修改时间：2024-07-13 浏览次数：194 类型：高考模拟
A ban on distracted walking
You can't walk down the street without passing so-called "smart-phone zombies（僵尸）." They are too absorbed in their screen (watch) where they are going. Almost four in ten people admit having suffered a technology-related small accident they pay more attention to their electronic device than to the pavement.
Now the city of Honolulu, Hawaii, has decided it's time to take immediate action and make it illegal to cross the road while using a mobile phone. Those (23) (catch) using phones, tablets or other electronic devices at crossing points could face a fine of up to $ 100.
Honolulu is the first major U. S. city to ban is called "distracted walking." It comes after a study found there (be) more than 11,000 injuries in the United States resulting from phone-related distraction while walking in the past few years.
To explain the decision, mayor Kirk Caldwell said, "We hold the unfortunate honor of being a major city more pedestrians are hit in crosswalks than almost any other city in the country."
Under the fine systems. breaks this law for the first time will get a fine of $15 to $35. People breaking the law for a second or third time will get a $99 fine.
The law, which is called the Distracted Walking Law, does permit an exception. Pedestrians use such devices in the street to call emergency services and rescue workers, such as firefighters and police officers.
If you still want to text while walking, you could avoid (fine) in Honolulu by using a voice-controlled digital assistant such as Siri or Google Assistant. Or you could just wait you are again, safely, off the street.
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A. parental B. balance C. declined D. deposit E. downloaded F. engaging G. financial H. immediately I. listing J. deliberately K. purchases |
Giving kids allowances in the smart-phone
Allowances are a constant. No matter how much technology interferes with the parent-child relationship, kids still want money and parents still want to impart(赋予)a basic work ethic. But putting stickers on chore(日常事务)charts and dropping coins in piggy banks don't cut it with the smart-phone generation.
Parents in search of more ways to teach children the value of money are turning to allowance-tracking apps, where kids can see their rise and fall in real time.
Bonnie Koon, a mother of three in Crawfordville, Fla., used to post a calendar on her refrigerator her kids chores, to the embarrassment of her 16-year-old twins. After seeing a Facebook ad for the app Green-light, she it.
Green-light links to parents' bank accounts so that the payout can be seamless. Parents can encourage saving by paying interest on the money that isn't spent -- interest out of the parents' own pockets, of course.
It's the first taste of freedom for many kids, and it's set in a relatively safe environment. Parents can determine spending limits and choose the retailers(零售商)where a child can make . If a child attempts to buy something at an unapproved store or to spend more than the limit, the transaction(交易)is and parents get a notification. And if a kid loses the card, parents can immediately cancel it from the app.
One of Ms. Koon's twins. Brenna, works part time at a restaurant. She's putting half of her pay check into a car-insurance savings fund she set up in the app, whit the goal of saving $450 by July. With each , the app gives Brenna a progress update.
Some parents might worry that relying on apps to get kids to do chores only encourages them to be on their phones more. But parents who have chosen this approach argue that they are meeting their kids where they are and that it takes the nagging(唠叨)out of the equation. The real-time look at their accounts makes the concepts of saving and spending more tangible than reviewing a bank statement.
If you like to take a walk in the woods in the United States or you prefer to decorate a tree at Christmas, you should know that climate change is making both of those activities a lot more 1.
Looking at two 2 and economically important species -- the Douglas fir and the Ponderosa pine -- scientists found that fires and drought 3 by climate change make new growth difficult, especially in low-elevation forests, according to a study published Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Some forests in four regions in California, Colorado, the Northern Rockies and the southwestern part of the United States have crossed "a(n) 4 climate tipping (转折) point for post-fire tree generation," the study says.
Climate conditions over the past 20 years have 5 changes that would have taken decades or even centuries to 6 across broad regions of the country. This is leading to the sudden 7 of trees and making these lands increasingly unsuitable for tree regeneration.
"Climate changes is 8 our forests now, not just in some distant future. Maybe in areas where there are really 9 seed sources, there could be some trees, but it is becoming really hard to get these trees back due to climate change,"said study co-author Kim Davis.
The problem probably won't get any better, as climate change is making intense wildfires much more 10 . Western foresters say there used to be a fire season. But devastating and 11 fires have become a reality all year long. In 2018, fire cost California more than $9.05 billion, according to the USA insurance commissioner, the deadliest and most destructive wildfires season in the 12 history.
A higher number of fires and low seed availability means a high probability that these trees in these regions won't come back, Davis said. This study 13 on the driest and hottest areas of the Western forests, but researchers will next try to focus on how much will be impacted.
14, there are some things people can do to ease some of this problem. Forest management plans that reduce high-severity burns can help. Increasingly, forest managers are considering allowing some fires to burn under more moderate conditions, Davis said, Forest 15.
EU members' states have agreed to ban a toxic substance widely found in clothing because it poses an "acceptable risk" to the environment. Countries voted in favor of extending existing restrictions on nonylphenol ethoxylates (NPE) to imports to clothing and other textile products.
