Next time you’re planning to go out for a relaxing walk with your MP3 player, be sure to check the weather forecast first. Summer is the prime time for lightning strikes, a fact that Jason Bunch, a teen from Castle Rock, Colo, learned in a hard way. A couple of summers ago, he was mowing (割草) grass while listening to some Metallica on his iPod. Although there wasn’t any rain falling on Bunch, he did hear distant thunder. Bunch was then struck by lightning, which seemed to travel through his music player, blowing out his eardrums and leaving him with burns where the device and its power lines were close to his body.
Devices such as MP3 players don’t attract lightning, says Dr. Mary Ann Cooper, an emergency room physician at the University of Illinois Medical Center in Chicago. However, they may change the pathway that lightning’s energy follows in the human body. Lightning that might have passed rather harmlessly over the skin may react differently to the metal of these devices and cause damage.
Rather than leaving your tunes at home, your best bet is watching out for lightning before it hits. Though people have been injured while using MP3 players in storms, Cooper says, “The devices’ main task is keeping you from paying attention to thunder and the sky.” If you’re caught in a storm, seek shelter.
1. When does lightning happen most?| A．Winter. | B．Fall. | C．Summer. | D．Spring. |
| A．The lightning burned Bunch and blew out his eardrums. |
| B．The lightning passed harmlessly over Bunch’s skin. |
| C．Bunch fell to the ground and couldn’t move his upper body. |
| D．Bunch was fine, but his iPod was burned by the lightning. |
| A．MP3 players are desperately unsafe to use during a storm. |
| B．IPods are safe to use during a storm, but other MP3 players are not. |
| C．MP3 players increase your safety during a storm by directing lightning toward the ground. |
| D．MP3 players become unsafe to use if they keep you from paying attention during a storm. |
| A．to describe the joy that Jason Bunch felt after he survived a lightning strike |
| B．to inform the risks of wearing an MP3 player during lightning strikes |
| C．to tell a lightning emergency Jason Bunch met with |
| D．to show that MP3 players are so popular among teenagers |
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【推荐1】In this section we consider what you can do to train your brain to improve your game playing skills.
Daily workout
It is very easy to find tactical puzzles and train. However, you must try to solve them. Don’t just stare at the position for 10 seconds and then turn to the solution. You won’t learn anything. Have a go at trying to solve the puzzle. If you got it right then great — well done. However, if you got it wrong, then have another look. Ask yourself questions such as the following:
Why did I get it wrong?
What was wrong with my solution?
What was the weakness that the tactic exploited?
Where can you find tactical puzzles?
It’s easy. They are everywhere. Many newspapers, including Independent, and magazines have a daily or weekly chess puzzle. Key “chess puzzles” into Google and you’ll find a whole load of them. There are plenty of puzzle books.
Use software
Nowadays chess software is terribly cheap. World Champion Vladimir Kramnik recently lost a match 4 — 2 against a software program. This program is available for about ￡30.
In general, people use chess software for the wrong reasons. They often play game after game against the machine and get beaten every time. Bored with this, they turn the playing level right down so that the program is almost playing random moves and then they can beat it every time and feel better.
Neither method will help you improve. However, chess software can be a fantastically useful learning tool if used in two particular ways.
The first is if you have tried to solve a puzzle but it’s a bit too difficult and you don’t really understand the solution. Never mind — well done for trying. Now set the position up on the program and try different moves. Chess software is faultless at tactical play. It will instantly tell you the right and wrong moves and why they do or don’t work.
Secondly you can run over games you have played to learn where you have gone wrong and where you could have improved. Get into the habit of keeping the score (i.e. writing down the moves) of games that you play. This will help you to improve and refine your understanding of tactical themes and patterns.
1. What would be the best title of this passage?| A．How to Train Your Brain | B．Where to Find Tactical Puzzles |
| C．Daily Workout and Use of Software | D．How to Improve Your Chess-Playing Skills |
| A．puzzles making us better understand themes and patterns of difficult games |
| B．puzzles showing us how to train our brains to think more effectively |
| C．puzzles teaching us some skills to play more difficult games |
| D．puzzles only teaching us how to play chess games well |
| A．Playing as many games against the machine as possible. |
| B．Always trying difficult puzzles to improve your chess skills. |
| C．Running over games you’ve played to learn from mistakes and improve. |
| D．Turning the playing level down to build your self confidence and feel better. |
| A．Chess software will help a lot if properly used. |
| B．Chess software below 30 pounds is too cheap to use. |
| C．Chess software is a fantastically useful learning tool in daily work. |
| D．Chess software helps improve understanding of tactical themes and patterns. |
【推荐2】Reading is a valuable skill for children. It can help them learn and grow in many ways. But the love of reading can’t be forced. Pushing a child to learn before he is ready can make learning to read frustrating. As a parent helping your child to enjoy reading at young age is one of the most important things.
