For this year’s Fourth of July celebration, some US cities have replaced traditional fireworks with impressive drone (无人机) light shows. Maybe most importantly, the drones being employed by more and more cities for Fourdr of July celebrations don’t leave behind a blanket of smoke at a time when America’s air quality is already at its worst in decades.
“Around the world, we’ve seen consistently that, during times when firework usage is really high, we have really bad air quality.” said Pallavi Pant, the head of global health at the Health Effects Institute. And while that pollution typically disappears quickly— usually around noon on July 5th— the concentration can be high enough to worsen the condition for those with breathing problems. Cities making the switch to high-tech shows say there’re plenty of other reasons why people may want to avoid traditional fireworks.
“Fireworks can be harmful to folks who suffer from PTSD (创伤后应激障碍) or families who have dogs. Salt Lake City has more households with dogs than we do with kids,” said Lynze Twede, a manager for Salt Lake City Public Lands. “Being away from fireworks is considered by many to be the tendency of the future. Drones are reusable, while with fireworks, you have smoke, falling debris (碎片), and noise which especially stresses dogs and people with PTSD out.”
About 12, 264 fires were started by firework displays in 2021, according to the National Fire Protection Association. Those added up to around $59 million in direct property damage. But data also shows that much of the wildfire risk comes not from grand public displays, but from the small-scale shows on sidewalks.
It may be too early to tell how this tendency may get close to smaller shows and consumers, but the price is a limiting factor.
1. What is the most important reason for US cities’ giving up traditional firework shows?A.To reduce fire risks. | B.To prevent noise pollution. |
C.To protect the environment. | D.To support new technology. |
A.Their thick smoke. | B.Their falling debris. |
C.Their frightening noise. | D.Their shining bright light. |
A.Public fireworks win more people’s favor. | B.Street fireworks present more fire threats. |
C.Usage of fireworks is on the decrease | D.Prevention of fireworks is costly. |
A.Economic pressure. | B.Appreciation value. |
C.Drones’ safety. | D.Related policy. |
A.What response Americans have to drone light shows |
B.Why some US cities replace fireworks with drones. |
C.How Americans celebrate special events. |
D.How drone shows develop in America. |
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【推荐1】On December 16, 2023, the first section of Maya Train officially opened, which runs between Campeche and Cancún, carrying up to 231 passengers across 290 miles and stopping at 14 train stations.
Built as an ambitious effort to promote tourism and boost Mexico’s economy, the rail system connects the major cities and tourist regions of the Yucatán Peninsula-from Cancún’s beaches to Tulum’s archaeological (考古的) wonders. Once the project is completed, the entire rail system will link tourist destinations across five states. However, environmentalists and archaeologists argue that the train route will cause great damage to the environment and ancient Mayan sites.
The Maya Train passes through six UNESCO World Heritage sites, and thousands of archaeological sites. One particular area of concern is the Calakmul biosphere reserve, which is home to many endangered species, such as jaguars and over 500 other animal species. The train lines, more than 60 meters wide, could act as artificial barriers that may limit the movement of these animals within the reserve, making it difficult for them to move around and access food and water sources.
Opponents also express safety concerns. Certain sections of the rail system will be built right on top of the aquifer’s (地下水层的) most fragile points of contact with the surface. “It’s like wanting to build over eggshells, says Guillermo Christy, a water treatment consultant.” Putting trains weighing thousands of tons on top could cause the underground caves to crash down. To construct the train infrastructure (基础设施) also requires driving long piles deep into the ground, which poses a big threat to this fragile ecosystem and leads to water shortages.
In the ongoing debate of Maya Train, it is crucial to consider the delicate balance between economic development and environmental preservation. While Maya Train may provide economic benefits, we must not overlook the potential environmental and cultural losses, as well as the safety risks it may bring. Achieving harmony between progress and conservation may be a significant challenge for the project, but we must take into account the long-term consequences of our actions.
1. What do we know about the Maya Train project?A.It consumes lots of labor in Mexico. |
B.It was completed on December 16, 2023. |
C.It has concerned some professionals. |
D.It blocks the development of local tourism. |
A.They disturb their sleeping patterns. | B.They restrict their activities. |
C.They pollute their water sources. | D.They engage their enemies to the area. |
A.To show the difficulty of constructing the rail lines. |
B.To prove the urgency of protecting the fragile ecosystem. |
C.To explain the reasons for water shortages along the railway. |
D.To stress the potential harm of Maya Train to the aquifer system. |
A.Preserving cultural sites requires strong financial support. |
B.It is time to speed up the construction process of Maya Train. |
C.Economic development should not come at the expense of the environment. |
D.We should prize the economic benefits of the project in the long run. |
【推荐2】The Tokyo Summer Olympics is going green. The 5,000 medals Japan has made are more special than most.
