Billy Barr, 71, paused outside his mountainside cabin to measure the water percentage in snow. This year, it contained about 10 percent. “Another year of high figure,” Barr sighed. Things were quite different five years ago, when the number had been around 6 percent. “Now the snow here has gotten wetter for sure. We understand that weather is weather, and it changes all the time. But all of a sudden, the last five years have all presented high figures,” said Barr. “So that’s when things need our attention.”
Barr arrived in Gothic in 1972 as a student helping on a water chemistry project. He stayed until the end of the year, then came permanently the following summer. In the mountains, he felt relaxed — even though home was a mining hut with a lamp and a sleeping bag. He’d always liked numbers; as a kid, he counted gas stations on family trips. That’s what inspired his records, not some grand scientific ambition. Over time, Barr found he liked comparing one year to others.
On a recent afternoon, Barr sat at his computer, skimming through decades of numbers. In the numbers, he pointed out patterns. Nearly half the record low temperatures came in his first decade here, and more than half the record highs occurred in the past one. “Back in the 70s, there were winters when we had over 100 days in a row when it didn’t get above freezing. Last winter, the most was nine,” Barr worried. “There’s a trend there. I really think we’re in a load of trouble. And we don’t have much time for this.”
After filling 10 notebooks with his records, Barr now organizes them in Excel and publishes them on his website. Researchers regularly ask him for data, he said, and he was always pleased to share. Barr is witnessing snow fall here for the 50th year straight. “I just want to keep it going. It is interesting — it is, I think. And it’s helpful.”
1. According to Barr, why should water percentage in snow be paid attention to?A.It increased by 4 percent this year. | B.It varies from 6 percent to 10 percent. |
C.It is changeable like weather. | D.It has been increasingly high for years. |
A.The sense of relaxation. | B.The boredom from city life. |
C.The passion for comfort. | D.The commitment to scientific ambition. |
A.There is no hurry at all for people to address this issue. |
B.More days above freezing have come in the last decade. |
C.People are prepared to face temperature trouble nowadays. |
D.100 days of continuous low temperature is common now. |
A.Crazy and ambitious. | B.Generous and devoted. |
C.Lonely and outdated. | D.Patient and optimistic. |
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【推荐1】When learning a new language, speakers often have non-native accents. Linguistic research suggests such accent is shaped by the speaker’s first language that they learned when growing up. Schepens’ team’s research puts new light on just how strong these effects can be.
There’re similar researches from other scientists, but Schepens’ team analyzed a data set of more than 50,000 adults, who learned Dutch as their second or third languages. Besides, these adults came from more than 60 different first language backgrounds. These data were collected through a state exam administered by the Dutch government for foreigners that enter Holland. The exam rated each test taker’s Dutch speaking proficiency(熟练,水平)
The team found that about half of the individual difference in the proficiency of learners could be accounted for by a handful of reasons: the learner’s education and sex(women had higher scores than men), the learner’s age when they arrived in Holland, the time they spent in Holland, and the learner’s first language. This last reason was the most prominent one since it accounts for 50 percent of the explained difference in learners’ proficiency.
What leads to this? Working with professor Hout, Schepens’s team studied the linguistic similarity between Dutch and the 62 first languages spoken by different learners in the database. The huge majority---about 80 percent---of the effect of the language background was explained by linguistic similarity. Of the test takers who grew up speaking Arabic, only about 5 percent scored higher in Dutch speaking proficiency than the worst 50 percent of the test takers that grew up speaking German.
“Our results suggest this is largely due to the fact that German shares many linguistic characteristics with Dutch, but Arabic does not,” says Schepens.
“This suggests a large part of the non-nativeness of a learner is simply due to the language they grew up with, and this reason is entirely out of their control,” says Florian Jaeger. “The result can play a part in language teaching.”
