【推荐1】Don’t you just hate it when you have to take an important phone call and you’re finding somebody is listening to you? You either have to keep your voice down or go outside to keep the conversation private, which is not exactly ideal(理想的). Now, a new product can help you.
Hushme is a high-tech mark(口罩) that can block the sound of the wearer’s voice so that people nearby can’t hear what is being said. It connects to your phone with Bluetooth and comes with a pair of earphones. When you get a private call, all you have to do is to put the mask on and it will do the rest.
The Hushme mask, which has different kinds of colors, can be worn around the neck, and in front of your mouth. It’s not yet clear how comfortable speaking with this Bane-like mask over your mouth really is, or how well it works. We know so far is that it makes you look strange.
The sound choices for covering your voice currently include wind, ocean, rain, birds, monkey, squirrel(松鼠), R2D2, laughing Minion6 and Darth Vader breath. And new ones could be added in the future.
You could also always use Hushme to protect your ears from loud noise from the co-workers at the office. Just put this small product over their mouths and you can get on with your work.
Hushme was on show at the beginning of this year. Its makers plan to start selling it by the end of the year. It will cost around $200.
1. The underlined word ”block” means ________ in Chinese.

A．增加

B．阻止

C．检测

D．保存

2. You can wear the mask over the mouth or ________.

A．over your hand	B．around your arm
C．over your ear	D．around the neck

3. Now the mask include ______ kinds of sounds.

A．6

B．7

C．8

D．9

4. If we put the passage into four parts, which of the following is the best?

A．①,②③④,⑤,⑥	B．①,②,③④,⑤⑥
C．①②,③,④⑤,⑥	D．①②③,④,⑤,⑥

5. The passage probably comes from _______.

A．a storybook	B．a science fiction
C．a science magazine	D．a fashion magazine

【推荐2】It’s reported that a company called MicroCHIPS has developed a wirelessly controlled device(装置). The device is put under the skin and can supply a drug directly into the patient’s body. People give the name “microchips” to it.
Microchips bring good news to patients with long-term( 长期的) illnesses, for example, Osteoporosis( 骨质疏松症). People with Osteoporosis have to get daily injections( 注射) of medicine. One type of treatment requires injections for two years. Many patients stop taking the medicine because of the pain and stress of the infections. However, microchips can deal with it. Doctors will program the device before putting it under the skin, and the device has the ability to release(释放) a dose (剂量) at a given time, every single day. One microchip can hold a full year’s worth of medicine.
Microchips may one day free (使…… 摆脱)people from having to remember to take their medicine, or get injections. The device may also be useful in treating other long-term diseases, including heart disease, cancer and even AIDS.
1. What is the passage mainly about?

A．It introduces the company MicroCHIPS.

B．It introduces a new wirelessly controlled device called “ microchips”.

C．It introduces some common long-tern diseases.

D．It’s about how the device called“microchips”works.

2. According to the passage, why do many patients stop getting injections?

A．Because of the pain and stress of the injections.

B．Because they are too lazy.

C．Because they like taking pills(药丸).

D．Because they are waiting for the new device.

3. According to how the device works, which of the following is the correct order?
① Put the device under the skin.
② The device releases a dose at a given time.
③ Doctors program it.

A．①②③

B．②③①

C．③①②

D．③②①

【推荐1】

Reading people’s minds seems to be a superpower that only happens in movies. But scientists have now made it possible to read people’s mind!

Researchers at the University of California, San Francisco developed a new instrument. It can turn brainwaves into words on a screen in front of the user. In the study, they tested it with a paralyzed (瘫痪的) man. “To our knowledge, it’s the first time to directly decode (解码) full words from the brain of someone who is paralyzed and cannot speak,” said Edward Chang, the senior author of the study. Each year, thousands of people lose the ability to speak because of accidents or illnesses. With up to 93 percent being correct the new instrument shows “strong promise” to let these people fully communicate in the future.

One problem with such mind-reading machines, however, is that they have to put electrodes (电极) into people’s brains. It’s inconvenient and has health risks. But scientists from the University of Texas, US, have taken steps to change this. They tried to read people’s thoughts without even touching their heads, reported Live Science.

The new brain scanning (扫描) method is called FMRI, it’s a safer way of “reading” brain activity. Since active brain cells (细胞) are easier to be read. By tracking them, scientists can read brain activity.

