【推荐1】“Does my smile look big in this?” Future fitting-room mirrors in clothing stores could subtly adjust your reflection to make you look—and hence feel—happier, encouraging you to like what you see.

That’s the idea behind the Emotion Evoking System developed by Shigeo Yoshida and colleagues at the University of Tokyo in Japan. The system can manipulate, or in other words, control your emotions and personal preferences by presenting you with an image of your own smiling or frowning face.

The principle that physiological changes can drive emotional ones—that laughter comes before happiness, rather than the other way around—is a well-established idea.

The researchers wanted to see if this idea could be used to build a computer system that manipulates how you feel. The system works by presenting the user with a web-camera image of his or her face—as if they were looking in a mirror. The image is then subtly altered with software, turning the corners of the mouth up or down and changing the area around the eyes, so that the person appears to smile or frown.

Without telling them the aim of the study, the team recruited 21 volunteers and asked them to sit in front of the screen while performing an unrelated task. When the task was complete, the participants rated how they felt. When the faces on screen appeared to smile, people reported that they felt happier. On the other hand, when the image was given a sad expression, they reported feeling less happy.

Yoshida and his colleagues tested whether manipulating the volunteers’ emotional state would influence their preferences. Each person was given a scarf to wear and again presented with the altered webcam image. The volunteers that saw themselves smiling while wearing the scarf were more likely to report that they liked it, and those that saw themselves not smiling were less likely.

The system could be used to manipulate consumers’ impressions of products, said the researchers. For example, mirrors in clothing-store fitting rooms could be replaced with screens showing altered reflections. They also suggest people may be more likely to find clothes attractive if they see themselves looking happy while trying them on.

“It’s certainly an interesting area,” says Chris Creed at the University of Birmingham, UK. But he notes that using such technology in a shop would be harder than in the lab, because people will use a wide range of expressions. “Attempting to make slight differences to these and ensuring that the reflected image looks believable would be much more challenging,” he says.

Of course, there are also important moral questions surrounding such subtly manipulative technology. “You could argue that if it makes people happy, what harm is it doing?” says Creed. “But I can imagine that many people may feel manipulated, uncomfortable and cheated if they found out.”

1. What’s the main purpose of the Emotion Evoking System?

A．To see whether laughter comes before happiness.

B．To see whether one’s facial expressions can be altered.

C．To see whether one’s feeling can be unconsciously affected.

D．To replace the mirrors in future clothing-store fitting rooms.

2. What can we learn about the web-camera image in the study?

A．It gave the volunteers a false image.

B．It attempted to make the volunteers feel happier.

C．It recorded the volunteers’ performance in the task.

D．It beautified the volunteers’ appearance in the mirror.

3. What does Creed mention as a limitation of the technology?

A．It only works in clothing stores.

B．It only makes subtle changes to people’s expressions.

C．It only changes the areas around the mouth and the eyes.

D．It only deals with a limited number of facial expressions.

4. What does Creed’s comment on the moral issues with this technology imply?

A．Nothing is more important than happiness.

B．Technology is unable to manipulate people.

C．People should neglect the harm of the technology.

D．People should have the right to make decisions independently.

【推荐3】The sun is setting, brightening your kids’ faces as they play in the waves. You reach for your phone for this perfect moment. But before you do, here’s a bit of surprising science: Taking photos is not the perfect way to keep memory as you think.

Taking too many pictures could actually harm the brain’s ability to keep memories, says Elizabeth Loftus, a psychology professor at the University of California, Irvine. So we get the photo but kind of lose the memory.

Photography “outsources” memories. It works in two ways: We either shake off the responsibility of remembering moments when taking pictures, or we’re so distracted (分散注意力的) by the process that we miss the moment altogether.

The first explanation is the loss of memory. People know that their camera is recording that moment, so they don’t try to remember. Similarly, if you write down someone’s phone number, you’re less likely to remember it offhand because your brain tells you there’s just no need. That’s all well and good — until that piece of paper goes missing.

The other is distraction. We’re distracted by the process of taking a photo—how we hold our phone, composing the photo, such as smiling faces, the background to our liking and clear image, all of which uses up our attention that could otherwise help us memorize.

However, taking photos can benefit memory — when done mindfully. While taking a photo may be distracting, the act of preparation by focusing on visual details around has some upsides. When people take the time to zoom in (拉近镜头) on specific things, memories become strengthened.

Another benefit is that we recall moments more accurately with the photos. Memory has been reshaped with the help of new information and new experiences. Thus, photos or videos help us recall moments as if they really happened.

Memories die away without a visual record backing them up. Therefore, a photo is an excellent tool to help remember when done purposefully, which is worth exploring further.

1. What is the purpose of the first paragraph?

A．To call on readers not to take photos.	B．To introduce the topic.
C．To show the interest in taking photos.	D．To make us think of similar experience.

2. Why does photography “outsource” memories?

A．People depend more on photos to remember than their brains.

B．Many sources influence people’s memories during photo-taking.

C．Photos are more detailed than memories.

D．Taking photos is helpful for us to memorize.

3. What may likely be discussed next?

A．Situations when taking photos is better.

