1 . A painting stamped with more than 4.8 million fingerprints and cost over 80, 000 yuan in paper has set the Guinness World Record for the largest fingerprint painting.
The fingerprint painting, named Descendants of the Dragon, was created by Kuang Xianpeng, a 35-year-old painter from Zhuzhou, Hunan Province. It describes a mix of nine Chinese dragons and six arts in ancient Chinese culture.
With a surface area of 1195. 14 square meters, 51. 526 meters long and 23. 195 meters wide, the whole painting used 685 pieces of xuan paper and took Kuang over two years to complete. It also took 40 volunteers two whole days to lay out the painting for Guinness certification officer to measure.
Kuang said it was a very arduous journey, and he had used up all his spare time to finish the work. “It was very hard to master the amount of strength you put in your fingers, ” he said. “You can’t press too hard or too light. Otherwise, your prints will blur. I have wasted over 300 pieces of paper due to blurred fingerprints. ”
The Guinness certification officer Luo Qiong said this world record wasn’t easy to earn. She said each fingerprint must be clear, the painting must have more than four different colors, and the distance between each fingerprint mustn’t be more than 1 centimeter.
The world record for this category had been broken 15 times since 2014, with the previous one set by an Indian with a work measuring 1, 188 square meters.
Before this painting, Kuang had spent 14 years in drawing a pen-and-ink painting of 247 meters long and 1. 6 meters wide, telling stories of historical myths. He also said he would never stop exploring more creative works.
1. What can we know about the painting created by Kuang Xianpeng?| A．It’s worth at least 80, 000 yuan. |
| B．It measures 1, 188 square meters. |
| C．It took him 14 years to complete it. |
| D．It consists of over 4.8 million fingerprints. |
| A．Difficult. | B．Satisfying. |
| C．Thrilling. | D．Frightening. |
| A．The colors of paints. |
| B．The amount of strength. |
| C．The quality of xuan paper. |
| D．The distance of fingerprints. |
| A．He is full of creativity. |
| B．He is full of imagination. |
| C．He is very courageous. |
| D．He is rich in experience. |
2 . Ever wonder how your brain works when making decisions bigger than medium versus spicy salsa, like buying a car or accepting a job offer? Researchers from the University of Dundee in Scotland conducted a study that clarifies why you may want to have a small bite before making that big decision.
Benjamin Vincent from the University of Dundee’s Psychology department and his co-author Jordan Skyrnka tested 50 people two times: once when they followed their normal eating patterns and once when they did not eat anything during the day. Using three different types of rewards (food, money, and song downloads), the team discovered when presented with the choice of receiving the reward now versus double the award at some point in the future, participants would usually volunteer to wait for 35 days to earn a larger bounty, but when they were hungry, they said they would only wait three days.
“We wanted to know whether being in a state of hunger had a specific effect on how you make decisions only relating to food or if it had broader effects, and this research suggests decision-making gets more present-focused when people are hungry,” Vincent said in a story about the study on the university’s website. “You would predict that hunger would impact people’s preferences relating to food, but it is not yet clear why people get more present-focused for completely unrelated rewards. Hunger is so common that it is important to understand the non-obvious ways in which our preferences and decisions may be affected by it,” he said.
In an earlier study of the subject by a team at Cambridge University in England, the researchers noted that serotonin plays a major role in the decision-making process. “Since the raw material for making serotonin—an amino acid called tryptophan — only comes from diet, levels of the chemical decline between meals,” reports a piece in the Telegraph about the study. “This can lead to aggressiveness and impulsiveness,” say the team.
1. How did Benjamin Vincent and Jordan Skyrnka carry out their research?| A．By analyzing reasons. | B．By making comparison. |
| C．By giving examples. | D．By filling questionnaires. |
| A．bonus. | B．quantity. | C．income. | D．fortune. |
| A．It’s common to make a wrong decision if you are hungry. |
| B．Make sure you are not hungry before making a big decision. |
| C．The more hungry you are, the quicker you will make a decision. |
| D．Being hungry drives you to make a decision connected with food. |
| A．What should be eaten to make a wise man. |
| B．How can we get enough serotonin from our diet. |
| C．What other factors will influence one’s decision-making. |
| D．How does a chemical function in the course of making a decision. |
3 . There is an old saying in Chinese: “To do a good job, one must first sharpen one’s tools.” When it comes to photography, however, it’s not exactly the case. In this year’s National Geographic Travel Photo Contest, Greenlandic Winter, a picture by Chinese photographer Chu Weimin, took first place in the cities category and won the overall grand prize as well.
