【推荐1】Deep under a mountain at China Jinping Underground Laboratory in Sichuan, Chinese scientists tirelessly research dark matter. Located 2,400 meters below Jinping Mountain, their research site is the world’s deepest underground laboratory.

After reaching the foot of the mountain, it is a 10-minute drive before arriving at the lab.There are six layers of material outside the lab, including natural rock, 50-centimeter-thickconcrete and other materials to keep nearly everything out.

However, there is still something that cannot be kept out - the dark matter. According to NASA Science,only five percent of the universe is currently known. Dark energy fills 68percent of the universe, and dark matter makes up about 27 percent. Human eyes can’t see either of the elements; and no one has detected them yet.

Scientists are confident that dark matter exists. According to National Geographic,standard physics would suppose that stars orbiting at the edge of a galaxy travel slower than those near the center. However, what we see is that stars turn at nearly the same speed -no matter where they are. Scientists thus believe that stars are driven by the gravitational effect caused by dark matter.

With the first dark matter search results from the lab published in 2021, Chinese researchers have successfully narrowed down the range when detecting these “ghosts”. A question remains - why do scientists need such a pure “environment”?

Professor Elisabetta, a physicist, told the Science X Network website that dark matter research has to happen deep underground to “cut out the cosmic’(宇宙的) noise and radiation(辐射)”,for instance,cosmic rays(射线)which can be absorbed by rocks.If a lab is buried deep enough underground, the impact of cosmic rays may be reduced to zero.

1. What’s the conclusion about the underground laboratory according to paragraph 1?

A．It is built up for researching rocks.

B．It is under a mountain in Wenchuan.

C．It has ten layers of material outside.

D．It is the world’s deepest underground lab.

2. Which words can best describe dark matter?

A．Tiny and beneficial.	B．Plentiful and dangerous.
C．Invisible and mysterious.	D．Unstable and undetectable.

3. What does paragraph 4 mainly focus on?

A．How scientists study dark matter.

B．Where scientists can find dark matter.

C．Why scientists believe dark matter exists.

D．What role dark matter plays in the universe.

4. What’s the reason for building the lab underground?

A．To study the gravitational effect.	B．To reduce the impact of cosmic rays.
C．To better make fantastic dark matter.	D．To explore unknown cosmic radiation.

【推荐2】Are you searching for the latest device as a gift? Here, we offer a guide that will help you take a closer look at four of tech’s hottest categories.

Virtual reality

Virtual reality (VR), the most exciting tech development of recent times, has arrived. The Sony VR doesn’t require expensive phone and there are some devices you can purchase to enhance the experience. But if you’ve already got a PS4, you can enter the world of VR for just $400 (2780 yuan).

Wireless headphones

Combining ease of use with the ability to move around without limit, wireless headphones just make sense. The Bose QuietComfort 35 wireless headphones are worth a test drive. The headphones feature active noise cancellation. They can be easily purchased for less than $400 online.

Digital cameras

While your phone has more functions, there’s no substitute（替代品）for a real camera. As small as your smartphone, the smooth design of the Fujifilm X70, $699 (4850 yuan), makes it the perfect companion. In China, Xiaomi’s mirrorless Yi M1 offers a more affordable option, available for just 2199 yuan.

Smartwatches

Watches, thanks to the mobile phone, were becoming unnecessary. Now the pursuit for fitness has helped the watch industry push forward. FitBit has been a leader in the sporty wearable field, and its new swim-proof Fitbit Flex 2 ($130) represents the best in the way of today’s fitness bands.

1. With a budget of $300, which of the following can you buy?

A．Xiaomi Yi M1.

B．Fujifilm X70.

C．Fitbit Flex 2.

D．A Sony VR without a PS4.

2. What may be the possible reason for you to choose Xiaomi instead of Fujifilm?

A．Its design.

B．Its function.

C．Its quality.

D．Its price.

3. Where may you find the passage?

A．In a newspaper.

B．In a guide book.

C．In a research paper.

D．In a sports magazine.

【推荐1】The Master of Suspense(悬念)

One of England’s greatest movie directors was a man by the name of Alfred Hitchcock, born in 1899. He made many famous black and white movies that were scary and full of suspense, therefore his nickname as the “Master of Suspense”. His most famous films include The Birds and Psycho. Most of his films were murder mysteries, with clever dialogues, interesting plots and talented actors and actresses. He was also a revolutionary filmmaker and introduced many new techniques to the movie-making industry. Hitchcock had a roundish belly and a big nose, which made his profile very recognizable. He was not an actor but he loved to make cameo appearances in his own films.

Hitchcock was an unusual man. For example, he produced frightening movies about mysterious murders, and yet once he said his own greatest fear was the fear of small children!

Hitchcock also had a very clever imagination, which is especially clear in his movie The Birds. In this terrifying movie, a town is attacked by a large flock of black birds. The angry birds break into people’s homes to take revenge.

This man’s great imagination is also reflected in Psycho, which is one of the most famous British movies of all time. In Psycho, a young man claims to run a small motel with his elderly mother. But it turns out that the mother is fictional; she exists only in the young man’s head. At night, he dresses up like his mother and sits near the window for people to see. But after midnight he breaks into his guests’ bedrooms and murders them.

