Dust on furniture may be bad news for waistlines (腰围). But it’s far too early to add dusting to a weight-loss plan. Dietary fats and other materials that make up indoor dust can send a signal to human fat cells, telling them to grow. That process, in turn, might slow the body’s rate of burning energy. Such changes could add to any weight problems a person might have.
“We don’t know what that means to long-term health and certain diseases yet,” says Heather Stapleton, one of the study’s authors. But she notes that her team’s findings also raise a question of whether pollutants in dust might play some role in the growing, global problem of obesity (肥胖).
Stapleton and her colleagues collected dust from homes and offices. Studies found that some materials in the dust could turn on a protein (蛋白质) called PPAR-gamma 1. It’s found in many human tissues. Turning this protein on can cause fat cells to grow. Researchers think this protein may be involved in obesity. But a second study now finds evidence that certain fats are mostly to blame. Cooking oils may send out some of these fats into the air, where they eventually find their way into house dust. Or, the authors say, the fats might enter house dust as part of the hair or skin cells shed (脱落) by people or pets.
“While the findings are amazing,” says Mitchell Lazar, another study author, “these findings need to be taken as very limited.” Indeed, he adds several cautions about how the findings should be understood. “For one thing, people eat these fats in foods all of the time. That is likely to be a lot more than would be consumed from indoor dust,” he said.
1.What do we know about PPAR-gamma 1? _____
A. It comes from dust.
B. It leads to weight gain.
C. It can help get rid of dust.
D. It only appears in human bodies.
2. What’s the best title for the text? _____
A. Can house dust make us fat?
B. Why is it important to clean?
C. Anything to do to deal with dust?
D. What is the best way to lose weight?
Since 2008, hunters have illegally killed more than 3000 rhinos in South Africa. The International Union for Conservation of Nature warns that rhinos may die out by 2026. People who hunt and kill illegally are called poachers. The most effective way to watch for and prevent illegal hunting is from the air. However, piloted flights are too costly. Fortunately, some Spanish college students have invented a drone (无人机) that can observe more places than a plane.
Arnau Garcia is an aeronautical (航空学的) engineering student at the Polytechnic Institute of Catalonia, in Spain. He says observers from the air have trouble finding poachers when they hide under the trees. Mr. Garcia and other students have worked with the drone manufacturer HEMAV to help find the hidden poachers. They make it by using the thermal camera, which is especially sensitive to body heat. Even when the poachers keep still, it can also keep track of them.
The drone can fly in the wind up to 55 kilometers per hour. It has an autopilot system, so it memorizes the flight path. The drone also has a microphone, a video camera and a GPS system. These permit it to report accurately where a picture is taken. After each flight, the drone can bring back detailed information about where rhinos are found, the conditions of water and plants in the area, and the positions of suspected poachers.
Experts say the drone can fly as far as 70 kilometers from the base. It means that it could quickly observe large areas for poachers. However, the same search operation would take days for human observers. Thanks to the drone, many poachers have been caught and the number of rhinos is on the increase. In addition, HEMAV has received an increasing number of orders for the drone. Even South African national park officials attempt to fill the air with drones.
1.What do we know about the drone? _____
A. It may get lost easily in the air.
B. It can’t work in the windy days.
C. It can offer detailed information.
D. It is useless when the poacher stays still.
2.What’s the best title for the text? _____
A. How to make the drone work well
B. A new way to stop illegal hunting
C. The living conditions of rhinos are worrying
D. The drone helps save rhinos in South Africa
Although environmental problems have existed for centuries, some people still care little about our environment. Problems like ice melting, electronic waste are lighting up news programs and becoming part of an ongoing dialogue about the environment.
As a teenager, what do you think all the problems mean for your future and for the future of the planet? For our October 2016 writing contest, we want you to really consider what you think about environmental problems.
Use these questions to help focus your essay
● What environmental problem do you think should cause the greatest alarm and action?
● Do you think that you have a personal responsibility to help solve environmental problems or do you feel helpless against the struggle?
● What do you think could help a specific environmental problem?
Don’t try to answer all these questions. Use one of them to make a personal essay.
The title of the essay
When you hand in your essay, title it as: Environmental Problems: _______.
