1. How many presidents are there before Lincoln?
| A．15. | B．16. | C．17. |
| A．Rich. | B．Poor. | C．Large. |
| A．Lincoln was elected to the president of the U.S. |
| B．Some southern states wanted to break off. |
| C．Some slaves began to fight for their rights. |
| A．He was one of the greatest lawyers in the U.S. |
| B．He gave one of the most famous speeches. |
| C．He managed to keep his country together. |
| A．$ 13.50. | B．$1.50. | C．$12.30. |
3 . Some of the most successful people have done their best work in coffee shops. Pablo Picasso, JK Rowling, Jean-Paul Sartre, and Bob Dylan ---whether they’re painters, writers, philosophers, or singer-songwriters, people across nations and centuries have tapped into their creativity working away at a table in a café.
There are many ways coffee shops stimulate our creativity in a way offices and homes don’t. Research shows that the stimuli in these places make them effective environments for work; the combination of noise, visual variety and casualness can give us just the right amount of distraction to help us be at our sharpest and most creative.
Some of us put on our noise-cancelling headphones as soon as we sit down to work in a public setting. But background noise can benefit our creative thinking. A 2012 study published in the Journal of Consumer Research showed that a low-to-moderate level of background noise in a place like a cafeteria can actually increase our creative output. Another study from 2019 had similar findings: the right amount of noise benefits our senses. And while that right level of noise is different for everyone, audio (听觉的) stimuli in the background also help us improve decision-making. So, the jazz music, light conversation and noises from coffee bar workers aren’t vexatious —they could help you come up with your next masterwork.
Also, one thing that can make working from home and the office dull is the unexciting visual environment. “Visual stimulation has an effect on peoples creative thinking process. Coffee shops generally have visual stimuli,” says Sunkee Lee, whose research suggests that visual variety “helps you to think outside the box”. Korydon Smith, who co-wrote a recent article on the benefits of working in coffee shops, says, “People come and go. The daylight changes. The colours of food vary. These activities inspire our brains to work a bit differently than at home”.
And while the typical coffee shop user might be a lone worker, experts say these café settings can also benefit work groups who are brainstorming. “There is an implied formality when gathering on office-based or digital meeting platforms. By contrast, there is an air of informality when meeting up at a bar or café. Agendas are not required to meet someone for coffee, but are inbuilt in a scheduled meeting, virtual or otherwise, which can kill creativity,” says Smith.
1. What does the author intend to do in paragraph 2?| A．Add some background knowledge. | B．Summarize the following paragraphs. |
| C．Support the first paragraph with examples. | D．Introduce a controversial topic for discussion. |
| A．Unexpected. | B．Permanent. | C．Annoying. | D．Original. |
| A．Visual variety there encourages creativity. |
| B．Audio stimuli there help with decision-making. |
| C．A lo ne worker can meet like-minded people there. |
| D．Bar workers there always make people feel at home. |
| A．Its air of excitement. | B．Its implied formality. |
| C．Its casual atmosphere. | D．Its nice food and drink. |
4 . Writer Andrew Leland started losing his sight 20 years ago, when he was in high school, as a result of a progressive eye disease called retinitis pigmentosa (色素性视网膜炎). His first experience of loss of sight happened temporarily at night, in which he was confused that everyone else seemed to see in the dark so much better than he did. Over the years, his disease has progressed gradually. He’s now legally blind, although he still has a narrow field of vision, which allows him to see about 6% of what a fully sighted person sees.
Leland analogized his vision to the view you might get by looking through a toilet paper tube or a keyhole. He said, “Imagine having that toilet paper tube tied to your head and trying to walk down the street; there’s a whole bunch of things you don’t see but that you really ought to, like dogs.”
In his new book, The Country of the Blind, Leland writes about losing his vision and preparing for blindness, how his condition impacts his identity, how the world sees him and his marriage, and something valuable he has learned.
He said he was not going to try to tell people that having vision was not an unbelievably useful thing for a human being for many reasons. When talking about the experience of being alive and being conscious, he referred to James Joyce — Joyce believed that he was only losing one world among many, and that vision was only a tiny part of experiences when he was going blind.
He thought if you looked at the things that blind people were capable of imagining, like John Milton writing Paradise Lost as a blind person, there was this unbelievable richness in humans’ consciousness that vision had nothing to do with. Other realms (领域) such as the mental and emotional realms were all so rich that they could also help unfold things on earth before you.
