My little boy is 5 and goes to Kindergarten. He’s at that age
We’ve had a few problems with one little girl he rides to school with. But last week,
2 . There are a lot of names for people who travel the world — backpackers, tourists, explorers, travelers. Labels (标签) are everywhere but seem especially popular among travelers trying to differentiate (区别) their style of travel. For many travelers, these labels make them feel better over another.
Andrew Zimmern from Bizarre Foods once said, “Travelers are better at exploring the world than tourists. They dig deep into the culture, drink it up, and get to know a place while a tourist takes pictures and declares to have “done Paris.”
But that’s wrong. We are all tourists.
Out on the road, backpackers love to talk about how real their travels are and how unreal tourists are. “Look at those tourists over there,” they say. They laugh at others who travel too quickly or to places that they think are not well worth visiting. However, they do so while eating hamburgers and drinking beers with other travelers.
The only way to really get to know a place deeply is to live there. If you want to live like a local, find an apartment, get a job, go to work, and do the same things as you did back home.
We are all only passing through a culture, getting a small taste before moving on to the next place. Even if we stay weeks or months, we’re just getting in touch with the surface. As a matter of fact, we are all really just tourists, or explorers, or travelers. Call yourself whatever you want — it’s all the same as we’re all trying to do the same thing — see the world.
So don’t label anyone and don’t let anyone label you. We’re all tourists. We’re all travelers. What we are all doing is more important than what we call ourselves. Let’s just enjoy the fact that we are simply people on the road.
1. The mention of Andrew Zimmern’s words is to_________.| A．present amazing experiences | B．tell travelers apart from tourists |
| C．give an example of misunderstanding | D．get to know different kinds of people |
| A．They live like locals while traveling. | B．They enjoy tasty food on the way. |
| C．They like calling themselves explorers. | D．They have a brief experience of places. |
| A．Dig deep into the culture. | B．Just enjoy the trip. |
| C．Make a careful trip plan. | D．Do important things. |
1. How does the speaker find Americans spending one hour driving to work?
| A．Normal. | B．Tiring. | C．Costly. |
| A．Have classes. | B．Take a road test. | C．Pass a written test. |
| A．It is a must. | B．You may skip it. | C．The cost is high. |
| A．Traffic rules. | B．Safety issues. | C．Driving skills. |
1. Where does the man want to go?
| A．Washington. | B．New York. | C．Chicago. |
| A．It’s too late. | B．It’s very tiring. | C．It’s dangerous. |
| A．At 8:40 a.m. | B．At 7:36 a.m. | C．At 6:06 a.m. |
| A．In the post office. | B．In a taxi. | C．In a hotel. |
6 . You've probably heard the expression "It's raining cats and dogs." Thankfully, our furry friends don't actually fall from the sky. But what about other animals? In 1870, snails fell on Chester, Pennsylvania. Frogs rained on ancient Greece and modern-day Siberia. And fish are the most common kind of animal rain! What's really going on here?
The most likely explanation is that spinning winds of a tornado act like a giant vacuum(真空吸尘器), sucking up fish and other life living in water. High up in the air, wind can bring them along for miles until they drop back to earth during a rainstorm.
Another idea is that it only appears that animals are coming down in the rain. Frogs and other creatures in beauty sleep can be flooded out of their resting places by a heavy downpour. When dozens of frogs are forced to the surface at once, it can look like they fell from the sky.
Of course, people don't always use science to explain animal rain. Every spring, small fish are found on the streets of Yoro, Honduras, after a heavy rainstorm. According to a local tale, a priest(牧师) prayed for the hungry villagers for three days, and then fish rained from the sky.
Scientists examined the fish rain in Yoro for one year and discovered that the fish are blind. That was a clue! Sightless fish are commonly found in caves. So instead of tailing from the sky, it is likely that these fish are being washed to the surface from flooded underground rivers.
While animal rain is unusual, it may become slightly more common. Whether fish and frogs are sucked up by tornadoes or washed out of their homes by floodwaters, as climate change warms the atmosphere, animal rain will continue to be part of our rough weather.
So the next time you witness a downpour, put out a bucket. You just might catch dinner!
