1 . Humans are pretty unique among life on Earth. As far as we know, we’re the only living species to evolve the higher intelligence, wear clothes, cook our food, and even invent smartphones. But what if humans suddenly went extinct? What other animals might evolve to have the smarts and skills to create large,complex societies as we have?
With modern genetic technology and our understanding of evolution, “we’re pretty good at making short-term predictions. “Martha Reiskind, an ecologist, told Live Science. For example, we can predict that if humans were to disappear tomorrow, climate change would continue to drive many species to adapt to drought. And species living in cold areas would continue to struggle to live as well.
“A big thing will be the concept of convergence.” Dougal Dixon, a geologist, told Live Science Convergence is an evolutionary process by which two unrelated creatures develop similar features in order to succeed in a particular environment. For example, with their sleek (光滑的) bodies and fins, fish are suitable for living in water. However, dolphins have evolved a very similar body plan—and unlike fish, they are warm-blooded, air-breathing animals with a totally different evolutionary background.
One feature that makes humans uniquely good at building is our skillful hands. In order to fill the same role as humans—that is, building cities and heavily modifying our environment—another species would need to develop a similar ability to control objects. Other primates (灵长目动物), like chimpanzees. our closest living relatives, already can make tools in the wild. It’s possible that if humans disappeared, they might replace us.
But any disaster terrible enough to destroy humans is also likely to destroy chimpanzees, which leaves another tool-using candidate to fill humans place: birds. Birds are very brainy. Some birds can use their feet to form wire into hooks. And trained African grey parrots can learn upwards of 100 words and do simple math, including understanding the concept of zero. Birds can also gather in large groups, and some even build group nesting sites.
Of course, all of these are predictions. Scientists have said it’s almost impossible to truly predict how evolution will unfold. As we go further and further out, the prediction is less accurate. And it’s even more difficult to predict whether another species will develop human-level intelligence, Some think that it could happen. Others, however, are less optimistic because they don’t think nature will make mistakes twice.
1. Why does the author mention fish and dolphins in Para. 3?| A．To show how dolphins evolved |
| B．To explain what convergence is. |
| C．To show the advantage of the fish shape |
| D．To explain the feature of animals living in water. |
| A．The ability to make tools | B．The habit of group living |
| C．The ability to do simple math | D．The close relationship with humans |
| A．Sea animals. | B．Chimpanzees |
| C．Birds. | D．Dogs. |
| A．Hopeless. | B．Challenging. |
| C．Promising. | D．Uncertain. |
2 . Did you know roughly one third of food for human consumption goes to waste? Most of it is fresh fruits and vegetables that go bad. The produce dries out or goes bad, which has led scientists to develop ways of coating or sealing the food to keep it fresher for longer. Now research at Rice University reveals there might be a better way.
Scientists discovered that dipping produce like strawberries and bananas into an egg-based was his remarkably good for preserving it. The coating is extremely thick, and made from a mixture of powdered egg whites and yolks(70%), and some wood-sourced cellulose(纤维素) to act as a barrier preventing water loss.
What the scientists found was that the egg-based wash made a significant difference in helping produce stay fresh over a two-week observation period. The appearance of the coated fruits and vegetables didn’t change much, while the uncoated produce ripened and even rotted within the same timeframe. The egg-based coating, as it turned out, reduced each fruit’s chance to get exposed to oxygen.
The non-poisonous coating was found to be flexible and tests showed that it was just as tough as other products， including synthetic films(合成膜), used in produce packaging. For anyone with an egg allergy, the coating can be removed by thorough washing in water and is tasteless.
The scientists hope this could be a breakthrough in the fight against food waste. “Reducing food shortages in ways that are not related to genetic modification, uneatable coatings or chemical additives is important for better sustainable living,” said materials scientist and study author Pulickel Ajayan.
What’s great about this discovery is that it fights food waste in more than one way: even the coating was made from eggs that would otherwise have been thrown away because they weren’t fit for consumption. The researchers said roughly 200 million of US produced eggs go to waste annually. So if this were scaled up, it could be a win-win situation all around.
