LIVING LEGENDS
Help us choose some “Living Legends of Sports”. They must be athletes who are masters in their sports and also set good examples for others. Here are our first two choices.
Lang Ping
As a player, Lang Ping brought honour and glory to her country. As a coach, she led the China women’s volleyball team to medals at world championships and the Olympics. As a person, Lang Ping is loved by fans at home and abroad. When the Chinese team was preparing for the 2015 World Cup, her determination was tested. The team that Lang Ping had built was falling apart. One of the best players had been injured, and the team captain had to leave because of heart problems. Losing two important players was a big challenge, but Lang Ping did not lose heart. She had faced difficulties before, and she knew that her young players could win if they worked together as a team. Two weeks later, they were world champions! Then in 2016, Lang Ping led her volleyball team to Olympic gold in Brazil.
Michael Jordan
When Michael Jordan’s feet left the ground, time seemed to stand still. The player who became known as “Air Jordan” changed basketball with his graceful moves and jumps. Jordan’s skills were impressive, but the mental strength that he showed made him unique. In the final seconds of a game, Jordan always seemed to find a way to win. Jordan says that the secret to his success is learning from his failures. “I can accept failure; everyone fails at something. But I can’t accept not trying.” Losing games taught him to practise harder and never give up. In life, Jordan has learnt to share his success with others. The Boys and Girls Club which he started in Chicago has been helping young people since 1996.
Send your suggestions for “Living Legends of Sports” to LLS@sport.net.
1. 课文语篇结构
2. What happened to Lang Ping before the 2015 World Cup?
| A．She was faced with a serious difficulty. |
| B．She got something wrong with her heart. |
| C．She was worried about the health of her players. |
| D．She wanted to choose a better captain for her team. |
| A．Disappointed. | B．Worried. | C．Excited. | D．Puzzled. |
| A．His mental strength is unique. | B．His moves are soft and gentle. |
| C．His physical strength is powerful. | D．His feet are easy to leave the ground. |
| A．He practises hard in order to avoid failure. |
| B．He is willing to share his failure with others. |
| C．He believes that failure is the way to success. |
| D．He refuses to accept failure anywhere, anytime. |
TU YOUYOU AWA RDED NOBEL PRIZE
6 October 2015
This year’s Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine has been awarded to Tu Youyou (co-winner), whose research led to the discovery of artemisinin, a crucial new treatment for malaria. Artemisinin has saved hundreds of thousands of lives, and has led to improved health for millions of people. Over 200 million people around the world get malaria each year, and about 600, 000 die from it. Artemisinin has become a vital part of the treatment for malaria, and is thought to save 100, 000 lives a year in Africa alone.
Tu Youyou, a committed and patient scientist, was born in Ningbo, China, on 30 December 1930, and graduated from Peking University Medical School in 1955. After she graduated, she worked at the China Academy of Traditional Chinese Medicine in Beijing. In 1967, the Chinese government formed a team of scientists with the objective of discovering a new treatment for malaria, and Tu Youyou was among the first researchers chosen. In the beginning, Tu Youyou went to Hainan, where malaria was more common, to study malaria patients. In 1969, she became the head of the project in Beijing, and decided to review ancient Chinese medical texts to find traditional botanical treatments for the disease. Her team examined over 2, 000 old medical texts, and evaluated 280, 000 plants for their medical properties. From their research, they discovered and tested 380 distinct ancient Chinese medical treatments that showed promise in the fight against malaria.
One medical text from the fourth century suggested using the extract from sweet wormwood to treat a fever. Tu’s team tested a collection of dried wormwood leaves but found no effect. They then tried boiling fresh wormwood, and using the liquid obtained from this to treat malaria, but this did not work either. Their project got stuck. However, Tu Youyou would not acknowledge defeat. She analysed the medical texts again, and by chance, she found one sentence suggesting a different way to treat the wormwood. She concluded that boiling the sweet wormwood apparently destroyed its medical properties. Using a lower temperature to draw out the extract, she found a substance that worked. After failing more than 190 times, the team finally succeeded in 1971. Tu Youyou and her team members even insisted on testing the medicine on themselves to make sure that it was safe. Later, the medicine was tested on malaria patients, most of whom recovered. This medicine，which was called artemisinin, soon became a standard treatment for malaria.
