【推荐2】It’s hard to turn down hamburgers, French fries, potato chips and all of the other junk food that seem to call out to us. However, eating too much junk food can harm your body, particularly if you’re between the ages of 10 and 19.

“Junk food shapes adolescent brains in ways that impair (损害) their ability to think, learn and remember. It can also make it harder to control impulsive (冲动的) behaviors, said Amy Reichelt, a brain and nutrition specialist at Western University, Canada. “It may even increase a teen’s risk of depression and anxiety.”

Reichelt and two other researchers reviewed more than 100 studies, including their own, about how poor food choices can impact adolescent brains. They found adolescents are more sensitive than any other age group to processed foods with a lot of fat and sugar as their brains are not yet fully formed.

Adolescent brains are still developing the ability to assess risks and control actions. The prefrontal cortex (前额皮质) is the part of the brain that tells us we shouldn’t eat chips all the time and helps us resist that urge. However, this region is the last to mature — it doesn’t fully develop until we are in our early 20s.

Meanwhile, teen brains get more buzz (兴奋) from rewards. The parts of the brain that make us feel good when we do something pleasurable — like eating tasty foods — are fully developed by the teen years.

In fact, these regions are even more sensitive when we are young. That’s because dopamine (多巴胺), a natural chemical that lifts our mood when we experience something good, is especially active in adolescent brains.

Therefore, the teen brain has two strikes against it when it comes to resisting junk food. “It has a heightened drive for rewards and reduced self-regulation,” said Reichelt.

Reichelt and her team conducted their own study using mice, whose brains develop much like our own. They discovered that the “teenage” mice that had a high-fat diet performed worse on memory tests than those eating a normal diet. Researchers said the high-fat diet may make the mice’s prefrontal cortex work less effectively.

So, what’s the best way to say no to junk food? Researchers suggest exercise. When we exercise, the brain’s reward system becomes less sensitive to food cues (线索). Exercise also triggers the body to make a protein that helps brain cells grow and boosts connections between the prefrontal cortex and other brain regions. The prefrontal cortex thus can work better to help us make wise decisions and control our impulses.

1. What is the purpose of the first two paragraphs?

A．To figure out what junk food is.

B．To explain the dangers of junk food.

C．To show how junk food affect the brain.

D．To analyze why junk food is hard to resist.

2. What makes it harder for young people to resist junk food according to the study?

A．Processed food makes them sensitive.

B．It is hard to control impulsive behaviors.

C．Their still-developing prefrontal cortex.

D．The low level of dopamine in their brains.

3. What did the study on mice prove?

A．Our mood could suffer from eating junk food.

B．High-fat diets may negatively affect our creativity.

C．The brain of a mouse is similar to that of a person’s.

D．High-fat diets can harm our ability to process information.

4. How does exercise help us according to the last paragraph?

A．It reduces the desire for junk food.

B．It activates the brain’s reward system.

C．It helps the prefrontal cortex work better with dopamine.

D．It makes the body produce a protein that controls our impulses.

5. What column of the newspaper is the article probably taken from?

A．Fashion.

B．Technology.

C．Health.

D．Entertainment.

【推荐3】In recent years, the food industry has increased its use of labels. Whether the labels say “non-GMO(非转基因的)” or “no sugar”, or “zero carbohydrates”, consumers are increasingly demanding more information about what’s in their food. One report found that 39 percent of consumers would switch from the brands they currently buy to others that provide clearer, more accurate product information.     1    . And they’re doing so with an eye towards giving their products an advantage over the competition, and bolstering profits.

This strategy makes intuitive sense. If consumers say they want transparency, tell them exactly what is in your product. That is simply supplying a certain demand.     2    . These labels are known as “absence claims” labels, and they represent an emerging labeling trend that is detrimental both to the consumers who purchase the products and the industry that supplies them.

For example, Hunt’s put a “non-GMO” label on its canned crushed tomatoes a few years ago—despite the fact that at the time there was no such thing as a GMO tomato on the market.     3    .

While creating labels that play on consumer fears and misconceptions about their food may give a company a temporary marketing advantage over competing products on the grocery aisle, in the long term this strategy will have just the opposite effect: by injecting fear into the discourse about our food, we run the risk of eroding consumer trust in not just a single product, but the entire food business.

