Ever wonder what happens to spacecraft after they get launched to space? Well, that is where my job as an instrument operations engineer comes in. My job consists of planning, generating, and operating scientific instruments in-flight. I am grateful for having worked on missions at Saturn, the Moon, and our own planet Earth.
When I was a high-schooler, I was unsure of what college I wanted to attend, or what major I wanted to choose. After receiving an email from a college called Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), I decided to apply to a summer program they were offering with the encouragement of my mom. After participating in that program, I knew that MIT was the right university for me. The passionate students and boundless opportunities developed a feeling of belonging in me that led me to apply and eventually get accepted.
The most exciting and fulfilling part of being an engineer is that I am able to work on projects that benefit humanity. When people think of the space industry, they picture the outer reaches of our solar system. What they may not imagine is the great body of work being done to study our own home-Earth. I am thankful to have a career that allows me to commit myself to that responsibility.
The highlight of my career has been witnessing the end of the Cassini mission to Saturn. Some of the people on the team had been working on the mission for longer than I had been alive, but they still treated me as one of their own. I was given the opportunity to operate the cameras that would catch breathtaking images of the planet. And when the Cassini spacecraft had run out of fuel, I quickly learned that it was not just the end of the mission, but the end of a team. The night we watched with bittersweet longing as its signal faded to nothing is something that I will always keep in my memories. And while Cassini will be remembered for its historic contributions, what I will remember it for is the team it brought together.
My friends often ask why a girl could achieve all these. I always grew up a big fan of fiction. I read the Harry Potter books and loved anything fantasy. I realized that a common theme of hero stories is that the hero must always make a choice to start their adventure. If you don’t pick up the sword in your own story because you are afraid of what may happen next, you risk not having a story at all.
1. Why did the author apply to MIT?| A．The majors in MIT interested her. | B．Her mother urged her to go to MIT. |
| C．She set this goal as a high-schooler. | D．A summer program made her love MIT. |
| A．It’s easy to predict what she does. | B．It’s hard for a girl to have such a career. |
| C．She is annoyed by being misunderstood. | D．She is proud to work for human well-being. |
| A．Its historic contributions. | B．The team it brought together. |
| C．Breathtaking images of the planet. | D．The opportunity to operate the cameras. |
| A．Practice makes perfect. | B．No way is impossible to courage. |
| C．Well begun is half done. | D．Time lost cannot be won again. |
相似题推荐
【推荐1】Tim Ma's parents came to the United States from Taiwan in the 1970s. They opened a restaurant. It was not a success. They found success in America, however, in computers and engineering. In part because of their own experiences, Ma's parents hoped he would study to become an engineer or a doctor. They wanted financial security for their child.
Growing up, Ma considered many professions — writer, fireman, even president. Ma did well in math and science classes in high school. And he ended up choosing to study electrical engineering in college. Several engineering jobs later, though, Ma had a change of heart. He wanted to leave the engineering world behind and enter the restaurant business. It was in his blood. After all, his parents had owned a Chinese restaurant in Arkansas. His parents could not understand why he would want to leave such a good job to open a restaurant.
He wanted to study the fundamentals of cooking so that he could work as a chef in his own restaurant. Ma enrolled at the International Culinary Center in New York, where he received training in French cooking. “I have never cooked through my entire life up until this point.” Ma soon learned that he enjoyed cooking and he discovered it was similar to engineering. “Professional cooking is consistency, efficiency, cleanliness and it's all about the process of things which you know my background in engineering was. ”
In 2009, Ma opened his first restaurant in Virginia. His long hours paid off. Ma opened his fourth restaurant last year in Washington, D.C. He mixes his training in French cooking with his Chinese heritage to create new dishes. “I think in this country you can create your own success, just by working hard. Not because you're smarter than anybody, just by working hard. And that's why a lot of people end up coming to America.”