According to Tu Youyou, the discovery of artemisinin was a team effort. Upon hearing that she had been awarded the Nobel Prize, she said, “The honour is not just mine. There is a team behind me，and all the people of my country. This success proves the great value of traditional Chinese medicine. It is indeed an honour for China’s scientific research and Chinese medicine to be spread around the world.”
1. What happened to Tu Youyou when she was 37?| A．She made a decision to settle down in Hainan. |
| B．She was appointed head of a team of scientists. |
| C．She was chosen to discover a new treatment for malaria. |
| D．She graduated from Peking University Medical School. |
| A．She devoted her whole life to medicine research. |
| B．She developed an effective drug for malaria in 1971. |
| C．She came up with a revolutionary theory about medicine. |
| D．She made a breakthrough in the Chinese scientific community. |
| A．Tu Youyou is a very modest person. |
| B．Tu Youyou takes great pride in herself. |
| C．Tu Youyou was surprised at the great prize. |
| D．Tu Youyou made traditional Chinese medicine spread. |
3 . Tourists across China have enjoyed a series of cultural events, from traditional to modern, and discovered new destinations during this year’s five-day May Day holiday.
Items on China’s traditional intangible cultural heritage list proved to be popular with travelers in many regions. In Lantian county, northwest China’s Shanxi Province, tourists were amazed by the art of Dawaz, which means aerial tightrope (空中钢丝) walking in the Uygur language. Meanwhile, in east China’s Changzhou City, music festival s attracted huge crowds of travelers, and local authorities introduced measures to ensure the comfort of visitors. They arranged 500 coaches for long-distance travel, set up more than 10,000 free parking spaces and extended the operation hours of the subway network until 11:30 p.m.
And it’s not just big cities that drew in visitors during this holiday. Holiday makers decided to go for natural views, less-crowded scenic spots, and cost-effective travel experiences. Data from Chinese travel booking platform Ctrip showed that orders for fourth-tier and below cities increased by 140 percent on a yearly basis, outperforming those in first and second-tier cities.
Wu Sa, deputy director of the Economic Research Institute of the National Development and Reform Commission, expressed belief that the popularity of usual major destinations like Beijing, Shanghai, Chongqing, Hangzhou and Chengdu is not decreasing, but explained that a good number of travelers are looking to diversify the scope of their travels, towards new and previously lesser-known places.
Scientific and space projects have also been a hit travel destination this week, from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China to the world’s largest single-dish radio telescope in the southwestern province of Guizhou. “I mainly wanted to take my child to appreciate some of China’s leading space technology and the development trend of big data, so that he can understand the advanced technology of our motherland,” said a tourist named Hu Wannping.
1. What attracted tourists to the Changzhou City?| A．The launch of music festivals. | B．The Aerial tightrope walking performance. |
| C．The celebration of traditional cultural events. | D．The measures to provide comfort for tourists. |
| A．Famous scenic spots. | B．Low travelling expenses. |
| C．Intangible heritage culture. | D．Convenient means of transportation. |
| A．The growth of visitors is causing various social issues. |
| B．Scientific and space projects receive the least attention. |
| C．Orders for major destinations in big cities are decreasing. |
| D．Tourists are open-minded as to the choices of spending holidays. |
| A．Festivals and Celebrations across China | B．The Popularity of Well-known Destinations |
| C．New Trend for Labor Day Tourist Destinations | D．China’s Traditional Intangible Cultural Heritage |
4 . Researchers have developed a groundbreaking method of storing and handling valuable biological materials that removes the limitations of refrigerated storage. The novel method has potential applications in healthcare and scientific research.
