阅读理解

    When someone reads the right book at the right time in his life, it can have a profound effect. Such is the case for the people on this list, who come from all walks of life. These people have singled out a book that they read which had a life-changing effect on them. They, in turn, affected the worlds of science, technology and politics.

1). That Printer Of Udell's—Ronald Reagan

    One book that had a big effect on former President Ronald Reagan as a child was the Christian-book That Printer of Udell's, by Harold Bell Wright. The main character of the book, Dick Falkner, was born into a broken home with an alcoholic father. After losing both of his parents, Falkner moves to a bigger city, called Boyd City to make a living. However, everyone turns Dick down for a job, except for a printer. At the end of the book, Dick heads to Washington, D. C, to become a politician. It's said that the book showed him that good could defeat evil and that the good guys followed a code of morality, which can be seen as a driving factor in his presidency.

2). A Treatise Of Human Nature—Albert Einstein

    Albert Einstein was one of the greatest minds of all time. His name is synonymous with brilliance. So, what book had the biggest effect on such an important mind? It was A Treatise of Human Nature, by David Hume, which was published in 1738. Hume was a Scottish philosopher known for his contributions to philosophical skepticism(怀疑论). Einstein mentioned a few times that A Treatise of Human Nature had a large influence on him. He read the book just before coming up with his famous special relativity theory. In a letter, Einstein said that Treatise helped him formulate the ideas. It was like he already had the ideas in his brain, and Hume helped him to express them clearly.

3). The Aeneid—Mark Zuckerberg

    When Mark Zuckerberg first added his likes to his Facebook profile, he put the book Ender's Game, by Orson Scott Card, as a favorite book. Later, in an interview with The New Yorker, Zuckerberg clarified that the sci-fi classic was one he enjoyed, but it wasn't his favorite. He said that his favorite book is The Aeneid, by Virgil, a Latin epic poem that was written somewhere between 29 - 19 BC about a group of Trojan survivors. Zuckerberg said he first read the book when he was in high school while he was studying Latin and that one thing that stuck with him was Aeneas's drive to follow his fate to build a city that “knows no boundaries in time and greatness".

根据短文内容，选择最佳答案，并将选定答案的字母标号填在题前括号内。

    Sharon, Aged 22

    The most important thing to keep in mind when going into high school is to be yourself. Besides, I don't know what your middle school was like, but high school teachers will not care about things such as how much homework you already have in one night. It's best to just learn to deal with things and manage your time wisely so you can achieve everything you need to.

    Frank, Aged 21

    I think almost every kid feels both nervous and excited before their first day. You will probably love it. I know I did. You should join some sports or activities that will make your high school experience more enjoyable.

    Good luck!

    Eddie, Aged 20

    When I started high school I was really nervous too, especially since I had been homeschooled all through middle school and didn't really know anyone. I suppose the best advice would be to just relax. The first couple of days can be a little bit hard, but things will become easier before you know it.

    David,  Aged 19

    I am not going to lie. The first day is kind of frightening. But you'll get used to it. Don't be afraid of anyone; upperclassmen will pick on you more if you let them know you're afraid. Just take it easy. Making some friends and staying with them will greatly help you get used to high school quickly. After the first week it's really not bad at all. Don't worry.

    Are you preparing for a big test? If so, you may want to go play some basketball in between hitting the books. Doctors are starting to find more and more information that suggests a connection between exercise and brain development. Judy Cameron, a scientist at Oregon Health and Science University, studies brain development. According to her research, it seems that exercise can make blood vessels, including those in the brain, stronger and more fully developed. Dr. Cameron claims this allows people who exercise to concentrate better. As she says, “While we already know that exercise is good for the heart, exercise can really cause physical changes in the brain.”

    The effects of exercise on brain development can even be seen in babies. Babies who do activities that require a lot of movement and physical activity show greater brain development than babies who are less physically active. With babies, even a little movement can show big results. Margaret Barnes, a pediatrician（儿科医生）, believes in the importance of exercise. She thinks that many learning disabilities that children have in elementary school or high school can be traced back to a lack of movement as babies. “Babies need movement that stimulates their five senses. They need to establish a connection between motion and memory. In this way, as they get older, children will begin to associate physical activity with higher learning,” says Margaret.

    Older people can strengthen their brains as well. Columbia University studied a group of seniors ranging in age from seventy to seventy-nine. Their study showed a short-term memory increase of up to 40 percent after exercising just three hours a week. The exercise does not have to be very difficult, but it does have to increase the heart rate. Also, just like the motion for babies, exercise for older people should involve some complexity. Learning some new skills or motions, such as with yoga or tai-chi, helps to open up memory paths in the brain that may not have been used for a long time.

    For most people, any type of physical activity that increases the heart rate is helpful. The main goal is to increase the brain's flow of blood. And your brain can benefit from as little as three to four hours of exercise a week.

