What makes us love some things and hate others? We know that sometimes even the tiniest change can result in a huge difference in how we perceive something, so is there any rhyme or reason to our tastes and preferences? Here are three factors which play a role.
1. Conforming to expectation
In London a few years ago, two talented rappers called Silibil N' Brains took to the stage to perform at a music industry show for unsigned bands. They were an instant hit. Their outrageous West Coast - American style, brilliant rap lyrics and couldn't - care - less attitude had the music industry's talent spotters falling over themselves to sign the pair. In a short space of time, Silibil N’ Brains had a deal with a top management company, a contract with a major record label and an advance of $70,000 -- and they hadn’t even made a record. Before long, they were on tour with Eminem and out partying with Madonna. They were living the dream.
But two years ago the same two rappers were laughed off stage by the same talent spotters for singing the same sons. So what was the difference? Amazingly, it was their accent. You see, Silibil N' Brains weren't, in fact, from West Coast U. S. A. at all. They were from Dundee in Scotland. During the first audition they had used their Scottish accents when rapping and it had not gone down well. ''They just laughed at us, '' recalled Brains. ''We were heartbroken. We went back to Scotland with our tail between our legs''. The lesson for them was that to succeed, you have to conform to expectations and at that time everyone expected rappers to be American.
2. The benefit of hindsight
Some people are simply ahead of their time. It's common knowledge that Vincent van Gogh sold only one painting in his lifetime -the other 900 or so were unknown and unloved until after his death. Monet’s paintings. at least in his early career, was considered incomplete and ugly by critics at the time, while Vermeer, the painter of Girl With a Pearl Earring, even had to use his mother-in-law as a guarantor when he borrowed money -- so unable was he to sell any of his work! Now that public taste has caught up with these artists, more or less anything they touched has an astronomical price tag attached to it. Perhaps the reason is that it just takes a while to get used to something - after all, not all beauty is obvious at first sight.
3. A reassuring price tag
In a world where the range of products on offer can be completely bewildering, we often look to price as an indication of quality. We may think we prefer the expensive wine to the cheap one, but we may simply be influenced by the price tag. Even professionals can make the mistake. A researcher from the University of Bordeaux in France took an average bottle of red wine and poured it into two empty bottles, on with an expensive label and the other with a cheap one. Then he invited 57 wine ''experts'' to taste the wine. Forty of them recommended the wine from the expensive bottle, describing it as ''agreeable'', ''complex'', ''balanced'' and ''rounded''. while the same wine from the expensive bottle, describing it as ''agreeable'', ''complex'', ''balanced'' and ''rounded'', while the same wine from the cheap bottle was described as ''weak'' and ''flat'', with only 12 of the experts recommending it. The study made the researcher unpopular with the French wine tasters, but he did prove that price has a significant impact on taste.
1.Which of the following statements about Silibil N’ Brains is true?
A.Talent spotters fell in love with them at first sight.
B.They are from the West Coast of America
C.Their success was attributed to behaving and sounding like American rappers.
D.They were friends with famous stars like Madonna even before they succeeded.
2.The underlined phrases ''with our tail between our legs'' indicates that _________.
A.their first audition proved a failure
B.they felt proud of their performance
C.they learned a valuable lesson
D.being humble might contribute to their future success
3.We can infer from the second factor that ________.
A.some artists are better known when they are alive than when they are dead
B.public taste usually falls behind famous artists
C.beauty at first sight lasts much longer
D.Monet's paintings are priceless because of their incompleteness
4.What can we learn from the last paragraph?
A.A price tag always fails to indicate the quality of a product.
B.A price tag is less likely to confuse customers than the packaging.
C.Low price will make the wine unpopular with tasters
D.A price tag will cloud a person’s judgement of something.
