【推荐1】The Mars 2020 rover(02W), which sets off for the Red Planet this year, will not only search for traces of ancient life, but pave the way for future human missions, NASA scientists said Friday as they introduced the vehicle.

The rover has been constructed in a large, sterile room at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, near Los Angeles, where its driving equipment was given its first successful test last week.

Shown to invited journalists on Friday, it is scheduled to leave Earth in July 2020 from Floridas Cape Canaveral, becoming the fifth US rover to land on Mars seven months later in February.

“It's designed to seek the signs of life, so we’re carrying a number of different instruments that will help us understand the geological and chemical context on the surface of Mars,” deputy mission leader Matt Wallace told AFP.

Among the devices on board the rover are 23 cameras, two “ears” that will allow it to listen to Martian winds, and lasers used for chemical analysis.

Approximately the size of a car, the rover is equipped with six wheels like the former US rover, Curiosity, allowing it to travel along rocky land.

Speed is not a priority for the vehicle, which only has to cover around 200 yards(180 metres) per Martian day -approximately the same as a day on Earth.

Fuelled by a tiny nuclear reactor, Mars 202(has seven-foot-long(2 metres) articulated arms and a drill to crack open rock samples in locations scientists identify as potentially suitable for life.

We are hoping to move fairly quickly. We'd like to see the next mission launched in 2026 which will get to Mars and pick up the samples, put them into a rocket and finally bring them back to the Earth, "said Wallace. NASA’s Mars 2020 will remain active for at least one Martian year, which is around two years on Earth.

1. What does the underlined part “pave the way” in Paragraph 1 mean?

A．Making preparations	B．Finding suitable landing sites
C．Setting up research centers.	D．Constructing roads.

2. What can we know about the Mars 2020 rover?

A．It looks much like a car with six wheels.

B．It is an updated of the US rover Curiosity.

C．It is solar-powered and can crack open rock samples.

D．It is able to perform different tasks on Mars in search of the signs of life

3. If you search the passage on the website of China Daily, where can you probably find it?

A．Lifestyle	B．Regional
C．World	D．Culture

4. What is the main idea of the passage?

A．The Mars 2020 rover has successfully passed its first driving test.

B．NASA is planning a new round of space exploration

C．Future human missions on Mars are on the way

D．A new rover will be launched to carry out scientific research on Mars

【推荐2】We are obsessed (迷恋)with ourselves. We study our history, our psychology, our philosophy. Much of our knowledge revolves (使旋转)around humankind itself, as if we were the most important thing in the universe.

But in the course of the centuries we have come to realize just how many wrong ideas we’ve had. We have learned of the existence of black holes, waves of space, and of the extraordinary molecular structures in every cell of our bodies.

The more we discover, the more we understand that what we don’t yet know is greater than what we know. The more powerful our telescopes, the stranger and more unexpected are the heavens we see. The closer we look at the minute detail of matter, the more we discover of its profound structure.

In a famous story told by Plato in the seventh book of The Republic, some men are chained at the bottom of a dark cave and see only shadows cast upon a wall by a fire behind them. They think that this is reality. One of them frees himself, leaves the cave and discovers the light of the sun and the wider world. At first the light, to which his eyes are unaccustomed, stuns and confuses him. But eventually he can see and returns excitedly to his companions to tell them what he has seen. They find it hard to believe.

We are all in the depths of a cave, chained by our ignorance, our prejudices, and our weak senses reveal only shadows. If we try to see further, we are confused: we are unaccustomed. But we try. This is science. Scientific thinking explores and redraws the world, gradually offering us better and better images of it, teaching us to think in ever more effective ways. Its strength is its capacity to demolish (推翻)old ideas, to reveal new regions of reality, and to construct new, more effective images of the world. This adventure rests upon the entirety of past knowledge, but at its heart is change.

The incompleteness and the uncertainty of our knowledge, hung over the abyss (深渊) of what we don’t know, does not make life meaningless: it makes it interesting and precious.

1. What does the author want to tell us in the first three paragraphs?

A．The new discoveries of the universe prove to be wrong.

B．Man has created splendid cultures in the course of centuries.

C．Our knowledge of the universe is incomplete and uncertain.

D．The existing technologies are enough for further exploration.

2. The story told by Plato is meant to .

A．make us aware of the cruelty of reality

B．encourage us to explore the unknown world

C．applaud the heroic deeds of chasing freedom

D．justify our ignorance and prejudice about the world

3. What does the author want to stress in the passage?

A．Exploring the universe makes our life meaningful.

B．Leaving things as they are makes our life perfect.

