Scientists have figured out how COVID-19 causes many people to lose their sense of smell. And they have good news: The loss of their smell appears to be temporary because the actual cells in the nose that recognize smell aren’t harmed.
Temporary loss of smell is called anosmia by doctors. It’s one of the earliest and most commonly reported indicators of COVID-19. In fact, studies suggest it can better predict whether someone likely suffers from the disease than fever and cough.
But to be exact, why people with COVID-19 stop being able to smell was unclear. It was thought that damage or inflammation (炎症) of the sensory nerve cells that detect and send the sense of smell to the brain caused the problem. That turned out to be wrong.
In a paper published on Friday, researchers found that SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, attacks the cells that support those smell-detecting neurons (神经元) but not the neurons themselves.
“The novel coronavirus changes the sense of smell in patients not by directly infecting neurons but by affecting the function of those supporting cells,” said Sandeep Robert Datta, a professor at Harvard Medical School.
That’s good news because it means the infection isn’t likely to permanently damage COVID-19 patients’ smell nerves. “Once the infection disappears, smell neurons don’t appear to need to be replaced or rebuilt from scratch,” he said. “But we need more data and a better understanding of the hidden theory to confirm this conclusion.”
COVID-19 patients typically recover their sense of smell over the course of several weeks. In other infections caused by a virus patients can take months to regain their sense of smell.
1. Which can better predict the infection of COVID-19?| A．Loss of smell. | B．Constant cough. |
| C．High fever. | D．Temporary unconsciousness. |
| A．The novel coronavirus changes the sense of smell. |
| B．The virus that causes COVID-19 will kill smell nerves. |
| C．The virus of COVID-19 doesn’t attack those smell-detecting neurons. |
| D．The infection of COVID-19 permanently damages patients’ smell nerves. |
| A．To share his or her relevant knowledge. |
| B．To prove shorter smell loss of COVID-19 patients. |
| C．To introduce the next hot topic about virus infection. |
| D．To conclude the bad results of different infections. |
| A．Patients living with COVID-19 will soon recover |
| B．COVID-19 is easy to predict by several symptoms |
| C．Will COVID-19 destroy your nerve system? |
| D．Will COVID-19 patients’ smell loss last long? |
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【推荐1】Most brands’ marketing strategies target our vision-think about logos, ads and other symbols. Some try to stimulate us with upbeat music or relaxing sounds. But targeting our noses can be an even more powerful tool for brands, say marketing experts.
An industry, known as scent marketing, is dedicated to developing custom fragrances(香味). ScentAir, for example, is one of the largest sellers of fragrance diffusers(扩散器)to leading brands. The company designs 9 “fragrance experiences” ranging from “luxurious and sophisticated” to “passionate and sensual”. On the flip side, it also tries to mask and neutralize(中和)awful smells from bathrooms or kitchens.
According to Laurence Minsky, a professor from Columbia College Chicago who studies branding, our sense of smell runs straight to our limbic system, and thus deploying a pleasant fragrance in a store can influence customers’ feelings about it and help it stand out in a crowded market. It can also cue up past memories, Minsky said.
The presence of a pleasant scent in stores resulted in a 3% sales increase compared to stores without one, found a study published in The Journal of Marketing. And beyond just being pleasant, the specifics of scent matter. Another study published in The Journal. Of. Retailing found that consumers spent more and purchased more items in stores with a simple orange or lemon scent than in stores with complex scents.
The opportunity to create an ambiance(格调)while increasing sales has led retailers and other businesses to experiment with different scents and create their own fragrance experiences. Brands such as Play-Doh and Johnson & Johnson were some of the first to use scent as a marketing tool. Play-Doh even successfully trademarked its own fragrance in 2018.
Since the 1990s, Singapore Airlines has also been using its own fragrance. Flight attendants wear it as perfume; it is mixed into hot towels served before takeoff and wafts through the cabin during the flight. Hotels such as Hyatt and Westin pump smells into their lobbies, while many supermarkets move their bakeries from the back of the store to the front.
