1 . You may have heard some of the fashion industry horror stories: models eating tissues or cotton balls to hold off hunger, and models collapsing from hunger-induced heart attacks just seconds after they step off the runway.
Excessively skinny models have been a point of controversy for decades, and two researchers say a model’s body mass should be a workspace health and safety issue. In an editorial released Monday in the American Journal of Public Health, Katherine Record and Bryn Austin made their case for government regulation of the fashion industry.
The average international runway model has a body mass index (BMI) under 16-low enough to indicate starvation by the World Health Organization’s standard. And Record and Austin are worried not just about the models themselves, but about the vast number of girls and women their images influence.
“Especially girls and teens,” says Record.
“Seventy percent of girls aged 10 to 18 report that they define perfect body image based on what they see in magazines.” That’s especially worrying, she says, given that anorexia (厌食症) results in more deaths than does any other mental illness, according to the National Institute of Mental Health.
It’s commonly known that certain diseases are linked with occupations like lung disease in coal miners. Professional fashion models are particularly vulnerable to eating disorders resulting from occupational demands to maintain extreme thinness.
Record’s suggestion is to prohibit agents from hiring models with a BMI below 18. In April, France passed a law setting lower limits for a model’s weight. Agents and fashion houses who hire models with BMI under 18 could pay $ 82000 in fines and spend up to 6 months in jail. Regulating the fashion industry in the United States won’t be easy, Record says. But with the new rules in France, U.S. support could make a difference.
“A designer can’t survive without participating in Paris Fashion Week”, she says, adding, “Our argument is that the same would be true of New York Fashion Week.”
1. Why are Record and Austin worried about the low body mass index of models?| A．It contributes to many mental illnesses. |
| B．It defines the future of the fashion industry. |
| C．It has great influence on numerous girls and women. |
| D．It keeps many otherwise qualified women off the runaway. |
| A．It has difficulty hiring models. |
| B．It has now a new law to follow. |
| C．It allows girls under 18 on the runway. |
| D．It has overtaken that of the United States. |
| A．It will create a completely new set of rules. |
| B．It will do better than Paris Fashion Week. |
| C．It will differ from Paris Fashion Week. |
| D．It will have models with a higher BMI. |
2 . The other day I was shopping at a local store and came upon a lady from India squatting（蹲）on the floor looking for a certain product on the bottom shelf. She sprang up when she saw me as if to get out of my way. Apologetically she explained that she was a cashier at a nearby store and was on her lunch break, trying to get a few needed items before her time was up.
I reassured her, “I am in no hurry. Go ahead and do what you need to do.” While she searched for a particular brand, she said that sometimes customers were rude to her at the store and she really appreciated my kindness. I told her that I had noticed cashiers being treated rudely by some people.
I also explained to her that I was a retired nurse and understood some of what she was saying first hand. Sometimes patients, families, or doctors could be very rude or mean. But I tried to understand why they were feeling that way and let it go. “The world would be a better place if we all acted kindly toward each other. Those who are rude may have bad karma coming after them eventually.” I added.
She nodded and was surprised, “So you know about karma?” My reply was simple. “A little bit. Karma is the same thing as doing something bad and it comes back to bite you on the butt.” She paused, looked puzzled, then broke out in a big smile and covered her mouth with her hand, laughing as she walked away.
It felt so good that in a brief exchange I showed her there were kind people in the world, which might have helped her regain her faith in humanity.
1. How did the lady react when she saw the author in the store?| A．She apologized for her rude manners. | B．She invited her to have lunch together. |
| C．She stood up trying to make way for her. | D．She kept searching for the needed product. |
| A．Responsible and humorous. | B．Courageous and warm-hearted. |
| C．Kind and understanding. | D．Sympathetic and open-minded. |
| A．Working as a cashier is no easy job. |
| B．Those who are rude deserve bad karma. |
| C．Doing acts of kindness will make people feel good. |
| D．We should treat others the way we want to be treated. |
3 . Technology may have made working from home easier than ever, but according to a new study, staff who are out of sight may not perform as well as those in the office. Researchers at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, US, wanted to find out whether being watched while undertaking a task made a diffrence to its outcome.
