An old saw has it that there is nothing new under the sun. But it may still come as a surprise that human beings aren’t alone in having invented vaccination (疫苗接种). Work published by Gyan Harwood of the University of Illinois confirms that honeybees got there first. It also suggests they run the vaccination programmes like humans.
One discovery in 2015 is that queen bees vaccinate their eggs by transferring into them antigens (抗原) which start the development of a protective immune response. But that observation raises the question of how the queen receives her antigen supply in the first place, for she lives only on royal jelly (蜂王浆) produced by worker bees who act as nurses to baby bees. Dr. Harwood therefore wondered if the nurses obtain the antigens while eating nectar (花蜜) .
To test this idea, he cooperated with Heli Salmela. Together, they collected about 150 nurse bees and divided them among six queenless hives (蜂巢) with baby bees to look after. Instead of nectar, they fed the nurses on sugar-water, and for three of the hives they mixed the sugar-water with a bacterium that causes a hive-killing disease.
In this case, to stop such an infection happening, Dr Harwood and Dr Salmela heat-treated the bacteria to kill them in advance. They also labeled the dead bacteria with a fluorescent dye (荧光染料) to make them easy to track. And, the result showed that pathogens (病原体) were getting into royal jelly produced by those nurse bees.
All told that nurse bees are indeed, through their royal jelly, passing antigens on to the queen, and then to the eggs. Meanwhile, after they hatch, the eggs receive antigens from the nurses as well, thus being vaccinated twice.
1. In which section of a newspaper can we find this text?| A．Science. | B．Education. | C．Geography. | D．Medicine. |
| A．An assumption. | B．A suggestion. |
| C．A theory. | D．A fact. |
| A．To stop infections happening. | B．To find out the antigen supply. |
| C．To produce bacteria. | D．To offer another food choice. |
| A．Nurse Bees Invent Vaccination |
| B．Queen Bees Vaccinate Their Eggs |
| C．Honeybees Popularize Vaccination |
| D．Honeybees Run Vaccination Programme |
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【推荐1】Modern breeds (狗的品种) are often recognized by physical traits. Breeds are frequently associated with certain behaviors, too. But new evidence suggests that the breed is a poor predictor of your dog’s behaviors. A study collected genetic information from more than 2,000 dogs. That information was paired with answers to surveys by thousands of dog owners. On average, the breed explains only 9 percent of the behavioral differences between individual dogs, the study shows.
Elinor Karlsson, who works at the University of Massachusetts Chan Medical Schoo1 in Worcester, studies dog genetics. “Everybody is assuming that the breed is predictive of behaviors in dogs,” she said. But “that has never really been asked particularly well”.
The team needed genetic and behavior data from a lot of dogs. So they developed Darwin’s Ark. It’s a database where pet owners can share information about their animals. More than 18, 000 owners took part. They answered more than 100 questions about their dog’s traits and observable behaviors.
The researchers also collected genetic data from 2,155 dogs. The team made sure to include both pure-bred and mixed-bred dogs, or mutts. Stereotypes (刻板印象) about purebreds could affect how those dogs are treated-and thus behave. Mutts don’t come with the same expectations. So mutt data could help focus on how genes seem to affect behaviors.
The team then combined the genetic and survey data for individual dogs. They looked for genes that appeared linked to particular traits. Comfort around people emerged as the behavior- al factor most strongly tied to genetics. Movement-based behaviors are also passed down through genes more than other traits.
That makes sense. Modern breeding has only been around for the last few hundred years. Before that, dogs were chosen for how well they did jobs, such as hunting or herding. The effects of those choices still show up in breed groups today. It’s not surprising, then, that a breed as a whole might be more likely to display certain behaviors. As their name suggests, retrievers (寻回犬) are more likely to retrieve than individuals of other breeds. But in the study, breed didn’t always predict how an individual dog would behave. As a group, retrievers were less likely to howl. Some owners, though, reported their retrievers howled often.
