Nuclear bombs. That’s the go-to answer for incoming space objects like asteroids(小行星) and comets, as far as Hollywood is concerned. Movies like Deep Impact and Armageddon rely on nuclear weapons, delivered by stars like Bruce Willis, to save the world and deliver the drama.
But planetary defense experts say in reality, if astronomers spotted a dangerous incoming space rock, the safest and best answer might be something more subtle, like simply pushing it off course by crashing it with a small spacecraft.
That’s just what NASA did on Monday evening, when a spacecraft headed straight into an asteroid called Dimorphous, which is around 7 million miles away and poses no threat to Earth. It’s about 525 feet across and orbits another larger asteroid.
In images streamed as the impact neared, the egg-shaped asteroid grew in size from a little spot on screen to have its full rocky surface come quickly into focus before the signal went dead as the craft hit right on target.
Events happened exactly as engineers had planned, they said, with nothing going wrong. “As far as we can tell, our first planetary defense test was a success,” said Elena Adams, the mission systems engineer, who added that scientists looked on with “both terror and joy” as the spacecraft neared its final destination.
The impact was the peak of NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) ,a 7-year and more than $300 million effort which launched a space vehicle in November of 2021 to perform humanity’s first ever test of planetary defense technology. It will be about two months, scientists said, before they will be able to determine if the impact was enough to drive the asteroid slightly off course, probably shortening its original orbit.
NASA plans to launch an asteroid-hunting space telescope named NEO Surveyor in 2026. “We’ve tacked lots of space rocks, especially the larger ones that could cause extinction-level events. Thankfully, none currently threaten Earth. But many asteroids the size of Dimorphous haven’t yet been discovered, and those could potentially take out a city if they came crashing down. ” explains Lindley Johnson, NASA’s Planetary Defense Officer.
1. How did scientists know the craft hit the asteroid successfully?| A．The signal from the craft was lost as it hit the target. |
| B．They recorded the whole process with a telescope. |
| C．The little spot on the screen suddenly disappeared. |
| D．They monitored the craft with satellites in space. |
| A．To search for evidence of alien life. |
| B．To end the asteroid’s threat to Earth. |
| C．To save the world and deliver a drama. |
| D．To test technology for defending Earth. |
| A．It is a dangerous incoming space rock. |
| B．It is an egg-shaped asteroid around Earth. |
| C．It may orbit the same asteroid after the hit. |
| D．It is expected to blow up after the impact. |
| A．Asteroids are equally destructive whatever the size. |
| B．NEO Surveyor is aimed to track smaller asteroids. |
| C．Larger asteroids will no longer threaten Earth. |
| D．NASA is responsible for the safety of Earth. |
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【推荐1】Pollution inside homes and other buildings kills more than 4 million people each year. Many people die as a result of breathing smoke or from cooking over wood-powered or coal-powered stoves.
One way to reduce the number of deaths is through cooking equipment powered by the sun. Crosby Menzies, a solar power expert in a South African company, described his latest solar cooker called the “Sol-4”. “It is four square meters of mirrors, six to eight meters in length. It is quite a large cooker.”
The “Sol-4” works by reflecting(反射) light from the sun off large mirrors. The mirrors direct the light at a cooking pan. Then the light heats the pan with solar energy. Within two minutes, the pan is hot enough to cook sausages and onions. In just four minutes, water can be boiled. That is as fast as cooking with natural gas or electricity.
The cooker is also much “friendlier” than other models because people do not have to stand in the sun to use it. And people can prepare meals without having to collect firewood or spend money on coal. Such individuals would be less likely to have breathing illnesses from harmful smoke.
At present, the cooker only works when the sun is shining. But engineers are working on a way to make it work without sunlight.
Each cooker costs about $2,000, which is a large amount of money for most Africans. To solve that problem, Crosby Menzies has created a non-governmental organization called Solar Cookers for Africa. It plans to raise money through donations to provide poor people with solar cooking equipment.
1. The passage is mainly about ________.| A．solar cookers | B．smoke pollution |
| C．solar power experts | D．breathing illness |
| A．shorten the time of cooking |
| B．reduce the cost of making cookers |
| C．raise money through donations to help African people |
| D．reduce the number of deaths caused by harmful smoke |
| A．cookers | B．mirrors | C．people | D．experts |
| A．It is six to eight square meters of mirrors. |
| B．It can work in any weather condition now. |
| C．It can also heat the pan by lighting firewood. |
| D．It is more environment-friendly than other cookers. |
| A．The “sol-4” will be designed in a smaller size. |
| B．More Africans can use the solar cookers in the future. |
| C．The “sol-4” is the first product of the South African company. |
| D．The African government will provide poor people with solar cookers. |
For Self-driving Cars, Car Washes are a Nightmare
Car washes have been automated for decades, but companies developing fully self-driving vehicles must rely on a human touch to keep their cars and trucks in working condition.
