Popular Academic Majors

Choosing a major is important for all students. An academic major stands for a student’s study and career interests. Below is a list of some popular majors and their descriptions.

Psychology

Our Psychology Program mainly focuses on how people think, feel and behave. Psychology courses look at the complexities of the human mind and human behavior, including thought, language, and communication. This program joins classroom-based learning and work opportunity to put your knowledge into practice. Psychology students may have many opportunities to be involved in leading researches.

Computer Science

Computer Science is the study of computers and computer systems. Computer Science majors study a wide range of courses. During their first two years, students usually take basic courses, including programming languages and web development. This is to prepare them for more advanced classes like artificial intelligence. Many students become software or websites developers. Others choose to use their knowledge in a different field, like business or medicine.

Graphic Design

Graphic Design teaches students how to create images for advertisements, books and websites. This major combines images and text. Courses might include 2D design, drawing and computer graphics. To apply for a graphic design program, you need experience in visual art. You also need to present a small body of art work. Graduates of this major can get jobs in various fields, such as brand design and mobile app development.

Accounting

A Bachelor in Accounting provides students with a foundation in accounting and business. This major teaches students how to study, measure and evaluate information effectively. Our program offers different courses that help students understand the basic rule of accounting. There are a lot of career choices in accounting, such as investment banking and management consulting.

In our family, the presents we gave one another were almost always homemade. I thought that was the definition of a gift: something you made for someone else. We made all our Christmas gifts: piggy banks from old bottles, and puppets from retired socks. It didn’t seem like a hardship to me; it was something special.

My father loves wild strawberries, so for Father’s Day my mother would almost always make him strawberry cakes. While we kids were responsible for the berries, we each got an old jar and spent the Saturday before the celebration in the fields, filling it as more ended up in our mouths. Finally, we returned home and poured them out on the kitchen table to sort out the bugs. I’m sure we missed some, but Dad never mentioned the extra protein.

In fact, he thought that was the best possible present, or so he had us convinced. It was a gift that could never be bought. As children raised by strawberries, we were probably unaware that the gift of berries was from the fields themselves, not from us. Our gift was time, attention, care and “red” fingers.

Gifts from the earth or from each other establish a particular relationship, a duty of sorts to give, to receive, and to exchange. The field gave to us, we gave to my dad, and we tried to give back to the strawberries. When the berry season was done, the plants would send out its red runners to make new plants. So I would weed out little fields of ground where the runners touched down. Sure enough, tiny little roots would emerge from the runner and by the end of the season there were even more plants, ready to bloom under the next strawberry season. No person taught us this — the strawberries showed us. Because they had given us a gift, an ongoing relationship opened between us.

For Caribbean box jellyfish (水母), learning is literally a no-brainer.

In a new experiment, these animals learned to spot and avoid obstacles (障碍物) despite having no central brain, researchers report in Current Biology. This is the first evidence that jellyfish can make mental connections between events and change their behavior accordingly. “Maybe learning doesn’t need a very complex nervous system, but rather, learning is an essential part of nerve cells,” says Jan Bielecki, a neuroethologist at Kiel University in Germany. If so, the new finding could help trace how learning evolved in animals.

Bielecki and his colleagues wondered if Caribbean box jellyfish could learn that low-contrast objects, which might at first seem distant, were actually close by. The team put 12 jellyfish into a round tank surrounded by low-contrast, gray and white stripes. A camera filmed the animals’ behavior for about seven minutes.

At first, the jellyfish seemed to interpret the gray stripes as distant roots and swam into the tank wall. But those collisions (碰撞) seemed to lead the jellyfish to treat the gray stripes more like close roots in dirty water, and the animals started avoiding them. The jellies’ average distance from the tank wall increased from about 2.5 centimeters in the first couple of minutes to about 3.6 centimeters in the final couple of minutes. Their average collisions into the wall dropped from 1.8 per minute to 0.78 per minute.

“I found that really amazing,” says Nagayasu Nakanishi, an evolutionary biologist at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville, who has studied jellyfish nervous systems but was not involved in the new work. “I never thought jellyfish could really learn.”

Neurobiologist Björn Brembs views the results more cautiously, noting the small number of jellyfish tested and the variability in their performance. “I want this to be true, as it would be very cool,” says Brembs. Experiments with more jellyfish could convince him that the animals really do learn.

Finding the words to explain how you feel isn’t always easy. This is why young people’s mental health charity has made “My Voice Matters” the theme of this year’s Children’s Mental Health Week.

Do you have trouble sharing your thoughts or worry no one will listen if you do? Making your voice heard means understanding that your words matter and your opinions count. Dr Julia Clements, a psychologist, says that it means expressing your views, thoughts and feelings, not bottling them all up, and being open to hearing the thoughts, feelings and views of others too.     17     In fact you don’t have to use your voice at all. “You can express what you like and don’t like or what you want for the future by writing or drawing instead,” says Clements. “It’s about finding ways to share what matters to you,” she explains.

