Small talk like “What do you have there? Ice-cream?” or “The weather today is beautiful, isn't it?” is a waste of time, according to some people. But scientists believe that it is actually more useful than it may appear to be.
One example comes when you are on a train or a plane. The thought of talking to the stranger can be scary and silly. But a study by the University of Chicago found that people who chat to strangers enjoy a better ride than those who sit in silence or keep playing their phones.
In the study, researchers asked people at Chicago train stations to start conversations with fellow travelers. Most of them refused to do so at first because they didn't expect to get a friendly answer. But the result is the opposite-most strangers didn't refuse to be talked to; instead, they were glad to talk to.
“Human beings are social animals,” Nicholas Epley, one of the researchers said, “Other people are people, too. And it turns out that they'd like to get to know you.”
What's more, small talk with strangers can help you feel related to your surroundings(环境). Some studies found when people are often smiled at and spoken to, there is more chance for them to have a stronger sense of belonging instead of feeling like they are being forgotten.
However, if you are already comfortable enough to make small talk with strangers, you should try to develop it into something “bigger”.
A 2010 study proved that having a deep and meaningful conversation gives you even more happiness than small talk. Participants(参与者) in the study reported that compared with some simple greetings and replies, they were a lot happier when they went on with the small talk and further it into in-depth conversations.
But deep conversations can start with small talk, can't they? So the first step is to start talking, no matter how casual the topic is. And who knows, maybe an opening line as simple as “I like your hat” could lead to a serious conversation in which you learn a lot from a stranger.
1. According to Nicholas Epley, what is the reason for the result of the study by the University of Chicago?| A．Most people are scared of being refused. |
| B．People are naturally interested in others. |
| C．People are afraid of being lonely or bored. |
| D．People try to show their good side to strangers. |
| A．Wasting less time. |
| B．Getting more smiles. |
| C．Staying away from phones for a little while. |
| D．Feeling like you are a part of your surroundings. |
(①②③④⑤⑥⑦⑧=Paragraphs1-8)
| A．①/②③④⑤/⑥⑦/⑧ | B．①/②③④/⑤⑥⑦/⑧ |
| C．①/②③/④⑤/⑥⑦⑧ | D．①/②③④⑤/⑥⑦⑧ |
| A．The author thinks deep conversations may start before small talk. |
| B．The author believes small talk is useless without deep conversations. |
| C．The author agrees people should start small talk actively. |
| D．The author doubts whether people should start small talk. |
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【推荐1】Feelings are difficult to deal with（处理）, it’s very important to begin teaching kids about their feelings as early as possible because their feelings affect（影响）every choice they make. A child who can say, “I’m a little angry with you about what you did,” is less likely（有可能的）to get into fights. They can use clear sentences to express their feelings.
A good way to help kids deal with feelings is to set an example for them. Parents should often share their feelings with kids in their daily life. A parent could say to the kid, “I feel sad that you don’t want to share your toys with your sister.” Another great way to help kids learn about feelings is to discuss how different roles in TV plays may feel. When watching TV, a parent could stop and ask the kid, “ ▲ ” Then, discuss the feelings that the person may be experiencing and the reasons.
Doing so can teach children empathy. Young children think the world centers are around them, so it can be a good way for them to learn other people have feelings, too. When young children can understand other people’s feelings, they are less likely to do bad things to them. For example, if a child knows that pushing his friend to the ground may make his friend sad, he will be less likely to do so. What’s more, teaching a kid about feelings will help him become mentally（精神上）strong. Kids who have the skills to deal with their feelings will be so confident that they can face and manage whatever life throws in the way.
1. Kids who understand their feelings are more likely to ________.| A．shout to their friends | B．fight with others | C．use clear sentences to express their feelings | D．make wrong choices |
| A．What can we learn from his story? | B．What do you think of his feelings right now? |
| C．Which is your favorite actor in the play? | D．What will happen（发生）next? |
| A．上进心 | B．同理心 | C．自尊心 | D．求知心 |
| A．it’s easy for kids to understand their feelings | B．parents should teach kids about their feeling as early as possible |
| C．children can be healthier if they can deal with their feelings well | D．teaching kids about feeling can help them live a happier life |
【推荐2】Danny is reading an infographic.
