1 . Overhear any conversation or pay close attention to your own, and you will hear laughter. You will probably also notice that, more often than not, the laughter is in response to something that was not very funny—or was not funny at all. Take Hillary Clinton’s strategic laughter during heated exchanges with Donald Trump in the presidential debates.
In one research in my Vocal Communication Lab at UCLA, we played recorded laughs to listeners and asked them, “Is this laugh ‘real’ or ‘fake’?” Our recorded laughs were either taken from real conversations between friends in a laboratory setting, or produced by request, also in the lab. It turned out that about 70 per cent of the listeners were able to tell the “real” laughs from the “fake” ones. Quite a few fake laughs sound pretty good, but why are fake laughs not as convincing as we expect? We can detect part of a laugh that is hard to fake—and that part has to do with the control of our breath.
Laughs could essentially be broken up into two different vocalisation (发声) systems: speech and emotion. Although both kinds of laughs are vocalised as “ha-ha-ha,” the intermittent breaths a person takes in—between the sounds give away a fake laugh. Real laughs have a higher proportion of breathy parts in between. Think about every time you force a laugh. You have to actually say the “ha-ha-ha,” and probably never consider how you breathe while doing it.
A fake laugh is basically an imitation of a real laugh. If you slow down a real laugh about two and a half times, it sounds like an ape (猿). But a slowed fake laugh sounds more like human speech. We put this observation to the test with the slowed-down versions of the laughs used for our first experiment, and asked participants whether the recordings were from a human or an animal. Though they couldn’t tell the origin of the real laugh, they were able to tell that the fake laugh came from a human.
Real laughs are produced by an emotional vocal system that humans share with all primates (灵长目动物), whereas fake laughs are produced by a speech system that is unique to humans. Laughter in humans likely evolved from play vocalisations in our primate ancestors. If one animal bites another during a rough-and-tumble (小打小闹的) play, it could be taken as an attack. But if they signal while panting (喘气) that they are just playing, the play can continue without being interrupted by an unnecessary real fight. In this way, real laughter reveals our animal nature.
1. Fake laughter is easy to detect because _________.| A．it is not in a real conversation |
| B．it responds to something that is not funny |
| C．its control of breath is different |
| D．it sounds too good to be true |
| A．human emotion | B．human speech |
| C．ape emotion | D．ape nature |
| A．Fake laugh is an imitation of real laugh. |
| B．Real laugh demonstrates our animal nature. |
| C．Humans and apes share an emotional vocal system. |
| D．A speech vocal system is unique to primates. |
2 . Why Is Exercise Important to Teenagers and How to Get Started?
Teens get involved in a lot of things in high school. Some are involved in clubs and others are part of the band. There are many reasons why sports are great for teens and here’s how they can get started.
One of the biggest benefits for teens to be involved in sports is that it keeps them active. Some teens would be content to play video games or watch television all the time they’re at home. If a teen spends all their waking time being inactive they could gain weight and become unhealthy.
Be sure your child knows to warm up properly before playing any sport. Warming up before any physical activity will help your child avoid injury.
Encourage your teens to try out for one high school sport. Perhaps they’re not comfortable with football, but that doesn’t mean they wouldn’t excel in swimming or tennis. They may also enjoy playing baseball or soccer. Girls may enjoy basketball, swimming.
Many sports team will require that students try out before being able to join. Try-outs may include showing how active your teen is, running, jumping or if they are quick enough. They want to ensure your teen has at least the minimum skills required for the sport they’re trying out for.
Being a part of a sports team can also help your teen make friends.
| A．Athletes almost become like a second family. |
| B．This is a good practice whether they’re practicing with the team or exercising on their own. |
| C．Do everything you can to encourage your teen. |
| D．Being a part of a sports team will help them burn calories so they will remain healthier. |
| E．Your teens may not feel that they’re good enough to make their high school sports team. |
| F．High school coaches are going to do their best to keep their team members healthy. |
3 . As hundreds of thousands of people continue to die each day from this disease, the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic(流行病) continues to impact almost every aspect of daily life for the global population.
