1 . It was a warm evening in August in 1995. Robert Blocker was driving to Yale University after being appointed as the university’s Dean (院长) of Music. He didn’t expect to see many people, but a couple of students met him and showed him around.
“When I looked at the history of the university and how people are devoted to the school’s art programs, I was honored by the chance to work there. I could not wait for the next day to start my job. And that excitement never changed because every day was different. My job as dean was not scheduled. I walked around the campus and students talked to me. I went to rehearsals (排演) by the students and teachers and got inspired by them,” he adds.
After nearly three decades as the Dean of Music at Yale, the 77-year-old retired from the position on Aug 31. Also an expert pianist, he remains a professor of piano at the music school, as well as professor of leadership strategies at Yale School of Management. Among his countless contributions as dean, Blocker developed long-term relationships with fellow musicians in China. He once toured cities, including Shenzhen, Shanghai and Hangzhou, giving lectures to the youngsters.
“China is a very special place for me. I am very happy to be back after the pandemic (疫情) to meet my friends and colleagues,” Blocker says, adding that he is particularly excited about being with young students.
Yang Suxian, director of the Shenzhen Piano Music Festival, says, “He has been very supportive and has participated in the Shenzhen Piano Music Festival for years, even during the pandemic.”
Blocker’s vision of a more hopeful world is reflected in his belief that music bridges the understanding between people.
“Music brings hope. People may speak different languages and have different ideas but music speaks to each other’s heart, and that’s why we keep this work going on and why the work never ends,” he says, “Our job is to let music heal the world by allowing us to understand and find a common place in our hearts.”
1. How did Robert Blocker feel after being appointed as the university’s Dean?| A．Anxious. | B．Thrilled. | C．Terrified. | D．Challenged. |
| A．Teaching leadership skills. | B．Reviving art programs of the school. |
| C．Giving concerts when touring cities in China. | D．Organizing rehearsals for students and teachers. |
| A．To advertise the festival in Shenzhen. | B．To stress Robert’s preference for music. |
| C．To review the hardships during the pandemic. | D．To show Robert’s care about Chinese musicians. |
| A．Spreading music to the whole world. |
| B．Translating music into a common language. |
| C．Helping people to reach an agreement on music. |
| D．Guiding people to know themselves better through music. |
2 . The idea that the standard human body temperature is about 98.6℉ (37℃) was first presented by the German physician Carl Reinhold August Wunderlich in 1851. Since then, it’s become so widely accepted that it serves as a touchstone for health—a diagnostic tool used by physicians and parents as a basic indicator if someone is sick or well.
However, it turns out that this well-established fact isn’t, in fact, correct—or, to put it more accurately, human beings have been getting cooler over the years.
Recent studies have shown that temperature records of groups of people have tended to run low compared to the accepted norm (标准), so the Stanford team, led by Julie Parsonnet, MD, professor of medicine and of health research and policy, decided to do a more in-depth study to compare modern measurements with historical records to try to identify body temperature trends and, perhaps, uncover the reason why this cooling is happening.
For their research, the Stanford team looked at three distinct datasets (数据集) from three historical periods. One was military service records, medical records, and pension records from Union Army veterans of the American Civil War that were compiled from 1862 to 1930. The second was from the US National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey Ⅰ collected between 1971 and 1975, and the third from adult patients visiting Stanford Health Care from 2007 to 2017.
In all, the team went through 677,423 temperature measurements, making sure that temperatures recorded were accurate rather than the result of poorly designed thermometers (温度计). They did this by looking at the change in temperature inside each group over time to ensure that the curves (曲线) showing a decrease were consistent between the datasets.
At the end of the day, the team found that men born in the 21st century had an average body temperature of 0.59℃ lower than those born in the early 19th century, while modern women showed an average decrease of 0.32℃ compared to those born in the 1890s. Together, this means that human body temperatures have fallen by 0.03℃ per decade.
1. What is Wunderlich’s achievement?| A．He was the inventor of the thermometer. |
| B．He set up a standard for normal body temperature. |
| C．He discovered humans’ body temperature trends. |
| D．He put forward the theory of normal human body temperature. |
| A．By having interviews. | B．By conducting field research. |
| C．By analyzing historical records. | D．By doing experiments in the lab. |
| A．The quality of thermometers. | B．The backgrounds of the subjects. |
| C．The sorting of the collected datasets. | D．The number of adult patients involved. |
| A．Modern women’s body temperatures have risen over the past century. |
| B．The 19th century saw the greatest increase in men’s body temperatures. |
| C．The 21st century saw the greatest decrease in men’s body temperatures. |
| D．Men’s body temperatures have fallen faster than women’s over the years. |
