【推荐1】Many people believe that working to the maximum is the secret to success, but research has found that moderation(适度) also gets results on the job.

In a study led by Ellen Langer of Harvard University, researchers asked people to translate sentences into a new a made-up language. Subjects who practiced the language moderately beforehand made fewer errors than those who practiced extensively or not at all. High levels of knowledge can make people too attached to traditional ways of viewing problems across fields the arts, sciences, and politics. High conscientiousness is related to lower job performance, especially in simple jobs where it doesn’t pay to be a perfectionist.

How long we stay on the clock and how we spend that time are under careful examination in many workplaces. The young banker who eats lunch at his desk is probably seen as a go-getter, while his colleagues who chat over a relaxed conference-room meal get dirty looks from the corner office. “People from cultures that value relationships more than ours does are shocked by the thought of eating alone in front of a computer”, says Art Markman, a professor of psychology at the University of Texas, Austin. Social interaction has been shown to lift mood(情绪) and get people thinking in new directions and in ways that could help improve any post-lunch effort.

Markman also promotes off-task time. “Part of being a good thinker is experiencing things that are seemingly unrelated to what you are working on at the moment but give you fresh ideas about your work,” he says. “Also, there is a lot of research showing that a positive mood leads to higher levels of productivity and creativity. So, when people do things to increase their life satisfaction, they also make themselves more effective at work.”

The underlined word “go-getter” in paragraph 3 refers to someone Who________.

A．is good at handling pressure	B．works hard to become successful
C．a has a natural talent for his job.	D．gets on well with his co-workers

【推荐1】A new study found that some methods for measuring a species’ generation time might underestimate (低估) the likelihood that some species would die out.

A species’ generation time is how long it takes for a generation to be replaced by its mature offspring (后代). This is different for every species and dramatically impacts how quickly a species can respond to changes in its environment. The generation time of a mouse is only a few months, whereas the African elephant has the generation time of 22 years. The longer the generation time, the slower a species can adapt to environmental changes and therefore it may be more likely to go extinct.

In some risk assessment models, population reduction is measured on the scale of three times a species’ generation time. If a species is believed to mature and produce offspring in five years, then how much its population has declined will be measured over a 15-year interval. But if a species’ generation time is underestimated, so is the threat status of the species.

We tested the influence of errors in different measures of generation time, including those used by the IUCN Red List assessments and found that these errors could potentially lead to an overly optimistic assessment of extinction risk for some species.

To overcome this, we compared different types of errors in seven commonly used measures of generation time. We proposed a new estimate which predicted a species’ generation time from its body mass and reproductive lifespan.

Still, the lack of data is a tough problem for making accurate calculations. We’re planning to explore how to fill some of these knowledge gaps by comparing survival and reproduction data from wild and captive (被关起来的) populations, using data from nearly 1,200 zoos and aquariums over 40 years, on more than 21,000 species.

1. How long do some assessment models need to measure population reduction of the African elephant?

A．15 years.	B．22 years.
C．44 years.	D．66 years.

2. What is the result of underestimating the generation time of some species?

【推荐3】IT’S A TYPICAL morning: you wake up, take a shower, brush your teeth, and then prick (刺；扎) your arm with a tiny needle. Wait, what? Unless you have a serious disease such as diabetes, you probably haven’t ever tested your own blood. But in the future, that might change.

The company Cor already sells a system for home blood testing. You stick your arm using a supposedly painless, one-off , blood-drawing cartridge (针筒) about the size of a lipstick. Then you stick the cartridge into a device that looks like the base for an electric toothbrush. A few minutes later, an app on your phone buzzes with updated information, including your current health data and tips on what to eat and how to exercise during the day.

It’s true that blood contains a wealth of information about a person’s health. Blood tests can show if a person is infected with a disease or at risk for a variety of problems, including a heart attack or a stroke. But most people don’t test their own blood until a doctor says it’s time. Healthy young adults get regular blood tests about every five years. These tests happen at a lab, where a technician or a nurse sticks a long needle into the arm to draw out several tubes full of blood. Cor and similar companies, such as WellnessFX, are trying to change all that. They think people deserve access to more information about their own health.

But not everyone is convinced that regular blood testing for healthy people is a great idea. Cor’s system is expensive and may pot offer much benefit. “The lightest result here is that you lose your money and then you’re reminded to get more sleep and to eat more fruits, vegetables, and fish,” Pieter Cohen of Harvard Medical School told the New York Times. “The worst result is that you end up getting frightened by probably abnormal results that are actually completely normal for you.”

Plus, the results of a home blood test might be wrong. It’s hard to get accurate results from a tiny amount of blood. So what do you think? Is monitoring your own health via pinpricks the way of the future? Or is it better to leave blood testing to medical professionals?

Which of the following could be the best title for the text?

A．Home blood tests: yes or no?	B．Should blood tests be allowed at home?
C．A new system of improving your health.	D．Home blood testing: your health monitor!

【推荐2】When the explorers first set foot upon the continent of North America, the skies and lands were alive with an astonishing variety of wildlife. Native Americans had taken care of these precious natural resources wisely. Unfortunately, it took the explorers and the settlers who followed only a few decades to decimate a large part of these resources. Millions of waterfowl (水禽) were killed at the hands of market hunters and a handful of overly ambitious sportsmen. Millions of acres of wetlands were dried to feed and house the ever-increasing populations, greatly reducing waterfowl habitat.

In 1934, with the passage of the Migratory Bird Hunting Stamp Act (Act), an increasingly concerned nation took firm action to stop the destruction of migratory (迁徙的) waterfowl and the wetlands so vital to their survival. Under this Act, all waterfowl hunters 16 years of age and over must annually purchase and carry a Federal Duck Stamp. The very first Federal Duck Stamp was designed by J.N. “Ding” Darling, a political cartoonist from Des Moines, lowa, who at that time was appointed by President Franklin Roosevelt as Director of the Bureau of Biological Survey. Hunters willingly pay the stamp price to ensure the survival of our natural resources.

About 98 cents of every duck stamp dollar goes directly into the Migratory Bird Conservation Fund to purchase wetlands and wildlife habitat for inclusion into the National Wildlife Refuge System — a fact that ensures this land will be protected and available for all generations to come. Since 1934, better than half a billion dollars has gone into that Fund to purchase more than 5 million acres of habitat. Little wonder the Federal Duck Stamp Program has been called one of the most successful conservation programs ever initiated.

What does the underlined word “decimate” mean in the first paragraph?

A．Acquire.	B．Export.
C．Destroy.	D．Distribute.

【推荐3】Before AI becomes a threat to humanity, the international community should reach an agreement on the role it is to play. More importantly, related laws and regulations must ensure that AI will benefit society and prevent it from threatening human life. Robots, for example, are believed to develop emotional intelligence sometime, which enables them to recognize, understand and express emotions in a way that is similar to humans, but we must avoid AI copying human emotions. Without legal restrictions, AI may become a social disaster.

The AI-driven new industrial revolution is irreversible. This, like previous ones, which introduced changes that had been unimaginable before, will certainly affect human employment. But it always turned out humanity was able to adapt to each industrial revolution and create new forms of employment. Therefore, it’s unnecessary to worry AI will replace our jobs. While technology advances at a rapid pace, what we need to do is to welcome the AI era rather than block its unfolding for fear of the unknown.

What does the underlined word “irreversible” in the last paragraph mean?

A．Undesirable.	B．Unavoidable.
C．Unpredictable.	D．Unbelievable.