What Is Self-tracking All about

Have you ever monitored something about yourself? Perhaps you’ve tracked how many kilometers you’ve run, how many hours you’ve slept or how many calories you’ve eaten in a day.

If so, you’ve taken part in a movement called the “Quantified Self Movement.” Individuals gather information about their daily activities in this popular movement, also called self-tracking. This may sound difficult, but technology is making the process easier.

Perhaps you’ve wanted to change a bad habit but couldn’t. Self-tracking may be your answer. The idea is to take information about your everyday activities and analyze them to help form a healthier lifestyle.

Recently, tools such as smartphones, journals and apps, along with newly published wearable things, are making self-tracking extremely easy. Today, one can use Fitbit, the Jawbone Up, Google Glass or a smart watch to record personal data including sleeping hours, stress levels, heart rate and mood.

So why does a person self-track? Someone may be trying to lose weight or improve their sleep patterns. Another person feels tired after eating. Self-tracking could help him to know what foods make him sleepy and watch his diet.

Monitoring daily activities isn’t a new concept. In years past, athletes and their coaches kept notes detailing nutrition, training and sleep patterns in order to achieve an athletic goal. Similarly, doctors have also helped patients to record parts of their lifestyles and eating habits to help fight allergies, headaches and other health problems. However, it wasn’t until 2007 that magazine editors Gary Wolf and Kim Kelly, who started tracking every move they made, coined the term “Quantified Self.” Wolf says that the new tools will change our sense of self with the purpose of making us more effective in the world.

Although self-tracking has many advantages, Dennis Nash, president of Data Speaks Health Solutions, says self-tracking has its drawbacks. Once people start tracking their daily activities, it can become an addition people like to do often. Also, they might begin to worry too much about their health.

While self-tracking doesn’t guarantee that one’s quality of life will improve, it can highlight the importance of eating well and exercising daily. After all, the Quantified Self Movement’s focus is motivating people to apply enough energy to make healthier choices.

1.People choose self-tracking because _______.

A. it collects personal data and leads to self-improvements

B. it records how many hours you sleep a day

C. it watches your eating habits

D. it increases your movement

2.The writer mentions tools such as smartphones and apps in Paragraph 4 to show _______.

A. we depend too much on them

B. it is easier to do self-tracking

C. they do harm to people’s health

D. equipment is necessary to do self-tracking

3.Self-tracking was firstly put forward by _______.

A. scientists of Data Speaks Health Solutions

B. athletes and their coaches

C. doctors and their patients

D. two magazine editors

4.You can find this article in the part of _______.

A. Education B. Entertainment C. Health D. News

假设你是红星中学高三（1）班的学生李华。下面四幅图描述了你们学校去年十二月邀请其他学校的学生参加“圣诞晚会”的过程。请根据图片的先后顺序，适当增加细节，为校刊“英语园地”写一篇短文。词数不少于60。

Last December, our school celebrated Christmas with students from our neighboring schools.

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Mosquitoes have an extraordinary ability to target humans far away and fly straight to their unprotected skin. Regrettably，mosquitoes can do more than cause an itchy(发痒的）wound. Some mosquitoes spread several serious diseases，including Dengue，yellow fever and malaria.

Over one million people worldwide die from these diseases each year. New research now shows how mosquitoes choose who to bite.

Mosquitoes need blood to survive. They are attracted to human skin and breath. They smell the carbon dioxide gas，which all mammals breathe out. This gas is the main way for mosquitoes to know that a warm-blooded creature is nearby.

But mosquitoes also use their eyes and sense of touch. Michael Dickinson is a professor at the California Institute of Technology. His research shows how these small insects，with even smaller brains，use three senses to find a blood meal.

Michael Dickinson’s team used plumes—a material that rises into the air of carbon dioxide gas into a wind tunnel. They then used cameras to record the mosquitoes. The insects followed the plume.

Then，the scientists placed dark objects on the lighter colored floor and walls of the tunnel. Mr. Dickinson said，at first，the mosquitoes showed no interest in the objects at all. “What was quite striking and quite surprising is that the mosquitoes fly back and forth for hours. These are hungry females and they completely ignore the objects on the floor and wall of the tunnel. But the moment they get a hit of CO2，they change their behavior quite obviously and now would become attracted to these little visual blobs (斑点）.”

