1 . Every spring, in regions at high altitudes around the world, one of Earth’s tiniest migrations takes place. The migrants are single-celled green algae (海藻); they are relatives to plants growing in the sea, but instead of living in the sea they live in snow. They spend the winter deep in the snow. In the spring, they wake and swim up through flowing streams of melted snow to the surface, dividing and photosynthesizing (进行光合作用) as they go. Then, at the top, they turn red. This creates what scientists call pink snow.
The color comes from astaxanthin (虾青素), a substance that gives some living things their reddish color. The algae produce astaxanthin as a form of sun protection; it absorbs UV light, thereby warming the organisms and thus melting the surrounding snow. “The melting helps them a lot,” said Roman Dial, a biologist at Alaska Pacific University. “The moment there is liquid water on the snow, the algae start growing.”
Pink snow is a perfectly natural phenomenon, but in an age of disappearing glaciers (冰川), it is also problematic. Last year, scientists discovered that the algae turned the snow surface dark, reducing the amount of sunlight reflected by some glaciers in Scandinavia—and increasing the amount of sunlight absorbed—by 30%. The result, as Dial and his colleagues demonstrated in this month’s issue of Nature Geoscience, is faster melting. As in other parts of the warming planet—particularly the Arctic, where scientists fear that melting permafrost (永冻土层) may lead to further climatic changes. Ice sheets are already being darkened by dust and ash, which makes the process of melting faster and provides nutrients for algae growth. As the organisms multiply, they melt even more snow, which allows them to increase in their population again. “It spreads more rapidly than people realize, once it gets established,” Dial said.
Snow algae need snow; when that’s gone, which seems to be the direction of things, the snow algae will go, too. Before the snow algae disappear, though, and while there’s still some glacier left, it’s entirely possible that the last snow we’ll see on Earth will be pink or even red, a wound on Earth.
1. What causes the color of pink snow?| A．The migration that involves the algae and other plants. |
| B．The flowing streams that the algae travel through. |
| C．The algae that turn red at the snow’s surface. |
| D．The sunlight that directly reflects on the algae. |
| A．It absorbs UV light to cool down the algae. | B．It prevents the algae from photosynthesizing. |
| C．It colors the algae for the purpose of decoration. | D．It helps protect the algae from the sun. |
| A．It increases the reflection of sunlight. | B．It speeds up the melting of glaciers. |
| C．It leads to a decrease in algae populations. | D．It reduces the amount of liquid water available. |
| A．The rapid melting of glaciers may lead to an increase in permafrost. |
| B．The darkening of ice sheets may slow down the process of melting. |
| C．The warming climate may result in the extinction of algae in the region. |
| D．Darkening ice sheets and multiplied algae may worsen climate change. |
| A．Concerned. | B．Indifferent. | C．Neutral. | D．Optimistic. |
2 . A little girl ran to her bedroom and pulled out her piggy bank (储蓄罐) from a secret drawer in her closet. She took the change from it and counted it carefully three times.
She carefully placed the coins in a jar and twisted on the cap. She took the jar and slipped out of the back door. She made her way six blocks to a drug store. She waited patiently for the pharmacist (药剂师) to give her some attention but he was too busy attending other customers at that moment. She tried several times to get his attention but failed. Finally, she took a quarter from her jar and hit it on the glass counter, which was finally able to get her some attention.
“What do you want, little Miss?” the pharmacist asked the tiny girl in the front of his counter. “My brother is really, really sick and I want to buy a miracle,” the girl answered back. “I beg your pardon?” said the pharmacist. “My brother is really sick and my daddy says only a miracle can cure him now. So, I want to get a miracle for him. How much does it cost?” “I’m sorry but I can’t help you. We don’t sell miracles here, little girl,” the pharmacist said, softening a little.
Next to the little girl was a tall well-dressed man. He lowered himself and asked the little girl, “What kind of a miracle does your brother need?” “I don’t know,” the girl replied with her eyes in tears. “I just know he is very sick and has something bad growing inside his head. Doctor says he needs an operation. But daddy can’t afford it, so we need a miracle to save him now. I can use all my money to save my brother.” “How much do you have?” asked the man. “One dollar and twelve cents, it’s all the money I have now, but I can get some more if needed,” the girl answered in a whisper. “Well, what a coincidence,” smiled the man. “That is the exact price of a miracle for a little brother. Take me to your brother. Let’s see if I have the miracle your brother needs.”
The man was a famous nuerosurgeon (神经外科医生). He was just the right person needed to save the little boy’s life. The operation was completed without any charges and it went successfully.
Her mommy wondered how much it would have cost. The little girl just smiled, but said nothing.
1. The girl took the money out of the piggy bank to ______.| A．keep it in her bank account | B．buy her brother a miracle |
| C．cover the debt at the drugstore | D．donate it to a needy child |
| A．To let off her steam. | B．To show off her wealth. |
| C．To get timely service. | D．To attract other customers. |
| A．Her father was embarrassed for lack of money. | B．Her brother suffered from head injuries. |
| C．She was confident in saving her brother. | D．He was ready to help the little girl. |
| A．considerate and honest | B．gentle and open-minded |
| C．brave and creative | D．kind and professional |
| A．The Price of a Miracle | B．A Special Day at the Drugstore |
| C．A Doctor with Kindness | D．The Survival of a Strong-willed Boy |
3 . Welcome to the library, new students! The library will play a big part in your experience while you’re at the University of York. There’s a lot to take in if you’re new.
