1 . While scientists have been modifying（修改)plant genes for years in biotechnology, they usually focus on a few specific genes in order to get a particular result. Plants have tens of thousands of genes. The genetically modified product (GMP) won’t be dramatically different from its natural one. It may have a few features that the natural version doesn’t have but otherwise will remain identical.
Some people worry that genetic modification, which introduces genes from one species into an entirely different species, could create new allergens(过敏原). In fact, it may turn out that the opposite is true. Depending on the food, scientists might be able to remove or prevent the proteins that act as allergens for some people. This isn’t true for every food, but genetic markers scientists use could lead to developing bacteria with a built-in resistance to antibiotics(抗生素). Scientists use antibiotic gene markers to link genes for the desired features. Also, by exposing modified plant’s cells to antibiotics, a scientist can confirm whether or not the genetic modification was successful.
But what if that resistance could be passed on the bacteria? It’s possible that bacteria in the soil around a plant with antibiotic resistance could pick up the DNA. The bacteria could, in theory, pass this feature to other types of bacteria harmful to humans. So far, however, scientists have been unable to transfer antibiotic resistance genes from plants to bacteria.
In the United States, farmers don’t have to label genetically modified foods or products. Both the Environmental Protection Agency and the Food and Drug Administration have very strict regulations that products must pass before they can go to market.
It’s possible that the foods that come from biotechnology are not only safe to eat, but they’re actually safer than their natural counterparts. While the controversy around genetically modified food is far from resolved, it appears that you shouldn’t worry if the ear of corn you’re about to enjoy got its start in a laboratory.
1. How could scientists deal with a plant in biotechnology?| A．By changing some cells. | B．By adding some foreign genes. |
| C．By producing some natural proteins. | D．By removing some of its branches. |
| A．promote their resistance. | B．get their unexpected features. |
| C．see the effect of the modification. | D．improve the ability against bacteria. |
| A．It takes time for customers to accept bioengineered food. |
| B．The laws in America are far from strict in regulating the GMP. |
| C．American farmers only care about improving their food produce. |
| D．Scientists have developed certain food beneficial to human health. |
| A．Positive. | B．Negative. | C．Ambiguous. | D．Indifferent. |
I fell in love with a “flying Dutchman”…literally. In the summer of 2011, I moved to the Netherlands not knowing anyone except my husband, not knowing how to speak the language, and leaving behind my friends, family, and everything I knew that represented me. But as they say, “Love is blind. ”
In the beginning, I spent many months “alone in my head.” My mother-in-law didn't speak English（or Italian）. This, however, didn't stop her from trying to communicate with me. At first, sounds of vague meanings coupled with hand gestures was our way of having a conversation.
It wasn’t until I discovered she was a choral（合唱的）director for a women's group in the community that we then began communicating on a whole different level. From my early days in school, I was always part of a school choir for over a decade.
We shared a love of music! Dien（my mother-in-law’s name）taught me many beautiful Dutch songs. I sang in her choir throughout the years that followed. And then by chance, I came across a TED-Talk featuring you, Mr. Whitacre discussing your music and the virtual（虚拟合唱团）choir. Within minutes, I researched when the next project would start and to my surprise, it was Virtual Choir4“Fly To Paradise. ” I couldn't wait to tell my mother-in-law!
The next 2 weeks we spent practicing our parts and perfecting our video submissions. It was pure joy for us. Something we shared a love for, encouraging each other, spending hours together, and making a permanent bond as a mother and daughter-in-law.
Music has always been a part of my life. Its significance is greater than anything most people are aware of. Our participation in your virtual choir is one I will never forget. And it goes without saying, I am grateful for you, your music, and its ability to connect us all.
1. Which of the following best describes the author’s mother-in-law?| A．Talkative and humorous. | B．Active and caring. |
| C．Strict and determined. | D．Quiet and considerate. |
| A．She felt regretful about her marriage at the beginning. |
| B．She tried to avoid speaking to Dien due to language barrier. |
| C．She decided to join the virtual choir with Dien’s suggestions. |
| D．She developed a closer family bond by joining the virtual choir. |
| A．To give encouragement. | B．To offer help. |
| C．To express thanks. | D．To introduce a choir. |
3 . For hundreds of years, Africans have preserved their history through storytelling. But some Africans worry that oral traditions will be lost to the Internet connections and social media.
