You know that thrill you get when listening to your favorite music or that exciting feeling down your spine (脊柱) when you hear your favorite melody or rhythm? According to a recent study, it seems the same thing can happen while you are reading, but not with every kind of text. This opens up fascinating questions around how music, reading and emotions are connected in the brain.
“We decided we would do a comparison between four or five different kinds of texts to see how the brain responded,” explains Professor Adam Zeman, a neurologist. “The participants lay in an MRI scanner reading the texts, and then we compared brain activity for those five texts.” The texts ranged from deadly boring ones to highly exciting ones, including the Highway Code, passages from novels and poems.
As the researchers observed, participants found some texts more emotional than others. When they read these emotional texts, there was higher activity in brain areas associated with pleasure and reward — the same areas related to the thrill we get when we listen to music. As Zeman says, “It was a nice proof that the emotional response to literature and to music has quite a bit in common.”
When the participants were reading poems, the team found there was more activity in a particular group of brain areas called the Default Network. "These areas seem to be associated with things we do with our minds when we are resting, like thinking about what's happened to us recently, thinking about what’s going to happen in the near future, about other people, and that network seems to be more strongly associated with poetry than with prose” explains Zeman. The study shows that the different texts activate different areas of our brains when we read.
1.What can we know from the study?
A.People may feel excited when reading poems. B.People aren’t thrilled when listening to music.
C.Music gives participants more pleasure than text. D.Deadly boring texts never excite the brain.
2.What is the purpose of the comparison between different kinds of texts?
A.To thrill the participants. B.To scan the participants’ brain.
C.To check the response of human's brain. D.To teach the participants novels and poems.
3.What happened in the participants’ brains when they were reading?
A.Their brains preferred music.
B.Brain areas related to pleasure became more active.
C.Their emotional response to literature stopped.
D.Their brains were less emotional when reading the emotional text.
4.Where is the text probably from?
A.A science magazine. B.A film review.
C.An advertisement. D.A science fiction.
United States health officials say an estimated 80,000 people died of influenza (流感) and problems resulting from the flu last winter, making it the worst season since 1977. The director for the U.S.Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported the number to The Associated Press. Health experts were expecting the winter of 2017-2018 to be a bad year for flu deaths, but not that.
Doctor William Schaffner is an expert on vaccines, at Vanderbilt University in Tennessee. Schaffner noted that 80,000 deaths are nearly twice as much as what health officials once considered a “bad year”.
CDC officials say that between 12,000 and 56,000 Americans die every year from flu-related causes, but they do not have an exact count of how many people die from the flu each year. Influenza is a relatively common disease and not always listed on death records as the official cause of death. While last winter was a bad flu season in the U.S., it was not the worst. The 1918 flu lasted nearly two years. Historians estimate that the disease was to blame for between 500,000 to 700,000 deaths during that period. The exact number is still not known.
One thing that made the 2017-2018 flu season so bad was that the flu virus was strong. Usually the disease kills the very young, the very old or those who are already sick. However, last winter, the flu killed many healthy Americans. Another thing that made the flu season so deadly was that the flu vaccine was not as effective as experts had predicted. Drug makers have made changes to the vaccine. Even though the vaccine did not work well last year, health experts still strongly suggest getting vaccinated.
1.What can we learn about influenza in the first paragraph?
A.The winter of 2017-2018 saw the deadliest flu in history.
B.Effective cures should be found to deal with influenza.
C.Health experts had assumed flu would be severer.
D.More people died of influenza than expected in the winter of 2017-2018.
2.How many deaths did the health officials expect in a bad year?
A.80,000. B.40,000.
C.60,000. D.20,000.
3.Why can't CDC officials give an exact number of deaths from flu?
A.Because flu is always considered as a common disease.
B.Because people usually don't take flu seriously.
C.Because CDC officials are unwilling to count the deaths.
D.Because flu is not always listed on death records.
4.What do experts recommend people to do in the last paragraph?
A.Change the vaccine. B.Avoid using vaccine.
C.Get vaccinated. D.Do research on vaccine.
In my second year of high school, I took my first computer science course, which helped me realize I was interested in software. The idea of creating something from just lines of codes and logic was very fascinating. And I didn't put as much time into music as I used to, thinking practicing the piano was just a waste of time.
A year later, when I got back on the piano, I quickly noticed my musical ear was not as strong as it was before. I could no longer hear the difference between a perfect 4th and a perfect 5th or between a D and D flat. Then I had a firm decision to get my skills to where it used to be. After weeks of practicing, I didn't see much progress. I was extremely discouraged and felt that I would have to accept that I no longer will be able to play as well as I used to.
While watching hundreds of tutorials online on how to code in Swift I came up with an idea. What if I used the knowledge I gained from these tutorials to develop an app that would help train my musical ear. After hours of coding, I developed an app that would play a different series of notes, then the user would have to type in the corresponding notes to what they heard. When I was on the subway or had some extra time I could easily open up the app on my phone and use it to help my musical ear. In about 2 months, I regained the skills I lost.
