1 . To mark International Women’s Day, we asked Dezeen Awards judges to nominate (提名) a woman in architecture and design who should have greater recognition.
Shefali Balwani
Nominated by Kamna Malik
“Shefali Balwani is an Indian architect. Her projects have a certain voice that goes beyond the conventional definitions of architecture and design. Whenever I look at her work, I see mindfulness on so many levels, whether it is through the use of materials or the sensitivity shown towards the surroundings.”
Oana Stänescu
Nominated by Ingrid Moye
“Having met Oana Stänescu many years ago while working at SANAA in Tokyo, we have not only been following each other’s path but also become friends. I admire Oana’s curious perspective (视角) through which she observes the world. Her refreshing voice shows not only in her original architectural practice but also in her work as an academic, lecturer, and writer.”
Tatu Gatere
Nominated by Stella Mutegi
“Tatu Gatere is the co-founder and CEO of Buildher—an organization that seeks to empower women with skills needed in the construction industry, which is very male-dominated in Kenya. The skills that these women are empowered with at Buildher make a big impact on every aspect of their daily lives.”
Jessica Smulders Cohen
Nominated by Katie Treggiden
“Having studied sustainable design at Kingston University, Jessica Smulders Cohen decided not to become a designer or a maker, but instead to become a repair specialist. Jess and her work deserve more recognition because our whole industry needs to move away from pursuing newness and instead prioritize reuse and repair—it is the only hope we have for a circular future that will enable our species to live well on this planet.”
1. What do Balwani and Stänescu have in common?| A．Writing many books. | B．Being creative architects. |
| C．Working for SANAA in Tokyo. | D．Empowering construction workers. |
| A．She is a writer. | B．She is a friend of Stänescu. |
| C．She once worked for Stänescu. | D．She thinks Stänescu has a beautiful voice. |
| A．Shefali Balwani’s. | B．Oana Stänescu’s. |
| C．Tatu Gatere’s. | D．Jessica Smulders Cohen’s. |
| A．A designer. | B．A maker. | C．An architect. | D．A repair specialist. |
| A．She excels at designing and making. | B．She contributes to a sustainable planet. |
| C．She promotes equal rights between genders. | D．She gets where she is through self-education. |
Having established himself as one of the greatest magicians over the last three decades, David Copperfield remains hailed by audiences and critics because his magic still leaves most puzzles unsolved — not only for ordinary people but counterparts in the field of illusion (错觉). He believes he’s remained at the top because of an undiminished passion for magic. “I’m among the few who are lucky enough to know what they want to do at early age,” he said.
Copperfield discovered an interest in magic at the age of 8 when he learnt some simple tricks from his parents who were both magicians. “When I showed those tricks to other kids, I found they all liked them very much, and they thought I was great. This made me very willing to learn new magic,” he recalled. “Such a feeling still supports me now. I like to see the audiences become amazed and go crazy for my performance.”
He began performing professionally at the age of 12 and became the youngest person to be admitted to the Society of American Magicians. By 16, he was teaching a course in magic at New York University. He was among the first magicians to pioneer the TV spectacular, helping boost the appeal for the craft (职业) worldwide.
His love for magic also turned him from a shy, timid boy to a risk-taker prepared to challenge limits. “Magic provides me a channel to express myself, just like singers through their songs and poets through poems,” he said, “And I think everyone needs to dream. Magic offers me the chance to make true my dreams and those of other people.”
Now 68, Copperfield has no thought of retiring from his beloved career. “I really enjoy what I’m doing. I enjoy the process of creating and sharing my creation with others. I dream that my career will last forever. Dreams aren’t a matter of chance, but a matter of choice.”
1. What makes David Copperfield one of the greatest magicians for decades? (no more than 10 words)2. How did David Copperfield discover an interest in magic at an early age? (no more than 15 words)
3. What is mainly talked about in the third paragraph? (no more than 5 words)
4. What does the underlined word “hailed” mean in paragraph 1? (1 word)
5. How does Copperfield’s story inspire you? (no more than 15 words)
3 . If there’s such a person as a young STEM icon, Gitanjali Rao, who’s now 18, is the one.
In April 2014, the city of Flint disconnected from Detroit’s water line as a cost-cutting measure and began to draw water from the Flint River. Soon after, shockingly high levels of lead (铅) were found in the city’s water supply. It took several years, during which residents including children were showing up with mysterious rashes (皮疹) and other illnesses, before national attention to the crisis forced the city to admit it had a problem.
