4 . An advance in electronic publishing could make the e-book you are reading seem as dated as a silent film. Publishers hope to explore the growing success of e-books by releasing versions with added soundtracks（电影配音）and musical accompaniments.

The noises in the first multimedia books — released in Britain on Friday - include rain hitting a window in a Sherlock Holmes tale. When the plot of a book reaches the most exciting part, background scores will create tension.

Supporters argue that sound effects are the next logical development for e-books and will add excitement for younger readers. Critics, however, will argue that the noise will ruin the simple pleasure of having the imagination stimulated by reading.

Caroline Michel, chief executive of the literary agency, said the new generation of computer- literate readers was used to multiple sensory input. She said, “Young people have split computer screens where they may be watching television and replying to an email at the same time. If that's what the market wants then we should respond to the market.”

Book track's sound effects work by estimating the user's reading speed. Each lime you turn a page, the software reassesses where you have reached in the text and times the sounds to switch on accordingly. If the soundtrack becomes out of synch （同步），a click on any word will reset it.

Some authors fear that a soundtrack could destroy the peace and quiet of libraries and ruin the pleasure, of reading. David Nicholls, author of Our Day, the bestseller now released as a film, said, “This sounds like the opposite of reading. I have enough trouble reading an e-book because I'm constantly distracted by emails.

Stuart MacBride, the crime writer whose novel Shatter the Bones was an e-book bestseller, sells 18% of his books as electronic downloads. He said, “If I'm reading, I will do the noise in my head. I don’t need someone to tell me what lea cups clinking sounds like. That would irritate （激怒）me.”

1. What do publishers expect an e-book soundtrack to do?

A．Help to release an e-book as a film.	B．Help readers improve reading speed.
C．Add tension at a book's exciting point.	D．Get readers familiar with       the background.

2. Who is in favour of added soundtracks for e-books?

A．Mr. Darcy.	B．Caroline Michel.
C．David Nicholls.	D．Stuart MacBride.

3. What do we know about Stuart MacBride?

A．He was a person who was easy to get angry.

B．He knew a great deal about tea and tea culture.

C．Eighty-two percent of his books described crime.

D．He imagined sounds related to the story when reading.

4. What's the main idea of the passage?

A．Opinions about e-books with soundtracks.

B．Response to the need of the book market.

C．Reasons for traditional e-books becoming outdated.

D．Suggestions on encouraging readers’ imagination.

5 . On paper, hydrogen（H2）looks like a dream fuel. Coal, oil, and natural gas produce carbon dioxide, which warms the earth when burned, Hydrogen produces pure water. Hydrogen packs more energy into less space than a battery（but certainly less than petrol）. Also, empty tanks（燃料箱）can be refilled with hydrogen much faster than refilling empty batteries with electricity.

While in practice, things are trickier. Storing a meaningful amount of hydrogen gas requires pressing it several hundred-fold. Changing it into the liquid form is another option, but it should be cooled to-253C. Both processes require a heavy and strong tank. While a 700 bar tank is acceptable for a city bus or a truck, adapting it for use in small vehicles is very difficult because the pressure during refilling would be too great.

The solution? Powerpaste.

A German team of researchers, led by Marcus Vogt, have come up with an interesting "powerpaste", which can store hydrogen energy at atmospheric pressure, ready for release when needed. It is so named because it comes in tubes and looks like toothpaste（牙膏）, not in its traditional form of gas.

The main ingredient（原料）of the paste is magnesium hydride, a substance that reacts with water to form hydrogen. The escaped hydrogen can then be directed into a fuel cell, where it reacts with oxygen from the air to produce electric power.

Refueling is very simple, as instead of going to a filling station, drivers and riders can simply replace an empty tube with a new one and refill the water tank.

Given that powerpaste only begins to break down at temperatures of around 250℃ it remains safe even when a vehicle stands in the baking sun for hours.

However, we will have to be patient. Just because researchers have succeeded in developing a new fueling way does not mean that we can expect to see such vehicles on the road anytime soon. It will indeed be several years before this concept is turned into reality.

