Bioluminescence (生物发光) is a natural phenomenon wherein a chemical reaction within an organism’s body produces light. It can be found in many places in nature — fireflies, some mushrooms — but mostly in the deep sea.
Recently, Rambouillet, a small historic French town, has teamed up with a company called Glowee to turn the city into a full-scale bioluminescence laboratory. The goal is to change the way in which cities use light. The company uses marine (海的) bacteria harvested from the coast of France. It makes some of the town’s public light up in the cool blue of bioluminescence.
These bioluminescent bacteria are stored in a seawater filled tube, giving the bacteria room to float around and light up. The light provided by the bacteria is part of their natural metabolism, so producing the light requires no energy other than that which is needed to feed the organisms. This makes it much more environmentally friendly and sustainable than electric light, which consumes a huge amount of non-renewable energy.
“On the way to lighting up the world with bioluminescence, you have to feed the bacteria and add water as they grow. That’s not so easy. The phenomenon will be very temperature-dependent and I doubt that it will work in the winter. Also, bioluminescence is not very bright compared to electrical lighting, though they have improved the light intensity,” Carl Johnson, a professor from Vanderbilt University said.
One potential solution to these issues — and one that Glowee is looking into — is to remove the biological aspect of the whole process. Theoretically, luciferase (荧光素酶) can be removed from the bacteria and used to create light instead of the bacteria itself. Because luciferase is non-living, it doesn’t need to be fed. Creating new means of sustainable lighting is a way of being environmentally friendly without plunging the earth back into darkness.
1. What do we know about Glowee?A.It is an ancient laboratory in France. |
B.It solves power shortages in coastal cities. |
C.It adopts bioluminescence as a light source. |
D.It feeds marine organisms to produce chemicals. |
A.The reasons for energy waste. |
B.The advantages of the marine bacteria as light. |
C.The living conditions of the bioluminescent bacteria. |
D.The difficulties of storing bioluminescent organisms. |
A.The bacteria work more efficiently under low temperatures. |
B.It will cost too much to improve the luminescence intensity. |
C.The application of bioluminescence enjoys a bright prospect. |
D.The development of bioluminescence faces many challenges. |
A.A Historic Town Lit up by Nature |
B.The First Zero-carbon City in the World |
C.A Reform of Producing Electricity in Cities |
D.The Discovery of Luciferase in Marine Bacteria |
相似题推荐
【推荐1】Shopping is good for your health. It’s official! We all know shopping is torturing men, who painfully stand behind their girlfriends or wives until they are done with their shopping, and affecting the bank balance.
The next time you go to a mall, and just observe the ladies there, you will see all of them in the best of their moods. Studies confirm it as a form of a cure. When we go shopping, we feel good about ourselves and the place.
Cancel all your gym activities, your diet plans and all those trips to the gym. Scientists have found that women spend an average of 4 hours on shopping during a week.
A.It is the simplest way to raise our self-worth. |
B.Smart shopping can also save money and energy. |
C.Feeling unhappy, you may think about other things instead of shopping. |
D.So, the next time you are depressed about something, you know what to do. |
E.They walk more than 70 miles per week, burning off nearly 200 calories per trip. |
F.But we may ignore that shopping can help improve your mental and physical health. |
G.Some studies have led to the conclusion that shopping is one of the best ways to fight depression. |
【推荐2】What can be both red or green, round or sharp, big or small, and more importantly, loved or hated by someone? Yes, the answer is chilies (辣椒).
Many of us in China enjoy adding chilies to our food but did you know that this spicy vegetable could also be dangerous? “A 34-year-old US man recently ended up in hospital after eating a Carolina Reaper, the spiciest chili people have known so far. After taking just a single bite of one, the man suffered from serious headaches in the following days,” reported BBC News.
In fact, eating spicy food causes stomachache and headaches. But if chilies are harmful, why do people like to eat this vegetable? So what makes people love chilies so much? “The human body is influenced by natural chemicals that produce a sense of happiness,” noted BBC News.
And chilies do good to people in another way. Scientists found that the death rate of those who eat spicy food once or twice a week is 10 percent lower than those who eat it less than once a week. The death rate is 14 percent lower for those who eat spicy food six to seven times a week. This encourages people to eat more spicy food to improve health and bring less death risk at an early age. So, don't worry if you love spicy food. It seems that chilies are actually good for us.
