Thank you again, and best regards!
Yours,
Li Hua
Chinese names are full of meanings. It is part of the culture. Western people’s names are a little
If
Sometimes names
But in a Western country boys and girls are given names for other reasons. The sound
Parents will often choose a name because it also
As the American population ages, the demand for services and care for older adults is growing, which accounts for the reason why SenCura is very popular. It’s a company that provides non-medical at-home care for seniors in the northern Virginia area.
But when Hollie, one of SenCura’s professional caregivers, is not around, Robertson still has a caregiver, a robot named Rudy. “You can have a conversation with him. And (he’s) somebody to talk to and who responds.” Rudy also tells jokes and plays games and dances with Robertson. In addition to keeping Robertson mentally and physically active, Rudy provides contact with emergency services 24 hours a day automatically when Robertson is in danger. He watches for lost items, reminds Robertson about her doctor’s appointments and tells her when it is time to take her medicine.
Anthony Nunez is the founder of INF Robotics, the company that created Rudy. He says, “As I grew older, I realized we weren’t the only family facing this problem. There are thousands of families facing the same issue --- most cases even worse, where they have a beloved one that they’re taking care of and the cost becomes an issue. So what we wanted to do was design a robot that’s easy to use, designed specifically for seniors, but also affordable."
SenCura’s Cliff Glier says the robot Rudy adds to what in-home caregivers do for the growing population of seniors who prefer to age at home---with a little help from friends. But Rudy is not a competitor of human caregivers. He says the robot Rudy is there to help but cannot do all the things that caregivers do, like bathing and dressing seniors.
1．Why is SenCura warmly welcomed by the seniors?| A．It improves new technologies. | B．It can meet their demands. |
| C．It can offer them whatever they want. | D．It helps them look after their children. |
| A．Make an appointment. | B．Give lessons on dancing. |
| C．Take emergency action. | D．Serve as a doctor. |
| A．The price of Rudy is reasonable. | B．The working principle of the robot. |
| C．The powerful functions of Rudy. | D．The original intention of designing Rudy. |
| A．Rudy is not perfect in some respects. | B．Rudy can take the place of humans. |
| C．Rudy helps bring a great profit to the company. | D．Rudy robs caregivers of their jobs. |
As medical science develops rapidly with new technology, what is left for the doctor to do?
For medical humanist Dr. Abraham Verghese, the answer is simple: Spend more time getting to know your patients as people. Take the time to read a poem and other literature. Do your part to bridge the gap (鸿沟) between the two cultures of science and the humanities.
It takes a doctor who knows a patient’s life history well to make the best use of these tools, Verghese said. And that means paying more attention to human character.
Verghese said machines “have gone beyond human beings in their ability to care for the patient,” that is, in diagnosing illnesses and indicating the best treatment.
But doctors can awaken the human spirit, the knowledge of human beings and their motivations (动机), which can pull together a life picture of a patient and understand them as more than a collection of symptoms.
Case history: A 64-year-old man was admitted to the hospital after repeated falls, pains, and the loss of two teeth that just fell out, with no obvious cause.
What was wrong? Was it his medicine? Was it alcohol abuse (酗酒)?
The man rapidly improved after being hospitalized. It turned out he had bachelor scurvy, a disease among older men who live alone, which results from a lack of nutrition (缺乏营养).
“He was surviving on no fruits or vegetables, just alcohol and processed meats, I would guess,” Verghese said. “My point here is that this diagnosis, as clever as it was, also might have been made much, much earlier had we had a good relationship with this patient and had some sense of who that person was, as an individual.”
