It happens from time to time: you feel terrible when you take your first bite of a certain food, but after eating more, you find yourself enjoying it. This is what is called an acquired taste. But why do our tastes change?
The answer, according to a recent study presented at an American Chemical Society meeting in Boston, lies in proteins in our saliva (唾液).
Most of us tend to think saliva, almost entirely made up of water, is “only a mouth lubricant (润滑剂) helping us to swallow food,” the New York Times said. However, it also contains many proteins, which can help break food down, protect our teeth and help in tasting food.
To explain how these proteins affect taste, a team of scientists from Purdue University in the US invited 64 volunteers to drink a bitter-tasting chocolate milk three times a day for six weeks and rated their tastes at the same time.
According to the research, the participants found a strong bitterness on the first day, but the unpleasant flavor came to decrease as time went on and finally disappeared.
That is not all that was changing. A noticeable increase in the levels of proline-rich (富含脯氨酸的) proteins was found in the saliva samples of the test subjects in the research period. These proteins serve to reduce the bitterness we taste and improve our adaptation to this flavor.
“We think the body adapts to reduce the negative feeling of these bitter compounds,” said Cordelia Running, a food scientist at Purdue University. “Saliva changes flavor, which in turn changes eating choices.”
This change in taste not only makes the food tastier, but also helps people keep an appetite for healthy food whose flavor might otherwise keep them away.
One day, these proteins may even be extracted (提炼) and used as a separate food additive that could help people stick to healthy food whose flavor they continue to dislike, researchers told Science Alert. And according to Running, even it doesn’t happen, the idea that “maybe some little piece of your body is actually trying to help you” could really benefit some people. Let’s wait and see.
1.What does the underlined phrase “an acquired taste” in Paragraph 1 refer to?
A. The appetite for healthy food.
B. A mouth lubricant helping to swallow the food.
C. Something that tastes very delicious at first bite.
D. A preference that is only formed after great repetitions.
2.What contributes to the changes of our taste?
A. Our negative feelings of food. B. Our adaptation to this flavor.
C. The proteins in our saliva. D. The flavor of the food.
3.Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the text?
A. Saliva consists of many proteins besides water.
B. The unpleasant flavor will increase with time going on.
C. A separate food additive has been extracted from the proteins.
D. Proteins have nothing to do with the changes of our taste.
4.What can we infer from the last paragraph?
A. There will be bitter candy in the future.
B. You can change the flavor as you like in the future.
C. The researches will go on studying these proteins.
D. It won’t be long before we can make unhealthy food healthy.
It was a shock and a painful lesson for many people when the police announced the cause of a bus accident in Chongqing on Oct 28. Video footage (片段) from inside the bus suggested that after a passenger missed her stop and asked the driver to stop, but he refused. She began hitting him over the head with her cell phone. During the conflict, the driver lost control of the bus and it jumped into the Yangtze River, causing 15 deaths.
Zheng Chuankai, a lawyer in Beijing, said the accident showed that it was important that those who cause danger to public safety face severe punishment. Such attacks are inhuman but common. In fact, it is not rare to hear of passengers attacking bus drivers in China. This month, a local court in Shenyang, Liaoning province, sentenced three people to up to three years in prison for endangering public safety by distracting bus drivers, Xinhua reported. “Passengers who interfere (妨碍) with bus drivers are endangering public safety, which is equal to serious crimes like arson (纵火) and poisoning.” Liu Changsong，a Beijing lawyer, told the Global Times.
To prevent similar cases from happening, many Chinese cities have taken measures to keep bus drivers safe. Dozens of cities including Beijing, Xi’an, Wuhan, Changsha and Nanning have plans to add safety fences to buses to protect drivers from any interference by passengers.
The bus operator in Quanzhou, Fujian Province, has invited psychologists to teach drivers how to manage their emotions when facing an angry passenger. These measures are necessary, but they are not enough.
“Public security is closely connected with social morality (道德). People should obey the law, be more self-disciplined and sensible.”
Many countries have introduced measures to deal with the problem of violence against bus drivers. On every bus in the US state of New Jersey, a sign on the back of the driver’s seat warns passengers that anyone attacking a driver can be fined or put into prison.
In London, the local government has launched a program to train drivers to deal with angry passengers and avoid potential conflicts.
1.How did the police find out the cause of the accident?
A. From the witnesses to the accident. B. From the recorded video in the bus.
C. From the survivals of the accident. D. From the police’s reasoning.
2.What does the second paragraph mainly talk about?
A. Interfering public safety is a serious crime.
B. Being a bus driver is a dangerous job.
C. Arson and poisoning are very common in the society.
D. It’s important to know how to protect a bus driver.
3.What’s the author’s attitude towards training drivers to avoid conflicts with passengers?
