1 . Are extra curriculums really extra?
Former Harvard President Drew Faust recently wrote of students overlooking the benefit of following their interest in art or linguistics. The trend towards employable subjects like math and science is reflected in decisions of college students as well as primary and secondary schools.
Take music as an example. A study shows that musical training, particularly instrumental training, produces long lasting changes in motor abilities and brain structure. The earlier a child starts instrumental training, the stronger the connection between the right and left hemispheres (半球) of the brain. These changes thus affect the ability to listen and communicate as an adult. What is found in musicians is also common among world-class athletes and top-level managers. Is it a coincidence that Roger Federer, Elon Musk and Steve Jobs, all studied music for years as children?
How about physical education? New research also reveals children who get aerobic exercise transform their brains due to a protein that is increased during exercise.
Concentration, evolved communication skills, and being a good team player are just a few of the benefits research shows extra curriculums have on a developing mind. To me, that list reads as one I might put together for a model employee.
| A．The same is true for foreign language. |
| B．However, there are sound reasons for the concern. |
| C．Foreign language learning should be given top priority to. |
| D．Exercise matters deeply for cognitive development for kids. |
| E．There is no doubt that instrumental training should be on the to-do list. |
| F．Perhaps, but they all owe current success, in part, to the training in that aspect. |
2 . The 2021 Nobel Economics Prize has been awarded to Robert Wilson and Paul Milgrom for their work in analyzing auctions and how to make them more efficient.
At the heart of the work for which Milgrom and Wilson have been awarded is the winner's curse.
Wilson's work has shown that the fear of the winner's curse leads rational bidders to bid less than the own valuation.
Milgrom built on this to examine the case of auctions where there is not only a common value but also a private value that differs between bidders. In focusing again on the winner's curse, Milgrom determined that English-style auctions, where the price starts low and is bid upward, are better at avoiding the winner's curse than Dutch-style auctions---where the price starts high and is bid downward.This is because bidders gain more information about an item's value during an English-style auction,as other bidders drop out.
How have such insights help society? For one thing, Milgrom and Wilson developed the Simultaneous Multiple Round Auction'(SMRA). In these auctions, all biddable items are offered at the same time and bidders can bid on any portion of the items.The SMRA is useful,for example,if a company wants to bid for a license in one area only if it can also have the license in another area.
| A．If the auctions were held sequentially,the uncertainty about winning the second auction would depress bids in the first auction. |
| B．It arises from common value auctions where people bid for something whose value is unknown at the time but will be agreed upon later. |
| C．From determining the placement of every ad on a webpage to assigning the rights to fly to hub airports,auctions play a big role in contemporary society. |
| D．Greater uncertainty or the belief that some participants have more information than others will make bidders even more cautious. |
| E．He found that more details about the object's value,such as other bidders' valuations,tend to result in higher revenue. |
| F．This year's Nobel Economics Prize is a clear example of the practical effects on the interests of the public. |
3 . How are “global” students different from “glocal” students and how is their mobility likely to take shape in future?
To answer the above question, I am adapting and extending the results of a previous research study published by World Education Services. The research
“Global” students comprise Highfliers and Strugglers, who will not
On the other hand, the “global” segment will grow at a slower pace due to a shift in institutional
Of course, not all international students can be boxed into this framework. However, the intention is to provide a broad framework for institutions to
| A．featured | B．called | C．identified | D．discovered |
| A．separated | B．characterized | C．divided | D．joined |
| A．give up | B．give in | C．turn up | D．take up |
| A．rising | B．traditional | C．transnational | D．present |
| A．ability | B．objection | C．right | D．desire |
| A．open | B．opposed | C．indifferent | D．related |
| A．payments | B．markets | C．benefits | D．assignments |
| A．slower | B．faster | C．regular | D．reasonable |
| A．refusal | B．pay | C．priority | D．gift |
| A．originating | B．coming | C．resulting | D．ranging |
| A．mainly | B．negatively | C．dramatically | D．never |
| A．prevent | B．chase | C．preserve | D．recognize |
| A．To sum up | B．As a result | C．In addition | D．However |
| A．causing | B．getting | C．resulting | D．developing |
| A．make | B．adapt | C．create | D．abandon |
Luckin Coffee Stock Collapses After News of Fake Data
Shares of Luckin Coffee Inc. sank over 80 percent after the company said one of its top managers and other employees had faked sales figures. The fast-growing Chinese coffee chain has suspended its chief operating officer Liu Jian and staff reporting to him.The decision came
Luckin Coffee,which has been described as a challenger to Starbucks,was one of China's few successful U.S. stock market listing last year. Founded in 2017,it was listed on the NASDAQ last May.It had set up some 4,500 stores in more than 40 cities across China by the end of 2019. Most of these stores are small "pick-up"stations
The Xiamen-based company said its own investigation had found that its fabricated sales figures,
Luckin also said that it still needed to look into other costs and expenses that were considerably inflated during the same period. The company added that it is assessing the overall financial impact of the misconduct on its financial statements. At the same time, Luckin warned investors that they
The 89-page anonymous report was sent to the high-profile investment firm Muddy Waters Research,which published it on January 31.The report alleged that Luckin had fabricated financial and operating figures from the third quarter of last year. At the time,Luckin strongly denied the allegations, describing them as "misleading and false."