1. What do we know about Leland?| A．He went totally blind in high school. |
| B．He experienced night blindness at first. |
| C．He was born with a narrow field of vision. |
| D．He was aware of his condition throughout. |
| A．Connected. | B．Reduced. | C．Compared. | D．Exposed. |
| A．To help explain an opinion. |
| B．To stress the value of good vision. |
| C．To state his considerable influence. |
| D．To show the inconvenience of blindness. |
| A．Practice is the best teacher. |
| B．The blind have more vivid imagination. |
| C．Things are not set in concrete. |
| D．Vision is not the only window in the world. |
5 . Draper was the owner of a secondhand bookstore. One day, when he was sorting through a pile of old books, an envelope
Tears were welling up in Draper’s eyes. These were a
He supposed if the book ended up in his shop then Bethany was likely from around Bishop Auckland. And he thought he would
He started with the local newspaper. The Northern Echo ran the story of the
Meanwhile, Bethany Gash, now 21 and a(n)
Bethany was only 4 when her mother
She remembered unpacking and looking for the letter, and then
Draper
| A．came | B．escaped | C．fell | D．heard |
| A．destroying | B．reading | C．writing | D．forgetting |
| A．cool | B．determined | C．dying | D．smart |
| A．introduce | B．find | C．comfort | D．phone |
| A．appreciate | B．prefer | C．recognize | D．imagine |
| A．unhappy | B．wet | C．broken | D．lost |
| A．editor | B．mother | C．assistant | D．daughter |
| A．magazine | B．ticket | C．article | D．homework |
| A．terms | B．tenses | C．languages | D．words |
| A．dreaming | B．sleeping | C．playing | D．joking |
| A．died out | B．got back | C．calmed down | D．passed away |
| A．donated | B．burned | C．robbed | D．dirtied |
| A．suddenly | B．madly | C．regularly | D．secretly |
| A．composed | B．kept | C．published | D．delivered |
| A．honesty | B．expectation | C．intelligence | D．kindness |
6 . A couple in Ohio accidentally dropped off a bag containing almost $ 100,000 at an Ohio charity shop. Thanks to
The employees were going through
Not wanting to
The couple has since made contact with the original
| A．honest | B．generous | C．brave | D．clever |
| A．goods | B．donations | C．food | D．money |
| A．suitcase | B．box | C．bag | D．wallet |
| A．put | B．counted | C．hid | D．cleared |
| A．asked for | B．asked about | C．gave up | D．gave out |
| A．cards | B．fruits | C．bills | D．clothes |
| A．surprisedly | B．hesitatingly | C．eventually | D．immediately |
| A．concern | B．information | C．reply | D．letter |
| A．save | B．leave | C．waste | D．spend |
| A．After | B．During | C．Before | D．In |
| A．found | B．missing | C．stolen | D．earned |
| A．stopped | B．sighed | C．quarreled | D．wandered |
| A．what | B．who | C．where | D．how |
| A．looked for | B．got rid of | C．got through to | D．dropped in on |
| A．police | B．officers | C．customers | D．employees |
7 . How to release your art potential? Traditionally, people may bury themselves in learning painting skills at a studio and begin from drawing lines. However, Maggie Wiebe, a 21-year-old girl from Stamps School of Art& Design at the University of Michigan, has her own method.
Wiebe and her school friend Jessie Rice are trying to do something that shows their love for art and also benefits the environment. For the past year or so, they have tended a garden at their campus farm, planting a variety of colorful flowers, as well as flax (亚麻) to make linen (亚麻布) and paper to be used in art.
Inspired by a group of old ladies in Canada who plant sustainable art materials and post their videos on social platform YouTube, Wiebe learned about how to plant, harvest and separate fibers. She planted different fruits and vegetables traditionally used to dye (给……染色) fabrics (织物) . She then put their peels (外皮) into boiled water and added hot pressurized air to make a dye. For her, it’s a demanding but enjoyable process.
Wiebe and Rice plan to eventually buy some land in Detroit to grow these sustainable art materials — a dye, fiber and pigment (颜料) garden —— “a bigger version of what we’re already doing”, Wiebe told Minnesota News. “We’d set it up like an organization where artists can volunteer a few hours a week and then use all of the plants that we grow.”
Wiebe also likes fiber-based art, such as quilting, weaving and sewing. She has applied those techniques to her recent works, displayed as part of the annual Senior Exhibition at her school. During her sophomore (高中或大学二年级) year, Wiebe joined the Michigan Daily as an illustrator, learning to conceptualize and complete complex illustrations on tight deadlines. Wiebe’s works received a lot of help from others. “Because the art school doesn’t have departments, we have studio coordinators who take care of each studio,” she said. “I see them every day, and they’ve helped me a lot.”
1. What can we learn about Wiebe from the first two paragraphs?| A．She failed to realize her potential. | B．She longed to be a gardener. |
| C．She was fond of growing plants. | D．She had an environmentally friendly mind. |
| A．To get fibers eventually. | B．To peel fabrics skillfully |
| C．To grow plants traditionally. | D．To dye fabrics individually. |
| A．To review Wiebe’s achievements. | B．To present Wiebe’s contribution. |
| C．To display Wiebe’s future prospect. | D．To promote an application of Wiebe’s idea. |
| A．Practice makes perfect. | B．Creativity is productivity. |
| C．Unity is strength. | D．Curiosity is motivation. |
8 . Although computer technology is often necessary today, using a pen or pencil activates more areas of your brain than a keyboard does You can potentially remember more by handwriting. according to a new study.
The potential benefits of handwriting for memory have been debated for some time. The new study set out to answer one question: How does handwriting compare to using a keyboard when it comes to remembering new information?
