1 . In a study published in Nature Machine Intelligence, researchers at Ohio State University show how artificial intelligence（AI）can follow clinical trials to identify drugs for repurposing, a solution that can help advance innovative treatments.
Repurposing drugs is legal and not unusual. When doctors prescribe(开处方)drugs that have been approved by the Food and Drug Administration(FDA)for purposes different from what is printed on the labels, the drugs are being used “off-label” Just because a drug is FDA-approved for a specific type of disease does not prevent it from having possible benefits for other purposes.
For example, Metformin, a drug that is FDA-approved for treating type 2 diabetes, is also used to treat PCOS(a disease of women), and other diseases. Trazodone, an anti-depressant with FDA-approval to treat depression, is also prescribed by doctors to help treat patients with sleep issues.
The Ohio State University research team created an AI deep learning model for predicting treatment probability with patient data including the treatment, outcomes, and potential confounders(干扰因素).
Confounders are related to the exposure and outcome. For example, a connection is identified between music festivals and increases in skin rashes(红疹). Music festivals do not directly cause skin rashes. In this case, one possible confounding factor between the two may be outdoor heat, as music festivals tend to run outdoors when the temperature is high, and heat is a known cause for rashes. When working with real-world data, confounders could number in the thousands. AI deep learning is well-suited to find patterns in the complexity of potentially thousands of confounders.
The researcher team used confounders including population data and co-prescribed drugs. With this proof-of-concept, now clinicians have a powerful AI tool to rapidly discover new treatments by repurposing existing medications.
1. What do we know about a drug used off-label?| A．It is sold without a label. |
| B．It is available at a low price. |
| C．Its uses extend beyond the original ones. |
| D．Its clinical trials are rejected by doctors. |
| A．are used off-label |
| B．treat rare diseases |
| C．result in sleep issues |
| D．are medical breakthroughs |
| A．They are possible treatments. |
| B．They are environmental factors. |
| C．They can be easily recognized in real-world data. |
| D．They should be taken into serious consideration. |
| A．AI examines benefits of existing drugs. |
| B．AI identifies off-label uses for drugs. |
| C．AI finds new drugs for common diseases. |
| D．AI proves the power of drug research. |
2 . This is the moment a cleaner at a British university burst into tears after students raised $ 2,063 to send him to Jamaica on vacation to see family.
Herman Gordon, who has worked at Bristol University for more than a decade, is described as “one of the most loved” members of its cleaning staff. He is so well liked that a group of students raised money to give him a holiday. A video shows a student hands an envelope of cash to the surprised Gordan with tears rolling down his cheeks. He wipes away tears with a cleaning cloth and hugs the student who gave it to him. Gordan said: “I want to thank every one of you and God bless every one of you.”
The group of students started the fundraising because they liked Gordon so much. A post said: “The Jamaican cleaner in the biomedical library is the jolliest man I have ever met; he makes me smile even when I’m in the deepest depths of sorrow, if you want a reason to smile, go talk to him for a minute or two.”
Anyone who has been to the biomedical library knows who Herman the cleaner is. Simply put, Herman is the epitome（典范）of happiness, “All year round, this man works hours on end to provide us with a clean working space in which to study. But most importantly, his everlasting positive attitude has managed to turn many students’ dark days into positive ones filled with joy,” said a student. Whether you’re just feeling generally down or stressed out due to exams, Herman is always there to encourage you.
This legend proves that happiness is not about what you own, what job you have or how much money you’ve got, but about appreciating what you currently have in life even if it’s small.
1. What was Herman Gordon’ reaction when receiving the fundraising?| A．grateful. | B．stressed. | C．delighted. | D．astonished. |
| A．most miserable. | B．most cheerful. | C．most generous. | D．most glorious. |
| A．Building confidence. | B．Developing exam skills. |
| C．Learning self-control. | D．Gaining biomedical knowledge. |
| A．A biomedical library cleaner. . | B．A group of warm-hearted students. |
| C．Money-raising to send a cleaner on vacation. | D．The most loved cleaning staff. |
3 . Scientists have not found any signs of life on Mars yet,but they say a robotic vehicle called “Curiosity” is helping them learn a lot about the planet’s history and climate.
Curiosity landed on Mars in August 2012 after travelling through space for more than eight months.It was sent to Mars by scientists from NASA in the United States.
Curiosity is about the size of a car and has six wheels.It also has a robotic arm,cameras,and instruments that allow it to examine things it finds on the surface.Then it sends the information back to the earth.
