1 . For those who can stomach it, working out before breakfast may be more beneficial for health than eating first, according to a study of meal timing and physical activity.
Athletes and scientists have long known that meal timing affects performance. However, far less has been known about how meal timing and exercise might affect general health.
To find out, British scientists conducted a study. They first found 10 overweight and inactive but otherwise healthy young men, whose lifestyles are, for better and worse, representative of those of most of us. They tested the men’s fitness and resting metabolic (新陈代谢的) rates and took samples (样品) of their blood and fat tissue.
Then, on two separate morning visits to the scientists’ lab, each man walked for an hour at an average speed that, in theory, should allow his body to rely mainly on fat for fuel. Before one of these workouts, the men skipped breakfast, meaning that they exercised on a completely empty stomach after a long overnight fast (禁食). On the other occasion, they ate a rich morning meal about two hours before they started walking.
Just before and an hour after each workout, the scientists took additional samples of the men’s blood and fat tissue.
Then they compared the samples. There were considerable differences. Most obviously, the men displayed lower blood sugar levels at the start of their workouts when they had skipped breakfast than when they had eaten. As a result, they burned more fat during walks on an empty stomach than when they had eaten first. On the other hand, they burned slightly more calories (卡路里), on average, during the workout after breakfast than after fasting.
But it was the effects deep within the fat cells that may have been the most significant, the researchers found. Multiple genes behaved differently, depending on whether someone had eaten or not before walking. Many of these genes produce proteins (蛋白质) that can improve blood sugar regulation and insulin (胰岛素) levels throughout the body and so are associated with improved metabolic health. These genes were much more active when the men had fasted before exercise than when they had breakfasted.
The implication of these results is that to gain the greatest health benefits from exercise, it may be wise to skip eating first.
1. The underlined expression “stomach it” in Paragraph 1 most probably means “______”.A.digest the meal easily | B.manage without breakfast |
C.decide wisely what to eat | D.eat whatever is offered |
A.Their lifestyles were typical of ordinary people. |
B.Their lack of exercise led to overweight. |
C.They could walk at an average speed. |
D.They had slow metabolic rates. |
A.They successfully lost weight. | B.They consumed a bit more calories. |
C.They burned more fat on average. | D.They displayed higher insulin levels. |
A.A workout after breakfast improves gene performances. |
B.Too much workout often slows metabolic rates. |
C.Lifestyle is not as important as morning exercise. |
D.Physical exercise before breakfast is better for health. |
Up to 82 percent of children with healthy mothers are not easy to be obese(肥胖的), according to research. A mother,
And research suggests it could be more to do with nurture(养育)
The study examined the medical history and lifestyles of more than 24,000 children aged nine
The mother's health was judged on her height-to-weight ratio(比例), her diet, amount of physical
3 . Hollywood’s theory that machines with evil(邪恶) minds will drive armies of killer robots is just silly. The real problem relates to the possibility that artificial intelligence(AI) may become extremely good at achieving something other than what we really want. In 1960 a well-known mathematician Norbert Wiener, who founded the field of cybernetics(控制论), put it this way: “If we use, to achieve our purposes, a mechanical agency with whose operation we cannot effectively interfere(干预), we had better be quite sure that the purpose put into the machine is the purpose which we really desire.”
A machine with a specific purpose has another quality, one that we usually associate with living things: a wish to preserve its own existence. For the machine, this quality is not in-born, nor is it something introduced by humans; it is a logical consequence of the simple fact that the machine cannot achieve its original purpose if it is dead. So if we send out a robot with the single instruction of fetching coffee, it will have a strong desire to secure success by disabling its own off switch or even killing anyone who might interfere with its task. If we are not careful, then, we could face a kind of global chess match against very determined, super intelligent machines whose objectives conflict with our own, with the real world as the chessboard.
