1 . Scientists studying honeybees in Vietnam have discovered an unusual trick used by Asian honeybees to drive away giant hornets(大黄蜂).
Like bees in much of Asia, these bees were constantly being attacked by hornets. They can target hives(蜂巢) with precision, cutting off the heads of the bees and using younger bees for food. The honeybees there have developed some ways of fighting back. For example, by gathering around the hornets and beating their wings very quickly, the bees can raise the temperature high enough to kill the hornets.
Now scientists found something completely new. After the bees were attacked by giant hornets, the bees began collecting small bits of animal poop(粪便) from many kinds of animals, including pigs, cows and chickens, with their mouths and sticking it near the entrance to the hive. The scientists and beekeepers recorded over 300 giant hornet attacks on the beehives. They learned that the more poop there was near the hive entrance, the less likely the hornets were to attack. The poop also made the hornets 94% less likely to chew on the hive to make the entrance larger — something they have to do to get inside.
When the giant hornets attack a hive, they mark it with a special chemical. To see if the bees were using poop in response to the hornets, the scientists marked a hive with this special chemical, and they found the bees soon began to spot the entrance with poop. The scientists don’t know why the poop works to keep the hornets away. It could be that the poop smell hides the normally sweet smell coming from the hive. It’s also possible that the smell drives them away.
Asian honeybees have developed methods for fighting giant hornets. But that’s not true in North America. Recently, the first Asian giant hornets were discovered in North America, which are a close relative of the giant hornets that the researchers studied. Scientists are now working hard to wipe them out. Otherwise, honeybees there could be in trouble.
1. Which word best describes hornets’ attacking Asian honeybees?| A．Aimless. | B．Rare. |
| C．Risky. | D．Unwilling. |
| A．Field research. | B．Relevant reports. |
| C．Published statistics. | D．Beekeepers’ descriptions. |
| A．Why they find the hives easily. | B．How they are affected by the poop. |
| C．How they get a special chemical. | D．Why they attack hive entrances. |
| A．They aren’t able to deal with the hornets. |
| B．They are learning from Asian honeybees. |
| C．They’re close relatives of Asian honeybees. |
| D．They follow the hornets to move into Asia. |
2 . Chelsea Phaire lives in Danbury, Connecticut. She was 8 when she decided to start the charity. Chelsea said her mother and she had a conversation about the fact that not everyone had access to art, which made her so sad. But it took her parents some time to get on board with the idea. They wanted her to wait until she was a little older.
Finally, Chelsea was able to launch her charity last year. For her 10th birthday, she asked her friends to donate art supplies instead of giving her presents. Since then, Chelsea has saved money from her birthday and from helping out at her dad’s barbershop to buy art supplies for her charity, whose mission is to deliver art supplies to kids in all 50 states and, eventually, to kids in other countries. As of July 7, Chelsea’s Charity had given away nearly 3,000 art kits(成套工具).
Chelsea has always had a passion for helping out. She loves knowing she’s giving back to her community. The art kits she puts together go to kids in homeless shelters and hospitals, and to children who have been affected by school shootings.
Because of the coronavirus pandemic(新冠疫情), the charity has suffered financially. Chelsea says, “Instead of personally giving art kits out, we had to mail them,” which was expensive. But increased attention on her efforts has helped donations boom.
Art is a significant part of Chelsea’s life. She says it has helped her through difficult times. This is why she feels it’s so important to make sure everyone has access to art. Art is also a great way to release emotions, Chelsea says. “If everyone knows how to channel their negative emotions and thoughts into art, then we can prevent the next big disaster and we could solve world peace,” she adds. “You never know unless you try.”
1. How does Chelsea pay for her charity?| A．She asks her relatives for much money. |
| B．She helps her father with his business. |
| C．She sells art supplies she makes by herself. |
| D．She makes money from working for friends. |
| A．It is difficult to get donations. |
| B．Her operation cost has increased. |
| C．Few volunteers are willing to run her charity. |
| D．She can’t continue her charity for the pandemic. |
| A．Art is not for everyone. |
| B．Art is her lifelong career. |
| C．Art can cheer up the world. |
| D．Art is an emotional expression. |
| A．Artful Giving. | B．Real Art. | C．Chelsea Phaire. | D．Chelsea’s Dream. |
3 . Black Friday ticket offers by Voice Magazine
Black Friday is fast approaching, but we have kicked things off early with savings of up to 65%, and tickets starting at just £10 on tickets.voicemag.uk.
