【推荐3】A great invention by an 18-year-old high school student grew out of a simple problem most teenagers meet with.

“I'm a teenager and I have a cellphone and my cellphone battery always dies，so I was really looking for a way to improve energy storage，” Eesha Khare said on Tuesday. “That's how I came across the super capacitor.”

The teenager who came from California, and graduated from high school last week，won a $50，000 prize on May 17，2013 at the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair for creating a device that can store enough energy to charge a cellphone in 20 to 30 seconds.

“It charges very quickly and can store a lot of energy，” Khare said. “The cool thing is that it's a lot thinner than one strand of hair.”

Khare hasn't used her invention to recharge a cellphone yet，but she used it to power a light-emitting diode (LED) in order to show its capability(容量). If used on cellphones，the supercharger would slide on to the phone's battery to juice it up in a matter of seconds. The technology isn't available to consumers yet，and it could be years until it is.

At an Intel event in Phoenix，Khare won the Intel Foundation Young Scientist Award，taking second place overall in the world's largest high school science research competition. She beat out more than 1，600 finalists from 70 countries. She said that she has been approached by several companies to continue her research，but she is now focused on attending Harvard University in autumn.

“Right now，just my education，but hopefully we'll see what happens in the future，” she said about her plans. “I have a lot of interests，so we'll see what I do in the future.”

1. The passage starts with ________．

A．what problem most teenagers meet with in life

B．how Khare helped others with their problems

C．why Khare decided to make the invention

D．how teenagers make use of their cellphones

2. According to the passage, Khare ________．

A．was most probably born in 1995

B．will graduate from high school

C．will donate much of her prize

D．is the first teenager to win such a big prize

3. The super capacitor ________．

A．is as thin as a hair

B．can produce enough energy soon

C．has been popular on the market

D．has not been put in use in daily life

【推荐2】We talk a lot about air pollution. Here in Hong Kong we always complain about light pollution as well. Then, there is noise pollution. It's the same in many cities around the world, and in Kathmandu, the capital city of Nepal, people have been complaining about the noise made by drivers who continually sound their car horns (喇叭). That is until recently, when something was finally done about it.

The Chief District Officer of Kathmandu had received many complaints about horn pollution. He said that everyone felt the use of the car horn in recent years had become excessive. Researchers in Kathmandu found that for about 80 percent of the time, it really was not necessary for drivers to use their car horns. Sounding the horn to make a noise had become more of a habit. It was no longer being used as it was supposed to be used: to warn people of danger.

At the beginning of the Nepali New Year in 2017, the local government passed a law to ban the use of car horns unless used correctly. Within six months, 11,000 fines had been collected by the local traffic police. The fine was about HK $360. A taxi driver in Kathmandu can make about HK $1,000 per day, so he could lose about one-third of his money if he broke the law.

As usual, there were many complaints from drivers. They said that cows and dogs were free to walk on the roads. They always caused danger. Sounding a car horn was the only way to get them to move out of the way. And while there were quite a few traffic lights in the streets of Kathmandu, very few of them worked. This meant there was often a traffic mess.

The ban on using a car horn went ahead, and within a few weeks the streets of Nepal's capital were quieter — even though they were still just as busy. Because of the ban, drivers are a little more careful when they drive. Fewer accidents have been reported. The local government says the horn ban will now be copied in other areas of Nepal.

1. What do Hong Kong and Kathmandu have in common?

A．Both have been troubled by light pollution.

B．Both have succeeded in fighting air pollution.

C．Both have been faced with the problem of noise pollution.

D．Both have received many complaints about horn pollution.

2. What does the underlined word "excessive” in Paragraph 2 probably mean?

A．Too much.

B．Quite simple.

C．Very correct.

D．More dangerous.

3. What will you find if you go to Kathmandu?

A．No traffic lights in the streets can work.

B．The traffic on the roads is usually very heavy.

C．Animals are not allowed to walk on the streets.

D．Drivers are required to drive on one-way streets.

4. What can we guess about Kathmandu's horn ban?

A．It is unfair.

B．It is worrying.

C．It is interesting.

D．It is successful.

【推荐3】According to the majority of Americans, women are every bit as capable of being good political leaders as men. The same can be said of their ability to dominate the corporate boardroom. And according to a new Pew Research Center survey on women and leadership, most Americans find no difference between women and men on key leadership qualities such as intelligence and capacity for innovation, with many saying they’re stronger than men in terms of being passionate and organized leaders.

So why, then, are women in short supply at the top of government and business in the United States? According to the public, at least, it’s not that they lack toughness, management talent or proper skill sets.

It’s also not all about work life balance. Although economic research and previous survey findings have shown that career interruptions related to motherhood may make it harder for women to advance in their careers and compete for top executive jobs, relatively few adults in the recent survey point to this as a key barrier for women seeking leadership roles. Only about 20% say women’s family responsibilities are a major reason why there aren’t more females in top leadership positions in business and politics.

Instead, topping the list of reasons, about 40% Americans point to a double standard for women hoping to climb to the highest levels of either politics or business, where they have to do more than their male workmates to prove themselves. Similar shares say the electorate (选民) and American companies are just not ready to put more women in top leadership positions.

As a result, the public is divided about whether the imbalance in American companies will change in the foreseeable future, even though women have made major advances in the workplace. While 53% believe men will continue to hold more top executive positions in business in the future, 44% say it’s only a matter of time before as many women are in top executive positions as men. Americans are less doubtful when it comes to politics: 73% expect to see a female president in their lifetime.

1. What do we learn from previous survey findings about women seeking leadership roles?

A．They have unconquerable difficulties on their way to success.

B．They are lacking in confidence when competing with men.

C．Their failures may have something to do with family duties.

D．Relatively few are held back in their career advancement.

2. What does the passage say about American companies in the near future?

A．More and more women will sit in the boardroom.

B．Gender imbalance in leadership is likely to change.

C．The public is undecided about whether women will make good leaders.

D．People have opposing opinions as to whether they will have more women leaders.

3. What do most Americans expect to see soon on America’s political stage?

A．A woman in the highest position of government.

B．More and more women actively engaged in politics.

C．A majority of women voting for a female president.

D．As many women in top government positions as men.

4. What is the passage mainly about?

A．What do most Americans think of women leaders?

B．How to balance work and life for working women?

C．When can women achieve equality in the workplace?

D．Why are women leaders fewer in companies or governments?