The COVID-19 has devastated economies and caused great challenges to healthcare and food systems around the world. Globally, billions of people have been ordered to stay at home as a result of lockdowns. Social distancing and lockdowns have reduced diagnosis(诊断) rates of infectious diseases by reducing social contact.
However, individuals have avoided seeking help for other health problems due to lockdowns and avoidance of medical settings, leading to reduced diagnosis and treatment despite the problem still being there. Meanwhile, even in diagnosed cases, treatment for diseases and conditions such as cancer had to be put off in many cases due to the immediate threat of COVID-19 consuming health systems and their resources. Scientific research around the world has also focused on COVID-19, potentially delaying research and breakthroughs on other diseases.
Before the pandemic, around half of the world’s population did not have access to essential healthcare, and this number has been increased by the pandemic. Healthcare systems across the globe need to become more accessible and need to be prepared for future pandemic-like events in a way that will reduce the impact on the management of other diseases.
Overall, it is generally believed that no country was fully prepared to handle a pandemic, particularly one at the degree of the COVID-19 pandemic. One of the most significant lessons that can be learned from the COVID-19 pandemic is the importance of political will in its role in protecting people from pandemic diseases. In order to ensure that the world is better prepared for the next new infectious agent, public health systems must remain committed to developing adequate surveillance (监察) programmes and prompt diagnostic techniques.
1. The underline word “devastated” in Paragraph 2 most probably means “_________”.| A．destroyed | B．resisted |
| C．secured | D．boosted |
| A．In order to lighten people’s mental health burden. |
| B．Reducing social contact can make it less likely to infect COVID-19. |
| C．Because the bad weather prevents people from going out. |
| D．Because all public transport is halted. |
| A．People should learn to protect themselves from infection. |
| B．Health systems need to become more accessible and improve their technologies. |
| C．Government should take more strict prevention measures. |
| D．People should stay at home and reduce social contact. |
| A．How the COVID-19 infects people. |
| B．The measures used to prevent the spread of the COVID-19. |
| C．The effects of the COVID-19 and lessons learned from it. |
| D．The causes of the outbreak of the COVID-19. |
4 . O. Henry was an American writer whose short stories are known for wit, wordplay and clever twist endings. He wrote nearly 600 stories about life in America. He was born on September 11, 1862, in Greensboro, North Carolina. His father was a medical doctor. When Henry was three his mother died and he was raised by his grandmother and aunt.
Like many other writers, O. Henry’s early career aspirations were unfocused and he wandered across different activities and professions before he finally found his calling as a short story writer. He left school at the age of 15 and then had a number of jobs, including bank clerk. In 1896 he was accused of embezzlement(挪用公款). Although there has been much debate over his actual guilt, he was convicted of embezzling funds from the bank that employed him, he was sentenced to 5 years in jail.
While in prison he began writing short stories in order to support his young daughter. He published 12 stories while in prison. After serving 3 years of the five-year sentence, he was released for good behaviour. He moved to New York City in 1902 and wrote a story a week for the New York World and also wrote for other magazine.
His first collection of stories was Cabbages and Kings (1904). The next collection, The Four Million (1906), included his well-known stories The Gift of the Magi, The Cop and the Anthem and many others.
Unfortunately, O. Henry’s personal tragedy was heavy drinking. By 1908, his health condition became worse and his writing dropped off. He died in 1910. The funeral was held in New York City, but he was buried in North Carolina, the state where he was born. He was a gifted short story writer and left us a rich legacy of great stories to enjoy. All of his stories are highly entertaining, whether read for pleasure or studied in classrooms around the world.
1. Why was O. Henry sentenced in jail?| A．He was the murderer of his wife. |
| B．He was accused of embezzlement. |
| C．He stole jewellery from the bank. |
| D．He was sentenced for drink-driving. |
| A．support his daughter |
| B．make a living by himself |
| C．realise his dream of being a writer |
| D．make money for travel |
| A．O. Henry’s father was a medical doctor. |
| B．O. Henry’s sentence of five years was shortened. |
| C．O. Henry was buried in a different place from where his funeral was hold. |
| D．O. Henry had a great life in his later life. |
5 . Have you tried to run or walk for exercise and then given up? If you answered yes, you should try a new kind of exercise: aquatic (水中的) exercise. Aquatic exercise is like exercise on land, but you do it in a swimming pool. More and more people are trying aquatic exercise now.
