European researchers say they have created a process that can produce oxygen from moon dust. The process could provide a major source of oxygen for humans taking part in moon exploration activities in the future. Researchers from the European Space Agency (ESA), carried out the experiments at a laboratory in the Netherlands. They reported their results in a study published in Planetary and Space Science.
The team says ESA’s experimental “plant” was able to successfully produce oxygen from simulated (仿造的) moon dust. The dust is part of a material known as regolith, a top layer of dirt and rock fragments that sit on the surface of the moon. Samples of regolith returned from the moon have confirmed that the material contains about 45 percent oxygen by weight. However, the oxygen is chemically locked in the form of minerals or glass, so it is not easily available for use. Having real samples of regolith from the moon made it possible for the researchers to create the simulated moon dust material used during testing.
ESA’s long-term goal is to design an oxygen-producing “pilot plant” to operate full-time on the moon. The first technology demonstration (演示) of the system is expected to take place in the middle 2020s. Beth Lomax of the University of Glasgow was a lead researcher on the project. “Being able to acquire oxygen from resources found on the moon would obviously be hugely useful for future lunar settlers, both for breathing and in the local production of rocket fuel,” she said in a statement.
The researchers reported that “as a bonus”, the process also results in the production of usable metallic materials. ESA researcher Alexandre Meurisse said the finding that a number of metals are left behind was an important discovery.
ESA and the U.S. space agency NASA are both working on plans to return human beings to the moon. NASA has set a goal for 2024, with the aim to keep humans on the moon for long periods. ESA officials say the latest experiments were part of expanded engineering development aimed at finding new ways for lunar materials to be used to support future human activities.
Last August, NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida announced its own plans to develop a device that would melt lunar regolith to extract oxygen.
The NASA plan would involve heating the regolith to more than 1,600 degrees Celsius and then flowing electricity through the material, the agency explained. The process would attempt to cause a chemical reaction to split the regolith into oxygen and metals.
Kevin Grossman is a materials science expert at Kennedy Space Center. He said researchers will be carrying out experiments to test the technology with the goal of getting NASA, in his words, “one step closer to an automated mass production of oxygen on the Moon.”
1. How will the process benefit humans according to the study?| A．By creating warm air for researchers on the moon. |
| B．By providing rocks for the production of minerals. |
| C．By testing the weight of the oxygen contained in moon dust. |
| D．By offering oxygen for people conducting studies on the moon. |
| A．Its poor quality. |
| B．Its small quantity. |
| C．Its form of existence. |
| D．Its complex structure. |
| A．Usable metals. | B．Fresh oxygen. |
| C．Rare minerals. | D．Precious glass. |
| A．European Researchers Discovered Oxygen From Moon Dust |
| B．Oxygen Found for Humans Taking Part in Moon Exploration |
| C．Oxygen Successfully Produced From the Moon Dust |
| D．Mass Production of Oxygen achieved on the Moon |
相似题推荐
【推荐1】Can you tell the difference between a glass of regular and diet soda?
So when we drink diet soda, the sweetness tricks our body into thinking it’s real sugar but when those energy-packed calories don’t arrive, the insulin in our brain has nothing to store.
While drinking diet soda with the meal may sound like a tasty calorie free alternative to plain water, this may be the worse time to drink it because the cheating calories in the diet soda could finally destroy the real calories we metabolize.
Another problem could be the fact that artificial sweeteners in diet soda can be 10s to 100s of times sweeter than sugar.
In the same way, artificial sweeteners can leave our brains wanting more, which leads to increased appetite and potential weight gain.
| A．Turns out, neither can your body |
| B．No, this was diet soda and it was awesome |
| C．When you go to a party expecting loads of food |
| D．That drinking diet soda is associated with a disease |
| E．So if you’re drinking diet soda to drop a few pounds |
| F．And it potentially leaves extra calories behind we then store as fat |
| G．So when we taste it, our brains expect more calories than what we give it |
【推荐2】The UN Environment Programme says that raising temperatures could mean the end of some migrating (迁徙) animals.
