Young trees don’t just grow; they develop a personality and learn more about their environment and how they should best behave in it. They also help each other out whenever there’s trouble.
Personality, just as among people, varies among trees. Some are anxious, some bold. On the author’s land, there are three oak trees growing close together. One of the oak trees always starts to shed its leaves two weeks earlier than the others. Since they all experience the same temperature, the same soil and the same length of day, such variables can’t be the explanation. So what’s happening?Well, this tree is simply more careful than the others. Whoever holds on to their leaves longer can do more photosynthesis(光合作用) and store more nutrients.However, the longer a tree keeps its leaves, the higher the risk of injury.
Not only do trees make their own decisions, they also learn from their mistakes. A tree, for example, keeping its leaves too long during one year will never make this mistake again. This leads to several other conclusions: trees must notice the temperature and the length of the day and be able to save their experiences somewhere. Obviously, trees don’t have brains,but it is thought that in the sensitive tips of their roots they keep track of information and experiences.
But trees aren’t only clever when it comes to caring for themselves. They also support each other whenever there’s trouble by giving warnings and even taking care of sick and weak conspecifics with nutrients. For example, one time the author found a very old tree stump. Its insides had rotted a long time ago to topsoil. But the wood on the outside of the stump was still living. How was this possible?Well, the stump was nourished by its neighbors with nutrients from the root system, and had been for at least 400 years!
Why do trees do such a thing? It’s simple: it’s better together. Trees need the forest; it protects them from storms, provides the right microclimate and warns them of attacks.
1. According to the text, which of the following best describes general features of trees?| A．Anxious and bold. |
| B．Smart and adventurous. |
| C．Helpful and well-behaved. |
| D．Adaptable and supportive. |
| A．Give warnings. |
| B．Offer assistance. |
| C．Depend on others. |
| D．Provide nutrients. |
| A．A public lecture. |
| B．A science book. |
| C．An experiment report. |
| D．A travel journal. |
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【推荐1】Do you find getting up in the morning so difficult that it's painful? This might be called laziness, but Dr Kim has a new explanation.He has proved that everyone has a daily energy cycle.
During the hours when you labour through your work, you may say that you're “hot.” That's true.The time of day when you feel most energetic is when your cycle of body temperature is at its peak （高峰）.For some people the peak comes during the forenoon.For other it comes in the afternoon or evening.No one has discovered why this is so, but it leads to such familiar words as: “Get up.John! You'll be late for work again!” The possible explanation to the trouble is that John is at his temperature-and-energy peak in the evening.Much family quarreling ends when husbands and wives realize what these energy cycles mean, and which cycle each member of the family has.
You can't change your energy cycle, but you can learn to make your life fit it better.Habit can help.Dr Kim believes.Maybe you're sleepy in the evening but feel you must stay up late anyway.Counteract（对抗）your cycle to some extent by habitually staying up later than you want to.If your energy is low in the morning but you have an important job to do early in the day, rise before your usual hour.This won't change your cycle, but you'll get up steam and work better at your low point.
Get off to a slow start which saves your energy.Get up with a leisurely yawn（哈欠）and your body stretching (伸懒腰).Sit on the edge of the bed a minute before putting your feet on the floor.Avoid the troublesome search for clean clothes by laying them out the night before.Whenever possible, do usual work in the afternoon and save tasks requiring more energy or attention for your shaper hours.
1. Which of the following may lead to family quarrels according to the passage?| A．Unknowing of energy cycle. |
| B．Understanding the energy cycle. |
| C．A change in a family member's energy cycle. |
| D．Attempts to control the energy cycle of other family members. |
| A．change his energy cycle | B．overcome his laziness |
| C．get up earlier than usual | D．go to bed earlier |
| A．enable you to fix your attention on your work |
| B．help you to control your temper early in the day |
| C．keep your energy cycle under control all day |
| D．help to keep your energy for the day's work |
| A．getting off to work with a minimum effort helps people save their energy. |
| B．Dr.Kim explains why people reach their peaks at different hours of day. |
| C．Habit can help people adapt to their own energy cycles. |
| D．Children, like the adults, have energy cycles, too. |
【推荐2】The topic “How much privacy can a photo show” has been trending on Sina Weibo, causing concern and heated discussion about privacy awareness.
