1 . Background noise—like the chatter in a coffee shop or the drone of passing traffic—might slow our reading speed, but according to a study of Russian readers, it doesn’t _________ how our brain understands written text.

_________, if you’re wondering whether you should be listening to podcasts or music while working, the study has some interesting points to make. In particular, it examined how we might change our reading style to compensate for auditory noise and visual distractions such as typos or poor formatting.

“Overall, previous studies reported a harmful effect of both auditory and visual noise on reading fluency and _________, though their results varied,” write linguistics researcher Nina Zdorova and colleagues. “So far, none of the studies exploring the influence of noise _________ it in the framework of the language processing theories.”

One of the language processing theories examined was the noisy channel model, which proposes that our brain deals with noise by looking at the meaning of _________ words more and at entire sentences less. We then use a bit of smart guesswork to _________ the overall meaning and relationships between words.

The second theory is the good enough model; that’s when our brains aren’t analyzing every single detail of a text but instead only grabbing enough words for a ‘good enough’ understanding. By focusing less on the precise words, our brains can _________ some cognitive resources to deal with noise.

To see how reading was affected by noise _________ these models, the researchers ran two experiments: one on auditory noise (71 participants) and one on visual noise (70 participants). When it came to the auditory noise test, background chatter from overlapping podcasts caused people to spend longer looking at the key section of sentences before completing their reading. This extra time could _________ the noise, meaning sentence comprehension isn’t affected by it. In the visual noise test, comprehension remained the same while reading speed __________. That’s a bit __________ considering previous studies, but the researchers think people just wanted to finish the task, with the visual noise an uncomfortable distraction.

“In both experiments, we observed that longer total reading time was __________ with an accuracy increase for incorrect sentences,” write the researchers.

There’s a lot going on in this study, but overall it’s a bigger win for the good-enough language processing theory and an indication that auditory and visual noise doesn’t make us __________ any more or less on any particular comprehension method while we’re reading.

With so many variables to measure in terms of what’s being read and what the __________ noise is, further study is required to learn more. __________ potential distractions may not interrupt your reading as much as you think.

1.

A．reinforce

B．estimate

C．affect

D．interpret

2.

A．First of all

B．For example

C．Above all

D．To start with

3.

A．context

B．efficiency

C．comprehension

D．device

4.

A．evaluated

B．identified

C．established

D．employed

5.

A．individual

B．different

C．new

D．unfamiliar

6.

A．confirm

B．imply

C．refer

D．infer

7.

A．exploit

B．spare

C．commit

D．consume

8.

A．on account of

B．regardless of

C．in regard to

D．in contrast to

9.

A．make up for

B．live up to

C．catch up with

D．put up with

10.

A．declined

B．shrank

C．expanded

D．increased

11.

A．embarrassing

B．depressing

C．puzzling

D．annoying

12.

A．associated

B．compared

C．replaced

D．mixed

13.

A．take

B．set

C．rely

D．base

14.

A．accompanying

B．strange

C．deafening

D．distant

15.

A．Therefore

B．However

C．Instead

D．Otherwise

2 . Scientific discovery is popularly believed to result from the sheer genius of such intellectual stars as naturalist Charles Darwin and theoretical physicist Albert Einstein. Our view of such unique contributions to science often _________ the person’s prior experience and the efforts of their lesser-known predecessors (前任者).

_________ such greats as Darwin and Einstein—whose remarkable contributions are duly celebrated — we suggest that innovation is more a process of trial and error, where two steps forward may sometimes come with one step back, as well as one or more steps to the right or left. This evolutionary view of human innovation weakens the idea of _________ genius and recognizes the accumulative nature of scientific progress.

Consider one _________ scientist: John Nicholson, a mathematical physicist working in the 1910s who assumed the existence of ‘proto-elements’ in outer space. By combining different numbers of weights of these proto-elements’ atoms, Nicholson could recover the weights of all the elements in the then-known periodic table. These successes are all the more noteworthy given the fact that Nicholson was _________ about the presence of proto-elements: they do not actually exist. Yet, amid his often fanciful theories and wild guesses, Nicholson also _________ a new theory about the structure of atoms. Niels Bohr, the Nobel prize-winning father of modern atomic theory, _________ this interesting idea to come up with his now-famous model of the atom.

What are we to make of this story? We propose that science is constantly _________, much as species of animals do. In biological systems, organisms may display new characteristics that _________ random genetic mutations (变异). In the same way, random or accidental mutations of ideas may help pave the way for __________ in science. __________ mutations prove beneficial, the animal or the scientific theory will continue to thrive and perhaps reproduce.

