1 . A humanoid robot can relay video and touch sensations to a person wearing a haptic (触觉内) feedback suit and a virtual reality (VR) headset hundreds of kilometres away, offering away for people to attend events without travelling.
The iCub 3 robot is a 52-kilogram, 125-centimetre-tall robot with 54 joints across its body. Its head contains two cameras where a human’s eyes would be, and an Internet-connected computer where the brain would go. Along with the cameras, sensors covering its body send data to the robot’s “brain”. These sensations are then reproduced on a suit and VR headset worn by a remote human operator.
When the operators react to what they see and feel, the suit’s sensors pick up the movements and the robot matches them. “The key is to translate every signal and bit of digital data that can be sent through the network.” says Stefano Dafarra, who was part of the iCub3 team. There can be a small delay of up to 100 milliseconds to capture and transmit the visual shots, but the operator can case this by moving slightly slower than normal.
The team demonstrated the robot at the Venice Biennale, where it wandered through an exhibition while its operator stood 290 kilometres away in Genoa. Dafarra hopes people will use the iCub3 to attend events remotely, reducing the need to travel. “But at present, a fall could be hugely damaging to the robot, and it’s uncertain whether it could stand up again on its own," he says.
“iCub3 is an interesting robot and offers clear advantages from the previous versions.” says Jonathan Aitken, whose laboratory owns a prior version of the robot. However, he is disappointed that the team wasn’t clear in its research about the data transmission requirements of the new version of the robot. “It would be good to know just how much data was required, and what the upper and lower bounds were.” he says.
1. What’s the principle behind the humanoid robot?| A．It conveys sensations to the wearer and acts accordingly. |
| B．It receives commands from an operator through the Internet. |
| C．The cameras take pictures and then interact with the sensors. |
| D．The computer in the robot processes the data and gives orders. |
| A．Medical consultation. | B．Sports events. |
| C．Outdoor workouts. | D．Virtual tourism. |
| A．It fails to appeal to potential investors. |
| B．Its performance hasn’t been evaluated clearly. |
| C．Its present version still requires to be updated. |
| D．Its transmission of data came across technical problems. |
| A．Humanoid robots with sense of touch catch on |
| B．iCub 3 robot combines with VR to benefit more people |
| C．Humanoid robots let people see and feel things remotely |
| D．New advances in technology enable people to travel at work |
2 . Some of our planet’s power pollinators (传粉昆虫) may have originated tens of millions of years earlier than scientists once believed. In a study published July 27 in the journal Current Biology, a team of researchers traced bee family back over 120 million years to the ancient supercontinent Gondwana (冈瓦纳大陆). While looking deeper into bee history, the team found evidence that bees originated earlier, diversified faster, and spread wider than previously suspected, putting together pieces of a puzzle on the origin of these pollinators.
In the study, an international team of scientists would be in sequence and compared genes from over 200 bee species. They then compared these bees with the traits from 185 different bee fossils and extinct fossils to develop an evolutionary history and genealogical model for how bees have historically been spread around the world. The team was able to analyze hundreds of thousands of genes at a time to make sure that the relationships they inferred were correct.
“This is the first time we have broad genome-scale data for all seven bee families,” study co-author and Washington State University entomologist Elizabeth Murray confidently said in a statement. Earlier studies established that the first bees potentially evolved from wasps (黄蜂), transitioning from predators up to collectors of pollen and nectar (花蜜). According to this study, bees arose in the dry regions of western Gondwana during the early Cretaceous period, between 145 million years ago to 100.5 million years ago.
“There’s been a long-time puzzle about the origin of bees,” study co-author and Washington State University entomologist Silas Bossert said in a statement. “For the first time, we have statistical evidence that bees originated on Gondwana. We now know that bees are originally southern hemisphere insects.” The team found evidence that as new continents formed, the bees moved northward. They continued to diversify and spread in parallel partnership with flowering plants called angiosperms. The bees later moved into India and Australia and all major bee families appear to have split off from one another before the beginning of the Tertiary period (65million years ago).
1. What’s the purpose of bee history researchers do research on?| A．To discover the origin of these pollinators. |
| B．To find out some reasonable proofs. |
| C．To know much about our planet. |
| D．To study the life of bee species. |
| A．in danger. | B．in need. | C．in order | D．in favor. |
| A．Unbelievable. | B．Reliable. | C．Positive. | D．Negative. |
| A．The earliest home of bees may be in Gondwana. |
| B．The world’s earliest bees were found in India and Australia. |
| C．The researchers are going on doing research on bee families. |
| D．The researchers get a lot evidence to prove their research. |
3 . In our information-driven society, shaping our worldview through the media is similar to forming an opinion about someone solely based on a picture of their foot. While the media might not deliberately deceive us, it often fails to provide a comprehensive view of reality.
