1 . Experts are warning about the risks of extremely picky(挑剔的)eating after a teenager living on a diet of chips and crisps developed lasting sight loss. Eye doctors in Bristol cared for the 17-year-old after his sight had gone to the point of blindness. Tests showed he had serious vitamin deficiency(缺乏). Dr. Denize Atan, who treated him at the hospital, said, “His diet was basically a portion of chips from the local fish and chip shop every day. He also used to snack on crisps and sometimes white bread and ham, and not really any fruit and vegetables.”
The teenager saw his doctor at the age of 14 because he had been feeling tired and unwell. At that time he suffered from vitamin B12 deficiency, but he did not stick with the treatment or improve his poor diet. Three years later, he was taken to the Bristol Eye Hospital because of progressive sight loss.
He was not overweight or underweight, but he had lost minerals from his bones, which was really quite shocking for a boy of his age. In terms of his sight loss, he met the standards of being blind. “He had blind spots right in the middle of his sight,” said Dr Denize Atan, “That means he can’t drive and would find it really arduous to read, watch TV or recognize faces.”
Dr Denize Atan said that parents should learn about the harm that can be caused by picky eating, and turn to experts for help. For those who are concerned , she advised, “It’s best not to be anxious about picky eating , and instead calmly introduce one or two new foods with every meal.” She said multivitamin tablets can supplement(补充) a diet, but cannot take the place of eating healthily. “It’s much better to take in vitamins through a varied and balanced diet,” she said, adding that too many certain vitamins , including vitamin A, can be harmful ,“so you don’t want to overdo it.”
1. What does Dr Denize Atan imply in paragraph 1?| A．The diet of the boy is not balanced. |
| B．Fruit and vegetables are rich in vitamins. |
| C．Picky eating is common among teenagers. |
| D．The cause of the boy’s disease is unknown. |
| A．To improve his poor diet. |
| B．To get some help to lose weight. |
| C．To be treated for his discomfort. |
| D．To slow down his progressive sight loss. |
| A．Important. | B．Easy. | C．Necessary. | D．Difficult. |
| A．Reasons why the boy is seriously ill. |
| B．Suggestions for the boy’s family to care for him. |
| C．Advice for parents worried about picky eating. |
| D．Ways of taking in enough vitamins and minerals. |
2 . Some colors people see late at night could cause signs of clinical depression. That was the finding of a study that builds on earlier study findings. They show that individuals who live or work in low levels of light overnight can develop clinical depression. Doctors use the word “clinical depression” to describe severe form of depression. Signs may include loss of interest or pleasure in most activities, low energy levels and thoughts of death or suicide.
In the new study, American investigators designed an experiment that exposed hamsters（仓鼠）to different colors. The researchers chose hamsters because they are nocturnal, which means they sleep during the day and are active at night. The animals were separated into four groups. One group of hamsters was kept in the dark during their night-time period. Another group was placed in front of a blue light, a third group slept in front of a white light, while a fourth was put in front of a red light. After four weeks, the researchers noted how much sugary water the hamsters drank. They found that the most depressed animals drank the least amount of water.
Randy Nelson heads the Department of Neuroscience at Ohio State University. He says animals that slept in blue and white light appeared to be the most depressed. “What we saw is that these animals didn’t show any sleep uneasiness at all but they did mess up biological clock genes and they did show depressive sign while if they were in the dim（微弱）red light, they did not.”
Randy Nelson notes that photosensitive（感光）cells in the eyes have little to do with eyesight. He says these cells send signals to the area of the brain that controls what has been called the natural sleep-wake cycle.
He says there’s a lot of blue in white light. This explains why the blue light and white light hamsters appear to be more depressed than the hamsters seeing red light or darkness.
