16道题
At one point or another, you’ve probably heard someone speak with confidence on a topic that they actually know almost nothing about. Psychologists have studied this topic and suggested a somewhat surprising explanation known as the Dunning-Kruger effect.
In a set of studies testing this effect, researchers Justin Kruger and David Duming asked participants to complete tests of their skills in a particular domain (such as humor or logical reasoning). Then, participants were asked to guess how well they had done on the test. They found that participants had the tendency to overestimate their abilities, and this effect was most pronounced among participants with the lowest scores on the test.
Why does it happen? In an interview, David Dunning explains that “the knowledge and intelligence that are required to be good at a task are often the same qualities needed to recognize that one is not good at that task. ” In other words, if someone knows very little about a particular topic, they may not even know enough about the topic to realize that their knowledge is limited.
Importantly, someone may be highly skilled in one area, but be susceptible to the Dunning-Kruger effect in another domain. This means that everyone can potentially be affected by the Dunning-Kruger effect. Dunning explains in an article that “You may think this doesn’t apply to you. But the problem of unrecognized ignorance is one that visits us all. ”
What can people do to overcome the Dunning-Kruger effect? The researchers found that training made a difference. After completing a short training session on logical reasoning, the participants who scored in the bottom 25 percent lowered their estimate of how well they thought they had done on the previous test. In other words, one way to overcome the Dunning-Kruger effect may be to learn more about a topic.
However, when learning more about a topic, it’s important to make sure that we avoid confirmation bias (偏差), which is “the tendency to accept evidence that confirms our beliefs and to reject evidence that contradicts them.” As Dunning explains, overcoming the Dunning-Kruger effect can sometimes be a complicated process, especially if it forces us to realize that we were previously misinformed.
【小题1】What did Justin Kruger and David Dunning find in their studies?| A．The Dunning-Kruger effect had no impact on experts. |
| B．Most participants predicted accurately about their test scores. |
| C．People who knew little were more likely to overestimate their competence. |
| D．People affected by the Dunning-Kruger effect had the lowest intelligence. |
| A．Overconfidence. | B．Illogical reasoning. |
| C．Lack of experience. | D．Insufficient knowledge. |
| A．Be untrained in. | B．Be doubtful about. |
| C．Be not familiar with. | D．Be easily influenced by. |
| A．The effect is hard to overcome. | B．Training is the most effective way. |
| C．Opposing views should be taken into account. | D．People are often misinformed in their interview. |
The twelve new restaurants added to the New York Michelin Guide this month will be casting their success. Being included in the handbook is the first step towards receiving a Michelin star, the most desirable award in the cuisine industry. Yet according to a study recently published in the Strategic Management Journal, restaurants might be better off remaining starless.
Daniel Sands of University College London’s school of management tracked the fortunes of restaurants that opened in New York in 2000 – 2014 and won the honor of being included in the guide. He found that, of this promising group, restaurants which went on to get a Michelin star were more likely to close down in the years that followed than those which did not. The relationship remained even when factors such as location, price and type of cuisine were taken into account. All considered, 40% of restaurants awarded Michelin stars in 2005 – 2014 had closed by the end of 2019.
A Michelin star boosts publicity: the study found that Google search rose by over a third for newly-starred restaurants. But that fame comes at a price. First, Mr. Sands argues, the restaurants’ customers change. Being the focus of public attention raises diners’ expectations and brings in tourists from farther away. Meeting guests’ greater demands adds to new costs. Second, businesses the restaurants deal with, such as ingredient suppliers and landlords, use the opportunity to charge more.
Food is not the only industry where awards are a mixed blessing. Several studies have shown that companies run by award-winning bosses underachieve relative both to their previous performance and to their opponents. In publishing, too, awards bring disaster. Prize-winning books are reviewed more severely than before their success, and worse than runners-up.
For restaurants that are in the industry for the glory, Michelin’s top award will probably remain too inviting not to pursue. But for those simply wanting to stay in business, it may be safer to not quite meet the criterion.
【小题1】What can be learned about winning a Michelin star from paragraph 1?| A．It does not necessarily benefit winners. |
| B．It has not been fully appreciated. |
| C．It leads to being included in the guide. |
| D．It is a huge success worth celebrating. |
| A．40% of them suffered close down by the end of 2019. |
| B．They have been in business for at least two decades. |
| C．All of them were New York-based establishments. |
| D．Some went out of business due to the unfavorable location. |
| A．Critics review them unfairly. |
| B．Runners-up are better written. |
| C．Competition in publishing is fierce. |
| D．Fame seldom comes without a price. |
| A．Pursue the top award at all costs. |
| B．Be aware of the potential danger. |
| C．Decide based on their own needs. |
| D．Follow suit in the cuisine business. |
Scientists with the BrainGate research center have developed a breakthrough brain-computer interface (BCI). The system aims to restore communication for individuals with speech disabilities caused by conditions like amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), which lead to the gradual loss of mobility and speech. It uses implanted sensors to interpret brain signals when a user attempts to speak, transforming them into text that is read aloud by a computer. The study, published in the New England Journal of Medicine on August 14, was led by David Brandman and Sergey Stavisky, faculty members at UC Davis Health.
ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, affects nerve cells controlling muscle movement. BCI technology can restore communication for those affected. In this study, Casey Harrell, a 45-year-old man with ALS, regained the ability to communicate effectively within minutes of using the system. Harrell described the experience as life-changing, saying, “My past condition was so demoralizing. Not being able to communicate seems as if you were trapped. Something like this technology will help people get back into life and society.”
The BrainGate clinical trial, led by Dr. Leigh Hochberg from Brown University, has made major progress in interpreting brain signals to help people with paralysis (瘫痪) communicate. In July 2023, the UC Davis team implanted a BCI device into Harrell’s brain, focusing on the left precentral gyrus, a part of the brain that controls speech. The system translates brain activity into phonemes (音素) and words, enabling real-time communication. Harrell’s BCI generated speech with a voice similar to his own, using software trained with existing voice samples of his voice before he developed ALS. This allowed him to connect with his loved ones in a deeply personal way.
Over 32 weeks and 248 hours of use, the system achieved remarkable results, with 99.6% acéuracy for a 50-word vocabulary in 30 minutes of training and 90.2% accuracy for a 125,000-word vocabulary after 1.4 additional training hours. “This is transformative technology,” Brandman said. “It provides hope for people who want to speak but can’t.” Dr. John Ngai, director of the NIH’s BRAIN Initiative, highlighted the milestone as a major step in restoring communication for individuals locked in by paralysis.
【小题1】What do we know about the BrainGate BCI?| A．It is used to treat speech disabilities. |
| B．It translates brain signals into speech. |
| C．It helps people with ALS move and speak. |
| D．It connects brains to make computers smarter. |
| A．Discouraging. | B．Demanding. | C．Comforting. | D．Eye-opening. |
| A．To enable his communication in real time. |
| B．To make his speech emotionally meaningful. |
| C．To improve the accuracy of speech translation. |
| D．To help interpret his brain signals more easily. |
| A．Favourable. | B．Unclear. | C．Cautious. | D．Dismissive. |
It might surprise you to learn that dogs are playing an increasingly important role as conservationists. For centuries, they have been known as man’s best friends. Now, their unique. abilities are being made use of to help protect some of the world’s most threatened species.
Quick and loyal, dogs possess many qualities that make them ideal for fieldwork, but it’s their extraordinary sense of smell that makes them invaluable for conservation work. With around 220 million olfactory receptors (嗅觉受体) compared to just 5 million in humans, dogs can detect scents (气味) and analyze them with astonishing accuracy, devoting 40 times more of their brain to scent analysis than we do.
Thanks to this incredible ability, some dogs are now being trained to save at-risk animals by sniffing (嗅) out their droppings. At the University of Washington’s Conservation Cannes facility,20specially trained dogs have successfully tracked killer whale droppings, which only float briefly on the ocean’s surface. Analyzing these samples enables scientists to monitor the health of killer whale populations, which are under significant stress from food shortages, pollution, and boat traffic.
Beyond tracking animal droppings, conservation dogs are also trained for live animal detection, further showcasing their abilities. They can locate rare species in their natural habitats. Additionally, they are now used to tackle the non-native species that threaten the survival of the local wildlife. Dogs also take on other important roles. For example, at Kenya’s Mombasa port, dogs sniff out illegal wildlife products such as rhino horns and ivory. Across Africa, they work on the frontlines against illegal hunting, serving as a powerful security force enhancer.
While dogs may not be the ultimate solution to every conservation challenge. their incomparable abilities make them invaluable companions in the fight to protect our planet’s biodiversity.
【小题1】Why are the figures mentioned in the second paragraph?| A．To highlight the superiority of dogs’ sense of smell. |
| B．To suggest the amazing accuracy of dogs’ analysis. |
| C．To recognize the importance of conservation work. |
| D．To show dogs’ impressive achievements in fieldwork. |
| A．By tracking their movements. |
| B．By detecting their droppings. |
| C．By monitoring their populations. |
| D．By analyzing the collected samples. |
| A．Wildlife products are popular in African countries. |
| B．Non-native species affect the survival of local wildlife. |
| C．Dogs are used to detect and prevent illegal wildlife trade. |
| D．Dogs can accurately locate the natural habitats of rare species. |
| A．To appeal to people to protect biodiversity. |
| B．To report various environmental challenges. |
| C．To introduce dogs’ roles in conservation efforts. |
| D．To prove the conventional claim of dogs’ qualities. |
The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) had been billions of dollars over budget and years behind schedule before it was launched on December 25th, 2021. It was a key part of an international mission to launch this huge telescope a million miles from Earth. Scientists said the telescope would be able to detect any galaxy in the universe.