Include the phrase “Environmental Problems” as the beginning of your essay title, but then make the rest of your story title unique. Examples:
● Environmental Problems: Trashy Behavior and the Plastic Bottle
● Environmental Problems: We Can’t Exist If We Refuse to Change
Rules:
(1) This is a non-fiction essay contest.
(2) Essays are 500 words or less.
(3) Essays must be your original work.
The deadline:
Midnight Oct. 30, 2016
Results:
The winner will be posted on our writing contest website or on Teen Trend Report after Nov. 26, 2016.
1.What is the text mainly about? _____
A. How to write an essay.
B. How to protect our planet.
C. October 2016 writing contest.
D. Some environmental problems.
2.Which of the following essays will be accepted? _____
A. A 300-word essay taken from the newspaper.
B. A 400-word essay on air pollution.
C. A 500-word essay full of imagination.
D. A 600-word essay on plastic bottles.
3. How can one know the result of the contest? _____
A. By sending an email.
B. By visiting the website.
C. By calling the organizer.
D. By reading a scientific report.
Neither rain nor snow nor the dark of night can separate Tennessee postal carrier “Mailman Mike” from his 4-and-a-half-year-old friend Carter Lawson – or keep them from their appointments.
For the past nine months, the two have teamed up every day in the preschooler’s Knoxville neighborhood for a few minutes of delivering mail together and chatting with fellow neighbors. Lawson wants to be a mail carrier when he grows up, and in an inspiring story, his mom told us how mailman Mike Crenshaw has been a role model to her son. “Anyone could just be like ‘Go away, kid’, but Mike has really gone out of his way to talk with Carter,” said Cassie Lawson of the United States Postal Service carrier. Little Carter even got his own uniform to match Mike’s. “It’s been really cute. I just couldn’t believe he got a full mailman’s costume,” the postal service employee said.
“Every letter carrier has stops he looks forward to and this is the one I look forward to every day,” said Mike. “He’s the end of my day, and the best part of my day. Not because it’s the end, but because he’s such a cute little guy.”
The man and the little boy’s connection isn’t a surprise to Fredric Rolando, president of the National Association of Letter Carriers. “Kids respond to mailmen because letter carriers are a friendly, uniformed part of the neighborhood who bring something to their house every day, and are someone they come to recognize and trust,” Rolando said. “It’s the same for the elderly, but in addition, letter carriers may be the only person they communicate with all day.”
1.Mike Crenshaw meets Carter Lawson every day to _____ .
A. play with the boy
B. get mail from the boy
C. listen to the boy’s stories
D. send mail together with the boy
2.Why does Mike Crenshaw like the last stop of his day? _____
A. It is where he lives.
B. It is where he is paid.
C. He wants to be with Carter.
D. He can finish his work by then.
3.What is the best title for the text? _____
A. A letter carrier is praised for helping a kid.
B. A mailman makes a little boy’s dream come true.
C. Every letter carrier has stops he looks forward to.
D. The importance of letter carriers cannot be ignored.
书面表达
假设你是晨光中学高二(1)班的班长李华， 得知美国学生Chris 作为交换生， 下学期将到你班学习。请你根据以下提示， 给他写封邮件：
1. 表示欢迎；
2. 介绍与本地生活相关的信息（如气候、 饮食等）；
3.介绍本班情况；
4. 希望Chris做哪些事情， 以增进中美学生之间的了解和友谊
注意：1. 请勿提及与考生相关的真实信息。
2. 可适当加入细节， 使内容充实，行文连贯。
3.词数不少于100； 开头已给出， 不计入总词数。
参考词汇： 交换生 exchange student
Dear Chris,
I’m Li Hua , monitor of Class One, Grade Eleven._______________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
Yours,
Li Hua
短文改错
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短文。短文中共有10处错误，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(∧), 并在此符号下面写出该加的词。
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。
My dream school starts at 8:30 a.m and ends at 3:30 p.m. They are three lessons in the morning and two in the afternoon. We didn’t need to do so many homework. Therefore , we have more time with after-school activities. For example, we can do reading for one and a half hour and play sports for one hour every day.
My dream school look like a big garden. There are all kinds of the flowers and trees around the classroom buildings. We can lie on the grass for a rest, or sat by the lake listening music. The teachers here are kind and helpfully. They are not only our teachers but also our friends.
