It has long been believed that the smart phones in our pockets are actually making us dumb (迟钝的). Now there is evidence for it.
Researchers at the University of Texas at Austin discovered that people are worse at completing tasks and remembering information if a smart phone is within sight. In two experiments they found phones sitting on a desk or even in a pocket or a handbag would distract (使分心) users and lead to worse test scores even when they were set up not to disturb test subjects.
The researchers tested 520 university students on their memory and intelligence when they were in the presence of a smart phone to see how it affected them. They were told to complete tests in mathematics, memory and reasoning with their smart phones either on their desks, in their bags or pockets, or in another room. Those who had their phones on the desk recorded a 10 percent lower score than those who left them in a different room. Those who kept their phones further out of sight in their pockets or their bags scored only slightly better than those whose phones were placed on desks.
The researchers found that the negative effect of having a phone within sight was greater among those who said they were dependent on their smart phones. It was also found that phones could distract users even when they were turned off or when they were placed face down.
The researchers said the effect arises because part of the smart phone users’ mind is trying not to think about distractions such as whether they have any messages when the smart phone is in their line of sight.
Similar research has previously shown that smart phones can lead a “butterfly brain effect” on users that can cause mental blunders (错误).
1. The researchers at the University of Texas carries out the study to test .| A．where smart phones should be placed |
| B．who were dependent on smart phones |
| C．university students’ daily use of smart phones |
| D．smart phones’ effect on students’ intelligence and memory |
| A．Smart phones don’t affect students if put out of sight. |
| B．Smart phones don’t distract students when turned off. |
| C．Students got lower scores in the presence of smart phones. |
| D．Students were distracted no matter where their phones were placed. |
| A．The cause of the problem. | B．The butterfly brain effect. |
| C．The mental blunders. | D．The future research. |
| A．The harm of smart phones | B．Smart phones make us dumb |
| C．Limit our use of smart phones | D．The problem of smart phone addiction |
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【推荐1】Do you ever get the feeling that you are being watched? Well, you might be right.
According to a study published in Nature on June 23, astronomers have found that 1,715 stars have had a direct view of Earth since humans have been here.
In order to do this, scientists used a previous method that looked for life on other planets. But at last, they changed the method so it could try to determine what places could see us.
The team looked at 331,312 stars within 326 light-years of Earth, with each light-year equaling 9.4 trillion (万亿) kilometers. Out of all those stars, only 1,715 of them could see Earth within the last 5,000 years, with an extra 319 stars that will be able to see us in the next 5,000 years.
“When I look up at the sky, it looks a little bit friendlier because it’s like, maybe somebody is waving,” said Lisa Kaltenegger, director of the Carl Sagan Institute at Cornell University, US, and the study’s lead writer.
If a planet circling around one of those 1,715 stars is home to advanced life, they could easily see that there is life here because of the oxygen on Earth. If that didn’t give it away, then the radio waves we have sent out into space would also be a sign. In fact, human-made radio waves have already traveled through 75 of the closest stars on Kaltenegger’s list.
Why haven’t we heard from anyone yet, then?
It takes a long time for messages to travel between star systems. By the time a message could be received, that advanced civilization would probably not exist anymore.
Alan Boss, a scientist at the Carnegie Institution for Science in the US who wasn’t part of the study, wrote in an email that this long time would limit the chances for different life to exchange “emails and TIKTOK videos”.
“So we should not expect aliens to show up anytime soon,” Boss said.
1. Why did scientists change the research method?| A．To seek alien life. |
| B．To count the stars in outer space. |
| C．To decide what places could view Earth. |
| D．To measure the stars within light-years of Earth. |
| A．319. | B．1,715. | C．1,396. | D．2,034. |
| A．Advanced life. | B．The oxygen on Earth. |
| C．Human-made radio waves. | D．A planet circling around one of those 1,715 stars. |
| A．Aliens don’t exist. |
| B．They cannot understand each other. |
| C．It takes a long time for messages to travel. |
| D．Human-made radio waves cannot travel far. |
【推荐2】Which comes first, happiness or money? Are richer people happier? And if so, how do people get much richer? A recent study could tell you the answer.
