Have you ever heard of “a ball of energy”? People often use it to describe very active children. But today we tell about an invention called the socket, that is a real soccer ball of energy. Julia Silverman explains that in fact the soccket is a portable generator (便携式发电机).
Julia Silverman and Jessica Matthews developed the soccket as part of a group project for an engineering class at Harvard University. There are mechanisms (装置) in a soccket. When you kick, hit or throw it, energy is then kept in it by these mechanisms instead of disappearing into the environment. Then the user can put something directly into the ball, like a lamp, or a mobile phone charger so that they can get energy from it. For every fifteen minutes of the game play, the soccket can provide enough electricity (电) for an LED lamp for three hours, and the ball can store (储藏) up to 24 hours’ electricity.
The International Energy Association reported last year that nearly one and a half billion people in the world had no electricity to use, and most of them live in sub-Saharan. Africa and in India and other countries in Asia. Julia Silverman and Jessica Matthews both had experiences in developing countries before they began the project. They knew that power shortage are a serious problem in these areas. There’s an energy crisis in the world. One out of every five people in the world don’t have any electricity. And besides that, there are a lot of health problems because what people use instead of the electricity are harmful choices like kerosene (煤油) lamps, which produce a lot of smoke.
Julia Silverman says the soccket ball is one small solution (解决方法) to a big problem. Jessica Matthews and Julia Silverman hope their soccket ball will shine more light on the problem of power shortages. It offers people a chance to put their energy into the world’s most popular sport and get some energy in return.
1. From the passage, we know the soccket is ________.| A．an active child | B．an invention | C．a lamp | D．a mobile phones |
| A．fifteen minutes | B．half an hour | C．six hours | D．three hours |
| A．a time of safety | B．a time of difficulty | C．a time of success | D．a time of pride |
| A．Julia Silverman has never been to developing countries before |
| B．only active children like to play soccket |
| C．kicking a soccket can let the energy disappear into the environment |
| D．people can get some energy by playing soccket |
| A．The Only Way to Produce Electricity | B．The Best Way to Solve Energy Crisis |
| C．A Soccer Bell that Gives Energy | D．An Invention Changing the Universe |
相似题推荐
【推荐1】How do animals live in the cold winter?
Many birds migrate in autumn. Some fly in large groups, because the trip can be dangerous.
Some animals remain active in winter. They must get used to the changing weather.
Some animals begin to collect their winter food in autumn. When it's very cold, they stay inside their homes.
Some other animals sleep for a long time in winter. They are in hibernation (冬眠)
Winter is cold in northern countries, but animals are smart. They can spend winter safely.
| A．Many make changes in their behavior or bodies. |
| B．They can eat the food they collect in autumn. |
| C．Other kinds of birds fly alone. |
| D．They eat much food in autumn. |
| E．They do many different amazing things to get through the winter. |
【推荐2】How do you know about the weather this week? Is it rainy, cloudy, windy, sunny...? Do you know it by (通过) listening to the radio, using your phone or watching TV? We can know it by watching some animals, too. Animals can know the change (变化) of the weather easily and do something to prepare (准备) for the bad weather.
Bees (蜜蜂) can “talk” to others by dancing and they can live very well with each other, so all the bees can know the change of the weather in a short time. Do you know why bees don’t go out on rainy days? Because they may get hurt in the rain. So now you may know this saying well, “If (如果) bees fly away, fine will be the day.”
We can also know the coming up of the rain by other animals, such as fish and birds. It’s really interesting, isn’t it? Learn more and know more from now on.
1. The writer shows us ________ ways to know the weather.| A．one | B．two | C．three | D．four |
| A．Because they don’t like water. |
| B．Because they may get hurt in the rain. |
| C．Because they can’t find food on rainy days. |
| D．Because they will prepare for the good weather. |
| A．Bees like to dance together. |
| B．The writer doesn’t like watching TV. |
| C．Bees can “talk” to others by singing. |
| D．If the bees fly away, it will be a fine day. |
| A．A Group of Bees | B．Bad Weather |
| C．Animals and Weather | D．A Rainy Day |
【推荐3】There are many reasons to enjoy drinking tea. However, you should let the hot tea cool down a little before you drink it. Why? A new study published in the International Journal of Cancer gives the answer.
