江苏省高邮市临泽中学2021-2022学年高二下学期英语期末适应性考试（二）

Having a microchip implanted in a man's brain may be common in sci-fi movie plots, but it may soon become an actual possibility.

Elon Musk -a US tech tycoon, founder of Space X- has been working on this technology. On Aug 28, Musk gave a display of the chip, which was implanted into the head of a pig named Gertrude.

The chip, developed by Musk's company Neuralink, is the size of a coin. But don't let its size fool you. The tiny chip has over 3,000 electrodes (电极) attached to flexible threads, which can monitor about 1,000 neurons (神经元). It collects neural signals from an area of the brain, and then transmits those signals wirelessly to nearby computers, according to MSN. That enabled researchers to monitor Gertrude's brain activity while she was walking around in the display.

Though the technology is still in its early stage, it is encouraging for humans. This technology would solve a lot of brain injuries and is essentia] for Al symbiosis, which will allow the human brain to combine with an artificial intelligence.

When the device can be applied to humans, its main goal will be to help those who have mobility difficulties. Musk hopes this technology can also be used to help those with hearing and eyesight issues.

Although such a device could repair those problems, putting it into practice is by no means a piece of cake. Currently, the device can transmit signals from about 500 neurons in the pig's brain. Compared to 80 billion neurons in a human brain, this number is tiny. And to cover the whole human brain also means the electrodes have to be much smaller.

Also, implanting the chip into the brain poses a potential danger. There is a risk of the immune system attacking this foreign body.

Right now, the hope of controlling the brain via controlling a few neurons seems overly optimistic. "There are many technological challenges ... to overcome before Neuralink can put its devices to the purposes," Yuan Lanfeng, an associate professor at the University of Science and Technology of China, told China Daily.

A 15-year-old scientist and inventor has been named as Time's first ever Kid of the Year.

Rao is a high school student from Colorado. She was chosen from 5, 000 U. S. -based nominees (被提名的人). Time said in a statement that Rao stood out for her ability to apply scientific ideas to real-world problems and her efforts to motivate other kids to take up their own causes. Rao told the Associated Press that "the prize is nothing that I could have ever imagined. And I'm so grateful and just so excited that we're really taking a look at the upcoming generation and our generation, since the future is in our hands. " She insists that starting out small doesn't matter, as long as you're enthusiastic about it.

It's just the latest recognition for the teenager, who was named last year to the Forbes 30 Under 30 list. Rao won praise in 2017 after she developed a portable device(设备) to detect lead (铅) in water. She went on to cooperate with scientists in the water industry to try to get the device on the market.

The young scientist has also developed an app called Kindly that uses artificial intelligence to help prevent cyberbullying (网络欺凌). It allows teens to type in a word or phrase to find out if the words they're using are hurtful and amount to(等于)bullying, and thus should be avoided.

In an interview with Time, Rao said that her pursuits(追求) in science started early as a way to improve conditions in society. In a world where science is increasingly questioned or challenged, Rao insists that its pursuit is an important act of kindness. It is the best way that a younger generation can better the world. Science and technology are being employed as never before to handle various issues, such as global warming, the outbreak of disease and so on, she noted.

"We have science in everything we're involved in, and I think that's the biggest thing to put out there, that science is cool, invention is cool, and anybody can be an inventor, "Rao said. " Anybody can do science. "

I have a friend who hates banks with a special passion. "A bank is just a store like a candy store or a grocery store, " he says. "The only difference is that a bank's goods happen to be money, which is yours in the first place. If banks were required to sell wallets and money belts, they might act less like churches. "

I was thinking about my friend the other day when I walked into a small branch bank on the West Side. It was lunchtime and I came to open a checking account. The only officer on duty was a fortyish black man with short pressed hair, a pencil mustache, and a neatly pressed brown suit. Everything about him suggested a carefully dressed authority. He was standing across a small counter from a young white boy who was wearing a V-necked sweater. I thought I was especially aware of the boy because he looked more like someone from a prep (预备) school than a customer in a West Side bank.

The boy continued to hold my attention because of what happened next. He was holding an open savings-account book and wearing an expression of disappointment. "But I don't understand. I opened the account myself, so why can't I withdraw any money?" the boy said, his voice breaking.

"I know it is, but those are the rules. I've already explained to you that a fourteen-year-old is not allowed to withdraw money without a letter from his parents, " the officer explained patiently.

