If plastic had been invented when the Pilgrims (清教徒移民) sailed from Plymouth, England, to North America and the Mayflower had been stocked with bottled water and plastic-wrapped snacks, their plastic waste would likely still be around, four centuries later. If the Pilgrims had been like many people today and had simply thrown their empty bottles and wrappers over the side, Atlantic waves and sunlight would have worn all that plastic into tiny bits. And those bits might still be floating around the world’s oceans today, waiting to be eaten by unfortunate fish, and eventually perhaps by one of us.
Because plastic wasn’t invented until the late 19th century, and production really only took off around 1950, we have a mere 9.2 billion tons of the stuff to deal with. Of that, more than 6.9 billion tons have become waste. And of that waste, a shocking 6.3 billion tons never made it to recycling facilities.
No one knows how much unrecycled plastic waste ends up in the ocean, Earth’s last sink. In 2015, Jenna Jambeck, a university of Georgia engineering professor, caught everyone’s attention with a rough estimate: between 5.3 million and 14 million tons each year just from coastal regions. Most of it isn’t thrown off ships, she and her colleagues say, but is dumped carelessly on land or in rivers, mostly in Asia. It’s then blown or washed into the sea. It’s unclear how long it will take for that plastic to completely biodegrade (降解). Estimates range from 450 years to never.
Meanwhile, ocean plastic is estimated to kill millions of marine animals every year. Nearly 700 species, including endangered ones, are known to have been affected by it. Some are harmed visibly-strangled (勒死) by abandoned fishing nets. Many more are probably harmed invisibly. Marine species of all sizes, from fish to whale, now eat microplastics, the bits smaller than one-fifth of an inch across. On Hawaii’s Big Island, on a beach to which no paved road, I walked ankle-deep through mocroplastics. After that, I could understand why some people see ocean plastic as an approaching disaster, worth mentioning in the same breath as climate change.
And yet there’s a key difference: Ocean plastic is not as complicated as climate change. There are no mean waste deniers (否认者), at least so far. To do something about it, we have to remake our planet’s entire energy system.
“This isn’t a problem where we don’t know what the solution is,” says Jambeck. “We know how to pick up garbage. Anyone can do it. We know how to deal with it. We know how to recycle.” It’s a matter of building the necessary institutions and systems, she says--ideally before the ocean tums, for centuries to come, into a thin soup of plastic.
1. In the first paragraph the author emphasizes the fact that ______.| A．British people migrated to America four centuries ago |
| B．people have kept doing research in plastic for four centuries |
| C．there was no plastic pollution four centuries ago |
| D．plastic waste would remain in the ocean for four centuries |
| A．They eat microplastics. |
| B．They drown in microplastics. |
| C．They are coated with waste plastic bags. |
| D．They are struggling in abandoned plastic nets. |
| A．People all agree reducing plastic production is the solution. |
| B．People tend to agree plastic waste has caused ocean plastic. |
| C．It has been scheduled to reverse the trend of climate change. |
| D．It has been scheduled to reverse the trend of ocean plastic. |
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【推荐1】A mother, Carrie Cort, 51, from Sussex, and her nine-year-old son have been named the UK’s most environmentally friendly family after winning an award for their environmental achievements.
Now every aspect of her life is environmentally friendly, from her son Adam’s birthday parties to her clothing, and she recycles everything from empty pens to milk bottle tops. “Changing our family lifestyle to green has saved us around ￡11,000 every year, which has given us more financial stability,” Carrie says. “Living green has made us healthier and I feel younger now. It is fun seeing what you can make with unwanted or broken things. Growing your own food is great exercise, good for wildlife, and the food is much more nutritious and tastier.”
“My concern for the way we humans are treating the planet was really roused when Adam was born. When he arrived, I suddenly had this huge, greater awareness of the kind of planet we’re bringing our children into though I learnt something about it in university.” She began going to talks, reading books, watching documentaries and attending green meetings in order to educate herself in the details of green living.
