1 . Scientists have searched for many years for a method to tell whether a volcano(火山)explosion will be small or large. Now, four scientists say they have discovered something in lava(熔岩)that will help do this. They did the research on Mount Unzen on the southern Japanese island of Kyushu.
Mount Unzen exploded in November, 1990. Since then, more explosions have killed 43 people and destroyed the homes of more than 2,000 others. The volcano is still active today.
The scientists say the lava of the volcano contains high level of an element(成份)，which is a sign of the presence of the lava from deep in the earth, not from the surface. They say it shows that the lava coming directly from inside the earth is connected with huge explosions instead of smaller ones.
The scientists examined the lava from 18 explosions of Mount Unzen that took place during many thousands of years. They also studied the lava from other volcanoes in the area that are older than Mount Unzen. The lava studied came from both large and small explosions. The scientists found that large explosions contained more of the element than small ones. The scientists say if they had known this two years earlier, they could have warned the people living in the area near Mount Unzen and saved many lives.
1. Scientists have searched for a long time in order to ______.| A．tell whether a volcano explosion will be small or large |
| B．tell whether a volcano explosion will be worthy or not |
| C．tell the number of active volcanoes in the world |
| D．find if there is any volcano in Japan |
| A．an active volcano | B．a Japanese island |
| C．a huge volcano explosion | D．a kind of lava |
| A．It comes from the deepest part of the ocean. |
| B．It comes from the earth surface. |
| C．Not mentioned in the passage. |
| D．It is from deep part in the earth. |
| A．the place of a possible explosion |
| B．the degree of a volcano explosion |
| C．the number of volcano explosions |
| D．the time of a possible explosion |
2 . In comparison to many closely-related species, the human child takes a long time to grow up and requires a high degree of parental investment(亲情投资). Human children need more time to reach maturity(成熟)than other closely-related species.
A new study finds that one reason is the large amount of energy that the brain requires as it grows.
Christopher Kuzawa, first author of the study, explained: “Our findings suggest that our bodies can’t afford to grow faster during the toddler(幼童)and childhood years because a huge quantity of resources is required to fuel developing the human brain. As humans we have so much to learn, and that learning requires a complex and energy-hungry brain.”
Data from the study shows that at the moment when children’s bodies are growing the least-on average, at four years old-their brains are using the highest percentage of glucose(葡萄糖). That means that 40% of the child’s total energy expenditure is being used by its brain.
The findings support the theory that children take so long to mature because of the energy-intensive task of growing a massively over-sized brain in comparison to the brain-to-body weight ratio of other species.
Kuzawa continued: “After a certain age it becomes difficult to guess a toddler or young child’s age by their size. Instead you have to listen to their speech and watch their behavior. Our study suggests that this is no accident.”
Body growth nearly stops at the ages when brain development is happening at a lightning pace, because the brain is using up the available resources.”
“The mid-childhood peak in brain costs has to do with the fact that there are a huge number of synapses(神经元突触), connections in the brain, at this age, when we learn so many of the things we need to know to be successful humans.”
1. Why does it take people so long to grow up?| A．They need to store energy to grow later. |
| B．They need time to adapt to their environment. |
| C．Most of the energy is used for brain development. |
| D．They need a high degree of parental investment. |
| A．At about four years old. | B．At about two years old. |
| C．At about one year old. | D．At about five years old. |
| A．Why toddlers and children need plenty of resources. |
| B．The reason why it takes human infants a long time to grow up. |
| C．The reason why human infants are similar to other animals. |
| D．Why the brains of people need a large amount of energy. |
| A．age | B．their size |
| C．listen to their speech | D．guess their age by listening and watching |
3 . A sense of humour, God’s greatest gift to mankind, is universally considered the most valuable personality. It is born within every person’s heart, but has to be cultivated (培养). A person without humour is just like a spring without flowers, or like a dish without seasoning (调味品). In a sense, your personality lies in your sense of humour.
Humour can improve physical as well as mental well-being. It helps us bear our burdens, reduce our tension, overcome our frustration. With a piece of joke, all our worries and sadness disappear like smoke, and we are all full of energy once again.
