1 . For decades, scientists thought of the brain as the most closely guarded organ. Locked safely behind a biological barrier, away from the disorder of the rest of the body, it was broadly free of destruction of germs (病菌) and the battles started by the immune system.
Then, 20-odd years ago, some researchers began to ask a question: is the brain really so separate? The answer, according to a growing body of evidence, is no — and has important effects on both science and health care.
The list of brain conditions that have been associated with changes elsewhere in the body is long and growing. Changes in the make-up of the microorganisms resident in the gut (肠道), for example, have been linked to disorders like Parkinson’s disease. Some researchers think that certain infections could provoke Alzheimer’s disease and some could lead to emotional disorder in babies.
The effect is two-way. There is a lengthening list of symptoms (症状) not typically viewed as disorders of the nervous system in which the brain and the neural processes that connect it to the body play a large part. For example, the development of a fever is influenced by a population of neurons (神经元) that control body temperature and appetite. The effect of brain on body is underlined by the finding that stimulating a particular brain region in mice can ‘remind’ the body of previous inflammation (炎症) — and reproduce them.
These findings and others mark a complete shift in our view of the interconnectedness of brain and body, and could help us both understand and treat illness. If some brain conditions start outside the brain, then perhaps cures for them could also reach in from outside. Treatments that take effect through the digestive system, heart or other organs, for instance, would be much easier and less striking to give than those that must cross the blood-brain barrier, the brain’s first line of defence.
In the opposite direction, the effects of our emotions or mood on our capacity to recover from illness could also be used. There is an opening work under way testing whether stimulating certain areas of the brain that respond to reward and produce feelings of positivity could enhance recovery from conditions such as heart attacks. Perhaps even more exciting is the possibility that making changes to our behaviour — to reduce stress, say — could have similar benefits.
For neuroscientists, it’s time to look beyond the brain. And clinicians treating the body mustn’t assume the brain is above getting involved — its activity could be influencing a wide range of conditions, from mild infections to long-time fatness.
1. The author writes paragraph 1 mainly to ______.| A．evaluate an argument |
| B．present an assumption |
| C．summarize the structure |
| D．provide the background |
| A．Delay. | B．Cure. | C．Cause. | D．Disturb. |
| A．Treatments that cross brain-blood barrier are less used. |
| B．Previous diseases could cause the production of new ones. |
| C．Emotions could affect the capacity to fight against diseases. |
| D．Treatment of the brain takes priority over other treatments. |
I: Introduction P: Point Sp: Sub-point (次要点) C: Conclusion
A． | B． |
C． | D． |
2 . People who get a good workout almost daily can add nearly four years to their life spans, according to the first study to quantify the effect of physical activity this way.
The researchers looked at records of more than 5,000 middle-aged and elderly Americans and found that those who had moderate to high levels of activity lived1.3 to 3.7 years longer than those who got little exercise, with men and women benefiting about equally.
“This shows that physical activity really does make a difference — not only for how long you live but for how long you live a healthy life.” said Oscar H. Franco of the Erasmus M.C. University Medical Center in Rotterdam. “Being more physically active can give you more time.”
Previous studies have found that being physically active has a host of health benefits. It reduces the risk of being overweight and of developing many illnesses, improves overall quality of life, and lowers the death rate. But the new study is the first to directly calculate the effect on how long people live.
People who engaged in moderate activity — the equivalent of walking for 30minutes a day for five days a week — lived about 1.3 to 1.5 years longer than those who were less active. Those who took on more intense exercise—the equivalent of running half an hour a day five days every week—extended their lives by about3.5 to 3.7 years, the researchers found.
The findings show that even for people who are already middle-aged, exercising more can add years to their lives, Franco said.
Other experts said the study was consistent with the growing evidence that exercising on a regular basis is one of the most important things people can do for their health.
“At the end of the day, this is more evidence that the sitting lifestyle is the most damaging to health, longevity and chronic disease development,” said James O. Hill of the University of Colorado at Denver.
Hill and others said exercising regularly also enables people to live healthier lives, free from a host of chronic illnesses that can make it hard for people to enjoy their later years.
