1 . 
A group of researchers led by Patrick Yu-Wai-Man. an ophthalmologist (眼科医师) at Cambridge University, investigated a new genetic therapy for a form of blindness. Officially, their study was a failure. But it was also a great success, for 29 of the 37 participants reported big improvements in their vision.
The disease in question is Leber Hereditary Optic Neuropathy (LHON)(遗传性视神经病变) .A defective gene leads to sudden and rapid loss of sight, with many sufferers becoming legally blind within a year. It affects between one in 30,000 and one in 50,000 people. Men in their 20s and 30s are particularly at high risk. Since most cases are caused by a mutation (突变) in a single gene, LHON is a good candidate for gene therapy, a form of genetic engineering which aims to replace the defective gene with a working one.
With that in mind. Dr Yu-Wai-Man and his colleagues loaded up a changed virus with a corrected copy of the gene and injected it into their patients' eyes. The researchers controlled the experiment by injecting only one of each patient's eyes--chosen at random--with the virus. The other eye was given a fake injection. Using two eyes in the same patient makes for a perfect control.
The surprise came several months later. The researchers had hoped to see a big improvement in the treated eyes, compared with the untreated ones. They did not, for which the study failed in its primary objective. Instead, in more than three quarters of their patients, they saw significant improvements in both eyes.
On the face of it, that was odd. Only one eye had received the treatment, after all. Follow-up studies in monkeys confirmed what the researchers had suspected. The virus, it seemed, had found a way to travel from one eye to the other, probably via the optic nerve. Tissues and fluids samples from monkeys given the same treatment as the human patients showed viral DNA in both eyes, not just one.
Although it had a happy outcome in this case, the prospect of a gene-therapy virus travelling to places it is not intended to go to might worry regulators. Fortunately, the researchers found no trace of the virus elsewhere in the monkeys’ bodies. And. though the study was technically a failure, its practical success means that an effective treatment for LHON may at last be in reach.
1. LHON is chosen in this study because it________| A．can be easily cured |
| B．affects young males mostly |
| C．is a common disease among people |
| D．results from a mutation in a single gene |
| A．Some participants suffered loss of sight |
| B．The vision of both eyes improved greatly |
| C．All the participants gave positive feedback |
| D．The virus didn’t replace the damaged gene |
| A．confirm the virus travels across eyes |
| B．prove the virus can affect other body parts |
| C．show the effect of the treatment on animals |
| D．highlight regulators' worry about gene-therapy |
| A．The Future of Gene Therapy |
| B．The Blessing for Eye Patients |
| C．Gene Therapy: Eyeball to Eyeball |
| D．Virus Treatment: From Humans to Monkeys |
2 . China's historic 23-day Chang'e 5 mission has not only obtained precious rock and soil samples from the moon, but has also brought back a group of seeds that traveled the furthest in the nation's agricultural and forestry histories. More than 30 kinds of seeds, including that of rice, oats etc., were placed inside the multi-module Chang'e 5 spacecraft and orbited around the moon for about 15 days.
Scientists wished to check what would happen to the seeds after being exposed to extraterrestrial (地外的) forces in lunar orbit and also hoped that they could develop beneficial mutations (突变). This mission offered good opportunities to scientists, which enabled them to deepen their studies on the effect of cosmic rays on the growth and evolution of life on Earth.
Space-based mutation breeding refers to the process of exposing seeds to forces such as microgravity, vacuums and cosmic radiation during a spaceflight and then sending them back to Earth for further observation and planting. Researchers observe and examine several generations of plants grown from space-bred seeds and investigate their mutations-some are positive and desirable while others are negative. Those with positive mutations will be kept and analyzed, and will be introduced to farmers after their certification and approval.
Space breeding can generate mutations faster and more conveniently than ground-based experiments and can bring about some desirable traits that are otherwise hard to introduce. Compared with natural or conventionally bred types of plants, space-developed versions with positive mutations usually feature higher nutritional content, greater annual yields, shorter growth periods and better resistance to diseases and insect pests.
China conducted its first space breeding experiment in 1987, using a satellite to carry seeds into space. Since then, hundreds of kinds of seeds and seedlings have traveled with dozens of Chinese spaceships. Space breeding has helped to produce more than 200 new types of mutated plants in China that have been approved for large-scale cultivation, ranging from grains to vegetables and fruits. The Chang'e 5 robotic mission returned 1,731 grams of lunar rock and soil to Earth, marking a historic accomplishment 44 years after the last lunar substances were taken back.
