Young children are significantly more likely than adults to have their opinions influenced by robots, according to a new research. The study, conducted at the University of Plymouth, compared how adults and children respond to an identical task when in the presence of both their peers（同龄人）and robots.
It showed that while adults regularly have their opinions influenced by peers, something also showed in previous studies, they are largely able to resist being persuaded by robots. However, children aged between seven and nine were more likely to give the same responses as the robots, even if they were obviously incorrect.
The study asks people to look at a screen showing four lines and say which two match in length. When alone, people almost never make a mistake but when doing the experiment with others, they tend to follow what others are saying.
When children were alone in the room in this research, they scored 87% on the test, but when the robots join in their score drops to 75%. And of the wrong answers, 74% matched those of the robot.
The research was led by former Plymouth researcher Anna Vollmer and Professor in Robotics Tony Belpaeme, from the University of Plymouth and Ghent University.
Professor Belpaeme said: “People often follow the opinions of others and we’ve known for a long time that it is hard to resist taking over views and opinions of people around us. But as robots will soon be found in the home and the workplace, we were wondering if people would follow robots. What our results show is that adults do not follow what the robots are saying. But when we did the experiment with children, they did. It shows children can perhaps have more of an affinity（亲和力）with robots than adults, which does give the question: what if robots were to suggest, for example, what products to buy or what to think?”
1.What did the adults do when staying with robots？
A.They totally accept the robots’ suggestions.
B.They generally refused the robots’ effects.
C.They tried to persuade robots to resist them.
D.They usually compared robots with their children.
2.Why did some children made more mistakes in the experiment?
A.Because children were not as clever as adults.
B.Because robots in the presence made such mistakes.
C.Because robots reflected better than human beings.
D.Because children wanted to affect the robots on purpose.
3.What is Professor Belpaeme’s attitude towards the result of the experiment?
A.He is optimistic about the result. B.He doubts the result of the research.
C.He doesn’t care about the result. D.He is so worried about the future.
4.What should be followed after the last paragraph?
A.What will we do to teach our children?
B.What will adults do to avoid the problem?
C.What will people do to solve such problems?
D.Why are children influenced by such robots?
高三英语阅读理解中等难度题
Young children are significantly more likely than adults to have their opinions influenced by robots, according to a new research. The study, conducted at the University of Plymouth, compared how adults and children respond to an identical task when in the presence of both their peers（同龄人）and robots.
It showed that while adults regularly have their opinions influenced by peers, something also showed in previous studies, they are largely able to resist being persuaded by robots. However, children aged between seven and nine were more likely to give the same responses as the robots, even if they were obviously incorrect.
The study asks people to look at a screen showing four lines and say which two match in length. When alone, people almost never make a mistake but when doing the experiment with others, they tend to follow what others are saying.
When children were alone in the room in this research, they scored 87% on the test, but when the robots join in their score drops to 75%. And of the wrong answers, 74% matched those of the robot.
The research was led by former Plymouth researcher Anna Vollmer and Professor in Robotics Tony Belpaeme, from the University of Plymouth and Ghent University.
Professor Belpaeme said: “People often follow the opinions of others and we’ve known for a long time that it is hard to resist taking over views and opinions of people around us. But as robots will soon be found in the home and the workplace, we were wondering if people would follow robots. What our results show is that adults do not follow what the robots are saying. But when we did the experiment with children, they did. It shows children can perhaps have more of an affinity（亲和力）with robots than adults, which does give the question: what if robots were to suggest, for example, what products to buy or what to think?”
1.What did the adults do when staying with robots？
A.They totally accept the robots’ suggestions.
B.They generally refused the robots’ effects.
C.They tried to persuade robots to resist them.
D.They usually compared robots with their children.
2.Why did some children made more mistakes in the experiment?
A.Because children were not as clever as adults.
B.Because robots in the presence made such mistakes.
C.Because robots reflected better than human beings.
D.Because children wanted to affect the robots on purpose.
3.What is Professor Belpaeme’s attitude towards the result of the experiment?
A.He is optimistic about the result. B.He doubts the result of the research.
C.He doesn’t care about the result. D.He is so worried about the future.
4.What should be followed after the last paragraph?
A.What will we do to teach our children?
B.What will adults do to avoid the problem?
C.What will people do to solve such problems?
D.Why are children influenced by such robots?
高三英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析
Young children from poor families are more likely to consume junk food and fizzy drinks(汽水) than their richer companions. A study of 1,800 four- and five-year-olds found more than half of those from poor backgrounds drank at least one a week, compared to just four in ten oofy kids. They also drank less milk and consumed more fruit juice which is also linked to child obesity (肥胖) caused by high sugar intake(摄取量).
