1 . According to a recent study in the Journal of Consumer Research, both the size and consumption habits of our eating companions can influence our food intake. And contrary to existing research that says you should avoid eating with heavier people who order large portions(份), it's the beanpoles with big appetites you really need to avoid.
To test the effect of social influence on eating habits, the researchers conducted two experiments. In the first, 95 undergraduate women were individually invited into a lab to ostensibly(表面上)participate in a study about movie viewership. Before the film began, each woman was asked to help herself to a snack. An actor hired by the researchers grabbed her food first. In her natural state, the actor weighed 105 pounds. But in half the cases she wore a specially designed fat suit which increased her weight to 180 pounds.
Both the fat and thin versions of the actor took a large amount of food. The participants followed suit, taking more food than they normally would have. However, they took significantly more when the actor was thin.
For the second test, in one case the thin actor took two pieces of candy from the snack bowls. In the other case, she took 30 pieces. The results were similar to the first test: the participants followed suit but took significantly more candy when the thin actor took 30 pieces.
The tests show that the social environment is extremely influential when we're making decisions. If this fellow participant is going to eat more, so will I. Call it the “I’ll have what she's having” effect. However, we'll adjust the influence. If an overweight person is having a large portion, I'll hold back a bit because I see the results of his eating habits. But if a thin person eats a lot, I'll follow suit. If he can eat much and keep slim, why can't I?
1. What is the recent study mainly about?| A．Food safety. | B．Movie viewership. |
| C．Consumer demand. | D．Eating behavior. |
| A．Big eaters. | B．Overweight persons. |
| C．Picky eaters. | D．Tall thin persons. |
| A．To see how she would affect the participants. |
| B．To test if the participants could recognize her. |
| C．To find out what she would do in the two tests. |
| D．To study why she could keep her weight down. |
| A．How hungry we are. | B．How slim we want to be. |
| C．How we perceive others. | D．How we feel about the food. |
2 . The managing editor is usually the person in charge of the daytoday editorial process of a newspaper. He or she makes sure that the newspaper comes out on time each day and that costs are kept within a budget (预算). He or she is usually responsible for hiring and firing news room staff, and serves as the spokesperson for the newspaper. The managing editor may also be involved in story, photo and graphics (图形) selection, assignments, laying out pages, and editing copy and writing headlines.
The news editor is in charge of the news pages of the newspaper. He or she makes decisions on which stories are used and which are not. The news editor and his or her assistants also lay out pages of the paper.
The copy editor edits wire and local stories and writes headlines. The copy editor is often the last person to see a story before it actually appears in print.
The city editor makes sure that the news in the city is covered and that as many local stories as possible get into each edition.The city editor supervises (监督) the local general assignment, beat and speciality reporters.
The state editor supervises reporters who cover communities and areas outside the city but still within the circulation (流通) area of the newspaper.
The national editor supervises reporters in bureaus in cities outside the circulation area of the newspaper. Most newspapers rely on the wire services for national news, but some have correspondents who work in other cities and report to the national editor.
1. If you want to apply for a job in a newspaper news room, you are likely to be interviewed by ________.| A．the news editor | B．the national editor |
| C．the city editor | D．the managing editor |
| A．the managing editor is mainly responsible for laying out pages of the paper |
| B．the news editor determines which stories are used |
| C．the copy editor is often the first person to see the story |
| D．the national editor supervises the local general assignment, beat and speciality reporters |
| A．reporters | B．postmen |
| C．writers | D．messengers |
| A．How newspapers are made. | B．People in a newspaper news room. |
| C．How news is collected and edited. | D．People in charge of the newspaper industry. |
3 . From quiet paths by a stream in a forest to busy roads running through a city, people have created various forms of routes in different places. These now exist all around us, and their use is imperative for societies. These routes have enabled people to move, transport things, and send information from one place to another quickly and safely. Throughout history, they have been important in our daily lives.
Early routes were often formed naturally on land. They gradually developed over long periods of time while people traveled them on foot or horseback. A significant turning point in their history arrived when the first wheeled carts appeared in ancient times. Once this happened, people recognized the importance of well-maintained routes. Therefore, towns, cities, and entire countries improved them. As a result, life became more convenient, communities grew, economies evolved, and cultures expanded.
People have established routes on water, too. Rivers and canals have served as effective routes for people to move around and carry things. For instance, in the old, Japanese city of Edo, water routes were used for the transportation of agricultural products, seafood, and wood. People have also opened routes across the sea. The seaways were critical for the navigation of ships, particularly in the days when they moved mainly by wind power. Using these sea routes, people could travel great distances, and go to places they had not previously been able to reach.
