You’re walking down a quiet street and suddenly you hear some footsteps. Undoubtedly, it means that there’s someone around. But have you ever wondered why it occurs to us that it’s someone else’s footsteps, not ours?
According to a new study published in the journal Nature in September, this phenomenon arises from a function in our brain to ignore the noise we make ourselves.
In order to explore how our brain does this, a group of scientists carried out an experiment with mice at Duke University. The research entered on an intuition-that we are usually unaware of the sound of our own footsteps-as a vehicle for understanding larger neural phenomena; how this behavior reveals the ability to monitor, recognize, and remember the sound of one’s own movements in relation to those of their larger environments.
In the experiment, research controlled the sounds of a group of mice could hear, reported Science Daily. During the first several days, the mice would hear the same sound each time they took a step. This was just like “running on a tiny piano with each key playing exactly the same note”, senior study author Richard Mooney, a professor of neurobiology at Duke University, told Live Science.
Scientists found that their auditory cortex (听觉皮层) – the area of the brain that processes sound –became active at first but decreased its response to the sound after two or three minutes when the mice became familiar with it.
“ It’s almost like they were wearing special headphones that could filter (过滤) out the sound of their own movements.” David Schneider, an assistant professor at the Center for Neutral Science at New York University, told HuffPost.
But once the sound changed, their auditory cortex became active again. This suggests that the “sensory filter” in a mouse’s brain could help it detect new sounds or abnormal noise in the environment easily after tuning out familiar sounds.
“For mice, this is really important,” said Schneider. “They are prey animals, so they really need to be able to listen for a cat creeping up on them, even when they’re walking and making noise.
Being able to ignore the sounds of one’s own movements is likely important for humans as well. But the ability to predict the sounds of our own actions is also important for more complex human behaviors such as speaking or playing an instrument.
“When we learn to speak or to play music, we predict what sounds we are going to hear – such as when we prepare to strike keys on a piano – and we compare this to what we actually hear, “explains Schneider. “We use mismatches between expectation and experience to change how we play – and we get better over time because our brain is trying to minimize these errors.”
1.What can be discovered about mice in the experiment?
A.Their brain responds inactively to the familiar sounds
B.They are able to detect sounds other animals don’t notice.
C.They cannot identify different sounds except their own footsteps.
D.Different areas of their brain are responsible for different sounds.
2.What’s the function of the sensory filter?
A.Ignoring the sounds made by our companions.
B.Getting used to abnormal or unfamiliar sounds.
C.Identifying the sounds from a larger environment.
D.Being sensitive to the sounds of our own movement.
3.Why can a good symphony conductor immediately recognize it when a wrong note is played?
A.He has the ability to match the wrong note with the instrument player.
B.He has an intuition that he should ignore the sound of his own movement.
C.He has a low expectation and knows where players are likely to make errors.
D.He has a good prediction of how each note should be played in the orchestra.
4.What can be inferred from the passage?
A.Noise-filtering ability ensures us a quiet and undisturbed environment.
B.The ability to ignore familiar noises helps to detect potential dangers.
C.The activeness of auditory cortex determines our activity performance.
D.Sound-predicting ability seems not so important for humans as for animals.
高三英语阅读理解困难题
You’re walking down a quiet street and suddenly you hear some footsteps. Undoubtedly, it means that there’s someone around. But have you ever wondered why it occurs to us that it’s someone else’s footsteps, not ours?
According to a new study published in the journal Nature in September, this phenomenon arises from a function in our brain to ignore the noise we make ourselves.
In order to explore how our brain does this, a group of scientists carried out an experiment with mice at Duke University. The research entered on an intuition-that we are usually unaware of the sound of our own footsteps-as a vehicle for understanding larger neural phenomena; how this behavior reveals the ability to monitor, recognize, and remember the sound of one’s own movements in relation to those of their larger environments.
In the experiment, research controlled the sounds of a group of mice could hear, reported Science Daily. During the first several days, the mice would hear the same sound each time they took a step. This was just like “running on a tiny piano with each key playing exactly the same note”, senior study author Richard Mooney, a professor of neurobiology at Duke University, told Live Science.
