【挑战TIME】第一期

　　参考答案:

　　1. 维生素D不仅能促进钙的吸收、骨骼的保养，还能激活免疫系统、抑制细胞扩散、刺激细胞分化。

　　2. No standard answer.

　　3. The current study shows that an intake of up to 800 IU a day is safe.

　　4. False！You can find the correct answer in the first paragraph. Not "more", but "less".

Text: "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."

　　Are We Ready for Another Tsunami?

　　Introduction

　　海啸是一种具有强大破坏力的海浪。当地震发生于海底，因震波的动力而引起海水剧烈的起伏，形成强大的波浪，向前推进，将沿海地带一一淹没的灾害，称之为海啸。

　　Vocabulary

　　Tsunami n.海啸

　　high-rises n.高楼（注意前面用的是tall buildings）

　　temblor n.地震

　　holocaust n.大屠杀

　　universal time n.(=Greenwich Time)世界时间,格林尼治(平均)时

　　extensive 这里注意原文中“the most extensive tsunami warning system around”我们在写作的时候也可以这样用最大的什么机构组织。

　　tremor n.震动, 颤动

　　bulletin n.公告

　　evacuate v.疏散, 撤出, 排泄

　　fiasco n. 大惨败

　　dialects n.方言

　　比较长，建议只泛读

　　ArticleWednesday‘s massive earthquake near Indonesia was distressingly similar to the one that killed over 220,000 people in December of 2004. Both happened off the coast of Sumatra and put at least a dozen other countries at risk of tsunami. Yesterday’s magnitude-8.4 quake was smaller than the 9.1 of 2004, but only slightly. Tall buildings swayed in Jakarta, and some high-rises were evacuated in Singapore. And less than 24 hours later, the quake was followed by a second and third temblor in the same area, which brought buildings down in the coastal Indonesian city of Padang and triggered more tsunami warnings around the region.

　　So far, the damage appears to be much less serious than the 2004 disaster — thankfully. It’s too early to guess at a body count, but most of the destruction will probably come from the quakes themselves, not from a tsunami.

　　Three years after one of the worst disasters in history, though, the quakes pose worrisome questions: are we any more prepared? Has any progress been made in building better tsunami warning systems? Or can we expect another holocaust any day now?

　　One thing, at least, has changed dramatically. The first earthquake happened at 11:10 universal time. Although it occurred in the Indian Ocean, it was detected by the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center, headquartered in Hawaii, which has the most extensive tsunami warning system around — largely because the Pacific Ocean is where 70% of the world’s earthquakes normally happen.

　　The 2004 quake was quickly detected by the Pacific Center, too, so that’s no big deal unto itself. This time, though, the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center (and a Japanese warning system that also noticed the earthquake) knew what to do with the information. Fourteen minutes after the tremor, the Pacific Center sent a bulletin around the world, warning all at-risk nations that there might be a tsunami and estimating when it might strike, to the minute. Those channels of communication simply didn’t exist in 2004. Basic as it may seem, this across-the-water communication represents a huge breakthrough.

　　But a warning only helps if someone passes it along. And here’s where things get dicey all over again. "Presumably all of the countries should have gotten that bulletin in minutes," says Lori Dengler, a geology professor and tsunami expert at Humboldt State University in California. "Then it becomes an internal decision to decide whether to call a tsunami warning in their country. Because we’re dealing with sovereign nations, that makes it complex."

　　Each nation on the Indian Ocean has its own procedure — or lack thereof — for what to do next. They decide whether to issue a public warning, whether to call for an evacuation and how to do it in a way that people understand. In some places, like southern Bangladesh, a warning to evacuate was disseminated by police over loudspeakers four hours before the tsunami might have arrived, and many people rushed to high ground.

　　But in Indonesia, the last test run didn’t go so well. In July 2006, a major earthquake caused a tsunami, headed for Java. The Indonesian government received the alert, but the island of Java still had no real warning system. More than 600 people died.

　　Indonesia’s ability to communicate with the public has improved since the Java fiasco, says Laura Kong, director of the International Tsunami Information Centre. And to be fair, it’s a difficult problem. Disseminating an effective warning fast is complicated. There is currently much debate in emergency-management circles over the relative merits of sirens, text messages and other high-tech gadgetry. The state of California has not yet figured out the best way to get a tsunami alert to its coastal residents; Indonesia, in comparison, must spread the word to 235 million people who speak hundreds of dialects.

　　But there are simpler ways to avoid tsunami fatalities. Before most waves strike, the ground shakes or the sea recedes dramatically. In some areas, everyone knows that these signs mean you must head for high ground; in most places, though, people are unaware of the warning signs. In Thailand, which lost 5,400 people in the Indian Ocean tsunami three years ago — half of them tourists — many hotels still do not educate guests about these simple clues. "Putting up a danger sign is bad for business," says Kong. "The businesses, and hotels in particular, are wary." It’s a shocking lapse, but not an uncommon one: Kong has run into the same attitude in Hawaii hotels and has learned to temper her expectations. She hopes that at the least, front-desk staff and other key hotel employees can be trained on recognizing the signs of a tsunami to assist guests in an emergency. "We just have to be practical and reasonable."

　　Overall, however, Kong believes that we’re much better off than we were a couple of years ago. If the 2004 tsunami happened again today in exactly the same way, the death toll would be lower, she says. That’s good, since we can expect more of them. A major incident like the 2004 quake puts geological stress on the entire region — not the most stable in the world to begin with — which helps explain why we have seen more magnitude-8 or larger quakes there than normal. Especially in Indonesia, nestled right in the middle of a nest of earthquake faults, it can only be a matter of time.

　　Homework

　　1. What is the main idear of this Article?

　　2.Please translate the sentence into Chinese.

