1 . Chronobiologists (时间生物学家) are interested in what is known as the circadian (生理节奏的) rhythm. This is the complete cycle our bodies are naturally made to undergo within the passage of a twenty-four-hour day. Aside from sleeping at night and waking during the day, each cycle involves many factors. Not everyone has an identical circadian rhythm.     1    

    2     Recent therapeutic developments for humans such as artificial light machines and melatonin administration can reset our circadian rhythms, for example, but our bodies can tell the difference and health suffers when we break these natural rhythms for extended periods of time.

Knowledge of chronobiological patterns can have many realistic implications for our day-to-day lives. While contemporary living can sometimes appear to overcome biology—    3    —keeping in the same pace with our body clock is important.

After-dinner coffees are becoming more of a tradition, but to prepare for a good night’s sleep we are better off putting the brakes on caffeine consumption as early as 3 p.m. With a seven hour half-life, a cup of coffee containing 90 mg of caffeine taken at this hour could still leave 45 mg of caffeine in your nervous system at ten o’clock that evening.

Evenings are important for winding down before sleep; however, dietitian Geraldine Georgeou warns that an after-five-fast is more cultural myth than chronobiological demand.     4     However, overloading your gut could lead to indigestion. Our digestive tracts do not shut down for the night entirely, but their work slows to a crawl as our bodies prepare for sleep. Consuming a modest snack should be entirely sufficient.

A．This will deprive your body of vital energy needs.

B．This disorients your circadian rhythm and puts your body in full mode.

C．It is essential that, by the time you are ready to sleep, your body is rid of all traces.

D．Scientists have limited abilities to create durable modifications of chronobiological demands.

E．Night people, for example, find it hard to operate during the morning, but become alert by evening.

F．After all, who needs circadian rhythms when we have caffeine pills and cities that never sleep?

2 . More and more online shopping platforms now offer consumers a detailed look into products’ historical prices. But how does this information influence buying decisions?

To explore this question, we conducted a series of experiments with a total of more than 5,000 business school students and working adults. We measured the impact of different kinds of price shifts on people’s interest in purchasing products and identified several consistent trends:

First, when consumers saw that the price today was lower than it had been in the past, they were more likely to buy now, because the current price seemed like a good deal.

However, the picture gets more complicated when you consider the frequency of historical price shifts: In our studies, we found that if consumers were shown at least three changes in the same direction, they were likely to assume the price would continue to move in the same direction. While if they were only shown one or two changes in the same direction, they expected the price to change in the opposite direction.

So what does this mean for sellers? It may be tempting to slowly lower the price over time. However, our data shows that this can lead consumers to assume that the price will continue to fall, making them hesitant to buy. But if they just see a single price drop, they ‘re more likely to expect a reversal in the near future, pushing them to buy the product now.

Our findings can also help buyers make more informed decisions about whether and when they choose to make a purchase. As with any irrational bias (非理性的偏见), awareness of the natural tendency to expect trends to continue and single large changes to reverse can help consumers question this assumption before acting on it. Instead of letting this arbitrary (武断的) expectation guide buying decisions, consumers may benefit by doing a bit more research around the underlying factors driving price shifts. Buyers may also benefit from learning more about a product’s longer-term price history, fluctuations (波动), and typical industry-wide price ranges, to avoid being disproportionately influenced by near-term price changes. It’s also always a good idea to think about both how urgent your need for a given product is, and your own risk tolerance for a potential price increase, as this can affect whether it’s worth it for you to wait and see if the price falls.

Of course, there are countless factors that influence both consumers’ decisions around whether and when to buy and sellers’ decisions around how to price their products. But it’s important for both sides to recognize the key role that expectations play in influencing these decisions.

1. Which of the following is true about the experiment?

A．It proves that people’s interest in the product drives the purchasing behavior.

B．E-commerce platforms turn to it to connect with customers and boost sales.

C．It’s designed to figure out the purchasing decision process based on pricing.

D．Business school students make up the whole control group for comparison.

2. Which of the following price trends might tempt consumers to buy on May 8^th?

A．	B．
C．	D．

3. Consumers are advised to      .

A．decide on the assumptions that long-term price trend will continue

B．research longer-term price history, price ranges and hidden factors

C．put off the purchase for better deals because of the unsustainable market

D．cooperate with sellers while putting aside the personal risk and urgency

4. What does the passage mainly talk about?

A．How do price changes influence buying decisions?

