Shinrin- yoku means"forest bathing".Forest bathing doesn't mean you take a bath in the forest;rather,you simply go for a walk in the woods or a city park,where you slacken by using all your senses to experience nature.
Yoshifumi Miyazaki,from Chiba University,is among a growing number of scientists who have begun studying the science behind the effects of nature on human health.In his book Shinrin-yoku:The Japanese Art of Forest Bathing,Miyazaki explains the techniques of forest bathing.
Miyazaki has an interesting theory about why shinrin-yoku is so effective.He points out that for more than 99,99%of the time,humans have lived in a natural environment.In fact,in 1800,only 3%of the world's population lived in cities,and by 2016,this figure reached 54%. This is only going to get worse;officials predict that by 2050,66%will live in cities.
This suggests we live in our modern society with bodies that are still used to the natural environment,he writes in the book,because"genes cannot change over just a few hundred years".The science behind the research studies he presents in the book makes a convincing case that forest bathing is an effective method for reducing stress in today's world.
Now city planners are becoming increasingly aware of the importance of nature and are creating new kinds of "parks”out of empty spaces.There' re also more city gardens where people can grow vegetables.For kids,kitchen gardens in schools are becoming popular.As Miyazaki stresses,you don't have to find a formal park or garden to practice shinrin-yoku. Instead,you can enjoy the effects of nature wherever there' re plants.
Better yet,he says,we can bring nature closer to where we spend most of our time.Miyazaki's research has shown that just increasing the amount of plants in a room can affect the relaxation benefits of the room.What's more,even when people simply look at flowers,their bodies relax and stress levels decrease.
1. What does the underlined word in Paragraph 1 mean?| A．Behave. | B．Entertain. |
| C．Anticipate. | D．Relax. |
| A．By giving examples. |
| B．By listing figures. |
| C．By making remarks. |
| D．By presenting research findings. |
| A．Human genes can change easily. | B．Nature is part of the modern society. |
| C．Human body can integrate into nature. | D．People can always get excited in nature. |
| A．It is easy to operate. |
| B．It is meant for gardeners. |
| C．It is unaffordable in the city. |
| D．It is inconvenient to practice. |
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【推荐1】When rescuers were called to rescue a “little owl”, they did not expect to find one that was too fat to fly. A concerned citizen first spotted the poor bird lying helplessly. Even Rufus Samkin, whose team then took the team in on Jan.3, believed the bird to be injured. There were no wounds to be found, however, causing experts to believe the female owl was simply too wet to fly.
But it was only after a thorough drying-off and complete checkup that they noted the real issue. The rescuers weighed the owl and concluded that she was “simply extremely obese” and couldn’t take off. This additional weight left her unable to fly, though experts began to wonder how she got so fat in the first place. Because it’s rather unusual for wild birds to reach such a state, they decided to keep her a few weeks and monitor her.
In the end, the rescuers assessed that it was simply a case of “natural obesity”. December 2019 was quite warm, which meant that there were many insects for the bird to feast upon. Indeed, the owl was discovered in a field that was “filled with field mice” due to the usual climate. “It’s been very mild here, and the owl is able to find foods easily,” Samkin explained. With the sudden food, “she absolutely ate much and got very fat. She had a lovely time, but went too far.”
The researchers consequently put the owl on a “strict diet” so she could shrink to a more “natural weight”. She was even put on a bit of exercise and encouraged to fly around. In the end, the bird was sent flying gracefully off into the British countryside at a much healthier and happier weight. Hopefully, this owl won’t come upon another feast of field mice—unless she wants another few weeks at the fat camp.
1. What did people think happened to the owl at first?| A．She was hurt. | B．She was trapped. |
| C．She was hungry. | D．She was wet. |
| A．She needed a thorough checkup. | B．She should be given a drying-off. |
| C．She was completed overweight. | D．She was simply extremely strong. |
| A．The especially warm weather. | B．The reducing number of insects. |
| C．The rich fields growing crops. | D．The lovely time the bird enjoyed. |
| A．Going on a diet and exercising. | B．Flying in the British countryside. |
| C．Visiting that fat camp again. | D．Enjoying her wonderful feast freely. |
【推荐2】Graham Barratt, 62, planted the seeds in his garden in January. He watched as one particular chilli excelled — but never expected it would break the UK record for the longest ever chilli pepper(辣椒) reaching a length of 45.7cm.
