1 . Last week, I taught a case study on the decline of Nokia to my MBA students. I asked them, “Why did Nokia fall from industry
“They lost touch with their customers.” True, but almost tautological-and interesting to note that this is the same Nokia that in the early 2000s was praised for its
“They
“They didn’t recognize that the basis of competition was shifting from the hardware to the ecosystem.”
Through this period, the people at Nokia were
The failure of big companies to
In such cases, the final responsibility for
A.leadership | B.companionship | C.craftsmanship | D.citizenship |
A.acceptable | B.imaginable | C.changeable | D.predictable |
A.customer | B.product | C.technology | D.capital |
A.transformed | B.failed | C.attempted | D.resolved |
A.greatly | B.really | C.competitively | D.technologically |
A.Thus | B.Again | C.Unfortunately | D.Basically |
A.platform | B.basis | C.software | D.service |
A.absorbed in | B.shocked at | C.aware of | D.accustomed to |
A.thoughts | B.words | C.spirit | D.confidence |
A.look | B.apply | C.contribute | D.adapt |
A.foster | B.benefit | C.bankrupt | D.reshape |
A.implement | B.cultivate | C.undertake | D.advocate |
A.management | B.achievement | C.failure | D.enterprise |
A.horizons | B.pensions | C.executives | D.changes |
A.maintain | B.challenge | C.doubt | D.examine |
2 . Currently, it’s the beginning of the rainy season in the heart of Brunei (文莱), and I have never been so sweaty. Last night I was poking at insects larger than I’d ever seen or even, in my worst nightmares, imagined existed, but despite this, I’m still having the time of my life.
I’m on a taxonomy expedition at the Kuala Belalong Field Studies Centre in the Kingdom of Brunei Darussalam with a small group of entomologists (昆虫学家), biotech researchers and laypeople (门外汉) like me. We are searching for new species in the rainforest under the guidance of a research organization. Taxon Expeditions is one of a new crop of private organizations that is tapping into the pockets of people who are science-curious but not science-trained. We help to fund this research, and we get to participate in it.
I can’t emphasise how remarkable this is. I spent a lot of time as a child dozing in my Snoopy sleeping bag under the table in my mother’s lab as she worked on her Ph.D. in development genetics. Sequencing DNA in the 1980s wasn’t something that a person just did in a few hours, and it certainly wasn’t done using a device that fitted in the palm of one’s hand. And the result wasn’t then immediately cross-referenced with an offline version of an online public database of more than 5.3 million “DNA barcodes” to see if the organism being sequenced is a newly discovered species.
And the craziest thing about all of this is that the sequencer costs less than £1,000 from a company based in Oxford. I would recommend pairing up with an actual geneticist, a biotech expert and a real entomologist to make sense of the data, but the implications for the future of access to hands-on science are astonishing. Mark my words: we are less than a generation away from an army of layperson bioprospectors (生物勘探员) working the field using a little bit of scientific training and a lot of YouTube online knowledge.
But if a trip to the rainforest with an organisation like Taxon is out of the question, then you can still do research as close as your back garden. The same group that took me to the rainforest went to the Vondel-park in the centre of Amsterdam and identified a new wasp that had never been recorded by science. And yes, the sequencer — while less expensive than a high-end smart-phone — does require a little more training than a touchscreen. But this kind of science is rapidly trickling down to the rest of us, so getting any science kit or apps in the hands of your kids or grand-kids this holiday season is an investment. Because there’s noting like discovery to fuel the future.