Avis, which has years of experience managing rental cars, has been tasked with cleaning and refueling the self-driving vans of Waymo, the self-driving arm of Google’s parent company. Avis chief innovation officer Arthur Orduña told CNN, “There are special processes that definitely require a lot more care and focus, and you have to clean the vans quite often.”
| A．The sensors on a fully self-driving car require special care. |
| B．Orduña wouldn’t reveal exactly how they’re washing the vehicles. |
| C．The most advanced cars on the planet require an old-fashioned handwashing. |
| D．Meanwhile, some companies, such as Cruise, are building sensor cleaning equipment into their vehicles. |
| E．There are a range of problems with putting a self-driving vehicle through a traditional car wash, experts say. |
| F．A self-driving vehicle’s external needs to be cleaned even more frequently than a typical car because the sensors must remain free of obstacles. |
【推荐3】A new American weather satellite could save more lives by better predicting extreme weather conditions. It will be in orbit(轨道）some 36,000 kilometers above Earth’s surface. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, also known as NOAA, has been working with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) on the project.
NOAA officials are calling the new satellite GOES-R. That is short for a much longer name—the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite-R Series. NOAA said GOES-R could improve the nation's ability to observe weather conditions and make weather predictions. It said the satellite's operation would lead to more exact and timely weather forecasts watches and warnings.
The government agency said the satellite will require testing of its six instruments and will be ready to work “within a year."
"The next generation of weather satellites is finally here." said NOAA Administrator Kathryn Sullivan. She described GOES-R as one of the most complicated Earth-observing machines ever created. Sullivan said its instruments will be able to study Earth five times faster and with four times more detail than any other NOAA satellite currently in operation. She believes this will make the United States an even stronger, more “Weather-Ready" nation.
A NOAA statement said the greater detail will help improve the agency’s study of ocean storms, as well as “the prediction and warnings of severe weather. "In addition, GOES-R will be able to provide improved rainfall estimates (预计), which will lead to more timely and detailed flood warning. The statement also said that GOES-R will give better estimates of wind strength, as well as better measurement of fog, ice or lightning strikes.
Craig Fugate serves as administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency. He says that the GOES-R satellite will improve the ability of people and organizations across America to prepare for, and react to, weather-related disasters.
1. What’s the purpose of this new American satellite?| A．To test new instruments. | B．To improve people’s lives. |
| C．To forecast weather disasters. | D．To replace old weather satellites. |
| A．get from the satellite’s operation? A. The advantages to own the most advanced technology. |
| B．More accurate and timely weather information. |
| C．The ability to monitor the earth from high space. |
| D．More powerful ability to control the weather. |
| A．Which aspects the satellite can improve. |
| B．When the satellite can find severe weather. |
| C．How the satellite helps to study the oceans. |
| D．How long the satellite forsees a weather disaster. |
| A．Weather Predictions Expected to Improve with New U. S. Satellite. |
| B．Fighting Disasters Needs More Exact Weather Predictions. |
| C．New Science and Technology Used in New Weather Satellite. |
| D．American Weather Prediction Takes a Lead in the World. |
【推荐1】Male scientists portray their studies as “unprecedented, remarkable, excellent and novel” more often than female scientists, a new study finds, which may contribute to gender differences in pay and promotion in the medical world.
The study, published Monday in the British Medical Journal, analyzed more than 6.2 million articles published in journals between 2002 and 2017.
The researchers found that studies in prestigious journals with a male first or last author (or both) were 12% more likely to use sweeping, positive terms — “unique”, “robust”, “prominent”— than those where women were credited, which they believe contributed to the male studies getting about 10% more citations. The first author is the researcher who took the lead on the paper, the last generally is the most senior author.
Citations are often used in hiring and promotion decisions.
The effect was most pronounced in a subset of 60,000 of the most prestigious medical journals, which include those with the largest readership and that are cited by scientists most often.
For these journals, men were 21% more likely to use stronger, more positive language than women, which the researchers think played a role in 13% more citations.
“There is a benefit to promote yourself by using these terms,” says Anupam B. Jena, an associate professor at Harvard Medical School and senior author on the study.
Experts say the study helps shed light on why women make up only 25% of medical professors.
