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2020专八阅读练习题及解析（12）（13）（14）（15）

　　以下是华大启点为大家整理的2020专八阅读练习题及解析(12),希望能够帮助大家更有效的备考专八考试，更多专八备考内容，欢迎随时关注华大启点微信公众号。

　　Fears that wearing high-heeled shoes could lead to knee arthritis are unfounded, say researchers.

　　研究者们称，人们害怕穿高跟鞋会导致膝盖关节炎是没有根据的。

　　But being overweight, smoking, and having a previous knee injury does increase the risk, the team from Oxford Brookes University found.

　　牛津布鲁克斯大学研究小组发现，肥胖、吸烟或者以前膝盖受过伤却增加得关节炎的危险。

　　They looked at more than 100 women aged between 50 and 70 waiting for knee surgery, and found that choice of shoes was not a factor.

　　他们对年龄在50到70岁之间的100名将要做关节手术的妇女进行研究，发现选择什么样的鞋并不是导致关节炎的因素。

　　The study was published in the Journal of Epidemiology and Public Health.

　　该研究在《流行病学与公共卫生》杂志上发表。

　　More than 2% of the population aged over 55 suffers extreme pain as a result of osteoarthritis of the knee.

　　55岁以上的人群中有超过2%的人忍受着膝盖关节炎带来的极度痛苦。

　　The condition is twice as common in 65-year-old women as it is in men the same age.

　　这种情况在65岁的妇女中发生的几率是同年龄男性的两倍。

　　Women's and men's knees are not biologically different, so the researchers wanted to find out why twice as many women as men develop osteoarthritis in the joint.

　　女性和男性的膝盖在生理上并没有什么不同，所以研究者们想要知道为什么患关节炎的女性人数是男性的两倍。

　　Some researchers have speculated that high-heeled shoes may be to blame.

　　有研究者推测高跟鞋可能是罪魁祸首。

　　The women in the study were quizzed on details of their height and weight when they left school, between 36 and 40 and between 51 and 55.

　　参加该项研究的妇女们被详细询问了她们在毕业时、30到40岁之间，51到55岁之间的身高和体重。

　　They were asked about injuries, their jobs, smoking and use of contraceptive hormones.

　　研究人员还询问她们的受伤、工作、吸烟和使用避孕激素的情况。

　　However, while many of these factors were linked to an increased risk over the years, tottering around in high heels for years was not.

　　然而，多年来，许多因素都增加了患关节炎的危险，但是常年穿着高跟鞋走路不是原因之一。

　　The researchers wrote: "Most of the women had been exposed to high heeled shoes over the years - nevertheless, a consistent finding was a reduced risk of osteoarthritis of the knee."

　　研究者们写到：“大多数妇女很多年来一直穿高跟鞋，然而可靠的发现表明他们患膝盖关节炎的危险反而降低了。”

　　There was an even more pronounced link between regular dancing in three-inch heels and a reduced risk of knee problems.

　　研究者们甚至发现经常穿三英寸高的高跟鞋跳舞明显和降低膝盖得病的危险有关。

　　The researchers described this finding as "surprising", but said that they would not expect a larger-scale study to overturn their findings.

　　研究者们称这一发现是“令人惊讶的”，但是他们说不指望有大规模的研究会推翻他们的发现。

　　以下是华大启点为大家整理的2020专八阅读练习题及解析(13),希望能够帮助大家更有效的备考专八考试，更多专八备考内容，欢迎随时关注华大启点微信公众号。

　　ASCI Purple will be used to simulate nuclear explosions in 3-D

　　"ASCI紫色计算机"将被用于三维模拟核爆炸

　　Scientists will soon be able to observe the first instants after a nuclear warhead detonates. Fortunately, it will be a three-dimensional simulation, made possible by the world's fastest computer. IBM and the U.S. Department of Energy announced Tuesday the sale of a $290 million supercomputer, capable of performing 100 trillion calculations per second. Armed with that much computing firepower, a 3-D simulation of the first one-millionth of a second in a nuclear explosion will take eight weeks to calculate.

　　科学家不久将能观察到核弹头爆炸的第一瞬间。幸运的是，世界上运算最快的计算机使三维模拟核爆炸成为可能。周二，IBM和美国能源部宣布，一台售价为2.9亿美元的超级计算机每秒钟可执行100兆次运算。一个关于百万分之一秒核弹爆炸的情况只需8周就可以通过这台计算机运算并做出它的三维模拟。而这是史无前例的模拟。

　　ASCI PURPLE, as the massive computer will be called, has a sobering task. Working at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratories, the hefty computer will be dedicated to the task of monitoring the nation's nuclear missile stockpile.

　　被称作巨大计算机的"ASCI紫色计算机"承担着极其严峻的任务。这台座落(把"座落"改为"安装")在Lawrence Livermore国家实验室中的重型计算机，将被用于执行监测全国核导弹库的重任。

　　Every year, the Department of Energy has to certify to the U.S. president that the missiles are safe and in working order. Computers are constantly running simulations to predict the likelihood of missile failure in a war, or the consequences of a missile mishap while still in peacetime.

