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The combination of music and study has long been  source of disagreement between adults and children. Parents and teachers alike maintain that  (silent) is important when learning, whereas youngsters insist that (they) favourite sounds help them concentrate.

Now a study shows that the (grown-up) have been right all along. Psychologists in Florida tested how fast students wrote essays and without music in the background. They (find) that the sounds slowed progress down by about sixty words per hour. "This demonstrates (clear) that it is difficult to cope with listening and writing at the same time," said Dr. Sarah. She also came to the conclusion it is a myth that instrumental music is less disturbing than songs. "All types of music had the same effect," she said in her report. "One's ability to pay attention and write fluently is likely (disturb) by both songs and instrumental music." she added.

Dr. Sarah claimed the research demonstrated that the idea that music could improve performance was wrong. "Writing an essay is a complex task. You (recall) information and putting it in order. But what is particularly worrying is that more and more teenagers are studying in front of the television."

I was never very neat. Yet, when I arrived at college, my roommate didn't seem to appreciate my 1 . I am not sure why they 2 us together. Kim was extremely organized. She 3 everything and each item she owned had its place. We were always having a hard time with each other. She would be mad at my dirty clothes and I would 4 washing powder headaches. She would push my clothing over to one side and I would lay one of my books on her 5 desk.

However, it all came to an end one late evening and I didn't even know why we had both returned to each other's 6 . When the phone rang, she picked it up and I could tell from her end of the conversation that her father was 7 ill. When she hung up, she quickly crawled under her covers and I could hear her quiet 8 . Though I didn't mean for it to happen, 1 could feel the warm feelings of 9 rising up in my heart. It was something no girl should 10 alone. What to do? I smiled as I got the idea.

Slowly, 1 began to clear up my side of the room. I took back the 11 I had set on her desk. I got so 12 in my work that I didn't even notice Kim had come out from under the covers. She was watching my every move, her tears dried and her expression one of 13 . When I was finally done, I went and sat at the end of her bed. Her hand was warm as it 14 over to grasp mine. I looked up into Kim's eyes and she smiled at me.

Kim and I stayed roommates for the rest of that year. We didn't always see eye to eye, but we learned the 15 to living together: giving in, cleaning up and holding on.

In 2013, digital media consultant Baratunde Thurston launched an experiment. He decided to disconnect from his online life for twenty-five days: no Facebook, no Twitter, not even e-mail. He needed the break. 

It didn't take him long to adjust to a disconnected life. By the end of that first week, he was less stressed about not knowing new things. He enjoyed food without Twittering the experience. But the end came too soon. After the twenty-five days. he had to restore his online presence.

His experiment summarizes two important points about our relationship with social networks like Facebook and Twitter. The first point is that we increasingly recognize that these tools fragment (碎裂) our time and reduce our ability to concentrate. But the problem is especially serious if you're attempting to improve your ability to work deeply.

To fight back against these distractions, Thurston felt his only option was to quit the Internet altogether. But the problem is that no one is meant to actually follow Thurston's lead. That is to accept our current distracted state as unavoidable. This brings me to the second point summarized by Thurston's story: it didn't take him long once the experiment ended to slide back into the fragmented state where he began.

This rule proposes a third option: accepting that these tools might be vital to your success and happiness, but meanwhile accepting that most people should be using fewer such tools. I won't ask you, in other words, to quit the Internet altogether like Thurston did. There is a middle ground, and if you're to develop a deep work habit, you must fight to get there.

A. He struck up conversations with strangers.

B. It is a real problem for many different people.

C. "I was burnt out, fried, and done," he explained.

D. This reality accounts for the remaining alternative.

E. He had to return to the online world with books to market.

F. But I'll ask you to reject the state of highly distracted connectedness.

G. Fortunately, you will break the habit of surfing the Internet gradually.

What makes people so special? Tool use, self-consciousness, language, and culture are high on the list, but in fact all of these characteristics can be found elsewhere in the animal kingdom. Humans and apes are close relatives, so it is perhaps not surprising that chimpanzees use tools or that gorillas have a sense of fair play, even rejecting carrots (which they normally accept) when they see their neighbors getting grapes. But the qualities that we often think of as uniquely human exist not just on land, but in the ocean as well.

Among the invertebrates(无脊椎动物), octopuses (八爪鱼) are known for their intelligence, even exhibiting evidence of playfulness, tool use, and personality. But these skilled predators live alone and consequently lack culture. Dolphins, on the other hand, are large-brained, long-living, social-group-based predators, and it is here that we find the greatest similarity to human-like culture and awareness.

Culture depends on the ability of animals to pass on things they have learned to others. Many animals have culture in this sense, but what sets dolphins apart is what they pass on. Some bottlenose dolphins hold sponges in their mouths that they use as tools to sweep for fish hiding on the ocean floor. This ability is handed down through generations (especially in females), with some families — grandmother, mother, and daughter — all feeding in this highly specialized way.