1. Researchers use hamsters in the experiment because ________.| A．they are similar to humans in dealing with colors |
| B．they are easy to observe and study |
| C．they are active at night and sleep during the day |
| D．they are sensitive to colors like human beings |
| A．They don’t sleep well. | B．They drink less sugary water. |
| C．Their eyesight becomes worse. | D．Their energy level becomes low. |
| A．Blue light | B．Red light |
| C．Dim light | D．Darkness |
| A．Not being exposed to dim red light when using computers. |
| B．Living or working in low levels of light overnight. |
| C．Equipping their computer screens to put it more in the reddish light. |
| D．Going to see doctors of clinical depression regularly for help. |
3 . Nowadays, we can read almost all "truths" on social media sites. But are they really reliable? Sites such as the micro-messaging service, the social networking site and the photo-sharing app Instagram might "misrepresent the real world", according to a study by computer scientists from McGill University and Carnegie Mellon University.
The scientists warn that gathering information about public views and trends from these sites is unwise. There are still large parts of the population who do not take part in social media activities. Also, there's a risk that many social media users are under-represented. Instagram, for example, appeals to younger adults in urban areas while Pinterest is used mainly by females aged 25 to 34. And only 5 percent of the micro-messaging service users are over 65 years old, according to the study. However, this is not the only issue, according to the scientific team. The design of a website can influence how people behave online, creating what the researchers call "Internet bias". For example, micro-blogging sites such as Weibo promote "popular" stories. It saves time for some but it also limits readers' choice of what they see. In the end, many people open those stories and make them more "popular". But it's not because they choose those stories. Rather, it is because the content is right in front of them.
Besides, it's possible that not everyone on your social networks is real. There might actually be a few fake accounts among them. Fake "bots" pretend to be humans and are often included when measuring or predicting human behaviors online.
The findings might be more important than you would think, since many social media studies are used to inform and justify decisions and investments among the public and in industry and government, according to Derek Ruths, an assistant professor of Computer Science at Mc Gill University.
If the team is right, you might have to think carefully next time you say, "It's true, you know; I read it on Weibo."
1. Why does the author mention the micro-messaging and Instagram?| A．Because they are the best social media sites today. |
| B．Because they are not in favor of the current study. |
| C．Because the public are sharing truths on these sites. |
| D．Because information on these sites may not be reliable. |
| A．By giving examples. | B．By making comparisons. |
| C．By dividing into groups. | D．By analyzing causes. |
| A．Ambiguous. | B．Favorable. | C．Disagreeable. | D．Cautious. |
| A．To analyze why information gathered from social media sites may not be trustworthy. |
| B．To remind readers of things they should watch out for when using social media. |
| C．To point out the advantages and disadvantages of social media. |
| D．To recommend popular social networking sites for readers. |
4 . Laptop computers are popular all over the world. People use them on trains and airplanes, in airports and hotels. These laptops connect people to their workplace. In the United States today, laptops also connect students to their classrooms.
Westlake College in Virginia will start a laptop computer program that allows students to do schoolwork anywhere they want. Within five years, each of the 1500 students at the college will receive a laptop. The laptops are part of a $10 million computer program at Westlake, a 110-year-old college. The students with laptops will also have access to the Internet. In addition, they will be able to use e-mail to “peak” with their teachers, their classmates, and their families. However, the most important part of the laptop program is that students will be able to use computers without going to computer labs. They can work with it at home, in a fast-food restaurant or under the trees—anywhere at all!
Because of the many changes in computer technology, laptop use in higher education, such as colleges and universities, is workable. As laptops become more powerful, they become more similar to desktop computers. In addition, the portable computers can connect students to not only the Internet, but also libraries and other resources. State higher-education officials are studying how laptops can help students. State officials are also testing laptop programs at other universities, too.
At Westlake College, more than 60 percent of the staff use computers. The laptops will allow all teachers to use computers in their lessons. As one Westlake teacher said, “Here we are in the middle of Virginia and we’re giving students a window on the world. They can see everything and do everything.”
