Nola (August 21, 1974—November 22, 2015) was a northern white rhino who lived at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park near Escondido, California. At her death, she was one of only four remaining northern white rhinos in the world. The other three lived in Kenya. World Rhino Day, held on September 2, is to raise awareness(意识) of the less than 30, 000 other rhinos left on Earth.
''Rhinos need our help today, not tomorrow,'' Nola's lead keeper Jane Kennedy said. ''Last year we lost over 1, 200 rhinos just in South Africa. If we continue to lose more than 1, 000 rhinos a year, in 10 to 20 years all the rhinos on the planet will be gone. ''
''Unfortunately, most animals are in danger of dying out because of humans,'' Kennedy says. ''Humans have either poached animals, or because there are over seven billion of us, we've taken up too much of the world's resources''. Poachers illegally hunt rhinos for their horns. They sell the horns for thousands of dollars per pound, to be used for art, jewelry, and decorations. Experts believe that one rhino is poached every eight hours.
In 1975, the San Diego Zoo Institute for Conservation Research started the Frozen Zoo, a program through which researchers have collected cell (细胞) samples from more than 8, 000 different types of animals, including the northern white rhino. Scientists hope that by studying the rhino cells, they will get greater understanding of it, and will find ways to increase its numbers.
Jane Kennedy describes World Rhino Day as a celebration of rhinos along with an awareness campaign for everybody across the world to know that rhinos need our help. ''At the San Diego Zoo, children and adults are welcome to visit and speak with zookeepers to learn about rhinos. But you don't have to live in San Diego to celebrate World Rhino Day. It is observed around the world, with zoos and wildlife parks holding special events and programs to teach people about rhinos, and enable them to see the animals up close. For more information, go to www. worldrhinoday. org.
1. What do we know about Nola?| A．It was a baby white rhino. |
| B．It was one of the last of its kind. |
| C．It lived with other northern white rhinos in Kenya. |
| D．It died on September 22 at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park. |
| A．The rhinos' uncertain future. |
| B．The rhinos' strange activities. |
| C．The limited natural resources. |
| D．The rare animals in South Africa. |
| A．Invent new kinds of animals. |
| B．Keep animals from dying out. |
| C．Prevent rhinos from being hunted. |
| D．Raise public awareness of rhinos. |
| A．To help people know more about animals. |
| B．To encourage people to protect rhinos. |
| C．To report special events in San Diego. |
| D．To introduce World Rhino Day. |
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【推荐1】Every summer, the calls of thousands of swamp sparrows can be heard across North America's wetlands. These little brown birds know only a few songs, but they know them very well. In fact, their musical set list probably hasn't changed much for centuries.
Like humans, baby swamp sparrows learn to communicate by copying adults. From a young age, they learn to copy, or mimic, songs sung by their elders. “Swamp sparrows very rarely make mistakes when they learn their songs,” says biologist Robert Lachlan. In fact, their mimicry is so accurate that the music changes little between generations.
Just like children, the sparrows don't remember every song they hear. Lachlan says. “They don't just learn songs at random; they pick up commoner songs rather than rarer songs.” In other words, they learn songs they hear most often. It's an example of a strategy that scientists call conformist bias. Until recently, this learning ability was thought to be special only to humans.
Between 2008 and 2009, Lachlan's research team recorded the calls of 615 male swamp sparrows across the northeastern United States. The researchers used computer software to break each song into a collection of notes, or syllables. They then measured the differences between the tunes.
The research revealed that only 2 percent of male sparrows sang a different song from the standard tune. The combination of accurate mimicry and conformist bias allows the birds to create traditions that last for centuries. “With those two ingredients together, you end up with traditions that are really stable,” says Lachlan. “The song-types that you hear in the marshes of North America today may well have been there 1,000 years ago.” Lachlan's study is also among the first to measure the longevity of song traditions within a bird species.