This suggested to the researchers that a mosquito’s sense of smell is more important in the search for food. Once mosquitoes catch a smell of a human or animal，they also follow visual signals.

1.What do mosquitoes mainly use to find their targets?

A. Sense of smell. B. Sense of touch.

C. Sense of sight. D. Smart brains.

2.The first response of the mosquitoes to the objects in the experiment is .

A. to fly to the dark ones

B. to catch and stick to them

C. to take no notice of them

D. to attach themselves to them

3.How can we avoid being attacked by mosquitoes according to the text ?

A. Don’t let them see us.

B. Use dark objects to stop them.

C. Make them fly back and forth for hours.

D. Attract them to objects full of carbon dioxide gas.

4. What can be the best title for the text?

A. How Do Mosquitoes Survive?

B. Why Do Mosquitoes Need Blood?

C. How Do Mosquitoes Choose to Bite You?

D. Why Do Mosquitoes Attack the Human Being?

阅读下面材料，在空白处填入适当的内容(1个单词或括号内单词的正确形式)。

Just now，I entered the website “Topic for Today”. I feel1.________ (interest) in the report on middle school students’ using cell-phones on campus. In fact，more students now come to school 2.________ cell-phones. My schoolmates have different opinions. Some think3.________ is convenient to get in touch with others with the cell-phone，4.________ also makes them feel safe especially in time of trouble. Besides，it is nice to enjoy 5.________ (variety) functions of different cell-phones.

Others think differently. First，the cell-phone is not6.________ must in school，as there are some IC phones there，7.________ (make) it easy to call others. Second， many students often play e-games and send 8.________ (message) with their cell-phones，even in class， which will surely have bad effects on their study. What’s more， a large amount of time and money will 9.________ (waste).In my opinion，the cell-phone is a useful tool in our daily life. But it doesn’t mean we can use it10.________ (free) in school.

“Your first home,” Laurence Yep wrote in his book, The Lost Garden, “will always be the one that you remember best. I have been away from it for over twenty years, but I still go back in my dreams.” For Yep, whose father came from China, home was an apartment and the family grocery store in a neighborhood of San Francisco. It was there that he learned about patience, hard work, and getting along with neighbors.

Mr. Brown, Laurence Yep’s high school English teacher, often set high goals for his students. He was the first person to encourage Yep to write. The experience of that class changed the direction of Yep’s life. At the age of 18 Yep published his first short story, a sci-fi fantasy. He has since written many books and many kinds of books. He has retold Chinese folk stories and written for the theater. In nearly all these varied works, Yep, who is married to the children’s book author Joanne Ryder, has returned to questions he has been asking himself since childhood: What does it mean to be Chinese and American? Can one who belongs to two cultures ever feel at home anywhere?

When asked, “How has being of a Chinese by origin been important to you?” Laurence Yep replied, “As a child I wanted to be as American as possible. Then, in my early twenties, I became very interested in my Chinese roots. For years after that, I thought that my function as a Chinese American writer was to act as a bridge between two cultures. Now, though, I am not so sure that it is possible to join them together. Compared with Asian culture, American culture pays more attention to individuals and competition. The two cultures pull in opposite directions. So I see myself now as someone who will always be on the border between two cultures. That works to my benefit as a writer because not quite fitting in helps me be a better observer.”

1.According to Paragraph 1, Laurence Yep _____.

A. misses his first home very much

B. goes back to China from time to time

C. moved to San Francisco at an early age

D. once worked part-time at a grocery store

2.2We may infer from Paragraph 2 that Mr. Brown _____.

A. asked Laurence Yep to be a good observer

B. taught Laurence Yep the value of patience

C. helped Laurence Yep finish his first book

D. had high expectations of Laurence Yep

3.The last paragraph is mainly about Laurence Yep’s _____.

A. childhood memories

B. varied writing styles

C. view of the two cultures

D. relationship with his family

4.Which of the following best describes Laurence Yep’s attitude to life?

