Dreaming is believing, claim researchers of a new study, who found that dreams have an effect on people’s behavior, judgment and they might contain important hidden truths as well.
“Psychologists’ interpretations (解释) of the meaning of dreams vary widely. But our findings show that people believe their dreams provide meaningful insight (见识) into themselves and their world,” said a lead author of the study Carey More wedge, an assistant professor at Carnegie Mellon University.
In six different studies, researchers surveyed nearly 1,100 people about their dreams. One of the studies focused on general beliefs about dreams and involved 149 university students. All students were asked to rate different theories about dreams. The experts found that a surprising majority of the participants supported the theory about dreams revealing (揭示) the hidden truths about themselves and the rest of the world.
In a second experiment, they surveyed 182 people at a Boston train station, and asked them to imagine one out of four possible situations that could have occurred the night before a scheduled airline trip. Most of the participants said that dreaming of a plane crash would be more likely to affect their travel plans than would just thinking about a crash, or being warned by the government of a terrorism risk. They said a dreamed crash would influence their travel plans just as much as learning about a real crash on their planned route would.
Another experiment involved 270 men and women from across the United States. In a short online survey, they were asked to recall one of the dreams they had seen about any person they knew. The findings showed that people were more likely to remember and describe pleasant dreams about a person they liked, rather than a person they disliked. Meanwhile, in most cases they tended to consider an unpleasant dream as more meaningful if it was about a person they disliked.
“In other words,” said More wedge, “people attribute (归因于) meaning to dreams when it corresponds (与……一致) with their pre-existing beliefs and desires.” The researchers say that more investigation (研究) is needed to fully understand how people interpret their dreams. According to More wedge, most people realize that dreams are not predicting their fu
ture, but they still try to find some meaning in there.The purpose of the
studies is to _______.
| A．determine when people tend to remember their dreams |
| B．research whether dreams have anything to do with real life |
| C．find out how people interpret their dreams and what impact that has |
| D．understand what causes people to dream and how to interpret dreams |
According to the second experiment, what might influence people’s travel plans most?
| A．Thinking about a past plane crash. |
| B．Dreaming about a plane crash. |
| C．Hearing a government’s warning of a terrorism risk. |
| D．Imagining a plane crashing on their planned route. |
What can be concluded from the study?
| A．When a dream conflicts with people’s existing beliefs and desires, they tend to attribute less meaning to it. |
| B．Most people disagree that dreams help them better know themselves and the world. |
| C．A majority of people believes that dreams can predict their future and try to find their meaning. |
D．Dreams can be a useful tool for learning and proble m solving. |
Which kind of dream is seen
as more meaningful than the rest?
| A．A pleasant dream about a person the dreamer likes. |
| B．A pleasant dream about a person the dreamer dislikes |
| C．An unpleasant dream about a person the dreamer likes. |
| D．An unpleasant dream about a person the dreamer dislikes. |
C
Chinese media and Internet users on Monday condemned（谴责） lack of morals in society after a toddler（学步的幼儿） was struck twice –by two different vans-and left bleeding on the road as more than a dozen bystanders did nothing to help the seriously injured girl．
The incident, captured by a surveillance camera and broadcast by Southern Television Guangdong （TVS），showed the two-year-old girl was knocked down and run over by a white van on a narrow market street on the afternoon of Oct.13, in Foshan City of Guangdong Province．
The driver fled the scene of the accident，leaving the girl to bleed on the sidewalk．Over the next six minutes，more than a dozen people walked by the girl，yet not one individual did anything to help her．The girl was then hit a second time by another van before an elderly trash collector came to her aid and brought the attention of the girl’s mother, according to the video and eyewitnesses．
Doctors said that the girl, who was put on life support after being hospitalized，remains in a deep coma．The girl’s parents，who are migrants living in the city，are now with her．
Police said the drivers of both vehicles have been arrested．However，the apathy of the bystanders shown in the video has shocked the public，as Internet forums have seethed with anger， and people are questioning the morality of society．
High moral standards were once triumphed as national pride in China where individuals known for selflessly helping others were adored by the public．
But in recent years，the perception（观念）of a decline of morals has become a hot topic as profit and materialism are perceived to be affecting society’s values．
On Sept.2 an 88-year-old man in central China collapsed，his face striking the pavement．Yet，no one came to his aid, and he ended up choking to death on the blood from his nose．
Some have linked the absence of good Samaritans （模范人物）to a previous case in which a man trying to help an elderly woman who fell was accused of harming her．
A strong chorus of opinion on the Internet says laws should exempt（免除）Samaritans from liability（责任）, yet laws themselves cannot solve society’s morality dilemma．
Cao Lin, a China Youth Daily commentator，said in a signed article published on Monday that the worry of liability should not be an excuse for not helping, and this case exposes the decline of humanity in Chinese society．According to the passage，what would happen if someone helped others selflessly in the past?
