1 . The best and most-commonly used sources for the pills we have are oily fish like salmon（畦）， mackerel and sardines. Many environmentalists fear that some species are being over fished for this purpose. We may have an endless voracity for fish oil, but we don't have an endless supply of fish.
Menhaden, which is described as “a big-headed, smelly, foot-long fish" , is in great danger. Although prized for dinner in the 18th century, the species has become the unknown victim of the fish oil business 9 which presents us with potential sea fish. Menhaden filter-feed almost entirely on algae （海藻）and is especially good at changing it into-3 fatty acids, which make them a good target for fish oil companies.
One particular company, Protein of Houston, has been fishing 90 percent of the country' s menhaden. It's become such a big problem that 13 of the 15 Atlantic states have banned the company * s boats from their waters. Yet the company is still allowed to fish in North Carolina and Virginia, as well as federal waters; the company * s efforts result in the removing of half a billion menhaden every year.
Aside from running out a public natural resource for a company，s private profit, the damage to the ecosystem is cause for alarm. The muddy brown color of the Long Island Sound is the direct result of lacking water nitration （过滤）一a job that was once done by menhaden.
Menhaden keep the ocean waters of the Atlantic and Gulf coasts clean. A menhaden filters four to six gallons of water of algae in a minute, which prevents underwater dead zones.
Measures should be taken to avoid the over fished situation. Plant seeds such as flax seed, chiaseeds, hemp seeds, and sesame seeds — and particularly their oils — are good vegetarian sources of omega-3 fatty acids, although the mix of specific acids is different from which one can get with fish.
1. Why does menhaden become a good fish for companies to make pills?| A．It is good at forming-3 fatty acids. |
| B．It feeds mainly on the harmful algae. |
| C．It is well-known for its rich protein. |
| D．It is relatively easy for companies to catch. |
| A．trouble | B．shortage |
| C．resource | D．appetite |
| A．To grow more plants for their seeds to make oil. |
| B．To use some substitutes instead of more fish oil. |
| C．To call on the government to make laws in fishing. |
| D．To take part in more activities to protect the environment. |
| A．The broken natural ecosystem. | B．The process of making fish oil. |
| C．Bad effects of fish oil making. | D．How to use natural resources. |
2 . To advance wind turbine (汽轮机，涡轮机)technology to meet the requirements of extremely rough environments like that on Mars, Ames partnered with NSF (the National Science Foundation) and the Department of Energy. " It was clear that a lot of the same features were also found in the cold regions of the Earth,“ says Bubenheim. "NASA took the leadership on the team because we had the longest-term technology—a Mars turbine.”
Years before, NSF had worked with a company called Northern Power Systems ( NPS) , based in Barre, Vermont, to build a 3-kilowatt wind turbine on Black Island off the coast of Antarctica. The main purpose of this turbine was to power communications to the NSF's South Pole station. In 1993 , Ames awarded the same company a Small Business Innovation Research ( SBIR) contract (合 同)to construct a similar wind turbine at the South Pole.
Jonathan Lynch, the chief technology officer at NPS, says the South Pole has less wind than Black Island but is even colder. " It's hard to have steels that work in those temperatures,“ he says. " The cold affects the parts and everything gets extremely fragile. We looked at which materials were appropriate for flexible wires, irons, and steels, and what lubrication (润 滑) systems were going to work and for what temperatures over a long period of time.”
In 1997, NPS made a 3-kilowatt turbine at the South Pole, and then began developing a 100-kilowatt turbine that could function in the same extreme conditions. The first types of the larger turbine were successfully deployed in Kotzebue, Alaska and Golden, Colorado. " They were fully tested in loads to make sure they worked, and we then built a lot of them, " says Lynch.
