I’m interested in coding and technology, but there’s a huge gender gap in the computing field, meaning girls are in the minority. I wanted to change that. I started the Catwalk Coding Camp where girls learn how to code(编程) light-up accessories (配饰) and show them at a fashion show. I thought the main result would be that some would be interested enough to learn more, but it turned out that the girls were hungry for role models in the field.
I’d never seen myself as a role model, but suddenly there were younger girls looking up to me. It made me want to be better. This “role model psychology" doesn’t just change what I do out in the world; it changes what I do for myself. I’m halfway through my first year as a computer science major. To be honest, it’s not always easy!
I struggled, and there was a moment when I considered changing my major. Difficult as it is, I survive and move on. Look around the lecture hall and only one third of the students are girls. Then when we break up into sections led by more advanced students, only 2 to 3 sections are run by women.
It keeps me going to know that so many girls look up to me. They have decided that if another girl can go into computer science, they can as well. I want to do well so I can become a section leader in years to come, hoping to close the gender gap in the field.
1. What surprised the author after the Catwalk Coding Camp?| A．The fashion show turned out to be a success. |
| B．The girls wanted role models in computing field. |
| C．Some girls presented unusual talents for fashion. |
| D．Many girls displayed interest in learning coding. |
| A．Change her major in the college. |
| B．Hold more coding camps for girls. |
| C．Make girls feel welcome in the field. |
| D．Help more girls become section leaders. |
| A．Exhausting. | B．Relaxing. |
| C．Discouraging. | D．Challenging. |
| A．The admiration from the girls. | B．The desire to be a scientist. |
| C．The determination to be better. | D．The hunger for knowledge. |
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【推荐1】When I was about 12, I had an enemy, a girl who liked to point out my shortcomings(缺点). Week by week her list grew: I was very thin, I wasn’t a good student, I talked too much, I was too proud, and so on. I tried to bear all this as long as I could. At last, I became very angry. I ran to my father with tears in my eyes.
He listened to me quietly, then he asked. “Are the things she says true or not? Janet, didn’t you ever wonder what you’re really like ? Well, you now have that girl’s opinion. Go and make a list of everything she said and mark the points that are true. Pay no attention to the other things she said.”
I did as he told me. To my great surprise, I discovered that about half the things were true. Some of them I couldn’t change (like being very thin), but a good number I could—and suddenly I wanted to change. For the first time I go to fairly clear picture of myself.
I brought the list back to Daddy. He refused to take it.“That’s just for you,” he said.“You know better than anyone else the truth about yourself. But you have to learn to listen, not just close your ears in anger and feeling hurt. When something said about you is true, you’ll find it will be of help to you. Our world is full of people who think they know your duty. Don’t shut your ears. Listen to them all, but hear the truth and do what you know is the right thing to do.”
Daddy’s advice has returned to me at many important moments. In my life, I’ve never had a better piece of advice.
1. What did the father do after he had heard his daughter’s complaint?| A．He told her not to pay any attention to what her“enemy” had said. |
| B．He criticized (批评) her and told her to overcome her shortcomings. |
| C．He told her to write down all that her“enemy” had said about her and pay attention only to the things that were true. |
| D．He refused to take the list and have a look at it. |
| A．Week by week she discovered more shortcomings of mine and pointed them out to me. |
| B．She had made a list of my shortcomings and she kept on adding new ones to it so that it was growing longer and longer. |
| C．I was having more and more shortcomings as time went on. |
| D．Week by week, my shortcomings grew more serious. |
| A．Because he believed that what her daughter’s “enemy” said was mostly true. |
| B．Because he had been so angry with his daughter’s shortcomings that he wanted to show this by keeping silent for a while. |
| C．Because he knew that his daughter would not listen to him at that moment. |
| D．Because he wasn’t quite sure which girl was telling the truth. |
| A．Not an Enemy, but the Best Friend |
| B．The Best Advice I’ve Ever Had |
| C．My Father |
| D．My Childhood |
【推荐2】As you move around your home, take a good look at the things you have. It is likely that your living room will have a television set and a video, and your kitchen a washing machine and a microwave oven. Your bedroom drawers will be filled with almost three times as many clothes as you need. You almost certainly own a car and possibly a home computer, holiday abroad at least once a year and eat out at least once a week.
