Directions: Read the following passage. Summarize the main idea and the main point(s) of the passage in no more than 60 words. Use your own words as far as possible.
What comes first: the optimism or the good health?
Optimism, defined as the general expectation that the future will be favorable, could provide ways to improve health, some researchers believe. But scientists remain unsure if optimism goes ahead of health improvements, or vice versa.
A recent study suggests that most people can’t help but to think optimistically. This study was conducted by Ed O’Brien, a social psychologist at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. The findings suggest that people have a natural tendency to think positively about their future.
Participants were asked to create a list of imaginary personal experiences that would make them happy or unhappy over the course of the next year. They then ranked how difficult it was to plan that list and how happy they believed they would be in the future overall. The easier it was for people to think of positive future experiences, the happier they imagined they would be. However, there was no relationship between easily developing negative future experiences and expecting to be unhappy as a result.
O’Brien concluded that people seem to discount the possibility that future negative events will make them happy overall, suggesting that optimism might come more naturally. “We’re not as used to thinking about the future in terms of things that are going to go wrong.” O’Brien’s study is one of many to find that people are consistently optimistic about their future, predicting pleasant experiences and discounting unpleasant ones. If optimism may lead to better health and people generally tend to think optimistically, what does this mean for the connection between mental and physical health? “If we can make sure that optimism comes before healthy states, we might be able to involve and improve people’s optimism,” Boehm explained. However, it’s difficult to determine what comes first: the optimism or the good health.
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Directions: Read the passage carefully. Fill in each blank with a proper sentence given in the box. Each sentence can be used only once. Note that there are two more sentences than you need.
If you shower before bed, you’ve probably wondered whether sleeping with damp hair is a problem. Maybe you’ve heard it could make you sick, or that it can damage your hair or skin.
What’s the truth? Let’s address the “it can make you sick” myth first. “1.” says Dr. William Schaffner, a professor of medicine. While this idea persists, Schaffner says it was long ago disproved. It’s true that you’re much more likely to catch a common cold during the winter months. But this has to do with the ways respiratory (呼吸的) viruses spread, he says.
2. Illness-causing bacteria and viruses don’t appear naturally, and so you’re not going to make yourself ill by getting your pillow a little damp at night, Schaffner says. But there is a possible exception. Some research has shown that pillows—especially those made with synthetic materials—can contain asthma- or allergy-triggering molds (哮喘或致敏菌) and fungus, which tend to do well in damp environments, and so do dust mites, says Dr. Payel Gupta, a spokesperson for the American Lung Association.
Gupta says there’s no evidence that people who sleep with wet hair experience more allergy or asthma symptoms. 3. But if you wake up with a stuffy nose, itchy or watery eyes, breathing problems or other allergy or asthma symptoms—or even if you don’t—you should wash your pillow cases and sheets in hot water at least once a week to reduce your exposure to any potential irritants (刺激物).
When it comes to the health of your hair and skin, there may be a few other reasons to worry about wet hair. “Generally, it’s thought not to be good for hair to sleep with it wet,” says Dr. George Cotsarelis, a professor of dermatology (皮肤病学), “4.”
It’s also worth noting that almost anything you do to your hair—from brushing and blow-drying it to coloring it or exposing it to the sun—can damage it.
A. Hence, any concerns about wet hair are theoretical.
B. In some cases, wet hair may actually be a helpful sleep aid.
C. Over time, it can lead to breakages, as well as a loss of shine.
D. There may be some mild risks associated with going to bed with wet hair.
E. Another wet-hair rumor (谣传) is the idea that harmful bacteria will colonize your pillow.
F. This idea seems to fit into the old bit of custom that getting yourself chilled and wet will cause you to come down with a cold.
Why do so many Americans distrust what they read in their newspapers? The American Society of Newspaper Editors is trying to answer this painful question. The organization is deep into a long self-analysis known as the journalism credibility project.
Sad to say, this project has turned out to be mostly low-level findings about factual errors and spelling and grammar mistakes, combined with lots of head-scratching puzzlement about what in the world those readers really want.
But the sources of distrust go way deeper. Most journalists learn to see the world through a set of standard patterns into which they report each day’s events. In other words, there is a traditional story line in the newsroom culture that provides a backbone and a ready-made narrative structure for otherwise confusing news.
There exists a social and cultural disconnect between journalists and their readers, which helps explain why the “standard patterns” of the newsroom seem foreign to many readers. In a recent survey, questionnaires were sent to reporters in five middle-size cities around the country, plus one large metropolitan area. Then residents in these communities were phoned at random and asked the same questions.
