The Science of Risk-Seeking
Sometimes we decide that a little unnecessary danger is worth it because when we weigh the risk and the reward, the risk seems worth taking. 1. Some of us enjoy activities that would surprise and scare the rest of us. Why? Experts say it may have to do with how our brains work?
The reason why any of us take any risks al all might have to do with early humans. Risk-takers were better at hunting, fighting, or exploring. 2. As the quality of risk-taking was passed from one generation to the next, humans ended up with a sense of adventure and a tolerance for risk.
So why aren’t we all jumping out of airplanes then? Well, even 200,000 years ago, too much risk-taking could get one killed. A few daring survived, though, along with a few stay-in-the-cave types. As a result, humans developed a range of character types that still exists today. So maybe you love car racing, or maybe you hate it. 3.
No matter where you are on the risk-seeking range, scientists say that your willingness to take risks increases during your teenage years. 4. To help you do that, your brain increases your hunger for new experiences. New experiences often mean taking some risks, so your brain raises your tolerance for risk as well.
5. For the risk-seekers a part of the brain related to pleasure becomes active, while for the rest of us, a part of the brain related to fear becomes active.
As experts continue to study the science of risk-seeking, we’ll continue to hit the mountains, the waves or the shallow end of the pool.
A.It all depends on your character.
B.Those are the risks you should jump to take.
C.Being better at those things meant a greater chance of survival.
D.Thus, these well-equipped people survived because they were the fittest.
E.This is when you start to move away from your family and into the bigger world.
F.However, we are not all using the same reference standard to weigh risks and rewards.
G.New brain research suggests our brains work differently when we face a nervous situation.
In colleges around the country, most students are also workers.
The reality of college can be pretty different from the images presented in movies and television. Instead of the students who wake up late, party all the time, and study only before exams, many colleges are full of students with pressing schedules of not just classes and activities, but real jobs, too.
This isn't a temporary phenomenon. The share of working students has been on the rise since the 1970s, and one-fifth of students work year round. About one-quarter of those who work while attending school have both a full-course load and a full-time job. The arrangement can help pay for tuition （学费） and living costs, obviously. And there's value in it beyond the direct cause: such jobs can also be vital for developing important professional and social skills that make it easier to land a job after graduation. With many employers looking for students with already-developed skill sets, on-the-job training while in college can be the best way to ensure a job later on.
But it's not all upside. Even full-time work may not completely cover the cost of tuition and living expenses. The study notes that if a student worked a full-time job at the minimum wage, they would earn just over $15,000 each year, certainly not enough to pay for tuition, room, and meals at many colleges without some serious financial aid. That means that though they're sacrificing （牺牲） time away from the classroom, many working students will still graduate with at least some debt. And working full time can reduce the chance that students will graduate at all, by cutting into the time available for studying and attending classes.
There is little reward for attending but not finishing college. Students who end up leaving school because of difficulty in managing work and class are likely to find themselves stuck in some of the same jobs they might have gotten if they hadn't gone to college at all. The difficulty of working too much while in school can create a cycle that pushes students further into debt without receiving any of the financial or career benefits.
1.It can be learned from the passage that today's college students actually _______.
A.attend a number of parties B.work while attending school
C.stay up late all the time D.care little about exams
2.Which of the following factors indirectly causes more students to work?
A.The chance of finding a job after graduation.
B.The shortage of holiday jobs for college students.
C.The need of improving social skills.
D.The high tuition and living expenses.
3.According to the passage, we know that _______.
A.working students are more likely to graduate from college
B.the pay from working can cover students' college costs
C.working too much while in college may not benefit a student's career
D.students can receive a reward for managing work and class well
4.What is the best title for the passage?
A.An Introduction of Working College Students
B.The Advantages of Working While Studying
C.The Struggle to Balance Work and School
D.The Difficulties of Landing a Job
Whale researchers believe they have found a new way to measure the amount of stress felt by whales when they experience serious threats, such as being hit by a ship, and they say the technique could help protect the huge sea creatures from dying off.
American Rosalind Rolland is the lead scientist on the project. She and her team are with the New England Aquarium in Boston, Massachusetts. They measured stress hormones (荷尔蒙 ) by studying baleen, a substance found in the upper part of the mouth of some kinds of whale. She explains that the baleen serves as a record that shows a spike in stress hormones when whales face dangers such as a changing climate and ship strikes. Scientists can then read these records, similar to reading the rings on a tree.
Understanding the information is important because whales who often feel stressed are less likely to be reproductive and more likely to become sick. That combination is not good for the whale population, which is already dangerously low.
The scientists did their work on a whale that had become trapped in fishing equipment, which some scientists estimate kills up to 300, 000 whales and dolphins annually. It was finally killed by Inuit hunters who found it trying to drag the fishing equipment. The hunters said the whale seemed to lack energy. When scientists examined the dead whale, they found its mouth showed an increase in stress hormones 20 times greater than normal.
