1 . In some islands north of Scotland, head lice, which live on the hair or skin of people or animals, were a part of life. If the lice left their host, he became sick and feverish. Therefore, sick people had lice put in their hair intentionally. There was a method to their madness: As soon as the lice had settled in again, the patient improved. The story explains the confusion of cause and effect. If the lice leave the sick, it is because he has a fever and they simply get hot feet. When the fever breaks, they return. We may laugh at this story, but false causality misleads us practically every day.
Consider the headline: “Fact: Women Who Use Shampoo XYZ Every Day Have Stronger Hair.” This statement says very little — least of all, that the shampoo makes your hair stronger. It might simply be the other way round: Women with strong hair tend to use Shampoo XYZ — and perhaps that’s because it says “especially for thick hair” on the bottle.
A further example: Scientists found that long periods in the hospital did harm to patients. This was music to health insurers’ ears, who, of course, are keen to make stays as brief as possible. But, clearly, patients who are dismissed immediately are healthier than those who must stay on for treatment.
Recently I read that students get better grades at school if their homes contain a lot of books. This study was surely a shot in the arm for booksellers, but it is also an example of false causality. This simple truth is that educated parents tend to value their children’s education more than uneducated ones do. Plus, educated parents often have more books at home. In short, a dust-covered copy of War and Peace alone isn’t going to influence anyone’s grades; what counts is parents’ education levels, as well as their genes.
Another example of false causality was the supposed relationship between the birth rate and the numbers of stork (鹳) pairs in Germany. Both were in decline, and if you plot them on a graph, the two lines of development from 1965 to 1987 appeared almost the same. Does this mean the stork actually does bring babies? Obviously not, since this was a purely accidental connection.
In conclusion: Connection is not causality. Take a closer look at linked events: Sometimes what is presented as the cause turns out to be the effect, or just the other way around. And sometimes there is no link at all — just like with the storks and babies.
1. Which is an example of false causality?| A．Women with strong hair tend to use a certain shampoo. |
| B．Birth rate and the stork population are connected. |
| C．Longer periods in the hospital benefit patients. |
| D．Lice can make a person sick and feverish. |
| A．pain | B．defeat | C．guidance | D．encouragement |
| A．their homes are full of books | B．they have read War and Peace |
| C．their educated parents value education | D．their parents are successful booksellers |
| A．connections are pure accidents | B．cause and effect are interdependent |
| C．connections are mostly cause and effect | D．linked events may turn out to be unrelated |
Lydia gave all the money to some charities which help the children
3 . Would you rather be an impressive employee in an ordinary firm, or land a role at the most well-known company in your industry?
The answer to that question might seem highly personal, based on factors like whether or not you are a competitive person and how much you enjoy a challenge. In fact, there’s another strong factor at play: People from different cultures react very differently to that question. The psychologists from the University of Michigan asked people theoretical questions about the decisions they take. Specifically, the researchers compared people with East Asian backgrounds and European American backgrounds. They found that Americans are much more likely to favor being a big fish in a small pond. East Asians, and specifically Chinese people, are much more likely than Americans to lean towards being a smaller fish in a bigger pond.
Researchers first asked 270 students at a large American university whether they would rather be a “big fish in a small pond” or the opposite. Of the students with East Asian American backgrounds, three quarters said they’d rather be a small fish, compared with just under 60% of students with European American backgrounds who said the same.
The researchers then compared American and Chinese adults. They asked the participants whether they would rather attend a top university but perform below average, and whether they would rather work for a top global company but do less well in comparison to their peers. Over half the Chinese adults chose the famous university, compared with just a third of Americans. In the case of the firms, well over half of people from both groups chose to do better at a less well-known firm, but Chinese people were still more likely to choose being a “small fish” than were Americans.
The final experiment sought to discover how American and Chinese people made judgments about whether they were succeeding. They found that Chinese people were more likely to compare their performance to the performance of people in other groups. Americans, meanwhile, were more likely to compare themselves to people within the same group, to judge whether or not they were doing well.
In East Asian cultures, it’s “not enough that you know you’re doing well in your school,” said Kaidi Wu, a PhD student in psychology who led the research. “It is much more important that other people — an outsider, a family relative, a future employer who has five seconds to glance through your resume — also recognize your academic excellence.”
America is the opposite: “Think about how many times themes like ‘You are your own person’ or ‘Stop worrying about what other people think’ course through song lyrics and self-help books,” Wu said, concluding: “The choices we make are the products of our culture.”
1. The psychologists from the University of Michigan find that ______.| A．Americans tend to achieve success in a big company |
| B．Chinese are likely to perform better in a big company |
| C．Americans prefer to shine in a relatively small company |
| D．Chinese are comfortable with working in a small company |
| A．compare different attitudes towards competition | B．find different views about personal success |
| C．judge performances of different groups | D．confirm which culture is better |
| A．his neighbors | B．his classmates | C．his teachers | D．his parents |
| A．plays a key role in people’s choice making | B．shows who we grow up to be in the future |
| C．is the most important factor behind success | D．determines students’ academic performance |
4 . It’s said that you don’t know a man until you walk a mile in his shoes. And you also don’t know what it’s like for older people to travel until you accompany one on a trip.
