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Your Genes, Your Future
How would you feel if someone gave you an envelope with a description of every one of your genes? Supposing this information could tell you what illnesses you were likely to get, or even what illness you might die of, would you open the envelope?
It's a difficult question to answer. But the fact is that scientists have already begun to discover how certain genes influence us. And in the next decade, they will learn a lot more.
We have known for a long time that many of our physical characteristics are inherited（继承）. For example, our eye colour and certain diseases are decided by our genes. As long as you have a good diet, scientists can predict your height by looking at your parents' heights. And we now know that the need to wear glasses has a genetic cause. Our eating habits also appear to be decided by our genes!
With other characteristics, things are not so clear. Certainly, scientists have now shown that some traits（特性，特质） are strongly influenced by our genes. Do you prefer getting up early or late? To a great extent, it's your genes that decide. Do you enjoy dangerous sports such as car racing? There is a gene that influences how much excitement we need.
But with most psychological characteristics, scientists are learning that both our genes and our environment affect us. This is true of things such as how violent we are, and how well we get on with other people. So, even though scientists may soon be able to describe our genes in detail, it does not mean they will be able to predict our future with any real success.
Nevertheless, the fact is that scientists will be able to "read" our genes in the near future. This will create new problems. To give a few examples, insurance companies may not want to insure people whose genes predict certain illnesses. Employers may not want to employ people who have a gene for violence. One thing is already clear -- with these new developments, life is going to become even more complicated!
60. Which characteristics is mostly likely to be inherited?
A. Eye color. B. Interest. C. Future. D. Ability.
61. What kind of problem will these new developments create?
A. You may die of a certain illness described in the envelope.
B. There will be an increased number of violent people.
C. People may take part in dangerous sports such as car racing.
D. Insurance companies may refuse to insure people with a gene for certain disease.
62. Why won’t scientists be able to tell us a lot about our future?
A. Because we’re affected not only by our genes but also by our environment.
B. Because scientists will not be able to read our genes in the near future.
C. Because life in the future will be more complicated.
D. Because scientists can’t describe our genes in detail.
Life can be difficult, particularly for adolescents. Many young people get through the troubled years of adolescence and emerge into adulthood reasonably safe and sound. Too many youngsters, however, feel confused and ignored. Unable to clime out of the dilemma, these youngsters are socially and emotionally ‘at-risk’. They may suffer from such painful symptoms as anxiety, depression or anger.
Many parents, in an honest attempt to help their adolescent from emotionally drowning, seek professional treatment. They put a great deal of faith in professional clinicians to find a way out for their child. However, many of these parents begin to recognize that solving the problem is more complex than they had initially realized. It has been my clinical experience that some parents who bring their resistant youngster for treatment see their child as being solely responsible for the problem. In many cases, the adolescent feels angry and defective for being pushed into treatment.
We can gain some insight if we look at things through the eyes of the adolescent. The child is usually reluctantly brought by the parents to clinicians as what I call the ‘identified patient’. The youngster anxiously waits as the parents lay out the problem with the clinicians with remarks such as, “I don’t know what’s happening to my child lately, but he’s not his old self. He doesn’t listen to me anymore, has been getting failing grades, acts out at school, and stays in his room all the time.’’ Such descriptions at the beginning of treatment by the parents may strengthen feelings of incompetence on the part of the child. Such a pattern at the beginning sets up an intention of resistance and leaves the potential for a positive outcome at risk.
What many parents fail to realize is that the adolescent’s problem serves as a symbol for what is happening within the family system. Unknowingly, a youngster may become oppositional or depressed as a way of attempting to calm the psychic pain experienced by his family. On some level, the child’s behavioral problems respresent an effort to focus attention away from the unstable state within his family. In such cases it represents a courageous attempt by the teen to minimize hoem-related problems. Eventually the problems become too troublesome for the child and he proceeds to sacrifice himself for the good of the family. Many times youngsters go to clinicians in the hope that treatment will aid in healing the entire family system.