Humour helps us live in harmony with others. It is unavoidable to have misunderstanding and tension with others during work and study. But humour can help us solve these problems more quickly than angry words or quarrels. With it you can always keep on good terms with others.
A sense of humour is really one of the keys to happiness. It gives fun and interest to life to make it worth living.
Here are five ways to improve your sense of humour.
1. Begin to cultivate an atmosphere of humour and laughter in your relationships.
2. Start association with humourous, fun loving people.
3. Learn to laugh at yourself.
4. Collect cartoons and jokes and share them with others.
5. Use humour to deal with conflict in your relationships:
Remember that a sense of humour is learned, not inherited (遗传). You can sharpen your sense of humour if you really want to.
1. What would be the best title for this passage?| A．A Sense of Humour—a Great Personality | B．A Sense of Humour—the Secret to Success |
| C．How to. Improve Your Sense, of Humour. | D．Humour Helps to Improve Our Health |
| A．a person without humour is dull | B．humour can make us happy. |
| C．humour can help us deal with worries | D．humour can help us solve all the problems |
| A．pleasing | B．interest | C．friendship | D．eager |
| A．learned | B．cultivated | C．inherited | D．improved |
Food from the air
Everyone has seen plants growing, but have you ever thought
First, he dried some soil, put it into a pot and weighed it. Next, he weighed a small tree, planted it in the pot and added rain water. Then, he watered it
After five years, he removed the tree from the pot and weighed it again. He found that the tree had gained
We now know that plants and trees make their own food. Their leaves, when exposed
5 . Think mind reading is science fiction? Think again.
Scientists have used brain scanners to detect and reconstruct the faces that people are thinking of, according to a study accepted for publication this month in the journal NeuroImage.
In the study, scientists hooked participants up to an MRI (功能性核磁共振成像) brain scanner—which determines activity in different parts of the brain by measuring blood flow—and showed them images of faces. Then, using only the brain scans, the scientists were able to create images of the faces the people were looking at.
“It is mind reading,” said Alan S. Cowen, a graduate student at the University of California Berkeley who co-authored the study with professor Marvin M. Chun from Yale and Brice A. Kuhl from New York University.
The study says it is the first to try to reconstruct faces from thoughts. The photos above are the actual photos and reconstructions done in the lab.
While the reconstructions based on 30 brain readings are blurry, they approximate the true images. They got the skin color right in all of them, and 24 out of 30 reconstructions correctly detected the presence or absence of a smile.
The brain readings were worse at determining gender and hair color. About two-thirds of the reconstructions clearly detected the gender, and only half got hair color correct.
“There’s definitely room for improvement,” Cowen said, adding that these experiments were conducted two years ago, though they only recently were accepted for publication. He said he and others have been working on improving the process in the interim.
“I’m applying more advanced models to the brain scan results, so the results should get better,” he said.
To test out faces based on brain activity, the scientists showed participants in the study 300 faces while recording their brain activity. Then they showed the participants 30 new faces and used their previously recorded patterns to create 30 images based only on their brain scans.
Once the technology improves, Cowen said, applications could range from better understanding mental disorders, to recording dreams, to solving crimes.
“You can see how people perceive faces depending on different disorders, like autism—and use that to help diagnose therapies,” he said.
1. What is the possible meaning of the underlined word “blurry” in Paragraph 6?| A．confusing | B．amazing | C．unclear | D．Incomplete |
| A．300 participates were involved altogether. |
| B．The scan results will be better in the future. |
| C．The study was based on Professor Marvin’s theory. |
| D．Researchers got the study of the experiment published recently. |
| A．It can help analyzing dreams |
| B．It can help cure deadly diseases. |
| C．It can help improve one’s memory. |
| D．It can scan other parts of the human body as well. |
| A．Technology of Face Recognition | B．Application of Brain Scanning |
| C．A Way to Read Minds | D．Approaches to Solving Crimes |
6 . A new study suggests that science role-playing may help tighten the gender gap in science, technology, engineering, and math(STEM)education and careers for women simply by improving their identity as scientists.
