A team from Newcastle University and Northumbria Uaiversity in the UK has found that the thin, root -like threads produced by many fungi (真菌) can potentially be used as a biodegradable, wearable material that’s also able to repair itself.
In their tests, the researchers focused on the Ganoderma lucidum fungus, producing a skin from branching thin threads, which together weave into a structure called a mycelium (菌丝体). With a little more work, the fragile skins could serve as a substitute for leather, satisfying environmental and fashion tastes.
“The results suggest that mycelium materials can survive in dry and unfavourable environments, and self-repairing is possible with minimal intervention after a two -day recovery period, “write the researchers in their published paper. However, the process used to produce these materials tends to kill off the fungal spores (孢子) hat help the organism regenerate itself.
A new approach involving a mix of mycelia, proteins, and other nutrients in a liquid encouraged the growth of a skin. The results are currently too thin and delicate to be tuned into a jacket. However, the researchers are confident that it’s possible that future innovations could turn it into a tougher skin, possibly by combining layers or plasticizing in glycerol. Crucially, the production process didn’t kill off the fungal spores. Tests on the material showed that it was indeed able to replace holes made in it. The material was as strong as before, though it was still possible to see where the holes had been.
“Due to their functional properties, the ability of this regenerative mycelium material to heal micro and macro defects opens interesting future prospects for unique product applications in leather-goods replacements such as furniture, automotive seals, and fashion wear,” write there searchers.
There’s a long way to go here before you’ll be wearing clothes made out of fungus. The growing and healing processes take several days to happen at the moment for example, something which could be sped up over time.
1. What did the team find in their tests?| A．An alternative to fragile skin. |
| B．Thin threads shaped like roots. |
| C．A mycelium with a complicated structure. |
| D．Mycelium materials with self-healing function. |
| A．The recovery period of fungal spores. |
| B．Crises of mycelium materials’ survival. |
| C．Imperfection in producing mycelium materials. |
| D．The method of intervening organisms’ regeneration. |
| A．It speeds up the creation of mycelia. |
| B．It keeps fungal spores from destruction. |
| C．It makes the holes in materials invisible. |
| D．It combines the liquid with layers of skin. |
| A．A flash in the pan. |
| B．Promising but challenging. |
| C．Inspiring but unachievable. |
| D．A growth and decline cycle. |
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【推荐1】A robot created at Standford University is diving down to shipwrecks (沉船) in a way that humans can’t do. Known as OceanOneK, the robot allows its operators to feel like they’re underwater explorers, too.
OceanOneK resembles (像) a human diver from the front, with arms, hands and eyes that capture the underwater world in full color. The back of the robot has computers and eight multidirectional thrusters (推进器) that help it carefully explore the sites of fragile shipwrecks. When an operator at the ocean’s surface uses controls to direct OceanOneK, the robot’s touch-based feedback system causes the person to feel the water’s resistance.
The idea for OceanOneK came from a desire to study coral reefs in the Red Sea at depths beyond the normal range for divers. While OccanOneK was designed to reach maximum depths of 656 feet, researchers had a new goal:1 kilometer, hence the new name for OceanOneK. The researchers changed the robot’s body by using special foam to increase buoyancy (浮力) and fight the pressures of 1, 000 meters more than 100 times what humans experience at sea level. OceanOneK also got two new types of hands and increased arm and head motion.
During OceanOneK’s deep dive in February, team members discovered the robot couldn’t rise when they stopped for a thruster check. Flotations on the communications and power line had collapsed, causing the line to pile on the top of the robot.
OceanOneK’s descent was a success. It dropped off a memorial marker on the seabed that reads, “A robot’s first touch of the deep seafloor — A vast new world for humans to explore.” Khatib, a professor, called the experience an “incredible journey.” “This is the first time that a robot has been capable of going to such a depth, interacting with the environment, and permitting the human operator to feel that environment,” he said.
1. What can we learn about OceanOneK?| A．Its eyes are colorful. |
| B．It functions automatically. |
| C．It looks like its operator from the front. |
| D．It is remotely controlled to explore underwater. |
| A．By listing data. | B．By raising questions. |
| C．By reasoning and analyzing. | D．By presenting an argument. |
| A．Successful operation. | B．Deep diving. |
| C．Pressure resistance. | D．Flexible exploration. |
| A．A Creative Explorer | B．The Ambitious Exploration |
| C．A Self-driven Seeker — A Robot | D．A Deep-Sea Explorer — OceanOneK |
【推荐2】Richard Turere walks through his family’s farm just outside Nairobi National Park in Kenya. Goats, cows, and sheep eat grass peacefully on the farm while in the park nearby, lions wander leisurcly, living in peace with the livestock (家畜). An extraordinary picture! How do livestock manage to live safely near these huge lions? It’ s all due to this young man’s brilliant invention-Lion Lights.
Livestock is his family’ s entire livelihood-which is why whenever lions attacked their goats, sheep, or cattle, it was disastrous. There seemed to be no good solution to the problem until Richard began working on it. After a lion killed his family’s only bull, Richard started experimenting with ways to scare off the lions. His first two attempts-fire and then a scarecrow-were unsuccessful. But one night when he was walking around with a flashlight, he noticed that lions stayed away. That’s when he realized: these big cats were afraid of moving lights!
