1 . If you’ve ever emerged from the shower or returned from walking your dog with a clever idea or a solution to a problem you’d been struggling with, it may not be an unusual thing.
Rather than constantly wearing yourself out at a problem or desperately seeking a flash of inspiration, research from the last 15 years suggests that people may be more likely to have creative breakthroughs or insights when they’re doing a habitual task that doesn’t require much thought — an activity in which you’re basically on autopilot. This lets your mind wander or engage in spontaneous cognition or “stream of consciousness” thinking, which experts believe helps recollect unusual memories and generate new ideas.
“People always get surprised when they realize they get interesting, novel ideas at unexpected times because our cultural narrative tells us we should do it through hard work,” says Kalina Christoff, a cognitive neuroscientist at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver. “It’s a pretty universal human experience.”
Now we’re beginning to understand why these clever thoughts occur during more passive activities and what’s happening in the brain, says Christoff. The key, according to the latest research, is a pattern of brain activity — within what’s called the default mode network — that occurs while an individual is resting or performing habitual tasks that don’t require much attention.
Researchers have shown that the default mode network (DMN) — which connects more than a dozen regions of the brain — becomes more active during mind-wandering or passive tasks than when you’re doing something that demands focus. Simply put, the DMN is “the state the brain returns to when you’re not actively engaged,” explains Roger Beaty, a cognitive neuroscientist and director of the Cognitive Neuroscience of Creativity Lab at Penn State University. By contrast, when you’re trapped in a demanding task, the brain’s executive control systems keep your thinking focused, analytical, and logical.
A cautionary note: While the default mode network plays a key role in the creative process, “it’s not the only important network,” Beaty says. “Other networks come into play as far as modifying, rejecting, or implementing ideas.” So it’s unwise to place blind faith in ideas that are generated in the shower or during any other period of mind wandering.
1. When do people expect to get an innovative idea according to the research?| A．When doing routine work. |
| B．When working attentively. |
| C．When tackling tough problems. |
| D．When desperately seeking inspirations. |
| A．Getting by good luck. |
| B．Getting by great efforts. |
| C．Getting by unexpected accident. |
| D．Getting by universal experience. |
| A．A student who is playing football. |
| B．A student who is focusing on papers. |
| C．A student who is closely monitoring his research. |
| D．A student who is fully engaged in math questions. |
| A．We can get novel ideas by the default mode network. |
| B．We should take the idea popped in the shower seriously. |
| C．Believe in ideas that are generated by the default mode network. |
| D．Think twice before putting ideas playfully crossing your mind into practice. |
2 . Public distrust of scientists stems in part from the blurring of boundaries between science and technology, between discovery and manufacture. Most governments, perhaps all governments, justify public expenditure on scientific research in terms of the economic benefits the scientific enterprise has brought in the past and will bring in the future. Politicians remind their voters of the splendid machines “our scientists” have invented, the new drugs to relieve old disorders, and the new surgical equipment and techniques by which previously unmanageable conditions may now be treated and lives saved. At the same time, the politicians demand of scientists that they tailor their research to “economics needs”, and that they award a higher priority to research proposals that are “near the market” and can be translated into the greatest return on investment in the shortest time. Dependent, as they are, on politicians for much of their funding, scientists have little choice but to comply. Like the rest of us, they are members of a society that rates the creation of wealth as the greatest possible good. Many have reservations, but keep them to themselves in what they perceive as a climate hostile to the pursuit of understanding for its own sake and the idea of an inquiring, creative spirit.
In such circumstances no one should be too hard on people who are suspicious of conflicts of interest. When we learn that the distinguished professor assuring us of the safety of a particular product holds a consultancy with the company making it, we cannot be blamed for wondering whether his fee might conceivably cloud his professional judgment. Even if the professor holds no consultancy with any firm, some people may still distrust him because of his association with those who do, or at least wonder about the source of some of his research funding.
