【推荐1】People in several American states may be surprised to see cars on city streets without a driver. Experimental driverless vehicles now are legal in Florida, Nevada and California. They are pointing the way to a future that is not far down the road. The high-tech company Google has a number of self-driving cars, which had covered 480,000 kilometers by August. Volvo is among the companies doing road tests and says it plans to sell driverless cars by 2020.
In September, California Governor Jerry Brown signed an act to allow autonomous vehicles on the roads of his state. “Today we’re looking at science fiction becoming tomorrow's reality-the driverless car. ” The technology for these cars includes cameras, radar and motion sensors. The systems have been improved through competitions sponsored by the U. S. government agency DARPA. Engineer Richard Mason of the Rand Corporation helped design driverless vehicles for DARPA challenge races.
Cars have become much more fuel-efficient, and new electronic features are' making Hondas safer, said Angie Nucci of Honda America.   “A camera on the passenger-side mirror actually engaged on your guiding screen so you can safely change lanes. ” Other safety features include warning systems on the front and the sides of the cars.   These systems help drivers , but don’t replace them. Curator Leslie Kendall of the Petersen Automotive Museum said autonomous cars will make the high ways safer．
“By taking out drivers, you also remove most risks of an accident, ”Kendall said. He said , “Consumers, however, may be unwilling to lose control. It may take them time to come to realize that the technology is indeed reliable, but it will have to prove itself first. ”
Mason said the technology already works and the biggest challenge now is getting down the cost for driverless vehicles from hundreds of thousands of dollars to something more affordable. He said this will happen as the technology is improved.
1. According to the passage, California Governor Jerry Brown ______________.

A．is for the idea of having driverless cars

B．sponsored the DARPA competition to improve the driverless system

C．has already bought a new autonomous car

D．thinks that driving safety is the most important issue in his state

2. What is the role of the systems mentioned in Paragraph 3?

A．They can help cars run much faster.

B．They can take the place of drivers now.

C．They can make cars run without fuel.

D．They can help people drive more safely.

3. In Kendall’s opinion, who probably don’t rely on the driverless cars at first?

A．managers in the high-tech company Google

B．officers from the U. S. government agency DARPA

C．car consumers

D．vehicle designers

4. According to Richard Mason, what is the biggest challenge for driverless cars?

A．They need to have more comfortable seats .

B．They are now too expensive for consumers.

C．They are travelling at a low speed.

D．They are not favored by car racers

【推荐3】Winners Club

You choose to be a winner!

The Winners Club is a bank account specially designed for teenagers. It has been made to help you better manage your money. The Winners Club is a transaction account where you receive a key-card so you can get to your money 24/7 - that’s 24 hours a day, 7 days a week!

It’s a club with impressive features for teenagers:

·No account keeping fees!

You’re no millionaire so we don’t expect you to pay large fees. In fact, there are no account keeping or transaction fees!

·Excellent interest rates!

You want your money to grow. The Winners Club has a good rate of interest which gets even better if you make at least two deposits without taking them out in a month.

·Convenient

Teenagers are busy - we get that. You may never need to come to a bank at all. With the Winners Club you can choose to use handy tellers and to bank from home using the phone and the Internet... You can have money directly deposited into your Winners Club account. This could be your pocket money or your pay from your part-time job!

·Mega magazine included

Along with your regular report, you will receive a FREE magazine full of good ideas to make even more of your money. There are also fantastic offers and competitions only for Winners Club members. The Winners Club is a great choice for teenagers. And it is so easy to join. Simply fill in an application form. You will have to get permission from your parent or guardian (so we can organize that cool key-card) but it is easy. We can’t want to hear from you. It’s the best way to choose to be a winner!

1. The Winners Club is a bank account intended for ______.

A．parents

B．teenagers

C．winner

D．adults

2. Which of the following is TRUE about the Winners Club?

A．Special gifts are ready for parents.	B．The bank opens only on work days.
C．Services are convenient for its members.	D．Fees are necessary for the account keeping.

3. The Winners Club provides magazines which ______.

A．encourage spending.	B．are free to all teenagers.
C．are full of adventure stories.	D．help to make more of your money.

4. What is the purpose of this text?

A．To set up a club.	B．To provide part-time jobs.
C．To organize key-card.	D．To introduce a new banking service.

【推荐1】The royal family is filled with rules, and one in particular might explain why Princess Charlotte is a princess, but her kids likely won't be.

