A study of more than five million books, both fiction and non-fiction, has found a marked decline in the use of emotional words over time．The researchers form the University of Bristol used Google Ngram Viewer, a facility for finding the frequency of terms in scanned books, to search for more than 600 particular words identified as representing anger, dislike, fear, joy, sadness and surprise．
They found that almost all of the categories showed a drop in these “mood words” over time．Only in the category of fear was there an increase in usage．
“It is a steady and continuous decrease,” said Dr Alberto Acerbi．He assumed that the result might be explained by a change in the position occupied by literature, in a crowded media landscape．“One thing could be that in parallel to books the 20th century saw the start of other media．Maybe these media — movies, radio, drama, had more emotional content than books．”
Although both joy and sadness followed the general downwards trend, the research, published in the journal PLOS One, found that they also exhibited another interesting behaviour：the ratio （比率） between the two varied greatly, apparently mirroring historical events．
During the Roaring Twenties the joy-to-sadness ratio reached a peak that would not occur again until before the recent financial crash．But the ratio plunged at the height of the Second World War．Nevertheless, the researchers held a reserved opinion about their claim that their result reflected wider social trends．In the paper, they even argue that the reverse could be true．
“It has been suggested, for example, that it was the suppression （压抑） of desire in ordinary Elizabethan English life that increased demand for writing ‘filled with romance and sex’… perhaps,” they conclude, “songs and books may not reflect the real population any more than catwalk models reflect the average body．”The word "decline" （paragraph 1） is closest in meaning to_________．
| A．increase | B．rise | C．decrease | D．change |
A study of more than five million books indicated a decrease in “mood words” over time except_______．
| A．in the use of the words of historical events |
| B．in the category of fear |
| C．in the category of literature |
| D．in the category of joy |
What’s the main idea of this passage?
| A．A study of emotional words． |
| B．A study about vocabulary in literature． |
| C．Reasons for the use of emotional words decreases in literature． |
| D．A study on increase in the category of fear． |
【原创】NOWADAYS, most animated (动画) films rely heavily on computer technology. But his magical world – where witches (魔法师) cast spells and castles float in the sky – is brought to life by hand. Nevertheless, Hayao Miyazaki is referred to as Japan’s Walt Disney and considered by many to be the world’s greatest living animator.
This month, the 72-year-old Miyazaki announced his retirement. The Japanese animator has directed 11 animated full-length films over the past four decades, including the Oscar-winning Spirited Away (《千与千寻》) and his latest release, The Wind Rises (《起风了》), which tells the life story of a man who designed Japanese World War II fighter planes.
Just as The Wind Rises shows, Miyazaki is well-known for his obsession with flight, especially human flight. Other striking aspects of Miyazaki’s films include his themes of environmental protection and the horrors of war.
Miyazaki’s work is also famous for its lack of clearly defined good and evil characters. He sees the 21st century as a complex time when old norms need to be re-examined.
As a storyteller, he is an inventor of fairy tales full of mystery. In the Miyazakian universe, wizards (巫师) turn into birds of prey; young girls are transformed overnight into 90-year-old women; greedy parents are changed into pigs; and shooting stars become fire demons (恶魔).
As a visual (视觉的) artist, most of Miyazaki’s grace comes from his vivid (鲜明的) colors and lovingly drawn landscapes – a rolling meadow (草地) covered with flowers and shadowed by clouds, or a range of rocky hills rising toward snow-capped mountain peaks
People attribute Miyazaki’s success to his long pursuit of his hand-drawn technique, although in an interview with CNN he called himself an “extinct species” in the age of digital animation.
A recent television documentary on the making of The Wind Rises showed a disappointed Miyazaki throwing a pile (堆) of drawings into the trash. He is said to have redrawn thousands of frames of the much-praised Princess Mononoke (《幽灵公主》) when they did not meet his standards.
