1 . Indonesian university student Tyas Sisianindita spends about eight hours a day on her phone. That time includes watching videos, chatting with friends and using social media. "At night, when I can't sleep, I can use my phone for up to five hours," she said, noting she checks her phone countless times from morning until night. She even checks it while in class.
Tyas goes to the University of Indonesia, where a team of students recently developed a device meant to fight phone addiction. The students spent three months creating the device, which can help internet users like Tyas diminish time they spend looking at their phones.
Inventor Irfan Budi Satria led the development team. The device is called “Nettox", which combines the words “internet" and "detox (排毒)". Users wear it on their arm. The device has a sensor that measures hemoglobin (红蛋白) oxygen levels and changes to the heart rate called HRV. Studies have found that using a mobile phone for long hours can lower HRV levels. The Nettox device makes a sound when HRV and blood oxygen levels fall, which reminds wearers to stop using their phones.
For people between the ages of 18 and 25, the HRV should stay above 60. At a recent trial, Tyas' HRV reading was 44.
Internet addiction is a growing social issue in Indonesia. In October, two teenagers were treated for their addiction to internet gaming, media reported.
Irfan Budi Satria's team is working to improve Nettox's accuracy. HRV readings can change depending on whether the user is a man or woman, and what their body shape and health conditions are.
The team aims to get a patent for their invention with the university by next year. Irfan says Nettox is for people already trying to change their behavior. "Our goal is to help people who want to free themselves from internet addiction," he said.
1. What can we learn about Tyas from Paragraph1?| A．She often sleeps late. | B．She often skips classes. |
| C．She is addicted to phones. | D．She is skilled in the media. |
| A．Kill. | B．Treasure. | C．Record. | D．Reduce. |
| A．How the device works. | B．Where Nettox is from. |
| C．When users wear the device. | D．Why hemoglobin changes with HRV. |
| A．Applying for a patent. | B．Setting free phone addicts. |
| C．Bettering the device's accuracy. | D．Studying internet addiction. |
2 . When you hear the beginning of your favorite song from the radio, suddenly your neck is covered in goose bumps.
It's such a thing that a group of scientists call “skin excitement”—a feeling of cold caused not by a drop in temperature or sudden scare, but by the sense of beauty. “Skin excitement” can come from a song, a painting, a moving movie scene, or even a beloved memory-pretty much anything that causes the giving out of pleasure-soaked dopamine in your brain. But it does not come for all of us.
Your favorite music uncovers a lot about your personality，and so does how you respond to that music. Studies suppose that as few as 55 percent of people experience “skin excitement” when listening to music. And if you count yourself among this group, the goose bumps on your skin aren't the only giveaway—scientists can read it in your brain, too. In a new study published in the journal Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, Harvard researchers performed brain scans on 10 students who said they reliably got cold when listening to music, and 10 students who didn't. They found that the cold-prone brains may really be excited by stronger emotions.
Cold-prone brains are generally more likely to show stronger emotional intelligence than no-cold brains. Cold-prone minds tend to have unusual active imagination, reflect more deeply on their emotions, and appreciate nature and the beauty of music and art to a stronger degree than no-cold brains.
So, what type of music causes the chills? It seems that the type is not so important; participants in the new study reported getting cold from songs of every kind. And any song connected with a strong emotional memory of the listener can produce the most reliable results. For me, that's the song Sailing to Philadelphia by Mark Knopfler, which I listened to as a kid in the car with my dad, on the way to the summer camp.
1. What can we learn about “skin excitement” in the text?| A．It helps to produce doparmine. | B．It is caused by the pain in the skin. |
| C．It can be experienced by every music listener. | D．It is the human body's reaction to something nice. |
| A．The percentage of music lovers in students. |
| B．The solutions to the goose bumps on one's skin. |
| C．The differences between cold-prone and no-cold brains. |
| D．The relationship between one's music preference and personality. |
| A．Beautiful and intelligent. | B．Emotional and dishonest. |
| C．Imaginative and sensitive. | D．Brave and strong-minded. |
| A．Responses to Music Vary among People | B．A Feeling of Cold Is Caused by Horrible Music |
| C．Your Favorite Music Reveals Your Personality | D．Favorite Music May Bring Forth Goose Bumps |
3 . A shocking news report has revealed that more than one in five species of maple trees faces extinction, warning that 75% of the threatened species are “geographically restricted” in their native regions.
