1 . Do you have a suit or dress in the closet that you haven’t worn for years but are reluctant to get rid of? Maybe you say, “I can’t throw that away because I paid good money for it?”. If you recognize this in yourself, then you are suffering from commitment to the sunk cost fallacy (谬论). It occurs when we feel that we have invested too much to quit. This psychological trap causes us to stick with a plan even if it no longer serves us and the costs clearly outweigh the benefits.
Arkes and Blumer conducted a survey showing that people are influenced by sunk cost fallacy in their decisions. Participants imagined spending $100 on a ski trip to Michigan and $50 on Wisconsin, realizing later they were for the same weekend. They were told Wisconsin would be more enjoyable. When asked which trip to take, 54% chose Michigan despite the reasonable choice being Wisconsin, because they had made a greater initial investment.
Sunk cost fallacy takes place when we let emotions cloud our decisions. Once we’ve invested in a choice, we feel guilt or regret if we don’t follow through. We fail to realize that past costs won’t be recovered. Instead, we base decisions on past costs, ignoring present and future costs and benefits. This may be due to loss aversion (厌恶), where losses feel worse than gains. We avoid losses, making choices based on avoiding the “loss” of our past investment instead of considering the benefits gained if we don’t continue our commitment.
No one can deny the fact that we benefit a lot from perseverance. So our society loves to emphasize perseverance. Never give up! Don’t waste. But only you know the right path for you. Sometimes walking away is the hardest choice of all. You might realize a path you’re on is no longer the right one or never was. That’s a painful realization.
1. What phenomenon does the author describe at the beginning of the text?| A．People benefit from sticking with a plan. | B．People’s consumption view has changed. |
| C．People refuse to give up the past commitment. | D．People’s clothes are becoming more expensive. |
| A．To save more of the loss. | B．To appear more reasonable. |
| C．To make a greater investment. | D．To enjoy more of themselves. |
| A．When we don’t follow through our choices. |
| B．When we don’t continue our commitment. |
| C．When we stop feeling guilty and regretful. |
| D．When we make decisions based on past costs emotionally. |
| A．Favorable. | B．Objective. | C．Doubtful. | D．Unclear. |
2 . Recent research has revealed that people with hearing loss are more likely to develop dementia (痴呆), yet only 15% to 25% of adults benefit from hearing aids. Hearing loss often comes on so gradually that many ignore it.
In July, at the annual meeting of the Alzheimer’s Association, Frank Lin from Johns Hopkins University presented results from a random clinical trial of 977 adults between 70 and 84 with untreated hearing loss. One group received good hearing care, including hearing aids, and another group took part in a program about successful aging. Three years later hearing aids didn’t make much difference to the healthiest participants. But those at the higher risk of dementia because of age and health conditions saw a 48% reduction in cognitive (认知的) worsening when they got hearing aids.
When hearing loss is untreated, the brain’s organization changes. Adults with hearing loss need to make extra efforts just to listen, which may overly consume cognitive reserves, says Anu Sharma of the University of Colorado. Hearing loss is also associated with more falls, higher healthcare costs, and increased loneliness. “Hearing is fundamental to healthy aging.” says Nicholas Reed, who worked with Lin on the cognitive-decline study.
These consequences of hearing loss contributed to the government’s decision last year to create a category of over-the-counter (非处方的) hearing aids. Traditional aids averaging $4,700 a pair aren’t covered by Medicare or private insurance. It’s too soon to assess whether the new devices will close the yawning gap between the large need for hearing aids and the smaller demand for them. In one survey, only about half of non-users said they would use hearing aids even if they were free. The key to getting around that dilemma will be “the common desire of wanting to hear well” and the sense that “everyone is doing it”, Lin says. If “wireless earbuds also become hearing aids, that changes the whole perspective of what it means to use hearing technology.”
1. What does the recent research find about people with hearing loss?| A．They can recover with the help of technology. | B．They can ignore the problem as they get older. |
| C．They have more chances of getting dementia. | D．They’re increasingly helped by the government. |
| A．Their aging process slowed owing to a program. | B．Hearing aids proved a help to cure their illness. |
| C．They saw a slight boost in their overall health. | D．Decline of their cognitive abilities was relieved. |
| A．Its cognitive reserves will be overused. | B．Its aging process will be slightly delayed. |
| C．Some of its functions will be in disorder. | D．Its fundamental abilities will be harmed. |
| A．Complicated. | B．Large. | C．Irreplaceable. | D．Appealing. |
3 . Plastic, which is now common, contains endocrine-disrupting chemicals, or EDCs (内分泌干扰物), that has been linked to increased risk of many chronic diseases. Parental exposure to EDCs, for example, has been shown to cause metabolic (新陈代谢的) disorders, including obesity and diabetes, in the later generations.
