【推荐1】The reason why dominant (占支配地位的) men always seem to rise to the top has been uncovered. Researchers say they are able to make decisions far faster than those with nondom-inant personalities. It could explain why so many top CEOs and politicians are known for their dominant personalities.

The study found high-dominance men respond faster in situations where a choice is needed, regardless of social context. Promptness (敏捷) to respond in high-dominance men was accompanied by a noticeably amplified brain signal. In addition, when the researchers analyzed the EEG (脑电图) images of the high-dominance participants, they identified a higher activity in areas of the brain associated with emotion and behavior, compared to low-dominance participants.

This promptness in decision-making can act as a biomarker for social personalities. “Dominance itself depends partly on the ability to make decisions faster than others. This allows the individual to act first in social situations, which might result in an evolutionary advantage.” the team wrote.

They now hope to link these reading to roles such as CEOs, and to find out if the same differences happen in female. and children. “In the future, it will be important to find out whether even stronger brain signals are observed in particularly dominant individuals, such as CEOs,” said Carmen Sandi of the Ecole Poly technique Federale de Lausanne.

She added, “It will also be relevant to understand whether these differences in promptness to respond and brain signals are also observed in women that differ in dominance and whether they are already present in children. Our findings may open a new research approach using EEG signatures as a measure for social dominance.”

The study involved 240 male students at the University of Lausanne who were sorted into high or low dominance groups by a standard “dominance scoring” questionnaire proved in many former studies.

1. What makes dominant people stand out?

A．Their wiser decisions.	B．Their kind personalities.
C．Their high social status.	D．Their rapidity of responding.

2. Which word can replace the underlined word “amplified” in paragraph 2?

A．affected

B．adjusted

C．enhanced

D．controlled

3. What will the researchers use the findings to do?

A．Save people's life.	B．Check on more people.
C．Test the participants' brain.	D．Show the effect of dominance.

4. What can be inferred about the study from the text?

A．It used previous research findings.

B．It involved some women and children.

C．It showed how people became CEOs.

D．It corrected people’s ideas of dominance.

【推荐2】The benefits of gratitude have long been championed in religious and philosophical thinking. In recent years, the science has been catching up: it shows that people who feel most grateful generally get a psychological boost as a result. They also have greater life satisfaction, fewer visits to the doctor and better sleep. This has led to gratitude becoming part of our daily routine, starting a trend of gratitude journals, in which you record things you are thankful for, and meditation practices in which you focus thoughts on them. However, the benefits of actually expressing this gratitude have received less attention. Now evidence is stacking up that shows turning our inner gratitude into action can make our lives even better.

For instance, a simple thank you can build relationships, even with strangers. Take people who have received a note of thanks for something they have done from a peer they don’t know. They are more likely to share their contact details with that person in an attempt to continue the relationship than people who receive a note that doesn’t contain thanks. A simple thank you seems to signal interpersonal warmth.

Expressing gratitude to a friend also changes your view of that relationship, making it feel stronger. In 2010, Nathaniel Lambert, at Florida State University, and his colleagues found that people who simply thought grateful thoughts about a friend, or even took part in positive interactions with them, didn’t experience the same effects.

But the benefits go further than just strengthening social bonds, they can have an impact on health, too. A study of more than 200 nurses working in two Italian hospitals found that gratitude expressed by patients could protect nurses from burnout. That was especially so in the emergency room, where personal interactions with patients are typically shorter and less rewarding. This positive feedback from patients reduced feelings of exhaustion among nurses, says Mara Martini at the University of Turin, who carried out the work.

1. What do the underline words “stacking up” in paragraph 1 mean?

A．disappearing

B．approaching.

C．ringing.

D．increasing.

2. Which of the following is a benefit of expressing gratitude?

A．Building stronger relationships

B．Sleeping well during the night.

C．Getting a psychological boost.

D．Having attractive body shapes.

3. What does the study by Mara Martini indicate?

A．Nurses should require positive feedback from patients.