“Many people enjoy drinking tea, coffee or other hot drinks. However, according to our report, drinking very hot tea can increase the risk of esophageal cancer (食道癌), so you’d better wait until hot drinks cool down before drinking,” the lead writer of the study, Dr. Farhad Islami of the American Cancer Society, said.
For the study, Islami and his team followed more than 50, 000 people aged between 40 and 75 years old. They found 0.7 percent of those people had esophageal cancer.
The National Cancer Institute reported that about 17, 290 Americans had esophageal cancer in a year, and that only 19 percent of sick people survived. However, five years later, they died.
The scientists found that drinking 700 ml drinks (about three cups) every day or more at a higher temperature (60℃ or hotter) would have a 90 percent higher risk of esophageal cancer, compared with people drinking the same amount at a temperature below 60℃.
1. How many of the 50, 000 people Islami and his team followed had esophageal cancer?| A．350. | B．950. | C．2, 458. | D．4, 500. |
| A．With pictures. | B．With information in a study. |
| C．With experiences. | D．With questions. |
| A．Changed their life habits completely. | B．Were unable to do anything. |
| C．Lost their lives during an accident. | D．Continued to live after an illness. |
Most people have flown a kite or have seen one fly in strong spring wind.
| A．The Chinese use sticks, strings and paper for their kites. |
| B．Not so many people know that kites were first made in China thousands of years ago. |
| C．Men who were at war with them would hear these sounds and ran away. |
| D．They would fly these war kites in the dark. |
| E．Sometimes they tied long strings(绳子)and hooks to their kites. |
“Believe in yourself. ” “It’s okay to be different. ”
These are a few of the encouraging messages that you can heat when you call the PepToc Hotline（热线）. It is part of an art project created by teachers Jessica Martin and Asherah Weiss with students at west Side School in California. The hotline took off after it started. People called from around the world.
This was a surprise. “At first, we wanted this project to be just for our little town, ”Martin said. The town had been through a hard time because of the wildfires and the pandemic（疫情）But her students were strong and stayed happy.
The PepToc project has two parts. One part is inspirational posters（励志海报）. Students put them up around town. There were more than 150 posters. “Kids just ran with it, Weiss says. The other part is pep talks（激励的话）. Martin invited kids to record these pep talks for the telephone hotline. In its first several weeks, the hotline got millions of calls.
“People need something to make them feel good in these difficult times,” Darin Juric told TZME for Kids. He is a student who took part in the project. Martin agrees. “It really does just take a few words of kindness to spread joy around the world,” she says.
1. The PepToc Hotline was created ________.| A．by three artists and their kids | B．to make teacher’s life fresh |
| C．by two teachers and their students | D．to help students around the world |
| A．play exciting songs | B．spread encouraging messages |
| C．send special invitations | D．translate different languages |
| A．had a hard time | B．got popular quickly |
| C．changed our lives | D．waste much money |
| A．who can record the pep talks | B．why the PepToc was popular |
| C．what the PepToc project includes | D．where you can find the posters |
| A．it’s not easy to record pep talks | B．failure is the mother of success |
| C．everyone must take part in the project | D．little words can make a big difference |
【推荐3】An armless villager picked up a new life by fixing himself with homemade mechanical (机械的) hands and helping hundreds of others who lost their hands to live a normal life.
Sun Jifa, now 63 years old, is living in Guanma Village in northeast China’s Jilin Province. He joined the army and served as an artillery (炮兵) soldier in 1974 and since then he was fond of detonation (爆破).
Sun left the army five years later and got married after returning home. One day in 1980, he planned to use a homemade detonator (引爆装置) to blow up fish from a fish pond. But the detonator didn’t work as the timer was turned on. When he was taking apart the detonator, it suddenly exploded and severely injured his hands and arms.
Because of serious injury, doctors had to cut off his hands and elbows. He was then 27 years old. After that, he started to work with iron and steel tools to make his own hands.
Over the past 36 years, Sun has designed and created four generations of mechanical hands that enable him to look after himself and do farm work. Sun and his family have also helped more than 1,000 disabled people benefit from the device. Sun planned to continue to improve the device and serve more people.
