You’ve probably heard of rain forests, but do you know what a cloud forest is? Cloud forests are evergreen forests that are often covered in clouds or mist and are located on mountains. Cool temperatures on mountain slopes create clouds that cover the trees. There are cloud forests on most continents. Central and South America have them, as do Asia and Africa. You can also find cloud forests in Hawaii and on Caribbean islands.
Cloud forests have different names, depending on where they are found. Cloud forests are also known as fog forests or mossy forests. In Peru and Bolivia, cloud forests are part of a larger ecosystem called yungas, which means “warm lands.”
Many scientists consider cloud forests to be a special type of rainforest. Cloud forests are not as warm tropical rain forests because they are found at higher elevations (海拔) that have colder air. But these cloud forests and tropical rain forests both have many different plants and animals living within their ecosystems.
Like tropical rain forests, cloud forest trees drip (滴下) with moisture, but it does not often rain in a cloud forest. Instead, the fog collects as dew on leaves, vines, and branches. This dew provides the water that the plants need. Green moss, ferns, and exotic, colorful orchid flowers hang down from the canopy. Other plants and bushes crowd between the trees, and hundreds of insects crawl (爬行) and fly amid the vegetation. Cloud forests are as diverse and interesting as rain forests or temperate forests.
Cloud forests have animals that aren't found anywhere else, such as mountain gorillas and a strange woolly mammal called the mountain tapir. The colorful Quetzalcoatl bird is also found there, and golden toads hop among the bushes. Lately, scientists discovered a new cloud forest animal, a black and brown rodent that looks like a cross between a squirrel and a rat. Cloud forests probably contain hundreds of other rare and fascinating plants and animals that people have never seen before.
1. The passage is mostly about .| A．the animals of the cloud forest | B．what the cloud forest is like |
| C．where cloud forests are found | D．how scientists study the cloud forest |
| A．temperatures are cool | B．there are so many trees |
| C．the forests are so low | D．it is so moist there |
| A．why scientists study cloud forests | B．the kinds of trees in cloud forests |
| C．the animals and plants of cloud forests | D．why cloud forests are endangered |
| A．Cloud forests have more plants. |
| B．Cloud forests are wetter. |
| C．Cloud forests are studied by scientists. |
| D．Cloud forests are found on mountain slopes. |
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【推荐1】One of the most dangerous insects you need to watch out for during summer is mosquitoes. But no matter how you try to avoid them, some people naturally attract mosquitoes more than others.
One of the most important facts to remember is that mosquitoes track people down by smell and body odour(气味), according to Bart Knols, PhD, a biologist devoted to the study of mosquitoes. The carbon dioxide people breathe out, along with chemicals from the skin, creates an “odour plume” that mosquitoes can detect from up to almost 100 feet away. “Each person gives off more than 300 chemicals from the skin, more than 100 in breathing out,” Knols says.
The specific mixtures on the skin that mosquitoes respond to vary by species. The yellow fever mosquito and Asian tiger mosquito, for example, respond well to lactic acid from skin. African malaria mosquitoes respond to a mix of fatty acids, according to Knols. Your individual mixtures and smells determine how much of a mosquito attraction you are, depending on the mosquito species. The mix of chemicals you produce are only partly in your control. These chemicals depend on your genetic make-up, health condition, diet, skin pH, and so on. “Bacteria(细菌)on the skin break down the mixtures that we give off through our pores(毛孔), and these are the attractive smells,” Knols says. “So it is not actually we that attract mosquitoes, but the bacteria on our skin.”
Although this is a complex and partly understood phenomenon, Knols says that we do all have a unique smell. There are many folk stories about why some people are more or less attractive to mosquitoes. Some people falsely think the blood type is the cause, and others believe taking vitamin B or eating garlic makes people less attractive to mosquitoes—but Knols notes there’s no scientific data backing these claims.
