We tend to think of our dreams as being uniquely personal—nighttime stories built from our own experiences that help us process our day-to-day lives. While dreams can give us a look into our personal selves, scientists have collected data that suggests dreams make their way into our cultural fabric（结构）, showing themselves in ways that shape beliefs and expose collective anxieties.
Roger Ivar Lohmann of Trent University conducted research with the Asabano people of the rainforest of Papua New Guinea, a unique group who didn’ t have outside contact until 1963. His studies looked at how dreams shape their beliefs and actions.
According to Lohmann’ s research, dreams act as a sort of motivator or determinant of Asabano behavior. For instance, a dream may affect the way a person hunts or goes about treating medical conditions. The way dreams determine behavior is due to what Lohmann calls the “night residue” effect. This means that specific memories of dreams can affect the way a person acts when awake and inform their belief system.
Dreams also seem to have an effect on the way many define themselves within their own cultures, and how sometimes reaching a distinct definition can cause anxiety.
Matt Newsom of Washington State University spoke with college students in Berlin, and found many students had dreams surrounding conflicting views about their own identities（身份） in relation to what they saw as a return of German nationalism, which is a sensitive subject especially when we think of German identity as it’ s defined even many years after World War Ⅱ.
Many students had dreams that centered around anxieties like “Where do I belong?” Many students never talked with one another about identity struggles in their dreams, yet many reported having such dreams. Newsom noted that dreams can be helpful “for identifying （识别） unspoken social and historical anxieties present in a given society.”
All of this research suggests that dreams can do more than help explain the thought of a person; we can learn about entire cultures and collective attitudes as well.
1. What is the purpose of Lohmann’ s research?| A．To prove dreams can show personal selves. |
| B．To explore Asabano people’ s inside anxiety. |
| C．To find out the effect of dreams on beliefs and actions. |
| D．To learn about Asabano people’ s culture and tradition. |
| A．Confusion about their identities. |
| B．Terrible dreams about World War Ⅱ. |
| C．Anxieties of talking about their dreams. |
| D．Conflicting views about German nationalism. |
| A．They can predict a person’s future. | B．They can expose people’ s anxieties. |
| C．They can inspire people’s creativity. | D．They are the products of human society. |
| A．Dreams promote cultural progress. |
| B．Dreams can go into cultural fabric. |
| C．Dreams reflect people’s cultural background. |
| D．People’ s daily dreams are based on culture. |
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【推荐1】Some of the greatest moments in human history were fueled by emotional intelligence. When Martin Luther King. Jr. presented his dream, he chose language that would stir the hearts of his audience. Delivering this electrifying(震撼性的) message required emotional intelligence—the ability to recognize, understand, and manage emotions.
Emotional intelligence has been highly recommended by leaders, policymakers, and educators as the solution to a wide range of social problems. If we can teach our children to manage emotions, the argument goes, we'll have less bullying and more cooperation. If we can cultivate emotional intelligence among leaders and doctors, we'll have more caring workplaces and more compassionate healthcare.
Emotional intelligence is important, but the uncontrolled enthusiasm has obscured (掩盖)a dark side. New evidence shows that when people sharpen their emotional skills, they become better at manipulating (把持) others. When you're good at controlling your own emotions, you can hide your true feelings. When you know what others are feeling, you can motivate them to act against their own best interests.
Social scientists have begun to document this dark side of emotional intelligence. In a research led by University of professor Jochen Menges, when a leader gave an inspiring speech filled with emotion. the audience was less likely to scrutinize (细察) the message and remembered of the content. Ironically(讽刺的是) audience members were so moved by the speech that they claimed to recall more of it.
The authors call this the awestruck effect, but it might just as easily be described as the dumbstruck effect. One observer reflected that Hitler's persuasive impact came from his ability to strategically express emotions—he would "ear open his heart—and these emotions affected his followers to the point that they would"stop thinking critically and just emote.”
Leaders who master emotions can rob us of our capacities to reason. If their values are out of step with our own. the results can be destructive. New evidence suggests that when people have self-serving motives (动机), emotional intelligence becomes a weapon for manipulating others. In a study led by the University of Toronto psychologist Stephane Cote, university employees filled out a survey about their Machiavellian(不择手段的) tendencies, and took a test measuring their knowledge about effective strategies for managing emotions. Then, Cote's team assessed how often the employees deliberately undermined (逐渐削弱) their colleagues. The employees involved in the most harmful behaviors were Machiavellians with high emotional intelligence. They used their emotional skills to lower the dignity of their peers for personal gain.