This attitude can have damaging effects. It questions the integrity of individuals working in a profession that prizes intellectual honesty as the supreme virtue, and plays into the hands of those who would like to discredit scientists by representing them as corruptible. This makes it easier to dismiss all scientific pronouncements, but especially those made by the scientists who present themselves as “experts”. The scientist most likely to understand the safety of a nuclear reactor, for example, is a nuclear engineer, and a nuclear engineer is most likely to be employed by the nuclear industry. If a nuclear engineer declares that a reactor is unsafe, we believe him, because clearly it is not to his advantage to lie about it. If he tells us it is safe, on the other hand, we distrust him, because he may well be protecting the employer who pays his salary.
1. What is the chief concern of most governments when it comes to scientific research?| A．The decline of public expenditure. | B．Quick economic returns. |
| C．The budget for a research project. | D．Support from the voters. |
| A．They realize they work in an environment hostile to the free pursuit of knowledge. |
| B．They know it takes incredible patience to win support from the public. |
| C．They think compliance with government policy is in the interests of the public. |
| D．They are accustomed to keeping their opinions secrets to themselves. |
| A．some of them do not give priority to intellectual honesty |
| B．sometimes they hide the source of their research funding |
| C．they could be influenced by their association with the project concerned |
| D．their pronouncements often turn out to be short-sighted and absurd |
| A．Scientists themselves may doubt the value of their research findings. |
| B．It may wear out the enthusiasm of scientists for independent research. |
| C．It makes things more trivial for scientists to seek research funds. |
| D．People will not believe scientists even when they tell the truth. |
3 . Plants cannot run or hide, so they need other strategies to avoid being eaten. Some curl up their leaves, others produce chemicals to make themselves taste bad if they sense animals drooling on them, chewing them up or laying eggs on them—all signals of an attack. New research now shows some flora can feel a plant-eating animal well before it launches an attack, letting a plant prepare a preemptive（先发制人的）defense that even works against other pest species.
When ecologist John Orrock of the University of Wisconsin-Madison sprayed snail slime—a liquid the animals release as they slide along—onto soil, nearby tomato plants appeared to notice. They increased their levels of an enzyme（酶）, which is known to prevent plant-eating animals. “None of the plants were ever actually attacked,” Orrock says. “We just gave them cues that suggested an attack was coming, and that was enough to cause big changes in their chemistry.”
Initially Orrock found this defense worked against snails; in the latest study, his team measured the slimy warning’s impact on another potential threat. The investigators found that hungry caterpillars（毛虫）, which usually eat tomato leaves greedily, had no appetite for them after the plants were exposed to snail slime and activated their chemical resistance. This nonspecific defense may be a strategy that benefits the plants by further improving their overall possibilities of survival, says Orrock, who reported the results with his colleagues in March in Oecologia.
The finding that a snail’s approach can cause a plant response that affects a different animal made Richard Karban curious, a plant communications expert, who was not involved in the study. “It is significant that the plants are responding before being damaged and that these cues are having such far-ranging effects, ” Karban says. The research was comprehensive, he adds, but he wonders how the tomato plants felt chemicals in snail slime that never actually touched them.
“That’s the million-dollar question,” Orrock says. He hopes future research will make out the mechanisms that enable plants to sense these relatively distant cues.
1. John Orrock sprayed a liquid onto soil near tomato plants to ________.| A．make them grow better |
| B．give them a warning |
| C．keep plant-eating animals away |
| D．inform plant-eating animals of danger |
| A．To introduce another animal. |
| B．To confirm the result of the study. |
| C．To appeal to people to protect animals. |
| D．To analyze different resistance chemicals. |
| A．How tomato plants become aware of danger. |
| B．What the chemicals in the snail slime are. |
| C．Whether the research is of practical value. |
| D．What the finding of the research is. |
| A．Watchful Plants. | B．Greedy Animals. |
| C．A Snail’s Approach. | D．A Defense Attack. |
4 . I’m a TV show host. One Sunday, I took my 7-year-old daughter by the sea for lunch. On arriving at the beach, I saw JoJo, a rich man in the hotel business. We sat down to chat in an open-air cafe.
Suddenly our talk was interrupted (打断) by a stranger, who politely asked permission to speak to me. Often people want to tell me something about my TV show, when I’m out on the streets.
