【推荐2】Many people spend more than four hours per day on We Chat, and it is redefining the word “friend.” Does friending someone on social media make him or her your friend in real life?

Robin Dunbar, a professor at Oxford University, found that only 15, of the 150 Facebook friends the average user has, could be counted as actual friends and only five as close friends. We Chat may show a similar pattern.

Those with whom you attended a course together, applied for the same part-time job, went to a party and intended to cooperate but failed take up most of your WeChat friends. In chat records, the only message may be a system notice, “You have accepted somebody’s friend request”. Sometimes when seeing some photos shared on “Moments”, you even need several minutes to think about when you became friends. Also, you may be disturbed by mass messages (群发信息) sent from your unfamiliar “friends”, including requests for voting for their children or friends, links from Pinduoduo.com (a Chinese e-commerce platform that allows users to buy items at lower prices if they purchase in groups) and cookie-cutter (千篇一律的) blessings in holidays.

You would have thought about deleting this type of “friends” and sort out your connections. But actually you did not do that as you were taught that social networking is valuable to one’s success. Besides, it would be really awkward if they found that you have unfriended them already. Then, you keep increasing your “friends” in social media and click “like” on some pictures that you are not really interested. But the fact is that deep emotional connections do not come with the increasing number of your friends in social media.

If the number of your friends reaches 150, maintaining these relationships can be tough to you, and sometimes even will make you anxious. According to Robin Dunbar, 150 is the limit of the number of people with whom one can maintain stable social relationships.

1. What can we learn from Robin Dunbar's finding in Paragraph 2?

A．A Facebook user has 250 friends on average.

B．Most of the social media friends can be actual friends.

C．Among our social media friends, only a few people matter.

D．Only 15 people of a person’s Facebook friends can be close friends.

2. What does the third paragraph tell us about most of your WeChat friends?

A．You have deep communication with them.

B．You benefit a lot from their mass messages.

C．You just have a nodding acquaintance with them.

D．You become friends with them in important occasions.

3. What does the underlined word “that” in Paragraph 4 refer to?

A．Removing unfamiliar friends in WeChat.

B．Strengthening ties with your We Chat friends.

C．Keeping increasing your friends in social media.

D．Clicking “like” on pictures posted by your friends.

4. What can we infer from the last paragraph?

A．We will be anxious if we make friends online.

B．We should avoid making any friends in social media.

C．We should make as many friends as possible in social media.

D．We have difficulty managing relationships with over 150 people.

【推荐3】“Super-agers” have long puzzled scientists, but now researchers say they are unpicking why some people live beyond 80 and still appear to be well.

Researchers say studies show that super-agers appear to adapt more easily to the slings and arrows of life, and are more open-minded and less sensitive. But they have also made another discovery. Looking at the brains of 10 super-agers after they died, Prof Emily Rogalski, from Northwestern University said they discovered these individuals have more of a certain type of brain cell known as Von Economo neurons ( 神经) than average elderly individuals. “We can’t explain how they ended up with more Von Economo neurons or why that is important. But these are a special type of neurons that have only been found in a couple of regions of the brain.”

Studies have shown there are other differences as well. “When we look at the rate of cognitive ( 认知的) thinning in the cognitively average 80-year-olds, their brains are thinning at nearly two and a half times that of the super-agers,” said Rogalski.

Being underweight also seemed to matter, with those who had a very low body mass index after the age of 80 more likely to die. It’s not bad to be skinny when you’re young but it is when you’re old.

The researchers say they have also found that the common bad habits do not necessarily lead to an early grave, with many super-agers saying they smoked and enjoyed a drink. “We ask them why is it that you think you are a super-ager, how did you get here, and there are a couple of funny ladies and they will say, well it’s   because I have some alcohol with my friends every day at 5 o'clock. Others have never had a drink,” said Rogalski.

However, Rogalski added, that did not mean that people should take up bad   habits to live longer, noting that some people might have a genetic makeup that allowed them to tolerate smoking and drinking. Nonetheless, Rogalski thinks we can learn from super-agers. “We are getting quite good at extending our lifespan but our health span isn’t keeping up and what the super-agers have is more of a balance between those two, they are living long and living well,” she said.

