1 . Problem-solving

Solving problems draws on two types of intelligence: crystal and fluid. Crystal intelligence involves using stored knowledge to answer questions of fact (e.g. what is the speed of light?), which relies on our ability to learn and remember information.

Fluid intelligence involves solving more creative problems, such as how to get a lion, a goat and a cabbage over a river in a single-passenger boat.     1     It is partly because solutions tend to pop, fully formed, into consciousness as “aha!” moments. It also seems that our brains use different strategies for different types of puzzle.

    2     For example, to solve “If ABC=12, then DEF =?” you need to know three things: the alphabet, the number sequence (序列), and the coding technique of linking two sequences in parallel. Once you have this knowledge, you can find the answer by matching letters to their appropriate numbers, without having to look elsewhere for any extra information. In this case, focusing attention on the problem helps you get to the right solution.

Complex problems, on the other hand, require a different approach, because the number of things you need to know and handle is greater than your consciousness brain can cope with.     3     No human brain can think through them all, let alone hold them in mind in order to compare them. Inexperienced chess players typically react to the complexity of a chess problem by concentrating hard on working out possible sequences of events. Rather than helping them, however, this intense, narrow attention can make their play worse.

The reason is that focusing attention on sequential computation, which is done by the brain’s left side, closes down areas of the right side that are concerned with taking a wider view.     4     The right-side activity produces an intuitive (直觉的) sense of what the problem is and provides context for the conscious computations occurring in their left side. This use of intuition, with years of experience, distinguishes experts from new players not only in chess, but also in every area that requires complex problem-solving.

A．A chess move, for example, can lead to billions of outcomes.

B．Intense attention locks both sides of the brain into a particular pattern of activity.

C．This kind of intelligence has proven more difficult to understand.

D．Master players, by contrast, use their right side as well as their left.

E．As well as looking at problem from multiple angles, brilliant problem-solving involves dismissing bad options quickly.

F．We tend to work out simple problems—those involving just a few factors—methodically.

2 . Directions: After reading the passage below, fill in the blanks to make the passage coherent and grammatically correct. For the blanks with a given word, fill in each blank with the proper form of the given word; for the other blanks, use one word that best fits each blank.

Talking With — Not Just to — Kids Powers How They Learn Language

Children from the poorer families begin life not only with material disadvantages but cognitive ones. Research for decades    1     (confirm) this, including a famous 1995 finding by psychologists Betty Hart and Todd Risley: By age four children raised in poverty have heard 30 million fewer words, on average, than their peers from wealthier families. That gap has been linked to shakier language skills at the start of school,     2    , in turn, predicts weaker academic performance.

But just the quantity of words a child hears is not the most significant influence on language acquisition. Growing evidence has led researchers     3     (conclude) quality matters more than quantity, and the most valuable quality seems to be back-and-forth communication — what researchers call conversational turns.

A paper     4     (publish) last week in Psychological Science brings a new kind of support to this idea, offering the first evidence that these exchanges play a vital role in the development of Broca’s area, the brain region most closely associated with     5    (produce) speech. Further, the amount of conversational turns a child experiences daily outweighs socioeconomic status in predicting both the activity in Broca’s area and the child’s language skills.

The researchers confirmed the classic 1995 finding that, overall, kids from wealthier families hear more words. And small     6     their sample was, they even confirmed the 30-million-word gap between the poorest and richest children. But they found that “by far     7     (big) driver for brain development was not the number of words spoken but the conversations,” Gabrieli says.

The researchers calculated that a child’s verbal ability score increased     8     one point for every additional 11 conversational exchanges per hour.

The study is a “very, very important” addition to a growing body of work, says developmental psychologist Kathryn Hirsh-Pasek, director of the Infant Language Laboratory at Temple University. “We have known for quite a while that conversational turns — or     9     in my work we call conversational duets — are very important for building a foundation for language and maybe for learning generally. What remains to be done is to link it     10     we know it has to be linked.”

