1 . If you look around the room you are in right now, you’ll probably notice a number of electronics. But can you imagine if they all had to be joined together by wires (电线)? Picture the wire snaking along the floor, for example, from your smartphone to your speaker, or connecting your game controller to the computer screen, meaning you could never sit more than a couple of meters away from it. A world of electronics connected by wires wouldn’t just be untidy, but a possible danger, too. That’s where Bluetooth comes in. We’ve all heard of it — but what exactly is it?
Bluetooth is a method of short-distance (短距离) wireless communication between electronics that makes use of the power of radio waves. The idea was first thought of by Dr. Janp Haartsen at Swedish mobile company Ericsson in 1994. Things really stepped up in September 1998 when the Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG) was set up to develop and spread the technology. Bluetooth 1.0 came out in 1999, and a year later it began to be used in mobile phones and desktop computers. Now Bluetooth has become an increasingly popular way of solving the problem of more and more electronics needing to be connected. without having to connect everything together with wires.
But if you look at the remote control (温控器) you use to choose the program on TV, you might rightly ask yourself why Bluetooth was such a big deal. After all, connecting objects with infrared signals (红外信号) which can’t be seen had been done before. The problem with remote controls is that they need to keep what is called “line of sight”. If something is standing between the remote control and receiver, it won’t work. Because Bluetooth uses radio waves, the things standing in the way are no longer a problem.
Since its creation in the late 1990s, the technology has become more and more improved and widely used, with the 4 billionth Bluetooth objects shipped in 2020.
1. How does the writer lead in the topic “Bluetooth” in Paragraph 1?| A．By describing scenes. | B．By comparing facts. | C．By telling stories. | D．By explaining reasons. |
| A．started to be used in cars | B．made radio waves known to people |
| C．improved and spread quickly | D．was able to connect all electronics |
| A．development | B．popularity | C．standard | D．advantage |
| A．Phone sellers | B．Technology fans | C．Newspaper reporters | D．History lovers |
2 . Scientists are looking for ways that we can effectively use the light and heat from the sun. One idea that has caught their imagination is solar roads. They are expected to produce clean and renewable energy.
With solar panels on the surfaces, solar roads cost more than traditional roads. However, besides the functions of traditional roods, they have the panels to receive sunlight and change it into the energy to supply power to homes, factories and street lighting. There are four layers in a solar panel:
•Base layer: It is made of insulation material and forms a good grip with the road below this layer.
•Middle layer: This is the most important layer. It holds all kinds of power lines connecting all the solar parts in the panel, like LED lights and the heating system.
•Top layer: This layer is super-strong glass. It allows the panel to hold the weight of the heaviest vehicles.
•Capping: This is the topmost layer used to offer extra protection to the solar parts in the panel. The layer must be rough enough to provide the traction for the safety of vehicles.
With the smart design, solar roads can successfully charge the vehicles on them. And the roads have inbuilt LED lights to replace the traditional rood signs and lines, which are usually painted and harmful to humans. What’s more, the heating systems in the solar roads can take care of the snow and ice on the roads for drivers.
Test solar roads have been built in several countries (France, China, USA, etc.) since 2014. The first word solar road project, Metrics of Watt Way in France, was set up by a French company called Construction Colas. It was an example of low effectiveness. In the first year, it had been expected to produce around 767 kWh of energy a day, but it only produced 409 kWh. Even so, the production could increase with design improvements. Of course, more time is needed before this technology is put into use.
Solar roads may not be widely used in the near future, but they are indeed great for an environment-friendly and energy-saving world.
1. Solar roads ________.| A．offer power to homes | B．get energy from factories |
| C．keep the sunlight away | D．cost less than traditional roods |
| A．The base layer is the most important layer. |
| B．There are many power lines in the middle layer. |
| C．The top layer lies on the top of the solar panel. |
| D．The capping should be smooth enough for drivers. |
| A．was set up in China in 2014 | B．showed high effectiveness as expected |
| C．was started by a US company | D．could get better with design improvements |
| A．Solar Roads: A Widely Used Invention |
| B．Solar Roads: A Safety Guard for Drivers |
| C．Solar Roads: A New Idea for Clean Energy |
| D．Solar Roads: A Way to Produce LED Lights |
3 . “Motasharefon bema’ refatek!” is often heard in Arabs’ daily talks. This greeting in the language Arabic means “Nice to meet you!” You may find Arabic difficult to understand, but the following facts can offer you some basics.