    Chinese scientists recently have produced two monkeys with the same gene, Zhong Zhong and Hua Hua, using the same technique that gave us Dolly the sheep. These monkeys are not actually the first primates（灵长类）to be cloned. Another one named Tetra was produced in the late 1990s by embryo（胚胎）splitting, the division of an early-stage embryo into two or four separate cells to make clones. By contrast, they were each made by replacing an egg cell nucleus（原子核）with DNA from a differentiated body cell. This Dolly method, known as somatic cell nuclear transfer（SCNT）, can create more clones and allows researchers greater control over the edits they make to the DNA.

    Success came from adopting several new techniques. These included a new type of microscopy to better view the cells during handling or using several materials that encourage cell reprogramming, which hadn't been tried before on primates. Still, the research process proved difficult, and many attempts by the team failed. Just two healthy baby monkeys born from more than 60 tested mothers. This leads to many researchers' pouring water on the idea that the team's results bring scientists closer to cloning humans. They thought this work is not a stepping stone to establishing methods for obtaining live born human clones. Instead, this clearly remains a very foolish thing to attempt, it would be far too inefficient, far too unsafe, and it is also pointless.

    But the scientists involved emphasize that this is not their goal. There is now no barrier for cloning primate species, thus cloning humans is closer to reality. However, their research purpose is entirely for producing non-human primate models for human diseases; they absolutely have no intention, and society will not permit this work to be extended to humans. Despite limitations, they treat this breakthrough a novel model system for scientists studying human biology and disease.

    Born and raised in a digital age, today's young people are generally tech savvy (技术娴熟的). But when it comes to basic life skills, they're less capable than the older generation.

    According to a recent study, 69 percent of 18 to 24-year-olds in the UK have no idea how to bleed a radiator(暖气片换水). About 35 percent of them don't know how to sew on a button, while about 11 percent don't understand how to change a light bulb or iron clothes.

    It appears young people are losing the skills older generations took for granted. In fact, the problem is shared by young people in the United States. According to a report by Forbes in 2014, most millennial (千禧一代) drivers don't know how to check their tire pressure. Cooking is another basic life skill that has been dropped, as millennials are much more likely to order food deliveries than previous generations.

    Technology may be to blame for this generational gap. Skills at using phones and computers are the ones valued these days, and the practical skills are now seen as functions that can be easily outsourced (外包). Indeed, improvements in technology have made young people unfamiliar with many basic life skills. For example, with GPS always at hand, young people have had no need to learn how to read physical maps.

    However, this change has raised concerns among many people. “If you have your master's degree and you can't live within your means or go home from your job and feed yourself a nutritious (有营养的) meal, you're not a complete graduate,” Chris Moore, a professor from Brigham Young University, US, told Huff Post.

    That's why there's an increasing call for the return of “home ec” in the US, short for home economics, which teaches basic life skills like cooking and how to do laundry. It was very popular in the early 20th century, but was later taken out of schools and universities because of budget(预算) cuts. But recently, home ec was reintroduced in a small number of schools and universities.

    “The educational system would work better if every academic class had a practical course that applied the theory to do something regular people do in real life,” Robert Frost, instructor and flight controller at NASA, wrote on Quora, according to Huff post.

Show rooming

    One of the biggest challenges facing brick-and-mortar retailers(实体零售店) in recent years has been the "show rooming". Driven by the desire to get the best prices, many shoppers are now visiting brick-and-mortar stores to personally check on products that interest them, only to leave and then buy the items online. The new trend is forcing retailers to find out new ways to keep consumers from leaving their store for cheaper prices online.

    Recent research found that 40 percent of U.S. shoppers have shown roomed previously, with big-box retailers suffering the most. Specifically, the study shows that Best Buy, Walmart and Target are the most likely brick-and-mortar stores to have shoppers test out a product in-store and then purchase it online later, while Amazon is benefiting most from the practice, with nearly 60 percent of shoppers using the online retail giant(巨人) most often to make their show rooming purchases.

    Smart phones have pushed show rooming into the front. Shoppers no longer have to wait until they get home to see if they can find a cheaper price for the products they're considering buying. With smart phones, consumers can now compare virtual prices, at both other brick-and-mortar stores and online ones while still inside a retail store. If they can find what they're seeking for less online, the majority will be seeking the first exit. A recent study showed that 45 percent of customers shopping at brick-and-mortar stores walk out and buy their purchase online for a discount of as little as 2.5 percent.

    This puts pressure on retailers to provide both an in-store experience worth staying for and an online presence that can attract shoppers who are show rooming in other businesses.

    To cut down on show rooming, many retailers are adopting new methods to keep shoppers in their stores. Among the steps they're taking are price-matching guarantees that allow shoppers to pay a discounted price if they find it cheaper online. This ensures that even a show rooming shopper can make the purchase in the store—regardless of whether they find the cheaper price online.

    Another popular method to fight against show rooming is to give shoppers the ability to buy something online and pick it up at the store. This reduces shipping costs and gets customers in the store, where they may be encouraged to make an additional purchase.

    It is also important for businesses to take into consideration what makes shoppers purchase something in-store rather than online, and meet those needs. Research has found that more than 8 in 10 Americans consider being able to take the goods home immediately and the ability to touch and feel them—the most important aspects when deciding to purchase in a store rather than online.