A. Weather is to blame B. Divided opinions C. Inheriting(遗传) characteristics D. Home of the redheads E. Greater sensitivity to pain F. Gene mutation(基因变异) |
Britain may be the most red-headed country in the world. About 1 to 2 percent of the world’s population has red hair, but in the UK the numbers are much higher, with 13 percent of Scots, 10 percent of the Irish, and 6 percent of people in England having red hair, according to the BBC.
Scientists have tried to explain why some people have red hair for some time and now they may have found an answer: the dull weather in Britain. The human body needs vitamin D from sunshine, but unfortunately people living in Britain do not have enough of it because of its maritime climate. In fact, Britain gets even more cloud than countries in the far north of Europe. In Sweden, for example, the average daily hours of sunshine is 5.4 . In Scotland it is only 3.1 hours.
To deal with this, the DNA of people living in these areas has changed slightly; scientists call this a mutation. Originally, the coloring on our body is a mixture of two kinds of melanin – black melanin is suppressed while only red / yellow melanin is made. The result is red hair, light skin color, freckles and a greater sensitivity to sunlight.
However, what’ s more interesting is that the redhead DNA mutation is recessive, which means it is hidden and can often skip generations without showing. At least 1.6 million Scots carry a redhead gene mutation, and most are unaware that they do. This is why a person who does not have red hair can still produce red-haired children if he or she is a carrier of this special DNA.
The research on red hair, like many areas of science, is contradictory(不一致). In 2002 researchers showed that redheads are more sensitive to pain, and need more anesthetic during surgery than people with blonde or dark hair. However, in 2005 scientists found that a MCRIR mutation gives redheads a higher tolerance for pain. Research into these aspects of red hair genetics continues. Redheads should though be more careful about their exposure to sunlight as they are at an increased risk of contracting skin cancer. If you are a redhead, the advice is not to stay out of the sun, but to be careful about how much exposure you get, and to cover yourself with a high factor sunscreen.
下面文章中有5个段落需要添加小标题。
请从以下选项(A、B、C、D、E和F)中选出适合各段落的小标题,并在答题纸上将相应选项的标号涂黑。选项中有一项是多余选项。
A. Decide to settle when growth is guaranteed.
B. Follow other people's paths.
C. Blame others for the fault.
D. Have faith in overnight success.
E. Only pay attention to the dreams themselves.
F. Believe someone else has the answers for you.
FIVE WAYS TO KILL YOUR DREAMS
I dedicated the past two years to understanding how people achieve their dreams. When we think about the dreams we have, and the footprint we want to leave in the universe, it is striking to see how big of an overlap there is between the dreams that we have and projects that never happen. So I'm here to talk to you today about five ways how not to follow your dreams.______
You know the story, right? The tech guy built a mobile app and sold it very fast for a lot of money. You know, the story may seem real, but I bet it's incomplete. If you go investigate further, the guy has done 30 apps before and he has done a master's on the topic, a Ph.D. He has been working on the topic for 20 years. This is really interesting. I myself have a story in Brazil that people think is an overnight success. I come from a humble family, and two weeks before the deadline to apply to MIT, I started the application process. And, voila! I got in. People may think it's an overnight success, but that only worked because for the 17 years prior to that, I took life and education seriously. Your overnight success story is always a result of everything you've done in your life through that moment.______
Constantly, people want to help out, right? All sorts of people: your family, your friends, your business partners, they all have opinions on which path you should take: "And let me tell you, go through this pipe." But whenever you go inside, there are other ways you have to pick as well. And you need to make those decisions yourself. No one else has the perfect answers for your life. And you need to keep picking those decisions, right? The pipes are infinite and you're going to bump your head, and it's a part of the process.______
So when your life is going great, you have put together a great team, and you have growing revenue, and everything is set — time to settle. When I launched my first book, I worked really, really hard to distribute it everywhere in Brazil. With that, over three million people downloaded it, over 50,000 people bought physical copies. When I wrote a sequel, some impact was guaranteed. Even if I did little, sales would be okay. But okay is never okay. When you're growing towards a peak, you need to work harder than ever and find yourself another peak. Maybe if I did little, a couple hundred thousand people would read it, and that's great already. But if I work harder than ever, I can bring this number up to millions. That's why I decided, with my new book, to go to every single state of Brazil. And I can already see a higher peak. There's no time to settle down.______
I constantly see people saying, "Yes, I had this great idea, but no investor had the vision to invest." "Oh, I created this great product, but the market is so bad, the sales didn't go well." Or, "I can't find good talent; my team is so below expectations." If you have dreams, it's your responsibility to make them happen. Yes, it may be hard to find talent. Yes, the market may be bad. But if no one invested in your idea, if no one bought your product, for sure, there is something there that is your fault. Definitely. You need to get your dreams and make them happen. And no one achieved their goals alone. But if you didn't make them happen, it's your fault and no one else's. Be responsible for your dreams._____
Once I saw an ad, and it was a lot of friends, they were going up a mountain, it was a very high mountain, and it was a lot of work. You could see that they were sweating and this was tough. And they were going up, and they finally made it to the peak. Of course, they decided to celebrate, right? I'm going to celebrate, so, "Yes! We made it, we're at the top!" Two seconds later, one looks at the other and says, "Okay, let's go down." Life is never about the goals themselves. Life is about the journey. Yes, you should enjoy the goals themselves, but people think that you have dreams, and whenever you get to reaching one of those dreams, it's a magical place where happiness will be all around. But achieving a dream is a momentary sensation, and your life is not. The only way to really achieve all of your dreams is to fully enjoy every step of your journey. That's the best way.