He asked to speak to me alone, so we stood a bit away from my table. He said, “I’m James, 35 years old, father of a 7-year-old girl, who’s very sick. She needs treatment abroad. The doctors said that if she was treated in the UK, she would probably survive. But I’m poor, so can you please help me?”
Speechless, I looked at the man whose eyes were full of tears and asked how I could help. After we talked for a while, I went to sit back at the table. JoJo asked me, “What’s wrong with you? Your face changed.” I told him. JoJo was sorry for this family and said I had the means through the media to help him. Later we headed off to our destinations.
All weekend I thought about James, his daughter and his family. I even thought about doing a special TV show to raise money for this sick child.
On Monday morning I was at the office after I finished hosting my show, when my assistant said a man needed to speak to me. It was JoJo. He walked into my office. JoJo is so busy with his hotel business that I never imagined he had time to come and see me at the studios.
“Please, call the man with the sick child and tell him that I’ll pay all the money for his sick daughter’s treatment,” JoJo said, with a cheque (支票) in his hand. “I’ve been married for 35 years. I wasn’t lucky enough to have a child. I want to help this child now.” I picked up the phone to call James.
Now James’ daughter is well and living a normal life. JoJo often visit her. I’m so happy that there are so many good people on earth.
1. Why did James ask the author for help?| A．He guessed the author knew many rich people. |
| B．He knew that the author was a rich person. |
| C．He thought the author could help him through the media. |
| D．He once got help from the author. |
| A．To support the author’s work. |
| B．To show his love for a child. |
| C．To show his sympathy for the poor. |
| D．To set a good example to other rich people. |
| A．Kind people are everywhere. |
| B．The media are powerful. |
| C．Famous hosts are always troubled. |
| D．Even the richest person is not always lucky |
5 . My name is Sara. When I was little, I played the drum. I also had a guitar. In fourth grade, I started playing the trombone(长号). I practised about four hours a week. All of this might not seem like a big deal for a lot of kids, but there's something about me that makes me a bit different from others. I was born without hands. Since I was about one year old, I've worn prosthetics(假肢).
This year, I got an invitation to join the high school marching band(行进乐队). I told my mum I wanted to do it. But I had an instructor who thought I would not be able to march in the band—not because it was a high school band and I was only in seventh grade, but probably because my body was different. All I wanted was to show that I could do it, so I joined the band. And it paid off!
Music gives me energy. That happens sometimes. One time I was so down. I didn't even want to get out of bed. Then I hit my MP3 player by accident. A song came on, and I got up and started dancing. It helped me say to myself, “OK, I can get through today.”
Around my musician friends, we all share the same problems, like working out how many beats there are in a measure(小节). I have a hard time counting the beats, but so do a lot of the other kids. It's a normal problem that we musicians share. When I'm with the band, I don't feel as different as I do in other situations. It's just another way that music makes me want to go on, and not to just sit down by myself and not care about life.
1. In what way is Sara different from other kids?| A．There's something wrong with her body. |
| B．She knows how to play many instruments. |
| C．She learned to play the drum at a very early age. |
| D．She kept playing the trombone for the longest hours. |
| A．said no at first | B．had no idea what to do |
| C．followed the instructor's advice | D．believed that she would make it |
| A．Bored. | B．Relaxed. |
| C．Tired. | D．Afraid. |
6 . Clara Daly was seated on an Alaska Airlines flight when a flight attendant asked a(n)
Clara, 15 at the time, pressed the call button. Then the flight attendant
Clara had been studying ASL for the past year to
“He didn’t need anything, He was
“Clara was such an angel,” a flight attendant told Alaska Airlines in a blog interview. “You could
Cook’s
| A．essential | B．simple | C．personal | D．urgent |
| A．know | B．learn | C．speak | D．love |
| A．investigated | B．considered | C．explained | D．assessed |
| A．sick | B．blind | C．lazy | D．energetic |
| A．travelling | B．sitting | C．playing | D．watching |
| A．in spite of | B．according to | C．regardless of | D．as for |
| A．go | B．connect | C．fight | D．help |
| A．arm | B．waist | C．palm | D．head |
| A．moved | B．fell | C．knelt | D．waited |
| A．Gently | B．Slightly | C．Hardly | D．Abruptly |
| A．came out | B．came by | C．came across | D．came about |
| A．visit | B．attempt | C．journey | D．ride |
| A．desperate | B．calm | C．lonely | D．proud |
| A．hour | B．day | C．time | D．second |
| A．education | B．vacation | C．campaign | D．future |
| A．instantly | B．frequently | C．gradually | D．barely |
| A．wrote | B．created | C．reminded | D．shared |
| A．excitement | B．kindness | C．caution | D．generosity |
| A．predict | B．grasp | C．clarify | D．tell |
| A．suggestion | B．reaction | C．appeal | D．preference |
7 . Cecilia Chiang, the chef and restaurant owner, was greatly known for introducing regional Chinese dishes to the United States. She helped change the way Americans think about Chinese cooking.
