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 . Have you ever considered all the English expressions that include words about clothes? Let’s have a look.
People wear pants to cover the lower part of their bodies. We sometimes say that people who are nervous have ants in their pants. Sometimes, people may get caught with their pants down. They are found doing something they should not be doing. And, in every family, one person takes control. Sometimes a wife tells her husband what to do. Then we say she wears the pants in the family.
Pants usually have pockets to hold things. Money that is likely to be spent quickly can burn a hole in your pocket. Sometimes you need a belt to hold up your pants. If you have less money than usual, you may have to tighten your belt.
I always praise people who can save their money and not spend too much. I really take my hat off to them. Yet, when it comes to my own money, I spend it at the drop of a hat, which means I instantly spend it.
Boots are a heavy or strong kind of shoes. People who are too big for their boots think they are more important than they really are. I dislike such people.
My father is an important person. He runs a big company. He wears a suit and tie, and a shirt with sleeves that cover his arms. Some people who do not know him well think he is too serious and never shows his feelings openly. But I know that my father wears his heart on his sleeve.
1. What is this passage mainly about?| A．What pants mean in English. | B．Some special English expressions. |
| C．Some funny English expressions. | D．Some expressions related to clothes. |
| A．Get caught with one’s pants down. | B．Have ants in one’s pants. |
| C．Wear the pants in the family. | D．Burn a hole in one’s pocket. |
| A．doesn’t save money | B．earns much money |
| C．never wastes his money | D．spends more than he earns |
3 . Friends play an important part in our lives, and although we may take friendship for granted, we often don’t clearly understand how to make friends. While we get on well with a number of people, we are usually friends with only a very few — for example, the average among students is about 6 per person. In all the cases of friendly relationships, two people like one another and enjoy being together, but beyond that, the degree of intimacy between them and the reasons for their shared interests vary greatly. As we get to know people, we take into account things like age, race, economic condition, social position, and intelligence. Although these factors are not of great importance, it is more difficult to get on with people when there is a marked difference in age and background.
Some friendly relationships can be kept on argument and discussion, but it is usual for close friends to have similar ideas and beliefs, the same opinions and interests — they often talk about “being on the same wavelength”. It generally takes time to reach this point. And the more intimately involved people become, the more they depend on one another. People who want to be friends have to learn to put up with annoying habits and to stand differences.
In contrast with marriage, there are no friendship ceremonies to strengthen the association between two people. But the supporting and understanding of each other that results from shared experiences and emotions does seem to create a powerful bond, which can overcome differences in background, and break down barriers of age, class or race.
1. According to the passage, .| A．friends are those who must share their interests |
| B．friends are closer than people who just get on with each other |
| C．all the people know how to make friends |
| D．every student has six friends |
| A．there are no special ceremonies to strengthen friendship |
| B．friendship can overcome all differences between two people |
| C．standing differences in opinion can lead to friendship |
| D．friendship can be strengthened by smiles and soft voices |
| A．Even friends may have different opinions. |
| B．Someone’s habits may annoy his friends. |
| C．It generally takes time for people to become close friends. |
| D．Friends never argue with each other. |
| A．have the same background | B．watch the same TV programs |
| C．are the same in all ways | D．share the same way of thinking and the same interests |
4 . Tom was a clever boy, but his parents were poor, so he had to work in his spare time and during his holidays to pay for his education. In spite of this, he managed to get to the university, but it was so expensive to study there that during the holiday he found it necessary to get two jobs at the same time so as to make enough money to pay for his studies.
One summer he managed to get a job in a butcher’s shop(肉店)during the day-time, and another in a hospital at night. In the shop, he learnt to cut meat quite nicely, so the butcher often left him to do all the serving while he went to the back room to do the accounts(账目). In the hospital, on the other hand, he was, of course, allowed to do the simplest jobs, like helping to lift people and to carry them from one part of the hospital to another. Both at the butcher’s shop and at the hospital, Tom had to wear white clothes.
One evening at the hospital, Tom had to carry a woman from her bed to the place where she was to have an operation. The woman was already feeling frightened at the thought of the operation before he came to get her, but when she saw Tom, that finished her. “No! No!” she cried．“Not my butcher! I won’t be operated on by my butcher!” and fainted away(昏厥).