Now, perhaps, more than ever before, people are wondering what life is all about, and what it is for. Seeking material success is beginning to trouble large numbers of people around the world. They feel that the long-hours work culture to make more money to buy more things is eating up their lives, leaving them very little time or energy for family or pastimes. Many are turning to other ways of living and downshifting is one of them.
Six percent of workers in Britain took the decision to downshift last year. One couple who downshifted is Daniel and Liz. They used to work in central London. He was a newspaper reporter and she used to work for an international bank. They would go to work by train every day from their large house in the suburbs, leaving their two children with a nanny (保姆) . Most evenings Daniel wouldn’t get home until eight or nine o'clock, and nearly twice a month he would have to fly to New York for meetings. They both earned a large amount of money but began to feel that life was passing them by.
Nowadays, they run a farm in the mountains of Wales, “I always wanted to have a farm here,” says Daniel, “and we took almost a year to make the decision to downshift. It’s taken some getting used to , but it’s been worth it . We have to think twice now about spending money on car repairs and we no longer have any holidays. However, I think it’s made us stronger as a family, and the children are a lot happier.”
Liz, however, is not quite sure. “I used to enjoy my job, even though it was hard work and long hours. I’m not really a country girl, but I suppose I’m gradually getting used to looking after the animals. One thing I do like, though, is being able to see more of my children. My advice for other people wanting to do the same is not to think about it too much or you might not do it at all.”
1. When Daniel was a reporter, he .| A．lived in central London | B．disliked his job |
| C．missed his children | D．was well paid |
| A．was easy to organize | B．has improved family life |
| C．was extremely expensive | D．have been a total success |
| A．Child-caring. | B．Liz’s advice. |
| C．Downshifting. | D．Liz’s job. |
| A．repairing your car by yourself |
| B．spending money carefully |
| C．moving out to the countryside to live a simpler and better life |
| D．living in a big house in the suburbs and dining out once a week |
【推荐3】I've been writing since before I could write. As a kid, I dictated stories to my parents.About 12 years ago,I was living in New York City and pursuing a master in creative writing. For years I'd been suffering vision disorder,but in New York my symptoms worsened. I became unable to read or write for any considerable length of time. I tried vision therapy(疗法），an overhead projector,a special pair of glasses-all in vain.
Eventually,I discovered a computer program for the visually challenged. As I typed,my words were read aloud by an automated voice. With my screen dimmed to black,I relied entirely on audio feedback to know what I had written.
Facing the blank page is worrying,but facing the black page is worse. The dark screen is a sinkhole that swallows creative hope. Sentences disappear into it like an astronaut into a black hole. I managed to complete my master degree, but it took me years to adapt to my new reality. The greatest barrier seemed to be the automated voice, which was like a robot parrot on my shoulder, and I wanted nothing more than to drive it away. If a pianist were forced to practice on an untuned piano,would it corrupt his ear over time?
Of course,I could have quit writing and stopped making myself suffer.But it honestly never occurred to me-and I'm glad it didn't. Last year, after I told my story on the radio,I was contacted by VocaliD,a Massachusetts-based company that created a voice modeled on my own.
The first time I heard the voice they created, it is so close to my own that the two are nearly indistinguishable. I've only just begun using this new voice. My hope is that this will restore a sense of solitude(孤独） to my writing process,allowing me easier access to that inner space where the imagination can take over, and I can forget myself, and the real work can begin.
The black screen still exists-it always will-but the robot parrot has taken wing.
1. What happened to the author when pursuing a master degree in New York?| A．His sight started to fail due to much reading. |
| B．His eyes couldn't sustain long hours of reading. |
| C．He had to drop out due to his vision disorder. |
| D．He successfully overcame his vision problem. |
| A．The untuned automated voice. |
| B．The pet parrot on his shoulder. |
| C．The computer with a dark screen. |
| D．The noise from a neighboring pianist. |
| A．Excited. | B．Annoyed. |
| C．Unmoved. | D．Relaxed. |
| A．The automated voice is too annoying to bear. |
| B．The author can restore his sight to normal. |
| C．The author starts to enjoy his writing again. |
| D．It is likely that the technology will improve. |
【推荐1】The United States is one of the world’s wealthiest countries. Despite this, many Americans are not even getting enough to eat. In fact, around 37 million Americans struggle just to put healthy food, or any food at all, on the table every day.
