Kids want to spend their summer vacations having fun in the sun with their friends. Reading may not even be on their list. But if you add a lovely dog, that could make reading a pleasant activity.
Now a new study found that reading to dogs helps to improve reading ability because dogs provide a nonjudgmental and supportive atmosphere(氛围).
Three educators from the college decided to look at new ways to get kids to read more after the Education Ministry expressed concern over a great drop in reading scores in fourth-grade students.
These students had reading difficulties because they did not go through school in person during the last three years. They missed out on reading practice with their peers(同龄人)during the second and third grades.
“We want to find an original way that would encourage students to practice their reading,” Har-Zvi, head of the special-education track and senior lecturer at the college said. “And to create that encouragement, we decided to do experiments with dogs.”
Reading to pets encourages kids to acquire confidence and interest in reading, according to the pet food company Purina. That’s not only because the practice of reading to dogs is used in home-schooling to help the kids acquire reading ability, but also because pets are comforting and nonjudgmental. Einat Artzi, whose daughter took part in the experiment, told Ynet that her daughter Michaela ”has loved dogs from a young age. Her experience of reading to dogs greatly increased her desire to read, and in her opinion, it improved her reading abilities. All in all, the experience of introducing dogs into the classroom made her feel comfortable and safe, and she began to enjoy going to school. Michaela is now considered one of the top readers in her class and has a very rich vocabulary. Thanks to this, we also took in a dog.“
1. What led three educators to try to get kids to read more?| A．Kids’ difficulty in making friends. | B．Teachers’ passive teaching methods. |
| C．Their worry about students’ health. | D．Concerns of education leaders. |
| A．The quiet listening of the dogs. | B．The kids’ love for the dogs. |
| C．The parents’ joining them. | D．The guidance from the teachers. |
| A．It made her fall in love with dogs. | B．It bettered her reading ability greatly. |
| C．It improved her relationships with others. | D．It allowed her to take a dog to school. |
| A．Dogs Are Good Friends to Kids | B．Kids’ Reading Scores Are Dropping |
| C．Dogs Help Make Kids Better Readers | D．Kids Studying at Home Brings Problems |
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A Tree Grows in Brooklyn wasn't a new book when my mother was young. It's the story of Francie Nolan struggling up in a tenement slum(贫民区)through the cracks in the pavement to reach the sun.It may be the best book I've ever read about poverty,parenthood, the immigrant experience,and just about everything else.My firstborn daughter is named
Francie Nolan.To buy:$18,amazon.com.
The Maltese Falcon,by Dashiell Hammett
My all-time personal favorite. I love this book, all of it: the plot,the characters,the dialogue,much of which was lifted verbatim(逐字逐句地)by John Huston for his screenplay for the beloved movie of the same name.The single best monologue in fiction appears toward the end,when Sam Spade tells Brigid O'Shaughnessy why he's giving her to the police.
To buy:$14,amazon.com.Gilead,by Marilynne Robinson
Oh-so hard to choose!But I'll go with Gilead.An uplifting tale of love in its many forms,told in a style in which every word is perfect.A joyous read.
To buy:$15,amazon.com.Far From the Tree:Parents,Children and the Search for Identity,by Andrew Solomon
If you think 700 pages on the many ways in which unusual kids(autistic, deaf, criminal, genius)can stretch(延伸)their families' conception(理解) of love doesn't sound like summertime reading,Far From the Tree:Parents,Children and the Search for Identity will teach you otherwise.
To buy:$37.50,amazon.com.1. What is special about The Maltese Falcon?
| A．It can't be bought online. | B．It was made into a film. |
| C．It's about how to be a parent. | D．It tells how to treat the loved. |
| A．$52.50. | B．$29. | C．$32. | D．$55.50. |
| A．Gilead |
| B．The Maltese Falcon. |
| C．A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. |
| D．Far From the Tree:Parents,Children and the Search for Identity. |
【推荐2】These Christmassy reads are sure to keep you feeling warm and fuzzy (迷糊的) inside as the long winter nights draw in.
