【推荐2】How will the Internet change the world? Will we enjoy a smarter life in the future? Recently, many of the world’s biggest Internet companies took part in an important meeting. They talked about how to build a future for our online world. The Internet can make our lives easier in many ways. The companies at the meeting showed us some of their latest technology. Here are some examples. Let’s take a look.

Lip reading machines

They can not only read faces. They can also read your lip movements. The Chinese Internet company Sogou has made lip reading technology. You don’t need to speak aloud. The machine turns your lip movements into voice or text. This could be very useful if you are in a noisy place and people cannot hear you on your phone. Police can also use this technology. Sometimes they see criminals on city-monitoring cameras, but they don’t know what they say. The lip reading technology can help people with this.

Smart shoes

Your feet might hurt if your shoes don’t fit you. This won’t happen if you wear “smart” custom-made shoes. The Xiemofang company brought a machine to the meeting. The machine scans your feet. It records 39 parts of your feet. It also has a database (数据库). The database has more than 10,000 kinds of shoes. You can choose the colour and style. It also gives you suggestions for your choices. The suggestions are based on records of other people’s feet. You can get your new shoes after 10 days.

Unmanned supermarkets

You walk into a supermarket, pick out your goods and go to check out. But there is no worker. There is just a tablet (牌子) that says “Please smile”. When you smile, it gives you a discount (打折). Your money goes from your Alipay account to the supermarket. You don’t need to do anything. The Alibaba company has made this supermarket. When you go into the supermarket, it knows your face and your Alipay account. It also knows your facial expressions. So it knows how much you like your goods. The supermarket not only makes shopping easier, but also comprehends you.

1. Many Internet companies took part in an important meeting to show us ________.

A．how powerful the online world is	B．how to use technology on the Internet
C．how to enjoy a life in the future	D．how technology makes life better

2. Lip reading machines are helpful when ________.

A．the police are looking for a criminal	B．people are playing with their pets
C．students are doing their homework	D．parents are taking photos for the kids

3. You can get suggestions about your ideal shoes according to ________.

A．your own feet	B．Xiemofang company
C．records of other people’s feet	D．10,000 kinds of shoes

4. Which of the following statements is NOT true according to the passage?

A．There are no workers in the unmanned supermarkets.

B．If you smile, you can get a discount in the unmanned supermarkets.

C．The machine can recognize not only your face but also your Alipay account.

D．You needn’t pay anything if you are satisfied with your goods.

5. The underlined word “comprehends” in the passage means “________”.

A．understands

B．cheats

C．confuses

D．respects

6. The passage is probably chosen from ________.

A．a book review	B．science fiction
C．a technology magazine	D．a news report

【推荐1】Facial recognition technology (人脸识别技术) is widely used today. For example, the police use it to search for bad guys. It’s also used to unlock phones or doors.

Now, a similar technology, known as facial detection (探测), is entering a new field: the business of advertising (广告).

Such systems are going through tests in a small number of stores. One facial detection system can judge (判断) a person’s “happiness” or “fear” level. Another system can detect whether someone is wearing eyeglasses. If so, stores can send advertisements for new glasses to him.

Facial detection technology is also placed inside some large advertising boards. Cameras in those boards can detect information like people’s ages and five levels of feelings — from “very happy” to “very unhappy”.

Supporters of the technology say it could improve buyers’ experience by showing products they might like or by offering them products at lower prices.

Some are against the idea of using such systems. Pam Dixon, the head of a privacy (隐私) group, is one of them. She thinks ________. For example, a store could raise the price of a product according to a person’s age and feelings.

However, one store testing the technology explained people’s information like names or ages wouldn’t be stored. And the advertising board system maker said it didn’t keep any personal information or record any videos.

1. Facial detection technology can judge people’s ________, according to the passage.

A．weight

B．feelings

C．height

D．hobbies

2. What does the underlined word “they” refer to?

A．Supporters.

B．Buyers.

C．Products.

D．Prices.

