1 . People’s ability to remember fades with age — but one day, researchers might be able to use a simple, drug-free method to buck this trend.
In a study published on 22 August in Nature Neuroscience, Robert Reinhart, a cognitive neuroscientist at Boston University in Massachusetts, and his colleagues demonstrate that zapping(刺激) the brains of adults aged over 65 with weak electrical currents repeatedly over several days led to memory improvements that persisted for up to a month.
Using a non-invasive method of stimulating the brain known as transcranial alternating current stimulation (TACS), which delivers electrical currents through electrodes on the surface of the scalp, Reinhart’s team conducted a series of experiments on 150 people aged between 65 and 88. Participants carried out a memory task in which they were asked to recall lists of 20 words that were read aloud by an experimenter. The participants underwent TACS for the entire duration of the task, which took 20 minutes.
After four continuous days of this protocol, participants who received high-frequency stimulation of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex(背外侧前额叶皮质) had an improved ability to remember words from the beginning of the lists, a task that depends on long-term memory. Low-frequency zaps to the inferior parietal lobe(顶下小叶) enhanced participants’ recall of items later in the lists, which involves ‘working’ memory — the memory that allows the brain to store information temporarily. Participants’ memory performance improved over the four days — and the gains persisted even a month later. Those who had the lowest levels of general cognitive function before the study experienced the largest memory improvements.
“I was both impressed and surprised by this, by this paper,” says Simon Hanslmayr, a cognitive neuroscientist at the University of Glasgow, UK. He notes that along with other scientists, he has been sceptical about whether TACS can lead to meaningful changes in cognition. One issue has been that TACS devices generate electrical currents much weaker than those created by other methods of stimulating the brain, so it hasn’t always been clear whether they can transmit enough electricity to the brain to modify its function. However, the authors of this study convincingly showed that their protocol was linked to “consistent and quite strong improvements in memory”, Hanslmayr says.
1. What does the underlined word “buck” mean in paragraph 1?| A．Operate. | B．Destroy. | C．Follow. | D．Resist. |
| A．The experiments involved people aged over 65 and young students with good memory. |
| B．Participants were required to recall lists of 20 words when they read the words aloud. |
| C．Stimulating the inferior parietal lobe with low-frequency boosted the short-term memory. |
| D．High-frequency stimulation of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex improved ‘working’ memory. |
| A．The electricity sent by TACS is not sufficient to guarantee meaningful changes in cognition. |
| B．The people who have poor cognitive function experienced the least memory improvements. |
| C．TACS devices generate electrical currents as weak as those created by other methods. |
| D．TACS devices cannot ensure consistent and quite strong improvements in memory. |
| A．TACS can lead to meaningful changes in cognition. |
| B．TACS can help people with conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease. |
| C．Brain stimulation leads to long-lasting improvements in memory. |
| D．Brain stimulation benefits those with poor cognitive function most. |
2 . Final exams are around the comer — but that won’t stop some teenagers putting in the least effort. This may be because their brains aren’t developed enough to properly assess how high the stakes (利害关系) are, and adapt their behaviour accordingly.
Catherine Insel, at Harvard University, and her team asked adolescents between the ages of 13 and 20 to play a game while monitoring their brains. In some rounds of the game,participants could earn 20 cents fora correct response, while an incorrect one would cost them 10 cents. But in rounds with higher stakes,correct responses were worth a dollar, and wrong answers lost the participants 50 cents.
The team found that while the older volunteers performed better in the high stakes rounds, the younger ones didn’t — their performance didn’t change in line with whether the stakes were low or high. And the older the volunteers were, the more improved their performance was.
When the team looked at the brain activity of the volunteers,they found that their ability to improve their performance was linked to how developed their brains were. A region in the brain, which continues to develop until we are at least 25 years old, seemed to be particularly important. The findings explain why some teenagers are so unconcerned when it comes to hazardous behaviors, such as driving too fast, for instance, especially when one of their friends is nearby.
