1 . For years, planet-hunters have been searching for a planet other than Earth that can support life. They may have found one.
The planet is the sixth found orbiting a star called Gliese 581. Steven Vogt, one of the scientists involved, expects the new planet to have water. On Earth, when we find water, we find life.
A planet that can support life has to be just the right size for its system and just the right distance from its star. Some planets orbit so close to their stars that they’re much too hot for liquid water—or for life as we know it.
But a right-sized planet that's neither too close nor too far might be just right for water. Gliese 581 is probably just right. It is about three times as huge as Earth.
The new planet is 20 light years away, which is as far as 250 million trips to the Moon and back.
Gliese 581 is an exciting discovery—and astronomers are likely to find more soon, thanks to new, powerful telescopes specifically designed to look for planets.
| A．We can’t travel at the speed of light. |
| B．It’s pretty hard to imagine that water wouldn't be there. |
| C．Human beings won’t be visiting this planet any time soon. |
| D．So scientists looking for life on other planets look for water first. |
| E．It orbits its star so closely that it goes all the way around in only 37 days. |
| F．Astronomers will probably find more potential life-supporting planets soon. |
| G．Other planets keep their distance from the stars—where they’re too cold to have water or life. |
2 . What makes a human being? Is it our thoughts? Our emotions? Our behavior?
All of these things make us who we are, but at the center of the matter is the genome (基因组) — the genes inside our bodies that may determine everything from our hair colour to our intelligence. But if we could change our genome, what would it mean to us?
In an online video posted on Nov 26, He Jiankui, a biological researcher from Southern University of Science and Technology in China, said that he had helped to make the world’s first genetically edited babies.
These are twin girls, born in November, with genes edited in an attempt to help them fight against possible future infection (感染) with the AIDS virus.
He said that he chose to do this because HIV infections are a big problem in China. “I feel such a strong responsibility that it’s not just to make a first, but also to set an example,” He told the Associated Press(AP).
The announcement has caused an international storm. Some believe that success will benefit the families of HIV patients. Considering that HIV is “a major and growing public health threat,” attempted gene editing for HIV is justifiable, Harvard Medical School genetics professor George Church told AP.
However, others think that gene editing technology is still unsafe to attempt.
“Gene editing itself is experimental and is still associated with unexpected mutations (突变), causing genetic problems early and later in life, including the development of cancer,” Julian Savulescu, a specialist in ethics at the University of Oxford, told BBC News.
Others fear that this could open the door to using gene editing technology to make designer babies. It might give the parents the choices to choose everything from their baby’s eye color to intelligence.
“You could find wealthy parents buying the latest ‘upgrades’ for their children, leading to even greater inequality than we already live with,” Marcy Darnovsky, director of the San Francisco Center for Genetics, told BBC News.
However, Merlin Crossley, a biologist at the University of New South Wales, Australia, believes that’s a long way off. According to him, many genes produce qualities like height and intelligence — not to mention environmental influences.
And he believes the technology will be better controlled in the future.
“It’s hard to get genies (妖怪) back into bottles — but I’m optimistic that this technology, which I think of as ‘genetic surgery’, could be controlled quite effectively in the future,” Crossley told ABC News.
1. Why did He Jiankui make the genetically edited babies?| A．Because he wanted to be a leader in gene editing technology. |
| B．Because he tried to do his part in fighting against HIV infection. |
| C．Because he attempted to help the twin girls who were infected with AIDS. |
| D．Because he wanted to became the first to make the genetically edited babies in the world. |
| A．Gene editing can cause genetic problems sooner or later in life |
| B．Gene editing may widen the gap between the rich and the poor |
| C．Gene editing may enable wealthy parents to design their babies |
| D．Gene editing can determine everything inside a person’s body |
| A．Absurd. | B．Hopeless. | C．Acceptable. | D．Skilful. |
| A．Gene editing: the genie in the bottle |
| B．Gene editing: the way we should go |
| C．Gene editing: hope or fear for human beings |
| D．Gene editing: a great success in human history |
3 . Do you want to live another 100 years or more? Some experts say that scientific advances will one day enable humans to last tens of years beyond what is now seen as the natural limit of the human life span.
