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1. 夏威夷岛上的物种多样性咋形成的这篇文章准备过GRE的同学占些便宜，GRE阅读有篇短文讲的就是这个。多样性形成一个原因是植物种子是由飞鸟带过来的，所以鸟要是轻就有好处。二是海水冲过来的。但是有些物种没有，最后是由人带过去的，活得挺好，表明不是夏威夷岛的生态环境不行，而是没有方法带过去。2. 鸟类为啥进化成了不能飞的鸟之所以进化成不能飞的，一个原因是不用migrate太远就能获得食物，二是少predator，没天敌当然生活好。还有一个原因是鸟吃草需要一种东西来消化，而这种东西重量很沉，所以要有这东西就不能飞。但不能飞其实有很多优点，一是省energy，二是生的egg都特别大，比如kiwi，因为这样nutrition就多，对offspring生长很有好处。3. 食物促成了欧洲人口的增长从美洲传来了土豆，这让人们很快就获得了很好的食物，农民们也不会拒绝种土豆，因为famine（饥荒）一来都吃树皮吃草，我擦还挑啥啊。而且各地还鼓励农业发展，农业发展，人们吃得好了，饱暖思淫欲，那就很早生孩子，birth rate高过death rate，人口暴增。听力conversation1. 讲一种建筑方式，iceberg 。 类似tent，材料很少，并且flexible。2. 学生找工作人员要换另一种房子住。工作人员问怎么以前的ecohouse不好吗？学生说不是，就是想要broaden her horizon,而且换那地有机会接触faculty。工作人员最后请求她帮忙填个questionnaire。Lecture1. art history讲Michelangelo的fresco，教堂ceiling 的壁画。讲画fresco的几个特点，1是plaster是wet的，变干了之后能last very long。2但是plaster干的很快，所以必须快点画画，否则就不行了，还讲了个画家，这哥们两手那画笔左右开弓，目的是快点画完。3另外这个画画到天花板上去，所以还有个难度是怎么画，以前人用scaffold，但是天花板不是平的，所以米开朗琪罗就自己研制了个东西上去画。2. astronomy讲Uranus天王星。1是从地面观测看到了蓝色，由此得知了它的大气。2是看density可知它的chemical composition。但是跟Jupiter木星不同，它上面的元素heavier，学生问那意思是天王星上面都是rock？教授说你彪啊，我们讲的是gas giant（类木行星，上面是气）。最后教授说别忘了spacecraft很重要，我们想知道更多就得就近观测，比如magnetic field。3. biology讲动物的camouflage，由chameleon引入，讲一种动物的适应性，忘了是否是calamari，可以仅由几种颜色适应不同环境。第一种能力是在sea bottom，比较简单的只适应一种环境就行。第二种能力是可以调整shape和size来迷惑predator。4. archeology / anthropology讲远古人类的生活方式应该是由nomadic（游牧）转向sedentary（定居）。证据1是他们的建筑，底部用石头而上面用木头，如果想要游牧不会建得这么麻烦。证据2是heavy tools证据3是发现了有bird和gazelle（羚羊），它们分别在春季和冬季被人食用，表明人们一直是定居在一个地方。听力加试是学生写bird migration论文，大王花和ragtime music口语1.Some schools require students to take part in community service activities after school. Which of the following do you think is the best activity for students? 1. Planting flowers in the community 2.doing clean-ups in the garden 3. Remove litter and trash from a river or lake.Personally speaking, if I got a chance to do some community service, removing trash from river would be my first choice. First of all, as we all know our city faces serious pollution problem recent years, we ought to do something to protect our planet. This is not only an environmentally friendly behavior but also can set a good role model to those young children. Hopefully, I can influence my friends and strangers around me so that they will be aware that environment protection is really urgent. What’s more, most of drinking water comes from rivers, for the purpose to stay fit, keeping water sources clean is necessary. 2. Do you agree or disagree with the following statement: we are more informed of world events today than our parents were when they were young and why?From my point of view, I believe that young people today are more informed of world events than their parents. First of all, science and technology is advanced with time, especially hi-tech products are developed rapidly recent year. We can receive latest news from our cell phones immediately, however, in the past maybe people just can read the news from next morning’ s newspaper. What’s more, youngsters today always have chance to travel all over the world, make friends global, and broaden their horizons. Therefore, all information or events spread quickly in this social circle.3. 