A panda-themed coffee shop at the Beijing Zoo
Beijing is home to more than 3,000 years of charming history. As a keen photographer, I take every opportunity
4 . The Paul O’Sullivans
Paul O’Sullivan felt bored around his Baltimore apartment one evening. So, like a lot of people with nothing better to do, he logged on to Facebook to find out just how many others on the social network
Many of his fellow Paul O’Sullivans ignored him, but a few felt too curious to
Starting a band
The Paul O’Sullivan Band released its first original song, “Namesake,” in March 2016. It’s a cheerful track about long-distance relationships—not romantic ones, but
“The other Pauls are gentle, dear, caring people,” says Pennsylvania Paul. “They are a(n)
| A．mentioned | B．knew | C．shared | D．stole |
| A．took | B．broke | C．changed | D．filled |
| A．accept | B．refuse | C．send | D．read |
| A．common | B．positive | C．abnormal | D．awkward |
| A．ridiculous | B．necessary | C．strange | D．funny |
| A．over | B．above | C．across | D．among |
| A．friendships | B．personalities | C．hobbies | D．skills |
| A．resource | B．effect | C．fountain | D．example |
| A．impolite | B．random | C．serious | D．official |
| A．planned | B．required | C．told | D．meant |
A new study asks the question: Do conversations end when people want them to? The answer is no.
The study included two parts.
The first part was an online survey that asked 806 people whether there was a moment recently they had wanted to end a conversation with a close friend and to estimate when that moment was in relation to when the talk reached its conclusion. The second part involved 252 people paired up with strangers in a lab to chat about whatever they felt like for anywhere between one and 45 minutes.
67 percent of the respondents in the first part of the study said they wanted the conversation to end before it actually did, and most had secretly wished the chat had been either 50 percent longer or 50 percent shorter than it was.
“Whatever you think the other person wants, you may well be wrong,” says Adam Mastroianni, a psychology researcher at Harvard University and the study’s lead author. “So you might as well leave when it seems appropriate, because it’s better to be left wanting more than less.”
In the second part of the study, nearly 70 percent of the people reported wanting the conversation to be over before it ended. Just two percent of the conversations wrapped up at a time both people were happy with, and 30 percent of them ended when one of the parties wanted.
The researchers also asked study participants to guess when their conversational partners had wanted to stop talking. Those guesses were wrong, either over or underestimating the other person’s desire to continue the talk, by about 64 percent of the conversation’s actual length.
Taken together, the results suggest that we aren’t very skilled at estimating each others’ desires about when to end a conversation.
Thalia Wheatley, a social psychologist at Dartmouth College says the findings are important, adding that conversations are “an elegant expression of joint cooperation”. However, she says, “It all falls apart at the end because we just can’t figure out when to stop.”
Mastroianni says his takeaway is that trying to guess what someone you’re chatting with wants is almost pointless. “You really have no idea when the other person wants to go. So maybe, stop trying and just relax and enjoy the conversation.”
1. Where were the two parts of the study carried out?2. In what way were the participants’ guesses wrong in the second part of the study?
3. Please decide which part is false in the following statement, then underline it and explain why.
It’s easy to find a proper time to end a conversation with a close friend.
4. If you desire to end a conversation, would you tell the other person directly? Why or why not? （In about 40 words）
6 . Usually when someone is disgusted by something, he feels it is unpleasant and stays away from it, so disgust mostly protects people from getting sick. However, getting a little dirty can have its advantages. Studies show that kids under age one who physically interact with a dog will have a 13% reduction in the likelihood of developing asthma, a breathing problem.
In the late 1860s, Charles Darwin proposed that being disgusted could have a developmental purpose.
The research shows that Darwin was basically right: disgust is a major part of the behavioral immune system that protects people from disease, a collection of actions influenced by some of the most natural reactions that keep our bodies in superior condition. We already know that not all germs (病菌) are bad for us.