By 2000, the wind turbine technology had won an R&D 100 Award from R&D Magazine , and since then, says Bubenheim, "It's been copied and put in a lot of places around the globe. "
1. From the first paragraph, we can infer that_____.| A．the team wanted to build a wind turbine used on Mars |
| B．Mars and the Earth have the same features |
| C．NASA played the most important part in the team |
| D．the team was made up of Ames, NSF, the Department of Energy and NASA |
| A．The wind turbine technology was invented by Ames. |
| B．NPS made wind turbines for NSF and Ames. |
| C．NSF and Ames both used the wind turbines at the same place. |
| D．The wind turbine technology was only used in America. |
| A．The South Pole has worse condition than the Black Island. |
| B．NPS had confidence to build a wind turbine for the South Pole. |
| C．The materials for the turbines have to stand the extreme cold. |
| D．NPS had more challenges in building a wind turbine for the South Pole. |
| A．made | B．invented | C．used | D．advanced |
3 . The reason why dominant (占支配地位的) men always seem to rise to the top has been uncovered. Researchers say they are able to make decisions far faster than those with nondom-inant personalities. It could explain why so many top CEOs and politicians are known for their dominant personalities.
The study found high-dominance men respond faster in situations where a choice is needed, regardless of social context. Promptness (敏捷) to respond in high-dominance men was accompanied by a noticeably amplified brain signal. In addition, when the researchers analyzed the EEG (脑电图) images of the high-dominance participants, they identified a higher activity in areas of the brain associated with emotion and behavior, compared to low-dominance participants.
This promptness in decision-making can act as a biomarker for social personalities. “Dominance itself depends partly on the ability to make decisions faster than others. This allows the individual to act first in social situations, which might result in an evolutionary advantage.” the team wrote.
They now hope to link these reading to roles such as CEOs, and to find out if the same differences happen in female. and children. “In the future, it will be important to find out whether even stronger brain signals are observed in particularly dominant individuals, such as CEOs,” said Carmen Sandi of the Ecole Poly technique Federale de Lausanne.
She added, “It will also be relevant to understand whether these differences in promptness to respond and brain signals are also observed in women that differ in dominance and whether they are already present in children. Our findings may open a new research approach using EEG signatures as a measure for social dominance.”
The study involved 240 male students at the University of Lausanne who were sorted into high or low dominance groups by a standard “dominance scoring” questionnaire proved in many former studies.
1. What makes dominant people stand out?| A．Their wiser decisions. | B．Their kind personalities. |
| C．Their high social status. | D．Their rapidity of responding. |
| A．affected | B．adjusted | C．enhanced | D．controlled |
| A．Save people's life. | B．Check on more people. |
| C．Test the participants' brain. | D．Show the effect of dominance. |
| A．It used previous research findings. |
| B．It involved some women and children. |
| C．It showed how people became CEOs. |
| D．It corrected people’s ideas of dominance. |
4 . In spring, chickens start laying again, bringing a welcome source of protein at winter’s end. So it’s no surprise that cultures around the world celebrate spring by honoring the egg.
Some traditions are simple, like the red eggs that get baked into Greek Easter breads. Others elevate the egg into a fancy art, like the heavily jewel-covered “eggs” that were favored by the Russians starting in the 19th century.
One ancient form of egg art comes to us from Ukraine. For centuries, Ukrainians have been drawing complicated patterns on eggs. Contemporary artists have followed this tradition to create eggs that speak to the anxieties of our age: Life is precious, and delicate. Eggs are, too.
“There’s something about their delicate nature that appeals to me,” says New Yorker cartoonist Roz Chast. Several years ago, she became interested in eggs and learned the traditional Ukrainian technique to draw her very modern characters. “I’ve broken eggs at every stage of the process — from the very beginning to the very, very end.”
But there’s an appeal in that vulnerability(易损性). “There’s part of this sickening horror of knowing you’re walking on the edge with this, that I kind of like, knowing that it could all fall apart at any second.” Chast’s designs, such as a worried man alone in a tiny rowboat, reflect that delicateness.
Traditional Ukrainian decorated eggs also spoke to those fears. The elaborate patterns were believed to offer protection against evil.
“There’s an ancient legend that as long as these eggs are made, evil will not exist in the world.” says Joan Brander, a Canadian egg-painter who has been painting eggs for over 60 years, having learned the art from her Ukrainian relatives.
