1 . E-cigarettes can damage vital immune system cells and may be more harmful than previously thought, a study suggests. Researchers found e-cigarette vapour disabled important immune cells in the lung and boosted inflammation (炎症).
The researchers caution against the widely held opinion that e-cigarettes are safe. However, Public Health England advises they are much less harmful than smoking and people should not hesitate to use them as an aid to giving up cigarettes.
The small experimental study, led by Prof David Thickett, at the University of Birmingham, is published online in the journal Thorax. Previous studies have focused on the chemical elements of e-cigarette liquid before it is vaped.
In this study, the researchers designed a mechanical process to mimic (模拟) vaping in the laboratory, using lung tissue samples provided by eight non-smokers. They found vapour caused inflammation and impaired the activity of alveolar macrophages cells (肺泡世噬细胞) that removed potentially damaging dust particles, bacteria and allergens. They sail some of the effects were similar to those seen in regular smokers and people with chronic lung disease.
They caution that the results are only in laboratory conditions and they are planning to do more research to better understand the long-term health impact the changes recorded took place only 48 hours.
Prof Thicket said while e-cigarettes were safer than traditional cigarettes in terms of cancer risk, they may still be harmful in the long-term. If you vape for 20 or 30 years, you can suffer from COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease), then that’s something we need to know about.
1. What’s the widely held opinion about e-cigarettes?| A．They’re more harmful. | B．They’re less harmful. |
| C．They’re unknown to people. | D．They’re harmless. |
| A．It’s believable. | B．It’s conducted narrowly. |
| C．It’s accepted by most people. | D．It’ s carried out in America. |
| A．They are safer in terms of mental problems. |
| B．They may be little harm in the long run. |
| C．They are safer with regard to cancer risk. |
| D．They can completely replace traditional ones. |
| A．Can e-cigarettes damage vital brain system cells? |
| B．Can e-cigarettes become popular among people? |
| C．Can e-cigarettes be recommended to smokers ? |
| D．Can c-cigarettes damage vital immune system cells ? |
2 . For all its drawbacks, aging brings a benefit: social relationships generally improve. Older individuals have fewer but closer friendships, avoid conflicts, and are more optimistic compared with younger adults. Now, 20 years of data on chimpanzees suggest they, too, develop more meaningful friendships as they age.
“The finding challenges a long-standing assumption that humans mellow (成熟) with age because we are aware of our approaching death.” said Zarin Machanda, a professor at Tufts University. But finding the same pattern in chimps suggests a simpler explanation: It could be an evolved trait found in a wider range of species. Zarin and her colleagues gathered data from the Kibale Chimpanzee Project, which has tracked wild chimpanzee behavior in Uganda’s Kibale National Park since 1987. Because chimps are socially similar to humans — they live in large groups and engage in both cooperative and antagonistic (敌对的) relationships throughout their lives — they serve as an ideal test group for studying changes in social behavior. The researchers zeroed in on the males, who had more purely peer-to-peer relationships than females.
Combing through 21 years of behavioral logs on 21 chimps aged 15 through 58, the researchers found that older males (aged 35 and up) had more mutual friendships than younger ones. Older “friends” would sit together and groom one another on a regular basis, whereas younger chimps were more likely to engage in one-sided relationships, in which they groomed preferred elders who rarely returned the favor. As males age and fall in rank, they stop competing for dominance and “tend to give up”. Forming these cooperative relationships with peers could help older males maintain their status, helping them fend off challenges by younger and fitter chimps.
The team are eager to see whether other chimpanzee groups—and female chimpanzees—also experience this mellowing with age. Machanda says the theory could also be tested in other long-lived social species. Next, however, the team will take a deeper look at how social bonds might benefit aging chimps - and whether the same mechanisms could be at work in humans. “There is a lot more to learn,” Machanda says.