Then Richard-who’d taken apart and studied machines since he was very small — began experimenting. Despite his lack of any formal training in electrical engincering, he fitted a system of flashing LED lights on poles around the farm. The flashing lights, which he made from vehicle indicator flashers, car batteries, and a solar panel, tricked the lions into thinking the grounds were guarded, keeping the lions away.
The word got out about the brilliant “lion-lights boy". Soon Richard was fixing the Lion Lights system for neighbors. Later, his invention won him a scholarship to Kenya’s well-known Brookhouse International School. And when Richard was 13, he was invited to California to speak about his invention at a TED conference. These days, Richard still lives on his family’s farm, and fixes the Lion Lights system for people all over Kenya, which functions efficiently. He dreams of becoming an airplane engineer and pilot, but he also works to arouse people’s awareness about the need to support young Kenyan inventors like himself.
1. What does “an extraordinary picture” refer to?| A．Eye-catching scenery. |
| B．Well-protected ecosystem. |
| C．Lions losing their nature. |
| D．Animals existing in harmony. |
| A．Richard’ s idea came from his failure |
| B．Flashing lights could scare lions away |
| C．Richard’s academic knowledge mattered |
| D．Flashing lights were difficult to maintain |
| A．Richard’s dream has come true. |
| B．Richard’s invention makes a difference. |
| C．Richard’s devotion to helping his neighbors. |
| D．Richard’s awareness of bettering his community. |
【推荐3】In the UK, electric and other low-emission（低排放）cars, vans, and buses could be given special green plates to encourage more people to buy such cars, and promote awareness for “clean” cars.
Strange as it may seem, there is some reason to believe that something as small as this could make a big difference. Already, similar ideas have been put into effect in Norway, Canada, Latvia, and China, and the results have been encouraging.
Elisabeth Costa, director of the Behavioural Insights Team, explains, “Simple changes based on behavioral science can have a big impact. Green plates would be more noticeable to road users, and this increased attraction can help normalise the idea of clean vehicles, highlighting（使突出）the changing social norms（规范）around vehicle ownership.”
Actually, hybrids and electric cars accounted for 5.5% of the cars sold in the UK in the first half of the year, compared to 4.2% for the same period in 2017.
However, colored plates can only go so far. At the end of the day, you need strong, concrete（具体的）measures if you want to support a market like electric cars. The UK already has generous allowances for electric cars, but a study for the RAC Foundation found that the lack of reliable, easy-to-use charging stations is the main roadblock to people purchasing more electric cars. This was repeated by separate research from AA, the UK’s largest motorist association, which found that although 1 in 2 young drivers want electric cars, 8 out of 10 drivers feel that the lack of adequate electrical chargers is the main reason not to buy an electric car.
Yet this all shows that more and more people are nearing a tipping point where they are willing to buy electric cars. And a small PR stunt（噱头）, the “coolness factor” of the colored plates could end up making a difference. Similarly, having red plates for the more polluting cars might also play a role.
A spokesman for the Environmental Transport Association said, “While green number plates will be positive PR for low-emission car makers and early adopters of the technology alike, to be truly effective any such measures will need to at the same time shame the drivers of the most polluting vehicles.”
1. Why does the UK give green license plates to cars?| A．To promote car sales. |
| B．To beautify the environment in the UK. |
| C．To separate “clean” cars from polluting cars. |
| D．To inspire people to buy low-emission vehicles. |
| A．The results of giving colored plates are discouraging. |
| B．The measures of giving colored plates will be at an end. |
| C．Giving colored plates has a limited impact on promoting “clean” cars. |
| D．Giving colored plates will be replaced by strong, concrete measures. |
| A．Allowances for electric cars are not attractive. |
| B．They aren’t fond of the green color. |
| C．Charging stations are not readily available. |
| D．Electric cars are unaffordable to them. |
| A．Banning people from buying polluting cars. |
| B．Continuing the use of green number plates. |
| C．Replacing green plates with red ones. |
| D．Shaming the drivers of polluting cars into buying “clean” cars. |
【推荐1】The power of music is central to writer-director Garth Jennings’ Sing 2, particularly through a new character voiced by music idol Bono. As the sequel (续集) to Jenning’s crowd-pleaser in 2016, the animated movie (动画片) features a new original song titled “Your Song Saved My Life.”
The movie is planned to hit theaters on Dec. 22. Bono plays Clay, a lion who has stopped singing. Jennings says he already had started writing Sing 2 when he first talked with Bono about the project, but Clay’s character wasn’t fully completed. But what was clear to Jennings was that Clay had to be a lion: “A legendary (传奇的) and the greatest creature. The goal was to find a way to touch him enough so that he would come back and reengage with the world he’d left behind.”
Jennings adds, “When I first talked with Bono about it, we just had a long and enthusiastic conversation about music and what it could do for a character like this.” According to Bono, when asked what would lead someone to stop singing, Bono’s answer was “grief”. In Clay’s case, he lost his wife, he lost his reason to sing, and no amount of success can compare with the loss.