Buildings
We have several library sites, including a main library on Campus West and two other libraries in the City Centre. Our main library is made up of three connected buildings: the Morrell, the Fairhurst and the Burton. You enter all three buildings through the Morrell.
Resources
Our library has lots of books and journal articles that will help with your studies and research. We also provide videos, slides and interactive tutorials (学习指南) to help you develop your information skills, learn to code (编码), work with data and get creative with digital technologies. We’ll show you how to follow good academic practice and develop your digital skills for effective reading, note-making, essay writing and problem solving.
Checking out
Always bring Library Card with you as you will need it to enter the library and borrow items. You can borrow books and access the electronic resources provided by the library for free. There’s no need to request books that are available. This means you will need to go to the shelves yourself to find the books you need. You can borrow up to 75 items at once, and you’ll need to check your emails to find out when to bring them back.
Opening Hours
The library is usually open from 8 am to midnight. The exceptions to this are days over the Christmas period when the library closes early or is closed all day, and the exam period at the end of each semester when the library opens 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
1. The entrance of the main library is in ______.| A．the Morrell | B．the Fairhurst | C．the Burton | D．the City Centre |
| A．Effective reading and public speaking. | B．Video editing and slide making. |
| C．Note-making and problem solving. | D．Information coding and tutorial making. |
| A．You need make a request in advance. |
| B．You should pay the deposit with your Library Card. |
| C．You can directly take them from the shelves on your own. |
| D．You can borrow 75 books at once and return them anytime you want. |
| A．On December 25th. | B．On the day before the final exam. |
| C．On weekend. | D．On the first day of a new semester. |
| A．An education journal. | B．A travel brochure. | C．A local newspaper. | D．A student guide. |
4 . Team-building exercises have become popular for managers trying to increase organizational and team harmony and productivity. Unfortunately, many employees are angry about compulsory bonding and often regard these exercises as a nuisance (烦事).
A paper published this week by University of Sydney researchers in Social Networks has reported participants' feelings about team-building intervention (干预), revealing ethical implications in forcing employees to take part.
“Many people see team building activities as a waste of time, so we decided to look in more depth at what's behind this,” said the paper's lead researcher, Dr Peter Matous.
“Teams are formed, combined and restructured. Staff are relocated and office spaces redesigned. All this is done with the aim of improving workplace efficiency, collaboration and cohesion. But does any of this work?” said Dr Matous.
The study found that team-building exercises which focused on the sharing of and intervening into personal attitudes and relationships between team members were considered too rude and nosy (爱打听), although the researchers say some degree of openness and vulnerability (脆弱) is often necessary to make deep, effective connections with colleagues.
"Some participants were against team-building exercises because they were indirectly compulsory. They didn't welcome management's interest in their lives beyond their direct work performance," said Matous. "Many people don't want to be forced into having fun or making friends, especially not on top of their busy jobs. They feel management is being too nosy or trying to control their lives too much."
In this study the researchers recommended a self-disclosure (表露) approach where participants were guided through a series of questions that allowed them to increasingly disclose personal information and values. The method is well-tested and has been shown to increase interpersonal closeness. However, to be successful it must be voluntary.
The researchers said there are numerous schools of thought that propose differing psychological methods for strengthening relationships. “With caution, many relational methods to improve teams and organizations can be borrowed from other fields. The question is how to apply them effectively to strengthen an entire collective, which is more than just the sum of individual relationships,” said Dr Matous.
1. Why are many employees opposed to team-building exercises?| A．They consider such exercises annoying. |
| B．They deem these exercises counter-productive. |
| C．They see such exercises as harmful to harmony. |
| D．They find these exercises too demanding. |
| A．They relocated team leaders and their offices. |
| B．They rearranged the staff and office spaces. |
| C．They redesigned the staffs work schedules. |
| D．They reintroduced some cohesive activities. |
| A．They were intended to share personal attitudes and relationships. |
| B．They indirectly added to the vulnerability of team members. |
| C．They always strengthened connections among colleagues. |
| D．They were regarded as a violation of employees' privacy. |
| A．By allowing participants freedom to express themselves. |
| B．By applying it to employees who volunteer to participate. |
| C．By arranging in proper order the questions participants face. |
| D．By guiding employees through a series of steps in team building. |
| A．They must be used in combination for an entire collective. |
| B．They prioritize some psychological aspects over others. |
| C．They place too much stress on individual relationships. |
| D．They have to be applied cautiously to be effective. |
| A．when | B．while | C．after | D．before |
| A．As | B．Unless | C．While | D．Now that |
| A．take back | B．set aside | C．keep off | D．make out |
| A．preserves | B．prevents | C．acquires | D．declares |
—________. I believe you will be getting promotion.
| A．Never mind | B．Help yourself |
| C．Forget it | D．Keep it up |
| A．of them | B．in whom | C．of whom | D．in them |