1. The author writes Paragraph 1 to ________| A．introduce the topic about the finding on chimps. |
| B．compare chimps with humans in social behaviors. |
| C．show that humans mature as they age is a mere misunderstanding. |
| D．stress that aging is very terrifying not only for humans but also for animals. |
| A．Because chimps look like humans in so many ways. |
| B．Because chimps are easy to track down in the wild. |
| C．Because chimps bear resemblance to humans in social behaviors. |
| D．Because chimps live in large groups together throughout their lives. |
| A．It took the researchers 21 years to study the elderly chimps. |
| B．Older males exhibit mutual friendship among the group. |
| C．Younger males prefer to groom the elders because they respect them. |
| D．Elderly chimps will continue to fight to maintain their status as they age. |
| A．There’s no need to study the female chimpanzees for the theory. |
| B．It would be better to test other species who live a short life as well. |
| C．They have learned fairly enough about how aging affects animal behaviors. |
| D．The study on aging chimps would help better understand human interactions. |
3 . When you’re on a fishing boat, you may see flocks of birds following in your track, hoping to catch a snack. Now scientists say they can use those birds’ behavior to track illegal fishing boats.
Here’s how it works: Researchers attached data recorders to the backs of 169 albatrosses (信天翁) in the Southern and Indian oceans. The devices weighed only an ounce and a half, but they included a GPS and were able to detect the presence and intensity of radar signals coming from boats. That information was then transmitted by satellite, so the researchers could track the location of the birds-and thus the radar-emitting boats-in real time.
The scientists then cross-checked that data against the known locations of boats, gathered from a system that boats use to declare themselves, called the Automatic Identification System (AIS). And differences appeared frequently.
More than a third of the times the birds’ recorders detected radar signals, and therefore a boat, no such boat appeared in the official log (航海记录)—meaning that the vehicles had likely switched off their Automatic Identification Systems—something the researchers say probably happens in illegal fishing operations.
The work suggests birds could be an effective boat-monitoring tool—as long as illegal fishing operations don’t target the birds. Fortunately, such a task would be difficult.
“Around fishing vessels, you can get hundreds of birds at any one time that are all flying around. So it’s not really possible to target a specific bird. And the birds with recorders on are not marked in any way. So it’s difficult for fishermen to pick out a specific bird," said study author Samantha Patrick, a marine biologist at the University of Liverpool.
Patrick’s bigger concern is that albatrosses often get hooked on fishing lines. And though regulations have been established to protect against that happening—with success—illegal boats don’t necessarily obey. So scientists might be underestimating the risk posed to albatross populations. But this system could mean that those illegal boats may have a tougher time flying under the radar.
1. What behavior of albatrosses can be used to track illegal fishing boats according to scientists?| A．Seeking snacks on a boat. |
| B．Following a boat to catch food. |
| C．Monitoring the location of the boats. |
| D．Keeping an eye open for illegal activities. |
| A．To carry a GPS. |
| B．To record the birds’ behavior. |
| C．To help satellite transmit information. |
| D．To detect radar signals from boats. |
| A．They are probably fishing illegally. |
| B．They needn’t declare themselves. |
| C．They don’t want to emit radar signals. |
| D．They want to avoid being followed by albatrosses. |
| A．Birds—Humans’ Friends |
| B．Data Recorders—A Helper to Albatrosses |
| C．AIS—A System to Declare Locations of Boats |
| D．Albatrosses—A Tool to Monitor Illegal Fishing Boats |
4 . “When we first rescued Ovi, he was bleeding from a cut on his leg and we realized his flight feathers were gone, as well as him being really dirty,” El Oud told The Dodo. “We later discovered he had a fever.” They brought the pelican(鹈鹕) back to shore, and El Oud researched how to care for the bird. With the help of the wildlife rehabilitation group Lebanese Wildlife, they were able to nurse Ovi back to health.
El Oud trained Ovi through positive reinforcement so he could better care for him and Ovi quickly caught on. “When he acted well, I’d give him a fish, and when he didn't I'd just ignore it,” El Oud said. “In less than a day, he became a very friendly bird toward me. [He’s a] very intelligent animal.”
