Lufinha has crossed the Atlantic Ocean in a small boat powered only by the sun and wind. He used kites to move the boat and solar power to use lights and equipment on the boat. He expects his trip will earn him a Guinness World Record for Fastest Sol o Atlantic Crossing by Kite Boat. He also hopes to help people understand the need to protect the oceans.
The kite-powered boat reached top speeds of over 30 kilometers per hour. Lufinha traveled 6,400 kilometers in 25 days. The 38-year-old set out from Cascais, near Lisbon, Portugal on November 3, 2022, and arrived in Martinique on December 20, Lufinha was not at sea for all that time, however. He made a planned stop at the Canary Islands on November 8. But he had to stay longer than planned because of the powerful storm and he remained there until November 30.
Lufinha made the crossing completely alone in a 7.2-meter-long and 5.6-meter-wide trimaran, a boat which has three long, thin parts, with a small room for sleeping and shelter. Lufinha used a hand pump to produce water for drinking and cooking. He said, “I have two such water makers, which I can pump and every hour I can make around four liters of water.” The water pump has a special filter (过滤器) to remove salt from the sea water. Lufinha used the water to add to dried food he carried with him on the boat.
He called his trip “a big learning experience”. It was a big test of his adaptability. He learned most of all to look at his problems relatively. He had so many problems all of the time, such as kites getting torn and kites exploding. And the only way not to suffer was to think, “It could be worse.” He said his way of thinking during the difficult crossing helped him get through it hour by hour, day by day, week by week until he finished this Atlantic crossing.
1. ________ inspired Lufinha to start his trip.| A．Mapping out a new sailing route | B．Setting a new world record |
| C．Checking his boat’s performance | D．Raising money for marine protection |
| A．His boat broke down halfway. | B．He took the wrong sailing direction. |
| C．He was overtaken by terrible weather. | D．His water pumps required replacing. |
| A．He developed his own independence. | B．He discovered how to obtain drinkable water. |
| C．He mastered more advanced sailing techniques. | D．He learned to view problems more positively. |
| A．Strict and honest. | B．Considerate and curious. |
| C．Outgoing and generous. | D．Determined and brave. |
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【推荐1】New York girl Anastasia Pagonis was 14 when she lost her sight within 2 months. After fighting anxiety and depression from losing her eyesight, Anastasia Pagonis found joy in competitive swimming again with a little help from man’s best friend.
“Being a teenage girl is hard, so having that on top of it was just such a struggle for me,” Pagonis said. “It took me about eight months to return to the normal state, and then I got it in my head, ‘Okay, I’m blind. Now what am I going to do with my life?’”
Swimming was the answer. Pagonis had taken lip swimming just 6 months before losing her eyesight but knew it was her “happy place”.
The mid-distance freestyler, now 16, has got impressive wins, including two gold medals at the World Para Swimming World Series in Australia earlier this year.
Then she got a call about partnering her with a guide dog. The Guide Dog Foundation paired her up with a Labrador named “Radar”. Pagonis and Radar trained together for several hours for about 10 days. Then, on Aug. 19, they officially teamed up.
“Having Radar has just given me so much independence and Fm really in love with him. He’s the best thing ever,” she said. “We’re a match made in heaven. ”
Pagonis and Radar recently travelled to Colorado where the teen is training with other top athletes for the 2021 Paralympics in Tokyo.
“This week I am officially moving with Radar to become a resident athlete at the Olympic Paralympic Training Center in Colorado,” she wrote on Instagram. “This was a huge decision for me. But sometimes you need to take a leap of faith because if you don’t try, you don’t know. Always follow your dreams. ”
1. How did Pagonis feel at first after losing her sight?| A．Worried. | B．Confident. | C．Shy. | D．Unconcerned. |
| A．Her eyes were cured after 8 months. |
| B．She accepted herself as soon as she lost her sight. |
| C．She didn’t return to the normal state until she got a guide dog. |
| D．She decided to continue swimming in spite of her blindness. |
| A．He is a dog donated to the Guide Dog Foundation. | B．He has helped many athletes win gold medals. |
| C．He is a perfect partner for Pagonis. | D．He has made Pagonis famous in the world. |
| A．Guide dogs help blind teens swim at the Paralympics |
| B．Blind teen swimmer trains for Paralympics with a guide dog |
| C．Blind teen swimmer struggles against her hard life |
| D．Blind teens take part in the 2021 Paralympics in Tokyo |
【推荐2】For 18 years after her retirement, Deng Xiaolan volunteered to teach music in a village in Fuping county, Hebei province. Her inspirational teaching and the enthusiasm and talent of her pupils made the 44 children from Malan village sing the Olympic anthem (颂歌) in Greek at the opening ceremony of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics on Feb, which were one of the highlights of the night.
Deng’s involvement with the rural children can be dated back to her parents. Her father Deng Tuo was the publisher of Jinchaji Daily, a newspaper which was based in Malan village in Fuping county, Hebei province, from 1939 to 1948. During the Japanese aggression (侵略), 19 Malan locals were killed for refusing to divulge information about the newspaper. Under the influence of her parents, who both had a passion for music, she learned the violin and singing when she was young. She joined the school band after entering Tsinghua University, and also taught her workmates to play the violin after graduation.
