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When given the choice, about 85% of people say they would not want to know about some negative event far in the future. Yet recently millions around the globe have downloaded FaceApp, which allows users to see how they might age in real life.
Many had fun with joking that they love the FaceApp old filter. Beneath the humor is a serious subject: How do we learn to relate to our future selves? It’s important that we try to because it could help strengthen the long-term decisions that we make. However, we often fail to make sacrifices for the grayer versions of ourselves.
More than half of the respondents in a recent survey of 2,800 Americans said they rarely or never thought about what their lives might be like 30 years from now. This isn’t surprising, since most of us are firmly rooted in the present and thinking about the distant future can seem like a distant priority (优先). My ongoing research might also offer an explanation: We tend to think about our future selves as if they are someone different from who we are today. In an effort to narrow these empathy (共情) gaps, my research workmates and I have tried to humanize people’s future selves in the same way others have tried to humanize charity receivers. Given that a photograph of one hungry child can spark emotional reactions, and cause viewers to donate, we have presented participants with vivid images of their distant selves.
That seems helpful. In a recently completed project in Mexico, we found that exposure to future-self images led more people to contribute to their pensions. Despite this research, I’m skeptical that the app users will suddenly increase their pension contributions and care about their health. The silly app isn’t paired with an immediate opportunity to change any of these things.
The lesson from FaceApp shouldn’t be that we need to marry hi-tech visuals with savings for retirement. The lesson, then, lakes the form of a question: What more can be done to urge us to think about, care for who we will one day become?
1.What can we learn about FaceApp?
A.It provides future-self images. B.It is the most downloaded app.
C.It helps people make decisions. D.It makes people age in real life.
2.Why do most respondents rarely think of their future life?
A.They have known future life from FaceApp.
B.They fail to make sacrifices for their future.
C.They attach greater importance to the present.
D.They consider future selves the same as today’s.
3.What does the underlined word “that” in paragraph 4 refer to?
A.Completing a project in Mexico. B.Offering aging images of participants.
C.Raising contributions among viewers. D.Giving a photograph of a hungry child.
4.What’s the author’s attitude to FaceApp?
A.Positive. B.Doubtful. C.Ambiguous. D.Unfavorable.
高二英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析
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Some people are pessimistic (悲观) when they think about the future. They say that, a hundred years from now, we will have used up most of the earth’s resources. We will have polluted our sea badly, and be unable to eat fish from it. We will have made air so dirty that we will need to wear masks. The world’s pollution will have doubled, and we will have used all the countryside for housing; there will be no farmland left.
Other people believe that man adapts very easily. They have a different idea of the future. However, in their views, will people be living in a hundred years’ time?
One architect believes that man will move off the land. He suggests that the city of the future will be a huge, pyramidshaped building, which will be floating on the surface of the sea. About 5,000 families will be living there, and the building will contain shops and schools as well as homes. By living on the sea, we will give the farmers more land to grow crops.
As for oil, people will no longer need it: we will be heating our homes with power from the sun. And we will not be short of minerals, because there are plenty under our oceans. At the moment, we do not have the technology to get them out. But, in a hundred years’ time, the optimists (乐观者) say, the new sea cities will be using these resources.
What will be in the shops in the year 3000? What will people be wearing? How will people be traveling?
Scientists who make predictions about the future suggest that, by the year 3000, shops will no longer exist. Computers will have replaced them; and people will order goods from home.
People will be wearing very light, thin clothes. By this time, scientists will have invented a fabric that keeps us cool in hot weather and warm in cold weather.
As for travel, the experts say that most people will be using public transport. Electric cars will be traveling through the streets day and night. Anybody will be able to stop one and use it.
An interesting picture! Unfortunately, we will not be there if these predictions come true.
1.Pessimists believe that in the future ________.
A. seas and oceans will be full of houses
B. we’ll have used up most of the resources
C. we will have not enough fish to eat from the seas
D. we will have polluted the air not so badly that it will be possible for us to breathe
2.Scientists have made the predictions EXCEPT ________.
A. electric cars will be going along the streets continuously
B. the resources under the oceans will never be used up
C. people will order goods from home
D. people won’t suffer from cold any longer
3.What does the underlined word in the seventh paragraph refer to?