3 . Directions: After reading the passage below, fill in the blanks to make the passage coherent and grammatically correct. For the blanks with a given word, fill in each blank with the proper form of the given word; for the other blanks, use one word that best fits each blank.

Deep asleep? You can still follow simple commands

Scientists once considered sleep to be like a shade getting drawn over a window between the brain and the outside world: when the shade is closed, the brain stops     1     (react) to outside stimuli.

A study published on 12 October in Nature Neuroscience suggested that there might be periods during sleep when that shade is partially open. Depending on what researchers said to them, participants in the study would     2     smile or frown on cue in certain phases of sleep.

“You’re not supposed to be able to do stuff     3     you sleep,” says Delphine Oudiette, a cognitive scientist at the Paris Brain Institute in France and a co-author of the study. Historically, the definition of sleep is that consciousness of your environment stops, she adds. “It means you don’t react to the external world.”

A few years ago, however, Oudiette began questioning this definition after she and her team conducted an experiment     4     they were able to communicate with people who are aware that they are dreaming while they sleep — otherwise known as lucid dreamers. During these people’s dreams, experimenters were able to ask questions and get responses through eye and facial-muscle movements.

Karen Konkoly, who was a co-author on that study and a cognitive scientist at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, says that after that paper came out, “it was a big open question in our minds     5     communication would be possible with non-lucid dreamers”.

Hence, Oudiette continued with the work. In her latest study, she and her colleagues observed 27 people with narcolepsy — characterized by daytime sleepiness and a high frequency of lucid dreams — and 22 people without the condition. While they were sleeping, participants     6     (ask) to frown or smile. All of them responded accurately to at least 70% of these prompts.

Overall response rates were higher for all participants during REM (rapid eye movement) sleep, when the deepest sleep occurs but the brain remains more active than during other sleep stages. The researchers tracked participants’ brain activity during the experiments using electroencephalography   (EEG), which captures signals from electrodes (电极) placed along a person’s scalp (头皮). What this shows was that “you have some physiological states that are     7     (favourable) to drawing the window shade than opening it to the external world”, Oudiette says.

    8     (use) similar experiments, researchers might gain a better understanding of various sleep disorders, including insomnia and sleep walking, she says. Later on, they might begin to identify the parts of the brain that are active during sleep, and how     9     relate to consciousness.

This study being conducted is part of a larger evolution in the field of sleep research, says Melanie Strauss, a neurologist and cognitive scientist at Erasmus Hospital in Brussels, Belgium. Researchers     10     (move) away from monitoring sleep mainly with EEG and towards “fine grained” approaches that combine EEG with various tasks and stimuli — a strategy that could help to shed light on specific diseases or conditions, she says.

4 . The secrets of long life

A long healthy life is no accident. It begins with good genes, but it also depends on good _________. So what’s the formula for success? In a recent study, scientists have focused on groups living in several regions where exceptional longevity is the normal: Sardinia, Italy, Loma Linda, California, and the islands of Okinawa, Japan.

Sardinians

Why do they live so long? _______ is part of the answer. By 11 a.m. Tonino has already milked four cows, chopped wood and walked four miles with his sheep. Now, taking the day’s first break, he gathers his grown children, grandson, around the kitchen table. Giovanna, his wife, unties a handkerchief containing a paper-thin flatbread called carta da musica, pours some red wine, and cut slices of homemade cheese.

These Sardinians also benefit from their _______ history. According to Paolo Francalacci of the University of Sassari, 80 percent of them are _______the first Sardinians, who arrived in the area 11,000 years ago. Genetic traits made stronger over generations may favor longevity.   _______, too, is a factor. The Sardinians diet is loaded with fruits and vegetables, milk and milk products, fish and wine. Most of these items are homegrown.

