1 . Blind people have long desired for brightness, but scientists don’t have the technology. To bring that one step closer to reality, Zhiyong Fan, a materials scientist of the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, developed a new artificial eye recently. The device, which is about as sensitive to light and has sharper vision and a faster reaction time than a real eyeball, may outperform human eyes.
The human eye owes its wide field of view and clear eyesight to the retina (视网膜) — an area at the back of the eyeball covered in light-detecting cells. The design for a new artificial eye is based on the structure of the human eye and uses a friendly light-sensitive material. At the back of the eyeball, an artificial retina is lined with Nan scale light sensors (纳米级光感器). Those sensors measure light that passes through the lens (晶状体) at the front of the eye. Wires attached to the back of the retina send signals from those sensors to the processor, similar to the way nerve networks connect the eyeball to the brain.
“In the future, we can use this to replace damaged human eyes,” says the lead designer. In theory, this artificial eye could see more clearly than the human eye, because the artificial retina contains about 460 million light sensors per square centimeter while a real retina has about 10 million light-detecting cells per square centimeter. Besides, the artificial eyeball records changes in lighting faster than human eyes can — within about 30 to 40 milliseconds, rather than 40 to 150 milliseconds. Although its 100-degree field of view isn’t as broad as the150 degrees a human eye can take in, the device can see as well as the human eye in poor light.
Hongrui Jiang, an electrical engineer at the University of Wisconsin, though, thinks engineers need a much more practical and efficient way to produce vast series of tiny wires on the back of the artificial eyeball to give it superhuman sight, which is super hard to achieve.
1. Why does Zhiyong Fan develop the artificial eye?| A．To replace people’s real eyeballs. | B．To gain a sharper vision. |
| C．To help the blind regain their eyesight. | D．To help normal eyes perform better. |
| A．The design of the artificial eye. | B．The structure of the human eye. |
| C．The advantages of the artificial eye. | D．The material used for the artificial eye. |
| A．They have the same structure. |
| B．The artificial eye may see more clearly. |
| C．The human eye sees better in weak light. |
| D．The artificial eye takes in a broader view. |
| A．Doubtful. | B．Favorable. | C．Unconcerned. | D．Satisfied. |
2 . Four best scenic paths near London
Goring Gap and the Thames PathLength: 5 miles
Start: Goring & Streatley station
End: Pangbourne
This path is far from boring for a rural walk. The footpath follows the curve of the river as it flows south, winding past wildflower grassland, and the Hartslock Nature Reserve, which is home to red kites and rare orchids.
Post-walk pub: The Swan serves these days. Order a table or keep warm by one of its open fires.
Box HillLength: 6.8 miles
Start and end: Westhumble station
Admire the glorious views and escape the crowds. But first you’ve got to climb 272 steps to the top of Box Hill. The endorphins are definitely pumping—maybe that’s how it got the nickname “Happy Valley”.
Post-walk pub: The spacious Tree on Box Hill has an enticing menu and huge beer garden.
The Kentish CoastLength: 9.8 miles
Start: Ramsgate
End: Margate
Following the path, you’ll pass plenty of former smugglers’ (走私者) caves and there are beachside cafes dotted along the route at regular intervals.
Post-walk pub: Order a pint of beer at Xylo, a pub with wonderful views over Margate Sands.
Chess Valley in the ChilternsLength: 9.9 miles
Start: Chorleywood station
End: Chesham station
It isn’t home to any chess masters, but it did used to produce n lot of watercress, fed by its sparkling chalk stream. This walk follows the river, whose bank is covered with the rolling grass and woods.
Post-walk pub: The George & Dragon is an old coaching inn with a log fire and real beer.
