C
Life in the Clear
Transparent animals let light pass through their bodies the same way light passes through a window. These animals typically live between the surface of the ocean and a depth of about 3,300 feet—as far as most light can reach. Most of them are extremely delicate and can be damaged by a simple touch. Sonke Johnsen, a scientist in biology, says, “These animals live through their life alone. They never touch anything unless they’re eating it, or unless something is eating them.”
And they are as clear as glass. How does an animal become see-through? It’s trickier than you might think.
The objects around you are visible because they interact with light. Light typically travels in a straight line. But some materials slow and scatter(散射) light, bouncing it away from its original path. Others absorb light, stopping it dead in its tracks. Both scattering and absorption make an object look different from other objects around it, so you can see it easily.
But a transparent object doesn’t absorb or scatter light, at least not very much, Light can pass through it without bending or stopping. That means a transparent object doesn’t look very different from the surrounding air or water. You don’t see it ----you see the things behind it.
To become transparent, an animal needs to keep its body from absorbing or scattering light. Living materials can stop light because they contain pigments(色素) that absorb specific colors of light. But a transparent animal doesn’t have pigments, so its tissues won’t absorb light. According to Johnsen, avoiding absorption is actually easy. The real challenge is preventing light from scattering.
Animals are built of many different materials----skin, fat, and more----and light moves through each at a different speed. Every time light moves into a material with a new speed, it bends and scatters. Transparent animals use different tricks to fight scattering. Some animals are simply very small or extremely flat. Without much tissue to scatter light, it is easier to be see—through. Others build a large, clear mass of non-living jelly-lie(果冻状的)material and spread themselves over it .
Larger transparent animals have the biggest challenge, because they have to make all the different tissues in their bodies slow down light exactly as much as water does. They need to look uniform. But how they’re doing it is still unknown. One thing is clear for these larger animals, staying transparent is an active process. When they die, they turn a non-transparent milky white.According to Paragraph 1, transparent animals_______.
| A．stay in groups | B．can be easily damaged |
| C．appear only in deep ocean | D．are beautiful creatures |
The underlined word “dead” in Paragraph 3 means__________.
| A．silently | B．gradually |
| C．regularly | D．completely |
One way for an animal to become transparent is to ________.
| A．change the direction of light travel |
| B．gather materials to scatter light. |
| C．avoid the absorption of light |
| D．grow bigger to stop light. |
The last paragraph tells us that larger transparent animals________.
| A．move more slowly in deep water |
| B．stay see-through even after death |
| C．produce more tissues for their survival |
| D．take effective action to reduce light spreading |
Nobody likes home economics (家政学). But restoring the program could help us in the fight against obesity and chronic (慢性的) diseases today.
The home economics movement was founded on the belief that housework and food preparation were important subjects that should be studied scientifically. The first classes occurred in the agricultural and technical colleges that were built in the 1860s. When most departments of universities rejected women, home economics was a back door into higher education.
Indeed, in the early 20th century, home economics was a serious subject When few people understood germ (微生物) theory and almost no one had heard of vitamins, home economics classes offered vital information about washing hands regularly, eating fruits and vegetables and not feeding coffee to babies.
However, today we remember only the fixed ideas about home economics, forgetting the movement’s most important lessons on healthy eating and cooking. Too many Americans simply don’t know how to cook. Our diets, consisting of highly processed foods made cheaply outside the home, have contributed to many serious health problems. In the last decade, many cities and states have tried to tax junk food heavily or to ban the use of food stamps (食品券) to buy soda. Clearly, many people are doubtful about any governmental steps to promote healthy eating. But what if the government put the tools of obesity prevention in the hands of children themselves by teaching them how to cook?
My first experience with home economics happened two decades ago when I was a seventh grader in a North Carolina public school. A year later, my father’s job took our family to Wales, where I attended a large school for a few months. It was the first time I had ever really cooked anything. I remember that it was fun, and with an instructor standing by, it wasn’t hard. Those lessons stuck with me when I first started cooking for my husband and myself after college and they still do. Teaching cooking in public schools can help solve some problems facing Americans t day. The history of home economics shows it’s possible.Home economics______.
| A．is a subject becoming more and more popular with Americans |
| B．is often used to help fight against obesity and chronic diseases |
| C．once offered women a. special approach to university education |
| D．was first taught in the agricultural and technical colleges in the early 1900s |
The third paragraph mainly tells us______ .
| A．the importance of regular hand washing |
| B．the health benefits of fruits and vegetables |
| C．the contents of home economics classes in the early 20th century |
| D．the significance of teaching home economics in the early 20th century |
In the opinion of the author, how should we fight against childhood obesity?
| A．Children should be taught how to cook. |
| B．A heavy tax should be put on junk food |
| C．Healthy eating should be promoted at school |
| D．Using food stamps to buy soda should be banned |
What does the author imply in the last paragraph?
