Once a baby cries, the parents will go to see what happened as soon as possible. According to a new study, a baby's cry can make adults react(反应) very quickly, even if they are not related.
Oxford University researchers used the classic game whack-a-mole for the study. Whack-a-mole(打鼹鼠游戏) requires people to hit one of nine buttons (按钮). The players must react as quickly as they can to whichever of the buttons lights up at random(随机). It is a game that requires speed and accuracy (准确度 ).
The study included 40 men and women volunteers aged 19 to 59. Some of them had sons or daughters but none had a baby at the time. They played whack-a-mole after listening to different sounds, including babies crying, the crying of adults in trouble and birdsong played at a similar pitch to the babies' cries.
The volunteers' scores were higher after listening to the sound of crying babies. Men and women had similar scores overall. The results showed that a crying baby gets special attention.
"Few sounds make people react quite like the cry of a baby," said Morten Kringelbach of Oxford's psychiatry(精神病学) department, who led the study. "For example, it's almost impossible to ignore(忽视,不理) crying babies on planes. This is true even though there are so many other noises around."
He added that a baby's cry can increase adults' heart rate and blood pressure. This is understandable, because in the course of human evolution (进化), taking care of babies has always been an important job for adults. When a baby is hungry or feeling bored or unwell, it will cry. As a result, human brains and bodies develop a special reaction to a baby's cry. According to the passage, which of the following statements is TRUE?
A.There were 80 volunteers who took part in the study. |
B.The youngest volunteer was 19 and the oldest was 59. |
C.Some volunteers had babies at that time in the study. |
D.The volunteers were affected by the sound of a baby’s cry. |
The game “whack-a-mole” shows ______.
A.a baby’s cry can get special attention from adults |
B.men and women have different reaction speed and accuracy |
C.adults without babies react less quickly to a baby’s cry |
D.women react to a baby’s cry more quickly than men |
“Whack-a-mole” requires people to hit _____ at a time.
A.one button | B.one of nine buttons |
C.nine buttons | D.ten buttons |
According to the passage, a baby’s cry ______.
A.has the same pitch as birdsong |
B.is the noisiest sound there is |
C.can increase adults’ heart rate and blood pressure |
D.is good for its health |
From the last paragraph, we learn that ______.
A.taking care of the younger babies was the most important thing in the past |
B.human brains and bodies have developed to take care of babies |
C.baby cries are a good way make adults react quickly |
D.baby cries have developed a lot during the course of human evolution |
World Future Society
People
People may live for up to 120 years and use new technology to help when people go blind, deaf and have other problems. The number of people over a hundred years old could go from 135,000 today to 2.2 million people by 2050. By 2015 people think that 100 million workers will be able to work from home for a company in a different country by using the Internet.
Money
Worldwide e-business will become even more successful with online shops that sell special products for each person, which will be brought to their house the next day.
Environment
The technology for making energy from wind and the Sun is growing very quickly. In the future wind and Sun energy could become much cheaper and many more countries could use it. This would be very useful in poor countries. The air in big cities would also become much cleaner and healthier as a result.
Society and culture
The Internet will help to create more worldwide friendships. Families may spend more time together as people will be able to do 24-hour online banking and shopping.
Technology
The new science of “nanotechnology” (very small robots or machines) will make all sorts of products smaller and lighter. Very, very small machines could take away rubbish, make things in factories, and help inside the human body by taking away fat. By 2012 people will be able to wear these small machines that look like watches, which will give them lots of information about their body and keep them healthy.What does the World Future Society do?
A.Look at how technology will make people happy. |
B.Look at how technology will change the world. |
C.Make technology w ork better for themselves. |
D.Make small machines to make us healthier. |
How will technology help people?
A.Help all people live for over 120 years. | B.Help disabled people to get jobs. |
C.Make people healthier and live longer. | D.Help workers to use the Internet. |
How will people go shopping?
A.In special shops. | B.Using the Internet at certain times. |
C.Using the Internet any time of the day. | D.Using nanotechnology. |
How will technology help the environment?
A.Poor countries will have enough energy. |
B.Wind energy will be cheaper than Sun energy. |
C.We will not need wind and Sun energy. |
D.Wind and Sun energy will be cheaper. |
The new science of “nanotechnology” will _______.
A.drive small machines to work for people | B.make good-quality watches |
C.allow people to eat more | D.make very small products |
Your computer has been playing music for years, one CD at a time. Now hundreds of songs can be stored in your PC if they' re in the MP3 format (格式).
What is it? MP3 compressed(压缩) music into small computer files. You may download MP3 music several ways: Music can be downloaded from websites that have turned wide music libraries into MP3. Once MP3 music is on your PC’s hard drive, you can play it through your computer's speakers, "burn" it onto blank CDs or swap(交换) MP3 files with friends using e -mail. |
How much? Software needed to play and convert MP3 music is often free. Compact portable MP3 players start at around $ 40 and can hold hundreds of songs. A blank CD on which you can record music costs about a dollar. |
Advantages MP3 turns your home PC into a jukebox(自动唱机) . Small MP3 players are the size of a deck of cards(一副牌), making it easy to take hundreds of songs with you. Disadvantages You may find that some websites only allow you to listen but you can't download music. Others let you download music but can't be copied to MP3 players. And a growing number of new CDs make it impossible to copy songs to a computer. |
How can you get MP3 music?