Carrie set up the local campaign group Sussex Green Living six years after her son’s birth. Later, she gave up her high-powered job, as she ran a video company with her brother, to do her job full-time. Today, she organizes talks and workshops. She runs a repair cafe, where people can bring everything to be fixed. Her recycling program helps people reuse wastes. Toothpaste tubes, for example, which Carrie sends to the Philippines, are turned into purses by an organization. “My goal is to inspire more people to lead greener, more environmentally friendly lives, to enable us to live in greater harmony with nature, now and for future organizations. I achieve this using various Sussex Green Living communication programs and working with other organizations who have the same goals and values.”
1. How did Carrie feel about her environmentally friendly lifestyle?| A．Unwanted. | B．Unhealthy. |
| C．Expensive. | D．Economical. |
| A．She made good preparations for living green. |
| B．She recycled what people ignored for fun. |
| C．She does daily exercise by growing food. |
| D．She majored in planet protection in university. |
| A．Her repair cafe and workshops. |
| B．Her own programs and others’ work. |
| C．Her well-paid job and her brother’s support. |
| D．Her independence of realizing her green dream. |
| A．After winning an award. |
| B．After giving birth to her son. |
| C．After being stuck in poverty. |
| D．After attending green meetings |
【推荐2】Australia’s Great Barrier Reef (大堡礁) has been hit by continuous heat. Too hot ocean temperatures, as high as 7 degrees Fahrenheit above average, have attacked the reef in recent weeks even though autumn normally means cooler conditions. Scientists with Australian government agencies said some parts of the reef were turning white as a result.
When temperatures rise, corals lose their important roommates: the symbiotic algae (共生藻) that live inside corals and produce their primary source of food. Those algae give corals their colors but get expelled (排出) during periods of heat stress, causing the corals to turn white. “If the water temperature decreases, corals that are affected can recover from this stress,” said David Wachenfeld, chief scientist of Australia’s Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority. “However, weather forecasts show ocean temperatures will likely remain above average in the next few weeks.”
The reef has been experiencing warm temperatures. The consequence was severe. After a number of corals turned white in 2016 and 2017, large parts of the Great Barrier Reef lost half of their live corals. Reefs around the world are experiencing similar climate—related damage. A worldwide research found that between 2009 and 2021, 14 percent of the world’s corals died. And another similar event raided many places, which worsened the situation in 2022.
Scientists are trying to find ways to give corals a fighting chance, like searching for reefs that could act as shelters because they experience naturally cool water. Others are raising heat resistant corals. Of course, countries must reduce fossil fuel emissions (燃料排放) over the next decade. Even if the world can limit warming to 1.5℃, 70 to 90 percent of coral reefs are likely to die off. “We need to really learn from these events,” Emily Darling, director of coral reef conservation at the Wildlife Conservation Society, said. “We need to change the current businesses. We need to take action on climate change.”
1. What directly causes corals in Australia to change their color?| A．The increase of their food. | B．Worsening climate change. |
| C．Too cool temperature in the ocean. | D．The loss of algae inside their bodies. |
| A．Corals’ recovery is hard because of hot weather. |
| B．The repeated high temperatures will kill all corals |
| C．The stress for corals will never disappear in future |
| D．Forecasts about ocean temperatures are not reliable. |
| A．Represented. | B．Struck. | C．Polluted. | D．Occupied |
| A．The importance of scientific work. |
| B．The terrible impact of climate change. |
| C．Various reasons for reducing fossil fuels. |
| D．Possible solutions to protecting corals. |
【推荐3】For decades,Americans have been sorting their trash believing that most plastic could be recycled.But the truth is that the vast majority of all plastic produced can't be or won't be recycled.In 40 years,less than 10% of plastic has been recycled.
