A brilliant theoretical physicist, J. Robert Oppenheimer was tapped to head up a laboratory in Los Alamos, New Mexico, as part of U.S. efforts to develop nuclear weapons. He succeeded — but would go on to advocate against developing even more powerful bombs.
Born in New York City in 1904, Oppenheimer studied theoretical physics at both Cambridge University and the University of Göttingen in Germany, where he gained his doctorate at age 23. Soon the young physicist “Oppie” rubbed shoulders with the greatest scientific figures of his age, and his academic work advanced quantum theory and predicted everything from the neutron to the black hole.
After the United States joined the Allies in 1941, Oppenheimer was asked to participate in the top-secret Manhattan Project, whose aim was to develop an atomic weapon.
On July 16, 1945, Oppenheimer and others gathered at the Trinity test site south of Los Alamos for the world’s first attempted nuclear blast. Conducted in secret, the test worked. On August 6 and August 9, 1945, the U.S. dropped two of the bombs Oppenheimer had helped develop over Hiroshima and Nagasaki. On the night of the Hiroshima bombing, Oppenheimer was cheered by a crowd of fellow scientists at Los Alamos, and declared that his only regret was that the bomb hadn’t been finished in time to use against Germany.
Twenty years after the attacks on both cities in Japan, Oppenheimer appeared in a 1965 NBC News documentary called The Decision to Drop the Bomb. “We knew the world would not be the same,” he said onscreen. “A few people laughed; a few people cried. Most people were silent. I remembered the line from the Hindu scripture (印度梵经), ‘Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds.’ I suppose we all thought that, one way or another.”
However, Oppenheimer opposed America’s attempts to develop a more powerful hydrogen bomb. Did he really live to regret helping develop the atomic bomb? No one knows. He doesn’t come into easy categories of pro-nuclear, anti-nuclear or anything like that. He’s a complicated figure.
1. What does the underlined phrase “rubbed shoulders with” in Paragraph 2 mean?| A．Thought highly of. | B．Spent time with. |
| C．Taken the place of. | D．Made trouble with. |
| A．He got his doctor’s degree in the year 1930. |
| B．The atomic bomb he developed first struck Nagasaki. |
| C．He felt guilty when the bomb caused numerous deaths. |
| D．He was firmly against developing the hydrogen bomb. |
| A．News. | B．Fiction. |
| C．Biography. | D．Journal. |
| A．The Controversial Man behind the Atomic Bomb |
| B．The Most Brilliant Physicist in the 20th Century |
| C．How Oppenheimer Rewrote the History of WWII |
| D．How Oppenheimer Developed the Atomic Bomb |
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【推荐1】By the middle of the second day I know I’m in trouble. In front of me the land stretches up and away towards a distant hill, and into the space, between that hill and me, is crowded one of the most vivid concentrations of color I have ever seen. It starts with the trees. The wet season is only a few weeks off and almost as if they can smell the coming rains, they have put out their leaves. They are no ordinary green and the dry grasses beneath them are shining with golds, browns and reds. I want to recreate this scene with watercolors. Although I can make a try at it with words, trying to paint it in my sketch book is another matter altogether. I’ve already made one attempt: a series of lines in orange and red, with bluish trees placed across them, which now lies face down in the grass beside me.
I’ve put it there because the last thing I want right now is for someone else to come along and look at it. A young man called Royale walks up the hill. Royale is a sculptor, and, with several other local men, produces pieces of work in the local stone. Recently, and quite suddenly, this work, and that of several other local co-operatives, has acquired an international reputation. I certainly don’t want a man capable of such things looking at my own awful painting. So I put my foot, as casually as I can, on the finished one beside me and we resume the conversation started earlier in the day.
I want to talk to Royale about his life here. He, however, is only interested in what I am up to. To begin with, it seems that he considers me a fellow artist, and for a moment I find myself staring into the depths of embarrassment. But when he asks me, “What is painting like?” I realize that this professional artist has never painted anything in his life before. He just wants a go with my colors.