The findings are really exciting, says scientist Andrew Farnsworth. He hopes that future research will evolve from these studies. For example, scientists may be able to identify how other animals are able to preserve their cultural traditions. “Seeing the potential for it in other organisms is super cool,” says Farnsworth.
1. What do we know about Lachlan's research?| A．The calls of 615 female swamp sparrows were recorded. |
| B．Accurate mimicry allows the birds to create the centuries-long traditions. |
| C．It aimed to study swamp sparrows' learning ability. |
| D．Computer technology helped a lot during the research. |
| A．A new slang word becomes popular with a group of teenagers. |
| B．A dog learns to do a trick because its owner rewards it regularly. |
| C．A student memorizes historical events for a history exam. |
| D．A student loves singing and joins the school chorus. |
| A．Indifferent. | B．Negative. | C．Positive. | D．Conservative. |
| A．The Amazing Lifespan of Swamp Sparrows. |
| B．The Traditional Musical Set List of Swamp Sparrows. |
| C．The Evolution of Swamp Sparrows in North America. |
| D．The Great Learning Ability of Swamp Sparrows. |
【推荐2】At the South African nature preserve where Miya Warrington and his team study Cape ground squirrels (松鼠), the hottest daily temperature has increased by about 2.5℃ in just 18 years. The animals have gradually developed typical methods to deal with the hot weather, says Warrington, an ecologist at the University of Manitoba.
For example, lying flat on the ground in a special pose (姿势) helps the squirrels remove heat from their less furry undersides. They also take shady breaks under their bushy tails, which curl (卷) above their heads like tiny beach umbrella. When it’s really too hot, they hide into their holes to cool off. But Warrington warns that, even with all these choices for keeping cool, they still could be unable to go through the heat because of such a rapid climate change.
That huge pressure could be why their bodies have begun to change shape, Warrington says. She found that, over the course of just under twenty years, the squirrels’ large back feet already, which may help reduce heat, have grown relative to their body sizes by about 11 percent. Meanwhile, their spine (脊柱) lengths have become about 6 percent shorter.
And the Cape ground squirrel isn’t the only animal that appears to be shape-shifting because of climate change. The researchers tried to decide whether bird body sizes become smaller as climate change has driven hotter weather in areas throughout North America. As scientists collect more evidence that many species’ (物种) bodies are having unobvious changes over a short period of time, it remains unclear whether they are able to keep ahead of sharply rising temperatures and how close they may get to a breaking point.
To record this change in so many species over such a short period really shows that there is something global affecting all these animals — and climate change is what makes sense.
1. How do Cape ground squirrels deal with rising hot weather?| A．They get rid of their fur underside. | B．They stay where they are. |
| C．They use their tails as an umbrella. | D．They come out of the hot hole. |
| A．Their body shape has changed. | B．They have less pressure. |
| C．Their patience is running out. | D．Their strength is weakened. |
| A．Rate of temperature change. | B．Features of climate change. |
| C．Habitat of North American birds. | D．Limits of animal adaptation to heat. |
| A．The number of species is dropping quickly. |
| B．Climate change has little influence on species. |
| C．Animals play an important role in climate change. |
| D．Climate change is responsible for animals’ changes. |
【推荐3】Wild animals seem to have escaped the Indian Ocean tsunami, adding weight to the idea that they have a “sixth sense” for disasters, experts said on Thursday.
Sri Lanka wildlife officials have said the waves that killed so many people along the Indian Ocean island’s coast seemingly missed wild beasts, with no dead animals found.
“No elephants are dead, not even a dead hare or rabbit. I think animals can sense disasters. They have a ‘sixth sense’. They know when things are happening,” H.D. Ratnayake, deputy director (副局长) of Sri Lanka’s Wildlife Department, said on Wednesday.
