| A．Being a rare fish, the vaquita is at the edge of extinction. |
| B．Generally, a vaquita’s life expectation is over two decades. |
| C．Genetic modification could be the only way to save vaquitas. |
| D．Vaquitas were first discovered by Spanish in 1958. |
| A．It banned the fishermen from using fixed nets in the Gulf of California. |
| B．It banned the fishermen from fishing vaquitas. |
| C．Its police force worked with Sea Shepherd to feed vaquitas. |
| D．It inspected local fishermen to stop illegal fishing. |
| A．He founded the Natural Resources Defense Council. |
| B．It was great to tell vaquitas good stories. |
| C．All work would be meaningless without continuous efforts. |
| D．The parties should record their actions with cameras. |
Soft Skills—Soft or Not?
Rapidly advancing technology and its impact on education have been a subject of much debate. How can schools equip students with the skills to succeed in a changing job market? Since technology is driving many social changes, there is an opinion that governments should keep focusing on STEM subjects. These are often referred to as “hard skills”, which are prioritized in primary schools and right through to university level.
However, research from Harvard University on the global job market has shown that STEM-related careers grew strongly between 1989 and 2000 but have slowed ever since. In contrast, jobs in the creative industries, which are probably most associated with the need for soft skills, are growing rapidly. A study by Deloitte Access Economics predicts that “soft skill-intensive occupations will account for two-thirds of all jobs by 2030”.
With the rapid evolution of technology, a focus on hard skills leaves people delicate when facing change, as these skills often have a limited shelf life. According to a survey, more than one in four adults reported a mismatch between their skills and those needed for their job role. Fortunately, soft skills can solve the problem, enabling people to adapt to change more easily in their chosen field. Additionally, interpersonal interactions in the modern workplace require some level of soft skills. At a company they might be negotiating to win a new contract or networking for a new job. People use soft skills every day at work and developing them will help things in the job go smoothly.
Many universities have begun to emphasize soft skills such as critical thinking alongside hard skills. But the issue goes much deeper. Soft skills need to be handled across the entire education system so that by the time students reach university level, they are already armed with the qualities needed to further develop these skills.
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5 . Nearly 40 years ago, Peter Harrison, a marine ecologist witnessed the first recorded large-scale coral bleaching（珊瑚白化）event. Diving in the Great Barrier Reef（大堡礁）, he was shocked by the scene before him. "The reef was made up of healthy corals and badly bleached white corals, like the beginnings of a ghost city," he says. Just months before, the same site was filled with colorful tropical life.
"Many of the hundreds of corals that I'd carefully tagged and monitored finally died," he says. "It was shocking and made me aware of just how weak these corals really are.”
Coral exists together with photosynthetic algae（藻类）, which live in its tissues and provide essential nutrition（and coloration）. But high temperatures and other stresses can turn algae poisonous. When this occurs, the algae may die or be removed by the coral, a process known as bleaching because the coral's clear tissue and white calcium carbonate skeleton（碳酸钙骨骼）are exposed. If the coral can't reestablish its link with algae, it will starve or become ill.
The widespread destruction Harrison saw in 1982 was repeated on many other Pacific Ocean reefs that year and the next. In 1997 and 1998 the phenomenon went global, killing some 16 percent of the world's corals. With rising temperatures, pollution, disease, increased ocean acidity, invasive species, and other dangers, Harrison's ghost cities are expanding
Scientists suppose that about four decades ago severe bleaching occurred roughly every 25 years, giving corals time to recover. But bleaching events are coming faster now—about every six years—and in some places soon they could begin to happen annually.
"The absolute key is dealing with global warming," says marine biologist Terry Hughes. "No matter how much we clean up the water, the reefs will die." In 2016, a record-hot year in a string of them, 91 percent of the reefs that consist of the Great Barrier Reef bleached.
1. Peter Harrison was shocked when diving in the Great Barrier Reef, because___________.| A．the reefs were made up of precious corals | B．the corals were ruined badly and quickly |
| C．he found a ghost city with tropical life | D．he saw the corals he had tagged before |
| A．the causes of coral bleaching | B．the weakness of corals and algae |
| C．the elements that make algae die | D．the process of building a link with algae |
| A．global warming | B．the polluted ocean | C．the white corals | D．invasive species |
| A．With algae living in its tissues, coral's white skeleton is exposed. |
| B．Solving global warming is the real solution to coral bleaching. |
| C．The reefs die because the water hasn't been cleaned thoroughly |
| D．The severest coral bleaching occurred about four decades ago. |
6 . Science may never know what memories play on the mind of the California sea hare, a foot-long marine snail, when it eats algae — a sea plant — in the tide pools of the Pacific coast.
