This year’s Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine has been awarded to Tu Youyou (co-winner), whose research led to the discovery of artemisinin, a crucial new treatment for malaria. Artemisinin has saved hundreds of thousands of lives, and has led to improved health for millions of people. Over 200 million people around the world get malaria each year, and about 600,000 die from it. Artemisinin has become a vital part of the treatment for malaria, and is thought to save 100,000 lives a year in Africa alone.
Tu Youyou, a committed and patient scientist, was born in Ningbo, China, on 30 December 1930, and graduated from Peking University Medical School in 1955. After she graduated, she worked at the China Academy of Traditional Chinese Medicine in Beijing. In 1967, the Chinese government formed a team of scientists with the objective of discovering a new treatment for malaria, and Tu Youyou was among the first researchers chosen. In the beginning, Tu Youyou went to Hainan, where malaria was more common, to study malaria patients. In 1969, she became the head of the project in Beijing, and decided to review ancient Chinese medical texts to find traditional botanical treatments for the disease. Her team examined over 2, 000 old medical texts, and evaluated 280, 000 plants for their medical properties. From their research, they discovered and tested 380 distinct ancient Chinese medical treatments that showed promise in the fight against malaria.
One medical text from the fourth century suggested using the extract from sweet wormwood to treat a fever. Tu’s team tested a collection of dried wormwood leaves but found no effect. They then tried boiling fresh wormwood, and using the liquid obtained from this to treat malaria, but this did not work either. Their project got stuck. However, Tu Youyou would not acknowledge defeat. She analysed the medical texts again, and by chance, she found one sentence suggesting a different way to treat the wormwood. She concluded that boiling the sweet wormwood apparently destroyed its medical properties. Using a lower temperature to draw out the extract, she found a substance that worked. After failing more than 190 times, the team finally succeeded in 1971. Tu Youyou and her team members even insisted on testing the medicine on themselves to make sure that it was safe. Later, the medicine was tested on malaria patients, most of whom recovered. This medicine, which was called artemisinin, soon became a standard treatment for malaria.
According to Tu Youyou, the discovery of artemisinin was a team effort. Upon hearing that she had been awarded the Nobel Prize, she said, “The honour is not just mine. There is a team behind me, and all the people of my country. This success proves the great value of traditional Chinese medicine. It is indeed an honour for China’s scientific research and Chinese medicine to be spread around the world.”
1. Which of the following statements about artemisinin is NOT true according to the passage?| A．It is an extract from sweet wormwood that can treat malaria. |
| B．It has improved people’s health. |
| C．It is a great discovery. |
| D．It has saved 100,000 lives a year in the world. |
| A．Determined. | B．Bold and brave. | C．Easy-going. | D．Polite. |
| A．How was artemisinin discovered and tested to treat malaria? |
| B．What contributions did Tu Youyou and her team members make? |
| C．What was the childhood experience of Tu Youyou? |
| D．Why did Tu Youyou decide to use the extract from sweet wormwood to treat malaria? |
| A．It is the effort of the whole team and traditional Chinese medicine. |
| B．It belongs to her hard work. |
| C．It turns out to be the great luck of her and her team. |
| D．It depends on the big support from the government. |
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【推荐1】Not only does the use of plastic water bottles hurt your wallet, but it also causes pollution, wastes energy (能源), and surprisingly wastes water. Only 23% of the plastic in America ends up in recycling bins (回收垃圾箱), meaning over $1 billion worth of plastic is treated as rubbish a year. Recently, Skipping Rocks Lab has invented a kind of water bottle called Ooho.
Ooho is designed for large outdoor events where a large number plastic bottles are used and frequently left behind as litter. It’s a kind of convenient, clear water bottle that can either be drunk or eaten. To drink it, you can either get rid of the membrane (膜) or tear (撕开) a hole in the membrane with your teeth to pour the water into your mouth. To eat it, you simply put the whole bottle in your mouth. It’s completely tasteless so you needn’t worry about any taste.
