In 1986, when he was only a prince. King Charles told a television interviewer that it was important to talk to plants. He was widely laughed at. But his wisdom seems to have been ahead of its time, for there is now plenty of evidence that plants can detect (察觉) sound, react to it, and even perhaps produce it.
Scientists have been experimenting with playing sounds to plants since at least the 1960s, during which time they have been exposed to everything from Beethoven to Michael Jackson. Over the years, evidence that this sort of thing can have an effect has been growing. One paper, published in 2018, announced that an Asian plant grew much larger leaves when exposed to 56 days of Buddhist chants — but not if it was exposed to Western pop music, or silence. Another, published last year, found that plants exposed to the noise of traffic from a busy motorway suffered slow growth, and produced a range of stress compounds (成分).
Another research reports that certain frequencies (频率), played in some environments like greenhouses, can affect seed growth and even improve crop production. And plants can make noises, too. Earlier this year a group of researchers at Tel Aviv University published an article in Cell Press, reporting that several plants gave out different noises in response to different stresses — although not at the sorts of frequencies that humans can hear. Humans can only hear frequencies of up to 16 kilohertz. Scientists discovered sounds given out by plants were up to 250 kilohertz.
If all that sounds strange, perhaps it should not. After all, sound carries useful information.
From an evolutionary point of view, there is no reason to expect that information to be applied only by animals.
1. What was most people’s attitude to Charles’ opinion?| A．Unclear. | B．Positive. | C．Cautious. | D．Negative. |
| A．Different sounds have different effects on plants. |
| B．Buddhist chants don’t make a difference to plants. |
| C．Western pop music does good to plants’ growth. |
| D．The noise of traffic produces stress compounds. |
| A．The sounds are strange. | B．The plants grow in greenhouses. |
| C．The plants are under great stress. | D．The sounds are at high frequencies. |
| A．It’s the important to talk to plants. |
| B．Sounds make a difference to plants. |
| C．Plants can discover and even make sound. |
| D．Humans can’t hear sounds produced by plants. |
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【推荐1】In October, temperatures across China begin to drop. Do you experience a mood shift as it turns to winter?
Many people do. For about one in 20 people in the northern half of the United States, cooling temperatures and shorter, darker days may signal the onset of seasonal affective disorder (季节性情绪失调), or SAD, a type of depression that typically arrives in the fall or winter, The New York Times reported.
Not every mild blue feeling in winter is SAD. SAD symptoms (症状) make it difficult for people to function. It tends to start with an increased appetite for foods like French fries or ice cream, the eagerness to sleep longer hours, difficulty getting up in the morning and feeling wiped out at work, according to Wales Online.
The exact cause of this disorder remains unknown. But the good news is that because SAD is tied to the changing seasons, “You can predict its onset and ward it off.” Michael Terman, a professor of clinical psychology at Columbia University, US, told The New York Times.
“There’s been a fair bit of research since about the 1980s supporting light therapy (疗法) as being effective for seasonal kinds of depression,” psychotherapist Rakhi Chand told The Guardian. But she also advised using this type of therapy under the guidance of a professional.
While light therapy is the first recommended treatment for SAD, getting outside regularly can offer other opportunities to sink in some light. “You might want to retreat like the hibernating bear, but don’t,” Norman E, Rosenthal, the psychiatrist (精神病学家) whose research team identified and named the disorder in the 1980s, told The New York Times. “Walking outside even 20 or 30 minutes each day could make a huge difference,” he added. Therefore, outdoor activities like skiing or hiking are highly recommended.
Also, instead of giving into sugar longing, it is important to choose foods that are known to boost mood such as dark chocolate, nuts, oatmeal and berries, according to Egypt Today.
Too nervous to enter winter? Remember, SAD is seasonal. If winter comes, can spring be too far behind?
1. Which of the following is a SAD symptom?| A．Having a reduced desire to eat. |
| B．Finding it difficult to fall asleep. |
| C．Waking up early in the morning. |
| D．Having low or no energy at work. |
| A．The origin of light therapy. |
| B．The benefits of light therapy. |
| C．The definition of light therapy. |
| D．Alternatives to light therapy. |
| A．Seasonal sadness in winter. |
| B．Increased appetite in winter. |
| C．Longer sleep hours in winter. |
| D．Decreased temperature in winter. |
【推荐2】Telling jokes requires intelligence, creativity, imagination and the ability to tell a story, while listening to jokes is more passive behaviour but one that demands attention, intelligence and being in the right mood in order to enjoy jokes. Besides, there are also clear similarities between joke tellers and appreciators. A new study takes this further and tries to find other connections between creating humour and appreciating humour.
