阅读理解Text 2 Last year marked the third year in a row of when Indonesias bleak rate of deforestation has slowed in pace

阅读理解In this section there are five reading passages followed by a total of 20 multiple-choice questions and 5 short answerquestions. Please read the passages and then write your answers on the ANSWER SHEET.TEXT BMost of us are taught to pay attention to what is said—the words. Words do provide us with some information, but meanings are derived from so many other sources that it would hinder our effectiveness as a partner to a relationship to rely too heavily on words alone. Words are used to describe only a small part of the many ideas we associate with any given message. Sometimes we can gain insight into some of those associations if we listen for more than words. We don’t always say what we mean or mean what we say. Sometimes our words don’t mean anything except “I’m letting off some steam. I don’t really want you to pay close attention to what I’m saying. Just pay attention to what I’m feeling.” Mostly we mean several things at once. A person wanting to purchase a house says to the current owner, “This step has to be fixed before I’ll buy.” The owner says, “It’s been like that for years.” Actually, the step hasn’t been like that for years, but the unspoken message is: “I don’t want to fix it. We put up with it. Why can’t you?” The search for a more expansive view of meaning can be developed of examining a message in terms of who said it, when it occurred, the related conditions or situation, and how it was said.The time when a message occurs can also reveal associated meaning. Let us assume two couples do exactly the same amount of kissing and arguing. But one couple always kisses after an argument and the other couple always argues after a kiss. The ordering of the behaviors may mean a great deal more than the frequency of the behavior. A friend’s unusually docile behavior may only be understood by noting that it was preceded by situations that required an abnormal amount of assertiveness. Some responses may be directly linked to a developing pattern of responses and defy logic. For example, a person who says “No!” to a series of charges like “You’re dumb,” “You’re lazy,” and “You’re dishonest,’’ may also say “No!” and try to justify his or her response if the next statement is “And you’re good looking.”We would do well to listen for how messages are presented. The words, “It sure has been nice to have you over,” can be said with emphasis and excitement or ritualistically. The phrase can be said once or repeated several times. And the meanings we associate with the phrase will change accordingly. Sometimes if we say something infrequently it assumes more importance; sometimes the more we say something the less importance it assumes.

阅读理解Yesterday, John went for a bus ride to the countryside

阅读理解Directions: There are 4 passages in this part. Each passage is followed by some questions or unfinished statements. For each of them there are four choices marked A., B., C. and D.. You should deicide the best choice and mark the corresponding letter on the Answer Sheet with a single line through the center.Passage ThreeThe typical American worker with a four-year college degree earns a lot more money than a similar worker who didn’t go beyond high school—45% more.Education does pay. But in today’s economy, getting a bachelor’s degree is no longer a guarantee of raises big enough to beat inflation.Although the best-paid college grads are doing well, wages of college grads have fallen on average in the past five years. The only group that enjoyed rising wages between 2000 and 2005 were the small slice with graduate degrees.Even though the economy has been growing smartly, lots of workers who played by the rules and went the distance to get a four-year college degree aren’t getting ahead.How come? Labor’s slice of the apples is smaller and corporate profits’ slice is larger. Moreover, labor’s share has been sliced increasingly unevenly. The very best-paid workers are getting the bulk of the raises.Wage inequality has been widening for a couple of decades. But in the past decade, the gap between the bottom and the middle hasn’t widened much while wages at the top have pulled away. The top 1% in the U.S. got 16% of all income in 2014, compared with 9% in 1984.The question isn’t whether the gap between winners and losers in the labor market is widening; it’s why. And it’s no longer as simple as saying. The more education one gets, the more one earns. Something more complicated is driving up pay at the top.There are three explanations, all of which have some merit. One, it’s more socially acceptable than it was a generation ago for the top-tier chief executive, hedge-fund manager or baseball players to make an enormous amount of money. Two, the world has changed in ways that make No.1 or No.2— whether a trial lawyer or a rock star—much more valuable than No.19 and 20. And, three, there’s the influence on supply and demand of globalization and technology. At the high end, sharply rising wages suggest demand for the most-educated workers is growing faster than the supply. It’s changes in demand; combined with the fact that it’s very hard to replicate a lot of that talent, and we haven’t expanded the ranks of those professors as fast as we could.