A.By turning your home PC into a jukebox. |
B.By taking your own music or songs with you. |
C.By copying songs to a PC through the speakers. |
D.By downloading from websites, which have turned music libraries into MP3. |
What is the closest meaning of the underlined word "burn"?
A.Copy. | B.Play. | C.Store. | D.Change. |
Which is NOT true according to the passage?
A.MP3 music is often free. |
B.MP3 music can be "burned" onto blank CDs or be swapped with friends by e -mail. |
C.MP3 music can be taken along while traveling. |
D.A growing number of new CDs make it possible to copy songs to a computer. |
How much will you pay for a compact portable MP3 player?
A.Free. | B.At least 10 dollars. |
C.About forty dollars. | D.About a dollar. |
How many disadvantages of MP3 can we see from the passage?
A.2 | B.3 | C.4 | D.5 |
John: Here’s a good shop. Shall we buy mother’s birthday present here?
Mary: Yes, that’s a good idea. Shall we go inside?
Tom: No. Let’s look in the window. Shall we buy her a sweater?
Anne: Er, no. It’ll soon be summer. Let’s buy her a blouse to wear. There’s a nice one in the window.
John: No, she has two blouses. Let’s buy a ring.
Mary: Oh, no! They’re diamond rings. Look at the price. The cheapest is $15.
John: A real diamond ring is at least $500.They only look like diamonds.
Tom: Shall we buy a table? It’s only $15.
Anne: It doesn’t look good, just like a big box. Mum likes chairs.
Tom: But they haven’t any here.
Mary: What about a pen? So cheap! Only $10.
John: She has a lot of pens and pencils. All of them are new.
Tom: Oh, look here. These flowers are beautiful.
Mary: They aren’t real and will never die.
John: And they’re the cheapest of all these things. Yes, let’s buy them.
Anne: All right.Who finds the shop to buy the present first?
A.John. | B.Anne. | C.Tom. | D.Mary. |
Who wants to buy a blouse but not a sweater?
A.John. | B.Anne. | C.Tom. | D.Mary. |
Why don’t they buy the pen?
A.Because it looks so bad. |
B.Because Mother has many pencils. |
C.Because it’s too cheap. |
D.Because Mother doesn’t need pens. |
How much are the flowers?
A.At least $10. | B.Less than $10. |
C.About $15. | D.Only $15. |
Which of the following things are sold in the shop?
A.It sells flowers, rings, tables and sweaters. |
B.It sells rings, coats, blouses and flowers. |
C.It sells blouses, tables, chairs and pens. |
D.It sells sweaters, real flowers, tables and rings. |
根据短文内容填空,每空不超过4个单词。
Mary didn’t understand such sentences as “You are yellow.” “She has a green thumb( 拇指 ).” “ He has told me a white lie.” And so on. So she went to her English teacher for help.
Mary : Mrs. Smith, there is a color in each of these sentences. Could you tell me what they mean?
Mrs. Smith: In English, yellow sometimes means afraid. Blue means sad. A person with a green thumb grows plants well. And a white lie is not a bad one.
Mary: Would you give me an example for a white lie?
Mrs. Smith: Certainly. Now I give you some cakes. In fact you don’t like them, but you won’t say so. Instead you say, “No, I’m not hungry.” That is a white lie.
Mary : Oh, I see. Thank you very much.Mary did not understand the sentences and asked Mrs. Smith for ______________.
You are blue today means you feel _____________.
I don’t have a _______________, so all my plants are dead.
My friend didn’t want me to know the fact of the accident. He told me_____________.
This passage is about _____________ and their meanings.
Life in the future will be different from life today. Between then and now many changes will happen.But what will the changes be?
The population (人口) is growing fast.There will be many people in the world and most of them will live longer than people live now.
Computers will be much smaller and more useful, and there will be at least (至少) one in every room. And computer studies will be one of the important subjects in schools then. People will work fewer hours than they do now and they will have more free time for sports, watching TV and travel.Traveling will be much cheaper and easier. And many more people will go to other countries for holidays.
There will be changes in our food, too. More land will be used for building new towns and houses for all the people. Then there will be less room for cows and sheep, so meat will be more expensive. Maybe no one will eat it every day. Instead they will eat more fruit and vegetables. Maybe people will be healthier. Work in the future will be different, too. Robots will do dangerous and hard work. Because of this, many people will not have enough work to do. This will be a problem.In the future there will be _______.
A.much more fruit | B.more people | C.less vegetables | D.less people |
Every family will have at least a _______ in the future.
A.robot | B.cow | C.TV set | D.computer |
In the future people don’t have to _______
A.work long hours | B.work fast | C.walk on foot | D.eat meat |
People may not eat _______ as much as they do today.
A.fruit | B.fish | C.meat | D.rice |
One big problem in the future is that ________.
A.many people don’t have to work |
B.many people will not be able to find work |
C.people have to work fast |
D.all the work will be done by robots |