If you’re ever reading a book or watching a movie and get the distinct feeling you’ve come across the story before — or even better, can predict exactly what's going to happen next — there could be a good reason for that.
Researchers from the Computational Story Laboratory at the University of Vermont studied the complete text of some 1,737 fiction works available on Project Gutenberg, an online collection of more than 50,000 digital books in the public area. They discovered that English literature consists of just six kinds of emotional arcs (情感弧线) that make up nearly all of the most well-known stories. By analysing the sentiment (情感) of language used in these texts, the researchers were able to show the emotional ups and downs for the stories as a whole. They discovered that negative words like “poverty”, “dead”, and “punishment” dragged the emotion down, while positive terms like “love”, “peace”, and “friend” brought it up.
According to the researchers, those six core (核心的) emotional arcs are:
“Rags to riches” (An ongoing emotional rise)
“Tragedy, or riches to rags” (An ongoing emotional fall)
“Man in a hole” (A fall followed by a rise)
“Icarus” (A rise followed by a fall)
“Cinderella” (Rise–fall–rise)
“Oedipus” (Fall–rise–fall)
Interestingly, based on download statistics from Project Gutenberg, the researchers say the most popular stories are ones that use more complex emotional arcs, with the “Cinderella” and “Oedipus” arcs registering the most downloads. Also popular are works that combine these core arcs together in new ways within one story, such as two “Man in a hole” arcs stuck together, or the “Cinderella” arc coupled with a tragic ending.
1.Readers often feel familiar when reading a new story because stories have similar ______.
A. beginnings B. endings
C. characters D. emotional arcs
2.How did researchers carry out their study?
A. By conducting surveys among readers.
B. By reading books borrowed from libraries.
C. By analysing works from an online collection.
D. By interviewing authors of the well-known stories.
3.Which set of works may drag emotion down?
A. Hope, fortune and riches.
B. Disease, murder and war.
C. Smile, health and beauty.
D. Cold, earthquake and spring.
4.According to the last paragraph, which kind of works are most popular among readers?
A. Works with an ongoing emotional rise.
B. Works with an ongoing emotional fall.
C. Works with a rise followed by a fall.
D. Works with more than one rise and fall.
If you have ever had a cat, or have watched one of the many funny cat videos online, you’ll know that cats have a mind of their own. A lot of the things they do are hard to understand---they like to climb up tall furniture, fit themselves in small spaces and attack small objects for no reason at all.
Now scientists have managed to figure out what exactly is going on in the brains of our little friends. According to Tony Buffington, a professor at Ohio State University in the US, cats’ strange behavior largely comes from their way of life back in the wild. “Cats today still have many of the same instincts(本能)that allowed them to live in the wild for millions of years.” he said in a TED Talk. “To them, our homes are their jungles.”
In the wild, cats are hunters. Their bodies and great balancing abilities allow them to climb to high spots to better look at the environment. Even though they don’t have to hunt any more in human houses, they still keep the old habit of viewing the living room from, for example, the top of the refrigerator.
Cats’ hunting instinct is also what makes them attack small things like keys and USB drives. In the wild, they hunt whatever they can get, and most of the animals they kill are small.
However, cats can also be prey. This explains why they like to stay in small spaces like drawers or washing machines---they are hiding, or they think they are hiding, from more dangerous animals. This is also why cats prefer a clean box: a smelly one could easily show enemies where they are.
Knowing how cats’ minds work is not only useful for better understanding them. It may also help cats’ owners to better meet cats’ needs. For example, owners could try to make climbing easier for cats by moving their furniture around. They could also use “food puzzles” to make eating feel more like hunting instead of just giving food to the cats.
1.According to Tony Buffington, ________.
A. cats’ strange behavior is hard for people to understand
B. cats are more used to living in the wild than in humans’ homes
C. cats behave strangely mainly because of some instincts in the wild
D. cats’ instincts are as helpful to them today as they were millions of year ago
2.Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the text?
A. Cats like to climb up high because they want to hide from dangerous animals
B. Cats attack keys and USB drives because they have a habit of hunting small animals
C. Cats enjoy staying in small spaces because they usually live in small caves in the wild
D. Cats’ preference for a clean box probably has something to do with their hunting instincts
3.The underlined word “prey” in Paragraph 5 probably means _________.
