1 . Get involved with our research
Some of our research projects depend on how generous people like you are. Whether it's using your home PC, taking part in a medical experiment or simply volunteering your time for a study, you may be able to help some of the creative projects which make the University of Oxford a world leader in research. Watch this space for ways in which you could get involved.
Seeking poor sleepers for sleeplessness research
Trouble sleeping? We are looking for poor sleepers between the ages of 18 and 65. The activity will involve spending overnights in the sleep laboratory at Oxford, testing your sleep/wake cycle, and completing the tasks on the computer. If you are interested, please contact the research team at sleeplessness@ndcn.ox.ac.uk
Volunteers with lazy eye wanted
We are looking for volunteers aged 18-45 with a history of lazy eye to take part in our brain scanning study. You will also be asked questions about your medical history to check if you are suitable for ail MRI scan. Call 01865 223622 for more information.
Oxford Vaccine (疫苗) Group
The Oxford Vaccine Group is an independent medical experiment group. OVG works towards the goal of developing new and improved vaccines for the prevention of infection in adults and children. To get more information, please see the OVG website.
Oxford Experimental lab for the Social Sciences
The Oxford Internet Institute, together with the Business School, is needing some people to participate in computer-based experiments involving online surfing behavior as well as something about economy and politics. We play our subjects well, there are no special skills required and you don't have to come to the lab in person. Contact us at social science. study @ox.ac,nk for more information.
1. Who can get involved in the sleeplessness research?| A．Poor sleepers. | B．Participants in computer-based experiments. |
| C．Volunteers with a history of lazy eye. | D．Grow-ups below 65 with sleep trouble. |
| A．carry out medical experiment. | B．study the causes of diseases. |
| C．learn more about infection. | D．produce better vaccines. |
| A．Oxford Vaccine Group. | B．Sleeplessness research group. |
| C．Oxford Experimental lab. | D．Brain Scanning study group. |
2 . A simple piece of clotheslines hangs between some environmentally friendly Americans and their neighbors. On one side stand those who see clothes dryers as a waste of energy and a major polluter of the environment. As a result, they are turning to clotheslines as part of the "what-I-can- do environmentalism”
But on the other side are people who are against drying clothes outside, arguing that clotheslines are unpleasant to look at. They have persuaded Homeowners Associations(HOAs) across the US to stop outdoor clotheslines, because clothesline drying also tends to lower home value in the neighborhood. This has led to a Right-to-Dry Movement that is calling for laws be passed to protect the choice to use clotheslines. So far, only three states have laws to protect clotheslines.
Matt Reck, 37, is the kind of eco-friendly person who feeds his trees with bathwater and reuses water drops from his air conditioners to water plants. His family also uses a clothesline. But several days ago, the HOA in North Carolina told him that a dissatisfied neighbor had telephoned them about his clothesline. The Recks paid no attention to the warning and still dried their clothes on a line in the yard "Many people say they are environmentally friendly but they don't take matters in their own hands," says Reck. The local HOA has decided not to take any action, unless more neighbors complain.
North Carolina lawmakers say that stopping clotheslines is not the right thing to do. But HOAs and housing businesses believe that clothesline drying reminds people of poor neighborhoods. They worry that if buyers think their future neighbors can" even afford dryers, housing prices will fall.
Environmentalists say such worries are not necessary, and in view of global warming, that idea needs to change. As they say, "The clothesline is beautiful Hanging clothes outside should be encouraged. We all have to do at least something to slow down the process of global warming.
1. Supporters of clothes dryers are trying to stop clothesline drying because .| A．clothes dryers can save money | B．clothes dryers are energy-saving |
| C．clothesline drying reduces home value | D．clothesline drying is not allowed in US |
| A．He is a warm-hearted man. | B．He is an impolite neighbor. |
| C．He is an inexperienced gardener. | D．He is a man of social responsibility. |
| A．Housing businesses. | B．Environmentalists. |
| C．Homeowners Associations. | D．Reck's dissatisfied neighbors. |
| A．Opposing Opinions on Clothesline Drying | B．A Way to Save Energy and Money |
| C．Different Varieties of Clotheslines | D．A Lost Art to Be Discovered. |
3 . The way people purchase clothes has fundamentally changed in response to the “fast fashion", the result of mass -market retailers (零售商) increasing the production of inexpensive fashion lines to meet the demands of quickly changing trends. It is not uncommon for retailers to introduce new products multiple times in a single week to stay on trend. This may seem like a good thing at first glance, but it is causing more problems than it is solving.