Shining a light on this dark side of emotional intelligence is one mission of a research team led University College London professor Martin Kilduff. According to these experts, emotional intelligence helps people disguise (伪装) one set of emotions while expressing another for personal Professor Kiiduit's team writes,""The strategic disguise of one's own emotions and the manipulation of others' emotions for strategic ends are behaviors evident not only on Shakespeare's stage but also in the offices and corridors where power and influence are traded.”
Of course, people aren't always using emotional intelligence for nefarious ends. More often than not, emotional skills are simply instrumental tools for goal accomplishment. A research team discovered that founder Anita Roddick used emotional intelligence to inspire her employees fundraise for charity. As Roddick explained, "Whenever particular project we always tried to break their hearts we wanted to persuade our staff to support a particular project we always tried to break their hearts.”
There is growing recognition that emotional intelligence--like any skill--can be used for good or evil. So if we're going to teach emotional intelligence in schools and develop it at work, we need to consider the values that go along with it and where it's actually useful.
1. Why does the author mention Martin Luther King, Jr?| A．To honor the great leader for his courage. |
| B．To recommend his speech to other leaders. |
| C．To impress the readers with a major topic. |
| D．To advocate a society with fewer problems. |
| A．Developing the capability to control one's own emotion. |
| B．Inducing people to do what brings disadvantages to them. |
| C．Appealing to the audience to concentrate and remember more. |
| D．Encouraging the moved audience to a more of the speech. |
| A．His followers would tear open their hearts to him. |
| B．His followers would express emotions strategically. |
| C．His followers would lose the ability to reason properly. |
| D．His followers would develop the self-serving motives. |
| A．They disguise their emotions to earn others' trust. |
| B．They help their colleagues to build up confidence. |
| C．They present their strategic behaviors on the stage. |
| D．They lower their own dignity to gain popularity. |
| A．Immoral. | B．Unimportant. |
| C．Illegal. | D．Uncontrollable. |
| A．The benefits of emotional intelligence |
| B．The ways of disguising one's emotions |
| C．The reasons for using emotional skills |
| D．The dark side of emotional intelligence |
【推荐2】Oxygen, I'm sure you'd agree, is pretty important for life on Earth. We breathe it in, our cells survive on it and without it, we hardly live. Basically all multicellular life on Earth evolved over millions of years to make use of oxygen.
But take a deep breath, because we need to talk about Henneguya salminicola, a tiny parasite(寄生虫) containing fewer than100 cells that lives within the muscle tissue of salmon, a large fish with silver skin and pink flesh. The strange-looking parasite does not busy itself with such small matters as breathing oxygen. Nope, it seems that H. salminicola is the first multicellular animal we've found that survives without the stuff.
“Aerobic respiration(有氧呼吸) was thought to be commonly found in animals, but now we confirmed that this is not the case, "said Dorothee Huchon, a zoologist at Tel Aviv University in Israel, in a press release.
Huchon and a team of international researchers examined and sequenced(排序) all of. salminicola's' genes in their study, published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. They found that the parasite, which is closely related to jellyfish, lacks the DNA machinery necessary to“breathe”---it doesn't' have mitochondria(线粒体), often called the "powerhouse" of the cell, because they use oxygen to make energy. It's like a little factory inside almost all cells, and DNA detectives can find mitochondrial genes during sequencing.
The discovery came as something of an accident for the team, who were examining the genome (the complete set of genes) of the species. When they went searching for the mitochondrial genes, they came up empty-handed. "Our discovery shows that evolution can go in strange directions, ”Huchon said. "Aerobic respiration is a major source of energy, and yet we found an animal that gave up this important pathway.”
Some single-celled life forms have evolved the ability to survive without oxygen and do not have mitochondria, either. Plenty of bacteria can exist without oxygen at all. Instead of oxygen, they get their energy from fermentation(发酵) or use other molecules like iron.
But how H. salminicola produces energy is still unclear. Huchon suggests it could draw oxygen from the cells in salmon or it could have evolved similar methods to those of single-celled organisms which scientists have documented in the past.