People have gone on to open routes in the sky as well. Since the invention of the airplane, they have made it possible to travel long distances easily. Eventually, people became able to travel safely and comfortably high in the sky, and going vast distances only took a small amount of time.
Today, we have a new type of route, the Internet. By using this worldwide route, people can easily obtain information that once was available mainly from books and face-to-face communication. They can also instantly send messages to large numbers of people all at once.
As long as there have been people, there have been routes to connect them. Currently unknown routes will surely take us even further in the future.
1. Which of the following is closest to the meaning of the underlined word imperative in paragraph 1?| A．accidental | B．industrial |
| C．essential | D．traditional |
| A．To describe the difficulty of creating routes on the water. |
| B．To emphasize the fact that it was an important city. |
| C．To explain the use of water routes to move along the coastlines. |
| D．To illustrate the important roles of water routes for cities. |
| A．Routes can be thought of as existing invisibly in the world. |
| B．Routes that move information can be regarded as dangerous. |
| C．The fundamental functions of routes are declining. |
| D．The importance of different kinds of routes is the same. |
| A．Humankind first created various types of convenient routes on land. |
| B．Improvements in transportation have come at great cost. |
| C．Technology has interfered with opening up routes around the world. |
| D．The advancement of humanity was aided by the development of routes. |
4 . In 1982, I had responsibility for Stephen Hawking’s third academic book for the Press, Superspace and Supergravity. This was a messy collection of papers from a technical workshop on how to devise a new theory of gravity. While that book was in production, I suggested he try something easier: a popular book about the nature of the Universe, suitable for the general market.
Stephen hesitated over my suggestion. He already had an international reputation as a brilliant theoretical physicist working on rotating black holes and theories of gravity. And he had concerns about financial matters: importantly, it was impossible for him to obtain any form of life insurance to protect his family in the event of his death or becoming totally dependent on nursing care. So, he took precious time out from his research to prepare the rough draft of a book.
At the time, several bestselling physics authors had already published non-technical books on the early Universe and black holes. Stephen decided to write a more personal approach, by explaining his own research in cosmology and quantum theory.
One afternoon, in the 1980s, he invited me to take a look at the first draft, but first he wanted to discuss cash. He told me he had spent considerable time away from his research, and that he expected advances and royalties (定金和版税) to be large. When I pressed him on the market that he foresaw, he insisted that it be on sale, up front, at all airport bookshops in the UK and the US. I told that was a tough call for a university press. Then I thumbed the typescript. To my dismay, the text was far too technical for a general reader.
A few weeks later he showed me a revision, much improved. Eventually, he decided to place it with a mass market publisher rather than a university press. Bantam published A Brief History of Time in March 1988. Sales took off like a rocket, and it ranked as a bestseller for at least five years. The book’s impact on the popularization of science has been incalculable.
1. What suggestion did the writer give to Stephen Hawking?| A．Simplifying Superspace and Supergravity. |
| B．Formulating a new theory of gravity. |
| C．Writing a popular book on the nature of the universe. |
| D．Revising a book based on a new theory. |
| A．Financial returns. |
| B．Other competitors. |
| C．Publishing houses. |
| D．His family’s life insurance. |
| A．praised |
| B．typed |
| C．confirmed |
| D．browsed |
| A．bringing him overnight fame in the scientific world |
| B．keeping up the living standard of his family |
| C．making popular science available to the general public |
| D．creating the rocketing sales of a technical book |
5 . Janus, the Roman god, has two faces looking in opposite directions. So does artificial intelligence (AI). On one side are the positive changes, enabling people to achieve more, far more quickly, by using technology to improve their existing skills. Look the other way, though, and there are plenty of potential pitfalls.
Like Janus, technological change may also cause disruption(混乱), but AI is likely to have a bigger impact than anything since the appearance of computers, and its consequences could be far more disruptive.
In the years ahead, AI will raise three big questions for bosses and governments. One is the effect on jobs. Although CEOs publicly praise the broad benefits AI will bring, their main interest lies in cutting costs. One European bank asked Infosys to find a way of reducing the staff in its operations department from 50,000 to 500. The McKinsey Global Institute estimates that by 2030 up to 375m people, or 14% of the global workforce, could have their jobs replaced by AI.
A second important question is how to protect privacy as AI spreads. The internet has already made it possible to track people’s digital behavior in minute detail. AI will offer even better tools for businesses to monitor consumers and employees, both online and in the physical world. Consumers are sometimes happy to go along with this if it results in personalised service or promotions. But AI is bound to bring invasion of privacy that is seen as unacceptable. For example, law-enforcement officials around the world will use AI to spot criminals, but may also monitor ordinary citizens.
