【原创】Humans are well-equipped for life on Earth. But in space, it is different. Low or zero gravity changes how the blood flows and causes motion sickness, muscle loss and tiredness. Weightlessness can also cause bone loss. But scientists are experimenting with little worms to better understand how space travel affects astronauts.
The millimeter-long worm is called C. elegans. The see-through worm is often used in medical studies because its life is only about two weeks long. Seventy percent of its DNA is the same as human DNA.
Sabanayagam is a scientist, who built a micro-gravity simulator to test how C. elegans would perform in the actual zero gravity of space.
Scientists put the worms into the simiulator full of water. After a week they take out the worms. They look for changes in the worms' epigenome,which are chemical markers that tell the DNA in the cells how to perform. The epigenome can be changed by the environment. And those changes pass from one generation of worms to the next.
"When the worms are in a liquid environment, some epigenomic marks remain even when we take the animal out of the liquid environment and put it back into normal ground conditions. So its offspring keeps this epigenomic memory of the parents' liquid environment or microgravity environment."
The information the scientists have gathered suggests that the epigenomic marks appear during the early part of a worm’s life.
Mr. Sabanayagam says he thinks scientists can find genes in the human similar to those in the worms that responded to microgravity and scientists could possibly observe those genes closely when astronauts travel in space.
Sabanayagam expects C. elegans to visit the International Space Station within two years. He says he hopes information gathered from the worm studies can be used to develop simple, low-cost and quick tests to measure an astronaut's health.What does the underlined word” zero gravity” mean?
| A．Seasickness | B．Muscle loss |
| C．Weightlessness | D．Tiredness. |
From the passage we can know C. elegans _____.
A. has exactly the same DNA as human
B. is harmful to human
C. is often used in agricultural research
D. has a short life periodWhy do scientists experiment with C. elegans?
A. Because it has strong life power in water.
B. Because they want to find how space travel affects astronauts
C. Because the worm will be taken into space.
D. Because they want to find what its DNA like.What is Sabanayagam’s attitude toward the result of the experiment?
| A．Hopeful and satisfied. |
| B．Doubtful and unsure. |
| C．Sad and disappointed. |
| D．Surprised and unbelievable. |
Which section of a newspaper can you find the passage?
| A．Education. | B．Science. |
| C．Advertisement. | D．Entertainment. |
Recently a Beijing father sent in a question at an Internet forum (论坛) asking what "PK" meant.
"My family has been watching the 'Super Girl' singing competition TV programme. My little daughter asked me what 'PK' meant, but I had no idea," explained the puzzled father.
To a lot of Chinese young people who have been playing games online, it is impossible not to know this term. In such Internet games, "PK" is short for "Player Kill", in which two players fight until one ends the life of the other.
In the case of the "Super Girl" singing competition, "PK" was used to refer to the stage where two singers have to compete with each other for only one chance to go up in competition ranking.
Like this father, Chinese teachers at high schools have also been finding their students' compositions using Internet jargons which are difficult to understand. A high school teacher from Tianjin asked her students to write compositions with simple language, but they came up with a lot of Internet jargons that she didn't understand.
"My 'GG' came back this summer from college. He told me I've grown up to be a 'PLMM'. I loved to 'FB' with him together; he always took me to the 'KPM'," went one composition.
"GG" means Ge Ge (Chinese pinyin for brother). "PLMM" refers to Piao Liang Mei Mei (beautiful girl). "FB" means Fu Bai (corruption). "KPM" is short for KFC, Pizza Hut and McDonald's.
Some specialists welcome Internet jargons as a new development in language.
