1 . People Think Meals Taste Better If They Are Expensive

It is said that there’s no such thing as a free lunch, but even if you manage to bag a bargain meal, it will not taste as good as a more expensive meal, according to scientists.

A new study has found that restaurant     1     who pay more for their meals think the food is tastier than if it is offered for a smaller price. The experts think that people tend to associate cost with quality and this changes their     2     of how food tastes.

Scientists at Cornell University in New York studied the eating habits of 139 people enjoying an Italian buffet (自助餐) in a restaurant. The price of the food was set by the     3     at either $4 or $8 for the all-you-can-eat meal. Customers were asked to     4     how good the food tasted, the quality of the restaurant and to leave their names.

The experiment     5     that the people who paid $8 for the food enjoyed their meal 11 percent more than those who ate the “cheaper” buffet. Interestingly those that paid for the $4 buffet said they felt guiltier about loading up their plates and felt that they     6    . However, the scientists said that both groups ate around the same quantity of food in total, according to the study     7     at the Experimental Biology meeting this week.

Brian Wansink, a professor of     8     behaviour at the university, said: “We were fascinated to find that pricing has little impact on how much one eats, but a huge impact on how you     9     the experience.” He thinks that people enjoyed their food more as they associated cost with quality and that small changes to a restaurant can change how tasty people find their meals.

In a(n)     10     study, scientists from the university showed that people who eat in dim lighting consume 175 less calories (卡路里) than people who eat in brightly lit areas.

2 . The human body can tolerate only a small range of temperature, especially when the person is engaged in vigorous activity. Heat     1     usually occur when large amounts of water and/or salt are lost through oversweating following exhausting exercise. When the body becomes overheated and cannot     2     this overheatedness, heat exhaustion and heat stroke are possible.

Heat exhaustion is generally     3     by sweaty skin, tiredness, sickness, dizziness, plentiful sweating, and sometimes fainting, resulting from a(n)     4     intake of water and the loss of fluids.   First aid treatment for this condition includes having the victim lie down,     5     the feet 8 to 12 inches, applying cool, wet cloths to the skin, and giving the victim sips of salt water (1 teaspoon per glass, half a glass every 15 minutes) over a 1-hour period.

Heat stroke is much more serious; it is a(n)     6     life-threatening situation. The characteristics of heat stroke are a high body temperature (which may reach 106° F or more); a rapid pulse; hot, dry skin; and a blocked sweating     7    . Victims of this condition may be unconscious, and first-aid measures should be     8     at quickly cooling the body. The victim should be placed in a tub of cold water or     9     sponged with cool water until his or her temperature is sufficiently lowered. Fans or air conditioners will also help with the cooling     10    . Care should be taken, however, not to over-chill the victim once the temperature is below 102° F.

3 . Directions: Complete the following passage by using the words in the box. Each word can only be used once. Note that there is one word more than you need.

Don’t Blame Apple for Smartphone Addiction

Anxiety and depression have increased recently among young people, and researchers believe that heavy usage of wireless devices is a main reason.

To help fight against this     1    , a couple of large investors —Jana Partners and the California State Teachers’ Retirement System—have turned to shareholder activism .

Specifically, they’ve     2     Apple, demanding that the iPhone maker develop software giving parents more power to limit the amount of time their kids can be active on their phones. The two investors also want Apple to conduct a study of the     3     between smartphone usage and mental health issues.

The sentiment is right. The number of major depression     4     among adolescents rose nearly 30% from 2005 to 2014, according to a study in the journal Pediatrics.

Other studies have specifically linked the rise to use of social media. One, published in Computers in Human Behavior, found that users of     5    social media platforms were three times as likely to suffer from anxiety and depression as those with more       6    usage.

A better way to     7     the issue of smartphone addiction starts with parents. To some degree, this means individual parents setting limits individually on the screen time of their children, and using their     8     leverage (杠杆) as payers of smartphone bills to carry out those limits.

Apple and other device makers already make software that can be used to limit the times a child can be active. Parents can and should be     9       on the social media platforms that their kids are on, allowing them to     10     the total time they are on and the types of interactions they have.

Tech companies, for their part, can always be called on to be better corporate citizens. But criticizing Apple in particular is more about those doing the targeting than finding actual solutions.

4 . Directions:   Complete the following passage by using the words in the box. Each word can only be used once. Note that there is one word more than you need.