Biological materials that come from human cells, like enzymes, proteins, and antibodies, are crucial to developing new medicines and diagnostic tests. And they’re fragile. Extremely temperature-sensitive, they require a constant temperature during storage, handling, and transportation. If not stored or handled correctly, these materials will be inactive, which can be costly.
Most biological materials are stored as liquids or freeze-dried powders and kept at low temperatures for the duration of their shelf life. This is achieved through a complex integrated system of refrigerators and freezers known as the cold chain. This requires a significant investment in equipment and infrastructure, making it expensive to maintain, and makes the cold chain prone to shipping delays, power outages, equipment failure and human error.
Inspired from the home medicine cabinet (储藏柜), where medications are stored in the form of liquids, powder-filled capsules, and tablets, researchers at California Polytechnic State University have developed a new storage platform based on the humble tablet that would enable biological materials to be compressed (压缩) into a solid state.
Tablets provide advantages to the storage and handling of biomaterials that the cold chain doesn’t. For one thing, they can be stored at room temperature. And, when they’re required, the tablet can be dissolved in water. “Our innovation makes storing and using biomaterials as straightforward as an effervescent tablet (泡腾片). Just drop it into water, mix, and it’s ready to go,” said the researcher of the study.
The researchers say their new tablet-based storage and handling method is easy to use and doesn’t require special training, making it suitable for many applications. They also see potential uses beyond just improving the storage and handling of biological materials. By modifying (修改) the tablet coatings, this solid-state storage platform could withstand extreme conditions like heat, humidity, and chemicals. These changes might eventually allow injectable medications, such as insulin, to be taken orally.
1. What is a special requirement to store biological materials?| A．Constant temperature maintenance. |
| B．Exposure to various temperatures. |
| C．Periodically freezing and melting. |
| D．Direct contact with air. |
| A．Favorable. | B．Skeptical. | C．Disappointed. | D．Grateful. |
| A．Demonstrate. | B．Stand. | C．Adopt. | D．Distinguish. |
| A．Challenges of storing biological materials. |
| B．The making process of effervescent tablets. |
| C．Healthcare applications of biological materials. |
| D．A new tablet storage method of biological materials. |
5 . If a pancake could dream, it might long for legs so it could jump off your breakfast plate in pursuit of a better, unchewed life. But legs aren’t necessary for something as flat as a pancake to jump around. A group of scientists have designed a pancake-shaped robot that can jump several times per second and higher than seven times its body height. The new robot named Hop, which swiftly jumps without feet, is an important contribution to the soft robotics.
Many ground robots move by rolling or walking. But it’s more efficient for robots to jump over obstacles than to go around them. Although jumping can offer some robots a competitive edge, engineering that ability has been a challenge for robotics researchers. Some soft robots that store energy can perform a single impressive jump very infrequently. Some lightweight soft robots that don’t store energy can jump frequently but can’t jump high or far enough to successfully cross an obstacle.
For inspiration, the researchers looked to gall midge larvae (瘿蚊幼虫) that miraculously throw themselves across distances 30 times as long as their loglike bodies. A gall midge larva bends its body and squeezes the liquid in its body to one end, making it rigid. The accumulation of liquid builds up pressure, and releasing the pressure sends it soaring. The robot’s body doesn’t resemble that of a gall midge larva, but it jumps like one. Its body is made of two small plastic bags printed with electrodes (电极); the front bag is filled with liquid and the back one is filled with the same volume of air. The robot uses electricity to drive the flow of liquid, which causes the body to bend and generate force with the ground, resulting in a jump. And the air bag imitates the function of an animal’s tail, helping the robot maintain a stable position.
While the robot is currently restricted to Earth, it might be right at home exploring another planet. If this is true, the researchers’ robot might jump over dust y rocks and large holes on the moon or Mars, going where no pancake has gone before.
