【推荐1】The rechargeable lithium-ion (锂离子) battery market is worth more than $50 billion. Lithium-ion batteries, whose demand continues to go up day by day, are used in a wide range of electronic devices. They are made of four main components, and cathode (阴极) is one of them. The cathode’s active material type is what determines the capacity of a battery.

A recent study, led by Wang Yan, a material scientist of Worcester Polytechnic Institute, finds that lithium-ion batteries made with recycled cathodes work better than those with new cathodes.

“ The battery industry is expected to soar in the next decade. This high demand has led companies to go to extremes, like increasing deep-sea mining, to gain access to the minerals used in lithium-ion batteries, ” Wang said. “ Mining minerals will have environmental impacts. Recycling spent lithium-ion batteries offers a way out. ”

But until now, the prospect of using recycled materials in lithium-ion batteries has some manufacturers (制造商) worrying that it could impact performance. Thus, lithium-ion batteries are still not widely recycled. Aware of decreasing resources and environmental impact. Wang and other researchers set out to find a way to make recycling lithium-ion batteries economically practical. Through experiments, they could recover more than 90% of the key metals from spent batteries. These recovered metals became the basis of the new recycled battery’s cathode’s active material.

In tests between Wang’s team’s recycled batteries and brand-new batteries of the same composition, the recycled batteries outperform (胜过) the new ones in their ability to maintain capacity. It took 11,600 charge cycles for recycled cathode batteries to lose 30 percent of their original capacity. That was about 50 percent better than the 7,600 observed cycles for new cathode batteries, the team reported. Those thousands of extra cycles could translate into years of better battery performance, even after repeated use and recharging.

1. What can we learn about lithium-ion batteries from the first paragraph?

A．They are high in price.	B．They are in great demand.
C．They are limited in use.	D．They are simple in composition.

2. The underlined word “ soar ” in paragraph 3 can be replaced by ________ .

A．decrease rapidly

B．develop smoothly

C．rise quickly

D．appear

3. What are the manufacturers concerned about?

A．Ineffective battery performance.	B．Decreasing mineral resources.
C．Serious environmental problems.	D．Difficult recycling techniques.

4. Which of the following details best supports the main idea of the text?

A．The battery industry is going to develop dramatically.

B．Recycling batteries reduces impact on the environment.

C．Scientists can recover key materials from spent batteries.

D．Recycled batteries outperform new ones in charging circles.

【推荐2】Scientists have found amounts of water molecules inside rocks and soil samples from Mars before. But an ancient meteorite (陨石) found recently contains 10 times more water and much more oxygen than any Martian I meteorite ever before discovered.

What’s so wild about this wet discovery? It could mean that the Red Planet once had enough water to have liquid flowing on the planet’s surface.

It was once believed that if Mars ever had water at all, its water would have been small amounts of ice below the surface or existing in the soil only as hydrogen and oxygen---the elements that make up water. But recent discoveries have shown that Mars probably had a much wetter history than formerly thought.

The meteorite, nicknamed Black Beauty, was found in Africa’s Sahara Desert in 2011. Only about 110 meteorites from Mars have ever been found. Scientists believe most Martian meteorites arrived on our planet during one large asteroid crash (小行星碰撞) that sent rocks falling toward Earth long ago.

Black Beauty is about 2.1 billion years old. Its discovery is the first time scientists have been able to study such an ancient Martian rock. It’s also one of the first times scientists have been able to study a piece of the panel’s ancient surface.

The sample’s water molecules were sent out when scientists heated the meteorite to analyze it. Scientists think the meteorite’s hydrogen and oxygen molecules are so plentiful because water flowing on Mars at the time this meteorite fell to Earth, or because these molecules were once sealed in large quantities in Mars’s crust.

Black Beauty might do more than just unlock secrets from the Red Planet’s past. These discoveries could also help scientists understand new data about Mars that’s being sent from the robotic rovers currently gathering information on the planet.

1. People used to think that       .

A．there was little water on Mars	B．Mars had a lot of flowing water
C．a large quantity of ice was Mars	D．Mars was much wetter than Earth

2. What do we know about Black Beauty?

A．It was discovered in Seattle in the USA.	B．It is the biggest of 110 meteorites from Mars.
C．It landed on Earth after an asteroid crash.	D．It has a history of 2.1 million years.

3. How did the scientists research Black Beauty?

A．By cutting it into pieces.	B．By dipping it into water.
C．By burning it on a fire.	D．By burying it into a desert.

4. The passage is mainly about       .

A．a rock from the center of Mars.	B．a major Martian meteorite discovery
C．a new discovery on the Red Planet	D．a number of meteorites from Red Plane

【推荐3】Harry is a vehicle called a pod—in other words, something like a car. But Harry has no steering wheel or brake pedal. Harry does not even have a driver. Yet Harry is carrying passengers around London for the next few weeks.

Harry is part of an experiment called GATEway that is testing how people react to driverless vehicles. The name GATEway is short for Greenwich Automated Transport Environment. The experiment aims to help cities prepare for the future of transportation. The GATEway experiment does not test new technology. Instead, it tests the way existing technology can work in society.

The pod operates in an area of London called Greenwich, home of time and navigation museums. Other places where pods will be tested are Coventry, Milton, Keynes and Bristol. The pods run using sensors and a 3D map of the area. A safety operator rides along to take control in case of an emergency.

GATEway is intended to see how pedestrians and cyclists may adapt to driverless vehicles. Harry holds up to four people (three passengers and a safety operator) and can travel at speeds up to 16km/h. It is being tested in Greenwich on pedestrian paths, but not on roads with other vehicles.

If you are in Greenwich during the next few weeks you may see Harry, but you cannot ride in it during the trial. Over 5,000 people applied to be a passenger in Harry but only about 100 were chosen.

You can, however, ride in a similar pod at Heathrow Airport in London. The Heathrow pods run on tracks so they are not being tested with pedestrians, cyclists or other drivers. If the trials are successful, the first pods could be operational on the roads of the UK in 2020.

1. What’s the purpose of the GATEway?

A．To settle traffic problems in cities.

B．To test a new transportation technology.

C．To prepare cities for future transportation.

D．To draw people’s interest in transportation.

2. What will happen if Harry meets with dangerous situation?

A．The passengers will help.

B．It will deal with it by itself.

C．An accident will take place.

D．A human driver will take it over.

3. Why is Harry running on the sidewalk?

A．To test the response of people walking or on a bike.

B．To avoid disturbing other vehicles on the street.

C．To prevent it from running at a high speed.

D．To watch pedestrians and cyclists go safely.

4. What’s people’s attitude towards Harry?

A．Fearful.	B．Positive.
C．Doubtful.	D．Grateful.