The First Kite
Kites have been around for thousands of years. The first kites were created in China. There are three stories about how the first kite was born.
Many people believe that the kite was created when people watched birds fly. They then attempted to make a light object shaped like a bird that could fly high in the wind.
The second story goes like this. The kite was born as Chinese children sat below a catalpa tree (梓树). A catalpa tree is known for large leaves and seed pods (荚), which can be over 10 inches long. The catalpa tree’s seed pods have two “wings” that help the seeds move far from the base of the tree. As the leaves and seed pods sailed on an upward wind, the children became inspired to create their own kites.
There is a Chinese legend (传说) telling a different story. When a farmer was working in his field one morning, the wind blew his hat off many times. He had to stop to run after his hat. When the farmer went in for lunch, he had an idea that he could tie one end of a thin rope to his hat and the other end around his wrist (手腕). That afternoon, he went to work again. A sudden and strong wind swept the hat off his head and carried it high into the sky. But the farmer no longer needed to run after his hat. At that time, he got the idea of making a kite.
The idea for a kite could have been born as people watched birds fly, sat below a catalpa tree or found a way to get back a hat. Like the roots of many inventions, these stories are each inspired by people’s experiences or observations of the natural world.
1. Where were the first kites created? (不多于两个单词)2. In the first story, what inspired people to make kites? (不多于五个单词)
3. What gave the farmer the idea of making kites? (不多于四个单词)
4. How do people get the ideas for inventions? (不多于九个单词)
相似题推荐
【推荐1】At a time when industries are under greater pressure to reduce costs and increase efficiencies, more production facilities are turning to digital sensing technology to provide the real-time insights they need for improved performance. What if one digital sensor could measure multiple signals?
Yokogawa's DPharp（差压传送器）digital technology has the unique ability to measure two pressure parameters （参数），delivering reliable and accurate measurement of plant operations. The unique aspect of this digital technology is that it measures two parameters in one sensor module, providing additional insight into a plant's operations. It is the only sensor in the world that does this.
DPharp transmitters（发射器）use silicon（硅）resonant（谐振的）sensor technology to measure both differential（差别） and still pressure. The sensor consists of two H-shaped crystal silicon resonators that shake at a certain frequency and, when pressure is applied, the frequency of one resonator increases while the other decreases. By monitoring these frequencies digitally, both differential and still pressure can be measured at the same time. The frequency output is directly read by the central processing unit of the transmitter.
DPharp can be used in any processing plant across any industry—oil and gas to food and drinks. DPharp's unique digital sensing technology allows engineering firms and plant engineers to create designs that will equate to an average reduction of 40 percent. Where they would typically use five measuring devices, they are using three by using the multi-sensing technology. That is a significant cost reduction in the number of devices installed and the added benefit is that, as there are less devices, the engineering and design is less complex, which means less materials and less equipment to maintain. Furthermore, there are fewer transmitter spares required, which reduces costs. Tony Farah, Product Manager, said that more organisations are seeing the significant benefits of smart devices like DPharp.
1. What is special about DPharp digital technology?| A．It provides the real-time insights. |
| B．It brings significant changes in engineering. |
| C．It measures two parameters in one sensor. |
| D．It provides accurate measurement. |
| A．Two H-shaped crystal silicon resonators. |
| B．The central processing unit of the transmitter. |
| C．Monitoring devices. |
| D．The operator of the plant. |
| A．Cautious. | B．Ambiguous. |
| C．Favorable. | D．Disapproving. |
| A．How DPharp is bringing value across production plants. |
| B．How sensor works in a different way. |
| C．Why DPharp is efficient and reliable. |
| D．Where DPharp can be used. |
【推荐2】Many experts have praised AI’s groundbreaking potential to help people become way more efficient at their jobs, and a lot of educators have been trying it out for themselves, including me.
I’ve used ChatGPT, an AI-powered tool that can instantly answer seemingly any instruction, in my job. Of course, there are potential downsides to the new technology. It can produce inaccurate or one-sided responses based on faulty data it collects, and it has the potential to cause huge data privacy problems. Despite those risks, I have used such AI-powered tools to plan lessons, provide feedback on student assignments, and respond to parent emails. And I’m looking for other ways to use the technology to make my job easier.
Take two other teachers, for example. Mike Kerr, a high school English teacher in Tennessee, uses ChatGPT to reduce Lexile levels-the measure of an individual’s reading ability and the difficulty of a text -for his students. High school students are often required to read relatively complex classic novels. The reading homework “can be a real big task for an English learner in their first couple of months here”. To help them, Kerr uses ChatGPT to give summaries of works of literature, which saves him from having to read all the assigned literary works, so he can have more time to better guide them through the text.