This has led a Nigerian woman named Elizabeth Kperrun to create a mobile phone application as a way to preserve African folk stories. She calls her mobile app AfroTalez, which tells children’s stories that teach moral lessons.
“We can’t teach kids something by telling them, ‘Don’t do this’. I think kids need context to understand. In a story somebody stole something and then something bad happened to them. Alternatively, somebody else did something good and they ended up happy or rich.”
“Hello children. My name is Liz and I’d like to tell you a story about tortoises, elephants, and ...” The voice of “Aunt Liz” narrates the story, while a full-screen animation appears. An arrow signals when it’s time to move on. There are also quizzes on object recognition and counting throughout.
Kperrun asks her older relatives to help her collect stories for the application. The stories come from an ethnic group living in southeast Nigeria and northwest Cameroon. “I want to keep it centered on folk stories, not the ones that Walt Disney has made really popular... It’s fair and respectful to keep certain cultures alive because folk stories are part of the tapestry that keeps cultures together.” Kperrun once said.
Kperrun writes and reads the stories. Her business partner and husband Idamiebi Ilamina-Eremie does the animation (动画).
AfroTalez is available for Android users and can be downloaded for free. So far, AfroTalez has more than 50,000 users. Funding for the app has been a major challenge. Kperrun hopes to use a crowdfunding campaign to help fund the next version of AfroTalez to be released soon.
Kperrun believes technology doesn’t have to destroy or replace traditions. Her goal is to combine them to keep African culture alive. She says “Africa is our home, but we are so eager to become Western that we are forgetting things that are really important and should be passed on of who we are, and I don’t think that’s right.”
1. What caused Elizabeth Kperrun to create the mobile app AfroTalez?| A．Desiring to make money through the Internet. |
| B．Planning to keep technology replacing traditions. |
| C．Dreaming of launching a crowdfunding campaign. |
| D．Worrying about the disappearance of African oral traditions. |
| A．are narrated by Kperrun’s husband |
| B．are familiar to today’s African children |
| C．are as popular as those of Walt Disney’s |
| D．are means to teach children moral lessons |
| A．will destroy African traditions |
| B．is free for Android users |
| C．has released two versions |
| D．faces no financial problems |
| A．Mobile App seeks to preserve African folktales |
| B．African people pass on traditions by storytelling |
| C．It is unwise for a nation to learn from western countries blindly |
| D．Social media lead to the disappearance of African Oral traditions |
4 . Over Half of Young Chinese Block Parents on WeChat Moments
We all know the feeling-you want to check what someone you care about has been up to on social media, and suddenly you find you are denied access to their feeds. It’s an instant start of mixed emotions and speculations-when did this happen? Did do anything wrong? What are they attempting to hide from me?
And that’s what half of Chinese parents have to deal with when they try to browse their children’s WeChat Moments, also known as “Friends’ Circle”, as suggested by a recent survey released by Tencent, the Chinese Internet giant. According to the report, entitled Annual White Paper on Family Affection on WeChat Moments, about 52 percent of WeChat users aged 18 to 29 block their parents on Moments, a major feature on the platform that allows users to share everything they like with their WeChat contacts.
About 62 percent of the young interviewees said that parents “are neurotic about everything,” along with reasons such as fear of parents’ disapproval, rejection to parents’ nagging(唠叨), and seeking privacy. “My parents don’t know Moments very well, so I just told them I don’t use it anymore,” said Qin Jianping, a 28-year-old Xie Yun, a 26-year-old, said that while she didn’t block her parents entirely, they were in a specific group to which she only shares positive posts. “I don’t want my parents to see minor setbacks in my life, she said.
The report also found that more than 49 percent of Chinese parents use WeChat as a main channel to communicate with their children When asked how they would react to being blocked, some parents said they would initiate a conversation with their children to find out the reason, while others said they wouldn’t care. And some parents just outsmart their kids in this hide-and-seek game online. “I didn’t realize I was blocked until I compared what I could see on my phone to what my son’s aunt could see,” said Chen, a mother of a 27-year-old son. I chose to remain silent on this and now I’m following my son’s posts through his aunt.”