1. An infographic is similar to ________.
| A．an information sheet | B．an advertisement | C．a letter | D．a notice |
could be ________| A．Why do we need sugar? | B．What does sugar do to our body? |
| C．How much sugar do we need every day? | D．Who needs sugar most in our daily life? |
| A．75 | B．120 | C．280 | D．310 |
| A．There are 7 grams of sugar in 330 ml of orange juice. |
| B．A woman can eat as much sugar a day as a man can. |
| C．China eats more sugar for each person than the USA does. |
| D．400 ml of rice milk has less sugar than 400 ml of grape juice. |
| A．To help us understand how sugar hurts our body. |
| B．To show what kinds of foods and drinks are popular with children. |
| C．To tell us that we often have more sugar than we can without knowing it. |
| D．To let us know how much sugar is enough to make foods and drinks taste good. |
| A．How can we reduce our sugar intake? |
| B．What good is sugar? |
| C．What’s the difference between natural sugar and added sugar? |
| D．Are you aware of hidden sugar in your diets? |
【推荐3】Nowadays, we have kinds of technologies to protect us from different disasters. We even know where and when some disasters, like the typhoon, the flood. While most of the new technologies are far away from us, some around us can help people in disasters.
The drone is one of them. It can be used to send food, water when a natural disaster happens. Very often the buildings are too dangerous for rescue(救援)teams to get in. They can make the drone fly into the buildings to search for those who are still alive first. They are also becoming a useful tool for firefighters, helping them find and fight wildfires. In some faraway places in the world, drones are the fastest way to send medicine to people who are in great need of it.
Social media is also a useful tool when it comes to natural disasters. With its help, people can know about the natural disasters before they hit. And some social media platforms allow people to mark themselves as safe after disasters, so others can know their situations.
Social media is also a place for up-to-date news, so people can learn what is going on in the disaster areas. Besides, many social media platforms allow people to donate money to help people in disaster areas. The money will help them get back to their normal life as soon as possible. For example, livestreaming(直播)helped raise a lot of money for Henan after the flood in 2021.
Although these technologies can help when there is a natural disaster, we still need to prepare necessary tools and learn important skills to protect ourselves.
1. According to the writer, the drone can fly into dangerous buildings to _______ after disasters.| A．call rescue teams | B．send food and water |
| C．search for people alive | D．remind people of danger |
| A．social media can provide up-to-date news |
| B．people can know about coming disasters on social media |
| C．social media can help raise money after a disaster |
| D．people can tell others they are safe through social media |
A． | B． | C． | D． |
【推荐1】Scientists in Japan have developed electric chopsticks that are designed to help people cut down on salt. Though human bodies need salt, many people eat far too much of it, which is unhealthy. It’s well known that eating too much salt can lead to high blood pressure, heart disease and so on. The special chopsticks use a tiny bit of electricity to make food seem saltier than it is.
Kirin, a Japanese company that sells food and drink, worked with researchers at Miyashita Laboratory to develop the chopsticks. The chopsticks have a battery pack that can be worn on the wrist (手腕). When the tips of the chopsticks are put in the mouth, a very light electric current (电流)—too small to be felt as a shock—changes the way the tongue (舌头) tastes certain chemicals.
Experiments showed that with the chopsticks, food could have up to 30% less salt and still taste just as salty. So far Kirin hasn’t announced plans to sell the chopsticks. But it is looking into ways the technology could be used with other eating utensils (餐具), including spoons.
1. What’s the harm of eating too much salt?| A．It can make the food less delicious. |
| B．It can make people not want to eat. |
| C．It can cause nose bleeding. |
| D．It can lead to high blood pressure. |
| A．To help people cut down on salt. |
| B．To help people with heart disease eat healthily. |
| C．To help people realize the dangers of eating more salt. |
| D．To help people with high blood pressure. |
| A．The chopsticks are good for people’s health. |
| B．The chopsticks can’t be used without electricity. |
| C．Kirin doesn’t have any plan to sell the chopsticks. |
| D．The chopsticks can help people eat 30 percent less food. |
| A．No technology, no life. |
| B．Technology can change lives. |
| C．Chopsticks play an important role in our life. |
| D．The less salt you eat, the healthier you will be. |
| A．Eat less salt to become healthier |
| B．Cut down on salt with electric chopsticks |
| C．Use electric chopsticks to get healthier |
| D．Let’s buy electric chopsticks |
【推荐2】①Think back to when you were in a math class, and the teacher set a difficult problem. Which of the following is closer to you?
A:Oh no, this is too hard for me. I’m not even going to seriously try and work it out.
B:Ah, this is quite difficult but I like to push myself. Even if I don’t get the answer right, maybe I’ll learn something in a try.
②Carol Dweck, the researcher of Stanford University, gave a group of children problems that were a little hard for them. One group said they loved trying something new or something difficult and understood that their abilities could be developed. She says they had a “growth mindset（成长心态）”, which would make them better at study. But another group of children felt that they were unable to imagine improving. Some of these children might cheat in the future; others looked for someone who had done worse than them to make themselves feel better.
③Carol believes that there is a problem in education at the moment. For years, children have been praised for their talent. They become pleased by getting high grades, but they are not necessarily interested in learning itself. “The better way,” she says, “is to praise them for their hard work or their good learning habits or their improvements. This way they will achieve more.”
