1. What’s the discussion about?
A.Children’s independence. |
B.Teachers’ medical treatment. |
C.Parents’ accompanying(陪伴) their children at school. |
A.About 30%. | B.About 50%. | C.About 70%. |
A.Set up goals. | B.Do the housework. | C.Finish their homework. |
A.Neither. | B.The first one. | C.The second one. |
2 . When making choices, people assume that they pick what they like. However, research suggests that we like something strictly because we have chosen it. In other words, we dislike things we don’t choose. And this phenomenon has existed since we were babies.
In an experiment, US researchers brought several 10 to 20-month-old babies into a lab and gave them two same bright and colorful soft blocks to play with. They set each block far apart, so the babies had to crawl to one or the other—a random choice. After the baby chose one of the toys, the researchers took it away and came back with a new option. The babies could then pick either the toy they didn’t play with before, or a brand-new toy.
It turned out that the babies reliably chose to play with the new toy rather than the one they had not chosen.
In follow-up experiments, when researchers instead helped choose which toy the baby would play with, the phenomenon disappeared. “As if they were saying, ‘Hmm, I didn’t choose that object last time, because I guess I didn’t like it very much” said Lisa Feigenson, co-author of the study.
This is a very important phenomenon in life, Feigenson noted. Adults will less like the thing they didn’t choose, even if they had no real preference in the first place. It looks like babies do just the same.
It shows that the act of making choices changes how we feel about our options. The random choices might become our preferences. “They are really not choosing based on whether they are novel or what they prefer,” said Alex Silver, co-author of the study.
This new finding explains why adults build unconscious preference when they make choices between the same things. Justifying(证明有道理) choice is somehow fundamental to the human experience. “I chose this, so I must like it. I didn’t choose this other thing, so it cannot be so good. Adults make these inferences unconsciously,” Feigenson said.
Such tendency makes sense to us as we live in a consumer culture and must make so many choices every day, between everything from toothpaste brands to styles of jeans.
Next, researchers will look at whether too many choices could be a problem for babies as they certainly are for adults.
1. What is the purpose of the experiments?A.To test whether people choose what they like. |
B.To see why babies prefer new toys to old ones. |
C.To explain how babies and adults make choices differently. |
D.To study if too many choices could create problems for people. |
A.Babies prefer bright and colorful toys. |
B.Babies’ preference largely affects their choices. |
C.Babies prefer adults to help them make choices. |
D.Babies’ previous random choices affect their preference. |
A.It entirely changes our styles to choose. |
B.It helps us make wise decisions in a consumer culture. |
C.It promotes the relationship between adults and babies. |
D.It helps us understand our unconscious preference for choices. |
A.Babies like what they choose | B.Random choices matter |
C.Too many choices puzzle the adults | D.Preference affects the choice |
注意:1.词数100左右;
2.开头已写好,不计入总字数;
3.可适当增加细节,以使行文连贯。
Nowadays, more and more parents are sending their children to study abroad.
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4 . The 11-year-old girl who fought off an attempted kidnapping this week was considered as “Brave Teenager” for her quick thinking that helped police identify the suspect.
That’s exactly what happened. Alyssa was
The girl was
Alyssa told investigators that the same man had
Asked how she felt after her
A.searching for | B.looking for | C.waiting for | D.working for |
A.curiously | B.excitedly | C.eagerly | D.cruelly |
A.failed | B.fell | C.formed | D.filled |
A.attempt | B.struggle | C.effort | D.escape |
A.firm | B.cautious | C.specific | D.devoted |
A.when | B.where | C.how | D.while |
A.playing against | B.dealing with | C.playing with | D.pressing against |
A.Therefore | B.Since | C.However | D.Instead |
A.evidence | B.idea | C.image | D.decision |
A.sentenced | B.punished | C.prisoned | D.seized |
A.confirmed | B.approached | C.questioned | D.stared |
A.uncomfortable | B.dissatisfying | C.unusual | D.annoyed |
A.accident | B.event | C.incident | D.affair |
A.limited | B.close | C.narrow | D.tight |
A.argument | B.emergency | C.impact | D.opportunity |
5 . Are you right-handed or left-handed? Have you ever wondered why?
With 10% of all humans being left-handed, lefties have been looked down upon as being unlucky. In the past, left-handers were thought to be strange, and left-handedness was thought to be caused by how anxious a pregnant (怀孕的) woman was during her pregnancy. However, we might now be closer to discovering the genetic reasons behind handedness.
