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A Teenage Inventor
The world could be one step closer to quick and inexpensive Ebola detection thanks to a teenager from Connecticut.
Olivia Hallisey, a junior at Greenwich High School, was awarded $50,000 in the Google Science Fair for her new method that detects Ebola, a virus that causes bleeding from different parts of the body and usually causes death. Olivia’s method is to ask patients to put their saliva (唾液) onto a testing card. The card changes color if the person is catching Ebloa. Present Ebloa tests take up to 12 hours and cost $1,000. Olivia’s method, however, can be done just in 30 minutes for about $25. Besides, the sample (样本) doesn’t have to be put in a refrigerator thanks to the silk material Olivia uses to produce the testing cards.
Olivia was inspired to deal with this global problem after watching the news that more than 10,000 people died from Ebola in West Africa. She was particularly worried about the fact that, while the acts of involvement can improve survival rates, present detection methods are costly, time-consuming and require complex tools. Olivia got help from her science research teacher. She drew out directions from past research, and figured out detection systems that have proven to work with other diseases, including Lyme disease and yellow fever.
“What affects one country affects everyone,” Olivia told CNBC. “We have to work together to find answers to the huge challenges which cause harm to the global health.” The Connecticut’s teen, who hopes to become a doctor one day, was named the Google Science Fair winner in the competition of 20 competitors from across the globe. The fair is open to young people between the ages of 13 and 18 in most countries.
Olivia hopes her success will inspire other girls interested in science and computers. “I would just encourage girls to try it in the beginning, and remind them that they don’t have to feel naturally drawn or feel like they have a special talent for maths or science,” she told CNBC, “but just really look at something they are interested in and then think how to improve something or make it more enjoyable or relate it to their interests.”
1.According to the passage, present Ebola detection methods ______.
A.must use a large amount of samples
B.may detect other deadly viruses as well
C.have proven to be ineffective in practice
D.require samples to be kept in refrigerators
2.What can we learn about Olivia’s method?
A.Time-consuming. B.Cheap.
C.Complex. D.Out-of-date.
3.What does the underlined word “drawn” in Paragraph 5 probably mean？
A.Attracted. B.Controlled.
C.Admitted. D.Exposed.
4.The Google Science Fair is intended for ______.
A.students B.doctors
C.inventors D.scientists
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A Teenage Inventor
The world could be one step closer to quick and inexpensive Ebola detection thanks to a teenager from Connecticut.
Olivia Hallisey, a junior at Greenwich High School, was awarded $50,000 in the Google Science Fair for her new method that detects Ebola, a virus that causes bleeding from different parts of the body and usually causes death. Olivia’s method is to ask patients to put their saliva (唾液) onto a testing card. The card changes color if the person is catching Ebloa. Present Ebloa tests take up to 12 hours and cost $1,000. Olivia’s method, however, can be done just in 30 minutes for about $25. Besides, the sample (样本) doesn’t have to be put in a refrigerator thanks to the silk material Olivia uses to produce the testing cards.
Olivia was inspired to deal with this global problem after watching the news that more than 10,000 people died from Ebola in West Africa. She was particularly worried about the fact that, while the acts of involvement can improve survival rates, present detection methods are costly, time-consuming and require complex tools. Olivia got help from her science research teacher. She drew out directions from past research, and figured out detection systems that have proven to work with other diseases, including Lyme disease and yellow fever.
“What affects one country affects everyone,” Olivia told CNBC. “We have to work together to find answers to the huge challenges which cause harm to the global health.” The Connecticut’s teen, who hopes to become a doctor one day, was named the Google Science Fair winner in the competition of 20 competitors from across the globe. The fair is open to young people between the ages of 13 and 18 in most countries.
Olivia hopes her success will inspire other girls interested in science and computers. “I would just encourage girls to try it in the beginning, and remind them that they don’t have to feel naturally drawn or feel like they have a special talent for maths or science,” she told CNBC, “but just really look at something they are interested in and then think how to improve something or make it more enjoyable or relate it to their interests.”
1.According to the passage, present Ebola detection methods ______.