1. What can we learn about Henneguya salminicola?| A．It is an animal consisting of a cell. |
| B．It can still survive without oxygen. |
| C．It takes on a normal appearance. |
| D．It has a longer lifespan than salmon. |
| A．To make cells breathe fast. |
| B．To help to produce oxygen. |
| C．To provide energy for cells. |
| D．To help cells absorb oxygen. |
| A．Interested. | B．Satisfied. | C．Astonished. | D．Frightened. |
| A．The natural evolution of animal cells |
| B．Different kinds of life forms on earth |
| C．A research on single-celled organisms |
| D．A creature that doesn't breathe oxygen |
【推荐3】Reading may be fundamental, but how the brain gives meaning to letters on a page has been a mystery. Two new studies fill in some details on how the brains of efficient readers handle words. One of the studies, published in the April 30 Neuron, suggests that a visual-processing area of the brain recognizes common words as whole units. Another study, published online April 27 in PLOSONE, makes it known that the brain operates two fast parallel systems for reading, linking visual recognition of words to speech.
Maximilian Riesenhuber, a neuroscientist at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., wanted to know whether the brain reads words letter by letter or recognizes words as whole objects. He and his colleagues showed sets of real words or nonsense(无意义的词语)words to volunteers undergoing fMRI scans. The words differed inonly one letter, such as “farm” and “form” or “soat” and “poat”, or were completely different, such as “farm” and “coat” or “poat” and “hime”. The researchers were particularly interested in what happens in the visual word form area, or VWFA, an area on the left side of the brain just behind the ear that is involved in recognizing words.
Riesenhuber and his colleagues found that neurons(神经元)in the VWFA respond strongly to changes in real words. Changing “farm” to “form”, for example, produced as great a change in activity as changing “farm” to” coat”, the team reports in Neuron. The area responded slowly to single-letter changes in made-up words.
The data suggests that readers grasp real words as whole objects, rather than focusing on letters or letter combinations. And as a reader’s exposure to a word increases, the brain comes to recognize the shape of the word. Meaning is passed on after recognition in the brain, Riesenhuber says.
The researchers don’t yet know how longer and less familiar words are recognized, or if the brain can be trained to recognize nonsense words as a unit.
1. Riesenhuber’s research probably focuses on whether the brain ______.| A．recognizes words as a unit or reads them letter by letter. |
| B．operates two fast parallel systems for reading |
| C．takes longer to read less familiar words or not |
| D．handles nonsense words as a unit |
| A．giving pairs of real words totally different | B．arranging the words in different order |
| C．showing pairs of different words | D．making volunteers read some longer words |
| A．responds to familiar words | B．relates meaning to letters |
| C．recognizes the form of a word | D．reacts to made-up words |
【推荐1】How Did You Get Five Fingers?
Your arms and toes began as tiny buds that sprouted from your sides when you were just a four-week-old embryo (胚胎). By six weeks, these limb buds had grown longer and five rods of cartilage 软骨) had appeared in their flattened tips. By week seven, the cells between the rods had died away, forming five small fingers or toes from once-solid masses of flesh.
Now, a team of scientists led by James Sharpe from the Centre for Genomic Regulation in Barcelona has discovered that these events are carefully orchestrated by three molecules. They mark out zones in the embryonic hand where fingers will grow, and the spaces in between that are destined to die. Without such molecules, pianos and keyboards wouldn’t exist, and jazz hands would be jazz palms.
These three molecules work in a way first envisioned by Alan Turing, a legendary English mathematician and code-breaker. Back in 1952, Turing proposed a simple mathematical model in which two molecules could create patterns by spreading through tissues and interacting with each other. For example, the first molecule might activate the second, while the second blocks the first. Neither receives any guidance about where to go; through their dance, they spontaneously organize themselves into spots or stripes.
Since then, many scientists have found that these Turing mechanisms exist. They’re responsible for a cheetah’s spots and a zebrafish’s stripes. For 30 years, people have also suggested that they could sculpt our hands and feet, but no one had found the exact molecules involved.
Sharpe knew that these molecules would need to show a striped pattern. Sox9 seemed like the most promising candidate. It is activated in a striped pattern from a very early stage of development. By comparing cells where Sox9 is active or inactive, Jelena Raspopovic and Luciano Marcon found two other groups of genes—Bmp and Wnt—also formed striped patterns. Bmp rises and falls in step with Sox9 and both are active in the digits. Wnt is out of phase; it’s active in the gaps. The three molecules also affect each other: Bmp activates Sox9 while Wnt blocks it; and Sox9 blocks both of its partners. It looked like these were the molecules the team was searching for not a pair, as Turing suggested, but a trinity. To confirm this, they created a simulation of a growing limb bud and showed that Sox9, Bmp and Wnt could organize themselves into a pattern of five stripes, by activating and blocking each other.
