1 . Who is a genius? This question has greatly interested humankind for centuries.

Let’s state clearly: Einstein was a genius. His face is almost the international symbol for genius. But we want to go beyond one man and explore the nature of genius itself. Why is it that some people are so much more intelligent or creative than the rest of us? And who are they?

In the sciences and arts, those praised as geniuses were most often white men, of European origin. Perhaps this is not a surprise. It’s said that history is written by the victors, and those victors set the standards for admission to the genius club. When contributions were made by geniuses outside the club—women, or people of a different color or belief—they were unacknowledged and rejected by others.

A study recently published by Science found that as young as age six, girls are less likely than boys to say that members of their gender(性别)are “really, really smart.” Even worse, the study found that girls act on that belief: Around age six they start to avoid activities said to be for children who are “really, really smart.” Can our planet afford to have any great thinkers become discouraged and give up? It doesn’t take a genius to know the answer: absolutely not.

Here’s the good news. In a wired world with constant global communication, we’re all positioned to see flashes of genius wherever they appear. And the more we look, the more we will see that social factors(因素)like gender, race, and class do not determine the appearance of genius. As a writer says, future geniuses come from those with “intelligence, creativity, perseverance(毅力), and simple good fortune, who are able to change the world.”

1. What does the author think of victors’ standards for joining the genius club?

A．They’re unfair.	B．They’re conservative.
C．They’re objective.	D．They’re strict.

2. What can we infer about girls from the study in Science?

A．They think themselves smart.

B．They look up to great thinkers.

C．They see gender differences earlier than boys.

D．They are likely to be influenced by social beliefs

3. Why are more geniuses known to the public?

A．Improved global communication.

B．Less discrimination against women.

C．Acceptance of victors’ concepts.

D．Changes in people’s social positions.

4. What is the best title for the text?

A．Geniuses Think Alike	B．Genius Takes Many Forms
C．Genius and Intelligence	D．Genius and Luck

2 . Many people believe that working to the maximum is the secret to success, but research has found that moderation(适度) also gets results on the job.

In a study led by Ellen Langer of Harvard University, researchers asked people to translate sentences into a new made-up language. Subjects who practiced the language moderately beforehand made fewer errors than those who practiced extensively or not at all. High levels of knowledge can make people too attached to traditional ways of viewing problems across fields the arts, sciences, and politics. High conscientiousness is related to lower job performance, especially in simple jobs where it doesn’t pay to be a perfectionist.

How long we stay on the clock and how we spend that time are under careful examination in many workplaces. The young banker who eats lunch at his desk is probably seen as a go-getter, while his colleagues who chat over a relaxed conference-room meal get dirty looks from the corner office. “People from cultures that value relationships more than ours does are shocked by the thought of eating alone in front of a computer”, says Art Markman, a professor of psychology at the University of Texas, Austin. Social interaction has been shown to lift mood(情绪) and get people thinking in new directions and in ways that could help improve any post-lunch effort.

Markman also promotes off-task time. “Part of being a good thinker is experiencing things that are seemingly unrelated to what you are working on at the moment but give you fresh ideas about your work,” he says. “Also, there is a lot of research showing that a positive mood leads to higher levels of productivity and creativity. So, when people do things to increase their life satisfaction, they also make themselves more effective at work.”

1. What does Ellen Langer’s study show?

A．It is worthwhile to be a perfectionist	B．Translation makes people knowledgeable.
C．Simpler jobs require greater caution.	D．Moderate effort produces the best result.

2. The underlined word “go-getter” in paragraph 3 refers to someone Who_______.

A．is good at handling pressure	B．works hard to become successful
C．a has a natural talent for his job.	D．gets on well with his co-workers

3. What can be inferred from the last paragraph?

A．A good thinker is able to inspire other people.

B．Experience unrelated to your job is useless.

C．A cheerful mood helps make a creative mind.

D．Focusing on what you do raises productivity.

4. What does the text seem to advocate?

A．Middle-of-the-road work habits.	B．Balance between work and family.
C．Long-standing cultural traditions.	D．Harmony in the work environment.

