1 . Time and how we experience it have always puzzled us. Physicists have created fascinating theories, but their time is measured by a pendulum (钟摆) and is not psychological time, which leaps with little regard to the clock or calendar. As someone who understood the distinction observed, “When you sit with a nice girl for two hours it seems like a minute, but when you sit on a hot stove, a minute seems like two hours.”
Psychologists have long noticed that larger units of time, such as months and years, fly on swifter wings as we age. They also note that the more time is structured with schedules and appointments, the more rapidly it seems to pass. For example, a day at the office flies compared with a day at the beach.
Expectation and familiarity also make time seem to flow more rapidly. Almost all of us have had the experience of driving somewhere we’ve never been before. Surrounded by unfamiliar scenery, with no real idea of when we’ll arrive, we experience the trip as if lasting a long time. But the return trip, although exactly as long, seems to take far less time. The novelty of the outward journey has become routine.
When days become as similar as beads (小珠子) on a string, they mix together, and even months become a single day. To counter this, try to find ways to interrupt the structure of your day — to stop time, so to speak.
Learning something new is one of the ways to slow the passage of time. One of the reasons the days of our youth seems so full and long is that these are the days of learning and discovery. For many of us learning ends when we leave school, but this doesn’t have to be.
1. What can we know about time from Paragraph 1?| A．Physical time has little to do with the calendar. |
| B．Physical time is distinct from psychological time. |
| C．Time should not be measured by a pendulum. |
| D．Psychological time is quite more fascinating. |
| A．A day spent exploring something unknown. |
| B．Staying with a person who you dislike. |
| C．A day packed with appointments to handle. |
| D．Driving to a new place for the first time. |
| A．Unfamiliarity. | B．Excitement. | C．Imagination. | D．Amusement. |
| A．To show the difference between physical and psychological time. |
| B．To explain why time flies and how to slow it down psychologically. |
| C．To describe how most of us experience time psychologically. |
| D．To give various explanations about fascinating time theories. |
2 . When you think of a map, is north on the top or the bottom? Usually, maps are designed with north on top, though when we think about it, there is no logical reason for this bias (偏见). After all, there is no up or down in space. So what is wrong with south, east or west being on the top of the map? The answer is: nothing at all. In fact, north-up maps only became the norm in the last few hundred years.
Ancient Egyptian maps had south at the top because the Nile River flows downhill from mountains in the south to the Mediterranean Sea in the north. Mecca was to the south of most early Muslim civilizations, and south-up maps were designed so that viewers would look up to see Mecca. Medieval Christian maps had east at the top, as they believed the Garden of Eden was in the east. The only early maps that had north at the top were those of early China because the emperor lived in the north.
North seems to have settled at the top of maps during the 16th century, largely thanks to a Flemish mapmaker, Mercator. Mercator was a great admirer of an early Greek mapmaker, who, for reasons now unknown, put north at the top of maps, so Mercator did, too. When Mercator’s world map became the standard map to navigate the oceans, north up became standard as well.
What is the implication of this north-view of the world? Psychologically, people tend to think of up as good and down as bad. Just think of words and phrases like “upmarket”, “upbeat” and “moving up in the world”, and how they contrast with their opposites. Because north is so consistently put at the top of maps, people now think of north as good, too.
Several attempts have been made in recent years by introducing south-up maps to the market. These maps not only give us a chance to see the world differently, but also give everyone the chance to see themselves on top.
1. What can we learn from the first two paragraphs?| A．North-up maps were rare in ancient times. |
| B．Deciding up or down in space is ridiculous. |
| C．Mecca maps were based on a legend. |
| D．The south-up map first appeared in ancient Egypt. |
| A．An illogical reason. | B．The spread of Mercator’s maps. |
| C．People’s preference for up. | D．An age-old tradition in Greece. |
| A．Cautious. | B．Supportive. | C．Uncaring. | D．Disapproving. |
| A．To criticize a phenomenon. | B．To compare various facts. |
| C．To correct a cultural bias. | D．To argue for a viewpoint. |
3 . On June 15, the 100-day countdown to the Hangzhou Asian Games, the medal of the 19th Asian Games was released. The medal of the 19th Asian Games is named Shan Shui, which is another core (核心) element of the Asian Games, along with the official emblem (徽章) Tides Surging, mascots Congcong, Chenchen, Lianlian, color system Meeting the World and torch Eternal Flame. It is an important addition to the overall aesthetic (审美) of the event.