The waves washed floodwaters up to 3 km inland at Yala National Park in the southeast, one of Sri Lanka’s nature reserves and home to hundreds of wild elephants. “There has been a lot of evidence (证据) of dogs barking or birds migrating (迁徙) before volcanic eruptions or earthquakes. But it has not been proved,” said Matthew van Lierop, an animal behaviour specialist at Johannesburg Zoo. “There have been no specific studies because you can’t really test it in a lab or a field setting,” he said. Other authorities agreed with this conclusion.
“Wildlife seems to be able to pick up certain signs, especially birds. There are many reports of birds detecting coming disasters,” said Clive Walker, who has written several books on African wildlife.
Animals certainly rely on the known senses such as smell or hearing to avoid danger such as predators (捕食性动物). The idea of an animal “sixth sense” is a lasting one that the evidence on Sri Lanka’s damaged coast is likely to support.
1. What happened after the Indian Ocean tsunami?| A．Many people died but wild animals survived. |
| B．The “six sense” of wild animals developed. |
| C．Wild beasts were killed or went missing. |
| D．The coast was found in good condition. |
| A．He is a zoo keeper. |
| B．He is a wildlife official. |
| C．He is a movie director. |
| D．He is an animal behaviour expert. |
| A．Taking up. | B．Putting up. |
| C．Picking up. | D．Bringing up. |
| A．Travel. | B．Custom. |
| C．Culture. | D．Discovery. |
【推荐1】What to do about climate change?
With scientists warning that 2023 could be the warmest ever, and destructive wildfires tearing through communities, the climate crisis is no longer a distant threat. Listed below are 3 things you cm do to reduce your carbon footprint and save yourself from climate despair (绝望).
Avoid the skies. Aviation (航空) brings a significant challenge in achieving net-zero emissions (排放). Despite accounting for just three percent of global emissions, it is a rapidly growing source and difficult to decarbonize (碳减排).
| A．Grow your own |
| B．Use energy widely |
| C．Use energy wisely |
| D．Cultivating a garden to absorb carbon |
| E．Sure, cultivating a garden isn’t going to absorb much carbon |
| F．It’s not just about how much energy you use, but when you use it |
| G．Reducing air travel is recommended until battery and hydrogen planes become practical |
【推荐2】As one of the biggest topics of the last decade, sustainability has become the beacon (灯塔) of hope to protect the planet. From supermarkets taking action on plastic packaging to the zero was to movement that can be practised from your kitchen, changes made by individuals and organizations across the globe have had an impact on the way we think shop and live.
So what does that mean for the world of technology? You’d be forgiven for thinking that the words “sustainable” and “technology” don’t usually go hand in hand. E-waste is, after all, one of the planet’s biggest contributing waste streams. Not only that, but the materials that go into technology products are also part of the problem.
But with a challenge comes an opportunity, and there’s already some brilliant progress happening — great news for those of us wanting to be more sustainable with our technology. Firstly renewed products are having its moment. While consumers would previously turn their noses up the idea of a second-hand device, there’s been a huge surge in demand for renewed technology products.The second major step in tackling the problem of e-waste is a change in attitudes from owning a product to subscribing for one. A subscription for a smartphone might sound like a foreign concept, but it’s already gaining momentum. At the forefront of this movement is a London-base technology startup, which offers a subscription service for the latest smartphones. As customer aren’t paying to own the phone at the end of their contract, the monthly price is significantly low than average.
Studies show that extending a phone’s lifespan from one to four years can decrease environmental impact by about 40%. So the next time it comes to refreshing your device-whether a smartphone, laptop, tablet or something else-consider the more environmentally friendly options that are at your fingertips.