For under £20 you could go and watch the big hit Everybody’s Talking About Jamie, or get a slice of musical comedy with Waitress, or for just £12.50 get in touch with your inner child with Peppa Pig’s Best Day Ever.
It’s not just theatre on offer though! Our Black Friday deals also extend to great attractions, including 20% on tickets to Thames Rockets: The Ultimate London Adventure and 30% on a Medieval Banquet experience.
Now in its 14th year, and having received over 100 major awards, including three Tony Awards, two Olivier Awards and ten theatregoer-voted WhatsOnStage Awards, we are pleased to say we also have an exclusive upgrade(独家升级) for Wicked. For more information, visit our booking page.
To check out all of our Black Friday deals, head on over to our ticketing page.
What will you see next? Why not write a review and let us know you took advantage of one of our deals!
1. Which of the following is most suitable for children?| A．Wicked. |
| B．Waitress. |
| C．Peppa Pig’s Best Day Ever. |
| D．Everybody’s Talking About Jamie. |
| A．It is a musical comedy. |
| B．It is a long-running play. |
| C．It is upgraded for many times. |
| D．It is on only in a special theatre. |
| A．To vote for the plays they see. |
| B．To see as many films as possible. |
| C．To subscribe the Voice Magazine. |
| D．To contribute the dramatic comment. |
4 . Men hunted. Women gathered. That has long been the common view of our prehistoric ancestors. But the discovery of a woman buried 9000 years ago in the Andes Mountains with weapons and hunting tools, and an analysis of other burial sites in the Americas challenges this widely accepted division of labor in hunter-gatherer society.
“Labor practices among recent hunter-gatherer societies are highly gendered, which might lead some to believe that sexist inequalities in things like pay or rank are somehow 'natural' , ”said lead study author Randy Haas, an assistant professor of anthropology (人类学) at University of California, Davis, in a news release. "But it's now clear that sexual division of labor was fundamentally different-likely more equal and reasonable-in our species deep hunter-gatherer past."
The burial site was discovered in 2018 during excavations (发掘) at a high-altitude site called Wilamaya Patjxa in what is now Peru. The woman, thought to be between 17 and 19 years old when she died, was buried with items that suggested she hunted big-game animals.
Although some scholars have suggested a role for women in ancient hunting, others have dismissed this idea even when hunting tools were uncovered in female burials. To examine whether this woman found at this site was an outlier, the researchers examined 429 skeletons (骷髅) at 107 burials sites in North and South America around 8000 to 14000 years ago. Of those, 27 individuals were buried with hunting tools—11 were female and 15 were male. The sample was sufficient to "support the conclusion that female participation in early big-game hunting was likely not unusual".
The findings add to doubts about man — the hunter assumption that informed much thinking about early humans since the mid-20th century. “They suggest hunting was very much a community-based activity, needing the participation of all able-bodied individuals to drive large animals”, the paper said. The weapon of choice at that time had low accuracy, encouraging broad participation, and using it was a skill learned from childhood.
1. What does the recent burial site at Andes Mountains show?| A．The origin of sexual inequality. |
| B．Hunting skills of ancient times. |
| C．The social system of prehistoric hunters. |
| D．Job division of hunter-gatherer society. |
| A．Gender plays no part in recent hunter-gatherer society. |
| B．Sexist inequality is a natural result of prehistoric society. |
| C．Ancient division of labor might be fairer than we'd thought. |
| D．Public ideas of women's role will be changed abruptly. |
| A．Exception. | B．Failure. |
| C．Role model. | D．Easy target. |
| A．Lack of able-bodied individuals. |
| B．Imperfection in hunting weapons. |
| C．Better accuracy of females in hunting. |
| D．Need for large animals as food source. |
5 . It was a hot, damp Summer day a few years ago. I had just pulled into the local gas station to fill my tank. After pumping the gas I started to walk inside to pay. That is when I noticed them. Two elderly women were standing back from their car. There was a mixture of shock, fear, and dread on their faces. I looked and saw what they saw. Five yellow jackets had started to build a nest around their gas cap. My eyes widened. I shared the ladies’ fear.
