Captured(捕获的) carbon dioxide(CO2) could be used to extract(提炼) useful metals(金属) from recycled technology such as smartphone batteries rather than just being buried underground. The technique could help make it more economical to capture the greenhouse gas before it enters the atmosphere.
“If you also extract metals by filling CO2, you add value to a process that is known to be costly,” says Julien Leclaire at the University of Lyon, France.
CO2 is the main cause of modern climate change, so many people have attempted to develop technologies to capture it when it comes from power plants and other major sources. The gas can then be stored underground. The problem is that such carbon capture and storage (CCS) is expensive. “No one wants to pay the price for it,” says Leclaire.
To make CCS more appealing, Leclaire’s team has found a use for the gas.
His team collected CO2 from a car gas, cooled it, then pumped it into a mix of chemicals. The CO2 combined with the mix to make many molecules(分子) of various shapes and sizes.
The team found that this process could sort out mixtures of metals, because one metal would dissolve(溶解) in the liquid while another would form a solid. In a series of experiments, they successfully separated three kinds of metals-all of which are used in batteries, smartphones and computers.
If the process can be widely used, it could be a more environmentally friendly way to recycle batteries and other electrical equipment, says Leclaire. This is normally done using highly reactive chemicals, which are potentially polluting. Replacing them with CO2 should lead to a much lower environmental pollution, he says.
Other researchers and companies are trying to change captured CO2 into useful materials like plastics, which are normally produced from petrol, but this is chemically difficult. Leclaire says his approach is more in line with how CO2 behaves naturally. “Instead of copying what we know how to do better and cheaper with oil, let’s find things you can only do with CO2,” he says.
1. What can we learn from the first paragraph?| A．Extracting useful metals from recycled technology is widely used now. |
| B．Useful metals in the atmosphere are used to make smartphone batteries. |
| C．Abandoned smartphone batteries may have been buried underground before. |
| D．The greenhouse gas CO2 could be cleaned up after entering the atmosphere. |
| A．CO2 is the main cause of modern climate change. |
| B．CO2 can be used to recycle many resources. |
| C．Captured CO2 can be changed to useful gas. |
| D．CO2 is harmful to people’s health. |
| A．It could end the use of plastics. |
| B．It could reduce environmental pollution. |
| C．It could make more metals available to humans. |
| D．It could help reduce the cost of battery production. |
| A．The Ways to Make Smartphone Batteries |
| B．The Reason for Capturing Greenhouse Gas |
| C．Collecting CO? Is Starting to Make New Progress |
| D．Captured CO2 Could Be Used to Help Recycle Useful Metals |
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【推荐1】Newcastle University research is helping to prepare for and relieve storm damage before extreme weather occurs. Climate experts and engineers have created a new model to predict the damage caused by extreme weather. This new framework for “consequence forecasting” enables first responders to effectively target resources before an extreme weather event comes, such as Storm Eunice.
The pre-event decision-making model works by first developing relationships between wind speed and faults on the electricity network. The relationships are then used to estimate faults of electricity networks and potential customer interruptions. This model can be used as early as 24 hours before extreme weather events.
Published in the journal Climate Risk Management, the study findings can enable effective first response to manage infrastructure (基础设施) systems smitten by dangerous weather. Having the forecasting tools to predict and prepare for storm damage will reduce the social consequences of extreme weather, including power loss for customers and fines for electrical distribution companies.
Dr Wilkinson said, “Our model has the potential to change the way we manage weather and climate risks to our infrastructure networks. While electricity network operators already prepare extra resources when a storm approaches, predicting how many power lines may be blown down and where these are likely to be located will allow them to better target the necessary resources to more quickly repair any damage. This is likely to become even more important in the future as our changed climate is predicted to produce more frequent and more intense storms and some of these may be beyond the experience of the people tasked to deal with them.”
Study co-author, Professor Hayley Fowler, of Newcastle University’s School of Engineering, added, “This consequence forecasting is so important for planning emergency response in fast-evolving storms like Eunice. Our model could be used to regularly update energy companies and other infrastructure operators on the potential consequences of approaching storms as forecasts are updated in real-time.”
