From talking robots and video phones to rovers on Mars, technology has become so advanced that the previously impossible seems to occur on a daily basis. And yet - we still have no cure for the common cold.
Why can’t we stop the common cold? According to Peter Barlow, a scientist at Edinburgh Napier University in the UK, the main challenge lies in the many different types of cold viruses that are produced by the rhinoviruses (鼻病毒). There are at least 160 types. They mutate (突变) so easily that they quickly become resistant to drugs, or learn to hide from our immune systems. In other words, a single cure isn’t likely to work on every type of cold.
However, researchers from Stanford University and the University of California, San Francisco, have found a possible answer. They discovered a protein that the viruses need. Without it, they can’t spread inside your body.
To identify the gene which produces the specific protein needed by the viruses, researchers used a gene-editing technique to test all genes in the human genome one by one for thousands of cells. These modified (改变的) cells were then exposed to a range of enteroviruses, including the rhinoviruses which cause the common cold. All the viruses were unable to replicate (复制) inside cells without a gene that produces a specific protein, called methyltransferase SETD3.
Then, they tested genetically modified mice, which were completely unable to produce the protein. The mice were able to live healthy, normal lives without the protein. “Lacking that gene protected the mice completely from viral infection.” associate professor Jan Carette, from Stanford, told the BBC. “These mice would always die, but they survived and we saw a very strong reduction in viral replication and very strong protection.”
Carette said the plan is to find a drug which can temporarily suppress (抑制) the protein, instead of producing genetically modified humans. “We have identified a fantastic target that all enteroviruses and rhinoviruses require and depend on. Take that away and the virus really has no chance.” said Carette. “This is a really good first step – the second step is to have a chemical that mimics (模拟) this genetic deletion.” he added.
1.What does Peter Barlow think is the main problem for prevention of the common cold?
A.The slow mutation of some genes.
B.The fast speed at which rhinoviruses spread.
C.The harm rhinoviruses do to the immune system.
D.The wide variety of cold viruses created by rhinoviruses.
2.What can we learn about the protein needed by the viruses?
A.It helps the viruses replicate inside our bodies.
B.It allows the viruses to mutate easily.
C.It helps the viruses become resistant to drugs.
D.It accelerates the speed at which the viruses spread.
3.What did the researchers discover in their gene-editing study?
A.Genetically modified mice died because they lacked the protein.
B.The modified cells seemed to protect the mice against viral infections.
C.More methyltransferase SETD3 was produced after the cells were modified.
D.The gene-editing technique was more effective against enteroviruses than rhinoviruses.
4.What do the researchers most probably do next, according to Carette?
A.Conduct experiments on genetically modified humans.
B.Identify a drug that can help reduce the protein.
C.Apply this gene-editing technique to control other viruses.
D.Find a chemical that can cure all enteroviruses and rhinoviruses.
Helping yourself to a cup of coffee may seem like a small, everyday thing. But it is not the case if you are quadriplegic (四肢瘫痪). Quadriplegics have lost the use of all four limbs. Thanks to a project organized by John Donoghue of Brown University, in Rhode Island, and his colleagues, quadriplegics have hope.
One of the participants in his experiments, a 58-year-old woman who is paralyzed and unable to use any of her limbs, can now pick up a bottle containing coffee and bring it close enough to her mouth to drink from it using a straw. She does so using a thought-controlled robotic arm fixed to a nearby stand. It is the first time she has managed something like that since she suffered a stroke, nearly 15 years ago.
Arms are more complicated pieces of machinery than legs, so controlling them via electrodes (多波段电极) attached to the skin of someone’s scalp (头皮) is not yet possible. Instead, brain activity has to be recorded directly. And that is what Dr Donoghue is doing. Dr Donoghue and his team have had small, multichannel electrodes implanted in the parts of the motor cortexes (运动皮质) of participants’ brains associated with hand movements.
Dr Donoghue and his team decoded signals from their participants’ brains as they were asked to imagine controlling a robotic arm making present movements. The woman and other volunteers were then encouraged to operate one of two robot arms by thinking about the movements they wanted to happen. When the software controlling the arms detected the relevant signals, the arms moved appropriately. The arm that the woman used to help herself to a drink is a lightweight device developed by DLR, German’s Aerospace Centre, as part of its robotics program.
