As a new age of genetic research draws near, soon, we may be able to choose the hair color build the IQ of our kids. Should we change embryos (胚胎) to improve intelligence or physical characteristics?
A beauty editor believes it will be difficult to stop the demand for “designer babies” once the technology is in place. “Once genetic scientists can change embryos to produce more beautiful children, there will be consumer demand,” she says. She acknowledges that fashion magazines may be partly responsible for fueling this discontent with a certain kind of appearance, but claims one cannot blame the media alone if people believe a bit of plastic surgery will change their lives. “Like it or not,” she argues, “we know that the pretty rots the part.”
Well-known plastic surgeons agree with this view. “People are looking for respect and self-confidence in a dog-eat-dog world that measures us by our appearance,” one specialist claims. “I understand their anxiety and offer a solution—cosmetic enhancement (整容美化). The next logical step is genetic enhancement, which would give the unborn child with similar physical advantages.”
Some philosophers also approve of genetic intervention (介入). As one of them put it, “What parent doesn’t wish for a beautiful, healthy baby? Why is it morally unacceptable to use technology to realize that dream? Moreover, a child designed to have high intelligence or sporting ability would hardly have reasons for complaint.”
However, many people are deeply disturbed by the idea of embryo enhancement. Some fear it will lead to a reduction in genetic differences, resulting in a lack of tolerance for diversity and disability. “And who is to say that this future generation of Barbies will be content?” asks the beauty editor. In her experience, people who pursue physical perfection through plastic surgery aren’t necessarily satisfied. They may suffer unwanted side effects-insecurity and increasing dissatisfaction with their self-image. What if the gene edited kid, or their parents, were to feel similarly dissatisfied?
1. What does the underlined phrase “this view” in Paragraph 3 refer to?A.People are often judged by their looks. |
B.Cosmetic surgery reduces people’s lives. |
C.The media make people worry about their looks. |
D.People prefer genetic enhancement to plastic surgery. |
A.Worried | B.Disapproving. | C.Agreeable. | D.Cautious. |
A.Those who receive it may not like the results. |
B.It will make future generations look like Barbies. |
C.The money it requires should be spent on general medical care. |
D.It will raise the standards of physical beauty to unattainable levels. |
A.The advantages of genetic enhancement. |
B.The development of genetic enhancement. |
C.The promising future of genetic enhancement. |
D.People’s different opinions on genetic enhancement. |
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【推荐1】We usually think of archaeology as lots of painstaking work by brave explorers. But today, long-hidden cities are being revealed (显露) from the air, where modern archaeologists use laser pulses (激光脉冲) to discover the sign of ancient life buried below thick surface.
Lidar, short for “light detection and ranging”, needs directing rapid laser pulses at the ground from an airplane. Software catches the time and wavelength of the pulses reflected from the surface and connects it with GPS and other data to produce a precise 3D map of the landscape below.
In recent years, lidar exposed an ancient city in western Mexico called Angamuco. The discovery of this long-lost Mexican metropolis (大都) is especially meaningful.
“To think that this large city existed in the heartland of Mexico for all this time and nobody knew it was there is kind of amazing,” says Chris Fisher, an archaeologist at Colorado State University who led the expedition.
The city extended over ten square miles. “That is a huge area with a lot of people,” says Fisher. “You are talking about 40. 000 building foundations, which is about the same number of building foundations that are on the island of Manhattan.” Archaeologists were surprised when they saw Angamuco’s city plan. The monuments (纪念碑) were largely concentrated in eight zones around the edges rather than being located in one large center.
Archacologists discovered signs of the buried city in 2007 and attempted to explore it using a traditional way. But the team soon realized that it would take at least ten years to outline the whole metropolis. In 2011, they began using lidar to map nearly 14 square miles. Researchers now believe that more than 100. 000 people lived in Angamuco from about AD 1000 to AD 1350. That makes it the biggest city in western Mexico at the time or at least the biggest city we know about so far.
“Everywhere you point the lidar instrument, you find something new.” says Fisher. “Right now. every textbook has to be rewritten. and two years from now. they’re going to have to be rewritten again.”
1. Where is the text probably taken from?A.A textbook | B.A magazine | C.A guidebook | D.A diary. |
A.By producing a precise 3D landscape. | B.By connecting laser pulses with software |
C.By catching images of the ground surface | D.By detecting the ground with laser pulses. |
A.It existed in Mexico for a short time. | B.It covered an area as large as Manhattan. |
C.It had monuments located in the city center. | D.It was a metropolis with a large population. |
A.Lidar uses light waves to peel back the layers of time. |
B.A Mexico city is unearthed and presented to the world. |
C.Laser pulses show fascinating facts about modern cities. |
D.Archacologists uncover ancient cities to rewrite textbooks. |
【推荐2】Zero-emission large passenger aircraft powered by hydrogen will be technically possible in five years, according to Airbus, but they will not enter service for at least a decade as the price of the fuel needs to come down.