Scientists found that their auditory cortex (听觉皮层) – the area of the brain that processes sound –became active at first but decreased its response to the sound after two or three minutes when the mice became familiar with it.
“ It’s almost like they were wearing special headphones that could filter (过滤) out the sound of their own movements.” David Schneider, an assistant professor at the Center for Neutral Science at New York University, told HuffPost.
But once the sound changed, their auditory cortex became active again. This suggests that the “sensory filter” in a mouse’s brain could help it detect new sounds or abnormal noise in the environment easily after tuning out familiar sounds.
“For mice, this is really important,” said Schneider. “They are prey animals, so they really need to be able to listen for a cat creeping up on them, even when they’re walking and making noise.
Being able to ignore the sounds of one’s own movements is likely important for humans as well. But the ability to predict the sounds of our own actions is also important for more complex human behaviors such as speaking or playing an instrument.
“When we learn to speak or to play music, we predict what sounds we are going to hear – such as when we prepare to strike keys on a piano – and we compare this to what we actually hear, “explains Schneider. “We use mismatches between expectation and experience to change how we play – and we get better over time because our brain is trying to minimize these errors.”
1.What can be discovered about mice in the experiment?
A.Their brain responds inactively to the familiar sounds
B.They are able to detect sounds other animals don’t notice.
C.They cannot identify different sounds except their own footsteps.
D.Different areas of their brain are responsible for different sounds.
2.What’s the function of the sensory filter?
A.Ignoring the sounds made by our companions.
B.Getting used to abnormal or unfamiliar sounds.
C.Identifying the sounds from a larger environment.
D.Being sensitive to the sounds of our own movement.
3.Why can a good symphony conductor immediately recognize it when a wrong note is played?
A.He has the ability to match the wrong note with the instrument player.
B.He has an intuition that he should ignore the sound of his own movement.
C.He has a low expectation and knows where players are likely to make errors.
D.He has a good prediction of how each note should be played in the orchestra.
4.What can be inferred from the passage?
A.Noise-filtering ability ensures us a quiet and undisturbed environment.
B.The ability to ignore familiar noises helps to detect potential dangers.
C.The activeness of auditory cortex determines our activity performance.
D.Sound-predicting ability seems not so important for humans as for animals.
高三英语阅读理解困难题查看答案及解析
--- I was walking along the street and all of a sudden, a car cut in and knocked me down．
--- You can never be ______ in the street．
A．careful enough B．much careful C．very carefully D．too carefully
高三英语单项填空中等难度题查看答案及解析
---- I was riding along the street and all of a sudden, a car cut in and knocked me down.
---- You can never be _______ careful in the street.
A．very B．too C．so D．much
高三英语单项填空中等难度题查看答案及解析
----I was riding along the street and all of a sudden, a car cut in and knocked me down.
------You can never be _____careful in the street.
| A．much | B．very | C．so | D．too |
高三英语单项填空中等难度题查看答案及解析
---I was riding along the street and all of a sudden, a car cut in and knocked me down.
--- You can never be ______ careful in the street.
A. much B. very C. so D. too
高三英语单项填空中等难度题查看答案及解析
Walk down any British shopping street and you will find shops with strange names. Why is the barbers called "Shearlock Combs"? Why is the opticians (眼镜店)called "Eyediology"? And who decided to name the butchers "Meat you there" and the fish and chip shop "The Plaice to Come"? What's going on?
The British love puns (双关语)----as do many other nationalities. Puns are jokes based on words that sound the same. You've probably noticed that many words in English which are spelt in different ways and have different meanings are pronounced in the same way. Think about the name of the restaurant: "plaice" is a kind of fish, so our restaurant is "the place" to eat fish. Butchers sell meat ——so we'll "meet you there" ——and opticians look after our eyes in a scientific way --- so eyed-iology (ideology) is a name that fits. Hairdressers shear (cut) your locks (hair) and comb it —— say the three words together quickly and you have the name of a famous detective. In shop titles and adverts, puns are used to get our attention.
Puns are very old. The ancient Egyptians and Romans liked to pun. Shakespeare uses many puns in his plays ——King Richard the Third (the son of York) brings "glorious summer" ——just think about a word that has the same sound as son.