But his huge attention to detail has earned him the respect of the entire animated film world. Even John Lasseter – head of Pixar, the famous US computer animation studio – once called Miyazaki “one of the greatest filmmakers of our time”.What can we know about Miyazaki’s film The Wind Rises?
| A．It was put on a long time ago. |
| B．Its hero is a soldier. |
| C．It describes horrors of war. |
| D．It is an Oscar-winning film. |
What does the underlined word “obsession” mean in paragraph 3? ?
| A．Enthusiasm. | B．Hate. | C．Envy | D．Sympathy. |
According to the article,Miyazake’s films _____.
| A．are full of mystery and imaginative characters and landscapes |
| B．are likely to use hand-drawn technique and redrawn abstract frames |
| C．are full of new norms and clearly defined good and evil characters |
| D．are likely to demonstrate environmental protection and anti-war themes |
What is the main idea of this article ?
| A．Miyazake’s impact on Japanese culture |
| B．the characteristics of Miyazake’s films |
| C．what inspired Miyazake to create his films |
| D．what made Miyazake succeed |
Before he sailed round the world alone, Francis Chichester had already surprised his friends several times. He had tried to fly round the world but failed. That was in 1931.
The years passed. He gave up flying and began sailing. He enjoyed it greatly. Chichester was already 58 years old when he won the first solo transatlantic sailing race. His old dream of going round the world came back, but this time he would sail.His friends and doctors did not think he could do it, as he had lung cancer. But Chichester was determined to carry out his plan. In August 1966, at the age of nearly 65, an age when many men retire, he began the greatest voyage of his life.
Chichester covered 14100 miles before stopping in Sydney, Australia. This was more than twice the distance anyone had previously sailed alone. He arrived in Australia on 12 December, just 107 days out from England. He received a warm welcome from the Australians and from his family who had flown there to meet him. On shore, Chichester could not walk without help. Everybody said the same thing: he had done enough; he must not go any further. But he did not listen.
After resting in Sydney for a few weeks, Chichester set off once more in spite of his friends' attempts to dissuade him. The second half of his voyage was by far the more dangerous part, during which he sailed round the treacherous Cape Horn.After succeeding in sailing round Cape Horn, Chichester sent the following radio message to London: "I feel as if I had wakened from a nightmare. Wild horses could not drag me down to Cape Horn and that sinister Southern Ocean again."
Just before 9 o'clock on Sunday evening 28 May 1967, he arrived back in England, where a quarter of a million people were waiting to welcome him.Queen Elizabeth II knighted(授以爵位) him with the very sword that Queen Elizabeth I had used almost 400 years earlier to knight Sir Francis Drake after he had sailed round the world for the first time.The whole voyage from England and back had covered 28,500 miles. It had taken him nine months, of which the sailing time was 226 days. He had done what he wanted to accomplish.What can we learn about Chichester?
| A．He failed the solo transatlantic sailing race in 1959. |
| B．He was a brave and determined man. |
| C．The second half of his voyage was not as dangerous as the first half. |
| D．The radio message expressed his concern about the sailing. |
【改编】What happened to Queen Elizabeth II after Chichester arrived back in England?
| A．She called on the English to learn form him. |
| B．She was waiting to congratulate on his success in sailing. |
| C．She thought little of his achievements. |
| D．She knighted him for praising him. |
【改编】What can we infer from the text ? ____
| A．Anyone who had sailed alone traveled less than 7050miles before 1966 |
| B．Chichester sailed round the Atlantic in 1931 |
| C．Most of the English leave their jobs at the age of 65 |
| D．Chichester died of lung cancer in 1967 after he went back to England |
D
A new satellite is travelling 1.5 million kilometers over a 110-day period to enter an orbit of the sun. It is called DSCOVR--the Deep Space Climate Observatory. It will replace a satellite that has been observing space weather.
DSCOVR will begin its work during the worst of the 11-year-long solar cycle. This is a time when extreme weather on the sun can have the greatest effect on planet Earth.
DSCOVR will gather information about a continuing flow of particles from the sun. We are protected from these particles by the Earth's magnetic field and atmosphere. But we are not fully protected from what scientists call Coronal Mass Ejections. These are strong storms that can happen on the sun's surface.
