Doctors have been treating the symptoms of most diseases, and not the source, for centuries. They have cut out tumors (肿瘤) and failed to touch the biological code within cells that tells them to grow malignant(恶性), pass along abnormal nerve signals, take in too much or too little energy, and suffer from diseases. The code is the DNA molecule in each cell that tells it what to do and when, and it sets off dreaded diseases when it goes wrong. The molecule, and its messengers, had remained hidden away, beyond the reach of almost all drugs, unfixable when broken.
Things began to change after the DNA sequence (序列) for the entire human genome was laid out early in this century. Within the past several years, the ability to combine and specially design shorter sequences has shown scientists that the best material for reaching DNA is, well, DNA. Making up new genes to replace badly working ones, or to “silence” them, has produced 14 approved DNA-related drugs. DNA analysis has found out new aims, showing that although newborn babies in the U. S. are typically examined for between 30 and 60 genetic conditions right now, it is possible to examine nearly 1, 000 genes linked to childhood diseases that could be new treatment points.
But that same science has also created troubling problems: some of the gene tests for babies can raise false warnings, for example, and not every child with a disease-linked gene ends up getting that disease. DNA in medicine has great power, but there is still a long way to go.
1. What does the underlined “it” refer to Paragraph 1?| A．The code. | B．The nerve | C．The cell. | D．The disease. |
| A．New genes cannot replace the old ones. |
| B．14 new DNA-related drugs are under test. |
| C．The layout of DNA sequence makes a big difference in treatment. |
| D．New treatment points have been found for babies with diseases. |
| A．Humorous. | B．Objective. | C．Casual | D．Negative. |
| A．The DNA Drug Revolution. | B．The Creation of New Genes. |
| C．The Gene Tests for Babies | D．The Symptoms of Diseases. |
相似题推荐
【推荐1】Most people aim to get their recommended seven to nine hours of sleep in one long stretch at night. And the technical term for this is “monotheistic sleep (单向睡眠)”
However, we may not have been programmed to sleep in this way.
Now I’m sure you’ve had that experience of a drop in your concentration in the afternoon, where you start to feel a little sleepy.
What this suggests is that we may have been designed to sleep in a biphasic (双向的) pattern, meaning one longer period of sleep at night, and then a short afternoon nap during the day, very much like the nap cultures around the world.
But is napping always a good thing?
So if you are struggling with sleep at night, the best advice is not to nap during the day. Instead, build up all of that healthy sleepiness so that you give yourself the best chance of falling asleep easily, and then staying asleep soundly across night.
| A．Well, not necessarily. |
| B．And you can also see it in other people as well. |
| C．In other words, a single period of sleep at night. |
| D．It’s a little bit like snacking before your main meal. |
| E．If you are mindful of how often and how long your naps are. |
| F．You may think this drop in your concentration is because of a big lunch. |
| G．But if you’re not struggling with sleep and you can nap regularly during the day. |
【推荐2】There is no one clear path to success. Different people achieve success in different ways, but there are some traits (品质) that successful people have in common to help them reach their goals. If you want to be more successful in your professional life, it is important to have the traits listed below.
Outstanding leadership.
Self-confidence.
Great patience. Success is not something that happens overnight.
Effective communication. Communication is not just about speaking, but also about listening. Therefore, you need to learn how to listen actively and empathize(感同身受). Communication is a two-way street and everyone’s opinion is valuable.
| A．Great creativity. |
| B．Willingness to learn. |
| C．Successful people typically have remarkable leadership skills. |
| D．It is crucial that you remain patient and continue to put in effort. |
| E．In order to be successful, you must first believe that you are capable. |
| F．Therefore, developing self-confidence is essential for achieving success. |
| G．By listening carefully, you can gain a better understanding and make wise decisions. |
【推荐3】If you overheard a conversation on a bus, do you think you could tell the personality of the people who were chatting, from the words used and the topics discussed?
Introverts (内向的人) and extroverts use language very differently. Researchers led by Camiel Beukeboom at VU University, Amsterdam, asked a group of volunteers to look at photos of different social situations and describe what was going on. They found that extroverts’ language tended to be more abstract and “loose”, while introverts spoke in more concrete terms.