Arabic is s language of over twenty countries across the Middle East and North Africa, It’s also one of the six official languages of the UN. Now about 400 million people worldwide speak Arabic.
Arabic has different varieties. One of them is Modern Standard Arabic. It is taught at schools in all Arabic-speaking countries and used formally over media. Colloquial Arabic is another variety which people in the Arab world usually use in their everyday life.
Arabic is written from right to left in a beautiful and flowing script. Written Arabic is formed from eighteen different curves with dots (
) above or below. The curve (
) with one dot below is pronounced /b/, two on top is /t/, and three on top is /th/, while the curve (
) with two dots below is pronounced /y/.
A main feature of Arable is the throe letter root system. Almost every Arabic word is based on a root of three letters. If you take a root and add other letters to it, you can create many words related to the meaning of that root. For example, “k-t-b” is a common root in Arabic. Some words from that root are kitaab (“book”) and maktaba (“library”).
There are more facts about Arabic for you to explore. You’ll find that learning about it helps open up door to a different culture and provides a new way of thinking about the world.
1. How many varieties of Arabic are mentioned in the passage?| A．Two. | B．Three. | C．Four. | D．Five. |
A． | B． | C． | D． |
| A．Cooking. | B．Singing. | C．Writing. | D．Swimming. |
| A．To introduce the language Arabic. |
| B．To tell stories from Arab countries. |
| C．To encourage people to visit Arab countries. |
| D．To advise people to protect the language Arabic. |
①Swifts live mostly in the air. These small birds are among the fastest animals on Earth. In fact, swifts can go two or three days without touching the ground! To get used to life in the sky, swifts use their speed and the saliva in their mouths.
②Swifts can fly faster than 100 miles per hour. That’s because their wings are like boomerangs. This shape of the wings helps them to fly much faster. They can also move one wing faster than the other, which allows them to make sharp turns without slowing down. Making fast, sharp turns helps swifts catching flying bugs to eat.
③The saliva helps swifts catch bugs to feed their young. It is sticky, like glue. Swifts often fly into clouds of bugs such as mosquitoes and open their wide mouths to catch as many insects as they can. The bird collects insects in its mouth graduallyand holds the insects in a sticky ball of saliva. One food ball can contain nearly 1,000 bugs.
④Swifts also use their saliva as glue to build their nests. The birds catch feathers in the air and stick the feathers together to build a strong nest on the side of a cliffor building. Swifts’ short feet are not good for walking or standing on land for long. But their sharp claws allow them to stick to rocks and walls so they can take a brief rest before returning their lives in the sky.
1. Which of the following best show the structure of the passage?A． | B． |
C． | D． |
| A．how fast swifts can fly |
| B．how swifts turn around in the sky |
| C．why swifts make sharp turns |
| D．why swifts can fly and turn so fast |
| A．Swifts don’t usually live on land because of their wings. |
| B．Swifts can fly for a long time because of their small bodies. |
| C．Swifts can’t walk for a long time because of their short feet. |
| D．Swifts can catch nearly 1,000 bugs in one go with the saliva. |
| A．Life in the Sky | B．A Small Pet |
| C．The Fastest Speed | D．The Special Saliva |
5 .
Did you know that humans aren’t the only species (物种) that use language? Bees communicate by dancing. Whales talk to each other by singing. And some apes talk to humans by using American Sign Language.
A female gorilla, Koko, was born at the San Francisco Zoo on July 4th, 1971. Koko learned sign language from her trainer, Dr. Penny Patterson. Patterson began teaching sign language to Koko in 1972, when Koko was one year old. Koko must have been a good student, because two years later she moved onto the Stanford University campus with Dr. Patterson. Koko continued to learn on the campus until 1976. That’s when she began living full-time with Patterson’s group, the Gorilla Foundation. Patterson and Koko’s relationship has blossomed ever since.