Migrating animals move through several environments as they travel away from the cold area into winter to warmer ones. Birds may fly from one part of the world to another, perhaps stopping at feeding grounds on the way. Whales and turtles travel through huge areas of ocean. A report says that changes in any one of the places where these animals stay can cause serious problems. “Obviously these animals have developed their traveling ways over thousands of years. But weather changes much greater over the next 25 to 50 years. And it is impossible for these animals to change their habits fast enough,” said the report writer Dr. Robert Hepworth.
Turtles are hit hardest by rising temperatures. Scientists have found that at higher temperatures, Turtles have far more female eggs than male ones. In parts of Malaysia, Turtles are only giving birth to female babies. And some turtles are more probable to develop cancer as the waters get warmer.
With birds, the main problem is the harm to important areas at the end of their travels or at resting places along the way. About one-fifth of immigration birds are now in danger because of these changes, including rising sea levels, land loss and more strong storms.
Some other animals are now in great danger. For example , the North Atlantic Right Whale is losing their food because of the changing ocean flows; The White-Nose Dolphin is out-competed (淘汰) by other kinds in warmer waters.
The report is not all bad news. Even with the temperature changing, protecting the environment can still help migrating animals return. "We need governments to start taking action all over the world. The clock is ticking. We should make full use of every minute. " said Dr. Hepworth. And now some projects are already working! Whales are changing their feeding habits , finding new feeding grounds and new foods to eat.
1. Why does this raising temperature mean the end of some migrating animals?| A．They stop moving through several environments. |
| B．They can't suit the changes during their travelling. |
| C．Their travelling habits will be changed fast enough. |
| D．They keep flying from one part of the world to another. |
| A．The North Atlantic Right Whale may find new food. |
| B．Some turtles may develop cancer with the warm waters. |
| C．1/5 of migrating birds change their feeding habits. |
| D．The White-Nosed Dolphin may have only female babies. |
| A．It takes time to achieve the project. |
| B．It may be too late to save the world. |
| C．It's time to solve the problems at once. |
| D．It's important to stop animals from returning. |
| A．Ways to prevent world warming. |
| B．Steps to save the animals in danger. |
| C．Animals' competition with others for food. |
| D．Effect of rising temperatures on migrating animals. |
【推荐3】Most adults find it hard to recall events from their first few years of life and now scientists have found exactly when these childhood memories fade(消失).
A new study has found that most three-year-olds can recall a lot of what happened to them over a year earlier, and these memories persist while they are five and six, but by the time they are over seven, these memories decline(衰退) rapidly.
Most children by the age of eight or nine can only recall 35% of their experiences from under the age of three, according to the new findings.
The scientists behind the research say this is because at around this age the way we form memories begins to change. They say that before the age of seven children do not have a sense of time and place in their memories. In older children, however, the early events they can recall tend to be more adult-like in the way they are formed. Children also have a far faster rate of forgetting than adults. The findings also help to explain why children can often have clear memories of events but then forget them just a couple of years later.
The youngsters first visited the laboratory at the age of three and discussed six unique events from their past, such as family outings, trips to the zoo, and the first day of school. The children then returned for a second session between the ages of five and nine to discuss the same events. The researchers found that between the ages of five and seven, the amount of memories the children could recall remained between 63 -72 percent. However, the amount of information eight-to nine-year-old children could recall dropped to 35 and 36 percent.