1. What can the new framework do?| A．Prevent extreme weather from happening. |
| B．Help rescuers effectively find resources before extreme weather. |
| C．Rid people of the possible extreme weather. |
| D．Help climate engineers create more models. |
| A．Attracted. | B．Inspected. |
| C．Attacked. | D．Impressed. |
| A．The significance of the model. | B．The potential risks of the model. |
| C．The downsides of the model. | D．The working principle of the model. |
| A．Prevent extreme weather occurring frequently |
| B．Provide electricity network operators extra resources |
| C．Update energy companies and other infrastructure operators |
| D．Predict and prepare for the impact of approaching storms |
【推荐2】Though not as mainstream as devices like smartphones and fitness trackers, more companies are now experimenting with the concept of connected garments. Among the pioneers is London-based CuteCircuit, which has been creating fashionable smart clothing since 2004. The company’s latest creation is the “Sound Shirt,” which allows deaf people to “feel” live music by transforming the tunes into touch feelings in real time.
The fashionable jacket achieves the incredible function using software that changes the music into data and wirelessly sends it to the 16-micro actuators(促动器)placed inside the cloth. The devices vibrate(振动)in sync(同步)to the intensity(强度)of the music being played, allowing the wearer to feel each instrument individually. For example, violin can be felt on the arms, while the deeper, heavier bass notes can be felt close to the stomach. The series of touch-like feelings across the wearer’s body enables them to feel the entire composition, resulting in a fully amazing musical experience.
To ensure the shirt is comfortable, the designers chose to leave out wires and instead wove conductive(可传导的)material into the garment’s cloth. Francesca Rosella, co-founder and chief creative officer of CuteCircuit, explains, “There are no wires inside, so we’re only using smart material—we have a combination of microelectronics and very thin, flexible and conductive material. All these little electronic motors are connected with these conductive material so that the garment is soft and stretchable.”
CuteCircuit, which has been testing the Sound Shirt for three years, expects to make it available to the general public shortly. Priced at $3,673, the smart jacket will not be cheap. However, twin sisters Hermon and Heroda Berhane, who lost their hearing at a young age, believe the hi-tech garment is a worthwhile investment, especially for deaf people with a passion for dancing. “It’s almost like feeling the depth of the music,” says Hermon. “It just feels as though we can move along with it.” Heroda agrees, adding, “I think it could definitely change our lives.”
1. What is the function of the actuators in the clothing?| A．Turning music into data. |
| B．Causing touch-like feelings. |
| C．Conducting electricity in the clothing. |
| D．Wirelessly sending data to the clothing. |
| A．To explain how the clothing functions. |
| B．To explain the principles of smart material. |
| C．To show the clothing is comfortable to wear. |
| D．To show the designers have worked very hard. |
| A．It actually isn’t that advanced. |
| B．It is affordable to most people. |
| C．It is really worth having for the deaf. |
| D．It can arouse deaf people’s passion for dancing. |
| A．Deaf people will be able to dance soon. |
| B．Deaf people are looking forward to a hi-tech garment. |
| C．CuteCircuit’s new garment draws deaf people’s attention. |
| D．CuteCircuit’s sound shirt allows deaf people to feel music. |
【推荐3】Sales of Apple’s new iPhone 11 in China began on Friday, but were met with a cooler welcome from customers than in previous years. Unlike in previous years, no long lines were seen outside Chinese shops on Friday for the new iPhone, and the product release (发布) only made the headlines in a few media.
Huawei released its Mate 30 smartphone series on Thursday night. Its new devices(设备) have won consumers’ hearts at home and abroad. Many compared it with Apple’s new iPhone 11, saying that beats the new iPhone because of innovation and quality. One customer named Zhao Kai, an IT specialist who pre-ordered a Mate 30 Pro on Friday, said that he chose Mate 30 without hesitation. Zhao said, “It’s clear that Huawei’s new phone with its advanced 5G mode would lead the future global telecommunications market, too.”
In contrast with iPhone 11’s poor sales, Chinese netizens (网民) have joined in discussions on Mate 30 and iPhone 11. An online poll on the Mate 30 and iPhone 11 on Weibo on Friday showed that more than 60 percent of netizens chose the Mate 30, while less than 20 percent chose the iPhone 11. Many chose Huawei as a result of its technology.