Workers in factories in underdeveloped areas face mistreatment, including poor working conditions, low wages and forced overtime. So before making a deal, ask retailers questions such as where products are made and how many people work there. Watch for warming signs and use your judgment if something doesn't feel right.
Another reason to rethink about the trend has something to do with the impact on our rivers, lakes and oceans. Chemical pollutants are released into waterways every time those clothes are washed. What can be done is as simple as buying from brands known for their preference for using organic materials, because they are trying not to add to the pollution.
Besides, people don't keep clothes as long as they used to, and the rate of production to keep up has resulted in tons of waste. It's easy to see at manufacturing (生产) sites the massive wastes. Even holding giant sales or rewarding customers for bringing in second-hand clothes is not enough.
Only with enough customers saying “No” to fast fashion can we work toward a better future.
1. Which is a feature of fast fashion?| A．Being eco-friendly. | B．Affordable prices. |
| C．Guaranteed quality. | D．Setting new trends. |
| A．All the workers can take days off in turn. |
| B．The manufacturing sites are too crowded. |
| C．The workers can support their entire families. |
| D．The factory is located in a developed area. |
| A．Bring their used clothes for donations. | B．Ask manufacturers certain questions. |
| C．Examine the quality of materials used. | D．Weigh possible environmental effects. |
| A．How to Spot the Perfect Clothes | B．Customers, Who Change Markets |
| C．Why Fast Fashion is Troublesome | D．Say “No" to the Fashion Industry |
4 . Poetry Competition
Deadline
16th July，2020
Who may enter
The competition is open to anyone.
Description
The Ledbury Poetry Festival is the biggest poetry festival in the UK. It takes place over ten days each July. If you think you know what poetry is, come along and we'll surprise you. There are live readings, performances, music, exhibitions, films, family events and street events.
Each year we organize a famous competition for new poetry in partnership with Ty Newydd, the National Writers' Centre of Wales. It attracts entries from all over the globe. There are three groups: adults(18 + ) , young people(12-17) and children(under 12).
All poems must be the original works of the entrants and should not have been previously published, accepted for publication by magazines, or have entered in other competitions.
The length of each poem must be more than 40 lines.
The judge of the 2020 Ledbury Poetry Festival Poetry Competition is Liz Berry.
Entry fees
Adults: £5. 75 for the first poem, £3. 50 for each extra poem.
Children/Young People: The first poem free, £1. 75 for each extra poem.
Prizes
Adults' Prizes
• First Prize: £l,000 cash and a course at the National Writers' Centre of Wales
• Second Prize: £500 cash
• Third Prize: £250 cash
Young People's Prizes
• First Prize: £l00 cash
• Second Prize: £50 cash
• Third Prize: £25 cash
Children's Prizes
• First Prize: £25 book token(购书券)
• Second Prize: £15 book token
• Third Prize: £l0 book token
Website
Please visit https://www.poetry-festival, co. uk/ledbury-poetry-competition to learn more about the competition.
1. What do we know about the poetry competition from the text?| A．It is held every two months. | B．It awards all winners cash prizes. |
| C．It is open to worldwide competitors. | D．It offers competitors lectures on poetry. |
| A．It should be written independently. | B．It should contain at least 40 words. |
| C．It has won a prize in other competitions. | D．It has been published by some magazines. |
| A．£12.75. | B．£9.25. | C．£7. | D．£3.5. |
5 . Do you love holidays but hate the increase weight that follows? You are not alone. Holidays are happy days with pleasure and delicious foods. Many people, however, are worried about the weight that comes along with these delicious foods.