Unfortunately, without his flight feathers, most likely clipped by wildlife traffickers, Ovi could no longer make it long distances. Luckily, he was already in the perfect place to get his strength back.
El Oud’s father, Ali, is the manager at the seaside restaurant Abou Mounir Fishery in Beirut, Lebanon. Ali knew Ovi would be safe at the marina, where the family is friendly with all the locals and fishermen. Soon, protecting and caring for Ovi became a community effort. El Oud fed Ovi around the marina until the pelican learned where the fish were coming from and became the restaurant’s best customer.
Now, Ovi waddles into the bustling café to get a snack multiple times a day. “Essentially, what he does is hang out down from the restaurant and does whatever he wants,” El Oud said. “But sometimes if he's hungry and wants food, he comes up by himself because he realized that's where the food is coming from.”
Ovi has become something of a mascot for the restaurant, but the family hopes he can also become a symbol of how to properly interact with wildlife. “Everyone here takes care of him. He’s become the symbol of this place,” Ali El Oud told The National. “Hopefully, he won’t become domestic and will migrate again. We want him to have a life that a pelican should have.”
1. Which can be defined as positive reinforcement according to the text?| A．Jack passed the English exam and he didn’t need to help do housework. |
| B．Jack passed the English exam and he was rewarded with a bike. |
| C．Jack failed in the English exam and he had to help do housework. |
| D．Jack failed in the English exam and he wouldn’t get a bike. |
| A．Drug traffickers. | B．Wildlife dealers. |
| C．Wildlife activists. | D．Locals and fishermen. |
| A．Negative. | B．Curious. |
| C．Indifferent. | D．Supportive. |
| A．Ovi may end up in the wild. |
| B．Ovi is afraid of people. |
| C．Ali El wants to keep Ovi as a pet. |
| D．Ovi is always hungry. |
5 . James Sulikowski, from the Shark and Fish Conservation Lab at the School of Mathematical and Natural Sciences at Arizona State University, was one of the scientists who captured the seven foot porbeagle (鼠鲨) shark in the Atlantic.
In a Facebook post, the lab said the shark had been growing for years with a plastic strap around its gills. “Photos ... show the female shark’s head was slowly being sliced off by the unyielding strap,” it said. “The piece of circular plastic had become lodged around her neck when she was younger. As she grew, it began to cut through her skin into her muscle, if we had not removed it, she surely would have died.”
In a message to Newsweek, Sulikowski said the strap was probably one that would normally go around a bait box. “The box went overboard, and the porbeagle shark, when younger, ate the fish in the box,” he said. “While doing so, [the] strap got wrapped around the sharks head. As the shark grew, the strap dug into the shark’s flesh. If we didn’t remove it, the shark would have surely died.”
The photos of the shark being strangled follow the discovery of a dead minke whale that had been killed by a piece of fishing line. The male minke whale was found on a beach in Dennis, Massachusetts. The fishing line had become “wrapped around its head and through its mouth, creating a bridle,” the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) said in a Facebook post.
The IFAW said the initial autopsy (验尸) suggests the whale died from injuries caused by the entanglement. It also said there were signs of possible infection. “The entanglement likely contributed to the cause of death, though additional lab results are pending.”
The problem of plastic pollution in the ocean is getting worse. It is thought there is currently over 150 million metric tons of plastic in the world’s oceans, and more and more is entering every year. A report published earlier this year estimated the amount of plastic entering the ocean every year will have doubled by 2040, amounting to 600 million metric tons.
More than one million seabirds and 100,000 marine animals are killed every year by plastic waste. “Plastic in all forms are an issue,” Sulikowski said. “We need more research to understand the extent of the long term effects of this type of pollution.”
