Did you know that most humans are able to recognize about 1 million different colors? Well, some people can’t recognize this many because of something called colorblindness. If someone is colorblind, that means they can’t see as many colors as others – or, in rare cases, can’t see any colors at all.
Thankfully, special glasses have already been made to help fix some types of colorblindness. Now, according to new research published in Optics Letters, scientists have brought this solution one step further.
Sharon Karepov and Tal Ellenbogen, engineers from Tel Aviv University in Israel, have found a way to apply this technology to contact lenses. This new method is so groundbreaking because it can be customized to fix many different kinds of visual disadvantages.
People are able to see colors because of how the eye is structured. At the back of our eyes, there are three different kinds of cone-shaped (圆锥形的) cells that absorb light waves. When light waves are absorbed, the cells send a message to the brain for the image to be processed.
If something is wrong with these cone-shaped cells, this can cause problems when the brain processes the image. One of the most common types of colorblindness is red-green colorblindness. People who have this specific type of visual disadvantage have difficulty telling apart the colors red and green.
“Problems with distinguishing red from green interrupt simple daily routines such as deciding whether a banana is ripe,” Karepov explained.
Karepov also stressed the importance of applying this finding to create special contact lenses instead of relying on color-correcting glasses.
“Glasses based on this correction concept are commercially available, however, they are significantly heavier than contact lenses.” Karepov continued. “Our contact lenses … create a customized, simple and durable way to correct these disadvantages.”
1. Why is Sharon Karepov and Tal Ellenbogen’s finding groundbreaking?| A．They found an effective method to cure colorblindness. |
| B．They found what causes different kinds of visual disadvantages. |
| C．They developed special contact lenses to fix many visual disadvantages. |
| D．They developed glasses to fix all visual disadvantages. |
| A．Only one type of cone-shaped cell exists in the eyes. |
| B．Cone-shaped cells cannot process images received. |
| C．The brain fails to absorb light waves. |
| D．Cone-shaped cells in the eyes don’t work properly. |
| A．They are easier to make. | B．They are cheaper. |
| C．They are simpler and more durable. | D．They can help correct colorblindness. |
| A．Special Contact Lenses—Seeing the World’s Full Beauty |
| B．Glasses to Correct Colorblindness |
| C．Colorblindness Preventing People from Seeing Colors |
| D．Colorblindness—Something is Wrong with Cone-shaped Cells |
相似题推荐
【推荐1】Cities are the planet’s largest sources of greenhouse gas emissions (排放), so they offer the greatest opportunity to tackle climate change. Hitting net zero emissions by 2050, a target set at the COP26 summit, could be achieved more quickly using city digital twins—working virtual replicas (复制品) that help track, manage and reduce environmental damage rapidly.
The United Nations says cities, the most suitable subjects, which occupy less than two percent of the Earth’s surface, are major contributors to climate change, consuming almost 80 percent of the world’s energy and producing more than 60 percent of greenhouse gas emissions. Urban areas are forecast to grow by another 2.5 billion people by 2050.
Digital twins look and behave identically in their real-world physical environments. Similar technologies have been in use since NASA’s Apollo moon mission in 1969, where computers and machine replicas were used to test and monitor spacecraft. Virtual 3D city models link to networks of sensors that collect data from buildings, transport, air quality and energy use, to see where emissions can be cut and efficiency improved.
The UK is planning a kind of national digital twins that will connect digital replicas man-aging buildings, factories, and the other infrastructure nationwide. And that could lead to en-tire virtual world online, part of a virtual reality space proposed by tech companies.
Research shows that digital twins can save cities more than $ 280 billion globally by 2030 through more efficient urban planning. A provider of digital twins, City zenith, believes that net zero deadlines could be achieved 15 years early if the world’s 100 biggest cities use the technology to remove carbon. “They are the perfect tool for managing and accelerating the energy transition,” said CEO Michael Jansen. “We could get to net zero emissions globally by 2035.”
In the US. the Digital Twin Consortium is working to standardize how digital twins are built and share data. Big tech companies around the world have developed software for replica-ting cities, including a district of Berlin, the island nation of Singapore, and the entire city of Shanghai in China.