There’s still a lot to discover, though. For example, I’ve used Bmp and Wnt as shorthands here—in reality, each represents a class of several molecules, and the team still needs to work out which specific member is part of the Turing’s proposal.
1. The underlined sentence in the second paragraph means that ________.| A．some certain molecules are necessary for the growth of human fingers |
| B．the development of embryos is dependent on some certain molecules |
| C．without some certain molecules, music won’t exist in this world |
| D．the molecules work in a way that Alan Turing once offered |
| A．Molecules interact by following a strict mathematical model. |
| B．Molecules have a strong will to form patterns in nature. |
| C．The formation of patterns in nature may be dominated by molecules. |
| D．Alan Turing was able to track down the movement of molecules. |
| A．A protein that determines humans’ development in childhood. |
| B．A gene especially important for the development of our limbs. |
| C．A striped pattern that always interacts with Bmp and Wnt. |
| D．A simulation of growing limbs that activate and block each other. |
| A．How human limbs are developed may well be similar to how animal spots are shaped. |
| B．The way Sox9 interacts with Bmp and Wnt is still a mystery that needs further studying. |
| C．Sox9 can activate both Bmp and Wnt to form our limbs, according to scientific research. |
| D．Sox9, Bmp and Wnt are three specific molecules that determine the growth of fingers. |
【推荐2】In the early 1960s Wilt Chamberlain was one of only three players in the National Basketball Association (NBA)listed at over seven feet. If he had played last season, however, he would have been one of 42. The bodies playing major professional sports have changed dramatically over the years, and managers have been more than willing to adjust team uniforms to fit the growing numbers of bigger, longer frames.
The trend in sports, though, may be obscuring an unrecognized reality: Americans have generally stopped growing. Though typically about two inches taller now than 140 years ago, today's people-especially those born to families who have lived in the U. S. for many generations-apparently reached their limit in the early 1960s. And they aren't likely to get any taller. "In the general population today, at this genetic, environmental level, we've pretty much gone as far as we can go," says anthropologist William Cameron Chum-lea of Wright State University. In the case of NBA players, their increase in height appears to result from the increasingly common practice of recruiting players from all over the world.
Growth, which rarely continues beyond the age of 20, demands calories and nutrients-notably, protein--to feed expanding tissues. At the start of the 20th century, under-nutrition and childhood infections got in the way. But as diet and health improved, children and adolescents have, on average, increased in height by about an inch and a half every 20 years, a pattern known as the secular trend in height. Yet according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, average height--5 '9" for men, 5'4" for women--hasn't really changed since 1960.
Genetic maximums can change, but don't expect this to happen soon. Claire C. Gordon, senior anthropologist at the Army Research Center in Natick, Mass ensures that 90 percent of the uniforms and workstations fit recruits without alteration. She says that, unlike those for basketball, the length of military uniforms has not changed for some time. And if you need to predict human height in the near future to design a piece of equipment, Gordon says that by and large, "you could use today's data and feel fairly confident."
1. Wilt Chamberlain is cited as an example to_________.| A．illustrate the change of height of NBA players. |
| B．show the popularity of NBA players in the U.S.. |
| C．compare different generations of NBA players. |
| D．assess the achievements of famous NBA players. |
| A．Genetic modification. | B．Living standards. |
| C．Natural environment. | D．Daily exercise. |
| A．the garment industry will reconsider the uniform size. |
| B．the design of military uniforms will remain unchanged. |
| C．genetic testing will be employed in selecting sportsmen. |
| D．the existing data of human height will still be applicable. |
| A．the change of human height follows a cyclic pattern. |
| B．human height is becoming even more predictable. |
| C．Americans have reached their genetic growth limit. |
| D．the genetic pattern of Americans has altered. |
【推荐3】A block chain is a data structure that stores time-ordered data in an ever-growing list, like an accounting ledger (分类账簿). The block chain data structure is maintained using a distributed, peer-to-peer network of computers with no central “master”. As with many new concepts, block chain technology generates much optimism and also a huge amount of interest and excitement. Just what is it good for?
