More than half of the birds in Washington are at risk of extinction because of climate change. That's according to a new national report from the Audubon Society, which gives detailed analysis of climate effects on about 600 species of North American birds.
It's based on more than 140 million observations of birds across the US, Mexico and Canada. Audubon scientists looked at the likely effects of sea-level rise, urbanization, drought, extreme spring heat, increased fires, heavy rain and other factors.
But it doesn't just spell out a doomsday scenario (世界末日).Instead, it offers a range of effects and warming, depending on how much carbon humans add to the atmosphere.
"It is truly an existential threat (威胁), not only to birds but to people,” said Doug Santoni, board chair of Audubon Washington, who looked into the report as soon as it came out.
Santoni says he was struck to see the vulnerability (脆弱)of a common “ backyard bird" , the dark-eyed junco. It's one that many first-time birders become familiar with as they learn how to identify species based on their markings and other traits. Currently in Washington, you can count on juncos to show up at your feeder, year round. Extreme spring heat, increased fires and heavy rain are the kinds of changes that will force birds like these north, or kill them off if they fail to adapt.
Trina Bayard, director of bird conservation at Audubon’s Washington chapter, says, "It's certainly a very serious warning report," but adds that there’s still hope. “If we can stabilize current temperatures and decrease our emissions (排放), we can really reduce the effects to these birds …that's very motivating. ”
1.What can we know about the new report?
A.It analyses the species of birds in detail.
B.It's issued by watching 600 bird species.
C.It shows the end of North American birds.
D.It reports the threat some birds are facing.
2.What may Santoni probably agree with?
A.Climate change is a threat only to birds.
B.It's too late to take action to save the birds.
C.The current situation of the birds is worrying.
D.It's common that birds are affected by climate change.
3.Which of the following can help these birds according to Trina?
A.Lowering present temperatures.
B.Reducing our daily emissions.
C.Making them adapt to climate change.
D.Encouraging people to protect them.
4.What can be the best title for the text?
A.Climate change threatens many Washington bird species.
B.A new report about 600 species of North American birds.
C.Different attitudes towards the situation of bird species.
D.Climate change makes different kinds of species at risk.
The cognitive health and development of boys may be affected by their mothers’ body mass index ( BMI) (体重 指数) while pregnant with them, according to research from Columbia University and the University of Texas at Austin.
The study, which was published in the journal BMC Pediatrics on Friday, observed 368 subjects from low-income African American and Dominican women during the second half of their pregnancies, and then evaluated their children three and seven years later. Researchers found that the sons of women whose BMIs indicated that they were overweight or obese when they became pregnant were more likely to show less developed athletic skills as 3-year-olds and lower intelligence as 7-year-olds compared to boys whose mothers were at “normal” weights during pregnancy.
Among boys, the study found, mothers’ overweight and obesity connected with IQ scores between 4.6 and almost 9 points lower than those of boys whose mothers’ weights were in the “normal” range before pregnancy. Researchers did not observe the same phenomenon among daughters whose mothers had been obese.
“These findings aren’t meant to shame or scare anyone,” Elizabeth Widen, assistant professor of nutritional sciences at UT Austin and one of the study’s co-authors, said in a press release. “We are just beginning to understand some of these interactions between mothers' weight and the health of their babies.”
Why mothers’ obesity appeared to affect childhood IQ was unclear, but earlier research has suggested that there is a relationship between a mother’s diet and her child’s later IQ, according to Columbia University. Researchers did not control for what the mothers ate, the press release noted.
The study’s authors wrote that because childhood IQ has been shown to be an indicator of later success in life, studying how a mother’s obesity could affect the IQ of her child is worthwhile.
1.How did researchers carry out the study?
A.By measuring mothers’ body mass index.
B.By watching mothers and babies for years.
C.By comparing 3-year-old babies with 7-year-olds.
D.By evaluating the health of mothers and their babies.
2.What's the main purpose of the study?
A.To show links between mothers’ weight and babies’ IQ.
B.To make those overweight mothers shameful and scared.
C.To warn some fat mothers to keep a balanced diet.
D.To persuade more obese mothers to lose weight.
3.What do the researchers think of the study?
A.Doubtful. B.Worrying.
C.Significant. D.Interesting.
4.In which section of a newspaper may the text appear?
A.Entertainment. B.Novel.
C.Education. D.Health.
My students were taking midterms when my phone erupted with urgent messages. “A student is having a panic attack,” texted a teaching assistant. I ran out of my office, down a flight of stairs and found the student — a pupil in my 350-person organic chemistry class — lying motionless on the ground outside the exam hall. “Did my exam really trigger a panic attack?” I asked myself. “Why am I not prepared to deal with a situation like this?”