1. What are city digital twins used to do?| A．Decorate cities. | B．Change cities’ climate. |
| C．Popularize urban technology. | D．Reduce urban carbon emissions. |
| A．They occupy most of the Earth’s surface. |
| B．They consume little of the world’s energy. |
| C．They produce little of solid waste pollution. |
| D．They contribute most to the greenhouse effect. |
| A．To prove the accuracy of network data. |
| B．To tell us the importance of space tasks. |
| C．To explain the application of digital twins. |
| D．To show the difficulty of urban construction. |
| A．They lack research funding. |
| B．They are practical and promising. |
| C．They have reached a standard level. |
| D．They are complex and unrecognizable. |
【推荐2】The days of staring at the computer screen pretending to be interested in an assignment even though you are bored out of your mind may soon be coming to an end. That's because if Dr Harry Witchel, Discipline Leader in Physiology at England's Brighton and Sussex Medical School, has his way, computers of the future will be able to detect boredom and even react to it real-time.
But before you get concerned, the machine is not reading your mind. It is just keeping track of the constant involuntary（无意识的）movements that people exhibit when in front of a computer or even a television. These are not the bigger instrumental actions like moving a mouse or using the remote, but barely noticeable movements like scratching, fidgeting, or stretching. Witchel says the level of movement is directly linked to how absorbed the person is in what he or she is reading or watching. The higher the interest level. the less the movement!
To test the theory, Witchel and his team invited 27 people and exposed them to a variety of digital content for three minutes at a time. The activities ranged from playing online games to reading documents like the banking regulations that most people would find boring.
A video motion tracker monitored their movements as they powered through each assignment. Just as the researchers had expected, the involuntary actions decreased dramatically, by as much as 42%, when the participants were totally absorbed in what they were reading or seeing.
Fortunately, the scientists are not planning to use the findings to create machines that report students who are not focusing at school. Instead, they believe that combining the motion detecting technology with future computers will help enhance the digital learning experience.
The scientists say that being able to measure the students' interest level will enable educators to adjust the materials real-time and re-engage the students. Witchel also believes that the technology can provide filmmakers with honest audience opinions.
1. According to Dr Harry, what will future computers be able to do?| A．Keep a learner from distraction. |
| B．Help a learner with his assignments. |
| C．Read a learner's mind exactly real-time. |
| D．Identify dullness of a learner and respond to it. |
| A．Laugh and shout excitedly. | B．Use less energy in an assignment. |
| C．Perform fewer involuntary actions. | D．Show noticeable movements constantly. |
| A．Bettering their digital learning experience. | B．Introducing more computers into class. |
| C．Finding the absent-minded students in class. | D．Detecting what interests the students most. |
| A．To introduce an upcoming technology. |
| B．To update educators' teaching concept. |
| C．To show what learning will be like in the future. |
| D．To explain how life will be shaped by technology. |
【推荐3】Like most people, I was not sure about using virtual reality (VR) (虚拟现实) for travel. However, driven by the chance to experience places and things I could never visit without time, money, and travel, I visited the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry (MSI) to check out their spacewalk VR Transporter. The visit turned out to be the most unforgettable experience that I’d ever had. After an hour or so, I took off the VR headset (眼罩), feeling as if I had actually been staying in space for months.
As we move through the post-COVID era (后疫情时代), international travel and large events have both been slow to return, so Ceek, an APP for virtual events and experiences, has been developed to allow users to travel through time and space with great joy. Mary Spio, Ceek CEO, explains that the combination of sights and sounds is important. “So our users can listen and see everything at the same time.”
The promise of VR is that it helps us rethink what travel even means. “Traveling can be crossing cultures, crossing memories, and can be done in your mind,” says David Askaryan, CEO of the Museum of Future Experiences. He says MOFE’s VR technology create “an experience where the world around you just completely changes for 70 minutes.”
In the post-COVID era, with our vacation days or travel money running short, virtual reality may be the next best way to visit the destinations that have been lighting up our social timeline, or are on our list. As for me, I’m already planning my next VR trip: an underwater VR experience.
1. Why did the writer visit MS1?| A．To study space science. | B．To buy VR headsets. |
| C．To try VR travel. | D．To learn spacewalk skills. |
| A．Attraction. | B．Creation. | C．Mixture. | D．Discovery. |
| A．It focus on one culture. | B．It provides a new experience. |
| C．It helps build up memories. | D．It changes the world around us. |
| A．It will become popular. | B．It will happen underwater. |
| C．It will be more expensive. | D．It will take days to finish. |
【推荐1】Army ants make a habit of killing organisms, often much larger than themselves, breaking them into pieces and dragging them back to their bases. They don’t eat everything. Waste full with discarded bits of prey is a feature of army ant bases. But little is known about which animals make use of army ant leavings.
