阅读下列材料，在空白处填入1个适当的词或括号内单词的正确形式。
Music is universal — it is produced by all cultures. Some scientists believe that music came before speech and 1.(arise) as a development of mating calls. In fact, there is one theory that the 2.(early) languages in the world were sung rather than spoken. Indeed, in some countries, music is a form that people use 3.(record) their history. The Aboriginal Australians, for example, use music as a means to pass on stories of the land and spirits 4. the next generation.
5. new evidence suggests is that music does not just satisfy the feel-good factor but it is also good for the brain. A study of 6.(intellectual) disabled children showed that they could recall more information after it was given to them in a song 7. after it was read to them as a story.
Researchers also report that people score better on standard intelligence 8.(test) after listening to Mozart. The so-called "Mozart effect" has also been supported by findings that rats 9.(bring) up on Mozart run faster through complex network of paths or passages, known as a maze (迷宫). Generally, it seems that in most cases people 10.(suffer) from any form of mental illness benefit from listening to music.
Sometimes a seemingly unimportant option can mean the difference between life and death. For Dan Magennis this _______ was deciding to call Comcast before starting his yard work.
The elder from Walker, Michigan knows if he hadn't _______ that call, he might not be here today. All he _______ was to fix an issue with his cable. What he got _______ was his own savior (救命恩人) — from 800 miles away.
Dan called the company, hoping to get it over with quickly. But _______ had he just connected Kimberly Williams, a customer service _______ when he found he couldn't speak after _______ his name. Then his right leg went numb (麻木的). He began _______ and dropped the phone. “I would try to say something, and I just couldn't," Dan said. “Soon I _______ maybe it was a stroke (中风), but I wasn't able to tell the representative that.” But Kimberly already knew something was ________. Slurred (口齿不清的) speech was something she'd become ________ as a teenager when she ________ her grandmother suffering a stroke. She also knew every second ________.
She immediately opened Google to ________ for first responders in Dan's area. Several calls later, she got in touch with the Walker Fire Department and stayed on the ________ with Dan for five minutes before the rescuers arrived.
Not even an hour after the call was placed, Dan was ________ with surgery at Spectrum Health Butterworth Hospital. Two days later, he walked out of the hospital with almost no lingering (迟迟不去的) ________. Dr Justin Singer, director at Spectrum Health, says things would have ________ very different were it not for Kimberly's quick ________.
Dan says he'll be ________ forever that Kimberly, whom he's never met, didn't hang up. It is thanks to her that he's still walking, speaking, and living independently.
1.A.order B.choice C.lesson D.motto
2.A.placed B.answered C.repaired D.bought
3.A.faced B.wanted C.concluded D.supplied
4.A.just B.even C.still D.instead
5.A.instantly B.simply C.hardly D.quickly
6.A.manager B.agent C.representative D.secretary
7.A.writing B.stating C.hearing D.forgetting
8.A.panicking B.comforting C.relaxing D.calming
9.A.admitted B.agreed C.suggested D.realized
10.A.important B.strange C.possible D.wrong
11.A.worried about B.interested in C.familiar with D.sick with
12.A.witnessed B.changed C.imagined D.attended
13.A.stopped B.counted C.struggled D.raced
14.A.leave B.wait C.care D.search
15.A.line B.research C.spot D.list
16.A.associated B.treated C.concerned D.satisfied
17.A.process B.patterns C.effects D.recovery
18.A.picked up B.worked out C.turned out D.took off
19.A.response B.comfort C.examination D.trust
20.A.regretful B.worried C.curious D.grateful
Did you move your way into work this morning with your head down? Obviously, you did. It's Wednesday and, if you are in New York, it’s a rainy, annoying day. 1. Walk like a happy person and you’ll actually feel happier.
In the study, people walked on treadmills (跑步机) for 15 minutes. Around them were cameras with sensors that picked up their movements, and in front of them was a screen displaying a gauge (计量器) that moved to the left if they walked like they were depressed, and to the right if they walked like they were happy. 2.
Before the task, they were shown a list of words, some positive (pretty) and some negative (afraid, anxious). 3. The people who walked like a depressed person ended up recalling more negative words and (slightly) fewer positive words than the people who'd merrily bounced along on their treadmills. This means that the people who'd walked as if they were sad did, in fact, end up feeling sadder.
4.Harvard social psychologist Amy Cuddy found that if you stand like a powerful person, you'll feel more powerful. My high school swim coach used to tell us to fake (假装) it till you feel it; science as of late seems to be suggesting that she had a point. 5.Have a try and walk.
A.So now are you still sad?
B.They just remember the positive words.
C.Their arms swing at their sides as they go along.
D.But there's new evidence that you can walk yourself right out of it.
E.But the people in the study didn't know what the gauge was measuring.
F.That's to say, you can change your mood simply by changing your movement.
G.After they stopped, they were asked to write down as many words as they could.
Running late after several wrong turns, I made a final, desperate attempt to locate Elliott's home. Down a dirt path, past a group of geese, there it was: the two-acre property, on which Elliott grows nearly all the food she feeds her family. The Elliotts' three-bedrooms house was among a chicken cage, a pigpen, a rabbit hutch, and three gardens, the sum total of which Elliott refers to as her “homestead(农)”— a nod to the back-to-basics movement that inspired her lifestyle.
