Consider the negative effects of not sharing a story in the news: People are wondering if public health officials are holding back too much information about the recent outbreak of Ebola.
There is a danger in holding back stories that ought to be told. Bobette Buster said it like this, “The fact is, history has shown us that stories not told can become like a dangerous genie (妖怪) left in a bottle. When they are finally uncorked, their power to destroy is set free.”
There are a number of reasons why we hide parts of our story: they often show our weaknesses or expose our disadvantages; they require courage and strength to share; and of course, there are some stories that should be kept secret—especially those that embarrass someone else.
Most of us have two selves: the one we display on the outside and the one we actually are on the inside. And the better we get at hiding the stories that show our true selves, the more damage we may be causing to ourselves and to others.
Honesty and openness is important: It proves we are trustworthy. It displays we are human. We are not perfect or better. It highlights the importance of hard work and personal development. Hard work may not allow us to overcome our disadvantages completely. But with hard work, we do not have to be restricted to our mistakes.
Does this mean we admit every weakness, every disadvantage, and every secret regret to everybody we meet? No, of course not. There is a time and a place and a certain level of relationship necessary for some stories to be told in an appropriate manner.
1. What’s the function of the example in Paragraph 2?
| A．It reflects that people are concerning about the spread of Ebola. |
| B．It shows the bad effect caused by sharing a story. |
| C．It proves not sharing a story can cause trouble. |
| D．It concludes that one should share a story at a proper time. |
| A．story-sharing highlights the importance of hard work |
| B．people are used to exposing their weaknesses |
| C．people sometimes have no courage to share their stories |
| D．some stories make themselves feel uneasy |
| A．freed | B．broken | C．unfolded | D．untouched |
| A．be open to people close to you by sharing some secrets |
| B．share stories appropriately for the good of others and ourselves |
| C．remove the dangers that can be caused by untold stories |
| D．realize the importance of being honest when making friends |
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In the study, the robot, called AIBO, is placed for six weeks in the houses of some old people who live alone. Before placing AIBO in the home, researchers will collect baseline data for six weeks. These old people will keep a diary to note their feelings and activity before and after AIBO. Then, the researchers will review the data to determine if it has inspired any changes in the life of its owner.
“I talk to him all the time, and he responds to my voice,” says a seventy-year-old lady, “When I’m watching TV, he’ll stay in my arms until he wants down. He has a mind of his own.”
The AIBOs respond to certain orders. The researchers say they have some advantages over live dogs, especially for old people. Often the elderly are disabled and cannot care for an animal by walking it or playing with it. A robotic dog removes exercise and feeding concerns.
“At the beginning, it was believed that no one would relate to the robotic dog, because it was metal and not furry.” Beck says, “But it’s amazing how quickly we have given up that belief.”
“Hopefully, down the road, these robotic pets could become a more-valuable health helper. They will record their masters’ blood pressure, oxygen levels, or heart rhythms. AIBOs may even one day have games that can help stimulate older people’s minds.”
1. The purpose of Beck and Edwards’ study is to.
| A．understand human-animal relationship |
| B．make lonely old people’s life better |
| C．find the causes of old people’s loneliness |
| D．promote the animal-assisted research |
| A．note the activities of AIBOs | B．keep AIBOs at home for 12 weeks |
| C．record their feelings and activity | D．analyze the collected information |
| A．It is easier to keep at home. | B．It can help the disabled people. |
| C．It responds to all the human orders. | D．It can watch TV with its owner. |
| A．cure certain diseases | B．keep old people active |
| C．change people’s beliefs | D．look more like real dogs |
【推荐2】In the west of Melbourne, more than 300 kids from six primary schools are going to use special school bags that can also check air quality. This helps scientists find ways to reduce air pollution. It’s part of a study called “Breathe Melbourne”, where kids will become air quality scientists by collecting important information while going to and from school.
Schools in this areas were picked for the research because they have high levels of air pollution and a lot of kids with asthma (哮喘病). This is because these areas used to have a lot of factories.
More kids in these areas go to the hospital for asthma compared to other parts of Australia. Professor Irving from a hospital said, “The Breathe Melbourne study is very significant because it focuses on children who are already at risk because of bad air quality, and it aims to reduce that risk and help with asthma.”
An engineer named James explained how the air quality readers work. There’s a fan in the bag that pulls in outside air towards the sensors (传感器). The bag also has a GPS tracker that helps experts see which areas have more air pollution.
In a recent study, the schoolchildren and some of their teachers are seen wearing the air quality bags on four days each week for a few months. Children change their roads and the ways they go to school in the experiment as healthier choices are found. In the research, children can be educated and will learn more about air pollution.
