streets?| A．To make a call on protecting animals. |
| B．To raise drivers’ awareness of road safety. |
| C．To tell people it is dangerous to cross streets. |
| D．To remind people zebras are in danger of extinction. |
| A．The zebras. | B．The policemen. | C．The horses. | D．The drivers. |
| A．Drivers must slow down at pedestrian crossings. |
| B．Road safety should be improved. |
| C．The paints used on the horses are safe. |
| D．These animals are ill-treated by the police. |
| A．Critical. | B．Confident. | C．Doubtful. | D．Positive. |
【推荐1】A strong hit to the head will normally give you a concussion (脑震荡). Woodpeckers, however, strike their beaks (喙) into trees thousands of times a day and are perfectly fine.
We used to think that a woodpecker’s skull (头骨) worked as a kind of safety helmet which absorbed the shocks. A new study by Sam Van Wassenbergh, a researcher at the University of Antwerp in Belgum, proved that this “common sense” was in fact false.
Van Wassenbergh and his colleagues argued that, if a woodpecker’s head absorbed the force, it would not be able to strike the tree with enough force.
“If the beak absorbed much of its own impact, the unfortunate bird would have to pound even harder,” they said in their paper. In other words, if the theory were true, the woodpecker would have to peck even harder to compensate (弥补) for both the shock-absorbing qualities of the sponge-like bone inside its skull as well as the density (密度) of the wood.
The scientists recorded four different kinds of woodpeckers in zoos as they were pecking. The team used data from their high-speed recordings to build digital models of the woodpeckers. Van Wassenbergh described the woodpeckers’ motion as “a hammer (锤子) hitting wood” since their movement rigid and focused.
The research suggested that woodpeckers don’t have any shock-absorbing device or the ability to reduce the amount of force. Although they are without “helmets”, the team claimed that the woodpeckers’ tiny size and weight protect them.
A woodpecker’s brain is about 700 times smaller than that of a human. “Smaller animals can stand up to higher decelerations (减速). Think about a fly that hits a window and then just flies back again,” Van Wassenbergh said. “So that is why even the hardest hits we observed are not expected to cause any concussion.”
THEORIES OF PECKING
Previous theory 1: The shock is absorbed by a spongy (海绵似的) bone behind the woodpecker’s beak.
Previous theory 2: Woodpeckers have a long tongue that wraps around the skull, which protects the brain.
Previous theory 3: The liquid inside the skull ensures that the brain will not move violently.
New theory: There is no shock-absorbing device in the head. Woodpeckers’ tiny body is able to take the hit.
1. What did people use to believe about woodpeckers when they peck trees?| A．They could resist slight concussions. |
| B．Their heads were able to reduce the impact. |
| C．Their beaks could spread the shocks they produce. |
| D．Their bodies were soft enough to absorb the force. |
| A．The shock absorber theory is mostly correct. |
| B．How woodpeckers peck depends on their type. |
| C．Woodpeckers do not have special safety devices. |
| D．Density of the wood affects a woodpeckers’ pecking force. |
| A．Its size. | B．Its skull. | C．Its beak. | D．Its species. |
| A．An advertisement. | B．An information brochure. |
| C．An observation diary. | D．A science magzine. |
【推荐2】If medical workers are at the center of the fight against COVID-19, media professionals are the ones right behind them.
“For the first time in my career, I felt it could cost my life,” said Liao Jun, a reporter of Xinhua News Agency, at a media briefing (简报) in Wuhan on March 8, according to China Daily. Liao has been reporting the disease by visiting hospitals and local communities for months. “My colleagues call me ‘the iron lady’,” she said. “For reporters, regardless of gender, it’s our responsibility and duty to go to the core infection zones and listen to people’s stories.”
That sense of mission can’t be stopped. Zhan Song, a Changjiang Daily reporter, has been reporting in Wuhan. “If I do get infected someday, I think I’ll start livestreaming (直播) interviews at whichever hospital I may land in and report about patients’ lives there,” he said.
Reporters outside Wuhan may not face the same level of risk, but they are also doing whatever they can to get to the center of the news. Li Xueqing, for example, is a China Daily reporter, based in New York. She wrote a story about a group of Wuhan University schoolmates in New York who volunteered to donate medical equipment to hospitals in Wuhan. She thought about doing the interview over the phone, but she changed her mind.
“Anyone from inside China can do a phone interview,” said Li. “That’s not why I’m here.”
So she started to tag along with the volunteers, watching them do everything – from staying up late contacting the suppliers to dealing with piles of shipping paperwork. “After the story was published online, I saw a comment below that said, ‘Thank you for letting me see all the details behind the scenes.’ I knew it was all worth it,” said Li.
As medical workers continue to fight on the front line, we must remember the ones who also risk their lives to deliver our daily news: the media.
1. What can we learn about Liao Jun as a journalist from the passage?| A．She started to work in Wuhan on March 8. |
| B．She attends media briefings in Wuhan every day. |
| C．She has been reporting first-hand on the disease. |
| D．She volunteers to help in hospitals and communities. |
| A．The spread of COVID-19 in New York. |
| B．The latest news on the outbreak in China. |
| C．The efforts some volunteers made to help Wuhan. |
| D．The challenges faced by medical workers in Wuhan. |
| A．go along | B．have fun | C．make donations | D．search around |
| A．They went to Wuhan to report the outbreak. |
| B．They have fulfilled their professional responsibilities. |
| C．They got infected while they were reporting on the disease. |
| D．They risked their lives to interview the COVID-19 patients. |
【推荐3】There are many wetlands（湿地） in China and some of them have become the world’s important wetlands. The Chinese Yellow Sea Wetlands are among them. They are in Yancheng，Jiangsu Province. They are home for many different kinds of birds and animals. The world’s largest Milu Deer Nature Reserve（自然保护区) is in them. More than 700 milu deer live freely there. There are not many red-crowned cranes in the world, but every winter you can see some in the Red-crowned Cranes Nature Reserve in the Yellow Sea Wetlands.
The temperature in the wetlands is usually neither too high nor too low. There is a lot of rain and sunshine，too. They are really good places for wildlife（野生生物）. Offering food and home for some special kinds of animals and birds is not the only reason why we need to protect wetlands. Wetlands are important because they also prevent flood. But some people want to change the wetlands to make more space for farms and buildings. This means there will be less and less space for wildlife.
Luckily, more and more people are beginning to realize the important of wetlands and wildlife. Every year，on February 2nd，many activities are held to tell people more about wetlands.
1. Usually the weather in the wetlands is ________.| A．hot | B．pleasant | C．cold | D．dry |
| A．April 22 | B．June 25 | C．February 2 | D．March 22 |
| A．they are home for wildlife | B．they can prevent flood |
| C．they can offer food to the animals and birds | D．all of the above |
| A．China’s Wetlands Have All Entered the World’s List |
| B．Wetlands—Home for Wildlife and Human Beings |
| C．Special Animals in the Chinese Yellow Sea Wetlands |
| D．Wetlands—Valuable Recourses（珍贵资源）of Land on the Earth |
