You open your eyes and mouth wide if you see a live rat in your bedroom but you wrinkle your nose and narrow your eyes if you see a dead one in the road. Why is that? Facial expressions are usually thought of as simple tools of communication. But in his book The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals, Charles Darwin proposed that they may prepare us to react to different situations when he noticed that some expressions seemed to be used across cultures and even species. Now Joshua Susskind and his colleagues at the University of Toronto, Canada, have put that idea to the test.

Susskind’s team wondered whether the expressions of fear might improve how sensory (感官的) information is acquired and so sharpen senses. Conversely disgust (厌恶) might weaken the senses, sheltering us from unpleasant sights and smells.

The researchers asked volunteers to complete various tests while holding a fearful, disgusted or neutral expression. In one test, they had to identify when a spot entered their sight. In another they were required to shift their focus as quickly as possible between two targets on a computer screen. It was also measured how much air the volunteers breathed in while expressing fear and disgust.

In each case the wide-eyed faces let significantly more of the world in. Volunteers with wide-open eyes detected surrounding objects more quickly and performed side-to-side eye movements faster. They also took in more air with each breath without any extra effort. An MRI (核磁共振) scan showed the nasal cavity (鼻腔) was enlarged while volunteers held this expression, which could be linked with a greater ability to absorb smells.

“These changes confer the idea that fear, for example, is a posture towards sensory sharpening while disgust a posture towards sensory rejection,” says Susskind. His team is already at work on experiments to explore to what extent the brain can use this extra information to enhance performance.

1.Charles Darwin’s book proposed that facial expressions might _____.

A. act as a simple tool of communication

B. get people ready to the changes of circumstances

C. be difficult to understand in different cultures

D. equip people with the knowledge of other species

2.In Joshua Susskind’s research, the researchers _____.

A. wondered whether there existed other expressions of fear

B. wanted subjects to use facial expressions to complete tests

C. wanted to test how much air subjects breathed in normally

D. wondered whether expressions of disgust weakened our senses

3.The underlined sentence in Paragraph 4 means that _____.

A. wide-eyed expressions would help you understand the world better

B. facial expressions might result in faster eye movements

C. wide-eyed expressions would help people breathe in more air

D. facial expressions might help people notice more things around

4.In the last paragraph, what might be the new thinking of facial expressions?

A. They might tell the brain how to make use of the facial information.

B. They might explain why people consider fear as a posture towards sharper senses.

C. They might provide extra information to brains thus enhancing performance.

D. They might clarify the relationship between brain and environments.

B

Getting less sleep has become a bad habit for most American kids. According to a new survey(调查) by the National Sleep Foundation, 51% of kids aged 10 to 18 go to bed at 10 pm or later on school nights, even though they have to get up early. Last year the Foundation reported that nearly 60% of 7- to 12-year-olds said that they felt tired during the day, and 15% said they had fallen asleep at school.

How much sleep you need depends a lot on your age. Babies need a lot of rest: most of them sleep about 18 hours a day! Adults need about eight hours. For most school-age children, ten hours is ideal(理想的). But the new National Sleep Foundation survey found that 35% of 10- to 12-year-olds get only seven or eight hours. And guess what almost half of the surveyed kids said they do before bedtime? Watch TV.

“More children are going to bed with TVs on, and there are more opportunities(机会) to stay awake, with more homework, the Internet and the phone,” says Dr. Mary Carskadon, a sleep researcher at Brown University Medical School. She says these activities at bedtime can get kids all excited and make it hard for them to calm down and sleep. Other experts say part of the problem is chemical. Changing levels of body chemicals called hormones not only make teenagers’ bodies develop adult characteristics, but also make it hard for teenagers to fall asleep before 11 pm.

Because sleepiness is such a problem for teenagers, some manfen5 school districts have decided to start high school classes later than they used to. Three years ago, schools in Edina, Minnesota, changed the start time from 7:25 am to 8:30 am. Students, parents and teachers are pleased with the results.

1.What is the new National Sleep Foundation survey on?

A. American kids’ sleeping habits. B. Teenagers’ sleep-related diseases.

C. Activities to prevent sleeplessness. D. Learning problems and lack of sleep.

2. How many hours of sleep do 11-year-olds need every day?

A. 7 hours. B. 8 hours. C. 10 hours. D. 18 hours.

3.Why do teenagers go to sleep late according to Carskadon?

A. They are affected by certain body chemicals.

B. They tend to do things that excite them.

C. They follow their parents’ examples.

D. They don’t need to go to school early.

The idea of being able to walk on water has long interested humans greatly. Sadly, biological facts prevent us ever accomplishing such a thing without artificial aid—we simply weigh too much,and all our mass pushes down through our relatively small feet, resulting in a lot of pressure that makes us sink.