When it comes to the British royal family, one thing is almost always true: they have a pretty confusing set of official rules and protocols. For instance, the royal family doesn't have a last name. And don't forget the fact that Queen Elizabeth celebrates two birthdays every year.

If your head isn't swimming yet, consider the tradition of royal titles. As a British custom, only the daughter of a prince or a prince's wife may be considered a formal “princess”. The latter applies to Kate, who is both a princess and the Duchess of Cambridge thanks to her marriage to Prince William, the Duke of Cambridge. And their children, Prince George and Princess Charlotte, also bear official royal titles because their father is Prince William.

However, while Prince George's future children will also carry their father's royal status, any children that Princess Charlotte has will not automatically be considered princes or princesses. Why? Royal custom dictates that royal titles are passed down via sons, but not daughters.

However, while Prince George's future children will also carry their father's royal status, any children that Princess Charlotte has will not automatically be considered princes or princesses. Why? Royal custom dictates that royal titles are passed down via sons, but not daughters.

"Royal titles are inherited through sons, so if Princess Charlotte has children they would not automatically inherit the titles (his or her royal highness) HRH, Prince, or Princess,” Lucy Hume, associate director of etiquette experts Debrett's, told Town& Country.

Of course, exceptions can (and will!) be made. (Learn about every time the British royal family broke their own protocol.) The Queen has offered HRH status to other royal offspring in the past, including the children of Queen Elizabeth's daughter, Anne. Although Princess Anne and her husband, Captain Phillips, declined, perhaps Princess Charlotte will be extended the same offer when her own children are born.

1. What's the meaning of the underlined word "protocol" in the second paragraph?

A．Promise.

B．Behavior.

C．Manners.

D．Connection.

2. What kind of child is regarded as "princess"?

A．The son of a princess.	B．The daughter of a prince.
C．The daughter of a princess.	D．The wife of a king.

3. Who is Charlotte's father?

A．Prince George.

B．Elizabeth.

C．Prince William.

D．Captain Philips.

4. What does the last paragraph mainly tell us?

A．Any person can break traditional rules.

B．Not every person must obey traditional rules.

C．Any British royal family member has their own title.

D．Maybe the British royal family will break their own rules.

【推荐2】A team of engineers at Harvard University has been inspired by Nature to create the first robotic fly. The mechanical fly has become a platform for a series of new high-tech integrated systems. Designed to do what a fly does naturally, the tiny machine is the size of a fat housefly. Its mini wings allow it to stay in the air and perform controlled flight tasks.
“It’s extremely important for us to think about this as a whole system and not just the sum of a bunch of individual components (元件),” said Robert Wood, the Harvard engineering professor who has been working on the robotic fly project for over a decade. A few years ago, his team got the go-ahead to start piecing together the components. “The added difficulty with a project like this is that actually none of those components are off the shelf and so we have to develop them all on our own,” he said.
They engineered a series of systems to start and drive the robotic fly. “The seemingly simple system which just moves the wings has a number of interdependencies on the individual components, each of which individually has to perform well, but then has to be matched well to everything it’s connected to,” said Wood. The flight device was built into a set of power, computation, sensing and control systems. Wood says the success of the project proves that the flying robot with these tiny components can be built and manufactured.
While this first robotic flyer is linked to a small, off-board power source, the goal is eventually to equip it with a built-in power source, so that it might someday perform data-gathering work at rescue sites, in farmers’ fields or on the battlefield. “Basically it should be able to take off, land and fly around,” he said.
Wood says the design offers a new way to study flight mechanics and control at insect-scale. Yet, the power, sensing and computation technologies on board could have much broader applications. “You can start thinking about using them to answer open scientific questions, you know, to study biology in ways that would be difficult with the animals, but using these robots instead,” he said. “So there are a lot of technologies and open interesting scientific questions that are really what drives us on a day to day basis.”
1. The difficulty the team of engineers met with while making the robotic fly was that __________.

A．they had no model in their mind

B．they did not have sufficient time

C．they had no ready-made components

D．they could not assemble the components

2. It can be inferred from paragraphs 3 and 4 that the robotic fly __________.

A．consists of a flight device and a control system

B．can just fly in limited areas at the present time

C．can collect information from many sources

D．has been put into wide application

3. Which of the following can be learned from the passage?

A．The robotic flyer is designed to learn about insects.

B．Animals are not allowed in biological experiments.

C．There used to be few ways to study how insects fly.

D．Wood’s design can replace animals in some experiments.

