Last year, Wolf Cukier, who is 17 years old, spent his summer vacation as few other rising seniors have:he helped discover a planet-TOI 1338b, the newly identified world orbiting two stars which are more than 1, 300 light years away.
Last July, just after he finished his junior year at Scarsdale High school in Scarsdale, New York, Wolf started an internship(实习期) at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.
During the first week of the internship, as be combed through data that had been flagged by citizen-scientists. he fixed attention on s system that included two orbiting stars. He identified a body in that system that was later proved as a planet about 6.9 times as large as Earth. while knowing this inspiring discovery, his colleagues immediately gave the system a name, TOI 1338b.
According to scientific research, any dip in the brightness of a single star is a good indication that a planet has crossed in front of it. However, TOI 1338b was particularly complicated because it involved two stars-a large star ere the planers track was easy to detect, and a smaller one where the planet's track was so small that it was not observable.
Many people think that wolf is a lucky dog, but as a matter of fact, it is not just a coincidence. When he studied in Junior High School, he had shown great passion on astronomy and was devoted to studying it. Wolf plans to study astrophysics(天体物理学) when he starts college in September. When it came to his contribution to the discovery of the new world. he emphasized it was the team work in the verification process rather than his own effort that counted.
【小题1】What did Wolf do last year?A.He was employed by NASA. |
B.He finished his senior year in High School. |
C.He spent his summer vacation like other seniors. |
D.He helped find a new planet named TOI 1338b. |
A.Modest and hardworking. | B.Ambitious and casual. |
C.Considerate and lucky. | D.Optimistic and helpful. |
A.The planet was named by Wolf. |
B.The planet is the same size as the Earth. |
C.The planet was easy to discover as there are two stars involved. |
D.Team work in the verification process was highly valued by Wolf. |
A.A diary. | B.A magazine. |
C.A guidebook. | D.A scientific novel. |
It used to be that a “green classroom” referred to the color of paint on the wall. But today’s green classroom are greener than that! New “green” classroom help schools save money and provide clean environments where students learn better.
Many classroom are going green by adding solar panels (太阳能电池板) to their roofs. The solar panels collected energy from the sun and use it to power lights and computers. The panels help make green classrooms grid-neutral, which means the panels create at least as much electricity as the classrooms use. In addition, new lighting and air systems can be programmed to lower energy costs and water use.
Many new “green” classrooms are built using recycled materials. Some even use pieces of material from blue jeans to insulate (使隔热) walls and ceilings. The old-jean insulation cuts heat and air conditioning bills.
Green schools feature (特征有) many other new ideas. Some classrooms are painted using special odor-free paints that help improve indoor air. Some use no glues that add chemical smells to the air. Others use triple-pane (三层玻璃) window and skylights to help keep classrooms warm in cold weather and let in lots of natural daylight.
Experts say the benefits of building greener classrooms go beyond cost savings. Studies show that a healthful environment with good air quality can cut colds and flu by more than 50 percent. That means fewer sick days for students and teachers. Studies have shown that natural light and other green features improve student learning and test scores too.
【小题1】What do we know about the present green classroom?A.Its paint is green. | B.It has many plants. |
C.Its furniture is green | D.It is environmentally friendly. |
A.Solar panels | B.Triple-pane windows. |
C.Material from jeans | D.Lighting and air systems. |
A.save money | B.have no smell |
C.cost nothing | D.have no color |
A.Classrooms Are Growing Greener | B.Make Your Classroom Green Now |
C.Greener Classrooms Benefit Students | D.Green Is the Best Choice for Classroom |
Dogs tend to ignore suggestions from people who are lying. This is what Ludwig Huber’s team at the University of Vienna in Austria found in its recent experiment.
In the experiment, Huber and his colleagues first trained 260 dogs of various pure breeds to find hidden food in one of two covered bowls. The dogs learned to follow the suggestion of a person they had never met—the “communicator”—who would touch the food-filled bowl, glance at the dog, and say, “Look, this is very good!” Dogs appeared to trust this new person when they were reliably following the signal, says Huber.