The phenomenon also relates to children who spend more than two hours a day in front of a TV or playing computer games—whatever their social circumstances. A companion study also found children from poor families were more likely to eat chips, sweets and chocolate. Professor Kate Storey said, “when you are looking at that age group, and such a large percentage of very young kids in the study are consuming a large amount of soda(苏打汽水)，it is quite concerning. ”
The researchers carried out the study by surveying the parents of their participants to find out their dietary habits. Professor Storey said, “If you are drinking a lot of soda and fruit juice, they can displace(取代)consumption of water and milk, which are important not just for ending thirst, but for developing healthy bones and teeth, and health and wellness in general.”
Co-researcher Dr John Spence said, “Dietary behavior and intake patterns are influenced heavily by what happens in the first few years with children, and they maintain those patterns throughout childhood and into adolescence(青少年时期).” In addition to basic health education, this study identifies a need in how we are dealing with poverty and recognizing there is more to poverty than simply the number of dollars people have.
Professor Storey said that shows how education can make a difference and lead to healthier eating habits, regardless of what is happening at home. “Many families live in places that might not be very healthy for them and, as a result, they make unhealthy food choices. You can start making a difference in different places. It calls for action in multiple settings, schools and communities, for example. That light-bulb moment can happen in a variety of places,” Professor Storey added.
1.What does the underlined word “oofy” mean in Para.1?
A. Wealthy. B. Healthy. C. Fat D. Weak.
2.According to the passage, Professor Storey thinks it helpful for children ______.
A. to drink more coffee B. to drink more milk
C. to drink more soda D. to drink more fruit juice
3. According to Dr John Spence, children’s habits in the early stage of life can even affect _____.
A. their attitude towards life
B. their living patterns of youth
C. health in their old age
D. living quality of all their life
4.Professor Storey considers that healthier eating habits can be _____.
A. finally determined by parents’ life habits
B. gently changed by parents’ life habits
C. suddenly changed by family situation
D. gradually changed by education
5.What’s the main idea of the passage?
A. Young people like eating junk food.
B. Junk food is bad for both young children and adults.
C. Children from poor families are more likely to eat junk food.
D. Junk food causes more and more children to become overweight.
高三英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析
Young adults ______ older ones are more likely to prefer sports and become enthusiastic sports fans.
A. other than B. more than C. less than D. rather than
高三英语单项填空中等难度题查看答案及解析
More than half the young children and teenagers in China are nearsighted, according to a survey by top government agencies, which called for intensified efforts to prevent and control the condition.
The survey, which was conducted last year, found that eight of 10 senior middle school students were nearsighted, compared with 71.6 percent in junior middle school, 36 percent in primary school and 14 percent of 6-year-olds in kindergarten. Overall, 53.6 percent were nearsighted. The prevalence (流行程度) of a high degree of myopia also became alarming as the percentage of senior students in high school, who wear glasses stronger than six diopters, has mounted to 21.9 percent. Up to 80 percent of the country’s young adults suffer from nearsightedness, according to a report in the medical journal Lancet. In contrast, the overall rate of myopia in the UK is about 20-30 percent. If you walk the streets of China today, you’ll quickly notice that most young people wear glasses. In Shanghai, for instance, 86 percent of high school students suffer from myopia, or nearsightedness, according to Xinhua News Agency.
The growing prevalence of myopia is not only a Chinese problem, but it is an especially East Asian one. According to a study published in The Lancet medical journal in 2012, by Ian Morgan, of the Australian National University, South Korea leads the pack, with 96 percent of young adults (below the age 20) having myopia; and the rate for Seoul is even higher. In Singapore, the figure is 82 percent. To say that Asia is having an eye problem is an understatement.
Several factors are associated with the high rate of nearsightedness in China's children and teenagers, including lack of outdoor physical activity, lack of adequate sleep due to heavy work and excessive use of electronics products. And some biologists compared Singaporeans living in Singapore to those living in Australia. They found that 29 percent of the Singaporean students had myopia compared with just 3 percent in Sydney. The main correlation was once again, time spent outside.
“The big difference was the Chinese children in Australia were outdoors a lot more than their matched peers in Singapore,” says Ian Morgan, a retired biologist at Australian National University, who coauthored the 2008 study. “This was the only thing that fit with the huge difference in prevalence.”
1.From paragraph 2, according to the survey we can know that ____________.
