2 . Climate experts have warned about the many ways a warming planet can negatively affect human health. ________ global temperatures are predicted to increase by 1.5℃ by the 2030s, that risk is becoming increasingly real.

One long-held prediction that appears to be coming true — according to the results of a study recently published in Nature Scientific Reports — is how climate change might enhance ________ of bacteria that thrive and spread through warm sea waters and cause an infection with a particularly high ________ rate.

Vibrio vulnificus (创伤弧菌) flourishes in salty or brackish waters above 68℉. Infections are currently rare in the U.S., but that’s likely to change. Using 30 years of data on infections, scientists at the University of East Anglia in the U.K. found that Vibrio vulnificusis ________ from its historic Gulf Coast range, with more Northern states reporting infections as waters become warmer.

“We’re seeing the core ________ of infections extending to areas that traditionally have very few and very rare cases,” says Elizabeth Archer, a Ph.D. researcher and ________ author of the study. “But these areas are now coming into the main area of infections.”

Based on the latest data on how much the world’s water and air temperatures will rise, the scientists predict that by 2081, Vibrio vulnificus infections could reach every state along the U.S. East Coast. Currently, only about 80 cases are reported in the U.S. each year; by 2081, that could go up to over three-fold, the authors say.

Such a proliferation could have serious health consequences. Vibrio vulnificus kills approximately 20% of the healthy people it infects, and 50% of those with weakened immune systems. There is little evidence that antibiotics can ________ the infection, but doctors may prescribe them in some cases. People can get infected either by eating raw shellfish like oysters or by exposing small ________ to waters where the bacteria live, which can lead to serious skin infections.

Warming sea temperatures aren’t the only reasons behind the rise of Vibrio vulnificus. Hotter air also draws more people to the coasts and bays, bringing them into closer contact with the bacteria.

“The bacteria are part of the natural marine environment, so I don’t think we can ________ it from the environment,” says Archer. “It’s more about mitigating infections by increasing ________ of the risk.”

To alert people to the growing threat, ________ systems are needed to track when concentrations of bacteria start to rise, similar to currently available pollen and pollution alarm.

Vbrio vulnificus is so ________ to temperature changes that concentrations could bloom after even a day of warmer water, so consistent monitoring and alerts are critical, says Iain Lake, professor of environmental epidemiology at University of East Anglia and senior author of the paper.

Lake says the expansion of Vibrio vulnificus is concerning for public health since the bacteria are now invading waters closer to heavily ________ areas, such as New York and Philadelphia. “Everyone can get a Vibrio vulnificus infection,” he says. “But the more ________ there is between warmer waters and people, the more the bacteria can move into populations ________ the elderly and those with other health conditions, who are more vulnerable to infections.”

Microsoft bakes ChatGPT-like tech into search engine Bing

Microsoft is baking ChatGPT-like technology into its search engine Bing,     1     (transform) an Internet service that lags far behind Google into a new way of communicating with AI.

Though the new version is now limited to desktops and has no interface for smartphones,     2     most people now access the Internet, Mehdi, a Microsoft executive, has said that the technology will scale to millions of users in coming weeks and come to the smartphone apps.

The improvement may give the software giant a cutting edge     3     other tech companies in capitalizing on the worldwide excitement surrounding ChatGPT, a tool that     4     (awaken) millions of people to the possibilities of the newest AI technology in the past few weeks.

Aside from it, Microsoft is also integrating the chatbot technology into its Edge browser. “Think of it as faster, more accurate, more powerful technology     5     (tune) for search queries”, said Mehdi.

The shift to making search engines more conversational — able to confidently answer questions     6     offer links to other websites — could change the advertising-fueled search business, but also poses risks if the AI systems don’t get their facts right. Their opaqueness (不透明性) also makes it hard to source back to the original human-made images and texts,     7     the new Bing includes notes that reference the source data.

“Bing is powered by AI, so surprises and mistakes are possible. Make sure to check the facts.” is a message that appears at the bottom of the preview version of Bing’s new homepage. As an example of how it works, Mehdi     8     (quiz) it on 1990s-era rap, showing its ability to distinguish between the song “Jump” and “Jump Around”. He also used it to show how it could plan a vacation or help with shopping.