A. must use a large amount of samples
B. may detect other deadly viruses as well
C. have proven to be ineffective in practice
D. require samples to be kept in refrigerators
2.What can we learn about Olivia’s method?
A. Time-consuming. B. Cheap.
C. Complex. D. Out-of-date.
3.What does the underlined word “drawn” in Paragraph 5 probably mean？
A. Attracted. B. Controlled.
C. Admitted. D. Exposed.
4.The Google Science Fair is intended for ______.
A. students B. doctors
C. inventors D. scientists
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Researchers at Cornell University are one step closer to building robots that are more like humans. This new method is one you might not expect. However, a soft robot muscle that "sweats" to regulate its temperature. "Sweating takes advantage of evaporated (蒸发)water loss to rapidly dissipate heat and can cool below the environmental temperature. So as is often the case, biology provided an excellent guide for us as engineers."
The fingerlike devices are 3D printed, water powered, and can be used to grab things. They are made of two soft chemical materials: a base layer of (CH3) 2 CH-C3H5 NO covered in a multihole layer of (C3H5 NO)n. When the fingers reach a temperature of 30°C (86°F), the base layer reacts by shrinking, squeezing the water through the top pores (毛孔)in the top layer. The drying up is so efficient that the surface temperature of the actuator can drop by 21°C in just 30 seconds. That's three times more efficient than in humans. When wind from a fan is thrown into the mix, they cool down around six times as fast. The evaporation also cooled the object held by the actuator hand.
"The best part of this artificial strategy is that the heat regulation is based on the material itself," said T. J. Wallin, co-lead author, a research scientist at Facebook Reality Labs. "We did not need to have sensors or other components to control the sweating rate. When the local temperature rose above the set point, the pores would simply open and close on their own. "
While the result is exciting, it is only a first step. The robot has its weaknesses. The sweat can make the robot hand slippery, so the team is examining textures to improve its grasp. When the sweating takes place, the robot's mobility is also blocked and needs to refill its water supply.
"I think that the future of making these more biologically similar materials and robots is going to rely on the material composition," said co-lead author Rob Shepherd, an associate professor of mechanical and engineering. "This brings up a point about the importance of research involving several different academic subjects or areas, where really no one group has all the answers. "
1.Which can best replace the underlined word "dissipate" in paragraph 1?
A.turn down B.put aside
C.drive away D.take in
2.What can control the heating performance of the robot?
A.Its artificial material. B.Its accurate sensor.
C.Its sensitive devices. D.Its working surroundings.
3.What does paragraph 4 mainly talk about?
A.The disadvantages of the robot.
B.The next step of the researchers.
C.The rules the robot has to follow.
D.The effect of the new development.
4.What can we infer from Shepherd's words?
A.The future of the robot is promising.
B.The similar materials are too difficult to develop.
C.Only working together can make the robot more successful.
D.The next step of his team is to search for suitable software.
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China launched its fifth Beidou orbiter into space on Sunday morning, moving it one step closer to its goal of building a navigation(导航) and positioning satellite network.
The Beidou, or Compass, system is being built to rival the US-developed GPS, the European Union's Galileo and Russia's Global Navigation Satellite System. It can allow travelers, drivers and military officials to know their locations.
The fifth orbiter was launched on top of a Long March 3A carrier rocket at 5:30 am on Sunday from Xichang of Southwest China's Sichuan province.
It is the third Compass satellite launched this year, following launches on Jan 17 and June 2.
The short interval of less than two months since the last launch demonstrated that "the country is stepping into a busy period of launching the Compass satellites", an unnamed official in charge of the project said last month.
The first two orbiters were launched in 2007 and 2009 respectively.
Sun Jiadong, the Beidou program's chief designer, said on June 21 in a TV interview that China would launch 13 to 15 Beidou navigation satellites into orbit by 2012 to form a network that provides regional service covering the neighboring areas.
And in about 10 years, the network would be expanded to include more than 30 satellites covering the globe, he said.
