【推荐1】The government of Singapore has created a highly developed system that turns wastewater into drinking water. The system involves a network of tunnels and high-technology treatment centers.

Reused wastewater can now meet 40 percent of Singapore’s water demand. The country’s water agency says it expects to meet 55 percent of Singapore’s water demand by the year 2060.

Most of the water is used for microchip manufacturing centers and cooling systems in buildings. But some of it is added to the country’s drinking water supplies. The system helps reduce ocean pollution, as only a small amount of the treated water is sent into the sea.

Singapore has few natural water sources. The island nation has long had to depend mostly on supplies from neighboring Malaysia. Low Pei Chin, chief engineer of the water reclamation department of the Public Utilities Board, told reporters with Independent, “Singapore lacks natural resources, and it is limited in space, which is why we are always looking for ways to explore water sources and stretch our water supply.”

The Changi Water Reclamation Plant on Singapore’s eastern coast is the main part of the country’s recycling system. Parts of the water treatment center are underground. Wastewater enters the center through a 48-kilometer tunnel that is linked to sewers(下水道). The center contains a large system of steel pipes, tubes, tanks, cleaning systems and other machinery. It can treat up to 900 million liters of wastewater a day.

Waste that arrives at the plant goes through a cleaning process before powerful pumps send it flowing to areas above ground for more treatment. There, the treated water receives additional cleaning. Bacteria and viruses are removed through highly developed cleaning processes.

Singapore is also in the process of expanding its recycling system. The country will add another underground tunnel and a major water treatment center to serve the western half of the island. Officials expect work on the center to be completed by 2025. By the time the expansion is finished, Singapore will have spent about $7.4 billion on its water treatment systems.

1. What can we know about the treated water?

A．Most of it is sent into the sea.

B．It can only be used by factories.

C．Some of it is used as drinking water.

D．It can meet the whole country’s water demand.

2. Why has Singapore always relied on its neighbour for most of its water supply?

A．It has a friendly neighbor.

B．It is short of water resources.

C．Its people dislike using recycled water.

D．Its water consumption is particularly high.

3. What’s the sixth paragraph mainly about?

A．The history of a water treatment center.

B．The reasons for cleaning wastewater.

C．Introduction to groundwater networks.

D．The process of recycling the wastewater.

4. What is the best title for the text?

A．Singapore Turns Wastewater into Drinking Water

B．Singapore Builds a Strong Water-saving Culture

C．What Are Singapore’s Water Success and Lessons?

D．How Singapore Is Putting a Stop to Water Running out?

【推荐2】Before the end of the year, employees at Ubiquitous Energy, a company in Redwood City, Calif, will gather in a window-lined conference room to stare toward the future. That’s because their new glass windows will offer more than an amazing view of the mountains and blue skies of the North California landscape. They will also function as solar panels (太阳能电池板), able to power the company’s lights, computers and air conditioners.

Several years in the making, Ubiquitous’ energy-producing glass is a great technological achievement whose power lies in the layers of organic polymers (聚合物) between sheets of glass. As light enters the window, the flow of electrons between the polymer layers creates an electric current, which is then collected by tiny wires in the glass.

“It’s sort of like a transparent (透明的) computer display run backwards,” says Veeral Hardev, director of business development at Ubiquitous Energy. “That is, instead of electricity being sent to different points in a display to light them up, light is producing electricity to be sent out of different points in the window.”

Right now the windows produce about a third as much electricity from a given amount of sunlight as the typical solar batteries used in roof panels (板), and these windows, about half as transparent as ordinary glass, don’t work as well as transparent ones. But those standards are already enough to make the windows a promising product, says Hardev, adding the company is likely to improve the transparency significantly. As for the lower output of electricity, he notes that windows can cover a much greater surface area than a roof, so numerous windows will produce a surprisingly larger amount of electricity than the production from a rooftop full of higher-efficiency solar panels. “You could do both.” says Hardev. “But you’ll get more from the windows. The biggest challenge, he adds, is to make the windows from less than two square feet currently to about 50 square feet.”

1. What makes the new glass windows special?

A．They can offer an amazing view.

B．They are controlled by computers.

C．They can power the conference room.

D．They can help stare toward the future.

2. What is Hardev trying to explain in paragraph 3?

A．Where the light comes from

B．The importance of different points

C．The similarity of computers and glass

D．How the energy-producing glass works

3. What can affect power production according to the passage?

A．The transparency of the glass.	B．The quality of the rooftop.
C．The height of the solar panels.	D．The thickness of the glass.

