1 . Scientists looking to uncover the mysteries of the underwater world have more valuable information thanks to an international team that has produced a list of species confirmed or expected to produce sounds underwater.
Led by Audrey Looby from the University of Florida, the Global Library of Underwater Biological Sounds working group collaborated with the World Register of Marine Species to document 729 mammals (哺乳动物), fishes, and invertebrates (无脊椎动物) that produce active or passive sounds. In addition, the list includes another 21,911 species that are considered to likely produce sounds.
“With more than 70% of the Earth’s surface covered by water, most of the planet’s habitats are aquatic, and there is a misconception that most aquatic organisms are silent. The newly published comprehensive digital database on what animals are known to make sounds is the first of its kind and can revolutionize marine and aquatic science,” the researchers said.
“Listening to underwater sounds can reveal a lot of information about the species that produce them and is useful for a variety of applications, ranging from fisheries management, invasive species detection to assessing human environmental impacts,” said Looby, who also co-created FishSounds, which offers a collection of fish sound production research records.
The team’s research was published in Scientific Data and involved 19 authors from six countries. “Understanding how marine species interact with their environments is of global importance, and this data being freely available is a major step toward that goal,” said Kieran Cox, a member of the research team.
“Most people are familiar with whale or dolphin sounds but are often surprised to learn that many fishes and invertebrates use sounds to communicate, too,” Looby said. “Our database helps demonstrate how widespread underwater sound production really is across a variety of animals, but we still have a lot to learn.”
1. Why is the data listed in paragraph 2?| A．To show the types of biological sounds. |
| B．To show the sum of documents on animals. |
| C．To show the species of underwater animals. |
| D．To show the number of the sound-producing species. |
| A．Many mammals can live in water. | B．Most fishes cannot make sounds. |
| C．Different species can communicate. | D．Ocean animals can’t get onto the land. |
| A．To document ocean animals’ sounds. |
| B．To set up a free database for scientists. |
| C．To learn how ocean animals communicate. |
| D．To publish the team’s research in Scientific Data. |
| A．To call on people to protect ocean animals. |
| B．To introduce the finding of a research team. |
| C．To list the animals that can produce sounds. |
| D．To describe the mysterious underwater world. |
2 . We breathe, eat and drink tiny particles of plastic. But are these in the body harmless. dangerous or somewhere in between? A small study published on Wednesday in the New England Journal of Medicine raises more questions than it answers about how these hits might affect the heart.
The study involved 257 people who had surgery to clear blocked blood vessels in their necks. Using two methods, researchers found evidence of plastics-mostly invisible nanoplastics — in 150 patients and no evidence of plastics in 107 patients. They followed these people for three years. During that time, 30 or 20% of those with plastics had a heart attack, stroke or died from any cause, compared to 8 or about 8% of those with no evidence of plastics.
The researchers also found more evidence of inflammation (炎症) in the people with the plastic bits in their blood vessels. Inflammation is the body’s response to injury and is thought to raise the risk of heart attacks and stroke.
“I hope that the alarming message will raise the consciousness of citizens, especially governments, to finally become aware of the importance of the health of our planet.” said Dr. Raffaele Marfella of the University of Campania in Italy.
Nevertheless, the study was very small and looked only at people with narrowed arteries (动脉), who were already at risk for heart attack and stroke. The patients with the plastics had more heart disease, diabetes and high cholesterol (胆固醇) than the patients without plastics. They were more likely to be men and more likely to be smokers. The researchers tried to adjust for these risk factors during their statistical analysis, but they may have missed important differences between the groups that could account for the results. This kind of study cannot prove that the plastics caused their problems.
“More research is needed and it is the first report suggesting a connection between microplastics and nanoplastics with disease in humans,” said Dr. Philip Landrigan of Boston College. Other scientists have found plastic bits in the lungs, liver, blood, and breast milk, “It does not prove cause and effect, but it suggests cause and effect,” he said, “And it needs urgently to be either confirmed or disproven (反驳) by other studies done by other investigators in other populations.”
1. What did the study find about the plastics in blood?| A．They are visible and detectable. | B．They may raise the risk of serious injuries. |
| C．They need to be removed by surgery. | D．They may account for a higher rate of heart attacks. |
| A．Immediate action should be taken by government. |
| B．Alarming message should be spread widely and quickly. |
| C．The awareness of the harm of plastic bits should be enhanced. |
| D．Joint efforts must be made to keep healthy physically and mentally. |
| A．Limitations. | B．Advantages. | C．Causes. | D．Effects. |
| A．Helpful but unrealistic. | B．Pioneering but impractical. |
| C．Distinctive but unnecessary. | D．Suggestive but inconclusive. |
3 . Most people who ran the marathon last month spent days before resting up and days after recovering. But not Jacky Hunt-Broersma. In total, she ran 104 marathons in 104 days. If it’s confirmed by Guinness World Records, that would be a new world record. And she did it all with one leg and a prosthesis (假肢).
