Going on a vacation might seem like a rather unconventional way to try to improve your sleep habits,
In fact, interest
The global pandemic appears
But can short term sleep-focused travel experiences actually have a long term impact on a person’s overall sleep? According to Dr. Robbins,
“The concept of travel actually allowing you to return home
Chen Sifang, a 23-year-old student from Beijing Normal University, gives movie
The class is part of a nonprofit project
Chen recalls that it took the volunteer lecturers six hours
After consulting with her fellow volunteers, Chen selected 30 movies
3 . As an epic (史诗) which brings back to life some of the most famous poets from the Tang Dynasty (618-907) , on July 2, the animated movie Chang’an held its first release in what was once called Chang’an, now known as Xi’an.
Produced by Light Chaser Animation, a Beijing-based animated studio known for its focus on tales inspired by traditional culture and mythology (神话), the film is scheduled for a nationwide release on Saturday.
With a total time of 168 minutes — the longest of any Chinese animated movie to date — Chang’an mainly chronicles the decades-long friendship of Li Bai, arguably the country’s most beloved poet, and Gao Shi, his close friend and a well-known poet.
In an interview, Zou Jing, the director of the movie, discussed the challenges faced in bringing their story to the screen. The biggest challenge we faced was deciding how to present the impressive prosperity (繁荣) of the Tang Dynasty. Before production began, our team studied historical materials, read as much as possible about Tang Dynasty culture and the poets’ lives. We invited experts from different fields to guide us to make sure the content was correct and reliable, and we also learned thoroughly about the poems in this film.
Zou Jing added that in this film, animation gave us a strong expressive means to present Chinese poetry culture in a more impressive way so that the audience could better understand the poetic mood and artistic concepts of the poets.
Chang’An is set up as the first in a series of New Culture films that Light Chaser plans to produce. Speaking with Global Times, Zou Jing explained, ”The New Culture series will be based on actual historical figures in China. This is the key of the series.”
As of Saturday, the movie had gained over 27 million yuan ($3.7 million), topping the country’s presale box office.
1. What do we know about Chang’an from the passage?A.It was the longest movie so far. |
B.It was a movie about mythology. |
C.It held its nationwide release on July 2. |
D.It involved some famous poets from the Tang Dynasty |
A.Guides. | B.Records. | C.Creates. | D.Educates. |
A.Displaying the splendid Tang Dynasty. |
B.Understanding the culture of the Tang Dynasty. |
C.Telling the whole story in limited time. |
D.Ensuring the movie’s credible. |
A.To explain the success of a movie. | B.To promote a new animated movie. |
C.To introduce Chinese poetry culture. | D.To discuss the challenges of making a film. |
4 . It was long theorized that people make decisions based on integrated global calculations that occur within the frontal cortex(额叶皮层) of the brain, which is considered the seat of higher-order thinking. However, Yale researchers have found that three distinct brain circuits from the frontal cortex connecting to different brain regions are involved in making good decisions, bad ones, and determining which of those past choices to store in memory.
The study of decision-making in rats may help scientists find the roots of flawed decision-making common to mental health disorders such as addiction, the authors say. They used-a new tool to manipulate(操纵) brain circuits in rats while they were making choices between actions that led to them receiving rewards or no rewards. If the rats made the right decision, one that ended in a reward, one of the brain circuits was activated, but another was activated if the rats made the wrong choice and received no reward. The third circuit stored past experiences and decisions to help the rats with future choices.
Stephanie Groman, lead author of the research says, “A comparison would be deciding on a restaurant for dinner. For instance, without the ‘good choice’ circuit you may not return to the restaurant with good food and without the ‘bad choice’ circuit you might not avoid the restaurant with bad food. The third ‘memory’ circuit is crucial in making decisions such as whether to return to the restaurant after receiving one bad meal after several good ones.”
Changes in these circuits may help explain a typical feature of addiction—why people continue to make harmful choices even after repeated negative experiences. The Yale researchers previously showed that some of the same brain calculations were disrupted(扰乱)in animals that had taken methamphetamine. “Because we used a test that is similar to those used in studies of human decision making, our findings have direct relevance to humans and could aid in the search for novel treatments for substance abuse in humans,” Groman said.