In group chats, some people may post their original photos. But that may give away your home address and other information. Images often contain a lot of information and various traces left by digital cameras or photo processing software.
This data, called Exchangeable Image File Format (EXIF), is a key tool for many professionals. It can detail whether the photographer used a flash, which digital effects were applied to a picture and when the photo was taken. EXIF can also contain the precise GPS coordinates (坐标) of the location where a photo was taken, according to CNN.
If you take a landscape picture from your window and send the original picture to a group chat, it means that you are releasing your location data to all strangers in the group. They may even accurately infer your house number by analyzing the shooting time and angle.
Not just in a group chat, sending an image in a text message, email, or other delivery tools will also include the accompanying information. So how do we protect our privacy when sending photos?
The most effective way is to avoid sending original photos in group chats. If it’s necessary, try not to tap the “original picture”. However, photos sent by WeChat Moments are automatically compressed (压缩) by the system, and they travel without location and other information, according to the WeChat team.
To tackle the problem at its root, we can delete and remove a picture’s EXIF data on a computer. If you are using an IOS smartphone, you can turn off location services for the camera in the privacy settings. If you’re using an Android, the settings vary. Typically, you can go to the setting menu and switch the services off for the camera, according to CTV News.
There is one more thing you can do—photoshop your photos before you share it. What comes with your edited images is photos without stored location data.
1. What information does EXIF data include?| A．The home address of the viewers. |
| B．How many times a photo has been shared. |
| C．The location where the image is sent. |
| D．A photo’s exact shooting time and location. |
| A．When we attach original photos to emails. |
| B．When we send emojis in group chats. |
| C．When we post pictures on WeChat Moments. |
| D．When we forward images of others on WeChat Moments. |
| A．Send out their EXIF data on our phone. |
| B．Switch off location services for WeChat. |
| C．Edit the photos with photo editing apps. |
| D．Turn off internet connection when taking photos. |
| A．Methods to get personal information from photos. |
| B．Avoiding giving away personal data through photo sharing. |
| C．The importance of protecting our private pictures. |
| D．A tool that can obtain personal data of photos. |
【推荐3】The reason why dominant (占支配地位的) men always seem to rise to the top has been uncovered. Researchers say they are able to make decisions far faster than those with nondom-inant personalities. It could explain why so many top CEOs and politicians are known for their dominant personalities.
The study found high-dominance men respond faster in situations where a choice is needed, regardless of social context. Promptness (敏捷) to respond in high-dominance men was accompanied by a noticeably amplified brain signal. In addition, when the researchers analyzed the EEG (脑电图) images of the high-dominance participants, they identified a higher activity in areas of the brain associated with emotion and behavior, compared to low-dominance participants.
This promptness in decision-making can act as a biomarker for social personalities. “Dominance itself depends partly on the ability to make decisions faster than others. This allows the individual to act first in social situations, which might result in an evolutionary advantage.” the team wrote.
They now hope to link these reading to roles such as CEOs, and to find out if the same differences happen in female. and children. “In the future, it will be important to find out whether even stronger brain signals are observed in particularly dominant individuals, such as CEOs,” said Carmen Sandi of the Ecole Poly technique Federale de Lausanne.
She added, “It will also be relevant to understand whether these differences in promptness to respond and brain signals are also observed in women that differ in dominance and whether they are already present in children. Our findings may open a new research approach using EEG signatures as a measure for social dominance.”
The study involved 240 male students at the University of Lausanne who were sorted into high or low dominance groups by a standard “dominance scoring” questionnaire proved in many former studies.
1. What makes dominant people stand out?| A．Their wiser decisions. | B．Their kind personalities. |
| C．Their high social status. | D．Their rapidity of responding. |
| A．affected | B．adjusted | C．enhanced | D．controlled |
| A．Save people's life. | B．Check on more people. |
| C．Test the participants' brain. | D．Show the effect of dominance. |
| A．It used previous research findings. |
| B．It involved some women and children. |
| C．It showed how people became CEOs. |
| D．It corrected people’s ideas of dominance. |
【推荐1】Boomerang children who return to live with their parents after university can be good for families, leading to closer, more supportive relationships and increased contact between the generations, a study has found.
