1 . Cuaya and her colleagues decided to use brain images from MRI scanning to shed light on her hunch. They worked with dogs of various ages that had, until the experiment, only heard their owners speak just one of the two languages, Spanish or Hungarian. Not surprisingly, getting the dogs to happily take part in the experiment took some creative coaxing and animal training! The researchers first needed to teach Kun-kun and her 17 fellow participating dogs including a labradoodle, a golden retriever and Australian shepherds, to lie still in a brain scanner. Their pet parents were always present, and they could leave the scanner at any point.
What did Cuaya consider when choosing dogs for study?
| A．Age limits. | B．Brain patterns. |
| C．Language exposure. | D．Owners' commands. |
2 . Psychologist Susan Levine, an expert on mathematics development in young children the University of Chicago, found children who play with puzzles between ages 2 and 4 later develop better spatial skills. Puzzle play was found to be a significant predictor of cognition(认知) after controlling for differences in parents’ income, education and the amount of parent talk, Levine said.
1. In which aspect do children benefit from puzzle play?| A．Building confidence. | B．Developing spatial skills. |
| C．Learning self-control. | D．Gaining high-tech knowledge. |
| A．Parents’ age. | B．Children’s imagination. |
| C．Parents’ education. | D．Child-parent relationship. |
3 . Because the commercial internet has been developed with so little regard for privacy, tech companies have been able to turn personal data into considerable profits, raising billions of dollars off their ability to collect and sell information about anyone who has wandered within shouting distance of their software. This week, Google announced a step in the right direction-but not a huge step, nor one that will stop Google from continuing to collect immense amounts of personal data.
At issue is how online companies track internet users as they browse (浏览) from site to site online, typically through cookies (information that a website leaves in your computer so that the website will recognize you when you use it again). The most harmful version, “third-party” cookies, is the web alternative of a company posting security guards across the internet to monitor what you do, even when you’re on other companies’ sites.
Google declared in a blog post Wednesday that it would no longer use or support third-party cookies, nor would it create or use any other technology that tracks individual users across the web. Given that Google is a main supplier of online advertising technology, its change in approach will impact far and wide.
That’s welcome news, although with huge amounts of warning. As Lee Tien of the Electronic Frontier Foundation noted, third-party cookies were already on the retreat, with Apple and other makers of popular web browsers moving to block them. Meanwhile, Google, Facebook and other Big Tech companies continue to collect personal information in large quantities from people who use their sites and services through first-party cookies and similar techniques.
The concerns about personal data collection are the same whether it’s being collected through first-party or third-party techniques, said Michelle Richardson of the Center for Democracy and Technology. “Companies may use the information to discriminate among internet users, offering different goods, services and even prices to different users.”
Instead of helping advertisers track individuals, Google says, it is improving a technology that assigns users namelessly to large groups with common interests. That’s an improvement, even though it too may be at risk of abuse. But why do any form of tracking at all? Privacy advocates say pitches (兜售) can be targeted effectively by basing them on where the user is at the moment, not where he or she has browsed previously online.
Ultimately, lawmakers are going to have to lay down regulations giving people far more control over whether and how personal information is used online. Ideally the federal (联邦的) government will set a strong floor under online privacy protections, but until then it will be up to state lawmakers or voters to act, as this state has done with its groundbreaking online privacy laws. It’s good to see Google move the ball forward, but there’s much farther to go.
1. What does the underlined phrase “on the retreat” in Para 4 most probably mean?| A．Exposed. | B．Removed. | C．Emerging. | D．Fading. |
| A．is developing new technologies to stop data collection |
| B．refuses to work with companies tracking privacy |
| C．intends to abandon its advertising technologies |
| D．resolves to stop the use of third-party cookies |
| A．are still collecting personal information |
| B．are blocked by big companies like Apple |
| C．are mainly used by advertising companies |
| D．are less concerning than third-party cookies |
| A．It is less satisfactory than expected. |
| B．It needs to be more forceful to be effective. |
| C．It will accelerate the disappearance of cookies. |
| D．It has driven lawmakers to make new regulations. |
4 . With Heavenly Lake as the center, the Heavenly Lake and Tianshan Mountains Scenic Area consists of four mountain landscape belts, which covers a total area of 380.69 square kilometers. In the mountains by Heavenly Lake, there live many precious plants and animals, such as snow cocks and roe deer. The tops of the mountains are even home to contemporary glaciers and rich in resources such as copper, iron and mica.
