Some bacteria(细菌)have a superpower that scientists would love to use. These bacteria gain energy from light, just as plants do.Scientists have wanted to use cyanobacteria(蓝藻菌)to make electricity. But in previous research, they didn’t survive long on artificial surfaces. Researchers have now moved them to a living surface — a mushroom. Their creation is the first mushroom to make electricity.
Applied Physicist Simon Jackson and his team turned that mushroom into a mini energy farm. This bionic(生物电子的)mushroom combines 3D printing, conductive ink and bacteria to generate electricity. Its design could lead to new ways of combining nature with electronics.
Like plants, cyanobacteria make their own food from sunlight, releasing electrons(电子). When enough electrons build up in one place, they can create an electric current.
The researchers needed to bring a lot of these bacteria together. They decided to use 3D printing to place them precisely onto a surface.Jackson’s team chose mushrooms for that surface. After all, they realized, mushrooms naturally host communities of bacteria and other microbes. Finding test subjects for their tests was easy. Jackson simply went to the grocery store and picked up white button mushrooms.
Printing on those mushrooms, though, turned out to be a real challenge. 3D printers have been designed to print on flat surfaces, but mushroom caps are curved. The researchers spent months writing computer code to solve the problem. Eventually, they came up with a program to 3D print their ink onto the curved mushroom tops.
The researchers printed two“inks”onto their mushrooms. One was a green ink made of cyanobacteria. They used this to make a spiral pattern on the cap. They also used a black ink made of graphene, which is great at conducting electricity. They printed this ink in a branching pattern across the mushroom top.
Then it was time to shine.
“Cyanobacteria are the real heroes here,”says Jackson. When his team shone light on the mushrooms, the bacteria gave out electrons. Those electrons flowed into the graphene and created an electric current.
1. What was the problem in previous research?| A．Cyanobacteria didn’t produce electrons. |
| B．Cyanobacteria couldn’t get enough light. |
| C．The researchers chose the wrong bacteria. |
| D．No suitable home was made for cyanobacteria. |
| A．They are convenient to find. |
| B．They can produce electric currents. |
| C．They are where bacteria can naturally grow. |
| D．They can be easily combined with 3D printing. |
| A．To feed bacteria. |
| B．To deliver electrons. |
| C．To produce electricity. |
| D．To reshape mushroom tops. |
| A．Who are the real heroes? |
| B．New application of 3D printing |
| C．Nature combined with electrons |
| D．Bionic mushroom makes electricity |
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【推荐1】Imagine a cat that does not need someone to clean up after it keeps an older people company and helps them remember to take their medicine. That is the shared dream of the toy maker Hasbro and scientists at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island. The researchers received a $3-million-dollar from the National Science Foundation for a special project.
They want to find ways to add artificial intelligence, or AI, to Hasbro’s “Joy for All” robotic cat. The cat has already been for sale for two years. It was meant to act as a “companion” for older people.
Now the project is aimed at developing additional abilities for the cat. Researchers are working to decide which activities older adults may need the most. They hope to make the cat perform a small number of activities very well. Such activities include finding lost objects and reminding the older people to take medicine or visit their doctor.
It is an idea that has appealed (有吸引力) to Jeanne Elliott. Her 93-year-old mother Mary Derr lives with her in South Kingstown. Derr has dementia (痴呆). The Joy for All cat that Elliot bought this year has become a true companion for Derr. The cat stays with Derr and keeps her relaxed while Elliott is at work. Elliot said a robotic cat that helps her mother to remember to take her medicine and be careful when she walks would be greater.
The scientists are studying how people feel about the robot cats, as well as the everyday lives of elderly people. The researchers are trying to learn how the improved cats will complete helpful activities and how they will communicate.
