1 . A good meal has a positive impact on one’s mood. Those who feast on Christmas buffet almost enjoy an immediate rise in their blood sugar. That will prompt a flood of chemicals that act as happy hormones to rush through their brains.
But the pleasure goes deeper. Tyrosine and tryptophan are needed for the production, respectively, of dopamine, a neurotransmitter (神经传递素) that controls feelings of pleasure and reward, and serotonin, another such, which helps regulate mood. And cranberries are high in vitamin C, which is involved in converting dopamine to noradrenaline, another neurotransmitter, and a lack of which seems to be associated with depression.
With mental-health disorders rising, a growing number of scientists are investigating how food or nutritional supplements affect the mind. But separating the brain’s nutritional needs from those of the rest of the body is difficult. Not possible for now, at least. And, compared with other fields, nutritional science is understudied. That is partly because it is hard to do well. Randomised controlled trials (rcts), used to test drugs, are tricky. Few people want to stick to an experimental diet for years. Instead, most nutritional science is based on observational studies that try to establish associations between particular foods or nutrients and diseases. They cannot be used to definitively prove a causal ( 因 果 关 系 的 ) connection between a disease and a particular contributing factor in a diet. But as with smoking and lung cancer, put together enough of these kinds of trials and causal narratives begin to emerge.
It is now clear that some diets are particularly good for the brain. One recent study concludes that sticking to the “Mediterranean diet”, high in vegetables, fruit, pulses and wholegrains, low in red and processed meats and saturated fats, decreases the chances of experiencing strokes, cognitive impairment and depression. Other recent work looking at a “green” Mediterranean diet high in polyphenols found it reduced age-related brain atrophy. Another version, the mind diet, emphasises, among other things, eating berries over other kinds of fruit and seems to lessen the risk of dementia.
Scientists think such diets may work by reducing inflammation in the brain. This, in turn, may affect areas such as the hippocampus, which is associated with learning, memory and mood regulation—and where new neurons grow in adults. Studies in animals show that when they are fed a diet rich in omega-3 fatty acids (from walnuts, for example), flavonoids (consumed mainly via tea and wine), antioxidants (found in berries) and resveratrol (found in red grapes), neuron growth is stimulated and inflammatory processes are reduced. This fits with research suggesting that those who regularly eat ultra-processed, fried and sugary foods, which increase inflammation in the brain, heighten their risk of developing depression.
1. Which of the following words can replace “tricky” in Paragraph 3?| A．Rare. |
| B．Tough. |
| C．Traditional. |
| D．Contradictory. |
| A．By keeping at an experimental diet for years. |
| B．By carrying out randomized controlled trials. |
| C．By identifying a particular contributing factor. |
| D．By comparing findings of certain kinds of trials. |
| A．A diet rich in fruit is good for cognitive abilities. |
| B．People fond of sugary foods may be a risk lover. |
| C．Red grapes add fuel to inflammation in the brain. |
| D．Drinking tea can solve age-related brain problems. |
| A．The links between diets and diseases. |
| B．The significance of Mediterranean diet. |
| C．The function of various neurotransmitters. |
| D．The influence of nutrients on mental health. |
2 . The beginning of the Year of the Dragon has foreshadowed a “Song of Ice and Fire” with the emergence of Sora, a text-to-video AI model. Videos generated by Sora display strong consistency when it comes to characters and backgrounds, and support continuous shots of up to 60 seconds, including highly detailed settings and multiple camera angles.
However, film insiders noted that currently, AI-generated 60-second videos cannot support the creation of a full-length movie, and the idea that AI tools will “bomb” the film and television industry is so far unfounded. Meanwhile, experts say not to worry excessively, as the integration of AI will help optimize certain occupations, attract more innovative talents and bring new possibilities to the film and television industry.
From the age of film stock to the digital age, from practical effects to digital effects, from 2D to 3D, Sora, like any technological revolution in the century-long history of film, will improve production efficiency, update production and may even create new genres and trends in filmmaking.
