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Orchids’ Secret
Orchids (兰花) are some of the most rare and delicate species in all of nature. For hundreds of years orchids have been prized discoveries of collectors and adventurers hoping to find new and diverse kinds of the flower. “Orchid hunters” went looking for the mysterious orchids and brought back new types to sell. However, many of them met with tragedy instead. Dozens of hunters were killed by accidents or diseases or murder. Others became food for horrible creatures.
While the plants have long been valued for their beauty, they may be even more important to science and our understanding of co-evolution. Unlike plants that can self-pollinate (自我授粉), orchids need very specific insects or birds to spread their pollen. The process by which insects, the wind, or birds spread the pollen of different flowers is called pollination. Pollen is a powder produced by plants that contains their genetic material. In order for the plants to reproduce, the pollen must be physically moved to the flower’s stigma (花的柱头), which contains an egg. Now the fertilized egg can become a seed. Birds and insects can pollinate plants by touching many different flowers and spreading the pollen around.
Orchids evolved to attract insects and birds. Because there are many different species of orchid, there are also many different ways the orchids attract their pollinators. Orlean explains that “many species look so much like their favorite insects that an insect mistakes them for its relatives, and when it lands on the flower to visit, pollen sticks to its body. Another orchid imitates the shape of something that a pollinating insect likes to kill... Other species look like the mate of their pollinator, so the bug tries to mate with one orchid and then another… and spreads pollen from flower to flower each hopeless time.”
Other orchids don’t use their shape at all, but rather produce specialized smells to attract specific insects, such as bees, beetles or flies. Some orchids smell like cake, some like chocolate, and some like rotting meat. All these smells may seem weird, but they exist to attract creatures to their pollen and help the orchids survive.
Orchids provide new angles for the research into plant and animal evolution on the earth. The strategies to attract insects and spread their flowers’ pollen go on and on. Each family of orchids has a unique kind of insect or bird that visits their flowers, as well as its own way of attracting them. It has worked, too. Orchid species number more than 25,000 worldwide, which is more kinds of species than any other flower on the planet, and new ones are still being found.
Orchids and the insects that pollinate them are one of the most amazing examples of evolution. By tricking the insects that collect its pollen, the orchid has survived since the time of the dinosaurs.
Main points | Supporting details |
Orchids are rare and delicate. | ● Orchid hunters consider their discovery of great 1.. ● Many orchid hunters 2. their lives for special orchids. |
Different types of orchids have different ways to spread pollen. | Pollination is a process where the pollen, containing the genetic material of the plant, is carried to the stigma of the flower, so that the plant can 3.. ● Some species attract insects to land on their flowers with 4. appearances to the insects. ● Some species 5. what their pollinating insects want to kill. ● Some species 6. their pollinator into mating with them so that the bugs can spread the pollen from flower to flower. ● 7. than use their shape, other species produce special smells to attract specific pollinators. |
The importance of the 8. of orchids is great to scientific research. | Orchids and the insects that pollinate them are one of the most amazing examples. ● Orchids have the 9. number of types among flowers on the planet. ● Nature has witnessed the 10. of orchids since the time of the dinosaurs. |
We were five minutes into a severe winter storm — approaching Boston’s Logan International Airport — when I turned to the woman next to me and said, “Hey, would you mind chatting with me for a few minutes?” My seatmate seemed friendly and I suddenly felt desperate for a human connection.
“Sure. My name is Sue,” the woman replied, smiling warmly. “What brings you to Boston?” I started to explain that I was on a business trip. Then the plane trembled violently, and I blurted out, “I might need to hold your hand too.” Sue took my hand in both of hers, patted it, and held on tight.
Sometimes a stranger can significantly improve our day. ① A pleasant meeting with someone we don’t know, even an unspoken exchange, can calm us when no one else is around. It may get us out of our own heads — a proven mood lifter — and help broaden our vision. Sandstrom, a psychologist and senior lecturer at the University of Essex, has found that people’s moods improve after they have a conversation with a stranger. And yet most of us resist talking to people we don’t know or barely know. We worry about how to start, maintain, or stop it. We think we will keep talking and disclose too much, or not talk enough. We are afraid we will bore the other person. We’re typically wrong.