A. Learn to accept your own differences.

B. Put the needs of others ahead of your own.

C. Work hard and you will receive many benefits.

D. Challenge others as you would wish to be challenged.

阅读下面短文，从短文后各题所给的四个选项(A、B、C和D)中，选出可以填入空白处的最佳选项。

Can one man make a difference? Ask Rossano Ercolini, the 2013 Goldman Prize winner, which is considered the Nobel Prize for “________”. Ercolini is a young ________ in a small town in Italy. After ________the news of reducing waste on the radio, he decided to teach his students to ________ paper and replace plastic water bottles in the school lunchroom with ________ glasses.

When his town announced plans to open an incinerator （ 焚化炉） to burn waste, Ercolini knew it would be ________ for his students. Incinerators are huge heaters that burn all waste and poisonous material, leaving behind ________. You might think it is ________ than sending waste to landfills. It is true landfills ________ space, smell bad, and that poisonous materials can make underground drinking water ________ to use. But incinerators have their own________. Burning gives off poisonous gases into the air which can cause ________ problems. People will have to wear a mask no matter ________ they go. The smoke also causes pollution, and even ________ the greenhouse effect.

Ercolini was worried about the ________ of his community and felt it was his duty to ________ them. He organized town hall meetings, and talked about how to reduce, reuse and recycle. ________ , Ercolini has advocated the zero-waste movement, the ________ of which is to reduce the waste sent to landfills and incinerators to the least possible amount. He has already ________ plans for more than 50 incinerators in many Italian cities. ________ his efforts, there are more than one hundred zero-waste towns in Italy now!

1.A. Peace B. Environment C. Medicine D. Literature

2.A. teacher B. farmer C. trainer D. gardener

3.A. watching B. reading C. hearing D. making

4.A. fold B. roll C. tear D. recycle

5.A. coloured B. reusable C. thick D. valuable

6.A. harmful B. necessary C. suitable D. convenient

7.A. rock B. sand C. water D. ash

8.A. worse B. harder C. better D. further

9.A. add B. fill in C. create D. take up

10.A. unsafe B. simple C. regular D. illegal

11.A. difficulties B. disadvantages C. expectations D. improvements

12.A. heart B. hearing C. breathing D. weight

13.A. why B. when C. how D. where

14.A. reduces B. worsens C. suffers D. measures

15.A. health B. development C. justice D. employment

16.A. praise B. support C. educate D. entertain

17.A. Anyhow B. However C. Otherwise D. Moreover

18.A. goal B. reason C. truth D. problem

19.A. discussed B. defeated C. prepared D. suggested

20.A. Along with B. Except for C. Thanks to D. Instead of

短文改错

请修改下面的短文。短文中共有10处语言错误，每句中最多有两处。错误涉及一个单词的增加、删除或修改。

增加：在缺词处加一个漏字符号(∧)，并在其下面写出该加的词。

删除：把多余的词用斜线(\)划掉。

修改：在错的词下划一横线，并在该词下面写出修改后的词。

注意：1. 每处错误及其修改均仅限一词；2. 只允许修改10处，多者(从第11处起)不计分。

It is well-known that good habits do us good all our life. Entered high school, I took delight in having fast food and often eat too much. In the end, I was so serious overweight that I suffered a lot from my awkward appearance. It made matters worse was the fact that my classmates made a fun of me at times. From now on, I made up my mind to avoiding snacks. In the meanwhile, I took off jogging to lose weight. To my surprise, it was not long until I did succeed in creating my new appearance. Only then I start to appreciate the importance of developing a good habit.

Would you want a doctor who got high marks in medical school just for trying hard? Apparently many college students would have no problem with that. They believe students are owed a good grade simply because they put a lot of effort into a class.

The researchers asked more than 800 undergraduates if they agreed or disagreed with some statements. For example: "If I have completed most of the reading for a class, I deserve a B in that course." And: "A professor should not be annoyed with me if I receive an important call during class."

Just 16 percent thought it was OK to take that phone call. But 66 percent agreed that a professor should consider effort and not just the quality of a student's work when deciding grades. And 40 percent thought they should get a B, the second highest mark, just because they did most of the reading for class.

Some experts are not surprised that students often see no difference between effort and results. Social critics like to say that in children's activities these days everyone gets an award just for trying, so no one will feel rejected.

Yet competition to get into the best colleges is fiercer than ever. Students may worry that low grades will keep them out of graduate school or a good job.

