2015职称英语理工A阅读理解文章及译文
第34篇Batteries Built by Viruses
What do chicken pox, the common cold, the flu, and AIDS have in common?
They'realldiseasecausedbyviruses,tiny microorganisms that can pass from
persontoperson.It'snowonderthatwhenmostpeoplethinkaboutviruses, finding ways to steer clear of viruses is what's on people's minds.
Noteveryonerunsfromthetinydiseasecarriers,though.InCambridge,
Massachusetts,scientistshavediscoveredthatsomeviruses can be helpful 'in an unusual way. They are putting viruses to work, teaching them to build some of the world's smallest rechargeable batteries.
Viruses and batteries may seem like an unusual pair, but they're not so strange for engineer Angela Belcher, who first came up with the idea. At the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Cambridge, she and her collaboratorsbringtogetherdifferentareasofscienceinnewways.Inthecase ofthevirus-builtbatteries,thescientistscombinewhattheyknowabout biology, technology and production techniques.
Belcher'steamincludes Paula Hammond, who helps put together the tiny
batteries,andYet-MingChiang,anexpertonhowtostoreenergyintheformof
abattery."We'reworkingonthingswetraditionallydon'tassociatewith nature," says Hammond.
Manybatteriesarealreadyprettysmall.YoucanholdA,CandDbatteries in your hand. The coin-like batteries that power watches are often smaller than a
penfiy.However,everyyear,newelectronicdeviceslikepersonalmusicplayers orcellphonesgetsmallerthantheyearbefore.Asthesedevicesshrink, ordinary batteries won't be small enough to fit inside.
The ideal battery will store a lot of energy in a small package. Right now,
Belcher'smodelbattery,ametallicdiskcompletelybuiltbyviruses,lookslike a regular watch battery. But inside, its components are very small --so tiny you can only see them with a powerful microscope.
Howsmallarethesebatteryparts?To get some idea of the size, pluck one hair from your head. Place your hair on a piece of white paper and try to see how
wideyourhairis--prettythin,right?Althoughthewidthofeachperson'shair is a bit different, you could probably fit about 10 of these virus-built battery parts,sidetoside,across one hair. These microbatteries may change the way we look at viruses.
病毒电池
水痘、普通感冒、流感和艾滋病有哪些相似之处呢？这些都是由病毒引起的疾病，病毒是能够在人与人之间传染的微生物。难怪大部分人一提到病毒，首先想到的是如何躲避病毒。
然而，并不是每个人都躲避这些疾病携带者。在马萨诸塞州剑桥市，科学家发现有些病毒能起到非同寻常的作用。他们使病毒开始工作，使病毒构成世界上最小的充电电池。
病毒和电池的搭档似乎并不常见，但这对于工程师安吉拉?贝尔彻来说却并不陌生，安吉拉?贝尔彻最早产生了这一想法。在位于剑桥市的麻省理工学院，她和合作者一起用新方式融合了不同的科学领域。在由病毒构成的电池里，科学家融合了他们在生物、技术和生产工艺方面的知识。
贝尔彻的团队包括帮助组装微型电池的宝拉?哈蒙德和以电池形式存储能量的专家蒋业明。哈蒙德说，“我们现在从事的行业是传统中不会想到的。
许多电池已经很小了。A型、C型和D型电池都可以握在手里。硬币形状的手表电池通常比分币还小。然而，个人音乐播放器和手机等新型电子设备变得越来越小。这些设备变小了，普通电池就无法安装进去了。
理想的电池应当体积小、储能多。目前，贝尔彻的电池模型是完全由病毒构成的金属圆盘，看起来就像普通手表电池。但里面的部件却非常小一一小到用高倍望远镜才能看到。
这些电池部件到底有多小呢？从头上拔一根头发可以让你对这个尺寸有个形象的认识。把它放到白纸上，看看头发的宽度一一是不是很细呢？尽管每个人的头发宽度不同，每个头发上可以并列排放大约10个病毒电池部件。这些微电池可能会改变我们对病毒的看法。
第35篇PuttingPlants to Work（13年B真题）
Using the power of the sun is nothing new. People have had solar-powered calculators and buildings with solar panels for decades. But plants are the real experts: They've been using sunlight as an energy source for billions of years.
Cells in the green leaves of plants work like tiny factories to convert sunlight, carbon dioxide, and water into sugars and starches, stored energy that the plants can use. This conversion process is called photosynthesis. Unfortunately, unless you're a plant, it's difficult and expensive to convert sunlight into storable energy. That's why scientists are taking a closer look at exactly how plants do it.
Some scientists are trying to get plants, or biological cells that act like plants, to work as miniature photosynthetic power stations. For example, Maria Ghirardi of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden, Colo．, is working with green algae. She's trying to trick them into producing hydrogen instead of sugars when they perform photosynthesis. Once the researchers can get the algae working efficiently, the hydrogen that they produce could be used to power fuel cells in cars or to generate electricity.
The algae are grown in narrow-necked glass bottles to produce hydrogen in the lab. During photosynthesis, plants normally make sugars or starches. "But under certain conditions, a lot of algae are able to use the sunlight energy not to store starch, but to make hydrogen., Ghirardi says. For example, algae will produce hydrogen in an airfree environment. It's the oxygen in the air that prevents algae from making hydrogen most of the time.
Working in an airfree environment, however, is difficult. It's not a practical way to produce cheap energy. But Ghirardi and her colleagues have discovered that by removing a chemical called sulfate from the environment that the algae grow in, they will make hydrogen instead of sugars, even when air is present.
Unfortunately, removing the sulfate also makes the algae's cells work very slowly, and not much hydrogen is produced. Still, the researchers see this as a first step in their goal to produce hydrogen efficiently from algae. With more work, they may be able to speed the cells' activity and produce larger quantities of hydrogen.
The researchers hope that algae will one day be an easy-to-use fuel source. The organisms are cheap to get and to feed, Ghirardi says, and they can grow almost anywhere:."You can grow them in a reactor, in a pond. You can grow them in the ocean. There's a lot of flexibility in how you can use these organisms."
植物效能
太阳能的使用已经不足为奇。几十年前，人们就开始使用太阳能计算器，制造太阳能电热板镶嵌的建筑。但是植物当属应用太阳能的专家：十亿年来，植物一直把阳光作为能源资源。
绿叶植物细胞的工作就像微型加工厂一样，将阳光，二氧化碳和水转化为糖和淀粉，并且同时储存植物本身所需的能量。这种转换过程叫做光合作用。可惜你不是一株植物，必须困难的并且花上大价钱将阳光转换为稳定的能源。因此，科学家们正在对植株进行准确细致的研究。
一些科学家正试图像植物的作用过程一样，将植物，或生物的细胞活动看做微型光合发电站。例如，玛丽亚?奇若蒂在美国科罗拉多州的国家可再生能源实验室里对绿藻进行研究。她正想方设法的通过植物的产生氢来取代光合作用产生的糖。一旦研究人员了解藻类如何有效率的进行工作，由此产生的氢气可用于燃料电池动力汽车和发电。
在实验室里，藻类在狭窄的颈玻璃瓶里生长、产生氢气。在光合作用下，植物通常产生糖类或淀粉。“但在一定条件下，有很多藻类能够利用日光能源产生氢气而不是储存淀。”奇.若蒂说。例如，藻类会在空气存在环境下产生氢气。这是因为空气中的氧气，氧阻止绿藻制造氢。藻类在空气中虽然可以工作，但是充满困难。这种方式不能切实可行的生产廉价的能源。但是奇若蒂和她的同事们已经发现，即使在目前的空气条件下，他们从藻类生长的环境中，除去所谓的硫酸化学品，能够产生氢来代替糖。
只可惜消除硫酸盐不仅使藻类细胞的工作速度减慢，而且大大减少了氢的数量。尽管如此，研究人员认为，对于实现有效率的利用藻类产生氢这一目标，他们已经迈出了第一步。随着工作量的加大，他们可以加速细胞的活动，从而产生大量的氢气。
研究人员们希望，总有一天藻类会成为很容易使用的燃料来源。藻类这种生物极易存活，奇若蒂说，他们可以在几乎任何地方成长；“你可以将它放在一反应堆或是池塘里。也可以在海洋中找到它们。人们可以灵活的使用藻类的用途广泛。
36.ListeningDeviceProvidesLandslideEarlyWarning
Adevicethatprovidesearlywarningof a landslide by monitoring vibrations insoilisbeingtestedbyUKresearchers. Thedevicecouldsavethousandsof lives each year by warning when an
area should be evacuated, the scientists say. Suchnaturaldisasters are common in countries that experience sudden, heavy rainfall, and can also be triggered by earthquakes and even water erosion.
Landslidesstartwhenafewparticlesofsoilorrockwithinaslopestart
tomove,huttheearlystagescanbehardtospot. Followingthisinitial movement, "slopes can become unstable in a matter of hours or minutes," says Nell Dixon at Loughborough University, UK. He says a warning system that monitors this movement "might be enough to evacuate a block of flats or clear a road, and save lives.
The most common way to monitor a slope for signs of an imminent landslide is towatchforchangesinitsshape.Surveyorscan do this by measuring a site
directly,orsensorssunkintoboreholesorfixedabove ground can be used to monitor the shape of a slope. Slopes can, however, change shapewithout triggering a landslide, so either method is prone to causing false alarms. Now Dixon's team has developed a device that listens for the vibrations caused when particles begin moving within a slope.
Thedevicetakestheformofasteelpipedroppedintoaboreholeina
slope.Theboreholeisfilledinwithgravelaroundthepipetohelptransmit high-frequency vibrations generated by particles within the slope. These vibrationspassupthetubeandarepickedupbyasensoronthesurface. Software analyses the vibration signal to determine whether a landslide may be imminent.
The device is currently being tested in a 6-metre-tall artificial clay embankment in Newcastle, UK. Early results suggest it should provide fewer false
positivesthanexistingsystems.Onceithasbeencarefullyandthoroughly tested, the device could be used to create a complete early-warning system for dangerous slopes.
"Locationswithasignificantriskoflandslidescoulddefinitelybenefit from a machine like this," says Adam Poulter, an expert at the British Red Cross. "As long as it doesn't cost too much." But, Poulter adds that an early-warning systemmaynotbeenoughonitsown."Youneedtohavethehumancommunication," he says. "Making systems that get warnings to those who need them can be difficult."
听觉仪器提供早期山崩预警
英国研究者们正在测试一种仪器，它可以通过监测土壤振动提供早期山崩预告。科学家们说，这种仪器通过警报某处有险情需要撤离，每年可以拯救成千上万的生命。经历过骤降大雨，地震甚至土壤侵蚀的国家，山崩这样的自然灾害是很常见的。
当同一个山坡上的一些土壤或石块开始移动时，山崩就开始了，但早期很难发现。接着这个初始运动，“山坡在数分钟或数小时内变得不稳定，”英国拉夫堡大学尼尔?迪克森说。他说，一个监控这种运动的警报系统“足以疏散一个街区的人或清出一条马路，拯救生命”。
监视迫近的山崩，最常见的办法就是观察这座山形状的变化。研究者们可以直接测量，也可以在钻孔中或者地表面上探测山坡形状的变化。可是，山坡改变形状也未必就导致山崩，所以任何一种方法都可能导致误警。现在，迪克森的团队已发明了一种仪器，它在一个山坡内的颗粒开始移动时可以接收到振动。
这个仪器是钢管形状，探人山坡上的一个钻孔中。钻孔中仪器的四周填满沙砾，有助于传导山坡内颗粒产生的高频振动波。振动波顺着钢管上传，被地表传感器接收。通过软件分析振动信号，判断是否马上要发生山崩。
目前这种仪器正在英国纽卡斯尔一座6米高人造石灰大坝中接受测试。先期结果显示它比现有的仪器提供较少的判断误差。一旦这种仪器通过了认真彻底的检测，它将成为一个完善的山崩早期预警系统。
“受山崩严重威胁的地区一定会从这样的仪器中得益，”英国红十字会的专家艾登·保特说。“只要它不是太贵。”但是，保特又说一个早期预警系统本身并不足以防灾。“你需要建立人际交流，”他说。“使系统发射的预警送达到需要的人群是不容易的事。”
第三十七篇“Don’t Drink Alone” Gets New Meaning
In what may be bad news for bars and pubs，a European research group has found that people drinking alcohol outside of meals have a significantly higher risk of cancer in the mouth and neck than do those taking their libations with food. Luigino Dal Maso and his colleagues studied the drinking patterns of 1,500 patients from four cancer studies2 and another 3，500 adults who had never had cancer.