In Hitchcock’s time and era, murder mysteries were not gruesome(可怕的), like many of today’s horror films with lots of blood. They thrilled audiences with their focus on plot and suspense.

1. Which of the following is NOT true about Hitchcock’s movies?

A．They were all murder mysteries.	B．They have clever dialogues and interesting plots.
C．They have talented actors and actresses.	D．They are black and white movies.

2. Why was Hitchcock an unusual man in the writer’s opinion?

A．He was a large man with a big nose.

B．His movies are horrible movies.

C．He produced frightening movies, but he thought small children frightened him the most.

D．His mysterious movies scared children the most.

3. What does the phrase “make cameo appearances” in the first paragraph most probably mean?

A．Appear with a camera.	B．Play an unimportant part.
C．Make a short appearance.	D．Play in a funny way.

4. About Alfred Hitchcock, which is NOT mentioned in the passage?

A．His contribution.

B．His career.

C．His nickname.

D．His weakness.

【推荐2】Every day, people come into contact with thousands of chemicals. These chemicals are said to be harmless to human health. In fact, the chemicals are considered so safe that we wash with them. We put them on our bodies and even our faces. Other chemical products are used throughout our homes.

By the time you walk out of your front door, you have already been exposed to thousands of chemicals. On its own, each chemical seems harmless. But in combination with other chemicals, they may become deadly. That is the finding of a two - year study by a high - profile task force of scientists. The task force was told to investigate the cancer - causing possibility of chemical mixtures.

Linda Gulliver was one of the 174 scientists on the task force. Their job was to study the cancer - causing potential of 85 chemicals. All 85 are said to be common in the environment.

Ms. Gulliver explains that chemicals have the potential or ability to form dangerous mixtures. Even simple minerals can become dangerous when mixed with chemicals found in plastics or beauty products.

Working in groups, the scientists explored how different chemical mixtures could lead to cancer. Ms. Gulliver’s team looked at the ability of different combinations to support the increase of malignant human cells.

She says the current way to identify whether chemicals cause cancer is to test them one at a time. This method leads, she adds, to a long list of supposedly “safe” chemicals. She and her team say that approach needs to change.

“We definitely need certain research to find out what mixtures of chemicals would be more harmful than others; what groups of chemicals, when together, would produce more harmful effects. And at the moment, that is not known.”

An estimated one in five cancers has been linked to chemical exposure. It may turn out that the cancer -causing villain is not a single chemical at all.

1. What effect may one single chemical have on us according to the text?

A．It may destroy our body.	B．It may not cause danger to us.
C．It may let us suffer from cancer.	D．It may let our body make a change.

2. What does the underlined word “malignant” mean?

A．friendly	B．specific
C．harmful	D．kind

3. According to the text, we can infer that the study

A．is just wasting time and money	B．is still in need of great efforts
C．will cause panic in public	D．will be resisted by the public

4. What is the best title for the text?

A．Mixtures of Safe Chemicals May Cause Cancer

B．Being Exposed to One Chemical Is Safe

C．How Mixtures of Safe Chemicals become dangerous

D．The Real Cause For Cancer

【推荐3】Since 2008, the leaders of Brazil, Russia, India and China—the BRIC countries—have met every year to discuss topics of global importance. At their third summit (峰会) in China in 2011, the leaders invited South Africa to join, thus becoming the BRICS. The four foreign ministers met on the fringes of the United Nations General Assembly in the fall of 2016. Their leaders’ first meeting was held in Sapporo on the eve of the G8 Toyako-Hokkaido Summit in 2008, and their first standalone (单独的) summit was the following year in Yekaterinburg, Russia. Since then, the BRICS ministers responsible for foreign affairs, finance and the economy, trade, agriculture and health have met. At the official’s level, there have been meetings held to discuss science and technology, national security, competition and statistics.

While the concept “BRICS” was first created by Jim O’Neill of Goldman Sachs to refer to the investment opportunities of the rising economies, the leaders’ meetings transcend the financial topics to involve many different summit-level topics relating to global governance, such as development, peace and security, energy and climate change and social topics.

The mission of the BRICS Information Center is to serve as a leading independent source of information and analysis on the BRICS interaction and institutions. Documentation from the BRICS and research and reports will be published on this website as they become useable.

Special attention will be paid to the interaction (合作) and each other’s influence of the BRICS with the world, and including the BRICS relationship with the Group of Eight (G8), Group of Twenty (G20), and other different summit institutions and broadly many-sided organizations.

1. We can learn about BRICS from the passage that _______________

A．South Africa refused to join it in 2008.

B．It was first called the Group of Eight in 2008.

C．Its leaders held the first standalone summit in 2009.

D．Its ministers have met every year since 2008.

2. What does the underlined word “transcend” probably mean?

A．pay attention to

B．go beyond

C．turn to

D．replace

3. The BRICS information Center___________.

A．can deal with all kinds of information

B．is an independent organization

C．doesn’t have its own website

D．has a lot of researchers

4. What can we infer from the last paragraph?

A．BRICS has specially stressed the interaction.

B．BRICS has built good relationship with other organizations.

C．BRICS will build closer relationship with G20.

D．BRICS will make much difference to the world.