And there may be another explanation: pressure from parents to get a good return on the family's investment. These days, college can cost more than a house.

A former teaching assistant recently wrote to the New York Times about his experience with grade expectations. He would try to explain it this way when students asked for a top grade just for studying hard in chemistry class:

What if a baseball player came to spring training and worked harder than all the others, but still could not play well? Would the team accept him anyway, just because he tried so hard?

The students would say no. But most of them would still ask for an A.

1.What does the passage mainly discuss?

A．Whether students deserve high marks just for trying hard.

B．Whether students are allowed to answer calls in class.

C．How students can get a good grade in the course.

D．Why students put a lot of efforts in their studies.

2.According to the research, most of the students _______.

A. thought it was all right to answer the call during class.

B. thought they did most of the work for class and should get a B.

C. objected to deciding grades only by the quality of a student’s work.

D. agreed that they should be given top grades because of their hard work.

3.Which of the following opinions do social critics agree to about children’s activities?

A．Those who are active in the activities can get an award.

B．Only by playing an important role in the activities can you get an award.

C．Whoever takes part in the activities can get an award.

D．An award is prepared for anyone who performs best in the activities.

4.From the sixth paragraph we can learn that _____.

A．it costs much more to build a college than to buy a house.

B．the costs of studying at college are much more than staying at home.

C．the costs of sending a child to college are much more than buying a house.

D．it is difficult for parents to send a child to college.

A shopkeeper sent his son to learn about the secret of happiness from the wisest man in the world．The boy walked a long way, and finally came upon the beautiful castle where the wise man lived.

On entering the main room of the castle, the boy was quite surprised: tradesmen coming and going, people chatting in the corners, and a small orchestra playing soft music．The wise man talked with everyone, and the boy had to wait for two hours before it was his turn.

The wise man listened carefully to the boy’s explanation of why he had come, but told him that he didn’t have time just then to explain the secret of happiness．He suggested that the boy look around the palace and return in two hours.

“Meanwhile, I want to ask you to do something,” said the wise man, handing the boy a teaspoon that held two drops of oil．“As you wander around, carry this spoon with you without allowing the oil to spill.”

The boy began to walk up and down stairs of the palace, keeping his eyes fixed on the spoon．After two hours, he returned to the wise man.

“Well,” asked the wise man, “Did you see the Persian tapestries（挂毯）in the hall? Did you see the garden that took the master gardener ten years to create?” The boy was embarrassed, and replied that he had observed nothing．His only concern had been not to spill the oil.

“Then go back and observe the wonders of my world,” said the wise man．The boy picked up the spoon and returned to his exploration of the palace．This time he observed all of the works of art on the ceilings and the walls．When he returned, he described in detail everything he had seen．

“But where are the drops of oil?” asked the wise man．Looking down at the spoon he held, the boy saw that the oil was gone.

“Well, there is only one piece of advice I can give you,” said the wise man．“The secret of happiness is to see all the wonders of the world, and never to forget the drops of oil on the spoon.”

1.When the boy arrived at the castle, he .

A． received a warm welcome from the wise man

B． had already missed his chance to talk to the wise man

C． was shown around the palace by the local people

D． didn’t expect to see so many people around

2.The wise man gave the boy two tasks in order to .

A． show him how to observe the wonders in the world

B． teach him the secret of happiness

C． make him learn from his mistakes

D． let the boy enjoy his palace and garden

3.We can infer from the article that “the drops of the oil on the spoon” probably refer to .

A． the beauty of one’s nature

B． the fortune a person possesses

C． the responsibilities one has to take on

D． the great opportunities in life

4.What would be the best title for the article?

A． Lesson about Happiness

B． The Secret of Happiness

C． Learning about Happiness

D． Searching for Happiness

1.Sydney Tower is ______ in Sydney, Australia．

A． the busiest street

B． the biggest station

C． the most beautiful park

D． the highest point

2.If you want to book a ticket to Sydney Tower, you can' t _______ ．

A． email sydneytower@ hotmail．corn

B． fax 02 9333 9203

C． search www．sydneytower．com．au

D． dial 02 9333 9222

3.Frank wants to go to Sydney Tower with his two children, he will pay ______ ．

A． $60

B． $90

C． $120

D． $150