The study looked into thousands of teenagers and found that those who felt better about life as young adults tended to have higher incomes by the time they turned 29. Those who were happiest earned an average of $8,000 more than those who were the most depressed.
The researchers, from University College London and the University of Warwick, said that very gloomy teens, no matter how tall or smart they were, earned 10% less than their peers, while the happier ones earned up to 30% more.
Happier teenagers have an easier time getting through school, college and a job interview, chiefly because they always feel better about life. It may also be true that happier people find it easier to make friends, who are often the key to homework help or networking.
A report in June suggested that professional respect was more important than dollars in terms of workplace happiness. In August, scientists announced that they had found the gene for happiness in women. However, the same gene doesn’t appear to have the same effect on men. And in October researchers in the UK and in the US announced that people who ate seven portions of fruit and vegetables a day were the happiest.
The big question is: if it really is true that happier kids end up being wealthier kids, is it necessary for parents to get their kids to do the homework? The fact is that no homework will make kids happy but surely hurt their grades. Studies do show, after all, that more education leads to better-paid jobs, which may give us a deep thought.
“These findings show that the teenagers’ happiness is important to their future success,” one of the report’s authors writes. “But what is the most important is that we should find a way to help children gain more satisfaction from doing schoolwork.”
1. What conclusion can the researchers draw from the recent study?| A．Money often comes first than happiness. |
| B．Rich people are much happier. |
| C．Schoolwork can help teens achieve success. |
| D．Happy teenagers tend to be wealthier when then grow up. |
| A．they are often the key to homework help or networking. |
| B．they are good at doing their schoolwork |
| C．they are hopeful and optimistic about their life |
| D．they have much time getting through the school. |
| A．wealthy | B．depressed | C．happy | D．glorious |
| A．The key to be wealthy. | B．The Secret of Being Wealthier |
| C．How to Achieve Your Goal | D．the Way to Educate Kids |
【推荐3】Black box recorders are used to store data about a plane and its operating environment in the event of a crash. There are two types of black box:the CVR or Cockpit Voice Recorder, and the FDR or Flight Data Recorder.
The Cockpit Voice Recorder picks up sound from inside the cockpit (机舱), including the pilot headset microphones and those of any other cockpit staff.
The Flight Data Recorder, on the other hand, records important information about what the plane was doing at the time. The collected information is then fed into the FDR at the back.
Then where are they kept? Sensors that feed data to black box recorders are located in key areas of the plane, such as the engine and wings,
| A．The sensors work well all the time. |
| B．There’s also a microphone in the cockpit. |
| C．Both record different types of information. |
| D．The pilot took measures quickly and avoided the plane crash. |
| E．Typically it includes factors like speed, altitude and engine performance. |
| F．And what the staff observed and how they reacted can also be learned. |
| G．The actual black boxes are located at the back of the plane beneath the tail. |
【推荐1】World No Tobacco Day is celebrated each 31st of May. The aim is to bring attention to the growing use of tobacco and its deadly effects. The World Health Assembly established the event in 1987. This year, special attention is being given to the harmful effects of tobacco marketing to women and girls.
The WHO says the tobacco industry has increasingly directed its marketing campaigns at women and girls. Study shows that women currently represent about twenty percent of smokers while tobacco use among girls is increasing. Data collected from 151 countries show that about seven percent of young girls now smoke. That compares with twelve percent of boys. In some countries, however, the rates are almost equal.
Almost 170 countries have signed an agreement called the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control which calls on those governments to ban tobacco advertising to the fullest to protect women. The agreement seeks to reduce the demand and supply of tobacco products. This year marks the fifth anniversary since the treaty went into effect. Up to now, eighty percent of the signers have banned the sale of tobacco products to young people. Seventy percent have required health warnings on tobacco products.