1. The main purpose of the laptop program is to give each student a laptop to ________.| A．connect them to libraries | B．surf the Internet |
| C．work at home | D．use for their schoolwork |
| A．It is an old college in America. | B．1500 students have laptops. |
| C．All teachers use computers. | D．Students there can do everything. |
| A．attend lectures on information technology |
| B．get information from around the world |
| C．travel around the world |
| D．have free laptops |
| A．The program is successful. | B．We don’t know the result of the program yet. |
| C．The program is too expensive. | D．The program is not workable. |
5 . What is the greatest threat to mankind? Maybe different people come up with different answers. However, there is no denying the fact that the only threat to humankind, apart from humankind itself, is, without any doubt, the nature. Natural disasters are the result of natural environmental processes that have a damaging effect on people. Natural disasters can come in many forms: such as geological events like earthquakes, tsunamis or mud-rock flows, climatic events like storms, hurricanes or tornadoes and fire events like forest fires and wildfires.
The damage done by natural disasters is mainly as a result of our inability to predict exactly when they will happen. Although great progress has been made in designing and developing forecasting models for some natural disaster, complete certainty is still impossible. Even to be pessimistic there is a possibility that human beings will never achieve accurate prediction of the happening of all natural disasters.
What's more, even though we were able to predict these disasters from nature, preventing them is equally impossible. So we only have two ways to both prevent injuries or deaths and reduce economic losses to the least. These two methods are to prepare before a natural disaster comes to hit, and to manage the necessary resources and public services after a natural disaster strikes.
These two things have always been at the leading position of the projects of both national governments and international organizations. In the United States, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is responsible for the "preparedness, response and recovery planning" of both man-made and natural disasters.
Most natural disasters cannot be prevented, and both emergency preparation and good disaster management are the best ways to deal with them. Although natural events may appear to serve no purpose but simply to punish and destroy, natural disasters, a perfect symbol of the great power of the nature, are display of our planet's evolution and its state of change.
1. Which can't be regarded as a similarity between tornadoes and earthquakes?| A．They can not be prevented. |
| B．They are both geological events. |
| C．They cause damage to people. |
| D．They are both the result of natural environmental processes. |
| A．it is very difficult to predict when exactly they will happen |
| B．our forecasting equipment is too old for many natural disasters |
| C．we don't do enough preparation before natural disasters strike |
| D．we don't have the necessary public services to use after natural disasters strike |
| A．natural disasters can not be predicted at all |
| B．human beings are pessimistic to the future |
| C．being well-prepared can avoid economic losses |
| D．good preparation and disaster management are advisable. |
| A．a symbol of the power of nature | B．the greatest threat to mankind |
| C．Natural disasters and mankind | D．reduce losses to the least |
6 . As spring arrives, farmers around the world are making decisions about what crops to plant and how to manage them. In the U. S., farmers typically have big data to help make these decisions. These data have a clear upside. They make farms more productive. In the U.S., the past five years have seen a series of good harvests for both corn and soybean. A big part is generated by effectively using data to produce more food from the same amount of land, seed and fertilizer.
In the poorer parts of the world, however, the picture is much different. Many farmers are guided only by their history with the land and their community's traditions. Their skills and knowledge are impressive, but they suffer from a poverty of data. They rely on technical advisors for advice from governments and academic centers who often have very little knowledge of the local area. For seeds and fertilizers and other materials used in the field, they rely on companies that lack data on how their products will perform in the local conditions.
About 10 years ago, East African officials and their development partners started to explore why so few smallholder dairy farmers made profits from growing demand from urban consumers. Surveys of farmers in the region suggested poor access to veterinary(禽畜的) care and breeding assistance. An effort to provide these services has helped farmers get more milk.
Data would matter little if farming was easy and the paths to productivity were obvious. But in reality, agriculture is a complex mix of many factors, including climate, biology, chemistry, physics, economics and culture—all of which vary from region to region. In this situation, good data is necessary.
1. How has big data benefited American’s farmers?| A．By producing more seeds and fertilizer. |
| B．By helping the farmers to make decisions. |
| C．By informing the farmers to plant crops earlier. |
| D．By increasing the amount of land for farming. |
| A．Big data. | B．Farming skills. | C．Technical guidance. | D．Farming materials. |
| A．To show that East Africa relies heavily on diary farming. |
| B．To illustrate cooperation between countries was a great success. |
| C．To serve as an example of how data helps farmers in poor areas. |
| D．To prove that city people in East Africa didn't like drinking milk. |
| A．Many changeable factors have influence on farming. |
| B．The American farmers can't decide what they will plant. |
| C．East African dairy farmers were experienced in raising cows. |
| D．The technical advisors in poor areas know the local areas well. |
7 . Having worked for more than a decade in finance in the oil industry in Canada, Tori Fahey found herself wanting more from life. But it wasn't through desperation that her circumstances changed: “I didn't get fed up and storm off, nothing like that; it was curiosity about other interests and wanting to experience something new.”