1. Which path is a circular route?| A．Goring Gap and the Thames Path. | B．Box Hill. |
| C．The Kentish Coast. | D．Chess Valley in the Chilterns. |
| A．They serve beer all the time. | B．They include different animals. |
| C．They provide river scenery. | D．They are of the same length. |
| A．Drink coffee at the seaside. | B．Relax yourself in The Swan. |
| C．Learn from famous chess masters. | D．Meet smugglers along the way. |
3 . Have you ever imagined an insect-inspired robot, which weighs less than a gram, could one day help out in surgery (外科手术)?
Scientists have designed this small, “insect-bot” called mCLARI that can control and even change its body shape as it travels in different environments to fit through gaps. It’s 2 centimeters long, weighs less than 0.97 grams and can travel at a speed of 6 centimeters per second.It’s the smaller, faster replacement to CLARI, which was designed by the same team.
“Because of the robot’s small size and ability to change shape, we expect usage of this technology in four important areas,” the lead author Kaushik Jayaram said. These include disaster (灾害) response , check on high-value objects, environmental monitoring and medical treatment.
“In the long term, we hope such robots will be used more widely in moving through human bodies and performing surgeries that can’t be easily done at present,” Jayaram said. With mCLARI, Jayaram’s team is moving closer to creating robots that can fit in different environments—just like the insects they’re inspired by.
The mCLARI robot has four legs and can move in narrow spaces by changing between running forward and side-to-side and can use different speeds in human bodies. Its legs are joined to its body through joints (关节), which enables mCLARI to change its body shape based on the environment it is in. For example, its legs can be lengthened up to 50% in certain spaces.
As follow-up work, the scientists want to give mCLARI more power and sensing ability while helping the surgeries. “We are also excited about understanding the effect of shape change on improving functions of robots,” Jayaram said. “And this is sure a great one-step forward of the technology. The robot will have entered the market by 2025 and will bring greater benefits to mankind, especially in medical treatment.”
1. What is paragraph 3 mainly about?| A．Possible application fields of the robot. | B．Different types of the robot. |
| C．Several important features of the robot. | D．Working process of the robot. |
| A．Valuable but uncontrollable. | B．Modern but high-cost. |
| C．Heavy and time-consuming. | D．Advanced and effective. |
| A．Worried. | B．Positive. | C．Doubtful. | D．Uninterested. |
| A．Jayaram: A Scientist Studying Robot Intelligence |
| B．mCLARI Is Already Widely Available in the Market |
| C．CLARI: A Robot Invented by Inspiration from the Insects |
| D．A Tiny Shape-changing Robot Will Help Perform Surgeries |
4 . Every morning at 5 am when most people are asleep, a figure would be busy in the kitchen, cooking meals until the rest of the volunteers arrive. Day in and day out, Mr Tay and his team prepare, cook, pack and deliver the food to various parts of the island.
His journey started when one of his neighbors, Lisa, asked him to collect vegetables and give them away at Bukit Ho Swee, a poor and less-privileged neighbourhood, and thus, he continued to do so for a period of time. During one of these visits, his wife noticed that the elderly folk did not take the vegetables. Asked why, one replied that she could not cook, so she only ate the rice delivered to her. Mrs Tay then offered to cook for her, and that single meal sparked Willing Hearts, which has since served about 650,000 meals.
The soup kitchen sees many volunteers, some of whom are new, while others have been around since the organisation’s early days. They learn how to cook, interact with people from all walks of life, pick up different languages, gain greater knowledge about social issues, and most importantly, they will form a strong tie with one another. Through Willing Hearts, Mr Tay hopes to make “the country’s backyard” known to the younger generation, to allow them to see and experience firsthand what goes on behind closed doors.
As a non-profit organisation, Willing Hearts depends heavily on donations and food collections. However, this does not faze Mr Tay. He believes that you have to let things flow in gradually, and not be stopped by concerns which create an unnecessary amount of stress. He calls the volunteers of Willing Hearts the organisation’s eyes and ears, as they are always on the lookout for the poor to lend a hand.