After flying with my elderly father from Washington, D.C., to L.A. in July, I began to realize that a companion has important tasks that can make a journey easier for older people. Most of the tips have to do with flying, such as packing snacks, putting medicines in carry-ons and taking a light blanket, which was invaluable to my father because he tended to get cold.
I booked nonstop tickets on JetBlue to avoid tiring, confusing connections, and we flew directly into small, manageable Long Beach Airport. Even though my father could walk, I arranged with the airline for wheelchair assistance, which meant we got on board first.
When I took him back to the airport for his return flight to Washington, I got permission from JetBlue to wait with him at the gate instead of saying goodbye at the security checkpoint. I wished he’d had a first-class seat and access to a comfortable airline club. Better yet, I wish I had flown with him both ways. As I watched the attendant wheel him to the lift that took him from the tarmac (飞机跑道) to the plane, I felt like an anxious mom sending her child to school for the first time.
Things can go wrong on a plane trip. And then there is the horrifying story about Joe and Margie Dabney, who flew from Indianapolis to LAX in December. When they landed at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, a wheelchair attendant met them to help with a connection. But somehow Margie, who had Alzheimer’s disease, disappeared.
I didn’t need to worry about my father wandering away; at 82, his mind was sharper than mine. But his hearing was poor, so I worried about what would happen if he missed an important announcement. Fortunately, everything went just fine. Careful planning made the trip successful.
Next time I travel with a senior, I’ll know better. I hope there will be a next time.
1. What can we learn about the author from the passage?| A．He advised his father to join in the club. |
| B．He booked a first class return flight for his father. |
| C．He bought some medicine for his father at the airport. |
| D．He flew with his father from Washington D.C. to L.A. |
| A．saw his father off at the airport | B．reached the Long Beach airport |
| C．missed the airport announcement | D．said goodbye at the security checkpoint |
| A．taking a trip does great good to seniors |
| B．it is a pleasant experience to travel with seniors |
| C．to have a long journey with seniors is unpractical |
| D．a good arrangement ensures seniors to take a nice trip |
1. 介绍你的相关经验和优势；2. 希望能被录用；
注意：1. 词数100左右；
2. 开头和结尾已给出，不计入总词数。
Dear Sir/Madam,
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Yours sincerely,
Li Hua
You are watching your favorite TV show when a commercial break starts. First you see an ad for candy. Then there is one for fast food. Your stomach growls. Suddenly, all you can think about is how much you need a snack.
If that sounds familiar, you are not alone. Researchers from McMaster University in Canada studied the effects of junk food ad. The researchers examined the effects of advertising junk food on more than 6000 kids through TV commercials and other types of media. They found that kids made unhealthy food and drink choices as quickly as 30 minutes after seeing the ads.
Food and drink ads are everywhere from TV to the Internet. Companies want to make sure you know about their products. They spend nearly 1. 8 billion a year on food ads aimed at kids according to a report.
The Nielsen Company tracked the number of food ads that kids saw in 2015. It found that kids watched nearly 12 food ads on TV each day. Most of these ads weren’t for healthy foods. In fact, on average. kids saw only one ad per week for fruits and vegetables. Instead, most of the ads were for fast food, candy and sugary drinks.
Jennifer Harris, a professor at the University of Connecticut, says this is a big part of the problem. “Unhealthy foods are not things we should be encouraging kids to cat more often”. Harris says. “But unfortunately those are the products being advertised to them the most”.
Health experts say it’s OK to treat yourself to a cookie once in a while. But what can you do to keep from having an unhealthy snack every time you see an ad for junk food? Harris says it’s important to learn to spot the techniques companies use in their ads, tell their kids what is going on and help kids think about whether these products are good for them.
1. What did researchers from MaMaster University find?2. What conclusion can you draw from the findings of Nielsen Company?
3. Please decide which part is false in the following statement, then underline it and explain why.
To avoid negative impacts of advertisements for unhealthy food, parents should keep their kids from watching these kinds of advertisements.
4. Please briefly describe what you can do to reduce the negative impact of advertising on your life. (In about 40 words)
7 . Adaptations are currently popular in the movie industry.
The most well-known version of a film being adapted to books is via the novelization. Movie novelizations went through a boom period before the internet era. Fans wanted to know more about the fictional worlds and experience the story again in a new way.
Meanwhile, the screen to page process has also opened up the possibility of sequels (续篇). Perhaps there simply wasn’t financial investment to create a follow-up to a film. Maybe a sequel idea simply felt more appropriate for a novel.
But what are the benefits of reading a novel instead of waiting for the big screen version? Well, a novel can take its reader deeper into the mind of the characters that the film had to represent in a more visual way.