The grandfather-of-five beat the previous British record by a whole centimetre. But he didn’t eat it at once — instead he put it in a displaycase and gave it pride of place on the wall in his garden. Retired Graham from Abbeydale, Gloucester, said: “I was so excited when I learnt I had broken the record. I have won prizes for giant vegetables before, but it’s my first record.”
“Growing giant vegetables sounds so easy but there are so many factors — the right seeds and weather, but also the right care so they grow the best. It’s a lot of work, but it’s what I love to do, and it’s very rewarding when you achieve something like this.” He planted the winning seeds in January at his nearby garden after selecting them from a good crop three years ago. He took care of the chillies, along with his other giant vegetables, almost every day. He explained: “It’s a very careful process to successfully grow giant vegetables. You need to consider what to feed them, how to water them, how to prevent infestations, how to protect them from bad weather and so on.”
He measured the big chilli regularly and when it stopped growing he picked it and called a giant vegetable official judge who measured it on July 29. Ordinarily he would have entered it into a local show, but if he waited until mid-September, it would have dried up. After a few months on display, he’ll harvest the record-breaking chilli’s seeds to use them to try and break his own record next year. He added: “I already have a few ideas up my sleeve for how I can improve on my record next year!”
1. Which one of the following can probably replace the underlined word “excelled”?| A．Came out | B．Gave out | C．Stood out. | D．Jumped out. |
| A．He displayed it. |
| B．He collected its seeds. |
| C．He sold it in the local market. |
| D．He harvested and made food with it |
| A．He took prizes for giant vegetables. |
| B．He especially liked to eat chilli pepper. |
| C．He had nothing to do but grow chilli pepper. |
| D．He was skilled in growing giant vegetables. |
| A．A gardener broke the UK record. |
| B．A gardener planted the greatest vegetables. |
| C．A gardener grew the UK’s longest chilli pepper. |
| D．A gardener harvested the record-breaking chilli’s seeds. |
【推荐3】Can you imagine a world where more than half of our common plant species and a third of our known animals disappear from sight? That's the prediction suggested by new research on the impact of climate change.
An international team of researchers looked at the impact of rising temperatures on nearly 50,000 species of plants and animals. They came to the conclusion that these are to decline due to changes in their habitat. They looked at temperature and rainfall records for the habitats in which these species now live, and mapped the areas that would remain suitable for them under different weather conditions.
The scientists projected that if no significant efforts were made to limit greenhouse gas emissionss, by the year 2100 global temperatures would be 4C above pre-industrial levels. In this scenario, some 34% of animal species and 57% of plants would lose more than half of their current habitat ranges. The impact on species will be felt more heavily in some parts of the world such as the Amazon region.
Our society would be affected too, according to Dr. Rachel Warren, from the University of East Anglia in Britain. She says: "There'll be a knock-on effect for humans because these species are important for things like water and air purification, flood control and nutrients cycling, and eco-tourism."
In spite of the conclusions to this paper, published in the journal Nature Climate Change, it is not all doom and gloom. Dr Warren says: "Swift action to reduce CO2 and other greenhouse gases can prevent the biodiversity loss by reducing the amount of global warming to 2C rather than 4 degrees." The researcher believes that this would buy time for plants and animals to adapt to the change.
If nothing is changed and the predictions of this study are confirmed, the world might look very different in a few generations.
