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The revelation of his past led to his resignation. imagination confirmation recall disclosure
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Jensen is a dangerous man, and can be very brutal. careless cruel strong hard
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You’ll have to sprint if you want to catch the train. jump escape run prepare
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We are worried about this fluid situation full with uncertainty. changeable stable suitable adaptable
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The new garment fits her perfectly. haircut purse clothes necklace
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The phobia may have its root in a childhood trauma. fear joy hurt memory
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They have to build canals to irrigate the desert. decorate water change visit
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Her overall language proficiency remains that of a toddler. disabled pupil teenager baby
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The coastal area has very mild winter, but the central plains remain extremely cold. warm severe hard dry
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The details of the costume were totally authentic. real outstanding creative false
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We are aware of the potential problems. global possible ongoing central
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The idea was quite brilliant. positive clever key original
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Stock market price tumbled after rumor of a rise in interest rate. regulated increased fell maintained
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The course gives you basic instructions in car maintenance. coaching idea term aspect
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All houses within 100 metres of the seas are at risk of flooding, in danger out of control between equals in particular
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The Theory of Everything
If Stephen Hawking lives until the year 2017, he will have lived more than 50 years longer than his doctors expected. When he was a college student, doctors discovered that he had a rare disease. This disease causes a gradual disintegration(分解)of the nerve cells in the brain cells that regulate voluntary muscle activity. Death almost always occurs within two or three years.
Today Stephen Hawking cannot walk or speak. He cannot move his arms or his head. He can not taste or smell anything. And yet this man is Professor of Mathematics at Cambridge University, a position held by the famous scientist Isaac Newton in 1669.
Hawking is often described as the greatest scientist since Albert Einstein, but to the world outside science. He is also known as the man who made scientific theory understandable. His book, A Brief History of Time has sold over eight million copies.
He says that since he does not have to think about his body or do any of the things other men have to worry about, such as washing the car or working in the yard, he can dedicate all of his time to thinking. This puts him in the perfect position to find the answer to the question that he has dedicated his life to. His question is; Is there a complete theory of the universe and everything in it?
Despite his tremendous physical disabilities, he has already made some very important discoveries about the origin of the universe, how the universe holds together, and how it will probably end. He has also been able to explain the secrets of “black holes“in space. Now he is looking for a set of rules that everything in our universe must obey. He calls it the Theory of Everything. He thinks that someone will have found the answer within the next 20 years.
If Stephen Hawking is able to find his Theory of Everything, he will have given the world the opportunity to understand things that will change the whole nature of science and probably also the way we live.
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Geothermal(地热)Energy
1 Since heat naturally moves from hotter regions to cooler ones, the heat from the earth’ s center flows outwards towards the surface. In this way, it transfers to the next layer of rock. If the temperature is high enough, some of this rock melts and forms magma(岩浆). The magma ascends in its turn towards the earth’ s surface. It often remains well below the earth’ s surface, creating vast areas of hot rock. In such regions, there are deep cracks, which allow rainwater to descend underground. Some of the heated rainwater travels back up to the earth’ s surface where it will appear as a hot spring. However, if this ascending hot water reaches a layer of impermeable(不可渗透的)rock, it remains trapped, forming a geothermal reservoir. If geothermal reservoirs are close enough to the surface, they can be reached by drilling wells. Hot water and steam shoot up the wells naturally, and can be used to produce electricity in geothermal power plants.
2 A few geothermal power plants depend on dry-steam reservoirs which produce steam but little or no water. In these cases, the steam is piped up directly to provide the power to spin a turbine(涡轮)generator. The first geothermal power plant, constructed at Lardarello in Italy, was of this type, and is still producing electricity today.
3 Most currently operating geothermal power plants are either “flash“ steam plants or binary(双重的)plants. Flash plants produce mainly hot water ranging in temperature from 300° to 700°Fahren-heit. This water is passed through one or two separators where released from the pressure of the underground reservoir, it “flashes“ or boils into steam Again, the force of this steam provides the energy to spin the turbine and produce electricity. The geothermal water and steam are then reinjected directly back down into the earth to maintain the volume and pressure of the reservoir. Gradually they will be reheated and can then be used again.