B．Patients should speak out their appreciation to nurses.

C．Doctors should improve their interpersonal skills

D．Hospitals should protect nurses from burnout.

4. What message does the text want to convey?

A．Friendship is worth sparing every effort.

B．Gratitude journals work for people who act.

C．Positive feedback helps improve health service

D．Thankfulness in action has unexpected benefits.

【推荐3】Homes are usually warmed with radiators (暖气片). Some homes are warmed by floor heating. Now, a new way of heating is being developed by using the “wallpaper” on your walls. This wallpaper is not decorative. It actually goes under and not over the wall — electrically heats a room. And this type of heating technology heats objects, even people, instead of the air and this helps you feel warmer.

The electric heating panels which are hidden in the wall are connected to the main electrical panels of your home. Each room can be used independently through an app so you do not have to heat unused rooms. It takes around 20 minutes to heat a room.

With rising prices for home heating, the panels seemed like the right way to go. “It makes me happy that I don’t rely on gas.” Kris Bilski, an early user, said. An estimated 23 million homes in the UK are connected to the gas grid (网) but the government wants to phase out gas-fired boilers by 2035. Home heating is responsible for 17 percent of greenhouse gas emissions so removing fossil fuel-based heating will help the environment.

The new electric heating systems are available for private homes and the company is currently testing the new technology in public housing in some cities. The versions being tested can be installed (安装) while people are still living in the apartment so it makes installation a lot easier.

Heating your home with this type of technology does not heat your water so an additional heating system is required but an energy efficient heater can be used.

While the wallpaper is greener, electricity in the UK is very costly so it is not an economic way to heat homes unless there is a renewable energy source like solar panels used. Still, reducing the dependance on fossil fuels will go a long way to green the UK and help the country meet its climate targets.

1. What is special about the wallpaper compared with radiators?

A．It is decorative.	B．It is traditional.
C．It is unseen.	D．It is more efficient.

2. What does the underlined phrase “phase out” in Paragraph 3 mean?

A．Stop using.	B．Improve greatly.
C．Restore gradually.	D．Finish developing.

3. What is one of the advantages of wallpaper heating system?

A．It looks beautiful.	B．It’s easy to be fitted.
C．It heats up instantly.	D．It fits all buildings.

4. What is the author’s attitude towards the use of this wallpaper heating system in the UK?

A．Skeptical.	B．Optimistic.
C．Enthusiastic.	D．Disapproving.

【推荐1】A handshake seems to be a normal gesture. In fact, in the 9th century BC, an ancient site during the ruling of Shalmaneser III clearly shows two figures holding hands. The Iliad, usually dated to the 8th century BC, mentions that two characters “taking each other's hands and expressing their loyalty.” Centuries later, Shakespeare once wrote of two characters-who shook hands and swore to be brothers in the book As You Like It. Shaking hands seems to be an ancient custom whose roots have disappeared in the sands of time.

Historians who have studied ancient etiquette books note that the modern handshake did not appear until the middle of the 19th century, when it was considered a slightly inappropriate gesture that could only be used between friends. But what if Shakespeare had written about handshaking hundreds of years earlier?

According to author Torbjorn Lundmark in his Tales of Hi and Bye: Greeting and Parting Rituals Around the World, the problem comes in differing definitions of the handshake. The early handshakes mentioned above were part of making deals or peace; King Shalmaneser III referred to a rebellion in which he signed a treaty with the King of Babylon. In the Iliad, Diomedes and Glaucus shook hands when they realized they were guest-friends, and Diomedes declared: “Let's not try to kill each other." Shakespeare was similarly referencing settlement of a conflict.

The modern handshake as a form of greeting is harder to trace. As a Dutch sociologist Herman Roodenburg—the chief authority for the history of handshaking—wrote in a chapter of an anthology called A Cultural History of Gesture, “More than in any other field, that of the study of gesture is one in which the historian has to make the most of only a few clues”.