But it's not just about extroversion vs. introversion. Language also reveals other aspects of our personalities, including how conscientious (一丝不苟的), open-minded, and neurotic (神经质的) we are.
The open-minded say: “You just need to be heard.”
The neurotic say: “I carry around a monstrous sadness.”
The idea that we reveal something fundamental about ourselves every time we speak and write is a little disturbing.
I think I’d better stop writing now before you discover what mine is.
| A．This makes psychological sense. |
| B．Not all findings are particularly surprising. |
| C．The conscientious say: “We can work on it.” |
| D．We are often reminded to “choose our words carefully”. |
| E．Personality also shines through in creative writing. |
| F．Most of these studies have looked at the language we use in separate ways. |
| G．But it also offers an opportunity to change the way you are seen by others. |
【推荐1】An artificial intelligence that navigates(导航) its environment much like mammals could help solve a mystery about our own internal GPS.
Equipped with virtual versions of specialized brain nerve cells called grid cells, the AI could easily solve and plan new routes through virtual mazes. That performance, described online May 9 in Nature, suggests the grid cells in animal brains play a critical role in path planning.
“This is a big step forward in understanding our own navigational neural circuitry(电路),” says Ingmar Kanitscheider, a computational neuroscientist at. The University of Texas at Austin not involved in the work. The discovery that rats track their location with the help of grid cells earned a Norwegian research team the 2014 Nobel Prize in physiology to medicine. Neuroscientists suspected these cells, which have also been found in humans, might help not only give mammals an internal. coordinate(协同) system, but also plan direct paths between points.
To test that idea, neuroscientist Caswell Barry at University College London, along with colleagues at Google DeepMind, created an AI that contained virtual nerve cells, or neurons, whose activity resembled that of real grid cells. The researchers trained this AI to navigate virtual mazes by giving the system reward signals when it reached its destination.
The AI bested a human expert player at solving the virtual mazes, and proved savvier than other artificial neural networks in planning ways through mazes larger than those traversed during its training. When a door opened to provide a shortcut through the maze, the new AI took the more direct route. By contrast, AI systems without artificial grid cells ignored the open door and took long the way around.
These findings support the idea that grid cells do more than help mammals orient themselves in time and space; they also help animals plan the most straightforward direction to destinations. AI also appears to be “a very powerful tool" for testing other neuroscience theories, Barry says. He and his colleagues suggest that virtual experiments on artificial neural networks that imitate different regions of the brain may eventually replace some animal testing.
But there are limitations to using AI to study the brain. Because the system is meant to learn on its own, researchers can't tell why the system made a specific decision, says neuroscientist Francesco Savelli at Johns Hopkings University, whose commentary also appears online May 9 in Nature.
1. What's the function of the virtual grid cells?| A．Helping animals adapt to the environment. | B．Controlling the growth of nerve cells. |
| C．Assisting the AI in finding a way-out. | D．Promoting the cooperation between AI robots. |
| A．slower | B．nearer | C．earlier | D．wiser |
| A．Animals are as intelligent as humans |
| B．Animal testing on the brain will be reduced in future |
| C．Humans will' be equipped with' the virtual grid cells |
| D．Grid cells are more important than other nerve cells |
| A．How the AI system works. |
| B．Ways of AI learning on its own. |
| C．How effective reward signals will work on a robot. |
| D．The relationship between different regions of the brain. |
【推荐2】Leading intelligence
There is no doubt that artificial intelligence has changed our life, and continues to do so. Earlier this month, many cutting-edge AI technologies were unveiled at Baidu World 2020, the leading tech company's annual technology conference.
Virtual people
"Xiao Li" and "Xiao Kang" are virtual versions of Li Yanhong, chairman and CEO of Baidu, and Kang Hui, a CCTV host. The latest Baidu Brain 6.0, a global leading AI platform, is the driving force behind the virtual people.
Xiao Li and Xiao Kang are modeled after the two men in appearance, voice and movement.