In short, block chains may improve any process where people need to access, confirm, send or store information securely. This information could be a person’s identity, a product’s shipment history or digital property like money.
Typical databases, spreadsheets (电子数据表), and ledgers store information about objects, people, and the interactions between them. Much of the world’s information, from credit card transactions to medical and financial records, is stored in these types of systems.
These types of systems have considerable, well-documented weaknesses that arise from their being centralized. A centralized record is hard to understand and is exposed to unauthorized access or distribution. It is also, because it is a ‘master’ copy, exposed to permanent changing or deletion.
Block chains are also used to store information. Crucially, however, they differ in two ways.
First, information is parceled up into blocks and sealed. Bitcoin, for example, which is the most famous practical example of a production block chain, stores all transactions across the network every ten minutes or so in a single, newly formed block. Each block is then added to the previous one to form a chain.
Second, this “chain of blocks” is not stored centrally. Instead, each block is copied and distributed around an entire network of peers - be they individuals, public institutions, or businesses - using distributed ledger technology. (The terms “block chain” and “distributed ledger” are often used interchangeably; for the sake of clarity, block chain technologies tend to employ distributed ledger technology.)
Each time someone adds a new block to the chain, meanwhile it is added to everyone’s copy.
1. What is the biggest strength of a block chain?| A．It promotes people’s enthusiasm about new technology. |
| B．It strengthens the security of processing information. |
| C．It enables people to store more data in time order. |
| D．It stores a large part of world’s information. |
| A．they are difficult to operate | B．they can be accessed easily |
| C．they have a central “master” | D．they store considerable documents |
| A．making comparisons | B．giving examples |
| C．making a list | D．showing the effect and causes |
| A．To analyze the weaknesses of typical systems. |
| B．To encourage the popularity of the block chain. |
| C．To introduce the new concept of the block chain. |
| D．To compare the two different data structures. |
【推荐1】Babies are surrounded by human language, always listening and processing. Eventually, they put sounds together to produce a “Daddy” or a “Mama”. But what still confuses neuroscientists is exactly how the brain works to put it all together.
To figure it out, a team of researchers turned to a frequent stand-in (代替) for babies when it comes to language learning: the song-learning zebra finch. “We’ve known songbirds learn their song by first forming a memory of their father’s song or another adult’s song. Then they use that memory to guide their song learning,” said Neuroscientist Todd Roberts. “It’s been a long-term goal of the field to figure out how or where in the brain this memory is. This type of imitative learning that birds do is very similar to the type of learning that we engage in regularly—particularly when we’re young, we use it to guide our speech learning.”
Roberts and his team had a feeling that the interface (交叉区域) between sensory areas and motor areas in the brain was critical for this process, and they focused on a group of brain cells called the NIf.
“In order to prove that we could identify these circuits, we thought if we could implant a false memory.” First, they used a virus to cause the neurons (神经元) in the birds’ NIf to become sensitive to light. Then, using a tiny electrode as a flashlight, they activated (激活) the neurons. The length of each pulse of light corresponded with the amount of time the neurons would fire. And the birds’ brains interpreted that time period as the length of each note.
Soon enough, the birds began to practice the notes they had learned, even though they never really heard the sounds. Amazingly, the birds produced them in the correct social situations. The researchers say this is the first time anybody has found exactly a part of the brain necessary for generating the sorts of memories needed to copy sounds.
“This line of research is going to help us identify where in the brain we encode memories of relevant social experiences that we use to guide learning. We know that there are several neurodevelopmental disorders in people that have really far-reaching effects on this type of learning.”
1. The zebra finch is researched because its song-learning mode ________.| A．decides whether it will sing songs |
| B．helps it to say “Daddy” or “Mama” |
| C．is like the way babies learn speech |
| D．reflects its talent for imitating its father’s song |
| A．The interface in the brain. |
| B．Guidance from adults. |
| C．Imitative learning type like birds’. |
| D．The way of regular learning. |
| A．Scientists activated some neurons by using an electrode. |
| B．A bird only sings what it heard before. |
| C．The brain produces tiny electrodes. |
| D．Birds are sensitive to light. |
| A．A change in our way of listening and processing. |
| B．A chance to have relevant social experiences. |
| C．A better knowledge of the secrets of learning. |
| D．Identification of neurodevelopmental disorders. |
Here’s something to think about the next time you ask your teacher for help: struggling with schoolwork on your own can help you learn. According to a recent study, the more you struggle while you are learning new information, the better you can remember it later.