The prediction comes from Glenn Llewellyn, vice-president of zero-emissions technology at the pan-European plane-maker. He said that while Airbus planned to demonstrate hydrogen-powered aircraft in 2025, over the next 10 years, hydrogen won’t be more economical than the fossil fuel.
For passengers to be flying genuinely emissions free aboard hydrogen-powered planes—which emit only water and heat — their fuel needs to come from hydrogen produced via renewable sources such as wind and solar, he added.
In an interview ahead of the Bloomberg NEF London Summit, Mr. Llewellyn said, “We already see massive increases in the amount of renewable energy being produced across the world. Wind energy production has multiplied by two over the last five years and solar energy production has multiplied by four.”
A further challenge is building up the ecosystem that hydrogen aircraft, along with other forms of transport, will need. This ranges from creating the fuel from electrolysis to split water into hydrogen and oxygen powered by renewable energy, to the actual transport of the gas and fueling systems for it at airports.
However, Mr. Llewellyn predicted that there was enough interest in the sector to make this happen. He added, “There are a number of independent institutes that have mapped out how hydrogen costs can come down over the next decades. We see a 30pc reduction in renewable hydrogen costs in 2030 compared to where it is today, and a 50pc reduction in renewable hydrogen costs by 2050.”
1. What can we know about the hydrogen-powered aircraft according to the passage?A.It will be an unrealistic dream. | B.The cost of its fuel keeps rising. |
C.It will be accessible within a decade. | D.Renewable energy makes it environmentally friendly. |
A.It gains growing popularity throughout the world. |
B.More wind energy has been produced than solar energy. |
C.Hydrogen can only be generated from wind and solar energy. |
D.Hydrogen will be cheaper than fossil fuel in the coming ten years. |
A.Ecosystem | B.Challenge | C.Aircraft | D.Prediction |
A.Objective | B.Optimistic. | C.Doubtful. | D.Pessimistic |
【推荐3】Range anxiety(里程焦虑), the fear of running out of power before being able to recharge an electric vehicle, may be a thing of the past, according to a team of Penn State engineers who are looking at lithium iron phosphate batteries(磷酸铁锂电池) that have a range of 250 miles with the ability to charge in 10 minutes.
“We developed a pretty clever battery for mass-market electric vehicles,” said Chao-Yang Wang, a professor and director of the Electrochemical Engine Center at Penn State. “There is no more range anxiety and this battery is affordable”. The researchers also say that the battery should be good for 2 million miles in its lifetime.
They report today in Nature Energy that the key to long-life and rapid recharging is the battery’s ability to quickly heat up to 140 degrees Fahrenheit, for charge and discharge, and then cool down when the battery is not working.
The battery uses a self-heating approach previously developed in Wang’s center. The self-heating battery uses a thin nickel foil(镍箔) with one end attached to the negative terminal and the other extending outside the cell to create a third terminal. Once electrons flow it rapidly heats up the nickel foil through resistance heating and warm the inside of the battery. Once the battery’s internal temperature is 140 degrees F, the switch opens and the battery is ready for rapid charge or discharge.
“This battery has slenderized weight, volume and cost,” said Wang. “I am very happy that we finally found a battery that will benefit the mainstream consumer mass market.” According to Wang, these smaller batteries can produce a large amount of power upon heating—40 kilowatt hours and 300 kilowatts of power. An electric vehicle with this battery could go from zero to 60 miles per hour in 3 seconds and would drive like a Porsche, he said. “This is how we are going to change the environment and not contribute to just the luxury cars,” said Wang. “Let everyone afford electric vehicles.”
1. Which can best describe the battery in the text?A.Cheap and heavy. | B.Costly but beneficial. |
C.Expensive but small-sized. | D.Affordable and efficient. |
A.It is environmentally friendly. | B.It heats up and cools down rapidly. |
C.It helps speed up the car instantly. | D.It charges when it doesn’t work. |
A.How the battery works. | B.Advantages of the battery. |
C.How the battery is produced. | D.Applications of the battery. |
A.promoted | B.gathered | C.combined | D.reduced |
【推荐1】English is a very interesting language. It has borrowed words from many other languages. Immigrants (移民) coming into the United States have contributed many words to the language, which have kept their original pronunciation. “Coolie” and “kowtow” were taken from the Chinese language, “kamikaze” from Japanese, “shampoo” from Indian, “blitz” from German, “amigo” and “Los Angeles” from Spanish and so on.
Many students have studied English for years, some as many as eight. However, some students still have difficulty in speaking fluent English. Some know many words, but are unable to discern them when native speakers use them. In our oral English classes we will focus on speaking and listening to native English speakers. Because we are trying to train your ears to hear English and your mouths to speak intelligible (易理解的) English, we will have a rule that ONLY ENGLISH will be spoken in our English classes. Anyone speaking Chinese in class will be required to pay a fine (罚款) in order to encourage the speaking and understanding of English. If teachers enter a classroom and discover that anyone is speaking Chinese, they will require everyone in the room to pay the fine. It is everyone’s job to enforce the English-Only rule. It is for your benefit. It is because we want to accustom (使习惯于) your ears to hearing English.
