1 . We smile because we are happy, and we frown because we are sad. Recent studies suggest that our emotions are driven by their related facial expressions.
This February psychologists at the University of Cardiff in Wales found that people whose ability to frown is lessened by botox injections (肉毒杆菌注射) are happier, on average, than people who can frown. The researchers administered an anxiety and depression questionnaire to 25 females, half of whom had received botox injections to stop frowning. The botox injected people reported feeling happier and less anxious in general.
In a related study from March, scientists at the Technical University of Munich found that the botox subjects had much lower activity in the brain circuits (回路) involved in emotional processing and responses — in the amygdala, hypothalamus and other parts of the brain — as compared with controls who had not received treatment.
The concept works the opposite way, too. People who frown during an unpleasant procedure report feeling more pain than those who do not, according to a study published in May 2008 in the Journal of Pain. Researchers applied heat to the forearms of 29 participants, who were asked to either make unhappy, neutral or relaxed faces during the procedure. Those who exhibited negative expressions reported being in more pain than the other two groups.
No one yet knows why our facial expressions influence our emotions as they seem to. The associations in our mind between how we feel and how we react may be so strong that our expressions simply end up strengthen our emotions — there may be no evolutionary reason for the connection.
1. What can we know about the result of the study from Paragraph 2?A.The ability to frown should be stopped by injection. |
B.Less frowns make people happier. |
C.Women love to frown and feel sad. |
D.Half women have no ability to feel happy. |
A.They asked the participants to frown or smile. |
B.They copied the expressions of the participants. |
C.They asked the participants to stay negative. |
D.They exposed the participants to heat. |
A.Humorous. | B.Ambitious. | C.Caring. | D.Calm. |
A.Facial expressions influence our emotions. |
B.Facial expressions are driven by emotions. |
C.Why people feel happy and frown. |
D.Botox injection is useful and meaningful. |
Do you dream of exploring space someday? You can now begin locally—just buy a ticket to the newly opened Shanghai Astronomy Museum. As the largest of its kind in the world, the museum makes a new space to lead visitors on a true-to-life tour around the universe. That sounds cool, doesn’t it?
![](https://img.xkw.com/dksih/QBM/2023/9/17/3326537141788672/3340896745578496/STEM/dcd943200dd743b0abc59ac444b45ecb.png?resizew=168)
Four Ordinary People Flew into Space
A group of four ordinary people (普通人) flew into space in the first space mission (任务) with no professional astronauts. The four remained in space, circling the Earth for three days. Though this was the first “all amateur (业余者)” flight, it’s clear that the members had a lot of knowledge and experience which was helpful. They had also had a quick astronaut training course.
![](https://img.xkw.com/dksih/QBM/2023/9/17/3326537141788672/3340896745578496/STEM/0b35ee2fe16f408d82153a277afb5cc1.png?resizew=153)
Plane travel used to be very expensive, but now many people may afford it. It opens up space for ordinary tourists.
Robot Wolves Scare Away Bears
A town in Japan is using robot wolves to keep bears away. The robots, known as “Monster Wolves”, look like real wolves, only scarier. They’re meant to scare away unwanted wild animals. Since the town began using the robot wolves, there have been no bears.
![](https://img.xkw.com/dksih/QBM/2023/9/17/3326537141788672/3340896745578496/STEM/b5192ca35e204c2a932bcbab9a33d51f.png?resizew=161)
1. What can you do in the Shanghai Astronomy Museum?
A.Have a dream of exploring space. |
B.Experience a true-to-life space trip. |
C.Learn to be an astronaut. |
A.2 days | B.3 days | C.4 days |
A.To keep the bears away. | B.To make people scared. | C.To keep real wolves away. |
A.they had a lot of experience | B.many people can afford space travel |
C.they had no quick astronaut training courses. |
A.space | B.nature | C.technology |
3 . Robots in the art world are nothing new. In fact, for centuries, people have built robots as art objects. However, what’s different now is that artists and engineers are building robots that actually create art.
In 1973, British-born painter Harold Cohen wrote a computer program and called it AARON. At first, AARON only made simple outlines whose color and details Cohen would later add. Fifty years later, AARON is able to paint anything a human could paint. So can AARON be called an artist or creative? In 2010, Cohen explained, “Although he wrote the initial computer code that AARON follows, AARON can generate unlimited numbers of images.” So according to Cohen, the simple answer is yes-AARON is creative.
It’s not just paintings that robots are creating, though. Last year, a robot called Shimon released is first album (唱片) on Spotify. Shimon began life as a simple robot marimba (木琴) player. Over the years, however, it’s learned how to perform with other musicians, write original songs. Shimon does this by analyzing huge amounts of music—roughly 50,000 rock, jazz and hip-hop songs-to identify patterns and then uses that information to create original works.
It may be cool to hear a song created by a robot, but is there any other reason to build robots that can play music? According to Gil Weinberg, one of Shimon’s creators, because the robot is capable of doing things that a real musician might not think of, he and his team “hope and believe that these new abilities would lead to new directions that could not be achieved in human-to-human cooperation.”
