Chinese scientists have found a new way to use cells found in human urine （尿液）that could aid in the treatment of a range of nerve disorders.That is a new technique for reprogramming cells in human urine into nerve progenitor cells that can grow into multi-functional nerve and brain cells.
The technique is expected to be used in the study and treatment of nerve disorders such as Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease and other nerve disorders.
Pei Duanqing, a professor at Guangzhou Institutes of Biomedicine and Health, Chinese Academy of Sciences, said his research team has combined an episomal system to deliver reprogramming factors with a chemically defined culture medium to reprogram kidney epithelial(肾表皮) cells in urine into NPCs.
These NPCs, normally only found in the human brain, were later proven to be transgene-free and self-renewing, he said.
"These nerve and brain cells can survive for up to one month when transplanted into the brain of a newborn rat," said Pei. "My team is working hard to understand why our experimental condition allowed the urine cells to become NPCs, because we want to improve the technique and make it more efficient".
Scientists have long searched to treat and study neural disorders by obtaining and transplanting neural stem cells. However, the previous method of getting and using cells from either fetal (胎儿)or adult human tissue remains challenging due to ethical concerns and immune system rejections, he said.
Pei hopes the discovery will be used to generate NPCs from patients with nerve disorders such as Parkinson's disease. "These NPCs from patients may help us discover new drugs for these diseases."
"It is a remarkable advance in the stem cell field. The results and methods obtained from this study will be of great value and significance to the field, " said Fred Gage,a professor with the Salk Institute for Biological Studies.What is the passage mainly about?
| A．NPCs are beneficial in treating human diseases. |
| B．Chinese scientists succeeded in making NPCs from human urine. |
| C．Chinese scientists have found cures for all diseases. |
| D．A new technique was used to study the use of human urine |
Pei and his team try their best to work hard in order to .
| A．make more contributions to medical study |
| B．discover another new technique |
| C．make the technique more perfect |
| D．treat more patients suffering from bad diseases |
What is the challenge of making NPCs in the previous method?
| A．The ethical concerns and immune system refusal |
| B．The difficulties in getting cells from human. |
| C．The under-developed techniques in medical science. |
| D．The lack of financial support from the government |
From the last paragraph we can infer .
| A．the new technique will be developed in science |
| B．the result and methods will be applied to treating cancers |
| C．the study will give a major push to the stem cell field |
| D．the new technique will bring great profits |
Instagram is containing so many photos of food—now a pop-up diner in London is taking advantage of this new trend by letting people settle the bill for their meals simply by uploading photos of their dishes to social networks.
I always thought people's taking pictures of their food was kind of silly, but at this new pop-up restaurant in the UK, I'd probably do it too. 'The Picture House' is the world's first pay-by-photo restaurant—you order, click a photo of the food, share on Instagram and eat for free!
The restaurant belongs to frozen food giant (巨人) Birds Eye, who came up with the idea to cash in on people's addiction with photographing food and sharing the pictures online. They conducted a survey and found out that more than half of the British population regularly took pictures of their meals. So they realized it was a better way to advertise their new dining range.
The pop-up diner was open in Soho, London for three days in May, and is now moving to other major UK cities. They serve two-course meals that customers don't have to pay for, if they photo and Instagram it.
The restaurant is a part of Birds Eye's 'Food for Life' campaign, a new marketing project that aims at changing the way people look at frozen food. "Taking photos of food enables people to show off and to share their mealtime moments—from the everyday to the special," said marketing director Margaret Jobling.
The reaction to The Picture House has been great so far. And the pay-by-picture concept has proven to be an effective way. Alternative payment methods are actually gaining popularity among a lot of businesses. Last year, in a cafe in Germany customers pay by how much time they spend there, not by what they eat.Instagram probably is ____.
| A．a restaurant free of charge |
| B．a campaign of "Food for Life" |
| C．a new marketing project |
| D．a program used to share photos |
What's the author's attitude to this new trend?
| A．Opposed. |
| B．Interested. |
| C．Confused. |
| D．Unconcerned. |
'The Picture House' encourages sharing photos of its food to ____.
| A．attract more customers |
| B．raise the price of frozen food |
| C．create a new social media trend |
| D．reward the regular customers |
Which of the following can serve as the best title for the passage?
| A．No Need to Pay. |
| B．The Pop-up Diner. |
| C．Pay by Picture. |
| D．Food for Life. |
Some of the most painful moments I spend as a vet (兽医 ) are those spent with my customers assisting my animal patients from this world to the next. Making this final decision is not easy, and I have often felt powerless to comfort the sorrowful owners.
That was before I met Shane.