One novel focus of the Tokyo Olympics is to be “sustainable”— to avoid using too many natural resources, so that the games are easy on the environment. As part of this goal, the organizers decided to make all of the Olympic medals out of metal recycled from old electronics.
Almost all electronics are made with small amounts of “precious metals”, like gold and silver. But collecting enough of these metals to make 5,000 medals was a huge challenge. That’s because the amount of metal in each device is tiny. It would take about 20,000 cell phones to get just 1 kilogram of gold.
Beginning in April 2017, the organizers placed collection boxes around the country, and asked people to turn in their old electronic devices. Soon people began to respond to the initiative, turning in smartphones, digital cameras, hand-held games, and laptops. At first, collection went slowly, but soon more and more areas began to take part. By the end, 1,621 local governments had helped out with the collection process.
Then came the job of breaking those devices down into smaller pieces. After being taken apart and sorted, the small electronics were smelted (熔炼) to get all the gold, silver, and bronze elements. This is a tricky job, which calls for careful attention and good skill. It’s also dangerous, because some of the metals and other things aren’t safe for people to touch or breathe.
By the end of March, 2019, the organizers had hit their targets of getting enough metal for the medals. They had collected around 32 kilograms of gold, 4,100 kilograms of silver and 2,200 kilograms of bronze. And now all the 5,000 medals are available for the would-be winners.
1. Compared with other Olympic games, which word best describes the Tokyo Olympics medals?A.valuable. | B.quality. | C.unique. | D.green. |
A.The difficulty of making the medals. |
B.The process of collecting old electronics. |
C.The purpose to recycle used smartphones. |
D.The classification of the collected devices. |
A.creative | B.well-paid |
C.demanding | D.unique |
A.To advocate (提倡) sustainable use of resources. |
B.To promote the spirit of Olympic Games. |
C.To introduce a new technique to make medals. |
D.To call people’s attention to environmental damage. |
【推荐3】Wasting things is a nightmare (噩梦) for the environment, especially food waste, which does double harm to the environment. A plenty of resources go into the food and the food system also produces lots of greenhouse gases and pollution.
In our homes, restaurants, and food shops, 17 percent of all our food is thrown away—that’s about a sixth of all of the food we have. If you add on the food lost in production, about a third of all food produced never reaches a mouth. At the same time, nearly 700 million people were affected by hunger in 2019, while 3 billion still struggle to afford healthy food. It is mostly households that are to blame: 11 percent of the food ends up in the trash of our homes, compared to a mere 5 and 2 percent from stores and restaurants.
The reasons why food goes to waste are probably familiar to you: dinner party leftovers that never get eaten, food going bad before you cook it, or simply confusion over sell-by and use-by dates that leads to totally fine food ending up in the garbage.
The UN aims to cut food waste in half at the consumer and sale levels by late 2022. Luckily, there’s actually a lot we can do as individuals and governments can make policies to help people and the environment a lot. For individuals, something important is being more thoughtful and prepared when going to the grocery store. Make a list of meals you want to cook, and then only buy fresh produce that you will 100 percent be eating in the next few days. In social aspect, improving education on how to preserve food and understand tricky labels (标签), encouraging food recycling and pushing companies to sell smaller quantities of healthy, fresh food for one or two people could all play a helpful role in bringing down the massive pile of eatable waste.
1. Which of the following contributes most to food waste?A.Food shops. | B.Restaurants. | C.Households. | D.Food production. |
A.People eat less than before. | B.The food price is low. |
C.Food spoils easily during the summer. | D.People are confused about the shelf life of food. |
A.Grocery stores should supply limited food. |
B.People should raise their awareness of food conservation. |
C.Everyone should consume as little food as possible. |
D.Governments should distribute food resources fairly. |
A.Health. | B.Fashion. | C.Environment. | D.Science. |
【推荐1】Emma Li spent almost three years on China's '996 schedule': working from nine in the morning to nine in the evening, six days a week. “I was deprived of all my personal life,” says she. Usually, she had a small window to eat, shower and go to bed-but she sacrificed sleep to regain some personal time. Often, Li would stay up surfing the internet, reading the news and watching online videos until well after midnight.