Wintering: The Power of Rest and Retreat in Difficult Times by Katherine May
May writes sadly about her experience of her husband’s sudden illness and how this event caused major life shifts, both personally and professionally. Her descriptions of staying with the Samí people when visiting Troms, of sea swimming in the winter, of a solstice (冬至) spent at Stonehenge, and the making of slow-cooked meals provides relief when reading alongside such honest descriptions of her own periods of Wintering.
The Christmas Chronicles for Midwinter by Nigel Slater
Nigel Slater describes himself as “a cook who writes” and this sensually written book contains the basic elements of the festive season: food, homesickness, and generosity.
Part memoir (回忆录), part recipe book interwoven with myth and folktale, Slater shares his love for winter through his warm narrative voice. As he says, “The simple act of making someone something to eat, even a bowl of soup or a loaf of bread, has a many-layered meaning. It suggests an act of protection and caring, of generosity and a close interpersonal relationship.”
Hercule Poirot’s Christmas by Agatha Christie
I for one cannot resist a good detective novel, especially one set during Christmas. Our beloved detective Hercule Poirot is charged with solving the bloody murder of multimillionaire Simeon Lee, which takes place on Christmas Eve following a family gathering. Christie’s trademark dilemma takes the form of a murder in a room locked from the inside…
A satisfying read filled with all the elements I love most about a good Victorian detective novel: a strikingly old-fashioned village, a murder-mystery set in a country estate, and unreliable characters.
1. What sense probably occurs to a reader when reading Wintering?| A．Sadness. | B．Comfort. |
| C．Loneliness. | D．Amazement. |
| A．set in a modern city | B．popular with detectives |
| C．concerned with a wealthy person | D．meant for Christmas celebrators |
| A．May. | B．Agatha Christie. |
| C．Nigel Slater. | D．The writer of this text. |
【推荐3】Over years, there’s one thing I’ve collected more than any other: books. They slowly piled up (堆积) around until I made a decision—to clear away some of them.
Then what was left were my favorites. Instead of taking over every corner in my home, my collection now includes two organized shelves.
I have some books set in New York. They take me back to the rush of early morning rides or of summer weekends. My San Francisco collection mainly includes Armistead Maupin’s Tales of the City. I pull them off the shelf when I feel disappointed in the place I now call home, and I let them take me to a happier view of this city.
The books that have earned their place on my shelf, however, are those I share a history with.
| A．It was really a painful activity. |
| B．Then there’s my row of Miami books. |
| C．I still read books that are set in places I haven’t lived in, of course. |
| D．I didn’t mean to keep the books connected with my previous experience. |
| E．I never know when I’ll find myself missing a place, so I stay with the books. |
| F．When reading them, I’m taken back to places where I once lived and the person I was. |
| G．With this new organization, I could see most books are novels set in places I’ve lived. |
【推荐1】For many creatures, the ocean is a terrifying place. Several marine animals have declined as a result of overfishing and pollution. But cephalopods(头足动物) — a type of invertebrate(无脊椎动物) that includes octopuses, cuttlefish, and squid, have seen a dramatic increase in their numbers over the past 60 years.
Zoe Doubleday, a scientist at the University of Adelaide, in Australia, conducted a study of cephalopods recently. She points out that their population rise is due to the animals’ unique traits.
The creatures can change their color and body shape. They are fast-growing and live for only one or two years. "This allows them to adapt to changing environmental conditions more quickly than other marine species," Doubleday says.
"Rising sea temperatures may be speeding up the animals’ life cycle. They may be growing faster and producing more young. "
Cephalopods live in all of the world’s oceans. They can be found in waters from the freezing polar regions to the warm tropic regions. Because they adapt so easily to their environment, the animals are called "the weed of the sea" .
Will octopuses, cuttlefish, and squid take over the world one day? Some people may wonder. According to Doubleday, that is unlikely. The rise in cephalopod populations could slow down if the animals run out of prey(被捕食的动物) and start feeding on one another. Overfishing could also have an impact on their numbers.
For now, the cephalopod population boom is good news for them and some other sea creatures. "Increases in cephalopod populations could benefit predators(捕食性动物) such as marine mammals and seabirds, which rely on cephalopods for food," Doubleday says.
