WHEN there are some strangers in front of us, which of them will we trust?
According to a new study in the online PLOS One, people make their decisions to trust others largely based on their faces. Your appearance can do a lot for you, especially if you are in the financial industry. The more trustworthy you look, the more likely people will buy what you’re selling.
Researchers from Britain’s University of Warwick Business School, University College London, and Dartmouth College, US, did a number of experiments.
The research team used computer software to make 40 faces, from the least to the most trustworthy-looking.
The study said that the difference between a trustworthy face and one that isn’t as trustworthy comes from features that look slightly angry or slightly happy, even when the face is at rest. However, a slightly happy face is more likely to be trusted.
Researchers gave participants some money and asked them which face they trusted to invest the money for them. Then researchers gave some good and bad information about the people with these faces, and asked the participants again whom they trusted.
The results showed that even if they got different information, the participants didn’t change their choices. They were still more likely to invest their money with the more trustworthy-looking faces.
Chris Olivola, one of the study’s authors, said in the University of Warwick’s press release: “It seems we are still willing to go with our own instincts (本能) about whether we think someone looks like we can trust them. The temptation (诱惑) to judge strangers by their faces is hard to resist.”Which of the following can be a proper title for this passage?
| A．What kind of face do you trust? |
| B．Who did the experiments? |
| C．Why do you trust him or her? |
| D．Why did they do the experiments? |
According to the study, which of the following faces is most likely to be trusted?
| A．A sad face. | B．A smiling face. |
| C．A crying face. | D．An angry face. |
Which of the following about the experiment is TRUE?
| A．The trustworthy faces were given good information. |
| B．Researchers took photos of the 40 people’s faces in college. |
| C．Most participants gave their money to the trustworthy-looking faces. |
| D．Participants liked to choose the faces with good information. |
What did the researchers learn from their experiment?
| A．People can’t refuse temptations. |
| B．People always do things with their instincts. |
| C．People often judge strangers by their faces. |
| D．People don’t trust strangers with sad faces. |
Not long ago the movie 2012 came into screen. The people were threatened by those scenes of destroying flood, severe earthquake, terrifying hurricane and constructions representing human civilization being destroyed and even swallowed by disaster. Luckily, they are just the director' s imagination, but the present situation is not heading a positive direction, either.
Take my own experience in Alaska as an example. Once I took a trip to the glacier. Along the way there stood signposts marking the snow lines of different years. They started from the foot of the mountain, but it was at the top when I finally saw melting glaciers(融化的冰川). My heart ached seeing the beautiful blue ice melting at every second.
Sad but true, they are the effects of global warming and the result of our human impact. Furthermore, each year the rising sea level will kill 56 million people, and that’s about the population of the entire Italy. According to studies, if the temperature keeps on rising like this, by the year 2050, some islands and coastal cities including New York, Shanghai, Tokyo and Sydney will be drowned in water.
Our fortune is in our own hands. It depends on us to shape our future, to reduce future human impact and find ways to form a peaceful relationship with our environment. Therefore, it's time for actions to be taken right now. Contribute a little to energy saving by using more efficient light bulbs and less hot water. Let recycle become our habit by thinking twice before throwing something away. Let us take public transportation as our first choice when going to a certain place. It might cost more time for now, but it' s to the benefit of a permanent future. Take care of every tree and grass around us by watering them or simply just avoid destroying them.
In a word, small drops of water make a big ocean. The earth does not belong to us. On the contrary, we belong to the earth. Please bear in mind that the earth is our home. It is our responsibility to build a brighter and better future of our planet and prevent what happened in the movie 2012 from becoming reality. Why does the author talk about the movie 2012 in the passage ?
| A．To give example. | B．To lead into the topic. |
| C．To make prediction. | D．To provide the evidence. |
How did the author feel when he took a trip to the glacier?
| A．Worried. | B．Puzzled. | C．Scared. | D．Bored. |
It can be inferred from the third paragraph that________ .
| A．56 million people in Italy have been killed owing to the rising sea level |
| B．Some islands and coastal cities will be drowned in water by the year of 2050 |
| C．Human being will be in danger if we don't take actions to prevent the global warming |
| D．It is certain that what happened in the movie 2012 will come into reality |
According to the passage, you are advised to ________.
| A．drive our own private cars instead of taking buses to some place |
| B．recycle everything that is used |
| C．go to see the movie 2012 at once |
| D．work together to take good care of our planet |
What does the author mean by saying "small drops of water make a big ocean"?
| A．Think twice before taking action. |
| B．It's our duty to protect the ocean. |
| C．Everyone together can make a difference. |
| D．It's important to save every drop of water. |
Some Chinese new-rich like eating shark fin soup because they think it shows their class. However, for the Chinese NBA idol Yao Ming, doing so is unacceptable as the practice has led to the overfishing of sharks.
When Yao and his wife Ye Li got married in 2007, they publicly announced that they would not allow shark fin soup to be served at their wedding banquet.
Actually, Yao had been saying no to shark fins since 2006, when he was appointed as the Goodwill Ambassador for wild life protection.