Many people believe that being under constant observation damages their creativity while others live in fear of freezing in front of an audience during a public event. But the findings suggest that the pressure of others actually makes people achieve more. "You might think having people watch you isn't going to help, but it might actually make you perform better," said lead author Vikram Chib, an assistant professor of biomedical engineering at Johns Hopkins and the Kennedy Krieger Institute. “An audience can serve as an extra bit of incentive.” When people know they are being observed, parts of the brain associated with social awareness and reward stimulate a part of the brain that controls motor skills, improving their performance at skilled tasks.
In the new experiment, Dr Chib and colleagues asked 20 participants to play a game on a Nintendo Wii or Xbox Kinect. The participants performed the task both in front of an audience of two and with no one watching. Their brain activity was monitored with functional magnetic resonance imaging (磁共振成像). While people were watching, participants were an average of five percent better at the video game—and as much as 20 percent better. Only two participants didn't perform better in front of others. But if the audience was a lot bigger, and the stakes (赌注) higher, the results could have gone the other way. “Here, people with social anxiety tended to perform better," added Dr Chib. “But at some point, the size of the andience sould increase the size of one's aniery. We still need to figure that out."
The research was published in the journal Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience.
1. People usually believe that being watched while undertaking a task can_________.| A．slower their reaction | B．result in better achievement |
| C．encourage their creativity | D．increase their fear of getting cold |
| A．observation | B．association | C．improvement | D．encouragement |
| A．Socially anxious people performed worse with others watching. |
| B．Being under observation helped most participants' performance. |
| C．The size of the audience increased the size of one's anxiety. |
| D．Functional magnetic resonance imaging could monitor brain activity. |
| A．Working at home is more efficient than in the office. |
| B．Reasonable amount of pressure from others promotes performance. |
| C．The larger the audience is, the better the performance will be. |
| D．People tend to perform better at all tasks when being watched. |
4 . In the mid-1980s, a study compared mtDNA from people around the world. It found that people of African descent (后裔) had twice as many genetic differences from each other than as did others. Because mutations (基因突变) seem to occur at a steady rate over time, scientists were able to conclude that modern humans must have lived in Africa at least twice as long as anywhere else. They now calculate that all living humans descend from a single woman who lived roughly 150,000 years ago in Africa, “Eve”. If geneticists are right, all of humanity is linked to Eve through an unbroken chain of mothers. This Eve was soon joined by “Y-Chromosome (染色体) Adam”, the genetic father of us all, also from Africa. DNA studies have confirmed that all the people on Earth, with all their shapes and colors, can trace their ancestry to ancient Africans.
What seems certain is that at a remarkably recent date—probably between 50,000 and 70,000 years ago—one small group of people, the ancestors of modern humans outside of Africa, left Africa for western Asia, either by migrating around the northern end of the Red Sea or across its narrow southern opening.
Once in Asia, genetic evidence suggests, the population split. One group stopped temporarily in the Middle East, while the other commenced a journey which would last tens of thousands of years. Moving a little further with each new generation, they followed the coast around the Arabian Peninsula, India, and Southeast Asia, all the way to Australia. ''The movement was probably unnoticeable,'' says Spencer Wells. ''It was less of a journey and probably more like walking a little farther down the beach to get away from the crowd.''
Although archaeological evidence of this 13,000-kilometer (8,000-mile) migration from Africa to Australia has almost completely disappeared, genetic traces of the group that made the trip do exist. They have been found in the DNA of native peoples in the Andaman Islands near Myanmar, in Malaysia, and in Papua New Guinea, and in the DNA of nearly all Australian aborigines (土著). Modern discoveries of 45,000-year-old bodies in Australia, buried at a site called Lake Mungo, provide some physical evidence for the theories as well.
People in the rest of Asia and Europe share different but equally ancient mtDNA and mutations. The mutations which they possess show that most are descendants of the group that stayed in the Middle East for thousands of years before moving on. Perhaps about 40,000 years ago, modern humans first advanced into Europe.
1. What can be inferred from the first paragraph?| A．Mutations occasionally take place over time |
| B．Modern humans probably have only one ancestor. |
| C．Modern humans must have lived in Africa for a shorter time than anywhere else. |
| D．Scientists confirm all of humanity is linked to Eve with physical evidence . |
| A．Most of the migrants turned back into Africa. |
| B．They separated into two groups. |
| C．Most of the migrants moved directly into Europe. |
| D．They stayed in the Middle East for tens of thousands of years. |
| A．Discovery of human remains in Australia | B．DNA of people in Southeast Africa |
| C．DNA of immigrants to Australia | D．Discoveries from modern societies in Asia |
| A．Finding Y-Chromosome Adam | B．Who were the First Humans? |
| C．The Discovery of DNA in Africa | D．Migrating Out of Africa |
5 . In a large survey of people's first memories, nearly 40% of participants reported a first memory that is likely to be fictional, according to findings published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science.
