大学入試長文読解

1 The penguin is now an endangered species.  This is due to serious changes taking place in Antarctica.  Rising temperatures as a result of global warming are causing the ice in Antarctica to disappear at a disturbing rate.  Scientists are very concerned by the enormous changes that are taking place in the penguin populations.  Some of the populations have declined up to 50 percent in the last 30 years.  On one island, the number of breeding penguins has dropped from 1.7 million in the 1940s to about 100,000 today.  2 It has always been a challenge for penguins to survive, but climate change has made it still more difficult.  At the end of summer, most penguins in Antarctica begin pushing their newborn chicks towards the waters of the Southern Ocean, where they will take their first swim.  But only about half of the penguin chicks actually reach the sea.  Some are eaten by foxes, snakes and birds of prey.  And many of those that succ...

1 Researchers from the University of Plymouth in England wondered whether mood might affect the way children learn.  To answer this question, they carried out two learning experiments with children.  2 The first experiment tested 30 children, ages 10 and 11.  Each child was given 20 pictures in which a triangle or a shape like a house was hidden inside a larger image.  The children had to find the small shape while they were sitting in a room with either cheerful or sad classical music playing in the background.  3 As a measure of mood, the scientists asked the children to choose one of five faces, ranging from happy to sad.  Children listening to the happy music tended to choose the happy faces, indicating that they felt happy.  Children surrounded by sad music chose the sad faces instead.  4 The researchers found that sad children took at least one second less time to find the small shapes.  The sad children also correctly found a...

1 According to a study published recently, nearly nine out of ten young adults in East Asian cities are shortsighted and have to wear glasses or use contact lenses.  The problem is not a new one.  But in the past, scientists believed that the cause of the problem was genetic.  In other words, it was thought that poor eyesight was something passed on to East Asian children by their parents.  2 But new research suggests that the problem has a much simpler cause, namely, a lack of sunlight.  The sun’s rays are believed to stimulate the production of a chemical called dopamine inside the eyes.  The eye works best when it is shaped like a ball.  If the eye becomes even a little bit sausage-shaped, the lens cannot focus properly without the help of glasses or contact lenses.  This research clearly shows that bright light entering the eye causes dopamine to be released, and that dopamine keeps the eye ball-shaped, and helps to prevent shortsightednes...

1 Next time you’re on a bus or train, holding on to a pole to avoid a fall, angry that another commuter has taken the last seat, consider the fact that standing up could help you live longer.  2 Not only do we need to get more exercise, but we also need to spend less of our time sitting down, Australian researchers say.  Their study of more than 220,000 people found the longer you spend sitting down the greater your risk of poor health, even if you otherwise do regular exercise.  3 Professor David Dunstan, from the Baker IDI Heart and Diabetes Institute, says health workers usually focus on trying to increase people’s participation in sports, and trying to get them to do at least half an hour of exercise every day.  “We need to think more about what we do with the fifteen hours of non-exercise waking time,” he said.  Sitting can be bad for our health because when we sit down, there is an absence of muscle movements, explains Professor Dunstan.  These...

1 Every morning when I wake up, I peel back the blankets that keep my body warmth hostage and look around my room.  I see cherished family photos, my favorite mahogany dresser and of course my love beads that hang from the windows.  I can’t imagine my life without a loving family surrounding me or a roof shielding me from the night.  2 This past July, I went on a mission trip to Monterrey, Mexico, with my youth group.  I sat on a bus for two days, not knowing what to expect.  My friends on the bus described all the bugs that had infested the orphanages we were to work at for the next week.  They told me how dirty everything would be and how dangerous the streets were.  Secretly, I was hoping the bus would turn around somehow.  But it did not.  The first night we arrived, a man said, “We have come here to change Mexico, but instead, Mexico will change us.” 3 Each morning during the hour-and-a-half bus ride to the orphanage, I would think ...

1 One of the most outstanding minds of our time has “left.” “Left” is the word Paul Erdos, a gifted and productive mathematician, used for “died.” “Died” is the word he used to mean “stopped doing mathematics.”  Erdos never died.  He continued doing mathematics right until the day he died in 1996.  He was 83. 2 It wasn’t just his vocabulary that was unusual.  Erdos’ whole life was so unlikely no novelist could have invented him.  He had no address, no home, no family, no possessions.  He went from math conference to math conference, from university to university, knocking on the doors of mathematicians throughout the world. 3 Erdos traveled with two suitcases, each half-full.  One had a few clothes; the other, mathematical papers.  He owned nothing else.  Nothing!  His friends took care of the affairs of everyday life for him.  He did numbers.  He never married.  He left no children. 4 But in reality he did: hund...

1 Andrew Engel was completely confused.  Just days into his first year at an American university, he was sitting in a sociology class, listening to other students engaged in a discussion.  He had no idea what they were talking about.  It was a foreign feeling as he had always been a good student and had graduated from high school with a 3.9 GPA.  2 The rest of his day progressed in the following way: He got lost on his way to the cafeteria.  Back at his dormitory, he greeted his roommate with a “Hi, how’s it going?” all the while thinking, “What on earth is his name again?” He was acting like a person with Alzheimer’s disease, but he was only 17.  3 Andrew’s mother sent him to the doctor.  A brain scan made it clear: Andrew had a brain tumor.  The size of a walnut, it was pressing on the part of the brain that makes new memories and could be fatal if left untreated.  4 Doctors removed part of the tumor and treated the rest with rad...

1 We have a problem in space.  More specifically, we have a problem in low Earth orbit (LEO), the area of space between 160 kilometers and 2,000 kilometers above Earth’s surface.  After decades of humans sending satellites and rockets into space, this area has become filled with debris. 2 This space junk is mostly made up of old satellites and rockets from previous launches, and there are more than 17,000 other objects that are larger than a coffee cup.  If one of these objects hits a working satellite, the results could be catastrophic.  As LEO gets more and more crowded with debris and new satellites, it’s only a matter of time before a collision occurs.  Another hazard is that these objects could explode, either because they have leftover fuel or partially charged batteries that have been heated up by the sun.  If this happens, there will be even more debris. 3 In an effort to avoid these scenarios, scientists from the European Space Agency (ESA) ...

1 There are a few theories about the origin of the moon.  The most widely accepted one was first proposed by George Darwin, the son of the famous Charles Darwin.  It is known as “The Giant Impact Theory”.  According to Darwin’s theory, the moon was the product of an impact between the Earth and a large object the size of the planet Mars which occurred about 4.5 billion years ago.  The fragments from this collision came together and eventually formed our moon over about a year.  2 Although the moon is a lifeless rock, its presence is vital for life on Earth.  There are about 150 moons in our solar system, but our moon is unique, at least for the Earth and its inhabitants.  The moon is responsible for keeping the tilt of the Earth’s axis at an angle of about 23.5 degrees.  This allows for the change of seasons on the Earth and keeps our climate within limits that can support life.  The sun also plays a role in the tilt of the Earth but it i...