Google has been cautious about such moves. But in response to pressure due to ChatGPT’s popularity, Google announced on Monday a new conversational service named Bard that will be available to a group of “trusted testers” before     9     (release) globally this year.

Chinese tech giant Baidu also announced a similar search chatbot coming later this year. Other tech rivals such as Meta and Amazon have been researching similar technology, but Microsoft’s latest moves aim to position     10     at the center of the ChatGPT zeitgeist (时代潮流).

6 . Be a Better Traveler in the Over-tourism Era

Travel has become as accessible as McDonald’s, reaching a new high as global tourist arrivals reached 1.4 billion last year. In 1995, global arrivals numbered only 525 million.

As a father of two kids, I am the first to celebrate the drop in costs brought on by air-travel market liberalization, the rise of discount airlines, a revolution in accommodations thanks to the likes of Books.com and Airbnb, and mobile devices installed with the best maps and travel guides the world has ever known. I’m also happy for the retailers, hoteliers, museum keepers and others who have benefited financially from the tourism boom.

I can’t help but wonder, though, what we are actually seeing as we travel these days. More people are travelling, but many are visiting the same places. Is a forest of selfie sticks what I wanted to show my daughter at the Louvre? When was the last time I set food on Prague’s main square without being elbowed a dozen times? Is a trip to Barcelona complete if you have to avoid every famous location for fear of being trampled (踩踏)?

Cities can not do much about this — they can’t very well close airports, force airlines to fly less frequently or increase their prices. Raising the cost of air travel, overall or to specific destination, will never be popular. Many will object it on the grounds that travel shouldn’t be just for the rich, and it’ll hurt the residents of cities troubled with over-tourism.

So what should travelers do? Stay home? That’s unlikely. But if you are heading for some of the world’s most popular destinations, rethink your bucket list (愿望清单). You should be open to venturing beyond the obvious. Even if you are set on visiting an iconic site, consider going at an off-peak time.

The biggest thing to keep in mind, no matter where you travel, is to be well-researched, respectful and genuinely curious about the destination. Don’t fall victim to what people call “selfie culture” and “bucket list culture”. Treat the destination as you would do to your own home - not as a “hidden gem” that you throw money at to get certain experience you feel entitled to.

Imagine for a moment that your unborn child has a rare genetic disorder. Not     1     at least vaguely familiar, such as sickle-cell anaemia or cystic fibrosis, but rather a condition     2     (bury) deep within the medical dictionary. Adrenoleukodys trophy, maybe. Or Ehlers-Danlos syndrome.

Would you, when your child is born, want to know about it? If effective treatments were available, you probably would. But if not? If the outcome were fatal, would your interest in knowing about it depend on whether your newborn had five years of life    3     (look) forward to, or ten? Or 30?

Today these questions are mostly hypothetical. Precisely because they are rare, such disorders are seldom noticed at birth. They manifest (显现) themselves only gradually, and often with unpredictable severity. But that may soon change. Twenty years after the first human genome     4     (map), the price of whole-genome sequencing has fallen to a point     5     it could, in rich countries at least, be offered routinely to newborns. Parents will then have to decide exactly how much they want to know.

Early diagnosis brings with it the possibility of early treatment. Moreover, sequencing the genomes of newborns could offer a lifetime of returns. A patient’s genome may reveal     6     drugs will work best in his or her particular case for conditions such as ADHD, depression and cancer. Combined with information about someone’s way of life, it could highlight easily neglected health risks such as cancers and cardiovascular disease, leading to better preventive measures. A database of genomes,     7     (match) to living people, would be a benefit to medical research. The fruits of that research, in turn, would make those genomes more useful to their owners as time goes on.

Such a powerful new technology create new dangers. Widespread screening for thousands of potentially harmful genes may be counterproductive: some results may worry parents unnecessarily, because some genetic variations,     8     occasionally indicative of disease, are not strongly so. Parents may not want to unlock all the secrets that their newborn’s genome might reveal. Some may indeed prefer not to know about conditions that cannot be treated. Adult-onset illnesses pose a different dilemma — a reasonable position is that it     9     be up to the children themselves, once grown, to decide whether they want to look at their genomic information. A further concern is that data will not be kept secure, and may be leaked or otherwise misused     10     some point in the future.