After the researchers accounted for the amount of alcohol consumed, they found that individuals who downed a significant share of their alcohol outside of meals3 faced at least a 50 to 80 percent risk of cancer in the oral cavity, pharynx, and esophagus, when compared with people who drank only at meals. Consuming alcohol without food also increased b y at least 20 percent the likelihood of laryngeal4 cancer. “ Roughly
95 percent of cancers at these four sites5 traced to smoking or drinking6 by the study volunteers，” Dal Maso says. The discouraging news, his team reports, is that drinking with meals didn’t eliminate cancer risk at any of the sites.
For their new analysis，the European scientists divided people in the study into four groups，based on how many drinks they reported having in an average week7. The lowest-intake group included people who averaged up to8 20 drinks 狂week. The highest group reported downing at least 56 servings of alcohol weekly for an average of eight or more per day.9 Cancer risks for the mouth and neck sites rose steadily with consumption even for people who reported drinking only with
meals. For instance, compared with people in the lowest-consumption group, participants who drank 21 to 34 alcohol servings a week at least doubled their cancer risk for all sites other than the larynx10. If people in these consumption groups took some of those drinks outside meals, those in the higher consumption group at least quadrupled their risk for oral cavity and esophageal cancers.
People in the highest-consumption group who drank only with meals had 10 times the risk of oral cancer, 7 times the risk of pharyngeal cancer, and 16 times the risk of esophageal cancer compared with those who averaged 20 or fewer drinks a week with meals. In contrast, laryngeal cancer risk in the high-intake, with-meals-only group11 was only triple that12 in the low-intake consumers who drank with meals.
“Alcohol can inflame tissues. Over time, that inflammation can trigger cancer. ” Dal Maso says. He suspects that food reduced cancer risk either by partially coating digestive-tract tissues or by scrubbing alcohol off those tissues. He speculates that the reason laryngeal risks were dramatically lower for all study participants traces to the tissue’s lower exposure to alcohol.
第三十七篇“不要在就餐时间以外饮酒”有了新含义
一定程度上，这对酒吧可能是一个坏消息，欧洲的一个研究小组发现人们在就餐时间以外饮酒会使患口腔和颈部癌症的几率比就餐时饮酒更高。Luigino Dal Maso和他的同事们研究了取自四项癌症研究的1，500个病例的饮酒习惯模式和另外3，500个从没患癌症的成年人的饮酒习惯模式。
在研究者分析了饮酒的总量后，他们发现和只在就餐时饮酒的人相比，在就餐时间以外灌下大量烈酒的人面临至少50%?80%的患口腔癌、咽癌和食道癌的危险。在就餐时间外饮酒也会使患喉癌的可能性增加至少20%。“被研究者的情况说明大约95%患以上四种癌症的原因就是抽烟或饮酒。” Dal Maso说。他的研究小组提供的报告中令人沮丧的消息是就餐时饮酒不会消除患以上任何一种癌症的危险。
为了进行新的分析，欧洲科学家根据每星期平均饮酒量将被研究者分为4组。饮酒量最少的一组包括每周平均饮酒量达20杯的人，饮酒量最高的一组每周饮酒至少56杯，平均每天8杯以上。患口腔癌和颈部癌的危险随着饮酒量而稳定上升，即使是那些只在就餐时饮酒的人。例如，和低饮酒量的人相比，每周饮酒21?34杯的人患除喉癌以外其他部位的癌症的危险增加了一倍。如果这几组中的人在就餐时间以外饮酒，那些属于高饮酒量组的人会使他们患口腔癌和食道癌的危险至少增加3倍。
和每周只在就餐时平均饮酒至多20杯的人相比，高饮酒量组的人在就餐时间饮酒患口腔癌的危险是低饮酒量组的10倍，咽癌是其7倍，食道癌是16倍。相反，酒精高摄入且仅在就餐时饮酒的人患喉癌的危险是酒精低摄入且仅在就餐时饮酒的人的3倍。
“酒精能使组织发炎，一段时间后，炎症可引发癌症。” Dal Maso说。他认为食物降低了患癌症的危险，或是通过覆盖在消化道组织上或是通过将酒精从那些组织上擦掉。他推测所有被研究者患喉癌的几率比其他癌症低很多的原因是喉部组织被酒精侵害到的部分少得多。
第38篇．"LifeFormFound"onSaturn'sTitan
ScientistssaytheyhavediscoveredhintsofalienlifeontheSaturn's moon. The discovery of a sort of life was announced after researchers at the US space agency, NASA, analyzed data from spacecraft Cassini, which pointed to the existence of methane-based form of life on Saturn's biggest moon.
Scientists have reportedly discovered clues showing primitive alien beings are "breathing" in Titan's dense atmosphere filled with hydrogen.
They argue that hydrogen gets absorbed before hitting Titan's planet-like
surfacecoveredwithmethanelakesandrivers.This,theysay,pointstothe existence of some "bugs" consuming the hydrogen at the surface of the moon less than half the size of the Earth.
"Wesuggestedhydrogenconsumptionbecauseit'sthe obvious gas for life to consumeonTitan, similar to the way we consume oxygen on Earth," says NASA scientist Chris McKay. "If these signs do turn out to be a sign of life, it would be doubly exciting because it would represent a second form of life independent from water-based life on Earth."
Todate,scientistshavenotyetdetectedthisformoflifeanywhere, though there are liquid- water-based microorganisms on Earth that grow well on
methaneorproduceitasawasteproduct.OnTitan,wheretemperaturesarearound90 Kelvin (minus 290 degrees Farenheit), a methane- based organism would have to useasubstancethatisliquidas its medium for living processes, but not water itself.WaterisfrozensolidonTitan'ssurfaceandmuchtoocoldtosupport life as we know it.
ScientistshadexpectedtheSun's interactions with chemicals in the atmospheretoproduceacoatingofacetylene on Titan's surface. But Cassini detected no acetylene on the surface.
TheabsenceofdetectableacetyleneontheTitan'ssurfacecanverywell
haveanon-biologicalexplanation,saidMarkAllen,aprincipalinvestigatorof the NASA Titan team.
"Scientificconservatismsuggeststhatabiologicalexplanationshouldbe the last choice after all
non-biological explanations are addressed," Allen said. "We have a lot of work to do to rule out possible non-biological explanations. It is more likely that a chemical process, without biology, can explain these results."
土卫六上发现了生命迹象
科学家们说，在土卫六上发现了外星生命迹象。美国国家航空航天局(NASA)的研究者们对卡西尼号探测器所传回来的数据进行了分析，分析表明，土星卫星中最大的一颗卫星有以甲烷为基础的生命的存在迹象，之后，这一发现被宣布出来。
据报道，科学家们已经找到了在土卫六高浓度氢气大气层里“呼吸”的原始外星生命的线索。
他们认为，氢气在到达布满甲烷河流湖泊的土卫六类似行星一样的表层前就已经被吸收了。这就证明在这个不及半个地球大小的卫星表面有某种微生物在依靠氢气生存。
美国国家航空航天局的科学家ChrisMckay说，“我们提出有氢气的消耗，是由于它是土卫六上生命赖以生存的显而易见的气体，就像我们地球上用氧气呼吸一样。如果这些迹象最终证明是生命的迹象，它会加倍令人兴奋，因为它会代表完全不同于地球上水基生命的第二种生命。
时至今日，尽管地球上的依赖液体水的微生物在甲烷里生长良好或把它作为废物排出，科学家在任何地方都没有探测到这种生命的形式。在土卫六上，绝对温度达到90度(相当于-290 华氏度)，依赖于甲烷的微生物不得不用某种液体物质作为生存的介质，这种液体不是水。水在土卫六上会冻成冰块，我们知道，冰块太冷不能维持生命。
科学家们原指望太阳与大气层中的化学物质相互作用会在土卫六上产生一层乙炔。但卡西尼号在它的表面没有探测到乙炔。Mark Allen是美国宇航局土卫六项目组的主要负责人，他说道，既然在土卫六的表面没有探测到乙炔，那就充分说明上面没有生物。Allen说：“科学界的保守主义者们建议，要做出土卫六上有生物的结论，首先必须对土卫六上所有没有生物的观点做出回应；要排除土卫六上可能没有生物的观点，我们任重道远。极为可能的是，一种化学过程而非生物学能解释这些结果。”
第39篇CloneFarm
Factory farming could soon enter a new era of mass production. Companies in the US are developing the technology needed to "clone" chickens on a massive scale. Once a chicken with desirable gaits has been bred or genetically engineered, tens of thousands of eggs, which will hatch into identical copies, could roll off the production lines every hour. Billions of clones could be produced each year to supply chicken farms with birds that all grow at the same rate, have the same amount of meat and taste the same.
This, at least, is the vision of the US's National Institute of Science and Technology, which has given Origen Therapeutics of Burlingame, California, and Embrex of North Carolina $4．7 million to help fund research. The prospect has alarmed animal welfare groups, who fear it could increase the suffering of farm birds.
That's unlikely to put off the poultry industry, however, which wants disease-resistant birds that grow
faster on less food. "Producers would like the same meat quantity but to use reduced inputs to get there," says Mike Fitzgerald of Origen. To meet this demand, Origen aims to "create an animal that is effectively a clone", he says. Normal cloning doesn't work in birds because eggs can't be removed and implanted. Instead, the company is trying to bulk-grow embryonic stem cells taken from fertilized eggs as soon as they're laid. "The trick is to culture the cells without them starting to
Using a long-established technique, these donor cells will then be injected into the embryo of a freshly laid, fertilized recipient egg, forming a chick that is a "chimera". Strictly speaking a chimera isn't a clone, because it contains cells from both donor and recipient. But Fitzgerald says it will be enough if, say, 95 percent of a chicken's body develops from donor cells. "In the poultry world, it doesn't matter if it's not 100 percent," he says.
distinguish, so they remain pluripotent," says Fitzgerald.
Another challenge for Origen is to scale up production. To do this, it has teamed up with Embrex, which produces machines that can inject vaccines into upto 50,000 eggs an hour. Embrex is now trying to modify the machines to locate the embryo and inject the cells into precisely the right spot without killing it.
In future, Origen imagines freezing stem cells from different strains of chicken. If orders come in for a particular strain, millions of eggs could be produced in months or even weeks. At present, maintaining all the varieties the market might call for is too expensive for breeders, and it takes years to bread enough chickens to produce the billions of eggs that farmers need.