1. Why did Tim Ma's parents expect him to be an engineer or a doctor?| A．Because he can have enough money to support himself. |
| B．Because they wanted him to achieve their unfinished dream. |
| C．Because he has a great interest in math and science. |
| D．Because these two jobs both have high social statues. |
| A．Supportive. | B．Unfavorable. |
| C．Neutral. | D．Skeptical. |
| A．It is something like engineering. |
| B．Cooking is all about cleaning. |
| C．You have to do the work consistently. |
| D．Efficiency is important in cooking. |
| A．Humorous and athletic. |
| B．Hard-working and determined. |
| C．Fashionable and aggressive. |
| D．Stubborn and devoted. |
【推荐2】Many people think work meetings are a waste of time, and that might be because most meetings keep employees from working well. One survey of 76 companies found that productivity was 71 percent higher when meetings were reduced by 40 percent. Unnecessary meetings waste $37 billion in salary hours a year in the U.S. alone.
Many meetings occur without a specific reason. Another motive for meetings is what some scholars call the Mere Urgency effect, in which we engage in tasks — such as a meeting where each person recites what they’re working on, whether others need that information or not — to help us feel like we are accomplishing something actual.
But the real problem with meetings is not lack of productivity — it’s unhappiness. When meetings are a waste of time, job satisfaction declines. And when job satisfaction declines, happiness in general falls. Thus, for a large population, eliminating meetings — or at least minimizing them — is one of the most straightforward ways to increase well-being.
Nobody likes excessive and unproductive meetings. First, they generally increase fatigue. You have probably experienced a day of meetings, after which you are exhausted and haven’t accomplished much. Second, people tend to engage in “surface acting” (faking emotions that are deemed appropriate) during work meetings. Finally, researchers have found that the strongest predictor of meeting effectiveness is active involvement by the participants. If you are asking yourself, “Why am I here?” you are not likely to think that the meeting is a good use of your time — which is obviously bad for your work satisfaction.
Taken together, the research on meetings shows that if you want to be happier at work (or want your employees to be happier), you should fight against the time-consuming, unproductive meetings at every opportunity. If there is one rule to remember about work meetings, it might be that they are a necessary evil. They are necessary as organizations need them for proper communication, but they are evil in that they are not irreplaceable, and should thus be used as little as possible for the sake of productivity and happiness.
1. Why does the author mention the survey in Para 1?| A．To explain the survey. | B．To introduce the topic. |
| C．To stress the importance of meeting. | D．To state the disadvantage of meeting. |
| A．Reducing. | B．Hosting. | C．Increasing. | D．Avoiding. |
| A．How to increase people’s job satisfaction. |
| B．The importance and necessity of minimizing meetings. |
| C．Why excessive and unproductive meetings lower job satisfaction. |
| D．Active involvement by the participants indicates meeting effectiveness. |
| A．Work meetings — A necessary evil |
| B．Work meetings — The less, the better |
| C．Work meetings — The more, the better |
| D．Work meetings — Excessive and unproductive |
【推荐3】When you need a job very much, you may end up taking one for which you are over qualified. Although you were initially grateful just to have the work, you now feel bored and depressed. Is there any way to change that?
Start by changing your opinion, says Caitlin Kelly, the author of Malled, a book based on her experience as a sales clerk after losing her job in journalism. “Don’t focus on what you’re not getting but what you are getting,” she says. “Be patient and work attentively with a wide range of people. It doesn’t matter what the job is –there are always things you can learn and skills you can develop.”
Hilary Pearl, the founder of a coaching firm, says, “Tell yourself the current situation isn’t the end of your career. Don’t overdramatize（过分夸大）the negative aspects but try to view the situation more philosophically: life has a series of stages, and this is one of them. Don’t forget to study even in the worst stage.”
Consider that because you’re overqualified, you may be able to learn or do things on the job that might not have been possible.
Of course, you may seek tasks and responsibilities that force you to learn something new or to work harder. “You may be operating on autopilot（习惯性地）right now, but chances are that people above you are stressed,” Sarah Hathorn says. “ Take things off your boss’s plate and let him know which projects or tasks you want to learn more about.”
Always express your request positively, saying that you love new challenges, rather than complaining that you’re bored and underused, says Ethun, the president of the Park Avenue Group. In your down time, educate yourself about the company and its industry. “Read corporate information, analyst reports and related news articles,” she says. “If your boss accepts your suggestions, it will make you a more valuable employee.”
