Now many people go to work and school on buses, trains and bikes. However, some people dream of a day when they can fly in the sky.
In Singapore, a company has showed a flying taxi. When some people travel in flying taxis, there will be fewer cars on the roads. It can be less crowded. In the 3D space of the sky, cars could move around each other without bridges or roads. The taxis can also take off and arrive on rooftops. That will save parking space on the ground. And flying is fun. It’s cool and interesting to fly in the sky every day on the way to work.
However, some people don’t like flying cars. A famous scientist has a rocket company and a car company. It seems that he can make flying cars, but he says, “If the sky is full of flying cars, it will be noisier. Something may fall on people’s heads more easily. It’s dangerous.” He thinks it’s much better to build lots of tunnels (隧道) underground.
Are flying cars or taxis a good idea? Shall we find other ways to solve the traffic problems?
1. What do the underlined words “on rooftops” mean?| A．under the seas | B．under the ground |
| C．inside the buildings | D．on the top of the buildings |
| A．It’s difficult to solve traffic problems. |
| B．It’s necessary to make lots of flying cars. |
| C．It’s better to develop underground traffic. |
| D．There will be less noise if we use flying cars. |
| A．Should People Choose Flying Cars? | B．What Is the Danger of Flying Cars? |
| C．Do People Really Know Flying Cars? | D．When Can People Have Flying Cars? |
相似题推荐
【推荐1】Bikes are very popular in China. In the country, you can see bikes almost everywhere. When you walk on the road, you can find a lot of people riding bikes to schools, shops and any other place. So many people call China “the kingdom of bikes”. In China, many families have one or two bikes.
Compared with ears, bikes have many advantages(优点). First, bikes often don’t need much money. Some Chinese can’t buy cars, but they buy bikes. They can also use OFO bikes(共享单车)with only one yuan every hour. An app on the phone helps them to do that. Second, bikes are small to park anywhere, but cars need a bigger place. What’s more, they can’t ride bikes too fast, so it’s usually not dangerous to ride.
However, bikes also bring some problems(问题). Some riders don’t follow the traffic rules and some don’t think about others’ safety, so they ride too fast. During rush hours(高峰期), there may be traffic jams because there are too many bikes on the road. We still have much to do to solve the problem, like making strict rules for the riders.
1. “The kingdom of bikes” is saying .| A．China has so many bikes | B．China makes bikes |
| C．Chinese bikes are the best | D．only China has bikes |
| A．Bikes often don’t need much money. | B．Bikes are easy to park. |
| C．Bikes are very fast. | D．Bikes are safe(安全的) |
| A．面对 | B．逃避 | C．讨论 | D．解决 |
| A．A story book | B．A newspaper |
| C．A dictionary | D．A science book |
But do you know the Silk Road is not a single route(路线)?
It is a series of trade and cultural transmission (传送) routes. It began during the Western Han Dynasty. The trade route starts from the city of Xi’an in Shaanxi province and ends in Eastern Europe, near today’s Turkey and the Mediterranean Sea. The Silk Road was about 6,500 kilometers long. It went across one-fourth of the planet.
The Silk Road got its name because Chinese silk used to be carried along this road. Besides silk, jade, ceramics and iron went west to Rome. From the west came glass, gems, and food like carrots and sesame.
The Silk Road was very important to both China and the rest of the world. Besides trade, knowledge about science, arts and literature, as well as crafts and technologies was shared across the Silk Roads. In this way, languages and cultures developed and influenced each other.
Today, places along the Silk Road are great travel destinations, such as the Terracotta Warriors in Xi’an and Mogao Grottoes (莫高窟) in Dunhuang, Gansu. Now, beginning in August, a new train line, the New Orient Express, runs from Beijing across the Silk Road.
1. Where does the Silk Road start and end?
| A．Xi’an and Western Europe |
| B．Xi’an and Eastern Europe |
| C．Dunhuang and Eastern Europe |
| A．sesame | B．silk | C．gems |
| A．Silk was once carried along the road, so it was named the Silk Road. |
| B．It went across one-fourth of the planet. |
| C．The Silk Road is about 1400 years old. |
| A．it connected China with the outside world |
| B．it was the longest road in the world |
| C．it’s one of the cultural transmission routes |
| A．now tourists can travel along the Silk Road by train |
| B．the Silk Road was the only route to spread culture in history |
| C．China didn’t benefit from (从……中收益)the Silk Road |
| A. Waste should be thrown into bins. Otherwise, it will be buried in the soil and get into waters. Then land pollution and water pollution will be caused. As a result, plants can’t grow well and animals may eat rubbish. Such plants and animals pose (造成) a real risk to people who eat them. B. Noise pollution can cause health problems. For example, loud noises can cause hearing loss. People who live in noisy conditions for a long time may go deaf. They can also influence sleep. Not getting enough sleep makes people tired. Some people even get a headache or serious heart problems because of loud noises. C. The extreme (极度的) heat creates the ideal environment for a wildfire or bushfire. And people use much more water and electricity during the hot weather, which will worsen the shortage of resources (资源). What’s worse, the heat can cause physical harm to people. Sometimes, it can even cause deaths. D. There are different kinds of animals living in the forest. When people cut down trees, they are taking a home away from animals. Besides, without trees, greenhouse gases will increase and the planet will get warmer. This results in extreme weather patterns such as hurricanes (飓风) and droughts (干旱). E. If too many people prefer to drive, a traffic jam (堵塞) can’t be avoided. It will take them much time to get somewhere. And if they are not careful enough, traffic accidents will happen. Besides, while they’re driving, air is being polluted. And air pollution can seriously harm people’s health. |
【推荐1】
Several cameras are built into the robot. The cameras facing the ground take photos to help the robot “see” the plants it passes.
