1 . When you go running in the woods in your running tights, elastane (氨纶) is the reason why they fit you so comfortably. Elastane is an elastic material that allows the fabric to stretch and adapt to your body.
But when elastane fibres are mixed with cotton, wool, nylon or other fibres, as is the case in many clothes today, the clothes become almost impossible to recycle. It is extremely difficult to separate out the different fibres, and therefore the materials in the clothes cannot be recycled.
But this may change, says Assistant Professor Steffan Kvist Kristensen from the Interdisciplinary Nanoscience Center at Aarhus University. Together with a number of colleagues, he is behind a new technology that can separate out fibres in mixed fabrics.
“We’ve developed a method to remove elastane completely from nylon. We’re not quite there yet with cotton, because some of the cotton fibres are broken down in the process. But we believe that, with some minor adjustments, we can solve this problem,” he says.
It is not easy to separate elastane and other fibres once they have been woven(编织) together. Clothes are made by winding the main fibres, such as nylon or cotton, around the elastane fibres, which consist of long chains of molecules (分子). The fibres only break apart if we break the long chains of molecules, explains Steffan Kvist Kristensen.
By heating the clothes to 225 degrees Celsius and adding a specific alcohol, the researchers have found a method to break down the bonds in elastane chain. When this happens, the chains fall apart and the materials separate. “The whole process takes place in what is in effect a large pressure cooker that we feed the clothes into. We then add a little alcohol and a potassium hydroxide(氢氧化钾) base and heat it up. Then we let it cook for just over four hours, and when we open the lid again, the different fibres will have been separated.” says Steffan Kvist Kristensen.
So far, Steffan Kvist Kristensen and his colleagues have only experimented with two nylon stockings at a time. The technology is therefore not yet ready for application at industrial scale.
1. What can we learn about elastane from the passage?| A．It is an eco-friendly material. | B．It is a kind of stretchable fabric. |
| C．It makes the clothes far from recycling. | D．It is made up of short chains of molecules. |
| A．To separate more fibres. | B．To reduce the heating time. |
| C．To increase the temperature to 225℃. | D．To ensure the safety of the experiment. |
| A．It can separate all sorts of fibres. |
| B．It needs plenty of energy to work. |
| C．There is a long way before it is widely used. |
| D．There is no possibility to separate elastane from cotton. |
| A．Satisfied. | B．Confident. | C．Critical. | D．Unclear. |
2 . The Ministry of Education and three other ministries have jointly issued a notice about launching a national campaign on short-sightedness prevention and control to protect children’s eyesight.
A paragraph in the notice says that primary and secondary school students should engage in appropriate outdoor activities during class breaks. Additionally, 30 minutes of physical activity during the daily midmorning break will be organized to give students more time to engage in outdoor activities and long-distance viewing, enabling their eyes to rest fully from visual fatigue.
Midmorning breaks can address more than just vision problems. Physical activity during breaks helps children to not only exercise but also reduce stress, making subsequent classroom learning more focused and effective. At the same time, midmorning physical activities provide children a platform to engage in social activities, strengthening their social adaptation abilities.
Sometime toward the end of 2023 there was a huge demand after some schools did away with even 10-minute breaks for primary and secondary school students. The Ministry of Education responded by saying that it would further regulate activities in schools. Before the latest notice was introduced, several related policies had been guaranteeing midmorning physical activity for primary and secondary school students, which have now been implemented in many cities, showing good results.
To effectively utilize (利用) the 30-minute midmorning break, teachers play an essential role because they can enrich the activities to the maximum extent by combining the interests and hobbies of children of different age groups and adding various sports activities that will benefit children the most. At the same time, it should be clear that the midmorning break is not only the responsibility of physical education teachers. It requires joint efforts from physical education teachers, class teachers and other staff members to ensure the breaks are used effectively.
To make the most of the 30-minute midmorning break, it is also crucial to stimulate the enthusiasm of children. Innovating the form and content of the midmorning break and mobilizing children’s enthusiasm and initiative to participate in midmorning activities are urgent priorities.
