1 . Picture this: you’re baking cookies. As you lift the pan out of the oven, your bare arm accidentally touches it. Ouch! Why did you feel pain? And how is your brain involved in sensing pain? We may not like pain, but our bodies need it as a warning system.     1    

There are special receptor cells in our skin and bodies that are sensitive to certain stimuli (刺激). These cells are called “nociceptors”. When a nociceptor gets exposed to a painful stimulus, it sends a message into the brain. The brain processes that information, and then pain is felt.     2     Think about a time when you’ve stubbed your toe. There doesn’t seem to be a delay between hitting your toe and then feeling pain: it feels like it happens at the same time.

    3     If we have an injury, pain alerts us to rest and let the injury heal. If we stand too close to a fire, pain tells us to move away. Not being able to feel pain can be dangerous. Some people can feel sensations like touch, but they cannot feel pain. Without feeling pain, they cannot listen to their bodies when they need to rest or heal.

On the other hand, the brain sometimes processes pain where there isn’t any actual injury to the body. Here’s a famous story: a man stepped on a nail. It went through the bottom of his shoe, and he felt like he was in horrible pain. When the doctors removed his shoe, they found that the nail was between his toes! It hadn’t gone into his foot at all.     4     So his brain perceived pain to match the experience.

Without pain, we might not know when we could need to rest. We might not know if we were in danger of hurting ourselves.     5     However, it is an important part of human life and survival!

2 . A theme at this year’s World Economic Forum (WEF) meeting was the perceived need to “accelerate breakthroughs in research and technology”. Some of this framing was motivated by the climate emergency, some by the opportunities and challenges presented by generative artificial intelligence. Yet in various conversations, it seemed to be taken for granted that to address the world’s problems, scientific research needs to move faster.

The WEF mindset resonates (产生共鸣) with the Silicon Valley dictate — usually credited to Mark Zuckerberg — to move fast and break things. But what if the thing being broken is science? Or public trust?

The WEF meeting took place just a fortnight after Harvard University President Claudine Cay stepped down after complaints were made about her scholarship. Gay’s troubles came on the heels of the resignation of Stanford University President Mare Tessier-Lavigne, after an internal investigation concluded that his neuroscience research had “multiple problems”. In response. Gay requested corrections to several of her papers; Tessier-Lavigne requested retraction (撤回) of three of his. Although it may be impossible to determine just how widespread such problems really are, it’s hard to imagine that the spectacle of high-profile scholars correcting and retracting papers has not had a negative impact on public trust in science and perhaps in experts broadly.

In recent years we’ve seen important papers, written by prominent scientists and published in prestigious journals, retracted because of questionable data or methods. In one interesting case, Frances H. Arnold of the California Institute of Technology, who shared the 2018 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, voluntarily retracted a paper when her lab was unable to replicate her results — but after the paper had been published. In an open apology, she stated that she was “a bit busy” when the paper was submitted and “did not do my job well”. Arnold’s honesty is admirable, but it raises a question: Are scholars at super competitive places really taking the time to do their work right?

The problem is not unique to the U. S. In Europe, formal research assessments — which are used to allocate future funding — have for years judged academic departments largely on the quantity of their output. Due to the fact that the existing system has created a counterincentive to advancement in science, a reform is underway urging an emphasis on quality over quantity.

Good science takes time. Nearly a century passed between biochemist Friedrich Miescher’s identification of the DNA molecule and suggestion that it might be involved in inheritance and the elucidation of its double-helix structure in the 1950s. And it took just about half a century for geologist and geophysicists to accept geophysicist Alfred Wegener’s idea of continental drift.

There’s plenty of circumstantial evidence that scientists and other scholars are pushing results out far faster than they used to. Some of this growth is driven by more scientists and more co-authorship (papers, but it also suggests that the research world has prioritized quantity over quality. Researched may need to slow down — not speed up — if we are to produce knowledge worthy of trust.

3 . Food packaging from around the world contains at least 68 “forever chemicals” that can seep into what we eat. a new study finds. And 61 of them are not even supposed to be used in such products. “It’s not clear why the latter chemicals, which are not on lists of those authorized for use in food containers, are in such packaging.” says the study’s author Birgit Geueke.