1. What’s the purpose of the first paragraph?| A．To make a sale. | B．To attract attention. |
| C．To give an example. | D．To introduce the topic. |
| A．Children | B．The Old | C．Cat lovers | D．Adults |
| A．Accompanying the old. | B．Leading the old to visit their doctor. |
| C．Finding lost things for the Old. | D．Reminding the old to take medicine. |
| A．People are not satisfied with the robot. |
| B．The robot cats can communicate with people. |
| C．The scientists are still working on the robot cats. |
| D．Feelings of sadness among the elderly are unavoidable. |
【推荐2】Scientists have found an unusual way to prevent our planet from overheating: move it to a cooler spot. All you have to do is send a few comets in the direction of Earth, and its orbit (轨道) will be changed. Our world will then be sent into a safer, colder part of the solar system.
This idea for improving our climate comes from a group of US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) engineers and American astronomers. They say their plan could add another six billion years to the useful lifetime of our planet—effectively doubling its working life.
The plan, put forward by Dr. Laughlin, and his colleagues Don Korycansky and Fred Adams, needs carefully directing a comet of asteroid(小行星) so that it passes close by our planet and sends some of its gravitational energy to Earth.
“Earth's orbital speed would increase as a result and we would move to a higher orbit away from the Sun,” Laughlin said.
Engineers would then direct their comet So that it passed close to Jupiter or Saturn. The comet would pick up energy from one of these giant planets. Later its orbit would bring it back to Earth, and the process would be repeated.
In the short term, the plan provides an ideal way to global warming, although the team was actually concerned with a much greater danger. The sun is certain to heat up in about a billion years and so “seriously compromise” our biosphere(生物圈)—by cooking us.
That's why the group decided to try to save Earth.
The plan has one or two worrying aspects, however. For a start, space engineers would have to be very careful about how they directed their asteroid or comet towards Earth. The smallest miscalculation(误算) in orbit could fire it straight at Earth—with deadly results.
There is also the question of the Moon. As the scientific American magazine points out, if Earth was pushed out of its current position it is “most likely that the Moon would be stripped away from Earth,” it states. This would change our planet's climate.
1. If the plan is successful, Earth will have a working life of ________ years.| A．24 billion | B．6 billion | C．18 billion | D．12 billion |
| A．A few comets are moving to the direction of Earth. |
| B．Earth's working life is coming to an end soon. |
| C．Earth will become too hot for mankind to keep alive. |
| D．The moon is moving farther and farther away from Earth. |
| A．Provide | B．Endanger | C．Share | D．Benefit |
A． | B． |
C． | D． |
| A．Earth might be moved too far away and man might be frozen to death. |
| B．Earth's working life might be greatly shortened. |
| C．The comet might hit Jupiter or Saturn and never return to Earth |
| D．The comet might hit Earth and man might lose the moon. |
【推荐3】Songyan is an artificial intelligence specialist. Three months ago, he decided to quit his job at Microsoft in Seattle to come back to China. Autonomous driving is among the many things Songyan refers to and goes back for. For ride-hailing apps and car rental companies, driverless cars could be the way forwards. We think it’s highly likely that autonomous driving could replace the current taxi and ride-hailing services.
A smart driverless car would never break traffic laws. So they would be safer and more efficient than human drivers. As to security issues, China’s automakers are working on building a safety standard to ease people’s concern. Now every company has different standards and regulations. And that could be chaotic. We hope to build a unified standard for developing driverless cars.
Tencent, China’s largest social platform and gaming company is developing a project called Jueyi, similar to Google’s Alphago. The company is also trying to incorporate AI into gaming in which the computers would ultimately think, behave and make real-time decisions like professional electronic gamers. AI is currently in its early stage but no one knew the power of the steam engine before James Watt invented it. We believe AI is a prime power of the third Industrial Revolution. We’re now accumulating the power, waiting for the Big Bang.
In China’s Silicon Valley Shenzhen, AI has demonstrated is potentials through the building of a smart city. The system includes information from the government and some authorities like the police, tax and healthcare services. We can provide real-time traffic information, hospital registrations and other details for the users. Now in Shenzhen, Guangzhou and Chengdu, we have already started trials.