Insel thinks schools should reconsider the way they test performance in teenagers. “This study suggests it’s not a good idea to evaluate school performance in a single final exam”, she says. A better idea would be to use a variety of smaller tests, conducted throughout the year.
It’s not all bad news for teens, though. Teenagers put the same amount of effort into tasks that aren’t “important”, and start to prefer hobbies to school. It could be a good thing, allowing teenagers to learn complex social skills, for example.
1. Why did the researchers set different bets in the game?| A．To teach how to make money. |
| B．To better monitor participants’ brains. |
| C．To show the varied risk levels of the game. |
| D．To meet the needs of different participants. |
| A．Dangerous. | B．Abusive. |
| C．Specific. | D．Addictive. |
| A．It should not be judged by only one exam. |
| B．The items in exams should not be too difficult. |
| C．Exam-focused education should not be adopted. |
| D．Examination is not a good means of evaluating students. |
| A．Unclear. | B．Favorable. | C．Doubtful. | D．Negative. |
3 . Pioneers like Harvard social ecologist Stephen Kellert were among the first to champion modern biophilic design. Kellert believed that weaving nature into living and workspaces is critical for good physical and mental health.
Humans have evolved to gravitate towards nature, Kellert noted. His principles include access to natural light, air, water, and plants. Using materials such as wood and stone, biophilic designs such as leaf or shell patterns help humans to feel closer to nature.
Biophilic designs can be seen all over the world. Examples include the Changi Airport in Singapore, with its four-storey forest garden and world’s largest indoor waterfall fed by rainwater, and the Swedish Mirror Cube Tree House Hotel, mainly made of used plywood and a lightweight aluminum frame wrapped around a tree. Incredible biophilic homes include One Central Park in Sydney, apartment blocks featuring hanging gardens on the outside. The buildings recycle their own water and a suspended (悬浮的) motorized mirror system reflects sunlight down onto gardens below. Milan’s Bosco Vertical block is perhaps even more eye-catching with its vertical forest.
Putting biophilic design to work for society could prevent millions in healthcare costs, with one study estimating annual savings of $93 million in the US alone. Hospital design in particular has historically been influenced by access to sunlight and views of nature. Modern buildings like the Khoo Teck Puat Hospital in Singapore, with its position next to the waterfall of the Yishun Pond, are closely linked with their surroundings. The hospital channels outdoor air to cool the inside, and uses reflective sunshades to direct light into the wards to brighten them and save energy.
The aim of these designs is to emphasize the human connection to nature by integrating buildings with the local environment. But how do we bring biophilia into our homes? Start with house plants. New smart home apps can also provide sensory nature experiences such as birdsong and a projected forest canopy, helping people to carve out a restful space indoors.
But perhaps the best way to transform society with biophilic designs is to start with schools. Children learn better and feel more relaxed in biophilic settings. So the Children and Nature Network is working with schools across the US to create green schoolyards for better physical and mental health and to increase opportunities for outdoor learning.
Biophilic designers are bringing nature into classrooms through natural patterns, shapes and colors, nature photography, artwork and materials like timber and stone. Fresh air flow, green walls, and aquariums all become part of a recipe for improving health and academic success.
1. According to the passage, what does Stephen Kellert probably believe?| A．Humans’ inborn love for nature won’t be lessened. |
| B．Nature can improve people’s sense of responsibility. |
| C．Humans need to appreciate and make good use of nature. |
| D．Natural materials have taken priority in modern building designs. |
| A．They apply smart home technology. |
| B．They promote sustainable development. |
| C．They include waterfalls and gardens inside. |
| D．They use local resources to cut the cost of buildings. |
| A．Biophilic designs have greatly transformed schools. |
| B．Biophilic designs help improve students’ performance. |
| C．Biophilic designs focus mainly on students’ mental health. |
| D．Biophilic designs have moved most of the classrooms outside. |
| A．Let’s Invite Nature Inside |
| B．Live Naturally and Simply |
| C．The Best Natural Building Designer |
| D．Ups and Downs of Natural Buildings |
4 . VARK is a questionnaire that helps with your learning by suggesting the strategies you should be using. According to VARK, some people learn best by reading materials, while others are more visually-oriented (视觉导向的) and must see something to understand. Others might fall into the auditory learning subtype, meaning they tend to urderstand materials by listening to instructions. There are also kinesthetic (动觉的) learners, or those who learn best through hands-on activities.
