第2题
请根据短文内容,回答题。
New Research Lights the Way to Super-fast Computers
(1) New research published today in the journal Nature Communications, has demonstrated how glass can be manipulated to create a material that will allow computers to transfer information using light. This development could significantly increase computer processing speeds and power in the future.<br>
(2)The research by the University of Surrey, in collaboration with the University of Cambridge and the University of Southampton, has found it is possible to change the electronic properties of amorphous chalcogenides, a glass material integral to data technologies such as CDs and DVDs.<br>
By using a technique called ion doping, the team of researchers have discovered a material that could use light to bring together different computing functions into one component, leading to all-optical systems.<br>
(3)Computers currently use electrons to transfer information and process applications. On the other hand, data sources such as the Internet rely on optical systems; the transfer of information using light. Optical fibers are used to send information around the world at the speed of light, but these signals then have to be converted to electrical signals once they reach a computer, causing a significant slowdown in processing.<br>
(4) "The challenge is to find a single material that can effectively use and control light to carry information arotmd a computer. Much like how the web uses light to deliver information, we want to use light to both deliver and process computer data," said project leader, Dr Richard Curry of the University of Surrey.<br>
(5) "This has eluded researchers for decades, but now we have now shown how a widely used glass can be manipulated to conduct negative electrons, as well as positive charges, creating what are known as &39;pn-junction&39; devices. This should enable the material to act as a light source, a light guide and a light detector -- something that can carry and interpret optical information. In doing so, this could transform. the computers of tomorrow, allowing them to effectively process information at much faster speeds."<br>
(6) The researchers expect that the results of this research will be integrated into computers within ten years. In the short term, the glass is already being developed and used in next-generation computer memory technology known as CRAM, which may ultimately be integrated with the advances reported.<
Paragraph 2 __________ 查看材料
A.Expectation of the discovery
B.The problem of current computers
C.A new finding
D.The purpose of the research
E.Public reaction to the discovery
F.The use of the new material
第3题
Music and Driving
Listening to loud music while driving can seriously hamper reaction times and cause accidents, new research suggests.
A Canadian study found people took.up to 20% longer to perfer,physical and mental tasks to loud music.If motorists were delayed that long at the wheel they could suffer a fatal crash, warned the RAC Foundation, a British motoring organization.Edmund King,the RAC Foundation's executive director, said the study showed that "not only is loud music a nuisance to others, it could also be the cause of accidents".
Earlier research by the RAC Foundation found drivers were twice as likely to skip a red light while listening to music.In the Canadia/a study volunteers carried out tasks while listening to levels of noise varying from 53 .decibels (equivalent to an office environment) to 95 decibels (equivalent to an oil rig).Researchers found reactions to be significantly decreased at higher noise levels for both physical and mental work.At 95 decibels reaction
times to tasks that involve decision making plummeted (骤然减少) by 20%.Edmund King said: "The findings of the Canadian study are bad news for decibel-loving drivers, as they prove that not only is loud music a nuisance to others, it could also be the cause of accidents on the roads." Drivers are at even greater risk if they listen to music with a pounding beat rather than more relaxed tunes, according to experts.
Conrad King, consultant psychologist to the foundation, said.."It is important that drivers choose their music carefully when driving, as up-tempo music has been shown to cause drivers to have double the amount of accidents as those listening to slower music."In general, if music is above 60 beats per minute, listeners experience a faster heart rate and increased blood pressure."It doesn't matter if you listen to opera, classical or the latest rave music.It's the speed of the beat that counts."
第 16 题 According to scientific research, people may spend more time doing .physical work if listening to loud music while doing the task.
A.Right
B.Wrong
C.Not mentioned
第4题
根据材料,回答题。
.Music and Driving
Listening to loud music while driving can seriously hamper reaction times and cause accidents,new research suggests.
A Canadian study found people took up to 20% longer to perform. physical and mental tasks to loud music. If motorists were delayed that long at the wheel they could suffer a fatal crash,warned the RAC.Foundation, a British motoring organization. Edmund King, the RAC Foundation"s executive director, said the study showed that" not only is loud music a nuisance to other,it could also be the cause of accidents".
Earlier research by the RAC Foundation found drivers were twice as likely to skip a red light while listening to music. In the Canadian study volunteers carried out tasks whiie listening to levels of noise varying from 53 decibels(equivalent to an office environment) to 95 decibels (equivalent to an oil rig). Researchers found reactions to be significantly decreased at higher noise levels for both physical and mental work. At 95 decibels reaction times to tasks that involve decision making plummeted(骤然减少) by 20%. Edmund King said:"The findings of the Canadian study are bad news for decibel-loving drivers, as they prove that not only is loud music a nuisance to others, it could also be the cause of accidents on the roads. "Drivers are at even greater risk if they listen to music with a pounding beat rather than more relaxed tunes, according to experts.
Conrad" King, consultant psychologist to the foundation, said:" It is important that drivers choose their music carefully when driving,as up-tempo music has been shown to cause drivers to have double the amount of accidents as those listening to slower music. "In general, if music is a-bove 60 beats per minute, listeners experience a faster rate and increased blood pressure. "It doesn"t matter if you listen to opera, classical or the latest rave music. It"s the speed of the beat that counts. "
According to scientific research, people may spend more time doing physical work if listening to loud music while doing the task. 查看材料
A.Right
B.Wrong
C.Not mentioned
第5题
听力原文: Plants are adapted to the climate they live in for the most part. Trees in rainforests have broad leaves, shaped to encourage the heavy rain to run off the leaves. The large leaves encourage transpiration so the plants don't overheat. In very dry climates plants may develop an ability to store water, such as the cactus, which also has its leaves reduced into tiny spines which reduce transpiration to almost nothing so its precious water is conserved. At the first sign of drought, plants close their leaf pores to prevent wilting and slowing down growth so that they need less water. Coniferous plants also have small spiky leaves so that they don't lose too much water during the frozen winters. Grasses roll their leaves into tubes to protect their leaf pores from the drying effect of the wind. Tropical air plants have moisture sensitive plugs attached to their leaf pores which are pulled down over the pores, sealing them to hold in moisture, by the contraction of the stalks in dry weather.