1. What can we learn about the writer of the passage?A.The writer is a biotech researcher. |
B.The writer is interested in science despite not being an expert. |
C.The writer had spent a lot of money participating in the expedition. |
D.The writer is a staff member at the Kuala Belalong Field Studies Center. |
A.trying to make money from people. |
B.attempting to arouse people’s interest |
C.trying to develop the potential of people |
D.attempting to boost people’s knowledge |
A.Because teaming up with real experts to work on a project is by no means easy. |
B.Because scientific devices like sequencers are affordable for the average person. |
C.Because the assistance of non-professional bio prospectors aiding in scientific research is less than a generation away. |
D.Because affordable devices, basic scientific training, and online knowledge make it possible for the average person to conduct useful research. |
A.scientific research is still restricted to some trained experts |
B.devices like sequencers are easier to operate than smart-phone |
C.one doesn’t need to be scientifically trained to take part in valuable research |
D.doing research in one’s own garden can help promote the development of science |
A. addicted B. pleasing C. limited D. baggage E. conscious F. quotation G. operating H. imposed I. strings J. informative K. sinking |
Who’s in control of your life? Who is pulling your
So when people tell us how wonderful we are, it makes us feel good. We long for this good feeling like a drug—we are
But just as with any drug there is a price to pay. The price of the approval drug is freedom—the freedom to be ourselves. The truth is that we cannot control what other people think. People have their own agenda, and they come with their own
So how can we take back control? I think there’s only one way—make a(n)
Forests give us shade, quiet and one of the harder challenges in the fight against climate change. Even as we humans count on forests to soak up a good share of the carbon dioxide we produce, we
Thankfully, there is a way out of this trap—but it involves striking a subtle balance. Helping forests flourish as valuable “carbon sinks” long into the future
The state's proposed Forest Carbon Plan aims to double efforts
The need
California plans to treat 35,000 acres of forest a year by 2020, and 60,000 by 2030—financed from the proceeds of the state's emissions-permit auctions. That's only
State governments are well accustomed to managing forests,
5 . At the age of twelve years, the human body is at its most vigorous. It has yet to reach its full size and strength, and its owner his or her full intelligence; but at this age the likelihood of death is least. Earlier, we were infants and young children, and consequently more vulnerable (易受伤害的), later, we shall undergo a progressive loss of our vigor and resistance which, though unnoticeable at first, will finally become so steep that we can live no longer, however well we look after ourselves, and however well society, and our doctors, look after us.
This decline in vigor with the passing of time is called ageing. It is one of the most unpleasant discoveries which we all make that we must decline in this way, that if we escape wars, accidents and disease we shall eventually “die of old age”, and that this happens at a rate which differs little from person to person, so that there are heavy odds in favor of our dying between the ages of sixty-five and eighty. Some of us will die sooner, a few will live longer—on into a ninth or tenth decade. But the chances are against it, and there is a virtual limit on how long we can hope to remain alive, however lucky and robust we are.
Normal people tend to forget this process unless and until they are reminded of it. We are so familiar with the fact that ma ages, that people have for years assumed that the process of losing vigor with time, of becoming more likely to die the older we get, was something self-evident, like the cooling of a hot kettle or the wearing-out of a pair of shoes. They have also assumed that all animals, and probably other organisms such as trees, or even the universe itself, must in the nature of things “wear out”.
Most animals we commonly observe do in fact age as we do, if given the chance to live long enough; and mechanical systems like a wound watch, or the sun, do in fact run out of energy in accordance with the second law of thermodynamics (whether the whole universe does so is a moot point at present). But these are not analogous (类似的)to what happens when man ages. A run-down watch is still a watch and can be rewound. An old watch, by contrast, becomes so worn and unreliable that it eventually is not worth mending. But a watch could never repair itself —it does not consist of living parts, only of metal, which wears away by friction. We could, at one time, repair ourselves—well enough, at least, to overcome all but the most instantly fatal illnesses and accidents. Between twelve and eighty years we gradually lose this power, an illness which at twelve would knock us over, at eighty can knock us out, and into our grave. If we could stay as vigorous as we are at twelve, it would take about 700 years for half of us to die, and another 700 for the survivors to be reduced by half again.