② In a study in which Sandstrom asked participants to talk to at least one stranger a day for five days, 99 percent said they had found at least one of the exchanges pleasantly surprising, 82 percent said they’d learned something from one of the strangers, 43 percent had exchanged contact information, and 40 percent had communicated with one of the strangers again.
③ Multiple studies show that people who interact regularly with passing acquaintances or who engage with others through community groups, religious gatherings, or volunteer opportunities have better emotional and physical health and live longer than those who do not. One person took up the cello after chatting with a woman on the subway who was carrying one. Another recalled how the smile of a fruit salesman from whom he regularly bought bananas made him feel less lonely after he’d first arrived in a new city.
④ When Sue took my hand on that scary flight to Boston, I almost wept with relief. “Hey, this is a little bumpy, but we will be on the ground safely soon,” she told me. She looked so encouraging, and confident. I asked her what she did for a living. “I’m a retired physical education teacher, and I coached women’s volleyball,” she said. Immediately, I could see what an awesome coach she must have been.
When we said goodbye, I gave Sue a big hug and my card. A few days later, I received an e-mail with the subject line “Broken hand on Jet Blue.” “I have to admit that I was just as scared as you were but did not say it,” Sue wrote. “I just squeezed your hand as hard as I could. Thank you for helping me through this very scary situation.” She added that when she’d told her friends about our conversation, they teased her because they know she loves to talk. I told my friends about Sue too. I explained how kind she was to me, and what I learned: It’s OK to ask for help from a stranger if you need it. Now if I mention to my friends that I am stressed or worried, they respond, “Just think of Sue!”
1.The writer struck up a conversation with her seatmate because ________.
A.they were heading for the same city on business
B.she was in urgent need of emotional comfort
C.the plane’s abrupt movement was unbearable
D.the woman was friendlier than other passengers
2.What benefit does a pleasant exchange with strangers bring us?
A.It lights up our otherwise unsuccessful life.
B.It saves us the trouble of talking too much.
C.It improves our ability to think and understand
D.It guarantees us a lasting feeling of happiness.
3.Why does the writer mention the study conducted by Sandstrom?
A.To present the benefits of interacting with acquaintances.
B.To show it lifts mood to make and meet with new friends.
C.To stress it is necessary to associate with unknown people.
D.To relieve anxiety about communicating with strangers.
4.The sentence “You don’t even have to talk to complete strangers to obtain the benefit” can be put in ________.
A.① B.② C.③ D.④
5.What does the underlined sentence imply?
A.The writer was impressed with Sue’s ability to inspire others.
B.The writer herself could have been a volleyball player.
C.Sue possessed obvious characters of a qualified PE teacher.
D.Sue became the coach of the writer as a consequence.
6.How did the writer probably feel while reading Sue’s email?
A.Regretful. B.Surprised. C.Disappointed. D.Satisfied.
Every Morning, Breanna Roque goes out to the farm to feed the cows. But this isn’t your typical farm; it’s a laboratory, and Roque is a graduate researcher at the University of California, Davis. She’s been spending her time among the cows to see if she can adjust their diets so they burp (打嗝) less. The cows’ special diet includes small parts of a red seaweed. It contains a chemical combination, which prevents the production of CH4 during the cows’ digestion. Less CH4 means less burping. And less burping could mean slowing down climate change globally.
Although agriculture accounts for a smaller percentage of total greenhouse gas production than sectors like transportation and energy, it produces more CH4, which warms the Earth up to 86 times as much as CO2. When cows eat, they burp food back up, producing CH4 as a byproduct. Researchers across the globe have been pursuing the idea that adding substances to feed might help reduce these CH4 -loaded burps. But it wasn’t until 2016 that researchers in Australia found that grass feed of 2 percent seaweed could cut CH4 productions by nearly 99 percent. In 2019, Roque’s team published the results of a similar study: They cut CH4 production 95 percent by adding to a typical U.S. dairy cow diet with just 5 percent seaweed. But questions remained about the seaweed’s effectiveness in actual cow stomachs.
So more researchers headed to the farm. They found that a diet of just 0.5 percent seaweed led to a 26-percent decrease in CH4. A 1-percent seaweed diet produced 67 percent less CH4. Further research is needed to fully understand why this seaweed in particular works best and to see if adding seaweed to cows’ diets will affect the quality of the products coming from the animals. In the future, they’ll run trials to see if seaweed gives cow’s milk an unpleasant taste or leaves steaks smelling of seafood.