1．What is Verghese’s suggestion for doctors?| A．Use machines less frequently. |
| B．Remember to care for patients. |
| C．Try to make an early diagnosis of patients. |
| D．Keep up with the development of technology. |
| A．It needs to be improved greatly. |
| B．It will replace doctors sooner or later. |
| C．It may give patients incorrect treatment. |
| D．It is of great help in diagnosing illnesses. |
| A．He lives on his own. |
| B．He lives a healthy lifestyle. |
| C．He suffers from a rare disease. |
| D．He is a regular visitor to the hospital. |
| A．By giving an example. |
| B．By making comparisons. |
| C．By providing explanations. |
| D．By showing facts and opinions. |
| A．To introduce some medical tools. |
| B．To advise doctors to get to know patients better. |
| C．To describe the development of medical science. |
| D．To show the importance of machines in medical operations. |
| A．which | B．what |
| C．whether | D．when |
Find Awe in Every Life
We’re living through trying times. Almost every day, it seems, we’re presented with new evidence of how annoying or awful others can be—the people who let the door slam in your face, or the ones who put their speakerphones on in public.
Awe is that feeling we get when something is so vast it stops us in our tracks. Often, it challenges or expands our thinking.
Most of us associate awe with something rare and beautiful: nature, music or a spiritual experience.
Unfortunately, we can’t make some else behave in a way that’s awesome. But we can get prepared to notice it when they do—and take steps to boost emotion’s positive effects.
Thank the person who awed you. This makes the other person feel good and can give your relationship a boost.
| A．And it will help you too. |
| B．Name awe when you see it. |
| C．Come up with examples of awe. |
| D．So it’s easy to forget that people can be awesome too. |
| E．This kind of awe is usually a response to life’s big, sweeping changes. |
| F．But we can be awed by our nearest—the people sitting next to us on the couch. |
| G．Awe experiences decrease stress and anxiety and increase positive emotions in life. |
The last decade saw the rise of the field of “plant neurobiology (植物神经生物学)”. That debatable field is based on the idea that plants — which do not possess brains — handle information in ways similar to complicated animal nervous systems. This thinking implies that plants could feel happiness or sorrow or pain, make intentional decisions and even possess consciousness. But the chances of that are “effectively zero”. “There’s nothing in the plant comparable to the complexity of the animal brain,” says Taiz, from the University of California, Santa Cruz.
Some plants are capable of complicated behaviors. For example, wounded leaves can send warning signals to other parts of the plant. But plants perform these with equipment that’s very different from the nervous systems of animals, no brain required, Taiz argues. He and colleagues point out methodological faults in some of the studies that claim plants have brain-like command centers and animal-like nerve cells. But beyond the debate over how these studies are conducted, Taiz’s team argues that plant consciousness doesn’t even make sense from an evolutionary point of view.
“Complicated animal brains advanced in part to help a living being catch a meal and avoid becoming one,” Taiz says. “But plants are rooted to the ground and rely on sunlight for energy, an inactive lifestyle that doesn’t require quick thinking or outsmarting a predator (捕食者) — or the energetically expensive nervous systems that enable those behaviors.” “What use would consciousness be to a plant?” Taiz asks. “If a plant worried and suffered when faced with a threat, it would be wasting so much energy that it wouldn’t have any left to do anything about that threat,” Taiz says. “Furthermore, plants have plenty to do without having to be conscious, too. With sunlight, carbon dioxide and water, plants create the compounds that sustain much of the rest of life on Earth,” Taiz points out. “Isn’t that enough?”
1．The rise of “plant neurobiology” indicates that ________.| A．It is widely recognized that plants have brains and nervous systems. |
| B．Scientists proved that plants can handle information like animals. |
| C．Certain scientists believe that plants may possess consciousness. |
| D．The science community believes in the promising future of studying it. |
| A．Plants possess animal-like nervous systems. |
| B．Plants perform complicated behaviors with brains. |
| C．It is not understandable that plants have consciousness. |
| D．It is necessary for plants to develop brains for survival. |
| A．A predator. | B．A living being. | C．An inactive plant. | D．A meal. |
| A．To explain a rule. | B．To clarify a concept. |
| C．To support an argument. | D．To present a fact. |
| A．Entertainment. | B．Life. | C．Education. | D．Science. |
| A．Art school students. | B．Web designers. | C．Magazine managers. |
| A．The cover of a magazine. | B．A poster. | C．A T-shirt. |
| A．The deadline is May 27th. |
| B．The design must include a picture. |
| C．Some words should be put in a certain place in the design. |
| A．A drawing book and pens. | B．Books on design. | C．A computer. |
Experts like to say the best form of exercise is whatever kind you’ll actually do. But that may not always be the case; new research finds that people who combine exercise with their social lives may be at an advantage over solitary(独自) exercisers. Tennis, badminton and soccer are all better for longevity(长寿) than cycling, swimming, jogging or gym exercise, according to the research.