A news programme Frontline,by NPR and the PBS,found that oil and gas companies- the makers of plastic-have known that all along,even as they spent millions of dollars telling the American public the opposite.The plastics industry officials said the industry is providing money for new technology that they believe will get recycling plastic up to scale.The goal,they said,is to recycle 100% of the plastic they make in 5 years.
But the more plastic is recycled,the less money the industry will make by selling new plastic.And those profits have become increasingly important.Companies have told shareholders（股东）that profits from using oil and gas for transport are expected to decline in coming years with the increasing use of electric cars.The industry leaders expect oil and gas demands from the chemical industry will be much greater than the demand from the transport side in the coming decade.Plastic production overall is now expected to rise three times by 2050,and once again,the industry is spending money on advertisements and public relations to promote plastic recycling.
Plastic is now more common than it's ever been and harder to recycle.Gas prices remain at historic lows,making new plastic cheaper than recycled plastic.And the industry now produces many more different-and more complex-kinds of plastics that are more costly to sort and in many cases can't be recycled at all.Efforts to reduce plastic use are mounting nationwide,but any plan to slow the growth of plastic will face an industry with billions of dollars of future profits to lose.
1. What do we know about the goal of 100%plastic recycling?| A．It's modest. |
| B．It's achievable. |
| C．It's urgent. |
| D．It's unreal. |
| A．By selling electric cars. |
| B．By adding emphasis on recycling. |
| C．By increasing plastic production. |
| D．By meeting the needs of transport. |
| A．Increasing. |
| B．Working. |
| C．Failing. |
| D．Decreasing. |
| A．Should Plastic Be Recycled? |
| B．Can Plastic Waste Be Handled? |
| C．Recycle Plastic or Sell More? |
| D．Plastic Products or Substitutes? |
【推荐1】In ancient seawall built by Neolithic people to protect their village from sea-level rise over 7,000 years ago has been discovered by scientists. The 330-fbot wall, off the Carmel coast of Israel, was built with boulders from a riverbed over a mile away to create a buffer （缓冲器） between the Mediterranean Sea and the settlement of Tel Hreiz, researchers say.
In a study published in PLOS One, researchers led by Ehud Galili, of the University of Haifa, Israel, say this represents the oldest known coastal defense system in the world and a feat of engineering with "extensive effort invested by the Neolithic villagers in its conception, organization and construction."
At the time the settlement existed, sea levels were rising as global temperatures warmed following the end of the last icc age. The Mediterranean was rising by up to seven millimeters （0. 27 inches） per year. Over a lifetime, this would have equaled around 20 centimeters.
"This rate of sea-level rise means the frequency of destructive storms damaging the village would have risen significantly," Galili said in a statement. "The environmental changes would have been noticeable to people, during the lifetime of a settlement across several centuries. Eventually the accumulating yearly sea-level necessitated （vt. 使……成为必要，需要）a human response involving the construction of a coastal protection wall similar to what we're seeing around the world now. "
The Tel Hreiz settlement was first uncovered in the 1960s but the seawall was only identified in 2010 after a severe storm exposed it. Galili and his team then set about analyzing the remains of the submerged （水下的）wall.
They found it was almost 10 feet tall and was built around the same time as the village. Over the course of decades, the seawall would have suffered from marine erosion, the researchers say. After the sand layer was removed, waves and storms may have eventually dislodged boulders and stones.
Despite this "display of resilience" in the face of sea-level rise, the people of Tel Hreiz eventually left the village and, over time, both the seawall and village were lost to sea. "The seawall may have worked for a period," the team wrote, "however, ultimately it proved futile （无用的）and the village was eventually abandoned. The Tel Hreiz seawall represents the earliest example of a coastal defense of this type known to date. "
The team points to parallels with sea-level rise mankind is facing today. While the rate at the moment is considerably lower than what these Neolithic people were facing, it is expected that many of the world's coastal towns and cities will be impacted in the next century.
