1 . In the race to document the species on Earth before they go extinct, researchers and citizen scientists have collected billions of records. Today, most records of biodiversity are often in the form of photos, videos, and other digital records. Though they are useful for detecting shifts in the number and variety of species in an area, a new Stanford study has found that this type of record is not perfect.
“With the rise of technology it is easy for people to make observations of different species with the aid of a mobile application,” said Barnabas Daru, who is lead author of the study and assistant professor of biology in the Stanford School of Humanities and Sciences. “These observations now outnumber the primary data that comes from physical specimens (标本), and since we are increasingly using observational data to investigate how species are responding to global change, I wanted to know: Are they usable?”
Using a global dataset of 1.9 billion records of plants, insects, birds, and animals, Daru and his team tested how well these data represent actual global biodiversity patterns.
“We were particularly interested in exploring the aspects of sampling that tend to bias (使有偏差) data, like the greater likelihood of a citizen scientist to take a picture of a flowering plant instead of the grass right next to it,” said Daru.
Their study revealed that the large number of observation-only records did not lead to better global coverage. Moreover, these data are biased and favor certain regions, time periods, and species. This makes sense because the people who get observational biodiversity data on mobile devices are often citizen scientists recording their encounters with species in areas nearby. These data are also biased toward certain species with attractive or eye-catching features.
What can we do with the imperfect datasets of biodiversity?
“Quite a lot,” Daru explained. “Biodiversity apps can use our study results to inform users of oversampled areas and lead them to places — and even species — that are not well-sampled. To improve the quality of observational data, biodiversity apps can also encourage users to have an expert confirm the identification of their uploaded image.”
1. What do we know about the records of species collected now?A.They are becoming outdated. | B.They are mostly in electronic form. |
C.They are limited in number. | D.They are used for public exhibition. |
A.Threatened species. | B.Physical specimens. |
C.Observational data. | D.Mobile applications. |
A.Mistakes in data analysis. | B.Poor quality of uploaded pictures. |
C.Improper way of sampling. | D.Unreliable data collection devices. |
A.Review data from certain areas. | B.Hire experts to check the records. |
C.Confirm the identity of the users. | D.Give guidance to citizen scientists. |
2 . Is comprehension the same whether a person reads a text onscreen or on paper? And are listening to and viewing content as effective as reading the written word when covering the same material? The answers to both questions are often “no”. The reasons relate to a variety of factors, including reduced concentration, an entertainment mindset (心态) and a tendency to multitask while consuming digital content.
When reading texts of several hundred words or more, learning is generally more successful when it’s on paper than onscreen. A large amount of research confirms this finding. The benefits of print reading particularly shine through when experimenters move from posing simple tasks — like identifying the main idea in a reading passage — to ones that require mental abstraction — such as drawing inferences from a text.
The differences between print and digital reading results are partly related to paper’s physical properties. With paper, there is a literal laying on of hands, along with the visual geography of distinct pages. People often link their memory of what they’ve read to how far into the book it was or where it was on the page.
But equally important is the mental aspect. Reading researchers have proposed a theory called “shallowing hypothesis (假说)”. According to this theory, people approach digital texts with a mindset suited to social media, which are often not so serious, and devote less mental effort than when they are reading print.
Audio (音频) and video can feel more engaging than text, and so university teachers increasingly turn to these technologies — say, assigning an online talk instead of an article by the same person. However, psychologists have demonstrated that when adults read news stories, they remember more of the content than if they listen to or view identical pieces.
Digital texts, audio and video all have educational roles, especially when providing resources not available in print. However, for maximizing learning where mental focus and reflection are called for, educators shouldn’t assume all media are the same, even when they contain identical words.
1. What does the underlined phrase “shine through” in paragraph 2 mean?A.Seem unlikely to last. | B.Seem hard to explain. |
C.Become ready to use. | D.Become easy to notice. |
A.Readers treat digital texts lightly. | B.Digital texts are simpler to understand. |
C.People select digital texts randomly. | D.Digital texts are suitable for social media. |
A.They can hold students' attention. | B.They are more convenient to prepare. |
C.They help develop advanced skills. | D.They are more informative than text. |
A.Students should apply multiple learning techniques. |
B.Teachers should produce their own teaching material. |
C.Print texts cannot be entirely replaced in education. |
D.Education outside the classroom cannot be ignored. |
3 . HABITAT RESTORATION TEAM
Help restore and protect Marin's natural areas from the Marin Headlands to Bolinas Ridge. We'll explore beautiful park sites while conducting invasive (侵入的) plant removal, winter planting, and seed collection. Habitat Restoration Team volunteers play a vital role in restoring sensitive resources and protecting endangered species across the ridges and valleys.