1. What made animals and plants decrease?| A．Temperature and rainfall. | B．The transition in their living surroundings. |
| C．Weather condition | D．The change of nature. |
| A．Assumption. | B．Theory . | C．Expectation . | D．Truth . |
| A．The temperature will not increase. | B．The biodiversity loss can be totally prevented. |
| C．Animals and plants have more time to fit. | D．Current habitat will not be affected. |
| A．The impact of climate change. | B．Massive species may die from climate change. |
| C．Plant and animals are in danger. | D．Global warming are threatening us. |
【推荐1】We have recently heard some interesting ways that 5G wireless technology might change our lives in the future. One project in Britain is testing this superfast technology, but not on humans. Instead, the experiment involves an unlikely group of Internet users—cows. The system connects the animals to 5G in an effort to automate the milking process.
The project was developed by American technology company Cisco Systems. It is part of a Cisco-led program called 5G Rural First. Cisco says the program seeks to explore the future of 5G connectivity in rural communities around the world. Rural areas are expected to be the last to receive 5G service.
Testing areas were set up on farms in three rural areas of England. The cows are equipped with 5G-connected devices that link up to a robotic milking system. The system uses sensors and machine learning to fully automate the process, System designers say the technology takes over after a cow feels ready to be milked and walks toward an automatic gate. The device is designed to recognize each individual cow. It then positions equipment to the right body position for milking. During the process, machines release food for the cow as a reward.
One of the test areas is in the town of Shepton Mallet, in southwest England. There about 50 of the farm’s 180 cows are fitted with 5G smart collars and health-observing ear sensors. Project officials say the devices do not harm the cows and the sensors permit farmers to immediately identify any problem or health concerns.
Other technology tools powering the 5G smart farms include automated brushes that work automatically when the cow rubs up against them. Sensors also control the amount of light to the cows’ living areas depending on the weather. And, an automatic feeding system makes sure the animals always get enough to eat.
Nick Chrissos works on the project for Cisco. He said the system could connect every cow and every other animal on the whole farm. “That’s what 5G can do for farming—really release the power that we have within this farm, everywhere around the United Kingdom, and everywhere around the world.”
1. Why was the program developed?| A．To produce more milk. | B．To care for cows better. |
| C．To try out 5G in rural areas. | D．To improve 5G system on farms. |
| A．The way 5G system controls the milking process. |
| B．The way 5G system is set up on the farms. |
| C．The reason why 5G is used on the cows. |
| D．The reason why 5G is popular with the farms. |
| A．Paragraph 1. | B．Paragraph 2. |
| C．Paragraph 4. | D．Paragraph 5. |
| A．5G Is Used Widely on the Cows of British Farms |
| B．5G Has Reached Rural Areas of the United Kingdom |
| C．British Cows Connected to 5G Can Control Their Own Milking |
| D．Farmers in British Are Using 5G to Improve Their Life |
【推荐2】In the winter of 1664－1665, the bitter cold fell on London in the days before 25 December. Above the city, an unusually bright comet (彗星) shot across the sky, exciting much prediction of a snowstorm. Outside the city wall, a woman's death was announced and she died of a disease that was spreading in that area. Her house was locked up.
Following that, the virus that had killed the woman would go on to kill nearly 100,000 people living in and around London— almost a third of those who did not flee.
In The Great Plague: The Story of London's Most Deadly Year, historian A. Lloyd Moote and microbiologist Dorothy C. Moote provide a deeply informed account of this plague year. Reading the book, readers are taken from the palaces of the city's wealthiest citizens to the poor areas where the vast majority of Londoners were living, and to the surrounding countryside. The Mootes point out that, even at the height of the plague, the city did not fall into chaos. Doctors and nurses remained in the city to care for the sick; city officials tried their best to fight the crisis with all the legal tools; and commerce continued even as businesses shut down.
To describe life and death in and around London, the authors focus on the experiences of nine individuals. Through their letters and diaries, the Mootes offer fresh descriptions of key issues in the history of the Great Plague: how different communities understood and experienced the disease; how medical and government bodies reacted; how well the social order held together; the economic and moral dilemmas people faced when debating whether to flee the city; and the nature of the material, social, and spiritual resources supporting those who remained. Based on humanity (人性), the authors offer a masterful portrait of a city and its inhabitants who were attacked by and daringly resisted unimaginable horror.