克隆农场
工业化农场很快会进入一个大产量的新领域。美国的公司正在开发一项需要大规模克隆小鸡的技术。一旦一个具有所期望特性的小鸡被孵化出来或被基因改造，每小时成千上万的鸡蛋会孵出如出一辙的小鸡滚下生产线。每年上百万的克隆小鸡能被孵化出来，从而为鸡场提供以相同比例生长，重量相同并且味道相同的小鸡。
这至少是美国国家科技院的梦想，科技院给Onrigen Therapeutics of Burlinggame， California，以及Embrex of North Caroling 470万基金以资助研究。这个预想为担忧增加鸡场小鸡痛苦的动物福利组织拉响了警报。
那好像并没有让使家禽养殖业气馁，然而，他们想使抗病小鸡吃得更少，长得更快。“养殖者希望减少投入但仍获得相同的产量，”Mike Fitzgerald of Origen说。为了达到这个要求，Origen致力于“制造一个有效克隆体的小鸡，”他说。正常的克隆技术对鸟类无效，因为卵不能被移动或移植。然而，公司正试图大量繁殖刚产下的受精卵中提取的胚胎的干细胞。“技巧是在细胞开始显示其差别前对其进行培育，这样它们还保持多能性，”Fitzgerald说。运用早已形成的技术，这些干细胞会被注人刚孵出的，已受精的，要接受细胞植入的鸡蛋的胚胎中，形成一个嵌合体的小鸡。严格地说，嵌合体的小鸡不是克隆鸡，因为它既有植入的细胞又有本身的细胞。但Fitzgerald说，如果小鸡身体的95％是由被植入的细胞发展而来的就足够了。“在家禽界，不是100％也没关系。”
Origen面临的另一个挑战是提高生产量。为了做到这点，他和Embrex合作研制了一个可将疫苗注入50 000个鸡蛋中的仪器。Embrex正试图改造那个仪器，从而使胚胎和注射的细胞落在准确的位置而不杀死它。
在将来，Origen设想将不同品种小鸡的干细胞冷冻。如果定单要某一种小鸡，成百万的卵能在几个月甚至几个星期被生产出来。目前，维持市场可能需要的各种小鸡对养殖者来说太昂贵了，那要花数年的时间培育足够多的小鸡以生产出农民需要的上百万鸡蛋。
第四十篇TeachingMath,TeachingAnxiety
In a new study about the way kids learn math in elementary school, the psychologists at the University of Chicago Sian Beilock and Susan Levine found a surprisingrelationshipbetweenwhatfemaleteachersthinkandwhatfemale
studentslearn:Ifafemaleteacherisuncomfortablewithherownmathskills, thenherfemalestudentsaremorelikelytobelievethatboysarebetterthan girls at math.
"If these girls keep getting math-anxious female teachers in later grades, it may create a snowball effect on their math achievement," said Levine. In other
words,girlsmayenduplearningmathanxietyfromtheirteachers.Thestudy suggeststhatifthesegirlsgrowup believing that boys are better at math than
girlsare,thenthesegirlsmaynotdoaswellastheywouldhaveiftheywere more confident.
Justasstudentsfindcertainsubjectsto be difficult, teachers can find certainsubjectstobedifficulttolearn--andteach.Thesubjectofmathcan
beparticularlydifficultforeveryone.Researchersusetheword"anxiety"to describe such feelings: anxiety is uneasiness or worry.
Thenewstudyfoundthatwhenateacherhasanxietyaboutmath,that feelingcaninfluencehowherfemalestudentsfeelaboutmath.Thestudyinvolved65girls,52boysand17first-andse cond-gradeteachersinelementaryschools in the Midwest. The students took math achievement tests at the beginning and end of the school year, and the researchers compared the scores.
The researchers also gave the students tests to tell whether the students believedthatamathsuperstarhadtobeaboy.Thentheresearchersturnedto the teachers: To find out which teachers were anxious about math, the researchers askedtheteachershowtheyfeltattimeswhentheycameacrossmath,suchas
whenreadingasalesreceipt.Ateacherwhogotnervouslookingatthenumberson a sales receipt, for example, was probably anxious about math.
Boys,onaverage,wereunaffectedbyateacher'sanxiety.Onaverage, girls with math- anxious teachers scored lower on the end-of-the-year math tests than other girls in the study did. Plus, on the test showing whether someone thought a math superstar had to be a boy, 20 girls showed feeling that boys would bebetteratmath--andallofthesegirlshadbeentaughtbyfemaleteachers who had math anxiety.
"This is an interesting study, but the results need to be interpreted as preliminary and in need
of replication with a larger sample," said David Geary, a psychologist at the University of Missouri
in Columbia.
教数学，教焦虑
在最新一项关于小学生学数学的研究中，芝加哥大学的心理学家Sian Beilock和Susan Levine发现，女教师的想法和女学生的学习之间有着惊人的联系：如果女教师对自己的数学能力感到焦虑，她的女学生很可能认为男孩子数学比女孩学得更好。
“如果一直由对数学有焦虑的女教师教授数学，就会对她们的数学成绩产生雪球效应”， Levine说。换言之，女孩子们最后从老师那里获得的是对数学的焦虑。该研究表明，如果女孩子们在一个认为男孩比女孩数学好的环境中成长，那么她们的数学可能会不如在更自信的状态下学得好。
如同学生觉得某些学科难学，教师也会觉得某些学科难学和难教。数学这个学科可能对每个人来说都格外地难学。这就是研究者所言的“焦虑”：不自在或担心。
此研究发现，教师对数学的焦虑能够传染给她的女学生们。该研究的研究对象包括65个女孩，52个男孩和17位在中西部教一二年级的教师。学生们在学年的开始和结束时都进行数学测试，研究者们比较得分。
研究者们测试学生是否认为数学明星一定会是男孩。然后研究者们测试教师，试图找出哪些教师对数学感到焦虑，研究者们问教师们当碰到数学问题诸如阅读销售清单时的感受。如果一位教师一看到销售清单的数字就感到紧张，那么她很可能对数学存在焦虑。
平均来说，教师的焦虑不会影响到男孩子。但是，一般说来，如果教女孩子的教师有数学焦虑症，那么女孩子们在学年结束时测试得分比其他的女孩要低。另外，在关于是否认为数学明星应该是男孩的测试中，有20个女孩认为男孩数学比女孩好，这20个女孩的老师都是女性，且都患有数学焦虑症。
来自密苏里大学的心理学家David Geary说“这是一个有趣的研究，但是这只是初步结果，需要用更大的调查样本进行重复验证”。
第四十一篇Too Little for Global Warming
Oil and gas will run out too fast for doomsday global warming scenarios to materialize,accordingtoacontroversialnewanalysis presented this week at the University of Uppsala in Sweden. The authors warn that all the fuel will be burnt before there is enough carbon dioxide in the atmosphere to realize predictions of melting ice caps and searing temperatures. Defending their predictions, scientists from the Intergovernmental Panel on ClimateChangesaytheyconsidered arangeofestimatesofoilandgasreserves,andpointoutthatcoal-burning could easily make up the shortfall. But all agree that burning coal would be even worse for the planet.
TheIPCC'spredictions of global meltdown pushed forward the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, an agreement obliging signatory nations to cut CO2 emissions. The IPCC considered a range of future scenarios, from unlimited burning of fossil-fuels to a fast transition towards greener energy sources. But geologists Anders Sivertsson, Kjell Aleklett and Colin Campbell of Uppsala University say there is notenoughoilandgaslefteventhemostconservativeofthe40IPCCscenarios to come to pass.
Although estimates of oil and gas reserves vary widely, the researchers are partofagrowinggroupofexpertswhobelievethatoilsupplieswillpeakas
soonas2010,andgassoonafter.Theiranalysissuggeststhatoilandgas reserves combined amount to the equivalent of about 3,500 billion barrels of oil considerablylessthanthe5,000billionbarrels estimated in the most optimistic model envisaged by the IPCC. Even the average forecast of about 8,000 billion barrelsismorethantwicetheSwedishestimateoftheworld'sremaining reserves.
NebojsaNakicenovic,anenergyeconomistattheUniversityofVienna, Austria who headed the 80-strong IPCC team that produced the forecasts, says the panel's work still stands. He says they factored in a much broader and internationally accepted range of oil and gas estimates than the "conservative" Swedes.
Even if oil and gas run out, "there's a huge amount of coal underground that could be exploited", he says that burning coal could make the IPCC scenarios come
true,but,pointsoutthatsuchaswitchwouldbedisastrous.Coalisdirtier than oil and gas and produces more CO2 for each unit of energy, as well as releasing large amounts of particulates. He says the latest analysis is a "shot across the bows" for policy makers.
地球变暖"缺油"
根据本周在瑞典乌普萨拉大学新发表的一个具争议性的分析，石油和天然气会在全球变暖这一世界末日的场景到来之前耗尽。作者警告说，在使大气中含有足够的二氧化碳来造成冰冠融化和温度升高等场景出现之前，石化燃料会先消耗殆尽。来自政府间气候变化专门委员会 (1PCC)的专家为自己的预测辩护说，他们是根据一系列的石油及天然气存量预估来预测，并指出燃煤可轻易填补不足的差额。不过所有人都同意燃煤将会对地球造成更糟的影响。
IPCC的全球冰雪融化预测推动了1997年京都议定书的签署，签署国同意将缩减二氧化碳的总排放量。IPCC预测了一系列包含从无节制的使用化石燃料至快速过渡到较环保能源所将产生的未来场景。但是乌普萨拉大学的地质学家Anders Sivertsson，Kjell Alek一lett和 ColinCampbell表示，即使是IPCC最保守的40个预测场景，也没有足够的石油和天然气存量使其成真。
尽管乌普萨拉大学对石油和天然气储存量的估算差别很大，但越来越多的研究者认为2010年将是石油供应的高峰期，紧接着就是天燃气。他们的分析表明石油和天燃气的储存总量在35，000亿桶左右，而IPCC最乐观的估算是50，000亿桶左右。对世界石油和天然气存量的平均预测是80，000亿桶，这甚至是瑞典人估算值的两倍。
Nebojsa Nakicenovic是奥地利维也纳大学的能源专家和经济学家，他领导了多达80人的 IPCC研究小组并作出了上述预测，并说，IPCC对世界燃料的存量估算仍然站得住脚。他认为和保守的瑞典人相比，IPCC的估算考虑到一些范围更广的、国际认定的燃料储存。
即使石油和天然气消耗殆尽，"还有大量的地下煤可以开采，"他说道，煤的燃烧能使IPCC 的预言成为现实，但他指出，从这一转换会产生灾难性的后果。煤比石油和天然气脏，每一能量单位的使用会产生更多的二氧化碳，并释放出大量的微粒。他说最近的研究给政策制定者们泼了盆冷水。
第四十二篇Renewable Energy Sources
Today petroleum provides around 40% of the world's energy needs, mostly fuelling automobiles. Coal is still used, mostly in power stations, to cover one- quarter of our energy needs, but it is the least efficient, unhealthiest and most environmentally damaging fossilfuel.Natural gas reserves could plug some of the gap fromoil,but reserves of that will not last into the 22nd century either. Most experts predict we will exhaust easily accessible reserves within 50 years. We could fast reach an energy crisis.We need to rapidly develop sustainable solutionsto fuel our future. Less-polluting renewable energy source soffera more practicallong-termenergy solution.They may benefit the world's poor too. "Renewable" refers to the fact that these resources are not used faster than they can be replaced.
The Chinese and Romans used watermills over 2000 years ago. But the first hydroelectric dam was built in England in 1870.Hydroelectric power is now the most common form of renewable energy, supplying around 20% of world electricity. China's Three Gorges Dam,which has just been completed, is the largest ever. At five times the size of the US's Hoover Dam, its 26 turbines will generate the equivalent energy of 18 coal-fired power stations. It will satisfy 3% of China's entire electricity demand. Surprisingly, some argue that hydroelectric dams significantly contribute greenhouse gases.
