Can a fish be depressed? This question has been floating around my head ever since I saw a sad-looking Siamese fighting fish in a hotel. His name was Bruce Lee, according to a sign beneath his little bowl.
On the bottom of the little bowl was Bruce Lee, totally still, his lower fin( 鳍 ) somewhat injured. When he did finally move, just slightly, I got the sense that he would prefer to be dead.
The pleasant woman at the front desk convinced me that he was well taken care of. Was I simply incorrectly supposing his lethargy was a sign of mental suffering?
Later on, I sought answers from scientists. It turns out that not only can our gilled( 有 鳃 的 ) friends become depressed, but some scientists consider fish to be a promising animal model for developing anti-depressants. New research has been completely changing the way scientists think about fish, building a case that pet and owner are not nearly as different as many suppose.
Dr. Pittman likes working with fish, in part, because they are so obvious about their depression. He can reliably test the effectiveness of anti-depressants with something called the “novel tank test.” A zebra fish gets dropped in a new tank. If after five minutes it is hanging out in the lower half, it’s depressed. If it’s swimming up top — its usual behaviour when exploring a new environment — then it’s not. The seriousness of the depression, he says, can be measured by quantity of time at the top vs. the bottom, all of which seemed to confirm my guess about Bruce Lee.
“One of the things we’re finding that fish are naturally curious and seek novel things out,” said Dr. Braithwaite.
In other words, your goldfish is probably bored. To help prevent them from depression, she suggests introducing new objects to the tank( 缸 ) or changing the location of items.
Dr. Brown agrees, pointing to an experiment he conducted, which showed that if you leave a fish in an enriched, physically complex environment — meaning a lot of plants to bite at and cages to swim through — it decreases stress and increases brain growth.
The last time a guest posted Bruce Lee to Instagram he was looking good and lively. Perhaps that new green leaf in his bowl had provided the enrichment he desired.
1.What does the underlined word “lethargy” in Paragraph 3 mean?
A.suffering B.sorrow
C.anxiety D.laziness
2.What can be known from the new research?
A.Fish can be used to develop anti-depressants.
B.The way scientists thought about the fish proves totally right.
C.Pets and owners sometimes have the same feeling.
D.Many people suppose pets are quite different from people.
3.Why can fish become bored according to the text?
A.They are not born to be curious.
B.They lack new things to explore.
C.They can’t locate the positions of items.
D.They need oxygen from the air.
4.What is the best title for the text?
A.Fish have their own feelings.
B.Fish can be a boring pet.
C.Fish need better care.
D.Fish depression is not a joke.
However exciting space travel sounds, astronauts must still suffer with bad food. Now, food in space has to be dehydrated ( 使 脱 水 ) or pre-cooked and stored. This means astronauts aren’t really eating fresh food.
New technology may change this. Scientific American reports that a specially-designed oven will be sent into space this autumn with NASA’s NG-12 cargo (货物) mission (太空飞行任务).
Far from the common vacuum-packed (真空包装的) meals, astronauts may get to enjoy freshly baked cookies before the end of 2019.
Why aren’t they baking cookies in space already? For one thing, there’s the risk of a fire. Engineers also have to overcome the challenge of microgravity ( 微 重 力 ), which prevents heat from circling inside ovens the same way it does on Earth.
Astronauts will still have to wait a while before they can have their cookies, though. After baking, the results will be sent back to Earth for safety testing. If successful, this will be the first oven to bake food in space.
“I believe ... that will be game-changing for both science and astronauts,” food technology researcher Maeena Naman Shafiee told Scientific American.
One of the main driving forces behind this project has been NASA’s 2018 research into the effects of “confinement (封闭) and isolation (隔离)”. Unlike on the International Space Station (ISS), astronauts traveling out of Earth’s orbit (轨道) may not be able to speak to their loved ones on future missions, which could lead to negative feelings.
It’s hoped that the chance to bake and sense familiar smells can bring joy to crews (宇航人员).
“Is the ISS going to smell like fresh-baked cookies? We don’t know,” said NanoRacks’ communications manager Abby Dickes. “But that’s a feeling we all know and love ... that will make someone feel at home.”
Baking cookies in space would mark an important step, offering a small comfort in the difficult and unfamiliar environment of space travel. Astronauts have already grown plants aboard the ISS.
With commercial ( 商 业 的 ) space travel now being planned, who knows what other developments may surprise us in the future?
1.What can the new technology help astronauts to do in space?
A.Enjoy fresh cookies.
B.Store more food.
C.Quickly prepare food.
D.Cook many different kinds of home-made meals.
2.Why is it difficult to bake cookies in space?
A.It’s difficult and costly to send food into space.
B.Microgravity stops food from staying in one place.
C.Baking cookies in space would pollute the spaceships.
D.It is hard to heat food properly because of microgravity.
3.What was the main purpose of the cookie project?
A.To improve astronauts’ health.
B.To make improvements in space travel.
C.To encourage more people to travel to space.
D.To make space travel more comfortable for astronauts.
I'm now living in the south of France with my husband Keith and three small children, and I feel like a fish out of water everywhere but one place-the Saturday street market.It's been operating in our small town of Sommieres since the 13th century,but we've only lived here for three months.
