Medha Pappula, an eighth-grader at Brambleton Middle School, is using her skill set to solve a problem — bullying. She recently earned an award from National Bullying Prevention Center (NBPC) for her anti-bullying (反霸凌) efforts in software development and animation (动画).
Pappula, 13, said she discovered that a classmate had experienced cyberbullying, which was painful for her to learn about. “Even though I didn’t experience it, I wouldn’t wish that on anyone, even my worst enemy,” Pappula said.
Then she developed a program that recognizes when digital and text-based messages include bullying language. The program takes a message, and then recognizes signs of bullying and gives a rating to the cyberbullying, the teen said. If the rating is high, she said, “the program can be used to carry out things like removing that message or reporting it.”
Pappula first designed and tested the program for Discord, a popular community-based messaging platform (平台), and said she plans to develop it for even bigger platforms like Facebook and Twitter.
In addition to this program, the NBPC awarded Pappula for a three-minute animated video about Unity Day, which she created and shared on YouTube last October. Unity Day, according to the video, was started by the NBPC in 2011 to raise bullying awareness among school-age children. Schools encourage their students to wear orange on Unity Day, as it is “a color that is connected with safety,” the website reads.
Pappula visited different websites to develop her animation skills several years ago. She spent more than a month creating her 2-D animated video using an animation software called Krita. The effort paid off, as nearly 6,000 people have already viewed the “Unity Day” video on YouTube. Along with being posted to the NBPC webpage, her animation was also shared by Cartoon Network. Moving forward, Pappula hopes to continue to work with the NBPC and to use her skills to lift those around her.
1. How did Pappula feel about bullying?| A．It upset her life a lot. |
| B．It could be stopped easily. |
| C．It happened online most often. |
| D．It shouldn’t happen to anyone. |
| A．By sending voice messages. |
| B．By removing useless messages. |
| C．By sending its users important reports. |
| D．By rating messages according to the language used. |
| A．She asked the NBPC for help. |
| B．She taught herself animation. |
| C．She learned from an expert. |
| D．She created Krita. |
| A．Honest. | B．kind. |
| C．Polite. | D．Proud. |
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【推荐1】On Tuesday, Australian Broadcasting Corporation was informed about the patented device that is developed by Len Humphreys and Thomas Maschmeyer, Sydney University professors, to process plastic. The pair of Australian scientists have come off with the solution to the significant problem in today's environment that is the recycling of plastic. Plastic is the only thing that currently cannot be recycled.
The two scientists have invented a device called Catalytic Hydrothermal Reactor. The method that can deal with plastic is known as the Catalytic Hydrothermal Reactor(Cat-HTR). Humphreys said to Australian Broadcasting Corporation that the new device could turn plastic into fuel or remade new plastic with the process that is known as chemical recycling. By the process of chemical recycling, the plastic changes at a molecular level, and after that, it changes the plastic into oil.
Humphreys also said that the Cat-HTR is different from physical recycling as you don't have to separate the plastic according to the type and color. The device could change the plastic back to the liquid and the chemical that they were formed. The device could also change the plastic into petrol or any different kinds of plastic, according to Humphreys.
The Cat-HTR could recycle everything from milk boxes to wetsuits according to the report. The product is going to be introduced in the United Kingdom by the company Licella as the company is pushing the technology into the market. This product is an emergency requirement all around the globe to reduce the waste as every year, and only ten percent of the 3.5 tons of plastics that are thrown away are recycled. Due to the increasing misuse, the plastic was almost banned from the market; still, the issue is not solved, and the new device may reduce the problem.
1. Which of the following is the best title for the text?| A．A New Way to Recycle Plastic | B．A New Device Cat-HTR |
| C．The Future of Plastic Products | D．Environment Pollution and Plastic |
| A．Wetsuits are all made from plastic. |
| B．Plastic can be turned into petrol easily. |
| C．Everything can be recycled except plastic so far. |
| D．Plastic has been banned from the market completely. |
| A．The Cat-HTR recycles plastic using a physical way. |
| B．The plastic changes at an atom level using the Cat-HTR. |
| C．The Cat-HTR has the ability to turn the plastic into petrol. |
| D．Only plastic of a certain kind can be recycled by the Cat-HTR. |
| A．Because the Cat-HTR can recycle milk boxes and wetsuits. |
| B．Because the misuse of plastics in the market is greatly increasing. |
| C．Because the new device can solve the problem of waste plastics. |
| D．Because the company is making the technology more widespread. |
【推荐2】Valerie L. Thomas is an African American scientist and inventor best known for her patented (专利的) illusion transmitter (幻觉发射器) and contributions to NASA research.