In addition, recent studies have also found that exercise has payoffs for the mind, too. It has been shown to improve overall well-being and reduce stress and depression.
“The benefits of physical activity extend well beyond the effects on longevity,” said Joann E. Manson of Harvard’s Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston.
1. What would be the best title for this text?| A．A Daily Workout Add More Years to Life. | B．How A Daily Workout Is Good to Health. |
| C．Men Benefit More from A Daily Workout. | D．Middle-aged People Benefit from Workout. |
| A．It finds that men and women benefited about equally. |
| B．Being physically active has a host of health benefits. |
| C．It’s the first to calculate the effect on how long people live. |
| D．Being more physically active can give you more time to live. |
| A．describing successful cases. | B．presenting findings of research. |
| C．offering professional comments. | D．explaining a certain phenomenon (现象) . |
3 . As biologist Nicola Foster and her colleagues guided a remote-controlled monitor through the coral reefs (珊瑚礁) of the Indian Ocean’s Chagos Archipelago, they saw corals full of color near the surface. But nearly 300 feet below, in the darker and colder waters of what oceanographers call the “twilight zone,” some corals had turned terrible white, leaving them vulnerable (脆弱的) to disease and death.
“It wasn’t something we were expecting to see,” says Foster, who studies deeperwater coral ecosystems called mesophotic reefs. Mesophotic reefs would seem to be protected from rising sea-surface temperatures that white n higher-up corals. But this team’s 2019 observations show the deepest instance of bleaching (变白) ever recorded — suggesting similar reefs are more vulnerable than previously believed.
Bleaching often happens when warming water boosts corals to remove the colorful algae (水藻) that live in their tissues and help to sustain them. Although surface waters weren’t typically warm when Foster and her team took their measurements, the twilight zone waters neared 84 degrees Fahrenheit (华氏度) — far above the 68-to 75-degree range in which mesophotic corals are used to.
The researchers realized that bleaching is related to the timing of the Indian Ocean Dipole. This phenomenon shifts the region’s surface winds and ocean currents, says study co-author Phil Hosegood. Wind and waves shake the upper ocean, keeping it relatively warm and uniform in temperature. But the 2019 dipole deepened this well-mixed upper layer; the thermocline (the slice of ocean that separates warm upper waters from the cold depths) had become deeper than normal. Then, those corals were exposed to temperatures that are normally found at the surface.
This observation suggests mesophotic reefs elsewhere could also be bleaching. Fortunately, the corals in this study had largely recovered their color by 2022, Foster notes. But each bleaching stresses the corals and, if extended, can starve them. Future Indian Ocean Dipole patterns are likely to be more severe, Hosegood says, noting that data suggest “that these natural cycles are becoming increased with climate change.”
1. What are the first two paragraphs mainly about?| A．Corals in twilight zone become vulnerable because of bleaching. |
| B．Corals normally found at the surface were found in twilight zone. |
| C．Mesophotic reefs are much more vulnerable than higher-up reefs. |
| D．Mesophotic reefs and higher-up reefs need different temperature. |
A． | B． |
C． | D． |
| A．excited | B．worried | C．curious | D．hopeful |
4 . At the end of the day, most of us find ourselves on the couch, eyes glued to the television or to our smartphones, doing everything we can to conserve energy.
According to Michael Inzlicht, a social psychologist at the University of Toronto, we’re lazy and also, we’re not.
All humans, given equal options, will take the easy way out. Does it mean we’re lazy? Maybe.
But there are the times when humans are the opposite of lazy and do very difficult things for no apparent reason. Some rewards only come from extensive effort.
So, in that sense, effort is worth the effort. While humans are economically aware of effort most of the time, “in some cases, the effort itself is rewarding,” says Inzlicht.
| A．Think about things like running a marathon. |
| B．It’s not completely clear why humans behave this way. |
| C．It seems that we humans are gifted in the way of laziness. |
| D．We similarly love to space out, our brain tired of focusing. |
| E．But it certainly means that we’re economic with our effort. |
| F．Some people who appear to be lazy are suffering from much more serious problems. |
| G．Likewise, we might get a sense of pleasure or mastery from doing a crossword puzzle. |
5 . Around the world, coral reefs (珊瑚礁) are in danger. Now, let’s check out a few ways conservationists are protecting these habitats.