AI-powered mobile services
Baidu also launched the Duxiaoxiao virtual assistant app and search product. Duxiaoxiao provides users with a range of information services and helps to solve questions in everyday life.
Baidu has trained an “experienced AI driver”.
| A．A 5G remote service. |
| B．Fully autonomous driving. |
| C．Let's get a glimpse of some of them. |
| D．They are also performed with the two men's knowledge and memories. |
| E．It's a driving system that can operate independently without a human driver. |
| F．It's a driving service that can operate the car according to a man's voice and habits. |
| G．Over time, the app will change to suit each user's needs based on his or her habits. |
【推荐3】Imagine the feeling of swinging at a baseball going 100 miles per hour-without leaving your living room, or being in race car as it roars down the track, while you are sitting on the couch.
These are just some of the ways that sports business leaders say virtual reality (VR) will revolutionize how people train for and experience sports. Virtual and augmented (增强的) realities are together known as mixed reality (MR). “American footballers are already using VR to better train their minds and read the field,” Ludden said. “This can allow players to perfect their skills without risking injury.”
Canadian company D-BOX Technologies designs and produces moving seats found in cinema and theme parks. It is now moving into sports, and shows its Formula One (F1) racing simulator (模拟器). The seats stimulate the force of gravity, speed and every shaking as F1 champion Lewis Hamilton zips around city streets.
A simulation seat uses pre-programed data now. Someday, though, it could use real-time information sent by the car. “They could broadcast live content through a network in pop-up theaters around the world,” Ludden said. Say you want to experience the true stress of a batter being up against major-league baseball pitcher. “You can have a heart beat added to the sensation on the seat and then you can feel it, boom, boom,” Maheu explained. “When he swings and hits the ball, you can have an impact.”
One day, fans around the world could physically experience every game from their favorite player in real time. Ludden said that current and near-future technology could create “augmented stadiums” for live audiences. Panasonic launched its “Smart Venue” plans which included the overlaying of graphics, advertisements, player statistics and replays on the field of play at a pro football game. “If you are seated in the cheap seats, you can see this really useful.” Fans may someday join in stadium wide games, using the field as a virtual gaming platform,” Ludden added.
1. What does the underlined phrase “read the field” in paragraph 2 mean?| A．Get off the playing field. | B．Judge the situation on the field. |
| C．Build up a football court. | D．Ask players to play on the spot. |
| A．Enjoy live content in any theater. |
| B．Program the simulation seats in advance. |
| C．Experience the real time game with the player. |
| D．Control the force and speed of the baseball. |
| A．The origin of VR. | B．The expectations of audiences. |
| C．An advertisement platform. | D．A future stadium. |
【推荐1】Facebook users may feel socially successful in cyberspace (虚拟空间) but they are more likely to perform poorly in exams, according to a new research into the academic impact of the social networking website.
About 83% of British 16 to 24-year-olds are thought to use social networking sites such as Facebook, MySpace and Bebo (视频博客), to keep in touch with friends and organize their social lives.
“Our study shows people who spend more time on Facebook spend less time studying,” said Aryn Karpinski, a researcher in the education department at Ohio State University. “Every generation has its distractions, but I think Facebook is a unique phenomenon.”
Karpinski and a colleague questioned 219 US undergraduates and graduates about their study practices and general Internet use, as well as their specific use of Facebook.
They found that 65% of Facebook users accessed their account daily (刷新个人主页), usually checking it several times to see if they had received new messages. The amount of time spent on Facebook at each login varied from just a few minutes to more than an hour.
The Ohio report shows that students who used Facebook had a “significantly” lower grade point average — the marking system used in US universities — than those who did not use the site.
“It is the equivalent of the difference between getting an A and a B,” said Karpinski, who will present her findings this week to the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association.
Some UK students have already spotted the potential danger. Daisy Jones, 21, an undergraduate in her final year at Loughborough University, realized the time she was spending on Facebook was threatening her grades — prompting her to deactivate (注销) her account.
Jones is among the few to have recognized the risks.According to Karpinski’s research, 79% of Facebookusing students believed the time they spent on the site had no impact on their work.