“Someone able-bodied had done it previously. I wanted to see if I could do it on a prosthetic leg and see what would happen,” she said. “I thought it would be a great way to inspire others to push their limits because I truly believe that we’re stronger than what we think. And I’ve been so pleasantly surprised that my body is held up, everything is held up and I’ve made it to 104.”
She actually did not pick up the sport until after she lost the lower part of her left leg in 2001 to a type of cancer called Ewing sarcoma. Runners using a prosthetic leg can’t use a regular one. They need a running blade (刀锋式跑步义肢). Hunt-Broersma has two, but she was only able to run with one because of the swelling she experienced in her left leg that made it impossible to connect to the other blade. But even with the pain that occurred, she has been able to put up with it and continued.
All together, Hunt-Broersma ran over 4, 385 kilometers. During that time she has had a lot of time to think and has learned a few things about herself. “It has taught me how strong one can be and how important absolute determination is. If you’re mentally strong, you can do anything,” she said. “And our bodies are just amazing...This whole journey was impressive and super hard, but it’s told me how strong I can be as a person and how far I can push myself.”
1. Why did Hunt-Broersma decide to run marathons?| A．She wanted to set a new record. |
| B．She intended to challenge herself. |
| C．She was driven by her interest. |
| D．She was inspired by people like her. |
| A．She didn’t get professional training. |
| B．She found it hard to keep her balance. |
| C．She suffered discomfort in her left leg. |
| D．She couldn’t use regular running blades. |
| A．Rome wasn’t built in a day. |
| B．Time works wonders. |
| C．A good beginning is half the battle. |
| D．Nothing is impossible to a willing heart. |
| A．Annoyed. | B．Concerned |
| C．Admiring. | D．Humorous. |
4 . In the 19th century, an Arab physician known as Ibn Zuhr conducted some animal research to assess the surgical procedures that could be applicable to humans. Since then, animal testing has been considered to be the most efficient way to develop new drugs. New medical treatments and drugs are tested on animals first to determine their effectiveness or safety levels before they are finally tested on humans. However, it remains controversial whether it is morally right or wrong to use animals for medical or commercial experiments.
The use of animals for medical purposes is seen to be necessary by many scientists. Researchers usually begin their trials using rats. If the tests are successful, further tests are done on monkeys before using human beings. For testing, such tiered (分层的) rounds are important because it reduces the level of error and any negative side effects. Some argue that animal testing has contributed to many life-saving cures and treatments and that there is no adequate alternative to testing on a living, whole-body system. Moreover, there are regulations for animal testing that limit the misuse of animals during research, which serves as evidence that animals are well taken care of and treated well instead of being intentionally harmed.
However, some other experts and animal welfare groups have opposed such practice, terming it inhumane and claiming it should be banned. According to Humane Society International, animals used in experiments are commonly subjected to force-feeding, radiation exposure, operations to deliberately cause damage and frightening situations to create depression and anxiety. They also hold the view that animals are very different from human beings and therefore make poor test subjects. Drugs that pass animal tests are not necessarily safe. Animal tests on the arthritis (关节炎) drug Vioxx showed that it would have a protective effect on the hearts of mice, yet the drug went on to cause more than 27,000 heart attacks before being pulled from the market.
It’s safe to say that using animals for tests will continue to be debated in many years to come. Despite the benefits of animal testing, some of the animal welfare organizations’ concerns need to be addressed with adequate regulations to ensure that animals are treated humanely.
1. Why is animal testing considered necessary?| A．Because other testing alternatives may not replace the need for animals. |
| B．Because animal testing has been in practice since the 19th century. |
| C．Because animal testing can spare humans any side effect. |
| D．Because rats are more like humans than monkeys. |
| A．Having unnecessary operations. |
| B．Eating poisonous food. |
| C．Being killed deliberately. |
| D．Breathing in polluted air. |
| A．Arthritis is hard to cure. |
| B．Some drugs need to be pulled from the shelves. |
| C．A drug should be tested many more times before its release. |
| D．Animal tests cannot necessarily produce accurate results. |
| A．Experts try hard to determine whether animal tests are harmful. |
| B．Scientists reduce the number of animals used in research. |
| C．The authorities issue a new law to guarantee animal rights during research. |
| D．Relevant organizations show more concern about the animals’ welfare. |
5 . Every day, people share more than 2 billion photos on the Internet. While visual content provides a fun and expressive way for people to communicate online, consuming and creating it poses challenges for people who are blind or severely visually impaired (受损的). With more than 39 million people who are blind, and over 246 million who have a severe visual impairment, many people may feel excluded from the conversation around photos on the Internet. The researchers from Harvard University want to build technology that helps the blind community appreciate photos in the same way others enjoy them.