The possibility of entering into and losing such a match should concentrate the minds of computer scientists. Some researchers argue that we can seal the machines inside a kind of firewall, using them to answer difficult questions but never allowing them to affect the real world. Unfortunately, that plan seems unlikely to work: we have yet to invent a firewall that is secure against ordinary humans, let alone super intelligent machines.
Solving the safety problem well enough to move forward in AI seems to be possible but not easy. There are probably decades in which to plan for the arrival of super intelligent machines. But the problem should not be dismissed out of hand, as it has been by some AI researchers. Some argue that humans and machines can coexist as long as they work in teams—yet that is not possible unless machines share the goals of humans. Others say we can just “switch them off” as if super intelligent machines are too stupid to think of that possibility. Still others think that super intelligent AI will never happen. On September 11, 1933, famous physicist Ernest Rutherford stated, with confidence, “Anyone who expects a source of power in the transformation of these atoms is talking moonshine.” However, on September 12, 1933, physicist Leo Szilard invented the neutron-induced(中子诱导) nuclear chain reaction.
1. Paragraph 1 mainly tells us that artificial intelligence may .A.run out of human control |
B.satisfy human’s real desires |
C.command armies of killer robots |
D.work faster than a mathematician |
A.prevent themselves from being destroyed |
B.achieve their original goals independently |
C.do anything successfully with given orders |
D.beat humans in international chess matches |
A.help super intelligent machines work better |
B.be secure against evil human beings |
C.keep machines from being harmed |
D.avoid robots’ affecting the world |
A.It will disappear with the development of AI. |
B.It will get worse with human interference. |
C.It will be solved but with difficulty. |
D.It will stay for a decade. |
4 . Mars is truly a fascinating planet for those of us here on Earth.
The Red Planet has the largest volcano in the solar system-Olympus Mons.
Mars also has an atmosphere, but it is very thin and made up mostly of carbon dioxide. Because of its thin atmosphere and greater distance from the Sun, Mars is much colder than Earth.
Scientists believe that studying Mars can help answer some of the key questions about our planet Earth, or even the universe.
A.It is roughly 27 kilometres high. |
B.Missions to Mars have never been easy. |
C.Mars, however, today has no active volcanoes. |
D.The temperature at the planet’s surface varies widely. |
E.However, Mars does have weather, with clouds and winds. |
F.China will continue to explore the mysteries of the universe. |
G.It is one of the few planets that we can see with our own eyes. |
5 . Human speech contains more than 2,000 different sounds, from the common “m” and “a” to the rare clicks of some southern African languages. But why are certain sounds more common than others? A ground-breaking, five-year study shows that diet-related changes in human bite led to new speech sounds that are now found in half the world’s languages.
More than 30 years ago, the scholar Charles Hockett noted that speech sounds called labiodentals(唇齿), such as “f” and “v”, were more common in the languages of societies that ate softer foods. Now a team of researchers led by Damián Blasi at the University of Zurich, Switzerland, has found how and why this trend arose.
They discovered that the upper and lower front teeth of ancient human adults were aligned(对齐), making it hard to produce labiodentals, which are formed by touching the lower lip to the upper teeth. Later, our jaws changed to an overbite structure(结构), making it easier to produce such sounds.
The team showed that this change in bite was connected with the development of agriculture in the Neolithic period. Food became easier to chew at this point. The jawbone didn’t have to do as much work and so didn’t grow to be so large.
Analyses of a language database also confirmed that there was a global change in the sound of world languages after the Neolithic age, with the use of “f” and “v” increasing remarkably during the last few thousand years. These sounds are still not found in the languages of many hunter-gatherer people today.
This research overturns the popular view that all human speech sounds were present when human beings evolved around 300,000 years ago. “The set of speech sounds we use has not necessarily remained stable since the appearance of human beings, but rather the huge variety of speech sounds that we find today is the product of a complex interplay of things like biological change and cultural evolution,” said Steven Moran, a member of the research team.
