For some people, music is no fun at all. About 4% of the population is what scientists call “amusic”. People who are amusic are born without the ability to enjoy musical notes. Amusic people often cannot tell the differences between two songs.
As a result,songs sound like noise to an amusic. Many amusics compare the sound of music to pieces of metal hitting each other. Life can be hard for amusics. In fact,most people cannot understand what it feels like being amusic. Just going to a restaurant or a shopping center can be uncomfortable or even painful. That is why many amusics have to stay away from places where there is music. However, this can result in social loneliness. “I used to hate parties,” says Margaret,a seventy-year-old woman who only recently discovered that she was amusic. By studying people like Margaret,scientists are finally learning how to identify (辨别) this unusual condition.
Scientists say that the brains of amusics are different from those of people who can enjoy music. The difference is complex (复杂的),and it is not connected with poor hearing. Amusics can understand other non-musical sounds well. They also have no problems understanding common speech. Scientists compare amusics to people who just can’t see certain colors.
Many amusics are happy when their condition is finally diagnosed(诊断). For years, Margaret felt embarrassed about her problem. Now she knows that she is not alone. That makes it easier for her to explain. “When people invite me to a concert, I just say ‘No, thanks. I’m amusic. ’”says Margaret.
1. Amusics are the people who .| A．like music |
| B．have poor listening |
| C．don’t like music |
| D．are born unable to enjoy music |
| A．Their brains. |
| B．Their poor hearing. |
| C．Their lack of colors. |
| D．Their problems with speech. |
| A．Amusics’ strange behavior. |
| B．Musical ability. |
| C．Some people’s inability to enjoy music. |
| D．Identification and treatment of amusic. |
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【推荐1】One morning when I was 15, I got out of bed, stood up, and noticed something wasn’t right. I had a sharp pain in my back and down my leg. Within a year, I had three nerve root injections (神经根注射) and an operation on my back. But the pain remained.
After that, everything began to collapse around me. My grades fell quickly and school became even harder than it had been before. However, like my other classmates, I had two arms, two legs and I could walk downstairs. Therefore to others that didn’t seem to exist. But sometimes I just couldn’t stand it and I had to stay in bed rather than attend school, missing a lot of my education.
What was difficult was that I fell into a rather unclear category. I struggled to use the term “disability” and, quite honestly, I still didn’t know if I should. No one had given me the green light. I never took up the designated seats on the bus: the pain of standing was often less than feeling judged for sitting. There was nothing wrong with me. But I worried about people taking a dim view. I knew this happened because on occasion I’d even caught myself looking down on some seemingly able-bodied shoppers filling those sacred seats and thinking, “What are they doing? They look fine!”
It wasn’t until 2019 that my partner and I went to the cinema to see Pedro Almodóvar’s film Pain and Glory. There was an animated series inspired by Almodóvar’s personal experiences with back conditions. It was shocking. He captured them all — the nerve pain and the back pain and the visuals were unbelievably accurate. I whispered, “That’s what it’s like!” Then I couldn’t help bursting into tears.
Navigating a world where people can’t see your pain is upsetting and lonely. Of course, people can’t see the invisible, but try listening, being patient and giving people the benefit of the doubt. They certainly don’t make the pain go away. But they can make moving around in this world a little easier to bear.
1. What does the underlined word “that” in Paragraph 2 refer to?| A．The physical pain. |
| B．The author’s decline in grades. |
| C．The fierce competition at school. |
| D．The author’s being absent from school. |
| A．That he couldn’t get a seat on the bus. |
| B．That he wasn’t able to accept his disability. |
| C．That he was often laughed at by able-bodied people. |
| D．That he would be measured by the standards of a healthy man. |
| A．It helped him know well about his illness. |
| B．It reminded him of his similar feelings. |
| C．He realized his partner’s love for him. |
| D．He was amazed at the actor’s outstanding skill. |
| A．Keeping positive makes life easy. |
| B．People in trouble should help each other. |
| C．People should learn to adapt to the challenges. |
| D．Being understood helps ease our painful condition. |
【推荐2】Depression (抑郁) in children and teens is on the rise. It can lead to academic failure, decreased immunity, and even suicide (自杀).