With proper planning, though, it is possible to control your weight. The idea is to enjoy the holidays but not to eat too much. You don't have to turn away from the foods that you enjoy. The following suggestions may be of some help to you.
Do not miss meals. Before you leave home for a feast(宴会), have a small, low-fat snack(小吃). This may help to keep you from getting too excited before delicious foods. Begin with clear soup and fruit or vegetables. A large glass of water before you eat may help you feel full. Use a small plate; a large plate will encourage you to have more than enough.
Better not have high-fat foods. Dishes that look oily or creamy have much fat in them. Choose lean meat(瘦肉 ). Fill your plate with salad and green vegetables. If you have a sweet tooth, try mints (薄荷) and fruits. They don’t have fat content as cream and chocolate. Don’t let exercise take a break during the holidays. A 20-minute walk after a meal can help burn off excess(过多的) calories.
1. Holidays are happy days with pleasure but they may ______.| A．bring weight problems | B．bring you much trouble in your life |
| C．make you worried about your foods | D．make you hate delicious foods |
| A．drink much water and have vegetables only | B．not eat the food in high fat |
| C．not accept invitations to feasts | D．turn away from delicious foods |
| A．vegetables | B．water | C．calories of energy | D．physical exercise |
| A．can’t control themselves | B．go to too many feasts |
| C．enjoy delicious foods | D．can’t help turning away from the foods |
6 . Most of us have spent more time at home recently than we ever imagined possible. Maybe you took the opportunity to clean, or maybe you plan to do it tomorrow. These tips can help make your house better for your body and your mind.
Think about keeping your home clean the minute you walk in. Take off your shoes at your door. A University of Arizona study found that the average shoe harbors nearly 421,000 different bacteria, including Escherichia coli and strep. Pesticides, tar, lead, mold, and cleaning chemicals can also get tracked into your home via your shoes. Leave a pair of slippers by the front door.
Even if you think you’ve disinfected everything, you might have overlooked some germ magnets(磁铁). One notorious offender: the toothbrush holder. Rinse it daily and run it through the dishwasher regularly. Another germ magnet: kitchen sponges. They’re so unhealthful they’ve been banned from restaurant kitchens.
Portable ultraviolet (紫外线) lights are a highly boasted germ killer. Hospitals use powerful UVC light to disinfect rooms, as it can kill viruses (possibly even the new coronavirus). But beware: not all home disinfecting systems use UVC, and some UV lights can quickly burn your skin.
Don't forget to clean the air in your home too. The gold standard is a high-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filter( 过 滤 器 ). The Department of Energy requires that they remove 99.97 percent of pollutants and particles(颗粒) in the air.
Portable HEPA filters can clean a single room or the entire house. There are cheaper ways to clean the air-start by cracking a window. Indoor air can have two to five times more pollutants than outdoor air.
Many viruses don’t spread as well in moist air as they do in the cold, dry months.
One easy solution for the winter: using a humidifier. The CDC advises against cool-mist humidifiers, which can contain bacteria if they aren’t cleaned regularly.
Old-fashioned steam humidifiers are best. But too much humidity can worsen respiratory(呼吸的) problems and encourage the growth of dust mites.
1. What should you do before you walk into your house?| A．Take off your coat. | B．Change your shoes. |
| C．Clean up the bacteria. | D．Dust off the shoes. |
| A．It is a must in winter. |
| B．It can worsen respiratory problems. |
| C．It is not as good as the old-fashioned steam humidifiers. |
| D．It is an easy solution for dry seasons. |
| A．Freshen your sheets. | B．Wash toothbrush holders. |
| C．Disinfect rooms by UVC light. | D．Clean the air with HEPA filters. |
| A．How to Do Cleaning. | B．Keep Yourself Healthy. |
| C．Make Your Mind Booster. | D．Get a Healthy Home. |
7 . Japan is known to have higher than average rates of stomach cancer. Recently, the town of Kaneyama in Yamagata Prefecture decided to get its 6, 000 residents (居民) tested.