Aquatic exercise feels easier than exercising on land. Why? You weigh about 90% less in the pool. It is better for your knees than running or walking. Water is about 1,000 times thicker and heavier than air. To move through the water, your body has to work four times as hard. As a result, you can burn more calories (卡路里).
In fact, most people say they feel more relaxed in the water. They stop thinking about the things that make them worried. They feel in control of their bodies. The cool, quiet environment makes them feel good.
But what if you are afraid of the water? No problem! There is nothing to worry about. Aquatic exercise is safe and easy to learn. It doesn’t require any special skills. You don’t even need to know how to swim. Aquatic exercise is for everyone.
1. What is Paragraph 2 mainly about?| A．Difference between air and water. |
| B．Weight change of one’s body. |
| C．The advantages of aquatic exercise. |
| D．The ways to do aquatic exercise. |
| A．Relaxing. | B．Worrying. |
| C．Challenging. | D．Boring. |
| A．done in groups | B．fit for everyone |
| C．difficult to learn | D．done with special skills |
| A．Culture. | B．Health. |
| C．Nature. | D．Travel. |
6 . Have you ever heard of Nollywood? Nollywood is the name of the Nigerian (尼日利亚的) film industry. Nigeria is one of the largest film industries in the world based on the quantity of films produced, placing them right below India’s Bollywood and above USA’s Hollwood!
Born in around 1992. Nollywood is the youngest compared with the other two “woods”, and uses new forms of financing and production. Now it’s in adulthood. and bigger productions have become more regular. However, this was not always the case. Although movie theaters were rare in Nigeria during earlier period, original stories were not. Despite lack of funds and experience, self-made directors began to use commercial video cameras to shoot their movies and sold them for home viewing. Even though this resulted in movies with low production value, the original stories instantly made them a hit. Today, the film industry is the largest employer after agriculture and makes up 5% of Nigeria’s GDP.
Nigeria is a big player in the industry and it is constantly improving its craft, taking on new challenges. Nollywood is known mainly for its comedies and dramas, but we are increasingly seeing horror movies and musicals.
Although sometimes heavily criticized for low production values. Nollywood continues to grow fans worldwide. Nigerian movies now make up 11% of Nigeria’s non-oil exports! The average movie is produced in 7-10 days on a budget between ￡7,000-12,000 (Hollywood’s average is around ￡60 million per movie with one year production time).This is changing, however, as more filmmakers are receiving proper training and are aiming to make films up to the international standard.
1. What is the advantage of Nollywood?| A．Commercial support. | B．Original stories. |
| C．Dominant comedies. | D．Fast production. |
| A．Bollywood produces more films than the other two “woods”. |
| B．Nollywood is known as the youngest among the three “woods”. |
| C．Hollywood’ s budget for an average movie is much less than Nollywood’s. |
| D．It takes much less time to produce a Nollywood film than a Hollywood one. |
| A．Nollywood’s contribution to Nigera’s GDP is second only to agriculture |
| B．Nollywood makes fewer comedies and dramas than horror movies and musicals |
| C．movies made by Nollywood occupy more than 11% of Nigeria’ s export industry |
| D．more filmmakers in Nollywood are attempting to improve the quality of its films |
| A．films worth enjoying in Nigeria. |
| B．major differences among the “woods”. |
| C．promising future of Nollywood. |
| D．features and changes of Nollywood. |
7 . A technology company is developing a lie detector app for smartphones that could be used by parents, teachers and Internet daters.
The app measures blood flow in the face to assess whether or not you are telling the truth. Its developers say that it could be used for daters wanting to see if somebody really is interested in them. Parents could use it on their children to see if they are lying and teachers could work out which of their pupils are truthful.
The app is being developed by Toronto startup NuraLogix and the software is called Transdermal-Optical Imaging.