阅读理解It is impossible to produce spoken language without using some form of communication beyond the literal meaning of the words chosen

阅读理解 In a world where bad news has become everyday news, people are turning to an ancient technique to deal with stress: meditation. At meditation centers, prayer groups and yoga studios around the United States, more and more are finding peace of mind by being quiet. Some use meditation to help deal with life changes; others, to process the painful reality of political and social unrest around the world of the type that has been experienced more recently. Stress from the September 11 terrorist attacks is probably 'about 70 percent' of the reason one Chicago man started meditating and practicing yoga with his new wife. He became so emotionally affected that he realized he needed help in managing his stress. The yoga classes he takes begin and end with meditation. This 'quiet time' helps him feel a lot more relaxed and gives him more breath control. The fact is, though, that he is not alone. Across the country, many are turning to more meditative exercise as they seek both psychological and physiological relief. In addition to helping people work out their stress, these classes bring people together, in the same way that religious services or other community activities have done in the past. Different schools of meditation teach particular techniques, but they share a common basis—focusing attention on something your mind can return to if you are distracted. This may be the rhythm of breathing, an object such as a candle flame, or a repetitive movement, as in walking or taiji. Regardless of the specific technique or mode that is followed, meditation has well-documented benefits. Medical research indicates that it causes a sharp decrease in metabolic activity, reduced muscle tension, slower breathing, and a shift from faster brainwaves to slower waves, it also reduces high blood pressure. Practitioners are convinced that meditation is good for health because it relaxes the body. For ages, meditation has been a core practice of many groups meeting in their communal or religious centers. However, let's not forget that this is the twenty-first century. So, for those people who are too shy or busy to go to the nearest meditation center, there are Internet sites that offer online guided meditation. One has a variety of meditations from various religious traditions. At another, Jesuit priests post meditations and readings from the Scriptures everyday, and at still another, Buddhist and Hindu practitioners include music and visuals to accompany their offerings. These websites allow anyone with a computer access to meditation at any time. The fact is that whether online, at yoga classes, or at local spiritual centers, more people are turning to the practice of meditation.

阅读理解Passage 1 An Adjustment to Price Most American people hate repeating the same work endlessly, especially those who live in the West America

阅读理解Passage 2 When a consumer finds that an item she or he bought is faulty or in some other way does not live up to the manufacturers claim for it, the first step is to present the warranty(保单), or any other records which might help, at the store of purchase

阅读理解Passage ThreeMost growing plants contain much more water than all other materials combined. C. R. Barnes has suggested that it is as proper to term the plant a water structure as to call a house composed mainly of brick a brick building. Certain it is that all essential processes of plant growth and development occur in water. The mineral elements from the soil that are usable for the plant must be dissolved in the soil solution before they can be taken into the root. They are carried to all parts of the growing plant and are built into essential plant materials while in a dissolved state. The carbon dioxide (CO2 ) from the air may enter the leaf as a gas but is dissolved in water in the leaf before it is combined with a part of the water to form simple sugars—the base material from which the plant body is mainly built. Actively growing plant parts are generally 75 to 90 percent water. Structural parts of plants, such as woody stems no longer actively growing, may have much less water than growing tissues.The actual amount of water in the plant at any one time, however, is only a very small part of what passes through it during its development. The processes of photosynthesis, by which carbon dioxide and water are combined—in the presence of chlorophyll（叶绿素） and with energy derived from light—to form sugars, require that carbon dioxide from the air enter the plant. This occurs mainly in the leaves. The leaf surface is not solid but contains great numbers of minute openings, through which the carbon dioxide enters. The same structure that permits the one gas to enter the leaf, however, permits another gas—water vapor—to be lost from it. Since carbon dioxide is present in the air only in trace quantities (3 to 4 parts in 10, 000 parts of air) and water vapor is near saturation in the air spaces within the leaf (at 800F, saturated air would contain about 186 parts of water vapor in 10,000 parts of air), the total amount of water vapor lost is many times the carbon dioxide intake. Actually, because of wind and other factors, the loss of water in proportion to carbon dioxide intake may be even greater than the relative concentrations of the two gases. Also, not all of the carbon dioxide that enters the leaf is synthesized into carbohydrates（碳水化合物）.

阅读理解Passage One Keeping a diary is bad for your health, psychologist said recently

阅读理解Passage Two Red Nose Day (RND) is a well-known event in the UK

阅读理解Why did the author quit in her second year of college?

阅读理解A UCSF study has revealed new information about how the brain directs the body to make movements. The key factor is “noise” in the brain’s signaling, and it helps explain why all movement is not carried out with the same level of precision.Understanding where noise arises in the brain has implications for advancing research in neuromotor control and in developing therapies for disorders where control is impaired, such as Parkinson’s disease.The new study was developed “to understand brain machinery behind such common movements as typing, walking through a doorway or just pointing at an object,” says Stephen Lisberger, PhD, senior study investigator who is director of the W. M. Keck Center for Integrative Neuroscience at the University of California, San Francisco. Study co-investigators are Leslie C. Osborne, PhD, a postdoctoral fellow at UCSF, and William Bialek, PhD, professor of physics at Princeton University.The study findings, reported in the September 15 issue of the journal Nature, are part of ongoing research by Lisberger and colleagues on the neural mechanisms that allow the brain to learn and maintain skills and behavior. These basic functions are carried out through the coordination of different nerve cells within the brain’s neural circuits. “To make a movement, the brain takes the electrical activity of many neurons and combines them to make muscle contractions,” Lisberger explains. “But the movements aren’t always perfect. So we asked, what gets in the way?” The answer, he says, is “noise”, which is defined as the difference between what is actually occurring and what the brain perceives. He offers making a foul shot in basketball as an example. If there were no noise in the neuromotor system, a player would be able to perform the same motion over and over and never miss a shot.“Understanding how noise is reduced to very precise commands helps us understand how those commands are created,” says Lisberger, who also is a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator and a UCSF professor of physiology.In the study, the research team focused on a movement that all primates are very skilled at: an eye movement known as “smooth pursuit” that allows the eyes to track a moving target. In a series of exercises with monkeys in which the animals would track visual targets, the researchers measured neural activity and smooth pursuit eye movements. From this data, the team analyzed the difference between how accurately the animals actually tracked a moving object and how accurately the brain perceived the trajectory. Findings showed that both the smooth pursuit system and the brain’s perceptual system were nearly equal.“This teaches us that these very different neural processes are limited to the same degree by the same noise sources,” says Lisberger. “And it shows that both processes are very good at reducing noise.” He concludes, “Because the brain is noisy, our motor systems don’t always do what it tells us to. Making precise movements in the face of this noise is a challenge.”