阅读下列应用文及相关信息,并按要求匹配信息。
以下是几本新书的简要介绍:
A. Strong Is Your Hold
This book was written by Galway Kinnell, who spent many years in finishing the book.Kinnell’s first collection of new poems in more than a decade revisits themes of marriage, friendship and death, with long, loose lines reminiscent of Whitman.It is popular with the people who are interested in literature.
B. The Letter
The murder of a television star appears to be the work of thieves who are quickly caught.But they escape from prison and a young lawyer says she knows who the real criminals are.Written with intelligence, this story is so fast-moving that it demands the reader’s complete attention.
C. London Alive
This author of many famous novels has now turned to writing short stories with great success.The stories tell of Londoners’ daily lives and happen in eighteen different places——for example, one story takes place at a table in a cafe, another in the back of a taxi and another in a hospital.
D. Gone West
A serious look at one of the least-known regions of the United States.The author describes the empty villages which thousands left when they were persuaded by the railway companies to go west in search of new lives.The author manages to provide many interesting details about their history.
E.Cutting for Stone
This book was written by Abraham Verghese.It is a powerful story about twin brothers born in a Catholic hospital in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Their mother, an Indian nurse at the hospital, dies in childbirth.The brothers are raised by two Indian doctors who live at the hospital.One brother later moves to the United States.This is a story about the extremes of love, family, and medicine.
F.Jane Eyre
There is great kindness and warmth in this love story.Poor and plain as Jane Eyre is, she has a strong will, sharp wisdom and great courage.She is forced to battle against a harsh employer and a rigid social order.Yet she is never defeated. Standing on her feet, she gains her own happiness in the end.
请阅读以下读者的相关信息,然后匹配他/她感兴趣的书籍:Takumi doesn’t have much free time so he reads short stories which he can finish quickly.He likes reading stories about ordinary people and the things that happen to them in today’s worlD.
Terresha Houghs has read widely since she was in university.She can recite most of essays and poems she has read, especially poems from Leaves of Grass.She is fond of traditional themes in poetry and still keeps her habits of reciting poems.
Ali enjoys reading crime stories which are carefully written so that they hold his interest right to the enD. He enjoys trying to guess who the criminal really is while he’s reading.
Lucy is a quiet girl who likes to read in a quiet corner in the library.Her favorite stories are those with characters brave enough to face and overcome difficulties in life.
Charlie, who attends college in the Midwest, majors in medicine.He is fond of reading stories about family and love, especially those related to his future career.
首先请阅读下列图片及文字说明:
A. Drop-Bar Road Bikes
Generally lighter in weight than the typical mountain or comfort bike,road bikes are good for multiple pavement uses including fitness riding,commuting,long-distance/event rides,touring and racing.
Drop-bar handlebars are lightweight and aerodynamic and are a better choice if you want to go faster or are more concerned with efficiently transferring your energy into making the bike move forward. They also allow for a greater number of riding and hand positions than flat-bars.Their more aerodynamic riding position (bent over at the waist) may put more strain on your back if you are less flexible.
B. Flat-Bar Road Bikes
Flat-bar handlebars combine the efficiency of drop-bar road bikes with a slightly more upright riding position.This allows you to sit up in a higher and more relaxed position so you can better see the road and potential risks.An upright position also reduces strain on your hands,wrists and shoulders.This increased versatility comes with the tradeoff of being slightly less efficient (from an aerodynamic standpoint) than the typical drop-bar road bike.
C. Hardtail Mountain Bikes
Mountain Bikes are best for dirt or rocky trails and gravel roads; they are OK for pavement too (with tire change).
Hardtail bikes feature a front suspension fork and a rigid back with no rear suspension shocks.This type of mountain bike is much less expensive and lighter in weight than a typical full-suspension mountain bike.A hardtail is the more versatile choice if you plan to use it for both paved and unpaved surfaces.The tradeoffs from a full-suspension mountain bike? A hardtail is less able to safely handle more technical singletrack trails,provides less overall shock absorption and,in some situations,delivers less rear wheel traction.