Yellow jackets had never been friends of mine. Several times these tempered wasps（黄蜂） had attacked me while I was mowing my lawn, giving me multiple stings（蜇）each time I ran over their ground nests. They are the reason I never mow my lawn in shorts anymore. The worst time, however, happened when I was a young boy. A friend of mine and I were running and playing in my backyard. I must have stepped on one of their hidden nests again because before I knew it both of us were being chased（追赶） and stung over and over by the yellow jackets while we ran away screaming. I ran to my mom with tears in my eyes. She immediately ran a cold bath and put us both in it to ease the pain before giving us medicine to fight all the poison in our little bodies from the stings.
Still, I knew I couldn’t let fear stop me now. I reached into my back pocket for a paper towel I had there, tore out the nest and stepped on it while the angry wasps buzzed around me. Both of the ladies thanked me and I said, “You’re welcome!” with a smile and a happy heart.
In this life you can’t let the fear of being stung either physically or emotionally keep you from doing what is right. All of us loving each other can change the world for the better. And the only way you can do this is one loving act, one kind word, and one shared smile at a time. Don’t let the yellow jackets in your life hold you back then. Live! Love! Do good today!
1. What do the author and the two women have in common?| A．Eagerness to meet. | B．Fear of being stung. |
| C．Running after wasps. | D．No money to pay for gas. |
| A．To have a good time. | B．To avoid wasp stings. |
| C．To find the wasp’s nest. | D．To attack partners easily. |
| A．She chased the wasps away. |
| B．She gave them some medicine first. |
| C．She forced the poison out of them. |
| D．She helped them to have a cold shower. |
| A．Many drops make a shower. |
| B．One act of kindness means a lot. |
| C．Time brings a great change to the world. |
| D．Whatever you can do can make a difference. |
6 . The paper, published in May by the Journal of Marketing Research, analyzed purchases made from a single large European retailer and found that free shipping did encourage customers to buy more. But it also increased purchases of items that historically have higher return rates, such as clothing or products from lesser-known brands. Thus, returns also increased as a result of the promotions, to the point where profits were erased.
In one part of the paper, during the typically four-week periods when free shipping was offered, online order volumes rose 11%. But when the cost of returns was compared with the sales proceeds(收入), the authors calculated that on balance the results for the promotion periods amounted to an average 0.7% loss.
In one analysis that ran for two months, the researchers found that the return rate for customers who bought low-risk products — like office supplies, or products from well-known brands — averaged about 22%.
In another analysis, the researchers attempted to better understand motivations of online shoppers by measuring their attitudes toward free shipping. They found two things were happening. First, consumers saw free shipping as compensation for taking a risk on a product. Second, feelings of gratitude for having shipping costs eliminated(消除) made them happy and thus more willing to make a risky purchase.
Prof. Neslin advises companies to look at whether their own free-shipping promotions are profitable before they launch such campaigns. Also, he advises companies to identify which products get returned more often than others and try to provide customers with more information about those products, so they can make more-informed choices.
1. What erased the profits according to the first paragraph?| A．The risky customers. | B．The European retailer. |
| C．The returned items. | D．The lesser-known brands. |
| A．Consumers risked purchasing a product when free shipping came along with it. |
| B．Free shipping encouraged customers to buy products from well-known brands. |
| C．Online order volumes rose only when free shipping was offered as compensation. |
| D．Purchases of office supplies also increased during the typically four-week periods. |
a. Design profitable free-shipping promotions.
b. Make sure they have shipping costs removed.
c. Provide more information about their products.
d. Distinguish products with higher returned rates.
| A．abc | B．abd | C．acd | D．bcd |
| A．Low-risk products. | B．Return rates. |
| C．Increased purchases. | D．Free shipping. |
7 . As the dangerous Hurricane Delta closed in on Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula, Ricardo Pimentel opened his home — to about 300 dogs.