1. Parents would like to read their children’s WeChat Moments because they _________.| A．are too emotional and speculative. |
| B．want to keep up with the trend of time. |
| C．are concerned about their children’s lives. |
| D．leave a lot of comments on their feeds. |
| A．protect their privacy. | B．learn from parents’ nagging. |
| C．challenge parental authority. | D．maintain a positive state. |
| A．criticize parents. | B．support the young. |
| C．entertain readers. | D．analyse a phenomenon. |
5 . Artists always treat businessmen people as money-obsessed bores. Or worse, many business people, for their part, assume that artists are a bunch of pretentious wasters. Bosses may stick a few modernist paintings on their boardroom walls. But they seldom take the arts seriously as a source of inspiration.
The prejudice starts at business school, where “hard” things such as numbers and case studies rule. It is reinforced by everyday experience. Bosses constantly remind their underlings that if you can’t count it, it doesn’t count. Few read deeply about art. Sun Tzu's The Art of War does not count while some tasteless business books are pleasing to them: consider Wess Roberts' Leadership Secrets of Attila the Hun.
But lately there are welcome signs of a thaw (缓和) on the business side of the great cultural divide. Business presses are publishing a series of books such as The Fine Art of Success by Jamie Anderson. Business schools such as the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto are trying to learn from the arts.
Mr. Anderson points out that many artists have also been superb entrepreneurs. Damien Hirst was even more enterprising. He upturned the art world by selling his work directly through Sotheby’s, an auction (拍卖) house. Whatever they think of his work, businessmen people cannot help admiring a man who parted art-lovers from £ 75.5 million on the day that Lehman Brothers collapsed.
Studying the arts can help businessmen people communicate more effectively. Most bosses spend a huge amount of time “messaging” and “reaching out”, yet few are much good at it.
Studying the arts can also help companies learn how to manage bright people. Rob Goffee of the London Business School points out that today’s most productive companies are dominated by what they call “clevers”, who are the devil to manage. They hate being told what to do by managers, whom they regard as dullards. They refuse to submit to performance reviews. In short, they are prima donnas. The arts world has centuries of experience in managing such difficult people. Directors persuade actresses to cooperate with actors they hate. Their tips might be worth hearing.
1. What kind of person is Damien Hirst actually?| A．An artist whose works changed the art world. |
| B．A businessman who just cares about money. |
| C．An artist who is good at doing business. |
| D．A businessman who had prejudice toward the arts. |
| A．quite stupid | B．rather proud | C．really bright | D．very efficient |
| A．Good management takes skill and patience. |
| B．Artists should show respect for businessmen. |
| C．Painting is a special form of communication. |
| D．Businessmen have much to learn from artists. |
6 . Standing in line for the latest iPhone at the Apple store,queuing for tickets to Wimbledon or even just waiting at the post office might just have got a lot easier.
Japanese car-maker Nissan claims to have just the thing to relieve the sore legs of weary queuers.
The new system of “self-driving” chairs is designed to detect when someone at the front of the queue is summoned, and automatically move everyone else one step forward in line.
The new invention is shown off in a company video, which re-enacts (重视) a busy restaurant with customers waiting outside. In the video, diners are sitting in a row of chairs, but will not have to stand when the next hungry diner is called to a table. Instead the chairs, equipped with autonomous technology that detects the seat ahead, slide along a path toward the front of the line. When the person at the front of the queue is summoned, the empty chair at the front can sense it is empty and so moves out of pole position. Cameras on the remaining chairs then sense the movement and follow automatically.
The system, which is similar to the kind used in Nissan's autonomous vehicle technology, will be tested at select restaurants in Japan this year, Nissan said.
Although Tokyo has some 160,000 restaurants, long queues are not uncommon. Therefore this system appeals to anyone who has queued for hours outside a crowded restaurant: it reduces the physical stress of standing in line, Nissan added.
Nissan also released a short video showing the chairs being used in an art gallery, moving slowly in front of the various paintings to let viewers appreciate the art without the need to stand up.
1. What's the meaning of"summoned"underlined in paragraph 3?-| A．detected | B．called | C．shown | D．tested |
| A．restaurant | B．Apple store | C．post office | D．art gallery |
| A．With “self-driving” chairs, people will be released of queuing. |
| B．The new invention is shown off in a busy restaurant. |
| C．When the person at the front is summoned, all the chairs move out of pole position. |
| D．Long queues are common in Tokyo’s restaurants. |
7 . British anthropologists Russell Hill and Robert Barton of the University of Durham, after studying the results of one-on-one boxing, tae kwon do, Greco-Roman wrestling and freestyle wrestling matches at the Olympic Games, conclude that when two competitors are equally matched in fitness and skill, the athlete wearing red is more likely to win.