The study focused on a class of chemicals called perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoronlkyl substances (PFASs), which are sometimes called “forever chemicals” because they don’t break down readily in the environment or in the body. That’s because their characteristic carbon-fluorine bond is one of the strongest in nature. For decades, these substances have been used in a wide range of consumer products, from cookware to pesticide s to cosmetics, because they are proof against water and grease.

Geueke and her team found a mismatch between what they detected in actual products and a database of PFAS chemicals authorized for use in food packaging. About 140 PFASs are known to be used in food packaging, but only seven of the 68 chemicals in the study were on this list. Geueke says it’s unclear how or why the other 61 chemicals turned up. David Andrews, a chemist and toxicologist at a nonprofit environmental advocacy organization, suggests it’s possible that unknown impurities emerged during the manufacturing of the authorized chemicals or that the authorized PFASs degrade over time. This class of chemicals includes many long-chain molecules, and they can break into shorter chains that are simply different types of PFASs.

PFASs have been found in human blood and breast milk, drinking water, soil and other startling places around the world. Exposure to some of the most studied PFASs has been associated with cancer. reproductive problems and lessened responses to vaccines. “There’s an incredible body of scientific evidence linking PFAS chemicals to health harm,” says Andrews. Many countries are evaluating restrictions of PFASs in food packaging.

Chemical industry representatives have advocated for dealing with PFASs as individual chemicals. Before publishing the new study. Scientific American reached out to the American Chemistry Council (ACC), a chemistry industry trade association, about it, but the organization did not reply. On its dedicated PFAS webpage. ACC notes that “all PFASs are not the same. Each individual chemical has its own unique properties and uses.”

Andrews and Geueke both say the presence of unknown PFASs in food packaging is good reason to regulate these chemicals as a single class—a position shared with many other scientific experts and environmental protection groups. There are more than 12,000 known PFASs, and scientists don’t know much about most of them. “Only some PFASs have ever been tested for toxicity,” Geueke says, and “there are probably other ways to produce food packaging.”

4 . When most teenagers his age are preparing for competitive exams or training to be athletes, Henry Burner, struggling with dyslexia (阅读障碍), decided to chart his own route for success.

At the age of 10, his class ________ a trading post, where students would sell and buy goods with heads. His mom suggested making cupcakes, but Burner refused. “Mom, the baked goods market is going to be totally oversaturated (过度饱和的). Few students make things that last long. We need to make something ________.” So he pulled out his mom’s old button machine and made buttons. When Burner ended up with the most bends at the trading post, he felt for the first time that he was really successful. Arriving home, Burner asked his mom. “Can I make it a real business?” That was the ________ of Buttonsmith, a retail company which now has over 10, 000 products available.

Along with his regular schooling, Burner played a large role in the company’s strategic decision making and ________ his breaks and weekends working on the company. Buttonsmith started from the farmer’s market before going online and ________, developing its own website. After going online, Buttonsmith’s sales showed a significant upward graph and reached millions of people, and that was a (n) ________ point. Since then he has greatly ________ product lines into many affordable high quality products that allow people to express who they are to the world.

Starting with buttons, the company has diversified its product ________ and currently provides dog collars, leashes, business cards, banners, etc. To stay ahead of competitors, Burner has optimized Buttonsmith to have custom products made within minutes of the order being ________ and makes sure the products are in the customers’ hands within two days.

After creating an impressive retail company at home, Buttonsmith is strategizing to spread its ________ to other countries. “I love being an entrepreneur.” concluded Burner.

Marva Collins’ journey as a teacher began in the 1960s, when she was assigned to teach at a public school in Chicago. At the time, the school was troubled by low academic standards and misbehavior of the students. Despite these challenges. Collins was determined to help those students labeled as “difficult” or “at-risk”. Believing that every student had the potential to learn and succeed, she set out to create a classroom environment that would foster a love of learning, a sense of discipline, and a belief in oneself.

