Unusually bright light in the sky that appeared suddenly last June has got astronomers in great excitement. After months of study, they still aren’t sure what the object — universally referred to as the “Cow” — is. Whatever it is, says astronomer Liliana Rivera Sandoval of Texas Tech University in Lubbock, “It’s super strange.”
The Cow first appeared in telescope observations on 16 June 2018, in what turned out to be a small galaxy (星系) about 200 million light years away. “When we saw that we thought, let’s get on this,” says Daniel Perley, an astronomer at Liverpool John Moores University.
The early observations confirmed the Cow was truly strange. It didn’t show the obvious changes in its light output that an exploding star would make. Sandoval says as soon as she and colleagues knew the Cow was truly distant, they requested time on NASA’s Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory to see what the Cow was doing in X-rays. Although the X-ray brightness varied over the early weeks, “the spectrum (光谱) didn’t change, which is very unusual,” she notes. After 3 weeks, the X-ray signal began to vary more wildly while also dropping off in brightness.
Many astronomers agree that the long and steady duration of the event means that it was powered after an initial explosion by some form of central engine. But what that engine may be is also far from clear. Some argue that it could be a very unusual star whose central part has collapsed (坍塌) inward after it exploded. Others say it is a tidal disruption event — a star being torn apart by a black hole. But that usually requires the supermassive black hole in the center of a galaxy, and the Cow is situated in its galaxy’s arm. So, some say, it could be a tidal disruption event generated by an intermediate mass black hole, although evidence for the existence of such smaller black holes remains controversial. “All explanations have problems,” Sandoval says, “I hope there are more Cows.”
1. What is astronomers’ main concern about the Cow?| A．What it is. | B．How it forms. |
| C．When it appears. | D．Where it is from. |
| A．What the Cow was doing. |
| B．How far the Cow is from the earth. |
| C．Whether the Cow is an exploding star. |
| D．Why the X-ray signals varied wildly. |
| A．The research results help little. |
| B．More Cows will appear. |
| C．Extra attention should be paid to the Cow. |
| D．More information is needed. |
| A．A Strange Explosion in Deep Space |
| B．An Interesting Observation of NASA |
| C．A Wide Range of Changes in the Galaxies |
| D．A Great Achievement in Astronomy |
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【推荐1】Three days before the Christmas in 1968, Frank Borman, Jim Lovell and Bill Anders had adventured out to the moon, becoming the first human beings to reach and orbit our closest neighbor in the space. On the Christmas Eve, they pointed a TV camera out of the window of Apollo 8 and showed a global audience (观众) of 1 billion the ancient moon moving slowly below their spaceship. As that movie played, Anders began reading, “In the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth...”
“I didn’t choose it,” he said last October, when all three astronauts met to mark the 50th anniversary (周年) of their moon flight, at Chicago’s Museum of Science and Industry, where their spaceship is displayed.
When the three men returned to earth on December 27, they were surrounded by a sea of joy. That kind of collective (集体的) joy—born of collective effort—can seem beyond us now. From the factory floor to the three men in the spaceship, an estimated (估计) 400,000 people had a hand in making the moon flight possible. Behind the joy there was also a dark danger Apollo 8 might face. If the astronauts made it into the moon orbit but their engine failed to fire when it was time to return, rescue would be impossible. They would circle the moon forever. But the astronauts did come home, and in the process they gave the world another gift: the celebrated photograph that came to be known as Earthrise.
Even fifty years later, Borman and Lovell continued to play jokes on Anders, 85 then.
“I’m still trying to figure out who did it,” said Borman, with a wink (眨眼睛).
“You did it, I think,” Lovell answered.
“Bill did it,” Borman admits.
He didn’t want me to take it at first,” Anders said.
“I have never said it before publicly,” said Borman, “but I’m just proud that I was able to fly with these two talented guys. You did a really good job.”
