When I was a kid, I used to spend hours listening to Adam Carolla and Dr. Drew Pinsky on their Sunday night radio show Loveline. I listened so often that I began to use one of their well-known phrases—“good times”—in my daily conversations. Scientists have a name for this phenomenon: behavioral mimicry.
You’ve probably experienced this before: after spending enough time with another person, you might start to pick up on his or her behavior or speech habits. You might even start to develop your friend’s habits without realizing it. There is a large body of literature concerning this sort of phenomenon, and it regularly happens for everything from body postures to accents to drink patterns. For example, one study found that young adults were more likely to drink their drink directly after their same-sex drinking partners, than for the two individuals to drink at their own paces.
And the effect isn’t limited to real-life face-to-face activities. Another study found that the same you-drink-then-I-drink pattern held even when watching a movie! In other words, people were more likely to take a drink of their drinks in a theater after watching the actors on the screen enjoy a drink. At least I don’t feel so strange anymore, having picked up on Adam Carolla’s “good times”.
New research published today in the journal PLOS ONE indicates that the same sort of behavioral mimicry is responsible for social eating, at least among university-age women of normal weight. That’s right: the young women were more likely to adjust their eating according to the eating pace of their same-sex dining companion.
As with most experiments, these results raise a whole new set of questions. Still, the finding that behavioral mimicry may at least partly account for eating behavior is important, and has real effects on health. The researchers note that “as long as people don’t fully recognize such important influences on intake, it will be difficult to make healthy food choices and keep a healthy diet, especially when people are exposed to the eating behavior of others”.The author takes his own example of using “good times” to _________.
| A．express his love for radio shows |
| B．prove the popularity of the show |
| C．show the influence of the hosts’ words |
| D．introduce the topic of the passage |
The underlined word “mimicry” in Paragraph 1 is closest in meaning to _________.
| A．copying |
| B．adjusting |
| C．recognition |
| D．observation |
Which of the following is NOT an example of behavioral mimicry?
| A．A boy eats his popcorn after watching the actor eat. |
| B．A boy buys a Nike shirt when he finds his desk-mate has one. |
| C．A girl unconsciously sits straight just as others do. |
| D．A girl takes on the Yorkshire accent after a month’s stay. |
It can be inferred from the last paragraph that _________.
| A．behavioral mimicry is beneficial to our health |
| B．behavioral mimicry decides our eating behavior |
| C．there are doubts on the research results |
| D．there are people always exposed to bad eating habits |
What is probably the author’s purpose of writing this passage?
| A．To draw readers’ attention to popular radio shows. |
| B．To introduce behavioral mimicry and its influence. |
| C．To appeal to readers not to fall into others’ habits. |
| D．To advocate healthy food choices among readers. |
Among rich countries, people in the United States work the longest hours. They work much longer than in Europe. This difference is quite surprising because productivity(生产力) per hour worked is the same in the United States as it is in France, Spain and Germany, and it is growing at a similar speed.
In most countries and at most times in history, as people have become richer they have chosen to work less. In other words they have decided to “spend” a part of their extra income on a fuller personal life. Over the last fifty years Europeans have continued this pattern, and hours of work have fallen sharply. But not in the United States. We do not fully know why this is. One reason may be greatly lower taxes in America, which increase the rewards to work. Another may be more satisfying work, or less satisfying personal lives.
Longer hours do of course increase the GDP(国内生产总值). So the United States has produced more per worker than, say, France. The United States also has more of its people at work, while in France many more mothers and older workers have decided to stay at home. The overall result is that American GDP per head is 40% higher than in France, even though productivity per hour worked is the same.
It is not clear which of the two situations is better. As we have seen, work has to be compared with other values like family life, which often get lost in its interest. It is too early to explain the different trends（趋势）in happiness over time in different countries. But it is a disappointing idea that in the United States happiness has made no progress since 1975, while it has risen in Europe. Could this have anything to do with trends in the work-life balance?Which of the following countries has more of its people at work?
| A．Spain. | B．France. | C．Germany. | D．America. |
What message can we get from the text?
| A．The GDP of Europe is higher than that of America. |
| B．Two possible reasons are given for working longer hours in the US. |
| C．People all over the world choose to work less when they are richer. |
| D．Americans are happier than Europeans. |
Which of the following would be the best title for the text?
| A．Americans and Europeans |
| B．Staying at Home |
| C．Work and Productivity |
| D．Work and Happiness |
LONDON Thursday July 26(Reuters)—Eddy missed his girlfriend Anna so much he flew back to Britain from Australia to propose(求婚) to her. The problem is she did the same in the opposite direction.
