1 . Most people will learn one or two languages in their lives, but Vaughn Smith speaks 24 languages, a hyperpolyglot— a rare individual who speaks more than 10 languages. However, scientists have largely ignored what’s going on inside the brains of polyglots—people who speak more than five languages— says Evelina Fedorenko, a cognitive (认知的) neuroscientist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She adds,“ That’s partly because they account for only 1% of people globally, making it difficult to find enough participants for research.” In a new study led by Fedorenko, researchers looked inside the minds of polyglots like Smith to reveal how language-specific regions in their brains respond to hearing different languages. “This study will contribute to our understanding of how our brain learns languages,” she says.

To gain insights into how polyglots process five or more languages, Fedorenko’s team scanned the brains of 25 polyglots. They used a brain imaging technique called functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), which measures blood flow in the brain, to map out these language networks. Inside the fMRI machine, the polyglots listened to a series of 16-second-long recordings in one of eight different languages. The eight languages included each participant’s native language, three others they learned later in life, and four unfamiliar languages. Two of the unfamiliar languages were closely related to the participant’s native language—for instance, Spanish for a native Italian speaker. The other two unfamiliar languages came from unrelated language families.

The researchers found that when participants heard any of the eight languages, blood always rushed to the same brain regions. In other words, the participants’ brains appeared to use the same basic network as monolinguals (单语言者) to try to understand the sounds, regardless of which language they heard. Moreover, the activity in the brain’s language networks changed based on how well participants understood a language. The more familiar the language, the larger the response. Brain activity particularly was invigorated when participants heard unfamiliar languages that were closely related to ones they knew well. This might have happened as brain areas worked overtime to puzzle out the meanings based on similarities between the languages.

There was one exception to the rule: When participants heard their native tongue, their language networks were actually quieter than when they heard other familiar languages. This trend held even when participants were fluent in their other familiar languages. That could be so because expertise reduces the amount of brain power needed for a task, the researchers note.

While this study casts light on multilinguists’ brain activity, there are still unanswered questions. Notably, future research hopes to study people who learned multiple languages from infancy (婴儿期). Nevertheless, “this study could one day lead to better tools to help people relearn languages more easily after a stroke or brain damage.” Fedorenko says.

1. What is the main purpose of the first paragraph?

A．To present a latest brain theory.	B．To stress the significance of the study.
C．To explain the research method.	D．To provide the definitions of two terms.

2. What can we learn from the passage?

A．The brain processes native languages with much effort.

B．Blood flow in the brain is unrelated to language familiarity.

C．The brain uses the same areas to process multiple languages.

D．Effective treatments for language disorders have been discovered.

3. What does the word “invigorated” underlined in Paragraph 3 most probably mean?

A．Evaluated.

B．Activated.

C．Affected.

D．Reduced.

4. Which would be the best title for the passage?

A．Impact of Language Familiarity on Brain

B．Challenges in Studying Language Geniuses

C．Secrets of Language Processing in Polyglots

D．Edge of fMRI in Revealing Language Processing

2 . Sam was waiting for a taxi at the hospital. He had booked it on the phone after his medical treatment. He’d been suffering from kidney (肾) failure since last year. During this time, he was on the transplant list, but no_________ appeared.

Bill was driving to visit a friend when his phone rang with the request for Sam’s ride home. The trip was out of Bill’s way. _________, he took the order, figuring if the passenger was coming from a hospital, he likely needed a ride.

When Sam got into the car, Bill could see he was _________ but in good spirits. As the two set out, they began chatting.

“Sam really _________ the car with positive energy,” said Bill, who talked a lot with Sam. He learnt Sam had enjoyed volunteering in the community, but he was doing less because of the treatments. Then Sam revealed he was searching for a kidney donor. Bill _________ he’d be a good donor candidate because he didn’t drink or smoke. Sam agreed, though he didn’t think much of it. Bill, however, couldn’t stop thinking about it.

