Have you heard of the air taxi? An air taxi can carry people from place to place by air. It looks like a helicopter (直升机). It doesn’t need a long runway to take off or land. It can go straight up. and down.
On February 27, an air taxi finished its first test flight (飞行) in Guangdong. The flight started from the Shekou Cruise Homeport in Shenzhen to Jiuzhou Port in Zhuhai. The 60-kilometer trip took about 20 minutes. By car, the same trip takes two or three hours.
The air taxi is powered (驱动) by electricity (电). It has a top speed of 200 kilometers per hour and can carry up to five people. On one charge (充电), it can travel 250 kilometers. If everything goes well, it hopes to start carrying passengers in 2026.
1. What does an air taxi look like?2. How long did the air taxi fly for its first test flight?
3. What's the top speed of an air taxi?
4. How many people can an air taxi carry up to?
5. How far can an air taxi travel on one charge?
Wu Yuren, a retired (已退休的) professor of physics from Tongji University, has caught much attention on Douyin for her efforts to the popularization (普及) of science, Wu has already practised science popularization for 16 years. However, science popularization is never an easy task. Translating difficult physics principles (原理) into easy-to-understand language requires both a deep knowledge of physics and a strong ability to express and show the principles with experiments (实验). And it is even more difficult to teach science to children.
To help solve these problems, Wu and her team turned to short-form videos three years ago. In the videos, Wu shows people interesting physics experiments. To her surprise, her videos are popular with people of all ages.
So far, Wu’s popular science videos have attracted (吸引) over 1 million fans on the Internet.
In her videos, Wu often wears a multifunctional vest (多功能马甲) which has many pockets all over it. Her pockets are full of magical “toys” such as water bottles, coins and glasses. She uses them as teaching tools. She is always able to make use of these everyday things to explain complex phenomena (复杂的现象) found in the field of physics.
“Physics is very interesting. I hope to tell teachers and kids how to teach or learn physics,” she said. As long as more and more people can realize the beauty of physics and enjoy endless fun in the world of science, she feels that all of her efforts are worthwhile (值得的) .
1. How long has Wu Yuren practised science popularization?2. How did Wu Yuren solve the problems she ran into in science popularization?
3. What does Wu Yuren’s multifunctional vest look like?
4. What does Wu Yuren hope to tell teachers and kids?
5. What do you think of Wu Yuren?
Winter is coming. How about taking a trip to Harbin in northern China? A lot of people go to Harbin to enjoy the world of ice and snow there. There is even an Ice and Snow Festival. It is usually held from December to next February. You can’t miss thousands of great ice sculptures (雕塑) of buildings, animals and so on. Remember to wear warm clothes and shoes when you visit the Ice and Snow World. People like to have a taste of the food in Harbin. Visitors like to try dumplings, Madier ice cream, Hongchang (smoked red sausages) and Guobaorou (sweet and sour pork). And among them, visitors like Madier ice cream best because having a bite of Madier ice cream at the temperature of -25℃ is an interesting and unforgettable experience. People say it’s very cold in Harbin, but I think it’s great fun. Harbin has many ski resorts (度假胜地) and snowboarding parks. Among the outdoor activities, people love to enjoy snowboarding and skiing there. Ice skating is very fun on the icy lakes and rivers. These activities give us a chance to enjoy the winter wonderland.
1. Where is Harbin?2. When is the Ice and Snow Festival?
3. What’s visitors’ favorite food?
4. Do people love the food and winter activities in Harbin?
5. What outdoor activities can people do to enjoy themselves according to the passage?
A Lesson on Happiness
What is “happiness”? Many of you ask yourselves this question, but the answer isn’t always clear. However, people in Finland might have a better idea than most.
In the 2023 World Happiness Report, Finland won the title (称号) of “the happiest country in the world” once again (再一次). It is the sixth year that the country has got this title.
So, what’s Finland’s secret to happiness?
Heli Jimenez, a worker at Business Finland, thinks Finnish people’s happiness may come from their relationship (关系) with nature and a “down-to-earth” lifestyle. “Everyone can learn to be happy,” she said. “And our country wants to help people do that.”
This June, Business Finland paid for 10 people to have a special lesson “Masterclass of Happiness”. It was a four-day lesson. The lesson started on June 12, at the Kuru Resort in the Finnish countryside.
During the lesson, experts from different fields helped the “students” understand more about what it means to be happy. The lesson was mainly on four different areas: nature and lifestyle, health and balance (平衡), design (设计) and “every day”, and food and well-being.
