
第二篇:
South Korea’s cosmetics industry, known as K-beauty, has become an Asian powerhouse and global
phenomenon for its rigorous step-by-step regimens. But exacting beauty norms also put 36 pressure on South
Korean women, making the country one of the world’s centers for plastic surgery. And increasingly, the beauty
industry is looking at younger and younger girls. That is stirring 37 that touch on many core social debates in
South Korea: how much a society should value 38 , whether messages about beauty crowd out other aspirations
for young girls, and whether it’s right to 39 even more pressure to an already stress-packed childhood of long
school hours and make-or-break exams.
“The shiny cartoon heroines young girls admire are fully made up from head to toe,” said a professor at the
Institute of Body and Culture at Seoul’s Konkuk University. “As they put on the makeup and put on the dress to
imitate the characters, girls internalize that a woman’s success is closely 40 with beauty.”
【2】36. scattered enormous diligent rectified
【1】37. concerns mixtures praises tactics
【3】38. honesty conflict appearance perspiration
【3】39. pat dissolve add reverse
【4】40. restrained conferred indented associated
四、閱讀測驗【請在下列各題中選出最適當的答案】
第一篇:
A new study provides scientific evidence to support the idea that stress can cause a person’s hair to turn gray. A
team from America’s Harvard University said the new study is the first to show a clear link between stress and graying
hair. The findings were recently published in the journal Nature. Researchers say they discovered a chemical process
that can change hair color during times of stress. The process is linked to the body’s “fight-or-flight” reaction that can
happen during dangerous situations.
Ya-Chieh Hsu is a professor of Stem Cell and Regenerative Biology at Harvard. She said in a statement that the
research team was in search of the first scientific confirmation of the commonly held belief that stress can cause gray
hair. “Everyone has an anecdote to share about how stress affects their body, particularly in their skin and hair - the
only tissues we can see from the outside,” Hsu said.
The team used experiments with mice to look at how stress affects stem cells in hair follicles. Most people have
about 100,000 hair follicles on their head. The follicles are responsible for making melanocytes, the cells that give hair
its color. As people age, melanocyte production is reduced. This causes a person’s hair to begin turning gray naturally.
At first, the researchers suspected that an immune attack caused by a stressful event might be targeting the melanocyte
stem cells. That theory, however, turned out to be false. The mice lacking immune cells still showed signs of graying
hair. The team also thought the hormone cortisol, which always increases in the body during times of stress, might be a
likely cause. However, when researchers removed the gland that produces the cortisol hormones, the hair of mice still
turned gray.
The scientists then centered their experiments on the body’s sympathetic nervous system. This is the body system
that controls “fight-or-flight” reactions in dangerous situations. The sympathetic nervous system is made up of a
collection of nerves that extend through the body, including the skin. When the mice were subjected to short-term pain
or placed in stressful laboratory conditions, these nerves released a chemical called norepinephrine. The chemical then
flowed through the stem cells up into the hair follicles -- where melanocytes are kept. The researchers found that when
the norepinephrine was released, all the melanocyte stem cells were highly activated and changed into
pigment-producing cells. This overproduction process resulted in the early loss of color-producing cells.
Ya-Chieh Hsu said the experiments confirmed the team’s belief that stress is bad for the body. She added that the
results demonstrated the harmful effects are more major than what the researchers had imagined. “After just a few days,
all of the pigment-regenerating stem cells were lost. Once they’re gone, you can’t regenerate pigments anymore. The
damage is permanent,” Hsu said.
The scientists said their research could lead to new treatments for stress-related graying in the future. Graying hair
is just one example of how stress affects the body. New experiments could also be carried out in other areas as well, the
team said. These could include studies to see whether stress can also cause changes in body tissues. Hsu said she would
also like to study whether stress has a large effect on the overall aging process. “We don’t know if that is true yet. We
are interested in finding out the link,” she said.