Other subjects may be learned only from books but the only way to learn a foreign language is to SPEAK IT! Students are often nervous about speaking in class at first but we hope to make the classes fun, so you will forget your nervousness and learn to speak out. Enjoy your classes.
1. What is the first paragraph mainly about?A.The difficulty of learning English. |
B.Different words in different languages. |
C.How interesting and different English is. |
D.The immigrants’ contributions to America. |
A.notice | B.understand |
C.hear | D.speak |
A.To benefit the teachers. |
B.To make the English class more colourful. |
C.To require everyone in the room to pay the fine. |
D.To improve the students’ abilities of using English. |
A.Speak it often. |
B.Learn it from books. |
C.Listen to it on the radio. |
D.Play games with it. |
【推荐2】Summer Camps for Teenagers
There are many types of summer camps for teenagers to attend. They’re a great way for teens to make friends and learn valuable lessons about life. If you’re seeking a good summer camp to attend, the first thing you should do is to decide what type of camp would be most suitable to your interests and goals.
Traditional Camps
When you just want the sort of camp in classic films, a traditional overnight camp might be just what you need to grow, learn, and relax this coming summer. These sorts of camps offer more vigorous outdoors activities, yet often allow campers to customize their camping experiences.
Chewonki Camp
As one of the best summer camps in the country by Boston Magazine, this camp aims to help teens learn about natural history and ecology, and the campers get treats like sailing trips and hiking excursions, besides formal instruction in such things as kayaking, swimming, field sports, and photography.
Camp Wicosuta
As a top-rated, traditional four-week sleep away camp especially for young ladies, Camp Wicosuta has more than 30 different activities to help teens learn to cook and wash themselves, which aims to help young girls focus on building their self-confidence.
Academic Camps
Many teens like to advance their education during the summer months while also having fun. There are hundreds of academic camps for them to choose from that specialize in various academic subjects like journalism, languages, law, computers, and sciences.
1. You should decide what camp to attend according to _______.A.personal interests and goals | B.camping time and place |
C.items and activities | D.your values and customs |
A.Traditional Camps. | B.Camp Wicosuta. | C.Chewonki Camp. | D.Academic Camps. |
A.To let teens learn and get relaxed. | B.To help girls learn practical skills. |
C.To make teens focus on science. | D.To help girls build self-confidence. |
【推荐3】Born in an unknown village in Huarong county, Hunan province, Yi had few opportunities to play instruments when he was young.
At the age of 6, when most performers have already begun studying the piano at music academies, Yi learned the traditional stringed instrument the erhu from a group of people lodging at his home. It was not until much later that he first saw a piano when he visited his cousin’s house in Huarong.
“My family was too poor to buy a piano for me, so I often used to visit my cousin, even though it took about an hour to travel the 20 kilometers to his home over rocky roads just for the opportunity to sit at the keyboard,” Yi said.
Yi first arrived in Shenzhen 19 years ago and worked in factories, on construction sites and in kitchens. He had not played a piano for nearly 30 years.
The public pianos in Huaqiangbei offered him a fresh start. On a hot summer’s day, while taking a break from work at a nearby construction site, Yi and his son passed one of the instruments. Encouraged by his son, Yi decided to give it a try.
He rubbed his hands nervously on his clothes, but the moment he placed his fingers on the keys, he felt more comfortable and his confidence returned. Although his masterly performance at the piano keyboard quickly made him an online sensation in China and overseas, Yi is not the only one to benefit from the pianos in Huaqiangbei.
Inspired by the British artist Luke Jerram, who has placed more than 2,000 street pianos in over 70 cities worldwide since 2008 with the words “Play Me, I’m Yours” printed on their sides, the public piano project in Huaqiangbei was launched by the local government in 2018.
Zhang Chen, deputy director of the Huaqiangbei subdistrict office, said: “Huaqiangbei is located in the commercial district in the center of Shenzhen. We have been trying to provide diverse facilities to bring high-quality public cultural services to the area. We are surprised that the public piano project has attracted so many people to play the instruments, and others to watch them perform.”
1. What do we learn about young Yi from the passage?A.He smoothed the path to piano lessons. |
B.He was fascinated by musical instruments. |
C.He received musical training at the age of 6. |
D.He familiarized himself with erhu at his cousin’. |
A.Awkward. | B.Confident. | C.Amazed. | D.Refreshed. |
A.The artist’s popularity. | B.The project’s origin. |
C.The artist’s creativity. | D.The project’s challenge. |
A.A city culture featuring the piano needs changing. |
B.The street piano project fuels urban development. |
C.Huaqiangbei gets in tune with its cultural ambitions. |
D.Shenzhen takes the lead in promoting cultural prosperity. |