One might think that a food shortage is happening in America, but this is not the case. There is more than sufficient food for everyone. Unfortunately, 40% of food is wasted every day. There are many different ways food is wasted: farmers only pick the best-looking crops, deliveries aren’t made on time, supermarkets throw out extra products, customers buy more than they need, and so on. The highest level of wastage tends to happen in the richest communities.
Meanwhile, people who live in poor or rural areas often have little or no access to food. These areas are called “food deserts”. They have fewer supermarkets, and the only food options that they can afford are often unhealthy ones. Healthy foods such as fresh fruits and vegetables may be impossible to find. Sadly, 12. 8% of the American population live in food deserts.
What can we do to help those who don’t have enough food? Shirley and Annie Zhu came up with a solution. In 2017, when Hurricane Harvey destroyed over 100,000 homes in their city, Houston, the sisters got involved. While helping to clear water from a flooded supermarket, they saw a huge amount of food being wasted. At the same time, thousands of people in the city didn’t have enough to eat.
The girls were only 15 when they set up Fresh Hub with 10 of their classmates. They created an app which could be used by residents to find out whether fresh food was available. Then they contacted local farmers and supermarkets to ask for their extra food.
At first, they found that people didn't take them seriously because they were so young. They decided to work with Second Servings, a local organization that had been providing food to food deserts around the city. The owner of Second Servings, Barbara Bronstein, was impressed with the twins and introduced them to several food providers. To date, Fresh Hub has delivered more than 15,000 pounds of food to people in need.
1. What does paragraph 2 mainly tell us?| A．What causes food shortage. |
| B．How much food is wasted every day. |
| C．How food is wasted in America. |
| D．Where the highest level of wastage happens. |
| A．When they were assisting in flood relief. |
| B．After they had made a survey about it. |
| C．When they were visiting a food desert. |
| D．After they had read reports about it. |
| A．Crops can’t grow in food deserts. |
| B．People in food deserts have no access to fresh water. |
| C．Only fruits and vegetables are available in food deserts. |
| D．About one in ten Americans live in food deserts. |
| A．Its founders are mostly college students. |
| B．It has gained support from Second Servings. |
| C．It has created a most popular food app. |
| D．It is welcomed by local farmers and supermarkets. |
【推荐2】When I was eight, I got my first pair of glasses. Far from being made fun of at school, the only struggle I got was endless requests to try on my new glasses. Hearing about what happened at school, my father once looked at me and asked whether I had pretended to be the blindness just to look like Harry Potter?
With my strange hair and glasses, I did nothing to avoid it, either. The Harry Potter books were the great pop cultural event of my generation, who began reading again. My school librarian, both confused and annoyed by us Potter fans, dealt with fights over the schools few old copies by setting a new rule: Harry Potter could be borrowed for only three days, instead of the whole week of borrowing period every other title was allowed.
In the 20 years since the first book arrived on shelves, publishers and parents have been asking what has made J.K. Rowling's books so loved. It is better to look at the influence they have had on their readers. Yes, the books were about a boy taking on a dark and powerful enemy in the magical world, but they were also about love defeating hate, determination and choosing" between what is easy and what is right". Rowling’s entire magical characters were all people we want to be.
I grew up with Harry and together we became children with our own opinions, teens easy to get angry and young adults thinking of everything as normal. When the final book came out in 2007.I read it for 12 hours without a break and cried as I finished it. I felt something sad: the end of Harry’s story signaled the end of my childhood. I was suddenly aimless. Meanwhile, my now Potter-mad father walked impatiently nearby, waiting for the proper moment to take the book away from his daughter.
Harry Potter did shape my generation. As a girl who grew up mostly in peacetime, many of the ideas I found in these books were ones we had never come across before. The magical world’s terrible treatment of non-human beings was the first description of slavery I knew. The treatment of Harry’s teacher Remus Lupin, who hides his condition at work, is a metaphor(比喻) for the shame surrounding those who suffer from AIDS. And all settings like this may have real-world reflections .A study found that teenage Harry Potter readers showed more tolerance (包容) towards those who were suffering. Is it possible that Jeremy Corbyn's popularity among the young had anything to do with their literary education? Is it possible that Harry Potter, in the 20 years he has been with us, has inspired a generation to be more empathetic（感同身受）， welcoming and socially open－ minded than those before it? We will see If not, at least my glasses are still cool.