Replies show that compared with other Americans, journalists are more likely to live in upscale neighborhoods, have maids, own Mercedeses, and trade stocks, and they’re less likely to go to church, do volunteer work, or put down roots in a community.
Reporters tend to be part of a broadly defined social and cultural elite (精英), so their work tends to reflect the traditional values of this elite. The alarming distrust of the news media isn’t rooted in inaccuracy or poor reportorial skills but in the daily conflict of world views between reporters and their readers.
This is an explosive situation for any industry, particularly a declining one. Here is a troubled business that keeps hiring employees whose attitudes vastly annoy the customers. Then it sponsors lots of symposiums (讨论会) and a credibility project devoted to wondering why customers are annoyed and fleeing in large numbers. But it never seems to get around to noticing the cultural and class prejudices that so many former buyers are complaining about. If it did, it would open up its diversity program, now focused narrowly on race and gender, and look for reporters who differ broadly by outlook, values, education, and class.
1.What is the passage mainly about?
A. Needs of the readers all over the world.
B. Causes of the public disappointment about newspapers.
C. Origins of the declining newspaper industry.
D. Aims of a journalism credibility project.
2.The results of the journalism credibility project turned out to be ______.
A. quite trustworthy B. somewhat conflicting
C. very informative D. rather shallow
3.The basic problem of journalists as pointed out by the writer lies in their ______.
A. working attitude B. traditional lifestyle
C. world outlook D. educational background
4.Despite its efforts, the newspaper industry still cannot satisfy the readers owing to its ______.
A. failure to realize its real problem B. tendency to hire annoying reporters
C. likeliness to do inaccurate reporting D. prejudice in matters of race and gender
Cropping (修剪) an Image With the Snap Shot Program
Welcome to the world of photo-editing!
Cropping an image allows you to zero in on (对准，聚焦) just the portion that is important to your project. For example, you may want to insert an image of a covered train in a report but may not want to include the whole train. Cropping the image allows you to select only the small area you wish to retain (保留) and eliminate all other portions of the original picture.
Option 1: Cropping by Placing the Image in a Shape
Screen Shot 1
Using one of Snap Shot’s standard shapes as a photo-editing tool requires no special abilities. To crop an image with a standard shape:
a. Click Cropping & Orientation from the Effects menu.
b. Click to select one of the six shapes to frame your image.
c. Use the mouse pointer to draw a frame around the portion of the image you wish to retain. Re-size the frame by dragging the shape’s sizing handles. When you are satisfied with the results, click Cut It.
d. Snap Shot will automatically return to the project that is open. (You may also copy or cut the cropped image and paste it into another application.)
Option 2: Freehand Cropping of an Image
Screen Shot 2
If you want to trace the shape of an object in order to crop out everything else, freehand cropping is the way to go. To crop an image freehand:
a. Click Freehand Crop from the Cropping & Orientation option on the Effects menu.
b. Using the mouse pointer, trace around the shape you want to crop. Be sure to completely enclose the image by ending at the same place you began outlining.
c. Click Cut It. Snap Shot will automatically return to the project that is open.
1.The main purpose of the passage is to ______.
A. describe the features of Snap Shot
B. explain how to use Snap Shot to select sections of a picture
C. show that Snap Shot is an easy tool to use
D. discuss how to use the features of Snap Shot
2.To perform Option 2, one should first ______.
A. select the image
B. use the mouse pointer to draw a frame
C. select Cropping & Orientation from the Effects menu
D. re-size the frame by dragging the sizing handles on the shape
3.Why is freehand cropping discussed after cropping with shapes?
A. To introduce a simpler technique before moving on to a more complex one.
B. To proceed from a more useful technique to one with fewer practical applications.
C. To order the options alphabetically.
D. To arrange the text, making space for the screen shots.
A Different Kind of Spring Break
For many American university students, the week-long spring break holiday means an endless part on a sunny beach in Florida or Mexico. In Panama City Beach, Florida, a city with a permanent population of approximately 36,000, more than half a million university students arrive during the month of March to play and party, making it the number one spring break destination in the United States.
A week-long drinking binge is not for everyone, however, and a growing number of American university students have found a way to make spring break matter. For them, joining or leading a group of volunteers to travel locally or internationally and work to address problems such as poverty, homelessness, or environmental damage makes spring break a unique learning experience that university students can feel good at.