1. How does the egg-based wash help keep food fresh?| A．By making its coating less thick. | B．By limiting its oxygen exposure. |
| C．By removing its cellulose slowly. | D．By improving its absorbent ability. |
| A．To stress the seriousness of food shortage. | B．To show the significance of the discovery. |
| C．To offer the method of cutting food waste. | D．To give brief description of the research. |
| A．Optimistic. | B．Doubtful. | C．Cautious. | D．In different. |
| A．How to use eggs creatively. | B．A breakthrough in technology. |
| C．How to recycle food waste. | D．A new way to preserve food. |
3 . Chinese speakers have got a new thing to be proud of. The language they are speaking is more difficult than English.
Understanding Chinese requires both sides of the brain, but English speakers listen with only half their minds on the job, UK scientists say.
UK psychologist Sophie Scott and researchers from hospitals in Oxford and London performed brain scans on volunteers as they listened to their native languages. When English speakers heard the sound of their language, the left parts of their brains lit up on screen. When Chinese speakers heard their native tongue, there was an action in both the right and left sides.
“We were very surprised to discover that people who speak different sorts of languages use their brains to decode speech in different ways.” said Scott.
The left side is normally connected with putting sounds together into words; the right with processing melody (音调) in music and speech, so this part “lights up” when English speakers hear music. The researchers do not yet know whether the right side is active in English speakers when they hear Chinese.
In Chinese, a different intonation (语调) delivers a different meaning, the syllable (音节) “ma”, for instance, can mean mother, hemp (麻), horse or scold according to its musical sound.
“Speech really is a complex sound,” said Scott. “As well as understanding words, the brain uses the way in which words are spoken, such as intonation and melody, to turn spoken language into meaning.”
“We think Chinese speakers interpret intonation and melody in the right sides of their brains to give correct meaning to the spoken words.”
The study suggests that language itself might affect the way the brain develops in a young child. It could explain why native speakers of English find it so extraordinary hard to learn Chinese.
1. What does the underlined “volunteers” in paragraph 3 refer to?| A．Chinese speakers. | B．English speakers. |
| C．People who speak different languages. | D．Researchers and Chinese and English speakers. |
| A．Music. | B．Meanings. |
| C．Intonation and melody. | D．The way the brain develops. |
| A．The left sides of their brains are not used for language. |
| B．They can hardly understand words when there is music. |
| C．The right sides of their brains are never used in childhood. |
| D．They can hardly understand words in the right side of the brain. |
| A．How the Brain Responds to Music |
| B．How the Brain Responds to Chinese |
| C．The Brain Responds to Languages Differently |
| D．The Two Sides of the Brain Work Differently |
4 . Have you ever imagined the life in space? The following will show you the astronauts’ daily life.
Eating in space
If you go camping for more than a week with some friends, you will make sure you have plenty of foods and keep them properly. At the end of your camping trip, you would deal with your rubbish properly before the ride home.
Astronauts almost do the same thing when they go to space. Preparation changes with the food type. Some foods can be eaten in their natural forms, such as chocolate cakes and fruits. Other foods require adding water, such as cheese. Of course, an oven is provided at the space station to heat the food. But there are no fridges, so space food must be kept properly.
Sleeping in space
After a long day at work, nothing is better than a good night’s sleep! Just like on the earth, in space astronauts go to bed at a certain time, then get up and prepare for work again. When going to sleep, they have to attach themselves, so they don’t float (漂浮) around or hit their bodies against something. They usually use sleeping bags located in small crew cabins (乘员舱). Each crew cabin is just big enough for one person. Generally, astronauts have an eight-hour sleep each day when they finish their task.
Doing sports in space
Exercise is an important part of every astronaut’s daily life to prevent muscle loss (肌肉萎缩). Usually, astronauts exercise two hours every day. Lifting 200pounds on the earth may be a lot of work. But lifting that same object in space would be much easier. That means the things for exercise need to be specially designed, so astronauts can receive the exercise needed.
Living in space is not just all work and no play. Astronauts have fun, too. They like to look out the window and play with their food. Fun plays an important role in the quality of their life.