3 . I love making art and looking at artworks. I’ve found myself wondering how we gain pleasure from art. And now neuroaesthetics, a combination of neuroscience (神经科学) and aesthetics (美学), may provide an answer.

Neuroaesthetics is a relatively young field of research on what happens in the brain when we make aesthetic assessments. Researchers use brain imaging technique to see which brain areas light up when we view paintings that we consider beautiful. Similar research has been done to understand the “neuronal fireworks” that occur when we look at inspiring sculptures, attractive faces, impressive dance, etc.

But why do we find some art beautiful and other art ugly? According to research, it all comes down to the “aesthetic triad (三元组合)”.

The first part of the triad is sensory-motor. This involves perceiving things like colours, shapes and movements. Movement in art has an interesting role. If you see a painting of a movement, like of a man pulling his arm away after being bitten by a dog, you feel like going through a similar experience. The part of your brain that controls your own movements lights up in response.

Second is emotion-valuation. This is how a piece of art makes you feel, and whether or not you appreciate or enjoy that feeling. The part of the brain related to pleasure is activated in response to something we find beautiful. This system can be affected in fascinating ways, as found by research using transcranial magnetic stimulation(TMS) (经颅磁刺激). If TMS is applied to a specific part of your brain behind your forehead that is particularly important for decision-making, you suddenly like different kinds of art. Such stimulation produces significant changes in aesthetic appreciation of faces, bodies and artworks.

The third part is meaning-knowledge. This is to do with how we can connect with a piece of art and what meaning we can create in it. Art is deeply personal, because when two people see the same artwork, our perception can create vastly different experiences of meaning. If we find meaning, then we often find pleasure. We also get enjoyment from the knowledge of how something was made. For the images that an artist creates, viewers will probably get far more enjoyment once they know the process used to create them.

Informed by neuroaesthetics, the next time I create my art I will value the process even more, enjoying the activation of the aesthetic triad in my brain as I admire the vivid images that I have created.

1. What does “neuronal fireworks” in Paragraph 2 refer to?

A．A beautiful painting or sculpture.

B．The lighting-up of specific brain areas.

C．An advanced brain imaging technology.

D．The aesthetic assessment of modern art.

2. What effect does movement in art produce on the viewers?

A．Certain part of their brain is activated.

B．Their experience of pain is reduced.

C．Their aesthetic sense is sharpened.

D．Their body reactions are delayed.

3. The application of TMS to the brain described in Paragraph 5 leads to__________.

A．raised memory capacity

B．enhanced painting skills

C．changed artistic taste

D．improved decision-making ability

4. According to the author, what increases our enjoyment of a piece of art?

A．Knowing how it is created.

B．Having a pleasant personality.

C．Learning how science develops.

D．Understanding the meaning of life.

5. What is the author’s purpose in writing the passage?

A．To propose an abstract theory of art making.

B．To reveal the beauty of science in an artistic way.

C．To share some personal understanding of artworks.

D．To introduce a new research field for art appreciation.

4 . When you see a slim tower topping out at 14 feet 6 inches (4.4m) and made up of 208 decks of cards, you may exclaim it’s so incredible!

The tower’s architect, Bryan Berg, is an expert card builder, holding the world’s record for the tallest structure built entirely of paper cards. He’s built houses, stadiums, capitols, and castles. There’s no glue, tape or clips (别针). How can he make them stand firm? He begins by balancing four cards to form a box with arms sticking out, which forms a grid (网格). Then he repeats the grid over and over, expanding outward, to build a solid base. After that, Bryan lays cards around the edge and then across the top to make the floor for the next story of the building.

Interestingly enough, Bryan did not get the idea from any of the physical books. Instead, he discovered the unique way to build solid structures using a trick from nature. The secret is plant cells. Plant cells have hard walls and fit together tightly to form a grid that helps leaves and stems to keep their shape. Bees use the same kind of pattern to create honeycombs. Bryan borrowed this idea to invent repeating grids of card cells.

Out of curiosity, people who come to see the card buildings sometimes push and poke (戳刺) to see if they have clips inside, but find they don’t! Once, when Bryan built a card castle at Disney World, birds kept trying to land on it. A squirrel managed to take down one wall and did plenty of damage inside. But, amazingly, the castle didn’t collapse.

