Although his 1-year-old smart-phone still works perfectly, Li Jijia already feels the need to replace it.
“There are many better ones available now. It's time to upgrade(更新）my phone.”
Li's impatience is shared by many. Shortly after the season when new products are released, many consumers feel the urge to upgrade their electronic equipment, even though the ones they have still work just fine.
As consumers' minds are occupied by Apple's newly released products and debate whether the Google tablet is better than the new Amazon Kindle, it might be time to take a step back and ask: “Do we really need the latest upgrades?"
According to Donald Norman, an American author, “planned obsolescence (淘汰）” is the trick behind the upgrading culture of today's consumer electronics industry.
Electronics producers strategically release new upgrades periodically, both for hardware and software, so that customers on every level feel the need to buy the newest version.
“This is an old-time trick- they're not inventing anything new,” Norman said. “This is a wasteful system through which companies-many of them producing personal electronics - release poor-quality products simply because they know that, in six months or a year, they'll put out a new one.”
But the new psychology of consumers is part of this system, as Norman admitted，“We now want something new, something pretty, the next shiny thing.” In its most recent year, Apple's profit margin was more than 21 percent. At Hewlett-Packard, the world's biggest PC maker, it was only 7 percent.
Apple's annual upgrades of its products create sales of millions of units as owners of one year's MacBook or iPhone line up to buy the newest version, even when the changes are slight.
As to Li Jijia, the need for upgrading his smart-phone comes mainly from friends and classmates. When they are switching to the latest equipment, he worries about feeling left out.
“Some games require better hardware to run, ”said Li. “If you don't join in, you lose part of the connection to your friends.”What's the author's attitude towards people's desire for new products?
| A．Supportive. | B．Happy. |
| C．Critical. | D．Unclear. |
Why is Apple Company interested in producing latest version of its product?
| A．To provide customers with better service. |
| B．To defeat other competitors like Hewlett-Packard. |
| C．To establish a favorable image of itself among its customers. |
| D．To make huge profits out of its business. |
How do the electronics companies successfully promote their latest products?
| A．They make full use of the "planned obsolescence” strategy. |
| B．They make a fool of customers by recycling their old products. |
| C．They control the customers' way of thinking while shopping. |
| D．They invent new products to attract the youth like Li Jijia. |
It can be inferred from the last paragraph that Li Jijia feels the need to replace his smart-phone as a result of____.
| A．new psychology |
| B．pressure from friends and classmates |
| C．life style |
| D．friends' expectation |
At a primary school Manning， Carolina， second-grade teacher David Chadwell believed that segregating(隔离) elementary-age boys and girls produces immediate academic improvement—in both genders. “Although this is a tendency， we can teach boys and girls based on what we now know.”
“They see differently. Literally，” he begins. Male and female eyes are not organized in the same way， he explains. The composition of the male eye makes it attuned(协调) to motion and direction. “Boys interpret the world as objects moving through space，” he says. “The teacher should move around the room constantly and be that object.”
The male eye is also drawn to cooler colors like silver， blue， black， grey， and brown. It’s no accident boys tend to create pictures of moving objects like spaceships， cars， and trucks in dark colors instead of drawing the happy colorful family， like girls in their class.
The female eye， on the other hand， is drawn to textures and colors. It’s also oriented toward warmer colors—reds， yellows， oranges—and visuals with more details， like faces. To engage girls， Chadwell says， the teacher doesn’t need to move as much， if at all. Girls work well in circles， facing each other. Using descriptive phrases and lots of color in overhead presentations or on the chalkboard gets their attention.
Boys and girls also hear differently. “When someone speaks in a loud tone， girls interpret it as yelling，” Chadwell says. “They think you’re mad and can shut down.” Girls have a more finely tuned aural structure； they can hear higher frequencies than boys and are more sensitive to sounds. He advises girls’ teachers to watch the tone of their voices. Boys’ teachers should sound matter of fact， even excited.
A boy’s autonomic nervous system causes them to be more alert when they’re standing， moving，and the room temperature is around 69 degrees. Stress in boys， he says， tends to increase blood flow to their brains， a process that helps them stay focused. This won’t work for girls， who are more focused seated in a warmer room around 75 degrees. Girls also respond to stress differently. When they are exposed to threat and confrontation， blood goes to their guts(内脏)， leaving them feeling nervous or anxious.
“Boys will rise to a risk and tend to overestimate their abilities，” he says. “Teachers can help them by getting them to be more realistic about results. Girls at this age shy away from risk， which is exactly why lots of girls’ programs began in the private sector. Teachers can help them learn to take risks in an atmosphere where they feel confident about doing so.”