“Disgust is associated with fewer infections, so it is a helpful emotion in disease-relevant contexts,” says Joshua Ackerman, an associate professor of psychology at the University of Michigan. However, he says it can be a double-edged sword.
| A．They work with our body to maintain a balance. |
| B．They were quite certain that being disgusted could benefit people. |
| C．Nobody is quite sure whether disgust is a positive or negative thing. |
| D．For many years afterward, though, scientists didn’t pay much attention to disgust. |
| E．What he means is that it’s also associated with dislike for unfamiliar things, like food. |
| F．Disgust became advanced to prevent our ancestors from eating spoiled food that might kill them. |
| G．Researchers across fields continue to explore disgust so we can better understand our world and ourselves. |
7 . My name is Stella Young. I grew up in a very small country town in Victoria. I had a very normal, low-key kind of upbringing. I went to school; I hung out with my friends; I fought with my younger sisters. It was all very normal. And when I was 15, a member of my local community approached my parents and wanted to submit my name for a community achievement award. My parents said, “Hmm, that’s really nice, but there’s kind of one obvious problem with that. She hasn’t actually achieved anything.” And they were right. You know I went to school, I got good marks, and I had a very low-key after-school job in my mum’s hairdressing salon.
Years later, I was on my second teaching round in a Melbourne high school, and I was about 20 minutes into a year-11 Legal Studies class when a boy put up his hand and said, “Hey Miss, when are you going to start your speech?”
And I said, “What speech?”
And he said, “You know, like, your motivational speaking. You know, when people in wheelchairs come to school, they usually say, like, inspirational stuff. It’s usually in the big hall.”
And that was the moment I realized that this kid had only ever experienced disabled people as objects of inspiration.
For lots of us, disabled people are not our teachers or our doctors. We’re not real people. We are there to inspire. Yeah, we’ve been sold the lie that disability is a bad thing, and to live with a disability makes you exceptional.
It’s not a bad thing, and it doesn’t make you exceptional. And in the past few years, we’ve been able to spread this lie even further through social media.
Life as a disabled person is actually somewhat difficult. We do overcome some things. But they have nothing to do with our bodies. I use the term “disabled people” purposely, because I subscribe to what’s called the social model of disability. This model tells us that we are more disabled by the society that we live in than by our bodies and our diagnoses（诊断）.
I want to live in a world where we don’t have such low expectations of disabled people that we are congratulated for getting out of bed and remembering our own names in the morning. I want to live in a world where we value disabled people’s real achievement. And I want to live in a world where a year-11 kid in a Melbourne high school is not one bit surprised that his new teacher is a wheelchair user.
1. What can we learn from Stella Young in the first paragraph?| A．She couldn’t get along well with her friends and sisters. |
| B．She played a key role at her mum’s hairdressing salon. |
| C．She received an award for a great achievement. |
| D．She lived an ordinary life in a country town. |
| A．The boy didn’t have much life experience. |
| B．People have fixed ideas about the disabled. |
| C．The disabled can’t find decent jobs because they are incapable. |
| D．Stella Young felt uncomfortable because of the boy’s impoliteness. |
| A．social media offends the public by spreading lies about the disabled |
| B．the disabled are less likely to be successful in their careers |
| C．society’s attitude makes disabled people’s life difficult |
| D．people’s expectations of the disabled are too high |
| A．On the journey to becoming exceptional | B．The secret behind my disability |
| C．Show sympathy to the disabled | D．I’m not your inspiration |
8 . Music is a powerful thing. It awakens feelings and has the power to bring people together. But today, artists are not known for their music, but for how flashy their clothing is and how many times their wealthy relatives can get them out of jail(监狱). And thus, their music is lost.
Pop and rap music has developed into a shallow, image-addicted industry that lines up with what the public wants to hear and see, removing the focus on the actual music. Mainstream music is no longer composed of emotion, but instead, themes of money and fame. Photos and rumors fly while the music is ignored.
Not all musical groups or individual artists begin like this. Many of these artists are original and talented, but turn to the money side. Often their songs are written by experts who know what is appealing to a certain age group, and the musicians’ faces can be seen on countless magazine covers. Soon their supposedly new and improved songs can be heard blasting out of car windows. But these songs are totally empty, lacking creativity and the original thirst of the artist to make an impact or convey(传递) a message.
MTV is not helping. It plays only what the public wants to hear. And unfortunately, the majority seems interested in either sickly sweet, generic pop or stereotypical(刻板的), bleeped-out rap. Kids and teens everywhere are swimming in these songs, which are often degrading to women and minorities, and inappropriate.