Regina Asmutis-Silvia is a biologist with the Whale and Dolphin Conservation in Massachusetts. She didn’t participate in the research, but she says it is important. “We clearly understand that stress is bad for humans. We also need to understand that stress is bad for other animals, too,” she adds.
1.What does the text mainly tell us?
A.The dangers the whale often faces.
B.The measures to stop sea life being hit.
C.A discovery to measure stress on whales.
D.A way to protect the mouth of the whale.
2.Which of the following can best replace “spike” underlined in Paragraph 2?
A.Rise. B.Change. C.Crash. D.Slide.
3.What may a whale living a stressful life be like?
A.Calm and fierce. B.Unhealthy and unable to reproduce.
C.Uneasy and energetic. D.Sizeable and likely to lose appetite.
4.Why does the author mention the words by Regina?
A.To move on to another topic.
B.To stress the importance of the finding.
C.To tell the necessity of studying other animals.
D.To show the similarity between humans and animals.
In 2012, Kim Stemple was a special education teacher and a solid performer in her age group in marathons. And then she got sick. After three years of tests and treatments, the doctors figured out she has a rare mitochondrial disease that is causing progressive mental and physical health to go worse. They told her there was no cure and that this disease would take her life.
Yet Stemple kept running and competing in marathons. One day she was training for the Rock “n” Roll Marathon in Las Vegas when she became too sick to travel. The usually outgoing Stemple sunk into disappointment. But then she received a gift — it was a marathon medal given to her by a friend.
Stemple hung the medal near her hospital bed and it was an instant conversation starter with doctors, nurses and anyone who came to visit. That medal pulled Stemple out of her disappointment. And that gave Stemple the idea to start We Finish Together, an organization devoted to connecting runners who wish to donate medals with those who might appreciate them. Stemple pens a handwritten note of encouragement on each of the medals she gives away. Recipients have included hospital patients, residents of homeless shelters and even doctors and nurses who care for the very ill. “This gives them a connection to someone,” says Stemple. “If they receive a medal, they know someone cares.”
Can a simple medal really make a difference? Joan Musarra said yes, who suffered from a serious disease. “I opened my package containing my new medal and the notes of positive, warm thoughts. I was really excited,” she wrote to Stemple. “It means so much to me to feel that I am not alone.”
1.What can we infer about Stemple before she got too sick to exercise?
A.She was doubtful. B.She was courageous.
C.She was down-hearted. D.She was optimistic.
2.What inspired Stemple to found We Finish Together?
A.The patients’ request. B.The medals she won.
C.Her friend’s gift. D.The encouragement from doctors.
3.How does Stemple’s organization help people in need?
A.By having chats. B.By giving out recycled medals.
C.By contributing money. D.By connecting their relatives.
4.Why did Musarra write the letter to Stemple?
A.To show the medal’s positive effect on her.
B.To discuss about their illnesses.
C.To relieve the symptoms of her illness.
D.To ask for another medal.
Foods of the Future
We asked young scientists to write an advertisement that answers this question: How will food options, food availability, and individuals’ food choices change in the future? A selection of their suggested marketing campaigns is below. Read previous NextGen Voices survey results at http://science.sciencemag.org/collection/nextgen-voices. — Jennifer Sills
Personalized Meal Plans
Send us your DNA, and we will predict your food preferences! Receive your personalized food basket, with a day-by-day diet program. We will send you full meals and personalized smoothies (水果奶昔) based on your genetic taste tendency.
Ada Gabriela Blidner
Twitter:@adagbb
Fresh Fruit
If you miss sweet temperate fruits, welcome to our Moon Farm. Our fruit trees are planted in hybrid-soil and artificial air that reproduce Earth’s environment from 5000 years ago. Pick fruits with your family or ship to your doorstep with MoonEx. Freshness guaranteed.
Yongsheng Ji
Email: jiyongshengkey@hotmail.com
Meat
Our steaks are sourced from natural grasslands, where cattle now fill the ecological roles. With FoodFootprint feeding system, we enhance natural grazing (放牧) to improve animal growth effectively while minimizing methane production and water consumption. At only $219.00/kg (including carbon taxes and ecological taxes), our steaks are affordable for the whole family.
Falko Buschke
Email: falko. buschke@gmail. com
1.Which of the following needs you to provide the information of your genes?
A.Meat. B.Fresh Fruit.
C.NextGen Voices. D.Personalized Meal Plans.
2.Who should you contact if you want to have fun with your family?
A.Jennifer Sills. B.Yongsheng Ji.
C.Falko Buschke. D.Ada Gabriela Blidner.
3.Which of the following best describes the steaks in Meat?
A.Fresh. B.Green.
C.Expensive. D.Personalized.
听下面一段独白，回答以下小题。
1.Who is the speaker talking to?
A.Teachers. B.Parents. C.Students.
2.What will the temperature be tomorrow morning?
A.-15°C. B.-10°C. C.C. -20°C.
3.What should the listeners have so that they can change into?
A.A warm jacket. B.A pair of pants. C.A pair of boots.
4.Where is this announcement from?
A.A TV station. B.A radio station. C.A school.