1. What do we learn from the second paragraph?| A．Mosquitoes can detect people with smell. | B．Nobody can avoid mosquitoes anyway. |
| C．A person breathes out over 300 chemicals. | D．People naturally attract mosquitoes. |
| A．To persuade readers to protect the environment. |
| B．To warn people against touching mosquitoes. |
| C．To show different mosquitoes react to mixtures. |
| D．To make people look out for poisonous mosquitoes. |
| A．Chemicals in the mouth. | B．Mixtures people give off. |
| C．Smells from the pores. | D．Bacteria on the skin. |
| A．The Scientific Reason You Are a Mosquito Attraction |
| B．Folk Stories about How Mosquitoes Attack People |
| C．Attitudes toward Mosquitoes Different People Have |
| D．Ways to Make People More and More Attractive |
【推荐2】More and more people have been reported to be attacked by sharks in Hawaii specifically in Maui. Researchers from the Land and Natural Resources Department of Hawaii conducted a study to find out the reason behind the alarming increase of these incidents and came up with various explanations.
In order to keep track and record the data on the behavior and activities of sharks living around Oahu and Maui islands and open seas, some tiger sharks were tagged and monitored. Tech Times reported that Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology(HIMB) headed by Charles Meyer found a trend on the locations where sharks prefer to stay. They found that these sharks preferred waters rich in coral reefs filled with foods for them.
Another contributing factor to higher visibility of sharks on waters usually visited by human is the global warming. Since temperature on the sea floor increased faster than the previous years, sharks tend to find and stay on places where human also find comfortable.
Humans may also be to blame for the rise in shark attack incident increase, as people tend to stay longer in the ocean nowadays. Man also engages in a lot of activities in the ocean, such as swimming, spear fishing, surfing and kayaking.
Avoiding swimming in waters and near dead animals is the simplest significant ways on how man can protect himself from the sharks. Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology advised ocean lovers not to think of fear when thinking about sharks but instead think of ways on how to protect themselves. Swimming in the ocean is swimming in a wilderness environment. Sharks are part of this environment. We have to accept that they’re there and take measures to avoid encounters, which are going to occur from time to time.
1. why did the researchers conduct a study?| A．To report people were attacked by sharks. |
| B．To give people serious information. |
| C．To warn people not to get close to sharks. |
| D．To provide the public reasonable explanations. |
| A．These sharks live on Oahu and Maui island. |
| B．It is not easy to tag and monitor tiger sharks. |
| C．These sharks love to stay where coral reefs are rich. |
| D．There are so many locations for the tiger sharks. |
| A．Climate change has a great impact on them . |
| B．Sharks can hardly find food in deepwater. |
| C．Humans have damaged their usual habitat. |
| D．Sharks are annoyed with the swimmers. |
| A．In a travel magazine. |
| B．In a story book. |
| C．In a newspaper. |
| D．In a research report. |
【推荐3】Wild African elephants may break sleep records for mammals (哺乳动物). New data show that they seem to survive on about two hours of shut-eye a night. Much of that sleeping took place while they were standing up. The animals lie down to sleep only once every three to four nights.
Trying to figure out how much wild elephants sleep just by watching them 24 hours a day is tricky, especially in the dark. Much of what scientists had known about sleeping elephants came from animals living in zoos, notes Paul Manger, who is a brain researcher at the University of the Witwatersrand in South Africa. In zoos, elephants have been recorded sleeping from about three hours to nearly seven during a 24-hour period. Using electronic monitors on African elephants in the wild, however, has turned up more extreme behavior.
Manger’s team implanted (植入) activity monitors in the trunks (象鼻) of two elephants. Both were female leaders of their herds in the Chobe National Park. Trunks, like human hands, are important for exploring the world. Elephants hardly keep them still — unless sleeping. The researchers thought that a trunk monitor that didn’t move for at least five minutes likely meant its host was asleep.
The monitors tracked the animals over about a month. During that time, the elephants averaged just two hours of sleep a day. What’s more, the elephants were able to skip a night’s sleep without needing extra rest the next day. Those trunk implants showed there were times when the elephants went up to 46 hours without any sleep.
There has been some thought that animals need sleep to store memories properly. But that can’t explain animals, like the elephants, which skip sleep for a night without needing catch-up rest later. “Elephants are usually not considered to be forgetful animals,” Manger observes. In fact, he notes, studies have found that they can have long memories.