All of this was free. And don’t worry if you didn’t go to take the special lesson—you will see it online later in 2023.
1. How many times did Finland win “the happiest country in the world” title?2. What do the underlined words “do that” in Paragraph 4 mean?
3. When did the special lesson finish?
4. How much did the “Masterclass of Happiness” lesson cost?
5. What do you think “happiness” is?
5 . Bamboo is a wonderful plant for many people around the world. There are over 1,000 uses for it. People make tables, clothes, medicine, and musical instruments with it. Pandas may eat bamboo every day, and people can also eat it.
The fastest growing plant in the world is bamboo. Some bamboo grows so quickly that people say they can watch it grow. The speed of growth depends on the type of bamboo, the earth and the season. Normal bamboo grows 3—10 cm a day. It usually grows in tropical (热带的) areas. It can also be found in other parts of the world. Bamboo plants are found in Asia, Australia, parts of Africa, and South America.
One of the world’s oldest building materials is bamboo. Like today, people use it because it’s very strong. They use it to build houses, boats, and bridges. The Chinese made a bamboo bridge over the Min River in Sichuan, China almost 1,000 years ago. You can still visit it today. Also, bamboo is still used to build houses today, especially in China and Philippines.
As a part of history, bamboo is very important. The great scientist Thomas Edison did not invent the light bulb (灯泡), but he made it perfect. He wanted the material inside to burn for a long period of time. He tried over 1,000 different types of materials. However, none worked very well. One day, he tried to use a piece of bamboo and the light bulb lit up for over a thousand hours. This invention helped other scientists to make the modern light bulb we use today.
根据短文内容，请用完整句子回答下列问题。
1. How many uses are there for bamboo?
2. Which plant is the fastest growing plant in the world?
3. What does the speed of growth depend on?
4. Why do people use bamboo today?
5. How long did the light bulb light up when Edison used a piece of bamboo to burn?
6 . On December 26th, 2020, China passed a new law to protect the Yangtze River, the “mother river” of China. It is Yangtze River Protection Law. It took effect (生效) on March 1st, 2021. It’s the first law to protect a waterway in China.
The 6,397-kilometer Yangtze River is the longest river in Asia. It provides one third of the freshwater resources (淡水资源) for Chinese people, but it has met lots of environmental problems in recent years, such as heavy pollution and overfishing. Especially, the river’s Chinese paddlefish (白鲟) has died out. So the “mother river” is in great need of protection. To solve these problems, China put a 10-year fishing ban (禁令) to protect fish resources.
According to a report of the government, the fishermen said they would give up fishing along the Yangtze River to protect the “mother river”. Chinese officer Han Zheng said that more support should be given to the fishermen to help them find new jobs and places to live.
Yangtze River Protection Law includes resource protection and green development. The government says the purpose of the new law is to strengthen (加强) environmental protection, use resources well and make the development sustainable (可持续的).
1. When did Yangtze River Protection Law take effect?2. How long is the Yangtze River?
3. Why does the Yangtze River need great protection?
4. How did the fishermen protect the Yangtze River?
5. What does Yangtze River Protection Law include?
What will the house of the future look like? Could it have gardens on its walls, or a pool with fish for dinner? Architects believe that they are all possibilities. The only thing for sure is that the houses will be as green as possible.
The tree house
Many architects in the world would like to build a “tree house”. Like a leaf, the surface of the house collects sunlight during the day. The energy can be used to heat water, produce electricity, and even create fresh air for the home. The “root” of the house is deep under the ground. It uses the soil (土壤) to control the home’s temperature.
The Lizard house
Like a lizard (蜥蜴), changing colour with the weather is the most important design of a lizard house. When it’s in the bright sun, the cover of the house will turn dark to protect it from strong heat. During dark days, it turns white and takes in as much light and heat as possible to produce energy.
Meals at home
The future of food production (生产) will be one part of the house design. Gardens may appear on the outside walls of the house. People can plant tomatoes, carrots and green tea on them. So every day in the morning, you just need to walk outside and collect your meals.
Learning from the past
Looking to the future isn’t the only way to be green. Sometimes, ancient techniques can also help cut down energy use. For example, a chimney (烟囱) in the future house can be a useful air-conditioner because it is easier for hot air to go out at the chimney.
