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LEMON TREE

April 28, 2020

Even from Home, NASA Team Keeps Mars ExplorerMoving

Exercise 1- Vocabulary

remote – adj. faraway

screen – n. aflat area on an electronic device where images can be seen

chat – n. aninformal talk with someone

juggle – v. totry to do several things at once

three-dimensional – adj. havingor seeming to have length, width, and depth

sensitive – adj. ableto measure very small details

drill – v. tomake holes in hard materials with a machine

workflow –n. the steps involved in moving from the beginning to the end of a workingprocess

figureout – v. to finally understand something or someone after a lotof thought

Excercise2 - Article

Even from Home, NASA Team Keeps Mars ExplorerMoving

Millions of people around the world arecurrently working from home in an effort to slow the spread of the newcoronavirus. Many of them have had to learn new ways of performing their jobswhile attempting to turn living spaces into work-friendly environments.

While such change can be difficult for anyworker, it can be even harder for a scientist or engineer who cannot work intheir usual laboratory setting.

The American space agency NASA employs a largenumber of these workers. Almost all of them have been working from home for thepast month.

Recently, the NASA team that controls theCuriosity explorer on Mars showed that they were able to perform their dailyduties completely from their homes. NASA recently reported on the team’s latestactivities on itswebsite.

Usually, the Curiosity control team operatesfrom NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, or JPL, in Pasadena, California. But forthe first time ever, all members of the team have had to do all of theirwork remotely.

Alicia Allbaugh leads the Mars ExplorationProgram. She said the current situation is very different from the environmenther team is used to working in at JPL headquarters. "We're usually all inone room, sharing screens, images and data. People are talking in smallgroups and to each other from across the room," she said.

The Curiosity team has attempted to recreatethe same cooperative work atmosphere by using video conferencing technology andmessaging apps. Effective communication is very important. So, team leadershave added extra planning time each day to help make sure all team members areconnected.

Carrie Bridge is the chief of scienceoperations for the team. She said one of her main jobs is to be a bridgebetween the scientists and engineers to make sure they understand each other’swork.

Bridge said she is also now looking at about 15different message chats at all times to keep effective communicationflowing. "You're juggling more than you normally would,"she said.

The remote Curiosity team was lacking sometechnology and tools they usually use to perform their jobs. Some employeeswere able to pick up some computer and communications equipment. But otherequipment could not be sent home.

For example, the team uses special goggles, oreyewear, to examine three-dimensional (3D) images sent from Mars. Theequipment helps scientists get a better look at the surface of the planet sothey know where to drive Curiosity and how far they can extend the explorer’sarm.

The gogglesrequire high-powered computer systems to operate that team members could notset up at home. So, they were told to use simple red-blue 3Dglasses instead. While not nearly as sensitive as theusual goggles, the team reported that the low-tech 3D glasses worked just aswell for planning drives and arm movements for Curiosity.

After a lot of planning and test runs, theremote team was excited to announce that the explorer had received its commandsfrom Earth and performed as expected. The first result: Curiosity successfullycompleted a rock drilling operation in an area called “Edinburgh.”

While the effort required a lot of creativethinking and workflow changes, Carrie Bridge said the experiencedemonstrated what NASA has always been about. "We're presented with aproblem and we figure out how to make things work. Mars isn't standingstill for us - we're still exploring."

Questions:

1. What did Alicia Allbaugh say is oneof the main differences for employees working at JPL headquarters and workersat home?

2. What does the article say is amongthe main tools used by Curiosity explorer team members working from home?

3. What is the purpose of the specialgoggles described in the story?

4. What was the first major operationperformed by Curiosity that was controlled by team members working fromhome? 

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LEMON TREE

April 27, 2020

US Supreme Court’s ‘Next Big Thing’: theTelephone

Exercise 1- Vocabulary

pandemic -n. an occurrence in which a disease spread quickly around the world

brief -n. a document that states the facts a lawyer plans to use in a court case

branch -n. a major part of a government

excited -adj. very enthusiastic and eager about something

Excercise2 - Article

US Supreme Court’s ‘Next Big Thing’: theTelephone

The Chief Justice of the United States, JohnRoberts, said in2014 that courts will always be careful when it comes to “the next big thing”in technology. And it took a worldwide pandemic for the U.S. SupremeCourt to finally agree to use, of all things, the telephone.