Thomas Berger is the director of the Space Weather Prediction Center at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, or NOAA. He says these ejections are much more dangerous than solar particles. He says the Coronal Mass Ejections are extremely large magnetic clouds that are expelled from the sun at extremely high speeds. He says when they impact Earth, it is like a hurricane impacting Earth in terms of space weather.
Violent space weather can make electric systems stop working. It can block satellite signals to Earth. It can interfere with radio signals and air travel.
Mr. Berger says we cannot stop the ejections from affecting us, but we can prepare for them if we know when they will happen. When the DSCOVR satellite records an ejection, it will release a warning. Mr. Berger says the warning will provide NOAA about 15 to 60 minutes to let people know that a very strong storm is coming in to the Earth. He says that is enough time for power grid operators to take protective action. He says it is also enough time for workers to place satellites on a safe operating method if necessary.
Mr. Berger says scientists would like even more time, of course. He says researchers are developing instruments that will give an earlier warning.
The warnings from DSCOVR will be for the whole planet. But Mr. Berger says a new system may be able to give more-targeted warnings. He says future models will be able to tell exactly what part of the world will be more at risk from a solar storm.
That means that, for the first time, humans will get both a warning that a magnetic storm is heading towards Earth and information about where it is likely to hit.The new satellite is used to ________?
| A．replace the satellite in use |
| B．observe space weather |
| C．study the sun |
| D．take pictures of space |
When will DSCOVR begin its work___________?
| A．before the worst of the 11-year-long solar cycle |
| B．during the worst of the 11-year-long solar cycle |
| C．after the worst of the 11-year-long solar cycle |
| D．as soon as it enter the robit of the sun |
According to Thomas Berger, __________?
| A．the Coronal Mass Ejections are expelled from the sun at extremely low speeds |
| B．the ejections can be stopped from affecting us |
| C．ejections are far more dangerous than solar particles |
| D．15 to 60 minutes is not enough for power grid operators |
How much time do people have to make preparations for the ejections__________?
| A．more than 60 minutes |
| B．less than 60 minutes |
| C．about half an hour |
| D．between 15 and 60 minutes |
What do know from the passage__________?
| A．The warnings from DSCOVR will be for just some part of Earth |
| B．future models will be able to tell what part will be more likely to be hit |
| C．there is nothing we can do in the face of the solar storm |
| D．humans have received the warning sent from the satellite |
C
Robots are common in today's world. They manufacture cars, work in space, explore oceans, clean up oil spills and investigate dangerous environments. And now, scientists at the University of Manchester are using a robot as a laboratory partner.
The researchers at the university created the robot in 2009 and named it Adam. Despite the name, Adam is not a humanoid robot. It is about the size of a car.
Adam was built to do science and make discoveries. Ross King is the leader of the University of Manchester research team. He says the robot made a discovery about yeast(酵母), a kind of fungus(真菌) used in science as a model for human cells.
"Adam hypothesized certain functions of genes within yeast and experimentally tested these hypothesizes and confirmed them. So it both hypothesized and confirmed new scientific knowledge."
Adam's success as a scientist led to the creation of another robot scientist named Eve. Researchers developed Eve to design and test drugs for tropical and neglected diseases. These diseases kill and infect millions of people each year.
Drug development is slow and costly. Experts say it can take more than 10 years and about $1 billion to discover and develop new medicines. Drug manufacturers are unlikely to get their investment money back.
So the University of Manchester developed a low-cost test that shows whether or not a chemical is likely to be made into an effective medicine. Mr. King says that other drug testing methods were not very effective.
"How it works conventionally is you use robotics as well and you have a large collection of possible drugs. You test every single compound. And you start at the beginning of your library and continue until the end, and stop. So it's not a very intelligent process. The robotics doesn't learn anything as it goes along, even if it's tested a million compounds, it still doesn't have any expectation of what will happen next when it tests a new compound."
Mr. King says that Eve is different because the robot learns as it tests different compounds. He says the robot is designed to ignore compounds that it thinks unlikely to be good. It will only test the compounds which have a good chance of working.
Eve has discovered that a compound known to be effective against cancer might also be used to fight against malaria and other tropical diseases.