But in a new study, researchers claim to have made headway in understanding the simplest kind of memory a creature might form.
David Glanzman, a neurobiologist at the University of California, believes the kinds of memories that trigger a defensive reaction in the snail are encoded not in the connections between brain cells, as many scientists would argue, but in RNA molecules (分子) that form part of an organism’s genetic machinery.
In an experiment to test the idea, Glanzman implanted wire into the tails of California sea hares, and gave them a series of electrical shocks. The procedure sensitized the animals so that when they were prodded (戳) in a fleshy spout called a siphon, they contracted their gills (鳃状呼吸器官) in a strong defensive action.
After sensitizing the sea snails, Glanzman extracted RNA from the animals and injected it into other sea snails to see what happened. He found the recipient sea snails became sensitized, suggesting the “memory” of the electrical shocks had been transplanted. When Glanzman repeated the experiment with RNA from sea snails that had been hooked up to wires but not shocked, the reaction behavior did not transfer.
Despite the result, the work has not found widespread acceptance. “Obviously further work needs to be carried out to determine whether these changes can happen without failure in a wide range of conditions,” said Prof Sherilynn Vann, who studies memory at Cardiff University. “While the sea hare is a fantastic model for studying basic neuroscience, we must be very cautious in drawing comparisons to human memory processes.”
Tomas Ryan, who studies memory at Trinity College Dublin, is firmly unconvinced. “It’s interesting, but I don’t think they’ve transferred a memory,” he said. “This work tells me that maybe the most basic behavioral responses involve some kind of switch in the animal and there is something in the liquid that Glanzman extracts that is hitting that switch.”
But Ryan added that different thinking about memory was badly needed: “In a field like this which is so full of accepted beliefs, we need as many new ideas as possible. This work takes us down an interesting road, but I have a huge amount of skepticism about it.”
1. Why were the sea hares given electrical shocks?| A．To rob them of their memory. |
| B．To see how they defend themselves. |
| C．To break the connection between nerves. |
| D．To make them sensitive to external stimulations. |
| A．Memory can be encoded and changed by people. |
| B．Only with strong stimulation can sea snails form reaction. |
| C．The memory giving rise to sea snail’s sensitization is held in RNA. |
| D．The sea snail’s defense is probably enabled by connectivity of brain cells. |
| A．The recipient sea snail’s response may require further confirmation. |
| B．Variables (变量) in the experiments may not have remained the same. |
| C．Something else other than RNA in the extract may lead to the recipient’s reaction. |
| D．The sea snail “memory transplant” may not apply to more complex memory process. |
| A．criticism | B．doubt | C．relief | D．optimism |
假设你的朋友John作为交换生要来一所中学学习一年。现在有两个家庭可为他提供住宿。John对如何选择犹豫不决，想听听你的建议。请根据以下住宿家庭信息，写一封email给John，说说你推荐哪个家庭，并简要谈谈这样推荐的理由。
| 王先生家庭 | 李先生家庭 | |
| 家庭成员 | 一对中年夫妇；一个17岁的男孩 | 一对退休夫妇 |
| 住宿条件 | 提供一个带独立卫生间的房间 | 提供一个无独立卫生间房间 |
| 伙食 | 周一至周六提供早餐和晚餐，周日不提供餐饮 | 周一至周五提供早餐和晚餐；周六和周日提供三餐 |
| 距学校距离 | 地铁大约一小时车程 | 步行到学校大约10分钟 |
10 . Trying to make a big decision while you’re also preparing for a scary presentation? You might want to
It’s a bit
The increased focus on the positive also helps explain why stress plays a role in
Stress also
| A．try | B．delay | C．deny | D．forbid |
| A．requirements | B．reasons | C．chances | D．alternatives |
| A．weigh | B．overlook | C．confuse | D．classify |
| A．imperfection | B．risk | C．advantage | D．uncertainty |
| A．conflicted | B．focused | C．unexpected | D．separated |
| A．break off | B．hold up | C．account for | D．bring out |
| A．surprising | B．fortunate | C．reasonable | D．pleasant |
| A．conscious | B．immediate | C．negative | D．favorable |
| A．neglecting | B．enhancing | C．analyzing | D．evaluating |
| A．position | B．decision | C．qualification | D．schedule |
| A．judgement | B．progress | C．relationship | D．addiction |
| A．value | B．adopt | C．resist | D．maintain |
| A．downsides | B．desires | C．defeats | D．benefits |
| A．declines | B．increases | C．eliminates | D．worsens |
| A．reliable | B．reluctant | C．qualified | D．willing |
