1 . The world’s coral reefs do more for the planet than provide underwater beauty. They protect shorelines from the effects of hurricanes. An estimated 500 million people earn their livelihood from the fishing stocks and tourism opportunities reefs provide. The tiny animals that give rise to reefs are even offering hope for new drugs to treat cancer and other diseases.
Despite their importance, warming waters, pollution, ocean acidification, overfishing, and physical destruction are killing coral reefs around the world. So now scientists around the world are looking for all kinds of ways to protect and maybe even revive(复苏) corals. In the Bahamas, Ross Cunning, a research biologist at Chicago’s Shedd Aquarium, is focusing on corals with genes that could make them natural candidates for restoration projects. He recently published a study of two Bahamian reefs, one that seemed to survive an intense 2015 heat wave, and one that didn’t.“It sets the stage to find out which genes are responsible for thermal tolerance,” says Cunning, adding that he hopes discovering those genes will help scientists one day breed more heat-tolerant coral.
In Massachusetts, Cohen’s research has found two key elements that seem to protect corals. The first: internal(内部的) waves beneath the ocean’s surface that bring cooler currents to heat-struck corals, essentially air-conditioning them as temperatures rise. The second: adaptation, a quality that corals found in Palau’s warm lagoons(环礁湖) seem to display.On average, these lagoons submerge(淹没) coral in water that is two degrees Celsius warmer than the water outside the lagoons. “We think the fact that they can deal with these higher temperatures is built into their genetics and allows them to deal with the heat waves.”
She’s also found evidence of corals evolving more quickly in the past two decades to withstand rapidly warming temperatures. The big question scientists are now enquiring into, says Cohen, is whether there’s a cap on how much more heat corals can adapt to. Cohen calls these regions with heat-adapted corals as “super reefs,” and like Friendlander, advocates for using marine reserves to protect them.
1. What is the first paragraph mainly about?A.The protection for coral reefs |
B.The great value of coral reefs. |
C.The benefits for tourism from coral reefs. |
D.The relationship between animals and coral reefs. |
A.Cooling down the waters is the key to their success. |
B.Some corals have been genetically improved successfully. |
C.He expects to identify the genes of the heat-tolerant corals. |
D.Some corals that survived 2015 heat wave surprised people. |
A.How corals survive in the warm lagoons. |
B.What are the key elements to protect corals. |
C.How they can use natural reserves to protect corals. |
D.What is the high temperature limit of the surviving corals. |
A.Science. | B.Environment. | C.Animal. | D.Climate. |
2 . Even if we’ve never laid eyes on a certain person, the sound of their voice can relay a lot of information: whether they are male or female, old or young, or perhaps an accent indicating which nation they might come from. While it is possible for us to randomly deduce someone’s facial features, it’s likely that we won’t be able to clearly piece together what someone’s face looks like based on the sound of their voice alone. However, it’s a different matter when machines are put to the task, as researchers from MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) have discovered in developing an AI that can vividly reconstruct people’s faces with relatively impressive detail, using only short audio clips(音频片段) of their voices as reference.
Named Speech2Face, the neural(神经的) network — a computer that “thinks” in a manner similar to the human brain — was trained by scientists on millions of educational videos from the Internet that showed over 100,000 different people talking. From this dataset, Speech2Face learned associations between vocal cues(声带) and certain physical features in a human face, researchers wrote in a new study. The AI then used an audio clip to model a photorealistic face matching the voice.
However, the tool was far from perfect. Speech2Face turned out “mixed performance” when confronted with language variations. For example, when the AI listened to an audio clip of an Asian man speaking Chinese, the program produced an image of an Asian face. However, when the same man spoke in English in a different audio clip, the AI generated the face of a white man, the scientists reported.
Thankfully, AI doesn’t know exactly what a specific individual looks like based on their voice alone. Voice privacy otherwise would be a concern like face recognition for us. The neural network recognized certain markers in speech that pointed to gender(性别), age and ethnicity(种族), features that are shared by many people, the study authors reported.“As such, the model will only produce average-looking faces,” the scientists wrote. “It will not produce images of specific individuals.”
1. What can best replace the underlined word “deduce” in Paragraph1?A.Mistake. | B.Guess. | C.Record. | D.Search. |
A.It produces the results with great accuracy. |
B.It allows thousands of people to talk at the same time. |
C.It has learnt the connection between speech and appearance. |
D.It can tell the differences between the Chinese and the Europeans. |
A.Skeptical. | B.Confused. | C.Favorable. | D.Worried. |
A.MIT’s New Discovery Give a Surprise to People. |
B.AI Generated Your Faces by Listening to Your Voices. |
C.Your Voice Could Give Away Your Nationality with the AI Tool. |
D.Speech2Face: Neural Network Recognized You Behind a Picture. |
A.Teacher and student. | B.Nurse and patient. | C.Boss and employee. |
A.A book. | B.A film. | C.An actor. |
A.10:12. | B.10:20. | C.10:32. |
1. Why does Diana say sorry to Peter?
A.She needs to put off her test. |
B.She has to give up her travel plan. |
C.She wants to visit another city. |
A.Help her with her study. |
B.Teach a geography lesson. |
C.Take a book to her friend. |
7 . From hawk hikes to private sleepovers at the zoo, there is a great selection of animal-related experiences available to groups. Here are some top options to get closer to various wonderful wildlife.
Chester Zoo
The newest attractions here are the Madagascar Lemur Walkthrough experience, which gives visitors the opportunity to walk alongside ring-tailed and red-ruffed lemurs, and the interactive American Wetland Aviary, which is home to birds like scarlet ibises and flamingos. Group rates are available for parties of 15 or more and there are various catering options, including sit-down meals at the restaurant at the heart of the zoo.
ZSL Whipsnade Zoo
Until September 2022, it is offering groups of up to 60 the opportunity to experience a private Nature Night, on which they’ll get to explore the zoo privately after the public has left, take part in activities like quizzes, camp overnight, and get up early for a private tour along the green trail before it reopens to the public again.
West Midland Safari Park
The latest attraction at the park is the new African Walking Trail. Opened in May, the trail features three viewpoints that allow visitors to see the park’s African animals on foot. There’s also a four-mile drive-through safari area with red panda, penguin and lorikeet areas. Groups of ten plus, arriving in the same vehicle, can save more than 40%.
Knowsley Safari Park
The five-mile safari drive through the site takes you past free-roaming lions, rhinos and more than 100cheeky baboons. There’s a foot safari area, where the highlight is the Amur Tiger Trail with transparent walled viewing areas where you can get nose-to-nose with 450-pound tigers. Groups of 15 people and more, arriving in one vehicle, qualify for special ticket rates.
1. Who is the passage intended for?A.Animal-loving students. |
B.Forest hiking fans. |
C.Group tour organizers. |
D.Wildlife preservationists. |
A.Chester Zoo |
B.ZSL Whipsnade Zoo |
C.West Midland Safari Park |
D.Knowsley Safari Park |
A.delicious meals are offered to tourists in the four parks |
B.private tours are available in the four parks |
C.all the parks can provide driving-through services |
D.visitors can have access to walking trails in the four parks |
A.133. | B.157. | C.300. |
1. What is Steve going to do in an hour?
A.Watch a TV show. | B.Go to the park. | C.Have dinner with his parents. |
A.At Mia’s apartment. | B.At the concert hall. | C.At a restaurant. |
1. Who is the man’s favorite player?
A.Messi. | B.Neymar. | C.Cristiano Ronaldo. |
A.The influence. | B.The time change. | C.The best players. |
A.Italy. | B.Brazil. | C.Germany. |