1 . Arguably, the biggest science development of the year to date has been the images of the very depths of the universe taken by the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). Those images beg a comparison between the external and internal universes that science is bent on observing and understanding.
Decades ago, astrophysicist Carl Sagan famously said, “The universe is also within is. We’re made of star-stuff. We are a way for the universe to know itself. ” He was commenting then on the reality that our internal universe was as complex and as fantastic as the outer space.
There are many similarities between the progress we’ve made in understanding the universe and in piecing together life’s inner workings. Like the technological developments that took us from Galileo’s telescope to the Hubble to the JWST, life science tools have also improved rapidly. From early light microscopes to modern super-resolution ones, these developments have afforded researchers a deep look into biology’s infinitesimal (无限小的) landscape. Learning that living things were composed of cells was, not a terribly long time ago, a revolutionary observation. Since then, scientists have been able to dive ever deeper into the components of life.
Going beyond merely observing the complicated makeup of organisms, life scientists can now discover the workings of molecules (分子). And that is where scanning the universe differs from peering into biology. Understanding the universe, especially from a functional standpoint, is not necessarily an immediate urgency. Understanding biology on that level is. Simply observing the amazing internal structure of cells is not enough. Biologists must also characterize how all those parts interact and change in different environments and when faced with various challenges. Being able to image a virus or bacterium is nice at the level of basic science. But knowing how viruses gain entry into cells and spread, infect, and disable can literally save lives. Through time, biology has risen to this mechanistic challenge. Not only can life science tools produce images of cell components, even more importantly, they can help predict the effects of drugs on receptors, of immune cells on foreign invaders (入侵者), and of genetic perturbations (基因干扰) on development and aging.
This is not to belittle the work of scientists researching into universe. They should rightly be praised for delivering views of impossibly distant, impossibly massive phenomena. My aim is to celebrate these accomplishments while at the same time recognizing that science’s inward search for detail and insight is equally impressive and, in my view, more urgent. The output of both the outward and inward explorations should stimulate wonder in everyone. After all, it’s all star-stuff.
1. Why does the author quote Carl Sagan’s comment in Paragraph 2?| A．To introduce the background. | B．To prove an assumption. |
| C．To make a comparison. | D．To present an idea. |
| A．study approaches | B．system management |
| C．research facilities | D．technology integration |
| A．practical | B．risky | C．flexible | D．popular |
| A．It has received universal recognition. | B．It should enjoy priority in development. |
| C．It can be applied in the majority of areas. | D．It is more complicated than space science. |
2 . “You should get a cat, ”my therapist(治疗专家)said. “A cat?” I couldn’t even look after myself. . I took a deep breath and carefully considered the idea of welcoming a feline (猫科的)friend into my life. This seemed like too easy a fix for the fact that I couldn’t leave the house without bursting into tears.
When my partner and I found Cinnamon, her adoption profile made her out as the perfect kitten. We filled out the paperwork and prepared for her arrival.
When she came home, it became increasingly obvious that Cinnamon didn’t understand “no”, “stop it” or “don’t do that”. She was the worst cat I’ve ever owned. I was beginning to doubt my therapist’s advice.
After visiting our vet, she concluded that Cinnamon just wanted our attention. She fought tooth and nail to get a bite of our meals. She’d fearlessly lick sharp knives when left unattended for a split second. Cinnamon stole my heart with her bravery and kept me busier than I’d ever expected.
We decided to start taking her for walks. I could barely leave the house before, but my heart couldn’t say no to Cinnamon. Cinnamon showed me what bravery looked like. She didn’t stop to consider every possible outcome of a situation; she simply went for it. If there was a dog at a park, she would run toward it. She jumped without knowing where she would land. She loved adventure. I found myself mirroring her behavior after a while, jumping out of bed without a second thought. I began to find the motivation to get out of bed in the morning.
Cinnamon unfortunately passed away after a medical accident. I’m no stranger to sadness or grief, but losing my pet so suddenly was the most confusing emotional experience I’ve had to date. She no longer wakes me up at 5 am begging for breakfast, but she’s still the reason I get up every morning.
Our time is often cut unpredictably, unmistakably short. It would be a shame to live life being anything less than brave and adventurous.