"Given the size of coastal populations and modern urban settlements, the magnitude of predicted future population displacement differs considerably to the impacts on people during the Neolithic,” the study said. “However, many of the fundamental human questions and the decision making relating to human resilience, coastal defense, local adaptation, technological innovation and decisions to ultimately abandon long-standing settlements remain ominously relevant. ”
1. In the ancient seawalls built by people in the Neolithic age, it is right to say that________.| A．it’s the old coastal defense system to protect villagers |
| B．it's first discovered in the 1960s after a severe storm |
| C．it was built to protect its villages from the rise of sea level |
| D．the seawall finally protected the village from damage |
| A．Building coastal protection wall. |
| B．Leaving the village to safe places. |
| C．Paying attention to the change of environment. |
| D．Researching technological innovation |
| A．recovery from disasters | B．positive Village |
| C．protective measures | D．the seawall |
| A．more seawall should be built to resist sea level rise |
| B．sea level rise will be a big problem for us |
| C．we should take more measures to prevent sea level rise |
| D．many people will be displaced in the future. |
【推荐2】Nonverbal communication is a broad term used to describe any method of conveying information without words. Whether intentional, based on societal cues (提示), or completely unconscious, common forms of nonverbal communication include body language and facial cues, fashion and personal clothing, hand gestures, as well as graphical signs and design.
It is important to note that nonverbal communication is really about a lack of words, rather than a lack of speech sounds. That means writing would be considered verbal communication while sounds like grunts (嘟哝) would not.
Nonverbal communication can be broadly divided into relatively universal forms and culturally dependent forms. Many facial expressions, for example, are relatively universal, with most cultures able to identify expressions of fear, joy, or anger. On the other hand, nonverbal cues like bowing, shaking hands,or flashing a peace sign are culturally characteristic, and therefore have little meaning outside of cultures that understand them.
Fashion is a form of nonverbal communication, and in many modern cultures is a hugely important way in which people telegraph things about themselves.
Gestures also act as a form of nonverbal communication. A wide range of hand gestures can be found in most cultures, and in the west there are some almost universal gestures, such as a wave goodbye, a thumbs-up to show everything is okay, or handy outspread to signify offerings.
Body language is one of the most studied forms of nonverbal communication, and deals with how the body rests, how it is situated in relation to other bodies, and the special distance between bodies. For example, turning towards a person when seated and speaking to them is a nonverbal cue showing interest, while turning away shows a lack of interest. Tipping your head slightly is a form of nonverbal communication to show curiosity or express that you are listening closely or what they are saying, while constantly looking away would show a lack of attention.
1. What is the purpose of the author in writing the text?| A．To explain what nonverbal communication is. |
| B．To introduce some universal body languages. |
| C．To compare nonverbal cues and verbal ones. |
| D．To discuss the cultural shock of communication. |
| A．smiling | B．grunting |
| C．bowing | D．screaming |
| A．Body language is the most frequently studied by scientists. |
| B．Body language relies on body movements to convey messages. |
| C．Body language can be used to express your different meanings. |
| D．Body language varies very slightly from one country to another. |
【推荐3】The evidence for harmony may not be obvious in some families. But it seems that four out of five young people now get on with their parents, which is the opposite of the popularly held image(印象)of unhappy teenagers locked in their room after endless family quarrels.
An important new study into teenage attitudes surprisingly shows that their family life is more harmonious than it has ever been in the past. “We were surprised by just how positive today’s young people seem to be about their families,” said one member of the research team. “They’re expected to be rebellious(叛逆的)and selfish but actually they have other things on their minds: they want a car and material goods, and they worry about whether school is serving them well. There’s more negotiation and discussion between parents and children, and children expect to take part in the family decision-making process. They don’t want to rock the boat.”