【3】41. According to the passage, when stress affects human beings, what tissue can show the effect from the outside?
muscular tissue eyebrow skin nervous tissue
【1】42. What bodily action is linked to the chemical process discovered by the researchers?
A “fight-or-flight” reaction. The process of getting older.
The intense feeling of anger. An increase in heart rate.
【4】43. What process in the body causes someone’s hair to turn gray naturally?
A low supply of the hormone cortisol. An immune attack caused by stress.
The growth of unusual melanocytes. The reduction of melanocyte production.
【2】44. How did the release of the chemical norepinephrine affect the melanocyte stem cells in the body?
Melanocyte production was reduced in the cells.
The melanocyte stem cells were highly activated.
Norepinephrine destroyed the melanocyte cells.
Norepinephrine blocked the flow of melanocyte.
【4】45. What future experiment did the scientists say the latest research could lead to?
Tests on humans to see if the results confirm the mice findings.
Tests to see what other body processes can cause gray hair.
Studies to find out what causes different hair colors in humans.
Studies on whether stress could cause changes in body tissues.
第二篇:
Back in the mid-1800s, a few scientists working from limited evidence decided there must have been a lost
continent in the Indian Ocean and they called it Lemuria. On this lost continent, some even thought, there once lived a
race of now-extinct humans called Lemurians who had four arms and enormous bodies but nevertheless are the
ancestors of modern-day humans. As absurd as this all sounds, the idea flourished for a time both in popular culture
and some corners of the scientific community. Of course, modern science has long since discredited the idea of
Lemuria altogether. But then, in 2013, geologists discovered evidence of a lost continent precisely where Lemuria was
said to have existed and the old theories started appearing once again.
Lemuria theories first became popular in 1864, when a British lawyer and zoologist named Sclater published a
paper titled “The Mammals of Madagascar.” Sclater observed that there were many more species of lemur in
Madagascar than there were in either Africa or India, thus claiming that Madagascar was the animal’s original
homeland. Moreover, he proposed that what had allowed lemurs to first migrate to India and Africa from Madagascar
long ago was a now-lost landmass stretching across the southern Indian Ocean in a triangular shape. This continent of
“Lemuria,” Sclater suggested, touched India’s southern point, southern Africa, and western Australia and eventually
sunk to the ocean floor.
In 2013 geologists discovered traces of a lost continent in the Indian Ocean. Scientists found fragments of granite
in the ocean south of India along a shelf that extends hundreds of miles south of the country towards Mauritius. On
Mauritius, geologists found a mineral called zircon. Despite the fact that the island only came into being 2 million
years ago when it slowly rose out of the Indian Ocean as a small landmass, the zircon they found there dated to 3
billion years ago, eons before the island had even formed. What this meant, scientists theorized, was that the zircon had
come from a much older landmass that long ago sunk into the Indian Ocean. Sclater’s story about Lemuria was
true—almost. Geologists named the proposed lost continent Mauritia.
【1】46. What is the passage mainly about?
A continent that existed a long time ago.
Some lost animal species.
Different theories about how species migrated to new continents.
How geologists and zoologists differ in their research.
【1】47. Based on the passage, lemurs are most probably _____.
a kind of mammals
a type of minerals
a group of geologists
a collection of stories about lost continents
【3】48. Which of the following is true about the lost continent?
It never existed in real life.
It was discovered by a group of zoologists and lawyers.
It was in the Indian Ocean.
Researchers have found humans with four arms and large heads on the continent.
【2】49. Why is zircon mentioned in the passage?
To show that geologists are more fit to study lost continents than zoologists.
To suggest that an older landmass existed in the Indian Ocean.
To give an example of what can be found on any lost continent.
To prove that humans evolved from lemurs.
【4】50. Which of the following is true about Sclater’s story about Lemuria?
It was read by a few of his friends only and was never published.
It has been proven by scientists to be totally false.
Scientists have found evidence to prove the existence of Lemurians.
Some modern day geologists believed it was mostly true.