1. What is the main idea of the second paragraph?A.Eating chilies can be dangerous. | B.The US man died in hospital. |
C.The US man often had headaches. | D.The Chinese enjoy eating chilies. |
A.chilies do no harm to people | B.the chili is a kind of vegetable |
C.they can get personal enjoyment | D.chemicals in chilies make them mad |
A.The more chilies you eat, the longer you live. |
B.Scientists encourage us to add chilies to our food. |
C.We should eat spicy food six times a week. |
D.Proper spicy food may improve our health. |
A.Eating chilies, a healthy lifestyle |
B.A loved and hated vegetable |
C.Chili — a harmful vegetable |
D.Causes of stomachache |
【推荐3】At first, I didn’t recognize the symptoms that we all had in common. Friends mentioned that they were having trouble concentrating. It wasn’t burnout — we still had energy. It wasn’t depression — we didn’t feel hopeless. We just felt somewhat joyless and aimless.
It turns out there’s a name for that: languishing.
Languishing is a sense of inactivity and emptiness. It feels as if you’re muddling (应付) through your days, looking at your life through a foggy windshield (挡风玻璃).
In psychology, we think about mental health on a spectrum (范围) from depression to flourishing (精力旺盛). Flourishing is the peak of well-being, with depression being the valley and languishing the neglected middle child of mental health. It’s the emptiness between depression and flourishing — the absence of well-being. You’re not functioning at full capacity. Languishing dulls your motivation, disrupts your ability to focus, and greatly increases the possibility that you’ll cut back on work.
Part of the danger is that when you’re languishing, you might not notice the dulling of delight or the decreasing of drive. You don’t catch yourself slipping slowly into aloneness; you’re indifferent to your indifference. When you can’t see your own suffering, you don’t seek help or even do much to help yourself.
So what can we do about it? People who became more focused on their work managed to avoid languishing. Interrupted attention is an enemy of engagement and excellence. To go beyond languishing, give yourself some uninterrupted time. It clears out constant distractions (分心) and gives us the freedom to focus. And try starting with small wins by focusing on a challenge that matters to you — an interesting project, a worthwhile goal, or a meaningful conversation.
Psychologists still have a lot to learn about what causes languishing and how to cure it, but naming it might be a first step. It could help to defog our vision, giving us a clearer window into what had been an unclear experience. It could remind us that we weren’t alone: languishing is common and shared.
By acknowledging that so many of us are languishing, we can start giving voice to quiet despair and lighting a path out of the emptiness.
1. If one suffers from languishing, he is likely to ________.A.feel exhausted and without hope |
B.become weaker or failing to improve |
C.make someone want to achieve something |
D.go beyond the usual limits of something |
A.Ask doctors for some medicine. |
B.Realize that you are not alone in despair. |
C.Give yourself some uninterrupted time. |
D.Be indifferent to your lack of enthusiasm. |
A.Give people more freedom. |
B.See it as depression. |
C.Name it clearly. |
D.Remove it from a spectrum. |
A.We can let the silent despair speak up and find a way out. |
B.We can continue to learn more about languishing. |
C.We can see it as basically the same as depression. |
D.We can study it as the complete opposite of flourishing. |
【推荐1】Scientists have determined that July 2023 was the hottest month on record and that the Earth’s average surface temperature is the highest it’s been in at least 120,000 years.
There’s no shortage of advice for people in hotter-than-normal regions. They can wear a sun hat or stay in the shade (阴凉处). And when all else fails, go inside and turn the air conditioning on.
But wild creatures can’t enjoy the cool air indoors. Many people assume that wild species must have some ways of dealing with these unusually high temperatures. However, most of them can’t. If their body temperatures go too high or too low, they will die. So in addition to finding food and avoiding enemies, every wild creature must continually engage in an ongoing exchange of energy with their environments to ensure survival.
Birds do this by getting out of the direct sun, sitting still, and breathing shallow breaths. In short, they do nothing but breathe in the shade. This behavior is usually successful because it enables most birds to survive most of the very hot days. But it wrecks their schedule. Many birds no longer have enough time in their days to find enough food to remain healthy, especially the extra food needed to raise their young.
