1 . Who're happier, men or women?Research shows it's a complex question and that asking whether males or females are happier isn't really that helpful, because basically, happiness is different for women and men.
Women's happiness has been declining for the past 30 years, according to recent statistics.And research shows that women are twice as likely to experience depression compared with men.Gender（性别） differences in depression are well confirmed and studies have found that biological, psychological and social factors contribute to the difference.
Early studies on gender and happiness found men and women were socialized to express different feelings.Women are more likely to express happiness, warmth and fear, which help with social bonding and appear more consistent with the traditional role as a primary caregiver, while men display more anger, pride and disrespect, which are more consistent with a protector and provider role.
Recent research suggests that these differences are not just socially, but also genetically related.Studies have looked into these findings further and discovered that females use more areas of the brain containing mirror neurons（镜像神经元）than males when they process feelings.Mirror neurons allow us to experience the world from other people's view, to understand their actions and intentions.This may explain why women can experience deeper sadness.Women tend to experience more negative feelings, such as more guilt, shame and to a lesser degree, embarrassment.
Psychologically it seems men and women differ in the way they process and express feelings.With the exception of anger, women experience feelings more strongly and share their feelings more openly with others.Studies have found in particular that women express more appreciation﹣which has been linked to greater happiness.This supports the theory that women's happiness is more dependent on relationships than men's.
1. Which feeling are men more likely to show compared with women?| A．Warmth. |
| B．Depression. |
| C．Happiness. |
| D．Disrespect. |
| A．Psychological factors. |
| B．Biological factors. |
| C．Educational factors. |
| D．Social factors. |
| A．a science fiction |
| B．a culture brochure |
| C．a nursery guide |
| D．a health magazine |
| A．Men and women differ in biology and psychology. |
| B．Men and women experience happiness differently. |
| C．Social roles have a great effect on men and women. |
| D．Women's happiness has declined in the past years. |
2 . With over 4. 1 billion people, or around 55 percent of the world’s population, living in urban areas, cities and towns worldwide are getting increasingly congested. In addition to spending many hours stuck in traffic, residents are also exposed to high air pollution levels caused by transportation emissions. Now, Saudi Arabia hopes to revolutionize urban living with “The Line”— a city designed around nature, without cars and roads!
“The Line” is designed by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS). Located in NEOM — a 10,000-square-mile high-tech planned development on the Red Sea coast in the northwestern Saudi province of Tabu — The Line will be the cornerstone of MBS s Saudi Vision 2030. The plan aims to diversify Saudi Arabia’s oil-dependent economy into other sectors, like tourism, and create exciting job opportunities for its citizens.
The 105-mile-long city, expected to cost between $100 billion and $200 billion, will be built along a straight line and is made up of several self-sustaining communities. To ensure all services are within a short, five-minute walk, each community will feature a three-layer infrastructure (基础设施).
The top “pedestrian layer” will be void of cars and roads, allowing residents to freely walk and bike in the surrounding green spaces. The second “service layer”, will include all essential daily services, such as schools, leisure facilities and grocery stores. The third “spine layer” will house high-speed subway and autonomous vehicles capable of transporting residents across communities in less than 20 minutes. The entire city will be powered with renewable clean energy sources such as solar and wind, and possibly even hydrogen.
If all goes according to plan t construction of this complex project will start before the 1st quarter of 2021. In addition to providing up to a million residents with a clean and stress-free living environment, The Line is expected to create 380,000 new jobs, start economic diversification, and contribute an astounding $ 48 billion to Saudi Arabia’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by 2030. More importantly, MBS believes it will provide governments worldwide a “blueprint for how people and planet can co-exist in harmony.”
1. We can infer that “The Line” will be_________.| A．temporary | B．primitive | C．eco-friendly | D．conventional |
| A．Low crime rates. | B．High unemployment. |
| C．Super communities. | D．Diverse economic sectors. |
| A．Medical clinics. | B．Bus stops. |
| C．Underground trains. | D．Cycling lanes. |
| A．Saudi Arabia Has Created A Green City With No Cars Or Streets |
| B．“The Line” Will Be The Cornerstone Of MBS's Saudi Vision 2030 |
| C．“The Line”— Blueprint Of People And Animals Co-existing In Harmony |
| D．Saudi Arabia Announces “The Line”— A Low Carbon City Without Cars |
3 . Green skin is common in science fiction, but what if green skin were not just for aliens? It humans had green skin, what if it granted us the ability to perform photosynthesis (光合作用), which plants use to live off of sunlight?
