A lunch break – it’s an important and often necessary part of our working or school day. And now we’re spoilt (惯坏) with a lot of places to buy our lunch from, all offering attractive dishes and sandwiches to eat on the go.
But our appetite for buying our lunchtime fare is not just costing us money, there might be a cost in terms of damaging our planet too. Just grabbing a sandwich, crisps and maybe a cake and coffee can produce at least four items of waste. Paper boxes, cups, wrappers and plastic knives and forks are all part of our disposable (一次性的) feast in addition to the food waste we create. Some experts say throwing away food, which produces methane (甲烷) as it rots, is a bigger cause of climate change than plastics.
But regardless of what causes the most damage, the solution, according to an environmental campaign group called Hubbub, is to eat packed lunches. Tessa Tricks from the group says “People are saying that they are buying food to take out because life has got busier.” And she says people think they are being more efficient; but she argues that it's usually healthier and cheaper to make your own lunch. It means you can eat the things you really want and make the quantity that you actually need.
Of course, preparing your lunch is another thing to fit into your morning scramble (忙乱) of getting ready for work, so if you haven’t got time and you are going to buy lunch, an alternative that Hubbub suggests is to take your own container to a shop and ask them to put your food in it. The idea of using reusable coffee cups for hot drinks and refilling water bottles has already proved successful, so this could be another step in the right direction.
1. What’s the second paragraph mainly about?| A．It costs a lot of money buying lunch. |
| B．Eating fast food is no good to health. |
| C．Buying lunch leads to great damage to environment. |
| D．Experts give suggestions on eating. |
| A．Stop eating packed lunches. |
| B．Eating what you like. |
| C．Trying to be more efficient in work. |
| D．Making lunch by yourself. |
| A．Buying lunch. |
| B．Taking your own container. |
| C．Using reusable coffee cup. |
| D．Using refilling water bottles. |
| A．Make a full use of lunch time. |
| B．Eating properly to keep healthy. |
| C．Doing what you can to reduce pollution. |
| D．Giving lunch time eating habit a thought to reduce damage to environment. |
相似题推荐
【推荐1】It just may be the world’s most costly vacuum cleaner (吸尘器). The price of CleanSpace One is eleven million dollars. But yet, it has a big job to do. Recently, researchers in Switzerland said they planned to build this new cleaning machine.
CleanSpace One will not be for use in homes or businesses. It will be shot into space to help remove thousands of pieces of
space junk floating around up there.
Last year, we reported on the problem of space junk. Over time, many unused spacecraft have hit each other far above the Earth. Big pieces break into thousands of small pieces. Sometimes they fall back into the atmosphere (大气层) and burn 
up. But when they do not, it creates big problems.
Scientists fear that if something is not done to remove these objects, it may soon become too dangerous to send people and machines into space. There is a large chance that they might hit some of this junk. So that is why the Swiss researchers are developing the new machine.
CleanSpace One is not really a vacuum cleaner. It will not be used to take away space junk. But scientists plan to move it close to an old satellite that is no longer being used. Then a claw-like instrument will catch the satellite, and force it back through the atmosphere. There, the satellite will be destroyed by the heat of friction (摩擦) with the air.
Researchers say that all they need to do is slow down the speed of some of these unwanted objects. Once they begin to move more slowly, they will fall back to the Earth. There is little chance that they will fall through the atmosphere and harm the people or things below.
1. Space junk is created when ____________.| A．unused spacecraft hit each other |
| B．people in space throw away rubbish |
| C．a new spaceship is sent up |
| D．an old spaceship creates friction with the air |
| A．It will pollute space. | B．It will hurt people on the Earth. |
| C．It will hit a spaceship. | D．It will burn in the atmosphere. |
| A．they are made to move slowly | B．they meet other objects in space |
| C．they are not used for years | D．they are near the atmosphere |
【推荐2】Nature has the power to change an element’s identity with time and space. This is evident by the transformative effect Britain’s deep coal mines have been showing after decades of being one of the biggest reasons for pollution. Now, they’re being employed to supply green energy to the town of Gateshead. The town is the first place to experience something like this in the country, but the success of the phenomenon has encouraged the local government to apply it to other towns.