B．Why should products’ historical prices be shown?

C．When is the best time for consumers to purchase?

D．What do businesses need to price their products?

3 . A recent series of studies examined the role of talent in the sports world. They focused on three different sports: World Cup soccer, professional basketball, and professional baseball. The results are mixed. For soccer and basketball, the studies revealed that adding talented players to a team is indeed a (n) _______ strategy, but only up to a point. Performance _______ when about 70% of the players were considered top talent. Above that level, the team’s performance began to decline. Interestingly, this trend was not evident in baseball, where additional _______ talent continued to enhance the team’s performance. (Figure 1 and 2)

In looking for an explanation for the different results for different sports, the researchers _______one important factor — the extent to which a good performance by a team required its members to coordinate (协调) their actions. This task _______ distinguishes baseball from basketball and soccer.

In baseball, the performance of individual players is _______ teammates than in soccer and basketball. The researchers concluded that when, during the course of play, task interdependence is high, team performance will _______ when there is too much talent in the group. When task interdependence is lower, _______ individual talent will have a positive effect on team performance.

One explanation for this phenomenon is not so far from the pecking order (等级排序) situation among chickens. If a basketball star is pursuing his own personal goals,_______ trying to gather a high personal point total, he may be less ________ than team player. He may take a shot himself when it would be better to pass the ball to a team mate, thus making the team’s overall performance suffer. “There is no________in TEAM,” young children learning to play team sports are often told. Apparently stars ________ follow this basic principle of sportsman ship.

Another possibility is that when there is a lot of talent on a team, some players may begin to________ This is referred to as the Ringelmann effect. Ringelmann conducted an experiment in which he asked two, three, four, and up to 28 people to participate in a game of tug-of-war. He measured how much force each person used to pull the rope. He found that whenever he added a person to the team, everyone else pulled with less force.

________ the ideal team — for sports, business, science, or entertainment — is more complicated than simply hiring the best talent. An A-team may require a________ not just A players, but a few generous B players as well.

1.

A．sensible

B．partial

C．alarming

D．attainable

2.

A．faded

B．peaked

C．evolved

D．proceeded

3.

A．team

B．creative

C．academic

D．individual

4.

A．identified

B．overlooked

C．considered

D．concealed

5.

A．explanation

B．conclusion

C．discussion

D．interdependence

6.

A．more suitable for

B．more critical to

C．less dependent on

D．less involved in

7.

A．swing

B．suffer

C．endure

D．function

8.

A．in principle

B．in a sense

C．in other words

D．on the other hand

9.

A．as a rule

B．by contrast

C．for example

D．as a matter of fact

10.

A．stressed

B．genuine

C．sensitive

D．generous

11.

A．I

B．HE

C．THEY

D．WE

12.

A．closely

B．rarely

C．humbly

D．jointly

13.

A．make less effort

B．cause more trouble

C．take less advantage

D．attach more importance

14.

A．Inspiring

B．Intensifying

C．Gathering

D．Training

15.

A．exploration

B．balance

C．stability

D．flexibility

4 . Directions: After reading the passage below, fill in the blanks to make the passages 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.

Natural Therapy

Many books and articles have been published about how to boost happiness. One     1     (prove) way is by spending more time in nature. In a study published in Science Advances, there is evidence     2     contacting with nature is associated with many benefits including increases in happiness, a sense of well-being, positive social interactions, and a feeling of meaningfulness in life.

Nature therapy, also called ecotherapy, is the practice of being in nature to boost growth and healing, especially mental health. You can do nature therapy anywhere,     3     you live in rural, suburban, or urban areas.

As an example, in the foothills of the Snowdonia National Park in the UK, outdoor art-related activities     4     (hold) to help those who suffer from depression, anxiety and stress. Art psychotherapist Pamela Stanley told the BBC that there was a “growing body of evidence” to support ecotherapy.