1. People in many cultures honor the egg because _______________.| A．it is their major source of protein in winter |
| B．it is a welcome sign of the approach of spring |
| C．it can bring wealth and honor to them |
| D．it can easily be made into a work of art |
| A．carve | B．promote | C．place | D．lower |
| A．She is never sure what the final design will look like until the end. |
| B．She always achieves great pleasure from designing something new. |
| C．She never knows if the egg will break before the design is completed. |
| D．She believes there won’t be evil in the world once the egg is made. |
| A．the decorated “eggs” are favored as a form of fancy art in Russia |
| B．contemporary artists draw on eggs to reflect anxieties of people today |
| C．the delicate nature of eggs appeals to Roz Chast |
| D．eggs provide a hard and unique surface to paint on |
5 . The more curious we are about a topic, the easier it is to remember not only information about that topic, but also other unrelated information shown at the same time. A study published in 2014 in Neuron shows what happens inside our brains when our curiosity is sparked.
Participants in the study were asked to rate how curious they were to find out the answer to a specific question, such as: “What does the term ‘dinosaur’ actually mean?” They were then placed in a magnetic resonance imaging(MRI) machine that measures brain activity, based on changes in blood flow when the brain is performing certain tasks. They saw the question again followed by the image of a person’s face and were asked to make a specific decision about the person. Finally, they were shown the answer to the question. After the MRI scan, they completed a surprise test on the answers to the questions and also on their ability to recognize the faces shown during the scan.
The research revealed three key findings. Firstly, when curious to learn the answer to a question people are better at learning that information. Most surprising though was that participants had greater recall of the completely irrelevant information—such as the face - shown at the same time. Secondly, when curiosity is stimulated, the research found that there is increased activity in the region of the brain associated with memory. And lastly, there is increased activity in the regions of the brain associated with reward when curiosity is stimulated.
Behavioral neuroscientist Jee Hyun Kim said more could be done to see whether the different levels of curiosity and different motivations from person to person have an impact on memory and learning.
Amy Reichelt, a psychology expert, said both that “stimulating curiosity is really important across all ages, from schools to the workplace and to elderly care and that curiosity is especially helpful to children who struggle at school. ”
1. According to Paragraph 2, how did scientists learn about curiosity and the human brain?| A．Showing people a picture of a dinosaur while in an MRI machine. |
| B．Asking people to remember important events while in an MRI machine. |
| C．Giving people quizzes and used an MRI machine to score each of the tests. |
| D．Asking people questions while an MRI machine measured their brain activity. |
| A．important | B．unrelated | C．detailed | D．obvious |
| A．Disapproving. | B．Cautious. | C．Positive. | D．Passive. |
| A．The effect curiosity has on memory and learning. |
| B．The relationship between curiosity and motivation. |
| C．Motivation and rewards are more important than curiosity. |
| D．How rewards stimulate curiosity across all ages in learning. |
6 . Life in the Clear Transparent animals let light pass through their bodies the same way light passes through a window.These animals typically live between the surface of the ocean and a depth of about 3,300 feet—as far as most light can reach.Most of them are extremely delicate and can be damaged by a simple touch.Sonke Johnsen,a scientist in biology,says,“These animals live through their life alone.They never touch anything unless they’re eating it,or unless something is eating them.”
And they are as clear as glass.How does an animal become see-through?It’s trickier than you might think.
The objects around you are visible because they interact with light.Light typically travels in a straight line.But some materials slow and scatter(散射)light,bouncing it away from its original path.Others absorb light,stopping itdeadin its tracks.Both scattering and absorption make an object look different from other objects around it,so you can see it easily.
But a transparent object doesn’t absorb or scatter light,at least not very much.Light can pass through it without bending or stopping.That means a transparent object doesn’t look very different from the surrounding air or water.You don’t see it—you see the things behind it.
To become transparent,an animal needs to keep its body from absorbing or scattering light.Living materials can stop light because they contain pigments(色素)that absorb specific colors of light.But a transparent animal doesn’t have pigments,so its tissues won’t absorb light.According to Johnsen,avoiding absorption is actually easy.The real challenge is preventing light from scattering.
Animals are built of many different materials—skin,fat,and more—and light moves through each at a different speed.Every time light moves into a material with a new speed,it bends and scatters.Transparent animals use different tricks to fight scattering.Some animals are simply very small or extremely flat.Without much tissue to scatter light,it is easier to be see-through.Others build a large,clear mass of non-living jelly-like(果冻状的)material and spread themselves over it.
Larger transparent animals have the biggest challenge,because they have to make all the different tissues in their bodies slow down light exactly as much as water does.They need to look uniform.But how they’re doing it is still unknown.One thing is clear for these larger animals,staying transparent is an active process.When they die,they turn a non-transparent milky white.