1. Why were the seeds placed inside Chang'e 5?| A．To pick out the fittest for mutations. | B．To understand extraterrestrial forces. |
| C．To study the intensity of cosmic rays. | D．To expose them to a special environment. |
| A．It is not a time-consuming process. | B．Mutations develop in a random way. |
| C．It often brings about desirable effects. | D．Approval will be granted to mutated plants. |
| A．It is a custom to put seedlings on a spacecraft. |
| B．China was the first to do a space breeding experiment. |
| C．It is some time since seeds were last taken into space. |
| D．Space breeding has brought us commercial benefits. |
| A．Space-bred Seeds Offer Great Chances | B．Chang'e 5 Returns with a Big Package |
| C．Plant Mutations Result in a Better Life | D．Seeds from Space Mark a New History |
3 . Although the vast majority of people have admitted to considering having an emergency fund to fall back on in case of a financial disaster, once their paycheck comes through, they have many duties higher on their list of importance that need paying off. However, one Australian financial advisor has given clear and important reasons why an emergency fund should always be at the top of your priorities.
Canna Campbell explains how to create this fund and how it differs from your other savings accounts. She said, “Your emergency fund should be treated differently to your current account and savings.” Campbell went on to explain that the money put into this account should be decided according to how much you are paid in your job and if you were to lose it, the money you would need to keep yourself out of the minus.
In addition, people need to consider situations where they might have housing damage or a medical emergency arising, resulting them in requiring immediate assistance that insurance will not cover. For this reason, Campbell added that there is no “ ‘one size fits all,’ everyone is different.” She insisted that it“boils down to your situation, lifestyle, responsibilities and what helps you sleep well at night. "
As for how to do it, Canna gave instructions too,“Work out how you can start setting money aside in a separate account, and build this separate savings account as quickly as possible, without cutting your living expenses.”
She finally added, “So keep it simple. However, it can be worth temporarily going without a few luxuries in order to find the extra cash flow to put into your emergency fund account. Going without a few items in the short term definitely outweighs the stress as it gives you peace of mind knowing that you have a safety net to protect you.”
1. Which of the following shows what most people do about creating an emergency fund?| A．Prevention is better than cure. | B．Lightning never strikes twice in the same place. |
| C．Time and tide waits for no man. | D．To say is one thing and to do is just another. |
| A．The benefits of an emergency fund. | B．The size of an emergency fund. |
| C．The types of an emergency fund. | D．The necessity of an emergency fund. |
| A．The emergency fund can replace insurance. | B．The emergency fund brings more fun. |
| C．The emergency fund is really very simple. | D．The emergency fund can lessen stress. |
| A．What Just Goes at the Very Top of Your Priorities? |
| B．How Does Emergency Fund Obtain the Peace of Mind? |
| C．Emergency Fund for Financial Security and Stability |
| D．Canna's Advice on Reducing a Financial Disaster |
4 . This year's hottest destination is Mars. On 23 July, China launched the Tianwen-1 mission to the Red Planet — one of three spacecrafts' planning to head there in 2020. This is China's second interplanetary mission, but the first that the nation has launched on its own. The other, Phobos-Grunt, was a cooperation with Russia that didn't make it out of Earth's orbit after blasting off in 2011.
The new mission, called Tianwen, translated as "questions to heaven" — consists of an orbiter, a lander and a rover, the last of which will be named via a public competition. "It's very ambitious because it's a four-part mission: there's the launch, getting into orbit, the landing and the rover, and every single step has to go right, says space consultant Laura Forczyk. All those steps must work on the first try, an achievement no other space program me has accomplished on a Mars mission because of the difficulty of landing there.
If all goes well, Tianwen-1 will arrive at Mars in February 2021 and the lander and rover will touch down two or three months later. They will take pictures from the surface, measure the soil composition, make radar observations of the planet's underground structure and observe Mars's magnetic field. Due to the harsh environment on Mars, the rover is expected to last about 90 Martian days. It weighs around 240 kilograms, about the same as China's Yutu-2 rover, which is currently roaming the moon. "The Chinese mission to the far side of the moon has been hugely successful, so they are building on that success now," says Forczyk.
The orbiter, which will relay data from the lander and rover back to scientists on Earth, also carries a suite of scientific instruments. It has two cameras and a spectrometer (光谱仪), which it will use to create a map of the mineral composition of Mars's surface, as well as radar and detectors to examine particles in the Martian atmosphere. It will also look for deposits of water ice that could be helpful for future explorers.
Tianwen-1 won't be alone in Mars orbit. The United Arab Emirates has just launched its first mission to Mars, and NASA's Perseverance rover is set to launch on 30 July. These missions are all leaving now because Mars is at its closest point to Earth, which happens once every two years.
