All of us in Monte Vista Christian School know we’ll one day have graduation photos for the yearbook taken. As the time ______, the girls start to have a ______ about what they’ll wear and where to take the photos, while the boys ______ hardly talk about it. As for me, I ______ for my photos to be taken by the sea.
When I arrived there, I met my photographer, Annie. She asked me to make some poses and I ______ her advice. After that, I asked if she could make me look ______ by taking photos in a different way, ______ I’m less than 1.6 meters tall. To my ______ she responded, “I will make no ______ to make you look like someone you’re not. You look good in your own way.” She ______ that she wouldn’t try to edit the photos either.
I was shocked by what she said. Girls always ______ to look perfect by using different visual angles. When you go to a photo studio, photographers always try to hide your ______ by telling you to stand in a certain way. And picture editors can easily ______ your look by making you appear any you want to. ______, that’s not the case here. Seeing I was ______. Annie explained: “Everyone has his uniqueness. You need to ______ your own beauty. You cannot live in a world of ______ photos.”
It was the first time that I had met a photographer who doesn’t ______ photos at all. After the shoot, I saw the photos — they are ______ special and natural. But what’s even more special are Annie’s ______, which will always stay in my heart.
1.A. flows B. approaches C. shrinks D. develops
2.A. discussion B. request C. reason D. complaint
3.A. by accident B. in addition C. by comparison D. in advance
4.A. accounted B. applied C. searched D. arranged
5.A. considered B. declined C. followed D. consulted
6.A. taller B. prettier C. thinner D. stronger
7.A. unless B. though C. since D. while
8.A. delight B. astonishment C. relief D. satisfaction
9.A. decision B. choice C. promise D. attempt
10.A. added B. swore C. explained D. admitted
11.A. pretend B. manage C. desire D. pay
12.A. preferences B. advantages C. personalities D. imperfections
13.A. expose B. recover C. change D. recognize
14.A. However B. Therefore C. Otherwise D. Anyway
15.A. annoyed B. confused C. discouraged D. embarrassed
16.A. foster B. admire C. describe D. advocate
17.A. vivid B. colorful C. artificial D. popular
18.A. polish B. organize C. cut D. exhibit
19.A. causally B. roughly C. partially D. truly
20.A. attitudes B. words C. actions D. skills
Real-life Room Escape Games
Real-life room escape games are a type of physical adventure game in which people are locked in a room with other participants and have to use the things in the room to settle a series of puzzles, find clues, and escape the room within a set time limit.
The games are based on Escape the Room video games, such as Crimson Room and QP-Shot, created by TAKAGISM Inc. by Toshimitsu Takagi in 2005, in which the player is locked inside a room and must explore his or her surroundings in order to escape. 1. Other inspirations include adventure board games and movies. Real-life room escape games are becoming popular in the United States, Japan, and China.2. For example, some games require you to escape prison cells while others require you to escape space stations.
3. Soon, they were exported to North America, Asia and Australia. Examples include the two pioneer companies Hint Hunt and Adventure Rooms.
The games were so successful that new locations began opening up across China, in cities big and small, according to Want China Times. In the southern city of Shenzhen, for example, the first escape game location opened last August. 4. “These real-life escape games can help those who stay at home on their computers and iPads all day to experience real social circles,” Tian Xiaochuan, who owns two room escape game stores in Jinan, told Want China Times. Earlier this year, The South China Morning Post said the real-life escape games are a hit among “highly stressed students and overworked young professionals”. 5. Some players get so involved that they tear down equipment or decorations inside their “prisons”, as Zhu Yumeng, chief operating officer of Beijing room escape game store Taoquan told China Daily.
A. Each game adds local themes to settings.
B. And seven new game locations quickly followed.
C. They should also be brave enough to face their fears.
D. Sometimes the excitement becomes a bit much, though.
E. Weekend or day event escape games have been held in some stores.
F. Permanent real life escape games in a fixed location were first opened in Europe.
G. Players must be observant and use their critical thinking skills to escape the room.
What Cocktail Parties Teach Us
You’re at a party. Music is playing. Glasses are clinking. Dozens of conversations are driving up the decibel (分贝) level. Yet among all those distractions, you can tune your attention to just one voice from many. This ability is what researchers call the “cocktail-party effect”.