The trees are experiencing a vast decline in habitat, due to urban development, wood harvesting and agricultural expansion. Time is running out for the world's biodiversity. Every recent survey of plants and animals in the wild points to this. This is happening nearly everywhere rarer maples exist. And because of climate change, the narrow habitats that support species at the edges of dry places and at the tops of mountains are quickly disappearing.
The trees can be found in subtropical and tropical regions, as far south as Indonesia. The only species found in the UK, the field maple is not under threat. Not only are the trees a popular attractive feature in parks and public spaces, but they are a key part of the natural ecosystem in woodlands, as well as being an important wood crop in several countries. Although the sugar maple in North America, which produces maple juice, is not endangered, two of the closest relatives to the species are endangered.
The report notes that conserving at-risk species in their natural habitat is the best conservation tactic. But collections in botanical gardens and seed banks-called "ex situ collections" can act as insurance policies against extinction. There are currently 14 species of maple, including four that are critically endangered, which are absent from these types of collections.
One species in Mexico, the Acer binzayedii, is in “desperate need of conservation"”despite only being discovered in 2017. “It is at risk from climate change in its cloud forest habitat and threatened by logging and forest fires while it is also absent from 'ex situ collections',” the report adds. The report recommends developing conservation plans, monitoring species currently not at risk to ensure populations are maintained, and adding those missing maple species to seed banks.
1. What is paragraph 2 mainly about?| A．Action to protect maple trees. | B．The dangerous situation of maple trees. |
| C．Various maple trees' habitats in the world. | D．The conditions for diversity in maple trees. |
| A．They cannot produce juice. | B．They are found in America. |
| C．They are not at risk of extinction. | D．They have two endangered relatives. |
| A．Topic. | B．Approach. | C．Result. | D．Conclusion. |
| A．To offer a proposal. | B．To recommend a product. |
| C．To introduce maple species. | D．To warn people of disasters. |
4 . Wouldn’t it be great if you could correct your eyesight, especially nearsightedness, and reduce your dependence on glasses and needn’t have eye surgery? The solution is called orthokeratology, or ortho-k (角膜塑形镜).
What is ortho-k?
Orthokeratology( ortho- k)is the fitting of specially designed contact lenses (隐形眼镜) that you wear overnight while you are asleep, the lenses gently reshape the front surface of your cornea (角膜) so you can see clearly the following day after you remove the lenses when you wake up.
How long does the ortho-k effect last?
You should be able to see acceptably well without glasses or contact lenses for a day or two, sometimes longer. For best results, one should wear the ortho- k lenses every might.
Who are good candidates for ortho-k?
Most people with mild to average nearsightedness are good candidates for ortho-k. Because the cornmeal reshaping effect is temporary, little risk is involved, and you can discontinue wearing the lenses at any time. Children and young adults who want to be gases-free but are too young for eye surgery or are afraid of taking the surgery often are good candidates for ortho-k. People who participate in contact sports or work in dusty environments that can have problems for contact lens wear also can be good candidates.
How much does ortho-k cost?
Costs also can vary based on the region of the country and the type of practice where you have the procedure performed. Ortho-k prices in the US generally range from $1, 000 to $2, 000 But particularly difficult cases of ortho-k can cost as much as $4.000.
There are additional costs for lens care solutions and following up exams, which can total about $300 to $ 500 per year.
Finally, keep in mind that, as with all contact lenses, there are some possible side effects of wearing ortho-k lenses. Ask your eye doctor for details.
