1 . Is It Worth Buying Organic Food?
Organic food, grown without artificial chemicals, is increasingly popular nowadays. Consumers have been willing to pay up to twice as much for goods with organic labels (标签). However, if you think paying a little more for organic food gets you a more nutritious (有营养的) and safer product, you might want to save your money. A study led by researchers at Stanford University says that organic products aren’t necessarily more nutritious, and they’re no less likely to suffer from disease-causing bacteria, either.
The latest results, published in the Annuals of Internal Medicine, suggest that buyers may be wasting their money. “We did not find strong evidence that organic food is more nutritious or healthier,” says Dr. Crystal Smith-Spangler from Stanford. “So consumers shouldn’t assume that one type of food has a lower risk or is safer.”
For their new study, Smith-Spangler and her colleagues conducted a review of two categories of research, including 17 studies that compared health outcomes between consumers of organic against traditional food products, and 223 studies that analyzed the nutritional content of the foods, including key vitamins, minerals and fats.
While the researchers found little difference in nutritional content, they did find that organic fruit and vegetables were 20% less likely to have chemicals remaining on the surfaces. Neither organic nor traditional foods showed levels of chemicals high enough to go beyond food safety standards. And both organic and traditional meats, such as chicken and pork, were equally likely to be harmed by bacteria at very low rates. The researchers did find that organic milk and chicken contained higher levels of omega-3 fatty acids, a healthy fat also found in fish that can reduce the risk of heart disease. However, these nutritional differences were too small, and the researchers were unwilling to make much of them until further studies confirm the trends.
Organic food is produced with fewer chemicals and more natural-growing practices, but that doesn’t always translate into a more nutritious or healthier product. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) states that “Whether you buy organic or not, finding the freshest foods available may have the biggest effect on taste.” Fresh food is at least as good as anything marketed as organic.
1. The new research questions whether organic food ________.A.should replace traditional food |
B.has been overpriced by farmers |
C.is grown with less harmful chemicals |
D.is really more nutritious and healthier |
A.organic food could reduce the risk of heart disease |
B.traditional food was grown with more natural methods |
C.both organic and traditional food they examined were safe |
D.there was not a presence of any forms of bacteria in organic food |
A.Organic chicken and pork. |
B.Organic milk and chicken. |
C.Traditional chicken and pork. |
D.Traditional fruit and vegetables. |
A.Doubtful. | B.Positive. | C.Unconcerned. | D.Approving. |
2 . Three months after Hurricane Katrina in 2005, Rebecca Sell, then 24, a photojournalist for Fredericksburg photographed a New Orleans couple worriedly examining water-spotted photo albums. As she took the photo, something within her clicked. “I told them I could take the ruined pictures, copy them and give them digitally restored photos,” she recalls. Although a bit sceptical, the couple agreed. Rebecca took their photos home, restored them and took them to the couple at their temporary home. “It felt so good to be able to do that for them,” says Rebecca.
When her editor, Dave Ellis, saw the photo of the couple, he suggested they go back and restore damaged photos for even more people. So in January 2006, with paid time off from the newspaper, the two set up a shop in Pass Christian. After posting a notice in the community newsletter, Rebecca and Dave received 500 photos in four days. For each, the pair took a new digital picture, then used high-tech software to erase water spots and restore colors. It just so happened that a popular website linked to Dave’s blog about the experience, and soon Operation Photo Rescue, as it came to be known, had emails from hundreds of volunteers, including photographers and restoration experts, eager to help.
Though the digital restoration is a painstaking process, mending irreplaceable family pictures means the world to victims like Emily Lancaster, 71, who took out piles of ruined photo albums after Katrina, never thinking the mess could be saved. But she just couldn’t bear to part with a few treasured pictures, including a portrait of her father, who had passed away, and a photo of her husband as a boy. Then she heard about Operation Photo Rescue. “I didn’t have a whole lot of hope they could fix them, but they did,” Emily says. “Almost every day I think about all the pictures I’ve lost. I’m so happy to have these two.”