The findings contradict research published earlier this year showing that returning adult children trigger a significant decline in their parents’ quality of life and wellbeing.
The young adults taking part in the study were “more positive than might have been expected” about moving back home – the shame is reduced as so many of their peers are in the same position, and they acknowledged the benefits of their parents’ financial and emotional support. Daughters were happier than sons, often slipping back easily into teenage patterns of behaviour, the study found.
Parents on the whole were more uncertain, expressing concern about the likely duration of the arrangement and how to manage it. But they acknowledged that things were different for graduates today, who leave university with huge debts and fewer job opportunities.
The families featured in the study were middle-class and tended to view the achievement of adult independence for their children as a “family project”. Parents accepted that their children required support as university students and then as graduates returning home, as they tried to find jobs paying enough to enable them to move out and get on the housing ladder.
“However,” the study says, “day-to-day tensions about the prospects of achieving different dimensions of independence, which in a few extreme cases came close to conflict, characterized the experience of a majority of parents and a little over half the graduates”.
Areas of divergence included chores, money and social life. While parents were keen to help, they also wanted different relationships from those they had with their own parents, and continuing to support their adult children allowed them to remain close.
1. What is the finding of the previous research?| A．Boomerang children made their parents happier. |
| B．The parents were looking forward to their children’s return. |
| C．The parents’ quality of life became worse than before. |
| D．Boomerang children never did any housework. |
| A．They are ashamed of turning to their parents for help. |
| B．They are glad that they could come back. |
| C．They are doubtful about whether they should return. |
| D．They are proud to be independent from the family. |
| A．The children want to keep in closer touch with their parents. |
| B．The parents want to provide support to their children. |
| C．It is harder for the children to secure a satisfying job. |
| D．There is more housework needed to be done by the children. |
| A．disagreement | B．harmony | C．responsibility | D．cooperation |
【推荐2】Today, the most frightening living shark is the great white, which is over six meters long and bites with a force of two tonnes. Its fossil relative, Megalodon that lived about 2.3 to 3.6 million years ago, was over twice the length of a great white shark and had a bite force of more than ten tonnes.
Jack Cooper and his team used a number of mathematical methods to find out the size and proportions(比例)of this monster, by making close comparisons with a variety of living relatives that have certain similarities to Megalodon. He said, “I have always been mad about sharks. Megalodon was actually the very animal that inspired me to pursue palaeontology, the study of fossils as a guide to the history of life on earth, in the first place when I was just six years old, so I was over the moon to get a chance to study it. This was my dream project.”
Previously the fossil shark, known formally as Otodus megalodon, was only compared with the great white. Jack and his colleagues, for the first time, expanded this analysis to include five modern sharks. “Megalodon is not a direct ancestor of the great white and is equally related to several modern sharks such as the salmon shark, as well as the great white. We collected detailed measurements of all five to make predictions about Megalodon.” Dr. Pimiento said.
The researchers discovered that the babies of all these modern sharks start out as little adults, and they don’t change in proportion as they get larger. Jack Cooper said, “This means we could simply take the growth curves(生长曲线) of the five modern forms and forecast the overall shape as they get larger and larger, right up to a body length of 16 meters.”
The results suggest that a 16-meter-long Megalodon likely had a head round 4.65 meters long, a fin about 1.62 meters tall on the back and a tail around 3.85 meters high. The reconstruction of the size of Megalodon’s body parts represents a fundamental step towards a better understanding of this huge extinct shark.
1. What does the underlined phrase “over the moon” in Paragraph 2 mean?| A．Very excited. | B．A bit hesitant. | C．Really stressed. | D．Totally unprepared. |
| A．It proved the real existence of Megalodon. |
| B．It was based on data from five types of modern sharks. |
| C．It was aimed at finding the direct ancestor of the great white. |
| D．It compared Megalodon with the great white for the first time. |
| A．Their bite force was equal to the great white’s. |
| B．Their body proportions changed during growth. |
| C．Their fin on the back could be as tall as an adult woman. |
| D．Their babies had the same body length as modern baby sharks. |
| A．A shark lover and his research team. |
| B．A study on the body size of Megalodon. |
| C．Different opinions on the body length of Megalodon. |
| D．The relation between Megalodon and modern sharks. |
【推荐3】What you should know when applying for a credit card online
Applying for a credit card online can be awful, as you may have heard all sorts of information and might not know what to believe. Consider these tips when applying for a credit card online.