April Edwards, a 6th grade social studies teacher in Texas, shares ways that she uses AI in her instruction on a social media platform. “I use AI to help create lesson plans, presentations, to write emails, and to create checklists.AI is a great resource to use as a starting point for a task or to give you ideas,” Edwards said. She has not introduced AI to her students, because she wants to fully understand it before allowing students to use it in the classroom. “My goal is to show them how to use AI responsibly and effectively and demonstrate that to my students. If I am using AI irresponsibly, then so will they,” Edwards said.
1. How does the author regard ChatGPT?| A．It is of high accuracy. | B．It is undervalued. |
| C．It brings some convenience. | D．It often misleads users. |
| A．Reduce teaching pressure. | B．Help with students’ homework. |
| C．Summarize English lessons | D．Go through the complex classics. |
| A．Supportive. | B．Worried. | C．Opposed. | D．Cautious. |
| A．Can AI improve instruction? | B．Why is AI changing education? |
| C．Should teachers apply AI to teaching? | D．How can ChatGPT encourage study? |
【推荐3】A group of digital models dressed in sports outfits walked proudly down the runway in an online virtual fashion show during China Fashion Week in September. Led by Xijiajia, tech company Baidu Inc’s virtual spokesperson, they presented the latest garments (服装) by homegrown sportswear maker Anta Sports in different virtual settings—stadiums, snowfields, the Gobi Desert and even outer space.
Virtual humans and fashion shows, not limited by time and space in the way a physical event would be, offer many benefits to the fashion industry, bringing audiences a fresh, immersive and interactive experience.
Li Shiyan, head of Baidu’s digital human and robotics section, noted that an increasing number of brands are looking to use virtual beings in livestreaming and other marketing campaigns, which is expected to help companies reduce at least 50 percent of operational costs by cutting spending on brick-and-mortar (实体的) livestreaming locations, hardware and hiring real human anchors (主播).
“The virtual human industry is still in an early stage, and there are some challenges, such as how to produce low-cost digital assets and digital content, and how to make digital humans interact with real people more naturally,” Li said, adding that the company will continue to invest capital and manpower in the digital human industry.
“The application of virtual humans in the fashion field has distinctive advantages. Holding virtual fashion shows doesn’t just mean moving real-world shows online; more importantly, we can use digital space to expand our interpretation of fashion and imagination for what is possible,” said Chen Duan, director of the Digital Economy Integration Innovation Development Center at the Central University of Finance and Economics.
Chen said, for example, people can make use of textures that do not exist in the physical world, and digital humans are able to go beyond the physical limits of real humans and present new fashion style s in new ways.
Digital humans are increasingly being used in brand promotion, advertisement, livestreaming, gaming and entertainment, said Zhu Xiaowen, an analyst at Lead-Leo Research Institute. However, she added that a new set of problems have also appeared, such as personal privacy protection and data security. Expert s said unregulated use of digital human s might open a way for crimes, for digital humans can be difficult to distinguish from real people.
Pan Helin, co-director of the Digital Economy and Financial Innovation Research Center at Zhejiang University’s International Business School, said the business prospects of virtual humans in fashion and livestreaming is hopeful and called for more efforts to improve 3D modeling and motion capture technologies to boost the development of the country’s digital human sector.
1. Why is an online virtual fashion show mentioned in paragraph 1?| A．To introduce the topic to the readers. |
| B．To state the importance of technology. |
| C．To prepare for the following complex plot. |
| D．To summarize the theme of the whole passage. |
| A．Reducing time. | B．Increasing profits. |
| C．lowering costs. | D．Expanding scales. |
| A．How to make digital humans look more like real people is challenging. |
| B．To expand our interpretation and imagination of fashion is the most vital. |
| C．Digital humans have been widely applied in industry successfully and safely. |
| D．Real humans are more likely to be limited by physical factors than digital humans. |
| A．Pessimistic. | B．Optimistic. | C．Indifferent. | D．Concerned. |
If you're scratching your head right now, you're not alone. But Chinese hamburgers are very real and they definitely predate the hamburgers we call our own in the U.S. Known as rou jia mo, which translates to "meat burger" or "meat sandwich", they consist of chopped meat inside a pita-like bun, and they've been around since the Qin Dynasty, from about 221 BC to 207 BC. Despite the differences between this Chinese street food and our American-style burgers, the rou jia mo has been called the world's first hamburger.
The rou jia mo originated in the Shanxi Province of China, and is now eaten all over the country. It's typically prepared and eaten on the street. The dough for the bun, or mo, consists of a simple mixture of wheat flour, water and maybe yeast. Of course recipes may vary, but this basic equation makes for a chewy and subtle pillow for the delicious filling. While the mo is traditionally baked in a clay oven, today it's often fried in a pan. They may look a little like Chinese steamed buns or baozi, but the dough for those are, of course, steamed, not baked or fried.