1. How did the African elephants typically sleep according to the new study?| A．They stood up. | B．They walked around. |
| C．They grouped. | D．They kept eyes open. |
| A．To test a new tracker. | B．To help elephants fall asleep. |
| C．To train wild animals. | D．To study elephants’ sleep. |
| A．People always think elephants are forgetful animals. |
| B．A good night’s sleep benefits all the wildlife’s brains. |
| C．Little sleep doesn’t affect the memory of elephants. |
| D．Scientists can’t understand why sleep makes sense. |
| A．Tips on watching wildlife. | B．Wild elephants’ sleep habit. |
| C．Efforts to protect wild elephants. | D．National nature reserves in Africa. |
【推荐1】In the Beijing Winter Olympics, we were treated to incredible displays of athletic talents as competitors took to the snow and ice. As a popular sport at the Winter Olympics, ski jumping is one of the best examples to showcase the “superhuman” power of athletes.
Ski jumpers soar into the air and appear to be almost flying in the sky. How do they achieve this? Physles can offer us an explanation of how they make it. It involves the use of the laws of aerodynamics (空气动力学) to fight against gravity and increase lift while reducing drag.
To understand how ski jumping works, we need to consider three elements: gravity, lift and drag. Gravity is the force that pulls us towards an object. Lift occurs when an object is moving through the air — as its surface comes into contact with air particles (微粒), the particles are pushed down and away from the object, allowing it to move up. At the same time, this interaction creates drag, and slows down an object’s movement.
While there is nothing that the skiers can do about gravity, they can twist their bodies into positions that allow them to achieve greater lift and avoid as much drag as possible. According to the Smithsonian Magazine, “To do this, athletes try their best to make their skis and body nearly parallel to the ground and place their skis in a V-shape just outside the form of the body. This position increases the surface area that produces lift and puts them in the ideal angle that will also maximize (最大化) lift.”
Because of how the sport works, athletes’ equipment is strictly controlled according to weight and height in order to avoid any unfair advantages. This means suits must be tight in order to ensure athletes cannot use them as a way to gain more lift. For athletes, minor day-to-day water weight changes as little as 300 grams. It can mean that suits will not be tight enough according to their body mass indexes (体重指数).
1. What does the underlined word “It” refer to in the second paragraph?| A．Ski jumping. | B．Athletic talent. | C．Physical science. | D．Superhuman power. |
| A．The interaction between force and drag. | B．The interaction between gravity and balance. |
| C．The interaction between air particles and gravity. | D．The interaction between skiers and air particles. |
a. Keep their bodies and skis parallel to the ground.
b. Change their positions as little as possible.
c. Position their skis in a V-shape when they jump.
d. Increase the angle as much as possible.
| A．ac | B．bc | C．cd | D．ad |
| A．Specially made suits. | B．Strict control of athletes’ height. |
| C．Standardized equipment. | D．Much daily water intake. |
| A．The techniques used by ski jumpers. | B．The scientific principles behind ski jumping. |
| C．Rules of the ski jumping competition. | D．Excellent performances in ski jumping. |
The possible connection is particularly worrying considering how much teens and young adults — and increasingly those in professional settings — are texting nowadays, said Judith Gold, who carried out one of the first studies on the potential connection.
Text messaging is a fairly new technology, Gold says, so this is a new area of research for those who study ergonomics (人类工程学). But “considering the similarities in body position, findings from research on overuse injuries from computers could be applicable” to texting.
“The way the body is positioned for texting – fixed shoulders and back with rapidly moving fingers – is similar to the position for typing on a computer,” Gold explained. Previous research has found pain in the elbow connected with too much thumb texting.
To look for a broader link between texting and chronic pain, Gold and her colleagues sent a questionnaire to 138 college students, asking them to report the number of text messages they sent per day (in four categories: 0, 1-10, 11-20, 21+ messages) and to point out any discomfort they felt on a body map.
The research showed an association between the number of text messages sent per day and shoulder discomfort. The effect seemed to be particularly pronounced in males, though Gold says she doesn’t know why that would be.