1. Which of the following statements is INCORRECT?A.Our first twelve years represent the peak of human development. |
B.People usually are unhappy when reminded of ageing. |
C.Normally only a few of us can live to the eighties and nineties. |
D.People are usually less likely to die at twelve years old. |
A.remaining alive until 65 | B.remaining alive after 80 |
C.dying before 65 or after 80 | D.dying between 65 and 80 |
A.It is usually a phenomenon of dying at an old age. |
B.It is a fact that people cannot live any longer. |
C.It is a gradual loss of vigor and resistance. |
D.It is a phase when people are easily attacked by illness. |
A.Normally people are quite familiar with the ageing process. |
B.All animals and other organisms undergo the ageing process. |
C.The law of thermodynamics functions in the ageing process. |
D.Human’s ageing process is different from that of mechanisms. |
6 . Studies show that older people tend to remember the positive things in life rather than the negative things, while younger people remember the positive and negative equally well. The dominant psychological theory to explain this is that older people are aware of their limited time left, so they
When our
A.switch | B.energize | C.prioritize | D.undergo |
A.regular | B.evolutionary | C.solid | D.fundamental |
A.uses | B.squeezes | C.spreads | D.classifies |
A.bodies | B.generations | C.ancestors | D.seniors |
A.surpasses | B.meets | C.responds | D.requires |
A.at random | B.in principle | C.at times | D.in case |
A.rejected | B.neglected | C.expected | D.required |
A.objective | B.effective | C.emergent | D.negative |
A.vulnerable | B.efficient | C.defensive | D.strong |
A.service | B.basis | C.search | D.shift |
A.momentary | B.voluntary | C.energetic | D.intensive |
A.submit | B.activate | C.shift | D.accumulate |
A.In the meantime | B.On the contrary | C.In the end | D.As a result |
A.addicted to | B.free of | C.focused on | D.enthusiastic about |
A.emotional | B.crucial | C.unforgettable | D.depressing |
7 . If your in-box is currently reporting unread messages in the hundreds or thousands, you might have a hard time believing the news: e-mail is on the decline.
At first thought, that might seem to be the case. The incoming generation, after all, doesn’t do e-mail. Oh, they might have an account. They use it only as we would use a fax machine: as a means to communicate with old-school folks like their parents or to fulfill the sign-up requirements of Web sites. They rarely check it, though.
Today’s instant electronic memos — such as texting and Facebook and Twitter messages — are more direct, more concentrated, more efficient. They go without the salutation (称呼语) and the signoff (签收); we already know the “to” and “from.” Many corporations are moving to messaging networks for exactly that reason: more signal, less noise and less time. This trend is further evidence that store-and-forward systems such as e-mail and voicemail are outdated. Instead of my leaving you a lengthy message that you pick up later, I can now send you an easily-read message that you can read — and respond to — on the go.
The coming of the mobile era is responsible for the decline of e-mail. Instant written messages bring great convince to people. They can deal with them at about any time: before a movie, in a taxi, waiting for lunch. And because these messages are very brief, they’re suitable for smart phone typing.
Does this mean e-mail is on its way to the dustbin of digital history? Not necessarily. E-mail still has certain advantages. On the other hand, tweets and texts feel ephemeral — you read them, then they’re gone, into an endless string, e-mail still feels like something you have and that you can file, search and return to later. It’s easy to imagine that it will continue to feel more appropriate for formal communications: agreements, important news, longer explanations.
So, e-mail won’t go away completely. Remember, we’ve been through a transition (过度) like this not so long ago: when e-mail was on the rise, people said that postal mail was dead. That’s not how it works. Postal mail found its smaller market, and so will e-mail. New technology rarely replaces old one completely; it just adds new alternatives.