Suddenly I noticed the savings book had a series of small deposits (存款) and withdrawals(取款）. Then I questioned the officer, "How do you explain that?" I zeroed in on the officer. "Why did you let him withdraw money before, but not now?" He looked annoyed. "Because the tellers were not aware of his age before and now they are. It's really very simple. " I turned to the boy with a shrug. "You're really getting cheated, " I said. "You ought to get your parents to come here and protest(抗议）. " The boy looked destroyed. Silently, he put his savings book in a rear-pocket and walked out of the bank.

The officer turned to me. "You know, " he said, "you really shouldn't have interfered. " I couldn't believe what he was saying. "We were informed this morning that some neighborhood bully has been shaking down (敲诈) this boy for more than a month. The guy was forcing him to take money out every week and hand it over. The poor kid was apparently too scared to tell anyone. Anyway, the police are on the case and they'll probably make an arrest today. "

"You mean there is no rule about being too young to withdraw money from a savings account?"

"Not that I ever heard of. Now, sir, what can we do for you?"

What's really green?

Most of us are aware that we must take care of the environment, and the majority of us take steps to save energy and reduce waste and pollution. But recently, some "green truths" have been shown to be only half true, or even completely false.

Paper shopping bags are better than plastic ones.

Plastic bags cause litter and are a danger to wild animals, which mistake them for food. It takes hundreds of years for plastic to break down, but much less time for paper. Because of this, people think paper bags are the better environmental choice.

However, making a paper bag uses four times as much energy as making a plastic bag and up to three times the amount of water. In fact, both kinds of bags are bad for the environment. So, take a reusable bag with you when you go shopping.

It seems like common sense: eating local food should be better for the environment, because it does not need to be transported long distances and kept cold during transport. It is the production of food, not its transport, that uses most of the energy and produces most of the greenhouse gases. In some cases, local produce might have used more energy and produced more greenhouse gases than produce grown a long way away-even taking into account its transport.

It's better to take a shower than a bath.

If you spend more than eight minutes in a shower, you'll use as much water as in a bath-about 50 litres of water. Therefore, the key is to keep your shower time as short as possible.

Environmental awareness is now part of daily life. But it's worth checking common ideas and opinions to see what's really green.

A. So say no to plastic bags.

B. Here are some common ones.

C. Unfortunately, it is not that simple.

D. Eating local food is good for the environment.

E. The process also produces more greenhouse gases.

F. It's time that we took measures to protect our environment.

G. It depends on how long you spend in the shower and how large your bath is.

From the top of Mount Qomolangma to the bottom of the Mariana Trench, plastic continues to pollute our environment, and it poses a significant threat to all life forms on Earth. 1 knowing the ecological, eco-toxicological, and economic effects of plastic pollution, we have not been able to forbid the use of plastic products. Now, 2 the invention of a 17-year-old girl, we finally have a much better alternative. This plastic-like material is made from prawn shells(虾壳), and it divides 1.5 million times faster than most of 3 plastic products we use today.

She extracted the carbohydrate called "chitin" from the shells and used chemical change to turn it into chitosan(基糖). She then mixed it with an insoluble protein called "fibroin", which is found in silk cocoons. Using the 4 of these two organic materials, Arora created a plastic-like material that 5 completely within just 33 days. Moreover, this plastic 6 nitrogen(氮) when dividing, which is why it can be used as mulch or plant fertilizer.

In the 2018 Broken Hill Proprietary company (BHP) Billiton Foundation Science and Engineering Awards, Arora was awarded the Innovator to Market Award. She also gained international 7 through the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair. Thousands of 8 students from over 81 nations participated in the competition, and Arora came in fourth for her creativity. She also won a comprehensive 9 to one of the best universities in the United States.

The 17-year-old, now a student of medicine, is on a search to 10 the usage of traditional plastic. She has produced the final prototype of her product, and it is ready to be produced commercially. However, before that happens, she has to 11 legal formalities(合法手续) such as patenting. She is also talking to supermarkets and 12 them to use her biodegradable plastic, which is insoluble, durable, and transparent. It can be used for all kinds of packaging, and the producing cost of the product is also 13 than most biodegradable products.

An 14 young woman, Angelina Arora wants to make a difference in the world, and she wants to encourage other young people, especially young women, to 15their passion and make a positive difference however they can. Thus, women are now getting stronger and stronger.