1. Paragraph 1 is intended to show_____.| A．the authors sufferings caused by the glasses |
| B．the author s close relations with other students |
| C．the misunderstanding between the author and her father |
| D．the popularity of Harry Porter among students |
| A．By preventing Potter fans borrowing Harry Potter many times |
| B．By selling the Harry Porter books in the library. |
| C．By creating a new rule for Harry Potter’s borrowing period. |
| D．By buying more Harry Potter books for the library. |
| A．The book has been the most popular one among all the books for twenty years. |
| B．It is the story of revenge(复仇)in the magical world that makes the book popular. |
| C．Readers are crazy about the book because it has taught them how to love and make wise choices. |
| D．The book has had such great influence on the readers that they all want to be magical persons. |
| A．Because she suddenly found that she was too old to read Harry Potter. |
| B．Because her father was for a chance to take her book away. |
| C．Because she had no plan for what to do after her childhood ended. |
| D．Because she was too sad to know the 2007 book was the last Harry Potter book. |
| A．described | B．created |
| C．changed | D．marked |
| A．Harry Potter has great effects on the author's generation. |
| B．The characters in Harry Porter were created through great imagination. |
| C．Compared with other people, Harry Potter readers are more tolerant. |
| D．Reading Harry Potter is important for children living in peacetime. |
【推荐3】Cleary was working as a librarian in Washington, when a little boy marched up and asked, “Where are the books about kids like us?” Cleary realized she had had the same thought as a girl. There had been plenty of books about kids but none that appealed to common neighborhood kids. So she set out to fill that gap. The hero of her first book Henry Huggins was an adventurous third-grader with hair “like a scrubbing brush” and a skinny dog named Ribsy.
Cleary was born on her family’s farm. When she was 6, they moved to Portland. Though Portland would become the sting for many of her books, she struggled to adapt to city life. Cleary was a slow reader at first, but in third grade she was going through a children’s novel when she “discovered I was reading,” Cleary said, “and enjoying it” Cleary found both comedy and drama in the smaller incidents of life, but she did not avoid serious themes. In 1977’s Ramona and Her Father, Ramona tries to persuade her dad to quit smoking — hanging a sign at home reading “NO SMOKING”. To attract her own young son to read, Cleary created a new character for 1965’s The Mouse and the Motorcycle — Ralph S. Mouse, a creature who makes friends with a human boy.
For 30 years Cleary answered her fan mails herself. Dear Mr. Henshaw was inspired by two letters asking her to write a book about a boy whose parents are divorced. The novel, constructed as a series of letters between a lonely sixth-grader and his favorite writer, won the Newbery Medal, the top prize for children’s literature. Whatever she wrote, Cleary was always guided by the child she had once been. “That little girl,” she said, “prevents me from writing down to children and from writing an adult recollection (回忆) about childhood instead of a book to be enjoyed by children.”
1. Why did Cleary decide to write books for ordinary kids?| A．A little boy asked her to do so. |
| B．It was her dream as a little girl. |
| C．Ordinary kids couldn’t afford books. |
| D．Books then didn’t attract ordinary kids. |
| A．Many of her books were set in Portland. |
| B．She adapted to city life very soon. |
| C．She disliked reading at the fourth grade. |
| D．Her books were mainly comedies. |
| A．Henry Huggins. | B．Ramona and Her Father. |
| C．Dear Mr. Henshaw. | D．The Mouse and the Motorcycle. |
| A．One of her fans. | B．The young Cleary. |
| C．A lonely six-grader. | D．The character Ramona. |
【推荐1】Once upon a time, when you first attended a youth sporting event, your parents probably weren't expecting you to become a professional athlete.They signed up for a basketball, football or swimming course for you in the hope that you might learn lessons about winning gentlemanly, losing with dignity(尊严)and insisting on it when things get hard. Yes, playing games is good exercise, but it is the life lessons that matter most.
For many of us, instead of looking to improve our minds and spirits, we began judging progress only by the size of our muscles or the numbers on a weighing machine. The thought that athletic competition is about greater life lessons and the building of character has been further undermined(削弱)by headlines about professional athletes.