1. What is the research mentioned in this article mainly about?A.Human labiodentals. | B.Speech sounds. |
C.Technological development. | D.Human evolution. |
A.They had fewer upper teeth than lower teeth. |
B.They could not open and close their lips easily. |
C.Their jaws were not conveniently structured. |
D.Their lower front teeth were not large enough. |
A.Supporting evidence for the research results. |
B.Potential application of the research findings. |
C.A further explanation of the research methods. |
D.A reasonable doubt about the research process. |
A.During the evolution of human beings, speech sounds has remained unchanged. |
B.Human speech sounds changes are very complex. |
C.Steven Moran views are very popular and widely accepted. |
D.Great progress has been made in the study of speech sounds. |
6 . In looking through your social media, there’s a good chance you’ve noticed pictures accompanied by texts. The pictures are likely made possible by a text-to-image program called DALL-E. For example, Twitter user posted a tweet with the text, “To be or not to be, rabbi holding avocado, marble sculpture.” Then a matching picture appears below.
The AI models come from Google’s Imagen software as well as OpenAI. a start-up backed by Microsoft. On its website, OpenAI calls DALL-E “a new Al system that can create realistic images and art from a description in natural language.” But most of what’s happening in this area is coming from a relatively small group of people sharing their pictures. That’s because Google and OpenAI have not made the technology broadly available to the public.
The text-to-picture services identify the most important parts of a user’s text and then guess the best way to picture those terms. There’s generally a text box, a button to start the generation process and an area below to display images. To indicate the source. Google and OpenAI add watermarks in the bottom right comer of images from DALL-E and Imagen.
Engineers trained the models on various collections of words and pictures from the web. OpenAI recognizes the potential for harm that could come from a model. To avoid the risk, employees removed violent content from training data, and there are filters(筛选)stopping DALL-E from producing images if users submit(提交)violent or illegal content.
Boris Dayma, a developer from Texas spelled out the problems in an explanation of their software. Despite the risks, Dhariwal, a research scientist at OpenAI, said it could open up creative opportunities for individuals and could help with commercial applications for dressing up websites. Results should continue to improve over time.
1. What is the function of the the AI system DALL-E?A.Beautifying pictures at users’ request. |
B.Producing pictures from human words. |
C.Changing pictures into vivid descriptions. |
D.Providing pictures for users to choose from. |
A.Its users’ rights. | B.Its operating conditions |
C.Its working process. | D.Its company’s prospect. |
A.All images come from a unified model. |
B.The training data is selected beforehand. |
C.Improper requests can’t be submitted. |
D.Filters remove the unhealthy description. |
A.Positive. | B.Objective. | C.Uncertain. | D.Worried. |
7 . We had just completed a unit on heroes, and I had given my kindergarten class a task to
However, one little boy was having
Finally, it was time for everybody to share their pictures. I listened as each student
When Austin stood up, he proudly held up a picture of Cameron. Austin shared that Cameron was his hero because Cameron had this
Cameron immediately stood up, and put his arms up in the air as if he were going to
A.draw | B.choose | C.interview | D.write |
A.angry | B.busy | C.bored | D.satisfied |
A.patience | B.fun | C.difficulty | D.connection |
A.judged | B.admired | C.ignored | D.loved |
A.fought | B.argued | C.agreed | D.worked |
A.proudly | B.instantly | C.shyly | D.frequently |
A.preferred | B.described | C.followed | D.compared |
A.fault | B.duty | C.turn | D.point |
A.back | B.chest | C.stomach | D.face |
A.curious | B.certain | C.surprised | D.disappointed |
A.unwillingly | B.bravely | C.quickly | D.impolitely |
A.asked | B.prepared | C.accounted | D.excused |
A.preference | B.habit | C.sickness | D.hobby |
A.set off | B.back off | C.show off | D.take off |
A.masters | B.superheroes | C.figures | D.leaders |
8 . Picture the scene: you’ve spent years working towards a very specific goal. You’ve put in countless hours of work and made many efforts along the way, but now that you’ve got there it doesn’t feel quite like you imagined. Instead of celebration, you feel emptiness, confusion and doubt.