　　每年，能源部都要向美国总统证明美国的导弹是安全的，它们正在正常工作。许多计算机持续运转，模拟预测在战时导弹失败的可能性或在和平时期导弹惹祸的恶果。

　　Currently, the former world's No. 1 computer, ASCI White, did the job. But it can only run simulations on simple theoretical models, said lab spokesman David Schwoegler. ASCI Purple will do the first true-to-life, three-dimensional simulation of a detonation.

　　实验室发言人David Schwoegler说，当前，前世界运行最快的计算机--"ASCI白计算机"曾经承担这个重任，但它仅能在简单的理论模型中模拟核爆炸的瞬间情况,而"ASCI紫计算机"将首次逼真地三维模拟核爆炸。

　　And testing the nuclear arsenal requires much more than simulating the behavior of the plutonium inside a bomb. In fact, everything inside the bomb must be tested because materials tend to act in unpredictable ways during a detonation. One thing the computer will be able to test, for example, is whether aging materials hold potential hazards.

　　检测核武器库比模拟炸弹中的钚huang元素的反应要求要高得多。事实上，因为在核爆炸时，许多物质的反应难以预测，所以要检测核弹中的每一种物质。例如，计算机要能够检测出久置的核材料是否具有潜在的危险。

　　In the process, the computer will also help scientists unmask some of the 20th century's great mysteries. Nuclear weapons, Schwoegler said, were built in the past "pragmatically, not scientifically." In other words - the bombs worked, but the scientists building them were basing their construction on theories, instead of observation.

　　在这个过程,该计算机还将有助于科学家揭开上世纪一些重大的秘密。Schwoegler说，以前所造的核武器是"实用性，而不是科学性的"。换句话说，尽管核弹成功了，但是，建造核弹的科学家是根据理论而不是根据实际观察建造它们的。

　　"I've seen scientists look at materials calculations on ASCI White and say, I knew that happened, but I couldn't prove it," Schwoegler said.

　　Schwoegler说："靠'ASCI白计算机'计算核弹物质的科学家们说，我知道发生了什么，但我不能证明它。"

　　ASCI Purple is as fast as 50,000 top-of-the-line PCs performing calculations simultaneously. Its operating memory is 400,000 times greater than that of the average PC, and it can store data equivalent to the U.S. Library of Congress - 30 times over. At 100 teraflops - or 100 trillion calculations per second - it will be about eight times faster than its predecessor, ASCI White, and about three times faster than the world's current No. 1 computer, The Earth Simulator in Yokohama, Japan. That NEC-built machine was installed earlier this year, knocking IBM out of the top spot."

　　"ASCI紫计算机"的计算速度相当于5万台最好的个人电脑同步运算。与普通的个人电脑相比，它的应用贮存能力比普通个人电脑要高出40万倍，它贮存的数据要比美国国会图书馆高出30倍之多。以100每秒万亿次浮点运算或每秒100兆计算的能力，"ASCI紫计算机"比它的前任"ASCI白计算机"要快8倍，它比目前世界上最快的计算机，即位于日本Yokohama的"地球模拟器"要快3倍。本年初，NEC建成这台巨无霸把IBM挤出了世界最快计算机的头把交椅。 THE POWER OF THE HUMAN BRAIN犹如人脑的能力

　　以下是华大启点为大家整理的2020专八阅读练习题及解析(14),希望能够帮助大家更有效的备考专八考试，更多专八备考内容，欢迎随时关注华大启点微信公众号。

　　A collection of 35 poems by William Topaz McGonagall, often referred to as the "world's worst poet" in the English language, has sold for $12,900 at an auction in Edinburgh.

　　一本收有威廉-托帕兹-麦戈纳格尔35首诗作的诗集日前在爱丁堡以12900美元被拍卖。麦戈纳格尔常被称作“世界最差英语诗人”。

　　The collection, self-published by McGonagall, was sold by Lyon & Turnbull auctioneers Friday, with the buyer choosing to remain anonymous.

　　这本由麦戈纳格尔自己出版的诗集于上周五在“里昂和特恩布尔”拍卖行被一位不愿透露姓名的买主拍下。

　　The works, described as having poor vocabulary and bad rhyming, tackle topics from a theatre fire to Britain's imperial wars to women's suffrage.

　　麦戈纳格尔的作品主要以一次剧院大火、英国帝国战争和妇女选举权为创作题材，但他的诗作被认为词汇贫乏，缺乏韵律。

　　In fact, the selling price outpaced that of a set of inscribed Harry Potter books by J.K. Rowling, which fetched about $12,100 at the same event.