If you do not even know what a Kong Long (dinosaur, referring to an ugly looking female) or a Qing Wa (frog, referring to an ugly looking male) is, you will possibly be regarded as a Cai Niao! By writing the article, the writer tries to ________ .
| A．explain some Internet language |
| B．suggest common Internet language |
| C．laugh at the Beijing father |
| D．draw our attention to Internet language |
What does the writer think about the term "PK"?
| A．Fathers can't possibly know it. |
| B．The daughter should understand it. |
| C．Online game players may know it. |
| D．"Super Girl" shouldn't have used it. |
The examples of the Beijing father and the Tianjin teacher are used to show that Internet jargons ________ .
| A．are used not only online |
| B．can be understood very well |
| C．are welcomed by all the people |
| D．cause trouble to our mother tongue |
The underlined word "jargons" means " ________ " in Chinese.
| A．行话 | B．粗口 | C．歌词 | D．趋势 |
The thing was a hot one! A farmer had shot two wolves on purpose. He had seen the wolves on his farm and decided to get them before they caused trouble. He knew wolves were a kind of protected animals. However, he also knew most of his neighbors would shoot wolves, too. Shortly after the farmer skinned（剥皮）the wolves, problems began. It seemed that someone didn’t like the idea of killing wolves after all. The officials had arrived. Out-of-town reporters got hold of the story. And now the farmer was on trial（审判）for his killing of the wolves.“The thing was a hot one!”means .
| A．“The thing makes people hot.” |
| B．“The thing draws much attention.” |
| C．“The thing was against the law.” |
| D．“The thing changes the weather.” |
The farmer did the thing because .
| A．he didn’t know about the law |
| B．his neighbor would do the same thing |
| C．he was afraid the wolves would cause trouble |
| D．the wolves entered his farm |
Wolves should according to this passage.
| A．be protected |
| B．not cause trouble |
| C．be killed if they cause trouble |
| D．not enter places where people live |
Which of the following is not true?
| A．The story was soon known in other places. |
| B．Someone didn’t want wolves to be killed so the farmer was on trial. |
| C．The farmer was guilty（有罪）of his killing. |
| D．The local government took measures for the thing. |
In the professional world, oral communication skills in the workplace, which is the art of using speech to convey information, thoughts and feeling to others, is important for the success of any organizations.
The 21st century has been considered to be an era of communication. The way we convey our thoughts is of great importance in building relationships. In the workplace, there are employees of diverse cultural and educational backgrounds. This makes team working on a difficult task, but with a clear understanding of the task to be achieved, all members work towards the same goal. Misunderstandings, conflicts and differences in opinions are easily managed when there is a clear flow of communication between team members.
With proper communication, a close relationship and trust build among the employees, therefore promoting excellent working conditions. An atmosphere of support and cooperation is promoted by properly conveying expectations of the management team to the employees and vice – versa (相反的情况). Therefore, developing oral communication skills is important to success in life ahead.
How to improve oral communication? In the business world, individuals are expected to be confident about their beliefs and ideas. Therefore, they must include words like “in my opinion”, “as far as I know”. While improving skills on oral communication, people in a workplace must learn the art of listening. In addition, one must also have a positive body language during conversations. A person with a smiling face and positive attitude can raise the spirits of everyone around him. When we’re talking to someone, we must give the other person an opportunity to talk as it improves our listening ability.
Communication is an art and it can be improved by working on it constantly. Since it is not an overnight work, one needs to learn it by observing people who are good at it.
| Title |
Oral communication skills in the workplace |
| The art of using speech to convey information, thoughts and feelings to others. |
|
| Importance |
●The way we convey our thoughts plays a major ●Understanding the task ●A clear flow of communication can easily ●Good relationships and trust among the employees built with proper communication can ●Conveying expectations can promote support and cooperation. |
| ●Use words like “in my opinion” to show your ●Learn to be a good ●Avoid using a ●Smile and be positive to delight the people around you. ●Give the other person a chance to talk in a conversation. |
|
| Conclusion |
Communication can be improved with |
More than a hundred adults and kids gather for the Star Party on a cold evening, chattering excitedly as they stand in the dark on a Virginia hillside. The odd thing is, no one has turned on a flashlight, and no streetlights or house lights wink(闪烁) on around them.