In 2021, coal was just producing 2% of electricity in the UK. Most of the electricity in the country is being supplied through oil and gas. This has resulted in massive abandoned coal mines all across the country. As years went by, these mines were flooded with water, making it a source of geothermal (地热的) energy, which is used to generate heat and electricity. Gateshead hosts such a mine in its town, whose council, therefore, launched a mine water project in March 2023.
The authorities put in a large central heat pump in the mine. Mine water can often sit with a temperature of 45℃. The water is then pumped using appliances to home heat pumps. The process increases the temperature further. The water then goes ahead and warms up the interior space and home water supply. After the heat from the water has been used, it’s sent back to the mine where it again goes through the same process. The project has been successful in supplying low-carbon heating to 350 high-rise buildings, a college and several office buildings.
“Recovering heat from mine water below the ground within abandoned coal mines provides an exciting opportunity to generate a low-carbon secure supply of heat, benefiting people living or working in buildings on the coalfields,” said Gareth Farr, head of heat and by-product innovation at the Coal Authority.
The water resources through the mines are estimated to be two billion cubic meters or half the amount of water in Loch Ness. Farr added, “With many millions of people living upon abandoned coalfields in Great Britain, the potential for mine water heat could be significant.”
1. What does the town of Gateshead feature?| A．It’s been one of the most heavily polluted areas. |
| B．It has the most deep coal mines nationally. |
| C．It mainly relies on geothermal energy. |
| D．It is the first one to reuse abandoned coal mines. |
| A．They were quite remote. | B．Prices of coal declined a lot. |
| C．There weren’t enough miners. | D．The UK puts cleaner energy first. |
| A．The number of abandoned coal mines is stably increasing. |
| B．The future of sourcing energy from coal mines is promising. |
| C．The dependence on water resources in the UK is increasing. |
| D．The technique to take advantage of mine water is impressive. |
| A．The opportunity to generate new energy and benefit people living beside the pump. |
| B．The possibility of generating heat and electricity from coal mines in Britain. |
| C．The way of obtaining low carbon heating from water in abandoned coal mines. |
| D．The future of implementing renewable energy projects in abandoned coal mines. |
【推荐3】Far below every town and city lies an invisible network of pipes crucial to the lives of their residents. Once water disappears down a pipe or toilet, people rarely think about what happens to it. It’s out of sight, out of mind. The water flows into pipes that carry excess rainwater, wastewater and solid waste away, keeping the city clean.
There are three main types of sewers (下水道): sanitary (卫生的) sewers, storm sewers and combined sewers. Taipei has both sanitary and storm sewers where rainwater and sewage are collected using different pipes.
This sewer system functions as a city’s veins (静脉). Water containing human and industrial waste is collected in sanitary sewers and conveyed to sewage treatment plants, the heart of the sewer system, where waste is treated. There, the solid waste is separated from the water, which is then cleaned before being released back into the environment. It will be reused for industrial, agricultural or environmental purposes or to produce energy. Furthermore, the mud and gas from sewage treatment can be used to produce energy. They not only contribute to a healthy environment and good quality of life, but also achieve the goal of sustainable development.
While wastewater collection and treatment are critical to the health of urban residents, storm sewers also play an important role in the city. Green space has given way to concrete during the island’s rapid development and extensive building projects over the past few decades. As a consequence, there has been a loss of the land’s natural water as concrete cannot absorb rainwater. When an extreme weather event like a severe storm or typhoon brings heavy rain, storm sewers must cope with the water, so it does not flood the city. However, storm sewers are only part of the measures for water management and flood prevention.
To reduce flooding, an integrated urban drainage management plan has been adopted, where all the factors-storm sewers, land planning and economic development — are considered together. Engineering innovations, additional flood discharge facilities and increased green space requirements in new development projects have improved water maintaining in cities.
