【推荐1】Despite what so many people would love to believe, NASA hasn’t discovered any evidence of past or present intelligent life on Mars. So, when the Curiosity rover (好奇号探测器) found something suspicious on the Red Planet’s surface, they were not only surprised but also a little bit worried.

The thin fragment was suspicious enough to guarantee its own name, with NASA’s Curiosity rover team calling it the “Pettegrove Point Foreign Object Debris,” named for the location where it was discovered. With no idea what it was or where it came from, the rover’s handlers began to worry that it might actually be a piece of the rover itself, suggesting some unseen damage or other issue with the robot. Thankfully, those concerns seem to have been unfounded.

In a new update from NASA the object has now been identified as a natural piece of rock rather than a piece of any man-made craft or vehicle. The team analyzed the bizarre object with a tool called the ChemCam RMI. The instrument uses a laser (激光器) to sniff out the makeup of anything it’s pointed at, and the results for this particular piece of debris revealed that it’s actually just a very thin piece of rock.

NASA describes the inspection: The planning day began with an interesting result from the previous plan’s ChemCam RMI analysis of a target that was referred to as “Pettegrove Point Foreign Object Debris” (PPFOD), and speculated to be a piece of spacecraft debris. In fact it was found to be a very thin flake of rock, so we can all rest easy tonight—Curiosity has not begun to shed its skin!

How this particularly thin sliver of rock got to where it is—and why it seems to be a different colour than the surrounding sand and debris —remains unexplained, but at least the rover isn’t falling apart.

1. What attitude does NASA hold towards the newly found thin fragment?

A．Positive.

B．Surprised.

C．Interested.

D．Amazed but worried.

2. What is the “Pettegrove Point Foreign Object Debris” named for?

A．Its finder.

B．Its location.

C．Its researcher.

D．Its shape.

3. What does the underlined word “bizarre” mean?

A．Strange.

B．Changeable.

C．Normal.

D．Common.

4. Which of the following questions has got clear answer?

A．How this particularly thin sliver of rock got to where it is.

B．Why it seems to be a different colour than the surrounding sand and debris.

C．Whether the rover is falling apart.

D．None of them.

【推荐3】It sounds like something from the field of science fiction — a space exploration into vast outer space, heading towards the Red Planet While we’re not quite ready to put a person on it, the question we ask today is:     1    

The space race saw the USSR (the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics) and USA compete to achieve firsts in spaceflight. The USSR released Sputnik 1, an artificial satellite, before anyone else,     2     Now it appears that Mars is the body of desire. While to be the first nation to land on it is an obvious draw, there are other reasons why we want to get there.

    3     You only have to look at the fossils of the dinosaurs to see the benefit of finding another habitable planet. While Mars doesn’t have the right conditions to call it home just yet, there's always the concept of terraforming-changing the environment of a planet to suit our needs.

However, not everyone agrees. Leading astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson has said the concept of changing habitability of a planet is not always practical.     4    

It seems that the main reason at the moment is the search for alien (外星的) life.    5     Now seemingly dead, the potential fossils could answer questions about our own evolution and that of our planet. One theory is that bacterial life on our planet didn't start here, but was brought here via asteroid from Mars.

A．and the US landed on the moon first.

B．Instead, it makes no sense when we can simply terraform Earth because of the damage we have done to it.

C．One of these could be the survival of our species.

D．Why are so many countries interested in going to Mars?

E．It has been believed that, at one time, a certain form of life did exist in this red planet.

F．Surely inspiring a new generation to visit the stars is reasonable enough.

G．May landing on Mars inspire more people to become interested in exploring space?

【推荐1】Some of the greatest moments in human history were fueled by emotional intelligence. When Martin Luther King Jr. presented his dream, he chose language that would stir the hearts of his audience. Delivering this electrifying (展性的) message required emotional intelligence — the ability to recognize, understand, and manage emotions.

Emotional intelligence has been highly recommended by leaders, policymakers, and educators as the solution to a wide range of social problems. If we can teach our children to manage emotions, the argument goes, we’ll have less bullying and more cooperation. If we can cultivate emotional intelligence among leaders and doctors, we’ll have more caring workplaces and more compassionate healthcare.

Emotional intelligence is important, but the uncontrolled enthusiasm has obscured (掩盖) a dark side. New evidence shows that when people sharpen their emotional skills, they become better at manipulating (把持) others. When you`re good at controlling your own emotions, you can hide your true feelings. When you know what others are feeling, you can motivate them to act against their own best interests.

Social scientists have begun to document this dark side of emotional intelligence. In a research led by University of professor Jochen Menges, when a leader gave an inspiring speech filled with emotion, the audience was Jess likely to scrutinize (细察) the message and remembered of the content. Ironically (讽刺的是) audience members were so moved by the speech that they claimed to recall more of it.