Shan Shui is characterized by the ceremonial jade (玉) Cong in the Liangzhu Culture(5,300BC-4,300BC). This square jade, integrated with a round medal, is truly unique and highly recognizable.
Shan Shui presents the geographical features of Hangzhou. By using noticeable lines, the picture scroll of Hangzhou is outlined on the front side of the medal with misty hills on three sides and the city on one side, a rippling lake, and wavelike mountains beyond. The back side is shaped like a square seal, which means the athletes leave a beautiful mark on the Hangzhou Asian Games,
Shan Shui expresses the character of Hangzhou as the capital of ecological civilization, with natural landscape, clear water and green hills, creating invaluable assets, casting gold and silver medals.
Shan Shui shows the sportsmanship of climbing the heights. Reaching the top, one will become even higher. On the way to the summit, athletes strive hard, challenge themselves, and overcome one peak after another.
The medal will be made by painting, milling, trimming and polishing, gold and silver plating effect treatment, and protection treatment. The medal ribbon (绶带) will be hand-sewn on both sides using weave technology and environmentally friendly printing techniques. The bridge shaped buckle at the top of the ribbon highlights the Jiangnan characteristics of the water town and the bridge town. The linking method adopts the raw ear structure of the spring buckle shaft (弹簧扣轴) to fix the ribbon inside the medal.
1. Why is the medal of the Hangzhou Asian Games named Shan Shui?| A．It is another core element of the 19th Asian Games. |
| B．It represents the overall aesthetic of the event. |
| C．It features the city’s geographical and ecological elements. |
| D．It is specially characterized by the ceremonial jade Cong. |
| A．Strive hard to unite people. | B．Live in harmony with nations. |
| C．Leave a beautiful impression. | D．Bravely challenge the new heights. |
| A．The processing techniques. | B．The weave technology. |
| C．The printing techniques. | D．The linking method. |
| A．Countdown: the Hangzhou Asian Games on the way |
| B．Official emblems: the core of the 19th Asian Games |
| C．Liangzhu Culture: the unique culture to be recognized |
| D．Shan Shui: the medal of the 19th Asian Games known |
4 . Many people believe that working to the maximum is the secret to success, but new research has found that moderation (适度) also gets results on the job.
In a study led by Ellen Langer of Harvard University, researchers asked people to translate sentences into a new made-up language. Subjects who practiced the language moderately beforehand made fewer errors than those who practiced extensively or not at all. High levels of knowledge can make people too attached to traditional ways of viewing problems across fields, the arts, sciences, and politics. High carefulness is related to lower job performance, especially in simple jobs where it doesn’t pay to be a perfectionist.
How long we stay on the clock and how we spend that time are under careful examination in many workplaces. The young banker who eats lunch at his desk is probably seen as a go-getter, while his colleagues who chat over a relaxed conference-room meal get dirty looks from the corner office. “People from cultures that value relationships more than ours does are shocked by the thought of eating alone in front of a computer”, says Art Markman, a professor of psychology at the University of Texas, Austin. Social interaction has been shown to lift mood and get people thinking in new directions and in ways that could help improve any post-lunch effort.
Markman also promotes off-task time. “Part of being a good thinker is experiencing things that are seemingly unrelated to what you are working on at the moment but give you fresh ideas about your work,” he says. “Also, there is a lot of research showing that a positive mood leads to higher levels of productivity and creativity. So, when people do things to increase their life satisfaction, they also make themselves more effective at work.”