Welcome to the anti-climax. The often-experienced but seldom-discussed downside of achieving life’s biggest milestones. Many of us work tirelessly towards our goals. We may spend our lives dreaming of the day we get married, publish our first hook or buy our first home. However, oftentimes, when we achieve these things it doesn’t feel quite as expected. In fact, the achievement of these goals feels a bit of a letdown.
So why do we often experience an anti-climax with big goals, even though we’re happy to achieve them? “An anti-climax can be an unexpected by-product of a milestone achievement. Usually, the more significant the milestone, the greater the anti-climax may be. The intensity(强度)of an anti-climax often relies on what we expect of this achievement.” says Rachel Vora. a psychotherapist(心理治疗师).“The journey to achieving a milestone can he exciting and tiring in addition to giving us a sense of purpose and focus. Therefore, when this disappears overnight. we can often feel lost and confused, in spite of feeling proud of our achievement.
When this happens it can contribute to a mixture of emotions. We often falsely believe that we’ll feel completely different afterwards or that our feelings of low self-worth will disappear, but this is rarely the case. “Clients(客户)often present to me with an extremely great sense of ‘is this it?’ and ‘what now?’.” says Vora. “These feelings of confusion and disappointment, if let ignored, have the potential to cause clients to be in low spirits, or even worse.”
1. Why does the author mention the examples in paragraph 2?A.To present a fact. | B.To prove a rule. |
C.To explain a term. | D.To make a prediction. |
A.Low self-worth. | B.High expectations. |
C.Sense of purpose. | D.Unexpected achievements. |
A.Amy felt empty before giving a speech. |
B.Jack felt lost after his first novel came out. |
C.Mary felt proud when she joined a ballet club. |
D.Tom felt doubtful about taking further education. |
A.How to hold back feelings. |
B.How to improve self-worth. |
C.Hon to identify the anti-climax. |
D.How to deal with the anti-climax. |
Albert Einstein, perhaps the greatest scientists in modern physies is considered one of the smartest men who ever lived. Einstein was not only a genius bat also a
Einstein was born in Germany on 14 March 1879.At 16,he tried to enter university in Switzerland, but failed due to his low scores in
10 . We want to achieve zero fines and not have any items returned late. However, library fines are definitely necessary. More about fines:
Lost items
The Lost Item charge will apply if we mark an item as Considered Lost because it is not renewed within the required period. You should pay the replacement cost of the item. If it is still not renewed after the due date, you have to pay extra £200, plus a10 inconvenience charge. If you have paid for a Considered Lost item and find it later, you will not be returned the cost of the item, but can keep the item.
Late items
Late item ( Not returned on time ) | Fine |
Flexible loan items requested by another user | £2 per day or part of a day |
Locker key requested by another user | £2 per day or part of a day |
How to avoid fines
◆ Check the “Fines & Fees” tab regularly.
◆ Check your email for requests which have changed the return date.
◆ Return the item as soon as possible to keep your fine low.
◆ Contact us if you have a problem visiting the Library to discuss your options.
How to pay your fines/charges
◆ Use credit card.
◆ Pay online using the University’s Online Store.
For more information, please contact us
◆ In person at the Library and IT Help Desk
◆ Email lib-enquiry @ york. ac. uk
◆ Phone (01904 32) 3838
Note
Feel that a fine or charge is unfair? Click HERE to express your views for Library fines.
1. How much will be charged for a lost book worth £35 before the due date?A.£35. | B.£45. | C.£210. | D.£245. |
A.Put off the return date at will. | B.Give back the item in person. |
C.Have a discussion with their partners. | D.Keep an eye on the relevant information. |
A.An official website. | B.A science magazine. |
C.A library noticeboard. | D.An admission guide. |