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 . When he was two years old, Ben stopped seeing out of his left eye. His mother took him to the doctor and soon discovered he had cancer in both eyes. After possible treatments failed, doctors removed both his eyes. For Ben, vision was gone forever.
But by the time he was seven years old, he had developed a technique for feeling the world around him: he clicked with his mouth and listened for the returning echoes. This method enabled Ben to determine the locations of open doorways, people, parked cars, garbage cans, and so on. He was echolocating: bouncing his sound waves off objects in the environment and catching the reflections to build a mental model of his surroundings.
Echolocation may sound like an improbable feat for a human, but thousands of blind people have perfected this skill, just like Ben did. The event has been written about since at least the 1940s, when the word ''echolocation" was first invented in a science article titled “Echolocation by Blind Men , Bats, and Radar.”
How could blindness give rise to the amazing ability to understand the surroundings with one's ears? The answer lies in a gift on the brain; huge adaptability.
Mother Nature filled our brains with flexibility to adapt to circumstances. Just as sharp teeth and fast legs are useful for survival, so is the brain's ability to reset, which allows for learning, memory, and die ability to develop new skills.
In Ben's case, his brain's flexible wiring repurposed his visual cortex for processing sound. As a result, Ben had more neurons available to deal with listening information, and this increased processing power allowed Ben to interpret soundwaves in shocking detail. Ben's super-hearing proves a more general rule: the more brain area a particular sense has, the better it performs.
1. How did Ben “see” after he had his eyes removed?| A．By using a walking stick. | B．By asking others for help. |
| C．By inventing a new system. | D．By echolocating surroundings. |
| A．Skill. | B．Task. | C．Sense. | D．Invention. |
| A．He laughs best who laughs last. | B．Actions speak louder than words. |
| C．God shuts one door but he opens another. | D．Man becomes learned by asking questions. |
| A．Culture Shock. | B．Human Biology. |
| C．Scientific Technology. | D．Environmental Protection. |
3 . By now, most of us have picked up at least one pandemic hobby. And there's a seemingly common pandemic hobby trend: People who haven't been able to go anywhere are making imaginary travel plans. Maybe you're among those who have spent hours researching locations-even though you're not actually planning to travel.
It turns out that you aren't alone. People who seem to be sticking to public safety recommendations are still planning trips they don't intend to book. And, when I suddenly found myself addicted to an imaginary girls' trip to Joshua Tree, I wondered whether this was a healthy distraction.
"It's an escapist imagination," said Regine Galanti, a psychologist, adding that there's nothing wrong with escapism during a global pandemic.
On the one hand, distractions are often beneficial right now. We are a full year into living with COVID-19 as a pandemic, and that means you've probably had to navigate a range of emotions like discomfort, sadness, or even boredom. So any hobby that doesn't harm anyone or endanger your well-being is probably a worthy attempt.
Even if vacation planning is your happy place, Dr. Galanti suggests you "actually think about what you're trying to achieve." Why? "Maybe what you're saying is, I need a vacation from work," Dr. Galanti explains. "Then take three days off even if you are not going anywhere. "When you figure out what you're looking for, you might be able to find a small socially distanced adventure in your backyard or a quiet place. Vacation planning is a good way to spend some time, but there might be an even better way to get what you're desiring.
Anyway, when uncertainty is all around us, creating things to look forward to isn't a terrible idea. And when things are safer, you'll have all your plans in place.
1. Why do people make imaginary travel plans during the pandemic?| A．To develop a new hobby. | B．To stay safe and sound. |
| C．To be distracted from reality. | D．To get ready for future travel. |
| A．Express. | B．Balance. | C．Adapt to. | D．Deal with. |
| A．Objective. | B．Negative. | C．Supportive. | D．Unclear. |
| A．Figures. | B．Lifestyle. |
| C．Food and recipe. | D．Science and technology. |
4 . One of the most important creations of science is the invention of the lighthouses. Lighthouses help in a number of activities such as marking of the dangerous coastlines and directing safe entries to the harbours. The following are some famous lighthouses.
The Jeddah Light
It is located in Saudi Arabia. This lighthouse has been constructed very beautifully and adorns a beautiful structure. The Jeddah Light was built in 1990. This lighthouse is considered as the tallest of the world reaching a fine height of around 436 feet.
The Les Eclaireurs Lighthouse
It is addressed as the “lighthouse at the end of the world”. The Les Eclaireurs Lighthouse is located on a small island east of Ushuaia, the southernmost city of the world. This lighthouse was built in 1920 and today it has become a very famous tourist attraction in Argentina. However, visits to this lighthouse can be made only by boat.