As recounted in a paper in Ecology &. Evolution, Christoph von Beer en at the Technical University of Darmstadt and Daniel Kronauer at the Rockefeller University in New York, went to the rainforests of Costa Rica to find out. They found an entire ecosystem thriving among the leftovers.
Monitoring tiny insects in a rainforest is tricky. But the researchers hoped modern DNA analysis techniques might make the job manageable. Working with a team of colleagues, they followed ant trails back to their bases, finding 34 sites in total.
The researchers used a handheld vacuum cleaner to suck up all the bugs at waste and brought the samples back to a field laboratory. To keep the task manageable, the team confined themselves to examining only the beetles they had collected. They identified the beetles they could and ran DNA analyses on those they could not.
In total, they collected 8, 364 adult beetles, 511 beetle larvae and 24 beetle eggs. Those were spread across 91 species, several of which were entirely new to science. Aside from that being far more than anyone had expected, the presence of the larvae and eggs indicates that the leftovers are not so much convenient restaurants as full-on homes, where the beetles live out their entire lives.
Precisely how these species manage to avoid being eaten themselves by their army-ant hosts remains to be determined. Dr. von Beeren speculates that a hygiene instinct that keeps the ants from eating material that has been taken to their waste is partially responsible. And many species of beetles are able to produce compounds that smell disgusting to ants. The chances are high that among these insects are some predators too, seeking to feed on unsuspecting scavengers (食腐动物) in turn.
1. What do army ants do with organisms?| A．They consume some of organisms. |
| B．They drag organisms to waste piles. |
| C．They kill organisms and eat them all. |
| D．They break organisms into discarded bits. |
| A．By examining the beetles they had sucked up. |
| B．By classifying the insects into different varieties. |
| C．By using DNA analysis techniques on all beetles. |
| D．By running DNA analyses on the unknown insects. |
| A．The leftovers are like restaurants to the beetles. |
| B．The leftovers are just like homes to the beetles. |
| C．The army ants kill some of the larvae and eggs. |
| D．The larvae and eggs are eaten by the army ants. |
| A．In the Leavings the Insects Are the King |
| B．One Insect’s Leavings Is Another’s Meal |
| C．Where There’re Leavings, There’re Insects |
| D．When the Ants Away, the Insects Will Play |
【推荐2】When there are some strangers in front of us, which of them will we trust?
According to a new study in the online PLOS One, people make their decisions to trust others largely based on their faces. Your appearance can do a lot for you, especially if you are in the financial industry. The more trustworthy you look, the more likely people will buy what you're selling.
Researchers from Britain's University of Warwick Business School, University College London, and Dartmouth College, US, did a number of experiments.
The research team used computer software to make 40 faces from the least to the most trustworthy-looking.The study said that the difference between a trustworthy face and one that isn't as trustworthy comes from features that look slightly angry or slightly happy, even when the face is at rest. However, a slightly happy face is more likely to be trusted.
Researchers gave participants some money and asked them which face they trusted to invest the money for them. Then researchers gave some good and bad information about the people with these faces, and asked the participants again whom they trusted. The results showed that even if they got different information, the participants didn't change their choices. They were still more likely to invest their money with the more trustworthy-looking faces.
Chris Olivola, one of the study's authors, said in the University of Warwick's press release: "It seems we are still willing to go with our own instincts about whether we think someone looks like we can trust them."
1. According to the study, which of the following faces is most likely to be trusted?| A．A slightly smiling face. | B．A disappointed face. |
| C．An embarrassed face. | D．A nervous face. |
| A．The trustworthy faces were given good information. |
| B．Researchers took photos of the 40 people's faces in colleges. |
| C．Participants liked to choose the faces with good information. |
| D．Most participants gave their money to the trustworthy-looking faces. |
| A．Opinions that grow out of social practice. |
| B．Judgments that are easily changed by others. |
| C．Good information that are given by people around. |
| D．Feelings rather than opinions or ideas based on facts. |
| A．Why people trust a stranger with good appearance. |
| B．People usually judge strangers according to their faces. |
| C．How different information affects people's decisions. |
| D．Why the research team carried out the experiment. |
【推荐3】Popularization has in some cases changed the original meaning of emotional (情感的)intelligence. Many people now misunderstand emotional intelligence as almost everything desirable in a person’s makeup that cannot be measured by an IQ test, such as character, motivation, confidence, mental stability, optimism and “people skills.” Research has shown that emotional skills may contribute to some of these qualities, but most of them move far beyond skill-based emotional intelligence.