Title： Primary students learn
David’s belief ,Once we segregate elementary-age students， they will have the tendency to learn . Differences between boys and girls, Sight ,Boys’ eyes are sensitive to
. and are drawn to cooler colors.
It is textures and of objects that attract girls. Hearing ,Comparatively speaking， girls can hear
and are more sensitive to sounds. They would interpret a loud tone as
.Nervous system, Stress in boys tends to increase blood flow to their
， which helps them keep
. Boys often overestimate their abilities and are brave in face of the risk.
When girls are exposed to ， blood goes to their guts， leaving them feeling
. Girls at this age in many cases will shyly avoid dealing with risk. SECTION B (10 marks)
LEEDS， England ─ A Leeds University psychology professor is teaching a course to help dozens of Britons forgive their enemies.
“The hatred we hold within us is a cancer，” Professor Ken Hart said， adding that holding in anger can lead to problems such as high blood pressure and heart disease.
More than 70 people have become members in Hart’s first 20-week workshop in London ─a course he says is the first of its kind in the world.
These are people who are sick and tired of living with a memory. They realize their bitterness is a poison they think they can pour out， but they end up drinking it themselves， said Canadian-born Hart.
The students meet in groups of eight to ten for a two-hour workshop with an adviser every fortnight.
The course， ending in July， is expected to get rid of the cancer of hatred in these people. “People have lots of negative attitudes towards forgiveness，” he said， “People confuse forgiveness with forgetting. Forgiveness means changing from a negative attitude to a positive one.”
Hart and his team have created instructions to provide the training needed.
“The main idea is to give you guidelines on how to look at various kinds of angers and how they affect you， and how to change your attitudes towards the person you are angry with，” said Norman Claringbull， a senior expert on the forgiveness project.
Hart said he believes forgiveness is a skill that can be taught， as these people “want to get free of the past”. From this passage we know that .
| A．high blood pressure and heart disease are caused by hatred |
| B．high blood pressure can only be cured by psychology professors |
| C．without hatred， people will have less trouble connected with blood pressure and heart disease |
| D．people who suffer from high blood pressure and heart disease must have many enemies |
People going to Hart’s first 20-week workshop .
| A．enjoy the professor’s speech |
| B．learn how to quarrel with others |
| C．are aware that their hatred is a poison that could finally end up harming themselves |
| D．meet in groups of eight to ten for a two-hour workshop every night and learn how to relax |
. According to Professor Ken Hart， .
| A．most people are living with hatred |
| B．people should attend his courses to forget the past |
| C．forgiveness means forgetting the bitterness |
| D．people with a bitter memory can learn to have a positive attitude towards the past |
Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage？
| A．Hatred means living a positive life. |
| B．People will be taught how to look at various kinds of angers in the workshop. |
| C．Hart and his team enjoys high popularity among Londoners these days. |
| D．People who are sick of living with a bitter memory have to pay a lot to Hart’s course. |
. Which could be the best title for the passage？
| A．Britons learn to forgive | B．Hart and his team |
| C．Forgive and forget | D．Hatred， a poison to you |
People with bigger brains ftend to score higher on standardized tests of intelligence， according to new study findings.
However， the study author Dr Michael A.McDaniel of the Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond emphasized that these findings represent a general trend， and people with small heads should not automatically believe they are less intelligent. For instance， Albert Einstein’s brain was “not particularly large”， McDaniel noted. “There’s some relationship between brain size and intelligence on the average， but there’s plenty of room for exceptions，” he said.
Interest in the relationship between brain size and intelligence grew in the1830s， when German anatomist(解剖学家) Frederich Tiedmann wrote that he believed there was “an unquestionable connection between the size of the brain and the mental energy displayed by the individual man”. Since that statement， scientists have conducted numerous studies to determine if Tiedmann’s assertion was， in fact， correct. Most studies have looked into the link between head size and intelligence. More recently， however， researchers have published additional studies on brain size and intelligence， measured using MRI scan(核磁共振成像扫描).
For his study， McDaniel analyzed more than 20 studies that looked into the relationship between brain size and intelligence in a total of 1,530 people. The studies showed that on the average， people with larger brain volume tended to be more intelligent. The relationship between brain volume and intelligence was stronger in women than men， and in adults than in children. McDaniel notes in the journal Intelligence.
McDaniel is not sure why the relationship was stronger for adults and women. “Other research has shown that women， on the average， tend to have smaller brains than men， but score just as well—if not higher—in tests of intelligence，” he said.