Once that trust was established, the team had the dogs witness another person move the food from the first to the second bowl. The communicators were either in the room, and also witnessed the switch, or were briefly absent and so apparently unaware that the food had been switched. In either case, the communicators would later recommend the first bowl—which was now empty.
In previous versions of this experiment with children under age 5, Japanese macaques or chimpanzees, the participants reacted in particular ways. If a communicator had been absent during the food switch, it would appear that they couldn’t know where the treat really was. As such, the children, chimps or macaques would typically ignore a communicator who gave honest—but misleading—advice on where the food was, says Huber.
However, if the communicator had been in the room and witnessed the switch, but still recommended the first (now empty) bowl, young children and non-human primates (灵长目动物) were actually much more likely to follow the communicator’s knowingly misleading suggestion to approach the empty container. This may be because the children and non-human primates trusted the communicator over the evidence of their own eyes, says Huber.
The dogs in the new experiment, however, weren’t so trusting of lying communicators—much to the researchers’ surprise. Half of the dogs would follow the communicator’s misleading advice if the communicator hadn’t witnessed the food switch. But about two-thirds of dogs ignored a communicator who had witnessed the food switch and still recommended the now-empty bowl. These dogs simply went to the bowl filled with food instead. “They did not rely on the communicator anymore,” says Huber.
“This study reminds us that dogs are watching us closely, are picking up on our social signals, and are learning from us constantly even outside of formal training contexts,” says Monique Udell at Oregon State University.
Besides, the fact that half the dogs trusted the communicator who seemed to have made an honest mistake could reveal a lot about how dogs process social information, says Udell. “There is both genetic and behavioral evidence that dogs are hypersocial, meaning that many dogs have a difficult time ignoring social cues even when another solution might be more advantageous,” she says. “This is a really striking example of just how often this may occur.”
【小题1】What did Huber and his colleagues try to do first?A.To let dogs trust a stranger. | B.To train dogs to guide humans. |
C.To communicate more with dogs. | D.To improve dogs’ ability to seek food. |
A.They would be misled by the communicator. |
B.They would ignore the communicator’s advice. |
C.They would teach the communicator a good lesson. |
D.They would keep a distance from the communicator. |
A.Dogs tend to follow the communicator’s advice. |
B.Dogs can be easily confused by the food switch. |
C.Dogs can identify whether the communicator is lying. |
D.Dogs can accurately understand humans’ social signals. |
A.They are much smarter than humans. |
B.They prefer to stay with honest humans. |
C.They need to be trained to follow humans. |
D.They can be easily influenced by social cues. |
Basketball Statistician Help Wanted
The Athletic Department is looking for students to help assist staff during the Fall 2016, Winter 2016-17 and Spring 2017 semesters. Students in this position will be keeping live statistics during basketball games. Students must meet all of the following requirements:
•Good computer skills
•Available evenings and weekends
•Knowing basketball rules and statistics
Students interested in working for the Athletic Department should contact the Athletic Coordinator at their respective(各自的) campuses.
•TP/SS Athletic Coordinator, Michael Simone, 240-567-1308
•Rockville Athletic Coordinator, Jorge Zuniga, 240-567-7589
•Springfield Athletic Coordinator, Gary Miller, 240-567-2273
•Germantown Athletic Coordinator, Gauri Chavan, 240-567-6915
【小题1】When will the job start?A.In May 2016. | B.In May 2017. |
C.In September 2016. | D.In September 2017. |
A.Sam, English major, member of the college basketball team. |
B.Judy, IT staff with night classes, children’s basketball team coach. |
C.Ted, computer major, basketball fan, free on evenings and weekends. |
D.Molly, part-time programmer, high school basketball player, new mother. |
A.Michael. | B.Jorge. |
C.Gauri. | D.Gary. |
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