Curiosity’s main task is to find out if anything could live on Mars,either now or in the past.On Nov.2,NASA scientists held a press conference (新闻发布会) to discuss what Curiosity had found in its first two months on Mars.
Curiosity has found soil that is similar to the sand formed by volcanoes (火山) on the earth.Scientists say that studying the minerals in Martian soil will help them understand what conditions were like on the planet in the past.Curiosity also found smooth stones like the ones found on river beds and seashores on the earth,where their rough edges have been worn down by water.Mars is very cold and dry now,but scientists say the smooth stones tell them that a river used to run through the place where they were found.
Curiosity has been testing the atmosphere around Mars for a type of gas called methane (甲烷),but so far it has not found any.On the earth,most methane is produced by plants or animals.Methane on Mars might indicate that some type of tiny plants or animals lived there.
Curiosity is the fourth robotic vehicle to be sent to Mars.It will continue to explore the planet for about two years.
1. Which of the following descriptions about Curiosity is TRUE?| A．It landed on Mars in January 2012. |
| B．It is small in size and has four arms. |
| C．It took over eight months to arrive in Mars. |
| D．It was sent to Mars by scientists from Russia. |
| A．there’s no air on Mars | B．Mars is warm and wet now |
| C．the soil on Mars is rich | D．there used to be water on Mars |
| A．smooth stones | B．rivers |
| C．robotic vehicles | D．volcanoes |
| A．some tiny animals once lived on Mars |
| B．there are no plants or animals on Mars now |
| C．the atmosphere around Mars is full of methane |
| D．Curiosity is designed to test the atmosphere around the earth |
| A．Humans benefit a lot by going to Mars. |
| B．Scientists will stop the research on Mars soon. |
| C．It is possible to build an earth-like environment on Mars. |
| D．A robotic vehicle helps scientists get useful information from Mars. |
4 . A new study showed evidence of how coal burning which was caused by a volcanic eruption resulted in climate change in Siberia. It discovered the first direct evidence of how extensive burning of coal in Siberia caused the Permian-Triassic（二叠纪至三叠纪）Mass Extinction Event. Their study was published recently in Geology. The research team looked at the volcaniclastic rocks found in the Siberian Traps. These eruptions lasted for about two million years more. The mass extinction almost extinguished life on our planet around 252 million years in the past.
Researchers calculated the temperature of marine waters at the time extinctions were at their peak, and results showed that the planet was in an extremely high temperature level, with ocean and sea temperatures around the equator（赤道）over 104° F. Ecosystems and plant and animal species needed millions of years to establish a new balance and recover populations.
One assuming cause of the event involves massive coal burning, which led to extreme global warming and extinguished most life forms. The team set out to look for evidence of this theory and began to study the region of the Siberian Traps, where magma and lava （岩浆和熔岩）are known to have burned coal and wood.
In the Angara River, the team found high cliffs of volcaniclastic rocks that line the river for many hundreds of miles. They studied the structures for six years, travelling far and wide to collect rocks. More than a thousand pounds of rock samples were collected and shared with a scientific team.
Upon analysis, they found strange parts that seemed to be burnt wood and coal.
Co-author Steve Grasby from the Geological Survey of Canada had previously found similar tiny burnt coal material on an arctic island in Canada, which also dated from the end of the Permian Period and were believed to have floated into the area from Siberia.
Similar events also occur today, with human burning of coal and other fossil energies. The team leader Elkins — Tanton says this is an extra incentive （动 因）for us to act now. Indeed? taking action may prevent or at least slow another mass extinction event.
1. What does the underlined word "extinguished” in the first paragraph mean?| A．Destroyed. | B．Constructed. |
| C．Formed, | D．Strengthened. |
| A．Parts from the volcanic eruption. |
| B．Lack of food after the volcanic eruption. |
| C．High temperatures caused by the volcano. |
| D．Magma and lava of the volcanic eruption. |
| A．To avoid burning the fossil fuels. |
| B．To try to prevent volcanoes erupting. |
| C．To take measures to protect wild animals. |
| D．To learn how to stay alive in disasters. |
| A．How to protect our earth more effectively. |
| B．The mass extinction in history in Siberia, |
| C．The high temperatures around the world. |
| D．A study of coal burning in history in Siberia. |
5 . Every year, the Joint Mathematics Meeting brings more than 5,000 math lovers together. It’s the largest math meeting in the world. In January 2019, mathematicians flew to the meeting in Baltimore, Md. , to learn about new ideas and talk about their work. Many even came to admire the latest in mathematical art.