1. When did Sun leave the army?| A．In 1974. | B．In 1979. | C．In 1980. | D．In 1985. |
| A．In a pond. | B．In a river. | C．In a lake. | D．In the sea. |
| A．An engineer. | B．A fisherman. | C．A repairman. | D．A farmer. |
| A．Sun used to serve in the army. | B．Sun lives in the northeast of China. |
| C．Sun made the mechanical hands with wood. | D．Sun has helped more than 1,000 people so far. |
| A．A Bad Homemade Detonator | B．How to Build Mechanical Hands |
| C．A Serious Accident Many Years Ago | D．An Armless Farmer Builds MeChanical Hands |
【推荐1】Festivals and holidays are important for people all around the world. They show different cultures. Here are some famous festivals and holidays in some countries.
St Patrick’ s Day | |
| St. Patrick’ Day is on March the seventeenth. It is a big festival in the United States. People wear green clothes on St. Patrick’s Day. In some places, they even make the river green. |
Children’s Day | |
| On May the fifth, Japanese celebrate their Children’s Day. It is a national holiday in Japan. Outside their homes, families fly kites that look like fish. |
Canadian Thanksgiving | |
| In Canada, Thanksgiving is in October — the second Monday in October. Canadian Thanksgiving is a time for families to get together for a big dinner. |
St. Lucia’s Day | |
| St. Lucia’s Day is a holiday in Sweden. It is in December. St. Lucia’s Day is a day to bring light into the house. Little girls put candies on their heads. |
| A．Three | B．Four | C．Five | D．Six |
| A．Green. | B．White. | C．Red. | D．Yellow. |
| A．America | B．Sweden | C．Japan | D．Canada |
| A．December | B．October | C．May | D．March |
| A．Make the river green. |
| B．Fly kites. |
| C．Put candles on their heads. |
| D．Have a biggest dinner. |
【推荐2】What do you usually do after school? Do you do your homework, watch TV, play computer games or do other things? Do you know what students in America do after school? Let's have a look together.
The students in America have an exciting free time after school. Because school finishes at about 3∶00 in the afternoon, American students have much time to do other things after school. They often have many activities(活动) or go to clubs(俱乐部). There are many ball games like basketball, football, baseball and so on. There are also many kinds of clubs for students：dance club, art club, and a lot of very interesting clubs. Students can have fun, do exercise or learn something outside class. For example, students can learn to cook or make clothes. Some students do some work to make money, or go home to do homework, watch TV, play computers, or do other things.
1. In America, school finishes at about ________.| A．3∶00 am | B．3∶00 pm | C．4∶00 am | D．4∶00 pm |
| A．Because they have little homework. | B．Because there are many clubs for students. |
| C．Because school finishes very early. | D．Because parents let the students play with friends. |
| A．Basketball. | B．Football. | C．Volleyball. | D．Baseball. |
| A．Students can go to many kinds of clubs after school. |
| B．Students can learn to cook from their textbooks. |
| C．Students cannot play computers after school. |
| D．All the students must do some work to make money. |
| A．how many activities there are in American school |
| B．what students in America usually do after school |
| C．students in America have little homework |
| D．students in America have a lot of free time |
【推荐3】Do you always care about studying and getting “A” grades in school? But in the United States, you might be considered (被认为) a bookworm if you cannot socialize (交际). Socializing is as important as your grade. If you just study all the time and don’t socialize, your life won’t be wonderful. So, how does one socialize with students in the US?
Lots of high schools often have soccer games during the autumn term. I didn’t know anything about soccer, but I joined some of the soccer games in order to have fun with my friends. I thought I could learn the rules from others. However, to my surprise, some American students don’t even know the rules but still go to the games in order to socialize. They cheer for the soccer players and have fun together.
The other common way to socialize is to join after-school clubs. You can choose clubs that you are interested in and make a lot of new friends. For example, one of my friends started a sketch (素描) club. I was interested in sketching. So I joined it. We soon became friends with each other.
Socializing is an important thing in the US. But grades are still important, too. An excellent student should have the ability to balance (平衡) his or her studying and socializing.
1. You might be considered (被认为) ________ if you cannot socialize in the United States.| A．a good student | B．a bookworm |
| C．a lazy student | D．a hard-working student |
| A．Five. | B．Four. | C．Three. | D．Two. |
| A．Most American students are considered bookworms. |
| B．All American students who go to the soccer games know the rules. |
| C．The writer joined some of the soccer games in order to play soccer. |
| D．If you want to make lots of new friends, you can join clubs that you are interested in. |
| A．How to Make New Friends |
| B．Balance Studying and Socializing |
| C．Socializing Is Not As Important As Your Grades |
| D．Socializing Is the Most Important Thing in the US. |