4. Which of the following might be the best title of the passage?

A．Father of Robotic Fly

B．Inspiration from Engineering Science

C．Robotic Fly Imitates Real Life Insect

D．Harvard Breaks Through in Insect Study

【推荐3】The year 2019 was a year of teen power. Young people spoke up about big problems and adults began to listen. Greta Thunberg, the seventeen-year-old Swedish schoolgirl, was perhaps the most powerful example last year of this teen power. At the U.N. Climate Action Summit in September 2019, she told world leaders, “You are failing us young people” by not taking enough action against climate change. Greta gained worldwide attention for her impassioned (激昂的) speech and was named Time magazine's 2019 Person of the Year.

In the United States, teen groups have formed organizations to pressure politicians into changing gun laws to stop school shootings. “The adults know that we’re cleaning up their mess,” says Cameron Kasky, an 11th-grader who started the NeverAgain movement after surviving the deadliest high school shooting in American history in 2018. “It’s like they’re saying, ‘I’m sorry I made this mess’, while continuing to spill soda on the floor,” adds another survivor Emma González.

These problems are not new and politicians have been dealing with them for years. However, as with the most big problems, there are no easy solutions, and each solution may create more problems. Fighting climate change by reducing fossil fuels (化石燃料)-no more cars, airplanes or big industries-can have a negative effect on people’s lives and even increase poverty. And prisons would fill up quickly if we locked up every person who was considered to be a potential criminal.

Teen power is a good thing. However, it will take more than youthful passion to solve the world’s problems. If you are also ambitious to make the world a better place, it is important that you speak up when necessary. But just as important is the need to grow in our learning-to study and to always remain humble（谦卑的）. Apart from enthusiasm for bringing about change, you still need the maturity, wisdom, knowledge and skills to make good decisions.

1. Why does the author mention Greta Thunberg in paragraph 1?

A．To show the success of teen power.

B．To inform readers of 2019 Person of the Year.

C．To introduce the U. N. Climate Action Summit.

D．To encourage readers to speak up about big problems.

2. What does the underlined phrase in paragraph 2 mean?

A．The adults like soda very much.

B．The adults fail to clean up their mess.

C．The politicians haven't stopped making a mess.

D．The politicians have been working on the shooting.

3. What is the author opinion about reducing fossil fuels?

A．It makes no difference to people's life.

B．It will bring about other new problems.

C．It will make the prisons fill up quickly.

D．It is effective in fighting climate change.

4. What does the author want to stress in paragraph 4?

A．Teen power is a good thing to change the world.

B．Passion is important in solving the world's problems.

C．We should speak up to make the world a better place.

D．We need to study to be mature and wise to decide well.

【推荐1】As the novel coronavirus outbreak interrupts businesses and everyday life for billions around the globe, massive conferences have moved online. The new form creates numerous technical and organizational challenges, but it also offers opportunities-for reaching wider audiences, reducing the carbon footprint of meeting travel and improving diversity. For some meetings, the switch may be lasting.

The scientific community is “ making lemonade out of lemons,” an expert says. “ Scientists are making use of a situation that’s really quite horrible and providing people a way to connect.”

In many ways, virtual conferences offer a better experience, says Altman, associate director of the Stanford Institute for AI. Altman’s institute had planned an inperson conference in April, but COVID-19 forced organizers to change it. They threw together a virtual conference to discuss how AI can help scientists fight the ongoing pandemic (流行病).The event was a great success. The original conference would have drawn a few hundred attendees, but 30,000 people watched the online version.

Altman says the virtual environment allowed hosts to better control the flow of discussion and questions from the audience. By privately messaging one another behind the scenes, they were able to make adjustments (调整).During the audience question period, the hosts didn’t open up the virtual floor for anyone to speak. Instead, they asked the audience to type their questions and screen the most insightful (有深刻见解的)ones.

Scientists acknowledge that virtual conferences can’t completely replace the conference experience. Virtual meetings might lose some of their appeal once stay-at-home requirements loosen. Even so, the success of some scientists further strengthens the society’s march toward virtual meetings.

1. What does the underlined phrase “ making lemonade out of lemons” refer to?

A．Working tirelessly to fight the pandemic.

B．Taking advantage of the difficult situation.

C．Doing research on how to make lemonade.

D．Committing themselves to their conferences.

2. What could prove the virtual conference mentioned in paragraph 3 successful ?

A．A larger audience.

B．Better arrangement.

C．Environmental friendliness.

D．Beating the ongoing pandemic.

3. What does the author intend to do in paragraph 4?

A．Provide some advice for the hosts.

B．Summarize the previous paragraphs.

C．Introduce a new topic for the audience.

