1 . Ever wonder how your brain works when making decisions bigger than medium versus spicy salsa, like buying a car or accepting a job offer? Researchers from the University of Dundee in Scotland conducted a study that clarifies why you may want to have a small bite before making that big decision.
Benjamin Vincent from the University of Dundee’s Psychology department and his co-author Jordan Skyrnka tested 50 people two times: once when they followed their normal eating patterns and once when they did not eat anything during the day. Using three different types of rewards (food, money, and song downloads), the team discovered when presented with the choice of receiving the reward now versus double the award at some point in the future, participants would usually volunteer to wait for 35 days to earn a larger bounty, but when they were hungry, they said they would only wait three days.
“We wanted to know whether being in a state of hunger had a specific effect on how you make decisions only relating to food or if it had broader effects, and this research suggests decision-making gets more present-focused when people are hungry,” Vincent said in a story about the study on the university’s website. “You would predict that hunger would impact people’s preferences relating to food, but it is not yet clear why people get more present-focused for completely unrelated rewards. Hunger is so common that it is important to understand the non-obvious ways in which our preferences and decisions may be affected by it,” he said.
In an earlier study of the subject by a team at Cambridge University in England, the researchers noted that serotonin plays a major role in the decision-making process. “Since the raw material for making serotonin—an amino acid called tryptophan — only comes from diet, levels of the chemical decline between meals,” reports a piece in the Telegraph about the study. “This can lead to aggressiveness and impulsiveness,” say the team.
1. How did Benjamin Vincent and Jordan Skyrnka carry out their research?| A．By analyzing reasons. | B．By making comparison. |
| C．By giving examples. | D．By filling questionnaires. |
| A．bonus. | B．quantity. | C．income. | D．fortune. |
| A．It’s common to make a wrong decision if you are hungry. |
| B．Make sure you are not hungry before making a big decision. |
| C．The more hungry you are, the quicker you will make a decision. |
| D．Being hungry drives you to make a decision connected with food. |
| A．What should be eaten to make a wise man. |
| B．How can we get enough serotonin from our diet. |
| C．What other factors will influence one’s decision-making. |
| D．How does a chemical function in the course of making a decision. |
2 . Some people must carefully pay attention to everything they put in their mouths in order to control their weight. By contrast, others can eat French fries to their hearts' content and achieve the same result. How do some people manage never to gain weight?
"Perception, one of the most important factors, has nothing to do with the body type because our personal feeling is always wrong. We often feel that some people who eat more don't put on weight. Actually? those who appear to eat whatever they like without gaining weight aren't eating more than the rest of us," said professor Kathleen Melanson. "For example, your friend who eats ice cream on a daily basis might eat less at another meal- or snack less throughout the rest of the day.”
“Physical activity can also make a difference, but it doesn't have to be a gym workout. There's little evidence to suggest that—without exercise-some people were born to burn significantly more calories than others," said Dr Ines Barroso, a researcher at the University of Cambridge. But there may be physical differences that allow some people to naturally control the number of calories they consume without exercising much self-regulation.
A lot of nervous system signals and hormones （激素）that circulate in our blood interact to tell us when we're hungry or full. This is called the appetite regulatory system, and it may be more sensitive in some people than others, Melanson said. One important hormone involved in this system is leptin （瘦素）.It helps regulate how much food we want to eat over longer periods of time, not just for our next meal. So a person with a more sensitive system might go back for seconds and thirds at a party, then feel full for the next few days and eat less.
Genetics can also play a role in a person's tendency to gain or lose weight. Researchers have identified over 250 different regions of DNA that are associated with obesity, according to a 2019 study published in PLOS Genetics.
1. What does the underlined word “Perception" in paragraph 2 probably mean?| A．Connection. | B．Sense. | C．Defense. | D．Reduction. |
| A．It makes people usually feel hungry. |
| B．It helps people have a better appetite. |
| C．It helps people regulate their food intake. |
| D．It makes people more sensitive to the flavour of food. |
| A．Weight problems can be avoided. |
| B．Losing weight is equally difficult for everyone. |
| C．Some people may be born to have weight problems. |
| D．Genes can be completely changed to avoid weight problems. |
| A．To share some ideas about how to lose weight. |
| B．To explain why some people never gain weight. |
| C．To advise people to control their daily diet strictly. |
| D．To call for people to pay attention to healthy eating. |
3 . Global fast-food giant McDonald's announced it would be phasing out (逐步淘汰) plastic straws in China. From June 30, nearly 1,000 stores in Beijing. Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen began to phase out plastic straws for both dine-in and take-out, expanding to all stores in China by the end of 2020. Diners would drink cold beverages directly through the new cup cover. The move is expected to reduce plastic waste by about 400 tons a year.