Scientists at the University of California in San Francisco have found where that sound-editing process occurs in the brain — in the auditory cortex (听觉皮层) just behind the ear, not in areas of higher thought. The auditory cortex boosts some sounds and turns down others so that when the signal reaches the higher brain, “it’s as if only one person was speaking alone,” says investigator Edward Chang.
These findings, published in the journal Nature last week, explain why people aren’t very good at multitasking — our brains are wired for “selective attention” and can focus on only one thing at a time. That inborn ability has helped humans survive in a world buzzing with visual and auditory stimulation (刺激). But we keep trying to push the limits with multitasking, sometimes with tragic (悲剧的) consequences. Drivers talking on cellphones, for example, are four times as likely to get into traffic accidents as those who aren’t.
Many of those accidents are due to “inattentional blindness”, in which people can, in effect, turn a blind eye to things they aren’t focusing on. The more attention a task demands, the less attention we can pay to other things in our field of vision. Images land on our retinas (视网膜) and are either boosted or played down in the visual cortex before being passed to the brain, just as the auditory cortex filters sounds, as shown in the Nature study last week. “It’s a push-pull relationship — the more we focus on one thing, the less we can focus on others,” says Diane M. Beck, an associate professor of psychology at the University of Illinois.
Studies over the past decade at the University of Utah show that drivers talking on hands-free cellphones are just as influenced as those on hands-held phones because it is the conversation, not the device, that is distracting their attention. Those talking on any kind of cellphone react more slowly and miss more traffic signals than other motorists.
Some people can train themselves to pay extra attention to things that are important — like police officers learn to scan crowds for faces and conductors can listen for individual instruments within the orchestra as a whole. Many more think they can effectively multitask, but are actually shifting their attention rapidly between two things and not getting the full effect of either, experts say.
1.What have scientists in University of California found about “the cocktail-party effect”?
A. Usually there is only one person who is speaking alone.
B. All kinds of annoying sounds drive up the decibel level.
C. The higher brain processes sounds and images selectively.
D. Sounds are sorted out before reaching the higher brain.
2.What do we learn from the passage?
A. We are biologically incapable of multitasking.
B. We survive distractions in life by multitasking.
C. We cannot multitask without extra attention.
D. We benefit from pushing the limit with multitasking.
3.Which of the following is an example of “inattentional blindness”?
A. A careless driver lost his eyesight after a car accident.
B. Police scanned the crowds and located the criminal.
C. A manager talked on a hands-free phone with his client.
D. A pedestrian had a car accident because of phubbing (低头).
4.The main purpose of the passage is to ______.
A. compare and contrast
B. inform and explain
C. argue and discuss
D. examine and evaluate
If you want to convince the boss you deserve a pay rise or promotion, the solution could be simple — eat the same food as they do. Psychologists have discovered managers are much more likely to instantly trust us if we choose the same dishes as them.
During experiments, discussions over wages and work conditions were much more successful if both sides chose to snack on the same treats. And shoppers were much more likely to buy a product advertised on TV by someone eating a similar food to them at the time.
The reason is thought to be so-called similarity attraction theory — where people tend to like others who have similar tastes or habits to themselves. But this is believed to be one of the first studies highlighting the role of food in this relationship. Researchers at Chicago University in the US conducted a series of experiments to examine food’s role in earning trust.
In a test, participants were told to watch TV — where someone pretending to be a member of the public praised a certain product. The volunteers were given Kit Kat bars to nibble (咬), while the TV people ate either a Kit Kat or grapes as they talked.
The results showed viewers were much more likely to express an interest in buying the product if the TV showed the other person eating a Kit Kat too.