A.the rate of myopia in Shanghai is the highest
B.the rate of myopia in the UK is higher than that in China
C.the rate of junior middle school students who suffer from myopia is the highest
D.the rate of senior middle school students who suffer from myopia is the highest
2.Which of the following is not the reason associated with the high rate of myopia in China?
A.Time of reading books. B.Lack of adequate sleep.
C.Lack of outdoor physical activity. D.Excessive use of electronics products.
3.The author writes the passage to __________.
A.introduce some methods to protect our eyes
B.tell us why so many people have an eye problem
C.compare the myopia figures of different countries
D.call on everyone to pay attention to the myopia among the young people
4.Where is the passage most probably from?
A.A literary essay. B.A historical novel.
C.A science report. D.A travel magazine.
高三英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析
Children who are spoiled by their parents are more _____ than others —they are more likely to fight with their fellows for toys and candies.
A. pessimistic B. sensitive C. aggressive D. Punctual
高三英语单项填空中等难度题查看答案及解析
The more hours young children spend in child care, the more likely they are to turn out aggressive and disobedient by the time they are in kindergarten, according to the largest study of child care and development ever conducted. Researchers said this correlation(相关性) held true regardless of whether the children came from rich or poor homes, were looked after by a relative or at a center, and whether they were girls or boys.
What is uncertain, however, is whether the child care actually causes the problem or whether children likely to turn out aggressive happen to be those who spend more hours in child care. It also remains unclear whether reducing the amount of time in child care will reduce the risk that a child will turn into a mean person. What's more, quality child care is associated with increased skills in intellectual ability such as language and memory, leading some academics to suggest that child care turns out children who are "smart and naughty".
The government-sponsored research, which has tracked more than 1,300 children at 10 sites across the country since 1991, is bound to cause the debate over child care again: How should people balance work and family? And how should parents, especially mothers, resolve the demands that are placed on them to be both breadwinners and supermoms?
That debate was already on display at a new briefing yesterday, where researchers themselves had different opinions about the data and its implications（含义）. "There is a constant relationship between time in care and problem behavior, especially those involving aggression and behavior," said Jay Belsky of Birkbeck College in London, one of the lead investigators of the study who has previously annoyed women's groups because of his criticisms of child care. "On behalf of fathers or mothers?" interrupted Sarah Friedman, a developmental psychologist at the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) and one of the other lead scientists on the study. "On behalf of parents and families," responded Belsky.
"NICHD is not willing to get into policy recommendations," said Friedman, contradicting her colleague. "There are other possibilities that can be entertained. Yes it is a quick solution—more hours in child care is associated with more problems. The easy solution is to cut the number of hours but that may have implications for the family that may not be beneficial for the development of the children in terms of economics." In an interview after the briefing, Friedman said that asking parents to work fewer hours and spend more time with their children usually meant a loss of family income, which adversely（不利地）affects children.
Scientists said that the study was highly reliable. But the researchers said they had no whether the behavioral difficulties persisted as the children moved to higher grades.
1.Children who spend more time in quality child care will ________.
A. develop greater ability in language
B. be easy to manage and less naughty
C. possess great risk-taking spirit
D. be greedy and mean to their classmates
2.What is still unknown about higher level of aggressiveness in kindergarten children?
A. Whether higher level of aggressiveness can be avoided with longer child care.
B. Where longer child care equally affects children from different families.
C. Whether aggressiveness is a direct result of longer child care.
D. Whether longer child care improves intellectual ability in children.
3.In the fifth paragraph the word "it" probably mean “________”.
A. NICHD is unwilling to give parents recomme ndations
B. NICHD is willing to give policy advice concerning child care
C. the number of hours in child care should be reduced significantly
D. parents should discipline the behavior of their children more strictly
高三英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析
The more hours that young children spend in child care, the more likely they are to turn out aggressive and disobedient by the time they are in kindergarten, according to the largest study of child care and development ever conducted. Researchers said this correlation (相关性) held true regardless of whether the children came from rich or poor homes, were looked after by a relative or at a center, and whether they were girls or boys.
What is uncertain, however, is whether the child care actually causes the problem or whether children likely to turn out aggressive happen to be those who spend more hours in child care. It also remains unclear whether reducing the amount of time in child care will reduce the risk that a child will turn into a mean person. What’s more, quality child care is associated with increased skills in intellectual ability such as language and memory, leading some academics to suggest that child care turns out children who are “smart and naughty”.
