【推荐1】Bad news sells. If it bleeds, it leads. No news is good news, and good news is no news. Those are the classic rules for the evening broadcasts and the morning papers.     1     By tracking people’s e-mails and online posts, scientists have found that good news can spread faster and farther than disasters and sob stories.

“The ‘if it bleeds’ rule works for mass media,” says Jonah Berger, a scholar at the University of Pennsylvania. “    2     But when you share a story with your friends, you care a lot more how they react. You don’t want them to think of you as a Debbie Downer.”

Researchers analyzing word-of-mouth communication—e-mails, Web posts and reviews, face-to-face conversations—found that it tended to be more positive than negative.     3     Then was positive news shared more often because people experienced more good things than bad things? To test for that possibility, Dr. Berger looked at how people spread a particular set of news stories: thousands of articles on The New York Times’ website. He and a Penn colleague analyzed the “most e-mailed” list for six months. One of his first findings was that articles in the science section were much more likely to make the list than non-science articles.     4    

Readers also tended to share articles that were exciting or funny, or that arouse (激发) feelings like anger or anxiety, but not articles that left them merely sad.     5     The more positive an article, the more likely it was to be shared, as Dr. Berger explains in his new book, “Why Things Catch On.”

A．They catch your attention and involve you in discussion.

B．They want your eyeballs but don’t care how you’re feeling.

C．Yet, that didn’t necessarily mean people preferred positive news.

D．The best articles are just like magnets, dragging readers to share them with each other.

E．They needed to be inspired one way or the other, and they preferred good news to bad.

F．But now information is being spread in different ways, researchers are discovering new rules.

G．He found that science amazed readers and made them want to share this positive feelings with others.

【推荐2】There are around 100 tribes(部落) that live in isolation(隔绝), mostly in South America and India. The Sentinelese lived on one of the Andaman Islands in Eastern India for 60,000 years. They protect their island by fighting against people from outside. Their language is different from any other known language. Another Andaman tribe is the Jarawa. In the past, they were independent and fought against anybody trying to make contact with them. But in 1998, the Indian government built a road across their land, and since then, they’ve had more contact with the outside world.

Some Amazon tribes avoid contact because of unhappy memories. The Mashco-Piro left their vegetable gardens after rubber companies killed most of their tribe at the beginning of the 20th century. Those who survived became nomadic(游牧的) and started hunting animals in the forest.

The Awa live in the Amazon forests of Brazil. Out of 350 members, 100 have no contact with the outside world. They left their villages and adopted a nomadic lifestyle around 1850 to prevent being attacked by Europeans. In the following years, farmers in nearby communities started cutting the trees to expand their farmland. The Awa lost most of their hunting land. The few Amazon tribes that still exist are fighting to keep their traditional way of life.

Survival, an organization that fights for the rights of tribal people, says that uncontracted tribes are the most vulnerable(弱势的) humans on the planet and that’s why their environment should be closed to the rest of us. After years of pressure, the organization got Brazil’s government to clear non-natives from the Awa land. All non-Awa people are leaving, so the tribe can get their forest back.

But some think it’s impossible for tribes to stay isolated forever in a connected world. Contact will be made one day. So the question is: Whose choice should it be, ours or theirs?

1. What can we learn about the Sentinelese from the first paragraph?

A．They refused contact from the outside world.

B．They speak the same language as the Jarawa.

C．They are crazy about fighting with other tribes.

D．They have got help from the Indian government.

2. Why did the Awa choose a nomadic lifestyle?

A．To protect their hunting land.	B．To search for food sources.
C．To avoid threats from Europeans.	D．To keep their original way of life.

3. Which of the following would Survival probably agree with?

A．The tribes should be left unaffected by the outside world.

B．The tribes should fight for more living space.

C．The tribes should live in harmony with nature.

D．The tribes should follow the connected world.