The measure is intended to protect species in water. Use of NPE in textile manufature in Europe was banned over 10 years ago but the substance is still released into the water environment through imported textiles being washed.
NPE degrades in the environment into substances including nonylphenol (NP), which accumulates in the bodies of fish and disturbs their hormones, harming fertility, growth and sexual development.
NPE is used in textile manufacture as a cleaning and dyeing agent. The EU decision notes that several studies have found NPE to be present in textile items.
A 2011 study by Greenpeace found NPE in two-thirds of clothes tested, including items sold by big-name brads such as Adidas, H&M, Lacoste, and Ralph Lauren. The NGO (Non-Governmental Organizations) argued that although concentrations of NPE found in the clothes were low, the chemical's existence in the environment posed a risk.
The new ban on textiles containing NPE in concentrations equal to or greater than 0.01% will enter into force five years after it is adopted by the European Commission, which is likely to happen in September.
In comments submitted to ECHA (European Chemicals Agency), clothing and textile firms have warned that obeying the restriction will be difficult because NPE ubiquitous in the supply chain and has numerous uses.
The new restriction will not apply to second-hand goods or recycled textiles because it is assumed that these will already have been washed several times so they contain negligible(微不足道的)amounts of NPE.
EU countries must eliminate pollution of water bodies by NP as it is a priority substance under the Water Framework Directive. A 2013 study by the UK environment agency warned that emissions from textiles could prevent progress towards this objective. It found 29% of imported cotton underwear contained NPE, which was released during the first two washes by the consumer.
Letters
Comments on the March Issue
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40 Smart Ways to Save at the Supermarket Your caution not to fall for fake sales reminded me of when I was a stock boy at my neighborhood grocery in the 1950s. One time, we got a delivery of off-band vegetables. I priced them at ten cents a can. I don't think we sold more than six cans -- until I put up sign that said "Special: Nine for $1." I set them out Thursday evening, and by noon on Saturday they were gone. Edward Deckerd, Perrywille, Missouri |
Trapped Inside a Glacier Reading about John All's experience on Mount Himlung was very inspiring to me. A man with 15 broken bones and bleeding internally being able to climb up a 70-foot wall of ice and survive for 18 hours at 20,000 feet is something that I would have though to be impossible. I am 16 years old and a lifelong reader. Out of all the great content in Reader's Digest, stories like his are the ones I enjoy the most. Sam Kieffer, Richardson, Texas |
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Bill's Last, Best Gift Track Grant's article resonated（与……产生共鸣）deeply with me. Twelve years ago, my husband, Don, was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer. As his caregiver, I, too, learned to appreciate the people and things around me and not to sweat the small stuff, and in the long run, I became a much better person. Don also gave me his last, best gift of love and peace. Antia Lawrence, San Diego, California |
Dishes Professional Chefs Cook in the Microwave Microwaving live lobsters in inhumane and cruel. Because lobsters feel pain, Switzerland has recently outlawed the practice of boiling them live. A similar law was passed in Italy, where it is now illegal to put lobsters on ice before cooking them. I hope you provide an update to your story promoting humane practices instead of cruel and violent ones. Janet Toole, Phoenixville, Pennsylavnia |
What makes us love some things and hate others? We know that sometimes even the tiniest change can result in a huge difference in how we perceive something, so is there any rhyme or reason to our tastes and preferences? Here are three factors which play a role.
⒈Conforming to expectation
In London a few years ago, two talented rappers called Silibil N' Brains took to the stage to perform at a music industry show for unsigned bands. They were an instant hit. Their outrageous West Coast - American style, brilliant rap lyrics and couldn't - care - less attitude had the music industry's talent spotters falling over themselves to sign the pair. In a short space of time, Silibil N' Brains had a deal with a top management company, a contract with a major record label and an advance of $70,000 -- and they hadn't even made a record. Before long, they were on tour with Eminem and out partying with Madonna. They were living the dream.
But two years ago the same two rappers were laughed off stage by the same talent spotters for singing the same sons. So what was the difference? Amazingly, it was their accent. You see, Silibil N' Brains weren't, in fact, from West Coast U. S. A. at all. They were from Dundee in Scotland. During the first audition they had used their Scottish accents when rapping and it had not gone down well. "They just laughed at us," recalled Brains. "We were heartbroken. We went back to Scotland with our tail between our legs". The lesson for them was that to succeed, you have to conform to expectations and at that time everyone expected rappers to be American.
⒉The benefit of hindsight
Some people are simply ahead of their time. It's common knowledge that Vincent van Gogh sold only one painting in his lifetime -- the other 900 or so were unknown and unloved until after his death. Monet's paintings. at least in his early career, was considered incomplete and ugly by critics at the time, while Vermeer, the painter of Girl With a Pearl Earring, even had to use his mother-in-law as a guarantor when he borrowed money -- so unable was he to sell any of his work! Now that public taste has caught up with these artists, more or less anything they touched has an astronomical price tag attached to it. Perhaps the reason is that it just takes a while to get used to something -- after all, not all beauty is obvious at first sight.
