1 . 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 |
2 . 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. |
3 . The pandemic has put the future on fast-forward, with one noticeable idea: the drive-in cinema.
In the early 1930s, Richard Hollingshead, a car-parts salesman, had an idea. He'd heard his mother complain about how uncomfortable she found the wooden seats in cinemas. What if she could watch a film from the comfort of her car? To test the thought in his driveway, he put a film projector on the front part of his car, hung a sheet from some trees and invited his neighbors. He patented the idea and in June 1933 opened his first drive in cinema near Camden, New Jersey.
But the idea was slow to take off. By 1945 there were only 96 drive-ins in America. Everything changed in 1949 when Hollingshead's patent was overturned, allowing other companies to open drive-ins without having to pay him tax. With the development of an in-car speaker and perfect synchronization with the on-screen image, the number of drive-ins in America jumped to 2,000 by 1950 and more than 4,000 by 1958.
Drive-in cinemas went into a fall in the late 1950s as shopping malls sprang up in American suburbs. The space occupied by drive-ins was more valuable to property developers as a location for daytime shopping, rather than just showing films in the evening. Besides, more and more people had televisions at home.
The few hundred remaining drive-ins have experienced an unexpected rebirth in 2020 as social-distancing requirements forced indoor cinemas to close. This summer 160 Walmart parking lots were turned into temporary drive-ins. In many ways, the covid-19 outbreak has driven us into the future, promoting the adoption of remote working, online learning, e-commerce and telemedicine. When it comes to drive-ins, however, the pandemic has taken us back to the past.
1. What is a drive-in cinema?| A．A park-in theatre. | B．An indoor theatre. |
| C．A car rental company. | D．A parking space. |
| A．Spreading. | B．Out of date. | C．Registered. | D．Out of favor. |
| A．People didn't like them anymore. | B．They were less interesting than TVs. |
| C．They were purchased by property developers. | D．The space for them was not available anymore. |
| A．The rise and fall of drive-in cinemas. |
| B．The contributions made by Richard Hollingshead. |
| C．The unexpected return of drive-ins during the pandemic. |
| D．The difficult situation of cinemas under the pandemic. |
4 . When NASA astronaut William Shepherd and Russian cosmonauts Yuri Gidzenko and Sergei Krikalev entered the International Space Station on November 2, 2000, they became the first of many to live in the orbiting laboratory 227 nautical miles (海里)above Earth.
Since that first 136-day stay for Expedition 1, the space station has served as a center for continuous human occupation, scientific research and a proving ground for future space exploration for 20 years.
Early in the space station program, the main focus was on building the space station. After that was completed in 2011, the focus has changed to science. More than 3,000scientific investigations have been conducted on the space station. This research has extended to a great many subjects.
While the research conducted on the space station throws light on how a range of things react to the lack of gravity，it has also been used to improve our lives on Earth. Through experiments on the station，we've learned better ways to purify air and water in our homes, developed advance rents in telemedicine，and found better treatments for diseases like cancer.
The space station is also being used as a proving ground as NASA prepares to return humans to the moon by 2024 through its Artemis program, as well as a future human task to Mars.
Going forward, Shepherd believes that a trip to Mars or other locations in the solar system will require large vehicles that will require construction in orbit, using spacewalks and robotics. It will also require the work, expense and cooperation(合作) of several countries.
“If you look at the International Space Station, it's really a blueprint (蓝图) for how to do this.”
1. Which of the following is NOT the function of the space station?| A．To conduct scientific experiments. | B．To send astronauts to Mars. |
| C．To serve as a proving ground. | D．To provide stay for astronauts. |
| A．To do scientific researches. | B．To conduct space explorations. |
| C．To construct the space station. | D．To send humans to the space station. |
| A．More space stations. | B．More spacewalks and robotics. |
| C．Larger orbiting laboratories. | D．Joint efforts of several countries. |
| A．The future exploration of the space station |
| B．The efforts humans put into the space station. |
| C．The construction and protection of the space station. |
| D．The development and potential of the space station. |
5 . Northeastern University in Northeast China's Liaoning Province said it will remove 52PhD students who failed to finish their studies within the permitted study period. One often has been studying for their PhD for 18 years and another two for 17 years, according to an announcement made by the university's College of Information Science and Engineering on Tuesday.