It was my first time teaching the course. But I knew that the subject was challenging for my students. This was a source of stress for premedical students in particular, who feared that a low grade in organic chemistry would keep them from getting into medical school.
The following day, I was scheduled to lecture to the same class. I knew that I had to address what had happened during the midterm. So, I started by saying: “I want to take some time today to talk about something important. How many of you think that this is a weed-out course?” Half of my students raised their hands carefully. “I’m sorry to hear that,” I continued. “I want you all to know that I do not consider any of you to be weeds; you all deserve to be here.”
I flashed a slide of flowers in various shapes. I smiled at my students and said: “I think of you as flowers — different flowers with different needs. You may not bloom at the same time, but you will bloom! You may not do well in the midterm exam, but you will learn from your mistakes and do better in the final exam. I believe this. I believe in you.”
From that point on, my office hours were packed. Some asked about lecture topics and study strategies; others opened up about personal issues. I was amazed that a simple, frank discussion in lecture could make such a difference.
1.What made the pupil have a panic attack?
A.Hiding personal issues.
B.The stress for high grades.
C.Lacking study strategies.
D.Failing to handle the situation.
2.What does the underlined word “trigger” in Paragraph 1 most probably mean?
A.Cure. B.Prevent.
C.Frighten. D.Cause.
3.Why did the author go to the same class the next day?
A.To give the lesson according to the arrangement.
B.To apologize and explain to the panicked student.
C.To give a speech on what happened in the test.
D.To persuade all the students to stay in the class.
4.Which paragraph mainly shows the author’s encouragement to students?
A.Paragraph 2.
B.Paragraph 3.
C.Paragraph 4.
D.Paragraph 5.
Whether they are already household names or a hidden figure deserving of more recognition, the following ladies changed the world with their enormous contributions.
Ali Stroker
Ali Stroker took the theater world — and, indeed, the very Internet — by storm when, on June 9, 2019, she became the first performer in a wheelchair to take home a Tony Award. After becoming the first actor in a wheelchair in Broadway history in 2015, she won the award for her powerhouse performance in the revival of Oklahoma .
Junko Tabei
Twenty-two years after the first-ever successful mission to the top of Mount Everest, Japanese mountaineer Junko Tabei became the first woman to reach the peak. She led a team of 15 women, accompanied by six Sherpas (夏尔巴人), and reached the summit with one of the Sherpas on May 16, 1975.
Gertrude Ederle
The Queen of Waves, who also happened to be deaf, was the first woman to swim across the English Channel. Fighting through cold temperatures and strong tides that change direction every six hours for 22 miles, she clocked a time of 14 hours and 34 minutes.
Virginia Apgar
Generations of parents owe this American doctor a huge thank you, as she developed the Apgar Score, the first standardized system of tests to assess if newborn babies were healthy once they made their way from womb to world. Apgar, who was a gifted cellist and violinist in her spare time, also happens to hold the title of the first woman to be hired as a full professor at the medical school at Columbia University.
1.Whose story may inspire the disabled?
A.Stroker and Tabei.
B.Stroker and Ederle.
C.Ederle and Apgar.
D.Ederle and Tabei.
2.Why should Apgar be appreciated by parents?
A.She took home a big award.
B.She saved many babies' lives.
C.She developed the Apgar Score.
D.She became the first full professor.
3.Who won the title of the Queen of Waves?
A.Ali Stroker.
B.Junko Tabei.
C.Virginia Apgar.
D.Gertrude Ederle.
假如你是育才中学高中生李华，你获悉你们市将为外国留学生举办一场“汉语绕口令比赛”，你打算给你的好友David写一封电子邮件，邀请他参加。内容包括：
1.比赛目的；
2.备赛建议；
3.奖品设置。
注意：1.词数100左右；
2.可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯；
3.开头和结尾已为你写好，不计入总词数；
4.参考词汇：外国留学生foreigh students；绕口令tongue twister。
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假定英语课上老师要求同们交换修改作文，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。错误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（A),并在其下面写上该加的词。
删除：把多余的词用斜线（＼）划掉。
修改：在错的词下划一横线，并在该词下面写上修改后的词。
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。
I'd like to express my sincere appreciation to you for your kindness and selflessly help. It had been a month since I came to this beautiful school. You offered me so much help the first day when I met you in the school. Because your warm help and useful pieces of advice, I have got use to the new school life so soon. However, I find it difficult to make the more friends who native language is English. In add, I still have difficulty in speak to my foreign teachers freely. Therefore, I hope you can recommend a club for me to joining so that I can improve my English.
Again, I'd like to express my thank to you, and look forward to your early reply.