In the five years since Katrina, Operation Photo Rescue has collected thousands of pictures ruined by floods, hurricanes and tornadoes. Volunteers make “copy runs” to disaster areas across the country to gather damaged photos from survivors; operating costs are covered by donations. “It’s great to be able to give people some of their history back,” says Rebecca. “One person told me that thanks to us, her grandmother got to see her photos again before she passed away. Moments like that remind me why I do this.”
1. From Paragraph 2, we know that Dave and Rebecca ________.A.quit their jobs in 2006 |
B.inspired volunteers to join them |
C.spent four days mending the photos |
D.made their work known in their newspaper |
A.Excited. | B.Hopeless. | C.Satisfied. | D.Sceptical. |
A.Surviving Hurricanes | B.An Act of Generosity |
C.Saving Memories | D.A Lucky Couple |
3 . Delivering life-saving drugs directly to the brain in a safe and effective way is a challenge for medical providers. One key reason: the blood-brain barrier, which protects the brain from tissue-specific drug delivery. Methods such as an injection or a pill aren’t as precise or immediate as doctors might prefer, and ensuring delivery right to the brain often requires invasive, risky techniques.
A team of engineers from Washington University in St. Louis has developed a new nano-particle generation-delivery method that could someday vastly improve drug delivery to the brain, making it as simple as a sniff.
“This would be a nano-particle nasal spray, and the delivery system could allow medicine to reach the brain within 30 minutes to one hour,” said Ramesh Raliya, research scientist at the School of Engineering & Applied Science.
“The blood-brain barrier protects the brain from foreign substances in the blood that may injure the brain,” Raliya said. “ But when we need to deliver something there, getting through that barrier is difficult and invasive. Our non-invasive technique can deliver drugs via nano-particles, so there’s less risk and better response times.”
The novel approach is based on aerosol science and engineering principles that allow the generation of mono-disperse nano-particles, which can deposit on upper regions of the nasal cavity via spread. The nano-particles were tagged with markers, allowing the researchers to track their movement.
Next, researchers exposed locusts’ antenna to the aerosol, and observed the nano-particles travel from the antennas up through the olfactory nerve, which is used to sense the smell. Due to their tiny size, the nano-particles passed through the brain-blood barrier, reaching the brain and spreading all over it in a matter of minutes.
The team tested the concept in locusts because the blood-brain barriers in the insects and humans have similarities. “The shortest and possibly the easiest path to the brain is through your nose,” said Barani Raman, associate professor of biomedical engineering. “Your nose, the olfactory bulb and then olfactory cortex: two steps and you’ve reached the cortex.”
To determine whether or not the foreign nano-particles disrupted normal brain function, Saha examined the physiology response of olfactory neurons in the locusts before and after the nano-particle delivery and found no noticeable change in the electro-physiological responses was detected.
This is only a beginning of a set of studies that can be performed to make nano-particle-based drug delivery approaches more principled, Raman said. The next phase of research involves fusing the gold nano-particles with various medicines, and using ultrasound to target a more precise dose to specific areas of the brain, which would be especially beneficial in brain-tumor cases.
1. What is the passage mainly about?A.A novel method of drug delivery. | B.A challenge facing medical staff. |
C.A new medicine treating brain disease. | D.A technique to improve doctor’s ability. |
A.Doctors prefer using methods like an injection to treat diseases. |
B.Locusts were tagged with markers to track their movement. |
C.The blood-brain barrier lowers the effectiveness of a pill. |
D.The medicine could reach the brain within half an hour. |
A.human and locusts have similar structures that protect brain from foreign substances |
B.the delivery process consists of the olfactory bulb and the olfactory cortex |
C.locusts have changeable electrophysiological responses to nanoparticles |
D.the shortest and possibly the safest path to the brain is through human’s noses |
4 . The student arrived early, sat front and center, and stood out in my classroom in more ways than one. I’d say that he was about 40 years older than his classmates in my undergraduate communications class. He eagerly jumped into class discussions, with his humor and wisdom of experience. And he was always respectful of the other students’ perspectives, as if each of them were a teacher. Jerry Valencia walked in with a smile—and he left with one too.