Facing the panic signals that AI tools will threaten the global film industry, film insiders argued that the fundamental DNA of film is art and that human creativity cannot be replaced.
| A．With OpenAI’s iteration speed, producing AI videos dozens of minutes long is not far off. |
| B．It is also likely to be incorporated into film and television education and training in the future. |
| C．Film and television are closely linked to technological advancements, which stimulate creativity. |
| D．Sora will undoubtedly prompt changes in existing industrial production and may even replace some jobs. |
| E．Sora is undoubtedly “more of an opportunity than a challenge” for the global film and television industry. |
| F．Creativity and film production requires the integration of emotional experiences and individual memories. |
| G．This implies that with just a text description, ordinary people using Sora may be able to become “great directors”. |
3 . Clinical intuition is finally getting the respect it may have long deserved. New research is supporting a process that combines rapid judgments and perceptions that occur outside of conscious awareness — a way of knowing something without knowing how you know it. The value of clinical intuition in medicine is now being studied and becoming particularly relevant as interest grows in developing AI systems that can analyze medical data to diagnose or treat patients.
A study in 2023 found that clinical intuition from physiotherapists on the prognosis for functional recovery among patients was closely associated with the recovery afterwards. Another study concluded that in comparison to relying only on clinical data, “preoperative surgeon intuition alone is an independent predictor of patient outcomes.”
“This is a cognitive process. Clinical intuition is about expertise, knowledge, and pattern recognition that accumulate through experience. The mind is putting together all kinds of information and sequencing it in ways that say this person is really sick — or not,” says Meredith Vanstone, an associate professor in McMaster University. Given the depth of this cognitive process, some experts are skeptical that AI technology can make medical decisions as well as a human physician.
“As physicians go through years of interactions with patients and seeing thousands of cases, those gut feelings become a sort of summary statement of all the experiences they’ve seen,” says Mohammad Ghassemi, a researcher at Michigan State University. “Clinicians can observe different things that are not always captured or made available by machines.”
Researchers found that physicians and nurses practicing in a medical specialty involving a high likelihood of an emergency or dimensions of complexity are more likely to use intuitive decision-making in their practice. “As surgeons, the first thing we need to do is look at the patient because the structured data may not be consistent with what we see with the patient,” says Gabriel Brat from Harvard Medical School.
Research has found that clinical intuition from nurses and physicians about the chances that older patients visiting emergency departments would die or have other adverse outcomes within 30 days was highly accurate.
None of known experiences suggest that clinical intuition should be blindly acted upon. Making clinical decisions solely on the basis of a physician’s intuition isn’t the way to go, experts say. But relying solely on medical algorithms (mathematical models) that generate predictions about how a patient is likely to respond to different treatments isn’t the best course of action either.
To optimize patient care, some experts believe a hybrid approach that integrates clinical intuition, predictive algorithms, patient preferences, and other key factors is essential.
1. According to the passage, clinical intuition is influenced by ________.| A．rapid judgement |
| B．medical algorithms |
| C．conscious awareness |
| D．professional knowledge |
| A．Clinicians have a sharp eye for a patient’s condition. |
| B．Machines always generate more accurate predictions. |
| C．Doctors should summarize the experiences they’ve seen. |
| D．Physicians’ interactions with patients have been devalued. |
| A．To introduce the wide use of clinical intuition. |
| B．To explain the logic chain of clinical intuition. |
| C．To prove the accuracy of clinical intuition. |
| D．To present feedbacks on clinical intuition. |
4 . That day when Ludwig van Beethoven died was one of the saddest of my life. I had stayed with him for more than twenty years and lived through many of his happiest moments and his triumphs as well as his most unhappy times.
He wasn’t, however, the easiest of men to work for. His moods were changeable so that he could be reasonable at one moment but most impatient and intolerant at the next. All these problems began in 1802 when he discovered his loss of hearing was not temporary.
The loss of hearing brought him to a crossroads in his life. It was then that he realized that his future lay in composing music. Luckily, although his deafness brought him fear and anxiety, he was able to use these emotions to inspire his work.
