Have you ever heard of the expression “birdbrain”? People use it to talk about someone who is stupid, but crows(渡鸦) prove that this is unfair. Now it has been discovered that crows may understand analogies(类推法).

It was once thought that only humans could understand analogies, which help us to solve problems creatively and make scientific discoveries.

To testthis ability in animals, scientists do RMTS tests. If a pair was AA, for example, then picking BB to match it would be correct.

Monkeys have learnedRMTS, but scientists wanted to know if crows could do it, too. An international team led by Edward Wasserman in the US first trained two crows to match things by color, shape, and number in what is called IMTS, then moved onto RMTS.

For theIMTS test, the birds were put in a cage with a plate that had three cards and two cups in it. The card in the middle was the sample card. The cups on either side were covered with the other two cards: One was the same as the sample（in the color, shape, or number of shapes pictured）, while the other wasn’t. The cup with the card that matched the sample card had some food to eat.

In the second partof the experiment, the birds were tested with RMTS tests. A card with two same-sized circles, for example, meant they should pick the test card with two same-sized squares and not two different-sized circles. The birds did well in the more difficult test and picked the correct card more than three quarters of the time, Science New reports.

Wasserman was surprised that crows were able to solve the problem without any training in RMTS. “What the crows have done is surprising,” he said.

Passage Three

 Why do men die earlier than women? The latest research makes it known that the reason could be that men’s hearts go into rapid(迅速) decline(下降) when they reach middle age.

　　The largest study of the effects of ageing on the heart has found that women’s longevity may be linked to the fact that their hearts do not lose their pumping power(供血能力) with age.

　　“We have found that the power of the male heart falls by 20-25 percent between 18 and 70 years of age,” said the head of the study, David Goldspink of Liverpool John Moores University in the UK.

　　“Within the heart there are millions of cells that enable it to beat. Between the age of 20 and 70, one-third of those cells die and are not replaced in men,” said Goldspink.“This is part of the ageing process(过程).”

　　What surprises scientists is that the female heart sees very little loss of these cells. A healthy 70-year-old woman’s heart could perform almost as well as a 20-year-old one’s.

　　“This gender(性别) difference might just explain why women live longer than men,” said Goldspink. They studied more than 250 healthy men and women between the ages of 18 and 80, focusing on healthy persons to remove the confusing influence of disease.“The team has yet to find why ageing takes a greater loss on the male heart, and we are still on the way.” said Goldspink.

　　The good news is that men can improve the health of their heart with regular exercise. Goldspink stressed that women also need regular exercise to prevent their leg muscles becoming smaller and weaker as they age.

Being attacked by killer bees usually only happens in thriller movies or nightmares(噩梦). For a couple in Texas, the nightmare turned into reality on Wednesday night. Kristen Beauregard, 44, and her boyfriend were in their garden exercising their two ponies. Ms Beauregard told reporters that everything was normal until one of the ponies started kicking and jumping. The animal was very frightened about something. Suddenly she saw a dark cloud in the sky and she realized it was a large group of bees. She said: “It got all dark, like it was night time, there were so many bees.” The bees attacked the couple and their horses.

Luckily，they had a swimming pool, so the couple jumped in. Ms Beauregard was stung over 200 times by the bees. Her boyfriend counted over 50 stings on his arms, neck and head. The pool probably saved their lives because the bees could not attack them under the water. Kristen explained how terrifying it was. She said: “We were trying to stand up in the water but every time we stuck our heads out for air, they would cover us and start stinging us. We were trying to breathe and they were stinging us on the face and on the nose.” Unluckily, the two ponies could not escape from the bees. They got stung thousands of times. One died on the farm, the other passed away at the vetˈs clinic later that evening.

E-waste is becoming a serious problem around the world. This report will examine this problem and provide some possible ways to solve it.

   We live in a society that is producing and using electronics all the time. It is often cheaper to buy new products than to repair old ones. Also, through clever advertising, companies always encourage people to change their old TVs，mobile phones and computers for the latest models.  E-waste is created when we throw away old ones. In the EU alone, about 8, 700, 000 tons of  e-waste is produced each year. Sadly, just over 1, 000, 000 tons is recycled.

   Burying e-waste or burning it causes serious problems for the environment. Electronics have dangerous things in them. These things can then get into the ground or pollute the air when they are burnt.

In recent years, _______. However，their plans are not always managed correctly. Sometimes electronics are just sent to poor countries . There they are often burnt in public areas, which is very bad for people’s health. Setting up recycling centers is a good way to solve this problem. E­cycling centers could recycle the parts that can be reused and deal with the rest properly.

   Another way is to make producers responsible (有责任心的) for their used products. This means that producers must take back old products which are no longer wanted and then make sure they are properly recycled or reused.

   As for us students, we should try to reduce e-waste. Buy electronics only when we have to. And don’t buy a product just to have the latest model.

   E-waste is a serious problem in the modern world. Both producers and users must take actions and try to keep it to the smallest amount (数量).

Shanghai Disney Resort opened its gates in a trial run on May 7 in preparation for its official opening on June 16, but some guests complained about high prices at various facilities(设施), the Beijing Youth Daily reported on Thursday, May 12.

According to estimates（估算）, a one-day visit to the resort for a family of three will cost at least 2,600 yuan ($400), which covers admission fees（门票费）, three meals and shopping, while a two-day trip will require no less than 6,000 yuan in total, the paper said.

Some of the visitors said dining and drinks were too expensive. A child-sized hot dog or braised chicken fillet with rice cost 60 yuan, a beef burger with cheese cost 80 yuan, and a Pepsi cost 15 yuan.