1. What’s the purpose of paragraph 1?| A．To change the way we think shop and live. |
| B．To introduce the topic of sustainability in technology. |
| C．To tell us what people have done to protect the planet. |
| D．To call on people to do something for the environment. |
| A．High-tech products are in short supply. |
| B．E-waste contributes to the biggest waste streams. |
| C．The two sustainability problems in technology. |
| D．Ignoring sustainable technology is unforgivable. |
| A．Supportive. | B．unacceptable. |
| C．Sympathy. | D．Doubtful. |
| A．By upgrading the old one. |
| B．By renting a smartphone. |
| C．By throwing away a renewed phone. |
| D．By replacing the old one with the latest. |
【推荐3】California, Arizona and Nevada announced an agreement on Monday to cut their use of the Colorado River by another 14% in exchange for $1.2 billion grants (拨款) from the US government. The landmark agreement, which lasts through 2026, would avoid compulsory cuts set by the US government to keep the crucial Colorado River basin from collapsing in the face of constant over-consumption and a long drought worsened by climate change.
The 1,450-mile-long Colorado River provides drinking water for 40 million people in seven US states, part of Mexico, and several Native American tribes. It also supplies water for 5.5 million acres of productive farmland.
The Interior Department needs to sign off on the agreement before it takes effect. Camille Touton, leading member of the Interior Department’s Bureau of Reclamation, called the agreement “an important step forward toward our shared goal of creating a sustainable path for the basin that millions of people call home.”
The voluntary cuts are about half of what the US government said were needed last year, but an exceptionally wet winter and unusually plentiful snow pack gave the seven states that use the Colorado River a temporary relief. The two dammed reservoirs (水库) on the river, Lake Mead and Lake Powell, have risen 7 feet and 26 feet, respectively, since April, after falling to crisis levels in 2022. Lake Mead is now 30% full and Lake Powell 27%.
Arizona, California and Nevada draw their Colorado River water from Lake Mead while four Upper Basin states—Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming—use water directly from the river and its branches. All seven basin states still have to reach a longer-term arrangement for use of the declining Colorado River after 2026. Monday’s agreement is “a great start”, Jack Schmidt, director of the Utah State University’s Center for Colorado River Studies, tells the Los Angeles Times. “It’s about 25% of where we ultimately need to get.”
1. What do you know about the Colorado River?| A．It measures 1,450 kilometres long. | B．It’s an inland river in the USA. |
| C．Arizona is in its Upper Basin. | D．It’s overused by people along it. |
| A．The productive land. | B．The Interior Department. |
| C．The wet winter and much snow. | D．Lake Mead and Lake Powell. |
| A．It was in exchange for $1.2 billion grants. |
| B．The Interior Department would sign off on it. |
| C．All 7 basin states have reached a longer-term agreement based on it. |
| D．It helped to achieve the goal of using the Colorado River sustainably. |
| A．The Colorado River is suffering | B．More efforts are still needed |
| C．An important agreement is reached | D．Climate change is getting worse |
【推荐1】What is your dream job? If your answer is, “I can only have one?", you might be a slash youth(斜杠青年). The source of the term slash youth is the “/" used when introducing jobs in English. It refers to a group of people who no longer meet the lifestyle of a single occupation, but choose a diverse life with multiple occupations and identities. Those people are also called the slash-generation or slashers.
It is most likely a result of the ample amount of options students have today regarding their education. Since they are able to pick what they want to study, they prefer to continue doing this in their career path as well.
The number of people with slash careers in China has gone beyond 80 million. Many people think it is a trend. They note that multiple sidelines can make them acquire different skills. Xue Zhenni, 34, who has adopted a slash career, says, “My second identity as a tour guide has even promoted my first job——a human resources administrator. She adds that she could build up interpersonal communication skills and adaptability, and improve effectiveness. All of those gild (镀金) her first title.
Some people think if they limit themselves to a certain skill, they may risk going out of date in this changing society. The Chinese economy is transitioning (过渡) from high-speed growth to high-quality development. It requires a higher level of professionalism and more skills for young people in order to adapt to the changes.
Slashers' popularity has also raised concerns from critics, who argue that multiple roles risk weakening the performance of slashers in their full-time jobs. But most people agree with the idea that people can choose to be a slasher as long as their side work won’t affect their full-time one.
