1 . Playing video games is an enjoyable pastime for many of us. But have you ever thought of becoming a video game developer and designing your own games?

If so, Electronic Arts’ (EA) “Get in the Game” program might be for you. The program targets high school girls, giving them a chance to work alongside professional female game developers, with a view to encourage more girls to pursue a career in the tech industry.

EA is the largest video game development studio in Central Florida, US. This year, 15lucky students were selected for the program and given the chance to put the finishing touches onto future EA titles.

Edgewater High School student Lyla Lovett,17,raised her hands in celebration after she fixed an in-game glitch(故障) and successfully found a potential solution. Current EA software engineer Alanna Berklund said: “That trial-and-error is something that happens every day in game development.”

She added: “Building games is not simple ... you have to try a lot of things, and most of the time it's a matter of changing something and seeing what happens.”

Years ago, when Berklund was a new graduate, she would ask technology companies whether their business tried to hire women. “They would say, ‘we just hire the best people’.” Berklund concluded. “Technology has always been a boys’ club, and it's about not keeping the present situation.”

The gender(性别)gap in technology goes far beyond the video game industry. According to the National Center for Women in Information Technology, the percentage of female science-based degree students, in the US, dropped from 37 percent to 19 percent between1985 and 2016. This decline in female science students is one of the reasons why non-profit groups such as “Girls Who Code” have appeared in recent years.

As more industries look to fill technology jobs, it’s important that women are equally represented.

Lyla said spending a week with female engineers convinced her to pursue a career in the industry.

“It’s fearful when you see lots of men in the field. But seeing female developers working successfully in the industry makes me think change is possible,” Lyla explained.

She added that, working with other women in the technology industry was “a big thing in my life. It helped me learn to communicate better, to manage problems, and to express my feelings.”

1. What can we learn about Electronic Arts’ (EA) “Get in the Game” program from the text?

A．Girls can play their favorite video games.

B．Girls can design video games with professionals.

C．Girls can team up with players around the world.

D．Girls can compete with boys while playing video games.

2. What happened when Berklund graduated years ago?

A．She was refused by many technology companies.

B．She wanted to compete with the men in the technology industry.

C．She had to work harder than her male colleagues.

D．She was given the chance to work in technology companies.

3. What can we learn from the text?

A．Traditional women's work in the tech industry is highly valued in the USA.

B．Non-profit groups such as “Girls Who Code” have disappeared in recent years.

C．The percentage of female science-based degree students has declined recently.

D．Becoming a video game developer and designing your own games are an easy thing.

4. What is the article mainly about?

A．The difficulties girls have in the technology industry.

B．Ways of attracting more girls to the technology industry.

C．The advantages girls have in the technology industry.

D．The gender gap girls face in the technology industry.

3 . Wearing a caveman mask, Dr. John Marzluff walks across the campus at the University of Washington in Seattle. Crows (乌鸦) circle and squawk (尖叫), diving at him and away.

Beneath the mask, he smiles. Days before, he and his students, wearing caveman masks, trapped them and placed colored plastic bands on their legs. Then they released the unhappy birds. When the researchers wandered around campus without the masks, the crows they had caught and banded did not react to them. But when the same humans walked by while wearing the masks, the crows scolded loudly and dived at their “enemies”.

At first, only the banded birds reacted aggressively to the people in masks. But in later tests, more and more crows joined in, and even when the banded birds were not around. “Crows think and dream, fight and play, reason and take risks,” he says. “Their antics confuse us.”

This led him to study how crows’ brains work. He and his students wore one type of mask as they captured crows and brought them into the lab, training them to link that face with danger. Then a different kind of mask for more positive activities, such as feeding and caring. Then he worked with scientists at the university who scan animal brains to see which parts of a crow's brain do certain tasks. Surprisingly, the scientists found that when the crow saw the “danger” mask, one part of its brain became active. When the crow saw the “care and feeding” mask, a different part of its brain lit up. The team has shown that crows use the same parts of their brains for recognition that humans do — something that was not known before!

More than 10 years after the first mask experiment, campus crows still scold the “cavemen”. Crows also recognize people who are kind to them. Crows are always watching us... and they remember.

1. Why does Dr. John Marzluff smile?

A．He intends to show his kindness.

B．He realizes his trick has worked.

C．He is amused by the happy crows.

D．He is embarrassed at the crows’ response.

2. What does the underlined word “antics” in the third paragraph probably refer to?

A．Ways of behaving.	B．Hunting types.
C．Flying models.	D．Chances of survival.

3. Which of the following words can best describe the crows according to the text?

A．Sociable, intelligent and observant.

B．Noisy, dangerous and annoying.

C．Reasonable, cautious and aggressive.

D．Strong-headed, proud and popular.

4. What can we conclude about crows from the fourth paragraph?

A．They share the same wisdom as humans do.

B．They never forgive those who once hurt them.

C．They only recognize the people who are bad to them.

D．They perform tasks with different parts of their brains.

4 . A study of violinists found that merely good players practised as much as better players, leaving other factors such as quality of education, learning skills and perhaps natural talent to account for the difference.