1. What does the author want to express in paragraph 1?| A．It is raining heavily outside. |
| B．Animal rains do exist. |
| C．It's hard to understand a famous saying. |
| D．The climate is getting worse and worse. |
| A．Only fish can come down in the rain. |
| B．Rainstorms wake up the animals in sleep. |
| C．Animals do not really fall from the sky. |
| D．Animal rain is beyond people's imagination. |
| A．Favorable. | B．Disapproving. | C．Critical. | D．Respectful. |
| A．Animals in the Rain | B．The Mysterious Nature |
| C．Benefits of Heavy Rains | D．It's Raining Fish and Frogs! |
7 . Your dog might follow simple commands such as “sit”, or become uncontrollably excited at the mention of the word “out”, but when it comes to remembering the names of toys and other everyday items, most seem pretty absent-minded. But now a study of six “genius (天才) dogs” has found something new.
Hungarian researchers spent more than two years scouring the globe for dogs who could recognize the names of their various toys. Although most can learn commands to some degree, learning the names of items appears to be a very different task for most dogs. Six dogs across the world eventually stood out after proving they knew the names of more than 28 toys, with some knowing more than 100. They then took part in what was known as the Genius Dog Challenge.
“These gifted dogs can learn new names of toys at a remarkable speed,” said Dr. Claudia Fugazza at Eötvös Loránd University in Budapest. “In our previous study we found that they could learn a new toy name after hearing it only four times. But, with such short exposure, they did not form a long-term memory of it.”
To push the limits of the dogs' talents, the researchers asked their owners to teach them the names of 6, and then 12 new toys in a single week. “It turned out that this was not much of a challenge. They easily learned between 11 to 12 toys,” said Dr. Shany Dror from the same university. The dogs could also remember these names when they were tested two months later. The research was published in Royal Society Open Science.
“Dogs are good models for studying human behaviour as they evolve (进化) and develop in the human environment,” said one of the study's co-authors, Prof Adám Miklési. “With these talented dogs we have a unique opportunity to study how another species (物种) understands the human language, and how learning words influences the way we think about the world.”
1. What does the underlined word “scouring” in paragraph 2 probably mean?| A．preserving. | B．searching. |
| C．changing. | D．shaping. |
| A．The potential of dogs' memory. |
| B．The link between dogs and their owners. |
| C．The speed at which dogs respond to commands. |
| D．The number of toys whose names dogs can remember. |
| A．The background of the research. | B．The outline of the research. |
| C．The significance of the research. | D．The application of the research. |
8 . It is said that many brain training products is able to keep us mentally(精神的) fit. Some products even claim that brain training can prevent dementia (痴呆) in old age. Many such products are only money-making rubbish. Also, there is no scientific proof that games or other brain exercises can have this effect(影响). That is what the German Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care (IQWiG) pointed out.
As we get older, our thinking gets slower and it is harder for us to learn new things. Many people try to stay mentally fit by, for example, learning a new language or doing crossword puzzles. Computer games that aim to keep the brain active are also becoming increasingly popular. “Doing exercises like trying to find symbols on a computer screen as fast as possible can actually improve your reaction time,” explains Professor Peter Sawicki, the Institute’s Director. “But scientific studies have shown that brain training only leads to an improvement in one aspect that it is aimed at. So if you learn to find symbols quickly, it does not mean that you will be able to improve your memory.”
Research has not shown that brain training can keep up or enhance (加强) people’s overall mental abilities as commonly thought. “So there is no need to feel bad if you do not enjoy brain training: there are no health reasons for doing it,” says Sawicki. “But if you think brain training exercises are interesting, you can try out different things. For example, completing the order of letters can improve your logic skills. And practicing word association techniques can help you to remember things better. You can do all of these things at home on your own.”
1. What can we learn about the brain training products according to the passage?| A．They are expensive. | B．They are effective. |
| C．They are not reliable（可信的）. | D．They are harmful to the brain. |
| A．only improve your reaction time | B．help all people improve their memory |
| C．keep the brain active for a longer time | D．only improve a certain ability of people |
| A．when your thinking gets much slower | B．under strict instructions (指导) |
| C．when you can’t learn new things | D．in a relaxing way |
| A．shouldn’t be encouraged | B．aren’t as effective as commonly thought |
| C．may benefit people in some indirect ways | D．are just designed for young people to have fun |
9 . Feeling overwhelmed by your to-do list can certainly make you unhappy, but a new study released last week suggests that more free time will not actually make people as happy as they commonly believe it will.