3. Which of the following sentences can be put in the ________?

A．nobody likes to have their feelings collected	B．it is very important to protect people’s privacy
C．the strange actions may cause something unfair	D．stores may use them to have more customers

4. We can infer from the passage that facial detection technology ________.

A．can detect buyers’ names and record them	B．is put inside some large advertising boards
C．may be used to sell cheaper goods in all stores	D．may need some time before being widely used

5. The best title of the passage may be “________”.

A．Facial Recognition Technology Entering a New Field

B．Facial Recognition Technology Looking for Bad Guys

C．Facial Detection Technology Going into Advertising Field

D．Facial Detection Technology Improving Buyers’ Experience

【推荐2】As you probably know, clothing has been around since the time of Adam and Eve—and it’s become a lot more complicated than those early fig leaf designs. On the other hand, electronics have been with us for only a few hundred years—beginning with Franklin running round with his portable lightning rod. With gadgets（小电子产 品）more popular than ever these days, digital fashion, a combination of clothing and electronics, is simply inevitable.

First let me mention a line of jackets launched in the fall of 2013 by Royal Philips’ Electronics and Levis Strauss Corporation. Philip’s original press release called it “mixing fashion and technology in the creation of work wear for the digital age”. I love that kind of talk. Each design is said to contain a simple body area network using wires placed into various parts of the jacket. What it really does is allow one to use a Philips’ GSM mobile phone and MP3 player in the jacket—all controlled by a unified remote.

A company named Vivo Metrics has designed a different type of electronic garment. It’s called Lifeshirt, and it’s an ambulatory monitoring system stuffed into a flexible, washable T-shirt. Vivo Metrics has built a system that allows doctors to monitor more than 40 physiological signs（heart rate, breathing rate, blood pressure, etc.）over extended periods of time. With that a man who suffers from sleep apnea （呼吸暂停）can send the medical data to his doctor on a regular basis. But this product is not available to customers, as it’s intended for clinical and medical research.

I believe these products are only the tip of the iceberg. More of them will find their way to our future life, making a difference by combining computer technologies with clothing design.

1. Why are Adam, Eve and Franklin mentioned in the first paragraph?

A．They can tell the origin of digital fashion.

B．They can show a long history of clothing and electronics.

C．They can prove that clothing came before electronics.

D．They can lead in the subject of the whole passage.

2. The underlined word “inevitable” probably means ________.

A．reasonable

B．unbelievable

C．unavoidable

D．impossible

3. What is TRUE about Vivo Metric’s Lifeshirt?

A．It has saved thousands of people’s lives.

B．It works similarly as the digital jacket does.

C．It has not really benefited the patients yet.

D．It has collected a great deal of data for doctors.

4. The writer seems to believe that digital fashion will ________ in the future.

A．add up to nothing

B．end up as a failure

C．lift up our life

D．set up a new business

【推荐3】If you have a bottle of water recycled(再利用) from urine(尿), would you drink it? Astronauts at the ISS may soon do so.
NASA(美国航空航天局) said it would use a high-tech machine to recycle wastewater at the ISS. The machine will recycle water for washing hands, shower water, water for brushing teeth and even urine to make drinking water. It will save millions of dollars each year.
At present, each ISS astronaut uses about 4.4 liters(升) of water every day. It costs about 24 million dollars a year to send water up to the ISS. A liter of water costs about $ 11,000.
The machine will be sent to the ISS later. NASA hopes it will recycle about 93% of all the water used on the station.
Will the water be clean? Different chemicals will be put in the wastewater. The water will be heated to 130℃ to kill bacteria(细菌). Scientists say that the recycled water is thousands of times better than the water from a city tap.
1. NASA will use a high-tech machine to recycle wastewater at the ISS to ______.

A．protect the ISS

B．make the astronauts work harder

C．provide better water and food for the astronauts

D．save the cost of sending water up to the ISS

2. At present it costs NASA about ______ dollars to transport water up to an astronaut at the ISS a day.

A．4.4 thousand	B．11 thousand
C．48.4 thousand	D．24 million

3. Scientists plan to get rid of bacteria in the wastewater by ______.

A．freezing	B．heating
C．shaking	D．precipitating(沉淀)

4. The passage mainly tells us something about ______.

A．water recycling at the ISS

B．the International Space Station

C．a high-tech machine

D．the cost of NASA

5. Which of the following sentences is TURE?

A．The recycled water is much better than that from a city tap.

