How fit are your teeth? Are you lazy about brushing them? Never fear: An inventor is on the case. An electric toothbrush senses how long and how well you brush, and it lets you track your performance on your phone.
The Kolibree toothbrush was exhibited at the International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas this week. It senses how it is moved and can send the information to an Android phone or iPhone via a Bluetooth wireless connection.
The toothbrush will be able to teach you to brush right (don’t forget the insides of the teeth!) and make sure you’re brushing long enough. “It’s kind of like having a dentist actually watch your brushing on a day-to-day basis,” says Thomas Serval, the French inventor.
The toothbrush will also be able to talk to other applications on your phone, so developers could, for instance, create a game controlled by your toothbrush. You could score points for beating monsters among your teeth. “We try to make it smart but also fun,” Several says.
Serval says he was inspired by his experience as a father. He would come home from work and ask his kids if they had brushed their teeth. They said “yes,” but Serval would find their toothbrush heads dry. He decided he needed a brush that really told him how well his children brushed.
The company says the Kolibree will go on sale this summer, for $99 to $199, developing on features. The U.S. is the first target market.
Serval says that one day, it’ll be possible to replace the brush on the handle with a brushing unit that also has a camera. The camera can even examine holes in your teeth while you brush.
【小题1】Which is one of the feature of the Kolibree toothbrush?

A．It can sense how users brush their teeth.

B．It can track users’ school performance.

C．It can detect users’ fear of seeing a dentist.

D．It can help users find their phones.

【小题2】What can we learn from Serval’s words in Paragraph 3?

A．You will find it enjoyable to see a dentist.

B．You should see your dentist on a day-to –day basis.

C．You can brush with the Kolibree as if guided by a dentist.

D．You’d like a dentist to watch you brush your teeth every day.

【小题3】Which of the following might make the Kolibree toothbrush fun?

A．It can be used to update mobile phones.

B．It can be used to play mobile phone games

C．It can send messages to other users

D．It can talk to its developers.

【小题4】What is Paragraph 5 mainly about?

A．How Serval found out his kids lied to him.

B．Why Serval thought brushing teeth was necessary.

C．How Serval taught his kids to brush their teeth.

D．What inspired Serval to invent the toothbrush

【小题5】What can we infer about Serval’s children?

A．They were unwilling to brush their teeth

B．They often failed to clean their toothbrushes.

C．They preferred to use a toothbrush with a dry head.

D．They liked brushing their teeth after Serval came home.

【小题6】What can we learn about the future development of the Kolibree?

A．The brush handle will be removed.

B．A mobile phone will be built into it.

C．It will be used to fill holes in teeth

D．It will be able to check users’ teeth

Would it surprise you to learn that, like animals, trees communicate with each other and pass on their wealth to the next generation?
UBC Professor Simard explains how trees are much more complex than most of us ever imagined. Although Charles Darwin thought that trees are competing for survival of the fittest, Simard shows just how wrong he was. In fact, the opposite is true: trees survive through their co-operation and support, passing around necessary nutrition "depending on who needs it".
Nitrogen (氮) and carbon are shared through miles of underground fungi (真菌)
networks, making sure that all trees in the forest ecological system give and receive just the right amount to keep them all healthy. This hidden system works in a very similar way to the networks of neurons (神经元) in our brains, and when one tree is destroyed, it affects all.
Simard talks about "mother trees", usually the largest and oldest plants on which all other trees depend. She explains how dying trees pass on the wealth to the next generation, transporting important minerals to young trees so they may continue to grow. When humans cut down "mother trees" with no awareness of these highly complex "tree societies" or the networks on which they feed, we are reducing the chances of survival for the entire forest.
"We didn't take any notice of it" Simard says sadly. "Dying trees move nutrition into the young trees before dying, but we never give them chance." If we could put across the message to the forestry industry, we could make a huge difference towards our environmental protection efforts for the future.
【小题1】The underlined sentence "the opposite is true" in Paragraph 2 probably means that trees         . 

A．compete for survival

B．protect their own wealth

C．depend on each other

D．provide support for dying trees

【小题2】"Mother trees" are extremely important because they        .

A．look the largest in size in the forest

B．pass on nutrition to young trees

C．seem more likely to be cut down by humans

D．know more about the complex "tree societies"

【小题3】The underlined word "it" in the last paragraph refers to        .

A．how "tree societies" work

B．how trees grow old

C．how forestry industry develops

D．how young trees survive

【小题4】What would be the best title for the passage?