Overseas customers also joined in the heated discussions on Huawei’s new flagship devices on sites. On Twitter, many netizens said “nice”, “best phone ever” and “my favorite one” on Huawei’s Twitter account. Some netizens in countries like the UK, the Netherlands and Argentina asked when Huawei’s new devices would be released in their countries.
1. How did customers react to Apple’s new product?| A．They thought it was cool to use it. |
| B．They stood in long lines to purchase it. |
| C．They thought its quality was worse than before. |
| D．They were less interested in it than former years. |
| A．The price and the weight. | B．The appearance and the speed. |
| C．The quality and innovation. | D．The service life and function. |
| A．Store. | B．Survey. | C．Market. | D．Exam. |
| A．New Technology - 5G | B．Huawei Is Better than Apple |
| C．Apple’s New iPhone 11 | D．Huawei’s Mate 30 Defeats iPhone 11 |
【推荐1】What would you do if you had invited friends to your house and they asked you for directions? Well, you could draw a map! And, if you did, you most likely would include your street and theirs, as well as the landmarks between the two. Using these places on the map as markers, your friends can then plan the best route to take.
Generally speaking, a map is an illustration of the earth’s surface, and a person who draws maps is called a cartographer. But how are maps made? In prehistoric times, hunters would sometimes draw their hunting territories on cave walls. In the millennia that followed, maps would have been painted by hand on various materials, including clay, ivory, and even the hide of an animal.
Fast forward to modern times. With the invention of such tools as compasses, telescopes, and sextants, cartographers were able to define and show distances much more accurately. Today, aerial photography, satellite images, and computer software such as Geographical Information Systems (GIS) have made mapmaking even more precise. For example, mapmakers are now able to illustrate the physical features of our earth. Using satellite images, they can create three-dimensional maps that exceptionally correct.
Do all maps show the same contents? No! There are many different types of maps. Physical maps give us views of the earth’s continents, mountains, forests, and waterways. Political maps identify countries and their boundaries. Economic maps offer information about the agricultural products or minerals found in a certain region. There are also maps that detail the climate or the population density in a particular location.
Of course, there are maps that offer details other than those connected with land masses. Nautical maps, for instance, are important tools for ship captains. They include information about the depth of the water, land formations along the coastline, navigational dangers, harbors, and bridges. They also provide data on tides and currents, as well as the earth’s magnetic field. Aeronautical maps help airplane pilots to determine position and altitude, and assist ground controllers in airport towers with planning and deciding the best route to a particular destination. In emergency situations, aeronautical maps can help responders locate an alternative landing area.
Today, people who have no special map training can observe the world from above without having to leave their homes. Most likely, you have used software such as Google Earth or Google Maps. Thanks to satellite images, we can now easily spot the smallest details of our house and environment by using the Internet. Not everyone, however, is fond of these tools, because their easy access may lead to violations of privacy. Lawmakers around the world are presently addressing this issue.
1. The author mentions inviting friends to your house at the beginning to indicate that ___ .| A．details in maps matter more than land masses |
| B．maps have a significant place in our life |
| C．planning routes is the key to reaching destinations |
| D．it is necessary to get satellite images accurately |
| A．Aeronautical maps. | B．Political maps. |
| C．Climatic maps. | D．Economic maps. |
| A．To underline the importance of drawing maps. |
| B．To compare prehistoric maps and modern maps. |
| C．To appeal to address the issue of violations of privacy. |
| D．To introduce the development and functions of maps. |
【推荐2】As we prepare learners with the skills needed for the 21st century, there is a greater desire to further integrate technology into our classrooms. Whether it’s a K-12 or college classroom, it’s rare to find an environment that does not integrate technology in some form or another. In some cases, online learning has replaced the physical classroom altogether. As educators, we owe it to ourselves and our students to use these benefits. However, while technology offers significant advantages, simply integrating it as an alternative source of delivery or as another means for students to demonstrate their comprehension is not an effective practice.
We must remind ourselves that any form of learning technology should also be guided. These resources are just instruments and require high-quality guided practice from instructors. These instruments, combined with guidance, can afford good instruction, practice and motivation. While technology can positively impact learning outcomes, it may be even more effective for some students if it’s instructor-led and integrated into a well-designed curriculum(课程).