1. What do the underlined word “fatigue” mean in paragraph 2?| A．Failure. | B．Disability. | C．Loss. | D．Tiredness. |
| A．Midmorning activities should appeal to children. |
| B．Children should be forced to engage in midmorning activities. |
| C．Midmorning activities should be restricted to traditional sports. |
| D．Physical education teachers should take full charge of the the midmorning break. |
| A．Children Should Participate in More Activities |
| B．Midmorning Break Should Be Extended to 30 Minutes |
| C．Kids Should Have a Better Break for Eyesight Protection |
| D．Physical Activities Should Be Organized for Children’s Health |
Nearly a hundred objects of historical value from the Confucius Museum are now on show at the exhibition, Rites, Music, and Costumes, which runs until May 26 at the China National Silk Museum, in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province. It shows how Confucianism was an essential part of the Chinese liyue culture, an education of social etiquette (礼仪) through engaging in poetry, rites, music and dancing.
These artifacts mark the significance of Confucius and how his teachings have been followed throughout centuries. Several exhibits are being shown in Zhejiang for the first time.
9 am-5 pm, closed on Mondays. 73-1 Yuhuangshan Lu, Hangzhou, Zhejiang province. 0571-8703-5223.
A brush with greatnessIn his life, Li Jianchen taught at several universities to help cultivate (培养) for the country many artists and architects of note. Besides his respectable accomplishments in teaching, he was also acknowledged as the “father of modern Chinese watercolor”.
An exhibition now on at Jiangsu Art Museum shows selected watercolors by Li, from his donations to the museum. Painted at different stages of his career, these works trace the evolution of his art, reflecting changing social needs and artistic tendencies. The show ends on March 31.
9 am-85 pm, closed on Mondays. 333 Changjiang Lu, Nanjing, Jiangsu province. 025-8961-0810.
Spanish expressionDifferent Cycles from Different Eras United by a Single Paintbrush, an exhibition currently running at Shenzhen Art Museum in Guangdong province, brings together 118 paintings produced by Spanish expressionist Jorge Rando since the 1960s. They are from the dozen series he has created over the past five decades, revisiting themes such as a mother’s love, nature, landscapes, butterflies and cycling, to name a few.
In 2019, Rando’s works were shown in Hunan and Sichuan provinces. The current exhibition in Shenzhen runs until May 26.
9 am-5 pm, closed on Mondays. 32 Donghu Yijie, inside Donghu Park, Aiguo Lu, Luohu district, Shenzhen, Guangdong province. 0755-2542-6069.
1. Where is this text probably taken from?| A．A textbook. | B．A travel brochure. |
| C．A newspaper. | D．A club leaflet. |
| A．Music and dancing. | B．Paintings. |
| C．Watercolors. | D．Sculptures. |
| A．They are about Chinese art. |
| B．The exhibits are donations. |
| C．They will end on the same day. |
| D．They are painting exhibitions. |
4 . Noah Wall recently celebrated his ninth birthday. The little boy from Cumbria, England, uses a wheelchair to get around. He’s extremely smart and loves learning about the solar system. His life is pretty normal, which is astonishing considering doctors didn’t even expect Noah to survive his birth.
His mom, Michelle Wall, was pregnant when tests revealed that her little one had spina bifida (脊椎裂) . When they performed more tests, a scan of Noah’s head showed a cyst(囊肿) that was destroying his brain.
Michelle and her husband Rob prayed for a wonder. On the day Noah was born, he let out a huge cry the moment he appeared to let his parents know that their little guy wasn’t going down without a fight!
Scans showed that just 2 percent of Noah’s brain had survived the cyst in his head. Seven weeks after birth, he received an operation to close the opening in his spine and place a shunt (分流管) in his head to lead fluid (积液) away from his brain. Yet Noah is not mentally disabled. In fact, he’s impressively clever! At 9, he is physically active and dreams of becoming an astronaut someday.
“They told us he might not be able to speak, hear, eat, or anything,” Michelle said. “But I see he can tell the time, read, do maths and love science. He can talk about the solar system. He has unbelievable dreams. ”
Noah has gone through 11 surgeries so far and there are many more to come, but he has already exceeded everyone’s expectations —in every possible way!
“Every single day he does something that impresses me,” Michelle said. “I’m so extremely proud of him. I will help him all I can and always be there for him.”
Noah! What a wonderful reminder of the importance of keeping hope alive.