1. Which food can’t be brought to the space?| A．Apples | B．Chocolate cakes |
| C．Ice-cream | D．Cheese |
| A．To have fun | B．To keep healthy |
| C．To sleep well | D．To prevent muscle loss. |
| A．The life in space | B．The food in space |
| C．The work in space | D．The sports in space |
5 . Bullet screen(弹幕)has become a
Recently, TV plays of the “Four Great Classics(四大名著)”
On the screen, there are “fans of the Four Great Classics”
Classics have always been popular, and the ways of watching TV plays in different
At the same time, communication forms are also bringing new energy into the cultural industry. With the support of technology, the forms are much
| A．common | B．special | C．funny | D．strange |
| A．on | B．about | C．to | D．for |
| A．made | B．make | C．making | D．were made |
| A．way | B．direction | C．form | D．guide |
| A．slowly | B．actively | C．quickly | D．quietly |
| A．thousand | B．thousands | C．thousand of | D．thousands of |
| A．looking | B．seeing | C．watching | D．looking at |
| A．times | B．places | C．time | D．place |
| A．colorful | B．more colorful | C．rich | D．richer |
| A．to spread | B．spread | C．spreading | D．spreads |
6 . Some experts have been concerned lately about robots leaving humans behind, taking our jobs and possibly a lot more, as in sci-fi films. Christ of Koch, a famous neuroscientist (神经学家), has suggested a novel method. To keep up with the machines, we should increase our brainpower with brain implants (植入物).
Koch notes that brain implants are already helping the paralyzed or people unable to move control computers and robots, and they are being explored for the treatment of mental disorders. Future implants could help us download huge amounts of information instantly, he says, so we can learn “novel skills and facts without even trying”. “Another exciting aspect,” Koch says, “is combining two or more brains into a single conscious mind by direct neuron-to-neuron links.” Koch calls for a “crash program” in brain technologies to make us smarter.
But Koch ignores the obvious facts that bad persons can hack (侵入) into our smartphones and laptops. What if hackers could attack our brains? They may be able to spy on, change or control the memories of people implanted with brain devices. What’s more, we are nowhere close to being able to strengthen the brain in the manner that Koch imagines. Scientists have been experimenting with neuro-technologies for mental illness for more than half a century, and they have little to show for it.
Koch genuinely feared that science, far from addressing our problems, might exacerbate them. The use of robots in the workshop, for example, could cause mass unemployment. Do we just count the immediate job losses—without measuring any other potential positive effect on the economy? Despite losing some jobs to robots in the short term, the increase in productivity will help our overall economy grow faster, which, in turn, will create more, higher quality jobs than we had before.
The future is not as scary as we think. Perhaps we’ve got serious problems on our hands, and we have a lot of work to do to settle them. Brain implants are not the answer.
1. What leads to Koch’s optimism about future brain implants?| A．The great advance in AI research. |
| B．Their application in medical fields. |
| C．The breakthrough in surgical techniques. |
| D．Their easy adaptation to the human body. |
| A．Disapproving. | B．Unconcerned. | C．Favorable. | D．Excited. |
| A．Avoid. | B．Worsen. | C．Reduce. | D．Answer. |
| A．Are Brain Implants at Risk of Hacker Attack? |
| B．Will Robots Take the Place of Humans in Future? |
| C．Will Brain Implants Let the Disabled Live Normally? |
| D．Do We Need Brain Implants to Keep Up with Robots? |
7 . Taylor Swift, US singer-songwriter known for hits such as Shake It Off and You Belong With Me, has earned a new praise-she now has a new species of millipede (千足虫) named in her honor.
The millipede Nannaria swiftae joins 16 other new species described from the Appalachian Mountains of the United States. They have a valuable role, for they break down leaf litter and release their nutrients into the ecosystem. They live on the forest floor, where they feed on rotten leaves and other plant matter, and in fact, they are somewhat tricky to catch, because they tend to remain buried in the soil, sometimes staying completely beneath the surface.
Because of their presence in museum collections, scientists long suspected that the millipedes included many new species, but these specimens (标本) went undescribed for decades. To fix this, the researchers began a multi-year project to collect new specimens throughout the eastern US. They traveled to 17 US states, checking under leaf litter, rocks, and logs to find species so that they could sequence (测定序列) their DNA and scientifically describe them.