阅读理解Most people buy insurance because.

阅读理解Americans no longer expect public figures, whether in speech or in writing, to command the English language with skill and gift. Nor do they aspire to such command themselves. In his latest book, Doing Our Own Thing: The Degradation of Language and Music and Why We Should, Like, Care, John McWhorter, a linguist and controversialist of mixed liberal and conservative views, sees the triumph of 1960s counter - culture as responsible for the decline of formal English. Blaming the permissive 1960s is nothing new, but this is not yet another criticism against the decline in education. Mr. McWhorter'' s academic speciality is language history and change, and he sees the gradual disappearance of "whom", for example, to be natural and no more regrettable than the loss of the case - endings of Old English. But the cult of the authentic and the personal, "doing our own thing", has spelt the death of formal speech, writing, poetry and music. While even the modestly educated sought an elevated tone when they put pen to paper before the 1960s, even the most well regarded writing since then has sought to capture spoken English on the page. Equally, in poetry, the highly personal, performative genre is the only form that could claim real liveliness. In both oral and written English,talkings triumphing over speaking, spontaneity over craft. Illustrated with an entertaining array of examples from both high and low culture, the trend that Mr. McWhorter documents is unmistakable. But it is less clear, to take the question of his subtitle, why we should, like, care. As a linguist, he acknowledges that all varieties of human language, including non -standard ones like Black English, can be powerfully expressive--there exists no language or dialect in the world that cannot convey complex ideas. He is not arguing, as many do, that we can no longer think straight because we do not talk proper. Russians have a deep love for their own language and carry large chunks of memorized poetry in their heads, while Italian politicians tend to elaborate speech that would seem old -fashioned to most English- speakers. Mr. McWhorter acknowledges that formal language is not strictly necessary, and proposes no radical education reforms--he is really grieving over the loss of something beautiful more than useful. We now take our English "on paper plates instead of china". A shame, perhaps, but probably an inevitable one.

阅读理解Passage 1 When you think of a culture, you usually think of things such as art, language, music, literature, and architecture

阅读理解Passage 6 In every known human society the males needs for achievements can be recognizedIn a great number of human societies mens sureness of their sex role is tied up with their right, or ability, to practice some activity that women are not allowed to practice

阅读理解Social isolation poses more health risks than obesity or smoking 15 cigarettes a day, according to research published by Brigham Young University. The【C1】________is that loneliness is a huge, if silent, risk factor. Loneliness affects physical health in two ways. First, it produces stress hormones that can lead to many health problems. Second, people who live alone are less likely to go to the doctor【C2】________, to exercise or to eat a healthy diet. Public health experts in many countries are【C3】________how to address widespread loneliness in our society. Last year Britain even appointed a minister for loneliness. "Loneliness 【C4】________almost every one of us at some point," its minister for loneliness Baroness Barran said. "It can lead to very serious health【C5】________for individuals who become isolated and disconnected. " Barran started a "Let’s Talk Loneliness" campaign that【C6】________difficult conversations across Britain. He is now supporting "【C7】________benches," which are public seating areas where people are encouraged to go and chat with one another. The minister is also【C8】________to stop public transportation from being cut in ways that leave people isolated. More than one-fifth of adults in both the United States and Britain said in a 2018【C9】________that they often or always feel lonely. More than half of American adults are unmarried, and researchers have found that even among those who are married, 30% of relationships are【C10】________strained. A quarter of Americans now live alone. and as the song says. one is the loneliest number.A) abruptly I) implicationB) appointments J) pushingC) consequences K) severelyD) debating L) sparkedE) dimensions M) splittingF) friendly N) surveyG) hindered O) touches H) idiom

阅读理解Passage4 FEED THE BRAIN,BUT LESS SUGAR While no single factor has been identified as the cause of Alzheimers it is thought that lifestyle choices,suc h as diet exercise and sleep habits can all have a significant impact on the risk