1. Tom made enough money by ________.| A．doing two jobs |
| B．working in a butcher’s shop |
| C．cutting meat well |
| D．studying in the university |
| A．a butcher and a doctor |
| B．a manager and a doctor |
| C．an assistant |
| D．a manager |
| A．he was wearing white clothes |
| B．he was going to operate on her |
| C．he was now working in the hospital |
| D．he had sold meat to her |
| A．plunged her into deep sorrow |
| B．took all her strength and courage away |
| C．broke her heart |
| D．made her decide to have an operation |
5 . Race walking shares many fitness benefits with running, research shows, while most likely contributing to fewer injuries. It does, however, have its own problem.
Race walkers are conditioned athletes. The longest track and field event at the Summer Olympics is the 50-kilometer race walk, which is about five miles longer than the marathon. But the sport’s rules require that a race walker’s knees stay straight through most of the leg swing and one foot remain in contact (接触) with the ground at all times. It’s this strange form that makes race walking such an attractive activity, however, says Jaclyn Norberg, an assistant professor of exercise science at Salem State University in Salem, Mass.
Like running, race walking is physically demanding, she says, According to most calculations, race walkers moving at a pace of six miles per hour would burn about 800 calories(卡路里) per hour, which is approximately twice as many as they would burn walking, although fewer than running, which would probably burn about 1,000 or more calories per hour.
However, race walking does not pound the body as much as running does, Dr. Norberg says. According to her research, runners hit the ground with as much as four times their body weight per step, while race walkers, who do not leave the ground, create only about 1.4 times their body weight with each step.
As a result, she says, some of the injuries associated with running, such as runner’s knee, are uncommon among race walkers. But the sport’s strange form does place considerable stress on the ankles and hips, so people with a history of such injuries might want to be cautious in adopting the sport. In fact, anyone wishing to try race walking should probably first consult a coach or experienced racer to learn proper technique, she says. It takes some practice.
1. Why are race walkers conditioned athletes?| A．They must run long distances. |
| B．They are qualified for the marathon. |
| C．They have to follow special rules. |
| D．They are good at swinging their legs. |
| A．It’s more popular at the Olympics. |
| B．It’s less challenging physically. |
| C．It’s more effective in body building. |
| D．It’s less likely to cause knee injuries. |
| A．Getting experts’ opinions. |
| B．Having a medical checkup. |
| C．Hiring an experienced coach. |
| D．Doing regular exercises. |
| A．Skeptical. | B．Objective. |
| C．Tolerant. | D．Conservative. |
6 . Many of the Earth's creatures die because of humans' choices. These choices have nothing to do with food or shelter or anything else that helps humans survive. What kills millions of animals all over the world is that humans want to make money by doing so.
People use parts of animals for everything from hats to handbags, from jewelry to ashtrays and to make powders that supposedly improve a person's life. Deciding that a species is endangered and protecting it by law are not always enough. People who kill wildlife illegally rarely get caught.
During the late 1980s, saving elephants became a popular cause. Wildlife protection groups made sure everyone saw pictures or films of elephants with their faces cut off for their ivory. These groups also proved that certain populations of elephants were decreasing. As a result, most people stopped buying objects made of ivory. Laws against poaching (偷猎) were made stronger. Many countries made importing ivory illegal. Killing elephants for their Ivory became more risky and less profitable (有利可图的).
However, concern for certain species will become weak after a while. In the late 1970s, people protested (抗议) against the killing of seal babies. Everyone was shocked to see young seals being killed in their icy habitat. The cruel activity stopped. But ten years later, the number of seal babies killed was higher than ever.
Other animal protection movements have come and gone, such as saving the whales and protecting dolphins. The whale population appears to have increased for now. And the laws are finally changed in America to protect the dolphins that swim with tuna fish in parts of the Pacific Ocean.
In the years to come, people's attention will probably turn to some other endangered species. Plenty of them urgently need attention. During this time, will the elephants be forgotten?