Consequently, the question arises: Where, then, shall we get our information from if not from the media? Who can we trust? How about experts—people who devote their working lives to understanding their chosen slice of the world? However, even experts can fall prey to the allure of oversimplification, leading to the “single perspective instinct” that hampers(阻碍)our ability to grasp the intricacies of the world.
Simple ideas can be appealing because they offer a sense of understanding and certainty. And it is easy to take off down a slippery slope, from one attention-grabbing simple idea to a feeling that this idea beautifully explains, or is the beautiful solution for, lots of other things. The world becomes simple that way.
Yet, when we embrace a singular cause or solution for all problems, we risk oversimplifying complex issues. For instance, championing the concept of equality may lead us to view all problems through the lens of inequality and see resource distribution as the sole panacea. However, such rigidity prevents us from seeing the multidimensional nature of challenges and hinders true comprehension of reality. This “single perspective instinct” ultimately clouds our judgment and restricts our capacity to tackle complex issues effectively.
It saves a lot of time to think like this. You can have opinions and answers without having to learn about a problem from scratch and you can get on with using your brain for other tasks. But it’s not so useful if you like to understand the world. Being always in favor of or always against any particular idea makes you blind to information that doesn’t fit your perspective. This is usually a bad approach if you would like to understand reality.
Instead, constantly test your favorite ideas for weaknesses. Be humble about the extent of your expertise. Be curious about new information that doesn’t fit, and information from other fields. And rather than talking only to people who agree with you, or collecting examples that fit your ideas, consult people who contradict you, disagree with you, and put forward different ideas as a great resource for understanding the world. I have been wrong about the world so many times. Sometimes, coming up against reality is what helps me see my mistakes, but often it is talking to, and trying to understand, someone with different ideas.
If this means you don’t have time to form so many opinions, so what? Wouldn’t you rather have few opinions that are right than many that are wrong?
1. What does the underlined word “allure” in Para.2 probably mean?| A．Temptation. | B．Tradition. | C．Convenience. | D．Consequence. |
| A．They meet people’s demand for high efficiency. |
| B．They generate a sense of complete understanding. |
| C．They are raised and supported by multiple experts. |
| D．They reflect the opinions of like-minded individuals. |
| A．Simplifying matters releases energy for human brains. |
| B．Constant tests on our ideas help make up for our weakness. |
| C．A well-founded opinion counts more than many shallow ones. |
| D．People who disagree with us often have comprehensive views. |
| A．Embracing Disagreement: Refusing Overcomplexity |
| B．Simplifying Information: Enhancing Comprehension |
| C．Understanding Differences: Establishing Relationships |
| D．Navigating Complexity: Challenging Oversimplification |
4 . Researcher Ruijia Hu said wildlife habitat in crowded places like south went Ohio is becoming increasingly fragmented (分散) as forests give way to new construction. Eventually, this could make trouble to an animal with specific habitat needs like Ohio’s pileated (红冠) woodpecker.
Pileated woodpeckers have the nickname carpenter birds for their never-ending natural woodworking. They peck out holes in trees for their nests every year, creating lots of valuable homes for animals like fox squirrels and owls. “They make new nests every year. They won’t reuse old ones,” Hu said. “Other animals depend on them.”
Pileated woodpeckers are private birds that are more often heard than seen. Studying them can be especially difficult. So Hu turned to citizen science for help. To identify where woodpeckers have been seen, she used eight years of sightings collected by birders and logged into the website eBird, a free online tool and app that anyone can use to record their observations and locations. She overlaid these sightings with remote sensing data and found that corridors along rivers and creeks with abundant mature trees and deadwood helped the birds adjust to their increasingly fragmented urban landscape.
“With fragmented forests, many habitats that were once suitable for wildlife are broken up,” Hu sa id. “Wildlife is unable to find habitat big enough to meet their survival needs. And even if there are suitable habitats, the distance between them can be too great. Wildlife corridors link up these habitat patches. Since wildlife can travel and migrate from one patch to another, the probability of finding food and shelter is higher.”
“There are so many species in urban areas that we don’t pay attention to, especially when they’re not considered vulnerable,” Hu said. “With development chipping away at more forest in this crowded county, the tipping point (临界点) could come quickly and unexpectedly. You can’t fix it overnight. It’s not just about planting more trees. The birds need mature forest, so it could take 30 to 50 years to replace their habitat. At least we can protect these riverside forest corridors and see that existing trees reach maturity.”
