【挑战TIME】第一期

　　【 Section one 】 Vocabulary

　　chimp:

　　A chimp is the same as a chimpanzee( 黑猩猩 ). (INFORMAL)

　　overall:

　　generally; when you consider everything : Overall, this is a very useful book.

　　anthropologist:

　　a person who studies anthropology( 人类学 )

　　battery:

　　~ (of sth) (written) a large number of things or people of the same type: He faced a battery of questions.

　　orangutan(orang): 猩猩

　　a large ape (= an animal like a large monkey with no tail) with long arms and reddish hair, that lives in Borneo and Sumatra

　　treat:

　　something very pleasant and enjoyable, especially sth that you give sb or do for them

　　symbolic containing symbols, or being used as a symbol

　　representation: the act of presenting sb/sth in a particular way; something that shows or describes sth 表现 ( 法 )

　　excel:

　　(in / at sth / at doing sth) to be very good at doing sth: She has always excelled in foreign languages. ◆ The team excels at turning defence into attack. ◆ As a child he excelled at music and art.

　　sophisticated:

　　having a lot of experience of the world and knowing about fashion, culture and other things that people think are socially important: the sophisticated pleasures of city life ◆ Mark is a smart and sophisticated young man.

　　soundly:

　　completely and thoroughly: The team was soundly defeated.

　　outperform:

　　to achieve better results than sb/sth: The company has consistently outperformed its larger rivals.

　　【 Section two 】 Good phrases and sentences

　　Until now, there have been two competing ideas to explain why.

　　competing ideas:

　　competing ideas, requirements, or interests cannot all be right or satisfied at the same time.

　　They talked about the competing theories of the origin of life.

　　our brains are not just bigger, but also better than those of our nearest evolutionary relatives .

　　not…. but also….

　　nearest evolutionary relatives: 进化上的近亲

　　make a strong case that: 提出了对 …… 的有力论据。

　　The report make out a strong case for increase spend on hospital .

　　The three groups performed about equally well on "physical learning" — locating hidden objects, figuring out the source of a noise, understanding the concepts of more and less , using a stick to get something that‘s out of reach .

　　学习非谓语动词的并列

　　figure out: If you figure out a solution to a problem or the reason for something, you succeed in solving it or understanding it. (INFORMAL)

　　understanding the concepts of more and less 理解多和少的概念

　　out of reach = unobtainable: 触不到 的 ；无法得到 的

　　So for example, the scientists would hide a treat of some kind — a toy, or some food — behind a box, while the test subjects looked on.

　　—….. — 学会这个表示插入语的符号的用法

　　when it came to 涉及 … 的时候

　　Then the subjects would have to find it, with the only clue being that the scientists would look toward the hiding place.

　　with 的用法大总结 :

　　preposition

　　Help Note: For the special uses of with in phrasal verbs, look at the entries for the verbs. For example bear with sb/sth is in the phrasal verb section at bear.

　　in the company or presence of sb/sth: She lives with her parents. ◆ I have a client with me right now. ◆ a nice steak with a bottle of red wine

　　having or carrying sth: a girl with (= who has) red hair ◆ a jacket with a hood ◆ He looked at her with a hurt expression. ◆ They‘re both in bed with flu. ◆ a man with a suitcase

　　using sth: Cut it with a knife. ◆ It is treated with acid before being analysed.

　　used to say what fills, covers, etc. sth: The bag was stuffed with dirty clothes. ◆ Sprinkle the dish with salt.

　　in opposition to sb/sth; against sb/sth: to fight / argue / quarrel with sb ◆ to play tennis with sb ◆ at war with a neighbouring country ◆ I had an argument with my boss.

　　concerning; in the case of: Be careful with the glasses. ◆ Are you pleased with the result? ◆ Don‘t be angry with her. ◆ With these students it‘s pronunciation that‘s the problem.

　　used when considering one fact in relation to another: She won‘t be able to help us with all the family commitments she has. ◆ It‘s much easier compared with last time.

　　including: The meal with wine came to $20 each. ◆ With all the lesson preparation I have to do I work 12 hours a day.

　　used to show the way in which sb does sth: He behaved with great dignity. ◆ She sleeps with the window open. ◆ Don‘t stand with your hands in your pockets.

　　because of; as a result of: She blushed with embarrassment. ◆ His fingers were numb with cold.

　　because of sth and as it happens: The shadows lengthened with the approach of sunset. ◆ Skill comes with practice.

　　in the same direction as sth: Marine mammals generally swim with the current.

　　used to show who has possession of or responsibility for sth: The keys are with reception. ◆ Leave it with me.

　　employed by; using the services of: She acted with a touring company for three years. ◆ I bank with the HSBC.

　　showing separation from sth/sb: I could never part with this ring. ◆ Can we dispense with the formalities?

　　in spite of sth: With all her faults I still love her.

　　used in exclamations: Off to bed with you! ◆ Down with school!

　　Idioms: be with me / you (informal) to be able to understand what sb is talking about: Are you with me? ◆ I‘m afraid I‘m not quite with you.

　　be with sb (on sth) to support sb and agree with what they say: We‘re all with you on this one.

　　with it (informal)

　　knowing about current fashions and ideas

　　Synonym: TRENDY

　　Don‘t you have anything more with it to wear?

　　understanding what is happening around you

　　Synonym: ALERT

　　You don‘t seem very with it today.

　　with that (written) straight after that; then: He muttered a few words of apology and with that he left.

