1 . A team from Newcastle University and Northumbria University in the UK has found that the thin, root-like threads produced by many fungi (真菌) can potentially be used as a biodegradable, wearable material that’s also able to repair itself.
In their tests, the researchers focused on the Ganoderma lucidum fungus, producing a skin from branching thin threads, which together weave into a structure called a mycelium (菌丝体). With a little more work, the fragile skins could serve as a substitute for leather, satisfying environmental and fashion tastes.
“The results suggest that mycelium materials can survive in dry and unfavourable environments, and self-repairing is possible with minimal intervention after a two-day recovery period, ” write the researchers in their published paper. However, the process used to produce these materials tends to kill off the fungal spores (孢子) that help the organism regenerate itself.
A new approach involving a mix of mycelia, proteins, and other nutrients in a liquid encouraged the growth of a skin. The results are currently too thin and delicate to be turned into a jacket. However, the researchers are confident that it’s possible that future innovations could turn it into a tougher skin, possibly by combining layers or plasticizing in glycerol. Crucially, the production process didn’t kill off the fungal spores. Tests on the material showed that it was indeed able to replace holes made in it. The material was as strong as before, though it was still possible to see where the holes had been.
“Due to their functional properties, the ability of this regenerative mycelium material to heal micro and macro defects opens interesting future prospects for unique product applications in leather-goods replacements such as furniture, automotive seals, and fashion wear,” write the researchers.
There’s a long way to go here before you’ll be wearing clothes made out of fungus. The growing and healing processes take several days to happen at the moment for example, something which could be sped up over time.
1. What did the team find in their tests?| A．An alternative to fungal spores. | B．Thin threads shaped like roots. |
| C．Many different fungi. | D．Mycelium materials with self-healing function. |
| A．The recovery period of fungal spores. |
| B．Crises of mycelium materials’ survival. |
| C．Imperfection in producing mycelium materials. |
| D．The method of intervening organisms’ regeneration. |
| A．It speeds up the creation of mycelia. | B．It keeps fungal spores from destruction. |
| C．It makes the holes in materials invisible. | D．It combines the liquid with layers of skin. |
| A．A flash in the pan. | B．Promising but challenging. |
| C．Inspiring but unachievable. | D．A growth and decline cycle. |
2 . Walking has been considered as one kind of rewarding exercise. For many people, daily walking offers massive and long-term physical and mental benefits.
But the scenery is almost as important as the sweat. Just by going outside, you are stepping out of your habitual surroundings and your comfort zone, which is necessary if you want to open your mind to new possibilities. You can walk through a tree-filled neighborhood.
Walking outside develops our ability to collect new ideas and take in new sights, sounds, smells, and flavors. Shinrin-yoku, a common form of relaxation in Japan, suggests that being in the forest and walking among the trees there can lower your stress levels.
So instead of setting a fitness goal, why not set a creativity goal that starts with walking outdoors?
Walk not just for exercise. Walk for wonder.
| A．Unfortunately, you often fail to do it. |
| B．Expose yourself more to your surroundings. |
| C．The movement during walking is obviously key. |
| D．Without enough energy, you cannot wonder or create. |
| E．But to receive the benefits, you do not have to live in a forest. |
| F．This habit, however, not only benefits well-being but also contributes to innovation. |
| G．Wandering around a park and observing people relaxing or birds singing is also a choice. |
3 . On Saturday, Jacob Kohut finally had breaktime during his 12⁃hour standing guard outside the U.S. Capitol. He could have spent his break resting. Instead, he sat in the back of a Humvee, teaching students via his laptop how to play Beethoven’s “Ode to Joy”, which meant he was on double duty, as an active member of the National Guard and as a devoted school band teacher.
“I’m a soldier for the National Guard, but I’m as much a solider for music education,” he says.
When on duty, Kohut’s days began in the morning with teaching his elementary class remotely from the drill floor of DC Armory, finishing the lesson minutes before his Guard shift started at 10 a.m. Later in the day, during his break, he would go online to teach his middle school students from the back of a Humvee.
Music has always been a driving force in Kohut’s life. He was a saxophone player throughout high school, and finally earned his Doctor degree in music composition at George Mason University.
