People who have got rhythm might have an advantage when it comes to language and reading skills. A new study shows the brains of people who can move to a musical beat react to speech on a more consistent basis than those who can't. Researchers also find that musical training can sharpen the brain's response to language.
The researchers say their discovery provides the first biological link between the ability to keep a beat and how the brain responds to speech, something that can have important value for reading skills. To gather materials for their research, the team got more than 100 teenagers who lived in Chicago, Illinois. The teens were given two tests. First, they were instructed to listen to and tap their fingers along to the beat. The researchers calculated how accurately their young volunteers were able to tap along to the musical timekeeper. Second, the teen subjects were linked to an EEG device, which measures electrical activity in the brain. The EEG device was focused on an area of the brain that not only processes sound, but is also connected to parts of the brain responsible for motor-movement. The researchers recorded the brainwaves as their teen subjects listened to the synthesized speech sound, which was repeated irregularly for half an hour. The researchers were able to find out how the nerve cells in that particular region of the brain responded every time the synthesized sound was played. a Across this population of adolescents, the more accurate they were at tapping along to the beat, the more consistent their brains' response to the letter unit was," said Nina Kraus.
While past studies have showed the links between reading skills and a person's ability to keep a beat, the researchers said their new findings show the hearing system is what provides a common basis for those links. “Rhythm is naturally a part of music and language." Nina said.
1.According to the first paragraph, what can get the brain's reaction to language more effectively?
A.Rhythm. B.Musical training.
C.Language. D.Reading skills.
2.The underlined word “subjects” in Paragraph 2 probably means “ ________
A.areas of knowledge studied in a school, college, and so on
B.things that are being discussed in a conversation or a book
C.persons or things that are the main features of works of art
D.persons or animals that are studied in an experiment or a research
3.It can be inferred from the last paragraph that ________.
A.reading skills may make language learners keep a beat
B.the hearing system may be useless while a person is learning to read
C.the hearing system may separate sound from meaning while a person is reading
D.the hearing system may be used while a person is reading or taking musical training
4.What can we conclude from this passage?
A.Experts are expanding their studies on rhythm.
B.Rhythm might help us improve our reading skills.
C.Moving to a musical beat is more popular nowadays.
D.Experts find the links between the hearing system and reading.
The sound that woke Damian Languell at 8:15 in the morning was so loud he assumed it came from inside his house in Wade, Maine. As he got up to investigate, he heard another sound, this one coming most definitely from outside. Looking out of his bedroom window, he noticed a tree enveloped in smoke about 500 yards away. A car wrapped around the tree's base, its engine on fire.
Grabbing buckets of water, he and his wife ran to the crash site. Up close, the accident looked worse. The car was split nearly in two, and the tree was where the driver's seat ought to have been, as if planted there. No one should have survived this crash, and yet there was 20- year-old Quintin Thompson, his terrified face pressed against the driver's side window, in visible pain.
Languell tried putting out the fire with his buckets of water but failed. When the flames got into the front seats, he knew he had to get the young man out. So Languell opened the car's back door and climbed in. Using a pocket knife he'd brought with him, he cut through Thompson's seat belt. Now that Thompson was free, Languell pulled him out, and dragged him to safety before the entire car was in flames.
It is empathy that drove Languell to help, just as he said, "My heart goes out to Thompson. When you are that close to that level of hurt, you feel it so directly." For his heroic action, Languell was added to the list of real-life heroes changing the world.
1.Where was the first sound actually from?
A.A house on fire. B.A car crash.
C.The bedroom window. D.The basement.
2.What do we know about Quintin Thompson?
A.He saved his car from fire. B.He was successfully rescued.
C.He remained calm all the time. D.He was capable of helping himself out.
3.Which of the following best explains "empathy” underlined in the last paragraph?
A.Honesty. B.Wisdom. C.Sympathy. D.Responsibility.
4.Which words can best describe Damian Languell?
A.Daring and generous. B.Caring and grateful.
C.Courageous and noble. D.Ambitious and reliable.
The Visitor Oyster card
A Visitor Oyster card is the cheapest way to pay for a single adult journeyin London. It’s a plastic smartcard. You can use it on the bus, tube, tram, DLR,London Overground and most National Rail services. It’s much cheaper thanbuying individual tickets, in some cases costing 50% less than the price of a regularpaper ticket.