1. Why is the nine-year-old Noah Wall’s life astonishing?| A．The doctor judged him not to survive. | B．He is too smart to explore the solar system. |
| C．His full recovery created a great wonder. | D．He will live through 11 operations. |
| A．Gone beyond. | B．Subscribed to. |
| C．Lived up to. | D．Set the stage for. |
| A．Doubtful. | B．Positive. | C．Cautious. | D．Objective. |
| A．A Touching Family | B．A Medical Wonder |
| C．A Powerful Child | D．A Wonderful Reminder |
5 . Ten years ago, the professors Brian Lucas and Loran Nordgren encountered a contradiction. On the one hand, we recognize that other people are more likely to make creative breakthroughs when they persevere. On the other hand. when we feel stuck on a problem, most of us fail to sec how successful we’ll be if we just keep trying. We tend to believe that our creativity drops over time — that if our best ideas don’t come to us immediately, they won’t come at all.
Lucas and Nordgren call this misunderstanding the “creative cliff illusion”, which refers to the false belief that our creativity sharply declines after an initial period of effort, leading us to underestimate our ability to generate new and innovative ideas with continued perseverance. In one experiment, they asked participants to spend 10 minutes generating “as many original ideas for things to eat and drink at a Thanksgiving dinner as you can. ” Afterward, participants were asked to guess how many ideas they would come up with during a second 10-minute period. Most expected to generate far fewer ideas the second time around, but in fact they produced just as many during that second period — 66 percent more than they had guessed. And those were rated by other people as more creative than the initial ideas.
Though we tend to think our ability to come up with ideas is easily consumed, we actually get more creative the longer we focus on a problem or task. One major reason for this is known as the “serial-order effect”. Each next creative idea we have is likely to be better than the one that came before.
The serial-order effect isn’t always easy to see. Most of us have adopted the belief that creativity should feel easy, or “fluent”. And so we associate mental difficulty with pointlessness. But working through bad ideas is a necessary step in the creative process. The first solutions that come to mind tend to be either preexisting ideas or popular wisdom. These are the paths of least resistance. Though avoiding them requires some work, it’s the surest way to find original ideas that aren’t immediately manifest.
The serial-order effect applies to tasks that last minutes or days, but creativity also improves across years, decades, and even careers. The life’s work of most successful entrepreneurs proves it.
1. What does the contradiction mainly tell us about?| A．Two professors’ wonder. | B．The best ideas for failures. |
| C．People’s mental tendency. | D．Immediate solutions to creativity. |
| A．Humble. | B．Surprised. | C．Hopeful. | D．Unconcerned. |
| A．Obvious. | B．Effective. | C．Attractive. | D．Acceptable. |
| A．People can be more creative with age. |
| B．Creativity comes from creative approaches. |
| C．Creativity actually increases with continued effort. |
| D．People can avoid misunderstandings about creativity. |
6 . When I started Social-Engineer, I just left a company that was amazing. It was like a family. The pain of leaving was real for me and like all family separation, it wasn’t 100% smooth. I was heartbroken to leave but wanted to take every lesson I learned to my new company. I was determined to also take all the good memories with me. Yes, there were mistakes from both sides of the fence but instead of focusing on those, I went away remembering all the great times, life lessons and growth I had gifted to me.
I figured I would grow my company by being a nice man and working hard, and never demanding more from my people than I was willing to give, believing this approach would earn respect and effort in return. I would say things to myself like, “Well, I did this, so they should do that.” Or “I am this way, so they should be that way.”
And to be honest, it felt real. It felt like it was an honest evaluation.
But... But... But...
I started to have people problems. I am a very strong, direct communicator and although in many ways that is a strength, it can be a weakness in other ways. I often hurt people’s feelings. Even though I was very self-aware of this, I still messed up. Now this is odd to admit out loud for a company that basically focuses on helping dozens of companies make huge changes.
I went to see a psychologist. Natasha actively listened to all I said and then every now and then presented a thought as a question or a mild statement. She wanted to challenge me to change, challenge me to expand my thoughts. I was in my session with Natasha and I was saying things like this:
“I gave this person tens of thousands of dollars in a raise in one year, they should be more appreciative.”
“I have a great salary, benefits and support package, this person should have been more thankful.”
Natasha stopped me and said, “Well, you just SHOULD all over yourself, didn’t you? Did you pay for devotion? Did you pay for honor? Did you pay for appreciation?”
The sad answer was NO.
“You want to see the change that you so desire — then be the change,” Natasha said. She then mentioned Bruce Lee, who said “Empty your mind, be formless. Shapeless, like water. If you put water into a cup, it becomes the cup. You put water into a bottle and it becomes the bottle... Now, water can flow or it can crash. Be water, my friend.”
