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, whereas Easterners favor the eyes and neglect 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 to reliably convey emotion in cross-cultural situations.
The researchers studied cultural differences in the recognition of facial expressions by recording the eye movements of 13 Western Whites and 13 East Asian people while they observed pictures of expressive faces and put them into categories: happy, sad, surprised, fearful, disgusted, angry, or neutral. 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 whereas 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 expressions |
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 during the study. |
| D．The data collected from the study. |
In comparison with Westerners, Easterners are likely to __
| A．do translation more successfully |
| B．study the mouth more frequently |
| C．examine the eyes more attentively |
| D．read facial expressions more correctly |
What can be the best title for the passage?
| A．The Eye as the Window to the Soul |
| B．Cultural Differences in Reading Emotions |
| C．Effective Methods to Develop Social Skills |
| D．How to Increase Cross-cultural Understanding |
Paula Radcliffe, chasing (角逐) a third London marathon title (马拉松冠军), says she has become a stronger person after her terrible experience at the 2004 Athens Games.
Radcliffe, who failed to complete the Olympic marathon and the 10,000m last August, said: “Athens made me a stronger person and it made me care less about criticism.”
“In the past I wanted to please everyone, but now I am going to listen even more to the people around me.”
She didn’t care about criticism made at the weekend by Liz McColgan, who felt Radcliffe should have rested and let her body recover after her failure in Athens.
“Liz is someone I look up to but she hasn’t spoken to me since last year and if she really cared for me, I'm sure she would have contacted me.”
Instead Radcliffe won the New York City marathon just 11 weeks after Athens.
“In New York I wasn’t in my best state but I did know I was good enough to win the race.” Radcliffe insisted her only goal in Sunday’s race would be winning a third title and not chasing world records.
However, Radcliffe has not ruled out (排除) in the future chasing her "final" world record time and questioned sayings that marathon runners have the ability in their career to produce only four or five world-class times.
“I don't think that—although I can't put a number on it,” said Radcliffe. “That changes from person to person.”
Radcliffe is sure she can better her winning London 2003 performance at some point in the future. Following a successful three-month training period in the United States, the 31-year-old will chase a third title on Sunday after her first victory in 2002 and again 12 months later.
Radcliffe clocked a time of 2:18:56 in her first 42.2-kilometer race three years ago.
Afterwards she set a "mixed course" mark of 2:17:18 five months later in Chicago before lowering that to a time of 2:15:25 in the 2003 London event.Radcliffe’s failure in Athens made her .
| A．develop respect for Liz. | B．love people around her more. |
| C．rest for five months. | D．face criticism calmly. |
Which of the following is true according to the passage?
| A．Radcliffe broke the world record in the New York City marathon. |
| B．Radcliffe didn't fully recover before the New York City marathon. |
| C．Radcliffe won her first marathon title in the New York City marathon. |
| D．Radcliffe had a 3-month training before the New York City marathon. |
By saying “I can't put a number on it,” Radcliffe means she’s not sure .
| A．if she has the ability to set a new world record. |
| B．if she can win another race though she has won many times. |
| C．how many times a marathon runner can set the world record. |
| D．if she has the ability to produce four or five world-class times. |
What can we learn from Radcliffe's story?
| A．Practice makes perfect. | B．Well begun is half done. |
| C．A friend in need is a friend indeed. | D．Where there is a will there is a way. |
Princeton University
Location
The University is in Princeton, New Jersey. It is an hour's train ride south of New York City and an hour's train ride north of Philadelphia.
Students
There are 4,600 undergraduates (本科生). There are also 1,900 graduate students, but Princeton is unusual among universities in having a student body made up largely of undergraduates.
Faculty
Princeton has about 700 full-time faculty members (教员). There are another 300 or so part-time and visiting faculty. All faculty members at Princeton are expected to teach and research.
Degrees
Princeton offers two undergraduate degrees：the bachelor (学士) of arts (A. B. ) degree and the bachelor of science in engineering (B. S. E.) degree.
Academic Year
An academic year runs from September to late May and lasts two terms (fall and spring). A normal course load is four or five courses per term, although many students take extra courses.
Residences
Princeton provides housing for all undergraduate students. Freshmen and second-year students are required to spend their first two years in one of five colleges. Each college has its own dining hall, common rooms and computer centers.
Fees and Expenses (Academic Year 2011-2012)
Tuition (学费): $29,910
Room and board: $ 8,387
Other expenses (books, telephone, etc．): $ 3,083
Total: $ 41,380 How many kinds of faculty members are there in Princeton University?
| A．One | B．Two | C．Three | D．Four |
In Princeton University, an undergraduate will have to pay ______for the Academic Year 2011-2012.
| A．$11,470 | B．$ 52,850 | C．$ 41,380 | D．$ 8, 387 |
In what way is Princeton University different from other American universities according to the text?
| A．It has five colleges. |
| B．Its students are mainly undergraduates. |
| C．It provides housing for all undergraduate students. |
| D．All the faculty members at Princeton are expected to teach and research. |
Which of the following is NOT true?
| A．Princeton offers two undergraduate degrees. |
| B．An academic year lasts about nine months in Princeton University. |
| C．Undergraduates should spend their first two years in one of five colleges. |
| D．It's about an hour's train ride from Princeton University to the north of New York City. |
Recently, one of my best friends, whom I’d shared just about everything with since the first day of kindergarten, spent the weekend with me. Since I moved to a new town several years ago, we’d both always looked forward to the few times a year when we could see each other.