But stores should keep a delicate balance when they engineer their smells. The USA’s subway, for example, has been criticized by some customers for an unpleasant bread smell. When Starbucks introduced breakfast sandwiches in 2008, it found the smell of sandwiches cooking in the oven was overpowering its coffee fragrance.
1. What may be the function of the limbic system?| A．Improving our fashion sense. |
| B．Getting rid of some bad memories. |
| C．Changing our perspectives on things. |
| D．Regulating our emotions and memories. |
| A．The history of scent marketing. |
| B．The significance of scent marketing. |
| C．The wide application of scent marketing. |
| D．The influence of various scent experiments. |
| A．To try out an idea. |
| B．To issue a warning. |
| C．To draw a conclusion. |
| D．To give a piece of advice. |
| A．Pay attention to your brand image |
| B．Use smell to get you to spend more |
| C．Increase sales of fragrance diffusers |
| D．Attract customers with excellent service |
【推荐2】Silvia Maier works at the University of Zurich, Switzerland. She and her colleagues invited 51 young men into the lab for 3 hours of tests. They showed each man 180 food items on a computer. Each time, they asked the men to judge how healthy, tasty and appealing the food was.
Then the researchers stressed out 29 of the men. They did this by asking each to put one hand in ice water for three minutes. If the water was too unpleasant, the volunteers could remove their hands, but must continue looking into a video camera. The men were also encouraged to put their hands back into the cold water. All the while, a researcher watched and videotaped the ordeal (考验). Another 22 men held one hand in warm water. They were not videotaped.
Afterward, the researchers showed each man a series of two food items. They did this 210 times. And before making choices, the men were told to choose the healthier of the two items. When the testing was over, the scientists gave the volunteers a snack. Each man got one of the items he had said that he preferred. Despite being coached to choose healthy foods, the stressed men proved more likely to pick the less healthy.
The researchers also performed brain scans of the volunteers. It showed what part of the brain was active as they made their choices. “Our findings indicate that stress affects the decision making,” Maier’s team concluded. And it does this by changing two brain pathways. One affects sensory information, such as taste. The other affects a person’s ability to make decisions such as eating what is good for us.
More studies will be needed to confirm the new findings. But the early signs suggest that stress not only makes junk food more appealing, but also weakens the brain’s ability to resist eating it.
1. How did the scientists mainly get the result?| A．By doing experiments. |
| B．By asking questions. |
| C．By conducting surveys. |
| D．By secret observations. |
| A．pleasant |
| B．frightened |
| C．relaxed |
| D．stressed |
| A．They wanted to find the IQ of them. |
| B．They wanted to observe the activities of their brains. |
| C．They wanted to discover the potential disease of them. |
| D．They wanted to know the health conditions of them. |
| A．The new Swiss study is the final conclusion. |
| B．Stress may increase self-control in eating. |
| C．Stress makes junk food more attractive. |
| D．It is easy for stressed people to resist tasty foods. |
【推荐3】The secret to eating less and being happy about it may have been found years ago — by McDonald’s. According to a new study from Cornell University’s Food and Brand Lab, small non-food rewards — like the toys in McDonald’s Happy Meals — stimulate the same reward centers in the brain as food does.
The researchers, led by Martin Reimann, carried out a series of experiments to see if people would choose a smaller meal if it was paired with a non-food item.
They found that the majority of both kids and adults chose a half-sized portion when combined with a prize. Both options were priced the same.
Even more interesting is that the promise of a future reward was enough to make adults choose the smaller portion. One of the prizes used was a lottery ticket (彩票), with a $10, $ 50 or $100 payout, and this was as effective as a tangible gift in persuading people to eat less.
“The fact that participants were willing to substitute part of a food item for the mere prospect of a relatively small monetary award is interesting,” says Reimann. “One explanation for this finding is that possible awards may be more emotionally inspiring than certainty awards. The uncertainty of winning provides added attraction and desirability through emotional ‘thrills’. The possibility of receiving an award also produces a state of hope — a state that is in itself psychologically rewarding.” In other words, there’s a reason why people like to gamble.