While questions about robots creating art are fun to think about, there are many other ways that robots can help artists in the way they create their works. For example, advancements in 3D-printing technology will allow artists to build more complex pieces for their sculptures. Therefore, robots in the art world are here to stay.
1. What was AARON able to do at first?A.Paint people and landscapes. | B.Prepare basic outlines for Cohen. |
C.Draw pictures of itself and Cohen. | D.Color paintings under Cohen’s instructions. |
A.It is both a marimba and guitar player. |
B.It has created about 50,000 original songs. |
C.It is expected to push humans to achieve more. |
D.Its creators hope that it can outperform humans. |
A.Positive. | B.Worried. | C.Neutral. | D.Doubtful. |
A.AARON and Shimon | B.Robots in the Real World |
C.Programmed Creativity | D.Advancements in Technology |
4 . When people think of a typical mineral mine, it’s probably underground. It’s unlikely that the picture of plants and soft greenery would cross their minds. Now, new explorations into phytomining (植物采矿) may change that viewpoint. Instead of traditionally mining metals from rocks, phytomining uses plants as an alternative source for them. Using plants to extract metals can have significant environmental benefits over rock mining.
Phytomining was first studied in 1983, but it hasn’t yet been adopted by the metals industry. In 2004, Indonesian soil scientist Tjoa took her research to Sorowako, a small town in Indonesia with one of the largest nickel (镍) mining areas, to look into plants that continued to live after years of mining. She brought samples back to her lab and found that these super plants were more than just surviving — they were growing.
The plants were absorbing and storing nickel from the soil. Large amounts of metals kill most plants, but these, known as hyper-accumulators (超富集植物), were learning to adapt. If these plants were storing metal, that meant science could find a way to extract the minerals for use and quite frankly, scientists easily did. When the shoots are harvested and burned, the metals are separated from the plant material in the ashes.
Tjoa returned to Sorowako and spent years searching for new hyper-accumulator species. After a plant is considered a possibility, there’s a simple test paper that turns pink when placed against the leaf of a hyper-accumulator plant. Two local Indonesian plants were found but there are many others still to be discovered.
Tjoa’s research caught the attention of Bijasksana, a professor of rock magnetism. Together they designed an experiment to understand magnetic susceptibility (磁化率) when plants accumulate more nickel. Their research led to the discovery of two new species of hyper-accumulators. Besides, this research serves as the basis for the potential that plants can give to the mining industry, offering great advantages to our ecosystem and toward building a more sustainable future.
1. Why did Tjoa go to Sorowako in 2004?A.To work with the local government. | B.To study the plants surviving mining. |
C.To improve the soil of the small town. | D.To research into underground mining. |
A.They are rich in metals. | B.They are free of minerals. |
C.They are very easy to discover. | D.They are too fragile to survive. |
A.Helping more plants to survive. | B.Testing out the mining industry. |
C.Improving the extraction efficiency. | D.Finding more hyper-accumulators. |
A.New Creative Mining Way Meets Challenges. |
B.Plants Can Act as Sources of Many Metals. |
C.Scientists Can Extract Minerals from Plants. |
D.Phytomining Replaces Traditional Mining. |
In the future, we
6 . A world in which extinct creatures could be brought back to life came a step closer yesterday. Australian scientists have managed to extract a gene from a preserved sample of a Tasmanian tiger and make it active. The breakthrough has left them dreaming that one day they will be able to recreate the animal, which died out more than 70 years ago. And if it can be done with the Tasmanian tiger, it may also be possible to resurrect(复活) creatures that have been extinct for far longer.
“There used to be a time when extinction meant forever, but no more,” said Professor Mike Archer. “We are now able to seriously challenge whether those animals that have gone have gone for ever. What has been achieved is a very important step in bringing back those animals that are extinct. And while I think that technically it is still pretty difficult at the moment, we can now see the possibilities. I’m personally convinced that the Tasmanian tiger will be brought back to life in my lifetime.”
The breakthrough came after nine years of experiments by scientists at the University of Melbourne, who extracted a gene from one of several tigers preserved in alcohol in a Melbourne museum. They removed the equivalent gene from a mouse embryo (胚胎), implanted the tiger gene and then watched as the mouse continued to grow normally, suggesting the tiger gene had been activated.
Team leader Dr. Andrew Pask said it was the first time DNA from an extinct species had been used to” induce (引起) a functional response in another living organism”.
However, the animal’s entire gene structure would have to be revived in the same way to even begin the possibility of bringing the Tasmanian tiger back from the dead. Mick Mooney, a wildlife officer of the Tasmanian Government, was worried that such developments could encourage people’s indifference to the protection of endangered species.
“If people think that we can bring animals back to life after they’ve gone, they will start saying that there is nothing to worry about because we can fix it up later.”