Current research indicates that people's earliest memories date from around 3 to 3. 5 years of age. However, the study from researchers at City, University of London, the University of Bradford, and Nottingham Trent University found that 38.6% of 6, 641 participants claimed to have memories from age 2 or younger, with 893 people claiming memories from age 1 or younger. This was particularly prevalent among middle-aged and older adults.
As many of these memories dated before the age of 2 and younger, the authors suggest that these fictional memories are based on remembered fragments(碎片) of early experience—such as a pram(婴儿车)，family relationships and feeling sad—and some facts or knowledge about their own infancy or childhood which may have been derived from photographs or family conversations.
“Further details may be unconsciously inferred or added, e. g. that one was wearing nappy when standing in the cot(幼儿床)," added Shazia Akhatr, first author on the study and Senior Research Associate at the University of Bradford.
“When we looked through the responses from participants we found that a lot of these first 'memories' were frequently related to infancy, and a typical example would be a memory based around a pram," explained Martin Conway, Director at the Centre for Memory and Law at City, University of London and coauthor of the paper.
“For this person, this type of memory could have resulted from someone saying something like 'mother and a large green pram'. The person then imagines what it would have looked like. Over time these fragments then become a memory and often the person will start to add things in such as a string of toys along the top," he added.
"Crucially, the person remembering them doesn't know this is fictional," Conway noted. "In fact when people are told that their memories are false they often don't believe it. This partly due to the fact that the systems that allow us to remember things are very complex, and it's not until we're 5 or 6 that we form adult-like memories due to the way that the brain develops and due to our maturing understanding of the world.
1. What does the underlined word "prevalent" in Paragraph 2 probably mean?| A．Unique. | B．Crazy. | C．Common. | D．Doubtful. |
| A．Some people have clear knowledge about their own infancy. |
| B．Added details are an important clue to recall the childhood. |
| C．Most people claimed to have memories from age 2 or younger. |
| D．Talks between family members influence the earliest memories. |
| A．By making comparison. | B．By setting examples. |
| C．By analyzing data. | D．By referring to documents. |
| A．Many people's earliest memories may be fictional. |
| B．People's earliest memories can date back to 2 or younger. |
| C．The middle-aged and adults specialize in detailing their first memory. |
| D．Memories develop due to our maturing understanding of the world. |
6 . In order to reduce the risk of suffering from COVID-19, people are supposed to say no to a handshake, give up high fives, refuse kisses on the cheek and absolutely avoid hugging. So people all over the world are changing their daily habits at work and at home to prevent it from spreading.
In France, handshaking is regarded as daily greeting habits. And kissing on the cheek is often seen even between people who have only just met. Philippe Lichtfus, a lifestyle expert notes that handshaking is a relatively recent development in human history that began in the Middle Ages. Now, he says simply looking into a person’s eyes can serve as a greeting.
The Brazilian health ministry has recommended that citizens should not share the metal straws traditionally used to consume the caffeine-rich drink chimarrão. And a kiss—even if it is not on the mouth—is totally advised against.
One of Spain’s most treasured traditions is also affected by the outbreak—the kissing of sculptures of Virgin Mary in the week leading up to Easter. During the holy week, the faithful believers queue up to kiss the hands or feet of sculptures of Mary and the saints, seeking their protection.
Germany’s interior minister (内政部长) Horst Seehofer rebuffed Chancellor（总理）Angela Merkel’s attempt to shake hands with him, smiling and keeping both his hands to himself. They both laughed and Merkel threw her hand up in the air before taking a seat.
In Iran, a video has gone viral (走红) showing three friends meeting, hands in their pockets, two of whom are wearing masks, tapping their feet against each other as a greeting. A similar video in Lebanon shows singer Ragheb Alama and comedian Michel Abou Sleiman tapping their feet against each other while making kissing noises with their mouths.
The UAE (阿拉伯联合酋长国) is advising citizens to stop the traditional “nose to nose” greeting. The UAE also said that people shouldn’t shake hands anymore or kiss. Greet each other “by waving only”.