How might this knowledge be used to help people eat more healthily?
One possibility is a healthy option that offers the chance to win a spa weekend. Or maybe the reward of a half-sized portion could be a half-sized dessert to be claimed only on a future date. That would get you back in the restaurant — and make you eat a little less.
1. What do we learn about McDonald’s inclusion of toys in its Happy Meals?| A．It may throw light on people’s desire to find a secret. |
| B．It has proved to be key to McDonald’s business success. |
| C．It appeals to kid’s curiosity to find out what is hidden inside. |
| D．It may be a pleasant way for kids to reduce their food intake. |
| A．Reducing food intake is not that difficult if people go to McDonald’s more. |
| B．Most kids and adults don’t actually feel hungry when they eat half of their meal. |
| C．Eating a smaller portion of food does good to the health of kids and adults alike. |
| D．Most kids and adults would choose a smaller meal that came with a non-food item. |
| A．Kids preferred an award in the form of money to one in the form of a toy. |
| B．Adults chose the smaller portion on the mere promise of a future award. |
| C．Both kids and adults felt satisfied with only half of their meal portions. |
| D．Neither children nor adults could resist the temptation of a free toy. |
| A．People should eat much less if they wish to stay healthy and happy. |
| B．More fast food restaurants are likely to follow McDonald’s example. |
| C．We can lead people to eat less while helping the restaurant business. |
| D．More studies are needed to find out the influence of emotion on behavior. |
【推荐1】MIT chemistry professor Daniel Nocera led research on the artificial leaf project, says he and his colleagues took their cues from plants, which are literally buzzing with electricity.
“What happens is that sunlight comes in and hits the leaf and then the leaf immediately takes that sunlight and makes a wireless current,”says Nocera.
During photosynthesis, the energy in sunlight splits water molecules into hydrogen and oxygen. The hydrogen joins with carbon dioxide to make sugar, an essential fuel for plant growth. In Nocera’s laboratory, scientists replicated that chemical process using a silicon device about the size and shape of a playing card, only thinner. It's coated with nickel and cobalt catalysts that when exposed to water and ultraviolet light, accelerate a chemical reaction.
“So you can literally just take this bottle of water and we could take the chip, put the chip inside the bottle of water, and go holding it up in the sun and you would start seeing hydrogen and oxygen bubbles coming up.”
The hydrogen is then recombined with the oxygen in a fuel cell to produce electricity. Nocera’s work builds on previous research. John Turner of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory pioneered the concept in 1998 using materials too expensive and unstable for commercialization.
Nocera says his so-called practical artificial leaf uses less expensive materials, is more stable and more efficient than that earlier design. He says the challenge is to collect the gases coming off the silicon and store them until the energy is needed. “That has to be engineered still,” he adds. “We don't know how to do that. It will be something that we will start doing pretty soon. You’ll be storing a fair amount of energy because this system is working at the efficiency more or less of the solar cell.”
In laboratory experiments, Nocera's solar cell prototype operated continuously for 45 hours without a drop in electrical output. Nocera notes that it works in any type of water. “So you can use natural water sources, which for us is a big deal, because if you are in rural parts of the world. especially where they are poor, it is really costly to bring in pure water and so, the fact that you can go over there' to a puddle and pick the water up and begin using it, is something that is very powerful for us."
Nocera believes the artificial leaf could be especially useful as an inexpensive source of electricity for low-income populations in developing countries. The goal, Nocera says, is to make each home its own power station. He predicts a commercial version of the artificial leaf will be on the market within three years.