A．Old Trees Communicate Like Humans

B．Young Trees Are In Need Of Protection

C．Trees Are More Awesome Than You Think

D．Trees Contribute To Our Society

A new study shows students who write notes by hand during lectures perform better on exams than those who use laptops(笔记本电脑).
Students are increasingly using laptops for note-taking because of speed and legibility(清晰度).But the research has found laptop users are less able to remember and apply the concepts they have been taught.
Researchers performed experiments that aimed to find out whether using a laptop increased the tendency to make notes "mindlessly" by taking down word for word what the professors said
In the first experiment, students were given either a laptop or pen and paper .They listened to the same lectures and were told to use their usual note-taking skills. Thirty minutes after the talk , they were examined on their ability to remember facts and on how well they understood concepts.
The researchers found that laptop users took twice as many notes as those who wrote by hand. However, the typists performed worse at remembering and applying the concepts. Both groups scored similarly when it came to memorizing facts.
The researchers' report said, "While more notes are beneficial, if the notes are taken mindlessly, as is more likely the case on a laptop, the benefit disappears."
In another experiment aimed at testing long-term memory, students took notes as before but were tested a week after the lecture. This time, the students who wrote notes by hand performed significantly better on the exam.
These two experiments suggest that handwritten notes are not only better for immediate learning and understanding, but that they also lead to superior revision in the future.
【小题1】More and more students favor laptops for note-taking because they can        .

A．write more notes	B．digest concepts better
C．get higher scores	D．understand lectures better

【小题2】While taking notes, laptop users tend to be      .

A．skillful	B．mindless
C．thoughtful	D．tireless

【小题3】The author of the passage aims to       .

A．examine the importance of long-term memory

B．stress the benefit of taking notes by hand

C．explain the process of taking notes

D．promote the use of laptops

【小题4】The passage is likely to appear in       .

A．a newspaper advertisement	B．a computer textbook
C．a science magazine	D．a finance report

Most damagingly, anger weakens a person’s ability to think clearly and keep control over his behaviour. The angry person loses objectivity in evaluating the emotional significance of the person or situation that arouses his anger.
Not everyone experiences anger in the same way; what angers one person may amuse another. The specific expression of anger also differs from person to person based on biological and cultural forces. In contemporary culture, physical expressions of anger are generally considered too socially harmful to be tolerated. We no longer regard duels (决斗) as an appropriate expression of anger resulting from one person’s awareness of insulting behaviour on the part of another.
Anger can be identified in the brain, where the electrical activity changes. Under most conditions EEG (脑电图) measures of electrical activity show balanced activity between the right and left prefrontal (额叶前部) areas. Behaviourally this corresponds to the general even-handed disposition (意向) that most of us possess most of the time. But when we are angry the EEG of the right and left prefrontal areas aren’t balanced and, as a result of this, we’re likely to react. And our behavioural response to anger is different from our response to other emotions, whether positive or negative.
Most positive emotions are associated with approach behaviour: we move closer to people we like. Most negative emotions, in contrast, are associated with avoidance behaviour: we move away from people and things that we dislike or that make us anxious. But anger is an exception to this pattern. The angrier we are, the more likely we are to move towards the object of our anger. This corresponds to what psychologists refer to as of ensive anger: the angry person moves closer in order to influence and control the person or situation causing his anger. This approach-and-confront behaviour is accompanied by a leftward prefrontal asymmetry (不对称) of EEG activity. Interestingly, this asymmetry lessens if the angry person can experience empathy (同感) towards the individual who is bringing forth the angry response. In defensive anger, in contrast, the EEG asymmetry is directed to the right and the angry person feels helpless in the face of the anger-inspiring situation.
【小题1】The “duels” example in Paragraph 2 proves that the expression of anger ________.

A．usually has a biological basis

B．varies among people

C．is socially and culturally shaped

D．influences one’s thinking and evaluation

【小题2】What changes can be found in an angry brain? ZXXK

A．Balanced electrical activity can be spotted.

B．Unbalanced patterns are found in prefrontal areas.

C．Electrical activity corresponds to one’s behaviour.

D．Electrical activity agrees with one’s disposition.

【小题3】Which of the following is typical of offensive anger?

A．Approaching the source of anger.

B．Trying to control what is disliked.

C．Moving away from what is disliked.

D．Feeling helpless in the face of anger.

【小题4】What is the key message of the last paragraph?

A．How anger differs from other emotions.

B．How anger relates to other emotions.

C．Behavioural responses to anger.

D．Behavioural patterns of anger.