The author carried on the cartoon caption (字幕) task. 159 participants were shown more than 30cartoons without captions and were asked to come up with a funny caption for each one of them. Later, independent judges classified those captions based on how funny they were.
The results showed that those who produced the funniest captions also produced more captions overall. What was more interesting was that creating funny captions was negatively related to appreciation of humour. In other words, funny people tend to find jokes less funny than other people do. It is not clear why this is the case, but it might be because creators of great humour have higher standards of humour creativity and expect higher levels of creativity from people who tell jokes, compared to those who are not so good at creating humour.
Moreover, outgoing people and those who are open to new experiences found the cartoons funnier, but surprisingly, outgoing people are less likely to be funny. This is consistent with my own research that comedians were more introverted than the general population. They usually don’t like to express themselves in social situations.
Appreciation and production of humour are two different cognitive (认知的) tasks, each with unique characteristics. This is why when someone tells you he or she has a great sense of humour, you may ask, “Are you good at telling jokes or do you tend to laugh more?”
1. What qualities do joke tellers and appreciators have in common?| A．attention | B．creativity | C．imagination | D．intelligence |
| A．The results of the study. | B．The process of the study. |
| C．The judgement of the study. | D．The importance of the study |
| A．are good at appreciating humour | B．are more likely to be comedians |
| C．are more likely to be funny | D． are unwilling to express themselves in social situations |
| A．Being very successful. | B．Being easy to talk to. |
| C．Being quiet and shy. | D．Being kind to others. |
【推荐3】For most, the first thing that likely comes to mind when thinking about vitamin C is either an image of orange fruits or its ability to keep your immune system healthy.
It protects skin cells from environmental damage. Vitamin C’s main function in skin is that of a powerful antioxidant, protecting us from cell damage caused by free radicals (自由基). “
It firms skin and promotes collagen (胶原蛋白) production. Our skin is made of collagen and elastin, which are proteins that give it structure and flexibility.
It works with other antioxidants for enhancing UV (紫外线) protection.
| A．It brightens skin |
| B．It helps lower the risk of heart disease and depression |
| C．Vitamin C works cooperatively with vitamin E to reduce UV damage in skin |
| D．Free radicals are produced by the body when exposed to radiation in sunlight |
| E．But this popular vitamin has several benefits for skin when applied topically, too |
| F．Free radicals are believed to be related to heart disease, cancer and the ageing process |
| G．As we age, the production of these proteins decreases and our skin looks and feels less firm |
【推荐1】The terms “global warming” and “climate change” are used by many, seemingly interchangeably. But do they really mean the same thing?
Scientists shaped the history of the terms while attempting to accurately describe how humans continue to alter the planet. Later, political strategists adopted the terms to influence public opinion.
In 1975, geochemist Wallace Broecker introduced the term “climate change” in an article published by Science. In 1979, a National Academy of Sciences report used the term “global warming” to define increases in the Earth’s average surface temperature, while “climate change” more broadly referred to the numerous effects of this increase, such as sea-level rise and ocean acidification (酸化).
During the following decades, some industrialists and politicians launched a campaign to sow doubt in the minds of the American public about the ability of fossil-fuel use, deforestation and other human activities to influence the planet’s climate.
Word use played a critical role in developing that doubt. For example, the language and polls expert Frank Luntz wrote a memo encouraging the use of “climate change” because the phrase sounded less scary than “global warming,” reported the Guardian.
However, Luntz’s recommendation wasn’t necessary. A Google Ngram Viewer chart shows that by 1993 climate change was already more commonly used in books than global warming. By the end of the next decade both words were used more frequently, and climate change was used nearly twice as often as global warming.
NASA used the term “climate change” because it more accurately reflects the wide range of changes to the planet caused by increasing amounts of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.
The debate isn’t new. A century ago, chemist Svante Arrhenius started one of the first debates over the potential for humans to influence the planet’s climate. Arrhenius calculated the capability of carbon dioxide to trap heat in the Earth’s atmosphere, but other chemists disagreed. Some argued that humans weren’t producing enough greenhouse gases, while others claimed the effects would be tiny. Now, of course, we know that whatever you call it, human behavior is warming the planet, with grave consequences ahead.
