学进去

Time flies when we play with our smart phone. But when we get down to the real business of work and study, one hour feels like a year. Why are we so addicted(入迷的) to smart phones but easily bored by studying?

It all boils down to something small and hard to see: dopamine(多巴胺). Dopamine is a “pleasure chemical(化学物质)” that makes people feel good. Our brains produce it when we eat yummy food, after we exercise or when we get a prize.

Compared with studying, playing with smart phones causes our brains to produce more dopamine. For example, checking our phone for a text leads to a 400 percent increase in dopamine. But why?

When we play with smart phones, we don’t know what we’ll see next, or who will send us a message. This uncertainty(不确定性) makes the dopamine system active. We get excited, wondering if we have messages from our friends. When our expectations are met, dopamine is produced. And to get more dopamine, we continue checking our phones. Studying doesn’t provide such uncertainty. Without this excitement, we get bored much more easily.

Can we do something to change that? According to scientists, apps can become less interesting if we turn off notifications(通知) or change the screen colors to black and white. We can also set time limits on apps to avoid using them too much.

“As for studying, you could check our progress daily or weekly and reward yourself for it,” said Daniel Wong, writer of The Happy Student. “You could also search for interesting topics connected with your textbooks. Use what you’ve learned to make a difference in the real world. This will make knowledge much more interesting to learn.”

请根据要求完成短文写作，并将写作内容写在答题卡对应题目的答题位置上。传统艺术是我国的文化瑰宝，是中国文化的重要组成部分，它们具有独特的魅力和深层的文化内涵。为弘扬中国传统文化，请你根据以下思维导图内容提示，用英语介绍一种中国传统艺术。

Chinese traditional art is the treasure of Chinese culture.

Last year, we took a trip to New York City. When we _________ our hotel, it was around 1 a.m. My son Joseph looked out at the lights of Times Square and said he wanted to go _________. I told him it was too _________ to go out, but he kept looking out of the window and said, “Just for two minutes.”

My wife and I just looked at each other, _________ and said “Two minutes”. We got _________ and walked to the center of Times Square. When we got there, my son pointed at the lights and said “Dad, look!” and then started to fall asleep.

It took us 20 minutes to _________ the 20 seconds we spent outside, but it made our son happy and that meant a lot to us. That night, I learned a lesson about _________. We sometimes can have happy moments (时刻) in our lives, _________ we often find an excuse to do something else.

Because of my son, I learned that I am the _________ enemy (敌人) to my own happiness. Happiness is a door that is always __________. However, we are the ones who have to decide if we are going to walk through the door.

In 1924, Frederick Mitchell-Hedges led a team to Lubaantun, an ancient Mayan (玛雅人的) city in modern-day Belize, a country in Central America. There, his daughter, Anna, found one of the most mysterious objects in history: a crystal skull (水晶头骨) that looked like a perfect human head. After that, more crystal skulls appeared in a short period across Europe and North America.

For years, those mysterious crystal skulls have caused a lot of discussion. Even now, no one knows exactly who made them, and no one can say when.

Some people believe the Mesoamerican (中美洲的) people made the skulls thousands of years ago. Some stories say they have special powers (能力), such as the ability to make sick people well. Moviemakers love these stories. In the movie Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, the skulls had great powers. In the movie, a crystal skull is actually the head of an alien.

However, most scientists don’t believe these stories. They think the skulls are more modern. Scientists have found marks on the skulls that they believe only more modern technology could make. Because of this, scientists are certain the skulls are not thousands of years old. Instead, they think the skulls are from the 19th century. Scientists also point to the British Museum’s research—researchers have found many Mesoamerican objects, but they have never found a crystal skull. Scientists say this is also evidence to show they are not really Mesoamerican.

Until we know more about the skulls, the mystery—and the debate (争论)—will continue.

①As Daddy’s only daughter, I realized what made my Daddy more wonderful than all the other fathers. I’d ever seen or heard of—his large hands.

②Daddy had long smart fingers that could make lots of paper toys for me to play with. His hands could tie my hair beautifully. That’s why I was proud when the other students talked about my hairstyle. I kept this a secret for years. His hands could paint a second-hand bike to look new. I got one on my tenth birthday. His hands could cook a delicious and colorful meal in minutes. I was always interested in watching his hands work. Even as I grew hungrier, I felt happy watching his hands.

③Daddy’s creative hands were also useful and hardworking. They could fly a kite high in the sky as well as to get it down from the top of a tree. They could wash my white dress clean, which became my favorite one. To my surprise, those hands raised（抚养）seven children after mom’s death. It was his attitude that showed what he really was, far more than his abilities.

④Not only were Daddy’s hands capable（能干的）, they could also send a message full of love. When I was sick, he made me feel better. He would take a small blanket（毯子）, warm it up and cover it around my small cold feet with his loving hands. They seemed to understand my pain before I could cry. When I was stressed out, Daddy would often hand me a cup of hot milk and sat next to me. He would say, “The best is always to come, my dear.”

⑤The more I read Daddy’s hands, the more stories I sense（感知）from them. Daddy’s hands were perfect. They had the knowledge and power to move mountains. They made the impossible possible.

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I am a student. My 1． (one) name is David. My last name is Miller. Look! This is a photo 2． my family. This is my father. 3． (he) favorite color is white. My favorite color is white, 4．. And this is my mother. 5． is that girl near her? She is my sister Jane. My 6． (grandparent) are in the picture, too. And they are in Chengdu now.Who’s 7． little boy? Is it 8． (I)? Yes, it is. What’s the name of the dog? It’s Mickey. My sister and I 9． (be) his good friends. We are so happy together. I love my family very much. How 10． you?

Building a country is never easy. But how about destroying it? A new report said long time of climate change can do that. The report said Tuvalu will be the first country to be completely lost because of climate change.

Tuvalu is a Pacific island nation with nine islands and 12, 000 people. It has long been at risk from rising sea levels. Now, 40 percent of the area in its capital is underwater at high tide(涨潮). By the end of the century, it is believed that all the islands will be underwater.

To help with the problem, the country plans to build its country in the metaverse(虚拟世界). The digital country will recreate the same landscape(景观) and keep its cultural and historical records. No matter where they live in the real world, the people in this country will have their identity(身份) and “live” in its online communities.

This news made many people in Tuvalu excited. But Li Zuxi, director of the metaverse lab of Qingbo Intelligent Technology, said it may not be the best solution.

“Though the digital nation belongs to Tuvalu, it’s still built on a metaverse platform , ” said Li. “Now, the metaverse is not mature(成熟), which may bring some problems. ” He gave us an example. If people from other countries enter the space of the digital country but just show their names, how do people know if they do or do not truly belong to that country?

Li added that instead of trying our best to build digital nations, it’s better to pay attention to saving the real world now.

We did a survey about study in our school. 73% of the students prefer hands-on (动手的) projects while the rest think tests are better for learning. Here are four students’ ideas.