1. What does the underlined word “breakthrough” in the first paragraph refer to?A.A tiger gene has been extracted successfully and activated. |
B.Scientists have recreated new animals. |
C.Scientists have resurrected endangered animal. |
D.It has turned out that some creatures would not go extinct. |
A.transplant the genes of tigers into other animals |
B.find out what factors lead to the animals’ extinction |
C.find a new way to extract animals’ DNA |
D.bring extinct animals back to life |
A.scientists now have no technological difficulty reconnecting extinct animals |
B.it’ll be a century or so before a Tasmanian tiger walks on the earth again |
C.reconnecting extinct animals is impossible |
D.humans have come closer in reconnecting extinct animals |
A.he thought it unnecessary to worry about endangered animals |
B.he is concerned that bringing extinct animals back to life may have a negative effect |
C.his opinion is in contrast with that of the Tasmanian Government |
D.he thought people should be encouraged to protect endangered animals |
China launched a radar (雷达) satellite on the morning of August 9, 2023 for disaster prevention, emergency
Developed by the China Academy of Space Technology in Beijing, the satellite
China has launched a series of satellites
The network for
The Long March 2C rocket model is a product of the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology. The space mission was China’s 33rd rocket launch in 2023 and the 482nd flight of the Long March rocket family.
8 . If you walk through the doors of one of the Smithsonian Institution’s museums in Washington, D.C., you may be greeted by an unusual guide. A Japanese tech company recently sent 25 humanoid robots to the Smithsonian. All of them are named Pepper.
Each Pepper stands 4 feet tall and has a computer screen attached to its body. Built by SoftBank Robotics, the robots are programmed to share information about the museum in which they are based.
“Pepper is basically an experiment,” Goslins, director of the Smithsonian’s Arts and Industries Museum, said. “The idea is to explore and see how a robot performs in this kind of environment.”
Museum visitors communicating with Pepper. The robot can tell stories and answer basic questions. People even take pictures and dance with it.
“The robot draws big crowds,” said Allison Peck, director of marketing at the Hirshhorn. “People just love Pepper.”
According to the Smithsonian Institution’s website: “Pepper gives our museum workers a new way to reach and serve visitors.” For example, Pepper teaches Swahili words to visitors of the “World on the Horizon” exhibit at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African Art.
Pepper also has the special ability to draw guests to less-visited areas of the Smithsonian’s museum. When Pepper is placed in a spot, crowds are attracted to that place.
When not educating museum visitors, Pepper stays in the Smithsonian offices, getting charged and programmed. After being charged, Pepper can run for about 8 hours at a time.
Pepper plays an important role, but the robot“ is not meant to take away human jobs at the museum, ” Goslins explained. “It is meant to give our visitors a more enjoyable experience while they are here with us.”
1. What do you know about Pepper?A.It measures 4 feet in width. | B.It serves as a guide. |
C.It is named after a robot. | D.It is made in the US. |
A.Draw pictures. | B.Take pictures. |
C.Ask questions. | D.Tell stories. |
A.Reasonable cost. | B.Pepper’s appearance. |
C.Workers’service. | D.Attractive scenery. |
A.To please visitors. | B.To replace humans. |
C.To perform programs. | D.To educate visitors |
1. 点明主题;
2. 介绍科技在生活中的应用;
3. 表达感悟。
注意:1. 词数 80词左右;
2. 请在答题卡的相应位置作答。
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10 . If you are a party animal in Guangxi, join us to explore some of the popular festivals in Liuzhou.
Temple Fair Day
It is believed to be the oldest and the largest temple fair day celebrated in Fengshan, Liuzhou. It is an event known to easily attract more than 30,000 people to take part in the parades. It is a day for enjoying temple wishes, dancing to non-stop ethnic songs, and tasting lots of local dishes.
Time: February Price: Free
March 3rd Festival
This is an annual event that takes place every March in Sanjiang county. The festival features a lot of ethnic minority homemade food. You can also expect to enjoy live ethnic music and dances performed by famous local dancers.
Time: March 3rd Price: 3 RMB
Liuzhou Marathon Festival
This event started more than 10 years ago. Currently, it is an attractive weekend that sees attendance go way past 12,000 people. During the festival, participants take part in exciting activities, with the major ones like funny marathon, and food sales.
Time: April Price: 12 RMB
Dragon Boat Show
Longtan park is usually the place of Dragon Boat Show—a festival for boating lovers that occurs in May. It is the largest dragon boat show in Liuzhou. A great deal of people will be there at that time. Welcome to join the show.
Time: May Price: 5 RMB
1. What is special about Temple Fair Day?A.It features famous dance. | B.It lasts two months. |
C.It started 10 years ago. | D.It’s free of charge. |
A.Buy some books. | B.Watch boat show. |
C.Taste nice food. | D.Join a parade. |
A.Liuzhou Marathon Festival. | B.March 3rd Festival. |
C.Dragon Boat Show. | D.Temple Fair Day. |
A.over 2,000. | B.over 12,000. |
C.2,000. | D.12,000. |
A.Longtan park. | B.Sanjiang park. |
C.Liuzhou park. | D.Fengshan park. |