The study was based on data from about 8,500 adults who were part of the Copenhagen City Heart Study. They completed a health and lifestyle questionnaire, which included questions about type and frequency of physical activity, and were monitored by the researchers for around 25 years, a period during which about 4,500 of the subjects died.
Tennis came out on top in the research. Compared with people sitting all day, those who reported playing tennis as their main form of exercise could expect to add 9.7 years to their life time, followed by badminton (6.2 years), soccer (4.7 years), cycling (3.7 years), swimming (3.4 years), jogging (3.2 years) and health-club activities (1.5 years).
Tennis likely took the top spot because “it’s very interactive,” says study co-author Dr. James O’Keefe, a physician at Saint Luke’s Mid America Heart Institute. “At every point you’re talking. It’s just a very natural way to emotionally bond with people, besides getting your exercise.” But he adds that the study may not have been able to fully account for the fact that wealthier, better-educated people—who tend to be healthier to begin with—may be more likely to play tennis.
Activities like running and weight lifting still extend your life and offer plenty of other health benefits. But for the best possible benefits, O’Keefe says gym-goers may want to consider combining those workouts with activities that foster social connection.
O’Keefe, whose exercise typically includes running and weight lifting, says he’s even changed his own behavior because of the study: he and his family have taken up badminton.
“You can’t play badminton without feeling like a kid again,” he says. “It’s just pure fun.”
1．Which of the following is best for living a long life?| A．Cycling. | B．Badminton. |
| C．Swimming. | D．Gym exercise. |
| A．About 8,500. | B．About 4,500. |
| C．About 4000. | D．About 2500. |
| A．Family life. | B．Social connections. |
| C．Frequency of exercise. | D．Wealth and education. |
| A．He puts the theory into practice. |
| B．He plays badminton just for fun. |
| C．He feels like playing badminton with kids. |
| D．He takes more exercise than before. |
It all started when I learned to read,or rather,before I learned to read.Throughout my childhood, I'd always had a bunch of ideas about who I would become when I was older. I'd be an inventor,a doctor,a waitress, or an artist. But the ideas ran out in middle school. I spent a few years wandering aimlessly through life,having no clue what I was passionate about.
In my first year of high school, I had an English teacher-let's call her Mrs.A-who changed my life.She was the type of person who captured everyone's attention the second they walked in a room. Midway through the year,I realized that I didn't just want to get a good grade in her class for my own sake,but I wanted to make her proud. Months went by, and I worked harder. I wrote in class and practiced essays at home on top of that.And each time,I'd bring it to her for feedback."Veronica," said Mrs.A after pulling me aside on the last day of school."I told the editors of the school newspaper you should write for them.”aimlessly anymore-I had a destination.I had decided I'd become a writer.Doing well at the school newspaper was the first step to get there.
No way.They wouldn't take me.I applied anyway,A few months later,I was editor-in-chief. somewhere.
Thirteen years after I wrote my first word, three years after Mrs.A gave me the "go ahead".I’m writing for newspapers all around the world. Each article reminds me of the little girl who said she’d become a writer.
It's still the bottom rung of the ladder, and I've got miles left to climb, but at least I’ve made it somewhere.
1．Which of the following words best describe Mrs.A?| A．Patient and intelligent. | B．Inspiring and remarkable. |
| C．Out-going and helpful. | D．Approachable and imaginative. |
| A．Panicked. | B．Surprised. |
| C．Confused. | D．Unconfident. |
| A．Be brave enough to try. | B．Be ready to voice her opinions. |
| C．Cherish whatever life has to offer. | D．Continue to improve her writing skills. |
| A．To inspire passion for writing. | B．To discuss a teacher's role |
| C．To highlight the key to success. | D．To share her journey to writing. |
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