“Museum of the World” Travel Plan
Here’s the travel plan for some of the more unusual museums on our “Museum of the World” tour. I’ll send you the full itinerary (行程) next week. The Museum of Bad Art (MOBA) (Boston, USA) shows what it describes as “art too bad to be ignored”. The museum hopes to bring the worst of art to the widest possible audience. As part of the visit, we’ll be shown some truly awful portraits, landscapes and sculptures.
The Devil’s Rope Museum (in Mclean, Texas) and The Kansas Barbed Wire Museum (in Lacrosse, Kansas) both claim to have the best barbed (有刺的) wire collections, telling the story of the wire’s role in the development of America. We’ll be visiting both of these.
The Washington Banana Museum (Auburn, Washington, USA) contains 4,000 objects related to the history of what the museum describes as “the world’s most perfect fruit.” During a guided tour around the museum, we’ll learn all sorts of interesting things, such as the fact that bananas were introduced to the USA in 1878 in the same exhibition as Alexander Graham Bell’s telephone, and that banana is now the US’s number-one selling fruit.
The Hair Museum (Avanos, Turkey) is located in a cave in Cappadocia, in Central Anatolia. It contains 16,000 samples of people’s hair. You’ll be offered a chance to add your own hair to the collection. Later in the year, the museum manager selects 10 donors to attend a pottery workshop.
The Hair Museum(Avanos, Turkey)is located in a cave in Cappadocia, in Central Anatolia. It contains 16,000 samples of people’s hair. You’ll be offered a chance to add your own hair to the collection. Later in the year, the museum curator selects 10 donors to attend a pottery workshop. If you’re one of them, you’ll be invited to stay in his guest house.
1.What do these four Museums have in common?
A.They are all located in the USA. B.They accept exhibits donated by visitors.
C.They exhibit the things with a long history. D.They show some odd things around the world.
2.What does The Museum of Bad Art (MOBA) show?
A.Complete collections of barbed wire.
B.A large number of samples of people’s hair.
C.Some really terrible but noticeable art works.
D.Some beautiful portraits drawn by famous people.
3.Why was Alexander Graham Bell’s telephone mentioned in paragraph 4?
A.To explain the origin of bananas.
B.To arouse visitors’ interest in the museum.
C.To emphasize the importance of the exhibition.
D.To compare the value of bananas and telephones.
The new garbage sorting regulation has taken effect in Shanghai starting July 1. Many citizens are still confused about the classification of the four different types of trash. Thankfully, authorities have released an official guideline to explain the new rules.
The guideline, published by the Shanghai Greenery and Public Sanitation Bureau, provides a rather clear definition on the four kinds if waste: recyclable waste, harmful waste, household food waste and residual (剩余) waste.
A team from the U. K.'s National Centre for Sport and Exercise Medicine examined 14 lean and overweight men and analyzed their metabolic (新陈代谢) health. The participants were either assigned
Harmful waste, as the name suggests, includes various poisonous materials like used batteries, light bulbs, out-of-date medicines, paint and pesticides.
Household food waste — which is translated to "wet trash” in Chinese — refers to food leftovers, rotten food, pet food, fruit peels, remains of TCM herbs (中药) and flowers.
Paper, plastic, glass, metal and textiles (纺织品) are counted as recyclable waste.
The definition of residual waste is a little confusing. Anything that is not listed above belongs to this category.
As specific as the new guideline is, residents still have a hard time sorting trash correctly and are finding it challenging to memorize them all. For instance, both plastic bottles and bubble tea or coffee cups are plastic materials. However, the former falls to the category of recyclable waste and the latter belongs to residual waste. To save the hassle, some netizens have come up with their own way to sort trash.
"We should do this from a pig's angle," commented one netizen. "Those edible (可食用) for pigs are household food waste. Those even pigs don't want to eat are residual waste. If a pig consumes something and dies of it, then something must be harmful waste. Those that can be sold and the money we gain can be used to purchase pigs are recyclable waste."
The new regulation came into effect on July 1. Those who do not sort their trash properly will be fined RMB200.
1.What do the old coats that you want to throw away belong to?
A.Harmful waste. B.Wet trash.
C.Recyclable waste. D.Residual waste
2.What is the common point of "wet trash"?
A.They can be broken down easily. B.They all come from plants.
C.They all have bad smells. D.They all have poisonous materials.
3.What is the tone of the netizen like?
A.Serious. B.Humorous.
C.Delightful. D.Uncertain.