Marc Lerchenmueller, an assistant professor of technological innovation and management science at the University of Mannheim in Germany and first author of the study, says the use of superlatives by men was driven by the higher impact journals.
Other research has found similar findings. Julian Kolev, an assistant professor at SMU Cox School of Business in Dallas, says the Gates Foundation let his team examine the foundation ’ s grant-review process of about 5,000 applicants for health research projects between 2008 and 2017. Researchers wanted to see why men are ranked favorably more often than women, even though the reviewers don’t see identifying information for the applicant. Men were about 12% to 16% more likely to receive a higher score from a reviewer and 10% to 13% more likely to get a grant.
“What we found was the biggest cause of distinction between male and female applicants was the language that they used to describe their ideas,” Dr. Kolev says. “Men tended to use broad language — language that covers multiple topics and papers across different areas. Women tended to use topic-specific words, much narrower language.”
The researchers looking at the Gates data also examined whether the broader language helped oversell an idea or was actual substantive. They found that it was mostly a case of overselling.
“The proposals with broad language actually under-performed relative to narrow language proposals, based on publications, ability to attract follow-up funding and attract new collaborations,” Dr. Kolev says.
Vineet Arora, a professor of medicine at University of Chicago Medicine, has done research showing that female physicians are penalized for demonstrating so-called male traits starting as early as their training.
The result: When women try to get an article published in a high-profile journal they may be more conservative in stating their findings.
One explanation for the study’s findings, Dr. Arora says, is that men and women write differently. Another potential explanation is that men who use more positive words are treated differently in the peer review and editorial process than women who do so. “My hunch (直觉) is that it’s a two-way street,” she says. “That women are less likely to use those words, and when they do, they’ re probably more harshly criticized.”
Given that only 25% of medical professors are female, Dr. Arora says, answering questions about what contributes to such distinction is essential. “How do we ensure equitable reviews across gender so that we do not see these findings?” she says.
1. We can learn from the study published in the British Medical Journal that ________.| A．studies by male scientists are more often cited |
| B．male scientists are producing higher quality work |
| C．women are rarely credited despite their achievements |
| D．women face more obstacles in completing their research |
| A．appealing to the elimination of gender inequality in society |
| B．the exploration of the patterns and causes of gender differences |
| C．casting light on why women make up only 25% of medical professors |
| D．explaining the gender differences in pay and promotion in the medical world |
| A．men are more favorably judged for managerial positions |
| B．women are severely criticized for showing so-called male traits |
| C．women are less likely to receive a higher score in medical school |
| D．men tend to oversell their ideas as they have a stronger desire for success |
| A．the increasing gender inequality in the medical field |
| B．the difficulties women have experienced in becoming scientists |
| C．the unfairness caused by peer reviewers’ preferences for certain language traits |
| D．the language difference in papers written by male and female scientists and its consequences |
【推荐2】It is nearly dawn, and the yellow moon has just set behind coconut trees. Spots of pink appear in the sky and a glorious red ball of fire slowly rises. Birds have begun to gather in their hundreds in the Changaram wetland in Kerala’s Alappuzha district. George, with binoculars glued to his eyes, is busy recognizing the birds: “Little egrets, garganeys…” He pauses. “But what are those three there? Ah, spot-billed ducks,” he says when he spots the typical band of brilliant jade-green on the wings.
His binoculars are off his eyes now, but his fingers are flying over his phone screen, typing the names of the species he has sighted on eBird, an app where birdwatchers upload real-time information on species. As a citizen scientist, he has been one Bird for three years and takes pride in being the country’s “eighth best eBirder” based on the number of his check-lists.
eBird is just now drawing in ordinary people into the process of ecological (生态学的) science and conservation. Citizen scientists can ask questions, volunteer to collect data, and analyse them. For researchers, citizen scientists are a boon: with their large numbers, they can contribute extensive data over vast geographical areas, something trained scientists could not dream of gathering either individually or in teams.
While it may appear to be a new concept, the public has always participated in ecological science, said a team of American scientists in a 2012 study. Chinese citizens and officials, for instance, tracked locust (蝗虫) a tacks for at least 3,500 years although they did not know their observations would later be used for science.
Today, thanks to smartphones, the Internet and the endless possibilities of apps, citizen science has truly come of age around the world, helping create a vast and valuable collection of data.