“What I really wanted was to teach,” says Kohut, who is married and has a three⁃year⁃old son. “My mom, who is a single mother, was a music teacher. That’s why I do what I do. She is such a good role model.”
Kohut’s double duty has caught the attention of parents at Canterbury Woods Elementary School.
“I just wanted to share how impressed I am with Dr. Kohut this week,” Susi Britain said. “This morning he taught the band online from DC Armory, in his tiredness — which just seems so beyond the expectations of a teacher in these circumstances.”
But during the long and sometimes stressful hours of standing guard, Kohut said his teaching time offered comfort. As the 11 instruments were played by his virtual students, the familiar melody of “Ode to Joy” rang through the Humvee. In that moment, Kohut realized there wasn’t a timelier tune to teach his students
“It’s a symbol of unity and peace,” he says. “And that’s what the world needs right now.”
1. Where did the students study music from Kohut?| A．In the back of a Humvee. |
| B．At the drill floor of DC Armory. |
| C．In online courses. |
| D．Outside the U.S. Capitol. |
| A．Peace⁃loving and mild. |
| B．Enthusiastic and devoted. |
| C．Hopeful and positive. |
| D．Faithful and helpful. |
| A．He should teach the tune to his students earlier. |
| B．No tune was taught to students before. |
| C．It’s the time that he should teach the tune face to face. |
| D．The tune is the most suitable for students at that moment. |
| A．Jacob Kohut fights for the country and music. |
| B．Jacob Kohut wants to change his job. |
| C．Jacob Kohut has double duty at Canterbury Woods Elementary School. |
| D．Jacob Kohut is a virtual music teacher. |
4 . Close to the North Pole, the remote and rocky plateau mountain in the Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard seems an unlikely spot for any global effort to safeguard agriculture. In this cold and deserted environment, there are no grains, no gardens and no trees. But at the end of a 130⁃meter⁃long tunnel is a room filled with humanity’s most precious treasure, the largest and most diverse seed collection — more than a half⁃billion seeds.
A quiet rescue mission is underway. With growing evidence that unchecked climate change will seriously affect food production and threaten the diversity of crops around the world, the Svalbard Global Seed Vault represents a major step towards ensuring the preservation of hundreds of thousands of crop varieties. This is a seed collection, but more importantly, it is a collection of the traits (特点) found within the seeds: the genes that give one variety resistance to a particular pest and another variety tolerance for hot, dry weather.
Few people will ever see or come into contact with the contents of this vault. In sealed (密封的) boxes, behind many locked doors, monitored by electronic security systems, enveloped in below⁃zero temperatures, and surrounded by tons of rocks, hundreds of millions of seeds are protected in their mountain fortress (堡垒). Frozen in such conditions inside the mountain, seeds of most major crops will remain viable for hundreds of years, or longer. Seeds of some are capable of keeping their ability to grow for thousands of years.
Everyone can look back now and say that the Seed Vault has been a good and obvious idea, and that of course the Norwegian government should have approved and funded it. But back in 2004, when the Seed Vault was first proposed, it was viewed as a crazy, impractical, and expensive idea.
We knew that nothing would provide a definite guarantee. But we were tired and frankly scared of the steady, greater losses of crop diversity. The Seed Vault was built by optimists who wanted to do something to preserve options so that humanity and the crops might be better prepared for change.
The Seed Vault is about hope and commitment — about what can be done if countries come together and work cooperatively to accomplish something significant, long⁃lasting, and worthy of who we are and wish to be.
1. According to the passage, what’s the Seed Vault?| A．It’s a tunnel where the collected seeds are displayed. |
| B．It’s a stone room that contains the seeds of endangered crops. |
| C．It’s a seed gene bank that stores diverse seeds for future agriculture. |
| D．It’s a lab where researchers study how to keep the diversity of crops. |
| A．Mature. | B．Clean. |
| C．Alive. | D．Valuable. |
| A．How the seeds are preserved. |
| B．Where people keep the seeds. |
| C．Why the seeds are protected. |
| D．What people do to study the seeds. |
| A．the Seed Vault offers a solution to climate change |
| B．the Seed Vault was built by many countries |
| C．the Seed Vault is sure to prevent the loss of crop diversity |
| D．many people considered building the Seed Vault unwise and crazy at first |
5 . Researchers at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center mapped brain changes after a year of aerobic workouts and uncovered a potentially significant process: Aerobic exercise increases blood flow into two key areas of the brain associated with memory.