It’s true that for most of us     5     (expose) to the natural world definitely lifts our spirits. But ecotherapy can also include activities or therapies     6     you are formally guided by therapists and trained leaders. It’s     7     Dr Rachel Bragg from the University of Essex calls “psychological restoration”. “Ecotherapy is one tool that you have to draw on     8     (strengthen) and deepen the work that you’re doing with your clients or your patients.”

Of course, eco-therapy won’t cure     9    , but it is an option for therapists to use. And as we become more aware of the causes and effects of mental health, it’s good to know that help     10     lie outside our towns and cities, and that nature can give us a helping hand.

5 . A new study featuring researchers at Binghamton University found that viewing wealth and material possessions as a sign of success produces significantly better results to life satisfaction than viewing wealth and possessions as a sign of happiness.

“People simply say ‘money can’t buy you happiness’ and just assume that materialism has a negative influence on overall well-being,” said Jenny Jiao, assistant professor of marketing at Binghamton University School of Management. “But it’s not that simple. There is a real difference between success materialism and happiness materialism.”

Jiao and her fellow researchers surveyed over 7,500 German adults to get their findings. They first determined if participants had either a happiness materialistic or success materialistic mindset, and then asked questions regarding current satisfaction of life, expected satisfaction of life in the future and economic motivations.

What they found:

Happiness materialism (wealth and material consumption is the sign of a happy life) can negatively influence life satisfaction in two different ways:

 It can lead a person to be dissatisfied with their current standard of living, which in turn

negatively influences overall life satisfaction.

 It can lead a person to not find satisfaction from other important areas of life (family life, social life, health, etc.), which negatively influences overall life satisfaction.

Success materialism (wealth and material possessions are a sign of success in life) positively influences life satisfaction by boosting (助推) a person’s economic motivation. This can lead to a rise in their future satisfaction with their standard of living, which positively influences overall life satisfaction.

The researchers cross-checked their results with survey answers from other parts of the world, including the United States, to verify (证实) the universality of the findings. “Your happiness should never rely on money alone, but money can be a tool to motivate you to achieve major milestones in your life, which can make you feel happier in the long run,” said Jiao, adding that focusing on future goals is important in order to stay driven and motivated.

She also cautioned to forget about the other aspects of life that bring satisfaction. “Never lose sight of the other things that provide happiness that don’t necessarily have monetary (货币的) value. These include family, friends, your health, continual learning and new experiences,” she said.

1. What did researchers at Binghamton University find in their new study?

A．Materialism has a negative influence on people’s overall well-being.

B．Success materialism and happiness materialism are the same to some extent.

C．Regarding material possessions as a mark of success contributes to better life satisfaction.

D．Viewing wealth and possessions as a sign of happiness positively leads to overall well-being.

2. Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?

A．The survey result only applies to participants from Germany and the United States.

B．One’s current standard of living has nothing to do with his overall life satisfaction.

C．Family life and social life are two more important factors than wealth and success.

D．Boosting one’s economic motivation may positively influence his life satisfaction.

3. What can you learn from the last two paragraphs?

A．If you want to keep motivated, you should concentrate on money alone.

B．Money can help you achieve major milestones, and thus make you happier.

C．Forget about the other aspects of life that bring satisfaction if you want to be happy.

D．Things that don’t have monetary value should be the focus of your pursuit of happiness.

4. What is the main idea of the passage?

A．Wealth can lead to more satisfying life if viewed as a sign of success not happiness.

B．Material possessions viewed as a sign of happiness are vital but always overlooked.

C．Family, friends, health, continual learning and new experiences can lead to success.

D．Satisfaction of life and economic motivations hardly contribute to our happiness.

6 . Personality is one of the most interesting ways in which people are different from one another. But where does our personality come from? Are we ________ with it or does it change as we get older? A great deal of research into personality indicates that people’s personalities are more or less ________ before they are born. However, not everyone is ________. Psychologist Sanjay Srivastava and a team of researchers from the University of California, Berkeley, have just completed a large-scale study into personality. The researchers evaluated data from 132, 515 adults aged between 21 and 60. The team focused on five personality traits—what scientists call “The Big Five”. These are:

1. Conscientiousness—how careful, thorough and self-disciplined are you?

2.________ —how considerate and helpful are you?