The system is a crucial part of the country's space infrastructure for providing navigation and positioning services in transportation, meteorology, petroleum prospecting, forest fire monitoring, disaster forecasting, telecommunications and public security.
In addition, a global positioning system is crucial to any country's national security and defense, said Ran Chengqi, an official in charge of the program, referring to the fact that the US initially built its GPS system for military purposes.
It is unimaginable for China to go without such a system, he said.
Earlier reports cited（引用） Song Xiaojun, a Beijing-based military expert, as saying that 90 percent of the world's current weapons systems need a global positioning system.
1.This news report was probably released________.
A．in January, 2010 B．in June, 2010 C．in July, 2010 D．in August, 2010
2.The Compass System is expected to finally cover________in the future.
A．China B．China and its neigh boring areas
C．Asia, Europe and Oceania D．the earth
3.At the very beginning, the GPS system was built to help________.
A．military officers to judge their locations B．travelers to know their locations
C．drivers to reach their destinations easily D．hunters to find wild animals smoothly
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It seems that we are one step closer to finding alien life and maybe a future home for humanity. Scientists from NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) have found a new solar system filled with planets that look like Earth and could even support life.
The group of seven planets, which orbits a star called Trappist-1, is 40 light years away from Earth in the constellation of Aquarius(水瓶座). And three of them are in the so-called “habitable (宜居的)zone” ----the area around a star where liquid water is most likely to be found. This is important because water is a necessary ingredient for life.
All of the planets were found using a method called “transit photometry.” This works by watching out for when a planet passes in front of its host start. This blocks out a small amount of light, allowing us to see the planet and learn about its size.
“This is an amazing planetary system---not only because we have found so many planets, but because they are all surprisingly similar in size to the Earth,” astronomer Michael Gillon from the University of Liege in Belgium told The Independent.
Trappist-1 is a “dwarf star (矮星)” which is colder and shines dimmer than our sun. If a person were on one of the seven planets, everything would look a lot darker than usual. The amount of light heading toward our eyes would be about 200 times less than we get from the sun, according to The Independent.
Because of that, Trappist-1, together with many other dwarf stars, was never on the list of places where scientists look for alien life. but Michael Gillon, lead researcher behind the discovery, decided to give dwarf stars a chance. He built a telescope in Chile to observe 60 of the closest dwarf stars, and it turned out that Trappist-1 was worthy of the effort.
The researchers hope that they can spend more time watching the newly found planets to learn more about them. Even though more research is needed before determining whether these planets could really support life, the discovery is still encouraging. It shows just how many Earth-size planets could be out there.
“The discovery gives us a hint that finding a second Earth is not just a matter of if, but when,” NASA scientist Thomas Zurbuchen told the Telegraph.
1.Which of the following statements is TRUE about the newly found planets?
A. It will take human beings about 40 years to travel to them
B. Some of them might have the proper conditions to support life
C. They are spread out in the habitable zone around Trappist-1
D. Underground ice has been found in some them
2.“Transit photometry” is a special method mainly used to ________.
A. tell apart different stars
B. test the brightness of stars
C. search for and measure planets
D. work out the distance between stars
3.We can infer from the article that _______.
A. scientists will soon find an Earth-like planet that can support human life
B. researchers know a little about the environment on the newly found planets
C. dwarf stars have long been a popular choice in the hunt for Earth-like planets
D. the size of a planet is the top concern when scientists search for a “second Earth”
4.Which of the following can be the best title of the passage?
A. Life in space soon?
B. Any aliens in space?
C. Trappist-1, a dark dwarf star
D. New record, seven new solar systems
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Your teenage best friend could be good for your long-term mental health，according to a new study published in the journal Child Development According to the findings, teenagers aged 15 to 16 who had a close friendship rather than a larger group of friends they were less close to had a greater sense of self-worth by the time they were 25 years old. Those people with a very close best friend were also less likely to experience depression and social anxiety, the study found．
“Close friendship strength in mid-adolescence predicted relative increases in self-worth and decreases in anxiety and depressive symptoms by early adulthood，”the authors, led by Rachel K, Narr，a postdoctoral student focused on clinical psychology at the University of Virginia, wrote.