5 . You take it for granted that you are a unique person, different from everyboy else on Earth, and you understand that everybody else is also unique. Identical (完全一样的) twins are fascinating because they
Identical twins are
For scientists, the non-
Identical twins Jim Lewis and Jim Springer were only four weeks old when they were
The
As youngsters, each Jim had a dog named “Toy”.
One Jim had named his son James Allan and the other Jim had named his son James Alan
Both were fingernail biters and suffered from migraine headaches.
…
While not as mysteriously similar as the Jim twins, many more
It’s obvious from these twins’ stories that
| A．challenge | B．confirm | C．promote | D．capture |
| A．typical | B．rare | C．considerable | D．encouraging |
| A．get them across | B．take them around | C．tell them apart | D．see them off |
| A．existent | B．identical | C．principal | D．physical |
| A．together | B．normally | C．alone | D．happily |
| A．life | B．experience | C．appearance | D．identity |
| A．separated | B．isolated | C．united | D．recognized |
| A．hardly | B．truly | C．obviously | D．legally |
| A．opinions | B．resources | C．similarities | D．feelings |
| A．issue | B．opportunity | C．secret | D．coincidence |
| A．instincts | B．reasons | C．instances | D．lessons |
| A．characteristics | B．upbringings | C．objectives | D．attitudes |
| A．career | B．option | C．value | D．strategy |
| A．backgrounds | B．genes | C．families | D．surroundings |
| A．diagnose | B．acquire | C．change | D．foresee |
A “ Robert” in Your Pocket
The final bell rings at a high school in downtown Los Angeles, and nearly every student walking our of the school gate studies a screen, with head bowed. Over the past decade, such scenes have become the norm — at least in the United States. Research reveals that American millennial (千禧一代的人) look at their phones 150 times a day on average.
In the meantime, the number of American teenagers reporting feelings of depression has grown significantly. Some people blame the increase on the Great Economic Depression following 2008 and other social changes. However, a big new study suggests a different explanation — the rise of social media.
Jean Twenge, a psychology professor at San Diego State University, led the study. With data collected from more than 500,000 American teenagers, she found that those who spent lots of time on social media were more likely to agree with remarks such as "The future often seems hopeless. Those who used screen less, spending time playing sport or socializing with friends in person, were less likely to report feelings of depression.
This, in fact, is not the first time that scientists have found that social media can rob people of their happiness. One study published in 2016 asked a randomly selected group of adults to quit Facebook for a week. It turned out that they reported feeling less depressed at the end of the week than those who continued using it.
Some research, however, suggests that social-networking sites can promote happiness if used to engage directly with other users, rather than just to feel jealous of happy moments someone shares online. This provides a reminder that it is user's attitudes that shape their experiences on social media. "I often remind myself that it's all filtered," reflects Sarah, a junior at the high school in Los Angeles. "People only post what they want you to see, so it can seems that their life is better than yours." But when asked if she has ever considered deleting her social media accounts, Sarah looks confused. "No. I would feel lost."
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7 . The biggest house of cards, the longest tongue, and of course, the tallest man: these are among the thousands of records logged in the famous Guinness Book of Records. Created in 1955 after a debate concerning Europe's fastest game bird, what began as a marketing tool sold to pub landlords to promote Guinness, an Irish drink, became the bestselling copyright title of all time (a category that excludes books such as the Bible and the Koran). In time, the book would sell 120 million copies in over 100 countries— quite a leap from its humble beginnings.
In its early years, the book set its sights on satisfying man's inborn curiosity about the natural world around him. Its two principal fact finders, twins Norris and Ross McWhirter, moved wildly around the globe to collect facts. It was their task to find and document aspects of life that can be sensed or observed, things that can be quantified or measured. But not just any things. They were only interested in superlatives: the biggest and the best. It was during this period that some of the remarkable Guinness Records were documented, answering such questions as "What is the brightest star?" and "What is the biggest spider?"
Once aware of the public's thirst for such knowledge, the book's authors began to branch out to cover increasingly doubtful, little-known facts. They started documenting human achievements as well. A forerunner for reality television, the Guinness Book gave people a chance to become famous for accomplishing odd, often pointless tasks. Records were set in 1955 for consuming 24 raw eggs in 14 minutes and in 1981 for the fastest solving of a Rubik's Cube (which took a mere 38 seconds). In 1979 a man yodeled non-stop for ten and a quarter hours.