Li was doing what the Chinese have called 'bàofüxingáoyè' — or 'revenge bedtime procrastination' (RBP). The phrase spread rapidly on Twitter in June after a post by journalist Daphne K Lee. She described the phenomenon as when “people who don't have much control over their daytime life refuse to sleep early in order to regain some sense of freedom during late-night hours”.
Psychology may explain the reason why people would choose to regain this leisure time even at the expense of sleep. A growing body of evidence points to the importance of time away from work pressure. “One of the most important parts of recovery from work is sleep. However, sleep is affected by how well we separate ourselves from stress,” says Sheffield University's Kelly. It's important, she explains, to have a rest when we can be mentally distanced from work, which would explain why people are willing to sacrifice sleep for post-work leisure.
In fact, experts have long warned that insufficient sleep is an ignored global public-health epidemic (流行病). A 2019 survey showed that 62% of adults worldwide feel they don't get enough sleep. People mentioned various reasons for this lack, including stress and their sleeping environment, but 37% blamed their heavy work or school schedule. Long hours at the office aside, another part of the problem is that modern working patterns mean people find it harder to draw boundaries between work and home.
1. Why does the author mention the example of Emma Li in the first paragraph?A.To make comparisons. |
B.To introduce the topic. |
C.To support her argument. |
D.To provide examples. |
A.The intention of refreshing oneself. |
B.The desire to get rid of work stress. |
C.The unwillingness to sleep early. |
D.The lack of sleeping environment. |
A.The Psychology behind the “RBP” |
B.The Harmful Effects of the “RBP” |
C.The Insufficient Sleep of Adults |
D.The Popularity of “996 Schedule” |
【推荐2】Parents should stop blaming themselves because there’s not a lot they can do about it. I mean the teenager problem, the one I want to talk about as a specialist. Whatever you do or however you choose to deal with it, at certain times a wonderful, reasonable and helpful child will turn into a terrible animal.
I’ve seen friends deal with it in all kinds of different ways. One strict mother insisted that her son, right from a child, should stand up whenever anyone entered the room, open doors and shake hands like a gentleman. I saw him last week when I dropped in on them. Sprawling himself (懒散地躺) on the sofa in full length, he made no attempt to turn off the loud TV he was watching as I walked in, and his greeting was no more than a quick glance at me. His mother was ashamed. “I don't know what to do with him these days,” she said. “He’s forgotten all the manners we taught him.”
He hasn’t forgotten them. He’s just decided that he’s not going to use them. She admitted that she would like to come up behind him and throw him down from the sofa onto the floor.
Another good friend of mine let her two daughters climb all over the furniture, reach across the table, stare at me and say, “I don’t like your dress; it’s ugly.” One of the daughters has recently been driven out of school. The other has left home.
“Where did we go wrong?” her parents are now very sad. Probably nowhere much. At least, no more than the rest of that unfortunate race, parents.
1. Who is probably the author of the text?A.A doctor for mental health problems. |
B.A headmaster of a middle school. |
C.A parent without teenage children. |
D.A specialist in teenager studies. |
A.The advice that parents want their children to follow |
B.The change from good to bad that’s seen in a child |
C.The opinion that a child has of his parents |
D.The way that parents often blame themselves |
A.They pay no attention to the two daughters. |
B.They feel helpless to do much about the two daughters. |
C.They have come to hate the two daughters gradually. |
D.They are too busy to look after the two daughters. |
A.Parents have no choice but to try to accept it. |
B.Parents are at fault for the change in their children. |
C.Parents should work more closely with school teachers. |
D.Parents should pay still more attention to the change. |
【推荐3】Despite gains in recent years,women still fall behind men in some areas of math achievement,and the question of why has caused heated argument. Now,a study of first and second graders suggests what may be part of the answer:Female primary school teachers who are concerned about their own skills could be passing that along to the little girls they teach.
Young students tend to model themselves after adults of the same sex,explained Beilock,an associate professor in psychology at the University of Chicago. Little girls may learn to fear math from the women who are their earliest teachers. Beilock and her colleagues studied 52 boys and 65 girls in classes taught by 17 different teachers. Ninety percent of the US primary school teachers are women,as was all of those in this study.
Students’ math ability was not related to teachers’ math anxiety at the start of the school year,but at the end of the year,the more anxious teachers were about their own skills,the more likely their female students—but not the boys—were to agree to that “boys are good at math and girls are good at reading”.In addition,the girls who answered that way scored lower on math tests than either the classes’ boys or the girls who had not developed such a belief,the researchers found.
