A science fiction flying car looks like a normal car, but it is an aircraft (飞行器) that anybody can fly directly from any place to another without using roads or runways. Science fiction writers have written about flying cars for a long time. But now flying cars will soon fly out of the world of science fiction into our real world. And the dream of the science fiction writers will soon come true.
The first-known sky car is the FSC-1. The FSC-1 looks like an expensive sports car. You can drive the FSC-1 on the road like a normal car. If you touch a button, its wings and propeller (螺旋桨) fold out and then it can take off, fly and land as an airplane. The owners of the FSC-1 can choose if they want to drive or fly.
Another flying car or sky car is the Moller Skycar M400. Although you can’t drive it on the roads, it is small and easy to fly and can take off and land like a helicopter (直升飞机). Urban Aeronautics’ X-Hawk is another type of sky car. It is expected to be available for about $3 million.
Just like any new technology, flying cars have taken a long time to be developed. But some experts think the technology is far from what people imagine when they are sitting in traffic. It still needs to be improved.
1. The writer thinks that flying cars will be no longer a dream because ________.| A．science fiction writers’ ideas are stupid | B．they are too expensive to make |
| C．they will soon be available | D．they are only in science fiction |
| A．change itself into a robot | B．move on water like a ship |
| C．be flown only like an airplane | D．be driven like a car and flown like an airplane |
| A．it can’t fly | B．it can’t be driven like a car |
| C．it is difficult to land | D．it is much more expensive |
| A．normal | B．traditional | C．not good enough | D．strange |
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【推荐1】What a wonderful fruit the banana is, popular all over the world. its three colors tell you how ripe it is. Green means go to find another banana. Yellow means eat me. Brown means eat me but don’t bother chewing before you swallow. The only thing that would make a banana more user-friendly is if you could eat the peel. Plus, a banana is neat to eat. When you bite into it, you don’t have to worry about juice squirting all over yourself and your dinner neighbors （like oranges or grapefruit, for example）. And it’s a silent food—you can chew it all you like without driving your neighbors crazy with crunching sounds （like apples or carrots, for example）. Finally, it’s easy to cut—you don’t need a steak knife. You can slice it with a fork or a spoon, if you like.
You’re never too young or too old to eat bananas. Babies eat mashed bananas before their teeth grow in. Great-great-grandparents eat mashed bananas after their teeth fall out.
The banana is versatile. You can fry it, bake it, mash it, or eat it raw. You can slice it and put it on your breakfast cereal. At lunchtime you can snack on a raw banana, or make a peanut butter and banana sandwich, or eat a bag of dried bananas. You can add a banana to your ice cream for dessert and call it a banana split. You can order a healthful banana smoothie at your local smoothie store. On weekends you can order a banana daiquiri at your local bar or restaurant.
Here in the U.S., we get most of our bananas from Ecuador and Costa Rica, although the fruit reportedly originated in Asia. Bananas give us lots of potassium and vitamins A and C, and hardly any sodium. The price of bananas hasn’t changed much over recent years—they’re still about 65 cents a pound, despite rising gas and labor prices. If that’s too expensive, you can still get three pounds for a buck at many dollar stores.
1. You’d better not eat the banana if it is ______ .| A．green | B．brown | C．yellow | D．ripe |
| A．In addition to | B．What’s more | C．Beside | D．Again |
| A．two | B．three | C．four | D．five |
| A．Different ways to eat bananas. | B．Different times to eat bananas. |
| C．Different people eating bananas. | D．Different place to enjoy banana fool. |
| A．Ecuador and Costa Rica | B．the U.S. |
| C．Asia | D．Ecuador |
| A．good for our health | B．cheap in buy |
| C．convenient to eat | D．only for babies and the old |
【推荐2】You Are What You Eat
Genetic (基因的) engineering is the scientific change of the genetic material in a living thing. It allows scientists to identify specific genes, to remove them from a living thing’s chromosomes(染色体), improve them, analyze them, and possibly clone them, and to then reinsert the changed gene into the original living thing, or a completely different living things. Unlike traditional breeding (繁殖), where a desired quality would be bred within the same kind of living things, genetic engineering can insert desired ones into living things of different kinds. Wow ... did you catch that?
Genetic engineering creates many positive contributions to agriculture. For example, by genetically engineered (GE) foods, anti-cancer agents, minerals and vitamins can be increased. Improved taste, shelf life, and better transport are all possible. Also, GE plants can increase pest and bacterial resistance（抵抗力）, therefore, making the food safe for the consumers.