1. As a fuel, what is the advantage of hydrogen over oil?

A．Refilling empty tanks will be more convenient.

B．It is less likely to worsen global warming

C．More energy can be packed in the same space.

D．It will produce pure water for people to drink.

2. What is Paragraph 2 mainly about?

A．The practical difficulties to use hydrogen as fuel in small vehicles.

B．The detailed processes of adapting a strong tank in small vehicles.

C．The differences in fueling between large vehicles and small ones.

D．The tricks of building strong tanks in small vehicles.

3. The author mentions the refueling process to show that powerpaste is______________.

A．inexpensive

B．powerful

C．convenient

D．environment-friendly

4. Why does the author call on the readers to be patient?

A．Powerpaste-driven vehicles sometimes move very slowly on the road.

B．Practical use of powerpaste-driven vehicles will not come very soon.

C．Powerpaste-driven vehicles can only work after being in the sun for hours

D．It will be years before the researchers work out the concept of powerpaste.

6 . There are nearly 2,800 working satellites in space, which we depend on for technology we use every day, such as video calls, online maps, satellite TV, and weather tracking. Scientists use them to study space and learn more about our planet.

But there are many other satellites in orbit (轨道) that are no longer working. They're among the objects cluttering (使杂乱) up space. Some of these eventually fall back toward Earth, either landing or burning up in the atmosphere. But much of this space junk (垃圾) circles Earth for years. Space junk is a problem. Debris (残骸)   floating around Earth puts technology and future space tasks at risk. Experts are working on ways to solve it.

Orbital debris, a type of space junk, is any human-made object that has slopped working but continues to float around the Earth. This includes satellites that are no longer used and pieces of spacecraft, such as rocket stages. It has been a large problem since the 1960s.

Space junk also includes broken pieces of objects. These occur when satellites hit against things. They also result from an object crashing into an old rocket stage that still contains fuel, causing an explosion (爆炸) . There have been more than 250 space explosions since the 1960s. These tiny broken pieces can damage working satellites, which can affect research in space.

Companies all over the world are working to clean up the area surrounding our planet. A company based in Japan will test the method of using magnets (磁石) to collect space debris. Another mission is led by a company based in Switzerland. It plans to carry out a debris-removal spacecraft in 2025. The craft will get hold of a piece of an old rocket, slow it down, and move it back to Earth. Eventually, the debris will burn out like a shooting star.

Governments are trying to help too. Some are updating their country's space guidelines to limit the amount of debris created. Space is so large that the problem won't be solved by a single organization or a single country. We have to work on this together.

1. What is the biggest harm that space junk does to human beings?

A．It will fall back toward the Earth.	B．It circles the Earth for years.
C．It puts other space objects in danger.	D．It will burn up in the atmosphere.

2. How will the Swiss company clean up the Earth orbit?

A．By making the orbital debris fall back to Earth.	B．By putting the pieces all together.
C．By collecting space junk with magnets.	D．By sending space junk into deep space.

3. What does the author suggest on cleaning up space junk?

A．Strict laws.	B．Global efforts.
C．Stopping in space exploration.	D．Setting up professional organizations.

4. What does the text mainly talk about?

A．Earth and its satellites.	B．The problem of space junk.
C．Ways of cleaning up space junk.	D．The various uses of man-made satellites.

7 . On March 16, 2018, eight-year-old Tanitoluwa “Tani” Adewumi, defeated 73 young competitors to win the New York State Chess Championship in his age category-kindergarten to third grade. While the achievement is remarkable in itself, what makes it even more so is that the youngster, who was homeless at the time, began learning the game less than a year ago.

Tani and his family arrived in New York City from Nigeria in 2017, seeking religious protection. A church pastor(牧师)helped find the family of four space in a homeless shelter and soon after, Tani entered the local elementary school. It was here that the young talent was first introduced to the basics of chess by a part-time teacher. Attracted by the game, the then seven-year-old begged his mother, Oluwatoyin, to allow him to join the school’s chess club. Concerned the family would be unable to afford the fees and expenses, which add up to thousands of dollars, Oluwatoyin emailed Russel Makofsky, who ran the club. To her surprise and delight, Makofsky agreed to waive all costs for young Tani. The rest, as they say, is history. The young boy, who has got seven prizes in less than a year, currently ranks 27 in America in his age category.