As infants, we can recognize our mothers within hours of birth. In fact, we can recognize the     1    of our mother’s face well before we can recognize her body shape. It’s     2    how the brain can carry out such a function at such a young age, especially since we don’t learn to walk and talk until we are over a year old. By the time we are adults, we have the ability to distinguish around 100,000 faces. How can we remember so many faces when many of us find it difficult to     3    such a simple thing as a phone number? The exact process is not yet fully understood, but research around the world has begun to define the specific areas of the brain and processes     4    for facial recognition.
Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology believe that they have succeeded in     5    a specific area of the brain called the fusiform face area (FFA), which is used only for facial recognition. This means that recognition of familiar objects such as our clothes or cars, is from     6    in the brain. Researchers also have found that the brain needs to see the whole face for recognition to take place. It had been     7    thought that we only needed to see certain facial features. Meanwhile, research at University College London has found that facial recognition is not a single process, but     8    involves three steps. The first step appears to be an analysis of the physical features of a person’s face, which is similar to how we scan the bar codes of our groceries. In the next step, the brain decides whether the face we are looking at is already known or unknown to us. And finally, the brain furnishes the information we have collected about the person whose face we are looking at. This complex     9    is done in a split second so that we can behave quickly when reacting to certain situations.

5 .
How would you like to wear the same underwear (内衣裤) for weeks? Owing to the work that has gone into developing intelligent materials, this may not be as     1     as it sounds. Self-cleaning clothes have now been created, and these new materials provide     2     resistance to dirt as well as water. As a result, they require much less cleaning than traditional materials.
The creation of self-cleaning clothes provides an example of how nature helps scientists develop better products. This self-cleaning nature is known as the “lotus effect”. The name comes, of course, from the lotus leaves, which are famous for growing in muddy lakes and rivers while remaining almost     3    
clean. By observing nature, scientists are     4     the qualities of the lotus leaves to the materials they have engineered. Because of this, some remarkable new products have been     5    . Among them are special windows that are resistant to dirt and water. A special     6     on these windows not only prevents dirt from sticking to their surfaces, but also allows dust to be easily washed off by the rain. In fact, these new windows have already been     7     to some cars. Even when traveling at high speed through rain, these cars never have to use their windshield wipers (雨刮器).
Although we have already seen some practical applications, even more dramatic     8     will be made in the future, and they will, perhaps, change our world completely. Undoubtedly, technology is an important development, and it will have an even bigger     9     on our lives.

6 . Section B
Directions: Complete the following passage by using the words in the box. Each word can only be used once. Note that there is one word more than you need.

A. account       B. adjustable   C. appliances   D. capture   E. decorations       F. direct G.     experiment   H. intended   I. operated   J. soulless   K.     squeeze

Golden Rules of Good Design
What makes good design? Over the years, designers and artists have been trying to     1    the essentials of good design. They have found that some sayings can help people understand the ideas of good design. There are four as follows.
Less is more. This saying is associated with the German-born architect Mies van der Rohe. In his Modernist view, beauty lies in simplicity and elegance, and the aim of the designer is to create solutions to problems through the most efficient means. Design should avoid unnecessary     2    
More is not a bore. The American-born architect Robert Venturi concluded that if simplicity is done badly, the result is     3    design. Post-Modernist designers began to     4    with decoration and color again. Product design was heavily influenced by this view and can be seen in kitchen     5    such as ovens and kettles.
Fitness for purpose. Successful product design takes into consideration a product’s function, purpose, shape, form, color, and so on. The most important result for the user is that the product does what is     6    . For example, think of a(n)     7    desk lamp. It needs to be constructed from materials that will stand the heat of the lamp and regular adjustments by the user. It also needs to be stable. Most importantly, it needs to     8    light where it is needed.
Form follows emotion. This phrase is associated with the German designer Hartmut Esslinger. He believes design must take into     9     the sensory side of our nature——sight, smell touch and taste. These are as important as rational. When choosing everyday products such as toothpaste, we appreciated a cool-looking device that allows us to easily     10    the toothpaste onto our brush.

7 .

A. accounted B. limited C. commercials D. popular E. overnight F. helped G. increased H. symbols I. though J. talented K. fashion

The next time you watch NBA playoff action on TV, take a close look at the shoes that many players are wearing. Gone, for the most part, are the ankle-hugging high-tops that supposedly     1    to protect players from injury.

The change over the last few years to low-top sneakers (运动鞋) seems to go against conventional wisdom. Strangely,     2    , Steven Nash and Kobe Bryant, two of the most     3    players with the Los Angeles Lakers, aren’t worried.

According to the US market-research firm NPD Group, high-tops once     4    for about 20 percent of the US basketball shoe market. Now, the number has sunk to about 8 percent. Low-tops, the kind that Nash and Bryant wear, have grown to 29 percent, from just 11 percent in 2002.

High-top sneakers are one of the most celebrated     5    in modern basketball. After the 1985 Air Jordans so transformed the market, shoe companies began battling one another. They put air pumps in the tongues of their shoes and made carefully prepared and organized     6    .

“All of a sudden it became a     7    business,” Marshal Cohen, an analyst with NPD group, told The Wall Street Journal. The Jordans were excellent. The market went from being nothing to a million-dollar business     8    .”

One of the reasons high-tops are not so     9    anymore is that they were never really very good at protecting the feet.