1. What does the author want to show by mentioning a pancake?| A．A pancake’s dream to have legs is unrealistic. |
| B．A robot is capable of serving a good pancake. |
| C．A pancake-shaped robot can jump without legs. |
| D．Research on pancakes advances our understanding of robots. |
| A．Hop’s avoiding an obstacle. |
| B．Hop’s moving around by rolling. |
| C．Hop’s performing one remarkable jump. |
| D．Hop’s jumping high and far continuously. |
| A．They are shaped like logs. |
| B．They have tails to change positions. |
| C．They bend their bodies and increase force. |
| D．They are filled with liquid and have rigid bodies. |
| A．Intolerant. | B．Positive. | C．Doubtful. | D．Unclear. |
6 . Demands for stronger protection for wildlife in Britain sometimes hide the fact that similar needs are felt in the rest of Europe. Studies by the Council of Europe, of which 21 countries are members, have shown that 45 percent of reptile (爬行动物) species and 24 percent of butterflies are in danger of dying out.
European concern for wildlife was outlined by Dr Peter Baum, an expert in the environment and natural resources division of the council, when he spoke at a conference arranged by the administrators of a British national park. The park is one of the few areas in Europe to hold the council’s diploma for nature reserves of the highest quality, and Dr Baum had come to present it to the park once again. He was afraid that public opinion was turning against national parks, and that those set up in the 1960s and 1970s could not be set up today. But Dr Baum clearly remained a strong supporter of the view that natural environments needed to be allowed to survive in peace in their own right.
“No area could be expected to survive both as a true nature reserve and as a tourist attraction,” he went on. The short-sighted view that reserves had to serve immediate human demands for outdoor recreation should be replaced by full acceptance of their importance as places to preserve nature for the future.
“We forget that they are the guarantee (保证) of life systems, on which any built-up area depends,” Dr Baum went on. “We could manage without most industrial products, but we could not manage without nature. However, our natural environment areas, which are the original parts of our countryside, have become mere islands in a spoiled and highly polluted land.”
1. Recent studies by the Council of Europe have declared that__________.| A．wildlife needs more protection only in Britain |
| B．all species of wildlife in Europe are in danger of dying out |
| C．there are fewer species of reptiles and butterflies in Europe than elsewhere |
| D．many species of reptiles and butterflies in Europe need protecting |
| A．Because he needed to present it with a council’s diploma. |
| B．Because he was concerned about its management. |
| C．Because it was the only national park of its kind in Europe. |
| D．Because it was the only park that had ever received a diploma from the council. |
| A．people should make every effort to create more natural environment areas |
| B．people would go on protecting national parks |
| C．certain areas of the countryside should be left intact (完整无缺的) |
| D．people would defend the right to develop the areas around national parks |
| A．We have developed industry at the expense of countryside. |
| B．We have forgotten what our original countryside looked like. |
| C．People living on islands should protect natural resources for their survival. |
| D．We should destroy all the built-up areas. |
7 . Travel the World Virtually-Leave home without leaving home
Have you ever longed to take a trip, but you just don’t have the time or the financial resources? If so, consider touring via virtual reality (VR), which has embraced tourism with open arms. This innovative technology is reshaping the way people experience destinations by breaking down geographical barriers and providing unique journeys. An AI tour is cost-effective and allows you to see the world without leaving the comfort of your living room.
You might argue that you don’t have a VR headset, but no matter. Two travel styles are available: monoscopic and stereoscopic. Monoscopic VR videos can be viewed on a mobile phone or a computer. By clicking on or dragging across the screen to rotate (旋转) the field of view, you are able to explore an entire area. Stereoscopic VR videos use VR headsets that make you feel as if you were actually present at a destination. The software in the headsets tracks your head movement, so by just turning your head, you can explore each new scene in a more realistic way. No matter which method you choose to “travel,” these virtual travel experiences aim to give you a credible experience.