In May, the court’s members will hear argumentsover the telephone for the first time. Public television service C-SPAN willbroadcast audio of the arguments “live.”

Clare Cushman is director of publications atthe Supreme Court Historical Society. She called the decision to use telephonesa “giant leap forward” for a place that sticks to tradition. But she noted thathearing arguments on the phone is somewhat backward given how much of thecountry and other courts are now using video conferencing.

Until 1971, the Supreme Court was still usingpneumatic tubes to send documents. They were popular in the late 1800s forshipping mail, papers, and other things between offices. The court was stillusing Linotype machines to print documents in the early 1980s while othersprinted from desktop computers.

Just two years ago, the high court made itsdocuments available on the internet, well after other courts.

Before the coronavirus crisis, Supreme Courtjustices were exchanging messages and opinions on paper. Yet most of the ninejustices — six of them over the age of 65 — appear to use modern technology intheir own lives.

Justice Elena Kagan has said she is on thesocial media website Twitter. Justice Samuel Alito has described readinglegal briefs on an Apple iPad. Justice Sonia Sotomayor wears anelectronic sensor that keeps watch over her health. And Justices Neil Gorsuchand Brett Kavanaugh have young children who might be expected to send textmessages to their fathers.

This month, 81-year-old Justice Stephen Breyerused the videoconference service Zoom to talk to students at a New York school.Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is the oldest member of the court at the age of 87.She reads emails on an iPhone and once told people that she uses another Appledevice as a sound machine to help her sleep.

Still, the decision to hear arguments viatelephone during six days in May was unimaginable two months ago. The change isan effort to limit large gatherings of people to slow the spread of the diseaseCOVID-19.

This year, the cases before the Supreme Courtinclude President Donald Trump’s effort to keep his tax and financial recordssecret. The court also will hear whether Electoral College members must votefor the candidate who won their state in presidential elections.

The court’s willingness to use telephones mightlast only a short time. But those who want more openness on the court hope itwill continue after the pandemic.

Melissa Murray is a law professor at the NewYork University School of Law. She said live audio gives Americans the abilityto observe the third branch of the U.S. government at work. Sheadded, “I don’t know why you wouldn’t want that.”

Stephen Dillard serves on the Georgia Court ofAppeals. He supports openness in the courts. He told The Associated Press,“This is a great first step, and I’m excited about it, but I hopethey will go further in years to come and allow live video streaming.”

Questions:

1. Who was the The Chief Justice of theUnited States in 2014 who mentioned about the next big thing in technology?

2. How will it be helpful?

3. How is technology very helpful whenthe pandemic, coronovirus, paralyzed education and business operations?

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LEMON TREE

April 26, 2020

Teenage Engineers in Afghanistan Use Car Partsto Build Ventilators

Exercise 1- Vocabulary

ventilator – n. amachine that forces air into the lungs of a sick patient to keep them breathing

mission – n. animportant effort or job

proud – adj. muchpleased; feeling very good about someone or something

battery – n. anobject that provides electricity for things

pandemic – n. thespread of an infectious disease over a large area in a short period of time

Excercise2 - Article

Teenage Engineers in Afghanistan Use Car Partsto Build Ventilators

Young female engineers in Afghanistan are usingold car parts to develop ventilators to treat coronavirus patients.

The girls - ages 14 to 17 - are members of aprize-winning robotics team. They say they are on a life-saving mission.Somaya Farooqi is among them.

“If we even save one life with our device, wewill be proud,” she said.

On most mornings, Farooqi’s father drives thegirls to a workspace outside the western Afghan city of Herat, where they live.The trip takes careful planning to avoid police roadblocks set up to enforcestay-at-home orders for people in Herat.

There are a limited number of special permitsto avoid the police stops, but Farooqi’s father has not been able to get one.The girls say they have to work fast so they are willing to take risks totravel outside the city. “We are concerned about security driving out of thecity,” Farooqi said.

