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 about whether we think someone looks like we can trust them. The temptation 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 don’t trust strangers with sad faces. |
| D．People often judge strangers by their faces. |
Tens of thousands of ancient pictures carved into the rocks at one of France’s most important tourist sites are being gradually destroyed. Scientists and researchers fear that the 36,000 drawings on rocks in Mont Bego in the French Alps are being damaged so rapidly that they will not survive for future generations.
The mountain, believed to have once been a site for prayer, is scattered (散布) with 4,000-year-old drawings cut into bare rock. They include pictures of cows with horns, cultivated fields (耕地) and various gods and goddesses. But as the popularity of the site increases, the pictures are being ruined by thoughtless graffiti (涂鸦).
Jean Clottes is the chairman of the International Committee on Rock Art. He says, “People think that because the pictures have been there so long they will always continue to be there. But if the damage continues at this rate there will be nothing left in 50 years.”
He describes seeing tourists stamping on the drawings, wearing away the rock and definition (清晰) of the artwork as they do so. Some visitors, he says, even cut off parts to take home as souvenirs. “When people think they can’t take a good enough photograph, they rub the drawings to get a clearer picture,” he said. “The drawings are polished by the weather, and if the sun is shining and the visitors can’t see them properly they simply rub them to make them look fresher.” Other researchers describe how people arrive carrying long sticks with sharp ends to scratch (刮) their own drawings, or even their names, in the rocks.
But experts are divided over the best way to preserve the drawings. Henry de Lumley, director of the Museum of Natural History in Paris, believes that the only way to save the site is to turn the whole mountain into a “no-go” area, preventing the public from going there except on guided tours. Otherwise, he says, not only will the site be completely destroyed but important research work will be reduced.
Clottes disagrees, “The measure suggested by Henry de Lumley is the most severe, and while it is the most effective, it is also certain to bring about protests from people who live there,” he said. “The site was classified as a historic monument years ago by the Ministry of Culture, and we must do as much as possible to save what is there.”
David Lavergne, the regional architect, also wants to avoid closing the site. “Henry de Lumley’s idea isn’t ideal,” he said. “Our department feels that the best solution is to let people look at the site, but because the area is very big it is difficult to prevent visitors from damaging it. I would prefer that everyone was able to look at it, but the main problem is money. We do not have the funds to employ the necessary number of guards. We may have to consider charging a fee. It doesn’t seem to be possible to get the government support.”
In Nice, Annie Echassoux, who also worked on researching the site, is alarmed that as the mountain becomes easier to reach — tourists can now avoid the three-and-a-half-hour walk by hiring vehicles — the damage will increase rapidly. She thinks that the only solution is to rope off the area and provide guides. “You can’t say the plan can’t go ahead because there is no money,” she said. “That is not good enough. Money must be provided because the Ministry of Culture has classified this area as a historic site. If we don’t take steps, we will be responsible for losing the drawings for the next generation.”Jean Clottes says that people who visit the mountain____.
| A．do not believe the drawings are old. |
| B．believe they are allowed to paint there |
| C．think the drawings should be left alone |
| D．think the drawings will not disappear |
According to Jean Clottes, some of the visitors to the area have____.
| A．helped to clean the drawings |
| B．taken bits of the rock home |
| C．been unable to take photographs |
| D．misunderstood what the pictures mean |
Henry de Lumley is eager to ____.
| A．set up research projects |
| B．protect public rights |
| C．keep out individual visitors |
| D．ban traffic in the area |
Which word best describes Annie Echassoux’s attitude towards saving the historic site?
| A．Supportive. | B．Disappointed. |
| C．Worried. | D．Hesitant. |
This passage has been written about Mont Bego to ____.
| A．advertise the closing of the site |
| B．warn visitors about the dangers of the site |
| C．encourage scientists to visit the site |
| D．describe fears for the future of the site |
Do you find getting up in the morning so difficult that it’s painful? This might be called laziness, but Dr. Kleitman has a new explanation. He has proved that everyone has a daily energy cycle (能量周期).