These people have traveled to the countryside more than an hour from Washington, D. C., to get away from the glow of city lights. That's because they are attending a star party. Star parties are gatherings where professional and amateur astronomers set up their telescopes and invite people to come learn about the night sky. Getting away from light pollution, or artificial skylight from buildings for example, helps stargazers (看星星的人) see objects in the sky much better.
At this star party, Sean O'Brien of the National Air and Space Museum’s Einstein Planetarium starts off by asking the crowd to simply look up and take in all they can see. He points out plenty of things that can be seen without special equipment. Stars, satellites, and even the Andromeda galaxy(仙女座) can be found if you know where to look.
After that, several dozen astronomers offer close-up views. Each has focused their telescope on a different part of the sky. As kids take a look, the owner gives a mini-lesson.
O’Brien says you can have your own star party at home and learn a lot just by paying attention to what's happening up above. "Watch the sky as the seasons pass, and you will see that it changes," he says. "Or start with the moon. Notice when and where you are seeing it—maybe even in the early morning while you wait for the school bus. "What was it special about the Star Party ?
| A．It was organized by the local authority. |
| B．It was carried out without any lights. |
| C．It was so cold that people chatted to cheer up. |
| D．It was held in the town center of Virginia |
According to the passage, who were involved in the activity ?
a. some invited guests
b. some government officials
c. some experts in astronomy
d. those who were interested in astronomy
e. students who were major in agriculture
| A．a, c, d | B．a, d, e | C．b, d, e | D．c, d, e |
From the passage, we can infer that if you want to see the objects in the sky .
| A．you'd better escape from pollution and sunlight |
| B．you'd better follow Sean O'Brien's guidance |
| C．you'd better buy some advanced equipment |
| D．you'd better make use of your imagination |
Which of the following can be best describe what O'Brien says about discovering the stars'?
| A．Roman is not built in a day. |
| B．No pains, no gains. |
| C．All roads lead to Roman. |
| D．Time and tide wait for no man. |
A farm planted levels or floors is called a vertical（垂直的）farm. A skyscraper type building can house a vertical farm. Since the garden is built upwards，rather than outwards，it requires much less space than a conventional farm.
The world is quickly running out of room for conventional farming. Vertical farms could be a key to this situation. An 18story vertical farm could feed as many as 50,000 people，all in an area which is the size of the average city block. Vertical farms in the city could cut down on transportation costs as well. Think about the amount of fuel it takes to transport food from farmland to city. The resources saved would be surprising. Besides saving travel time，food would be delivered in fresher condition and with less damage.
There is a growing concern about the use of pesticides(杀虫剂) in agriculture today. But the vertical farm would be a greenhouse type environment, avoiding the need for a large number of pesticides. Vertical farms can be built in a contained space，therefore they are an excellent solution for living well in an environment far different from our own. Hydroponics(水耕法) could be a big part of vertical gardening. This would reduce the amount of soil needed to grow food. Of course，not all food does well with this type of planting，but there are many crops that actually seem to do better.
In some climates，a lack of sunlight creates a short growing season. The solar power option may not work as well here. The addition of grow lights would make it possible to grow crops in vertical gardens in these areas .In other words，we could grow crops in areas where we never could before.
Vertical farms may just be a concept for now，but they are a concept that will solve many of our problems in the future.According to the passage, a vertical farm________.
| A．is mainly built outwards |
| B．is dependent on solar power |
| C．is planted on levels upwards |
| D．is only an environmental friendly farm |
Compared to the conventional farm, the vertical farm can________.
| A．depend far less on sunlight |
| B．greatly increase the use of soil |
| C．help to protect the limited gardens |
| D．reduce the use of harmful pesticides |
It can be learned from the passage that vertical farms________.
| A．have been put into use |
| B．only use hydroponics to grow food |
| C．need less room than conventional farms |
| D．may increase the transportation costs |
What would be the best title for the passage?
| A．Vertical farms for our future |
| B．Ways to deal with future problems |
| C．Vertical farms and green skyscrapers |
| D．Making Full Use of Our Limited Land |
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