Seaweed Smackdown
Hot ocean temperatures can supercharge seaweed growth — and that’s not good for a reef. So, in Hawaii, scientists have used an underwater vacuum (真空吸器) to suck up lots of seaweed into the device’s long tube. In Australia, scientists are studying a low-tech solution: pulling seaweed by hand.
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Some polyps (珊瑚虫) are harmed by heat waves and pollution. Scientists cut parts of coral from a healthy reef. Then these polyps are taken to a nursery, which could be in shallow protected areas underwater. After about a year, the healthy coral parts are attached to damaged reefs. The nursery-grown corals can bring new life to a struggling habitat.
Sound Saver
Healthy reefs are noisy. Fish make different sounds, and thousands of shrimp create and pop bubbles with their claws to create a sound. The biologists play sounds of healthy reefs through underwater speakers. They found that six weeks of broadcasting healthy reef sounds doubled the amount of fish in the area.
Bleaching Killer
One of the biggest threats to coral reefs is bleaching. Here’s how it works.
| Thriving coral Most coral species survive by partnering with tiny algae (藻类), which make food for the coral by changing sunlight into sugar. |
| Under stress But when the ocean water gets too hot, the algae produce too much oxygen, which can hurt the coral. |
| Bleaching So corals kick out the algae. As the algae leave, the color disappears and the coral appears to turn white. This process is called bleaching. |
Biologists have discovered that many corals in the Red Sea have a species of algae in their tissue that’s found nowhere else, so they can survive heat waves. Biologists hope their work will inspire governments and environmental groups to protect these corals.
1. Which of the following might be the subtitle of Paragraph 3?| A．Underwater Nurseries. | B．Fishing Guides. |
| C．Seaweed Cleaners. | D．Colour Designers. |
| A．Breathing in more oxygen. | B．Changing the appearance. |
| C．Absorbing more sound. | D．Partnering with algae. |
| A．To present the serious damages to corals. | B．To explain the reasons for coral habitat loss. |
| C．To introduce the methods of coral protection. | D．To compare the effects of different solutions. |
6 . Up to the age of ten, I did not mind at all the fact that my elder sister was different. The child psychologist had termed it as “Asperger Syndrome”, a disease that affects how a person socializes with others.
It was only at the age of ten that I started to become aware of my social life and self-image that I had carefully shaped. My sister, on the other hand, was socially awkward. She would mumble (咕哝) to herself and repeat the words she had just said under her breath. She, however, was academically capable, and hence we attended the same primary school. Despite this, I never, ever acknowledged in public that she was my sister.
Being in primary six, about to graduate, my sister and her classmates had to put up a performance, whether in a group, or individually. Due to her inability to integrate, my sister was the only one left without a group. “I’ll sing,” my sister told my parents, somewhat confidently. Hearing that, I was taken aback. How could my sister sing in front of the school? She would embarrass me, one way or another. “No!” I remember protesting. My parents shot me a look.
No one knows she is your sister. It is fine, you do not need to tell anyone. I remember telling myself these exact lines as I sat in the hall, waiting for the performances to start. The curtains parted to reveal the only solo (独唱) — my sister. It took about a whole minute for her to state her name and class and by that time, whispers were heard in the audience.
“Why is she taking so long?” people around me asked. I shifted nervously in my seat. Finally, my sister started to sing. I was prepared for the worst. She opened her mouth, and I was transfixed — she sang effortlessly. Her voice rang through the hall, beautiful in its power. I listened ever so carefully to the words that she had composed all by herself.
Guilt and shame filled my heart. Although she knew that I was embarrassed by her and was unwilling to attend her concert, my sister had forgiven me; she had never taken anything that I had done to her to heart. It was then that I resolved to love her unconditionally.