We know that the human body is made up of cells, each of which contains a nucleus (细胞核). Inside the nucleus are thread-like structures called chromosomes (染色体) which can be stretched out to what is known as DNA. Sections of this DNA are referred to as genes — one section of DNA would show clearly your hair color and others, the shape of your nose!
The University of Oxford research team examined the genomes (基因组) of 400,000 volunteers in the UK Biobank, of whom 38,332 were left-handed. The team discovered four genetic regions, three of which had proteins (蛋白质) that play a key role in the formation of the physical structure of the cells.
By studying the brain scans of 9000 volunteers, researchers noticed that in people who were left-handed, the left and right halves of their brain that dealt with language worked in a much more intentionally matched manner. This led them to conclude that the genetic differences they had observed in left-handed people were responsible for differences in the white matter that connects language regions of the brain.
The team also found that the regions of left-handers’ brains that set them apart from right-handers gave them a slightly higher chance of getting some mental diseases, but a slightly lower chance of getting Parkinson’s disease. This study is the first to find a link between handedness, genes, and the language areas of the brains.
1. Why does the writer use two questions at the beginning?A.To show the importance of genes. |
B.To invite the readers to answer them. |
C.To draw the readers’ attention to the topic. |
D.To test the readers’ knowledge about being left-handed. |
A.It is caused by the anxious pregnant woman. |
B.It has something to do with genes. |
C.It means greater creativity. |
D.It is regarded as being strange. |
A.By asking volunteers questions. |
B.By testing volunteers’ intelligence. |
C.By examining genomes and studying brain scans. |
D.By comparing the acts of people with different hands. |
A.Right-handers are better than left-handers. |
B.Left-handers have a smaller chance of getting Parkinson’s disease. |
C.Handedness is decided by the white matter of the brain. |
D.There is a connection between handedness and genes. |
6 . Mumbai, India’s financial capital, is famous for its terrible traffic. But since October 22nd its roads have been unbelievably clear. The reason is that drivers for Uber and Ola, India’s two biggest ride-hailing(打车服务) companies, have been on strike(罢工). Local newspapers reported that 90% of the roughly 35,000 drivers in the city have stopped working. Mumbai’s middle classes have been forced back onto trains and buses to get around.
Protests(抗议者) against working conditions at ride-hailing companies are not new, nor unique to India. The drivers’ complaints are clear. When Uber, an American company and Ola, from Mumbai, started operating five years ago, they paid drivers generously. Some made as much 100,000 rupees a month ($1,360), a fortune in India. But over the past two years pay has been cut strongly. And in recent months, rising petrol prices have made things worse.
But that drivers are poor can’t make sure a successful strike. What seems to be making a difference in Mumbai is the organizing strength of powerful unions, in particular one called Maharashtra Rajya Rashtriya Kamgar Sangh. If it were not for those colleagues of this union who keep order, forcing striking drivers to take off their clothes or destroying their phones, thousands of angry drivers would have crossed the warning line.
The ride-hailing companies do not think they have the support of the authorities; last year, Uber won an injunction(禁令), forcing police officers to stop threatening its drivers. But if the companies give in to the strikers, what will happen? In July, one of Ola’s top managers said that the company’s losses increased by 55% last year to $660m. Uber does not publish figures for each of its markets, but it is not thought to be making money in India. Striking drivers should perhaps not push things too far: they may find themselves out of jobs.
1. Why have the roads in Mumbai been clear recently?A.People in Mumbai prefer trains and buses to get around. |
B.Most of drivers stopped working because of the strike. |
C.The roads are under repair. |
D.Unions in Mumbai stopped all the drivers from working. |
A.Unions in Mumbai have little organizing strength. |
B.The decrease of drivers’ income is the main cause of this strike. |
C.Mumbai’s traffic used to be very terrible. |
D.Uber may not earn much money in India market. |
A.With the help of the authorities, ride-hailing companies will not give in to drivers. |
B.The strike will be successful in the end. |
C.Drivers should continue their strike until their demands are met. |
D.Drivers should not protest extremely, or they would lose their jobs. |
A.Ride-hailing in India: A Hopeless Story. |
B.Ride-hailing in India: A Successful Business. |
C.Ride-hailing in India: Facing Great Challenges. |
D.Ride-hailing in India: Struggling for Survival. |
These days, people who do manual(手工的 体力的)work often receive far more money than people who work in offices. As often as not, people who work in offices
8 . Kids and science seem to be made for each other!