Events are planned in a number of countries to mark World No Tobacco Day. Many of the events are aimed at persuading people, especially the young, not to start smoking. Others aim to educate people about the many health benefits of giving up smoking.
The World Health Organization says tobacco kills nearly five and a half million people a year and has become a top cause of death worldwide. It is estimated that so far in the world one billion people smoke. More than eighty percent of tobacco users live in low and middle income countries. The WHO estimates that tobacco use caused one hundred million deaths in the twentieth century. If current rates continue, that number could reach one billion in this century.
1. The following about World No Tobacco Day is true except .| A．it was started by the World Health Assembly | B．it is celebrated in May every other year |
| C．it warns people of the dangers of smoking | D．it is meant to protect women and girls this year |
| A．it has managed to increase sales of tobacco among women and girls |
| B．it has hired more women and girls to help with the advertisement |
| C．it sells its tobacco at a lower price to women and girls |
| D．it only collects data from more than 151 countries |
| A．increase tobacco production | B．improve the way of tobacco advertising |
| C．protect women from the dangers of smoking | D．estimate the demand of tobacco products |
| A．The sale of tobacco to the young is banned in most of the signers. |
| B．Eighty percent of the signers have printed warnings on tobacco products. |
| C．Seventy percent of the signers are persuading old people not to start smoking. |
| D．Few signers have told people the advantage of giving up smoking. |
【推荐2】Jac Grimes plays Santa in Greensboro, North Carolina. He gave up home visits which make up about a third of his business. He did it not just for his own health, but to prevent passing the virus from one family to the next. At a farmer's market where he works every year, Grimes dresses up as Santa and sits in a parking area. He talks to children who remain inside their cars.
The virus has many Santas and parents turning to online visits. Those visits have led many Santas to turn to their children and others for help in learning new computer skills. "It has been a challenge （挑战），" said Christopher Saunders, a Santa performer in Tool, a small town near Dallas, Texas. But Saunders and others say that instead of in-person visits, online visits are good, if imperfect.
Even Santas with the best jobs are hurt. Howard Graham has played Santa for eight years at New York's Radio City Music Hall. The place is known for its famous Christmas show with the Rockettes, a dance group. This year, he is making online visits and working five days with a historic railroad in Pennsylvania. “I love what I do... bringing them （children） a little bit of smile and hope," said Graham.
Brad Six first played Santa 35 years ago. He recently sat on Santa's chair for three hours at a shop in Miami. As families sat in front of a glass barrier（屏障）for photos, Six turned his head so that his face protection did not reflect （反射）the camera's light. He happily waved at children around the barrier so they could tell him their wish lists-from a distance about 1.8 meters away.
Six said the situation was a little easier physically on Santa's back because he didn't have to pick anybody up, but it was not as enjoyable because Santa didn't get the interaction （互动）he normally gets. This was definitely different, but the kids were excited and that was what mattered.
1. Many Santas learn new computer skills in order to.| A．offer their services online | B．attract more visitors |
| C．give up playing Santa | D．make their job easier |
| A．To show the advantages of working as Santa. | B．To introduce a famous Christmas show. |
| C．To compare different situations of Santas. | D．To show the great effects of the virus on Santas. |
| A．They interact with children online. | B．They take pictures with children. |
| C．They play Santa with safety measures. | D．They keep 1.8 metres from the children. |
| A．Health Risk Changes Ways Santas Meet Children |
| B．It's Hard for Children to See Santas in Public |
| C．Christmas Disappoints Children This Year |
| D．Santas Are the Hope in Children's Hearts |
【推荐3】One recent report found that adults in the US check their phones, on average, 344 times a day—once every four minutes—and spend almost three hours a day on their devices in total. The problem for many of us is that one quick phone-related task leads to a quick check of our email or social media feeds, and suddenly we’ve been trapped into endless scrolling (刷屏).
