Most people have dictionaries in their homes. The Oxford English Dictionary reached even more people when it went online
To predict is to guess what comes next. Making predictions is a reading strategy, in which readers use information from a text and their own personal experiences
Doctors in Bristol can send patients on a free course from this month, which uses stand-up comedy to help patients overcome their trauma (创伤). The course was pioneered by Angie Belcher, a comedian at the University of Bristol.
Comedy is a natural human trait (特质). Every night we come back home from work and tell our family what our day was like, but on the way home we’ll make up details, and try to make our stories funnier to entertain family members. Professional comedy education is to give a tool to take this to a more polished and informed level. The content of the six-week course is described as a “combination of psychology, comedy and storytelling.”
Actually, past traumas are perfect for comedy. Comedy doesn’t come from the happy moments of our life, but from our everyday struggles. People, who’ve been through big life experiences, such as the loss of a close friend or ill health, often can’t wait to share their stories, mostly because there’s always something funny about the situation. We can accept and honor the comedy of a situation, as much as the sadness of it.
While the comedy course can’t take the place of traditional clinical approaches, talking about our trauma in a funny way is quite lovely, and more importantly, it has a chain reaction on our audience, and we help other people to deal with their sadness. When we bring our stories alive for others, it makes other people feel less alone. Having our experiences mirrored back to us is hugely comforting. Comedy builds community.
1. Who was the course pioneered by?2. What is the content of the course?
3. Please underline the false part in the following statement and explain why.
Comedy comes from our everyday struggles, and from the happy moments of our life as well.
4. If you meet a trauma, would you like to take the comedy course? Why?
(In about 40 words)
Last Friday Peta-Lynn, a 13-year-old girl from Darwin, saved a man from a huge crocodile. Mr. Graham was standing in shallow water near his boat
Leo has always been the kind of child who looks for close connections. When Leo was in preschool, he befriended Neve, who was only two. When Neve was not around, instead of finding a new partner, Leo began to treat Celia, a voice assistant, as his new friend.
At first, Leo mostly asked Celia factual questions like “How many stars are there in the Milky Way?” He then turned to the personal questions, “Celia, how old are you?” She responded, “Age is nothing but a number.” He insisted, in the way children do, “How old are you?” She replied, “I’m not qualified for a driver’s license, but it may be more to do with the fact that I don’t have a body.”
As time passed by, Leo began to engage Celia on more, let’s say, existential questions. “When will the sun swallow the earth?” he asked. “7.5 billion years,” according to Celia. Leo was satisfied, “Oh, okay. I’ll be dead by then.” Then he asked, “Why does everything on earth have to die?” She replied coldly, “I’m having trouble with the connection.” Celia, I realized, had an avoidant communication style, often hiding behind some kind of technical problems when she didn’t like a question.
As a mother, it was strange to see my child interacting with a virtual assistant rather than a real person. But I also recognized that Celia was providing him with a kind of emotional support that he wasn’t getting elsewhere. In a way, she was like a diary that talked back.
I wondered if this reliance on technology was healthy, but I knew that Leo was far from alone in seeking comfort in his devices. Although I hope that Leo will continue to seek out human connections, I’m grateful to Celia for being there for my son when he needed her. And who knows? Maybe she’ll turn out to be his soulmate after all.
1. What is Celia?2. What kind of questions did Leo ask Celia at first?
3. Please decide which part is false in the following statement, then underline it and explain why.
Leo’s mother encourages him to seek out human connections and disagrees with his interacting with Celia.
4. What do you think of virtual assistants becoming a source of emotional support for people? (In about 40 words)
6 . Offload Thoughts
In our busy world, we rush from task to task, often leaving us feeling easily angered. We seek out technology or brain-enhancing products to help us optimize (最优化) our productivity, but end up running on a never-ending hamster(仓鼠) wheel.
Research shows that spending too much time optimizing our thoughts for perfect outcomes not only leaves us feeling exhausted, but can also have harmful effects on our wellbeing and work output. Optimizing thoughts requires being highly focused. But it just goes against the way our minds work. That is to say, efficiency isn’t always productive when we pursue it.
Our brain essentially has two main modes of operating: the “focus network” and the “default mode network.” When one network works, the other physically can’t turn on. The modern world often demands we live in the focus network and the default mode network is often less celebrated.
Cognitive (认知的) offloading is an accessible practice. It has the potential to not only release emotions, but enhance mental capabilities, too. Even just a few moments of creative flow — like offloading the feelings of anxiety by doodling (涂鸦) before a meeting — can have a strong impact on emotions.
| A．The functionality is simpler than you might imagine. |
| B．Give ourselves a few minutes to offload our emotions. |
| C．Being focused all the time can eventually lead to less self-control. |
| D．Fortunately, there is a way to stop this kind of always-on mentality. |
| E．It’s no surprise that the majority of us feel more exhausted than ever. |
| F．But spending more time on the latter offers a form of “insurance” for our emotions. |
| G．What’s more, this exercise can help give the brain the space to make new connections. |
7 . Many of us may experience dinner-table debates. One common scene plays out as follows. You want to convince a friend or a family member of something you know they may disagree, and you share information and walk through your reasoning with them. Still, they reject your case. How do you react when your powers of persuasion fail? You might dismiss the person who doesn’t agree with your arguments as narrow-minded, foolish or otherwise out of touch with reality. The whole experience may feel like trying to guide someone on a journey when they refuse to follow. Psychologists have created a term, persuasion fatigue, to describe this form of frustration (懊恼).