McDaniel insisted that the relationship between brain size and intelligence is not a “perfect” one. “One can certainly find lots of examples of smaller-sized people who are highly intelligent，” he said， “But， on the average， the relationship holds.”. What does the text mainly talk about？
| A．MRI scans are applied to intelligence. |
| B．On the average， a bigger brain means higher IQ. |
| C．Dr McDaniel did well in his intelligence study. |
| D．Scientists are interested in Tiedmann’s idea. |
By mentioning Albert Einstein， the writer wants to show .
| A．Albert Einstein was intelligent |
| B．the result of intelligence test was false |
| C．being hard working is more important than intelligence |
| D．brain size doesn’t necessarily decide the level of intelligence |
The underlined word “assertion” in Para. 3 probably means “ ”.
A. experiment B. statement C proof D. demand After Frederich Tiedmann wrote his article， .
| A．many scientists agreed with him |
| B．numerous studies have failed to prove his idea |
| C．MRI scan became popularly used |
| D．lots of researchers were interested in the connections between head size and intelligence |
According to the text， Dr McDaniel’s study .
| A．proves Tiedmann’s idea was completely true |
| B．shows women are smarter than men |
| C．involves many studies and a lot of people |
| D．explains why people with smaller brains are clever |
The temperature is rising again in the Arctic. The sea ice area has dropped to one of the lowest levels on record， climate scientists reported last week.
“The new Arctic Report Card tells a story of widespread and continued effects of a warming Arctic，” said Jackie Richter-Menge of the US’s Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory.
“This isn’t just a climatological (气候学的) effect. It impacts the people that live there，” she added.
Scientists concerned about global warming focus on the Arctic because that is a region where the effects are expected to be felt first， and that has been the case in recent years.
There was a slowdown in Arctic warming in 2009， but in the first half of 2010 warming was near a record pace. The monthly readings were over 4 degrees Celsius above normal in northern Canada， according to the report card. The report card was prepared by 69 researchers in eight countries.
Researchers said last winter’s big snow storms that struck some Northern countries were tied to higher Arctic temperatures.
“Normally the cold air is bottled up in the Arctic，” said Jim Overland of the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. “But last December and February， winds that normally blow west to east across the Arctic were instead bringing the colder air south，” he said.
“As we lose more sea ice... warming in the atmosphere can create more of these winter storms，” Overland said.
There is a powerful connection between ice cover and air temperatures， Richter-Menge explained. When temperatures warm， ice melts. When ice melts it shows darker surfaces underneath ， which absorb more heat. “That， in turn， causes more melting and on the cycle goes，” she said.
In September the Arctic sea ice extent was the third smallest in the last 30 years， added Don Perovich of the US Army Laboratory. He said the three smallest ice covers have occurred in the last four years. Scientists care so much about the warming in the Arctic region because .
| A．the climate in the Arctic doesn’t change much |
| B．global warming effects are most serious in the Arctic region |
| C．there has been a major decrease of Arctic warming in recent years |
| D．by studying the region they can make predictions about the future impact of global warming |
. Which of the following shows that the Arctic is getting warmer？
A. The surface of the sea ice in Arctic is getting darker and darker.
B. The Arctic sea ice extent has disappeared over the last 30 years.
C. The sea ice extent has increased to one of the highest levels on record.
What does the underlined word “cycle” refer to？
| A．Ice giving off heat when it melts. |
| B．Higher temperatures bringing more storms. |
| C．The cause and the result of the melting. |
| D．The life of the people living in the Arctic getting worse. |
According to researchers what led to big snow storms attacking some Northern countries last winter？
| A．Higher Arctic temperatures. |
| B．The melting ice. |
| C．The cold wind blowing west to east. |
| D．Cold air bottled up in the Arctic. |
What is the main point of the article？
| A．Last winter’s big snow-storms. |
| B．Winds in the Arctic region. |
| C．Arctic warming and its possible effects. |
| D．Changes to the life of people living in the Arctic. |
Healthy eating begins with learning how to “eat smart”. It’s not just what you eat，. how you eat. Pay attention to what you eat and choosing foods that are both nourishing
enjoyable helps support an overall healthy diet.
Take time to chew your food： Chew your food slowly， savoring every bite. We tend to rush through our meals， forgetting to actually taste the flavors and feel the textures(质地) of is in our mouths. Reconnect with
joy of eating.
Avoid stress while eating： Avoid eating while working， driving， arguing， or watching TV. Try taking some deep breaths before beginning your meal， or light candles and play soothing music to create a relaxing atmosphere.
Listen to your body： Ask if you are really hungry. You may really be thirsty， so try drinking a glass of water first. During a meal， stop eating before you feel full. It actually takes a few minutes
your brain to tell your body that it has had
food， so eat slowly.
Eat early： Starting your day a healthy breakfast can jumpstart your metabolism(新陈代谢)， and eating early in the day gives your body time to work those calories off.
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