When she learned about the crisis, Gitanjali Rao was troubled enough to do something. “I was shocked by the number of people affected by lead pollution in water and I wanted to do something to change this,” she said. Inspiration really struck her after she watched her engineer parents test for lead in their own tap water. She decided to build a lead-detecting device that would be easy and affordable for anyone to use. In 2017, she developed a device called Tethys. It won her the title “America’s Top Young Scientist” in the 3M Young Scientist Challenge. Marvel even created a superhero, Genius Gitanjali, which celebrates her work on clean water.
In the meantime, Rao had been working on solutions to other issues she cared about. She started developing Epione, a device that tests protein in body fluid samples to detect opioid (阿片类药物) use disorder, in 2018. “Many people need opioids for their pain management and end up with serious addictions,” she said. “Physicians don’t have any easy tools to diagnose opioid addiction at an early stage.”
Additionally, Rao launched an AI-based, anti-cyber bullying app called Kindly in May, 2020. “You type in a sentence, and it’s able to pick a word or phrase out if it’s bullying, and it gives you the option to edit it,” said Rao. “As a teenager, I know teenagers tend to lash out sometimes. The app gives you the chance to rethink what you’re saying so that you know what to do next time around.”
Hailey Scheinman, a 15-year-old girl who met Rao through Marvel’s Hero Project that spotlights youth making an impact on their communities, admires how Rao promotes kindness through science. “Usually people tend toward one part of the brain, the logic piece or the scientific piece. Then there’s the emotional or the creative piece. I’ve learned from her to bring those two together,” says Scheinman.
1. Why did Flint stop drawing water from Detroit in 2014?| A．Flint wanted to save some money. |
| B．Flint aimed to develop its local economy. |
| C．Detroit’s water made Flint’s residents sick. |
| D．The public forced Flint to change its water supply. |
| A．Her love for her hometown. | B．Her parents’ encouragement. |
| C．Her sympathy for Flint’s residents. | D．Her determination to help her parents. |
| A．adopt new ideas. | B．speak offensive words. |
| C．learn to control their feelings. | D．be more careful with their words. |
| A．Health. | B．Economy. | C．Celebrity. | D．Education. |
For most of her life, Suanne Laqueur’s passion for storytelling was shown on the dance floor.
Although Laqueur began writing at a young age, dancing always took center stage. She majored in dance and theater at Alfred University and taught at her mother’s dance studio in Croton-on-Hudson, New York, for years. But when her mother was ready to retire and an opportunity opened for Laqueur to take over the studio, she realized she had no interest in taking on the business side of her art: “Owning a studio is a lot of work — financially, logistically. I love the teaching, the choreographing (编舞), the staging, but I didn’t want to own it.”
Yet Laqueur’s disinterest in running the studio changed when she became a self-published author. In the fall of 2013, she decided to pursue self-publishing as a way of sharing her first completed novel with friends and family. During the process, she realized that following her true passion-telling stories through writing — made the business of the art worthwhile, and owning that business meant she could direct her writing career however she chose.
Starting with her second self-published novel, she began investing more time in marketing and building her audience. Her investment paid off. Since 2014, Laqueur, now 49, has self-published six novels, which collectively have hundreds of ratings and reviews on Goodreads. Gradually, readers pay more attention to her works. In particular, her 2016 novel An Exaltation of Larks stole the show and won the grand prize at the 25th Annual Writer’s Digest Self-Published Book Awards, topping more than 2, 300 entries.
“You have to write the most truthful story to you, and I think self-publishing allows that freedom,” she says, “If you work with traditional publishing, it’s more about what’s marketable. There are trade-offs, which everyone will tell you, but by self-publishing I have control of the book, I have control of the story, and I’m cool with that.”
1. Why didn’t Laqueur take over her mother’s studio? (no more than 10 words)2. What made Laqueur change her attitude to business? (no more than 5 words)
3. What does the underlined part “stole the show” mean in paragraph 4? (no more than 3 words)
4. How does Laqueur enjoy the way of self-publishing? (no more than 10 words)
5. Which do you think is the most important factor when pursuing your career? Please explain. (no more than 20 words)
“Someone once asked me, ‘What’s the tool you would want to give any student’? And I said, ‘A mask and snorkel (潜水通气管) set,’’’ the ocean biologist Thys says in a video. And Thys explains, “Ninety-eight percent of the living space on this planet is the ocean. It’s worth a view.”
Thys has devoted her career to seeing the ocean, and to helping others watch the great diversity of the underwater world. A big part of what motivates her work is the chance to let people develop a sense of respect for the grandness of the ocean, and to get people to participate in efforts to protect endangered ocean ecosystems.
Since studying ocean biology, Thys has focused her research on how sea animals live. One animal she particularly studies is the ocean sunfish. “It’s so different from any other fish,” says Thys. “It looks like a mistake. Where does the tail go?” Thys adds. “The sunfish provides an entry point to understanding more about the behavior of creatures in the ocean, and about how environmental changes impact underwater ecosystems.”