A. Supportive. B. Doubtful.
C. Opposed. D. Uncaring.
4.Which of the following can be the best title for the text?
A. A Terrible Traffic Accident.
B. A Bus Jumping into the Yangtze River.
C. Keeping Away from the Dangerous Bus.
D. Attack on Bus Driver Brings Safety Review.
Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region is an important ecological screen for the north of China and even the whole country. Building a green great wall to ensure China’s ecological security is one of the most important things of autonomous region.
The largest ecological function zone in the north of China, Inner Mongolia has a variety of landscapes, including forests, grasslands, wetlands, rivers and lakes. In recent years, the region’s environment has improved, with its forest and grassland area having increased and desert reduced.
However, it still faces a number of challenges in ecological preservation. For instance, the region faces severe water shortages with the number of lakes dropping from 427 in 1987 to 145 in 2010. In addition to a lack of rainfall, huge water consumption in agricultural and industrial production has worsened the water shortage. Too much use of fertilizers has damaged the soil and affected the growth of grass, accelerating the expansion of the desert, which results from a lack of water.
The local government encourages planting trees on grassland as they can get more pay for trees than by growing grass. However, the trees they plant often have a low survival rate as they have a high water consumption rate. Also, to treat wetlands, some areas have planted a large number of a single tree species. This practice may damage biodiversity (生物多样性) and endanger the survival of certain animals.
Experts suggest taking the region’s water resources and weather conditions into consideration in future ecological projects.
1.What do we know about the green great wall in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region?
A. It adds the beautiful scenery to this area.
B. It acts as a guard to protect the north of China.
C. It works well in saving the endangered animals.
D. It contributes to the decrease of the grassland.
2.What does the third paragraph mainly talk about?
A. The causes of water shortages. B. The protection of ecological environment.
C. The solutions to water shortages. D. The importance of ecological environment.
3.What does the underlined word “accelerating” in Paragraph 4 probably mean?
A. weakening B. shortening
C. lessening D. quickening
4.What’s the author’s purpose of writing the text?
A. To tell the function of the green great wall.
B. To introduce the green great wall to the readers.
C. To provide guidance on traveling around Inner Mongolia.
D. To offer some advice on building the green great wall.
Best sellers in children’s activities ＆ crafts books
The Wonderful Things You Will Be by Winfield Martin $ 14.96 4.9 out of 5 stars Age Range:1-3 years With beautiful and sometimes humorous pictures, this is a book that parents will love reading over and over to kids, calming them down before sleeping. It has a loving and truthful message that will last for a lifetime. |
Peek a WHO by Nina Laden $ 4.06 4.8 out of 5 stars Age Range: 3—7 years With colorful pictures and simple rhyming texts, the guess of who’s hiding on the next page, and the bright and attractive pictures will keep children guessing and laughing all the way to surprising endings. |
How to Draw People by Barbara Soloff Levy $3.56 4.6 out of 5 star Age Range: 5-10 years By joining circles and other common shapes, even the beginners can easily create 30 different characters, a fireman, a mailman, a cowboy, an astronaut and more. Simple directions, step-by-step illustrations and blank practice pages make it even easier. You can color the pictures when you are done. It’s a fun-filled way to teach art to young children that enjoy drawing. |
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1.Which book is the best choice for bedtime stories?
A. The Wonderful Things You Will Be B. Peek a WHO
C. How to Draw People D. Karina Garcia’s DIY
2.How much should you pay for a suitable gift for a hide and seek lover?
A. $ 3.56. B. $4.06
C. $ 5.78 D. $ 14.96
3.What can we learn from Karina Garcia’s DIY?
A. How to buy high-quality slime. B. How to arrange different colors.
C. How to create full-color pictures. D. How to keep slime in good condition.
假定你是李华，你的英国朋友David春节后将来中国留学，发邮件向你询问建议。请你回复邮件，内容包括：1．提升汉语水平；2．了解民俗文化和生活方式；3．其它建议。
注意：1．字数100词左右；
2．可适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。
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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。错误仅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(∧)，并在其下面写出该加的词。
删除：把多余的词用(＼)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。
Last week，my friends invited me to go camp to see the sunrise．I felt so excited and asked for my parents’permissions．Luckily，he agreed．We got to the mountain top，there we would stay for a whole night．At night，we made a fire，played some games and shared a lot stories．We were singing together while one of my friends were playing the guitar．The next morning，we wake up at about five o’clock．We could not wait to see the sun to come up．After a while，we saw the sun rising．What the amazing scene! The beauty of nature impressed me deep at that moment．