1. MIT chemistry professor Daniel Norcera's research is different from John Turner's mainly in that________.| A．Norcera's research outcome is too commercialized |
| B．Norcera has found a cheaper and steadier material |
| C．Norcera's working system is like the solar cell |
| D．Norcera's research is original and unprecedented |
| A．an efficient way of storing gases coming off the silicon |
| B．a feasible system that is as efficient as solar cell |
| C．a silicon device that can accelerate the chemical reaction |
| D．how to spread the cheap source of electricity in developing countries |
| A．It is convenient for every home to own a power station |
| B．It can change the ordinary water into pure water |
| C．It has a commercial value for poor populations |
| D．It can recycle waste water and thus eco-friendly |
| A．Plants Can Produce Cheap and Steady Electricity |
| B．Storage of Energy Is a Tough Challenge |
| C．Artificial Leaf Tuns Sunlight into Electric Power |
| D．Inexpensive Source of Electricity Is Finally Available |
【推荐2】A car weighing only a few hundred pounds, can travel 500 miles per hour, repair itself and cost less than other cars. It might be hard to imagine such a cat, let alone a spaceship. But NASA is trying to make a spaceship that is much better than other ships.
The spacecraft has to be as light as it can be. Weight costs money! A new discovery might allow spacecraft to be lighter. A new material called a "carbon nanotube（碳纳米管）" might be the answer to the weight problem of building a super spaceship. This material is 600 times stronger than steel.
One of the big problems with space travel is space radiation （辐射）.In space, astronauts need protection against harmful rays. You might think that the metal on a spaceship is the answer. But, metals are the worst for protecting against very dangerous space rays. These rays are made of little pieces called ions （离子）.When the ions hit metals at very high speed, they can break an atom and cause another type of ray to form. These new rays can be worse than the radiation the metal skins were supposed to stop. Thus, it is very important to block these rays.
But we could use carbon nanotubes to make the skins of spacecraft. Things that are light in weight seem to work the best against these ions. The rays are stopped outside the spacecraft and new rays aren't made.
In addition, our super spaceship needs to be able to repair itself. Humans can feel the smallest pinpricks （针刺）because of tiny sensors that send signals to our brains. Tiny sensors like ours could be built in the new ships. Each sensor could send messages to the computer “brain" of the spacecraft. If something needed to be fixed, the computer could tell the ship to do it.
Just as amazing as a car would be to someone 200 years ago, our nanotube spaceship might seem to us. We might actually make the spacecraft of tomorrow, using the technology of today.
1. What are the features of carbon nanotubes?| A．Light and strong. | B．Thin and radioactive. |
| C．Self-repairing and weightless. | D．Sensitive and protective. |
| A．Space radiation can't be blocked at all. |
| B．Space rays can break ions to form new rays. |
| C．Carbon nanotubes can prevent radiation effectively. |
| D．Metal skins aren't a good choice for their strength. |
| A．Humans can feel the smallest pinpricks. |
| B．The computer "brain" can repair itself. |
| C．Signals can be sent to humans' brains. |
| D．The computer can be informed of what to repair. |
| A．A New Discovery in Space |
| B．NASA Made a Breakthrough |
| C．Nanotubes Help to Repair Spacecraft |
| D．NASA's Attempt to Make a Super Spaceship |
【推荐3】Famous American poet Robert Frost once said, “Poetry is what gets lost in translation.” Although it is not impossible to translate poetry, Xu Yuanchong, a well-known Chinese translator, has striven to convey the beauty of ancient Chinese poetry throughout his life.
His teacher Qian Zhongshu commented on his poetry translation, “You are dancing while chained by rhyme (押韵) and rhythm, but the dance shows amazing freedom and beauty, which is quite extraordinary.”
Xu has just turned 100 years old. On April 1, China Translation and Publishing House published a series of commemorative (纪念的) books about his life and career to pay tribute to this centenarian.
Since 1978, Xu has published more than 100 translated novels, anthologies (选集) and plays in Chinese, English and French, reaching potentially millions of readers at home and abroad. Most notably, he translated Chinese poems into rhymed verses in both English and French. He is also the first Asian winner of the “Aurora Borealis Prize” for Outstanding Translation of Fiction Literature.