1. Why did the author’s therapist recommend that she get a cat?| A．To learn how to interact with animals. | B．To help the author fill up her spare time; |
| C．To solve the author’s fear of going out. | D．To distract the author’s attention from her pain. |
| A．Thrilled. | B．Amazed. | C．Pleased. | D．Disappointed. |
| A．Walking Cinnamon outdoors became an adventure for the author. |
| B．The author was positively affected by Cinnamon’s courageous behavior. |
| C．Cinnamon loved going outside and took consequences into consideration. |
| D．The author decided to take Cinnamon outside as she was too troublesome to stay in. |
| A．Life is short and unpredictable. | B．The loss of a pet can be painful. |
| C．We should have the courage to take risks. | D．Animal-assisted therapy is the best cure for mental illness. |
3 . Reading people’s minds seems to be a superpower that only exists in movies. But scientists have now made it possible to translate people’s brain waves!
Researchers at the University of California, San Francisco developed a new device. It can turn brain waves into words on a screen in front of the user. In the study, they tested it with a paralyzed (瘫痪) man.
“To our knowledge, this is the first successful demonstration of direct decoding of full words from the brain of someone who is paralyzed and cannot speak.” said Edward Chang, the senior author of the study. Each year, thousands of people lose the ability to speak due to accidents or diseases. With up to 93 percent accuracy, the new device shows “strong promise” to let these people fully communicate in the future.
One problem with such mind-reading machines, however, is that they have to put electrodes into people’s brains. It’s inconvenient and has health risks. But scientists from the University of Texas, US, have taken steps to change this. They tried to translate people’s thoughts without even touching their heads, reported Live Science.
The new brain scanning technique is called FMRI, or functional magnetic resonance imaging. It’s a safer way of “reading” brain activity. Active brain cells have more oxygen. By tracking this, scientists can translate brain activity.
The team asked participants to listen to 16 hours of radio shows while scanning their brains. Then they used a computer algorithm (算法) to create a story based on the FMRI recording. It matched the radio shows pretty well.
In other tests, the algorithm could basically explain the story of a silent movie that the participants watched. It could even retell a story that the participants imagined in their heads. Although it’s not a word-for-word translation, the technique provides many possibilities.
1. What do the words “strong promise” mean?| A．The device has high accuracy. | B．The device can make a promise. |
| C．The device makes no mistakes. | D．The device makes a paralyzed man speak. |
| A．It puts electrodes into people’s brains. |
| B．It tracks the oxygen of brain cells. |
| C．It makes predictions based on people’s habits. |
| D．It guesses people’s thoughts randomly. |
| A．It’s safer. | B．It’s cheaper. | C．It’s smaller in size. | D．It’s more accurate. |
| A．It can only record what participants hear. |
| B．It can record every detail of participants minds. |
| C．Its recordings can be used to retell what participants had seen and heard. |
| D．It is accurate because it can tell imagination from fact. |
4 . How perfect the wings of a bird are! However, they will never
I used to outdo my classmates
As I further accept new life skills, I realize how much remains
| A．assist | B．feed | C．follow | D．guide |
| A．musical | B．political | C．literary | D．economic |
| A．urgent | B．impossible | C．dangerous | D．particular |
| A．consider | B．understand | C．mention | D．remember |
| A．physically | B．emotionally | C．psychologically | D．academically |
| A．rejected | B．ignored | C．blamed | D．interrupted |
| A．attempt | B．mistake | C．decision | D．promise |
| A．words | B．borders | C．numbers | D．expectations |
| A．appreciated | B．reported | C．discovered | D．Recommended |
| A．fault | B．business | C．excuse | D．dream |
| A．admitted | B．needed | C．received | D．possessed |
| A．message | B．approach | C．program | D．campaign |
| A．offer | B．gain | C．order | D．select |
| A．as for | B．apart from | C．due to | D．instead of |
| A．learn | B．afford | C．demand | D．pretend |
| A．regret | B．delight | C．amusement | D．embarrassment |
| A．undone | B．unusual | C．unfortunate | D．uncertain |
| A．Surprisingly | B．Gradually | C．Hopefully | D．Suddenly |
| A．so | B．but | C．if | D．before |
| A．view | B．power | C．honor | D．faith |
5 . Ekaterina Sky is a wildlife conservation (保护)artist. She began her art journey at the School of Fine Arts in Yaroslavl, Russia. There, she completed a fine arts program, which gave her the background she needed to become a conservation artist. She also received a scholarship to the Art School of Museum of Tel-Aviv. There, she expanded upon her knowledge and skills, learning to create her own unique style. She combined her love for animals and art to create the works we see today.