From Monday to Friday,life is all about the kids.I'm busy helping my children deal with life in a French school.It's not easy,and their stress is the whole family's stress,as Keith and I are occupied with the daily school runs,piles of homework and school notes in French.
But on Saturday,the market is for me.I feel so peaceful as I walk along the quiet street toward the busy town square.The knife-sharpening man is there, operating a machine that looks like it dates from the Industrial Revolution.There' re street musicians with guitars and microphones,and the sound of beautiful songs fills the air.And the food,of course,is delicious.The cheese man doesn't speak-he just points and cuts,offering a piece from his knife.Lines come out of the door for fresh bread at the bakery.Organic vegetables,herbs and desserts are a feast for the eyes,before being put into the bag to be enjoyed later for lunch.The noises and smells of the market are unfamiliar and thrilling,but their procedures are clear to me.This is part of why I love the place so much:Unlike during the week,when I'm constantly faced with my own difficulties,I know how this place works.My terrible French isn't the barrier to communication that it is in other circumstances.
At school and in the village,I can't joke or join a conversation,and although the other parents at the school are kind,I'm an outsider.But at the market,I'm just another customer with a basket.Surrounded by day trippers,I feel like a local- greeting people I know and petting dogs.
My Saturday experiences allow me to hope that in the near future I'll feel equally confident in my everyday life.Until then,Saturdays prepare me for the coming week of school runs.
1.What does the author mean by saying “I feel like a fish out of water”?
A.She feels uncomfortable in new surroundings.
B.She feels free out of her daily housework.
C.She feels lonely without her children.
D.She feels unable to make a living in another country.
2.What can be learned about the author's life during weekdays?
A.She learns French together with her children.
B.She devotes herself to her children in a French school.
C.She runs to school every day to help her children.
D.She tries to balance her job and the housework.
3.Why does the author like going to the Saturday market?
A.She wants to get away from her family's stress.
B.She can talk with other customers freely there.
C.She feels relaxed and comfortable there.
D.She tries to gain confidence in the busy atmosphere.
假设你是红星中学高二学生李华，你的英国朋友Jim在给你的邮件中提到他对北京正在实行的垃圾分类 (garbage classification) 很感兴趣。他向你咨询相关信息，请给他回信。内容包括：
1.垃圾分类的益处；
2.你周边的实施情况；
3.你的感受。
参考词：recyclables, kitchen waste, harmful waste, other waste
注意：
1.词数不少于50；
2.开头和结尾已给出，不计入总词数。
Dear Jim,
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Yours,
Li Hua
阅读下面的短文和问题，根据短文内容，在相应题号后的横线上写下相关信息，完成对该问题的回答。答语要意思清楚，结构正确，书写工整。
At the start of nearly every doctor's visit, chances are that you will be asked to get your weight measured for that day's exam record - and you would be hard-pressed to find a person whose physician has not brought up his or her weight at some point, and doctors' recommendations to drop pounds are still extremely common. But many conversations around weight have become a barrier, not a help, in the campaign to make people healthier.
Higher body masses are associated with increased risk for hypertension, diabetes and coronary disease. Many studies have shown that heavier people are at higher risk for these illnesses. But the big picture is not the whole picture. Researchers have identified a smaller group of overweight people considered to be ''metabolically (新陈代谢地) healthy'' - meaning they do not exhibit high blood pressure or other diseases.
Research over the past two decades has shown that health professionals have negative attitudes toward fat people. Some refuse to see these patients at all, as the South Florida Sun Sentinel reported in 2011. Such practices keep people from regular annual exams and prevent the finding of serious underlying conditions. Not only that but doctors' appointments with fat patients are shorter on average, and they routinely use negative words in their medical histories of such people. And research suggests that the stress of being a heavy person may cause metabolic changes that may lead to more poor health outcomes.
To achieve better health outcomes, doctors should focus on behaviors that have proven positive outcomes for health instead of the weight-centric health care practice. And people of all sizes are entitled to evidence-based factors that empower them and keep them healthy. Lifestyle changes, such as eating fruits, vegetables and whole grains, along with increased physical activity, can improve blood pressure, levels and sensitivity - often independently of changes in body weight.
1.What will you be asked to do when visiting a doctor for the first time? (不多于4个单词)
__________________
2.Why does the stress of being a heavy person may lead to more poor health outcomes? (不多于6个单词)
__________________
3.What are doctors expected to do to achieve better health outcomes? (不多于10个单词)
__________________
4.What is the passage mainly about? (不多于4个单词)
__________________
根据括号中所给提示完成下列句子。
1.他努力适应新的环境。(adapt)
____________________________________________________
2.我们热烈祝贺他考试取得进步。(congratulate)
____________________________________________________
3.考生必须留在座位上，等所有试卷收好以后方可离去。(remain)
____________________________________________________
4.报名参加上周写作比赛的学生年龄在8岁到15岁之间。(range)
____________________________________________________
5.从他所说的话来判断，他已经厌倦了现在的工作。(be fed up with)
____________________________________________________