I had been called to examine a ten-year-old dog named Belker who had developed a serious health problem. The dog's owner—Ron, his wife, Lisa, and their little boy, Shane—were hoping for a miracle (奇迹). But I told the family there were no miracles left for Belker, and offered to perform the euthanasia (安乐死) for the old dog in their home. As we made the arrangements, Ron and Lisa told me they thought it would be good for the four-year-old Shane to observe the euthanasia. They felt Shane could learn something from the experience.
The next day, I felt the familiar catch in my throat as Belker's family surrounded him.
Shane seemed so calm, patting the old dog for the last time, that I wondered if he understood what was going on.
A few minutes later, Belker slipped peacefully away. The little boy seemed to accept Belker's death without any difficulty or confusion. We sat together for a little while after Belker's death, wondering aloud about the sad fact that animal lives are shorter than human lives.
Shane, who had been listening quietly, piped up: "I know why."
Shocked, we all turned to him. What came out of his mouth next astonished me. I'd never heard a more comforting explanation.
He said, "Everybody is born so they can learn how to live a good life: like loving everybody and being nice, right?" The four-year-old continued, "Well, animals already know how to do that, so they don't have to stay as long." Shane's parents wanted Shane to witness the euthanasia mainly because ____.
| A．they hoped he could gain something from it |
| B．they knew he hated to part with Belker |
| C．they wanted him to remember Belker forever |
| D．they intended him to learn to carry out euthanasia |
What can we learn from the third paragraph?
| A．Belker got sick mainly because of lack of care. |
| B．There was no hope for Belker to recover but to suffer. |
| C．Shane didn't feel sad about Belker's death. |
| D．Belker didn't want to live any longer because of the pain. |
We can infer from the underlined sentence that____.
| A．words failed the vet when he tried to comfort Belker's family |
| B．the vet was familiar with the feelings of Belker's family |
| C．the vet would rather not perform the euthanasia |
| D．the vet's throat was uncomfortable with Belker's family around |
What would the author say about Shane?
| A．He knew little about animal lives. |
| B．He felt unexpected about Belker's death. |
| C．He had a unique opinion about life. |
| D．He was an outgoing and warm-hearted boy. |
Scientists are racing to build the world's first thinking robot. This is not science fiction： some say they will have made it by the year 2020，Carol Packer reports.
Machines that walk, speak and feel are no longer science fiction. Kismet is the name of an android (人形机器人）which scientists have built at the Massa-chusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Kismet is different from the traditional robot because it can show human emotions. Its eyes, ears and lips move to show when it feels happy, sad or bored. Kismet is one of the first of a new generation of androids—robots that look like human beings—which can imitate human feelings. Cog, another android invented by the MIT, imitates the action of a mother. However, scientists admit that so far Cog has the mental ability of a two-year-old.
The optimists (乐观主义者） say that by the year2020 we will have created humanoids (人形机器人） with brains similar to those of all adult human beings. These robots will be designed to look like people to make them more attractive and easier to sell to the public. What kind of jobs will they do? In the future, robots like Robonaut , a humanoid invented by NASA, will be doing dangerous jobs, like repairing space stations. They will also be doing more and more of the household work for us. In Japan, scientists are designing androids that will entertain us by dancing and playing the piano.
Some people worry about what the future holds：Will robots become monsters(怪物）？ Will people themselves become increasingly like robots? Experts predict that more and more people will be wearing micro-computers，connected to the Internet, in the future. People will have micro-chips in various parts of their body, which will connect them to a wide variety of gadgets (小装置）. Perhaps we should not exaggerate (夸大）the importance of technology, but one wonders whether, in years to come，we will still be falling in love, and whether we will still feel pain. Who knows? Kismet is different from traditional robots because __________.
| A．it thinks for itself |
| B．it is not like science fiction |
| C．it can look after two-year-old children |
| D．it seems to have human feelings |
What makes Cog special?
| A．It looks like a mother. |
| B．It behaves like a child. |
| C．It can imitate the behavior of a mother. |
| D．It has a huge brain. |
In about 10 years' time from now, robots __________
| A．will become space designers |
| B．will look like monsters |
| C．will behave like animals |
| D．will think like humans |
In the future robots will also __________.
| A．explore space |
| B．entertain people |
| C．move much faster |
| D．do all of the housework |
What is the writer's attitude to robots in the future?
| A．Critical. |
| B．Hostile. |
| C．Objective. |
| D．Enthusiastic. |
A Korean wave is sweeping across China, with many Chinese women worshiping South Korean actors Kin Soo-hyun and Lee Min-ho as demigods(偶像). Chinese netizens always have different opinions. Over South Korean TV dramas, but there is no doubt that programs from the neighboring country are now enjoying a new round of popularity in China, And a big part of the credit for that goes to You Who Came From The Star, the South Korean TV series which is on the air now.