How to get a Visitor Oyster card
You can buy a Visitor Oyster card online. Your card will be delivered by post.The card costs £5 and you choose how much money you want to add to the card.This means you can start using the card the moment you arrive in Central London.
How does the Visitor Oyster card work?
The Oyster card works on a pay-as-you-go system. You start by adding money to the card. Then you travel, the cost of the fare will automatically bededucted from your Visitor Oyster card. For example, if you add £20 to thecard and make a tube journey of £2.30, you will have £17.70 left on the card.
A few more points:
·A child under the age of 11 travels free when accompanied by an adult.
·You’ll save more money if you use the tube several times. The Visitor Oyster cardis “capped (给……定上限)” at £6.80 per day.
·You’ll pay more during peak times. Peak fares apply from Monday to Friday (6:30am—9:30 am; 4:00 pm —7:00 pm), except for public holidays.
·Reuse the Oyster card by adding credit at a tube station, Oyster ticket shop orVisitor Centre.
·Receive a discount on the Thames Clippers River Bus services.
1.What can we learn about the Visitor Oyster card?
A.You can’t use it during public holidays.
B.You can have it mailed directly to your home.
C.You can get a free Oyster card if you order online.
D.You can receive a 50% discount at any shop in London.
2.How much money will be deducted if you take the tube four times in a day witha Visitor Oyster card?
A.£2.30. B.£3.40.
C.£6.80. D.£9.20.
3.Where can you add credit to your Visitor Oyster card?
A.On the Internet. B.At a bus station.
C.At a tube station. D.In convenience stores.
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。
An 80-year-old man was sitting on the sofa in his house along with his 45-year-old highly educated son. Suddenly a crow（乌鸦）perched（栖息）on their window.
The father asked his son, “What is this?” The son replied, “It is a crow.”
After a few minutes, the father asked his son for the second time, “What is this?” The son said, “Father, I have just now told you, it’s a crow!”
After a little while, the old father again asked his son for the third time, “What is this?”
At this time some expression of irritation（恼怒）was felt in the son’s tone when he said to his father with a rebuff（生硬回绝）. “It’s a crow, a crow.” A little while later, the father again asked his son the fourth time, “What is this?”
This time, the son shouted at his father, “Why do you keep asking me the same question again and again, although I have told you so many times ‘IT IS A CROW’. Are you not able to understand this?”
A little while later the father went to his room and came back with an old tattered（发皱的）diary, which he had maintained since his son was born. On opening a page, he asked his son to read that page. When the son read it, the following words were written in the diary:
“Today my little son aged three was sitting with me on the sofa, when a crow was sitting on the window. My son asked me 23 times what it was, and I replied to him all 23 times that it was a crow. I hugged him lovingly each time he asked me the same question. I did not at all feel irritated but I rather felt affection for my innocent son,
注意：
1. 所续写短文的词数应为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语。
Paragraph 1:
After reading the diary
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Paragraph 2:
Feeling ashamed, the son got down on his knees before his father
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假定你是李华，你的外教Peter对中国饮食文化非常感兴趣，他想请你推荐一款中国传统餐饮，请你写一封e-mail。
内容包括:1.餐饮名称；2.简要描述；3.推荐理由。
注意:1.词数80字左右；2.可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。
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阅读下面短文，在空白处填入1个适当的单词或括号内单词的正确形式。
One of the bigger misunderstandings about China’s tech market is that China is all about copying and stealing ideas. But if that was ever the case, it1.(certain) isn’t now. China entrepreneurs (企业家)2.(prove) that they can innovate (创新).In fact, they’ve become so good at 3. that the West is now copying their ideas.
Here are a few examples. Facebook borrowed some ideas4.WeChat’s messaging app when 5.U. S. social media giant introduced group chats and private messaging. In bike-sharing, a similar transfer occurred. LmeBike copied China’s two major bike-sharing 6.(company) , Ofo and Mobike.
China gained an advantage by being able to leapfrog (跳过， 避开) some older,7.(west) technologies and go straight to new tech such as QR codes, to electric vehicles, to high-speed trains, to mobile payments, and superapps that combine all these functions.We are entering a new stage8. separate universes are being created. This9.(cause) by China’s fast rise, and a 10. (grow) gap between the U. S. and China on technology innovations that matter for the future.