Technology is rapidly changing the educational environment and challenging students to adapt accordingly. It can frustrate students of different generations struggling to learn how to use a learning platform in addition to picking up the actual subject. Some may wonder, “Why should I waste time learning how to create a podcast(播客) when I could simply write the paper?”
It’s a reasonable question. We must not assume students who were raised using technology are always comfortable learning with these tools. A study found that because of tools some students may not have experience using, they may need more direction on how to apply these tools. Students may struggle if an instructor neglects to teach the conceptual basis of the tools. Technology may mean little without appropriate objectives and goals for its use, structures for its application, and trained deliverers.
Educators are also tasked with providing students the skills they need to flourish in a highly competitive and technologically-based workplace. Many of the skills obtained through online classes are valuable professional skills. Students taught how to use multiple learning technologies effectively have a competitive advantage over those who are simply using technology as a method of delivery in the online classroom. Regardless of the subjects we teach, integrating technology gives our students the opportunity to not only learn the content, but also to develop skills useful beyond our classrooms. Technology, when integrated and balanced appropriately with the curriculum and with student needs, can make us more effective as educators.
1. What is important to the learning technology?| A．Instruction and revision. | B．Comprehension and application. |
| C．Guidance and arrangements. | D．Diversity and flexibility. |
| A．Arrange online assignment for students. |
| B．Help students master online technology. |
| C．Prepare students with rules in the workplace. |
| D．Notify students of the value of the learning tool. |
| A．Critical. | B．Unconcerned. |
| C．Wait-and-see. | D．Approving. |
| A．Does Technology Boost Educational Effectiveness? |
| B．Is the Learning Technology a Tool or an Opportunity? |
| C．Can Technology Put an End to Traditional Classrooms? |
| D．Does the Learning Skill Outweigh the Learning Content? |
【推荐3】The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change released a report stating that the world is quickly running out of time to keep global warming below 1.5 degrees Celsius. To get there, the world would have to cut current emissions by 45 percent by 2030.That sounds absurdly unlikely.
But before we give in to hopelessness，we should remember that the technology to deal with climate change is going along at high speed. The largest source of U. S. carbon emissions is transportation，and a Green New Deal for motor vehicles would be quite straightforward. The reason is simple：with some government subsidies (补贴), electric cars and buses are now cost-competitive with fossil-fuel vehicles. Electric buses have made the greatest speed into the market, because they are a logical choice for electrification. By the end of 2018, electric vehicles were replacing about 280,000 barrels of oil demand per day — about 84 percent of which was mainly consumed by buses.
The electric car market is also reaching maturity, with appealing designs, longer range, and a quickly-expanding rapid charging network in many countries. It’s worth emphasizing that most of the infrastructure (基础设施) necessary to recharge electric vehicles already exists. People often tend to think that we need to replace every gas station, but actually all homes and businesses already have an electrical connection which can be easily improved for fast charging. All that is needed to go fully electric is enough battery capacity and fast charging stations to deal with long trips.
Now America would have to repair its electricity production, freight rail, shipping, and so on to fully decarbonizes (脱碳) the transportation sector, which will be considerably more difficult than simply rooting out fossil fuel vehicles from the market.
But greening America’s vehicle would be straightforward, relatively cheap, and a huge step forward on climate. The politics of climate change are so fearful that being hopeless can seem logical, but the first step to achieving a tough goal is the confident belief that it can be done. And this particular step wouldn’t even be that tough.
1. How’s the goal of keeping global warming below 1.5 Celsius according to Paragraph 1?| A．Reasonable. | B．Safe. |
| C．Realistic. | D．Impossible. |
| A．are cost-competitive with government subsidies |
| B．run at a greater speed on the road |
| C．deal with longer trips |
| D．look more appealing |
| A．Replace as many as gas stations. |
| B．Build more infrastructures for recharging. |
| C．Make businesses have electrical connections. |
| D．Solve the problem of long trips. |
| A．Negative. | B．Supportive. |
| C．Uncertain. | D．Indifferent. |
【推荐1】Fritillaria plants can be easily spotted. The usually bright green plants often stand alone amid the rocks at the top of the Himalayan and Hengduan mountains in southwestern China — easy pickings for traditional Chinese medicine herbalists, who’ve ground the bulbs (鳞茎) of Fritillaria into a cough-treating powder for more than 2, 000 years. The demand for the bulbs is intense, since about 3,500 of them are needed to produce one kilogram of the powder, worth about $480.