B．The high-tech machine will recycle all the water used on the station.

C．The ISS astronauts use more water than us.

D．The high-tech machine can only recycle urine to make water.

【推荐1】Every year on 15th October, over 200 million people around the world take part in Global Handwashing Day. But why do we have a day for something we do all the time? Well, research shows that not enough people often wash their hands with soap. Experts believe that this leads to the deaths of millions of people every year.

Sidibe, a public health expert says soap is “the most beautiful invention in public health”. Washing your hands with soap can have a huge impact on reducing (减少) the spread of diseases. Handwashing with soap prevents babies from getting ill and keeps children healthy in school.

However, washing hands with soap does not happen as often as you might think. This is partly because there aren’t enough resources (资源) in poorer countries, but it’s also because for many people, handwashing is simply not part of their everyday life. It’s not easy to get people to change habits they learned in early childhood—but this is what Global Handwashing Day wants to do.

In 2008, the Indian cricket team joined around 100 million Indian schoolchildren in washing their hands to promote (促进) the first ever Global Handwashing Day. Every year since then, many different events have been held around the world. In 2014, Global Handwashing Day was used in the fight against Ebola, a very serious disease, with events held in affected (受感染的) African countries.

Today, local and national leaders continue to use the day to spread the message about the importance of clean hands. The hope is that handwashing becomes a necessary part of people’s lives and improves the health of millions around the world.

1. Who started Global Handwashing Day?

A．Public health experts.	B．The Indians.
C．African schoolchildren.	D．Government leaders.

2. Which of the following is true?

A．Global Handwashing Day is on October 25.

B．Experts believe the reason that leads to the deaths of millions of people every year is that people don’t often wash their hands.

C．Washing hands with soap happens as often as we think.

D．Global Handwashing Day wants to make it a habit for people to wash hands with soap.

3. What does the underlined word “impact” mean?

A．Danger.	B．Influence.
C．Background.	D．Problem.

4. What’s the main idea of the last paragraph?

A．Washing hands with soap is good for public health.

B．Washing hands with soap doesn’t become part of people’s lives.

C．People are holding many different events to fight against diseases.

D．People all over the world are encouraged to wash hands with soap.

5. What would be the best title for the passage?

A．Learning to Use Soap	B．Fighting Against Diseases
C．Living a Healthy Life	D．Changing Your Habits

【推荐2】

1     Zhao Yuntian was born in 1962 in the south of China. There was no TV at his home when he was young. People would go to bed early in the evening.     2     Wang Jianguo was born in 1974 in Beijing. He liked playing ping-pong very much when he was young and playing ping-pong was the most popular sport at that time.     3     Liu Haitao was born in 1981 in Shenzhen. Shenzhen developed rapidly when he was young. All kinds of household machines(家用电器) went into people’s homes.     4     Zhang Hao was born in 1992. His childhood was happy. He could play computer games when he was young because computers began getting into people’s homes.     5     Li Bing was born in 2002. His childhood was colorful. The Internet and mobile phones became more and more popular. And he liked seeing movies in his free time.

A. His father began to do business after the reform and opening-up(改革开放). And his family got a motorbike, a TV set and a fridge. B. His family spent much time travelling every year. But he was busy on weekends because his mother sent him to a lot of classes. C. He liked doing sports a lot and his favorite sport was ping-pong because lots of people at that time liked this activity very much. D. He was in poor health because he didn’t do much exercise. Worse still, he liked eating junk food very much. So the doctor advised him to go on a diet. E. Surfing the Internet was very popular when he was young. He got a mobile phone when he went to school. And he often watched movies at the cinema. F. Jumping rope and playing hide-and-seek were his main activities in his childhood. He went to bed early at night because there was no TV. G. At first, he played computer games in the net bars. Then his family got a computer and he could do it at home. Of course, he did lots of useful things on computers.