The telescope is fitted with a Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI) (中红外仪器), which is one of four key detectors. MIRI can look back in time to just a few hundred million years after the Big Bang (宇宙大爆炸) — thought to have happened more than 13.5 billion years ago.
This ability to look back in time is based on the fact that even light has a speed limit. It bowls along at 186,000 miles per second. That means that the natural light reaching us now left the Sun more than eight minutes ago. However, the larger the distance that you observe in the universe, the more time has passed since the light you are observing set off on its journey toward you. So if you look at a star that is 30 light years away, that is what it looked like 30 years ago. The same applies to stars that are millions of light years away.
The telescope is perfect for studying those worlds and distant planets that orbit other suns — known as exo-planets because they exist outside our solar system. The existence of the first exo-planet was confirmed in 1995. Now we know of more than 5,000 of them. MIRI allows astronomers to look at them in greater detail, including looking through their atmospheres for signs of extra-terrestrial (外星的) life. With a 6.5-meter mirror, which is several times larger than that of the Hubble Space Telescope, the JWST is too big for any rocket. So, unlike Hubble, it must be unfolded in space. The telescope had been thoroughly tested here on Earth before it was going where no one can fix it.
【小题1】What do we know about the James Webb Space Telescope?| A．It is possible to explore galaxy with it. |
| B．It was launched into space as planned. |
| C．It is used to confirm the Big Bang theory. |
| D．It travels away from Earth further and further. |
| A．The movement of the stars. | B．The purpose of the observation. |
| C．The inner structure of the telescope. | D．The working principle of the telescope. |
| A．It is similar to Hubble in size. |
| B．It’s perfect for studying solar system. |
| C．It is impossible to be repaired in space. |
| D．It confirmed the existence of the first exo-planet. |
| A．The JWST: Look Toward the Future | B．A New Telescope: Look Back in Time |
| C．Exo-planets: Where Aliens Are Expected | D．A Delayed Mission: Why Budget Matters |
At dusk and dawn, the sky dances with three phases of in-between light. When the sun has just set in the west, the sky changes from the vibrant blue of afternoon to a more relaxed tone, as if it’s settling down for the evening. Soon the east will darken even as the west goes through an abundance of reds, oranges and yellows. And then, at last, the black of night will reign once again. Astronomers are so familiar with twilight (黄昏) that we’ve classified its various stages.
The first that occurs after sunset is called civil twilight, so named because when the sun is just below the horizon, the sky is still bright enough for people to conduct typical “daytime” outdoor activities. This is also when you’re likely to see the most colors in the sky toward the west. Those same molecules (微粒) that distribute sunlight don’t do so randomly; the angle of distributing depends on the color of the light. All the blue light from the sun is sent away in all directions, leaving only the redder colors to shine through, thus creating those breathtaking sunsets.
The next phase is nautical twilight, when the sun is between 6 and 12 degrees below the horizon. The sky maybe a deep purple, and stars begin to appear. The term “nautical twilight” came about because sailors used the stars to get their bearings, and it’s at this time of the early evening that celestial navigation (天文导航) becomes possible.
After that comes astronomical twilight. This is when the sun is 12 to 18 degrees below the horizon and the sky finally appears black, with the stars truly shining. We call it astronomical twilight because it may look dark to your eye, but through a telescope, the sky is still bright enough to intervene in some observations.
This last phase of twilight concludes once the sun drops below 18 degrees; the sky becomes fully dark, and it is time for astronomers to enjoy the beginning of their work night.
【小题1】What does the underlined word “reign” in paragraph 1 mean?| A．Fade away. | B．Draw near. | C．End up. | D．Take over. |
| A．The standout of red colors. | B．The absence of artificial light. |
| C．The reflection of colorful tones. | D．The distribution of all colors of light. |
| A．Each twilight is characterized by the sun’s position. |
| B．Each twilight allows for various scientific researches. |
| C．Nautical twilight is too bright to use celestial navigation. |
| D．Astronomical twilight is ideal for telescope observations. |
| A．The impacts of twilight. | B．The interpretations of twilight. |
| C．The process of observing stars. | D．The working conditions of astronomers. |