Zhang Jiayin, CEO of McDonald’s China, expressed that McDonald's is devoted to building a “beautiful China”. “We believe that taking advantage of McDonald's influence worldwide. reducing straws can be a huge step for sustainable development. In the past decade or so, we have continued to carry out the green packaging action.” Zhang said, “This movement is playing a positive role in the protection of the ecological environment.”
The move is in keeping with China’s national plan to phase out single-use plastics which came into effect in January of this year, in an effort to combat its growing trash problem.
Among other things, the government carries out a nationwide ban on plastic straws and disposable cutlery (一次性餐具) by the end of 2020, as well as a ban on plastic bags in major cities by the end of 2020, and nationwide by 2022.
Plastic has increasingly played a role in global solid waste, and has choked oceans and rivers as well as landfills. Both companies and volunteers in the past few years have taken it upon themselves to respond to this plastic problem in their own ways.
1. What happened to McDonald’s in 2020?| A．It started to gradually get rid of using plastic straws in China. |
| B．It banned using plastic package in all stores. |
| C．It became the first company to ban plastic straws in China. |
| D．It successfully dealt with China’s trash problem. |
| A．Protect. | B．Separate. | C．Arouse. | D．Fight. |
| A．It is a kind of poisonous material. | B．It has been solved completely so far. |
| C．It results in a growing waste problem | D．It should be banned in all fields. |
| A．McDonald’s green packaging action | B．Plastic a controversial material in daily use |
| C．How to control environmental pollution? | D．Devotion to building a beautiful China |
4 . As the saying goes,’ time waits for no man’. Time is always against us, and we just can’t stop it. Maybe that’s why some of us are always running late for appointments, But if timekeeping is not what you’re good at, don’t stress. There might be a good reason for your lack of punctuality.
People’s attitudes to being on time vary. Some clock-watch and make sure they’re exactly on time for a meeting. It is, after all, rude to be late, and if you can make it on time, why can’t everyone else? But if, like me，you want to make every second count, you might try to squeeze as much as you can into the time you have available. However, when your schedule doesn’t run to plan, your punctuality inevitably slips.
People who lack promptness have been described as ‘time benders’. Author Grace Pacie told the BBC that “they’re the people who don’t want to be late, but they have a strange resistance to being early, and they don’t allow enough time.” They assume their journey to an appointment will always go smoothly, and the train will always be on time!
Perceptions of unpunctual people are almost always negative — even if sometimes wrong. Writing for the BBC, Laura Clarke says: Being consistently late might not be your fault. It could be your type. The punctually-challenged often share personality characteristics, such as optimism, low levels of self-control, anxiety, or a preference for thrill-seeking, experts say. It is also possible that people are late so as not to be noticeable and to avoid the anxious wait for others to turn up.
Maybe we latecomers should make more of an effort and follow the advice I heard to no ‘try’ to be on time but ‘decide’ to be on time. But I know if a meeting or a deadline really matters, then I’ll be there. Otherwise relax, even if others are blaming you!
1. The text is meant to _____.| A．tell us to avoid being late | B．tell us why we are late |
| C．tell us the importance of punctuality | D．tell us to try to be early rather than late |
| A．who don’t want to he late |
| B．who don’t allow enough time |
| C．who have a strange resistance to being early |
| D．who lack punctuality |
| A．be pessimistic | B．be negative |
| C．make every second count | D．have low levels of self-control |
| A．punctual people | B．unpunctual people |
| C．trying to be on time | D．deciding to be on time |
5 . As the effects of climate change become more disastrous, well-known research institutions and government agencies are focusing new money and attention on an idea: artificially cooling the planet, in the hopes of buying humanity more time to cut greenhouse gas emissions.