The behaviour of a building’s users may be at least as important as its design when it comes to energy use, according to new research from the UK Energy Research Centre (UKERC). The UK promises to reduce its carbon emissions (排放）by 80 percent by 2050, part of which will be achieved by all new homes being zero-carbon by 2016. But this report shows that sustainable building design on its own — though extremely important- is not enough to achieve such reductions: the behaviour of the people using the building has to change too.
The study suggests that the ways that people use and live in their homes have been largely ignored by existing efforts to improve energy efficiency (效率)，which instead focus on architectural and technological developments.
‘Technology is going to assist but it is not going to do everything,’explains Katy Janda, a UKERC senior researcher，‘consumption patterns of building users can defeat the most careful design. ’In other words，old habits die hard, even in the best-designed eco-home.
Another part of the problem is information. Households and bill-payers don’t have the knowledge they need to change their energy-use habits. Without specific information，it’s hard to estimate the costs and benefits of making different choices. Feedback (反馈） facilities, like smart meters and energy monitors，could help bridge this information gap by helping people see how changing their behaviour directly affects their energy use; some studies have shown that households can achieve up to 15 percent energy savings using smart meters.
Social science research has added a further dimension (方面），suggesting that individuals’behaviour in the home can be personal and cannot be predicted 一 whether people throw open their windows rather than turn down the thermostat (恒温器) , for example.
Janda argues that education is the key. She calls for a focused programme to teach people about buildings and their own behaviour in them.
【小题1】As to energy use, the new research from UKERC stresses the importance of________.

A． zero-carbon homes	B．the behaviour of building users
C． sustainable building design	D．the reduction of carbon emissions

【小题2】The underlined word “which” in Paragraph 2 refers to”________.”

A．the ways	B．their homes
C． developments	D．existing efforts

【小题3】What are Katy Janda’s words mainly about?

A． The importance of changing building users, habits.

B． The necessity of making a careful building design.

C． The variety of consumption patterns of building users.

D． The role of technology in improving energy efficiency.

【小题4】The information gap in energy use _______.

A． can be bridged by feedback facilities

B． affects the study on energy monitors

C． brings about problems for smart meters

D． will be caused by building users’ old habits

【小题5】What does the dimension added by social science research suggest?

A． The social science research is to be furthered.

B． The education programme is under discussion.

C． The behaviour of building users is unpredictable.

D． The behaviour preference of building users is similar.

Scientists today are making greater effort to study ocean currents (洋流) . Most do it using satellites and other high-tech equipment. However, ocean expert Curtis Ebbesmeyer does it in a special way -- by studying movements of random floating garbage. A scientist with many years’ experience, he started this type of research in the early 1990s when he heard about hundreds of athletic shoes washing up on the shores of the northwest coast of the United States. There were so many shoes that people were setting up swap meets to try and match left and right shoes to sell or wear.
Ebbesmeyer found out in his researches that the shoes — about 60,000 in total — fell into the ocean in a shipping accident. He phoned the shoe company and asked if they wanted the shoes back. As expected, the company told him that they didn't. Ebbesmeyer realized this could be a great experiment. If he learned when and where the shoes went into the water and tracked where they landed, he could learn a lot about the patterns of ocean currents.
The Pacific Northwest is one of the world's best areas for beachcombing(海滩搜寻) because winds and currents join here, and as a result, there is a group of serious beachcombers in the area. Ebbesmeyer got to know a lot of them and asked for their help in collecting information about where the shoes landed. In a year he collected reliable information on 1, 600 shoes. With this data, he and a colleague were able to test and improve a computer program designed to model ocean currents, and publish the findings of their study.
As the result of his work, Ebbesmeyer has become known as the scientist to call with questions about any unusual objects found floating in the ocean. He has even started an association of beachcombers and ocean experts, with 500 subscribers from West Africa to New Zealand. They have recorded all lost objects ranging from potatoes to golf gloves.
【小题1】The underlined phrase swap meets in Paragraph 1 is closest in meaning to ______________.

A．fitting rooms

B．trading fairs

C．business talks

D．group meetings

【小题2】Ebbesmeyer phoned the shoe company to find out _____________.

A．what caused the shipping accident

B．when and where the shoes went missing

C．whether it was all right to use their shoes

D．how much they lost in the shipping accident

【小题3】How did Ebbesmeyer prove his assumption?

A．By collecting information from beachcombers.

B．By studying the shoes found by beachcomber.

C．By searching the web for ocean currents models.

D．By researching ocean currents data in the library.

【小题4】Ebbesmeyer is most famous for ___________________.

A．traveling widely the coastal cities of the world

B．making records for any lost objects on the sea

C．running a global currents research association

D．phoning about any doubtful objects on the sea

【小题5】What is the purpose of the author in writing this passage?

A．To call people's attention to ocean pollution.

B．To warn people of shipping safety in the ocean.