1. Which statement is true according to the first two paragraphs?| A．On 23 July, three countries launched space crafts to Mars. |
| B．Every step of Tianwen mission can be completed at several attempts. |
| C．The mission, Phobos-Grunt, cooperated with Russia was a great success. |
| D．Tianwen mission shows the pioneering efforts of China's space exploration. |
| A．Travelling around. | B．Floating past. | C．Wandering aimlessly. | D．Moving swiftly. |
| A．act as a detector to examine particles on the earth |
| B．search for a substance useful for future exploration |
| C．send information back to the earth collected from Mars |
| D．identify the position of minerals possibly lying on Mars |
| A．China's Successful Space Explorations |
| B．China Launching Missions to Mars |
| C．Tianwen, the First Interplanetary Mission |
| D．Mars, the Hottest Destination to Explore |
5 . Tears well up in people's eyes for a lot of reasons. A teardrop running down the cheek is the ultimate symbol of sadness, but people may also cry because they just cut an onion, or maybe they're trying to blink out an eyelash.
For the most part, tears help maintain healthy eyes. When you blink, basal (基底的) tears clean and smooth the eyes, which helps you to see clearly, according to the American Academy of Ophthalmology. Moreover, reflex (反射性的) tears, or those that happen unconsciously, help clear the eyes of irritants (刺激物), including dust and the gas that's produced when a knife slices a raw onion, said Andre Silva, a doctoral student of psychology at the University of Minho in Portugal.
Emotions can also bring about tears in humans. These emotional tears can serve as a means of nonverbal communication. Silva said, “Babies cry to signal to their mothers that something's up. It's a pure attention call. Some people think that babies are capable of controlling adults by crying, but that idea is false and misleading, as a baby is not conscious of being tricky: In a way, we can consider these tears as being somewhere between basal tears and emotional tears.”
As people grow older, they begin to use their tears to express emotions, such as happiness or sadness. These tears may promote compassion and empathy in others. But beware of people who may use their tears to control others. “Some sensitive people may be easily controlled through the crying of others, and may easily shed tears that can also be used by others to control them,” he said.
So, emotional tears have both advantages and disadvantages. “They are a powerful communication device and a powerful manipulative (操纵别人的) device,” Silva said. Crying also makes it hard for some people to mask their feelings when they're in the middle of an extreme emotional state.
1. What's the function of reflex tears?| A．Reflecting our feelings. |
| B．Being used to affect others. |
| C．Serving as a means of interaction. |
| D．Clearing away harmful matters in the eyes. |
| A．Tears are usually used to pity others. |
| B．Babies burst into tears without tricks. |
| C．People mask their feelings when crying. |
| D．Blinking out an eyelash makes it easy to cry. |
| A．We ought to identify tears. |
| B．We should control babies, crying. |
| C．We need to smooth our eyes by emotional tears. |
| D．We can hardly fan others' sympathy by tears. |
| A．Why do people cry? |
| B．Why can tears control others? |
| C．How do people express emotions? |
| D．How can people make use of tears? |
6 . I'm always surprised when I hear the stats (统计数据) about how little time kids spend outside. One study found children are spending less than half the amount of time outdoors than they did just 20 years ago. Meanwhile, the Kaiser Family Foundation found that kids spend an average of seven hours a day using electronic media.
My own childhood was filled with outdoor time. I built forts in the woods, rode my bike with friends, went ice skating in the winter, climbed trees and rocks, and read books on a platform in a tree on hot days.
But my nature time wasn't limited to after-school and weekend activities. I attended a public school in New York's Hudson Valley, and we spent almost all our gym outside. We spent science classes on the acres that surrounded our school, collecting samples from trees and learning about everything from chemistry to physics.
All that outside time isn't just about health and getting kids to exercise more. Several studies also have linked outside time to higher test scores, lower anxiety and aggression, more creativity and improved attention spans.
A public school in Vermont, is taking these results seriously. Eliza Minnucci’s kindergarten class there engages in Forest Mondays, during which the students spend the whole day in the woods, rain or shine.
Minnucci said that playing outdoors involves plenty of learning. It’s fairly easy to weave lessons into nature play. Kids wanted to know the names of birds, plants, rocks and clouds. We followed streams into larger streams into larger streams into a pond and created bridges with logs and stones. We even made up stories about ants and butterfly. For the older kids, we had more defined lesson plans, but we were still outside the whole time, and we would often go off on a tangent(转向)if something interesting was happening, so the learning experience was always fresh and engaging. Besides learning and moving around freely instead of sitting at desks, the kids were having fun while they learned, which made them excited for the next lesson.