    18     Scientists have discovered that sharing your feelings produces a feel-good chemical in your brain that makes you feel relaxed and calm. Your voice can make a big difference to other people too, including friends and families. Clements says, “You can spread kindness and happiness simply by speaking. With a few kind words, you could help someone feel good about themselves or let them know they are supported.”     19    

Clements suggests practising conversations with friends, parents or carers on the way home from school and seeing if you have different opinions about something. If you’re struggling to explain your feelings, find a way that feels right for you, whether it’s talking face-to-face or writing it down.     20     When you’re ready, “Take a deep breath and believe in yourself,” says Clements. “Know that your opinion matters.”

Automation certainly has its advantages. I am grateful for my cellphone that _______performs services. But I also miss the interactions with people that these devices have _______. The most precious byproduct of these interactions was the unplanned, friendly jokes that often _______.

I recently decided to spend a day _______ all of my goals in a non-digital manner. So I rose early and _______ on my visit. I began by going to the bank. When I entered the hall, I found the _______ was mine: I was the only customer, with three clerks at my _______. After my transaction we chatted for a few minutes, sharing news about children. After that pleasant _______, I moved on to the post office, where the letter I was sending to Iceland triggered a/an _______ comment by the clerk, who longed to visit that country. The last visit was the ________ where I was welcomed by a cashier, who ________ that for only one penny more I get an additional potato.

That evening I told my ________ to my friend. She ________ that I could have done these with the ________, and it would have taken less than an hour. True, but I would have ________ all those kind words and friendly smiles.

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。

Liupao tea, which originated in Wuzhou, has long been popular in overseas Chinese communities. It was donated as tributes (贡品) to Emperor Jiaqing during Qing Dynasty,     36     (represent) the country’s best. Its fame grew significantly overseas in the second half of the 19th century among Chinese migrants in Southeast Asia, who used it     37     a herbal treatment in the hot, humid climate. The tea     38     (say) to help lower blood pressure, improve appetite and aid digestion. Over a century ago, Liupao tea was one of the major agricultural products     39     (export) along the old maritime Silk Road (海上丝绸之路) to Southeast Asian countries.

More younger consumers are taking to Liupao tea, and now they     40     (promote) the tea through innovative channels such as livestreaming, e-commerce and trendy packaging. Liupao tea products’ geographical indication now makes it a regional specialty,     41     is good for the development of the area as a whole. The development of the Liupao tea industry has     42     (effective) promoted economic growth and improved people’s livelihoods. Wuzhou authorities have also established service facilities and research centers to help the tea industry reach     43     (it) next stage of development. More efforts will be made     44     (improve) production lines, establish     45     safety tracking system, and ensure the quality of Liupao tea from cultivation (栽培) to teacup.

47. 阅读下面材料，根据其内容和所给段落开头语续写两段，使之构成一篇完整的短文。

Mary was fond of outdoor activities, especially the beauty of nature. She would often spend her weekends hiking, biking, or simply taking long walks in the countryside. She had a group of close friends who shared the same enthusiasm for the outdoors.

One day, while enjoying a cup of coffee at a local cafe, Mary’s friend Jenny approached her with an exciting idea. “Mary, have you ever thought about stargazing (观星) in the wilderness?” Jenny asked, her eyes shining with excitement. Mary’s eyes widened, and a smile spread across her face. “Stargazing? That sounds incredible! Count me in,” she exclaimed, her voice filled with expectation.

The plan was set for a cool evening when the sky would be at its clearest. As the day turned into night, the two friends gathered their warmest clothes, packed some snacks and hot chocolate, and set off on their adventure. They began their journey from Mary’s house.

As they walked hand in hand, their breath turned into misty clouds in the cool night air. The moon was hidden behind thick clouds, casting a darkness on their path. But instead of feeling scared, they felt a rush of excitement washing over them. The stillness of the night, broken only by the soft whispers of the wind, brought a newfound peace to their mind.

They walked through the streets, little by little, the city lights faded, and the stars above became increasingly obvious. They couldn’t help but feel amazed by the countless stars that decorated the sky. They decided not to choose the well-known path and wandered deeper into the wilderness. Fireflies (萤火虫) danced gracefully, lighting up the night sky.

Mary’s eyes widened with childlike wonder as she watched the tiny creatures create their magical light show. Absorbed in chats and laughter, they failed to notice when the familiar sights started to disappear, slowly getting swallowed by the tall trees of the forest.

注意:

(1)续写词数应为150个左右；

(2)请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。

Suddenly, Mary’s heart skipped a beat as she realized they had lost their way.

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Determined, the two friends set off, guided by the light of the North Star.

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