Dealing with his inner problems and worries, his music was obviously subjective, which was not the most popular type of its time. But people recognized his greatness. They did so even when they knew he could not acknowledge it. When he was conducting his ninth and last symphony on its first performance he was totally deaf. So he just didn’t realize that the music had finished and continued to conduct the orchestra. One of the singers had to turn him round so he could receive the cheers of the audience. From one angle it was a sad moment but from another it was an even greater triumph. That a man with such a condition could have written such dynamic music was overwhelming! It brought tears to my eyes to think that I had contributed in some small way by looking after him.
He dressed rather like a wild man himself. His hair was always untidy, his skin marked with spots and his mouth set in a downward curve. He took no care of his appearance and walked around our city with his clothes carelessly arranged. This was because he was concentrating on his next composition.
Helping him move house many times, preparing his meals and looking after his everyday comforts were my reward for a life living so close to such a musical genius. I consider myself a lucky man!
1. The author was most likely to be Beethoven’s _______.| A．student | B．doctor | C．servant | D．relative |
| A．Beethoven’s music was underestimated at that time. |
| B．Beethoven’s work was inspired by his fear and anger. |
| C．Beethoven’s music stayed in step with the mainstream music of the time. |
| D．Beethoven lost his ability to hear when first conducting his ninth symphony. |
| A．Because the performance was a complete success. |
| B．Because he played a part in Beethoven’s success. |
| C．Because Beethoven was completely deaf then. |
| D．Because the audience cheered for Beethoven. |
| A．intolerant but cheerful |
| B．stubborn but reasonable |
| C．changeable but dedicated |
| D．unsociable but easy-going |
The dragon, a famous beast born from fantasy,
Saturday not only marked the last day of China’s 2024 Spring Festival holiday, but also closed out the eight-day domestic film period,
Chinese Paper Cut | |
| long history | over 2,000 years |
| very popular | in different parts of China, young or old, be fond of, do well in |
| different shapes | birds, animals, flowers … |
| Where do people put Chinese paper cuts? ... | |
You wanted to know about Chinese paper cut. Here I’m glad to tell you something about it.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Best wishes.
Yours,
Li Ming
8 . In comparison to many closely-related species, the human child takes a long time to grow up and requires a high degree of parental investment(亲情投资). Human children need more time to reach maturity(成熟)than other closely-related species.
A new study finds that one reason is the large amount of energy that the brain requires as it grows.
Christopher Kuzawa, first author of the study, explained: “Our findings suggest that our bodies can’t afford to grow faster during the toddler(幼童)and childhood years because a huge quantity of resources is required to fuel developing the human brain. As humans we have so much to learn, and that learning requires a complex and energy-hungry brain.”
Data from the study shows that at the moment when children’s bodies are growing the least-on average, at four years old-their brains are using the highest percentage of glucose(葡萄糖). That means that 40% of the child’s total energy expenditure is being used by its brain.
The findings support the theory that children take so long to mature because of the energy-intensive task of growing a massively over-sized brain in comparison to the brain-to-body weight ratio of other species.
Kuzawa continued: “After a certain age it becomes difficult to guess a toddler or young child’s age by their size. Instead you have to listen to their speech and watch their behavior. Our study suggests that this is no accident.”
Body growth nearly stops at the ages when brain development is happening at a lightning pace, because the brain is using up the available resources.”
“The mid-childhood peak in brain costs has to do with the fact that there are a huge number of synapses(神经元突触), connections in the brain, at this age, when we learn so many of the things we need to know to be successful humans.”
1. Why does it take people so long to grow up?| A．They need to store energy to grow later. |
| B．They need time to adapt to their environment. |
| C．Most of the energy is used for brain development. |
| D．They need a high degree of parental investment. |
| A．At about four years old. | B．At about two years old. |
| C．At about one year old. | D．At about five years old. |
| A．Why toddlers and children need plenty of resources. |
| B．The reason why it takes human infants a long time to grow up. |
| C．The reason why human infants are similar to other animals. |
| D．Why the brains of people need a large amount of energy. |
| A．age | B．their size |
| C．listen to their speech | D．guess their age by listening and watching |
| A．crying | B．to cry | C．cried | D．cry |
In a tiny school on the southern-most tip of New Zealand, children as young as five