The government-sponsored research, which has tracked more than 1,300 children at 10 sites across the country since 1991, is bound to cause the debate over child care again: How should people balance work and family? And how should parents, especially mothers. Resolve the demands that are placed on them to be both breadwinners and supermoms?
That debate was already on display at a news briefing yesterday, where researchers themselves had different opinions about the data and its implications (含义). “There is a constant relationship between time in care and problem behavior, especially those involving aggression and behavior,” said Jay Belsky of Birkbeck College in London, one of the lead investigators of the study who has previously annoyed women’s groups because of his criticisms of child care. “On behalf of fathers or mothers?” interrupted Sarah Friedman, a developmental psychologist at the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) and one of the other lead scientists on the study. “On behalf of parents and families,” responded Belsky.
“NICHD is not willing to get into policy recommendations.” said Friedman, contradicting her colleague. “There are other possibilities that can be entertained. Yes it is a quick solution—more hours in child care is associated with more problems. The easy solution is to cut the number of hours but that may have implications for the family that may not be beneficial for the development of the children in terms of economics.” In an interview after the briefing, Friedman said that asking parents to work fewer hours and spend more time with their children usually meant a loss of family income, which adversely(不利地) affects children.
Scientists said that the study was highly reliable. But the researchers said they had no idea whether the behavioral difficulties persisted as the children moved to higher grades.
1.Children who spend more time in quality child care will ________.
A. develop greater ability in language B. be easy to manage and less naughty
C. possess great risk-taking spirit D. be greedy and mean to their classmates
2.What is still unknown about higher level of aggressiveness in kindergarten children?
A. Whether higher level of aggressiveness can be avoided with longer child care.
B. Where longer child care equally affects children from different families.
C. Whether aggressiveness is a direct result of longer child care.
D. Whether longer child care improves intellectual ability in children.
3.In the fifth paragraph the word “it” probably means ________.
A. NICHD is unwilling to give parents recommendations
B. NICHD is willing to give policy advice concerning child care
C. the number of hours in child care should be reduced significantly
D. parents should discipline the behavior of their children more strictly
4.According to Friedman, Cutting the number of hours in child care ________.
A. may prevent families from having the necessary financial sources
B. will make families unable to enjoy much of the social benefits
C. will result in subsequent behavioral difficulties in children
D. should be accompanied with the improvement in the quality of child care
高三英语阅读理解困难题查看答案及解析
More than half of parents in the United States are helping , or have helped their adult children who have been hit by high unemployment and stagnant（无变化的）wages, according to a new survey. It showed that present economic conditions are discouraging young adults from leaving home and forcing those who have already gone, so - called boomerang children, to return.
“Parents are continuing their financial involvement longer than we expected,” said Ted Beck, the president and CEO of National Endowment for Financial Education (NEFE).
About 60 percent of parents questioned in the survey said they are helping their adult children who are no longer in school financially, providing housing and living expenses.
For an increasing number of adult children, the situation is bad. Two - thirds of adult children, aged 18 to 39, who are not in school said they faced tougher financial pressures than previous generations, according to the survey. And nearly one - third of parents agreed that it was easier for them to earn money than for their children.
Parents are helping their children out of genuine concern, and because they do not want to see them struggle. But Beck said that parents who make sacrifices to help their adult children should be cautious about their own finances.
“If you are taking on extra debt or delaying retirement to help your adult child, you could be making a mistake and putting your own financial future in danger.” Beck warned.
Boomerang children can also cause other problems for their parents. Thirty percent of parents said they had given up privacy since their adult children moved back home, while more than a quarter have taken on added debt, and ten percent have delayed retirement. But the survey also showed that 42 percent of adult children living at home are helping with the cooking and cleaning.
1.The underlined words “boomerang children” in the first paragraph likely means ________.
A. adult children visiting parents often
B. married adult children
C. adult children depending on parents for financial support
D. adult children independent and successful in life
2.What is Ted Beck’s suggestion to the parents?
A. Asking their children to help with the housework.
B. Leaving their children to struggle to live.
C. Being careful when helping their children financially.
D. Putting off their time of retirement.
3.According to the survey, we can know that ________.
A. about 50% of parents give money to their adult children to cover the daily cost
B. two - thirds of adult children are faced with financial problems in school
C. one - third of adult children earn money more easily than their parents
D. one in ten parents has delayed retirement
4.What is the main idea of the whole text?
