1 . We all know how colors alter how we feel when looking at pictures, but shapes are just as powerful in affecting us psychologically. They not only provide the framework for the physical world,
Because of its structure, the triangle is often used to represent perseverance and achievement. Its wide base indicates the struggle or the journey,
Squares and, similarly, rectangles are the most common shapes you see in man-made objects.
The square’s positive attributes aren’t just limited to physical entities; it also works well in adding emotional and aesthetic (审美的) layers to images.
A.it can also produce mystery |
B.if you want to make a photo that looks different |
C.while its pointy tip, or the peak, represents the goal |
D.but they influence how we observe the space around us |
E.In graphic arts, this shape symbolizes balance and stability |
F.Its lines and angles make it perfect for framing a scene in a photo |
G.You find them everywhere from picture frames to large buildings |
2 . A recent discovery shows that our dance style is almost always the same, regardless of the type of music, and a computer can identify the dancer with astounding accuracy. Over the last few years, researchers at the Centre for Interdisciplinary Music Research at the University of Jyväskylä in Finland have used motion capture (动作捕捉) technology — the same kind used in Hollywood — to learn that your dance moves say a lot about you, such as how active or anxious you are, what mood you happen to be in, and even how much you empathize (共情) with other people. Recently, however, they discovered something that surprised them. “We actually weren’t looking for this result, as we set out to study something completely different,” explains Dr. Emily Carlson, the first author of the study.
The 73 participants in the study were motion captured dancing to seven different genres: Blues, Country, Dance/Electronica, Jazz, Metal, Pop and Rap. The only instruction they received was to listen to the music and move any way that felt natural. “We think it’s important to study phenomena as they occur in the real world, which is why we employ a naturalistic research example,” says Professor Petri Toiviainen, the senior author of the study.
The researchers analysed participants’ movements using machine learning, trying to distinguish between the musical styles. Unfortunately, their computer was able to identify the correct style less than 30% of the time. They were shocked to discover, however, that the computer could correctly identify which of the 73 individuals was dancing 94% of the time. “It seems as though a person’s dance movements are a kind of finger print,” says Dr. PasiSaari, co-author of the study and data analyst. “Each person has a unique movement signature that stays the same no matter what kind of music is playing.”Does this mean that face-recognition software will soon be joined by dance-recognition software? “We’re less interested in applications like surveillance(监视) than in what these results tell us about human musicality,” Carlson explains. “We have a lot of new questions to ask, like whether our movement signatures stay the same across our lifespan.”
1. What is the original purpose of the study?A.To test the dancers’ flexibility. |
B.To select more excellent dancers. |
C.To check the accuracy of motion capture technology. |
D.To analyze people’s personality with their dance moves. |
A.Move as they like. | B.Determine the style of music. |
C.Imagine they’re employers. | D.Recognize this tune that is playing. |
A.It’s an accidental discovery. | B.It’s an unbelievable example. |
C.It’s a misunderstood fingerprint. | D.It’s a unique method for computers. |
A.Developing a face-recognition software. |
B.Promoting it in the application market. |
C.Learning further about human response to music. |
D.Finding out the relationship between movements and lifespan. |
3 . Humans are pretty unique among life on Earth. As far as we know, we’re the only living species to evolve the higher intelligence, wear clothes, cook our food, and even invent smartphones. But what if humans suddenly went extinct? What other animals might evolve to have the smarts and skills to create large,complex societies as we have?
With modern genetic technology and our understanding of evolution, “we’re pretty good at making short-term predictions. “Martha Reiskind, an ecologist, told Live Science. For example, we can predict that if humans were to disappear tomorrow, climate change would continue to drive many species to adapt to drought. And species living in cold areas would continue to struggle to live as well.
“A big thing will be the concept of convergence.” Dougal Dixon, a geologist, told Live Science Convergence is an evolutionary process by which two unrelated creatures develop similar features in order to succeed in a particular environment. For example, with their sleek (光滑的) bodies and fins, fish are suitable for living in water. However, dolphins have evolved a very similar body plan—and unlike fish, they are warm-blooded, air-breathing animals with a totally different evolutionary background.
One feature that makes humans uniquely good at building is our skillful hands. In order to fill the same role as humans—that is, building cities and heavily modifying our environment—another species would need to develop a similar ability to control objects. Other primates (灵长目动物), like chimpanzees. our closest living relatives, already can make tools in the wild. It’s possible that if humans disappeared, they might replace us.
But any disaster terrible enough to destroy humans is also likely to destroy chimpanzees, which leaves another tool-using candidate to fill humans place: birds. Birds are very brainy. Some birds can use their feet to form wire into hooks. And trained African grey parrots can learn upwards of 100 words and do simple math, including understanding the concept of zero. Birds can also gather in large groups, and some even build group nesting sites.
Of course, all of these are predictions. Scientists have said it’s almost impossible to truly predict how evolution will unfold. As we go further and further out, the prediction is less accurate. And it’s even more difficult to predict whether another species will develop human-level intelligence, Some think that it could happen. Others, however, are less optimistic because they don’t think nature will make mistakes twice.