Learning style theories had their popularity in the 1990s, when Beth Rogowsky was just starting as a middle school teacher. “At that time, when my students were given some learning material, if they disliked reading it, they could listen to it instead as long as they’d like to listen to others reading it; whatever they preferred, they would be encouraged to do it,” says Rogowsky, who is now an associate professor of teaching and learning at Bloomsburg University in Pennsylvania.
But when it comes to preferred learning styles, there’s a problem. The idea of using learning styles emerged in the 1980s as many researchers voiced their support, but few actually tested their concepts to confirm the validity in randomized, experimental settings. In the 2000s, when researchers started to do just that, they found little evidence that matching students to their supposed learning style helped them memorize information better.
Rogowsky herself has confirmed the belief that learning styles don’t hold up in her recent studies. In one study published in Frontiers in Psychology this year, Rogowsky and her colleagues tested fifth-graders with preferred auditory and visual learning styles. Students were given standardized reading tests, in both written and audio formats. The team didn’t uncover a relationship between their preferred learning styles and academic performance, according to Rogowsky.
The team’s study noted that a preference to learn material using a certain method could mask skill lack. “Someone who prefers to lean by listening instead of visual approaches might just have underdeveloped reading skills. Letting students learn in their preferred manner doesn’t push them to improve weaker skill sets,” Rogowsky says. “If you need to improve your skills, don’t just keep doing what’s easy to you.”
1. What’s the purpose of Paragraph 1?| A．To explain the complexity of the learning process. |
| B．To inspire people to actively engage in a questionnaire. |
| C．To show different people have different learning styles. |
| D．To suggest using VARK to choose efficient learning styles. |
| A．Encourage students to learn creatively. |
| B．Allow students to use their preferred learning style. |
| C．Help students improve their reading and listening ability. |
| D．Provide varied reading materials for students to choose from. |
| A．Correctness. | B．Faulty. | C．Arrangement. | D．Budget. |
| A．Students need to focus on their academic performance. |
| B．Students should stick to their favorite learning materials. |
| C．Students hiding skill lack can boost their confidence |
| D．Students should go beyond a certain preferred learning style. |
5 . It is hard to imagine that plants or animals could ever exist on Mars. But scientists continue to look for evidence. NASA, America’s space agency, has found evidence that, a long time ago, there was surface water on the Mars. Scientists believe water is necessary for life as we know it. So since that discovery, they have been looking for chemicals that would be present if there once was or still is life on the planet.
At a December 13 meeting in California, NASA scientists reported an important discovery on Mars. They said for the first time that they had found very small amounts of boron(硼). Boron is important because it could help build RNA molecules(分子). And RNA molecules are important because they are one of the basic building parts for life.
One of the next steps in the scientists’ search for life on Mars comes soon. The next spacecraft is planned to launch. It will bring rocks from Mars back to Earth. Scientists in Britain are getting ready for those Mars rocks now. Before this, using a powerful microscope(显微镜), they have already examined 200-million-year-old volcanic rocks found deep in the Pacific Ocean. The microscope showed holes on the rocks caused by tiny living things called microbes(微生物). Microbes are the oldest form of life on Earth.
Next, the scientists in Britain will examine rocks which contain ancient material from Mars. The material comes from a time when Mars would have been more likely to support life. The scientists hope to get the same findings in the rocks from Mars as the ones they saw in the ocean rocks. If they do, they predict that the rocks coming directly from Mars will also show signs of life. That, in turn, could finally prove that we are not alone in the universe.