The students were admitted to the college from 2002 to 2012, a list on the college's official website showed. About 78 percent of them have been studying for their PhD at the college for over a decade. The study period for doctoral students in the university is three years, however, and the maximum length of schooling is six years with suspensions included, according to the management rules of the university.
Chinese universities have been seen clearing those postgraduate or PhD students who fail to graduate at the correct time in recent years. Xidian University in Xi'an of Northwest China, for example, removed 33 PhD students in August, some of whom had been studying for 15 years. Yanbian University in Northeast China's Jilin Province announced on November29, 2019, that it would delist 136 graduate students, including 14 PhD students.
A staff member of the university said that some of the students left without telling the school or going through the correct procedures. The difficulties in PhD study and the improving requirements for academic achievements have been found to be the main reasons resulting in students dropping out, experts said. Yang Liu, an associate professor who graduated with a PhD four years ago from a key university in Shanghai, told the Global Times that it is not strange for some PhD students to drop out under the strict academic review process. He also said that some may be scared off by the economic pressure of long-term schooling.
1. What is the permitted study period for a PhD at most?| A．A decade. | B．7 years or so. | C．6 years. | D．Within 3 years. |
| A．The long term of schooling. | B．The increasing requirements for study. |
| C．The economic pressure of schooling. | D．The mixed procedures for leaving universities. |
| A．The difficulties in PhD study scare off many students |
| B．Students fail to graduate from their universities |
| C．University in China's northeast delists over 50 PhD students |
| D．Chinese University is considering clearing some PhD students |
| A．Objective. | B．Worried. | C．Critical. | D．Hopeful. |
Douban rating: 7.3
IMDb rating: 7.0
Set in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, the story happens between a farm boy Isa and his friend Kalbinur. Isa's mother, deaf and dumb, depends on her son to look after her. Kalbinur, though a smart Uyghur girl at school, finds the Chinese language hard to master at the village school. Isa reads a story called A First Farewell in school, and although he does not fully understand the idea of farewell, he will soon experience it himself.
The film won the Asian Future Best Film Award at Tokyo International Film Festival in2018 and a Crystal Bear at the 2019 Berlinale.
Sheep Without a Shepherd
Douban rating: 7.7
IMDb rating: 6.7
Li Weijie and his wife, A Yu, have lived in Thailand for 17 years and raised two daughters. At the age of 40, Li runs an internet company and is well liked by the townspeople. However, the family's peaceful life is suddenly interrupted by an unexpected guest. In this town filled with drug trafficking, fairness comes into a critical testing moment.
The Pursuit of Happiness
Douban rating: 9.1
IMDb rating: 8.0
This film is based on a true story about a man named Christopher Gardner. Gardner has invested heavily in a device known as a “bone density scanner”. However, the devices do not sell. As Gardner works to make ends meet, his wife leaves him and he loses his apartment. Forced to live out on the streets with his son, Gardner takes on an unpaid internship as a stockbroker, with few chances for advancement to a paid position. Before he can receive pay, he needs to survive in the competition through six months of training, and to sell his devices to pay off debts.
Ne Zha
Douban rating: 8.5
IMDb rating: 7.5
The Primus(天尊) makes a Mixed Yuan Bead(珠) into a spirit bead and a demon bead. The spirit bead can be re-incarnated in a human to help King Zhou set up a new dynasty, the demon bead will create a devil and harm humans. Ne Zha is the one who should be the spirit bead hero but he becomes a devil incarnate, because the spirit bead and the demon bead are switched.
1. Which film is best received by viewers?| A．A First Fareveell. | B．Sheep Without a Shepherd. |
| C．The Pursuit of Happiness. | D．Ne Zha. |
| A．It won a Future Best Film Award in 2019. | B．It was highly recognized. |
| C．It tells of a story about a businessman. | D．It was first shown in Xinjiang province. |
| A．A First Farewell. | B．Sheep Without a Shepherd. |
| C．The Pursuit of Happiness. | D．Ne Zha. |