Hill and Barton report that when one competitor is much better than the other, colour has no effect on the result. However, when there is only a small difference between them, the effect of colour is enough to tip the balance. The anthropologists say that the number of times red wins is not simply by chance, but that these results are statistically significant.
Joanna Setchell, a primate (灵长目动物) researcher at the University of Cambridge, has found similar results in nature. She studies the large African monkeys known as mandrills. Mandrills have bright red noses that stand out against their white faces. Setchell’s work shows that the powerful males—the ones who are more successful with females—have a brighter red nose than other males.
As well as the studies on primates by Setchell, another study shows the effect of red among birds. In an experiment, scientists put red plastic rings on the legs of male zebra finches and this increased the birds’ success with female zebra finches. Zebra finches already have bright red beaks (鸟喙), so this study suggests that, as with Olympic athletes, an extra flash of red is significant. In fact, researchers from the University of Glasgow say that the birds’ brightly coloured beaks are an indicator of health. Jonathan Blount, a biologist, and his colleagues think they have found proof that bright red or orange beaks attract females because they mean that the males are healthier. Nothing in nature is simple, however, because in species such as the blue footed booby, a completely different colour seems to give the male birds the same advantage with females.
Meanwhile, what about those athletes who win in their events while wearing red? Do their clothes give them an unintentional advantage? Robert Barton accepts that “that is the implication” of their findings. Is it time for sports authorities to consider new regulations on sports clothing?
1. According to their research, Hill and Barton conclude that _____.| A．the colour of clothing has an effect on most sport events |
| B．red should be the choice of colour for clothing in sports |
| C．red plays a role when competitors are equally capable |
| D．athletes perform better when surrounded by bright red |
| A．achieve | B．seek | C．keep | D．change |
| A．male birds use different body parts to draw attention |
| B．red is not the only colour to attract female birds |
| C．blue gives female birds the same advantage |
| D．blue can indicate how healthy a bird is |
| A．What Colour Implies More Power? | B．A Tip on Clothing. |
| C．Need to Change the Rules in Sports? | D．Red Is for Winners. |
8 . Bermuda, the island known for its pink-sand beaches, blue .waters, and year-round warm weather, has been announced the Official Sponsor of the U.S.Open.It's a fitting collaboration (协作), given the island's reputation as a destination for travelers in search of perfect adventures 一just a ninety-minute flight from New York City.Lesser known, however, is that the long history of American tennis was introduced by this attractive Atlantic island.
Nearly a hundred and fifty years ago, the New York celebrity Mary Ewing Outerbridge sailed for days to vacation on this quiet island.She watched, fascinated, as some British soldiers stationed there played tennis, although a' version different from one we know today.The courts in Bermuda were shaped like hourglasses, the net was also higher, and a number of the rules were different.
Mary became fascinated watching the ball flying back and forth, and ended up purchasing a kit containing all the materials needed to bring the sport home to Staten Island.Using a hand-drawn diagram, she laid out a court at her brother's cricket club, where the sport caught on among members.From there, the game's popularity quickly grew, leading to standardized rules and regulations--and then, in 1880, to the first U.S.tennis championship.
In only a few years, Mary' s unexpected souvenir from her Bermuda trip helped set a national tradition: today, nearly eighteen million people in the US play the sport, from the public-tennis-court games in many cities to the annual U.S.Open, in NYC.Mary s role in bringing tennis from Bermuda to America has earned her a place in the International Tennis Hall of Fame.
It only serves to enhance the sport's appeal to learn that every swing of the racket in the US can be trace back to Bermuda, where island adventures still wait for all travelers--tennis lovers included.You' re welcome!