B．How to use photo-taking to memorize better.

C．When distraction is most likely to happen.

D．How to stay focused while taking photos.

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

A．The Fewer Photos We Take, the Better We Will Remember.

B．Too Many Photos Taken Results in Poor Memories.

C．Photography Does Help to Memories.

D．Remember the Moment and Take Photos Properly.

【推荐2】Compared with solar and wind energy, which are booming, tidal (潮汐的) power is a loser in the clean-energy competition. But if you did want to build a tidal power station, there are few better sites than the mouth of the River Severn, in Britain. Its tidal range, the difference in depth between high and low tides, of around 15 metres is among the largest in the world.

Engineers and governments have been toying with the idea since at least 1925. But none of the suggested projects has materialised. Price is one objection. A study thought that tidal energy might cost between ￡216 and ￡368 ($306-521) per MWh of electricity by 2025, compared with ￡58-75 for seagoing wind turbines (轮机) and ￡55-76 for solar panels. Environmentalists also worry that any plant would change the tides, making life harder for wildlife.

An engineer called Rod Rainey thinks he has a way around both problems. He plans to replace the conventional turbines of previous plans with a much older technology. Specifically, he plans to span (横跨) the river mouth with a line of water wheels. This is a design that dates back to the early days of the Industrial Revolution. Examples can be found fixed to the sides of old watermills (水磨).

But there would be nothing old-fashioned about Mr Rainey’s wheels. Thirty metres high and sixty wide, they would be made from ordinary steel. Two hundred and fifty of them, along with the supporting structures, would be floated into place and secured to the seabed, creating a line 15km long. Together, they could supply power at an avenge ate of 4GW. That is about as much as two biggish nuclear power stations would manage. Substituting one of the wheels with a set of locks would provide a shipping channel about twice the width of Panama Canal, permitting upstream ports such as Avonmouth and Cardiff to continue operating.

1. What is special about the mouth of the River Seven?

A．The tidal range there is about 15 meters.

B．It has the largest tidal range in the world.

C．The tidal power station has been built there.

D．Its power plant makes life harder for wildlife.

2. What was people’s initial attitude towards tidal power?

A．Opposed.	B．Supportive.
C．Controversial.	D．Doubtful.

3. What are the locks used for?

A．Support.	B．Transportation.
C．Securing wheels.	D．Producing electricity.

4. What’s the best tittle for the text?

A．Rainey invented turbines.

B．Rainey’s tidal power station.

C．Tidal power in the River Seven.

D．An old idea might be made practical.

【推荐1】Napoleon, as a character in Tolstoy's War and Peace, is more than once described as having "fat little hands". Nor does he "sit well or firmly on the horse". He is said to be " undersized", with "short legs" and a "round stomach". The issue here is not the accuracy of Tolstoy's description — it seems not that far off from historical accounts — but his choice of facts: other things that could be said of the man are not said. We are meant to understand the difference of a warring commander in the body of a fat little Frenchman. Tolstoy's Napoleon could be any man wandering in the streets and putting a little of powdered tobacco up his nose — and that is the point.

It is a way the novelist uses to show the moral nature of a character. And it turns out that, as Tolstoy has it, Napoleon is a crazy man. In a scene in Book Three of War and Peace, the wars having reached the critical year of 1812, Napoleon receives a representative from the Tsar (沙皇), who has come with peace terms. Napoleon is very angry: doesn't he have more army? He, not the Tsar, is the one to make the terms. He will destroy all of Europe if his army is stopped. "That is what you will have gained by engaging me in the war!" he shouts. And then,Tolstoy writes, Napoleon "walked silently several times up and down the room, his fat shoulders moving quickly."

Still later, after reviewing his army amid cheering crowds, Napoleon invites the shaken Russian to dinner. "He raised his hand to the Russian's... face," Tolstoy writes, and "taking him by the ear, pulled it gently... " To have one's ear pulled by the Emperor was considered the greatest honor and mark of favor at the French court. "Well, well, why don't you say anything?" said he, as if it was ridiculous in his presence to respect any one but himself, Napoleon.

Tolstoy did his research, but the composition is his own.

1. How is Tolstoy's description of Napoleon in War and Peace?

A．It's far from the historical facts.

B．It's based on the Russian history.

C．It's based on his selection of facts.

D．It's not related to historical details.

2. Why is Napoleon angry when receiving the Russian representative?

A．Because he thinks he should be the one to make the peace terms

B．Because the Tsar's peace terms are hard to accept.

C．Because the Russians stop his military movement

D．Because he doesn't have any more army to fight with.

3. Tolstoy intended to present Napoleon as a man who is________.

A．ill-mannered in dealing with foreign guests

B．fond of showing off his iron will

C．determined in destroying all of Europe

D．crazy for power and respect

4. What does the last sentence of the passage imply ?

A．A writer doesn't have to be faithful to his findings.

B．A writer may write about a hero in his own way.

C．A writer may not be responsible for what he writes.

D．A writer has hardly any freedom to show his feelings.

【推荐2】It's extremely rare to find characters that excited such enthusiasm in the British population as Margaret Thatcher once did. There was no middle ground, no sitting on the fence and that was just the way she like it.