The researchers added, “Although similarity in food consumption is not a sign of whether two people will get along, we find consumers treat this as such. They feel more trusting of those who consume as they do. It means people can immediately begin to feel friendship and develop a bond, leading to smoother transactions (交易) from the start.”
Harley Street psychologist Dr. Lucy Atcheson said it was already known that wearing similar clothes could instantly create trust. But this was the first report that food had the same effect. She said, “This is really interesting. It makes sense as people feel they have common ground and can trust the other person. That means negotiations are more likely to be successful.”
1.According to the passage, customers are likely to buy a product from a dealer who ______.
A. has the same taste as them
B. advertises his products on TV
C. reduces the price of his products
D. pays attention to the quality of his products
2.The experiments conducted by researchers at Chicago University show that ______.
A. food plays an important role in earning people’s trust
B. bosses like employees that have the same taste as them
C. people who have similar tastes to their boss’s earn more
D. people have less interest in buying products advertised on TV
3.What can be inferred from the passage?
A. People who eat similar food are more likely to trust each other.
B. People will get along with each other if they like to eat similar things.
C. The effect of wearing similar clothes hasn’t been proved by researchers.
D. People are more likely to make friends with those wearing the same clothes as them.
4.Which of the following sayings can be an example of the similarity attraction theory?
A. Honesty is the best policy.
B. All good things come to an end.
C. Birds of a feather flock together.
D. Where there is a will, there is a way.
The annual World Economic Forum took place in Davos, Switzerland, in Jan. 23-26, 2018. What did Chinese entrepreneurs speak in the forum? Are there some quotable quotes for you?
★Jack Ma, founder and executive chairman of Alibaba Group
“I think globalization cannot be stopped — no one can stop globalization, no one can stop trade. If trade stops, the world stops. Trade is the way to dissolve (结束) the war not cause the war,” said Ma in Davos, “Google, Facebook, Amazon and Alibaba — we are the luckiest companies of this century. But we have the responsibility to have a good heart, and do something good.”
★Richard Liu, founder and chief executive officer of JD
“Business is not only a way to make money but also a way to contribute yourself, to help people,” Liu said in a speech in Davos. “How can we face the fractured (分化的) world? That’s the topics of the Davos this year. I think a very important thing in business is cooperation. If we can unite, work together, if we work very closely, I think we can bring more hope to the people and we can build more trust between the people, countries and companies and partners,” he said.
★Jane Sun, CEO of Ctrip
“Tourism is a sunrise industry. Since I entered Ctrip, every year there are new comers, which, first of all, shows that tourism is booming.” Sun told Sina.com in Davos. “We invested heavily in ABC. A refers to AI, B is big data, and C is cloud computing. As we continue to expand overseas, these three will be very good weapons for us. So we think those mean opportunity,” she said.
★Hu Xiaoming, president of Aliyun
“In 2018, people will see the development in various countries more closely connected with cloud computing. More manufacturing enterprises and financial institutions will start to use ‘cloud’, and cloud computing will increase the efficiency of technology and finance,” Hu told Xinhua in Davos.
1.What do Chinese entrepreneurs like Jack Ma and Richard Liu focus more on?
A. More huge jumps in profits. B. The joined efforts of mankind.
C. Reducing production costs. D. The role of science in business.
2.What is the main business of Ctrip?
A. Tourism. B. The creation of AI.
C. Computer. D. Financial service online.
3.What does Hu think will promote global economic development?
A. Economy recovery. B. The World Economic Forum.
C. Cloud computing. D. Financial efficiency.
假如你是李华，是你校英文报纸“Teens’ Life”的编辑。请你用英文为报纸写一篇介绍中国传统节日“端午节”的文章。
要点如下： 1.节日的日期；
2.节日的由来；
3.庆祝的方式。
注意：1.词数100左右；
2.短文开头已给出，不计入总词数；
3.可适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。
参考词汇: 战国时期the Warring States Period; 自杀 commit suicide; 粽子Zongzi。
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