__________ for this evolutionary view of behavioral innovation comes from many domains. Consider one example of an influential innovation in US horseracing. The so-called ‘acey-deucy’ stirrup (马镫) placement, in which the rider’s foot in his left stirrup is placed as much as 25 centimeters lower than the right, is believed to give important speed advantages when turning on egg-shaped tracks. It was developed by a relatively unknown jockey named Jackie Westrope. Had he __________ the speed advantage that would be provided by riding acey-deucy? No. He suffered a leg injury, which left him unable to fully bend his left knee. His __________ just happened to coincide with enhanced left-hand turning performance.

Plenty of other stories show that fresh advances can arise from error, misadventure, and also pure serendipity — a happy __________. The time seems right for abandoning the naive notions of intelligent design and genius, and for scientifically exploring the true origins of creative behavior.

1.

A．overlooks

B．enriches

C．questions

D．reflects

2.

A．Aiming at

B．Longing for

C．Holding back

D．Setting aside

3.

A．native

B．creative

C．subjective

D．sensitive

4.

A．stressed

B．unrecognized

C．celebrated

D．respected

5.

A．suspicious

B．concerned

C．wrong

D．guilty

6.

A．tested

B．rejected

C．accepted

D．proposed

7.

A．got rid of

B．made room for

C．jumped off from

D．put up with

8.

A．struggling

B．reversing

C．evolving

D．shrinking

9.

A．result from

B．contribute to

C．depart from

D．relate to

10.

A．priorities

B．trials

C．advances

D．obstacles

11.

A．If

B．Until

C．While

D．Unless

12.

A．Responsibility

B．Prejudice

C．Dislike

D．Support

13.

A．doubted

B．neglected

C．foreseen

D．exceeded

14.

A．motivation

B．modification

C．dedication

D．publication

15.

A．occasion

B．life

C．accident

D．ending

3 . During the initial stages of instructed L2 (the second language) acquisition students learn a couple thousand, mainly high frequency words. Functional language proficiency, however, _______mastery of a considerably large number of words. It is therefore _______ at the intermediate and advanced stages of language acquisition to learn a large vocabulary in a short period of time. There is not enough time to _______the natural (largely incidental) L1 (the first language) word acquisition process. Incidental acquisition of the words is only possible up to a point, _______, on account of their low frequency, they do not _______often enough in the L2 learning material.

Acquisition of new words from authentic L2 reading texts by means of strategies such as contextual deduction (演绎) is also not a _______for a number of reasons. There appears to be no _______to intentional learning of a great many new words in a relatively short period of time. The words to be learned may be _______in isolation or in context. Presentation in bilingual (双语的) word lists seems an _______shortcut because it takes less time than contextual presentation and yields excellent short term results. Long term memory, ________, is often disappointing so contextual presentation seems advisable.

Any suggestions on how to use this in educational contexts should be based on a systematic ________ of the two most important aspects of the L2 word learning problem, this is to say,   selecting the relevant vocabulary (which and how many words) and creating the best conditions for the acquisition process. This article sets out to ________a computer assisted word acquisition programme (CAVOCA) which tries to do exactly this: the programme operationalises current theoretical thinking about word acquisition, and its ________ are based on a systematic list of the vocabulary relevant for the target group. To ________its frequency, the programme was ________ in a number of experimental settings with a paired associated method of learning new words. The experimental results suggest that an approach combining the two methods is most advisable.

1.

A．inquires

B．requires

C．receives

D．inspires

2.

A．difficult

B．easy

C．possible

D．necessary

3.

A．copy

B．focus

C．find

D．clean

4.

A．however

B．moreover

C．because

D．nevertheless

5.

A．disturb

B．seem

C．occur

D．disappear

6.

A．solution

B．approach

C．problem

D．wonder

7.

A．official

B．annual

C．objective

D．alternative

8.

A．predicted

B．presented

C．postponed

D．preferred

9.

A．available

B．outstanding

C．attractive

D．evident

10.

A．by means of

B．moreover

C．in spite of

D．however

11.

A．focus

B．analysis

C．object

D．target

12.

A．describe

B．grasp

C．link

D．force

13.

A．conclusions

B．appointments

C．aspects

D．contents

14.

A．react

B．establish

C．memorize

D．leave

15.

A．enhanced

B．invented

C．contrasted

D．behaved