At the age of 9, my father passed away. I often helped mum with the housework and changing the vacuum cleaner (真空吸尘器) bag and picking up things the machine did not suck up always drove me crazy. One day 20 years later, in 1978, I was doing chores at home alongside my wife. The vacuum cleaner was screaming, and worse still, I had to empty the bag several times. But for my wife’s comfort, I would have lost it just as I did many years ago. It was at that time that I decided to make a bagless vacuum cleaner. And I even imagined myself using it for the next weekend cleaning.
Easier said than done, of course. I didn’t realize that I would spend the next five years perfecting my design, a process that resulted in 5,127 different prototypes (设计原型). By the time I made my 15th prototype, my third child was born. By 2,627, my wife and I were really counting our pennies. By 3,727, my wife was giving art lessons for some extra cash, and we were getting further and further into debt. These were tough times, but with my family, I pulled through and each failure brought me closer to solving the problem.
I just had a passion for the vacuum cleaner as a product, but I never thought of going into a business with it. In the early 1980s, I started trying to get licensing agreements (许可协议) for my technology. The reality was very different, however. The major vacuum makers had built a business model based on the profits from bags and filters (滤网). No one would license my idea, not because it was a bad one, but because it was bad for business.
That gave me the courage to keep going, but soon after, the companies that I had talked with started making machines like mine. I had to fight legal battles on both sides of the Atlantic to protect the patents on my vacuum cleaner. However, I was still in financial difficulties until 1993, when my bank manager personally persuaded Lloyds Bank to lend me $1 million. Then my bagless vacuum cleaner was produced in large numbers. Within two years, the Dyson vacuum cleaner became a best-seller in Britain.
Today, I still embrace risk and the potential for failure as part of my life. “Go out and brainstorm new ideas.” I often tell myself.
1. From the first paragraph, we know that _____.| A．Dyson resolved to make a vacuum cleaner in memory of his father. |
| B．Dyson decided to develop an innovative vacuum cleaner for his wife while in his thirties. |
| C．Dyson was not a little annoyed when the vacuum cleaner went wrong. |
| D．Dyson didn’t lose the vacuum cleaner he used because his wife comforted him. |
| A．In the early 1980s. |
| B．After his bank manager agreed to lend him $1 million. |
| C．After he was given a $1 million loan. |
| D．Before he obtained a patent on the product. |
| A．Dyson dreamed of making a fortune when he began his invention |
| B．Dyson might owe his success to his family |
| C．Dyson had no confidence in his vacuum cleaner initially |
| D．Dyson’s vacuum cleaner was not licensed in the early 1980’s for its poor quality |
| A．More haste, less speed. |
| B．Silence is gold. |
| C．Without adventure, one can not know himself. |
| D．He who never failed might never succeed. |
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【推荐1】Imagine you’re at a party full of strangers. You’re nervous. Who are these people? How do you start a conversation? Fortunately, you’ve get a thing that sends out energy at tiny chips in everyone’s name tag (标签). The chips send back name, job, hobbies, and the time available for meeting — whatever. Making new friends becomes simple.
This hasn’t quite happened in real life. But the world is already experiencing a revolution using RFID technology.
An RFID tag with a tiny chip can be fixed in a product, under your pet’s skin, even under your own skin. Passive RFID tags have no energy source batteries because they do not need it. The energy comes from the reader, a scanning device (装置), that sends out energy (for example, radio waves) that starts up the tag immediately.
Such a tag carries information specific to that object, and the data can be updated. Already, RFID technology is used for recognizing each car or truck on the road and it might appear in your passport. Doctors can put a tiny chip under the skin that will help locate and obtain a patient’s medical records. At a nightclub in Paris or in New York the same chip gets you into the VIP (very important person ) section and pays for the bill with the wave of an arm.
Take a step back: 10 or 12 years ago, you would have heard about the coming age of computing. One example always seemed to surface: Your refrigerator would know when you needed to buy more milk. The concept was that computer chips could he put every where and send information in smart network that would make ordinary life simpler.