However, the frozen urine samples (尿样) are not tested in conventional ways. Instead, Professor Masao Miyashita and his team are using them in a trial to determine if specially trained cancer-sniffing dogs can accurately detect the disease. Though the study is still in its early stages, Miyashita is thrilled with the results. He said, “In our research so far, cancer detection dogs have been able to find signs of cancer with an accuracy of nearly 100 percent.”
Researchers have known about the animals’ superior sensory skills for decades. However, their ability to detect cancer in humans came to light in 1989, after a dog sniffed out early-stage malignant melanoma (恶性黑色素瘤) on a patient’s leg in London. Since then, scientists from many countries have conducted studies to test dogs’ great skill at identifying cancer chemicals.
While most dogs can be trained for the task, researchers say the best candidates are dogs that are precise, quiet, and perhaps even a little shy. The training process is similar to how dogs are taught to learn any trick — by rewarding them with treats! However, it takes much longer because the dogs have to learn to separate the “cancer scent (气味)” from the thousands of organic compounds (有机化合物) in the human body. Researchers begin by exposing the dogs to urine samples from people with cancer, people with other diseases, and patients with no health issues, Once the dogs are able to accurately identify cancer, they are further trained to detect particular kinds of cancer.
Successful as they may be, experts think dogs are unlikely to replace conventional tests. For one, it takes about seven years and costs as much as $45,000 to train a single dog. Klaus Hackner, a researcher and physician who studies dogs detecting cancer in breath samples at Krems University Hospital in Austria, is also not convinced dogs can be relied upon alone. Patients, therefore, have to receive further tests to confirm if they have the disease.
1. What do we know about the cancer-sniffing dogs mentioned in Paragraph 2?| A．They have done a great job. |
| B．They are trained in a special way. |
| C．They can easily learn to distinguish cancer. |
| D．They can be seen in many Japanese hospitals. |
| A．Offer readers some advice. |
| B．Add some background information. |
| C．Summarize the previous paragraphs. |
| D．Introduce a new topic for discussion. |
| A．Smart and brave. | B．Active and faithful. |
| C．Strong and patient. | D．Careful and peaceful. |
| A．They should work as a team. |
| B．They need to receive more training. |
| C．They can replace doctors in detecting cancer. |
| D．They should be used together with traditional tests. |
8 . Growing up, we are constantly reminded that young people are heavily affected by technology. We are the “antisocial club”, those who prefer to text our friends in the same room rather than make eye contact with them. And even though never-ending studies reveal to us the extent of our social media addiction, we should at least consider that it’s not only our young people’s problem any more.
There’s the rise of the Instagram mums, who like to post an abundance of cute baby pictures, share their mom feelings along the way and show their wonderful lifestyles. They are the so-called “Facebook mum generation”, a growing group of parents that like to overshare.
While all of this might be fine, and even a little humorous, new research suggests that parents’ technology addiction is negatively affecting their children’s behavior. According to the study, 40% of mothers and 32% of fathers have admitted having some sort of phone addiction. This has led to a significant fall in verbal interactions within families and even a decline in mothers’ encouraging their children.
There is no denying that I get annoyed when receiving the words “I’ll be with you soon” from a parent, when all I want to do is ask one question. But, at the same time, every day leaving the room to wait until my father is finished with his “serious business” (Farmville), has now become the norm. Whether you want to escape your disturbing children for a bit, or want to stay up late flicking through Twitter, know that wanting to do all of these is normal. We, your children, know how addictive it can be and how difficult it is to switch off. But before telling us to put our phones away at the table or even worse, listing statistics of how damaging social media can be for us, maybe lead by example, considering how much time you spend on the phone and how this is impacting your children and your relationship with us. Maybe in this way we can work on our addiction together.
