As people try to keep social engagement during self-isolation, citizen science offers a unique opportunity.
Defined as "public participation and collaboration in scientific research", citizen science allows people to use technology to unite towards a common goal —from the comfort of their homes. And it is now offering a chance to contribute to research on the coronavirus pandemic.
With so many of us staying home, this could help build a sense of community where we may otherwise feel helpless, or struggle with isolation.
Anyone is welcome to contribute. You don't need expertise, just time and interest. Projects exist in many forms, catering to people of diverse ages, backgrounds and circumstances. Many projects offer resources and guides to help you get started, and opportunities to collaborate via online discussion forums.
Scientists worldwide are racing to find effective treatments and vaccines to halt the coronavirus pandemic. As a citizen scientist, you can join the effort to help tackle COVID-19, and other infectious diseases.
Foldit is an online game that challenges players to fold proteins to better understand their structure and function. The Foldit team is now challenging citizen scientists to design antiviral proteins that can bind with the coronavirus.
The highest scoring designs will be manufactured and tested in real life. In this way, Foldit offers a creative outlet that could eventually contribute to a future vaccine for the virus.
Another similar project is Folding@home. This is a distributed computing project that, rather than using you to find proteins, uses your computer's processing power to run calculations in the background. Your computer becomes one of thousands running calculations, all working together.
1.Where does a citizen scientist work?
A.In the office. B.At research center.
C.In the factory. D.At home.
2.Who can be a citizen scientist?
A.Anyone who has time and interest. B.The expert who is interested.
C.People who are well educated. D.Doctors who are experienced.
3.How can a citizen scientist join in the effort to help deal with the COVID-19 and infectious diseases?
A.He can play Foldit an online game and get the highest scores.
B.He can do experiments about COVID-19.
C.He can design a new game about COVID-19.
D.He can help build a sense of community.
4.What is true about Folding@home?
A.It is the same project as Foldit.
B.It is a computer project using you to run calculations by computer.
C.It is a project using you to find proteins.
D.It is done by experts.
Music has a great effect on everyone. But does music affect plants, too? People have been experimenting with music for almost three decades. From school-level projects to higher-level scientific experiments, the effect of music on plants has been a confusing and debatable topic.
We know music is sound and sound is nothing more than a wave. Plant growth is a result of the cell division that takes place within the cells. But why is music associated with plant growth? In humans, music has a strong effect on our health and mood, and over the years, people have claimed that the same effect has been observed on plants, too. Plants are sensitive by nature, and many people claim that they have feelings just as humans do. There are stories about plants shedding tears. Although scientists do not support these as facts, these myths have led them to take up various experiments on plants.
Various studies have proved that plants respond to acoustic (音响的) energy. It increases their rate of growth and their size, and influences their overall health. Dan Carlson, after a thorough study over a span of many years, has reached a conclusion that music helps plants absorb nutrients(养分) more efficiently.
It took Dan about fifteen years to develop a foliage spray (叶面喷剂) that is used beneficially with the sound frequencies. Carlson calls this spray “Sonic Bloom”. His findings have proved to be beneficial for countless farmers and have resulted in－according to Guinness Book of World Records－the largest indoor plant on record.
The Purple Passion was treated with the Sonic Bloom process. It grew to be 1,300 feet tall and was alive even after 25 years. Its normal lifespan(寿命), however, is 18 months and it grows not more than 18 feet tall. The book, Secret of the Soil, writes about Sonic Bloom and its results. Sonic Bloom is also sold in the market.
1.What inspired scientists to experiment with plants?
A.The effects of music on humans.
B.Plants are sensitive by nature.
C.The cell division taking place within the cells.
D.People’s debatable opinion of the effect music has on plants.
2.What is the main idea of Para. 3?
A.Nutrients are important to plants.
B.Music can have some good effects on plants.
C.How the rate of growth of plants can be improved.
D.What kinds of music can contribute to the growth of plants.
3.What did Dan Carlson develop?
A.A spray called “Sonic Bloom”.
B.A method to grow larger plants.
C.A special plant that grows very fast.
D.Acoustic energy that plants respond to
4.Why is the Purple Passion included in Guinness Book of World Records?
A.It is the oldest indoor plant.
B.It is the largest indoor plant.
C.It gives off the most pleasant smell.
D.It can grow in the toughest conditions.
Nurses play a vital role on the front lines of the novel coronavirus(冠状病毒）pandemic. But a shortage of these essential health care workers could pose challenges in countries dealing with a growing number of COVID-19 cases.
"One of the lessons I hope the world learns from COVID-19 is that we must invest in nurses ," said World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus during a speech Tuesday in celebration of World Health Day.
WHO's new "State of the World's Nursing 2020" report has identified a global shortage of 5.9 million nurses. Many of those gaps are found in Africa, Southeast Asia, the Eastern Mediterranean, and parts of Latin America.
Among regions of the world, the Americas have the highest density of nurses at 83.4 per 10,000 people, followed by Europe with 79.3 nurses per 10,000 people. In contrast, there are 8.7 nurses per 10,000 people in Africa, 15.6 nurses per 10,000 people in the Eastern Mediterranean region, 16.5 nurses per 10,000 people in Southeast Asia, and 36 nurses per 10,000 people in the Western Pacific.