RFID tags are a small part of this phenomenon. “The world is going to he a loosely coupled set of individual small devices, connected wirelessly.” Predicts Dr. J. Reich. Human right supporters are nervous about the possibilities of such technology. It goes too far tracking school kids through RFID tags, they say. We imagine a world in which a beer company could find out not only when you bought a beer but also when you drank it. And how many beers, Accompanied by how many biscuits.
When Marconi invented radio, he thought it would be used for ship-to-shore communication. Not for pop music. Who knows how RFID and related technologies will be used in the future. Here’s a wild guess: Not for buying milk.
1. The article is intended to .| A．warn people of the possible risks in adopting RFID technology |
| B．explain the benefits brought about by RFID technology |
| C．convince people of the uses of RFID technology |
| D．predict the applications of RFID technology |
| A．will have no trouble getting date about others |
| B．will have more energy for conversation |
| C．will have more time to make friends |
| D．won’t feel shy at parties any longer |
| A．scanning devices |
| B．radio waves |
| C．batteries |
| D．chips |
| A．Because children will be tracked by strangers. |
| B．Because market competition will become more fierce. |
| C．Because their private lives will be greatly affected. |
| D．Because customers will be forced to buy more products. |
| A．will not be used for such matters as buying milk |
| B．will be widely used, including for buying milk |
| C．will be limited to communication uses |
| D．will probably be used for pop music |
【推荐2】Onions may be one of the healthiest, most flavorful vegetables on the face of the Earth, but they’re definitely no fun to chop. However, your days of getting teary-eyed in the kitchen may be coming to an end as Japanese company House Foods Group prepares to launch the world’s first tear-free onion to the market.
Properly the onion is named “Smile Ball”, because it puts a smile on your face rather than make you cry, this new type of onion is the result of two decades of research. In 2002, House Foods Group scientists published a paper in which they assumed that tear-inducing enzymes(酶) in onions could be weakened while keeping their full flavor and nutritional value. Last year the company announced that their theory had finally become reality. Although the announcement mentioned that House Foods Group had no intention of producing Smile Ball onions commercially anytime soon, it appears the wonder vegetables will hit Japanese stores this fall.
It has long been known that cutting onions causes tears due to a volatile gas(挥发性气体) given out by onion cells when damaged by the knife. But cutting the Smile Ball onion in any condition is reportedly a tear-free experience.
About five tons of Smile Ball onions were sold in trial runs at Tokyo department stores and online shops this year, but this fall, they will be available at supermarkets nationwide, at a price of 450 yen ($4.30) for a pack of two. That’s twice as expensive as regular onions.
The rate at which the trial batch of 5-6 tons of Smile Ball onions sold out signals that they will be a huge hit when they hit the market.
1. Why do people tear when cutting onions?| A．A volatile gas is given out. | B．People are allergic to onions. |
| C．Onions can hurt people’s eyes. | D．Too many onions are wasted. |
| A．450 yen | B．250 yen | C．＄2.15 | D．＄4.30 |
| A．Strike | B．Success | C．Failure | D．Knock |
| A．A funny research |
| B．The healthiest vegetables |
| C．Crying onion |
| D．Smile Ball |
【推荐3】The milk carton, made from layers of paperboard and plastic first, appeared in 1952 and soon replaced glass bottles. They were far lighter, could be piled and distributed more easily, and more significantly, they were found to have 78 percent less of an impact on the climate than glass bottles. The Tetra Pak cartons, with a layer of aluminum foil(铝箔) that allowed heat –treated milk to remain fresh, followed in 1961.
However, every technology has drawbacks and those of plastics are becoming painfully obvious. Landfills are stuffed with bottles and cartons, and trillions of pieces of plastic float in the world's oceans.
Carton makers are far from the only contributions to the ballooning volumes of packaging waste. In some ways, they're encouraging recycling. However, it is not universal even in Europe, only 47 percent of materials from the 37 billion cartons, made for European countries in 2016 were recycled.