Thomas was born in 1943 in Maryland. She was interested in science as a child. At the age of eight, her curiosity about how things worked inspired her to borrow a book called The Boy’s First Book of Radio and Electronics, which she took home hoping her father would help her take on some projects in it. However, he didn’t help her.
She attended an all-girls high school that did not help her with hands on projects either. But this changed in college, when Thomas was admitted to Morgan State University as one of the only two women in her class to major in physics. Thomas excelled in her studies. She graduated with excellent results and accepted a position as a data analyst at NASA.
In the 1970s, she managed the development of the image-processing systems for Landsat, the first satellite (人造卫星) to send images to the Earth from space. In 1980, Thomas received a patent for an illusion transmitter. The device produces optical illusion images by means of two concave mirrors (凹面镜). Unlike flat mirrors, which produce images that appear to be inside, or behind the mirror, concave mirrors create images that appear to be real, or in front of the mirror itself. This technology was later used by NASA and has since been adapted for use in surgery (外科手术) as well as the production of television and video screens.
Thomas continued to work for NASA until her retirement in 1995. Over the course of her career, Thomas contributed widely to the study of space. She helped develop computer program designs that supported research on Halley’s Comet, the ozone layer, and satellite technology. For her achievements, Thomas received a number of NASA awards including the Goddard Space Flight Center Award of Merit and the NASA Equal Opportunity Medal.
1. What do we know about Thomas’ early life?| A．She was talented in science. |
| B．She liked working with her father. |
| C．She lacked support for her interest. |
| D．She preferred to read boys’ books. |
| A．Did well in. | B．Had confidence in. |
| C．Was curious about. | D．Was concerned with. |
| A．It takes pictures more clearly. |
| B．It transmits images more quickly. |
| C．It changes the position of the image. |
| D．It can send images to the Earth from space. |
| A．Thomas’ future plans. | B．Thomas’ retirement life. |
| C．Thomas’ research theory. | D．Thomas’ lifetime achievements. |
【推荐3】Inspired by the effortless way humans handle objects without seeing them, a team led by engineers at the University of California San Diego has developed a new approach that enables a robotic hand to rotate (旋转) objects alone through touch, without relying on vision.
Using their technique, the researchers built a robotic hand that can smoothly rotate a wide variety of objects, such as small toys, cans, and even fruits and vegetables, without damaging them. The robotic hand performed these tasks using only information based on touch. The work could aid in the development of robots that can manipulate objects in the dark. To build their system, the researchers attached 16 touch sensors to the palm (掌心) and fingers of a four-fingered robotic hand. Each sensor costs about $12 and serves a simple function: detect whether an object is touching it or not.
What makes this approach unique is that it relies on many low-cost touch sensors that use simple, binary (二进制的) signals — touch or no touch — to perform robotic in-hand rotation. These sensors are spread over a large area of the robotic hand. This contrasts with a variety of other approaches that rely on a few high-cost touch sensors attached to a small area of the robotic hand,primarily at the fingertips.
The researchers then tested their system on the real-life robotic hand with objects that the system has not yet encountered. The robotic hand was able to rotate a variety of objects without losing its hold. The objects included a tomato,pepper,a can of peanut butter and a toy rubber duck,which was the most challenging object due to its shape.
Wang and his team are now working on extending their approach to more complex operation tasks. They are currently developing techniques to enable robotic hands to throw and catch, for example. “If we can give robots this skill, that will open the door to the kinds of tasks they can perform,” said Wang.
1. What does the underlined word “manipulate” probably mean in paragraph 2?| A．Remove. |
| B．Control. |
| C．Recognize. |
| D．Distribute. |
| A．They are quite expensive. |
| B．They are mainly in the fingertips. |
| C．They perform complex tasks. |
| D．They cover most of its area. |
| A．How well they can function. |
| B．How fast they can perform tasks. |
| C．How accurate they will be. |
| D．How intelligent they become. |
| A．Challenging. |
| B．Promising. |
| C．Efficient. |
| D．Eventful. |
【推荐1】John and Mary had a nice home and two lovely children. John had just been asked to go on a business trip to another city for several days and Mary would go with him too. They hired a reliable woman to care for their children and returned home a little earlier than they had planned.