1. What does Willing Hearts do?| A．It collects vegetables. | B．It delivers rice to the poor. |
| C．It helps the elderly to cook. | D．It makes meals for the needy. |
| A．Cooking skills. | B．Learning languages. |
| C．Working experience. | D．Connecting with people. |
| A．Satisfy. | B．Trouble. | C．Hurt. | D．Push. |
| A．Mr Tay and his wife. | B．Ways of helping others. |
| C．Importance of volunteering. | D．Stories behind Willing Hearts. |
5 . An impressive invention made by a 17-year-old teenager, called Anna Du, is helping to clean up small pieces of plastic from the ocean.
While walking along her local beaches in Massachusetts, the young student began collecting waste plastic bags and bottles. But what she noticed was a large number of tiny pieces of plastic or microplastics that were impossible to pick up. At just 12 years old, Du set out to solve the problem. After testing a few prototypes(原型)in her backyard, she invented a remotely operated vehicle that uses the infrared camera(红外摄像机)to detect microplastics on the ocean floor. More recently, Du has also created a simulation(模拟)model that uses artificial intelligence to predict where microplastics are located.
Du’s robot invention has earned her awards at top science fairs in the US, and she’s now a nationally recognized advocate for microplastic awareness and pollution prevention. “When I first started doing science fairs, I had no idea that a young girl without lots of money and just a little advanced engineering knowledge could make a difference in the world. I’ve learned that I truly love working on a problem that’s so much larger than me,” Du said.
Du has also released a new book to help spread the word not only about the dangers of microplastics but also about the ways to relieve the problem. Titled Microplastics &Me, the book follows Du’s own story of how she went from worrying about the environment to designing award-winning solutions. Writing for kids her own age, the young girl alerts her readers to the threat of microplastic pollution and urges them to care about the environment. The book hopes to encourage young students to get into science, technology, engineering and math(STEM)subjects and to inspire a new generation of inventors and engineers. What’s more, Du has even raised more than $7,000 to distribute the book free to kids and libraries in high-need communities.
1. What inspired Du to make the invention?| A．There was too much rubbish along the beaches. | B．The plastics were too small to collect by hand. |
| C．The sea was polluted seriously. | D．She was interested in AI. |
| A．She has a spirit of challenge. | B．She is too poor to make a difference. |
| C．She doesn’t study hard in engineering. | D．She wins international recognition. |
| A．Innovation. | B．Voice. | C．Culture. | D．Art. |
| A．To inspire readers to share their stories. |
| B．To raise the awareness of microplastics pollution. |
| C．To encourage high schools to offer STEM subjects. |
| D．To collect money for kids in high-need communities. |
6 . Washing machines are one of the greatest inventions of the last few centuries.They have made life easier. Unfortunately, washing machines also contribute to the environmental issues of energy use and micro-plastics flowing into the oceans. That is why the washing machine manufacturer (制造商), Samsung, and the outdoor-wear company, Patagonia, are working together to make a change.
For Patagonia, the issue of micro-plastics has been on its mind for years — its woolen jackets release many microfibers. As for Samsung, new requirements throughout the world have forced many producers to start thinking about ways to help reduce the number of micro-plastics. There are currently more than 14 million tons of micro-plastics floating in the oceans. Though people previously think of things such as plastic bottles and fishing lines when it comes to plastics in the ocean, thousands of micro-plastics are released into seas with every wash.
The issue is a sort of catch-22. In order to reduce energy costs, manufacturers try to make their machines more efficient. These machines use hotter water and are designed to create more friction (摩擦) between the clothing in the machine. However, both of these things lead to the release of more micro-plastics. So, using Patagonia clothes as test cases, Samsung came up with a two-fold solution: One is a technology called Eco-bubbles, which creates more bubbles to make the detergent (洗涤剂) more powerful, and the other is a water purifier that can filter (过滤) out more micro-plastics.