1. What can we learn about Bermuda?| A．It is distant from New York City. |
| B．It is friendly to adventure seekers. |
| C．It is unfit to sponsor the U.S.Open.. |
| D．It is better known for being the origin of tennis. |
| A．She held the first U.S.tennis championship. |
| B．She made the game become world famous. |
| C．She designed the first tennis court in the US. |
| D．She set standard rules and regulations of the game. |
| A．To introduce the founder of American tennis. |
| B．To introduce the history of American tennis. |
| C．To attract more people to enjoy the sport. |
| D．To attract more people to tour Bermuda. |
9 . In four years, the space agency plans to land the first woman ever on the Moon through its Artemis program, which calls for $28 billion in funding through 2025' for Stage I, NASA said in its news release. Artemis is named after the Greek goddess of the moon and twin sister of Apollo. NASA's Apollo 11 mission succeeded in landing the first 12 men on the moon on July 20, 1969.
One billion dollars of the budget will go directly to the development of a commercial human lunar system that will take humans to the moon's surface, NASA' said. A share of $651 million will be used to support the Orion Spacecraft and the rocket for the moon mission—called the Space Launch System or SLS.NASA has already spent at least $11.9 billion on the SLS, which was supposed to be ready by December 2017. The spacecraft is complete, NASA said, and the main stage and four attached rockets are undergoing final tests in preparation for a "critical hot fire test this fall."
NASA's Artemis I mission is on track to launch in 2021 with two test flights around the Moon without astronauts. However, NASA will send robots to the Moon twice in 2021 in order to "send dozens of new science investigations and technology demonstrations".
Artemis II is set to launch in 2023 with astronauts on board in preparation to have Artemis III bring astronauts back to the surface of the Moon. The astronauts will be fitted with modern spacesuits that allow for greater flexibility and movement than the spacesuits used by other Apollo-era astronauts, and they will be tasked with collecting samples and conducting a range of science experiments over the course of nearly seven days.
The Artemis program will search for and potentially explore resources' such as water that can be turned into other usable resources such as oxygen and fuel, and NASA hopes to develop new 'mobility capabilities that will allow astronauts to explore new regions of the Moon.
1. Where is the text probably from?| A．A news report. | B．A guidebook. |
| C．An advertisement. | D．A book review |
| A．It is carried out by NASA in the name of Greek goddess!t.. |
| B．Artemis I will have two test flights around the Earth in 2021 |
| C．At a cost of $11:9 billion, SLS was completed in December 2017. |
| D．Both Artemis II and Artemis III will be launched with humans on board |
| A．Searching for oxygen and fuel. | B．Performing science experiments. |
| C．Developing new mobility capabilities. | D．Testing the flexibility of modern spacesuits. |
10 . Sudoku (数独) puzzles give your brain a hard time: Every number from 1 to 9 must appear in each of the nine horizontal (横向的) rows, in each of the nine vertical columns and in each of the nine boxes.
For many of us, this can be a reason for a headache, but in the very rare case of a German man, a Sudoku puzzle even caused seizures (痉挛).
In a new case study from the University of Munich, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, Dr. Berend Feddersen introduces a student who was 25 years old when he was buried by a snow slide during a ski tour. For 15 minutes, he didn’t get enough oxygen, which severely damaged certain parts of his brain. “He had to receive treatment on the scene. Luckily he survived,” says Feddersen, the author of the study.
Weeks after the accident, when the young man was ready for recovery treatment, something bizarre happened: When the patient solved Sudoku puzzles, he suddenly had seizures of his left arm — something the medical world hadn’t seen before.
Feddersen explains: “In order to solve a Sudoku, the patient used parts of his brain which are responsible for vision-space tasks. But exactly those brain parts had been damaged in the accident and then caused the seizures once they were used.”
This particular case is an example of what doctors call reflex epilepsy (反射性癫痫), according to Dr. Jacqueline French, professor from NYU Langone School of Medicine.
“You have to have an injury of your brain first, and then seizures like that can happen,” she says.
In the meantime, the patient from the case study stopped solving Sudoku puzzles forever and has been seizure-free for more than five years. “Fortunately, he can do crossword puzzles. He never had problems with those,” Feddersen says.
1. In the accident, the student ______.| A．began to experience seizures in his left arm |
| B．got the vision-space part of his brain damaged |
| C．had to be sent to hospital as soon as possible |
| D．found his Sudoku ability seriously weakened |
| A．the man cannot complete crossword puzzles now |
| B．it is Sudoku playing that brings about his seizures |
| C．the man’s symptoms are common and widely observed |
| D．the seizures cause much trouble to the man’s daily life |
| A．a medical test | B．a warning to skiers |
| C．a news report | D．a research paper |