1. What can we learn from Paragraph 1?| A．A comet always follows a storm. |
| B．London was under an approaching threat. |
| C．London was prepared for the disease. |
| D．The woman was the beginning of the disease. |
| A．The city remained organized. |
| B．The plague spared (饶恕) the rich areas. |
| C．The people tried a lot in vain. |
| D．The majority fled and thus survived. |
| A．They were famous people in history. |
| B．They all managed to survive the plague. |
| C．They provided vivid stories of humanity. |
| D．They united by thinking and acting as one. |
| A．To introduce a new book. |
| B．To correct a misunderstanding. |
| C．To report a new study. |
| D．To show respect for the authors. |
【推荐3】If you also have a friend like Francia Raisa, you are really lucky. On Thursday, singer and actress Selena Gomez, 25, used Instagram(照片墙，一款社交软件) to explain why she was “laying low” this summer. She posted a photo of herself in a hospital bed with her friend Francia Raisa holding hands. She said she recently received a kidney transplant(肾脏移植) from her best friend because of complications(并发症) from lupus(狼疮), an autoimmune disease, which means it is the result of the immune system attacking normal tissue, including the kidneys, brain, heart and lungs.
People with lupus may first experience tiredness, joint pain or a little bit of rash(皮疹) on their bodies and can go for a long time before their doctors realize it is more serious. Many people see two or four doctors before the real problem is picked up. According to Dr. Kyriakos Kirou, roughly a third to one-half of people with lupus develop kidney disease, and up to one in five of them will eventually need a transplant, sometimes because they weren’t treated with effective drugs to prevent the immune system from attacking the kidneys. Though Gomez said that she was “very well now,” she warned about the dangers of not taking medical diagnoses（医学诊断） seriously, like she did before.
Her Instagram post also called attention to two major health topics: the need for living organ donators and the fact that Gomez represents three groups more likely to be diagnosed with lupus and lupus-related kidney disease. Nine out of 10 people diagnosed with lupus are women, and most develop the disease between the ages of 15 to 44. And lupus is two to three times more common among women of color, including Hispanic (西班牙裔）women, according to the Lupus Foundation.
Raisa is Latin（拉丁人）, and Gomez’s father is of Mexican origin. While it’s not essential that the organ donator and receiver be of the same race, people who share a similar racial background sometimes are better matched, according to data from the United Network for Organ Sharing.
1. What can we learn about Francia Raisa?| A．She is selfless. | B．She is lucky. |
| C．She is optimistic. | D．She is encouraging. |
| A．It is deadly. | B．It reminds you of a kidney disease. |
| C．Its symptoms are psychological. | D．It is hard to recognize. |
| A．People with lupus. | B．Colored women lupus patients. |
| C．Lupus patients with kidney disease. | D．Women between the ages of 15 to 44. |
| A．Raisa and Gomez are from the same race. |
| B．It is vital for the donator and receiver to be of the same race. |
| C．Gomez has fully recovered thanks to the kidney from Raisa. |
| D．The organ from the donator of the same race matches the receiver better. |
【推荐1】In South Korea, students pay for classes in everything from K-pop auditions (韩流试镜)to real estate (房地产)deals. Now, top Korean firms are using artificial intelligence (AI) in hiring, and job-seekers want to learn how to beat the robots.
From his basement office in Seoul, career consultant Park Seong-jung is among those in a growing business of offering lessons in handling recruitment screening by computers, not people. Video interviews using facial recognition technology to analyze character are key, according to Park.
"Don't force a smile with your lips," he told students looking for work in a recent session, one of many he said he has conducted for hundreds of people. "Smile with your eyes".
Classes in dealing with Al in hiring, are still a tiny part of the country's multi-billion-dollar cram school (补习学校)industry. But classes are growing fast, operators like Park's People & People consultancy claim, offering a three-hour package for Up to 100,000 won ($86).
There's good reason to see potential. As many: as 8 out of every 10 South Korean students are estimated to have used cram schools, and high youth unemployment in the country—nearly one in four young people are not in the workforce—offers a motivation not present in other countries where cram schools are popular, like Japan.