1. What does the study find?| A．Dogs are as individual as people. |
| B．One dog can share another breed’s behaviors. |
| C．Breeds have nothing to do with certain behaviors. |
| D．Breeds don’t relate much to dog behavioral differences. |
| A．To study the evolution of dogs. |
| B．To help pet owners find their dogs. |
| C．To collect information of rare dogs. |
| D．To learn more about dogs’ behaviors. |
| A．People have stereotypes of them. |
| B．There is less information about them. |
| C．Their breeds are less predictive of behaviors. |
| D．They show more distinct traits than pure-bred dogs. |
| A．Dogs are as smart as people |
| B．We may be unfairly stereotyping dogs |
| C．Pay less attention to its breed when buying a dog |
| D．Dogs are often recognized by physical traits |
【推荐2】In Australia, the bilby (兔耳袋狸) project is seen as an important part in protecting the nation’s wildlife. Bilbies are known for their long ears and large back legs. They usually sleep during the day, and are awake at night. They look a lot like rabbits and grow to about 2.5 kilograms.
For the first time in 2018, bilbies are running wild in Southeastern Australia. The small animals were once widespread across much of Australia, but were last observed in the wild in New South Wales state in 1912. Every year bilby populations continue to decrease. Wildlife experts are afraid that the bilby, a small marsupial, could eventually disappear forever, either because of land clearing or fires. Another reason is a threat from cats and foxes, which hunt down and kill bilbies.
In northern New South Wales state, environmentalists are celebrating what they are calling a historic moment. Thirty bilbies from a captive breeding program have been released into a large predator-free enclosed area north of Sydney. Without the protection of a 32-kilometer fence, experts say the animals probably would not survive.
Tim Allard heads the Australian Wildlife Conservancy, which is involved in the project. He says the release of these beloved animals is a big deal. “There are some remaining wild bilby populations, but they get predated upon heavily by feral cats and foxes. Bilbies only really survive behind fenced areas.” Allard said the point of doing this project is to return the countryside to what it used to be before Europeans arrived. “So in the not-too-distant future, you will be able to go inside the fenced areas and it will be like stepping back before Europeans turned up,” he said.
1. What is the main idea of paragraph 1?| A．The shape of the bilby. | B．The habit of the bilby. |
| C．The weight of the bilby. | D．The characteristics of the bilby. |
| A．Trees’ clearing. | B．Fires’ bursting. | C．Cats’ hunting. | D．Foxes’ killing. |
| A．Involved. | B．Protected. | C．Hunted. | D．Enlarged. |
| A．The release of bilbies can make much money. |
| B．Cats and foxes cause the decrease of bilbies. |
| C．Nature reserves are needed to protect bilbies. |
| D．Europeans shouldn’t turn up in the countryside. |
【推荐3】A Rare Spotless Giraffe
A female giraffe was born at Brights Zoo in Tennessee recently—but unlike her mother she was born without any spots an unusual one.
Standing 14 to 19 feet tall, giraffes are the tallest land animals in the world. When mothers give birth, the young giraffes are already 6 feet tall, and other than in especially rare cases, they’re born covered in brown spots. Brights Zoo in Limestone, Tennessee, announced that it welcomed the birth of a reticulated giraffe (网纹长颈鹿) without any spots on July 31st.
“Giraffe experts believe she is the only solid-colored reticulated giraffe living anywhere on the planet,” the zoo said. The zoo’s director, David Bright, said zoo staff had been reaching out to zoo professionals across the country inquiring about how unusual the giraffe could be. Zoo officials said the only record of a reticulated giraffe being born without spots was in Japan in the 1970s.
Mr. Bright said that the new giraffe might not have survived if she had been born in the wild. “Being solid-colored, she may not be able to hide quite well,” said Bright. He also thought it was likely that the giraffe would be a “key target for illegal hunters” because she’s so unusual.
Pictures of the young giraffe can be seen on the Brights Zoo Facebook page. In a picture, she, without her spots, stood next to her mother, a normal giraffe, in stark contrast. The zoo is asking the public to help name the newborn. People can choose one of four names available on the zoo’s Facebook page. The names and their meanings are: Kipekee, meaning unique; Firyali, which means unusual or surprising; Shakiri, meaning she is most beautiful; Jamella, which means optimistic.
Bright said that the zoo looked at thousands of names and their meanings before settling on the four available. “Those four are the four the family really loves,” Bright said. “So if she’s named one of those four, we’re very happy.”
According to the Giraffe Conservation Foundation, there are only about 16, 000reticulated giraffes left in the wild — a more than 50% drop from approximately 36,000giraffes 35 years ago. There are about 117, 000giraffes across nine subspecies(亚种).Many of them are endangered or critically endangered.