1. What’s Schepens’ team’s research mainly about?A.the difference between first languages. |
B.the best ways for foreigners to learn Dutch. |
C.the strengths of Holland’s state exam on language. |
D.the first language’s influence on new language learning. |
A.being carried out on a larger scale |
B.gaining more countries’ support |
C.testing those able to speak many languages |
D.being based on teenagers from Germany and Holland |
A.complex | B.confusing |
C.noticeable | D.indirect |
A.European languages have lots of similarities |
B.Arabic-speaking people find it easy to learn German |
C.Many test takers have poor first language proficiency |
D.Linguistic similarity benefits learners’ foreign language proficiency |
【推荐2】Nurses have saved almost 800 lives in just one year by using iPads, iPods and mobile phones to record patients' vital (至关重要的) signs instead of paper charts.
Death rates at two major hospitals dropped by more than 15% after the nursing stall started using hand-held devices instead of paper notes to monitor (监督) the condition of patients, according to the research published recently.
Nurses recorded patients' blood pressure, pulse, oxygen levels and other indicators on tablets and mobiles. Specialist software, called VitalPAC, automatically told them if the patient was deteriorating. If this is happened the nurse was warned to increase the frequency of their monitoring of the patient and, in some cases, to warn a doctor or a response team.
The introduction of the new system led to a fall of almost 400 patient deaths in just 12 months at Queen Alexandra Hospital, Portsmouth, and a drop of more than 370 in the same period at University Hospital, Coventry, according to the study in BMJ Quality & Safety. An editorial in the journal described the research as "an important milestone" in improving patient safety and said the lowering of mortality (死亡率) at these two hospitals "represents a truly dramatic improvement".
Data recorded on the hand-held devices is automatically uploaded to a hospital-wide system allowing nurses, doctors and managers to monitor the health of patients across all wards. Staff on ward rounds have instant access to information from any device connected to the hospital network.
The system is now installed in 40 hospitals across England and could eventually be rolled out across the whole of the NHS. The system was developed by doctors and nurses at Portsmouth working together with health improvement company The Learning Clinic.
Dr. Paul Schmidt, of Portsmouth Hospitals NHS Trust, one of the leaders of the project, said: "Observing patients and making accurate records provides a safety net to guard against their deterioration. We believed traditional paper charts were not doing the job well enough so we designed an electronic system to support staff. This study shows its introduction was followed by a significant drop in deaths."
1. What can be learned about VitalPAC?A.It was designed by The Learning Clinic independently. |
B.It works with the hand-held devices. |
C.It can replace the nurses to take care of patients. |
D.It was applied by all the members of the NHS. |
A.the specialist software is out of order. |
B.the patient's condition is getting worse. |
C.the patient's vital signs are uploaded. |
D.the patient's indicators are difficult to record. |
A.The significance of VitalPAC. | B.The improvement of Vita1PAC. |
C.The rules of operating VitalPAC. | D.The brief introduction of VitalPAC. |
A.A fashion magazine. | B.A story book. |
C.A news report. | D.A science fiction. |
【推荐3】Today, people all over the world are moving out of small villages in the country to go and live in big, noisy cities. They are moving from the peaceful hills, mountains, fields, rivers and streams of the countryside to the busy world of streets, buildings, traffic and crowds. This movement from rural areas to urban areas has been going on for over two hundred years.
In many countries, the main reason why people come to live in towns and cities is work.After one or two large factories have been built in or near a town, people come to find work, and soon an industrial area begins to grow.There is usually a residential area nearby, where the factory workers can live.The families of these workers need schools, hospitals and shops, so more people come to live in the area to provide these services and a city grows.
In every major city in the world, there is a business district where the big companies have their main offices. In the United States, this area is usually in the city centre downtown. It is here that you can see the huge skyscrapers office blocks. The people who work here often travel a long way to work each day. Many of them live in the suburbs of the city, far away from the industrial area and the city centre. Some suburbs are very pleasant, with nice houses and big gardens.There are usually parks for children to play in and large department stores where you can buy all you need.
But what is the future of the big cities? Will they continue to get bigger? Perhaps not. Some major cities have actually become smaller in the last ten years, and it is quite possible that one day we will see people moving out of the major cities and back into smaller towns and villages.