1. What does the new study tell us?| A．Childhood memories decline with years. |
| B．Three-year-old kids are the cleverest. |
| C．Childhood memories can fade easily. |
| D．Some adults cannot recall past events. |
| A．Change. | B．Remain. |
| C．Appear. | D．Return. |
| A．Adults cannot have clear memories of past events. |
| B．Children can think like adults when they get older. |
| C．Children under 7 years old have different ways of forming memories. |
| D．Children often forget things because they have no idea of time or place. |
| A．refused to discuss the same events |
| B．remembered all their family outings |
| C．could recall 72 percent of their past events |
| D．only remembered a small part of their past events |
【推荐1】A months-long rescue operation to save giraffes from Longicharo Island’s rising water in Kenya recently concluded after delivering the last two stranded giraffes to safety at the Ruko Community Wildlife Conservancy. Save Giraffes now partnered with Northern Rangelands Trust and local conservation agencies to transfer the Rothschild’s giraffes, one of the most endangered populations of giraffe.
To get the giraffes from the sinking island to the mainland nearly one mile away, community members built a “giraft”, a custom-made ship with tall sides, supported by 60 empty drums. The giraffes were transferred one at a time. “Water levels in Lake Baringo have been rising for some time, but in 2020 the rate of rise increased — flooding lakeshore homes, businesses, and threatening the lives of a small group of Rothschild’s giraffes on Longicharo Island, in Ruko Conservancy,” Northern Rangelands Trust said in a statement.
“At last, they can safely breed (繁殖) and bring back the population of the free-ranging Rothschild’s giraffes to their former home ranges in Baringo. It’s such a relief for all involved to have gotten them safely across to the mainland and we are sure they’re enjoying the space in their new home,” he said.
Rothschild’s giraffes were once widespread across Kenya, Uganda and southern Sudan, but numbers have decreased by 80%, leaving only 3,000 in the wild today. But there is hope, given by innovative (创新的) conservation teamwork such as this.
“Working with the communities in the area over the next several years, we will keep this combined group of giraffes safe, and as they breed, their numbers will grow over time, eventually rejoining their cousins in Uganda,” Save Giraffes Now said in a statement.
1. What does the underlined word “stranded” in paragraph 1 mean?| A．Weak. | B．Trapped. |
| C．Lonely. | D．Frightened. |
| A．It is short of advanced equipment. |
| B．It operates very efficiently. |
| C．It works with the local government. |
| D．It aims to save all endangered animals. |
| A．Near Lake Baringo. |
| B．On Longicharo Island. |
| C．In Kenya, Uganda and southern Sudan. |
| D．At the Ruko Community Wildlife Conservancy. |
| A．The giraffes are endangered in Kenya. |
| B．Two giraffes have been saved in Kenya. |
| C．The Rothschild’s giraffes are finally found. |
| D．The population of giraffes decreased. |
【推荐2】Workers, and possibly all people, can be divided into two groups. Those who like to be involved in everything and can be labeled “FOMOs” because they suffer from a “fear of missing out”. Then there are those who would simply want to be left to get on with their own particular work, without distraction—the “JOMOs” (joy of missing out).
If the boss announces a new project, do you immediately volunteer, thinking this will be a great chance to prove your skills? If so, you are a FOMO. Or do you foresee the trouble involved, the likely failure of the project, and the weekend emails from all the FOMOs wanting to spend less time with their families? Then you are a certified JOMO. Another test is technology. FOMOs are early users, picking up the latest devices and sending documents to colleagues through the latest file-sharing programme. JOMOs tend to believe that any technology upgrade will be troublesome in the beginning and wonder why on earth their colleagues can’t send the document everyone has been familiar with.
Networking events are the kind of thing that gets FOMOs excited as a chance to exchange ideas and make contacts. When JOMOs hear the word “networking”, they reach for their noise-cancelling earphones. For them, being made to attend an industry cocktail party is rather like being forced to attend the wedding of someone they hardly know—a social suffering. Similarly, when it comes to business travel, FOMOs can’t wait to experience the delight of overseas conferences and visiting new places. It will all look good on their CV. JOMOs know that such travel involves lots of discomforts like crowded airline seats. The final destination turns out to be nothing more than a common conference centre or hotel that they forget five minutes after they have left. While they recognize that they have to attend some meetings and go on trips to get their work done, JOMOs regard such things as a self-punishment instead of a privilege. Something useful may come out of it, but best not to get their hopes up.
