单选题 What kind of genetic tests tend to be comparatively reliable?

案例分析 With those born with natural talents, it feels as if they excel without really trying. But what about those of us who don’t have a natural talent? We’ve been told all our lives that if you work hard, you too can succeed. But with the release of Angela Duckworth’s Grit, we are given a new key to success. “As much as talent counts, effort counts twice,” says Duckworth in Grit. She introduces a new concept that talent may be overrated, and if you want real success, what you need is grit, the perfect combination of passion and persistence. Even if you have natural talent, it’s nothing without grit. Grit is the difference between success and failure. A person who has grit is more likely to succeed than a person who does not. When we think about attaining success—whether it’s landing that job or learning that new skill—our thoughts are immediately burdened by all the things we must first learn. If you want that new job, you have to learn the job skills, then the interview skills, then the dress part—and you must be perfect at all of them. Grit is different because it tells us that perfection isn’t the goal. Grit lifts the unreasonable expectations off our shoulders. Grit tells us that the door is open wider than we first thought possible. Grit allows us to redefine our goals. Think about it: what’s something you’ve always wanted to do, but gave up because you “don’t have the skills for it”? What’s something you love but aren’t good at? The real workings of grit are to have sustainable passion and continue to try. Effort means more than your natural ability. Even if you haven’t mastered a skill, grit tells you that you can still succeed if you can transform your passion into action. In a way, Duckworth is giving new hope to people who have shut the doors on their dreams. She is saying it is possible that you can accomplish anything. If at first you fail, then try one more time with grit.

案例分析 menu and embrace plant-based foods, with Michelin’s 2022 New York guide branding it a ‘bold vision of luxury dining’. “We took the jump to transform Eleven Madison Park into a plant-based fine dining restaurant knowing in our hearts this is what we believed in,” stated Humm on Instagram. “Last night, we were honored to be awarded three Michelin stars for the 11th year in a row. I am so grateful to the team members who contributed through its nearly 25-year history. We are also grateful to our guests and partners who believed in our vision and encouraged us to push harder.” Three Michelin stars is the highest award, given to chefs who are at the peak of their profession. “Their cooking is elevated to an art form and some of their dishes are destined to become classics,” reads Michelin’s website, in a clear nod to plant-based foods’ growing significance in the culinary (烹饪的) world. “I think luxury companies have a real role to play and a responsibility,” says Humm. “The more creative we are, the more beautiful and delicious our future will be.”

案例分析 With genetic testing becoming increasingly popular, many people are left wondering exactly how accurate it is. Whether you are taking a DNA test to build your extended DNA family tree, or want precise information on inborn (先天的) health conditions, it is important to understand how accurate genetic tests are, and what information we can rely upon. How accurate DNA tests are relies greatly upon the kind of test being taken, on the specific question you ask, and on how complex the genetics behind a trait (特征) is. For example, tests for traits that depend on a single gene provide much more reliable results, because you can see whether a disease-causing trait is present. Ancestry tests claim to reveal our genetic identities. But saying you are 30 percent East Asian or American hardly reflects your real ancestry. What about using DNA tests to discover distant family members? There are tools to compare one’s DNA with others’ to find distant relatives based on their genetic identification. These kinds of applications are generally accurate. It’s relatively easy to tell whether two DNA samples belong to close relatives. With distant relatives, results become hazier. Genetic health tests claim to be able to detect certain hereditary (遗传的) diseases, or other health conditions. While certain rare diseases can be easily identified, most potential health conditions cannot be identified by genetic testing alone. The large majority of our traits and diseases also depend upon non-genetic factors, such as lifestyle, the environment, and many others. Genetic tests for multi-factorial traits are often very tricky to interpret. Height, for example, depends on hundreds of genes, each contributing a little to the outcome, together with a bunch of environmental factors. A test can look at many genes at once, but it’s difficult to predict how they will play together. Then you should also account for non-genetic factors that are not written in the DNA. Tests that offer to find your perfect romantic match and those claiming to predict personality or talents based on your DNA are pure nonsense. At the moment, the scientific bases for these applications are non-existent or incredibly weak.

单选题 What does the author think of classical music and opera in today’s world?

单选题 What do we learn about much of the popular music currently produced?

案例分析 The experts concluded that pandas should ideally be happy enough to thrive, but not so content that they don’t want to move around and find new mates”. What about what The Guardian described as this “sweet spot” are in line with the so-called Goldilocks principle that there can be just the right amount of something. The concept has been applied to a wide range of fields, from developmental psychology to economics and engineering. Claudio Sillero, a professor of conservation biology at Oxford University, told the newspaper that the new findings could have implications beyond panda conservation. “Most large animals that eat meat live in increasingly fragmented landscapes,” said Sillero, who was not involved in the research. “It may well be that the messy nature of their relationship with human efforts induces more animals to scatter or travel further, and might result in greater genetic connectivity and enhanced population persistence.” The most recent count of pandas found that there were more than 1,800 left in the wild, putting them on the list of vulnerable, but not endangered, species.

单选题 Why does the author mention the invention of the rock opera?

单选题 Why are classical music pieces still used as background music in modern movies?