In 2003,the first commercial power stationto harness tidal currents in the opensea opened in Norway.It is designed like windmill, but others take the form of turbines.
As prices fall, wind power has become the fastest growing type of electricity generation—quadrupling worldwide between 1999 and 2005. Modern wind farms consist of turbines that generate electricity. Though it will be more expensive, there is more than enough wind to provide the world's entire energy needs. Wind farms come in onshore and offshore forms. They can often end up at spots of natural beauty, and are often unpopular with residents. And turbines are not totally benign -- they can interfere with radar and leave a significant ecological footprint, altering climate and
killing sea birds. Migrating birds may have more luck avoiding them. Scotland is building Europe's largest wind farm, which will power 200,000 homes. The UK's goal is to generate one-fifth of power from renewable sources,mainlywind,by2020.But this may cause problems, because wind is unreliable.
可再生能源
现今，汽油满足了世界上约百分之四十的能源需要，大多用来为汽车提供燃料。煤仍被使用，主要是在发电站，以解决我们四分之一的能源需求。但煤却是最无效率，最不健康，最不环保的矿物燃料。天然气的储量可填补部分石油短缺。但这些储量也不能维持到22世纪。许多专家预计，我们很容易在50年内耗尽可采掘的燃料储备。我们将很快遇到能源危机。我们需要立即发展可持续的方案来为未来提供能源。污染少的可再生能源为我们提供了一个更现实的长期解决方案。这些能源也会对世界上的穷人有益。“可再生”是指这些能源被使用的速度低于其被更新的速度。
2000多年前，中国人和罗马人使用风车。但第一个水电大坝是1870年建于英国。现在的水力发电已是最常见的可再生能源，占世界电力总量的20％。中国刚建成的三峡大坝是最大的一个发电站。它是美国胡佛发电站的5倍大。它的26台涡轮机可产生相当于18个烧煤的发电站所发的电量。它将满足中国电力总需求的3％。令人吃惊的是，有人说，水电站排放大量温室气体。
2003年，第一个利用大海上的潮汐能发电的商业电站在挪威建成。它的设计好像一个风车，但其他方面则采用了涡轮的形式。
由于费用降低，风力发电已成为了发展最迅速的一种发电方式--1999年到2005年翻了两番。现代风力农场由发电的涡轮机组成。尽管成本更高，却会有源源不断的风力来满足全世界的所有能量需求。风力农场分向岸和向海两种形式。它们常常会出现在美丽的环境中，并常常人烟稀少。涡轮机也并非百无一害的。它们可干扰雷达信号，并在生态环境中留下痕迹，改变气候，杀死海鸟。迁徙的鸟类可以更幸运地避开它们。苏格兰正在建造欧洲最大的风力农场，可为20万户家庭提供电力。英国的目标是截至2020年达到五分之一的电力来自可再生能源，主要是风能，但这样做也有问题，因为风是不可靠的。
第四十三篇ForecastingMethods
There are several different methods that can be used to create a forecast. The method a forecaster chooses depends upon the experience of the forecaster, the amount of information available to the forecaster, the level of difficulty that the forecast situation presents, and the degree of accuracy or confidence needed in the forecast.
The first of these methods is the persistence method; the simplest way of producing a forecast. The persistence method assumes that the conditions at the time of the forecast will not change. For example, if it is sunny and 87 degree today, the persistence method predicts that it will be sunny and 87 degree tomorrow. If two inches of rain fell today, the persistence method would predict two inches of rain for tomorrow. However, if weather conditions change significantly from day to day, the persistence method usually breaks down and is not the best forecasting method to use.
The trends method involves determining the speed and direction of movement for fronts, high and low pressure centers, and areas of clouds and precipitation. Using this information, the forecaster can predict where he or she expects those features to be at some future time. For example, if a storm system is 1,000 miles west of your location and moving to the east at 250 miles per day, using the trends method you would predict it to arrive in your area in 4 days. The trends method works well when systems continue to move at the same speed in the same direction for a long period of time. If they slow down, speed up, change intensity, or change direction, the trends forecast will probably not work as well.
The climatology method is another simple way of producing a forecast. This method involves averaging weather statistics accumulated over many years to make the forecast. For example, if you were using the climatology method to predict the weather for New York City on July 4th, you would go through all the weather data that has been recorded for every July 4th and take an average. The climatology method only works well when the weather pattern is similar to that expected for the chosen time of year. If the pattern is quite unusual for the given time of year, the climatology method will often fail.
The analog method is a slightly more complicated method of producing a forecast. It involves examining today's forecast scenario and remembering a day in the past when the weather scenario looked very similar (an analog). The forecaster would predict that the weather in this forecast will behave the same as it did in the past. The analog method is difficult to use because it is virtually impossible to find a predict analog. Various weather features rarely align themselves in the same locations as they were in the previous time. Even small differences between the current time and the analog can lead to very different results.
天气预报的方法
天气预报可用几种不同的方式来制作。一个天气预报员采用什么方法来制作天气预报是由其经验决定的，预报员
可利用的信息的数量，预报情况的困难程度，预报中需要的准确度和置信度。
第一种方法是持续性的方法。这是制作天气预报最简单的方法。持续性方法假设在天气预报时，条件是不会发生变化的。例如，如果今天是晴，87度，持续性方法会预测明天也会是晴，87度。如果今天的降雨量是2英寸，持续性方法会预测明天也会是2英寸。然而，如果天气状况一天天地显著变化，持续性方法常会出错，所以这不是制作天气预报的最佳方法。
趋势性方法包括测定锋运动的速度和方向，高、低压的中心和多云、降水地区。利用这些信息，预报员能预测将来的某个时间什么地区会出现同样特征的天气状况。例如，如果一个风暴在你居住地以西1 000英里且以每天250英里的速度向东移近，运用趋势性方法，你能预测这个风暴在4天以后将到达你所在的地区。当某一大气现象长时期以同一速度向同一方向运动时，趋势性方法很有效。如果它们减速、加速，强度变化或方向转变，这种制作天气预报的方法可能会不准确。
气候学方法是另一种制作天气预报的简单方法。这种方法通过计算多年来积累的天气状况统计值的平均数来制作天气预报。例如，如果你用气候学方法来预测7月4日纽约的天气状况，你会浏览每年7月4日纽约的天气数据记录，然后计算其平均值。气候学方法只有当天气状况与所选时间的预期天气状况相似时才有效。若天气状况和所取时间的天气状况非常不同，运用气候学方法常会失败。
相似物方法是有点儿复杂的制作天气预报的方法。它包括测量今天的天气状况和回想过去和今天天气状况相似的一天。预报员会预测现在的天气将发生和过去那天同样的变化。相似物方法很难被应用，因为事实上不可能找到所期望的同样的天气状况。各种不同的天气特征极少同时出现在与前次出现时一样的地点。即使现在的天气状况与其过去的相似物有一点小差别都能造成不同的结果。
第四十四篇DefendingtheTheoryofEvolution
StillSeemsNeeded
Judith S．Weis, a biology professor who serves as president of the American Institute of Biological Sciences (AIBS) is leading a nationwide effort to "defend" the theory of evolution. Weis leads the effort in the face of what the institute views as opposition and indifference from school boards and government entities.
The Institute believes that the teaching of evolution in America is being diminished by the teaching of creationism as well as by an overall lack of teaching Darwin's theory in high school. "There's nothing that requires schools to teach evolution. Sometimes teachers in high schools just leave it out.However, from the point of view of biologists, evolution is the central theory of biology upon which everything is based," said Weis. "Unfortunately, teaching evolution has become a political issue in many parts of the country and AIBS, asa representative of biologists, wanted to be a major force speaking out in favor of its teaching."
Weis said the institute is working together with the American Geological Institute and the National Association of Biology Teachers and its 80-plus member organizations to address the political and legislative threats to teaching evolution. In states challenging its teaching, the institute responds by sending letters to school boards and state legislatures, by providing testimony at public meetings and by notifying members and affiliated organizations. AIBS, with more than 80 member societies and 250,000 members, has established an email system enabling scientists and teachers in each state, and member societies, to keepeach other informed about threats to the teaching of evolution.
Darwin's theory of evolution holds that living things change and adapt to their environment and that present-day species (including human beings) are descended from earlier species through modification by natural selection. The theory has been accepted by scientists for nearly 100 years, Weis said, and has been refined, extended and strengthened over the years by findings in paleontology and developmental biology.
Discoveries in genetics, molecular biology and genomics -- all of which provide significant benefits for human health -- would not be possible without the underlying knowledge of evolution. And, Weis adds, "modern molecular biology and genomics have increased our understanding of how evolution works." Nonetheless, evolution remains a politically, if not scientifically, controversial issue.
Weis said that this year alone, seven states have had either local or statewide efforts to water down the teaching of evolution, or "balance" it with the teaching of creationism -- a religious belief that different species were created separately by a higher power, such as God. "Rarely does anyone now use the word‘creationism', because that's too obvious." Weis said, "The current terminology
is‘intelligent design.'"
捍卫进化论仍必要
美国生物科学院主席Judith S．Weis正发动全国的力量来“捍卫”进化论。研究所看到来自学校董事会和政府部门的反对和冷漠，尽管如此，Weis仍带领大家为捍卫进化论而努力。
研究所认为美国的进化论教育由于神创论教育和高中完全缺少达尔文理论的讲授而减少。“没有命令要求学校教授进化论。高中老师有时就忽略了它。然而，从生物学家的角度来看，进化论是生物学的中心理论，是万物存在的基础，”Weis说。“不幸的是，在美国许多地方和美国生物科学院，讲授进化论成了一个政治事件，作为生物学家的代表，我想为进化论教育而疾呼。”
Weis说生物科学院正和美国地理学院和国家生物教师联合会及其80多个成员组织合作来对抗来自政治上和法律上的关于教授进化论的威胁。在国内，面对进化论教育的挑战，生物科学院寄信给学校董事会和国家立法机关，在公众会议上展示证据，通知其成员及联合组织。生物科学院拥有80多个成员社团和250 000个成员，它建立了一个电子邮件系统使各州的科学家和成员社团能相互联合，先知进化论教育面临的威胁。达尔文的进化论主张生物变化以适应他们的环境，并且现有物种(包括人类)是由早期物种经过自然选择的改造遗传下来的。这个理论已经被科学家接受了近100年，Weis说，并且由于古生物学的发现和生物学的发展而被完善、拓展、加强。
基因、分子生物学和整组遗传因子方面的发现--这些都对人类健康大有好处棗如果离开进化论是不可能实现的。而且，Weis补充说，“现代分子生物学和基因学加深了我们对进化论的认识。”然而，进化论仍是政治性而非科学性的争议问题。
Weis说仅今天，七个州的地方性或全州性地减少了进化论教育或使其处于和神创论教育同等的地位--神创论是指从宗教上相信物种是由一种更高级的力量，例如上帝分别创造。“极少有人使用‘神创论’这个词，因为它太明显了。”Weis说“目前使用的术语是‘天才的设计’”。
第四十五篇SmallButWise
On December 14, NASA blasted a small but mighty telescope into space. The telescope is called WISE and is about as wide around as a trashcan. Don't let its small size fool you: WISE has a powerful digital camera, and it will be taking pictures of some the wildest objects in the known universe, including asteroids, faintstars,blazinggalaxiesandgiantcloudsofdustwhereplanetsandstars are born.
"I'mveryexcitedbecausewe'regoingtobeseeingpartsoftheuniverse that we haven't seen before," said Ned Wright, a scientist who directs the WISE project.
Sincearrivinginspace,theWISEtelescopehasbeencirclingtheEarth, held by gravity in a polar
orbit( this means it crosses close to the north and
southpoleswitheachlap).Itscameraispointedoutward,awayfromtheEarth, andWISEwillsnapapictureofadifferentpartoftheskyevery11minutes. After six months it will have taken pictures across the entire sky.