One of the earliest clues he cites is a 16th-century German translation of the French writer Rabelais's Gargantua and Pantagruel. When one character meets Gargantua, Rabelais writes, “He was greeted by countless hugs and countless good days. "But according to Roodenburg, the 16th-century German translation added references to shaking hands.

A popular saying suggests that Cleland's statements against bowing were actually a wish to go back to a potentially traditional method of greeting in Europe. As the centuries progressed ,handshaking was replaced by more hierarchical ways of greeting—like bowing. According to Roodenburg, handshaking survived in a few remote places, like in Dutch towns where some would use the gesture to make peace after disagreements. Around the same time, those who valued equality also made us of handshaking. Then, as the Continent's hierarchy was weakened, handshaking became a common practice among people of the same rank, as it is today.

1. Why does the author mention Shakespeare in the first two paragraphs?

A．To prove that the history of handshaking is hard to find.

B．To illustrate that handshaking is a very old custom.

C．To show readers that handshaking is common in fiction.

D．To explain the value of handshaking in communication.

2. What can we learn about handshaking from the passage?

A．The origin of handshaking as a form of greeting is easy to trace.

B．Citizens usually shake hands to show friendliness in Holland.

C．It was used only between friends and to reach an agreement.

D．It is a common practice between people of different social positions.

3. What is the writing purpose of the passage?

A．To explain why handshaking is not as normal as it seems.

B．To compare the differences between handshaking and other gestures.

C．To trace the history of the practice of handshaking.

D．To illustrate various uses of handshaking in difference areas.

【推荐2】Not long ago, people thought babies were not able to learn things until they were five or six months old. Yet doctors in the United States say babies begin learning on their first day of life.
Scientists note that babies are strongly influenced by their environment. They say a baby will smile if her mother does something the baby likes. A baby learns to get the best care possible by smiling to please her mother or other caregivers. This is how babies learn to connect and communicate with other human beings.
One study shows that babies can learn before they are born. The researchers placed a tape recorder on the stomach of a pregnant woman. Then, they played a recording of a short story. On the day the baby was born，the researchers attempted to find if he knew the sounds of the story repeated while in his mother. They did this by placing a device in the mouth of the newborn baby.
The baby would hear the story if he moved his mouth one way. If the baby moved his mouth the other way, he would hear a different story. The researchers say the baby clearly liked the story he heard before he was born. They say the baby would move his mouth so he could hear the story again and again.
Another study shows how mothers can strongly influence social development and language skills in their children.
Researchers studied the children from the age of one month to three years. The researchers attempted to measure the sensitivity of the mothers. The women were considered sensitive if they supported their children’s activities and did not interfere unnecessarily. They tested the children for thinking and language development when they were three years old. Also, the researchers observed the women for signs of depression.
The children of depressed women did not do as well in tests as the children of women who did not suffer from depression. The children of depressed women did poorly in tests of language skills and understanding what they hear.
These children also were less cooperative and had more problems dealing with other people. The researchers noted that the sensitivity of the mothers was important to the intelligence development of their children. Children did better when their mothers were caring, even when they suffered from depression.
1. According to the passage,which of the following is NOT the factor that influences the intelligence development in babies?

A．The environment.	B．Mother’s sensitivity.
C．Their peers (同龄人).	D．Education before birth.

2. What is the purpose of the experiment in which newborn babies heard the stories?

A．To prove that babies can learn before they are born.

B．To prove that babies can learn on the first day they are born.

C．To show mothers can strongly influence the intelligence development in their babies

D．To indicate early education has a deep effect on the babies’ language skills.

3. Which group of children did the worst in tests of language skills?

A．The children of depressed mothers who cared little for their children.

B．The children of women who did not suffer from depression.

C．The children of depressed but caring mothers.

D．Children with high communication abilities.

4. What is the main idea of the passage?

A．Scientific findings about how babies develop before birth.

B．Scientific findings about how the environment has an effect on babies’ intelligence.

C．A study shows babies are not able to learn things until they are born or six months old.

D．Scientific findings about how intelligence develops in babies.