1. What can we infer from the second paragraph?| A．The magpie’s nest is occupied by the dove. |
| B．Birds abandon the old for the new easily. |
| C．Friendship really exists among animals. |
| D．One’s trash is another treasure. |
| A．The effect of Hu’s study on birds. |
| B．The process of Hu’s research. |
| C．The difficulty Hu had in his study. |
| D．The application of technology. |
| A．Helping them survive in the fragmented landscape. |
| B．Making them adjust to deadwood quickly. |
| C．Providing them with enough food for survival. |
| D．Ensuring them a stable and safe habitat. |
| A．One tree doesn’t make a forest. |
| B．Be wise after the event. |
| C．Prepare for a rainy day. |
| D．Take things as they come. |
5 . Lithium (锂) is called “white gold” for good reason. The metal’s value has been growing sharply over the last several years, in a large part because it is an essential part of batteries as well as several key sustainable technologies where energy storage is of huge significance. As electric cars, wind and solar power have grown into major players in the energy industry, lithium has become key to engineering a future free of fossil (化石) fuels.
But acquiring lithium comes at an enormous cost. It often works like this: Water containing lithium is delivered to the surface from underground and mixed with fresh water. The mixture then sits in pools to get rid of water, leaving the rest of its contents behind as brightly colored “mud”. Then heat and chemical reactions are used to get lithium from that, changing it into powder which is then packaged and shipped to buyers around the world.
Any accident that releases mine contents into surrounding communities or the groundwater supply could have unimaginable long-term impacts. To be specific, indigenous (土著的) communities often bear the damage, and political leaders have typically given little weight to their concerns. In Arizona, for example, an expanding lithium mine is threatening the Hualapai Tribe’s cultural and historic sites. Recently, mining lithium and other precious metals has brought about conflict: How do you ensure the availability of materials essential to the future of renewables while protecting those communities’ rights?
Mining of the metal is expected to increase dramatically in coming years. Over time, experts say, that will reduce greenhouse gas emissions (排放) by making electric cars more affordable and, therefore, more popular. As environmentally conscious consumers buy electric cars in ever-greater numbers, it’s important to be aware of the dirty process that powers those clean air vehicles.
1. What does the author’s intention of writing Paragraph 1?| A．To introduce the background of an event. | B．To explain a complex industrial theory. |
| C．To describe a noticeable recent tendency. | D．To predict the future of a main technology. |
| A．Unexpected material leak. | B．Violent chemical reactions. |
| C．Wrong political decisions. | D．Lithium mine expansion. |
| A．Intolerant. | B．Uncaring. | C．Favorable. | D．Objective. |
| A．High Expense of Lithium Mining | B．Potential Benefit of Using Lithium |
| C．Hidden Threat behind Clean Energy | D．Bright Future of Renewable Resources |
6 . Samsung Electronics America announced that Galaxy device owners can make their own repairs to the Galaxy S20 and S21 family of products, as well as the Galaxy Tab S7+, starting August 2nd.
Samsung is cooperating with iFixit, the leading online repair community, to deliver their Self-Repair program. This program adds to Samsung’s continued expansions for convenient repair for consumers and helps them with sustainable solutions to support a more circular economy by extending the life of their devices, as well as minimizing e-waste.
Samsung consumers who wish to make their own repairs can now purchase real device parts and convenient, easy-to-use repair tools, available through iFixit, Samsung retail (零售) and service locations, at the same pricing offered to our repair providers. In addition, Galaxy device owners will have full access to online repair guides that provide both visual and written step-by-step instructions, and best of all, at no cost.
“Making replacement parts available is a key sustainability strategy. We’re excited to be working directly with Samsung and their customers to extend the lifetime of their phones,” said CEO of iFixit.
Starting today, Galaxy device owners can replace the phone screen, back glass, and charging ports. In the future, Samsung plans to expand self-repair to include more devices and repair options from our extensive product portfolio (档案).
Furthermore, the program makes it easy for consumers to return their thrown-away parts for responsible recycling, as the new display kits will come with a return label to ship thrown-away parts back to Samsung — at no cost to the consumer.
In addition to the convenience of these new self-repair options, Galaxy smartphone owners have a choice on how they can extend the life of their devices across Samsung’s expansive care options, including: Through Samsung’s perfect care network, customers have access to over 11,000 Samsung Mobile certified repair technicians in the U.S.