A. a kind of tool B. a kind of energy
C. a kind of cloth D. a kind of resource
4.We can learn from the article that ________.
A. we should be optimistic about the future
B. we should be pessimistic about the future
C. we shouldn’t think too much about the future
D. we have no idea of what will happen in the future
高二英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析
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One of the few things you ___ say about English people with certainty is that they talk a lot about the weather.
A. can B. must C. should D. need
高二英语单项填空中等难度题查看答案及解析
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Scientists have learned a lot about the kinds of food people need. They say that there are several kinds of food that people should eat every day. They are: (1) green and yellow vegetables of all kinds; (2) citrus（柑橘）fruits and tomatoes; (3) potatoes and other fruit and vegetables; (4) meat of all kinds, fish and eggs; (5) milk and foods made from milk; (6) bread or cereals（谷类食品）, and rice is also in this kind of food; (7) butter, or something like butter.
Paragraph 2
People in different countries and different places of the world eat different kinds of things. Foods are cooked and eaten in many different kinds of ways. People in different countries eat at different times of the day. In some places people eat once or twice a day; in other countries people eat three or four times a day. Scientists say that none of the differences is really important. It doesn’t matter whether foods are eaten raw or cooked, canned or frozen. It doesn’t matter if a person eats dinner at 4 o’clock in the afternoon or at eleven o’clock at night. The important thing is what you eat every day.
Paragraph 3
There are two problems, then, in feeding the large number of people on earth. The first is to find some ways to feed the world’s population so that no one is hungry. The second is to make sure that people everywhere have the right kinds of food to make them grow to be strong and healthy.
1. It is important for people to eat ________.
A. three times a day
B. dinner at twelve o’clock
C. cooked food all the day
D. something from each of the seven kinds of food every day
2. People in different countries and different places of the world ________.
A. have the right kinds of food to eat
B. cook their food in the same way
C. have their meals at the same time
D. eat food in different ways
3.Which of the following is NOT true?
A. People in some places don’t have enough to eat.
B. There are too many people in the world.
C. One of the problems is that no one is hungry.
D. The scientists are trying to make people grow to be strong and healthy.
4. If there is Paragraph 4, what do you think is going to be talked about?
A. When people eat their lunch.
B. What to do with the two problems.
C. How to cook food in different ways.
D. Why people eat different kinds of food.
高二英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析
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When most people think of artists, they usually forget the part about the artist being a surveyor of beauty. This is because most people do not realize that there is actually a sort of process when it comes to making art so much so that lots of individuals(个人) cannot understand why true artists take their time when creating brilliant works.
The reason as to why artists take their time when creating their works is because they will first have to look for something beautiful which will inspire them. This is because an artist is someone who appreciates beauty and captures(捕获) the said beauty in a portrait, a song, a novel, and any other forms of artistic medium available to man. Rather than those commercial artists who simply paint a picture because they are paid to do so, a true artist will only work if he or she is inspired. The true artist shall not compromise his or her work because of earth temptations(诱惑) and as such they run the risk of being ridiculed(嘲弄)in exchange for their happiness. History has however shown that the true artist who correctly appreciates beauty is one whose works will end up being celebrated.
How does a true artist spot beauty? The only possible way to go about doing this is to actually look at the world. This means that the true artist is someone who loves to walk around and look at new things. Whatever it may be, the point here is that the artist does take a bit of time out to survey the world and find something beautiful which would inspire him. At times it even happens that the object that inspires the artist is not a thing but rather a person. At the end of the day, it must be said that each artist has his own views of what is beautiful and what is not. The true artist is someone who appreciates beauty.
1.What do we learn from the first paragraph?
A. Most people know little about how artists work.
B. People understand only how true artists work.
C. Most people appreciate the work of artists.
D. People tend to ignore the works of artists.
2.True artists are ridiculed because they .
A. have a strange lifestyle
B. resist earth temptations
C. refuse to live a happy life
D. search for something beautiful
3.What is the author's attitude towards true artist?
A. Doubtful. B. Concerned.
C. Appreciative. D. Disapproving.
4.The main purpose of the passage is to .