D．List some advantages of virtual conferences.

4. In which section of a newspaper does this text probably appear?

A．Business.

B．Opinion.

C．Culture.

D．Travel.

【推荐2】When he looked at me, it was clear my father wasn’t sure who I was. And as I looked back at him, I wasn’t sure who he was, either.

My father had just gone through two heart surgeries and 6 days in intensive care. He’d returned to the hospital where he’d worked for 40 years. It was the hospital where all his children had been born. The doctors said that he may have a long period of confusion after the surgeries. And because he’s eighty-six, it may be many months before he returns to normal. It’s also possible he may never be “normal” again.

I sat there in this hospital room, spoon-feeding the man I’ve seen as powerful and capable all my life. It felt like the full circle of life had come around us. It felt good to support him, yet part of me wanted to tell him to “be normal” again. I wasn’t sure if I was ready to accept the full meaning of it: that my father may never be that powerful and capable person again.

Pain and suffering have visited my family, as it will visit all families. And while we hesitate to face pain and suffering, it has great lessons to teach us. Pain and suffering are well outside of the boundaries of our everyday life. When it comes, it breaks these boundaries and turns our world upside down. We become a family with all of the others who have known pain and suffering. And we have another chance to consider what’s truly important in our lives. This crisis will pass, and we’ll all be changed by it. The healing hands of time will do their work. I’m thankful that I’ve told my father everything I’ve wanted to say to him. And I’m thankful to have my family to lean on during this difficult time. We’ll all be challenged by this to show more support, care, and Jove.

This is as it should be. Sometimes, it takes a crisis to remind us of why we’re all here.

1. What do we know about the writer’s father from the passage?

A．He will recover from his illness soon.

B．He has been lying in bed for 40 years.

C．He used to be a powerful and capable man.

D．He didn’t know the author after 2 head surgeries.

2. How did the author feel when thinking of the pain and suffering his family had?

A．Grateful.	B．Inspired
C．Exhausted.	D．Sorrowful.

3. What does the author probably agree with?

A．Life is fragile than expected.

B．Something nice weighs light.

C．Pain and suffering often go hand in hand.

D．We should treat the old in an abnormal way.

4. What does the author aim to express in this passage?

A．Pain and suffering are bound to pass.

B．Pain and suffering bring us beneficial experiences.

C．We cannot always avoid facing pain and suffering.

D．We will not eventually be defeated by pain and suffering.

【推荐3】The language Centers first Trivia Night tested students' knowledge on different languages and their histories last Friday at Douglass commons.

"We have decided to conduct this event when the weather is bad so that students who have nowhere to go and stay on campus can come and find a comfortable shelter during a cold winter day," Language Center Director, Teresa Valdez said. According to Valdez, the idea for Trivia night came a year ago from a junior and team-member called Elizabeth de Los Reyes. The event engaged students' interest in languages and showed the high-quality services that the Language Center provides.

Participants competed in small groups that each represented a different language and country. There were five teams in total: Russia, China, Japan, Spain and France. The competition consisted of four rounds with each round consisting of three questions relating to the following topics literature, language, geography, culture and history.

After a few warm-up questions about how people greet each other in different languages, what continent Turkey is found in, and who is the first man to fly to the moon, the questions became increasingly difficult. Each round offered an increasing amount of points a team could receive. The final question was worth 20 points. If a team did not answer it correctly, the points were taken from the total.

In the meantime, students enjoyed pizza, snacks, and drinks while sharing their linguistic (语言的) interest. Most of the participants knew two or three languages. Others knew more, such as first-year Bartek Jezierski from Poland, who can speak English, Polish, German, Spanish, and Russian.

The winners from first to third place were France, Japan and Russia respectively. All five teams were given some prizes—a blue shopping bag, a cup and stuffed toys. However, students believed the most important prize of the evening was the process of the competition—how students from diverse backgrounds and cultures were able to participate in a friendly competition, and shared their mutual (相互的) love of languages.

1. What is one of the purposes of Trivia Night？

A．To attract students to learn languages.

B．To help the students suffering from coldness.

C．To collect opinions from the students on its services.

D．To select the best students for the Language center.

2. How many questions were there in the competition in total？

A．3

B．4.

C．12.

D．20.

3. Which of the following can best describe the atmosphere of the competition？

A．Quiet.

B．Relaxing.

C．romantic.

D．Depressing.

4. What did students value most in the competition？

A．Some snacks and drinks.

B．Various prizes for winners.

C．The course of the competition.

D．The services provided by the language center.