The Peggys Point Lighthouse
Lit in 1915, it is an icon and a popular monument of Canada. The Peggys Point Lighthouse has become a major tourist sight and is considered as one of the busiest attractions in the area of Nova Scotia. This lighthouse also fetches you a wonderful scenic drive and visiting here, you can indulge yourself in the beauty of nature.
The Slettnes Lighthouse
It is the northernmost lighthouse that is located on the mainland of Europe and is considered as one of the most famous lighthouses of the world. This lighthouse is mostly considered as the North Cape Light and is the top lighthouse of Europe. The Slettnes Lighthouse firstly began to light in 1905. Though it was highly damaged during the World War Ⅱ by the Germans, yet it was restored and lit again. This lighthouse is very classic as to its looks.
1. Which lighthouse is only accessible by sea?| A．The Peggys Point Lighthouse. | B．The Les Eclaireurs Lighthouse. |
| C．The Jeddah Light. | D．The Slettnes Lighthouse. |
| A．The lighthouse has a very classic appearance. | B．It was lit again after the restoration in 1905. |
| C．It is the best-known lighthouse in the world. | D．Visiting the lighthouse draws you close to nature. |
| A．A scientific journal. | B．A history textbook. | C．A travel magazine. | D．A design handbook. |
5 . It has a kind of a magical, gravity-defying (失重) feeling about it. You can fly much lower — near the ground. And you can even talk to people on the ground, and you're going slow enough to appreciate what is floating past you. I’m Don Cameron, and we’re in the balloon factory here in Bristol — Cameron Balloons.
We do special-shaped balloons, and we can make almost any shape. Animals are most fun I suppose. We built all sorts of animals — dinosaurs and squirrels, almost everything.
It was a group of us from the gliding (滑翔) club who decided to build our own balloon. And we built the first modern hot-air balloon this side of the Atlantic. It was called the Bristol Belle. We started work in 1966 and didn’t finish it until the summer of 1967.
Building balloons over the years hasn't changed a great deal. It's still done with sewing machines. It s still done with a light fabric. Here you see people packing a balloon into a bag. They're having to work quite hard to get it in there. Now, that looks like a big one 一 it’s quite heavy. Anything that has a bit of bulk to it, a bit of shape, a bit of volume, we wouldn't admit defeat on.
It’s totally different from being in an aeroplane. Flying a hot-air balloon is a kind of magical experience, but it s hard to explain. You really have to try it.
1. What is the Bristol Belle?| A．A factory. | B．A hot-air balloon. |
| C．An aeroplane. | D．A gliding club. |
| A．By mixing cloths. | B．By using animal skin. |
| C．With silk. | D．With a sewing machine. |
| A．A TV show. | B．A scientific report. |
| C．A health magazine. | D．A book review. |
| A．To stress the role of hot-air balloon in history. |
| B．To share with readers the story of hot-air balloon. |
| C．To inspire more people to build their own balloons |
| D．To attract more tourists to the hot-air balloon factory. |
6 . Faced with a declining population and workforce, Japan has been increasingly turning to robots for help. Over the years, the robots have carried out a large number of human tasks, including building products and providing care for the elderly.
However, the robots currently being used by companies, like Walmart and Amazon, are only able to perform single, repetitive tasks, such as stacking boxes. Model-T, on the other hand, has a wider range of movement and is able to hold, pick and place objects of several different shapes and sizes into different locations, making it ideal for convenience and grocery stores, which sell a large variety of items.
Model-T robots are operated from a distant location by human “pilots” wearing a virtual reality (VR) headset and special gloves, which allow them to feel the product the robot is holding in their hands and guide it to the right shelf.
The VR-controlled robots are ten times cheaper than automated robots, because they don’t require advanced programming and are easier to develop and maintain. And their easy-to-use controls require little training. Tomohiro Kano, a general manager in charge of development at FamilyMart, believes this will enable the chain to recruit workers who would typically not work in stores.
Though Model-T appears to be getting rapidly through the experiments, it is not quite ready to enter the workforce. Besides being a lot slower than humans, it is also only able to lift packaged items, and cannot get hold of things such as fruits and vegetables. The company is working to improve the weaknesses and hopes to introduce a faster, more skillful Model-T within the next two years. They believe that in addition to the stores, the robots could also be useful in hospitals, allowing doctors to do operations from remote locations.