But there is no other way, she said, adding,“we have to try to save people’s lives.”

The team’sefforts would have been unthinkable in Afghanistan just a generation ago. UnderTaliban rule in the late 1990s, girls were not permitted to even go to school.Farooqi’s mother was forced to leave school in the third grade.

After the United States invaded Afghanistan in2001, girls were permitted to return to schools. The struggle to gain equalrights for females continues and the young engineers push forward with theirwork. “We are the new generation,” Farooqi said. “We fight and work for people.Girl and boy, it does not matter anymore.”

Afghanistan is facing the coronavirus crisiswith limited supplies of medical equipment. The country has just 400ventilators for its population of more than 36 million. So far, the country hasreported more than 1,000 cases of the virus, and about 30 deaths. But expertssay the number of cases are likely much higher since virus testing remains verylimited in the country.

More coronavirus cases have been reported inHerat province because it sits close to the border with Iran, which hasexperienced a severe spread.

The local spread of the virus led Farooqi andher team to try to come up with a medical solution. At their workspace, theteam has experimented with two different designs. One of them is based on plansdeveloped by engineers at America’s Massachusetts Institute of Technology(MIT).

Parts usedto build the ventilators include the motor of a small car device,car batteries and sets of oxygen pumps. A group of auto repair expertshelps the team build the ventilator structure.

DanielaRus, a professor at MIT, welcomed the team’s quick development efforts. “Itwill be excellent to see it tested and locally produced,” she said.

Afghan businesswoman Roya Mahboob founded therobotics team and raises money to empower girls in technology. She says shehopes Farooqi’s group will finish building a working model by May or June. Themodel will then be tested by the country’s health ministry, at first onanimals, a government spokesman said.

Somaya Farooqi says her team felt the need toseek a solution to help people at home. “Afghans should be helping Afghanistanin this pandemic,” she said. “We should not wait for others.”

Questions:

1. What breakthrough did the youngfemale engineers make in Afghanistan?

2. What parts did they use in makingsuch discovery?

3. What are the age brackets of theyoung female engineers?

4. Why is their invention beneficial?

5. How do their parents support them?

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LEMON TREE

April 25, 2020

Tech Companies Continue to Fight FalseCoronavirus Information

Exercise 1- Vocabulary

perpetuate – v. tomake something continue, especially something bad

rumor – n. informationor a story that is passed from person to person but has not been proven true

debunk – v. toshow evidence that something is not true

void – n. alarge hole or empty space

Excercise2 - Article

Tech Companies Continue to Fight FalseCoronavirus Information

False information about the new coronavirus hascontinued to spread around the world, just like the illness itself. In answer,major technology companies have created new tools and rules to reducemisinformation and provide facts about the virus.

Health officials and others have welcomed thenew efforts. They have long urged tech companies to do more to prevent thespread of false information online.

AndyPattison is head of digital solutions for the World Health Organization (WHO).He told The Associated Press that some major tech companies have taken strongeraction to reduce coronavirus misinformation.

For the past two years, Pattison has beenurging companies like Facebook to take more aggressive action against falseinformation about vaccinations. Now, he says his team spends a lot of timeidentifying misleading coronavirus information online. Sometimes, Pattisoncontacts officials at Facebook, Google and YouTube to request that they removesuch misinformation.

In some cases, coronavirus misinformation hasled to deadly results. Last month, Iranian media reported more than 300 peoplehad died and 1,000 were sickened after eating methanol, a poisonous alcohol.Information about the substance being a possible cure for coronavirus hadrecently appeared on social media.

In the American state of Arizona, a man diedand his wife became seriously ill after taking chloroquine phosphate, a productthat some people mistake for the anti-malaria drug chloroquine.

The U.S.Food and Drug Administration, FDA, says chloroquinephosphate is used to treat disease in fish kept at home. It is not meant to betaken by humans. Chloroquine has been used to treat malaria and some otherconditions in humans. It is being studied as a possible treatment for COVID-19,the disease caused by the new coronavirus.