1. Why does George visit the Changaram wetland?| A．To enjoy the sunrise. | B．To collect bird data. |
| C．To protect the wetland. | D．To observe bird habitats. |
| A．It is aimed at training citizens into scientists. |
| B．It is placed eighth among the country’s apps. |
| C．It selects species information for birdwatchers. |
| D．It promotes the development of citizen science. |
| A．target | B．challenge | C．benefit | D．threat |
| A．locust research started 3500 years ago in China |
| B．the public seldom played a role in scientific research |
| C．ordinary citizens have long been in ecological science |
| D．the records of locust attacks failed to be used for science |
【推荐3】Scientists have created the first lab-grown coffee, which they say “smells and tastes like the real thing”. The Finland-based researchers used a process called cellublar agriculture, which includes taking out cells from a small plant or animal sample. In the latest example of lab-grown options, cell samples were taken from Arabica, a popular coffee plant that makes up 56 per cent of global production. With lab-grown coffee, the researchers say that they can deal with problems facing the global coffee industry, such as a need for clearing space for coffee plants to keep up with an increasing need for the drink worldwide.
The research is being conducted at VTT Technical Research Centre based in Espoo, Finland — the country that drinks the most coffee per person. “The process uses read coffee plant cells,” Dr. Heiko Rischer, head of plant biotechnology at Finland’s VTT research center, said. “At first, a cell culture is started from a plant part, for example, a leaf. The formed cells reproduced on a specific nutrient medium. In the end, the cells are transported to a bioreactor from which the biomass is then harvested. The cells are dried and roasted then coffee can be brewed.”
The first collection produced by VTT in their laboratory smells and tastes like traditional coffee, according to the results of a “sensory analysis”. After drinking a cup, Dr. Rischer said, “There is a surprisingly full smell. In terms of smell and taste, our trained sensory judgement and analytical examination has found the coffee bears similarity to ordinary coffee,” he said. “The experience of drinking the very first cup was exciting.”
The idea that coffee cells could be used to make coffee was presented back in 1974 by plant scientist P.M. Townsley. But the VTT scientists have put the theory into practice with their lab-grown brew, which they think could hit the market by 2025.
1. What might be one of the causes of creating lab-grown coffee?| A．Dr. Heiko has been devoted to genetically engineering. |
| B．There exists an increasing demand market of coffee. |
| C．People in Finland drink the most amount of coffee. |
| D．The idea is based on a theory proving to be practical. |
| A．Produced. | B．Designed. | C．Collected. | D．Measured. |
| A．Lab-grown coffee makes people drinking it more excited. |
| B．Lab-grown coffee can be judged through people’s senses. |
| C．Lab-grown coffee tastes and smells better than ordinary coffee. |
| D．Lab-grown coffee can be made in labs and therefore save space. |
| A．To praise scientists sticking with creation. | B．To solve coffee shortage troubling people. |
| C．To introduce a new kind of Arabica coffee. | D．To present a research on man- made coffee. |
【推荐1】It is hard to imagine that plants or animals could ever exist on Mars. But scientists continue to look for evidence. NASA, America’s space agency, has found evidence that, a long time ago, there was surface water on the Mars. Scientists believe water is necessary for life as we know it. So since that discovery, they have been looking for chemicals that would be present if there once was or still is life on the planet.
At a December 13 meeting in California, NASA scientists reported an important discovery on Mars. They said for the first time that they had found very small amounts of boron(硼). Boron is important because it could help build RNA molecules(分子). And RNA molecules are important because they are one of the basic building parts for life.
One of the next steps in the scientists’ search for life on Mars comes soon. The next spacecraft is planned to launch. It will bring rocks from Mars back to Earth. Scientists in Britain are getting ready for those Mars rocks now. Before this, using a powerful microscope(显微镜), they have already examined 200-million-year-old volcanic rocks found deep in the Pacific Ocean. The microscope showed holes on the rocks caused by tiny living things called microbes(微生物). Microbes are the oldest form of life on Earth.
Next, the scientists in Britain will examine rocks which contain ancient material from Mars. The material comes from a time when Mars would have been more likely to support life. The scientists hope to get the same findings in the rocks from Mars as the ones they saw in the ocean rocks. If they do, they predict that the rocks coming directly from Mars will also show signs of life. That, in turn, could finally prove that we are not alone in the universe.
1. What caused scientists to look for evidence of life on Mars?| A．The discovery of plants. | B．The discovery of chemicals. |
| C．The discovery of surface water. | D．The discovery of RNA molecules. |
| A．It is hardly seen on the earth. | B．It might prove the existence of life. |
| C．It might cause the holes on the rocks. | D．It is the most necessary part of life. |
| A．Tiny living things. | B．Ancient material from Mars. |
| C．Volcanic rocks. | D．Holes caused by microbes. |
| A．Scientists Try To Look For Life On Mars |
| B．Does Surface Water Really Exist On Mars? |
| C．A Discovery Of Life In The Pacific Ocean |
| D．Boron-An Important Chemical Supporting Life |
【推荐2】China's space program took a major leap recently when it successfully landed the Zhurong rover(登防车) on Mars marking the country's first landing on another planet. Teams then rolled the rove onto the Martian ground and begin a mission to search for evidence of water and signs of past life.