Dr. Patterson says that Koko has mastered sign language and known over 1,000 words, and that Koko makes up new words. For example, Koko didn’t know the sign for ring, so she signed the words finger and bracelet. Dr. Patterson thinks that this shows meaningful and constructive use of language.
Not everyone agrees with Dr. Patterson. Some argue that apes like Koko do not understand the meaning of what they are doing. Some people who don’t believe that say that these apes are just performing complex tricks (戏法). For example, if Koko points to an apple and signs red or apple, Dr. Patterson will give her an apple. They argue that Koko does not really know what the sign apple means. She only knows that that if she makes the right motion, one which Dr. Patterson has shown her, then she gets an apple. The debate is unresolved, but one thing is for certain: Koko is an extraordinary ape.
It seems like Patterson and Koko have a good relationship, but not everyone agrees with it. Some people believe that Patterson is humanizing the ape. They think that apes should be left in the most natural state possible. Even Dr. Patterson struggles with these feelings. When she was asked if her findings could be duplicated by another group of scientists, she said, “We don’t think that it would be ethical (道德的) to do again.” She went on to argue that animals should not be kept in such unnatural circumstances.
As for the future, Dr. Patterson and the Gorilla Foundation would love to get Koko to an ape preserve (保护区) in Maui, but they are having trouble getting the land. So unless you have a few million dollars to spare, Koko’s going to be spending her time in Woodland, California with Dr. Patterson. Koko probably doesn’t mind that. If she moved to Hawaii, she’d have to give up her Facebook page and Twitter feed, and she’s got like 50 thousand “likes”. Some may deny (否认) that she knows sign language, but nobody says that she doesn’t know social networking.
1. What is the writer’s main purpose in writing the second paragraph?| A．To describe the environment in which Koko lives. |
| B．To tell readers how Dr. Patterson developed Koko’s living skills. |
| C．To advise Patterson to free Koko after she learnt on the campus. |
| D．To make an introduction about Koko and Dr. Patterson’s background. |
| A．Koko has mastered sign language without a doubt. |
| B．Everybody likes how Dr. Patterson has raised Koko. |
| C．Some people think that Koko only signs to get food. |
| D．The Gorilla Foundation has got a land for Koko to stay naturally. |
| A．To disagree with someone. | B．To fool them. |
| C．To copy something. | D．To be disproven through debate. |
| A．Bees, whales, and apes like Koko all use language to communicate. |
| B．Koko uses sign language but some think it’s just a trick. |
| C．It is natural for gorillas to learn sign language like humans. |
| D．If you want a lot of “likes” on Facebook, get a talking gorilla. |
6 . ①Anyone watching the Winter Olympics in Beijing, China over the last few days has seen lots and lots of snow—man-made snow. No other cities have held the Winter Olympics on almost 100% artificial snow before.
②This year’s Winter Olympics was held in Beijing, China, and in two areas northwest of Beijing, Yanqing and Zhangjiakou. The areas get cold in winter, but they don’t get a lot of natural snow. That’s because they’re close to the Gobi Desert, and are generally very dry.
③That meant _______. China took water from a reservoir which helps supply Beijing’s drinking water and sent it to a nearby river. To carry the water to the mountains for making snow, the country ran miles and miles of pipes. China says making the snow took about 49, 000 gallons of water. Outside experts say it probably took a lot more water than that.
④China paid an Italian company called Techno Alpin to make the snow. Techno Alpin made artificial snow at several earlier Winter Olympics. For the snow in this year’s Olympics, Techno Alpin laid over 40 miles (64 kilometers) of pipes and brought in hundreds of snow-making machines. Even with all those machines, making the snow for this year’s Games took seven weeks.
⑤In recent years, it has become more and more common to use artificial snow at winter sports events. That’s true even in places that used to have a lot of snow naturally. Some artificial snow was used in the Winter Olympics in 2010 and 2014 because of warm weather. In the 2018 Games in PyeongChang, South Korea, almost 90% of the snow was man-made. As the world warms because of climate change, problems like this are expected to become far more common. Michael Mayr, who leads Techno Alpin in Asia, says, “You could not have winter sports now without man-made snow.”