Though the chess club certainly helps, it is Tani’s devotion to the game that is largely responsible for his great success. Not surprisingly, Tani’s incredible story, first reported by The New York Times, has resulted in an outpouring of support from the American public. It has raised $200,000 in just ten days, far more than the original goal of $50,000, and the funds keep coming.

Since they now have a home, the Adewumis have decided to “pay it forward” and donate the over $200,000 collected on GoFundMe. They plan to give 10 percent of the funds raised to the church that has supported them. The rest will be placed in the newly-created Tanitoluwa Adewumi Trust and given to African immigrants to America who are struggling the way the family was.

1. What made Tani’s achievement especially remarkable?

A．His quick learning.	B．His young age.
C．Support from his family.	D．Help from his teacher.

2. What does the underlined part “to waive all costs for young Tani” in Paragraph 2 mean?

A．To teach Tani free of charge.	B．To raise money for Tani’s family.
C．To pay for Tani’s schooling.	D．To spend more on Tani’s training.

3. What’s Paragraph 3 mainly about?

A．Reports of the media.	B．Activities of the chess club.
C．Tani’s devotion to the game.	D．Public reaction to Tani’s story.

4. What does the last paragraph tell us about the family?

A．They are poor.

B．They are kind.

C．They are honest.

D．They are pitiful.

8 . Several companies have begun creating paper bottles to replace glass and plastic ones. Paper bottles are easy to recycle, and also weigh less than glass or plastic, meaning they'll require less energy to produce and move around.

A company called Paboco has been working with other companies to develop paper bottles. The companies are creating their own bottle designs, but they're sharing what they learn to promote the development of paper bottle technology

One of the biggest challenges is preventing a paper bottle leaking（泄漏）. The inside of the bottle needs a special coating to make sure the liquid doesn't leak through. Many companies are lining（做衬垫）their bottles with a thin sheet of plastic. Though bottle makers may say this liner can be recycled, many recycling programs don't have the right machines to handle these liners.

A Danish beer company called Carlsberg is working with Paboco on a paper bottle called the "Green Fiber Bottle". Currently the bottle uses a plastic liner. In the future the company hopes to use a "bio-plastic" that will break down naturally over time, And a company named Diageo just announced the first paper bottle whose inside uses a non-plastic coating.

But even without the plastic, paper bottles aren't perfect. Most paper bottles use wood pulp（纸浆）, meaning trees need to be cut down. To solve this problem, Frugalpac, a company from the United Kingdom, has created wine bottles made of recycled paper. Frugalpac still uses a plastic liner, though.

Companies will need to see how long liquids can be stored in the paper bottles and make sure the bottles don't affect the taste. But with so many companies working toward the same goal, it's likely that we can expect to see paper bottles on store shelves in the near future.

1. What is the advantage of paper bottles over other ones?

A．They cost less.	B．They are more appealing.
C．They are easier to produce.	D．They are more eco-friendly.

2. What is the most difficult task to creat paper bottles?

A．Finding recycling liners.

B．Getting the right machine.

C．Preventing the liquid escape.

D．Making sure of the storage time.

3. What does the author think may solve the problem of unperfect paper bottles?

A．Cutting down fewer trees.	B．Using recycled paper.
C．Producing "bio-plastic" liners.	D．Still using plastic liners.

4. What does the author feel about the future of paper bottles?

A．Hopeful.	B．Doubtful.
C．Satisfied.	D．Worried.

9 . Gerardo Ixcoy is a 27-year-old teacher in Guatemala. He teaches in the area where having electricity is something of a luxury（奢侈品）and students have no access to mobile apps or computers, which became a problem when Guatemalan government had to choose distance education for students at home because of COVID-19.