The meat filling might consist of chopped pork, beef, lamb or chicken that has been stewed with a variety of spices, like ginger, cloves, coriander and star anise. You might also find herbs like cilantro or greens like lettuce garnishing the sandwich.
1. What does the underlined word mean?
| A．noodle | B．food | C．bread | D．beverage |
| A．The mo people eat today is baked in a clay oven. |
| B．The world's first hamburger which was originated in the Shanxi Province of China is popular around the world. |
| C．The rou jia mo has a history of more than 2200 years. |
| D．The rou jia mo and American-style burgers share a similar cooking process. |
| A．Delicious hamburger |
| B．How to cook hamburger |
| C．Chinese invented hamburger |
| D．History of hamburger |
He summoned（召集）the best artists and architects from India, Turkey, Persia and Arabia and finally, the design was complete. It took more than twenty thousand men working over a period of 18 years to build the Taj Mahal, one of the most beautiful buildings in the world.
The building itself stands on a marble platform 29 meters square and 6-7 meters high. Towers rise from each of the four corners. The Taj itself soars another 61 meters into the air. It is an eight-sided building made of white marble.
The emperor planned to build an identical tomb of black marble for himself on the other side of the river connected by a silver bridge. However his son put him into a prison in the palace before he could finish, and for the rest of his life, he could only gaze across river at the tomb of his beloved wife.
1. The whole passage tells us about ______.
| A．a beautiful fairy tale |
| B．the story of the Taj Mahal |
| C．white and black marble tombs made for two emperors |
| D．the love story of Emperor Shah Jahan and his wife |
| A．It was completed quickly owing to the efforts of the best artists and workers. |
| B．A lot of people took part in the building work |
| C．It is a magnificent building. |
| D．It is a tomb for the emperor’s beloved wife. |
| A．61 meters high | B．eight-sided |
| C．black-colored | D．white-colored |
| A．died soon after Taj Mahal died |
| B．was killed by his son |
| C．was beloved by his people |
| D．died after 1648 |
【推荐3】In the early 1870s, Mark Twain was on his way to becoming the world’s most famous writer and humorist. Meanwhile, the tools of writing were undergoing a profound transformation — from fountain pens to typewriters. Like any other new technology, the new writing machine did not perform well enough at first. But when Twain laid eyes on a Remington in a Boston store window, its salesman claimed that the writing tool was quite reliable.
The salesman began to explain it to Twain and his friend. “He showed us samples of its work,” Twain later recalled, “and said it could do fifty-seven words a minute — a statement which we frankly confessed that we did not believe. So he put his type-girl to work, and we timed her by the watch. She actually did the fifty-seven in sixty seconds. We were partly convinced.” They timed the girl over and over again — with the same result always. Twain bought it on the spot at the price of $125.
And he recognized its usefulness almost immediately. In a letter he typed to his brother, Twain wrote: “The machine has several virtues. I believe it will print faster than I can write. One may lean back in his chair & work it. It piles an awful stack of words on one page. It doesn’t untidy things. Of course it saves paper.”
But Twain fell out of love rather swiftly. After a year or two, he found it was damaging his character. He found the machine to be “full of faults — unbearable ones,” he later wrote. Then he gave his machine to his writer pal William Dean Howells. “My morals began to improve,” Twain said.
However, Howells sent the machine back to him after just six months. “I gave it away twice after that,” Twain said, “but it wouldn’t stay,” Trying to get rid of it completely, he settled on a coachman (someone driving a coach pulled by horses) who “was very grateful, because he did not know the animal, and thought I was trying to make him wiser and better.” The coachman eventually traded it to another person.
But Twain would ultimately come back to the uncontrollable creature. His 1883 book, Life on the Mississippi, was the first literary work to be completed on the machine.
1. What made Twain decide to buy the typewriter?| A．The persuasion from one of his friends. | B．An advertisement in a store window. |
| C．The samples of the typewriter’s work. | D．A type-girl’s convincing performance. |
| A．He regretted buying the typewriter. |
| B．He was satisfied with the typewriter. |
| C．He found it difficult to use the typewriter. |
| D．He recommended the typewriter to more friends. |
| A．The writing tool sold by Howells. | B．The animal in Twain’s book. |
| C．The typewriter of Twain’s. | D．The horse pulling the coach. |
| A．To tell a story about Twain and his typewriter. |
| B．To explain the development of the typewriter. |
| C．To show the influence of the typewriter. |
| D．To describe Twain’s unusual character. |