When asked why he chose Upernavik, a small fishing village in Greenland, to take his pictures, Chu described the first time he spotted the village from an airplane. “Through my entire flight, I could only see the land, covered by pure white ice and snow. But I suddenly saw a big, warm dot in the far distance — Upernavik,” he told National Geographic. “The beauty of this tranquil (宁静的) village was beyond my imagination. It was a ‘wow’ moment for me.” This ability to identify a “wow moment” is what makes a good travel photographer.
According to Chu, he was moved by Upernavik’s blue tint at dusk, the warm yellow light from the windows, and the family of three walking along the snowy street. Although he is a professional photographer, many of Chu’s Greenland pictures were shot with his phone.
This attitude echoes that of Austrian-American photographer Ernest Haas (1921-1986). Haas told his students that they were too obsessed with cameras to understand the essence of photography. “The camera doesn’t make a bit of difference,” Haas said. “All of them can record what you are seeing. But you have to SEE.”
Perhaps it’s not just in photography that we’ve put too much emphasis on the role of tools. How many of you are reluctant to start a new sport or learn new software simply because you don’t yet have the “right” outfit (装备) or computer?
It’s true that “sharpened” tools make the work easier, hut as reporter Abhilash Pavuluri wrote on Firstpost: “In the end, it’s really the artist that makes a good painting, not the paintbrush.”
1. What do we know about Chu Weimin?| A．He is better at photographing people than scenery. |
| B．His award-winning picture is set in a peaceful village. |
| C．His shooting style stands out from other photographers. |
| D．He is the first Chinese person to win the National Geographic Photo Contest. |
| A．To explain why Chu’s picture stands out. |
| B．To introduce Chu’s love for Upernavik. |
| C．To recommend a good place for taking photos. |
| D．To describe Chu’s inspiration for the winning picture. |
| A．The ability to find beauty. |
| B．Enthusiasm for photography. |
| C．Having rich parents. |
| D．Owning the best camera equipment. |
| A．glad | B．unwilling |
| C．confident | D．supposed |
4 . Several new films on ordinary people's contributions were released in celebration of the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China (PRC).
A kaleidoscope (万花筒) of heroes
Patriotism (爱国主义) and realism reflected in My People, My Country are the top two elements that have won the audiences' hearts. “In the seven stories in My People, My Country, the protagonists (主角) are no longer the main creators of history.” Zheng Yang, a teacher, said after watching the movie.
“We don't want to simply sing the praises of China's achievements over the past 70 years; we want to show that all the achievements have been made thanks to the Chinese people's efforts，” Chen Kaige said in a video interview.
A miraculous escape
The Captain, directed by Andrew Lau, is also based on a real incident.
On May 14, 2018, a Sichuan Airlines flight from Chongqing to Lhasa, made a miraculous escape when a cockpit window broke. It caused a sudden drop in the air pressure inside the aircraft, leading to the copilot almost being sucked out. He was saved by his seat belt. The temperature plunged to about minus 40 degrees Celsius.
But against_great_odds,_Captain Liu Chuanjian managed to land the plane and keep all 128 people aboard safe. It was regarded as a miracle in civil aviation history.
The peak performance
The Climbers is based on two expeditions by Chinese climbers to Mount Qomolangma, the highest mountain in the world.
In 1960, three Chinese climbers were the first to reach the summit from the dangerous northern side. However, the feat was not recognized internationally as the team failed to provide any evidence. To prove this feat, a gigantic team of over 400 members was put together in 1975. During this expedition, nine climbers reached the top. The expedition also measured the height of the peak—8,848.13 meters.
1. What's the common in the seven stories in My People, My Country?| A．They are all based on real incidents. | B．They are all about common people. |
| C．They are all about heroes in the history. | D．They are all about the founding of China. |
| A．out of the question | B．around the corner |
| C．all of a sudden | D．through thick and thin |
| A．People's Heroes | B．The Great Event |
| C．The New Expedition | D．Great People's Contributions |
5 . A new study, published this week in the journal Frontiers in Veterinary Science, reveals that non-human animals' tears are not so different from our own. The chemical similarities are so great, in fact, that the composition of other species' tears—and how they're adapted to their environments-may provide insights into better treatments for human eye disease.