During the hours when you labour through your work you may say that you’re “hot”. That’s true. The time of day when you feel most energetic is when your cycle of body temperature is at its peak. For some people the peak comes during the forenoon. For others it comes in the afternoon or evening. No one has discovered why it is so, but it leads to such familiar monologues (自言自语) as : “Get up, John! You’ll be later for work again!” The possible explanation to the trouble is that John is at his temperature and energy peak in the evening. Much family quarrelling ends when husbands and wives realize what these energy cycles mean, and which cycle each member of the family has.
You can’t change your energy cycle, but you can learn to make your life fit it better. Habit can help, Dr. Kleitman believes. Maybe you’re sleepy in the evening but feel you must stay up late anyway. Counteract (对抗) your cycle to some extent by habitually staying up later than you want to. If your energy is low in the morning but you have an important job to do early in the day, rise before your usual hour. This won’t change your cycle, but you’ll get up steam (振作精神) and work better at your low point.
Get off to a slow start which saves your energy. Get up with a leisurely yawn (呵欠) and stretch. Sit on the edge of the bed a minute before putting your feet on the floor. Avoid the troublesome search for clean clothes by laying them out the night before. Whenever possible, do routine (例行的) work in the afternoon and save tasks requiring more energy or concentration for your sharper hours.If a person finds getting up early a problem most probably ________.
| A．he is a lazy person |
| B．he refuses to follow his own energy cycle |
| C．he is not sure when his energy is low |
| D．he is at his peak in the afternoon or evening |
Which of the following may lead to family quarrels according to the passage?
| A．Unawareness of the energy cycles. |
| B．Familiar monologues. |
| C．A change in a family member’s energy cycle. |
| D．Attempts to control the energy cycle of other family members. |
If one wants to work more efficiently at his low point in the morning, he should ________.
| A．change his energy cycle |
| B．overcome his laziness |
| C．get up earlier than usual |
| D．go to bed earlier |
You are advised to rise with a yawn and stretch because it will ________.
| A．help to keep your energy for the day’s work |
| B．help you to control your temper early in the day |
| C．enable you to concentrate on your routine work |
| D．keep your energy cycle under control all day |
Computer technology has become a major part of people’s lives. This technology has its own special words. One example is the word mouse. A computer mouse is not a small animal that lives in buildings and open fields. It is a small device that you move around on a flat surface in front of a computer. The mouse moves the pointer on the computer screen.
Computer expert Douglas Engelbart developed the idea for the mouse in the early 1960s. The first computer mouse was a carved block of wood with two metal wheels. It was called a mouse because it had a tail at one end. The tail was the wire that connected it to the computer.
Using a computer takes some training. People who are experts are sometimes called hakers. A hacker is usually a person who writes software programs in a special computer language. But the word hacker is also used to describe a person who tries to steal information from computer systems.
Another well-known computer word is Google. It is the name of a popular “search engine” for the Internet. People use the search engine to find information about almost any subject on the Internet. The people who started the company named it Google because in maths, google is an extremely large number. It is the number one followed by 100 zeros.
When you “Google” a subject, you can get a large amount of information about it . Some people like to google their friends or themselves to see how many times their names appears on the Internet.
If you Google someone, you might find that person’s name on a blog. A blog is the shortened name for a Web log. A blog is a personal Web page. It may contain stories, comments, pictures and links to other Web sites. Some people add information to their blogs every day. People who have blogs are called bloggers.
Blogs are not the same as spam. Spam is unwanted sales messages sent to your electronic mailbox. The name is based on a funny joke many years ago on a British television show, “ Monty Python’s Flying Circus”. Some friends are at an eating place that only serves a processed meat product from the United States called SPAM. Every time the friends try to speak, another group of people starts singing the word SPAM very loudly. This interferes with the friends’ discussion---just as unwanted sales messages interfere with communication over the Internet.What is the passage mainly talking about?
| A．Computer technology. | B．Computer history. |
| C．Computer words. | D．Computer experts. |
Why is the small device called a mouse?
| A．Because it was a carved block of wood. |
| B．Because it has two metal wheels. |
| C．Because it moves like a real mouse. |
| D．Because it has a “tail” at one end. |
What do we know about hackers?
| A．They are not computer experts. |
| B．They don’t write software programs. |
| C．They sometimes try to steal information. |
| D．They are always bloggers. |
As a computer term, spam refers to________.
| A．junk mail | B．electronic mailboxes |
| C．sales messages | D．processed meat products |
Old age may not sound exciting. But recent findings offer good news for older people and for people who worried about getting older.