1. What leads to the disappearance of millions of wild animals?| A．The growing human population. |
| B．Humans’ hope for making a fortune. |
| C．Humans’ too much need for wild food. |
| D．Not having enough laws on wildlife protection.. |
| A．Wildlife protection groups did make great efforts. |
| B．Importing ivory in all countries is illegal. |
| C．Those who killed elephants all got caught. |
| D．Hunting was completely not allowed. |
| A．To show the effort to protect seal babies. |
| B．To show an increasing number of seal babies. |
| C．To show the decrease of worry about certain species. |
| D．To show people’s protest against the killing of seal babies. |
| A．Humans should choose some rare animals to protect. |
| B．Attention must be paid to saving some endangered wildlife. |
| C．Success has been achieved in quite a few cases of wildlife protection. |
| D．Concern and movements for animal protection should be always kept. |
7 . My roommate Lily was well organised, while I was not. Each of her things had its place, but mine were always hidden somewhere. She even labeled (贴标签于) everything. I always looked for everything. Over time, Lily got neater and I got messier. She would push my dirty clothing over, and I would lay my books on her tidy desk. We both got tired of each other.
War broke out one evening. Lily came into the room. Soon, I heard her screaming. “Take your shoes away! Why under my bed! “Deafened, I saw my shoes flying at me. I jumped to my feet and started yelling. She yelled back louder.
The room was filled with anger. We could not have stayed together for a single minute but for a phone call. Lily answered it. From her end of the conversation, I could tell right away her grandma was seriously ill. When she hung up, she quickly crawled (爬) under her covers, sobbing. Obviously, that was something she should not go through alone. All of a sudden, a warm feeling of sympathy (同情) rose up in my heart.
Slowly, I collected the pencils, took back the books, made my bed, cleaned the socks and swept the floor, even on her side. I got so lost in my work that I even didn’t notice Lily had sat up. She was watching, her tears dried and her expression a kind of disbelief. Then, she reached out her hands to grasp mine. I looked up into her eyes. She smiled at me, “Thanks.”
Lily and I stayed roommates for the rest of the college years. We didn’t always agree, but we learned.
1. How is Paragraph 1 mainly developed?| A．By analyzing causes. | B．By following time order. |
| C．By showing differences. | D．By describing a process. |
| A．She heard the author shouting loud. |
| B．She saw the author’s shoes under her bed. |
| C．She got the news that her grandma was ill. |
| D．She couldn’t find her books anymore. |
| A．Because she wanted to show her care for Lily. |
| B．Because she hated herself for being so messy. |
| C．Because Lily required her to do so. |
| D．Because she was scared by Lily’s anger. |
| A．Hard Work Pays Off | B．Learning to Be Roommates |
| C．My Friend Lily | D．How to Be Organised? |
8 . Scientists say they have created a new device that can turn brain signals into electronic speech.The invention could one day give people who have lost the ability to speak a better way of communicating than current ones.
The device was developed by researchers from the University of California, San Francisco.Their results were recently published in a study in the journal Nature.Scientists created a"brain machine connection"that was set in the brain.The device was built to read and record brain signals that helped control the muscles to produce speech.These include the lips, tongue and jaw .
The study involved five volunteer patients who were being treated for epilepsy(癫痫).The individuals had the ability to speak and already had electrodes(电极)set in their brains.The volunteers were asked to read several hundred sentences aloud while the researchers recorded their brain activity.
The researchers used audio recordings to reproduce the vocal(发声的) muscle movement which is the key to producing human speech.Future studies will test the technology on people who are unable to speak.
The study reports the reproduced sentences were understandable to hundreds of human listeners asked to write out what they heard.The listeners were able to write out 43 percent of sentences with perfect accuracy.
Edward Chang is a professor of the university's Weill Institute.He was a lead researcher on the project.Chang admitted that much more research of the system would be needed to reach the goal of perfectly reproducing spoken language.
1. Who will probably benefit most from this device?| A．Those unable to hear. | B．Those unable to see. |
| C．Those unable to speak. | D．Those unable to write. |
| A．It could control the muscles. | B．It could produce human speech. |
| C．It could transform brain signals. | D．It could read and record brain signals. |
| A．Brain activity. | B．Muscle control. |
| C．Audio recording. | D．Vocal muscle movement. |
| A．Science. | B．Fashion. |
| C．Education. | D．Entertainment. |