In total 24 participants took part. Researchers asked each of them to write with a pen and then each was also asked to type on a keyboard, While performing these tasks, each volunteer wore a cap that held electrodes (电极) next to their head. It looked somewhat like a hair net fitted with 256 sensors, Those sensors recorded the participants’ brainwaves. The electrodes noted which parts of the brain turned on during each task. And they showed that writing turned on memory areas in the brain while typing didn’t.
Audrey van der Meer, the new study’s leader, says this suggests that when we write by hand, we remember better. “This is because writing involves complex movements that activate more areas of the brain. The increased brain activity gives the brain more ‘hooks’ to hang your memories on. ” she explains. Van der Meer also points out that writing by hand is related to visual notetaking. “Rather than typing blindly. the visual notetaker has to think about what is important to write down, Then. key words can be interlinked by boxes, arrows and small drawings,” she adds.
This study does not recommend banning digital devices. In fact, its authors point out. computers and other devices with keyboards have become indispensable in modern society. Keyboarding can especially benefit those with certain special needs (such as if they have trouble using their hands) and typing beats writing when it comes to speed. they add.
1. Why did researchers ask participants to wear caps in the study?| A．To prevent them from being hart. |
| B．To record their brainwaves. |
| C．To find out their hair’s difference. |
| D．To test the new products. |
| A．It detects your memories for further recalling. |
| B．It reminds you to have regular reviews. |
| C．It helps us remember more details. |
| D．It eases your tension of memorizing things. |
| A．Necessary. | B．Amazing. | C．Precious. | D．Relaxing. |
| A．How Can We Grasp New Knowledge? |
| B．Handwriting Helps Us Keep Healthy |
| C．Handwriting Is Better for Memory Than Typing |
| D．Should All the People in the Office Give Up Handwriting? |
9 . Climate change, not human hunting, may have destroyed the thylacine(袋狼) , according to a new study based on DNA from thylacine bones.
The meat-eating marsupials (有袋动物) died out on mainland Australia a few thousand years ago, but survived in Tasmania, an island of southeast Australia separated from the mainland, until the 1930s. Until now, scientists have believed the cause of this mainland extinction was increased activity from native Australians and dingoes (Australian wild dogs).
Scientists behind the University of Adelaide study, which was published in the Journal of Biogeography on Thursday, collected 51 new thylacine DNA samples from fossil bones and museum skins. The paper concluded that climate change starting about 4,000 years ago was likely the main cause of the mainland extinction.
The ancient DNA showed that the mainland extinction of thylacines was rapid, and not the result of loss of genetic diversity. There was also evidence of a population crash in thylacines in Tasmania at the same period of time, reducing their numbers and genetic diversity.
Professor Jeremy Austin said Tasmania would have been protected from mainland Australia’s warmer, drier climate due to its higher rainfall. He argued that climate change was “the only thing that could have caused, or at least started, an extinction on the mainland and caused a population crash in Tasmania.”
“They both occurred at about the same time, and the other two things that have been talked about in the past that may have driven thylacines to extinction on the mainland were dingoes and humans. So the only explanation that’s left is climate change. And because that population collapse happened at the same time that the species went extinct on the mainland, our argument is there’s a common theme there and the only common theme is that there is this change in climate.”
1. What did scientists believe in the past according to the passage?| A．Marsupials were all meat-eating animals. |
| B．Dingoes should be removed from Australia. |
| C．Thylacines had no enemies on mainland Australia. |
| D．Human activities may cause the extinction of thylacines. |
| A．Tasmania has more dingoes. |
| B．Tasmania has more native activities. |
| C．Tasmania has a higher temperature. |
| D．Tasmania has more rainy days. |
| A．change | B．aging | C．decline | D．increase |
| A．The result of warmer climate in Australia |
| B．The ways of protecting meat-eating animals |
| C．The cause of disappearance of thylacines |
| D．The effect of climate change on wildlife |
10 . One Dollar a Night in New York
When it comes to finding a place to stay for a night in New York, things don’t always come cheap. However, artist Miao Jiaxin, a Shanghai native who moved to New York in 2006, is offering people the chance to stay in his apartment in Brooklyn.
Guests can easily book Miao’s room on the Internet. Nevertheless, although they will be housed in his apartment, it appears to have more in common with a jail cell than a regular bedroom as a cage in the center of the room is where guests will stay.
Meanwhile, the cage is monitored and recorded by two cameras and the activity of guest s is filmed for the whole time they stay in the cell.
The room is inspired by the alienation (疏离感) Miao felt as a new immigrant — feelings he believes are universal. “It’s not for fun. It’s for an experience.
| A．It’s too expensive for common people to afford. |
| B．It’s only one dollar a night. |
| C．Actually, Miao’s room is so popular that you have to book three months in advance. |
| D．Miao says that to live in his jail cell, people don’t have to be a criminal, but there are several rules. |
| E．More like a psychological New York City experience. |
| F．If you break any of those rules above, you will be fined 100 dollars. |
| G．Despite the strict rules, guests are given a key to let themselves in and out as they please. |