Thepicturestaken by WISE won't be like everyday digital photographs, however. WISE stands for "Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer." As its name suggests, the WISE camera takes pictures of features that give off infrared radiation.
Radiation is energy that travels as a wave. Visible light, including the familiar spectrum of light that becomes visible in a rainbow, is an example of
radiation.Whenanordinarydigitalcameratakesapictureofatree,for example, it receives the waves of visible light that are reflected off the tree.
Whenthesewavesenterthecamerathroughthelens,they'reprocessedbythe camera, which then puts the image together.
Wavesofinfraredradiationarelongerthan waves of visible light, so ordinary digital cameras don't see them, and neither do the eyes of human beings.
Althoughinvisibletotheeye,longerinfraredradiationcanbedetectedas warmth by the skin.
That'sakeyideatowhyWISEwillbeableto see things other telescopes can't. Not everything in the universe shows up in visible light. Asteroids, for example,aregiantrocksthatfloatthrough space -- but they absorb most of the lightthatreachesthem.Theydon'treflectlight,sothey'redifficulttosee. Buttheydogiveoffinfraredradiation,soaninfraredtelescopelikeWISEwill beabletoproduceimagesofthem. During its mission WISE will take pictures of hundreds of thousands of asteroids.
Brown dwarfs are another kind of deep-space object that will show up in WISE's pictures. These objects are "failed" stars -- which means they are not massiveenoughtojumpstartthesame kind of reactions that power stars such as the sun. Instead, brown dwarfs simply shrink and cool down. They're so dim that they're almost impossible to see with visible light, but in the infrared spectrum they glow.
小而聪明
12月14日，美国国家航空航天局发射了一个体积小而威力大的望远镜。它的名字叫“WISE”(聪明)，大约只有一个垃圾盒子那么宽。你可千万不要轻视这个小东西，WISE可是一款高强数码相机，它将在人类已知的宇宙里拍摄任何你所能想到的天体，包括小行星、那些只能看到微弱的光和因燃烧而无法观察到的天体，以及自行星和恒星诞生以来的巨大尘埃云。
Ned Wright是主持WISE项目的科学家，他说：“我十分兴奋，因为我们就要看到以前从未看到过的那部分宇宙”。
到达宇宙空间后，WISE由于受极地轨道重力作用，一直在围绕地球旋转(这意味着，每转一圈，它就离南极和北极靠近)。它的镜头是向外的，远离地球，每11分钟WISE就会抓拍天空一个不同的部分。六个月之后，它将把整个天空拍摄完毕。
然而，WISE拍摄的相片不会像我们日常的数码相片。WISE是Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer（广域红外勘测探测器）的缩写。正如名字所示，WASE能拍到发出红外线辐射物体的相片。
辐射是波浪状行进的一种能量。人能看到的光，包括大家熟悉的、在彩虹里看到的光谱就是射线的一个例子。例如，当普通的数码相机给一棵树照相时，它能接收到树反射回来的、可见的光波。光波通过镜头进入到相机里，相机对它进行加工，然后把图像合成。
红外线的波长比可见光长，所以，普通的数码相机捕捉不到他们，人眼也看不到这种射线。尽管人们看不到，人的皮肤能感受到较长红外线带来的温暖。这就是为什么WISE能捕捉到其他望远镜看不到的物体的主要原因。宇宙中，不是所有的东西都以可见光的方式呈现出来。例如，小行星是在太空中漂浮的大岩石，但是小行星吸收射到他们表面的大部分光。
他们不能反射光，所以要看到他们很困难。但他们却释放出红外线，所以，象WISE这样的红外线望远镜才能够捕捉到它们的图像。WISE的任务就是拍摄成千上万的小行星图像。
WISE的另一任务是为另外一种太空深处的天体一褐矮星拍照。这种天体是“失败的”恒星，它们是一些不够大，不能像太阳的能量那样启动相同的反应。褐矮星只能缩小和冷却。他们发出的光如此之微弱，人们根本看不到，但是在红外频谱中，它们是发光的。
+第四十六篇
Ants Have Big Impact on Environment as "Ecosystem Engineers"
Research by the University of Exeter1 has revealed that ants have a big impact on their local environment as a result of their activity as "ecosystem engineers" and predators. The study, published in the Journal of Animal Ecology, found that ants have two distinct effects on their local environment.
Firstly, through moving of soil by nest building2 activity and by collecting food they affect the level of nutrients in the soil. This can indirectly impact the local populations of many animal groups, from decomposers to species much higher up the food chain.
Secondly, they prey on a wide range of other animals, including larger prey which can be attacked by vast numbers of ant workers.
Dirk Sanders, an author of the study from the university's Centre for Ecology and Conservation, said:"Ants are very effective predators which thrive in huge numbers. They're also very territorial3 and very aggressive, defending their resources and territory against other predators. All of this means they have a strong influence on their surrounding area."
"In this research, we studied for the first time how big this impact is and the subtleties of it. What we found is that despite being predators, their presence can also lead to an increase in density and diversity of other animal groups4. They genuinely play a key role in the local environment, having a big influence on the grassland food web," Sanders said.
The study, carried out in Germany, studied the impact of the presence of different combinations and densities of black garden ants and common red ants, both species which can be found across Europe, including in the UK. It found that a low density of ants in an area increased the diversity and density of other animals in the local area, particularly the density of herbivores and decomposers. At higher densities ants had no or the opposite effect, showing that predation is counteracting the positive influence.
Dr Frank van Veen, another author on the study, said:"What we find is that the impact of ants on soil nutrient levels has a positive effect on animal groups at low levels, but as the number of ants increases,
their predatory impacts have the bigger effect —thereby counteracting the positive influence via ecosystem engineering."
Ants are important components of ecosystems not only because they constitute a great part of the animal biomass5 but also because they act as ecosystem engineers. Ant biodiversity6 is incredibly high and these organisms are highly responsive to human impact, which obviously reduces its richness. However, it is not clear how such disturbance damages the maintenance of ant services to the ecosystem．Ants are important in below ground processes8through the alteration of the physical and chemical environment and through their effects on plants, microorganisms, and other soil organisms.
蚂蚁作为“生态系统工程师”对环境影响巨大
埃克斯特大学所做的研究表明，蚂蚁作为“生态系统工程师”和食肉动物的行为对当地的环境影响巨大。该研究发表在动物生态杂志上，它表明蚂蚁对当地的环境有两大显著的影响。
第一，通过筑巢而挪动土壤或采集食物，蚂蚁影响土壤的营养水平。这可间接影响当地从腐生物到食物链高层的许多动物种群的数量。
第二，它们捕食的动物种类很多，包括那些被大量工蚁攻击的大猎物。
Dirk Sanders是该大学生态和保护中心所做的此项研究的作者，他说：“蚂蚁是高效的食肉动物，而且能大量繁殖。它们具有很强的领地意识，并且会竭尽全力对抗其他的食肉动物来保卫自己的领地。所有这些都意味着蚂蚁对周围环境影响巨大。
“在该研究中，我们第一次对蚂蚁带来的影响程度及微妙程度进行研究。所得的发现是：尽管是食肉动物，蚂蚁的出现能促使其他动物族群在数量和品种上的增长。并对当地的环境起到切实重要的作用，对大草原的食物链影响巨大”Sanders说。
该研究在德国进行，它对花园黑蚂蚁和一般的红蚂蚁在不同混合程度和不同密度下的影响力进行研究，这两种蚂蚁在整个欧洲包括英国都能找到。研究发现，一个地区的蚂蚁密度小，而其他动物尤其是食草动物和腐生物的数量和种类会增多。如果蚂蚁的密度大，就不可能产生同样的影响，或者产生相反的影响，这表明，蚂蚁的掠食活动会抵消蚂蚁给环境带来的积极影响。
Dr Frank Van Veen是本研究的另一作者，他说：“我们的发现是：如果蚂蚁的数量少，其对土壤的营养水平的影响会对动物族群产生积极的效果，但是如果蚂蚁的数量增加，其捕食的影响会达到最大化，因此会抵消蚂蚁通过生态工程给环境带来的积极影。”
蚂蚁是生态系统的重要组成部分，不仅因为它占有很大部分的生物量，而且因为其作为生态系统工程师的角色。蚂蚁具有难以想象的多样性，但极易受人类的影响，这就使它的多样性有显著的减少。然而，科学家还不清楚人类对蚂蚁这种干扰如何破坏蚂蚁对生态系统的维护作用。蚂蚁通过变动物理的和化学的环境，通过对植物、微生物和其他土壤生物的影响而对生态环境起至关重要的作用。
第四十七ListeningtoBirdsong
A male zebra finch chirps away to himself. Suddenly he notices a female bird nearby. He realizes he has an audience and immediately changes his song. Can the female tell the difference in his performance? According to a new study, the female zebra finch knows. And she prefers the special trills he creates when he sings to her. A male zebra finch changes his song when singing to a female inways that people can barely detect. But the female finch can tell the difference.
Scientists had noticed slight variations in the songs of male zebra finches based on whether they were singing alone or whether there was a female (and potential mate) nearby. With an audience, the males sped up the pace of their songs and controlled the notes they used.
For this study, researchers Sarah C．Woolley and Allison Doupe at the University of California, San Francisco decided to focus attention on the listening females, which have not been well studied in the past.
In the study, Woolley and Doupe set up a long cage with a sound speaker at each end. One broadcast the sound of a male zebra finch singing to himself, like someone singing in the shower. The other speaker broadcast a male performing for a female audience, as if he was giving a concert.
Female birds were placed between the two speakers. Some of the birds had mates, others didn't. The females shifted around a bit, and then most of them hopped over to sit beside just one speaker. All the birds that made a clear choice liked songs meant for a female audience, even if they'd never met the male.
Mated females also had a chance to listen to two different performance songs, one from an unknown male, and one from their mate. They spent more time listening to the concert version of their mates' songs. This suggests that after a while, females learn to recognize--and prefer--the songs of their mates.
Scientists then studied the brains of the females. They found certain areas of the brain perked up when the birds listened to the concert songs. These brain areas may be involved in recognizing and evaluating the songs, and storing the memories of them.
This research deals with what's called directed communication, when the communicator, or sender, focuses the message for a specific audience. One example is the way moms speak to their babies. Mothers around the world use the same sort of high-pitched sing-song chatter, and the babies respond best to those sounds. Songbirds are one of the only other species known to learn their communication,in this case their songs.
