【推荐1】

①China successfully launched Mengtian into space, getting a step closer to completing the country’s Tiangong Space Station by the end of this year.

②Mengtian is the second lab module(模块)and the last major component of the country’s space station. The first lab module is Wentian which is already docked (对接)with the Tianhe core module. The three modules will form a T-shaped complex in space.

③Mengtian weighs about 23 tons. It is 17.9 meters long and has a maximum diameter of 4.2 meters. It can be further subdivided into work, resource, payload and cargo airlock cabins.While Wentian is used for biological and space life science projects, such as observing the growth of various kinds of plants, animals and microbesin space, Mengtian will be used for in-orbit experiments dedicated to physics and material sciences and will focus on micro-gravity experiments. Mengtian will also act as a backup(备份)for the core module when it is undergoing maintenance(维修). And with Mengtian in place, the space station will be able to hold more taikonauts.

④Until now, space lectures(天宫课堂), Tiangong Class”, in China’s Tiangong space station have been broadcasting live to the world, attracting much attention in society. The public, especially the youth, are looking forward to the next space lecture. There are three taikonauts on board the space station at the moment. When Shenzhou-15 arrives with a change of crew, scheduled for early December, there will be six Chinese taikonauts living and working on the space station for a time until the return of the Shenzhou-14 mission crew members.

⑤China plans to complete the in-orbit construction of the space station by the end of this year. After that, the country’s space program will enter a new decade-long development and application stage. The original plan is to send two crewed spaceships and two cargo spaceships into space every year. Meanwhile, taikonauts will stay in orbit for extended periods to maintain the station and carry out scientific and technological experiments. And in 2023,China will also develop next-generation carrier rockets and crewed spaceships to significantly enhance(提高)its space program’s overall technological capabilities.

⑥China has expressed on many occasions that it accepts international cooperation and foreign astronauts to conduct research aboard its space station. So, let’s expect to unlock more mysteries of the universe through joint global efforts.

1. Which of the following statements is TRUE about Mengtian lab module?

A．It’s the second major component of China’s space station.

B．It plays an important role in the maintenance of the space station.

C．It’s enough huge to hold a great lot of people.

D．It’s mainly used for research biological science projects.

2. What does Paragraph 3 mainly tell us about the space station?

A．Its applications.	B．Its modules.
C．Its size and shape.	D．Its livable space.

3. What is the next step for China’s space program?

A．Sending two crewed spaceships and two cargo spaceships every year.

B．Developing next-generation carrier rockets and crewed spaceships.

C．Holding more space lectures to inspire the enthusiasm of young people.

D．Developing next-generation carrier rockets and crewed spaceships.

4. What can we know from the last paragraph?

A．China is very care about the space industry.

B．China’s space industry still has a long way to go.

C．China will make a new huge success in space industry.

D．China hopes to explore space with other countries together.

【推荐2】Natalie Te Paa, a blind singer songwriter, was in London for her birthday with her friend, Claire Sara. The two decided to have a meal together at a restaurant. What happened after they ate their meal surprised them both. The workers at the restaurant presented Natalie with a cake that rend “happy birthday” written in Braille with chocolate!

Natalie cried as she used her hands to feel the raised chocolate dots. “Oh, my gosh! Are you kidding me? That is crazy! Thank you so much!”

In the past, Natalie had celebrated her birthday in restaurants, the workers sang to her like they did for other guests who celebrated their birthdays. But it was the first time that a restaurant had accommodated her disability in such a special way. The workers went to try their best to celebrate Natalie on her birthday from looking up how to write the message in her words to making sure the chocolate was cold enough, so it would not melt (融化) when Natalie touched it.

Natalie’s friend, Claire, took a video of the sweet moment, and she shared it online. The touching birthday scene went viral (走红) online with the video being viewed more than 16 million times and receiving over 4.3 million likes.

“The fact that people have responded so much and so well to it just shows how much the world needs kindness right now, and how much the world needs a message of hope and love,” Natalie shared. And the girl goes on to talk about how she hopes the video will lead people to have a larger conversation about kindness to others.