Book adaptations of films obviously won’t ever replace cinema, and there’s no need to choose one or the other.
| A．Besides, descriptions can be more detailed too. |
| B．For a time, they were everything for cinema lovers. |
| C．We’re all familiar with film adaptations of books. |
| D．Films being adapted to books has been talked repeatedly. |
| E．Regardless, some terrific films have been expanded upon thanks to this medium. |
| F．But they couldn’t simply google it, or immediately purchase the production on tape. |
| G．Actually, these two mediums are considerably interdependent and complementary. |
8 . As the latest crop of students pen their undergraduate application form and weigh up their options, it may be worth considering just now the point, purpose and value of a degree has changed and what Generation Z need to consider as they start the third stage of their educational journey.
Millennials were told that if you did well in school, got a decent degree, you would be set up for life. But that promise has been found wanting. As degrees became universal, they became devalued. Education was no longer a secure route of social mobility. Today, 28 percent of graduates in the UK are in non- graduate roles, a percentage which is double the average among OECD countries.
This is not to say that there is no point in getting a degree, but rather stress that a degree is not for everyone, that the switch from classroom to lecture hall is not an inevitable one and that other options are available.
Thankfully, there are signs that this is already happening, with Generation Z seeking to learn from their millennial predecessors (前辈), even if parents and teachers tend to be still set in the degree mindset. Employers have long seen the advantages of hiring school leavers who often prove themselves to be more committed and loyal employees than graduates. Many too are seeing the advantages of cancelling a degree requirement for certain roles.
Regardless, it is unlikely that Generation Z will be done with education at 18 or 21; they will need to be constantly up-skilling throughout their career to stay employable. It has been estimated that this generation, due to the pressures of technology, the wish for personal fulfillment and desire for diversity, will work for 17 different employers over the course of their working life and have five different careers. Education, and not just knowledge gained on campus, will be a core part of Generation Z’s career trajectory (轨道).
Older generations often talk about their degree in the present and personal tense: “I am a geographer” or “I am a classist”. Their sons or daughters would never say such a thing; it’s as if they already know that their degree won’t define them in the same way.
1. The percentage of UK graduates in non-graduate roles reflect __________.| A．the deceasing value of a degree | B．Millennial’s opinions about work |
| C．the desired route of social mobility | D．public dissatisfaction with education |
| A．The employers’ preference for high school leavers. |
| B．A change in parents’ attitudes towards college education. |
| C．A wider variety of choices besides pursuing a degree. |
| D．More emphasis put on lecture hall rather than classroom. |
| A．They will have a limited choice of jobs. |
| B．Education will no longer be a core part in their life. |
| C．They will focus more on personal accomplishment. |
| D．Lifelong learning will determine what they are. |
9 . Four of the best films to watch in this winter
The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and SnakesIt’s prequel time again. Based on the dystopian YA (Young Adult Fiction) by Suzanne Collins, the prequel is set 64 years before the previous Hunger Games films. Donald Sutherland’s character, Coriolanus Snow, is now a teenager played by Tom Blyth, and Rachel Zegler is the woman he has to train for the Capitol’s 10th annual death match.
Released internationally from 15 November.
The MarvelsBrie Larson’s Captain Marvel returns to save the planet from evil aliens, but her job is made considerably harder this time by a cosmic (宇宙的) fault that links her to two other super heroines. Every ne she uses her powers, she swaps places with cither Photon (Teyonah Parris) or Ms Marvel (lman llani). “The worlds we go to in this movie are worlds unlike others you’ve seen in the MCU. Brigh worlds that you haven’t seen before,” the Director Nia DaCosta told Total film.
Released internationally from 8 November
NapoleonRidley Scott’s 28th film is a biography of Napoleon Bonaparte, with Joaquin Phoenix as the French general, and Vanessa Kirby as his wife Josephine. It’s reported to be three hours long, with six major battle of sequences — although it’s as much a character-driven drama as it is a war movie.
On general release from 22 November.
WishWalt Disney celebrates its 100th anniversary with a cartoon that includes the themes and animation styles of the studio’s first century. Directed by Chris Buck (co-director of Frozen) and Fawn Vecrasunthom, Wish is a musical fairy tale set in a magical land where King Magnifico (Chris Pinc) can carry out his citizens’ wishes. But a 17-ycar-old girl, Asha (Ariana DeBose), questions whether the king should keep that power all to himself. She wishes on a star and the star then falls from the sky to help her. Buck told Jackson Murphy at Animation Scoop that the film is “kind of our love letter to Disney, to Walt. ”
Released internationally from 22 November.
1. Which of the four films was released earliest?| A．The Hunger Games. | B．The Marvels. | C．Napoleon. | D．Wish. |
| A．Donald Sutherland is now a teenager played by Tom Blyth. |
| B．Captain Marvel’s job is easier with the help of two other super heroines. |
| C．Ridley Scott was cast as the famous French general. |
| D．Elements of the studio’s first century will be displayed in Wish. |
| A．Lifestyle. | B．Business. | C．Entertainment. | D．Affairs. |
The endless choice gives birth to anxiety in people’s lives. Buying something as basic as a coffee pot