When I signed up for this holiday, I was hoping for an experience like the one I had had four years earlier in Wales. That was my first painting holiday, and I loved it. Two things made it great. First was the teacher, a man called Robin, who showed me that what is important about drawing and painting is not the finished article but the process of completing it. The second element of that week was the place. I grew up in places like that, and I connected with it immediately. But it was stupid of me to think that I could reproduce the experience down here, deep in the Southern Hemisphere. Zimbabwe is not a part of me, nor I of it. Trying to draw it for the first time, from a standing start, is like trying to start a conversation in Swahili.
1. What problem does the writer have at the beginning of her holiday?| A．She can’t reproduce the exact color. | B．There are no animals that she can paint. |
| C．She’s brought the wrong materials with her. | D．The weather is not good enough for painting. |
| A．it was only a quick sketch | B．it wasn’t good enough to sell |
| C．she believed Royale painted better | D．she thought it would disappoint Royale |
| A．What I will give him. | B．What I am painting. |
| C．What I am thinking about. | D．What I can teach him. |
| A．Her technique improved much faster. | B．The landscape was more familiar to her. |
| C．She was able to complete a number of paintings. | D．The teacher who taught her then was more talented. |
【推荐2】My daughter Kelly is a cautious person. She needs to warm up to situations, and is hesitant to try new things. When with close friends, she becomes a leader who laughs loudly and chants," Girls rule, boys drool." But when that comfort zone is not around her, she is shy and nervous.
This has been challenging for me at times. "Shy"is not a word that I think has ever been used to describe me. But this has been a year of firsts for my girl that has filled her with a new sense of confidence. This year she moved to lap lane in swimming where she was preparing for a swim team. This year she learned to ride a bike without training wheels. And this year she completed her first kids' triathlon(三项全能).
On Saturday, with a thunderstorm coming soon and my son's birthday party later in the day, we all went out in the dark of the morning for Kelly to participate in her first triathlon. We practiced transitions from swim to bike to run with her, we got all the equipment she'd need, and we kept talking about the race. But as we waited the two hours for the older kids to finish before her turn, she held my leg a little harder and told me she loved me a few too many times. She was nervous but trying to keep it together.
And then it was her turn. From the second she jumped into the water, my heart soared. My daughter transformed into the most confident human being I had ever seen.She dominated(主宰)that swim, crushed that bike ride and ran to the finish with the biggest smile on her face.
I can honestly say that I never felt so proud of someone in my entire life. It wasn't because she did a sport or anything like that. It was because she was afraid of something and conquered(克服) that fear with confidence and a fire I hadn't seen before.
All day I would find myself just looking over at her and smiling. She might be wearing the finalist medal but I felt like I won that day. I won the chance to see my girl shine.
Shine on, sweet baby.
1. Kelly is nervous when .| A．situations are new to her | B．boys are around her |
| C．she changes into a leader | D．she is away from her mom |
| A．the race began in the early morning |
| B．the whole family gave Kelly support |
| C．Kelly was eager for her turn in the race |
| D．Kelly prepared for her brother's birthday party |
| A．excited and proud | B．anxious and uneasy |
| C．curious and concerned | D．worried and hesitant |
| A．expressed love to her | B．won the gold medal |
| C．took part in the sport | D．overcame the fear. |
【推荐3】About 15 years ago, Andrew McLindon, an businessman and cyclist, was riding his bike in Austin, Texas, when he thought about a friend’s 12-year-old son. The boy had never known the joy of biking because he suffered from hydrocephalus(脑积水), a buildup of fluid in the brain that often causes balance disturbances.
When he got home, McLindon, now 60, went online and found a three-wheel bike with a seat belt, perfect for a child with balance issues. Soon the boy was pedaling around the street with his peers, having fun and getting exercise. But there was more, as McLindon noticed his friend’s reaction. “To see his son interacting with other kids,” McLindon says. “I’ll never forget the smile on his face.”