1. According to Caitlin Kelly, ______.| A．one should be willing to do some small things |
| B．being a salesman is not as important as being a journalist |
| C．performing your regular duties well is important |
| D．doing a simple job well will bring you a sense of success |
| A．work is just a stage of our whole life |
| B．the present job doesn’t matter to us in a long run |
| C．one should be satisfied with his present situation |
| D．one should look forward instead of complaining about the present situation |
| A．draw your boss’s attention | B．share your boss’s burdens |
| C．give your boss useful advice | D．ask your boss for a better position |
| A．One should start his career from doing a simple job. |
| B．One should improve himself and help others as well. |
| C．One should keep learning new things to improve himself. |
| D．One should pay much attention to the relationship with the boss. |
【推荐1】My childhood was a painted picture of sunny sky and rolling green fields stretching to the horizon. It tasted of sharp berries and smelt of sour grapes. My family lived in a cabin (小木屋) in the countryside but I lived in my mother’s arms. They were so delicate but strong, her red hair falling around me like a curtain separating me from the world.
Childhood was simple. The borders of my village were the furthest my troubles went and monsters only lived in the pages of books. Every day was a waking dream of running races and muddy knees. My village was archaic, dying cabins housing dying farmers with dying traditions. There weren’t many children but me and the other boys; boys of butchers and sellers formed our own group.
They called us wild. I suppose we were. Trees and mountains formed our playgrounds and fights broke out as easily as sudden laughter. Free from the restrictions of society, we would run into the woods, deeper and deeper until we found a lake which, with a wild yell, we would jump into all at once.
My most vivid memories from boyhood center around that lake. Water shone brightly and the sounds of our screams broke into the outcry from birds. The shock of cold water against sweating skin would wake every nerve in my body and my bare feet would hit the sinking muddy bottom. As we submerged (淹没), time would stop, movements slowing as bubbles rose around us.
I was drowning. I was living. I was living. I was drowning.
For timelessness or a second (both felt the same), we would stop, curl up (蜷缩起来), and then be forced back out into breathing air.
We should have known that it wouldn’t last forever. Yet, even under the best circumstances, there’s something so tragic about growing up: to have your perspective (看法) on the people and life around you change; to always struggle to reach a mirror only to find yourself tall enough to see your reflection one day. And find, a different person staring back out at you.
1. What does the underlined word “archaic” mean in paragraph 2?| A．Borderless. | B．Valueless. | C．Old-fashioned. | D．Poor. |
| A．They played in the woods crazily. |
| B．They tricked others purposefully. |
| C．They frequently broke social rules. |
| D．They firmly refused school education. |
| A．By sharing feelings. |
| B．By expressing ideas. |
| C．By making comparisons. |
| D．By describing characters. |
| A．Loneliness and challenges make a man grow up. |
| B．The regret of growth is that you have never tried. |
| C．Growth is often accompanied by sad goodbyes to the past. |
| D．Growth begins when we begin to accept our own weakness. |
【推荐2】My dad was one who never knew a stranger. He was a farmer in the Midwest and he spent his winters selling insurance and commodities (商品). Daddy could really talk up anyone and his favorite thing to do was find out their income. Once we were at Chicago O’Hare Airport. Daddy was sitting with me as I waited for my flight to Fort Lauderdale. A Russian guy sat down next to my daddy. The gentleman could not speak a word of English but that did not stop my dad. He found out his business, asking how many children he had and of course how much he made.
I used to be somewhat embarrassed by this. In the last year of my daddy’s life, I was home visiting with my husband and I was in the car with my mom. She told me a story about how she was in the doctors’ office with my daddy and how he was his usual self-talking away to the others in the waiting room. My mom was very private, so I imagine she was bothered by this as well. She said he started talking to a young man in a wheelchair who could not talk and could not move his arms or head. But my daddy kept asking the young man questions, getting him to smile in response. And he carried on like that with the disabled man till he was called back to the doctors’ office.