U.S. President Donald Trump and some of hissupporters have said they think chloroquine could be an effective treatmentagainst the virus. Similar claims about chloroquine were widely publicized andshared on social media.

However, health officials have warned that thedrug has not been proven to be safe or effective in treating or preventingCOVID-19. Twitter and Facebook decided to take steps to reduce the spread ofinformation about such unproven treatments.

Twitter removed a post by Trump’s personallawyer Rudy Giuliani that described hydroxychloroquine, which is related tochloroquine, as “100 percent effective” against coronavirus. Twitter alsoremoved a tweet from a Fox News broadcaster in which she said the drug hadshown “promising results.”

And in what may have been a first, Facebookremoved information posted by Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, who claimedhydroxychloroquine was “working in every place” to treat coronavirus. Twitteralso removed a linked video.

Facebook, Twitter, Google and others haveincreased their use of machine learning tools to identify false information.They also have put in place new restrictions on publishing misinformation.

Dipayan Ghosh is co-director of the PlatformAccountability Project at the Harvard Kennedy School in Cambridge,Massachusetts. He told The Associated Press that technology companies havelearned that the publication of misinformation about the coronavirus can havetragic results.

“They don’twant to be held responsible in any way for perpetuating rumors thatcould lead directly to death,” Ghosh said.

For example, the Facebook-owned privatemessaging service WhatsApp has put a limit on the number of people users canforward messages to. WhatsApp hopes this helps limit the spread of COVID-19misinformation.

Facebook also recently announced that it wouldstart warning users if they have reacted to or shared false or harmful claimsabout COVID-19. The company says it will start sending such warning messages inthe coming weeks. The users will also be directed to a website where the WHOlists and debunks misinformation about the coronavirus.

In addition to efforts to reduce falseinformation, technology companies have noted they are widely publishing factsabout the virus from trusted news sources and health officials. They are alsomaking that information easy for users to find.

The WHO’s Andy Pattison praises those efforts,too; more correct information can help reduce the level of misinformation, hesaid.

“People will fill the void out offear,” he added.

Questions:

1. What hasAndy Pattison been involved in for the past two years?

2. What hasthe FDA said about chloroquine phosphate?

3. How didFacebook react to information posted by Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaroabout the drug hydroxychloroquine?

4. What didFacebook say its new user warning system is designed to do?

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LEMON TREE

April 24, 2020

Some Countries, US States Ease Anti-CoronavirusMeasures

Exercise 1- Vocabulary

relaxing –n. toloosen rules or requirements

nonessential –adj. notcompletely necessary

brake –n. adevice that slows or stops a vehicle

Excercise2 - Article

Some Countries, US States Ease Anti-CoronavirusMeasures

With millions of people out of work, severalnations are planning to ease anti-coronavirus restrictions on businesses andother activities.

The push to reopen has brought warnings fromhealth officials. They say relaxing the stay-at-home restrictions tooquickly could bring the virus back.

Returningto work

Nonessential workers, includinghairdressers, dentists and construction laborers, can go to work in Denmark,Austria, Spain and Germany. Australia said doctors can resume non-emergencyoperations next week.

Spain will begin permitting children out oftheir homes for short periods next Monday. Denmark announced plans to reopenTivoli Gardens, the famous amusement park in Copenhagen in May.

In Austria, Chancellor Sebastian Kurz said allshops will reopen at the beginning of May and restaurants in mid-May. He saidthe government will study the situation every two weeks and added he will “pullthe emergency brake if that is necessary.”

Meanwhile, some state governors are planningsimilar easing measures in the United States. Georgia, South Carolina,Tennessee, West Virginia and Colorado, announced plans to slowly reopen in thecoming days. Boeing is among the large industrial manufacturers that will startproduction across the country.

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio warned, “Ifsome of these re-openings are done the wrong way, it’s going to affect all ofus.”

The moves to reopen for business come asunemployment has sharply increased. And the International Monetary Fund haswarned the outbreak could lead to the developed world’s worst economicdepression since the 1930s.