Adventists

The study found that the Adventists’ habit of consuming beans, soy milk, tomatoes, and other fruits _______their risk of developing certain cancers. It also suggested that eating whole wheat bread, drinking five glasses of water a day, and, most _______, consuming four servings of nuts a week reduced their risk of heart disease. And it found that not eating red meat had been helpful in avoiding both cancer and heart disease.

Okinawans

The first thing you notice about Ushi Okushima is her _______. It fills the room with pure joy. This rainy afternoon she sits comfortably wrapped in a blue kimono. Her thick hair is combed back from her suntanned face, revealing alert green eyes. Not long ago, she started wearing perfume. When asked about the perfume, she _______that she has a new boyfriend. ________behavior for a young woman, perhaps, but Ushi is 103.

With an average life expectancy of 78 years for men and 86 years for women, Okinawans are among the world’s longest lived people. This is undoubtedly due in part to Okinawans warm and ________ climate and scenic beauty. Senior citizens living in these islands tend to enjoy years ________disabilities. Okinawans have very low rates of cancer and heart disease compared to American seniors.

A lean diet of food grown on the island and a philosophy of ________— may also be a factor. “eat until your stomach is 80 percent full.” may also be factors. Ironically, this healthy way of eating was born of ________. Ushi Okushima grew up barefoot and poor, her family grew sweet potatoes, which formed the core of every meal. During World War II, when the men of the island joined the army, Ushi and her friend Setsuko fled to the center of the island with their children. “We ________ terrible hunger,” Setsuko recalls.

1.

A．habits

B．parents

C．efforts

D．secrets

2.

A．Companion

B．Lifestyle

C．Environment

D．Birthplace

3.

A．unique

B．fantastic

C．genetic

D．religious

4.

A．curious about

B．connected with

C．fond of

D．senior to

5.

A．Inheritance

B．Gene

C．Nutrition

D．Peace

6.

A．accepted

B．evaluated

C．increased

D．lowered

7.

A．surprisingly

B．originally

C．unexpectedly

D．miserably

8.

A．dressing

B．identification

C．laugh

D．expression

9.

A．proposes

B．assumes

C．jokes

D．denies

10.

A．Aggressive

B．Violent

C．Disorderly

D．Predictable

11.

A．changing

B．inviting

C．extreme

D．tropical

12.

A．suffering from

B．overcoming

C．free from

D．recovering

13.

A．moderation

B．feasibility

C．evolution

D．identification

14.

A．wealth

B．hardship

C．orphan

D．harmony

15.

A．died of

B．satisfied

C．experienced

D．kept off

5 . Directions: Fill in the blanks with the words in the box and change the form where necessary. Note that there is one word more than you need.

coordinate   glaring   materialize   proportions   utilize   abuse   susceptible   collective   contend   novel   speculate

Nine out of every ten humans are right-handed, an imbalance that researchers for decades have attempted to explain, without definitive success.

One of the ideas considered is the fighting hypothesis, which suggests that left-handedness provides an advantage in combat, albeit with an overall hit to physical health that keeps lefties rare in the population. Indeed, males — who historically have competed most strongly for resources and mates — are left-handed at slightly higher rates than females. Moreover, studies suggest that lefties tend to outperform right-handed people in fighting sports as well as in sports that require hand-eye     1     like tennis, baseball, and volleyball. This is likely because players are unaccustomed to competing against lefties as they are rarer.

However, a big problem with the fighting hypothesis is that its predicted health disadvantage hasn’t     2     in large studies. On the whole, left-handed people don’t seem to suffer from more health problems than right-handed people, nor do they live shorter lives.

Left vs. Right

Noticing this     3     issue, a trio of scientists based out of Lund University in Sweden and Chester University in the United Kingdom proposed an update to the fighting hypothesis that comports better with current data. In an article published in the journal Symmetry, Matz Larsson, Astrid Schepman, and Paul Rodway     4     that right-handed humans actually had a greater fighting advantage over much of our species’ history, which is why they’ve become far more numerous.

