Being Left-handed in a Right-handed World

The world is designed for right-handed people, but a tenth of the population prefer the left. 1. The answer to it remains a bit of a mystery. Since scientists have noticed that left-handedness tends to run in families, it’s assumed that left-handedness has a genetic(基因的)component to it. 2. In fact, identical twins, who share the same genes, can sometimes prefer to use different hands. There are also plenty of theories on what else might determine which hand you write with, but many experts believe that it’s kind of random.

Historically, the left side and left-handedness have been considered a negative thing by many cultures. 3. In some areas, the left hand became known as the “unclean” hand. In many religions, the right hand of God is the favored hand. For example, Jesus sits at God’s right side. Various activities and experiences become rude or even signs of bad luck when the left hand becomes involved. In some parts of Scotland, it is considered bad luck to meet a left-handed person at the start of a journey. 4. A person giving directions will put his left hand behind him and try to point with his right hand if necessary. In some Asian countries, eating with the left hand is considered impolite.

5. People come to realize that left-handedness is natural. People even noticed that many famous people are left-handed, including Benjamin Franklin, Leonardo Da Vinci and Charlie Chaplin. Some researchers find out that lefties are more creative and can deal with abstract thinking better. The left-handedness is more easily adaptable to the right-handed world as well. Being left-handed is no longer a sad story now; instead, it is a wonderful gift or maybe it is something you should take pride in.

A. In other words, left-handers are born that way.

B. Left-handedness used to be regarded as a disability.

C. The unfavorable associations of the use of the left hand among cultures are varied.

D. Why do they prefer to use their left hand rather than their right hand for routine activities?

E. Why do some parents force their left-handed children to become right-handed when writing?

F. In Ghana, pointing, gesturing, giving or receiving items with the left hand is considered rude.

G. Fortunately, nowadays most societies and cultures no longer reject left-handedness like before.

There are a lot of people who are overweight all over the world. What causes obesity? If you get the gene(基因), well, probably you are going to be a few more pounds heavier compared to the rest of your classmates or friends. 1. Obesity can not only make a person look heavy, and not in the usual sense of being handsome, but can also lead to serious health conditions and life-threatening diseases.

2. Indeed, junk food has been blamed for the prevalence(流行)of obesity. It is called junk food, because hamburger, pizza and the like contain high calories. If you eat a Big Mac (a super hamburger), an order of large fries, and a large Coke, you will need to walk non-stop for six hours to burn off the calories you have gained. And don’t be fooled by soft drinks, which are high in sugar and are a major cause of obesity.

3. Popular sugary drinks, of course, include Coca Cola, Pepsi(百事) Cola, and many new brands that appear on the market every couple of days.

4. Just one 20-ounce (about 567g) bottle of soda can have 250 calories, which are equal to more than 16 teaspoons of added sugars. Even a lemon-flavored iced tea can have 210 calories.

5. Next time, when you are ready to eat that huge Mac and to drink that two-liter bottle of Pepsi, probably it’s a good idea to give it a second thought.

A. Obesity is more common in women than men.

B. Most people don’t realize how easy it is to gain weight from drink sugar-sweetened beverages(饮料)

C. When we talk about obesity, the first thought that comes to mind is: junk food.

D. The unburnt calories will put weight on you.

E. Keeping healthy is our own responsibility.

F. Because of their high content of sugar, soft drinks are also called sugary drinks.

G. However, the most common cause of obesity is eating too much, especially too much junk food.

When people today talk about a tiny house, they probably mean the trendy living space that‘s about the size of a shed (棚). But you would have to be five inches tall to live in the original tiny houses. Dollhouse(小房子),which have been around for several centuries, don’t offer shelter to real people, but they provide a vivid(生动的) experience of life in times and places both real and imaginary.

The National Building Museum in Washington, D.C., lets visitors time travel in this tiny world through ―Small Stories: At Home in a Dollhouse,” an exhibit that opened Saturday. Visitors can see twelve dollhouses from the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, England, which contain amazing tiny furnishings. But those people who put together the exhibit also wanted visitors to know the characters inside.

“It’s 300 years of British homes told through their inhabitants (居民),” said Alice Sage, who is in charge of the London museum.

So as visitors look inside the Tate Baby House, a fancy townhouse from 1760, they can push a button to hear a young woman get a lecture from her mother on the proper way to run a home. In the Killer Cabinet house, a servant named Betsy complains about the problems of city life in the 1830s. “We’ve got the cat to keep the rats away,” she says.

That dollhouse was John Killer‘s gift to his wife and five daughters. The girls were allowed to play with the house, but they probably also learned a few lessons, Sage said.

“The kitchen of the house would have been the perfect way to teach the girls about the management of a home,” she said, noting the tiny dishes and pots.

Those who prefer a more modern look won't be disappointed. There are two rooms displaying a white dollhouse from 1935, an apartment house from the 1960s and a brightly colored 21st-century design.

The end of the exhibit shows how imaginative design sometimes works best in small spaces.