On Tuesday, financial markets in Asia andEurope followed American stocks lower after U.S. oil contracts lost all theirvalue. Far too much oil is now on the market because of a lack of demand asfactories, cars and airplanes are not being used.

Call for more testing

Worldwide, COVID-19 has infected more than 2.5million people and caused more than 170,000 deaths. Those numbers come fromJohns Hopkins University’s Coronavirus Resource Center.

The U.S.has recorded more than 42,000 deaths. That is the most in the world. About800,000 U.S. infections have been reported.

However, the true number of infections aroundthe world is believed to be much higher. That is because of limited testing,difficulties in counting the dead and efforts by some governments to hide theextent of their outbreaks.

Officials at the United Nations have called forefforts to ensure that all people can be tested for the new coronavirus. Theyalso are urging that medical supplies, drugs and future vaccines be madeavailable, especially in developing countries.

African officials have strongly noted the needfor medical supplies across the continent. Experts worry that Africa’s healthcare systems are weak and could become overwhelmed.

A report from the U.N. Economic Commission forAfrica said that Africa will need $44 billion for testing, personal protectiveequipment and treatment. But the report estimates that ten times that muchcould be needed in the worst case.

Will life return to normal?

But in a sign that it will be some time beforelife returns to normal, Spain canceled its Running of the Bulls in Pamplona.The more than 400-year-old event was made famous by Ernest Hemingway’s 1926novel “The Sun Also Rises.”

And the U.S. canceled the popular ScrippsNational Spelling Bee. The competition has been held since 1925. It was onlystopped once before — in 1943-1945, because of World War II.

Questions:

1. Have some private business establisgmentsreopened amid covid pandemic?

2. What considerations did they need to take inmaking such desicion?

3. How did covid-19 affect the countriesworldwide?

4. Why is there a need to test all people in thecountry?

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LEMON TREE

April 23, 2020

Strange Object May Be Remains of a Planet TornApart

Exercise 1- Vocabulary

solarsystem – n. our sun and the planets that move around it

journal – n. amagazine that reports on things of special interest to a particular group ofpeople

alien – adj. fromsomewhere other than the planet Earth

tidal – adj. ofor relating to the regular upward and downward movement of the level of theocean that is caused by the pull of the Sun and the Moon on the Earth

comet – n. anobject in outer space that develops a long, bright tail when it passes near thesun

asteroid – n. anyone of thousands of small planets that circle around the sun

disrupte(d)– v. to cause (something) to be unable to continue in the normal way

mutual – adj. sharedbetween two or more people or groups

hypothesize(d) –v. to suggest an idea or theory

Excercise2 - Article

Strange Object May Be Remains of a Planet TornApart

A long, thin object moving throughour solar system may be the remains of a planet that was pulledapart, scientists say.

Researchers say the planet was likely destroyedlong ago when it moved either too far from or too close to the star it onceorbited.

The object is called ‘Oumuamua, which means“messenger from afar” in the native Hawaiian language. A report on the recentfindings appears in the journal Nature Astronomy.

Scientists have been trying to understand moreabout ‘Oumuamua since its discovery in 2017. Some have even proposed it may bean alien spacecraft. In the recently published research, astronomersYun Zhang and Douglas Lin said computer predictions suggest the object was apiece of a planet or planetary building block. The planet might have been tornapart by its star’s “tidal forces.”

‘Oumuamua is the first object from another starsystem found passing through our solar system. It is about 400 meters long. Itsshape, strange way of moving and lack of dust and gases suggest it is not anormal comet or asteroid.

When a smaller body passes near a much biggerone, tidal forces created by the larger body can destroy the smaller one. Thisis what happened when comet Shoemaker–Levy 9 came too close to the planetJupiter in 1992.

Zhang told the Reuters news agency that mostplanetary bodies are made of groups of rocks joined under the influence ofgravity. In a way, they are similar to the sandcastles that children make atthe beach, except that they are floating through space, Zhang said.

“Their structure canbe disrupted when the force acting on the individual ‘sand particle’is larger than their mutual gravity,” he added.

