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Dream in Heart
On the first day of school our professor introduced a new classmate—a wrinkled little old lady—to us. Her name was Rose, and she was eighty-seven years old.
After class Rose and I walked to the Student Union Building and shared a chocolate milk-shake. She told me she always dreamed of having a college education and now she was getting one. We became instant friends. Every day for the following months, we would leave class together and talk nonstop. I was always attracted, listening to this “ time machine” as she shared her wisdom and experience with me.
Rose became famous and easily made friends wherever she went. She tended to be highly motivated,responsible, and deeply involved in class participation. In spare time she had someone hang out or go to bars with. She even participated in some form of athletic activity. She said that extra-curricular activities can form a vital part of her experience, creating unique chances for friendship and learning.
At the end of the term we invited Rose to speak at our football meal. A little embarrassed, she leaned into the microphone and simply said, “ I’ m sorry I’ m so nervous.” As we laughed, she cleared her throat and began, “ We do not stop playing because we are old; we grow old because we stop playing. There is a huge difference between growing older and growing up. If you’ re nineteen years old and lie in bed for one full year, you will turn twenty. If I’ m eighty-seven years old and stay in bed for a year, I will turn eighty-eight. Anybody can grow older. It’ s non-optional but that doesn’ t take any talent or ability. The idea is to grow up by always finding the chance in change. In this way the elderly don’ t have regrets for what they did, but rather for things they did not do.” Rose concluded her speech by courageously singing “ The Rose” . She challenged us to study the words of the song and lived them out in daily lives.
At the year’ s end Rose finished the college degree she had begun all those years ago. One week after graduation Rose died peacefully in her sleep. Over two thousand college students attended her funeral in honor of the wonderful woman who taught by example that it’ s never too late to be all you can possibly be.
1.Why does the author compare Rose to “ time machine” in Paragraph 2?
A. To stress her old age and knowledge of life.
B. To describe the close friendship between them.
C. To show that she always enjoyed her active life.
D. To explain why she took on a challenge in college.
2.Rose was invited to speak at the football meal most probably because ______.
A. she was a great football fan
B. she was the smartest student
C. she tried hard to achieve her dream
D. she became more educated than the others
3.We can learn that Rose agreed with the idea that ______.
A. growing older means growing up
B. it takes talent and ability to grow up
C. receiving high education helps to be courageous
D. one grows older at the same time when he grows up
4.The passage is intended to ______.
A. provide an example for the elderly B. discuss how to grow up quickly
C. tell the importance of attending college D. inspire the readers to live up to lives
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
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Ecobee3 Smarter WiFi Thermostat
Smart thermostats have become the face of smart home technology for most, but depending on what your home is like, it’s possible to say the ecobee3 is superior.
Most of the smart thermostats carry the same benefits, including the ecobee3. They can learn your preferences and schedules, and then adjust the temperature accordingly. They’re better-looking and more enjoyable to use than the basic pieces of plastic that occupy most households. Their very presence will probably make you more conscious about saving energy. And once you’re able to heat up or cool down your house from your phone, without having to get out of bed, you won’t want to go back.
If you live in a larger household, the ecobee3 can be much more convenient—provided you pick up a couple more remote sensors. Yes, it gets pretty expensive at that point, but having those gives you effective control over the temperature in different rooms around your house. In comparison, other thermostats’ measurements are largely limited to the area in which they’ re installed (安装).
If you live in a smaller place, that’s no big deal; the ecobee3 still has distinct advantages. It is touch-enabled and more spacious, making it less annoying when you want to enter a WiFi password, see weather information, and so on. Still, all the smart thermostats are pretty great. Which one is best just depends on whether you need a whole-home solution or a more straightforward one. For now, if it’s the former, go with the ecobee3.
Ecobee3 Smarter WiFi Thermostat with Remote Sensor, available at all shopping websites.
1.What is the function of the ecobee3?
A. Planning schedules. B. Making decoration.
C. Adjusting temperatures. D. Storing information.
2.According to the passage, one of the advantages of the ecobee3 is that ______.
A. it can be operated easily by phone B. it has different sizes
C. it is a product without using energy D. it follows the same pattern
3.What makes the ecobee3 superior?
A. It costs less than those similar products.
B. It may work without access to WiFi networks.
C. It is more effective with fewer remote sensors.
D. It can control the temperature in a larger area.
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
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Senses That Work Together
When we think about how our senses work, we usually imagine them operating separately: you sniff a flower, and the smell is delivered uninterrupted from nose to brain. However, it’ s more complex than that. Most evidence for cross-modal perception (知觉) comes from studies into sound and vision (视觉).
But research that shows other senses crossing over is coming out all the time, and it seems that even sound and smell sometimes form an unlikely pairing.
When New York researchers, Daniel Wesson and Donald Wilson, tried to find out the truth about a “ mysterious” area of the brain called the olfactory tubercle, they had to deal with this fact. Originally,they only intended to measure how olfactory tubercle cells in mice responded to smell. But during testing,
Wesson noticed that every time he put his coffee cup down, the mouse cells jumped in activity. In fact,the olfactory tubercle is well-placed to receive both smell and sound information from the outside world.
