1 . Dwayne sat staring at the peeling(剥落了的) paint on the walls of the small, messy room he shared with his two younger brothers. Through the apartment walls he could hear the crying of the neighbor’s newborn child competing with the music from the cars below. Dwayne sat and stared at the blank paper in front of him, considering how he would write a composition about his life.
Mama wouldn’t be home for another half an hour, so Dwayne went to the kitchen to prepare dinner for his family. With Mama’s low income, there wasn’t much to choose from.
“I’m hungry,” said eight-year-old Raymond. “What do you have cooking?”
Holding his brother around the waist, Dwayne responded, “I’ve got my famous bean and rice casserole(砂锅菜). Want to help?”
“I want to help. too!” cried Jesse.
Shortly after 7: 00 pm, Mama got home. She saw her three sons laughing as they worked together setting the mismatched plates and forks. In the middle of the table she eyed an old baby food jar with a flowering weed that was pulled from the front yard.
“Mmm-mm! Is that your famous bean and rice casserole?” Mama asked..
“Mama, you’re home!” the two younger boys said as they raced to hug her.
After the dinner, Mama stood behind Dwayne as he sat at the kitchen table, adding the last sentence to his composition. “Son, what are you writing?”
“Mama, it’s my composition,” came his reply.
“And what is that composition about?”
“It’s about our life,” said Dwayne.
Dwayne’s mother looked around at the house. She thought about all the things she wished she could provide for her family.
“Dwayne, I’m sorry you don’t have a lot in your life,” his mama said.
“I have you and Raymond and Jesse. I live in a house full of love. I wouldn’t trade what we have for all the money in the world.”
Pulling her son close, she whispered. “Neither would I, Dwayne. Neither would I.”
1. The description of the apartment in the first paragraph is to show________.| A．there were three children in the family |
| B．Dwayne’s neighbours were unfriendly |
| C．Dwayne’s family were living a poor life |
| D．Dwayne had nothing to say in his composition |
| A．Selfish. | B．Caring. | C．Humorous. | D．Confident. |
| A．She had no time to help with his homework. |
| B．She wasn’t in time to prepare dinner for the kids. |
| C．She thought his composition needed improving. |
| D．She felt sorry for not being able to give him a better life. |
| A．It’s no use apologizing. |
| B．It’s never too late to learn. |
| C．Learn to appreciate what we have. |
| D．God helps those who help themselves. |
2 . Plane wings are traditionally strong and thick but a team of researchers led by NASA has created a flexible wing that morphs (变形) as it flies. The new wing is constructed from thousands of units that fit together and function in a similar way to a bird’s wing, says NASA research engineer, Nick Cramer.
“Something like an eagle will lock its joints in while it’s cruising, and then it adjusts its wings to a more suitable shape for its cruising, and then when it wants to do a more aggressive move it’ll unlock its shoulder. That’s a similar response to what we’re doing here,” he said.
The Boeing 787 Dreamliner is constructed from body parts that are so large, so they require outsize molds (模具) to create them. The same applies to the Airbus A380. “The cost of infrastructure (基础设施) that the business needs to invest to build these planes is pretty extraordinary,” said Kenneth Cheung, a NASA research scientist. “So what we’re doing with these projects is trying to reduce all of that, so that you could have the same sort of performance in terms of the materials but be able to manufacture it without setting up all of the infrastructure that’s currently required.”
The new wings are created by putting fiber reinforced polyetherimide into a 3D mold to create each part, which locks together in a process that could eventually be carried out by assembly robots. The new structure can also be easily packed down to allow transport, which also makes it potentially the ideal package for another purpose — to send into space.
While the idea of cheaper, more flexible planes could be appealing to the commercial aviation industry, there are major obstacles to overcome. That demands time, research and money. “If you want to revolutionize the traditional manufacturing process of the aerospace industry, you have to have a really good reason,” Cramer said. “So your performance gain has to be significant enough to justify that. It’s not about whether it’s practicable; it’s about whether it’s financially marketable.”
1. Why does Cramer mention the eagle in Paragraph 2?| A．To praise its great hunting skills. |
| B．To explain why it adjusts itself while flying. |
| C．To give an example of how the new plane wing works. |
| D．To make a comparison between eagles and other birds. |
| A．The cost of making new wings. |
| B．The performance of traditional planes. |
| C．The performance of the new plane wings. |
| D．The cost of building infrastructure for traditional planes. |
| A．It may speed up planes. |
| B．It may be used in space. |
| C．It may reduce planes’ fuel consumption. |
| D．It may be applied in infrastructure construction. |
| A．It is financially marketable. |
| B．It performs badly during the tests. |
| C．It is more expensive than traditional plane wings. |
| D．It has a long way to go before being applied in planes. |
| A．A new flexible plane wing |
| B．How plane wings work |
| C．A great change in planes |
| D．Why planes cost a lot |
3 . There are so many different methods claiming to predict marathon performance. But these are not always very accurate because predicting marathon performance is difficult. However, in our new study, we found it's possible to calculate a critical speed that we can use to predict a runner's marathon time with a good degree of accuracy.
