【推荐2】"Time is a problem for children," states a news report for a new Swiss watch．Children in some countries "learn time slowly" because "they don't wear watches" and "parents don't really know how to teach them time．" The children grow up with this handicap and become adults—and then can't get to work on time．Is there an answer to this problem? Of course—it's the Flick Flak, made by a famous Swiss watch company．
The Flick Flak is being marketed as something teaching watch for children aged 4 to 10．The watch itself does not teach children how to tell time, of course; it merely "takes their imagination" by presenting the "hour" hand as a beautiful red girl named Flak and the "minute" hand as a tall blue boy named Flick．Flick points to related "blue" minutes on the dial, while Flak points to "red" hour numbers．The characters and colors combined with parental help, are supposed to teach young children how to tell time．
The watch comes equipped with a standard battery and a nylon band （尼龙表带）．Peter Lipkin, the United States sales manager for the Flick Flak, calls it "childproof: if it gets dirty you can throw the whole watch in the washing machine．" The product is being sold in select department stores in Europe, Asia and the United States for a suggested price of $25．Parents who buy the watch may discover that it is one thing to tell time; it's quite another for them to be on time．
1. From the news report we know that ________.

A．parents are patient when teaching children time

B．parents have little idea of how to teach children time

C．children are likely to learn time quickly

D．children enjoy wearing the Flick Flak watch

2. The author doesn’t seem to believe ________.

A．children will be on time if they have not learnt how to tell time

B．a Flick Flak can help parents teach their children how to tell time

C．the Flick Flak can take children's imagination

D．children usually have trouble telling time if they don't wear watches

3. The underlined word “handicap” （Para．1） means ________.

A．displeasure	B．discouragement
C．disappointment	D．disadvantage

4. The United State sales manager calls the new watch “childproof” because ________.

A．it is designed to teach children to be on time

B．it proves to be effective in teaching children time

C．it is made so as not to be easily damaged by children

D．it is the children's favorite watch

【推荐3】Teens ---want to gain valuable work experience? Do you enjoy working with kids? Need to finish community service requirement for school?
Volunteer for the alameda recreation and park department!
Volunteers are needed to help Recreation Leaders with youth programs and special events at our local park. During the summer, volunteers are also needed to help with our Aquatics Program at the swim center as well. This is a perfect opportunity to gain valuable work experience for future employment opportunities.
Don’t delay(延迟)! Spaces Are Extremely Limited! Sign up early!
l You may register in person or mail the completed form and payment to: Alameda Recreation and Park Department, 2226 Santa Clara Avenue, Alameda, 94501.
l Faxed registrations accepted with MasterCard/ VISA,(510)747—7566.
Once your application has been reviewed(审查), you will be contacted by the Teen Coordination to plan an oral interview. If you are accepted into the program, you must attend a volunteer training.
All applications are to arrive no later than two weeks before the training date (listed below) and are limited to space availability.
Not all applications will be surely given an interview. Late Applications will not be dealt with.

Volunteer training information Training Date: Thursday, May28,2009 Time: 4:00 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. Location: Veteran’s Memorial Building(2203 Central Avenue, Room 120,Alameda) Cost: $45 per person----includes training, uniform and materials.

1. We can know from the passage that the program can        .

A．teach kids to swim at the swim center

B．train teens to be prepared for job interviews

C．offer people who are out of work some jobs

D．provide a chance for volunteers to get work experience

2. Once you are allowed to join in the program, you           .

A．will be trained for volunteering

B．will have a face to face interview

C．must contact the Teen Coordinator

D．will pay $45 for the materials

3. To join the program, you should register________.

A．on Thursday, May28, 2009

B．before Thursday, May 14, 2009

C．after Thursday, May 28, 2009

D．before Thursday, June 11, 2009

4. What information can we get from the passage?

A．You will be interviewed once you apply.

B．You can register by sending an email.

C．There is a limit to the number of volunteers.

D．The training will last about two weeks.

【推荐1】Have you ever had the urge to open a book and stick your nose straight into the pages? The smell of old books can refresh any book lovers. We don’t know why, but it is just pleasant to us.

Describing the smell can be a challenge. And mere adjectives will likely be of little use to future generations of historians trying to document, understand or reproduce the scent of slowly decaying books. Now, that task may have just gotten easier thanks to the Historic Book Odor Wheel.