1. Who will do the repair work under the Self-Repair program?| A．The iFixit community. | B．The Galaxy consumers. |
| C．Samsung Repair staff. | D．The devices themselves. |
| A．To promote a circular economy. | B．To make full use of the old parts. |
| C．To enrich the life of the phone users. | D．To ensure better service by iFixit. |
| A．The Samsung device parts. | B．New Samsung products. |
| C．The written repair instructions. | D．The easy-to-use repair tools. |
| A．A New Invention | B．A New Technology |
| C．A Successful Cooperation | D．An Initiative practice |
7 . Restricting meals to early in the day did not affect weight among overweight adults with prediabetes or diabetes(糖尿病), according to a research presented at the American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions 2020.
“We have wondered for a long time if when one eats during the day affects the way the body uses and stores energy,” said study author Nisa M. Maruthur, associate professor of medicine in Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. “Most previous studies have not controlled the number of calories, so it wasn't clear if people who ate earlier just ate fewer calories. In this study, the only thing we changed was the time of eating in the day.”
Maruthur and colleagues followed 41 overweight adults in a 12-week study. Most participants(参与者)（90%）were African American women with prediabetes or diabetes, and average age of 59 years. Twenty-one of the adults followed a time-restricted eating pattern, limiting eating to specific hours of the day and ate 80% of their calories before 1 pm. The remaining 20 participants ate at usual times during a 12-hour window, consuming half of their daily calories after 5 pm for the entire 12 weeks. All participants consumed the same pre-prepared, healthy meals provided for the study. Weight and blood pressure were measured at the beginning of the study；then at 4 weeks, 8 weeks and 12 weeks.
The analysis found that people in both groups lost weight and had decreased blood pressure no matter when they ate. "We thought that the time-restricted group would lose more weight,” Maruthur said. “Yet that didn't happen. We did not see any difference in weight loss for those who ate most of their calories earlier versus later in the day. We did not see any effects on blood pressure either.”
The researchers are now collecting more detailed information on blood pressure recorded over 24 hours, and they will bring this information together with the results of a study on the effects of time-restricted feeding on blood sugar, insulin(胰岛素)and other hormones and making analyses on the data. "Together, these findings will help us to more fully understand the effects of time-restricted eating on cardiometabolic(心血管代谢)health," Maruthur said.
1. What made this study different from earlier ones?| A．Participants' age. | B．Participants' daily eating time |
| C．The number of participants. | D．Research members. |
| A．Research procedure. | B．Research result. |
| C．Research purpose. | D．Research institution. |
| A．Blood pressure is connected with eating time. |
| B．Taking in less calories earlier makes for weight loss. |
| C．Eat calories earlier doesn't affect weight loss. |
| D．Eating time determines your effect of losing weight. |
| A．Stop research. | B．Announce findings. |
| C．Write essays. | D．Analyze data. |
8 . At most universities, core (核心) curriculum or general education is required, whether that is two or more courses in core academic subjects. These core academics consist of mathematics, science, history and English, which are used to provide students with a broad range of academic knowledge and aid in their individual development.
However, are these courses more beneficial or harmful to students? Based on studies from across the district there is a gap between the necessities and burdens of general education courses. According to an article by Best Value Schools, students sometimes discover a hidden passion for a field of study while taking general education courses. Although this may be true, many students consider the program as “a collection of courses without connection, consistency or meaning”. The negative concept of these courses could possibly be connected to the fact that many students don’t actually obtain these skills.
Many schools have been working to improve their core curriculum program by developing the adoption of mission, goal and outcome statements. Some University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG) professors have recently been requiring students to take self-assessments and complete assignments based on how to develop critical thinking, communication and cooperation skills, as well as apply them within and outside of the classroom. It is through these channels of self discovery that students can often find their passions, which can possibly lead to choosing a major.
Typically, one-third of first-time college students change their major within the first three years. Major changes can be for a variety of reasons. It can be associated with a dissatisfaction in coursework. It can also be due to the discovery of a major which simply fits a student better. General education classes can play an important role in helping to make this discovery. Though students’ opinions vary on the importance of core curriculum, the basis of the program should be taken into consideration. At the same time, institutions should continue to work towards developing more authentic ways to provide a sense of importance and pride in the program to aid in student learning and the development of real-world skills.