1. What can we learn from this passage?| A．This newborn spotless giraffe was 6 feet tall when it was born. |
| B．Giraffes are the largest animals in the world. |
| C．Bright Zoo was too surprised to accept this unusual giraffe at first. |
| D．Only two reticulated giraffes have been recorded to be born spotless. |
| A．Rather frighteningly. | B．Pretty differently. |
| C．Quite cautiously. | D．Very happily. |
| A．Unique. | B．Sherlock. | C．Shaken. | D．Surprise. |
| A．A website. | B．A text-book. | C．A science report. | D．A personal diary. |
【推荐1】There is no shortage of tipsters (提供内幕的人) around offering 'get rich-quick' opportunities. But if you are a serious private investor, leave the Las Vegas mentality to those with money to fritter(挥霍) .The serious investor needs a proper 'portfolio' - a well-planned selection of investments, with a definite structure and a clear aim. But exactly how does a newcomer to the stock market go about achieving that?
Well, if you go to five reputable stock brokers (经纪人) and ask them what you should do with your money, you're likely to get five different answers, --- even if you give all the relevant information about your age, family, finances and what you want from your investments. Moral? There is no one 'right' way to structure a portfolio. However, there are undoubtedly some wrong ways, and you can be sure that none of our five advisers would have suggested sinking all (or perhaps any) of your money into a fictitious company.
So what should you do? We'll assume that you have sorted out the basics - like mortgages, pensions, insurance and access to sufficient cash reserves. You should then establish your own individual aims. These are partly a matter of personal circumstances, partly a matter of psychology.
For instance, if you are older you have less time to recover from any major losses, and you may well wish to boost your pension income. So preserving your capital and generating extra income are your main priorities. In this case, you'd probably construct a portfolio with some shares (but not high risk ones), along with bonds, cash deposits, and perhaps convertibles or the income shares of split capital investment trusts.
If you are younger, and in a solid financial position, you may decide to take an aggressive approach - but only if you're blessed with an optimistic personality and won't suffer sleepless nights over share prices. If you recognize yourself in this description, you might include a couple of exciting growth stocks in your portfolio, alongside your more pedestrian investments. Once you have decided on your investment aims, you can then decide where to put your money. The golden rule here is spread your risk - if you put all of your money into a fictitious company, you're setting yourself up as a hostage to fortune.
1. Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the first paragraph?| A．Las Vegas mentality only belongs to rich people. |
| B．There are many short- cuts to becoming rich. |
| C．A newcomer with a proper portfolio can invest. |
| D．A well-planned selection is needed for serious investors. |
| A．Older people should take a moderate approach in investment. |
| B．The main priority for older people is to take aggressive shares. |
| C．Younger people may adopt an aggressive approach in investment. |
| D．Younger people can be comparatively more positive towards loss. |
| A．A man lucky enough to have a lot of money. |
| B．An unlucky man for the loss of money. |
| C．A wise and fortunate man for the investment. |
| D．A risk spreader to a very large extent. |
【推荐2】An earthquake happens when two plates rub together. The earth plates travel in different directions and at a different speed. If one plate is slowly forced underneath the other，pressure(压力)builds up until the plates break apart. This process(过程)causes the ground to move. It is an earth-quake. In other words，earthquakes are the shaking of the earth’s surface caused by the earth’s rocky outer layer as a result of the energy stored within the earth. The strain within the rocks is suddenly released(释放).
The damage an earthquake causes depends on where it is and when it is happening. If an unpopulated region is struck, there will be low loss of life or property(财产). If it hits a large city，there may be many injuries and much destruction. Many of the areas at risk are largely populated now. Major earthquakes hitting those areas today could produce terrible damage.
Actually, there are several million small earthquakes every year. Large earthquakes, such as the 1964 Alaska earthquake that measured 9.2 on the Richter scale, caused millions of dollars in damage. In the last 500 years, millions of people have been killed by earthquakes around the world-including over 240,000 in the 1976 Tangshan earthquake in China.
A60-second or less earthquake can cause devastation that continues for years after the first tremor. In 1972, a series of severe earthquakes struck Managua, Nicaragua. Fifteen years later, the city still looked the way it had a week after the earthquake hit, because the country did not have the necessary money to rebuild it.
The shaking of the earth is sometimes not the greatest disaster. It is in the ensuing fires and floods that often the greatest damage occurs. In the 1906 earthquake, it was the fires caused after it that did the majority of the damage. An earthquake can also destroy dams high above a city or valleys, causing floods to sweep down and sweep away everything in their path.