GROUPSGroups of five or more require special arrangements and must be confirmed in advance. Please review the List of Available Projects and fill out the Group Project Request Form.
AGE, SKILLS, WHAT TO BRINGVolunteers aged 10 and over are welcome. Read our Youth Policy Guidelines for youth under the age of 15.
Bring your completed Volunteer Agreement Form. Volunteers under the age of 18 must have the parent/guardian approval section signed.
We'll be working rain or shine. Wear clothes that can get dirty. Bring layers for changing weather and a raincoat if necessary.
Bring a personal water bottle, sunscreen, and lunch.
No experience necessary. Training and tools will be provided. Fulfills (满足) community service requirements.
UPCOMING EVENTSTime | Meeting Location |
Sunday, Jan. 15 10:00 am — 1:00 pm | Battery Alexander Trailhead |
Sunday, Jan. 22 10:00 am — 2:30 pm | Stinson Beach Parking Lot |
Sunday, Jan. 29 9:30 am — 2:30 pm | Coyote Ridge Trailhead |
A.To discover mineral resources. | B.To develop new wildlife parks. |
C.To protect the local ecosystem. | D.To conduct biological research. |
A.5. | B.10. | C.15. | D.18. |
A.Bring their own tools. | B.Work even in bad weather. |
C.Wear a team uniform. | D.Do at least three projects. |
4 . “I am not crazy,” says Dr. William Farber, shortly after performing acupuncture (针灸) on a rabbit. “I am ahead of my time.” If he seems a little defensive, it might be because even some of his coworkers occasionally laugh at his unusual methods. But Farber is certain he’ll have the last laugh. He’s one of a small but growing number of American veterinarians (兽医) now practicing “holistic” medicine-combining traditional Western treatments with acupuncture, chiropractic (按摩疗法) and herbal medicine.
Farber, a graduate of Colorado State University, started out as a more conventional veterinarian. He became interested in alternative treatments 20 years ago when he suffered from terrible back pain. He tried muscle-relaxing drugs but found little relief. Then he tried acupuncture, an ancient Chinese practice, and was amazed that he improved after two or three treatments. What worked on a veterinarian seemed likely to work on his patients. So, after studying the techniques for a couple of years, he began offering them to pets.
Leigh Tindale’s dog Charlie had a serious heart condition. After Charlie had a heart attack, Tindale says, she was prepared to put him to sleep, but Farber’s treatments eased her dog’s suffering so much that she was able to keep him alive for an additional five months. And Priscilla Dewing reports that her horse, Nappy, “moves more easily and rides more comfortably” after a chiropractic adjustment.
Farber is certain that the holistic approach will grow more popular with time, and if the past is any indication, he may be right: Since 1982, membership in the American Holistic Veterinary Medical Association has grown from 30 to over 700. “Sometimes it surprises me that it works so well,” he says. “I will do anything to help an animal. That’s my job.”
1. What do some of Farber’s coworkers think of him?A.He’s odd. | B.He’s strict. | C.He’s brave. | D.He’s rude. |
A.He was trained in it at university. | B.He was inspired by another veterinarian. |
C.He benefited from it as a patient. | D.He wanted to save money for pet owners. |
A.Steps of a chiropractic treatment. | B.The complexity of veterinarians’ work. |
C.Examples of rare animal diseases. | D.The effectiveness of holistic medicine. |
A.To prove Farber’s point. | B.To emphasize its importance. |
C.To praise veterinarians. | D.To advocate animal protection. |
5 . Do you ever get to the train station and realize you forgot to bring something to read? Yes, we all have our phones, but many of us still like to go old school and read something printed.
Well, there’s a kiosk (小亭) for that. In the San Francisco Bay Area, at least.
“You enter the fare gates (检票口) and you’ll see a kiosk that is lit up and it tells you can get a one-minute, a three-minute, or a five-minute story,” says Alicia Trost, the chief communications officer for the San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit — known as BART. “You choose which length you want and it gives you a receipt-like short story.”
It’s that simple. Riders have printed nearly 20,000 short stories and poems since the program was launched last March. Some are classic short stories, and some are new original works.
Trost also wants to introduce local writers to local riders. “We wanted to do something where we do a call to artists in the Bay Area to submit stories for a contest,” Trost says. “And as of right now, we’ve received about 120 submissions. The winning stories would go into our kiosk and then you would be a published artist.”
Ridership on transit (交通) systems across the country has been down the past half century, so could short stories save transit?
Trost thinks so.
“At the end of the day all transit agencies right now are doing everything they can to improve the rider experience. So I absolutely think we will get more riders just because of short stories,” she says.
And you’ll never be without something to read.
