学进去

Human speech contains more than 2,000 different sounds, from the common “m” and “a” to the rare clicks of some southern African languages. But why are certain sounds more common than others? A ground-breaking, five-year study shows that diet-related changes in human bite led to new speech sounds that are now found in half the world’s languages.

More than 30 years ago, the scholar Charles Hockett noted that speech sounds called labiodentals, such as “f” and “v”, were more common in the languages of societies that ate softer foods. Now a team of researchers led by Damián Blasi at the University of Zurich, Switzerland, has found how and why this trend arose.

They discovered that the upper and lower front teeth of ancient human adults were aligned(对齐), making it hard to produce labiodentals, which are formed by touching the lower lip to the upper teeth. Later, our jaws changed to an overbite structure(结构), making it easier to produce such sounds.

The team showed that this change in bite was connected with the development of agriculture in the Neolithic period. Food became easier to chew at this point. The jawbone didn’t have to do as much work and so didn’t grow to be so large.

Analyses of a language database also confirmed that there was a global change in the sound of world languages after the Neolithic age, with the use of “f” and “v” increasing remarkably during the last few thousand years. These sounds are still not found in the languages of many hunter-gatherer people today.

This research overturns the popular view that all human speech sounds were present when human beings evolved around 300,000 years ago. “The set of speech sounds we use has not necessarily remained stable since the appearance of human beings, but rather the huge variety of speech sounds that we find today is the product of a complex interplay of things like biological change and cultural evolution,” said Steven Moran, a member of the research team.

Tom is four years old now. His father works in a middle school and ________ P.E. there. His mother works in a shop and his grandma looks after him ________. The boy is clever and always ________ that he knows more than his little friends.

One morning Tom’s father ________ earlier. His school is going to hold a sports meeting that day. Of course he is going to be busier than any other ________ in his school. About two hours later Tom’s grandma ________ ill. Her head hurts（疼）but she can’t go to see a ________ by herself. She calls her son, but ________ answers. So she asks the little boy to go to tell his father about it.

When Tom goes out, he ________ his friend Henry. And he asks him to go there with him. The boys want to watch the sports meeting and they ________ go there happily. When they get to the school, there are a lot of people on the ________ and the boys’ 400-metre relay race（男子400米接力赛）________. They stop to watch it. And Tom ________ what his grandma tells him to do. They are attracted（被吸引）by the race. Henry asks, “Why is the front boy running so fast?”

Of course Tom doesn’t know about it. He ________ for a minute and says,“What a fool! Don’t you see the other boys with ________ in their hands are running after him?”

We can achieve knowledge either actively or passively. We achieve it actively by direct experience, by testing and proving an idea, or by reasoning.

We achieve knowledge passively by being told by someone else. Most of the learning that takes place in the classroom and the kind that happens when we watch TV or read newspapers or magazines is passive. As we are used to passive learning, it’s not surprising that we depend on it in our everyday communication with friends and co-workers.

Unfortunately, passive learning has a serious problem. It makes us tend to accept what we are told even when it is nothing but hearsay and rumor(谣言).

Did you ever play the game Rumor? It begins when one person writes down a message but doesn’t show it to anyone. Then the person whispers it, word for word, to another person. That person, in turn, whispers it to still another, and so on, through all the people playing the game. The last person writes down the message word for word as he or she hears it. Then the two written statements are compared. Typically, the original message has changed.

That’s what happens in daily life. The simple fact that people repeat a story in their own words changes the story. Then, too, most people listen imperfectly. And many enjoy adding their own creative understanding to a story, trying to improve on it, stamping it with their own personal style. Yet those who hear it think they know.

This process is also found among scholars and authors: A statement of opinion by one writer may be re-stated as fact by another, who may in turn be quoted(引用) by yet another; and this process may continue, unless it occurs to someone to question the facts on which the original writer based his opinion or to challenge the explanation he placed upon those facts.

The journey of the Communist Party of China (CPC) was marked by many important things.

The places of these things now also become “red revolutionary bases (革命圣地)”. The “red spirit” has a deep 1． on lots of Chinese people, both old and young.