1. What has caused the number of some marine animals to reduce?| A．Ship transportation. | B．Global oil production. |
| C．Rising sea temperatures. | D．Overfishing and pollution. |
| A．habits | B．features |
| C．hobbies | D．looks |
| A．adapt to the environment quickly | B．change their shapes with season |
| C．prefer to live in the warm waters | D．have a very long life cycle |
| A．Cephalopods | B．Weed of the Sea |
| C．Who will take over the world? | D．The problems faced by marine animals |
【推荐2】My elephant adventures began in 1984 when, with our one-year-old daughter, my husband and I crossed the jungle in a jeep, slicking behind a lorry for comfort and company. The elephants standing like watchers on either side of the forest highway had us praying for our safety. One elephant made loud noise and angrily pawed (抓) the ground, warning us off. We raced away before they could attack.
It was wise to keep elephants at a distance. We heard stories of tourists whose jeeps were overturned, and a couple of photographers were killed because they moved too close. Elephants are misleading animals. They give people an impression of being quiet and kind, so tourists think it’s safe to picnic in the jungle (丛林). Yet angry elephants have knocked them down in seconds before they could take off.
Elephants might make life unpredictable and dangerous. It’s difficult for inexperienced environmentalists to even, begin to grasp this reality. I’ve heard city people say “ We humans are encroaching (侵害) on their forests.” But what’s the solution?
When a poor farmer borrows heavily to plant a crop, he’ll do anything to protect it His life depends on it Elephants ruining an about-to-be-harvested com field cannot expect to be welcomed like special guests. The battle between beast and farmer is violent.
Experts are working on solutions to human-elephant conflicts (冲突). Some are sure to fail to like the plans to build electric fences around human settlements. Elephants rapidly figure them out and come in, around and over them.
There are more questions than answers, for sure. But as my husband said, “More people die in car accidents every single day, in every city on the earth. But they won’t take cars off the roads, will they?” So we need to seek practical ways of preventing elephant accidents.
1. What is the writer’s purpose in writing Paragraph 1?| A．To tell readers her family’s experience of elephant adventure. |
| B．To show readers elephants are angry and dangerous, |
| C．To introduce the topic of the whole passage. |
| D．To describe how her family keep away from elephants. |
| A．They think elephants are quiet and kind. |
| B．They haven’t heard the stories of elephant killing people. |
| C．They like elephants too much. |
| D．They think they can race away in seconds. |
| A．Welcome elephant like special guests. | B．Fight with elephants for his harvest. |
| C．Stop planting crops. | D．Depend on elephants for his life. |
| A．It is a good idea to build electric fences around human settlements. |
| B．It is impossible to find a solution to settle human-elephant conflict. |
| C．We should first reduce car accidents to prevent elephant accidents. |
| D．It is our duly to protect elephants rather than kill them. |
【推荐3】When scientists go to a forest to study monkeys and their habits and behaviors, how do they know who’s who?
In the past, scientists had to make marks on each of the animals to distinguish them. But in the future, they may have a much easier way to tell them apart thanks to facial recognition technology.
A research team from China’s Northwest University is using facial recognition technology to identify thousands of snub-nosed monkeys that live on Qinling Mountain in Shaanxi province.
Similar to human facial recognition, the technology that is used to identify monkeys uses their facial features to create a database that includes every monkey, Xinhua reported. “When the system is fully developed, we can connect it with cameras set up in the mountains. The system will automatically recognize the monkeys, name them and analyze their behavior,” said Zhang He, a member of the research team. “For each snub-nosed monkey, we have 700 to 800 image samples, and the recognition success rate is 94 percent,” Zhang added.
“We used mobile phones and portable cameras with the monkeys in tests at distances ranging from about 3 to 10 meters,” said He Gang, a member of the research team and an associate professor in the College of Life Sciences at Northwest University. “There is no need to interfere with the monkeys. Such a method of sampling is clearly non-invasive.”
Compared to humans, facial recognition technology for monkeys is more complicated because of their hairier faces. The color of their hair causes them to blend into their environment. These factors make it harder for computers to identify them.
“Monkeys do not cooperate with researchers in the same way humans do. It is difficult to take high-quality pictures and videos of them, which are needed to improve the system,” said Li Baoguo, leader of the research team.
Currently, there are about 4,000 snub-nosed monkeys living on Qinling Mountain. The team’s goal is to successfully identify every monkey that lives there.