1. What is one of the features of Model-T according to the text?| A．It works much faster than humans. | B．It can easily hold all kinds of objects. |
| C．It can be operated from a distance away. | D．It is harder to produce than an automated robot. |
| A．The low price of Model-T. | B．The easiness to operate Model-T. |
| C．The low-level programming of Model-T. | D．The strict training for maintaining Model-T. |
| A．Model-T is now being massively produced. |
| B．Japan’s workforce will be reduced by Model-T. |
| C．The weaknesses of Model-T have been overcome. |
| D．Model-T may be used in wider fields in the future. |
| A．Technology. | B．Economy. | C．Lifestyle. | D．Environment. |
7 . How do you like your milk: cooked or raw? It may sound a strange question, but it’s being asked more often at kitchen tables, grocery stores and farmers’ markets across the US.
The vast majority of milk we drink is heat-treated to kill off harmful bacteria (细菌). Raw milk, on the other hand, goes straight to bottle. Fans call it milk as nature intended: nutrient-rich and full of a good kind of bacteria. Some fans go further, calling it a super food that aids digestion (消化), benefits the immune system and treats some diseases.
An increasing number of people agree. For health-conscious, organic-loving shoppers, raw milk is a growing food trend. They feel uneasy at the thought of heated milk sitting under supermarket lighting. But despite the enthusiasm, it’s a trend with a terrible side.
Pasteurization (加热杀菌) is a reason—it’s highly effective at killing some harmful things that can hang around in the body of even healthy cows. Raw milk, on the other hand, relies heavily on the skill of the farmer to avoid them.
Raw milk illnesses have increased as more people drink it. Between 2010 and 2019, raw milk and raw milk cheese caused the vast majority (96%) of all illnesses linked to dairy products. Considering far fewer people consume it, that makes unpasteurized dairy 840 times more risky than pasteurized. The recent deaths of two people who ate raw milk cheese made in New York underscored the sometimes deadly consequences. And for young children, whose underdeveloped immune systems make them more vulnerable (易受伤害的), the dangers of raw milk make it hard to recommend.
1. Why does most milk that people drink is heat-treated?| A．To add some useful bacteria. |
| B．To make it taste more delicious. |
| C．To make it safer for people to drink. |
| D．To make it have a better appearance. |
| A．It’s not good for people’s health. |
| B．It may contain something harmful. |
| C．It’s often put under market lighting. |
| D．It comes from unhealthy cows. |
| A．Entertainment. | B．Health. |
| C．Education. | D．Politics. |
| A．Benefits of Raw Milk |
| B．How to Tell the Quality of Milk |
| C．Reasons for Choosing Heated Milk |
| D．Raw Milk: a Super Food or Super Risk? |
8 . Stretching(绵延) 2,298 kilometers, Beijing-Guangzhou high-speed railway is the longest high-speed rail route in the world, connecting the capital city in the north with the tourist city of Guangzhou in the south. When the line was fully open to the public in 2018, it helped cut the travel time from nearly 30 hours to about 8. It's also a scenic line that offers picturesque sights and interesting places to visit. Here are some stops not to be missed along the way.
Zhengzhou: Experiencing the Shaolin way of life
Starting from Beijing West Railway Station, it passes Shijiazhuang in Hebei Province and then reaches the historical city of Zhengzhou in Henan Province. For those who are curious about Chinese martial arts, there's a perfect spot—Mount Songshan. Legend has it that monks of the Shaolin Temple deep in the mountain forest have mastered the art of Kungfu for centuries.
Wuhan: A city that rose from the ashes (灰烬）
From Zhengzhou, the high-speed train goes further south and arrives at a crossroads in China's heartland —Wuhan, better known for its battle against the novel coronavirus outbreak this year. As things gradually returned to normal, the city's landmarks, the symbolic Yellow Crane Tower and the fascinating Shennongjia National Park etc, have now reopened to visitors.
Guangzhou: A place for some fun
When the train makes its final stop, you're at a rising coastal Chinese tourist city—Guangzhou. Fun seekers can't miss the Chimelong Tourist Resort, one of the most popular theme parks in the country. A large wildlife park, a world-class circus (马戏团), Asia's largest water park as well as some thrilling rides will definitely keep you entertained.