Researchers still need to ensure the seaweed combination, which is sensitive to heat and light, will be shelf-stable and remain effective in real-world applications. And even if the seaweed succeeds, CH4 from cattle account for just 5 percent of greenhouse gas production in the U.S., so the overall picture won’t improve much.
Still, last August, researchers at the University of the Sunshine Coast in Queensland, Australia, announced they would be trying to find ways to farm the seaweed on a large-enough scale to break into the cattle feed market. Roque says she’s regularly contacted by annoying businessmen who want her help to mass produce the seaweed for global animal consumption. “People reach out to me all the time,” she says. “Unfortunately, I’m an animal biologist and not a sea biologist.”
1.What is the purpose of Roque’s research?
A.To reduce global warming through cow feed.
B.To enrich cattle diets with a special seaweed.
C.To make food digestible in cows’ stomachs.
D.To reduce CH4 in the production of seaweed.
2.According to Paragraph 2, the 2016 and 2019 studies were imperfect as they failed to find out ________.
A.why CH4 was more harmful than CO2 in climate change
B.which seaweed worked best in cutting CH4 production
C.whether seaweed would work in practical cow feeding
D.what was the right proportion of seaweed in cows’ diets
3.Future research will probably not deal with ________.
A.how to grow seaweed on farmland economically
B.how to bring out the best function of the seaweed
C.how to prevent beef and milk from tasting weird
D.how to lengthen the store time of seaweed feed
4.Roque’s response to the businessmen indicates that ________.
A.she regrets not having studied seaweeds
B.she is willing to offer more help to them
C.she is negative about the cow feed market
D.she is not interested in farming seaweed
Those extra pounds should be avoided at all costs, right? Actually, while being overweight isn’t generally good for our health, not all fat is created equal — some may even be beneficial.
There are two major kinds of body fat. White fat, the most abundant type, is what you feel when you squeeze your midsection. Brown fat, found mainly in the neck region, burns energy rather than storing it the way white fat does. Brown fat may also help avoid diabetes. According to a study in Cell Metabolism, individuals with higher amounts of brown fat had smaller changes in blood sugar and thus a reduced risk of developing diabetes. Infants have high levels of brown fat, which helps regulate their body temperature. Sadly, we lose it as we age, and adults have only small amounts.
Adults can increase brown fat by exposing themselves to cold temperatures. In a recent study, people who slept in a mildly cold room (about 66 degrees F) increased the amount and activity of their brown fat by up to 40 percent. Sleeping in mild warmth (81 degrees F), however, decreased their amount of brown fat. Cold showers don’t seem to affect it.
Brown fat does have its drawbacks. Radiologists don’t like it, because the heat it causes makes it harder for body scans to detect activities in patients. Although there’s no firm evidence that any specific foods or nutrients can activate brown fat, radiologists routinely recommend that patients eat a high-fat, low-carb diet before scans on the grounds that this reduces brown fat activation.
Just as brown fat isn’t perfect, neither is white fat all bad. Even though people tend to hate it, white fat delivers important health benefits. It protects our vital organs, helps keep us warm, and stores calories for later use, keeping us from starving when food is scarce.
White fat can sometimes be turned into brown — it’s then called beige or brite (“brown in white”) fat. Like brown fat, beige fat burns energy and can thus help fight against obesity. Scientists are still trying to figure out how the change happens; one study points to a hormone called irisin, which our muscles produce when we exercise.
Fat cells’ sensitivity to temperature changes means there’s more than one way we can get rid of unwanted fat. Cooling treatments, for instance, freeze fat cells to death. The body removes these damaged cells over several months.
1.Which of the following can replace the underlined word “midsection” in the second paragraph?
A.Leg. B.Arm. C.Wrist. D.Waist.
2.Generally speaking, who have a larger proportion of brown fat?
A.Babies. B.Senior people. C.Fat people. D.Thin people.
3.The following kinds of fat can help people fight against obesity EXCEPT ________.
A.Beige fat. B.Brite fat. C.White fat. D.Brown fat.