As they drove into their hometown, they found a home on fire. After having a look, Mary said, “Oh well, it isn’t our fire. Let’s go home.” But John drove closer and said, “That home belongs to Fred Jones who wouldn’t be off work yet. Maybe there is something we could do.”
John noticed an old lady screamed to him, “The children! Get the children!” John grabbed her by the shoulder saying, “Get a hold of yourself and tell us where the children are!” “In the basement,” cried the lady.
In spite of Mary’s disagreement, John soaked (浸湿) his clothes and ran to the basement which was full of smoke. He found the door and grabbed two children. As he left he could hear some more cries. He sent the two badly frightened children into the waiting room and asked how many more children were down there. They told him two more and Mary grabbed his arm and screamed, “John! Don’t go back! It’s dangerous! That house will fall down in any second!”
But he shook her off and went back. It seemed a very long time before he found both children and started back. As he climbed up the endless steps the thought went through his mind that there was something strangely familiar about the little bodies next to him, and at last when they came out into the sunlight and fresh air, he found that he had just rescued his own children. The baby-sitter had left them at this home while she did some shopping.
1. Why did the old lady scream to John?| A．To ask him to get away from the fire. |
| B．To ask for his help to save the children. |
| C．To ask him to rescue her from the fire. |
| D．To ask him to take out valuable things from the fire. |
| A．She disagreed with it. | B．She supported it. |
| C．She misunderstood it. | D．She was unconcerned about it. |
| A．It was clean. | B．It was burned down. |
| C．It was dangerous. | D．It was under repair. |
| A．Two heads are better than one. | B．Where there is a will, there is a way. |
| C．Helping others means helping ourselves. | D．God helps those who help themselves. |
【推荐2】After bouncing my rental car across several miles of red-dirt roads I walked for nearly another mile down the beach to a deserted valley. It was comforting to think that at the very least I was finally out of cell-phone range.
However, even on Kauai, Hawaii’s ‘Garden Island’, complete escape wasn’t all that easy to achieve. Noisy helicopters full of tourists flew overhead like so many dragonflies. Every 20 minutes or so the comforting sounds of wind and water were broken by the noise of a speeding tour boat racing to complete another lap around the island. Worst of all, not more than five minutes by car from the resort where I was staying, the Atomic Clock Internet Café signaled with promises of instant email.
I felt uncomfortable every time I drove by the Atomic Clock Café. I am a technology reporter for an online magazine—my life is driven and dominated by email. I’m drowned in it, usually 400 or 500 messages a day. The main reason for my visit to Kauai was to unplug, disconnect, log off, and get away from it all. No cell phone, no electronic organiser, no laptop. And definitely, no email.
Yes, my plan was to lie on the beach and not check my email. My friends and family were outraged as they could not understand how I could bear to live without email. But they didn’t understand. In my job, I am online, permanently. Cyberspace is more familiar to me than my backyard. While I am awake, my email is always on. I don’t like to be without it for too long. A few hours away from it, and I start to tremble. I am, however, no stranger to beaches and their relaxing qualities and so I knew, even when arriving well after dark at the comfortable cottage in the town of Waimea, that the island of Kauai gave me a good chance of beating my addiction to electronic devices.
Maybe it was full moon lighting the black-sand beach not 10 metres from my door. Or the mango trees casting shadows across the veranda ( 阳 台 ). Or the driftwood piled in loose heaps for as far as I could see along the shore. Without question, the long, slow sound of the waves rolling in calmed my restless soul, and I found I could, in fact, log off.
1. Why did the writer come to Kauai?| A．To get away from the modern technology. |
| B．To work for the Atomic Clock Internet Café. |
| C．To write reports on technological development. |
| D．To find whether there is an alternative to email. |
| A．He wrote articles about resorts around the world. |
| B．He enjoyed beach activities like boat racing. |
| C．He was eager to work in his backyard. |
| D．He spent much time working online. |
| A．relieved | B．shocked |
| C．amused | D．offended |
| A．argue against his friends’ doubt of Kauai |
| B．propose a possible destination of his trip |
| C．highlight the beauty of the beach of Kauai |
| D．show Kauai produced a relaxing atmosphere |
Patricia Blues, 29, has a new aim in life: to keep drivers’ hands on their steering wheels and off their cell phones. On November 2, 2007, Blues lived through a horrible experience. A motorist dialing a cell phone drove through a stop sign at 45 miles per hour and ran into the side of Blues’ car. Blues’ 2-year-old daughter was killed immediately in the crash.