We prefer to describe emotional intelligence as a specific set of skills that can be used for either good or bad purposes. The ability to accurately understand how others are feeling may be used by a doctor to find how best to help her patients, while a cheater might use it to control potential victims. Being emotionally intelligent does not necessarily make one a moral person.
Although popular beliefs regarding emotional intelligence run far ahead of what research can reasonably support, the overall effects of the publicity have been more beneficial than harmful. The most positive aspect of this popularization is a new and much needed emphasis (重视)on emotion by employers, educators and others interested in promoting social well-being. The popularization of emotional intelligence has helped both the public and researchers re-evaluate the functionality of emotions and how they serve people adaptively in everyday life.
Although the continuing popular appeal of emotional intelligence is desirable, we hope that such attention will excite a greater interest in the scientific and scholarly study of emotion. It is our hope that in coming decades, advances in science will offer new perspectives (视角)from which to study how people manage their lives. Emotional intelligence, with its focus on both head and heart, may serve to point us in the right direction.
1. Why does the author mention “doctor” and “cheater” in paragraph 2?| A．To explain a rule. |
| B．To clarify a concept. |
| C．To present a fact. |
| D．To make a prediction. |
| A．Favorable. | B．Intolerant. | C．Doubtful. | D．Unclear. |
【推荐1】Volunteers Wanted!
City of Sunrise Police Department volunteers serve the community while learning more about law administration and making new friends. Volunteers act in a variety of roles - such as providing administrative assistance to the Department, greeting visitors at the Public Safety Complex, and lending a hand at special events. Please review the Sunrise Police Department Volunteer Program Application or call (954) 746-3370 for general information regarding the Department’s volunteer opportunities.
The Department also offers residents an opportunity to participate in the Citizens Volunteer Patrol (CVP). The CVP is designed to reduce crime by having citizens guard their own neighborhoods and report any suspecting or criminal activity to the police. Qualified participants must be 21 years of age or older. For more information, contact PSA Arnie Axelrodat at (954) 746-3770.
Other specialized volunteer programs within the Sunrise Police Department include:
Seniors and Lawmen Together (SALT) Council. SALT is comprised of retired leaders working in cooperation with public safety and elder affairs professionals. Through education and communication, SALT tries to reduce the criminal victimization of older citizens and enhance the delivery of law administration services to seniors. For more information, please call (954) 746-3384.
Police Explorers. This program provides a means through which young men and women aged 14 to 20 may decide, by means of actual experience, whether they would like to pursue a law administration career. The Explorer program focuses on community service and citizen involvement. For more information, please call (954) 746-3376.
1. What can City of Sunrise Police Department volunteers do?| A．Giving law assistance to the Department. |
| B．Greeting visitors in community centre. |
| C．Offering general information to the police. |
| D．Providing help at special events. |
| A．A 21-year-old law graduate. |
| B．A businessman living in the City of Sunrise. |
| C．A retired leader expert in public safety. |
| D．Teenagers pursuing a career in law. |
| A．(954) 746-3370. | B．(954) 746-3770. | C．(954) 746-3384. | D．(954) 746-3376. |
【推荐2】The teacher who changed my life didn't do it by encouraging her students to stand on their desks, like John Keating in Dead Poets Society. Or by carrying a baseball bat through the balls, like Principal Clark in Lean on Me. She did it by telling me I was good at something.
When I met Ms. Shelia Spicer, I had just moved to Florida from Brooklyn. Most of my teachers seemed to look past me; I was one more student among hundreds. Ms. Spicer, however, took a special interest. “You can write,” she said. She wanted to move me into the honors English class（英语快班）. But because of scheduling problem, I couldn't transfer. So instead, Ms. Spicer told me to ignore everything she wrote on the blackboard later, just sit there and do the honors work.
A decade later, when my first novel was published, I went back to Ms. Spicer's classroom, handing her a copy of my book. "And I wrote this for you." Ms. Spicer began to cry. She'd been considering early retirement because she felt she wasn't having enough effect on her students. I didn't know how to make Ms. Spicer understand what she'd done for me. It was her belief in me that gave me the confidence to become a writer. I owed her.
Thirteen years later, I heard that she was finally ready to retire. I wanted to surprise Ms. Spicer at her going—away party, so I tried to come in under the table. I was hiding in a corner when one teacher called everyone's attention. Ms. Spicer stood up and delivered a speech that began like this: "For those of you complaining that kids have changed, and that it's harder to teach these days, you' re getting old and lazy. These kids haven't changed. You have! Don't give them up!"