“What we’ve seen so far is very similar to what we see with office workers who’ve spent most of their time at a computer,” Gold said. However, Gold’s study did not take account of the amount of time the people surveyed also spent typing on computers, which could be affecting the results.
1. In the past, who usually suffered from a pain in the neck according to the passage?
| A．A writer | B．A typist | C．A teacher | D．A doctor |
| A．office workers easily suffer from the body discomfort |
| B．men like to text messages more |
| C．text messaging causes body discomfort |
| D．males have more shoulder discomfort |
| A．what ergonomics is |
| B．texting too much causes a pain in the neck |
| C．whether texting is beneficial or not |
| D．the connection between texting and typing |
| A．the study was the first one carried out by Gold |
| B．one positions oneself differently from computer-users when texting |
| C．the amount of computer-use time was calculated in the survey |
| D．the result of the survey was not 100% convincing |
【推荐3】Teaching children in a way that encourages them to empathize (产生共鸣) with others is of great significance to children’s creativity, new research suggests.
Pupils at two inner London schools were involved in the study. Pupils at one school spent the year following curriculum-prescribed lessons, while the other group’s lessons used a set of engineering design thinking tools which aim to develop students’ ability to think creatively and to cause empathy, while solving real-world problems.
Pupils at the intervention school were asked to design an asthma-treatment “pack” for children aged six and under. Pupils were given various creative and empathetic “tools” in order to do so: for example, they were shown data about the number of childhood asthma deaths in the U.K., and a video which describes a young child having an attack. They also explored the problem and tested their design ideas by role-playing various stakeholder (参与方) — patients, family members and medical staff.
Both sets of pupils were assessed for creativity at both the start and end of the school year. The results showed a statistically significant increase in creativity among pupils at the intervention school, where the thinking tools were used. At the start of the year, the creativity scores of pupils in the control school, which followed the standard curriculum, were 11% higher than those at the intervention school. By the end, however, the situation had completely changed: creativity scores among the intervention group were 78% higher than the control group.
Nicholl, the leading researcher of the study, said, “Teaching for empathy has been problematic despite being part of the National Curriculum for over two decades. This evidence suggests that it is a missing link in the creative process, and vital if we want education to encourage the designers and engineers of tomorrow.”
1. What were pupils at the intervention school asked to do?| A．Watch the process of an asthma attack. |
| B．Gather data about asthma deaths in children. |
| C．Show sympathy for the young asthma sufferers. |
| D．Test their asthma-treatment “pack” on patients. |
| A．They preferred to study the standard curriculum. |
| B．They were smarter at the beginning of the school year. |
| C．They had little empathy for the young children with asthma. |
| D．There were less creative than those at the intervention school in the end. |
| A．Empathy education and creativity go hand in hand. |
| B．Empathy education was neglected in the creative process. |
| C．Empathy education is a must for future designers and engineers. |
| D．Empathy education hasn’t been included in the National Curriculum. |
| A．The standard curriculum limits pupils’ creativity. |
| B．Teaching pupils empathy improves their creative abilities. |
| C．Solving real-world problems promotes pupils’ all-round development. |
| D．An asthma-treatment “pack” was created by pupils at a London school. |
【推荐1】A Letter to My Younger Self
Dear 17-year-old self,
When your Laker (洛杉矶湖人队球员) dream comes true tomorrow, you need to figure out a way to invest in the future of your family and friends. This sounds simple, but you have to take some time to think it over.
I said invest.
I did not say give.
Let me explain.
Purely giving material things to your siblings (兄弟姐妹) and friends may appear to be the right decision. You love them, and they were always there for you growing up, so it’s only right that they should share your success and all that comes with it. You buy them a car, a big house, and pay all of their bills. You want them to live a comfortable life, right?
But the day will come when you realize that as much as you believed you were doing the right thing, you were actually holding them back.
You will come to understand that you were taking care of them because it made you feel good to see them smiling. That was extremely selfish of you. While you were feeling satisfied with yourself, you were slowly eating away at their own dreams and ambitions. You were adding material things to their lives, but taking away the most precious gifts of all: independence and growth.
Understand that you are about to be the leader of the family. This involves making tough choices, even if your siblings and friends do not understand them at the time.