Letters
Comments on the March Issue
40 Smart Ways to Save at the Supermarket Your caution not to fall for fake sales reminded me of when I was a stock boy at my neighborhood grocery in the 1950s. One time, we got a delivery of off-band vegetables. I priced them at ten cents a can. I don’t think we sold more than six cans -- until I put up sign that said “Special: Nine for $1.” I set them out Thursday evening, and by noon on Saturday they were gone. Edward Deckerd, Perrywille, Missouri | Trapped Inside a Glacier Reading about John All’s experience on Mount Himlung was very inspiring to me. A man with 15 broken bones and bleeding internally being able to climb up a 70-foot wall of ice and survive for 18 hours at 20,000 feet is something that I would have though to be impossible. I am 16 years old and a lifelong reader. Out of all the great content in Reader’s Digest, stories like his are the ones I enjoy the most. Sam Kieffer, Richardson, Texas |
Bill’s Last, Best Gift Track Grant’s article resonated（与……产生共鸣）deeply with me. Twelve years ago, my husband, Don, was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer. As his caregiver, I, too, learned to appreciate the people and things around me and not to sweat the small stuff, and in the long run, I became a much better person. Don also gave me his last, best gift of love and peace. Antia Lawrence, San Diego, California | Dishes Professional Chefs Cook in the Microwave Microwaving live lobsters in inhumane and cruel. Because lobsters feel pain, Switzerland has recently outlawed the practice of boiling them live. A similar law was passed in Italy, where it is now illegal to put lobsters on ice before cooking them. I hope you provide an update to your story promoting humane practices instead of cruel and violent ones. Janet Toole, Phoenixville, Pennsylavnia |
1.How did Antia Lawrence react to her husband’s diagnosis?
A.She felt very painful. B.She gained some life lessons.
C.She paid more attention to her own health. D.She showed deep sympathy for her husband.
2.According to Sam Kieffer’s letter, what can be learn about John All?
A.He is an expert in mountaineering
B.He wrote the article entitled Trapped Inside a Glacier.
C.Not all people could survive in the same situation as he did.
D.His story is the best one that Sam Kieffer has ever read in Reader’s Digest.
3.Who is likely to disagree with what is said in the commented article?
A.Edward Deckerd. B.Antia Lawrence.
C.Sam Kieffer. D.Janet Toole
EU members' states have agreed to ban a toxic substance widely found in clothing because it poses an ''acceptable risk'' to the environment. Countries voted in favor of extending existing restrictions on nonylphenol ethoxylates (NPE) to imports to clothing and other textile products.
The measure is intended to protect species in water. Use of NPE in textile manufacture in Europe was banned over 10 years ago but the substance is still released into the water environment through imported textiles being washed.
NPE degrades in the environment into substances including nonylphenol (NP), which accumulates in the bodies of fish and disturbs their hormones, harming fertility, growth and sexual development.
NPE is used in textile manufacture as a cleaning and dyeing agent. The EU decision notes that several studies have found NPE to be present in textile items.
A 2011 study by Greenpeace found NPE in two-thirds of clothes tested, including items sold by big-name brads such as Adidas, H&M, Lacoste, and Ralph Lauren. The NGO (Non-Governmental Organizations) argued that although concentrations of NPE found in the clothes were low, the chemical’s existence in the environment posed a risk.
The new ban on textiles containing NPE in concentrations equal to or greater than 0.01% will enter into force five years after it is adopted by the European Commission, which is likely to happen in September.
In comments submitted to ECHA (European Chemicals Agency), clothing and textile firms have warned that obeying the restriction will be difficult because NPE ubiquitous in the supply chain and has numerous uses.
The new restriction will not apply to second-hand goods or recycled textiles because it is assumed that these will already have been washed several times so they contain negligible(微不足道的)amounts of NPE.
EU countries must eliminate pollution of water bodies by NP as it is a priority substance under the Water Framework Directive. A 2013 study by the UK environment agency warned that emissions from textiles could prevent progress towards this objective. It found 29% of imported cotton underwear contained NPE, which was released during the first two washes by the consumer.
1.The 2011 study by Greenpeace found _________.
A.29% of imported cotton underwear contained NPE
B.NPE had limited effects on aquatic species
C.NPE was widely present in textile products
D.clothes of good quality had no concentrations of NPE
2.What's the possible meaning of the underlined part ''ubiquitous'' in Paragraph 7?
A.is legally protected B.is not easy to be found
C.seems to be every where D.is uncommon
3.What can we learn from the text?
A.The original ban on use of NPE was very effective.
B.Recycled textile contain less NPE.
C.The new ban on imports of textile has come into force.
D.The UK environment agency is optimistic about the new ban.
4.Which section of the website does the text come from?
A.lifestyle B.technology.
C.Business. D.Environment.
If you like to take a walk in the woods in the United States or you prefer to decorate a tree at Christmas, you should know that climate change is making both of those activities a lot more ___________.