Automatic alternative text is a new development that generates a description of a photo using advancements in object recognition technology. People using screen readers on digital devices will hear a list of items a photo may contain as they click photos on the Internet. Before today, people using screen readers would only hear the name of the person who shared the photo, followed by the term “photo” when they came upon an image. Now they can offer a richer description of what’s in a photo thanks to automatic alternative text. For instance, someone could now hear “an image containing three people, smiling, outdoors”.
This is possible because of Harvard University’s object recognition technology, which is based on a network that has billions of parameters and is trained with millions of examples. Each advancement in object recognition technology means that the researchers will be able to make technology even more accessible to more people. When people are connected, they can achieve extraordinary things as individuals and as a community, and when everyone is connected, we all benefit from it.
They are launching automatic alternative text first on cellphone screen readers set to English, but they plan to add this functionality for other languages and platforms soon. While this technology is still nascent, using its current capabilities to describe photos is an important step toward providing our visually impaired community with the same benefits and enjoyment that everyone else gets from photos.
1. Why is the technology launched?| A．There are so many photos on the Internet. |
| B．There are many people suffering from blindness. |
| C．Some digital devices are in need of the technology. |
| D．People with vision problems fail to enjoy photos online. |
| A．It can offer more photos to blind people. |
| B．It can describe more about online photos. |
| C．It can recognize the person who shares photos. |
| D．It can satisfy the common needs of blind people. |
| A．The photos on the Internet. | B．People’s care for blind people. |
| C．People’s connections to each other. | D．The object recognition technology. |
| A．Emerging. | B．Reliable. | C．Powerful. | D．Conventional. |
6 . Born with no right leg, Anthony Robles, one of the best wrestlers in the NCAA, started wrestling when he was in high school. When his cousin first
While some people might have
While the physical aspects of the sport seemed to be the most challenging part, at one point Robles realized he needed to be
Then came the last match. Robles was so scared that he was almost starting to cry. When he defeated defending national champion 7-1, the
Now Robles is ready for the next page in his life, “I really want to help other people achieve things in their lives that others might say are
| A．showed | B．recommended | C．introduced | D．attracted |
| A．partner | B．fan | C．master | D．audience |
| A．questioned | B．admired | C．honored | D．affected |
| A．amount | B．source | C．flood | D．supply |
| A．planted | B．breathed | C．delivered | D．registered |
| A．exchange | B．improve | C．bury | D．apply |
| A．effect | B．credit | C．confidence | D．treatment |
| A．gradually | B．obviously | C．formally | D．mentally |
| A．succeeding | B．going | C．finishing | D．becoming |
| A．break | B．job | C．bus | D．flight |
| A．cut out | B．left out | C．stressed out | D．checked out |
| A．decisions | B．emotions | C．approaches | D．goals |
| A．impressed | B．concentrated | C．design | D．believe |
| A．useless | B．extra | C．confusing | D．impossible |
| A．rest | B．place | C．use | D．test |
7 . The road to Mars is long and fraught with peril. One challenge is getting humans to the red planet; another is ensuring that once they’ve arrived, they’ll be able to manage life there.
To prepare astronauts for an extended stay on Mars, NASA’s latest simulated mission, CHAPEA — Crew Health and Performance Exploration Analog — will isolate four people inside a mock-Mars base in Texas for 378 days — roughly the time a manned mission to Mars would spend on the surface.
Once inside they will adopt a pre-planned schedule taking part in simulated activities and science work, eating like astronauts, and dealing with maintenance and equipment failures, while undergoing strenuous psychological and physiological testing.
The first simulation will begin in June, and will be followed by two more, each with a different crew in identical conditions, with the last simulation starting in 2026.
“We’ve built a high-accuracy Mars surface mission scenario,” says Scott M. Smith, co-investigator for CHAPEA. The participants will experience a 22-minute delay in external communications, as astronauts would on Mars. Ambient noise will be played through speakers around the base, ensuring no outside sounds can be heard by participants.
Aiming for accuracy has resulted in a habitat that could be feasibly built on Mars, Smith adds. The base, called “Mars Dune Alpha”, is a custom design by Bjarke Ingels Group and 3D-printing company ICON, and resides inside a hangar at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. Printed in a month from ICON’s concrete formula dubbed “Lavacrete”, on Mars, the idea is to build using Martian soil.