When she finished her speech, the crowd applauded like a thunder. That was the woman I remembered! I realized that night that I was still, and would forever be, her student.
1. According to the text, when the writer just moved to the school, _____________.| A．he was paid special attention to |
| B．many teachers watched him |
| C．he was only a common student |
| D．teachers were attracted by him |
| A．In Ms. Spicer's classroom. |
| B．In the honors English class. |
| C．At his own home. |
| D．In Ms. Spicer's office. |
| A．She couldn't control herself. |
| B．No students visited her for long. |
| C．No students were affected by her. |
| D．She was really moved a lot. |
| A．To introduce Ms. Spicer. |
| B．To remember Ms. Spicer. |
| C．To look back on his past. |
| D．To surprise Ms. Spicer. |
【推荐3】“In life, we're often torn between the person we want to be and the person we ought to be. Yet, while many hesitate to take the risks associated with becoming their ideal selves”, a new study notes that people unavoidably regret not pursuing their passion.
Inspired by research published in the 1990s, psychologist Thomas Gilovich along with his colleague Shai Davidai built upon his original study, which proved that regrets often evolve from what people haven't done. According to the new research, our most enduring regrets grow from not living up to our ideal selves, as opposed to not living according to our “ought selves” (the people we should have been based on our duties and responsibilities).
Researchers began by explaining the difference between regrets concerning the “ideal self” and the “ought self”, before asking participants to list, name, and categorize their regrets. Across the six different studies conducted, participants said they experienced regrets concerning their ideal selves more often. They also mentioned more ideal-self regrets than ought-self regrets when asked to list their regrets in life. When asked to name their single biggest regret in life, participants were also more likely to mention a regret about not fulfilling their ideal selves than their ought selves.
However, Gilovich and Davidai still recommend that people move on with caution, as the best way to live depends on how much weight you attach to your ought self vs. your ideal self. “If you place a premium on your ought self, you would be wise to minimize (your) regrets by thinking twice before moving forward (and seizing the moment). ” they suggest. “However, if one is an adventurous soul guided by her ideal self, she might indeed end up happier by seizing the day and not looking back. ”
Despite this research, however, knowing what you want and pursuing that passion are two different things. Mark Twain's words may give you the courage to go for your goals：
Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did. So throw off the bowlines (帆脚索), sail away from the safe harbor, catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.
1. How did the researchers get their new findings?| A．By analyzing their six previous studies. |
| B．By asking people to explain what regret is. |
| C．By looking into the content of people's regrets. |
| D．By comparing people's regrettable and fulfilling experiences. |
| A．They are equally important aspects in people's lives. |
| B．It's very difficult for people to choose between them. |
| C．The choice between them can affect people's lifestyles. |
| D．People may choose one and change to the other in life. |
| A．Value. | B．Know. |
| C．Ignore. | D．Refuse. |
| A．Never regret anything in life. |
| B．Look back now and then in life. |
| C．Be patient when going for our goals. |
| D．Do what we want to without hesitation. |
An Insider’s History of the Swingin' Medallions
Author: Carrol Blessoe
Hardback: $29.99
Paperback: $21.99
E-book at www.xlibris.com
This book records the story of eight young guys, the Swingin' Medallions, born in a small town in America, who become a national sense in the music world.
Saving Nia
Author: G.B.Jones
Hardback: $34.99
Paperback: $23.99
E-book at www.authorhouse.com
This book is based on a girl’s true story. Separated from her happy home and placed with drug-addicted relatives, Nia sinks into a depression and attempts to set herself on fire.The love of another child lights up her darkness and brings her out!
Road to Freedom- My Life and Journey from a 3rd World Country
Author: Edward A.Nieto
Hardback: $27.99
Paperback: $19.99
E-book at www.xlibris.com
This book details Edward A.Nieto's life and journey.It also includes his struggles with violence, corruption and the politics of living in a third world.
The Mister
Author: E.L.James
Hardback: $51.99
Paperback: $41.99
E-book at www.xlibris.com
This is a new romantic story. Life has been easy for Maxim Trevelyan. But all that changes when he meets an unexpected, young woman who's recently arrived in England. After some awkward moments and dramatic incidents, he finally wins the lady’s heart.