After seeing the results,the researchers recommended that the math requirements for obtaining a primary education teaching degree should be rethought. “If the next generation of teachers,especially primary school teachers,is going to teach their students more effectively,more care needs to be taken to develop both strong math skills and positive math attitudes in these educators,” the researchers wrote.
“Girls who grow up believing females lack math skills wind up avoiding harder math classes. It keeps girls and women out of a lot of careers,particularly in science technology,” Beilock said.
1. We can learn from the first three paragraphs that ______.A.teachers in US primary schools are mostly females |
B.the students involved in the study are starters at primary school |
C.young students usually follow example of their female teachers |
D.it’s true that boys do well in math while girls do well in reading |
A.Beilock’s study will bring about a primary education revolution. |
B.Girls’ lack of confidence in math skills affects their future jobs. |
C.The performance of the students changed little during the process of the study. |
D.The researchers argued that current primary school education needed improving. |
A.Using different approaches to excite students’ interest in math. |
B.Reducing the number of situations that make teachers anxious. |
C.Creating more chances for boys and girls to work together in class. |
D.Improving teachers’ math skills and changing their math attitudes. |
A.Girls may learn math anxiety from female teachers. |
B.Boys are free from the math anxiety of female teachers. |
C.Primary school teachers have a far-reaching influence on students. |
D.Students should learn how to hold positive attitudes towards math. |
【推荐1】Scientists have successfully recovered RNA, a form of genetic material, from the remains of the Tasmanian tiger, an extinct Australian animal. The discovery could help scientists learn more about these creatures before they disappeared from Earth.
The researchers extracted the recovered RNA from the skin and muscle of a Tasmanian tiger specimen (标本) stored in a Swedish museum since 1891. This is the first time RNA has been successfully recovered from an extinct animal. The Tasmanian tiger was once a top predator, known for hunting kangaroos and other animals. The last known Tasmanian tiger is believed to have died in a Tasmanian zoo in 1936. Emilio Mármol Sánchez, from the Centre for Palaeogenetics, led the study describing these research results. Sánchez believes that the recovered RNA material provides a glimpse into the true biology of the Tasmanian tiger, offering insights into the cells and tissues of these extinct creatures.
While Scientists have in recent years taken RNA from different ancient animals and plants, how long RNA could survive at room temperature has been a subject of debate among researchers. The well-preserved condition of the Tasmanian tiger remains, which were in a state of semi-mummification (半木乃伊化), suggests that RNA can survive for longer periods under certain conditions.
The Tasmanian tiger looked similar to a wolf, except for the tiger-like lines appearing on its back. When people arrived in Australia about 50,000 years ago, large animal population losses followed. The arrival of European colonizers in the 18th century destroyed the remaining populations around the island of Tasmania.
Private “de-extinction” programs have been launched with the aim of bringing back some extinct animals. These include the Tasmanian tiger, flightless dodo bird and wooly mammoth.
However, many researchers have warned about the difficulties of using genetic processes to actually recreate an extinct species. While Sánchez said he too has concerns about such processes, he noted that he does “advocate for more research on the biology of these extinct animals.”
1. What can be gained about Tasmanian tigers from the recovered RNA material?A.The genetic makeup. | B.The social behavior. |
C.The preferred habitats. | D.The migration patterns. |
A.Its close relationship to DNA. |
B.Its recovery from an extinct animal. |
C.Its survival time at room temperature. |
D.Its life process under certain conditions. |
A.He considers it impossible to recreate extinct species. |
B.He opposes them and sees difficulties in the research. |
C.He thinks they are promising but need more research. |
D.He takes genetic preservation measures more seriously. |
A.The Challenges of Biological Research of Extinct Animals |
B.The Potential Benefits from Tasmanian Tiger Remains |
C.The Biological Secrets of the Extinct Tasmanian Tiger |
D.The Recovery of RNA from Tasmanian Tiger Remains |
【推荐2】Glass Health is a San Francisco-based company co-founded by Dereck Paul and Graham Ramsey. It began by offering an electronic system for keeping medical notes and is now among several companies hoping to use artificial intelligence chatbots (聊天机器人) to make a difference in medicine. These firms believe that their programs could significantly reduce the paperwork pressure physicians face daily, and improve the patient-doctor relationship. “We need these folks not in burnt-out states, trying to complete documentation,” Paul says.