Let's analyze what science says about it and ask award-winning science-fiction author John Scalzi what he thinks.
Plants can live off of photosynthesis because they grow broad, flat leaves to harvest as much light as possible, They also need less energy because they are far less active than animals.
According to Lindsay Turnbull, a plant ecologist at the University of Oxford, if the skin of a woman were photosynthetic like a leaf, the amount of surface area she had would satisfy only 1% of her daily energy requirements to survive. For a photosynthesizing woman to meet her energy demands, she would need a lot more skin-about a tennis courts worth, Turnbull estimated.
In addition, photosynthesis requires carbon dioxide. Plants have pores(毛孔)that they use to supply the gas to their cells. If photosynthetic humans had chloroplasts(叶绿体), they might need porous skin to let in carbon dioxide, but such pores might let other things leak in or out-for instance, moisture(水分)-in ways that might prove harmful to the human body.
One might wonder if photosynthetic people might prefer moving to sunny climates. Although such people might receive a small increase from photosynthesis if they moved to a desert area, they would likely base other resource issues to deal with, such as a lack of water. Scalzi said. “There's always going to be trade-offs(平衡).” he noted.
And would photosynthetic humans prefer hole or no clothing to absorb all those rays? In some photosynthetic societies, clothing might become a symbol of the elite- a sign they get enough energy from food and do not need photosynthesis. You can imagine them saying. "I'm rich, so I can cover up." Scalzi said.
So would Scalzi want photosynthetic skin for himself? "Probably not.” he said. “I don’t see the benefit from it being so great that I would completely change the way I’d look to benefit from it.”
1. Why can't humans live off of photosynthesis according to Lindsay Turnbull?| A．Because we are less active. | B．Because we wear clothes. |
| C．Because we don’t have green skin. | D．Because our skin area is not large enough. |
| A．They would absorb too much CO2. |
| B．They would release some useful substances. |
| C．They would be too small for human beings. |
| D．They would keep gases from entering the human body. |
| A．He was too conservative to accept that. |
| B．He wouldn't like to move to sunny climates. |
| C．He believed there were more risks than benefits. |
| D．He thought clothing was simply a symbol of upper class. |
| A．By providing research results. | B．By describing a process. |
| C．By making classifications. | D．By following the time order. |
4 . The latest thing in architecture is green buildings - covering walls and roofs with a carpet of plants to cool the house, absorb rain and provide a home for wildlife. Many such buildings need complex systems for holding and irrigating the soil, but there is a much easier approach: growing some ivy. Ivy is a group of evergreen climbing plants that are happy in shade or full sun and with most kinds of soil. They don’t need supports as they grow aerial roots that latch onto most things.
Many people use ivy to quickly cover an ugly wall or fence. Besides that, in a mild climate such as the UK’s, an ivy covered wall will slightly warm a room in winter. As well as insulating (隔热), ivy cools a room in summer through shading and by water evaporation from its leaves. “It cools the surrounding air. It's like sweating,” says Tijana Blanuša at the University of Reading, UK, who has examined the insulating effects of climbers. She and her colleagues found that Hedera helix ivy created a larger cooling effect than two other climbers, Boston ivy and climbing hydrangea. This is probably because its leaf cover is so dense, says Blanuša.
Ivy has a reputation for damaging buildings, but according to the UK’s Royal Horticultural Society, this doesn’t usually happen unless they already have cracks - the aerial roots can’t go through sound masonry (砖石结构). The other fear is that it can make walls damp, but Blanuša's study found that ivy raised humidity next to the wall by only a small amount. You do need to be careful, though, as once ivy has been in the ground for a few years, it can grow like crazy. In some parts of the US and Australia, certain kinds of ivy are classed as invasive weeds.