Ideal Sightseeing Season: August and September
Opening Hours: 09:00 - 19:30 in peak season, 10:00-18:00 in off season
Ticket Price:
● Admission fee: 95 yuan from April to October, 45 yuan from November to March.
● Temple of Queen Mother of the West: 10 yuan.
● Eco- museum of Heavenly Lake: 10 yuan.
● Cableway: 20 yuan/one-way, 35 yuan/round-trip.
● Other fees: sightseeing bus (60 yuan/round-trip), accumulator car (5 yuan/person each time), painted pleasure boat (50 yuan/person each time), speed boat (35 yuan/person each time), yacht (205yuan/person each time).
Note:
● There is an obvious difference in temperature from day and in night in Xinjiang and temperature in some scenic spots is probably lower due to the high elevation or weather change. Therefore, it is still necessary to take along a coat or woolen sweater to keep warm during the summer.
● Located in the northwest, Xinjiang has a lower average temperature than that in most areas of China, but ultraviolet irradiation in it is commonly higher. The highest temperature in some cities such as Turpan can reach above 40 degree Centigrade, so it is suggested to take along effective sun block and some medicine in case of sunburn and sunstroke prevention.
● Xinjiang is a region of an ethnic minority with a common belief of Islam. Pork is one of the biggest taboos for Muslims, so please do NOT bring porky food into a Muslim restaurant or talk about pork in public areas.
● Although most areas of Xinjiang are located in UTC+6, Beijing Time (UTC+8, national standard time of China) is officially used in Xinjiang. Due to the time difference of two hours later, sightseeing in Xinjiang is usually arranged between Beijing Time 09:00 and 20:00.
1. What can we know from the passage?| A．There are many common plants and contemporary glaciers on tops of the mountains. |
| B．In spring visitors can enjoy the most beautiful scenery there. |
| C．Visitors need to carry heavy clothes, sunglasses and some medicine during the visit in summer. |
| D．Pulled pork is available in Muslim restaurants in Xinjiang |
| A．165 yuan. | B．330 yuan. |
| C．70 yuan. | D．140 yuan. |
| A．A travel review. | B．A travel advertisement. |
| C．A travel news. | D．A travel guide. |
5 . In the magnificent range of mountains of northern California, 42 radio telescopes point towards the stars, scanning for signs of life. The Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence （SETI） Institute has been listening for a signal here since it was founded in 1984. Jill Tarter, its co — founder, says the programmed aim is not just to communicate with remote civilisations. It is also to remind human beings of its own modest, fragile （脆弱的）place in the universe. Thus, for the first time, SETI is cocking its ear towards Earth to look for a signal that can be sent into space to represent the species.
Felipe Perez Santiago, a Mexican musician and composer, has an idea of what might work.Since songs, like the human voices, are common to all languages and nations, he and Ms. Tarter have designed the “Earthling Project”-a call to people everywhere to upload extracts （精华）of song that he plans to melt into a collective human chorus. An initial composition will be launched into space this summer, recorded on a virtually indestructible disk. Future plans and dreams include an eventual landing on Mars.
Human music has been sent to the heavens in 1977. Distant beings can in theory already enjoy Peruvian panpipes, a Navajo chant, Bach, Beethoven and more. But no previous offering, and perhaps no composition undertaken anywhere, has tried to encompass the entire diversity of human song.
Mr. Santiago says he is thrilled about bringing together contributors from around the globe. Unlike other recordings sent into space, says Mr. Santiago, “Everyone's invited. You don't have to be one of the main composers of our history like Beethoven, just someone singing in their shower.” Download the “Earthling Project" app, sing up to three songs of 30 seconds each, and your voice will be sent into the sky.
