Have you stroked (抚摸) a cute dog recently? If that dog touched you with its nose, you might find how wet and cold it was. If dogs are so warm and fluffy (毛茸茸 的), then why are their noses so cold?
Before, people thought that dogs had cold noses to help them control their body temperature. But, a new study in the journal Scientific Reports has shown some interesting findings about dogs’ noses. The study found that when the air temperature was 30 ℃, the tip of a dog’s nose is about five degrees cooler than the air. But why is this?
The researchers believed that the tip of a dog’s nose has a special sensory function (探测功 能). So, they did an experiment to test it. The study showed that dogs could find weak heat sources—like a small animal—with their noses from 1.5 meters away.
The research team studied three dogs named Charlie, Delfi and Kevin. For the experiment, the dogs had to tell the difference between two objects. The two objects were heated to different temperatures. Amazingly, all three dogs were able to sense the temperature difference between both objects.
The study also found that the heat from the objects in the experiment “was too weak to be felt by human hands, even at very short distances”. The dogs were able to sense these heated objects from a distance, but humans were only able to feel the warmth of the object if they touched it.
To know more about it, the research team also studied the brain activity of 13 dogs. When a warm object was put near their noses, there was an increase in brain activity.
“From the two complementary (互补的) experiments, we can know that dogs are indeed able to sense heat from warm-blooded animals, and a special region of the brain is made to be active by such heat.” said Anna Balint, the leader of the study.
1.What did the new study published in the journal Scientific Reports find about dogs?
A.What makes dogs loyal. B.Why dogs have cold noses.
C.How dogs feel heat better. D.How a dog’s temperature influences its brain activity.
2.Which of the following words has the closest meaning to “region”?
A.Way. B.Area. C.Type. D.Change.
3.What happened to the dogs when a warm object was put near their noses?
A.They showed no change in their brain activity. B.They had different kinds of excitement.
C.Their brain activity slowed down. D.Their brains became more active.
4.What can we infer from the passage?
A.Heat sensing ability can help dogs hunt for food.
B.The tip of a dog’s nose has a special sensory function.
C.Dogs are smarter than other animals.
D.The two experiments found different results.
Portia gave the decision. “One pound of the merchant’s (商人) flesh (肉) is yours. It is what the contract (合同) says. You may take his flesh!”
Shylock held his knife and told Antonio to get ready. “Wait!” exclaimed Portia. “You will not do anything that is not written in the contract. Is that right, Shylock?”
“Yes, that’s right,” said Shylock. He wondered what the wise young judge was going to say. “Well,” said the young judge, “I have read the contract carefully, and it does not say anything about taking his blood. It says ‘a pound of flesh’. You can take your pound of flesh, but you may not take one drop of his blood. If you take any of his blood, the duke (公爵) will take everything you own!”
Now it was Graziano’s turn to bless the judge and call him wise.
“You wanted justice (公平),” Portia told Shylock, “and you’ll have more justice than you wanted.”
Shylock didn’t want to give everything he owned to the duke. He decided not to take his pound of flesh. He said he would take the money.
“Give me ninety thousand dollars,” he said, “and I will have pity on Antonio and let him go.”
Bassanio was happy to give him the money. He was very pleased that his friend Antonio would not die.
“Wait!” Portia said again. “He does not want the money. It is not written in the contract.”
Shylock said he just wanted to have his money back and wouldn’t even need interest. Bassanio was ready to give it to him, but again Portia stopped him.
“He said he only wanted the thing written in the contract.”
Shylock understood that he would not get his pound of flesh. He understood that he would not get his money. He decided to go home.
“Wait!” said Portia, for the third time. “The law of Venice, says that if you plan to kill a citizen of Venice, you will lose everything that you own. Half of what you have will belong to the person you tried to kill, and the other half will belong to the duke.”
Taken from The Merchant of Venice
1.What do you think of Portia according to the passage?
A.Brave and clever. B.Generous and calm. C.Childish and careless. D.Practical and selfish.
2.Which is the right order of what happened in the story?
a. Shylock decided to take the money instead of Antonio’s pound of flesh.
b. Graziano blessed the judge and called him wise.
c. Shylock just wanted his money back without any interest.
d. The judge made the decision.
e. Shylock held his knife and got ready to take the flesh.
A.e-b-c-a-d. B.e-b-a-c-d. C.d-e-b-a-c. D.d-e-b-c-a.
3.What do you think would happen to Shylock later?
A.He would give everything that he owned to the duke.
B.He would face the loss of everything that he had.
C.He would have his money back without interest.
