Creativity is the ability to generate novel,useful ideas and innovation is the successful application of those ideas.With this in mind,it is easy to think that technology has made us more creative:the digital revolution(改革）has clearly produced a large number of innovative products and services.
However,it would be naive(幼稚的）to imply that these activities are truly indicative of creativity,even if quantity does eventually lead to quality.For instance,the probability of taking a great photograph does increase when there are millions of Instagram pictures taken every day,and when 500 million tweets are generated(严生）daily,it is highly probable that one or two will be funny.
Yet,much of the content people generate is unimportant and unoriginal.Before the Internet it would have stayed in the minds of their authors,but our thoughts can now be broadcasted to the. world as if they were worthy creations.The only thing that appears to have increased,rather greatly,is people's self-perceived(自认为的）creativity.From the use of emoji(表情符号）instead of words,to the use of pre-determined functions to express our views-liking,sharing and disliking,these new forms human interaction promote efficient-but lazy-behaviors so that we can devote more time to consuming more content.
Although user-generated content has been growing rapidly in the past decade,much of it is noise and the result is that valuable and trustworthy information is now harder to find.In an age of information glut(过剩），everything is freely available but knowledge is hard to gain.This paradox highlights the importance of the"less is more"philosophy of life.
Curiosity evolved to make sense of the world and help us master our environments.Our ancestors must have benefited from taking on as much information from their surroundings as they could paying attention to everything and turning into the learning machine.Yet in an age of information glut,the curious mind is forced to ignore as much of the available data as it can,in order to consume only what is valuable.
1.Why are the examples of great pictures and funny tweets mentioned in Paragraph 2?
A.To show quantity will lead to quality.
B.To explain creativity is something impressive.
C.To show technology hasn't made us more creative.
D.To explain innovative products come from creativity.
2.What does the author think of the new forms of human interaction?
A.They are worthy creations.
B.They kill people's creativity actually.
C.They prevent effective communication.
D.They help people consume more useful content.
3.Which of the following explains the underlined part"This paradox"in the last but one paragraph?
A.There' re more resources for knowledge but few people are willing to use them.
B.Too much information has generated material wealth but not spiritual wealth.
C.We live in an age of information explosion but we find it difficult to get knowledge.
D.Many people stick to the"less is more"philosophy with large amounts of information at hand.
4.Which of the following statements about user-generated content does the author most probably agree with?
A.Much of it is original information about the real world:
B.It is the fruit of our ancestors' mastering our environments..
C.It gives the public quick and easy access to the required information.
D.It presents us with the challenge of telling valuable information from worthless content.
People who are cheerful and relaxed are less likely to suffer from colds.It's possible that being full of vim and vigor helps the body fight illnesses,say the researchers from Carnegie Mellon University(CMC)in Pittsburgh.
＂We need to take more seriously the possibility that a positive emotional style is a major player in disease risk,"says psychologist Sheldon Cohen,the study's lead researcher.
In a previous study,Cohen and his colleagues found that people who tended to be cheerful and lively were least likely to develop sniffles,coughs and other cold symptoms.People who showed positive feelings were also less likely to mention symptoms to their doctors,even when medical tests detected those symptoms.
Those findings were interesting,but they didn't prove that a person's attitude affects whether he or she gets sick.Instead,it was still possible that a person's underlying personality is what matters.
Evidence suggests,for instance,that certain people are naturally more likely to be outgoing and optimistic,with high self-esteem and a sense of control over life.This would mean that who we are,not how we feel,ultimately decides our chances of catching colds.
To figure out which mattered more,personality or emotions,the researchers interviewed 193 healthy adults.The researchers talked to each person over the phone every evening for 2 weeks. They told the researchers about the positive and negative feelings they had experienced that day.
The results showed that everyone in the study was equally likely to get infected.Their symptoms,however,differed depending on the types of emotions that they had reported over the previous fortnight.
Among those who reported good moods and had been infected with the flu virus,for example, 28 percent developed coughs and stuffy noses.On the other hand,those symptoms struck 41 percent of people who had been less positive.Scientists argue about whether negative emotions or positive emotions have a stronger effect on how healthy we are.For now,it can't hurt to look on the bright side more often than not!
1.What is the text mainly about?
A.How to get rid of colds.
B.Attitude determines life.
C.Smiles turn away colds.
D.Different opinions about colds.
2.The phrase"full of vim and vigor"underlined in Paragraph 1 probably means"
A.ignorant B.well-informed
C.energetic D.passive
3.According to the finding,a leading factor of catching colds should be one's.