Bill believed in _________ others, so donating a kidney was something always on his mind. Plus, he already liked and respected Sam. When approaching the destination, Bill repeated, “I’d see if I could be a match to give you a kidney.”

“I was shocked,” Sam recalled. He was shaking so hard that he could barely write his name when they _________ contact information. Once inside his home, he excitedly told his wife, “The taxi driver offered his kidney to me!”

After the initial excitement, Sam started feeling less _________, wondering if it had just been an emotional moment. Would he hear from him?

But Bill was _________ to his word. He contacted the hospital soon. After a long process, the results came: They were a perfect match. Then they had their surgery, which was a(n) __________. Today, Sam is doing well. And the two men still keep in touch.

Miraculously, a chance encounter turned out to be a life-saving ride.

1.

A．taxis

B．matches

C．orders

D．patients

2.

A．Still

B．Instead

C．Moreover

D．Therefore

3.

A．angry

B．afraid

C．weak

D．forgetful

4.

A．lit up

B．piled into

C．fixed up

D．slowed down

5.

A．heard

B．recalled

C．joked

D．complained

6.

A．treating

B．helping

C．accepting

D．encouraging

7.

A．discussed

B．repeated

C．compared

D．exchanged

8.

A．curious

B．doubtful

C．hesitant

D．optimistic

9.

A．true

B．close

C．related

D．blind

10.

A．waste

B．honor

C．mistake

D．success

3 . Our travels are not limited to physical time. We also experience mental time travel. We visit the past through our memories and then journey into the future by imagining what tomorrow or next year might bring. When we do so, we think of ourselves as we are now, remember who we once were and envision how we will be.

A recent study explores how one particular brain region helps to knit together memories of the present and future selves. When people sustain an injury to this area, it leads to a damaged sense of identity. The region, called vmPFC, may produce a fundamental model of the person and place it in mental time. When the region does so, it may be the source of our sense of self. It’s also found that memories that reference the self are easier to recall. They benefit from what researchers have called a self-reference effect.

In the study, the researchers used the self-reference effect to assess memories of present and future selves among people who had brain lesions (损伤) to the vmPFC. The scientists worked with people with vmPFC lesions, then compared them with a control group made up of people with injuries to other parts of the brain and healthy individuals. They were asked to list adjectives to describe themselves and a celebrity, both in the present and future. Later, they had to recall these same traits. It was discovered that people in the control group could recall more adjectives linked to themselves than adjectives linked to the celebrity. However, the participants with vmPFC lesions had little or no ability to recall references to the self, regardless of the context of time. Their identification of adjectives for celebrities was also comparatively weak.

These findings are intriguing, for the study helps us understand how self-related memories depend on the function of the vmPFC. But what about our past selves? Previous studies asked people to consider their past selves, but there was no evidence of the self-reference effect. Our past selves seem foreign to us, as if they were individuals apart from us.

One idea that scientists have put forward to understand this distinction is that perhaps we are not very kind in our judgments of our past selves. Instead we may be rather critical of our previous behavior, emotions and personal traits. We may use our past primarily to construct a more positive self-image in the present. Put another way, because we may recognize flaws (瑕疵) in our past self’s behavior, we tend to distance ourselves from the person we once were.

Therefore, bringing the present and future into the spotlight is central to understanding the way our brain and thoughts shape our current selves. And with the research, we have a better idea about the way a small region within our brain is able to build and hold the core ability to maintain our identity.

1. From the passage, we can learn that ________.

A．people with vmPFC lesions have a broken sense of identity

B．vmPFC-injured people recall celebrities better than others do

C．the self-reference effect plays a vital role in considering past self

D．people tend to accept past self after realizing their previous faults

2. As for the findings of the recent study on vmPFC, the author is ________.

A．critical

B．doubtful

C．approving

D．unconcerned

3. Which of the following would be the best title for the passage?

A．Testing Our Memories	B．Creating Our Sense of Self
C．The Power of Self-Reference Effect	D．The Importance of Mental Time Travel

4 . 用方框中单词的适当形式完成下列句子，每个单词只能用一次。

annoy,       warn,       drama,       intelligent,       emotion

1. In recent years, you may have read news about artificial ____________ creating its own art, such us painting.
2. Pets are often the ones who provide ____________ support for the family.
3. The cigarette package carries a health ____________ on it—“Smoking is harmful to health”.
4. The US short story writer O. Henry in renowned for his absorbing plots and ____________ endings.
5. He got very ____________ with me about my carelessness.