1. Why did politicians use the two terms “global warming” and “climate change”?| A．To sway public opinion of the impact of human activities on Earth. |
| B．To more accurately describe the consequences of human activities. |
| C．To win more popular votes in their campaign activities. |
| D．To assure the public of the safety of existing industries. |
| A．it sounds less vague | B．it looks more scientific |
| C．it covers more phenomena | D．it is much closer to reality |
| A．Made-up survey results. |
| B．Hired climate experts. |
| C．False research findings. |
| D．Deliberate choice of words. |
| A．Global warming is the more accurate term. |
| B．Accuracy of terminology matters in science. |
| C．Human activities have serious effects on Earth. |
| D．Politics interferes with serious scientific debate. |
【推荐2】Nowadays, the food that you buy comes from many different countries. Have a look in your fridge, cupboard, and fruit bowl and check the origins (来源) of the food. Perhaps there are apples from California, lamb from New Zealand, or potatoes from Egypt? You will probably be surprised how far food travels to get to your plate. This journey, from “field to plate”, is called “food miles”. A food mile is the distance that food travels from the farmer’s field to the person who buys the food. Nowadays, food often travels thousands of miles to get to the consumer. Why is this, and what are the effects of these long distances?
Traditionally, farmers sold their food in the local market so the food didn’t have to travel very far. The consumers also did not travel very far, because they went to their local market to buy the food. This was a good system for farmers and consumers. However, there were some disadvantages. For example, consumers could only buy food that farmers produced locally. In addition, they could only get food that was in season. Now, because of modern technology, food comes from all over the world. We do not have to wait for spring or summer to buy strawberries or tomatoes. They are available in winter if we want.
Some countries have to import most of their food. This is because they have difficult climates. The United Arab Emirates(UAE), for example, gets 85% of its food from other countries. Even food made in the UAE often uses imported materials.
What’s wrong with “food miles”? Is this not a good way of increasing international trade? I believe these miles are worrying for a number of reasons. First of all, because food travels such long distances. We need more planes, lorries, and ships to move the food. This means we use more oil or petrol, so there is more pollution and more global warming. In addition, food that travels a long way is not fresh and usually not very tasty. Tomatoes, for example, are picked early and stored for their long journey. For this reason, they are usually tasteless when they get to the consumer. Local food has a better taste, and it also reduces the amount of global pollution. We need to buy more local food.
1. What is called “food miles” according to this passage?| A．The origins of the food. | B．The effects of long distances. |
| C．The journey from field to plate. | D．The disadvantages of imported food. |
| A．easy to get | B．not busy |
| C．willing to talk | D．impossible to get |
| A．long distances | B．difficult climates |
| C．fresh and tasty food | D．modern technology |
| A．how local food travels from field to plate |
| B．what “food miles” is and its effects |
| C．how some countries import their food |
| D．where different kinds of food come from |
【推荐3】Most parents can remember the artful mix of excitement and anxiety accompanying the choice of their baby’s name—it will follow the child his or her entire life. But the effect could be even more significant. In research recently published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, our research team shows that the stereotype (模式思维) that a given society has of a first name can influence the way people look.
In eight studies, we found that participants shown ID-style photos of people they’d never met were able to recognize the first name of the described person well above the chance level. In other words, there is something about an Emily that…just looks like an Emily.
If an Emily really does look like an Emily, even a computer should be able to guess her true name. The computer was even able to produce a “heat map” for each name, a face with the features that “betray” a person carrying that name shown in red or orange colors. How should we understand this effect? Until now, social psychologists knew that our facial appearance influences the extent to which others perceive us as attractive, intelligent, trustworthy or warm. These studies show that others’ perceptions of our first name are reflected in our faces.
Interestingly, the face -name effect occurs even if we can only see the hair of a person. Our hair is possibly the part of our face that we control with the most ease. The fact that this alone can produce the face name effect further illustrates the suspected self-fulfilling mechanism behind it.
Together, the eight studies suggest that we wear our social belonging on our face, and that we actively shape our features to be recognized by our reference group. Choosing baby names remains exciting. Whatever the first name you give to your child, he or she will end up wearing it.
1. What was the participants’ assignment?| A．To pick out ID-style photos they’d never met. |
| B．To match strangers’ photos with their names. |
| C．To find out Emily from various ID photos. |
| D．To perceive Emily’s character. |
| A．By drawing a map for each name. |
| B．By sorting out different faces in a map. |
| C．By showing a person’s face in different colors. |
| D．By highlighting certain features in warm colors. |
| A．People wear their character on their faces. |
| B．Hairstyle accounts for a large part in appearance. |
| C．A fixed idea of first names determines one’s look. |
| D．Social belonging is irrelevant to our facial features. |
P=Paragraph
A． | B． |
C． | D． |
【推荐1】Warmer oceans can cause coral (珊瑚) bleaching. Bleaching happens when the coral, colonies of tiny animals called polyps, lose colored algae (藻类) living in their bodies and turn completely white. Without the algae, the coral loses its main food source and can die.
