【推荐2】There is nothing worse than sitting next to someone whose breath smells bad. In order to solve this problem, people have tried various methods since thousands of years ago.    1    . Nowadays, we use gum（口香糖）instead and it seems to be much easier.

    2     Scientists can even tell whether or not somebody has a disease just from a simple breath test now.

How does it work? Breath is made up of waste chemicals that the body makes.    3    In fact, they are just like fingerprints （指纹）一that’s why scientists sometimes call them “ breathprints” .

Compared with other kinds of tests, a breath test is much quicker. Instead of taking hours, it only takes a few minutes.    4    This machine will help to test their breath. It has been useful in finding early signs of problems such as stomach cancer.

Now, scientists are trying to use breath tests as many as they can.    5    

A．There are many ways to make your breath smell better

B．It’s much cheaper to do a breath test than other tests

C．How your breath smells says a lot about your health

D．In ancient China, people used to eat a special plant to make their breath smell better

E．Hopefully, someday, visits to the hospital will be a lot quicker and easier for everyone

F．Breath tests are also a lot easier to do than regular tests as people only need to blow into a special machine

G．Scientists from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology found that these chemicals are different for each person

【推荐3】To advance wind turbine (汽轮机，涡轮机)technology to meet the requirements of extremely rough environments like that on Mars, Ames partnered with NSF (the National Science Foundation) and the Department of Energy. " It was clear that a lot of the same features were also found in the cold regions of the Earth,“ says Bubenheim. "NASA took the leadership on the team because we had the longest-term technology—a Mars turbine.”

Years before, NSF had worked with a company called Northern Power Systems ( NPS) , based in Barre, Vermont, to build a 3-kilowatt wind turbine on Black Island off the coast of Antarctica. The main purpose of this turbine was to power communications to the NSF's South Pole station. In 1993 , Ames awarded the same company a Small Business Innovation Research ( SBIR) contract (合 同)to construct a similar wind turbine at the South Pole.

Jonathan Lynch, the chief technology officer at NPS, says the South Pole has less wind than Black Island but is even colder. " It's hard to have steels that work in those temperatures,“ he says. " The cold affects the parts and everything gets extremely fragile. We looked at which materials were appropriate for flexible wires, irons, and steels, and what lubrication (润 滑) systems were going to work and for what temperatures over a long period of time.”

In 1997, NPS made a 3-kilowatt turbine at the South Pole, and then began developing a 100-kilowatt turbine that could function in the same extreme conditions. The first types of the larger turbine were successfully deployed in Kotzebue, Alaska and Golden, Colorado. " They were fully tested in loads to make sure they worked, and we then built a lot of them, " says Lynch.

By 2000, the wind turbine technology had won an R&D 100 Award from R&D Magazine , and since then, says Bubenheim, "It's been copied and put in a lot of places around the globe. "

1. From the first paragraph, we can infer that_____.

A．the team wanted to build a wind turbine used on Mars

B．Mars and the Earth have the same features

C．NASA played the most important part in the team

D．the team was made up of Ames, NSF, the Department of Energy and NASA

2. Which of the following is right according to the passage?

A．The wind turbine technology was invented by Ames.

B．NPS made wind turbines for NSF and Ames.

C．NSF and Ames both used the wind turbines at the same place.

D．The wind turbine technology was only used in America.

3. What's the main idea of the 3^rd paragraph?

A．The South Pole has worse condition than the Black Island.

B．NPS had confidence to build a wind turbine for the South Pole.

C．The materials for the turbines have to stand the extreme cold.

D．NPS had more challenges in building a wind turbine for the South Pole.

4. The word “ deployed” in the 4^th paragraph can be replaced by.

A．made

B．invented

C．used

D．advanced

【推荐1】A new study shows that rising levels of planet-warming gases may reduce important nutrients in food crops.

Researchers studied the effects of one such gas—carbon dioxide—on rice. The researchers grew rice plants in a controlled environment. They set carbon dioxide levels to what scientists are predicting for our planet by the end of the century. They found that the resulting rice crops had lower than normal levels of vitamins, minerals and protein. The researchers said the effects of planet-warming gases would be most severe for the poorest citizens in some of the least developed countries. These people generally eat the most rice and have the least complex diets, they noted.