5 . 阅读下面的短文，根据题目要求用英文回答问题。

Hogan was one of the greatest golfers of the 20th century, an accomplishment he achieved through tireless practice. For him, every practice session had a purpose. He spent years breaking down each phase of the golf swing and testing new methods for each part. The result was near perfection. Hogan finished his career with nine major championships. During his prime, other golfers attributed his remarkable success to “Hogan’s secret”. Today, experts have a new term for his style of improvement: deliberate practice.

Deliberate practice refers to a special type of practice that is purposeful and systematic. While regular practice might include mindless repetitions, deliberate practice requires focused attention and is conducted with the specific goal of improving performance. When Hogan carefully reconstructed each step of his golf swing, he was engaging in deliberate practice. He was finely tuning his technique.

The greatest challenge of deliberate practice is to remain focused. In the beginning, showing up and putting in your repeated practice is the most important thing. But after a while we begin to carelessly overlook small errors and miss daily opportunities for improvement. This is because the natural tendency of the human brain is to transform repeated behaviors into automatic habits. The more we repeat a task, the more mindless it becomes. Mindless activity is the enemy of deliberate practice. The danger of practicing the same thing again and again is that progress becomes assumed. Too often, we assume we are getting better simply because we are gaining experience. In reality, we are merely reinforcing our current habits—not improving them.

Deliberate practice always follows the same pattern: break the overall process down into parts, identify your weaknesses, test new strategies for each section, and then integrate your learning into the overall process.

Deliberate practice does not mean that you can fashion yourself into anything with enough work and effort, though. While human beings do possess a remarkable ability to develop their skills, genes put limits on how far any individual can go. But genetics do not determine performance. It is deliberate practice that can help us maximize our potential. It turns potential into reality.

1. What is deliberate practice according to the passage?
____________________________________________
2. What is the danger of mindless repetition?
____________________________________________
3. Please decide which part is false in the following statement, then underline it and explain why.
 According to the passage, we possess a remarkable ability to develop our skills, so we can achieve any success through deliberate practice.
____________________________________________
4. How will you use deliberate practice to develop one of your skills? (In about 40 words)
____________________________________________

6 . The Lighthouse Book Project is an intensive, two-year program. It is aimed at giving writers of book-length manuscripts (文稿) the classes, advice, and moral support they need to draft, revise, and — most importantly — finish. Whether you’re working on a novel, short story collection, or narrative nonfiction, our program guides will work closely with you to chart a path through your project. And at the end of two years, you’ll have a manuscript you can be proud of and a support team ready to help you take the next steps.

Benefits
● Individualized guidance: You’ll meet your guide on a regular basis to check your progress, review drafts of your work, and set goals for the future, keeping you accountable and on track throughout the program.
● Intensives: Three times a year, the Book Project participants gather for a weekend of classes led by special guest authors and our publishing expert, group meetings, participant readings, great meals and plenty of social time.
● Manuscript feedback: You’ll receive detailed feedback on your manuscript from your guide and then a second thorough examination of your complete manuscript from a second reader, chosen from our list of Lighthouse teachers and many other famous writers.
Applications and Tuition
● Applications: Applications are available starting April 1, and the deadline to apply is June 22 every year. Each guide accepts six applicants, for a total of 36 participating writers.
● Components of applications: a writing sample up to 30 pages, a project outline, two to three recommendation letters from your current or former writing instructors, and a short personal statement.
● Tuition: $8,580 per year, or $715 per month. Partial tuition assistance is available through our Book Project Fellowship.