The basic science is a combination of thought and experiment called the scientific method. It’s where you start with an idea, create a way to prove or disprove your idea, and show what you learned based on facts. Learning to follow this process helps you think logically and carefully. These important thinking skills can be used in many areas of study. To give a child practice with these thinking skills is like giving vitamins (维生素) to a developing mind.
One of the greatest things we can teach our children is to love learning. Learning science is a great way to do so. Children are easy to be interested in science. Because much of science is hands-on (实践), it attracts most children. Nothing makes a child sit up and take notice like the “WOW!” of a great science showing.
Science opens doors to many subjects at school. Building love for science can be helpful in other areas of study. For example, one cannot love science for very long without becoming good at its language-math! So science encourages children to study math. An interest in science is an interest in how things were once understood compared to how they are understood now. Thus studying science lends itself easily to studying history. And after you do an experiment, you need to write a lab report. Therefore, writing becomes an important part of science.
Science is the basic thing for much of our life. The science of farming shows how our food is produced; biomedical science keeps us healthy; even our beds these days are designed according to scientific facts. We almost eat, sleep and breathe with the help of science! When we prepare the next generation of voters, creators and policy makers, it is important to make sure they are not only comfortable but also good at science.
1. What is the text mainly about?A.How kids can make use of science. | B.Why science is important. |
C.Why kids should learn science. | D.What kids should learn at school. |
A.Think very carelessly. | B.Think carefully. |
C.Think according to a reason. | D.Think on your own. |
A.usually has no time for other subjects. |
B.is likely to learn many other subjects well. |
C.is usually bad at such subjects like history. |
D.usually loses interest in other activities. |
A.Science is too difficult for children. |
B.Children usually consider science boring. |
C.Science could make children love learning. |
D.Children who can’t think carefully shouldn’t learn science. |
9 . You’re standing at a city bus stop, waiting for a bus to arrive. You wait and wait.
What’s going on? Why do buses always seem to come in bunches (成群) instead of at regular intervals (间隔) ?
However, experts who study traffic say that bunching really can happen quite easily.
Suppose many people happen to gather at a particular stop.
Check it out the next time you hop (跳上) a bus!
A.There’s supposed to be a bus every 10 minutes. |
B.But you don’t know the exact time the bus will arrive. |
C.The problem is the different numbers of people at the stops. |
D.Some people claim that bus bunching doesn’t happen very often. |
E.And soon after several more stops, the second bus catches up with the first. |
F.Find the probability that the waiting time is longer than you expected. |
G.It takes longer than usual for the passengers to board the first bus that arrives. |
10 . Australian experts have expressed concerns that too many millennials(千禧一代) are hoping to use their social media accounts to build their careers. Their concerns follow the sudden rise in “insta-celebrities” who make money by posting sponsored(赞助的) photos online. For the lucky few who are not only talented photographers but also good-looking and business-savvy(有商业头脑的), making money off social media isn’t impossible.
Instagram is flooded with social media professionals paid to promote products and services. However, social scientist Lauren Rosewarne, from the University of Melbourne, says that in reality, there are far fewer people making money off the platforms than one may think. She said many young Australians were getting sucked in by the appeal of making money on platforms like Instagram, describing it as “totally unrealistic” and extremely difficult to do.
“Young people are hoping to be famous in numbers that were simply not there 20 years ago,” Rosewarne told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) on Saturday. “There are some people who can make fortunes out of monetizing(使具有货币性质) their Instagram posts, but that is not the norm.” She said it was up to parents and schools to discourage students from seeking Insta-fame, as many believe it is a possible career choice. “There’s the warning for parents; this is not a normal or even common occurrence that you can monetize your Instagram account.”
Meanwhile Toni Eager from Australian National University said social problems could arise from spending too much time with social media. “Where do the insta-celebrities go to separate the life people see on Instagram from their actual normal life?” Eager said. “All of a sudden, people own your private life.”
1. Why is there a rise in “insta-celebrities”?A.Many young people are good at taking photos. |
B.Many people see it as a shortcut to making money. |
C.People want to socialize by sharing photos online. |
D.Instagram offers a reliable career choice for millennials. |
A.Becoming involved in something. | B.Benefiting from something. |
C.Taking advantage of something. | D.Being satisfied with something. |
A.Young people today are more business-savvy than ever. |
B.Young people are becoming less interested in internet fame. |
C.Instagram is not a good platform to promote new products. |
D.It may not be a good idea for the young to try earning money on Instagram. |
A.An over-reliance on Instagram. | B.Inability to appreciate life. |
C.A loss of personal privacy. | D.An addiction to the virtual life online. |