Frustrated by the gender gap in STEM, in which some fields employ at least three times more men than women, Cornell graduate student Reut Shachnai wanted to do something about it. Reut said the idea to help foster young girls’ interest in science came to her during a lecture in a class she was taking on Psychology of Imagination.
Reut designed an experiment to test if assuming the role of a successful scientist would improve girls’ persistence in a “sink or float” science game. The game itself was simple yet challenging: a computer screen projected a slide with an object in the center above a pool of water. Kids then had to predict whether the object would sink or float.
She studied 240 four -to -seven -year -olds, because this is around the time kids first develop their sense of identity and capabilities. They were divided into two groups. Children in the “story” group learned about the successes and struggles of a gender -matched scientist before playing the game. Boys heard about Isaac Newton and girls were told about Marie Curie. Children in the “pretend” group were told to assume the identity of the scientist they just learned about.
All kids played at least one round of the game. No matter what group they were in, girls got the answers right just as often as boys -nearly 70% of the time. Boys, however, didn’t really benefit from the stories or make-believe. Besides, girls pretending to be Dr. Marie persisted twice as long at the sink-or-float game, playing just as much as the boys did.
Reut’s teacher Tamar Kushnir said, “Rather than merely hearing about role models, children may benefit from actively performing the type of actions they see role models perform. In other words, taking a few steps in the role model’s shoes, instead of merely observing her walk.”
1. Why did Reut design a “sink or float” science game?| A．To handle the gender gap in STEM. | B．To attach importance to STEM. |
| C．To draw kids’ attention to STEM. | D．To compare boys’ and girls’ persistence. |
| A．Kids enjoyed listening to scientists’ stories. | B．Boys avoided playing make-believe games. |
| C．Girls performed as well as boys in science. | D．Children followed Dr. Marie to explore science. |
| A．Supportive. | B．Doubtful. | C．Indifferent. | D．Negative. |
| A．Girls should get recognition like boys | B．A fine example has boundless power for kids |
| C．Girls can work on more science games | D．Make-believe exercises benefit girls in STEM |
7 . Researchers at the University of Birmingham have found that bats living in a city are less likely to move from tree to tree in brightly lit areas.
Wildlife must be able to move between patches of habitat (小块栖息地), which are often separated by buildings and road. The bats studied in this experiment come out in the evening, often within housing areas, to find food in gardens and other green spaces. Therefore, they often fly along lines of trees, which can protect them from strong winds and animals that catch them for food.
The researchers, along with those from Lancaster University, were studying the effect of man-made light on the bats, especially on the pipistrelle, a common bat which could be found in many parts of UK cities. They wanted to find out whether the bats’ flying was affected by the distance between trees and the brightness of lighting within the gap (间隔). They found that the bats crossed through the darker parts of the gaps, but with lots of lighting these gaps became barriers. Importantly, this barrier effect changes with the width of the gap in the tree line — bats would stand strong lighting in small gaps, but even a low level of lighting in larger gaps was enough to stop them crossing. James Hale who led the study said: “That might explain why this common species of bats is not easily found in highly developed areas. Understanding what may affect the movement between patches of habitat is important for the protection of species in the city centre.”
1. Bats fly along lines of trees to ________.| A．stop and have a rest at times |
| B．protect themselves from strong lights |
| C．get protection against enemies and strong winds |
| D．make sure they keep flying in the right directions |
| A．kill the bats | B．help the bats fly |
| C．stop the bats | D．keep the bats warm |
| A．food supply | B．the distance between streetlights |
| C．the number of trees | D．the development of an area |
| A．It found that bats would just move in the evening. |
| B．It was done to find ways to protect bats in UK cities. |
| C．It found the reason why bats preferred to live in a city. |
| D．It was led by researchers from Lancaster University alone. |
8 . How would you like to sleep with one half your brain asleep and the other half awake? Dolphins sleep this way. Recently, scientists at Indiana State University have discovered that ducks sleep this way too. They found that ducks sleep half awake so they can rest and watch for danger at the same time.