Persuasion fatigue may make it harder to successfully keep challenging conversations. Past research demonstrates that feeling frustrated can make you more resistant to changing your mind. It also shows that frustration may reduce your ability to recognize why your arguments don’t succeed. Persuasion fatigue also explains why, when debates break down, people tend to blame their conversational opponent. As Mark Twain once wrote, “In all matters of opinion, our opponents are insane (愚蠢的).” In past findings, people generally reported three times as many reasons why others’ faults led to failed debates rather than their own shortcomings. It is true that others are not always open to your ideas. Ending the discussion can therefore be the right thing to do. But in an overheated debate, your fatigue may lead you to misinterpret the situation and believe that your opponent is too stupid to see the truth. Fortunately, psychologists suggest some sound approaches to managing these situations and protecting your relationships.
To reach your audience, it may be essential to express your message in terms of their values, not yours. Psychologists call this “moral reframing.” In fact, researches suggest that the simple act of acknowledging values of the people you’re talking to — telling them you understand where they’re coming from, even if you don’t agree—may lead them to lower their defenses and open up a little to new arguments.
Your fatigue may be even worse by thinking or assuming that debate is a zero-sum struggle — that you win if, and only if, your opponent loses. But sometimes you’re better off seeing an argument as a cooperative effort to find the truth — less like angry neighbours fighting over their property line. The neighbours map land together by viewing it from multiple angles. Similarly, debates can help you triangulate a view between your opinion and the other person’s.
The tendency to blame others for exhausting debates has real consequences. In our exhaustion, we may fail to see when our frustrations stem from a deep desire for connection. Recognizing persuasion fatigue—and how we contribute to it—may help us pass through heated debates without leaving those we love behind.
1. People may experience persuasion fatigue when they _________.| A．try in vain to convince others | B．misinterpret others’ reasoning |
| C．adopt others’ views unwillingly | D．try to persuade narrow-minded people |
| A．One can’t stick to his point of view. |
| B．One admits his limits and weaknesses. |
| C．One can’t get to the root of failed debates. |
| D．One feels incompetent for further arguments. |
| A．To stress the effect of changing others’ mind. |
| B．To confirm the difficulty of winning an argument. |
| C．To explain the reason for one’s ending an argument. |
| D．To support the idea of one’s tendency to blame others. |
| A．Seeing a debate as a zero-sum game. |
| B．Making an effort for common ground. |
| C．Shifting the topic to lower others’ defenses. |
| D．Reframing points based on one’s own values. |
8 . Recently, a new discovery has been made in the field of biology that challenges our previous understanding of the origins of life on Earth. For decades, scientists believed that life emerged in a warm, shallow pond, where a series of chemical reactions led to the creation of the first living cells. However, a team of researchers has now uncovered evidence that suggests life may have actually begun in a quite different environment.
The discovery was made in a remote part of the ocean, where a team of scientists was exploring a hydrothermal vent (深海热泉) system located deep beneath the surface. Hydrothermal vents release superheated water and gases from the Earth’s mantle (地幔). They create an extreme environment that is unfavourable to most forms of life, but home to a variety of unique organisms.
As the scientists collected samples of the vent’s mineral-rich liquid, they noticed something strange. They discovered that it contained a complex network of organic molecules (分子), including amino acids (氨基酸) and other building blocks of life. This was surprising, as hydrothermal vents were previously thought to be empty of life-supporting chemicals. However, the most striking discovery was yet to come. Analysis of the organic molecules revealed that they were not simply the product of chemical reactions in the vent, but rather had been produced by living organisms. This served as evidence of a lively ecosystem that was completely independent of sunlight and the surface world.
This discovery has significant implications for our understanding of the origins of life on Earth. The warm pond hypothesis (假说), which has long been the dominant theory, suggests that life emerged in a relatively warm and damp environment. However, the new evidence from the hydrothermal vent system suggests that life may have actually begun in an extreme environment, where survival was only possible through the development of original biochemical pathways. The discovery also raises new questions about the potential for life to exist on other celestial bodies (天体). Hydrothermal vents have been identified on Saturn’s moon Enceladus and Jupiter’s moon Europa. The presence of organic molecules at these sites suggests that unique forms of life may exist.
While this discovery is still in its early stages, it is already beginning to reshape our understanding of the origins of life and the potential for life on other planets. It is a testament to the power of scientific exploration and the incredible complexity of life on Earth. As we continue to explore the depths of the ocean and the vast expanse of space, who knows what other surprises and discoveries lie in store.
