Most people agree that honesty is a good thing. But does Mother Nature agree? Animals can’t talk, but can they lie in other ways? Can they lie with their bodies and behavior?
Animal experts may not call it lying, but they do agree that many animals, from birds to chimpanzees, behave dishonestly to fool other animals. Why? Dishonesty often helps them survive.
Many kinds of birds are very successful at fooling other animals. For example, a bird called the plover sometimes pretends to be hurt in order to protect its young. When a predator (猎食动物) gets close to its nest, the plover leads the predator away from the nest. How? It pretends to have a broken wing. The predator follows the “hurt” adult, leaving the baby birds safe in the nest.
Another kind of bird, the scrub jay, buries its food so it always has something to eat. Scrub jays are also thieves. They watch where others bury their food and steal it. But clever scrub jays seem to know when a thief is watching them. So they go back later, unbury the food, and bury it again somewhere else.
Birds called cuckoos have found a way to have babies without doing much work. How? They don’t make nests. Instead, they get into other birds’ nests secretly. Then they lay their eggs and fly away. When the baby birds come out, their adoptive parents feed them.
Chimpanzees, or chimps, can also be sneaky. After a fight, the losing chimp will give its hand to the other. When the winning chimp puts out its hand, too, the chimps are friendly again. But an animal expert once saw a losing chimp take the winner’s hand and start fighting again.
Chimps are sneaky in other ways, too. When chimps find food that they love, such as bananas, it is natural for them to cry out. Then other chimps come running. But some clever chimps learn to cry very softly when they find food. That way, other chimps don’t hear them, and they don’t need to share their food.
As children, many of us learn the saying "You can't fool Mother Nature." But maybe you can't trust her, either.A plover protects its young from a predator by _______________.
| A．getting closer to its young |
| B．driving away the adult predator |
| C．leaving its young in another nest |
| D．pretending to be injured |
By "Chimpanzees, or chimps, can also be sneaky", the author means _______________.
| A．chimps are ready to attack others |
| B．chimps are sometimes dishonest |
| C．chimps are jealous of the winners |
| D．chimps can be selfish too |
Which of the following is true according to the passage?
| A．Some chimps lower their cry to keep food away from others. |
| B．The losing chimp won the fight by taking the winner's hand. |
| C．Cuckoos fool their adoptive parents by making no nests. |
| D．Some clever scrub jays often steal their food back. |
Which of the following might be the best title of the passage?
| A．Do animals lie? |
| B．Does Mother Nature fool animals? |
| C．How do animals learn to lie? |
| D．How does honesty help animals survive? |
"I’m ging home tomorrow,"Michael announced. It was the first time he had talked with Bert Hensley since their argument that morning. He wanted his father to say that he couldn’t go, that he wouldn’t let him run away. To say that running was no way for a man to live.
But he replied only, "I figured that’s what you’d want."
Michael began to pack his suitcase. It took only a few more minutes to finish his packing. When Michael finally spoke, his voice was too loud in the small space. "Why’d you invite me?" He asked, "Why’d you call after so many years?" His father answered without looking at Michael.
"I thought it was time," he said.
"Time for what?" Michael persisted.
"I guess we’ve let one another down pretty badly in the last couple of days, haven’t we?" his father said. "Cil warned me," he continued, "She said I ought to think about it more before I called-about what I was trying to do, going back into your life that way. She said it wasn’t fair, me letting some other man raise my son through all those years and then trying to take him back, just when he was getting to be a man."
"A man?"Michael almost laughed.
"I don’t know if you’ll understand any of this. You’are pretty young." His father went slient, as though there was nothing more to say.
Michael learned across the table. "Try me," he spoke quietly, but it was almost a command.
His father flashed him a surprised look. "Well," he said at last, "My life was beginning to feel… sort of temporary, I guess you could say. When you finish a run on the river, it’s done. You know?So I guess I found myself thinking about you. A lot. Not just now and then the way I used to."…
"Michael,"his father said finally, "You don’t have to go, you know," his father said as Michael settled his suitcase into the back seat of Cil’s car. Michael looked at his father helplessly. They both knew that he did. What good did it to start pretending now?
