【推荐1】If non-musicians play arhythm-based (基于韵律的) game using musical instruments for eight weeks, they can become better at remembering recently seen faces; that is, their short-term memory for non-musical tasks improves, a new research showed.

Previous researches have shown that musicians tend to have better short-term memory than non-musicians about music-related tasks. However, we don’t know whether the benefit still exist when it comes to non-musical tasks or to non-musicians who are learning to play an instrument. It is not clear how the change might actually be seen in the brain.

Theodore Zanto at the University of California, San Francisco thinks the benefit will continue to exist. His research team performed a research of 47 non-musicians for eight weeks, who were divided into two groups. Group l was asked to play a musical rhythm training game and group 2 was asked to play a word search game. At the start and end of the research, participants took a short-term memory test to measure their ability to remember a face they saw seconds before. Only group 1 showed an improvement on their scores.

Brainwave data (数据) showed an increase of activity in the right superior parietal lobe (上顶叶), a brain region associated with encoding (编码) visual information and attention. This suggests, says Zanto, that the rhythm training is improving the brain’s ability to focus attention on a task and change what you are doing into memory.

The ability to remember and recognise faces tends to decline as we age, so any possible way to change that is important, says Josh Davis at the University of Greenwich, the UK. However, in order to make the result of this research completely convincing, it should be shown in real-world facial recognition situations as well as in lab-based tests, says Davis.

1. Theodore Zanto carried out the research to ________.

A．Make comparisons	B．Confirm his predictions
C．Explain a phenomenon	D．Prove previous researches

2. What does the underlined word “participants” mean in the third paragraph?

A．People in group 1.	B．People in group 2.
C．People who carried out the research.	D．People who took part in the research.

3. Which of the following statements is true about the result of the research?

A．Older people tend to remember the recently seen faces.

B．The result of this research needs to be further proven.

C．We have found the way to prevent the decline of memory.

D．Playing word search games can improve the brain’s ability to concentrate.

4. What’s the main idea of the passage?

A．Rhythm training can prevent memory loss.

B．Rhythm-based games influence memory greatly.

C．Playing instruments can improve short-term memory.

D．Musicians have a better short-term memory than non-musicians.

【推荐2】Would a person born blind, who has learned to distinguish objects by touch, be able to recognize them purely by sight if he regained the ability to see? The question, known as Molyneux’s problem, is about whether the human mind has a built-in concept of shapes that is so inborn that a blind person could immediately recognize an object with restored vision. Alternatively, the concepts of shapes are not inborn but have to be learned by exploring an object through sight, touch and other senses.

After their attempt to test it in blind children failed, Lars Chittka of Queen Mary University of London and his team carried out another experiment on bumblebees. To test whether bumblebees can form an internal representation of objects, they first trained the insects to distinguish globes from cubes using a sugar reward. The bees were first trained in the light, where they could see but not touch the objects. Then they were tested in the dark, where they could touch but not see the items. The researchers found that the insects spent more time in contact with the shape they had been trained to associate with the sugar reward, even though they had to rely on touch rather than sight to distinguish the objects.

The researchers also did the opposite test with untrained bumblebees, first teaching them with rewards in the dark and then testing them in the light. Again, the bees were able to recognize the shape associated with the sugar reward, though they had to rely on sight rather than touch in the test. In short, bees have solved Molyneux’s problem because the fact suggests that they can picture object features and access them through sight or touch.

However, some experts express their warning s against the result. Jonathan Birch, a philosopher of science, cautions that the bees may have had prior experience associating visual and tactile (触觉) information about straight edges and curved surfaces in their nests.

1. What is Molyneux’s problem about?

A．Whether mankind’s sense of touch outweighs sight.

B．Whether mankind’s idea of shape is inborn or learned.

C．Whether blind people can identify the shape of an item.

D．Whether the blind can regain their sense of touch after recovery.

2. How did Lors Chittka and his colleagues try to figure out Molyneux’s problem?

A．By experimentation on blind children.

B．By conducting controlled experiments.

C．By rewarding bumblebees with sugar.

D．By observing bumblebees in their nests.

3. What is Jonathan Birch’s attitude towards the conclusion of the bee experiments?

A．Skeptical.	B．Supportive.
C．Dismissive.	D．Ambiguous.

4. Which of the following can be the best title of the passage?

A．Scientists Found Senses Matter

B．Visual-Tactile Puzzle Has Been Solved

C．Experiments Will Help the Blind Regain Sight

D．Bumblebees May Help Solve Molyneux’s Problem

【推荐3】Scientists have designed “transparent wood” that could replace conventional glass in windows. The innovation was developed using wood from the balsa tree, which is native to South and Central America, and claims to be five times more thermally efficient than glass.

The team treated balsa wood in an oxidizing bath (氧化池) that bleaches (漂白) it of nearly all visibility and then poured it into a synthetic polymer (合成物) called polyvinyl alcohol (PVA 聚乙烯醇), creating a product that is virtually transparent.