The study, published in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease, showed this blood flow can help even older people with memory problems improve cognition, a finding that could guide future Alzheimer’s disease research, according to UT Southwestern Medical Center.
In the study, researchers followed 30 participants who were 60 or older and had memory problems. Half experienced a year of aerobic exercise while the other half did stretches. “We’ve shown that even when your memory starts to fade, you can still do something about it by adding aerobic exercise to your lifestyle,” said Binu Thomas, a senior research scientist of UT Southwestern Medical Center who led the study. “The aerobic exercise group showed a 47% improvement in some memory scores after a year; the other group showed slight change. Brain imaging of the aerobic exercise group, taken while at rest at the beginning and end of the study, showed increased blood flows into the specific brain areas that play important roles in memory function.”
Many teams across the world are trying to determine if aerobic exercise might fight memory loss. Evidence is growing that it could at least play a small role in delaying or reducing the risk of Alzheimer’s disease. For example, a 2018 study showed that people with lower fitness levels experience faster retrogression of vital nerve fibers in the brain called white matter related to memory.
“Blood flow in the brain connected with memory improvement is still a part of the puzzle, and we need to continue piecing it together,” Thomas says. “But we’ve seen enough data to know that starting a fitness program can have lifelong benefits for our brains as well as our hearts.”
1. What is the study mainly about?| A．Old people have memory problems. | B．Aerobic exercise improves memory. |
| C．Aerobic workouts benefit physical health. | D．Alzheimer’s disease can be cured. |
| A．Earlier memories were refreshed. | B．Memory scores showed very small changes. |
| C．Brain imaging remained the same. | D．More blood flew into memory⁃related areas. |
| A．The memory problem. | B．One’s lifestyle. |
| C．Aerobic exercise. | D．Something useful. |
| A．Further research work requires doing. | B．More people experience memory loss. |
| C．The mystery of brain blood flow has been solved. | D．Signs of memory loss can be discovered earlier. |
6 . Teacher, Foreign Language (High School)
The Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA) offers teaching opportunities in some of the most amazing and culturally rich places in the world. Come and work for the DoDEA schools!
Salary: US$39,775-US$80,930 Per School Year
Open Period: 10/3/2020 to 7/31/2021
Department: Department of Defense
Agency: Department of Defense Education Activity
Position Info: Flexible Schedules, Flexible Appointment Types
Who may apply: US Citizens (prior teaching experience is required)
Food Inspector
The Food Safety and Inspection Service(FSIS) is the public health agency in the US Department of Agriculture responsible for ensuring that the nation’s commercial supply of meat and egg products is safe, wholesome and correctly labelled and packaged.
Salary: US$31,628-US$50,932 Per Year
Open Period: 7/18/2020 to 7/17/2021
Department: Department of Agriculture
Agency: Food Safety and Inspection Service
Position Info: Full⁃time, Permanent
Who may apply: US Citizens (graduates in Food Quality and Safety are preferred)
Supervisory Public Health Veterinarian(兽医)
This is an excellent opportunity to seek a greater leadership role and responsibility in public health. If you are a new employee, mid-career employee, or experienced professional interested in a Public Health Veterinarian (PHV) career, this job is for you!
Salary: US$57,928-US$90,344 Per Year
Open Period: 9/30/2020 to 9/30/2021
Department: Department of Agriculture
Agency: Food Safety and Inspection Service
Position Info: Full⁃time, Permanent
Who may apply: US Citizens and Nationals (no prior federal experience is required)
Veterinary Medical Officer—Veterinarian
The National Animal Health Emergency Response Corps (NAHERC) assists in the federal response to domestic(国内的) and international animal disease outbreaks, threats, or natural disasters.