Who knew that sewers help improve urban public health, prevent urban flooding and boost environmental protection? Together they protect vital water resources and maintain the safety of people and property.
1. According to the passage, the word “excess” in the first paragraph probably means______.| A．useless | B．polluted | C．extra | D．processed |
| A．To test wastewater timely and to develop rapidly. |
| B．To treat wastewater and to fight against flooding. |
| C．To form a circulation and to clean the city. |
| D．To clean wastewater and to manage water. |
| A．What is unseen is as important as what is seen. |
| B．There are three types of sewers in every city. |
| C．People build sewer system because of concrete. |
| D．Sewers are usually repaired every few decades. |
| A．A City’s Underground Construction |
| B．A City’s Hidden Network |
| C．How A City Operates Well |
| D．Two Aspects of A City or Town |
【推荐1】Perhaps you have ever heard the saying: Change is the only constant. Everyone, without doubt, goes through changes in their life, whether it is a physical state of aging or a mental state of emotional maturity. However, some are afraid to make the conscious decision to move or they think it’s too late to have a fresh start.
I have a friend named Jack. At the age of 37, he is a Senior Manager at one of the Big Four. He has a great salary, owns his own apartment and enjoys the fine things in life, but not without the heavy burdens that his job brings. On the surface, it looks like he has got life figured out. Yet when I once asked if he was happy with his work, he answered that he sometimes wished to quit his job to do something less stressful. But he’d become accustomed to this lifestyle and felt that it would be too late to give it up to achieve a new ambition.
For him, the risks are too high, so whether he can’t abide his present job or not, he has to choose to suck it up. You might have come to a similar situation as Jack’s or you might be a Jack. You’re now facing a wall. No matter what it is-the stress of your job or the terrible feeling, it’s time that you had to decide whether you’ll tear down that wall or continue to let it enclose you. I suggest pushing back the boundaries and breaking the fixed patterns. Why do you feel it’s too late to start over?That is simply because you’re comparing yourself with others-younger or more successful individuals. In fact, you should compare yourself with the older version of you.
Don’t become that person who lets life pass by only to regret it when you are making your way into old age. Don’t let your life plateau (停滞不前) and waste away in the daily chores. Don’t give up the potential you still have hidden and be locked away by your current state. Now, you’d better bravely start going after the things you want to do, without abandoning your dreams, ambitions and responsibilities.
1. What kind of people does Jack represent according to the author?| A．Those leading a happy life. | B．Those having an easeful career. |
| C．Those thinking it’s too late to change. | D．Those having a high ambition to work. |
| A．Value. | B．Recommend. | C．Understand. | D．Tolerate. |
| A．Let life stand still. | B．Enjoy the present job. |
| C．Have a small goal in life. | D．Consider ourselves as a failure. |
【推荐2】The early lack of exposure to science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) can be harmful to achieving gender balance in these fields. It begins when we are young and continues throughout our time in high school.
While at home, girls generally don’t get to experience the level of exposure or encouragement in STEM fields that boys do. It is often subtle, but it’s the first obstacle that faces and confuses so many women. Boys, on the other hand, get on their path, and are encouraged to do so, generally earlier than girls. For example, boys are more often given science sets as toys, which spark an interest in these subjects.
In school, boys are often pushed in school to take the more challenging math and science classes. So if we want to attract the best and brightest minds into the fields that will advance us as a people, a country, and a planet, we can no longer look to only half of the population. Young girls cannot possibly consider opportunities they do not know exist. If girls are not exposed to certain subject and career paths, they are highly unlikely to elect to follow them in college.
Our bias(偏见) toward girl, either from families or from schools is so rooted in our culture that we often don’t even recognize it. While the situation has changed greatly in the past 20 or 30 years, there is still a sense that girls aren’t as good at math, for instance, even though there is almost no evidence to support such a belief.