1. Which of the following can be put in ________ in Paragraph 3?| A．we had to find new places for winter Olympics |
| B．snow is an important part of winter sports games |
| C．artificial snow has been widely for winter Olympics |
| D．some serious changes were needed for the Winter Olympics |
| A．had little experience in making artificial snow for Winter Olympics in the past |
| B．may have more chances to create artificial snow for the following winter games |
| C．spent about fifty days in making artificial snow for 2018 PyeongChang Olympics |
| D．used more than 40 gallons of water and laid over 49, 000 miles of pipes in Bejing |
| A．making artificial snow is easier and cheaper |
| B．natural snow is not as clean as artificial snow |
| C．there is a temperature rise on the earth nowadays |
| D．most places are too dry to hold winter sports games |
| A．Man-made snow met the need of a green Olympics. |
| B．2022 Beijing Winter Olympics had an important change. |
| C．Artificial snow helped make Beijing Olympics a success. |
| D．China spent a lot on artificial snow for Beijing Winter Olympics. |
Singapore, as a small island country, has depended mostly on water supplies from neighboring Malaysia for a long time. Low Pei Chin, a water engineer from the government, told reporters from Agency France-Press, “Singapore is short of natural resources. That is why we are always looking for ways to explore water resources. One major plan is to “collect every drop” and “reuse endlessly”.
The government has created a highly developed system that turns wastewater into drinkable water. Reused wastewater can meet 40 percent of Singapore’s water need. The government expects to meet 55 percent of the need by the year 2060.
Most of the water is used for micro-chip producing factories. But some of it is added to the country’s drinking water supplies. The system also helps reduce ocean pollution, as only a small amount of the treated water is sent into the sea. According to the United Nations, 80 percent of the world’s wastewater runs back into the oceans without being treated or reused.
The Changi Water Reclamation Plant on Singapore’s eastern coast is the main part of the country’s recycling system. The system has a network of tunnels and high-technology treatment centers. Parts of the water treatment centers are underground and wastewater enters the center through a 48-kilometer tunnel. In one building, a network of air flow systems has been put in place to keep the water smelling as fresh as possible. When waste arrives at the plant, it goes through cleaning process before powerful pumps send it to areas above ground for more treatment. There, the treated water receives the last process, through which bacteria and viruses are cleared out. Every day, this large center can treat up to 900,000,000 liters of wastewater.
Now the country also continues to enlarge its recycling system. It will add another underground tunnel and a major water treatment center to serve the western part of the island. The government expects work on the center to be completed by 2025. By the time the project is finished, Singapore will have spent about $7.4 billion on its water treatment systems.
1. According to the passage, Singapore is a country which _________.| A．is friendly to its neighbour |
| B．is short of water resources |
| C．has a quite large population |
| D．plans to get help from Malaysia |
| A．drinking water | B．industry water |
| C．growing crops | D．swimming pools |
| A．The plant of the system has long tunnels and a large treatment center. |
| B．The wastewater is cleaned underground in the whole process. |
| C．900 million liters of wastewater can be cleaned in the center a day. |
| D．Its network of air flow system can kill the virus in the wastewater. |
| A．plans of developing the recycling system |
| B．situation of the country’s water pollution |
| C．process of how to recycle the wastewater |
| D．introduction of Singapore’s water treatment |
8 . Having a learning disability (缺陷、障碍) doesn’t mean you can’t learn, but you’ll need some help and you’ll need to work very hard. If you have a learning disability, remember that you are not slow.
Learning disabilities can be genetic. That means they can be passed down in families through your parents, even your grandparents.
“Dyslexia” is a learning disability that means a kid has a lot of trouble reading and writing. Kids who have trouble with math may have “dyscalculia”. Other kids may have “language disorders”, which means they have problems understanding language and understanding what they read.
How do we tell if a student has a learning disability? Reading, doing math, and writing letters may be difficult for lots of kids at first. But when those early troubles don’t fade away (逐渐消失) after they have grown up (长大), and they can’t deal with (处理) them and to make any progress (进步), it’s possible the kid has a learning disability.
