2026年真题11

Listen to a talk in a biology class. Earlier, we talked about the horseshoe crab and how compounds from the horseshoe crab's blood have been critical for detecting bacterial contamination in medical products and in the manufacture of pharmaceuticals. Today, let's look at the blue ringed octopus. This small creature, a little bigger than a ping pong ball, carries one of the most potent venoms in the ocean, tetrodotoxin. Tetrodotoxin works by blocking sodium channels in nerve cells. Think of sodium channels as gates that allow electrical signals to travel along nerves. When tetrodotoxin shuts those gates, nerve impulses stop, muscles can't contract, and the prey becomes completely paralyzed. For the octopus, it's an elegant hunting strategy. It injects the venom into small crustaceans or fish, and within moments, they're immobilized. Now, someone always asks when I talk about this subject, what happens if the octopus injects itself with its own venom by accident, you know, with those eight arms? Well, the answer is they're unaffected by it. And by the way, octopuses aren't alone in this respect. For example, spiders are also protected from the toxins they produce. As it happens, both the blue ringed octopus and spiders have evolved sodium channels with structural differences that prevent the toxin from working. They can carry their deadly compounds without risk to themselves. Getting back to the octopus and its venom, tetrodotoxin's ability to block nerve signals has huge medical potential. Researchers are exploring it for applications like pain management and also for treating certain neurological conditions.

Listen to a talk in a literature class. So today we're looking at the hero's Journey, a storytelling pattern that shows up in myths, literature, and narratives from all over the world. This structure was brought into the spotlight by Joseph Campbell, an American mythologist, in his book The Hero with 1000 Faces. Campbell studied myths across cultures and noticed they shared a common structure. Campbell called it the Mono myth, and he believed it reflected something universal about the human experience. The journey usually kicks off with a call to adventure, some kind of invitation or challenge that pulls the hero out of their everyday life. They might resist at first, but eventually they accept, often with a mentor's help. Then come the trials, tests that push the hero to grow. At the center of it all is the Abyss, the toughest part, where the hero faces their greatest fear or enemy. If they make it through, they're transformed. And here's the key part. They return with a gift, some kind of insight, wisdom, or ability that can help others. That gift is what makes the journey meaningful, not just for the hero, but for their community. Now, some critics argue this model oversimplifies storytelling. It can flatten out cultural differences and force diverse stories into a single mold. Still, I'd argue it's influential because it taps into something deeply human, the idea that struggle leads to growth and that we come back changed.

Listen to a talk on a sociology podcast. Picture a bustling town square. What makes it lively? Is it the buildings? The people? The signage? Sociologists argue that public spaces hold a mirror to a society's values. This concept, known as public sphere theory, suggests that the way we design and use our public spaces reveals much about our cultural identity. According to this theory, a city's parks, plazas, and streetscapes serve not just as physical locations, but also as stages for social interaction and cultural exchange. The theory also examines how accessible these spaces are to the people who live near them. A public space that is inclusive, one that welcomes people from all walks of life, is reflective of a progressive society. On the flip side, spaces that are restrictive or that exclude certain people are often indicative of societal divisions and inequalities. Another aspect of public sphere theory is the struggle faced by cities to balance the need for open, accessible areas with issues like overcrowding and other safety concerns. In addition, city planners often face the dilemma of preserving cultural heritage while adapting to modern needs of a community. I should note that technology is also reshaping public spaces. Social media platforms offer new arenas for interaction, and these virtual public spaces are fundamentally altering the traditional public sphere. However, just as traditional public spaces face challenges, so too do these digital spaces. Most prominent are privacy concerns and the digital divide between those who have computer access and those who do not.

Listen to a talk in an archaeology class. For decades, archaeologists believed that complex societies and the monumental architecture, the large buildings signifying them, only emerged after agriculture, and that farming was essential for societal development. After all, before agriculture developed, people tended not to settle in a single place, but moved from place to place in search of food. We call such people nomadic hunter gatherers. They were continuously on the move to hunt and collect food. And for people who aren't settled, it was more practical to live in small mobile groups rather than in complex societies, or so it was believed. But the excavation of the ancient site of Gobekli Tepe threw a wrench in this whole story. Gobekli Tepe, dating back about 11,000 years, consists of multiple massive pillars arranged in circles and is considered the world's oldest known temple. Remarkably, it predates the earliest evidence of agriculture in the area by several 1000 years. This suggests spiritual practices, not agriculture, may have caused early communities to form. Many scholars interpret the site as a ceremonial center, a periodic gathering place for nomadic hunter gatherers. More recently, archaeologists there did find traces of things like food processing areas, stone tools for grinding grains, as well as actual plant residues. Yet these residues come from local wild grains, not domesticated crops, and the structures may not indicate year round habitation. So while Gobekli Tepe might have hosted temporary gatherings, the evidence still supports the idea that spiritual practices played a central role in early societal development.