Led by Changcheng Zhou, a professor of biomedical sciences in the School of Medicine at the University of California, the researchers investigated the impact of fathers’ exposure to a phthalate called dicyclohexyl phthalate, or DCHP (邻苯二甲酸二环己酯), on the metabolic health of first generation (F1) and second generation (F2) in mice. Phthalates are chemicals used to make plastic more durable.
The researchers found that fathers’ DCHP exposure for four weeks led to high insulin (胰岛素) resistance and impaired insulin signaling in F1. The same effect, but weaker, was seen in F2 .
“We found fathers’ exposure to EDCs may have intergenerational and transgenerational detrimental effects on the metabolic health of their later generations, ”Zhou said. “To the best of our knowledge, our study is the first to demonstrate this.”
In the case of fathers’ exposure in the study, intergenerational effects are changes that occur due to direct exposure to a stressor, such as exposure to DCHP of fathers (F0 generation) and his F1 generation. Transgenerational effects are changes passed down to later generations that are not directly exposed to the stressor (for example, F2 generation).
“This suggests that fathers’ DCHP exposure can lead to sex-specific transgenerational effects on the metabolic health of their later generations,” Zhou said.
Zhou stressed that the impact of exposure to DCHP on human health is not well understood, even though DCHP is widely used in a variety of plastic products and has been detected in food, water, and indoor particulate matter.
“It’s best to minimize our use of plastic products,” Zhou said. “This can also help reduce plastic pollution, one of our most pressing environmental issues.”
1. Why are phthalates added to plastic?| A．To beautify it. | B．To make it long-lasting. |
| C．To reduce its cost. | D．To increase its weight. |
| A．Negative. | B．External. | C．Distinct. | D．Adventurous. |
| A．Bury plastic waste. | B．Watch out for the food they eat. |
| C．Use fewest plastic products. | D．Never produce plastic products. |
| A．Plastic contains endocrine disrupting chemicals |
| B．Plastic pollution is a pressing environmental issue |
| C．DCHP is widely used in a variety of plastic products |
| D．Chemicals in plastic may impact two generations’ health |
4 . Face blindness, a mystifying condition that can trick us into believing we recognize people we’ve never met or make us fail to recognize those we have, has been previously estimated to affect between 2 and 2.5 percent of people in the world.Now, a new study by researchers at Harvard Medical School (HMS) and the VA Boston Healthcare System is providing fresh insights into the disorder, suggesting it may be more common than currently believed.
Published in February 2023 in Cortex, the study findings indicate that as many as one in 33 people may meet the criteria for face blindness, or prosopagnosia (面孔失认症).“This translates to more than 10 million Americans,” the research team said.
The study found similar face-matching performance between people diagnosed with prosopagnosia using stricter vs looser criteria, suggesting that diagnostic criteria should be expanded to be more inclusive. That could lead to new diagnoses among millions who may have the disorder but don’t realize it.
The study results are based on a web-based questionnaire and tests administered to 3,341 individuals.First, the researchers asked participants whether they experience difficulties recognizing faces in their everyday lives.Then they administered two objective tests to determine whether they had difficulties learning new faces or recognizing highly familiar famous faces.
The results showed that 31 individuals out of the 3,341 had major prosopagnosia, while 72 of the 3,341 had a milder form. The researchers also observed that there were no neatly divided separate groups of people with poor or good ability to recognize faces. Rather, the ability to recognize faces appeared to lie on a continuum (连续体).
Finally, the researchers compared face-matching scores among people with prosopagnosia diagnosed using different criteria and found that using stricter diagnostic cutoffs did not correspond with lower face-matching scores.
In the new study, the researchers provide diagnostic suggestions for identifying mild and major forms of prosopagnosia based on guidelines for major and mild neurocognitive disorders in the DSM5, the 5th edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.