The robot compares each photo to a library of plant photos to decide on which plants are weeds.
Robot arms move into position to give a small dose (剂量) of weedkiller on the weeds.
The robot is energy-friendly.
How the robot will develop
The scientists do not want to just stop at the achievement they have made.
Robots could be programmed to leave some harmless weeds in the fields to support wildlife living there. This will help create s more balanced ecosystem.
| A．How the robot works |
| B．It is powered by the energy from the sun. |
| C．But scientists have created a farmyard robot. |
| D．How do farmers usually kill weeds in the fields? |
| E．Where the robot is used. |
| F．They’re working on the new designs to improve the model. |
【推荐2】Many homes have cameras to protect them from danger. The cameras can tell the owners if someone has entered. But the cameras do not know whether the person is a family member, a friend, a postman or a criminal (罪犯).
But a new camera made by a French company can recognize (辨别出) faces. It can tell parents at work that their children have returned from school, or that the mail has been sent to their home. It can also tell them if a stranger has entered their home. When family members enter a home, the smart camera “recognizes” them and sends information to the owner’s phone. The owner can choose to see the video then or later. But if an unknown person enters a home, the camera will send a warning sound on the owner’s phone.
This is what happened recently to a smart home camera owner named Damien. He lives in Paris.
“On a Friday I was at work, having a big monthly meeting when my phone moved. At first I told myself ‘Oh, it must be a wrong warn,’ but my phone was telling me there was a face that the camera did not recognize. Something was happening in my house!”
“I saw a person I did not know with his shoes on, which is not allowed in my apartment (公寓). I watched it on the video. I felt quite surprised. I hurried back home as fast as possible and called the police on the way. Thanks to the smart camera, the criminal was caught soon,” said Damien.
1. The new smart camera is different from the ones in many homes because it can _________.| A．protect the owner | B．help a school child |
| C．recognize faces | D．call the police |
| A．wear shoes | B．watch videos |
| C．have cameras | D．send mails |
(
=Para. (自然段)1 
= Para. 2 
= Para. 3 
= Para. 4 
= Para. 5)| A．①;②③;④⑤ | B．①;②;③④⑤ |
| C．①②③;④;⑤ | D．①②;③④;⑤ |
【推荐3】ChatGPT is back! OpenAI, the company behind the popular chatbot, has now introduced a powerful new language model: GPT-4.
On March 14, GPT-4 showed the world how smarter it is than the GPT-3.5. One of its best new features is that it can understand pictures. For example, if you show a picture of a phone using the wrong charger (充电器), GPT-4 can tell why the picture looks strange.
But GPT-4’s developments don’t stop there. The new language model can code (用代码编写) classic games in a few minutes, and produce the code and layout (布局) for a website based on a hand-made drawing. GPT-4 is much better than the older GPT at passing tests. According to CNN, GPT-4 did really well on a law school test, with a score in the top 10 percent of test takers. ButGPT-3.5 only got a score in the bottom 10 percent.
GPT-4 will also power other apps and services. For example, the language learning app Duolingo plans to use GPT-4 in their coming products. Users can learn languages by talking with AI. Another app, Be My Eyes, will have a digital assistant (数字助手) to help blind people better understand the world around them. The government of Iceland also plans to use GPT-4 to protect the Icelandic language.
There are still problems with the new language model, however. GPT-4 still tries hard to get completely correct answers. And it will sometimes insist that wrong information is true.
1. What does the underlined word “it” refer to?| A．OpenAI. | B．GPT-3.5. | C．GPT-4. | D．A chatbot. |
| A．Because GPT-4 is much new er than GPT-3.5. |
| B．Because GPT-4 can spend less time coding games. |
| C．Because GPT-4 got better scores than GPT-3.5 at tests. |
| D．Because GPT-4 powers other apps and services. |
| A．let users learn language by talking with AI |
| B．help blind people understand the world better |
| C．give support to the Icelandic language |
| D．earn much money by selling services |
(①=Paragraph 1, ②=Paragraph 2, … )
A． | B． | C． | D． |
【推荐1】Why did Chinese people have more than one name in ancient times?
In ancient China, people’s names had three parts, their family name, given name and courtesy name. Take the famous poet Li Bai for example. His family name, which came from his father’s name, was Li. His given name was Bai, and his courtesy name was Taibai.
People used their given names when they were among family members. But in social life, they called each other by their courtesy names to show respect. This was mostly done among people of similar age. If you were talking about yourself, or if your elders were talking about you, the given name would be used instead of the courtesy name.