Mr. King says he hopes to completely automate the drug testing process with robots like Eve to create and test new chemicals. But he says humans remain in control of the manufacturing process.Scientists now are using a robot to__________.
| A．manufacture cars |
| B．work in the laboratory |
| C．work in space |
| D．explore oceans |
Thepurposeofbuilding Adam is to________.
| A．do science and make discoveries |
| B．help people in poor health |
| C．dooperationsonpatients |
| D．bringhappinesstoscientists |
WhichisNOTtrueaccordingtothepassage__________?
| A．Adam looks like a car |
| B．Adam's success led to the creation of Eve |
| C．tropical and neglected diseases diseases kill and infect millions of people |
| D．Drug manufacturers can get their investment money back |
Whywas a low-cost test developed__________?
| A．Because scientists want to know whether a chemical is likely to be made into an effective medicine |
| B．Because other drug testing methods were not very effective |
| C．Because drug development is slow and costly. |
| D．Because drug manufacturers ask scientists to do so. |
What'sthemainideaofthepassage_________?
| A．theusesofrobots |
| B．robotisusedinscienceresearches |
| C．scientistsarereplacedbyrobots |
| D．howtomakearobot |
B
Autism spectrum disorder is a developmental disability. People with autism have trouble communicating and with social skills. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says the person also might repeat some behaviors and not want change in their daily activities. Some people with the condition need a lot of help. Others need less.
CDC officials say autism affects one in every 68 children in the United States. More boys than girls are believed to have the condition. But the number of cases appears to be growing. It is unclear whether the growing number shows a real increase or comes from more knowledge about this disorder.
Symptoms of autism
Common signs of autism include trouble making eye contact and a delay in learning how to speak. Some people with severe autism never learn how to talk. Many people with autism also have difficulty understanding facial expressions and the feelings of others. They also have trouble making friends of the same age.
Doctors have learned how to recognize autism, but much is still unknown about its causes.
Researchers at Harvard University have come closer to finding answers. They found that women exposed to the highest levels of fine particulate air pollution late in their pregnancies are two times more likely to give birth to a child with autism. The findings appeared in Environmental Health Perspectives -- a publication of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences.
The study found that the women who were around high levels of fine particulate matter air pollution were at highest risk of having an autistic child. The increased risk of these women was two times that of women who lived in areas with low levels of fine particulate pollution.
The researchers found that the timing of exposure to pollution was important. They found no increased risk of autism in children whose mothers were around high levels of pollution before becoming pregnant. And the study found air pollution does not seem to increase the risk of children developing autism after they are born.
What can pregnant women do?
Mr. Weisskopf says pregnant women should avoid air pollution as much as possible. But he warns that other things may increase the risk of autism spectrum disorder.
"You can avoid being in extremely polluted cities during pregnancy if possible. You can also choose to go running in a park rather than next to a street. But that said, I think also it's very important to recognize that autism spectrum disorders is a very multi-factorial disorder. And there are lots of reasons why risk could be increased."
Autism is believed to result from a combination of environmental and genetic factors.
For now, Marc Weisskopf says researchers are trying to identify the exact substances in air pollution that increase the risk of autism.What can we learn from Paragraph 1________?
| A．people with autism don’t need help |
| B．people with autism have no trouble communicating |
| C．autism is a developmental disability |
| D．people with autism want change in their daily activities |
Which is NOT the Common signs of autism_______?
| A．low level of intelligence |
| B．a delay in learning how to speak |
| C．understanding facial expressions |
| D．making eye contact |
Which is TRUE according to the passage________?
| A．the growing number of cases shows a real increase |
| B．women exposed to high levels of fine particulate air pollution during their pregnancies are more likely to have a child with autism |
| C．high levels of fine particulate air pollution have no effect on autism |
| D．doctors have learned the causes of autism |
What can pregnant women do_______?
| A．they should go running in a street |
| B．they should stop smoking |
| C．they should be in extremely polluted cities during pregnancy |
| D．they should avoid air pollution as much as possible |
What’s the main idea of the passage__________?
| A．what is autism spectrum disorder |
| B．the reasons of autism |
| C．autism and air pollution |
| D．how to treat autism |