Do you know what makes lightning (闪电)? {#blank#}1{#/blank#}

    Lightning strikes happen when ice and water in clouds rub (摩擦) together, and cause atmospheric (大气层的) changes. When this happens, it creates a static charge (静电). Lightning can strike inside the cloud, between two clouds or between a cloud and the earth. {#blank#}2{#/blank#}

    Lightning can be very dangerous. Every year, lightning kills people because it can start big fires or because it reaches a temperature of 28,000℃. About 1,000 people are hit by lightning every year in the United States, and about 100 of them die as a result.

    {#blank#}3{#/blank#}Scientists think that there are more than three million lightning strikes every day in the world. An American man, Roy Sullivan, who worked in a park, survived from the most lightning strikes. {#blank#}4{#/blank#}And he keeps the highest world record.

    Lightning is sure not something to play with. When lightning strikes, it's best to stay inside a large building. {#blank#}5{#/blank#}Also, do not lie down on the ground, or the electricity may go through you and cause a heart problem.

阅读下列短文, 从下面每个小题的A、B、C、D四个选项中选出最佳选项。

A study conducted by the University of Leeds in the United Kingdom suggest that watching cute animals may lead to a reduction in stress and anxiety.

The study examined how watching images and videos of cute animals for 30 minutes affects blood pressure, heart rate(心率) and anxiety. In December 2019, 19 people, including 15 students, joined in the study.

"There were some kittens, there was puppies, there were baby gorillas, there were quokkas —cute creatures found in Western Australia, are often referred to as 'the world's most cheerful animals'." Dr. Andrea Utley, a professor at the University of Leeds told CNN. The study was timed during winter exams, a time when stress is at an especially high level for students, according to Utley.

 The study recorded that the average blood pressure dropped from 136/88 to 115/71, which the study pointed out is "within ideal blood pressure range." Average(平均的) heart rates were lowered to 67.4 bpm, a reduction of 6.5%. Anxiety rates also went down by 35%.

"I was quite pleasantly surprised that during the session, every single measure for every single participant dropped some — heart rate reduced, blood pressure reduced," Utley said. "When they left, they filled the questionnaire(调查问卷) in again and showed that they were feeling less worried."

When questioning the participants, the study found that most preferred video clips over still images, particularly of animals interacting with humans.

At the beginning of the school year, each student would be given a special job for which they would be responsible (负责任的) for the whole term. Rita, a quiet and hardworking girl, hoped for an exciting task, like taking care of the class plants. Instead, she received a small box with sand and a small ant. 

Even though the teacher explained that this task was very special, Rita could not help feeling disappointed. However, she decided to do her best with her new job. She began to study and care for the ant, learning about its habitat (栖息地) and needs. She made the box a comfortable home for the ant, and it grew much bigger than anyone expected. 

Rita's efforts caught the attention of her science teacher, Mr. Thompson. He turned her work into a class project, and Rita became the class expert (专家) on ants. Her hard work helped the whole class learn about ant behavior and habitats. They even built a small ant farm in the classroom to observe the ant closely. 

Gradually, Rita's classmates became more and more interested in the ant project. They started asking her questions and observing the ant's behavior themselves. Rita organized a presentation where she shared her findings with the whole school during the science fair. 

At the end of the year, Rita's class was recognized as the best of the year. Rita was as well praised for her hard work and how she turned a small task into something big. Rita learned that every task, no matter how small, could make a big difference. She also learned that sometimes the most unexpected things can lead to great success.

 Type in"A cat wants to go to space" and ask ChatGPT to write a bedtime story. Just one second later, you' ll get the story of the cat Max, who makes his way to the space after many difficulties and is finally able to sing among the stars. ChatGPT is a new artificial intelligence(AI) tool. It answers questions. And it can write long articles and stories. 

ChatGPT is developed by a US company OpenAI, and it has taken the Internet by storm,  winning 100 million users since it came out in November 

2022. People can ask the robot to write stories and emails, create menus, translate languages, and answer all kinds of questions. 

 Compared with Siri or other chatbots(聊天机器人), ChatGPT uses a much bigger database(数据库) for training. It also uses stronger software and hardware to learn things by itself. For example, if it provides a wrong answer to your question, you can tell it the right one and it will make corrections. " It's a totally different product. " the computer scientist Liu Xiaoguang from Nankai University told Tianjin Daily. " The knowledge level ChatGPT shows is almost the same asa university student. That's why it shocked the world. "

 But one big problem with ChatGPT is that it makes mistakes or even gives fake information. When Rezza, a 28- year- old man from Indonesia, used the robot to write a passage, " It gave out unreal academic(学术的) speech. " he said. Since the robot is trained using words from the Internet, it may also have an unfair opinion about certain groups. These are all things that need to be solved. 

 Although the latest AI product helps a lot, we should still think twice before using ChatGPT for help. Whether that's a good or bad thing needs to be seen. 

Driving an electric car is good for the environment(环境). But is that true?

A University recently studied emissions (排放物) from different cars. The   scientists found that sometimes electric cars were worse for the environment than other cars. Surprising Well, please pay attention to the word " sometimes". Electric cars should be clean. The problem lies in th power(动力). If the power comes from the wind or the sun, electric cars will be good far the environment But if the power is from coal(煤炭), it will bring a co ntrary situation. According to the study, emission from these electric cars kill about 3,000 people a year. Compared with it, emissions from other cars makes about 880 people's death a year.

In France, more than half of the power comes from nuclear(原子核的) stations. Electric cars there should be as clean as they can be. But in many other countries, coal is still the main source(来源) of electricity. India, for example, needs coal for 61% of its power. Only 2% of its electricity comes from nuclear sources. In countries like India, electric cars are not clean at all!

All in all, sellers are not lying(说谎) when they say electric cars are clean, but they are right only when the power is also clean.