Researchers found that people become happier and experience less worry after they reach the age of 50. In fact, they say by the age of 85, people are happier with their life than they were when they were 18 years old.
The findings came from a survey of more than 340,000 adults in the US. The Gallup Organization questioned them by telephone in 2008. At that time, the people were between the ages of 18 and 85.
The researchers asked questions about emotions like happiness, sadness and worry. They also asked about mental or emotional stress.
Arthur Stone in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science at Stony Brook University in New York led the study. His team found that levels of stress were highest among adults between the ages of 22 and 25.
The findings showed that stress levels dropped sharply after people reached their fifties. Happiness was highest among the youngest adults and those in their early seventies. The people least likely to report feeling negative emotions were those in their seventies and eighties.
The study also showed that men and women have similar emotional patterns as they grow older. However, women at all ages reported more sadness, stress and worry than men.
The findings appeared in the Proceedings of the National Acadamy of Science.
Researchers say they do not know why happiness increases as people get older. One theory is that, as people grow older, they grow more thankful for what they have and have better control of their emotions. They also spend less time thinking about bad experiences.
Professor Stone says the emotional patterns could be linked to changes in how people see the world, or maybe even changes in brain chemistry.
The researchers also considered possible influences like having young children, being unemployed or being single. But they found that influences like these did not affect the levels of happiness and well-being related to age.What does the underlined word “negative” mean?
| A．负面的 | B．积极的 |
| C．平和的 | D．激烈的 |
What kind of people has the highest stress levels?
| A．People were between the ages of 18 and 85. |
| B．Those in their seventies and eighties. |
| C．People reached their fifties. |
| D．Adults between the ages of 22 and 25. |
Which of the following is NOT true?
| A．Men and women have similar emotional patterns as they grow older. |
| B．Researchers know exactly why happiness increases as people get older. |
| C．Women at all ages reported more sadness, stress and worry than men. |
| D．Levels of stress were highest among adults between the age of 22 and 25. |
Which of the following is the best title for this passage?
| A．The older, the happier. |
| B．Why elder people feel happier than young men? |
| C．Different emotional patterns between men and women. |
| D．What makes the elder happy? |
Our first winter in Canada was the happiest we have experienced. We were living in the countryside then and had just arrived from Hong Kong that autumn. One evening in mid December snow began to fall. When we looked out of the window and saw that it was snowing, we all cheered. It was the first snow we had ever seen and we were excited. We could hardly wait for the snow to stop so that we could go out to play. Next morning when we woke up, it was still snowing. We switched on the radio and learned that more than ten inches of snow had falled during the night and that since the roads were blocked there would be no school that day. We jumped up and down for joy and begged mother to let us go outside to play in the snow. She said we could go out after breakfast if we dressed ourselves warmly and promised to come back as soon as we felt cold.
When we went out, the snow had almost stopped. The roads , paths, gardens, and playing grounds were all hidden under a white blanket of soft snow. It was the most beautiful sight we had ever seen. Just then, we saw some neighbour’s children coming out to play. We ran over to join them. Together we built a snowman and a snow house. After that, we took turns sliding down a hill on a large piece of cardboard. We were having so much fun when supper time came. Mother almost had to force us to go in and eat.The children all cheered when they saw the snow because ________.
| A．they knew they would have no school for the next day |
| B．it was the first time they had seen snow |
| C．they knew that winter had come |
| D．they liked cold weather |
The children didn’t have to go to school because ________.
| A．their teachers were sure that children liked snow |
| B．they wanted to play on the snow field |
| C．heavy snow blocked the roads |
| D．their mother allowed them to play truant |
The writer and his brothers and sisters built ________.
| A．a snowman and a cardboard house of their own |
| B．a snowman and a snow house for themselves to live in |
| C．a snowman and a snow house with their neighbors’ children |
| D．a white blanket on the roads |