That strategy, called solar climate intervention (干预) or solar geoengineering, involves reflecting more of the sun’s energy back into space — abruptly reducing global temperatures in a way that imitates the effects of ash clouds flowing out from the volcanic eruptions. The idea has been considered as a dangerous and fancied solution, one that would encourage people to keep burning fossil fuels while exposing the planet to unexpected and potentially threatening side effects, producing more destructive hurricanes, wildfires floods and other disasters.
But. as global warming continues, producing more destructive hurricanes, wildfires floods and other disasters, some researchers and policy experts say that concerns about geoengineering should be outweighed by the imperative to better understand it, in case the consequence of climate change become so terrible that the world can’t wait for better solutions.
One way to cool the earth is by injecting aerosols (气溶胶) into the upper layer of the atmosphere. where those particles reflect sunlight away from the earth. That process works, according to Douglas MacMartin, a researcher at Cornell University.
“We know with 100% certainty that we can cool the planet,” he said in an interview. What’s still unclear, he added, is what happens next. Temperature, MacMartin said, is an indicator for a lot of climate effects. “What does it do to the strength of hurricanes?” he asked, “What does it do to agriculture production? What does it do to the risk of forest fires?”
Another institution funded by the National Science Foundation will analyze hundreds of simulations of aerosol injection, testing the effects on weather extremes around the world. One goal of the research is to look for a sweet spot: the amount of artificial cooling that can reduce extreme weather events without causing broader changes in regional rainfall patterns or similar impacts.
1. Why do researchers and government agencies work on cooling the earth?| A．To prevent natural disasters. | B．To win more time to reduce gas emissions. |
| C．To imitate volcanic eruptions. | D．To encourage more people to bur fossil fuels. |
| A．More volcanoes will throw out. |
| B．More solar energy will go into space. |
| C．More disasters will endanger the future of the world. |
| D．People will keep burning fossil fuels to keep warm. |
| A．He thinks more research remains to be done. |
| B．He is optimistic about the effect of cooling the earth. |
| C．He is concerned about the reduction in agriculture production. |
| D．He disapproves of the practice of solar climate intervention. |
| A．The rainfall pattern of a region. |
| B．The modest drop in temperature. |
| C．The number of extreme weather events. |
| D．The injection amount of aerosol. |
6 . Migrating terns(燕鸥)may change their flight plans based on a keen sense of coming typhoons, escaping the impact of the storms but still benefiting from feeding opportunities in their wakes.
Researchers examined data recorded by tracking devices on six terns from Okinawa, Japan, to learn more about the birds’ migrations over multiple years. The terns flew across part of the Philippine Sea’s “typhoon highway” to get to the islands of Borneo and Sulawesi and varied their leaving times—often apparently waiting to depart until a large typhoon was about to cross their projected path.
“They seem to be able to predict it,” says Jean-Baptiste Thiebot, a postdoctoral fellow at the National Institute of Polar Research in Japan and lead author of the new study, which was published in June in Marine Biology. The study offers few clues about how terns might do this, but other research suggests some migrating birds detect infrasonic(次声的)weather signals or observe changing clouds.
The terns Thiebot studied typically avoided the typhoons themselves. But these storms can churn（剧烈搅动）food to the ocean surface, so the immediate results may help the hungry travelers. They might actually use the typhoon to know when to leave for their migrations each year, Thiebot says. In the unusually quiet 2017 season, with no sign of a strong typhoon, the birds started their journeys later and flew without pit stops. Thiebot would like to see this pattern confirmed in a larger study. He also worries that increasing typhoon frequency could affect birds’ prediction accuracy, possibly getting them caught in dangerous weather.
Robert Gill, a retired research wildlife biologist, says that although the study’s sample size is small, it adds to scientists’ overall understanding of migration. “They are able to predict better than the best weather forecasters we have,” Gill says, “but they’ve also had tens of thousands, if not millions, of years to hone that skill.”
