次の英文の(i)から(viii)を読んで、設問１から２５の解答として最も適当なものを、(A)から(D)の中から選びなさい。
(i) We've learned time and time again that people are really bad at picking strong passwords. Look at any list of leaked passwords, and the most popular ones will no doubt be things like “123456" and "password." CNBC had the best of intentions when it ran an online feature on password security recently. The implementation, however, resulted in many users potentially exposing their passwords for all to see.
The article itself is a perfectly competent explanation of how passwords can be brute forced, and how to make sure yours is as hard to guess as possible. The catastrophic failure is not in the writing of that piece, but the little password testing widget right in the middle. After a password was submitted in the widget, CNBC's page would copy it to a Google Docs spreadsheet for ranking. You can imagine that spreadsheet is a veritable goldmine for malicious hackers. The spreadsheet is at least private. Perhaps the worst part of all this is that advertisers and analytics firms, of which there were more than 30 on that page, all had access to the data from that password widget. If you entered your real password, you just gave it to 30 companies which may or may not have secure data storage themselves.
If CNBC's goal was to teach people to be more careful about password security, it might have done just that. Not with actual education, but by putting people at risk of being hacked. CNBC has not spoken about this disastrous crash course in password security. The article has been taken down, so no more unsuspecting users will give away their passwords.
1. What makes for a good password?
(A) Competent
(B) Hard to guess
(C) Hard to remember
(D) Popular
2. What was the problem with the CNBC online feature?
(A) Didn't explain how brute force attacks work.
(B) Passwords were stored on a spreadsheet.
(C) People were taught to be more careful.
(D) The article was hard to understand.
3. How did CNBC react to this problem?
(A) Apologized to participants.
(B) Taught people about security.
(C) Took down the article.
(D) All of the above
4. What is the best title for this passage?
(A) Article on Online Security Backfires
(B) CNBC Online Feature Hacked
(C) Online Documents Goldmine for Hackers D) Simple Passwords Threaten Security
(ii) Decades ago, engineers largely dismissed vertical-axis wind turbines — which spin around a central axis like a top — because they could not match the efficiency of the propeller-like turbines common today. But researchers have found recently that clusters of vertical-axis turbines, arranged to take advantage of each other's turbulence, can outperform conventional wind farms. When added to conventional farms, according to a study published this month, they can even increase the older turbines' output. “We're able to get significantly higher performance," said Stanford Professor John Dabiri, "both due to the fact that you can put the turbines closer together, but also in putting the turbines together we improve the performance of the individual turbines."
Dabiri works with vertical-axis turbines that are 10 meters tall, compared to 100 meters for a conventional horizontal-axis turbine. Dabiri and his team have shown that sets of much smaller vertical-axis turbines can outperform conventional wind farms because they respond to turbulence much better. "I would note that they're still doing this using conventional horizontal wind turbines. Even in these systems you can see benefits." Turbulence is bad for conventional turbines, not only reducing their efficiency, but also their lifespan. As a result, they are typically spaced far apart, and the wind that passes between them, according to Dabiri, is "wasted energy." Small vertical-axis turbines placed in those open spaces can capture that wind.
5. Which of the following best describes modern vertical-axis wind turbines' characteristics?
(A) Increase older turbines output.
(B) Installed close together.
(C) Outperform conventional wind farms.
(D) All of the above
6. How are sets of the new turbines arranged?
(A) Array
(B) Cluster
(C) Horizontal
(D) Vertical
7. What is the main idea of this passage?
(A) Conventional wind farms are obsolete.
(B) Decades-old technology revised.
(C) Groups of new turbines improve performance.
(D) Wind farm turbulence problem solved.
(iii) A tantalizing trio of Earth-sized worlds circles a tiny, dim star relatively close to us, and each planet is within or near the region where the star's light could support the early beginnings of extraterrestrial life. But don't get too hopeful for Earth look-alikes — while we don't know much yet about their characteristics, these three worlds exist in very different environments than our home planet. Still, this is the first time three such worlds have been spotted around an ultracool dwarf star, a discovery that bodes well for planet hunters scouring the galaxy for small, rocky planets. “This is a brand new planetary population that is revealed, and it could well dominate the total number of planets in the Milky Way," says Michaël Gillon of Belgium's University of Liège. “This indicates that the formation of Earth-sized planets around these downplayed ultracool dwarf stars — that are much more frequent than sunlike stars in the galaxy — is very efficient."