1. What can we know about the book"An Insider's History of the Swingin' Medallions"?| A．It tells a story of adventure. |
| B．It's a romantic story. |
| C．It tells the story of some young musicians. |
| D．It's about Edward A.Nieto's struggling life. |
| A．Saving Nia. |
| B．The Mister. |
| C．An Insider’s History of the Swingin’ Medallions. |
| D．Road to Freedom-My Life and Journey from a 3rd World Country. |
| A．Saving Nia is a story about a girl addicted to drugs. |
| B．Road to Freedom is a book based on a romantic story. |
| C．The young woman in The Mister fell in love with Maxim Trevelyan at first. |
| D．Three of the E-books are from the same website. |
【推荐2】Each May since 1956 people from across Europe and around the world have gathered around their televisions with friends and family for an evening of international entertainment(娱乐)：The Eurovision Song Contest. It may well be a fun event but perhaps it’s not the shared celebration of European language that it could be. In the first ten years of Eurovision, the UK and Ireland were the only two countries to sing in English. Now English is what we expect. Is it that English is becoming, or has become the official language of music?
From high streets in Hungary to supermarkets in Sweden, from bus stops in Bulgaria to parks in Poland, people listen to English-language music everywhere. And people don't just listen, they sing it too! From sporting events in Spain to nightclubs in Norway, from concerts in Croatia to fitness classes in France, people sing along to popular songs in their everyday lives, in English. But why?
For one evening each year Eurovision is the dinner party of Europe. A dinner party to which each guest brings something special. Their clothing, tradition and food show their culture and their language shows the character of a nation. Although there are 50 nations with 83 languages, for Eurovision, English is the only language. Does Eurovision really represent Europe?
English is an international language spoken by over 1 billion people worldwide. It is no surprise that so many musicians make music in English. Of course, music makes money and more listeners make more money. According to Ragnar Thorhallsson, singer and guitarist with the Icelandic indie band (乐队)“Of Monsters and Men”, English is simpler and is easier to make rhythms(节奏). Could this be true?
Let’s remember that although English-language music is everywhere, music is not everything. As long as we continue to learn, to speak，to love, diversity(多样性)shall be valued. After all, what fun is a dinner party if the guests can’t communicate(交流) or express themselves in the way they choose?
1. What do we know about Eurovision?| A．Singers sing English songs. | B．It helps protect European cultures. |
| C．It is the most popular contest in the world. | D．Singers mainly come from the UK and Ireland. |
| A．By asking questions. | B．By giving examples. |
| C．By making comparisons. | D．By following the order of space. |
| A．It is easy and beautiful. | B．It should be used in all music. |
| C．It is the best language in the world. | D．It helps musicians make money easily. |
| A．Why we should protect language diversity. |
| B．How language and music affect each other. |
| C．Whether English is the official language of music. |
| D．Why Eurovision is becoming more and more popular. |
【推荐3】The oldest stone buildings in the world are the pyramids. They have stood for nearly 5,000 years, and it seems likely that they will continue to stand for thousands of years yet. There are over eighty of them along the banks of the Nile, some of which are different in shape from the true pyramids. The most famous of these are the "Step" pyramid and the "Bent" pyramid.
Some of the pyramids still look as much alike as they must have been when they were built thousands of years ago. Most of the damage suffered by the others has been at the hands of men who were looking for treasure or, more often, for stones to use in modern buildings. The dry climate of Egypt has helped to keep the pyramids in good condition, and their very shape has made them less likely to fall into ruin. These are good reasons why they can still be seen today, but perhaps the most important is that they were planned to last forever.
The "Step" pyramid had to be on the west side of the Nile, the side on which the sun set. This was for level of the river to protect it against the regular floods. It could not be too far from the Nile, however, as the stones to build it needed to be carried in boats down the river to the nearest point. Water transport was, of course, much easier than land transport. The builders also had to find a rock base, which was not likely to break under the great weight of the pyramid. Finally, it had to be near the capital, or better still near the king's palace so that he could visit it easily to personally check the progress being made on the final resting place for his body.
1. The most important reason why some pyramids remain in good condition is that .| A．people have taken good care of them |
| B．it doesn't rain often in Egypt |
| C．they were well designed |
| D．the government has protected them from damage |
| A．the regular floods |
| B．the dry climate of Egypt |
| C．the special shape of the pyramids |
| D．people in search of building materials |
| A．they believed in their god |
| B．it was difficult to find a large rock base far from the Nile |
| C．the river helped a lot in the transport of building materials |
| D．it was not easy to choose a suitable place for the pyramids |
| A．it was easy for the king to check |
| B．water transport was easier than land transport |
| C．there was a rock base for the "Step" pyramid to be built on |
| D．why the "Step" pyramid had to be built on the west side of the Nile |