Elliott "homesteads" because modern technology “has rid people of their purpose”. In hopes of “drawing on and learning things of the past,” she has for eight years rejects an increasing number of modern conveniences. She lives a life like the 19th-century homesteaders. Unlike the pioneers, however, she enthusiastically broadcasts her life to an audience of Instagram followers, book buyers, and 100,000 monthly readers of her blog. Elliott belongs to a growing network of bloggers who have fueled the growing homesteading movement, which encourages self-reliance through the employment of traditional skills. Broadcasting on the net while trying to escape technology’s uncontrolled pace may seem incongruous, but Elliott insists that social media provide advice and moral support, which are lacking in the remote areas where many homesteaders settle.
Elliott’s day passes in a series of chores: weeding, cleaning up after the chickens, feeding the pigs, weeding again... She rejects the idea that success should involve anything more that maintaining a home. “We live in a culture where everything needs to be epic (宏大的) and awesome... Living a very average life? That’s seen as you not living up to your potential. And I really fight against that. I think the everyday is the point of our life,” she said. “It’s okay to be in the kitchen working with a baby on your back. That isn’t a step backward; it is an intentional thing”.
1.What do we know about Elliott’s “homestead”?
A. Noisy. B. Dirty. C. Difficult to find. D. Hard to maintain.
2.What influence does the Internet have on homesteading?
A. It reduces homesteaders’ everything.
B. It connects homesteading farms.
C. It helps promote homesteading.
D. It disturbs homesteader’s life.
3.What does the underlined word “incongruous” in paragraph 2 probably mean?
A. Strange B. Ambitious C. Natural D. Impossible
4.What will Elliott probably agree with?
A. Keep off the outside world B. Stay with your family
C. Wish for something epic D. Lead your own life
Large gatherings such as weddings and conferences can be socially overwhelming. Pressure to learn people's names only adds to the stress. A new facial-recognition app could come to the rescue, but privacy experts recommend proceeding with caution.
The app, called Social Recall, connects names with faces via smartphone cameras and facial recognition, potentially avoiding the need for formal introductions. “It breaks down these social barriers we all have when meeting somebody," says Barry Sandrew, whose start-up, also called Social Recall, created the app and tested it at an event attended by about 1,000 people.
After receiving an invitation to download Social Recall from an event organizer, the user is asked to take two selfies and sign in via social media. At the event, the app is active within a previously defined geographical area. When a user points his or her phone camera at an attendee's face, the app identifies the individual, displays the person’s name, and links to his or her social media profile. To protect privacy, it recognizes only those who have agreed to participate. And the app’s creators say it automatically deletes users’ data after an event.
Ann Cavoukian, a privacy expert who runs the Privacy by Design Center of Excellence praises the app’s creators for these protective measures. She cautions, however, that when people choose to share their personal information with the app, they should know that “there may be unintended consequences down the road with that information being used in another context that might come back to bite you”.
The start-up has also developed a version of the app for individuals who suffer from prosopagnosia, or “face blindness”, a condition that prevents people from recognizing individuals they have met. To use this app, a person first acquires an image of someone's face, from either the smartphone’s camera or a photograph, and then tags it with a name. When the camera spots that same face in real life, the previously entered information is displayed. The collected data are stored only on a user's phone, according to the team behind the app.
1.Social Recall is used to_________.
A.identify people B.take photos C.organize events D.make friends
2.Paragraph 3 is mainly about_________.
A.what people can do with the app B.how the app was created
C.what makes the app popular D.how the app works
3.Social Recall helps people with prosopagnosia by ________.
A.giving names to the photos kept in their smartphone
B.showing the person's information when it spots a stored face
C.providing the information of a person when they first meet
D.collecting information previously entered in the phone
4.What can we learn about Social Recall from the passage?
A.It can cure people’s “face blindness”.
B.It has caused unintended consequences.
C.It may put people's privacy at risk.
D.It is praised by users for its protective measures.
Think you have already reached your peak in life? You might want to think again. According to a new research, we're happiest at two periods in our lives — not just one. Researchers at the London School of Economics and Political Science asked 23,000 German volunteers aged 17 to 85 to rate their life satisfaction. Participants predicted how happy they would feel in five years, and then, after five years' time, reported back on how they actually felt.
Their results? Anything but unpleasant! The study found that happiness tends to follow a U-shaped curve over an individual's lifetime, with satisfaction reaching higher levels during the extremes of the study’s age range and swinging down in middle age. Plus, the researchers noted the two most important years when happiness peaks: ages 23 and 69.
As is shown in our daily life, it makes a lot of sense. In our early 20s, we're energetic and excited about the changes that come along with young age: new jobs, new places to travel, and new people to meet. By the time we reach our 60s and 70s, though, we have likely retired and can now find the time — not to mention the money — to book a flight to Hawaii at a moment's notice. After all, your 40+ years are a busy time filled with raising families, climbing the corporate ladder, and you know, it's the life in general.
Of course, that's all the more reason to find easy ways to be happier without really trying, regardless of your age! Experts recommend prioritizing (优先考虑) small yet rewarding tasks like taking a walk or spending time with family. Just remember, now you have one more reason to look forward to getting older: an increase in happiness!
1.What does the author think of the research results?
A.They are predictable. B.They are annoying.
C.They are satisfactory. D.They are surprising.
2.What does the underlined word "it" refer to in Paragraph 3?
A.The outcome of the research. B.The second peak in life.
C.The study's age range. D.The first peak in life.
3.When does people’s satisfaction reach the lowest in a lifetime?
A.In one’s teens. B.In one's forties.
C.In one's twenties. D.In one's sixties.
4.Which of the following might be the best title for the text?
A.The shape of happiness. B.The older, the happier.
C.How to be happy. D.The happiest ages in life.
