National Museum of Natural History
FIRST FLOOR | EXHIBIT
African Bush Elephant
Learn about the ecology of African elephants, their place in geologic time, and their connections to humans.
Things to Do:
Feel"elephant voices" the low-frequency voices that elephants use to communicate over distances as long as 10 miles.
Watch a short film of African bush elephants in action,
Learn why elephants are called"ecosystem engineers".
SECOND FLOOR| TEMPORARY EXHIBIT
Lights Out : Recovering Our Night Sky
Experience the grandness of a starry night，discover the dark side of artificial lights, and find out how you can reduce light pollution and reconnect with the night sky.
Things to Do:
Look through a"telescope"into the past, adjust the sky-glow in a famous painting, and see how artificial lights affect mating fireflies.
Find dark-sky sites around the world- there may be one near you!
FIRST FLOOR| TEMPORARY EXHIBIT
Sea Monsters Unearthed: Life in Angola's Ancient Seas
Get up close to the fossil remains of giant reptiles -mosasaurs (沧龙) and sea turtles that once ruled the sea off the coast of West Africa 88- 66 million years ago. .
Things to Do:
Touch the teeth of a shell-crushing mosasaur.
Compare Angola's ancient ocean ecosystems with today' s in a spinner interactive.
Take a photo of yourself with a massive mosasaur that' s ready to bite.
SECOND FLOOR| EXPERIENCE
The Garden Lounge
Relax and recharge among an indoor garden of live plants.
Things to Do:
Play a sliding-door interactive game to learn how seeds spread.
Charge your mobile device.
Relax，breathe in deeply and sit for a while!
I was living with my grandparents at the time. Our grandparents had recently retired. While they'd managed to save enough to buy a home, they were short on living expenses.
So, our grandfather took a job as doorkeeper of the Java school building. Keeping the entire building clean was a stressful job for one man, Realizing this, 1 began helping him after school, sweeping rooms and emptying waste baskets, for a small wage.
When winter arrived, he fired up the school's furnace(火炉). He quickly realized how difficult it had become for him to shovel(铲) the huge pile of coal chips required to fill in the furnace. I volunteered to take on that job， a commitment that required me to set my alarm clock an hour earlier each morning. I'd go over to the school, and shovel a half ton of coal, enough to keep the fire burning for 24 hours. After finishing that task, I'd go home, change clothes, and eat breakfast. Then I'd head back to school, always at the last minute.
It was during those morning rushes to school that I discovered my superpower. On two mornings, at the very instant I stepped onto the sidewalk in front of the school, the first bell rang. That was the signal for students to head to class. This astonishing coincidence caused me to improve my precision. I carefully planned each phase of my morning activity. I paced myself. Often I'd step onto the school's sidewalk just as the first bell rang. This accomplishment gave me enormous pride- and some strange feelings.
Decades later, at a school reunion, I happened to meet Harold Spiry, who had been in charge of ringing the bell by pressing a button in his office. I couldn't resist boasting(吹噓). I told Mr. Spiry about how well I had ordered my complex morning work back then, how my timing had been faultless. "Oh that," he said,"Do you recall that my office windows looked out over the front of the building? I often saw you coming. And when you hit the sidewalk, I'd ring the bell.
For the first time, astronomers have caught a star in the act of eating a planet. The star. known as ZTF SLRN-2020，exists approximately 12 ,000 light -years away in our galaxy.
"For decades. we've been able to see the before and after," says study leader Kishalay De. "Before，when the planets are still orbiting very close to their star, and after. when a planet has already been swallowed up, and the star is giant. What we were missing was catching the star in the act， where you have a planet going through this fate in real-time. That's what makes this discovery really exciting. "
In 2020，De was studying data, hoping to find evidence of two stars combining with each other. This usually results in bursts of light thousands of times brighter than the stars themselves. But one shining star De discovered was much dimmer(黯淡的)，only 100 times brighter. Also, the crash of two stars usually produces hot gas. However, this one was surrounded by dust molecules(分子). De wondered if he had detected a star swallowing a planet.