Some independent researchers have expressed their fears of the rush to include the latest AI technology in medicine. “I think it’s very exciting, but anything that involves decision-making about a patient’s health should be treated with extreme care,” says Pearse Keane, a professor of artificial medical intelligence at University College London in the United Kingdom.
Paul says he is well aware of the problems and that doctors who use his company’s AI system need to check it. “You have to supervise (监督) it in the way you supervise medical students, which means that you can’t be lazy about it,” he says.
His company is now working to reduce the risk of errors. He believes the underlying technology can be turned into a powerful engine for medicine. Paul and his coworkers have created. a program called “Glass AI” based on ChatGPT. A doctor tells the Glass AI chatbot about a patient, and it can suggest a list of possible diagnoses (诊断) and a treatment plan. Rather than working from the raw ChatGPT information base, the Glass AI system uses a virtual medical textbook written by human doctors as its main source of facts-something Paul says makes the system safer and more reliable.
Last December, his company had around 500 users. But after they introduced their chatbot, the numbers jumped. “We finished January with 2, 000 monthly active users, and in February we had 4800,” Paul says. Thousands more signed up in March, as overworked doctors lined up to give AI a try.
1. What could Glass Health’s present program do?A.Boost patients’ mental health. |
B.Update hospitals’ medical records. |
C.Help reduce errors in doctors’ treatment. |
D.Relieve doctors pressure of handling paperwork. |
A.Objective. | B.Supportive. | C.Worried. | D.Opposed. |
A.By operating the system based on doctors’ advice. |
B.By employing medical students to use the system. |
C.By training chatbots to select correct raw ChatGPT information. |
D.By drawing on human wisdom as the basis for medical practices. |
A.Glass Health has vast market potential. |
B.Doctors will be free from paperwork soon. |
C.Glass Health has an unstable number of users. |
D.Doctors need a balance between life and work. |
【推荐3】Art lovers around the world are remembering Leonardo da Vinci who died in France 500 years ago, on May 2, 1519.
A British art expert announced on Thursday that Britain’s royal family has a portrait (肖像) of the famous artist, often known simply as Leonardo. Martin Clayton, a royal art adviser, said the portrait’s owner is Queen Elizabeth II. He added that the image was made by one of Leonardo’s assistants shortly before his death. Clayton said the “straight nose” and other details look very much like the only other known portrait of Leonardo done in his lifetime. That picture was the work of Italian painter Francesco Melzi. It will be on display at the Queen’s Gallery with about 200 drawings from her collection of Leonardo’s works.
On Thursday, the presidents of Italy and France gathered in the French town of Amboise to mark the anniversary of the artist’s death. He spent the final years of his life in the town. Today art lovers around the world are celebrating Leonardo’s work. He is considered a true Renaissance man, working not only as an artist, but as a scientist and inventor. “There really hasn’t been anybody then or since who has combined this extraordinary genius for these totally different areas,” said Gregory Rubinstein. He is the worldwide head of Old Master drawings at Sotheby’s auction house. “I think that’s what’s at the heart of our fascination.”
Sotheby’s announced Thursday that an important Leonardo drawing is going on display in its New York offices next month. The drawing, called “Leda and the Swan”, was painted in 1506. It is based on a story from Greek mythology (神话). It has not been shown in public since 2003. Leonardo appears to have made the painting while he was also working on “Mona Lisa”, his most well-known painting. The Mona Lisa hangs in the Louvre Museum in Paris. Rubenstein said the “very complete and very beautiful” drawing appears to have been preparatory work for a painting that was never made or was lost. “It’s a very mysterious one because there is no surviving record. and no painting survives,” he said.
1. How will the British remember Leonardo this year?A.By exhibiting a portrait of Leonardo. | B.By holding a party at the royal family. |
C.By showing Melzi’s work of Leonardo. | D.By displaying Queen’s collection of works. |
A.To visit the Queen’s Gallery. | B.To remember Leonardo da Vinci. |
C.To attend the funeral of Leonardo. | D.To celebrate the anniversary of the Renaissance. |
A.He is a true lover of art. | B.He is a genius in everything. |
C.He is a person with many gifts. | D.He is a man living in the Renaissance. |
A.It is about a mysterious Italian story. | B.It is a rarely seen Leonardo drawing. |
C.It was painted by Leonardo’s assistant. | D.It is a preparatory work for “Mona Lisa”. |