A. Her family moved frequently in her childhood.
R Cooking classes have a far-reaching influence on her later life.
C. To receive a better education, she went to a large school in Wales.
D. Teaching cooking is the key to solving Americans’ health problems.
The baby monkey is much more developed at birth than the human baby. Almost from the moment it is born, the baby monkey can move around and hold tightly to its mother. During the first few days of its life the baby will approach and hold onto almost any large, warm, and soft object in its environment, particularly if that object also gives it milk. After a week or so, however, the baby monkey begins to avoid newcomers and focuses its attentions on “mother” ---- the real mother or the mother-substitute(母亲替代物）.
During the first two weeks of its warmth is perhaps the most important psychological（心理的） thing that a monkey mother has to give to its baby. The Harlows, a couple who are both psychologists, discovered this fact by offering baby monkeys a choice of two types of mother-substitutes ---- one covered with cloth and one made of bare wire. If the two artificial mothers were both the same temperature, the little monkeys always preferred the cloth mother. However, if the wire model was heated, while the cloth model was cool, for the first two weeks after birth the baby monkeys picked the warm wire mother-substitutes as their favorites. Thereafter they switched and spent most of their time on the more comfortable cloth mother
Why is cloth preferable to bare wire? Something that the Harlows called contact（接触的） comfort seems to be the answer, and a most powerful influence it is. Baby monkeys spend much of their time rubbing against their mothers’ skins, putting themselves in as close contact with the parent as they can. Whenever the young animal is frightened, disturbed, or annoyed, it typically rushes to its mother and rubs itself against her body. Wire doesn’t“rub”as well as does soft wire cloth. Prolonged（长时间的）“contact comfort” with a cloth mother appears to give the babies confidence and is much more rewarding to them than is either warmth or milk.
According to the Harlows, the basic quality of a baby’s love for its mother is trust. If the baby is put into an unfamiliar playroom without its mother, the baby ignores the toys no matter how interesting they might be. It screams in terror and curls up into a fury little ball. If its cloth mother is now introduced into the playroom, the bay rushes to it and holds onto it for dear life. After a few minutes of contact comfort, it obviously begins to feel more secure. It then climbs down from the mother-substitute and begins to explore the toys, but often rushes back for a deep embrace（拥抱）as if to make sure that its mother is still there and that all is well. Bit by bit its fears of the new environment are gone and it spends more and more time playing with the toys and less and less time holding on to its “mother.”Psychologically, what does the baby monkey desire most during the first two weeks of its life?
| A．Warmth | B．Milk |
| C．Contact | D．Trust |
After the first two weeks of their life, baby moneys prefer the cloth mother to the wire mother because the former is __.
| A．larger in size |
| B．closer to them |
| C．less frightening and less disturbing |
| D．more comfortable to rub against |
What does the baby monkey probably gain from prolonged “contact comfort”?
| A．Attention | B．Softness |
| C．Confidence | D．Interest |
It can be inferred that when the baby monkey feels secure,_____________.
| A．it frequently rushes back for a deep embrace when exploring the toys |
| B．it spends more time screaming to get rewards |
| C．it is less attracted to the toys though they are interesting |
| D．it cares less about whether its mother is still around |
The main purpose of the passage is to______________.
| A．give the reasons of the experiment |
| B．present the findings of the experiment |
| C．introduce the method of the experiment |
| D．describe the process of the experiment |
Given that many people's moods (情绪)are regulated by the chemical action of chocolate, it was probably only a matter of time before somebody made the chocolate shop similar to a drug store of Chinese medicine. Looking like a setting from the film Charlie&the Chocolate Factory, Singapore's Chocolate Research Facility (CRF) has over 100 varieties of chocolates.its founder is Chris Lee who grew up at his parents' corner store with one hand almost always in the jar of sweets.
If the CRF seems to be a smart idea, that's because Lee is not merely a seasoned salesperson but also head of a marketing department that has business relations with big names such as Levi's and Sony. That idea surely results in the imagination at work when it comes to making different flavored(味道)chocolates.
The CRF's produce is "green". made within the country and divided into 10 lines, with the Alcohol Series being the most popular. The Exotic Series一with Sichuan pepper, red bean (豆).cheese and other flavors一also does well and is fun to taste. And for chocolate snobs，who think that they have a better knowledge of chocolate than others, the Connoisseur Series uses cocoa beans from Togo, Cuba, Venezuela , and Ghana, among others.What is good about chocolate?
| A．It serves as a suitable gift. |
| B．It works as an effective medicine. |
| C．It helps improve the state of mind. |
| D．It strengthens business relations. |
Why is Chris Lee able to develop his idea of the CRF?
| A．He knows the importance of research. |
| B．He learns form shops of similar types. |
| C．He has the support of many big names |
| D．He has a lot of marketing experience. |
Which line of the CRF produce sells best?
| A．The Connoisseur Series. |
| B．The Exotic Series. |
| C．The Alcohol Series. |
| D．The Sichuan Series. |
The words "chocolate snobs" in Paragraph 3 probably refer to people who
| A．are particular about chocolate |
| B．know little about cocoa beans |
| C．look down upon others |
| D．like to try new flavors |
LONDON - A British judge on Thursday sentenced a businessman who sold fake(假冒的) bomb detectors(探测器) to 10 years in prison, saying the man hadn't cared about potentially deadly consequences.