Salary: US$27.78-US$36.12 Per Hour
Open Period: 5/9/2019 to 5/1/2020
Department: Department of Agriculture
Agency: Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service
Position Info: Full⁃time, Permanent
Who may apply: US Citizens and Nationals (no prior federal experience is required)
1. What should you do if you apply to be a teacher in DoDEA?| A．Have a good command of foreign cultures. |
| B．Be able to arrange work time flexibly. |
| C．Work for the Department of Agriculture. |
| D．Send in your application from July 2020 to July 2021. |
| A．Roger, who expects to get paid US$ 60,000 a year. |
| B．Mary, who is a US national and wants a part⁃time job. |
| C．Adam, who intends to resign to look for a new job in August 2021. |
| D．Lucy, who is an American and majored in Food Quality and Safety. |
| A．As a food inspector, you just need to ensure your food is safe. |
| B．Department of Agriculture recruits professionals passionate about a PHV career. |
| C．DoDEA welcomes US citizens and nationals without prior teaching experience. |
| D．NAHERC independently researches domestic animal disease outbreaks, threats, or natural disasters. |
7 . If you could change your children’s DNA in the future to protect them against diseases, would you? It could be possible because of technology known as CRISPR/Cas, or just CRISPR.
CRISPR involves a piece of RNA, a chemical messenger, designed to work on one part of DNA; it also uses an enzyme that can take unwanted genes out and put new ones in, according to The Economist. There are other ways of editing DNA, but CRISPR will do it very simply, quickly, and exactly.
The use of CRISPR could mean that cures are developed for everything from Alzheimer’s disease to cancer to AIDS. By allowing doctors to put just the right cancer⁃killing genes into a patient’s immune system, the technology could help greatly.
In April scientists in China said they had tried using CRISPR to edit the genomes (基因组) of human embryos. Though the embryos would never turn into humans, this was the first time anyone had ever tried to edit DNA from human beings. With this in mind, the US National Academy of Sciences plans to discuss questions about CRISPR’s ethics (伦理标准). For example, CRISPR doesn’t work properly yet. As well as cutting the DNA it is looking for, it often cuts other DNA, too. In addition, we currently seem to have too little understanding of what DNA gives people what qualities.
There are also moral questions. Of course, medicine already stops natural things from happening—for example, it saves people from infections. The opportunities to treat diseases make it hard to say we shouldn’t keep going.
A harder question is whether it is ever right to edit human cells and make changes that are passed on to children. This is banned in 40 countries and restricted in many others. However, CRISPR means that if genes can be edited out, they can also be edited back in. It may be up to us as a society to decide when and where editing the genome is wrong.
Also, according to The Economist, gene editing may mean that parents make choices that are not obviously in the best interests of their children: “Deaf parents may prefer their children to be deaf too; parents might want to make their children more intelligent at all costs.”
In the end, more research is still needed to see what we can and can’t do with CRISPR. “It’s still a huge mystery how we work,” Craig Mello, a UMass Chan Medical School biologist and Nobel Prize winner, told The Boston Globe. “We’re just trying to figure out this amazingly complicated thing we call life.”
1. According to the passage, what can we know about the technology of CRISPR?| A．It is very safe because it only cuts the DNA it is looking for. |
| B．It is banned in most countries and restricted in many others. |
| C．It could cause parents to make unwise choices for their children. |
| D．It could help us discover the link between DNA and the qualities it gives people. |
| A．All diseases could probably be cured through the use of CRISPR. |
| B．Scientists had never edited genomes before CRISPR was invented. |
| C．CRISPR is a technology that uses an enzyme to work on RNA and DNA. |
| D．CRISPR has proven to be the most effective way to protect children against diseases. |
| A．Supportive. | B．Worried. | C．Negative. | D．Objective. |
| A．What we can and can’t do with CRISPR. |
| B．How CRISPR was developed by scientists. |
| C．The advantages of CRISPR and arguments about its ethics. |
| D．Scientists’ experiments of using CRISPR to edit human embryos. |
8 . Science fiction writers create an imaginary world. The way things work in your imaginary world will be based on actual science. So it’s important for you to be familiar with the scientific principles and inventions that are related to your creation. For example, if you’re writing about humans living on a planet with zero gravity, then you need to know the effects of zero gravity on the human body.
