1 . Each generation -- from Baby Boomers to Generation X to Millennials -- has its own set of values and characteristics. But one thing common to all generations is that they are suffering from stress. In a recent poll by the American Psychological Association (APA), all age groups now report higher levels of stress than in the past. Baby Boomers (those born roughly between 1946 and 1964, and who are now moving into their retirement years) said that they are stressed about earnings and health issues. Gen Xers (born roughly between 1965 and 1980) are concerned about work, income, and job stability. However, Millennials (born roughly between 1981 and 2004) are turning out to be the most stressed-out of all the generations. Poll results indicate that stress levels for these younger respondents are significantly above average. So what’s worrying the Millennials?
Millennials are the first generation to grow up with computers in the home and the classroom. Due to the rise of modern technology and social media, they are constantly showered with information. Over time, this information overload can become too much to handle and can result in stress, which in turn can cause serious physical, psychological, and emotional problems. Another contributing factor, according to author Michael D. Hais, is that many Millennials have lived sheltered lives due to overprotective parents. These young adults lack problem-solving skills and may struggle with fear of failure once they leave home. Making matters worse, the 2008 economic depression occurred when many Millennials were graduating from high school or college. The resulting economic slowdown reduced the number of available jobs for graduates. Sure enough, in the APA poll, Millennials said that work, money, relationships, family responsibilities, and the economy are the main stressors in their lives.
However, the poll results may be a bit misleading as they don’t take into account public attitudes toward stress and mental illness. Ronald Kessler of Harvard Medical School, who has studied the prevalence (流行) of mental disorders in the U.S., points out that changes in social attitudes have helped reduce the stigma attached to mental illness over the years. For example, the creation of health-related television programming and specialty magazines such as Psychology Today have contributed to greater public awareness of mental health issues. According to psychologists, younger people now are more willing to admit to them that they are under stress than in the past. “There is not a lot of evidence of true prevalence having gone up,” Kessler says. “It looks like younger people are in worse shape, but unfortunately, we just don’t know.”
1. It can be learned from the results of the APA poll that ______.| A．All age groups are experiencing more stress than before. |
| B．Millennials have more stress than before, but other age groups aren’t. |
| C．Compared with other age groups, Millennials have more overprotective parents. |
| D．Stress levels are down for all age groups, but they’re down the most for Millennials. |
| A．Health. | B．Occupation. | C．Money. | D．Weak economy. |
| A．Behavior. | B．Shame. | C．Symptom. | D．Complexity. |
| A．They fail to keep good body shape. |
| B．They are more interested in health-related media. |
| C．They are more willing and courageous to face up to their fault. |
| D．They are more willing to seek professional help to deal with stress. |
2 . British shoppers buy 2.15 million tonnes of clothing and shoes annually, yet UK citizens have an estimated £30 billion worth of unused clothing gathering dust at the back of the wardrobe（衣柜）. But new technology could see the end of that, with the garments themselves giving owners a gentle reminder of their existence.
“Smart clothes” could help us clear out our drawers by sending messages or tweeting us if they haven't been worn for a good while. If these alerts are ignored, the garments will get in touch with a clothing charity and ask to be reused, with an organization automatically sending out donation information. They could also be programmed to put themselves up for auction（拍卖） on eBay.
Academics at Birmingham City University are developing the “connected wardrobe” to encourage more suitable clothes consumption. The concept sees garments tagged（给……加标签） using washable contactless technology, known as radio-frequency identification.
Mark Brill, senior lecturer at Birmingham City, said: “Think of the surprise when an owner suddenly receives bids for items they didn't know were in their wardrobe”.
“The connected wardrobe is a practical, pleasant concept to encourage people to think about their clothing consumption. Finally, I hope it will encourage more appropriate fashion consumption,” He added, “Perhaps we can even move away from the idea of ‘ownership’ of clothing. When we’ve worn them enough, the items will pass themselves on to their next keeper to wear.”
It follows in the footsteps of the “Internet of Things” — a concept that sees ordinary household items connecting to the internet in order to share information. From adjusting your alarm clock to monitoring the temperature of your home, the Internet is changing the way we live.
Now, the “Internet of Clothes” will see that neglected garments will tweet and text the owners “asking” to be worn depending on the weather and frequency of wear. Clothes will keep track of other information such as who owned it previously, as well as how much it originally cost, who made it and how much the worker was paid for it.
1. What does the author say about “smart clothes”?| A．They have gained in popularity. | B．They may be donated on eBay. |
| C．They may be recycled if long forgotten. | D．They give warnings if worn out. |
| A．It changes people’s shopping habits. |
| B．It helps people buy cheaper clothes. |
| C．It improves people’s consumer confidence. |
| D．It contributes to right consumption attitudes. |
| A．Clothes are sold online at a low price. |
| B．Internet is a platform to share items. |
| C．Clothes can be a source of information. |
| D．Weather affects the connected wardrobe. |
| A．Approving. | B．Skeptical. | C．Critical. | D．Uninterested. |
3 . A robot with a sense of touch may one day feel “pain”, both its own physical pain and sympathy for the pain of its human companions. Such touchy-feely robots are still far off, but advances in robotic touch-sensing are bringing that possibility closer to reality.
Sensors set in soft, artificial skin that can detect both a gentle touch and a painful strike have been hooked up to a robot that can then signal emotions, Asada reported February 15 at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. This artificial “pain nervous system,” as Asada calls it, may be a small building block for a machine that could ultimately experience pain. Such a feeling might also allow a robot to “sympathize” with a human companion’s suffering.
Asada, an engineer at Osaka University, and his colleagues have designed touch sensors that reliably pick up a range of touches. In a robot system named Affetto, a realistic looking child’s head, these touch and pain signals can be converted to emotional facial expressions.
A touch-sensitive, soft material, as opposed to a rigid metal surface, allows richer interactions between a machine and the world, says neuroscientist Kingson Man of the University of Southern California. Artificial skin “allows the possibility of engagement in truly intelligent ways”.
Such a system, Asada says, might ultimately lead to robots that can recognize the pain of others, a valuable skill for robots designed to help care for people in need, the elderly, for instance.
But there is an important distinction between a robot that responds in a predictable way to a painful strike and a robot that’s able to compute an internal feeling accurately, says Damasio, a neuroscientist also at the University of Southern California. A robot with sensors that can detect touch and pain is “along the lines of having a robot, for example, that smiles when you talk to it,” Damasio says. ‘It’s a device for communication of the machine to a human.” While that’s an interesting development, “it’s not the same thing” as a robot designed to compute some sort of internal experience, he says.
1. What do we know about the “pain nervous system”?| A．It is named Affetto by scientists. | B．It is a set of complicated sensors. |
| C．It is able to signal different emotions. | D．It combines sensors and artificial skin. |
| A．Delivered. | B．Translated. | C．Attached. | D．Adapted. |
| A．Robots can smile when talked to. |
| B．Robots can talk to human beings. |
| C．Robots can compute internal feelings |
| D．Robots can detect pains and respond accordingly. |
| A．Machines Become Emotional | B．Robots Inch to Feeling Pain |
| C．Human Feelings Can Be Felt | D．New Devices Touch Your Heart |