Cartons are also stuck in a broader paradox(悖论): as economy advances, people tend not only to recycle more but also to consume more. Croatia’s overall recycling rate for packaging in 2016 was 55 percent, compared with Germany’s 71 percent, but the average German produced four times as much packaging waste as the average Croatian.
In theory, cartons are fairly recyclable. When pulped （打成浆） in liquid, their various layers are separated into paper, plastic and metal. All of them can then be turned to other uses. In practice, recycling is currently unfeasible for cartoons, because a cotton is carefully bonded and constructed often with a plastic lid and a straw fixed to the side.
This means carton makers need to do more to make their products not only useful but also sustainable. This involves stronger links with recycling factories and waste companies to ensure that containers they pump into the world are returned and reused. In the long term, they face a huge technological challenge to get to what Tetra Pak says is its ultimate aim -- to construct cartons entirely out of renewable materials.
1. What's the purpose of Paragraph 1?| A．To provide examples. | B．To introduce the topic. |
| C．To make comparisons. | D．To present the argument. |
| A．Their materials are not recyclable. |
| B．Carton makers lack environmental awareness. |
| C．There are no recycling regulations in the world. |
| D．Consumption increases as recycling rate rises. |
| A．Urgent. | B．Expensive. |
| C．Impracticable. | D．Unimaginable |
| A．To come up with new ways to reuse plastic |
| B．To make their products, the market leader. |
| C．To set up a new standard for the materials |
| D．To seek cooperation with recycling and waste companies. |
【推荐1】It’s funny—as a writer, it’s easy to share your knowledge, or your personal stories with an unknown listener of many. You think your friends and family may not read your articles. But as I began to talk more openly about Chinese traditions and food, I learned that they were interested, curious and really hungered for it. Their interest and curiosity grew and the culmination of their interest and curiosity was this past Spring Festival. They would like to spend the Spring Festival with me. It was an inconvenient Monday. I’d never had the Spring Festival when anyone but my father cooked.
I took the day off work in a madness of last-minute preparation. I drove 45 minutes out of town to a Cantonese BBQ shop where I bought a whole roast duck (烤鸭) and watched, fascinated, as it was changed into bite sizes. I shopped at a faraway international market like madwoman, looking for Chinese vegetables and other foods that would be new for my guests I called my dad, asking for six-second pointers on how to make dishes I’d never made. I texted him pictures of the sea fish I picked out, and the red clothing they threw on for luck.
In just a few hours, I cooked a dinner of 15 dishes for six friends who cared enough about me and my culture to come over on a cold winter Monday night to celebrate my tradition with me. We drank, ate and toasted the beautiful night. And that night, I felt what it was to be loved for my culture as well as our food.
1. What does the underlined word “culmination” mean in paragraph 1?| A．Top. | B．Celebration. | C．Tradition. | D．Trouble. |
| A．She ate a whole roast duck. | B．She took a roast duck. |
| C．She asked to cook a duck herself. | D．She took beautiful photos of the duck. |
| A．The shops the author went to. | B．The author’s love of Chinese food. |
| C．The author’s preparation for dinner. | D．The suggestions the author’s father gave. |
| A．She is living with her father. | B．She is a madwoman. |
| C．She is a world famous writer. | D．She is proud of Chinese culture. |
【推荐2】Many of us have heard stories about teachers who can “see” into a student's future. Even if a student is not performing well, they can predict success. We are convinced that this ability, this gift, is evidence that they were “called to teach”. If the gift of sight is evidence, how greater must be the gift of touch. I have a story.
I grew up in the fifties in a poor African American neighborhood m Stockton. California. that had neither sidewalks nor an elementary school. Each day, always in groups at our parents’ insistence, my friends and I would leave home early enough to walk eight blocks to school and be in our seats when the bell rang. For four blocks, we walked on dusty roads. By the fifth block, we walked on sidewalks that led to lovely homes and to Fair Oaks Elementary School. It was at Fair Oaks, in a sixth grade English class, that I met Ms. Victoria Hunter, a teacher who had a huge influence on my life.