4 A reservoir with temperatures below 300° Fahrenheit is not hot enough to flash steam,but it can still be used to generate electricity in binary fluid. The steam from this is used to power the turbines. As in the flash steam plants, the geothermal water is recycled back into the reservoir.
A Dry steam plants
B Binary plants
C Origin of geothermal energy
D Generation of electricity
E Flash steam plants
F Recyclable water and steam
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A the energy to turn a turbine
B impermeable rock
C one or two separators
D turbine operator
E little or no water
F hot springs
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Smart Windows
Windows not only let light in to cut down on electricity use for lighting, but the light coming through the window also provides heat. However, windows are not something people typically associr ate with an advanced technology. Reseachers are now working on new technologies that enable a window to quickly change from clear to dark and anywhere in between easily.
“ It took us a long time to figure out what a window really is,“ says Claes Granqvist. He’ s a professor of solid-state physics at Uppsala University in Sweden. “ It’ s contact with the outside world. You have to have visual contact with the surrounding world to feel well. “ So, windows and natural light are important for improving the way people feel when they’ re stuck indoors
Yet, windows are the weak link in a building when it comes to energy and temperature control. In winter, cold air leaks in. When it’ s hot and sunny, sunlight streams in. All of this sunlight carries lots of heat and energy. And all of this extra heat forces people to turn on their air condition-ers. Producing blasts of cold air, which can feel so refreshing(使人清新的), actually sucks up e-normous amounts of electricity in buildings around the world.
Windows have been a major focus of energy research for a long time. Over the years, scientists have come up with a variety of strategies for coating, glazing(用玻璃覆盖),and layering windows to make them more energy efficient. Smart windows go a step further. They use chromogenic(发色的)technologies which involve changes of color.
Electrochromic(电致色的)windows use electricity to change color. For example, a sheet of glass coated with thin layers of chemical compound such as tungsten oxide(氧化钨)works a bit like a battery. Tungsten oxides is clear when an electric charge is applied and dark when the charge is removed, that is, when the amount of voltage(电压)is decreased, the window darkens until it’ s completely dark after all electricity is taken away. So applying a voltage determines whether the window looks clear or dark.
One important feature that makes a smart window so smart is that it has a sort of “memory“. All it takes is a small change of voltage to turn the window from one state to the other. Then, it stays that way. Transitions take anywhere from 10 seconds to a few minutes, depending on the size of the window. The development of smart windows could mean that massive air conditioning systems may no longer be needed. “In the future,“ Granqvist says,“our buildings may look different. “
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Sports Star Yao Ming
If Yao Ming is not the biggest sports star in the world, he is almost certainly the tallest. At 2.26m, he is the tallest player in the National Basketball Association(NBA)and holds the record as the most towering Olympian ever to compete in the Games.
But what really stands out about the giant center is his celebrity(名气). Few, if any, Chinese athletes are as well-known as Yao around the world. People across the globe are fascinated with Yao, not only for his basketball prowess(杰出的才能),but also for being a symbol of international commerce.
When Yao joined the Houston Rockets as the No. 1 pick in the 2002 NBA draft(选拔), he was the first international player ever to be selected first. His assets on the court are clear enough— no NBA player of his size has ever possessed his mobility, so he is a handful(难对付的人)for opponents on either end of the court. But what makes Yao invaluable to the Rockets organization is his role as a global citizen and as a bridge to millions of potential basketball fans in China.
When it was announced in February that Yao would miss the rest of the NBA season and possibly the Olympics with a stress fracture(骨折)in his left foot, a collective shudder(震动)spread across China. After considerable debate and discussion, Yao opted to get his foot surgically treated in an operation that placed several tiny screws across the bone, to offer his overburdened foot more support. The surgery was a success, and though the estimated four-month recovery period will leave him little time to prepare with Team China, Yao has vowed to be ready for the Beijing Olympics.
Yao wrapped up a 10-day trip to China, where he underwent a series of traditional Chinese medicine(TCM)treatments, hoping to accelerate his recovery process. Western experts are generally skeptical of TCM’ s benefits, although new research from the University of Rochester suggests that a certain compound derived from shellfish may indeed stimulate bone repair.
“There is no reason to dismiss TCM,“ Yao told a press conference in Beijing. “It’ s been used in our country for thousands of years. I don’ t think that it’ s short on science. “
