1 . Described as the world’s most environmentally friendly protein（蛋白质）, Solein is made by applying electricity to water to release bubbles of carbon dioxide and hydrogen. Living microbes (微生物) are then added to the liquid to feed on the carbon dioxide and hydrogen bubbles and produce the Solein, which is then dried to make the powder. It’s a chemical change process similar to beer brewing. The dried Solein has a protein content of 50 percent and looks and tastes just like wheat flour.
“It is a completely new kind of food, a new kind of protein, different to all the food on the market today in how it is produced as it does not need agriculture.” Dr Pasi Vainikka, the chief manager of Solar Foods told The Guardian. The process used to produce Solein—changing hydrogen and carbon dioxide is amazing, as the wonder food can be produced anywhere in the world. It’s also 10 time-efficient than photosynthesis (光合作用), and 10 to 100 times more environment and climate-friendly in water use than animal or plant-based food production.
“Solein also contains all the essential amino acid (氨基酸),but because it is produced using carbon and electricity, it does not require large amounts of land to produce, ” the Solar Foods website explains. “Another unique characteristic of Solein is that it is able to take carbon directly from carbon dioxide without needing a source of sugar.”
While Solar Foods does not expect Solein to challenge conventional protein production methods in the next two decades, it does expect it to become a “new harvest” for humanity, which is significant considering so far we have only relied on plants and animals for sustenance. The Helsinki-based company plans to open its first Solein factory at the end of 2021 and increase production to two billion meals per year by 2022.
1. Why is Solein described as environmentally friendly?| A．Because it is man-made by using electricity. |
| B．Because it contains all the nutrition people need. |
| C．Because it is made consuming less land and energy. |
| D．Because it is produced from water and carbon dioxide. |
| A．It’ll have a rewarding future. |
| B．It’ll reach consumers in 2020. |
| C．It’ll challenge traditional protein production. |
| D．It’ll be a complete replacement for plants and animals. |
| A．survival | B．food |
| C．material | D．support |
| A．A textbook. | B．A novel. |
| C．A magazine. | D．A brochure. |
2 . The Best and Worst Things to Buy in March
Frozen food
Grocery store ads aren't the only places to find deals on freezer-section treats. To take advantage of the deepest discounts, combine coupons (优惠券) from sponsoring brands, such as Dole, Green Giant and Tyson Foods, with grocery store sales. Plus, look for printable savings on Coupons. com and EasyHoreMeals.com. Brands participating in National Frozen Food Month will offer more than 180, 000 coupons that make frozen food among the best things to buy in March.
Boxed chocolates
If you desire to give a gift to a friend in March, consider chocolate. Two minor holidays in March provide the perfect excuse: National Chocolate Caramel Day on March 19 and National Chocolate-Covered Raisin Day on March 24. You can discover chocolate deals online as well as in stores. Head to sites like RetailMeNot.com to find discount coupons for boxed chocolate savings of 10 percent or more.
New cars
With the latest car models filling dealers' lots, you'll have a hard time finding discounted models from the year before. Car dealerships are less motivated to offer steep discounts from March through May. Instead, plan to buy your car during the fall or winter. You should also research the auto you want at TrueCar before heading for the dealership. The site offers information on how much the previous buyers paid for the vehicles you want.
Spring clothing
When warm weather makes you want to head outdoors, resist the urge to do so wearing the latest fashions. You won't find March deals on swimsuits, Easter dresses or other spring items. To find discounts on clothes of this spring, hold off until Memorial Day weekend. You can also look for online and in-store savings at Amazon, Macy's, Saks Fifth Avenue and other retailers.
1. Which things offer discounts in March?| A．Frozen food and new cars. |
| B．Boxed chocolates and new cars. |
| C．Frozen food and boxed chocolates. |
| D．Boxed chocolates and spring clothing. |
| A．Register on a site in advance. |
| B．Get discounts from car dealers. |
| C．Consult some previous buyers:" |
| D．Make purchases at the right time. |
| A．Memorial Day. |
| B．National Frozen Food Month. |
| C．National Chocolate Caramel Day. |
| D．National Chocolate-Covered Raisin Day. |
| A．A journal. | B．A guidebook. | C．A catalogue. | D．An advertisement. |
3 . China has taken new measures to boost new-energy vehicle (NEV) and home appliance consumption. On June 6, the National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Ecological Environment and the Ministry of Commerce jointly released a guideline. It aims to upgrade the country’s consumption and form a strong domestic market in 2020.
According to the guideline, the cost of NEV production will be largely lowered and the research of a new generation of NEV batteries will be accelerated. Local governments are strictly banned from imposing any limit on the consumption and use of NEVs. Places where the limits exist should call them off. The guideline also encourages local governments to subsidize (补贴) the purchase of first NEVs of car-free families and reduce parking fees for NEVs. In this way, the move would help meet the demand for millions of vehicles in cities across the country, analysts say.
Amid the flat market in China’s auto industry, “methods to boost consumption in the auto market are still being rolled out in first-tier cities such as Beijing and Shanghai,” said Cui Dongshu, secretary-general of the China Passenger Car Association.