4.What does the passage mainly talk about?
A.The four sorts of garbing are forbidden in Shanghai.
B.Shanghai garbage sorting enforcement begins.
C.people are still confused about garbage sorting.
D.The netizens in Shanghai support the garbage sorting policy.
Research published in the journal High Temperature found that an hour-long soak in hot water produced similar blood sugar responses to 60 minutes of moderate physical activity.
Sound too good to be true? While the research on these effects is still initial (初步)，there is a plausible explanation for this.
"It seems that activities that increase heat shock proteins (热体克蛋) may help to improve blood sugar control and offer an alternative to exercise," the lead study author Steve Faulkner wrote. “These activities—such as soaking in a hot tub or taking a sauna (桑拿) — may have health benefits to people who are unable to exercise regularly. to an hour- long session of cycling or an hour-long session in a 40℃bath.
The scientists discovered that both groups were better able to control their blood sugar levels in the 24 hours following their soak were approximately 10 percent lower than those of the participants who exercised.
Researchers say this implies that “passive heating" (a means of rising your body temperature) could assist in lowering blood sugar levels. Passive heating can affect proteins in the body called heat shock proteins, which helps regulate blood sugar. People with diabetes (糖尿病) tend to have lower levels of heat shock proteins. Passive heating can raise these levels.
It's critical to point out a few limitations of the study. For starters, the experiment only monitored men, so it's difficult to say if the same effect would happen in women. It also only included 14 volunteers, which was an extremely small sample size. More research needs to be conducted before scientists can come to any official conclusion. And, of course, you should still continue exercising regularly.
That being said, the study does offer some more promising insights (见解) into the healing effects of hot water.
1.What does the underlined word “plausible” in Paragraph 2 refer to?
A.Strange. B.Ridiculous.
C.Reasonable. D.Confusing.
2.What can we know about the research by the U. K.'s team?
A.Cycling made no difference to blood sugar levels.
B.People with diabetes usually have higher levels of heat shock proteins.
C.14 lean and 14 overweight men were involved in the research.
D.A 24-hour tracking and monitoring was carried out after the one-hour activities.
3.How should scientists improve this study?
A.By extending the study period.
B.By changing the research method.
C.By including women in the research.
D.By adding more scientists involved in the investigation.
4.Which of the following best expresses the author's main point of view?
A.When you run a fever you get passive heating.
B.Passive heating can raise levels of heat shock proteins.
C.The research is of significance in spite of some imperfection.
D.You need either a hot bath or regular exercise to keep healthy.
Dressed in a dark blue waterproof (防水) jacket, outdoor shoes and a small backpack, 25-year-old Ye Tian tries to get in an abandoned coking plant in Beijing.
An intern (实习生) for a German company in Beijing, Ye is among thousands of youth interested in city adventures, which they call urban exploration-4urbex' for short.
The aim of this trending (流行) hobby is to explore structures — usually abandoned ruins or hidden areas of the manmade environment. Urban explorers are interested in these sites because they can understand cities from a different angle. Ye, for example, said he enjoyed the contrast between Beijing's two sides.
Widely known scenic spots and historical sites can only reflect the bright side of the city, or what the city wants you to see, Ye said. “But abandoned places show you the past (that is) hidden deep in people's memories."
In the eyes of Pan Ran, who is in her early 30s and works in Canada, an abandoned building can also evoke (引起，唤起) the spirits of those who lived and worked there.
“There are diaries and letters recording the owner's lives,” she said. “And one time, I found a whole box of 8-millimeter videotapes of a family?
Pan couldn't watch the tapes at the site, as the power supply had been cut. She didn't take them away with her either, as there is a very important rule of urbex that you can't remove any souvenirs from a site", Pan said.
While urban exploration can get people to extraordinary places that few have visited, it's sometimes dangerous. Climbing up tall buildings and tip-toeing through abandoned structures can sometimes be a life-threatening affair.
Injuries and even death are not unheard of within the urbex community.
"In the beginning, I was pretty audacious and believed the riskier the places you go, the better photos you get," said Du Tianyu, 22. "But that is not necessarily the case. After doing my calculations, I learned to stop when I reach the limit."
1.According to the text, why do urban explorers like to visit abandoned places?
A.To escape the crowdedness of cities.
B.To take breathtaking pictures.
C.To appreciate different aspects of a city.
D.To know about the lives of the people who left.
2.What does Pan say is an important rule of urban exploration?