During reading periods, she would walk around the room, stop at our desks, stand over us for a second or two, and then touch us. Without saying anything to us (nothing could break the silence of reading periods), she would place two fingers lightly on our throats and hold them there for seconds. I learned many years later when I was a student at Stanford University that teachers touch the throat of students to check for sub-vocalization (默读)，which slows down the reading speed. I did not know at the time why Ms. Hunter was touching our throats, but I was a serious and respectful student and so, during silent reading period, I did what Ms. Hunter told us to do. I kept my eyes on the material I was reading and waited for her to place her fingers lightly on my throat.
One day, out of curiosity, I raised my head from my book — though not high — so that I could see Ms. Hunter, a white woman from Canada, moving up and down the rows, stopping at the desks of my classmates. I wanted to see how they reacted when she touched their throats. She walked past them. I was confused. Did she pass them by because they were model students? What did we, the students who were touched, not do right? I sat up straighter in my chair, thinking that my way of sitting might be the problem. I was confused. Several days later, I watched again, this time raising my head a little higher. Nothing changed. Ms. Hunter touched the same students. Always, she touched me.
She touched me with her hands. She also touched me with her belief in my ability to achieve. She motivated me by demanding the best from me and by letting teachers I would meet in junior high school know that I should be challenged, that I would be serious about my work. I am convinced that she touched me because she could “see” me in the future. That was true of all of us at Fair Oaks who sat still and silent as Ms. Hunter placed her fingers lightly on our throats. We left Fair Oaks as “best students”, entered John Marshall Junior High School, finished at the top of our high school class, and went on to earn graduate degrees in various subjects. Ms. Hunter saw us achieving and she touched us to make certain that we would.
I was not surprised that she came to my graduation ceremony at Edison High School in Stockton or that she talked to me about finishing college and earning a Ph. D. She expected that of me. She gave me a beautifully wrapped box. Inside was a gift, the beauty of which multiplies even as it touches me: a necklace to which I can add charms for each stage of my life.
1. When she saw Ms. Hunter walk past some students without touching their throats, the writer felt_________.| A．disturbed | B．puzzled | C．ashamed | D．annoyed |
| A．By correcting the way she sat. |
| B．By having high expectations of her. |
| C．By sending her a valuable necklace. |
| D．By communicating with her parents often. |
| A．A gift which encourages me to do well on the journey of my life. |
| B．A gift which becomes more and more valuable as time goes by. |
| C．A necklace which I wear on all important occasions in my life. |
| D．A necklace which suits me and adds to my charm. |
| A．disappointed | B．grateful | C．doubtful | D．sympathetic |
| A．Ms. Hunter’s Surprise | B．Ms. Hunter’s Challenge |
| C．A Teacher’s Touch | D．A Teacher’s Memory |
【推荐3】Jim Savage was setting out for a day’s fishing off the Florida coast when he heard the cries of a baby dolphin in trouble. The three-month-old had got her tail caught in the ropes of an abandoned crab trap. Jim knew that if he left her, the dolphin would have little chance of survival. He cut her free and got in contact with the authorities. She was taken to Clear water Marine Aquarium, but her injuries were so severe that she lost her tail.
The aquarium staff named the baby dolphin Winter and she gradually learned how to swim again. Unfortunately, because of the way she was moving in the water without her tail, she was in danger of developing a problem with her spine (脊椎). Kevin Carroll and Dan Strzempka, who ran a company making artificial limbs, heard about the problem and had a brilliant idea. Kevin and Dan told the staff at the aquarium that they would make an artificial (人造的) tail for Winter!