The cooperation between the two companies is proof of how complicated protecting the environment can be. On the one hand, clothing that is well-constructed and durable is a weapon in the fight against fast fashion. On the other hand, the material used to make those clothes and the way they are washed can also add pollutants to the environment.The same goes for washing machines. There is no one-size-fits-all solution. The fight against climate change requires creative thinking and learning how to attack a problem from many angles. This will certainly lead to even more strange and fruitful cooperation between the environmentally conscious companies.
1. What is Samsung’s purpose in partnering the outdoor clothing company?| A．To limit the use of micro-plastics. |
| B．To solve the issue of energy waste. |
| C．To find a solution to micro-plastic pollution. |
| D．To produce high-efficiency washing machines. |
| A．A tricky situation. | B．A questionable fact. |
| C．A possible dream. | D．A practical method. |
| A．Using hotter water. |
| B．Creating more friction. |
| C．Using powerful detergents. |
| D．Adding a water purifier to washing machines. |
| A．The difficulty in fighting against fast fashion. |
| B．The complexity of environment conservation. |
| C．The influence of humans’ active action. |
| D．The importance of creative thinking. |
7 . Having a personal trainer is one of the best ways to stay on track with your workouts, push your limits and try new things. But it often costs more than $100 a class, and getting to and from the gym can take up a lot of time.
Over the past ten years, fitness apps have been trying to copy the personal training experience exactly, and in recent years many have included artificial intelligence (AI) to create workouts. A growing number of products offer personalized works that match your abilities, goals and equipment you have, which usually cost around $100 a year.
However, some experts warn that while AI fitness apps are useful for many exercisers, they’re not the right fit for everyone.
AI fitness apps create personalized training programs using information from personal users and the experiences of other users.
In the future, these apps could collect even more information to give ever more personalized feedback (反馈), said futurist David Brin. But, he added, more information doesn’t always lead to better advice. “What you need to consider is whether the advice will actually be good for you, in the long run,” he said.
Furthermore, computers can learn a lot about different workout routines, but they can’t yet create the social interactions that make the training successful, said Nikola Banovic, professor of computer science and engineering at the Artificial Intelligence Laboratory of the University of Michigan.
The AI fitness apps we have now can’t offer encouragement or provide comfort on a bad day. “As humans, we need more than just the workouts that will get us to our goals,” Dr Banovic said. “We need to be encouraged — that’s something only a real trainer can do right now. It will be some time before AI training does this well.”
1. What is the main advantage of AI fitness apps over personal trainers?| A．Requiring less exercise equipment. |
| B．Offering coaching services at a lower price, |
| C．Creating more personalized training plans. |
| D．Providing a better personal training experience. |
| A．Users should work harder to protect their personal information. |
| B．AI fitness apps should find more tools for collecting information. |
| C．Users should be careful with the advice offered by AI fitness apps. |
| D．AI fitness apps should be improved to meet the needs of every user. |
| A．Setting achievable goals. |
| B．Adding live chat services. |
| C．Learning new workout routines. |
| D．Developing useful interactions. |
| A．How do AI fitness apps change the way you exercise? |
| B．Would an AI trainer be better than a real trainer? |
| C．Can AI trainers take the place of the real one? |
| D．How do experts feel about an AI trainer? |
8 . Being a writer in the 21st century can keep you in front of a screen for so long that it feels like the room is sideways. Being a human with the Internet can mean hours spent on social media, scrolling and posting for so long that your sense of reality
I grew up in the city, not hiking or camping, so I knew nothing about the outdoors. I have three kids with endless energy, so I figured I could solve two questions at once. I would get a breather from my job and the kids would play with insects and realize there is nothing better than nature.
We drove to Great Falls, Virginia, where hundreds of people on any given day spent hours meandering through the hillside and forest. The blue water pulsed, turning white and crashing powerfully hundreds of feet beneath us. The kids held their breath as if they had seen magics. But it’s just nature, just the outside, and that had been there all along. Since then, we’ve been fascinated.
Last summer I felt my home’s walls closing in, so I decided to go camping. I built my first fire. My kids watched my every move, asking every ten minutes to help get more branches and roast meat. About a month, my craving to take a break from the city grew again. We camped two more times before the cold came, each time seeing a bit more of what nature had to offer city folks.