By far the most effective way to encourage your child to love books and reading is to read aloud to him and the earlier you start. the better. Eyen a baby of a few months can see pictures listen to your voice, and turn cardboard pages.
As your child begins elementary school, he will begin his formal reading education.
| A．Reading a child book vividly can be fun for you, too. |
| B．It's well worth the investment of your time and energy. |
| C．Most children learn to read without any major problems. |
| D．Most of all, make sure you give your child lots of praise! |
| E．Teachers use many methods to teach children how to read. |
| F．And don't stop reading aloud once your child learns to read. |
| G．The school librarian is knowledgeable about children's literature |
【推荐3】Highly successful people don’t become successful overnight, and if they do, chances are that they don’t stay at the top without good daily habits to keep them on track. You may ask what those daily habits are.
Make a daily to-do list.
Successful people are busy. Just how do they keep track of what needs doing in their personal and business life?
You may live a highly sedentary(久坐不动的) lifestyle, and this isn’t good for your health. When you are in pain or sick, going after success becomes even more challenging than when you are healthy and able. Successful people know that a healthy body is equal to a healthy mind. So get moving. Choose the stairs, park further away and walk to the grocery store, or make sure you work out at least once a day.
Work toward small milestones(里程碑).
It’s the small milestones that set you up to reach your goal or achieve success. So while you should keep the big picture in mind, keep working toward the smaller goals, too.
Spend quality time with those who matter.
| A．Get active. |
| B．The answer is quite simple: a to-do list. |
| C．Highly successful people don’t just work. |
| D．Set small and practical health goals regularly. |
| E．Your daily habit is to spend time on these small goals. |
| F．I have a list of answers to your question for you to choose from. |
| G．Luckily for you, I have some of the best ones to get you started right here. |
【推荐1】New technological tools are enabling a global community of biologists and amateur scientists to explore the natural world of sound in richer detail and at greater range than ever before. Just as microscopes helped humans observe things not visible to the naked eye, widely used microphones and machine learning models allow us to listen to sounds we cannot otherwise hear.
Billions of dollars are pouring into so-called generative artificial intelligence, such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT, with scores of new companies being launched to commercialize these foundation models. But in one sense, these models are mostly used to rearrange existing human knowledge in new combinations rather than to generate anything really new. What may have a bigger scientific impact is “additive AI”, using machine learning to explore specific, newly created data sets and extend the frontiers of human knowledge. When it comes to sonic (声音的) data, there is an incredible potential for cross-species communication through the use of machines that can translate and copy animal sounds exactly, effectively creating a “Google Translate for the zoo”.
This sonic revolution has been promoted by advances in both hardware and software. Cheap, durable, long-lasting microphones and sensors can be attached to trees in the Amazon, rocks in the Arctic or to dolphins’ backs, enabling real-time monitoring. That stream of sonic data is then processed by “additive AI”. However, this data only makes sense when combined with human observations about natural behaviors gained from painstaking fieldwork by biologists or crowdsourced analysis from amateurs.
Scientists have discovered fascinating information about the sonic universe, which has already led to practical and commercial outcomes. For example, cryptographers (密码专家) have been studying the buzzes, clicks, creaks and squeaks of whales to understand whether their “bionic Morse code” could be copied to encrypt (加密) communications. However, this is just the beginning of our exploration of sound, and there is no telling what other discoveries await us.
1. Why does the author mention microscopes in paragraph 1?| A．To highlight the popularity of microscopes. |
| B．To illustrate the role of sound exploration tools. |
| C．To show the development of scientific instruments. |
| D．To stress the importance of observing beyond senses. |
| A．It may make sense of natural behaviors independently. |
| B．It may guarantee the real-time monitoring of sonic data. |
| C．It may help create translation equipment for animal sounds. |
| D．It may help spread the existing human knowledge of sound. |
| A．Optimistic. | B．Reserved. | C．Critical. | D．Indifferent |
| A．Sonic Revolution: Discovering New Sounds |
| B．Sonic Translation: Inter-species Communication |
| C．Additive AI: Extending the Frontiers of Knowledge |
| D．Sonic Exploration with AI: Listening to the Unheard |
【推荐2】Did you notice any changes in your personal sleep patterns(模式)in the days before the full moon?