Ekaterina painted pictures at wildlife reserves and rescue centers, in high schools and in visitors’centers. She painted a piece for the Burning Man festival, choosing to paint primates(灵长类动物的)eyes since they are closely related to humans. This piece gave her the confidence to start a world tour, as she had never painted a picture that size before.
Ekaterina went on a tour to different countries worldwide, painting pictures of various endangered species. She hoped that her paintings would encourage viewers to look deeply into their own lifestyles and question how they might harm animals. She said, “We all can make a difference if we look at ourselves as a small piece of a greater whole.”
With each picture, she made the audience look directly into the animals’ eyes. She painted pictures to encourage people to show more compassion and care to animals and raise awareness of the importance of efforts in wildlife conservation. “As I believe, we connect through our eyes, which are windows into our soul, and I believe that when we get to meet someone’s soul, we don’t have a heart to hurt them,” she said.
1. What does paragraph 1 mainly tell us about Ekaterina Sky?| A．Her art works. | B．Her unique drawing skills. |
| C．Her love for animals. | D．Her road to a conservation artist. |
| A．The painting gave her confidence. | B．Primates are closely related to humans. |
| C．She’d like to make more money. | D．She wanted to expand on her skills. |
| A．Pity. | B．Blame. | C．Motivation. | D．Gratefulness. |
| A．Reducing garbage thrown by tourists. | B．Introducing various animals worldwide. |
| C．Drawing attention to endangered animals. | D．Advertising the school she graduated from. |
6 . If you’ re reaching for the last piece of pizza at a party, and meanwhile see another hand going for it, your next move probably depends on how you feel and whom the hand belongs to. Your little sister — you might just grab the pizza. Your boss — you probably will give up.
Now researchers have made progress in understanding how mammals’ brain encodes social rank and uses this information to shape behaviors — such as whether to fight for the last pizza slice. They discovered that an area of the brain called the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) was responsible for representing social rank in mammals; changes to a mouse’s mPFC affected its dominance behavior. But it was unknown how the mPFC represented this information and which neurons(神经元) were involved in changing dominance behaviour.
In the new study, Professor Kay Tye let groups of four mice share a cage. Some mice became more dominant and others more subordinate. As soon as the mice were paired up, he discovered, the activity of their mPFC neurons could predict — with 90 percent certainty — the rank of their opponent.
“We expected animals might only signal rank when they are in a competition,” says co-researcher Nancy. “But it turns out animals walk around with this representation of social rank all the time.”
When the researchers next asked whether the activity of the mPFC neurons was associated with behaviour, they found something surprising. The brain activity patterns were linked with slight changes in behaviour, such as how fast a mouse moved, and they also could predict — a full 30 seconds before the competition started — which mouse would win the food reward.
The winner was not always the more dominant, but the one engaged in a winning mindset. Just as you might sometimes be in a more competitive mood and be more likely to snatch that pizza slice before your boss, a subordinate mouse might be in a more winning mindset than a more dominant mouse and end up winning.
The areas of the mPFC associated with social rank and winning mindset are next to one another and highly connected. Signals on social rank impact the state of the brain involved in winning mindset. In other words, a subordinate mouse’s confidence and winning mindset may partially decrease when faced with a dominant one.
“This is further evidence to suggest that we are in different brain states when we are with others compared to when we’re alone,” says Tye.
1. What is the purpose of the first paragraph?| A．To provide background information. | B．To state the importance of social rank. |
| C．To give readers an example of social rank. | D．To introduce the topic of the reading passage. |
| A．The mPFC neurons. | B．The researchers. |
| C．The brain activity patterns. | D．The changes in behaviour. |
| A．Brain activities can influence social rank. |
| B．Dominant opponents boost winning mindset. |
| C．Social rank and winning mindset affect behaviour. |
| D．Animals only exhibit their rank in competition. |
| A．Winning mindset establishes dominance. |
| B．Social rank guides competitive behaviour. |
| C．A subordinate mouse can never been a winner. |
| D．Awareness of different people around you make your brain use different neurons. |
7 . The power of modern electronic media-the net, mobile phones and video games to capture the attention of the human mind particularly the young mind and then distract it, has lately become a subject of concern. We are, say the worriers, losing the ability to apply ourselves properly to a single task, like reading a book in its entirety or mastering a piece of music on an instrument with the result that our thinking is becoming shallower
Nicholas Carr, the American writer, has explored this theme for his new book The Shallows, in which he argues that new media are not just changing our habits but our brain too. It turns out that the mature human brain is not an immutable seat of personality and intellect but a changeable thing, subject to “neuroplasticity” (神经可塑性). When our activities alter so does the architecture of our brain “I’m not thinking the way I used to think,” writes Carr. “I feel it most strongly when I’m reading.” Years of internet use have, he suspects, dented his ability to read deeply to absorb himself in books: “My brain wasn’t just drifting. It was hungry. It was demanding to be fed the way the net fed it.” He describes getting fidgety when faced with a long text: “When we go online, we enter an environment that promotes cursory reading, hurried and distracted thinking, and superficial learning.”
