When you are _______ about which button to press on the complicated machine, you can either read the user’s guide for guidance or fax us for specific instruction. Don’t ______ the trial-and-error method.
| A．insure; do | B．ensure; make | C．uncertain; try | D．unsure; touch |
高三英语单项填空中等难度题
When you are _______ about which button to press on the complicated machine, you can either read the user’s guide for guidance or fax us for specific instruction. Don’t ______ the trial-and-error method.
| A．insure; do | B．ensure; make | C．uncertain; try | D．unsure; touch |
高三英语单项填空中等难度题查看答案及解析
To ________ the web page, you press this button, which makes the most recent information appear.
A．refresh B．promote
C．tear D．adopt
高三英语单项填空中等难度题查看答案及解析
Whenever we see a button, we are eager to press it because we know something will happen. This is true in most cases, for example on a doorbell and on the “on/off” button on the TV. But some buttons are actually fake, like the “close” button on a lift.
Many people are in the habit of pressing the “close” button because they don’t have the patience to wait for the lift doors to shut. But lifts’ “close” buttons are a complete scam (骗局), at least in the US － the doors will not close any faster no matter how hard you press.
It started in the 1990s when the Americans with Disabilities Act was passed in the US, making sure that all lifts stayed open long enough so that people with disabilities could enter. Only US firefighters and repairmen can use the buttons to speed up the door-closing process if they have a code or special keys.
But to normal lift riders, the buttons aren’t completely useless. According to psychologists, fake buttons can actually make you feel better by offering you a sense of control.
“Perceived (能够感知的) control is very important. It reduces stress and increases well-being,” Ellen J. Langer, a psychology professor, said, “ having a lack of control is associated with depression.”
Experts have revealed that a lot of buttons that don’t do anything exist in our lives for this same purpose. For example, many offices in the US have fake thermostats (温度调节器) because people tend to feel better when they think they can control the temperature in their workspace.
But psychologists found it interesting that even when people are aware of these little “white lies”, they still continue to push fake buttons because as long as the doors eventually close, it is considered to be worth the effort.
“That habit is here to stay,” John Kounios, a psychology professor, said. “Even though I have real doubts about the traffic light buttons, I always press them. After all, I’ve got nothing else to do while waiting. So why not press the button in the hope that this one will work?”
1. What was the author’s main purpose in writing the article?
A. To analyze the functions of fake buttons.
B. To describe some different kinds of fake buttons.
C. To explain the advantages and disadvantages of fake buttons.
D. To explore people’s different habits when it comes to pushing buttons.
2. In America, the “close” buttons on lifts _______.
A. are fake for the convenience of disabled people
B. work only when people press them hard for a while
C. were specially designed to give people a sense of control
D. cannot speed up the process of closing the door in any case
3. The underlined part “for this same purpose” in Paragraph 6 refers to _______.
A. making people more patient
B. giving people perceived control
C. helping people to build up confidence
D. making people with depression feel better
4.According to John Kounios, people who press fake buttons ______.
A. should give up this habit
B. probably do so to kill time
C. consider what they do to be meaningless
D. don’t know that what they press is fake
高三英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析
—I pressed the button just now, but no copies came out.
—The machine _______ well. You must have made an error in operation.
A. runs B. ran
C. had run D. has run
高三英语单项填空中等难度题查看答案及解析
Have you ever pressed the pedestrian button at a crosswalk and wondered if it really worked? They’re called “placebo(安慰剂）buttons”一buttons that mechanically sound and can be pushed，but provide no functionality.
In New York City, only about 100 of the 1, 000 crosswalk buttons actually function. Crosswalk signals were generally installed before traffic jam had reached today’s levels.
But while their function was taken over by more advanced systems—such as automated lights or traffic sensors — the physical buttons were often kept, rather than being replaced at further expense. Other cities，such as Boston，Dallas and Seattle，have gone through a similar process, leaving them with their own placebo pedestrian buttons. In London, which has 6, 000 traffic signals，pressing the pedestrian button results in a reliable “Wait” light. But that doesn’t necessarily mean that the “green man”— or “pedestrian stage” in traffic signal design profession — will appear any sooner.
“We do have some crossings where the green light comes on automatically, but we still ask people to press the button because that enables accessible features,’’ said Glynn Barton, director of network management at Transport for London.
These features, such as blind tracks and hearable traffic signals, help people with visual disorder cross the road and only function when the button is pressed. As for the lights, a growing number of them are now combined and become a part of an electronic system that detects traffic and adjusts time frequency accordingly (giving priority to buses if they’re running late, for example), which means that pressing the button has no effect.
According to Langer, a Harvard psychologist, placebo buttons give us the illusion (错觉)of control — and something to do in situations where the alternative would be doing nothing. In the case of pedestrian crossings, they may even make us safer by forcing us to pay attention to our surroundings. “They serve a psychological purpose at the very least,” she added.
1.Why are the physical buttons still kept in some cities?
A. Because it may cost money to replace them.
B. Because they remain as memories of a city.
C. Because do have real functions in traffic.
D. Because they can result in reliable lights.
2.Which of the following word can replace the underline word “features” in Paragraph 4?
A. Functions.
B. Uses.
C. Equipment.
D. Facilities.
3.If you pressed a “placebo button” in London, what would happen?
A. All traffic would be affected.
B. Some kind of sound might appear.
C. Pedestrians came first to cross the road.
D. “Green man” were bound to show up earlier.
4.What can we know about “palcebo buttons” from Langer’s words?