1. What is the most remarkable feature of the slash-generation?| A．They always set limits to their career paths. |
| B．They refuse to engage in specialized work. |
| C．They prefer having multiple job experiences. |
| D．They like to be restricted to a single interest. |
| A．Slashers have to build up different skills. |
| B．Sidelines have more advantages than regular jobs. |
| C．Tour guide is a good job for the slash-generation. |
| D．Slashers can benefit from their multiple roles. |
| A．Give less weight to their first occupation. |
| B．Avoid being engaged in too many side jobs. |
| C．Forget the unpleasant comments from the critics. |
| D．Strike a balance between regular jobs and side ones. |
| A．The Method to Gain More Working Skills |
| B．Disadvantages of the Youth’s New Lifestyle |
| C．The Trend of Embracing a “Slash” Career |
| D．Conflicts Between Regular Jobs and Sidelines |
【推荐2】Catalonia, a region in northeastern Spain, is known for its architecture, sea-side markets and white champagne. It has its own language and even a regional flag. But the most dramatic display of Catalonian culture comes from the tradition of building castells, or human pyramids. First documented in 1801 as a cultural activity, castell building was declared an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO in 2010.
In Catalonia, most towns have a castell building group with hundreds of members. Anyone is allowed to join, and families often participate together. An official organization keeps a record of the points awarded at each competition and then ranks the groups. Points are given based on the difficulty of the pyramid’s structure and height. For a long time, seven levels was the tallest that had been achieved, but lately pyramids have been built as high as ten.
Basic pyramids contain five main levels. The first level is called the pinya, followed by the folre, the manilles, the tronk, and the pom de dalt. The tronk is the vertical structure in the center of the pyramid that holds the most weight. The strongest men make up the tronk, followed by strong but light women. A small child known as the enxaneta climbs to the pom de dalt. The enxaneta is usually between 7 and 10 years old and must be light and fearless.
“As the enxaneta begins to climb, silence falls over the crowd and the air is charged with both excitement and fear, because no one knows where the pyramid is going to end,” said Giori Worsley, who began studying human pyramid building 11 years ago.
Originally attracted by the structures themselves, Giori Worsley later realized that building higher human pyramids was not the most important thing. The most important thing was the close connection within the Catalonian society that encouraged people to support each other.
“I see it as a poetic reflection of the society,” he said. “All the participants at the base hold to each other so tightly that it’s almost like they have become one, while the stronger men hold the weight of the youngsters and women on their shoulders.”
1. Which of the following best describes the castell building in Catalonia?| A．Castells are not just judged by their heights. |
| B．Seven-level castells are the tallest at present. |
| C．Competition is held within the same group. |
| D．Women and kids are not allowed to participate. |
| A．Brave girls. | B．Strong men. | C．Fearless boys. | D．Tall women. |
| A．Well-paid and easy. | B．Challenging and safe. |
| C．Difficult and boring. | D．Exciting and dangerous. |
| A．It is really poor. | B．It is romantic. |
| C．It is very united. | D．It enjoys in-fights. |
【推荐3】What is the single most effective way to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions? Go vegetarian? Replant the Amazon? Cycle to work? None of the above. The answer is: make air-conditioners radically better. On one calculation, replacing refrigerants(制冷剂) that damage the atmosphere would reduce total greenhouse gases by the equivalent of 90bn tonnes of CO2 by 2050. Making the units more energy-efficient could double that.
Air-conditioning is one of the world’s great overlooked industries. Automobiles and air-conditioners were invented at roughly the same time, and both have had a huge impact on where people live and work. Unlike cars, though, air-conditioners have drawn little criticism for their social impact, emissions or energy efficiency. Most hot countries do not have rules to govern their energy use.