倾听鸟鸣
一只雄性斑胸草雀对着自己吱喳而鸣。突然间，他注意到不远处有一只雌性斑胸草雀。他意识到自己有了一位听众并立即改变了自己的声调。那只雌性斑胸草雀能发现他的不同吗？根据一项新的研究结果显示，答案是可以的。并且那只雌性斑胸草雀更喜欢当雄性斑胸草雀为她歌唱时所制造的特殊颤音。人类很难发觉雄性斑胸草雀对着雌性斑胸草雀呜叫时所做出的改变。但是雌性胸斑草雀可以发现其中的不同。
科学家们根据雄性斑胸草雀是否在独自歌唱或者根据其周围是否有一只雌性斑胸草雀(潜在配偶)在场，发现了他们歌声中的略微不同。当有听众在场的时候，雄性斑胸草雀就会加快他们呜叫的速度并且控制其所用的鸣音。为了此项研究，加州大学旧金山分校的两位研究员：萨拉?C?伍利和艾莉森?杜普决定关注倾听者一一雌性斑胸草雀，而雌性斑胸草雀在过去并没有被仔细研究过。
在研究中，伍利和杜普建了二个很长的笼子，笼子两边分别装有一个扬声器。其中一边播放的是雄性斑胸草雀对着自己演唱时所发出的呜叫声，好似一个人在洗澡时所唱的歌。另一边播放的则是雄性斑胸草雀向另一只雌性观众表演时的所发出的呜叫声，仿佛他是在举行一场音乐会。
雌鸟被放置在两个扬声器之间。这些雌鸟中有的已经有了配偶，有的还没有。她们徘徊了一会，便大多飞向并暂栖在了其中的一个扬声器旁边。所有的鸟都选择了为了雌鸟而发出的表演性鸣叫声，即使她们从未见过那只发音的雄性胸斑草雀。
有了配偶的雌性胸斑草雀还可以听到两个不同的表演性呜叫声，其中一个来自未知的雄鸟，另一个则来自她们的配偶。她们花了更多的时间倾听自己配偶的歌声。而这表明雌鸟在经过一段时间后可以识别出并且更加喜爱自己配偶的歌声。
科学家们继而研究了雌鸟的脑部。他们发现当雌鸟听到表演性呜叫声的时候，这些鸟的脑部的特定区域会变得活跃起来。而这些区域可能同识别、评价和储存歌声有关。
这项研究所关注的就是所谓的“指向性交流”，即当传播者或信息发送者所发送的信息就是为了特定的观众。其中一个例子就是母亲向婴儿说话的方式。全世界的母亲都采用同样一种方式：高声调的歌咏式的喋喋不休，婴儿对这种声音的反应最好。而鸣鸟是其他已知物种中唯一可以获知这种指向性交流的物种，而在这种情况下，则是他们的歌声。
第四十八篇Researchers Discover Why Humans Began Walking Upright
Most of us walk and carry items in our hands every day. These are seemingly simple activities that the majority of us don’t question. But an international team of researchers, including Dr. Richmond from GW's Columbian College of Arts and Sciences，have discovered that human walking upright, may have originated millions of years ago as an adaptation to carrying scarce, high- quality resources. The team of researchers from the U. S., England, Japan and Portugal investigated the behavior of modern-day chimpanzees as they competed for food resources，in an effort to understand what ecological settings would lead a large ape — one that resembles the 6 million-year old ancestor we shared in common with living chimpanzees — to walk on two legs.
“These chimpanzees provide a model of the ecologi cal conditions under which our earliest ancestors might have begun walking on two legs, "，said Dr. Richmond.
The research findings suggest that chimpanzees switch to moving on two limbs instead of four in situations where they need to monopolize a resource. Standing on two legs allows them to carry much more at one time because it frees up their hands. Over time，intense bursts of bipedal activity may have led to anatomical changes that in turn became the subject of natural selection where competition for food or other resources was strong.
Two studies were conducted by the team in Guinea. The first study was conducted by the team in Kyoto University’s “ outdoor laboratory ” in a natural clearing in Bossou Forest. Researchers allowed the wild chimpanzees access to different combinations of two different types of nut — the oil palm nut，which is naturally widely available, and the coula nut, which is not. The chimpanzees’ behavior was monitored in three situations:(a) when only oil palm nuts were available,(b)when a small number of coula nuts were available，and(c) when coula nuts were the majority available resource.
When the rare coula nuts were available only in small numbers, the chimpanzees transported more at one time. Similarly, when coula nuts were the majority resource, the chimpanzees ignored the oil palm nuts altogether. The chimpanzees regarded the coula nuts as a more highly-prized resource and competed for them more intensely.
In such high-competition settings，the frequency of cases in which the chimpanzees started moving on two legs increased by a factor of four. Not only was it obvious that bipedal movement allowed them to carry more of this precious resource, but also that they were actively trying to move as much as they could in one go by using everything available 一even their mouths.
The second study, by Kimberley Hockings of Oxford Brookes University, was a 14-month study of Bossou chimpanzees crop-raiding, a situation in which they have to compete for rare and unpredictable Resources. Here, 35 percent of the chimpanzees activity involved some sort of bipedal movement, and once again, this behavior appeared to be linked to a clear attempt to carry as much as possible at one time.
第四十八篇研究人员发现人类开始直立行走的原因
我们大多数人每天都走路而且手里搬着东西。这样的活动看似太简单，大多数人没有疑问。但是一个国际研究者（包括乔治?华盛顿大学哥伦比亚艺术与科学学院的Richmond博士）团队已经发现了人类直立行走可能源于数百万年以前适应搬运稀有的、高质量的资源。这些来自美国、英国、日本和葡萄牙的研究者研究了当代黑猩猩争抢食物时的行为特征，试图对什么样的生态环境竟然导致大猿（一种我们与现存的黑猩猩一样的600万年前的祖先）直立行走作出解释。
“这些黑猩猩居住的生态环境和我们最早的祖先开始直立行走时是相同的，” Richmond博士说。研究结果显示，当黑猩猩需要独占一种资源时，它们就从四肢行走转换为直立行走。由于直立行走可以解放它们的双手，这使得它们能搬更多的东西。久而久之，双足活动的强烈爆发可能导致了解剖学上的变化，因此这种变化也就成为自然选择的主题，在那种情况下，对食物或其他资源的争夺是十分激烈的。
有两项研究是在几内亚完成的。第一项研究是在京都大学博苏森林的一块天然空地——“室外实验室”进行的。研究者们允许森林里的黑猩猩能得到两种不同的坚果，一种叫油棕榈坚果，自然界随处可见，一种叫可乐果，自然环境中不常见。人们监控黑猩猩在下列三种情形下的行为：(a)只有油棕榈坚果；（b)只有少量的可乐果，大多数是油棕榈坚果;(c)大多数是可乐果，少数是油棕榈坚果。
当稀有的可乐果数量很少时，黑猩猩一次就会拿得多。同样，当大部分是可乐果时，黑猩猩对油棕榈坚果根本视而不见。黑猩猩认为可乐果才是珍贵的资源，并为得到可乐果激烈竞争。
处于这种激烈竞争的环境中，黑猩猩直立行走的频率增加了四倍。很显然，双足行走可以使它们拿走更多的稀有资源，而且，为了尽可能地一口气多拿，它们积极利用可用到的任何方法，甚至嘴巴。
第二项研究是在牛津布鲁克斯大学的Kimberley Hockings进行的。该研究历时14个月，主题是博苏的黑猩猩抢劫粮食，场景是它们不得不为稀有和不可预知的资源竞争。在这项研究中，黑猩猩35%的活动是直立行走。而这一次研究再一次证实了黑猩猩的直立行走与它们试图一次搬走尽可能多的东西有关。
第四十九篇US．ScientistsConfirmWateronMars
NASA scientists said that Mars was covered once by vast lakes, flowing rivers and a variety of other wet environments that had the potential to support life.
Laboratory tests aboard NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander have identified water in a soil sample. The lander's robotic arm delivered the sample Wednesday to an instrument that identifies vapors produced by the heating of samples.
"We have water," said William Boynton of the University of Arizona, lead scientist for the Thermal and Evolved-Gas Analyzer, or TEGA. "This is the first time Martian water has been touched and tasted."
The robotic arm is a critical part of the Phoenix Mars mission. It is needed to trench into the icy layers of northern polar Mars and deliver samples to instruments that will analyze what Mars is made
of, what its water is like, and whether it is or has ever been a possible habitat for life.
The soil sample came from a trench approximately 2 inches deep. When the robotic arm first reached that depth, it hit a hard layer of frozen soil. Two attempts to deliver samples of icy soil on days when fresh material was exposed were foiled when the samples became stuck inside the scoop. Most of the material in Wednesday's sample had been exposed to the air for two days, letting some of the water in the sample vaporize away and making the soil easier to handle.
"Mars is giving us some surprises," said Phoenix principal investigator Peter Smith of the University of Arizona. "We're excited because surprises are where discoveries come from. One surprise is how the soil is behaving. The ice- rich layers stick to the scoop when poised in the sun above the deck, different from what we expected, from all the Mars simulation testing we've done so far."
Since landing on May 25, Phoenix has been studying soil with a chemistry lab, TEGA, a microscope, a conductivity probe and cameras. The science team is trying to determine whether the water ice ever thaws enough to be available for biology; and if carbon-containing chemicals and other raw materials for life are present.
The mission is examining the sky as well as the ground. A Canadian instrument is using a laser beam to study dust and clouds overhead.
"It's a 30-watt light bulb giving us a laser show on Mars," said VictoriaHipkin of the Canadian Space Agency.
A full-circle, color panorama of Phoenix's surroundings also has been completed by the spacecraft.
"The details and patterns we see 'in the ground show an ice-dominated terrain as far as the eye can see,." said Mark Lemmon of Texas A & M University, lead scientist for Phoenix's Surface Stereo Imager camera. "They help us plan measurements we're making within reach of the robotic arm and interpret those measurements on a wider scale."
美国科学家确认火星上有水
美国国家航空航天局的科学家们称火星曾被巨大的湖泊、流动的河流以及其他潮湿的自然环境所覆盖，而这些都使其有了维持生命的可能。
在美国国家航空航天局的“凤凰”号火星登陆器的实验室所做的试验中，已经在一份土壤样本中鉴别出了水。登录器的机器臂在星期三的时候把样本传送给了一个仪器，此仪器可以鉴别出通过样本加热而产生的水蒸气。
“我们找到了水”，热力与先进气体分析仪(也称TEGA)的主要科学家、亚利桑那大学的威廉?博尔顿说道；“这是我们第一次接触和品尝到火星上的水。”
登录器的机器手臂是“凤凰”火星计划重要的组成部分。它需要破开火星北极的冰冻地表，深入到土壤伸出铲取样本，并将样本传送给仪器，使其可以分析火星的构成，火星上的水的形态和火星是否适合或曾经适合人类居住。
土壤标本来自于一个大概2寸深的沟渠。当机器臂第一次达到这个沟的时候，它触到了一层硬的冻土。当新鲜的冻土暴露在空气中的时候，机器臂曾经两次尝试对冻土样本进行传送，但样本同铲斗粘在了一起，使这两次尝试都以失败告终。星期三所采集的大部分样本已经暴露在空气两天，这使样本中的一些水分得以蒸发，从而使土壤更易处理。
“火星正在给我们一些惊喜，”“凤凰”计划的主要调查员、亚利桑那大学的彼得?史密斯说道；“我们很激动是因为发现源于惊喜。其中一个惊喜就是土壤的表现。当富冰层被悬挂于甲板上方的太阳底下的时候，它会和铲斗粘在一起，这是我们从未预期到的，也不同于我们迄今为止所做过的任何火星模拟实验。”
自5月25日登陆以来，凤凰号就利用一个化学实验室、热力与先进气体分析仪、一个显微镜，一根传导性探针和相机来研究火星土壤。这只科学团队尝试确定火星上的水冰是否曾经大量融化，从而能支持生物存在；同时，它还将寻找火星土中是否有以碳为基础的有机化合物，这些化合物是形成生命的“原材料”。
这次任务同时对天空和地表进行研究。加拿大所制造的仪器所发射的激光可以帮助研究头上方的尘埃和云层。
“这是一个30瓦的灯泡，它在火星上给了我们一场激光秀.”加拿大航天局的维多利亚?西普金说道
航天器还成功采集了“凤凰”号着陆的周围地区的彩色全景图。
“我们获得的地表图案显示，火星基本上是一片以冰为主的地区。”“凤凰”号负责地表立体成像首席科学家、德州A&M大学的马克·莱蒙说；“立体成像技术可以帮助我们在机器臂所及范围之内的进行测量，同时帮助我们在更广的规模上解释这些测量结果。”
第五十篇CellPhonesIncreaseTraffic,PedestrianFatalities
Cell phones are a danger on the road in more ways than one. Two new studies showthattalkingonthephonewhiletraveling,whetheryou'redrivingoron
foot,isincreasingbothpedestriandeathsandthoseofdriversandpassengers, and re
The new studies, lead-authored by Rutgers University, Newark, Economics ProfessorPeterD．Loebrelatetheimpactofcellphonesonaccidentfatalities to the number of cell phones in use showing that the current increase in deaths resultingfromcellphoneusefollowsaperiodwhencellphonesactuallyhelped to reduce pedestrian and traffic fatalities. However, this reduction in fatalitiesdisappearedoncethenumbersofphonesinusereacheda"critical mass" of 100 million, the study found.
commend crackdowns on cell use by both pedestrians and drivers.