Gerardo Ixcoy felt that he had to teach those children living far from the digital world. After all, education is a universal right and Gerardo Ixcoy thought those children shouldn't be excluded from having the education they needed. There had to be an alternative to distance education. But what was the solution?

Gerardo bought himself a secondhand tricycle（三轮车）with his savings. Once he had the tricycle, the next step was to change it into a classroom on wheels. He put a roof with a solar panel（太阳能电池板）on it, along with a screen to avoid the spread of COVID-19. He fixed a whiteboard on it so he could explain to the students the basics of primary education： math, the local language and the universal national language—Spanish.

The purpose of the solar panel is to provide constant power for a small loudspeaker so he can teach from a distance. It's a matter of respecting the healthy distance required to be safe from the virus. He, the teacher, stays outside, and the student participates from his or her house.

With that enthusiasm for education, he tries to visit his students at least twice a week, riding his classroom-cycle. The children he serves say that, although he visits them for only a few hours a week, they look forward to it. They appreciate his visit and will take advantage of it to learn.

1. What is the problem for the Guatemalan students because of COVID-19?

A．They cannot continue their study any more.

B．They are cut off from the digital world and the Internet.

C．They have no right to get the government's distance education.

D．They have to get distance education but they have no access to it.

2. What does the underlined word "excluded" in Paragraph 2 mean?

A．Chosen	B．Prevented.
C．Protected.	D．Separated

3. What did Gerardo do to help the students with their study?

A．He provided them with a whiteboard to write on

B．He fixed a solar panel on their house roofs to give electricity.

C．He rode his tricycle to their houses and taught them face to face.

D．He transformed his tricycle into a classroom on wheel to give them lessons.

4. What can we learn from Gerardo Ixcoy's story?

A．Love for education breaks down barriers

B．Education contributes to success.

C．Great hope makes great man.

D．Hard work pays off.

10 . A Portland, Oregon man has become the first person to travel across Antarctica by himself without receiving any assistance.

Colin O’Brady has completed the 1,500-kilometer trip. He crossed the continent in 54 days. Friends, family and other people followed his progress through messages and pictures he left on social media.

O’Brady spoke with his wife Jenna Besaw by telephone soon after he completed the journey. “It was an emotional call,” she said. “He seemed overwhelmed by love and appreciation, and he really wanted to say ‘thank you’ to all of us.”

The 33-year-old O’Brady documented the trip on the social networking services Instagram. He called his journey “The Impossible First”. He wrote that he traveled the last 129 kilometers in one big, final push to the finish line. The distance took over one day to complete. O’Brady wrote, “While the last 32 hours were some of the most challenging hours of my life, they have quite honestly been some of the best moments I have ever experienced.”

The day before, he wrote that he was “in the zone” and thought he could make it to the end without stopping. “I was listening to my body and taking care of the details to keep myself safe,” he wrote. “I called home and talked to my mom, sister and wife. I promised them I would stop when I need to.”

Other people have traveled across Antarctica, but they all had some form of assistance. They either had better, more plentiful supplies or devices that helped move them forward.

In 2016, British explorer Henry Worsley died in his attempt to travel alone across Antarctica unassisted. Worsley’s friend Louis Rudd, also from Britain, is attempting an unaided solo journey in Worsley’s honor. He was competing against O’Brady to be the first to do it. Besaw told the Associated Press that her husband plans to stay in Antarctica until Rudd finishes his trip.

1. What did O’Brady think of his journey in Antarctica?

A．It was pleasant.	B．It was discouraging.
C．It was impossible to complete.	D．It was hard to complete.

2. What did O’Brady promise his family?

A．Making sure of his safety.	B．Trying to achieve the goal.
C．Keeping in touch with them.	D．Stopping the travel halfway.

3. Why does O’Brady still remain in Antarctica?

A．To wait for another explorer.	B．To compete with others.
C．To help other explorers.	D．To make his victory recognized.

4. What might be a suitable title for the text?

A．The Antarctic Continent	B．The Impossible First
C．Traveling in Antarctica	D．An Incomplete Journey