You Who Came From The Star and The Heirs (继承者们) have been subjects of hot online discussions throughout Asia. Besides, the book, The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane, read by the hero You Who Came From The Star was a hard-to-get item on Amazon for a while.
The two TV programs have several common elements (因素)：a tall, handsome, and rich hero who loves the heroine blindly and always protects her, and an equally handsome man madly in love with the same woman. Both programs describe the purity of love, which is expressed through a kiss or a warm hug. Perhaps that’s the secret of their success; perhaps people still like Cinderella-type stories.
The widening wealth gap is a matter of social concern both in South Korea and China, and the challenges that young people face in their hope for a better life might have caused many ordinary girls to dream of marrying rich, caring men. This is precisely what the popular South Korean TV drams describe. In fact, South Korean TV dramas are tailored to meet the market’s demands.
Many netizens even said at an earlier time that South Korean TV dramas had become popular because of their stereotyped (模式化的) themes: traffic accidents, cancer and other incurable diseases. But all that has changed with the success of You Who Came From The Star and The Heirs, which Chinese directors can use as examples, as well as inspiration, to improve their productions.What is the main reason for a new round of popularity in China?
| A．The dramas are from the neighboring country North Korea. |
| B．Most of the Chinese netizens have voted for them. |
| C．The actors in the dramas are all gods. |
| D．It is because of You Who Came From The Star. |
Which is NOT included in the elements for the success of South Korean dramas?
| A．Charming pure love stories. |
| B．A tender kiss and a warm hug. |
| C．Handsome and rich heroes. |
| D．The heroine’s blind love with the rich. |
The underlined sentence in Paragraph 4 means that they are designed to _______.
| A．develop in a large scale |
| B．be measured to a certain size |
| C．meet popular taste purposely |
| D．be shown in a big market |
The main purpose of stereotyped themes in South Korean dramas is to________.
| A．present an idea | B．attract TV viewers |
| C．make them colorful | D．arouse some challenges |
Our risk of cancer rises rapidly as we age. So it makes sense that the elderly should be routinely screened(拍片检查) for new tumors (肿瘤) or doesn’t it?
While such tracking of cancer is a good thing in general, researchers are increasingly questioning whether all of this testing is necessary for the elderly. With the percentage of people over age 65 expected to nearly double by 2050, it s important to weigh the health benefits of screening against the risks and costs of routine testing.
In many cases, screening can lead to additional examinations and operations to remove cancer, which can cause side effects, while the cancers themselves may be slow-growing and may not cause serious health problems in patients’ remaining years. But the message that everyone must screen for cancer has become so ingrained (根深蒂固的) that when health care experts recommended that women under 50 and over 74 stop screening for breast cancer, it caused a noisy reaction among doctors, patients and social groups.
It’s hard to uproot deeply-held beliefs about cancer screening with scientific data. Certainly, there are people over age 75 who have had cancers detected by routine screening, and gained several extra years of life because of treatment. And clearly, people over age 75 who have other risk factors for cancer, such as a family history or previous personal experience with the disease, should continue to get screened regularly. But for the rest, the risk of cancer, while increased at the end of life, must be balanced with other factors like remaining life expectancy.
A recent study suggests that doctors start to make more objective decisions about who will truly benefit from screening—especially considering the explosion of the elderly.
It’s not an easy calculation to make, but one that makes sense for patients. Dr. Otis Brawley said, “Many doctors are ordering these tests purely to cover themselves from medical disputes（争端）. We need to think about the wise use of health care, which means making some difficult decisions with elderly patients, and going against the misguided belief that when it comes to health care, more is always better.” Routine cancer screening for the elderly people makes sense because ______.
| A．it is believed to contribute to a long life |
| B．it is part of their health care package |
| C．they are more sensitive about the health |
| D．they are in greater danger of tumor growth |
How do some researchers now look at routine cancer screening for the elderly?
| A．It adds too much to their medical bills. |
| B．They are doubtful about its necessity. |
| C．It helps increase their life expectancy. |
| D．They think it does more harm than good. |
What is the traditional view about women screening for breast cancer?
| A．It is a must for adult women. |
| B．It applies to women over 50. |
| C．It is intended for young women. |
| D．It doesn’t apply to women over 74. |
What does the writer say is the general view about health care?
| A．Better care, longer life. |
| B．Prevention is better than cure. |
| C．Better early than late. |
| D．The more, the better. |