The meeting included an entire art exhibition. Visitors felt amazed at sculptures made from metal, wood and folded paper. One was based on a supersized Rubik’s cube. Many like triangles, were arranged in strange and surprising sizes and colors. The collection also included drawings and paintings inspired by the study of numbers, curves（曲线）and patterns.
Art and math may seem like a strange pairing. People usually experience art through their senses. They see a painting or listen to music. If this art moves them, they will have an emotional（情感上的）response. Working at math problems is usually viewed as something you think about—not feel. But connections between the two fields reach far back in time. Sculptors and architects in some ancient civilizations included numbers and math ideas into their works.
“A mathematician, like a painter or a poet, is a maker of patterns,” wrote British mathematician G. H. Hardy in 1940. If a mathematician’s patterns are more permanent, he continued, “It is because they are made with ideas.”
Henry Segerman is a mathematician and artist. When he was in high school, in England, he was good at math and art. But he had to choose. “I went in the math direction back then,” he says. He thought it difficult to succeed as an artist.
Still, Segerman’s math studies led him into the visual areas of math, such as geometry. In 2015, Segerman and some math art friends created a virtual-reality artwork. Participants can put on a pair of VR goggles to float around and through four-dimensional shapes. Art makes it possible to interact（互动）with these shapes, which would be impossible to create in our three-dimensional world. As beautiful as it is to see, Segerman’s work also offers a new view on mathematical ideas.
1. What is special about the exhibits at the meeting?| A．They are made based on math ideas. |
| B．They reflect the long history of math. |
| C．They are art works with high technology. |
| D．They turn abstract art into specific math. |
| A．They’re experienced in different ways. |
| B．They seem extremely hard to appreciate. |
| C．They’ve been separated since ancient times. |
| D．They fail to bring about people’s responses. |
| A．one can’t easily succeed in science | B．math makes art easier to understand |
| C．math is actually the origin of fine art | D．math learning promotes the creation of art |
| A．Real artists will stand the test of math. |
| B．Artists make math become a kind of art. |
| C．Modern artists turn into mathematicians. |
| D．Math and art turns out a great combination. |
6 . Bumblebees(大黄蜂）aren't simply dancing around our gardens.Now,a new study suggests that bumblebees force plants to flower by making small bites in their leaves.
Consuelo De Moraes,a scientist at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich, noticed bumblebees making tiny bites in the leaves of their greenhouse plants.The insects didn't seem to be carrying off the bits of leaves to their nests or eating them.
Supposing the bees were causing the plants to flower,Consuelo De Moraes and his team set up a series of experiments.They placed flowerless tomato plants and two kinds of worker bees in cages.The bees fed with enough pollen(花粉）seldom damaged the plants,while the ones without having pollen for three days busily did so.Scientists then removed the plants after the bees made five to ten holes in their leaves.The small holes caused the tomato plants to flower a month sooner than usual.
＂In a sense,the bees are signaling,'Hey,we need food.Please speed up your flowering, and we'll pollinate(授粉）you."said Lars Chittka,a behavioral scientist at Queen Mary University of London.
To make sure that their discoveries didn't result from the man-made conditions in the lab, the scientists placed bumblebees and a variety of flowerless plant species on their Zurich rooftop in late March 2018.The bees were free to fly as far as they could.Yet they set to work damaging the leaves on all the non-flowering plants nearest to their nests.The bees lost interest in this activity toward the end of April as more flowers came out,according to the study.
The research is of great value,for it can increase the human food supply.However,some questions remain to be answered,like"Why do the bites cause the plants to flower?"and ＂Does flowering early lead to higher fitness for the plants?"
1. Why did the bumblebees bite the leaves?| A．Because they wanted to eat the leaves. |
| B．Because they were to get pollen to eat. |
| C．Because they were exercising to be stronger. |
| D．Because they would carry the leaves to the nests. |
| A．Dancing on the leaves. |
| B．Flying as far as they could. |
| C．Making small holes in the leaves. |
| D．Damaging the flowers near their nests. |
| A．Humans may produce more food. |
| B．Bumblebees can have more to eat. |
| C．Some plants can have more flowers. |
| D．Some plants will gain higher fitness. |
| A．Bumblebees speed up plants flowering by biting leaves. |
| B．Human food supply will largely depend on bumblebees. |
| C．Bumblebees like to damage the plants nearest their nests. |
| D．Rooftop plants flower more than the ones in greenhouses. |
7 . Like producers of wine from France's Champagne area, Brazil's chocolate industry is using geographical indication, or GI labels with good results. These labels show where the cocoa comes from and its quality. The special labels can lead to higher prices on the market.