But some argue that the possible negative effects outweigh the positives, and critics are starting to voice their worries. Unlike Europe, in the United States labeling（贴标签）is not required on genetically engineered foods or on foods that contain genetically engineered products. Most Americans do not realize that they are, in fact, eating GE foods.
The public is also concerned about the unknown health risks. With limited understanding of genes, scientists cannot predict possible effects. Because most genes introduced into GE plants come from sources not introduced into the human body, it is impossible to know if they will cause reactions. Moreover, due to the lack of labeling, if allergies（过敏）develop, it will be extremely difficult to find the origin of them.
There is also a major moral question in many minds. For many, the conflict is not if it is safe or not, but it disturbs them because it is unnatural and unnecessary. We are currently producing one and a half times the amount of food needed to feed the world, yet one in seven people are starving. So GE food is unnecessary, and fails to address the root of hunger. Many believe that the only people who will benefit are the corporations that produce it.
Scientists cannot foresee the possible effects of GE foods, yet we eat them every day without even knowing it. We already have enough food, so why create more that could be potentially harmful to us, to the Earth and to all wildlife? I think that the benefits are amazing, but until we know for sure how these foods will affect us, they are not worth the risk.
1. According to the passage, traditional breeding is different from genetic engineering because________.| A．traditional breeding changes the genes in the same kind of living things |
| B．traditional breeding takes place within the same kind of living things |
| C．traditional breeding is more scientific |
| D．traditional breeding changes the genes in different kinds of living things |
| A．customers will benefit from GE food |
| B．we’re now producing more food than before |
| C．it won’t help solve the problem of hunger in the world |
| D．there are obvious dangers in producing GE food |
| A．To introduce genetic engineering’s positive contributions to agriculture. |
| B．To welcome genetic engineering and GE food. |
| C．To discuss the differences between GE food and other food. |
| D．To tell people to keep GE food off before their influence on us is clear. |
【推荐3】There is a small town near hills in Scotland. All people in the town like reading, so the town is called “National Book Town”. There are 14 bookshops there and one of them is a special one. People can rent（租用）it for at least seven days and run（经营）it by themselves.
Some book lovers like to run this bookshop. They can read lots of books there but they have to sell books themselves. Alison Drury is one of them. She is a policewoman in the town. She rented the bookshop for one week and became a shopkeeper. Some people asked her, “What do your friends think of running a bookshop?” She said, “Some of them think it is a strange thing, but most of them think it is very interesting. They would like to come to help me.”
Many people want to do the same thing as she did, so the bookshop is popular. Now, if some people want to rent the bookshop, they have to wait for two years.
1. There are _______ common bookshops in the town.| A．fourteen | B．thirteen | C．seven | D．five |
| A．travelling | B．shopping | C．reading | D．running |
| A．Strange. | B．Easy. | C．Difficult. | D．Interesting. |
| A．The books are not expensive in it. |
| B．More and more people want to rent it. |
| C．There are many kinds of books in it. |
| D．The books in the shop are different from others. |
| A．A bookshop for rent | B．A great policewoman |
| C．Different bookshops in the town | D．The people to run bookshops |
Do you have trouble trying to create the next big idea?
Sometimes the answer isn’t to just force an idea out of your mind.
Instead, you might want to try sitting back, relaxing and letting your mind wander (走神). Yes, you heard that correctly. If you are in need of a new idea, try daydreaming.
Daydreams allow your mind to run freely and even increase productivity in some cases. Daydreaming develops creativity which is why you have an ah-ha moment and sudden insight about a situation. Daydreaming allows you to uncover thoughts and ideas you did not realize you even had and get the thoughts hidden under the surface.
Researchers from the University of California, Santa Barbara, found an association (联系) between daydreaming and creative problem-solving. Their study includes making participants (参与者) first do an “unusual-use task”. They had to try to come up with as many different ways to use an object as they could.
Then, the participants chose to do one of the following four things before doing the “unusual-use task” again; complete a difficult task, complete an easy task, take a 12-minute break, or skip (跳过) a 12-minute break and move right on to the task exercise again.
Surprisingly, the group that performed best was the one that completed the easy task. Many participants reported that they were daydreaming while performing the easy task. So the researchers believed that this daydreaming might have helped unlock their creativity.