In its latest appearance, the book has found a new home on the internet. No longer restricted to the limits of physical paper, the Guinness World Records website contains seemingly innumerable facts concerning such topics as the most powerful combustion engine, or the world's longest train. What is striking, however, is that such facts are found sharing a page with the record of the heaviest train to be pulled with a beard. While there is no denying that each of these facts has its own, individual temptation, the latter represents a significant deviation from the education-oriented facts of earlier editions. Perhaps there is useful knowledge to be obtained regarding the tensile strength of a bread, but this seems to cater to an audience more interested in seeking entertainment than education.
Originating as a simple bar book, the Guinness Book of Records has evolved over decades to provide insight into the full range of modern life. And although one may be more likely now to learn about the widest human mouth than the highest number of casualties in a single battle of the Civil War, the Guinness World Records website offers a telling glimpse into the future of fact-finding and record-recording.
1. As used in paragraph 2, which is the best definition for empirical?| A．able to catch attention | B．derived from experience |
| C．recorded for nature | D．easy to gain |
| A．a departure from book sales a promotion tool to the local bars |
| B．an end to the use of facts as a means to promote Guinness |
| C．a shift in focus from educational to entertaining material |
| D．a move from fact-finding to the recording of achievements |
| A．Sympathetic | B．idiotic |
| C．invaluable | D．shallow |
| A．The encyclopedia of the extremes reflects the changing interests of modern society. |
| B．A book of simple origins makes it to the top as sales total a staggering 120 million copies. |
| C．The Guinness World Records website proves itself a valuable resource for insight into the full spectrum of modern life. |
| D．Where other books fall short, the index of superlative sciences never ceases to amaze. |
| A. diverse B. dominance C. cracks D. core E. schedule F. application G. landmark H. promote I. alternative J. echoes K. connectivity |
China's BeiDou System Prepared for Serving Whole World
China launched the last satellite of the BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS) on June 23, marking the completion of the country's homegrown orbital navigation network in a(n)
The BeiDou network, a major infrastructure domestically constructed and operated, can better meet the demands of China's national security, economic as well as social development. It can also provide more stable and reliable services, as well as a(n)
Given the national security concerns due to GPS's
After 26 years of difficult work, the BDS has now earned a global reputation for its high-accuracy service and various service capabilities. According to the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs, the services provided by BeiDou are already helping to
Indeed, the BDS-based solutions have already been successfully adopted in
Thousands of years ago, the Chinese invented the compass, which had made long-range voyages on rough and vast seas possible, helping to give directions in the Age of Discovery.
Today, the BDS network is prepared to promote an even stronger global
How to Sell Books in 2020: Put Them Near the Toilet Paper
If you want to sell books during a pandemic, it turns out that one of the best places to do it is within easy reach of eggs, milk and diapers.
When the coronavirus forced the United States into lockdown this spring, stores like Walmart and Target, which
Warehouse stores do not generally reveal how much they sell of particular products, but people across the publishing industry say that sales
Some grocery chains and pharmacies saw an increase, too, even
Stores like Target,
“Covid-19 and the government stimulus check have increased the demand
The question for publishers is
Is Student-loan Forgiveness Unforgivable?
Roughly 45 million Americans currently hold $1.6 trillion in student debt, with the average student-loan receiver owing between $20,000 and $25,000, according to the Federal Reserve. Among those actively making payments on their debt, the average monthly installment is between $200 and $300. And with 5.3 million more people unemployed than in February, right before the U.S. fell into the economic depression caused by pandemic (流行病), some people say that student-debt forgiveness could be beneficial to the economy.
“Student-debt cancellation feels like one of the most accessible executive actions to stimulate the economy at the moment,” says Suzanne Kahn, director of the Education. Kahn says the move would also help close the wealth gap between white Americans and people of color. Some 90% of Black students and 72% of Latino students take out loans for college versus just 66% of white students, according to an analysis from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
But others argue that sweeping student-loan forgiveness doesn’t help the people who need aid most. Americans with college degrees, as a whole, have been less influenced by the economic effects of COVID-19 than their non-college-educated counterparts. Besides, they raise concerns that if the government wipes out current student loans, future college students may have a motivator to take on debts, hoping they will also be forgiven. Colleges may in turn tend to raise their prices further.
What’s clear, according to the both sides of the aisle (过道), is that economic crises worsen the problem of student debt. The last time the U.S. dipped into a recession, state governments cut their investments in colleges and universities—which, in turn, raised their tuition prices and forced students to take on ever larger loans.
In recent weeks, the government has walked a fine line on the issue, offering support for a bill calling for $10,000 worth of student-loan forgiveness but turning down anything close to a plan to issue $50,000 per borrower through executive action.
That’s not sustainable in the long run. It remains to be seen if the government can arrive at a political solution that is.
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