In an article in the British Journal of Sports Medicine in 2008, University of Newcastle researcher Craig Richards found no evidence that sneakers    10    injuries. His research actually found that high-top basketball sneakers could even cause players to run slower and jump lower. Now, the contest has become a war. Companies like Adidas, Nike, Converse and Reebok are all fighting to create the next “Air Jordan,” and with the next market battle.

8 . Directions:   Complete the following passage by using the words in the box. Each word can only be used once. Note that there is one word more than you need.

A. maintained     B. serious     C. indications     D. figures       E. anxious F. concern          G. crisis        H. decided        I. available     J. reversed

Filmgoers should be told how many calories there are in the popcorn, ice cream and soft drinks that they buy in cinemas, according to the Food Standard Agency.

   Smaller popcorn buckets and drink cups should also be made    1    , the nutrition inspector said.

   Tim Smith, chief executive of the agency, told The Times that cinemas should help to deal with the country’s overweight     2    .

   “There is a misbelief that popcorn is calorie-free, but that is not the case. It is a     3    to us,” he said. “Portion sizes are also a big issue, and there seems to be increasingly big packs on sale.”

   He spoke as a number of food chains such as Pret A Manger, Wimpey and The Real Greek     4    to put calorie counts on all their menus.

   A trial scheme（试行方案）with 21 food companies took place last summer, and     5    are that consumers altered their buying habits when they realised the number of calories in a product.

   A consultation(征询意见) on the trial ends next month but Mr Smith is already planning the second drive for American-style calorie counts and is     6    to win support from cinemas and other entertainment places, from football grounds to concert halls.

Government    7    suggest that two thirds of adults and a third of children are overweight. If trends are not     8    , this could rise to almost nine in ten adults and two thirds of children by 2050, putting them at     9    risk of heart disease, cancer and other diseases.

9 . Directions: Complete the following passage by using the words in the box. Each word can only be used once. Note that is one word more than you need.

A. recovery       B. images     C. instant   D. blame       E. shocking F. accuracy   G. concentrate   H. awarded        I. fined        J. estimate

Think you can walk, drive, take phone calls, email and listen to music at the same time? Well, New York’s new law says you can’t, and you’ll be     1     $100 if you do it on a New York City street.

The law went into force last year, following recent research and a (n)     2     number of accidents that involved people using electronic devices when crossing the street.

Who’s to     3    ? Scientists say that our multitasking (处理多重任务的) abilities are limited.

“We are under the impression that our brain can do more than it often can,” says Rene Marois, a scientist in Tennessee. “But a major limitation is the inability to     4     on two things at once.”

The young are often considered the great multitaskers. However, an Oxford University research suggests this idea is open to question. A group of 18-to 21-year-olds and a group of 35-to 39-year-olds were given 90 seconds to translate     5     into numbers, using a simple code. The younger group did 10 percent better when not interrupted. But when both groups were interrupted by a phone call or a (n)     6     message, the older group matched the younger group in speed and     7    .

It is difficult to measure the productivity lost by multitaskers. But it is probably a lot. It is estimated that the cost o interruptions to the American economy is nearly $650 billion a year.

The     8     is based on surveys with office workers. The surveys conclude that 28 percent of the workers’ time was spent on interruptions and     9     time before they returned to their main tasks.

10 . Complete the following passage by using the words in the box. Each word can only be used once. Note that there is one word more than you need.

If the package looks pretty, people will buy just about anything. So says an advertising executive in New York, and he has proved his point by selling boxes of rubbish for the price of an expensive bottle of wine.
Justin Gignac, 26, has sold almost 900     1    presented plastic boxes of rubbish from the street of Big Apple at between ＄50 and ＄100 each. Buyers from 19 countries have paid for the souvenirs(纪念品). The idea has been so successful that he is thinking of promoting it around the world.
It all began when Mr. Gignac was at a summer workshop, “We had a discussion about the importance of     2    ,” he recalls. “Someone said packaging was unimportant. I disagreed. The only way to prove it was by selling something nobody would ever want.”
He searches the streets of Manhattan and typical     3    include broken glass, subway tickets, Starbucks cups and used     4    forks. “Special editions” are offered at a high price. He charged ＄100 for rubbish from the opening day of the New York Yankees’ stadium.
Mr Gignac denies     5    his customers for fools: “They know what they’re getting. They appreciate the fact that they’re taking something nobody would want and finding beauty in it.”
Some     6    customers include people who used to live in the city and want a down-to-earth souvenir. He claims he has even sold to art collectors.
Realizing that the concept appears to be a real money-maker, Mr Gignac has     7    a company and is employing his girlfriend as vice president. He     8    to discuss his profit margins: “It’s actually quite a lot of effort putting them together—but yes, garbage is free.”
Mr Gignac is considering more varieties of souvenirs. He maintains that he has signed     9    with people interested in similar projects from as far as Berlin and London.