　　The fact that the children excelled in specific areas suggest it‘s the other theory that‘s right — that our ability to cooperate and share expertise has allowed us to build complex societies, collaborate and learn from each other at a high level , and use symbolic representation (writing, numerals, imagery) to communicate ideas .

　　The fact that….. suggest…..

　　excel in: 在 ... 方面胜过

　　The question of exactly what it is that makes humans special, in short, may be on the way to being solved.

　　The question of……be on the way to being solved.

　　【 Homework 】

　　1. Please translate the last sentence into Chinese.

　　And indeed, the kids were of an age — 2 1/2 years old — where it‘s widely known that they do perform about as well as chimps in such tests.

　　2. What is the main idea of this Article?

　　3. The article mentioned " the second theory(cultural-intelligence hypothesis) is the right one ." Why?

　　4.Make a sentence using the one of the good phrases mentioned in Analysis section?

　　参考答案：

　　1. 并且的确,众所周知是2岁半大的小孩在这类测试中的表现和猩猩一样.

　　2. New research in Science reveals that children and apes are on par when it comes to straight numerical and spatial abilities, but when they‘re tested on social learning, the children excel.

3. Kids and apes performed about equally well on "physical learning". But when it came to "social learning" tasks, the kids beat the apes. It suggest cultural-intelligence hypothesis is right.

　　VitaminDLowersRiskofDeath

　　【Introduction】

　　Doctors have long known that vitamin D is essential to good health. Get enough of it and it ensures strong bones and teeth. But a new study this week suggests an even more extraordinary benefit: a lower risk of death.

　　【Section One】Article

　　Vitamin D Lowers Risk of Death

　　The new paper, published in the Sept. 10 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine, is a meta-analysis of 18 previously published studies on the vitamin. None of the original experiments was specifically designed to study how vitamin D affects mortality — the trials involved conditions such as bone fractures, bone mineral density, congestive heart failure and colorectal cancer — but all of them tracked participants‘ death data. Overall, researchers found, people who took daily vitamin D supplements were 7% less likely to die during the study — from any cause — than people who didn‘t.

　　The study‘s authors still don‘t know exactly how the vitamin may reduce people‘s death risk, but their findings are in line with a spate of recent research linking the vitamin to a wide range of health benefits. Not only does it promote calcium absorption and bone maintenance, but vitamin D also appears to stimulate the immune system, inhibit cellular proliferation and spur cell differentiation — in turn, those processes could reduce the aggressiveness of cancer tumors or keep artery-clogging plaques from growing. Indeed, studies have suggested that low levels of vitamin D may be associated with a higher risk of death from certain cancers, heart disease and diabetes.

　　The current analysis looked at data on 57,311 participants, most of whom were middle-aged or elderly and in generally good health. Those in intervention groups took daily doses of vitamin D — ranging mostly from 400 IU to 833 IU per day, with a study size–adjusted mean intake of 528 IU a day. Compared with people who weren‘t given supplements, the test groups had up to a five times greater blood level of vitamin D and a significantly reduced risk of death. Though there‘s no medically recommended optimum level of the vitamin, "throughout human evolution when the vitamin D system was developing, the ‘natural‘ level... was probably around 50 ng/mL or higher," writes Dr. Edward Giovannucci, a professor of nutrition and epidemiology at the Harvard School of Public Health, in an accompanying editorial. "In modern societies, few people attain such high levels, and levels below 10 ng/mL or 15 ng/mL are not uncommon."

　　If people can‘t get enough natural vitamin D from food or sun exposure, which synthesizes it in the skin, then daily supplements may be a good alternative — and the current study shows that an intake of up to 800 IU a day is safe. In the 18 studies that researchers analyzed for the current report, none of the participants taking supplements — even at a 2,000 IU daily dose — surpassed the 50 ng/mL mark. According to Giovannucci, people should reasonably shoot for levels of 30 ng/mL to 40 ng/mL, and doctors should consider testing patients who are at risk for deficiencies in vitamin D.

　　【Section Two】Vocabulary

　　1. mortalityn. 死亡率

　　2. fracturen. 破裂, 骨折；v. (使)破碎, (使)破裂

　　3. congestiveadj. 充血的

　　4. diabetesn. [医] 糖尿病, 多尿症

　　5. evolutionn. 进展, 发展, 演变, 进化

　　6. bone fractures 骨折

　　7. bone mineral density 骨密度

　　8. immune system 免疫系统

　　9. cell differentiation 细胞分化

　　【Section Three】Homework

　　1. Please translate the blue sentence into Chinese.

　　"Not only does it promote calcium absorption and bone maintenance, but vitamin D also appears to stimulate the immune system, inhibit cellular proliferation and spur cell differentiation."

　　2. What is the main idear of this Article?

　　3. A intake of how many vitamin D a day is safe from the current study?

　　4. The article mentioned "Researchers found, people who took daily vitamin D supplements were 7% more likely to die during the study — from any cause — than people who didn‘t." Right?