Now, the 226-cm big guy is resorting to his personal influence to encourage more to say no to eating the soup and to raise awareness of animal protection. "Sharks are friends of human beings. They are not our food," Yao said.
Other celebrity athletes like Olympic champions Li Ning and Kong Linghui are following on the heels of Yao, throwing themselves into serving the public as Goodwill Ambassadors for wild animal rescue. Recent reports about Yao's retirement have saddened tens of thousands of basketball fans both at home and abroad. Yet Yao's influence goes far beyond the basketball courts.
Yao has engaged himself in charity and public welfare services for quite a while. When the devastating 8.0-magnitude earthquake hit Wenchuan in southwest China in 2008, Yao donated 2 million yuan . "When I was a little boy, my parents and teachers told me to help others and to be a good man," Yao recalled. "But I could not donate then because I had not much pocket money. After I moved to Houston, I got involved in quite a number of community service activities and I felt a strong sense of achievement when I got people together," Yao said.
Like Yao, newly crowned French Open champion Li Na has showed her willingness to donate. Li gave 480,000 yuan of her prize money from the open, plus 20,000 yuan from her own pocket, to a local nursing home in her hometown. Another Chinese sports icon, hurdler Liu Xiang, has also been actively involved in charity for years.The reason why some Chinese new-rich like eating shark fin soup is that they think _______ .
| A．it is very delicious | B．it is very cheap and healthy |
| C．it is very popular in society | D．it can show their status |
Yao Ming is against eating shark fin soup because ________ .
| A．too many sharks are killed | B．he dislikes eating sharp fin |
| C．it is too expensive | D．sharks are dangerous animals |
Which of the following statements is NOT TRUE?
| A．Li Na donated 500,000 yuan to a local nursing home in her hometown. |
| B．Yao Ming donated 2 million yuan after the earthquake of Wenchuan. |
| C．Yao Ming has encouraged more people to stop eating shark fin soup and protect animals. |
| D．Yao Ming was appointed as the Goodwill Ambassador for protecting wild life in 2007. |
What words can be used to describe Yao Ming according to the passage?
| A．Rich and generous. | B．Influential and warmhearted. |
| C．Energetic and optimistic. | D．Popular and confident. |
From the passage , we can learn that________.
| A．most athletes don't like eating shark fin soup |
| B．Yao Ming has been donating money to charity since he was a child |
| C．Yao Ming has an influence on not only the basketball courts but also charity and public welfare services |
| D．Yao Ming has taken part in many community service activities when he was in China |
Everyone knows that the Frenchmen are romantic, the Italians are fashionable and the Germans are serious. Are these just stereotypes or is there really such a thing as national character? And if there is, can it affect how a nation succeed or fail?
At least one group of people is certain that it can. A recent survey of the top 500 entrepreneurs in the UK found that 70% felt that their efforts were not appreciated by the British public. Britain is hostile to success, they said. It has a culture of jealousy. As a result, the survey said, entrepreneurs were “unloved, unwanted and misunderstood.” Jealousy is sometimes known as the “green – eyed monster” and the UK is its home.
Scientists at Warwich University in the UK recently tested this idea. They gathered a group of people together and gave each an imaginary amount of money. Some were given a little, others a great deal. Those given a little were given the chance to destroy the large amount of money given to others – but at the cost of losing their own. Two thirds of the people tested agreed to do this.
This seems to prove that the entrepreneurs were right to complain. But there is also conflicting evidence. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development recently reported that the UK is now the world’s fourth largest economy. That is not bad for people who are supposed to hate success. People in the UK also work longer hours than anyone else in Europe. So the British people are not lazy, either.
“It is not really success that the British dislike,” says Carey Cooper, a professor of management at the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology. “It’s people using their success in a way that seems proud or unfair or which separates them from their roots.”
Perhaps it is the entrepreneurs who are the problem. They set out to do things in their way. They work long hours. By their own efforts they become millionaires. But instead of being happy they complain that nobody loves them. It hardly seems worth following their example. If they were more friendly, people would like them more. And more people want to be like them.Most entrepreneurs surveyed believe that .
| A．the British people hate success |
| B．the British people are hardworking |
| C．love of success is Britain’s national character |
| D．they are considered as “green – eyed monsters” |
What does the result of the Warwich University’s test show.
| A．Two thirds of the people tested didn’t love money. |
| B．Most people would rather fail than see others succeed. |
| C．An imaginary amount of money does not attract people. |
| D．Most people are willing to enjoy success with others. |
The writer of the passage seems to suggest that .
| A．jealousy is Britain’s national character |
| B．British entrepreneurs are not fairly treated |
| C．the scientists at Warwich University did a successful test |
| D．the entrepreneurs in the UK do not behave properly |
The best title for this article can be .
| A．Be More Modest and We Will Love You More |
| B．Proud Entrepreneurs |
| C．The Frenchmen are Romantic While The British are Hostile |
| D．Only Pains but No Gains |
Your name made you do it, though unconsciously, suggests new research that finds your name can negatively make you achieve less. Psychologists at Yale and the University of California, San Diego studying the unconscious influence of names say a preference for our own names and initials — the “name-letter effect” — can have some negative consequences.
