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  3. Here’s a question about chickens and eggs you may not have heard before: How is it that an egg can be so hard to break from the

Here’s a question about chickens and eggs you may not have heard before: How is it that an egg can be so hard to break from the

admin2022-07-26  53
问题     Here’s a question about chickens and eggs you may not have heard before: How is it that an egg can be so hard to break from the outside, yet so easy for a weak little chick to peck through from the inside?
    It’s a tough question to crack. Eggshells are thought to change as the chick grows inside. As the creature develops, parts of the inner eggshell dissolve and the fuzzy little bird incorporates some of that calcium into its bones. But it remained unclear how this process influenced eggshell microstructure. Now, As Nicola Davis at The Guardian reports, a new study in Science Advances suggests that it’s all about the structure of the egg and how it develops with the growing creature inside.
    To solve the mystery and study egg structures, researchers at McGill University used a new method that allowed them to cut extremely thin sections of shell. They then analyzed these thin sections using a microscope to study shell structure.
    The team examined the shell of fertilized (受精的) eggs and compared that to unfertilized eggs. As Laurel Hamers at ScienceNews reports, they discovered that the key to the eggs’ toughness appeared to be the formation of microstructures, guided into place by proteins. They focused their analysis on one particular protein, which is found throughout the shell and is believed to be vital in the organization of mineral structure.
    As Davis explains, the special protein seems to act as a "scaffold (脚手架)" that guides the structure and density of minerals in the shell, in particular calcium. In a developed egg, the minerals in the outer layer of the shell are densely packed and rich with such special protein. But inner egg layers have a different structure, which has less of such special protein and lower density of mineral packing.
    In non-incubated eggs, the nanostructure didn’t change. But in the fertilized eggs, the structure of the inner egg appeared to shift over time. Calcium was transferred to the chicks and the inside of the shell grew weaker, making it easier for the chick to crack through. The inner shell also became bumpier (更崎岖不平的), which the researchers believe provides more surface area for chemical reactions that release calcium to the chicks.
    Knowing the structure of the egg could lead to new types of materials, says Lara Estroff, a Cornell engineer who was not involved in the study, Hamers reports. The researchers think it could even improve food safety for eggs. About 10 to 20 percent of chicken eggs crack in transport, which could lead to contamination. Understanding why some eggs are stronger than others could help breed chickens with tougher eggs.
What did the researchers at McGill University do to study egg structures?
选项 A、They used a microscope to analyze thin sections of eggshells.
B、They studied the structure of chicks’ beak with a microscope.
C、They compared the shells of raw eggs to those of boiled eggs.
D、They analyzed the components of white eggs and yellow eggs.
答案A
解析 根据题干中的信息词researchers at McGill University，可以把答题线索定位到第三段。第三段提到，为了解开这个谜团，研究鸡蛋的结构，麦吉尔大学的研究人员使用了一种新方法，允许他们切割非常薄的蛋壳。然后他们用显微镜分析这些薄切片来研究外壳结构。由此可知，他们使用了显微镜来分析蛋壳薄切片。故本题应选A。
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