Young people in the United States do not have a strong understanding of the world and their place in it.

Two U. S.—based groups, the Council on Foreign Relations and the National Geographic, Society commissioned an online survey earlier this year. They wanted to know what young people educated in American colleges knew about geography, U. S. foreign policy, recent international events, and economics.

The survey was given to over 1,200 Americans between the ages of 18 and 26 years. All of them presently attending, or having previously graduated from, a 2-or 4-year college or university.

The average test score, out of 75 total possible answers, was 55 percent. The study identifies a few important problems. For example, only 30 percent knew that the only part of the U. S. government that can declare war is Congress. Only 60% of those taking the survey could identify Brazil on a world map.

Part of the problem, argue the organizers of the survey, is the internet. They say it is becoming harder to find high-quality information about world events amongst all the fake news and trivia which swamp the web. Forty-three percent of those questioned said they read about the news on Facebook.

Another problem is that most college courses do not require students to learn about international issues. If such information is not required, Richard Haass from the Council on Foreign Relations said, then the United States could have leaders like Gary Johnson. He was a recent presidential candidate who did not know about the Syrian city of Aleppo when a reporter asked him about it.

The survey results were not all bad. The young people also demonstrated a good understanding of climate change and renewable energy. And the majority of them said that international issues were becoming more important to them.

Haass says these findings suggest the need to find was to get good information to students, both in school and online. To help, the Council on Foreign Relations is creating a new program called CFR Campus, designed to help build knowledge about global issues.

4. What can we learn about the survey?

A. All the participants were recent university graduates

B. It was an online survey conducted by two US universities

C. Its aim is to figure out what the young people know about America

D. It was given to over 1,200 American people aged from 18 to 26

5. What’s one reason survey organizers give for young people’s lack of knowledge?

A. Young people are unwilling to travel abroad

B. The sources from which they get their information

C. The US university system is of poor quality

D. Their lack of interest in knowing more about the world

6. According to the survey, what topic did the young Americans understand best?

A. Environmental matters    B. Geographic information

C. Foreign relations    D. Government organizations

7. In which column of a newspaper could we find this article?

A. Economics    B. Entertainment

C. Politics    D. Education

Many Shopping malls now have special areas that offer shoppers their first chance to experience “VR technology”. You may have entered one out of curiosity, or you may think it is just another piece of useless technology. Whatever your opinion, VR, or virtual(虚拟的)reality, is going to become a big part of our lives very soon.

2016 saw the introduction of many fancy products in the world of VR, including Microsoft's HoloLens and Samsung's Gear VR. All of them offer an exciting look at the new realities” and opportunities that VR brings.

These, however, are the early days of a technology that is expected to go from strength to strength. And 2017 looks like it is going to be the year in which VR technology really takes off.

For a start, using VR will become more normal in 2017. Microsoft and Intel have already discussed their plans for simpler and less expensive VR headsets.

The idea of VR will stop being a sci-fi (science-fiction) idea, and instead it will turn into an industry of real products used as ways to show off imagination.” said Andrew, a designer at US VR Company, Survios.

It is also expected that VR products will play a part in more common and real-life fields like fashion and film. For example, to enjoy the atmosphere and energy of the front row experience at a fashion show, fans will no longer have to go along in the flesh. Instead people will be able to enjoy the experience by just wearing a VR headset at home.

You can also expect VR mirrors and fitting-rooms sooner rather than later. '' This is an especially good opportunity for brands looking to offer very personalized experiences.'' said Roy DeYoung from US-based marketing agency, PMX.

As time goes on, there will be less discussion about whether people will accept VR technology. It will simply be a discussion of when.

8. Why do many shopping malls have areas for VR experiences?

A. To collect shoppers' opinions.

B. To meet the demands of shoppers.

C. To introduce the new technology to shoppers.

D. To entertain shoppers with new technology.

9. The underlined phrase “in the flesh” can be replaced by_____________.

A. in time    B. in person

C. in line    D. in order

10. What can we learn about VR products from the passage?

A. They are cheap for the time being

B. They are being used almost everywhere.

C. They won't be accepted for many years.

D. They will meet more personal demands.

11. What may be the best title for the passage?

A. VR Takes over Fashion

B. VR Mirror are around the corner

C. VR is Becoming Real

D. VR Meets our Life Goal

Can training Your Working Memory Make You Smarter?