A. tell us the result of a survey
B. make a comparison
C. make a suggestion
D. argue for a point
高二英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析
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When most people think of artists, they usually forget the part about the artist being a surveyor of beauty. This is because most people do not realize that there is actually a sort of process when it comes to making art so much so that lots of individuals(个人) cannot understand why true artists take their time when creating brilliant works.
The reason as to why artists take their time when creating their works is because they will first have to look for something beautiful which will inspire them. This is because an artist is someone who appreciates beauty and captures(捕获) the said beauty in a portrait, a song, a novel, and any other forms of artistic medium available to man. Rather than those commercial artists who simply paint a picture because they are paid to do so, a true artist will only work if he or she is inspired. The true artist shall not compromise his or her work because of earth temptations(诱惑) and as such they run the risk of being ridiculed(嘲弄)in exchange for their happiness. History has however shown that the true artist who correctly appreciates beauty is one whose works will end up being celebrated.
How does a true artist spot beauty? The only possible way to go about doing this is to actually look at the world. This means that the true artist is someone who loves to walk around and look at new things. Whatever it may be, the point here is that the artist does take a bit of time out to survey the world and find something beautiful which would inspire him. At times it even happens that the object that inspires the artist is not a thing but rather a person. At the end of the day, it must be said that each artist has his own views of what is beautiful and what is not. The true artist is someone who appreciates beauty.
1.What do we learn from the first paragraph?
A. Most people know little about how artists work.
B. People understand only how true artists work.
C. Most people appreciate the work of artists.
D. People tend to ignore the works of artists.
2.True artists are ridiculed because they .
A. have a strange lifestyle
B. resist earth temptations
C. refuse to live a happy life
D. search for something beautiful
3.What is the author's attitude towards true artist?
A. Doubtful. B. Concerned.
C. Appreciative. D. Disapproving.
4.The main purpose of the passage is to .
A. tell us the result of a survey B. make a comparison
C. make a suggestion D. argue for a point
高二英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析
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When I tell people I wrote a book with my dad, they usually say, “It must be nice to think of the legacy (留下来的东西) you created with someone who means so much to you.”
This was a beautiful idea, but it was not the way I, or my dad, ever thought about the cooperation. Though we created something we’re proud of, “nice” is not the word either of us uses to describe the process.
“It was more confrontation (对抗) than cooperation,” my dad likes to say. I agree.
When we landed a book deal, we began a writing journey that was more difficult than either of us had anticipated, but also far more rewarding.
For almost three years, we met once or twice a week at my parents’ house and talked daily to plan and outline each chapter. After these meetings, one of us would write a rough draft that the other would build on. I wanted the book to focus on positive vices (不良习惯): such as moderate (适度的) chocolate. However, my dad felt the book should include chapters dealing with things like walking and spending time with family. Ultimately , I saw it his way. He said the book was about more than just good vices. It was about encouraging people to enjoy life in healthy ways.
Writing this book was a reminder that our family members share not only our faults but also our strengths. My dad is smart, funny, critical and caring. He has a strong passion for the truth. I hope I share these great qualities. For this book, he researched each topic with an enthusiasm I’d never seen from him, and he insisted that we constantly question and critically analyze every piece of information – even our own conclusions. He was determined to cooperate with me on a book, not because he couldn’t write one on his own, but because he believed that we could create something better together than we could alone.
I’m not sure if our cooperation led to better writing, but I’m sure it led to a better writing experience. Writing this book was difficult, sometimes more difficult than past projects, but it was never lonely.
1.How would the author describe the writing process according to the first 3 paragraphs?
A.Nice. B.Struggling.
C.Relaxing. D.Disappointing.
2.What is Paragraph 5 mainly about?
A.A healthy lifestyle.
B.The theme of the book.
C.How the author and his father worked together.
D.Why the author wanted to write the book.
3.What can we learn about the author’s father?
A.He is not good at writing.
B.He lacks confidence in himself.
C.He likes to criticize others’ works.
D.He likes to get to the bottom of things.
4.What did the author learn from the cooperation with his father?
A.It’s important to make a plan before work.
B.Their cooperation resulted in a better book than the author expected.
C.It’s worthwhile to work with someone close to you.
D.Communicate more when there is an argument.