1. Why does SETI look for a signal to be sent into space?| A．To stand for species on the earth. |
| B．To scan for other liveable planets. |
| C．To respond to the call of the universe. |
| D．To stress the importance of the earth. |
| A．It is a world music organization. |
| B．It intends to create a human chorus. |
| C．It tries to develop a universal language. |
| D．It aims to search for signals from space. |
| A．Include. | B．Appreciate. |
| C．Work out. | D．Relate to. |
| A．To inspire people to become composers. |
| B．To call on people to protect our planet. |
| C．To encourage people to explore space. |
| D．To invite people to join a programme. |
6 . Just as a hungry brain craves (渴望) food, a lonely brain craves people. A new brain study demonstrates this. After being left alone, it shows people's brains would be activated at the sight of other people. The action was in the same brain region that speeds up when a hungry person sees food.
Livia Tomova, a neuroscientist, who studies how the brain produces mental activities, and her colleagues began this study. They recruited (招募) 40 people. On one day, the participants had to fast—not eat anything at all—for 10 hours. On another day, the same people were placed in a room for 10 hours. They couldn't see anyone. No friends, no family and no social media. They weren't even allowed to check their email. After both days, Tomova and her colleagues put the people in a MRI machine. It shows activity in the brain by tracking how much blood is flowing to each region.
At the end of each day, the participants showed high activity in a brain area called the midbrain. The scientists were interested in two, small areas within it. Both areas produce dopamine, a chemical that is important in craving and rewards. The two areas activated when hungry participants saw pictures of tasty pizza or juicy hamburgers. After the volunteers had been isolated, those brain areas became active when they saw social activities they missed. It might be playing sports or chatting with friends.
The midbrain plays an important part in people's motivation to seek food or friends. In fact, it responds to food and social signals even when people aren't hungry or lonely. But hunger and loneliness increased the reactions and made people's responses specific to the thing they were missing. And the more hunger or isolation the volunteers said they were experiencing, the stronger the activity in this part of the brain. Tomova and her colleagues published their results November 23 in Nature Neuroscience.
1. How does Tomova test out the result of the study?| A．By stimulating desire. | B．By controlling blood flow. |
| C．By monitoring brain activity. | D．By examining mental activities. |
| A．It consists of two areas. | B．It helps motivate desire for food. |
| C．It stops working when people are full. | D．It decreases responses to lost friends. |
| A．A midbrain area. | B．A social activity. | C．A volunteer. | D．A hamburger. |
| A．Dopamine—a Sure Sign of Age | B．Midbrain—a Nest for the Thoughts |
| C．Hunger Makes Mental Health Struggle | D．Loneliness Makes Our Brains Need People |
7 . The Rise of Voice Technology
Voice technology has come a long way. Just a few years ago, it would have been unusable. But now, those who follow the technology know that it has got considerably better.
Writing with your voice raises several interesting questions. How difficult is it actually? Human speech involves a lot more starting and stopping with errors and the need for repairing broken sentences than you may think. Even gifted speakers make mistakes. To turn the spoken word into reasonable writing requires lots of planning. You’ll need some kinds of notes or other organisers to make it work.
Another question turning speech into writing raises is the style. How would writing make the change that people speak their writing rather than type? Chances are that it would come up with many more short sentences and more concrete language, which is good. It would probably also rely on prepared phrases a lot more often, which is not available when you are speaking quickly.
To confirm this, a column was not written, but dictated (听写). It was composed from brief notes written down for structure only, and it was edited for length, with all of the original errors kept in. Here were the results. The first was that the literal accuracy was extremely high. There weren’t many cases where the software had heard one word incorrectly and written down another. But the other result was that the readability of this column was rather bad. Obviously, the blame is not with the technology at all, which turns out to be rather good. Speaking into writing relies on a better human brain than the one we currently possess. Writing is hard. There’s a reason it can’t be done at the speed of speech, in real time.