When it’s time to take down a card house, Bryan likes to blow them apart with a leaf blower. Is he ever sad to do it? Bryan admits it’s sometimes painful to see his structures fall. But he always knows one thing: “What goes up must come down — even card houses. They wouldn’t be so special if they were permanent. I also learn a lot from taking them apart — the destruction shows me where the weak points are. That is what my next stronger buildings really need.”

1. What makes Bryan’s card buildings stand firm?

A．Fixed clips.	B．Repeating grids.
C．Light-weight cards.	D．Multiple stories.

2. What is the third paragraph mainly about?

A．The source of Bryan’s inspiration.

B．Bryan’s specific building process.

C．Bryan’s comprehensive knowledge of biology.

D．The similarity between plant cells and honeycombs.

3. Why is the Disney card castle mentioned in paragraph 4?

A．To arouse people’s interest in visiting.

B．To prove the strength of Bryan’s card works.

C．To indicate Bryan’s popularity among children.

D．To show the harmony between man and nature.

4. What life philosophy does Bryan convey in the last paragraph?

A．Pride comes before a fall.

B．It’s unrealistic to achieve perfection.

C．One can better himself by going beyond himself.

D．Nothing is difficult for one who sets his mind to it.

5 . The Feynman Technique(费曼学习法)is a powerful method that you can use to learn anything faster because it forces you to actively think about the problem instead of passively reading or listening to someone else talk about it. You can take the following five simple steps to study better.

·Find out the topic you want to learn.     1     Otherwise, you'll end up jumping between topics without developing a deeper understanding of any of them.

·Explain the topic as if teaching a sixth-grader. This step is the heart of the FeynmanTechnique—    2    .This requires you to meet the child at their level of understanding by using the simplest way.

.Identify areas of improvement in your explanation. You’ll need to critically(批判性地)review the explanation you cane up with in Step Two     3    . Try to find any knowledge gaps, together with any areas where you felt that you couldn't explain the topic simply.

·Improve and optimiez(优化) your explanation. Think about all the knowledge gaps and other areas of improvement you found before.     4    

· Repeat the steps until you’ve achieved mastery of the topic. Keep going through each step you're fully satisfied with your explanation.    5    , and that is why going through all the prior steps just once is usually not enough to achieve topic mastery.

A．Use those to improve your explanation

B．To do so, take a critical look at your explanation

C．Make sure that your explanation is interest-based

D．Your explanations need to be short and to the point

E．The Feynman Technique works best with a repeat

F．It’s important that you clearly know the topics you’re trying to learn

G．Explaining the topic simply enough to be understood by a sixth-grade student

6 . In a fascinating paper published last year in Science, a team led by Andreas Nieder of the University of Tubingen in Germany showed that crows —already known to be among the most intelligent of animals —are even more impressive than we knew. In fact, the evidence suggests that they are self-aware and, in an important sense, conscious (有意识的).

Crows had been observed previously to use tools to solve certain problems. Nieder’s experiment showed that the birds were actively evaluating how to solve a particular problem; in effect, they were thinking it over. This ability to consciously assess a problem was associated with the cerebral cortex (大脑皮层) in the brains of humans, which birds don’t have.

Other studies support the idea that the bird brain can, in principle, support the development of higher intelligence. It had been dismissed in the past due to the small size of birds’ brains. But recent research has shown that in birds, the neurons (神经元) are smaller and more lightly-packed, which makes sense to reduce weight and makes it easier lo fly. The total number of brain cell in crows (about 1.5 billion) is about the same as that in some monkey species. But because they are more tightly-packed, the communication between the neurons seems to be better, and the overall intelligence of crows may be closer to that of gorillas (猩猩).

This research has important consequences for our understanding of the evolution of higher intelligence. First, a cerebral cortex is not needed, and there are other means to achieve the same outcome. Second, either the evolution of consciousness is very ancient tracing back to the last common ancestor of mammals and birds about 320 million years ago, or, equally interesting, consciousness arose at least twice later on, independently in mammals and birds. Both options raise the possibility that higher intelligence on the planet may not necessarily be mammal or human-like, but could very well be birdlike.