When the young man and his father got up to see the doctor, the father of the young man came over and shook my dad’s hand and said. “Thank you for speaking to my son. Most people just turn away when they see him.” My father ended up dying later that month, a big surprise—a sudden heart attack. Fortunately, all nine of his children had been home that summer to visit. I told this story about his love of talking at the funeral.
1. Why did the author think her dad talked to the Russian guy?| A．To practice his Russian. | B．To teach him some English. |
| C．To drive away his loneliness | D．To seek business opportunities. |
| A．Not connected with work or official position. |
| B．Not for people in general or for others to know about. |
| C．Working for oneself rather than for the state or for a group. |
| D．Not wanting to share thoughts and feelings with other people. |
| A．It was a shame. | B．It was a disadvantage. |
| C．It was a virtue. | D．It was a funny thing. |
| A．My dad worked by talking | B．My dad never met a stranger |
| C．My dad could be more talkative | D．My dad was always kind to others |
"You've got to be persuasive, regardless of the fact that you believe in a topic or not," says the 17-year-old.
"There are a lot of speakers who are eloquent (雄辩的) but find it difficult to think logically and then there are those who have a good argument but can't deliver."
Endurance (忍耐) is another quality he says one must have in the heated arena (赛场) of expressing opinions and ideas.
"There are times when you have to debate for five hours at a go and are completely exhausted. It's quite intense. You must have the energy to debate for long hours," says Arunabh, who began debating in year 10.
The WSDC is a debating competition in the world for high school students from different countries. It involves four prepared debates and four impromptu debates — debates without specific preparations.
To gain selection for the national team for the global final, Arunabh had to compete with regional teams. Despite the mounting pressure, he says he was confident of winning.
"We didn't loose a debate in the first two days. And we had a very strong team. We were confident of our ability to win," he says.
1. What can we know about Arunabh from the text?
| A．He started debating at the age of ten. |
| B．He is on his country's national debating team. |
| C．He argues only on the topics that he believes in. |
| D．He is unsure of winning the debating competition. |
| A．Eloquence and logic thinking. | B．Confidence and dreams. |
| C．Endurance and experience. | D．Talent and teamwork. |
| A．based in Thailand |
| B．for young New Zealanders |
| C．with prepared and unprepared debates |
| D．lasting for five days |
| A．The Skills of Debating |
| B．Growing from the Regional Team |
| C．Schoolboy to Compete on the International Stage |
| D．The 26th World Schools Debating Championships |
【推荐1】There was something about me that most people considered “different”. I was not comfortable hugging friends, but I did love listening to discussions about politics. I was very talkative and curious, which seemed to wear out the patience of my friends and sometimes even the adults around me. I stuck out from my classmates, but I was learning to be less remarkable. It wasn’t until decades later that I learned my uniqueness has a name: autism (自闭症). My diagnosis (诊断) at 46 was like discovering a missing piece of my brain, picking it up, putting it in place, and feeling whole for the first time. What I’ve found out since is that there are a significant number of others like me—individuals who weren’t identified as having autism until midlife.
In my 20s, I found work in a university fundraising program. I was good at my job. When I became a full-time master's degree student, I consulted a doctor about my growing anxiety. But autism never entered the conversation. In early 2017, I began a new job in which I was recognized as never before, and I didn’t know how to deal with it. As I neared the end of my one-year work, all the symptoms (症状) of my undiagnosed condition exposed themselves in my work environment: sensory overload and being confused by office politics. Then, two months later, I received my diagnosis. Finally everything started to make sense.
Today, I am an enterpriser. My new firm is called Liberty Co., to signify that facing the facts brings us freedom. Our goal is to increase the population of autism people in the work-place. It provides a chance for me to be a supporter for women with autism, including as a participant in research into autistic women’s experiences in the workplace.
Self-awareness is the greatest gift you can give yourself. Knowing my strengths as well as my limitations, both related and unrelated to my autism, has allowed me to build my self- esteem (自尊) and connect with others.