Since 2019, we’ve seen deals signed for thirteen books from our Book Project participants. They’ve had nonfiction, short story collections, novels, and middle-grade works signed by the best publishers. Will you be next?

1. The Lighthouse Book Project promises that participants will ________.

A．get their books published eventually

B．meet their guides whenever necessary

C．finish writing their works within 2 years

D．receive feedback only from famous writers

2. To be a participant of the Lighthouse Book Project, you need to ________.

A．apply before April 1	B．pay $715 for one year
C．state your personal information	D．prepare your novel up to 36 pages

3. What is the main purpose of the passage?

A．To assess new writers.	B．To promote a program.
C．To compare different projects.	D．To introduce the best publisher.

7 . 阅读下列短文，根据短文内容填空。在未给提示词的空白处仅填写1个恰当的单词，在给出提示词的空白处用括号内所给词的正确形式填空。

Technology has improved my life in ways that still surprise and delight me. My TV     1     (remember) how far I got in yesterday’s show, even if I don’t! I can watch my pizza’s entire journey     2     the restaurant to my house! These are miracles. But there have been sacrifices, I have turned over memory and independence to the machines. Over the past 20 years, I     3     (become) anxious about problems that didn’t use to exist, and indecisive over choices I never used to make.

8 . 阅读下列短文，根据短文内容填空。在未给提示词的空白处仅填写1个恰当的单词，在给出提示词的空白处用括号内所给词的正确形式填空。

While my fellow conference attendees were     1     (happy) discussing the dinner menu, I was trying to stop a panic attack. This wasn’t the first time this had happened. During group discussions, my brain stopped     2     (function) and panic took over. For years I didn’t know     3     I felt like this. But now I know the reason: I have a nerve disorder. Recognizing this aspect of my identity brings me new worries and hope.

9 . 阅读下列短文，根据短文内容填空。在未给提示词的空白处仅填写1个恰当的单词，在给出提示词的空白处用括号内所给词的正确形式填空。

The exhibition—“Blossoms of Dunhuang”     1     (hold) at the National Art Museum of China last month. It reflected upon the 60-year-long career of a famous Chinese artist Chang Shana. Her passion for Dunhuang was inspired by her father     2     was also a famous artist. Chang Shana has devoted     3     (she) to preserving the art of Dunhuang.     4     (ensure) that the thousand-year-old art lives on, she’s now working with an online platform to promote the sale of her works.

10 . If you are asked to describe your relationship with your phone, what would you say?     1     For those of us who use digital technology with regularity, we will unavoidably think we have overdone it.

But are we really addicted to our screens? For the vast majority of users, the answer is no because there’s no formal set of criteria for digital addiction.     2     This test was given to around 800 people, using criteria previously adopted in many other studies. The team found that 69% of the participants could be diagnosed with an addiction to spending time with their friends.

    3     Instead, the team was showing how easy it is to create what appears to be a data-driven measure of an addictive behavior, which actually is a normal part of everyday life. The idea of being addicted to offline friendships is ridiculous, but that is what is happening in the digital technology research literature. We are stuck with researchers combining people’s enjoyment of an activity with the idea that it has the potential to become addictive.     4    

It is true that we can develop bad relationships with the technology we use, but an emerging line of research says we need to view our relationships with digital technology in terms of habits, not in terms of problematic use.     5     Whether they have positive or negative effects on our well-being depends not just on the type of habit, but on the context in which it occurs, how frequently it occurs and what other factors might be contributing to it. Thinking about our technology use in terms of habit offers us a much wider range of options. Rather than getting rid of technology altogether, we can seek our digital experience that promote positive effects while minimizing negative impacts.

A．Many of us are likely to develop bad habits.

B．Habits, like checking our phones, are neutral.

C．For many, the word “addicted” would spring to mind.

D．This leads ultimately to the belief that the activity is naturally bad.

E．Obviously, the aim wasn’t to fuel a new moral panic about socializing.

F．A recent study has revealed evidence that shows positive effects of digital use.

G．Back in 2020, a team used standard techniques to do an offline-friend addiction questionnaire.