assigned human target on the stage, then speakers only have 60 seconds to present their research. In previous years, the one-minute rule was imposed by a young girl — nicknamed Miss Sweetie Poo — who would go up to the platform and repeat the words: “Please stop, I?m bored,” in a sharp tone until the speaker left the stage.
Fortunately for candidates though, the Ig Informal Lectures are held afterwards on Saturday to give presenters more time to explain the crazy things they?re working on.
The research can seem more like the brainchildren of teenage boys than of respectable adults. Justin
Schmidt won the physiology Ig for creating the “Sting Pain Index,” which rates the pain people feel after getting stung (蛰) by insects. Smith pressed bees against 25 different parts of his body until they stung him. Five stings a day for 38 days, Smith concluded that the most painful sting locations were the nostril (鼻孔) and the upper lip. Ouch.
As silly as they sound, not all of the Ig awards lack scientific applicability. A group of scientists from 12 different countries won in the medicine category for accurately diagnosing patients with appendicitis (阑尾炎) based on an unusual measurement: speed bumps (减速带). They found that patients are more likely to have appendicitis if they report pain during bumpy car rides.
All these weird experiments have just one thing in common. They?re improbable. It can be tempting to assume that “improbable” implies more than that — implies bad or good, worthless or valuable, trivial or important. Something improbable can be any of those, or none of them, or all of them, in different ways. And what you don?t expect can be a powerful force for not only entertaining science, but also for the boundary-pushing science we call innovation. 56. The underlined word “goofy” in Paragraph 2 probably means __________. A. timid B. funny C. glorious D. warm-hearted
57. According to the passage, what can we know about the awarding ceremony of Ig Nobel? A. It is held at a fixed place.
B. Candidates should know how to fold paper planes. C. Miss Sweetie Poo is one of the hostesses.
D. Ig Informal Lecture gives presenters 60 seconds to finish their speeches. 58. The example in Paragraph 6 is used to illustrate that Ig Nobel __________. A. celebrates the diligent work of researchers
B. offers another opportunity to those who miss the Nobel Prizes C. serves as a platform for the creative and practical achievements D. amuses the audience
59. Among the four candidates below, who is most likely to win an Ig Nobel? A. A chemist who invents a chemical method to partially un-boil an egg. B. A novelist who criticizes social injustice severely. C. A physicist who studies the origin of the universe.
D. An economist who achieves a breakthrough in the study of international trade.
(B)
All aboard: try these out
Here are new card games popular in the Western geek circle that offer much brain work. Give them a try if you fancy testing your limits.
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Mysterium
In this game, the players are to solve a murder mystery in order to put rest the soul of a wrongly-accused man who dies in prison.
Mysterium allows one player to be the ghost itself, who offers hints to other players in the way of “dream cards”. The dream cards will then lead players to the cards with details about the murder weapon, location and suspects. Figuring out the connections between these elements will help them find the murderer.
Playing the ghost can be fun, as Tony Mastrangeli, a game reviewer, puts it, “For me, some of the most fun comes from playing the ghost role. I like steering the ship and handing out cards.”
Codenames
Codenames starts players out with cards. Each card bears a word on the front and a secret identity on the reverse. Players are divided into two teams, red team and blue team. Each team has a leader, or “spymaster”, who owns a map of each hidden identity. It?s then their job to give out clues so the team members can find their own spies.
Spymasters can only indicate the word on the card following a strict format: a single word followed by a number. For example, if the cards bearing “cactus (仙人掌)” and “heat” both belong to the red team, the clue can be “desert, two”. The red team members will then start discussing the clues and try to find the two cards that relate to “desert”.
Pandemic: Legacy
In this game, you and your friends play a team of doctors and scientists, who can help to prevent four deadly diseases from wiping out humanity. This is a cooperative game, which means you and your teammates either live together or die together.
By drawing an instruction card, teammates will be able to move, treat diseases or build a research station. If they draw one of the five “epidemic” (流行病) cards, the city will suffer a disease outbreak. If handled wrong, outbreaks might lead to a chain reaction and cause things to crash down.