Xu is known to be very fastidious in his work. He has dedicated his life to“[translating] beautifully”. For him, English is a “scientific” language that demands accuracy, while Chinese is an “artistic” language that includes a wider range of content. Following this principle, Xu not only keeps faithfulness in sense but beauty in sensibility in his translation.
Through Xu’s translations, time-honored Chinese wisdom has made an impact on Western societies and the world at large.
For instance, when former US president Barack Obama tried to begin a controversial healthcare reform during his presidency, some senators (参议员) were opposed at first. But after reading the poem titled Fishing in Snow (《江雪》) translated by Xu, one senator was so impressed with the fisherman’s independent, non-conformist (不墨守成规的) thinking that he chose to part with the party line to support Obama, noted NewsChina.
Having made such great achievements, the 100-year-old remains diligent. He lives alone in an old house near Peking University. In his simple room, decorated with Chinese traditional furniture, he maintains a routine. Every day he translates roughly 1,000 words, working till 3 to 4 am, sleeping about 3 hours and getting up at 6 am to continue.
“Translation is a means of communicating with the writer’s soul. A sudden flicker (闪现) of [a] good word or [a] good line thrills every pore (毛孔) and every inch of my skin,” Xu told NewsChina.
1. What does the article tell us about Xu Yuanchong?| A．He’s the first winner of The Aurora Borealis Prize. |
| B．He has translated about 100 Chinese literary works into English. |
| C．He is widely known for his translated rhymed verse. |
| D．He has mastered at least three foreign languages. |
| A．Particular. | B．Satisfied. | C．Inventive. | D．Productive. |
| A．To show Xu’s popularity. |
| B．To illustrate Xu’s impact. |
| C．To introduce his reform. |
| D．To stress Xu’s wisdom. |
| A．Modest and insightful. |
| B．Considerate and cautious. |
| C．Creative and open-minded. |
| D．Dedicated and passionate. |
【推荐1】A stuffy nose is usually nothing to worry about; it’s mostly just uncomfortable, with varying symptoms. “For some people, it’s having something sticky in the nose or a feeling that the airways are blocked and there’s a declining sense of smell.” says Dr. Ahmad Sedaghat, a director of Rhinology at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine.
Actually, COVID-19 might cause a stuffy nose in some cases, although it wasn’t on the original list of COVID symptoms. Classic symptoms of the SARS-CoV-2 initial variant(变体)included fever, a cough, body aches and pains, shortness of breath and a loss of taste and smell-without a stuffy nose. However, the Delta variant is different. It’s often associated with symptoms of a common cold, like a stuffy or runny nose and sore throat. But there is something that needs to keep in mind.
One is that the Delta variant still results in the loss of taste and smell, and it’s far-reaching. Sedaghat says that’s because the COVID virus can infect the taste buds. “When you lose smell with a stuffy nose, you can still taste sweet, salty, bitter or sour. But that ability is wiped out with COVID. There’s no taste at all.” he says.
The other to consider in distinguishing COVID from a stuffy nose: vaccination(接种疫苗)，accompanying symptoms and health history. “If you’re fully vaccinated against COVID and you have a known history of allergies, then a stuffy nose without any other symptoms is likely allergies. If you’re not vaccinated, we are less sure. But anyone who’s had a potential exposure to someone with COVID should be monitored closely.” Sedaghat advises.
1. What is the distinction between the SARS-CoV-2 variant and the Delta variant?| A．A stuffy nose. |
| B．The chance of recovery. |
| C．The loss of taste. |
| D．The death rate. |
| A．It leads to breathing problems. |
| B．It causes high fever eventually. |
| C．It has the same symptoms as flu. |
| D．It gives rise to a total loss of taste. |
| A．By analyzing cause and effect. |
| B．By making assumptions and reasoning. |
| C．By listing examples. |
| D．By comparing data. |
| A．How to Deal with Stuffy Nose |
| B．The Research on COVID-19 |
| C．Stuffy Nose and COVID-19 |
| D．Ways to Identify Virus Variants |
【推荐2】Masks that helped save lives during the Covid-19 pandemic （疫情）are proving a deadly risk for wildlife, with birds and sea creatures trapped in many facial coverings in animal habitats.