“These students gave me the confidence that I didn’t need to feel bad about my age,” Valencia says.
One day, I spotted Valencia on campus. He said he would have to stop taking classes that semester and reapply for next year. By then, he hoped to have earned enough money and have his student-loan papers in order. He asked seriously whether he could still sit in on my communications class.
Sure, I said. But he wouldn’t get any credit.
No problem, he said.
Soon there he was again, back at his old desk, jumping into our discussions on how to find and tell stories in Los Angeles—a 63-year-old man with as much energy and curiosity as any of the youngsters in class.
A lot of Valencia’s classmates apparently knew he couldn’t afford that semester’s tuition but was still doing the homework. “Here he is, willingly taking a class for the delight of it and benefit of learning,”says Jessica Espinosa, a 25-year-old junior. Afterward, I overheard Valencia wanted to stay in school until he earned a master’s degree, but it had taken him 12 years to finish community college, so he had a long way to go.
There is something splendidly unreasonable about Valencia’s determination to get a four-year degree and then a master’s. At his current pace, he’ll be 90 when he finally hangs all that paper on the wall. But that doesn’t seem especially relevant. He’s found all the youthful energy and academic opportunity stimulating. Valencia’s grade in my class this semester will not show up on his transcripts(成绩单). But I’m giving him an A—and in the most important ways, it counts.
1. What made Valencia different from his classmates?A.He was respectful to the teacher. |
B.He activated the class atmosphere. |
C.He was eager to learn despite his age. |
D.He often put forward different opinions. |
A.He treasured the chance of learning. |
B.He wished to show his determination. |
C.He needed the credits to further his study. |
D.He desired to have an A on his transcripts. |
A.Modest and independent. | B.Energetic and generous. |
C.Enthusiastic and motivated. | D.Considerate and intelligent. |
A.No pains, no gains. | B.It is never too old to learn. |
C.Strike the iron while it is hot. | D.Where there is life, there is hope. |
5 . Have you ever seen a kid in class who wouldn’t volunteer to read or answer a question? I was that type of student. Talking in class was a struggle for me because the fear of saying the wrong thing was always on my mind.
There were constant announcements about students in our class winning writing awards. It was a dream for me. I have always felt unsure of myself when writing. Semicolons confused me and I used too many commas. I had no idea how to cite anything. During my freshman year, the teacher would pick the best essay in our class to be read out loud, but mine was never chosen. I found it really hard to write an essay.
One teacher Mr. Wilson, who taught me the next semester, changed everything. He was in his fifties and had a reputation for having a particular teaching style. He connected writing and reading to football, but somehow it made sense. What really made him special to me was that every class he would pick someone to read their writing out loud to the class.
In one of his lessons, he said: “I will not always pick the essay that I think has the best grammar or use of vocabulary. I will pick the one that I think has the most character.” This part was confusing tome because how can writing have character? He went on to explain: “I want to read something that I can tell the writer feel a lot while writing it. I want to feel the emotions you were going through as you wrote it.”
A few weeks later, for the first time, my essay was chosen to be read to my classmates. I can’t even remember what it was about, but I remember how nervous I was to see his reaction, mixed with pride at the fact that he felt like my work was worth sharing. He gave me his comments at the end of it, but I was too nervous to remember them. After class, he told me he was excited to read more of my work.
He made me feel special in the way he led the class, and I got over my fear of sharing my work in class. He made me believe in my writing abilities and gave me the confidence to continue writing.