1. What do you know about the shark?| A．Her head was sliced off. |
| B．The strap cut through her skin when she was younger. |
| C．She was in more danger as she grew. |
| D．Scientists had not removed the strap. |
| A．the entanglement. | B．a piece of fishing line. |
| C．infection. | D．not decided. |
| A．The present amount of plastic in the ocean is about 300 million tons. |
| B．The next 20 years will see an increase of 450 million tons of plastic in the ocean. |
| C．More than 150 million metric tons of plastic is going into ocean every year. |
| D．About 300 million tons of plastic is going into ocean every year. |
| A．Scientists saved a shark whose head was being sliced off. |
| B．The death of a whale and a shark worried IFAW. |
| C．Plastic pollution is threatening certain animals’ lives. |
| D．Plastic pollution is getting worse and worse. |
6 . As scientists around the world race to find a treatment for the coronavirus, a young girl among them stands out.
Anika Chebrolu, a 14yearold from Frisco, Texas, has just won the 2020 3M Young Scientist Challenge and a $25,000 prize for a discovery that could provide a potential therapy to Covid19 (or SARSCoV2 virus).
Anika's winning invention uses insilico methodology to discover a lead molecule that can selectively bind to the spike protein of the SARSCoV2 virus.
"The last two days, I saw that there is a lot of media hype about my project since it involves the SARSCoV2 virus and it reflects our collective hopes to end this pandemic as I, like everyone else, wish that we go back to our normal lives soon," Anika told CNN.
The coronavirus has killed more than 1.1 million people globally since China reported its first case to the World Health Organization (WHO) in December. The United States has more than 219,000 deaths, according to data from the Johns Hopkins University Center for Systems Science and Engineering.
Anika, who is Indian American, submitted her project when she was in 8th grade but it wasn't always going to be focused on finding a cure for Covid19. Initially, her goal was to use insilico methods to identify a lead compound that could bind to a protein of the influenza virus.
"After spending so much time researching about pandemics, viruses and drug discovery, it was crazy to think that I was actually living through something like this," Anika said.
"Because of the immense severity of the Covid19 pandemic and the drastic impact it had made on the world in such a short time, I, with the help of my mentor, changed directions to target the SARSCoV2 virus." Anika said she was inspired to find potential cures to viruses after learning about the 1918 flu pandemic and finding out how many people die every year in the United States despite annual vaccinations and antiinfluenza drugs on the market.
1. What won Anika Chebrolu the 2020 3M Young Scientist Challenge?| A．The discovery of a therapy to Covid19. |
| B．The invention of the insilico methodology. |
| C．The finding of a molecule that may help treat Covid19. |
| D．The invention of a lead molecule. |
| A．They want to get rid of pandemic and restore their lives. |
| B．They want more racial equality in the world . |
| C．They want to strengthen the education of science. |
| D．They want to see a lot of media hype about her project. |
| A．Fortunately | B．Finally |
| C．Personally | D．Originally |
| A．Anika experienced the 1918 flu pandemic. |
| B．Vaccinations and antiinfluenza drugs work perfectly. |
| C．Vaccinations and antiinfluenza drugs are not good enough. |
| D．A lot of people die from flu every year. |
7 . For many parents, raising a teenager is like fighting a long war, but years go by without any clear winner. Like a border conflict between neighboring countries, the parent-teen war is about boundaries: Where is the line between what I control and what you do?
Both sides want peace, but neither feels it has any power to stop the conflict. In part, this is because neither is willing to admit any responsibility for starting it. From the parents’ point of view, the only cause of their fight is their adolescents’ complete unreasonableness. And of course, the teens see it in exactly the same way, except oppositely. Both feel trapped.