You are not alone. There are many more people than you can imagine who have been down the same road and are now living healthy and happy lives.
Being strong isn’t determined by being able to help yourself,
The path to recovery is not always smooth or direct and will take time.
Your feelings are real; don’t let anyone tell you they aren’t.
This is your recovery (康复) and you only have to share what you feel comfortable sharing with those around you. Your friends are there to listen, but it isn’t their job to provide treatment.
It’s important to realize that some days will be better than others.
Sam’s path through depression into a healthy, emotionally secure adult took determination and support.
| A．Give your family time to process the news about what you’re going through. |
| B．And others need to shut up and listen to you. |
| C．but in being able to ask for help from people you feel you can trust. |
| D．Even if you can’t see what’s hurting you, it doesn’t mean that something isn’t wrong. |
| E．Well, how to find a path to wellness? |
| F．so you should not give up hope of seeking help again. |
| G．These invaluable lessons are of great use for those suffering. |
【推荐3】Reading Your Mind：Modern technology allows scientists to look inside a living human brain to see what is happening. These procedures are safe and painless. By understanding the normal brain activity, doctors and scientists are better able to assess the brain's behavior during times of injury, disease, and mental illness.
CT or CAT scans: Computed tomography (CT) or computerized axial tomography( CAT) shows images of the brain by passing multiple X-ray beams through the brain tissue. CT or CAT scans show a cross-section of the brain. These scans can be used to find brain tumors.
MRI scans: Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) uses powerful magnet to cause the atoms of the brain to shake.MRI sensors pick up the signals emitted (/ɪ'mɪt/发出) from the brain’s atoms and a computer interprets them as a picture. MRIs show more detail than CT or CAT scans can. They are especially useful in finding brain tumors that grow on the back of the brain between the ears.
PET scans: Positron emission tomography (PET) is different from other scans because it shows how the brain functions. After a person’s bloodstream is injected with a small dose of glucose (葡萄糖), which is what gives the brain energy, scanners around the head detect where the glucose moves. The PET scan shows which part of the brain use a lot of glucose, which are the more active parts. PET scans are helpful for diagnosing strokes, studying mental illness, and learning how the brain process language
1. How can doctors and scientists understand the brain’s reaction to injury, disease, or mental illness?| A．By contrasting it with normal brain activities |
| B．By passing the X-Ray beams through the brain tissue. |
| C．By picking up the signals emitted from the brain’s atoms |
| D．By being injected with glucose and detecting where it moves |
| A．CT/ CAT and Pet | B．MRI and pet |
| C．CT/CAT and MRI | D．CT and CAT |
| A．CT/CAT | B．MRI |
| C．PET | D．Any one of them |
【推荐1】Whether it’s a jungle hut or a high-rise apartment, your home is covered in bacteria. Now, new research from the Amazon suggests city residents might want to open a window.
Scientists traveled from remote villages in Peru to a large Brazilian city to begin tracking the effects of urbanization on the diversity of bacteria in people’s homes. It’s a small first step —understanding how different environmental bugs help shape what is called our microbiome, the trillions of bacteria that share our bodies and play a critical role in our health.
“Very little is known about the microbes of the built environment,” said microbiologist Dominguez-Bello, who led the pilot study. Her team found that as people living in the Amazon rainforest become more urbanized, the kinds of bacteria in their homes change from the bugs mostly found in nature to those that typically live on people.
In fact, in city residence, the researchers could tell just by the microbial（ 微生物的） fingerprints of the walls that “this is a kitchen or this is a bathroom or this is a living room. That’s amazing,” Dominguez-Bello said. As she puts it, “the walls talk.”