Besides inspecting an area that you might want to visit but can’t, you can virtually preview a place and make more informed decisions about it. You’re able to clearly see the exact location of a hotel or the distance from it to surrounding attractions. Make no mistake, travel agencies, hotels and destination marketing organizations are using this tool to their advantage. By creating virtual experiences, businesses can amaze their audience and arouse interest in specific destinations or accommodations.
VR in tourism goes beyond leisure; it also plays a vital role in education and cultural preservation. By digitally documenting, archiving (把……归档) and sharing its information, the nonprofit CyArk is aiding in the preservation of endangered cultural heritage sites through VR exploration. To foster a broader understanding of the world, students can now take virtual field trips to formerly inaccessible historical sites and cultural landmarks.
1. Which of the following is NOT the advantage of touring via virtual reality?| A．reasonable expenses | B．geographical limits |
| C．pre-trip decisions | D．cultural awareness |
| A．You can explore the entire area on your phone. |
| B．You can actually be present at your destination. |
| C．You can explore each new scene by dragging across the screen. |
| D．The software in the headsets is necessary and helpful. |
| A．travel enthusiasts with a tight schedule | B．disabled people with accessibility challenges |
| C．tourism-related businesses | D．students eager to experience practical field trips |
| A．a geography text book | B．a tourist advertisement |
| C．a scientific website | D．a health guide handbook |
8 . Mark and his brother Jason were both looking at the shining new computer enviously. Jason was determined not to go against their father’s wishes but Mark was more adventurous than his brother. He loved experimenting and his aim was to become a scientist like his father.
“Dad will be really mad if he finds out you’ve been playing with his new computer,” Jason said. “He told us not to touch it.”
“He won’t find out,” Mark said. “I’ll just have a quick look and shut it down.”
Mark had been scolded before for touching his father’s equipment. But his curiosity was difficult to control and this new computer really puzzled him.
It was a strange-looking machine — one his dad had brought home from the laboratory where he worked. “It’s an experimental model,” his father had explained, “so don’t touch it under any circumstances.” But his father’s warning only served to make Mark more curious. Without any further thought, Mark turned on the power switch. The computer burst into life and seconds later, the screen turned into colours, shifting and changing and then two big white words appeared in the centre of the screen: “SPACE TRANSPORTER.”
“Yes!” Mark cried excitedly. “It’s a computer game. I knew it! Dad’s only been pretending to work. He’s really been playing games instead.” A new message appeared on the screen:
“ENTER NAMES
VOYAGER 1: ...
VOYAGER 2: ...”
Mark’s fingers flew across the keyboard as he typed in both of their names.
“INPUT ACCEPTED. START TRANSPORT PROGRAM. AUTO-RETRIEVE INITIATED (自动回收程序已启动).”
The screen turned even brighter and a noise suddenly rose in volume.
“I think we’d better shut it off, Mark,” Jason yelled, reaching for the power switch. He was really frightened.
But his hand never reached the switch. A single beam of dazzling white light burst out of the computer screen, wrapping the boys in its glow (光芒), until they themselves seemed to be glowing. Then it died down just as suddenly as it had burst into life. And the two boys were no longer there. On the screen, the letters changed.
“TRANSPORT SUCCESSFULLY. DESTINATION (目的地): MARS. RETRIEVE DATE: 2025.”
1. Why did Mark touch the computer against his father’s warning?| A．He wanted to take a voyage. | B．He wanted to practise his skill. |
| C．He was so much attracted by it. | D．He was eager to do an experiment. |
| A．a computer game | B．a company website |
| C．a software producer | D．an astronomy program |
| A．He was afraid of being scolded. |
| B．He didn’t like the loud noise and the light. |
| C．He didn’t want to play games any more. |
| D．He was afraid something dangerous might happen. |
9 . The tower of Big Ben, London’s most famous building, has always leaned (倾斜) slightly, but construction work on a new line for the London Underground seemed likely to give the tower a real lean. Engineers have had to prop up (支撑) its base to prevent it from damaging the rest of the Houses of Parliament.