A past research has suggested that adolescent friendships are important. Friendships during the teenage years predict academic success and improved mental health. But the new research further explores the type of friendships teenagers have. “My hunch（预感）was that close friendships compared to broader friendship groups and popularity may not function the same way,” Narr told Quartz. "Being successful in one is not the same as being successful in the other."
Many study participants did not continue to have a close relationship with their high-school best friend, leading the researchers to wonder what exactly was responsible for the mental health benefits. They suspected that the skills and ability to build such a friendship may be more important than the friendship itself.
And as the researchers point out, those skills are not necessarily brought to bear in the world of social media. "As technology makes it increasingly easy to build a social network of shallow friends, focusing time and attention on developing close connections with a few individuals should be a priority," study co-author Joseph Allen said in a statement.
1.What is the benefit of having a close teenage friendship?
A.Excellent performance in high school. B.A larger group of friends.
C.Mental health by early adulthood. D.A large social network in the future.
2.What can we learn about the past research?
A.It attached great significance to adolescent friendships.
B.It was totally different from the new research.
C.It helped improve teenagers' mental health.
D.It compared broader friendship groups with popularity.
3.What did the researchers think might lead to the mental health benefits?
A.Not continuing to have a close relationship. B.Having a best friend in high school.
C.Understanding the world of social media. D.Knowing how to build a close friendship
4.What did the researcher Joseph suggest?
A.Learning to use social media.
B.Broadening your social circle.
C.Improving the skills of making friends.
D.Concentrating on high-quality relationship.
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What wonderful world it would be if all countries in the world could live peace with one another.
A. a; \ B. the; \ C. a; the D. the; the
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What wonderful world it would be if all countries in the world could live peace with one another．
A．a; \ B．the; \
C．a; the D．the; the
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With ______ successful launching of Tiangong-1, China’s space dream has taken ______ step closer to reality.
A．the; a B．/; a C．a; the D．the; /
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Slowly but surely, we're moving closer and closer to 5G world. From smart-home security to self-driving cars, all the internet-connected devices in our life will be able to talk to each other at lightning-fast speeds with reduced delay. Objectively speaking, the fastest 4G download speeds in the US top out at an average of 19. 42 Mbps. But by comparison 5G promises gigabit （千兆）speeds.
“5G is one of those heralds （使者），along with artificial intelligence , of this coming data age.” said Steve Koenig, senior director of market research for the Consumer Technology Association. “The self-driving vehicle is a great emblem of this data age，and that is to say，it is a sign of time, because with one single task, driving, you have massive amounts of data coming from the vehicle itself, and a variety of sensors are collecting a lot of information to model its environment as it moves. It's pulling in data from other vehicles about road conditions down the lane. It could be weather information, and also connected infrastructure （基础设施）construction. There is lots of data behind that task, which is why we need the high speed.
And virtual reality glasses and headsets haven't yet broken the mainstream, but tech companies are joyfully betting that these devices will eventually replace our smart phones. With 5G, that could actually happen. This is notable because companies such as Apple are reportedly developing AR glasses to assist— or even replace — smart phones.
Ericsson stated at February's Mobile World Congress how smart glasses could become faster and lighter with a 5G connection, because instead of being weighed down with components, the glasses could rely on hardware for processing power.
But don't get too excited. There is still a lot of work to be done in the meantime, including various trials to make sure the radios play nicely with hardware and infrastructure construction so 5G isn't concentrated only in big cities.
1.What is the first paragraph mainly about?
A.A right security of 5G. B.The super speed of 5G.
C.A potential dream of 5G. D.The present world of 5G.
2.What do some tech companies expect of virtual reality glasses?
A.They will be heavier than present ones.
B.They will process power on their own.
C.They will serve people instead of smart phones.
D.They will bring a big fortune to tech companies.
3.What will the author tell us in the next paragraph?
A.How to fully expand 5G coverage.
B.How to effectively reduce 5G trials.
C.How to nicely operate 5G hardware.
D.How to widely construct 5G big cities.