In the experiment, scientists grew 18 kinds of rice in fields in China and Japan. They pumped carbon dioxide gas over the plants in an effort to create the atmosphere of the future. Rice grown under high carbon dioxide conditions had, on average, 13 to 30 percent lower levels of four B vitamins and 10 percent less protein. The crops also had 8 percent less iron and 5 percent less zinc（锌）an rice grown under normal conditions. However, vitamin E levels increased by about 13 percent on average.

The results are bad news, “especially for the nutrition of the poorer population in less-developed countries,” said the University of Tokyo’s Kazuhiko Kobayashi, who helped to write the report. That includes about 600 million people in Indonesia, Cambodia, Myanmar, Bangladesh, Laos and other nations, mainly in Southeast Asia, the report said.

One of the scientists is Sam Myers of Harvard University in the American state of Massachusetts. He said that findings like this are an example of the surprises climate change create. “My concern is there are many more surprises to come,” he said.

Myers noted that pollution, loss of some species, destruction of forests, and other human activities are likely to produce unexpected problems. He said that you cannot completely change all the natural systems that living organisms have grown to depend on over millions of years without having effects come back to affect our own health.

The new study suggests a way to lower the nutritional harm of climate change. One way, Kobayashi said, is grow different forms of rice that have shown to be more resistant to higher carbon dioxide levels.

1. Which county would be influenced most by planet-warming gases according to the text?

A．China

B．Britain

C．America

D．Myanmar

2. How is Paragraph 3 mainly developed?

A．By comparison.	B．By giving examples.
C．By analyzing causes.	D．By describing a process.

3. What does the underlined sentence in Paragraph 5 mean?

A．Climate change will be difficult to predict.

B．Climate change will lead to more good effects.

C．Climate change will be harmful to environment.

D．Climate change will cause more unexpected problems.

4. Which of the following statements is true according to the text?

A．Myers said we could change all the natural systems for the sake of our health.

B．The poorest people in all the least developed countries would be influenced most.

C．The researchers grew 18 kinds of rice in China and Japan in a controlled environment.

D．Protein in rice grown under high carbon dioxide conditions is increased by 10 percent.

【推荐2】Today tropical rainforests are disappearing from the face of the globe. Despite growing international concern, rainforests continue to be destroyed at a pace over 80,000 acres per day. World rainforest cover now stands at around 2.5million square miles. Human activities have had an effect on much of this remaining area.

Deforestation(森林滥伐) of tropical rainforests has a global effect through species extinction, the loss of important ecosystem services and renewable resources, and the reduction of carbon sinks. However, this destruction can be slowed, stopped, and in some cases even reversed(逆转). Most people agree that the problem must be solved, but the means are not as simple as building fences around the remaining rainforests or banning the wood trade. Economic, political, and social pressures will not allow rainforests to continue to exist if they are completely closed off from use and development.

So, what should be done? The solution must be based on what is practical, not completely idealistic and depends on developing a conservation approach built on the principle of sustainable(可持续的) use and development of rainforests. Beyond the responsible development of rainforests, efforts to restore damaged forest lands along with the establishment of protected areas are key to securing rainforests for the long-term benefits they can provide for mankind.

Historic approaches to rainforest conservation have failed, as shown by the increased rate of deforestation. In many regions, closing off forests as untouchable parks and reserves has neither improved the quality of living or economic opportunities for the rural poor, nor stopped forest clearing by illegal woodcutters and developers.

The problem with this traditional approach to preserving wildlands in developing countries is that it fails to develop proper economic motives for preserving the forest. Local people and the government itself must see financial returns to prove the costs of maintaining parks from economic activities.

1. What has caused some species extinction in the tropical rainforests?

A．Humans' destroying the trees.

B．Carbon sinks being reduced.

C．Lacking renewable resources.

D．Fences not being built around the rainforests.

2. What can be inferred from the passage?

A．Tropical rainforests can be easily preserved.

B．Rainforests must be closed off to be better protected.

C．Human activities have had an effect on tropical rainforests.

D．Economic returns can make some difference in protecting tropical rainforests.

3. What is the author's attitude to tropical rainforest protection?

A．Indifferent.

B．Concerned.

C．Doubtful.

D．Puzzled.

4. What is the purpose of the passage?

A．To show the bad effects of deforestation.

B．To stress the importance of the rainforests.

C．To appeal for right ways to save the rainforests.

D．To introduce the fact of forests disappearing.