Some netizens held that the measures could be difficult to carry out in metropolises due to traffic pressure. Cui responded that “the traffic problems could be eased by upgrading the traffic management systems.” Cities like Beijing and Shanghai should address traffic problems in different areas based on their different levels of congestion (堵塞) through corresponding driving restrictions. The restrictions on NEVs could also be eased in some far-reaching areas in the cities, he explained.
China saw strong and healthy sales growth of NEVs in the first four months this year with 360, 000 NEVs sold, jumping by 59.8 percent from the same period a year earlier. The market could see a new round of increases under the efforts, according to industry experts.
1. Where can we most probably read the passage?| A．In a newspaper. | B．In a car magazine. |
| C．In a guideline book. | D．In an advertisement. |
| A．To increase home consumption. |
| B．To boost overseas consumption. |
| C．To occupy a powerful overseas market. |
| D．To build up a powerful market home and abroad. |
| A．No parking fees are allowed for NEVs. |
| B．The research of new NEV batteries will be sped up. |
| C．Families can be subsidized when buying their first NEVs. |
| D．Local governments have no right to monitor the use of NEVs. |
| A．Useless. | B．Successful. | C．Practical. | D．Creative. |
4 . Artificial intelligence (AD) technology may soon be a useful tool for doctors. It may help them better understand and treat diseases like breast cancer in ways that were never before possible.
Rishi Rawat, who teaches AI at the University of Southern California's (USC) Clinical Science Center in Los Angeles, is part of a team of scientists who are researching how AI and machine learning can more easily recognize cancerous growths in the breast.
Rawat provides information about cancer cells to a computer. He says this data helps the machine learn. “... You can put the data into them and they will learn the patterns and the pattern recognition that's important to making decisions"" David Agus, another USC researcher, believes that machines are not going to take the place of doctors, but they will help make certain decisions and look for things that the human brain can't recognize.
Once a confirmed cancerous growth is removed, doctors still have to treat the patient to reduce the risk of cancer returning. The form of treatment depends on the kind of cancer. Currently, researchers take a thin piece of tissue, put it on a small piece of glass and add color to better see the cells. The process could take days or even longer. Scientists say artificial intelligence can do something better than just count cells. Through machine learning, it can recognize complex patterns or structures, and learn how the cells are organized. They hope that machines will soon be able to make a quick identification of cancer that is free of human mistakes.
"All of a sudden, we have the computing power to really do it in real time...We couldn't have done this, but now it's all changed."" Agus adds that the process could be done for almost no cost in the developing world." He says that having a large amount of information about patients is important for a machine to effectively do its job in medicine.
The USC researchers are now only studying breast cancer. But doctors predict artificial intelligence will one day make a difference in all forms of cancer.
1. What does the author intend to tell us?| A．AI technology will aid to predict some cancers. |
| B．Doctors will be replaced by AI machines. |
| C．AI technology will help cancer treatment. |
| D．Doctors will get improved with AI technology. |
| A．Cell counting machines. | B．Well designed process. |
| C．Patterns of cancer. | D．Enough information of patients. |
| A．When is the best time to remove cancer. | B．Why USC researchers argue about AI. |
| C．What treatment AI technology provides. | D．How AI technology helps in medicine. |
| A．Entertainment & Arts. | B．Science & Technology. |
| C．World News. | D．Health Report. |
5 . In 1953，a mountain climber reported seeing a bar-headed goose soar over the peak of Mount Everest (珠穆朗玛 ). It was thought impossible. Now researchers who raised 19 of the geese—named for the black stripes on the backs of their heads—have shown the birds really fly so high.
The team trained the youngsters to fly in a large wind tunnel wearing backpacks and face masks full of sensors that recorded their heart rate. blood oxygen levels, temperature, and metabolic rate—how many calories they burned per hour. The researchers simulated(模拟)10w-, medium-, and high-altitude conditions by altering the concentration of oxygen supplied to face masks worn by each goose as it flew in the tunnel.
Birds already have a better heart and lungs than mammals for sustained physical activity. And researchers knew that bar-headed geese have even larger, thinner lungs that let them breathe more deeply and an even bigger heart to pump more oxygen to muscles than other birds.
The wind tunnel experiments showed that when the concentration of oxygen was at its lowest-like the 7% found on top of Mount Everest versus 21% at sea level—the geese's heart rate and frequency of wing beats remained the same even as their metabolic rate dropped. Somehow, the birds managed to cool down their blood-the measured blood temperature droppedso it could take in more oxygen, the researchers report today in eLife. This cooling likely helps compensate for the very thin air, the team says.
Although well trained, the birds were only willing to stay in the air a few minutes-or Iesswhen wearing their backpacks and flying at 6ihigh" altitudes. So it's not clear whether these adaptations alone are what make it possible to fly the 8 hours it takes to climb over Mount Everest. But those few minutes showed these geese really could fly over the top of Mount Everest.