【推荐3】It was a rainy day. I didn’t feel like driving up the winding mountain road to my daughter’s house. But she kept asking me to come to see something at the top of the mountain.

So here I was, although the two-hour journey was full of fog and rain. After lunch, my daughter requested me to drive her to Barage. After a ten-minute drive, we parked the car and got out. We walked along a road that was thick with old pine needles (松针). Huge evergreens towered over us. Gradually the peace and silence of the place began to fill my mind. Then we stopped because I was in great amazement.

Looking down from the top of the mountain, there were rivers of daffodils in amazing colors. At the center hung a waterfall of purple hyacinths (风信子). Here and there were beautiful tulips (郁金香). The scenery is like a picture of the nature.

A lot of questions filled my mind. Who created such beauty? Why? How?

As we were on the way home, we saw a sign that read, “Answers to the Questions I Know You Are Asking.” The first answer was: “One Woman — Two Hands, Two Feet, and Very Little Brain.” The second was: “One at a Time.” The third: “Started in 1958.”

I was so moved by what we had seen. “She changed the world,” I said, not getting over the shock, “one bulb (球茎) at a time. She started almost 40 years ago, probably just the beginning of an idea, but she kept at it.”

“Imagine,” I added, “if I had a dream and worked at it, just a little bit every day, what might I have achieved?”

My daughter looked sideways at me, smiling. “Start tomorrow,” she said. “Better yet, start today.”

1. The writer finally decided to visit her daughter because she ________.

A．didn’t want to disappoint her	B．missed her very much
C．wanted to see beautiful scenes	D．was in need of a journey

2. The underlined word “daffodils” is most probably ________.

A．famous rivers

B．a kind of flower

C．mountain springs

D．a name of a place

3. In which order did the writer’s feelings change in the story?

A．amazed→moved→uninterested→inspired	B．moved→inspired→amazed→uninterested
C．inspired→uninterested→moved→amazed	D．uninterested→amazed→moved→inspired

4. What does the writer mainly want to tell us?

A．Easier said than done.	B．Well begun, half done.
C．Little steps add up to big success.	D．Women can shake the world.

【推荐1】Shameem was born in a small village in Pakistan. In her village, it was a tradition to keep girls inside their homes. They were not allowed to get an education.

Fortunately, Shameem’s uncle, a university teacher, wanted to give her a chance to see the world. He offered Shameem a chance to attend school. So she became the only girl student in her class.

However, Shameem struggled to complete her schooling. To get permission for college, she went to a three-day hunger strike(抗议). After graduating from college, Shameem got a position in a non-profit organization(非营利性组织) working to help women in rural( 农村的) areas.

There, she saw a Pakistan that she didn’t know. Until then, she thought she had a difficult life. But there, she saw what women in other parts of Pakistan were experiencing. Some women had 11 children, but nothing to feed them. They would walk three hours every day to get water.

Shameem found that the position was more than just a job for her. She discovered her power. By setting an example, her experience could encourage more people to understand the importance of education and send their daughters to school.

Now, Shameem teaches in a rural school in her hometown. “The first day I walked into the school,” she said, “I saw all these little Shameems staring at me with dreams in their eyes, the same dream of freedom which I had in my childhood.”

Today, there is not a single girl in her village who doesn’t go to school.

1. Who played an important role in sending Shameem to school?

A．Her uncle.

B．Her parents.

C．A workmate.

D．A university student.

2. Why did Shameem work for a non-profit organization?

A．To make much money.	B．To finish her education.
C．To discover her power as an example.	D．To help poor women in the countryside.

3. What’s the main idea of Paragraph 4?

A．Shameem walked three hours to get water.	B．Shameem used to know her homeland well.
C．Women and children were short of food.	D．Women’s situation was more awful than expected.

4. What’s the influence of Shameem’s effort?

A．Girls have the same dream.	B．No girl is allowed to attend school.
C．All girls in the school are named Shameem.	D．The idea of girls’ education in her village has changed.