Thys’s work also takes her above ground, where she’s looking at ways to create new connections between human populations and natural environments to help address social and environmental challenges. For instance, she’s working on nature’s effects on mental well-being.
Thys’s passion for her work is evident in every lecture, video, and public appearance she makes. Using the media, Thys encourages people to learn about the ocean and love it. Due to many ocean research projects and activities from the media, Thys is up to her neck in work every day. She could hardly spare plenty of time for a good rest. Thys’s devotion to her work as an ocean scientist and ecological warrior is infectious. She’s a role model and an inspiring guide to ocean life.
1. Why would Thys like to send students a mask and snorkel set? (no more than 8 words)2. What greatly motivates Thys’s work according to Paragraph 2? (no more than 10 words)
3. What does Thys think of the ocean sunfish? (no more than 10 words)
4. What does the underlined part in the last paragraph mean? (no more than 5 words)
5. What’s your attitude towards Thys and her work? (no more than 20 words)
Meet Mahdi Gilbert, the 25-year-old Canadian magician making waves in the world of magic. He practices card manipulation (握牌手法) and sleight of hand (敏捷手法), a common skill set for a magician, but what makes him different is his lack of hands.
Standing at four feet and six inches, Gilbert’s left arm stops at the elbow, and he has an appendage (附肢) on his right arm. Gilbert was forced to reinvent magic for himself, individually recreating all of the techniques used in his mind. Despite his lack of access to information about magic, having never visited any magic stores, or read any magic books, Gilbert confidently told his high school guidance teacher. “I’m going to be a magician.” She asked, “Do you do magic now?” to which he replied “Not yet. But I will.”
Mahdi began seeking out magicians online and on television as a teenager, and soon became a follower of David Blaine. When he was sixteen, Gilbert decided to move away from mental based magic toward more magical tricks. He bought a deck of cards and a book on card manipulation, but he didn’t tell anyone what he was doing. Eventually, he mastered shuffling (洗牌) and then began to master different magical tricks in more complex ways.
He began to make connections with other magicians through magic shops and his reputation began to mount. In March, Gilbert attended Magic-Con, a magic conference in San Diego, where many famous magicians were in attendance, including David Blaine. Gilbert quickly became the talk of the conference, and his reputation took off. In the seven years since that Magic-Con. Gilbert has gone on to appear on television shows and has traveled to and performed in 18 countries.
1. As a magician, what makes Gilbert different from others? (no more than 5 words)2. How did Gilbert learn magical skills? (no more than 5 words)
3. As a teenager, how did Gilbert feel about his dream? (no more than 10 words)
4. What does the underlined word in the fourth paragraph mean? (1 word)
5. What can you learn from Gilbert’s story? Put it in your own words. (no more than 20 words)
In 2019, the state of California was on fire. Alexandria Villaseor, who was 13 at the time, witnessed the destruction of Northern California’s Camp Fire, which would go on to burn more than 150,000 acres of land. Villaseor was scared. “That’s when I found out how important climate education was,” she reflected. “And just how much we lacked climate education these past couple of years.”
Villaseor, at the age of 15, was determined to have a bigger conversation. She quickly realized the fight requires international, government-level changes. For her, what started as local concern turned into a year-long protest in front of the United Nations’ New York City headquarters and a global campaign for more compulsory climate education. She sat on a bench in front of the headquarters, begging for the world’s leaders to take climate change seriously.
Her action received national attention, with millions of other students around the world joining in the movement. “It’s completely unacceptable not to learn anything about our planet and our environment in school, after all the young people would inherit the Earth.” Villaseor said, “That’s why I think that climate education is so important, and that’s why I focus a lot on it now.”
Right now, Villaseor is working with the American Administration on its climate plan, which has promised to center on the needs of young people and communities most impacted by climate change. She even spoke at the 2021 Democratic National Convention. “This was definitely a huge moment when I realized that people were listening to the voices of me and youth climate activists.” Villaseor said.
When she isn’t connecting with her fellow youth activists, Villaseor is like most other teens. “My favorite thing to do, of course, is sleep,” she said, “I like to read a lot. I like fantasy books, normally. I also like to write.”
1. What does Paragraph 1 mainly tell us? (no more than 10 words)2. How did Villaseor make the world’s leaders attach importance to climate education? (no more than 15 words)
3. How do you understand the underlined sentence in Paragraph 3? (no more than 15 words)
4. When was the huge moment to Villaseor? (no more than10 words)
5. What do you think of Villaseor? Please explain in your own words? (no more than 20 words)
8 . You may be familiar with the following famous people, but have you heard of their graduation speeches, in which they either share their unforgettable experiences or give you some great inspiration.