Who can apply for a credit card online
Online credit card applications are open to US adult residents -in other words, people with a mailing address in the US who are over 18 and either have a Social Security Number (SSN) or Individual Tax Identification Number (ITIN). Applicants under the age of 21 will need a co-signer or proof of income as part of the application process. While nearly anyone can apply for a credit card, note that credit card issuers evaluate applications based on many different factors and criteria. They are interested in getting a full picture of your financial health. Therefore, besides collecting your basic contact information, they will use your SSN to pull your credit report.
How to apply for a credit card online
Do your research. There are hundreds of different credit cards available with a variety of offers, fee structures and rewards programs. Chart your spending behaviors so you know which categories you spend most heavily in, and then shop around for the card that matches your credit profile and best fits your needs.
Follow internet security best practices. When you’re ready to apply, make sure both your web browser and operating system are up to date. Consider filling out the application on a mobile data connection or a safe, private network to prevent the risks of someone stealing your personal information. And if you have any doubt about the safety of an email from a card issuer, go directly to the issuer’s website rather than clicking on any links in the email.
1. What can show an applicant’s overall financial health?| A．The income proof. | B．The SSN or ITIN. |
| C．The credit report. | D．The co-signer. |
| A．Changing its fee structures. | B．Joining its rewards programs. |
| C．Charting your shopping habits. | D．Improving your credit profile. |
| A．By using a slower operating system. | B．By using a mobile data connection. |
| C．By giving no personal information. | D．By clicking on the links in an email. |
【推荐1】About 17 years ago, I became allergic to Delhi's air. My doctors told me that my lung function had gone down to 70 percent. My doctor told me that there were three plants, with which I could grow all the fresh air indoors to keep me healthy.
The three plants are Areca palm, Mother-in-law's Tongue and money plant. Areca palm is a plant which removes CO2 and turns it into oxygen. We need four shoulder-high plants every person. The second plant is Mother-in-law's Tongue. It is called a bedroom plant because it turns CO, into oxygen at night. And we need six to eight waist-high plants every person. The third plant is money plant, and it preferably grows in hydroponics. This particular plant removes some harmful chemicals.
My team and I have tried these plants at our own building in Delhi, which is a 50,000-square-feet, 20-yearold building. And it has close to 1,200 such plants for 300 families. Our studies have found that there is a 42 percent probability of one's blood oxygen going up by one percent if one stays indoors in this building for 10 hours. Our experience also points to an amazing reduction in energy requirements in the building by an outstanding 15 percent. The government has published a study to show that this is the healthiest building in Delhi. And the study has also shown that, compared to other buildings, there is a reduced incidence of headaches by 24 percent.
In my opinion, these studies above are also important for the environment because the world’s energy requirements are expected to grow by 30 percent in the next decade. 40 percent of the world's energy is taken up by buildings currently, and 60 percent of the world's population will be living in buildings in cities with a population of over one million in the next 15 years. And there is a growing preference for living and working in air-conditioned places.
1. What is the function of the first paragraph?| A．To show the results of growing plants. | B．To give the reason for the author's studies. |
| C．To introduce the author's life. | D．To praise the author's doctor. |
| A．CO2. | B．Oxygen. | C．Money plant. | D．Mother-in-law's Tongue. |
| A．The building with the three plants is the healthiest in Delhi |
| B．The possibility of headaches reduces by 40 percent. |
| C．The energy requirements in the building drop by 42 percent. |
| D．People can stay in the building for only 10 hours. |
| A．Complex. | B．Boring. | C．Meaningful. | D．Useless. |
【推荐2】Why wouldn’t scientists want to try and save the world’s largest flower, especially when it, Rafflesia, is their country’s national flower? However, when you add to the fact that the world’s largest flower is also the world’s smelliest, then suddenly the “panda of the plant world” begins to look more like a headache.