4. What is the biggest problem Ubiquitous Energy needs to solve?

A．To change the window structure	B．To increase the size of the window
C．To protect the windows from lighting	D．To fix windows reasonably in an office

5. Which of the following is the best title for the passage?

A．Windows: A New Challenge of Technology

B．Windows: No Longer Just for Letting in the Light

C．Power: A Pressing Problem in the Near Future

D．Power: Not Enough from Rooftop Solar Panels

【推荐3】There are many reasons to skip deep-fried fast food, one of which is the challenge of dealing with used cooking oil. But researchers at the University of Toronto have discovered amusing method of transforming this useless waste product into an affordable plastic ink for 3D printers. And there’s more good news! The ink can breakdown naturally, unlike conventional 3D printing resins (树脂).

Professor Andre Simpson is director of the Department of Chemistry at the University of Toronto. He first became interested in the idea when he got a 3D printer around three years ago. After noticing that the molecules (分子) used in commercial resins resembled fats found in cooking oil, he wondered whether such a molecule could be created using waste cooking oil.

Using old cooking oil from a local McDonalds restaurant close to a campus, Professor Simpson and his research team applied a one-step chemical process in the lab, using about one liter of used cooking oil to make just under half of that amount in resins. The resin was then used to print a plastic butterfly that was structurally and thermally (热地) stable. This means that it won’t crumble or melt above room temperature.

Speaking to Goodnet, Professor Simpson outlined his high hopes for the creative and cheaper route to recycling that waste cooking oil: “Normally 3D printing resins come from fossil fuels, but by recycling used cooking oil into a high value product, we hope it will reduce the financial barriers, which should be a win-win for the environment.

Professor Simpson is also excited that the new lower cost of this 3D printing material will open up access to the near-limitless creative opportunities. “We hope that as the resin can be made very cheaply, it could reduce the 3D printing cost, so the technology is available to everyone,” he explains.

1. How do the researchers deal with the waste cooking oil?

A．Produce 3D printers from it.

B．Make plastic inkfor3D printers from it.

C．Throw it away as waste products.

D．Use it as 3D printing resins directly.

2. What does the underlined word “crumble” in Paragraph 3mean?

A．Swell up

B．Get up

C．Break up

D．Heat up

3. What is the feature of the products made from the new printing material?

A．They are much stronger.	B．They can be recycled easily.
C．They are lower in cost.	D．They won’t breakdown naturally.

4. What is the best title of this passage?

A．Researchers Invent New 3D Printers.	B．Waste Cooking Oil Finds a New Life.
C．3D Printing Resins Bring More Hopes.	D．A High-tech Product Changes Our Lives.

【推荐2】Camping is a good way to spend time along with your kids and to show them how wonderful nature can be. Through camping, children can discover new things about nature, such as flowers, birds, and other small animals. Camping gives kids time to get away from all the electronics of today’s culture. So it is necessary to plan exciting and enjoyable family camping trips with your children while they are young.

When planning your family camping trip, consider the activities your kids like:games, hiking, swimming, boating, bicycling, etc. Select a camping place that has some of the activities the kids are interested in. Meal planning is an important part of your camping trip. Plan the meals together, and kids love to choose what they want to eat.

When starting to pack for your trip, let the kids pack their own items. Each person should have his/her own sleeping bag with a luggage bag to put it in. Personal items should be packed with their sleeping bags. Encourage the kids to put their items in a certain place and always return it when they have finished using it.

When you have arrived at your campsite, make all the camping activities a family activity, which will help children to realize how important team work is. Everyone can have his/her own job sitting up the campsite. Meal time can be a fun time. So let the older ones help with the cooking on your outdoor camping stove while the younger ones get the picnic table ready.

1. Which of the following is the best place for a family camping?

A．A place covered with forests.

B．A place with a river and wild animals.

C．A place where kids can find various foods they like.

D．A place which provides many interesting activities .

2. What does the author advise parents to do while planning a family camping trip?

A．Encourage the children to take care of their own things.

B．Keep the children away from animals.

C．Take more food to meet the children’s need.

D．Let the children learn by watching.

3. When at the campground, it is necessary to ________.

A．allow the children to cook	B．give children enough time to play
C．make everyone have work to do	D．keep the picnic table full of food