It’s not only birds that are suffering from heat, nor is it only land species: animals in the ocean are also suffering. The largest analysis (分析) of coral reef (珊瑚礁) health found that 14% of the world’s coral reefs had been lost in the previous decade due to heat. Another recent study predicts (预测) that over 99% of coral reefs will experience heat that they cannot recover from if the global average temperature increases by just 1.5 degrees Celsius, which, unless we massively reduce our carbon emissions, is likely to happen in the next decades.
Heat is damaging ecosystems everywhere, and we’re just in the early stages of climate breakdown. Humans are highly adaptable. The vast majority of wild species, however, can’t simply pack up and go someplace else. By continuing to pollute the atmosphere, we’re damaging their worlds and pushing ever-greater numbers of them into extinction.
1. How do wild species differ from humans in handling rising heat?A.They can migrate to cooler environments. | B.They are better at cooperating with each other. |
C.They have limited methods for adapting to it. | D.They are more resistant to heat-related health issues. |
A.Represents. | B.Disturbs. | C.Adopts. | D.Meets. |
A.Land species are more easily affected by heat. |
B.Heat can cause serious trouble for different wildlife. |
C.Coral reefs are of great value to coastal communities. |
D.Underwater creatures have adopted ways to control heatwaves. |
A.Wildlife can adapt quickly to various environments. |
B.Wild species have more natural enemies to deal with. |
C.Ecosystems may naturally recover from heat damage. |
D.Immediate action is required to protect ecosystems. |
【推荐2】While it throws out about 90 pounds of food per person every year, Japan doesn’t rank at the top of the world’s list of wasteful nations. Still, what’s thrown away represents a serious problem for an island nation with limited landfill space and a goal of greater sustainability. Reinvention can offer an alternative. A Japanese company is taking vegetable peels, cooking oil and other used foodstuffs and making entirely different products.
Concrete is the most widely used construction material in the world, and its key element, cement, is a major polluter of greenhouse emissions. So what if a more sustainable alterative were possible by making cement with food waste, which also would help reduce greenhouse emissions from landfills where that waste would otherwise be thrown away? That’s the idea behind Fabula, a Tokyo-based start-up.
Researchers at Fabula created a recipe to make food concrete by drying leftovers and pressing them into a mold (模具) at a high temperature. The company, founded by researchers at the University of Tokyo, began with items commonly thrown away like cabbage and orange peels but found that almost any food item can be used. It now takes mostly coffee grounds and tea leaves to make its cement. The product’s durability depends on the components.
Fabula is currently producing made-to-order household items, such as coasters and dishes, while awaiting its patent. The goal is to make furniture and larger structures once the technology is able to make the cement more durable. Food production companies that can’t avoid generating waste during their processes have reached out to work with the company. “We hope to become a matching service between companies that have food waste and companies who want to build things out of such materials,” said Takuma Oishi, Fabula’s chief commercial officer.
Since the cement is 100 percent eatable, it could create opportunities during disaster response when temporary structures need to be built quickly. The people inside might even turn to them for food. If the technology advances enough, Oishi suggested, someday we may be able “to eat the homes or furniture when necessary”.
1. Which problem Japan faces is mentioned in paragraph 1?A.Food waste. |
B.Garbage littering. |
C.Energy crisis. |
D.Environmental pollution. |
A.Using food remains in recipes. |
B.Finding a cheaper alternative to landfills. |
C.Making a novel building material from leftovers. |
D.Cutting greenhouse gases by recycling home devices. |
A.The diversity of food sources. |
B.The prospects of the company. |
C.The innovation of a traditional cuisine. |
D.The process of developing food concrete. |
A.It can fill stomachs. |
B.It’s solid and lasting. |
C.It can prevent disasters. |
D.It’s delicate but cost-free. |
【推荐3】Scientists today are concerned about the growing number of species in the world that may soon become extinct. The United Nations, along with many governments, are trying to save these endangered species. To help resolve this issue, scientists have been trying to learn why species become endangered.
