PTE考生目前最大的问题之一就是练习题缺乏。除了有限的基本官方书（PLUS，Testbuilder, OG）之外就没有题了。很多英语基础不是很扎实的同学很难找到练习材料。悉尼文波雅思PTE培训学校专门为澳洲，尤其是悉尼、墨尔本的PTE考生准备了适合PTE听力阅读练习的科学60秒。各位PTE同学可以练习PTE听力中的summarise spoken text和PTE口语中的retell lecture，PTE听力口语-科学60秒-Frosty Moss练习记笔记技巧和复述。废话少说，下面开始：
听力内容：
60秒科学节目（SSS）是科学美国人网站的一套广播栏目，英文名称：Scientific American – 60 Second Science,节目内容以科学报道为主，节目仅一分钟的时间，主要对当今的科学技术新发展作以简明、通俗的介绍，对于科学的发展如何影响人们的生活环境、健康状况及科学技术，提供了大量简明易懂的阐释。
This is Scientific American — 60-Second Science. I’m Christopher Intagliata.
Fifty thousand years ago, Homo sapiens weren’t the only game in town. We were just one of several species of hominids roaming the Earth, like the Neandertals in Eurasia. And when our sapiens ancestors came in contact with them, they sometimes hooked up. Which means many people today of Eurasian descent still carry copies of Neandertal genes. But what do those genes do?
Researchers tried to answer that question by examining the modern human genome. And they found that, on average, Neandertal versions of genes are not active as much as their modern human counterparts in the brain—and the testicles. Meaning Neandertal variants have less influence there. Possibly, researchers say, because those tissues underwent significant changes since what became modern humans and Neandertals diverged 700,000 years ago.
“Really, our results show that Neandertal sequences that are present in modern humans aren’t just silent remnants of hybridization that occurred 50,000 years ago, but they really have widespread measurable impacts on gene expression to this day.” Rajiv McCoy, an evolutionary geneticist at the University of Washington. In other words, genes we got from Neandertals play roles in the activation of various other of our genes, leading to the production of different kinds of proteins.
The study is in the journal Cell.
It also turns out that, for one gene in particular, if you carry the Neandertal mutation, “you have slightly lower risk of schizophrenia. And you also have slightly increased height on average.”
The Neandertals left their mark on lots of modern human traits, in addition to schizophrenia and height. But McCoy says, keep in mind:
“These are complex traits. And they’re controlled by thousands of different genes, and we’re measuring statistically significant effects.” Neandertals are long gone—but some of their genes live on.
Thanks for listening for Scientific American — 60-Second Science Science. I’m Christopher Intagliata.
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