1. What did Andreas Nieder’s team find out about crows?

A．They are more intelligent than other animals.

B．They have left people a very good impression.

C．They are much cleverer than previously thought.

D．They can use tools to solve certain problems.

2. What does the underlined “It” in paragraph 3 refer to?

A．The idea.	B．The bird brain.
C．The development.	D．Higher intelligence.

3. Why do crows have high-level intelligence?

A．They have more tightly-packed brains.

B．They have a small number of brain cells.

C．Their brain neurons could communicate well.

D．Their brain cells are the same with the monkeys.

4. What can be inferred from the last paragraph?

A．Cerebral cortexes are necessary for the evolution of higher intelligence.

B．Both mammals and birds got their intelligence from common ancestors.

C．Higher intelligence has already developed separately in different species.

D．Higher intelligence on the planet might be different from what we imagine.

7 . When Ken was in high school, he did well and had a strong sense of accomplishment. However, when he was in college, his grades were not so outstanding among academically gifted students much like himself, if not better. Often he feels depressed and is withdrawing from people and activities.     1    

The literature generally has found that many of us tend to let our self-worth be contingent upon external events　(such as academics and physical attractiveness).     2     As a result, our feelings about ourselves can end up being in the hands of others.

Obviously, we all want to experience things that make us feel good. But when we have contingent self-worth, we might engage in activities that make us feel worthy while avoiding activities that make us feel unworthy.     3     Instead of working hard to meet our goals, we’ll try to avoid failure. And if we do fail one day, we might abandon our goals, lose motivation, or make excuses to help ourselves feel better.

    4     If our self-worth is contingent upon being successful at work, we might only choose jobs that are easy. That way we never fail and ensure that we always know that we are worthy. Or, maybe we only think we’re worthy if we weigh less than 130 pounds. We might undereat or engage in unhealthy eating practices just to make sure that we feel good.

Self-worth is an important psychological construct that affects not only how we think about ourselves but it also has an impact on our psychological health and functioning. So, give up the idea of seeking approval from others.     5     Doing so reminds us to be fully aware of who we are.

A．That may pose potential dangers.

B．Unfortunately, he is no exception.

C．When our self-worth depends on those, it’s unstable.

D．Let’s cite some examples to further demonstrate that.

E．Let’s dive into the cause to learn more about self-worth.

F．Actually, he’s always been labeled as “other people’s child”.

G．Instead, learn to base your self-worth on internal contingencies like virtues and faiths.

8 . Everyone knows about straight-A students. In fact, hard work isn’t the whole story behind their academic success. Many straight-A students actually put in fewer hours of homework time than their low-scoring classmates.     1    .

Set priorities.

Top students bear no breaks on study time. Once the books are open or the computer is booted up, phone calls go unanswered, TV shows unwatched, and snacks ignored. Study is business; business comes before recreation.

    2    .

Paul Melendres, a straight-A freshman from New Mexico, keeps two folders (文件夹) — one for the day’s assignments, another for papers completed and graded. Melendres’ methods have actually proven effective. Even students who don’t have a private study area remain organized. A bag or drawer keeps essential supplies together and cuts down time-wasting searches.

Clean up your act.

Neat papers are likely to get higher grades than sloppy ones. “The student who turns in a neat paper,” says Claude Olney, an Arizona State University business professor, “is already on the way to an A. It’s like being served a cheeseburger.     3    , you can’t believe it tastes good if it’s presented on a dirty plate.”

Speak up.

“    4    , I asked him to repeat it,” says Christopher Campbell. Class participation goes beyond merely asking questions, though. It’s a matter of showing intellectual curiosity. “I don’t want to memorize information for tests only,” says Campell. “Better grades come from better understanding.”

Test yourself.

As part of her note-taking, Domenica Roman emphasizes points she thinks may be covered during exams. Later she designs tentative (试验性的) test questions based on those points and gives herself a written examination before test day. “If I can’t answer the questions satisfactorily,     5    ,” she says.

A．Get organized

B．Schedule your time

C．I will go back and review

D．No matter how good it really is

E．If I don’t understand what my teacher is explaining

F．Here are some secrets of the young study champions

G．Here we make some suggestions on how to study anytime

9 . Modern humans have only existed for a relatively short time, and maybe we’d like to stick around a lot longer. But how can we do that?

