Could your dog be prone to a fatal disease? Is your new shelter pup part beagle or boxer? Many pet owners seek answers to these questions, and as a result, direct-to-consumer dog DNA testing is booming.
Human interfering with dog DNA has long been the driving factor behind dogs’ breed diversity — or lack thereof. But a dog’s DNA can also be used to confirm their lineage (血统) or identify their breed, a boon for pet owners on the lookout for breed-specific health or behavioral challenges or those looking to confirm their dog really has the heritage claimed by a breeder or seller. During DNA analysis, labs sequence the dog’s DNA and look for similarities with a dataset of identified dog breeds.
But breed identification isn’t as simple as it might seem. In a study published in the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association last month, scientists looked into the accuracy of breed prediction in commercially available DNA tests that required a photo of the dog in addition to its DNA sample. The results were mixed, says Casey Greene, a professor who co-authored the study.
“Most tests could accurately distinguish the breed of purebred dogs,” says Greene. But the analysis suggested that some testing companies might rely on the photo more than the dog’s actual genetics — and revealed big differences between companies’ business practices and the genetic datasets they use to determine dog breeds.
The researchers submitted photos and DNA of 12 purebred dogs to a total of six commercial canine (犬的) ancestry identification services. Since each pup was purebred and possessed extensive American Kennel Club paperwork, the researchers knew their breed conclusively—but in some cases they provided a photo of a different dog to see if the photo influenced the DNA results. One of the companies misidentified a purebred Chinese crested dog — almost entirely hairless — as a long-haired Brittany spaniel, seemingly based on the photo alone. The other five did identify the registered breed correctly, but often gave different predictions for other “ancestor” breeds in dogs whose DNA suggested mixed breeding in prior generations. The researchers concluded that veterinarians and pet owners alike should “approach direct-to-consumer tests with caution” given the lack of industry standardization and at least one company’s reliance on photographs instead of DNA analysis.
Despite these concerns, though. dog DNA seems headed for a golden age — and the insights revealed through further study of Fido’s genome (基因组) have already reached far beyond the doghouse. Domesticated dogs have emerged as surprising superstars in medical research that benefits humans. According to researchers, that’s just the beginning. With implications ranging from entertaining to consequential, there’s no telling what dog DNA will continue to unleash.
1. The underlined word “boon” in paragraph two is closest in meaning to ________.| A．blessing | B．substitute | C．duty | D．struggle |
| A．it assists in accurately determining the breed a dog belongs to |
| B．it helps to predict whether dogs are subject to certain diseases |
| C．it provides pet owners with insights into dogs’ behavioral challenges |
| D．it sequences the DNA of identified dog breeds to find their similarities |
| A．Photos play a more significant role in identifying a dog’s breed than its actual genetics. |
| B．It is a common phenomenon that the DNA analysis of dogs may yield mixed results. |
| C．Commercial dog DNA tests still have limitations and should be dealt with cautiously. |
| D．Direct-to-consumer tests overshadow DNA analysis in identifying purebred dogs. |
| A．Controversies regarding its reliability are here to stay. |
| B．It is bound to make breakthroughs in the fields of medicine and entertainment. |
| C．It can step into a golden age as long as some research limitations are fixed. |
| D．It may have far-reaching significance and be applied to a wider range of areas. |
相似题推荐
【推荐1】Yahoo’s sheer size, popularity, and reputation for not having security practices as excellent as its competitors may have made the Internet company an ideal target for Russian spies, according to experts.
“At the very least, Yahoo is a good target for monitoring and intelligence purposes – tracking a person of interest, seeing whom they are communicating with, what about, and so on,” said Jeremiah Grossman, chief of security at Sentinel One. Grossman worked on Yahoo’s security team from 1999 to 2001.
The Justice Department announced charges Wednesday against two Russian spies and two hackers behind the 2014 theft of data connected to half a billion Yahoo accounts, which officials called one of the largest known data leaks in American history. It’s unclear from the Justice Department release what the suspects collected from accessing Yahoo accounts; however, officials noted that “some victim accounts were of predictable interest” to Russia’s federal security service.
Bill Anderon, CEO of computer security company Optio Labs, said that Yahoo’s popularity – plus its treasure of accounts that have set unused for years – put a huge bullseye on the company.
Email accounts are the gateway to plenty of areas in your personal life – from your banking accounts and social networks to finding out who your closest contacts are, Anderson said. At best, it’s a treasure chest worth a fortune to the intelligence community. At worst, it’s at least worth a few cents. Hackers can then sell millions of accounts to spammers, at a few cents each, for a decent payoff, according to experts.