Having had a few battles with ivy plants, I let get out of control. If it reaches the roof, it can get under tiles (瓦片) and block gutters. So don’t plan on covering a wall with ivy unless you are willing to get up a ladder twice a year to cut off any shoots that are approaching danger zones. One option is to paint vulnerable structures with anti-graffiti paint that contains a chemical called silane. This reduces attachment of the plant's aerial roots.
1. What does the underlined phrase “latch onto” probably mean?| A．Become attached to. | B．Push aside. |
| C．Hold up. | D．Fit in with. |
| A．By sweating. | B．By sucking water. |
| C．By blocking light. | D．By covering the wall. |
| A．Ivy is popular in the US and Australia. |
| B．It’s believed that ivy can cause buildings to crack. |
| C．To a large degree, ivy is to blame for the damp of a house. |
| D．Ivy can find its way into a house through a hole in the wall. |
| A．Supportive. | B．Objective. | C．Disapproving. | D．Doubtful. |
5 . One of the most beloved coins in history is a true American Classics: The Buffalo Nickel. Although they have not been issued for over 75 years, GovMint. Com is releasing to the public bags of original US government Buffalo Nickels. Now they can be acquired for a limited time only - not as individual collector coins, but by weight - just $49 for a full Quarter-pound Bag.
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1. In the first paragraph, the author ________.| A．introduces to readers the history of Buffalo Nickels |
| B．tells readers the significance of collecting Buffalo Nickels |
| C．encourages readers to purchase Buffalo Nickels right away |
| D．informs readers about the reason of releasing Buffalo Nickels |
| A．Mint Marks. | B．"Roaring 20s" Buffalo. |
| C．Liberty Head Nickel. | D．Free Stone Arrowhead. |
| A．$98. | B．$79. | C．$68. | D．$102. |
6 . If you see the Rolling Stones in concert this summer and go get a drink, there may be no single-use plastic cup for you. The band and its promoter are working with Michael Martin - he's produced a bunch of big Earth Day concerts. The Stones approached Martin and asked for help in eliminating plastic waste. He came up with a simple solution.
"When you come up to get your first drink, you put down a $3 deposit, you get a really high-quality Rolling Stones-branded cup," says Martin. "You use it throughout the night, and at the end of the event you can turn your cup in and get your $3 back or you can keep your cup."
If you return the heavier plastic cup at the end of the show, it gets washed and used again. Or recycled. At some concert venues, there will still be disposable cups available as well. Martin, whose new company is called r. Cup, has been working with other artists, including U2, Bon Jovi, and Radiohead. "The live-event industry goes through more than 4 billion single-use cups a year. At a typical stadium event, you could see 100,000 or 200,000 cups thrown out," says Martin.
But this idea - returning and reusing a cup - this isn't exactly rocket science. So, why is this just being tried now?
"That's a really good question," says Martin. "In America, we're a throwaway society, and what's happening is that people are now seeing the consequences of that. And so, we're hoping we'll be able to wake people up and rearrange things."
Throwaway cups do serve a few purposes: They're cheap and easy, and it's a way for vendors to keep track of sales and make sure their employees aren't giving away free beer. Still, Martin says we can get past that. He'd like to introduce reusable cups at sporting events, zoos, universities, and festivals.
He's starting with rock concerts because artists have a pretty powerful platform. I mean, if Mick Jagger tells his fans to stop abusing the planet, who's going to say no to that?
1. Why did the Stones talk to Martin?| A．Martin could work with artists harmoniously. |
| B．Martin could run a new company successfully. |
| C．Martin could offer assistance to reduce waste. |
| D．Martin could provide recycled cups for audiences. |
| A．It introduces a heavier plastic cup that can be both recycled and reused. |
| B．It is well received among artists and customers in the live-event industry. |
| C．It requires $3 deposit and customers can get a branded cup of good quality. |
| D．It succeeds in preventing 4 billion single-use cups from going to the dump. |
| A．Throwaway cups do serve few practical purposes. |
| B．People are aware of the bad effect from throwaway cups. |
| C．Artists play a significant role in stopping plastic pollution. |
| D．A live concert consumes over 4 billion single-use cups a year. |
| A．Martin Produces Earth Day Concerts | B．Environmental Rules Take Effect |
| C．Single-use Plastic Cups Disappear | D．The Rolling Stones Go Green |
7 . Cruising along the long country road in my car, I was singing at the top of my lungs to help pass the time. It was just before midnight and I was making the two-hour journey to see my then-boyfriend, Richard, who lived two hours apart.