1. How did the author feel about his sister’s difference before 10?| A．He hardly accepted it. | B．He didn’t care about it. |
| C．He was extremely awkward. | D．He was determined to help. |
| A．To challenge his parents. | B．To follow other students. |
| C．To keep his sister’s image. | D．To protect his self-respect. |
| A．She always got full marks in primary school. |
| B．She refused to form a group with other students. |
| C．She gave an excellent performance before graduation. |
| D．She delivered an inspiring speech in front of the school. |
| A．Take nothing to heart. | B．Love without condition. |
| C．Stick to one’s own choice. | D．Learn from anyone around. |
7 . Have you considered contributing your skills and expertise virtually towards achieving sustainable human development efforts? Through the Online Volunteering service of the United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme, you can connect with UN agencies, governments, public institutions and civil society organizations — from any device, anywhere in the world. While extending your network, you can also get first-hand practical experience.
Requirements:·To sign up on the Unified Volunteering Platform and apply for Online Volunteer assignments, you must be at least 18 years of age.
·There is no particular background required to become an Online Volunteer. Each Online Volunteer assignment is different and has its own requirements, set by the host organization.
· As an Online Volunteer, you can only support organizations remotely in assignments up to 20 hours per week for a maximum of 12 weeks for each assignment.
Criteria and service rules:
· Online Volunteers are not under contract with the UNV programme or the engaging organization.
· Online Volunteers do not receive any kind of financial benefits.
·For each Online Volunteering assignment, a maximum of 25 Online Volunteers can be engaged.
Procedures:
· Volunteers find assignments of their interest and apply.
· Organizations select the volunteers they want to engage.
· Volunteers and organizations work together online.
· Volunteers and organizations provide feedback on their cooperation.
· Organizations issue an electronic certificate of appreciation to their volunteers.
1. Through the UNV programme, one can ______.
| A．travel around the world | B．improve their network skills |
| C．set up civil society organizations | D．work on sustainable development |
| A．Being no less than 18 years. |
| B．Finishing 25 online assignments. |
| C．Working at least 20 hours a week. |
| D．Having some practical experience. |
| A．sign a contract with an organization |
| B．find tasks of their interest and apply |
| C．get a paper certificate of appreciation |
| D．receive some kind of financial benefits |
8 . When fighting sugar dependence, avoiding added sugar in the diet is key, which sounds simple — right? It certainly does, but things become a bit more complicated once we introduce alternative sweeteners into the mix.
Alternative sweeteners are everywhere.
Now that we know some of the common types of alternative sweeteners, let’s take a deeper dive into the problem with them. Research in animals has shown that removing calories from foods that taste sweet can interrupt the ability to control energy intake.
The other interesting thing about alternative sweeteners is that our brains don’t recognize them as “fake (假的)” sugar.
So what do I recommend? In order to fully put a definite end to sugar dependence, reducing your intake of alternative sweeteners should be the goal.
| A．The taste profile of alternative sweeteners varies. |
| B．We can’t forget about the ever-so-popular sugar alcohols. |
| C．There are countless alternative sweeteners on the market. |
| D．Our brain senses something sweet and thinks it is real sugar. |
| E．They may help reduce the calorie content of good-tasting foods and drinks. |
| F．Artificial sweeteners may also cause one’s body to prefer sweeter-tasting foods. |
| G．Alternative sweeteners are referred to as “low-calorie” or “no-calorie” sweeteners. |
9 . A shopkeeper’s son breaks a window, causing a crowd to gather. They tell the shopkeeper not to be angry: actually, the broken window is a reason to celebrate, since it will create work for the glazier (装玻璃的工人). In the story, written by a 19th-century economist, the crowd envisions the work involved in repairing the window, but not that involved in everything else on which the shopkeeper could have spent his money — unseen possibilities that would have brought him greater happiness.
If that window were to be broken these days, people might have a different reaction, especially if they were NIMBYs (Not In My Back Yard) who oppose any local construction that affects their quality of life. Their concern might be with the “embodied carbon”. The production of a piece of glass would carry a sizeable carbon cost. Similarly, the bricks and concrete in a building are relics of past emissions. They are, the logic goes, embodied carbon.