1. Talking in class used to be difficult for the author because __________.A.he had never won any awards for speaking | B.he didn’t know how to answer questions |
C.he had no idea how to cite anything | D.he was afraid of making mistakes |
A.His style of teaching. | B.His love for students. |
C.His interest in writing. | D.His passion for football. |
A.Mr. Wilson preferred essays with good use of vocabulary |
B.the author remembered Mr. Wilson’s comments very well |
C.Mr. Wilson thought the author’s passage was full of emotions |
D.the author believed that his essay was worth sharing in the class |
A.Kind and ambitious. | B.Honest and confident. |
C.Creative and inspiring. | D.Reliable and generous. |
6 . When I was 7 and Stevie was 6, our parents taught us how to play chess and other games. Playing games was our life back then. Stevie and I were very competitive in everything.
We got older and better so our games were more intense, but also more exciting. The strange thing is that I enjoyed the games vastly and was happy for my brother when he won. But afterwards, I felt my well-being threatened, and then my confidence suffered.
When I was 10 years old I wanted to be successful at my talents. One day, a light came on in my head. I had to find something Stevie couldn’t do. It would have to be unique in every way. Before long, I got Jimmy Nelson’s record on “How to Become a Ventriloquist (腹语师)” and I practiced faithfully every day. After summer vacation, I did my first show for my class. The response was favorable. I performed for family get-togethers and did shows on a number of occasions to practice my new skill.
It isn’t easy learning ventriloquism. The difficult part was developing the voice, because at first, it was soft and hard to hear. I memorized the routines and performed more. With time, I got better responses. The loud laughter was nonstop, in addition to the applause.
Four years later, my mother purchased professional ventriloquial figure, which I named Freddie O’Sullivan. He was lifelike, with moving eyes, moving eyebrows, and could stick out his tongue. Treating Freddie like a real person enhanced my performance.
In college, Freddie was well known. He would tell people that he was the only guy that could sleep in the girl’s dormitory. Over the years, I won many talent awards.
One time, an elderly man looked at Freddie attentively and asked him where he got his trousers. The audience nearby had tears in their eyes. I didn’t know what was going on until I was told later the gentleman hadn’t spoken for 20 years.
Thanks to my brother, I created a lifetime with Freddie.
1. How did the author feel at first when Stevie won a game?A.Delighted. | B.Confused. |
C.Depressed. | D.Surprised, |
A.To gain her parents’ favor in family get-togethers. |
B.To record her intense and competitive childhood. |
C.To have a special talent better than her brother. |
D.To bring joyous laughter to people around her. |
A.Freddie trained the author professionally. |
B.Freddie inspired an old man to restart to talk. |
C.Freddie took the place of the author’s brother. |
D.Freddie disturbed others in the girl’s dormitory. |
A.Generous and grateful. | B.Modest and responsible. |
C.Patient and honest. | D.Sensitive and determined. |
Horses are picky eaters
Horses have an even better sense of smell than humans do. When horses raise their noses and open their nostrils (鼻孔), their nervous system allows them to sense smells we can’t sense. This might explain why they refuse dirty water and carefully move around meadows, eating only the tastiest grasses, experts say.
Whale says thanks
In 2018, a whale expert spotted a humpback whale trapped in a fishing net and spent an hour freeing it. Afterward, in an hour-long display of thanks, the whale swam near their boat and leaped into the air about 40 times.
Pandas like to be naughty
Is there anything more lovely than a baby panda, except maybe a human baby? In fact, baby pandas sometimes behave like human babies. They sleep in the same positions and value their thumbs. Pandas are shy by nature for its shy behaviors such as covering its face with a paw or ducking its head when confronted by a stranger.
A cat honors its owner
Paper towels, and a plastic cup are just a few of the gifts that Toldo, a devoted three-year-old gray-and-white cat, has placed on his former owner Iozzelli Renzo’s grave every day since the man died in September 2018. Renzo adopted Toldo from a shelter when the cat was three months old, and the two formed an inseparable bond. After Renzo passed away, Toldo followed the coffin to the cemetery, and now “stands guard” the grave for hours at a time.