Many people enjoy a good pun (pun / fun for all the family! ) —— others hate them. Puns aren't really designed to make you laugh. Here are some puns that might leave you asking for no more puns. Have you heard about the bears who voted in the North Pole? Or the cheetah (猎豹) who couldn't be trusted at cards? Or how about the clever little Australian animal that had lots of koalaifications or the camel with no humps (驼峰) that was called Humphrey (and so was free of humps ... ).
Puns can be funny, but they sometimes make important points. Here' s a fashion tip: "skinny genes make skinny jeans": so don't worry if your jeans don't fit --- it's your family's fault!
1.Where can you probably enjoy fish and chips, judging from the name?
A.Shearlock Combs. B.Eyediology.
C.The Plaice to Come D.Meat you there.
2.Why are puns often used in shop titles and adverts?
A.It's a long-established tradition.
B.They help create a relaxed atmosphere.
C.They show the products are of high quality.
D.They are good for catching people's attention.
3.How does the author make his point in the text?
A.By giving examples. B.By making comparisons.
C.By following the order of time. D.By describing causes and effects.
4.What is the author' s main purpose in writing the text?
A.To compare the use of puns in different countries.
B.To introduce some popular puns in Britain.
C.To stress it is important to understand puns.
D.To explain why puns are common in Britain.
高三英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析
Walk down any British shopping street and you will find shops with strange names. Why is the opticians (眼镜店) called “Eyediology”? And who decided to name the butchers (肉铺) “Meat you there” ? What’s going on?
Puns are jokes based on words that sound the same. You’ve probably noticed that many words in English which are spelt in different ways and have different meanings are pronounced in the same way. Think about the name of the restaurant: “plaice” is a kind of fish so our restaurant is “the place” to eat fish. Butchers sell meat – so we’ll “meet you there” – and opticians look after our eyes in a scientific way – so eyed – iology (ideology) is a name that fits. Hairdressers shear (cut) your locks (hair) and comb it – say the three words together quickly and you have the name of a famous detective. In shop titles and adverts, puns are used to get our attention.
Puns are very old. The ancient Egyptians and Romans liked to pun. Shakespeare uses many puns in his plays – King Richard the Third (the son of York) brings “glorious summer” – just think about a word that has the same sound as son.
Many people enjoy a good pun (pun / fun for all the family!) – others hate them. Puns aren’t really designed to make you laugh. Here are some puns that might leave you asking for no more puns please. Have you heard about the bears who voted in the North Poll? Or the cheetah (印度豹) who couldn’t be trusted at cards? Or how about the clever little Australian animal that had lots of koalaifications or the camel (骆驼) with no humps (驼峰) that was called Humphrey (and so was free of humps...)
Puns can be funny but they sometimes make important points. Here’s a fashion tip: “skinny genes make skinny jeans”: so don’t worry if your jeans don’t fit . Look at your parents!
1.Where can you probably enjoy fish and chips, judging from the name?
A. Shearlock Combs.
B. Eyediology.
C. The Plaice to Come.
D. Meat you there.
2.Why King Richard the Third used “glorious summer” to describe himself?
A. Because he thought he is as hot as summer.
B. Because he thought he is the greastest son of the King York.
C. Because it sounds like the word “son”.
D. Because he was born in summer.
3.How does the author make his point in the article?
A. By giving examples.
B. By making comparisons.
C. By following the order of time.
D. By describing causes and effects.
4.In the last paragraph, the fashion tip want express that ______.
A. Buy a tight-fitting jeans can help you stay in shape.
B. Your genes decide what jeans you like
C. It’s your family’s fault to be too fat to put the jeans on.
D. Jeans consist of your different genes.
高三英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析
Boyan Slat is 26. If you saw him walking down the street, you might think he was just a student at a local technical university. And so he was, seven years ago, right before he _________ out of college.
Slat’s life began to _________ after a holiday trip to Greece with his family when he was 16. Before taking a diving course, he had _________ to see beautiful sea animals. However, what he _________ saw in the ocean was an awful lot of _________ waste. From that moment on, Slat dived into a _________ to find a solution to this alarming problem. _________ by the idea for a floating barrier that could collect plastic in the oceans, he _________ his company at the age of 18. Although the idea was named one of the best _________ of 2015 by TIME magazine, he received __________ feedback from the specialists in __________ issues.