While Yahoo has made huge efforts in strengthening its security in recent years, the company doesn’t have the same reputation for being on the cutting edge of security as Google. Many information security experts have respect for the current security team, but not the Yahoo brand itself, Grossman said. That image makeover may take time.
1. Which may not be the reason for the Yahoo’s 2014 theft of data?| A．Its good reputation for security. |
| B．Its popularity among Internet users. |
| C．Its huge numbers of accounts. |
| D．Its political and commercial value. |
| A．brought great profits to the company |
| B．made the company an easy target |
| C．caused Yahoo to lose lots of users |
| D．put the spotlight on the company |
| A．The current security team will be fired by Yahoo. |
| B．The Russian government is to blame in the case. |
| C．Google takes the lead in the cyber security. |
| D．Yahoo will make up for the users' losses. |
| A．Yahoo, a Perfect Target? |
| B．Justice Has Long Arms |
| C．I’s Never too Late to Mend |
| D．Watch Out for Your Account |
【推荐2】Today’s Brussels sprouts (孢子甘蓝) taste better than you might remember from childhood, and that is because a new variety has replaced the original vegetable. You can thank plant breeders (植物育种家) for the change. Modern breeders, armed with new gene-editing technology, are looking to reproduce Brussels sprouts’ reinvention.
In the late 1990s, scientists discovered specific chemicals which made Brussels sprouts taste bitter. Plant breeders started growing old seeds, previously abandoned due to poor yields (产量), to look for tastier versions with lower levels of these specific chemicals. Then they crossed these delicious but low-yield plants with high-yield individuals until they found a version that made plenty of tasty sprouts, transforming the vegetable from a bitter pill into a popular dish.
But other vegetables haven’t fared as well. That’s because most breeding decisions favor plant traits that matter to vegetable growers, not vegetable eaters. For instance, disease resistance is probably the major focus these days of most breeding programs because that prevents the farmer from growing the crop. The taste of vegetables is ignored.
People, however, are now becoming interested in prioritizing the taste of vegetables thanks in part to new genetic technology such as the gene-snipping technique CRISPR and DNA sequencing which is cheap enough to use widely. “There’s never been a better time to be a fruit breeder or a vegetable breeder because we have more tools and techniques,” says Susan Brown, an apple breeder at Cornell University.
Some companies are beginning to use those tools to deal with the challenge of developing tastier vegetables. One company, Pairwise, is fighting the same compounds that troubled Brussels sprouts: glucosinolates. But this time researchers are improving the flavor of salad greens.
All vegetable growers hope that more flavorful products on store shelves will convince people to consume the recommended allowances (推荐量) of fruits and vegetables — and do so better than decades of nutritional guidance have. “Don’t waste your time talking about trying to educate people to eat better,” said Harry Klee, a professor who specializes in tomato breeding. “Just give them products that taste better and that they want to eat.”
1. Why did plant breeders grow old Brussels sprout seeds?| A．To find out why Brussels sprouts are bitter. |
| B．To find the less bitter versions of Brussels sprouts. |
| C．To study the specific chemicals of Brussels sprouts. |
| D．To select high-yielding versions of Brussels sprouts. |
| A．Profited | B．Emerged. | C．Survived. | D．Succeeded. |
| A．Fruit and vegetable breeding techniques are booming. |
| B．Fruit and vegetable breeding techniques need no further improvement. |
| C．Fruit and vegetable breeders are struggling to develop new species. |
| D．Fruit and vegetable breeders should develop new genetic technology. |
| A．Enhancing the taste of vegetables and fruits. |
| B．Making vegetables and fruits more affordable for people. |
| C．Improving the nutritional content of vegetables and fruits. |
| D．Educating people about the benefits of vegetables and fruits. |
【推荐3】Online clothes shoppers will be told exactly what size is best for them using new software which combines with their webcam(网络摄像头) or smart phone to form a 3D tape measure.
Scientists from Surrey University and design experts from the London College of Fashion are developing a program which can take precise waist, hip, chest and other measurements from camera images.
Using the person's height as a starting point, the software will be able to build up a 3D image and estimate their size at various different points on the body, based on their overall proportions. The result will be a more accurate sizing guide than previous systems based on waist size or a “small/medium/large” scale, which rely on limited measurements and the buyer's perception of their own body size.
Shoppers and retailers(零售商) who choose to sign up for the project could save millions of pounds a year in postage costs by removing the need to order multiple sizes of the same garment and send back illfitting clothes, researchers claimed. The project, sponsored by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council(EPSRC), is expected to be brought to market within two years.
