Reading is a complex and crucial skill that impacts the youth’s ability to perform as students. Therefore, it’s important to develop reading skills during childhood. A team of researchers focused on the effect of whole-body learning in instruction, known as embodied learning.
The research included 149 children, aged 5 to 6, who had just started school. They were divided into three groups: one that stood up and used their whole bodies to shape letter sounds; a seated group that shaped letter sounds with their hands and arms; and a control group that received traditional, seated instruction during which they wrote letters by hand.
“Our research showed that children who used their whole bodies to shape the sounds of letters became twice as proficient at letter sounds that are more difficult to learn as those who received traditional instruction” says PhD student Linn Damsgaard of UCPH’s Department of Nutrition, Exercise and Sports.
With regard to difficult letter sounds, she adds, “There are many difficult letter sounds in Danish. These sounds are particularly important because once children become skilled at them, they will be better readers.
Associate professor Jacob Wienecke, who led the study, explains, the primary goal is to learn more about which methods can be used to give beginner readers a good start. The idea is that if, through play and movement, we can learn where their strengths truly lie, we’ll create a form of learning that combines reading with play, and that’s truly positive.”
Previously, the researchers showed that the children felt more motivated by teaching methods which included physical movement. Jacob Wienecke hopes this will provide an opportunity to inspire teachers and school managers to prioritize movement across subjects.
The study also investigated whether a direct effect of embodied learning could be found on children’s reading of words. This was not possible, which might be due to the fact that the children were at such an early stage of their literacy development that they could not yet use their knowledge of letter sounds to read words.
1. What were the participants required to do in the study?| A．To pick out difficult letter sounds in Danish. |
| B．To learn new letters through repeated writing. |
| C．To learn letter sounds using different approaches. |
| D．To memorize some letter sounds as soon as possible. |
| A．By combining learning with games. |
| B．By offering them chances to cooperate. |
| C．By inspiring them to overcome difficulties. |
| D．By explaining instructions to them patiently. |
| A．terrible. | B．skilled. |
| C．delighted. | D．fascinated. |
| A．Encouraging educators to apply it to teaching. |
| B．Enabling researchers to carry out further studies. |
| C．Urging schools to pay attention to physical exercise. |
| D．Promoting harmonious teacher-student relationships. |
| A．Children prefer learning step by step. |
| B．Children are too little to use their knowledge smartly. |
| C．Children lack enough practice to get fully improved. |
| D．Children’s learning still relies on adults’ instruction. |
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【推荐1】A new study, conducted by British company Mind lab International, has found that listening to music at work increases accuracy and speed, The Telegraph reported. Perhaps, some parents disagree with this idea, saying, “Switch off the music and concentrate!” Well, if that’s the case with your parents, you might now be able to convince them that you have science on your side.
The company gave 26 participants a series of different tasks for five days in a row, including spell checking, mathematical word problems, data entry, and abstract reasoning. The participants completed these tasks while listening to music or no music at all.
The results showed that while music was playing, 88% of participants produced their most accurate test results and 81% completed their fastest work. David Lewis, chairman of Mind lab International, told The Telegraph, “Music is a very powerful management tool if you want to increase not only the efficiency of your workforce but also their emotional state...they are going to become more positive about the work.”
However, you may have a list of your favourite songs, but not all kinds of music match all homework. For maths or other subjects involving numbers or attention to detail, you should listen to classical music, the study found. In the study, pop music enabled participants to complete their tasks 58% faster than when listening to no music at all. If you are reviewing your English writing, pop music is the best choice, as it is the best kind for spell checking. It cut mistakes by 14%, compared to listening to no music. After finishing your homework, do you often take time to check your answers? Maybe, some dance music is suitable for you.
1. What does the underlined word “they” refer to in Para.3?| A．Participants. | B．Results. |
| C．Tests. | D．Tools. |
| A．Classical music. | B．Pop music. |
| C．Dance music. | D．Rock music. |
| A．We Cannot Live without Music |
| B．Music Helps Us to Learn |
| C．Different Music, Different Lives |
| D．Music in the Classroom |
| A．Persuade their parents to listen to music. |
| B．Listen to the same music together. |
| C．Finish tasks with music or without music at all. |
| D．Try their best to choose the most suitable music. |
【推荐2】At a primary school in a small town in the east of South Carolina, second-grade teachers Garneau and Lynne are convinced that separating elementary-age boys and girls produces immediate academic improvement in both genders(性别).