In my clinical experience, I have found that the troubled adolescent is more likely to find emotional healing if the parents are actively involved in the treatment process. In such cases where family members are involved in treatment, the adolescent’s expectation for change tends to improve. With parental involvement, the teen begins to feel more competent, as other family members take the risk to explore difficult family issues.From the first paragraph, we can learn young people will .
| A．experience a colourful life during adolescence |
| B．find society full of various dangers during adolescence |
| C．feel adolescence the most difficult period for them to get through |
| D．probably face a good many challenges during adolescence |
What causes a child to resist treatment while the parents bring him to clinicians for help?
| A．The child’s being reluctantly brought to clinicians. |
| B．The parents’ descriptions of the child’s problems to clinicians. |
| C．The child’s feelings of incompetence. |
| D．The parents’ looking at things through the eyes of the child. |
In fact, the adolescent’s problems might indicate that the youngster .
| A．is concerned about the family’s harmony |
| B．wants his parents to care about him |
| C．feels disappointed with the family environment |
| D．isn’t willing to face home-related problems |
Young people will feel competent when .
| A．recognizing their problems |
| B．finding short cuts to treat their problems |
| C．brought to a more experienced clinician |
| D．supported by their parents in treatment |
What is the author’s attitude toward adolescents with problems?
| A．Sceptical. | B．Worried. |
| C．Sympathetic. | D．Indifferent. |
"I’m ging home tomorrow,"Michael announced. It was the first time he had talked with Bert Hensley since their argument that morning. He wanted his father to say that he couldn’t go, that he wouldn’t let him run away. To say that running was no way for a man to live.
But he replied only, "I figured that’s what you’d want."
Michael began to pack his suitcase. It took only a few more minutes to finish his packing. When Michael finally spoke, his voice was too loud in the small space. "Why’d you invite me?" He asked, "Why’d you call after so many years?" His father answered without looking at Michael.
"I thought it was time," he said.
"Time for what?" Michael persisted.
"I guess we’ve let one another down pretty badly in the last couple of days, haven’t we?" his father said. "Cil warned me," he continued, "She said I ought to think about it more before I called-about what I was trying to do, going back into your life that way. She said it wasn’t fair, me letting some other man raise my son through all those years and then trying to take him back, just when he was getting to be a man."
"A man?"Michael almost laughed.
"I don’t know if you’ll understand any of this. You’are pretty young." His father went slient, as though there was nothing more to say.
Michael learned across the table. "Try me," he spoke quietly, but it was almost a command.
His father flashed him a surprised look. "Well," he said at last, "My life was beginning to feel… sort of temporary, I guess you could say. When you finish a run on the river, it’s done. You know?So I guess I found myself thinking about you. A lot. Not just now and then the way I used to."…
"Michael,"his father said finally, "You don’t have to go, you know," his father said as Michael settled his suitcase into the back seat of Cil’s car. Michael looked at his father helplessly. They both knew that he did. What good did it to start pretending now?
"Don’t let the old man work too hard, Michael." his father added, trying on a chuckle(轻声地笑) that slipped immediately away.
The old man. The man his father had given him over to and then tried to take him back again. Even now, Michael thought, you could ask me to stay. That might make a difference. If you asked like you really mean it.
But his father didn’t ask; Michael had known he wouldn’t. They shook hands before Michael climbed into the car. Like two men. Like two frightened men.After all of what had happened Michael still hoped his father could .
| A．apologize for what he had done |
| B．support his decision |
| C．go home with him |
| D．ask him to saty |
Why did Michael feel disappointed with his father?
| A．His father abandoned him after he was born. |
| B．His father went back into his life all of a sudden. |
| C．His father never thought of him as him as the way he did. |
| D．His father said he was young to understan all of this. |
Which of the following statements is TRUE?
| A．When the father said "You don’t have to go", he meant it. |
| B．The father never regretted having tried to take his son back. |
| C．Michael probably wouldn’t go back to his father again. |
| D．The old man was hard on Michael. |
Sensing phantom phone vibrations(手机虚幻震动) is a strangely common experience. Around 80% of us have imagined a phone vibrating in our pockets when it’s actually completely still. Almost 30% of us have also heard non-existent ringing. Are these signs of madness caused by digital culture? Not at all. In fact, phantom vibrations and ringing indicate a fundamental principle in psychology.