Carr cites research by Gary Small, a professor of psychiatry at UCLA, who concluded that constant exposure to modern media strengthens new neural pathways while weakening older ones. Just five hours of internet use is enough to awaken previously dormant parts of the brain’s prefrontal cortex (前额叶皮层), concluded Small. For Carr, this is proof that the net can rewire the mind. He sees dangers. Deep thought, the ability to immerse oneself in an area of study, to follow a narrative, to understand an argument and develop a critique, is giving way to skimming. Young users of the Internet are good at drawing together information for a school project, for example, but that does not mean they have digested it.
1. The underlined word “dented” in paragraph 2 means ______.| A．strengthened | B．exhausted | C．stimulated | D．damaged |
| A．five hours of net use can rewire the mind |
| B．modern electronic media help focus users attention on the task |
| C．electronic media have affected his fulfillment of reading books |
| D．our brain evolves when fed with information and knowledge from the net |
| A．The sharper the attention, the sharper the memory. |
| B．Nicholas Carr’s book on the subject is a bestseller. |
| C．Superficial thinking and learning are associated with the new media. |
| D．Years of internet use do harm to people’s management over multi-tasking. |
| A．Young users cannot digest information from the Internet. |
| B．Using the Internet will cause damage to our prefrontal cortex. |
| C．Constant internet use will impair our intensive reading ability |
| D．The Internet can waste young users’ time to an alarming extent |
8 . What do you think about when you wait at a crosswalk? What about checking out your friends’ new posts? Chances are, if you’re not visually impaired, you don’t think much about these everyday activities as you’re doing them. But for blind and low-vision(视力低下的）people, these kinds of things can be difficult if the people designing them don’t take steps to make them accessible.
One big problem blind people always face is the assumptions of sighted people about what they can and can’t do. Everette Bacon, President of the Utah chapter of the National Federation of the Blind, says more than once he’s had a stranger grab his arm, thinking he needs help.
“ It’s impressions about blindness that are far more threatening to blind people than the blindness itself,” says Daniel Kish, president of World Access for the Blind.
People’s assumptions about capability(能力）contribute to a low number of blind people working in or studying STEM( science, technology, engineering, and math) fields. People with low or no vision have a lot to offer in these fields. They are just as capable as anyone else at experimenting and making new discoveries.
One tool that provides accessible ways to help the blind interact (互动）with data and scientific equipment is the Sci-Voice Talking LabQuest 2. It reads aloud data from over 70 sensors(传感器）commonly used in science experiments. Cary Supalo invented this device to help students experience hands-on science learning. He has been blind since the age of seven. “ For kids who are blind or vision impaired, before this technology existed, they had to be told what happened,”he says.
Making the world more accessible isn’t limited to inventing a cool new piece of technology, though. If you’re posting a picture on social media, adding a specific description of what’s happening in the picture, called alt text, can help blind people understand your post without having to rely on sight. If you’re building a website, or know someone who is, follow accessibility guidelines.
1. What does Bacon think of the stranger’s help?| A．It should be given more politely. |
| B．It showed people’s good hearts. |
| C．It was unnecessary. |
| D．It set a good example. |
| A．People’s prejudice |
| B．Their limited intelligence |
| C．A lack of blind-friendly labs |
| D．Their sensitive characteristics |
| A．Follow government guidelines. |
| B．Describe pictures in the alt text. |
| C．Add a voice document |
| D．Use a special website |
| A．more light, more happiness | B．your legal disability rights |
| C．what you assume matters | D．a world of accessibility |
9 . Antarctic blue whales have been perceived again in the sub-Antarctic island of South Georgia. An international-team of researchers discovered the animals five decades after whaling (捕鲸业) nearly caused them to disappear forever. “The ocean resources at South Georgia were heavily developed during the early 20th-century industrial whaling,” says lead author Susannah Calderan, an ecologist with the Scottish Association for Marine Science.