Later they found that among separate cells, most responded to a smell but a significant number were also active when a sound was made. Some cells even behaved differently when smell and sound were presented together, by increasing or decreasing their activity.
Of course, mice aren’ t people, so research team has been carrying out further experiments. They pulled together a group of people and gave them various drinks to smell. Participants were asked to sniff the drinks, and then match them to appropriate musical instruments and produce the notes at different levels. The results were interesting: piano was regularly paired with fruity fragrances; strong smells sounded like the instruments that are made of metal.
Further research found that listening to different sounds can change your perceptions. Studying taste this time, the team ordered some special toffee (太妃糖) and put together “ soundscapes” corresponding to bitterness and sweetness. Participants tasted similar pieces of toffee while listening to each soundscape, and found the toffee more bitter or sweeter, depending on which soundtrack they were listening to.
Studies like this are helping scientists correctly describe our understanding of the senses, and how the brain combines them with its advantage. The consequences are worth considering. Could we see musicians work together with chefs to produce sound-improved food and drink? Will you be ordering a coffee with a soundtrack to bring out your favorite smell? Come to think of it, that could be one thing you hope coffee shop chains don’ t get round to.
1.What does the underlined part in Paragraph 2 refer to?
A. A lot of research focuses on the senses.
B. Sound and vision are relatively easy to study.
C. There can be a link between sound and smell.
D. Evidence about the way senses work is hard to obtain.
2.In Wesson and Wilson’ s research, ______.
A. the mice were affected more significantly by sound
B. the result confirmed what the researchers had suspected
C. the mice seemed to be afraid of certain sounds or smells
D. the connection between sound and smell was found by chance
3.What is the main idea of Paragraph 3?
A. Participants took an active part in the experiments.
B. The purpose of the further experiments was totally different.
C. The result failed to support what was found in previous experiments.
D. Experiments showed that links between sound and smell were consistent.
4.How does the author feel about the effect of the research?
A. She is excited about the creative chances.
B. She is surprised at the recent developments.
C. She is convinced that the findings will be used soon.
D. She is worried about how the knowledge can be applied.
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
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Comedy and Psychology
Earlier this year I did a part-time comedy course. The class was taught by Ryan, a professional comedian.I had performed a show, which wasn’t originally meant to be a comedy. However, the audience laughed at my first joke, then continued to laugh throughout the routines that were meant to be serious. So it was the audience who told me I was funny, but I didn’ t understand why or how to control the comic (滑稽的) moments. So, I joined the course to learn.
“Turn off your editor that makes you say the right thing and remember how to be a child,” explained Ryan. “Don’t try to be clever. Don’t try too hard to be funny…and knowing all about the theory of humor is unlikely to help you much. Just behave in a silly way. That’s what people want to see on stage.”Ryan would help us loosen up by saying things like, “Wander around talking to others, but make sure that you’re the lowest status person here.”
I’ d say that understanding the psychology of humor has actually helped. Recently I came across the book Inside Jokes: Using Humor to Reverse-Engineer the Mind. Its main idea is that any self-directed intelligent system will need to correct its own fault. There’s a risk that the occasional error will be made. If this was boring or burdensome, we’d be less willing to do it. However, evolution has made the process fun.
Here’s a joke in the book: Two fish are in a tank. One says to the other, “Do you know how to drive this thing?” It works on the principle that we have started to imagine one thing—that the tank is the typical container people keep fish in—and, just in time, the following words tell us that our first assumption was wrong—it’s a heavy vehicle. For correctly figuring out the error, we are rewarded with a pleasurable feeling. The joke is an efficient way of encouraging this natural reaction, and comedians have become experts in slightly touching this mental funny-bone in order to make us laugh.
Ryan was right when he said that knowing the theory of humor wouldn’t help us that much as a comedy.During one exercise in the course, four of us were told to perform an opera. Susan and Caroline sang earnestly on either side of the stage, and I brought Henry to the floor, where we wrestled (摔跤) each other like out-of-control teenagers. The rest of the group was in uncontrollable fits of laughter. As a performer, I’ ll never appreciate just why it seemed so funny. But the point is that I would never have written this on the paper. It was a joyous, found moment.
1.Why did the author attend the comedy course?
A. He wanted to see how the theories worked in practice.
B. He discovered he had some natural ability in comedy.
C. He worried about how other performers would find him.
D. He got unpleasant experiences when performing a comedy.
2.Ryan required the people on the comedy course to______.
A. copy their favorite performance
B. imagine other people’ s reactions
C. help themselves feel comfortable
D. behave in a more playful manner
3.What is the purpose of the joke mentioned in Paragraph 4?
A. To discuss what humor brings about exactly.
B. To give an example of another kind of humor.
C. To prove the point about psychology of humor.
D. To show why some people are funnier than others.
4.What view does the author put forward in the end?
A. Visual humor is what appeals to people most.
B. What people find funny is often unpredictable.
C. Theories explaining humor tend to be mistaken.
D. Learning comic skills proves to be a difficult task.
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