Psychologists use a concept called Signal Detection Theory to guide their thinking about the problem of perceptual(感知的) judgments. Working through the example of phone vibrations, we can see how this theory explains why they are a common and unavoidable part of healthy mental function.
When your phone is in your pocket, the world is in one of two possible states: the phone is either ringing or not. You also have two possible states of mind: the judgment that the phone is ringing, or the judgment that it isn’t. Obviously you’d like to match these states in the correct way. True vibrations should go with "it’s ringing", and no vibrations should go with "it’s not ringing".Signal detection theory calls these faithful matches a "hit " and a "correct rejection".
But there are two other possible combinations: you could mismatch true vibrations with "it’s not ringing"( a"miss"); or mismatch the absence of vibrations with "it’s ringing"( a"false alarm"). This second kind of mismatch is what’s going on when you imagine a phantom phone vibration.
What does that mean in terms of your phone? We can assume that people like to notice when their phone is ringing, and that most people hate missing a call. This means their perceptual systems have adjusted their bias(偏向) to a level that makes misses unlikely. The unavoidable cost is a raised likelihood(可能性) of false alarms-of phantom phone vibrations.
The trade-off between false alarms and misses also explains why we all have to put up with fire alarms going off when there isn’t a fire. It isn’t that the alarms are badly designed, but rather that they are very sensible to smoke and heat and biased to avoid missing a real fire at all costs. The outcome is a rise in the number of false alarms. These are inconvenient, but nowhere near as inconvenient as burning to death in your bed or office. The alarms are designed to err on the side of caution.The writer tries to explain phantom phone vibrations .
| A．by analyzing some facts |
| B．by giving some examples |
| C．from the angle of biology |
| D．from the angle of psychology |
According to the writer, the sense of phantom phone vibration is .
| A．natural and normal | B．harmful but avoidable |
| C．unusual and unavoidable | D．common but unhealthy |
When we judge correctly that "it’s not ringing", this is called a " ".
| A．hit | B．miss |
| C．false alarm | D．correct rejection |
What does the underlined part in the last paragraph mean?
| A．Better late than never. |
| B．Better safe than sorry. |
| C．Fight over the smallest things. |
| D．He who makes no mistakes makes nothing. |
Parkour is all about throwing yourself quickly and effective past whatever barriers are in your path while maintaining as much force as possible to move forward. It’s a challenge for humans, so how would robots get along? In an effort to push the boundaries of robotic agility(灵活), researchers at the University of Pennsylvania decided to find out by teaching their Rhex robot some Parkour moves.
The Rhex is designed to be a walking robot that can deal with barriers, such as stairs and small stones to accomplish rescue tasks or carry out surveys in difficult areas. While the Rhex has been around for over a decade, a new version called XRL(X-Rhex-Light) is now being taught some new tricks by Professor Daniel Koditschek of the University of Pennsylvania.
The XRL differs from its earlier relatives by using lighter materials and simpler fabrication(装配) methods. A complete shell of carbon fiber board surrounds the XRL framework, and it has only a single battery room. The XRL is 51 cm long, 40.5 cm wide, and the body alone is 10 cm in thickness. Its weight including battery pack is 6.7 kg.
The XRL legs are equipped with force and power sensors(传感器), which allow the work of moving to be analyzed in detail. Among other benefits, the research team found that the response of the legs can be used to give an indication of what sort of surface the XRL is walking on. For example, the XRL responds very differently to stone surfaces and grass ones. Besides, the XRL is equipped with a laser scanner(激光扫描仪) to allow the XRL to move around simply.
"What we want is a robot that can go anywhere," said graduate student Aaron Johnson. "These latest jumps greatly expand the range of what this machine is capable of, as it can now jump onto or across barriers that are bigger than it is."