He and Anna even managed to miss each other when they sat in the same airport waiting room in Singapore at the same time to wait for connecting flights.
Anna, heartbroken, when she arrived at Eddy’s Sydney flat to find he had flown to London, told The Times, “It was as though someone was playing a cruel joke on us.“
“He is the most romantic(浪漫的) person I have ever known. I think our problem is that we are both quite impulsive(冲动的) people. We are always trying to surprise each other.”
After an 11,000-mile flight across the globe, she was greeted by Eddy’s astonished roommate asking what she was doing there.
Eddy, a 27-year-old engineer, had taken a year off to travel round Australia. But he was missing Anna, a 26-year-old secretary, so much he got a job on a Sydney building site(工地) and started saving for a surprise.
He then flew home to Britain and went to her flat armed with an engagement(订婚) ring, wine and flowers.
“I really missed Anna and I’d been thinking about her all the time. I was so excited when she phoned me from Australia,” he said.
Eddy then asked Anna to marry him on the phone. “I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry but I accepted,” she said.
Anna was given a tour of Sydney by Eddy’s friends before going back home. Eddy had to stay in Britain for two weeks because he could not change his ticket. What does the last sentence of the first paragraph tell us?
| A．Anna flew to Britain from Australia to marry him. |
| B．Anna flew to Australia from Britain to marry him. |
| C．Anna flew to Britain from Australia to propose to him. |
| D．Anna flew to Australia from Britain to propose to him. |
The underlined word “miss” in Paragraph 2 most probably means_______.
| A．escape from | B．fail to understand |
| C．fail to meet | D．long to see |
Eddy got a job on a Sydney building site because he________.
| A．wanted to travel round Australia |
| B．needed money to pay his daily cost |
| C．was an engineer at this building site |
| D．hoped to make money from this job |
Which of the following is TRUE about Eddy and Anna according to the text?
| A．Eddy proposed to Anna on the phone and Anna accepted. |
| B．Anna stayed in Australia waiting for Eddy’s arrival. |
| C．Anna had a good time touring Sydney with Eddy. |
| D．Eddy met Anna in the airport waiting room by chance. |
Many years ago, when I was fresh out of school and working in Denver, I was driving to my parents’ home in Missouri for Christmas. I stopped at a gas station(加油站)about 50 miles from Oklahoma City, where I was planning to stop and visit a friend. While I was standing in line at the cash register(收款台), I said hello to an older couple who were also paying for gas.
I took off, but had gone only a few miles when black smoke poured from the back of my car. I stopped and wondered what I should do. A car pulled up behind me. It was the couple I had spoken to at the gas station. They said they would take me to my friend’s. We chatted on the way into the city, and when I got out of the car, the husband gave me his business card.
I wrote him and his wife a thank-you note for helping me. Soon afterward, I received a Christmas present from them. Their note that came with it said that helping me had made their holidays meaningful.
Years later, I drove to a meeting in a nearby town in the morning. In late afternoon I returned to my car and found that I’d left the lights on all day, and the battery(电池)was dead. Then I noticed that the Friendly Ford dealership - a shop selling cars - was right next door. I walked over and found two salesmen in the showroom.
“Just how friendly is Friendly Ford?” I asked and explained my trouble. They quickly drove a pickup truck to my car and started it. They would accept no payment, so when I got home, I wrote them a note to say thanks. I received a letter back from one of the salesmen. No one had ever taken the time to write him and say thank you, and it meant a lot, he said.
“Thank you” - two powerful words. They’re easy to say and mean so much.The words “took off” underlined in Paragraph 2 mean “______”.
| A．turned off | B．moved off | C．put up | D．set up |
What happened when the author found smoke coming out of his car?
| A．He had it pulled back to the gas station. |
| B．The couple sent him a business card. |
| C．The couple offered to help him. |
| D．He called his friend for help. |
The battery of the author’s car was dead because_______.
| A．something went wrong with the lights |
| B．the meeting lasted a whole day |
| C．he forgot to turn off the lights |
| D．he drove too long a distance |
By telling his own experiences, the author tries to show______.
| A．how to write a thank-you letter |
| B．how to deal with car problems |
| C．the kind-heartedness of older people |
| D．the importance of expressing thanks |
Some people succeed in unbelievable ways.