That smile launched the McLindon Family Foundation. Funded by donations, the group works with hospitals to find children who can benefit from owning an adaptive bike — and to help craft each bike to the particular needs of the child. A bike may include a headrest, a shoulder harness, a seat belt, and a caregiver’s steering and braking mechanism in the back. The bikes are expensive — $3,000 to $4,000, and that’s with the foundation’s steep manufacturer’s discount. For kids lucky enough to get one, they’re a life changer.
“We worked with a 14-year-old who has spinal bifida(脊柱裂),” says McLindon. “She spent most days on the couch watching TV. Soon after she got her bike, she was training for special-needs triathlons(三项全能运动). In a magazine interview, she said, ‘I always knew there was an athlete in me.’”
So far, the foundation has given away 450 bikes, and that’s just a start. “I do a lot of things. I run a lot of companies,” McLindon says. “But getting these kids their bikes is the most important thing that I do.”
1. What prevented the boy from experiencing the joy of biking?| A．Learning disability. | B．Vision problems. |
| C．Brain disturbances. | D．Brain disease. |
| A．Raising fund for hospital. | B．Donating bikes for kids. |
| C．Selling bikes at a discount. | D．Producing bikes with special design. |
| A．She hurt her foots. | B．She had poor vision. |
| C．She preferred challenges. | D．She used to be an athlete. |
| A．Caring. | B．Creative. | C．Ambitious. | D．Responsible. |
【推荐1】Scientist Fabien Cousteau went out of the Atlantic Ocean and took in a deep breath of fresh air. It was the first time in 31 days he had been above the ocean’s surface.
Cousteau had been living in an underwater science lab called Aquarius. It’s located 63 feet below the surface, off the coast of the Florida Keys.
50 years ago Fabien Cousteau’s grandfather, the legendary ocean explorer Jacques Cousteau, led a similar—but shorter by one day expedition under the surface of the Red Sea. Since then, we have explored only a very small portion of the oceans, less than 5%. His grandfather was one of the first ocean explorers. 31 days beneath the waves is now the longest time anyone has spent under the ocean. But he wasn’t just trying to break his grandfather’s record. He was there to learn more about life in the ocean.
For 31 days, a team of more than 30 people, including researchers and filmmakers, joined Cousteau. They took turns staying with him for several days at a time. The intent of the Mission 31: study the life of and on the coral reef, the effects of climate change, acidification, and pollution, in particular by plastic debris and oil spills. But it was also a study of the scientists themselves spending extended time underwater. By staying down continuously, they collected the equivalent of several years of scientific data in just a month.
Aquarius is the world’s only underwater science lab. It’s about the size of a school bus. It has a kitchen, a bathroom, and six bunk beds that face a window. Cousteau and his team posted many videos online. He hopes his month-long stay will encourage others to study and help protect life in the ocean.
1. What can we learn about Aquarius from the passage?| A．It’s a science lab on the coast of the Florida Keys. |
| B．It’s located sixty-three feet underwater. |
| C．It’s the world’s only science lab. |
| D．It’s as big as a minibus. |
| A．To do some scientific research. |
| B．To become the first ocean explorer. |
| C．To make a film. |
| D．To break his grandfather’s record. |
| A．Cousteau stayed in the lab by himself. |
| B．Cousteau stayed in the lab with some researchers for 31 days. |
| C．Cousteau and his team have known how pollution affects ocean life. |
| D．The aim of Cousteau’s month-long stay is to call on people to protect the life in the ocean. |
| A．How to Protect the Life in the Ocean |
| B．A Month Under the Sea |
| C．An Underwater Science Lab |
| D．An Exciting Trip Under the Sea |
【推荐2】Dr Dian Fossey, one of the world’s leading women scientists, had a remarkable career. The work she devoted her life to protecting and studying the mountain gorillas (大猩猩) of Africa --- has proved highly effective and has resulted in the steady (平稳的) increase of this most endangered great apes.
Fossey made her first trip to Africa in 1963. Three years later, she returned to Africa to begin a long-term study of the mountain gorillas. She set up camp in the Democratic Republic of Congo but moved to Rwanda because of political reasons in 1967. She established her “Karisoke” Research Centre camp on September 24, 1967.