C．New discoveries of the universe will cause confusion.

D．Past knowledge prevents us constructing a new world.

【推荐3】Many people know that rubbish is a big problem on planet Earth. What many people don't know is that rubbish has become a problem in outer space too. Years of space exploration have left tons of “space junk” in orbit around the planet. According to BBC News，there are more than 22,000 pieces of junk in space around the earth. And these are just the items that we can see from the surface of the earth by telescopes. There are also millions of smaller pieces of junk that we can't see.

Objects，like bits of old space rockets or satellites，move around the planet at very high speeds，so fast that even a very small piece can break important satellites or become dangerous to people，particularly astronauts. If the tiniest piece of junk crashed into a spacecraft，it could damage the vehicle. That's because the faster an object moves，the greater the impact if the object collides(相撞)with something else.

To help reduce additional space junk, countries around the world have agreed to limit the time their space tools stay in orbit to 25 years. Each tool must be built to fall safely into the earth's atmosphere，or the mass of gases that surround the earth. In the upper parts of the atmosphere, it will burn up. Many scientists are also putting forward different ways to clean up space junk. In England a metal tool is being tested that can be fired into space rubbish，catch the rubbish，and then pull the rubbish into the earth's atmosphere to burn up. The Germans have been planning a space project with robots that would collect pieces of space rubbish and bring them back to Earth so that they can be safely destroyed.

The problem of space junk is very challenging，and it's quite urgent as well. One reason why it's urgent is that countries are sending more and more objects into space. Many of these objects are tools that help people use their cell phones or computers. The time to act is now. As we go farther in time we will need to remove more and more fragments(碎片).

1. What can we know from the first paragraph?

A．There are 22,000 pieces of space junk around the earth.

B．BBC News found the pieces of space junk by telescopes.

C．There are millions of tiny pieces of space junk around the earth.

D．Space junk in orbit around the planet was left by space exploration.

2. Why do countries in the world agree to limit the time for space tools staying in orbit?

A．To help reduce additional space junk.

B．To help space tools fall safely into the earth.

C．To help burn up space junk in the earth's atmosphere.

D．To help collect space junk and bring them back to Earth.

3. What does the text mainly tell us?

A．Ways to clean up space junk.

B．Ways to avoid the damage of space junk.

C．Rubbish is a big problem on planet Earth.

D．Rubbish has become a problem in outer space.

4. In which section of a newspaper may this text appear?

A．Health.

B．Education.

C．Environment.

D．Entertainment.

【推荐1】The Singapore Management University (SMU) MBA programme was launched with the aim to develop the next generation of business leaders in Asia. We seek candidates with certain conditions and qualities.

Achievements and demonstrated (显示) leadership potential. Participants in current and past classes have an average of 5 -6 years of working experience. We are looking for candidates who can benefit from - and contribute to - our seminar style of teaching and who can successfully lead teams and organizations coming out the programme. The programme has a strict minimum work experience requirement of 2 years (more experience preferred). Younger applicants can apply but must demonstrate outstanding leadership potential and maturity through their professional and personal experiences.

As our Full-time MBA and Part-time MBA are accelerated and strict, we are looking for candidates with strong academic certificates, as evidenced by their past academic performance. The GMAT is required as it gives us a base to compare candidates from diverse national, educational and professional backgrounds. While we have no minimum GMAT score, we consider candidates who have stronger than average marks in the verbal (语文) quantitative (数学) and writing sections to be more competitive. We also require TOEFL or IELTS scores from those whose undergraduate or graduate degrees were not taught in English.

Our business school’s aim is to train sharp minds who lead organizations and serve society. To this end, we look to build a dynamic and diverse student body who will actively contribute to the learning experience both inside and outside the classroom, and who desire to make a difference in their greater communities. We are also looking for candidates with strong interpersonal skills and an international outlook who can work in diverse groups, a necessary condition for being a leader in today’s globalized world.

1. What is the goal of the SMU MBA programme?

A．Training future business leaders.

B．Helping students to pass the GMA.

C．Developing quick-minded students.

D．Seeking students with high qualities.

2. Which of the following is a must for a candidate?

A．A graduate degree taught in English.

B．Demonstrated leadership.

C．At least 2 years of working experience.

D．Communicative ability.

3. What is Paragraph 3 mainly about?

A．Professional experience.

B．Requirement of TOFL scores.

C．Academic competence.

D．Contribution to the community.

