红带综合写作.docx

Test 1Some foods are endowed with super powers that give you more energy and greater protection against disease. Eating a diet rich in blueberries, tomatoes, broccoli, and garlic will change your life for the better. By making these superpower foods part of your regular eating habits, you can actually change the course of your biochemistry and stop the gradual changes in your body that lead to diseases such as Alzheimers, cancer, high cholesterol, obesity, and diabetes.The concept of superpower foods is supported by research. Studies on blueberries show that they have a positive effect on brain function and motor movement in aging rats. Blueberries also appear to prevent mental decline in mice genetically engineered to develop Alzheimers disease. Eating one cup of blueberries every day will reduce aging-related damage in our brain. Blueberries are an excellent source of antioxidants, nutrients in fruits and vegetables that neutralize the products of our metabolism before they can harm brain cells. Researchers believe that blueberries protect our brain through their antioxidant and anti-inflammatory action. Blueberries also seem to influence the way brain cells communicate with each other.Tomatoes and tomato-based products are the major source of many carotenoids including lycopene. Research shows that lycopene, the red pigment in tomatoes, helps lower cholesterol and reduces the risk of prostate cancer. Studies show that the antioxidants in broccoli and cabbage help prevent colon cancer. Other studies show that garlic is the natural enemy of high cholesterol and the common cold. Eating foods with garlic or taking garlic supplements will produce a drop in LDL blood cholesterol. The idea that some foods are better than others has been around for a long time. But the idea that certain foods have super powers is a big exaggeration. Several leading nutrition scientists question the evidence on some of these claims - and for good reason. The whole concept of superpower foods is far-fetched. For instance, while the research on blueberries and brain function is very exciting, this work has so far been conducted only on animals. The studies were conducted on rats and mice, not humans. There are no completed studies that show comparable results in people. Until we have data on humans, we cant go around telling people that blueberries have super powers.While the evidence in the article isnt exactly wrong, it tends to be misleading because it doesnt differentiate between direct evidence and stuff thats pretty speculative. For example, its a good idea to eat tomatoes because theyre full of nutrients, but we cant promise that people who eat them arent going to get cancer. The same is true for broccoli and other vegetables in the cabbage family. They might prevent colon cancer, but we dont yet have direct proof of this. Another thing, the statement that garlic has the power to lower cholesterol probably isnt true. According to a more recent review of the evidence, the effect of garlic on cholesterol is unclear. While garlic may produce a drop in cholesterol for the first three months, the decline disappears after six months.What Im saying is, no food has magic powers. You have to realize that a lot of these so-called “studies” are poorly designed and unscientific. So when you read claims about certain foods, you have to be careful to distinguish direct, scientific evidence from simplifications, opinions, and misleading statements. Summarize the points made in the lecture you just heard, explaining how they cast doubt on points made in the reading.Test 2A hydropower facility consists of a plant for electricity production and a water reservoir formed by a dam in a river. The dam has gates that can open or close depending on how much water is needed to produce a certain amount of electricity. The electricity is transported through transmission lines to an electric utility company.Hydropower is very convenient because it can respond quickly to fluctuations in demand. The production of hydroelectricity is increased on hot summer afternoons when power is needed for air conditioners and decreased at night when people use less energy. The reservoir of water behind the dam is stored energy that can support fisheries and provide various forms of water-based recreation for local residents and tourists. Thus, hydropower reservoirs contribute to the local economy and quality of life. Hydroelectricity is “clean and green.” Once the system has been installed, the burning of fossil fuels is not required to produce the electricity. Hydropower is good for the environment because it does not release greenhouse gases into the atmosphere nor produce waste that requires special containment, as do other forms of energy production. After the water powers the turbines, it simply returns unchanged to the water cycle. Hydroelectric power is also very efficient and relatively inexpensive. The earths water cycle naturally replenishes the supply of “fuel” water. Wherever enough rain falls, there will be rivers. If a particular section of river has the right terrain to form a reservoir, it may be suitable for dam construction. Modern hydroelectric turbines can convert as much as 90 percent of the available energy into electricity. In contrast, the best fossil-fuel plants are only about 50 percent efficient. Now listen to part of a lecture on this topic in an ecology class.The advantages of hydropower are well known, but there are also some seroius disadvantages that should casue us to rethink its overall benefit.First, hydropower facilities are not always convenient for everyone involved. When a dam is built on a river, water floods the land behind the dam. This forces the people who live in the flooded area to move. Forcing people to move is often bitter and controversial, especially if a community has maintained a particular way of life on the same land for several