Roussel was orphaned at the age of eight and went to live with his grandfather. He built on the music he had learned from his mother, entertaining himself by reading through the family music collection and playing his favorite songs on the piano.
Three years later, Roussel’s grandfather died, and his aunt adopted him. Her husband arranged for young Albert to take regular piano lessons. Summer vacations at a Belgian seaside resort added a second love to his life -- the sea. He studied to be a naval cadet (海军学员), but still made time to study music.
In the French Navy, while he served on a warship based at Cherbourg, he and two friends found the time to play the music of Beethoven and other composes (作曲家). Roussel also began composing. At the Church of the Trinity in Cherbourg on Christmas Day 1892, he had his first performance as a composer.
That success encouraged Roussel to write a wedding march, and one of his fellow offices offered to show it to a well-known conductor (指挥家), Edouard Colonne. When Roussel’s friend returned with the manuscript (手稿), he reported that Colonne had advised Roussel to give up his naval career and devote his life to music.
Not long afterwards, at the age of 25, Roussel did just that. He applied characters that he had developed in the navy to his composing and became a major force in twentieth century French music. As for Eduoard Colonne’s inspiring advice that Roussel devote his life to music, Roussel's navy friend later admitted that he had made it up and that he had never even shown Roussel's manuscript to the conductor.Which of the following shows the right order of the story?
a. Roussel gave up his naval career.
b. Roussel was adopted by his aunt.
c. Roussel read through the family music collection.
d. Roussel had his first performance as a composer in Cherbourg.
| A．c, b, d, a | B．b. c, d, a | C．b, c, a. d | D．c, b, a, d |
What ______ did played the most important part in Roussel's final success.
| A．his mother | B．the husband of his aunt |
| C．his navy friend | D．Edouard Colonne |
We can infer from the article that______.
| A．Roussel's aunt adopted him after his grandfather died. |
| B．Roussel read through the family music collection in his grandfather's. |
| C．Colonne advised Roussel to give up his naval career and devote his life to music. |
| D．If Roussel hadn't joined the navy, he might not have achieved so much. |
Which of the following is the best title of the passage?
| A．A clever musician | B．A white lie |
| C．A helpful conductor | D．A great manuscript |
A smart phone (智能手机) is a mobile phone built on a mobile operating system, with more advanced computing abilities than a common phone. The first smart phones enabled the users to send and receive emails. Later models added the function of portable media players, pocket video cameras, and GPS navigation (导航) units to form one multi-use device. Many modem smart phones also include touch screens and web browsers (浏览器) that display web pages.
A recent report says we spend an average of two hours and 40 minutes each day looking at a smart phone. That doesn’t mean making calls, but playing phone games and browsing the Web.
Nowadays we always find people checking emails in a restaurant, taking a picture of the food when it arrives, or checking a message during a conversation instead of traditional communication. It’s no secret that our lives are being affected by our smart phones obsession.
However, this phenomenon has never been presented so vividly as in the short YouTube film I Forgot My Phone. Despite only being online for a few days, it's already been viewed more than 10.5 million times. Whether it will be screened in the cinema remains to be seen.
Ironically, YouTube’s data show that the site gets a billion views per day from mobile devices, so a lot of those people watched it on their phones.
The short film, written by and starring actress Charlene Deguzman, shows groups of people in various social situations, the majority of whom are absorbed in their phones instead of the world around them. To a certain extent, we all do it.People prefer a smart phone to a common one, because the latter only can help us ______.
| A．check emails | B．send messages | C．find the destination | D．watch a video |
The underlined word “obsession” in the third paragraph most probably means “______”.
| A．devotion | B．contribution | C．addiction | D．emotion |
Which of the following is right?
| A．People spend as average of two hours and 40 minutes each day using smart phones. |
| B．The film hasn’t been put on in the cinema. |
| C．The film is written by an actor named Charlene Deguzman. |
| D．The film has already been viewed more than 105 million times in the first few days. |
When the writer mentions the number of people watching the film from mobile devices in the fifth paragraph, he mainly feels ______.
| A．encouraged | B．depressed | C．proud | D．satisfied |