Blues has since devoted her time top pushing for laws that would prevent this type of tragedy from happening again.
Cell phones are not the only distractions（分神） that cause accidents. Eating, changing CDs, reading maps, talking to passengers, and just reaching for an object on the floor can be dangerous. Therefore, the emphasis should be on educating drivers to avoid all distractions. However, talking on cell phones might be easier to regulate than eating or changing music. At least 34 states have already passed laws to restrict cell phone use in moving cars. No state has banned it yet, but several US. cities. Worldwide, 13 nations, including Australia, England, Germany, Japan and China have banned drivers’ use of cell phones in moving cars.
To date, no scientific evidence has been published showing that talking on the phone affects driving safety. But according to a test by some high school students, “driving while on the phone does affect safety and probably shouldn’t be done”.
1. What happened to Patricia Blues on November 2, 2007?
| A．She was seriously injured in a car crash. |
| B．She lost her daughter in a road accident. |
| C．She broke the traffic rules at a bus stop |
| D．Her vehicle was destroyed by a motorbike. |
| A．Blues’ lack of driving experience |
| B．the motorist’s failure of seeing the stop sign |
| C．Blues’ poor car conditions |
| D．the motorist’s absence of mind while driving |
| A．to forbid the carrying of cell phones in cars |
| B．to educate drivers to avoid all distractions |
| C．to ban talking on cell phones while driving |
| D．to study harmful results of using cell phones |
| A．Using cell phones while driving is easier to be controlled by law than other distractions |
| B．It is more important to make laws than educate drivers to be aware of driving safety. |
| C．Driving while on the cell phone is firmly against only by some students from high schools. |
| D．It is extremely urgent for the cities with a large population to restrict using cell phones |
【推荐1】When I was 12 years old, I already knew that my teen years were going to be the worst years at my life. I was a total outsider, bullied at school. I felt completely alone in my small town.
But by starting to do volunteer work when I was 14, I turned my problem into a passion for helping others. The opportunity to practice kindness made me feel like my life had a greater purpose. The more positive energy I shared, the more kindness and appreciation I received. I realized that my purpose in life would be to reach out to people, specifically teenagers, and help them feel less alone.
Books were my time friends back then. I was so thankful that the authors wrote those books. The kindness they offered me with their books saved my life. One of my biggest dreams was to become an author so I could write books that would help other teenagers the way those books helped me.
After surviving terrible experiences at school and at home, I made a choice to take the optimistic, positive road in the next steps of my journey. My dream career is what I am doing now. I have been a full-time author of teen novels since 2007 and am grateful for this amazing opportunity to reach out to readers every single day.
Kindness saved me when I needed help the most. Even small acts of kindness can change someone’s life. You never know what someone else is going through. But by practicing daily kindness, you become an architect of positive change.
1. What was the author’s life like when he was 12?| A．Boring. | B．Peaceful. |
| C．Unhappy. | D．Meaningful. |
| A．It made him popular in his town. |
| B．It helped him fall in love with reading |
| C．It helped him understand others’ lives better. |
| D．It helped him find the meaning of life. |
| A．He was inspired by his teacher. |
| B．He could pass positive energy to readers. |
| C．He wanted to share his school experiences. |
| D．He found he had a talent for writing. |
| A．Say “no” to bullies bravely. |
| B．Inspire others to make positive changes. |
| C．Treat others with kindness in daily life. |
| D．Learn to care more about others’ feelings. |
【推荐2】I was in the Santa Cruz Mountains not long ago, speaking and singing at a women’s conference. We were focusing on the theme of loving others in practical ways through our gifts, and something in particular happened during one of the sessions will remain imprinted in my memory.
