1 . Did you ever have to say “no” to somebody? Such as a classmate who asks to go to lunch with you? New research suggests that, at least socially, a rejection (拒绝) should not include an apology. In other words, saying you are sorry does not make the person being rejected feel any better. In fact, it might make the rejected person feel worse. That is surprising. Many people consider it to be good manners to say they are sorry when they turn down a request.

Gili Freedman is doing some related research at Dartmouth College. For her research, she asked over 1,000 people to respond to different examples of social rejection. In one example, the researchers asked people for their reaction (反应）after a person named Taylor asked to join a co-worker who went out to lunch every Friday. And Taylor was told “no”. But in some cases, the person rejecting Taylor offered an apology. In other cases, the people doing the rejection did not say they were sorry. People were asked how they would feel if they were being turned down, just as Taylor was. Most said they would be more hurt by a rejection with an apology than a rejection without an apology.

Freedman said the reason is that apologies make people feel like they need to say that the rejection was okay— even when they felt like it was not okay. Rejection without an apology lets them express their feelings of disappointment, hurt or anger more easily. Freedman also said that an apology often makes the person doing the rejection feel better—even as it makes the person being rejected feel worse.

Her research deals only with social communication. A business situation might be very different. “If a manager rejects a job interviewee or a boss must tell an employee that he or she is being fired from a job,” Freedman said, “reactions to apologies may be different.”

1. Why do people say they are sorry when they express rejection?

A．Because they think it is more polite.

B．Because they think it helps them express their dislike better.

C．Because they think apologies are the basis of communication.

D．Because they think it sounds more comfortable for the listener.

2. In Gili Freedman’s research, over 1,000 people ________.

A．rejected others without an apology

B．offered an apology when rejecting others

C．would be more hurt by a rejection with an apology

D．were asked to answer the question in different situations

3. What role does an apology play in rejection?

A．It makes the rejection more acceptable.

B．It makes a good impression on the listener.

C．It makes the communication more pleasant.

D．It makes the person doing the rejecting feel better.

4. What will be mentioned next according to the last paragraph?

A．The effect of an apology during a rejection.

B．Gili Freedman’s research on business situations.

C．A rejection with an apology in a business situation.

D．The difference between a social situation and a business one.

2 . Concerns about the harm caused by “too much” screen time—particularly when it is spent on social media—are widespread. But working out what a “healthy” ___ might be is far from easy.

Some negative experiences on social media—like ____ how your appearance compares to others—do affect some children. However, this does not mean that technology use in ____ is harmful and it is difficult to make claims about how it will affect different people.

Consider the picture painted by a UNICEF review of existing research into the effects of digital technology on children’s ____ comfort, including happiness, mental health and social life. Rather than stating that social media was harmful, it suggested a more ____ effect.

The UNICEF report highlighted a 2017 study that examined 120,000 UK 15-year-olds. Among those teenagers who were the lightest users, it was found that increasing the time spent using technology was linked to ____ comfort—possibly because it was important for keeping up friendships. ____, among the heaviest users of technology, any increase in time was linked to lower levels of comfort. Overall, the UNICEF study suggested that some screen time could be good for children’s mental health.

A broader look at evidence provided by some other high quality studies again suggests the story is not ____. An early study in 2013 looked at how the television and video game habits of 11,000 UK five-year-olds affected them two years later. It is one of few studies actually ____ the effects of technology over time. It suggested that, compared with children who watched one hour of television or less on a weekday, a small increase in conduct problems was seen among those who watched more than three hours each day. Playing electronic games, however, was not seen as leading to a greater ____ of friendship or emotional problems.

So how much time should our children spend looking at screens? It is difficult to be ____ as different people spend time online in such different ways. A useful comparison might be with sugar. Broadly speaking, people ____ that too much sugar can be bad for your health. But the effect it might have can depend on many factors, from the type of sugar to the person and the amount. We would not ____ trust anyone who claims to predict how someone is affected by consuming one gram of sugar. The same could be said for ____ usage: the outcomes depend on so many factors that only very ___ predictions are possible.

1.

A．amount

B．comparison

C．experience

D．medium

2.

A．accounting for

B．boasting of

C．commenting on

D．worrying about

3.

A．general

B．particular

C．private

D．public

4.

A．domestic

B．material

C．physical

D．psychological

5.

A．complex

B．dramatic

C．harmless

D．predictable

6.

A．improved

B．maximum

C．relative

D．small

7.

A．As a rule

B．In contrast

C．On the whole

D．Worse still

8.

A．convincing

B．definite

C．probable

D．true

9.

A．estimating

B．experiencing

C．reducing

D．tracing

10.

A．connection

B．power

C．promotion

D．risk

11.

A．balanced

B．independent

C．precise

D．subjective

12.

A．agree

B．forget

C．object

D．remember

13.

A．equally

B．readily

C．reluctantly

D．weakly

14.

A．emotion therapy

B．social media

C．TV broadcasting

D．video game

15.