“I think we are knocking at the door of immortality(永生),” said Michael Zey, a Montclair State University business professor and author of two books on the future. “I think by 2075 we will see it and that’s a conservative estimate(保守的估计).”
At the conference in San Francisco, Donald Louria, a professor at New Jersey Medical School in Newark said advances in using genes as well as nanotechnology(纳米技术) make it likely that humans will live in the future beyond what was possible in the past. “There is a great effort so that people can live from 120 to 180 years,” he said. “Some have suggested that there is no limit and that people could live to 200 or 300 or 500 years.”
However, many scientists who specialize in aging are doubtful about it and say the human body is just not designed to last past about 120 years. Even with healthier lifestyles and less disease, they say failure of the brain and organs will finally lead all humans to death.
Scientists also differ on what kind of life the super aged might live. “It remains to be seen if you pass 120, you know; could you be healthy enough to have good quality of life?” said Leonard Poon, director of the University of Georgia Gerontology Centre. “At present people who could get to that point are not in good health at all.”
1. By saying“we are knocking at the door of immortality”,Michael Zey means_________.| A．they have got some ideas about living forever |
| B．they believe that there is no limit of living |
| C．they are able to make people live past the present life span |
| D．they are sure to find the truth about long living |
| A．the human body is designed to last past about 120 years |
| B．it is possible for humans to live longer in the future |
| C．it is still doubtful how long humans can live |
| D．people can live from 120 to 180 |
| A．a great effort |
| B．the conservative estimate |
| C．the idea of living from 200 to 300 years |
| D．the idea of living beyond the present life span |
| A．No Limit for Human Life |
| B．Living Longer or not |
| C．Science,Technology and Long Living |
| D．Healthy Lifestyle and Long Living |
4 . People have speculated (思索) for centuries about a future without work. Some imagine that the coming work-free world will be defined by inequality: A few wealthy people will own all the capital, and the masses will struggle in a wasteland. A different prediction holds that without jobs to give their lives meaning, future people will simply become lazy and depressed.
But it doesn’t necessarily follow from findings like these that a world without work would be filled with dissatisfaction. Such visions are based on the downsides of being unemployed in a society built on the concept of employment. In the absence of work, a society designed with other ends in mind could provide strikingly different circumstances for the future of labor and leisure.
These days, spare time is relatively rare for most workers. “When I come home from a hard day's work, I often feel tired,” says John Danaher, a lecturer at the National University of Ireland, adding, “In a world in which I don’t have to work, I might feel rather different — perhaps different enough to throw himself into a hobby with the enthusiasm usually reserved for professional matters.”
Daniel Everett, an anthropologist (人类学家) at Bentley University studied a group of hunter-gathers in the Amazon called the Piraha for years. According to Everett, while some might consider hunting and gathering work, hunter-gatherers don’t. “They think of it as fun,” he says. “They don’t have a concept of work the way we do.”
Everett described a typical clay for the Piraha: A man might get up, spend a few hours fishing, have a barbecue, and play until the evening. Does this relaxing life lead to the depression and purposelessness seen among so many of today’s unemployed? “I’ve never seen anything like depression there, except people who are physically ill,” Everett says. While many may consider work necessary for human life, work as it exists today is a relatively new invention in the course of human culture. “We think it’s bad to just sit around with nothing to do,” says Everett. “For the Piraha, it’s quite a desirable state.”
1. What might be some people’s attitude towards the work-free world?| A．Objective. | B．Negative. |
| C．Skeptical. | D．Cautious. |
| A．Risks. | B．Losses. |
| C．Challenges. | D．Disadvantages. |
| A．work plays an important role in our future life |
| B．people don’t know how to balance work and life |
| C．people’s work-free future life will be full of charm |
| D．higher unemployment makes life tougher for workers |
| A．To justify John Danaher’s opinion. | B．To show a future life without work. |
| C．To compare different views on work. | D．To introduce the Piraha in the Amazon. |
5 . European researchers say they have created a process that can produce oxygen from moon dust. The process could provide a major source of oxygen for humans taking part in moon exploration activities in the future. Researchers from the European Space Agency，or ESA，carried out the experiments at a laboratory in the Netherlands.