THE MUSTHAVE — SPRING FLUSH (红晕) If you buy one new makeup item this spring, make it a color-packed (but still mixable!) cream red, like one of the new versions from CoverGirl and Maybelline. Whenever you wear it, coworkers will come over to your desk and say things like “Your skin looks great!” and “You look so happy!” That might make you wonder, “What do I usually look like?” But it’ll also inspire you to wear a cheery pop of color on your cheeks for the next three months straight. |
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THE TREND — FERMENTED EXTRACTS (发酵精华) Fermentation isn’t new — the process of preserving natural components has been around for a thousand years — but its popularity in the beauty world is just starting to bloom. And for good reason: Many fermented components have promising skin benefits. Estée Lauder’s brightening treatment features ferment, which fades dark spots and make skin look more toned. The updated version of La Mer’s famous eye cream has a fermented complex that improves dark circles and fine lines. |
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THE GADGET — HAIR BRUSH Straightening your own hair is about to get a lot easier. Powered by electricity, this brush’s heated edges help you get close to the scalp (头皮) (great for short hair), and you don’t need a separate brush or comb, and it stays at the exact temperature you choose so you don’t overheat (read: damage) your hair. The result: Smooth hair is officially just a brush away. |
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LIPSTICKS BUILT TO LAST — HERMÈS LIPSTICKS Who says an object can’t be environmentally sound? The first try by Hermès into the world of makeup is a responsible one: Rouge Hermès, its new line of lipsticks. |
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1.If you have dark spots on your cheeks, which of the following can you choose according to the passage?
A.The products from Maybelline. B.The products from Rouge Hermès.
C.The products from La Mer. D.The products from Estée Lauder.
2.During a power failure, which of the following may be of less use according to the passage?
A.SPRING FLUSH. B.FERMENTED EXTRACTS.
C.HAIR BRUSH. D.HERMÈS LIPSTICKS.
A pair of silk stockings
Little Missus Sommers one day found that she had already saved fifty dollars. It seemed to her a very large amount of money.
The question of investment was one she _______ carefully. A dollar or two could be _______ to the price she usually paid for her daughter Janie’s shoes. This would guarantee they would _______ a great deal longer than usual. She would buy cloth for new shirts for the boys. And still there would be enough left for new stockings — two pairs per child. What time that would save her in always _______ old stockings!
But that day she was tired and a little bit weak. Between getting the children fed and the house cleaned, and preparing herself to go shopping, she had _______ to eat at all!
When she arrived at the large department store, she sat in front of an empty counter. She was trying to gather _______ and courage to push through a mass of busy _______. She rested her hand upon the counter.
She wore no gloves. She slowly grew aware that her hand had felt something very _______ to touch. She looked down to see that her hand lay upon a pile of silk _______. A young salesgirl who stood behind the __________ asked her if she wished to __________ the silky leg coverings.
She smiled as if she had been asked to inspect diamond jewelry with the aim of __________ it. But she went on feeling the soft, __________ items. Now she used both hands, holding the stockings up to see the light shine __________ them.
Two red marks suddenly showed on her pale face.
She thought to herself, “Why not live for myself once?”
She looked up at the salesgirl. “Well, I will __________ this pair.” she said.
Missus Sommers then walked into the ladies’ rest area. In an empty corner, she __________ her cotton stockings with the new silk ones.
For the first time she seemed to be taking a __________ from the tiring act of considering her family. She had let herself be __________ by some machine — like force directing her actions. But this time she decided to free herself of __________.
Then she put her shoes back on and put her old stockings into her bag. Next, she went to the shoe department, sat down and waited to be __________.
1.A.resisted B.considered C.described D.underwent
2.A.spent B.withdrawn C.dropped D.added
3.A.last B.extend C.show D.dress
4.A.picking B.washing C.packing D.repairing
5.A.refused B.forgotten C.regretted D.planned
6.A.confidence B.information C.respect D.strength
7.A.shoppers B.sellers C.agents D.guards
8.A.rough B.delicious C.pleasant D.pretty
9.A.handkerchiefs B.shirts C.stockings D.shoes
10.A.counter B.crowd C.elevator D.window
11.A.see B.witness C.investigate D.examine
12.A.purchasing B.selling C.producing D.designing
13.A.ordinary B.abnormal C.costly D.simple
14.A.beyond B.through C.between D.upon
15.A.return B.buy C.present D.consume
16.A.sold B.exchanged C.submitted D.replaced
17.A.rest B.walk C.look D.sigh
18.A.thrown B.squeezed C.controlled D.comforted
19.A.debt B.dream C.appointment D.responsibility
20.A.fitted B.employed C.consulted D.promoted