In the United States, loss of habitats is the main reason for species becoming endangered. As populations grow and cities or towns expand, nature is destroyed and the ecosystem is affected. Even small changes in one part of an ecosystem can have a big impact on another part of it. For example, deforestation may result in a change in ground temperature, which may kill off a certain kind of plant in the forest. Animals that eat this plant may suddenly find that there is no available food so they starve to death.
Another possible cause of endangered or extinct species is climate change and rising sea levels. As the Earth gets warmer, this has profound effects on animal and plant life everywhere. For example, rising sea levels make coastal areas unfit for birds to live in. Warmer temperatures melt the ice where polar bears live, wrecking their habitat and making it harder for them to find food. The rising seas also make it harder for polar bears to swim from the cold waters to frozen packs of ice so many of them drown.
There are several ways that people are trying to help endangered species recover. Ecologists study different species and try to find out more information about them to try and help. In Finland, for example, scientists found that a a decrease in the number of bogs(沼泽) was responsible for the falling butterfly population. Once they understood this, they could manage the butterfly population and help it recover. Governments are also passing laws to protect endangered animals. One example of this is an area near Hawaii with a seriously low fish population. The United States’ government has made it illegal for fishing boats to enter this area.
1. What can we infer from paragraph 2?A.Most endangered species are located in the United States. |
B.Cities and towns in the United States are growing too fast. |
C.Ecosystem changes can result in habitat loss and animal death. |
D.More trees need to be planted to prevent animals from dying out. |
A.Conserving. | B.Damaging. | C.Providing. | D.Dominating. |
A.Saving Endangered Species | B.A List of Endangered Species |
C.The Causes of Global Warming | D.How Polar Bears Became Extinct |
A.Some other ways to help endangered species recover. |
B.A brief discussion of polar bears and their diet habits. |
C.The impact of fishing laws on the development of Hawaii. |
D.Various opinions and debates concerning the cause of global warming. |
【推荐1】Some people wake up before the sun rises above, go for a run and eat a healthy breakfast, all before many others get out of bed. Waking up that early might sound tiring to late risers, but can a night owl (夜猫子) become an early bird?
“It is possible to make the change, but it’s not easy,” said Michelle Drerup, director of behavioral sleep medicine at the Cleveland Clinic. “A true night owl doesn’t really feel great early in the morning when they wake up, especially when they’re starting to change this.”
A person’s tendency to be a night owl, early bird or some kind in between is known as their chronotype (生物钟). Depending on that, people are likely to be more awake during certain times of the day and sleepier during others. It is determined by a combination of nature and life style, scientists have found.
If you want to wake up earlier, make the change gradually. Drerup recommended slowly setting your wake-up alarm earlier by 15 to 20 minutes every few days over the course of several weeks until you’re adjusted to your schedule. Sticking to it is the key.
“Limit exposure (接触) to light in the hour before bed, such as by staying away from screens,” Drerup said. Light blocks the body's production of melatonin (褪黑色素) which is thought to set our circadian rhythm (昼夜节律). And in the morning, try to get exposure to light as soon as you wake up, to end melatonin production. Avoid exciting activities late in the evening. Instead of exercising at night, try working out in the morning or afternoon. You may also need to change your meal times to earlier time in the day.
If being a night owl works for you, there is actually no need to change your sleep schedule. But staying up late becomes a problem when you must wake up early for work and school. It can also increase your risk of developing health.
1. What is a feature of night owls?A.They tend to be more awake than an early bird. |
B.Their sleeping pattern can never be changed. |
C.They might not feel good when getting up early. |
D.Their habit of sleeping late can ruin their health. |
A.Their sleeping patterns. |
B.Their behavior during sleep. |
C.Their tendency to stay awake. |
D.Their ability to adapt to change. |
A.Doing more exercise before sleeping. |
B.Avoiding exposure to light after waking up. |
C.Setting alarm clock earlier each day. |
D.Trying to sleep early and wake up early. |
A.The risks of sleeping late. |
B.How night owls change their sleep schedule. |
C.The benefits of becoming an early bird. |
D.How to lead a healthy life. |
【推荐2】Imagine if your houseplant was thirsty and it could tell you so. Chances are, it can—you just can’t hear it. According to the findings from researchers in Israel, tomato and tobacco plants stressed from lack of water or having their stems (茎) cut make sounds comparable in volume to normal human conversation.