For example, the CPC’s birthplace of Jiaxing in Zhejiang is 2． popular symbol of courage and pioneering (先锋) spirit. Jinggangshan in Jiangxi is known 3． the “cradle (摇篮) of the Chinese revolution”. Mao Zedong started the first revolutionary base there.

Other 4． such as Yan’an in Shaanxi and Linyi in Shandong are also “old revolutionary bases”. The CPC worked together with people to 5． against wars. A hundred years have passed, 6． these “revolutionary bases” have changed greatly. Some of them are no longer 7． villages, and others become popular tourist areas. There are many young people having grown up. They are 8． their best to work for their hometowns in many ways.

How are the young people from these places influenced by “red spirit”? How do they carry out the spirit in 9． daily lives? To answer these questions, TEENS has interviewed several local young people. “Their stories showed that the ‘red spirit’ would never be out of time. It will keep 10． us to work hard, feel thankful and serve others,” Wang Jie, a young man said.

I’m a procrastinator (有拖延症的人). In college, I was supposed to spend a year writing my 90-page senior paper. I didn’t write a word until three days before the deadline (截止日期). Finally, I wrote 90 pages over 72 hours, staying up two nights in a row to finish it on time. Of course, it was a very bad paper.

I have a theory (理论) that the brains of procrastinators are different from those of other people. Both kinds of people are able to make smart decisions. But the procrastinator’s brain also has a part that doesn’t like making the “right” decision. It only wants whatever is easiest and most fun.

For the procrastinator, this part of the brain makes all the decisions. So how can people like me work when we really need to? It turns out that procrastinators also have a part of their brain that makes them panic. This part isn’t active all the time. But it suddenly “wakes up” when deadlines are close. It’s the only thing that can make us take action.

The problem is that there are many things in our lives that don’t come with deadlines. We know that we should spend more time exercising or seeing our family. But these things don’t have deadlines. So how can we work on them?

One thing you can try is making a “life calendar”. Set a goal for yourself, such as exercising 20 minutes each day for a week. Take a regular calendar and put a big red “×” on each day that you exercise. After a week, you’ll see a neat (整齐的) row of “×”. This will help you feel more confident about working toward your goals.

面对 “双减” 背景下的九年级学习生活，你考虑过怎样做才能取得好成绩吗？2022年的中考，你准备好了吗？请以How to get good grades?为题写一篇作文。

How to get good grades

Now I have less homework than before and I also don’t need to go to after-school classes on weekends. In order to improve my grades, _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________.

假如你是张莉莉，想邀请好友Jane来你的新家。请根据表格里的要点，用英文给Jane写一封邀请信。

How are you? Now I live in my new home and I’d like to invite you to my home.__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Best wishes!

Yours,

Zhang Lili

Donna Reid had just finished her training as a children’s doctor. A famous research hospital in New York had offered her a job with (71) g1． pay. And her boyfriend, Tony, had a clinic(小诊所) in their hometown and hoped she could work with him. At the same time, a small hospital, Backwoods Hospital, in a very poor area had also offered Donna a job. Now it was time for her to decide (72) w2． to work.

Dad: Donna, that research hospital in New York has a good reputation（声誉） for children’s medicine. Some of the best children’s doctors in the country work there and you can (73) l3． a lot from them.

Mom: Yes, I agree it’s a good hospital and the pay is good, too. But, that’s not the point(要点).   

Dad: (74) T4． what’s the point?

Mom: It’s in New York, too far away! Let me tell you, dear Donna. Tony’s clinic is just several miles away. You don’t need to travel (75) f5． if you work there. Tony is a nice young man and I guess you’ll get married soon.

Dad: Ha! It’s hard enough to live with a husband or wife. Working with them, (76) t6．? That’s a choice for trouble. Well, Donna, what do you think?

Donna: I’m thinking about (77) a7． the offer from Backwoods Hospital.

Dad: But Donna, look at their offer! You’ll be on call(随时待命) six days a week. That’s really a (78) h8． job.

Mom: Oh, Donna, the pay is another problem.

Donna: Mom and Dad, I didn’t become a doctor   for enjoying a comfortable life (79) o9．.

Dad: No? Then (80) w10． did you become a doctor?