It is important that as a society we deal with gender stereotypes long before young people are faced with a decision to declare or choose a major in college. Without making efforts to break them, we are limiting the potentials of our youth, both male and female. Providing the necessary resources, exposure, and encouragement would help young women understand that their gender shouldn’t determine the career path they choose, and that pursuing a STEM career does not make them less feminine.
1. According to the passage, not many girls grow to enter STEM fields because ________.| A．girls are not as good at STEM as boys |
| B．girls do not like to take science classes |
| C．girls get fewer chances to know about STEM |
| D．girls seldom survive the high pressure positions |
| A．this bias | B．our culture |
| C．the situation | D．a sense |
| A．show girls’ potentials in STEM fields |
| B．praise women’s contributions to STEM fields |
| C．describe the present gender bias in STEM fields |
| D．call for more involvement of women in STEM fields |
CP：Central Point P：Point Sp：Sub-point C： Conclusion
A． | B． |
C． | D． |
【推荐3】A recent paper describes bees rolling tiny wooden balls, not for a reward, but apparently just for fun. This discovery emphasizes a long-standing conflict in our view of animals. On the one hand, we want to find the features that distinguish humans from other animals: tools, language and a theory of mind. On the other hand, we delight in finding animals that break those boundaries: chimps, crows and now bees that use tools, dolphins with signature whistles. But what do those boundaries mean?
As a biologist who studies animal behaviour, I am puzzled by this effort to rank animals by their capabilities. I applaud the desire to show that animals are like us, but we can recognize animals for what they are, and be amazed at their abilities, without having to make their behaviour mirror that of humans.
Once we get out from the assumption that animals have to be like people with human motivations and feelings, we are freed up to consider the mechanisms (机理) behind the behaviours. For example, the same serotonin (血清素) influences anxiety in humans and maze (迷宫) exploration in crayfish. In a tank divided into well-lit and shadowy areas, crayfish explore both, but prefer the darker areas, consistent with their night lifestyle.
Does this mean crayfish experience anxiety? No. In the bees’ case, they might be exhibiting some very interesting behaviour that has nothing to do with wanting to “have fun”—but we will never examine it if we simply assume they are playing just like people. I am not disparaging the bee researchers’ conclusions, and I am not trying to be a killjoy, but there is something about all this humanizing that prevent exploration, instead of encouraging it.
1. What’s the purpose of paragraph 1?| A．To list out facts. | B．To raise an argument. |
| C．To arouse readers’ interest. | D．To explain a concept. |
| A．Behaviour mechanisms work. | B．Crayfish prefer the light sections. |
| C．The assumption proves reasonable. | D．Animals are similar to human in mind. |
| A．Criticizing. | B．Explaining. |
| C．Confirming. | D．Acknowledging. |
| A．Feelings: Guiding Human Being | B．Boundaries: Making No Sense |
| C．Humanizing: Covering the Truth | D．Animals: Mirroring Human Behaviours |
【推荐1】The classic nightmare of suddenly realizing you are naked in public could soon get a futuristic twist: it might involve the horror of losing not just your modesty but also your pass codes. Scientists recently created magnetic garments that they say can store data, automatically unlock doors or control a nearby smartphone with gesture.
The concept of interactive “smart clothing” has drawn attention in the past couple of years. For example, Google and Levi’s created a touch-sensitive jacket that can operate a smartphone. This and other smart garments are made with conductive thread and usually require an attached electronic device.
To eliminate the need for such peripheral gear, researchers at the University of Washington recently took advantage of what is a previously untapped property of conductive thread: its ability to be magnetized. “Using magnetic instead of electric properties of the thread may seem like a small difference, but it is what makes this work interesting and exciting,” says Chris Harrison, a computer scientist at Carnegie Mellon University, who was not part of the research. The new technique allowed the researchers to do something they say is unique among wearables: turn them into storage devices.