1. According to the passage, which way is introduced to correct eyesight?| A．Performing an operation of the cornea. |
| B．Applying contact lenses in the daytime. |
| C．Fitting proper glasses during the night. |
| D．Wearing especially designed contact lenses. |
| A．You have to wear ortho-k day and night to ensure good results. |
| B．Ortho-k is a good choice for a man with average nearsightedness. |
| C．The cast of ortho-k in the city is higher than that in the countryside. |
| D．There is no need for people to worry about the side effects of ortho-k. |
| A．1, 000. | B．$1, 300. | C．$1, 500. | D．$2, 000. |
5 . A study by Harvard researchers found that mind wandering, or daydreaming, consumes an average of 47% of peoples’ waking hours. This brings about the question：If mind wandering is so costly to our well-being, then why in the world are we so willing to spend nearly half of our lives in this mental state?
Creative thinkers know, despite what their parents, teachers and school leaders might have told them, that daydreaming is hardly a waste of time. But unfortunately, many students learn to suppress their natural instincts to dream and imagine-instead, they’re taught to fit into a standardized model and to learn by the book, in a way that may not feel natural and that very well may suppress their natural desire to create. But as two famous psychologists recently noted, “Not all minds who wander are lost”-in fact, the mind’s wandering is vital to imagination and creative thought.
Nearly 50 years ago, psychologist Jerome L. Singer established that daydreaming is a normal and indeed widespread aspect of human experience. He found that many people are “happy daydreamers” who enjoy their inner imagery and fantasy. According to Singer, these daydreamers “simply value and enjoy their private experiences, are willing to risk wasting a certain amount of time on them, but also can apparently use them for effective planning and for self-amusement during periods of routine task activity or boredom.”
Singer coined the term positive-constructive daydreaming to describe this type of mind wandering, which he distinguished from poor attention and anxious, obsessive fantasies. By making these important distinctions, Singer was able to highlight the positive, adaptive role that daydreaming can play in our daily lives, under the right circumstances.
1. Who are aware that daydreaming is not a waste of time?| A．Teachers. | B．Parents. | C．School leaders. | D．Creative thinkers. |
| A．learning by the book | B．imagination and creation |
| C．suppression of inner desires | D．instincts and amusements |
| A．Private experience. | B．Circumstances. | C．Fantasies. | D．Happy dreamers. |
| A．It is a useful mental state. | B．It is similar to poor attention. |
| C．It is an anxious. obsessive fantasy. | D．It is a standardized model. |
6 . The native Americans, the people we call the “Indians”, had been in America for many thousands of years before Columbus arrived in 1492. Columbus thought he had arrived in India, so he called the native people “Indians”.
The Indians were kind to the early settlers. They were not afraid of them and they wanted to help them. They showed the settlers the new world around them. They taught them about the local crops like sweet potatoes, corn and peanuts. They introduced the Europeans to chocolate and to the turkey and the Europeans did business with the Indians.
But soon the settlers wanted bigger farms and more land for themselves and their families. More and more immigrants were coming from Europe and all these people needed land. So the Europeans started to take the land from the Indians. Naturally, when the whites started taking all the Indians’ land, the Indians started fighting back.
But the whites were stronger and cleverer. Slowly they pushed the Indians into those parts of the continent that the whites didn’t want- the parts where it was too cold or too dry or too mountainous to live comfortably. By 1875 the Indians were living in special places called “reservations”. But even here the whites took land from them- perhaps the whites wanted the wood, or perhaps the land had important minerals in it, or they even wanted to make national parks there. So even on their reservations the Indians were not safe from the whites.
There are many Hollywood films about the fight between the Indians and the whites. Usually in these films the Indians are bad and the whites are good and brave. But was it really like that? What do you think? Do you think the Indians were right or wrong to fight against the whites?
1. Why did Columbus call the native people “Indians”?| A．Because he thought he had arrived in India. |
| B．Because he liked Indian culture very much. |
| C．Because he knew they were from India. |
| D．Because he was an Indian himself. |
| A．The Indians gave up their land willingly. |
| B．The settlers wanted to buy land from the Indians. |
| C．The whites even wanted more land on Indians’ reservations. |
| D．The Indians were stronger and cleverer than the white settlers. |
| A．the Indians are usually beautified in the films |
| B．the author is doubtful about what the films show to us |
| C．films about fights are the most popular ones in the market |
| D．films about the fight between the Indians and the whites are very limited |
| A．entertainment | B．history | C．economy | D．industry |
7 . In the winter of 1910, Dr. Wu Lien-teh stepped off a train in the northern Chinese city of Harbin. He was there to solve a medical mystery, at great personal risk. Over the past few months, an unknown disease had swept along the railways of northeast China, killing 99.9%of its victims. The Qing Imperial court had sent the Cambridge-educated Dr. Wu north to stop the epidemic (流行病).