Eventually, it becomes a question in consumers’ minds: Were these foods ever safe? By purchasing and consuming these types of products, have I already done some kind of harm to my family or the planet?

    4    . And this isn’t just supposition. A recent study found that absence claims labels can create a stigma around foods even when there is no scientific evidence that they cause harm.

It’s clear that food manufacturers must tread carefully when it comes to using absence claims. In addition to the likely negative long-term impact on sales, this verbal trick sends a message that innovations in farming and food processing are unwelcome, eventually leading to less efficiency, fewer choices for consumers, and ultimately, more costly food products. If we allow this kind of labeling to continue, we will all lose.

A．Some dairy companies are using the “non-GMO” label on their milk, despite the fact that all milk is naturally GMO-free, another label that creates unnecessary fear around food.

B．Food manufacturers are responding to the report with new labels to meet that demand.

C．Despite negative myths, there are many reasons why GMOs are good for the environment.

D．But the marketing strategy in response to this consumer demand has gone beyond articulating what is in a product, to labeling what is NOT in the food.

E．He said that GMO development is a process that relies on age-old knowledge strengthened by new knowledge.

F．For food manufacturers, it will mean damaged consumer trust and lower sales for everyone.

【推荐1】Discoveries in science and technology are thought by “untaught minds” to come in blinding flashes or as the result of dramatic accidents. Sir Alexander Fleming did not, as legend would have it, look at the mold (霉) on a piece of cheese and get the idea for penicillin there and then. He experimented with antibacterial substances for nine years before he made his discovery. Inventions and innovations almost always come out of tough trial and error. Innovation is like soccer; even the best players miss the goal and have their shots blocked much more frequently than they score.

The point is that the players who score most are the ones who take most shots at the goal—and so it goes with innovation in any field of activity. The prime difference between innovation and others is one of approach. Everybody gets ideas, but innovators work consciously on theirs, and they follow them through until they prove practicable or otherwise. What ordinary people see as fanciful abstractions, professional innovators see as solid possibilities.

“Creative thinking may mean simply the realization that there’s no particular goodness in doing things the way they have always been done.” Wrote Rudolph Flesch, a language authority. This accounts for our reaction to seemingly simple innovations like plastic garbage bags and suitcases on wheels that make life more convenient: “How come nobody thought of that before?”

The creative approach begins with the proposal that nothing be as it appears. Innovators will not accept that there is only one way to do anything. Faced with getting from A to B, the average person will automatically set out on the best-known and apparently simplest route. The innovator will search for alternate courses, which may prove easier in the long run and are sure to be more interesting and challenging even if they lead to dead ends. Highly creative individuals really do march to a different drummer.

1. “Untaught mind” in the first paragraph refers to __________.

A．an individual who often comes up with new ideas by accident

B．a person who has had no education

C．a citizen of a society that restricts personal creativity

D．a person ignorant of the hard work involved in experimentation

2. According to the author, what differs innovators from non-innovators?

A．The way they present their findings.	B．The intelligence they possess.
C．The way they deal with problems.	D．The variety of ideas they have.

3. The phrase “march to a different drummer” (the last line of the passage) suggests that highly creative individuals are ________.

A．devoted to the progress of science

B．diligent in pursuing their goals

C．concerned about the advance of society

D．unwilling to follow common ways of doing things

4. The most suitable title for this passage might be ________.

A．What Are So Special about Creative Individuals

B．The Relation Between Creation and Diligence

C．Discoveries and Innovation

D．To Be a Creative Expert in the Study of Human Creativity

【推荐2】It probably won’t surprise you that teens are texting more than ever before. Experts show great concern for teen texting. Students might not learn correct grammar and spelling if they write a lot of text messages. Also all that texting takes away from hours that could be spent studying, exercising, pursuing hobbies, or talking with others face to face. Some kids even sleep with their phones beneath their pillows and wake up several times during the night to text.

Dr. Elizabeth Dowdell points out teens need to learn that they can—and should—turn off their phones sometimes. She and her team had two teenagers, Kenny and Franchesca, carry out an experiment. They should obey the rules: No phone for 48 hours. No computer or Internet either, unless it was for schoolwork. Would these two teenagers be able to do it?