1. What can horses do to pick delicious grasses?A.Feel them. |
B.Taste them. |
C.Smell them. |
D.Observe them. |
A.They are clever. |
B.They have a grateful heart. |
C.They are active and lovely. |
D.They have a good sense of smell. |
A.The whale |
B.The cat. |
C.The horse. |
D.The panda. |
8 . The Amazon rainforest is as undisturbed a place as most people can imagine, but even there, the effects of a changing climate are playing out. Now, research suggests that many of the region’s most sensitive bird species are starting to evolve in response to warming.
Birds are often considered sentinel (哨兵) species — meaning that they indicate the overall health of an ecosystem — so scientists are particularly interested in how they’re responding to climate change. In general, the news has not been good. For instance, a 2019 report by the National Audubon Society found that more than two-thirds of North America’s bird species will be in danger of extinction by 2100 if warming trends continue on their current course.
For the new study, researchers collected the biggest database so far on the Amazon’s resident birds, representing 77 non-migratory species and lasting the 40 years from 1979 to 2019. During the study period, the average temperature in the region rose, while the amount of rainfall declined, making for a hotter, dryer climate overall. According to the report on November 12 in the journal Science Advances, 36 species have lost substantial weight, as much as 2 percent of their body weight per decade since 1980. Meanwhile, all the species showed some decrease in average body mass, while a third grew longer wings.
Because of the study’s long time series and large sample sizes, the authors were able to show the morphological (形态学的) effects of climate change on resident birds. However, the researchers themselves are unsure and wonder what advantage the wing length changes give the birds, but suppose smaller birds may have an easier time keeping cool. In general, smaller animals have a larger rate of surface area to body size, so they dissipate more heat faster than a bigger animal. Less available food, such as fruit or insects, in dryer weather might lead to smaller body size.
1. Why are scientists fond of doing research on birds?A.They have small body sizes. | B.They are sensitive to hot weather. |
C.They are ecological balance indicators. | D.They live in an undisturbed rainforest. |
A.Two-thirds of species showed a considerable decrease in weight. |
B.About 26 species responded to climate change with longer wings. |
C.36 species lost 2% of their body weight every year from 1979 to 2019. |
D.A third of species have been extinct for a decade due to the hotter climate. |
A.Put off. | B.Give off. | C.Put away. | D.Give away. |
A.Why it is easier for smaller animals to keep cool. |
B.Why the Amazonian birds have lost substantial weight. |
C.Whether bird species in Amazon will be extinct in 2100. |
D.What effects the wing length changes have on birds. |
9 . At a museum in Vietnam, Lena Bui’s film Where Birds Dance Their Last reflected on the beauty and vulnerability of Vietnamese feather farms after Bird Flu. During a festival in Rwanda, Ellen Reid’s audio experience Soundwalk was shared in a hopeful discussion about music, parks and mental health. These are a few of the things I have helped bring to life over the years, working at the intersection of scientific research, the arts and advocacy to support science in solving global health challenges.
Science is key to addressing these issues. But it isn’t the only key. To achieve its potential and for its advances to be implemented and reach all who could benefit, science depends on trust and good relationships. People might not always see science as relevant, trustworthy or meaningful to their lives. There are reasons why some see science as having a chequered past, from nuclear weapons to eugenics, and are therefore uninterested in, or suspicious of, what it proposes. Others feel excluded by the incomprehensibility of hyper specialist knowledge.
In its capacity to build upon and test an evidence base, science is powerful, but researchers and funders haven’t been as good at ensuring this evidence base responds to the needs and interests of diverse communities, or informs policy makers to take action. Science might be perceived as distancing itself from the personal, the poetic and the political, yet it is precisely these qualities that can be most influential when it comes to public interest in atopic or how a government prioritizes a decision.
A moving story well told can be more memorable than a list of facts. This is where the arts come in. Artists can give us different perspectives with which to consider and reimagine the world together. They can redress the proclaimed objectivity in science by bringing stories —subjectivities —into the picture, and these can help foster a sense of connection and hope.