Collins first established a rigorous academic curriculum that would challenge her students to reach their full potential. She taught her students traditional subjects and also emphasized critical thinking, problem solving, and creativity. Her teaching methods were highly effective, and students soon began to show remarkable progress.

But Collins’ greatest achievement was the founding of the Westside Prep School, which she started in 1975. The school provided a safe and nurturing environment where students could thrive academically and socially and therefore it was considered as the “haven for learning”.

At the Prep School. Collin s stressed the importance of discipline and hard work. She expected her students to arrive on time, in uniform, and ready to learn, and she installed in them a sense of responsibility and accountability. Collins also emphasized the importance of building relationships between teachers and students. She believed that strong relationships were the foundation of effective teaching, are she encouraged her teachers to personalize their instruction based on the students’ individual differences.

Under her leadership, the Prep School became known for its high academic standards and its ability to help struggling students. Many of the school’s graduates went on to attend top colleges and universities, and some went on to become leaders in their fields.

Collins’ impact on education was recognized by educators around the world. Today, her legacy lives on. Her emphasis on discipline, hard work, and relationships continues to be a model for effective teaching, and her belief in the potential of every student continues to inspire educators to make a difference in the lives of the at-risk students.

Giant panda Fu Bao arrived in Chengdu, Sichuan Province on April 3rd, 2024 after living in South Korea for over 3 years. Large screens were lit up     1     (welcome) Fu Bao home. These large screen advertisements     2     (purchase) by dozens of fans. Fu Bao is the first giant panda born in South Korea and a successful case of overseas breeding. Since the 1990s, China     3     (conduct) giant panda conservation cooperation and research with institutions in other countries. Currently, there are a local of 49 giant pandas abroad.

As summer vacation approaches, study tours of primary and middle school students have become popular.     1     (absorb) in academic studies at school, students are left with little room for activities such as practical labor or hands-on experience. During the study tours, they come     2     groups to major attractions, museums and farms to learn while sightseeing. Educational trips offer students precious     3     (opportunity) to become more independent. By     4    (engage) in independent living and problem solving with peers, students can learn to navigate real-life situations.

Around 90% of road accidents are caused by human errors, and self-driving cars with AI aim to solve the problem.     1     they can do is no keep vehicle hardware healthy by driving strategically and safely. In this way, traffic violations and fines can be avoided,     2     can help save costs. Drivers also benefit from the     3     (integrate) of AI technology during long trips as they can rest while the car’s system takes care of driving.

10 . When facing the task of deciding your major, you should remember that the decision you make doesn’t mean you are only destined for one path.

QUESTIONS TO ASK YOURSELF AS YOU MAKE YOUR DECISION

●Do I have a career in mind?

Although your major does not necessarily dictate your career, some jobs do require a certain field of study. If you have your future career in mind, do your research and find out the education requirements. If you are at a loss with what you want to do, go ahead and research different career fields. A certain job might pique your interest, and that could prompt you to pick a certain major.

●How much does money matter?

Some majors do have higher potential earnings than others. If earning a lot of money is a primary goal for you, search for majors that pay off well. Feel free to reach out to the Career Center for more information on higher-earning majors and careers.

●What do I love to do?

If you love what you study, you will be more likely to pay full attention to your classes. which will probably lead to better grades and valuable connections in the field. Also you will find your college years more fulfilling if you cultivate your passion!

TIPS FOR DISCOVERING WHAT INTERESTS YOU

●Explore different courses!

Don’t take random free electives just to meet the credit requirement for graduation. Explore different subjects! By branching out of what you know, you may discover an unexpected aptitude for sport management, or realize that you love psychology! Maybe an elective course could lead you to your major.

●Meet with a CDC staff member!

Your Career Development Center (CDC) is eager to help you! Meet with a peer Career Ambassador to talk about your career goals and the options for you. Also consider scheduling an appointment with a professional staff member to discuss potential career paths, internships (实习), and more!

●Utilize the CDC’s online resources!

CDC offers many online resources for self-assessment and career search. We make recommendations for majors and careers based on your answers! See page 6 for more details of what we have to offer!