Invest in their future; don’t just give.
Use your success, wealth and influence to put them in the best position to realize their own dreams and find their true purpose. Put them through school, set them up with job interviews and help them become leaders in their own right. Hold them to the same level of dedication (全身心投入) that it took for you to get to where you are now and where you will eventually go.
I’m writing you now so that you can begin this process immediately and don’t have to deal with the struggle of getting rid of the addiction you caused. That addiction only leads to anger and jealousy from everybody involved, including yourself.
As time goes on, you will see them grow independently and have their own ambitions and their own lives, and your relationship with all of them will be much better as a result.
There’s plenty more I could write to you, but at 17, I know you don’t have the attention span (注意力持续时间) to sit through 2,000 words.
The next time I write to you, I may touch on the challenges of mixing blood with business. The most important advice I can give to you is to make sure your parents remain PARENTS and not managers.
Before you sign that first contract, figure out the right budget for your parents - one that will allow them to live beautifully while also growing your business and setting people up for long-term success. That way, your children’s kids and their kids will be able to invest in their own futures when the time comes.
Your life is about to change, and things are about to come at you very fast. But just let this sink in a bit when you lay down at night after another nine-hour training day.
Trust me, setting things up right from the beginning will avoid a ton of tears and heartache, some of which remains to this day.
Much love,
Kobe
(节选自the Player’s Tribune)
1. According to Bryant, “giving” could make ______.①him feel satisfied with himself
②him stand out from other players
③his siblings and friends live a comfortable life
④his siblings and friends depend on him
| A．①②③ | B．①③④ | C．①②④. | D．②③④ |
| A．had never dreamed of playing for the Lakers |
| B．spent a large sum of money buying houses for himself |
| C．had trouble handling family relationships |
| D．has a circle of supportive friends |
| A．shared his success with others |
| B．inspired his siblings to achieve their goals through hard work |
| C．looked for well-paid jobs for his siblings |
| D．refused to live with his siblings |
| A．criticize his siblings for wasteful spending |
| B．give advice to young people about how to treat their family if they become rich |
| C．complain about feeling tired of looking after his friends |
| D．remind young people to use every means to take good care of their family |
【推荐2】U. S. electric carmaker Tesla Inc. started construction of its new China factory on January 7. It becomes the first to benefit from a new policy allowing foreign carmakers to set up wholly-owned subsidiaries (全资子公司) in China.
The new plant, named Gigafactory 3, is Tesla’s first plant outside the United States. It is located in Lingang Area in the southeast harbor of Shanghai. Tesla CEO Elon Musk and Shanghai government officials attended the groundbreaking ceremony (动工仪式)。“This will be the most advanced Tesla gigafactory," Musk said. “With resources here, we are able to build this factory in record time, and we are hoping to have initial production of Tesla Model 3 toward the end of the year and volume production (批量生产) next year.”
The factory, with an investment of over 50 billion yuan, is the largest foreign-invested manufacturing project in Shanghai’s history. It is expected to produce around 3, 000 Model 3 vehicles a week in its early stages. When it becomes fully operational, the factory will produce 500, 000 vehicles per year. The production at the Shanghai plant will help Tesla significantly lower its cost and prices. This will make it more competitive in the Chinese new-energy vehicle (NEV) market.
China is the world’s largest auto and NEV market. NEV sales in the mainland jumped 75.6 percent in the first 10 months of 2018 from a year earlier, hitting 860, 000 units. The Chinese government desire to become the global NEV leader, with technologies that meet the highest international standards by 2025.
Tesla has tapped into China’ s growing electric car market. The company set up in October 2018 its first overseas R&D innovation center (研发创新中心) in Beijing, with focus on tasks such as localization and software and hardware development. It has established its charging network covering most cities in China’s developed regions.