Dr. Kate Lycett, the lead researcher, hopes that the information they collect will force officials to take action. She said, “Every child should have fresh air to breathe. Where they live shouldn’t decide how clean the air they breathe is.”
1. Why will some students in Melbourne carry the special school bags?| A．To receive fitness training. | B．To prepare for short school trips. |
| C．To protect school from the bad weather. | D．To help scientists get useful information. |
| A．They enjoy good medical services. | B．They care more about climate change. |
| C．They are troubled by the poor air quality. | D．They know little about the local industrial history. |
| A．Important. | B．Different. | C．Interesting. | D．Difficult. |
| A．It offers them a wide choice of school bags. | B．It introduces health courses to their schools. |
| C．It makes them understand air pollution better. | D．It reduces traffic problems on their way to school. |
During the ad breaks, a man often asks a woman to explain the plot and tell him where the relationship between the characters is going. He is unable, unlike women, to read the subtle body language signals that reveal how the characters are feeling emotionally. Since women originally spent their days with the other women and children in the group, they developed the ability to communicate successfully in order to maintain relationships. For a woman, speech continues to have such a clear purpose: to build relationships and make friends. For men, to talk is to relate the facts.
Men see the telephone as a communication tool for sending facts and information to other people, but a woman sees it as a means of bonding. A woman can spend two weeks on vacation with her girlfriend and, when she returns home, telephone the same girlfriend and talk for another two hours.
There is no convincing evidence that social conditioning, the fact that girls' mothers talked them more, is the reason why girls talk more than boys. Psychiatrist Dr Michael Lewis, author of Social Behaviour and Language Acquisition, conducted experiments that found mothers talked to and looked at, baby girls more often than baby boys. Scientific evidence shows parents respond to the brain bias of their children. Since a girl’s brain is better organized to send and receive speech，we therefore talk to them more. Consequently, mothers who try to talk to their sons are usually pointed to receive only short grunts in reply.
1. While watching TV with others, women Usually talk a lot because they
| A．are afraid of awkward silence with their families and friends |
| B．can both talk and watch the screen at the Same time |
| C．think they can have a good time and develop relationships |
| D．have to explain the plot and body language to their husbands |
| A．experience the happy time again | B．keep a close tie with her |
| C．recommend her a new scenic spot | D．remind her of something forgotten |
| A．Women' s brains are better organized for language and communication |
| B．Women love to talk because they are more sociable than men. |
| C．Men do not like talking because they rely more on facts. |
| D．Social conditioning is not the reason why women love talking. |
| A．Women Are Socially Trained to Talk | B．Talking Maintains Relationships |
| C．Women Love to Talk | D．Men Talk Differently from Women |
【推荐1】Over the years, Brian Wansink, director of the Food and Brand Lab at Cornell University, has studied such things as how far Americans typically drive to buy food, how many times we refill our plates at all-you-can-eat buffets and how we organize our kitchens. In the mid-2000s he famously coined the phrase “mindless eating” (and wrote a book by that name) to focus attention on all the bad dietary decisions we make without really thinking about them.
His new book, Slim by Design: Mindless Eating Solutions for Everyday Life, aims to change the design of restaurants, school lunchrooms, office cafeterias and homes so that the mindless choices we make will be more healthful ones. Some examples:
Keep kitchen counters clear. No visible snack food, no bread, no nuts — not even breakfast cereal. In Wansink’s research, “women who had even one box of breakfast cereal that was visible — anywhere in their kitchen — weighed 21 pounds more than their neighbor who didn’t.”
Trick yourself into drinking less wine. “We tend to focus on the height of what we pour and not the width, so we pour 12 percent less wine into taller wineglasses than we pour into wider wineglasses.” And the shape of the glass is not the only variable that affects how much we drink. Wansink writes: “Because red wine is easier to see than white wine, we pour 9 percent less red wine whenever we pour a glass.”
Wansink said his researchers also found that people ate less at restaurants when sitting in well-lighted areas near windows and doors, than in darker areas or in the back. They ate less if they were offered a doggie bag, or to-go box, before they got their meals: apparently the idea of getting a “free” second meal outweighed the impulse (冲动) to clean their plates. Workers who frequently ate at their desks weighed 15.4 pounds less, on average, than those who didn’t. Fruits and vegetables kept on the top shelf of the refrigerator were eaten at higher rates than those on lower shelves.
The point, Wansink says, is to consider findings like those and change your environment or habits. Then you won’t have to think about it: You’ll just eat less.
