题型：阅读理解 题类：常考题 难易度：普通
吉林省吉林市普通高中2018-2019学年高一上学期英语期中考试试卷
Whenever we see a button, we are eager to press it because we know something will happen. This is true in most cases, for example on a doorbell and on the "on/off" button on the TV. But some buttons are actually fake, like the "close" button on a lift.
Many people are in the habit of pressing the "close" button because they don't have the patience to wait for the lift doors to shut. But lifts' "close" buttons are a complete scam (骗局), at least in the US-the doors will not close any faster no matter how hard you press.
It started in the 1990s when the Americans with Disabilities Act was passed in the US, making sure that all lifts stayed open long enough so that people with disabilities could enter. Only US firefighters and repairmen can use the buttons to speed up the door-closing process if they have a code or special keys.
But to normal lift riders, the buttons aren't completely useless. According to psychologists, fake buttons can actually make you feel better by offering you a sense of control.
"Perceived (能够感知的) control is very important. It reduces stress and increases well-being," Ellen J. Langer, a psychology professor, said, "having a lack of control is associated with depression（沮丧）."
Experts have revealed that a lot of buttons that don't do anything exist in our lives for this same purpose. For example, many offices in the US have fake thermostats (温度调节器) because people tend to feel better when they think they can control the temperature in their workplace.
Pedestrian(行人) crosswalk buttons don't live up to their names either. Pressing them used to help make the traffic signals change faster, but that was before computer-controlled traffic signals were introduced.
But psychologists found it interesting that even when people are aware of these little "white lies", they still continue to push fake buttons because as long as the doors eventually close, it is considered to be worth the effort.
"That habit is here to stay," John Kounios, a psychology professor, said. "Even though I have real doubts about the traffic light buttons, I always press them. After all, I've got nothing else to do while waiting. So why not press the button in the hope that this one will work?"
He was a poet known for the nostalgia he describes in his poems. Now, it's time: for us to express our nostalgia for this great writer.
On Dec 14, 2017, the famous Chinese poet Yu Guangzhong passed away in Taiwan. Born in 1928 in Nanjing, Jiangsu, Yu studied in Sichuan when he was young. At that time, he had showed great interest in Chinese poems and spent a lot of his free time trying writing poems himself. Then he managed to publish his first poem at the age of 20. A year later, Yu and his family moved to Taiwan. He lived and worked there until his death.
Nostalgia is Yu's masterpiece in which he expresses his homesickness for the Chinese mainland when he was in Taiwan.
Published in 1971, the poem remains highly popular among Chinese speakers worldwide. Even those who know little about literature are familiar with lines from the poem. The poem is included in Chinese high school textbooks.
Besides his achievements in poetry, Yu was also a successful essay writer, critic and translator. He once translated English poet Siegfried Sassoon's poem In Me, Past, Present, Future Meet into Chinese. It is regarded as an accurate and powerful translation, in which the most famous line is “心有猛虎, 细嗅蔷薇” for “In me the tiger sniffs the rose”.
Yu spent his whole life writing. “The reason why I stick to writing till today comes down to my passion for the Chinese language,” he once said in a 2015 interview. He then added that this passion was strengthened by his love for his mother and His motherland.
Now, let's appreciate the poem Nostalgia.
When I was young, But later on, Nostalgia was a tiny, tiny stamp. Nostalgia was a low, low grave. Me on this side, Me on this outside, Mother on the other side. And my mother was inside. When I grew up, And at present, Nostalgia was a narrow boat ticket. Nostalgia becomes a shallow strait. Me on this side, Me on this side, Bride on the other side. Mainland on the other side. |
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