A.health B.personality
C.quality D.mood
4.By saying the last paragraph,the writer intends to suggest
A.the saying-every coin has two sides
B.positive emotions are as good as negative emotions
C.it is not necessarily good for you if you always look at problems positively
D.it will be good for your health to always keep up an optimistic state of mind
Teens are now less likely to do part time jobs,drink alcohol or go out without their parents than their counterpart 10 or 20 years ago.This generation of teens is delaying the responsibilities and pleasures of adulthood.Some people think that today's teens are more virtuous(品行端正的） and responsible.Others have suggested that today's teens aren't working because they are simply lazy.
To figure out what's really going on,we should look at these trends with"life history theory" taken into consideration.A"fast life method"was the more common parenting approach in the mid-20th century,when fewer labor-saving devices were available and the average woman had four children.The parents needed to focus on day to day survival.As a result,kids needed to care for themselves sooner.A"slow life method"on the other hand is more common in times and places where families have fewer children and spend more time on each child's growth and development.When the average family has two children,preparing for college can begin as early as primary schools.The two methods are adaptations to a particular cultural background,so each isn't naturally"good"or"bad".
Delaying exposure to alcohol,then,could make young adults less prepared to deal with drinking in college.One study found teens who rapidly increased there binge-drinking(酗酒） were more at risk of alcohol dependence than those who learned to drink over a longer period of time.The same might be true of teens who don't work,drive or go out much in high school. College administrators describe students who can't do anything without calling their parents. Employers worry that more young employees lack the ability to work independently.
However,the"slow-life method"is also likely beneficial as teens are spending more time developing socially and emotionally before they drive,drink alcohol and work for pay.The key is to make sure that teens eventually get the opportunity to develop the skills they will need as adults: independence,along with social and decision making skills.For parents,this might mean pushing their teenagers out of the house more.
1.According to the text,teens in the past were more____.
A.reliable B.outgoing
C.intelligent D.independent
2.What plays a vital role in the trend of teens growing up more slowly?
A.Social standard
B.Cultural changes
C.Educational development.
D.Methods of education
3.What does the author advise parents to do?
A.Spend less time in accompanying their children.
B..Force their children to leave home at an early age.
C.Encourage their children to take part in social activities.
D.Help their children to get to adulthood as soon as possible.
4.Which of the following can be the best tile for the text?
A.How teens develop skills they need in future
B.Teens take no responsibility for what they do
C.Why today's teens aren't in any hurry to grow up
D.Nowadays teens can't make decisions by themselves
假如你是李华，你的英国朋友Jim最近开始学习中文，感觉有些难，来信希望你能给他一些建议。请你给他回信，内容包括：
1.中文难学的原因；
2.你的建议及理由；
3.你的祝愿。
注意：
1.词数不少于50。
2.开头和结尾已给出，不计入总词数
Dear Jim,
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Yours,
Li hua
翻译句子
1.为了保持专注，你需要谨记你为什么学英语。
2.专家提倡每个人都发挥作用。（advocate）
3.在慎重考虑之后我们给了杨明一个警告。（强调句）
4.他们一搬进来噪音就开始了，因此他们很少能够整晚睡觉！（倒装句）
5.如果美国运动员Marion Jones没有使用兴奋剂，那她还有可能参加奥运会吗？（混合虚拟语气）
When you sleep, do you ever realize that you are dreaming? If yes, then you have had a lucid dream (清醒梦). 1. Only some people are able to have them. Now, scientists have found ways to help more people to have lucid dreams, Live Science reported.
Denholm Aspy from the University of Adelaide in Australia found that certain skills are key to helping people have lucid dreams.
First, people can train themselves to figure out whether they are dreaming or not. For example, someone may look at a clock, look away, and then look back. 2. Then, they might dream about this trick while sleeping. But in their dreams, the time on the clock may change very quickly. So people know they are dreaming.
Another trick is to wake up after five hours of sleep. 3. During this time, repeat the words, “The next time I’m dreaming, I’ll remember that I’m dreaming.” Then, go to bed again to enter rapid eye movement (REM，快速眼球运动) sleep. In REM sleep, people are more likely to be aware of their dreams.
Scientists found that those who used these tricks had a 17 percent success rate at having lucid dreams. 4.
In a lucid dream, people might study a hobby and then become better at it in real life, according to Aspy. For example, you might learn to play the piano in a lucid dream. 5.
A.Then, stay awake for a while.
B.The time should stay the same.
C.This was far higher than if they did nothing.
D.People learn new skills faster in a lucid dream.
E.It is hard for most people to have a lucid dream.
F.Then, your real-life piano skills might improve.
G.Some people will need more time to fall asleep and have a dream.