The team says ESA’s experimental“plant”was able to successfully produce oxygen from simulated moon dust. The dust is part of a material known as regolith，a top layer of dirt and rock pieces that sit on the surface of the moon. Samples of regolith returned from the moon have confirmed that the material contains about 45 percent oxygen by weight. However，the oxygen is chemically locked in the form of minerals or glass，so it is not easily available for use. Having real samples of regolith from the moon made it possible for the researchers to create the simulated moon dust material used during testing.
The oxygen extraction(提取)process is carried out using a method called molten salt electrolysis(熔盐电解). This includes first placing the regolith in a metal container. Calcium chloride salt is added to the mixture，which is then heated to 950 degrees Celsius. At this temperature，the regolith remains solid. Next，an electrical current is passed through the material. The researchers say it is this step that results in oxygen being extracted from the regolith. The study reported that up to 96 percent of oxygen in the simulated moon dust was extracted during the experiments.
ESA’s long-term goal is to design an oxygen-producing“pilot plant”to operate full-time on the moon. The first technology demonstration of the system is expected to take place in the middle 2020s. Beth Lomax，a lead researcher on the project，said，“Being able to acquire oxygen from resources found on the moon would obviously be hugely useful for future lunar settlers，both for breathing and the local production of rocket fuel. ”The researchers reported that“as a bonus，”the process also results in the production of usable metallic materials.
ESA and the US space agency NASA are both working on plans to return human beings to the moon. NASA has set a goal for 2024 with the aim to keep humans on the moon for long periods.
1. Why is oxygen from moon dust difficult to use?| A．It is tough for human beings to get moon dust. |
| B．It is chemically fixed in materials or glass. |
| C．The conditions of moon dust are terrible. |
| D．There exits only a little of it. |
| A．What molten salt electrolysis is. |
| B．Where the value of the study lies. |
| C．How oxygen is extracted from moon dust. |
| D．What is necessary in the oxygen extraction process. |
| A．Positive. | B．Skeptical. |
| C．Cautious. | D．Indifferent. |
| A．Recent Studies of Moon Dust by Researchers |
| B．How Researchers Extracted Oxygen from Moon Dust |
| C．Potential Significance of Oxygen Extracted from Moon Dust |
| D．Researchers Report Extracting Oxygen from Moon Dust Successfully |
6 . In the Hollywood movie The Martian, actor Matt Damon plays an astronaut who grows food on Mars(火星)to survive alone on the red planet.
After seeing the movie, Washington State University physicist Michael Allen and University of Idaho food scientist Helen Joyner decided to carry out a case study helping students figure out how to farm on Mars. In the case study, students have to imagine they are mining(采矿) on Mars and decide how to feed themselves there before starting on the journey. They get advice from Allen and Joyner on how to select crops and take the challenges of growing crops over long periods on Mars. Students use a scoring system to select three foods to plant on Mars.
Allen found the results impressive: among 30 students, “no two people have ever gotten the same answer”, he said.
Human travelers to Mars will likely have to make use of resources on the planet rather than take everything they need with them on a spaceship. This means farming their own food on another planet, one that has a very different ecosystem (生态系统) from Earth’s.
One challenge for those who would like to live on Mars is the fact that there can be no farming tools. Like real astronauts, students taking part in the study cannot take a lot of farming tools with them. As Joyner put it to his student astronauts, “You are starting with nothing.”
Besides, students also have to deal with a very limited choice of diet. “If I had to eat a single food for the rest of my life, could I do it?” Joyner asked.
But Allen believes the case study is about more than farming and eating on the Red Planet.
“I’m not teaching about growing food on Mars,” Allen said. “I’m teaching about living with choices. I’m teaching about problem solving.”
1. In the case study, students have to __________.| A．watch the movie to know the conditions on Mars |
| B．decide which crop to grow on Mars with the help of the teachers |
| C．design different types of diets on Mars for them to choose |
| D．understand how to farm on Mars with their favorite farming tools |
| A．increases students’ knowledge about farming |
| B．helps student know more about Mars |
| C．develops students’ skills of solving problems |
| D．teaches students how to make proper choices |
| A．to describe a research on how to farm on Mars |
| B．to prepare us to deal with problems on Mars |
| C．to teach us how to survive on Mars alone |
| D．to introduce a Hollywood movie, The Martian |