Over the weekend, we spent hours and hours, staying up late into the night, talking about the people she was hanging around with. She started telling me stories about her new boyfriend, about how she experimented with drugs and was into other bad habits. I was blown away! She told me how she had been lying to her parents because they didn’t want her around him.
I tried to convince her that she was ruining her future and heading for big trouble. But she didn’t believe me. Her self-respect seemed to have disappeared. I just couldn’t believe that she really thought it was acceptable to hang out with such a loser.
By the time she left, I was really worried about her. It had been so discouraging, and I had come close to telling her several times during the weekend that maybe we had just grown too far apart to continue our friendship—but I didn’t. I put the power of friendship to the ultimate(最终的)test. We’d been friends for far too long. I had to hope that she valued me enough to know that I was trying to save her from hurting herself. I wanted to believe that our friendship could conquer (克服)anything.
A few days later, she called to say that she had thought long and hard about our conversation，and then she told me that she had broken up with her boyfriend．I just listened on the other end of the phone with tears of joy running down my face. It was one of the truly rewarding moments in my life.
Never had I been so proud of a friend.From the beginning of the text，we can learn that the author.
| A．lost touch with the girl several years ago. |
| B．used to spend weekends with the girl. |
| C．moved to the same town as the girl. |
| D．kept in touch with the girl. |
It can be inferred that the girl .
| A．knew she was in danger. | B．took the author seriously. |
| C．lost hope of a bright future. | D．used to quarrel with her parents. |
What’s the author’s purpose in telling the story?
| A．To show the power of friendship. |
| B．To describe the troubles of friendship. |
| C．To tell the necessity of trusting friends. |
| D．To tell the importance of keeping up with friends. |
根据短文内容， 从短文后的选项中选出能填入空白处的最佳选项。选项中有两项为多余选项。
You may know the benefits of laughter on the mind and spirit. _1___ Norman Cousins used to say that laughter has such a good effect on your body that it is like “inner jogging”.
Mayo Clinic Health Letter reports that laughter aids breathing by incresing your breathing rate.. It can even help clear mucus(黏液) from your lungs.
__2__ It increases circulation(循环) and improves the flow of oxgen and nutrition to tissues(血管) throught your body..It can help protect you against a heart attack.
__3___ It helps fight off colds, flu,etc. by increasing the concentration of immunolobulin (免疫球蛋白A) in your saliva(唾液) .And it may help control pain by raising the levels of certain brain chemicals.
In addition, it is a natural stress reliever（缓解）.Have you ever laughed so hard that you bent over, fell off your chair, or spit out your food? __4___
I read that a child laughs 400 times a day on average, while an adult laughs only 15 times each day. The good news is that you are allowed more than 15 laughs a day! Go ahead and double it and make it 30 times today. You may begin to notice immediate improvement in your relationships! Then double it again! __5___ People will enjoy being around you as well.
Laughter: it’s the best medicine!
A.Laughter is also good for your heart.
B.Laughter can bring some relief from mental stress.
C.A good, hearty laugh relieves physical tension(紧张) and stress.
D.However, it is confusing why laughter makes people feel so good.
E.A good laugh helps build up your body to protect against diseases
F.You are likely to feel even better and deal with problems more effectively.
G.However, are you aware of how much a good laugh can help you physically?
Will life in the future be better, worse or the same as now? Futurologists（未来学家）predict that life will probably be very different in 2050.
First of all, it seems that TV channels will have disappeared by 2050. A computer will send the program directly to the television. On TV screen appear holograms（全息图）, which are pictures with certain height, width and depth. We will be able to see, smell and touch the things that we see on television.
Water has become one of our most serious problems. Agriculture is changing and people are growing more fruit and vegetables to export. Demand for water will increase ten times in 2050. Some futurologists predict that water will be the cause of war if we don’t act now.
In transport, cars will run on new fuels and go very fast. A car will have computers to control its speed and there won’t be any accidents. On the other hand, space planes will take people around the earth in about three hours. People will fly from Los Angeles to Tokyo by space plane in just half an hour.
In the field of technology, robots will have replaced people in factories. By 2050, we will see robots everywhere. They do not ask for pay rises or go on strike, and they work 24 hours a day.
Medicine technology will have conquered many diseases by 2050; we will be able to help blind and deaf people see again and hear again. Scientists have discovered how to control genes. They have already produced clones of animals and will be able to produce clones of people and decide how they look, how they behave and how much intelligence they have. If you want all this to come true, you should study science and technology hard. What is the main difference between today’s and 2050’s TV?
| A．We can use a computer to turn off the TV set. |
| B．We can talk with the characters appearing on TV. |
| C．We can choose whatever we like to see on TV. |
| D．We can touch the things we see on TV. |
What isn’t mentioned about the future in 2050 in the passage?
| A．Technology. | B．Medicine. | C．Movies. | D．Agriculture. |
What will be more likely to cause the war in the future?
| A．The lack of water. | B．The less farmland. |
| C．The shortage of robots. | D．The more space planes. |
From the passage we can infer that by 2050 ____.
| A．people will spend less time in studying |
| B．more and more people needn’t go to school |
| C．people will have more time to relax or rest |
| D．no patients will be found in the world |