This experience helped me see something that I never noticed before. Programming gives me a platform to express my ideas; in a similar way, playing the piano gives me a way to express my feelings. When playing through a song for the first time I hear many errors. Similarly, when I run my program for the first time there are usually many mistakes. In both of these cases, it takes patience to go through each measure or line to hear or find the error. I realized when I’m playing the piano I am also practicing my programming skills and vice versa.
1.What happened to the author a year ago?
A.He realized his strength. B.He invented lines of codes.
C.He developed another hobby. D.He was too busy to practice piano.
2.Which of the following can best describe the author?
A.Determined and creative. B.Hard-working and gifted.
C.Easy-going and generous. D.Independent and energetic.
3.What can we infer about the author from the third paragraph?
A.He received musical training online.
B.He improved himself by studying online.
C.He got inspired from the tutorials online.
D.He made good use of the app he downloaded online.
4.What can the author learn from the experience?
A.He came to realize it is important to develop some good qualities.
B.He understood the meaning of the saying “practice makes perfect”.
C.He found programming and playing the piano have something in common.
D.He felt it necessary to improve himself in programming and playing the piano.
Dentzel Carousel
Our historic, restored 1921 Dentzel Carousel is located near the Fisher Family Children’s Zoo. This unique merry-go-round delights kids of all ages as they choose to ride a horse, a cat, a rabbit, or even a giraffe without considering the weather condition.
Tickets are $ 4 per person.
Adults may ride free when standing by a paid child.
Elinor Friend Playground
The newly repaired Elinor Friend Playground lights the imagination of children who is not beyond 12. This unique space is modeled after three distinct bio-regions, which take their themes from specific ecosystems and appeal to distinct age groups: a River Play Area for toddlers (6 months—2 years), a Polar Zone exploration space for pre-schoolers (2—5 years), and a Banyan Tree climbing structure for pre-teens (5—12 years).
Tickets are $ 7 per person (Free with zoo admission).
Adults pay zoo admission.
Little Puffer Miniature Steam Train
Add a ride on the historic Little Puffer miniature steam train to your visit to the San Francisco Zoo. Like generations before you, you’ll make wonderful childhood memories for your kids. Little Putter does not run in wet weather due to slippery tracks, and is closed at a regular time period for repair. Call the Zoo before your visit.
Tickets are $ 7 per person.
Children under 3 may ride free (ticket required) when accompanied by a paid adult.
(A special passenger car on the Little Puffer miniature steam train is designed to hold a wheelchair)
Zoo Keys
The ever-popular storybooks have returned to the Zoo, activated by the beloved, plastic animal keys that have become nostalgic icons to visitors from years past. At Storybook sites around the Zoo, visitors can listen to recordings of stories in different languages and fun facts about the animals in all kinds of weather conditions. You can purchase your Zoo Key at the Admissions Gate or in the Membership Office or online.
Zoo Keys are $ 5 each.
Children under 1 may ride free when accompanied by a paid adult.
1.What is special about Dentzel Carousel?
A.It has a long history. B.It has models of animals
C.It is for children of all ages. D.It has the cheapest charge.
2.What is the suggested age range of Elinor Friend Playground?
A.6 months - 2 years. B.6 months - 12 years.
C.2-5 years. D.5-12 years.
3.Which program favors the disabled?
A.Dentzel Carousel. B.Elinor Friend Playground.
C.Little Puffer Miniature Steam Train. D.Zoo Keys.
假设你是李华，你的英国朋友Jim打算来中国旅行，但是不知道该去哪里， Jim来信希望你能给些建议。请你给他回信，内容包括：
1.你建议他游长江（travel along Changjiang River）；
2.你的理由；
3.你的祝愿。
注意：1.词数80左右；
2.信的格式已经给出。
假定英语课上老师要求同桌之间交换修改作文，请你修改你同桌写的以下作文。文中共有10处语言错误，每句中最多有两处。每处错误仅涉及一个单词的增加、删除或修改。
增加：在缺词处加一个漏字符号（∧），并在其下面写出该加的词。
删除：把多余的词用斜线（＼）划掉。
修改：在错的词下划一横线，并在该词下面写出修改后的词。
注意：
1. 每处错误及其修改均仅限一词；
2. 只允许修改10处，多者（从第11处起）不计分。
John, a little boy lived next door to me, liked fast food very much. His parents were so busy that they had few time to cook food for him at home. So they often took him eat fast food. That’s because John became overweight. My mother has always told his parents that so much fast food was harmful, and they ignored my mother’s advice. Recent, the doctor warned him never not to eat fast food any more after the poor boy had a physical examination. His parents came to realize what a terribly mistake they had made. Now John’s mother often comes to ask my mother for advice in how to make healthy food.