1. According to Paragraph 1,transparent animals ____ .| A．stay in groups |
| B．can be easily damaged |
| C．appear only in deep ocean |
| D．are beautiful creatures |
| A．silently |
| B．gradually |
| C．regularly |
| D．completely |
| A．move more slowly in deep water |
| B．stay see-through even after death |
| C．produce more tissues for their survival |
| D．take effective action to reduce light spreading |
7 . One beautiful day, my good friends and I joined an experienced crew and sailed in the Caribbean. As boating beginners, my friends and I were in charge of spotting the light areas of the seafloor that signaled dangerous reefs (暗礁).Ocean reefs have the potential to destroy any sailboat that passes over them, so while the electronic depth sounder is a necessary tool, it is always helpful to find a reef ahead of time so that it can be more easily avoided.
One aspect of boating that was reserved for the experts was tacking, the sailing term for changing direction. All at once, a smooth sail could turn into complete pandemonium as the captain at the wheel began yelling directions to the first mate (大副), who quickly began struggling with the sails and rigging (索具). Generally, the wind continued to offer resistance. This made the first mate’s struggle more demanding and really frightening to the less experienced boaters on board. This mad yelling and tacking could go on for several minutes before all was right again and the boat settled into its new course. Once this had occurred, the captain and the first mate acknowledged each other with congratulatory smiles. We beginners, however, were still recovering from our terror and wondering to ourselves, “Was all that supposed to happen? And they think this is fun?”
As we headed back toward the shore, the unpredictable wind not only slowed but stopped, and soon the boat did too. After several minutes, the ship’s crew unwillingly turned on the motor. Unfortunately, it wouldn’t start and so we floated at sea, no land in sight, just waiting. It was late afternoon when I began to recognize the panic that was rising in my throat. Eventually, the ship’s captain got the engine running. The sails were up and the little motor moved along.
1. What were the author and his friends asked to do?| A．Watch passing sailboats. | B．Notice reefs in the ocean. |
| C．Get experience from the crew. | D．Use the electronic depth sounder. |
| A．Chaos. | B．Damage. | C．Devotion. | D．Blindness. |
| A．Confused. | B．Amused. | C．Scared. | D．Excited. |
| A．There was a fierce wind blowing. | B．The engine wouldn’t work. |
| C．The author’s throat hurt. | D．The crew lost their way. |
8 . Some of the greatest problems we face today are the destruction (破坏)of our environment.Brown clouds, polluted water, endangered wild animals..., these problems seem so huge.
So my family does what we can. We take cloth bags to stores instead of using plastic bags. We walk where we don’t have to drive.
But does it do any good? When I am the only one in line at the market with cloth bags, am I doing any good? Does my walking to stores make any real difference to the world?
I recently learned something about flamingos(火烈鸟)which like to get together in groups of a thousand or more Every year when the time comes for migration (迁徙), a few of them first take off from the lake. But none of the others seem to notice, so the small group returns. However, the next day they try again. This time a few more fly along with them, but most of them still pay no attention, so they return again. They try for several times. Every time a few more birds join in but ,since the thousands of others still take no notice, the great migration plan is once more stopped.
Then one day something changes. The same small group of birds once again starts flying and a small number more join in just as before, then more. Finally, they all take flight and the migration really begins. What a spectacular sight it must be--thousands of flamingos taking off into the sky at once!
A few can make a difference. Even if you’re the one to take the first step, and continue trying,others will someday take notice and together we will solve even our greatest problems.
1. Where would you most probably read this passage?| A．A guidebook. | B．A movie poster. |
| C．An animal magazine. | D．A personal blog |
| A．There are only cloth bags in stores. |
| B．All the people use cloth bags in stores. |
| C．He thinks plastic bags are more expensive. |
| D．He wants to do some good to the environment. |
| A．Disappointing. | B．Fantastic. |
| C．Terrible | D．Surprising |
| A．To show that the writer loves to see the migration of flamingos. |
| B．To tell readers to continue trying and it can make a difference. |
| C．To introduce a special kind of flamingo to readers. |
| D．To show that there' re many problems in the world. |
9 . I was 16 when my father finally decided he would send me to wilderness camp for several months. He had threatened to do it many times before, but my mother had always managed to prevent him from doing so. This time he insisted on doing it.