1. What can we learn from Philippe Lichtfus?| A．Handshaking has a long history. |
| B．People can continue to kiss on the cheek. |
| C．It is recommended that people look into other’s eyes as a greeting. |
| D．It is unusual for two people who have just met to kiss on the cheeks. |
| A．Appreciated. | B．Refused. | C．Accepted. | D．Welcomed. |
| A．Several traditional greeting habits are advised against in the UAE. |
| B．People who believe in Virgin Mary must be disappointed to cancel the ceremony. |
| C．Brazilians are crazy about consuming the caffeine-rich drink chimarrão. |
| D．Tapping feet against each other has already become a daily greeting in Iran. |
| A．Some old greeting styles are out of date. |
| B．Some new greeting styles become popular. |
| C．Different countries have different greeting styles. |
| D．People change their greeting styles to protect themselves. |
7 . The other day I was shopping at a local store and came upon a lady from India squatting（蹲）on the floor looking for a certain product on the bottom shelf. She sprang up when she saw me as if to get out of my way. Apologetically she explained that she was a cashier at a nearby store and was on her lunch break trying to geta few needed items before her time was up.
I reassured her, “I am in no hurry. Go ahead and do what you need to do.” While she searched for a particular brand, she said that sometimes customers were rude to her at the store and she really appreciated my kindness. I told her that I had noticed cashiers being treated rudely by some people.
I also explained to her that I was a retired nurse and understood some of what she was saying first hand. Sometimes patients, families, or doctors could be very rude or mean. But I tried to understand why they were feeling that way and let it go. “The world would be a better place if we all acted kindly toward each other. Those who are rude may have bad karma coming after them eventually.” I added.
She nodded and was surprised, “So you know about karma?” My reply was simple. “A little bit. Karma is the same thing as doing something bad and it comes back to bite you on the butt.” She paused, looked puzzled, then broke out in a big smile and covered her mouth with her hand, laughing as she walked away.
It felt so good that in a brief exchange I showed her there were kind people in the world, which might have helped her regain her faith in humanity.
1. How did the lady react when she saw the author in the store?| A．She stood up trying to make way for her. |
| B．She invited her to have lunch together. |
| C．She apologized for her rude manners. |
| D．She kept searching for the needed product. |
| A．Responsible and humorous. |
| B．Courageous and warm-hearted. |
| C．Kind and understanding. |
| D．Sympathetic and open-minded. |
| A．Working as a cashier is no easy job. |
| B．Those who are rude deserve bad karma. |
| C．Doing acts of kindness will make people feel good. |
| D．We should treat others the way we want to be treated. |
8 . Australia is home to some of the world’s deadliest animals. However, few are as dangerous as the cane toad（蔗蟾蜍）. Native to Central and South America, the innocent-looking animal is an invasive species that was imported to Australia in 1935 to control the native cane beetles that were harming sugarcane crops. With very few natural enemies, their population began to grow rapidly. Experts say that there are currently over 200 million cane toads in Australia, and the number is still growing.
The increasing population is proving to be deadly for some native Australian animal species that prey（捕食）on the toads. That’s because when the toads sense danger, they release a milky substance that is so poisonous that it kills the predator（捕食者）almost instantly.
While some animals have learned to avoid the toads altogether or just attack their belly, the Australian monitor lizards（大蜥蜴）continue to be affected seriously. The lizards are well-known for trapping these poisonous toads. Unfortunately, in most cases, it turns out to be their last meal since it takes the cane toad less than 30 seconds to release enough poison to kill the hunter.
After extensive efforts to control the toad’s population growth failed, a team of researchers from the University of Sydney came up with a creative plan. They decided to train the monitor lizards to avoid the cane toads! To carry out the plan, they went to a remote area in the Kimberley region of Australia that had not yet been invaded by the toads, and fed the wild lizards on young cane toads. Though the smaller animals release the same poison as the adults, they do so in smaller doses. Therefore, while the poison does make the predators sick, it does not kill them. The researchers say it took just one or two trials to teach the lizards to avoid cane toads altogether. They could avoid the animals even when the larger cane toads arrived. According to the researchers, eighteen months after the study started most of the trained lizards keep alive, while those that were not exposed to the small toads die from their poison.
