C
People from East Asia tend to have more difficulty than those from Europe in distinguishing facial expressions---and a new report published online in Current Biology explains why.
Rachael Jack, University of Glasgow researcher, said that rather than scanning evenly across a face as Westerners do, Easterners fix their attention on the eyes.
“We show that Easterners and Westerners look at different face features to read facial expressions,” Jack said. “Westerners look at the eyes and the mouth in equal measure, while Easterners favor the eyes and ignore the mouth.”
According to Jack and her colleagues, the discovery shows that human communication of emotion is more complex than previously believed. As a result, facial expressions that had been considered universally recognizable cannot be used reliably to convey emotion in cross-cultural situations.
The researchers studied cultural differences in the recognition of facial expressions by recording the facial movements of 13 Western people and 13 Eastern people while they observed pictures of expressive faces and put them into categories: happy, sad, surprised, fearful, disgusted, or angry. They compared how accurately participants read those facial expressions using their particular eye movement strategies.
It turned out that Easterners focused much greater attention on the eyes and made significantly more errors than Westerners did. “The cultural difference in eye movements that they show is probably a reflection of cultural difference in facial expressions,” Jack said. “Our data suggest that while Westerners use the whole face to convey emotion, Easterners use the eyes more and mouth less.”
In short, the data show that facial expressions are not universal signals of human emotion. From here on, examining how cultural factors have diversified these basic social skills will help our understanding of human emotion. Otherwise, when it comes to communicating emotions across cultures, Easterners and Westerners will find themselves lost in translation.
1.The discovery shows that Westerners______.
A. pay equal attention to the eyes and the mouth
B. consider facial expressions universally reliable
C. observe the eyes and the mouth in different ways
D. have more difficulty in recognizing facial expression
2.What were the people asked to do in the study?
A. To make a face at each other
B. To get their faces impressive
C. To classify some face pictures
D. To observe the researchers’ faces
3.What does the underlined word “they” in paragraph 6 refer to?
A. The participants in the study
B. The researchers of the study
C. The errors made in the study
D. The data collected from the study
4.In comparison with the Westerners, Easterners are likely to_____.
A. do translation more successfully
B. study the mouth frequently
C. examine the eyes more attentively
D. read facial expressions more correctly
B
Last July, my 12-year-old car died on California’s Santa Ana Freeway. It was hour before sunset, and I was 25 miles from home. I couldn't reach anyone to pick me up, so I decided to take a bus. Not knowing the routes, I figured I’d just head east. A bus pulled up, and I asked the driver how far she was going. “Four more lights,” she said. There was another bus I could take from there. This clearly was going to be a long night. She dropped me off at the end of her route and told me which bus to look for. After waiting 30 minutes, I began to think about a very expensive taxi ride home. Then a bus pulled up. There was no lighted number above its windshield. It was out of service. But the door opened, and I was surprised to find that it was the same driver. “I just can’t leave you here,” she said. “This isn’t the nicest place. I will give you a ride home.” “You will drive me home in the bus?” I asked, perplexed. “No, I’ll take you in my car,” she said. “It’s a long way,” I protested. “Come on,” she said. “I have nothing else to do.” As we drove from the station in her car,, she began telling me a story. A few days earlier, her brother had run out of gas. A good Samaritan（乐善好施者）picked him up, took him to a service station and then back to his car. “I’m just passing the favor along,” she said. When I offered her money as a thank you, she wouldn’t hear of it. “That wouldn’t make it a favor,” she said. “Just do something nice to somebody. Pass it along.”
1.Why did the writer say that he would have a long night?
A. He wondered how long he had to wait for the next bus.
B. No driver would give him a ride.
C. He didn’t know the routes.
D. He perhaps would have to take a taxi.
2.Why did the writer change his mind after waiting for 30 minutes at the end of the route?
A. No bus would come at the time.
B.A taxi ride would be more comfortable.
C. He became impatient and a bit worried.
D. He knew the driver would never return
3.The bus driver drove the writer home later because________.
A. she happened to go in the same direction
B. she wanted to do something good for other people
C. her brother told her to do so
D. she wanted to earn more money
4.The bus driver hoped that the writer______.
A. would do as she did
B. would keep her in memory
C. would give the money to others
D. would do her a favor
A
To American visitors, Iceland is a very interesting country, partly because it is different in so many ways from he or she is used to seeing at home. There are quite a few things that are not done, or that do not exist on the island---quite a few “No’s”.
There is no pollution, for instance, No dogs are permitted in Reykjavik, the capital. There is no television on Thursdays or during the entire month of July, and only three hours of black-and-white TV the rest of the time. There is no hard liquor(烈酒) on Wednesdays and no beer at any time. There is no handguns; only one jail of thirty-five cells（狱室）in the entire land---an admirable figure, even for a small country of 313,376 people.
There is no army, air force or navy. There is no tipping for anything. There are no large stores open on Saturdays or Sundays. Since Iceland is situated just under the Arctic Circle, there is no darkness in summer and no daylight in winter. But thanks to Culf Stream, the climate is rather mild, with temperatures ranging from 34 degrees to 52 degrees in July.
The rules on television liquor and guns are the result of government decisions. But the absence of pollution is due in great part to the fact that Iceland gets its power from the enormous geyser and the thousands of hot springs that come out of the ground. They provide all the energy needed by the country. In fact, Iceland uses only 3 percent of all its available power.