These studies looked at cell phone use and motor vehicle accidents from1975 through 2002, and factored in a number of variables, including vehicle speed, alcohol consumption, seat belt use, and miles driven. The studies found the cell phone-fatality correlation to be true even when including factors such as speed, alcohol consumption, and seat belt use.
Loeb and his co-author determined that, at the current time, cell phone use has a "significant adverse effect on pedestrian safety" and that "cell phones and their usage abovea critical threshold adds to motor vehicle fatalities." In the late 1980s and part of the 1990s, before the numbers of phones exploded, cell phone use actually had a "life-saving effect" in pedestrian and traffic accidents, Loeb notes. "Cell-phone users' were able to quickly call for medical assistance when involved in an accident. This quick medical response actually reduced the number of traffic deaths fora time," Loeb hypothesizes.
However, this was not the case when cells were first used in the mid-1980s, when they caused a "life-taking effect" among pedestrians, drivers and passengers in vehicles. In those early days, when there were fewer than a million phones, fatalities increased, says Loeb, because drivers and pedestrians probably werestill adjusting to the novelty of using them,. and there weren't enough cell phones in use to makea difference in summoning help following an accident, he explains.
The "life-saving effect" occurred as the volume of phones grew into the
early1990s,andincreasingnumbersofcellswereusedtocall911following
accidents,leadingtoadropinfatalities, explains Loeb. But this life-saving effect was canceled out once the numbers of phones reached a "critical mass" of about 100 million and the "life-taking effect" -- increased accidents and fatalities--outweighedthebenefitsofquickaccessto911services,according to Loeb.
Loeb and his co-authors used econometric models to analyze data from a number of government and private studies. He and his co-authors recommend that governments consider more aggressive policies to reduce cell phone use by both drivers and pedestrians, to reduce the number of fatalities.
手机增加交通行人死亡
手机在路上有多种多样的危险。两个新的研究表明，不管开车还是步行时打手机，都会增加行人、司机和乘客死亡的危险，所以该研究建议严厉限制行人和司机使用手机。这是一项第一作者为罗格斯大学纽瓦克分校的经济学教授Peter D．Loeb的新研究成果，它把手机的意外致命的影响和大量手机使用数量联系起来，表明目前由于手机所引起的死亡数目有所增加，而在此之间的一段时间里，手机事实上能够帮助降低行人和交通致命率。但研究发现，当手机使用人数达到l亿这个临界数量时，手机降低交通致命率的作用就消失了。
这些研究涉及到从1975年到2002年间的手机使用和机动车辆事故之间的关系，也涉及包括车速、酒精消耗、安全带的使用和行驶的里数等其它方面。这些研究表明甚至当考虑比如速度、酒精消耗和安全带的使用这些因素时，二者之间的关联也是真实存在的。在目前，Loeb和他的合著者决定手机的使用“在行人安全上有严重的反作用”并且“手机的使用数量已经超过了临界数量也增加了机动车辆的致命性。”在20世纪80年代末和90年代的一段时间，在手机使用数量达到大爆炸之前，手机的使用确实在交通事故中起到过“保护生命的作用”。“当发生交通意外时，手机使用者能够快速地打电话寻求医疗帮助。这种快速的医学求救反应确实能在一定时间内减少一定数量的事故死亡”，Loeb 假设。
但是，在20世纪80年代当手机开始被使用时并不是这样，在那时手机在行人、司机和乘客间造成了“致命的效果。”在早些日子里，那时有不到一百万部手机，致命率增加了，Loeb 说；因为司机和行人或许在那时还在适应怎样使用它们，还没有足够的手机能够在事故中呼叫帮助，他解释说。
这“保护生命的效果”是在20世纪90年代当大数量的手机被使用的时候出现的，越来越多的手机在事故之后拨打91l求助，这就降低了致命率，Loeb解释说。但是一旦手机的使用量超过大约一亿的“临界数量”时，这种保护生命的效果就被抵消了，而且这种“致命的效果”-- 增加了事故和死亡--超过了能快速呼叫9ll服务的好处，根据Loeb 所说。
Loeb和他的合著者们使用计量经济模式来分析从许多政府和私人研究中得来的数据。他和他的合著者们都推荐政府采取强制性措施来减少司机和行人的手机使用数量，来减少死亡事件的发生。
2015职称英语综合类B级真题及答案 第1部分词汇选项(第1-15题，每题1分，共15分) 下面每个句子中均有1个词或短语划有底横线，请为每处划线部分确定一个意义最为接近的选项。 1. The organization was bold enough to face the press. A. pleased B. powerful C. brave D .sensible 2. I will not tolerate that sort of behavior in my class. A. accept B. control C. observe D. regulate 3. I realized to my horror that I had forgotten the present. A limit B. fear C. power D. fool 4. Most people find rejection hard to accept. A. excuse B. client C. destiny D. refusal 5. She's extremely competent and industrious. A. hardworking B. honest C. objective D. independent 6. The doctors did not reveal the truth to him. A. hide B .handle C. disclose D. establish 7. He tried to assemble his thoughts. A. clear B. share C. gather D. spare 8. The law carries a penalty of up to three years in prison. A. message B. punishment C. guilt D. obligation 9. Prisoners were kept in the most appalling conditions. A. flexible B. terrible C. reasonable D. serious 10. These products are inferior to those we brought last year. A. poorer than B. narrower than C. larger than D. richer than 11. The political situation in the region has deteriorated rapidly. A. improved B. changed C. worsened D. developed 12. There was a simultaneous trial taking place in the next building. A. coexisting B. fair C. full D .pubic 13. They're petitioning for better facilities for the disabled on public transport. A. requesting B.planning C. preparing D. looking 14. He said some harsh words about his brother. A. unkind B. proper C. normal D. unclear 15. We were attracted by the lure of quick money. A. amount B. supply C. sum D. temp 第2部分: 阅读判断(第16-22题,每题1分,共7分) 下面的短文后列出了7个句子，请根据短文的内容对每个句子做出判断：如果该句提供的是正确信息，请选择A: 如果该句提供的是错误信息，请选择B; 如果该句的信息问中没有提及，请选择C。 Living History at Jamestown Settlement A woman in Native American clothes is sitting in the sun, sewing a dress from skin. Inside a building, a colonist is making a wooden chair, using very simple tools. And all around, tourists are taking pictures with their digital (数码的) cameras. This is Jamestown Settlement today.
2015年职称英语理工类B级考试真题 第一部分：词汇选项 1.The organization was bold enough to face the press. A.pleased B.powerful C.brave D.sensible 参考答案：C 2.I will not tolerate that sort of behavior in my class. A.accept B.control C.observe D.regulate 参考答案：A 3.I realized to my horror that I had forgotten the present. A.limit B.fear C.power D.fool 参考答案：B 4.Most people find rejection hard to accept. A.excuse B.client C.destiny D.refusal 参考答案：D 5.She's extremely competent and industrious. A.hardworking B.honest C.objective D.independent 参考答案：A 6.The doctors did not reveal the truth to him. A.hide B.handle C.disclose D.establish 参考答案：C 7.He tried to assemble his thoughts. A.clear B.share C.gather D.spare 参考答案：C
8.The law carries a penalty of up to three years in prison. A.message B.punishment C.guilt D.obligation 参考答案：B 9.Prisoners were kept in the most appalling conditions. A.flexible B.terrible C.reasonable D.serious 参考答案：B 10.These products are inferior to those we brought last year. A.poorer than B.narrower than https://www.doczj.com/doc/6618487136.html,rger than D.richer than 参考答案：A 11.The political situation in the region has deteriorated rapidly. A.improved B.changed C.worsened D.developed 参考答案：C 12.There was a simultaneous trial taking place in the next building. A.coexisting B.fair C.full D.pubic 参考答案：A 13.They're petitioning for better facilities for the disabled on public transport. A.requesting B.planning C.preparing D.looking 参考答案：A 14.He said some harsh words about his brother. A.unkind B.proper C.normal D.unclear 参考答案：A 15.We were attracted by the lure of quick money. A.amount
2015职称英语综合类B级真题答案(词汇选项) 第1部分词汇选项(第1~15题，每题1分，共15分) 下面每个句子中均有1个词或短语划有底横线，请为每处划线部分确定一个意义最为接近的选项。 1. The organization was bold enough to face the press. A. pleased B. powerful C. brave D .sensible 2. I will not tolerate that sort of behavior in my class. A. accept B. control C. observe D. regulate 3. I realized to my horror that I had forgotten the present. A limit B. fear C. power D. fool 4. Most people find rejection hard to accept. A. excuse B. client C. destiny D. refusal 5. She's extremely competent and industrious. A. hardworking B. honest C. objective D. independent 6. The doctors did not reveal the truth to him. A. hide B .handle C. disclose D. establish 7. He tried to assemble his thoughts. A. clear B. share C. gather D. spare 8. The law carries a penalty of up to three years in prison. A. message B. punishment C. guilt D. obligation 9. Prisoners were kept in the most appalling conditions. A. flexible B. terrible C. reasonable D. serious
2015年职称英语理工类C级考试真题及答案第一部分：词汇选项 1. The weather last summer was awful. A. bad B. fair C. dry D. hot 参考答案：A 2. The law carries a penalty of up to three years in prison. A. message B. guilt C. obligation D. punishment 参考答案：D 3. My piano playing has improved significantly since I had a new teacher. A. definitely B. generally C. certainly D. greatly 参考答案：D 4. There is a need for radical changes in education.
A. revolutionary B. long-term C. short-term D. systematic 参考答案：A 5. It frustrates me that I‘m not able to put any of my ideas into practice. A. discourages B. shows C. surprises D. frightens 参考答案：A 6. I realized to my horror that I had forgotten the present. A. limit B. fear C. power D. fool 参考答案：B 7. He tried to assemble his thoughts. A. gather B. clear C. share D. spare
2015职称英语综合类C真题及答案(完整版)第1部分：词汇选项(第1-15题，每题1分，共15分) 下面每个句子中均有1个词语或短语画有底横线，请为每处划线部分确定1个意义最为接近的选项。 1 Railways are the most important mode of transport for the economy. A way B factor C objective D source 2 The law carries a penalty of up to three years in prison. A message B punishment C guilt D obligation 3 He said some harsh words about his brother. A proper B normal C unclear D unkind 4 I am going as a favor to Ann because I have to. A partner B help C drive D guide 5 We need to identify the potential problem. A man B possible C immediate D common 6 When did you first encounter these difficulties? A create B experience C present D resolve 7 Don’ｔ tempt thieves by leaving valuable clearly visible. A attract B alarm C catch D spot 8 There is a need for radical changes in education.