3. Neuroticism—how self-conscious and tense are you?

4. Openness—how ________ , imaginative and open to new experiences are you?

5. Extraversion—how sociable and energetic are you?

What they found contradicted long-held assumptions about ________ personalities are set. Conscientiousness, a trait marked by organization and discipline and linked to success at work and in relationships, was found to increase through the age ranges studied, with the most ________ occurring in a person’s twenties. Similarly, agreeableness, a trait associated with being warm, generous and helpful, contradicted the theory that personalities don’t change after the age of 30.________, people in the study showed the most change in agreeableness during their thirties and continued to improve through their sixties.

The changes in these two traits revealed in the study seem to ________ the experiences that people tend to have at certain stages of their lives. Common sense tells us that people become more responsible and conscientious as they ________ and become better at managing their jobs and relationships. Similarly, agreeableness changes most in people’s thirties when many of them are raising a family and take on the role of ________. Openness showed small ________ in both men and women over time, a change that indicates less interest in forming new relationships, and reflects the tendency we have as we get older to spend more time with a small group of well-known relatives and friends, and less time going out and meeting ________ people.

The personality traits were ________ consistent between men and women, except for neuroticism and extraversion, with young women scoring higher than young men in both. However, the difference in neuroticism is only apparent in youth and young adulthood, and the gap between men and women in both neuroticism and extraversion ________ as people age.

1.

A．born

B．satisfied

C．angry

D．careful

2.

A．dominant

B．fixed

C．isolated

D．dependable

3.

A．interested

B．interviewed

C．related

D．convinced

4.

A．Consideration

B．Agreeableness

C．Willingness

D．Confidence

5.

A．ambitious

B．efficient

C．curious

D．intelligent

6.

A．when

B．why

C．how

D．what

7.

A．relationship

B．success

C．study

D．change

8.

A．To some degree

B．In the meantime

C．On the contrary

D．With no exception

9.

A．result from

B．bring about

C．correspond with

D．consist of

10.

A．approach

B．mature

C．predict

D．appear

11.

A．explorers

B．leaders

C．learners

D．carers

12.

A．benefits

B．tendencies

C．influences

D．declines

13.

A．new

B．young

C．old

D．lonely

14.

A．scarcely

B．generally

C．invariably

D．respectively

15.

A．exists

B．widens

C．narrows

D．appears

7 . Coral Refugees

As the planet and oceans continue to heat up, sites where coral (珊瑚) has recently boomed are becoming less and less habitable. For instance, thanks to extreme ocean temperatures, much of Australia's Great Barrier Reef suffered mass bleaching in 2016 and 2017 that turned parades of colorful coral into dull, white masses.

    1     By studying fossils in Daya Bay, just northeast of Hong Kong in the South China Sea, a team of researchers found that during periods of warming in the distant past, coral reefs migrated away from equatorial warm waters to the bay's more hospitable subtropical latitudes.

"We showed that the higher-latitude reefs up around China did grow during earlier warm periods," says Tara Clark, a paleontologist at the University of Wollongong in Australia.     2     There the researchers randomly collected dead corals and calculated their ages using radio isotopic (同位素的) dating techniques. The ancient reefs grew between 6,850 and 5,510years ago, the scientists reported in January in Geology, which coincides with a time when ocean temperatures around South China and nearby seas were one to two degrees Celsius warmer on average than they are today.     3     Of course, the idea of refuges for endangered reefs on the move is not new, but using the fossil record to help locate such places is relatively novel approach.

Although the fossil evidence suggests that Daya Bay could one day provide a heaven for corals, there are some hurdles in the way of making the refuge an inviting place, Clark says.     4     And Daya Bay is now heavily polluted, which could threaten its ability to sustain reefs. But in light of the new discovery, Clark says, "we might as well do the best we can to protect these areas, just in case."

A．This trend suggests that some of today's reefs may be able to set up shop in places such as Daya Bay in the decades to come, as temperatures climb.

B．Such change often occurs on broader time scales than those of humans.

C．In 2015 Clark led a group of scientists on an expedition to Daya Bay.

D．It's absolutely fundamental to understanding the dynamics of ecological communities and their responses to ecological change.

E．Not all corals, for instance, are equally fit to journey across the ocean to a new home.

F．But paleontologist (古生物学家) have now discovered a haven (港口) to which one region's reefs might relocate to escape overheating.