In 2003, when Deng Xiaolan returned to the village to remember the persons who were killed by Japanese invaders, a group of local children also attended the ceremony. She wanted to sing a song together with the children in commemoration (纪念仪式), but none of the children knew the well-known songs she named.
“If the children couldn’t sing, then they wouldn’t know how to appreciate music. Life would be so colorless if it doesn’t have music,” Deng said. “My parents lived and fought here when they were young, and they wanted the locals to live a happy life. So I thought if I had the chance, I must teach them to sing.”
Deng began to travel between Beijing and the village since 2004 to teach the children music. She collected instruments and also rebuilt the school houses by raising funds and using her own money. As the children had no background in music, she had to teach them basic music knowledge.
Two years later, she formed the Malan Band. Among more than 200 students taught by Deng, many left the mountainous village to receive university education, some of whom are studying art at university or have entered a career in art education.
1. What contributed to the 44 children sing at the opening ceremony?| A．They have a good command of Greek. |
| B．The Winter Olympics Committee chose them. |
| C．Deng’s inspirational deeds and talent of her pupils. |
| D．Deng Xiaolan taught them and helped them sign up. |
| A．She was a publisher of Jinchaji Daily. |
| B．She majored in music in Tsinghua University. |
| C．Her father was killed during Japanese aggression. |
| D．Her parents played an important role in her love of music. |
| A．make up | B．give away | C．take on | D．turn out |
| A．devoted and thoughtful | B．strict and careful |
| C．creative and helpful | D．enthusiastic and ambitious |
【推荐3】For two centuries, the famous University of Cambridge debating society has hosted many prominent figures, from world leaders to scientists to comedians.
On Nov 21, the Cambridge Union hosted another extraordinary guest—a non-human debater called Project Debater. Designed by IBM, Project Debater is a machine that uses Artificial Intelligence (AI) to form a spoken argument. It can even listen and answer to opposite statements, much like a real person.
In the Cambridge test debate, it argued the topic: Al will ultimately (最终) do more harm than good. Before the debate, more than 1,100 arguments for the positives and negatives of AI were submitted (递交) to the IBM website. The machine then analyzed these sources and formed the basis of its arguments in minutes. Project Debater then showed off its AI by arguing for both sides of the debate.
Over a four-minute speech, it argued first that, “AI can only make decisions that it has been programmed to solve, while humans can be programmed for all situations.”
In support of AI, it then argued that AI would create new jobs and “bring a lot more efficiency” to the workplace.
This isn’t the first test for Project Debater. In June 2018, the machine went back-and-forth for 20 minutes against champion debater Harish Natarajan.
According to New Scientist, on both occasions, Project Debater repeated points and didn’t always sufficiently (充分地) support them.
Speaking to Cambridge Independent, Noam Slonim, the project’s lead engineer, said, “The AI is not perfect, but it’s going in the right direction.” The team hopes to improve the AI by researching why humans find certain arguments more persuasive than others. They also hope the test might provide well-informed viewpoints for society, governments and private companies.
1. What does the underlined word “prominent” mean in paragraph one?| A．Intelligent. | B．Outstanding. |
| C．Well-educated. | D．Creative. |
| A．can make decisions for all situations |
| B．argued with itself in the Cambridge test debate |
| C．can always find enough evidence to support its idea |
| D．defeated champion debater Harish Natarajan in June 2018 |
| A．It’s not so beneficial to humans. | B．It will defeat humans in time. |
| C．It remains to be improved. | D．It will ultimately do more harm than good. |
| A．a newspaper | B．a guidebook |
| C．a textbook | D．a research paper |
【推荐1】Barditch High School decided to have an All-School Reunion. Over 450 people came to the event. There were tours of the old school building and a picnic at Confederate Park. Several former teachers were on hands to tell stories about the old days. Ms. Mabel Yates, the English teacher for fifty years, was wheeled to the Park.
Some eyes rolled and there were a few low groans (嘟囔声) when Ms. Yates was about to speak. Many started looking at their watches and coming up with excuses to be anywhere instead of preparing to listen to a lecture from an old woman who had few kind words for her students and made them work harder than all the other teachers combined.
Then Ms. Yates started to speak:
“I can’t tell you how pleased I am to be here. I haven’t seen many of you since your graduation, but I have followed your careers and enjoyed your victories as well as crying for your tragedies. I have a large collection of newspaper photographs of my students. Although I haven’t appeared in person, I have attended your college graduations, weddings and even the birth your children, in my imagination.”
Ms. Yates paused and started crying a bit. Then she continued:
“It was my belief that if I pushed you as hard as I could, some of you would succeed to please me and others would succeed to annoy me. Regardless of our motives, I can see that you have all been successful in you chosen path.”