Fahey left her job and completed an MBA before setting up a move to New York to begin a degree. However, the opportunity of an open year between the MBA and the degree came up, and as a keen touring cyclist, Fahey realised that a much dreamed-about adventure was now becoming a possibility: "The ride in Africa had been on my fantasy list. It was a moment when I realised that I could do anything, so I should."
Fahey rode across Africa, a 7,500-mile trip that took four months. The whole experience had a life-changing impact. Fahey said: “Bicycles provide a literal freedom. You don't allow yourself to feel like that in everyday life because there are so many distractions. But when you' re out on the bike and there's nothing else, you' re really free to experience what life is.”
Post-degree, Fahey worked on projects with the UNDP(United Nations Development Project) in Montenegro with the aim of bringing investment to rural communities.
It was while working on these projects that the seeds were sown for the next new investment. “It was through my trip across Africa that I discovered pannier and rack systems inconvenient and I was never going to use them again.” Little did she know this would lead her to start up her own company.
In 2013, Apidura was born, producing storage solutions for people looking to travel the world by bike, race across continents and carry all they need to do so. It's now a successful global brand, but Fahey remains reflective about what else the company can do for people.
1. Why did Fahey leave her job in Canada?| A．She was bored with the job. | B．She was disappointed with life. |
| C．She wanted to add new dimensions to her life. | D．She found it hard to adjust to the circumstances. |
| A．Demanding. | B．Liberating. | C．Eventful. | D．Dangerous. |
| A．To encourage bicycle traveling. | B．To make her investment profitable. |
| C．To help cyclists carry traveling stuff. | D．To increase the pleasure of riding bikes. |
| A．A tough path to fame. | B．An adventure across Africa. |
| C．The benefits of green travelling. | D．The story behind the birth of Apidura. |
8 . The Nobel Prizes in science have been dominated (占主要地位) by men in previous years. But this year, women stole the spotlight!
Jennifer Doudna from the US and Emmanuelle Charpentier from France shared the Nobel Prize in Chemistry. It’s the first time in history for two women to win the prize without having to share it with a man. At the same time, US astronomer (天文学家) Andrea Ghez became the fourth woman to win a Nobel Prize in Physics, which she shared with two other scientists. Its first female winner was Marie Curie (居里夫人) in 1903.
Doudna and Charpentier were awarded for developing CRISPR/Cas9 genetic scissors (基因剪刀), a technology that can rewrite DNA in the cells of plants, animals and micro-organisms (微生物). It has had a “revolutionary impact (革命性的影响) on the life sciences,” according to the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. For example, it can help us develop crops that can withstand droughts (抗旱). It could also help treat inherited diseases (遗传病) in the future.
On hearing that they were the sixth and seventh women to win the Chemistry Prize, Charpentier said that she hopes girls and young female scientists will “understand that nothing is impossible.” They can “find great discoveries. It’s independent of the gender. ”
Ghez, who was awarded for her research on black holes, had the same feeling. “I’m delighted to be part of the change where more women visibly (明显地) succeed. I think that’s an important way in which we encourage the next generation,” Ghez said. In addition to her research, she was also one of the authors of the 2006 children’s book You Can Be a Woman Astronomer.