The authors call this the awestruck effect, but it might just as easily be described as the dumbstruck effect. One observer reflected that Hitler’s persuasive impact came from his ability to strategically express emotions — he would “ear open his heart — and these emotions affected his followers to the point that they would stop thinking critically and just emote.”

Leaders who master emotions can rob us of our capacities to reason. If their values are out of step with our own, the results can be destructive. New evidence suggests that when people have self-serving motives (动机), emotional intelligence becomes a weapon for manipulating others. In a study led by the University of Toronto psychologist Stephane Cote, university employees filled out a survey about their Machiavellian (不择手段的) tendencies, and took a test measuring their knowledge about effective strategies for managing emotions. Then, Cote’s team assessed how often the employees deliberately undermined (逐渐削弱) their colleagues. The employees involved in the most harmful behaviors were Machiavellians with high emotional intelligence. They used their emotional skills to lower the dignity of their peers for personal gain.

Shining a light on this dark side of emotional intelligence is one mission of a research team led by University College London professor Martin Kilduff. According to these experts, emotional intelligence helps people disguise (伪装) one set of emotions while expressing another for personal Professor Kiiduit’s team writes, “The strategic disguise of one’s own emotions and the manipulation of others’ emotions for strategic ends are behaviors evident not only on Shakespeare’s stage but also in the offices and corridors where power and influence are traded.”

Of course, people aren’t always using emotional intelligence for nefarious ends. More often than not, emotional skills are simply instrumental tools for goal accomplishment. A research team discovered that founder Anita Roddick used emotional intelligence to inspire her employees fundraise for charity. As Roddick explained, “Whenever we wanted to persuade our staff to support a particular project, we always tried to break their hearts.”

There is growing recognition that emotional intelligence-like any skill-can be used for good or evil. So if we’re going to teach emotional intelligence in schools and develop it at work, we need to consider the values that go along with it and here it’s actually useful.

1. Why does the author mention Martin Luther King, Jr?

A．To honor the great leader for his courage.

B．To recommend his speech to other leaders.

C．To impress the readers with a major topic.

D．To advocate a society with fewer problems.

2. Which of the following belongs to a dark side of emotional intelligence?

A．Developing the capability to control one’s own emotion.

B．Inducing people to do what brings disadvantages to them.

C．Appealing to the audience to concentrate and remember more.

D．Encouraging the moved audience to a more of the speech.

3. What is the dumbstruck effect of Hitler’s emotional intelligence?

A．His followers would tear open their hearts to him.

B．His followers would express emotions strategically.

C．His followers would lose the ability to reason properly.

D．His followers would develop the self-serving motives.

4. How do people use their emotional intelligence for personal gain?

A．They disguise their emotions to earn others’ trust.

B．They help their colleagues to build up confidence.

C．They present their strategic behaviors on the stage.

D．They lower their own dignity to gain popularity.

【推荐1】Getting paid to stay in bed all day sounds pretty good.Bui what if someone offered you$23,000 to stay in bed for two months?That’s the deal that a research team is offering to 24 volunteers.

Researchers are looking for volunteers to help them study the influences of weightlessness on the human body by spending 60 days lying down.Lying in bed isn’t exactly the same as being weightless,but the influences on the human body are similar.

When astronauts spend a long time in an environment with no gravity,like the International Space Station(ISS),their bodies are affected in many ways.After a couple of months on the ISS，astronauts hearts don’t beat as hard.Their muscles(肌肉）become weaker because they no longer have to work against gravity.Their bones(骨头）may break more easily.There may also be changes in the astronauts sleep habits.

Dr.Armaud Beck,the researcher in charge of the study,said his goal was to measure the influences of weightlessness,and also to find ways to prevent problems.The study will take 88 days altogether.During the first two weeks the volunteers will be tested to establish(建立）their levels of fitness.Then they will spend 60 days lying in bed with their heads a little lower than their bodies.They will have to do everything while lying down，including brushing their teeth and going to the bathroom.Dr.Beck said the rule is that they must have at least one shoulder touching the bed at all times.Half of the volunteers in the study will be taking capsules(胶囊)containing special food supplements(增补物)several times a day to see if they help reduce the health problems caused by weightlessness.

The last two weeks of the study will be spent trying to let the volunteers recover.Volunteers must be men between the ages of 20 and 45 who are in perfect health.They must be non-smokers.

The study will take place from September 1 st to November.The first two days are the time for volunteers to sign in.

1. Why are the volunteers asked to lie in bed in the study?

A．It is the same as being weightless.

B．It can make astronauts sleep well.

C．It has the similar influences as being weightless.

D．It can help volunteers feel the gravity better.

2. What will happen to an astronaut’s body when there’s no gravity?

A．His heart beats faster.