Chiang was born into a wealthy Shanghai family with two full-time chefs—one from the north and one from the south. In 1949 her family settled in Tokyo, opening a restaurant called the Forbidden City. But it was a 1960 trip in San Francisco that set Chiang on her dramatic journey to cooking fame. She was both shocked and amused by the food most Americans considered to be Chinese. “They think chop suey(杂烩) is the only thing we have in China,” she said with a laugh. “ What a shame.”
So Chiang was determined to open a high-end Chinese restaurant that served authentic Chinese food. “Everybody said, ‘You cannot make it. You cannot speak English. You don’t know anything.’” she recalled. In 1961 then, Chiang opened the Mandarin.
The restaurant wasn’t immediately successful. About a year after opening, the Mandarin received a mention from the San Francisco Chronicle (旧金山纪事报). The effect of the powerful writer’s positive comment was immediate. Tourists, dignitaries and celebrities(达官显贵)—from Mae West to John Lennon—flooded into the Mandarin for then -unfamiliar food like tea smoked duck twice cooked pork.
Though the Mandarin was closed years later, Cecilia Chiang’s DNA can be found all over American Chinese food. Her son founded the chain P.F. Chang’s and the son of one of her chefs founded Panda Express.
In early 2017, Chiang shared how she lived to be so old: “I always think about the better side, the good side of everything. I never think about, Oh, I’m going to fail. Oh, I cannot do this. Oh, I feel sorry for myself.” Instead, Chiang wrote books, starred in a PBS documentary series and won the most famous award in American cooking when she was 93 years old.
1. Cecilia Chiang opened the Mandarin in order to ________.| A．remember her 1960 trip in San Francisco |
| B．Serve real Chinese food to the Americans |
| C．Show her shock and amusement towards food |
| D．Continue her family tradition of running restaurants |
| A．It is in the charge of Chiang’s son now. |
| B．It wasn’t successful until two years later. |
| C．It turned out pretty popular among Americans. |
| D．It changed the way Americans think about China. |
| A．Talented and active. |
| B．Ambitious and selfless. |
| C．Optimistic and creative. |
| D．Positive and determined. |
8 . Randy Kraus was disabled. His left side was useless. He'd been a police officer before, and he was strong and able. Now, he felt he could do nothing.
His trouble started with Parkinson's disease, but it didn't end there. In July, 2002, the 60-year-old Kraus went into the hospital for an operation on his brain to control the shaking. But during the operation，he had a stroke. He was paralyzed. The doctor said, “You may never walk again and you might not even be able to talk.”
Kraus found that he couldn't lift a fork or take a drink by himself. Physical treatment was so painful and slow. What did he have to live for? So Kraus held the gun against his head. Feeling the cold metal on his skin, he began to consider the pain he would cause for his wife, daughters and grandchildren. He didn't pull the trigger (扳机)．
Andrew Garud, his exercise physiologist, told him, “You are where you are. The pace would be slow；the pain would be real. But as long as you are alive, you will have the ability to get better.”
After three months of working with Garud, Kraus wanted to see if he could stand.
He could. Then he took three steps, sat down and cried like a baby.