David Chadwell, South Carolina’s expert of single gender education says, “Boys and girls learn, hear and respond to their surroundings differently.We can teach boys and girls based on what we now know.”
Male and female eyes are not organized in the same way, he explains.The organization of the male eye makes it sensitive to motion and direction.“Boys understand the world as objects moving through space,” he says.
The male eye is also drawn to cooler colors like silver and black. It’s no accident that boys tend to create pictures of moving objects instead of drawing the happy colorful family, like girls do in their class.
The female eye, on the other hand, is drawn to warmer colors like red, yellow and orange.To attract girls, Chadwell says, the teacher doesn’t need to move as much as in boy’s class. Using descriptive phrases and lots of colors in presentations or on the blackboard gets their attention.
Boys and girls also hear differently.“When someone speaks in a loud tone, girls understand it as yelling,” Chadwell says.“They think you’re mad and can shut down.” Girls are more sensitive to sounds. He advises girls’ teachers to watch the tone of their voices. Boys’ teachers should sound more forceful, even excited.
A boy’s nervous system causes him to be more cautious when he is standing, moving, and the room temperature is around 69 degrees Fahrenheit.Stress in boys, he says, tends to increase blood flow to their brains, a process that helps them stay focused.Girls are more focused when seated in a warmer room around 75 degrees Fahrenheit.Girls also respond to stress differently.When exposed to threat and conflict, blood goes to their guts(肠道), leaving them feeling nervous or anxious.
These differences can be applied in the classroom, Chadwell adds.“Single gender programs are about making the best use of the learning.”
1. What is David Chadwell’s attitude toward separating elementary-age boys and girls while learning?| A．Supportive | B．Worried |
| C．Concerned | D．Uninterested |
| A．must have a moving object in this hand |
| B．needs to wear clothes in warm color |
| C．has to speak politely |
| D．had better move constantly while teaching |
( ①=“ Paragraph” 1 ②=“ Paragraph” 2 ③=“ Paragraph” 3 …... ⑧=“ Paragraph” 8 )
A． | B． |
C． | D． |
| A．A boy sitting in a warm room |
| B．A standing boy who is faced with stress |
| C．A girl standing in a cold room |
| D．A girl who is facing a lot of pressure |
【推荐3】Recently researchers are discovering that learning is easier, quicker and more long-lasting if it involves the body. To some extent, the discovery should come as no surprise. Consider that many of us probably began to understand basic arithmetic (算术) by counting on our fingers before learning to count in our head.
Conventional thinking had it that as we grew, we became more able to think abstractly (抽象地), which might suggest teachers should help wean children off body gestures to prepare them for the adult world. But in truth, the physical world never really leaves our thinking. For example, when we process verbs such as lick, kick and pick, medical scanners show that the parts of our brain that control the muscles in our face, legs and hands become more active.
This theory is called embodied cognition (体验认知), and it suggests that what goes on in our minds comes from our actions and interactions with the world around us. It means that encouraging children to think and learn in a completely abstract way might actually make lessons harder for them to understand and remember.
Science is beginning to support the idea that actions really might speak louder than words in the classroom. Spencer Kelly, a psychologist at Colgate University in New York, has found that people spend three times as much time making gestures when the message they convey is particularly important. Kelly has also found evidence that students like a teacher better when that teacher uses arm and hand movements to emphasize points. Meanwhile, Susan Wagner Cook, a psychologist at the University of Iowa in Iowa City, has found that children pick up new concepts more effectively if they are taught to mirror and repeat the gestures their teacher uses, and that lessons involving words and gestures live longer in a student’s memory than lessons using words alone.
1. What does the underlined phrase “wean children off body gestures” in paragraph 2 mean?| A．Let children be aware of body gestures. |
| B．Make children stop using body gestures. |
| C．Give children an account of body gestures. |
| D．Encourage children to use body gestures. |
| A．Our minds can help shape reality. |
| B．It’s not easy to understand abstract concepts. |
| C．The environment around is important for one’s cognition. |
| D．Interacting with the world improves one’s memory. |
| A．Body movements can raise a teacher’s popularity. |
| B．Young students like to mirror their teacher’s gestures. |
| C．Using body gestures makes students love learning. |
| D．Body language is more powerful than spoken language. |
| A．Words are more important than actions in a classroom. |
| B．We just need to involve the body in learning when we are young. |
| C．Teachers had better combine words and gestures to achieve better teaching effect. |
| D．Example of processing verbs is mentioned to prove that we can think abstractly. |
| A．A study on classroom teaching. | B．The dark side of thinking abstractly. |
| C．The function of body language. | D．A new finding about learning. |
【推荐1】As spring advances across the Midwest, a new study looking at blooming (盛开的) flowers suggests non-native plants might live longer than native plants due to climate change.