1. The men pointed a camera out of the window of Apollo 8 ________.| A．to show the moon to the world |
| B．to read some sentences to the audience |
| C．to do some research into the ancient moon |
| D．to record what they were doing in the spacecraft |
| A．Their engine might explode in the orbit. |
| B．They wouldn’t land on the moon successfully. |
| C．They might have no chance to return to the earth. |
| D．Their spaceship might catch fire in the returning journey. |
| A．27. | B．30. |
| C．35. | D．50. |
| A．The flight. | B．The earth. |
| C．The reading. | D．The picture. |
【推荐2】A few years ago, the City Council of Monza, Italy, barred pet owners from keeping goldfish in curved fishbowls. The sponsors of the measure explained that it is cruel to keep a fish in such a bowl because the curved sides give the fish a distorted view of reality. Aside from the measure’s significance to the poor goldfish, the story raises an interesting philosophical question: How do we know that the reality we perceive is true?
Physicists are finding themselves in a similar trouble to the goldfish’s. For decades they have been pursuing an ultimate theory of everything—one complete and consistent set of fundamental laws of nature that explain every aspect of reality. It now appears that this pursuit may generate not a single theory but a family of interconnected theories, each describing its own version of reality, as if it viewed the universe through its own fishbowl. This concept may be difficult for many people to accept. Most people believe that there is an objective reality out there and that our senses and our science directly convey (传达) information about the material world. In philosophy, that belief is called realism.
In physics, realism is becoming difficult to defend. Instead, the idea of alternative realities is a mainstay of today’s popular culture. For example, in the science-fiction film The Matrix the human race is unknowingly living in a simulated (模拟的) virtual reality created by intelligent computers. How do we know we are not just computer-generated characters living in a Matrix-like world? If—like us—the beings in the simulated world could not observe their universe from the outside, they would have no reason to doubt their own pictures of reality.
Similarly, the goldfish’s view is not the same as ours from outside their curved bowl. For instance, because light bends as it travels from air to water, a freely moving object that we would observe to move in a straight line would be observed by the goldfish to move along a curved path. The goldfish could form scientific laws from their frame (框架) of reference that would always hold true and that would enable them to make predictions about the future motion of objects outside the bowl. If the goldfish formed such a theory, we would have to admit the goldfish’s view as a reasonable picture of reality.
The goldfish example shows that the same physical situation can be modeled in different ways, each employing different fundamental elements and concepts. It might be that to describe the universe we have to employ different theories in different situations. It is not the physicist’s traditional expectation for a theory of nature, nor does it correspond to our everyday idea of reality. But it might be the way of the universe.
1. What does the underlined word “distorted” in Paragraph most probably mean?| A．Original. | B．Accurate. | C．Distant. | D．False. |
| A．The need for a complete theory. | B．The lasting conflict in physics. |
| C．The existence of the material world. | D．The conventional insight of reality. |
| A．Nature’s mysteries are best left undiscovered. |
| B．An external world is independent of the observers. |
| C．People’s theories are influenced by their viewpoints. |
| D．It is essential to figure out which picture of reality is better. |
| A．various interpretations of the universe are welcomed |
| B．physicists have a favorite candidate for the final theory |
| C．multiple realities can be pieced together to show the real world |
| D．there is still possibility to unify different theories into a single one |
【推荐3】China Aerospace Science and Industry Corp launched two Kuaizhou 1A solid-fuel carrier rockets on Dee. 7th, 2019, marking the first time two flights have been made in a single day by the same type of rocket. Both were carrying satellites.
A Kuaizhou 1A set off at 10: 55 am at the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center in Shanxi province to place a optical remote-sensing satellite into orbit. About six hours later, another Kuaizhou 1A was fired at 4:52 pm, sending up six small satellites developed by three domestic private enterprises.
The two missions marked the Kuaizhou 1A's sixth and seventh flights since January 2017, when the rocket made its debut, the company said. It was also the first time for any Chinese launch center to carry out two launches within one day, a testament to China's strong launch capabilities, experts said.
