【推荐3】Have you ever run into a careless cell phone user on the street? Perhaps they were busy talking, texting (发消息) or checking updates on WeChat (微信) without looking at what was going on around them. As the number of this new “species” of human has kept rising, they have been given a new name-phubbers (低头族，埋头玩手机的人).

Recently, a cartoon (动画片) made by students from China Central Academy of Fine Arts put this group of people under the spotlight. In the short film, phubbers with various social identities are buried in their phones. A doctor plays with his cell phone while letting his patient die, a pretty woman takes selfie (自拍照) in front of a car accident site (车祸现场), and a father loses his child without knowing about it while using his mobile phone. A chain of similar events eventually leads to the destruction (毁灭) of the world.

Although the ending sounds overstated (夸张), the damage (伤害, 损害) that phubbing can bring is real. Your health is the first to bear (承受) the effect and result of it. “Continuously stretching your head to check your cell phone could damage your neck,” Guangming Daily quoted doctors as saying, “the neck (脖子) is like a rope that breaks after long-term stretching.” Also, staring at cell phones for long periods of time will damage your eyesight (视力) gradually, according to the report.

But that’s not all. Being a phubber could also damage your social skills and drag you away from your friends and family. At get-togethers with family or friends, many people tend to stick to their cell phones while others are chatting happily with each other and this creates a strange atmosphere, Qilu Evening News reported.

It can also cost you your life. There have been lots of reports on phubbers who fell to their death, suffered accidents, and were robbed of their cell phones in broad daylight.

1. The author gives the example of a cartoon in Paragraph 2 ______.

A．to advertise (宣传，为……打广告) the cartoon made by students.

B．to inform (告知) people of the bad effects of plubbing.

C．to show the world will finally be destroyed (破坏，毁灭) by phubbers.

D．to ask doctors not to use cell phones while treating patients.

2. Which of the following can replace the underlined phrase “be buried in”?

A．hide

B．use

C．cover

D．pay all attention to

3. A phubber may have all the possible problems except (除了) ______.

A．His social skills could be affected.

B．His neck and eyesight will be gradually harmed.

C．He will cause the destruction of the world.

D．He might get separated from (远离) his friends and family.

4. What may the passage talk about next?

A．Advice on how to use a cell phone.

B．People who are addicted to phubbing.

C．Results of phubbing.

D．Measures (措施) to reduce the risks (风险，危险) of phubbing.

【推荐1】A Cornell University sleep researcher has some advice for people who run high schools: Don’t start classes so early in the morning. It may not be that the students whonod offat their desks are lazy. And it may not be that their parents have failed to enforce(确保) bedtime. Instead, it may be that biologically these sleepyhead students aren’t used to the early hour.
“Maybe these kids are being asked to rise at the wrong time for their bodies,” says Mary Carskadon, a professor looking at problem of adolescent (青春期的)sleep at Cornell’s School of Medicine.
Carskadon is trying to understand more about the effects of early school time in adolescents. And, at a more basic level, she and her team are trying to learn more about how the biological changes of adolescence affect sleep needs and patterns(方式).
Carskadon says her work suggests that adolescents may need more sleep than they did at childhood, no less, as commonly thought.
Sleep patterns change during adolescence, as any parent of an adolescent can prove. Most adolescents prefer to stay up later at night and sleep later in the morning. But it’s not just a matter of choice—their bodies are going through a change of sleep patterns.
All of this makes the transfer(迁移)from middle school to high school—which may start one hour earlier in the morning—all the more difficult, Carskadon says. With their increased need for sleep and their biological clocks set on the “sleep late, rise late” pattern, adolescents are up against difficulties when they try to be up by 5 or 6 a.m. for a 7:30 a.m. first bell. A short sleep on a desktop may be their body’s way of saying. “I need a timeout.”
1. Carskadon suggests that high schools should not start classes so early in the morning because
______.

A．students work so late at night that they can’t get up early

B．students are so lazy that they don’t like to go to school early

C．it is biologically difficult for students to rise early

D．it is really tough for parents to enforce bedtime

2. The underlined phrase “nod off” most probably means “_______”.

A．fall asleep	B．turn around
C．agree with others	D．refuse to work

3. Which of the following statements isNOT trueaccording to Mary Carskadon?

A．Adolescents are going through a change of sleep patterns.