So, it seems that this generation of parents is much more likely than parents of 30 years ago to treat their children as friends. “My parents are happy to discuss things with me and willing to listen to me,” says 17-year-old Daniel Lazall. “I always tell them when I’m going out clubbing. As long as they know what I’m doing, they’re fine with it.” Susan Crome, who is now 21, agrees. “Looking back on the last 10 years, there was a lot of what you could call negotiation. For example, as long as I’d done all my homework, I could go out on a Saturday night. But I think my grandparents were a lot stricter with my parents than that.”
Maybe this positive view of family life should not be unexpected. It is possible that the idea of teenagers’ rebellion is not rooted in real facts. A researcher comments, “Our surprise that teenagers say they get along well with their parents comes because of a brief period in our social history when teenagers were regarded as different beings. But that idea of rebelling and breaking away from their parents really only happened during one time in the 1960s when everyone rebelled. The normal situation throughout history has been a smooth change from helping out with the family business to taking it over.”
1. What is the popular images of teenagers today?| A．They always worry about school. |
| B．They dislike living with their parents. |
| C．They have to be locked in to avoid troubles. |
| D．They quarrel a lot with other family members. |
| A．cause trouble in their families | B．share family responsibility |
| C．go boating with their family | D．make family decisions |
| A．care less about their children’s life |
| B．give their children more freedom |
| C．are much stricter with their children |
| D．go to clubs more often with their children |
| A．Negotiation in family. | B．Harmony in family. |
| C．Education in family. | D．Teenage trouble in family. |
【推荐1】Chicago already has bike sharing and car sharing. Could electric scooter(滑板车)sharing be the next big thing?
With electric scooter sharing already appearing in many cities and the biggest operator eyeing the Chicago market, Moreno is trying to make the rules of the road before electric scooters arrive.” It’s yet another means of transportation and we need to welcome them and make the regulations in advance if we are really serious about reducing traffic and reducing air pollution,”said Moreno.
Moreno said that in other cities, electric scooter riders have ignored helmet rules and traffic laws. They have parked illegally and ridden scooters on sidewalks. Those are the problems he’s trying to avoid. The rules would require related companies to first get an “Electric Scooter Share License”. To get the license, companies would need to provide a minimum of 100 scooters operating at a maximum（最高的）speed of 20 miles per hour.
Bird is the nation’s leading electric vehicle sharing company. It has raised $100 million and begun operations in many cities. Bird ‘s spokesman Kenneth Baer said his company welcomes the Chicago regulations, which can help to avoid the start-up problems it has met with in other cities.
“We follow the laws on the books. It happens to be that in a good number of cities the law is silent or not clear how to treat this new technology. And that causes some troubles,”said Baer. “If the rules of the road are officially made in advance then it is very clear. I think the Chicago regulations really would give the citizens a great way to get around the city.”
1. What can we learn from Moreno’s words?| A．The various means of transportation in Chicago. |
| B．The popularity of electric scooter sharing. |
| C．The reasons behind making the rules in advance. |
| D．The future of Chicago’s traffic. |
| A．They should provide enough parking spaces |
| B．They should limit the speed of their scooters. |
| C．They should raise at least $ 100 million. |
| D．They should provide helmets for renters. |
| A．The scooter-sharing laws are too strict. |
| B．People take no notice of traffic regulations |
| C．Electric scooter sharing has many disadvantages |
| D．These cities lack specific rules to deal with scooter sharing |
| A．They are forward-thinking. |
| B．They will limit scooter sharing |
| C．They should be further discussed. |
| D．They should follow the example of other cities. |
【推荐2】Nothing succeeds like success, as every parent of a straight-A student knows, but trying to stress academic excellence by telling your child, “You’re so smart!” may be counterproductive. Why? According to a 2017 study, children who think their intelligence is fixed are less likely to pay attention to and bounce back（重新振作）from mistakes than children who think intelligence can grow and change.