【推荐3】Several years ago, Jason Box, a scientist from Ohio, flew 31 giant rolls of white plastic to a glacier (冰川) in Greenland. He and his team spread them across 10,000 feet of ice, and then left. His idea was that the white blanket would reflect back the rays of the sun, keeping the ice cool below. When he came back to check the results, he found it worked. Exposed ice had melted faster than covered ice. He had not only saved two feet of glacier in a short time. No coal plants (煤炭工厂) were shut down, no jobs were lost, and nobody was taxed or fired. Just the sort of fix we’re looking for.

“Thank you, but no thank you.” says Ralph King, a climate scientist. He told Grey Childs, author and commentator, that people think technology can save the planet, “but there are other things we need to deal with, like consumption (消费). They burned $50,000 just for the helicopter to bring the plastic to the glacier. ”This experiment gives people false hope that climate change can be fixed (解决，处理) without changing human behavior. . It can’t. Technology won’t give us a free ride (搭便车).

Individuals respond to climate change differently. Climatologist Kelly Smith is hardly alone in her prediction that someday soon we won’t be climate victims; we will be climate choosers. More scientists agree with her that if the human race survives, the engineers will get smarter, the tools will get better, and one day we will control the climate. But what then? "Just the mention of us controlling the climate sent a small shiver (颤抖) down my back”, Grey Childs writes, “Something sounds wrong about it.”

Me? I like it better when the earth takes care of itself. I guess one day we will have to run the place, but for the moment, sitting at my desk. looking out at the trees bending wildly and the wind howling. I’m happy not to be in charge.

1. What does Ralph King think of Jason Box’s experiment?

A．It’s a possible solution to climate change.

B．It’s a misleading attempt to fix the climate.

C．It’s a successful experiment on saving the glacier.

D．It arouses people’s attention to the problem of global warming.

2. Which statement would Kelly Smith most probably agree with?

A．The fight against climate change will not succeed.

B．Humans will succeed in controlling climate in the future.

C．Technology is not the final solution, let alone its high cost.

D．Jason’s experiment plays a significant role in fixing climate change.

3. What is Grey Childs’s attitude to human’s controlling the climate?

A．Supportive.	B．Tolerant (容忍的).
C．Sceptical (怀疑的).	D．Unclear.

4. Which of the following is a suitable title for the text?

A．Should we fix the climate with technology?	B．Is climate change a threatening problem?
C．Why is the earth climate getting worse?	D．What if all the glaciers disappeared?

【推荐1】One is never too old to learn. Life learning (sometimes called un-schooling or self-directed learning) is one of those concepts that are almost easier to explain by saying what it isn't than what it is. And that's probably because our own schooled backgrounds have convinced(说服) us that learning happens only in a fine building on certain days, between certain hours, and managed by a specially trained professional.

Within that schooling framestudy, no matter how hard teachers try and no matter how good their textbooks, many bright students get bored, many slower students struggle and give up or lose their self-respect, and most of them reach the end of the process unprepared to enter into society. They have memorized a certain body of knowledge long enough to rush back the information on tests, but they haven't really learnt much, at least of the official curriculum.

Life learners, on the other hand, know that learning is not difficult, that people learn things quite easily if they're not compelled and forced, if they see a need to learn something, and if they are trusted and respected enough to learn it on their own timetable, at their own speed, in their own way—no matter what age and no matter whether we're at school or at home.

Life learning is independent of time, location or the presence of teacher. It does not require mom or dad to teach, or kids to work in workbooks at the table from 9 to noon. Life learning is learner-driven. It involves living and learning—in and from the real world. It is about exploring, questioning, experimenting, making messes, taking risks without fear of making mistakes, being laughed at and trying again.

Furthermore, life learning is about trusting kids to learn what they need to know and about helping them to learn and grow in their own ways. It is about providing positive experiences that enable children to understand the world and their culture and to interact with it.

1. It is implied(暗示) in the text that it is hard to ______.

A．tell the nature of life learning	B．carry life learning through
C．learn without going to school	D．find a specially trained teacher

2. According to the author, the schooling framestudy often ______.

A．produces slow students with poor memories

B．fails to provide enough knowledge about life

C．ignores some parts of the official curriculum

D．gives little care to the quality of teaching materials

3. Life learners recognize that learning will not be difficult if they are ______.

A．able to respect other people	B．careful to make a timetable
C．cautious about any mistakes	D．clear about why to learn

4. According to the author, life learning ______.

A．could prevent one from running risks

B．teaches a kid how to avoid being laughed at

C．makes a kid independent of his parents

D．could be a road full of trials and errors

5. Through life learning, children ______.

A．will grow without the assistance from parents

B．will be separated from the negative side of society

C．will be driven to learn necessary life knowledge

D．will learn to communicate with the real society

【推荐2】When continent splits occur, they usually leave traces in ancient rocks, fossils, and mountain ranges. However, around 155 million years ago, when a 5,000-kilometer land broke away from Western Australia and began its drift, it only left behind a basin deep below the ocean known as the Argo Abyssal Plain and scientists have been unable to find where this lost continent, Argoland, disappeared to until now.

