If you could be anybody in the world, who would it be? Your neighbour or a super star? A few people have experienced what it might be like to step into the skin of another person, thanks to an unusual virtual reality（虚拟现实）device. Rikke Wahl, an actress, model and artist, was one of the participants in a body swapping experiment at the Be Another lab, a project developed by a group of artists based in Barcelona. She swapped with her partner, an actor, using a machine called The Machine to Be Another and temporarily became a man. "As I looked down, I saw my whole body as a man, dressed in my partner's pants," she said. "That's the picture I remember best."
The set-up is relatively simple. Both users wear a virtual reality headset with a camera on the top. The video from each camera is sent to the other person, so what you see is the exact view of your partner. If she moves her arm, you see it. If you move your arm, she sees it.
To get used to seeing another person's body without actually having control of it, participants start by raising their arms and legs very slowly, so that the other can follow along. Eventually, this kind of slow synchronised（同步的）movement becomes comfortable, and participants really start to feel as though they are living in another person's body.
Using such technology promises to alter people's behaviour afterwards-potentially for the better. Studies have shown that virtual reality can be effective in fighting racism-the bias（偏见）that humans have against those who don't look or sound like them. Researchers at the University of Barcelona gave people a questionnaire called the Implicit Association Test, which measures the strength of people's associations between, for instance, black people and adjectives such as good, bad, athletic or awkward. Then they asked them to control the body of a dark skinned digital character using virtual reality glasses, before taking the test again. This time, the participants' bias scores were lower. The idea is that once you've "put yourself in another's shoes" you're less likely to think ill of them, because your brain has internalised the feeling of being that person.
The creators of The Machine to Be Another hope to achieve a similar result. "At the end of body swapping, people feel like holding each other in their arms," says Arthur Pointeau, a programmer with the project. "It's a really nice way to have this kind of experience. I would really, really recommend it to everyone."
1.The word "swapping" (paragraph 1) is closest in meaning to______.
A. building B. exchanging C. controlling D. transplanting
2.We can infer from the experiment at the Be Another lab that______.
A. our feelings are related to our bodily experience
B. we can learn to take control of other people's bodies
C. participants will live more passionately after the experiment
D. The Machine to Be Another can help people change their sexes
3.In the Implicit Association Test, before the participants used virtual reality glasses to control a dark skinned digital character, ______.
A. they fought strongly against racism
B. they scored lower on the test for racism
C. they changed their behaviour dramatically
D. they were more biased against those unlike them
4.It can be concluded from the passage that______.
A. technology helps people realize their dreams
B. our biases could be eliminated through experiments
C. virtual reality helps promote understanding among people
D. our points of view about others need changing constantly
Let's say you want to hit the gym more regularly this year. How do you make that happen? Consider putting the habit loop to use.
Here's how it works:
A habit is a 3-step process. First, there's a cue, something that tells your brain to operate automatically. Then there's a routine. And finally, a reward, which helps your brain learn to desire the behavior. It's what you can use to create-or break-habits of your own.
Here's how to apply it:
Choose a cue, like leaving your running shoes by the door, then pick. a reward-say, a piece of chocolate when you get home from the gym. That way, the cue and the reward become interconnected. Finally, when you see the shoes, your brain will start longing for the reward, which will make it easier to work out day after day. The best part? In a couple of weeks, you won't need the chocolate at all. Your brain will come to see the workout itself as the reward. Which is the whole point, right?
1.Which of the following best fits in the box with a “?” in THE HABIT LOOP?
A. Pick a new cue. B. Form a new habit.
C. Choose a new reward. D. Design a new resolution.
2.According to THE HABIT LOOP, you can stick to your plan most effectively by______.
A. changing the routine B. trying it for a week
C. adjusting your goal D. writing it down
3.What's the purpose of putting the habit loop to use?
A. To test out different kinds of cues.
B. To do something as a habit even without rewards.
C. To work out the best New Year's resolution.
D. To motivate yourself with satisfactory rewards.
4.“This year when I see the Harry Potter poster, I will read 30 pages of an English novel or an English newspaper in order to watch TV for half an hour." What is the cue in this resolution?
A. The Harry Potter poster.
B. Reading 30 pages of an English novel.
C. An English newspaper.
D. Watching TV for half an hour.
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.
1.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
2.By "Chimpanzees, or chimps, can also be sneaky" (paragraph 5), 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
3.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.
4.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?
Research has shown that two-thirds of human conversation is taken up not with discussion of the cultural or political problems of the day, not heated debates about films we've just watched or books we've just finished reading, but plain and simple ____.
Language is our greatest treasure as a species, and what do we ____ do with it? We gossip. About others' behaviour and private lives, such as who's doing what with whom, who's in and who's out-and why; how to deal with difficult ____ situations involving children, lovers, and colleagues.
So why are we keen on gossiping? Are we just natural ____, of both time and words? Or do we talk a lot about nothing in particular simply to avoid facing up to the really important issues of life? It's not the case according to Professor Robin Dunbar. In fact, in his latest book, Grooming, Gossip and the Evolution of Language, the psychologist says gossip is one of these really____issues.