Despite fewer occupants, the more urbanized a residence, the more human bacteria lived on its walls and floors, the researchers reported. In Manaus, the contemporary Brazilian city, a collection of microbes normally found in the mouth and in the gut (肠) were the most important in telling rooms apart. The more crowded jungle and rural homes nonetheless were filled with more bacteria commonly found in soil and water than with human microbes.
Walls were acting as traps as people drop bacteria, compared with the less urban homes open to air circulation, the team reported. Dominguez-Bello was so struck by the findings that she insisted the windows in her New York office be unsealed so she could open them.
She next will compare the microbiomes of the residents with their homes. There’s a balancing act, she acknowledged: Microbiome theories aside, these rural populations are exposed to their own set of infectious threats, including no screens to keep out disease-carrying mosquitoes.
Still, the findings reflect research in U.S. homes and hospitals about the role of air circulation, said microbiologist Jack Gilbert of Chicago, who wasn’t involved in the study. His own housing study was able to match which family lived in different locations by the bacteria they get rid of inside. “Our modern homes are set up perfectly for studying microbes,” he said.
1. What did Dominguez-Bello mean by “That’s amazing. The walls talk.”?| A．Bacteria live in the residence and play a critical role in our health. |
| B．Rooms could be identified based on the human bacteria on the walls. |
| C．Families could be matched with their houses with the bacteria living on them. |
| D．Various species of bacteria are most common on the walls of bathrooms. |
| A．Dominguez-Bello’s study may influence the way homes are designed and built |
| B．urbanization may be delayed due to the newly-discovered microbial communities |
| C．microbes from urban house may be introduced into the Amazon rainforest |
| D．a fund will be created for the rural homes in Peru and Brazil to be rebuilt |
| A．Regular inspection of the air circulation system is the most important task within a hospital. |
| B．Urban homes have more human bacteria on the walls and floors than those in rural settings. |
| C．The balance of good and harmful bacteria depends on things like environmental exposure. |
| D．Jungle huts were found to contain bacteria typically found in water and soil. |
| A．Village Homes Becoming More Popular |
| B．New York Windows Opened at Last |
| C．Walls of a Home May Affect Your Health |
| D．The Microscopic Residents in Your Home |
【推荐2】The great outdoors: it’s the place to head for when you' re in need of peace and quiet, open spaces, beautiful scenery and exercise. Whether a huge mountain range or a local country park, these natural areas are perfect for us to refresh from our stressed-out lives, and their therapeutic effect is being used more and more to treat mental health.
As an example, in the foothills of the Snowdonia National Park in the UK, specialist therapy sessions are held to help people who suffer from depression, anxiety and stress. Outdoor art-related activities are held for patients, but the setting alone has been credited with improving the mood of patients. Art psychotherapist Pamela Stanley told the BBC that there was a “growing body of evidence” to support eco-therapy.
It’s true that for most of us connecting with the natural world definitely lifts our spirits. But the mental health charity Mind says eco-therapy has been recognized as a formal type of treatment that can sometimes be prescribed to someone by a doctor. It doesn’t involve taking medication, but instead it just develops a person’s relationship with nature. This natural remedy can take on many forms, including doing yoga in a forest, gardening or even hugging a tree.
Evidence has shown there are many benefits of this “green” therapy, including improving social contact, social and work skills and coping abilities. It’s what Dr. Rachel Bragg from the University of Essex calls “psychological restoration”. She told the BBC’s All in the Mind programme that nature-based therapies should be part of a “toolkit” of care for patients.
Of course, eco-therapy won’t cure everything, but it is an option for therapists to use. And as we become more aware of the causes and effects of mental health, it’s good to know that help might lie outside our towns and cities, and that nature can give us a helping hand.