In the study, researchers looked at 123 children. The team assessed the children to determine whether they had a “growth mindset”(believing that you can work harder to get smarter), or a “fixed mindset” (believing that your intelligence is unable to change). They then asked the children to complete a fast-paced computer accuracy task while their brain activity was recorded. During the recording, researchers noted that brain activity stopped within a half-second after making a mistake, as children became aware of their mistake and paid closer attention to what went wrong. The larger the brain response was, the more the child focused on the mistake. Based on the data, they concluded that children with a “growth mindset” were much more likely to have a larger brain response after making a mistake. While children with a “fixed mindset” were able to “bounce back”, only if they gave their full attention to the mistake.
For parents, the lessons are clear. Don’t pay your children compliments that suggest that intelligence is fixed. If your child hands you an A+ score, don’t say, “You’re so smart!” Instead, say, “Wow, that studying really paid off!” or “You clearly mastered this material-way to go!” Note the effort, not the intelligence.
Besides, many parent shy away from addressing a child’s mistakes, telling them “It’s OK. ”You’ll get it next time. ” without offering them the chances to figure out what goes wrong. Instead, it’s better to reassure your children that mistakes happen, and work to figure out where and how they make the mistake.
1. Which of the following best explains “counterproductive” underlined in paragraph 1?| A．Opposite | B．Competitive |
| C．Successful | D．Unknown |
| A．They made fewer mistakes. | B．They tried to avoid mistakes |
| C．They had smaller brain response | D．They focused more on the mistake. |
| A．You are so careless |
| B．Paying compliments to children |
| C．You’ll get it the next time |
| D．Let’s find out how you made it. |
| A．Overstressing the intelligence. |
| B．Pay compliment to children. |
| C．Addressing children’s mistakes. |
| D．Offering chances to find mistakes. |
【推荐3】Sea, Sun, Sand and South Africa: Readers’ Favorite Beaches
The Wild Coast five-day hike from Kei Mouth to Coffee Bay in South Africa is surely the best experience for beach lovers.
Robben Island beaches
On a visit to the prison museum here, be sure to leave time to explore the island’s beaches. Few visitors realize that the island’s shores are the natural habitat of sizable penguins: enjoy watching them with far fewer tourists here. Bird life is plentiful and includes oystercatchers, ibis, egrets and cormorants. Sharks and dolphins can often be spotted offshore too.
Sand, sea and sculpture, Durban
There’s more to Durban’s Golden Mile than sunbathing and surfing. Not only is there a gallery of sand sculptures(雕像) and drawings, but Lucas, one of the best local artists, offers lessons. His amazing rhino(犀牛) is the only permanent item in a frequently changing exhibition. Lucas charges a modest R50 (£3) for a fun and surprisingly physical hour of creativity. Or, you could ask him to create a personalized sculpture for a special occasion.
Paternoster, Western Cape
Paternoster is a small beach community about 150 km north of Cape Town. The town has a number of rentals(租赁), all the Cape Dutch architecture you could want for a weekend away and some great food. Long walks on the beach, eating and drinking and watching the fishing boats make for a peaceful break. And, unlike in Cape Town, you can dip your toes in the sea without your legs freezing solid.
1. What is the suggested way for travelers to make their trips from Kei Mouth to Coffee Bay?| A．By car. | B．By boat. |
| C．On foot. | D．By bicycle. |
| A．Paternoster. | B．Robben Island beaches. |
| C．Kei Mouth. | D．Durban. |
| A．It has a museum for ice sculptures and drawings. |
| B．Visitors can have their special sand sculptures made. |
| C．Rhinos can always be found everywhere on the beach. |
| D．Art lessons are given by local artists for a little money. |
| A．To inform the government of environmental protection. |
| B．To attract businessmen to develop the beaches. |
| C．To share travel tips with beach lovers. |
| D．To introduce activities to art lovers. |
【推荐1】Homemade Soup May Fight Malaria
A new study suggests that some homemade soups — made of chicken, beef or vegetables — might help fight malaria.