1. What do we know about the author as a child?| A．She was noticeably different. |
| B．She tried to stand out from her classmates. |
| C．She was incredibly patient with her friends. |
| D．She dreamed of a political career. |
| A．She took it as expected. | B．She welcomed it. |
| C．She felt a part of her was missing. | D．She found it unreasonable. |
| A．Her lack of experience in the fundraising program. |
| B．No recognition from her office co-workers. |
| C．The anxiety about her master’s degree. |
| D．The pressure from her new job. |
| A．To support women’s equal rights. |
| B．To teach women with autism about people skills. |
| C．To include more autistic people at work. |
| D．To help people in the workplace connect more. |
【推荐2】When I reached inside the floorboard, my hand touched what felt like a book. I pulled it out. It was an old and small book: Bartlett’s Familiar Quotations. I wondered whom the quotations (引语) were supposed to be familiar to. What I did know, thanks to Ms. Rattray, my seventh-grade teacher, was the correct way to use quotation marks. I decided to see what was inside this little book.
On the top corners of each page was a word or phrase, I opened it to “comfort and despair” and then “doubt” and “light”. I’d never thought about “light” any other way except as a lamp or daylight. It turned out that Mr Bartlett didn’t feel all these emotions himself. He had gathered up quotations from thousands of other people.
I was relieved to discover that those people were not afraid to express what they thought, including the fears and that they had so many thoughts about things that troubled me. Before this, I was lonely and I didn’t know whom talk to about the world and my role in it.
In ninth grade, I worked as an assistant at our local library. I often hid in the comer, where no one would see me, and I would read. It was at this library that I realized how some of those emotions I’d felt while reading Bartlett’s Familiar Quotations came to life in the characters I had started discovering in novels.
I have bought a few of the newer editions, but the original one is the one that helped me explore my inner self and see more than young mind and heart were able to understand.
1. How might the author feel when he found the book by chance?| A．Curious. | B．Familiar. | C．Thankful. | D．Puzzled |
| A．Bartlett’s real personal feelings. |
| B．Thoughts of thousands of people. |
| C．Emotional stories of other people. |
| D．A representative word collection. |
| A．He found time to read Bartlett’s books again. |
| B．He volunteered to work as a school librarian. |
| C．He vividly understood the characters’ feelings. |
| D．He learned to analyze Bartlett’s life in depth. |
【推荐3】I was sitting at an airport restaurant when I received the email. It informed me I had failed my qualifying exam on my third attempt, which meant dismissal (解雇) from a science program. I knew things hadn’t gone perfectly. But I was still dumbfounded. How was it possible that one exam could deny all my other successes and define me as unfit to be a scientist?
As an Afro-Latinx first-generation college graduate, I didn’t have family members who could tell me what Ph. D. program was like. But I struggled with my classes, spending countless hours studying in the library. I ended that year with increased confidence. But my confidence disappeared when I made my first attempt at the qualifying exam. Because I had never taken an oral (口头的) exam before, the result was disappointing.
I switched research projects 5 months later because my first teacher left the university. This gave me no confidence in taking the exam again. Not surprisingly, I failed again. That’s when I was told I’d have one more chance.
For the next 2 months, I did everything in my power to prepare. I even stopped doing lab work to focus on my exam preparations. I was all in. But I still failed.
I reflected (反思) on how different my experience going into the exam was from my peers’. This exam does not represent a lot. My teacher believed in me and persuaded the department to allow me to complete the Ph. D. degree. So I carried on with my research. I still have a little voice in the back of my head that I'm not good enough. But I try to quiet it by surrounding myself with teachers who support me and by staying focused on developing into the great scientist I know I can be. In the end, I am much more than that 1-hour exam.
1. What does the underlined word “dumbfounded” in paragraph 1 probably mean?| A．Shocked. | B．Annoyed. | C．Embarrassed. | D．Excited. |
| A．He did not study very hard. | B．His teacher no longer worked there. |
| C．He was dismissed from his program. | D．He was not good at oral exams. |
| A．One. | B．Two. | C．Three. | D．Four. |
| A．It is impossible for him to be a scientist. |
| B．One test cannot determine a person's life. |
| C．Exams can show a person's ability. |
| D．Support is more important than hard work. |