A new research suggested that a full moon can affect human sleep cycles. The research led by biology professor Horacio Iglesia of Washington University confirmed that the nights leading up to a full moon have more natural light available after the sun goes down. As a result, in the days before a full moon, people go to sleep later in the evening and sleep for shorter periods of time.
Researchers measured the sleep patterns of test participants as the moon ran through at least one whole 29.5-day cycle. On average, the participants slept about 52 minutes less on nights before a full moon. They also went to bed about 30 minutes later. People had the shortest amount of sleep during the nights three to five days before a full moon.
"I was one of the participants. When I looked back on my own data, I could not believe how much my sleep changed." Iglesia said, "The study provided clear evidence that a person's sleep-wake cycle goes with the changes of the moon."
The research also included the effect that access(接通) to electricity has on seep. The study involved 98 individuals living in three different communities(社区)in Argentina. Each community had different access to electricity. One rural community had no electricity access, while a second had only limited access. A third community had full access to electricity. In addition to the indigenous(土著的) communities, the researchers also examined sleep data on 464 college students in Washington and the same moon cycle patterns were discovered. "Although the effect is more obvious in communities without access to electricity, the effect still exists in communities with electricity," Iglesia said.
The scientists say further research is needed to help explain other possible causes for the changes in sleep patterns in the test participants, such as biological differences in individuals or social patterns within communities.
1. The underlined phrase "leading up to" in the second paragraph means________.| A．causing | B．following | C．before | D．after |
| A．Excited. | B．Surprised | C．Depressed | D．Frightened |
| A．Weather. | B．Access to electricity. | C．Natural light. | D．Changes of the moon. |
| A．It is believable. | B．It involved too few participants. |
| C．It is of no use. | D．It isn't totally reliable yet. |
【推荐3】Be honest, when was the last time you cried? If you’re one of those who say they never cry, the statistics are against you. Women reportedly cry 64 times a year on average, while men shed（流）tears about 17 times. Everyone from professional athletes such as Michael Jordan to politicians like Barack Obama has been caught crying at least once. But why do we cry?
Some psychologists believe crying is our body’s response when we’re helpless. Even if we’re surprised by happy news, we may still cry. Other psychologists say that when we cry, we’re trying to get others to help us out when we’re surprised, sad, angry, scared, or in danger.
Therapist（临床专家）Judith Kay Nelson says that our experience with crying as babies may determine how we view crying when we’re older. Some parents are quick to try and calm their kids down whenever they start crying. Those children will likely find crying in their adult years brings a similar comfort. On the other hand, those whose parents became angered by their crying probably won’t feel crying has the same calming effect.
Many people believe crying can actually make a person feel better. But according to studies, whether it makes us feel better or not depends on the reactions of others. If others react positively, we’ll feel better. On the contrary, we’ll feel worse.
People’s reactions to crying have a lot to do with the gender（性别）of the person weeping. In the West, it’s generally acceptable for women to be seen crying. In Britain boys are taught not to cry. Even though people are becoming more enlightened about tears, crying in males is still viewed as a sign of weakness. Philip Hodson, an expert on male emotions, has a different viewpoint. “In truth, crying isn’t weakness; it’s a relaxation system,” he says. “If we don’t use this system, we’re not being very intelligent.” After all, everybody cries.
1. What can be learned about the act of crying from the statistics?| A．Everyone, regardless of sex, cries. | B．Some people never cry. |
| C．Women often cry for no reason at all. | D．Men actually cry more than women. |
| A．The act of crying has a calming effect on all of us. |
| B．Parents shouldn’t rush to calm their baby when it cries. |
| C．The way we view crying is shaped by our childhood experience. |
| D．Parents’ responses to a crying baby will determine its personality type. |
| A．It is completely false. | B．It is dependent on a person’s age. |
| C．It is true only for men. | D．It is influenced by others’ responses. |
| A．Only intelligent people can relax by crying. |
| B．Crying is still less socially acceptable for males than females. |
| C．Males are now encouraged to express their emotions through crying. |
| D．British people consider it unhealthy to keep feelings bottled up inside. |