Zhang noted that ocean tides on Earth areaffected in this way. Tides result from the gravitational pulls of the sun andmoon. In space, a planetary body that comes close enough to a star falls victimto its strong gravitational pull.

Lin is an astrophysicist at the University ofCalifornia, Santa Cruz. He said the star that destroyed ‘Oumuamua’s home worldprobably was one-tenth to eight-tenths of the mass of our sun. Or it might havebeen a rare kind of cool and dense star called a white dwarf, Lin added.

The studysuggests the existence of many objects formed this way.

“We show the possibility of panspermia carriedby these objects,” Zhang said. Panspermia is the hypothesized spreadof microorganisms or chemicals that support life on objects moving throughspace.

‘Oumuamua is continuing on its path out of oursolar system.

Questions:

1. What have the scientist noticed inthe solar system that have been moving in our solar system?

2. How does it look like?

3. How was it like?

4. When was it discovered?

5. What did the scientist believe on where theremais come from?

6. What is Panspermia and how is it beneficial toliving objects?

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LEMON TREE

April 22, 2020

How to Make Your Own Face Mask

Exercise 1- Vocabulary

caught offguard expression : to be surprised by something unexpected

tip –n. apiece of advice or useful information

comfortably –adj. donewith no physically unpleasant feelings

recommend –v. tosuggest that someone do (something)

sew –v. tomake or repair something using a needle and thread

fabric –n. amaterial like a cloth

bleach –n. astrong chemical that is used to make something clean or white

respirator –n. adevice worn over the mouth and nose that aids breathing when there is apollutant in the air

tuck –v. topush the end of (something, such as a piece of cloth or paper) into or behindsomething in order to hold it in place, make it look neat, etc.

Excercise2 - Article

How to Make Your Own Face Mask

Much ofthe world was caught off guard by the new coronavirus. In many waysand in many places, governments, health care providers and average people werenot ready.

Somehospitals, doctors offices and emergency workers found themselves in shortsupply of personal protective equipment, also called PPE.

Localofficials in many parts of the world suggest wearing a face mask in public. Asimple cloth face covering can help to slow the spread of the virus. But facemasks can be hard to find. High quality ones used by professionals need to bereserved for healthcare workers.

So, people are making their own.

a. fit securelybut comfortably around the side of the face

B. be secured with ties or ear loops

c. include two or more layers offabric

D. permit for easy breathing

E. be able to be washed and driedwithout damage or change to shape

Healthofficials recommend using 100 percent cotton for a face mask. Butwhat if I don't know how to sew? Now, for those people who cannot sew,there are ways to make no-sew face masks. The CDC shows two ways on itswebsite. One uses a cotton t-shirt. The other method uses a coffee filter.

A. Cotton T-shirt face mask

Here is a step-by-step process formaking a face mask from a 100 percent cotton T-shirt. However, if you do nothave a 100 percent cotton t-shirt, you can use other materials that areeasy-to-find.

You will not need string to tie itaround your face if you follow the directions. You will use the T-shirt fabricto make tie “strings.”

Here is what you will need:

cotton T-shirt

scissors.

1. First, cut 18 to 20 centimetersfrom the bottom of the t-shirt. This will leave you with a double-layeredrectangle of fabric.

2. Keep the fabric doubled. Fromonly one edge of the fabric, cut out an inner rectangle about 15 to 17centimeters wide. This will leave the outer edges on the top and bottom as tiestrings.

3. Fit the mask securely over yournose and mouth. Tie the fabric “strings” around your neck and over the top ofyour head.

How to remove a face mask

Healthofficials say to remove a face mask from behind. Do not touch the front of themask. The CDC says to avoid touching your nose, mouth, and eyes. Also, washyour hands immediately after removing it.

Otherhealth experts add that you should store the used mask in a plastic bag and nottouch it again until it is cleaned.

How to wash a cloth face mask

The CDCsuggests that you wash your masks after each use. CDC experts say that awashing machine should be enough to kill the virus.

However,other health experts say that may not be enough. Some suggest cleaning themasks for 10 minutes in boiling water or in a bleach solution beforewashing.