Previously, scientists had studied closely only the tears of a handful of mammals, including humans, dogs, horses, camels, and monkeys. In the new study, Brazilian veterinarians analyzed the tears of reptiles and birds for the first time , focusing on seven species.
Tears, which are released from tear tubes, form a film over the eye that's composed of three ingredients: mucus, waler, and oil. The mucus coats the eyes surface and helps to attach the film to the eye, the water is a natural salty solution containing crucial proteins and minerals, and the oil prevents the eye from drying out.
Humans are the only known species to produce emotional tears; the expression "crocodile tears," which refers to a person's phony display of emotion, comes from the mysterious tendency of crocodiles to release tears as they eat.
But tears play key roles beyond weeping, notes Lionel Sebbag at Iowa State University, who was not involved in the new research. They help with vision by lubricating and clearing the eye. They also protect the eye against infection and provide nutrition to the cornea, the eye's clear outer layer, which lacks blood tubes, he says.
Learning how reptiles and birds' use tears may also inspire new medications for conditions such as dry eye, which occurs when tear tubes don't produce enough oil. The disease, common in cats, dogs, and people, can sometimes lead to blindness.
1. What is paragraph 3 mainly about?| A．The source of tears. | B．The composition of tears. |
| C．The classification of tears, | D．The definition of tears. |
| A．Tricky. | B．Regretful. | C．Cold. | D．False. |
| A．Weeping contributes to eye disease. | B．The cornea has rich blood tubes. |
| C．Tears oil and clear the eyes. | D．More tears mean better vision. |
| A．Tears, a barrier to eyes | B．A better treatment for eye disease |
| C．Non-human tears promise new cures | D．Other species’ tears are similar to humans' |
6 . Space travel is definitely bad for astronauts' bones, reducing their bone density (密度) after only a month of weightlessness, according to French research published on Friday.
Laurence Vico and his fellow workers at St Etienne University called for more research into the effects of microgravity, after their study of 15 astronauts from the Russian MIR station showed bone loss continued throughout space flights.
"Bone loss was especially striking in four astronauts," the scientists reported in the Lancet Medical Journal.
They measured the bone mineral density (BMD) of the bones in the forearm (前臂) and lower leg of the astronauts who had spent one to six months in space.
The BMD loss was significant in the tibia (胫骨) of the lower leg, a weight-bearing bone, but barely changed in the radius (桡骨) of the forearm. "Our results indicate the need to investigate not only different bones, but also different areas of the same bone since not all sites of the skeleton (骨架) are similarly affected by space conditions," they added.
Without gravity the body isn't bearing any weight so there is no need for calcium (钙) which makes bones strong, and it begins to empty into the bloodstream.
The research team suggested in future scientists should try to determine if the loss of bone density was only on weight-bearing bones on longer flights.
1. French scientists did their research on Russian astronauts, because ________.| A．they only cared for the Russian astronauts |
| B．they were not interested in their own astronauts |
| C．the Russian government invited them to do their research |
| D．the Russian astronauts worked in space for a long time |
| A．the BMD loss may cause serious illness for astronauts |
| B．the BMD loss may cause some change in astronauts' bodies |
| C．astronauts shouldn't care about the BMD loss |
| D．astronauts should take some calcium before space travel |
| A．The food they ate in space. |
| B．The drinks they took in space. |
| C．The temperature in space. |
| D．Gravity in space. |
| A．unusual | B．simple | C．weak | D．slow |
7 . Killer whales, or orcas, are known for their severe attacks on sea animals but they have never posed a threat to humans. However, since late July, the normally social animals have been intentionally attacking sailboats off the coasts of Spain and Portugal.
The strange behavior first surfaced on July 29, 2020, when a 46-foot boat was repeatedly attacked for almost an hour by nine orcas, causing the boat to rotate(旋转) 180 degrees and having its engine switched off. Since then, over 30 more similar incidents have been reported. On September 23, 2020, Spain's government banned boats of less than 50 feet in length from sailing in the 60-mile stretch of the Atlantic coastline between Ferrol and the Estaca de Bares Cape, where the attacks have been occurring.