Pandemic: Legacy requires you to look at the bigger picture before making any decisions. Finding the balance between treating diseases and seeking more permanent cures is a constant challenge.
60. Playing the ghost in Mysterium offers you a lot of fun because __________. A. you can bring the poor man back to life
B. you can solve the murder mystery by yourself C. you can dominate the whole game D. you can select your partners
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61. In Codenames, what clue may the Spymaster give for the cards bearing “agency”, “climate” and “fountain”?
A. “architecture, 3” B. “tourism, 3” C. “location, 3” D. “geology, 3” 62. Which of the following is NOT true about Pandemic: Legacy? A. It?s a role-play game.
B. Its players need to beat one another. C. It provides fun and mental challenge.
D. It calls for carefulness and comprehensive thinking to win the challenge.
(C)
The MacArthur Foundation late last month announced its latest crop of “genius grants”, and once again you thought maybe, just maybe, this was your year.
And why not? These days, we?re all geniuses. We might be “marketing geniuses” or “cooking geniuses” or “TV geniuses”. We have so weakened “genius” that it?s fast joining the company of “natural” and “mindful” (留心), words left inactive through overuse and misuse.
Admittedly, the word is tough to nail down. Sometimes we assume genius equivalent to raw intelligence. But many of humanity?s greatest breakthroughs were achieved by those with only modest IQs.
Sometimes we think of the genius as someone extremely knowledgeable, but that definition also falls short. During Albert Einstein?s time, other scientists knew more physics than Einstein did, but history doesn?t remember them. That?s because they didn?t make use of that knowledge the way Einstein did. They weren?t able to, as he put it, “regard old questions from a new angle”.
The genius is not a know-it-all but a see-it-all, someone who, working with the material available to all of us, is able to make surprising and useful connections. True genius involves not merely an extra advance, but a conceptual leap. As philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer put it: Talent hits the target no one else can hit; genius hits the target no one else can see.
We?ve lost sight of this truth, and too often grant the title of genius on talented people hitting visible targets. A good example is the much-boasted announcement earlier this year that scientists had, for the first time, recorded the sound of two black holes bumping, a billion light-years away. It was a remarkable discovery, no doubt, but it did not represent a dramatic shift in how we understand the universe. It merely confirmed Einstein?s general theory of relativity.
As Plato observed, “What is honored in a country is cultivated there.” What do we honor? Digital technology, and the convenience it represents, so naturally we get a Steve Jobs or a Mark Zuckerberg as our “geniuses”, which, in point of fact, they aren?t.
The iPhone and Facebook are wonderful inventions. In many ways, they make our lives a bit easier, a bit more convenient. If anything, though, a true genius makes our lives more difficult, more unsettled. William Shakespeare?s words provide more anxiety than relief, and the world felt a bit more secure before Charles Darwin came along. Zuckerberg and Jobs may have changed our world, but they haven?t yet changedour worldview.
We need to recover genius, and a good place to start is by putting the brakes on Genius Flooding.
63. The key factor that sets geniuses and talents apart is that __________.
A. geniuses have a larger range of knowledge B. geniuses have access to far more resources C. geniuses can see visible targets D. geniuses approach things differently
64. The reasons why people naturally regard Steve Jobs & Mark Zuckerberg as geniuses include all the following EXCEPT that __________. A. their achievements bring people convenience
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B. they have extraordinary intelligence
C. they are native to the country where digital technology is highly valued D. they satisfy people?s needs in the age of high technology 65. What can we infer from the passage?
A. We should stop the improper use of “natural” and “mindful”.
B. The first recording of two black holes bumping each other is a genius breakthrough. C. Charles Darwin is hardly a genius.