There were a lot of challenges that Kevin and Dan had to deal with along the way, like trying to fit an artificial tail on a playful young dolphin that doesn’t want to stay still! It took over fifty prototypes (模型) and a year and a half before Winter finally got her new 30-inch tail. After seeing her swim with it for the first time, Kevin said that the months of hard work had been truly worth it.
Making the tail was only half the story, though. For Winter to be able to swim properly, the artificial tail needed to be held in place without damaging her skin. Specialists came up with a soft material that firmly holds the skin and doesn’t hurt. Designed especially for Winter, this material was so successful that “WintersGel” is now being used to make artificial limbs more comfortable for people with false arms and legs all around the world.
In 2011 the tale (故事) was made into a film, “Dolphin Tale”, starring Winter herself. It’s about a dolphin that would have died, but survived because a few people cared.
1. What do we know about Jim?| A．He worked at an aquarium. | B．He freed a dolphin from a trap. |
| C．He injured a dolphin accidentally. | D．He kept a baby dolphin for three months. |
| A．Teach Winter to swim. | B．Set up a branch company. |
| C．Help straighten Winter’s spine. | D．Make a man-made tail for Winter. |
| A．Dangerous. | B．Imaginative. | C．Interesting. | D．Difficult. |
| A．A tale of a tail. | B．A lesson from a dolphin. |
| C．An important survival skill. | D．A chance encounter with a dolphin. |
【推荐1】As a young black kid living in a poor community(社区), if someone told me that I would grow up to become an author, I would have laughed. In Valdosta, Georgia, where I grew up, my community encouraged two ways to a better life for little boys like me. Being a sportsman, and being an actor were the two ways. Both do not require much of a traditional education for success. I was no different than the other kids living in my neighborhood, so I did what felt natural: playing football and neglecting(忽视) school.
However, deep down inside, I knew I was as smart as everyone else. I also knew that I really liked stories and the pictures that went with them in some books. Fortunately, through athletic scholarships (奖学金) and people who believed in me, I was able to go to college. That's when my reading difficulties began to show up. Trips to the store were discouraging because there was so much reading involved in the simple act of buying food. I didn't understand labels (标签) and took the wrong goods.
I realized that I needed to make an important decision. I wanted to be a better version of myself, which meant becoming a stronger reader. I began by practicing reading as much as I practiced football. At first, some words were too big, some sentences too long and some books too thick, but I kept at it. I always had a book on me and read every free moment I could find. Through effort and hard work, my reading, step by step became limitless. I read fiction and nonfiction and finally began writing.
Today I'm a published author. My new book, My Very Favorite Book in the Whole Wide World, comes from my personal experience as a struggling reader who found a way to start loving books. Both my story and the main character Henley's story are examples of the magical power that books have whether you're the reader or writer. And I want my little readers to know that.
1. What can we learn about the author when he was young?| A．He lived in a rich community. |
| B．He didn't show much interest in sports. |
| C．He was quite different from other boys around him. |
| D．He wasn't encouraged to receive a good education. |
| A．He had difficulty in reading. | B．He wasn't trusted by others. |
| C．He wasn't as smart as others. | D．He could hardly afford the costs. |
| A．To write a book. | B．To have a stronger body. |
| C．To give up practicing football. | D．To spend much more time on reading. |
| A．To prove himself to others. | B．To introduce a book to others. |
| C．To tell readers how to be a writer. | D．To encourage children to read more. |
【推荐2】Maybe no one forgets their first bicycle and there is no exception to a woman like me. Mine was a Schwinn coaster bike, second-hand, painted a distinctive red and yellow by its previous owner. I remember riding too fast down the big hill on Springfield Avenue. I knew at once that the world was mine to explore.
A couple of years later, when I was 11, my grandmother visited from England, bringing me a bike. It was a shiny dark green, with three gears and hand brakes. As the owner of the first English bicycle my neighbors had ever seen, I was, for a time, almost a star.
Unlike my coaster bike, it was light and responsive — riding it felt like flying. I rode it past big stone houses with their huge yards and trees. I rode past brick row houses. I rode alone and with groups of friends.