1. Why did Brian Wansink write Slim by Design: Mindless Eating Solutions for Everyday Life?| A．Because he wanted people to become thin. |
| B．Because he intended to help people eat more healthily. |
| C．Because he hoped to coin a new phrase “mindless earing”. |
| D．Because he wished to change the design of dining places. |
| A．The shape of wineglasses. | B．The color of wineglasses. |
| C．The taste of wine. | D．The quality of wine. |
| A．a bag for carrying | B．a box for takeaway food |
| C．a bag for carrying dog food | D．a container for leftovers |
| A．Changing environment or eating habits will help you eat less. |
| B．Eating fruits and vegetables is better for your health. |
| C．Keeping your kitchen counter clear of any food will help make you thin. |
| D．Many people eat or drink too much without paying attention to it. |
【推荐2】It was quite interesting to watch “Boracay Iceman” broadcasting online during his trip to the Crocodile Park in Davao City, the Philippines, with hundreds of viewers interacting with him in real-time He was asking locals about unique Philippine fruit or buying some souvenirs for his audience, playing the role of an online tour guide.
The COVID-19 has led to a huge recession in the tourism industry but live steaming might be a way for the tourism market to seek for survival. Many well-known museums and historical sites in China have rolled out a series of online exhibitions and live streaming for people trapped at home. Though travelling seems to be hard to realize recently, live streaming provides an outlet for people's free time.
Zang Yue goes by “Boracay Iceman” because he owned a travel agency and a spa at Boracay, one of Philippine top tourist attractions and among the areas that were hit by the COVID-19. He started live streaming on Fliggy, a travel app of China's Taobao, from February 23 since the COVID-19. “One of my business partners introduced me to live streaming and there will be a payment from the app,” Zang recalled “so why not try?”
China has become one of the largest marketplace for live streaming with a large number of users being able to make profitable careers from it. Whether it is a real tour display or trip experience sharing with viewers at home, the interactivity of live streaming is a great way to keep consumers interested.
Zang currently planned one or two live streaming a day during his trip to Davao City. Now he has over 2000 followers. “Hopefully the tourism market will get better around July and August when the summer vacation comes,” he wishes.
1. What is the function of the first paragraph?| A．To explain the definition of broadcasting online. |
| B．To analyze the importance of broadcasting online. |
| C．To lead into the topic of live streaming. |
| D．To promote a brand of an ice-cream. |
| A．decline | B．increase | C．advantage | D．change |
| A．He ran a travel agency and a spa abroad. |
| B．He introduced his business partner to live streaming. |
| C．He started live streaming about COVID-19. |
| D．His live streaming attracted less than 2000 fans. |
| A．Sports. | B．Economy. | C．Health. | D．Politics. |
【推荐3】The Story Behind the Words
1.husband Comes from two Old Norse words (the language spoken by the Vikings) that mean “house” and “owner”. The word originally had nothing to do with marriage, except for the fact that home ownership made these men extremely desirable marriage partners.
2.cab From “cabrioler”,a French word that means “jump like a goat.” The first carriages for public rental bounced up and down so much that they reminded people of goats jumping on a hillside.
3.alarm From the Italian “To arms!”—which was what soldiers shouted when they saw that the enemy was attacking.
4.jeans Genoa, called “Gene” by sixteenth-century Europeans, was the first city to make denim cloth. The pants were named after the city.
5.escape In Latin, this means “without your cape”. The ancient Romans would often avoid capture by throwing off their capes when fleeing so that they could run more quickly.
6.hooligan It is believed that this term originated from a man’s last name. The man, whose first name was Patrick, terrorized a section of London with his family in the 1890s.
7.broke Many banks in post-Renaissance Europe issued small “borrower’s tiles(瓦片)” to their customers. Like credit cards, these tiles were imprinted with the owner’s name and credit limit, and the name of the bank. In order to borrow money, the customer had to present the tile to the bank teller who would compare the imprinted credit limit with how much the customer had already borrowed. If the borrower was over the limit, the teller broke the tile on the spot.
8.genuine From the Latin, originally meant “placed on the knees”. In Ancient Rome,a father legally claimed his newborn child by sitting in front of his family and placing the child on his knee.
9.tip The popular explanation of the origin of this word is that it is an acronym(首字母缩略词)meaning “To Insure Promptness”, that is, to make sure the service in, e.g., a restaurant, is fast. This is incorrect. The word was underworld slang from the early 1600s,meaning “to pass on a small sum of money.”
10.addict This was the Latin name for a slave given to Roman soldiers to reward them for performance in battle. Eventually, this term was applied to anyone who was a slave to anything, e.g., a drug.
1. Which pair of words originated from the names of two people?| A．addict and escape. | B．jeans and escape. |
| C．hooligans and jeans. | D．hooligan and addict. |
| A．husband | B．tip | C．jeans | D．escape |
| A．cab | B．genuine | C．alarm | D．broke |