But some Fritillaria are remarkably difficult to find, with leaves and stems that are barely distinguishable from the gray or brown rocky background. Surprisingly, the plants’ camouflage (伪装) seems to have evolved in response to people.
In wide open areas with little cover, like mountaintops, blending in can help the plants avoid hungry herbivores, says Yang Niu, a botanist at the Kunming Institute of Botany in China. But after five years of studying camouflage in Fritillaria, he did not spot any animals feeding on the plants. So Niu, his colleague Hang Sun and sensory ecologist Martin Stevens of the University of Exeter in England decided to see if humans might be driving the evolution of the plants’ camouflage.
During their research, local herbalists noted the total weight of the bulbs harvested each year from 2014 to 2019 at seven study sites. These records indicated contemporary harvesting pressure on the plants. In the meantime, the researchers assessed the ease of harvesting by recording how long it took to dig up bulbs at six of those sites. On some slopes, bulbs are easily dug up, but in others they can be buried under rocks. Both measures have revealed a striking pattern: The more harvested a site is, the better the color of a plant matches its background.
However, camouflage can present some challenges. Pollinators (花粉传播者) might have a harder time finding the camouflaged plants, and the gray and brown coloration could impair photosynthetic (光合) activity. Still, these Fritillaria show how adaptable the plants can be. The plants can better change their appearance than we might have expected.
1. What does the first paragraph mainly talk about?| A．The living environment of Fritillaria. |
| B．The appearance of Fritillaria. |
| C．The reasons for picking Fritillaria. |
| D．The history of traditional Chinese medicine. |
| A．Fritillaria usually exist under rocks. |
| B．Animals drive Fritillaria to hide themselves better. |
| C．Frequent human activities make it easier to spot Fritillaria. |
| D．Fritillaria camouflage themselves better where harvested more often. |
| A．All plants are poor at camouflaging. |
| B．Fritillaria are constantly changing how they look. |
| C．Camouflage can bring some side-effects to Fritillaria. |
| D．Fritillaria camouflaged to be gray which can promote growth. |
| A．The demand for the Fritillaria is intense. |
| B．Fritillaria are remarkably difficult to find. |
| C．Camouflage can present some challenges to the Fritillaria. |
| D．Human activities drive the evolution of the Fritillaria’s camouflage. |
【推荐2】Alzheimer's AI
An estimated 5.7 million people in the U.S. have Alzheimer's disease-the most common type of dementia(痴呆）－and that number is expected to more than double by 2050. Early diagnosis is crucial for patients to benefit from the few therapies available. But no scans can deliver a conclusive diagnosis while a person is alive; instead doctors have to conduct numerous and complicated clinical and neuropsychological tests.So there is growing interest in developing artificial intelligence to identify Alzheimer's based on brain imaging.
Researchers at the University of California,San Francisco, have now successfully trained an AI algorithm(算法）to recognize one of the early signs of Alzheimer's-a reduction in the brain's glucose（葡萄糖）consumption-in positron emission tomography (PET) imaging.
The algorithm accurately predicted an eventual Alzheimer's diagnosis in nearly all the test cases, according to the study. In PET imaging, a very small amount of a radioactive compound are injected into the body, producing three-dimensional images of metabolism(新陈代谢）,circulation and other cellular activities. PET is well suited for an AI diagnostic tool because Alzheimer's leads to subtle changes in the brain's metabolism that begin years before neural(神经的） tissue starts to go downhill, says study co-author Jae Ho Sohn,a radiologist at UCSF. These changes are "very hard for radiologists to pick up,"he notes.
