More than 100 scientists from 25 countries have traveled to faraway places to collect wild crop seeds(种子) in an effort to help battle climate change.
The scientists, who have been compared to the heroes of the “Indiana Jones” movies, traveled on foot, four-wheeled vehicles(交通工具), boats, horses and even elephants to reach faraway areas. They faced extreme heat,dust, and danger from wild animals. At last, they collected 4, 644 seeds of 371 wild relatives of 28 world crops, many of which are said to be endangered.
The Crop Trust, an organization that works to save different kinds of crops, is directing the project. The group is working in partnership with Britain's Royal Botanic Gardens and Millennium Seed Bank. Additional financial support comes from Norway. The project is believed to be the largest organized international effort yet to collect and protect crops' wild relatives.Hannes Dempewolf is a scientist and the head at the Crop Trust. He said“What these seed collectors went through in the field resembles scenes from an Indiana Jones movie.”
Some crops are threatened because of destruction of forests, climate change and expanded cities. The newly-found wild seeds have developed so plants can grow in extreme temperatures, poor soils, and even in low rainfall areas.
A United Nations report says that food production is at risk because of a shortage of rain and other weather extremes connected to climate change. The U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization says that the number of plant species is quickly decreasing and people are depending on fewer species for food. Those wild seeds could be important in feeding a growing human population in some areas and offer a largely unused source of diversity(多样性) to crops.
1.What does the second paragraph show?
A.Collecting seeds is not an easy job.
B.The scientists’ story is made into a movie.
C.The wild seeds are in danger of extinction.
D.The scientists can choose from many vehicles.
2.What does the underlined word “resembles”in the third paragraph mean?
A.Depends on. B.Looks like.
C.Turns out. D.Refers to.
3.What is the advantage of the newly-found wild seeds?
A.They can increase green areas. B.They can provide more nutrients
C.They can survive bad conditions. D.They can improve existent crop seeds.
4.What is the meaning of the scientists collecting wild seeds?
A.Bringing more plant species to the world.
B.Helping farmers improve their farming skills.
C.Knowing about the worlds farming practices.
D.Helping battle climate change.
Running is often tiring and a lot of hard work, but nothing beats the feeling you get after finishing a long workout around the track.
But while it’s long been believed that endorphins (脑内啡) — chemicals in the body that cause happiness — are behind the so-called “runner’s high”, a study suggested that there may be more to this phenomenon than we previously knew.
According to a recent study published by a group of scientists from several German universities, a group of chemicals called endocannabinoids (内源性大麻素) may actually be responsible for this familiar great feeling.
To test this theory, the scientists turned to mice.
Both mice and humans release high levels of endorphins and endocannabinoids after exercise, along with many other chemicals. After exercising on running wheels, the mice seemed happy and relaxed and displayed no signs of anxiety.
But after being given a drug to block their endorphins the change. However, when their endocannabinoids were block with a different drug, their runner’s high symptoms seemed to fade.
“The long-held notion of endorphins being responsible for the runner's high is false. Endorphins are effective pain relievers, but only when it comes to the pain in your body and muscles you feel after working out,” Patrick Lucas Austin wrote on science blog Lifchacker.
Similar studies are yet to be carried out on humans, but it’s already well known that exercise is a highly effective way to get rid of stress or anxiety.
The UK’s National Health Service even prescribes (开药方) exercise to patients who are suffering from depression.
“Being depressed can leave you feeling low in energy, which might put you off being more active. Regular exercise can boost your mood if you have depression, and it’s especially useful for people with mild to moderate (中等的) depression,” it wrote on its website.
It seems like nothing can beat that feeling we get after a good workout, even if we don’t fully understand where it comes from. At least if we’re feeling down, we know that all we have to do is put on our running shoes.
1.What did scientists from German universities recently discover?
A.Working out is a highly effective way to treat depression.
B.The runner’s high could be caused by endocannabinoids.
C.Endorphins may contribute to one’s high spirits after running.
D.The level of endorphins and endocannabinoids could affect one’s mood.
2.The scientists gave mice drugs in their experiment to .
A.find what reduces the runner’s high symptoms
B.see the specific symptoms of the runner’s high
C.identify what is responsible for the runner’s high
D.test what influences the level of endocannabinoids released
3.The underlined word “notion” in Paragraph 7 has the closest meaning to .
A.effect B.goal
C.question D.belief
4.According to the UK’s National Health Service, regular workouts .
A.are the best way to treat depression
B.can help ease depression symptoms
C.only work for those with serious depression
D.can help people completely recover from depression
Kieron Graham has known from a young age that he was adopted. While he loves his adoptive family, he has always wondered about his birth mother and brother. When his adoptive mom gave him a DNA test tool, they both hoped it might lead to his birth family. But neither guessed it would work so quickly, or that when it did, Graham would learn he and his long-lost brother may have crossed paths every day.