1. What is the function of core curriculum?| A．Laying foundation for students’ future. |
| B．Developing students’ good characteristics. |
| C．Determining students’ major in college. |
| D．Releasing students’ burden of study. |
| A．Why it is needed in careers. | B．Whether it is really important. |
| C．What advantages it brings about. | D．Who will benefit most from it. |
| A．Stick to their majors. |
| B．Focus on core curriculum. |
| C．Improve academic performance. |
| D．Assess themselves and develop skills. |
| A．The reasons for students’ changing majors. |
| B．The significant part core curriculum plays. |
| C．The necessity of reforming core curriculum. |
| D．Opinions students hold to general education. |
9 . A simple blood test that can tell how well a person is likely to age is on the horizon after scientists uncovered blood signature patterns which predict ill health. The breakthrough means doctors will soon be able to check the likelihood of dementia(痴呆), cardiovascular disease and a range of other conditions many years before patients show any symptoms.
Researchers at Boston University learned to recognize combinations of specific biomarkers (生物标志物), or chemicals found in the blood, of 5,000 people in a study. They then matched these with the participants’ health outcomes over a period of eight years. They found specific patterns associated with disease and disability-free aging, as well as patterns associated with the threat of several diseases.
While various techniques already exist for predicting specific conditions, such as heart disease, the new approach will, for the most part, enable doctors to paint a comprehensive picture of their patient’s overall future health. It also promises to give people the chance to change their lifestyles or begin preventative treatment to circumvent diseases considered as a risk by their blood composition.
“These signatures show differences in how people age, and they show promise in predicting healthy ageing, changes in cognitive(认知的) and physical function, survival and age-related diseases like stroke, type 2 diabetes and cancer,” the research team said. “We can now measure thousands of biomarkers from a small amount of blood with the idea of eventually being able to predict who is at risk of a wide range of diseases long before any clinical signs become apparent.”
1. What can the new technique be used to do?| A．Cure a person’s dementia. |
| B．Prevent people from aging. |
| C．Tell a person’s future health. |
| D．Change people’s blood composition. |
| A．understand | B．spread | C．record | D．avoid |
| A．Its practical use. | B．Its original theory. |
| C．Its development process. | D．Its widespread popularity. |
| A．In an economic report. | B．In a medical magazine. |
| C．In an investigation report. | D．In an entertainment newspaper. |
10 . An experimental cleanup device called RemoveDebris has successfully cast a net around adummy (仿造的) satellite, simulating (模拟) a technique that could one day collect spaceborne garbage.
The test, which was carried out this week, is widely believed to be the first successful demonstration of space cleanup technology, experts told CNN. And it signals an early step toward dealing with what is already a key problem: rubbish in space.
Millions of pieces of junk are turning around in orbit, the result of 50 years of space travel and few regulations to keep space clean. At orbital speeds, even a small bit of paint crashing with a satellite can cause serious damage.
Various companies have plans to send thousands of new satellites into low-Earth orbit, already the most crowded area.
The RemoveDebris experiment is run by a company and researchers led by the UK’s Surrey Space Centre and includes Airbus, Airbus-owned Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd. and France’s Ariane Group.
Guglielmo Aglietti, the director of Surrey Space Centre, said that an operational version of the RemoveDebris technology would cast out a net that remains fastened to the main satellite so the debris can be dragged out of orbit. It could target large pieces of junk, including dead satellites up to 10meters long.
The RemoveDebris satellite will conduct a few more experiments in the coming months, including testing navigation systems that could help guide the satellite to a specific piece of debris. Jonathan McDowell, an astrophysicist at the Harvard Smithsonian Centre for Astrophysics, said the success of this week’s experiment was exciting, but he cautioned against “over-publicizing” it. There are still big barriers to clear before operational cleanup tasks will be underway, he said, and the biggest challenge is figuring out how to fund such projects.
Aglietti, the Surrey professor who helped lead the RemoveDebris project, said “the challenge will be to convince the relevant authorities to sponsor these tasks”. Aglietti said he hopes RemoveDebris will conduct a few cleanup tasks per year, targeting the largest pieces of rubbish in the most crowded orbits. Aglietti is hopeful.
1. What attracts people to invent RemoveDebris?| A．Exploring space. | B．Testing an orbit. |
| C．Cleaning satellites. | D．Removing waste in space. |
| A．It throws a net to take junk from orbit. | B．It fastens junk to the main satellite. |
| C．It targets large pieces of junk carefully. | D．It drags junk up to 10 meters long. |
| A．It is successful in cleanup tasks. |
| B．It still needs to be broadcasted widely. |
| C．It should get some financial help from authorities. |
| D．It helps researchers to find a specific junk. |
| A．Space Garbage Causes Severe Damage |
| B．Researchers Advertise Waste Collecting Satellite |
| C．Authorities Sponsor RemoveDebris Project |
| D．Satellite First Time Collects Waste |