Iceland has been described as a democratic independent country where more fish are caught and more books published per person than anywhere else in the world. The Icelanders have always felt a particular love for literature. They composed their first books in the ninth and tenth centuries AD. These works were poems and tales about the kings, heroes, and heroines of Iceland and Norway. At first, the stories were memorized and passed from generation to generation. They were finally written down between1140 and 1220. The Icelanders have never stopped writing ever since. “Rather shoeless than bookless,” they proudly say.
1.American visitors enjoy visiting Iceland probably because_______.
A. no dogs are permitted in the capital
B. the police do not carry handguns
C. the climate is rather mild
D. it is very different from America
2.The following statements are true EXCEPT________.
A. there are no soldiers in Iceland
B. the Icelanders don’t drink beer
C. there is no tip of any kind
D. there are no crimes in Iceland
3.There is no pollution in Iceland mainly because_______.
A. Iceland uses only 3 percent of all its available power
B. the Icelanders use hot water from the ground below as their energy
C. it is located just under the Arctic Circle
D. it is a democratic independent country
4.“Rather shoeless than bookless” means_______.
A. they prefer not to have shoe or books
B. they would rather have shoes on than write books
C. they prefer travelling to reading
D. they regard books more important than shoes.
某英文报社组织了一次有关“健康生活方式”的英语征文活动，你有意参加。对于这两种谚语：“An apple a day keeps the doctor away．”和“An hour walking a day keeps the doctor away．”，你更倾向于哪个，是饮食更重要，还是锻炼更重要，抑或是饮食锻炼都重要。请根据自己的生活体验，表明自己的观点并简要陈述自己的理由。
注意:1．词数：120-150； 2．题目自拟；
3．文中不得透露个人姓名和学校名称。
参考词汇：谚语proverb
阅读下面短文并用英语回答问题，将答案写到答题卡相应的位置上(请注意各小题后面的词数要求)
A new study has found evidence of aggressive behavior in children who drink four or more servings of soft drinks every day．
The mothers of 3,000 five-year-olds took part in the study．They were asked to keep a record of how many servings of soft drinks their children drank over a two-month period and keep records of how they behaved．The researchers found that 43 percent of the boys and girls drank at least one daily serving of soda．Four percent of the youngsters had four or more sodas to drink every day．
Children who drank the most soda were more than two times likely to show signs of aggression．“For the children who consumed four or more soft drinks per day，we see an association between aggressive behaviors，attention problems and withdrawn behaviors．”Shakira Suglia says．The aggressive behaviors included destroying possessions belonging to others，taking part in fights and physically attacking people．
Shakira says the researchers identified the link after they considered the factors like the child’s age and sex．They also considered ____________，such as whether the boys and girls were eating sweets or given fruit drinks on a normal day．In addition，the researchers examined parenting styles and other social conditions that might be taking place in the home．
It is not quite clear why young children who drink a lot of soda have behavior problems．However,a substance often found in soft drinks is caffeine，which helps to make people feel energetic．Doctor Suglia suggests that caffeine could be causing the children to be more aggressive．
The research is part of a larger study called the Fragile Families and Child Well-being Study．It follows 5．000 poor mothers and their children in 20 American cities．
1.What is the main idea of the text?(no more than l 2 words)
2.What does the underlined word“they”in Paragraph 2 probably refer to?(no more than 5 words)
3.List three aggressive behaviors according to the text．(no more than 12 words)
4.Fill in the blank in Paragraph 4 with proper words．(no more than 3 words)
5.Complete the following statement with one word from Paragraph 5．
E
Life is filled with challenges. As we get older we come to realize that those challenges are the very things that shape us and make us who we are，it is the same with the challenges that come withfriendship．When we are faced with a challenge，we usually have two choices. We can try to beat it off, or we can decide that the thing presenting the challenge isn’t worth the trouble and call it quits．Although there are certainly times when calling it quits is the right thing to do，in most cases all that is needed is commitment(承诺)and communication．
When we are committed to something， it means that no matter how painful or how uncomfortable something is，we will always choose to face it through instead of running away from it．Communication is making a space for discussion and talking about how you feel as opposed to just saying what the other person did wrong. If you can say to a friend，“I got my feelings hurt．” rather than“You hurt my feelings．”you are going to be able to solve the problem much faster．
In dealing with many challenges that friendship will bring to you, try to see them for what they are：small hurdles you need to jump or get through on your way through life．Nothing is so big that it is impossible to get over, and hurt only serves to make us stronger．It is all part of growing up，it happens to everyone，and some day you will look back on all of this and say,“Hard as it was，it made me who I am today．And that is a good thing．”
1.What is the underlined word“committed”can be replaced by ____________.
A．devoted B. satisfied
C．smpdsed D．interested
2.It can be inferred from the text that _____________．
A. friendship needs challenges
B．challenges shape our character
C．small hurdles aren’t worth the trouble
D. commitment promotes friendship
3.The writer suggests that _____________ when faced with a challenge．
A. one should call it quits
B. one should temporarily run away from it
C. one should be committed and communicable
D．one should lay it a side for a while
4.According to the passage，if your friend hurts your feelings，you are well advised to _______________．
A．forget it
B．talk to him／her about it directly
C．communicate properly with him／her
D．run away from it
5.The whole passage is centered on the relationship between _____________．
A．friendship and challenges
B．commitment and communication
C．communication and friendship
D．challenges and the ways to get through