D. Full-Suspension Mountain Bikes
Full-suspension mountain bikes have both front and rear suspension shocks making them ideal for backcountry trails or technical (steep,bumpy,twisty) singletrack.They also stand up to more aggressive riding including jumps or drops of up to 5 feet.As mentioned above,full-suspension bikes are more expensive and generally heavier than hardtail bikes.
E.Folding bikes
These bikes can be folded up and placed in a carrying bag,which makes them handy for commuters with limited storage space at home or the office.They are lightweight yet strong and can be folded up quickly and easily.Folding bikes are also a good choice for those who want to travel with their bike.
F.Electric-assist bikes
These bikes feature a battery-powered motor that can help you climb hills easily or make your commute less strenuous.Built-in sensors can monitor how much pressure you're putting on the pedals and then apply battery power accordingly.
以下是一些用户信息,请把图片与相关介绍匹配起来。Tom is a bike lover.He wants to buy a road bike that can go fast on the road. Speed is important but it is more important for him to see the road and stay safe,since the road on which he rides is often full of traffic.
Jack is an office worker.Every day he goes to work by subway.There is still a long way from where he lives to the subway station,so he decides to buy a bike,which can be easily put at home,on the subway train and his office.
Peter loves making long-distance journey by bike.When travelling,he has to climb hills or ride on rocky trails,which makes him too tired to go.He wants to continue his journey even when he is tired,but he doesn’t want to travel by car or ride his motorbike.
Mark is a bike enthusiast who often rides in the mountainous areas.Unfortunately,his bike was damaged when he was riding on the mountain.Now he is going to buy a new mountain bike.Being a rich man,Mark doesn’t care about the price of the bike,but it must be tough and flexible enough to jump and drop on the mountain road.
Jim needs a new mountain bike that can be ridden on both paved and unpaved surfaces.It doesn’t need to be too expensive.He hopes to buy a bike that is lighter in weight than a typical full-suspension mountain bike
下面文章中有5处 (第1~5) 需要添加小标题。请从(A、B、C、D、E和F)中选出符合各段意思的小标题, 并在答题纸上将相应选项的标号涂黑。选项中有一项是多余选项。
A. Decide to settle when growth is guaranteed.
B. Follow other people's paths.
C. Blame others for the fault.
D. Have faith in overnight success.
E. Only pay attention to the dreams themselves.
F. Believe someone else has the answers for you.
FIVE WAYS TO KILL YOUR DREAMS
I dedicated the past two years to understanding how people achieve their dreams. When we think about the dreams we have, and the footprint we want to leave in the universe, it is striking to see how big of an overlap there is between the dreams that we have and projects that never happen. So I'm here to talk to you today about five ways how not to follow your dreams.______
You know the story, right? The tech guy built a mobile app and sold it very fast for a lot of money. You know, the story may seem real, but I bet it's incomplete. If you go investigate further, the guy has done 30 apps before and he has done a master's on the topic, a Ph.D. He has been working on the topic for 20 years. This is really interesting. I myself have a story in Brazil that people think is an overnight success. I come from a humble family, and two weeks before the deadline to apply to MIT, I started the application process. And, voila! I got in. People may think it's an overnight success, but that only worked because for the 17 years prior to that, I took life and education seriously. Your overnight success story is always a result of everything you've done in your life through that moment.______
Constantly, people want to help out, right? All sorts of people: your family, your friends, your business partners, they all have opinions on which path you should take: "And let me tell you, go through this pipe." But whenever you go inside, there are other ways you have to pick as well. And you need to make those decisions yourself. No one else has the perfect answers for your life. And you need to keep picking those decisions, right? The pipes are infinite and you're going to bump your head, and it's a part of the process.______
So when your life is going great, you have put together a great team, and you have growing revenue, and everything is set — time to settle. When I launched my first book, I worked really, really hard to distribute it everywhere in Brazil. With that, over three million people downloaded it, over 50,000 people bought physical copies. When I wrote a sequel, some impact was guaranteed. Even if I did little, sales would be okay. But okay is never okay. When you're growing towards a peak, you need to work harder than ever and find yourself another peak. Maybe if I did little, a couple hundred thousand people would read it, and that's great already. But if I work harder than ever, I can bring this number up to millions. That's why I decided, with my new book, to go to every single state of Brazil. And I can already see a higher peak. There's no time to settle down.______
I constantly see people saying, "Yes, I had this great idea, but no investor had the vision to invest." "Oh, I created this great product, but the market is so bad, the sales didn't go well." Or, "I can't find good talent; my team is so below expectations." If you have dreams, it's your responsibility to make them happen. Yes, it may be hard to find talent. Yes, the market may be bad. But if no one invested in your idea, if no one bought your product, for sure, there is something there that is your fault. Definitely. You need to get your dreams and make them happen. And no one achieved their goals alone. But if you didn't make them happen, it's your fault and no one else's. Be responsible for your dreams.______
Once I saw an ad, and it was a lot of friends, they were going up a mountain, it was a very high mountain, and it was a lot of work. You could see that they were sweating and this was tough. And they were going up, and they finally made it to the peak. Of course, they decided to celebrate, right? I'm going to celebrate, so, "Yes! We made it, we're at the top!" Two seconds later, one looks at the other and says, "Okay, let's go down." Life is never about the goals themselves. Life is about the journey. Yes, you should enjoy the goals themselves, but people think that you have dreams, and whenever you get to reaching one of those dreams, it's a magical place where happiness will be all around. But achieving a dream is a momentary sensation, and your life is not. The only way to really achieve all of your dreams is to fully enjoy every step of your journey. That's the best way.