generations.Second, utility companies often emphasize that hydroelectricity is environmentally friendly, “clean and green,” but they fail to mention the long-term environmental hazards. Dams hold back silt and other debris, which collect behind the dam on the river bottom. This causes an accumulation of toxic heavy metals and other polluting substances, showing us that hydropower does indeed produce toxic waste. The buildup of silt means that future generations will have an expensive and dangerous mess to clean up. Third, the huge dams built for hydroelectricity change a rivers natural functions. By diverting water for power, dams remove water needed for healthy river ecosystems. The section of river below a dam often dries up, and birds that migrate there no longer have enough insects to feed on when the water level drops. Also, fish such as salmon depend on a steady flow of cool, fresh water. Native fish populations may decrease or disappear because of the warmer and slower-moving water caused by dams. The environmental changes caused by hydropower may not be obvious right away. Most people will notice air pollution around a coal-burning power plant, but they wont notice a smaller bird population near a hydropower plant. While its true that hydropower is a renewable energy source, it often carries a heavy environmental cost. Furthermore, even though water is a naturally recurring produce, the water supply is subject to natural conditions, such as changing weather patterns and regional drought, so water as a source of fuel may not be reliable in the long run. Test 3Spoken language is a complex sequence of sounds. When we know the language, we have no difficulty in distinguishing consonants from vowels and in separating the sounds into individual words. When we hear a language that we do not know, it is more difficult to distinguish single words.The human voice is capable of making a very large number of sounds, but the sound system of each language restricts the number of acceptable sounds to a relatively small number. The sound stream of a language consists of separate, ordered parts: syllables, words, phrases, clauses, and sentences. Understanding and learning language comes naturally to us because the structure of language is so logical. Language has syntax, which means that syllables and words are organized into meaningful constructions. Syntax is a condition of all human languages. It controls the flow of information and expresses relationships. Linguistic syntax is most obvious at the phrase, clause, and sentence levels.One of the most interesting aspects of language is how it changes over time. There can be changes in a languages sound system, such as a change in the pronunciation of a vowel. Such a change affects the “color” of the speech but has no effect on the meaning of a word. Change can also come in the creation of new words. Inventions, discoveries, and new contexts generate new words to describe them. Words also disappear as their relevant contexts disappear. The vocabulary of a language has a great capacity to expand. The adoption of foreign words is part of the natural growth of almost any language. When language communities are forced together through political alliance or conquest, linguistic competition arises as two peoples try to converse. Often this results in a pidgin language, a mixing of words and expressions from the two languages. Now listen to part of a lecture in a music theory class.Music is made of the same medium as speech: the sound sequence. Just as language is made up of separate, ordered parts, music is made up of notes, chords, measures, phrases, tunes, and so on. Because both language and music have structure, our ability to understand and learn them comes naturally.Just as we are able to separate the sounds in spoken language, we can distinguish the individual sounds that musical instruments make. When we hear someone speak a foreign language, we notice how continuous the speech seems, but we cannot distinguish single words. The experience of hearing a foreign music is sort of the same. We arent sure what counts as a note, or where one note ends and another begins.The sound system of a musical language defines musical sounds. This is why we are able to distinguish one sound from another, to recognize the difference between A and A-sharp. And, just as spoken languages limit their sounds to a small number of all of the sounds that the human voice can make, so do musical languages limit the pitches to a small number within the octave.Like spoken language, music has syntax. Musical syntax refers to the relationships such as the hold between notes and chords and phrases. The primary purpose of musical syntax is to control and order the flow of information streaming to the ears. Musical syntax reduces the randomness of sound. It produces patterns of melody and harmony, thus allowing us to process a phrase and to understand it. Music, like language, evolves over time. An example of a sound change in a musical language could be the introduction of a new instrument or the slow advance of a particular vocal technique - things that change the color of the sound.When two musical communities come together and compete, musical influences are at the heart of this contact. One of the most dramatic results of competition in music is American jazz. Two very distinct musical languages, the African and European, had existed side by side in American society, so the ground was fertile for the evolution of jazz, a new musical language containing elements of both African and European music. Summarize the points made in the lecture, explaining how they are similar to points made in the reading.Test 4The philosophy of realism promotes the idea of a universe that we can observe scientifically and understand objectively. The central idea of realism is that reality, knowledge, and facts are independent of the human