1. Why were cane toads imported to Australia in 1935?| A．Because they were poisonous. | B．Because they looked harmless. |
| C．Because they could feed predators. | D．Because they preyed on cane beetles. |
| A．They harmed sugarcane crops. | B．They soon became out of control. |
| C．They spread everywhere in Australia. | D．They attracted many natural predators. |
| A．Puzzling. | B．Shocking. | C．Encouraging. | D．Embarrassing. |
| A．Science fiction. | B．A news story. | C．A medical report. | D．Popular science. |
9 . “Nearly every day the Irish have a song and play music,” says Will Fanning on his chair outside his home in Mingo, West Virginia. “Every weekend we write and play music at the house.” Fanning is a musician and hotel owner born in Ireland. But now he lives deep in the Appalachian Mountains, a 2,400-kilometer-long system of mountains along the eastern part of the United States. Like Fanning, many in the area continue the traditions from their families’ immigrant history including a kind of music called old-time.
Old-time music comes from the Appalachian Mountains. In the 18th century, many Europeans from Ireland, Scotland and Germany arrived in the area to begin new lives. The US was their new home, but these Appalachian communities continued the European music and dance traditions they loved. Over time, the music mixed with that of African slaves and became its own. It is called old-time music.
According to the professional musician John Lilly from West Virginia, the earliest purpose of the music was for dancing. Life in the mountains was hard. Music and dancing offered Appalachians a much needed break from the labors of the day. And it had another sense for Appalachians. In small Appalachian towns in the past, there were always very old musicians in the neighborhood. Young people would study the music from them, which acted as a bridge between the old and the young. Usually, old-time music was learned by ear. There were no written notes, so one had to learn it all by listening to it and trying to reproduce the sound.
Old-time songs are records of history. Some are based on the Christian religion and some are American Civil War songs. And, many are about the life and land that surround the songwriter. These days, old-time music is not often heard over the radio. But it still lives on strongly in the communities where it came from.
1. What do we know about old-time music?| A．It mirrors various cultures. | B．It dates back to the 1800s. |
| C．It was widely popular in Europe. | D．It got its name from African slaves. |
| A．Going through hard times together. |
| B．Spreading music in an effective way. |
| C．Passing down the knowledge and experience. |
| D．Bringing members of different generations together. |
| A．Recalling O1d times in O1d Songs | B．Old-time Music’s European Roots |
| C．O1d Music that Records O1d Times | D．A Family Tradition in West Virginia |
10 . Countless people around the world are taking special efforts lately, to make travel more sustainable(可持续的). Peru is the latest example of this, with the country not only issuing a brand new sustainable travel brochure that celebrates local wildlife and nature, but announcing a project that aims to make Machu Picchu completely carbon neutral(碳中和) in the coming years.
A study will be the starting point for making decisions so that the carbon footprint of Machu Picchu can be progressively reduced, with the goal of 45% reduction in emissions by 2030 and 100% by 2050, following the guidelines of the climate agreement of Paris.
The project will seek public and private investment, considering first activities that have a positive impact on the site and on the environment. Aims include the expansion of organic waste treatment and the reduction of plastic in Machu Picchu.
“Machu Picchu Carbon Neutral is a source of pride and commitment of the local population in general and of young people in particular who will have the opportunity to learn more about climate change and the relief measures that are carried out to make Machu Picchu healthy and sustainable," a representative of Peru Travel said. The project has also put forward the idea to promote activities that include tourists offsetting their own carbon emissions by planting trees or collecting wastes.
The new sustainable travel brochure covers experiences throughout the country, telling the story of Peru's landscapes and people. It has made the country a popular choice for travellers looking for sustainable experiences.
1. What will Peru do to achieve the carbon neutral goal?| A．Plan to join Paris Agreement soon. |
| B．Invest money in developing tourism. |
| C．Start a project to deal with waste and plastic. |
| D．Print brochures to encourage people to go green. |
| A．Make up for. | B．Push up. | C．Take the place of. | D．Set off. |
| A．It may harm the local tourism. |
| B．It will influence young people positively. |
| C．It helps the locals stop the climate change. |
| D．It is an example for the whole world to follow. |
| A．How people around the world are making their travel more sustainable. |
| B．How Peru plans to make Machu Picchu completely carbon neutral. |
| C．Introduction of a study to reduce the carbon footprint of Machu Picchu. |
| D．Invention of a brand new sustainable travel brochure of Machu Picchu. |
