阅读下列短文，从每题所给的四个选项（A、B、C和D）中，选出最佳选项。

    You may not know a lot of people when you start high school. Even if you know some new students, you still feel nervous that you don't know any upperclassmen (高年级学生) and teachers. How are you going to make friends among this sea of unknown faces?

    Most high schools welcome new students before school actually starts. These are helpful not only because you learn your way around the buildings and get to meet some of your teachers, but also because you get to meet new students. That way, when you show up on your first day of school, you may already recognize a few familiar faces.

    When you talk to people, you'll probably find that a lot of them are feeling just like you. They're all new to the school and don't know what to expect. Talking about a common concern with your classmates can help you develop friendships.

    The work in high school is something freshmen are probably worried about. The work in high school builds on what you learned in middle school, giving you a more advanced knowledge of many subjects. So you may find you have more work to do or that it's a bit more challenging (有挑战性的). If you ever find your work too difficult, teachers can give you extra help.

    High school also has more activities after class than middle school, such as clubs, music and theater groups and sports teams. This is a good time to explore your interests and try new things.

    Middle school taught you the basics of academics, time management, and social skills while providing you with a little extra support and guidance. High school gives you the chance to learn how to be more independent (独立的) and responsible (有责任的).

Ig Nobel Prize

    Having a meal is an easy and delightful process for most people. However, for a woodpecker (啄木鸟), it's not that simple. To get dinner, a woodpecker has to hit its head against a tree numerous times per day. Yet, amazingly, it never suffers any ill effects like brain damage. According to research, it is the woodpecker's thick head bones that protect it from the impact of the blows. For explaining that, Ivan Schwab won an Ig Nobel Prize.

    Ig Nobel Prizes are organized by The Annals of Improbable Research, an American magazine that celebrates the funny side of science. Each year, ten winners are awarded prizes in honor of their “achievements that first make people laugh, and then make them think”. Most of the award-winning research, like Schwab's, may seem unusual, but it usually grabs people's attention indeed. And no matter how ridiculous the research sounds, people can find it inspiring and amusing.

    Brian Wansink's research might interest you. He took home an Ig Nobel Prize for looking into the influence of visual factors on people's appetites. He used specially designed bowls that refilled themselves with soup while people were eating. Since these people had no idea this was happening, they just kept eating from these “bottomless bowls”. They said they didn't feel full because their bowls were not empty yet. People in this experiment ate 73 percent more soup than normal. Owing to these results, Wansink concluded that it's not people's stomachs that decide when they have eaten enough, but their eyes.

    Ig Nobel Prizes also give attention to science and technology that is a part of our daily lives. Take the karaoke machine for example. Its inventor Daisuke Inoue was employed at a nightclub, playing the piano for the customers who wanted to sing. He wasn't skillful enough to play all the songs properly. To clear up the problem, he created the karaoke machine. To Inoue's surprise, the machine caused considerable changes in entertainment worldwide. The Ig Nobel Prize was awarded to Inoue not only because his invention was entertaining, but also because it brought about “an entirely new way for people to learn to tolerate each other”.

    These research results of Ig Nobel Prizes may not be as great as Edison's light bulb or Newton's laws of motion. However, they do show people's willingness to take action and to try new ways to solve problems. According to Marc Abrahams, a founder of the Ig Nobel Prizes. “If you win one, it means that you have done something.”

    For many, music is as important to the human experience as eating and breathing. We hear music everywhere—at home, the gym, parties and stores. But what kind of music do we prefer to listen to, and when and why do our musical preferences change?

    The relationship between the change of seasons and musical preferences was the focus of a study led by psychologist Terry Pettijohn. He and his team based their research on a previous study that examined the relationship between popular music preferences and the Environmental Security Hypothesis(假设). The results showed that over time, when social and financial conditions were more risky, the songs of the year that were slower, longer, more comforting and serious were most popular. And during periods in which social and financial conditions were generally stable, the result was opposite.

    Building on these findings, Pettijohn and his team wondered if the Hypothesis could also be applied to the change of seasons. For college students, the participants in this study, autumn begins at the start of the school year. Gone are the carefree days of summer, when school is out. Winter means colder temperatures, shorter days, and, in many places in the country, snow. Spring, however, is a different story. It represents a fresh start and when clocks spring forward, we gain an extra hour of daylight. As students walk into summer, they're absorbed in the sunshine and social activities—and enjoy a break from school.

    But do changing seasonal conditions influence musical preferences? To answer this question, the researchers designed two studies. What did they find? Both groups of college students favored more serious music during the seasons of fall and winter, and more active and energetic music during the spring and summer seasons. And these findings, Pettijohn argues, have practical significances.

    The UK has a well­respected higher education system and some of the top universities and research instructions in the world. But to those who are new to it all, sometimes it can be confusing.

    October is usually the busiest month in the college calendar. Universities have something called Freshers' Week for their newcomers. It's a great opportunity to make new friends, join lots of clubs and settle into university life.

    However, having just left the comfort of home and all your friends behind，the prospect(前景) of meeting lots of strangers in big halls can be nerve­wracking (令人焦虑不安的). Where do you start? Who should you make friends with? Which clubs should you join?

    Luckily, there will be thousands of others in the same boat as you worrying about starting their university social life on the right foot. So just take it all in slowly. Don't rush into anything that you'll regret for the next three years.

    Here is some top advice from past students on how to survive Freshers' Week:

    Learn rules. Make sure you know British social etiquette(礼节). Have a few wine glasses and snacks handy for your housemates and friends.

    Be kind. Sometimes cups of tea or even slices of toast can give you a head start in making friends.

    Be sociable. The more active you are，the more likely you'll be to meet new people than if you're someone who never leaves his room.

    Bring a doorstop. Keep your door open when you're in and that sends positive messages to your neighbors that you're friendly.

    So with a bit of clever planning and effort, Freshers' Week can give you a great start to your university life and soon you'll be passing on your experience to next year's new recruits.

    Many of us know about Russia's Lake Baikal from our textbooks, or by listening to Chinese singer Li Jian's hit song, Lie Baikal. But over the past decade, the world's deepest freshwater lake has been in the spotlight for an extreme sport.

    Each March since 2005, about 150 people from around the world sign up for the Baikal Ice Marathon. They come to explore the lake's breathtaking beauty and challenge themselves in unpredictable conditions. The 26-mile (41.84-kilometers) journey starts on the lake's eastern shore. In March, the ice is a meter thick and iron-hard. Runners cross this frozen surface, finishing on the western side of the lake.

    Known as the "blue eye of Siberia", Lake Baikal has exceptionally clear waters. This means its ice is almost perfectly transparent (透明的). "Seen from above, a runner on the ice looks as if he or she were jogging through space." The New York Times noted.

    The landscape might be beautiful, but it's also harsh. Strong winds blast (侵袭) across the lake and frostbite can occur within half an hour. Runners say the cold climate is what draws them. They want to test their limits.

    "When you are in such an environment, you don't have cars around you, and you don't have the noise around. I think these extreme races allow you to be alone with nature." Alicja Barahona, a 64-year-old runner from the US, told ABC news.

    The location offers some strange and unique characteristics for this marathon. The finishing line is visible from the start, but the endless white offers no progress markers. The race also ends with little fanfare (隆重的欢迎). Tourists crowding the ice are mostly addicted to snapping selfies (自拍) and just ignore the runners.

    For some runners, the absence of spectators makes the race more challenging, because it's lonely. They must fight with themselves. "You are alone on Baikal. It is your race. You are alone with yourself. All you need to do is to defeat yourself." Veronique Messina, a French runner, told the Telegraph.