1. What problem do scientists face while studying monkeys according to the text?| A．How to mark them. | B．How to tell them apart. |
| C．How to understand their behavior. | D．How to observe them clearly |
| A．It is now widely adopted in China. |
| B．It works better than human facial recognition. |
| C．It will use monkeys’ behavior to create a database. |
| D．It can help scientists study monkeys without disturbing them. |
a. Image samples. b. Hairy faces. c. Hair color. d. The environment.
| A．ab | B．ac | C．bc | D．bd |
| A．To introduce a new way to identify monkeys. |
| B．To show the importance of studying monkeys. |
| C．To compare different ways to identify monkeys. |
| D．To explain difficulties in developing a new system. |
And that is the difference between the female and male brains simply explained in a grocery store.
Generally speaking, men do one thing at a time. Women do many. Now scientific research supports this theory about male and female brains. A recent study has confirmed what we have known all along—men and women think differently.
Scientists at the University of Pennsylvania studied brain images of 949 people aged from eight to 22 years old. They found that male brains have more connections on one side of the brain, or hemisphere. In the female brains, they found more activity and connections between the right and left sides of the brain. The left side of the brain is known as the side of “reason.” The right hemisphere is known as the “creative” side.
Regina Verma is a professor at the University of Pennsylvania. She co-wrote the report. She says when women are asked to do something difficult they might use different parts of the brain. Men, she adds, generally use just one side of the brain. As a result, men generally deal directly with a problem. There is a strong connection between the “understanding” and the “action” parts of their brains. Women, however, might include other parts of the brain when solving a problem. Women take a less direct path to find a solution.
1. The author mentioned the shopping in Paragraph 1 to___________.
| A．show women’s carefulness |
| B．prove men’s quick action |
| C．object to an opinion |
| D．bring up the topic to be discussed |
| A．women have two same brains on both sides |
| B．men have more complicated brains than women |
| C．different kinds of brain images have been studied |
| D．men’s structure of brain is different from women’s |
| A．Watching things from different sides. |
| B．Having different attitudes towards life. |
| C．Using different parts of the brain to think. |
| D．Reacting at different speed to problems. |
【推荐2】An alarming scientific review has found human activity is driving insects to extinction. When the bottom of the food chain is endangered, so is everything up the chain, including people. Insect reductions threaten birds, fish, reptiles and amphibians (两栖动物)that eat insects, as well as many plants that require them for pollination(授粉). Insects are also important to soil health, nutrient recycling and ecosystem functioning.
Habitat loss from intensive agriculture and urbanization is the main cause of the reductions, according to the review “Worldwide reduction of insects： A review of its drivers”. Agricultural pesticide(杀虫剂)and fertilizer use, pathogens, invasive species and climate change are also major reasons.
A World Wildlife Fund study concluded that we’ve wiped out 60 percent of mammals, fish, birds and reptiles since 1970. Another study found people have destroyed 83 percent of wild mammals and half of all plants since the dawn of civilization. As frightening as that, the rate of insect extinction is eight times that of mammals, birds and reptiles. If these trends continue, most insects could be gone within a century, which will severely affect all life.
Some solutions can be carried out quickly and relatively easily, such as banning the worst pesticides, carrying out many available and emerging solutions to pollution and global warming, and examining better ways to grow, produce and distribute food. Sanchez-Bayo argues that changes in agricultural methods are extremely important, noting organic farms and farms that used limited pesticide amounts in the past had more insects. Research also shows organic farms maintain healthier soils, use less energy, send out fewer greenhouse gas emissions and produce higher yields than conventional farms, especially during droughts.
Many people are frightened at the thought of bites and stings by insects. But whatever you think of them, there’s no doubt that they’re essential to all life. If insects die out, we won’t survive. From banning destructive pesticides to reforming agricultural methods to planting insect- and pollinator-friendly gardens in urban areas, there’s much we can and must do to help the creatures survive and develop.