Unlike traditional glass, the transparent wood can bear much stronger impacts and will bend or separate when damaged, instead of being destroyed into tiny pieces.

The transparent wood was created by teams at the University of Maryland and University of Colorado, which set out to find a greener alternative to conventional glass—a production that creates 25,000 tons in emissions each year.

Along with contributing to greenhouse gases, glass contributes to a loss of energy.

“Residential building windows in particular account for 10-25% of the heat loss due to their poor thermal (保热的) management capability,” the team wrote in the study.

“Exploring energy efficient window materials is thus highly desirable to address heating costs, energy shortages, and the global impact of climate change associated with increased carbon emissions.”

The team notes that the bonding between PVA and cellulose (纤维素) in the wood, creates a tightly packed structure that allows for more thermal protection and makes it more durable and lighter than glass.

“Switching to transparent wood could prove to be cost efficient as well,” researchers shared in a statement.

“It is approximately five times more thermally efficient than glass, cutting energy costs.”

“It is made from a sustainable, renewable resource with low carbon emissions. It’s also compatible (兼容的；可共存的) with existing industrial processing equipment, making the transition (过渡) into manufacturing an easy process.”

1. How many key steps are to take to make balsa wood transparent based on the passage?

A．One.

B．Two.

C．Three.

D．Four.

2. Among the items listed below, which ones are transparent wood’s advantages over conventional glass?
① being more thermally efficient
② bearing much stronger impacts
③ breaking into tiny pieces when damaged
④ cutting energy costs
⑤ contributing to a loss of energy
⑥ being more durable and lighter

A．①②③④⑥	B．①②④⑤⑥
C．①②④⑥	D．①②④⑤

3. Which of the following is NOT TRUE of the research team?

A．They developed the transparent wood from the balsa tree native to South and Central America

B．They set out to find a greener alternative to conventional glass because glass contributes to loss of energy.

C．They claimed the transparent wood was five times more thermally efficient than glass.

D．They concluded the process of producing the transparent wood is more difficult than that of producing glass.

4. The passage is mainly about ________.

A．a new technology of replacing transparent wood

B．a production of a new type of building material

C．an innovation (改革；创新) of new residential (适于住宅的) building glass

D．an invention of a new energy efficient window material

【推荐2】Educators and business leaders have more in common than it may seem. Teachers want to prepare students for a successful future. Technology companies, like AT&T, have an interest in developing a workforce with the STEM(science, technology, engineering and math) skills needed to grow the company and advance the industry. How can they work together to achieve these goals? Play may be the answer.

Focusing on STEM skills is important, but the reality is that STEM skills are enhanced and more relevant when combined with traditional, hands-on creative activities. This combination is proving to be the best way to prepare today’s children to be the makers and builders of tomorrow. That is why technology companies are partnering with educators to bring back good, old fashion play.

In fact many experts argue that the most important 21st century skills aren’t related to specific technologies or subject matter, but to creativity; skills like imagination, problem-finding and problem-solving, teamwork, optimism, patience and the ability to experiment and take risks. These are skills acquired when kids tinker(捣鼓小玩意). High-tech industries such as NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory have found that their best overall problem solvers were master tinkerers in their youth.

There are cognitive benefits of doing things the way we did as children — building something, tearing it down, then building it up again. Research shows that given 15 minutes of free play, four- and five-year-olds will spend a third of this time engaged in spatial, mathematical, and architectural activities. This type of play — especially with building blocks — helps children discover and develop key principles in math and geometry.

If play and building are critical to 21st century skill development, then that’s really good news for two reasons: Children are born builders, makers, and creators, so fostering(培养) 21st century skills may be as simple as giving kids room to play, tinker and try things out, even as they grow older; and the second piece of good news is that it doesn’t take 21st century technology to foster 21st century skills. This is especially important for under-resourced schools and communities. Taking whatever materials are handy and tinkering with them is a simple way to engage those important “maker” skills. And anyone, anywhere, can do it.

1. What does the author say about educators?

A．They seek advice from technology companies to achieve teaching goals.

B．They have been successful in preparing the workforce for companies.

C．They help students acquire the skills needed for their future success.

D．They partner with technology companies to enhance teaching efficiency.

2. How can educators better develop students’ STEM skills, according to the author?

A．By blending them with traditional, stimulating activities.

B．By inviting business leaders to help design curriculums.

C．By enhancing students’ ability to think in a critical way.

D．By showing students the best way to learn is through play.

3. How do children acquire the skills needed for the 21st century?

A．By engaging in activities involving specific technologies.

B．By playing with things to solve problems on their own.

C．By familiarizing themselves with high-tech gadgets.

D．By mastering basic principles through teamwork.

4. What does the author advise disadvantaged schools and communities to do?

A．Train students to be makers to meet future market demands.

B．Develop students’ creative skills with the resources available.

C．Engage students with challenging tasks to foster their creativity.

D．Work together with companies to improve their teaching facilities.