4. What can be the best title for the text?

A．The Nomadic Tribes in the World.	B．Seeking Survival of Tribes.
C．The Closed Tribal Environment.	D．Protecting the Tribal Forests.

【推荐3】Innovation is key to business survival, and companies put substantial resources into inspiring employees to develop new ideas but not necessarily succeed. And there are those who don’t have a budget, or much space, but who innovate successfully.

For Robert B. Cialdini, Professor of Psychology at Arizona State University, one reason that companies don’t succeed as often as they should is that innovation starts with recruitment. Research shows that the fit between an employee’s values and a company’s values makes a difference to what contribution they make and whether, two years after they join, they’re still at the company.

One of the most famous photographs in the story of rock’n’roll emphasizes Cialdini’s views.The 1956 picture of singers Elvis Presley, Carl Perkins, Johnny Cash and Jerry Lee Lewis jamming at a piano in Sun Studios in Memphis tells a hidden story. Sun’s million-dollar quartet (四重唱) could have been a quintet (五重唱). Missing from the picture is Roy Orbison, a greater natural singer. Sam Phillips, who owned Sun, wanted to revolutionize popular music. All of them except Orbison believed in it. Orbison wasn’t inspired by the goal, and only ever achieved one hit with the Sun label.

Cialdini also believes that the “follow-the-leader syndrome” is dangerous, not least because it encourages bosses to go it alone. “It’s been scientifically proven that three people will be better than one at solving problems, even if that one person is the smartest person in the field. To prove his point, Cialdini cites an interview with molecular       biologist James Watson. Watson, together with Francis Crick, discovered the structure of DNA. “When asked how they had cracked the code ahead of other highly rival investigators, he said something that surprised me. He said he and Crick had succeeded because they were aware that they weren’t the most intelligent of the scientists pursuing the answer. The smartest scientist was called Rosalind Franklin who, Watson said, was so intelligent that she rarely sought advice.

Authority doesn’t have to inhibit (抑制) innovation but it often does. Many theorist believe the ideal boss should lead from behind, taking pride in collective accomplishment and giving credit where it is due. Cialdini says,” Leaders should encourage everyone to contribute and assure all concerned that every recommendation is important to making the right decision and will be given full attention, A manager who wants to create a truly innovative culture can make their job a lot easier by recognizing these psychological realities.

1. The example of the “million-dollar quartet” underlines the writer’s point about______________.

A．recognizing talent	B．working as a team
C．having a shared objective	D．being an effective leader

2. James Watson suggests that he and Francis Crick won the race to discover the DNA code because they______________

A．were conscious of their own limitations

B．brought complementary skills to their partnership

C．were determined to outperform their brighter rivals

D．encouraged each other to realize their joint ambition

3. In the last paragraph, the writer suggests that it is important for employees to______________.

A．be aware of their company’s goals

B．have respect for their co-workers’ achievements

C．understand why certain management decisions are made

D．feel that their contributions are valued

4. Which of the following is probably the best title for this passage?

A．The key to becoming an innovative company.

B．The psychology of innovation.

C．The environment giving rise to Innovation.

D．How to be an innovative company leader.

【推荐2】Some women say the voice in their head gets kinder as they enter midlife, while other women become more critical (挑剔的) of themselves. The difference in views appears to be related to the ability to accept age-related changes to their body, researchers have found.

In 2013, Professor Paxton, of the University of La Trobe’s Department of Psychology, was interviewed on ABC Melbourne about body image and well-being in women entering midlife. The ABC posted on their Facebook page the topic of the program and the question: Does the voice in your head get kinder as you get older?

The study found 56 percent of comments suggested the voice in women’s heads did get somewhat kinder with age. This view was associated with women accepting the age-related changes in their body as normal. “If they gained weight or they got wrinkles, it was a normal part of aging and they felt fine about it and it didn’t disturb their sense of self,” Professor Paxton said. “They were more likely to value health and well-being as opposed to appearance.”