Almost all the girls in my dorm are addicted to the same songs. This was the case the previous year, and the year before that. Whenever I try to play music I enjoy, or introduce them to some decent songs, they say that everyone except me likes their music.
Why do most teenagers only listen to pop and rap music when so many other types exist? Maybe it’s because everywhere we look, we are bombarded with the same music: on the radio, on TV, on the computer. At school, pop and rap are discussed all the time. Perhaps they have never listened to anything else. Or maybe peer pressure is part of it.
There is no solution to the “pop problem”. It’s called popular for a reason—many people enjoy it. There’s no easy way to change their views. My suggestion is not to buy music like this when you can explore something new. Expand your horizons. Dig up your parents’ old records and CDs. You never know what you might find.
1. The author probably prefers ______.| A．new pop songs meant for girls | B．original songs with deep meaning |
| C．catchy songs produced by popular singers | D．never-heard-before songs just recently discovered |
| A．Many artists trade creativity for wealth and fame. |
| B．The public is responsible for the existence of music. |
| C．MTV promotes the songs favored by women and minorities. |
| D．Musicians singing about money is an ineffective way to attract fans. |
| A．Try to respect your peers’ music tastes. |
| B．Deal with the “pop problem” patiently. |
| C．Expose yourself to various music styles. |
| D．Treasure the music from previous generations. |
GRANDPARENTS WILL LOVE THESE GADGETS Grandparents deserve the finer things in life. Now it’s time to reward your loved ones with some great gifts. To help family shoppers out, we’ve put together a list of gadgets that won’t break the bank. These gifts for grandparents make everything more enjoyable. Money can’t buy happiness, but sometimes it can help promote your connection. |
001 // FOR GRANDPARENTS WHO LOVE TO READ
All-new Kindle Paperwhite is a worthwhile upgrade for grandparents who like reading e-books. This version features a larger 6.8-inch display and adjustable warm light. Grandparents will have no trouble operating it. The new one provides 32GB—plenty of space for favorite book titles. Price: 32GB—$190（an additional $20 for the ad-free version） |
002 // FOR GRANDPARENTS WHO ARE FAR AWAY
Being apart from children and grandchildren is difficult, but Filimin Friendship Lamps can ensure grandparents are never out of mind even if they’re out of sight. Each family member connects the Friendship Lamp to Wi-Fi. It takes little effort to set up and use. Keep one, give the other to grandparents, and whenever you touch your lamp, theirs will light up too. You can customize these lamps with over 200 color options. Price: $105（10% discount if you buy on Filimin’s website） |
003 // FOR GRANDPARENTS WHO ENJOY CONVENIENCE
Nothing beats a warm cup of coffee on a freezing winter morning, and the Ember Temperature Control Smart Mug keeps drinks at the perfect temperature no matter how long it takes grandma or grandpa to enjoy their coffee or tea. It hardly requires any complex steps to use. The temperature can be controlled via smartphone app. Purchase it in our physical stores today. Price: $99.95（$180 for two） |
004 // FOR GRANDPARENTS WHO LOSE THINGS
Nothing is more frustrating than being ready to go somewhere important and being unable to find the car keys. Esky makes lost keys a thing of the past. Four receivers can be attached to grandparents’ most treasured items. By just pressing the color-coded button on the transmitter, grandparents can be led to lost items by a beeping sound. You can order it on Amazon. Price: $24.99（$20 in May） |
| A．The Ember Mug can keep drinks warm for a limited time. |
| B．It is impossible to skip advertisements while using Kindle Paperwhite. |
| C．Users know their family are thinking of them when the Friendship Lamp is on. |
| D．Clicking a button on the Esky receiver enables users to find things they’ve lost. |
| A．Online availability. | B．Easy operation. |
| C．Special discount. | D．Smartphone control. |
| A．Family members wanting to buy gifts for their elders. |
| B．Sales people studying grandparents’ preferences. |
| C．Companies selling products to elderly people. |
| D．Grandparents favoring advanced technology. |
Once upon a time, lighthouses, built to help guide ships away from dangerous rocks and reefs,