The idea is that different human emotions create different facial blood flow patterns that we have no control over. These patterns change if we are telling the truth or telling a lie. Using footage from the smartphone camera, the software will see the changes in skin color and compare them to standardized results. A study found that anger was associated with more blood flow and redness while sadness was associated with less of both.
Kang Lee, who has been researching the field for 20 years, said that the lie detector test will let you find out the truth “non-invasively, and remotely, and sometimes it can be covertly”
He said, “It could be very useful, for example, for teachers. A lot of our students have math anxiety but they do not want to tell us, because that’s embarrassing.”
Lee added that the technology would not replace lie detectors used in a court of law. He said, “They want the accuracy to be extremely high, like genetic tests, and a one-in-a-million error rate. Our technique won’t be able to achieve an extremely high accuracy level, and because of that I don’t think it’s useful for the courts.”
He added that it will be a few years before the dating app is available to consumers.
1. How does the app work?| A．By monitoring the heartbeat. |
| B．By analyzing the blood flow in the face. |
| C．By measuring one’s blood pressure. |
| D．By checking the words one says. |
| A．A consumer buying a smartphone. |
| B．A student working on a math problem. |
| C．A judge in court. |
| D．A parent concerned about his child. |
| A．violently | B．artificially |
| C．secretly | D．confidently |
| A．it takes some time for the dating app to be put to use |
| B．it has been proved that the app is more effective in court than at school |
| C．the app matches genetic tests in accuracy |
| D．the app comes from the idea that we can control our facial blood flow patterns |
8 . In July, 2015, NASA's Kepler mission has confirmed the first near-Earth-size planet in the "habitable zone" around a sun-like star. This discovery and the introduction of 11other new small habitable zone candidate planets mark another milestone in the journey to finding another "Earth"
The newly discovered Kepler-452b is the smallest planet to date discovered orbiting in the habitable zone—the area around à star where liquid water could pool on the surface of an orbiting planet—of a G2-type star, like our sun. The confirmation of Kepler-452b brings the total number of confirmed planets to 1,030.
"On the 20th anniversary year of the discovery that proved other suns' host planets the Kepler has discovered a planet and star which most closely resemble the Earth and our Sun," said John Grunsfeld, associate administrator of NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington. “This exciting result brings us one step closer to finding an Earth 2.0.”
Kepler-452b is 60 percent larger in diameter than Earth arid is considered a super-Earth-size planet. While its mass and composition are not yet determined, previous research suggests that planets the size of Kepler-452b have-a good chance of being rocky.
While Kepler-452b is larger than Earth, ' its 385-day orbit is only 5 percent longer. The planet is 5 percent farther from its parent star Kepler-452 than the earth is from the sun. Kepler-452 is 6 billion years old, 1.5 billion years older than our sun, has the same temperature, and is 20 percent brighter and has a diameter 10 percent larger.
"We can think of Kepler-452b as an older, bigger cousin to Earth, providing an opportunity to understand and reflect upon Earth's evolving environment," said Jon Jenkins, who led the team that discovered Kepler-452b. "If all the necessary ingredients and conditions for life should exist on this planet, there would be a good opportunity for life to arise."
To help confirm the finding and better determine the properties of the Kepler-452 system, the 'team conducted a series of ground-based observations: These measurements were the key for the researchers to confirm the planetary nature of Kepler-452b and to better pin down(确定)the size of the planet and its orbit.
1. When was the first host planet found in another solar system?| A．In 2015. | B．In 1985. |
| C．In 2005. | D．In 1995. |
| A．Whether there is life on Kepler-452b remains unknown. |
| B．Kepler-452b is 10 percent larger in diameter than the sun. |
| C．Judging from its size, it is very likely that Kepler-452b is rocky. |
| D．Kepler-452b is a planet orbiting in the habitable zone. |
| A．which Kepler-452b resembles more, the earth or the sun |
| B．more mysteries in our solar system |
| C．the planetary nature of Kepler-452b |
| D．the significance of NASA's Kepler mission |
| A．the discovery of a new Earth-like planet |
| B．the discovery of a new solar system |
| C．the origin of the universe |
| D．the comparison, between the earth and Kepler-452b |
9 . History has been made at the 2015 FINA World Championships in Kazan, Russia, as men competed in synchronized swimming(花样游泳) for the first time .