Fossey’s aims were to study gorilla ecology (生态学) and social organization. She found that in order to achieve this, she needed to recognize individual gorillas, which required that the gorillas get used to her presence (出现). By copying gorillas’ behaviour and sounds, Fossey began to gain their trust, and in 1970 an adult male gorilla she had named “Peanuts” reached out to touch her hand.
Close observations over thousands of hours enabled Fossey to gain the gorillas’ trust and bring forth new knowledge about their behaviour. Stories and photographs of her work were published in National Geographic Magazine and elsewhere.
In 1977, one of Fossey’s favorite gorillas, Digit, was killed by poachers and she established the Digit Fund to help raise money for gorilla protection efforts in the same year.
On December 26, 1985, Fossey was murdered while going back to her house in Karisoke. Her body was discovered near the research centre. Most probably, Dian Fossey had been killed by the poachers she’d fought against. On her tombstone (墓碑) “No one loved gorillas more ...”
In 1988, the life and the work of Fossey were made into a movie based on her story.
1. Why does the author say that Dr Dian Fossey had a remarkable career?| A．Because she travelled all over the world. |
| B．Because she liked to play with gorillas. |
| C．Because she studied gorilla ecology. |
| D．Because she made great apes increase steadily. |
a. She established the Digit Fund.
b. Her story was shown in a movie.
c. She was killed probably by the poachers.
d. She established her “Karisoke” centre.
| A．a. d. c. b | B．a. c.d. b |
| C．d. c. b. a | D．d. a. c. b |
| A．sell drugs against the law |
| B．hunt animals against the law |
| C．hate successful people |
| D．like to do harm lo people |
| A．Fossey was the person who loved gorillas most |
| B．after Fossey died, no one loves gorillas |
| C．Fossey was the first one to study gorillas |
| D．everybody loves gorillas as Fossey did |
【推荐3】Stephen William Hawking was born on 8 January 1942 in Oxford, England. His parents’ house was in north London, but during the Second World War Oxford was considered a safer place to have babies. When he was eight, his family moved to St Albans, a town about 20 miles north of London. At eleven Stephen went to St Albans School, and then on to University College, Oxford, his father’s old college. Stephen wanted to do Mathematics, although his father would have preferred medicine. Mathematics was not available at College, so he did Physics instead. After three years and not very much work he was awarded a first class honours degree in Natural Science.
Stephen then went on to Cambridge to do research in Cosmology, there being no one working in that area in Oxford at the time. His supervisor was Dennis Sciama, although he had hoped to get Fred Hoyle who was working in Cambridge. After gaining his Ph. D, he became first a Research Fellow, and later on a Professorial Fellow at Gonville and Caius College. After leaving the Institute of Astronomy in 1973 Stephen came to the Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics, and since 1979 has held the post of Lucasian Professor of Mathematics. The chair was founded in 1663 with money left in the will of the Reverend Henry Lucas, who had been the Member of Parliament for the University. It was first held by Isaac Barrow, and then in 1663 by Isaac Newton.
Professor Hawking has twelve honorary degrees, was awarded the CBE in 1982,and was made a Companion of Honour in 1989. He is the recipient of many awards, medals and prizes and is a Fellow of The Royal Society and a Member of the US National Academy of Sciences.
1. Which of the following shows the right order of what happened to Hawking?a. He gained his Ph. D.
b. He went to Cambridge.
c. He was given a first class honour degree.
d. He began to hold the post of Lucasian Professor of Mathematics.
e. He went to St Albans School.
| A．e-c-b-a-d | B．a-e-c-d-b | C．a-e-c-b-d | D．c-b-d-e-a |
| A．Cosmology | B．Mathematics | C．Physics | D．Medicine |
| A．there was no one studying Cosmology in England |
| B．there was no one studying Cosmology in Oxford |
| C．there were only a few scientists studying Cosmology in Oxford |
| D．Cosmology is widely studied in Britain |