The seabed structure suggests that the continent drifted northwestward, potentially towards present-day Southeast Asia. But surprisingly, there is no large continent hidden beneath those islands, only small continental fragments. Using this theory, geologists discovered that Argoland hadn’t really disappeared but survived as a “very extended and fragmented collection” under the islands to the east of Indonesia. Unlike other continents like Africa and South America, which broke neatly into two pieces, Argoland split into many smaller fragments that were dispersed (分散的). With advanced technology and the discovery, scientists can now piece them together.

Tracing the continents is vital for understanding processes like the evolution of biodiversity. It could help explain something known as the mysterious Wallace Line, which is an imaginary boundary that separates mammals, birds, and even early human species in Southeast Asian islands. The boundary has puzzled scientists for long because it clearly separates the island’s wildlife. To the west of the line are mammals like apes and elephants. But these are almost completely absent to the east, where you can find marsupials and cockatoos — animals typically associated with Australia. Researchers have theorized that this may be because Argoland carried its own wildlife away from Australia before it crashed into Southeast Asia, which helps explain why different species are found on one land.

The story of Argoland is not one of complete disappearance but of transformation. As the world continues to evolve, this lost continent serves as a powerful symbol of the fragility (脆弱性) of life on this planet, and a reminder of the importance of respecting and protecting the world that we live in.

1. What is Argoland?

A．It is a basin deep below the ocean in Western Australia.

B．It is a large continent hidden beneath the islands of Southeast Asia.

C．It is a new land emerging from under the islands to the east of Indonesia.

D．It is a fragmented continent drifting from Western Australia to Southeast Asia.

2. Why is Wallace Line mentioned in paragraph 3?

A．To introduce an imaginary boundary.

B．To support the assumed theory of the lost continent.

C．To show different species in Southeast Asian islands.

D．To explain the reason why scientists are puzzled about the boundary.

3. All of the following are the significance of this new discovery EXCEPT that ________.

A．it warns us to protect our planet.

B．it shows the creatures on earth are fragile.

C．it reminds us of the power of human activities.

D．it explains the biodiversity in Southeast Asian islands.

4. What is the main idea of this passage?

A．The mystery of a lost continent has been unfolded.

B．The fragments of Indonesia have been pieced together.

C．The formation of the Argo Abyssal Plain has been discovered.

D．The evolution of species in Southeast Asian islands has been traced.

【推荐3】Your mindset(思维模式) is as important as your best idea. Develop a good one, and you will make everything in your life better immediately. Here are several mindsets that will improve your life.

Self-trust mindset

To do anything great, you have to be able to trust yourself and believe in your abilities. Success is not something that just happens but something that you create. You have to have the confidence to drive away any negative voices in your head.    1    .

Goal-setting mindset

Knowing what you want and deciding to reach it are two different things. Your goals will motivate you.    2    .

So set high goals and don't stop until you reach them.

Patient mindset

There's a fine line between moving forward and standing still. The most successful people do all they can to move forward, but they also have the patience to wait and watch.    3    .sometimes you have to wait for the right thing.

Learning mindset

Just because you are struggling doesn't mean you're not learning.    4    besides, everything you learn helps you grow. If you are unwilling to learn, no one can help you: if you are determined to learn, no one can stop you.

    5    

Doing anything great requires courage, and fear always has a way of showing up. Courage does not mean being unafraid; having courage and showing courage mean facing your fears saving "I am scared but I am moving forward anyway.” Courage is like a muscle you can strengthen with use.

A．Courageous mindset

B．Discipline is the road to success

C．Every failure has something to teach you

D．Choosing to be positive will determine a lot about your life

E．Don't give up on the things you believe in and yourself

F．Those who are impatient tend to lose out on great opportunities

G．Remember, if they don't challenge you, they won't change you