It took just one week from the time Graham, a college student at Georgia's Kennesaw State University, received his DNA results on Ancestry.com for him to connect with his brother. Graham's DNA results showed that his closest match was a man named Vincent Ghant, and it turned out Ghant lived just a few minutes away.
Graham reached out and learned that the two were in fact long-lost brothers. Their mother, Shawn Ghant, made the difficult decision to place Kieron in adoptive care when he was just a baby. And she has worried and wondered about her youngest son ever since. Graham has since been reunited with his mother and both of his brothers on his mother's side.
“It’s all surreal(离奇的), too many emotions to describe exactly what I’m feeling about the entire situation, but it’s a good situation,” Graham tells MNN.
As fate would have it, Kieron and Vincent are both students at Kennesaw State. They even have the same major: political science. So it's a safe bet the two crossed paths many times over the past three years. And now, thanks to some DNA sleuthing(筛查), the two will cross paths many more times in the years to come.
“We’re getting together on Christmas with everyone, birth mother included,” Graham says. “That's sure to be a very indelible Christmas indeed, which will always be treasured by us.”
1.According to the passage, Graham ___________.
A.is quite familiar with his birth family
B.relied on a website to find his birth family
C.happens to be working in Ancestry.com
D.is studying engineering in the state university
2.What can we infer from the third paragraph?
A.It was hard for Shawn to place her son in adoptive care.
B.Graham has three adoptive brothers on his mother’s side.
C.It was too difficult for the whole family to get united.
D.Shawn Ghant loves her older sons more.
3.What does Graham probably think of his experience?
A.Unbelievable and exciting. B.Surprising but common.
C.Undoubted and inspiring. D.Moving but painful.
4.What does the underlined word “indelible” in the last paragraph mean?
A.Normal. B.Silent. C.Traditional. D.Unforgettable.
Here's a list of books I'm looking forward to this fall season. Not all of them will rise to the level of the advertisement, but it's an abundant crop.
"Home After Dark" by David Small (Liveright, Sept. 11 )
In 2009, Small published a celebrated graphic memoir (回忆录) called"Stitches". Now the Caldecott Medal winner is back with a graphic novel about a motherless 13-year-old boy brought up in an unhappy home in California. This is a tale told in few words and many striking images. On Sept. 11 at 3p.m., Small will be at Amazonbooks at Union Market. More information at www. amazon.com/graph-tale.
"Waiting for Eden" by Elliot Ackerman (Knopf, Sept. 25)
This brief novel is related by a dead soldier who is watching over a horribly burned partner in a Texas hospital. That sounds embarrassingly emotional, but Ackerman, who served in a Navy in Iraq and Afghanistan, is one of the best soldier-writers of his generation. More information at www. amazon. com/military-essay.
"All You Can Ever Know" by Nicole Chung (Catapult, Oct. 2)
Chung, the editor of the literary magazine Catapult, was adopted as a baby by a white family in Oregon. In this memoir, she writes about her childhood, her Asian American identity and her search for the Korean parents who gave her up. More information at www. amazon. com/politics-prose.
"Unsheltered" by Barbara Kingsolver (Harper, Oct. 16)
Alternating between past and present, this novel tells the story of a woman investigating a late-19th-century science teacher who was caught up in the controversy over Darwinism. Like her other novels, this one promises to explore social and scientific problems. Visit www. amazon. com/tech-science for more information.
1.If you hope for a signature of the author, you will probably buy a copy of ________.
A.All You Can Ever Know
B.Waiting for Eden
C.Home After Dark
D.Unsheltered
2.Who joined the army and was sent to the Middle East?
A.Elliot Ackerman.
B.David Small.
C.Barbara Kingsolver.
D.Nicole Chung.
3.If you want to read books about non-fiction, you can surf________.
A.www. amazon. com/graph-tale
B.www. amazon. com/politics-prose
C.www. amazon. com/military-essay
D.www. amazon. com/tech-science
假定你是李华，本周六你想和朋友一起去参观你叔叔经营的阳光有机农场（Sunshine Organic Farm）。请你给你的留学生好友Allen发一封电子邮件，邀请他同去。内容包括：
1. 发出邀请； 2. 参观农场的主要活动； 3. 约定会面时间和地点。
注意：1. 词数100左右；
2. 可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
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.
My English teacher showed to us the movie A Beautiful Mind yesterday. It told a story about professor's struggle with mental illness. The story was based on a really professor John Nash' s life. He achieved so many in his life. At last, he won the Nobel Prize, which proved that his great achievements had influence people deeply. John suffered a serious mental illness when he were young, but he refused to take medicine, which made him thinking slowly, so he was struggling to do his work. Luckily, his wife supported him all the times. Therefore, John could continue her work. After win the Nobel Prize, he thanked his wife for the first time.
