1 . Vinegar is great. It makes salad, fries and dumplings taste better, and you can even clean your windows with it. And now, according to scientists, it may even help the planet’s population survive climate change. Researchers from the RIKEN Center for Sustainable Resource Science (CSRS) in Japan proved that. They found growing plants in vinegar makes them more resistant to droughts. This could mean that in the future, worries about climate change affecting the world’s supply of food will be much lower.
The discovery was made after the researchers studied the Arabidopsis, a plant known for its ability to survive in dry weather. It was found that when the plant was placed in drought-like conditions, it produced a chemical called acetate (醋酸盐)—the main component of vinegar.
After discovering this, the scientists experimented further by adding acetate to the soil of other plants before they stopped giving them water completely. After leaving the plants for 14 days, they found that the ones treated with acetate had survived, while the untreated plants had dried up and died.
It’s hoped that this simple method of survival could soon be used to help farmers in dry countries keep their crops alive, “In the experiment, we targeted the staple foods of the world—rice, wheat and maize... and proved successful” Jong Myong Kim, co-author of the study, told Popular Science magazine.
Kim has already been in touch with people around the world who are interested in trying this simple and cost-effective method out for themselves from farmers to companies and amateur gardeners. “Now we are trying to cooperate with them to make a method to apply this system, and make the process as simple as possible,” he said. Hopefully this means the end of hunger caused by bad weather in the future.
1. What does the underlined word “that” in paragraph 1 refer to?| A．Vinegar may help creatures survive bad weather. |
| B．Vinegar is found in plants by Japanese scientists. |
| C．Vinegar is very useful for cooking a good meal. |
| D．Vinegar is mainly used by people to clean houses. |
| A．the acetate can be used by farmers to replace the soil |
| B．the plants treated with acetate could survive dry conditions |
| C．soil condition could be changed by pouring vinegar continually |
| D．the Arabidopsis could survive in dry weather because of the shape |
| A．How to decrease the cost is the main issue. |
| B．Keeping plants alive means a lot for scientists. |
| C．The method is promising especially in agriculture. |
| D．It’s too difficult for farmers to accept the method. |
| A．Vinegar and Food | B．Plants Need Water |
| C．Japanese Scientists Find a Plant | D．Vinegar Could End Hunger |
2 . Most Americans are worried about new technology. They are concerned that machines, including robots, will take over work now done by humans. These findings come from a new report by the Pew Research Center of Washington D. C.
About 75 percent of Americans questioned by Pew said automation will increase income inequality between the rich and the middle class and poor. And 64 percent of people expect automation to be so common in America that people will face difficulty finding things to do with their lives.
Some of the concerns about technology come from a distrust about whether machines will always make the right decision. Many Americans believe humans have better judgement in dealing with. complex matters. One example is selecting a person for a job. Three-quarters of Americans said they would not want to apply for a job that uses a computer program to choose the most qualified person.
“Most Americans want the government to limit automation. For example, 87 percent support a requirement that all driverless vehicles have a human in the driver’s seat who can take control when an emergency occurs. And 85 percent want to limit machines to mostly doing jobs that are dangerous or unhealthy for humans. And only 25 percent expect more jobs to come from automation,” Pew said.
Mark Zuckerberg, the co-founder of Facebook, spoke last May to graduating seniors from Harvard University in Massachusetts. His talk centered on the uncertain future facing young people. “Our generation will have to deal with tens of millions of jobs replaced by automation like self-driving cars and trucks.” Zuckerherg told the graduates.
Zuckerberg said young people had better launch(发起)projects that will bring both jobs and direct benefits to the people of the world. He said in his speech that 30000 people worked to put a man on the moon, and millions of people built the Hoover Dam as well as other great projects over the last 100 years.
1. What do many Americans think of technology according to paragraph 3?| A．Useful. |
| B．Effective. |
| C．Dangerous. |
| D．Undependable. |
| A．To test the new technology. |
| B．To make a driver. |
| C．To ensure personal safety. |
| D．To entertain the passengers. |
| A．Refuse self-driving vehicles. |
| B．Create new job chances. |
| C．Focus on small projects. |
| D．Fight against robots. |
| A．New Technology Creates More Jobs |
| B．New Technology Brings More Fairness |
| C．Americans Worry Machines Will Take Jobs |
| D．Robots Make Work Easy to Do for Workers |
3 . During the 20th century there has been a great change in the lives of women. A woman marrying at the end of the 19th century probably has been in her middle 20’s and would be likely to have seven or eight children. By the time the youngest was 15, the mother would have been in her early 50’s and would expect to live a further 20 years, during which chance and health made it hard for her to get paid work.
Today women marry younger and have fewer children. Usually a woman’s youngest child will be 15 when she is 45 and she can be expected to live another 35 years and is likely to get paid work until 60.
This important change in women’s life has only recently begun to have its full effect on women’s economic position. Even a few years ago most girls left school and took a fulltime job. However, when they married, they usually left work at once and never returned to it. Today the school-leaving age is 16, many girls stay at school after that age, and though women marry younger, more married women stay at work at least until shortly before their first child is born. Many more return to work later. Such changes have led to a new relationship in marriage, with the husband accepting a greater share of the duties of family life.
1. We learn from this passage that in the 19th century ．| A．there were more children in the world than there are today |
| B．women spent a greater part of their lives raising |
| C．there were more women in poor health than there are today |
| D．women married younger than they do today |
| A．she is young when her children can look after themselves |
| B．she is obliged to help her husband support the family |
| C．she feels lonely at home when her children grow up |
| D．she hopes to change the world a bit |
| A．give up their jobs after they get married |
| B．leave school as soon as they can |
| C．marry early so that they can get better jobs |
| D．continue working until they are going to have a baby |
| A．stay at home after leaving school |
| B．find jobs when they reach the age of 16 |
| C．start working again later in life |
| D．marry and have children while still at school |
| A．plays a greater part in doing housework |
| B．does almost all of the housework |
| C．feels unhappy about his wife’s going out to work |
| D．takes a part-time job so as to help at home |