In one experiment, researchers asked visitors at the historic library to characterize the scents they smelled. All the visitors selected words like “woody”, “smoky” and “earthy” from the list, and described the smell’s intensity and perceived pleasantness. In another experiment, the study authors presented visitors to the Birmingham Museum with eight smells — one of which was an unlabeled historic book scent and seven were non-bookish, such as coffee, chocolate, fish market and dirty clothes. The researchers then had those museum goers describe the historic book smell.

The top two responses? Chocolate and coffee. “You tend to use familiar associations to describe smells when they are unlabeled,” study author Cecilia Bembibre says.

The team even analyzed the volatile organic compounds (VOCs) (挥发性有机化合物) in the book and the library. Using the data from the chemical analysis and visitors’ smell descriptions, the researchers created the Historic Book Odor Wheel to document the “historic library smell”. Main categories, such as “sweet/spicy”, fill the inner circle of the wheel; descriptors, such as “chocolate/cream”, fill the middle; and the chemical compounds likely to be the smelly source, like furfural, fill the outer circle. The researchers want the book odor wheel to be a tool that “untrained noses” can use to identify smells and the compounds causing them, which could address conservators’ concerns about material composition and historic paper conservation. And hopefully, smells of the past can be reproduced in the lab someday and museums and historians can use it to reconstruct a past we can no longer smell.

1. What is mainly talked about in the first paragraph?

A．An strange reading habit.	B．Fascination for smells of books.
C．Addiction to reading books.	D．A dislike for smelling books.

2. How do people usually describe unlabeled smells?

A．By referring to familiar items.	B．By using adjectives to label them.
C．By analysing chemical compounds.	D．By connecting them with food smells.

3. Which is NOT the purpose of using the “Historic Book Odor Wheel”?

A．To record historic library smells.	B．To identify smells and compounds.
C．To remove the conservators’ worries.	D．To put different scents into different libraries.

4. What might the study be used for in the future?

A．Creating a whole new scent.	B．Improving the people’s sense of smell.
C．Restoring smells of historic documents.	D．Extracting components of “old book smell”.

【推荐2】Since the 1970s, scientists have been searching for ways to link the brain with computers. Brain Computer Interface (BCD) technology could help people with disabilities send commands to machines.

Recently, two researchers, Jose Millan and Michele Tavella from the Federal Polytechnic School in Lausanne, Switzerland, showed a small robotic wheelchair directed by a person's thoughts.

In the laboratory, Tavella operated the wheelchair just by thinking about moving his left or right hand. He could even talk as he watched the vehicle and guided it with his thoughts.

"Our brain has billions of nerve cells. These send signals through the spinal cord(脊髓) to the muscles to give us the ability to move. But spinal cord injuries or other conditions can prevent these weak electrical signals from reaching the muscles.” Tavella says. “Our system allows disabled people to communicate with external(外部的) world and also to control devices.”

The researchers designed a special cap for the user. This head cover picks up the signals from the scalp(头皮) and sends them to a computer. The computer interprets the signals and commands the motorized wheelchair. The wheelchair also has two cameras that identify objects in its path. They help the computer react to commands from the brain.

Prof. Millan, the team leader, says scientists keep improving the computer software that in-terprets brain signals and turns them into simple commands. “The practical possibilities that BCI technology offers to disabled people can be grouped in two categories: communication, and controlling devices. One example is this wheelchair.”

He says his team has set two goals. One is testing with real patients in order to prove that this is a technology they can benefit from. And the other is to guarantee that they can use the technology over long periods of time.

1. What is the function of Brain Computer Interface (BCI) technology?

A．Helping the disabled to recover.	B．Controlling a person's thoughts.
C．Helping to update computer systems.	D．Linking the human brain with computers.

2. How did Tavella operate the wheelchair in the laboratory?

A．By using his mind.	B．By moving his hand.
C．By talking to the machine.	D．By controlling his muscles.

3. Why will the team test with real patients?

A．To make profits from them.	B．To make them live longer.
C．To prove the technology useful to them.	D．To learn about their physical condition.

4. Which of the following can be the best title for the text?

A．Introduction of the BCI Research Center in Switzerland

B．New Findings About How the Human Brain Works

C．Robotic Vehicles Could Help to Cure Brain Injuries

D．BCI Could Mean More Freedom for the Disabled

【推荐3】The world’s first hydrogen-powered trains have been unveiled in Germany. They began carrying passengers Monday in Germany’s northern Lower Saxony state. The new train will run 100-kilometer trips and can travel up to 140 kilometers an hour.