A.Don't take things from a site.
B.Don't buy souvenirs when exploring structures.
C.Only explore abandoned sites with long histories.
D.Share travel diaries or journals within the urbex community.
3.The underlined word “audacious” in the last paragraph probably means_____ .
A.cautious B.adventurous
C.passionate D.curious
4.What's the best title for the passage?
A.Travel in Big Cities B.Visit a City's Historical Sites
C.Experience a City's Life D.See a City's Secrets
KQED is a Public Broadcasting Service station in California, US. The station is owned by Northern California Public Broadcasting. Some of its radio programs are as follows:
●The Cooler
As one of the most popular programs among young listeners, the Cooler is a podcast (博客) about pop culture stories and music, presented in a smart, fun and personal way. Come and join us on our journey.
Time: MON-THU, 8 pm—9 pm.
● Here & Now
A live production, in cooperation with stations across the country, Here & Now reflects the world of news as it's happening in the middle of the day, with timely, in-depth news, interviews and conversation. Hosted by Robin Young
Time: MON-THU, 11am—1 pm
● Mind Shift
The Mind Shift podcast explores the innovations (创新) in education that are shaping how kids learn. Hosts Ki Sung and Katrina Schwartz introduce listeners to educators, researchers, parents and students who are developing effective ways to improve how kids learn. They cover topics like how teachers are developing surprising methods to deal with classroom disruptions; how listening to podcasts is helping kids develop reading skills.
Time: THU-SUN, 7 pm—9 pm
● Living on Earth
Living on Earth is a weekly news and information program about the world's changing environment, ecology, and human health. If there's something new about climate change, environmental politics or environmental quality and human health, you can count on Host Steve Curwood and the LOE public radio news team to keep you up to date.
Time: WED, 9 am—10 am
1.At what time can the audience enjoy pop culture stories?
A.Tuesday, 8 pm—9pm. B.Wednesday, 9 am—10 am.
C.Friday, 8 pm—9pm. D.Sunday, 7pm—9pm.
2.From which radio program can listeners pick up news at noon?
A.The Cooler. B.Here & Now.
C.Mind Shift. D.Living on Earth.
3.Which of these topics might be covered in Living on Earth?
A.Education policies. B.Economic problems.
C.Human population. D.Global warming.
Even a small increase in light activity such as washing dishes, or walking around the house might help prevent an early death among older adults, researchers say.
“It is important for elderly people, who might not be able to do much moderate intensity（强度）activity, that just moving around and doing light intensity activity will have strong effects and is beneficial,” said Ulf Ekelund, who led the research.
Published in the BMJ, the latest research was based on a review of eight studies involving a total of more than 36,000 people with an average age of almost 63 years. Participants were followed for five to six years; 2,149 deaths were recorded. All of the studies involved monitoring the physical activity of individuals who had activity trackers, and the studies did not rely on self-reporting, which, the experts noted, could be unreliable.
For each study participants were split into four equal-sized groups, based on the total amount of time spent actively, and the risk of death assessed, taking into account factors such as age, sex, body mass index, and socioeconomic status. This was then repeated for an amount of activity at different levels of intensity. The results were analyzed together to give an overview. The team found a greater amount of activity was linked to a lower risk of death. The results held for different intensities of activity. The team said the study supported the message “sit less and move more and more often”.
However, the study had limitations. It only looked at the situation for middle age and older adults, most of whom lived in the US or Europe, and some of the effect could be due to those people with a higher risk of death being less likely to be related to physical activity. Physical activity levels also were only measured over one period of time.
Dr Gavin Sandercock, from the University of Essex, said the results suggested moving more brought bigger benefits than simply reducing the time of sitting, another factor measured in the study.
“This study reinforces the important message that getting the least active people to do even just a little bit more physical activity can have important public health benefits,” he said.
1.Which of the following may Ulf Ekelund suggest elderly people do?
A.lying on the sofa reading.
B.Doing a little gentle gardening.
C.Going out to hike with friends.
D.Playing basketball sometimes.
2.What can we know about the research?
A.It lasted about 8 years.
B.The researchers admitted they used fake data.
C.The participants didn't include younger people.
D.Some participants died because of doing too much physical activity
3.What is the author’s attitude towards the researchers' conclusion?
A.Doubtful B.Critical
C.Supportive D.Neutral
4.Which of the following is closest in meaning to the underlined word “reinforces” in the last paragraph?
A.Highlights B.Conveys
C.Excludes D.Denies