I know what I should do. Will you join me?
1. Why was the author confident about his company management?| A．He believed he was gifted for it. |
| B．His employees were well qualified. |
| C．He had lessons and work principles. |
| D．His previous mistakes had been removed. |
| A．The rigid rules. | B．The lack of vision. |
| C．The company’s focus. | D．The author’s social skill. |
| A．The author fell into a thinking trap. |
| B．The employees expected too much. |
| C．The author was not really committed. |
| D．The employees were victims of management. |
| A．Read Bruce Lee. | B．Learn to change. |
| C．Take more duties. | D．Desire less for more. |
7 . Earlier this year Rodney Smith Jr. made headlines when he drove eight hours from his home in Huntsville. Alabama, to cut the lawn for an elderly soldier in North Carolina who couldn’t find anyone to help him with his yard work.
That wasn’t the first time the twenty-nine-year-old Bermuda native had gained such attention. To do his good deeds, Rodney often finds leads for those in need through social media.
Back to one August afternoon in 2015, Rodney Smith Jr. was driving home. That’s when Rodney saw an elderly man struggling to mow his lawn. He would take a couple of shaky steps, using the handle to stabilize himself, pause, then slowly push the mower again. Rodney decided to help. Mr. Brown thanked him greatly, and Rodney went home feeling satisfied.
Sitting at his computer to do his homework, Rodney couldn’t get Mr. Brown out of his mind. There must be many Mr. Browns out there. He went online and posted that he would mow lawns for free for senior citizens. Messages flooded in.
One day a cancer-battling woman said she wasn’t having a good day. Rodney decided to do more than mowing lawns. After he finished mowing, he knocked on her door. “You're going to win this fight, Madam”, he said. Then he asked folks to pray for her on social media.
Word of Rodney’s mission spread. A grandmother in Ohio said he’d encouraged her 12-year-old grandson to mow lawns. He got a letter from a seven-year-old boy in Kansas. “Mr. Rodney, I would like to be a part of your program, and I’ll make you proud,” he wrote.
That gave Rodney an idea. In 2017, he decided to establish a programme Raising Men Lawn Care Service to make a national movement for young people. The kids learn the joy of giving back.
Yard work seems like a small, simple thing, but taking care of the lawn means a lot to the people they do it for. “When we mow their yards for free, they can use the money for healthcare and food etc. It means more than you would think,” Rodney said.
1. Rodney drew attention for his _____.| A．mowing skills | B．ambition | C．driving distance | D．generosity |
| A．To comfort her. | B．To pray for her. |
| C．To share gardening tips. | D．To ask about her health. |
| A．National media. | B．Personal success. |
| C．Daily inspiration. | D．People’s courage. |
| A．Giving Free, Gaining Fortune |
| B．Mowing a Lawn, Making a Life |
| C．Serving the Senior, Satisfying the Self |
| D．Changing a little, Challenging the Limits |
8 . Science on Wheels travels across Washington bringing engaging STEM programming to grades K-8 with a focus on interactive and hands-on programs that bring the joy of scientific exploration to life and enable learners to see themselves in STEM.
Registration now! Open for 2024-2025 school year!
PROGRAM OFFERINGS LOGISTICS
Categories | Whole-Day Experiences（WDE） | Partial-Day Experiences（PDE） |
Audience | Entire school | Community groups, libraries, camps, STEM nights, and more |
Duration | 6-8 hours | 1-3 hours |
Components | Includes: -Live science show for the entire school -40-minute programs for individual classrooms -Pop-up exhibit | Choose one: -45-minute live science show -Three 45-minute hands-on workshops -3 hours with a pop-up exhibit |
Participants Served | 6-15 classrooms or groups（100-480 participants per day） | -Science Show: Up to 400 participants -Workshops: 1-3 classrooms or groups with up to 32 participants each -Exhibit Exploration: Up to 300 participants |
Price* | $2. 375-$3. 450 | $750 -$1, 500 |
Location | -Local and Western Washington year round -Eastern Washington seasonally （September-early November and March-June） | Local only** year round |
*Funding is available for qualifying schools, libraries, and community groups.
**Some partial-day programming is available regionally with additional travel fees. Inquire for more info.
Programs are designed to support current science standards and arouse curiosity and a love of exploration and experimentation in students. We have a series of classes for each age group for each theme. Pacific Science Center educators bring all of the activity materials for these programs, but schools will need to provide tables.