1. What may insect extinction result in?| A．Improving soil health. |
| B．Reducing human activities. |
| C．Increasing the varieties of plants and animals. |
| D．Threatening all up the food chain depending on them. |
| A．Plants. | B．Wild mammals. |
| C．Insects. | D．Birds and reptiles. |
| A．Allowing people to keep insects. | B．Improving the way of farming. |
| C．Banning destructive pesticides. | D．Planting insect-friendly gardens. |
| A．Like Them Or Not, We Need Insects |
| B．Find Out Better Ways To Grow Food |
| C．Insects Are Developing Very Quickly |
| D．Agricultural Methods Need Changing |
【推荐3】There are many fantastic health benefits of exercise, but does exercise affect hair growth? It may seem unlikely that your workout would be able to provide protection against the seemingly unavoidable hair loss associated with aging, but there may be some link.
For one, exercise increases blood circulation and oxygen in blood cells, which benefits hair follicles (毛囊). This can allow the growth phase of hair to be longer. Exercise can also put an end to certain stress, which is one of the factors involved in hair thinning. Consistent exercise may prevent hair loss. Additionally, exercise will always have a positive effect on your overall health, thus positively affecting your hair growth as well.
It’s unrealistic to think that a single run or a couple of yoga classes will immediately reverse hair loss and cause a bunch of new hair strands to spring up.
Interestingly, not all types of exercise are equal when it comes to promoting hair growth. Strength training is not as good as any sort of aerobic (有氧的) exercise.
Hair loss can be classified into two types: permanent and temporary. Most irreversible hair loss is a product of your gene (基因), whereas hair loss caused by lifestyle choices is usually temporary and can be changed by improving your general health.
Although hair loss is not associated with marathon running or any other intense endurance training, it can be affected if you aren’t taking care of your body to support your training. In addition to exercise, following a healthy lifestyle, such as getting enough sleep, not smoking and eating a nutrient-dense diet can promote hair growth.
Finally, leaving sweat on your hair after exercise can also make a difference. Hair can become blocked and weak if sweat stays on the head for a long time. Showering after exercise will prevent this.
1. How does exercise benefit the hair according to the text?| A．It can relieve people’s stress. |
| B．It can help produce some useful chemicals. |
| C．It takes away some bad things in people’s blood. |
| D．It increases the number of people’s hair follicles positively. |
| A．Witness. | B．Speed. | C．Demonstrate. | D．Change. |
| A．Exercising habits. | B．Lifestyle choices. |
| C．Genetic weakness. | D．Living environment. |
| A．To stop sweat from harming hair growth. |
| B．To keep you smelling pleasant. |
| C．To better take care of your skin. |
| D．To make you feel relaxed. |
【推荐1】Get cold hands, but hate wearing gloves? There might soon be a technology that can help you. The US scientists are developing an arm heater that allows people to go glove free in freezing conditions, helping them to carry out mechanical repairs or first aid.
In cold weather, wearing gloves might be a good choice because they can keep your hands at a comfortable temperature, but they often reduce flexibility. Take off your gloves, though, and numbing cold has an equally damaging effect on your fine motor skills, as well as being extremely uncomfortable.
John Castellani, an American physiologist who specializes in cold weather, and his team are attempting to solve the problem with a pair of electrically heated armbands worn around the forearms.
Dr. Castellani says that much of the problem is due to the body shutting down blood flow to surrounding areas. “Through research, we find keeping the forearms warm can prevent this,” he says.
A previous study showed that heating the torso (躯干) also keeps the hands warm, but that approach requires too much power for a portable device. Castellani’s team has found that warming just the forearm with a battery-powered gadget improves both finger temperature and ability in tasks requiring manual skill, such as putting pegs in a peg board. In a series of tests, the device reduced flexibility loss by 50 percent and finger strength loss by 90 percent compared with wearing no gloves at 0.5 ℃. The electric forearm heater helps by a combination of delivering warmer blood to the fingers and reducing blood vessel constriction (血管收缩). Even if the wearer can’t go glove free, it could allow them to wear thinner gloves.