The team asked people in the test to listen to 16 hours of radio shows while scanning their brains. Then they used a computer algorithm (算法) to create a story based on the FMRI recording. It matched the radio shows pretty well.

In other tests, the algorithm could basically explain the story of a silent movie that the people in the test watched. It could even retell a story that the people imagined in their heads. Although it’s not a word-for-word translation, the method-FMRI shows many possibilities.

1. From Paragraph 1 and Paragraph 2, we know that the new instrument can ________.

A．teach paralyzed men to speak	B．help to read people’s minds
C．make people become stronger	D．change people’s way to think

2. It can be learned that FMRI ________.

A．has fewer health risks	B．puts more electrodes into brains
C．costs much less money	D．can make brains more active

3. The underlined word “It” in Paragraph 5 refers to ________.

A．the computer

B．the test

C．the story

D．the movie

4. Which is the best title for the passage?

A．Machines speaking for people	B．Superpowers appearing in movies
C．Skills communicating with future	D．Computers offering new algorithm

【推荐2】B

Do you know that there’s a possibility that you may live forever? You will have computers which are 1,000 times more intelligent than Albert Einstein, one of the smartest scientists ever in the world? Yes! All these may happen in 20 years or more. In the next 20 or 30 years, the world will change much faster than ever before because the technology change will be simply breath-taking.

Computers will acquire human personalities, as well as the ability to understand words and their meanings when you speak to them. Tomorrow’s computer will be so developed that it can have a face-to-face chat with you like an old friend. In fact, you don’t even have to speak to it. Just like a friend, the computer will also have the ability to understand your thoughts.

However, will computers take over the world? Probably not, for people will also acquire-superhuman abilities. They may never die. “Unless a person is unlucky enough to die early from an accident or a disease, he has a good chance of not dying at all. Genetics will make this possible.” says Pearson, a British futurologist as well as a trained physicist.

Recently there have been many reports about discovering the code of the human genome, which determines many aspects of heredity. This finding will make it possible to repair damage caused by age and disease, keeping people young forever. Besides, if people suddenly die, it would be possible to recreate them with the help of the genetics.

So we have the reason to believe, with the development of genetic engineering and computer science technology, human beings will have superhuman abilities and the possibility of being young and alive forever. While at the same time, computers will be much more intelligent than we can imagine. Then who will control the world?

1. The writer mentions Albert Einstein to make it clear that __________.

A．Einstein was regarded as the smartest

B．computers will be extremely intelligent

C．computers will be intelligent scientists

D．Albert Einstein couldn’t use computers

2. The second paragraph mainly tells us that computers will __________ in the future.

A．take place of your friends in life

B．become the master of the world

C．communicate with humans freely

D．control your thoughts completely

3. What does the underlined word “this” refer to?

A．Computers will be friendly.	B．An accident will cause death.
C．People will die of diseases.	D．People will live on forever.

4. Which of the following is an effect of applying genetics?

A．Mary was badly hurt in a car accident and died soon.

B．Jack talks to his computer face to face like old friends.

C．Helen is over ninety years old but she still looks young.

D．Pearson can predict what will happen in the near future.

【推荐3】

Airships can fly because they are lighter than air, like balloons. But they also have engines, so they can fly long distances. In the 1920s and 1930s, airships flew with passengers in them. They could fly from Europe to the US in two days. That was much faster than traveling by ship. There were even restaurants and bedrooms in the biggest airships, which could carry up to 100 passengers.

However, the safety of airships during that time was surely a big problem. It was reported that many of airships crashed. In 1937, a famous airship called the Hindenburg crashed near New York and thirty-six people died. After that, passenger airships stopped flying. Planes became the most important kind of air transportation because they were faster and safer.

Now a number of companies around the world are making airships again. They are much safer than the airships of the 1920s and 1930s, but they are not for passengers. Instead, they carry cargo.

Why use airships instead of planes? There are four main reasons:

●They don’t need airports. They can land in places where planes can’t.

●They can carry much more cargo than planes can.

●They use much less fuel than planes, so they are better for the environment.

●They can stay in the air for a long time, so they are good for scientific work.

Today most cargo still travels on planes, ships, trains and trucks. But in the future, much more cargo could travel by airship because it’s cheaper and better for the environment. Maybe there will be airships for passengers again too.