Dr Donoghue and his colleagues have thus shown that a mechanical arm can be controlled remotely by the brain of a person with paralysis. Controlling an arm that is attached to the individual’s body will be trickier, but in time even that may be possible. In the meantime, a robotic arm attached to a wheelchair will be a real soon.
1.What does the underlined word “that” in Paragraph3 refer to?
A.Controlling a robotic arm via electrodes attached to the scalp.
B.Recording the activity of brain and implanting electrodes.
C.Controlling a robotic leg via electrodes attached to the scalp.
D.Controlling a mechanical arm attached to the individual’s body.
2.Which statement may the author agree with?
A.Thanks to the research by Dr Donoghue and his colleagues, a paralyzed woman can get herself a drink.
B.The woman in the experiment drinks a bottle of coffee with a robotic arm attached to her scalp.
C.The woman is encouraged to control the mechanical arm by moving her body.
D.The robotic arm the woman used is remoted by DLR.
3.What’s the author’s attitude to the future of the robotic arm attached to quadriplegic?
A.Pessimistic. B.Objective.
C.Controversial. D.Optimistic.
4.What’s the main idea of the text?
A.Quadriplegics can use the artificial limbs developed by Dr Donoghue and lead a good life by themselves.
B.The newly-developed thought-controlled robotic arms can help the paralyzed in their daily life.
C.Scientists have invented a kind of robotic arm attached to the individual’s body.
D.A quadriplegic can be on his feet again due to the new invention.
My father died when I was nine, and I remember doing the household chores to help my mother. I hated changing the vacuum cleaner (真空吸尘器) bag and picking up things the machine did not suck up.
Twenty years later, in 1978, I was doing chores at home alongside my wife. One day the vacuum cleaner was screaming away, and I had to empty the bag because I could not find a replacement for it. With this lifelong hatred of the way the machine worked, I decided to make a bagless vacuum cleaner.
Easier said than done, of course. I didn’t realize that I would spend the next five years perfecting my design, a process that resulted in 5,127 different prototypes (设计原型). By the time I made my 15th prototype, my third child was born. By 2,627, my wife and I were really counting our pennies. By 3,727, my wife was giving art lessons for some extra cash, and we were getting further and further into debt. These were tough times, but each failure brought me closer to solving the problem.
I just had a passion for the vacuum cleaner as a product, but I never thought of going into a business with it. In the early 1980s, I started trying to get licensing agreements for my technology. The reality was very different, however. The major vacuum makers had built a business model based on the profits from bags and filters (滤网). No one would license my idea, not because it was a bad one, but because it was bad for business.
That gave me the courage to keep going, but soon after, the companies that I had talked with started making machines like mine. I had to fight legal battles on both sides of the Atlantic to protect the patents on my vacuum cleaner. However, I was still in financial difficulties until 1993, when my bank manager personally persuaded Lloyds Bank to lend me $1 million. Then I was able to go into production. Within two years, the Dyson vacuum cleaner became a best-seller in Britain.
Today, I still embrace risk and the potential for failure as part of the process. Nothing beats the excitement of invention. Go out and brainstorm your ideas. You are not bound to any rules - in fact, the stranger and riskier your idea, the better.
1.According to the article, which of the following statements about the writer is NOT true?
A.He lost his father during his childhood and lived with his mother.
B.He built over five thousand prototypes of the vacuum cleaner between 1978 and 1983.
C.Finally, the vacuum cleaner he reinvented became popular with British customers.
D.He decided to develop an innovative vacuum cleaner for his wife while in his thirties.
2.According to the article, the writer’s bagless vacuum cleaner was produced in large numbers ______.
A.in the early 1980s
B.after his bank manager agreed to lend him $1 million
C.after he managed to get a $1 million loan
D.before he obtained a patent on the product
3.It can be inferred from the article that ______.