Conserving what already exists, rather than adding to the building stock, will avoid increasing these embodied emissions — or so NIMBYs often suggest. At its worst, this idea is based on a warped logic. Greenhouse gases released by the construction of an existing building will heat the planet whether the building is repaired or knocked down. The emissions have been taken out of the world’s “carbon budget”, so treating them as anew debit means double counting. The right question to ask is whether it is worth using the remaining carbon budget to repair a building or it is better to knock it down.
Choosing between these possibilities requires thinking about the unseen. It used to be said that construction emitted two types of emissions. Besides the embodied sort, there were operational ones from cooling, heating and providing electricity to residents. Around the world, buildings account for 39% of annual emissions, according to the World Green Building Council, of which 28% come from operational carbon.
These two types of emissions might be enough for the architects designing an individual building. But when it comes to broader questions, economists ought also to consider how the placement of buildings affects the manner in which people work, shop and travel. Density (密度) lowers the per-person cost of public transport, and this reduces car use. Research by Green Alliance, a pressure group, suggests that in Britain a policy of “demolish (拆除) and densify” — replacing semi-detached housing near public transport with blocks of flats — would save substantial emissions. Without such demolition, potential residents would typically have to move to the suburbs instead, saving money on rent but consuming more energy.
Targeted subsidies (补贴), especially for research and development into construction materials, could speed up the pace at which the built environment decarbonises. What will never work, however, is allowing the loudest voices to decide how to use land and ignoring the carbon emissions of their would-be neighbours once they are out of sight.
1. The first two paragraphs are written to ________.| A．exemplify an outlook on energy conservation |
| B．present a new way of relieving energy crisis |
| C．explain people’s reaction to a broken window |
| D．introduce an argument on carbon emission |
| A．Unsound. | B．Complicated. | C．Distinctive. | D．Underlying. |
| A．Operational carbon accounts for a larger share of carbon emission. |
| B．Repairing old buildings outweighs demolition in energy conservation. |
| C．Higher residential density near public transport may help reduce emission. |
| D．Stopping residents from living in new buildings is sensible to energy saving. |
| A．Interests of NIMBYs are worthy of consideration. |
| B．A comprehensive insight into emission is essential. |
| C．Upgrading construction materials should be prioritized. |
| D．Every resident should do their bit in reducing carbon emission. |
Uncertainty is all around us, never more so than today. Whether it concerns your health or relationships, much of what lies ahead in life remains uncertain.
We’re all different in how much uncertainty we can tolerate in life. Some people seem to enjoy taking risks and living unpredictable lives, while others find the randomness of life deeply annoying. But all of us have a limit. If you feel controlled by uncertainty and worry, it’s important to know that you’re not alone; many of us are in the same boat.
To cope with all this uncertainty, many of us use worrying as a tool for trying to predict the future and avoid unpleasant surprises. Worrying can make it seem like you have some control over uncertain circumstances. You may also believe that it will help you find a solution to your problems or prepare you for the worst. Unfortunately, long-term worrying just robs you of enjoyment in the present and weakens your energy. But there are healthier ways to cope with uncertainty.
Identify your uncertainty trigger (诱发因素). A lot of uncertainty tends to be self-generated. However, some can be generated by external sources, such as reading media stories that focus on bad news, or simply communicating with anxious friends. By recognizing your triggers, you can take action to avoid or reduce your exposure to them.
Shift your attention. Focus on solvable worries, taking action on those aspects of a problem that you can control, or simply go back to what you were doing. When the feelings of uncertainty return, refocus your mind on the present moment and your own breathing.
1. How are people different in tolerating uncertainty in life?2. Why do many people use worrying as a tool to deal with uncertainty?
3. Please decide which part is false in the following statement, then underline it and explain why.
▶ Knowing the triggers of your uncertainty, you can learn to expose yourself to them.
4. What are you most uncertain about right now? How will you deal with it? (In about 40 words)