1. Which of the following indicates a person has face blindness?| A．Failing to identify his belongings. |
| B．Being able to recognize his friends. |
| C．Mistaking a stranger for an acquaintance. |
| D．Misunderstanding ones’ facial expressions. |
| A．Do you have trouble recognizing faces? |
| B．Do you know what face blindness means? |
| C．Do you know anybody with face blindness? |
| D．Do you experience difficulties in everyday life? |
| A．It came up based on the new study. |
| B．It has experienced four revisions. |
| C．It is only used to identify face blindness. |
| D．It participated in and funded the new study. |
| A．A fiction novel. | B．A fashion website. |
| C．A health brochure. | D．A science magazine. |
5 . My phone was an extension of myself. I couldn’t go anywhere
When I was watching TV shows or movies and there was a boring part, I
I have welcomed silence into my life with open arms and am enjoying the increased
As much as having a smartphone was
| A．through | B．without | C．despite | D．upon |
| A．updates | B．instructions | C．assessments | D．decisions |
| A．symbol | B．responsibility | C．reality | D．addiction |
| A．conscious | B．shameful | C．foolish | D．random |
| A．sell | B．pull | C．throw | D．mind |
| A．avoided | B．denied | C．missed | D．allowed |
| A．assist | B．improve | C．associate | D．occupy |
| A．requests | B．thoughts | C．directions | D．comments |
| A．instead of | B．regardless of | C．but for | D．apart from |
| A．creativity | B．productivity | C．knowledge | D．independence |
| A．routine | B．necessity | C．loneliness | D．temptation |
| A．genuine | B．grateful | C．direct | D．desperate |
| A．naturally | B．certainly | C．seemingly | D．gradually |
| A．wonder | B．imagination | C．interest | D．authenticity |
| A．depressive | B．comfortable | C．stressful | D．boring |
6 . In the days before the Internet, critical thinking was the most important skill of informed citizens. But in the digital age, according to Anastasia Kozyreva, a psychologist at the Max Planck Institute of Human Development, and her colleagues, an even more important skill is critical ignoring.
As the researchers point out, we live in an attention economy where content producers on the Internet compete for our attention. They attract us with a lot of emotional and eye-catching stories while providing little useful information, so they can expose us to profit-generating advertisements. Therefore,we are no longer customers but products, and each link we click is a sale of our time and attention. Toprotect ourselves from this, Kozyreva advocates for learning the skill of critical ignoring, in which readers intentionally control their information environment to reduce exposure to false and low-quality information.
According to Kozyreva, critical ignoring comprises three strategies. The first is to design ourenvironments, which involves the removal of low-quality yet hard-to-resist information from around. Successful dieters need to keep unhealthy food out of their homes. Likewise, we need to set up a digital environment where attention-grabbing items are kept out of sight. As with dieting, if one tries to bank onwillpower not to click eye-catching “news”, he’ll surely fail. So, it’s better to just keep them out of sightto begin with.
The next is to evaluate the reliability of information, whose purpose is to protect you from false and misleading information. It can be realized by checking the source in the mainstream news agencies which have their reputations for being trustworthy.
The last goes by the phrase “do not feed the trolls.” Trolls are actors who internationally spread false and hurtful information online to cause harm. It may be appealing to respond to them to set the facts straight, but trolls just care about annoying others rather than facts. So, it’s best not to reward their bad behaviour with our attention.
By sharpening our critical ignoring skills in these ways, we can make the most of the Internet while avoiding falling victim to those who try to control our attention, time, and minds.
1. What can we learn about the attention economy from paragraph 2?| A．It offers little information. | B．It features depressing stories. |
| C．It saves time for Internet users. | D．It seeks profits from each click. |
| A．To discuss the quality of information |
| B．To prove the benefits of healthy food. |
| C．To show the importance of environments. |
| D．To explain the effectiveness of willpower. |
| A．Reveal their intention. | B．Turn a deaf ear to them. |
| C．Correct their behaviour. | D．Send hard facts to them. |
| A．Reasons for critical thinking in the attention economy. |
| B．Practising the skill of critical ignoring in the digital age. |
| C．Maximizing the benefits of critical ignoring on the Internet. |
| D．Strategies of abandoning critical thinking for Internet users |
7 . We may weep for the dodo, but could and should we bring this lovely bird back from the dead? De-extinction is the science of restoring lost species and it has been in the news for decades.
The story in modern times began in 1990 when Michael Crichton published his science fiction novel Jurassic Park, in which he imagined a world where scientists were able to bring dinosaurs back to life. Crichton imagined that polymerase chain reaction (PCR) technology could be a way to amplify (放大) tiny quantities of dinosaur DNA and thus build a living embryo.