Apart from all the exciting AI applications now happening in China, Songyan said what’s more important is that Chinese firms are getting lag in their outlook. Now the good thing is that the companies in China are getting more patient to let the researchers in the company to do the fundamental research. Song said everything about AI is evolving at a stunning pace. And he believes China is very likely to deliver on his promise and become global leader in artificial intelligence by 2030.
1. According to the passage, one of the reasons why Songyan came back to China is that ______.| A．he was forced to quit his job at Microsoft |
| B．he has got an offer from an AI company |
| C．he is a Chinese artificial intelligence specialist |
| D．he is positive about autonomous driving in China |
| A．Confusing. | B．Comforting. | C．Communicating. | D．Compulsory. |
| A．To emphasize the great potential of AI. |
| B．To stress that AI is still underdeveloped. |
| C．To show the importance of scientists in scientific history. |
| D．To indicate the coming of the third Industrial Revolution. |
| A．Chinese firms are unwilling to do fundamental research. |
| B．Chinese firms are not applying AI to products. |
| C．Chinese firms are falling behind in their outlook. |
| D．Chinese firms are evolving too fast without reflection. |
【推荐1】Female seals don’t change their spots, according to a new study by University of Alberta biologists. In fact, individual differences in boldness remain consistent over time. The study is among the first to examine boldness in wild marine mammals in the field of animal personality. Animal personality influences many ecological processes, like how individuals interact with other species or respond to changing environmental conditions.
Researchers studied female seals on Sable Island, home to the world’s largest grey seal colony. Over a period from 2008 to 2016, biologist Christi Bubac and a field team led by Fisheries and Oceans Canada measured boldness responses in the female seals when defending their young.
“During the breeding season, we saw that females tend to behave consistently, not only between years, but also within the lactation period of a given year,” explained Bubac, lead author and PhD student in the Department of Biological Sciences studying with wildlife geneticist David Colman. “This provides an example of animal personality, with consistent individual differences observed over time.”
Bubac also examined how reproductive success is related to a seal’s boldness or shyness. Rey seals nurse for 16 to 18 days, so mother seals have a very short window to get baby seals as fat as they can. During this time, baby seals triple in body mass. Body mass is a good predictor of reproductive success because it indicates the puppies’ chances of survival. “On average, we found that bolder females stop feeding those that are two kilograms heavier, compared with the shyest females, improving their chances of surviving the first year of life,” said Bubac.
These results present some very interesting biological questions, explained Coltman, professor of biology. “This research shows that young grey seal moms that are bold tend to stop feeding larger puppies compared with shy moms. However, older grey seals also tend to be bolder. If bolder animals have bigger pups and live longer, why does variation in boldness remain? Why be shy?”
1. What is the purpose of the study of seals?| A．To test their effects on ecological processes. |
| B．To study how seals interact with each other. |
| C．To check how the environment affects mammals. |
| D．To examine marine mammals’ personality difference. |
| A．Animals have remained their personality since they were born. |
| B．Female seals behave more boldly in the lactation period. |
| C．Seals’ boldness responses remain the same over time. |
| D．The study on seals’ personality has been very mature. |
| A．Bolder female seals adjust the nursing time to their babies’ weight. |
| B．Mother seals tend to get babies as slim as possible. |
| C．It usually takes mother seals 20 days to nurse. |
| D．Bolder female seals feed less than shy ones. |
| A．In a travel guide. | B．In a textbook. | C．In a magazine. | D．In an art gallery. |
【推荐2】Everything one enjoys in life has a price. There is no free lunch in the world, for, generally, someone pays. This reality informs why we need to be careful when surfing on the Internet. Every action has its consequence; nothing is free. Therefore, one pays for everything else, somehow, somewhere and sometime; and the Internet is no exception. It never forgives. It never forgets.