A. Adult children are less independent.
B. Parents help support adult children.
C. Bad conditions affect children a lot.
D. Adult children like living with parents.
高三英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析
More than half of American teenagers and young adults volunteered last year, and the best way to join in this group turns out to be peer pressure: Three quarters of people ages 13 to 22 whose friends volunteer regularly also do so, which is nearly twice the number of those who participate in voluntary activities based on their concern about particular social
problems. Those were the key findings of new research results published by DoSomething. org, a group working to get young people involved in social change. "
The study, based on data from 4, 363 young people, found that the most common form of support by volunteers was assistance with fundraising. 38 percent of those in the survey said they helped with solicitations (募捐)，leading the study's authors to conclude: "Young people are a secret weapon. A persuasive donation speech from an enthusiastic teen is a way more influential than a cold call or that newsletter you were thinking about sending."
The study also found a gender (性另ij) divide in volunteer activities. Boys were more likely to undertake physical activities such as environmental cleanup or working with younger children in sports, while girls were more likely to help the homeless and other needy people or to work with arts groups.
The researchers say the responses to the survey pointed out many ways that nonprofits can do a better job of getting young people to volunteer. Among their suggestions:
Offer ways to socialize. The very first thing that many young people think of in choosing volunteer activities is having a chance to interact with friends, especially those of the opposite sex.
"Think of volunteering like a high-school party," the researchers write. "Volunteering, like everything else, is about joining in, making friends, and having a good time."
1.The passage above mainly talks about ______ .
A. what a research about voluntary activities finds out
B. why young people take part in volunteer work
C. how young people can be persuaded to volunteer
D. where most young volunteers would like to work
2.Most young people are likely to take part in voluntary activities because _____.
A. they are concerned about particular social problems
B. their friends of the same age volunteer
C. they want to influence more people to volunteer
D. their assistance can help those in need
3.At the end of the passage, the writer would probably continue to list _____.
A. more ways for young people to socialize
B. more reasons to get young people to volunteer
C. more tips on getting young people involved in volunteering
D. more differences between different genders in volunteering
高三英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析
Why do young adult children become independent so much later than they did in 1970，when the average age of independent living was 21? Why have reduced class sizes and increased per-pupil expenditures (花销）not higher academic achievement levels? Why is the mental health of today’s kids so poor when with that of children in the 1960s and before? Why do today’s become defensive when told by teachers that their children have misbehaved in school?
The answer in two words: parental . Those two words best summarize the between “old” child raising and new, post-1960s parenting. Then, the overall philosophy was that parents were not to be involved with their kids. They were available crisis, but they stood a (an) distance from their kids and allowed them to experience the benefits of the trial-and-error process. It was the child’s ，back then, to keep his or her parents from getting involved. That was children learned to be responsible and determined.
Today’s parents help their kids with almost everything. These are parents who are when it comes to an understanding of their purpose in their kids，lives. Their involvement leads them to personalize everything that happens to their kids; , the defensiveness. But given that schools and mental health professionals have been pushing parent involvement for nearly four decades, the confusion and defensiveness are .
University researchers analyzed three decades of data relating to parent participation in children’s academics. Their conclusions what I’ve been saying since the 1980s: parental help with homework a child’s academic achievement and is not reflected on standardized tests.
Parents who manage a child’s social life interfere with the of good social skills. Parents who manage a child’s after-school activities grow kids who don’t know how to their own free time. Parents who get involved in their kids, with peers grow kids who don’t know how to avoid much less trouble.
These kids have anxieties and fears of all sorts and don’t want to leave their . And their parents, when the time comes, don’t know how to being parents. You can imagine what will become of their future.
1.A. counted on B. resulted in C. touched on D. taken in
2.A. associated B. linked C. compared D. matched
3.A. parents B. adolescents C. psychologists D. youths
4.A. assistance B. protection C. involvement D. preference
5.A. differences B. similarities C. choices D. relations
6.A. slightly B. passively C. highly D. fairly
7.A. in case of B. in spite of C. in view of D. in fear of
8.A. equal B. safe C. long D. short
9.A. fault B. turn C. job D. attitude
10.A. when B. how C. why D. what
11.A. confused B. disappointed C. amazed D. satisfied
12.A. however B. still C. yet D. thus
13.A. unreasonable B. changeable C. understandable D. avoidable
14.A. confirmed B. convinced C. realized D. reflected
15.A. decides B. lowers C. helps D. stimulates
16.A. appearance B. performance C. establishment D. development
17.A. value B. devote C. fill D. save
18.A. communication B. conflicts C. cooperation D. competitions
19.A. home B. school C. career D. profession
20.A. start B. ignore C. consider D. stop
高三英语完形填空中等难度题查看答案及解析