Plants are affected by strong winds which make them grow thicker and more stunted stems to strengthen and prevent themselves from being blown over. A special sort of strong wood called "reaction wood" grows on the leeward side of tile wind. Plants are also susceptible to waterlogging and freezing and many plants have developed complex mechanisms and adaptations to protect themselves from disasters.
Trees in rainforests have broad leaves. The advantage is______.
A.to accept more sun light
B.to encourage the heavy rain to run off the leaves
C.to shade their roots
D.to hide their trunk
第6题
The imaging techniques — positron emission tomography scanning and magnetic resonance imaging, known as PET and functional M. R. I. scans — are used prominently in studies of brain activity. The most active brain areas appear to light up on the scans as specific tasks are performed. The two techniques do not measure nerve-cell activity directly; they measure the extra flow of blood that surges to the most active brain areas.
Researchers at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot, Israel, have monitored these changes in blood flow in anesthetized cats by removing parts of the skull and observing how the nerve cells in activated regions fuel their activities by rapidly removing oxygen from nearby red blood cells.
This rapid uptake of oxygen, made evident by visible changes in the color of the red cells, proves that early oxygen transfer gives these neurons the energy to do their work, the researchers said.
They also found that subtle changes in blood flow began significantly earlier than was detected by PET and functional M. R. I. scans, which lack sufficient resolution and do not form. their images quickly enough to follow such rapid changes. Dr. Amiram Grinvald published the findings in the Journal Science.
"The initial event is very localized and will be missed if you don't look for it soon enough and use the highest possible resolution," Dr. Grinvald said. "Now people are beginning to use our results with other imaging methods."
Working on the exposed brain lets researchers follow electrical activity and the accompanying blood flow in greater detail than is possible by using indirect imaging methods that track neural activity through the skull. However, opportunities for open-skull studies of humans are limited to some kinds of neurosurgery, and researchers must mostly rely on PET and functional M. R. I. images for studies linking behavior. with specific brain activity.
By directly observing exposed cat brains and in similar work with a few human cases, Dr. Grinvald and his associates have been able to observe the first evidence of electrical activity and other changes in brain cells after a light has been seen or a limb moved.
The newest research showed that it took three seconds or more after an event for the flow of blood to increase to an area of the brain dealing with a stimulus. That is the blood-flow increase usually pictured in brain-function studies with PET or functional M. R. I techniques, the Israeli researchers said. However, the initial reaction observed in the Weizmann research by directly imaging the exposed brain — the direct transfer of oxygen from blood cells to neurons — occurred in the first-tenth of a second and was lost to conventional imaging, they said.
The later increase in blood flow to the area, Dr. Grinvald said, was obviously an attempt by the body to supply more oxygen for brain activity. But the increase in blood was so abundant that it covered an area much larger than the region directly involved in the activity being studied, masking some of the subtle changes, he said.
The body's reaction, the researchers said in the paper, was like "watering the entire garden for the sake of one thirsty flower."
Dr. Kamil Ugurbil, said that the Israeli research provided clues that allowed the use of functional M. R. I. scans to picture earlier events in the activity of brain cells.
"Dr. Grinvald's observations are very important, and they have significant implications for functional imaging with high resolution," Dr. Ugurbil said in an interview. "We have actual
A.those changes are subtle and masked by some reactions
B.subtle changes in blood flow began earlier
C.the imaging techniques are out of place
D.the flow of blood to increase to an area of the brain is slow
第7题
The performance of complex tasks can be affected if people are subjected to loud noise. The experience of pulling up at traffic lights alongside cars shaking with heavy bass (低音) prompted some psychologists in the University of Sydney to investigate whether loud music interferes with driving.
The psychologists recruited 60 men and women aged between 20 and 28 as subjects and tested them on simulated (模拟的) driving tasks under three noise conditions: silence, rock music played at a gentle 55 decibels, and the same music roaring out at 85 decibels. For 10 minutes the subjects sat in front of a monitor operating a steering wheel and foot pedals representing the brake and accelerator (加速器). They had to track a moving disk on screen, respond to traffic signals changing color, and brake in response to arrows that appeared without warning.
On the tracking task, there was no difference in performance under the three noise conditions. But under both the loud and quiet music conditions, the volunteers "braked" at a red light about 50 milliseconds sooner than they did when there was no rock music at all. That could mean a reduction in braking distance of a couple of meters potentially, the difference between life and death for a pedestrian (行人). When it came to the arrows that appeared across the visual field, the psychologists found that when the music was quiet, people responded faster to objects in their central field of vision by about 50 milliseconds. For those listening at 85 decibels, response times dropped by a further 50 milliseconds -- a whole tenth of a second faster than those "driving" with no music.
"But there is a trade-off (交换)", the psychologists told the European Congress of Psychology, "They lose the ability to scan the environment effectively." In responding to objects intruding on their peripheral(周围的)vision, people subjected to 85-decibel rock music were around 100 milliseconds slower than both the other groups. Since .some hazards -- such as children running into the road -- emerge from the periphery, drivers listening to loud music must be less safe as a result.
Which of the following is the best way to make a driving safer?
A.Loud music.
B.Quiet music.
C.Silence.
D.Full volume stereo music.