Yet air-conditioning has done quite a lot things to benefit humankind. It has transformed productivity in the tropics and helped turn southern China into the workshop of the world. In Europe, its spread has pushed down heat-related deaths ten times less than what it was in 2003, when 70,000 people, most of them elderly, died in a heatwave. For children, air-conditioned classrooms and dormitories are associated with better grades at school.
Environmentalists who call air-conditioning “a luxury we cannot afford” have half a point, however. In the next ten years, as many air-conditioners will be installed around the world as were put in between 1902 (when air-conditioning was invented) and 2005. Until energy can be produced without carbon emissions, these extra machines will warm the world. At the moment, therefore, air-conditioners create a vicious cycle. The more the earth warms, the more people need them. But the more there are, the warmer the world will be.
Cutting the impact of cooling requires three things (beyond turning up the thermostat(温度调节器) to make rooms less Arctic). First, air-conditioners must become much more efficient. The most energy-efficient models on the market today consume only about one-third as much electricity as average ones. Minimum energy-performance standards need to be raised, or introduced in countries that lack them altogether, to push the average unit’s performance closer to the standard of the best.
Next, manufacturers should stop using damaging refrigerants. One category of these, hydrofluorocarbons, is over 1,000 times worse than carbon dioxide when it comes to trapping heat in the atmosphere. An international deal to phase out these pollutants, called the Kigali amendment, will come into force in 2019. Foot-draggers should approve and implement it; America is one country that has not done so.
Last, more could be done to design offices, malls and even cities so they do not need as many air-conditioners in the first place. More buildings should be built with overhanging roofs or balconies for shade, or with natural air-circulation. Simply painting roofs white can help keep temperatures down.
Better machines are necessary. But cooling as an overall system needs to be improved if air-conditioning is to fulfil its promise to make people healthier, wealthier and wiser, without too high an environmental cost. Providing indoor sanctuaries of air-conditioned comfort need not come at the expense of an overheating world.
1. Why does the author think air-conditioning is an overlooked industry？| A．Because many hot countries haven’t put the energy-controlling rules into force. |
| B．Because it has caused the same impact on people’s life and work as automobiles have. |
| C．Because it has brought great economic, physical, and educational benefits to humans. |
| D．Because it doesn’t get the due criticism for its environmental impact as automobiles do. |
| A．The price of air-conditioning will go up due to the large demand for it. |
| B．A high environmental cost will come along with the air-conditioning service. |
| C．Environmentalists are expecting extra machines which can warm the world. |
| D．Governments partially agree that air-conditioning is a luxury we cannot afford. |
| A．Manufacturers should only stop using hydrofluorocarbons. |
| B．People should avoid turning up the air-conditioners to have cool rooms on hot days. |
| C．People should adopt more environmentally-friendly materials when designing buildings. |
| D．Governments should give a green light to the agreement on eliminating the pollutants. |
| A．arouse people’s attention to the global warming. |
| B．appeal for the global joint efforts to combat global warming. |
| C．give credit to air-conditioning for its great contributions to humans |
| D．offer a new perspective on how to reduce greenhouse gasses emissions |
【推荐1】Autumn is great for European walking: paths are mud-free, temperatures are mild, crowds are few and beautiful colors abound.The following are four European adventures to walk your way through autumn.
The unknown Cilento
South of Italy’s Amalfi Coast hides a much less discovered wonderland.After stopping to view the marvelous Greek temple remains at Paestum, Sherpa’s next destination concentrates on the Cilento National Park — first following its rugged seashore past the occasional myrtle grove (小树林), and sandy beach, then leaving modernity behind and venturing inland to medieval (中世纪的) hilltop towns.Home-cooked dinners conclude exciting days of goat tracks and ghost villages before a scenic path leads back to the seaside.Four nights £630 half board, including transport, luggage transfers and walking notes.Last departure October 31.