1. Why did the researchers raise 19 bar-headed geese and train them?| A．To test the flying height and speed of them. |
| B．To confirm they could fly over Mount Everest. |
| C．To observe them flying through the wind tunnel. |
| D．To see how many calories they burned per hour. |
| A．It was carried out at very high altitude. |
| B．The geese managed to breathe less when their blood decreased. |
| C．The geese could live through the lowest concentration of oxygen. |
| D．It shows the geese could fly at high altitude for long. |
| A．Whether they have super hearts and lungs. |
| B．Whether they have muscles pumped more oxygen to. |
| C．Whether they are willing to wear backpacks and face masks. |
| D．Whether they can manage to fly 8 hours to climb over Mount Everest. |
| A．A science fiction. |
| B．A climbing guide. |
| C．A travel brochure. |
| D．A science report. |
6 . Garbage sorting has become a hot issue around China, especially after Shanghai began carrying out a regulation on July 1.
Beijing, as a forerunner in environmental protection, has thus been expected to follow suit. The capital of the country has long been campaigning for sorting and recycling household waste, as part of its environmental drive for sustainable growth, local media reported.
The current regulation gives garbage sorting responsibilities to government departments, property management groups and other organizations. It also gives rules for companies, outlining how they’re responsible for waste collection, transportation and treatment. Only individuals are not subject to responsibilities.
The long-awaited revision will soon change the situation, “Taking out the trash without sorting it properly will be illegal,” said Sun Xinjun, director of the Beijing Commission of Urban Management. In Shanghai, violators are now fined up to 200 yuan ($30)for trash-sorting violations. The maximum fine in Beijing will not be less than that, he said.
The Beijing city government first set out to promote garbage sorting in 2009. Authorities have since called on citizens to sort their household waste into four types-recyclable waste, kitchen trash, dangerous waste and others-and leave it in a corresponding dustbin or trash can. Blue-colored dustbins signify items within are recyclable, green represents kitchen trash, red corresponds to dangerous materials and grey to other waste.
To promote the awareness of garbage sorting and expand the base of participants, authorities have employed workers to help residents on the spot. With intelligent devices, those who throw in recyclable waste at given sites will be rewarded with bonus points, which can be used to buy daily goods. At some communities, there are no color-coded dustbins. Instead, a scheduled garbage collection service is offered to help improve the environment. In other communities, workers offer a door-to-door service to collect recyclables or kitchen waste.
Beijing Environmental Sanitation Engineering Group has been promoting new garbage sorting facilities such as recycling cabinets and smart kitchen waste trash cans since 2016, Xinhua News Agency reported. Nearly 26,000 metric tons of household waste is generated across Beijing on a daily basis and 29 terminal garbage disposal facilities are working at full capacity. Nearly 9.3 million tons of household waste was processed in the city last year.
1. According to the passage, which dustbins should some used coke cans be thrown into?| A．Grey-colored dustbins. | B．Red-colored dustbins. |
| C．Green-colored dustbins. | D．Blue-colored dustbins. |
| A．new technology has been applied to help deal with garbage |
| B．Beijing carried out a more severe rule on garbage sorting than Shanghai |
| C．the change of the current regulation has aroused objection among citizens |
| D．the amount of household waste in Beijing is far from something disturbing |
| A．How to Sort Garbage in China | B．The Current Regulation in Beijing |
| C．Garbage Collection in Beijing | D．Waste Recycling Project Counts |
| A．a book review | B．a travel brochure |
| C．an environment report | D．a geography essay |
7 . We tend to believe that older people are more positive and younger people are more sensitive to social cues（暗示）.
Recently scientists investigated this idea by testing 10,000 men and women. They wanted to see if age affected a person’s ability to identify subtle facial emotions, such as fear and anger.
The researchers used a Web-based platform to collect data. It showed the participants two headshots of random people. They were then asked to identify which subject was angrier, happier, or more fearful. The research found that younger people were able to better identify angry and fearful facial cues than older people.
“We know from studies that the everyday experiences of an adolescent are different from an older person, but we wanted to understand how these experiences might be linked with differences in basic emotion understanding,” wrote Laura Germine, the study’s senior author.
But what is it that makes young people more sensitive?
“This is the exact age when young people are most sensitive to forms of negative social cues, such as bullying（欺凌）,” Lauren Rutter, the study’s lead author, told Science Daily. “The normal development of anger sensitivity can contribute to some of the challenges that arise during this stage of development.”
On the contrary, across the whole 10,000-person survey, researchers found no decrease in the sense of happiness among older participants and these findings fit well with other researches, showing that older adults tend to have more positive emotions.
Now, the team is working toward a new study that examines how emotional sensitivity is related to different aspects of mental health, such as anxiety and depression.
1. What can we know from the passage?| A．Older people are more allergic to social cues. |
| B．The researchers gained data from the Internet. |
| C．Older people are less likely to identify happiness in the research. |
| D．Adolescents’ sensitivity to negative social cues does harm to their development. |
| A．By assuming and analyzing. |
| B．By questioning and tracing. |
| C．By reasoning and concluding. |
| D．By surveying and collecting statistics. |
| A．Technology. | B．Investigations. |
| C．Education. | D．Lifestyle. |
| A．The relationship between emotions and experiences. |
| B．The emotional differences between the young and the old. |
| C．The connection between sensitivity of emotions and mental health. |
| D．The different responses to social cues between the young and the old. |