The team has been working for the past two years to develop the technology and materials (材料) that are needed to make Ooho. The price hasn’t been decided yet, but it costs about two cents to create a unit, which is cheaper than plastic bottles. The team has also been selling Ooho water bottles in London for the past six months.
Ooho is catching many people’s attention and has raised over $1 million in only three days. It’s mostly being sold at events to interest the buyers while the production machine is getting up and running. It’s quickly making a rise, so keep an eye on these bottles of the future.
1. How is most plastic in America dealt with?| A．It is thrown away as rubbish. | B．It is reused as new energy. |
| C．It is buried under the ground. | D．It is applied to new technology. |
| A．It plans to be sold at a very low price. |
| B．It has some advantages over plastic bottles. |
| C．Most people in London use Ooho instead of plastic bottles. |
| D．Suitable materials of making Ooho are hard to find. |
| A．Doubtful. | B．Uninterested. | C．Positive. | D．Worried. |
| A．Scientists. | B．Experts. | C．Environmentalists. | D．The public. |
Storms and huge waves are a constant threat and none of Tuvalu's nine little islands is more than five metres above sea level. Salt water is already entering the country's drinking water supply, as well as damaging plants that produce fruit and vegetable. Without urgent help, the country's days are numbered.
But Tuvalu is not the first place to face sinking into the sea. Venice, a historic city in Italy best known for its canals, has sunk about 24 cm over the past 100 years. Experts say that it will have sunk another 24 cm by 2050. A century ago, St. Mark's Square, the lowest point in the city, flooded about nine times a year. Nowadays, it happens more than 100 times. While Venice is slowly sinking into the mud on which it stands, Tuvalu's rising sea level is caused by global warming.
The average global temperature has increased by almost 0. 5 centigrade degrees over the past century, scientists expect it to rise by extra 1.3 degrees over the next 100 years.
Warmer weather makes glaciers(冰川) melt, adding more water to the ocean. The warmer temperatures also make water expand, so it takes up more space, causing the sea level to rise. The sea level has risen 10.25 cm in the last 100 years.
The main cause of global warming is human pollution. Through burning coal, oil and gas, people have been increasing the greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, such as CO2. This adds to the power of the greenhouse effect, making the planet even warmer.
Many scientists believe that, if the warming is not stopped, there will be huge climate changes. The sea level could rise by one meter this century.
Should this come true, the sea will swallow up millions of homes and the world will be flooded with "climate refugees" looking for somewhere to live.
1. We can infer from the second paragraph that .
| A．Tuvalu is in danger of being swallowed up by the sea |
| B．all Tuvalu's islands are about five metres above the sea level |
| C．drinking water in Tuvalu has been destroyed |
| D．Tuvalu is often flooded by storms and waves |
| A．they are the first places sinking into the sea |
| B．they are both sinking into the mud where they stand |
| C．they will disappear in the future |
| D．their trouble is caused by global warming |
| A．People who are forced away from their homeland by climate. |
| B．Climate changes. |
| C．Rare animals. |
| D．Climate effect. |
| A．Tuvalu's nine little islands are less than five meters above the sea level. |
| B．The average global temperature has risen by 13 centigrade degrees over the past 100 years. |
| C．The warmer temperature causes the sea level to rise. |
| D．There will be huge climate changes unless the warming is stopped. |
【推荐3】For the growing number of Chinese heading west to work and study, there's plenty they find surprising. Upon arrival in the West, many Chinese find they have to firstly put on the brakes. Li Yifeng, raised in northern China and now based in England, agrees.“The only thing Chinese people would be shocked by in Britain is how long it takes to do things，” he says. “For instance in China if you want to open a bank account, you don't wait, you just do it at the counter.” Outofhours and weekend work is standard in China, but in Britain, the weekend is for family and friends.
Jack Chen, who left his homeland 12 years ago and is now a lawyer in Belgium says office politics are simpler in Europe, partly because the hierarchy (等级制度) is less rigid than in China, where the boss really is the boss and social class in the office is very obvious and important. As a result, staff in a Chinese company think very carefully about how to present their views and ideas. Employees in the West can share their opinions more freely. In China you should have the wisdom to say something in an appropriate way. But in Europe you can just say what you want.