1. What does the text intend the readers to do?| A．Sign up. | B．Learn STEM. |
| C．Explore themselves. | D．Focus on interactions. |
| A．5. | B．4. | C．3. | D．2. |
| A．PDE is only for school. |
| B．Financial support is provided. |
| C．WDE participants have to choose one activity. |
| D．It offers year-round service throughout Washington. |
9 . In Colombia a group, named WebConserva, is carrying out a project in the San Lucas Mountains with the help of coffee growers.
The San Lucas area is one of the most unexplored places in Colombia, which is home to many thousands of species of animals and plants. Yet gold mining and coca farming have done much damage to its ecosystem. To limit additional development in the San Lucas area, the group helps coffee growers by linking them with processors (加工者) from around the country.
Colombia has more different kinds of living things than any other country except neighboring Brazil. In 2016, the Colombian government signed a peace deal with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia ending years of civil war. As a result, more land became accessible for use, with deforestation (毁林) coming along. Government information shows that in 2017, almost 220,000 hectares of forest were destroyed compared to around 124,000 hectares in 2015.
To date, the project includes 10 families who farm 400 hectares of coffee plants, which costs about $77,000 dollars a year. WebConserva hopes that, in time, 200 families will be included. At that level, 20,000 hectares of untouched forest could be protected. In San Lucas, the families promise not to cut down trees to expand their crops or to hunt wild animals from the forests. In return; they receive $250 to $300, per 125 kilograms of coffee, an enviable amount there. Arcadio Barajas is among those taking part. His new coffee farm makes a barrier (屏障) between cattle farms and forests where wild animals like the jaguar live and hunt. In this way, he doesn’t have to kill wild animals to protect his cattle.
Barajas said that pulling down the forest to plant coca and killing wildlife were against his will. Now he feels that growing coffee lets him be a steward of the land. “I’m taking care of the environment, the forest and the animals,” he said.
1. Why does WebConserva set up the project?| A．To help local farmers make money. | B．To expand areas of coffee growing. |
| C．To link processors with coffee growers. | D．To conserve biodiversity in the Mountains. |
| A．Colombia helped many needy families. | B．Colombia lost lots of areas of forests. |
| C．Colombia started to save damaged forests. | D．Colombia became more peaceful than Brazil. |
| A．A method of protecting cattle and wildlife. | B．A substitute for hunting of wild animals. |
| C．A barrier between man and wild animals. | D．A shelter for cattle against human hunters. |
| A．farmer | B．developer | C．guardian | D．explorer |
10 . Erin Alexander, who was suffering from the loss of her relative, was having a hard day. However, her day took an unexpected turn when she picked up her order and noticed a message on the cup: “Madam,” the waitress had written next to a heart, “your heart is golden.” The small and unexpected act moved her deeply, brightening the rest of her day.
New research confirms the great influence of experiences like Ms. Alexander’s. Researchers found people who perform an unplanned act of kindness tend to undervalue how much the receiver will appreciate it. This could hold many of us back from doing nice things for others more often.
In a recent experiment, 84 participants (参与者) were given a hot chocolate on two cold weekends at a park and were told they could keep it or give it to a stranger. The 75 participants who gave away their drink were asked to guess how “big” their kind act would feel to the receiver on a scale (等级) from 0 to 10, and how the receiver would rate their feelings upon receiving it. The receivers were then asked to report how they actually felt using the same scale.
It turned out that the people doing the kind thing always undervalued the importance of their actions. While they thought they were offering something small, the receivers considered it more meaningful because someone had done something nice for them.
Despite longing for kindness, many people feel awkward at the thought of being kind. The “little inner voice” often leads them to question whether their behavior might be misunderstood or whether it will make the receiver feel pressured to pay it back.
But an act of kindness is unlikely to have unintended results; it can lead to even more kindness. If you are not already in the habit of performing unplanned kind acts, start by thinking about what you are interested in and how you can turn that into an offering for others.
1. How did Erin Alexander feel after reading the message?| A．Calm. | B．Puzzled. | C．Warmed. | D．Anxious. |
| A．rule | B．process | C．purpose | D．result |
| A．A mix of fears. | B．Coldness from others. |
| C．High expectations of others. | D．Voices from the public. |
| A．Think twice before helping. | B．Value kindness from others. |
| C．Find ways to change habits. | D．Take action to offer kindness. |