mind. The real objects of the universe - stones, trees, animals - exist whether or not there is a human mind to know them. Realists believe that anything that exists can be measured scientifically. Philosopher and mathematician Bertrand Russell believed that reason, logic, and the methods of science could be used to build a precise philosophy of reality. Russell felt that the universe is characterized by patterns that can be analyzed scientifically and verified mathematically. He believed that only science could claim to be real knowledge. According to Russell, we can get two types of data on reality: hard data and soft data. Hard data are the facts of the situation, facts that can withstand measurement and analysis. Soft data are such things as beliefs, passions, and emotions, which we can neither prove nor deny with certainty. Russell based his philosophy more on hard data that can be proven and less on soft data that are more difficult to prove. He argued that we should not believe something is real if it is based on soft data. Something is real only if hard data exist to support it. Russell hoped that by using the methods of science, we could begin to solve large human problems such as poverty. He believed in knowledge and education as the keys to a better world. According to Russell, if we applied realist philosophy and scientific methods to education, we would achieve excellence in education, and ultimately we could eliminate problems such as poverty and create an ideal society. Now listen to part of a lecture on this topic in a philosophy class.The philosophy of realism praises reason and logic, but ignores passion, emotion, and feeling. Critics of realism argue that if we want to really understand human beings in the world, we have to consider the total - the whole of human experience. But with all its emphasis on facts and reason and scientific methods, the philosophy of realism ignores the total human. An important belief of realism is that anything that exists can be measured scientifically. But is that true? Can we measure our passions and feelings scientifically? Can the methods of science really solve big human problems like poverty? Critics of realism say no, because the underlying psychological causes of poverty are very complex and cannot be reduced to mathematics.Bertrand Russell thought we could use the methods of science to achieve excellence in education. However, Russell also believed that students had to be measured against some objective, “real” criteria. Because of this view, students are compared to fixed standards, such as national examinations. So realism has led to an educational system thats based on standardized tests, like college entrance examinations and national tests for teachers. Many of our leaders praise the testing movement as “scientific” and “fact-based” - that is, based on realist philosophy. But critics of realism like to point out that the effects on students are negative. Standardized tests dehumanize people because they dont respect passion, emotion, and feeling, which are important parts of the total person.Today, the realist ideal of our technological society shows little respect for the unity of knowledge. Think about how scinetists often work on one small part of a large project without understanding the whole. Someone who works only on one small part may not understand how the whole project affects humanity, and this might be dangerous to humanity. For example, its possible for scientists to work on a project that is antihuamn, against life a project like biological weapons. They might work on one small part of a weapon system without even knowing it.Summarize the points made in the lecture, explaining how they contradict points made in the reading.Test 5At the beginning of the twentieth century, French psychologist Alfred Binet devised the first test of human intelligence. The test consisted of problems of increasing difficulty that were designed to measure childrens judgment, reasoning, and comprehension. Shortly after Binets original work, psychologist Lewis Terman of Stanford University refined and standardized the test for American children. This test became known as the Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale, which was first published in 1916 and revised several times after that. Terman and his colleagues developed the idea of the IQ, or intelligence quotient. IQ is a measurement of general intelligence, a number representing the ratio of mental age (performance on the test) to actual chronological age in years. IQ has proven to be an accurate measurement of a childs potential to achieve in school and later in professional life. The most recent version of the Stanford-Binet test is still being used today and remains one of the worlds most widely used and accurate tests of general intelligence. It has produced reliable results for individuals from age two through adulthood. Intelligence testing has caused great excitement within the scientific community and the larger society. Many psychologists agree that intelligence testing is psychologys greatest achievement. Intelligence testing and IQ are important scientific developments with great social utility beyond the prediction of school achievement. Intelligence tests are now available to evaluate people for specific purposes, such as military service, placement in industrial organizations, and even social companionship. Now listen to part of a lecture on this topic in a psychology class.Today, most psychologists think intelligence tests are limited in what they can measure and what they can be used for. Intelligence tests cant be used to predict success in life. Even some of the people who first developed the tests started to see this. For example, as early as 1947, Lewis Terman and his colleagues realized that IQ alone couldnt always predict a persons achievement in life. Terman designed a long-term study of c