Henrique Almeida is the 63-year-old owner of a farm in Coaraci, in the northeastern Brazilian state of Bahia. He is pleased with the "South Bahia" geographical indication for his cocoa. "The production of fine cocoa and the creation of the geographical indication label make it possible to have a profitable business and pull our region upwards," Almeida said.
For many years, farmers in Bahia had produced common cocoa, used widely in the chocolate industry. But in 1989, an outbreak of "witches' broom" disease sharply reduced the productivity of Bahia's cocoa trees. These trees make up to 86 percent of Brazil's national crop. At the time, Almeida, like other producers in southern Bahia, chose to improve the quality of his crop in order to be able to continue growing.
"When I bought the farm, standard cocoa prices were low, and cocoa farmers were unmotivated（无动机的）, while the chocolate market was doing well," he told the French news agency AFP. "I started growing fine cocoa to make my own chocolate and add value to my product."
The label is the result of 10 years of work by Almeida and other cocoa producers, as well as cooperatives and researchers. Together, they created the South Bahia Cocoa Association to define（定义）production rules. The National Institute of Industrial Property registered the GI 6 years after the first registered GI.
The “South Bahia” label is the second GI given to Brazilian cocoa. The Linhares region in the state of Espirito Santo was the first GI to be registered in 2012. Tome-Acu in the northeastern state of Para became the third in 2019.
1. What might be a result of witches' broom in 1989?| A．Many cocoa trees in Brazil died. | B．Cocoa became quite expensive. |
| C．Farmers started to grow fine cocoa. | D．Chocolate industry had to use common cocoa. |
| A．In 2012. | B．In 2014. |
| C．In 2016. | D．In 2018. |
| A．A national cocoa association may appear quickly. |
| B．Common cocoa may disappear soon. |
| C．Cocoa fanners may apply for more GI labels. |
| D．Cocoa prices will be higher and higher. |
| A．Brazil's cocoa industry benefits from GI labels. |
| B．Brazil's cocoa farmers are learning to make French wine. |
| C．GI labels are making higher profits for Brazil's cocoa farmers. |
| D．Better Brazil's cocoa trees will bring finer Brazil's cocoa. |
8 . You can’t see it with your own eyes，but your smart-phone is likely to be covered with bacteria- perhaps even more so than your toilet seat. That's a lot of dangerous microbes（微生物）floating around, and yes, it is terribly dirty.
In this age of global travel and trade, it’s more important than ever to cut down on possible routes of infection and to stop bacteria and viruses spreading from person to person. Part of that means making sure your phone isn’t sending anything more than data.
And besides the potential health risks of a dirty phone, there's also the simple annoyance of looking at a screen that’s covered in fingerprints and other oily spots that are part of life with a smart-phone.
In short, you’ve got plenty of reasons to regularly give your phone a thorough clean. Not just during a pandemic（大流行病），either-we should be thinking about keeping our phones bacteria free all the time, says microbiologist Paul Turner, a professor at Yale University.
After all, we touch our phones all the time and many of us are relatively careless about cleaning them. “It sets the stage for kind of concern,” Turner says. “People could be handling phones and picking up any bacteria or virus that can attach to a surface and survive for a period of time.”
Take SARS-CoV-2, the corona- virus（冠状病毒）that causes the COVID-19, for example. Scientists are still trying to get solid evidence, but early research suggests that it can survive on plastic or stainless steel（不锈钢）surfaces for two or three days. That means you could be washing your hands perfectly well, but immediately picking the virus up again as soon as you reach for your phone.
You could be doing everything right（like washing your hands and staying away from people），but
if there’s a contaminated surface in your home or your pocket, you could expose yourself to the virus anyway, Turner says.
1. Why does the author mention the toilet seat?
| A．To draw a vivid picture of a dirty phone. |
| B．To show how dirty a toilet seat is. |
| C．To add some background information. |
| D．To introduce a topic for discussion. |
| A．Simply washing our hands is not enough. |
| B．Scientists have got solid evidence of the COVID-19. |
| C．The corona-virus can survive on smooth surfaces for 2 or 3 weeks. |
| D．The author suggests washing our hands before using our phones. |
| A．A stainless steel. | B．A deadly virus. |
| C．A clean phone. | D．An infectious phone. |
| A．You may get infected with your dirty phone. |
| B．You are supposed to wash your hands. |
| C．You’d better clean your dirty phone. |
| D．You’d better throw away your dirty phone. |
9 . Scientist， conservation organizations and government trying to stop the trend of extinction （灭绝） often focus on protected areas such as national parks and wildlife preserves. But with as many as million species（物种） at risk， this plan of action may not be enough to conserve wildlife.