A French railroad company called Alstom rolled out the two trains. Teams in Germany and France worked in collaboration on the project which was approved by the German government. The new train model, called the Coradia ilint, signifies the beginning of efforts in Germany and other nations to seek an alternative to pollution-producing diesel (柴油) trains, the number of which in circulation is still high.

The Coradia iLint is designed to run on non-electrified train lines with low levels of noise. It uses a process that combines hydrogen and oxygen to produce electrical power. If the system produces more energy than the train needs at that time, it can store the extra energy in batteries. The train is powered by a hydrogen fuel cell, its only emission being steam and condensed water.

A single tank of hydrogen can run a Coradia iLint train for about 1,000 kilometers. This is very similar to the distance a diesel-powered train can run on with a single tank.

Hydrogen-fueled trains cost more than diesel trains to build. But Alstom officials say the operating costs are much lower. The company confirms another 14 Coradia iLint trains will make their first appearance in Lower Saxony by 2023.

The head of railroad operations in the area, Carmen Schwabl, paid replacing diesel trains with hydrogen a compliment. She said the move was a significant milestone in the field of clean transportation.

Hydrogen it uses as fuel is the by-product of an industrial process. In future, Alstom intends to produce hydrogen from wind energy. The area’s many wind turbines (涡轮机) will also produce part of the energy to create the hydrogen.

Alstom says several other European countries have also expressed interest in embracing a new journey of clean-burning technologies. France has already said it wants its first hydrogen train to be operating by 2024.

1. Why did Germany build the new trains?

A．To substitute for diesel trains.	B．To transport more passengers.
C．To make traveling much easier.	D．To strengthen friendship with France.

2. What is one advantage of the Coradia iLint?

A．It runs without making any noise.	B．It doesn’t use electrical power.
C．It is less costly to run.	D．It is cheaper to manufacture.

3. It can be concluded that hydrogen trains ______.

A．are in wide circulation	B．can contribute to green mobility
C．can wipe out air pollution	D．can discharge water and oxygen

4. What might be the best title for the text?

A．A Pioneer in Natural Resource Conservation	B．Efforts to Reduce Emissions
C．The First-ever Hydrogen Trains	D．A New Way to Make Electricity

【推荐1】Solar power is now the cheapest source of electricity in history, according to a 2020 report. But there’s something holding this clean energy powerhouse back: Space. Unlike fossil fuel power stations, solar farms need a lot of room. While traditional solar farms sometimes attract arguments due to the amount of land they use, floating solar farms occupy much less valuable space above bodies of water.

“As demand for land increases, water bodies are increasingly being targeted for renewable energy. Deployment(部署)of solar on water increases electricity production.＂said Giles Exley，PhD researcher and lead author from Lancaster University. The research team set about computer modelling using the MyLake simulation programme and data collected by the UK’s Centre for Ecology and Hydrology from England’s largest lake, Windermere.

Their results show that floating solar arrays(阵列)can cool water temperatures by shading the water from the sun. At scale, this could help to mitigate against harmful effects caused by global warming, which is friendly to the environment. However, some complex conditions can result in the bottom layer of water becoming deoxygenated(脱氧的)and makes water quality worse-if floating solar farms are stationed.

“Floating solar could help to reduce the negative effects of global warming which will influence on these bodies of water,”Exley said,“however, there are also real risks of disadvantageous effects, such as deoxygenation causing undesirable increases in nutrient concentrations and killing fish. We need to do more researches to understand the possibility of both positive and negative impacts.”

The larger the solar equipment, the greater the effect on water temperature increases. Further studies will be needed to decide the suitable size array and design and their effects for individual lakes and artificial lakes.

1. What do we know about floating solar in the first paragraph?

A．The electricity of floating solar is cheaper than the solar power’s.

B．Floating solar farms could save more space efficiently.

C．Floating solar has aroused greatly controversy around the public.

D．Fossil fuel power stations take larger room than the solar farms.

2. What does the underlined phrase “mitigate against” mean in paragraph3?

A．Reduce.

B．Support.

C．Increase.

D．Promote.

3. What can we infer from the research of Giles Exley?

A．There is no negative effects to develop floating solar.

B．The research team collect the information from computer.

C．Floating solar can get rid of the drawbacks of global warming.

D．The water temperatures under the floating solar arrays are lower.

4. What does the research team plan to do next?

A．To do more researches.

B．To install more floating solar.

C．To design different floating solar.

D．To measure the size of the floating solar.