高二英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析
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If you know something is bad for you, why can’t you just stop? About 70% of smokers say they would like to stop. Drug and alcohol abusers (滥用者) struggle to give up the bad habits that hurt their bodies and destroy families and friendships. And many of us have unhealthy weight that we could lose if only we would eat right and exercise more. So why don’t we do it?
Some scientists have been searching for answers. They’ve studied what happens in our brains as habits form. They’ve found answers to why bad habits, once formed, are so difficult to kick. And they’re developing ways to help us make the changes we’d like to make.
Habits are a normal part of life, and are often helpful. “ We wake up every morning, shower, comb our hair or brush our teeth without being aware of it,” Volkow says. We can drive along familiar routes without really thinking about the directions. “When behaviors become automatic(不加思索的), it gives us an advantage, because the brain does not have to perform the action on purpose.” Volkow says. This frees up our brains to focus on different things.
One way to kick bad habits is to focus on your unhealthy habits. Then try your best to stop them. For example, habits can be linked in our minds to certain places and activities. You could develop a plan, say, to avoid walking down the hall where there’s a candy machine. Try to avoid going places where you’ve usually smoked. Stay away from friends and situations linked to problem drinking or drug use.
Another helpful way is to replace unhealthy habits with new, healthy ones. “It doesn’t work for everyone,” Volkow says. “But certain groups of patients who have a history of taking a drug can do something else like running and it helps them stay away from drugs.”
1.In the first paragragh the writer mainly wants to tell us ______.
A. we should stop something bad for us
B. most smokers would like to stop smoking
C. bad habits are really difficult to give up
D. eating right and exercise more can lose weight
2.Scientists studied what happened in our brains as habits form in order to______.
A. find answers to solve the problem
B. find ways to form good habits
C. kick their own bad habits
D. help us see how bad habits form
3. If you want to kick bad habits you’d better_______.
A. focus on them on purpose
B. go to the places linked with them
C. do something linked with them
D. ask your friends for help
4.What is the main idea of the passage?
A. Breaking bad habits.
B. Forming good habits.
C. Finding reasons for bad habits
D. Replacing bad habits with good ones.
高二英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析
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We will never give in ______ they do or say about our plan.
A. No matter when B. how C. whatever D. although
高二英语单项填空中等难度题查看答案及解析
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When talking about colds (感冒), maybe some people say it is very common. During the cold winter days, many people will complain (抱怨) the cold winter makes them catch a cold, and what they feel upset are not only the headache, cough but also the runny nose. It is so embarrassing when they forget to take a handkerchief or tissue along with them.
Want to stay away from colds? Put on a happy face.
Compared to unhappy people, those who are cheerful and relaxed are less likely to suffer from colds, according to a new study. It's possible that being happy helps the body fight illnesses, say the researchers from New York University.
"It seems that positive (积极的) feelings may reduce (减少) the danger of illness, " said the study's chief researcher Sheldon Cohen.
In an earlier study, Cohen found that people who were cheerful and lively caught coughs and colds less often. People who showed feelings were also less likely to tell their doctors that they felt ill.
In this study, Cohen has interviewed 193 adults every day for two weeks. During the interviews, the people told researchers that they were given colds by doctors and had to stay alone in a room for six days.
The results showed that everyone in the study was equally (相等地) likely to get ill. But for people who said they felt happy during the research period, their illness are less serious and lasted for a shorter time.
Cohen believes that when people experience positive feelings, their body may produce a chemical that helps fight illness and disease. So if you are worried about your health, look on the brighter side more often.
1.The underline part in Paragraph 5 is probably means ______ .
A.were sad B.were bad-tempered
C.were thoughtful D.were outgoing
2.What did the study find? ______
A.People who felt happy never got ill.
B.People with positive feelings had less serious illnesses.
C.People with good feelings became ill more easily.
D.People's feelings didn't influence their health.
3.According to Cohen, which of the following may help fight illness? ______
A.Eating. B.Laughing
C.Crying D.Sleeping.
4.What is the best title for this passage? ______
A.Smiles can fight colds B.Cause of colds found
C.The danger of colds D.How people get sick
高二英语阅读理解困难题查看答案及解析