Back in the 70s—thanks to a combination of incapable Conservative and Labour prime ministers (all male) and the unelected and militant union leaders who didn't always have their members' best interests at heart—the country was on its knees, virtually bankrupt and covered in uncollected rubbish due to a massive public sector strike.

It was no wonder the people saw hope in Margaret Thatcher and accordingly voted her into power when, depending on where you were standing at the time, she either saved Great Britain or ruined people's lives.

Personally, for me it was the former and I could see how she improved the prospects and desires of the working classes to better themselves. I was one of them. At the same time I can also understand why people in the North of England who suffered after the close of the last remaining pits, factories and manufacturing industries didn’t see it that way.

But what I don't understand is how some folk think it’s OK to be so openly disrespectful in her death just because it's her.

The so-called ''death parties'' are sickening, attended as they mostly are by people who probably don't quite know who she is let alone who lived under her rule.

The Brighton teacher Romany Blythe, who organized one of the parties, actually compared her to Hitler. But Margaret didn't devote herself to genocide—murder of a whole race, neither did she attempt to take over Europe and control its people. She only went to war once in order to protect a British outpost in the South Atlantic after it was threatened and invaded by the Argentineans. And there lies the real reason I think she inspires such unreasonable hatred—because she was a woman. She clearly had no choice but to get the country back on its feet. Not one of them has half the courage to get us out of the current mess we’re in. They're all too bothered about being popular, so they spend all their time trying to please all of the people all of the time. It's just not possible—as the lady herself proved.

1. What kind of person can we see Margaret Thatcher as in the passage?

A．Consistent(一致的)	B．Conservative(保守的)
C．Controversial(有争议的)	D．Considerate(体贴周到的)

2. Which group of people listed below is most likely to speak highly of Thatcher?

A．Most Argentineans	B．Some of working classes
C．Former prime ministers	D．Death party members

3. Some people hate Margaret Thatcher because ________.

A．she launched the war against Argentina

B．she started a massive public sector strike

C．they believe she devoted herself to genocide

D．they think she brought them a miserable life

4. In the eyes of the author, ________.

A．Margaret Thatcher was popular among workers throughout the country.

B．Margaret Thatcher did not succeed in getting the country back on its feet

C．none of those who hate Margaret Thatcher can rule Britain as well as she did

D．it is understandable why disrespect is shown to Margaret Thatcher on her death

5. What does the underlined word ''they'' in the last paragraph actually refer to?

A．Incapable politicians.	B．Death party organizers.
C．Women of courage.	D．Followers of Hitler.

6. The author wrote the passage mainly to ___________.

A．defend Margaret Thatcher against blames on her

B．honour Margaret Thatcher and her achievements

C．call on people to mourn for Margaret Thatcher

D．show different opinions about Margaret Thatcher

【推荐3】Recently, a study was carried out to determine who was the greatest American president．Sixty-five presidential historians took part in it, and they judged the past forty-two American leaders based on ten leadership qualities, including public persuasiveness(信服), crisis leadership, management of the economy, moral leadership, and conduct of international relations．The historians also looked at administrative ability (管理能力), relations with Congress, ability to set goals, and the pursuit of equal justice for all．Finally, the experts took into consideration the historical period in which the president lived．
The historians chose Abraham Lincoln as American’s greatest president．He had also been named best president in a similar study in 2000．Abraham Lincoln was the president who led the nation through the Civil War in the 1860s, and was able to unite it in the end．He also took the first steps to abolish slavery in America．
Edna Medford, a professor of history at Howard University in Washington, D.C., was an adviser on this study and the earlier one．She says Abraham Lincoln is seen to represent the values the nation most honors, such as truthfulness, moderation, and respect for human rights．
The historians put American’s first president, George Washington, second on the list, while Franklin D．Roosevelt, Theodore Roosevelt, and Harry Truman follow in that order．John     F．Kennedy, the country’s first Roman Catholic president, is sixth on the list．Like Lincoln, Kennedy was murdered while in office．
Among recent presidents, Ronald Reagan was named the tenth best and Bill Clinton rated fifteenth, while the historians put former president George W．Bush at number thirty-six．His father, George H.W．Bush, did much better, being placed at number eighteen．
1. We learn from the text that ___________．

A．this is the second time that Abraham Lincoln has been chosen as America’s greatest president

B．Edna Medford didn’t take part in the study conducted in 2000．

C．George H.W．Bush was thought to have done worse in office than George W．Bush

D．Harry Truman was rated the fourth-best president by the study

2. Which of the following belong to the ten leadership qualities considered?
a．Being able to persuade the public
b．Taking effective measures during a financial crisis．
c．Balancing home life and career．
d．Pursuing equal justice for all．

A．a,b,c

B．b,c,d

C．a,b,d

D．a,c,d

3. Who is rated worst among the following four presidents?

A．John F．Kennedy	B．George Washington
C．Bill Clinton	D．George W．Bush

4. The text is mainly about ________．

A．the ten qualities a great president needs

B．a study of American presidents

C．the values the American nation honors most

D．how Abraham Lincoln improved the country