The Washington team magnetized a patch of fabric embroidered with conductive thread, giving different parts of the cloth a north or south orientation that correspond to binary 1’s or 0’. This step allowed the researchers to store up to 33 million different combinations—such as pass codes for doors—on a shirt sleeve. They also created magnetic gloves that could control a nearby smartphone with gestures. The team described its findings last October at a meeting of the Association for Computing Machinery.
The garments still stored data after washing, drying and ironing, but they could not escape time’s eraser; after about a week, the threads’ magnetic fields had weakened by around 30 percent. The researchers suggest that using custom-made thread designed to hold stronger magnetic fields might work longer. But for now the clothes may be best suited for storing temporary codes, such as those found on hotel key cards or clothing tags in stores. Harrison says that it is “very unlikely you are ever going to achieve a comparable density to magnetic hard drives” with data-storing fabric, however.
1. What does the underlined sentence (1st paragraph) imply?| A．People would soon change their views on being naked in public. |
| B．There is no way to stop the decline of privacy right now. |
| C．People would lose privacy to a considerable degree. |
| D．The classic nightmare of losing pass codes could never come true. |
| A．it will gradually eliminate the need for attached devices |
| B．it will turn any common wearables into storage devices |
| C．it is such an abstract idea that giant companies have made attempts at it |
| D．it brings scientists new challenges and makes their work out of the ordinary |
| A．It is portable and can interact with electronic devices wirelessly. |
| B．it is sustainable and doesn’t need further maintenance. |
| C．It is washable and can endure high temperature. |
| D．It can store huge amounts of information. |
| A．Magnetic hard drivers will never lose their position to fabrics in storage. |
| B．Cloth and fabric as a storage medium have replaced magnetic hard drives. |
| C．Data-storing fabric can be as efficient as a traditional storage medium now. |
| D．In the short term, fabric used to store data cannot overcome its weakness. |
【推荐2】According to the notice from the government, our school will close and your child can stay at home if it snows in order to avoid the traffic inconvenience and possible danger. But Snow Day is not a homework-free holiday. We will call it Snow Learning Day.
Snow Learning Day is a time for students to continue learning at home when they miss a day of regular school study. Students will have the opportunity for skill improvement through computer or paper worksheets.
We will send home a packet with each student that contains work for Snow Learning. Please sign your name in the following activity boxes when you make sure your child completes for each Snow Learning Day we have. Your child needs to return this sheet and all completed work to Mr. Turner within 5 days after they return to school.
ACTIVITY BOX ON SNOW LEARNING DAY
| ● Create a 15-song play list from the 1970s, 1980s or 1990s that you think your parents would have listened to growing up. Include the song title and the artist. | ● Write a biography of your favorite writer. Explore important details about their life, their works and writing style. |
| ● Think of a fictional book you have read recently. Write a new ending to that book. Minimum one page. | ● Write a step-by-step guide that explains in detail how to prepare and cook a meal that you made on your snow day. |
1. What is Snow Learning Day according to paragraph I?
| A．It is a school festival. |
| B．It is a computer program. |
| C．It is a school-free day with homework。. |
| D．It is a wintertime safety training activity. |
| A．Learning 15 old songs. | B．Writing a cooking guide. |
| C．Exploring a fictional book. | D．Interviewing a writer. |
| A．Government. | B．Teachers. |
| C．Parents. | D．Students. |
Among them are educators from the College Station Independent School District in Texas, who recently completed a week-long experiment involving 480 students across three elementary schools. The 374 kids that agreed to participate in the study were provided a device that helped record step count and calorie consumption over the entire period.
All 25 teachers involved in the study reported that students appeared to be more alert and concentrate better, when allowed to stand. The one thing that did surprise the researchers was that younger kids were more willing to stay standing than kids in higher grades. They believe this may have something to do with the fact that after years of being asked to “sit still”, older kids have a harder time adjusting to this unexpected freedom.
American schools are not the only ones reporting success with stand-up desks. Four Catholic schools in Perth, Australia, which have been testing them since October 2013, have seen similar results. In May 2014, Grove House Primary School in Bradford, West Yorkshire, became Europe’s first test one, with a seven-week trial that involved the use of desks made by Ergotron in their fifth-grade classrooms. While official results are not out yet, early reactions from both teachers and students, have been extremely encouraging.