Researchers across the world are trying to explain the orcas' behavior. Some believe it could be a result of the overfishing of the bluefish tuna - the orcas' primary food source -which has left the area's killer whales starving and unable to feed their babies. "I saw them look at boats carrying fish. I think they know humans are somehow related to food shortages, "says Ken Balcomb, senior scientist at the Center for Whale Research in Washington, USA. The environmentalists believe the sudden increase in boat traffic and fishing activities, after months of absence due to restrictions on human activity last spring, could also be contributing to the agitation.
However, Alfredo López, a biology professor in Galicia, Spain, thinks the attacks are defensive measures the orcas adopted to protect themselves against boat injuries. The researcher came to this conclusion after looking at the of the videos of a few incidents and noticing that two of the young killer whales involved had serious injuries. Hopefully, the experts will be able to find a way to restore the harmony between the animals and the humans soon.
1. What do we know about orcas in paragraph 1?| A．They are friendly to humans. | B．They have changed their behavior. |
| C．They are famous for hunting skills | D．They have met tough living conditions. |
| A．Ken Balcomb. | B．The environmentalists. |
| C．Alfredo López. | D．Spain's government. |
| A．The attacks. | B．Food shortages. | C．The overfishing. | D．Human activities. |
| A．How do killer whales attack humans? |
| B．Why Are Killer Whales attacking Boats? |
| C．How can we live in harmony with animals? |
| D．Why are boats banned from sailing on the sea? |
8 . Despite the anxiety that the first digital novel caused in 1993, publishers weren’t too concerned that e-books would one day replace printed books. However, that attitude was changed suddenly in 2007 when Amazon Kindle came onto the market, which led to e-book sales jumping up to 1,260%. Since then, e-books’ popularity has continued to rise steadily. The publishing industry seemed to have lost all possible ability to regain its position. Will printed books eventually become a thing of the past? According to Mike Shatzkin, founder and CEO of the Idea Logical Company, printed books just for reading will, in 10 years from now, be unusual. “Not so unusual that a kid will say, ‘Mommy, what’s that?’ but unusual enough that on the train you’l see one or two people reading something printed, while everyone else is reading on a tablet computer screen.” And Shatzkin believes that the demise of print is sure to happen, though such a day won’t arrive for perhaps 50 to 100 or more years.
Robert Stein, founder of The Institute for the Future of the Book, however, believes that books won’t disappear entirely, at least not anytime soon. “Print will exist, and it may have an artistic value,” he says. He predicts that the distance between writers and readers will be made less obvious by a social reading experience in which authors and consumers can digitally interact with each other to discuss any passage, sentence or line.
Should print really disappear entirely? According to Maryanne Wolf, director of the Center for Reading and Language Research at Tufts University, electronic reading can negatively affect the way the brain responds to the text, including reading comprehension and the ability to pay attention to details like the order of events. “My worry is that we’ll have a short-circuited(短路的) reading brain, excellent for gathering information but not necessarily for forming critical, analytical deep reading skills,” Wolf says. He hopes that we continue to keep a “bi-literate” society — one that values both the digital and printed words. “A full reading brain circuit is a huge contribution to the intellectual development of our species. Anything that threatens it deserves our attention.”
1. How did publishers feel about the rising e-book sales inspired by Amazon Kindle?| A．Worried. | B．Excited. |
| C．Curious. | D．Doubtful. |
| A．rise | B．death |
| C．adjustment | D．popularity |
| A．the artistic value |
| B．the digital interaction |
| C．the growing popularity |
| D．the traditional design |
| A．e-reading will strengthen the power of our brain |
| B．digital books and paper books should not coexist |
| C．e-reading will make us more critical and thoughtful |
| D．we should not risk losing a full reading brain circuit |
9 . Starman, the dummy(仿真人) riding a cherry-red Tesla Roadster(特斯拉敞篷车) through space, has made his closest approach ever to Mars. The electric roadster and its passenger were attached to the top of a Falcon Heavy rocket during the SpaceX rocket’s first test launch on 6 February 2018.