As they report this week in Nature, scientists found the system using the Transiting Planets and Planetesimals Small Telescope, or TRAPPIST. This robotic instrument in Chile searches for planets around the 60 brightest ultracool dwarfs. The host star for the newfound trio, called TRAPPIST-1, is just a tiny bit bigger than the planet Jupiter, and it is so cool that most of the light it emits is in the infrared. So, if alien life happened to emerge on any of the star's three known planets, the landscapes might look very different from our green world.
8. How are the three TRAPPIST-1 worlds described?
(A) Tiny dim stars
(B) Earth-sized planets
(C) Ultracool dwarfs
(D) None of the above
9. What bodes well for planet hunters?
(A) 60 ultracool dwarf stars
(B) Spotting the TRAPPIST-1 worlds
(C) Many sunlike stars in the galaxy
(D) None of the above
10. What is a characteristic of TRAPPIST-1?
(A) A little smaller than Jupiter.
(B) It's a small, rocky planet.
(C) The light is mostly infrared.
(D) None of the above
(iv) 著作権等により未掲載
(v) Astronomers have found that a first-of-its-kind "tailless comet" may offer clues into long-standing questions about the solar system's formation and evolution, according to research published Friday in the journal Science Advances. The "Manx" comet, named after a breed of cats without tails, is made of rocky materials that are normally found near Earth. Most comets are made of ice and other frozen compounds and were formed in the solar system's frigid far reaches.
Researchers believe the newly-found comet was formed in the same region as Earth, then was slung to the solar system's outer reaches as planets jostled for position. It is the only object known that is essentially a pristine asteroid, uncooked by eons of exposure to the sun. Scientists involved in the discovery now seek to learn how many more Manx comets exist, which could help to resolve debate over exactly how and when the solar system settled into its current configuration. “Depending on how many we find, we will know whether the giant planets danced across the solar system when they were young, or if they grew up quietly without moving much," paper co-author Olivier Hainaut, an astronomer with the European Southern Observatory in Germany, said in a statement.
Typically comets coming in from the same region as the Manx grow bright tails as they approach the sun, the result of ice vaporizing off their bodies and gleaming in reflected sunlight. But the Manx comet was dark and virtually tailless when it was spotted about twice as far away from the sun as is the Earth. Later analysis showed that instead of ice typically found on comets, the Manx comet contained materials similar to the rocky asteroids located in a belt between Mars and Jupiter.
14. How is the Manx comet described?
(A) Gleaming
(B) Pristine
(C) Spotted
(D) All of the above
15. What happened to the Manx comet?
(A) Jostled
(B) Reflected
(C) Slung
(D) Vaporized
16. What is the best title for this passage?
(A) Manx Comet May Hold Solar System's Secrets
(B) Comet Brings Materials from between Mars and Jupiter
(C) Manx Comet Twice as Far Away as Regular Comets
(D) Unique Tailless Comet Puzzles Scientists
(vi) Working out keeps your brain young, suggests a new study from Columbia University and the University of Miami. Researchers asked people over age 40 about their exercise habits and tested their cognitive abilities. The scientists checked in five years later to test their brains again. Some mental skills dwindle around age 30, says study author Clinton Wright, M.D. But the participants who did moderate-to-intense workouts like running or swimming experienced significantly less cognitive decline over a five-year period than people who were more sedentary. The active participants had better memories and were able to think faster.
In fact, exercising throughout your lifetime may be as good for your brain as turning back the clock 10 years, according to the researchers' mathematical models. One possible explanation: Physical activity boosts blood flow to your brain, delivering oxygen and nutrients and removing toxins at a greater rate, says Dr. Wright. Exercise also fights diabetes, hypertension, and inflammation – conditions that could slowly damage your brain, he says. Dr. Wright, a neurologist, advises his patients to start working out if they aren't already. It's important to get your heart rate up, he says.
17. What was the study's goal?
(A) Confirm some mental skills dwindle around age 30.
(B) Develop mathematical models to predict exercise benefits.