The newest Chinese arrivals have a very different view to previous generations, according to Sharon Jin, who moved to the US 20 years ago and is now an American citizen. “Almost 100% of people of my generation who came to the States want to get a green card，” she says. “But today younger Chinese plan to work for 10 years here and then return to China to buy a house or look after their parents.” While a record number of 523,700 students left China to study elsewhere in 2015, roughly 70%～80% of students abroad have been returning in recent years because of the attractive job market at home, according to the Chinese Ministry of Education (CME)．
1. What do many Chinese find surprising while in Britain?| A．That they drive faster than the drivers in Britain. |
| B．That they can open a bank account at any time. |
| C．That working extra hours in Britain is very common. |
| D．That working pace in Britain is less fast than at home. |
| A．Jack Chen has been a lawyer in Belgium for 12 years |
| B．employees in the West show less respect for their boss. |
| C．Chinese employees are cautious when presenting ideas |
| D．people in Europe express themselves in a modest way |
| A．it's hard for them to get a green card |
| B．it's easy for them to buy a house at home |
| C．they will have to look after their parents |
| D．there are more job opportunities in China |
| A．By interviewing students abroad. |
| B．By comparing the differences. |
| C．By discussing some facts. |
| D．By listing some figures. |
【推荐1】An 89-year-old man from the American state of Rhode Island has reached a goal he spent 20 years working toward and nearly a lifetime thinking about. He earned his Ph, D. and became a physicist.
Manfred Steiner successfully passed his paper recently at Brown University in Providence. Steiner values this degree because it is what he always wanted, and because he overcame health problems that could have affected his studies to get it.
As a young person in Vienna, Austria, Steiner wanted to become a physicist after reading about Albert Einstein. But after World War I, his mother and uncle told him that studying medicine would be a better choice. He earned his medical degree in 1955 and moved to the United States soon after. In America, he had a wonderful career studying blood. Then he became a full professor and led the hematology (血液学) department at Brown’s medical school from 1985 to 1994. Steiner helped set up, a research program in hematology at the University of North Carolina. He directed that program until he retired from medicine in 2000 and returned to Rhode Island.
Steiner found medical research pleasing, but it was not quite the same as his interest in physics. At age 70, he started taking undergraduate classes. He was planning to just take a few classes that interested him. But by 2007, he had managed to join the doctoral program.
Physics professor Brad Marston was surprised when Steiner entered his class. But the professor soon realized how serious Steiner was about the subject and how hard he worked. “He has written many papers in medical science, more papers than I’ve written in physics. He already had a scientific way of thinking that younger students have to develop,” Marston said. Steiner now hopes to help the professors he befriended during his studies with their research.
1. What happened to Steiner on his way to get a Ph, D. in physics?| A．He left the United States. |
| B．He began to dislike medicine. |
| C．His physical condition was bad. |
| D．He was always supported by his mother. |
| A．His interesting classes. |
| B．His career in medicine. |
| C．His effort to become a physicist. |
| D．His childhood experiences in Austria. |
| A．Opposed. | B．Positive. | C．Uncaring. | D．Impatient. |
| A．Odd. | B．Ashamed. | C．Athletic. | D．Hardworking. |
【推荐2】In an age when most Chinese people thought that a lunar eclipse (月食) was a sign of angry gods, Wang Zhenyi (1768-1797), an astronomer and mathematician who worked tirelessly to publish her discoveries about space, said, “Actually, it’s definitely because of the Moon.”
Wang was born at a time when feudal (封建的) customs in China prevented girls from getting a formal education. However, she was fortunate that her family encouraged her in learning. Her grandfather, a former district governor, shared his knowledge of astronomy with her, while her father, a medicinal scholar, taught her basic math. Despite being denied formal education, Wang was determined to learn and became self-taught, studying a vast collection of books on various subjects.