Facebook said, “There is also academic research that shows the benefits of services like Facebook. It’s in the hands of students, in consultation with their parents, to decide how to spend their time.”
1. According to the passage we know that most present students like to get in touch with their friends by ________.| A．sending short messages | B．chatting online |
| C．Facebook site | D．sending emails |
| A．the equivalent of the difference between getting an A and a B |
| B．not less grades in all studies |
| C．more ambitious to succeed in their studies |
| D．just the same |
| A．their study practices |
| B．their general Internet use |
| C．their specific use of Facebook |
| D．their habits of living |
| A．news | B．text |
| C．report | D．essay |
【推荐2】The Nobel Prize in Physics 2020 was divided into two parts, one half awarded to Roger Penrose, the other half to Reinhard Genzel and Andrea Ghez.
Roger Penrose
He was born in Colchester, U. K, in 1931. He got a Ph, D. in 1957 from University of Cambridge and became a professor at University of Oxford.
In January 1965, ten years after Einstein's death, Roger Penrose proved that black holes really could form and described them in detail. His article is still regarded as the most important one to the general theory of relativity since Einstein.
Reinhard Genzel
He was born in Bad Homburg vor der Hohe, Gernany in 1952. He got a Ph. D. in 1978 from University of Bonn, Germany and became the director at Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics, Garching, Germany and a professor at University of California, Berkeley, USA
Andrea Ghez
He was born in City of New York, USA in 1965 and got a Ph. D. in 1992 from California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, USA. He became a professor at University of California, Los Angeles, USA.
Using the world's largest telescopes, Genzel and Ghez developed methods to see through the huge clouds of gas and dust to the center of the Milky Way (银河系). Their pioneering work has made us believe the fact of a super large black hole at the center of the Milky Way.
Further information: www. kva. se and www. nobel prize. org.
1. Where did Andrea Ghez graduate?| A．California Institute of Technology. | B．University of Bonn. |
| C．University of Cambridge. | D．University of Oxford. |
| A．1. | B．2. | C．4. | D．5. |
| A．He was born in New York. |
| B．He was less than 80 when he got the Nobel Prize. |
| C．He worked in University of Cambridge. |
| D．He was born in 1931. |
【推荐3】Quite often, no matter how good you are, your success is dependent on how other people such as your boss, peers, clients and customers notice your communication and responses. So when you come to people who make the key difference between helping you or holding you back, how can you influence and persuade them to give what you want.
Psychological research repeatedly show that people generally make up their minds on whether to help you or not based on whether they like you or not. It is human nature. What can you do about it? You need to make a good impression on others to ensure they like you and give you what you want. Research again shows that people give opportunities to the people they like best. In fact, most people actually make up their minds about other people in the first five minutes or less of meeting someone. These are called first impressions or "moments of truth. "
Once they make up their minds, they tend to be very unwilling to change their opinions. You hardly have room for error when making that first impression on a new acquaintance. Therefore, whether you are applying for a job, going for an interview, attending a meeting with your boss or peers, or serving a customer, you need to prepare yourself mentally and rehearse(排练) how you will manage the first few minutes of your interaction. This includes doing your homework to gather information and researching all possible issues so you will know how to deal with them if the other party (另一方)raise them unexpectedly.
It is amazing how poorly some people can come across at the beginning. The worst thing is that they do not even seem to realize it. Having good qualifications and an excellent work performance does not mean that candidates can succeed in making a good first impression.
1. What is the passage mainly about?| A．Persuading people to like you. | B．Making a good first impression. |
| C．People making the key difference. | D．Useful tips for a job interview. |
| A．They would pay much attention to your good qualifications. |
| B．They would prefer to ignore your weaknesses. |
| C．They would change their opinions frequently. |
| D．They would be willing to offer chances. |
| A．Know as much as possible about the situation. |
| B．Ask the interviewers for homework to do. |
| C．Show your friendliness and confidence. |
| D．Do something unexpected to impress interviewers. |
| A．Questions that might be asked by the interviewers. |
| B．How to win over people who don't like you at first. |
| C．Some practical advice to help making a good first impression. |
| D．Examples of how good first impressions help people succeed. |