To control the tower’s movement, engineers pumped grout (水泥浆) into the soil under the tower. The tower now leans an extra few centimetres, but the lean can only be seen by the most sharp- eyed observer.
Between 1995 and 1997, to lengthen the Jubilee line of the Underground, builders dug a 40-metre-deep hole just 31 metres north of the clock tower. And the new tube(underground) tunnels were even nearer to the tower. John Burland, who recently helped stop the increasing lean in the Leaning Tower of Pisa and was an adviser to the JubiLee line project, believed the work would affect the tower. In his opinion, no further lean should go beyond a safety limit of 27.5 millimetres over the existing lean of 220 millimetres.
To keep the lean within this limit, Burland told the British Association about the new method of pumping grout immediately under the base of the tower. More than 300 tons of grout were pumped in during construction. The tower’s, additional lean went between 10 and 25 millimetres, but never passed 27.5 millimetres.
After the construction work was completed in late 1997, a review of movements in nearby walls showed that the building was in better shape than had been thought before and the safety limit was raised to 35 millimetres before any action needs to be taken.
Since 1971 the tower has continued to lean, Burland told Modern Construction. The latest measures taken this year suggest that the tower’s lean had just reached 35 millimetres. But following regular re-examinations of the tower, experts are sure that the tower has stabilized (稳定). A spokesman for London Underground says: “We understand the tower has stabilized and returned to its normal movement cycle.”
From Modern Construction, 16 September
1. Why did the engineers have to prop up Big Ben’s base?| A．To make it more beautiful. |
| B．To construct it much stronger. |
| C．To make it not lean. |
| D．To prevent it from damaging the rest of the Houses of Parliament. |
| A．Observation. | B．Description. | C．Discussion. | D．Re-examination. |
| A．To stop the tower of Big Ben from leaning. |
| B．To stop sharp-eyed people from seeing the lean. |
| C．To stop the Tower of Pisa from leaning too much. |
| D．To stop the clock tower from leaning beyond its safety limit. |
| A．220 millimetres. | B．255 millimetres. |
| C．35 millimetres. | D．27.5 millimetres. |
Good morning, my name is Sarah Williams. It’s an honour to be here and to share with you the story of how music has had an impact on my life.
[A]Have you ever faced a time when things looked darkand you had no hope at all? Two years ago, I was told I had a serious disease which was difficult to cure. My body ached allthe time and thus I thought I didn’t have much longer to live. I wasvery afraid and I felt so alone and discouraged. Then one day, I had to go through a two-hour medical treatment. The doctor wanted me to relax, so he had me listen to some music, and one of the songs was “Happy”. The song made me feel so much better that from then on I began to listen to music all the time. [B]John A. Logan said, “Music is the medicine of the mind.” And it’s true. Music helped me recover.
[C]Music gave me happiness. When I listened to music, [D]it made my spirits fly like a kitein the wind. [C]Music gave me strength and brought me relief. [E]It was the rock I leant on to become strong and to get through those hard times. Moreover, [C]music gave me hope and asense of satisfaction. [F]It became my best friend. It spoke words of encouragement to the deepest part of my being.
Of course, I hope none of you have to go through thesame kind of suffering that I did. At the same time, we all go through various periods when we feel sad or alone. During those times, music can help you in the same way that it helped me. I hope all of you will somehow begin to treasure music and make it a part of your life.
Thank you!
1. Read the speech below and answer the questions.（1）What was Sarah’s problem?
（2）How did music help her during her difficult time?
（3）What is her advice to others?
2. Study the language features.
（1）Match the names of rhetorical devices to the lettered sentences in the speech.
metaphor
personification
quote
repetition
rhetorical question A
simile
（2）What expressions does Sarah use to talk about how music can make us feel? Circle the phrases in the speech.