"Don’t let the old man work too hard, Michael." his father added, trying on a chuckle(轻声地笑) that slipped immediately away.
The old man. The man his father had given him over to and then tried to take him back again. Even now, Michael thought, you could ask me to stay. That might make a difference. If you asked like you really mean it.
But his father didn’t ask; Michael had known he wouldn’t. They shook hands before Michael climbed into the car. Like two men. Like two frightened men.After all of what had happened Michael still hoped his father could .
| A．apologize for what he had done |
| B．support his decision |
| C．go home with him |
| D．ask him to saty |
Why did Michael feel disappointed with his father?
| A．His father abandoned him after he was born. |
| B．His father went back into his life all of a sudden. |
| C．His father never thought of him as him as the way he did. |
| D．His father said he was young to understan all of this. |
Which of the following statements is TRUE?
| A．When the father said "You don’t have to go", he meant it. |
| B．The father never regretted having tried to take his son back. |
| C．Michael probably wouldn’t go back to his father again. |
| D．The old man was hard on Michael. |
Sensing phantom phone vibrations(手机虚幻震动) is a strangely common experience. Around 80% of us have imagined a phone vibrating in our pockets when it’s actually completely still. Almost 30% of us have also heard non-existent ringing. Are these signs of madness caused by digital culture? Not at all. In fact, phantom vibrations and ringing indicate a fundamental principle in psychology.
Psychologists use a concept called Signal Detection Theory to guide their thinking about the problem of perceptual(感知的) judgments. Working through the example of phone vibrations, we can see how this theory explains why they are a common and unavoidable part of healthy mental function.
When your phone is in your pocket, the world is in one of two possible states: the phone is either ringing or not. You also have two possible states of mind: the judgment that the phone is ringing, or the judgment that it isn’t. Obviously you’d like to match these states in the correct way. True vibrations should go with "it’s ringing", and no vibrations should go with "it’s not ringing".Signal detection theory calls these faithful matches a "hit " and a "correct rejection".
But there are two other possible combinations: you could mismatch true vibrations with "it’s not ringing"( a"miss"); or mismatch the absence of vibrations with "it’s ringing"( a"false alarm"). This second kind of mismatch is what’s going on when you imagine a phantom phone vibration.
What does that mean in terms of your phone? We can assume that people like to notice when their phone is ringing, and that most people hate missing a call. This means their perceptual systems have adjusted their bias(偏向) to a level that makes misses unlikely. The unavoidable cost is a raised likelihood(可能性) of false alarms-of phantom phone vibrations.
The trade-off between false alarms and misses also explains why we all have to put up with fire alarms going off when there isn’t a fire. It isn’t that the alarms are badly designed, but rather that they are very sensible to smoke and heat and biased to avoid missing a real fire at all costs. The outcome is a rise in the number of false alarms. These are inconvenient, but nowhere near as inconvenient as burning to death in your bed or office. The alarms are designed to err on the side of caution.The writer tries to explain phantom phone vibrations .
| A．by analyzing some facts |
| B．by giving some examples |
| C．from the angle of biology |
| D．from the angle of psychology |
According to the writer, the sense of phantom phone vibration is .
| A．natural and normal | B．harmful but avoidable |
| C．unusual and unavoidable | D．common but unhealthy |
When we judge correctly that "it’s not ringing", this is called a " ".
| A．hit | B．miss |
| C．false alarm | D．correct rejection |
What does the underlined part in the last paragraph mean?
| A．Better late than never. |
| B．Better safe than sorry. |
| C．Fight over the smallest things. |
| D．He who makes no mistakes makes nothing. |
Parkour is all about throwing yourself quickly and effective past whatever barriers are in your path while maintaining as much force as possible to move forward. It’s a challenge for humans, so how would robots get along? In an effort to push the boundaries of robotic agility(灵活), researchers at the University of Pennsylvania decided to find out by teaching their Rhex robot some Parkour moves.