1. What caused scientists to look for evidence of life on Mars?| A．The discovery of plants. | B．The discovery of chemicals. |
| C．The discovery of surface water. | D．The discovery of RNA molecules. |
| A．It is hardly seen on the earth. | B．It might prove the existence of life. |
| C．It might cause the holes on the rocks. | D．It is the most necessary part of life. |
| A．Tiny living things. | B．Ancient material from Mars. |
| C．Volcanic rocks. | D．Holes caused by microbes. |
| A．Scientists Try To Look For Life On Mars |
| B．Does Surface Water Really Exist On Mars? |
| C．A Discovery Of Life In The Pacific Ocean |
| D．Boron-An Important Chemical Supporting Life |
6 . The world is on a fast track toward an autonomous future. From off-road tractors and rural transit systems to air vehicles and space exploration, automation will enhance safety, increase efficiency and improve people’s lives. The more we can automate, the more we can protect people’s life and happiness.
To make the autonomous future safe and secure, manufacturers and operators will need reliable, assured positioning, said Michael Ritter, president of Hexagon’s Autonomy & Positioning division. At the HxGN LIVE Global 2022 event, he gave an overview of assured positioning and demonstrated how it provides the foundation for safe autonomy.
Ritter explained how positioning technologies can enable the future of autonomy for good publicity across industries including agriculture, mining and automotive. “We’ve all heard about autonomy,” he said. “What’s one of the big problems there? It doesn’t always work as advertised.” He mentioned Tesla’s AutoPilot as an example. “In our industry, the non-consumer world, we can’t have that,” he added. “We need to have autonomy solutions that we can trust.” “If that is not a hundred percent waterproof, crystal clear, and protected from outside interference (干扰) and cybersecurity threats, you can’t trust that positioning,” he said. “We have to know where we are at all times, and we cannot have that signal falsified (歪曲).”
While Ritter doesn’t think he’ll see the universal use of autonomous vehicles in passenger traffic during his lifetime “because laws will be in the way,” he said applications in “off-road autonomy—construction, mining and agriculture—are here today, which all take place in controllable spaces; laws are not such a big problem,” he said. “This is happening right now. We don’t have to wait 10 to 20 years for that.”
However, a big safety challenge in expanding autonomy is anticipating all the corner cases, or “all the stuff that could happen once in a lifetime,” Ritter said. Those can be overcome by real-life testing, multiplying that with simulation (模拟) “a hundred million times over,” and then going “back into real life” and performing “real, extreme Testing.”
1. What’s Ritter’s purpose of mentioning Tesla’s AutoPilot?| A．To show its good publicity. | B．To advocate its assured positioning. |
| C．To put forward reliable autonomy solutions. | D．To serve as a reminder for the non-consumer world. |
| A．Cautious. | B．Optimistic. | C．Doubtful. | D．Objective. |
| A．Real and extreme testing. | B．Real-life testing. |
| C．A big safe challenge. | D．Expanding autonomy. |
| A．Big challenges for future automation. | B．The impact of automation on daily life. |
| C．Necessary regulations for safe automation. | D．Different fields of automation development. |
7 . Indonesia has an ambitious biofuel program, which promotes the use of crude palm oil (CPO)(棕榈油), in increasingly higher mixes with conventional diesel(柴油)to reduce the non-renewable element and increase the renewable. Currently 30 percent is CPO and 70 percent is diesel. And it has been believed to become one of the key contributors for Indonesia’s action plan for meeting its carbon-emissions-reduction(减少碳排放)target. Of course it has an additional benefit as well in reducing Indonesia’s dependence on expensive oil imports.
During a recent Group of 20 conference, an official from Indonesia’s Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry (ESDM) stated that “biofuels are vital for the development of a green economy to achieve a just and people-centered energy transition”. According to ESDM, Indonesia produced 16.3 million kiloliters (kl) of B30-biodiesel in 2021, a significant increase from 13.3 million kl in 2020, giving the government the confidence to expand the biofuel program and funding.
However, the most positive direction to take is the processing of used cooking oil into biofuel as this makes use of a readily available and massively under-recycled product. Every hotel, restaurant and café has used cooking oil and then usually just throws it away, which wastes a valuable resource and pollutes the places where it goes at the same time! Recycling and processing the used cooking oil is a great way to make biofuel, which can be organized on a city level through the hotel and restaurant associations, and at the residential level through the RT/RW network.