This theory might surprise you. When teachers are presenting new information, they often give students lots of help. But a new study shows this may not be the best way to support learning. “Don't be too quick to get help when learning something new,” education expert Manu Kapur told TFK. “Try to work on it yourself even if it means trying different ways.”
Kapur came up with the idea that struggling can lead to better learning. Then he tested it out on students in Singapore. He separated students into two groups. In the first group, students were asked to solve math problems with the teacher’s help. In the second group, students were asked to solve the same problems by helping one another, instead of getting help from the teacher.
With the teacher’s help, students in the first group were able to find the correct answers. Students in the second group did not solve the problems correctly. But they did come up with a lot of good ideas. The students were then tested on what they had learned. The group without any help from a teacher scored much higher than the group who had help. Kapur said working to find the answers helped students understand the process, not just the solution.
Kapur’s advice for kids is to put a lot of effort into learning something new rather than going to your teacher for help. “Simply doing a little work or nothing at all won’t work,” says Kapur. “The struggle needs to be a genuine attempt to figure out or solve a problem in as many ways as possible.”
1. When you have doubt on schoolwork, you’d better ____________.
| A．ask your teacher for help |
| B．make it clear by yourself |
| C．ask your classmates to help you |
| D．ask your parents for help |
| A．Give students much help as soon as possible. |
| B．Let students learn it on themselves in one way. |
| C．Let students learn it by themselves in the same way. |
| D．Let students learn it for themselves in different ways. |
| A．By asking questions. |
| B．By solving art problems. |
| C．By group comparations. |
| D．By solving science problems. |
| A．Getting the teacher’s help. |
| B．Getting the student’s help. |
| C．Grasping the learning course. |
| D．Receiving the final solution. |
【推荐3】A block chain is a data structure that stores time-ordered data in an ever-growing list, like an accounting ledger (分类账簿). The block chain data structure is maintained using a distributed, peer-to-peer network of computers with no central “master”. As with many new concepts, block chain technology generates much optimism and also a huge amount of interest and excitement. Just what is it good for?
In short, block chains may improve any process where people need to access, confirm, send or store information securely. This information could be a person’s identity, a product’s shipment history or digital property like money.
Typical databases, spreadsheets (电子数据表), and ledgers store information about objects, people, and the interactions between them. Much of the world’s information, from credit card transactions to medical and financial records, is stored in these types of systems.
These types of systems have considerable, well-documented weaknesses that arise from their being centralized. A centralized record is hard to understand and is exposed to unauthorized access or distribution. It is also, because it is a ‘master’ copy, exposed to permanent changing or deletion.
Block chains are also used to store information. Crucially, however, they differ in two ways.
First, information is parceled up into blocks and sealed. Bitcoin, for example, which is the most famous practical example of a production block chain, stores all transactions across the network every ten minutes or so in a single, newly formed block. Each block is then added to the previous one to form a chain.
Second, this “chain of blocks” is not stored centrally. Instead, each block is copied and distributed around an entire network of peers - be they individuals, public institutions, or businesses - using distributed ledger technology. (The terms “block chain” and “distributed ledger” are often used interchangeably; for the sake of clarity, block chain technologies tend to employ distributed ledger technology.)
Each time someone adds a new block to the chain, meanwhile it is added to everyone’s copy.
1. What is the biggest strength of a block chain?| A．It promotes people’s enthusiasm about new technology. |
| B．It strengthens the security of processing information. |
| C．It enables people to store more data in time order. |
| D．It stores a large part of world’s information. |
| A．they are difficult to operate | B．they can be accessed easily |
| C．they have a central “master” | D．they store considerable documents |
| A．making comparisons | B．giving examples |
| C．making a list | D．showing the effect and causes |
| A．To analyze the weaknesses of typical systems. |
| B．To encourage the popularity of the block chain. |
| C．To introduce the new concept of the block chain. |
| D．To compare the two different data structures. |
【推荐1】Smartphones are our constant companions. For many of us, their glowing screens are a ubiquitous (十分普遍的) presence, drawing us in with endless distractions. They are in our hands as soon as we wake, and command our attention until the final moments before we fall asleep.