1. In what way does nature work in the therapeutic effect?| A．It helps people get much relieved. | B．It helps people do bodybuilding. |
| C．It is doctorl’s preference for treatments. | D．It can help us fully recover from the illness. |
| A．Option. | B．Contact. | C．Treatment. | D．Effect. |
| A．Tending a garden. | B．Taking medicine. |
| C．Meditating at home. | D．Gathering with friends. |
| A．Unwilling. | B．Negative. | C．Neutral. | D．Positive. |
【推荐3】Recorded lectures have become a part of course instruction during the COVID-19 pandemic, and college students often try to watch these recordings at double their normal speed or even faster. But does comprehension (理解) suffer as a result?
Surprisingly, no—up to a point. A new UCLA study shows that students remember information quite well when watching recorded lectures at up to twice their actual speed. But once they exceed (超过) that limit, things begin to get a little unclear.
The researchers divided 231 students into four groups and had them watch two lecture videos. One group watched at normal speed, one at 1.5 times normal speed, another at double speed and the final group at 2.5 times normal speed. Then they were given comprehension tests on the videos.
The normal-speed group averaged 26 correct answers out of 40, while the double-time group scored 25 (about the same as the 1.5-speed group). The 2.5-speed group didn’t do as well, answering only about 22 questions correctly. A week later, the same groups were given different tests related to the two videos to assess what they’d remembered. The normal-speed group averaged 24 correct answers out of 40, the 1.5-speed and double-speed groups averaged 21, and 2.5-speed students averaged 20.
“Surprisingly, video speed had little effect on both immediate and delayed comprehension until earners go beyond twice the normal speed,” explains lead author Dillon Murphy.
Murphy says students should be careful about how they use faster playback in terms of finding optimal study strategies. If students choose to speed up lecture playback, Murphy says, they should use the time saved for additional learning.
“While our study didn’t show obvious drawbacks to watching lecture videos at up to double the normal speed, we are against using this strategy to simply save time,” Murphy says. “Students can deepen learning if they spend the time saved on things like reviewing flashcards or taking practice tests.”
1. Why does the author mention the question in paragraph 1?| A．To express his doubts. | B．To compare different ideas. |
| C．To describe recorded lectures. | D．To introduce the topic for discussion. |
| A．By building models. | B．By using earlier studies. |
| C．By comparing experimental data. | D．By interviewing teachers and students. |
| A．Best. | B．Simplified. | C．Flexible. | D．Acceptable. |
| A．To check the speed of understanding. |
| B．To prove how important taking notes is. |
| C．To find the most appropriate learning approach. |
| D．To see how video viewing speed affects learning effects. |
【推荐1】It might sound like an imaginary character out of a book: The goldfish who could drive. But it’s real. Israeli researchers created a robotic car and reported that they taught fish to navigate it on land.
The team had been dreaming up ways to test fish navigation (航行) for a while, according to Shachar Givon, first author of the published study.
“We are always trying to challenge ourselves – and our fish. The idea of having the fish navigate on land seemed exactly like the impossible sort of challenge we like to tackle. Lucky for us, it was not so impossible,” said Givon.
This experiment is known as “domain transfer methodology(方法论)”, which means determining whether a species is able to perform tasks outside its natural environment.
First, the team created a water-filled tank on wheels that moved in response to the movements of the fish. Then they taught the goldfish how to drive it.
The fish first had to connect their own swimming movements to the movements of the vehicle so they could navigate it. Then they were given a destination: a pink target board in a room that resulted in a food reward when the vehicle touched it. A computerized camera system attached to this “fish operated vehicle” recorded and translated the fish’s swimming directions.
After several days of training, the fish successfully navigated the vehicle to the target from different starting positions in the room – even if they faced obstacles like false targets or hitting a wall. Some did particularly well.
Although previous studies have shown that fish can navigate within water-related environments, the authors suggest this study shows the ability to navigate is universal to all species and independent of the environment.
By controlling different variables (变量), the team also showed that the fish used a combination of cues to navigate, including the target’s color and location.