1. What would the incoming generation like to do with their e-mail accounts?A.Check bank accounts. | B.Send long messages. |
C.Fill in some forms. | D.Communicate with their colleagues. |
A.The possible reasons behind the decline of e-mail |
B.The likes and dislikes of the young generation |
C.The rapid development of e-communication channels |
D.Evidence about the uncertain future of easily-consumed messages |
A.Automatically-sending. | B.Randomly-written. |
C.Hardly- recognized. | D.Shortly-appearing. |
A.It’s too early to determine the decline of e-mail. |
B.E-mail has reasons to exist with its own advantages. |
C.E-mail, just like postal mail has come to its end. |
D.We should feel sorry for the decline of e-mail. |
8 . Also of interest...in family dramas
The Travelers
by Regina Porter (Hogarth, $27)
Though Regina Porter’s formally daring first novel “can feel too much like a jigsaw puzzle,” it achieves a “simply stunning” level of complexity, said Meng Jin in the San Fracisco Chronicle. As the first-time novelist tells the stories of two Georgia families — one black, one white — she weaves together events from 1946 to 2010 while deftly shifting between play-like dialogue, straight narrative, and various other modes. Not one character is a mere extra, and the impressive result “looks very much like life.”
Ask Again, Yes
by Mary Beth Keane (Scribner, $27)
Mary Beth Keane’s new novel is “one of the most unpretentiously profound books I’ve read in a long time,” said Maureen Corrigan in NPR.org. In 1973 New York City, two rookie cops forge a friendship that shapes the lives of the Irish-American families they raise side by side in a nearby suburb. Because each chapter is told from a new perspective, we come to know almost every member of those families, and Keane “beautifully dramatizes” how lives are built on a series of happenstances, including tragic ones.
Native Country of the Heart
by Cherrie Moraga (Farrar, Straus & Giroux, $26)
“This memoir’s beauty is in its fierce intimacy,” said Roy Hoffman in The News York Times. Playwright Cherrie Moraga makes her mother the heroine of the book, bringing the late immigrant’s story to life “with a poet’s verve.” Mexican-born Elvira Moraga, who picked cotton in California at 11, sold cigarettes in Tijuana at 14, and never learned to read, became the heart and soul of a large extended family. Here, she’s a character too resonant to be merely emblematic.
The Edge of Every Day
by Marin Sardy (Pantheon, $26)
Mental illness leaves no one in a family untouched, said Alison Van Houten in Outside. In a book whose nonlinear structure “mimics the erratic nature of schizophrenia,” essayist Marin Sardy bringing the describes how the disorder struck her mother and a brother, scrambling life for all the children. Her mother’s paranoid delusions disrupted their schooling; years later, Sardy’s brother, after refusing help, committed suicide. “How does one lead any semblance of a normal life under such circumstances?” Sardy shows us how.
Note:
1. resonant: 共振的,共鸣的 2. emblematic: 象征的,典型的
3. nonlinear: 非线性的 4.schizophrenia: 精神分裂症
1. Which book touches upon a personal family tragedy?A.The Travelers. | B.Ask Again, Yes. |
C.Native Country of the Heart. | D.The Edge of Every Day. |
A.The Travelers tells a straightforward story about two Georgia families. |
B.The thread running through Ask Again,Yes is Irish way of life. |
C.Native Country of the Heart was written in memory of Elvira Moraga. |
D.The Edge of Every Day describes one’s struggle against mental diseases. |
A.They were published by the same publishing house. |
B.They belong to the same type of literary works. |
C.The stories were’ll set in the last century. |
D.They represented the peak level of each writer. |
9 . Portraits as Art
According to a dictionary, portraiture is “a representation (描绘) of a person, especially of the face by drawing or painting a likeness.” However, this definition neglects the complexities of portraiture. Portraits are works of art that engage with ideas of identity rather than just a likeness. These concepts of identity involve social rank, gender, age, profession, character of the subject, etc. It is impossible to copy all the aspects of identity. Therefore, portraits reflect only certain qualities of subjects. Portrait art has also undergone significant shifts in artistic practice. The majority of portraits are the outcome of current artistic fashions and favored styles. Therefore, portrait art is an art category providing various engagement with social, psychological, and artistic practices and expectations.