One AI video system reviewed by Reuters asks candidates to introduce themselves, during which it spots and counts facial expressions including "fear" and "joy" and analyses word choices. AI hiring also uses "gamification" to judge a candidate's personality and adaptability by putting them through numbers of tests. Preparing for such tests doesn't necessarily involve simply memorizing answers. Some games don't even have a 'right answer', as they are aimed to spot the problem-solving attitude of the applicant.
Consultant Park said he gave Al firing talks to more than 700 university students, graduates and lecturers in 2019. In an online chat room monitored by Park, with more than 600 participants, numerous messages indicate thanks for the classes and success in AI interview quests. "Students are struggling from the emergence of AI interviews. My goal is to help them be fully prepared for what they will be dealing with," said Park.
1. What does Park Seong-jung do?① He gives students lectures about Al hiring.
② He handles his company s recruitment.
③ He analyzes character by using Al technology.
④ He keeps an eye on an online chat room.
| A．①④ | B．②③ |
| C．①② | D．③④ |
| A．personality | B．adaptability |
| C．problem-solving attitude | D．memory ability |
| A．Smile with eyes is better than smile with lips. |
| B．Companies are increasingly using Al in recruitment. |
| C．Classes are available in dealing with Al in hiring. |
| D．Cram schools are popular in South Korea. |
| A．People's attitude towards other types of cram schools. |
| B．Examples of struggling students who didn't take classes. |
| C．Companies' strategy against fully prepared applicants. |
| D．The next step of those who have passed the interview. |
Not long after the surgery, Tim saw a brochure describing Imagination Library, a program started by Dolly Parton' s foundation (基金会) that mailed a book every month to children from birth to age five in the singer's home town of Sevier, Tennessee.“I thought, maybe Linda and I could do something like this when we retire," Tim recalls. He placed the brochure on his desk, "as a reminder."
Five years later, now retired and with that brochure still on the desk, Tim clicked on imagination library .com. The program had been opened up to partners who could take advantage of book and postage discounts.
The quality of the books was of great concern to the Richters. Rather than sign up online, they went to Dollywood for a look-see. “We didn’t want to give the children rubbish,” says Linda. The books-reviewed each year by teachers, literacy specialists and Dollywood board members-included classics such as Ezra Jack Keats’s The Snowy Day and newer books like Anna Dewdney’s Llama Llama series.
Satisfied, the couple set up the Richter Family Foundation and got to work. Since 2004, they have shipped more than 12,200 books to preschoolers in their in their area. Megan Williams, a mother of four, is more than appreciative: “This program introduces us to books I’ve never heard of .”
The Richters spend about ＄400 a month sending books to 200 children. “Some people sit there and wait to die,” says Tim. “Others get as busy as they can in the time they have left.”
1. What led Tim to think seriously about the meaning of life?
| A．His health problem. | B．His love for teaching. |
| C．The influence of his wife. | D．The news from the Web. |
| A．Give out brochures. | B．Do something similar. |
| C．Write books for children | D．Retire from being a teacher. |
| A．a well-known surgeon | B．a mother of a four-year-old |
| C．a singer born in Tennessee | D．a computer programmer |
| A．To avoid signing up online. |
| B．To meet Dollywood board members. |
| C．To make sure the books were the newest. |
| D．To see if the books were of good quality. |
| A．He needs more money to help the children. |
| B．He wonders why some people are so busy. |
| C．He tries to save those waiting to die. |
| D．He considers his efforts worthwhile. |
Duration: 15 days
The Balkans offers a mix of beautiful countryside, fast-developing cities and historic towns. Our first ride ends at the UNESCO town of Ohrid on the vast lake of the same name. There're a few stops along the way to visit or see places of interest.
Cycling the Italian and Swiss Lakes
Duration: 8 days
The Italian lakes of Como and Maggiore are famed for both their wonderful scenery and their wealthy residents (居民). This is a fascinating area to discover on two wheels with excellent roads that closely follow the winding shores. The Villa del Balbianello with its beautiful Italian gardens may look familiar, having been seen in international movies such as Bond's Casino Royale.