To clarify the matter, this time paragraph breaks were added after the whole writing. Punctuations (标点) had to be spoken aloud, and after a full stop, the first word in the new sentence was capitalized automatically. Some minor punctuation marks were added to make it clearer. To improve accuracy, people “trained” the software beforehand, reading a prewritten passage aloud. Actually it turns out to be more effective. All of these ensure the satisfactory completion of turning speech into writing.
Language is the most important tool for human interaction, and voice is one beautiful part of language. With the maturity of modern technology, it has given birth to a great change in the human-computer voice interaction.
1. According to the passage, which helps to turn speech into writing in terms of style?| A．There is careful planning in advance. |
| B．Errors and broken sentences are avoided. |
| C．People type words as fast as they say them. |
| D．The writing contains more prepared phrases. |
| A．processing errors in a column. |
| B．adding minor punctuation marks. |
| C．increasing the number of brief notes. |
| D．integrating short paragraphs in writing. |
| A．human brains are responsible for poor dictated writing. |
| B．writing with voice promises to improve the quality of writing. |
| C．writing is an unnatural act that can hardly be learned and improved. |
| D．technology has a long way to go in the human-computer voice interaction. |
| A．Why people fully intend to turn speech into writing. |
| B．What role voice technology plays in improving readability. |
| C．Where the human-computer voice interaction is at an advantage. |
| D．How voice technology enables the change from speech into writing. |
8 . After Scott Kelly spent a year in space, his genetic expression changed, according to a NASA study that compared the bodily changes between the astronaut and his identical twin, who stayed on Earth while Kelly was aboard the International Space Station. About 7 percent of Kelly’s gene activity has yet to “return to normal” — almost two years after his yearlong spaceflight mission came to an end. Kelly has since retired from NASA.
The Twins Study，as it’s been called，looked at what happened to Kelly — both physiologically and psychologically :— before，during and after his trip in space，and then compared that data to Kelly’s twin brother，Mark Kelly，also a retired NASA astronaut.
Unlike his brother who spent months at a time in space，Mark’s missions were on the shorter side. His last — and longest — mission，which took place in 2011，lasted 15 days.
“By measuring large numbers of the brother’s metabolites，cytokines (代谢物、细胞活素）and proteins，researchers learned that spaceflight is associated with oxygen deprivation (匮乏）stress， increased inflammation (炎症），and nutrient changes that affect gene expression，” NASA said.
Although most of the biological changes Kelly experienced in space disappeared in the hours and days (and in some cases? weeks) after his return to Earthy, NASA said some changes appear to have continued. While 93 percent of his genetic expression has returned to normal, several hundred “space genes” still have changed activity levels，the data suggests， which, NASA said, could indicate “longer-term changes” in genetic expression caused by the stresses of spaceflight.
NASA said the research could provide important knowledge of the effects of long-term spaceflight on the human body, and that it will influence its planning for a mission to Mars, which would see astronauts spending some three years in space.
Reacting to the news of the study results, Kelly expressed amazement at his body’s changes， and also used the opportunity to make fun of his brother. “This could be good news,” he joked on Twitter. “I no longer have to call Mark my identical twin brother anymore.”
1. What can be learnt about Mark Kelly?| A．He’s still working for NASA. |
| B．He has only been to space once. |
| C．He hasn’t gone on a spaceflight mission yet. |
| D．He never stayed in space for a whole month. |
| A．They’re dangerous to astronauts. |
| B．Most of them won’t last very long. |
| C．They’re mainly caused by psychological stress. |
| D．Some can occur during short-term spaceflight. |
| A．It involved many twin participants. |
| B．It ended soon after Scott Kelly’s last spaceflight. |
| C．It only studied Scott Kelly’s physical changes. |
| D．It will be valuable to NASA’s Mars mission. |
| A．Mark Kelly will lose his twin brother soon. |
| B．Scott Kelly always looks on the bright side. |
| C．Scott Kelly doesn’t like his twin brother. |
| D．Scott Kelly seems to have a sense of humor. |
