What's that one thing you really should do, but keep putting off? We all have them: time-consuming, or difficult chores we're afraid of and drag out until the last minute — if we complete them at all.
But what if we could drive ourselves into those boring tasks by pairing them with something we really enjoy? Research suggests that combining the things we want to do, with the thing we should do, could be a nice trick to reach our goals. The method is known as "temptation bundling" and it allows you to combine two differing, but complementary activities at the same time.
"I only let myself get a footbath when I'm doing some work," says Katherine Milkman, a professor of behavioral economics at the University of Pennsylvania. Another example? Going to your favorite restaurant but with a difficult colleague, or someone you're supposed to spend time with, such as a relative.
In short, it's pairing something you like with something you don't like, offering you incentive to do something you might be putting off.
Exercise is one activity routinely treated as a boring task — so Milkman used it in an experiment to know how temptation bundling works in reality.
In her experiment. Milkman encouraged students to exercise while listening to addictive, page-turning audiobooks. One group, which could only access the audiobooks while at the gym, were 51% more likely to exercise than the control group, which were able to listen when they liked. Another group, whose access to the audiobooks was not restricted but who were merely encouraged to bundle the activities, were 29% more likely to exercise than the control group.
The benefit of "temptation bundling" comes from doing two things at once that go well together, says Milkman. "The secret is to bundle tasks that require different effort. For instance, if one task requires focus or concentration, you want the other not to be too distracting — reading while listening to a podcast is very difficult, for example, while cooking and listening is more realistic." Milkman adds.
1.Temptation bundling can help us to______.
A.avoid delaying what should be done in time.
B.solve two problems at a time.
C.put what we have learned into practice.
D.improve our ability to face a chore.
2.The two percentages 51% and 29% in paragraph 6 show that_____.
A.many people treat exercise as a boring task.
B.most people consider listening to audiobooks a boring thing.
C.combining two activities at the same time can contribute to each other.
D.the control group do the worst in dealing with physical exercise.
3.Which of the following is true according to this passage?
A.Cooking and listening can be combined because neither needs focus.
B.Combining two differing, but complementary tasks is popular among us.
C.Milkman's experiment shows that temptation bundling is effective.
D.Temptation bundling is suitable for reading and listening to a podcast.
4.This passage is intended to tell us_____.
A.what benefits pairing two tasks will bring us.
B.how to get a boring task completed.
C.what tasks can be paired with each other.
D.how to identify the bad habit of putting off.
Since App Store was set up, it has been selling consumers one simple thing — choice. Whether you wanted to play games, read the news, or do a thousand other things, there was something for whatever you desired.
Then something funny happened. Logging into the App Store today is like going into a shopping mall with only a coupon (优惠券) for one thing: There's so much choice; it might be easier to give up than to choose.
It isn't consumers who are burdened, though. Too much content of all kinds also has economic effects. When countless choices are available, it causes pressure, pushing prices down and driving us a bit crazy.
So what is the way forward? It may well be to tum less choice itself to the marketing strategy. There are already signs that this is happening. Firstly content companies are looking to prevent their offerings from getting lost in the tons of stuff. Most obvious is Disney, which is planning to open its own streaming service next year. The point is to narrow the focus so that those seeking Disney cartoons will have one place to go, rather than being around various services.
Yet if that represents a careful first step, there are more extreme options too. Consider the idea of a wine club: from tens of thousands of bottles each year, subscribers (用户) pay someone to select the most interesting ones. Perhaps what comes next for digital content is similar — carefully selected offerings from trusted sources that put choices in the hands of someone else in order to get rid of the anxiety of choosing.
Up to now, too much choice in digital media has only one solution: the algorithm (运算法则). But we've seen the trouble with algorithms on You Tube. They feed you only what you've already said you like, not things you may not know you're into. Worse, they have a tendency to serve up disturbing content. The way forward can't simply be more or better algorithms.
Instead, it's time for digital companies to start thinking about how to put limits on things: on how much we can use a device, or what we are available to choose from.
As we move further into the digital revolution, what people ask for is clear: Less.
1.What will too much choice of content on the market result in?
A.The shutdown of companies. B.Anxiety of consumers.
C.Poor quality of products. D.Negative influence on economy.
2.Why is Disney planning to open its own streaming service?
A.To improve its marketing strategy.
B.To help people focus on less choice.
C.To encourage more people to visit Disney.
D.To provide consumers with various services
3.In what way may a wine club and digital content in the near future be similar?
A.Someone else will be employed to make a choice for consumers.
B.Both of them will offer only a few options.
C.Consumers will refuse to choose from too many options.
D.Both of them will make a change about their products.
4.What do we know about the algorithm?
A.It manages to offer what consumers will possibly like.
B.It helps to remove disturbing content from digital media.
C.it offers consumers things based on what they've said they like.
D.It'll solve the problem of having too much choice.
If you're a book lover, you have a pile of books on your bedside, or a bookshelf in your library with a “to read” sign on it. Yet you can't stop yourself from adding to the pile. This can lead to feelings of guilt over your new purchases. But I'm here to tell you to stop worrying.
What you have is an antilibrary, and it's a very good thing. The term comes from writer Umberto Eco. He is the owner of a large personal library. He separates visitors into two groups: those who react with “Wow! What a library you have! How many of these books have you read?” and the others who get the point that a private library is not something to show off but a research tool. Read books are far less valuable than unread ones. Indeed, the more you know, the larger the rows of unread books. Let us call this collection an antilibrary.