“There is no greater comfort for an educator than to see the end result of his or her years of work. You have all been a great source of pleasure and pride for me and I want you to know I love you all from the bottom of my heart.”
There was a silence over the crowd for a few seconds and then someone started clapping. The clapping turned into cheering, then into a deafening roar. Lawyers, truck drivers, bankers and models were rubbing their eyes or crying openly with no shame all because of the words from a long forgotten English teacher from their hometown.
1. What can be inferred from Paragraph 2?| A．Some graduates were too busy to listen to Ms. Yates’ speech. |
| B．Many graduates disliked Ms. Yates’ ways of teaching. |
| C．Some people got tired from the reunion activities. |
| D．Most people had little interest in the reunion. |
| A．kept track of her students’ progress | B．gave her students advice on their careers |
| C．attended her students’ college graduations | D．went to her students’ wedding ceremonies |
| A．Teachers’ knowledge is the key to students’ achievements. |
| B．Pressure on students from teachers should be reduced. |
| C．Hard-pushed students are more likely to succeed. |
| D．Students’ respect is the best reward for teachers. |
| A．Reliable and devoted. | B．Tough and generous. |
| C．Proud but patient. | D．Strict but caring. |
My name is Amy. I am 17 years old. I have a problem at school. Can you help me, Santa? Kids laugh at me because of the way I walk and run and talk. I have cerebral palsy. I just want one day when no one laughs at me or makes fun of me.
Love, Amy
At radio station WJLT in Fort Wayne, Indiana, letters poured in for the Christmas Wish Content. When Amy’s letter arrived at the radio station, Manager Lee Tobin read it carefully. He thought it wound be good for the people in Fort Wayne to hear about this special girl and her unusual wish. Mr. Tobin called up the local newspaper.
The next day, a picture of Amy and her letter to Santa made the front page of the “News Sentinel”. The story spread quickly. All across the country, newspapers and radio and television stations reported the story of the girl in Fort Wayne, Indiana, who asked for such a simple, yet remarkable Christmas gift—just one day without teasing.
Suddenly the postman was a regular at the Hagadorn house. Envelopes of all sizes addressed to Amy arrived daily from children and adults all across the nation. They came filled with holiday greetings and words of encouragement. Some of the writers had disabilities; some had been teased as children. Each writer had a special message for Amy. Through the cards and letters from strangers, Amy saw a world full of people who truly cared about each other.
Many people thanked Amy for being brave enough to speak up. Others encouraged her to ignore teasing and to hold her head high.
Amy did get her wish of a special day without teasing at South Wayne High School. Teachers and students talked together about how bad teasing can make others feel.
That year, the Fort Wayne mayor officially declared December 21st as Amy Jo Hagadorn Day throughout the city. The mayor explained that by daring to make such a simple wish, Amy taught a universal lesson. “Everyone,” he said, “wants to and should be treated with respect, dignity and warmth.”
1. Amy’s letter showed that______.
| A．she wanted to win Christmas Wish Contest |
| B．she is more independent than before |
| C．she is often ignored in and out of class |
| D．her schoolmates can’t understand her disability |
| A．the disabled hate those who laugh at them |
| B．the news media played a key role in helping Amy |
| C．Amy will still be made fun of by her classmates |
| D．there are few disabled people in Amy’s country |
| A．to tell how bad teasing can make others feel |
| B．to encourage people to hold their heads high |
| C．to explain how brave Amy was by making her wish |
| D．to call on the public to treat everyone properly |
As they sat in a nice coffee shop, he was too nervous to say anything and she felt uncomfortable. Suddenly, he asked the waiter, “Could you please give me some salt? I’d like to put it in my coffee. ” Everyone stared at him. He turned red, but when the salt came, he put it in his coffee and drank. Curious, she asked, “Why salt with coffee? ” He explained, “ When I was a little boy, I lived near the sea. I liked playing on the sea. I could feel the taste of sea, just like this salty coffee. ”
That was a really nice talk, also a good beginning of their story. They continued to date. She found that actually he was a man who met all her demands. Then the story was just like every beautiful love story: they got married and lived a happy life.
After 40 years, he passed away and left her a letter which said: My dearest, please forgive my life-long lie. Remember the first time we dated? I was so nervous that I asked for salt instead of sugar. It was hard for me to ask for a change, so I just went ahead. I never thought that could be the start of our conversation. I tried to tell you the truth, but I was afraid that it would ruin everything. I don’t like the salty coffee. But I have had the salty coffee for my whole life just because I love you!
Her tears made the letter totally wet. Someday, someone asked her, “What’s the taste of salty coffee?” She replied, “It’s sweet.”
1. She accepted his invitation after the party because ________.
| A．she was pretty | B．he met all her demands |
| C．he was humorous | D．she was well-mannered |
| A．The taste of salty coffee is special. |
| B．Her husband’s love to her is sweet. |
| C．Her memory about her life is great. |
| D．She is used to the taste of the salty coffee. |
| A．The Great Love | B．The Salty Coffee |
| C．A Special Dating | D．A Lifelong Lie |