“When left-handers became rarer, they gained a surprise advantage and the     5     of left- and right-handers in a population stabilized,” they further explained.

So why do right-handed humans have a fighting advantage? According to the researchers, it has to do with the position of the heart and the notion that humans did most of their fighting with handheld, pointy weapons like wooden spears for much of our species’ existence.

About three-quarters of the heart is situated in the left hemithorax, making the left side of the chest a(n)     6     target for a mortal blow. The researchers note that when humans battle with stabbing weapons, the hand     7     to hold the weapon determines which area of the chest is exposed to an opponent. A left-handed grip will rotate the left side of the chest, and thus most of the heart, toward an enemy, while a right-handed grip will rotate it away. Moreover, a free left arm could be used to deflect spear strikes in combat.     8    , this means that right-handed humans might be more protected from a deadly strike.

Based on this     9     version of the fighting hypothesis, a key prediction can be made. Since there is no health disadvantage from being left-handed and fighting with pointy weapons is no longer an evolutionary pressure, we should see the proportion of left-handed people stay the same in modern societies or broadly rise. Some studies suggest that left-handedness has increased in the 20th century, but it is uncertain if this is due to genetic or cultural reasons.

It should be noted that this new explanation for the preponderance of right-handed people is still very much a hypothesis, based on     10     from physiological facts and behavioral anecdotes, with further support from large, albeit observational, data sets. The modified fighting hypothesis is cogent, but as yet unproven.

6 . If you live in Tokyo or Toronto, you need a warm coat in winter. But you want one that is short, or black, or has a designer brand. The aim of advertising to change our ideas about things we want and we need.

Some ads for designer products use people’s vanity to sell a product. The ads try to create a personality for each brand. For example, one brand of watches is for people who like adventure, with ads featuring an auto racer or a pilot wearing them. Another brand of watches is for elegant and fashionable people, and the ads show wealthy travelers on a cruise ship. The watches look almost the same- only their image as different. When you buy that brand of watch, you are buying the image.     1    

Many ads use people’s emotions to persuade us that we need the product. Think of a TV commercial that shows a woman out driving in a car on a rainy day, with her two small children. Suddenly, another car turns in front of her. The children are still smiling and laughing. The message is: This car will keep you safe.     2     Other examples are slogans that tell you to take vitamins to prevent heart disease, ‘or’ buy insurance- protect your family.

Commercials for soft drinks often show people having a party, playing sports, or enjoying a day at the beach: Everyone in the ad is having a good time. The message is : If you buy this drink, you will have a good time too. Many ads like this are based on people’s desire for fun and enjoyment.

    3     Psychologists have found that people have positive feelings about things they see more often, so the same ad is used for a long time before it is replaced with a new ad. Other studies found that people react better to an ad when it is fresh in their memory, so TV ads are repeated very often.

Knowing about psychology in advertising lets us make better decisions about the things we buy.     4    

A．Advertisements like this one use fear to sell products

B．You have to be careful not to be fooled by the ads on the Internet.

C．But the children may not realize that what they are viewing is unreal.

D．This is the reason that people spend much more money for a product.

E．After an ad is prepared, advertisers use psychology to make it more effective.

F．It helps us know the difference between what we want and what we really need.

7 . Directions: Complete the following passage by using the words in the box. Each word can only be used once. Note that there is one word more than you need.

A. acquisition             B. advocates             C. decision-making              D. displeasure              E. distinguish F. evidence             G. exhibit                    H. frustrating                    I. messier             J. puzzled              K. undeveloped

Nobody who has witnessed a young child splashing in the bath or reaching out to grab a bunch of shiny keys will be in any doubt that kids love to use their senses, and do so without any inhibitions! But it’s not just about having fun. Sensory play is a vital part of a child’s physical and psychological development, contributing to a range of skills such as hand-eye coordination, concentration and    1    .