C．To explain a unique way of studying ocean currents.

D．To give tips on how to search for lost objects on the beach.

Choosing the Right Resolution (决定)
Millions of Americans began 2014 with the same resolution they started 2013 with, a goal of losing weight. However, setting weight loss as a goal is a mistake.
To reach our goal of losing weight --- the output, we need to control what we eat --- the input ( 输入). That is, we tend to care about the output but not to control the input. This is a bad way to construce goals. The alternative is to focus your resolution on the input. Instead of resolving to lose weight, try an actionable resolution: “I’ll stop having desert for lunch,” or “I’ll walk every day for 20 minutes.” Creating a goal that focuses on a well-specified input will likely be more effective than concentrating on the outcome.
Recently a new science behind incentives (激励) , including in education, has been discussed. For example, researcher Roland Fryer wanted to see what works best in motivating children to do better in school. In some cases, he gave students incentives based on input, like reading certain books, while in others, the incentives were based on output, like results on exams. His main finding was that incentives increased achievement when based on input but had no effect on output. Fryer’s conclusion was that the intensives for inputs might be more effective because do not knoe how to do better on exam, aside from general rules like “study harder.” Reading certain books, on the other hand, is a well-set task over which they have much more control.
As long as you have direct control over your goal, you have a much higher chance of success. And it’s easier to start again if you fail, because you know exactly what you need to do.
If you want to cut down on your spending, a good goal would be making morning coffee at home instead of going to a cafe, for example. This is a well-specified action-based goal for which you can measure your success easily. Spending less money isn’t a goal because it’s too general. Similarly, if you want to spend more time with your family, don’t stop with this general wish. Think bout an actionable habit that you could adopt and stick to, like a family movie night every Wednesday.
In the long run, these new goals could become a habit.
【小题1】The writer thinks that setting weight loss as a goal is a mistake because _______ .

A．it is hard to achieve for most Americans

B．it is focused too much on the result

C．it is dependent on too many things

D．it is based on actionable decisions

【小题2】In Roland Fryer’s research, some students did better than the others because ______ .

A．they obeyed all the general rules

B．they paid more attention to exams

C．they were motivated by their classmates

D．they were rewarded for reading some books

【小题3】According to the writer, which of the following statements is a good goal?

A．“I’ll give up desert.”

B．“I’ll study harder.”

C．“I’ll cut down my expense”

D．“I’ll spend more time with my family”

【小题4】The writer strongly believes that we should ________ .

A．develop good habits and focus on the outcome

B．be optimistic about final goals and stick to them

C．pick specific actions that can be turned into good habits

D．set ambitious goals that can balance the input ang output

Recordings of angry bees are enough to send big, tough African elephants running away, a new study says. Beehives (蜂窝)-either recorded or real-may even prevent elephants from damaging farmer's crops.
In 2002, scientist Lucy King and her team found that elephants avoid certain trees with bees living in them. Today,  Lucy wants to see if African honeybees might discourage elephants from eating crops. But before she asked farmer to go to the trouble of setting up beehives on their farms, she needed to find out if the bees would scare elephants away.
Lucy found a wild beehive inside a tree in northern Kenya and set up a recorder. Then she threw a stone into the beehive, which burst into life. Lucy and her assistant hid in their car until the angry bees had calmed down. Next，Lucy searched out elephant families in Samburu National Reserve in northern Kenya and put a speaker in a close to each family.
From a distance, Lucy switched on the pre-recorded sound of angry bees while at the same time recording the elephants with a video camera. Half the elephant groups left the area within ten seconds. Out of a total of 17 groups, only one group ignored the sound of the angry bees. Lucy reported that all the young elephants immediately ran to their mothers to hide under them. When Lucy Played the sound of a waterfall (瀑布) instead of the angry bees to many of the same elephant families, the animals were undisturbed. Even after four minutes, most of the groups stayed in one place.
Lucy is now studying whether the elephants will continue to avoid the sound of angry bees after hearing it several times. She hasn't tested enough groups yet to know, but her initial (最初的) results were promising enough to begin trials with farmers. She has now begun placing speakers in the fields to see if elephants are frightened away.
【小题1】We know from the passage that elephants may be frightened of         .

A．loud noises	B．some crops
C．video cameras	D．angry bees

【小题2】As mentioned in the passage, Lucy

A．works by herself in Africa

B．needs to test more elephant groups

C．has stopped elephants eating crops

D．has got farmers to set up beehives on their farms

【小题3】Why did Lucy throw a stone into a wild beehive?

A．To record the sound of bees.

B．To make a video of elephants.

C．To see if elephants would run away.

D．To find out more about the behavior of bees.

