1 . Imagine that you could go into outer space, take your helmet off, and take a breath—without dying instantly, that is. Would the surrounding universe have a smell?
We think of space as a huge empty, pitch-dark and dead silent place without air. A place like that couldn’t possibly have a smell, right? As it turns out, space actually does have a clear smell. While we can’t smell anything in outer space because, as we mentioned, anyone attempting to do so would almost instantly die, what we can smell are the things that have come back from space.
Space suits, for instance, smell differently after they’ve returned from space than they did before launch. Astronauts returning from space say that their suits smell, in a word, burnt. The remaining scent of space reminds the astronauts of unpleasant burnt meat or metallic smoke.
What causes this rather unpleasant smell? Scientists believe that it could come from polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, a chemical compound (化合物). These things are basically high-powered materials released into space during the nuclear reactions that power stars and supernovae.
However, this smell is one of many scents that space could have. The universe is massive, after all, filled with many different elements and compounds. Scientists do have a pretty good idea of what a lot of “space stuff” is made of, giving them better ideas about what it might smell like. Most memorably, the dust cloud at the center of the Milky Way contains large amounts of ethyl formate (甲酸乙酯). This is the compound that, on Earth, gives raspberries (覆盆子) their scent. Yes, raspberries. What’s more, ethyl formate itself is created from a reaction between acid and a type of alcohol, which gives it a smell similar to a strong alcohol. (Ironically, alcohol is one of the foods that are banned from space.) The smell of space—or at least that part of space—doesn’t seem so bad anymore.
1. How can we know space has a smell?| A．By burning meat and metal. |
| B．By smelling the things returning from space. |
| C．By smelling astronauts’ clothes before launch. |
| D．By taking off helmets and taking a breath in space. |
| A．Alcohol. | B．Raspberries. |
| C．Unpleasant burnt space suits. | D．Smelly burnt meat and metallic smoke. |
| A．Stars and supernovae. | B．Chemical compounds. |
| C．High-powered materials. | D．Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. |
| A．It is believed there is only one smell in space. |
| B．The dust cloud in space smells like raspberries. |
| C．The smell of space may be known based on the “stuff” there. |
| D．Ethyl formate creates a reaction between acid and a type of alcohol. |
2 . Empathy and generosity are two qualities that arguably make the world go round. But a study suggests that the willingness to help crashes when people get too little sleep.
To prove it, researchers conducted three experiments designed to examine the issue from the individual to the societal scale.
In the first experiment, researchers performed functional magnetic resonance (磁共振) imaging scans of the brain and questioned 24 adults after an eight-hour-sleep night and after a sleepless night. When they rested well, the participants scored well on a helping behavior test. But after sleep loss, 78 percent had less of a desire to help others, even when it came to friends and family. The scans showed that areas of the brains associated with social cognition — our thought processes related to other people — were less active with sleep loss.
The second experiment tracked 136 healthy adults over four nights and asked them questions about helping the following day. The effect held for them, too.
To test the effects on a societal level, the researchers then looked at a database of 3 million charitable donations given between 2001 and 2016. They found that immediately following the beginning of daylight saving time (DST 夏令时)— a notorious sleep disrupter — donations dropped 10 percent. The effect wasn’t found in data from Hawaii or Arizona, however, neither observe DST.
Why bother studying how helpful people are when we don’t get enough shut-eye? “We’re starting to see more studies, where the effects of sleep loss don’t just stop at the individual, but extend to those around us,” said Eti Ben Simon, a scientist who co-wrote the study, in a news release. “If you’re not getting enough sleep, it doesn’t just hurt your own well-being, it hurts that of your entire social circle, including strangers.”
There’s a silver lining to all that ungenerous behavior, the researchers write: Unlike personality quality, sleep can be modified — and both getting enough and helping others do the same might make for a better world.