Slowing the mass extinction that now appears to be underway will require more creative means of coexisting alongside wild plants and animals. A new study indicates the effectiveness of some such approaches by examining some lands managed by indigenous groups.
“ We show really strongly that， from a biodiversity standpoint in terms of species richness，indigenous － managed lands are at least comparable to protected areas， ” says biologist Richard Schuster of Carleton University. And in some places， they are better than parks and preserves －even though indigenous communities may use their lands’ resources by hunting or searching for food.
Schuster and his team analyzed more than 15，000 areas in Australia， Brazil and Canada. They found that the total diversity of wildlife was highest on lands either managed or co － managed by indigenous groups， while randomly selected areas with no formal protection were the least bio－diverse. For threatened species in particular， indigenous lands scored slightly higher than protected lands on overall species richness in Brazil and Canada， as well as higher for threatened animals in Australia.
Each country has a different geography， climate and history. Yet remarkably， Schuster says， the best indicator for species diversity is whether a given area was managed by an indigenous community. He pointed out that practices such as sustainable（可持续的） hunting， fishing and searching， as well as burning， are more likely to occur in such areas. Don Hankins， an ecologist at California State University，agrees. “ there’ s probably going to be more of a connection to the land， ” he says， “ and a use of the land for the things that are there， compared to a national park. ”
“ It’ s really important to listen to the people who live on the land and have them drive the stewardship efforts going forward， ” Schuster says， adding that partnering with indigenous communities may enable the world’ s countries to better meet a wide range of conservation goals： “ We really need all the help we can get as a global community to prevent species extinction that we’ re facing right now. ”
1. What does the underlined word “ indigenous” probably mean in Paragraph 2？| A．Social. | B．Native. |
| C．Protected. | D．Threatened. |
| A．National parks are even higher in species diversity. |
| B．Indigenous communities overhunted on their lands. |
| C．Some preserves almost have no formal protection. |
| D．Indigenous lands do better in keeping bio－diversity. |
| A．Species diversity depends on geographical positions. |
| B．Humans’ everyday activities are no longer sustainable. |
| C．Indigenous groups have a close bond with their lands. |
| D．Protected areas work perfectly in wildlife protection. |
| A．Beating back extinction. | B．Dealing with environmental problems. |
| C．Setting up nature reserves. | D．Fighting against unsustainable behaviors. |
10 . As anyone who's tried to befriend a baby knows,the very young are a tough crowd. In response to your solicitous babble(喋喋不休），a baby might lock eyes with you. Just as likely,though,she'll stare insistently into an empty distance,spit up,or simply protest by crying loudly.
New research suggests that babies are highly selective-discriminating even-in whom they will pay attention lo. And even before their first birthdays,this research shows,babies distinguish between "people like me"and all others.
For those of us who like to think that prejudice comes with age,this may be disappointing news.But a new study,published Monday in the journal PNAS,offers a fresh perspective on babies' remarkable ability to distinguish between"in-group"members("people like me")and out-group members("others") at such a young age.
Babies are all about learning new stuff,the new research concludes. And they won't waste a minute paying attention to someone they think unlikely to deliver the goods.
The new research shows that,given the choice of listening to someone speaking in their native language and someone speaking another tongue, 11-month-old babies will consistently ignore the foreign speaker and pay attention to the person speaking the language that's familiar to them. At the moment that those babies made such decisions,researchers detected a distinctive pattern in their brain activity-a pattern consistently seen in babies expecting to learn something new.
Yes,the babies were making"us"versus"them"Judgments which,research has found,become ever more generalized and powerful as we age. But they appeared to be making those selective judgments, the research found,in a bid to maximize the information they lake in,not to exclude the “other”。
1. If you keep talking to a baby,she may_______| A．be your friend | B．ignore you |
| C．lock you in the room | D．respond you with words |
| A．between bad people and good people |
| B．between researchers and journalist |
| C．between people who like them and people who dislike them |
| D．between people who are alike and people who are not alike |
| A．Chinese | B．English |
| C．French | D．Japanese |
| A．babies are born clever |
| B．babies may lock eyes with you |
| C．babies are eager to learn new things |
| D．babies can make selective judgments about people |