It might seem obvious that employers should look to hire FOMOs, not their opposites. After all, in a company full of JOMOs, sales might suffer and there would be little innovation. But while FOMOs are racing from meeting to networking events, employers need a few JOMOs to be doing actual work. The other reason why depending on FOMOs is dangerous is that they are naturally restless. JOMOs will be loyal, for fear of ending up with a worse employer. But FOMOs may think that working for one company means they are missing out on better conditions at another. That is the point of most networking, after all.
1. Which of the following best describe FOMOs?| A．Excited about the networking events. |
| B．Finding it annoyed to use latest devices. |
| C．Hesitating to get involved in a new project. |
| D．Showing no interest in building up social relationship. |
| A．Enjoy the conferences and the overseas trip |
| B．Believe it will enrich their working experience |
| C．Finish their work without too much expectations |
| D．Complain about something uncomfortable during the trip. |
| A．They don’t do any actual work at all. |
| B．They usually end up with a worse employer. |
| C．They don’t improve sales and have little innovation. |
| D．They may leave for better job chances in other company. |
| A．Indifferent | B．Positive | C．Doubtful | D．Critical |
【推荐3】Both IQ and EQ are considered important to our career success. But nowadays, as technology redefines how we work, the qualities we need are developing too. Take adaptability quotient(AQ), a subjective set of qualities loosely defined as the ability to improve in an environment of fast and frequent change.
Every profession will require adaptability and flexibility. Your IQ gets you through the examinations to become qualified for the job. Your EQ helps you connect with an interviewer, land a job, and develop relationships with customers and colleagues. Then, when systems change or aspects of work are automated, you will need AQ to adjust to this change and adapt to new ways of performing your role.
All three quotients are somewhat complementary, since they all help you solve problems and therefore adapt. AQ is now increasingly being sought at the hiring level. While there is no specific method of measuring adaptability like an IQ test, companies are changing their hiring processes to help identify people who may be high in it.
Natalie Fratto, a vice-president at Goldman Sachs, suggests three ways AQ might show in potential candidates: if they can picture possible versions of the future by asking “what if” questions; if they can question incorrect information of an authority; and if they enjoy exploration or seek out new experiences.
Experts say you can work to develop AQ. First, limit distractions and learn to focus so that you can determine what adaptations to make. Second, ask uncomfortable questions to develop courage and normalize fear. Third, be curious about things that fascinate you by having more conversations rather than Googling the answer, something that reduces your ability to solve difficult challenges.
Because of automation, many people in the world may need to be reskilled. We may not all be comfortable with the pace of change—but we can prepare. The ability to learn, change, grow, experiment will become far more important than subject knowledge.
1. What aspect of AQ is mainly talked about in paragraph 2?| A．The definition. | B．The function. | C．The feature | D．The strength. |
| A．drawing pictures | B．learning from authority |
| C．answering what-if questions | D．exploring new possibilities |
| A．Concentrating on our work | B．Avoiding fearful situations. |
| C．Being curious about conversations. | D．Surfing the Internet for information |
| A．AQ Helps Your Success | B．IQ Improves Your Relationship |
| C．New Skills Challenge Your EQ | D．New Technologies Change New Qualities |
【推荐1】Every weekday, shortly after 11 a.m., a line forms at the Broadway and 38th Street location of Sweetgreen, the eco-conscious salad chain. By noon, the line has usually tripled （三倍）in size.
The scene is similar at the Chop't, or the Dig Inn, or the Just Salad one block south. Greens, once so unattractive that parents all over the country had to beg their children to eat them, have never been hotter.
At Sweetgreen , the appeal is partly ethical . The ingredients are sustainably farmed, sourced from trusted partner and served with transparency. There are vegetarian, gluten-free and “warm bowl” options. There are raw beets and organic carrots. It's enough to make the most wasteful among us feel satisfied . It is any wonder that Sweetgreen is the fastest growing salad chain in the United States?