This finding challenges the 10, 000-hour rule promoted in Malcolm Gladwell’s 1993 study of violinists and pianists. Gladwell states that enough practice will make an expert of anyone. “The idea has been popular and entrenched in our culture for years. It’s not an idiom but an overstatement,” said Brooke Macnamara, the lead author. “When it comes to human skill, a complex combination of environmental factors and genetic factors explains the performance differences across people.”

Macnamara and her colleagues set out to repeat part of the 1993 study to see whether they reached the same conclusion. They interviewed three groups of 13 violinists regarded as best, good, or less accomplished about their practice habits, before having them complete daily diaries of their activities over a week. While the less skillful violinists reached an average of about 6,000 hours of practice by the age of 20, there was little to separate the good from the best, with each reaching an average of about 11,000 hours. In all, the number of hours spent practising accounted for about a quarter of the skill difference across the three groups.

Macnamara believes practice is less of a driver. “Once you get to the highly skilled groups, practice stops accounting for the difference. Everyone has practised a lot and other factors are at play in determining who goes on to a higher level,” she said. “The factors depend on the skill being learned: in chess it could be intelligence or working memory; in sport it may be how efficiently a person uses oxygen. To complicate matters further, one factor can drive another. Children who enjoy playing the violin, for example, may be happy to practise because they do not see it as a trouble.”

The authors of the 1993 study are unimpressed. Macnamara said it was important for people to understand the limits of practice, though. “Practice makes you better than you were yesterday, most of the time,” she said. “But it might not make you better than your neighhour or the other kid in your violin class.”

1. What does the underlined word “entrenched” in paragraph 2 probably mean?

A．Rooted.

B．Advanced.

C．Changed.

D．Unconfirmed.

2. What can we learn about Macnamara’s study?

A．It convinced Malcolm Gladwell.	B．It involved violinists and pianists.
C．Its process was similar to the 1993 study.	D．Its result is consistent with the 1993 study.

3. What does Macnamara find about highly skilled people?

A．Practicing for 11,000 hours is their main driver.

B．They enjoy keeping diaries about their progress.

C．Environmental factors have little relation to their success.

D．More practice makes little difference to their further progress.

4. What is the best title for the text?

A．What makes an expert?	B．Does practice make perfect?
C．The early bird catches the worm	D．Enthusiasm is the key to success

6 . Everyone wants to be regarded as a reliable person. Being reliable is really necessary when it comes to maintaining(维系)friendships and doing well at work. Read on for ways to be more reliable.

Try not to over-promise.     1    But it could lead to bad results when you take on too much, and then can't keep it. So next time you are asked to do something, weigh the pros and cons (权衡利弊)and take time before you respond.

    2    If you’re uncertain about hanging out with someone, say so sooner rather than later. Nothing is worse than showing up to meet someone, only to put them off five minutes before they should arrive. Don't be this person. Offer an apology, and cancel the plan well ahead of time.

Don't demand credit. People who demand praise for the things they've done often lose the goodwill that comes from the help they provided.     3    So there's no need to post it on Facebook or go fishing for praise.

Respect everyone's time. The biggest rule of reliability is to have respect for other people's time. If you tell someone you can meet at a certain time, you've made a promise.     4    When you're late, you're wasting other people's time at will. And you may therefore give others an impression of being untrustworthy!

Be as truthful as possible. If you failed to finish the work on time, say so. If you don't understand the task, be honest about it. Don't hide or bend the truth and avoid spreading unreliable information.     5    

A．Change plans in advance.

B．Hang out with other reliable people.

C．It' s impolite to say "no" to a friend's request.

D．Your friends and co-workers know that you helped out.

E．Being on time shows others that you are a person of your word.

F．Saying "yes” to everything seems to be agreeable and thoughtful.

G．Telling the truth will let people come to see you as a person of reliability.

7 . Don't brag(炫耀)，but be proud of what you've done. These two pieces of advice were tough to balance before Facebook existed.    1    We are unable to draw a line between a humble bragging and a straight-up bragging. But we certainly know that oversharing doesn't do your friendship any favors.

Social media like Facebook bring us convenience.    2    Once upon a time, only your family and close friends would be there to see you eagerly open presents on Christmas morning. Now the photo you take on your iPhone will likely become a touch-up Instagram in about 15 seconds. Maybe you just post it subconsciously. But your sharing behavior could easily be considered annoying or even narcissistic(自恋的).

    3    Maybe we should all be asking ourselves the question before hitting the share button. As our personal fame grows alongside our social media presences, so does the number of people we could potentially impress or bother.

According to Therapist Jessica Michaels, providing "emotional context" may help prevent what might be seen as a bragging. Think about how you say something, not just what you say. Frame it in a way that makes it more of a sharing idea. For example, if you plan a party for Christmas, you could post "Hey friends of mine! Let's plan this together. Maybe we could all go." instead of saying "Oh I can't wait to enjoy my party."     4    

Remember, the original intention behind social media is a connector, and your true best friends definitely do want to know when things are going good for you. Next time when you post a photo of your fantastic winter vacation, for example, make sure to tag your friends.    5    

A little bit of social media love goes a long way!

A．To post or not to post?

B．Will it make me a celebrity?

C．Tell them you wish they were by your side.

D．They are the most important friends in our life.

E．Meanwhile, they can put us in danger of oversharing.

F．It makes a big difference how you express your ideas.

G．Even today's share-it-all social media haven't made it any easier.