B．Adolescents need less sleep than they used to at childhood.

C．Adolescents prefer to stay up later at night and sleep later in the morning.

D．It is difficult for adolescents to get up early for a 7:30 a.m. first bell in high school.

4. What is the test mainly about?

A．Adolescent health care.

B．Adolescent sleep difficulties.

C．Problems in adolescent learning.

D．Changes in adolescent sleep needs and patterns.

【推荐2】In many walks of life and in many situations, persuading people to .do what you want them to do is the key to success. Researchers have looked into different aspects of persuasion and come up with some interesting results which are surely helpful to us.

One advertising copywriter came up with an approach to selling a product on a TV shopping channel via phone sales. Instead of being instructed “Operators are waiting, please call now”, viewers were told “If operators are busy, please call again”. The results were extraordinary. The ad suggested operators weren't- sitting around hoping .people would call. Instead there were so many people: wanting the product that people might have to wait until they could get it.

What role does choice have in persuading people to buy or get something? One study in a supermarket showed the effect of choice. A particular supermarket displayed either 6 or 24 different kinds of jam. The 1arge display attracted more interest than the small one. But when the time came to purchase things; people who saw the large display were one-tenth as likely to buy. If they do buy, they are less content with their selection, even though they have made a good choice. A wider range of choices require more time and effort and lead to unreasonably high expectations.

Another aspect 6f persuasion concerns getting someone to change their mind: It's hard to prove to someone that a previous decision is wrong, and as people get older they get less and less willing to change their minds. People want things to be unwavering; they want their attitudes, statements, values and actions to follow a set pattern. The only way to persuade them to change is to acknowledger this by agreeing that the previous decision they made is a perfectly understandable one. This allows them to focus on your suggestion without feeling their previous decision is wrong. As a result, they may be persuaded to break out of their established pattern.

1. What does the advertising copywriter want to indicate about the product?

A．It's for sale.

B．It's precious.

C．It's in demand.

D．It's' rare.

2. What does the study mentioned in Paragraph 3 show?

A．Increased choice decreases satisfaction.	B．More selections bring more actions.
C．More and more people don't want to choose.	D．Some choices are more attractive than others.

3. What's the author's attitude to people's unwillingness to change their mind?

A．Indifferent.

B．Favorable.

C．Understandable.

D．Unbearable.

4. What is the purpose of the text?

A．To teach bow to get better at persuasion.	B．To discuss various studies on persuasion.
C．To compare different forms of persuasion.	D．To analyze how persuasion affects success.

【推荐3】Humor raises your energy and transports your mind away from your daily troubles. Humor lets you better understand life and sometimes helps you laugh at even the worst of your problems. But not all senses of humor are created equal.     1    

You don’t have to be the joke teller in the group in order to show your sense of humor.You can be the one who directs the conversation to fun topics that are ripe for others to add humor. Every party needs a straight person. You’ll appear fun and funny by association.

    2    When people see you trying to be funny, it frees them to try it themselves. So even if your own efforts at humor all short, you might be freeing the long kept humor in others. People need permission to be funny in social settings because there’s always a risk that comes with humor. For in-person humor, your attitude and effort count a lot.

Some people believe that humorous complaint about the little problems of life make humor.     3    The problem comes when you start doing too much complaint-based humor. One funny observation about problem in your life can be funny, but five is just complaining, no matter how smart you think you are.     4    .

Self deprecating humor is usually the safest type, but here again you don’t want to overshoot the target. One self-deprecating comment is a generous and even confident form of humor.     5    But if you do it too often, you can transform in the eyes of others from a confident joker to a Chihuahua dog.

A．And sometimes that is the case.

B．Funny complaints can wear people out.

C．Such are the most common humorous people.

D．When it comes to in-person humor, effort counts a lot.

E．Humor definitely plays a significant role in our daily life.

F．So it would be useful to include some humor tips for everyday life.

G．You have to be at least a bit self-assured to laugh at yourself in front of others.