After choosing an item, the shopper will activate the software, enter their height, stand in front of their webcam or smart phone in their underwear and take a photograph.
The software will not store or transmit the image to the Internet, but will use it to judge the person's dimensions at various points on their body.
Philip Delamore of the London College of Fashion said, “The potential benefits for the fashion industry and for shoppers are huge. Currently, it's common for online shoppers to order two or three different sizes of the same item of clothing at the same time, as they're unsure which one will fit best.”
1. What is the essential part of a 3D tape measure?| A．A webcam. | B．A software. |
| C．A microphone. | D．A smart phone. |
| A．It will store or transmit the image to the Internet. |
| B．It is based on the buyer's perception of their size. |
| C．It will be a co-working production. |
| D．It uses a person's weight as a starting point. |
| A．Online shoppers will get their ordered garment in time. |
| B．Online shoppers will get their ordered garment more quickly. |
| C．Online shoppers will get an ordered garment of high quality. |
| D．Online shoppers will get an ordered garment to their measure. |
①to take a photo with a webcam
②to activate the software
③to enter his/her height
④to judge his/her size by analysing his/her image
| A．②③①④ | B．②①③④ |
| C．①②③④ | D．②③④① |
Arthur Conan Doyle is an icon of British literature, world renowned for his crime fiction creation, “Sherlock Holmes”. His ability to create exciting stories filled with mystery still resonates with readers today, and modern reincarnations (再生) in both film and television mean Holmes is as popular as ever. The creation of such an extraordinary world would be an impossible task for most, so where did Doyle find the inspirations behind its conception?
The topics, characters and events that unfold within Doyle’s creations may seem far removed from you or I, but for Arthur, they were much closer to home. The main inspiration for Holmes was Arthur’s professor at Edinburgh Medical School, Dr. Joseph Bell. The doctor, armed with fantastic scientific knowledge and remarkable abilities in observation and deduction (演绎), would know someone’s occupation and habits from the tiniest details. On one occasion, he shocked his class by deducing the occupation of a patient simply from his accent, schedule, and hands. Additionally, working with murder investigations, illnesses and dead bodies through his studies, Doyle became very knowledgeable about this area.
Since school, Doyle’s talent as a writer was clear as fellow pupils paid him in sweets just to continue his stories, so you would have to assume that the success of Sherlock on the national stage brought Doyle great happiness, right?
Well, not quite. Few people know that it didn’t take long for Doyle to get frustrated with the character. While he ranked his work highly, he actually felt that his career had, “gone off the rails” and wrote to his mother saying, “I must save my mind for better things.” Doyle saw Sherlock as an unwelcome distraction from more serious work which is why he killed him off in The Final Problem. Holmes and Moriarty plunge to their deaths at the Reichenbach Falls and Sherlock Holmes was finished.
But, as with any Holmes tale, there is a twist! Fans were extremly angry and canceled their subscriptions for The Strand Magazine in record numbers. The continuous pressure from fans and publishers finally led Doyle to publish a new story, The Hound of Baskervilles, in 1901. This, however, was set before the death of Sherlock so the complete resurrection (复活) happened in 1903, with The Adventure of the Empty House, in which it is revealed that only Moriarty fell and Holmes faked his death.
1. Which of the following is true according to the passage?| A．The success of Sherlock Holmes made Doyle instant famous. |
| B．The invention of film and television has helped to promote Sherlock Holmes. |
| C．Doyle found inspiration mainly from Dr. Joseph Bell and his teacher in school. |
| D．Doyle’s writing capabilities was long recognized by his peers. |
| A．The character was not as keen as Dr. Joseph Bell. |
| B．He couldn’t make much money from the book. |
| C．The book kept him from writing serious literature. |
| D．He was attacked by the fans of the book. |
| A．Doyle didn’t show talent for writing until he met Dr. Joseph Bell. |
| B．The success of Sherlock Holmes was bitter-sweet to Doyle. |
| C．Many movies are adapted from the story of Sherlock Holmes. |
| D．Doyle was involved in murder investigations in order to write Sherlock Holmes. |
| A．a booklet of Doyle museum | B．a website for fans of Holmes |
| C．a literary magazine | D．an academic report |
【推荐2】Search engines have changed the way we use the Internet, putting vast sources of information just a few clicks away. But Harvard professor of psychology Line Daniel Wegner’s recent research proves that websites and the Internet are changing much more than technology itself. They are changing the way our memories function. Wegner’s latest study shows that when people have access to search engines, they remember fewer facts and less information because they know they can rely on “search” as a readily available shortcut.