【推荐2】① Some days, don’t you think, “Wouldn’t it be nice if the laundry would just do itself?” Self-cleaning clothes may sound crazy. But Australian researchers have found a way to make something like this possible!
② A team at RMIT University in Melbourne, Australia, found a way to put special nanostructuresinto clothing, which can then clean the clothes. When sunlight hits the nanostructures, they break down the dirt and stains (污渍) that don’t belong on your clothes.
③ The nanostructures don’t break down the actual clothing because cotton and the other clothing materials are too strong to be broken down. According to CNN, the researchers cover the clothing in a solution made of silver and copper (铜) nanostructures. All it takes is 40 minutes of sunlight and your clothes will look as good as new.
④ So if you spill on yourself during lunch, you can step outside for a walk, and it will be clean by the time you go inside. It not only makes your life easier, but it can also be good for the environment.
⑤ According to the US Department of Energy, the average load of laundry uses about 25 gallons (about 94 liters) of water. Water is a very important resource, so using less of it to wash clothes is better for the environment. But one of the scientists at RMIT University knows more needs to be done.
⑥ “There’s more work to do before we can start throwing out our washing machines,” said Dr Rajesh Ramanathan, “but this is a strong foundation (基础).”
⑦ So what’s the next step? Ramanathan wants to either start selling the solution by itself or convincing clothing makers to treat the clothing with the solution while clothes are being made.
1. According to the first three paragraphs, _____.

A．the nanostructures can break down dirt and stains on clothes

B．people can use the self-cleaning clothes on rainy days

C．the self-cleaning clothes easily wear out

2. The underlined word “solution” in Paragraph 3 means “     ” in Chinese.

A．方案

B．溶液

C．水盆

3. Paragraphs ④ - ⑤ talk about       .

A．what advantages the self-cleaning clothes have

B．what helps the self-cleaning clothes work

C．how the self-cleaning clothes work

4. From the passage, we learn that       .

A．it’s time to throw out our washing machines

B．clothing makers like the solution

C．the solution is not on sale yet

5. The best title of this passage is       .

A．Difficulties in clothes cleaning

B．Cleaning clothes gets easier

C．Steps to clean your clothes

【推荐3】Lightning(闪电)is shocking, and it happens all over the world! Scientists think that there are more than three million lightning strikes(袭击)every day in the world-that’s thirty strikes every second.
Lightning can also be very dangerous. Every year, lightning kills people because it can start big fires or because it reaches temperatures up to 28,000 degrees centigrade. American Roy Sullivan, who worked in a park, holds the record for surviving the most lightning strikes. Between 1942 and 1983, he was hit seven times!
So, why does lightning strike? Lightning strikes happen when ice and water in clouds rub(摩擦)together, and cause atmospheric(大气层的)changes. When this happens, it creates a static charge(静电电荷). Lightning can strike inside the cloud, between two clouds and between a cloud and Earth. It’s the last type of strike that is the most dangerous for humans. About 1,000 people get struck by lightning every year in the United States, and about 100 of them die as a result.
Lightning is certainly not something______ When lightning strikes, it’s best to stay inside a large building. To stay safe, do not stand under trees, on hills or near water. Trees attract lightning. Also, do not lie down on the ground, otherwise the electricity may go through you and cause a heart disease.
1. Lightning strikes ________.

A．happen three billion times each day

B．will start when there are big fires

C．can reach very high temperatures

D．kill all those who work in a park

2. What does “surviving” in paragraph 2 mean in Chinese?

A．目睹

B．幸存

C．制造

D．遇难

3. We can infer(推断)from paragraph 3 that ________.

A．lightning strikes are caused whenever ice and water meet

B．lightning between two clouds is the most dangerous for humans

C．lightning strikes create static charge

D．about one tenth of the people struck by lightning die every year in America

4. Which expression means “to toy with” in the last paragraph?

A．to play with	B．to take seriously
C．to show off	D．to take it easy

5. Where’s the best place to be when lightning strikes?

A．On top of a hill.	B．In a swimming pool.
C．In a tree.	D．Inside a large building.