Single-use masks have been found on the ground, waterways and beaches worldwide since countries required （heir use in public places to slow the pandemic's spread. Worn once, the thin protective materials can take hundreds of years to break down. "Face masks aren't going away any time soon-but when we throw them away, these items can harm the environment and the animals who share our planet," Ashley from anima! rights group PETA said.
Monkeys have been found playing with used masks in the hills outside Malaysia's capital Kuala Lumpur. And in an incident in Britain, a seagull was saved in Chelmsford after its legs got caught in an abandoned mask for a week.
However, the biggest influence is in the water. More than 1.5 billion masks made their way into the world's oceans last year, accounting for around 6200 extra tons of ocean plastic pollution, according to environmental group OceansAsia. “Masks and gloves are particularly problematic for sea creatures," says George Leonard, chief scientist from NGO. "When those plastics break down in the environment, they form smaller and smaller particles （颗粒）.Those particles then enter the food chain and influence the entire ecosystem,“ he added.
Campaigners have urged people to deal with masks properly after using them. OceansAsia has also called on governments to increase punishment for littering and encourage the use of washable masks.
1. What bring（s） a great danger to wildlife now?| A．Waste masks. | B．Covid-19. |
| C．Polluted water. | D．Damaged habitats. |
| A．Important. | B．Attractive. |
| C．Common. | D．Troubling. |
| A．Monkeys learned to wear masks from humans. |
| B．Plastics are less harmful after becoming particles. |
| C．Used masks have a worse effect on sea creatures. |
| D．Waste masks are the main ocean plastic pollution. |
| A．Keep masks after they' re used. |
| B．Call on governments to stop littering. |
| C．Punish those who wear single-use masks. |
| D．Put used masks in the recycling box. |
【推荐3】A few days after losing his job in March, Paul Gentile was throwing away rubbish outside his Brooklyn apartment building when he noticed a new sign hanging near the front door. Because of the coronavirus pandemic, which has brought life to a near standstill in New York City and caused a number of people to lose their jobs, renters in the building did not need to pay April rent, it read. "STAY SAFE, HELP YOUR NEIGHBOIRS & WASH YOUR HANDS!!!" the landlord, Mario Salerno, wrote on the sign.
New York is made up of millions of renters, many of whom pay most of their monthly income for a place to live. The sudden collapse of the economy has left many New Yorkers stressing about how they can pay their bills, especially rent.
But Mr. Salerno did not care about losing his rental income in April, nor did he care to calculate the amount that he would not be collecting from his 80 apartments. He is likely losing hundreds of thousands of dollars in income by canceling April rent. His only interest, he said, was in alleviating stress for his renters, even those who were still employed and now working from home. "My concern is everyone's health." said Mr. Salerno. "I told them just to look out for your neighbors and make sure that everyone has food on their table."
For the nearly four years. Mr. Gentile has lived in the apartment and Mr. Salerno has been a model landlord. Emergencies are fixed almost immediately, such as a water leak in Mr. Gentile's ceiling that was fixed and painted within several hours. "You don't see that, especially in a landlord-renter relationship in New York City," Mr. Gentile said. "He's amazing."
1. What can we learn about Paul Gentile?| A．He is working from home. | B．He was infected with the coronavirus. |
| C．He canceled the rent for renters. | D．He is a renter in a Brooklyn flat. |
| A．Achieving. | B．Increasing. | C．Reducing. | D．Tolerating. |
| A．Brave. | B．Caring. | C．Honest. | D．Smart. |
| A．The coronavirus is hurting the economy. | B．A landlord cancels rent for struggling renters. |
| C．Struggling renters worry about their bills. | D．A landlord fixes emergencies for renters |