Men would get their courtesy names when they turned 20. It was a symbol of adulthood(成年). Women would get their courtesy names after getting engaged.
One’s courtesy name often had something to do with one’s given name. For example, the name of Mencius was Meng Ke. His courtesy name was Ziyu. Both Ke and Ziyu mean “carriage (马车)”. Zhuge Liang’s given name was Liang, which means “bright”. His courtesy name was Kongming, which means “very bright”.
1. How many parts are there in people’s names in ancient China?| A．3. | B．4. | C．5. |
| A．名 | B．姓氏 | C．字 |
| A．To show their love. | B．To show their kindness. | C．To show their respect. |
| A．Family name. | B．Given name. | C．Courtesy name. |
| A．Three parts of ancient names. |
| B．The famous poet Li Bai. |
| C．The ancient names and the modern names. |
【推荐2】Crested ibises (朱鹮) are one of the oldest bird species (物种) on Earth. It is believed that they have been around for 60 million years. They were once common in Asia. But in the 1960s, they began to disappear because of pollution and other human activities. In 1981, Chinese scientists found seven of them in the wild in Yangxian, Shaanxi Province. They were believed to be the last ones in the world. But now, they have been saved from extinction.
Researchers say its population has risen to more than 5, 000 around the world. There are 3, 000 crested ibises in Yangxian alone. The birds’ survival (幸存) is because of China’s early protection efforts, according to Zhang Yueming, an expert who helps protect the birds in Yangxian.
On the fourth day after finding the ibises, the local government put up a lot of notices to protect the birds. Then, it stopped people from cutting down trees. Later, it set up the Qinling No. 1 protection station and sent four people to look after the birds day and night. During the daytime, they watched and recorded the birds’ habits and conditions. At night, their job was to keep them safe.
To help the ibises have more babies, a rescue and breeding center (救助和繁育中心) was set up in 1990. At the center, crested ibises are fed by people and can receive timely help when they are sick or hurt. China’s protection of crested ibises is an example in the world's history of protecting endangered wildlife.
根据短文内容，选择最佳答案。1. What do you know about crested ibises?
| A．They only live in China. | B．They can live to be 60 million years old. |
| C．They were endangered in the early 1980s. | D．They are the oldest species on Earth. |
| A．Living on. | B．Dying out. | C．Getting hurt. | D．Being sick. |
| A．2000. | B．3000. | C．4000. | D．5000. |
①The local government put up a lot of notices.
②The local government set up a rescue and breeding center.
③The local government set up the Qinling No. 1 protection station.
④The local government stopped people from cutting down trees.
| A．①④③② | B．①④②③ | C．③①④② | D．③①②④ |
| A．Crested ibises are endangered all over the world. |
| B．China became the best place for crested ibises to live. |
| C．The number of crested ibises has increased because of China’s efforts. |
| D．More and more countries have realized the importance of saving crested ibises. |
【推荐3】In the minds of the Chinese, the moon is connected with gentleness and brightness, expressing their best wishes. On August 15 of the lunar calendar (阴历) each year, the moon is full and it’s time to celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival.
In traditional Chinese culture, the moon is a carrier of human emotions (情感). In ancient times, from royalty to the ordinary family, it was an important custom to appreciate the full moon during the festival. Adults usually enjoyed delicious mooncakes with a cup of hot tea, while children ran around with bright lanterns. After nightfall, whole families went out for a walk under the stars, looking up at the full moon and thinking of their relatives or friends, as well as those who were far from home. A line from a poem “The moon viewed at home is brighter” expresses those feelings.
Besides, with respect to the history of Chinese civilization (文明) , China is the first nation to have the dream of flying to the sky. From the story of Chang’e to Dunhuang flying apsaras (飞天), all express Chinese ancestors’ desire to explore outer space. Many ancient Chinese poets also showed their preference for the moon through wonderful words. For example, the poet Li Bai wrote hundreds of poems about the moon during his lifetime.
The Chinese exploring moon project (探月工程), named after Chang’e, fully expresses this pursuit (追求) of the Chinese. The successful launch (发射) of Chang’e 1 not only laid the ground work for future exploration of the moon, but also made a long-held dream of the Chinese people come true.
1. What do Chinese people think of the moon?| A．The moon is a symbol of health and wealth. | B．The moon is not as bright as the sun. |
| C．The moon carries human emotions. | D．The moon viewed at home is brighter. |
| A．how ancient Chinese people celebrated the Mid-Autumn Festival |
| B．when Chinese people celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival |
| C．what poems Chinese people wrote about the moon |
| D．why Chinese people celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival |
| A．观点 | B．渴望 | C．遗憾 | D．惭愧 |
| A．a travel guide | B．a health magazine | C．a newspaper | D．a history textbook |
| A．The moon carries Chinese people’s best wishes and dreams. |
| B．China is the first nation to dream of exploring outer space. |
| C．Ancient Chinese poets wrote hundreds of poems about the moon. |
| D．The Chinese exploring moon project shows the love for the moon. |