1. Why do people move to live in cities or towns?A.Because they can live more comfortably there. | B.Because they prefer noisy life to peaceful life. |
C.Because they want to find work. | D.Because they are sure of having better life there. |
A.while living on the far away edge of the city | B.and live there |
C.but live in another city | D.but live far away out of the city |
A.has been going on for more than 2,000 years | B.will continue in the future |
C.may not continue in the future | D.is sure to stop |
After the accident, my roommate called a doctor for me. I was very grateful and determined to repay him one day. But the next day, he asked me to pay him $200 for what he had done. I was astonished. He had good reason to charge me, he said. And if I wanted to collect money from the person who was responsible for my injury, I’d have to have a good lawyer. And only a good doctor can help me get a good lawyer .Now that he had helped me find a good doctor, it was only fair that I should pay him.
But every day I went to see the doctor, I had to wait about 50 minutes. He would see two or three patients at the same time, and often stop treating one so as to see another. Yet he charged me $115 each time .The final examination report consisted of ten lines, and it cost me $215.
My lawyer was all smiles the first time we met. But after that he avoided seeing me at all. He knew very well the other party was responsible for the accident, yet he hardly did anything. He simply waited to collect his money. He was so irresponsible that I decided to dismiss him. And he made me pay him $770.
Now I had to act as my own lawyer. Due to my inexperience, I told the insurance company the date I was leaving America. Knowing that, they played for time…and I left without getting a cent.
1. The author’s roommate offered to help him because________.
A.he felt sorry for the author |
B.he thought it was a chance to make some money |
C.he knew the doctor was a very good one |
D.he wanted the author to have a good lawyer |
A.ask as a price | B.accuse | C.be responsible | D.claim |
A.friendly | B.busy | C.professional | D.selfish |
A.Going to court is something very common in America. |
B.One must be very careful while driving a car. |
C.There are more bad sides in America than good sides. |
D.Money is more important than other things in the US. |
【推荐2】We walked in so quietly that the nurse at the desk didn’t even lift her eyes from the book. Mum pointed to a big chair by the door and I knew she wanted me to sit down. While I watched mouth open in surprise, Mum took off her hat and coat and gave them to me to hold. She walked quietly to the small room by the lift and took out a wet mop. She pushed the mop past the desk and as the nurse looked up, Mum nodded and said, “Very dirty floor.”
“Yes. I’m glad they’ve finally decided to clean them,” the nurse answered. She looked at Mum strangely and said, “But aren’t you working later?”
Mum just pushed harder, each swipe(拖一下) of the mop taking her farther and farther down the hall. I watched until she was out of sight and the nurse had turned back to writing in the big book.
After a long time, Mum came back. Her eyes were shining. She quickly put the mop back and took my hand. As we turned to go out of the door, Mum bowed politely to the nurse and said, “Thank you.”
Outside, Mum told me, “Dagmar is fine. No fever.”
“You saw her, Mum?”
“Of course. I told her about the hospital rules, and she will not expect us until tomorrow. Dad will stop worrying as well. It’s a fine hospital. But such floors! A mop is no good. You need a brush.”
1. When she took a mop from the small room, what Mum really wanted to do was________.A.to clean the floor |
B.to please the nurse |
C.to see a patient |
D.to surprise the story-teller |
A.It is a children’s hospital. |
B.It has strict rules about visiting hours. |
C.The conditions there aren’t very good. |
D.The nurse and doctors there don’t work hard. |
A.Strange. | B.Warm-hearted. | C.Clever. | D.Hard-working. |
Most of us associate learning with younger people—kids in school and college or recent graduates early in their careers. But at Udemy, an open university offering online courses, Artist Anneke Camstra is engaged in the pursuit of lifelong learning and displays her potential for teaching. She loves the experience of gaining new knowledge and also loves sharing it with others. “I’m retired, but an artist never retires,” Anneke said. “The last few years on the internet have been a great joy for me. I’ve taken so many Udemy courses, and ifs such a great feeling to get my brain working again. I find just as much satisfaction in teaching animation(动画制作)too.”