The sound is kind of a snap (咔嚓声) and pop. While the frequency of the plant outcry is too high for our ears, they can likely be heard by insects, other animals and other plants.
The team started with healthy and stressed tomato and tobacco plants—the stressed ones were either unwatered for several days or had their stems cut. They recorded the group in an acoustic chamber (隔音箱) and then in a noisier greenhouse. They also used a machine-learning algorithm (算法) to distinguish between happy plants, thirsty plants, and cut plants.
The team found that stressed plants make more sounds than unstressed plants, with a stressed plant making 30 to 50 clicks per hour at seemingly random intervals. Unstressed plants were much less active.
“Water-stressed plants began making noises, and the frequency of sounds peaked after five days with no water before decreasing again as the plants dried up completely. The types of sound differed with the cause of stress,” according to a press release for the research. “The machine-learning algorithm could accurately distinguish between lack of water and stress from cutting and could also tell whether the sounds came from tomato or tobacco plants.”
The researchers explain that it’s unclear whether the sounds result from an effort to communicate—yet they note that the sounds have ecological and evolutionary meaning. “It’s possible that other organisms could have evolved to hear and respond to these sounds,” says Hadany. “For example, an insect that intends to lay eggs on a plant or an animal that intends to eat a plant could use the sounds to help guide their decision.”
1. What did the Israel researchers find?A.Plants cry loudly when they are cut | B.Certain plants like to help each other. |
C.Plants communicate as humans do. | D.Certain stressed plants make sounds. |
A.Why a noisier greenhouse was used. | B.How the researchers did the research. |
C.The importance of recording the plants. | D.The varieties of plants for the study. |
A.The moment they were lack of water. | B.When the experiment began. |
C.After five days of water shortage. | D.After drying up completely. |
A.They are of much significance, | B.They help animals escape danger. |
C.They affect the ecological balance. | D.They are mainly for communication. |
But experts are now warning that the current shoe fashions will be causing teenagers discomfort in the short term and storing up years of foot, knee and back pain in the future.
Here, the experts identify the problems caused by teenagers’ shoe choice.
KEDS/VANS
Slip-on shoes with elastic (弹性的)sides are particularly popular among teenage boys - with Keds and Vans the most sought-after brands.
The main problem is that they are just too flat—so flat that the heel, which strikes the ground first, also becomes damaged and painful.
BALLET PUMPS
The worst shoes of all are such light and thin dolly shoes. The problem is partly their flatness, as with Keds and Vans. However ballet pumps, which have no string or heel, have other specific problems.
“As the shoe has no fastening device, it relies on the toes to keep the shoe on, causing an awkward gait (步法), this leads to short- and long-term problems such as calluses (茧子), heel and knee pain.”
WEDGES AND STILETTOS
These shoes can also cause problems with gait. They may look good, but the heels on these are so high they can force the wearer’s body weight forward, making them very unstable.
Teens who wear these shoes regularly are also in danger of joining those millions of women with constant back pain.
SCHOOL SHOES
So what do podiatrists (足科医生)have on their wish list, especially for everyday wear?
Something in a natural, breathable fabric, with a string to hold it on, with a small heel and a deep toe-box that does not press the toes, such as Clark’s, Marks & Spencer or Rhino.
If your teen insists on wearing ‘bad’ shoes, get them some simple foot orthotics (矫形器) in the shoes. These support and correct the movement of the foot and, properly fitted by a podiatrist, can often transform their walk and halt the damage.
1. Of all the shoes mentioned in the passage, which can cause the worst problems?
A.Marks & Spencer. | B.Wedges & Stilettos. |
C.Keds and Vans. | D.Ballet Pumps. |
A. | B. |
C. | D. |
A.increase | B.worsen | C.stop | D.cure |
A.trendy shoes may ruin teenagers’ health |
B.fashionable shoes all have orthotics in them |
C.experts are strongly against wearing popular shoes |
D.podiatrists are expert at producing branded shoes |
A.Sports. | B.Science. | C.Health. | D.Shopping. |