The Rhex is designed to be a walking robot that can deal with barriers, such as stairs and small stones to accomplish rescue tasks or carry out surveys in difficult areas. While the Rhex has been around for over a decade, a new version called XRL(X-Rhex-Light) is now being taught some new tricks by Professor Daniel Koditschek of the University of Pennsylvania.
The XRL differs from its earlier relatives by using lighter materials and simpler fabrication(装配) methods. A complete shell of carbon fiber board surrounds the XRL framework, and it has only a single battery room. The XRL is 51 cm long, 40.5 cm wide, and the body alone is 10 cm in thickness. Its weight including battery pack is 6.7 kg.
The XRL legs are equipped with force and power sensors(传感器), which allow the work of moving to be analyzed in detail. Among other benefits, the research team found that the response of the legs can be used to give an indication of what sort of surface the XRL is walking on. For example, the XRL responds very differently to stone surfaces and grass ones. Besides, the XRL is equipped with a laser scanner(激光扫描仪) to allow the XRL to move around simply.
"What we want is a robot that can go anywhere," said graduate student Aaron Johnson. "These latest jumps greatly expand the range of what this machine is capable of, as it can now jump onto or across barriers that are bigger than it is."
Why does the passage mention Parkour in Paragraph 1?
| A．To compare Parkour with the XRL. |
| B．To recommeng Parkour to readers. |
| C．To explain why people like Parkour. |
| D．To show the Rhex uses Parkour moves. |
The Rhex is mainly used to .
| A．do some difficult work |
| B．attend sports competition |
| C．conduct university surveys |
| D．research the XRL further |
Compared with the Rhex, the Rhex, the XRL .
| A．has two battery rooms |
| B．uses heavier materials |
| C．moves around more easily |
| D．takes along fewer instruments |
You are sending a text, watching the TV or listening to the radio ? You may want to stop and give this your full attention after you finish reading this article.
Multi-tasking shrinks the brain, research suggests.
A study found that men and women who frequently used several types of technology at the same time had less grey matter in a key part of the brain.
University of Sussex researchers said: “Simultaneously using mobile phones, laptops and other media devices could be changing the structure of our brains .”
Worryingly, the part of the brain that shrinks is involved in processing emotion. The finding follows research which has linked multi-tasking with a shortened attention span, depression, anxiety and lower grades at school.
The researchers began by asking 75 healthy men and women how often they divided their attention between different types of technology. This could mean sending a text message while listening to music and checking email, or speaking on the phone while watching TV and surfing the web.
The volunteers were then given brain scans which showed they had less grey matter in a region called the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC).
The findings held even when differences in personality were taken into account. The study, published in the journal PLOS ONE, is the first to make a link between multi-tasking and the structure of the brain. Researcher Kep Kee Loh said: ‘Media multi-tasking is becoming more popular in our lives today and there is increasing concern about its impacts on our social-emotional well-being.’ He added that more research is needed to prove that multi-tasking shrinks the brain. This is because it is also possible that people with less grey matter in the ACC are more drawn to using lots of gadgets simultaneously.
Scientists have previously demonstrated brain structure can be altered on prolonged exposure to novel environments and experience.
Other studies have shown that training – such as learning to juggle or taxi drivers learning the map of London – can increase grey-matter densities in certain parts of the brain .Experts have also warned of the harmful effect technology can have on our memory and attention span.
The University of California team conducted a survey of more than 18,000 people aged between 18 and 99 and found 20 percent had problems with memory. Researchers were taken aback by the 14 per cent of 18 to 39-year-olds who also worried about their memories.