1. Which of the following is the main idea of the first paragraph?| A．An earthquake comes from the inside of the earth. |
| B．The earth has great energy in storage. |
| C．How the earth plates move. |
| D．How an earthquake happens. |
| A．Causing too much heat and great damage. |
| B．Causing many injuries and much destruction. |
| C．Happening as a result of another event. |
| D．Happening suddenly and unexpectedly. |
| A．an earthquake doesn’t last long | B．the damage can last long |
| C．people in Managua suffered too much | D．Nicaragua is still a poor country |
【推荐3】Raina Jain's STS project started in science class. Her teacher challenged teen and her classmates to find global problems in the news that lacked solutions. Raina, 17, zeroed in on colony collapse disorder in bees. This happens when worker bees abandon their hive, eventually causing the hive to die.
Raina visited a beekeeper, a friend of her parents. She wanted to observe this problem up close. “Every year, he loses 60 percent of his hives,” she learned. “That shocked me.”
Parasites play a role in colony collapse disorder. A chemical called thymol can help rid bees of the parasites. Beekeepers often leave out a thymol containing substance. Bees can apply it to themselves while cleaning. But that substance doesn't work the same way at all temperatures, Raina notes. On hot days, for instance, it releases higher levels of thymol-amounts that might harm bees. The substance also might limit bees' ability to fly.
Raina wondered if there was a better way to protect bees. She developed her own thymol-containing substance. Then she designed a 3D- printed beehive entrance that would coat the bees. She tested how fast her substance would degrade in the sun and wind by applying the substance to bee models. Raina even kept a beehive in her backyard to test the substance's effectiveness.
Now, hundreds of beekeepers around the United States are helping Raina further test her invention. “Probably the hardest part of my project was to get people to actually use it”, Raina says. “It took time and thousands of emails. But now further data collection is underway.”
1. What does the underlined part in the first paragraph mean?| A．Avoided the field of. | B．Suffered from. | C．Knew nothing about. | D．Focused on. |
| A．To ask advice from him. | B．To do field observation of bees. |
| C．To ask for some bees for experiments. | D．To observe how a beekeeper raises bees. |
| A．artificial bees | B．bees raised by herself |
| C．the beehive in her backyard | D．the 3D-printed beehive entrance |
| A．Putting it into practical use. | B．Improving its effectiveness. |
| C．Finding out whether it works well. | D．Getting support for it from beekeepers. |
【推荐1】Mathilda, 15, is Turkana, a native people that has survived by raising cattle in a semiarid region. Mathilda's school, like most schools in the area, doesn't have access to clean water and sanitation facilities for its students. So instead of spending their whole school day learning, Mathilda and her classmates start their day by spending two hours to the closest river fetching water—water that is anyway most likely not safe to drink. They do the same thing again in the afternoon, so they often lose around half of their school day fetching water.
Mathilda has to do the same thing outside of school hours to get the water her family needs at home, leaving her little time for studying. Because of rising temperatures, water has become harder and harder to find here, and people have to spend more and more time trying to find it.
This is just one small example of how climate change is making it harder to realise people's rights to water, education and security. Unfortunately, most higher-income countries remained silent on the issue.
This shows that communities already facing marginalization, such as women and children, mostly suffer from climate change. This is especially the case for those in countries with limited resources and fragile ecosystems.
Meanwhile, women consist of the majority of the world's poor, and so are more dependent for their livelihood on natural resources that are threatened by climate change. And around the world, women and girls are the most likely to be responsible for fetching water for their families.
This exposes them to danger and leaves them with less time to attend school, earn money, or simply to rest. But the fact is that the effects of climate change will be felt globally.
Despite the difficulties she is facing, trying to get an education, Mathilda says she hopes to serve her community in a leadership role when she grows up.
“All of the world's leaders need to work together to solve this problem that we are all facing,” she said.
1. Mathilda has to spend _____ fetching water every school day.| A．two hours | B．four hours | C．more than four hours | D．almost a whole day |
| A．the cause and effect of lack of water |
| B．one serious consequence of climate change |
| C．the difficulties in fetching water in the semiarid region |
| D．the hardship of life for the people in the semiarid region |
| A．climate change is everyone's business |
| B．water is becoming rare because of rising temperatures |
| C．fetching water takes up Mathilda's half of studying time |
| D．females are more responsible for fetching water for their families |
| A．rising temperatures | B．fetching water | C．climate change | D．water shortage |
【推荐2】Wood has many great characteristics that make it the perfect building material. It is cheap, durable(耐用的), easily available, and most importantly, environmentally sustainable. The one thing it is not, is transparent(透明的).Now thanks to a team of scientists at Stockholm’s KTH Royal Institute of Technology, the material may even be able to add that feature to its already impressive list.
