Be Careful on the Internet
Parents of boys at a Sydney private school have been urged to monitor their sons' use of social networking website,with a warning any mistakes made in teenage years could be permanently recorded on the Internet and catch up with them later in life.
The headmaster,Timothy Wright,wrote to parents on Thursday, (explain)that younger boys were too immature to fully understand the possible consequences of disclosing private information on social networking sites. "We now know that those parts of the brain deal with decision-making are still developing in a man in his 20s. 'he said. ‘But mistakes (commit)at fifteen may be still accessible to an employer ten years later.
Modern technology means that a careless word, an ill-willed comment or an inappropriate photograph, are on permanent record and freely available to has access. Stupidities that (forget) immediately before now last, spread and damage in ways unknown before this decade.
Dr Wright said that words spoken in the playground could be more easily forgotten, those captured on the Internet or on mobile phone text messages could have far more lasting and more hurtful consequences.
He urged parents to set ground rules for use of mobile phones and the Internet and in particular to set boundaries on taking and sending images that be used to bully others. "Parents who are paying for the Internet service have an unquestionable right ( insist) they are a friend on social networking websites. I would certainly insist on this at least the end of 16 if not later. 'he wrote.
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A. capable B. effectiveness C. employing D. exposure E. famously F. joining G. limitation H. minimal I. precisely J. recognizing K. worthwhile |
Clean Air Act
The air in modern homes and offices is pretty clean,but not as clean as it might be. Often it contains small amounts of volatile(挥发性的）,poisonous,organic compounds. Long-term to these is a bad thing,so clearing them out of the air people breathe is widely accepted as
Finding an effective way to do so has proved difficult. But Stuart Strand, Long Zhang and Ryan Routsong, of the University of Washington,in Seattle,think they have succeeded,As they report in Environmental Science and Technology, their method involves a gene from a rabbit into a popular indoor plant nicknamed Devil's vine—a type of ivy hat is so called because it is difficult to kill.
The idea of plants to de- pollute the atmosphere inside buildings has been around for decades-but has met with only qualified success. One experiment involving unmodified spider plants,for example,showed that they are indeed of removing formaldhyde (甲醛) from the air. The is that to make much of a difference in a space as large as a house would require turning most of the rooms into spider-plant forests.
Dr Strand, Dr Zhang and Mr Routsong thus sought something suitably transgenic ( 转 基 因 的),but that does not flower indoors. The plant they settled on was Devil's vine, because of its toughness. With the help of a bacterium,they were able to ferry the rabbit version of the gene into the plant's chromosomes(染色 体),and thus to,engineer a type of Devil's vine able to produce an air-cleaning substance. To test the of their idea, the researchers put their modified ivy to work inside greenhouses filled with air containing high levels of harmful substances. The plants performed well,reducing the harmful substances in air to .
Unwrapping your shopping to find you have bought mouldy (发霉的) bread, rotten fruit and sour milk could soon become a thing of the past, thanks to the range of emerging 'active packaging' technologies. While traditional packaging simply 1 a barrier that protects food, active packaging can do a lot more. Some materials 2 with the product to improve it in some way, or provide better information on the state it is in. 3 , they may absorb oxygen inside a wrapper to help prevent food spoilage or show whether potentially dangerous foods like red meat and chicken have been stored at unsafe temperatures.
One of the new breed of packaging technologies that have just gone on the market in France is a ‘time temperature indicator'. Stores where the product has already been introduced report that far fewer consumers are returning 4 food. The indicator is basically a label that 5 the temperature a package has been kept at and for how long. The label has a dark ring around a lighter circle. The central ring contains a chemical which polymerises (聚合), changing colour as it does so from 6 to dark. If the package stays cool, the reaction is slow, but increasing the temperature speeds up the polymerization. When the inner circle darkens, it means the product is no longer 7 fresh.
Smart packaging can also control the 8 of the atmosphere inside a container. For instance, the make-up of oxygen (O2) and carbon dioxide (CO2) within packaged vegetables will influence their freshness. This can be hard to control in a sealed package, since vegetables 9 more oxygen and give off more carbon dioxide as the package gets warmer. A firm in California is trying to solve the problem with a wrapper it calls ‘Intelimer' which changes its permeability (渗透) as the temperature changes in a way that keeps different produces at their best O2/CO2 10 .