The researchers collected data from two large scale surveys, which included more than 35,000 replies. They found that people with up to two hours of free time a day generally had higher levels of well-being than those with less time. But people who had five or more hours of free time a day generally said they felt worse.
So the free-time “sweet spot” might be two to three hours per day, the findings suggest. “While being too busy can cause stress, having more time is not always better,” said Marissa Sharif, an assistant professor at The Wharton School，in a press release.
Experts note, for example, that some adults struggle with the “retirement blues,” which can be due to a lack of stimulation (刺激) and structure, among other things. The “sweet spot” seems to have something to do with how people spend the extra time they have, the researchers behind the new study argue.
They conducted several smaller online experiments. In one they asked participants to imagine having 3½ to seven free hours per day, and to imagine spending that time doing “productive" things (like exercising) or to imagine doing “unproductive” activities (like watching TV). The participants believed their well-being would suffer if they had a lot of free time during the day—but only if they used it unproductively.
Though that experiment was hypothetical, which is one limitation of the new research, it's certainly in line With other researches showing that being in a state of “flow” can be good for people's mental health. In other words, how people use their free time matters.
“In cases when people do find themselves with excessive amounts of spare time, such as retirement or having left a job,” Sharif said, “our results suggest these individuals would benefit from spending their newfound time with purpose.”
1. What's the common belief about “free time”?| A．More free time will bring people much happiness. |
| B．Too much free time will make one feel worse. |
| C．Less free time will make life full. |
| D．One is happy in his free time whatever he does. |
| A．Because they find it struggling to deal with daily life. |
| B．Because they find life is dull with too much free time. |
| C．Because they are not used to retirement life. |
| D．Because their life lacks care and warmth. |
| A．The study lacks data from participants. |
| B．The study doesn't agree with the others. |
| C．The number of participants is small. |
| D．The experiment is imagined. |
| A．Mrs. Wang, retired, spends over six hours watching TV. |
| B．Alex, a salesman, does one hour's reading and another hour's jogging. |
| C．Mr. Yang, a 996 programmer, struggles to find an hour to tutor his son. |
| D．Catherine, a stay-at-home mom, kills her free time purposelessly. |
10 . As the pandemic (大流行病) separates us from loved ones, many of us are trying to stay connected through texting, even taking the opportunity to reconnect with long-lost friends.
But if our goal is to feel closer to people and enjoy our conversations more, we’d better pick up the phone, according to a new study published in the Journal of Experimental Psychology.
In the study, participants (参与者) imagined having a conversation with a friend they hadn’t been in touch with for at least two years and made predictions (预测) about how it would feel to connect by phone versus (对比) email. “We think it’s going to be awkward to talk to somebody, but that just turns out not to be the case,” says lead author Amit Kumar. “Instead, people form stronger connection when they’re talking on the phone than when communicating over email.”
The same result held true when the researchers had participants do a conversation exercise with strangers using either video chatting, audio (声音的) only chatting, or text chatting. People who used media that included the voice had more satisfying exchanges and felt closer to their new friends than the text chatters.
Why? Likely it’s because our voices communicate a variety of emotions, helping others to read us better and to feel like they really know us. Hearing someone’s voice helps understand each other better – in some cases, even better than video chatting.
So, while texting can be useful, it’s not the best way to get the most out of socializing. If we’re looking for greater happiness and connection, we should give someone a call.
1. Why do participants communicating with voice feel closer?| A．They can talk more quickly. | B．Voices show more emotions. |
| C．Voices are easier to understand. | D．They are more familiar with voice. |
| A．By quoting (引用) experts’ words. | B．By telling stories. |
| C．By making comparisons. | D．By introducing theories. |
| A．Text chatting. | B．Sending emails. |
| C．Making calls. | D．Writing letters. |