1. Why did Tesla start construction of its new plant Gigafactory 3?| A．Because o[ a new policy allowing foreign companies to invest car industry. |
| B．Because Tesla didn’t have other plants elsewhere. |
| C．Because Tesla could improve its NEV quality in China. |
| D．Because Tesla wanted to upgrade its innovation in China. |
| A．In the southeast China. | B．In the southeast of Beijing. |
| C．In Lingang Area of Shanghai. | D．In Lingang Area, northeast of Shanghai. |
| A．it will be very popular in China |
| B．it’s price will be cheaper than any other vehicle in China |
| C．it will be energy saving |
| D．its production will help Tesla bring down its cost and prices |
| A．U.S. electric carmaker Tesla began construction of its new plant in Shanghai. |
| B．Tesla’s first plant outside the U. S. is named Gigafactory 3. |
| C．Because of resources in Shanghai, Gigafactory 3 is supposed to be built in record time. |
| D．Gigafactory 3 is the largest foreign-invested manufacturing project in China. |
【推荐3】Going green seems to be a fad(时尚)for a lot of people these days. Whether that is good or bad, we can’t really say, but for the two of us, going green is not a fad but a lifestyle.
On April 22, 2011, we decided to go green every single day for an entire year. This meant doing 365 different green things, and it also meant challenging ourselves to go green beyond the easy things. Rather than recycle and reduce our energy, we had to think of 365 different green things to do and this was no easy task.
With the idea of going green every single day for a year, Our Green Year started. My wife and I decided to educate people about how they could go green in their lives and hoped we could show people all the green things that could be done to help the environment. We wanted to push the message that every little bit helps.
Over the course of Our Green Year, we completely changed our lifestyles. We now shop at organic(有机的)stores. We consume less meat, choosing green food. We have greatly reduced our buying we don’t need. We have given away half of what we owned through websites. Our home is kept clean by vinegar and lemon juice, with no chemical cleaners. We make our own butter, enjoying the smell of home-made fresh bread. In our home anyone caught doing something ungreen might be punished.
Our minds have been changed by Our Green Year. We are grateful for the chance to have been able to go green and educate others. We believe that we do have the power to change things and help our planet.
1. Why do the author and his wife decide to start their Green Year？| A．To challenge themselves. |
| B．To cater to (迎合) the fad. |
| C．To help the environment. |
| D．To educate others. |
| A．educating people to push the message of going green. |
| B．choosing green food. |
| C．saying no to meat. |
| D．selling what they owned online. |
| A．He or she would be praised. |
| B．He or she would be given a cup of lemon juice. |
| C．He or she would be enjoy the home-made fresh bread. |
| D．He or she would be fined. |
| A．People’s minds can be changed. |
| B．People can go green. |
| C．People can educate others. |
| D．People can help the planet. |
So it was quite a shock when our teacher, Mr. David, announced that he would dive off the high board that very afternoon.
Word of his questionable plan was already spreading through town as Mr. David swam out to the platform. He was just a tiny, stick figure when he got there but even from such a distance the high board seemed almost to touch the clouds. Once at the top, he paced the enormously long board, then took some deep breaths and finally stood at edge. He was going to do it.
Several hundred people had gathered at the shore to watch. Mr. David stood for quite a long time, then he raised his arms, took one massive bounce and launched himself into a perfect dive. It was beautiful. He fell with perfect style for what seemed minutes. The crowd fell silent. The only sound to be heard was the faint whistle of his body tearing through the air toward the water far, far below.
But about three quarters of the way down he seemed to have second thoughts and began suddenly to panic, waving his arms and legs like someone having a bad dream. When he was perhaps thirty feet above the water, he gave up on waving and spread his arms and legs wide, apparently hoping that it would somehow slow his fall.
It didn’t.
He hit the water at over six hundred miles an hour. The impact was so loud that it made birds fly out of their trees three miles away. I don’t think he entered the water at all. He just bounced off it, about fifteen feet back into the air. After that, he lay still on the surface, spinning like an autumn leaf.
He was brought to shore by two passing fishermen in a rowboat and placed on an old blanket where he spent the rest of the afternoon. Occasionally he accepted small sips of water, but otherwise was too shocked to speak. From head to toe, he was covered with deep red bruises.
It was the best day of my life.