1. What does Ellen Langer’s study show?| A．It is worthwhile to be a perfectionist |
| B．Translation makes people knowledgeable. |
| C．Moderate effort makes for the best result. |
| D．Simple jobs call for being highly careful. |
| A．She is determined to succeed. | B．She can address bank problems. |
| C．He enjoys eating lunch at table. | D．He is popular with his coworkers. |
| A．A good thinker is able to inspire other people. |
| B．A cheerful mood helps make a creative mind. |
| C．Experience unrelated to your job is useless. |
| D．Focusing on what you do raises productivity. |
| A．Harmony in the workplace. | B．Balance between work and family. |
| C．Long-standing workplace culture. | D．Middle-of-the-road work habits. |
5 . A homeless man rescued all the animals at a shelter after it caught on fire, which made a local headline news. Hamlin, the
Keith Walker, 53, a homeless man,
“I was nervous as hell. I was really
“He is my guardian angel (天使),” Hamlin told the media. “Even the firefighters didn’t want to
Hamlin
Walker was on his way to
“
| A．tailor | B．founder | C．donator | D．conductor |
| A．risked | B．gave | C．lost | D．put |
| A．tied | B．limited | C．trapped | D．attached |
| A．thrilled | B．upset | C．annoyed | D．scared |
| A．walked | B．rushed | C．slid | D．squeezed |
| A．without | B．beyond | C．except | D．with |
| A．Before | B．Since | C．Until | D．While |
| A．spot | B．search | C．handle | D．touch |
| A．putting out | B．pulling out | C．pushing out | D．digging out |
| A．previously | B．eventually | C．independently | D．fortunately |
| A．find | B．protect | C．keep | D．train |
| A．put up | B．hold up | C．take up | D．pick up |
| A．Despite | B．Though | C．In face of | D．With |
| A．surprise | B．relief | C．understanding | D．disappointment |
| A．fighter | B．employee | C．partner | D．hero |
6 . Samantha Whiting, from Texas, USA, was on holiday with her family in California earlier this year when every parent’s worst nightmare came to life.
While playing on the beach, Samantha spotted her 10-year-old daughter Hayley drifting out into deeper water. She called Hayley back to shore, only for the youngster to realise she was caught in the rip current (离岸流) and couldn’t swim back in. The current was dragging her out to sea rapidly and she called for her mum to help her as Samantha desperately tried to reach her little girl. “I will never forget her face when she said, ‘Mum, help me!’” Samantha told KFSN, recalling the terror in her daughter’s voice. She managed to reach her daughter but wasn’t able to swim her back to shore and the pair were struggling.
Nearby, Kevin Cozzi and his girlfriend heard the screaming. He quickly jumped into action when he realized Hayley was in danger. “I’ve been swimming since I was 3 years old competitively, so I felt like I could get to them,” Cozzi told KFSN. “I ran out there and as soon as I got to the mum, I just told her to give me her daughter because I knew she was struggling.” He swam Hayley back to shore and a lifeguard rushed to help the 10-year-old, meanwhile Samantha was thanking the total stranger who had saved her little girl from drowning.
“If it were not for him coming to help me, there’s no way that we both would have made it, ” the grateful mum said.
Months went by, and Samantha only knew Cozzi’s first name and that he lived in Merced, California. However, she never stopped looking for the heroic bystander.
Earlier this week, she posted about the rescue in a Facebook group called Merced Neighborhood Watch, and within hours they reconnected.
Cozzi and his girlfriend had to put off their wedding because of COVID-19, and Samantha decided to set up a GoFund Me account to help Cozzi and his girlfriend have the wedding of their dreams. Both Samantha and Hayley have been invited to the wedding, set for next fall, and look forward to once again thanking Cozzi in person. Cozzi was thankful for their fundraiser, but told journalists, “That girl being saved was enough for me.”
1. What is the main cause of the daughter’s incident?| A．The rapid water current. | B．Parents’ carelessness. |
| C．Poor management on the beach. | D．Her lack of practice. |
| A．Samantha. | B．Kevin. | C．The lifeguard. | D．Kevin’s girlfriend. |
| A．Competitive. | B．Cooperative. | C．Ambitious. | D．Selfless. |
| A．Kindness will be rewarded. | B．Two heads are better than one. |
| C．Danger can happen everywhere. | D．Where there is a will, there is a way. |
7 . Sports account for a growing amount of income made on the sales of commercial time by television companies. Many television companies have used sports to attract viewers from particular sections of the general public, and then they have sold audiences to advertisers.