“And yet there's still strong evidence that sports strongly improve certain personal qualities,” says Angela Lumpkin, Professor of the Department of Health, Sport and Exercise Sciences at the University of Kansas. And that's true for athletes of any age.Amateur sports(业余体育运动)provide a safe place for competition. They also provide a practice ground for managing stress.
The advantages of taking part in a sport can seep(渗透)into your professional life, too. In basketball, for example, “Getting everyone to play the right role on the court is the key to success,” says Alan Arlt, the founder of the Life Time Fitness basketball program Ultimate Hoops. “That is certainly useful in the business world, where everyone understands their own role in the organization.” “In athletic events, you go through good and bad times often in the period of two hours,” says former NBA head coach Flip Saunders. “Do you have the calm manner to settle yourself down, or do you totally lose it and get thrown out of the game which hurts both you and your team？All of that oncourt experience has a real effect on how you deal with reallife situations.”
1. What would parents expect when their children joined in sports?| A．To win as many games as possible. |
| B．To improve their health. |
| C．To make more friends. |
| D．To get through difficulties. |
| A．People play sports to build their character. |
| B．People still hold the idea that sports can keep us fit. |
| C．People keep playing sports to improve minds and spirits. |
| D．People pay more attention to the news of professional athletes. |
| A．support Lumpkin's idea |
| B．introduce the next topic |
| C．show another piece of evidence |
| D．show the main idea of the paragraph |
| A．how to succeed in the future |
| B．how to keep calm in certain situations |
| C．how to deal with reallife situations |
| D．how to understand the role on the court |
【推荐2】A young woman sits alone in a café sipping tea and reading a book. She pauses briefly to write in a nearby notepad before showing her words to a passing café waiter: “Where are the toilets please?” This is a familiar scene in Tokyo’s so-called “silent cafés”, where customers are not allowed to speak, and only communicate by writing in notepads.
The concept rises from a desire to be alone among young Japanese, a situation brought by economic uncertainty, a shift in traditional family support structures and the growing social isolation. The phenomenon is not limited to coffee shops but covers everything from silent discos, where participants dance alone wearing wireless headphones connected to the DJ, to products such as small desk tents designed for conversation-free privacy in the office. One Kyoto company even offers single women the opportunity to have a “one woman wedding” — a full bridal affair, complete with white dress and ceremony, and the only thing missing is the groom. The trend has its own media expression — “botchi-zoku”, referring to individuals who consciously choose to do things completely on their own.
One recent weekday afternoon, Chihiro Higashikokubaru, a 23-year-old nurse, travelled 90 minutes from her home, to Tokyo on her day off in order to enjoy some solo time. Speaking quietly at the entrance of the cafe, Miss Higashikokubaru said: “I heard about this place via Twitter and I like the idea of coming here. I work as a nurse and it's always very busy. There are very few quiet places in Tokyo, and it's a big busy city. I just want to come and sit somewhere quietly on my own. I’m going to drink a cup of tea and maybe do some drawings. I like the idea of a quiet, calm atmosphere.”
The desire to be isolated is not a new concept in Japan, home to an estimated 3.6 million “hikikomori” — a more extreme example of social recluses (隐士) who withdraw completely from society.
1. What is special about the “silent cafes”?| A．It provides various tea and books. | B．People are not allowed to communicate. |
| C．It offers service by writing not by speaking. | D．It has attracted many popular young people. |
| A．The stable economic situation. | B．The increasing social isolation. |
| C．The rapid development of the Internet. | D．The rising demand for privacy. |
| A．She doesn’t like to be a nurse. | B．She doesn’t like the life in big cities. |
| C．She enjoys her solo time in a quiet place. | D．She travelled to Tokyo on her work days. |
| A．A new concept in Japan | B．Social recluses in Japan |
| C．Silent cafes | D．Lonely Japanese |
【推荐3】Before he sailed round the world alone, Francis Chichester had already surprised his friends several times. He had tried to fly round the world but failed. That was in 1931.
The years passed. He gave up flying and began sailing. He enjoyed it greatly. Chichester was already 58 years old when he won the first solo transatlantic sailing race. His old dream of going round the world came back, but this time he would sail.His friends and doctors did not think he could do it, as he had lung cancer. But Chichester was determined to carry out his plan. In August 1966, at the age of nearly 65, an age when many men retire, he began the greatest voyage of his life.