Kuaizhou is the largest soli-propellant rocket family in China. The Long March series mainly relies on liquid fuel. Nine Kuaizhou series rockets have been used since the first mission in September 2013.
Solid-fuel models such as the Kuaizhou series feature shorter preparation time, better mobility and a higher level of mission flexibility than large, liquid-propellant rockets. That's why a launch center can handle multiple fights in a short time span with such rockets, provided its ground facilities are sufficient.
Yu Zhjjin, head of the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center, told Xinhua News Agency that fulfilling two missions in a single day indicated that the center has made a breakthrough in its rapid launch capabilities.
A new manufacturing complex for Kuaizhou rockets will soon be built. After the complex starts operations, Expace Technology will be able to produce at least 10 Kuaizhou 1As and 10 Kuaizhou 11s annually.
Kuaizhou 11, a larger and more powerful model, is under development at Expace and is expected to make is maiden flight soon.
1. How many satellites did Kuaizhou 1A rockets send up on Dee. 7h, 2019?| A．2. | B．11. |
| C．7. | D．6. |
| A．It's a testament to China's strong launch capabilities. |
| B．It marks Kuaizhou 1A's sixth and seventh flights since January 2017. |
| C．It's the first time for any Chinese launch center to carry out two launches within one day. |
| D．All of above. |
| A．Liquid fuel. | B．Solid fuel. |
| C．Less preparation time. | D．Better mobility. |
| A．Kuaizhou 11 Is Fully Developed for the Market |
| B．Two Rockets Lift Quite A Few Sallies in A Single Day |
| C．Kuaizhou 11 - Larger and More Powerful than Kuaizhou |
| D．First Time for China to Cary out 2 Launches Within One Week |
【推荐1】When you go to the desert with David Strayer, a cognitive psychologist, don’t be surprised if he sticks electrodes to your head.
On the third day of a camping trip in Utah, Strayer explains the “three-day effect” to 22 psychology students. Our brains, he says, aren’t tireless machines; they are easily tired by our fast-paced, increasingly digital lives. But when we slow down, stop the busywork, and seek out natural surroundings, we not only feel refreshed but also improve our mental performance. Strayer has demonstrated as much with a group of participants, who scored 50 percent higher on creative problem-solving tasks after three days of wilderness backpacking.
Strayer’s hypothesis is that being in nature allows the prefrontal cortex, the brain’s command center, to rest and recover, like an overused muscle. Strayer has his students put my head into a sort of bathing cap with 12 electrodes in it. Wires from them will send my brain’s electrical signals to a recorder for analysis. Then I walk carefully to a grassy bank along the San Juan River, where I’m supposed to think of nothing in particular, just watch the wide water flow by. I haven’t looked at a computer or cell phone in days, and it’s easy to forget for a few moments that I ever had them.
A few months after our Utah trip, Strayer’s team sends me the results of my test, which shows my brain waves at a range of frequencies and confirms that the gentle beauty of the San Juan River succeeded in quieting my prefrontal cortex.
So far the other research subjects’ results also confirm Strayer’s hypothesis. But no study can offer a full explanation of the brain-on-nature experience; something mysterious will always remain, Strayer says, and perhaps that’s as it should be. “At the end of the day,” he says, “we come out in nature not because science says it does something to us but because of how it makes us feel.”
1. Why do Strayer and his students go to the desert?| A．To relax themselves. | B．To conduct a study. |
| C．To learn about the desert. | D．To experience life without digital products. |
| A．Findings of Strayer’s research. | B．Reason for Strayer’s research. |
| C．Method for Strayer’s research. | D．Purpose of Strayer’s research. |
| A．There is no convincing evidence for it. | B．No researchers show interest in it. |
| C．It has proved false. | D．A full explanation is needed for it. |
| A．Enjoy Yourself in Nature. | B．My Unique Experience in the Desert. |
| C．How Does Nature Inspire Creativity. | D．Is Nature Your Brain’s Powerful Medicine. |
【推荐2】When I was a kid, I used to spend hours listening to Adam Carolla and Dr. Drew Pinsky on their Sunday night radio show Loveline. I listened so often that I began to use one of their well-known phrases — “good times” — in my daily conversations. Scientists have a name for this phenomenon: behavioral mimicry.