It is believed that James McCormick got about $77.8 million from the sales of his detectors - which were based on a kind of golf ball finder - to countries including Iraq, Belgium and Saudi Arabia.
McCormick, 57, was convicted(判罪) of cheats last month and sentenced Thursday at the Old Bailey court in London.
"Your cheating conduct in selling a great amount of useless equipment simply for huge profit promoted a false sense of security and in all probability materially contributed to causing death and injury to innocent people," Judge Richard Hone told McCormick. "you have neither regret, nor shame, nor any sense of guilt."
The detectors, sold for up to $42,000 each, were said to be able to find such dangerous objects as bombs under water and from the air. But in fact they "lacked any grounding in science" and were of no use.
McCormick had told the court that he sold his detectors to the police in Kenya, the prison service in Hong Kong, the army in Egypt and the border control in Thailand.
"I never had any had results from customers," he said.Why was McCormick sentenced to prison?
| A．He sold bombs. | B．He caused death of people. |
| C．He made detectors. | D．He cheated in business. |
According to the judge, what McCormick had done _______.
| A．increased the cost of safeguarding |
| B．lowered people's guard against danger |
| C．changed people's idea of social security |
| D．caused innocent people to commit crimes |
Which of the following is true of the detectors?
| A．They have not been sold to Africa. |
| B．They have caused many serious problems. |
| C．They can find dangerous objects in water. |
| D．They don't function on the basis of science. |
It can be inferred from the passage that McCormick _______.
| A．sold the equipment at a low price |
| B．was well-known in most countries |
| C．did not think he had committed the crime |
| D．had not got such huge profit as mentioned in the text |
Poet William Stafford once said that we are defined more by the detours (绕行路) in life than by the narrow road toward goals. I like this image. But it was quite by accident that I discovered the deep meaning of his words.
For years we made the long drive from our home in Seattle to my parents’ home in Boise in nine hours. We traveled the way most people do: the fastest, shortest, easiest road, especially when I was alone with four noisy, restless kids who hate confinement (限制) and have strong opinions about everything.
Road trips felt risky, so I would drive fast, stopping only when I had to. We would stick to the freeways and arrive tired.
But then Banner, our lamb was born. He was rejected by his mama days before our planned trip to Boise. I had two choices: leave Banner with my husband, or take him with me. My husband made the decision for me.
That is how I found myself on the road with four kids, a baby lamb and nothing but my everlasting optimism to see me through. We took the country roads out of necessity. We had to stop every hour, let Banner shake out his legs and feed him. The kids chased him and one another. They’d get back in the car breathless and energized, smelling fresh from the cold air.
We explored side roads, catching grasshoppers in waist-high grass. Even if we simply looked out of the car windows at baby pigs following their mother, or fish leaping out of the water, it was better than the best ride down the freeway. Here was life. And new horizons (见识).
We eventually arrived at my parents’ doorstep astonishingly fresh and full of stories.
I grew brave with the trip back home and creative with my disciplining technique. On an empty section of road, everyone started quarreling. I stopped the car, ordered all kids out and told them to meet me up ahead. I parked my car half a mile away and read my book in sweet silence.
Some road trips are by necessity fast and straight. But that trip with Banner opened our eyes to a world available to anyone adventurous enough to wander around and made me realize that a detour may uncover the best part of a journey—and the best part of yourself.Why did the author use to take freeways to her parents’ home?
| A．It was less tiring. |
| B．It would be faster and safer. |
| C．Her kids would feel less confined. |
| D．She felt better with other drivers nearby. |
The author stopped regularly on the country roads to _____.
A. relax in the fresh air
B. take a deep breath
C. take care of the lamb
C. let the kids play with Banner.What does the author discover from the trio according to Paragraph 6?
| A．Freeways are where beauty hides. |
| B．Getting close to nature adds to the joy of life. |
| C．Enjoying the beauty of nature benefits one’s health. |
| D．One should follow side roads to watch wild animals. |
Why did the author ask the kids to get out of the car on their way back home?
| A．To give herself some time to read. |
| B．To order some food for them. |
| C．To play a game with them. |
| D．To let them cool down. |
What could be the best title for the passage?
| A．Charm of the Detour |
| B．The Road to Bravery |
| C．Creativity out of Necessity |
| D．Road Trip and Country Life |
粤公网安备 44130202000953号