The use of CPO, while better than the use of petrol based oil, still has the stigma of the origins of the artificial forests which have all replaced primary forests over the last 50 years, and therefore cannot claim 100 percent sustainability. However, using grown and replaceable resources is better than the non-renewable route. The best of all is trying to do at least a semi-circular economy approach with the repurposing of the used cooking oil. Let us hope there will be an entire petrol-purifying plant for this in the near future as well.
1. What contribution has the biofuel program made for Indonesia7| A．Decreasing the renewable resources. |
| B．Helping reduce the release of carbon. |
| C．Increasing profit by exporting biofuel |
| D．Gaining total independence on foreign oil |
| A．Every restaurant has recycled the used cooking oil. |
| B．We can cook with the abandoned cooking oil. |
| C．The government is responsible for the wasted oil. |
| D．Used cooking oil for processing biofuels is sufficient. |
| A．Minor fault. | B．Challenge. | C．Trick. | D．Strong point. |
| A．Reserved. | B．Negative. | C．Optimistic | D．Curious. |
8 . Octopuses (章鱼) in the wild have often been observed changing their skin color to catch their food or avoid being caught. Now, for the first time, a researcher has shot an attractive video of octopus called Heidi rapidly changing into a quantity of colors while dreaming.
The video, part of Octopus: Making Contact, a documentary first shown on PBS on October 2, 2019. was shot by a fish lover David Scheel, who has raised Heidi in a fish tank since she was young. The professor at Alaska Pacific University in Anchorage believes that the octopus — whose skin went from pale gray to ghostly white to deep dark violet, before changing into a greenish-brown camouflage (伪装) pattern — was dreaming of catching her next meal.
“She’s asleep; she sees a crab (螃蟹), and her color starts to change a little bit,” Scheel says in the video. “Then she turns all dark. Octopuses will do that when they leave the bottom.” He adds. “This is a camouflage as she’s just caught a crab, and now she’s going to sit there and eat it, and she doesn’t want anyone to notice her. If she’s dreaming, that’s the dream.” Scheel’s theory about Heidi’s pleasant dream originates from the fact that animals with the ability to camouflage have never been observed changing colors so abruptly while sleeping.
The hour-long documentary, which tracks Scheel’s developing relationship with the octopus, also shows Heidi’s other skills. She enjoys playing with small toys, watching television — particularly The Big Bang Theory — and solving puzzles. The talented octopus can also escape from small spaces, use tools, and even press a button on a remote control. Like any smart family pet, Heidi recognizes Scheel and his teenage daughter Laura and excitedly rushes to her tank’s side in greeting every time either comes close.
1. What is the octopus doing in the video?| A．Hunting. | B．Hiding. | C．Dining. | D．Sleeping. |
| A．The relationship between Scheel and Heidi. | B．Scheel’s guessing about the dream of Heidi. |
| C．The octopus’ daily activities in a fish tank. | D．The research results about octopuses’ dream. |
| A．It is about an octopus and her host Scheel. | B．It is filmed and produced by Laura. |
| C．It records an octopus’ dream content. | D．It shows octopuses change colors when hunting. |
| A．An Octopus Changes Colors While Sleeping | B．An Important Discovery Shown on PBS |
| C．A Documentary About an Octopus’ Life Habit | D．A Fish Lover Raises an Amazing Octopus |
9 . I enjoy throwing stuff away. I’d love to go full minimalism (极简主义), but my wife and two teenage kids do not share my dream of a house with almost nothing in it. I have tried. When the kids were little, I taught them my two favorite games – “Do We Need It?” and “Put It in Its Place”– and made them play every few months. Their enthusiasm never matched mine.
If I’m going to be honest, my own tidying skills are not as great as I’d like. My “discarded” pile is never quite the trash mountain I want because I make up excuses for why things are useful. I consider this unhealthy. I want to be better at moving on.