1. Why did the author decide to go outside three years ago?| A．Because he was interested in nature. | B．Because he hoped to reduce anxiety. |
| C．Because he fell in love with camping. | D．Because he was eager for the outdoors. |
| A．Enjoy the beauty of nature. | B．Stay away from social media. |
| C．Learn to protect themselves. | D．Choose to do what they are fond of. |
| A．Tired. | B．Scared. | C．Bored. | D．Excited. |
| A．Memory. | B．Chance. | C．Desire. | D．Ability. |
9 . Four YouTube channels you need to watch
Yes Theory 6.57m subscribersDriven by the motto (格言) “Seek Discomfort”, Yes Theory aims to spread a message of fearlessness through carrying out projects that help people step outside their comfort zones. There is no doubt that many of us may feel too scared to work towards challenging goals, which is why Yes Theory takes on some adventures to show people that discomfort helps achieve a great life.
Nas Daily 2.45m subscribersBeing a graduate from Harvard, Nuseir Yassin makes an effort to provide a YouTube channel that highlights the most incredible humans on Earth. His videos often feature individuals who are creating changes in the world, and he also covers some of the most important topics of discussion like climate change.
TED-Ed 13.7m subscribersTED-Ed is one of the most famous YouTube channels when it comes to learning and inspiration. The channel has no specific video producer as it features presentations from people all around the world. These videos feature a wide variety of topics, and there is no specific subject that the channel focuses on. Instead, it provides insight into anything that can benefit the viewers.
Be Inspired 7.4m subscribersBe Inspired is a YouTube channel that provides videos to help people improve their overall well-being. These videos include a wide variety of topics such as sleep, stress, jobs, and creating plans. The channel also includes short and inspirational videos that help people realize the mistakes they are making and ways to solve them.
1. Which channel is the most popular?| A．Yes Theory. | B．Nas Daily. | C．TED-Ed. | D．Be Inspired. |
| A．Learning the latest news. |
| B．Meeting incredible humans. |
| C．Having access to job opportunities. |
| D．Improving general health and happiness. |
| A．They are inspirational. |
| B．They are favored by students. |
| C．They encourage viewers to challenge themselves. |
| D．They have one specific video producer. |
10 . Every year—for more than 15 years running—Amazon editors come together to decide on the Best Books of the Year. Below are the top 4 picks, along with quotes from the editors.
Hello Beautiful by Ann Napolitano
“Though divided by centuries, three women, who share a unique connection to the natural world and to one, another, tell their amazing stories of coldness, danger, and survival in a beautifully written novel that is an impressive read.” —Seira Wilson
Happy Place by Emily Henry
“Emily Henry’s latest has all the feels!More than your standard second-chance romance, Happy Place is about the beauty, pain, and joy that come with biological families, chosen families, growing up and apart, and how—as adults—we deal with this thing called life.”—Kami Tei
The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny, and Murder by David Grann
“Please get ready. This true story of violence and murder, adventure, and ambition on the high seas is a page-turner. You can almost feel the salt stuck on your skin as the ship and its noisy shipmen fight against the bad weather and each other for becoming rich and famous. David Grann,once again, has made history come alive.” —Al Woodworth
Lady Tan’s Circle of Women by Lisa See
“I will not soon forget Lady Tan. A historical story grounded in women, medicine, and tradition, Lady Tan’s Circle of Women is heart-touching, and I found myself underlining throughout this inviting read.” —Kami Tei
1. What is Happy Place mainly about?| A．Adventures of adults. | B．Connection to nature: |
| C．Mixed feelings of life. | D．Challenges of growing up. |
| A．Ann Napolitano. | B．Emily Henry |
| C．David Grann. | D．Lisa See |
| A．They are set in history. | B．They are about women. |
| C．They cover several centuries. | D．They focus on dangers of life. |