The algorithm was trained and tested on 2,100 PET brain images from about 1,000 people 55 years and older. The images came from a 12-year study that tracked people who would ultimately be diagnosed with Alzheimer's, as well as those with mild memory declines and healthy control participants. The algorithm was trained on 90 percent of the data and tested on the remaining 10 percent. It was then retested on a second, independent data set from 40 patients monitored for 10 years. The algorithm was highly sensitive and was able to recognize 81 percent of the patients in the first test group and 100 percent in the second who would be diagnosed with Alzheimer's six years later, on average. The findings were published in February in Radiology.
The algorithm is based on "deep learning ,a machine-learning technique that uses artificial neural networks programmed to learn from examples. "This is one of the first promising,preliminary(初步的） applications of deep learning to the diagnosis of Alzheimer's," says Christian Salvatore, a physicist at Italy's National Research Council, who was not involved in the study. “The model performs very well when identifying patients with mild or late diagnoses", he says, “but catching it in the earliest stages remains one of the most critical open issues in this field."
1. People are increasingly interested in using AI to identify Alzheimer's because______| A．the number of people suffering from dementia is more than doubling |
| B．diagnostic methods that are both reliable and convenient are in need |
| C．there are only a limited number of effective therapies for the patients |
| D．diagnosing Alzheimer's disease through AI is still an unexplored area |
| A．It recognizes the worsening of the neural tissue. |
| B．It reduces the glucose consumption in the brain. |
| C．It changes the pattern of the brain's metabolism. |
| D．It photographs various kinds of cellular activities. |
| A．90% of the people in the study were trained on the algorithm |
| B．the participants in the study consist of people both young and old |
| C．81% of the people in the first test group were diagnosed with Alzheimer's |
| D．the algorithm managed to recognize all the patients in the second test group |
| A．The algorithm serves as a promising treatment of Alzheimer's. |
| B．Deep learning has been widely applied in diagnosing Alzheimer's. |
| C．To detect Alzheimer's in its earliest stages calls for more exploration. |
| D．Whether to use the model to detect Alzheimer's remains a critical issue. |
【推荐3】Students in Washington, D.C., will return to classrooms this month to begin a new school year. But at least five percent of their teachers will not return with them. Last month, the District of Columbia public schools told two hundred six teachers that they are not good enough to stay.
The school system dismissed seventy-five teachers last year. It was the first year of a new teacher rating system. Experts say such large numbers of dismissals are rare in American schools. But in Washington the rating system is not governed by the labor contract (劳务合同) with teachers union. So school officials have more freedom. The system is called IMPACT. Teachers are observed in the classrooms five times a year for at least thirty minutes each time. They are also judged by student test scores.
Emily Cohen, a policy director, says the National Council supports the IMPACT system She says, “This is an evaluation method that is finally able to find who is highly effective and who is ineffective.” Michelle Rhee created the IMPACT system. She gained national attention for her aggressive reform efforts when she led the troubled school system in the nation’s capital.
Some Washington teachers say their rating depend too heavily on test scores. For some teachers, half of their rating is based on how well their students do. But Emily Cohen says test scores are important. “Testing is probably one of the-it’s the most objective data that we have on teacher performance. So it’s not just looking at student test performance, it is using other sources of data.”
Almost sixty percent of the teachers who were rated “minimally effective” last year stayed in the school system and improved. School officials say these teachers received help to become better.
1. We can infer from paragraph l and 2 that________.| A．there are more than 3000 teachers in Washington, D.C |
| B．this is the first year that teachers are fired |
| C．such a large number of dismissals is very common in American schools |
| D．schools officials in Washington, D.C have more rights to dismiss teachers |
| A．the test scores the students get |
| B．their relationship with school officials |
| C．test scores and other sources of data |
| D．how well their students perform in the class |
| A．objective | B．positive | C．negative | D．questioning |
| A．New School Year | B．The IMPACT System |
| C．Teachers Are Dismissed | D．Students’ Test Scores |
【推荐1】As the coronavirus pandemic has unfolded, conspiracy (阴谋) theories about the virus have become an increasingly visible element of the timeline. Some conspiracy theorists combine their ideas with elements of pseudoscience (伪科学) which can result in unfounded beliefs—for example, that 5G technology, vaccines and genetically modified foods are part of a secret plan to spread the virus for purposes of controlling the public. Others point the finger at wealthy charitarians—Bill Gates, for example –accusing such individuals of having released the virus or of using the pandemic to test vaccines on poorer populations.