1. How was Yale’s research different from the previous theory?A.It defined the function of different brain regions. |
B.It identified specific circuits involved in decision-making. |
C.It focused on the connection between choices and memories. |
D.It highlighted the role of the frontal cortex in higher-order thinking. |
A.Memories are related to all the three circuits. |
B.People base their decisions on personal preferences. |
C.The three circuits are all of vital importance in making decisions. |
D.The circuit related to rewards is the foundation of deciding wisely. |
A.The limitations of the present study. | B.A description of the research method. |
C.A possible reason for the study findings. | D.The potential application of the conclusion. |
A.How people get addicted and cured |
B.How making decisions influences our brain |
C.How our brain develops when facing choices |
D.How the brain helps us make good decisions and bad ones |
5 . Even now, I have vivid memories of my last day of high school. In my mind’s eye, I’m cleaning out my locker, and then staring at the emptiness for a few extra beats before slamming it shut for the last time. I’m wandering in the halls with my best friend, blissfully ignoring the bells going off every 50 minutes on schedule because, just today, we’re allowed to break the rules. I’m sitting on my desk, swinging my feet, and chatting with my English teacher, Mr. Carr, in a way that makes me feel almost grown up.
It was maybe my favorite day of the whole year. Like the final layer of watercolor, the freedom and lightness I feel seeps (渗透) into the rest of my memories of that day and turns them just a shade rosier.
If the school year hasn’t yet ended for you, consider what you can do to make the ending count. Why? Because when it comes to human memory, not all moments are created equal. Instead, our remembered experiences are disproportionately(不成比例地) influenced by peaks(the best moments as well as the worst) and endings(the last moments). Nobel Prizewinner Danny Kahneman, who discovered this phenomenon, called this the peak-end rule. It suggests that our judgment of a past experience is largely based on its most extreme point and its endpoint.
I took advantage of the peak-end rule years ago, when my girls were young enough to want a bedtime story each night. I remember thinking that whatever trouble and stress had occurred that day, I could make the last moments count. I could end on a note of calm and act like the patient mom I hadn’t quite managed to be just hours before.
Don’t mistake all moments as equal in significance. There’s a reason why yoga classes end with savasana (挺卧式). There’s a reason we eat dessert last. Do organize endings carefully. As Pete Carroll might say: Finish strong. Last impressions are especially lasting.
1. What does the underlined word in paragraph 1 mean?A.Happily. | B.Surprisingly. | C.Guiltily. | D.Curiously. |
A.The last moments matter the most in our memories |
B.Peaks in life can be remembered better than endings. |
C.The peaks and ends of experiences are easier to remember. |
D.Our judgment of the past is determined by first impressions. |
A.Why the author read stories to her kids. |
B.What challenges the author faced in life. |
C.How the author applied the rule to daily life. |
D.When the author accompanied her daughters. |
A.To show the importance of every moment. |
B.To encourage readers to enjoy the endings. |
C.To explain why last impressions are lasting. |
D.To prove the peak-end rule can be used in sports. |
8 . “Woman reading book, under a night sky, dreamy atmosphere,” I type into Deep Dream Generator’s Text 2 Dream feature. In less than a minute, an image is returned to me showing what I’ve described.
Welcome to the world of AI image generation, where you can create what on the surface looks like top-rank artwork using just a few text prompts (提示). But closer examination shows oddities. The face of the woman in my image has very odd features, and appears to be holding multiple books. And, while there’s an initial thrill at seeing an image appear, there’s no creative satisfaction.
AI image generation could influence everything from film to graphic novels and more. Children’s illustrators were quick to raise concerns about the technology. They say AI-generated art is the exact opposite of what art is believed to be. Fundamentally, art is all about translating something that you feel internally into something that exists externally. Whatever form it takes, true art is about the creative process much more than it’s about the final piece. And simply pressing a button to generate an image is not a creative process.
Beyond creativity, there are deeper issues. To create images from prompts, AI generators rely on databases of already existing art and text. This could lead to the creation of images that are intentionally meant to imitate the style of other artists, without their agreement. There is an argument that AI generators work no differently to humans when it comes to being influenced by others’ work. However, a human artist is also adding emotion and nuance (细微差别) into the mix. AI doesn’t do the same — it can only copy.
The increasing use of AI will also lead to a devaluing (贬低) of the work of artists. There’s already a negative prejudice towards the creative industry. People will begin to think that their “work” is as excellent as that created by someone who has spent a career making art. It’s nonsense, of course. You can use your mobile phone to take a nice picture of your daughter, but you are no match for professionals.
1. What does the writer think of his image creation?A.Exciting. | B.Appealing |
C.Unsatisfying. | D.Shocking. |
A.The creating process. | B.The final work. |
C.Personal feelings. | D.External forms. |
A.The styles of human artworks and AI ones. |
B.Human artists’ influence on AI generators. |
C.Different means used in human and AI art creation. |
D.The drawbacks of drawing from existing art and text. |
A.Art is the mirror of life. | B.Rome is not built in a day. |
C.No man can do two things at once. | D.Don’t judge a book by its cover. |