Sofi Mursidawati, a PhD in agriculture at the Bogor Botanical Gardens on the island of Java, is one of the world’s leading experts on this strange flower, and her efforts to build a body of knowledge that will allow for the creation of the flower into the future could save it from extinction. Rafflesia has no leaves, roots, or stems, but rather only one giant, one-meter-long, 20-pound bloom that smells like rotting meat. Found only in the rainforests of Sumatra and Borneo, its artificial creation in the face of habitat loss is a problem.
With seeds the size of grains, pollinated flowers infect a kind of vines(葬本植物) called Tetrastygma, before slowly growing over many months into an enormous cabbage一sized bulb. The curiosities don’t end there. In fact, it barely qualifies as a plant. It branched away from having genetics that code for photosynthesis(光合作用) millions of years ago, and relies entirely upon its host —the vines for energy.
Just as it’s difficult to get pandas to breed, Rafflesia is a pain in the neck, as the blooms last only a week. After collecting Rafflesia seeds, and a variety of Tetrastygma vines, it took Mursidawati four years to welcome the first smelly flower into the Bogor Botanical Gardens. A decade later, the work was still slow going. However, the creation is doing one thing very well：creating specimens(样本) to send to botanic gardens around the world, creating what will likely be the strange flower’s greatest chance for survival.
1. What does the author think of creating Rafflesia?| A．Meaningless. | B．Simple. | C．Attractive. | D．Challenging. |
| A．Rafflesia is different from common plants. |
| B．It’s a problem for Rafflesin to live in the rainforests. |
| C．Rafflesia has already been saved from extinction. |
| D．Soli Mursidawati has created Rafflesia successfully. |
| A．From the sun. | B．From its host. | C．From the earth. | D．From the air. |
| A．The World’s Largest Flower Is Endangered. |
| B．Raflesin Becomes World’s Largest Flower. |
| C．Woman Scientist Creates Various Flowers. |
| D．Woman Scientist Races to Save World’s Largest and Smelliest Flower. |
【推荐3】In order to get rid of goldenrod from the city, the government of Wuhan is encouraging residents to report any findings of the plant, which is classified as a harmful alien species.
Goldenrod is one of the most successful and widespread alien plant species. It is often referred to as “the flower of the devil”, as it spreads extremely fast and causes other plants to die.
Besides Hubei province, the plant has also been found expanding in other provinces such as Jiangxi and Zhejiang. Although local authorities have tried to get rid of the plant, it is proving to be a difficult task. Goldenrod represents just one of the alien species that are aggressive towards the country’s native species. Statistics show that by 2020, nearly 800 kinds of alien species had invaded the country, among which 638 species have invaded the country’s agricultural and forestry ecosystems, causing direct economic losses of about 200 billion yuan ($31.36 billion).
At the United Nations Biodiversity Conference held in Kunming, Yunnan province, the invasion of alien species was the subject of discussions, as it was regarded as one of the two most important factors leading to the loss of biodiversity, the other being human-caused ecological damage.
China passed its Biosecurity Law on April 15, 2021, which provides the legal basis for preventing the invasion of alien species and protecting biodiversity in the country. The relevant departments also strictly carry out port inspections and quarantines so as to keep harmful organisms out of the country, and they strengthen early warning and monitoring systems so as to address the invasion as early as possible.
However, while government departments are making every effort to prevent and control the situation, the participation of the people should not be ignored. It is also necessary, as Wuhan is doing, to encourage people to pay attention to invasive species and actively play a role in keeping them at bay. Preventing any invasion by an alien species and protecting biodiversity should not just be the government departments fighting alone, but also a people’s war.
1. What can we learn about goldenrod from the text?| A．It originates in Wuhan. |
| B．It does harm to people’s health. |
| C．It is a great threat to the surrounding plants. |
| D．It causes an economic loss of about $31.36 billion. |
| A．China’s efforts to stop the invasion of alien species. |
| B．Relevant departments’ warning of goldenrod. |
| C．The legal basis to protect biodiversity. |
| D．The importance of port inspections and quarantines. |
| A．Keeping the invasive species out of the country. |
| B．Building some barriers for the species. |
| C．Preventing the flowers from growing fast. |
| D．Keeping the alien species safe at the port. |
| A．Business. | B．Culture. | C．Environment. | D．Opinion. |