Jake Baum of the Imperial College London led the research. He asked children at a London school to bring in homemade clear soups that their families would make to treat a fever. The children were from many different cultural backgrounds.
The soups were then exposed to the parasite (寄生虫) that creates 99.7 percent of malaria cases in Africa, the World Health Organization, WHO, explained.
Of the 56 soups tested, five were more than 50 percent effective in containing the growth of the parasite. Two were as effective as one drug now used to treat malaria. And four soups were more than 50 percent effective at preventing parasites from aging to the point that they could infect mosquitoes that spread the disease. Baum also noted that it was unclear which foods made the soups effective against malaria.
The soups came from families from different ethnic histories, including Europe, North Africa and the Middle East. They had several main ingredients, including chicken, beef and green vegetables. Baum said the vegetarian soups showed similar results to the soups with meat.
Baum said his aim was in part to show children that scientific research can turn a herbal cure into a man-made medicine. He noted the research of Dr. Tu Youyou of China. In the 1970s, she found that the herb quinhao was an effective antimalarial treatment. The herb has been used in Eastern medicine for two thousand years. Tu’s research led to the man-made drug artemisinin (青蒿素), a drug now widely used to treat malaria. She won the Nobel Prize in 2015.
More and more people are becoming resistant to the drugs that treat the disease, which kills about 400,000 people a year. That means scientists will have to “look beyond chemistry” and find new drugs, Baum adds.
1. What do we know about the research led by Jake Baum?| A．50% of the soups tested proved to be effective in killing the parasite. |
| B．Half of the soups tested show oppositive effect in stopping mosquitoes from spreading the disease. |
| C．A few of the soups tested can be seen as effective against malaria, yet what in soup that works is not known. |
| D．The vegetarian soups and the soups with meat work similarly but in different aspects. |
| A．East Asia. | B．the Middle East. |
| C．North Africa. | D．Europe. |
| A．To show her great achievement in treating malaria through hard work. |
| B．To note artemisinin she found in the herb quinhao, an herb used in Chinese medicine for 2000 years. |
| C．To show kids science research can develop an herbal cure into a man-made medicine. |
| D．To stress the .most important use of quinhao in treating malaria in Eastern medicine. |
| A．It is out of control in Africa. |
| B．It kill less than half a million people every year. |
| C．It is becoming resistant to most of the drugs used now. |
| D．It caused 99.7% the deaths in the whole world. |
| A．To collect more soups to get the most effective ones. |
| B．To research into the ingredients of the soups gathered. |
| C．To find out the most effective elements in the soups. |
| D．To expand their studies and get new antimalarial medicines. |
【推荐2】The 3D-printing industry is accelerating its efforts to help fight the new coronavirus and the disease it causes, COVID-19.
On Tuesday, HP announced it’s working with those who bought its 3D printers to make medical face shields, hands-free door openers and an adjuster for face masks for medical staff who often must wear them for hours. It’s also testing “hospital-grade” face masks meeting the higher-end FFP3 (过滤式面罩) standard and parts for simple emergency ventilators (呼吸机) and it’s looking into nasal swabs to test for COVID-19 infection. HP also is offering free downloads of its 3D-printed medical equipment designs.
Carbon, whose 3D printers are used to make everything from bicycle seats to teeth straighteners, said it plans to send face shield designs to its network of customers who’ve bought its 3D printers. Carbon co-founder and Executive Chairman Joseph DeSimone said on Monday the company expects to send the designs by early Tuesday.
3D-printcr makers typically sell their products to others that actually do the 3D printing. One such customer, Ford, said Tuesday that it’s made 1,000 face shields and shipped them to Michigan hospitals, with plans to make 100,000 face shields a week. It is also working with 3M and General Electric on respirator masks and ventilator designs.
The effort is one of several to apply 3D-printing technology to the fight against coronavirus. 3D printing isn’t as fast at churning out products as conventional mass production methods. But 3D printers are flexible and able to make many different parts anywhere there’s a printer and raw materials like the plastic resins Carbon printers use.