The study — led by researchers at Indiana University and Michigan State University — has shown warming temperatures affect native and non-native flowering plants differently, which could change the look of local landscapes (风景) over time. “When a plant flowers determines whether it will be pollinated (授粉) by bees or other insects and how much time it will have to produce seeds. Our data makes me worry that we will have a very weedy (杂草丛生的) world in our future.” said the study’s lead author Jen Lau, an associate professor in Indiana University.
The researchers’ findings suggest non-native plants may be better at shifting their flowering time compared to native plants. These differences are thought to influence a plant’s success both now and in future warmer environments.
Lau and her students simulated (模拟) global warming in fields planted with 45 native and non-native plants. Some areas were warmed by infrared (红外线的) heaters, while other areas were not. Lau’s lab surveyed all plants to determine when they first flowered and how long they flowered.
When plants were grown in warmed plots simulating the climate change expected in the Midwest by the end of the century, the researchers found that non-native plants flowered more than 11 days earlier on average. In contrast, native plants didn’t change flowering times at all when warmed.
They also found earlier-flowering non-native plants had greater geographic spread, suggesting that flowering earlier may help promote successful occupation across large areas.
The findings suggest important differences in how native and non-native plants respond to climate change.
1. What does the new study find about native plants compared with non-native?| A．They have a longer life cycle. |
| B．They are likely to have more flowers. |
| C．They are more adaptable to climate change. |
| D．They may be at greater risk from climate change. |
| A．She’s quite sure that a weedy world is waiting for us. |
| B．Plants may lose the ability to flower in the future. |
| C．The timing of a plant’s flowering is key to its life cycle. |
| D．A plant’s flowering time almost has no effect on its pollination. |
| A．Changing. | B．Postponing. |
| C．Arranging. | D．Predicting. |
| A．How global warming affected plant species |
| B．How the researchers tested their supposition. |
| C．How to keep the warmth of the planted fields. |
| D．How to determine the flowering times of plants. |
【推荐2】A food additive (添加剂) is any substance that is added to food. Many people are put off by the idea of “chemicals in food.” The truth is that all food is made up of chemicals. Natural substances like milk, as well as man-made ones like drinks on sale in the market, can be described by chemical formulas. Some chemical substances are indeed harmful, but a person who refused to consume any chemicals would find nothing to eat.
The things we eat can be divided into natural and man-made substances. Some people feel that only natural foods are healthy and that all man-made ingredients are to be avoided. But many natural chemicals, found in plants and animals, are harmful when eaten, and some laboratory-made substances increase the nutritional value of food. Other chemicals have natural and man-made forms that are exactly alike: vitamin C is vitamin C, whether it comes from a test tube or from an orange. Like “chemical”, “man-made” doesn’t necessarily mean “not fit to eat”.
Food additives are used for many reasons. We add sugar and salt and other things to foods we prepare at home to make them taste better. Food producers have developed a range of additives that stabilize, thicken, harden, keep wet, keep firm, or improve the appearance of their products. Additives can make food more convenient or nutritious, give it a longer shelf life, and make it more attractive to the consumer, thus increasing the sales and profits of the producers.
Food additives are presently the centre of a storm of serious argument. Food producers have been known to use additives that have not been proved safe; some substances in common use have been proved unsafe and have been taken off the market. Many people feel there’s a risk of eating food to which anything has been added. But food additives are now regulated by the FDA of the federal government, and new additives will go through strict testing before they can be placed on the market. For most people, the chances of developing serious side effects (副作用) from the long-term use of presently approved (批准) food additives are very small.
1. From the passage we can learn that .| A．natural foods are much safer than man-made ones |
| B．it is right to refuse chemicals in food |
| C．food additives are harmful to our health |
| D．all foods have chemical substances |
| A．Food additives can improve the quality of foods in many ways. |
| B．To ensure food safety, the FDA will stop food additives. |
| C．Foods free of additives can keep a much longer shelf life. |
| D．Foods with more additives have higher nutritional value. |
| A．new additives will be approved more easily than before |
| B．food with common-used additives will be taken off the market |
| C．food additives will be used in a safer and more scientific way |
| D．food producers won’t be allowed to use new food additives |
| A．worrying | B．acceptable |
| C．poisonous | D．avoidable |
【推荐3】Each night, small groups of a species called free-tailed bats emerge from their habitat in the Panamanian rain forests to hunt for the prey （猎物）using echolocation.