A．confident

B．optimistic

C．rough

D．wild

3 . In this Pennsylvania city, Pittsburgh is shrinking but getting wealthier. Since 2000, its population has declined by 95,000 while its income per capita (人均) has shot up 24 percent. The trend is taking hold in many other cities, like Buffalo in New York, Providence in Rhode Island and New Orleans.

Some of these areas have created more high-paying jobs in energy, health care or education. Others have managed to reshape their producing industry for a new economy. Higher-paying jobs have a greater effect because they create demand for additional services. "The story in Pittsburgh is very positive, and other areas are looking at it as an example of the transformation that might be possible，”said Guhan Venkatu, who wrote an economic history of the area called “Rust and Renewal” for the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland.

Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Pittsburgh have helped bring tech jobs and innovation(革新) to the area by sponsoring tech centers that help graduates start companies without moving to Silicon Valley or San Francisco. This has helped keep Pittsburgh's educated young population growing even as the entire population in the city has dropped.

Pittsburgh has more STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) jobs than other shrinking cities, about 80, 000 or 7% of all jobs. STEM jobs add productivity and income growth to the area. Manufacturers of high-tech medical equipment in the Pittsburgh area also have doubled employment in the last 10 years.

However, some experts question whether growing income per capita can really make up for a declining population. According to Patrick Adler, a researcher at the University of Toronto, population loss does matter if it means lower-skilled workers have fled because of a lack of opportunity. What's more, high-paying jobs in education and health care can disappear if the population declines too greatly. So it'd be wise to find ways to increase the population.

1. In what aspect does Pittsburgh set a good example?

A．Transforming old energy into new energy.

B．Creating more well-paid jobs.

C．Prohibiting the manufacturing.

D．Sponsoring higher education.

2. How do some academic institutions help with the local economy?

A．By helping to attract more talents from other areas.

B．By providing much technical support to local companies.

C．By hosting tech centers for local educated graduates.

D．By assisting in employing a large number of educated youths.

3. Why is Patrick Adler mentioned in the last paragraph?

A．To show the disadvantage of a declining population.

B．To suggest increasing high-paying jobs.

C．To raise doubts about growing income per capita.

D．To tell a reason why lower-skilled workers flee.

4. What can be a suitable title for the text?

A．How Fast Job Growth Is Related to Population Growth

B．How Less-crowded Cities Plan Their High-tech Economy

C．Why Some Cities Are Losing People but Getting Wealthier

D．Why Some Cities Are Suffering From a Shrinking Population

4 . Don't get mad the next time you catch your teenager texting when he promised to be studying. He simply may not be able to resist. A University of lowa(UI) study found teenagers are far more sensitive than adults to the immediate effect or reward of their behaviors. The findings may help explain why the initial rush of texting may be more attractive for adolescents than the long-term pay off of studying.

"For the teenager, 'the rewards are attractive." says Professor Jatin   Vaidya，an author of the study. "They draw adolescent. Sometimes, the rewards are a kind of motivation for them. Even when a behavior is   no   longer in a teenager's best interest to continue, they will, because the effect of   the reward is still there and lasts much longer in adolescents than in adults ."

For parents,that means limiting distraction (分心的事情）so teenagers can make better choices. Take the homework and social media dilemma: At 9 p.m., shut off   everything except a   computer that has no access to   Facehook or Twitter, the researchers advise. "I'm not saying they shouldn't be allowed access to technology," Vaidya says. But some help in netting their concentration is necessary for them   so they can develop those impulse-control skills.”

In their study,Vaidya and co-author Shaun Vecera note researchers generally believe teenagers are impulsive（冲动的)，make bad decisions，and engage in risky behavior because the frontal lobes（额叶）of their trains are not fully developed. But the UI researchers wondered. whether something more fundamental was going on with adolescents to cause behaviors independent of higher-level reasoning.

"We wanted to try to understand the brain's reward system how it change from chillhood to adulthood," Says Vaidya, who adds the reward character in the human brain is easier than decision-making. “We've been trying to understand the reward process in adolescence and     whether there is more to   adolescence behavior than an under-developed frontal   lobe,”he adds.For their study ,the researchers persuaded 40 adolescents, aged 13 and 16,and 40 adults, aged 20 and 35 to participate.

In the future,researchers hope to look into the psychological and neurological（神经学上的）aspects of their results.

1. What does the passage mainly tell us?

A．The initial rush of texting is less attractive for adolescents than the long-term pay off of studying.

B．Always, rewards are attractive to teenagers.

C．Resistance can be controlled well by adolescents.

D．Getting rewards is the greatest motivation for adolescents to study.

2. Which   statement   agrees with Vaidya's idea?

A．The influence of the reward is weak in adolescents.

B．Parents should help children in making decisions.

C．Children should have access to the Internet.

D．Children need help in refocusing their attention.

3. What result does teenagers' brain underdevelopment lead to?

A．Doing things after some thought.

B．Making good decisions.

C．Joining in dangerous actions.

D．Escaping risky behavior.

4. How did the researchers carry out their study?

A．By making a comparison of brain examinations.

B．By examining adults’ brain.

C．By examining teenage brain.

D．By building the train’s reward system.