Chichester covered 14100 miles before stopping in Sydney, Australia. This was more than twice the distance anyone had previously sailed alone. He arrived in Australia on 12 December, just 107 days out from England. He received a warm welcome from the Australians and from his family who had flown there to meet him. On shore, Chichester could not walk without help. Everybody said the same thing: he had done enough; he must not go any further. But he did not listen.
After resting in Sydney for a few weeks, Chichester set off once more in spite of his friends' attempts to dissuade him. The second half of his voyage was by far the more dangerous part, during which he sailed round the treacherous Cape Horn.After succeeding in sailing round Cape Horn, Chichester sent the following radio message to London: "I feel as if I had wakened from a nightmare. Wild horses could not drag me down to Cape Horn and that sinister Southern Ocean again."
Just before 9 o'clock on Sunday evening 28 May 1967, he arrived back in England, where a quarter of a million people were waiting to welcome him.Queen Elizabeth II knighted(授以爵位) him with the very sword that Queen Elizabeth I had used almost 400 years earlier to knight Sir Francis Drake after he had sailed round the world for the first time.The whole voyage from England and back had covered 28,500 miles. It had taken him nine months, of which the sailing time was 226 days. He had done what he wanted to accomplish.
1. What can we learn about Chichester?| A．He failed the solo transatlantic sailing race in 1959. |
| B．He was a brave and determined man. |
| C．The second half of his voyage was not as dangerous as the first half. |
| D．The radio message expressed his concern about the sailing. |
| A．She called on the English to learn form him. |
| B．She was waiting to congratulate on his success in sailing. |
| C．She thought poorly of his achievements. |
| D．She knighted him for praising him. |
| A．Anyone who had sailed alone traveled less than 7050miles before 1966 |
| B．Chichester sailed round the Atlantic in 1931 |
| C．Most of the English retire at the age of 65 |
| D．Chichester died of lung cancer in 1967 after he went back to England |
【推荐1】An increasing part of the world is becoming artificially lit. Artificial light is often seen as a sign of progress: the march of civilization shines a light in the dark; it takes back the night. But some scientists argue that unnaturally bright nights are bad not just for astronomers but also for nocturnal (夜间的) animals and even for human health.
Now research shows the night is getting even brighter. From 2012 to 2016 the earth’s artificially lit area expanded by about 2.2 percent a year, according to a study published last November in Science Advances. However, the measurement does not include light from most of the energy–efficient LED lamps that have been replacing sodium-vapor (钠气灯) technology in cities all over the world ,says Christopher Kyba, a postdoctoral researcher at the German Research Center for Geosciences in Potsdam.
The new data came from a NASA satellite instrument called the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIRS). It can measure long wavelengths of light, such as those produced by traditional yellow-and-orange sodium-vapor street lamps. But VIIRS cannot see the short-wavelength blue light produced by white LEDs. This light has been shown to disturb human sleep cycles and nocturnal animals’ behavior.
The team believes the ongoing switch to LEDs caused already bright countries such as Italy, the Netherlands, Spain and the U.S. to register as having stable levels of lighting in the VIIRS data. In contrast, most nations in South America, Africa and Asia brightened, suggesting increases in the use of traditional lighting.
In 2016, a study showed that one third of the world’s population currently lives under skies too bright to see the Milky Way at night. Between 2012 and 2016 the median nation pumped out 15 percent more long-wavelength light as its GDP increased by 13 percent. Overall, counties' total light production correlated with their GDP.
1. Which of the following can best describe artificial light?| A．Convenient but unnatural. | B．Useful but energy-consuming. |
| C．Progressive but uncomfortable. | D．Civilized but harmful. |
| A．Traditional lighting is not used in those countries. |
| B．LED lights are increasingly used in those countries. |
| C．Efforts to reduce harmful light work in those countries. |
| D．People do enjoy stable lighting in those countries. |
| A．To show artificial light has an association with GDP. |
| B．To demonstrate GDP plays an important part in the median nation. |
| C．To stress the median nation was to blame for the light problem. |
| D．To suggest artificial light should be banned in the future. |
| A．A biology textbook. | B．A book review. |
| C．A science magazine. | D．A science fiction. |
【推荐2】Dating back to 2002, this is the fifth time that I have traveled overseas to work with Roma people, whom you probably know better as “gypsies”. Every time I came home feeling as though I had gotten far more than I gave.