The latest incident was the last straw. Impulsively （(冲动地）,I had pushed Mr. Ford, my math teacher, down a flight of steps at school. He broke his arm in two places. Anyway , he had agreed not to accuse me as a favor to my dad, who was in the middle of a tight race for sheriff （执法官）in our town. But my reckless behavior had my dad's closest advisor talking." John? he's your son and he's a kid, but he is dragging you down." his advisor said. "If you can't make your son obey the rules, how can you make the law obeyed in this town?"
So, off to Pisgah National Forest I went. I imagined hours of untold abuse at the hands of some strong officer. I was determined not to be broken. I was who I was.
Nearly every day for six months, a small group of other troubled teens and I carried our 30-pound backpacks on a difficult journey covering about 10 miles.
Our sergeants were firm but kind 9 not frightening as I had imagined. We learned how to make a fire without matches. We learned which plants were safe to eat out in the wild. I felt myself change. I was calm and often reflective. My old, impulsive self was gone.
One morning, six months later, my dad came to pick me up. I ran to hug him and saw happiness and love in his eyes.
"So what's it like being sheriff?" I asked on the ride home.
"I lost the race, Danny,” he said.
"I'm sorry, Dad.” I knew my behavior probably had a lot to do with the defeat.
Dad squeezed my shoulder and brought me close. “As long as I don't ever lose you, I'm okay. ”
1. The author was finally sent to wilderness because .| A．he could learn how to survive in the wild |
| B．his teacher insisted on giving him a lesson |
| C．he pushed his math teacher down the stairs |
| D．his mother feared that he would be accused |
| A．proud | B．rude |
| C．careless | D．reasonable |
| A．He changed a lot after the camp. |
| B．He was not satisfied with his life in the camp. |
| C．He was abused by the officer. |
| D．He made enemies with other troubled teens at the camp. |
| A．Anxious. | B．Astonished. |
| C．Disappointed. | D．Relieved. |
10 . All animals—from humans to birds，worms and crocodiles—sleep，however，not all species sleep alike. Scientists have long puzzled over which aspects are truly fundamental. Now a new study on lizards(蜥蜴)suggests that sleep states once thought to occur only in mammals and birds have much older evolutionary origins.
Scientists had long doubted that birds and mammals are the only vertebrates(脊椎动物)to experience rapid eye movement(REM)，a sleep state in which the body is mostly immobile but the brain is overworking. During REM sleep，the brain produces high-frequency waves of electrical activity and the eyes turn suddenly from time to time. In humans，REM is closely linked to dreaming. REM is a pattern of slow-wave sleep，a state in which brain activity weakens and the waves become more consistent. This slower state is widely thought to be important to memory formation and storage.
“But scientists who looked for signs of REM and slow-wave sleep in reptiles(爬行动物) have had‘confusing’results，”says Gilles Laurent，a neuroscientist at the Max Planck Institute for Brain Research in Frankfurt，Germany. So he and his colleagues had planned to examine how the lizards—a common pet in Germany use visual information to chase treats. Using camera，the team found that the sleeping lizards’eyes twitched during the REM-like stage，just like other animals. They also found a very familiar pattern within the slower phase of the lizards’brain waves. Some scientists believe these waves help transform new information into memories by replaying past events quickly.
Although more studies are still needed to determine whether the function of these brain wave patterns is the same across species，the results suggest that these REM and slow-wave sleep patterns could date all the way back to the common ancestor of reptiles，birds，and mammals.
1. What does paragraph 2 mainly talk about?| A．The origin of human dream. |
| B．The definition and effect of REM. |
| C．The features and course of memory. |
| D．The advantages and disadvantages of REM. |
| A．opened wide | B．moved quickly |
| C．stayed closed | D．kept still |
| A．By increasing their frequency slowly. |
| B．By changing their pattern occasionally. |
| C．By playing back the past events quickly. |
| D．By connecting visual information effectively. |
| A．The function of the brain wave is the same. |
| B．All the animals have the common ancestor. |
| C．The sleep pattern of all the animals is the same. |
| D．The study about sleep pattern has a long way to go. |