The Building Museum asked twenty-four artists, designers and architects from across the United States to each create a “dream room” from the past, present or future. Some of these unique small rooms were made using traditional furnishings, others from materials such as clay, insects, 3D-printing, and even peeps marshmallow candies!

1.Which of the following were on show Saturday?

A. A dozen dollhouses from England.

B. Some old shelters for poor people.

C. Some imaginary tiny furnishings.

D. A couple of fashionable living spaces.

2.What is the function of the characters inside the Museum?

A. Working as organizers of the exhibit.

B. Making the exhibit more attractive.

C. Providing good services for visitors.

D. Helping visitors understand dollhouses.

3.What can we learn about the Killer Cabinet house?

A. It was made up of 24 tiny rooms.

B. Its kitchen may have an educational purpose.

C. Its history dates back to the 17th century.

D. It was owned by a woman named Betsy.

4.What might be the best title of the passage?

A. An exhibit of dollhouses.

B. The history of dollhouses.

C. How to make a dollhouse.

D. Amazing tiny furniture.

Have you ever run into a careless cell phone user on the street? Perhaps they were busy talking, texting or checking updates on WeChat without looking at what was going on around them. As the number of this new “species” of human has kept rising, they have been given a new name — phubbers(低头族).

Recently, a cartoon created by students from China Central Academy of Fine Arts put this group of people under the spotlight. In the short film, phubbers with various social identities bury themselves in their phones. A doctor plays with his cell phone while letting his patient die, a pretty woman takes selfie in front of a car accident site, and a father loses his child without knowing about it while using his mobile phone. A chain of similar events eventually leads to the destruction of the world.

Although the ending sounds overstated the damage phubbing can bring is real.

Your health is the first to bear the effect and result of it. “Constantly bending your head to check your cell phone could damage your neck,” Guangming Daily quoted doctors as saying. “the neck is like a rope that breaks after long-term stretching.” Also, staring at cell phones for long periods of time will damage your eyesight gradually, according to the report.

But that’s not all. Being a phubber could also damage your social skills and drive you away from your friends and family. At reunions with family or friends, many people tend to stick to their cell phones while others are chatting happily with each other and this creates a strange atmosphere, Qilu Evening News reported.

It can also cost you your life. There have been lots of reports on phubbers who fell to their death, suffered accidents, and were robbed of their cell phones in broad daylight.

1.For what purpose does the author give the example of a cartoon in Paragragh2?

A. To inform people of the bad effects of phubbing.

B. To advertise the cartoon made by students.

C. To indicate the world will finally be destroyed by phubbers.

D. To warn doctors against using cell phones while treating patients.

2.Which of the following is NOT a risk a phubber may have?

A. His social skills could be affected.

B. His neck and eyesight will be gradually harmed.

C. He will cause the destruction of the world.

D. He might get separated from his friends and family.

3.Which of the following may be the author’s attitude towards phubbing?

A. Supportive. B. Negative.

C. Optimistic. D. Objective.

4.What may the passage talk about next?

A. Advice on how to use a cell phone. B. People addicted to phubbing.

C. Results of phubbing. D. Measures to reduce the risks of phubbing.

Rapid advances in a new technology will soon transform science fiction into reality — meaning people will have driverless cars, small robots at their command and the ability to experience being in another place without leaving home, predicted Google executive chairman Eric Schmidt at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, the planet’s largest cell phone trade show.

Introduction of books available online, Internet translation of languages and voice recognition for computers all happened much faster than anyone could foresee and that technological research into even more previously unheard of advances is progressing at a fast speed.

“People who predict that holograms(全息图)and self-driving cars will become reality soon are absolutely right,” Schmidt told thousands of attendees. Research under way will lead to situations where people can put themselves at events like a rock concert so that they can see, hear and even feel the event. And turn down the volume, if it’s too loud.

One attendee said she was scared that the possibility could be dehumanizing, but Schmidt replied by holding up his cell phone into the air. “It has an off button and it is here on the right,” Schmidt said. “My point is that it is all about your control. If you don’t like my version of a rock concert, I’m not forcing you to go.” In the future, small robots could be used so busy people can send them to events for video and voice transmissions when their presence isn’t required, Schmidt said.

Technology in the near future will redefine the relationship among people in the world. “With technology comes power and with power comes choice, and smarter resourceful citizens are going to demand a better deal for their new life,” Schmidt said.

1.From the passage, the new technology _________.

A. largely depends on science fiction

B. will eventually replace humans’ presence

C. amazingly improves people’s social skills

D. can unexpectedly bring new various choices

2.Why did Schmidt give the example in Paragraph 4?

A. To list advantages of the new cell phone.

B. To advise a wider use of the new cell phone.

C. To remove people’s worry of the new technology.

D. To compare the benefits of using the new technology.

3.What’s the writer’s attitude toward rapid advances in technology?

A. Objective. B. Negative. C. Uncared. D. Contradictory.

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