But how could daydreaming help the brain come up with creative ways? The answer is something known as “unconscious thought” . Even when you are not actively working to solve a problem, it is still in the back of your mind. Your brain is still thinking about the problem, but in a much more subtle(不易察觉的) way.
When you daydream, your mind is allowed to think in ways it normally would not.
Because it is free of control, it can create completely new and out-of-the-box ideas.
Great ideas never come easily, but that does not mean you always have to work hard to get them. Feel free to do what you want and let your mind wander.
1. The “unusual-use task” included having participants ________.| A．complete a very simple task | B．achieve a very difficult task |
| C．have a break for 12 minutes | D．find various uses for an object |
| A．they worked harder on the easy task |
| B．they saved time for the following task |
| C．they chose to stay away from the difficult task |
| D．they came up with more ideas while daydreaming |
| A．wander in a subtle way under your control |
| B．know clearly what you’re thinking and doing |
| C．think about a problem without even knowing it |
| D．stop processing information from the outside world |
| A．daydreams are good for people’s well-being |
| B．daydreaming is a way to improve creativity |
| C．completing tasks is important to creative ideas |
| D．problem-solving skills are important in our lives |
【推荐2】Have you ever imagined one day people go to other planets to hold the Winter Olympics?
Mercury (水星) is the closest planet to the sun. In the daytime, the temperature can be up to 430℃, but at night it cools down to -200℃. There’s one area that the sun can never reach. There’s a lot of ice there. Maybe we can go speed skating and figure skating (花样滑冰) there!
The temperature on Mars is between -140℃ and 30℃. At the north and south poles (极) of Mars, there are areas covered by ice and snow. There is also a big mountain called Olympus. So maybe we can ski on Mars!
Pluto (冥王星) is a small planet far away from the sun. It’s very cold there, about -229℃. There’s a lot of ice. It’s even harder than steel. So maybe we can go sledding (滑雪橇) on Pluto.
1. The temperature at daytime on Mercury can be up to ________.| A．430℃ | B．30℃ | C．-140℃ | D．-229℃ |
| A．snow and rain | B．cloud and ice | C．snow and cloud | D．ice and snow |
| A．Go swimming. | B．Go sledding. | C．Go skiing. | D．Go running. |
Attention, people of earth:
Fine. The big secret is out. Your finest scientists have found there is life here, on our beautiful planet Venus(金星).
Congratulations! We have something to say:
Stay away, no exploration (探索):
We are serious. Stay away from us. If we wake up one morning and look out and see someone wandering around in a spacesuit, we are going to be really ticked off.
We mean no hostility (恶意). We’re actually a very nice planet. It’s just that we’re scared by what you’ve done down there. Earth looks like a mess，it is completely ruined (破坏). You’ve got health crises (危机), environmental crises, political crises. You keep fighting about face masks. No wonder so many of you want to leave Earth for another planet.
Leave us alone. Stay right where you are.
We know you’d like it here. That’s what scares us. You’d all move to Venus in a minute. We’ve got beautiful weather, little traffic, a proper cost of living. On Venus, you can only buy a three-bedroom for, like $135,000. (Paragraph 7)
Crazy, right?
In all fairness, you’ve got some good stuff over there, too. Earth does have its attractive qualities. We’re jealous of the Qomolangma, the Amazon rainforest, and the Palace Museum.
But we live in a fragile (脆弱的) solar system. We can only deal with so much. If we start having you all up here, pretty soon, the Martians and Jupiterians (火星人和木星人) are going to want to come, too. Trust us: you don’t want them sleeping on your sofa, drinking all your beer.
We’ve been there before, and they left this place a mess.
Cool your enthusiasm (热情). We’re not your escape plan. Venus is not Earth 2.
We wish you the best in saving your planet.
Sincerely,
Venus
1. The underlined phrase “ticked off” in this passage is closet in meaning to ________.| A．sad | B．angry | C．excited | D．interested |
| A．the living cost on the Earth is very high |
| B．the living conditions on Venus are very good |
| C．the housing prices on Venus are very expensive |
| D．Earth’s people will move to Venus because of the good weather |
| A．there are only a few resources (资源) on Venus |
| B．Earth’s people will ruin Venus like they have ruined Earth |
| C．Earth’s people will ruin Venus people’s sofas and drink all their beer |
| D．Venus’ people hate Earth’s people because they have explored Venus too often |