Not surprisingly, the house smelled terrible, he said. But it was worth it: All survived the storm. “It doesn’t matter if the house is dirty. It can be cleaned,” he said. “The things they broke can be fixed or bought again, but what’s beautiful is to see them happy, healthy and safe, without wounds and with the possibility of being adopted.”
It all started with an Oct. 6 social media post. Pimentel told friends he had cut branches and boarded up windows at the Tierra de Animales shelter he founded nearly a decade ago about 20 miles southwest of Cancun, where he also lives with his family. He warned of the hurricane’s disastrous power. Concerned that stores might remain shut after the storm, leading to food shortages, he asked for donations.
To keep the dogs safe from the storm, he moved them inside. It took hours to lead hundreds of them indoors by leash(皮带).
A following online post included photos of what looked like a carpet in his hallway. A closer look showed that the carpet was alive — many, many dogs, crowded together. The post was shared widely on social media and grabbed headlines across the globe.
Afterwards, he was surprised by the generosity of people from around the world who donated thousands of dollars. It was, he said, perhaps the biggest fundraising moment since he founded Tierra de Animales. And local residents stepped forward to help clean up the damage at the shelter.
1. How did Pimentel save the dogs from the storm?| A．He asked for adoption of them. | B．He kept them inside his house. |
| C．He tied them with belts. | D．He moved them out. |
| A．Supportive. | B．Doubtful. |
| C．Disappointed. | D．Optimistic. |
| A．Humorous. | B．Ambitious. |
| C．Caring. | D．Demanding. |
| A．The biggest fundraising moment |
| B．The best way to take care of dogs |
| C．A man sheltered 300 dogs from Hurricane Delta |
| D．A dangerous hurricane hit Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula |
8 . Dogs feel their way through the world with their noses. Researchers have started imitating this super skill with an artificial-intelligence-based detective tool. In a study published in February in PLOS ONE, a multinational team reported an AI-powered system that is as accurate as trained dogs at correctly identifying cases of prostate cancer from urine samples. Andreas Mershin, a research scientist from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, wants to eventually integrate the technology into smartphones: There would be a tiny sensor in the phone with AI software running in the cloud.
Prostate cancer, the second most deadly cancer in men worldwide, is difficult to detect. The most widely used test can miss 15 percent of cancers. Trained dogs, on the other hand, were able to identify patients with prostate cancer from urine samples more than 96 percent of the time. Yet dogs can get bored and tired, so researchers want to develop an AI system that works more consistently.
Living cells produce chemicals that come out from the skin, blood, urine and breath. Artificial noses, including the "Nano Nose" that Mershin and one of his colleagues developed, can already detect those chemicals at the same parts-per-billion concentration as dogs. The team added to the chemical sensing an artificial neural network—a type of AI algorithm that can learn from looking at examples how to identify faces, for instance.
As the 2015 Journal of Urology study showed, dogs can be trained to reach more than 96 percent accuracy, and the AI can be trained to reach that same rate. Mershin plans to train the AI algorithm using data from the "Nano Nose", which is currently one third the size of an iPhone 10 and could be further shrunk to be integrated into smartphones.
1. What is the Nano Nose?| A．A device. | B．A method. |
| C．A database. | D．A research team. |
| A．It has the ability to sense chemicals. | B．It can collect samples in the cloud. |
| C．It has the minimum error. | D．It can ensure consistency. |
| A．Made smaller. | B．Cut shorter. | C．Expanded. | D．Upgraded. |
| A．To train dogs to detect diseases. | B．To identify artificial faces. |
| C．To produce AI noses to detect diseases. | D．To add an AI sensor to the smartphone. |
9 . I’m a standup comic. One day, a woman from The Daily News called and said she wanted to do an article on me. When she had finished interviewing me for the article, she asked, “What are you planning to do next?” Well, at the time, there was absolutely nothing I was planning on doing next, so I asked her what she meant, pausing for a moment. She told me she was interested in me! So I thought I’d better tell her something. What came out was, “I’m thinking about breaking the Guinness Book of World Records for Fastest-Talking Female.”