　　It‘s a shocking lapse, but not an uncommon one: Kong has run into the same attitude in Hawaii hotels and has learned to temper her expectations.

　　3.what is "one thing,at least, has changed dramtically"?

　　4.what is the simpler way to avoid tsunami fatalities?

　　参考答案:

　　1.although we have to face many difficulties , the ability of decreasing lose of tsunami is progressing.

　　2.这是一个惊人的失误，但是并不是什么罕见的：对于夏威夷的旅店，kong有同样的看法同时也学会降低了自己的期待。

　　3.Although it occurred in the Indian Ocean, it was detected by the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center.

4.be aware of warning sign:most waves strike, the ground shakes or the sea recedes dramatically.

　　WhatBreast-FeedingCan’tDo

　　【Introduction】

　　根据一份今在「英国医学杂志」刊出的报告指出，母乳虽然含有丰富营养，但长期吃母奶无助於降低幼儿罹患气喘和过敏症状风险。

　　【Section One】Article

　　The benefits of breast-feeding are many and varied. Studies suggest that breast-fed kids are smarter, taller, thinner, healthier and less stressed than babies on bottles. Plus, breast-feeding helps moms bond with their babies and may even lower their blood pressure. So, is there anything breast milk can‘t do? Apparently, yes, according to a new study published Tuesday by BMJ Online: It doesn‘t offer infants much defense against asthma or allergies.

　　That‘s a question researchers have long debated. Until now, the evidence has been mixed: Some studies have suggested that exclusive, prolonged breast-feeding helps stave off asthma and allergies later in life; other studies have shown no protection, or even an increased risk. But most of the available data has come from observational studies. The new BMJ paper, in contrast, was a large, long-term randomized trial that involved more than 17,000 breast-feeding women and babies, 13,889 of whom were tracked until age 6 1/2. Researchers recruited the moms in maternity hospitals and clinics in Belarus. About half of them — those who had already begun breast-feeding — were encouraged to continue breast-feeding exclusively; the control group got no such extra urging.

　　Researchers report that women in the intervention group breast-fed significantly longer than women in the control group: at three months, 73% of the intervention group was breast-feeding, compared with 60% of the control group, and the number of women breast-feeding exclusively was seven times higher. By a year after birth, rates of breast-feeding had dropped across the board; but still, 20% of the intervention group was breast-feeding versus 11% of the controls.

　　In general, about 10% of the children had ever suffered wheezing in their lives, though less than 1.5% had had full-blown asthma. Roughly 3% to 5% had had hay fever, and about 1% had suffered bouts of eczema. Researchers also performed skin-prick tests on the children; again, there was no significant difference between incidence of allergy — to dust mites, cats, pollen, grass and Alternaria, a common fungus — between the groups. In the breast-fed group, about 9% were allergic to pollen and Alternaria, 12% to cats and grass and 15% to dust mites. Absolute rates of all allergies were slightly lower in the control group, but the variations weren‘t statistically relevant.

　　The BMJ study is "to our knowledge.. the largest randomized trial ever done in the area of human lactation," write the study‘s authors. But it‘s not likely to be the last. Science will continue to debate the discrete pros and cons of breast-feeding, but doctors unanimously agree that breast, in general, is best for babies‘ health, growth and development. Mothers should breast-feed newborns for at least 12 months — and exclusively for at least 6 months — according to American Academy of Pediatrics guidelines.

　　【Section Two】Vocabulary

　　limiting or limited to possession, control, or use by a single individual or group

　　extend the duration of.

　　to fend off, to ward off

　　enlist (someone) in the armed forces.

　　the period during pregnancy and shortly after childbirth

　　action taken to improve a medical disorder.

　　so as to include or affect all classes or categories

　　to maintain contact with (a person) so as to monitor the effects of earlier activities or treatments

　　a set of printed questions, usually with a choice of answers, devised for a survey or statistical study.

　　10. wheeze

　　breathe with a whistling or rattling sound in the chest, as a result of obstruction in the air passages. (of a device) make an irregular rattling or spluttering sound.

　　possessing or exhibiting all the usual or necessary features or symptoms

　　12. bout

　　a short period of intense activity.

　　13. eczema

　　a medical condition in which patches of skin become rough and inflamed with blisters which cause itching and bleeding.

　　14. prick

　　press briefly or puncture with a sharp point.

　　15. mite

　　a minute arachnid with four pairs of legs, several kinds of which are parasitic.

　　16. pollen

　　a powdery substance discharged from the male part of a flower, each microscopic grain containing a male gamete that can fertilize the female ovule.

　　is a genus of ascomycete fungi. Alternaria species are known as major plant pathogens. They are also common allergens in humans, growing indoors and causing hay fever or hypersensitivity reactions that sometimes lead to asthma. They readily cause opportunistic infections in immunocompromised people such as AIDS patients.

　　18. fungus

　　any of a large group of spore-producing organisms which feed on organic matter and include moulds, yeast, mushrooms, and toadstools.

　　a disadvantage of or argument against something.

　　fully in agreement.

　　a branch of medicine dealing with the development, care, and diseases of children

　　the secretion of milk by the mammary glands.

　　an acute allergic reaction to pollen that is usually seasonal and is marked by sneezing, nasal discharge and congestion, and itching and watering of the eyes

　　【Section Three】Homework

　　1. Please translate the blue sentence into Chinese.

　　When the infants were about 6 1/2 years old, researchers followed up with standard questionnaires about asthma, hay fever and eczema. Rates of each condition were similar in both groups.

　　2. What is the main idear of this Article?

　　3. What is the main reason that the author is confident with the conclusion of the study?

　　4. Which word is the "best" synonym of "recruit" here ?

　　A. recover B. renovate C. refresh D. draft E. enroll

　　5. Which kinds of allergies are described in the article?