She reaches countless people with her online courses and exposes them to what they can accomplish on their own using animation software, such as GoAnimate and PowToon. Her motivation for teaching on Udemy is “to get the tools to the people.”“You can go such a long way to make things that look professional but still have your own voice,” she explained.
Most of Anneke’s students start out thinking they’re not creative and can’t draw. Anneke understands how fear can get in the way of so many things people dream of doing. With her five-day challenge courses, she helps them get over the fear. Anneke loves the impact she has on her students. What makes her more proud of them is that they have gone from their first animation to creating their own works.
She encourages people of all ages, especially older people, to cultivate their curiosity for life. Grandparents, for example, can learn to use GoAnimate and make animations together with their grandkids.
“Tm an older woman, teaching and having fun learning again,” Anneke said, and she wants others later in their lives to catch up with her on this journey.
1. What does Anneke enjoy doing after her retirement? (no more than 10 words)2. According to Para. 2, what does Anneke expect her students to do with animation software? (no more than 10 words)
3. What is the main idea of Para. 3? (no more than 15 words)
4. Please explain the meaning of the underlined word in Para. 4(1 word)
5. What do you suggest old people learn to do? Please give your reason(s). (no more than 20 words)
【推荐1】Every spring, in regions at high altitudes around the world, one of Earth’s tiniest migrations takes place. The migrants are single-celled green algae (海藻); they are relatives to plants growing in the sea, but instead of living in the sea they live in snow. They spend the winter deep in the snow. In the spring, they wake and swim up through flowing streams of melted snow to the surface, dividing and photosynthesizing (进行光合作用) as they go. Then, at the top, they turn red. This creates what scientists call pink snow.
The color comes from astaxanthin (虾青素), a substance that gives some living things their reddish color. The algae produce astaxanthin as a form of sun protection; it absorbs UV light, thereby warming the organisms and thus melting the surrounding snow. “The melting helps them a lot,” said Roman Dial, a biologist at Alaska Pacific University. “The moment there is liquid water on the snow, the algae start growing.”
Pink snow is a perfectly natural phenomenon, but in an age of disappearing glaciers (冰川), it is also problematic. Last year, scientists discovered that the algae turned the snow surface dark, reducing the amount of sunlight reflected by some glaciers in Scandinavia—and increasing the amount of sunlight absorbed—by 30%. The result, as Dial and his colleagues demonstrated in this month’s issue of Nature Geoscience, is faster melting. As in other parts of the warming planet—particularly the Arctic, where scientists fear that melting permafrost (永冻土层) may lead to further climatic changes. Ice sheets are already being darkened by dust and ash, which makes the process of melting faster and provides nutrients for algae growth. As the organisms multiply, they melt even more snow, which allows them to increase in their population again. “It spreads more rapidly than people realize, once it gets established,” Dial said.
Snow algae need snow; when that’s gone, which seems to be the direction of things, the snow algae will go, too. Before the snow algae disappear, though, and while there’s still some glacier left, it’s entirely possible that the last snow we’ll see on Earth will be pink or even red, a wound on Earth.
1. What causes the color of pink snow?A.The migration that involves the algae and other plants. |
B.The flowing streams that the algae travel through. |
C.The algae that turn red at the snow’s surface. |
D.The sunlight that directly reflects on the algae. |
A.It absorbs UV light to cool down the algae. | B.It prevents the algae from photosynthesizing. |
C.It colors the algae for the purpose of decoration. | D.It helps protect the algae from the sun. |
A.It increases the reflection of sunlight. | B.It speeds up the melting of glaciers. |
C.It leads to a decrease in algae populations. | D.It reduces the amount of liquid water available. |
A.The rapid melting of glaciers may lead to an increase in permafrost. |
B.The darkening of ice sheets may slow down the process of melting. |
C.The warming climate may result in the extinction of algae in the region. |
D.Darkening ice sheets and multiplied algae may worsen climate change. |
A.Concerned. | B.Indifferent. | C.Neutral. | D.Optimistic. |
【推荐2】Germany’s top court (法院) has ruled that parts of the country’s 2019 climate action law must be changed because they don’t do a good job of protecting young people. Nine young people aged 15 to 24 took the government to court over the law. They said that the government’s failure to plan carefully was putting their future lives in danger.