Figure out climate change.

    1    There have been times in the past when it’s been hotter than it is today, and times when it’s been cooler. But there is something different about the past century. As far as we can tell from the record, there has been no time in Earth’s entire history when the climate has warmed so much in such a short amount of time.     2    There are: more frequent and more severe extreme weather events like tornadoes and hurricanes; droughts increasing; more changeable weather, with seasons beginning to lack regularity; and sea level rises. While climate change doesn’t necessarily pose an existential threat to human existence, it surely poses a threat to how we like to live our lives in modern society.

Figure out nuclear weapons.

A single nuclear weapon doesn’t pose a threat to all of humanity, but the thousands of them in the world right now certainly do.     3    Just consider all the “near misses” in recent history, where nuclear war was avoided thanks only to the quick thinking of individuals. We can only try our luck for so long. And one accident can lead to larger scale nuclear conflict.     4    

Figure out asteroids(小行星).

If you want to know the terrible consequences for ignoring space borne threats, just ask the dinosaurs how well it worked out for them. Asteroids have the ability to cause massive extinction events, wiping out vast numbers of entire species.     5     For humanity to make it to the long-term, we need to equip ourselves with asteroid detection and reduction strategies

A．The consequences can’t be avoided.

B．Countries are joining hands to solve it.

C．Now the chances of one nuclear explosion increase.

D．The earth’s climate has changed for millions of years.

E．While these kinds of events are rare, the risks are severe.

F．And we can see the effects of climate change everywhere.

G．We need to disarm as much as possible to reduce the risk of disaster.

10 . You are what you eat — and what you eat may be encoded in your DNA. Studies have indicated that your genetics play a role in determining the foods you find delicious or disgusting. “Everything has a genetic component, even if it’s small,” says Joanne Cole, a geneticist and a professor at the University of Colorado School of Medicine. “We know there is some genetic contribution to why we eat the foods we eat. Can we take the next step and actually show the exact position of the regions in the genome (染色体)?”

A new research led by Cole has gotten a step closer. Through a large-scale genomics analysis, her team has identified 481 genome regions that were directly linked to dietary patterns and food preferences. The findings were presented at the American Society for Nutrition’s annual flagship conference.

They were based on a 2020 Nature Communications study by Cole and her colleagues that used data from the U. K. Biobank, a public database of the genetic and health information of 500,000 participants. By scanning genomes, the new analysis was able to home in on 194 regions associated with dietary patterns and 287 linked to specific foods such as fruit, cheese, fish, tea and alcohol.

“This study had a huge number of subjects, so that’s really powerful,” says Monica Dus, an associate professor at the University of Michigan, who wasn’t a part of the new research but studies the relationship between genes and nutrition. “The other thing that I thought was really great is that they have so many different characteristics that they’re measuring in respect to diet. They had cholesterol, the body, socioeconomic backgrounds.”

As the research advances, Dus says such genome analyses could possibly help health care providers — and even policymakers — address larger issues that affect food access and health. “Instead of trying to obsess over telling people to eat this or that, a more powerful intervention is to link it to making sure there aren’t ‘food deserts’ or to make sure that there’s a higher minimum wage — things that have a broader impact,” she says.

1. What is the purpose of Cole’s new research?

A．To encode the role of DNA in determining food choices.

B．To select genetic components tightly related to food consumption.

C．To figure out the relationship between genetics and food preferences.

D．To identify specific regions in the genome related to food preferences.

2. What’s paragraph 3 mainly about?

A．The process of the study.	B．The findings of the study.
C．The data-source of the study.	D．The significance of the study.

3. What does Monica Dus mean in the text?

A．The subjects of the study are powerful.

B．The research team studied many aspects linking to diet.

C．The genome analyses have no prospect in the future.

D．People’s wage should be raised because of “food deserts”.

4. Which of the following can be the best title of the text?

A．What You Eat Impacts Your Health

B．What You Eat Forms Your Dietary Pattern

C．Your Genes May Determine Your Nutritional Need

D．Your Genes May Influence What You Like to Eat