1. A pair of women scientists won this year’s Nobel Prize in ________.| A．Chemistry | B．Astronomy | C．Physics | D．Biology |
| A．How they did their research. |
| B．Why they were given the prize. |
| C．What their research was about. |
| D．How winning the prize has affected their lives. |
| A．It will change her life in a big way. |
| B．It proves that nothing is impossible. |
| C．It shows that women are more successful than men. |
| D．It can encourage the next generation of female scientists. |
| A．Women stole the spotlight. |
| B．Nothing is impossible in science. |
| C．Female scientists win top award. |
| D．Female scientists are smarter. |
9 . Seal Island is a 200-meter-long island in South Africa, which is surrounded by 55 to 57 degrees Fahrenheit waters and covered with over 60,000 seals and some birds. This island has been home to many birds and seals. You may think this island is a paradise. In fact, the island is not famous for the seals or birds. However, the real stars are the great white sharks that leap out of the water to catch the seals they are hunting.
You may think that there is no way for a 15-foot long, 3,000-pound shark to hurl its body out of the water and catch a seal in midair. Actually, these sharks are called “Air Jaws”.
Over the years, the seals have gotten smarter. Now, they go out in groups of seven and eight to feed. They swim down on the sea floor, which gives them extra camouflage (掩饰). When they have to swim near the water surface, they swim in a zigzag (之字形的) pattern. But with all these tricks, they can still be outwitted (以智取胜) by the sharks. Usually, the sharks will take one seal away from its group and force it to swim on the surface, where it is easy to hunt. Sometimes, the seal is lucky and gets away, but most of them die in the process of trying to survive.
Every year, tourists go to see these amazing animals leap out of the water, sometimes flinging (抛) their whole bodies into the air when they want to catch the seals. Some people even want to go into shark cages to see the action from below! This is the reason why this island attracts thousands of tourists around the world every year.
1. What probably makes Seal Island famous?| A．The large number of seals in the water. |
| B．The way the great white sharks hunt. |
| C．The beautiful scenery of the island. |
| D．The special position of the island. |
| A．To save energy. |
| B．To warm themselves. |
| C．To look for food. |
| D．To avoid the white sharks. |
| A．White sharks are dangerous animals. |
| B．The seals are cleverer than the white sharks. |
| C．The sharks are successful in hunting the seals. |
| D．It is easier for the sharks to hunt the seals on the sea floor. |
| A．To explain why Seal Island is famous. |
| B．To show how white sharks hunt seals. |
| C．To advise us to visit Seal Island. |
| D．To ask us to protect animals. |
10 . Life beneath the sea surface can be lovely and lively. But many organisms there produce poisonous chemicals to hunters. Divers are now collecting such poisons as drugs for human medicine.
Sharks aren't the scariest things in the ocean for scientists who dive to work. Powerful currents, creating where the ocean floor drops away, can be just as deadly. But the scientists who work underwater are trained to deal with these dangers. The rewards of research and underwater adventures are greater than the risks.
The sea may seem like a strange place to look for new drugs. But organisms in the ocean have had to adapt to a tough environment. The chemicals they make for survival might help people, too. More than 50 years ago, scientists discovered a new anticancer drug in a sea sponge. Since then, researchers have been hunting for more of such useful natural products in the seas.
With the help of underwater robots and small submarines, scientists are searching the seas—from shallow reefs to the ocean's great depths.
Bacteria living in the Arctic's cold waters break down their food using more different ways than organisms on land do. This process of turning food into energy for growth, activities and reproduction is called metabolism (新陈代谢). These pathways also produce chemicals called “secondary metabolites”. One day they also might help people.
During a fouryear project called PharmaSeas, scientists made thousands of extracts from those seafloor samples. In about a dozen of them, researchers found mixtures that can kill bacteria that some of today's antibiotics (抗生素) cannot kill. Three other newfound chemicals reduce epileptic seizures (癫痫病发作) in mice. Yet another compound may reduce the symptoms of Alzheimer's disease.
1. Why do sea organisms produce chemicals?| A．To warn themselves in the sea. | B．To benefit other creatures. |
| C．To change their environment. | D．To struggle for survival. |
| A．Medicinal value. | B．The way of hunting. |
| C．The way of breaking down food. | D．Importance to humans. |
| A．They have the same effects as today's medicine. |
| B．They have unique functions. |
| C．They can treat most diseases. |
| D．They can kill all bacteria. |
| A．Diving for New Medicines | B．Threats from the Ocean |
| C．Future Sources of Bacteria | D．Danger of Diving in the Sea |