1. On which level were the first two experiments made?| A．The world level. | B．The individual level. |
| C．The societal level. | D．The family level. |
| A．The sleep quality determined people’s desire to help. |
| B．Our brains would become inactive for lack of sleep. |
| C．The first two experiments’ results were the same. |
| D．DST influenced the donations in all examined areas. |
| A．Because they want to solve the sleep loss problem. |
| B．Because they want more people to donate money. |
| C．Because sleep loss has greater impacts than we assume. |
| D．Because it will prevent people from hurting their well-being. |
| A．Scientists Found Solid Evidence for Sleep Loss |
| B．Two Significant Qualities — Empathy and Generosity |
| C．Sound Sleep Contributes to a Better Person |
| D．Too Little Sleep Makes People Less Generous |
3 . Since it’s made up of over 7,000 islands, the Philippines is not a train-heavy nation. That means coach buses are going to be your best choice for getting city-to-city. There is a small light rail system in the Manila metro area (called the Light Rail Transit System or “LRT” for short), but it has a bad name for being delayed most of the time.
If the phrase “coach bus” calls forth images of old Greyhounds, you’re off the mark. Because coaches in the Philippines are the primary means of intercity transit, many popular bus companies actually feature onboard attendants (think flight attendants, but, you know, on a bus) as well as entertainment centers, posh seats, and other comfortable accouterments (配备).
There’s no one central bus company in the Philippines, so central bus stations are uncommon. That means you need to know which company you want to take, what bus to get on, and where to catch it. Connect with a Filipino local for help when you’re planning your trip. They’ll help you figure out the who/what/where/when of bus transit and walk you through the entire process.
Besides coach buses, jeepneys are also very popular. They are old military jeeps left over from the US occupation of the Philippines which have since been converted into colorful, uniquely-Filipino private buses. They’re cheap, usually around 7 pesos or 0.25 per ride, they’re everywhere, and they’re probably the most popular form of mass transit in the Philippines.
More than anything though, jeepneys are colorful. The owners take lots of pride in their rides, and it’s common to see richly-painted jeepneys on most major roads. Where do you catch a jeepney and where do they go? Make it easy on yourself: have your local trip planner contain at least one jeepney ride into your travel plan—they’ll give you all the information you need.
1. How does a coach bus in the Philippines differ from a Greyhound?| A．Often running behind the schedule. |
| B．Traveling within the city area of Manila. |
| C．Painted with bright colors with low cost. |
| D．Comfortable equipment with fine service. |
| A．LRT. | B．Train. | C．Jeepney. | D．Coach bus. |
| A．Jeepneys are popular as they are modern and comfortable. |
| B．A Filipino local is the best choice to help you plan your trip. |
| C．A central bus station can give you the information you need. |
| D．Coach buses provide the experience of a flight with low cost. |
| A．Tourist attractions in the Philippines |
| B．Cheap unique transit in the Philippines |
| C．Options of transportation in the Philippines |
| D．Special traveling experiences in the Philippines |
1. What made the monkey find the stone unusual?
| A．Its shape. | B．Its size. | C．Its color. |
| A．To let the crocodile eat him. |
| B．To hit the crocodile’s head. |
| C．To cross the river. |
| A．Stupid. | B．Lazy. | C．Stubborn. |
1. What will the man do this weekend?
| A．Accompany his sister to the dentist’s. |
| B．Go to hospital to visit his sister. |
| C．Watch a game with his sister. |
| A．Baseball. | B．Football. | C．Ice hockey. |
| A．A player. | B．A dentist. | C．A student. |
1. What color of motorcycle does the man want?
| A．A blue one. | B．A yellow one. | C．A black one. |
| A．One year ago. | B．Two years ago. | C．Five years ago. |
| A．Buy tickets. | B．Buy snacks. | C．Buy a motorcycle. |
7 . After a busy morning, lunch can feel like just the pick-me-up you need-but sometimes the meal that you thought would energize you is the very thing that makes you want to nap at your desk.
Feeling tired after lunch, or post-meals in general, is known as postprandial somnolence—or, colloquially, the food coma.