Since portraits are different from other art categories, they are worthy of separate study. During their production, portraits require the presence of a specific person, or an image of the individual. In many instances, the production of portraiture has required sittings, which result in interaction between the subject(s) and the artist throughout the creation of the work. In certain instances, portrait artists depended on a combination of different involvement with their subjects. If the sitter can’t sit in the studio regularly, portraitists could use his or her photographs. In Europe, during the seventeenth and eighteenth century, the sitting time was sometimes decreased by focusing only on the head. Theoretically, portraitists could work from impressions or memories when creating a painting, but this rarely occurred according to documented records. Nonetheless, whether the work is based on model sittings, copying a photograph, or using memory, the process of painting a portrait is linked with the model’s attendance.
Furthermore, portrait painting can be distinguished from other artistic categories by its connection with appearance, or likeness. As such, the art of portrait painting got a reputation for imitation instead of for artistic innovation. Based on Renaissance art theory, portraiture was related to the level of a mechanical exercise as opposed to a fine art. Michelangelo’s well-known protest against portraits is only one example. During the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, the attitude to portraiture was critical. Even so, artists from around the globe persisted in painting portraits despite their theoretical objections. Picasso, for example, became widely-known for cubist still-life painting (立体派静物画) early in his career, but some of his early experiments in this new style were his portraits of art dealers.
1. What does paragraph 1 mainly tell us?A.The changing definition of portraiture reflects shifting attitudes to it. |
B.Most portraits reflect artistic fashions and favored styles when created. |
C.Portraiture is a more complex art form than is defined in a dictionary. |
D.Portrait art shouldn’t be seen as a distinct art category for its complexity. |
A.Portraiture typically takes much less time than other art forms. |
B.Portraiture often requires frequent cooperation between artists. |
C.Portraits show models in a more accurate way than other art forms. |
D.Portraits generally involve interaction between subjects and artists. |
A.based their work on the subjects’ attendance |
B.preferred models’ photographs to their presence |
C.were more willing to use impressions or memories |
D.reduced sitting time to concentrate on a sitter’s head |
A.altered the way other artists felt about portrait art |
B.created portraits in spite of his objection to portrait art |
C.depended on portrait art to establish a higher reputation |
D.had fewer theoretical objections to portraitures than others |
The lost art of listening
Do you think you’re a good listener? Chances are that you do. But studies show that most people seriously overestimate their ability to listen. The truth is we are generally not good at listening, and our listening comprehension declines as we age.
This was proven by Dr. Ralph Nichols, who conducted a simple experiment to test students’ listening skills. He had some Minnesota teachers stop what they were doing mid-class, and then asked students to describe what their teachers had been talking about. While older kids with more developed brains, are usually assumed to be better listeners, the results, however, showed otherwise: While 90 percent of first-and second-graders gave correct responses, this percentage dropped rapidly as the students got older.
One reason for our poor listening concerns the speed at which we think. The adult brain can process up to around 400 words per minute, more than three times faster than the speed an average person speaks. This means we can easily think about something else while someone is talking to us, allowing our mind to wander or get sidetracked. The younger students in Dr. Nichols’s experiment were better listeners partly because their brains were less developed — they lacked the extra brain power to be distracted.
Another factor that contributes to our poor listening is our ever-decreasing attention span. According to a Mircrosoft study, the age of smartphones has had a negative impact here. In 2000 — around the time the mobile revolution began — the average human attention span was 12 seconds; by 2013, it had fallen to 8 seconds. Even a goldfish — with an average attention span of 9 seconds — can hold a thought for longer!
More and more people now realize that listening is a skill that can be developed through practice. Learning to observe a speaker’s body language and emotions, for example, can improve our active listening. Even the simple act of note-taking or making eye contact can help us stay focused while listening.