Sadly, biologists soon realized that DNA in fact breaks down super-fast; even after 100 years, DNA from museum skins of dodos was decayed (腐烂) beyond repair. They could be sequenced (测定序列) using massive computational power, but then only with considerable uncertainty. And even if you capture a DNA sequence, there’s still the problem of how you get living cells to read that sequence and express proteins that make the dinosaur or the dodo.
But why would anyone want to see mammoths, or something like them, roaming (漫游) present-day Siberia? Well, they were undoubtedly amazing beasts. As well as hunting them, our distant ancestors painted their likenesses in caves across Europe. Fascinating as they may be, there's some ecological justification for the project too.
It was this diversity of land surface, broken up by heavy limbs and randomly fertilised by faeces (排泄物), that supported so much flora (植物群). Without the mammoths, that diversity disappeared. Return them and landscapes would once again be with a variety of species, including flowers and bushes.
True, it’s not de-extinction in the sense of bringing a long-dead species back to life. Instead it’s more like making a “dodo” by engineering a modern pigeon, its closest relative, to become huge and flightless. The result would be a big, fatty pigeon that, whether it looked like a dodo or not, would probably fulfil some of its ecological roles.
As a palaeontologist, I would of course love to see living dinosaurs, mammoths and dodos. In some ways, though, I am relieved that the optimistic claims for cloning and genetic technologies have not been borne out. The slowdown gives us time to consider the outcomes—and hopefully avoid some of Michael Crichton’s more fevered imaginings.
1. What is paragraph 2 of the text mainly about?| A．A science fiction review. | B．The development of DNA. |
| C．An inspired guess of de-extinction. | D．The application of PCR technology. |
| A．DNA is hard to keep for long. | B．Computational power is limited. |
| C．Biologists are opposed to it. | D．Living cells cant be sequenced. |
| A．They expect to seek hunt fun. | B．They lack sources of modern art. |
| C．They need them for research. | D．They want to see biodiversity. |
| A．Cautious. | B．Unclear. | C．Dismissive. | D．Approving. |
8 . I’ve reached the turn-around point of the day’s kayaking (皮划艇) trip. Sweat runs down my cheek as I
Solo outings had never
In October 2022, I decided to
Pride
Adventuring alone has become like medicine for me! It’s also pushed me to go
| A．dip | B．raise | C．point | D．slip |
| A．exhausting | B．awesome | C．surprising | D．terrible |
| A．crossed | B．lost | C．cleared | D．occupied |
| A．available | B．crucial | C．tough | D．common |
| A．admissions | B．circumstances | C．connections | D．relationships |
| A．bring up | B．take up | C．pull up | D．put up |
| A．appreciate | B．collect | C．cut | D．sweep |
| A．ashamed | B．scared | C．aware | D．tired |
| A．time | B．effort | C．room | D．money |
| A．myth | B．regulation | C．definition | D．truth |
| A．pulled | B．looked | C．coursed | D．carried |
| A．occasionally | B．initially | C．constantly | D．instantly |
| A．visited | B．swam | C．rowed | D．admired |
| A．within | B．into | C．beyond | D．through |
| A．emerged | B．ballooned | C．surrounded | D．encountered |
9 . Scientists at the Sanxingdui Ruins in southwest China’s Sichuan Province continue to unearth over 500 relics from an ancient Chinese civilization that dates back over 3,000 years.
The findings unearthed in June include a fully preserved gold mask, which stands at 37. 2cm wide and16. 5cm tall. The new gold mask reminded people of the one found in March, which was far more damaged. Scientists said the gold mask is the largest, and most well preserved, of similar golden relics discovered at the Sanxingdui Ruins, and it is consistent with the idea that gold was important to people of the area called the Shu state.
The gold mask has similar facial features to bronze statues discovered in the area. It has large eyes covering much of the face, a big nose, huge ears and a flat, wide mouth. The strange facial features led some people to suggest they were aliens. However, Wang Wei, the director of the Institute of Archaeology at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, explained, “There is no chance that Sanxingdui belongs to an alien civilization. These wide-eyed masks look strange because the makers wanted to copy the look of deities (神灵). They shouldn’t be considered as the look of everyday people.”