Lead researcher Dr. Lars Berglund said he was inspired to create the transparent wood after learning how Japanese researchers had developed a see-through paper for use in flexible display screens for electronic devices.
The team began by pulling out the wood’s lignin (木质素). The lignin-free wood was then dipped into a polymer (聚合物) and baked at a temperature of 158F for four hours. The result was a hybrid product that was not only stronger and lighter than the original wood but also, almost transparent. The researchers were able to adjust the level of transparency by varying the amount of the polymer injected and also by changing the thickness of the wood.
While scientists have previously created a see-through wood for small-scale applications like computer chips, the transparent wood is the first one being considered for large scale applications. The researchers, who revealed their findings in Biomacromolecules on April 11, picture using the transparent wood in buildings to allow for more natural light, or to create windows that let in the desired amount of light without sacrificing privacy.
Wood that allows light to pass through could lead to a brighter future for homes and buildings. Berglund also thinks the wood could play a significant role in the design of solar panels. The semi-transparent material would be able to keep light longer and give it more time to interact with the conductor, thus resulting in better solar efficiency.
Additionally, substituting the currently used glass with this new product would help solar energy manufacturers improve their carbon footprint and lower the cost. They are now experimenting with ways to scale up the manufacturing process so that the transparent material is cost-effective to make and easy to use.
1. What does the underlined part "that feature" in Paragraph 1 refer to?| A．Cheapness. | B．Durability. |
| C．Sustainability. | D．Transparency. |
| A．Dip the wood into a polymer. | B．Reduce the amount of the polymer. |
| C．Make the wood lignin-free. | D．Bake the wood for some time. |
| A．To protect privacy. | B．To scale out applications. |
| C．To get more natural light. | D．To observe more clearly. |
| A．The bright future of the transparent wood. |
| B．The wood’s role in the design of solar panels. |
| C．The disadvantages of the currently used glass. |
| D．Solar energy manufacturers’ carbon footprint. |
【推荐3】In terms of teaching, firstly, ChatGPT is like an up-graded version of an intelligent search engine, which greatly improves my efficiency in preparing assessments. For example, I’m currently teaching a Year 4 module Digital Marketing and it’s a very practical module. In the past, I had to spend a lot of time looking for cases and examples related to the course to help students understand it. Now I just need to ask ChatGPT to generate relevant and accurate examples. Secondly, ChatGPT can help improve my teaching. Previously, I often tried to find ways to increase student participation in class, by researching questions, activities, technical tools, as well as methods. However, today I often look to ChatGPT for in-depth advice on this.
In terms of scientific research, given the academic severeness, I actually think ChatGPT can do relatively little at present. The scenes I’ve used ChatGPT for have so far been limited to just a few aspects. Firstly, proof-reading an article. Secondly, summarizing and improving an article. For example, you can import a piece of content and have ChatGPT generate the article’s overall ideas and keywords.
It seems that different universities hold different attitudes toward ChatGPT. The University of Cambridge, for example, allows students to use ChatGPT for purposes other than exams, assignments and papers. Of course, there are plenty of objections.
I think, used in the right way, ChatGPT can be of great help to students in their academic and personal growth. For example, I mentioned using ChatGPT as a smarter search engine and learning tool. ChatGPT can help students review conceptual problems after class and supplement their knowledge. Secondly, students can also use ChatGPT to do more targeted personal pursuits. For example, when applying for a master’s degree, or looking for a job, students can use ChatGPT to conduct mock(模拟)interviews and CV improvements. Note that good questions lead to good answers. Be clear about what you want from this advanced language model and ask questions with a purpose.
By Professor Martin Locket, UCL
1. What is ChatGPT?| A．A social media. | B．A language model. | C．An online celebrity. | D．A new Internet. |
| A．ChatGPT broadens the author’s vision. |
| B．ChatGPT does much good to teaching research. |
| C．ChatGPT benefits much to the author’s teaching. |
| D．ChatGPT improves the efficiency of lesson preparation. |
| A．Doing homework. | B．Taking examinations. |
| C．Learning new languages. | D．Writing academic articles. |
| A．Doubtful. | B．Indifferent. | C．Critical. | D．Favorable. |