1. How did the writer find Mr. David’s plan to jump from the diving board?
| A．Heroic. | B．Disappointing. | C．Crazy. | D．Confused. |
| A．very far away | B．very small and thin |
| C．tired after swimming | D．sure to be broken |
| A．He thought it was the best way to slow his fall. |
| B．He wanted to show his courage. |
| C．He was signaling the crowd for help. |
| D．He lost his confidence and started to panic. |
【推荐2】When David Hyche was helping his local church plan an annual Easter egg hunt nine years ago, he realized his then 19-month-old blind daughter Rachel would not be able to fully take part in it. He decided to look for a way for his daughter to experience an Easter egg hunt just like her normal-sighted older brother.
David then researched online on how a blind child could do an Easter egg hunt and have fun with it. He found there were people who could make beeping (有哔哔声的) eggs. He then called a man in Los Angeles and the man told him how he did it. David then thought he could spread beeping eggs around the world.
He made forty beeping eggs that year and sold them at a price of $14 per egg. Each egg took him about 20 minutes to make. It contains a switch (开关), a beeper, and a 9-volt battery, joined together by wires (导线).
A handful of blind kids, Rachel included, showed up at the first beeping Easter egg hunt hosted by David in Birmingham nine years ago. Hoping to spread it further, David employed his coworkers and friends throughout Alabama to help him make more beeping eggs. This year, three beeping Easter egg hunts were held in Birmingham alone, with dozens more held across the country.
Around six years ago, David’s idea drew an ally (同盟军) in the International Association of Bomb Technicians and Investigators (IABTI). IABTF’s members collect the eggs and then send them to the requesting groups. Each egg now costs $11.50 to make, according to the IABTI, which posts a step-by-step explainer on its website.
“A lot of schools for the blind use the eggs to teach kids how to locate (定位) things because it teaches them to use a logical mind to search,” said David. “It’s teaching these kids independence,” he said. “It’s not just an Easter egg hunt like it is for other people.”
1. Why did David want to make the beeping Easter egg at first?| A．To plan a special Easter egg hunt. |
| B．To make his daughter enjoy an Easter egg hunt. |
| C．To draw people’s attention to an Easter hunt. |
| D．To provide beeping Easter for blind children. |
| A．Rachel is 9 years old now. |
| B．It is not too hard for David to make a beeping egg. |
| C．David learned how to make a beeping egg by chance. |
| D．Few children were interested in the beeping egg at first. |
| A．raise money | B．send finished eggs |
| C．make beeping eggs | D．post an explainer online |
| A．Because they help blind kids to be independent. |
| B．Because an egg hunt is a lot fun like it is for others. |
| C．Because they are easy to locate for the blind. |
| D．Because a logical mode is used in making them. |
【推荐3】Have you ever thought of taking a train and having an adventure? Riding the train can be a real adventure. That is how I feel every time I take Amtrak. I often take a four-hour trip to visit my children. Every time I take this trip I never know what will happen.
Last week when I was on the train and over an hour into the train ride, there was a man sitting by himself in the back of the train carrying on a mobile phone conversation — in another language. It was loud and disturbed most of the people on the train. I think it was annoying.
Fortunately I sat next to a wonderful old lady who was taking a two-day trip by train. She said her two daughters were distraught at the thought of her driving for three days to reach her home, although she had no trouble driving. The train ride was the only choice for her. She loved to look out of the window and watch the world go by on the train.
She was fun to talk to and asked me when my children started being parents. That is a very good question. Both of us are old and have children. She asked that same question from time to time.
There are always many people on the train from all walks of life, different countries, and many languages. Riding the train is a great way to increase your knowledge and take in all kinds of cultures. If you get hungry, you can buy food in the food car at any time. If you need to use the restroom there is always one available.
It sure beats driving the car, which has to stop for food and restrooms. And it is better than taking the bus.
1. According to the passage, the purpose of the author's train ride was .| A．to do business |
| B．to see her children |
| C．to visit places of interest |
| D．to see her old friends |
| A．Disappointed. | B．Satisfied. | C．Worried. | D．Pleased. |
| A．the services are quite good |
| B．the food is terribly expensive |
| C．all the passengers are polite |
| D．all the passengers are American |
| A．A wonderful lady |
| B．The history of Amtrak |
| C．A painful experience on the train |
| D．Train ride—a cultural experience |