1. What did the terns do after getting to the islands of Borneo and Sulawesi?| A．They varied their projected path. |
| B．They stayed there for the exact time to leave. |
| C．They stayed awake to find feeding chances. |
| D．They churned food to the ocean surface. |
| A．They might not detect strong typhoon signals. | B．They didn’t find enough food. |
| C．They were caught in dangerous weather. | D．They wanted to fly without stops. |
| A．teach | B．develop | C．ignore | D．share |
| A．The impact of typhoons | B．A new approach to forecasting weather |
| C．The process of terns’ migrations | D．Terns’ ability to predict typhoon |
7 . Sometimes buying groceries can be an expensive thing. We go in, thinking that we won't be buying any big-expense item, and start picking up small items here and there, in fact, getting practically anything that comes to mind. As we reach the check-out counter, we can't believe the check, But it's too late to do anything by then. Here are a few money-saving tips to remember for the next time you go shopping for groceries.
Being prepared matters a lot when it comes to buying groceries. This means taking the trouble to come up with a list of things you need. Look around the house first and list down things as you go along. After you have your list, add up all the amounts and see if that's what you want to spend. If not, then cross out some items on the list.
Importantly: preparing a List is one thing, but following it to the letter is another. Make sure that once you're in the supermarket, you don't pick up things that aren't on your list. Remember, that's accurately why you came up with the list in the first place.
Choosing the best and most cost-effective store around is also important. Compare prices at different places. Compare quality. Check out the discounts that they are offering. At first glance, the prices of goods may differ by an insignificant value, but adding them all up can burn a hole in your pocket.
Here's another tip from my brother, Leonard. He often eats at home before heading to the grocery. Of course, you know why. Once you get there, there are just so many delicious-looking and fine-smelling treats all over the place that we can hardly resist.
Remember to use these tips to save money when you go to buy groceries.
1. Why do we feel shocked at the check-out counter?| A．We have to wait for long to check out. | B．We find we've spent too much money. |
| C．The goods we buy are more expensive. | D．It is too late for us to select more goods. |
| A．Refer to others' shopping lists. | B．List some unnecessary things. |
| C．Make a list based on your budget. | D．Cross out listed expensive goods. |
| A．Freely. | B．Secretly. | C．Strictly. | D．Traditionally. |
| A．To stress the importance of resisting spending. |
| B．To explain a theory related to commercial ads, |
| C．To show the effectiveness of money-saving tips. |
| D．To introduce a way to avoid blind consumption. |
8 . Gerardo Ixcoy is a 27-year-old teacher in Guatemala. He teaches in the area where having electricity is something of a luxury（奢侈品）and students have no access to mobile apps or computers, which became a problem when Guatemalan government had to choose distance education for students at home because of COVID-19.
Gerardo Ixcoy felt that he had to teach those children living far from the digital world. After all, education is a universal right and Gerardo Ixcoy thought those children shouldn't be excluded from having the education they needed. There had to be an alternative to distance education. But what was the solution?
Gerardo bought himself a secondhand tricycle（三轮车）with his savings. Once he had the tricycle, the next step was to change it into a classroom on wheels. He put a roof with a solar panel（太阳能电池板）on it, along with a screen to avoid the spread of COVID-19. He fixed a whiteboard on it so he could explain to the students the basics of primary education： math, the local language and the universal national language—Spanish.
The purpose of the solar panel is to provide constant power for a small loudspeaker so he can teach from a distance. It's a matter of respecting the healthy distance required to be safe from the virus. He, the teacher, stays outside, and the student participates from his or her house.
With that enthusiasm for education, he tries to visit his students at least twice a week, riding his classroom-cycle. The children he serves say that, although he visits them for only a few hours a week, they look forward to it. They appreciate his visit and will take advantage of it to learn.
1. What is the problem for the Guatemalan students because of COVID-19?| A．They cannot continue their study any more. |
| B．They are cut off from the digital world and the Internet. |
| C．They have no right to get the government's distance education. |
| D．They have to get distance education but they have no access to it. |
| A．Chosen | B．Prevented. |
| C．Protected. | D．Separated |
| A．He provided them with a whiteboard to write on |
| B．He fixed a solar panel on their house roofs to give electricity. |
| C．He rode his tricycle to their houses and taught them face to face. |
| D．He transformed his tricycle into a classroom on wheel to give them lessons. |
| A．Love for education breaks down barriers |
| B．Education contributes to success. |
| C．Great hope makes great man. |
| D．Hard work pays off. |
9 . For much of human history and in many places, girls were considered property, or required to obey their fathers until the day they had to start obeying their husbands. In most of the world that vision of girlhood now seems not merely old-fashioned but unimaginably remote. In field after field girls have caught up with boys. Globally, young women now outnumber (数量超过) young men at university. Girl babies are more wanted than ever before. Even in places, such as China, where the sex-selective abortion of girls has been common, it is becoming less so. Girls are also less likely to be married off in childhood. In 1995 almost six in ten girls in South Asia were married before reaching 18; that has fallen by half.