In this article, I’ll describe three no-win situations that commonly arise between teens and parents and then suggest some ways out of the trap. The first no-win situation is quarrels over unimportant things. Examples include the color of the teen’s hair, the cleanliness of the bedroom, the preferred style of clothing, the child’s failure to eat a good breakfast before school, or his tendency to sleep until noon on the weekends. Second, blaming. The goal of a blaming battle is to make the other admit that his bad attitude is the reason why everything goes wrong. Third, needing to be right. It doesn’t matter what the topic is—politics, the laws of physics, or the proper way to break an egg—the point of these arguments is to prove that you are right and the other person is wrong, for both wish to be considered an authority—someone who actually knows something—and therefore to command respect. Unfortunately, as long as parents and teens continue to assume that they know more than the other, they’ll continue to fight these battles forever and never make any real progress.
1. Why does the author compare the parent-teen war to a border conflict?| A．Both are about where to draw the line. |
| B．Both can continue for generations. |
| C．Neither has any clear winner. |
| D．Neither can be put to an end. |
| A．The teens tend to have a full understanding of their parents. |
| B．The teens agree with their parents on the cause of the conflict. |
| C．The teens cause their parents of misleading them. |
| D．The teens blame their parents for starting the conflict. |
| A．give orders to the other |
| B．know more than the other |
| C．gain respect from the other |
| D．get the other to behave properly |
| A．Solutions for the parent-teen problems. |
| B．Examples of the parent-teen war. |
| C．Causes for the parent-teen conflicts. |
| D．Future of the parent-teen relationship. |
8 . China's Bao Yongqing has been named the overall winner of the Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition for 2019, claiming one of the world's top photography awards.
The competition is developed and produced by the Natural History Museum in London. This year's competition, the 55th, drew more than 48,000 entries from 100 countries. The winning entry by Bao, a native of Qinghai province, is titled The Moment. It captures a remarkable standoff between a Tibetan fox and a marmot, and was taken on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. "Photographically, it is quite simply the perfect moment," said Roz Kidman Cox, the chairwoman of the judging panel. "The expressive intensity of the postures holds you transfixed, and the thread of energy between the raised paws seems to hold the protagonists in perfect balance, Cox said. "To have captured such a powerful interaction between a Tibetan fox and a marmot — two species key to the ecology of this high-grassland region — is extraordinary. Museum Director Michael Dixon said the picture captured "nature's ultimate challenge — the battle for survival". Bao, in a group interview on Wednesday, said of the photo: "It is very difficult and rare to capture this kind of moment, so I knew it was something very special. It took about two or three hours to get this photo. I was watching them for a long time. I have paid attention to this competition for a long time, and my first purpose was to show my image to the world, and secondly to protect the environment and my homeland," he said. " In my hometown, everyone looks after the animals, so when I go home with this award, it will be an encouragement to our people to be more protective of animals and the environment." In addition, the photographer said : "This competition is one of the most important among photographers in China, so I wanted to draw people's attention to animal protection. I hope it will introduce a passion for animals to more people."
The exhibition at the Natural History Museum in Kensington will open on Friday and run through the end of May next year, when it will go on a national and international tour. Entries for next year's competition will be accepted beginning on Oct. 21.
1. What does the underlined word " protagonists" in the 2nd paragraph mean?| A．Onlookers. | B．Photographers. |
| C．Hunters. | D．Main characters. |
| A．The competition originated from London. |
| B．It is a domestic competition in China. |
| C．The competition drew worldwide attention, making it the best event in photography. |
| D．Entries are strictly restricted, mainly focused on endangered animals. |
| A．His capturing a crucial moment between two typical species. |
| B．His expertise in photography. |
| C．His devotion to wildlife protection. |
| D．His publicizing the knowledge of rare animals. |
| A．The exhibition will go on a tour in China. |
| B．Bao has decided to submit his latest photo. |
| C．Taking photos is not painstaking. |
| D．Photograph is a way to raise people's awareness of animal protection. |
9 . Harry is a vehicle called a pod—in other words, something like a car. But Harry has no steering wheel or brake pedal. Harry does not even have a driver. Yet Harry is carrying passengers around London for the next few weeks.