In 2012, I set up artist residencies in medical research centres around the world. Bui was attached to the Oxford University Clinical Research Unit in Vietnam. The head of the research team was delighted, finding that Bui, as a Vietnamese artist, had license to be in, and to share useful insights from, villages where infectious disease researchers weren’t welcome. Six years later, I led Wellcome’s Contagious Cities program, which established artist residencies worldwide to support locally led explorations of epidemic preparedness. The recent pandemic made this work more noticeable, and has informed our Mindscapes program which is currently sharing experiences of mental health through the work of artists.
With pandemic, climate and mental health crises upon us, rising inequality and what feels like an increasingly broken world, never has there been more need to build and nurture hopeful and imaginative spaces to grow human connection and shared purpose for the common good. Science and the arts can work hand in glove to achieve this.
1. The author lists two works in Paragraph 1 mainly to ______.A.reveal the gap between science and art | B.prove his competence in both science and art |
C.introduce successful science-related artworks | D.show that science can be promoted in art forms |
A.Recent and remote. | B.Good and bad. |
C.Usual and unusual. | D.Peaceful and scary. |
A.Policy-makers base their decisions on science. | B.Researchers popularize science effectively. |
C.Science is well received among the public. | D.The arts help people build connections. |
A.The Value of the Arts to Science | B.Where Do Science and the Arts Meet? |
C.A New Way to Fight Pandemic—the Arts | D.Which Matters More, Science or the Arts? |
10 . Born with severe hearing loss, Li has found her way to communicate with the world—through painting.
Before learning to paint, Li always felt lonely in a silent world. She knew she was different from her peers because she could not hear. But a painting class in primary school opened for her a door to creativity and a way of expression.
“I still remember my first mural, which was to help a kindergarten to design and paint its wall,” Li says. “The project made me realize how happy I was immersing myself into painting.”
To pursue her passion for art, Li went to study advertising design at a vocational and technical school. “Painting brushes can help me create a colorful world in my imagination, telling my thoughts on paper, instead of through voices,” Li said.
Graduating from college in 2005, Li got a job as a typist at a public institute. But she could not communicate well with her other colleagues. Her husband understood how she felt because he lost his hearing due to medication when he was 1 year old. He is also an art lover. In March 2016, under her husband’s suggestion, Li quit her job and joined her husband’s company, which specializes in 3D wall and ground paintings.
Wall painting is a demanding job because it requires people to work outdoors, whether in extremely cold or hot weather. As all the people are hearing-impaired in their company, communication with clients is the most common challenge that the team faces.
Now in many parks and scenic spots, the couple have created large-scale murals and interactive pavement painting that make onlookers a part of the drawings.
“My husband and I want to introduce painting to more people like us and help them find their own way to make a living,” Li says. Now Li has an apprentice who just graduated from college. While coaching the newcomer, Li is exploring her own style and hopes to become an illustrator and open her own exhibition one day.
“They’re energetic young people with a passion to create new things, and you can feel that in their paintings,” one of their clients said. “They’re also a professional, dedicated team, often working late into the night on the designs for us.”
Li hopes that their stories can encourage more hearing-impaired people to build their own careers and achieve their goals, regardless of how tough it may be.
1. According to the passage, the painting class in primary school ________.A.started Li’s first advertising design |
B.helped Li find a new way to express herself |
C.made Li learn about 3D wall and ground paintings |
D.turned Li’s dream of opening an exhibition into reality |
A.Li can communicate with her clients easily. |
B.Li lost her hearing when she was I year old. |
C.Li and her husband have created many wonderful paintings. |
D.Li and her husband hope to become illustrators in the future. |
A.Donate money to them. | B.Design painting gifts for them. |
C.Inspire them to create their own careers. | D.Support them to complete college education. |
A.One is never too old to learn. | B.Failure is the mother of success. |
C.Accepting what you have makes you happy. | D.Nothing is impossible to the man who will try. |