“NASA has evaluated a tremendous number of options for off-world habitat construction — repurposed rockets and landers, inflatables, assembled buildings, etc.,” explains ICON CEO Jason Ballard. “They’ve come to believe what we believe: that when you evaluate it from a financial, safety and flexibility standpoint, robotic construction using local materials is far and away the best option.”
1. What’s the purpose of NASA’s latest simulated mission?| A．To get astronauts to Mars. | B．To isolate four people inside a base in Mars. |
| C．To help astronauts to do experiments in Mars. | D．To prepare astronauts for managing life in Mars. |
| A．The last simulation will end in 2026. |
| B．Each stimulation has a different crew in the same conditions. |
| C．The participants can hear outside sounds. |
| D．The participants will do things different from those that astronauts do. |
| A．Indifferent. | B．Pessimistic. | C．Optimistic. | D．Skeptical. |
| A．Making comparison. | B．Giving examples. |
| C．Analyzing causes and effects. | D．Listing figures. |
8 . When I am reading a newspaper at home, my friends call me. “Will you
My friends are playing a
| A．go | B．drive | C．come | D．ride |
| A．newspaper | B．book | C．picture | D．photo |
| A．football | B．volleyball | C．basketball | D．tennis |
| A．balcony | B．kitchen | C．home | D．garden |
| A．or | B．but | C．so | D．because |
| A．everyone | B．anyone | C．no one | D．someone |
| A．often | B．usually | C．always | D．seldom |
| A．out | B．into | C．behind | D．under |
| A．woman | B．man | C．girl | D．boy |
| A．him | B．her | C．them | D．it |
| A．joy | B．smile | C．worry | D．surprise (惊奇) |
| A．walk | B．talk | C．play | D．eat |
| A．ours | B．hers | C．theirs | D．yours |
| A．teaching | B．inviting(邀请) | C．showing | D．waiting |
| A．speak | B．talk | C．tell | D．say |
9 . What distinguishes an outstanding city? The Global Cities Index assesses cities based on diverse criteria, including:
·Business – The presence of multinational corporations. How many global companies are in the city? Does the city do a lot of international business?
·People – The city’s ability to attract talents globally. Does the city attract talented people from around the world? What’s proportion of residents with higher education?
·Media – The accessibility of varied information channels. How many residents have Internet access?
·Entertainment – The availability of leisure and cultural activities. Does the city have many entertainment options: museums, sports, music, and different types of restaurants?
Future Leaders
Most cities on the Global Cities Index are strong in certain areas. Beijing’s strength, for example, is business, while Los Angeles’s strength is people. Which cities will become more powerful in the future?
·Asia: Beijing and Shanghai are both business centers and will continue to grow. In a few years, they will potentially match New York’s influence. Indian cities such as Mumbai and New Delhi have a lot of business potential, too.
·South America: urban centers like Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo in Brazil will gain influence. In these cities, the middle class is growing, and life for many people is improving.
·The Middle East: Istanbul in Turkey, Cairo in Egypt, and the cities of the United Arab Emirates such as Dubai will hold more power in international politics and business, especially in helping East and West work together.
In 10 years, the top cities on the index may be different, but one thing is certain: With over 50 percent of the world’s people now living in urban areas, tomorrow’s global cities will be more powerful than ever.
1. Which aspect is considered in the Global Cities Index?| A．Education. | B．Climate. | C．Transportation. | D．Location |
| A．Asia and Europe. | B．Asia and South America. |
| C．Asia and the Middle East. | D．South America and the Middle East. |
| A．Similarities between top cities. | B．The ways to become global cities. |
| C．Daily life in fastest-growing cities. | D．Forecast on future influential cities. |
10 . It’s been estimated that people touch their cell phones hundreds of times every day. That means plenty of opportunities for germs to move from our fingers to our phones.
One of the worst places to use cell phones is in the bathroom.
While many of us wash our hands regularly after going to the bathroom, we seldom consider washing our hands after touching our phones.
Do not share your phone with others if you have not first sanitized it. If children are allowed to play with your phone, sanitize it as soon as possible afterward.
| A．How you handle your phone will also be critical. |
| B．When toilets flush, they spread germs everywhere. |
| C．So it’s clear that you keep away from your phone. |
| D．The more germs they collect, the more germs you touch. |
| E．Wash your hands thoroughly after you’ve finished cleaning. |
| F．Research has varied on how many germs are on an average phone. |
| G．Fortunately, there are easy ways to avoid your phone collecting germs. |