Attitudes Wired in Happy and Successful Brains
I’ve carefully examined happy and successful people from all different professions —actors, scientists, comedians, musicians, etc. They share very similar philosophies. Here are some of the fundamental attitudes and beliefs that contribute to their happiness and success:
◆ ①
This is one of the most commonly recited mottos in self-improvement. Individuals who see their mistakes and failures as a learning experience are much more prone to happiness and success.
When we adopt the belief that “failure is a part of learning,” we become more resilient and courageous in the face of new challenges.
Instead of avoiding situations where we may embarrass ourselves, we embrace these challenges in life, even when we know they can be risky and painful. When we do fail, we don’t see it as the end of the world, but a point to improve upon.
◆ ②
Many people are great at finding problems and being critical about their lives; however, they do this without ever suggesting a possible solution or alternative to their situation.
They complain about this and that, but they never take an active role to actually improve these things. They focus on problems not to learn from them or fix them, but to make excuses for why their lives are miserable and unpleasant.
I believe acknowledging problems in life is important. I don’t recommend that we ignore things in our life that disturb us or make us unhappy. However, it’s also important to think of ways we can actually respond to these problems and change our circumstances.
Ruminating over problems in our life without a plan to take action is not only a waste of time, but it makes us even more sad and depressed. If you’re going to be critical about something in your life, focus on the ways you can actually make a difference.
◆ ③
Happy and successful people are incredibly grateful for their lives and everything they have: their relationships, their home, their job, their possessions, their talents, their achievements, etc.
Although successful people are often thought of as always hungry and striving – always trying to improve things, achieve their goals, and make things better – this inner drive doesn’t take away from the fact they are very happy and content with their lives.
Gratitude is an irreplaceable characteristic of true happiness and success. Even if we achieve great things in life, without gratitude we often find ourselves empty and discontent. Make sure you take the time to reflect on how lucky you are as a person (I believe everyone can find something to be grateful for).
◆ ④
Happy and successful individuals know that we can learn a lot from other happy and successful individuals. Having peopled to look up to is a great resource for learning the beliefs and habits that contribute to other people’s success, and then modeling those beliefs and habits in our own lives.
If you want to improve a particular area of your life, then find a couple of people who already excel in that area of life. Study them. Ask them questions. Have them show you their technique and share their stories.
The more willing you are to learn from others, the more successful you will be. Talking and listening to others is one of the best ways to get more perspective into what you want to improve in life — and how you can do it.
Please add a comment at the bottom of this page or blog in our forum here. Please do not use apostrophes in your comments.What does the underlined word “resilient” in Paragraph 3 probably mean?
A.depressed | B.regretful |
C.romantic | D.flexible |
The author thinks if one merely focuses on problems, he’ll ________.
A.find out a way to solve problems |
B.ignore complaints about problems |
C.use the problems as his excuses |
D.acknowledge and solve problems |
People with gratitude ________.
A.feel satisfied with his life |
B.stop struggling in life |
C.owe success to their own talents |
D.reflect on their achievements |
The successful people may possess the following attitudes EXCEPT ________.
A.gratitude and belief |
B.courage and risk |
C.willingness and luckiness |
D.fortune and convention |
Choose the following sub-headings for Parts ①②③ and ④.
a. Learn from othersb. Show your gratitude
c. Focus on solutionsd. Learn from failure
A.a b c d | B.d c b a |
C.d a b c | D.a c b d |
Which of the following can be used to support the concept “Show your gratitude”?
A.“He is a wise man who does not sigh for the things which he has not, but appreciates forthose which he has.” — Epictetus |
B.“We think too small. Like the frog at the bottom of the well. He thinks the sky is only asbig as the top of the well. If he surfaced, he would have an entirely different view.” — Mao Tse-Tung |
C.“Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, butthe really great make you feel that you, too, can become great.” — Mark Twain |
D.“Failure is the foundation of success, and the means by which it is achieved. Success is the hiding-place of failure; but who can tell when the turning-point will come?” |
— Lao Tzu