Even as we humans keep polluting the world. Nature somehow keeps finding a way to help correct our mistakes. First, there is a molecule(分子)that helps reduce global warming. Now, a team of Yale students may have discovered something equally amazing — plastic eating fungi(真菌).
Pestalotiopsis microspora(微孢子)is the only known fungus to be able to survive only on plastic. The plastic is so hard that it takes thousands of years to break down on its own.
The best part is that these fungi can do the job even in an oxygenless environment, which means that it could work perfectly even at the bottom of a landfill.
The discovery was the result of an effort between three Yale students who were part of the Rainforest Expedition and Laboratory Program, allowing a selected group of students to visit Ecuador’s rainforest and seek out fungi and bacteria that live inside plants without harming them, which could hold medical or scientific promise. The samples are then brought back to the University’s lab where they do wide testing to see if they are of any practical or scientific use.
In 2008, a student named Pria Anand gathered specimens for one purpose — to find a microbe that could eat plastic. That’s when she came across the Pestalotiopsis microspora. Though she did show the unbelievable characteristics of the fungi, she was unable to get the desired results by the time she graduated, in 2010.
Luckily for her Jonathan Russell, a 2011 graduating student, picked up right where she had left off. By combining her work with research performed by another of Pria’s classmates, Jeffery Huang, he was able to separate the enzyme(酶)in the fungus that is the most effective in breaking down plastic.
Hopefully, experts will take it up from here and make the project a reality and help reduce plastic!
1.What is the main character of Pestaltiopsis microspora?
A. It helps reduce global warming.
B. It needs less oxygen to produce.
C. It can break down plastic.
D. It can be buried in a landfill.
2.The underlined sentence in the passage may mean ________.
A. Jonathan continued to study what Pria failed
B. Jonathan drove to pick up Pria when she got off
C. Jonathan came across Pria at an unexpected place
D. Jonathan invited Pria to go on with her research
3.What can we know from the passage?
A. There are some kind of fungi that can eat plastic.
B. These fungi can only work in an oxygen environment.
C. The discovery was made by chance.
D. A group of students made the discovery that fungi can break down plastic.
4.The best title for the passage may be ________.
A. Fungi Love Plastic
B. Plastic Is Eaten by Fungi
C. Fungi Are Eaten by Plastic
D. Fungi Are Hidden in Plastic
My brother-in-law opened the bottom drawer of my sister’s bureau(衣橱)and picked out a wonderful skirt. “Jan bought this the first time we went to New York, at least eight or nine years ago. She never wore it. She was saving it for a special occasion. ” Well, I guess this is the occasion.
He took the skirt from me and put it on the bed. His hands touched the soft material for a moment, and then he shut the drawer and turned to me, “Don’t ever save anything for a special occasion. Every day you’re alive is a special occasion.”
I’m still thinking about his words, and they’ve changed my attitude to life. I’m spending more time with my family and friends and less time on committee meetings. Whenever possible, life should be a pattern of experience to enjoy, not suffer. I’m trying to recognize these moments now and treasure them.
“Some day” and “one of these days” are being lost from my vocabulary. If it’s worth seeing or hearing or doing, I want to see and hear and do it now. I’m not sure what my sister would have done if she had known she wouldn’t have tomorrow.
I think she would have called family members and a few close friends. She might have called a few former friends to apologize and mend her fences for past things. I think she would have gone out for a Chinese dinner, her favorite food.
If I knew that my hours were limited, those little things left undone would make me angry. Angry because I put off seeing good friends whom I was going to get in touch with some day. Angry and sorry because I didn’t tell my husband and daughter often enough how much I truly love them.
I’m trying very hard not to put off, hold back, or save anything that would add laughter to our lives. And every morning when I open my eyes, I tell myself that every day, every minute, every breath truly…, is a gift worth cherishing.
1.What kind of person do you think Jan is?
A. Mean and conservative.
B. Active and confident.
C. Economical and introvert(内向).
D. Indifferent and distant.
2.Which of the following is not the writer’s attitude to life?