1. Why does the author mention little outdoor time kids spend at the beginning of the passage?| A．To make the official data known. |
| B．To focus on children s mind and body. |
| C．To introduce the topic for the passage. |
| D．To explain the reason for little outdoor time. |
| A．Bad for kids, attention. |
| B．Harmful to kids, anxiety. |
| C．Doubtful of kids' test scores. |
| D．Beneficial to kids’ mind and body. |
| A．Physics and teamwork. |
| B．Chemistry and investigation. |
| C．Biology and geology. |
| D．Language and creativity. |
| A．Kids Get Creative in Playing Outdoors |
| B．Why Outdoor Education for Kids Matters |
| C．Learning Outdoors Is the Goal of Education |
| D．Outdoor Lessons Involve Kids' Learning |
7 . While it's not impossible for birds to fly in the rain, they usually choose not to. You may see birds fly for a few seconds in poor weather, but most of them prefer to stay put on rainy days.
Why does rain make it harder for birds to fly? You might imagine that moving through the air while being pelted by raindrops would be pretty unpleasant. However, it's not the rain itself that makes flying difficult. Instead, birds are influenced by the drop in the air pressure that comes with most rainstorms. When pressure drops, the air is less thick, which makes it harder for birds to fly. Moving through the sky in areas of low air pressure takes a lot of energy.
Most birds need to eat several times a day—rain or no rain. Luckily, most birds' feathers（羽毛）are highly waterproof（防水的）, protecting the skin beneath. Many birds can also make oil that they can spread over their feathers to further protect themselves from the rain. Most birds don't like rain. In fact, in a 2010 study, a team of researchers studied birds living in a Costa Rican rainforest. They found that the birds had higher levels of stress hormone（应激激素）on rainy days. That may not surprise you. After all, many animals feel stressed out during storms. Pet owners often find that rain and thunder make their animals nervous. Some animals are so strongly influenced by nature that they almost seem to forecast the future.
No one really knows how many birds die during a storm or series of storms. But the number is certainly higher than usual. They fly into trees or windows; they get lost over the ocean or a large lake; their food sources are made more difficult to get but, at the same time, they need more food to get warm. However, if rain continues for some time, birds will have to challenge the storm.
1. What makes it harder for birds to fly in the rain?| A．The wet air. | B．Food shortage. |
| C．Raindrops. | D．The low air pressure. |
| A．Cleaned. | B．Hit. |
| C．Frightened. | D．Protected. |
| A．Why birds can fly in the rain |
| B．How birds are influenced by rain. |
| C．How birds survive long rainy days. |
| D．Why birds' feathers are waterproof. |
| A．Birds will develop the ability to fly in the rain |
| B．Birds fly only when necessary on rainy days. |
| C．Birds have nowhere to hide in rainstorms. |
| D．Birds need less food on rainy days. |
8 . If you're British or live in a Commonwealth nation, Christmas doesn't end on December 25.The day after Christmas is known as Boxing Day, and the relaxing holiday is a chance to allow the celebration for one more restful day.
But its name has nothing to do with the sport of boxing, and unlike the popular idea, did not appear from a need to return unwanted gifts or clean up trash produced by Christmas gifting.
There are several theories as to how that charitable tradition became known as "boxing".Some historians link the use of the term to boxes of donations that were laid in churches during the pre-Christmas season of Advent in the early days of Christianity during the second and third centuries A.D.The day after Christmas, the boxes were opened and the money was given away to the poor.
Another possible story for Boxing Day has to do with a tradition that formed in 19th century Victorian England, where servants sacrificed（牺牲）time with their own families to cater to their employers on Christmas.On the day after Christmas, employers would give the servants a rare day off and send them home with leftovers from the family's Christmas feast for their service.
Though the reasons are lost to history, Boxing Day charity eventually fell out of tradition---and was replaced with physical and material pleasures.Today, the holiday is linked with sports, with major football rugby, and cricket matches and horse races taking place on December 26.
December 26 is also a big shopping day throughout the UK and the Commonwealth.The holiday kicks off what is known as " Boxing Week" , during which retailers（零售商）try to move old stock and shoppers compete for one last bargain of the year.In recent years, though, the American tradition of Black Friday---massive sales that take place the day after Thanksgiving each November---has become popular in the United Kingdom and has largely overshadowed Boxing Week.