The moral overtones extend even to the trash. As customers pay and head back toward their various workplaces , they pass an often Overflowing garbage bin with a proud sign above it that says that all of the company’s utensils, napkins, bowls and cups are plant-based, "which means they go in the compost bin（堆肥箱），along with any leftover food." "Nothing from inside Sweetgreen goes to the landfill（垃圾填埋）,” the sign declares further, virtuously.
But that's far from the truth, although it,s not the chain's fault.
Zara Watson, a lawyer who eats at Sweetgreen three times a week, throws the waste from her healthful lunch directly in the trash because she does not have to compost at her office. So does Sam Hockley, the managing director at the software company Meltwater, who is willing to eat a Sweetgreen bowl for breakfast, lunch or dinner.
Salad is appealing not only because the food is healthy for us but because it's healthy for the world. But even as Sweetgreen and its marvelous effort, the compostable（可降解的） containers the chain puts such care into providing are, more often than not, going to a landfill.
Eric Goldstein, the New York City environment director, said that it typically takes a city about a decade to transition to successful composting. Now New York faces several challenges, one " which is educating people on how to compost in the first place. u!f you were to stop a person in the street, 1 don't know how many people could even tell you what composting really is," he said. "We need a large-scale program to let New Yorkers know why this is important and how to participate in the program .”
And of course, composting itself is not the gold standard of eco-conscious lunch disposal, “it's still best to use reusable things, even before composting and recycling,” Mr. Goldstein said. "But composting is an extremely valuable thing to do."
1. The reasons why Sweetgreen is so popular include all the followings EXCEPT _________.| A．the ingredients it uses are safe and reliable |
| B．The products it offers are attractive to children |
| C．The products it offers meet the needs of different customers |
| D．there is a growing trend toward eating green |
| A．The shop encourages customers not to waste food. |
| B．The containers that Sweetgreen uses are reusable. |
| C．The leftover food from the shop will be sent to landfill. |
| D．The tableware that Sweetgreen uses is environment-friendly. |
| A．Because composting is unnecessary where she works. |
| B．Because she thinks it is wrong to compost waste. |
| C．Because the material Sweetgreen uses isn't compostable. |
| D．Because she is unwilling to walk to the compost bin. |
| A．The biggest challenge in composting is the objection from customers. |
| B．Most Americans have realized the necessity of garbage classification. |
| C．The transition to successful composting in New York is a tough task. |
| D．The best way to deal with leftover food is to turn it into compost. |
【推荐2】Do the exercise15 through 25. Give the different forms of the verbs on page50 of your French workbook. Read page12 through 20 of the Shakespeare play, and when you have finished that, don’t forget to fill the missing chemical symbols on the Periodic Table of Elements worksheet.
Homework is a major part of going to class, and it helps students grasp important concepts. Luckily, you can do a few things to make homework less painful.
First, be sure you understand the assignment. Write it down in your notebook or day planner if you need to, and don’t be afraid to ask questions about what is expected. It is much easier to take a minute to ask the teacher during or after class than to struggle to remember later at night!
Second, use any extra time you have in school to work on your homework. Many schools have study halls that are specifically designed to allow students to study or get homework done. It is attractive to hang out with friends during study periods or unscheduled time, but the more work you can get done in school, the less you will have to do at night.
Third, pace yourself. If you don’t finish your homework during school, think about how much you have left and what else is going on that day, and then budget your time. Most high school students have between 1 and 3 hours of homework a night. If it is a heavy-homework day and it seems like you have got an assignment on every subject but gym and lunch, you will need to devote more time to homework schedule, especially if you are involved in sports or activities or have an after-school job.