【推荐1】Cells in our brain usually send a “stop eating” signal when we've eaten enough. But in a study, researchers found that after mice ate fatty food for just two weeks, their brains brake on overeating failed.

Researchers at the University of Washington in Seattle conducted the study.They shared their findings in Science.Garret Stuber is a professor at the University of Washington.He and his team mainly focused on one brain area known-to be connected with eating behavior.This brain area contains many different kinds of cells.Researchers noticed big differences between the glutamatergic nerve cells(谷氨酸神经细胞)of the fat mice and those of the thin mice.And the earlier work by Stuber's group had suggested that these cells act like a brake on overeating.When the researchers stopped these cells from working,mice suddenly overate.They also fattened up. But it wasn't clear how these cells' activity changed as the mice changed from being slim to being fat.

“Being fat doesn't just happen overnight,”notes Stuber.To study that gradual fattening up,his group did a new study.They fed mice with high-fat food.Now and again,they used a microscope to look at how well the animals 'glutamatergic nerve cells could send out signals.During the process,they found the activity of these glutamatergic nerve cells slowed,even before the mice became fat.That cell sluggishness(怠惰)continued as the mice grew larger over a 12-week period.

The results suggest that the high-fat diet is removing the brake on overeating and becoming fat,”says Stephanie Borgland,a professor at the University of Calgary in Canada. Stuber's group doesn't know whether these brain cells will go back to normal if the mice stop eating the fatty food and slim down.It would be hard to keep monitoring the same cells over the months it would likely take for the mice to return to a healthy body weight,”explains Stuber.And it's hard to say whether similar cells control the same thing in humans.

“Having high-fat diets probably affects a much wider family of cells than those studied here,” Stuber notes. “Changes,” he says, “are probably happening across the brain.” Understanding those things might help us find better ways of limiting overeating.

1. What did researchers find in the study?

A．Mice tended to become sluggish if they often overate.

B．Having high-fat diets affected many kinds of brain cells.

C．Mice began to overeat after eating fatty food for a period.

D．The number of brain cells would drop when mice overate.

2. Why was a new study conducted?

A．To prove that fatty food was bad for health.

B．To know more about that gradual weight-gain.

C．To collect more information about the mice 's cells.

D．To observe how long it would take for the mice to grow fat.

3. What does the last but one paragraph mainly show?

A．It's still difficult to answer some questions.

B．It's hard to find the similar brain area in humans.

C．It's wrong to apply what suits animals to humans.

D．It's necessary to keep monitoring the mice for long.

4. Where is this text most likely from?

A．A personal diary.

B．A useful guidebook.

C．A science magazine.

D．An adventure novel

【推荐2】Your money or your time?
A friend once invited me to spend a cold winter’s day picking up rubbish in a park. It was a community-service event organized by a charitable organization(慈善组织) she was involved with. I immediately told her I was not interested.
“It just makes no sense,” I explained. “Why would I spend three hours of my time picking up rubbish?” I argued that if the goal was neighborhood beautification, then I would rather donate three-hours’ worth of my labor income. The organization could then hire several people in need of a job. The rubbish gets picked up, we provide jobs, and I do not have to spend three hours in the cold. “Where can I make a donation?”
My friend sighed, said something in a low voice about it seeming like a good way to meet men, and then shuffled off to ask someone else.
When we feel inspired to do good, many of us choose to give time instead of money. Given how precious our time is– limited by demands of work, family and friends–setting some of it aside to clean parks or deliver meals seems like a valuable donation. But is this the most efficient way to give?
_____________________ As I explained to my friend, what my time is worth may be far more valuable to most charities than my actual labor. The money could go towards hiring people with limited employment opportunities, or to help cover more pressing needs facing the charity, such as rent or staff salaries. My hours of labor, on the other hand, serve the charity in only one way, and can only be provided by me.
Volunteer labor becomes more valuable if it involves a special skill. For example, if a talented doctor donates a few hours of his time to a free clinic, this may serve the charity better than a $1,000 donation. Unfortunately, I can think of few local charities that would benefit from the unique skills of an economist.
I recently explained this to a professional who regularly donates his time to a local soup kitchen. But he argued that “just throwing money at a cause” is potentially irresponsible and enables disengagement. Donating time may be a greater personal sacrifice, but it also gives him a stronger connection with the cause. He has created a bond not only with the other volunteers, but also with the people he feeds, and the result is an enriching sense of community. He also believes, as a member of the same minority group of many of the people he serves, that he provides them with a positive role model. He recognizes the value in the social interaction volunteering provides.
Of course charities benefit from both kinds of donations. They need some people to just hand over cash, but they also develop successfully by being an important part of the community. Whether it is better to give money or time depends on your goals as a donor. If the objective is simply to provide food for the hungry or to clean a park, then money is more valuable. However, if you hope to also engage with your community–not only with your peers, but also with less fortunate people whom you might not otherwise meet –no amount of money can make up for your time spent.
1. In the first 3 paragraphs, the author uses the case to .