1. For those who want to learn something about Chinese Kungfu, which stop do you recommend to them?| A．Guangzhou. | B．Beijing. | C．Wuhan. | D．Zhengzhou. |
| A．Both are inland cities. |
| B．Both have world-famous circus. |
| C．Both offer a good view of wild animals |
| D．Both provide tourists with historical sites. |
| A．A newspaper. | B．A novel. | C．A lecture. | D．A travel brochure. |
9 . New streaming movies are coming to entertain you and your family during socially distanced times.
If you'd rather stick closer to home, here's a rundown of new movies hitting streaming and on-demand platforms, for every cinematic taste ：
Mulan
It's pretty easy to yell " Cash grab!" every time the Mouse House remakes one of its beloved animated films (动画片).But this version of “Mulan" actually improves a great deal on the fantasy fable of a young Chinese woman (Yifei Liu) who takes the place of her sick father (Tzi Ma) in the Imperial Army. Mulan is a warrior extraordinaire worth the emotional investment.
Where to watch： Disney+ (as a $30 premium add-on)
Love, Guaranteed
The film stars Rachael Leigh Cook as Susan, a glamorous lawyer. She's hired by a charming bachelor ( Damon Wayans Jr.) who wants to sue (起诉)a dating app for its “guarantee“ of love after 1,000 dates. But as the case heats up, so do Susan and Nick's feelings for each other.
Where to watch ： Netflix, Vudu
The 2nd
The thriller casts Phillippe as a Secret Service agent picking up his son (Jack Griffo) from college for holiday break when a hostage (人质)situation breaks out and a mysterious opponent ( Casper Van Dien) aims to catch the daughter ( Lexi Simonsen) of a Supreme Court Justice about to weigh in on an important gun-rights case.
Where to watch ： FandangoNOW, Google Play
The Mole Agent
While officially a documentary, the movie is ultimately a feel-good detective story. An 83-year-old named Sergio is hired to go undercover at a Chilean nursing home and look into claims of elder abuse. Instead, he becomes the life of the party as he befriends fellow oldsters and becomes an essential part of their community.
Where to watch： Apple TV, Vudu, FandangoNOW
1. Which film will you go to if you are interested in a romantic story?| A．Mulan. | B．The Mole Agent. |
| C．Love, Guaranteed. | D．The 2nd. |
| A．It's a beloved animated film. | B．It's about suing a dating app. |
| C．It's a heartbreaking spy story. | D．It's set in a nursing home. |
| A．Culture. | B．Entertainment. |
| C．Sports. | D．Science. |
10 . Planning for foreign holidays becomes more easy and convenient with International Travel Tours. With us, you can get most efficient and extensive information on internationally famous places of tourists interest. Also you can have more access to details about international tours and know more about the culture, weather, prime attractions, cuisine, local shopping destinations, entertainment options of different exciting international tourists spots. Here is a list of some hot spots of tourists interest around the globe, that you must visit.
Dubai
Dubai is truly a paradise for the travelers from world around. Beaches, desert, safari, food, culture all in together make this country the latest tourist hot-spot. There are many international package tours for Dubai that will take you on a joy ride of this country.
West Indies
Love water then, West Indies is a perfect destination for you. Surrounded by water from all sides, the beautiful beaches and islands make West Indies an exotic tourists destination offering great international travel packages. A part of Caribbean Islands, West Indies offer exciting holiday options.
Thailand
Love beaches and wildlife then Thailand is a perfect destination for you. Clear blue water beaches and the lush green forests account for the world wide acceptance of Thailand as one of the most loved places of tourists interests. Bangkok and Pattaya are some of the most visited tourists destinations in Thailand.
Australia
The land of Kangaroos, Cricket, and immense natural beauty, Australia is among the most admired international package tour destinations in the world. Explore the beautiful locations, wildlife, adventures and exotic beaches of the fun filled Australia with exciting international travel packages. Most astounding cities of Sydney, Perth, Brisbane, Melbourne, Adelaide and Canberra will get you spellbound with their dazzling charm.
1. What information can we get from International Travel Tours?| A．The quickest way to reach destinations | B．Information about travelling abroad. |
| C．Different hotspots at home and abroad. | D．Many practical travel tips. |
| A．Dubai. | B．West Indies. | C．Australia. | D．Thailand. |
| A．Visitors can have a breathtaking view of desert. |
| B．Visitors can enjoy different forms of architecture. |
| C．Visitors can see different kinds of rare wild animals. |
| D．Visitors can enjoy themselves on the beaches. |
| A．A geography textbook. | B．A guidebook. |
| C．A fashion magazine. | D．A sports newspaper. |