Even the sensory skills of newborn babies are nowhere near as    2    as we might imagine. Although their sight is not good, we know that they are comforted by the feeling of being cuddled and rocked, and they also    3    marked reactions to music or strong smells. In addition, they will already have begun to hear sounds while still in the womb and — incredibly — are able to    4    their mother’s voice from other voices at birth.

Their sensory reactions also cause them to exhibit    5    , for example, at the feel of a wet nappy against their skin, or the unfamiliar texture of a new kind of food. Failure to recognise the cause of the ensuing screaming can be extremely    6    for the parent or carer as well as the child. That is why more and more parents are turning to a form of ‘baby sign language’, which can be taught from the age of six months. Not only, say its    7    does it eliminate the need for guesswork when your baby is awake and crying at 3 a.m., but it also results in higher educational attainment in later life.

Sensory play can also help with language    8    , particularly if the parent explains clearly what is going on: ‘Can you feel the fur? Hmm, smell this soap.’ And of course, from the moment children begin to speak, they bombard their parents with questions, all of which contributes to their speech and learning.

It’s obvious that children enjoy using their senses, and all the    9    points to the fact that we should allow them the freedom to do so. Sand, mud, water; think of them as educational tools: the    10    the better!

8 . What’s the relation between snore (打鼾) and obesity?

Many people like to snore while they are sleeping, not only men, but also women, and they are getting younger. So why do people snore when they sleep?

When people breathe, gas enters the body and passes through the nasal cavity, nasopharynx, oropharynx and larynx, all the way to the trachea and lungs. Snoring is the sound of a gas passing through a narrow passage, resulting in strong airflow changes and vibrations.

    1     Snoring is not terrible, terrible is to play a few times after the sudden silence, not breathing the most terrible. If the air doesn’t get into the lungs, there’s a condition called sleep apnea, or sleep apnea. If the gas stays in your mouth or nose for more than 10 seconds, you’re basically suffering from sleep apnea. However, don’t worry too much.

So, how can you prevent snoring? There are many popular remedies for snoring, such as drinking pepper water and using mouthwash before going to bed.     2     A large number of cases show that obesity is an important factor in the snoring phenomenon, and weight gain is an important cause of snoring and even breath-holding. When a lot of young people are not fat, they do not snore. But after weight gain, this phenomenon might occur.     3    

What’s more, people should give up bad habits in their daily life. For example, heavy drinking can make snoring worse.     4     Many cases show that patients do have a lot of benefits after cleaning the nasal cavity (鼻腔): many patients with mild allergic rhinitis or sinusitis through rinsing the nasal cavity, the condition has been significantly improved.

A．So you should exercise more and control your weight.

B．Well, that is not actually the case.

C．However, these methods have little effect.

D．In addition, also pay attention to nasal cleaning.

E．In fact, if any place in this passage is narrow, there will be snoring.

F．Sleeping on your back can also make you snore.

9 . Directions: Fill in each blank with a proper word chosen from the box. Each word can be used only once. Note that there is one word more than you need.

A. access       B. basically       C. eliminate       D. fit       E. generate       F. majority G. merely     H. perform       I. power       J. promise       K. preference

Noise-canceling headphones worth the price?

A little bit of silence. Sometimes that’s all we want. Whether it is halfway through a 10-hour flight with a crying baby or trying to sleep through the snoring from the hotel room next door, the     1     of noise-canceling headphones is one that every traveler probably finds charming. Yet are they worth it? These headphones are often expensive, and for some people, they don’t live up to the ads.

I’ve spent a     2     of the last five years traveling, taking dozens of flights and train journeys, and as someone who has reviewed noise-canceling headphones for even longer, I can definitely say maybe.

HOW THEY WORK? Noise-canceling headphones, also called active noise canceling headphones, use electronic processing to analyze nearby sound and attempt to     3     the opposite sound. The result is less noise, over all.