⒊A reassuring price tag
In a world where the range of products on offer can be completely bewildering, we often look to price as an indication of quality. We may think we prefer the expensive wine to the cheap one, but we may simply be influenced by the price tag. Even professionals can make the mistake. A researcher from the University of Bordeaux in France took an average bottle of red wine and poured it into two empty bottles, on with an expensive label and the other with a cheap one. Then he invited 57 wine “experts” to taste the wine. Forty of them recommended the wine from the expensive bottle, describing it as "agreeable", "complex", "balanced" and "rounded." while the same wine from the expensive bottle, describing it as "agreeable", "complex", "balanced" and "rounded," while the same wine from the cheap bottle was described as "weak" and "flat", with only 12 of the experts recommending it. The study made the researcher unpopular with the French wine tasters, but he did prove that price has a significant impact on taste.
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A. Between August and April, they sought food in low elevations (海拔) on China's Qinling Mountains. B. Scientists think the research show that pandas are very clever. C. Pandas eat bamboo all day long except when they are sleeping or playing. D. The gene for their “umami taste receptors” became inactive. E. They fed on them until they went back down the mountain and started eating Bashania fargesii leaves again. F. Scientists have conducted many studies on pandas' eating habits. |
Are Bamboo-Eating Pandas Really Herbivores?
On the outside, giant pandas look like herbivores (食草动物). They spend nearly all of their waking hours eating bamboo. But on the inside, they're built like carnivores (食肉动物). About half of the calories they eat come from protein, according to a new study.
The ancestor of giant pandas were omnivorous(杂食的). They are both animals and plants, and had the digestive system and gut bacteria to metabolize(使发生新陈代谢)them. They had "umami taste receptors," to appreciate the flavors of meat.
However, about 2.4 million years ago, things began to change. Their jaw and teeth evolved to help them crush bamboo, and their wrist bone became capable of grasping the stalk(杆)of their favorite plant. Scientists think pandas switched to eating bamboo partly because they didn't have to fight with other animals to get it. Bamboo is high in fiber but has a low concentration of nutrients, so pandas have to eat 20 to 40 pounds of the plant every day just to get by.
David Raubenheimer, a nutritional ecologist at the University of Sydney, and his colleagues put GPS trackers on two giant pandas and followed their movement throughout the year. They discovered that the pandas followed the protein. At the start of the cycle, they ate Bashania fargesii leaves until they got the chance to feast on young shoots, which contained more protein.
The more the shoots grew, the more their protein was diluted(冲淡)by fiber. That caused the pandas to move to higher ground, where Fargesia qinlingensis grew. First, they ate the shoots, but these, too, went from being protein - rich to fiber-rich as they grew. The panda responded by switching to the leaves. The researchers found that about half of the calories the pandas ate were in the form of protein.
"They can know exactly where to go, and when to go, so they can get the most of the nutrients that their ecosystem can provide," said Silvia Pineda - Munoz, who was not involved in the study.
The work also shows that classifying an animals as herbivore or carnivore is more complex than one might sassume. "It's not whether you're eating plants but what of the plants you're eating," said Pineda - Munoz.
Herbal Medicine
Herbal medicine, which has been used for medicinal purposes, is the use of plants to treat diseases. Many herbalists use the entire plant, from the flowers, stems, leaves, and roots, in the form of everything from teas to pills. These plants contain natural, chemical things that can treat the body for a variety of diseases, such as allergies, asthma, rheumatoid arthritis, migraine, chronic fatigue, and cancer, among others.
Nowadays an increasing number of people prefer to adopt these plants to treat their diseases because, compared with chemical medicine, herbal medicine has its own advantages. Herbal medicine and remedies are more effective than chemical medicine for certain diseases. The chemical medicine given by a chemist could have certain negative side effects. However, many of the herbal medicine and remedies to not have negative side effects. If any, they are softer than chemical medicine. Obesity is the cause of many of the health problems. Herbal medicine can help weight loss more effectively and improve overall health.
However, the cure using herbal medicine and supplements would take some time, and therefore people are supposed to possess enough patience. Worse still, herbal medicine contains a variety of ingredients and people have to be sure that their body agrees with the ingredients and that it is not allergic(过敏).
A point worth mentioning here is that herbal remedies and medicine for certain illnesses may have negative side effects. These side effects may not be shown at once, but would take months or even years. In the early stages, if the herbal medicine is not agreeing with you, it is wise to stop using it.
When used correctly and directed by doctors, herbs can help treat a variety of disease. But keep in mind that the herbal medicine industry is not regulated, so herbal products are often misleading and may contain additives that are not listed on the label. Some herbs may cause allergic reactions or interact with other drugs, and some are poisonous if used improperly or at high doses. Taking herbs on your own increases your risk.
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