He and his team spent the next two years examining similar data. NASA provided the final piece of evidence they needed. The images allowed them to confirm that the molecules were traces of a star eating its planet. The scientists said that as the planet was being swallowed. it displaced hot gas from the star. The gas then cooled and created dust. Pieces of the planet also blew away from the star, producing more dust.
Some scientists believe Earth will also be consumed by the Sun in about five billion years. But Mansi Kasliwal, a professor, says humans will not be around then. The increasing heat from the expanding Sun will evaporate(使蒸发) all the water from Earth long before it gets close enough to swallow it, making it uninhabitable. Smadar Naoz, an astronomer, agrees that the Earth's water sources will dry up."Whether or not the Sun will swallow the Earth is quite controversial," she says."But it wouldn't matter because it will no longer be our beautiful. Earth with an atmosphere and oceans."
Scientists have invented a new way to make electricity. Humidity( 湿气) in the air is what helps create the electricity. Since the new device generates electricity from the air, the scientists call it "Air gen".
The new device is very small and very simple. In it. water molecules from the air move through tiny holes from the upper part of a material down into the lower part of the material. The holes are the key. The material has lots of teeny- tiny holes called"nanopores", which are 100 nanormeters(纳米) across. That's about l. 000 times thinner than the width of a human hair. As the water molecules work their way through the nanopores, they upset the electrical balance between the upper and lower parts of the material, leaving the upper part with a greater charge. This "imbalance" between the two parts is what creates the electricity.
Currently. the device only makes a small amount of electricity- enough to power a small sensor. But in lab tests. the Air gen. which is a little bigger than n fingernail, produced that electricity all day and all night for a week, powered by nothing but the air.
Scientists have tried to make electricity from humidity before, but those methods didn't work for long. or were expensive to make. But in 2020，Dr. Yao and his team found a way of getting electricity from humidity using special "nanowires" made from bacteria and later made the key discovery of the Air-gen: almost any material can create electricity in this way as long as it has nanopores of the right size.
They are hopeful that the Air gen will become an important green energy source. But some scientists have suggested that it might be hard for the Air-gen to create enough electricity to really make a difference- especially compared to power sources like solar energy.
Because the device so thin, Dr. Yao and his team believe that many Air -gen layers could be piled on top of each other to create more electricity without taking up more space. Dr. Yao says, "What I envision is that sometime in the future, we can get clean electricity wherever we go.'
Diving made my world bigger.It took me three years and three tries to get certified. but I'm glad I persisted.
Learning to dive is a lot like learning to drive a car: You study the theory, practice with an instructor. and become qualified. From there. proficiency( 熟练) depends on how often you dive. further training. and your own self-reliance. Regardless of your goals, diving is more accessible and wondrous than I ever imagined.
But not everyone wants to or can dive, and that 's fair enough. Whether you' re a snorkeler (潜水员)，surfer, or sailor or you simply enjoy dipping your toes into the sea while on holiday, you can still be aware of the life unfolding under that glittering blue cover and help protect it.
Experts urge that at least 30 percent be protected to safeguard marine ecosystems. which in turn will help protect our health and well-being. The ocean supplies more than half our oxygen, absorbs carbon dioxide, regulates our climate, and supports much of the world's economy. We need it a lot more than it needs us.
Take Florida，for example, it' s bordered by North America's only living coral barrier reef (礁石) and the third largest in the world.It is also essential to its economy, generating an estimated $ 1.1 billion annually in tourism. The reef protects the coastline, too, since healthy coral reefs absorb 97 percent of a wave s energy.
A study has found that 70 percent of Florida's coral reefs are experiencing a net loss of reef habitat. Exactly facing these concerns is what I mean by seeing the sea- the good. the bad. The important.We can use it to inform our choices, from traveling more carefully. To examining how we run our businesses. No one can do everything， but everyone can do something. The ocean is a remarkable teacher, and it's never too late to start learning.