Many things determine how fast you can run a marathon, your physical quality plays a huge role in your performance. For example, excellent marathon runners tend to be slim with long limbs. Fast marathon runners also tend to have a higher maximum rate of oxygen use (vo2 max) and can operate at a high percentage of this maximum for a long time without developing tiredness. The right shoes can make running more economical in terms of how much energy you use. And of course, choosing a flat course with ideal weather conditions can help too.
Endurance (耐久力) running is essentially determined by the fastest speed you can sustain for a given distance. or how long you can run at a given speed. This suggests there is a critical speed which, in theory, we can sustain for quite a long time. It is quite possible that the critical speed is useful for predicting endurance performance.
By analyzing training data from 25,000 athletes, we found we could estimate their critical speeds and predict their marathon performance with 92% accuracy.
We also found that, on average, runners ran the marathon at speeds around 85% of their critical speeds. Faster athletes ran their marathons at close to 93% of their critical speeds, but slower runners did so at 79% of their critical speeds. This means that using training data to estimate your critical speed, certain fitness apps on your smart watch or phone may soon be able to predict your finish time at an even higher degree of accuracy, as well as providing real-time advice about how best to pace your race.
1. What does Paragraph 2 mainly talk about?| A．Differences between excellent runners and average runners |
| B．Conditions to consider before running a marathon |
| C．Characters of successful marathon runners. |
| D．Factors affecting runners' performance. |
| A．By listing key data | B．By telling personal stories |
| C．By quoting famous runners | D．By explaining causes and effects |
| A．Different marathon runners always run at different speeds. |
| B．Marathon runners will run better with the help of some apps. |
| C．Critical speeds for runners given by fitness apps are useful. |
| D．It'll be easy to predict runners' performance with some app |
| A．A standard critical speed for marathon runners. |
| B．The inspiration gained from a marathon. |
| C．A way to predict marathon runners' performance. |
| D．The value of hard and scientific training. |
4 . Television is a central part of many people’s lives. There are very few places in the world where one cannot find a television set. Some sporting events, such as the Olympic Games or the football World Cup, can attract audiences of many millions. But is television a good or bad influence on young people in the modern world?
Thomas Murray, president of the British Parents Against Television Society, believes that it has not improved young people’s lives. “Television damages family life,” he argues. “At mealtime, families no longer talk to each other. In the evenings, youngsters do not spend good quality time with family members. Instead, they watch television.” Murray says that this lack of communication leads to social problems.
Murray also believes that the content of television programmes provides young people with poor role models. “There is so much violence(暴力) on TV—guns, kung fu fighting, and so on. Young people think that all problems should be solved by aggression.”
It is not just young people’s mental health that worries Murray. “Teenagers don’t get enough exercise because they spend so many hours watching television. They also develop back problems from sitting down for so long, and eye strain from the effort of watching.”
Murray would like to see changes to television habits. “Programmes should be educational. Their contents should be nonviolent and healthy. There should be no programmes after ten o'clock in the evening. Parents should teach their children to enjoy their spare time by playing sports or games. And certainly, the television should be switched off during meal time.
Susan Taylor is a television producer. She believes that television is a good influence on young people. “Television brings the outside world to youngsters. It even brought us pictures from the moon! And look what happens after the Olympic Games or the World Cup matches have been shown on TV. People start to take more exercise. Also, there are a lot of programmes about healthy eating and keeping fit.”
However, Taylor agrees with Murray’s point of view concerning parents. “Of course parents have a role to play in educating their kids. They should turn the TV off during mealtime and they should talk with their children as often as possible.”
1. The article is mainly about ________.| A．that TV is a central part of many people’s lives |
| B．that Murray would like to see changes to television habits |
| C．whether TV is a good or bad influence on young people in the modern world |
| D．that parents should turn the TV off during mealtime and talk with their children |
| A．Teenagers will get backache for sitting down for a long time. |
| B．Murray only worries about young people’s mental health. |
| C．TV programmes are nonviolent and educational. |
| D．Teenagers don’t like doing exercise at all. |
| A．The lack of communication. |
| B．Young people watching too much TV. |
| C．So much violence on TV. |
| D．Not enough exercise. |
| A．eye sickness | B．blindness | C．eye tiredness | D．far-sightedness |
| A．Murray is president of the British Parents Against Television Society |
| B．Susan Taylor completely disagrees with Murray on TV |
| C．there are both good and bad programmes on TV |
| D．Susan Taylor is a television producer |