During one spring break week, students at James Madison University in Virginia participated in 15 “alternative spring break” trips to nearby states, three others to more distant parts of the United States, and five international trips. One group of JMU students traveled to Bogalusa, Louisiana, to help rebuild homes damaged by Hurricane Katrina. Another group traveled to Mississippi to organize creative activities for children living in a homeless shelter. One group of students did go to Florida, but not to lie on the sand. They performed exhausting physical labor such as maintaining roving invasive plant species that threaten the native Florida ecosystem.
Students who participate in alternative spring break projects find them very rewarding. While most university students have to get their degrees before they can start helping people, student volunteers are able to help people now. On the other hand, the accommodations are far from glamorous. Students often sleep on the floor of a school or church, or spend the week camping in tents. But students only pay around $250 for meals and transportation, which is much less than some of their peers spend to travel to more traditional spring break hot spot.
1.How many university students travel to Panama Beach City every March for spring break?
A. Around 36,000. B. Around 50,000.
C. Around 500,000. D. Around 10,000.
2.The underlined word “binge” in paragraph 2 probably means ______.
A. doing too much of something B. studying for too long
C. refusing to do something D. having very little alcohol
3.Which of the following gives the main idea of the third paragraph?
A. One group of JMU students worked on homes damaged by a hurricane.
B. Children living in homeless shelters enjoy creative activities.
C. Some students work to help the environment on alternative spring break trips.
D. University students do different types of work on alternative spring break trips.
4.What is implied in this article is that ______.
A. university students spend more than $250 for traditional spring break trips
B. university students complain about the accommodations on alternative spring break trips
C. university students may take fewer alternative spring break trips in the future
D. university students would prefer to wait until they have their degrees to start helping people
Technology is playing a vital role in preservation and ecology research. Drones (无人机) hold huge _______ in the fight to save the world’s remaining wildlife from extinction. So researchers can now track wild animals through dense forests and monitor whales in vast oceans. It’s estimated that up to five living species become extinct every day, making it urgent that universities develop new technologies to capture the data that can persuade _______ to act.
The British International Education Association hosted a conference in January to _______ the importance of technological solutions in protecting vulnerable (易受伤害的) species and ecosystems. Speakers underlined how technology can help _______: drones can circle high above the ocean to spot whales, while certain cameras can identify members of an individual species.
According to Claudio Sillero, biology professor at Oxford University, technology is changing how preservation research is done — but it’s in a(n) _______ way. As technology gets better and cheaper, researchers become better at doing what they were already doing. _______, remote sensing used to be a very technical tool but is now widespread, and everyone uses global positioning system (GPS) for surveying.
But teaching preservation and ecology courses in university _______. Some teach drone surveying methods in depth while others don’t even mention them. “The fact is, using drones is quite a(n) _______ to the interdisciplinary (跨学科的) ‘unknown’ of engineering, and potentially an area where lecturers may not feel confident to teach yet,” Serge Wich, an expert in primate biology says. “Students are taught about _______ technologies such as automatic sound recorders, but drones are often missing from university teaching. Consequently, drone use among researchers is still fairly ________ and focused on getting photos.”
Wich’s team of researchers used techniques to develop a fully automated drone technology system that ________ and monitors the health of endangered animals globally. It’s designed to be cheap, stable and simple to use, so that local communities in developing countries can operate it ________ without technical background. Yet it’s not more widely used on the grounds of researchers’ lack of skills to use this technology. In biology, where drones are used, few can program an algorithm (算法) specifically for their preservation or research problem. “There’s much that needs to be done to ________ those two worlds and to make AI more user-friendly so that people who can’t program can still use the technology,” Wich says.
________, the sad truth is that better technology alone will not save any more species from dying out, Greengrass warns. “As human populations increase, so do threats and pressure on wild places. Preservationists are ________ for not doing enough but it’s often an issue of people, conflict and governance.” Technology may help provide far greater knowledge, but governments still need to act.
1.A. shortage B. threats C. potential D. responsibilities
2.A. researchers B. authorities C. opponents D. professionals
3.A. highlight B. overlook C. assess D. calculate
4.A. education B. preparation C. preservation D. distinction
5.A. evolutionary B. flexible C. virtual D. dramatic
6.A. As a result B. In conclusion C. On the contrary D. For example
7.A. differs B. equals C. multiplies D. struggles
8.A. obstacle B. leap C. equivalent D. exception
9.A. ill-intentioned B. fully-prepared C. well-established D. narrowly-applied
10.A. definite B. vague C. simple D. limited
11.A. controls B. tracks C. supervises D. improves
12.A. earnestly B. independently C. secretly D. impersonally
13.A. bridge B. fix C. dismiss D. grasp
14.A. Therefore B. Moreover C. However D. Otherwise
15.A. fired B. insulted C. qualified D. criticized