④Researchers have been testing these ideas. Students were taught that if they learned something new and difficult, their brains would form stronger connections, making them more clever. And they made faster progress in the end. In another study, a group of school children used growth mindset for a year. The results were really surprising. They came top in tests. These children had ever felt that working hard was a sign of stupidity（愚蠢）, but they came to see it as the key to learning.
⑤So, back to our question at the beginning. If you answered B, well done—you already have a growth mindset. If A, don’t worry; everyone is able to improve if you really want to.
1. At the beginning, the writer asks readers a question to ________.| A．lead in the topic of the article | B．find out the best answers |
| C．show how difficult the problem is | D．understand who are more clever |
| A．the problem in praising children | B．different ways of educating children |
| C．how to make children pleased | D．how to make children get high grades |
| A．something new | B．faster progress | C．another study | D．working hard |
| A．children will get high grades in tests | B．children will have a growth mindset |
| C．children can develop their abilities | D．children can be praised for their talent |
【推荐3】Why is that some people live to be over a hundred, while most of us die much sooner? Well, if your parents and grandparents live a long time, you will have a good chance of living a long time, too. How long you live also depends on where you live. A person lives in a city in Australia will probably live longer than a person who lives in poor part of Africa.
We have no control over our past relatives, and most people have little control over where they live. So, what can you do to add more years to your life? You can make a healthy choice that means eating healthy foods and getting enough exercise.
Being overweight may make your life shorter because you have a higher chance to have health problems. As a result, you can start by changing what you eat. Eat less red meat. Instead, eat chicken or fish. Fish is really good for helping you live a longer life. You should also get all of the vitamins you need. And, of course, do not eat too much junk food.
1. If your parents and grandparents live a long time, you will have a ________ chance of living a long time.| A．little | B．less | C．good | D．least |
| A．Too much meat. | B．Too much water. | C．Make a healthy choice. | D．Too much junk food. |
| A．Because you will feel uncomfortable. |
| B．Because you will feel unhappy. |
| C．Because you will have a higher chance of having health problem. |
| D．Because you will have to be thinner. |
| A．支持 | B．称赞 | C．威胁 | D．控制 |
| A．How to live longer? | B．How to be live in the city? |
| C．How to make your relatives live longer? | D．How to eat healthily? |
How important is your appearance? Although everyone wants to be good-looking, are beautiful people always happier people? For example, it must be a problem to be a really beautiful woman, because some people may be more interested in looking at you than talking to you. They think of you as a picture rather than a person.
Some people think that women who are exceptionally(格外地) pretty and men who are particularly handsome must be stupid. They believe that only unattractive(无魅力的) people can be intelligent.
On the other hand, no one wants to be really ugly, and have a face that even your mother doesn’t want to look at; and no one wants to plain, either—that is, to be neither attractive nor unattractive, and have a face that is easily forgotten. Being attractive is like being rich. It can help you find happiness, but it doesn’t always make you happy.
So maybe the best thing is not to worry too much about how you look, but simply try to be an interesting person. For interesting people have interesting faces and interesting faces are almost always attractive.
1. It’s always easy to be happy for a beautiful woman.2. No one likes to talk to a very pretty woman.
3. Some people think that handsome men are unintelligent.
4. A plain face is easily forgotten.
5. The writer advises readers to pay more attention to how they look.
1. If you want to visit Big Ben(大本钟), you should travel to ______
| A．Rome | B．London | C．Beijing | D．Canberra |
| A．one country | B．two countries |
| C．three countries | D．four countries |
| A．Australia and Britain aren’t English—speaking countries. |
| B．Rome is a city in Southern Europe. |
| C．Canberra is the capital of Italy. |
| D．China is a country with the smallest population. |
【推荐3】Recently I had a trip to Sydney with my parents.We visited the Wildlife Park.
The Wildlife Park has lots of different animals.Some are native(当地的) to Australis and can only be found there.There are more than 500 animals there,including kangaroos,koalas(考拉)and crocodiles(鳄鱼).They are kept in their natural environment.I like the Wildlife Park better than a zoo.In zoos,most of the animals are in cages(笼子).
We first spent some time with the kangaroos.We could touch and feel them.It was very exciting to be so close to them.There were koalas there too.They looked very cuddly(令人想拥抱的)。Although we couldn’t carry koalas,I could take a photo with one.It is a wonderful souvenir(纪念品) of my holiday in Sydney.
The Wildlife Park has plenty of freshwater crocodiles and saltwater crocodiles.Some of them are very big and scary(吓人的)with huge teeth! I did not want to get too close to them.