Self- Guided Cycling in the Douro Valley
Duration: 7 days
This cycling holiday in the Douro Valley will make you familiar with magical surroundings, delicious cuisine and some of the world's finest wines. The ride begins in Castelo Rodrigo, a village close to where Portugal borders Spain, and home to an ancient castle. You'll cycle through vineyards (葡萄园) and visit the famous Port wine estates (庄园).
Exploring Sri Lanka by Bike
Duration: 8 days
Being an island, Sri Lanka is incredibly diverse. Exploring on two wheels is the best way to see this rural country and to experience the way of life of its friendly people. We travel from ancient cities to the hill country towns of Kandy and Nuwara Eliya before ending the trip on the beaches of the beautiful south coast.
1. What's special about the Balkans tour?| A．It is hosted by the Ohrid goverment. | B．It's a continuous ride with no stops. |
| C．It has fantastic island scenery. | D．It combines history and the present. |
| A．Cycling the Balkans. | B．Cycling the Italian and Swiss Lakes. |
| C．Self Guided Cycling in the Douro Valley. | D．Exploring Sri Lanka by Bike. |
| A．Visit Spanish gardens. | B．Visit a national park. |
| C．Acquire knowledge of wines. | D．Pick grapes in the vineyards. |
【推荐1】I work at a grocery store in Montreal's Plateau neighbourhood, which gets a lot of regulars. On March 12, the Quebec government announced to close all public places to stop the spread of the pandemic(流行病)of coronavirus.
The next day the store was the busiest I've ever seen. The six cash registers had to be kept open from 10 a. m. until close. It was nuts. I didn't have time to eat lunch, and whenever one of us on cash had to use the bathroom, we’d have to bring in a coworker off the floor to cover for us.
Since then, the atmosphere in the store has been different. Customers are mostly considerate, but whenever someone coughs or sneezes, everyone turns around to make sure that person sneezed into their elbow. I've even seen customers come in wearing some strange get-ups. One guy even came in with a plastic Walmart bag wrapped around his entire head, with a slit cut out for his eyes.
A lot of my coworkers have left to avoid a public-facing job during the pandemic. Grocery store workers across Canada are putting their health at risk every time they come in to work, but a lot of us are still making close to minimum wage. I realized that I feel more exhausted than normal even though I'm working the same hours.
There still have been some moments of kindness in the midst of the chaos. I've overheard people talking on the phone who sounded as though they were organizing grocery deliveries for those stuck at home. And this past weekend a very nice lady thanked us for continuing to work. I know everyone is worried, but it's uneless having the same scary conversations day after day. Instead, tell us a funny anecdote, or about Homething nice. We'll appreciate the distraction, and you'll make our day just a bit brighter.
1. What does the author intend to show by " It was nuts." in paragraph 2?| A．The goods were in short supply. |
| B．The store was having a big sale. |
| C．The cashiers complained about their work. |
| D．The locals rushed to do shopping like crazy. |
| A．They like to shop here in disguise. |
| B．They are panicky about the disease . |
| C．They are more friendly to each other. |
| D．They have taken proper preventive measures. |
| A．Optimistic. | B．Talented. | C．Ambitious. | D．Efficient. |
| A．It is not work but worry that kills |
| B．Helping others is helping ourselves |
| C．Moments of kindness shine in a time of chaos |
| D．Here is what it's like working in the pandemic |
【推荐2】What does an outdoor cat do all day? A study of more than 900 house cats shows when they kill small birds and mammals, their influence is concentrated in a small area, having a bigger effect than wild predators (食肉动物) do.
Roland Kays, a scientist at North Carolina State University and his colleagues collected GPS data from cats in six countries. “These cats are moving around their own backyard and a couple of their neighbors' backyards, but most of them are not ranging very much further,” Kays said. “So initially I thought, 'Oh, this is good news. They're not going out into the nature preserves.’”
Then Kays took how much cats kill m that small area into consideration. Some cats in the study were bringing home up to 11 dead birds a month, which doesn't include what they ate or didn't bring home.