Besides the fact that someone sees and can locate whoever is using any device that has a tiny front camera (cell phone, tablet, laptop or desktop), you leave digital footprints each time you visit the Internet. Is it not surprising that often search engines and online marketing platforms suggest to you things similar to what you have already searched for or bought? This fact is possible because you leave digital footprints. These footprints can not be removed on the Internet so long as the Internet exists. Deleting is a pure trick because it gives you the impression that the stuff is gone. But it remains. It is gone from one level of Internet operations but remains at other deeper layers. All our digital footprints and records are all stored in the cyber cloud. A simple analysis of your activities on the Internet for the past ten years will shock you as to the extent the Internet remembers.
Yet responsible use of the Internet can be a boon for a young person. Prevention in time saves one from falling victim to the destructive consequences of the misuse of the Internet. Rightly said, unexamined use of the Internet and irresponsible involvement with the social media leads to psycho-social and emotional disorders that upset progress and ruin a person. While engaging in the Internet, be mindful that your activities today can work against you in the near, distant or eternal future when you might have grown or changed.
The Internet never forgets, so be careful of your activities on social media. While engaging in social media, think about the future so as not to allow the Internet to ruin your dream. Indeed, some suffer awful consequences because of their childishness, carelessness or ignorance. Keep in mind always: the Internet neither forgives nor forgets.
1. What can we learn about “deleting” in Paragraph 2?| A．It can completely remove the stuff you don’t want. |
| B．It remains on certain layers of Internet operations. |
| C．It will be stored for a short time in the cyber cloud. |
| D．It can be somehow traced down within ten years. |
| A．Benefit. | B．Talent. | C．Problem. | D．Burden. |
| A．Doubtful. | B．Uninterested. | C．Cautious. | D．Unclear. |
| A．Users should delete digital footprints timely while surfing the Internet. |
| B．People should put the Internet security in the first place anytime. |
| C．Internet surfers will suffer consequences unless the Internet forgives. |
| D．People should use the Internet responsibly in case of a terrible future. |
【推荐3】You’re asleep on a Saturday morning when the sound of an alarm clock erupts from your device. You turn over to see the word SNOOZE projected in the air above your device. You reach out and touch the virtual button with your finger—a slight feeling on your fingertip—before falling back to sleep.
Researchers from the University of Tsukuba in Japan are working on a technology that could make this possible. Led by associate professor Yoichi Ochiai, the team creates shapes in the air using a laser(激光) that releases short pulses(脉冲) of light. The high-intensity light can break down air molecules(分子), which produces short-lived spots of light. The system polishes images by rapidly adjusting the central point of the laser in three dimensions.
A previous version of the technology used nano-second laser pulses, which have the unfortunate side effect of burning human skin. Ochiai’s system, named Fairy Lights, employs much shorter laser pulses that are much less dangerous despite having a high peak intensity, Ochiai says. The tiny hearts, stars and fairies that the system projects are not only safe to touch, but they are sensitive to contact. In one test, the system projects a checkbox that can be filled in with your finger. “It feels like sandpaper or a mild electric shock,” Ochiai says.
Ochiai also predicts large-scale emergency monitors that could be projected high over a city to warn residents about a natural disaster or direct them toward an escape route. While the initial images were not large, Ochiai says the flexibility of the system depends on the size and power of the equipment used. Large systems are currently expensive, he says, adding that technologies that draw images will likely become more achievable over the next 10 to 20 years as the multi-million-dollar price decreases.
1. What is the author’s purpose of writing paragraph 1?| A．To describe a scene of sleep-in. | B．To promote a high-tech alarm clock. |
| C．To explain the function of a project. | D．To introduce the use of a new technology. |
| A．Images can be projected in the air. | B．Shapes can be released by pulses of light. |
| C．The system can be adjusted in three dimensions. | D．Air molecules can be broken down in a short time. |
| A．It projects images safe to touch. | B．It brings benefits to human skin. |
| C．It employs nano-second laser pulses. | D．It becomes sensitive to electric currents. |
| A．The technology will be put in use in a decade or two |
| B．The technology can accurately predict natural disasters |
| C．The system can inform people of a safer escape route. |
| D．The more flexible the system is, the larger the image will be |