The newspaper article came out the next day, and the writer had included my parting remarks about trying to break the world’s Fastest-Talking Female record. At about 5: 00 p.m. that afternoon I got a call from Larry King Live, which I had never heard of, asking me to go on the show. They wanted me to try to break the record, and they told me they would pick me up at 8: 00---because they wanted me to do it that night!
Then I sat down to figure out what on earth I was going to do on the show. I called Guinness to find out how to break a fast-talking record. They told me I would have to recite something either Shakespeare or the Bible. Shakespeare and I had never really gotten along, so 1 figured the Bible was my only hope. I began practicing and practicing, over and over again. I was both nervous and excited at the same time.
Then I decided just to give it my best shot, and I did. I broke the record, becoming the World’s Fastest-talking Female by speaking 585 words in one minute in front of a national television audience. I broke it again two years later, with 603 words in a minute. My career took off.
People often ask me how I did that. I tell them I live my life by this simple philosophy: I always say yes first; then I ask, “Now, what do I have to do to accomplish that?” Then I ask myself, “What is the worst thing that can happen if I don’t succeed? The answer is, I simply don’t succeed! And what’s the best thing that can happen? I succeed!
What more can life ask of you? Be yourself, and have a good time!
1. Why did the author pause before telling her next plan?| A．She took little interest in the topic. |
| B．She refused to share it with others. |
| C．She didn’t have any plan in her mind. |
| D．She needed time to think over the plan. |
| A．She was persuaded to set a Guinness record. |
| B．She was invited to give comic performances. |
| C．She succeeded in making a fortune overnight. |
| D．She finally agreed to make her parting remarks. |
| A．She could recite the Bible. |
| B．She received an interview. |
| C．She broke the record twice. |
| D．She developed her philosophy. |
| A．Do nothing by halves |
| B．Practice for perfection |
| C．Just say yes to yourself |
| D．Always hope for the best |
10 . Babies are surrounded by human language, always listening and processing. Eventually, they put sounds together to produce a “Daddy” or a “Mama”. But what still confuses neuroscientists is exactly how the brain works to put it all together.
To figure it out, a team of researchers turned to a frequent stand-in (代替) for babies when it comes to language learning: the song-learning zebra finch. “We’ve known songbirds learn their song by first forming a memory of their father’s song or another adult’s song. Then they use that memory to guide their song learning,” said Neuroscientist Todd Roberts. “It’s been a long-term goal of the field to figure out how or where in the brain this memory is. This type of imitative learning that birds do is very similar to the type of learning that we engage in regularly—particularly when we’re young, we use it to guide our speech learning.”
Roberts and his team had a feeling that the interface (交叉区域) between sensory areas and motor areas in the brain was critical for this process, and they focused on a group of brain cells called the NIf.
“In order to prove that we could identify these circuits, we thought if we could implant a false memory.” First, they used a virus to cause the neurons (神经元) in the birds’ NIf to become sensitive to light. Then, using a tiny electrode as a flashlight, they activated (激活) the neurons. The length of each pulse of light corresponded with the amount of time the neurons would fire. And the birds’ brains interpreted that time period as the length of each note.
Soon enough, the birds began to practice the notes they had learned, even though they never really heard the sounds. Amazingly, the birds produced them in the correct social situations. The researchers say this is the first time anybody has found exactly a part of the brain necessary for generating the sorts of memories needed to copy sounds.
“This line of research is going to help us identify where in the brain we encode memories of relevant social experiences that we use to guide learning. We know that there are several neurodevelopmental disorders in people that have really far-reaching effects on this type of learning.”
1. The zebra finch is researched because its song-learning mode ________.| A．decides whether it will sing songs |
| B．helps it to say “Daddy” or “Mama” |
| C．is like the way babies learn speech |
| D．reflects its talent for imitating its father’s song |
| A．The interface in the brain. |
| B．Guidance from adults. |
| C．Imitative learning type like birds’. |
| D．The way of regular learning. |
| A．Scientists activated some neurons by using an electrode. |
| B．A bird only sings what it heard before. |
| C．The brain produces tiny electrodes. |
| D．Birds are sensitive to light. |
| A．A change in our way of listening and processing. |
| B．A chance to have relevant social experiences. |
| C．A better knowledge of the secrets of learning. |
| D．Identification of neurodevelopmental disorders. |