These theories have significant consequences for individuals and societies, especially when they are supported by political and business leaders, or other trusted members of the community. They can decrease people’s willingness to follow social distancing directives and negatively impact people’s views on scientific findings. A pandemic is an especially dangerous time for conspiracy theories.
So why, exactly, do these strange ideas spread, especially among our relatives, friends and neighbors who otherwise seem like reasonable citizens who take notice of scientific evidence and make sensible decisions about the health and safety of their families?
Belief in conspiracy theories has roots in a number of factors. For example, those who have suffered misfortune are more likely to support conspiracy theories as a means of explaining their undesirable lot in life. But when it comes to a global pandemic—and the deaths and collapsing economy that it has brought about—three factors are key: uncertainty, anxiety and powerlessness.
The less people feel in control of their world, the more likely they are to seek out ways to restore control—to fight their sense of powerlessness. When events are out of our control, the psychological burden can be relieved by turning to alternative explanations for these events. In this case, we might choose to believe that the novel coronavirus, which causes COVID-19, was created in a lab and intentionally spread to cause harm. Such conspiracy theories explain what has happened and why, and offer us psychological relief.
The story is similar for anxiety and uncertainty. The pandemic has increased people’s worries about their physical, mental and economic health both in the short term and in the distant future. Conspiracy theories cannot remedy these circumstances. However, they can provide peace of mind that these unpleasant consequences are no fault of one’s own. Choosing to believe that COVID-19 is a hoax can reduce anxiety by playing down the severity of the circumstances. It’s a purely psychological effect, to be sure—but, then again, we primarily live in our own heads.
To some extent, the object of the conspiracy theories –the virus –is itself the source of the undesirable psychological states that promote belief in such theories. But this is not to say that our minds, and the conspiracy theories they adhere to, are completely at the mercy of an unmanageable virus. Political and social leaders can ease pandemic-caused anxiety and uncertainty by visibly taking the threat seriously, including steps to promote public health and to reduce the negative economic impact on people. And avoiding engaging in conspiracy theories themselves could limit the likelihood of the public turning further toward conspiracy theories for relief.
1. It can be inferred from the first paragraph that __________.| A．conspiracy theories about coronavirus are not rare with the spread of COVID-19. |
| B．people are likely to be misguided by conspiracy theories based on pseudoscience. |
| C．charitarian as Bill Gates is, he purposely released the virus in order to test new vaccines. |
| D．the general public aren’t convinced that genetically modified foods help spread the coronavirus. |
| A．Serious economic consequences. |
| B．Decreased faith in influential figures. |
| C．Increased support for public health orders. |
| D．Public suspicion over scientific findings. |
| A．reduced the severity of the COVID-19 crisis |
| B．scientifically explained the origins of the coronavirus |
| C．offered psychological relief in the current circumstances |
| D．predicted the long-term economic impact of the COVID-19 crisis |
(1) avoid talking about conspiracy theories
(2) deal with the COVID-19 crisis seriously
(3) explain how ridiculous these theories are
(4) stress that everything will return to normal
| A．(1)(2) | B．(3)(4) | C．(1)(3) | D．(2)(4) |
【推荐2】Many people do things we can't understand and that we would never do. Although there can be a number of different explanations for such behavior, one reason is a failure of empathy. And it seems that we're seeing increasing levels of this failure these days.
Empathy is the ability to understand and share the feelings of another person. It is similar to but different from sympathy, which can mean sharing a certain feeling with someone-having the same feelings they do. According to Helen Riess, associate professor of psychiatry(精神病学)at Harvard Medical School, empathy plays an important role in our society's ability to function, promoting "a sharing of experiences, needs, and desires between individuals".
Our neural(神经)networks are set up to interact with the neural networks of others in order to both be aware and understand their feelings and to tell them apart from our own, which enables humans to live with one another without constantly fighting or feeling taken over by someone else.
Research has shown that empathy is not simply inborn, but can actually be taught. For example, it appears that medical, raining can actually diminish empathy, but on the other hand, physicians can be taught to be more empathic to their patients. Interestingly, their increased empathy also increases patient satisfaction and cooperation with treatment recommendations, thus leading to better treatment outcomes.