“It actually ends up being" a really high rate of predation," Kays said. He calculates that cats can have 4-to-10 times the influence of a wild predator. Native predators, like jungle cats, also kill a lot of small animals, but their influence is spread out over a larger area. One study indicates that house cats kill billions of birds every year.
“The simplest thing to do is to keep your cat indoors,” Kays said.
For those who refuse to keep their cats inside, there are potential options. St. Lawrence University associate professor Susan Willson went looking for one. She found a special brightly colored collar online. “The whole idea is that the bird will be able to visually see the cat creeping (爬) up on it before the cat attacks it,” she said. Willson tested the collar on both her cat and dozens of others. It greatly reduced the number of birds the cats brought home.
“I'm not saying these collars can make a significant difference in the massive bird death that we're seeing,” she said. “But each individual bird that somebody in their backyard is not finding dead, I think matters.”
1. Why does Kays say “this is good news”?| A．House cats can be tracked by GPS. |
| B．House cats won't kill birds in large numbers. |
| C．House cats are protected from wild predators. |
| D．House cats feel comfortable in their own backyard. |
| A．They prefer to attack larger animals. |
| B．They kill 4-10 times the number of house cats. |
| C．Their victims are distributed in a bigger range. |
| D．They kill less than house cats on a monthly basis. |
| A．Birds can't sense the danger when cats attack them. |
| B．Willson considers keeping her cat inside a good idea. |
| C．The only way to protect birds is to keep them indoors. |
| D．The colored collar can be a sign of potential danger to birds. |
| A．Concerned. | B．Positive. |
| C．Doubtful. | D．Cautious. |
【推荐3】Could it be time to say goodbye to Earth? According to NASA, a giant asteroid is heading for Earth next month. Well, when we say heading for Earth, we actually mean its heading for Earth’s vicinity（周边）, passing within 3,908,791 miles of our planet.
Officially classified as 52768 (1998 OR2), the near-miss has been predicted to occur on April 29. According to NASA, the asteroid is traveling toward us at 19,461 miles per hour and is about half the size of Mount Qomolangma.
The space agency first discovered the object in 1998 and said it would be “large enough to cause global effects” if it were to hit Earth. But despite being classed as “potentially hazardous （有危险的）”, scientists said it is not on the list of potential future Earth impact events.
Currently, the agency has identified 20,000 Near-Earth Objects. Of these, only a few are considered potential impactors, which NASA tracks via their automated Sentry System.
The near-miss 1998 OR2 might not pose a threat, but many scientists agree it’s only a matter of time before a huge asteroid collides with Earth.
Cardiff University scientist Ian McDonald told BBC Today, “Doomsday asteroid hits aren’t confined to the past. There are always rocks flying through space. One of these will hit us and it will have pretty dramatic effects.”
The last Earth impact was in 2013, and terrifyingly nobody saw it coming. Dubbed（被称为）the Chelyabinsk meteor, it exploded just 30 kilometers from Earth’s surface, shattering windows and rocking buildings for over 500 square kilometers, according to the BBC.
This impact injured around 950 people in Russia, but it just goes to show how precarious life on Earth is and how it could be devastated（毁坏的）by larger future impacts.
1. What can we learn about 1998 OR2?| A．It is as large as Mount Qomolangma. |
| B．It is heading for Earth at 3,908,791 mph. |
| C．It is likely to occur at the end of March. |
| D．It is estimated not to be a threat to Earth. |
| A．There is little chance that the doomsday asteroid hits Earth. |
| B．A mega asteroid could unavoidably threaten Earth one day. |
| C．Potential impactors could be tracked and destroyed. |
| D．Mega asteroids could collide with Earth more often in the future. |
| A．compare it with the upcoming 1998 OR2 |
| B．present the dramatic effects of Earth impacts |
| C．show how frequent Earth impacts are |
| D．prove that little can be done in the face of an Earth impact |
| A．uncertain | B．unprepared |
| C．precious | D．diverse |