1. Why did BART start the kiosk program?A.To promote the local culture. | B.To discourage phone use. |
C.To meet passengers’ needs. | D.To reduce its running costs. |
A.By popularity. | B.By length. |
C.By theme. | D.By language. |
A.Organizing a story contest. | B.Doing a survey of customers. |
C.Choosing a print publisher. | D.Conducting interviews with artists. |
A.It will close down. | B.Its profits will decline. |
C.It will expand nationwide. | D.Its ridership will increase. |
6 . The Stanford marshmallow (棉花糖) test was originally conducted by psychologist Walter Mischel in the late 1960s. Children aged four to six at a nursery school were placed in a room. A single sugary treat, selected by the child, was placed on a table. Each child was told if they waited for 15 minutes before eating the treat, they would be given a second treat. Then they were left alone in the room. Follow-up studies with the children later in life showed a connection between an ability to wait long enough to obtain a second treat and various forms of success.
As adults we face a version of the marshmallow test every day. We’re not tempted by sugary treats, but by our computers, phones, and tablets — all the devices that connect us to the global delivery system for various types of information that do to us what marshmallows do to preschoolers.
We are tempted by sugary treats because our ancestors lived in a calorie-poor world, and our brains developed a response mechanism to these treats that reflected their value — a feeling of reward and satisfaction. But as we’ve reshaped the world around us, dramatically reducing the cost and effort involved in obtaining calories, we still have the same brains we had thousands of years ago, and this mismatch is at the heart of why so many of us struggle to resist tempting foods that we know we shouldn’t eat.
A similar process is at work in our response to information. Our formative environment as a species was information-poor, so our brains developed a mechanism that prized new information. But global connectivity has greatly changed our information environment. We are now ceaselessly bombarded (轰炸) with new information. Therefore, just as we need to be more thoughtful about our caloric consumption, we also need to be more thoughtful about our information consumption, resisting the temptation of the mental “junk food” in order to manage our time most effectively.
1. What did the children need to do to get a second treat in Mischel’s test?A.Take an examination alone. | B.Share their treats with others. |
C.Delay eating for fifteen minutes. | D.Show respect for the researchers. |
A.the calorie-poor world and our good appetites | B.the shortage of sugar and our nutritional needs |
C.the tempting foods and our efforts to keep fit | D.the rich food supply and our unchanged brains |
A.Be selective information consumers. | B.Absorb new information readily. |
C.Use diverse information sources. | D.Protect the information environment. |
A.Eat Less, Read More | B.The Later, the Better |
C.The Marshmallow Test for Grownups | D.The Bitter Truth about Early Humans |
7 . On September 7, 1991, the costliest hailstorm (雹暴) in Canadian history hit Calgary’s southern suburbs. As a result, since 1996 a group of insurance companies have spent about $2 million per year on the Alberta Hail Suppression Project. Airplanes seed threatening storm cells with a chemical to make small ice crystals fall as rain before they can grow into dangerous hailstones. But farmers in east-central Alberta — downwind of the hail project flights — worry that precious moisture (水分) is being stolen from their thirsty land by the cloud seeding.
Norman Stienwand, who farms in that area, has been addressing public meetings on this issue for years. “Basically, the provincial government is letting the insurance companies protect the Calgary-Edmonton urban area from hail,” Mr. Stienwand says, “but they’re increasing drought risk as far east as Saskatchewan.”
The Alberta hail project is managed by Terry Krauss, a cloud physicist who works for Weather Modification Inc. of Fargo, North Dakota. “We affect only a very small percentage of the total moisture in the air, so we cannot be causing drought.” Dr. Krauss says. “In fact, we may be helping increase the moisture downwind by creating wetter ground.”
One doubter about the safety of cloud seeding is Chuck Doswell, a research scientist who just retired from the University of Oklahoma. “In 1999, I personally saw significant tornadoes form from a seeded storm cell in Kansas,” Dr. Doswell says. “Does cloud seeding create killer storms or reduce moisture downwind? No one really knows, of course, but the seeding goes on.”
Given the degree of doubt, Mr. Stienwand suggests, “It would be wise to stop cloud seeding.” In practice, doubt has had the opposite effect. Due to the lack of scientific proof concerning their impacts, no one has succeeded in winning a lawsuit against cloud-seeding companies. Hence, private climate engineering can proceed in relative legal safety.
1. What does the project aim to do?A.Conserve moisture in the soil. | B.Forecast disastrous hailstorms. |
C.Prevent the formation of hailstones. | D.Investigate chemical use in farming. |
A.Managers of insurance companies. | B.Farmers in east-central Alberta. |
C.Provincial government officials. | D.Residents of Calgary and Edmonton. |
A.To compare different kinds of seeding methods. | B.To illustrate the development of big hailstorms. |
C.To show the link between storms and moisture. | D.To indicate a possible danger of cloud seeding. |
A.Scientific studies have proved Stienwand right. | B.Cloud-seeding companies will continue to exist. |
C.The doubt about cloud seeding has disappeared. | D.Private climate engineering is illegal in Canada. |
8 . In the past few years, online learning has become a significant part of the university and college experience.