(C) Learn about the exercise habits of people over 40.
(D) Study the relationship between exercise and cognitive abilities over 40.
18. How did participants who had moderate-to-intense workouts benefit?
(A) Better memories
(B) Fewer toxins
(C) Improved blood flow
(D) Less brain damage
19. What is the best title for this passage?
(A) Exercise Slows Cognitive Decline
(B) People Over 40 Need More Exercise
(C) Reversing Cognitive Decline After 30
(D) Working Out Turns Back the Clock
(vii) Hampshire College in Amherst, Massachusetts, is scheduled next week to open a sustainably designed 17,000-square-foot campus facility designed to provide its own energy and water, and treat its own waste. The college says the R. W. Kern Center has been designed to become the sixth building in the world to receive Living Building Certification as a net-zero energy, waste, and water building. The facility's green design and construction is part of the institution's efforts to become a carbonneutral campus within the next few years. Alumni and other donors gave a total of $8.9 million to Hampshire to pay for the building.
When it opens this spring, the Kern Center will serve as a new entry point onto the campus and will house the offices of admissions and financial aid, as well as welcome areas, classrooms, and social areas such as a coffee bar.
The facility was built mostly with materials from local and regional sources and avoided products that had potentially hazardous chemicals such as asbestos, chlorofluorocarbons, neoprene, formaldehyde, hydrochlorofluorocarbons, lead, mercury, and polyvinyl chloride. The building is outfitted with composting toilets, solar panels, rainwater collection, and wastewater treatment systems. Heavily-insulated roofs and walls, and energy-efficient windows enable the center to minimize energy consumption.
20. What is unusual about the Kern Center?
(A) 17,000-square-foot college facility
(B) Generates its own energy and water
(C) New entry point onto the campus
(D) Paid for by alumni and other donors
21. Which item is most likely to be found in the new building?
(A) Asbestos
(B) Lead
(C) Polyvinyl chloride
(D) Wastewater
22. How does this building contribute to Hampshire becoming a carbon-neutral campus?
(A) Contains composting toilets, solar panels, and rainwater collection systems.
(B) Doesn't require outside energy, water, or waste management.
(C) Uses heavily-insulated roofs, walls, and energy-efficient windows.
(D) All of the above
(viii)
When it comes to excelling in the classroom, it turns out the air students are breathing is just as important as the lessons they are learning. Studies show poor indoor air quality (IAQ) can lessen the comfort of students as well as staff, affecting concentration, attendance and student performance. It can even lead to lower IQs. What's more, poor indoor air quality can lead to health problems, including fatigue, nausea and asthma.
About 20 percent of the U.S. Population — roughly 55 million people — spend their days inside elementary and secondary schools. Improving indoor air quality in education facilities would be an important step toward improving public health. It can help reduce absenteeism; improve student and staff concentration, student productivity and performance, and decrease IAQ-related health risks.
Human exposure to air pollutants indoors may be two to five times, and occasionally more than 100 times, higher than outdoor levels. In schools, respiratory problems — such as asthma, allergies and bronchitis — have been associated with excessive use of pollutants such as formaldehyde, pesticides and cleaning compounds.
Reducing indoor contaminant levels with high-efficiency filters and germicidal lights, as well as using lower-emission cleaning supplies, can help reverse the adverse effects of pollutants in the air. These products help control three classes of air contaminants: particles (pollen, dust mites, dirt and pet dander); bioaerosols (bacteria, viruses, mold spores and fungi); and odors/chemical vapors (chlorine, cleaning supplies and paint). Studies show that reducing the levels of these chemical irritants can significantly decrease absenteeism attributed to chronic respiratory illnesses.
23. What is NOT a negative consequence of poor indoor air quality in schools?
(A) Absenteeism
(B) Allergies
(C) Asthma
(D) None of the above
24. How much have indoor air quality problems increased in recent years?
(A) 20 percent
(B) More than 100 times
(C) Two to five times
(D) Not enough information given
25. What is the best title for this passage?
(A) Poor IAQ in Schools: Before and After
(B) Poor IAQ in Schools: Beginnings and Endings
(C) Poor IAQ in Schools: Causes and Cures
(D) Poor IAQ in Schools: Fact or Fiction?
質問と回答