B．His bones may become weak.

C．His weight may rise slowly.

D．His eating habits may be affected.

3. What’s one of the requirements for half of the volunteers in the study?

A．Lying down for 60 days in zero gravity.

B．Finishing most daily tasks when lying in bed.

C．Helping test some food supplements’effect.

D．Sleeping on their back most of the time.

4. What can be inferred from the text?

A．Volunteers need to lie in bed all the time.

B．The study will last for more than three months.

C．Volunteers’fitness tests will last till the end of September.

D．They’ll lie on the bed all the time for the whole October.

【推荐2】Tech giants Apple and Google are teaming up to create a system that would let smart phone users know when they've come into contact with someone who has COVID-19.

The technology would rely on the Bluetooth signals that smart phones can both send out and receive 1aperscn tests positive(阳性) for COVID-19, they could inform public health authorities through an app. Those public health apps would then warn anyone whose smart phones bad come tear the infected person's phone in the previous 14 days. The technology could be used on both Google Android phones and Apple iPhones.

The companies insist that they will preserve smart phone users' privacy and their technology will be used only by public health authorities to trace the spread of COVID-19. Smart phone users can choose to use it. The software will not collect data on users' physical locations or their personally identifiable information. People who test positive would remain unknown to the public, both to the people who came in contact with them and to Apple and Google. “Privacy is of greatest importance in this effort,” the companies said in a joint statement.

The American Civil Liberties Union has warmed that using cellphone data to handle the pandemic carries risks of “destruction of privacy”. In a statement on Friday, ACLU cyber security counsel Jennifer Granick said, The system also can't work well if people don’t trust it”. She said that the joint Apple and Google project “appears to reduce the worst privacy risks, but there is still room for improvement.” She added that the contact tracing app should be used only for public health purposes and only for the duration of this pandemic.

Public health officials say the contact tracing -finding people who have been in contact with an infected person will be a key step in lifting shelter in-place restrictions.

It would allow people who are known to have been exposed to the virus to isolate themselves, while letting others recover normal activities.

1. What is the main purpose of the passage?

A．To advertise for public health.	B．To introduce a contact tracing system.
C．To warn the public of risks of COVID-19.	D．To raise people's awareness of privacy protection.

2. What do the companies promise to do in particular?

A．Warn people who test positive.	B．Protect infected people's privacy.
C．Work with public health authorities.	D．Collect data on users physical locations.

3. What does the underlined sentence in Paragraph 4 suggest?

A．Public health issues are traced accurately.	B．Only people's trust influences the system.
C．The system is at the risk of being destroyed.	D．Jennifer thinks the system should be better.

4. The system is mainly designed to .

A．ensure infected people's recovery	B．guarantee people's normal activities
C．help prevent the spread of COVID-19	D．encourage all the people to isolate themselves

【推荐3】You see your phone light up from the corner of your eye and quickly reach for it. What started as a simple notification (通知) check snowballs into an hour-long period as you look through rows of notifications and endless social media feeds.

This is by design. Tech companies such as Google and Facebook have spent years working to make consumer technology as addictive as possible. After all, time spent with their products could equal big profits for the company.

However, that’s starting to change. Apple takes action with the introduction of tools in its new operating system aimed at informing users to better manage their smartphone usage and parental controls that allow parents to better monitor and control their children’s phone time.

Google also offers a “Wind Down” feature to set at bedtime, which automatically puts the phone into “Do Not Disturb”. No notifications will show up on your phone, and losing all colour on-screen is certainly a cause to put your phone away.

There are still no clear guidelines on what causes tech addiction, but it’s a growing concern likely on the minds of parents everywhere as they see their kids’ faces constantly glued inches away from a screen. And everywhere you go, you’re all but guaranteed to see people buried in their phones.

Apart from Apple and Google, Facebook deserves a fair amount of blame, as an expert acknowledged in a blog post earlier this year. The social network announced plans to roll out changes aimed at making interactions more meaningful.

“By making these changes, I expect the time people spend on Facebook will go down,” the expert said. “But I also expect the time you do spend on Facebook will be more valuable. And is over the long term too.” If we do the right thing, I believe that will be good for our community and our business.

1. What has been done to change phone addiction?

A．Making some colour disappear on the screen.

B．Offering functions to reduce phone use.

C．Improving consumer technology.

D．Stopping sending messages.

2. What does the underlined phrase “The social network” in paragraph 6 refer to?

A．Google.

B．Apple.

C．A blog post.

D．Facebook.

3. What does the expert mean in the last paragraph?

A．Facebook is expecting fewer people to use it.

B．It’s valuable for people to do the right thing on Facebook.

C．People should spend time on Facebook as little as possible.

D．Facebook and its consumers will have a win-win relationship.