A. an animal that is too lazy
B. an animal that likes hiding games
C. an animal that keeps itself clean
D. an animal that is hunted
4.This article is mainly written to _________.
A. explore the reasons behind cats’ strange behavior
B. describe cats’ past wild experience to readers
C. tell cat owners how to make life easier for cats
D. compare cats’ behavior in human homes with that in the wild
There are a lot of products out there that make your life easier. Some, however, are a little sillier than others — so much that they seem like joke products. Here are a few products that sound crazy, but actually true.
Sleep Phones
It’s hard to imagine something sillier than a music-playing headband you wear while you sleep, but they exist — and are quite popular. Sleep Phones won’t give you the highest quality sound in the world, but if you prefer to fall asleep to music, they’re far more comfortable than normal headphones. While they’re a bit expensive, they might be perfect for you. There’s also a wireless version if you prefer.
Onion Goggles
If cutting onion brings on the waterworks no matter what you try, it’s time for desperate measures. We tested a bunch of methods for avoiding onion tears, and found the best solutions came down to cutting the onion under a vent (通风孔), or wearing these stylish and awesome goggles.
Lock Laces
There’re some great ways to tie your shoes better, but if you long for the laceless shoes of your childhood days, Lock Laces are a pretty good choice. They’re basically elastic (有弹性的) laces that remove the need to tie your shoes. Sure, people will make fun of you, but you can make fun of them after they trip over their own untied laces. Or you can make your own slip-on shoes with elastic tubing.
2D-Glasses
Hate 3D-movies, but have to go to one? The difference between 2D-glasses and 3D-glasses lies in their lenses (镜片). Each lens of 2D-glasses blocks the same picture, so each eye gets the same picture, while each lens of 3D-glasses blocks a different picture, so each eye gets a different picture which the brain interprets as 3D. Now you have a pair of glasses that can save you from the headache caused by wearing 3D-glasses which are popular in our movie theaters. You can buy them or make a pair for yourself.
1.What do we know about Sleep Phones?
A. There are two versions.
B. They’re comfortable but unhealthy.
C. They give you the best quality sound.
D. They’re cheaper than other headphones.
2.The underlined part “brings on the waterworks” in the text probably means _____.
A. makes your eyes water B. makes your fingers hurt
C. destroys your water pipes D. adds to your washing work
3.Compared with 3D-glasses, 2D-glasses _____.
A. are cheaper and thinner B. won’t give you a headache
C. let you see a different picture D. are more popular in movie theaters
假定你是李华， 是校报的英语小记者。最近，你校组织开展“创建绿色校园”活动。请你针对这一活动，以“Building a Green Campus”为题写一篇报道，内容包括：
1.创建绿色校园的意义
2.一些校园浪费的现象
3.建绿色校园的建议并发出倡议
注意：1.词数120左右；
2.可适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。
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文中共有10处语言错误。每处错误仅涉及一个单词的增加、删除或修改。
增加：在缺词处加一个漏字符号（∧），并在其下面写出该加的词。
修改：在错的词下面画一横线，并在该词下面写出修改后的词。
注意：1.每处错误及其修改均仅限一词；
2.只允许修改10处，多者（从第11处起）不计分。
I am sorry to hear that you are upset about the fact what you are laughed at by your classmates because you are short and fat.
Of course, it was impolite for them to laugh at others’ physically disadvantages. You need to communicate with them and be preparing to help them when they are in need to help. And you will find that you are popular with your friend. If they continue to make fun with you, you can turn to your teachers and parents for help.
From a letter you sent to me, I knew that you gained lots of weight because of you preference for junk food. This is a bad habit and you must give them up. Besides, you’d better to do some exercise every day to lose weight.
1.I have opportunities to make c______________with other musical traditions.
2.In a recording studio, when relayed by microphone, music loses some of __________(活力).
3.Do you think it is _________(有益的)to human beings?
4.I discovered that I was a _________to the tiny flies and made my face swell.
5.Roy changed completely, becoming silent and m__________.
6.The monster, who has learnt to speak, is intelligent and has human e___________.
7.A clone is an organism which is genetically i___________to another one.
8.I couldn’t f__________ Danny for leaving me.
9.I feel a little ____________(沮丧的)or lonely when there is no concert for a long time.
10.When he reached the final line, everyone b_________out laughing.