4. The purpose of the passage is to _______.

A．introduce the SMU MBA programme

B．attract more qualified students

C．explain the process of the application

D．present the qualification of the candidates

【推荐2】Getting your kid to bed at night is one of the most difficult things you’ll ever have to do. Most kids are so full of energy that they’ll tire you out before they’re halfway through their store of energy. An easy way to encourage your child to get into bed is to give in and allow some iPad screen time. However, as you’ve probably already guessed, it’s really not a great idea.

Researchers at Arizona State University carried out a study with 547 kids between the ages of 7 and 9. Their parents tracked how much screen time the kids were allowed along with their sleeping patterns. They also had the kids wear wristwatches called actigraphs that could help researchers keep track of how long the kids were sleeping. The study found that kids who did not engage in screen time before bed slept for 23 more minutes every week and also went to sleep about 34 minutes earlier than their iPad-using counterparts (同伴). Although that might not seem like so much more time, quality of sleep is very important in children’s development.

The 2018 National Youth Risk Behavior Survey showed that good-quality sleep can influence a child’s life in many ways, including affecting grades. Students with an “A” average slept for 30 or more minutes per night (an average of 6.71 hours) than those with a “D” or “F” average (averaging 6.16 hours). Of course, getting to sleep on time and sleeping enough helps contribute to improved performance in school.

As hard as it is, it’s really important not to give in and hand over an iPad to a child who is about to go to bed. Just like it’s important for adults to go to sleep without any distractions (分心), it’s even more important for kids. The one comforting thought is that finally they’ll outgrow this stage, and soon you’ll have to worry about waking them up as teenagers.

1. What’s the function of paragraph 1?

A．To explain an idea.	B．To introduce the topic.
C．To offer some advice.	D．To summarize the whole text.

2. The researchers found that kids’ using an iPad before bed __________.

A．affected their health seriously	B．contributed to their sleeping late
C．reduced their sleeping time greatly	D．made no difference to their sleeping quality

3. What does paragraph 3 focus on?

A．The benefits of quality sleep.	B．The process of the survey.
C．The ways of improving grades.	D．The different performances of students.

4. What’s the author’s attitude to kids’ screen time before bed?

A．Unclear.

B．Supportive.

C．Doubtful.

D．Negative.

【推荐3】Teenagers who talk on the cellphone a lot, and hold their phones up to their right ears, score worse on one type of memory test. That’s the finding of a new study. That memory impairment might be one side effect of the radiation(放射线) that phones use to keep us connected while we’re on the go.

Nearly 700 Swiss teens took part in a test of figural memory. This type helps us remember abstract symbols and shapes, explains Milena Foerster. The teens took memory tests twice, one year apart. Each time, they had one minute to remember 13 pairs of abstract shapes. Then they were shown one item from each pair and asked to match it with one of the five choices. The study volunteers also took a test of verbal memory. That’s the ability to remember words. The two memory tests are part of an intelligence test. The researchers also surveyed the teens on how they use cellphones. And they got call records from phone companies. The researchers used those records to figure out how long the teens were using their phones. This allowed the researchers to work out how big radiation exposure(接触) each person could have got while talking.

A phone user’s exposure to the radiation can differ widely. Some teens talk on their phones more than others. People also hold their phones differently. If the phone is close to the ear, more radiation may enter the body, Foerster notes. Even the type of network signal that a phone uses can matter. Much of Switzerland was using an older “second-generation” type of cellphone networks, the study reports. Many phone carriers(通信公司) have moved away from such networks. And more companies plan to update their networks within the next few years.

The teens’ scores in the figural memory tests were roughly the same from one year to the next. But those who normally held their phones near the right ears, and who were also exposed to higher levels of radiation, scored a little bit worse after a year. No group of teens showed big changes on the verbal memory test. Why might one type of memory be linked to cellphone use, but not another? Foerster thinks it could have to do with where different memory centres sit in the brain. The site that deals with the ability to remember shapes is near the right ear.

1. The underlined word “impairment” in Paragraph 1 most probably mean “      ”.

A．application	B．satisfaction
C．damage	D．improvement

2. What do we learn from Paragraph 2?

A．Researchers paid little attention to the teens’ habits of using phones.

B．The teens needed to report the average time spent on their phones.

C．The teens took two types of memory tests four times in total.

D．The teens’ ability of remembering words is shown in the figural memory test.

3. What can we infer from Paragraph 3?

A．How people hold their phones has no effect on their bodies.

B．Phone users can make more money with new networks.

C．The cellphone network type has little to do with the cellphone use.

D．Radiation levels are affected by the cellphone network types.

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

A．Cellphone use and safety warnings

B．Teens’ cellphone use linked to memory problems

C．Dangerous levels of cellphone use among teens

D．Facts about cellphone use at school