1. Why does the author mention fish and dolphins in Para. 3?A.To show how dolphins evolved |
B.To explain what convergence is. |
C.To show the advantage of the fish shape |
D.To explain the feature of animals living in water. |
A.The ability to make tools | B.The habit of group living |
C.The ability to do simple math | D.The close relationship with humans |
A.Sea animals. | B.Chimpanzees |
C.Birds. | D.Dogs. |
A.Hopeless. | B.Challenging. |
C.Promising. | D.Uncertain. |
4 . Seahorses are beautiful and unusual fish that have captured the imagination of writers and artists for hundreds of years, and they feature in the ancient mythology (神话) and legends (传说) of many countries. Seahorses seem so magical that, to this very day, many people still believe they only exist in children’s stories. But the fact is that these delicate and shy little creatures are very real!
Scientists believe seahorses evolved at least 40 million years ago, and have survived from ancient times with only very small changes in their body structure and function. Seahorses have a special appearance. They have a head like a horse, a pouch (育儿袋) like a kangaroo, and a long, curved tail like a monkey. Because of their confusing structure, for many years, people didn’t know whether they were fish, insects or shellfish! Today, scientists know without a doubt that seahorses are fish.
Seahorses live mostly in shallow, warm waters. They are not strong swimmers, using only a back fin (鳍) and a pair of tiny fins behind their eyes to push them through the water. Seahorses spend a lot of time attaching to seaweed or sea grass. They are able to hang on to sea grass and seaweed by wrapping their tails around the stems, which helps them to avoid being swept away by strong currents. While they hang from sea grass, their long, tube-like mouth, which has no teeth, acts like a vacuum (吸管) for food. Strangely, seahorses have no stomach so they can’t store their food. This means they have to eat fairly continuously throughout the day.
Another unique characteristic of seahorses is that they (along with their cousins, the pipefish) are the only creature in the animal kingdom where the male, not the female, becomes pregnant and gives birth to babies! The female produces eggs and places them in the pouch inside the male, where they are fertilized. The male gives birth to between 5 and 200 young. Amazingly, just a few hours after the male gives birth, the female will once again place eggs in the male’s pouch.
Sadly, seahorses are in danger all over the world. Their habitats are being destroyed by human activities. People catch seahorses for pets and for souvenirs. The most endangered seahorse in the world is the Knysna seahorse, which is only found in South Africa. The reason it is in grave danger is that it has an exceptionally limited distribution range—it is only found in three estuaries (河口) in the whole of South Africa. Unless these estuaries are conserved, South Africa will lose its only seahorse species for ever.
请根据篇章内容完成摘要。每空不超过三个词。
Seahorses are fish with a peculiar appearance. They have a horse head, a pouch, a long and curved tail. They live mostly in |
5 . Taylor Swift, US singer-songwriter known for hits such as Shake It Off and You Belong With Me, has earned a new praise-she now has a new species of millipede (千足虫) named in her honor.
The millipede Nannaria swiftae joins 16 other new species described from the Appalachian Mountains of the United States. They have a valuable role, for they break down leaf litter and release their nutrients into the ecosystem. They live on the forest floor, where they feed on rotten leaves and other plant matter, and in fact, they are somewhat tricky to catch, because they tend to remain buried in the soil, sometimes staying completely beneath the surface.
Because of their presence in museum collections, scientists long suspected that the millipedes included many new species, but these specimens (标本) went undescribed for decades. To fix this, the researchers began a multi-year project to collect new specimens throughout the eastern US. They traveled to 17 US states, checking under leaf litter, rocks, and logs to find species so that they could sequence (测定序列) their DNA and scientifically describe them.
Looking at over 1, 800 specimens collected on their field study or taken from university and museum collections, the authors described 17 new species, including Nannaria marianae, which was named after Hennen’s wife. They discovered that the millipedes prefer to live in forested habitats near streams and are often found buried under the soil, exhibiting more mysterious behaviors than their relatives.
The lead author of the study, Derek Hennen, a fan of Taylor Swift says, “Her music helped me get through the highs and lows of graduate school, so naming a new millipede species after her is my way of saying thanks.”
1. Why is it tough to seize the millipede?A.It’s flexible. | B.It hides well. | C.It feeds on leaves. | D.It looks like litter. |
A.To show scientists’ tough work. | B.To blame researchers’ carelessness. |
C.To illustrate millipedes’ importance. | D.To emphasize invention in scientific studies. |
A.Habitat. | B.Diet. | C.Nutrition. | D.Mystery. |
A.Taylor Swift Is a Famous Singer-Songwriter. | B.Scientists Conduct Research on the Millipede. |
C.Research on the Millipede Amazed Scientists. | D.Millipede Species Named after Taylor Swift. |
A. overwhelm B. discipline C. honesty D. integrity E. countries F. ability G. outweighing H. corporate I. intelligent J. territories |
For CEOs, creativity is now the most important leadership quality for success in business,
The study is the largest known sample of one-on-one CEO interviews. Over 1,500
A manager at IBM Global Business Services expressed surprise at this key finding, saying that it is very interesting that coming off the worst economic conditions they’d ever seen, CEOs didn’t return to traditional management
About 60 percent of CEOs polled cited creativity as the most important leadership quality, compared with 52 percent for
Other key findings showed a large gap between views of North American CEOs and those from other