So, this time I found help – the classics for people like me: The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up, by Marie Kondo. Kondo’s commitment to her craft is astonishing. Her philosophy is only to keep things you love. Can I go full Kondo? I will try. One central idea is to clean by category. You start by collecting all clothes and gathering them together for consideration. It makes you rethink how you organize. Next, hold each item and ask if it brings you joy. This way you’re choosing what to keep. And that’s how I find myself with all my clothes on my bedroom floor. My wife walks by and gives me a look that says I’m nuts. She’s probably not wrong.
Somewhere near the bottom of this chaos is my special jacket. I move through the pile: pants, shirts, suits and shoes. Then my last category: jackets. I haven’t worn the thing in about 30 years. Somehow, it has survived. Now that I’m striving to follow Kondo – surely, its time has come?
I hold it in my hand. There is a tear just below the collar that widens as I hold it. It’s literally falling apart. Will I ever wear it again? Not a chance. Does it feel good to wear? Does it bring me joy? Actually, yes. At this moment, my daughter walks in. She asks about the jacket. I tell her the story. She thinks I should keep it. It’s cool and unique and full of memories. She is arguing that nostalgia (怀念) is the very reason.
I’m not entirely convinced by my daughter’s arguments. I believe in looking ahead, not backward. Nevertheless, sometimes it’s hard to let go. So I gently place the jacket on the “keep” pile.
1. What does the underlined word “discarded” probably mean in Paragraph 2?| A．adjusted | B．reserved | C．abandoned | D．tidied |
| A．To learn how to categorize. | B．To improve his tidying skills. |
| C．To persuade his family members. | D．To develop passion for minimalism. |
| A．They don’t understand it. | B．They completely support it. |
| C．They are strongly opposed to it. | D．They are less passionate about it. |
| A．Knowing when to let go | B．Classifying what you love |
| C．Throwing worn-out clothes | D．Keeping valuable possessions |
10 . Eradajere Oleita thinks she may have a partial solution for two of the country’s persistent problems: garbage and poverty. It’s called the Chip Bag Project. The 26-year-old student and environmentalist from Detroit is asking a favor of local snack lovers: Rather than throw your empty chip bags into the trash, donate them so she can turn them into sleeping bags for the homeless.
Chip eaters drop off their empty bags at two locations in Detroit: a print shop and a clothing store, where Oleita and her volunteer helpers collect them. After they clean the chip bags in soapy hot water, they slice them open, lay them flat, and iron them together. They use liners (活衬里) from old coats to line the insides.
It takes about four hours to sew a sleeping bag, and each takes around 150 to 300 chip bags, depending on whether they’re single-serve or family size. The result is a sleeping bag that is “waterproof, lightweight, and portable,” Oleita told the Detroit News.
Since its start in 2020, the Chip Bag Project has collected more than 800,000 chip bags and it created 110 sleeping bags last December.
Sure, it would be simpler to raise the money to buy new sleeping bags. But that’s only half the goal for Oleita — whose family moved to the United States from Nigeria a decade ago to live a better life — and her fellow volunteers. “We are devoted to making an impact not only socially, but environmentally,” she says.
And, of course, there’s the symbolism of saving bags that would otherwise land in the trash and using them to help the homeless. It’s a powerful reminder that environmental injustice and poverty are often closely related. As Oleita told hourdetroit.com: “I think it’s time to show connections between all of these issues.”
1. What is paragraph 2 mainly about?| A．The final goal of Chip Bag Project. | B．The basic rules of Chip Bag Project. |
| C．The main work of Chip Bag Project. | D．The significance of Chip Bag Project. |
| A．It is only made of old coats. | B．It is easy to carry around. |
| C．It has the function of heating. | D．It is the same size as 150 bags. |
| A．Making sleeping bags is easier than buying new ones. |
| B．Poverty and environmental problems go hand in hand. |
| C．Making sleeping bags is the best way to help the homeless. |
| D．Environmental problems have little impact on the homeless. |
| A．Caring and creative. | B．Brave and optimistic. |
| C．Honest and determined. | D．Talented and easy-going |