【推荐3】Generations of children grew up reading comic(漫画) books secretly, hiding out from parents and teachers who saw them as a waste of time and a risk to young minds. Comics are now gaining a new respectability at school. That is thanks to an increasingly popular and creative programme, often aimed at struggling readers, that encourages children to plot, write and draw comic books, in many cases using themes from their own lives.

The Comic Book Project was started in 2001 by Michael Bitz at an elementary school in Queens. Since its creation, the programme, which is mainly conducted after school, has spread to more than 850 schools across the country. It has gotten a big push from the craze(狂热) among adolescents for comic book clubs and for Manga, a widely popular variety of comic originating in Japan.

The point is not to drop a comic book on a child’s desk and say “read this”. Rather, the workshops give groups of students the opportunity to collaborate(合著) on often complex stories and characters that they then revise, publish and share with others in their communities.

Teachers are finding it easier to teach writing, grammar and punctuation with material that students are fully invested in(投入). And it turns out that comic books have other built-in advantages. The pairing of visual and written plotlines that they rely on appear to be especially helpful to struggling readers. No one is suggesting that comic books should substitute for traditional books or for standard reading and composition lessons. Teachers who would once have dismissed comics out of hand are learning to exploit(利用) a style that clearly has a powerful hold on young minds. They are using what works.

1. Which of the following is probably the best title of the passage?

A．Japanese Comic Books.

B．Comic Books in the Classroom.

C．Reading Efficiently.

D．A Current Craze.

2. The main purpose of the Comic Book Project is to              .

A．develop the cooperation among adolescents

B．make sure that students live a rich and colourful life after school

C．help students who have some difficulty in reading

D．popularize a new method of teaching

3. It can be inferred that              .

A．comic books were first used in Japanese schools

B．parents have different opinions about their children reading comic books

C．more and more teachers will realize the advantages of comic books

D．comic books will be allowed to enter all the schools in the country

【推荐2】Surfing the net when you should be finishing a work report, changing clothes when you have a train to catch, or perhaps even lying in bed when you’ve promised yourself you’ll work out. Sound familiar? You aren’t alone. We all procrastinate (拖延) sometimes, especially when it comes to things we aren’t really fond of. And while the number of activities we delay doing in any given week varies from person to person, it’s fair to say that none of us is super-efficient 100 percent of the time.
A study revealed that we spend about 218 minutes procrastinating every day, which amounts to 55 days of lost time each year. We might not think these figures particularly worthy of worry, but when we look at the overall impact of procrastination on our lives, ___________. Not only does this cost financial loss, it also affects peace of mind. And procrastination isn’t just a money thief —— it steals time too. In general, people who continually put things off are unhappier, as well as being less wealthy and healthy.
So why do we do it? “When we avoid taking action, we’re really avoiding pain,” explains psychiatrist (精神病学家) Phil Stutz. For most of us, pain avoidance isn’t limited to one situation. It applies to almost anything that’s painful. Most of us try our best never to leave a comfort zone. That’s why we sacrifice something much more valuable: time. “Our time on earth is limited,” Stutz adds. “Every moment is an opportunity we’ll never have again. Procrastinators act as if they have all the time in the world. But deep down, they know they’re wasting parts of their life. The trouble is, most of them don’t know how to free themselves.”
One way he says we can reach this level of freedom is by overcoming the pain of avoidance using daily visualization (想象). “Picture the pain you’re avoiding as a black cloud in front of you,” Stutz says. “Notice how you’re fed up with the ways this pain has held you back in life, and tell yourself that you’re determined to conquer it. Then it’s time to get through the cloud and to the other side — where you’re free.” It is obvious that this tool works when we want to procrastinate. We then get into the habit of moving “towards” pain instead of away from it.
In addition to the fact that procrastinators suffer more health problems, procrastination also destroysteamwork and personal relationships because it shifts the burden of responsibilities onto others. So next time you think about putting something off, remember the impact it will have. Experts insist: procrastinators can change their behavior, it takes a lot of self-work but in the end, it’s worth the effort. And start today, not tomorrow.
1. The writer begins the passage by ________.

A．presenting abnormal things

B．asking related questions

C．mentioning habitual activities

D．comparing different opinions

2. By saying “it’s a different story”, the writer thinks procrastination _______.

A．leads to different results for different persons

B．is likely to have bad effects on people’s life

C．may not be particularly worthy of concern

D．tends to cause unhappiness among people

3. According to the passage, people procrastinate because they_______.

A．get accustomed to taking action

B．prefer to stay in the comfort zone

C．don’t know how to free themselves

D．are not aware of the limited time

4. One possible way to stop procrastination is to ________.

A．overcome it mentally

B．avoid the pain

C．take some self-work

D．reach the freedom

5. What’s the writing purpose of the passage?

A．To analyze the trouble procrastination causes.

B．To show what contributes to procrastination.

C．To solve the problems caused by procrastination.

D．To encourage people to defeat procrastination.