“When bats are hunting, especially when they're in open areas, they produce two really different call types. They have their ‘search-phase calls’ when they're just scanning the environment. And then they have ‘feeding buzzes’ when they actually detect food, like insects. ” said Jenna Kohles, a graduate student at the Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior in Germany.
Both types of calls are typically too high-pitched for us to hear. Other bats can hear those feeding buzzes and use them as a hint for finding food. But it's always been assumed that the other call, search-phase call, doesn’t include that kind of social information. Kohles and her team wondered if search-phase call might also be social and help bats stick together in the dark.
“This is why we then tested first whether these echolocation calls they produce when they’re scanning the environment contain information about a bat’s identity, like in the form of an individual signature. And then, more importantly, we wanted to test whether bats can actually use this information to tell between different individuals, just using these search-phase echolocation calls.”
The researchers captured wild bats and exposed them to a particular call over and over again until they became bored and stopped reacting. Then the researchers played the same type of call but recorded from a different bat. If the bats reacted, it means that they noticed that the identity of the caller had changed.
And that's exactly what happened, which suggests that some kind of individual signature is encoded （编码）within search-phase call. The results are in the journal Behavioral Ecology.
Many other animals that hunt in groups use vocalizations （发声）to keep connected. But bats already invest most of their vocal resources in echolocation for hunting. So it appears that these bats have figured out how to accomplish both tasks-hunting and cooperation-using a single type of vocalization.
1. How does the free-tailed bats hunt for their prey?| A．Finding the sound of their prey. |
| B．Locating the echoes they produce. |
| C．Producing the sound like a group of insects. |
| D．Using search-phase calls. |
| A．The call sounds low. |
| B．The call acts as a signal of finding food. |
| C．The call is commonly thought to be social. |
| D．The call may contain some kind of bats’ identity. |
| A．The purpose of the experiment. |
| B．The content of the experiment. |
| C．The background of the experiment. |
| D．The steps of the experiment. |
| A．Do you know bats’ calls? |
| B．Why do bats produce two types of calls? |
| C．Let’s explore the usage of vocalization. |
| D．Bat says hi as it hunts. |
【推荐1】Dogs are often referred to as “man’s best friend”. But MacKenzie, a four-pound chihuahua, who was named winner of the 2020 American Hero Dog Competition on October 19, 2020, is making the world a better place for humans and animals alike.
In its tenth year in 2020, the annual contest is the brainchild of American Humane Association, the country’s first national charitable organization founded for the safety and well-being of animals. Often called the “Oscars for dogs”, the award recognizes dogs who make extremely great contributions (贡献) to society.
The competition of 2020 attracted over 400 entries from across the country. These heroic dogs have gone above the call of duty, saving lives, comforting the ill and aged and reminding us of the powerful, age-old ties between animals and people. While all were impressive, it was tiny MacKenzie who won the judges’ hearts.
MacKenzie’s path to stardom was not easy. Born with a mouth disability, she had to be fed through a tube (管子) for the first year of her life. Despite her own struggles, she always seemed to think more of other animals in need. “Never have I seen such a will to live. Though sick, she carefully looked after the baby animals at the rescue (救助) center,” said her caretaker.
A life-saving operation performed in 2014 gave MacKenzie the ability to eat independently. The seven-year-old chihuahua is now working for the Mia Foundations New York-based charitable organization that rescues and nurses animals with inborn disabilities. The chihuahua does an excellent job and has raised various animals. She plays nurse, cleans, comforts and hugs them, acting as their mother and teaching them how to socialize, play and have good manners.
In addition to her role as an animal caretaker, MacKenzie also visits schools to educate kids about the importance of accepting physical differences in both animals and people. Her heart-warming and inspiring story makes her a worthy receiver of Americans top dog honor!