If you think you already know everything about a subject, you're cutting yourself off from a stream of information at an artificial point. So a growing library of books you haven't read means you're consistently curious about the unknown. And that attitude is a great foundation for a lifelong love of learning.
So don't feel guilt over your unread books. Those books will be there for you when you do want them, and as you build your library of read and unread books, you can start using it as you would use a bigger library. Certain books may become references more than read-throughs. Or you may find that a book you bought five years ago has special relevance today. Letting the role of books evolve in your life is a healthy sign of curiosity. That's good for you and good tor the world around you.
1.What does the underlined word "antilibrary in Paragraph 2 refer to?
A.Feelings of guilt over new books. B.A pile of books on the bookshelf.
C.The collection of unread books. D.A large personal library.
2.Which of the following will the writer agree with?
A.The unread books you bought years ago are of no use.
B.You don't have to read every book from cover to cover.
C.Read books are of more use than unread books.
D.You shouldn’t purchase new books until the unread ones are covered.
3.What does the writer think of someone having lots of unread books?
A.Approving. B.Doubtful.
C.Critical. D.Indifferent.
When Ariyah Georges was born 15 weeks early, she weighed only one pound, 12 ounces. Her mother, Jovan, knew how important breastfeeding was, especially for a premature (早产的) baby like Ariyah, so she began pumping milk to feed her through a tube. But two days later, Jovan felt dizzy and feverish — 104 Fahrenheit degrees, in fact. She had a blood disease and was close to full shock.
She was separated from others for nearly two weeks at the regional Northern Virginia hospital where she'd delivered. During that time, she could still pump breast milk, but Ariyah couldn't consume it because of the risk of infection. Without it, the newborn was particularly easily affected by diseases. There are many cases like this, which creates the need for the milk donation.
Enter donor milk breast milk purchased by hospitals for mothers who aren't able to produce enough milk on their own, due to health complications, stresses, or other factors. The milk comes from milk banks, organizations that collect and screen breast milk from those women willing to donate. Usually processed in intensive-care units, the milk is only available by prescription.
In recent years, both milk banks and the use of donated human milk have risen swiftly in the United States. In 2011, 22 percent of NICUs used donor breast milk; four years later, that number doubled to nearly 40 percent, and went even higher for the most intensive NICUs — as much as 75 percent. There are 23 milk banks in the United States recognized by the Human Milk Banking Association of North America, or HMBANA, double the number that existed five years ago.
But as the demand for donor milk rises, banks must find more charitable donors — a task made more complicated by informal networks of milk sharing that happens online. And many of the most vulnerable infants are still not being reached.
1.Jovan couldn't feed her baby Ariyah on her breast milk because_______.
A.Ariyah was a premature baby B.Jovan couldn't produce enough milk
C.Jovan was separated from others D.Jovan was in poor health.
2.By telling the story of Ariyah and her mother, the writer wants to______.
A.tell us what to do if mothers cannot produce enough milk.
B.remind us of the importance of breastfeeding the newborn.
C.introduce the topic of an increasing need for donated human milk.
D.warn us against the risk of the newborn being affected by diseases.
3.How is the writer's idea mainly developed in Paragraph 4?
A.By following time order. B.By listing statistics.
C.By giving examples. D.By making predictions.
4.What problem are milk banks now faced with?
A.It's difficult to find enough charitable donors.
B.networks of milk looking for donors online are informal.
C.The milk purchased from milk banks cannot reach infants' home.
D.The number of women willing to donate breast milk are decreasing.
阅读下面短文，根据所给情节进行续写，使之构成一个完整的故事。
On a cold Friday night, a poor artist stood at the gate of the subway station, playing his violin. The young violinist was a student at an Arts College named Joseph, who did so every day in order to earn his tuition fees. He planned to attend advanced studies in Vienna and had booked the flight for the next morning. Though the music was great, people were quickly going home for the weekend. Joseph was playing his last chapter when a middle-aged man looking pretty excited slowed down his pace and put 50 dollars into the hat, for which Joseph was grateful.
The next night, the young artist came to the gate of the subway station as usual, and put his hat on the ground gracefully. Different from the day before, he took out a large piece of paper and laid it on the ground and put some stones on it. Then he began playing the violin.
Before long, the young artist was surrounded with many passers-by, who were all attracted by the words on that paper. It said, “Last night, a gentleman put an unexpected thing into my hat by mistake. Please come to claim it as soon as possible.” It caused great excitement and curiosity. They were dying to know what the unexpected thing could be.
注意：1. 所续写短文词数应为150左右；
2. 应使用5个以上短文中标有下划线的关键词语；
3. 续写部分为两段，每段的开头语已为你写好；
4. 续写完成后，请用下划线标出你所使用的关键词。
Paragraph 1:
Just at the moment a middle-aged man rushed through the crowd to the violinist. ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Paragraph 2:
The man thanked Joseph again and again because it was very essential to him. ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
假如你是李华，澳大利亚好朋友Harry来中国学习，但因文化差异感到生活有些不适应。请给他写一封信，内容包括：
1. 表示安慰；
2. 给出建议；
3. 寄予希望。
注意:1. 词数80左右；
2. 可适当增加细节，以使行文连贯；
3. 开头与结尾均已给出。
Dear Harry,
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Yours,
Li Hua