The touchdown makes China the second county in history to land a rover on the surface of Mars. After months in orbit around the red planet, the Tianywen-l Spacecraft released the Zhurong rover for a landing in Utopia Planitia, a vast plain that may once have been covered by an ancient Martian ocean.
“Landing safely on Mars is a huge challenge, especially for China's first soft landing attempt," said Long Xiao, a scientist at the China University of Geosciences, "But it is a necessary step for Mars and deep-space exploration."
Mars is significantly harder to land on than the moon, says Michel Blanc at the Research Institute in Astrophysics and Planetology in France. But China has had a series of successful lunar missions that prepared it for a Mars landing.
China will openly share the data from Tianwen-1 and Zhurong the same way it has shared data from its lunar exploration missions, Long says, benefiting scientists around the world.
The mission will also set the stage for China’s next planned voyage to Mars---a sample---return attempt scheduled to launch around 2028.Beyond Mars, the country has plans to launch a Jupiter probe(探测仪), including a possible landing on the moon Callisto, to collect samples from a near-Earth asteroid(小行星), and to send a pair of spacecraft toward the edges of the solar system.
“In the age of ocean exploration, China has a history of Zheng He's voyages to Southeast Asia and Africa," says Zhang Xiaoping at the Macau University of Science and Technology, referring to early 15th-century explorations. Zhang views China's Mars mission as a continuation of these Ming Dynasty journeys.
1. What can be known about the Zhurong hovers?| A．It lands in an ocean on Mars. |
| B．It provides evidence of life on Mars. |
| C．It was transported to Mars by Tianwen-1. |
| D．It marks the first human exploration on Mars. |
| A．Lunar exploration is more difficult than Mars exploration. |
| B．China made successful soft Manding attempts on Mars before. |
| C．China's latest space exploration can benefit the whole world. |
| D．Mars exploration is the significant step to prepare for lunar exploration. |
| A．The specific task of Tianwen-1. |
| B．The background of Mars exploration. |
| C．The timeline of China's lunar exploration. |
| D．The plan for China's further space exploration. |
| A．To compare him with other explorers in history. |
| B．To highlight the significance of Mars exploration. |
| C．To praise his great achievement in ocean exploration. |
| D．To inspire the readers' imagination in space exploration. |
【推荐3】Exploring unmapped territory on the moon could soon be as easy as slipping on a backpack. NASA researchers designed a new high-tech pack for navigating(给引航)unknown territories in outer space.
The backpack uses a remote-sensing mapping system to create high-resolution(高分辨)3-D maps that astronauts could use to explore the southernmost point on the moon according to a statement. NASA’s dynamic technology is like the technology used by smart cars to alert their drivers of potential collisions(碰撞).
“Basically, the sensor is a surveying tool for both navigation and science mapping, able to create ultra-high-resolution 3-D maps at centimeter-level precision and give them a rich scientific context,”tells Michael Zanetti, a scientist. “It will also help ensure the safety of astronauts and rover vehicles in a GPS-denied environment such as the Moon by identifying actual distances to far-off landmarks and showing explorers in real time how far they’ve come and how far is left.”
NASA plans to have astronauts return to the moon by 2025. The team is set to land near the lunar south pole because previous evidence suggests that the area may contain subsurface water ice. Part of the reason astronauts would need a GPS tracking backpack is because the area on the moon’s south pole is shrouded by shadows, making it difficult for space explorers to estimate distances on the moon.
Next, NASA is working on bringing the backpack’s weight and size down. Currently. It weighs 40 pounds, but the team hopes that the tech could be small enough to fit on an astronaut’s helmet.
1. What are Michael Zanetti’s words mainly about?| A．The working principle of the backpack. | B．The challenges of the backpack. |
| C．The shortcomings of the backpack. | D．The development of the backpack. |
| A．Mixed. | B．Reduced. | C．Covered. | D．Separated. |
| A．Make the backpack cheaper. | B．Make the backpack more accurate. |
| C．Make the backpack more fashionable. | D．Make the backpack lighter and smaller. |
| A．A travel journal. | B．A science magazine. |
| C．An impressive novel. | D．A personal notebook. |