Harry is part of an experiment called GATEway that is testing how people react to driverless vehicles. The name GATEway is short for Greenwich Automated Transport Environment. The experiment aims to help cities prepare for the future of transportation. The GATEway experiment does not test new technology. Instead, it tests the way existing technology can work in society.
The pod operates in an area of London called Greenwich, home of time and navigation museums. Other places where pods will be tested are Coventry, Milton, Keynes and Bristol. The pods run using sensors and a 3D map of the area. A safety operator rides along to take control in case of an emergency.
GATEway is intended to see how pedestrians and cyclists may adapt to driverless vehicles. Harry holds up to four people (three passengers and a safety operator) and can travel at speeds up to 16km/h. It is being tested in Greenwich on pedestrian paths, but not on roads with other vehicles.
If you are in Greenwich during the next few weeks you may see Harry, but you cannot ride in it during the trial. Over 5,000 people applied to be a passenger in Harry but only about 100 were chosen.
You can, however, ride in a similar pod at Heathrow Airport in London. The Heathrow pods run on tracks so they are not being tested with pedestrians, cyclists or other drivers. If the trials are successful, the first pods could be operational on the roads of the UK in 2020.
1. What’s the purpose of the GATEway?| A．To settle traffic problems in cities. |
| B．To test a new transportation technology. |
| C．To prepare cities for future transportation. |
| D．To draw people’s interest in transportation. |
| A．The passengers will help. |
| B．It will deal with it by itself. |
| C．An accident will take place. |
| D．A human driver will take it over. |
| A．To test the response of people walking or on a bike. |
| B．To avoid disturbing other vehicles on the street. |
| C．To prevent it from running at a high speed. |
| D．To watch pedestrians and cyclists go safely. |
| A．Fearful. | B．Positive. |
| C．Doubtful. | D．Grateful. |
10 . Holding hands, people jumped into the water, and floated around in Boston’s Charles River recently. That is something that would not have been possible years ago because the river was so polluted. In the 1960s, the music group The Standells even sang about the river in their popular song, “Dirty Water.”
The swimmers were getting their once-a-year chance to cool off from the summer heat in the Charles River. It is called “City Splash.” For a few days each year, the state of Massachu-setts allows public swimming on Boston’s part of the nearly 130-kilometer Charles River.
The event is in its fifth year. It is a chance for the nonprofit Charles River Conservancy to show its efforts to build a “swim park.” Their idea is to build floating docks where swimmers can jump safely into the river—without touching the risky bottom. These docks would be in areas where the water quality would be tested repeatedly.
Boston is one of the cities hoping to follow the model of Copenhagen, Denmark. That city opened the first of its three floating harbor baths in the early 2000s. On sunny days, people swim in the harbor baths surrounded by tall buildings and cars on the highways. At night the area is filled with people enjoying music and food.
Just recently Paris opened public swimming in a once-polluted canal. New York London, Berlin and other cities are planning similar features for their waterways.
In Boston, the Charles River Conservancy still needs to raise several million dollars. It also needs to get approvals from city, state and federal agencies. The group’s spokeswoman, S. J. Port, said the biggest problem has already been taken care of: The Charles is now one of the cleanest city rivers in America.
The U. S. Environmental Protection Agency announced this month that the river earned a “B” grade for water quality last year—an “A” being the best grade. It means the Charles River met the requirement for swimming 55 percent of the time.
1. What is the function of floating docks?| A．They are places for swimmers to rest. |
| B．They let swimmers get into the river safely. |
| C．They surround swimmers in a safe area of the river. |
| D．They are used to test the water quality repeatedly. |
| A．Paris. | B．Boston. |
| C．Copenhagen. | D．Berlin. |
| A．The pollution of Charles River. |
| B．Lack of money to treat pollution. |
| C．Getting approvals from governments. |
| D．Meeting the requirement of “A” grade. |
| A．The water in Charles River reaches drinking standard. |
| B．People can swim in Charles River at any time. |
| C．This summer is the hottest in Boston. |
| D．Charles River flows through Boston. |