As for accommodation（住宿）, the resort hasn’t announced the price of a stay in its hotel rooms. But the budget hotels nearby have a price tag between 300 yuan and 800 yuan per room per night.

According to Shanghai Disneyˈs website, a standard day ticket is priced at 370 yuan, and that increases to 499 yuan on peak days. Children, elderly and disabled visitors can have a discount of 25 percent, while admission is free for babies. Those who buy tickets for a two-day visit receive a five-percent discount.

Can you imagine a pair of shoes that could tie themselves? All you would have to do is put them on and push a button. Well, this idea is becoming a reality. The shoe company Nike created the self-tying shoe!

    This idea first came from the movie Back to the Future II, and Nike has been working for years to create a shoe that can do this in real life. They have finally done it with Nike Hyper Adapt 1.0.

    So how do they work? According to Nike, the shoe is “powered by an underfoot-lacing mechanism(脚下系带装置)” ．This is kind of like a small motor that has the power to lace the shoes.

    All the wearer has to do is put them on, and at first, the shoes are very loose. But then you can push the “+” button, and the shoes will tighten to be the perfect fit for the wearer. To take them off, all you have to do is push the “-” button, and the shoes will easily slide off.

    But the shoes are battery charged, and for someone who uses them quite often, they need to be charged every two weeks, according to USA Today.

    Cristiano Ronaldo, a professional soccer player from Portugal, was a special athlete who got to test the shoes out for himself. He said on the social media site Instagram, “Wow! Thanks Nike for letting me be the first athlete in the world to try the new Hyper Adapt 1.0.”

    They haven't been released to the public yet, and the cost of the shoes is still unknown. But you might be able to get a pair of your own closer to the holiday season this year.

If wearing Google Glass—a pair of smart glasses—on your faces isn’t cool enough, you might want to take a look at Nokia’s new skirt. It’s made of 80 mobile phones! It’s believed to be the world’s first smart skirt and has been shown at London Fashion Week. The smart skirt was created by the mobile phone company Nokia, fashion designer Fyodor Golan and creative design house kin.

It’s not easy to make a smart skirt. It took three months to complete it. The biggest challenge in making the skirt was getting all of the mobile phones on the skirt, and allowing all the mobile phones to work together.

The screens are all connected to a computer. As the skirt moves, the screens change colors and the skirt looks like silk. That’s not the only trick. The mobile phones are also connected to a hidden camera in the wearer.

Unsurprisingly, the skirt won’t be making its way to shops. Instead, it’s more of an art piece. Nokia said they wanted to find a way to connect the smart technology and fashion together. “We used drawings, 3D printing, and programming languages to ‘build’ the skirt,” explained Nokia.

B

The Futian Railway Station in Shenzhen has been finished．It will be Asia's largest underground high-speed railway station．Shenzhen is a very important city in south China's Guangdong Province．It links（连接）Hongkong and Guangzhou．When people go between the two places，they have to go through Shenzhen．The station is expected to be put into operation by the end of the year，said the Guangzhou Railway Group on November 15，2015．By the time，people will save much time when they are traveling from Shenzhen to Hongkong and Guangzhou．

    The Futian Railway Station，the Hong Kong-Shenzhen-Guangzhou high-speed railway link，will enable a 33-minute ride from Guangzhou to Shenzhen．And after the section of that link of Futian to Hong Kong is finished，it will only take 45 minutes to go from Shenzhen to Kowloon district（九龙区）in Hong Kong．

    The station covers an area of 147，000 square metres，and it has three storeys（层）．It is as large as 21 football fields．It is also the world's second largest underground railway station，only after the Grand Central Station in New York City，the United States．

A

    At the beginning of the new term，freshmen(大学一年级新生)of Ningbo Institute of Technology at Zhejiang University received a letter from the school saying that parents should give their children 600 yuan each month to cover basic expenses．But freshmen don’t think it is a good idea．

    “I know universities want to encourage us to save money．But 600 yuan is far from enough，”said Ma Yuhan，a freshman at Hubei University of Medicine．The 21-year-old spends 1，500 to 2，000 yuan every month，of which more than 1,000 yuan is spent on food．“I may starve(饥饿) to death if my parents only give me 600 yuan，”he said．

    Basic expenses

    According to Ying Zhongyuan，Secretary(秘书) of the Youth League Committee at Ningbo Institute of Technology，a student’s basic expenses are made up of four parts：food，communication，electricity and water bills，and things for daily use．

    “The standard we set is based on our university’s specific situation and food plays big role．The average(平均) cost for three meals is 15 yuan，so that’s about 450 yuan per month．The remaining 150 yuan should be enough to cover all other expenses considering that everything is quite cheap on campus(大学校园)，”Ying said．

    Social cost

    Shen Jiawei，21，is another freshman at Hangzhou Normal University．He spends all of his pocket money on meals．He said socializing causes high expenses．Before Shen went to university，his parents told him that they would give him 1，000 yuan each month．But after the first semester，Shen found that 1,000 yuan is not enough．

    “I made many friends and we hang out together a lot．It costs 700 yuan to eat in the cafeteria each month，but much more if eating out，”he said．“Now my monthly expenses are about 1,500 yuan，”he said．

    Wu Luping，a member of the China Youth ＆ Children Research Association，believes that such an expense is reasonable．When interviewed by Beijing Morning Post，he said，“There are three layers(层次) of expenses，basic needs，development，and entertainment．”Apart from basic costs，students want to spend money on interpersonal(人际的) relationships and entertainment．“There’s no need to avoid such expenses，”he said．