When societies handle girlhood well, the knock-on effects are astonishing. A girl who finishes secondary school is less likely to become a child bride or a teenage mother. Education boosts earning power and widens choices, so she is less likely to be poor or to suffer domestic abuse. She will have fewer children, and invest more in them. They will be less likely to die in babyhood, or to grow up stunted physically or mentally. She will read to them more and help them with their homework. All this means they will learn more, and earn more as adults. A recent study estimated that, if 100% of their girls completing secondary school is ensured, it could lead to a lasting boost to GDP.
Despite the benefits of nurturing girls, some countries have still failed to grasp them. Only one girl in three south of the Sahara finishes her secondary education. The COVID-19 pandemic could disturb progress for girls in poor countries, or even reverse it. When Ebola forced west African schools to close in 2014, many girls dropped out, never went back and ended up pregnant or as child laborers. UNICEF warns that something similar could happen with COVID-19—but on a larger scale.
1. What's the main idea of the first paragraph?| A．Girls suffer a lot in human history. |
| B．Girls' situation has improved a lot globally. |
| C．Girl babies are more welcomed than ever before. |
| D．Girls do much better than boys in many fields. |
| A．There are more young women than young men at university in China. |
| B．A girl who completes secondary school will have more children. |
| C．Children of the girls with schooling may end up earning more as adults. |
| D．Economy of countries is largely determined by the education level of girls. |
| A．Healthy. | B．Confident. | C．Underdeveloped. | D．Unstable. |
| A．To prove COVID-19 is more serious than Ebola. |
| B．To warn that girls may suffer a lot in COVID-19. |
| C．To appeal to all to pay attention to the poor countries. |
| D．To stress the importance of controlling the disasters. |
10 . Stories are a powerful way to communicate. We all learn through stories. I’ve raised a three-step formula anyone can use to create powerful stories that will help you make your point. First, identify your truth. Second, think of the decisive experiences that have led you to this "truth". Third, shape those experiences into a story that you can tell at the drop of a hat. Here’s an example of how I have used this formula.
Years ago, I had an assignment to conduct a team-building session. The client was my friend. I arrived at his office 5: 00 p. m. the day before our session. He asked me if I had an agenda for tomorrow’s meeting. I told him that, first we'll do A, then B, followed by C. We’ll finish up with D. Still he asked if I had an agenda.
At first, I thought he hadn’t been listening to what I just said, so I repeated myself, "First we'll do A, then B, followed by C. We’ll finish up with D. "He said," Yes, I know. That's what you just said. Do you have an agenda?
At that point, it dawned on me that he was looking for a printed agenda. I said, "No, but we really don't need one. I’ve done many meetings like this. It will go fine.” He said, “I’m not comfortable winging it.” So we created an agenda using Powerpoint. The next day, the meeting went off smoothly. We followed the agenda I had in my head and he had on the PowerPoint slide. Everyone agreed it was one of the best meetings of this type they had ever attended.
It became clear to me that if I want to influence not just this client, but anyone, I need to adapt my communication style to theirs. From that day on, I modify my communication style to meet the needs of the other person.
1. What does Paragraph 1 mainly talk about?| A．How to form powerful stories | B．Stories come from experiences. |
| C．How to communicate with powerful stories. | D．Stories play an important part in communication. |
| A．By listing figures. | B．By giving examples. |
| C．By making remarks. | D．By presenting research findings. |
| A．The author winged it. |
| B．The author's friend used Powerpoint. |
| C．The author and his friend created an agenda separately. |
| D．The author and his friend made an agenda using Powerpoint. |
| A．Adopt | B．Follow | C．Change | D．Create |