Decay can also be 11 by controlling the environment inside a package with an ‘oxygen scavenger'(清除剂). 12 , this is achieved by placing a small bag filled with iron powder in the package — any oxygen in the package is consumed by the iron as it oxidises. However, consumers don't 13 finding small bags marked ‘Don't eat in their food', so a company in New Jersey is making a wrap that itself consumes oxygen. The 14 includes an inner layer of an oxidisable polymer (聚合物) that traps oxygen in the same way as iron.
It is predicted that between 20 and 40 per cent of all food packaging will soon be 15 .
I'm a talker. I am keen on debating, gossiping and teasing when I have people to talk to. Under lockdown, however, I've only had my partner, Peter.
We not only lived, worked and travelled together, we mostly socialized together, too. Under the first UK lockdown, our already closeness began to feel uncomfortable. While talking to Peter, I could see his attention drift.
For the first time in our 10 years together, we needed to be alone. I tried to manufacture this by going on walks on my own, but a short walk wasn't doing the job. I had hiked in remote spaces all over the world but always in a pair or group — for safety reasons. I considered my options and hit upon an idea: the semi-solo hike.
Could we do a circular hike but walk in different directions? This would give us the space and peace of a solo hike — done by a person alone. It felt like a promising way out, and he agreed to give it a try.
We started with a four-mile loop (环路) from Reeth. At the start, we parted ways. At first, I was aware of how close we were, which lessened the appeal. As I gained ground, however, I found myself very much alone. I set my own pace, and I decided to take my time.
I sat on a rock and breathed out. That moment — with the weak sun through the clouds and the breeze blowing — felt extraordinary to me. I was born and raised in London and had never imagined leaving until I met an outdoorsman. Now, my former life as a city girl felt crazy. In remembering what I had gained, I felt the tension leave me. There, in the chilly air, I no longer needed to talk. The semi-solo hike gave us a shared experience with added room to breathe.
I didn't see Peter on the way but reunited back where we started, both pleased.
The semi-solo hike is admittedly silly in theory, but for me it has been a lifeline. It has given me the gift of time alone and, in a year of constant closeness, the joy of reuniting.
A layover (临时滞留) or flight delay can be extremely fun in these international airports.
Munich Airport, Germany
Aviation (航空) lovers passing through Munich can take a behind-the-scenes tour to learn how the airport operates. Visitors can also tour three historic aircraft and a retired rescue helicopter, climb up to a 28-metre high observation platform for an up-close view of take-offs and landings, and watch films on aviation in the airport's 60-seat cinema. Travelers can also kill layover time at an 18-hole mini-golf course, or even stop in for a teeth cleaning at the airport dental office.
Changi Airport, Singapore
After a long flight to Singapore, travelers can relax in a Balinese-style swimming pool, work out at the airport gym, or enjoy a drink and live musical performances at the airport's Music Bar. The airport also has a quiet butterfly garden, and a "pleasant-smelling garden" which is home to 15 species of plants and trees. Free movies at one of two airport cinemas also keep passengers entertained.
Schiphol Amsterdam Airport, the Netherlands
Schiphol is Europe's fifth-largest airport. Here passengers can view the works of Dutch masters free of charge. You can even have your wedding ceremony at Schiphol — couples can choose from four different wedding packages, including a 1930-style ceremony held on a Dakota military aircraft.
San Francisco International Airport, California
The airport's 24-hour AirTrain not only moves passengers between terminal, but also provides a fun view of the runways. There are three aquariums (水族馆) to explore, along with interactive play areas, an aviation museum, and a library. If that's not enough to keep the little ones busy, travelers can rent portable DVD players and movies for use in the airport.
Writer and journalist Cristina Odone aroused widespread anger by suggesting that her daughter was being pressured to take science for graduation exams and this was unreasonable for a child with a literary bent. She even claimed that "this focus on STEM[Science,Technology,Engineering and Mathematics] subjects sends a message that makes her and me uncomfortable:doing a man's work is more impressive than doing a woman's. "
Like many others, I totally disagree with her position as a scientist. Taking science to age 16 should simply be seen as part of obtaining a well-rounded education. Furthermore, identifying STEM as a man's subject leads in part to our serious lack of diversity（多样性）in the scientific workforce. Meanwhile, many male authors and poets might be surprised to learn that literature is"woman's work".
Novelist Lucy Ellman once wrote,"The purpose of artists is to ask the right questions, even if we don't find the answers，whereas the aim of science is to prove some silly points. " But proving some silly points might save your life，light your home，allow you to surf the web or visit your relatives living far away. Only someone who has never considered how extensive the outputs of science are in our society could write such a"silly"sentence.