After putting their ducks in a row and videotaping them, some researchers found ducks on the end of each row spent more time asleep with one eye open, apparently looking for predators.
“The more the ducks felt threatened, the more they slept with one eye open,” said lead author Niels C. Rattenborg. “When they sleep at the edge of a group, they tend to realize greater danger, so they spend more time sleeping with one half of their brain. Ducks with one eye open were still awake enough to detect predators,” said the authors of the study, which appears today in the journal Nature.
The researchers studied four groups of four ducks that were held in plastic boxes. These ducks were arranged in a row. Ducks on the end were found to sleep with one eye open 31.8 percent of the time, compared to 12.4 percent of the time for ducks in the central position.
Also, ducks in the central position did not open one eye more than the others, while ducks on each end kept the eye open 86.2 percent of the time. Brain wave readings of the ducks showed that the half of the brain receiving signals from the closed eye indicated that half of the brain was sleeping. Signals from the half of the brain receiving signals from the open eye showed a state between fully awake and asleep.
1. It was discovered that .| A．ducks can sleep half awake |
| B．most people would like to be half asleep |
| C．dolphins can not sleep half awake |
| D．ducks have different sleeping habits from each other |
| A．human beings who look after and feed ducks |
| B．animals that hunt, kill and eat other animals |
| C．scientists who do research work on animals |
| D．animals that are likely to be friends with ducks |
| A．they are looking for food |
| B．they want to enjoy the scenery |
| C．they are unique in their sleeping habit |
| D．they are watching out for danger |
| A．Ducks on the northern end of a row would keep their eye facing the south open. |
| B．Ducks with less sense of duty usually choose to stay in the center of a row. |
| C．A video tape recorder was the only device used in the experiment. |
| D．Ducks with one eye open at the edge can still enjoy a certain degree of sleep. |
9 . A new study establishes that environmental damage caused by corn production results in 4,300 premature deaths annually in the United States, representing cost of $39 billion.
The paper, published in the peer-reviewed journal Nature Sustainability, presents how researchers have estimated for the first time the health damages caused by corn production using detailed information on pollution emissions, pollution transport by wind, and human exposure to increased air pollution levels.
The study also shows how the damage to human health of producing a litre (升) of corn differs from region to region and how, in some areas, the health damages of corn production are greater than its market price.
“The deaths caused per litre in western corn belt states such as Minnesota, Iowa, and Nebraska tend to be lower than in eastern corn belt states such as Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio,” said lead researcher Jason Hill.
It’s important for farmers to have this information so that they can carry out practices that reduce the environmental influence of the crops they grow. Farmers can greatly improve the environmental profile of their corn by using precision agriculture tools and switching to fertilizers that have lower ammonia (氨) emissions. The study’s results also suggest potential benefits from improving nitrogen use efficiency, switching to crops requiring less fertilizer, and changing the location where corn is grown.
Aware that changes in practices can take time and planning, Hill suggests farmers could be offered motivation to switch to crops that demand less applied nitrogen while still offering market and nutritional benefits.
Hill said, “The number of deaths related to corn production could be reduced through these key strategies”.
1. Which of the states has the lowest death rate caused by corn production?| A．Nebraska. | B．Illinois. |
| C．Indiana. | D．Ohio. |
| A．Improve nitrogen use efficiency. |
| B．Plant crops with no fertilizer. |
| C．Change the corn’s location. |
| D．Using precision agriculture tools. |
| A．Indifferent. | B．Optimistic. |
| C．Pessimistic. | D．Neutral. |
| A．Health and lifestyle. |
| B．Art and design. |
| C．Science and environment. |
| D．Fashion and business. |
1. Which pet may an outgoing person prefer?
| A．A bird. | B．A dog. | C．A cat. |
| A．Clever. | B．Sociable. | C．Careful. |
| A．Pet people’s personalities. | B．More outgoing dog people. | C．Less sociable cat people. |