D.He would try to get Antonio’s flesh in another way.
Your Internet experience must be uncomfortable when the net speed is too slow — it takes so long to open a web page and the reality shows you’re watching stops every few minutes. That can make you angry.
But it could be a thing of the past. On June 3, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology announced that China’s major telecom carriers (电信公司) would start to provide 5G services.
1. What is 5G?
The “G” in “5G” refers to “Generation”. 1G let us talk to each other, 2G let us send messages, 3G gave us mobile data and the Internet, and 4G made all of these things faster. The mobile network technologies are developing quickly.
Now 5G promises much faster data download and upload speeds, and more stable (稳定的) connections. This means that you will be able to download a complete HD movie in seconds and only experience a short delay (延迟) between sending and receiving data.
2.What changes will 5G bring us?
With a 5G network, the short delay in information exchange will allow driverless cars to run more safely. Meanwhile, 5G-enabled wearable devices (设备) will be in use in hospitals. Besides,VR games will become more popular with 5G. The short delay of 5G will make the games feel even more real.
3. Does 5G have any disadvantages?
According to the BBC, though 5G will make our lives more convenient, it will not be perfect. For one thing, 1 . On 4G networks, you can be 10 kilometers away from the nearest transmission base and hardly lose signal (信号). But 5G will only cover about 300 meters. And in order to use 5G, we will have to buy new products designed for 5G that are expensive at present.
1.“G” in “5G” means the generation of________.
A.the mobile network experience B.the mobile communication technology
C.the speed of data download and upload D.the delay in data exchange
2.According to the passage, the best sentence for the blank is 1 .
A.5G will not “travel” far B.5G will be used in a limited way
C.products designed for 5G is expensive D.5G has its both advantages and disadvantages
3.What is the passage mainly about?
A.Changes in the mobile technologies. B.The uses of 5G.
C.Disadvantages of 5G. D.An introduction to 5G.
TRY THIS
1.In which steps do we need the glass?
A.Step 1 and Step 4. B.Step 3, Step 4 and Step 5.
C.Step 4 and Step 5. D.Step 1, Step 3, Step 4 and Step 5.
2.Because of________, water can walk along a string.
A.the wet string B.the tiny water molecules
C.the tension of the water surface D.the tilted (倾斜的) pitcher
3.TRY THIS can be read in a(n) ________.
A.English novel B.tour guide C.teenage newspaper D.geography book
Gardening is an activity where you have to get your hands dirty. I know how to do this_________ my grandparents. My grandfather loved gardening. After his arrival in Canada before World War II, Ya Ya opened a small restaurant while my _____________, Yang Yang, didn’t speak any English.
My grandfather took great pride in growing peas, carrots, which he used in home cooking. The entire backyard was devoted to his plants. I would walk in the garden, looking _______________ to the bean stalks (竿) high above my 7-year-old body.
A few years later, my grandfather grew ill. When he died, I was _______________ to see my grandmother pulled up most of the remaining plants. Still only a child, I asked my cousin _________Grandma had dug up Grandpa’s plants. She told me that the garden reminded her of my grandfather.
Years passed, and soon my grandmother was bent-over with age. My father moved her to be closer to our family, which meant taking her away from her home and from the remains of the garden. Shortly after the move, she telephoned my father, and I could hear her _________ shouting in Chinese, asking why he had moved her so far away from her life.
One evening, Grandma told me to _______ her to the backyard. There, in a small patch (块)of soil beside the garage, was a row of Chinese spinach (菠菜). She was gardening at 92.
I now have a house and family of my own. Last _______________ my tomato plant gave us some grape sized fruits by August’s end. I often think back to my grandfather’s garden. And I think about how my grandmother started gardening over again in a new city, far from her first home in Canada, and even further from _____________ .
We all must start somewhere, and sometimes we must start again. And sometimes, starting again ______________ means allowing new roots to grow.
1.A.instead of B.because of C.according of D.belong to
2.A.mother B.father C.grandmother D.grandfather
3.A.up B.down C.back D.out
4.A.worried B.excited C.surprised D.tired
5.A.what B.how C.where D.why
6.A.sadly B.happily C.peacefully D.proudly
7.A.invite B.follow C.carry D.show
8.A.spring B.summer C.autumn D.winter
9.A.America B.England C.China D.Japan
10.A.nearly B.hardly C.specially D.simply
— Mr Smith, would you please spare me a few minutes? I still have some questions about the agreement.
—________.
A.It’s a pleasure. B.Sure, go ahead.
C.Never mind. D.Help yourself, please.