2015年职称英语考试综合类B 级试题及参考答案
2015职称英语综合类B级真题答案(词汇选项) 第1部分词汇选项(第1~15题，每题1分，共15分) 下面每个句子中均有1个词或短语划有底横线，请为每处划线部分确定一个意义最为接近的选项。 1. The organization was bold enough to face the press. A. pleased B. powerful C. brave D .sensible 2. I will not tolerate that sort of behavior in my class. A. accept B. control C. observe D. regulate 3. I realized to my horror that I had forgotten the present. A limit B. fear C. power D. fool 4. Most people find rejection hard to accept. A. excuse B. client C. destiny D. refusal 5. She's extremely competent and industrious. A. hardworking B. honest C. objective D. independent 6. The doctors did not reveal the truth to him. A. hide B .handle C. disclose D. establish 7. He tried to assemble his thoughts. A. clear B. share C. gather D. spare 8. The law carries a penalty of up to three years in prison. A. message B. punishment C. guilt D. obligation 9. Prisoners were kept in the most appalling conditions. A. flexible B. terrible C. reasonable D. serious
2015职称英语理工类A真题及答案(完整版) 第1部分：词汇选项(第1～15题，每题1分，共15分) 下面每个句子中均有1个词或短语划有底横线，请为每处划线部分确定1个意义最为接近的选项。 1. I will not tolerate that sort of behavior in my class. A. control B. observe C. regulate D. accept 2. She showed a natural aptitude for the work. A. sense B. talent C. flavor D. taste 3. Most people find rejection hard to accept. A. excuse B. client C. refusal D. destiny 4. The organization was bold enough to face the press. A. pleased B. powerful C. brave D. sensible 5. They were locked in mortal combat. A. deadly B. open C. actual D. active 6. We were attracted by the lure of quick money. A. amount B. supply C. tempt D. sum 7. The procedures were perceived as complex and less transparent. A. clear B. necessary C. special D. correct 8. The Stock Exchange is in turmoil following a huge wave of selling. A. Service B. danger C. disorder D. threat
2015年职称英语《综合类A级》真题及答案 第一部分：词汇选项(第1-15题。每题1分，共15分) 下面每个句子中有1个词或短语划有底横线，请为每处划线部分确定1个意义最为接近的选项。 1.This was disaster on a comic scale. A.medest https://www.doczj.com/doc/6618487136.html,mercial C.huge D.national 【参考答案】C 2.New secretaries came and went with monotonous regularity. A.amazing B.depressing C.predictable D.dull 【参考答案】D 3.A person's wealth is ofen in inverse proportion to their happiness. A.equal B.certain https://www.doczj.com/doc/6618487136.html,rge D.oppsite 【参考答案】D 4.His professional career spanned 16years. A.started B.changed https://www.doczj.com/doc/6618487136.html,sted
D.moved 【参考答案】C 5.The symptoms of the disease manfested themselves ten days later. A.eased B.improved C.relieved D.appeared 【参考答案】D 6.The group does not advocate the use of violence A.limit B.support C.regulate D.oppose 【参考答案】B 7.She tell that she had done her good deed for the day. A.act B.homework C.jusuce D.model 【参考答案】A 8.Some of the larget bieds can remain stationary in the air for several minutes. A.motionless B.sitent C.seated D.true
2015职称英语综合类C真题及答案(完整版) 第1部分：词汇选项(第1-15题，每题1分，共15分) 下面每个句子中均有1个词语或短语画有底横线，请为每处划线部分确定1个意义最为接近的选项。 1 Railways are the most important mode of transport for the economy. A way B factor C objective D source 2 The law carries a penalty of up to three years in prison. A message B punishment C guilt D obligation 3 He said some harsh words about his brother. A proper B normal C unclear D unkind 4 I am going as a favor to Ann because I have to. A partner B help C drive D guide 5 We need to identify the potential problem. A man B possible C immediate D common 6 When did you first encounter these difficulties? A create B experience C present D resolve 7 Don’t tempt thieves by leaving valuable clearly visible. A attract B alarm C catch D spot 8 There is a need for radical changes in education.
第1部分：词汇选项（第1?15题，每题1分，共15分） 下面每个句子中均有1个词或者短语划有底横线，请为每处划线部分确定1个意义最为接近的选项。 1. I will not tolerate that sort of behavior in my class. A. control B. observe C. regulate D. accept 2.She showed a natural aptitude for the work. A. sense B. talent C. flavor D. taste 3. Most people find rejection hard to accept. A. excuse B. client C. refusal D. destiny 4. The organization was bold enough to face the press. A. pleased B. powerful C. brave D. sensible 5.They were locked in mortal combat. A. deadly B. open C. actual D. active 6. We were attracted by the lure of quick money. A. amount B. supply C. tempt D. sum 7. The procedures were perceived as complex and less transparent. A. clear B. necessary C. special D. correct 8. The Stock Exchange is in turmoil following a huge wave of selling. A. service B. danger C. disorder D. threat 9. He believes that Europe must change or it will perish. A. survive B. last C. die D. move 10.There was a simultaneous trial taking place in the next building. A. fair B. full C. coexisting D. public 11. They promote assimilation of ethnic groups into the main-stream culture. A. policy B. value C. equality D. integration 12. A salesman?s cardinal rule is to satisfy customers. A. principal B. official C. simple D. legal 13. I must compliment you on your handling of a very difficult situation. A. silence B. praise C. assure D. complain 14. We lived for years in a perpetual state of fear. A. emotional B. nervous C. terrible D. continuous 15.The starving children were a pathetic sight. A. common B. unexpected C. unforgettable D. pitiful 第2部分：阅读判断（第16?22题，每题1分，共7分） 下面的短文后列出了7个句子，请根据短文的内容对每个句子做出判断；如果该句提供的是正确信息，请选择A;如果该句提供的是错误信息，请选择B;如果该句的信息文中没有提及，请选择C。 Cities “Worse to Live in Than 20 Years Ago One thousand people were surveyed about a range of issues which affect cities, and the remarkable findings show that life in today?s mega-cities is so stressful that at least two-thirds of those currently living in big cities would like to relocate to the countryside or a small town. The stress of the getting from A to B in big cities is at the top of the list of problems. For many people, the daily commute (通勤）to work is a source of frustration. 40% of the people in the survey have suffered from road rage while stuck in traffic on the way to work. The cost of public
2015综合A真题及答案 第一部分词汇选项 1. I will not tolerate that sort of behavior in my class a. control b. observe c. regulate d. accept 2 .she showed a natural aptitude for the work. a. sense b. talent c. flavor d. taste 3. most people find rejection hard to accept. a. Excuse b. client c. refusal d. destiny 4. The organization was bold enough to face the press. a. Pleased b. powerful c. brave d. sensible 5. They were locked in mortal combat. a. Deadly b. open c. actual d. active 6. We were attracted by the lure of quick money. a. Amount b. supply c. tempt d. sum 7. The procedures were perceived as complex and less transparent. a. Clear b. necessary c. special d. correct 8. The stock exchange is in turmoil following a huge wave of selling. a. Service b. danger c. disorder d. threat 9 .He believed that Europe must change or it will perish. A. Survive b. last c. die d. move 10. There was a simultaneous trial taking place in the next building. a. Fair b. full c. coexisting d. public 11. They promote assimilation of ethnic groups into the main-stream culture. a. Policy b. value c. equality d. integration 12. A salesman’s cardinal rule is to satisfy customers. a. Principal b. official c. simple d. legal 13. I must compliment you on your handling of a very difficult situation. a. Silence b. praise c. assure d. complain 14. We lived for years in a perpetual state of fear. a. Emotional b. nervous c. terrible d. continuous 15. The starving children were a pathetic sight. a. Common b. unexpected c. unforgettable d. pitiful
https://www.doczj.com/doc/6618487136.html,/ .375. School Lunch Research has shown that over half the children in Britain who take their own lunches to school do not eat properly in the middle of the day.In Britain schools have to provide meals at lunchtime.Children can choose to bring their own food or have lunch at the school canteen. One shocking finding of this research is that school meals are much healthier than lunches prepared by parents.There are strict standards for the preparation of school meals,which have to include one portion of fruit and one of vegetables,as well as meat,a dairy item and starchy food like bread or pasta.Lunchboxes examined by researchers contained sweet drinks,crisps and chocolate bars.Children consume twice as much sugar as they should at lunch time. The research will provide a better understanding of why the percentage of overweight students in Britain has increased in the last decade.Unfortunately,the government cannot criticise parents,but it can remind them of the nutritional value of milk,fruit and vegetables.Small changes in their children’s diet can_affect their future health.Children can easily develop bad eating_habits at this age,and parents are the only ones who can prevent it.A Powerful Influence There can be no doubt at all that the Internet has made a huge difference1to our lives.Parents are worried that children spend too much time playing on the Internet,hardly ever doing anything else in their spare time.Naturally,parents are curious to find out why the Internet is so attractive,and they want to know if it can be harmful for their children.Should parents worry if their children are spending that much time staring at their computers? Obviously,if children are bent over their computers for hours,absorbed in some game,instead of doing their homework,then something is wrong.Parents and children could decide how much use the child should_make of the Internet,and the child should give his or her word that it won’t interfere with homework.If the child is not holding to this arrangement,the parent can take more drastic steps dealing with a child’s use of the Internet is not much different from negotiating any other sort of bargain about behaviour.Any parent who is_seriously alarmed about a child’s behaviour should make an appointment to discuss the matter with a teacher.Spending time in front of the screen does not necessarily affect a child’s performance at school.Even if a child is absolutely crazy about using the Internet,he or she is probably just going through a phase,and in a few months there will be something else to worry about!The Old Gate In the Middle Ages the vast majority of European cities had walls around them.This was partly for defensive reasons but another factor was the need to keep out anyone regarded as undesirable,like people with contagious diseases.The Old City of London gates were all demolished by the end of the 18th century.The last of London’s gates was removed a century ago,but by a stroke of luck,it was never destroyed. This gate is,in actual fact,not called a gate at all;its name is Temple Bar,and it marked the boundary between the Old City of London and Westminster.In 1878the Council of London took the Bar down,numbered the stones and put the gate in storage because its design was unfashionable it was expensive to maintain and it was blocking the traffic. The Temple Bar Trust was set up in the 1970’s with the intention of returning the gate home.The aim of the Trust is the preservation of the nation’s architectural heritage.Transporting the gate will mean physically pulling it down,stone by stone,removing and rebuilding it near St Paul’s Cathedral.Most of the facade of the gate will probably be replaced,though there is a good chance that the basic structure will be sound.The hardest job of all,however,will be to recreate the statues of the monarchs that once stood on top of the gate.Family History In an age when technology is developing faster than ever before,many people are being attracted to the idea of looking back into the past.One way they can do this is by investigating their own family history.They can try to find out more about where their families came from and what they did.This is now a fast-growing hobby,especially in countries with a fairly short history,like Australia and the United States. It is one thing to spend some time going through a book on family history and to take the decision to investigate your own family’s past.It is quite another to carry out the research work successfully.It is easy to set about it in a disorganized way and_cause yourself many problems which could have been avoided with a little forward planning. If your own family stories tell you that you are connected with a famous character,whether hero or criminal,do not let this idea take over your research.Just treat it as an interesting possibility.A simple system for collecting and storing your information will be adequate to start with;a more complex one may only get in your way.The most important thing,though,is to get started.Who knows what you might find? Helen and Martin With a thoughtful sigh,Helen turned away from the window and walked back to her favourite armchair.Would her brother never arrive?For a brief moment,she wondered if she really cared that much. Over the years Helen had given up waiting for Martin to take an interest in her.Her feelings for him had gradually weakened until now,as she sat waiting for him,she experienced no more than a sister’s curiosity to see what had become of her brother. Almost without warning,Martin had lost his job with a busy publishing company after spending the last eight years in New York as a key figure in the US office.Somehow the two of them hadn’t bothered to keep in touch and,left alone,Helen had slowly found