【推荐1】3M and Discovery Education announced Sean Jiang from Gilman School as one of the top ten finalists from across the nation for the 2023 3M Young Scientist Challenge. It’s a competition that encourages students to identify an everyday problem and submit a video showing the science behind the solution he or she came up with.

14-year-old Jiang decided to help those who can’t see. Blind people had a hard time navigationg (导航) objects that are medium to far range. So Jiang wanted to design something to give them a heads-up on obstacles (障碍) that may be incoming.

Jiang’s inspiration came from the powers of the hearing system. “I learned in school that bats and whales are able to use echolocation (回声定位) to help them navigate and just use their sense of hearing and I also saw on YouTube some very skilled blind people that use echolocation to help them walk,” said Jiang.

Jiang started with a virtual reality setting and then made it a reality. His creation uses a depth camera that can detect how close objects are, thus giving enough time to avoid the obstacles. When a blind is walking with the device, the sensor of the depth camera gathers the information regarding the obstacles’ position and distance. Then the AI system in it will turn the distance data into musical sound guidance. This could significantly increase the walking speed of a blind person as well as decrease the number of obstacles they hit.

Some other similar programs were alright at finding objects that were in close range, but Jiang still wanted the blind to experience the world even fuller so they were able to see stuff that was much further away than their circle of reach.

In October, the top ten finalists will compete in person in Minneapolis for the title of “America’s Top Young Scientist” and a $25,000 prize.

1. What’s the main purpose of the 2023 3M Young Scientist Challenge?

A．It is to inspire students to recognize a daily problem and demonstrate the scientific principle behind the solution.

B．It is to help schools select talents.

C．It is to develop students’ teamwork and creativity.

D．It is to encourage students to find problems and build their confidence.

2. What does the underlined word “heads-up” mean in paragraph 2?

A．Raising head.

B．Brief report.

C．One-on-one match.

D．Advance warning.

3. What can we learn about Jiang from the text?

A．He was the champion of the 2023 3M event.

B．He invented technology to remove road obstacles.

C．He sought to assist the blind in walking smoothly.

D．He developed a new navigation app for his school.

4. What is Paragraph 3 mainly about?

A．How did the device help the blind.

B．The source of inspiration for Sean Jiang’s invention.

C．The reason Jiang entered the competition.

D．Jiang’s device’s creation process.

【推荐2】The history of vacuum cleaners(真空吸尘器) in the UK dates back to the early 1900s.Hubert Cecil Booth started the first vacuum cleaner company in the UK, known as the British Vacuum Cleaner Company. It wasn’t long, however, before William Henry Hoover, who had already experienced success with his vacuum cleaners in America, made headway in the vacuum cleaner market in the UK and became more successful than Booth.

Hoover’s vacuum cleaners in the UK became such a success that ‘to hoover’ quickly became equal to vacuuming. Some of the earliest domestic vacuum cleaners in the UK used simple reusable cloth bag designs whereby the vacuum cleaner simply collected dust in the bag. Once the bag was full, you could empty and re-attach it to the vacuum cleaner.

For decades after their introduction, vacuum cleaners in the UK were a luxury item that only the upper class could afford. After World War II，however, they became common among the middle class.

This was especially true for vacuum cleaners in the UK, because the popularity of carpets means sweeping is not an easy or effective means of carpet cleaning.

In 1952, Hoover made the Constellation available to the public for the first time. Hoover designed it so that people could place the vacuum cleaner in the centre of the room and then work around it. After about 20 years of selling these vacuum cleaners in the UK, Hoover stopped the Constellation in 1975.

Advances to upright and cylinder(气缸) vacuum cleaners in the UK continued, enabling vacuum cleaners to become more efficient and effective. The 1990s saw the introduction of the first bagless domestic vacuum cleaners in the UK. Despite many industry fears consumers would not be prepared to pay the high price, bagless vacuum cleaners became a big success in the UK.

As for the future, vacuum cleaners in the UK are expected to become even more energy-efficient.

1. What can be inferred from the first paragraph?

A．Hoover entered the UK vacuum cleaner market before the 1900s.