A．describe a scene	B．lead in a topic
C．make a comparison	D．offer an argument

2. The author believes there are some efficient ways to donate EXCEPT.

A．picking up rubbish in the community

B．offering service in a free clinic as a doctor

C．donating money to deal with the charity rent

D．helping cover the needs of charity staff salaries

3. By “The economist in me is inclined to say no”(Paragraph 5), the author means that he          .

A．is willing to serve the charity

B．aims to say no to the economist

C．tends to reject giving time instead of money

D．is longing to share his efficient way to give with his friend

4. In the professional’s opinion (Paragraph 7), donating time is .

A．one-sided	B．debatable
C．meaningless	D．reasonable

5. Which of the following does the author finally agree with?

A．It is donors’ participation that really matters.

B．Cash or labor is determined by a donor’s aims.

C．Time is much more valuable than one’s actual labor.

D．It is not responsible for donors to just donate money to the charities.

【推荐3】Jason, a straight-A student from the University of Pennsylvania, uses the term “pseudo-working” to describe how many of us study. The pseudo-worker looks and feels like someone who is working hard-he or she spends a long time in the library and is not afraid to push on late into the night —but, because of a lack of focus and concentration, he or she doesn't actually achieve much.

This phenomenon can be seen on most college campuses. For example, at Dartmouth there was a section of the main library that was open twenty-four hours a day, and the students I used to see in there late at night crowded in groups, drinking coffee, were definitely pseudo-working. The roommate who looks through her chemistry notes on the couch while watching TV is pseudo-working. The guy who brings three meals, a blanket, and six-pack of Red Bull to the study zone in preparation for an all-day paper-writing marathon is also pseudo-working.

By placing themselves in distracting environments and insisting on working long hours, these students are damaging their brain’s ability to think clearly and efficiently achieve the task at hand. In the end they get half the results with twice the effort.

The bigger problem here is that most students don’t even realize that they’re pseudo-working. To them pseudo-working is work—it’s how they’ve always done it, and it’s how all of their friends do it. It never crosses their mind that there might be a better way. Straight-A students, on the other hand, know all about pseudo-working. They fear it, and for good reason. It not only wastes time, but it’s also mentally tiring.

In fact, the most important skill in becoming a straight-A student is the ability to get work done quickly and with a minimum of wasted effort. So how do these students achieve this goal? To understand their secret to success, consider the following simple formula (公式): work achieved = time spent × intensity of focus

Pseudo-working features a very low intensity of focus. Therefore, to achieve something by pseudo-working, you need to spend a lot of time. The straight-A approach, on the other hand, increases intensity in order to use less time.

1. What can we learn about pseudo-workers?

A．They often stay up late.	B．They love their work a lot.
C．They are not intelligent.	D．They are not productive.

2. What is the main idea of paragraph 2?

A．Pseudo-working is common.	B．Pseudo-working is acceptable.
C．Why students like pseudo-working.	D．What pseudo-working means.

3. What worries the author most concerning pseudo-working?

A．Most students’ unawareness of it.	B．Most students’ positive attitude to it.
C．Its harmful effect on students' health.	D．Its damage to students’ relationship.

4. Why does the author mention the formula in the text?

A．To show the benefit of relaxation.	B．To stress the importance of concentration.
C．To prove the necessity of achieving work.	D．To explain the reason for spending much time.