Some 3D-printing efforts have focused on ventilators, which expected to be in short supply with a surge of COVID-19 patients suffering from respiratory (呼吸器官) problems. Also in short supply are N95 masks that can be useful in reducing the likelihood a wearer will spread COVID-19 to others.
Carbon’s DeSimone is cautious about the enthusiasm, though, saying that regulatory approval is important and that 3D-printcr enthusiasts shouldn’t be making components not intended for close human contact that might release unhealthy gases.
1. What is the passage mainly about?| A．An introduction about 3D-printing. |
| B．The 3D-printing industry’s efforts to help fight COVID-19. |
| C．The products that 3D-printing makers sell. |
| D．How 3D-printing makers produce medical equipment. |
| A．medical face shields | B．hands-free door openers |
| C．an adjuster for face masks | D．emergency ventilators |
| A．Carbon’s company will finish its design after Tuesday. |
| B．Ford has made 1,000 face shields end plans to make 10,000 more in a week. |
| C．3D printers are more flexible than traditional mass production methods. |
| D．Most 3D-printings focus on making ventilators and N95 because of their short supply. |
| A．3D-printing may release unhealthy gases. |
| B．DeSimone is cautious about 3D-printing. |
| C．Carbon’s company didn’t gain regulatory approval of making medical equipment. |
| D．3D printers aren’t enthusiastic about making components designed for close human contact. |
【推荐3】A breathtaking trick potentially left over from our ancestors might be found in us-the ability to sense oxygen through our skin.
Amphibians, animals such as frogs that can live both on land and in water, have long been known to be capable of breathing through their skin. In fact, the first known lungless frog that breathes only through its skin was discovered recently in the rivers of Borneo.
Now the same oxygen sensors found in frog skins and in the lungs of mammals have unexpectedly been discovered in the skin of mice. “No one had ever looked,” explained Randall Johnson, a biologist researcher. Mice and frogs are quite distant relatives, so the fact they have these molecules in common in their skin suggests they might well be found in the skin of other mammals, such as humans. “We have no reason to think that they are not in the skin of people too.” Johnson said.
These molecules not only detect oxygen, but help increase levels of vital red blood cells, which carry oxygen around the body. Normal mice breathing in air that is 10 percent oxygen-a dangerously low level similar to conditions at the top of Mount Everest, and about half that of air at sea level. However, mice that had the oxygen sensor HIF-la genetically removed from their skin failed to produce this hormone even after hours of such low oxygen.
These findings, if they hold true in humans, suggest one could raise the level of oxygen circulating inside the body. This could help treat lung diseases and disorders such as anemia without injecting drugs, which make up a multibillion- dollar market, Johnson said.
Athletes also often try to get more oxygen delivered to their muscles in order to improve their performance. They often do this by training at high altitudes or in low-oxygen tents. The new study suggests they might want to expose their skin as well as breathing in low-oxygen air to improve their performance. “It's hard to say what exactly might be done, however-there's a lot we don't know yet,” Johnson explained. The scientists detailed their findings in the April 18 issue of the journal Cell.
1. Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the passage?| A．Johnson believes that Oxygen sensors also exist in human skin. |
| B．People have to surf the Internet to read detailed findings. |
| C．It has been proved that these findings help treat lung diseases. |
| D．It has long been expected oxygen sensors exist in mice's skin. |
| A．carrying-oxygen around the body |
| B．improving athletes'performance |
| C．detecting oxygen |
| D．increasing level of oxygen |
| A．Negative | B．Pessimistic | C．Positive | D．Hesitating |
| A．Great Findings Benefits Athletes A Lot |
| B．Frogs And Mice Are Distant Relatives |
| C．First Known Animal Breathes Through Skin |
| D．Humans Might Sense Oxygen Through Skin |