D. More geniuses remain to be found in our life. 66. What is the best title for the passage?
A. Get a new word, genius. B. Learn from a new model, genius. C. Join in a new group, genius. D. Make a new friend, genius. Section C
Directions: Read the following passage. Fill in each blank with a proper sentence given in the box. Each sentence can be used only once. Note that there are two more sentences than you need. A. It all depends on the airline. B. Premium economy is always worth the money. C. In the end, it all comes down to money and how much you think it?s worthwhile to pay more. D. Just as with business class and even regular coach, the seats and product vary significantly from one airline to the next. E. That couldn?t be further from the truth. F. Delta?s Comfort +, gives you slightly more space and a chance to board early. 5 Fictions about Premium Economy (豪华经济舱) If the sight of your fellow passengers relaxing in premium economy has you filled with envy, you?re not alone. It seems like every airline is providing a few rows of seats that offer just that much more legroom and space. But is it worth the price? Here are five fictions about premium economy class.
1. Premium economy is pretty much the same on every airline.
“__________ (67)”, says Zach Honig, editor-in-chief of the The Points Guy. Benefits can include anywhere from 5 to 7 inches of extra legroom, a slightly wider seat and slightly more seat recline (向后倚靠). Other conveniences can include adjustable head rests, leg rests on some carriers, larger personal TV screens, power ports and a better level of food. But frankly, nothing is standardized.
2. You get a meal and free drinks with a premium economy seat.
Not on most domestic flights that offer a semblance (表象) of international service. __________(68). But when it comes to meals, you?ll get a few more bags of free peanuts than they offer in coach and the opportunity to purchase pre-packed in-flight meals before economy-class passengers do.
3. There are others benefits, like free Wi-Fi.
You might find furrier pillows and larger blankets, but add-ons like in-flight Wi-Fi usually come along with an additional charge. “__________ (69)”, says DiScala of Johnny Jet, who adds, “Some do, so always ask. I made the mistake of buying Wi-Fi on my SAS flight in June. I later learned that premium passengers get it for free.” 4. You get a lot more space.
A “lot more space” is very relative. Don?t expect a huge seat, just one that?s somewhat larger than those in economy on the same aircraft. Honig says that “You can expect to find roughly as much space as you?ll get in the domestic first-class cabin on a U.S. airline, or in JetBlue?s ?Even
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More Space? section. It?s definitely more than you?ll have in coach.” 5. __________ (70)
“Just as with business class, it?s worth checking the price of premium economy,” says Leff of ViewfromtheWing.com. “The addition may not be very high. Last weekend, I wrote about premium economy on Virgin Atlantic being cheaper than coach. But it may also be much more expensive. Airfares vary dramatically, and that?s as true for premium economy as it is for coach.” IV. Summary Writing
Directions: Read the following passage. Summarize the main idea and the main point(s) of the passage in no more than 60 words. Use your own words as far as possible.
A Father’s Influence Makes for Better Grades
Adolescents from low-income families in particular are more likely than their middle-class peers to underachieve and to drop out of school. Studies have shown that a positive attitude towards school work and the support and encouragement from their parents can help at-risk youngsters to overcome the economic barriers and lack of resources they face. Most of the evidence about the effects of parental involvement comes from research on mothers. Little is known, however, about how adolescents experience their fathers? warmth and the beliefs and behaviors that are most affected by it.
This new study is part of a larger one focusing on low-income families conducted in four middle schools in the southwestern United States. Data were analyzed from questionnaires completed by 183 sixth-graders about how optimistic and motivated they were about their schoolwork, and how they experienced their fathers. The questionnaires were completed primarily by respondents of Mexican American, African American and European American descent. Their maths and language arts grades were also obtained.
Their findings show how fathers can support their teenagers in ways that result in greater optimism, self-efficacy, and, ultimately, higher achievement at school.
These positive effects extend to both sons and daughters, while in different ways. Experiencing their father?s warmth first influences daughters? sense of optimism, and then spills over into their feeling more determined and certain about their academic abilities. This in turn leads to better math grades. There is a more direct link between their fathers? involvement and teenage boys? belief in their ability to succeed on the academic front. This heightened self-confidence increased their success in English language arts classes.
Suizzo suggests that counselors and educators should encourage fathers to communicate warmth and acceptance to their children, because of the positive influence these emotions have on their well-being.
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