Besides the mask, other discoveries included bronze statues, a knife made out of jade and a series of relics made of ivory, among many others. Many of the bronze relics are brand new discoveries and unique to anything found before in China. Chinese scientists said they are highly detailed, with statues showing facial features that fit well with the gold mask, which make them as valuable resources for the research of ancient Shu and give better perceptiveness about the ancient Shu state, home to a mysterious civilization until the recent discoveries proved its existence. Chinese scientists believe they are entering a “key stage” and expect to find a series of relics that will change how people think about ancient China.
1. What do we know about the gold mask from paragraph 2?| A．It was discovered in March. |
| B．It was the first to be dug at the site. |
| C．It is the most complete relic ever discovered. |
| D．It is the largest size of its kind unearthed at the site. |
| A．The significance of the gold mask. |
| B．The characteristics of the gold mask. |
| C．The findings in the Sanxingdui Ruins. |
| D．The digging process of the Sanxingdui Ruins. |
| A．Insight. | B．Civilization. |
| C．Development. | D．Introduction. |
| A．An Ancient Shu State Was Newly Discovered |
| B．Mysterious Sanxingdui Ruins Reveal More Relics |
| C．Sichuan Province Is the Birthplace of a New Civilization |
| D．New Sanxingdui Ruins Catch the Attention of Chinese scientists |
10 . In just a few decades the United States could eliminate fossil fuels and rely 100 percent on clean, renewable energy. That’s the vision of Mark Jacobson, a Stanford engineering professor who has produced a state-by-state road map of how the country could rid itself of coal, oil, natural gas, and nuclear power.
By 2050, Jacobson expects the nation’s transportation network—cars, ships, airplanes—to run on batteries or hydrogen produced from electricity. He sees the winds blowing across the Great Plains powering vast stretches of the country’s middle while the burning sun helps electrify the Southwest. “There’s no state that can’t do this,” Jacobson says.
Today only 13% of U.S. electricity comes from renewables. Jacobson’s goal would be one of the nation’s most ambitious undertakings. This transformation would cost roughly $15 trillion, or $47,000 for each American, for building and installing systems that produce and store renewable energy.
What would it take? Seventy-eight million rooftop solar systems, nearly 49,000 commercial solar plants, 156,000 offshore wind turbines (风力涡轮机), plus wave-energy systems. Land-based wind farms would need 328,000 turbines, each with blades longer than a football field. These farms would occupy as much land as North Carolina.
For now, he says, prospects are encouraging. Thanks in part to government funding and large-scale production, costs are falling. The amount of power generated nationwide by wind and solar increased 15-fold each between 2003 and 2013. This summer the US President moved to reduce carbon emissions from coal-fired power plants, and Hawaii committed to having all its electricity provided by renewables by 2045.
Still, many experts aren’t convinced. “It has zero chance,” Stephen Brick, an energy fellow with the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, says of Jacobson’s plan. Political, regulatory, and social barriers are huge, especially in a nation where the energy systems—and much of its political influence—is rooted in the oil, gas, and coal industries. Some critics are concerned about whether the resulting grid (输电网) would be reliable. And neighborhood battles would likely occur over wind farms and solar plants. Even outspoken scientist James Hansen, who warned the government a quarter century ago about climate change, insists that nuclear power is essential to rid the country of fossil fuels.
Yet Jacobson’s work at least offers a starting point. Scientists and policymakers may keep arguing about solutions, but as President points out, the nation must continue its march toward a clean-energy future—even if it’s not yet clear how that will look in 35 years. “If we don’t do it,” he said this summer, “nobody will.”
1. Which of the following does Professor Mark Jacobson engage in?| A．Organizing projects to build and install solar energy systems state by state. |
| B．Persuading the U.S. President to realize his renewable energy goal. |
| C．Outlining a plan detailing how energy in the U.S. could be carbon free by 2050. |
| D．Arguing about opportunities and obstacles of his plan. |
| A．The huge investment in solar and wind projects. | B．The solid foundation of traditional energy systems. |
| C．The job losses in oil and coal industries. | D．The inevitable land-use battles between states. |
| A．at least one state of the U.S. will not use fossil fuels to generate electricity by 2050 |
| B．developing clean-energy industry will drive the world’s market |
| C．fossil fuels will soon be eliminated in the U.S. |
| D．there will be no vacant land for wind farms |
| A．The Coexistence of Fossil Fuels and Renewables |
| B．A Blueprint for a Carbon Free America |
| C．One Man’s Dream: Determination and Innovation in Energy Future |
| D．Professor and his Solar and Wind Technology |