What we do know is that the simple distraction of checking a phone or seeing a notification (提示) can have negative consequences. This isn’t very surprising; we know that, in general multitasking harms memory and performance. One of the most dangerous examples is phone use while driving. One study found that merely speaking on the phone, not texting, was enough to make drivers slower to react on the road. It’s true for everyday tasks, too. Simply hearing a notification “ding” made participants of another study perform far worse on a task-almost as badly as participants who were speaking or texting on the phone during the task.
In one recent study, for example, researchers asked participants to either put their phones next to them so they were visible (like on a desk), nearby and out of sight (like in a bag or pocket), or in another room. Participants then completed a series of tasks to test their abilities to process and remember information, their problem-solving, and their focus.
They were found to perform far better when their phones were in another room instead of nearby—whether visible, powered on or not. That held true even though most of the participants claimed not to be consciously thinking about their devices.
Our brains may be subconsciously hard at work in preventing the desire from checking our phones, or constantly monitoring the environment to see if we should check our phone (eg. waiting for a notification). Either way, this distracted attention can make doing anything else more difficult. The only “fix”, the researchers found, was putting the device in a different room entirely.
1. What did the recent report in Paragraph I find?| A．Multitasking is very dangerous. |
| B．Notification is always heard. |
| C．People are addicted to mobile phones. |
| D．People like doing phone-related tasks. |
| A．By making comparisons. |
| B．By examining differences. |
| C．By following the order of importance. |
| D．By analyzing causes and giving examples. |
| A．Do anything more difficult. |
| B．Use phones to do right things. |
| C．Monitor the environment around. |
| D．Stay away from phones entirely. |
| A．How do We Avoid the Distraction of Phones? |
| B．Why Are People Fond of Using Mobile Phones? |
| C．What Should We Do When Buying Mobile Phones? |
| D．How Do We Do Research by Using Mobile Phones? |
【推荐1】While pedaling hard on a bike, do you feel like you are saving the planet? Or do you just feel out of breath? In fact, cycling is now considered one of the ultimate weapons humanity can use in the fight against climate change.
The United Nations General Assembly passed a resolution in March supporting bicycles as a tool for dealing with climate change. The resolution calls on member states to “integrate the bicycle into public transportation, in urban and rural settings in developing and developed countries”, with all 193 members of the UN unanimously (一致同意地) adopting the resolution.
This decision has received a positive response from numerous groups in support of cycling and environmental awareness internationally. “It is an important step toward the recognition of cycling as an important mode of transport,” said the European Cyclists’ Federation.
The resolution from the UN comes at a time when climate change has returned to the center of global attention. On Feb 28, the UN published a new report assessing recent climate change trends. The report warns that the global average temperature will rise by 1.5 C above pre-industrial levels (1850-1900), with more than 40 percent of the world’s population being “highly vulnerable” to these temperature changes.
In May 2020, bike sales in Spain increased 22-fold (22倍) compared with 2019. In London, large parts of the city are being closed off to cars so that people can walk and cycle safely. Cities like Berlin and Montreal have also added new, wider bike lanes.
More importantly, the resolution focuses on bike-sharing services, which could be seen as recognition of China’s bike-sharing success, noted CGTN.
China has some of the largest bike-sharing systems in the world. The country has more than 360 cities with dockless (无桩的) bike-sharing systems, with nearly 20 million bicycles for an average 47 million trips each day, according to China’s Ministry of Transport. This transportation option that produces zero emissions reduces the amount of CO2 released into the atmosphere by 4.8 million tons every year, according to a 2020 report from the World Resources Institute.