Part of this phenomenon is due to basic physiology (生理学): When humans eat, most of our blood goes to the digestive organs to process the food, said Sandra Arévalo, director of community health and wellness at Montefiore Nyack Hospital in New York state.
The tendency to get tired after eating isn’t inherently suggestive of something amiss (出错的). But there can be additional factors that worsen this natural response, making getting through the rest of the workday or any activities feel like a slog. Here’s what to watch out for and how to make adjustments.
When it comes to why you feel overly tired after eating, a common cause is consuming meals that are heavy in terms of quantity or quality. Not eating breakfast can lead to overindulging later in the day if excessive (过度的) hunger makes controlling your appetite difficult, Arévalo said.
Sometimes, however, the makeup of certain foods can contribute to tiredness. Fats are the hardest nutrient to digest because their molecules are much larger than those of protein or carbs, said Julie Stefanski, a spokesperson for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. If you had a meal high in fat—such as fried foods or pizza—that could make you feel tired. Meals high in added sugar or refined or highly processed carbohydrates can have the same effect.
The fiber in so-called whole foods like corns slows the absorption of sugar into the body, which means they don’t cause blood sugar or insulin spikes and instead give you more stable, lasting energy, said Kristin Kirkpatrick, a registered dietitian at the Cleveland Clinic.
“A five-minute walk or something helps to improve circulation and alertness (机敏), as well,” Arévalo said.
1. What can we know from the third paragraph?| A．Blood is bad for the digestive organs. |
| B．Blood has varieties of tasks to carry out. |
| C．Eating habits have a great effect on health. |
| D．Eating too much can burden the digestive organs. |
| A．over-consuming | B．overweight | C．felling sleepy | D．lacking energy |
| A．Sugar cake. | B．Pizza. | C．Fried egg. | D．Corn. |
| A．To present a new study. | B．To clarify a concept. |
| C．To provide some guidance. | D．To show a social phenomenon. |
8 . Family vlogging — the frequent recording and uploading of personal videos of the family, usually on video sharing website — has become big business nowadays, especially among parents of young children. The more viewers such videos can get, the more money the family can make. At first thought, it does seem like an easy way to make money. However, are we doing right by putting their lives up for public attention?
For one thing, as the children grow up, they increasingly become aware that what they do needs to be admirable enough for the public to enjoy — Being young children, they also would want to do whatever it takes to please others. They then feel the pressure to be perfect, and as that is something not always possible, they become anxious and stressed. Comments from viewers and the expectations of sponsors (赞助者) can also affect the parents’ reactions towards their children.
Another problem is the lack of privacy in the children’s lives. As the children reach adolescence, there is a greaser need for personal space. At 12 or 13, very few children would appreciate being filmed while eating or having a conversation with their friends. Teenhood is a time of significant change in an individual, both physically and emotionally, and is a time when parents need to protect their children and guide them, instead of exposing them to the eyes of the public.
Family vlogging can be irresistible, given how it allows parents to bring greater fun to their family lives. There is also the easy money and the fame to look forward to. Indeed, all would probably go well, but only as long as parents keep in mind that, if not managed well, making their children live their lives in the unforgiving eyes of the public could prove to be a big mistake.
1. How does vlogging about children’s lives influence the family?| A．Children will get used to public attention. |
| B．Children may suffer from too much pressure. |
| C．Parents may show no concern for their children. |
| D．Parents become addicted to exposing their children to the public. |
| A．By providing examples | B．By listing numbers |
| C．By making comparisons | D．By analyzing causes |
| A．To introduce a new big business |
| B．To show how vlogging influence people’s lives. |
| C．To persuade parents to watch out for comments from viewers. |
| D．To convince parents of the danger of vlogging about children’s lives. |
| A．negative | B．positive | C．neutral | D．uninterested |
Naked marriage (裸婚) refers to a marriage without a car, a house, a wedding ring
Unlike the traditional Chinese view of marriage, young people today place more emphasis
Why do young Chinese people prefer naked marriage nowadays? There may be lots of reasons, two of
The sociologists state that naked marriage is worth
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