If you do not have a washingmachine, hand wash with soap and hot water.

Who should not wear cloth facecoverings?

Noteveryone should wear a face mask. Cloth face coverings should not be placed onyoung children under age 2. Also, people should not wear a face mask if theyhave trouble breathing or are unable to remove the mask without help.

Wearing a cloth face mask is notenough.

Wearing acloth facevmask may reduce the risk of becoming infected with the newcoronavirus. However, the CDC and other health organizations give thisimportant warning: Cloth masks should be used with other methods, such associal distancing, handwashing and staying at home.

Questions:

1. What does the CDC say about making aface covering?

2. What is the safest way to removeyour face mask?

3. The CDC recommends this kind ofperson should wear a mask.

4. What important warning do the CDCand other health organizations give about face masks?

Lesson: Oxford Reading Tree Level2 Lesson1

Teacher: Judy 【High school teachers, ten years'  teaching experiences】

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LEMON TREE

April 21, 2020

Six New Coronaviruses Found in Bats in Myanmar

Exercise 1- Vocabulary

1.species – n. a set of plants or animals in which the membershave similar characteristics to each other

2.outbreak – n. the sudden appearance of a contagious illness

3.sample – n. a small amount of a substance collected by ascientist or doctor

4.veterinarian – n. someone whose job is to give medical care toanimals that are sick or hurt

5.mutate – v. biology : to cause (a gene) to change andcreate an unusual characteristic in a plant or animal

6.pandemic – n. the spread of an infectious disease over a largearea in a short period of time

7.vigilant – adj. watching something carefully and always beingready to notice anything unusual or dangerous

8.surveillance – n. the activity of watching people carefully,often secretly, especially by an army or police force

Excercise2 - Article

Six New Coronaviruses Found in Bats in Myanmar

Researchershave discovered six new coronaviruses in bats while studying how diseases canpass from animals to humans.

Thescientists said the coronaviruses – found in bats in Myanmar – are not closelyrelated to the coronavirus nowaffecting many parts of the world.

Theresearch was led by scientists from the Smithsonian’s Global Health Program inWashington, D.C. The findings were recently reported ina study in the publication PLOS ONE.

Theresearchers said the six new coronaviruses have never been discovered anywherein the world.

The U.S.Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says thatcoronaviruses “are a large family of viruses that are common in people and manydifferent species of animals.” The CDC adds that it is rare foranimal coronaviruses to infect people and then spread among the humanpopulation.

However,there have been major disease outbreaks caused by coronaviruses inhumans. Bats have been linked to some of them. The viruses responsible fordiseases SARS and MERS were linked to bats. The CDC says the new coronavirus,which causes the disease COVID-19, also came from bats.

Health experts estimate thatthousands of coronaviruses are present in bats, with many still undiscovered.

TheSmithsonian team worked with researchers in Myanmar on a project aimed atidentifying new diseases that are zoonotic –meaning they can spread fromanimals to humans. The project, called PREDICT,is supported by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).

Researchersworking on the project say zoonotic diseases represent about 75 percent of newdiseases affecting humans. One of their goals is to study how contact betweenhumans and wildlife can lead to coronavirusinfections in people.

The teamcentered its research in areas where humans were most likely to come into closecontact with localwildlife. Among the team members were representatives from Myanmargovernment agencies.

Theresearchers collected 759 samples of saliva and waste from bats inthe areas from May 2016 to August 2018. After examining the samples, theyidentified the six new kinds of coronavirus. The team also discovered acoronavirus found in other parts of Southeast Asia, but never before inMyanmar.

Marc Valituttois a former wildlife veterinarian with the Smithsonian’s GlobalHealth Program. He was the lead writer of the study. He said in a statementthat widespread disease outbreaks like COVID-19 should“remind us how closely human health is connected to the health of wildlife andthe environment.”

“The goalis to prevent the virus from getting into humans in the first place,”Valitutto told SmithsonianMagazine.

He addedthat future research will seek to learn more about how coronaviruses behave inanimals. For example, what permits the viruses to mutate and spreadto other species. Such research can help reduce the possibility offuture pandemics, Valitutto said.