●Michael Dell, University of Texas at Austin
And now you’ve accomplished something great and important here, and it’s time for you to move on to what’s next. And you must not let anything prevent you from taking those first steps. You must also commit to the adventure. Just have faith in the skills and the knowledge you’ve been blessed with and go.
●J. K. Rowling, Harvard University
Half my lifetime ago, I was striking an uneasy balance between my ambition and the expectation from my parents who were not rich. But what I feared most for myself at your age was not poverty, but failure. The fact that you are graduating from Harvard suggests that you know little about failure. You might be driven by a fear of failure quite as much as a desire for success.
●Steve Jobs, Stanford University
Sometimes life’s going to hit you on the head with a brick. Don’t lose faith. Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work, and the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking, and don’t settle.
●Bill Gates, Harvard University
We need as many people as possible to have access to the advanced technology to lead to a revolution in what human beings can do for one another. They are making it possible not just for national governments, but for universities, smaller organizations, and even individuals to see problems, see approaches and deal with the world’s inequities (不公平) like hunger, poverty, and so on.
1. What did J. K. Rowling fear most when she was studying in university?| A．Appearance. | B．Poverty. | C．Hunger. | D．Failure. |
| A．Steve Jobs. | B．Bill Gates. | C．Michael Dell. | D．J. K. Rowling. |
| A．Making contributions to the environment. |
| B．Taking responsibility for their own behavior. |
| C．Making joint efforts to solve some global problems. |
| D．Mastering as much advanced technology as possible. |
| A．To introduce how some famous people overcome difficulties. |
| B．To give people some inspirations to live a meaningful life. |
| C．To show people ways of appreciating graduation speech. |
| D．To appeal to people to pursue a better university education. |
9 . Do you think cookies can tell stories? Jasmine Cho, 35, does.
A baker, artist, entrepreneur and activist, Cho tries to spread knowledge about social justice issues and diversity through the delicious medium of cookies.
It was in high school that she discovered her love of baking. At a sleepover a friend taught her how to make a dessert, “sort of demystifying baking and that whole process”.
Later, Cho realized her second passion: learning more about her Asian, American culture. An elective in college that taught Asian-American immigrant experiences brought an emotional moment for her. “So many emotions came up that I just couldn’t articulate. It was like this mix of anger, of relief, empowerment, sadness...” Cho said.
Cho realized she could combine these two passions to educate others about influential Asian American people and showcase matters that were important to her. With her online bakery, she designed cookie portraits about people she admired and posted the images on Instagram. “I don’t think I ever really knew how to communicate these stories until I found cookies,” Cho said. “Cookies are just so disarming. Who doesn’t like cookies?”
One cookie that Cho has identified with deeply is one she made of George Helm, a Hawaiian activist in the 1970s.
“It’s insane the amount of injustice that the native Hawaiian population has faced as well through the whole annexation (吞并) of the kingdom. There were so many horrific stories that I heard about nuclear testing and the fallout( 核爆炸后的沉降物)impacting native Hawaiian populations in all of this,” Cho said, “George Helm was one of those activists who really represented the spirituality of the native Hawaiians and the connection to their land, to nature.”
Among her amazing cookie art are other political figures such as Larry Itliong, a Filipino-American labor organizer, and pop culture figures such as Keanu Reeves, a Canadian actor.
Cho hopes her cookie art continues to inspire people to be creative and think positively.
“Instead of trying to think of something new and original, just look inward and see, maybe there’s already a passion or a love that you have,” Cho said. “Use that for something that will serve the world in a better way.”
1. What inspired Cho to take an interest in Asian-American culture?| A．One of her sleepover experiences. |
| B．One elective she took at college. |
| C．The process of learning baking from her friend. |
| D．A book she read about Asian-American immigrant experiences. |
| A．get rid of | B．put up with |
| C．express in words | D．stay focused |
| A．Cookies don’t cost much. | B．Cookies are easier to make. |
| C．Cookies have different images. | D．Cookies are liked by many people. |
| A．To inform the reader of Helm’s contributions to Hawaii. |
| B．To show what knowledge Cho focuses on with her cookies. |
| C．To introduce the spirituality of native Hawaiians. |
| D．To explain why Cho is interested in political activists. |
| A．Making use of your passion. |
| B．Turning to political figures for help. |
| C．Trying to do something creative and special. |
| D．Asking people around to work along with you. |
| A．Think outside the box to break new ground. |
| B．Spread something original to one’s heart content. |
| C．Hold your horses for a better self. |
| D．Throw yourself into your inner world for a better one. |
1. 该人物是谁；
2.该人物的贡献；
3.该人物对你的影响。
注意：1. 词数不少于100字；
2. 可适当加入细节，使内容充实、行文连贯。
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