A young Syrian woman (Lilith) was invited to the conference at the last minute, and everyone seemed surprised and delighted that she’d actually come. Just a few days earlier, Lilith had fled her country and found refuge with one of the women attending the conference. As an Orthodox Christian in Syria, she and her loved ones had become attacked targets of violent terrorist groups in the country’s ongoing civil war.
Lilith had witnessed horrors no one of her young age should ever see. Despite the further danger it presented, she’d decided to leave her home and her family to find safety here in America. Knowing some of her story, and seeing her sitting through the sessions at the retreat — head, covered in a scarf, bowed toward the floor — broke my heart.
Lilith’s story touched all of us, including Pam, who was a quilt maker. Pam had just finished a beautiful quilt, and had brought it with her. She, along with a few of the leaders, decided to give it to Lilith as a symbol of their comfort and love. Lilith had left her own mother behind in her homeland, and I can’t imagine how frightened and alone she felt. But I could see there were lots of ＂mamas＂ in this community of women who were more than ready to love her.
During our last session, Lilith was called forward and prayed over, hugged, and wrapped up in that beautiful quilt. I thought of the many hours Pam undoubtedly spent working on it, and the terrible events that led Lilith to this moment — surrounded by the beauty and love the quilt embodied. I wept. When they told her it was for her, she wept.
1. What is the purpose of the women’s conference?| A．To help others in a practical way. |
| B．To win equal rights for women. |
| C．To get together to dance and sing. |
| D．To exchange gifts with each other. |
| A．To attend the women’s conference. | B．To find safety. |
| C．To find her family. | D．To find a better job. |
| A．hang back | B．hide from others |
| C．bravely enough | D．full of sadness |
| A．enthusiastic | B．sympathetic |
| C．intelligent | D．talented |
【推荐3】Shannon St. Onge thought she could get home from work before the storm hit Pense, a town in Saskatchewan, Canada.
“Yesterday, the weather network was warning of a storm. Expected start time was at around 7 pm,” she wrote on social media.
“I grabbed takeout for the kids, filled my gas tank, replaced my broken phone charger and then hit the dirt roads at around 5:30 to head home before the storm hit.”
She took a dirt road because she thought it would be better for the winter driving conditions.
“Just as the pavement (路面) turned into gravel (石子路), the wind picked up and visibility became reduced. The wind whips the snow from the open fields across the roads and creates sometimes dangerous conditions,” she said.
“I found myself driving with my head out of the driver’s window, watching the edge of the gravel as my guide, while I crawled forward at 15km/hr, not actually looking forward at the road ahead. I did this for about 10 km, until I could no longer see and I had to stop, right where I was—12 km from home.”
She pulled over and called 911. The operator suggested she wait the storm out, but the storm was not projected to let up until dawn.
“What if I didn’t make it home at all?” she wondered.
She posted her location on the Pense community webpage in hopes someone might be able to find her.
That’s when 80-year-old Andre Bouvier Sr. got a call about St. Onge’s urgent request for help. He lived about half a mile away from where she was pulled over.
His tractor would not start so he decided to head out on foot with a flashlight. To his surprise, he found two other vehicles with people who also needed help stranded together with St. Onge.
He led all seven stranded people back to his home and welcomed them in for the evening.
“This family fed us and gave us a warm place to rest our eyes for a few hours,” she said. “When we all woke up at 5 am, he had already plowed the driveway for us, and at around 5:30, we headed to town. Visibility was better, but still very, very poor.”
“In the end, we all made it home safely and I have never hugged my kids tighter.”
As for Bouvier, he didn’t want much credit for his efforts.
“Everybody would have done the same thing,” he said. “You don’t think about it. You just do it.”
1. In spite of the warning, St. Onge still tried to drive back home mainly because she ________.| A．didn’t trust the weather forecast |
| B．was fully prepared for the storm |
| C．had thought she could get home before the storm began |
| D．took the dirt road that she thought would be safe enough |
| A．The wrong road. | B．The empty gas tank. |
| C．The poor visibility. | D．The serious accident. |
| A．He received a call for help from Shannon St. Onge. |
| B．He walked 12 km to rescue the people who were stuck. |
| C．He drove Shannon St. Onge to town himself the next morning. |
| D．He had cleared the driveway before Shannon St. Onge woke up. |
| A．Warm-hearted and considerate. | B．Responsible and talented. |
| C．Strong-willed and ambitious. | D．Independent and motivated. |