However, several types of animals can walk on water. One of the most interesting is the common basilisk Basilicusbasilicus, a lizard (蜥蜴) native to Central and South America. It can run across water for a distance of several metres, avoiding getting wet by rapidly hitting the water's surface with its feet. The lizard will take as many as 20 steps per second to keep moving forward. For humans to do this, we'd need huge feet that we could bring up to our ears in order to create adequate “hitting”.

But fortunately there is an alternative: corn flour. By adding enough of this common thickening agent to water (and it does take a lot), you can create a “nonNewtonian” liquid that doesn't behave like normal water. Now, if the surface of the water is hit hard enough, particles(粒子) in the water group together for a moment to make the surface hard. Move quickly enough and put enough force into each step, and you really can walk across the surface of an adequately thick liquid of corn flour.

Fun though all this may sound, it's still rather messy and better read about in theory than carried out in practice. If you must do it, then keep the water wings handy in case you start to sink—and take a shower afterwards!

1.What do we know about Basilicusbasilicus from the passage?

A. It is light enough to walk on water.

B. Its huge feet enable it to stay above water.

C. It can run across water at a certain speed.

D. Its unique skin keeps it from getting wet in water.

2.What is the function of the corn flour according to the passage?

A. To create a thick liquid.

B. To turn the water into solid.

C. To help the liquid behave normally.

D. To enable the water to move rapidly.

3.What is the author's attitude towards the idea of humans' walking on water?

A. It is risky but beneficial.

B. It is interesting and worth trying.

C. It is crazy and cannot become a reality.

D. It is impractical though theoretically possible.

Recent studies have shown that there is a link between anxiety and intelligence and it is a positive one.Fear allows you to react to a potential threat in good time.Being too happy all the time means that you don't think about potential problems.1.But the response means that their imagination is highly active.An active imagination keeps you safe from threats.

The general belief about anxiety is that it's a negative thing.Because suffering from anxiety is not pleasant,most of the people who deal with it hope they don't have to.2.Science is showing that a little bit of anxiety is a good thing.

In 2002,Israeli psychologists ran a test on 80 students.The students were under the impression mat they were there to appreciate artwork on a piece of software.However,the researchers rigged(在…上做手脚)the program. 3.So they were men encouraged to contact IT.

Finding IT brought new challenges.As the students left the room,they met various problems.4.someone also stopped them to ask them to complete a survey.The test found that the participants who really wanted to reach IT to fix the virus had the highest amount of anxiety.The students who had less anxiety couldn't focus.They stopped to complete the survey,pick up the papers,etc.

Obviously,the anxious students had a greater sense of the threat.5.Therefore,anxiety can actually give us higher chance to succeed!

A.So when does worry become a bad thing?

B.Thus,they tried their best to achieve their goal.

C.But this does not necessarily need to be the case.

D.Some students came across dropped papers as they walked by.

E.Instead of viewing artwork,the students found a computer virus.

F.Often kids and adults with anxiety have a very negative view of themselves.

G.People with anxiety are sometimes responding to a threat that doesn't exist.

For a long time Gabriel didn’t want to be involved in music at all. In his first years of high school, Gabriel would look pityingly at music students, across the campus with their heavy instrument cases. at school for practice hours anyone else had to be there. He swore to himself to music, as he hated getting to school extra early.

_____, one day, in the music class that was ____of his school’s standard curriculum, he was playing idly (随意地)on the piano and found it _______to pick out tunes. With a sinking feeling, he realized that he actually ____doing it. He tried to hide his ____pleasure from the music teacher, who had ____over to listen. He might not have done this particularly well, ____the teacher told Gabriel that he had a good ____ and suggested that Gabriel go into the music store-room to see if any of the instruments there __48__ him. There he decided to give the cello(大提琴)a ____. When he began practicing, he took it very ___. But he quickly found that he loved playing this instrument, and was ____to practicing it so that within a couple of months he was playing reasonably well.

This ____, of course, that he arrived at school early in the morning, ____ his heavy instrument case across the campus to the ____ looks of the non-musicians he had left ____.

1.A. travelling B. marching C. pacing D. struggling

2. A. rising up B. coming up C. driving up D. turning up

3. A. before B. after C. until D. since

4. A. betray B. accept C. avoid D. appreciate

5. A. Therefore B. However C. Thus D. Moreover

6. A. part B. nature C. basis D. spirit

7. A. complicated B. safe C. confusing D. easy

8. A. missed B. disliked C. enjoyed D. denied

9. A. transparent B. obvious C. false D. similar

10. A. run B. jogged C. jumped D. wandered

11. A. because B. but C. though D. so

12.A. ear B. taste C. heart D. voice

13. A. occurred to B. took to C. appealed to D. held to

14.A. change B. chance C. mission D. function

15. A. seriously B. proudly C. casually D. naturally

16. A. committed B. used C. limited D. admitted

17. A. proved B. showed C. stressed D. meant

18.A. pushing B. dragging C. lifting D. rushing

19.A. admiring B. pitying C. annoying D. teasing

20. A. over B. aside C. behind D. out

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