　　而如今这本诗集的拍卖价超过了有JK-罗琳亲笔签名的一套《哈利-波特》系列丛书，这套《哈利-波特》丛书在此次拍卖中以12100万美元的价格售出。

　　McGonagall was a weaver in Dundee, Scotland who often recited his works on the street and tried to sell them. He was ridiculed during his lifetime, keeping an umbrella nearby for protection against hurled eggs and vegetables.

　　麦戈纳格尔曾是苏格兰敦提市的一名纺织工人。他常在大街上朗诵并推销自己的诗作。但他一生都遭到人们的嘲笑，为了挡住人们砸向他的鸡蛋和蔬菜，他在住处附近撑了把伞。

　　One of his poems attests to the routine derision he experienced:

　　他诗集中的一首作品真实反映了他当时的处境：

　　"Every morning when I go out/The ignorant rabble they do shout/There goes Mad McGonagall!"

　　“每天清晨我走出家门/迎接我的就是那些无知的嘲笑/麦戈纳格尔，他要疯了。”

　　"Everyone knows him as the world's worst poet, but we are still talking about him today and he's attracted an international audience," said Alex Dove, books specialist at Lyon & Turnbull.

　　“里昂和特恩布尔”拍卖行的图书专家亚历克斯-多弗说：“人人都知道他是世界上最糟糕的诗人，但今天我们仍在谈论他，他引起了很多国外读者的兴趣。”

　　"He's appreciated because he's comedic."

　　“他之所以受到关注是因为他的诗作具有喜剧效果。”

　　McGonagall, who died in 1902, was always proud of his work, despite the bad reception. He even produced a short autobiography, two copies of which were created and are inscribed with this tribute: "dedicated to himself, knowing none greater."

　　麦戈纳格尔于1902年去世。尽管他一生备受抨击和嘲笑，但他一直以自己的作品为自豪。他还创作了一本短篇自传，其中两册上的题词为：“献给他自己，一个伟大的诗人。”

　　His most infamous poem is called The Tay Bridge Disaster (1879), which recalled the tragedy in which 75 people died.

　　麦戈纳格尔最糟糕的一首诗作名为《泰桥的灾难》，这首诗歌回顾了1879年发生在泰桥上的一次灾难，当时共有75人丧生。

　　以下是华大启点为大家整理的2020专八阅读练习题及解析(15),希望能够帮助大家更有效的备考专八考试，更多专八备考内容，欢迎随时关注华大启点微信公众号。

　　Britain is considering a massive government database to store the e-mails, Internet information, phone-calls and text messages of all residents to help security forces in the fight against crime and terrorism.

　　英国政府目前正考虑建立一个储存所有国民电子邮件、互联网信息、电话记录及短信的庞大数据库，以帮助安全部门打击犯罪和恐怖主义。

　　At the moment, records of phone-calls and text messages are kept up to 12 months by telecoms companies in compliance with an EU anti-terrorism directive.

　　根据欧盟一项反恐指令的要求，目前英国的通讯公司需保存12个月的电话和短信记录。

　　But a new Home Office (Interior Ministry) proposal would see Internet service providers (ISPs) and telecoms companies handing over records containing billions of e-mails as well as Internet usage and voice-over-Internet calls, media reports said on Tuesday.

　　但据媒体本周二消息，根据英国内政部的一项最新提案，(除上述资料外，)互联网服务提供商(ISPs)和电讯公司以后还需提供数十亿电子邮件、互联网使用信息及网络电话记录等数据资料。

　　Police and security services would be able to have access to the information after seeking permission from the courts.

　　警方和安全部门获得法庭批准后，即可查阅这些资料。

　　The Home Office said communication methods had changed rapidly during the past 15 years.

　　英国内政部称，人们的通讯方式在过去15年中变化很快。

　　"The changes to the way we communicate, due particularly to the Internet revolution, will increasingly undermine our current capabilities to obtain communications data and use it to protect the public," it said in a statement.

　　该机构在一份声明中说：“由互联网革命引起的通讯方式的变化将日益影响我们现有的获取通讯数据并利用其保护公众安全的能力。”

　　"To ensure that our public authorities and law enforcement agencies can continue to use this valuable tool, the government is planning to bring forward the Communications Data Bill."

　　“为了保证我们的安全部门和执法机构能继续利用这一宝贵工具来保护公众安全，政府计划推出《通讯数据法案》。”

　　The draft bill is expected to be released later in the year, but the plan has yet to be discussed by ministers.

　　通讯数据草案预计将于今年晚些时候公布，但目前该计划还未提交各部大臣讨论。

　　It is likely to raise concerns about civil liberties and data protection.

　　该计划可能会引起有关公民自由及数据保护的担忧。

　　About 57 billion text messages were sent in Britain last year, while an estimated three billion e-mails are sent every day, The Times reported.

　　据《泰晤士报》报道，去年英国人共发送约570亿条短信，平均每天约发送30亿封邮件。

　　The government is already planning huge databases for the ID cards schemes and NHS patients' records.

　　此前，英国政府已着手建立有关身份证计划和全国健康服务系统病人档案的庞大数据库。