Two years later, the Falcon Heavy rocket and the vehicle at its tip are making their second trip around the Sun. Mr. McDowell, a Harvard astrophysicist, found that Starman passed 7.4 million kilometers from Mars at 06:25 GMT 7 October, 2020.
The closest recent approach between the Earth and Mars was 56 million kilometers in 2003, though the planets are often hundreds of millions of miles apart depending on where they are in their orbits. No one can see the Falcon Heavy rocket at its current distance, but orbits over periods of a few years are fairly straightforward to predict, and Mr. McDowell used data about how the rocket was moving when it left the Earth’s gravity behind to locate its recent movements exactly.
Last time Starman circled the Sun, McDowell said, it crossed Mars’ orbit while the Red Planet was quite far away. But this time the crossing lined up with a fairly close approach, though still not close enough to feel a strong tug from Mars.
At this point in time, if you were able to go look at the Roadster, it would probably look pretty different. The strong solar radiation environment between the planets would probably have destroyed all the exposed organic materials.
Without the Earth’s atmospheric and magnetic(磁场的) protection, even the plastics and carbon-fibre materials would start to break up. Over the course of decades or centuries, the car will end up with its aluminium(铝) frame and hard glass parts----that’s assuming that none of them get destroyed in impacts with passing space rocks.
1. What can we infer from the first two paragraphs?| A．Starman is now circling around the Earth in its orbit. |
| B．Starman has set out on its second trip around the Sun. |
| C．Starman has traveled 7.4 million kilometers after launch. |
| D．Starman still has a long way to go before getting to Mars. |
| A．By keeping Starman under visual observation. |
| B．By predicting its future orbit around the earth. |
| C．By seeking professional help from SpaceX. |
| D．By analyzing data about the rocket’s movement. |
| A．pull | B．drive | C．resistance | D．pressure |
| A．It is circling around Mars and will finally crash onto it. |
| B．It will finish its mission and return to SpaceX on earth. |
| C．Starman is likely reduced to at most its frame and glass. |
| D．SpaceX will try to recover it during its next space mission. |
10 . There is more that comes with older age than greying hair and wrinkled skin When humans reach their later years, they favour more established friends and their social circle is reduced.
Now, for what appears to be the first time, scientists have seen the same behaviour in another species. Twenty years of observations of chimpanzees (猩猩) reveal that older males choose to hang out with their long-term friends at the expense of other relationships.
The researchers studied 78, 000 hours of observations made between 1996 and 2016 that followed the social interactions of 21 male chimpanzees between the ages of 15 and 58 years old. They classified the chimps’ relationships depending on the amount of time they sat with others and groomed (梳毛) them. They then rated the various pairings as mutual (相互的) friendships, where both chimps seemed to enjoy the relationship; one-sided friendships, where one chimp was more keen to be friends than the other; and non-friendships, where neither chimp showed interest in the other.
When the scientists looked at the patterns of friendships, they found that the older chimps had more mutual friendships and fewer one-sided friendships than younger chimps. Another feature seen in older humans was also spotted in the chimps. As the males got older, their levels of aggression (挑衅) tailed off, meaning they started fewer fights and tended to intimidate others in their group less often.
The observations have left the researchers puzzled. According to an idea in psychology known as socioemotional selectivity theory, or SST, older humans prefer more positive relationships because they are aware time is running out. But many animal experts argue that chimpanzees lack the human sense of mortality (死亡), suggesting something else is driving the behaviour.
Robin Dunbar, a professor of evolutionary psychology at the University of Oxford, said in humans, the decline in social circles with age is due to declining social motivation to get out and meet people combined by lack of opportunity. In chimpanzees, as older males compete less for mates, they may focus on close, reciprocal (互惠的) relationships with trusted partners, she said.
1. What do older male chimpanzees favour?| A．Old friendships. | B．New bonds. |
| C．Greying hair. | D．Wrinkled skin. |
| A．By turning to other scientists. |
| B．By introducing a new concept. |
| C．By forming relationships with them. |
| D．By analyzing two decades’ observations. |
| A．Threaten. | B．Motivate. | C．Defend. | D．Accompany. |
| A．Awareness of time. | B．Less competition for mates. |
| C．Low motivation for socialization. | D．Lack of the human sense of mortality. |