Steve Jobs would not approve.
In 2007, Jobs took the stage and introduced the world to the iPhone. If you watch the full speech, you will be surprised by how he imagined our relationship should be with this iconic invention. This vision is so different from the way most of us use these devices now.
In his remarks, Jobs spent an extended amount of time demonstrating how the device utilized (应用) the touch screen before detailing the many ways Apple engineers had improved the age-old process of making phone calls. It’s the best iPod we’ve ever made,” Jobs exclaimed at one point. “The killer app is making calls,” he later added. Both lines drew thunderous applause.
The presentation confirms that Jobs imagined a simpler iPhone experience than the one we actually have more than a decade later. For example, there was no App Store when the iPhone was first introduced, and this was by design. Jobs was convinced that the phone’s carefully-designed native features were enough. He did not seek to completely change the rhythm of users’ daily lives. He simply wanted to take experiences we had already found important－listening to music, placing calls, generating directions－and make them better.
The minimalist (简约主义者) vision for the iPhone Jobs offered in 2007 is unrecognizable today－and that is a shame.
Under what I call the “constant companion model,” we now see our smartphones as always-on portals (通道) to information. We have become so used to it over the past decade that it is easy to forget the novelty (新奇之处) of the device. It seems increasingly clear to me that Jobs probably got it right from the very beginning: Many of us would be better-off returning to his original minimalist vision for our phones.
Practically speaking, to be a minimalist smartphone user means only using your device for a small number of features that do things of value to you. Otherwise, you simply put it away outside of these activities. This approach dethrones (废黜) this device from the position of a constant companion down to a luxury object, such as a fancy bike, that gives you great pleasure when you use it but does not dominate your entire day.
Early in his 2007 keynote, Jobs said, “Today, Apple is going to reinvent the phone.” What he didn’t add, however, was the follow-up promise: “Tomorrow we’re going to reinvent your life.” The smartphone is fantastic, but it was never meant to be the foundation for a new form of existence.
If you return this innovation to its original role, you will get more out of both your phone and your life.
1. The underlined word “it” in the last but two paragraphs probably refers to .| A．information | B．the smartphone |
| C．the always-on portal | D．the constant companion model |
| A．It allowed the users to have access to the internet. |
| B．It was actually an iPod that could make phone calls. |
| C．It was installed with applications by third-party developers. |
| D．It could fulfill people’s desire to multitask in their daily lives. |
| A．expect to reinvent his life with the device |
| B．buy the latest model of iPhone and see it as a luxury |
| C．remove all the unnecessary applications from the device |
| D．spend more time working than playing with his device |
| A．tell readers why Steve Job created the iPhone |
| B．remind readers not to be addicted to their smartphones |
| C．show readers that smartphones can greatly change our lives |
| D．encourage readers to block internet access on their smartphones |
【推荐2】If you think that running marathons will help you live a long and healthy life, new research may come as a shock. According to a recent scientific study, people who do a very strenuous workout are as likely to die as people who do no exercise at all.
Scientists in Denmark have been studying over 1,000 joggers and non-joggers for 12 years. The death rates from the sample group indicate that people who jog at a moderate pace two or three times a week for less than two and a half hours in total are least likely to die. The best speed to jog at was found to be about 5 miles per hour. The research suggests that people who jog more than three times a week or at higher speeds of over 7 mph die at the same rate as non-joggers. The scientists think that this is because strenuous exercise causes structural changes to the heart and arteries (动脉). Over time, this can cause serious injuries.
Peter Schnohr, a researcher in Copenhagen, said, “If your goal is to decrease the risk of death and improve life expectancy, jogging a few times a week at a moderate pace is a good strategy. Anything more is just unnecessary, and it may be harmful.”
The implications of this are that moderate forms of exercise such as tai chi, yoga and brisk walking may be better for us than “iron man” events, triathlons and long-distance running and cycling. According to Jacob Louis Marott, another researcher involved in the study, “You don’t actually have to do that much to have a good impact on your health. And perhaps you shouldn’t actually do too much.”