Around 20 minutes in, I was driving down a straight stretch of road, when my steering wheel started jerking from side to side and the car shook violently. The wind is strong here, I thought. But when my car suddenly pulled to the other side of the road, the reality of what was happening dawned on me. I was in the middle of an earthquake!
Situated between a mountain on one side and power lines on the other, I was far too scared to stop in case they came crashing down on top of me. Instead, I decided the safest option was to keep driving slowly. But, as the ground continued to shake beneath me, I grew more frightened by the second.
When it finally stopped, I found a safe place to pull over and check my mobile for reception. But there was nothing. Shaken, I was desperate to make my way to the nearest town to find service as quickly as possible.
Traveling at around 100km/h, I noticed a strange shadow on the road ahead. As I got closer, I realized the bridge in front of me had been removed from the road and had risen around 30 centimeters from the ground. I hit the brakes, but there was no way I could slow down in time. Crashing straight into the raised road, my car broke down finally.
Pain tore through my neck and body. I got out and ran to safety on the other side of the road and screamed for help. But, alone in the dead of night, there was no one around to hear me. Thankfully, around 15 minutes later, I saw two headlights in the distance.
1. Why was the author driving on the country road?| A．To pass the time. | B．To meet her boyfriend. |
| C．To break up with Richard. | D．To escape from a natural disaster. |
| A．before the wind became strong |
| B．after the steering wheel started jerking |
| C．as soon as the car started to shake violently |
| D．when her car pulled to the other side of the road |
| A．Because she was too panic to apply the brake. |
| B．Because she tried to get out of the high-risk area. |
| C．Because she wanted to contact the outside world for help. |
| D．Because she was desperate to find service as soon as possible. |
| A．She was rescued by others before long. | B．She had to repair her car on her own. |
| C．She waited in the dark for help but in vain. | D．She warned other drivers of the raised road. |
8 . The first time I used the TV to distract my daughter, I felt like a bad parent; I convinced myself I was a “bad” mom—these days I believe the opposite to be true. Screen time makes me a better mom.
Now I know what most of you might be thinking: That’s ridiculous. Only crappy(糟糕的)parents rely on the screen to care for their kids. Then again, experts suggest parents limit media use. And while I do not doubt experts, there are things they fail to consider.
Like most 6-year-olds, my daughter gets worked up and excited easily and watching a cartoon gives her a chance to shut off her mind. And there are other reasons— more selfish reasons. I am a work-from-work mom, and giving her screen time gives me “me”time. I’m able to write while she watches TV. And while this may sound bad, I believe I am helping my daughter realize she should rely on herself. When Mommy works, she gets her own snacks, drinks and toys.
There are other benefits, too. TV has also taught my daughter. Thanks to “super Why”,she knew her alphabet at 2, and thanks to “Sesame Street”, she was able to count to 20 by age 3. And I use the screen as a great incentive. My daughter earns “tablet time” when she completes tasks, e.g., making her bed earns 15minutes while doing her homework gets her 30.
Of course, I have a few rules. During meals, the TV is off; all programs must be supervised; on weekdays, she is limited to two hours maximum. So remember: It doesn’t matter what our kids watch; it matters what they do, what they say, what they feel and how they act, and only you know what is best for them.
1. What can be learned about the author’s opinion about screen time?| A．It fails to take kids into consideration. |
| B．It is welcome by most crappy parents. |
| C．It challenges a popular belief. |
| D．It is in line with experts. |
| A．It gives them topics to discuss with friends. |
| B．It gives them some uninterrupted time. |
| C．It enables them to keep their spirits up. |
| D．It helps them become independent. |
| A．Motivator | B．Relaxation |
| C．Idea producer | D．Learning tool |
| A．Science and technology are primary productive forces. |
| B．A man is good-for-nothing until he is educated. |
| C．Nothing can be accomplished without rules. |
| D．Each coin has two sides. |
9 . According to new research from the University of Cambridge in England, sheep are able to recognize human faces from photographs.