Dunbar ____ the traditional view that language was developed by the men at the early stage of social development in order to organize their manly hunting activities more effectively, or even to promote the exchange of poetic stories about their origins and the supernatural. Instead he suggests that language evolved among women. We don't spend two-thirds of our time gossiping just because we can talk, argues Dunbar—____, he goes on to say, language evolved specifically to allow us to gossip.
Dunbar arrived at his cheery theory by studying the ____ of the higher primates（灵长类动物）like monkeys. By means of grooming--cleaning the fur by brushing it, monkeys form groups with other individuals on whom they can rely for support in the event of some kind of conflict within the group or____ from outside it.
As we human beings evolve from a particular branch of the primate family, Dunbar ____ that at one time in our history we did much the same. Grouping together made sense because the bigger the group, the greater the ____ it provided; on the other hand, the bigger the group, the greater the stresses of living close to others. Grooming helped to ____ the pressure and calm everybody down.
But as the groups got bigger and bigger, the amount of time spent in grooming activities also had to be ____ to maintain its effectiveness. Clearly, a more ____ kind of grooming was needed, and thus language evolved as a kind of vocal（有声的）grooming which allowed humans to develop relationship with ever-larger groups by exchanging information over a wider network of individuals than would be possible by one-to-one ____ contact.
1.A. claim B. description C. gossip D. language
2.A. occasionally B. habitually C. independently D. originally
3.A. social B. political C. historical D. cultural
4.A. admirers B. masters C. users D. wasters
5.A. vital B. sensitive C. ideal D. difficult
6.A. confirms B. rejects C. outlines D. broadens
7.A. for instance B. in addition C. on the contrary D. as a result
8.A. motivation B. appearance C. emotion D. behaviour
9.A. attack B. contact C. inspection D. assistance
10.A. recalls B. denies C. concludes D. confesses
11.A. prospect B. responsibility C. leadership D. protection
12.A. measure B. show C. maintain D. ease
13.A. saved B. extended C. consumed D. gained
14.A. common B. efficient C. scientific D. Thoughtful
15.A. indirect B. daily C. physical D. secret
Directions: Complete the following passage by using the words in the box. Each word can only be used once. Note that there is one word more than you need.
A. alert B. classify C. commit D. delicately E. gentle F. impose
G. labels H. moderation I. relieve J. signals K. simply
Let's say you've decided you want to eat more healthfully. However, you don't have time to carefully plan menus for meals or read food __1.__ at the supermarket. Since you really__2.__ yourself to a healthier lifestyle, a little help would come in handy, wouldn't it? This is where a "choice architect" can help__3.__some of the burden of doing it all yourself. Choice architects are people who organize the contexts in which customers make decisions. For example, the person who decides the layout of your local supermarket-including which shelf the peanut butter goes on, and how the oranges are piled up—is a choice architect.
Governments don't have to__4.__healthier lifestyles through laws for example, smoking bans. Rather, if given an environment created by a choice architect-one that encourages us to choose what is best-we will do the right things. In other words, there will be designs that gently push customers toward making healthier choices, without removing freedom of choice. This idea combines freedom to choose with__5.__hints from choice architects, who aim to help people live longer, healthier, and happier lives.
The British and Swedish governments have introduced a so-called "traffic light system" to __6.__foods as healthy or unhealthy. This means that customers can see at a glance how much fat, sugar, and salt each product contains__7.__by looking at the lights on the package. A green light __8.__that the amounts of the three nutrients are healthy; yellow indicates that the customer should be__9.__; and red means that the food is high in at least one of the three nutrients and should be eaten in __10.__. The customer is given important health information, but is still free to decide what to choose.
The giant vending machine (自动售货机) is a new village shop
Villagers have long been used to facing a drive when they run out of basic supplies. However, help is now nearer at hand in form of the country’s first automatic push-button shop. Now residents in the Derbyshire Village of Clifton can buy groceries around the clock after the huge vending was installed outside a pub in the village this week.
Peter Fox, who is1.______electrical engineer, spent two and a half years working on the project. The machine 2.______ (equip) with securing cameras and alarms and looks like a mini shop with a brick front, a grey roof and a display window.
Mr. Fox said he hoped his invention, 3._____ is set to be installed in other villages in the area over the coming months, will mark a return to convenience shopping for rural communities.
He said:“ I had this idea a few years ago but I couldn’t find a manufacture who could deliver what I wanted, so I did it by 4._____. The result is what amounts to huge outdoor vending machine. Yet I think the term “automatic shop” is far 5.______ (appropriate)
In recent years, the commercial pressure from supermarket chains6.______ force village shops across the country to close. In 2010, it was estimated that about 400 village shops closed, 7.______ (urge) the local government to give financial support to struggling shops or set-up new communities stores.
Hundreds of communities have since stepped in and opened up their won volunteer-run shops, but Mr. Fox hopes his new invention will offer a solution8.______these villages without a local shop.