SuzanMurray is the director of the Smithsonian’s Global Health Program. She saidmany coronaviruses do not present risks to humans. However, she notedidentifying them early on in animals can be an effective way to investigatepossible disease threats. “Vigilant surveillance, research and education arethe best tools we have to prevent pandemics before they occur,” Murray said.

Questions:

1. From what kind animal were the sixnew coronaviruses?

2. Are they similar to the coronavirusthat affects many parts of the world?

3. What was the aim of the Smithsonianteam?

4. What does zoonotic mean?

5. How many percent of the diseasescame from animals?

6. Why did Suzan Murray stress theimportance of detecting the risk earlier befor it spread?

LEMON TREE

April 20, 2020

Scientists Estimate Age of World’s Largest Fish

Exercise 1- Vocabulary

1. vertebrae – n. one of thesmall bones that are linked together to form the backbone

Ex. The needle is inserted betweentwo of the vertebrae.

2. data -- n. facts orinformation used usually to calculate, analyze, or plan something

You have some accessto data bases that could be helpful.

3. atmospheric -- adj. of orrelating to the atmosphere of the Earth or another planet

Ex. The largest pond is as sensitiveto atmospheric changes as the globule of mercury in its tube. 

4. elevated -- adj. higherthan normal

 Holding herhead elevated, as Mums had instructed, he offered the bottle. 

5. saturate – v. to fill(something) completely with something

Ex. She ran her hand down his armand side, unable to shake the desire to saturate hersenses with every part of him.

6. species -- n. a group ofanimals or plants that are similar and can produce young animals or plants : agroup of related animals or plants that is smaller than a genus

Buffalo are adifferent species – like the water buffalo.

7. resilience – n. the abilityto become strong, healthy, or successful again after something bad happens

Ex. A diamond is the hardest,most resilient, most beautiful gem of all. 

Excercise2 - Article

Scientists Estimate Age of World’s Largest Fish

Scientistshave recently discovered how to compute the age of whale sharks, Earth’slargest fish.

Researchers used information aboutradioactivity levels from Cold War-era atomic bomb testing. They determinedthat bands form in the shark vertebrae every year, like a tree’sgrowth rings.

Theyreached their conclusion by measuring levels of carbon-14. The naturallyoccurring radioactive element is also a product of nuclear explosions.

It wasalready known that these bands existed and increased in number as sharks aged.But it was unclear whether new rings appeared yearly or every six months.

Theresearchers compared carbon-14 levels in the rings to data on changesin carbon-14 levels over time. They compared them, especially, to the yearsof atmospheric nuclear tests in the 1950s and 1960s.

Joyce Ongis a marine scientist at Rutgers University in New Jersey. She was the leadauthor of the study that was published recently in the journal Frontiers inMarine Science.

“These elevated levelsof carbon-14 first saturated the atmosphere, then oceans and movedthrough food webs into animals, producing elevated levels in structures such asthe vertebrae of whale sharks,” Ong said.

Whale sharkshave a brownish-grayish color on the back and sides with white spots. Thelargest ones measure some 18 meters in length. They swim great distancesthrough the world’s tropical oceans to find food and feed on small organismstaken out of the water.

Thediscovery enables scientists to measure a whale shark’s age after its death.But just as importantly, it shows that these endangered marine giants growslowly.

MarkMeekan, a co-author, is with the Australian Institute of Marine Science inPerth. He said, “For the management of any marine species, knowledge ofgrowth rate is critical as it determines the resilience ofpopulations to threats such as fishing.”

Meekansaid, “We thought that it was possible that they could reach ages of as much as100 years, but we weren’t really sure...”

Theresearchers tested carbon-14 levels in long-dead whale sharks whose remainswere stored in laboratories. The oldest one tested, stored in Pakistan, hadlived 50 years.

Questions:

1. How do scientist compute the age ofwhale sharks?

2. Who was the marie scientist and alead author of a book published in the journal frontiers in Marine Sciene?

3. HOw long is the largest whale shark?

4. Why is their study about the lifespan of whale shark important?