B．Hoover’s vacuum cleaners were more advanced than booth’s.

C．Hoover’s vacuum cleaners were very popular in the UK market.

D．Vacuum cleaners were invented later in the UK than in America.

2. What was the cloth bag on the earliest domestic vacuum cleaners used for?

A．Decorating the vacuum cleaners.

B．Making the vacuum cleaners more efficient.

C．Lightening the vacuum cleaners.

D．Collecting dust.

3. What was the most remarkable characteristic of the Constellation?

A．It was only used by the upper class.

B．Its design allowed the user to work around it.

C．It was upright and it had a cylinder added to it.

D．Its price was extremely high at the time.

4. We can learn from the passage that bagless vacuum cleaners .

A．were so popular that they could fulfill all UK customers’ demands

B．were the most energy-efficient vacuum cleaners.

C．were not accepted by UK customers

D．were expensive when they made their first public appearance in the UK

【推荐3】Finally, the long-awaited flying car is almost here.

AeroMobil, a Slovakian company, plans to start selling its creation, the AeroMobil 3.0, in 2018.

The company claims on its site that the vehicle “transforms in seconds from an automobile to an airplane” by using “existing infrastructure created for automobiles and planes.” The vehicle is gas-powered and has wings that fold, which allows it to be parked like a car, though it is nearly 20 feet long.

The company’s web site features a video where the AeroMobil 3.0 drives out of a hangar (飞机库) and goes down a highway, sharing the road with regular cars until it arrives at an airstrip. The car then unfolds its wings and takes off from a stretch of grass, rather than a paved tarmac (停机坪) , and flies through the air like any other small airplane.

AeroMobil spokesman Stefan Vadocz said his company hasn’t nailed down an exact price because it’s not ready yet.

“The prototype is a work in progress,” he said in an email. But he said to expect the price to be several hundreds of thousands of euros, somewhere in between a sports car and a light sports aircraft. The vehicle seats two people — the pilot and a passenger — and its single propeller (螺旋桨) is located to the rear of the plane. The company said the car’s top speed on the road is at least 99 mph and while flying is at least 124 mph. It can fly for 435 miles before running out of gas. It has a steel framework and carbon coating and is powered by a Rotax 912, a four-cylinder aircraft engine from BRP of Austria.

Flying cars aren’t exactly new. The concept has been around since long before “The Jetsons” popularized the idea in the 1960s. It’s been a regular topic in Popular Science ever since the famous pilot Eddie Rickenbacker in World War I wrote about it in 1924. But getting a practical, reliable flying car off the ground has been a serious challenge. Glenn Curtiss, a strong competitor of the Wright Brothers, discovered this in 1918 when he developed the Curtiss Autoplane. It turned out to be more of a hopper than a flyer, so it failed to take off with the public.

The AeroMobil 3.0 has at least one competitor, the Terrafugia Transition, which also runs on gas and has folding wings. Terrafugia has said in the past that it plans to release the Transition into the market this year.