Then you have to figure out the exact rules of your imaginary world. And you have to follow them. If humans have evolved to breathe underwater in Chapter 1, your character can’t drown in a swimming pool in Chapter 3. If your robots write poetry but not fiction, then you can’t throw a novelist robot into Chapter 8. The issue here is maintaining your readers’ trust. That means the reader is willing to pretend along with you. If you start out with an ordinary detective novel and then throw in someone breathing underwater in the 6th chapter, your readers’ reaction might be, “What the hell!” The imaginative spell is broken. You’ve pulled the readers out of their imagination. The same thing happens if you change the rules halfway.
Part of your preparation work for the novel is to map out its world for yourself in great detail. Decide: the history of the world, the geography, what possibilities it offers, how everything works in the new reality, and how all of these factors affect the way your characters think, feel, and react to things. You don’t have to tell your readers all the rules in the first chapter. But you have to let your readers know enough to understand what’s going on. This also allows you to work out logical problems and contradictions before you start writing.
When you are writing, remember to make it feel real. You are inviting readers to visit a new world. They will want to be able to see, hear, feel, smell, and even taste what it’s like. Whether your novel is about a world without disease or an undiscovered planet, help your readers feel like they’re actually there.
1. What’s the relationship between actual science and science fiction?| A．Science fiction promotes the development of actual science. |
| B．Science fiction often reflects the development of actual science. |
| C．Actual science provides basic principles for science fiction. |
| D．Actual science limits the imagination described in science fiction. |
| A．By making comparisons. | B．By analysing causes. |
| C．By following the time order. | D．By giving examples. |
| A．Readers of science fiction actually pretend the writers’ rules are true. |
| B．It is necessary to do some scientific experiments before writing science fiction. |
| C．It is more difficult to write science fiction than ordinary detective novels. |
| D．It is great to leave some contradictions in your science fiction. |
| A．How to do scientific research. | B．How to write science fiction. |
| C．What to expect from science fiction. | D．How to raise interest in science. |
9 . On June 9, 1870, Charles Dickens died at the age of 58. The next day, a headline in The New York Times read: “Death of the Great Novelist...Mourned by the People of Two Continents.”
Natalie McKnight is a professor of humanities who studies Dickens and his works. She explains why the novelist has remained so popular. One important reason, she says, is that Dickens wrote from his heart.
It’s meaningful to remember this great writer. Will you read(or reread)some of his famous works?
| A．Dickens’ early life was very hard. |
| B．Their works became the best sellers of that time. |
| C．The headline was not overstating the fame of Dickens. |
| D．A Tale of Two Cities has been sold more than 200 million copies. |
| E．He tried hard to produce emotional effects among his readers. |
| F．He used his pen to fight social inequality and give voice to the poor. |
| G．However, few of them worked as hard as Dickens to attract readers’ minds. |
10 . Here is a great way for you to explore the beautiful countryside and colorful Chinese minority culture of southwest Guizhou during three days. Here is a suggested plan of a journey.
Day 1 Arrive in Zhaoxing Dong Village
Your personal guide will meet you at Congjiang train station and then drive you to Zhaoxing Dong Village. Your guide will walk around with you, explaining the style of the Dong wooden buildings, local customs, and the Dong people’s lifestyle. You can try a popular local snack: oil tea and sticky rice cakes with roast pork. The Dong people’s dancing and singing evening show is very enjoyable, too.
Day 2 Zhaoxing Rice Terraced Fields Hike and Villages
On the way to Huanggang Dong Village in the morning, you will stop to walk around the terraced fields and enjoy great views of the rice terraces and the villages on the mountain slopes. You will see more of the culture of the Dong people. They still live their traditional lives there, which have not been touched by tourism. In the afternoon, you will visit Biasha Miao Village and enjoy their traditional dancing and ceremony with guns.
Day 3 Zhaoxing Departure (离开)
In the morning, your guide will take you to visit a batik (蜡染) workshop. There, you can learn and experience making batik in the Dong style and appreciate the Dong people’s taste in art. You may even make a unique souvenir (纪念品) on your own. After that, your guide will send you to Congjiang Train Station for your departure.
1. When can people enjoy the Dong people’s dancing and singing during the journey?| A．On the first night. | B．On the third night. |
| C．On the first morning. | D．On the second morning. |
| A．Try oil tea. | B．Make batik. |
| C．Go around the terraced fields. | D．Visit Biasha Miao Village. |
| A．Entertainment. | B．Health. | C．Travel. | D．Business. |