Looking at over 1, 800 specimens collected on their field study or taken from university and museum collections, the authors described 17 new species, including Nannaria marianae, which was named after Hennen’s wife. They discovered that the millipedes prefer to live in forested habitats near streams and are often found buried under the soil, exhibiting more mysterious behaviors than their relatives.
The lead author of the study, Derek Hennen, a fan of Taylor Swift says, “Her music helped me get through the highs and lows of graduate school, so naming a new millipede species after her is my way of saying thanks.”
1. Why is it tough to seize the millipede?| A．It’s flexible. | B．It hides well. | C．It feeds on leaves. | D．It looks like litter. |
| A．To show scientists’ tough work. | B．To blame researchers’ carelessness. |
| C．To illustrate millipedes’ importance. | D．To emphasize invention in scientific studies. |
| A．Habitat. | B．Diet. | C．Nutrition. | D．Mystery. |
| A．Taylor Swift Is a Famous Singer-Songwriter. | B．Scientists Conduct Research on the Millipede. |
| C．Research on the Millipede Amazed Scientists. | D．Millipede Species Named after Taylor Swift. |
8 . Artificial cloud technology could soon be used in the fight against environmental damage. Researchers in Australia have used machines to spray salt water into the air, and noted that the reflective qualities of these artificial clouds helped protect the Great Barrier Reef from sun bleaching (漂白).
The so-called cloud brightening project works by thickening existing clouds and reducing sunlight exposure to protect the reef. No artificial chemicals make it into the clouds in the sky. When water droplets steam, they leave only small salt crystals that float up into the atmosphere. This provides a larger surface area for water vapor to be liquids around them, forming thicker clouds.
The past two years have seen uncommon forest fires and droughts triggered by the climate change emergency, meaning that widespread use of this technique may become more commonplace if carbon emissions are not checked.
Drones, unmanned flying vehicles, have also entered the cloud controlling picture, used in the United Arab Emirates, a country desperately in need of more rainfall, to deliver electrical shocks to clouds in order to facilitate rainfall. Zapping (击打) clouds to produce a positive or negative charge within clouds can cause water droplets to form together. The greater the charge, the larger the droplets, which is vital for ensuring that as much rain as possible reaches the surface before steam gives off all the hard-won moisture (水分).
Even if one waves aside climate change, global waterfall shortages are still an increasing concern, given the planet’s booming population. More people means more mouths to feed, and the demand for water in agriculture for animals and crops further increases urgency for cloud controlling technology. An increase in rain also leads to positive economic growth in many countries, as large harvests stabilize financial systems and living standards in all climates.
Increasingly, scientists are looking to our skies in providing solutions to protect our environment. Cloud controlling technologies have promise. However, for this field of science to become practical economically, more research needs to be done in making this process a practicable option in protecting our environment.
1. How does the cloud brightening project work?| A．By creating more water vapor which later becomes liquids. |
| B．By spraying chemicals and small salt crystals into the atmosphere. |
| C．By expanding the water vapor arca and blocking more sunlight. |
| D．By steaming water droplets to provide a larger surface area. |
| A．They spread larger water droplets. |
| B．They charge clouds to promote rain. |
| C．They will be popularized in dry years. |
| D．They control the movements of clouds. |
| A．Problems of overpopulation. |
| B．Solutions to waterfall shortage. |
| C．Urgency of economic development. |
| D．Additional benefit of cloud technology. |
| A．High cost. |
| B．Research method. |
| C．Environmental impact. |
| D．Complicated process. |
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10 . Apps play tricks on you to turn an activity into a habit. It’s not necessarily a bad thing to encourage healthy behaviors such as exercising or playing word games.
Do a cost-benefit analysis.
Build in “cheat days”. They are like days off from a strict diet.
| A．Use digital timers. |
| B．Schedule a limited amount of time for your habit |
| C．It’s hard to be mindful of why we do what we do. |
| D．Limiting tech overuse can’t be only your responsibility. |
| E．But even a good habit can cross the line into unavoidable overuse. |
| F．Actually, doing your favorite activity without a goal can be relaxing. |
| G．However, don’t be so motivated by rewards that you ignore signs your body needs a rest. |