1. The first paragraph is probably ______.| A．examination items |
| B．a list of homework |
| C．some teacher training tasks |
| D．some learning methods |
| A．Opposing. | B．Impatient. |
| C．Approving. | D．Concerned. |
| A．take part in studying teams |
| B．appeal for teachers’ aid at any time |
| C．focus full attention on teachers’ lecture |
| D．make full use of the time at school |
| A．Why Students Should Do Homework |
| B．How to Make Homework Less Work |
| C．It is High Time Teachers Gave Less Homework |
| D．Who is to Blame for Children’ s Poor Eyesight |
【推荐3】International Mother Language Day is celebrated on 21 February every year. This day shall remind us about the many different languages that exist in the world. It is used to create awareness(意识) of the importance of our home languages.
Languages help us communicate our ideas, understandings and feelings. We also use our language to share our identity which means our cultural traditions, our customs and beliefs.
Many languages are unique(独一无二的) to a country, although English is the most spoken language around the world by non-native speakers. Non-native speakers are all those who learn a language as their second or foreign language.
Did you know that there are over 7,000 languages spoken in the world? Though only 5% of those languages are represented on the internet! The languages most used on the internet are English, Russian and German.
Chinese (Mandarin), Spanish, English, Arabic and Hindi are the most spoken languages around the world but they are not represented in the same order in written text. And not all languages exist in written form at all. Some languages in Africa such as Southern Ndebele only received their first written text in recent years.
Many languages which are spoken worldwide only have few mother tongue speakers and some were never written. Languages with few speakers are mainly found in Oceania, southern Asia, Africa and the Amazon area in South America. In fact, one language dies out every two weeks, as the language is not used anymore.
1. International Mother Language Day is celebrated to ________.| A．encourage us to learn more foreign languages |
| B．help us communicate our ideas and feelings |
| C．share our identity between different countries |
| D．make us realize the importance of mother languages |
| A．Over 7,000. | B．About 6,650. |
| C．Over 1,400 | D．About 350. |
| A．Not all languages have written form. |
| B．One language disappears every other day. |
| C．Languages with few speakers appear in Europe. |
| D．The language most used on the internet is Chinese. |
【推荐1】There are many ways to travel within a city. We can walk, cycle, or take a bus. But no matter which way we travel, we have to stick to the route(线路) the city planners laid down for us.
Parkour practitioners (跑酷爱好者), however, see the city in a completely different way. To them, there are no fixed routes. There are no walls and no stairs—since they jump, climb, roll and crawl to move across, through, over and under anything that they find in their path. The city is their playground.
The International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) has noticed that this activity is drawing more and more people to it—there are 100,000 people taking part in parkour today in the UK alone, according to the Guardian—and how it is helpful for people to be much stronger: It trains coordination and balance. So the organization is thinking about recognizing parkour as a new sport and adding it to the Olympics by 2024.
But parkour practitioners themselves don’t seem to be happy with the idea. They see parkour as “a lifestyle”, wrote the website NextSportStar. “It’s a competition against the conditions rather than just a sport.”
Indeed, many do parkour just to “escape the daily routine and experience the city in different ways”, wrote reporter Oli Mould on The Conversation. They see parkour as a way to express themselves through relaxing moves and creative routes while freeing themselves from the pressure.
It’s great that the FIG wants to develop new sport and stay close to a new cultural form. But it would be greater if they knew that not everything in life is a competition.
1. How do the parkour practitioners do parkour?| A．They move on as they wish. | B．They plan the way themselves. |
| C．They run faster than others. | D．They stick to certain routes. |
| A．It’s a special way of life. | B．It draws their attention. |
| C．It’s good for people to keep healthy. | D．It needs some rules and instructions. |
| A．It is more formal than other sports. | B．It helps people to be creative. |
| C．It’s worth adding to the sporting event. | D．It calls on people to work as a team. |
| A．A new sports competition | B．Parkour practitioners |
| C．Training in a different way | D．Making the city their own |
【推荐2】In many parts of the world, cars play an important role in daily life and many societies would not exist without them. So the idea that in 20 years’ time, no one will own cars may be hard to believe. But this is the prediction made by a team of transport researchers who are taken seriously, not only by government but also by car manufacturers.