The third question is about the effect of AI on competition in business. A technology company that achieves a major breakthrough in artificial intelligence could race ahead of rivals, put others out of business and lessen competition. This is unlikely to happen in the near future, but if it did it would be of great concern.
It is too early to tell whether the positive changes brought by AI will outweigh the risk. But it will put an end to traditional ways of doing things and start a new era for business and for the world at large.
1. Janus is mentioned to .| A．introduce the topic | B．praise the Roman god |
| C．tell its difference | D．support AI |
| A．consequences | B．risks | C．effects | D．benefits |
| A．AI is a double-edged sword. |
| B．People show great concern about AI. |
| C．privacy is threatened by AI. |
| D．AI will enjoy a bright future. |
| A．Objective. | B．Positive. | C．Worried. | D．Subjective. |
On a cold January afternoon in 1989，I was hiking up the trail that leads to the top of Egypt’s Mt. Horeb. I’d spent the day at St. Catherine’s Monastery and wanted to get to the peak by sunset to see the valley below. As I was winding up the narrow path，I’d occasionally see other hikers who were coming down from a day on the mountain. While they would generally pass with simply a nod or a greeting in another language，there was one man that day who did neither.
I saw him coming from the last switchback on the trail that led to the backside of the mountain. As he got closer，I could see that he was dressed differently from the other hikers I’d seen. Rather than the high-tech fabrics and styles that had been the norm，this man was wearing traditional Egyptian clothing. He wore a tattered， rust-colored galabia and obviously old and thick-soled sandals that were covered in dust. What made his appearance so odd，though，was that the man didn’t even appear to be Egyptian！ He was a small-framed Asian man, had very little hair，and was wearing round，wire-rimmed glasses.
As we neared one another，I was the first to speak.“Hello，”I said，stopping on the trail for a moment to catch my breath. Not a sound came from the man as he walked closer. I thought that maybe he hadn’t heard me or the wind had carried my voice away from him in another direction. Suddenly he stopped directly in front of me on the high side of the trail， looked up from the ground， and spoke a single sentence to me in English，“Sometimes you don’t know what you have lost until you’ve lost it.”As I took in what I had just heard，he simply stepped around me and continued his descent down the trail.
That moment in my life was a small miracle. The reason is less about what the man said and more about the timing and the context. The year was 1989，and the Cold War was drawing to a close. What the man on the trail couldn’t have known is that it was during my Egyptian pilgrimage， and specifically during my hike to the top of Moses’s mountain，that I’d set the time aside to make decisions that would affect my career in the defense industry，my friends，my family，and，ultimately，my life.
I had to ask myself what the chances were of an Asian man dressed in an Egyptian galabia coming down from the top of this historic mountain just when I was walking up，stopping before me，and offering his wisdom，seemingly from out of nowhere. My answer to my own question was easy： the odds were slim to none！ In an encounter that lasted less than two minutes on a mountain halfway around the world from my home， a total stranger had brought clarity， and the hint of a warning， regarding the huge changes that I would make within a matter of days. In my way of thinking，that’s a miracle.
I suspect that we all experience small miracles in our lives every day. Sometimes we have the wisdom and the courage to recognize them for what they are. In the moments when we don’t，that’s okay as well. It seems that our miracles have a way of coming back to us again and again. And each time they do，they become a little less subtle ，until we can’t possibly miss the message that they bring to our lives！
The key is that they’re everywhere and occur every day for different reasons， in response to the different needs that we may have in the moment. Our job may be less about questioning the extraordinary things that happen in our daily lives and more about accepting the gifts they bring.
1. Why did the author make a pilgrimage to Mt. Horeb in Egypt?
| A．He was in search of a miracle in his life. |
| B．It was a holy place for a religious person to head for. |
| C．He intended to make arrangements for his life in the future. |
| D．He waited patiently in expectation of meeting a wise person. |
| A．For what reason did the man stop before me? |
| B．Why did the Asian man go to the mountain? |
| C．What change would I make within a matter of days? |
| D．What was the probability that others told us the right words? |
| A．Apparent. | B．Delicate. |
| C．Precise. | D．Sufficient. |
| A．the Asian man’s appearance had a deciding effect on his future life |
| B．his words were in perfect response to the need he had at that moment |
| C．what the Asian man said was abundant in the philosophy of life |
| D．the Asian man impressed on him the worth of what he had possessed |
| A．Can you recognize a miracle? |
| B．Is a miracle significant to us? |
| C．When might a miracle occur? |
| D．Why do we need a miracle? |