1. The AeroMobil 3.0 has the following features EXCEPT that          .

A．it can transform between a car and an airplane quickly

B．it is as convenient to park as a regular car

C．it can share the same road with regular cars

D．it has to be powered by special fuel

2. The underlined word “prototype” in Paragraph 6 is closest in meaning to _________.

A．perfect version

B．fashionable design

C．original model

D．committed engineer

3. We can learn from the passage that __________.

A．Glenn Curtiss was a pioneer in making a flying car

B．since 1924 the flying car has become the most popular topic worldwide

C．the Transition will definitely defeat the AeroMobil 3.0 on the market

D．the AeroMobil 3.0 is expected to be as cheap as a regular car

4. The passage is mainly about _________.

A．the working principles of a flying cars

B．the advantages of the AeroMobil 3.0 over regular car

C．the comparison between different products

D．the introduction to a new invention

【推荐1】In the United States, headmasters and teachers discipline (惩罚) students in several ways. The teacher often writes to or calls the students’ parents. Sometimes students have to stay at school for one hour. If a student behaves (行为) very badly, the headmaster can stop the student having classes. The student can’t come to school for one, two or three days. Mr Lazares, the headmaster of a middle school in Ohio, did not like to do so. When he didn’t let the students come to school, they were happy. “A three-day holiday!” they thought.
One day, a boy was in Mr Lazares’s office. The boy was not behaving well in class. Mr Lazares telephoned the boy’s parents. “If you come to school with your son, I won’t stop him having classes.” He said. The boy’s father came to school and went with his son to every class. Other students looked at the boy and his father. The boy was embarrassed (难为情). After that he behaved better. And, of course, other students behaved better, too.
Now headmasters all over the USA are trying Mr Lazares’s idea. They, too, think that students behave better when parents come to school.
1. What does a headmaster usually do to the student if he behaves very badly?

A．Calls the student’s parents.

B．Writes to the student’s parents.

C．Let the student stay at school for an hour.

D．Stops the student having classes for several days.

2. When a student was stopped having classes for two or three days, he was ____ .

A．happy	B．angry
C．worried	D．afraid

3. What did Mr Lazares do when his students were not behaving well in class?

A．Tried to talk them.

B．Sent them home

C．Had them stay in his office.

D．Telephoned their parents to come to school and go to classes with them.

4. Why did the other students behave better, too?

A．They were afraid of teachers.

B．They were afraid of Mr Lazares.

C．They didn’t want their parents to come to school.

D．They didn’t like to have classes with the boy’s father.

5. Which is TRUE according to the passage ?

A．Students can behave well if headmasters and teachers discipline them.

B．The teacher can stop the students having the class if they behave very badly.

C．Mr Lazares didn’t let the students leave the school for one or two days.

D．Mr Lazares likes the parents to come to school.

【推荐3】While astronauts in space get to do many exciting things，they miss out on ordinary things that we all take for granted—being able to walk on firm ground，hanging out with family and digging into a slice of hot steaming pizza． Though not much can be done about the first two things，there may soon be a solution to the third one，thanks to this cool 3-D pizza printer！
About a year ago，NASA offered $125 ,000 to Anjan Contractor， a 3-D technology expert，to build a device（设备）that would allow astronauts to make pizza on demand． The mechanical engineer promised that his invention would produce pies in large quantities that looked， tasted and even smelled like pizza made in common ovens．
Late last year， the engineer presented a video of his first prototype（原型）that begins by creating a single slice of dough（面团）that is cooked and printed at the same time．Then comes the tomato “sauce” — a mix of tomato powder，oil and water and finally，a protein slice that resembles cheese．While the video doesn’t show the baking process，the inventor says that once the pizza is printed，it can be ready to be consumed in 7 seconds．
While the pie in the video looks delicious enough to attract any pizza lover，Anjan Contractor is far from ready for astronauts．That’s because he still has to find a solution to make the food container in the printer last for 30 years．Though that may sound unrealistic，actually it is not．
Anjan Contractor believes that the only way that is possible is that the water is removed from all the ingredients（配料）and then they are reduced to the powder form．This，as you can imagine，will not be so easy．But，while the printer may not be ready for space，it certainly looks ready enough for people on earth．Hopefully，NASA and Contractor will consider selling it to those not fortunate enough to go to Mars！
1. Why does the author mention the things that astronauts in space cannot do？

A．To ask us not to take common things for granted．

B．To show they live a difficult life there．

C．To show their life is boring in space．

D．To introduce the topic of the text．

2. NASA offered $ 125，000 to Anjan Contractor mainly to _______．

A．create some new type of 3-D printer

B．attract more companies to work for NASA

C．help astronauts in space enjoy fresh pizza one day

D．produce pizza in large quantities to earn great profits

3. The biggest challenge that Anjan Contractor is faced with now is probably that _______．

A．he has no money left to go on with his research

B．the pizza doesn’t seem appetizing to pizza lovers

C．he has no way to make pizza that can last for thirty years

D．he cannot make the food container last for decades

4. What’s the best title of the passage？

A．NASA is trying its best to help astronauts eat better

B．Astronauts may soon be able to enjoy steaming hot pizza

C．NASA is working on making pizza for common people

D．A 3-D pizza printer has been used to make pizza