1. During the 1920s and 1930s, airships ___________.

A．couldn’t carry people	B．could have restaurants
C．were safer than planes	D．were slower than ships

2. What does the underlined word “crash” in Paragraph 2 probably mean?

A．fall to pieces	B．fly into sky
C．take off safely	D．turn back fast

3. Why do people still use airships today?

A．They can fly without fuel.

B．They can take more passengers.

C．They have to land in the airports.

D．They are more friendly to the environment.

4. What’s the passage mainly about?

A．Useful airships	B．Airships and planes
C．The history of airships	D．The story of a famous airship

【推荐2】读下面的一篇短文，判断文章后面1〜4的问题，正确的答案写“T”，错误的答案写“F”。

Cinyee Chiu, an artist from Taiwan, is always happy to try something new. Her amazing works won lots of prizes. Among them, the “24 Solar Terms（节气）” is the most popular.

Ancient Chinese divided a year into 24 parts according to the changes of the weather. It’s the 24 solar terms. But not everyone knows them well. Cinyee Chiu put the 24 solar terms in pictures to help people understand them better.

Cinyee turned each solar term into an animal. But these animals are not just animals. You can also find seasonal fruits, vegetables or beautiful flowers on them.

When spring comes, water gets warm and fish start to swim around. So Cinyee chose fish as a symbol of Start of Spring. Also, she drew spring vegetables, Chinese chives on the back of the fish.

White Dew（露珠）falls on about September 8. It shows the beginning of the cool autumn. There are colorful leaves and cooler nights at the time of year. As the temperature falls, white dew is often seen on the grass and trees at night. For White Dew, Cinyee chose a raccoon—a small animal with thick hair. She drew white spots（小圆点）on the raccoon to show dew. And she used the dragon fruit to show the rich colors in autumn.

The young artist really gave the ancient Chinese culture a new look.

1. The writer gave three examples to show Cinyee’s “24 Solar Terms（节气）”.
2. From Paragraph 5, we know that Cinyee used white spots to show dew.
3. The writer mainly wants to talk about how Cinyee showed the 24 solar terms.
4. According to the passage, all of the following pictures are from Cinyee’s “24 Solar Terms（节气）”.

【推荐3】Parts of Africa are covered by a dark cloud. But this is no rain cloud. It is a living cloud made of billions of locusts (蝗虫) and they are eating everything in their path.
And now in order to fight against this disaster, a radio station in Senegal, West Africa, is offering listeners 5 kilograms of rice if they can catch and kill 50 kilograms of locusts. “We think this idea will get more people to take part in the fight against the locusts,” said Abdoulaye Ba, from Sud-Fm, a radio station in one of Senegal’s worst affected area.
This is West Africa’s biggest locust disaster in 15 years. Now it is moving east and it leads to the loss of crops. When they move, they have babies, so their number is getting bigger. and will soon threaten (威胁) Sudan in the northeast of Africa. Some say it may reach Asia.
Experts say many people in the areas will go hungry because of this disaster. What’s worse, governments in the areas don’t have enough things to fight the locusts.
Although leaders of 12 countries have agreed on a plan, it is not enough. ‘We are now treating 6,000 hectares (公顷) per day with pesticide (杀虫剂), but we need to treat 20,000 hectares per day in order to have any hope of controlling this disaster,’ said Mohamed Abdallahi Ould Babah, leader of locust control(控制) in Mauritania.
1. What does“dark cloud”mean in the first para­graph, the writer of the article ___________.

A．wanted to show the size and speed(速度) of the coming locusts

B．wanted to show the great damage that locusts may cause

C．wanted that locusts could cover the continent like rain clouds

D．both A and B

2. The locust disaster ________.

A．may be even more serious in Asia

B．is (was) such a big problem that people can’t do anything to solve it.

C．affected only the warning areas

D．can not be stopped if people can’t get more pesticide.

3. How many kilograms of rice can Mike get if he catches and kills 450 kilos of locusts?

A．15

B．25

C．30

D．45

4. Which of the following is WRONG?

A．Sud-Fm offered a reward(奖励) to those people would join in catching and killing locusts.

B．Senegal is to the northwest of Sudan.

C．People in West Africa often go hungry.

D．12 countries worked together but they didn’t have enough pesticide.

5. The story is mainly about ________.

A．Countries in West Africa worked together to fight a natural disaster

B．the difficulty in controlling locusts

C．how locusts caused great damage (破坏) to West Africa

D．a fight against a disaster brought by locusts in West Africa