Wegner believes the new findings show that the Internet has become part of a transactive memory source, a method by which our brains divide information, which means you don’t have to remember everything in the world yourself. You just have to remember who knows it. Now computers and technology are becoming virtual extensions of our memory.
Wegner conducted several experiments to demonstrate the phenomenon, using various forms of memory recall to test reliance on computers. In one experiment, participants demonstrated that they were more likely to think of computer terms like “Yahoo” or “Google” after being asked a set of difficult trivia questions. In another experiment, participants typed some statements into a computer and they were told the statements would be saved in specific folders. Next, they were asked to recall the statements. Finally, they were given cues to the wording and asked to name the folders where the statements were stored. The participants proved better able to recall the folder locations than the statements themselves.
Wegner admits that questions remain about whether dependence on computers will affect memories negatively: “Nobody knows now what the effects of these tools are on logical thinking.” Students who have trouble remembering distinct facts, for example, may struggle to employ those facts in critical thinking. But he believes that the situation overall is beneficial, comparing dependence on computers to dependence on a mechanical hand or other prosthetic device.
And even though we may not be using our memories to recall distinct facts, we are still using them to consider where the facts are located and how to access them. “We still have to remember things,” Wegner explains. “We’re just remembering a different range of things.” He believes his study will lead to further research into understanding computer dependence, and looks forward to tracing the extent of human interdependence with the computer world — pinpointing the “movable dividing line between us and our computers in cyber networks.”
1. From the experiment, when asked to provide facts that are not familiar to them, people tend to ________.| A．think of specific information sources | B．type into computer and remember them |
| C．recall them from their deep memories | D．link the unfamiliar facts to their experiences |
| A．An actor organizes today’s schedule with his agent. |
| B．A student asks his teacher for today’s homework. |
| C．A husband relies on his wife to remember a relative’s birthday |
| D．A boss asks the staff about the performance of the previous month. |
| A．Computer dependence affects our thinking capacities in other distinct fields. |
| B．Reliance on computers does not necessarily reduce human memory. |
| C．Computers have helped people to understand the memory system better. |
| D．Researches should be done to reveal the side effect of computer dependence. |
| A．Wegner’s Research Has Pinpointed The Dividing Line |
| B．Technological Networks Reshaping Our Brain Functions |
| C．Human’s Memory Capability Becoming Inevitably Weaker |
| D．Heavy Reliance On Computer For Storing More Information |
【推荐3】Keeping a busy social life among lots of friends may keep people thinner than spending hours doing some exercises, according to scientists. They say that socialising and meeting with friends help increase levels of brown fat in the body which burns calories(卡路里)to produce heat.
Living in an exciting social environment was found to reduce fat in mice's belly by half over four weeks, even if they ate more. US researchers say that social excitement aids weight loss by turning white fat into brown. White fat stores calories and makes us fatter, while brown burns energy to produce heat. Turning white fat into brown is extremely difficult，normally requiring long- term stay in cold conditions or exciting part of the body's nervous system.
However, scientists from Ohio State University now think that having a busy social life is an even more effective way of changing white fat into brown. The team came up with their theory by studying the effects of various living environments on mice. Those, who lived alongside a greater number of mice, had more space and toys to excite themselves and then lost far more weight over the course of the study than their “couch potato" fellows.
Study author, Dr Matthew During, whose team's findings appear in the journal Cell Metabolism, said, "I'm still amazed at the degree of fat loss that occurs." Explaining how new technology had threatened face-to-face socialising, he added, "It's not just a sedentary(久坐 的)lifestyle and high calorie foods, but an increasing lack of social activities." Co-author Dr Lei Cao said，"Loneliness is a potential factor for cancer and death; it's equal to cigarette smoking to a certain extent. Social activities are very vital.，，
1. What information can we get from the first two paragraphs?
| A．Brown fat stores calories and makes us fatter. |
| B．It doesn't take long to turn white fat into brown. |
| C．Social excitement helps gain more weight. |
| D．Brown fat can burn energy to produce heat. |
| A．Levels of brown fat can be increased by socialising. |
| B．The mice lacking social life lose more weight. |
| C．The research findings haven't been published so far. |
| D．Dr Matthew During wasn't convinced of the result. |
| A．the fat in mice's belly was reduced because of the relaxing environment |
| B．a sedentary lifestyle and high calories foods influence people's social life |
| C．surfing the Internet may influence people's face-to-face communication |
| D．cancer and death are mainly caused for lack of social life |
| A．Brown fat is beneficial to people's health. |
| B．Socialising is unnecessarily important in people's daily life. |
| C．White fat can be changed into brown fat. |
| D．Socialising contributes to people's losing weight. |