When Dr Wu arrived in Harbin on Christmas Eve, 1910, he carried little in the way of medical instruments and had only one assistant. One of Wu’s first acts upon arrival was to set up special quarantine (隔离) units and to order lockdowns to stop infected persons from traveling and spreading the disease. He had teams check households for possible cases, and even managed to convince authorities to completely close the railways in the early weeks of 1911. Of particular concern was the upcoming Chinese New Year holiday, which had become a great annual migration of people traveling across the country to see their families.
Thanks to Dr. Wu’s efforts, the number of victims began to die down, and by March 1, 1911, the epidemic was fully contained. The pneumonic plague outbreak of 1910-1911 lasted nearly four months, affected five provinces and six major cities, and accounted for over 60,000 deaths. It is clear that without the brave and decisive actions taken by Dr. Wu, it could have been much worse. Had the epidemic gone unchecked, allowing holiday rail passengers to spread the disease to the rest of China could have meant a catastrophic loss of life and possibly a global health crisis.
In April 1911, Dr. Wu chaired an International Plague Conference in Shenyang, attended by scientists from 11 counties including the United States, Great Britain, Russia, Japan and France. They praised Dr. Wu for his handling of the 1910-1911 outbreak. For a time, Dr. Wu was the world’s most famous plague fighter, a title be defended in a malaria epidemic in China in 1919, and a return of plague in 1921.
1. What was Dr Wu’s mission in 1910?| A．To take personal risk. | B．To provide medical education. |
| C．To end an epidemic. | D．To investigate the number of victims. |
| A．Setting up special organizations. | B．Convincing authorities to close railways. |
| C．Carrying with him medical instruments. | D．Checking households for possible cases. |
| A．The disease worsened after Mach 1,1911. |
| B．The world was saved from a major epidemic in 1911. |
| C．60,000 people would have died without Dr. Wu’s efforts. |
| D．A global health crisis followed the 1910-1911 outbreak. |
| A．He was infected with malaria in 1919. |
| B．He travelled worldwide hosting conferences. |
| C．He claimed epidemic would never happen again. |
| D．He continued to fight epidemics in China after 1911. |
8 . Pressure Cooker Safety
When you are cooking with a pressure cooker, you should learn a few common sense rules：
1. Never leave the cooker unwatched when it is in use.
2. Add sufficient liquid but never past the recommended fill point. Overfilling the cooker may block the vent pipe（排气孔）and cause the cooker to explode.
3. Set the cooking time. Too much time may overcook the food or too much pressure may buildup the cooker. Too little time will lead to undercooked food.
4. If you are new to pressure cooking, follow the cooking instructions carefully. Heat and time can either result in a great meal or a ruined one.
5. Never try to force a pressure cooker cover open. Allow the cooker to cool or run it under cool water before trying to open the cover.
6. Clean the cooker thoroughly after each use. Mild detergent（洗涤剂）and hot water work the best. Do not use stove ash or sand for they may damage the cooker. The gasket is best cleaned in warm soapy water and then dried. Store the gasket in the bottom of the pot.
1. According to the first rule, the user should ______.
| A．never turn off the stove | B．always add sufficient liquid |
| C．never leave the cooker empty | D．keep the cooker under close watch |
| A．after it is cooled down | B．while it is still on the stove |
| C．with force when it is hot | D．as soon as the cooking is finished |
| A．Overfilling the cooker with food and water. | B．Cleaning the cooker with detergent. |
| C．Cooling the cooker with cold water. | D．Setting too little cooking time. |
9 . The era of intelligent home is on the way... A smart pet-flap based on lift door technology that lets pets in — but keeps foxes out —has been made public at the world’s largest tech conference. The MyQ Pet Portal is the latest tool to promise to revolutionise petkeeping.