Antarctic blue whales were plentiful in the area until whaling began there in 1904, kicking off the beginning of industrial whaling in the Southern Ocean. While hunters originally focused on species that could be easily caught, like the humpback whale, the focus quickly moved to the blue whale. Between 1904 and 1973, 345,775 Antarctic blue whales were killed in the Southern hemisphere (半球）and in the northern Indian Ocean. Around South Georgia, blue whale catches were reported year-round without stopping. Between 1904 and 1971, industrial whaling caused 42, 698 blue whales’ death, Blue whales almost disappeared in these areas.
Researchers studied all Antarctic blue whale data from the last three decades. They examined sightings (目睹)from scientific surveys collected by observers on ships, as well as opportunistic sightings reported by seamen and ship passengers to the South Georgia. They also examined acoustic(声音的）recordings of blue whale.
They found that whale surveys from ships off South Georgia resulted in just one blue whale sighting between 1998 and 2018. But more recent surveys suggest better news. A survey in February of 2020 found nearly 60 blue whale sightings, and several acoustic detections (探测).A total of 41 blue whales have been recognized through photos from South Georgia between 2011 and 2020.
“Their return is very meaningful, as it was widely thought that blue whales at South Georgia might have been hunted beyond a point where they could recover, and might never be seen again in great numbers at South Georgia,” Calderan says. “Our research shows that, populations can recover even from very low levels if they’re given enough protection.”
1. What does the underlined word “perceived” in paragraph 1 mean?| A．Kept. | B．Found. | C．Hunted. | D．Destroyed. |
| A．The development of industrial whaling. |
| B．The cause of blue whales’ disappearance. |
| C．The wide spread of blue whales in the past. |
| D．The tricks of catching blue whales easily. |
| A．There is an increasing return of blue whales. |
| B．Blue whales are in a more dangerous situation. |
| C．More and more people like watching blue whales. |
| D．South Georgia is a good place to watch blue whales. |
| A．The risk of killing whales at higher rates. |
| B．The sign of Antarctic blue whales’ return. |
| C．The way of protecting Antarctic blue whales. |
| D．The effect of the great loss of ocean resources. |
10 . In WALL-E, a science fiction movie, a little robot is responsible for cleaning a world covered in garbage; a world where there is no longer room for anything else, not even humans! The film encourages common people, worldwide leaders and businessmen to ask the obvious question: What can be done to prevent something like this happening? For some, microfactories could become the most promising answer.
Veena Sahajwalla, a materials scientist and engineer in Sydney, Australia, has discovered a solution to the challenging waste problem. Her one-stop approach could go beyond the existing recycling processes. Her waste microfactories mainly target electronic waste and plastic, and are essentially little trash processors. These can transform waste into new materials with the help of thermal(热的) technology.
“Using our green manufacturing technologies, these microfactories can transform waste, enabling local businesses and communities to not only solve local waste problems, but to develop a commercial opportunity from the valuable materials that are created,” she explains.
Humans generate 2.01 billion tons of solid waste annually. And as the fastest growing waste stream, approximately 53.6 million tons of e-waste were generated globally by 2019. Despite current efforts, only 17.4 percent of this is known to have been collected and properly recycled. Meanwhile, worldwide e-waste generation is expected to continue to grow, reaching almost 80 million tons by 2030.
Although the most effective solution to the waste challenges would not generate as much trash, Sahajwalla microfactories provide hope for all the waste that already exists. Her solution not only decreases the amount of waste, but it also improves its management and enables new manufacturing opportunities around the new materials created.
WALL-E shows us the best and the worst of what human beings have to offer. It shows where the world is headed unless the human species slows down and stops developing at the current pace. But it also provides hope, showing that we also have a great power to change and improve.
1. What’s the aim to write the first paragraph?| A．To tell us what WALL-E is about. | B．To show the wide future of robots. |
| C．To introduce the use of microfactories. | D．To praise Veena Sahajwalla’s contribution |
| A．She is a top scientist in Australia. | B．She has been devoted to garbage factories. |
| C．Her waste microfactories are practical. | D．Her trash processors are being widely promoted. |
| A．By making contrasts. | B．By listing relevant figures. |
| C．By summarizing the above. | D．By analyzing cause and effect. |
| A．Positive. | B．Negative. | C．Unclear. | D．Indifferent |