Slat was not __________ and continued with his mission. After five and a half years’ hard work, he launched the world’s __________ ocean plastic cleanup system: System 001. The U-shaped pipe, about 609 meters in __________, snakes its way out under the Golden Gate Bridge into the Pacific. These floating barriers will capture (捕获) plastic as the ocean water flow past. Ships will collect the waste and bring it to land for __________ every few months. According to Slat, if all goes to plan, only 60 systems could __________ the amount of plastic there by as much as 50 percent by 2025.
__________, there remains a problem: what will happen to the plastic brought back to shore from Slats systems? It’s likely that lots of the waste will __________ be recycled into more single-use plastics that end up back in the __________. That doesn’t mean Slat will __________. “Big problems require big solutions,” he says. “If anyone has any better ideas, I’d love to know.”
1.A.ran B.dropped C.studied D.grew
2.A.change B.improve C.suffer D.worsen
3.A.failed B.managed C.started D.expected
4.A.suddenly B.actually C.probably D.rarely
5.A.medical B.industrial C.plastic D.agricultural
6.A.project B.book C.lake D.river
7.A.Troubled B.Amused C.Frightened D.Struck
8.A.left B.founded C.sold D.introduced
9.A.inventions B.results C.wishes D.barriers
10.A.positive B.valuable C.negative D.immediate
11.A.legal B.social C.political D.environmental
12.A.discouraged B.abandoned C.pleased D.surprised
13.A.largest B.best C.first D.fastest
14.A.width B.length C.height D.depth
15.A.burning B.burying C.recycling D.testing
16.A.increase B.reduce C.keep D.limit
17.A.Besides B.Therefore C.However D.Otherwise
18.A.eventually B.certainly C.rapidly D.carefully
19.A.ships B.mountains C.dustbins D.oceans
20.A.give back B.give in C.give out D.give up
高三英语完形填空中等难度题查看答案及解析
Walking along the streets in Malaysia, you may hear a number of different languages—Malay, English, Mandarin, or even Indian. More people have decided to travel to Kuala Lumpur to witness the incredible development of Western Malaysia.
However, having a passion for experiencing multicultural and peaceful lifestyles, I chose another route—Sabah, the second largest state in Malaysia. I took a trip there in August. With a knowledgeable guide and warm-hearted locals, it turned out to be an unforgettable experience.
Although Sabah is not that rich or prosperous like Western Malaysia, I prefer the easy and simple life there. Its social ethos（精神气质）is more harmonious than any other scenic spot.
During my five-day stay, I think the Mangrove Forest was the most impressive destination. Have you ever imagined what it might be like to boat through a pleasant breeze while drops of light blur（模糊）your vision？My mind drifted away with the warmth of the sunlight. I lost myself in the peaceful and relaxing surroundings, and fell into a splendid dream world.
However, as a former British colony, it still holds some customs that are difficult for me to get used to. For me, the various dialects and unique expressions among the locals were the biggest issues to deal with. Regardless of this, it taught me a lot. My time at Sabah was very memorable.
1.Why did the author choose Sabah as his destination？
A.To witness its fast development.
B.To make friends with the locals.
C.To enjoy its lifestyle and scenery.
D.To learn different foreign languages.
2.Which word can best describe the journey to Sabah?
A.Astonishing. B.Regretful.
C.Exhausting. D.Fascinating.
3.What was the biggest problem the author had during his trip?
A.Old customs. B.Local language.
C.Confusing routes. D.Multicultural lifestyles.
4.What's the purpose of the text?
A.To promote tourism of Sabah.
B.To introduce a scenic spot-Sabah.
C.To describe the development of Sabah.
D.To share the touring experience in Sabah.
高三英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析
He must have sensed that I ______ him. He suddenly glanced at me and said quietly, “Why are you staring at me like that?”
A. would look at B. looked at
C. was looking at D. am looking at
高三英语单项填空中等难度题查看答案及解析