Turkish delights
Follow an impressive section of Turkey’s expansive Lycian Way, gradually moving from cliffs to coastline.You’ll begin in pine-filled peaks, typically on shaded paths to sea views, and stop at both a pool-boasting upscale hotel and one of the Yanartas region’s ever-burning flames — possibly fueled by a monster below.A fine fish restaurant comes next, then a mile-long sandy beach ahead of two days on lonely Cape Gelidonya, finishing by its lighthouse.Six nights £790, including ten other meals, transport, luggage transfers and walking notes.Last departure in early November.
Carpathian clambers
Poland and Slovakia are separated by the Carpathian Mountains and their large forest-filled valleys.Starting and ending in Krakow, this trip covers both countries.Some days include the option of climbing to snowy peaks or taking easier, lower-altitude options, and you’ll likely meet the Gorals — a culturally-distinct group known as “highlanders”.Most memorable activity will be walking along the 300m-high Dunajec River to spa town Szczawnica.Seven nights £630, including transport, luggage transfers and walking notes.Last departure October 24.
Flowers and feta
Greece’s Pelion Peninsula is a place known as the “Land of the Centaurs (人首马身的怪物)” for its association with the mythological horse-human hybrids.Between villages of whitewashed, flower-decorated stone houses, walkers can follow old paths onto mountainsides, and wander through olive groves or beside the glittering Aegean Sea.Some days yield swimming opportunities, and others the chance to recharge in a local pub of some bean soup and feta-cheese bread.Seven nights £535, including transport, luggage transfers and walking notes.Last departure October 23.
1. What can you do when you are in the unknown Cilento?| A．Swim in a pool. | B．Have a spa. |
| C．Explore medieval towns. | D．Walk through olive groves. |
| A．Turkey. | B．Cilento. | C．Greece | D．Krakow. |
| A．It is a monster that fuels the fire in Yanartas region. |
| B．Meals are free when you are taking the first adventure. |
| C．You can enjoy a spa from Gorals in the town Szczawnica. |
| D．Bean soup can be served in the pub of Greece’s Pelion Peninsula. |
【推荐2】Have you ever dreamed of meeting top scientists in person? If so, what would you want to ask them?
For Tan Fanglin, a 15-year-old girl from No. 2 High School of East China Normal University in Shanghai, her dream of meeting top scientists has already come true.
In October, she attended the World Laureates Forum(世界顶尖科学家论坛) for a second time, which had attracted 44 Nobel Prize laureates(获奖者) and 21 other world-class award winners.
Tan was by far the youngest participant among the scientists invited to be at the meeting of the world's sharpest minds. Her discovery about the relationship between the Fibonacci sequence(斐波那契数列) and Bezout numbers(贝祖数) has won her many prizes in youth innovation(创新) competitions both in Shanghai and elsewhere in China.
Her research is not just related to some complex concepts, but rather she made a breakthrough for estimating(估算) the upper and lower bounds(界限) of Bezout numbers. This finding has been praised by the famous Canadian mathematician Professor Rankin, who provided an estimator in his issue published in American Mathematical Monthly in 2013. According to Guangming Daily,Rankin has been studying the same theme for five years but with no conclusions.
From a very young age, Tan has always been fascinated by mathematics. This is largely because of the influence of her father, who teaches mathematics in East China Normal University. But she had not participated in any Mathematics Olympiad exams before, which she finds will take up too much time.
According to Xu Jun, Tan's head teacher from her middle and high school, she doesn't take after-school classes or too many extra exercises either. Her mastering of Further Mathematics and her good grades in school are thanks to the right study method. Her mother told Guangming Daily that Tan always treats studying and life with a positive mindset(心态) so she can feel happy while studying.
Attending this forum enabled Tan to get more inspiration from top scientists. She even got the opportunity to talk with Gero Miesenbock, the 2019 Warren Alpert Foundation Prize winner and the founder of ptogenetics(光遗传学). She asked Professor Miesenbock what he considered were the best personal qualities for conducting scientific research. Miesenbock encouraged her not to lose her passion and love for what she does. He said that accepting failures is crucial(决定性的) for researchers. He stressed that people all knew that even Thomas Edison went through hundreds of unsuccessful attempts before finally inventing the light bulb.