For $2,999 owners get a new door featuring sliding doors that are unnoticeable when closed. The family pet is equipped with a Bluetooth collar that sends a signal to the sensor hidden in the door which then informs the owner.
A smart phone app allows the owner to choose whether to open the door, with a video and audio stream (音频流) enabling the owner to see and talk to their pet. “ It is a solution for homeowners who want to keep the security and the appearance of their home in good condition while providing their pets with the freedom to play on demand,” the company claims. MyQ is owned by Chamberlain Group, a US company specialising in garage doors.
The door comes with an “auto-close and lock system” that triggers after the dog goes through to ensure that no other pets or foxes can use it. There is also the option to let a dog open the door automatically when it approaches, without the need for the owners’ approval.
Samsung revealed a robot called Bot Handy that can, it is claimed, pick up laundry, load the dishwasher, set the table, pour wine, and fetch drinks. There was also an app or voice-controlled bathtub from Kohler, a US maker of bathroom products, which attempts to make the spa experience at home possible. The tub, costing up to $8,700, can connect to voice assistants such as Alexa that will tell it to run the water, adjust the temperature or release scents.
1. What is the MyQ Pet Portal based on?| A．The bluetooth technology. |
| B．The lift door technology. |
| C．The latest robot technology. |
| D．The voice-controlled technology. |
| A．By pushing the door itself. |
| B．With a sensor in the collar. |
| C．By sending a signal to its owner. |
| D．With the auto-close and lock system. |
| A．By comparing data. |
| B．By analyzing the reasons. |
| C．By giving typical examples. |
| D．By presenting various ideas. |
| A．The revolution of keeping pets. |
| B．The advertisement for sliding doors. |
| C．The application and promotion of a smart app. |
| D．The introduction to home intelligent products. |
10 . A study confirmed that the cracks (裂缝) found on the surface of Mars last year by the Curiosity Rover are evidence of ancient lakes that likely dried up about 3.5 billion years ago. The new study provides further evidence of what the climate on the Red Planet may have been like in its ancient past.
The study, published online in Geology, proved that cracks on Mars’s surface previously photographed by Curiosity are dry mud cracks which could have only been formed when wet ground was exposed to the air. This conclusion was based on an analysis of a single area of rock known as “Old Soaker.”
Researchers used the Curiosity Rover and information from its many tools including the Mars Hand Lens Imager, ChemCam Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectrometer (LIBS) and the Alpha Particle X-Ray Spectrometer (APXS) to study both the physical appearance and the chemistry of the rock, which is described as no bigger than a coffee table.
The analysis showed that cracks on the rock were formed by exposure to air, rather than heat or the flow of water. In addition, the shape of the cracks suggests it experienced a single drying event on the planet, rather than getting wet and drying over repeatedly. The position of the cracks, closer to the center of the ancient lake rather than alongside it, also suggests that the lake levels changed often, rising and falling over time.
“The mud cracks are exciting because they help us to understand this ancient lake system,” lead study author Nathaniel Stein, a geologist at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, said, referring to the ancient lake system on the planet.
Scientists have known of the existence of ancient water on Mars for years. A 2015 NASA study that measured water in Mars’s atmosphere suggested that ancient oceans may once have had more water than our own Arctic Ocean. However, because the planet has less gravity and a thinner atmosphere than Earth, this water evaporated into space over the course of several billion years.
1. What is the Curiosity Rover underlined in Paragraph 1?| A．A research organization. | B．An automatic machine. |
| C．An ancient remain on the planet. | D．A space telescope on earth. |
| A．The cracks are near the center of an ancient lake. |
| B．Mars was getting wet and drying more than once. |
| C．The lake level on Mars seldom changes over time. |
| D．The cracks on the rocks were formed by water flow. |
| A．Ancient water still exists on Mars now. |
| B．The gravity on Mars is stronger than that on Earth. |
| C．The atmosphere on Earth is thicker than that on Mars. |
| D．The ancient Arctic Ocean had more water than it has now. |
| A．Water on Mars. | B．A trip to Mars. |
| C．A study on Mars. | D．Cracks on Mars. |