One step, as they say, led to another. Next he managed a short walk along the edge of a boxing ring (拳击台) in the health club. It was the hardest fight of Kraus's life. People at the gym cheered him on. Garud kept saying he could do more. Now, Kraus can brush his teeth，shave himself and get around the house with a walker. Only the disabled can fully understand little success.
1. According to the passage，we can learn that ________.| A．the stroke during the operation on his brain led to Kraus' disability |
| B．Kraus' operation in 2002 was performed by Andrew Garud |
| C．doing exercise can help cure Parkinson's disease |
| D．Kraus will lead a normal life as a healthy person in the future |
| A．Everyone in the world has the right to be alive. |
| B．It's necessary for people to do exercise to keep healthy. |
| C．One should try to lead a better life. |
| D．As long as a person is alive, he will have a chance to be better. |
| A．Optimism. | B．Strong mindedness. |
| C．Sympathy. | D．Generosity. |
9 . At 12, my father decided to take me on a trip to France. I had never been out of the country before, so I was very excited. My aunt, my father and I went around with my father showing us all the unbelievable sites in Paris. None of us spoke much French but we loved the city.
We had taken the subway all over the city and were congratulating ourselves on our mastering what is honestly an excellent subway design that is pretty easy to follow. We decided visit Versailles by train. We chatted happily along the way until my father realized we were into the French countryside and no one around spoke English.
We reached the end of the line and felt afraid when everyone finally left the train. An old man and his grandchild noticed us and came to help. He spoke no English, so in broken French we tried to explain. When he finally understood, this great man settled his grandson and showed us to the correct train and then boarded with us.
Later we knew the truth that there was a train transfer (转乘) and he didn't want us to miss it.
This kind man rode a train for an hour and a half out of his way to make sure that three Americans got where they wanted to be. He refused to let us pay for his ticket. He did it all with a gentle smile and patted our hands gently at the stop. Then in his quiet way, he boarded the train to return the way he had come.
What impressed me most was the man and his kindness during the amazing trip. Some Americans think the French are rude for some reason, but I always try to persuade them to change their minds with this very story.
1. What happened to the author and his family on the train?| A．They missed their stop. |
| B．They lost their packages. |
| C．They couldn't find the right line. |
| D．They argued over the nest destination. |
| A．By paying for their train tickets. |
| B．By showing them the returning way. |
| C．By inviting them to travel together. |
| D．By leading them to their place. |
| A．Travelling enriches one's life. |
| B．Being kind is a good manner. |
| C．Seeing is believing. |
| D．Helping others brings great pleasure. |
10 . I took a job as a receptionist for a pet doctor almost five decades ago. As an eager animal lover, I accepted the
At the end of my first week, we were closing the office for the day when a young man ran up to us holding a severely
That day forever
Fast-forward about a year. I walked into the clinic’s crowded waiting room and called the name of the next client.
I still tear up in
| A．solution | B．suggestion | C．position | D．registration |
| A．depression | B．pain | C．shock | D．anxiety |
| A．injured | B．damaged | C．frightened | D．wounded |
| A．admiring | B．applying | C．appreciating | D．begging |
| A．waiting | B．operating | C．meeting | D．dressing |
| A．impatiently | B．excitedly | C．tirelessly | D．effortlessly |
| A．awkward | B．easy | C．unique | D．tough |
| A．challenged | B．survived | C．delayed | D．suffered |
| A．changed | B．spared | C．devoted | D．ruined |
| A．assistant | B．advisor | C．audience | D．applicant |
| A．strong | B．broken | C．long | D．tiny |
| A．winner | B．cheater | C．loser | D．fighter |
| A．Obviously | B．Suddenly | C．Eventually | D．Gradually |
| A．erupted | B．slid | C．broke | D．evacuated |
| A．standing | B．sitting | C．lying | D．jumping |
| A．biting | B．striking | C．washing | D．exploring |
| A．joyful | B．stressful | C．graceful | D．sorrowful |
| A．confusion | B．curiosity | C．concentration | D．amazement |
| A．confidence | B．responsibility | C．gratitude | D．determination |
| A．always | B．often | C．ever | D．never |