One of Wang’s most famous demonstrations involved creating a model to explain a lunar eclipse. After consulting decades of astronomical records, she used a lamp, a mirror and a round table to respectively symbolize the Sun, the Moon and the Earth. By moving the objects around, she was able to show that a lunar eclipse happened when the Moon passed directly behind the Earth and moved into its shadow. Her article The Explanation of a Lunar Eclipse is still considered highly accurate for its time.
During the Qing dynasty, the Western calendar was introduced to China. Wang argued for its adoption because it was based on the movement of the Sun. Many Chinese scholars rejected the idea for it had come from the West, to which Wang simply responded, “What counts is the usefulness, no matter whether it is Chinese or Western.”
To make math and science accessible to common people, she spent years publishing articles hoping to make these ancient and poorly understood concepts easier to digest. She explained the rotation (旋转) of the planets, and even the Pythagorean theorem (勾股定理) for beginners.
Unfortunately, most of Wang Zhenyi’s works have not passed the test of time, but her contributions continue to be recognized in modern times. In 1994, the International Astronomical Union named a crater (环形山) on Venus after her. Wang’s legacy continues to inspire and encourage future generations to pursue knowledge and innovation.”
1. Why was it difficult for Wang to receive a formal education?| A．Her family emphasizes her self-taught education. |
| B．Her family encourage her to follow feudal customs. |
| C．She came from a upper class family with a good schooling. |
| D．She lived in a time when girls were not allowed to attend school. |
| A．She was dependent and curious. | B．She was intelligent and open-minded. |
| C．She was determined and narrow-minded. | D．She was hard-working and emotional. |
| A．introducing the Western calendar to China. |
| B．arguing for the adoption of the Western calendar. |
| C．translating complex theories into simple concepts. |
| D．explaining a lunar eclipse using simple everyday objects. |
| A．Her books are widely read today. |
| B．A lunar crater was named Wang Zhenyi. |
| C．A crater on Venus was named after her. |
| D．She was awarded a Prize for determination after death. |
【推荐3】In February, Dr. Robert Lefkowitz published a memoir (回忆录) called A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Stockholm: The Adrenaline-Fueled Adventures of an Accidental Scientist. As a physician and biochemist, Lefkowitz is a professor of biochemistry and chemistry at the Duke University Medical Center in Durham, North Carolina.
In a recent conversation via video, Lefkowitz said that he wanted his memoir to be “funny, interesting, and easy to understand”. In the book, Lefkowitz humorously describes his Journey from a cardiologist (or a heart doctor) to a biochemist.
Lefkowitz’s dream of becoming a doctor began when he was eight years old and growing up in the Bronx of New York City. After his father died of a heart attack, Lefkowitz made up his mind to be a cardiologist. He earned his medical degree at Columbia University.
Lefkowitz is no stranger to conducting experiments and making discoveries. He was awarded the 2012 Nobel Prize for Chemistry with Brian Kobilka. The two scientists were honored for their discoveries that could help unlock the secrets of many diseases.
When asked what played the most important role in his success, Lefkowitz mentioned about himself and he described himself as “reasonably intelligent and creative, hardworking, and not easily disturbed”. He added that being funny could also be very good for you and the people around you.
Before winning the Nobel Prize, Lefkowitz did countless experiments, and only 1 out of 50 turned out OK. “With difficult decisions I’ve had to make, I tend to make them with my heart rather than my head.” Lefkowitz said. “However, I don’t mean that deciding with your heart is always right.”
At age 78, the scientist has no plans for slowing down. “My body and mind are still working,” he said. “I want to continue running my lab at Duke University and writing and publishing research papers.”
1. What directly motivated Lefkowitz to be a doctor?| A．His conversation with a cardiologist. |
| B．His father’s death from a heart attack. |
| C．His enthusiasm for a doctor’s memoir. |
| D．His poor physical health in childhood. |
| A．has an interest in. | B．falls in love with. |
| C．shows a gift for. | D．is acquainted with. |
| A．His good teamwork. | B．His family’s support. |
| C．His positive qualities. | D．His interest in research. |
| A．Practice makes perfect. | B．Bad luck brings good luck. |
| C．Experience is the best teacher. | D．You are never too old to work. |