1. What can we learn about Von Economo neurons?

A．They can be found all over the super-agers’ brains.

B．They lead to super-agers’ easier adaptation to hardships.

C．Super-agers are found to have more of them in their brains.

D．Scientists have discovered how they are produced in brains.

2. Compared to the average elderly, super-agers .

A．have better life habits

B．tend to drink more alcohol

C．are usually much slimmer

D．are slower in brain thinning

3. What does Rogalski intend to tell us by the underlined sentence?

A．We should develop good habits to live longer.

B．We should seek to live well while living long.

C．Super-agers should help us extend our health span.

D．Extending lifespan is harder than keeping health span.

4. What is the writer’s purpose in writing the passage?

A．To reveal some secrets of super-agers.

B．To introduce the ways of staying young.

C．To explain the advantages of living long.

D．To describe various habits of super-agers.

【推荐1】

One day an American called Simon went to London to visit his friend, Rick. Rick told him that his flat was on the first floor. When he arrived, Simon went straight to the first floor of the building. But he was told that there was no Rick on that floor. Do you know why?

In fact, the British call the first floor of a building the ground floor. The floor above the ground floor is the first floor, which Americans would call the second floor.

The story shows that there are a few culture differences between Britain and America, though the British and Americans both speak English.

The British usually hide their feelings. They seldom start a conversation with strangers. For example, on the train the British often spend their time reading newspapers or books. But Americans are quite different. They’re more active and easier to talk with.

The British and Americans may use different terms for many things. The British usually use football, eraser and mail while Americans prefer to use soccer, rubber and post.

1. Simon went to London to ______.

A．visit his friend	B．spend his holiday
C．study English	D．have a meeting

2. Which picture shows us where Rick’s flat was? ______.

A．A

B．B

C．C

D．D

3. According to the passage, the British usually spend their time ______ on the train.

A．playing cards	B．talking loudly
C．doing some reading	D．singing and dancing

4. What does the underlined word “terms” mean in Chinese in the passage? ______.

A．成果

B．学期

C．会议

D．用语

【推荐2】阅读下面短文，根据题目要求用英文回答问题。

For millions of Facebook users, choosing which photo to use for an online profile is an important decision. According to a study by researchers at the UT Dallas Center, the photos we select may reflect individual preferences, but they also appear to reflect more deeply rooted, unconscious cultural differences. Previous research has shown that culture can affect not only language and custom, but also how we experience the world and process information. Western cultures, for example, condition people to think of themselves as highly independent entities (实体), whereas East Asian cultures stress collectivism and interdependence.

Dr. Denise Park, co-director of the Center at UT Dallas, and former graduate student Dr. Chih-Mao Huang of the University of Illinois, were curious about whether these patterns of cultural influence extend to cyberspace. In a paper published in the International Journal of Psychology, they examined the profile photographs of more than 500 active Facebook users from the United States and East Asia. Overall, they found that profile photos of Americans are more likely to focus on the individual’s face, while the profiles of East Asians tend to less emphasize the face and include more background features. Americans also show greater smile intensity compared to East Asian Facebook users.

The findings show marked cultural differences in the focus of attention among East Asian and American Facebook users. Moreover, they echo previous research on cultural influences on visual sense, attention, and reasoning in the offline world.

“We believe these findings relate to a cultural difference to be more individualistic and independent in the US and more communal and interdependent in Asia,” said Park.

The research also found that cultural influences over our self-presentation online can shift over time and from place to place. In one of the study samples, Americans studying in Japan and Japanese studying in the United States both showed a tendency to adjust their profile photos to the general preferences of their host country.

“Facebook constitutes an extended social context in which personal profiles mirror various individual characteristics, private thoughts, and social behaviors,” noted Huang. “As such, the study presents a new approach to investigate cognition and behaviors across cultures by using Facebook as a data collection platform.”

1. What may an online profile photo reflect?
________________
2. According to the research, how are American and East Asian Facebook users different in choosing their profile photos?
________________
3. Please decide which part is false in the following statement, then underline it and explain why.
In one of the study samples, Americans studying in Japan showed a tendency to adjust their profile photos to the general preferences of America.
________________
4. Apart from cultural differences, what other factors might influence one’s choice of profile photo on social media? And give some examples.   (In about 40 words)
________________