The Human Science and Advanced Technology Institute at Loughborough in the UK is part of an international research program. The team there believes that by 2020 all cars will be computerized, which will mean much saving, no accidents and better use of roads. The super-intelligent car of the 2lst century will drive itself, and it will not be owned by one individual. Instead, we will have a choice of cars and change them as frequently as we change our clothing.
According to Dr. David Davis, who leads the research team, these predictions are based on the rising cost of the car culture, which had blocked up our cities, polluted our air, and caused more deaths than both world wars put together.
Davis says, cars will be fitted with some intelligent devices to regulate the distance between one car and another. The car will automatically speed up, or slow down, to match the speed of the car in front. Computers are much safer drivers than people, so cars in a road train will be able to drive much closer together than cars driven by people.
By 2010, Dr. David Davis believes, car technology will give motorists a clear view of the road, whatever the weather conditions, by projecting an image of the road ahead on to the car’s windscreen. And by 2020, cars will travel in convoy, linked to each other electronically. Cars will be connected by an electronic tow bar to the car in front to form “road trains”. “The front vehicle in such a train burns the normal amount.” says Davis. “But all the others in the train would burn about ten percent of the normal amount, and so produce about ten percent of the pollution.”
1. We know from the passage that governments and car manufacturers .| A．do not believe the prediction that no one will own cars by 2020 |
| B．are devoted to the technological revolution in car industry |
| C．consider the predictions seriously |
| D．have put the super-intelligent car into mass production |
| A．The car will speed up out of control. |
| B．We will own as many cars as we want. |
| C．All cars will be driven by computers. |
| D．Cars will produce more pollution than present ones. |
| A．cars play a very important role in daily life |
| B．many societies would stop functioning without cars |
| C．cars should not be owned by one individual |
| D．it causes many deaths to human society |
【推荐3】We do it from the worldly comfort of our bedrooms and offices and to observe a special occasion, like a beach vacation or the high school party. It has its own spot in the dictionary, right next to "selfhood" and "selfish." And this year it earned its place as the Oxford English Dictionary's 2013 Word of the Year. The selfie (自拍) has taken over our culture-and our smartphones.
The rise of the selfie has become universal-between presidents, celebrities (名人) and citizens alike-and the trend is only continuing to grow. A recent survey conducted by the Pew Internet & American Life Project found that 54 percent of Internet users have posted original photos online. And of those hundreds of millions of photos, many are of the self-descriptive variety. For example, currently there are nearly 62 million selfie photos on a social media tool that has significantly led to the personal photo's popularity. That figure, which continues to rise every day, doesn't even begin to include the selfies shared on other social media.
Despite its dictionary definition, which describes the selfie as "a photograph taken of oneself, typically with a smartphone or webcam and uploaded to a social media website," the first mention of the word can be traced back to an Australian online forum from 2002-long before the days of the iPhone's front-facing cameras and the popularity of social. media. What makes the selfie so fascinating- and why do we feel pressed to take one? According to Dr. Pamela Rutledge, the desire to take, post and get "likes" on selfies goes back to a biological behavior all humans are linked to.
"I think it influences our sense of social connection in the same way as it does when you go to a party and people say Oh I love your dress," Rutledge said. "Biological, social recognition is a real need and there is even an area of the brain that is devoted to social activity."
1. What does the underlined word "It" in paragraph 1 probably refer to?| A．Word of the year. | B．A special occasion. | C．The selfie. | D．Our culture. |
| A．The trend of the internet. | B．The rise of social media. |
| C．The figures of posted photos | D．The boom of the selfie. |
| A．Because we hope to satisfy our biological and social needs. |
| B．Because we want to get likes for our photography technique. |
| C．Because it has taken over our life since its origin in Australia. |
| D．because the internet makes it convenient to upload the selfies. |