1. What did the scientists newly discover in the vent’s liquid?| A．Superheated gases. | B．A variety of minerals. |
| C．Life-supporting chemicals. | D．Complex forms of life. |
| A．The warm pond hypothesis proves to be right. |
| B．Organic molecules lead to chemical reactions. |
| C．Forms of life were identified in the vents on other planets. |
| D．Original biochemical pathways can occur in severe conditions. |
| A．Researches help us push the boundaries of technology. |
| B．Scientists have addressed the limitations of the research. |
| C．New discoveries inspire us to further explore the unknown. |
| D．Researchers have confirmed the origins and complexity of life. |
9 . I recently attended a wedding in a rural area in north Italy, and guests were provided with a car and driver for the 90-minute journey into the hills. That was exciting: A private car! I could pretend I was rich! Since I’m not, though, I had no idea how much this trip actually cost. As a result, after our driver picked us back up at midnight, I secretly worried all the way home about tipping him.
I fished around nervously in my purse and realized that all I had was a $100 note, which I was keeping for an emergency. I had nothing smaller. And I had nothing else to offer but two chocolates from the wedding. So, I could tip the driver that $100 note or two chocolates. In the end, I chose the money.
The whole matter of tipping has long been a source of awkward interactions — and, for some travellers, mild anxiety — throughout the world. Tipping customs vary wildly from country to country. A friend in Rome tells me that Italians get hurt by big tips. “Leaving a big tip is considered impolite,” she adds, “I’ve had Italian friends make me take money back.”
It reminded me of my 100-dollar tip. What if I had annoyed the driver? So I decided to call the car company and ask them to pass on a message to the driver apologizing for the improper tip and explaining the situation.
To my surprise, the car company responded that the driver had actually called to express his gratitude for the unexpected big tip. He had apparently been having a tough week and the money had come at just the right time.
I was astonished. All my worry had been for nothing. What started out as a source of anxiety ended up being a heartwarming experience. I learned that sometimes it’s better to go with your feelings and be generous, even if it means taking a risk.
1. What did the author realize when she dug around in her purse?| A．She had spent 100 dollars on emergency. |
| B．She had to ask the driver for smaller changes. |
| C．She had nothing but two chocolates to offer the driver. |
| D．She had no smaller notes and might tip too high or too low. |
| A．To compare different tipping customs. |
| B．To share a personal story of her friend. |
| C．To show the possibility of upsetting the driver. |
| D．To demonstrate her rich knowledge on tipping. |
| A．He was annoyed by the large tip. | B．He appreciated the author’s generosity. |
| C．He was grateful and refused the money. | D．He was upset by the awkward interaction. |
| A．Good things are possible when you follow your heart. |
| B．You’d better think carefully before taking action. |
| C．When in Rome, do as the Romans do. |
| D．A penny saved is a penny earned. |
10 . There’s no place like home—a place to put your feet up, relax and be yourself. But a brand new full-service private rental property named Homestead is redefining(重新定义) modern living, making you feel at home.
Freed from the small stuff
Right from moving in, convenience is built into the process, with fully-furnished, high-quality apartments available for residents and access to all facilities of Homestead and Wi-Fi included in monthly rental cost.
Feel at home
Not only are Homestead’s apartments beautifully designed and furnished to create a sense of relaxation and luxury, but the shared spaces for residents to use and socialise in—from the inviting reception area to the landscaped roof garden and stylish private dining rooms—all reflect a contemporary, high-quality reimagining of what renting ought to be.
Make hybrid work really work
As hybrid work, which focuses on the flexibility of working, is part of our lives now, the opportunity to shift between workspaces with ease is critical. Start the day catching up on emails in a stylishly-designed co-working space steps away from your front door, before taking calls on the outside platform or travel into your employer’s office when you need to.
Be a people person
Living at Homestead means joining a community of like-minded people. Whether you meet neighbours on the roof garden or in the cinema room, or choose to network in the co-working space, making friends couldn’t be more straightforward.
Tap here for helpful services
They say there’s an app for everything—and in this case, there is an app with everything. The Homestead App gives you quick access to a range of bookable services, from ordering takeaway to dog walking to cleaning services—all right on your doorstep, meaning more time to actually enjoy the rest of your day.
Visit Homestead and discover how full-service rental lets you make the most of homelike living.
1. What is the purpose of the passage?| A．To inform us of rental services. | B．To advertise a rental property. |
| C．To report on a different lifestyle. | D．To sell multi-functional apartments. |
| A．By offering shared working spaces. |
| B．By giving access to bookable services. |
| C．By supplying a full set of office equipment. |
| D．By providing training to improve efficiency. |
| A．Residents can live an old-fashioned life. |
| B．Homestead saves residents from buying furniture. |
| C．Residents are required to join a social community. |
| D．Homestead charges residents extra fee for using Wi-Fi. |