“I think I’m going to feel really alone,” Kenny worried. Franchesca was nervous but brave. “I’m excited for the challenge,” she said. “I don’t know what’s going to happen.” They handed their phones to their mothers for safekeeping. The challenge was on.

The team caught up with Kenny and Franchesca after 48 phone-free hours. “Wow, it was pure suffering,” Kenny joked. “Though life with no phone wasn’t easy,” he admitted, “it had benefits. I felt less stressed because I didn’t have to be involved.” Sure, Kenny missed his friends, and he was sad at times. But he also felt relief from the constant texting. Instead of texting, Kenny went to the gym and caught up on schoolwork. He said that the first night he slept for 10 hours. He also spent time sitting with his family and talking. “I felt closer to my parents,” said Kenny.

Franchesca had an even happier result when she put away her phone. “I loved it!” she said. “I was going to the gym and hanging out with friends and playing basketball. I had a wonderful experience.” She slept better too, and she decided to continue the experiment for a while. “I think I’ll be so much smarter and healthier,” she explained. “Everybody in the world should try it.”

Kenny doesn’t plan to give up his phone again. But he now knows that he can live without it. “It was a reality check,” said the teen.

1. Experts are concerned about teens’ texting because it ______.

A．leads to learning disabilities

B．takes up their learning time

C．develops the habit of staying up late

D．causes misunderstandings with each other

2. What can be inferred from the passage?

A．Teens will live a healthier life without phones.

B．Expecting teens to live without phones is not realistic.

C．Experimenting with phone use is popular among teens.

D．Teens don’t realize how different their lives are without phones.

3. How were the two teens’ reactions to the 48-hour challenge different?

A．Only Kenny participated in physical activities.

B．Only Kenny spent time talking with his parents.

C．Only Franchesca benefited from a really good sleep.

D．Only Franchesca appreciated the freedom of having no phone.

4. Which is the best title for the passage?

A．Giving up Texting	B．Rules for Using Phones
C．Two Days with No Phone	D．Problems Caused by Texting

【推荐3】Good afternoon. I am Sullivan. Now think about a question: What determines the way we are when we grow up? Let’s start with the TV program Seven Up. Do you still remember it? It started following the lives of a group of children in 1973. We first meet them as wide-eyed seven-year-olds and catch up with them at seven-year intervals: nervous 14-year-olds, serious 21-year-olds and then grown-ups.

There are ups and downs in their lives, but interestingly, in almost all the cases the children’s early hopes and dreams are shown in their future lives. For example, at seven, Tony is a lively child who says he wants to become a sportsman or taxi driver. When he grows up, he goes on to do both. How about Nicki? She says, “I would like to find out about the moon.” And she goes on to become a space scientist. As a child, soft-spoken Bruce says he wants to help “poor children” and ends up teaching in India.

But the program would have been far less interesting if the lives of all the children had followed this pattern. It was the children whose childhood did not prepare them for what was to come that made the program so fascinating. Where did their ideas come from about what they wanted to do when they grew up? Are children influenced by what their parents do, by what they see on television or by what their teachers say? Many film directors, including Steven Spielberg, say that an early visit to the cinema was the turning point in their lives. One of my colleagues, Dr. Margaret, who has devoted herself to researches in this area and published her findings in Science, thinks that the major factors are parents, friends and the wider society.

1. From Paragraph 2, we know that ________.

A．people will make great achievements if they have dreams in their childhood

B．the children’s childhood dreams are more or less the same

C．the lives of the children in the TV program are not smooth

D．a large number of poor people in India are in need of help

2. From Spielberg’s story we can conclude that ________.

A．going to a movie at an early age helps a child learn about the space

B．parents and friends can help a child grow up properly

C．a single childhood event may decide what one does as a grown-up

D．films have more influence on a child than teachers do

3. Which one is TRUE according to the passage?

A．The TV program is not so appealing.

B．One of the children, Bruce, ended up teaching in India because he is not strong.

C．The children in the TV program made good preparations for their future in their childhood.

D．In the TV program, the research on the children is done every seventh year.

4. We can tell that Sullivan may be ________.

A．a radio announcer

B．a professor

C．a librarian

D．a geologist