| A．He/ she would be condemned by the public． |
| B．He/ she would be awarded by the government． |
| C．He/ she would have to worry about liability． |
| D．The public would feel proud of him/ her and thus showed love and respect for him/ her |
Which of the following is TRUE about this passage?
| A．Nobody helped the girl who was struck twice by two different vans． |
| B．The toddler died immediately after she was hit a second time． |
| C．High moral standards were once regarded as national pride in China． |
| D．Journalists from TVS captured the incident by using a camera． |
In recent years，society’s values is believed to be affected by．
| A．profit and materialism |
| B．people’s perceptions |
| C．the apathy of bystanders |
| D．the morals of society |
According to Cao Lin，what is the fundamental reason for not helping the girl?
| A．The worry of liability． |
| B．Lack of laws that exempt Samaritans from liability． |
| C．The decline of humanity in society． |
| D．The fear of being accused of harming her． |
Where is the article most probably taken from?
| A．A fashion magazine． |
| B．A news report． |
| C．A science fiction． |
| D．An education column． |
B
The image of a veiled（用面纱遮盖）bride walking down the aisle on her father's arm could become a thing of the past as a growing trend for 'feminist（女权主义者） weddings' has been detected among modern brides to be.
Doing away with the engagement ring, choosing not to be 'given away like property' and wearing a colour other than white are key themes gaining traction（牵引力） in the feminist wedding trend.
The findings, revealed in a survey of 200 brides to be, revealed that almost a quarter of women planned on keeping their maiden name after marriage, while one in 10 were planning to wear a colour other than white on their wedding day.
Traditions such as the wearing of an engagement ring are also increasingly being rejected by brides who feel it is anti-feminist - with such an obvious token（记号） to be worn on the finger marking the woman in question as 'taken'.
However, while there is undoubtedly a stirring among young brides to be, parents can take comfort in the fact that while some women are beginning to push back against the patriarchy（家长制）, the majority are still keen to uphold certain traditions, with 76 per cent of brides saying they really would like their father to walk them down the aisle.
Elki Parmar of Wedding Days.co.uk, who conducted the survey, said: “Some of the brides we have spoken to are doing things that they feel make their wedding more 'feminist'. That could be reflected by deciding not be given away, the idea being that one of the connotations of this tradition is that the woman is property to be given away. Other brides are choosing not to wear white on their wedding day as a woman’s white wedding dress traditionally carries connotations （含义）of virginal innocence whereas what the groom wears on his wedding day is not perceived（意识到） to be symbolic, creating somewhat of an imbalance from some feminist perspectives”.Which of the following is not the symbol of traditional wedding?
| A．The bride wears bridal veil. |
| B．The bride walks down the aisle on her father’s arm. |
| C．The bride wears the engagement ring. |
| D．The bride wears a color other than white. |
Why do the brides reject to wear an engagement ring according to the passage?
| A．Because it is too cheap. |
| B．Because it is not made of gold. |
| C．Because they don’t want to marry their husband. |
| D．Because it makes the women I question as “taken”. |
What can we learn from the survey in Paragraph 2?
| A．More than 200 brides were investigated． |
| B．Half of the brides won’t change their last name after marriage to their husband. |
| C．10% of them prefer to wear a color other than white on their wedding day. |
| D．No one wants to wear an engagement ring. |
Which of the following statements is NOT true?
| A．The tendency mentioned in the passage is becoming more and more popular. |
| B．Some women are beginning to push back against their parents. |
| C．The majority of brides don’t like their father to walk them down the aisle. |
| D．Some brides regard wearing white on their wedding day as a symbol of unequal between men and women. |
A
Fat and shy, Ben Saunders was the last kid in his class picked for any sports team. "Football, tennis, cricket--- anything with a round ball, I was useless," he says now with a laugh. But back then he was the one always made fun of in school gym classes in Devonshire, England.
It was a mountain bike he received for his 15th birthday that changed him. At first he went biking alone in a nearby forest. Then he began to ride the bike along with a runner friend. Gradually, Saunders set up his mind on building up his body, increasing his speed and strength. At the age of 18, he ran his first marathon.
The following year he met John Ridgway and was hired as an instructor at Ridgway's school of adventure in Scotland, where he learnt about Ridgway's cold-water exploits. Greatly interested, Saunders read all he could about North Pole explorers and adventures, the decided that this would be his future.
In 2001, after becoming a skillful skier, Saunders started his first long-distance expedition towards the North Pole. It took unbelievable energy. He suffered frostbite, ran into a polar bear and pushed his body to the limit, pulling his supply-loaded sled up and over rocky rice.
Saunders has since become the youngest person to ski alone to the North Pole, and he's skied more of the North Pole by himself than any other British man. His old playmates would not believe the change.