The Roma live mostly in central and eastern Europe and to some extent in the Americas. Due to some reasons, throughout their history they are usually the last to be hired and the first to be fired, generally speaking. They live far away from town normally and in relative poverty.
Getting education is a common subject. That is where we come in. This time, I, along with three other men, was working in a village in Slovakia. Most Roma people there can’t speak English well, and we went to help out with that, hoping to make a difference to their life.
Staying with the Roma, I have learned anyone can help others. The first time I went abroad was to work with a Roma charity. When we arrived in a small village in Hungary, we found that several of the Roma were missing. They would return the next day, because they had traveled a few hours away to serve in a prison. That is, these who we thought needed us were off helping some other people who needed them.
We may think we are traveling over to “give” to them. Actually, we also received warm hospitality. Some small gifts would sometimes come our way, as they expressed their thanks. On the last day of this trip, the local Roma warmly invited us to stay for a coffee with home-baked sweets. These poor people always find some ways to welcome trusted visitors.
Here what I want to say is that the Roma people that I have worked or talked with are just as smart and able as we are. They are wise Roma people in many ways, though having lived quite differently from most of us. There is nothing fault born with them. They are in every way that matters. We are all the same human beings.
1. What does Paragraph 2 mainly tell about?| A．The disadvantaged backgrounds of the Roma. |
| B．The traditional cultures of the Roma. |
| C．The healthy lifestyle of the Roma. |
| D．The long history of the Roma. |
| A．develop the local tourism | B．get more work opportunities |
| C．protect their living environment | D．improve their English language skills |
| A．They never trust outsiders easily. |
| B．They pay great attention to charity. |
| C．They are very kind and warm-hearted. |
| D．They dislike expressing their feelings directly. |
| A．We should help the weak as much as possible. |
| B．The Roma should be treated fairly. |
| C．The Roma are special. |
| D．It is never too late to pay a visit to Europe. |
【推荐3】Ultrasound（超声）is used widely in medical imaging, but in recent years scientists have started developing it for another use: stimulating nerves to treat disease. In two new studies in mice, researchers focused the sound waves on nerves in the spleen（脾）that communicate with the immune system, reducing symptoms. If the approach proves safe and effective in people, it could serve as a treatment for diseases such as arthritis（关节炎）.
In one study, led by scientists at the Feistein Institute and GE Research, mice receiving a few minutes of ultrasound treatment to the spleen nerve had a diminished symptoms to an injected（注射）poison. In another study, researchers at the University of Minnesota and their colleagues reduces symptoms of arthritis in mice by stimulating their spleen nerves for 20 minutes every day for a week. “Zeroing in on the spleen may provide a more precise approach than focusing on the vagus nerve（交感神经）, which connects with the immune system via a second nerve that stimulates the spleen.” says Hubert Lin, lead author of the latter study. “When we’re targeting the spleen we have less of an effect all over the body.”
“Little is known about how repeated ultrasound affects the spleen or whether it has other harmful effects,” says neuroscientist Denise Bellinger of Loma Linda University, who was not involved in either study. An ongoing clinical trial aims to assess the treatment’s safety in humans with arthritis. A bigger unknown is how ultrasound activates in general. Scientists are now exploring the use of ultrasound on other parts of the nervous system, including the brain. “We know how to control nerves with electricity, and we’ve been doing it for more than 100 years,” neuroscientist Kevin Tracey says, “But the idea of controlling nerve signals with ultrasound is a brand-new field.”
1. What do scientists expect of the new application of ultrasound?| A．It'll be applied in medical imaging |
| B．It'll be used to activate nerves to treat disease. |
| C．It’ll be applied in spleen transplantation. |
| D．It'll be employed to rebuild immune system. |
| A．Complicated. | B．Worsened. |
| C．Decreased. | D．Associated. |
| A．Side effect. | B．Time length. |
| C．The procedure. | D．The cost. |
| A．Assessing the treatment' s safety on humans. |
| B．Activating nerves in general with ultrasound. |
| C．Exploring the use of ultrasound on the brain. |
| D．Controlling nerve signals with ultrasound. |