There was also a bird show.The keepers(饲养员)showed us different species(种类)of birds.I saw an old parrot(鹦鹉).It could "talk" and made a great impression on me.
I enjoy the trip very much.There was so much to see.
1. The Wildlife Park is _________| A．in Sydney. | B．in Cairo. | C．in Athens. | D．in Rome. |
| A．A parrot that could talk. | B．A chance to feed a koala. |
| C．A photo with a koala. | D．Food for the kangaroos. |
| A．They lived in water. |
| B．The writer was afraid of them. |
| C．The writer did not want to feed them. |
| D．The writer did not like the smell of saltwater |
| A．The kangaroos are kept in cages in the Wildlife Park. |
| B．The writer traveled to the Wildlife Park alone. |
| C．The writer went to see koalas first. |
| D．The writer watched a bird show |
| A．bored. | B．unhappy. | C．excited. | D．hopeless. |
【推荐1】“Do you want a hug?” the young man asked Ginny. He held a sign in his hand-Free Hugs! I looked around. There were other people with him. They all held their handmade signs high. The message was the same on all of them-Free Hugs!
“Sure!” Ginny smiled and walked up to him. She reached up, wrapped her arms around his neck, pulled him down to her level and hugged him with all the love she had in her heart. “Wow.” he said. “that is the best bug I've had all day !” “I'm a hugger,” Ginny smiled at him. He looked at me. “How about a hug?” he asked. “You got it!” I walked into his open arms. We held for a short time and parted. A young lady walked up and hugged Ginny. She turned to me, opened her arms and hugged me, too.
I felt warmth filling my heart. Ginny and I were going through hard times. Money was not enough and bill collectors called regularly. We were stressed and worried, but on that afternoon, for a moment, it was all forgotten.
Sometimes, a hug is all we need. “The Free Hugs Movement was to reach out and hug a stranger to brighten up their lives,” said the young man. In an age short of human contact, the effects of the free hugs became more and more surprising. Without considering the differences of people's social positions, sexes, and jobs and so on, everyone gets equal care, greetings, smile and warmth from someone else. In fact, hugging is not the object of this activity. Instead, it is only one of the ways to express love to other people.
1. What is the aim of the Free Hugs Movement?| A．To reach out and hug a stranger to brighten up their lives. |
| B．To get warmth from other people so that we feel better. |
| C．To get to know more people and make friends with them. |
| D．To learn to love and care about only our family and our friends. |
| A．Now, it is a time when people never contact with each other. |
| B．Now, it is a time when people are too short to contact with each other. |
| C．Now, it is a time when people contact with each other in person more often. |
| D．Now, it is a time when people contact with each other in person less often. |
| A．Hugging is the only way we express love to other people. |
| B．Hugging is the final object of The Free Hugs Movement. |
| C．I felt warmth filling my heart after the young lady hugged me. |
| D．A young lady hugged Ginny and they soon became good friends. |
| A．It's hard. | B．It's silly. | C．It's warm. | D．It's worrying. |
Do you like to study in the living room? This is not a good place, because it is usually too noisy. You need to study in a quiet place , like your bedroom. A quiet place will help you only to think about one thing.
When you study , do not think about other things at the same time . Only think about your homework. If you do so, you will do your homework more quickly, and you will make fewer mistakes（错误）.
Good study habits are very important. If you do not have them, try to learn them. If yours are good, try to make them better.
1. We may ________ if we study in the living room.
| A．do our homework quickly |
| B．make a lot of mistakes in our homework |
| C．remember words easily |
| D．spend little time doing much work |
| A．sing a song |
| B．watch TV |
| C．talk with somebody |
| D．only think about homework |
| A．study hard | B．remember new words |
| C．study well | D．use our heads |
| A．Reading English among a lot of people . |
| B．Thinking only about maths in a maths class. |
| C．Drawing pictures while listening to the teacher. |
| D．Thinking in Chinese while talking in English. |
【推荐3】Do you know what an English first name means? Do you want a good name for your baby boy? Here is a list of British, American and Australian first names for boys and you can know what they mean. Then you can choose a meaningful name for your baby boy.
Name | Meaning | Name | Meaning |
| Albert | bright | Bond | farmer |
| Austin | helpful | Bryant | strong |
| Blaine | thin | Byron | bear |
| Curt | short or little | Dave | beloved |
| Douglas | dark | George | farmer |
1. Which name means “bear”?
| A．Austin. | B．Bryant. | C．Byron. | D．Albert. |
| A．Bryant and George. | B．Blaine and Albert. |
| C．Dave and Douglas. | D．Bond and George. |
| A．American first names for boys | B．Australian first names for boys |
| C．First names for boys and their meanings. | D．Boys’ English names. |
| A．girls. | B．boys. | C．parents. | D．teachers. |