Next October, Saunders, 27, heads south from the coast of Antarctica to the South Pole and back, a 2900-kilometer journey that has never been completed on skis.What change happened to Saunders after he was 15 years old?
| A．He became good at most sports. |
| B．He began to build up his body. |
| C．He joined a sports team |
| D．He made friends with a runner. |
The underlined word “exploits” (paragraph 3) is closest in meaning to ______.
| A．journeys | B．researches |
| C．adventures | D．operations. W |
What does the story mainly tell us abut Saunders?
| A．He is a success in sports. |
| B．He is the best British skier. |
| C．He is Ridgway's best student. |
| D．He is a good instructor at school. |
D
Starting a bank a child’s play? Absolutely, if you ask some enterprising youngsters in India, who have not only managed to establish one, but also, unlike many of the large International banks, run it successfully since 2001. What’s even more impressive is that the young bankers and their 90,004---clients(委托人) are all homeless!
The Children’s Development Khazana (treasure) opened its first branch in 2001 at a homeless shelter in New Deli as a way to help the street children protect their hard-earned money from thieves. Since then, the idea has caught on like wildfire.
Today, Khazana has 12 branches all across New Deli, with a total of Rupees 12lakh (about 22,000USD) in deposits. Not only that, there are now 77 branches in other parts of Asia, ranging from Nepal, Bangladesh and Afghanistan to the island of Sri Lanka, and even Kyrgyzstan in Central Asia. While no deposit or balance is too small for the bank, they do have strict regulations about where the money is earned from. Funds obtained by begging or selling drugs are not welcomed at this bank !
Also, unlike the real banks, all employees are volunteers , which means that they go to school or a paying job during the day and work at the bank in the evening. To ensure that everybody gets a chance to participate in running the branch, two volunteer managers are elected from the clients base every six months.
Karan, the current manager is just 14-year-old. During the day he earns a living by helping out the cleaning workmates at wedding banquets and other big parties. In the evening, he handles the deposits（存款）and withdrawals（取款）in the bank. After the bank closes, he along with an adult volunteer from the shelter head over to a regular bank and deposit the funds collected into Khazana’s interest-bearing bank account and though it started with one single purpose. The Children’s Development Khazana is today a well-developed bank, one kids can not only deposit money which earns them 5% interest, but also, request loans for family emergencies, to start a business or even to pay for school.The initial aim of starting the Children’s Development Khazana is to______.
| A．provide for jobs for homeless children |
| B．help homeless families with emergencies |
| C．sponsor homeless children to go to school |
| D．safeguard homeless children’s hard-earned money |
The children’s Development Khazana is different from regular banks in that_______.
| A．all its workers are street children |
| B．it pays its customers no interest |
| C．customers can be made its managers |
| D．it opens in the evening six month a year |
According to the passage, the Children’s Development Khazana________.
| A．welcomes all money, however small it is |
| B．offers more and better service than before |
| C．is run by a 14-year-old boy, Karan alone |
| D．has more than 70 branches across India |
C
People from East Asia tend to have more difficulty than those from Europe in distinguishing facial expressions---and a new report published online in Current Biology explains why.
Rachael Jack, University of Glasgow researcher, said that rather than scanning evenly across a face as Westerners do, Easterners fix their attention on the eyes.
“We show that Easterners and Westerners look at different face features to read facial expressions,” Jack said. “Westerners look at the eyes and the mouth in equal measure, while Easterners favor the eyes and ignore the mouth.”
According to Jack and her colleagues, the discovery shows that human communication of emotion is more complex than previously believed. As a result, facial expressions that had been considered universally recognizable cannot be used reliably to convey emotion in cross-cultural situations.
The researchers studied cultural differences in the recognition of facial expressions by recording the facial movements of 13 Western people and 13 Eastern people while they observed pictures of expressive faces and put them into categories: happy, sad, surprised, fearful, disgusted, or angry. They compared how accurately participants read those facial expressions using their particular eye movement strategies.
It turned out that Easterners focused much greater attention on the eyes and made significantly more errors than Westerners did. “The cultural difference in eye movements that they show is probably a reflection of cultural difference in facial expressions,” Jack said. “Our data suggest that while Westerners use the whole face to convey emotion, Easterners use the eyes more and mouth less.”
In short, the data show that facial expressions are not universal signals of human emotion. From here on, examining how cultural factors have diversified these basic social skills will help our understanding of human emotion. Otherwise, when it comes to communicating emotions across cultures, Easterners and Westerners will find themselves lost in translation.The discovery shows that Westerners______.
| A．pay equal attention to the eyes and the mouth |
| B．consider facial expressions universally reliable |
| C．observe the eyes and the mouth in different ways |
| D．have more difficulty in recognizing facial expression |
What were the people asked to do in the study?
| A．To make a face at each other |
| B．To get their faces impressive |
| C．To classify some face pictures |
| D．To observe the researchers’ faces |
What does the underlined word “they” in paragraph 6 refer to?
| A．The participants in the study |
| B．The researchers of the study |
| C．The errors made in the study |
| D．The data collected from the study |
In comparison with the Westerners, Easterners are likely to_____.
| A．do translation more successfully |
| B．study the mouth frequently |
| C．examine the eyes more attentively |
| D．read facial expressions more correctly |