1. According to the first paragraph, when cycling you may feel________ .| A．relaxed | B．proud | C．anxious | D．nervous |
| A．Because it is an only tool to cope with climb changes. |
| B．Because it can be used in urban and rural settings in all countries. |
| C．Because it has been agreed with by all 193 members of the UN. |
| D．Because most people support cycling and environmental awareness. |
| A．To show China has succeeded in bike-sharing services. |
| B．To indicate China has the most bikes in the world. |
| C．To call for the world to learn from China. |
| D．To suggest that China has developed quickly. |
| A．20 million tons. | B．9.6 million tons. |
| C．4.8 million tons. | D．24.8 million tons. |
Thanks to special bacteria in their stomachs, kangaroo flatulence(肠胃气胀)contains no methane(甲烷)and scientists want to transfer that bacteria to cattle and sheep who produce large quantities of the harmful gas.
While the usual image of greenhouse gas pollution is a huge chimney pushing out carbon dioxide, animals at home contribute a surprisingly high percentage of total emissions in some countries. “Fourteen percent of emissions from all sources in Australia is from methane from cattle and sheep,” said Athol Kleve, a senior research scientist with the Queensland state government.
And if you look at another country such as New Zealand, which has got a much higher agricultural base, they’re actually up around 50 percent, ” he said.
Researchers say the bacteria also make the digestive process much more efficient and could potentially save millions of dollars in feed costs for farmers. But it will take researchers at least three years to isolate (分离) the bacteria, before they can even start to develop a way of transferring it to cattle and sheep.
Another group of scientists, meanwhile, has suggested Australians should farm fewer cattle and sheep and just eat more kangaroos. People are still arguing about this, but about 20 percent of health-conscious Australians are believed to eat the national symbol already. “It’s low in fat, it’s got high protein levels and it’s very clean in the sense that basically it’s the free-range (放养的) animal,” said Peter Amp of the University of New South Wales’s institute of environmental studies.
1. Scientists try to give kangaroo-style stomachs to cattle and sheep to __________.| A．help them fight against different diseases. |
| B．reduce the amount of greenhouse gases. |
| C．get rid of the bacteria in their stomachs. |
| D．protect them from quantities of harmful gas. |
| A．it will take the researchers a long time. |
| B．cattle and sheep will eat more than usual. |
| C．it will help the farmers to save money. |
| D．the bacteria will make them grow quickly. |
| A．scientists still don’t know how to transfer the bacteria to cattle and sheep. |
| B．people in Australia depend on kangaroos for food at the present time. |
| C．14% of the greenhouse gases in New Zealand is from cattle and sheep. |
| D．nobody in Australia will be allowed to farm cattle and sheep in the future. |
【推荐3】Stories and movies often make bats into scary creatures that attack in the dark of night. In real life, however, most bats are harmless. A few are even helpful to humans.
Over 800 species or types of bats feast on troublesome insects that damage crops or spread disease. Another 400 or so bat species eat ripe fruit. These bats are very useful because they pollinate (授粉) flowers and disperse (分散) seeds. There are also a few species of larger bats that hunt small animals like mice, fish, and frogs. A very few even drink blood.
The blood drinkers are the three species of vampire bats. However, the vampire bat doesn’t suck blood. Instead, it makes a wound with its sharp teeth and then laps the blood up like a kitty. The animal victim usually sleeps through the entire process. While attacks on humans have occurred, the bats’ common targets are livestock and other animals. Interestingly, the vampire bat may become useful to humans. You see, a chemical in the bat’s saliva (唾液) thins blood and dissolves blood clots (血栓). Studies indicate this could be a great aid in treating people with strokes. In the future, medicine may be made from vampire bats’ saliva.
Some people think bats are birds, but they’re not. They have fur, not feathers. And their babies do not hatch from eggs; they’re born alive. Also, bats have mouths and noses; birds have beaks. Scientists put them in a special mammal group called Chiroptera.
1. Most species of bats eat ________.| A．ripe fruit | B．mice and frogs |
| C．insects | D．blood |
| A．Vampire bats drink blood directly. |
| B．The bats’ uncommon targets are human beings. |
| C．A chemical in the bats is of great benefit treating heart disease. |
| D．Medicine has been produced from the bats’ saliva |
| A．Blood Drinkers | B．Vampire Bats |
| C．Amazing Bats | D．Scary Creatures |