An attraction of sport programs for the major U.S. media companies is that events are often held on Saturday and Sunday afternoons—the slowest time periods of the week for general television viewing. Sport events are the most popular weekend programs, especially among male viewers who may not watch much television at other times during the week. This means the television networks are able to sell advertising time at relatively high prices during what normally would be dead time for programming.
Media corporations also use sports to attract commercial sponsors that might take their advertising dollars elsewhere if television stations did not report certain sports. The people in the advertising departments of major corporations realize that sports attract male viewers. They also realize that most business travelers are men and that many men make family decisions on the purchases of computers, cars and life insurance.
Golf and tennis are special cases for television programming. These sports attract few viewers, and the ratings (收视率) are unusually low. However, the audience for these sports is attractive to certain advertisers. It is made up of people from the highest income groups in the United States, including many lawyers and business managers. This is why television reporting of golf and tennis is sponsored by companies selling high-priced cars, business and personal computer, and holiday trips. This is also why the networks continue to carry these programs regardless of low ratings. Advertisers are willing to pay high fees to reach high-income consumers and those managers who make decisions to buy thousands of “company cars” and computer, with such viewers, these programs don’t need high ratings to stay on the air.
1. Why would weekend afternoons become dead time without sport programs?| A．Because there would be few viewers. |
| B．Because the advertisers would be off work. |
| C．Because television programs would go slowly. |
| D．Because viewers would pay less for watching television. |
| A．holiday | B．sports viewing | C．television shopping | D．expensive purchases |
| A．their advertisers are carmakers |
| B．their viewers are attracted by sports |
| C．their advertisers target at rich people |
| D．their viewers can afford expensive cars |
| A．Television viewers are determined by male viewers. |
| B．Rich viewers contribute most to television companies. |
| C．Sports are gaining importance in advertising on television. |
| D．Commercial advertisers are the major sponsors of sport event. |
8 . On July 14, 2017, Maryam Mirzakhani, Stanford professor of mathematics and the first female winner of the Fields Medal in Mathematics, died at the age of 40.
The news was especially hard-hitting for a generation of younger academics who have always held Maryam as a role model whose example is helping redefine women’s status in science and especially mathematics. What was fun was that Maryam always tried to avoid the media’s spotlight. Her modesty (谦虚) and simplicity despite being the first woman to gain such high status in the world of mathematics — winning what’s often called the “Nobel Prize of math” — stood out to those who knew her.
Maryam originally wanted to be a writer, a passion of hers that never faded away even during her postgraduate studies. However, she found an even greater joy in how rewarding it felt to solve mathematical problems. As a student, she was the first female member of Iran’s national team to participate in the International Math Olympiad (IMO), and she won two gold medals in two years — still a record.
She received her bachelor’s degree in Iran and later studied at Harvard. In 2014, Maryam was recognized with the Fields Medal, the highest-ranking award in mathematics. Her work focused on curved surfaces like spheres (球体). Her achievements have applications in other scientific fields including engineering and material science. Unfortunately, at that time she was already tackling the breast cancer.
Maryam’s legend (传奇) may continue to grow after her early death. Still only 20 percent of full-time math teachers at U. S. universities are women. The example of a woman who rose to the top of this still very male field may help inspire math’s next generation.
In the same way people think of Marie Curie or Jane Goodall as scientific pioneers, Maryam Mirzakhani will go down in history as a trailblazer as well as a mathematical genius.
1. What makes Maryam internationally recognized?| A．Her unfading passion for writing. |
| B．Fighting against sexual discrimination. |
| C．Being the first female Fields Medal winner. |
| D．Coming under the media’s spotlight frequently. |
| A．She was sociable in her life. |
| B．She was enthusiastic about spotlight. |
| C．She was devoted to redefining women’s right. |
| D．She was much indifferent to fame and fortune. |
| A．She won gold medals for Iran in IMO. |
| B．She got her bachelor’s degree at Harvard. |
| C．She applied mathematics to material science. |
| D．She instructed some female students to reach the top. |
| A．Talent. | B．Model. | C．Follower. | D．Pioneer. |
9 . Streaming humorous videos on the Internet at work isn’t always a waste of time. They may be putting themselves in a good mood (心情) so that they can think more creatively.