Multi-tasking with gadgets may shorten attention span, making it harder to focus and form memories, the researchers said, adding that youngsters may be particularly affected by stress.In writing the passage, the author intends to _____.
| A．tell people multi—tasking is becoming more and more popular in our life today |
| B．inform people of the findings that stress and other emotional problems are caused by using media devices |
| C．warn people of the possible damage to our brain by performing several tasks at the same time |
| D．prove the links between multi-tasking with the increase of grey matter in the brain |
What does the underlined word “held” in the eighth paragraph mean?
| A．contained | B．carried | C．owned | D．remained |
It can be inferred from the passage that __________
| A．Multi-tasking has a bad effect on men rather than on women |
| B．Multi-tasking could change the structure of the brains and shrink the brain |
| C．the part of the brain that shrinks is involved in language learning |
| D．the writer doubts that using mobile phones and other media devices at the same time could shrink the brain |
The reason why Kep Kee Loh thought more research would be needed to prove that multi-tasking shrinks the brain was that ____
| A．he doubted the findings of the research |
| B．it was also possible that people with less grey matter in the ACC are more drawn to using lots of gadgets simultaneously. |
| C．the study published in the journal PLOS ONE drew a different conclusion |
| D．he wanted to prove training can increase grey – matter densities |
The passage suggests that _____
| A．when watching TV or listening to the radio, people’s brain will shrink |
| B．no measures can be taken to increase grey – matter densities in people’s brains |
| C．people gradually realize the negative impact media multi—tasking could have on people’ s social-emotional well –being. |
| D．multi—tasking can’t affect the grey matter in our brain |
Chinese airline travellers might be permitted to use mobile phones with in-flight Wi-Fi in 2016, as long as they are in flight mode, although progress still falls behind the rest of the world, the Beijing Times reported.
Zhou Hong, an aviation communication expert, said the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) has been exploring the possibility of air travelers using electronic devices at a height of more than 3,000 meters.
It's estimated that the result will come out in 2016, and it will likely be approved, he said.
China's major airlines and telecommunication companies have been preparing an alliance to conduct research into making phone calls during flights, said He Guili, head of China Telecom Technology Labs under the Ministry of Information and Industry Technology.
He said the main obstacle lies in the compatibility(兼容性)between mobile signals and aircraft electronic navigation systems, but that two solutions offered are already technically mature.
During a test on July 23, about 80 passengers were invited to use China's first onboard Wi-Fi service on a China Eastern Airlines flight between Shanghai and Beijing. They were only allowed to use iPads and laptops, however.
Compared to the boom of Wi-Fi service abroad, the service in China is still in the start-up stage, and has not yet been put into mass commercial use.
The European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) has just announced that airlines can now permit passengers to use electronic devices such as mobile phones during flights.It said electronic devices do not cause a safety risk, and that airlines can allow passengers to use mobile phones once they have conducted their own safety reviewsThe underlined word “boom” in Paragraph 7 is closest in meaning to_________.
| A．discovery | B．prosperity |
| C．invention | D．advantage |
According to the passage, the following statements are wrong EXCEPT____
| A．According to the passage, Zhou Hong is head of China Telecom Technology Labs |
| B．About80 passengers were involved in a test conducted on a China Eastern Airlines flight between Beijing and Guangzhou. |
| C．The CAAC has been exploring the possibility of air travellers using electronic devices at a height of more than 3,000 meters nowadays |
| D．Chinese airline travellers have already been permitted to use mobile phones with in-flight Wi-Fi |
What’s the attitude of the EASA towards the use of phones during the flight ?
A.SupportiveB．Negative.
C Sceptical.D．DisapprovalWhat is the passage mainly about?
| A．China may permit air travellers to use phones freely during flight by 2015 |
| B．Air travellers may be allowed to use phones with in-flight Wi-Fi in flight mode by 2016 |
| C．China is catching up with developed countries in technology |
| D．Wi-Fi service has already been used commercially in China |
The passage is most likely a part of ____
| A．a science fiction | B．a guide book |
| C．a commercial ad | D．a news report |