Tan has met many barriers in her research and often feel upset. The words made Tan feel inspired. “l will keep my curiosity and interests in mathematics and overcome any obstacles(障碍) in my research,” she told Chinese Business View.
1. Why was Tan Fanglin invited to the World Laureates Forum?| A．She wanted to meet top scientists there. |
| B．She had won many prizes in Mathematics Olympiad exams. |
| C．She has been interested in mathematics since her childhood. |
| D．She had made remarkable achievements in mathematics research. |
| A．She studies efficiently and stays optimistic in learning. |
| B．Her academic achievements are thanks to his teacher's assistance. |
| C．She spends many more hours doing many more exercises after class. |
| D．Her father often gives her advice on how to study well. |
| A．What the best personal qualities for doing scientific research are. |
| B．What the most efficient method of conducting scientific research is. |
| C．How to find a breakthrough in scientific research. |
| D．How to learn lessons from others' experience and failures. |
| A．Tan Fanglin has made steady progress in mathematics research |
| B．science research goes together with failures and difficulties |
| C．science only favors those with talents in a certain field |
| D．curiosity and interest will ensure you great achievements |
【推荐3】A campaign in the United Kingdom that seeks to pressure publishers to stop labeling children’s books according to gender(性别) is being given a push, with leading writers and at least one newspaper expressing support.
“We’re asking children’s publishers to take the ‘Boys’ and ‘Girls’ labels off books and allow children to choose freely what kinds interest them.” says the statement by the Let Books Be Books campaign. The organizers of the campaign say, “Such labels send out very limiting massages to children about what kinds of things are appropriate for girls or for boys.”
On Sunday, the movement got an important advance when the newspaper The Independent announced it would no longer comment on such books, or even blog about them. “Happily, as the literary editor of The Independent, there is something that I can do about this. So I promise now that the newspaper and this website will not be reviewing any book which is aimed at just girls, or just boys. Nor will The independent’s books section.” wrote editor Katy Guest.
The Guardian reports that one of Britain’s biggest bookstore chains, Waterstones, as well as U.K. Children’s Laureate Malorie Blackman, and U.K. Poet Laureate Carol Ann Duffy have also announced their support. “The campaign is attacking titles such as Usborne’s Illustrated Classics for Boys, described by the publisher as ‘a collection of action, adventure and daring-do stories suitable for boys,’ while its Illustrated Stories for Girls contains ‘brand new stories about princesses and dolls,’ ” The Guardian wrote.
But such a movement would also affect many popular and beloved books, such as the best selling The Dangerous Book for Boys. It’s clear not everyone thinks removing “for boys” and “for girls” from book titles is such a good idea. Many of The Independent’s readers are criticizing the newspaper’s announcement that it is banning reviews of such books.
“This is just stupidity,” wrote one reader on The Independent’s website. “The Independent has been an intelligent publication in my mind since I was a very young boy. So sad to see that change.”
1. What is The Let Books Be Books campaign?| A．It teaches kids about appropriateness. |
| B．It opposes gendered children’s books. |
| C．It aims to offer help to writers and newspapers. |
| D．It advises publishers to help children choose books. |
| A．Stop reviewing books labeled with “Boys” or “girl”. |
| B．Publish more children’s books on its website. |
| C．Provide more book reviews every Sundays. |
| D．Encourage children to review books. |
| A．They aren’t suitable for children. |
| B．They shouldn’t have similar titles. |
| C．They include too many adventure stories. |
| D．They should be open to kids of either gender. |
| A．To comment on some popular children’s books. |
| B．To report the recent progress of a cultural campaign. |
| C．To discuss some big changes in the world’s book market. |
| D．To explain the differences between books for boys and girls. |