The farm animals, which are social and have large brains, were previously known to be able to recognize one another, as well as familiar humans. However, their ability to recognize human faces from photos alone is novel (新奇的).
The recent study, the results of which were published in the journal Royal Society: Open Science, shows the woolly creatures could be trained to recognize still images of human faces, including those of former President Barack Obama and actress Emma Watson.
First, the sheep were trained to get close to certain images by being given food rewards. Later, they were able to recognize the images for which they had been rewarded. The sheep could even recognize images of faces shown at an angle.
“Anyone who has spent time working with sheep will know that they are smart, individual animals who are able to recognize their handlers,” said Professor Jenny Morton, who led the Cambridge study. “We’ve shown with our study that sheep have advanced face-recognition abilities, comparable with those of humans and monkeys.”
Recognizing faces is one of the most important social skills for human beings, and some disorders of the brain, including Huntington’s disease, have a bad effect on this ability.
“Sheep are long-lived and have brains that are similar in size and complexity to those of some monkeys. That means they can be useful models to help us understand disorders of the brain, such as Huntington's disease, which develop over a long time and influence cognitive (认知的) abilities. Our study gives us another way to study how these abilities change.” Morton said.
1. According to the new research, what’s unusual about sheep?| A．They have large brains. |
| B．They can recognize their owners. |
| C．They can recognize human faces from photographs. |
| D．They know the differences between animals and humans. |
| A．By giving food rewards. |
| B．By showing photos of famous people. |
| C．By guiding them to follow their handlers. |
| D．By showing photos of humans and monkeys by turns. |
| A．Sheep are more clever than monkeys. |
| B．The new discovery is helpful to study cognitive ability changes. |
| C．The sheep’s face-recognition ability may prevent brain disorders. |
| D．The face-recognition ability is the most important skill for sheep. |
| A．It discusses the life of sheep. |
| B．It’s about a wonderful scientist. |
| C．It tells us a new discovery about sheep. |
| D．It shows how sheep recognize human faces. |
10 . Smart cities are coming. And you can be sure that hackers (黑客) won’t be very far behind. We’ve already gotten a glimpse of that future, as cities across the globe start to use technology to connect their services and people in ways that were science film just a few years ago. They are using sensors to collect data — such as traffic, garbage collecting, and road conditions —and then using that data to deliver services to more people and more efficiently.
But this rush to become a smart city has a major weakness: The more connected a city is, the easier it is to cyber-attacks. Hackers have, in recent years, effectively held cities hostage through ransom ware (赎金器), sometimes damaging critical systems for months at a time. The damage can cost millions to repair, as Baltimore and Atlanta have discovered.
And this is just the beginning. As cities add connectivity to their streetlights, power grids, dams, transit lines and other services, they are adding more targets that are possible to be hacked. What’s more, as additional information on people is collected, officials worry the result —lots of data could attract nation-states or terrorists who could use the data to launch physical and cyber war.
What cyber security lesson can’t be taught in this hack? For example: Don’t open email attachments from unfamiliar sources; don’t click on unrecognized links; don’t leave sensitive information visible on the walls or surfaces of your office.
But let’s just stick to the most important lesson: The information you share on social media can be used to profile and target you, whether that’s by engineering click bait (点击诱饵) aimed at your particular interests, guessing your password based on your birthday or figuring out your schedule and travels so that an intruder can access your home or office.
Wednesday, September 18, 2019 THE WALL STREET JOURNAL.
1. What did people use to think of smart cities?| A．It was the product of science. | B．It was sure to be popular. |
| C．It existed in imagination. | D．It improved people’s life. |
| A．Introduce the harm of hackers. |
| B．Show the danger of a smart city. |
| C．Add some background information. |
| D．Summarize the previous paragraphs. |
| A．It is convenient to provide service. |
| B．It is certain to bring about progress. |
| C．There are actually potential dangers. |
| D．There’s competition in high technology. |
| A．Describe. | B．Protect. | C．Impress. | D．Fund. |