We would all like to increase our cognitive(认知的)ability beyond the limits set by Mother Nature. So it’s no wonder that brain-training programmes—which typically focus on training our working memory—are a multibillion-dollar industry. But can this kind of training really make us smarter?

Cognitive training sees the brain as a kind of muscle that can be made stronger with the right kind of practice. It consists of tasks or games carried out on computers or smart phones. Despite much research, there has so far been no agreement about its effectiveness. Some think that cognitive training increases a broad range of cognitive abilities, while others less optimistic.

Yet we do know that some cognitive skills, such as working memory and intelligence, tend to go together and are predictors of real-life skills such as work performance. Thus, training one cognitive skill might lead to an improvement in many other cognitive and non-cognitive skills. That is exactly the underlying hypothesis(假设)on which working-memory training is based.

To test this hypothesis, we examined all the studies about working-memory training we could find with normally developing children: 26 experiments and 1,601 total participants. Children represent an ideal test group: during childhood, skills are still at the beginning of their development. Thus, cognitive training is more likely to succeed with children than adults.

The results were very clear. Working-memory training did not show any effect on children’s fluid intelligence, a person’s ability to solve new problems and adapt to new situations. It didn’t influence their academic achievement or other cognitive abilities, either. The only reliable effect was that children got better at what they trained to do. No more, no less. So performing working-memory tasks does seem to make you better at doing them. Nonetheless, the fact that participants got better at such tasks does not necessarily mean that their working-memory ability increased. They may just have learnt how to perform that particular type of task.

The results do indicate that the use of working-memory training programs as an educational tool is fruitless. More generally, together with other research, the results contribute to disproving cognitive training companies promises of a better brain.

The results have even more important implications theoretically. They question the hypothesis that training general cognitive mechanisms can affect other cognitive or real-life skills. Beyond working-memory training, other recent studies have shown the improving cognitive skills outside music-including academic skills.

However, these negative results must not discourage us from training our cognitive and non-cognitive skills. We just have to be aware of the actual limitations of such practice in areas outside what we are actually training. But that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t do it-the most efficient way to develop a skill is, after all, to train that skill.

12. To find out the effect of working memory training, the author ________.

A. made some scientific studies

B. reviewed the previous research

C. compared different test groups

D. got some children involved in the experiment

13. Children joining in the experiments were able to __________.

A. do better in the field where they are trained

B. obtain greater academic achievements

C. adjust to new situations quickly

D. succeed when they deal with real life problems

14. What is the author’s attitude toward the cognitive training?

A. Pessimistic    B. Disapproving

C. Objective    D. Optimistic

15. Cognitive training is likely to _______ according to the passage.

A. discover the secrets of human minds

B. make one’s brain stronger by way of practice

C. earn a good name for the training company

D. bring much profit to the training companies

Parents Model Healthy Eating

It should come as no surprise that the more stressed parents are not work, the greater the burden on their family is.   ____16____After all, the more time parents spend working, the less time and energy they have to plan and prepare healthful meals.

For years, most studies have focused on the role of working mothers while fathers were ignored. They didn’t look at the family as a whole,  ____17____, adds a new wrinkle to the relationship between work stress and family nutrition.

Moms’ work related stress is still a central factor in how well families eat because they typically do most of the food shopping and cooking.____18____The study found that when mom or dad experience high levels of work related stress, their families are eating one-and-a-half fewer family meals per week, and the parents themselves report eating fewer fruits and vegetables, more fast food, and are less likely to eat breakfast regularly.

It’s worth noting that the study looked mainly at low income families who belonged to ethnic or minority groups.   ____19____ But the implications are wide ranging.

_____20_____Teaching kids, especially teenagers, to help with grocery shopping and to cook actual meals, instead of just putting a frozen pizza in the microwave, could be an important piece of the puzzle in helping families improves their eating habits.

A. When it comes to family nutrition, the entire family plays a role even kids.

B. so the findings don’t necessarily apply directly to other types of families

C. But dad’s work related stress has a large impact, too.

D. Yet, the kids’ stress may influence the families’ nutrition, too

E. and at the role of fathers in particular

F. It’s also probably not a surprise that his can negatively affect a family’s nutrition

G. It is parents who give their kids a good model to develop a good eating habit.