In 2021, the United Nations reported a 14 percent loss of corals across the world largely from rising sea temperatures in the previous 13 years. Australia declared mass bleaching events in 2022 across large parts of the Great Barrier Reef, the fourth since 2016.
Reefs in Hawaii, Florida, and the Caribbean were all severely affected, but thankfully some coral areas were not. Scientists looked into the characteristics of these corals and their ecosystems to see how others could be protected. Warm water reefs in the tropics are the worst affected by bleaching, but they also contain corals with better heat resistance.
Research is focused on finding genes for heat tolerance so that they can be passed on to future generations. Biologists mix corals that are more resilient to higher temperatures with those that are not and the resulting hybrid generation has a better chance of survival.
Researchers in Florida’s reefs have been using ocean nurseries to replant coral with batches that contain genes resistant to heat, acidification, and disease. Those areas have recovered within a year.
Other projects like Revive and Restore are using methods like preserving older coral populations’ sperm and eggs (biobanking) and using corals with better adaptability characteristics in breeding. The project also believes that boosting biodiversity by restoring (恢复) seabirds to islands, and ridding them of invasive species like rats, helps coral reefs thrive.
Ultimately, scientists say that without a serious reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, 99 percent of the world’s coral reefs will be gone by the end of the century. There is a limit to how quickly coral can adapt, especially given the rate of climate change. Computer simulations have shown that mild or moderate warming allows coral to adapt, but if temperatures rise rapidly then extinction is certain.
1. What mainly causes coral bleaching?| A．Loss of algae. | B．Lack of food. |
| C．Warm oceans. | D．Ocean pollution. |
| A．Coral reefs in tropics are easier to bleach. |
| B．Some corals are found better to resist heat. |
| C．Coral reefs in some areas are badly affected. |
| D．Ecosystems in some coral areas are destroyed. |
| A．Breeding hybrid generation with heat resistance. |
| B．Replanting batches of corals containing diseases. |
| C．Restoring seabirds of islands and invasive animals. |
| D．Setting no limitation of greenhouse gas emissions. |
| A．Botany. | B．Culture. | C．Nature. | D．Education. |
【推荐2】Tips For a Great Fall Garden
A fall garden can be a great place, which allows us to revel (陶醉) in the beauty and abundance of the season. Many gardeners seem to focus on summer so much that the garden can fade during the fall and not live up to its full potential.
Whether for production or for decoration, it is always a good idea to look first at native plants. Plants that are native to your area should always make up a high proportion of the plants you grow. Selecting plenty of native plants that bloom in the fall helps you to boost biodiversity and they look lovely and right at home.
Use and value fall leaves.When trees drop their colorful leaves, creating a great fall garden means making the most of those leaves as a resource to keep your garden looking good. To make the most of fall leaves, you can use them to protect the soil and overwintering plants, to enrich the soil and fill planters or containers.
Making a great fall garden is mostly about the plants you choose and the way you choose to garden. But gardens should not be entirely about hard work.
| A．Choose native plants for a diverse fall garden. |
| B．Make designs for forest gardening on a small scale. |
| C．To help these gardeners, here are some tips for a great fall garden. |
| D．Native plants for your area can become shopping lists for a fall garden. |
| E．You can take steps to ensure you can fully enjoy the space in cooler seasons. |
| F．You can even take on some arts and crafts projects to enjoy their colors and shapes. |
| G．In cooler gardens, it is possible to grow year-round if you create an underco ver growing area. |
【推荐3】This summer, nearly 65 percent of the United States is experiencing “unusually dry” weather. More than 109 million people are living under drogue conditions.
Most plants require an average of 2 to 4 centimeters of water each week under normal conditions. That need could increase, however, during periods of extreme heat, when the soil dries out more quickly.
Use deeper, less-frequent watering instead of daily sprinkles(洒水)which can be wasteful? Watering deeply also leads to stronger, deeper roots that are better able to support plants when there’s no surface water. So avoid using overhead sprinklers.
Consider using recycled household water, also called gray water, to water plants. Unsalted water left over from boiling eggs or vegetables provides extra nutrients(营养物). Dish and bath water that is not too soapy will not harm plants. And water captured(捕获)while cleaning fruits and vegetables can be used around the garden.
| A．So learn how to water plants correctly. |
| B．So make good use of water in your house. |
| C．You should water newly planted trees regularly. |
| D．A lot of them have plants or yards to worry about. |
| E．First you should decide which plants need water the most. |
| F．Do not offer your plants their weekly water needs all at once. |
| G．They wet the leaves and other areas instead of directing water to plant roots. |