1. How many kinds of future houses are mentioned in the passage?2. What can we use the energy to do for the tree house?
3. What is the colour of the lizard house on sunny days?
4. Where can people plant tomatoes, carrots or green tea in the future house according to the passage?
5. According to the last paragraph, how can we make future houses green?
8 . Since early 2020, the use of mask (口罩) has increased greatly. Sadly, lots of used masks ended up in our ocean.
Single-used masks are mainly made of plastic. When they enter the ocean as litter, they will take as long as 450 years to break down. Straps (带子) of masks pose an entanglement (缠绕) risk for wildlife. In addition, masks can easily be mistaken for food and eaten by wildlife.
What can be done to help? Since most masks are made of several materials, it’s difficult to recycle them. Therefore, many people are calling for masks made of a single material. Degradable (可降解的) or reusable masks are also good choices. More importantly, the straps of masks should be cut off to prevent entanglement risks for wildlife.
Government policy is also important. Creating an effective disposal (处理) system is as important as letting the public know the importance of proper disposal of used masks. What’s more, it would be helpful to encourage technological development in producing reusable or degradable masks.
1. How long will it take for a single-used mask to break down in the ocean?2. Why might some animals eat masks?
3. What should we do with mask straps?
4. How many suggestions for the government are mentioned?
5. What does the passage mainly talk about?
9 . Ant Forest has been given the UN’s highest environment award—Champions of the Earth. The award was set up in 2005 to recognize (表彰) excellent people or organizations that have had a good influence on the environment.
Ant Forest encourages people to have greener lifestyles to protect the environment better. You are encouraged to record your low-carbon footprint through daily lives like taking the public transport or paying for electricity, heat and water online. For each action, you receive “green energy” points. When you reach a certain number of points, a real tree will be planted. And you can see pictures of your trees in real time by satellite.
Ant Forest has turned people’s green good actions into real trees. Since its beginning in 2016, Ant Forest has planted around 122 million trees. The trees cover an area of 112, 000 hectares in some of China’s driest areas and have prevented more than 7 million tons of carbon emissions (碳排放) from entering the atmosphere (大气层).
“Ant Forest shows how technology can change our world,” says Inger Andersen, Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Program. “Although the environment problems we face are discouraging (令人沮丧的), we have the technology and the knowledge to overcome them. The green activities will help create a better world.”
根据短文内容，请用完整句子回答下列问题。
1. What’s the purpose of Ant Forest?
2. What will happen when people get a certain number of “green energy” points ?
3. When was Ant Forest created?
4. Where can the trees planted by Ant Forest be found ?
5. What does Inger Anderson think can help us overcome environment problems?
10 . As Chinese traditions go, few things are better than sitting around a hotpot while autumn and winter come over North China. Studies show that Kublai Khan, the emperor of the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368), invented mutton hotpot.
For a long time, only Beijing’s rich people could get their hands on mutton hotpot. Emperor Qianlong (1711-1799) was a true hotpot lover, eating the dish more than 200 times in 1789.
Among the vegetables and meat spread out on the dinner table, mutton has been placed front and center. Many people believe mutton has the effect (效果) of warming the body, making it an ideal food for the colder months. Sheep are also generally fattened up after a summer of eating, making them perfect for meat lovers through the winter.
The Chinese capital is home to more than 2,000 mutton hotpot restaurants, according to the food platform Dazhong Dianping. There are well-known hotpot brands such as Jubaoyuan, Manfulou, Yangdaye, Nanmen and Donglaishun.
Today, many mutton hotpot restaurants divide the meat into many kinds according to which part of a sheep it is cut from. An experienced cook can cut the meat so thin that people can read the words of a book through the piece of the meat.
In the old days, restaurants in the capital only started serving mutton hotpot from Mid-Autumn Festival (the 15th day of the eighth lunar month). Business often stopped after Spring Festival. Restaurant workers would have to find a new job after Dragon Boat Festival (the fifth day of the fifth lunar month), when business came to an end. Nowadays, however, people can enjoy the mutton hotpot all year round with technological development in mutton production across the country.
阅读短文，根据短文内容用完整句子回答问题。1. Who was supposed to be the inventor of mutton hotpot?
2. How can we tell Emperor Qianlong was a true hotpot lover?
3. What things are also provided besides mutton when people enjoy mutton hotpot?
4. How many famous hotpot brands are mentioned in the passage?
5. Why would restaurant workers have to find a new job after Dragon Boat Festival in the old days?