A. Knowledge is power.
B. I didn't take to diving immediately.
C. So I'd encourage anyone to give it a try.
D. Adventure sometimes involves pushing limits.
E. Marine life needs a safe ecological environment.
F. The reef is home to more than 500 species of fish.
G. Right now, less than 3 percent of the ocean is considered highly protected.
Most artists have to wait decades for their talents to be recognized. Some, like Dutch painter Van Gogh. only achieve1 after they die. But this is not the2 for Andres Valencia. The l1-yearold boy has already3 millions selling his contemporary paintings to art collectors.
Andres' parents are art lovers and collectors. They began4 Andres to modern paintings when he was just a kid. The young boy soon began5 famous artworks with great accuracy. His father. Lupe. says. "When he was 4 or 5. my wife and 1 would6 him paint and do sketches(素描). and we were really surprised at what he would do."
By age six, the7 artist was selling his watercolor paintings to family and friends for $20 a piece. Over time. Andres began creating large-scale paintings with a 8 of oil stick. and oil and acrylic paints. His masterpieces were all9 contemporary artists like Picasso.
Bernie Chase. a family friend and owner of an art gallery, recognized Andres10 from the start. He bought the young boy's artwork every time he11 and even paid $5.000 for one. In 2022. the young boy held his first12 at Chase's gallery. The 35 paintings13 were sold for between S 50.000 and S 125.000 each.
When not painting. Andres is a14 fifth-grader with math homework. "My son is an artist. but he is a15 first." his mother said. "He is a child. not a celebrity.'
In Changping District, 30 kilometers north of Beijing. there is a tomb area that covers about 120 square kilometers. The tomb of the Ming Emperor ZhuDithe tombs of the other 12 emperors were built here. It is called the"Thirteen Ming Tombs" and (list) as a World Heritage Site in 2003.
At present. there are four scenic spots openthe public. Changling Tomb was built in 1409 and is one of the best( preserve) tombs of the Ming emperors. In particular, the LingSi Hall.the rituals(典礼) are held, is a treasure of ancient architecture. At present，there is an exhibition of the(fine) unearthed cultural relics from the Dingling Tomb in the hall.
Dingling Tomb, the joint tomb of Zhu Yijun and his two empresses,(be) the first imperial tomb in China to be excavated (发掘) according to the archaeological plan. The architecture of the underground palace of Dingling Tomb is deep and unique. A total of about 3.000 pieces of precious cultural relics, such as the emperor's and empress' crowns and gold and silver(article)，have been unearthed, ( provide) rare physical materials for the study of the history of the Ming Dynasty. Zhaoling Tomb is a(full) restored tomb according to the old site of the Ming Dynasty， which is magnificent with high pines and glorious halls.
I went to a grocery store for candy that afternoon, Honestly speaking, it was Out of my way and out of the circle that I lived my life within, But it was meant for me to be there at this particular time.
After selecting my items, I went to the checkout line. I noticed a young woman in the line in front of me. Her clothes were worn out, and she looked so tired. She had a toddler(学步儿童) who could not have been more than three and a newborn who was just a few weeks old. The toddler was running and jumping around just like toddlers do. The baby was crying. My heart went out to her. I had been in her shoes with my own two sons.
She managed to get her groceries on the conveyor belt during all the chaos of her kids, and the clerk started checking out her items. As I stood behind her, I noticed that she was losing patience with her kids but didn't know what to do.. She was trying to balance both tasks without causing a huge disruption.
The line behind me continued to snake its way into an aisle (过道). The pressure was growing. As I watched her, I realized that the young woman was looking at a few items and trying to decide what she needed to, put back. The people in line behind me were getting impatient and annoyed that she was holding them up even more now. The dancing toddler and screaming baby just added to the stress of her situation.
I touched her on the arm and asked her, a simple question, "Honey, do you need these items for your children?"
."Yes, ma'am，but I don't have enough on my card to pay for them. I need them for Thanksgiving." My heart broke for this mama." Ring up those groceries for her," I said to the clerk. "What?" the clerk asked.
注意：1.续写词数应为150左右;2.请按如"下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
"Ring up the rest of her groceries." I said to the clerk
……
I said to the young woman,"I'll take a hug !"