阅读：学校决定今后为管弦乐队提供机会，让他们为本地的小学生做现场演出。这样一来可以为乐队提供演出机会，二来可以让孩子们从小接收音乐的熏陶，早点决定学习乐器。对话中的男生认为这是个好主意。目前的管弦乐队每年只有一次大型演出，机会太少。这么做增加了演出机会。另外，在孩子面前演出，会让孩子早点喜欢上乐器，早点决定学习演奏。男生本人认为如果自己早点练习小提琴，一定会比现在拉的更好。这是一道学校政策变化题。应用模板：The school has made a decision that they will arrange the students from school orchestra to make performance in front of the local school kids in order to give the orchestra more chances to perform and encourage the kids to learn music. 对话中的男生同意学校的政策，对应的应该说：The man in the conversation thinks it’s a good idea for the following reasons:First, it is a pity that the orchestra just have one big performance each year and the policy allow them to have more chances to perform in front of live audience.Second, by enjoying the performance, the school kids would make an early decision to learn how to play musical instruments. It is important because the man himself thinks if he could have began to play the violin earlier, he would play it much better now.4. 阅读文章：概念是close communication bias，主要讲的是人的解释力针对不同的人准确程度是不同的，对朋友和亲近的人解释一件事就不会像对生人解释的那么具体。听力文章：教授用了自己的例子。有天中午他要出去跟人吃饭，约了一个好朋友jack，还有一个新来的教授。他分别给俩人发了邮件，给jack发的很简短，但是给新教授发的很详细包括具体饭店名字和位置。结果新教授找到了地方，而jack却没有找到，他应该是忘了地方在哪了。5. The broadcast device broke down so campus radio station has difficulties to broadcast the programme. There are two possible solutions. One is to buy new device while the other option is to find a student who majors in engineering to tackle technical defects. I believe the first solution is more reasonable. Money spent on new device may be much but it will be a permanent solution. If the man choose the second solution, and student engineer is not professional enough, he or she may make the problem even worse. Even though the service is free of charge, it is too risky for the radio station to take that option. 6. 【讲座主题】动物做妈妈以后更勇敢,为了找到更多食物。【例子】做了两组实验让 rats 去找食物。一个maze,两条不同path，一个有盖子，一个没有。不是妈妈的 rat 胆子小只敢走有盖的,顶多绕着没盖子的转转,但是不敢进去，因为它感到很害怕。相比之下 mother rat 更加勇敢更加自信，敢去走开着的maze，因为他们承担着为孩子找食物的责任。Sample answer: In the lecture, the professor talks about the concept that when mammals become mother, they tend to be braver to take risks, since they have to search foods for their babies. Then the professor introduces an experiment of rats to further explain it. In the experiment, there are two paths of a maze in front of rats, one is open and the other one is closed. The non-mother rats fear to go into the latter one, but just goes cross it and walks on the closed one to search foods. However, the mother rats are braver and more confident so that they would like to take chance. They dare to go into the path without the cover, because mother rats need to search food for their babies写作1. 综合写作有一种fish，Menhaden，现在数量大减，文章认为政府的solution不好，提了三个问题。1是它有个predator，把这个predator干掉啊。听力说你彪啊，这个predator其实还吃别的，控制物种数量，你这样不就disrupt ecological balance了吗？ 2是对农业有negative influence. 3是会导致reduction of hundreds of thousands of jobs.2 独立写作在选择一个student organization的leader时，你觉得honesty 是不是最重要的因素？