Students whose names begin with C or D get lower grades than those whose names begin with A or B; major league baseball players whose first or last names began with K (the strikeout-signifying letter) are significantly more likely to strike out.
Assistant professors Leif Nelson of UCSD and Joseph Simmons of Yale have conducted five studies over five years using information from thousands of individuals.
“The conscious process is baseball players want to get a hit and students want to get A's,” Nelson says. “So if you get a change in performance consistent with the name-letter effect, it clearly shows there must be some unconscious desire operating in the other direction.”
The researchers' work supports a series of studies published since 2002 that have found the “name-letter effect” causes people to make life choices based on names that resemble their own. Those studies by Brett Pelham, an associate professor at SUNY University, have found that people are disproportionately（不定比例地）likely to live in states or cities resembling their names, have careers that resemble their names and even marry those whose surnames begin with the same letter as their own.
The twist, Pelham says, is that he has believed the name-letter effect would apply only to positive outcomes. Nelson and Simmons, he says, are “showing it applies more so to negative things than positive things.”
The researchers say the effect is definitely more than coincidence but is small nevertheless. “I know plenty of Chrises and Davids who have done very well in school,” Simmons says. The new research is mainly about the relationship between one’s ______.
| A．name and unconsciousness | B．name and characteristics |
| C．name and success | D．sports and school achievements |
Who may serve as an example to show the “name-letter effect”?
| A．Miss Smith working as a lawyer. | B．Charles Brown married to Sue Rogers. |
| C．Mr. Watt living in Washington | D．Paula Snow fond of the color white. |
Which can be used to explain the underlined word “twist” in the last but one paragraph?
| A．Difference． | B．Conclusion． |
| C．Funny side． | D．Shared part． |
The last paragraph mainly tells us that the “name-letter effect” ______.
| A．isn’t believed in by many people | B．doesn’t work with certain names |
| C．may not really exist | D．is often too small to show |
Babies are born yogis. Once we were all able to pull our toes up by our ears and laugh about it. Then we aged, got injured, and began carrying stress in our shoulders and back. In short, we lost our balance.
Yoga（瑜伽） is an ancient practice that helps create a sense of union in body, mind, and spirit. It brings us balance. I was seriously out of balance when I started practicing yoga in 1999. I had plantar facilities in both feet, and my doctor had warned me against all the things I loved to do: walking, hiking, and playing tennis. I was desperate for exercise. Yoga became my salvation and even enhanced my other fitness activities. I practice yoga at least twice a week, but I consider yoga to be part of my daily life because after a while you no longer just practice yoga—you love it.
Yoga becomes part of your physical life. Your body grows stronger, more toned, and more flexible as you move from one pose to the other. I spent a week in Mexico at a yoga retreat, and it was the first vacation on which I lost weight. “Rather than building muscle, yoga builds muscle tone,” says Shakta Kaur Khalsa, author of the K.I.S.S. Guide to Yoga. “Because yoga helps maintain a balanced metabolism (新陈代谢), it also helps to regulate weight. Additionally, yoga stretches muscles lengthwise, causing fat to be removed around the cells.” I do yoga poses throughout the day. After hours at my computer, I stretch my stiff shoulders and arms. When I need a boost of energy, I do energizing poses. When I am feeling exhausted at the end of the day, I do restorative poses.
Yoga becomes part of your mental life. Yoga teaches you to focus on breathing while you hold the poses. This attention to breath is calming; it dissolves stress and anxiety. I use yogic breathing on the tennis courts, in the dentist’s chair, and in traffic jams. You should always leave a yoga practice feeling energized, not tired. If you feel tired after yoga, it means you spent the time “fighting” yourself, trying to force yourself into poses. In yoga, you “surrender” to the pose by letting go of the tension.
Yoga becomes part of your spiritual life. Yoga is practiced by people from all religions; it is not restricted to any religious group. Yoga teaches “right” living in how we deal with ourselves and others. As I work on a difficult pose, I learn patience, forgiveness, and the value of gentleness. Yoga advocates proper eating, but you don’t have to be a vegetarian to practice yoga.What would be the best title for this passage?
| A．What’s Yoga? | B．How I Do Yoga Poses |
| C．The Benefits of Yoga | D．The Varieties of Yoga |
According to the third paragraph, yoga can help people __________.
| A．grow taller | B．lose weight |
| C．become flexible in thinking | D．make more friends |
People feel tired after yoga because __________.
| A．they consume energy in practicing yoga |
| B．they respond well to yoga poses |
| C．they spend too much time on yoga |
| D．they force themselves into yoga poses |
If this passage continues, what will the writer most probably write about in the next paragraph?
| A．Yoga as a means to keep fit. | B．Who may like yoga |
| C．Popularity of yoga all over the world. | D．Encouraging people to do yoga. |