1. From Paragraph 1, we can know that teenagers nowadays ________.| A．enjoy socializing with their friends | B．send messages to their friends every day |
| C．hate to make eye contact with their friends | D．are heavily addicted to their mobile phones |
| A．Boring. | B．Selfish. | C．Funny. | D．Meaningful. |
| A．security | B．standard | C．routine | D．custom |
| A．To share the author’s own experience with the readers. |
| B．To call on parents to get rid of their own media addiction. |
| C．To reveal that parents are always addicted to mobile phones. |
| D．To show the author’s dissatisfaction with parents’ phone use. |
9 . Corvallis Library Events for Teens
All teen events are offered at no cost for teens in middle and high school (6th-12th grade), unless otherwise noted. Please note dates and locations below.
Makers Club
The Makers Club meets every second and fourth Tuesday from 4:00-5:30 p.m. in the Main Meeting Room of the Corvallis Library. Learn basic programming with open-source platforms such as Arduino and Raspberry Pi. This group is open to all ages. Makers also explore 3-D modeling and printing with the library's 3-D printer. Programming platforms and materials are provided. Makers are welcome to bring their own laptops if they'd like.
Teen Advisors
This is a teen leadership group that advises staff about library spaces, events, and materials for teens. Teens may apply to join by completing a Teen Advisor Membership Application. Applications are available at the library in the teen area and at the Youth Services desk. The group meets in the library board room (located in the basement) on the third Friday of each month from 4:30-6:00 p.m.
Teen Takeover
This is an after-hours event for teens on the third Friday of each month from 6:30-8:30 p.m. Find us in the Main Meeting Room playing board games, making art, and watching movies during the school year. Materials and snacks are provided.
Teen Writers
Teens, write with us and meet our writing group leader! Teen Writers is for teens interested in creating new work and exploring new forms of writing. This group meets in Conference Room A (in the library basement) twice monthly on the first and third Thursday from 4:30-5:30 p.m.
1. How does Makers Club differ from the others?| A．It is free of charge. | B．There's no age limit. |
| C．The group meets twice monthly. | D．It provides materials for participants. |
| A．Bring a laptop. | B．Bring some snacks. |
| C．Attend it after class. | D．Apply for membership in advance. |
| A．Every 4th Tuesday. | B．Every 3rd Friday. |
| C．Every 2nd Tuesday. | D．Every 1st Thursday. |
10 . iPhone 12
Outlook
Featuring the same 6.1-inch display size as the iPhone 11 and iPhone XR before it, iPhone 12 is making the transition from an LCD screen to OLED. With flat aluminum sides for an overall look, it more closely matches the iPad Pro and iPad Air. Aside from the flat sides, iPhone 12 still largely resembles the iPhone 11. Around back, it has two cameras housed in a glass circle, which makes for a nice contrast with the rest of the smooth back panel. To avoid being broken or cracked when dropped, iPhone 12 is covered with what Apple describes as a “ceramic shield”.
Camera
The iPhone 12 has a 12-megapixel f/1.6 main camera-the fastest aperture(光圈) in any iPhone yet. The low-light performance has improved, and its advancements in computational photography to maximize detail and dynamic range has also been achieved. The front camera on the iPhone 12 is gaining Night Mode, as well.
Processor
iPhone 12 is powered by the company’s new A14 Bionic processor, which is the first smartphone chip built on a 5nm process, leading to improved performance and efficiency. It’s claimed that the processor is up to 50 percent faster than the leading chips in Android smartphones.
Wireless charging
To improve wireless charging on the iPhone 12, it contains a “MagSafe” system with built-in magnets to guarantee that the iPhone 12 properly lines up with the MagSafe accessories.
1. What is the size of iPhone 12?| A．About 6.1-inch as that of iPhone Max. | B．The same size as iPad Pro. |
| C．Bigger than that of iPhone 11. | D．As big as iPhone XR. |
| A．To carry out the wired charging of iPhone 12. |
| B．To perfectly match the iPad Pro and iPad Air. |
| C．To make sure the iPhone 12 is right for the MagSafe accessories. |
| D．To process the information in a more rapid way. |
| A．There are only two cameras placed separately in front and back. |
| B．It is powered by A14 Bionic processor used in Android smartphones. |
| C．All cameras of iPhone 12 have the Night Mode. |
| D．A ceramic shield helps protect against breaking and cracking. |