Recalling the first time Bono played him “Your Song Saved My Life”, Jennings admits, “I was quite overcome because of the song itself. I could completely see the end of the movie.”
A music video for “Your Song Saved My Life”, in support of the non-profit program Education Through Music, was released so people could send their stories of how their music teachers encouraged them to sing. And in Ireland Bono backs a similar program called Music Generation.
1. What caused Clay to stop singing?| A．Sadness. | B．Failures. | C．Old age. | D．Unknown reasons. |
| A．the song had the same length as the movie did |
| B．the song explained to him the end of the movie |
| C．the song touched him as much as the movie did |
| D．the song gave him the inspiration to write the end |
| A．To advertise Bono. | B．To promote the movie. |
| C．To popularize the song. | D．To support Education Through Music. |
| A．The influence of the movie. | B．The importance of music to people. |
| C．The introduction to another program. | D．The process of creating the music video. |
【推荐2】As they have with so many other industries, apps are shaking up the weight loss business, including big-name companies like Nutrisystem and Weight Watchers(WW). And it's basically because more consumers feel the way Jessica Holloway- Haytcher does.
A couple of years ago, she tried diet shakes. She hated them. She also hired a personal trainer - but his schedule never matched hers. She spent $ 600 a month on programs that didn't last long. She says she couldn't keep up with the "astronomical" costs.
Now Holloway-Haytcher uses an app called Noom. She has lost over 30 pounds so far. by changing her habits. She now prepares healthy meals in the morning, so she's not starving at night; she focuses on conversation to slow her eating. The app also helps her track meals, exercise and keep in touch with an online coach. It is always with her, and works with her busy schedule as the owner of a staffing firm in Kennewick, Washington.
When it comes to weight loss. 80 percent of people try to do it on their own. Says John LaRosa, president of Marketdata. which tracks the $4 billion commercial U.S. weight loss industry. He says apps like MyFitnessPal, Fitbit and Fooducate appeal to those consumers. LaRosa says apps are also cheaper than most commercial programs and they appeal to the younger population that traditional chains have struggled to attract.
“The average age of a customer of Jenny Craig, or Nutrisystem or WW is about 48. and it's probably going up.” LaRosa says. “It's going to be a shrinking market if they just cater to the baby boomers.”
That explains why WW improved its digital tactic. “It used to be that we hesitated to even show the app in our commercials, and that has so shifted.” says Debra Benovitz, a senior vice president of WW.. “I think the future is being a really strong science-based technology partner in the health and wellness space. However, having physical stores is still our biggest difference from upstarts that are completely digital.”
1. What do we know about Jessica Holloway-Hayicher' s past weight loss experiences?| A．They made her very busy. | B．They were within her budget. |
| C．They were efforts made in vain. | D．They lasted altogether for a month. |
| A．It prepares her meals. | B．It records her eating speed. |
| C．It assists her with her office work. | D．It enables her to consult a coach at any time. |
| A．It offers offline service. | B．It is a newly founded company. |
| C．Its consumers are relatively young. | D．Its market share is shrinking fast. |
| A．Weight loss goes digital | B．Lose weight on your own |
| C．You are really what you cat | D．Let science see if you are overweight |
【推荐3】''I get so frustrated. I end up hitting the desk. '' ''I feel very unwell and I am really scared. '' These are how students feel about one of the basic but important subjects being learnt in school-mathematics. These also reflect a phenomenon where children as young as six may feel fear, anger and despair as a result of ''mathematics anxiety'', a condition which can cause physical symptoms and behavior problems in class, according to a study.
Researchers from the center for neuroscience in education at Cambridge University worked with 2,700 primary and secondary students in the UK and Italy—including detailed one-to-one interviews —to explore maths anxiety and its causes.
Researchers say maths anxiety should be treated as a ''real concern'' because of the damage it does to a child's learning. Pupils in both primary and secondary school can find themselves locked in a cycle of despair, suffering from anxiety which harms their maths performance, which in turn leads to increased anxiety.
The children interviewed provided vivid descriptions of their fears about maths. One primary school student described his reaction during a math lesson. ''Because my table's in the corner I kind of tried not to be in the lesson. ''
Researchers found there was a general sense that maths was hard compared with other subjects, which led to a loss of confidence. Yet the study points out that most children with high levels of maths anxiety are also high achievers in the subject.
It was also found that key triggers for anxiety included poor marks, test pressures, tease from fellow pupils and a confusing mix of teaching methods. National State tests taken in the final year of primary school were another cause of anxiety for some, while the transition to secondary school was challenging for others.
1. What can we learn about maths anxiety?| A．It is a typical condition of primary students. |
| B．It is the root of students' strange daily behaviors. |
| C．It does damage to students' math performance. |
| D．Only teenagers can suffer a lot from it in class. |
| A．Problems. | B．Reasons. |
| C．Phenomena | D．Consequences. |
| A．How students respond to maths learning. |
| B．What makes maths learning difficult. |
| C．Why students suffer from mathes anxiety. |
| D．How to deal with the maths frustration. |