1. Which research process is mentioned in the experiment?| A．A watery tank that could move in water was created. |
| B．A computerized system to guide the fish was adopted. |
| C．The fish were rewarded when they performed correctly. |
| D．The vehicles were navigated from the same starting positions. |
| A．Some fish can drive the car without cues. |
| B．Fish cannot navigate the car when meeting obstacles. |
| C．The goldfish have better navigational skills than other fish. |
| D．The ability to navigate is unattached to the environment. |
| A．All Species Can Navigate |
| B．Goldfish Turn Out to Be Real Drivers |
| C．Fish Navigation Meets New Challenges |
| D．Animal Experiments Are Essential in Research |
【推荐2】“People are ruder today because they are rushed and more ‘time poor’ than ever before,” says Patsy Rowe, “ Manners have fallen off the radar(雷达).” Due to our strong attraction to electronic equipment it is a wonder that more people don’t wake up each morning and greet the singing birds with complaining about the noise. Here are some examples of rudeness.
Some people prefer to do almost everything over the Internet. To them, dealing with an actual human is like an evolutionary step backward. It feels very slow because humans don’t work at 4G speeds. When you have dinner with friends, you will often notice someone paying more attention to his mobile phone. We have programmed ourselves to think that every new message brings life-changing news, so taking calls and checking our texts are more important than talking to the people we are with. What is worse, some people even tend to send anonymous（匿名的）rude messages by email.
However, rudeness is never acceptable. Don’t assume it is OK to be rude if the person you’re in touch with won’t recognize you. If you have something awful to say, have the courage to face the person and say it, write a letter or email and sign it, or forget it. Upsetting people with unsigned messages is cruel and disgusting.
We shouldn’t blame technology for our shortcomings. Technology is here to help us, but we should not allow it to take over our lives. An important step is acknowledging our shortcomings. People spend a lot of time pointing out bad manners but it would be even more helpful if we’d publicly acknowledge good manners when we see them.
1. What can be inferred from the underlined sentence in Paragraph 1?| A．People care little about their behavior. |
| B．People can tell good from bad behavior. |
| C．Radar is able to observe human behavior. |
| D．Radar can be used to predict human behavior. |
| A．they are growing too independent |
| B．they have to handle many important messages |
| C．they are becoming less patient |
| D．they have to follow an evolutionary step backward. |
| A．disgusting | B．acceptable |
| C．Ridiculous | D．reasonable |
| A．We should applaud good behavior. |
| B．We should keep pointing out mistakes. |
| C．Technology will take over lives one day. |
| D．Technology can never be blamed |
【推荐3】Reading can be a social activity. Think of the people who belong to book groups. They choose books to read and then meet to discuss them. Now, the website Book Crossing.com turns the page on the traditional idea of a book group.
Members go on the site and register (登记) the books they own and would like to share. Book Crossing provides an identification number (识别码) to stick inside the book. Then the person leaves it in a public place, hoping that the book will have an adventure, traveling far and wide with each new reader who finds it.
Bruce Pederson, the managing director of Book Crossing, says, “The two things that change your life are the people you meet and books you read. Book Crossing combines both.”
Members leave books on park benches and buses, in train stations and coffee shops. Whoever finds their book will go to the site and record where they found it.
People who find a book can also leave a journal entry describing what they thought of it. E-mails are then sent to the BookCrossers to keep them updated about where their books have been found. Bruce Pederson says the idea is for people not to be selfish by keeping a book to gather dust on a shelf at home.
Book Crossing is part of a trend (趋势) among people who want to get back to the “real” and not the virtual (虚拟).The site now has more than one million members in more than one hundred thirty—five countries.
1. Why does the author mention book groups in the first paragraph?| A．To explain what they are. | B．To introduce Book Crossing. |
| C．To stress the importance of reading. | D．To encourage readers to share their ideas. |
| A．An adventure. | B．A public place. | C．The book. | D．The identification number. |
| A．Keep it safe in his bookcase. | B．Mail it back to its owner. |
| C．Meet other readers to discuss it. | D．Pass it on to another reader. |
| A．Negative. | B．Indifferent. | C．Doubtful. | D．Favorable. |