Why does the passage mention Parkour in Paragraph 1?
| A．To compare Parkour with the XRL. |
| B．To recommeng Parkour to readers. |
| C．To explain why people like Parkour. |
| D．To show the Rhex uses Parkour moves. |
The Rhex is mainly used to .
| A．do some difficult work |
| B．attend sports competition |
| C．conduct university surveys |
| D．research the XRL further |
Compared with the Rhex, the Rhex, the XRL .
| A．has two battery rooms |
| B．uses heavier materials |
| C．moves around more easily |
| D．takes along fewer instruments |
You are sending a text, watching the TV or listening to the radio ? You may want to stop and give this your full attention after you finish reading this article.
Multi-tasking shrinks the brain, research suggests.
A study found that men and women who frequently used several types of technology at the same time had less grey matter in a key part of the brain.
University of Sussex researchers said: “Simultaneously using mobile phones, laptops and other media devices could be changing the structure of our brains .”
Worryingly, the part of the brain that shrinks is involved in processing emotion. The finding follows research which has linked multi-tasking with a shortened attention span, depression, anxiety and lower grades at school.
The researchers began by asking 75 healthy men and women how often they divided their attention between different types of technology. This could mean sending a text message while listening to music and checking email, or speaking on the phone while watching TV and surfing the web.
The volunteers were then given brain scans which showed they had less grey matter in a region called the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC).
The findings held even when differences in personality were taken into account. The study, published in the journal PLOS ONE, is the first to make a link between multi-tasking and the structure of the brain. Researcher Kep Kee Loh said: ‘Media multi-tasking is becoming more popular in our lives today and there is increasing concern about its impacts on our social-emotional well-being.’ He added that more research is needed to prove that multi-tasking shrinks the brain. This is because it is also possible that people with less grey matter in the ACC are more drawn to using lots of gadgets simultaneously.
Scientists have previously demonstrated brain structure can be altered on prolonged exposure to novel environments and experience.
Other studies have shown that training – such as learning to juggle or taxi drivers learning the map of London – can increase grey-matter densities in certain parts of the brain .Experts have also warned of the harmful effect technology can have on our memory and attention span.
The University of California team conducted a survey of more than 18,000 people aged between 18 and 99 and found 20 percent had problems with memory. Researchers were taken aback by the 14 per cent of 18 to 39-year-olds who also worried about their memories.
Multi-tasking with gadgets may shorten attention span, making it harder to focus and form memories, the researchers said, adding that youngsters may be particularly affected by stress.In writing the passage, the author intends to _____.
| A．tell people multi—tasking is becoming more and more popular in our life today |
| B．inform people of the findings that stress and other emotional problems are caused by using media devices |
| C．warn people of the possible damage to our brain by performing several tasks at the same time |
| D．prove the links between multi-tasking with the increase of grey matter in the brain |
What does the underlined word “held” in the eighth paragraph mean?
| A．contained | B．carried | C．owned | D．remained |
It can be inferred from the passage that __________
| A．Multi-tasking has a bad effect on men rather than on women |
| B．Multi-tasking could change the structure of the brains and shrink the brain |
| C．the part of the brain that shrinks is involved in language learning |
| D．the writer doubts that using mobile phones and other media devices at the same time could shrink the brain |
The reason why Kep Kee Loh thought more research would be needed to prove that multi-tasking shrinks the brain was that ____
| A．he doubted the findings of the research |
| B．it was also possible that people with less grey matter in the ACC are more drawn to using lots of gadgets simultaneously. |
| C．the study published in the journal PLOS ONE drew a different conclusion |
| D．he wanted to prove training can increase grey – matter densities |
The passage suggests that _____
| A．when watching TV or listening to the radio, people’s brain will shrink |
| B．no measures can be taken to increase grey – matter densities in people’s brains |
| C．people gradually realize the negative impact media multi—tasking could have on people’ s social-emotional well –being. |
| D．multi—tasking can’t affect the grey matter in our brain |