It seems to me that these techniques could work with a lot of people besides physicians. These days, I find myself thinking that we should be teaching empathy in school. Perhaps if we start in the early grades and keep teaching it through high school, problems and inappropriate behavior would reduce.
Empathy doesn't require burying of our own feelings. In fact, true empathy is about using our feelings to understand the feelings of someone else. We might not know exactly how they feel, but we might use our feelings to help us know something of what they are feeling. This kind of understanding, according to Reiss, can cross bridges and promote positive social behavior. Maybe we could use a little more empathy in our world.
1. According to the text, how does empathy benefit us?| A．It develops our sympathy. | B．It strengthens our neural system. |
| C．It helps our society function better. | D．It increases our level of confidence. |
| A．Reduce. | B．Increase. | C．Stop. | D．Produce. |
| A．He will behave himself better. | B．He will improve his academic grades. |
| C．He will choose to bury his feelings. | D．tie will feel satisfied with the school. |
| A．Empathy Helps You Win Out | B．Empathy Can Be Learned |
| C．Sympathy, Feeling-sharing of Others | D．Learn to Be an Empathic Doctor |
【推荐3】In some countries where racial prejudice is acute, violence has so come to be taken for granted as a means of solving differences that it is not even questioned. There are countries where the white man imposes his rule by brute force; there are countries where the black man protests by setting fire to cities and by looting and pillaging. Important people on both sides, who would in other respects appear to be reasonable men, get up and calmly argue in favor of violence --- as if it were a legitimate solution, like any other. What is really frightening, what really fills you with despair, is the realization that when it comes to the crunch（关键时刻）,we have made no actual progress at all. We may wear collars and ties instead of war-paint, but our instinct remain basically unchanged. The whole of the recorded history of the human race, that tedious documentation of violence, has taught us absolutely nothing. We have still not learned that violence never solves a problem but makes it more acute. The sheer horror, the bloodshed（流血）, the suffering mean nothing. No solution ever comes to light the morning after when we dismally contemplate the smoking ruins and wonder what hit us.
The truly reasonable men who know where the solutions lie are finding it harder and harder to get a hearing. They are despised mistrusted and even persuaded by their own kind because they advocate such apparently outrageous things as law enforcement（执行）. If half the energy that goes into violent acts were put to good use, if our efforts were directed at cleaning up the slums and ghettos, at improving living standards and providing education and employment for all, we would have gone a long way to arriving at a solution. Our strength is sapped by having to mop to the mess that violence leaves in its wake. In a well-directed effort, it would not be impossible to fulfill the ideals of a stable social programme. The benefits that can be derived from constructive solutions are everywhere apparent in the world around us. Genuine and lasting solutions are always possible, providing we work within the framework of the law.
Before we can even begin to contemplate peaceful co-existence between the races, we must appreciate each other’s problems. And to do this, we must learn about them: it is a simple exercise in communication, in exchange information. “Talk, talk, talk” the advocates of violence say, “all you ever do is talk, and we are none the wiser.” It’s rather like the story of the famous barrister who painstakingly explained his case to the judge. After listening to a lengthy argument, the judge complained that after all this talk, he was none the wiser. “Possibly, my lord,” the barrister replied, “none the wiser, but surely far better informed.” Knowledge is the necessary prerequisite to wisdom: the knowledge that violence creates the evils it pretends to solve.
1. What is the best title for this passage?| A．Advocating Violence. |
| B．Violence Can Do Nothing to Diminish Race Prejudice |
| C．Violence as a Legitimate Solution |
| D．Violence: The Instinet of Human Race |
| A．violence never solves anything |
| B．nothing |
| C．the bloodshed means nothing |
| D．everything |
| A．can’t get a hearing |
| B．are looked down upon |
| C．are persecuted |
| D．have difficulty in advocating law enforcement |
| A．He was not at all wise in listening |
| B．He was not at all wiser than nothing before |
| C．He gains nothing after listening |
| D．He makes no sense of the argument |
| A．low enforcement | B．knowledge |
| C．nonviolence | D．mopping up the violent mess |