These headphones don’t create silence, nor are they able to     4     noise. The crests and troughs (波峰和波谷) do not perfectly cancel out. The absolute best noise-canceling headphones     5     reduce noise and work best with low-frequency droning sounds.

Two headphone sets could claim to reduce the same amount of noise but     6     completely differently. Only hands-on testing, ideally with objective measurements, can tell the difference.

Noise-canceling headphones require a battery to     7     their electronics. Noise-isolating headphones, which do not require electronics and therefore can be far cheaper, work by creating a seal in your ear canal to block noise. They are     8    like earplugs, but with earbuds. If you can get a good seal, these work reasonably well.

Getting a good seal can be a challenge, however, since everyone’s ears are different, and not all headphones will     9     correctly. And even if you do get a good seal, noise-isolating headphones will not be able to block low-frequency sounds as well as the best noise-canceling headphones. They will reduce a wide range of frequencies, which can help.

WHO REALLY NEEDS THEM? If you are a frequent traveler, good noise-canceling headphones will make any journey in a plane, train or automobile far more pleasant.

In-ear models are easier—though still slightly uncomfortable—to sleep with and are my     10    . Over-ear models reduce a little more noise, as they are able to passively block some sound because of their design. But they are always bulky on your head or in your bag. After I stopped reviewing these headphones for Wirecutter, I bought a pair of Bose QuiteComfort 20s, a long time Wirecutter pick, and I never fly without them.

10 . Direction: Complete the following passage by using the words in the box. Each word can only be used once. Note that there is one word more than you need.

A. labour              B. manner              C. highlighting        D. circumstances              E. updated F. characterised        G. integrated             H. admirable              I. accommodate              J. overseeing       K. flexible

The house of the future? A sun-filled, shape-shifting, shed-share paradise

What will homes be like 10 years from now? Judging by the winners of the Home of 2030 competition, sharing will be key.

Shared home-working spaces, communal garden sheds and houses built using apps—these are just some of the ideas in the winning proposals for the government’s Home of 2030 competition to develop prototype “homes fit for the future”,    1    the “best of British design”. The aim was to imagine what the best age-adaptable, energy-efficient, healthy homes might look like in 10 years’ time; but, according to the winning architects, most of the best ideas have been around for generations.

“You can’t get much more     2    and adaptable than the Georgian townhouse,” says Jennifer Beningfield of Openstudio, leader of one of the two winning teams announced today. “We’ve taken this very simple model and     3    it for the 21st century. Our idea was to create infinite choice and variation from something very simple.”

Her team’s scheme imagines a terraced (排房的) housing type made from two standard components, a base unit and a loft, joined with “connector” pieces, taking into account multiple configurations (布局) over time as family     4    change. Standing between the homes, the connectors would     5    stairs and a lift, as well as storage and shared workspace. One of the most important aspects since the pandemic, says Beningfield, is providing “space to work from home, without having your laptop on the kitchen table”. Each home would have its own private outdoor space, while they would all back on to large communal gardens, arranged in the     6    of a traditional London square.

Built off-site to demanding Passivhaus standards, with a twin wall timber frame, the homes would be     7    by generous 2.7m high ceilings and tall 2.5m windows and doors, massively increasing the amount of daylight brought into the rooms, compared with most new-build spec housing. Beningfield, who studied and worked in South Africa and the US, says that off-site construction is crucial, given the shocking build quality of so many new homes in the UK – which she fears will only get worse after Brexit, if much of the skilled     8    is forced to leave.

As is so often the case with blue-sky (纯理论的) ideas competitions, the ambitions of the Home of 2030 winning teams are     9    – and, in this case, completely buildable – but there is little evidence to suggest that either the government or the volume housebuilding sector has any intention of putting them into practice. For that, we must look to Sunderland in 2023, and hope that a(n)    10    union of other councils, communities and smaller-scale builders have the imagination to follow their lead.