1. What does the underlined word “Braille” in paragraph 1 probably refer to?

A．A kind of delicious cake.	B．A kind of letters for the blind.
C．A kind of special chocolate.	D．A kind of fruit sold in London.

2. What did the restaurant do to celebrate Natalie’s birthday?

A．They sang a special birthday song for her.	B．They taught Natalie to text the message.
C．They carefully prepared a special cake.	D．They learned to use the body languages.

3. What are people’s attitudes to the video?

A．Uncertain.

B．Doubtful.

C．Curious.

D．Supportive.

4. What can be inferred from Natalie’s words in the last paragraph?

A．The disabled have already been equally treated.	B．We should do much more to improve ourselves.
C．We need to make conversations with each other.	D．We still have a lot to do to make the world better.

【推荐3】In memory of Eleanor

— a woman ________

[1] Eleanor Lowenthal — my grandmother — in desperate need of income to put her husband through graduate school, walked into the Harvard Museum of Comparative Zoology. There, she convinced the scientists that she was the perfect person to mount (安放) and catalog their growing ant collection.

[2] At the time, a promising graduate student named E.O. Wilson was coming up in the department. Wilson, who passed away in December 2021, was called the “father of biodiversity”. When Eleanor joined the department, researchers were racing to collect and catalog specimens (标本). As Wilson shifted research towards smaller, less glamorous species that nonetheless held ecological significance, he set the stage for conservation biology. Behind the scenes, technicians like my grandmother preserved the specimen that furthered Wilson’s work and continue to provide new insights and opportunities for researchers across the globe.

[3] At the time, hiring a 21-year-old woman who had dropped out of art school was a significant gamble. It paid off. Eleanor’s job as a technician required the same manual flexibility and coordination that art school had demanded. The job required her to work quickly, yet precisely. Rushing could risk ruining a rare specimen, but Eleanor could process ants as quickly as Wilson could mail them back from his expeditions to Australia and Papua New Guinea. She sometimes mounted as many as 200 a day.

[4]It wasn’t a coincidence that Eleanor found work in entomology. Wilson’s high-profile research on ants cracked an opening for women in previously male-dominated field of conservation, which was centered around studying big game in the first half of the 20th century.

[5] Even when women’s early work has been credited, the language used to describe their contributions often minimized their role in the team, not mentioning them by name. A recently discovered department report includes lines such as, “A large amount of spreading and setting insects was done by the lady assistant,” and “The collection has been remarkably free from pests… due to the continuous care of the lady assistant.”

[6] The department now functions like a library (specimen can be borrowed for study or examined on site), and serves as a training center for the next generation of scientists who use the collection in ways Wilson and my grandmother probably never imagined.

[7] Eleanor didn’t realize the impact of her contribution at the time — the technician role was just a job that paid $38 a week. But she’s come to appreciate the significance of her work on a project that spans centuries. “You can see how it goes from one era to another,” says Eleanor. “It’s so important to have this library for people to make connections and new discoveries.”

1. The first two paragraphs write about _________.

A．why Eleanor was chosen to be an assistant for Wilson

B．what convinced Wilson switch to the study of ants

C．how Eleanor’s and Wilson’s career paths crossed

D．when technicians like Eleanor started to get hired

2. Why were the lines in the report cited in the fifth paragraph?

A．To prove how important women’s early work was.

B．To show women’s role at the time was not fully recognized.

C．To give a vivid description of the nature of women’s work.

D．To teach the wisdom of writing good science reports.

3. What can be learned from the last two paragraphs?

A．Today’s researchers are still enjoying the benefits of Eleanor’s work.

B．Eleanor is now working as a supervisor in the department.

C．New scientific discoveries are the results of collective wisdom.

D．Nobody’s work is as important as Eleanor’s in the department.

4. Which of the following should be filled in the title “In memory of Eleanor — a woman ________”

A．whose struggle mirrored the social changes in the status of women

B．whose work won her fame in the then male-dominated field of conservation

C．who pioneered a unique ant management system at the Harvard Museum

D．who worked behind the scenes with extraordinary speed, accuracy and artistry