Finding out you have a learning disability can be sad. You might feel different from everyone else. But the fact is that learning disabilities are pretty common. And if you have a learning disability, you can start getting the help you need to do better in school. But to make this special help really work, you’ll need to practice the new learning skills. It may take a lot of practice every day. That can be a challenge (挑战), but you can do it. Soon, you’ll make progress and enjoy the results of all your hard work: more fun and success at school.
1. What does the underlined word “genetic” mean in the passage?| A．变异的 | B．遗传的 | C．特殊的 | D．个别的 |
| A．It is a physical (生理的) illness. |
| B．It can be treated easily by doctors. |
| C．It always happens to only a few children who are lazy. |
| D．A learning disability needs new learning skills. |
| A．He/She always fails in exams. |
| B．He/She will always be laughed at by others. |
| C．He/She will enjoy more fun at school. |
| D．He/She will get into trouble in learning a certain subject. |
| A．I can’t get good grades. |
| B．The teacher says I am a slow student. |
| C．I can’t deal with early troubles when I have grown up. |
| D．My learning style is quite different from others’. |
| A．can’t understand math | B．cleverer than common kids |
| C．can also make progress | D．can’t learn by themselves |
I was amazed as the climber managed to describe every inch of the six-day climb he’d finished a year before. I couldn’t believe what an amazing memory he had. Later, I learned that I could remember every inch of my scariest climbs, too. That’s because emotion has a very strong effect on memory.
What is memory? Memory is connecting experiences together so that they can be recalled at a later time. In our brains, neurons play an important role in forming memories.
Memory is the process of connecting certain neurons together to make a connection. We have long-term and short-term memories. ____________ Just imagine how cluttered your mind would become if you remembered every single thing. Most of the stuff that’s stored is useless information.
Short-term memories are formed by connecting two neurons for a while, through chemical changes in the points between neurons, called synapses. The connections soon disappear, because the chemical reactions slowly die out. Long-term memories need turning on genes in the nucleus of the neuron to make new proteins. These new proteins strengthen the connection between the two neurons through the process of cell growth, making the neurons better connected.
To move a memory from short-term to long-term storage usually takes much repetition and practice. In an experiment,animals could complete an action after they were trained for many times. Afterward, they were given medicine that stopped their genes making new proteins. By the next morning, they'd forgotten how to complete the action.
However, events that have a powerful emotional influence don’t need repetitions to be remembered for a lifetime. When an event causes a strong feeling, your brain will find that no matter what happens, it must be particularly important and worth remembering. If you have ever had a near-death experience, you will never forget it. This is because hormones that are produced in near-death situations send signals to neurons to move whatever short-term memories they are holding into long-term memory. This strong emotion is why a climber can remember the process of a climb in detail.
1. How did the writer start the passage?| A．By giving advice. |
| B．By asking questions. |
| C．By giving examples. |
| D．By listing numbers. |
| A．What can be stored in our brains? |
| B．When do we form short-term memories? |
| C．Where can we store our memories? |
| D．Why do we have two types of memories? |
| A．it usually takes less time to form short-term memories |
| B．short-term memories just last for a short period of time |
| C．making new proteins is the key to forming long-term memories |
| D．the medicine that the animals took helped them form memories |
| A．Being happy can’t help us remember things better. |
| B．Being scared helps people form long-term memories. |
| C．Repeating something is the only way to remember it. |
| D．A powerful emotion is necessary in forming memories. |
10 . Most kids can walk into a library or bookstore and find hundreds of books they’re able to read. But it’s not simple for kids who are blind. They read in a different way. There are books in Braille for them.
A Code of Raised Dots Braille isn’t a language but a code. To make books in Braille, the printed words of a storybook or textbook have to be changed into a code of raised dots. People who are unable to see can read these dots with their fingers. Groups of these raised dots make up the Braille alphabet. There are dots for numbers, symbols and musical notes, too. |
The Braille Alphabet The chart below shows the Braille code for the English alphabet. Each letter is represented by a group of black dots. In a Braille book, these dots are raised. The smaller dots make the dot groups easier for the sighted people to read.
|
| A．read with our eyes |
| B．the same as other books |
| C．useful for deaf kids |
| D．written with special dots |
A． | B． | C． | D． |
| A．A novel. | B．A report. | C．A magazine. | D．A guidebook. |