The findings of these studies and others done previously, all seem to mean that allowing kids to move around in classrooms is a win-win for students and teachers — it helps kids get healthier and provides educators with a more engaged audience.
1. The students may be unhappy because _____.| A．they have to exchange desks with each other |
| B．the officials show no sympathy to them at all |
| C．there are no seats for them to sit in class |
| D．they have to exchange traditional desks for ones with no seats |
| A．they are cleverer than younger students |
| B．they are easily tired of standing long |
| C．they have formed the habit of sitting |
| D．they do badly in class while standing |
| A．The standing desks can’t be used at all. |
| B．It is good for students to use stand-up desks. |
| C．More tests should be done in other schools. |
| D．The students are different in personality. |
| A．Because the educators can draw the students’ attention. |
| B．Because the teachers can keep the students healthy. |
| C．Because the students can have a walk in the classroom. |
| D．Because the standing desks can keep the students concentrated. |
【推荐1】I spend half of my life with my mother and the other half with my father. My father lives with a twenty-pound cat named Tofu. He calls me his favorite daughter. I am the only child.
My father's apartment is quite different from any other people's living space.Except for my room,there is no furniture.He doesn't like sofas or any comfortable chairs,so he has only a drawing table,a desk and a bed. For three years he has resisted buying a stereo because he thinks it's ugly and will mess up his studio.
From my father's studio, window, you can see a large part of San Francisco. Í like to watch the colors change in the bay when the sun is setting.All the walls are white, and framed posters of my father's last three books hang side by side. He spends a lot of time lying on the studio floor. That's how he thinks,he says. Then he does yoga. He has a big kitchen,and on top of the Refrigeration is an old clock he winds every week for good luck. The last time the clock stopped, my father's car was pulled away by the police and some other unfortunate things happened, so he has become very superstitious(迷信). When he goes out of town, he hires someone to feed Tofu and wind the clock so it won't stop.
The one thing he has plenty of is house rules. You have to take off your shoes when you came in. He won't allow anyone who wears a baseball cap into his house. He says only baseball players should wear baseball caps and only the catchers should wear them backward. Every time I go to stay at his house, he makes up a new rule. "House rule number 579,no television programs with laugh tracks!" he will say. Well then he can never remember the numbers, so they change constantly.
The rule that he always enforces is the one that requires me to write a two-page-long essay anytime I want something.He didn't speak English until he was sixteen, and he had a hard time learning to write it,so he wants me to become a good writer at an early age.The ritual started when I asked him if I could have my ear pierced when I was nine.He said it was barbaric and told me I couldn't do it until I was thirty-five.But I kept asking him, and he finally said that if I wrote an essay and I could persuade him in writing why I wanted holes in my ears, maybe he would say okay. I wrote my first essay for my father, and after one month of writing and rewriting,he backed down and gave me his permission.
1. Which statement is an example of a house rule?| A．No baseball players should wear caps backward. |
| B．Lying on the studio floor can improve the way of thinking. |
| C．Wearing shoes in the house is not acceptable. |
| D．Keeping Tofu fed and the clock wound is important. |
| A．the writer's parents are separated. |
| B．writing a two-page-long essay is a well-meant intention of the father |
| C．there are in all 579 house rules and the number is growing |
| D．my father doesn't want a stereo in his house for its ugliness. |
| A．A sudden scream pierced the silence. |
| B．The darkness was pierced by the light from the sun. |
| C．Boil the corn until it can easily be pierced with a fork. |
| D．The crazy man threatened to pierce the defense of the police. |
| A．The Tension between My Father and Me | B．A Father's Unusual Habits |
| C．A Caring Father | D．A Challenging Teenager |
【推荐2】Sydney Airport International Terminal-Arrivals Area
SPECIALTY RETAIL
Newslink: Two separate Newslink stores cater to all your reading needs including newspapers, magazines and the latest bestsellers.