1. What kind of festival was Boxing Day probably in the beginning?| A．A charitable festival. | B．A religious festival. |
| C．A sports festival. | D．A business festival. |
| A．Take care of. | B．Depend on. |
| C．Put up with. | D．Pick up. |
| A．It has become an online shopping day. |
| B．It has been replaced by Black Friday. |
| C．It only covers popular sports events. |
| D．It has become less important than before. |
| A．When Did Boxing Day Come into Being? | B．Why Did People Celebrate Boxing Day? |
| C．How Is Black Friday Celebrated in the UK? | D．Why Is Black Friday Popular in the UK? |
9 . Researchers at CU Boulder have developed a wearable device that changes the human body into a biological battery. The device is stretchy(弹性的) enough that you can wear it like a ring, sport band or any other thing that touches your skin. It also taps into a person's natural heat-employing thermoelectric generators to change the body's internal temperature into electricity. "In the future, we want to be able to power your wearable electronics without having to include a battery," said Jianliang Xiao, an associate professor at CU Boulder.
The concept may sound like something out of The Matrix film series, in which a race of robots have enslaved humans to harvest their precious organic energy. Xiao and his colleagues aren't that ambitious: Their devices can generate about 1 volt (伏特) of energy for every square centimeter of skin space-less volt per area than what most existing batteries provide but still enough to power electronics like watches or fitness trackers.
Scientists have previously experimented with similar wearable devices, but Xiao's is stretchy, can heal itself when damaged and is fully recyclable-making it a cleaner alternative to traditional electronics. "Whenever you use a battery, you're depleting(消耗) that battery and will, eventually, need to replace it," Xiao said. "The nice thing about our device is that you can wear it, and it provides you with constant power."
Just pretend that you're out for a jog. As you exercise, your body heats up, and that heat will radiate out to the cool air around you. Xiao's device captures that flow of energy rather than let it go to waste. "The thermoelectric generators are in close contact with the human body, and they can use the heat that would normally be sent into the environment," Xiao said.
1. What does Xiao expect of his device at present?| A．It will be used for medical purposes. |
| B．It will be made smaller and wearable. |
| C．It will change natural power into electricity. |
| D．It will supply constant power to wearable devices. |
| A．To give an explanation. | B．To make a comparison. |
| C．To introduce a topic. | D．To analyze the cause. |
| A．The strengths of Xiao's device. |
| B．The convenience of using a battery. |
| C．The replacement of wearable devices. |
| D．The development of traditional electronics. |
| A．It operates with plenty of power. |
| B．It is designed for practical use. |
| C．It benefits people's health in a way. |
| D．It's based on traditional electronics. |
10 . The traditional working day doesn't benefit night owls(夜猫子),with people who prefer to stay up late twice as likely to underperform at work as early birds ;a new study from Finland has6uggested.
Early risers tend to work better early in the morning, while evening types are the opposite. The researchers asked 5,881 individuals born in 1966 in northern Finland about their working life and health and questioned them about their sleep patterns in 2012 when they were 46 years old. The study participants were monitored over a period of four years.
Ten percent of the men and 12% of the women were "evening types", 72% of whom worked in day jobs,the researchers found. A quarter of people classified as evening types rated their own performance at work as poor. This was a significantly higher proportion(比例) than among early birds.
"If evening types have to work in the early morning, they won't rate their work ability as high as morning types. The opposite would be true as well. If normal business hours were 3 p.m. to 11 p.m., the early morning types would feel worse than evening types," said Kristen Knutson, an associate professor at Northwestern University.
Suzanne Hood, an associate professor at Bishop's University in Qucbec, Canada, said that night owls shouldn't be alarmed by the findings.
"Rating job performance doesn't necessarily tell you about the quality of the work in real terms," noted Hood. "Also, the study was observational—it doesn't mean that being a night owl makes you less able to work."
"For example, the employee who seems like a slow starter in the morning might be the person who's most able to work effectively into the evening to meet an important deadline," said Hood. "If there is some opportunity for flexibility in scheduling, allowing employees some control over what time of day they complete their work may help to optimize(优化) performance and productivity."
1. What do we learn about the study from Finland?| A．It lasted from 1966 to 2012. |
| B．It was conducted mainly in the lab. |
| C．72% of participants were early birds. |
| D．A minority of participants were night owls. |
| A．Objective. | B．Worried. |
| C．Supportive. | D．Unconcerned. |
| A．Starting early in the morning. |
| B．Choosing different work schedules. |
| C．Following normal business hours. |
| D．Finishing one's work later than usual. |
| A．Night Owls Tend To Perform Badly At Work |
| B．Early Birds Are More Likely To Gain Advantages |
| C．Are You A Night Owl? Blame It On Your Genes |
| D．Which Do You Prefer, Morning Type Or Evening Type? |