Another characteristic that dolphins share with humans is their ability to recognize themselves in a mirror. When facing a mirror, most animals behave as though they are interacting with another individual. Even in humans, the ability to recognize that the image in a mirror is oneself does not occur before the age of 18 months. Dolphins not only recognize themselves, but if a black mark is put on the body of a dolphin, it will spend extra time at the mirror to look at the mark.

In May 2012, Australia's Macquarie Dictionary and the McCann Advertising Agency gathered a group of language experts to name a phenomenon common in the age of the smartphone. They called the phenomenon "phubbing", and defined it as "the act of snubbing (无视) someone in a social setting by looking at your phone instead of paying attention." It's not the usual way words begin to exist.

A month later, the first example of phubbing in a major newspaper appeared in a letter to the editor of The Age, published in Melbourne. Since then, the word has appeared in various media the world over. Phubbing has yet to be fully adopted in the U. S., but we have collected some evidence of it in use. 

On 29 September 2015, James A. Roberts wrote in the Huffinington Post, "In the present case, phubbing is a combination of the words phone and snubbing. To be phubbed is to be snubbed by someone using their cell phone while in your company. The ‘phubb' could be an interruption of your conversation with someone when he or she uses their cell phone or is distracted by it (steal glances when they think you're not looking) instead of paying attention to you. Maybe worse, you've been phubbed if someone used their cell phone instead of communicating with you while staying close to you. Oh, the shame."

The meaning and various forms of the word have yet to settle out. Is it phubbing if you're staring at your tablet instead of your phone? Is the singular noun (and the base form of the verb) spelled phubb, as in the example above, or phub, as in some other sources? These are the sorts of questions we'll need answers to before we're ready to consider phubbing and its relations for entry. In the meanwhile, you can of course use phubbing if you feel the need. It seems we all do these days.

A British woman, Dr. Mantri, growing up in India started to notice his son, Dhruv, was struggling with simple arithmetic when he was in fifth-grade. After noticing this, she started employing an abacus（算盘）to help her son visually comprehend mathematics.

"I would ask him something like 35 minus 13 and he couldn't do it." said Dhruv's mom Dr. Mantri. "I decided to change the way he looked at numbers," she said. "An abacus is a tried and tested method, and the Egyptians used them for building the pyramid." In just six days he started to show progress with the abacus and would go on to become a whizz kid with numbers, with even his classmates' parents reaching out for help.

She never thought she would teach her son using an abacus, which she used as a child in India and it was always helpful. Within six days she started to notice a difference and see results. So dramatic was the turn around that school staff asked him to perform with the abacus at an assembly, where some parents even came to ask for advice on using it for their kids.

IT specialist Dr. Mantri said the humble abacus can be used for calculations into the trillions and kids enjoy learning on it because it's like a game. "It becomes a playing tool for younger children, for it feels like a game. I think the success comes because children can touch and feel an abacus and visualize them." She added.

By the age of 12, Dhruv was giving online cyber security seminars and is now pursuing a career in data science and analytics. Dhruv has now landed an apprenticeship（实习）at an international firm. During the four-year apprenticeship, he will spend one day a week studying Data Science and Artificial Intelligence at Glasgow Caledonian University. "He is so confident now and I am so proud," she said, with Dhruv adding "I don't think my teachers would have guessed that I would be following a career in data science at that time."

The Young Scholars Program

The University of Maryland's Young Scholars Program is a perfect summer camp for academically talented teenagers who want to earn college credits, pursue academic interests or discover college life at the University of Maryland. The program is challenging and meaningful. Students have the opportunity to show that they can be successful in a university environment.

The Activities

During three weeks of exploration, teens preview the university experience, study with students who share similar interests and communicate with the best teachers of the University of Maryland in a dynamic and challenging classroom environment. Students can have trips to nearby Washington, D.C. and enjoy movie nights and activities at the student union. Workshops and seminars featuring speakers in academic fields further enrich the learning experience.

The Courses

The Young Scholars Program offers college courses that are at the cutting edge of theory, thought and technology. Classes generally meet every day from Monday to Friday. The program is a great introduction to the University of Maryland. Participants can benefit from the University of Maryland's vast resources, including libraries, computers and instructional labs.

The Rewards

Upon program completion, teens will go home with better preparations for the college experience — both academically and socially. In addition, students earn three college credits that post to the University of Maryland transcript (成绩单).

The Application

The application process includes submission of the application, high school transcript and a letter of recommendation.

Ages: 14-18

Mailing address: The University of Maryland College Park

For more information, call 3014057762.

My mom and I were in Florida during her spring break from teaching middle school. As an anxious four-year-old, I had asked my mom several times if the Easter Bunny would be able to find us. She assured me there would be eggs.

On Easter morning, my mom and I discovered that the Easter Bunny had left eggs on the hotel's main lawn (草坪) for all the kids. As we walked toward the group of adults and kids waiting for instructions, I began sizing up the competition. All of the kids were much bigger than me. It wasn't looking good. The manager in charge of the hunt explained the rules. My heart began racing as I watched some of the other kids get into a pose to start.