That beloved bike went with me to college, carrying me to the library and to classes. Beyond transport, it was often a prop (道具): pushing it along as I walked the college paths made me feel less self-conscious. Somehow, conversation flowed more easily on either side of a bike. After college, I lived abroad for a time. Returning from London, I discovered to my horror that my parents had sold my bike. They didn’t even know who had bought it.
For years after that, I didn’t have a bicycle that was specifically mine. Teaching in a New England prep school, I simply rode whatever bikes its graduates had left behind. I rode around the little town on bikes which slipped in and out of gear, with brakes that often failed.
I did not take any of those bikes with me when I moved south to the coastal town where I now live. But after a while I missed riding. Finally, on a fall day, I bought a bicycle. Called a comfort bike, it has wider tires than my old bike and seven gears. But it is green — a brighter green bike.
Still, I was a bit apprehensive. I was out of practice and a lot older. I brought the bike home and put on my helmet — I’d never worn a helmet before. Then I got on the bike. After a tentative, slightly shaky start, I fell exactly as I was on that long-ago day on Springfield Avenue: free. Soon I was riding along. It seemed that everyone I passed smiled and waved or call out, great day for a bike ride! And I knew they all remembered their first bike and how it had set them free. I wanted to call back to them, “I still can!”
1. According to the article, the author’s beloved bike .| A．was a red and yellow coaster bike |
| B．was her birthday gift from her grandmother |
| C．made her the envy of all her friends |
| D．made her shy and awkward at times at college |
| A．felt bored | B．felt special |
| C．became lost in thought | D．became talkative |
| A．didn’t like her once-beloved bike |
| B．got out of the habit of riding bikes |
| C．rode bikes that had been recommended to her by graduates |
| D．loved exploring the little town by riding around |
| A．Fearful. | B．Excited. | C．Shocked. | D．Dissatisfied. |
【推荐3】In 2015, while we were both in graduate school, my partner and I decided we were ready to start a family. I panned the last year of graduate school around my pregnancy（单期）, hoping to defend my thesis（毕业论文）just before giving birth and then take three months off to be with my child. Things generally went according to my plan; I wrote my thesis, defended it successfully and accepted a postdoctoral（博士后的）position in a reproductive biology laboratory halfway across the county. A few days after turning in my final paper edit, I became a mother.
I knew that science doesn't wait for new mothers, so I started showing up to my department's weekly seminars（研讨会）when my baby was nine days old, tied to my chest. I came to every Friday seminar and stood at the back of the room, swaying and bouncing to keep the baby asleep. Bringing the baby in was a great experience. I was lucky to have a supportive environment, and everybody loved seeing her every day. It was fitting to have a baby as the newest member of our female-reproductive-biology lab.
Baby and I developed a routine that involved a lot of sleeping while I read and wrote articles, planned experiments and attended departmental activities. I quickly became a babywearing expert and, later that year, I completed a certification course to become an educator who helps others learn how freeing babywearing can be.
Now, the child is at day care. My workday babywearing time might be over, but I wouldn't pass up the chance to recommend it to other working parents. I wouldn't be where I am now as a scientist without it; nor would I have been satisfied with the amount of time I had to bond with my new baby before she started kindergarten. Babywearing has enabled me to pursue my career without giving up my research or my family.
1. How was babywearing at work managed in the beginning?| A．With the baby in day care. |
| B．With the baby taken care by experts. |
| C．With the baby seeping a lot to the chest. |
| D．With the baby being a participant of the lab. |
| A．The pregnancy was unexpected. |
| B．Babywearing is forbidden at work. |
| C．Being a mother delayed the graduation. |
| D．Balance was reached between motherhood and career. |
| A．Supportive. | B．Cautious. |
| C．Negative. | D．Objective. |
| A．Knowledge is power. | B．Strike while the iron is hot. |
| C．A good medicine tastes biter. | D．God helps those who help themselves. |