According to Ruby Nadler, a PhD student at the university of Western Ontario, “Generally, a positive mood has been found to improve creative problem solving and flexible yet careful thinking.” She and her colleagues Rahel Rabi and John Paul Minda focused their research on a specific type of learning that benefits from creative thinking.
People in the study were put into various moods before being given a category (类别) learning task to complete: They learned to classify (分类) sets of pictures with visually (视觉) complex patterns. The researchers used music and video clips to change people’s mood; at the beginning, they tested out a few to see which ones made individuals the happiest and saddest. The happiest music was a cheerful Mozart composition, while the happiest video was a newborn baby laughing.
The researchers then used them in the experiment, along with sad music and videos that had no effect on moods. People were required to learn to spot a pattern after listening to the music and seeing the movie. Volunteers who were happy were better at learning a rule to categorize the patterns than those who were sad or indifferent.
“If you have a project where you want to think creatively, or you have a problem to carefully consider, being in a positive mood can help you do that,” Nadler says. And music is a simple method of putting yourself in a good mood. Everyone responds to various types of music, so don’t feel obligated (必须的) to switch to Mozart, she adds.
This, according to Nadler, might be one of the reasons why individuals enjoy watching humorous films at work. “I think people are unconsciously (无意识地) trying to put themselves in a positive mood, so the seeming waste of time may actually be beneficial to employers,” she says.
1. How did the researchers change the participants’ mood in their study?| A．By sets of pictures. | B．By music and videos. |
| C．By an assignment. | D．By a project. |
| A．Complete a given task. | B．Report how they felt. |
| C．Learn a piece of music. | D．Design a rule for the given task. |
| A．Happy and sad people are equally good at learning. | B．Only Mozart’s music can help keep a good mood. |
| C．A positive mood can help think creatively. | D．It’s a must to keep a good mood at work. |
| A．Ways to change moods. | B．Types of music and videos. |
| C．Methods of keeping a good mood. | D．Positive effects of a good mood. |
10 . Dog ownership may be associated with longer life, especially for heart attack and stroke (中风) suvivors who live alone, according to a new study.
Previous studies have shown that dog ownership alleviates social isolation (隔绝), improve physical activity and social bonds, even lowers blood pressure, leading researchers to believe dog owners could potentially have better health outcomes compared to non-owners. They sought to determine how dog ownership affected health outcomes.
Researchers compared the health outcomes of dog owners and non-owners after a heart attack or stroke using health data provided by the Swedish National Patient Register. Patients in the study were Swedish residents aged 40 to 85 who experienced a heart attack or stroke. Compared to people who did not own a dog, researchers found that for dog owners, the risk of death for heart attack patients living alone after hospitalization (住院) was 33% lower and 15% lower for those living with a partner or child. The risk of death for stroke patients living alone after hospitalization was 27% lower and 12% lower for those living with a partner or child.
The lower risk of death associated with dog ownership could be explained by an increase in physical activity and decreased depression and loneliness, both of which have been connected to dog ownership in previous studies.
While this study drew the conclusion from a large sample (样本), potential misclassifications (错误分类) of dog ownershipin couples living together, death of a dog and change of ownership could have affected the outcomes of the study.
The results of this study suggest positive effects of dog ownership for patients who have experienced a heart attack or stroke. However, more research is needed to confirm a cause-effect relationship. Moreover, from an animal welfare perspective (角度), dogs should only be owned by people who feel they have the ability and knowledge to give the pet a good life.
1. What does the underlined word “alleviates” in paragraph 2 mean?| A．reduces | B．increases | C．causes | D．shows |
| A．Healthy dog owners and those with illnesses. | B．Dog owners and non-owners in hospitalization. |
| C．40- to 85-year-old dog owners around the world. | D．Middle-aged and old heart attack or stroke survivors. |
| A．Dogs make people physically and mentally active. | B．Dogs give warning of heart attacks or strokes |
| C．Dogs encourage social participation. | D．Dogs save lives in emergencies. |
| A．Approving | B．Uncertain | C．Objective | D．Critical |