On the other hand, 40 percent of comments suggested the voice did not get any kinder with age. This view was associated with women finding it difficult to accept being so different from the youthful ideal of women that is upheld in advertising and in the media. Women who expressed this view were concerned about how “invisible” they had become as a consequence. “They reacted negatively to the changes in their bodies as they aged and were very much aware that in our culture, youthful bodies are idealized,” Professor Paxton said.

Understanding why some women are preoccupied (心事重重的) with body image in midlife more than others is important given that having a bad body image can lead to physical and mental health problems, Professor Paxton said. These can include self-consciousness and anxiety, eating disorders, and an unwillingness to show oneself in public, which can reduce the amount women exercise or socialize. “They become unsociable and don’t fulfill their full potential. Those sorts of things can make a person very unhappy.”   

She said the insights from studies like this support the use of cognitive (认知的) behavioral therapy (治疗) designed to help women in midlife who have a preoccupation with body image to change negative thought patterns. This would involve discouraging them from comparing themselves to younger women, and encouraging acceptance of bodily changes related to age, and “self-care” behaviors that improve health and well-being.

1. What causes the difference in women’s opinions on body image?

A．Women’s self-acceptance.	B．Professors’ advice.
C．The impact of Facebook.	D．Personal health.

2. What does the underlined word “upheld” in paragraph 4 probably mean?

A．Introduced.

B．Tested.

C．Advocated.

D．Praised.

3. What is paragraph 5 mainly about?

A．How body image influences women.

B．Factors that affect women’s emotions.

C．Negative impacts of bad body image on women.

D．Why some women focus on body image in midlife.

4. How can women change negative thoughts about a bad body image?

A．By trying to show themselves in public.

B．By adopting a new thinking model.

C．By taking exercise regularly.

D．By increasing self-confidence,

【推荐3】Scientists have discovered how plants manage to live alongside each other in places that are dark and shady. Plants in the deep darkness of a thick forest, where natural supplies are not very great in amount, won’t attempt to top their neighbors in growth as those in moderate (中度的) shade do. In deep shade conditions, it would be a waste of energy and harmful to survival because green shoots would never be able to top their larger neighbors in growth.

So how do plants prevent such growth in deep shade conditions? The secret lies in the clocks inside them, say scientists from the John Innes Centre and the University of Bristol.

They have discovered that when plants notice deep shade, this changes the expression of genes in certain parts of the circadian clock (昼夜节律时钟) — the internal daily timer found in plants and other living things. These clock components perform an additional role in preventing plants from lengthening and overtopping neighbors.

The work identifies a previously unknown role of the circadian clock in controlling plant development, and the findings may have possible effects on both natural plant populations and crops. Professor Antony Dodd of the John Innes Centre said, “The biological clock of plants plays a big part in their development and fitness. This work casts new light on a new role of the circadian clock in adapting plants to competition with other plants in their environments.” “It also gives us new insights into how plants adapt to very deep shade, where resources are very limited,” said Professor Kerry Franklin at the University of Bristol.

This work provides evidence for the stability of the circadian clock in stressful environments, and information that may be useful in developing new generations of crops in a challenging climate.

1. What do plants normally do in moderate shade?

A．Struggle to preserve energy.	B．Compete for limited resources.
C．Try to outgrow their neighbors.	D．Depend on each other to survive.

2. How does the circadian clock affect plants?

A．By changing their gene expression.	B．By making them realize light change.
C．By helping them adapt to the darkness.	D．By controlling their growth in deep shade.

3. Why does the author write the text?

A．To share a new discovery about plants.	B．To introduce the role of the circadian clock.
C．To explain plants’ secret of living in forests.	D．To compare plants living in certain conditions.

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

A．How plants face a challenging climate

B．Why plants respond to different shade levels

C．Why the circadian clock is vital to plants’ growth

D．How plants become good neighbors in deep shade