A. Spending more time staying with the family.
B. Enjoying life and valuing every day.
C. Attending social activities as often as possible.
D. Trying to get along well with friends.
3.Which of the following can best explain the underlined expression “mend her fences for past”?
A. Break her word.
B. Try to be friendly again with someone.
C. Give up her point of view.
D. Keep her promise.
4.What can be inferred from the passage?
A. People are advised to treasure every day and the meaning of life.
B. People are encouraged to be hard on themselves for a bright life.
C. People are told to get rid of being angry and sorry in life.
D. People are persuaded to care for themselves more than others.
The earth is a mysterious place that never stops to amaze. There are many places completely unimaginable. The incapability to understand the real story behind some of these phenomena draws many people.
Blood Falls, Antarctica
How is it that the coldest and driest place on the planet has a blood-red waterfall pouring down slowly into the McMurdo Dry Valleys, some of the most extreme desert lands on Earth? What causes the mysterious flow was only recently discovered in a study. Scientists believed for many years red algae(红藻)gave it the unusual color. But now research has shown that iron oxide(氧化物)is responsible for it. The waterfall even contains strange bacterial life forms.
Magnetic Hill, Moneton, New Brunswick
Be very careful if you choose to drive to the bottom of this hill. Stories about what happens there have been around since early 1900s. As impossible as it sounds, your car will start to roll uphill. “And it doesn’t just work on cars-vans, trucks and even tour buses roll upward. ” according to Tourism New Brunswick.
Racetrack Playa, Death Valley, California
Located in a remote valley between the Cottonwood and Last Chance Ranges, Racetrack Playa is a place of real beauty and mystery. The Racetrack is a dry lakebed, best known for its strange moving rocks. It looks like they “sailed” through the valley. Although no one has actually seen the rocks move, the long moving tracks left behind in the mud surface of the Playa prove their activity. The most logical explanation so far is that ice forms covering the stones, causing them to move.
1.What’s special about Racetrack Playa?
A. The lakebed there is red.
B. The rocks there can move.
C. There is no living creature.
D. The rocks there can make sound.
2.Which of the following is true?
A. It is red algae that gives Blood Falls the unusual color.
B. These mysterious phenomena have been given exact explanations.
C. People have witnessed the rocks moving.
D. When you drive at the bottom of Magnetic Hill, your car will go up the hill.
3.What’s the purpose of the text?
A. To tell amazing stories.
B. To advertise new places.
C. To introduce distinguished places
D. To uncover mysterious phenomena.
听下面一段独白，回答以下小题。
1.What does “attractive” mean for a teacher?
A. Being charming in real life
B. Being imitated easily by the students.
C. Being popular with the students in the class.
2.Why should a teacher be a bit of an actor?
A. To make the lessons various,
B. To make the lessons interesting.
C. To make the lessons easily understood.
3.Why should a teacher always learn?
A. Teaching is a job a teacher will never be perfect in.
B. A teacher should set an example to the students
C. Teaching needs higher and higher degrees.
4.How many teaching qualities are mentioned in the speech?
A. Three. B. Four. C. Five.
听下面一段较长对话，回答以下小题。
1.What are the speakers mainly talking about?
A. Doing research.
B. Looking for a job.
C. Choosing a college major.
2.Where will the man probably find information on incomes?
A. From the woman.
B. On the Internet.
C. At the library.
3.Why does the man want to get a well-paid job?
A. To learn dancing.
B. To travel around.
C. To help the poor.
4.What is the woman’s attitude toward the man?
A. Supportive. B. Impatient. C. Critical.
听下面一段较长对话，回答以下小题。
1.What does the weatherman say about tomorrow?
A. It will snow and be cold.
B. It will be warm and sunny.
C. It will be cloudy with showers at times.
2.What season is it now?
A. Spring. B. Autumn. C. Winter
3.What do we know about the weather of the picnic day last year?
A. It was sunny when they started.
B. It was warm enough for a picnic.
C. It snowed at the beginning.