1. Why is the electric forearm heater being developed?| A．To deliver warmer blood to the fingers in cold weather. |
| B．To reduce blood vessel constriction in cold weather. |
| C．To have the wearer go without gloves in cold weather. |
| D．To keep hands warm and skillful in cold weather. |
| A．They are difficult to carry around. |
| B．They have been on sale in the market. |
| C．They use less power comparatively. |
| D．They can heat the body together. |
| A．The wearer. | B．The arm heater |
| C．The blood vessel | D．The warmer blood |
| A．To inform. | B．To entertain. |
| C．To advertise. | D．To educate. |
【推荐2】Reading books can obviously make you a better, smarter entrepreneur. According to a 2018 study of over 160, 000 adults in 31 countries, the more books that were present in participants’ childhood homes, the more competent they now are as adults with skills in literacy, mathematics, and technological problem-solving. Researchers note that book-oriented socialization, indicated by home library size, equips youth with lifelong tastes, skill and knowledge.
Growing up with home libraries boosts adult skills in literacy, numeracy and technological problem-solving beyond the benefits acquired from parental education or your own educational or occupational attainment. Kids who grow up in a home where reading is valued and modeled are more likely to be good readers. Strangely enough, though, advanced education doesn’t necessarily offset the “lots of books in the home” advantage. Adults who grew up with relatively few books in their homes and later earned a college degree had literacy levels approximately equal to adults who grew up in homes with large libraries but only attended school for nine years.
Jessica Stillman writes, surrounding yourself with more books than you could ever read says good things about your mind. Those books serve as a constant reminder of all the things you don’t know — which helps keep you intellectually hungry and curious. And possibly, this will keep you a little more modest, since research shows the quicker you are to admit you don’t know something, the faster you can then learn it. As Jeff Bezos says, a key sign of intelligence is the willingness to change your mind, something that only happens if you’re willing to admit that your current thinking may not be the best thinking. Modesty, learning and the willingness to change your mind when new data presents itself: That’s another three bonus every entrepreneur can benefit from.
1. What does paragraph 1 mainly talk about?| A．The tough process of the research. |
| B．An inspiring discovery of the research. |
| C．Numerous data of the research. |
| D．Advanced technology of the research. |
| A．Compete with. | B．Differ from. |
| C．Go against. | D．Compensate for. |
| A．To keep readers intellectually hungry. |
| B．To stress the significance of modesty. |
| C．To remind readers of their ignorance. |
| D．To evidence the benefits of home library. |
| A．Home library size indicates some lifelong skills. |
| B．Home reading equals to a college degree. |
| C．Modesty makes a promising entrepreneur. |
| D．Childhood libraries lead to adulthood success. |
【推荐3】Several Chinese companies are temporarily hiring-or ''sharing"-employees from businesses that haven't resumed operations or are only partially operating due to concerns over the novel coronavirus epidemic （传染病).The so-called shared employees, known as gongxiangyuangong in Chinese, are being hired by supermarkets, e-commerce platforms' retail stores, and other companies or factories to ease the lack of workforce.
According to domestic media outlet National Business Daily, more than 3, 000 new employees had joined Hema by Feb 19, while over 4, 000 people had signed up for the “talent-sharing” plan under Suning by Feb 21. The American supermarket chain Walmart has also joined in the trend, hiring more than 3, 000 temporary workers from other sectors to work at its branches in cities like Beijing, Fuzhou, and Shenzhen.
Bike-sharing company Hello bike has opened 8, 000 positions nationwide for bicycle maintenance, according to Xinhua News Agency. In Hefei, capital of the eastern Anhui province, Hello bike is seeking 300 temporary workers, while 40 employees from a local hotel have started working at an industrial park on one-month contracts.
Yao Junchang, a lawyer with Beijing Weiheng Law Firm, told Workers’ Daily that companies hiring temporary workers should guarantee detailed provisions (规定，条款)in their agreements, including the time of employment, salary and policy for work-related injury compensation.
“At the same time, the companies lending the employees should sign a complete secondment arrangement, pay employees in full, and pay social security on time, ” he said. “Employees should pay more attention to safety measures and require a tripartite (三方)agreement or labor agreement to be signed during the temporary employment period and keep records as evidence.”
1. During the novel coronavirus epidemic, what’s the reason for sharing employees?| A．These employees are free. |
| B．These employees are more capable. |
| C．These employees are badly in need. |
| D．These employees hope to earn more money. |
| A．By making comparison. | B．By providing examples. |
| C．By following the time order. | D．By doing analysis. |
| A．Investment. | B．Payment. | C．Reward. | D．Interest. |
| A．Objective. | B．Subjective. | C．Indifferent. | D．Opposed. |