We interviewed students and professors to get their advice about online courses, The most obvious advantage of online learning is that you can study anywhere and anytime.
The tip that comes up most often is simple: build online courses into your weekly schedule, just like what you would do with in person courses.
A.But that doesn’t mean there aren’t deadlines. |
B.Your motivation should be your main concern. |
C.Do you know that online courses are also part of your education? |
D.Professor Alex Davidson teaches the same course in person and online. |
E.The chief complain t about online courses is that they lack human interaction. |
F.If you take an online course, what can you do to ensure the best possible grade? |
G.A survey found that 29 percent of college students registered for online courses. |
9 . When was the last time you used a telephone box? I mean to make an actual phone call — not to shelter from the rain. Ages ago, right? The last time I used a phone box for its intended purpose was…2006. I was conducting auditions (试演) for my play in my tiny old shared house in London. Hoping to impress some talented actors to come and work for me for nothing, I spread some throws over the sofas and lit candles to make it seem a bit more ”young professional”.
As I rushed outdoors to empty the wastepaper baskets, the door swung shut behind me. Suddenly I was locked outside. My mobile phone was inside, but luckily there was a telephone box across the street. So, I called Directory Assistance, got put through to our landlady’s managing agent, and had a spare key sent to me with just enough time to get back in before the actors arrived.
As it has been many years since I last used one, I should hardly be surprised that then are no longer any public telephones near my house. The last one standing has just been turn into a “mini community library”: any passer-by can “borrow” a book from its shelves return it later, or replace it with another title from their own collection.
For a few months after the “library” opened, I didn’t bother taking a look, as I had assumed that it would be stuffed full of cheese love stories. Then I noticed fork conducting spring cleans dropping boxes of voluminous books on various subjects there. And these books were free. This unbeatable price-point encouraged me to experiment with dozens of titles that I would never normally consider buying. And I’ve discovered some great books!
If I ever get trapped outside my house again, my local telephone box will, sadly no longer be able to connect me with my keys. But it can certainly keep me entertained while I wait for my wife to rescue me.
1. What does the underlined word “it” in the first paragraph refer to?A.The play. | B.The shared house. |
C.The sofa. | D.The telephone box. |
A.To place an urgent call. | B.To put up a notice. |
C.To shelter from the rain. | D.To hold an audition. |
A.It provides phone service for free. | B.Anyone can contribute to its collection. |
C.It is popular among young readers. | D.Books must be returned within a month. |
A.He wanted to borrow some love stories. |
B.He was encouraged by a close neighbour. |
C.He found there were excellent free books. |
D.He thought it was an ideal place for reading. |
10 . Tom Sawyer Play Is an Adventure
A 35-minute hand-clapping, foot-stomping musical version of a Mark Twain favorite returns with this Tall Stacks festival.
“Tom Sawyer: A River Adventure” has all the good stuff, including the fence painting, the graveyard, the island and the cave. It is adapted by Joe McDonough, with music by David Kisor. That’s the local stage writing team that creates many of the Children’s Theatre of Cincinnati’s original musicals, along with the holiday family musicals at Ensemble Theatre.
This year Nathan Turner of Burlington is Tom Sawyer, and Robbie McMath of Fort Mitchell is Huck Finn.
Tumer, a 10th-grader at School for Creative and Performing Arts, is a familiar presence on Cincinnati’s stages. He is a star act or of Children’s Theatre, having played leading roles in “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” and “The Wizard of Oz,” and is fresh from Jersey Production “Ragtime”.
McMath is a junior at Beechwood High School. He was in the cast of “Tom Sawyer” when it was first performed and is a Children’s Theatre regular, with five shows to his credit. This summer he attended Kentucky’s Governor’s School for the Arts in Musical Theatre.
Note to teachers: Children’s Theatre has a study guide demonstrating how math and science can be taught through “Tom Sawyer.” For downloadable lessons, visit the official website of Children’s Theatre.
1. Who wrote the music for “Tom Sawyer: A River Adventure”?A.David Kisor. | B.Joe McDonough. |
C.Nathan Turner. | D.Robbie McMath. |
A.They study in the same school. | B.They worked together in ”Ragtime“. |
C.They are experienced on stage. | D.They became friends ten years ago. |
A.Research funding. | B.Training opportunities. |
C.Technical support. | D.Educational resources. |