A. They can really control traffic.
B. They serve little functions.
C. They may work mentally.
D. They can help the blind.
高三英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析
Don't press the red button ,_______you will set off the alarm.
A. but B. or C. so D. and
高三英语单项填空中等难度题查看答案及解析
Today, we talk about a common object that appears in many expressions — buttons! Buttons, which are usually small and round and made of metal or plastic, are found on all sorts of clothing. They fasten or connect one piece of clothing to another in order to make sure your clothes don’t fall off.
To be cute as a button is an old saying, which means to be attractive or sweet, but in a small way. Babies are often described as cute as a button. Language experts don’t know why. But they do say this expression dates back to the late 1860s.
Here is another expression related to button: button-down. People often wear button-down shirts to the office. Button-down as an adjective means to be conservative or traditional. People described as button-down stay as close as possible to the normal way of dressing and behaving.
When buttoning a button you slip it into a buttonhole. A buttonhole traps the button. So, to buttonhole someone means you have trapped them in a spoken conversation. Now, let’s say you find yourself buttonholed in a conversation at a party. Someone just keeps talking and talking and talking! Finally, you can’t take it any longer. You tell the person to button it! This is a direct, but unacceptable way of saying “Stop talking!” Button your lip is another equally rude but effective way to stop a person who talks too much.
Another kind of difficult person is someone who pushes one’s buttons. To push one’s buttons means to know exactly how to get that person angry or upset. People who like to push other people’s buttons usually do it for selfish reasons. They find a person’s weak point and then they use it to upset them.
1.What do you think of someone who wears a button-down shirt to the office?
A. Funny. B. Traditional.
C. Crazy. D. Fashionable.
2.What will you probably say to get rid of a long and boring talk?
A. Button your lip. B. Be cute as a button.
C. Push your buttons. D. Be button-down.
3.How does the fourth paragraph mainly develop?
A. By giving examples. B. By making contrasts.
C. By listing figures. D. By analyzing cause and effect.
4.What does the underlined phrase “pushes one’s buttons” in Paragraph 5 mean?
A. Learns of one’s secret. B. Shouts loudly.
C. Gets someone to lose his temper. D. Argues with someone.
高三英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析
听下面一段较长对话，回答以下小题。
1.What are the speakers mainly talking about?
A. Which exhibition to visit. B. When to leave the museum. C. Where to see forest animals.
2.Which hall is busy now?
A. Hall 6. B. Hall 5. C. Hall 3.
高三英语长对话中等难度题查看答案及解析
When you are stuck on a problem, sometimes it is best to stop thinking about it consciously. Research has shown that taking a break or a nap can help the brain create pathways to a solution. Now a new study expands on the effect of this so-called incubation by using sound cues to focus the sleeping mind on a targeted problem.
When humans sleep, parts of the brain replay certain memories, strengthening and transforming them. About a decade ago researchers developed a technique, called targeted memory reactivation(TMR), aimed at further reinforcing selected memories: when a sound becomes associated with a memory and is later played during sleep, that memory gets reactivated In a recently published study, scientists tested whether revisiting the memory of a puzzle during sleep might also improve problem-solving.
About 60 participants visited the laboratory before and after a night of sleep. In an evening session, they attempted spatial, verbal and conceptual puzzles, with a distinct music clip repeating in the background for each, until they had worked on six puzzles they could not solve. Overnight they wore special electronic uniforms to detect slow-wave sleep, which may be important for memory consolidation, and a device played the sounds assigned to three of the six unsolved puzzles. The next day, back at the lab, the participants attempted the six puzzles again. The subjects solved 32 percent of the sound-prompted puzzles versus 21 percent of the untargeted puzzles, a boost of more than 50 percent
''The researchers very bravely went for quite complex tasks that involved a lot of complex processing, and remarkably they found these really strong effects in all of their tasks, '' says Penny Lewis, a psychologist Cardiff University, who was not involved in the research. ''These are supercool results. Now we need to go out and try to understand them by firstly copying them and secondly trying to work out the component processes that are actually being influenced.''
Beyond providing new evidence that humans restructure memories while sleeping, the research may have practical implications. ''In a futuristic world, maybe TMR could help us use sleep to work on our problems'', says lead author Kristin Sanders, who was a graduate student at Northwestern University during the study Sleep-monitoring technology is increasingly accessible, and even without gadgets, future solvers can focus on important problems before bed.
Still, sleep is not magic. People need to do their homework and load their heads with the puzzle pieces involved. ''I'm not going to solve cancer with this technique, '' Sanders says, ''because I don't know anything about cancer research. ''
1.Which of the following has the closest meaning to the underlined word ''incubation'' in Para 1?
A.The pathway to a solution.
B.The period of taking a break.
C.Being stuck on a problem.
D.Targeted memory reactivation.
2.The following statements about the recently published study are true EXCEPT that_________
A.scientists wanted to prove that sound cues helped solve problems
B.the device played the sounds to all the unsolved puzzles
C.the participants went to the laboratory twice during the experiment
D.the participants tried to solve different types of puzzles
3.What of the following is true according to the passage?
A.Penny intends to adopt two steps to understand the strong effects of the tasks.
B.Penny, who was very pleased about the result, was a lead scientist in the research concerned.
C.Sanders hopes he will solve cancer with TMR although he knows nothing about the disease.
D.Sanders predicts TMR could help solve the problem by exposing solvers to distinct sounds.
高三英语阅读理解困难题查看答案及解析
.---Susan, what are you talking about?
----_____I can finish writing the report on time.
A. If B. When C. Whether D. What
高三英语单项填空简单题查看答案及解析