1. The underlined word “strenuous” in Paragraph 1 refers to “______”.| A．hard | B．regular |
| C．practical | D．little |
| A．suggest giving up jogging |
| B．show risks of doing sports |
| C．provide supportive evidence |
| D．introduce the research process |
| A．It may injure the heart and arteries. |
| B．It can make the body tired out. |
| C．It will bring much pressure. |
| D．It consumes too much energy. |
【推荐3】Old problem，new approaches
While clean energy is increasingly used in our daily life，global warming will continue for some decades after CO2 emissions (排放) peak. So even if emissions were to begin to decrease today，we would still face the challenge of adapting to climate change. Here I will stress some smarter and more creative examples of climate adaptation.
When it comes to adaptation，it is important to understand that climate change is a process. We are therefore not talking about adapting to a new standard，but to a constantly shifting set of conditions. This is why, in part at least，the US National Climate Assessment says that：“There is no ‘onesize fits all’ adaptation.” Nevertheless，there are some actions that offer much and carry little risk or cost.
Around the world, people are adapting in surprising ways，especially in some poor countries. Floods have become more damaging in Bangladesh in recent decades. Mohammed Rezwan saw opportunity where others saw only disaster. His notforprofit organization runs 100 river boats that serve as floating libraries，schools，and health clinics，and are equipped with solar panels and other communicating facilities. Rezwan is creating floating connectivity(连接) to replace flooded roads and highways. But he is also working at a far more fundamental level：his staff show people how to make floating gardens and fish ponds to prevent starvation during the wet season.
Elsewhere in Asia even more astonishing actions are being taken. Chewang Norphel lives in a mountainous region in India, where he is known as the Ice Man. The loss of glaciers (冰川) there due to global warming represents an enormous threat to agriculture. Without the glaciers, water will arrive in the rivers at times when it can damage crops. Norphel's inspiration came from seeing the waste of water over winter, when it was not needed. He directed the wasted water into shallow basins where it froze, and was stored until the spring. His fields of ice supply perfectly timed irrigation(灌溉) water. Having created nine such ice reserves, Norphel calculates that he has stored about 200，000m3 of water. Climate change is a continuing process, so Norphel's ice reserves will not last forever. Warming will overtake them. But he is providing a few years during which the farmers will, perhaps, be able to find other means of adapting.
Increasing Earth's reflectiveness can cool the planet. In southern Spain the sudden increase of greenhouses (which reflect light back to space) has changed the warming trend locally, and actually cooled the region. While Spain as a whole is heating up quickly, temperatures near the greenhouses have decreased. This example should act as an inspiration for all cities. By painting buildings white, cities may slow down the warming process.
In Peru, local farmers around a mountain with a glacier that has already fallen victim to climate change have begun painting the entire mountain peak white in the hope that the added reflectiveness will restore the lifegiving ice. The outcome is still far from clear. But the World Bank has included the project on its list of “100 ideas to save the planet”．
More ordinary forms of adaptation are happening everywhere. A friend of mine owns an area of land in western Victoria. Over five generations the land has been too wet for cropping. But during the past decade declining rainfall has allowed him to plant highly profitable crops. Farmers in many countries are also adapting like this—either by growing new produce, or by growing the same things differently. This is common sense. But some suggestions for adapting are not. When the polluting industries argue that we've lost the battle to control carbon pollution and have no choice but to adapt, it's a nonsense designed to make the case for business as usual.
Human beings will continue to adapt to the changing climate in both ordinary and astonishing ways. But the most sensible form of adaptation is surely to adapt our energy systems to emit less carbon pollution. After all, if we adapt in that way, we may avoid the need to change in so many others.
1. The underlined part in Paragraph 2 implies ________．| A．adaptation is an everchanging process |
| B．the cost of adaptation varies with time |
| C．global warming affects adaptation forms |
| D．adaptation to climate change is challenging |
| A．The project receives government support. |
| B．Different organizations work with each other. |
| C．His organization makes the best of a bad situation. |
| D．The project connects flooded roads and highways. |
| A．Storing ice for future use. |
| B．Protecting the glaciers from melting. |
| C．Changing the irrigation time. |
| D．Postponing the melting of the glaciers. |
| A．White paint is usually safe for buildings. |
| B．The global warming trend cannot be stopped. |
| C．This country is heating up too quickly. |
| D．Sunlight reflection may relieve global warming. |
| A．adapt to carbon pollution |
| B．plant highly profitable crops |
| C．leave carbon emission alone |
| D．fight against carbon pollution |
| A．Setting up a new standard. |
| B．Reducing carbon emission. |
| C．Adapting to climate change. |
| D．Monitoring polluting industries. |