A.the writer was a born businessman
B.the writer had no confidence in his vacuum cleaner initially
C.the writer’s invention might have ended up in failure without his wife
D.the writer’s vacuum cleaner was never recognized by other vacuum makers
4.According to the article, which of the following would most likely be the writer’s motto?
A.Never be afraid of failure because failure is nothing but the first step to success.
B.The foundation stones for a success are honesty, faith, love and loyalty.
C.It is only in adventure that some people succeed in knowing themselves.
D.If you would be wealthy, think of saving as well as getting.
After a long winter, spring is the ideal time for sightseeing and exploring London’s green spaces.
1. Explore London’s parks and gardens
Spring time is one of the perfect times of year to explore London’s parks and gardens, when the city’s plants are blooming. Go and admire the rainbow of azaleas (杜鹃花) at Richmond Park or hire a deckchair in St James’s Park with a view of Buckingham Palace.
2. Enjoy the entertainment at spring festivals
There are a good many festivals and events held in London throughout spring. Make the most of the cultural exhibitions at the British Library Spring Festival, the Sundance Film Festival or the London Literature Festival; head for Shakespeare’s Globe, which hosts open-air Shakespeare performances from late April to early October.
3. Get active
Warmer weather means there’s no excuse for staying indoors, so go for a walking or cycling tour of London. Alternatively, walk the Thames Walkway, which follows the river all the way from central London to the countryside; make the most of London’s “Boris Bikes”, which are available for hire all around the city and are free of charge for the first half hour. If you’re really looking for a challenge, take part in the famous London Marathon, held annually in April.
4. Take to the waters
Whether cruising (航行)along the Thames River, hiring a rowing boat in Hyde Park or riding a canal boat around Little Venice, there are lots of fun ways to get on the water in London. Held every year since 1829, the Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race allows teams from England’s most famous universities to complete against each other, and draws huge crowds of watching people.
1.What are you advised to do if you are interested in British culture?
A.Row a boat in Hyde Park. B.Attend the festivals in London.
C.Visit Richmond Park. D.Walk the Thames Walkway.
2.Which of the following can you do in London’s parks?
A.You can see Buckingham Palace from St James’s Park.
B.You can use London’s Boris Bikes for free for a whole day.
C.You can watch outdoor Shakespeare performances.
D.You can enjoy the rainbow at Richmond Park.
3.What is the author’s purpose in writing the text?
A.To introduce tourist attractions in London.
B.To show the beauty of the spring in London.
C.To suggest ways to enjoy spring in London.
D.To stress the importance of exploring London.
“一带一路”国际合作高峰论坛将在中国举办。组委会向社会征集志愿者。要求如下：（1)热情、有礼；（2)熟悉中国传统文化；（3)英语口语流利。假设你是新华中学学生李华，请给组委会写一封应聘信。
注意：1.词数100左右；
2.可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯；
3.开头和结束语已为你写好，不计入总词数。
生词：“一带一路”国际合作高峰论坛 the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation
Dear Sir or Madam,
Thank you for reading my letter.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Yours,
Li Hua
假定英语课上老师要求同桌之间交换修改作文，请你修改你同桌写的以下作文，文中共有10处语言错误，每句中最多有两处。每处错误仅涉及一个单词的增加、删除或修改。
增加：在缺词处加一个漏字符号（一）；并在其下面写出该加的词。
删除：把多余的词用斜线（＼）划掉。
修改：在错的词下划一横线，并在该词下面写出修改后的词。
注意：1.每处错误及其修改均仅限一词；
2.只允许修改10处，多者（从第11处起）不计分。
A big poster in our school reminded us of that the annual Earth Day was around the corner.It called upon us to join in the actions.
Our class comes up with the idea to make the most of using materials.After class,we settled down to our work as it had planned.We brought to our classrooms worn-out clothes,piece of cardboard,and empty bottles,and turned them into dolls,handbags and small vases.That weekend, we went to a nearby neighborhood and gave them away to people here.All were extreme happy with those gifts,especially the little kids and elderly people.And we were invited to a meeting,that we shared our experience with all the students of our school.
We are very proud of us and believe we can do more for the better world.