However, having said that, I am not trying to denigrate the work of the humanities. I do not see this as an either/or situation but it's all part of being human. I admire and appreciate those who try to express things hard to be described in words, but it simply isn't my strength. I may wholeheartedly believe that science is vital but that doesn't mean I think the humanities（or indeed the social sciences）are not. Since science costs more to do than arts subjects, more funding should go to science. That statement is not equal to saying that the humanities should not be properly funded. Somehow, we are constantly being put in opposition, a divide that is damaging to both scientists and non-scientists.
So why are the humanities important to me？I would say it is exactly because I am human. I sit here typing listening to a Schubert piano trio. I have been reading EP Thompson's The Making of the English Working Class to try to understand how our society was and is the shape it is. Scientists may be capable of dealing with the ethics（道德标准） of their work, but they cannot and should not answer the question of whether we should do this in isolation. Answering the many questions that our developing scientific capabilities throw up requires the input of researchers from many fields.
So let us enjoy our capabilities on all fronts, recognizing that we each have different strengths and weaknesses. It's time to ban the damaging divide that sets one part of the research community against another and celebrate our humanity as well as the Humanities.
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A. Yet, there is one significant difference. B. Not every type of project is suitable for a virtual team. C. A virtual team can choose whatever project they like to work on. D. The members must be self-motivated and able to work independently. E. Members of virtual teams communicate quite well although they never meet face-to-face. F. To avoid misunderstanding, clear rules that everyone understands and agrees on are necessary. |
Virtual (虚拟) Teams
Virtual teams are a great way to enable teamwork in situations where people are not sitting in the same office at the same time. Such teams are now widely used by companies and organizations to cut business costs. This is particularly so for businesses that use virtual teams to build global presence, or need less common skills or knowledge from people who are unwilling to travel.
Virtual teams are governed by the same basic principles as traditional teams. . It is the way the team members communicate. They rely on special communication channels enabled by modern technologies, such as emails, faxes, and teleconferences, and alike. Due to more limited communication channels, the success of virtual teams is much more sensitive to the type of project the group works on, what people are selected, and how the team is managed.
One challenging case is the projects that rely heavily on integrated work. That is to say, when each person's work depends significantly on what someone else is doing at the same moment, like in a sports team, there is an ongoing heavy exchange of information in real time, and the tasks have to go through a strict order within a short time.
Not everyone can perform well in a virtual team environment. Another important quality is communication skills. The team members must be able to communicate clearly and positively.
Managers of virtual teams need to pay much more attention to having clear goals, performance standards, and communication rules. People have various assumptions on what to expect from each other. .
One of the biggest challenges of virtual teams is building trust between the team members. Trust is important for unblocking communication between members and increasing motivation of each person in the team. The issue of trust needs special attention at any stage of team existence.
Directions: Read the following passage. Summarize the main idea and the main point(s) of the passage in no more than 60 words. Use your own words as far as possible.
These days, it's not unusual to see middle-aged men collecting Star Wars action figures, office workers wearing Hello Kitty accessories, or celebrities like David Beckham playing with Lego bricks. It's becoming more and more common to see adult taking an interest in toys, comic books and the activities that are traditionally associated with children. This phenomenon has given rise to a new word: kidult.
What lies behind the phenomenon? One is about adults' nostalgia (怀旧的) for the carefree days of childhood, and this is especially true with today's fast-paced, stressful lifestyles. Another is about a societal change in recent decades where people are starting families later. As a result, they have more time and money to spend on themselves. Some adults could only window-shop for their dream toys when they were kids, but now they can afford that radio-controlled car or high-priced doll they have always wanted.
Society traditionally disapproves of adults who refuse to put aside childhood interests, viewing the refusal as a sign of social immaturity (不成熟) and irresponsibility. Those who agree with this view sometimes claim that kidults are suffering from the pop-psychology concept known as Peter Pan Syndrome, an anomaly (异常) that people remain emotionally at the level of teenagers.
From the standpoint of kidults, though, this phenomenon is seen as nothing but harmless fun. Kidults insist that having youthful interests keeps them young, happy and creative, and their refusal to conform to society's acceptable tastes shows independent thinking. Besides, they argue that being part of the social trend of delayed adulthood is not purely a personal choice. The real causes include expensive housing, increased educational requirements for employment and poor work opportunities.