You’ve probably experienced this before: after spending enough time with another person, you might start to pick up on his or her behavior or speech habits. You might even start to develop your friend’s habits without realizing it. There is a large body of literature concerning this sort of phenomenon, and it regularly happens for everything from body gesture to accents to drink patterns (模式). For example, one study found that young adults were more likely to drink their drink directly after their same-sex drinking partners, than for the two individuals to drink at their own paces.
And the effect isn’t limited to real-life face-to-face activities. Another study found that the same you-drink-then-I-drink pattern held even when watching a movie! In other words, people were more likely to take a drink of their drinks in a theater after watching the actors on the screen enjoy a drink. At least I don’t feel so strange anymore, having picked up on Adam Carolla’s “good times”.
New research published today in the journal PLOS ONE indicates that the same sort of behavioral mimicry is responsible for social eating, at least among university-age women of normal weight. That’s right: the young women were more likely to adjust their eating according to the eating pace of their same-sex dining companion.
As with most experiments, these results raise a whole new set of questions. However, the finding that behavioral mimicry may at least partly explain eating behavior is important, and has real effects on health. The researchers note that “as long as people don’t fully recognize such important influences on intake (eating), it will be difficult to make healthy food choices and keep a healthy diet, especially when people are exposed to the eating behavior of others”.
1. The author takes his own example of using “good times” to_______.| A．show the influence of the hosts’ words | B．express his love for radio shows |
| C．prove the popularity of the show | D．introduce the topic of the passage |
| A．behavioral mimicry is beneficial to our health |
| B．behavioral mimicry decides our eating behavior |
| C．people have realized the effect of behavioral mimicry on our health |
| D．It’s impossible to keep a healthy diet without knowing behavioral mimicry |
| A．To introduce behavioral mimicry and its influence. |
| B．To appeal to readers not to fall into others’ habits. |
| C．To advocate healthy food choices among readers. |
| D．To draw readers’ attention to popular radio shows. |
Many young people get married simply to get other people off their backs (免受别人的指责) . This is a serious compromise (妥协). One ends up not marrying the ideal partner.
There are, however, a few young people who refuse to compromise: if they can’t find a good marriage partner, they say, they would rather not marry at all.
34-year-old Kate is a university lecturer in English. She said she would not describe herself as celibatarian (独身主义者) but simply a woman who hasn’t come across the right man yet. She has sharp comments for the way in which the old generation looks at marriage.
“Many people think marriage is a duty---to your parents, family and society. Nobody cares if your marriage is happy or not, she said, I think this is very wrong and I intend to live and act according to my own will.”
Happily for her, her parents are open-minded and not put pressure on her. But the same does not apply to her friends. They are constantly trying to get her together with some young man or another. She always refuses politely.
1. Miss Kate refuses to get together with some young man or another because _______.
| A．he is either too old or too young |
| B．she doesn’t think he is the right man she wants |
| C．he is either important or little learned |
| D．he doesn’t have good manners |
| A．interested in | B．possible to suffer |
| C．worried about | D．satisfied with |
| A．In China, one may face social blame and family pressure if one hasn’t got married by the age of 30. |
| B．Miss Kate wants to many a worthy young man. |
| C．Miss Kate won’t compromise if she can’t have her ideal marriage. |
| D．Miss Kate’s parents are always worried about her marriage. |
| A．nobody will pay attention to whether you are happy or not in your family life |
| B．everybody will be happy and satisfied |
| C．you can easily find an ideal partner |
| D．young people will have nothing to worry about in marriage |