But there are also differences within regions. In the Americas, for example, countries such as Brazil, Canada, Chile, and the US have a higher density of nurses at close to or over 100 per 10,000 people, distorting the regional average. Many of the neighboring countries in the region have less than 50 nurses per 10,000 people. In Haiti, there are only 3.8 nurses per 10,000 people.
When based on country income, data in the report shows an unsurprising trend: The higher the income, the higher the nursing density. In low-income countries, the average density of nurses is 9.1 per 10,000 people, while the figure for high-income countries is 107.7 per 10,000 people.
But training more nurses won't solve the problem, said Dr. Giorgio Cometto, WHO coordinator on human resources for health policies and standards.
"If the country lacks the economic capacity to employ them or to create economic opportunities for them to work as nurses ... training more nurses can just go into the direction of making labor market imbalances, resulting in unemployment among nurses. And that's a huge wastage of human capital as well as financial resources," Cometto said.
The key is balancing training with the creation of employment opportunities in rural areas where there are known health worker shortages.
That may be easier said than done, especially among countries that are suffering from chronic or complex emergencies, in active conflict, or struggling in the wake of conflict. But in these settings, the international aid community can arrange its assistance with national priorities and covering recurrent costs, such as salaries, within a specified period of time, Cometto said.
1.How many nurses are needed according to WHO's new" State of the World 's Nursing 2020" report?
A.6 million. B.8.7Million.
C.3.8 Million. D.5.9Million.
2.From the figures in the passage , where are nurses most needed?
A.Africa. B.Haiti.
C.Eastern Mediterranean region. D.Southeast Asia.
3.Based on the country income what does the data in the report show?
A.The higher the income ,the more nurses are.
B.The higher the income,the more doctors are.
C.The lower the income ,the more doctors are.
D.The lower the income, the more nurses are.
4.From what Cometto said, we know that___.
A.It is easy to solve the problem of shortage of nurses.
B.It is not easy to solve the problem of shortage of nurses.
C.Training more nurses is a way to solve the problem.
D.The international aid community can arrange its assistance all the time.
Argentina: Land of Discovery
Experience the lively culture of Buenos Aires as you work to build low-income housing for local families in need.
Duration: 14 to 21 days
Program Type: Find Your Passion
Tuition: $4,999 (21 days); $3,399 (14 days)
Community Service Hours: 45 (21 days); 35(14 days)
Belize: Rhythms of the Caribbean
Make a difference as you work to promote children’ literacy, explore Belize’ diverse ecosystems, and experience the color and culture of this exotic nation.
Duration: 23 days
Program Type: Find Your Passion
Tuition: $4,999
Community Service Hours: 60
Costa Rica: Spanish Service Adventure
Navigate（驾驶船只）through a diverse mountainscape and improve your Spanish skills.
Duration: 14 to 21 days
Program Type: Language Exposure
Tuition: $4,999 (21 days); $3,399 (14 days)
Community Service Hours: 55 (21 days); 36(14 days)
Costa Rica: Protecting the Pacific
Protect the oceans through volunteer projects on the Pacific coast.
Duration: 13days
Program Type: Environmental Conservation
Tuition: $3,399
Community Service Hours: 30
1.Which program is focused on helping to improve the living conditions of the poor?
A.Land of Discovery . B.Rhythms of the Caribbean.
C.Spanish Service Adventure. D.Protecting the Pacific.
2.How is Rhythms of the Caribbean different from other programs?
A.It’ tuition fees are the cheapest. B.It provides different community service hours.
C.It is the longest program. D.It offers great opportunity to learn a language.
3.Which of the following statements gives you the least hours of community service.
A.Land of Discovery . B.Rhythms of the Caribbean.
C.Spanish Service Adventure. D.Protecting the Pacific.
假设你是李华，你的朋友Anne前天举办了生日聚会，但由于期末考试的临近，你忙于备考而未能出席。请根据以下要点写一封道歉信。
1. 表达歉意；2. 说明原因；3. 另约时间。
注意：1. 词数100左右；
2. 可适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。
Dear Anne,
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Yours truly,
Li Hua
请改正下面短文中的错误。文中共有10处语言错误，每句中最多有两处。每处错误仅涉及一个单词的增加、删除或修改。
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。
Dear Mike,
How is everything going with you? Hearing that you have a plan to learn Chinese, I’m writing to recommend a university that you can have a fruitful learning experience. My recommendation is Peking University, a well-known university suitable for language learning in China.
The reasons account for my recommendation are as follows. To begin with, being a first-class university with the best equipments and the finest teachers, Peking University is capable of offering professional guide and systematic training to you to master Chinese. That I think will impress you must be the resources you can have access during the whole process. Furthermore, locating in Beijing, which is the capital of China, this university has had profound historical culture. Thus, not only can we get to know those who speak standard Mandarin, but you will experience the power of Chinese culture.
All in all, I really hope you can pay a visit to Beijing. I’ll wait for you here and offer help wherever you need.
Yours sincerely,
Jane