5 . Home prices remained divergent in China during December, with some of the first-tier cities recording price drops, while second and third-tier cities saw increases due to the varied market policies, the National Bureau of Statistics said on Thursday.

Newly built commercial housing prices in the first-tier cities－namely Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen－remained stable in December, while those in second and third- tier cities rose by 0.6 percent and 0.5 percent respectively from November 2017.

The same trend was witnessed in second-hand home prices, which dropped slightly by 0.1 percent in first-tier cities and rose 0.3 percent in both second and third-tier cities in December, said Liu Jianwei, a senior statistician at the NBS.

In September 2017, the local governments of several regional capitals launched new restrictions to further slow home sales, in response to the central government’s call to end housing speculation and cool the red-hot housing market in certain cities.

As housing regulations in larger cities have tightened, investors have started looking for opportunities in medium-sized and small cities, thus causing a noticeable home price increase in third-tier cities.

Fan Hengshan, deputy secretary-general of the National Development and Reform Commission, said at an economic forum on Thursday that housing prices in third and fourth-tier cities have risen too fast, and this needs to be monitored carefully.

“The home price increase in third-tier cities will have a fairly large impact, considering that a large part of China’s gross domestic product and population come from these cities,” said Zhang Zhiwei, chief economist and head of equity strategy for China at Deutsche Bank, during a recent media briefing.

Zhang estimated that third-tier cities accounted for a major part of Chinese residents’ 50 trillion yuan wealth gains, driven by rising home prices in 2017.

“Despite a relatively large increase in home prices in third-tier cities, studies have found that at the end of 2017, local residents in 85 third-tier cities need to save four to eight years of their income to buy a home, meaning that house price to income ratios are not too high in these cities,” he said.

1. What does the underlined word “divergent” in the first paragraph mean?

A．Diverse	B．Stable
C．Increasing	D．Decreasing

2. What do we know from the passage?

A．Housing prices in the first-tier cities dropped slightly in December.

B．Home prices in medium-sized and small cities remained stable in November.

C．National housing prices rose in most time of 2017.

D．The second-hand home prices dropped slightly in the first-tier cities while rose in both second and third-tier cities in November.

3. Why did the housing prices in the third and fourth-tier cities rise fast?

A．Because the local governments didn’t launch any restrictions and regulations.

B．Because the governments in the first-tier cities have carried out tougher measures.

C．Because there are more people living in these cities.

D．Because people there saved more money than other cities.

4. Where is the passage probably taken from?

A．A science book.	B．A newspaper.
C．A fashion magazine.	D．A text book.

6 . 阅读下面短文，在空白处填入1个适当的单词或括号内单词的正确形式。

Up to 82 percent of children with healthy mothers are not easy to be obese（肥胖的）, according to research. A mother,     1     has a healthy weight, exercises regularly, eats a healthy diet, doesn’t smoke and only     2    (drink) wine in moderation, is significantly less likely     3    (have)a fat child, scientists say.

And research suggests it could be more to do with nurture(养育)    4     nature, as a mother's lifestyle appears     5    (direct) linked to the health of her child. When both mother and child follow a healthy lifestyle, the risk of obesity     6    (reduce)even more, the study of more than 24,000 children found.

The study examined the medical history and lifestyles of more than 24,000 children aged nine     7     fourteen, born to almost 17,000 women in the US. Researchers looked at the link between overall mother health and likelihood of a child     8    (be) obese.

The mother's health was judged on her height-to-weight ratio(比例), her diet, amount of physical     9    (active), smoking status and how much alcohol she drank. A healthy weight and diet, regular exercise, no smoking and moderate drinking all reduce the chance of a woman having     10     obese child.

7 . Researchers define self-control or self-discipline as“ability to control or change one’s inner responses”.    1     However,some people think that as an immediate consequence of leading lives of constant self-control,they aren’t likely to gain a lot of pleasure from life.

    2     To start,414 adults completed on online survey.In the survey,they rated the their self-control by indicating how much they agreed with 14 statements,such as“I indeed do certain things that are bad for me,if they are fun.”

In their study,205 adults were given smart phones and required to report their emotions at random moments throughout the week.     3     If so,they had to report how hard they tried to resist them,and whether they eventually ended up acting on them.

The researchers found that the more self-control people had,the more satisfied they were with their lives in the long run.     4       In fact,such people’s increased happiness to a large extent accounted for the increased life satisfaction.

These researchers also figured out that people high in self-control are simply less likely to find themselves in situations where that’s even an issue.They don’t waste time fighting inner battles over whether or not to eat a second piece of cake.    5     And that,it would seem,makes them happier……even if occasionally a little bit sad.

A．In a word,they are not bothered about such little desires.

B．Researchers checked these general ideas through a survey and study.

C．It is generally believed that in the long run self-control can make people happier.

D．Meanwhile,they were also asked to report whether they were experiencing any desires.

E．However,people with more self-control were also more likely to be happy in the short run.

F．But they are still uncertain why some people are more able to control their inner responses.

G．Most adults reported they failed to control their desire to play video games before an exam.