【小题4】Which of the following is true according to the passage?

A．Young elephants ignore African honeybees.

B．Waterfalls can make elephants stay in one place.

C．Elephants do not go near trees with bees living in them.

D．Farmers do not allow Lucy to conduct tests in their fields.

London has become a cycle friendly zone after the launch of a new bike hire scheme. It has been designed to encourage more people to cycle in and around central London.
So how does it work? First you have to sign up to the scheme to be sent a key. The key will unlock one of the bikes, which are kept at docking stations in and around central London. You have to pay an access fee for the key and then you pay as you go, for the length of time you use the bike.
Transport for London, which runs the scheme, is hoping to have 6,000 bikes and 400 docking stations in place by the end of the year. The new hire system is hoping to ease congestion  (拥挤 )  in London and is expected to create up t0 40 ,000 extra cycle trips a day into the city centre. London Mayor Boris Johnston launched the scheme and said London had been 6ifilled with thousands of gleaming machines that will transform the look and feel of our streets and become as commonplace on our roads as black cabs and red buses".
However, there have been a few problems since the scheme was launched last Friday. On the first day some people found they couldn't dock their bike properly and their usage of the bike had not registered. Transport for London did admit they had been expecting a few "teething problems" and have said they wouldn't charge for the first day as a "gesture of goodwill". Some other people have criticized the lack of docking stations and locks for the bikes as well as the price it costs to hire the bicycles.
Despite the comments, the green-thinking London Mayor still seems very positive about things, saying, "My campaign for the capital to become the greatest big cycling city in the world has taken a big pedal-powered push forwards. "
【小题1】. London Mayor Boris Johnston launched the new bike scheme in order to______.

A．reduce the air pollution of the city

B．deal with the city's traffic problems

C．increase employment opportunities

D．encourage the citizens to take exercises

【小题2】. If you want to hire a bike, in which order will you do?
a. pay for the key to a bike
b. sign up as a member to get a key
c. cycle in and around central London
d. pay for the bike according to the time you use it

A．b→a→c→d	B．b→d→c→a
C．d→c→b→a	D．d→b→c→a

【小题3】. All the following are the problems of the scheme EXCEPT_____.

A．the high cost to hire a bike

B．docking the bikes properly

C．not registering their usage of the bikes

D．not charging for the first day of the scheme

【小题4】. From the passage, we can infer that_______.

A．the cycling revolution is not successful

B．all the citizens in London support the scheme

C．the London Mayor is confident in the scheme

D．the scheme will be cancelled because of the problems

The world itself is becoming much smaller by using modern traffic and modern communication means. Life today is much easier than it was hundreds of years ago, but it has brought new problems. One of the biggest problems is pollution. To pollute means to make things dirty. Pollution comes in many ways. We see it, smell it, drink it and even hear it.
Man has been polluting the earth. The more people, the more pollution. Many years ago, the problem was not so serious because there were not so many people. When the land was used up or the river was dirty in one place, man moved to another place. But this is no longer true.
Man is now slowly polluting the whole world.
Air pollution is still the most serious. It’s bad for all living things in the world, but it is not the only one kind of pollution. Water pollution kills our fish and pollutes our drinking water. Noise pollution makes us angry more easily.
Many countries are making rules to fight pollution. They stop people from burning coal in houses and factories in the city, and from putting dirty smoke into the air. Pollution by SO2 is now the most dangerous kind of air pollution. It is caused by heavy traffic. We are sure that if there are fewer people driving, there will be less air pollution.
The earth is our home. We must take care of it. That means keeping the land, water and air clean. And we must take care of the rise in pollution at the same time.
【小题1】 _________, our world is becoming much smaller.

A．Because of the rise in pollution

B．Thanks to science development

C．Because the earth is being polluted day and night

D．Because the earth is blown away by the wind every year

【小题2】. Hundreds of years ago, life was ____ it is today.

A．much easier than	B．as easy as
C．much harder than	D．as hard as

【小题3】Pollution comes in many ways. We can even hear it. Here “it” refers to ____.

A．rubbish	B．noise pollution
C．air pollution	D．water pollution

【小题4】Air pollution is still the most serious kind of pollution because ________.

A．it makes much noise

B．it makes us angry more easily

C．it makes our rivers and lakes dirty

D．it’s bad for all living things in the world

【小题5】 Which of the following is NOT true?

A．Many countries are making rules to fight pollution.

B．The pollution of the earth grows as fast as the world population does.

C．The problem of pollution is not so serious because there are not so many people on the earth.

D．If people could go to work by bus or bike instead of car or motorbike, it would be helpful in fighting against the problem of SO2.