1. What can we learn about the American Hero Dog Competition?| A．It was started by a charitable organization. |
| B．It was meant to honor caretakers of dogs. |
| C．It takes place every ten years. |
| D．It was first held in 2012. |
| A．Talented and strong. | B．Courageous and selfless. |
| C．Funny and friendly. | D．Confident and picky. |
| A．Learning from failures. | B．Valuing physical health. |
| C．Understanding the disabled. | D．Developing practical ability. |
| A．Dogs Are Man’s Best Friends |
| B．Treat Dogs the Way We Want to Be Treated |
| C．2020 American Hero Dog: A Tiny Chihuahua |
| D．Touching Stories Between MacKenzie and People |
【推荐2】If you asked people to name a famous psychology study, the “marshmallow (棉花糖) test” would probably come out near the top of the list. In this task, young children are told they can immediately get one marshmallow or wait to get two marshmallows. Researchers have shown that the ability to wait is associated with a range of positive life outcomes more than a decade later.
A new study published recently expands on this earlier research and shows that young children will wait nearly twice as long for a reward if they are told their teacher will find out how long they wait.
For their study, Heyman, the lead author on the study, and her colleagues conducted two experiments with a total of 273 children aged 3-4 years old. The researchers told the children that they could earn a small reward immediately or wait for a bigger one. Children were assigned to one of three conditions: a “teacher” condition, in which they were told that their teacher would find out how long they wait; a “peer” condition, in which they were told that a classmate would find out how long they wait; or a “standard” condition that had no special instructions.
Children waited longer in the teacher and peer condition than in the standard condition, and they waited about twice as long in the teacher condition as in the peer condition. The researchers were surprised at that because the traditional view is that 3- and 4-year-olds are too young to care about what other people think of them.
“The children waited longer even though no one directly told them that it’s good to wait longer,” said Heyman. “We believe that children are good at making these kinds of inferences because they pay close attention to what people around them value. This may take the form of carefully listening to the evaluative (评价性的) comments that parents and teachers make, or noticing what kinds of people and topics are getting attention in the media.”
1. Why does the writer mention the “classic marshmallow test” in the beginning?| A．Because it is the basis of the new study. |
| B．Because it is the most famous psychology test. |
| C．Because it influences children’s life outcomes. |
| D．Because it reveals the link between wait and lifestyles. |
| A．The process. | B．The purpose. | C．The preparations. | D．The results. |
| A．Unexpected. | B．Disappointed. | C．Overjoyed. | D．Doubtful. |
| A．Bigger rewards motivate human behavior. |
| B．The awareness of comments from others starts earlier. |
| C．Young children have a stronger desire to impress others. |
| D．The older children are, the better they control themselves. |
【推荐3】In 2011, organizations in England called on the citizens to reduce the amount of meat eaten on Fridays. 28% of people adjusted their dietary habits in various ways. Some gave up meat on Fridays, while others reduced it.
A new study from the University of Cambridge aimed to look at the consequences of behavioral change from people within a society and how these consequences bring in potentially large environmental benefits over time has assessed the impact of this shift, estimating that over the past decade, 55,000 tonnes of annual carbon emissions were saved.
The 28% of people said they changed their habits; of these, 55% reduced meat consumption on Fridays, and 41% stopped eating meat on Fridays. The 72% of people who did not change dietary habits attributed it to preferring to choose their own foods.
Using further data from the National Diet and Nutrition Survey (NDNS), researchers could tell that people in the UK eat an average of 100 grams of meat daily, and the average high-protein, non-meat-eater (who eats fish and cheese) contributes one third of the greenhouse gas emissions per kilogram that a meat-eater does.
Thus, making a conservative assumption that citizens who adapted their diet switched to high protein non-meat meals on Fridays, the researchers estimated that this equated to approximately 875,000 fewer meat meals a week, which saved 1,070 tonnes of carbon, or 55,000 tonnes over a year.
There are some concerns about the implementation(实施) of meatless Fridays leading to further reduction of fish stocks, as fish is a common substitute for red meat. The researchers say, however, that this need not be a concern; there was no increase in fish consumption over the past decade, nor did meat consumption go up on other days to make up for its absence on Fridays. Furthermore, there are many more meat substitutes available now than in the past, offering more options.
1. Which of the following can best describe the shift?| A．Costly. | B．Meaningless. |
| C．Well-known. | D．Environmentally friendly. |
| A．The experimental process. |
| B．The changes in people’s lifestyle. |
| C．The people’s response to the appeal. |
| D．The people’s care of carbon emissions. |
| A．To support the findings of the study. |
| B．To introduce the application of the study. |
| C．To show a different opinion about the study. |
| D．To call on more people to participate in the study. |
| A．Curious. | B．Optimistic. | C．Doubtful. | D．Shocked. |