Looking at two ___________ and economically important species - the Douglas fir and the Ponderosa pine -scientists found that fires and drought _____________ by climate change make new growth difficult, especially in low-elevation forests, according to a study published Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Some forests in four regions in California, Colorado, the Northern Rockies and the southwestern part of the United States have crossed ''a(n) ___________ climate tipping(转折)point for post-fire tree generation, '' the study says.
Climate conditions over the past 20 years have _____________ changes that would have taken decades or even centuries to ___________ across broad regions of the country. This is leading to the sudden _____________ of trees and making these lands increasingly unsuitable for tree regeneration.
''Climate changes is _____________ our forests now, not just in some distant future. Maybe in areas where there are really _____________ seed sources, there could be some trees, but it is becoming really hard to get these trees back due to climate change, '' said study co-author Kim Davis.
The problem probably won't get any better, as climate change is making intense wildfires much more ______________. Western foresters say there used to be a fire season. But devastating and ____________ fires have become a reality all year long. In 2018, fire cost California more than $9.05 billion, according to the USA insurance commissioner, the deadliest and most destructive wildfires season in the ________________ history.
A higher number of fires and low seed availability means a high probability that these trees in these regions won't come back, Davis said. This study ______________ on the driest and hottest areas of the Western forests, but researchers will next try to focus on how much will be impacted.
____________, there are some things people can do to ease some of this problem. Forest management plans that reduce high-severity burns can help. Increasingly, forest managers are considering allowing some fires to burn under more moderate conditions, Davis said, Forest ______________.
1.A.convenient B.difficult C.encouraging D.frustrating
2.A.ecologically B.apparently C.physically D.financially
3.A.destroyed B.worsened C.extended D.established
4.A.necessary B.enormous C.critical D.invisible
5.A.accelerated B.delayed C.eliminated D.strengthened
6.A.transform B.spread C.preserve D.escape
7.A.extinction B.decline C.tragedy D.increase
8.A.sustaining B.abandoning C.facilitating D.endangering
9.A.sufficient B.limited C.moderate D.approximate
10.A.occasional B.common C.essential D.temporary
11.A.astonishing B.hopeless C.costly D.irreversible
12.A.world B.state C.human D.forest
13.A.concentrated B.depended C.insisted D.commented
14.A.As a result B.For example C.In fact D.What’s more
15.A.savers B.managers C.researchers D.advocates
Directions: After reading the passage below, fill in the blanks to make the passage coherent and grammatically correct. For the blanks with a given word, fill in each blank with the proper form of the given word; for the other blanks, use one word that best fits each blank.
A ban on distracted walking
You can’t walk down the street without passing so-called ''smart-phone zombies(僵尸). '' They are too absorbed in their screen 1. (watch) where they are going. Almost four in ten people admit having suffered a technology-related small accident 2. they pay more attention to their electronic device than to the pavement.
Now the city of Honolulu, Hawaii, has decided it’s time to take immediate action and make it illegal to cross the road while using a mobile phone. Those 3. (catch) using phones, tablets or other electronic devices at crossing points could face a fine of up to $ 100.
Honolulu is the first major U. S. city to ban 4. is called ''distracted walking. '' It comes after a study that found there 5. (be) more than 11,000 injuries in the United States resulting from phone-related distraction while walking in the past few years.
To explain the decision, mayor Kirk Caldwell said, ''We hold the unfortunate honor of being a major city 6. more pedestrians are hit in crosswalks than almost any other city in the country. ''
Under the fine systems. 7. breaks this law for the first time will get a fine of $15 to $35. People breaking the law for a second or third time will get a $99 fine.
The law, which is called the Distracted Walking Law, does permit an exception. Pedestrians 8. use such devices in the street to call emergency services and rescue workers, such as firefighters and police officers.
If you still want to text while walking, you could avoid 9. (fine) in Honolulu by using a voice-controlled digital assistant such as Siri or Google Assistant. Or you could just wait 10. you are again, safely, off the street.
假如你是李华，准备今年参加高考。得知在疫情期间，你们学校全体高三学生将在学校封闭学习，你的美国朋友Mike来信表示对你的情况非常关心。请你给他写一封回信，内容包括：
1. 简单介绍学校的住宿和学习环境；
2. 表明自己对封闭管理（enclosed management）的看法；
3. 表达自己决战高考的信心。
注意：1. 词数100 左右；
2. 适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。
Dear Mike,
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Yours,
Li Hua