There was nothing in the world that could prevent July 26, 2015 from being the best day in Bill May’s life. The 36-year-old American synchronized swimmer became the first male world champion in mixed synchronized swimming.
“It’s something that I have dreamed of my entire life,” said May. His partner Christina Jones believed “this is the future of synchronized swimming”.
Synchronized swimming has been an Olympic sport since 1984, but only as an event for women. Nevertheless, men kept training in the hope that a chance might come for them to compete at the top international level, at the Olympics or the World Championships.
“Men’s choreography(舞蹈编排) is different from women’s. It is a completely different style. In a mixed duet(混双项目) the man should personify strength and power The woman, on the contrary, beauty and grace,” Russian male synchronized swimmer Alexander Maltsev said.
However, some people still believe that synchronized swimming should be a sport purely for women. Although men are stronger, they are less flexible so it is harder to get the necessary extension in: the legs. Buoyancy(浮力) is also an issue. The sport is very difficult for men in general, because men don’t actually float like women.
As times have changed, women now can compete in every category of sport at the Olympics, but there still remain two that are closed off to men-synchronized swimming and rhythmic gymnastics(艺术体操).
Some see FINA’s change as a sign that the International Olympic Committee(IOC)may also be ready to include mixed duets soon. Nevertheless, the IOC says that it will only consider adopting male synchronized swimming after a formal request from FINA and no such request has ever been made.
It may take many years for the IOC to open the door to male synchronized swimming but if and when it does, one thing is certain. “If synchronized swimming went to the Olympics, I would definitely be there to compete,” said Bill May, “even if I am 85. ”
1. According to the passage, Bill May dreamt of _______.| A．being the first male champion swimmer at the Olympic Games |
| B．being a professional synchronized swimmer and defeating other competitors |
| C．having a partner who could help him win the championship at the top international- level |
| D．competing in a world championship of synchronized swimming as a male athlete |
| A．they never gave up training |
| B．they kept appealing to the Olympic committee |
| C．they made synchronized swimming known to more people |
| D．they tried to gain support from the female swimmers |
①flexibility ②judgement ③floatability ④strength
| A．①② | B．①③ |
| C．②③ | D．③④ |
| A．FINA hasn’t made the formal request |
| B．Male synchronized swimmers are not fully prepared |
| C．Female synchronized swimmers are strongly against it |
| D．Rhythmic gymnastics hasn’t been adopted |
10 . The market investigation is indispensable to sales promotion. They are closely related as the lips and teeth, so to speak. What you produce is for sale on the market. It would be impossible to succeed in selling a product without first investigating the market.
In the international market, goods on sale are coming from different countries and suppliers are always facing keen competition. Under such circumstances, they will try everything possible to familiarize themselves with the market conditions. In making investigations, we ought to get information about what similar items the competitors are offering on the market, what prices they are quoting (报价) , what features their products have, who are their regular customers, etc. Then, how can we obtain such information?
There are many channels that we can, make use of in doing this sort of work. The commercial counselor’s offices of our embassies stationed abroad can help us in making market investigations. Nowadays, our import and export corporations send their trade groups abroad every now and then. One of their purposes is to make market surveys on the spot.
Certainly, face-to-face talks with foreign businessmen are also important channels to get market information. The Chinese Export Commodities Fairs, and some other fairs of similar nature as well as visits of foreign businessmen provide us with such opportunities. Of course, there are some other ways of making market investigations.
1. In making market investigations, one should _________ .| A．get enough information concerned | B．advertise his products |
| C．produce high quality goods | D．visit the competitors |
| A．successful | B．necessary |
| C．advisable | D．available |
| A．Every producer is faced with fierce competition. |
| B．The market investigation plays a big role in promoting sales. |
| C．Goods on sale are numerous because of globalization. |
| D．The investigation offers many job opportunities. |
| A．to contact the commercial counselor’s offices of our embassies stationed abroad |
| B．to improve the quality of the products and achieve high production efficiency |
| C．to send trade groups abroad every now and then |
| D．to have face-to-face talks with foreign businessmen |