The judges (法官) of Germany’s highest court said climate change will influence young people far more than adults. That’s because climate change will become more serious over time. As young people become adults, they’ll be left to deal with any problems that today’s adults don’t deal with.
In 2019, Germany passed a new law, promising that the country would be producing no more CO2 than the forest can take in by 2050. The law made a plan of action until 2030. But the law didn’t have any plans for climate actions that would be taken between 2031 and 2050.
The court has asked the German government to fix the law by the end of 2022. The climate law will now need to have a plan for the actions that will be taken after 2030.
The German government has said that it will quickly begin working to make the needed changes. One important part of high court decisions like this is that they act as guides or examples for future decisions. This means that in the future, Germany’s lawmakers will be more likely to think about the climate future of young people as they create their laws.
1. Why did the judges make such a decision?A.They decided the new law made no sense. |
B.They wanted to give the young more rights. |
C.They focused more on the future of the young. |
D.They thought it’s hard to solve climate change. |
A.It failed to take action before 2030. |
B.It was producing more and more CO2. |
C.It refused to consider the young’s rights. |
D.It didn’t plan the climate actions after 2030. |
A.It will make more decisions on climate change. |
B.It will ask the young to help make climate laws. |
C.It will consider the young when making climate laws. |
D.It will encourage the young to protect the environment. |
A.They were brave and forward-looking enough. |
B.They couldn’t bear the present climate change. |
C.They wanted to take part in law-making. |
D.They planned to work in the government. |
【推荐3】Because of a record drought, the Amazon River drops to the lowest level ever recorded. Smaller river systems that feed into the Amazon River have been drying up, leaving boats stranded (搁浅) and people in remote villages with very little food and water. The port of Manaus, where the Amazon River meets with the smaller river Rio Negro in Brazil, recorded 13.59 m of water on Monday compared to 17.60 m a year ago. That was the lowest level since records began in 1902. It was said the drought had affected 481,000 people so far.
The Brazilian government has blamed the drought on the El Nino climate pattern, which has brought hotter and drier weather. The government said it was expected the drought would last until at least December, when El Nino’s effects are forecast to reach the highest point.
The drought has made it hard to access food, drinking water and medicines, which are usually transported by river. After months without rain, some rainforest villagers were relieved when a Brazilian charity delivered supplies to their community. Some areas could still be reached by canoe, but many boats hadn’t been able to bring supplies along the river and a lot of supplies were being delivered by tractor. The drought also affected the cleanliness of the village’s drinking water. As a result, many children were getting ill and often having fever. Villagers said it wasn’t very good for them because they were practically isolated (隔绝).
El Nino has also affected the animals of the river. More than 100 endangered river dolphins are thought to have died because of high water temperatures. The Amazon rainforest represents about half of the remaining rainforest left on Earth and is home to more than one million species, or a third of all known land plants, animals and insects. About 150—200 billion tons of carbon is stored in the Amazon rainforest, making it important for the health of the whole planet.
1. What can we learn from paragraph 1?A.Water level in Manaus hit its lowest in over a century. |
B.The Amazon River has been drying up and disappearing. |
C.It is important for the global fight against climate change. |
D.It forces villagers living in the rainforest to leave their homes. |
A.Optimistic. | B.Concerned. | C.Content. | D.Uncaring. |
A.It contains almost all of the world’s fresh, flowing water. |
B.It will cause the widespread droughts around the world. |
C.It is important for the global fight against climate change. |
D.It forces villagers living in the rainforest to leave their homes. |
A.The Ecosystem of the Amazon Rainforest |
B.The Importance of the Amazon River |
C.The Amazon River and Its Rainforest |
D.The Lowest Level of the Amazon River |