When the manager yelled "GO!", all kids rushed across the lawn, running from tree to tree looking for the plastic Easter eggs filled with candy. I raced to the closest tree but did not find any eggs. I ran to a nearby sandpit hoping there would be an egg hidden there. But in vain. I looked across the lawn and saw the other kids holding up their plastic eggs and knew my chance of finding even one egg was decreasing by the second.

Just then my mom pointed out a palm tree across the lawn. "Look There's One!" A shiny blue plastic egg was resting against the base of the tree. I looked up at my mom in excitement. However, she was staring in the direction of another mom, whose son was pulling candy out of an egg. The two moms were looking at one another and then at what appeared to be the last Easter egg. I had never seen my very petite (娇小的) mom before that day. She had been born with weak knees, due to an issue with her legs, and when she was in elementary school she had worn special shoes to correct a foot problem.

注意：1. 写作词数应为150左右；2. 请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。

As their staring with each other continued, I took off toward the Easter egg.

My mom, delighted at her victory, walked back toward me.

注意：1. 写作词数应为80左右；2. 请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。

Good morning, everyone. Today, I'd like to share a story about a man of perseverance.

Thanks for your listening.

A black slate (石板), an alloy steel needle and decades of practice are Li Yahua needs to create the perfect Huihe stone shadow carving work of art. With her left hand (gentle) leaning against the mirror-like stone to support the heavy chisel (凿子) she's holding in her right hand, the artist creates a black-and-white landscape by intensively chiseling dots in various sizes and density on the stone.

  (difference) from traditional Chinese art types that emphasize the beauty of lines, stone shadow carving highlights the size and  (deep) of dots. 

"We use an alloy steel needle to chisel white dots to create images on a polished and smooth black slate," Li explained, adding the pressure (use) to chisel them was the key to getting the carving right.

"On an A4-paper-size black slate, we need to chisel about 100 million dots (create) an image," she continued, adding it would take 7 to 20 days to complete the work depending on its level of complexity.

Born into a family of stone carvers, stone and alloy steel needles (be) Li's best friends since childhood and the sound of chisel (knock) on the slate is the soundtrack to her life. 56-year-old has devoted nearly 40 years to the craft. For her, shadow carving is about preserving history, culture and art, recording the stories of the times.

My dad is a kind gentle man with few words. But the words were always appropriate to the situation I was facing.

As a teen, when I 1 with making sense of the world around me, he taught me the right 2 of the world. When I was offered the chance to be a manager of an organization as an undergraduate student, I asked him for advice 3 he was a senior manager of a large company. His advice was simple, "Only when you become the manager can you have a vision for how you can be 4 with managing an organization within your power; management isn't about power and it's about5 " I learned what I needed was not only to be 6 for my team but also to have leading ability.

My dad is 86 now, living on his own. He keeps a positive attitude despite the 7 that aging brings. Although we live quite far away from each other, we talk daily on the phone, and he shares the 8 of my young family. As I tell him how we're 9 cycling or on a trip or out to play tennis, now his typical response is, "Do it while you can." This is very important. We can't 10 the future, which is always hard to be aware of.

Dad trusted me, and 11 me each time I was sad or 12 . He rarely "lectured me". His patience and 13 have been true gifts in my life. Whenever I doubt my ability and my motivation, I 14 recall his valuable advice, "Do it while you can. Seize the day and 15 it to the fullest." It's enough to "just get me started".

Napping (小睡) at midday keeps afternoon sleepiness away.  Shortly after lunch, silence fills the whole office building, for the employees are now taking a nap break. An unspoken agreement is shared that each deserves a personal napping space without disturbance. 

Liu Zongyuan, a famous poet in the Tang Dynasty, once impressed us by a vivid description of a joyful and leisurely nap time. Napping at noon might date from the late Eastern Han Dynasty. According to the story "San Gu Mao Lu", Zhuge Kongming was in a sound nap when Liu Bei came visiting him for the third time.

Some researchers interpret the Chinese napping habit in the light of eating habits. Chinese people in the north eat wheaten food primarily and those in the south rely on rice. Biology tells us that wheaten food and rice contain a lot of glucose (葡萄糖). Normally we Chinese get on a full stomach after lunch so the glucose-rich Chinese diet raises the level of blood glucose.  

These explanations are seemingly reasonable.  Even days of conversation to Western diet, instead of wheaten food or rice, cannot ease my post-lunch laziness, hence a nap at a quiet place is desperate. 

Noon nap occurs everywhere: customers napping on a sofa or Simmons, park-goers on a bench or on the lawn, are frequently noticed on newspapers and the Internet.  Those who nap in public places embarrass passers-by, which is not socially tolerable. On the contrary, a self-disciplined person preferring to nap in a private space is regarded as a napper with decency.

A. It leads to sleepiness.

B. They, however, do not work on me.

C. It casts its spell on summer days particularly.

D. Noon-time napping is a kind of self-protection.

E. Napping is also a cultural behavior with a long history.

F. Be that as it may, your napping places make a difference.

G. Otherwise, only a lie-in in the morning could help me get enough energy for the whole afternoon.