Downtown Duty Free: Make sure you shop at Downtown Duty Free for great savings on a range of items including perfume, alcohol, skincare and cigarettes. It’s your last chance before customs.
Beach Culture: A must for those who go into the Latest in beach clothing. Top surf, street and fashion labels including Mambo, Stussy and Quicksilver, including children’s sizes.
DINING
Blue Sky Care: Speedy service leaves you time to keep an eye on the arrivals gate. Morning pastries, fresh juice, breakfast rolls and coffee while you wait.
McDonald’s: hamburgers, fries, drinks, muffins and shakes—all your family favorites. Breakfast served until 10:30 a. m.
SERVICES
ATM: ATMs are conveniently located throughout Arrival and Departures. Dollars, pounds, francs and RMB are all available.
Vodafone Rentals: This communication center offers the very latest technology for mobile phone rentals, sales and servicing.
1. Where is this passage likely to appear?| A．A morning newspaper. |
| B．A monthly magazine. |
| C．A geography book. |
| D．An official guide. |
| A．satisfy | B．afford |
| C．support | D．help |
| A．Vodafone Rentals | B．Blue Sky Cafe |
| C．Downtown Duty Free | D．McDonald’s |
| A．newspapers and magazines |
| B．skincare and cigarettes |
| C．Mambo and Stussy |
| D．fresh juice and breakfast rolls |
| A．You can have breakfast at McDonald’s at 11:00 a. m.. |
| B．You’ll save money if you buy alcohol or perfume at Downtown Duty Free. |
| C．You’ll not find any beach clothing for your seven-year-old boy in Beach Culture. |
| D．There is only one ATM throughout Arrivals and Departure. |
【推荐3】Shortly before Christmas last year, Brazilian piano player Joao Carlos Martins invited his friends to a bar near his home. He wanted to show them the best gift he had received in many years: A new pair of gloves.
They are not just gloves, however. The specially made bionic devices are letting the 79-year-old play with both hands for the first time in more than 20 years.
By his retirement last March, he had undergone 24 medical procedures to try to reduce pain caused by a progressive disease and from a series of accidents. Before the gloves, which were especially developed for him, Martins could only play songs slowly with his thumbs and, sometimes, his pointer fingers.
However, one designer believed Martins' retirement had come too early. That designer, Ubirata Bizarro Costa, created special bionic gloves for Martins' hands. The gloves help move his fingers up after they press on the piano keys. Costa said he created early models based on images of Martins’ hands. But he said those models were “far from ideal”. He then decided to tell Martins about his efforts. Costa and Martins then spent several months testing different models. The perfect match came in December, and cost only $ 125 to build.
These days, Martins never takes off his new gloves—even when he goes to sleep. Martins said he has received more than 100 devices in the last 50 years as possible solutions to his hand problems. None worked well or long enough. “But these gloves do,” he said.
The new gloves have given Martins a new goal. He hopes to play the piano at New York's Carnegie Hall in October. He is already set to conduct a concert celebrating the 60th anniversary of his first appearance there.
1. What can we guess about Joao Carlos Martins?| A．He enjoyed playing the piano in a bar. |
| B．He has received the most valuable gift in his life. |
| C．He has just retired from a music company. |
| D．He often discussed with his friends about music. |
| A．It has existed for over 20 years. |
| B．It was developed mainly for the disabled. |
| C．It can be worn to reduce the physical pain. |
| D．It realizes Martins' dream to play the piano with two hands. |
| A．By pressing Martins’fingers against the piano keys. |
| B．By conducting many tests to find the ideal model. |
| C．By working with other designers and companies. |
| D．By repeatedly examining images of Martins’ hands. |
| A．Technology Improves People's Life |
| B．Magic Gloves Let Brazilian Pianist Play Again |
| C．Costa Creates the Special Gloves for Martins |
| D．Martins Receives the Best Christmas Gift |
