1 . Bricks are one of the oldest known building materials, dating back thousands of years. But researchers at Washington University in St. Louis have found a new use for bricks: as energy storage units. A team of engineers and chemists have found a way to transform an ordinary house brick into a pseudo-battery — allowing it to conduct and store electricity. The bricks are powerful enough to illuminate（点亮）an LED light bulb and cost only about $ 3 to make.
“I love the idea of adding value to things that are inexpensive, things that are affordable, things that we kind of take for granted, ”said Julio D’Arcy, an assistant professor of chemistry at Washington University and one of the researchers on this project.
The brick battery relies on the reddish pigment（色素）known as iron oxide, or rust, that gives red bricks their color. The scientists pumped the bricks with several gases that react with iron oxide to produce a network of plastic fibers. These microscopic fibers coat the empty spaces inside the bricks — and conduct electricity.
“What we’re trying to do is: we’re trying to make specialized plastics that are only used on the nano（纳米）scale — where we use very little of the plastic, and we can actually insert that plastic inside construction materials. ” The study is in the journal Nature Communications.
In the future, D’Arcy says, a brick wall could potentially serve a double purpose: providing structural support and storing electricity generated from renewable energy sources, such as solar panels.
The technology is still at least a few years away from being ready for the commercial market. And right now the energy storage capacity of the bricks is still pretty low — about 1 percent of a lithium battery. But the team is now testing ways to improve brick performance — because it looks like you can teach an old brick new tricks.
1. What appeals to Julio D’Arcy listing bricks as their subjects?| A．Their low expense. | B．Their common existence. |
| C．Their additional value. | D．Their internal composition. |
| A．Pump the brick with gases. |
| B．Color the brick red. |
| C．Produce microscopic fibers. |
| D．Cover its inner vacancy with microscopic fibers. |
| A．Construction materials possessing low energy storage capacity. |
| B．Construction materials generating renewable energy resources. |
| C．Construction materials used for electricity storage. |
| D．Construction materials with built-in common plastic. |
| A．Skeptical. | B．Objective. |
| C．Conservative. | D．Controversial. |
2 . Joseph Banks was born on 13 February 1743 in London．His passion for botany began at school．From 1760 to 1763 he studied at Oxford University, during which time he received a great deal of fortune．In 1766 Banks traveled to Newfoundland and Labrador, collecting plant and other specimens（标本）．The same year he was elected a fellow of the Royal Society．
In 1768 he joined the Society's expedition, led by Captain James Cook, to explore the uncharted lands of the South Pacific．The expedition circumnavigated（环航） the globe and visited South America, Tahiti, New Zealand, Australia and Java．Banks collected a great number of specimens on the way and, on his return, his scientific account of the voyage and its discoveries sparked considerable interest across Europe．
Banks was interested in plants that could be used for practical purposes and be introduced into other countries for possible commercial use．After he became president of the Royal Society in 1778, he promoted the career of many scientists and in his capacity as director of the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew, sent many botanists abroad to find new plants and extend the Gardens' collection．
In 1781 Banks was made a baronet （准男爵）, and in 1795 received the order of Knight Commander of the Bath; two years later he was admitted to the Privy Council（枢密院）．In 1793 his name was given to the Banks Islands, a volcanic group of islands near Vanuatu in the Pacific．These were explored and named by Captain Bligh-Banks had helped arrange a previous expedition of Bligh's．Banks died on 19 June 1820．
1. Please choose the correct order about what happened to Jose Banks．a．He received the order of Knight Commander of the Bath．
b．He sent many botanists abroad to find new plants．
c．He joined the Society's expedition．
d．He elected a fellow of the Royal Society．
| A．c, d, a, b | B．d, c, b, a | C．d, b, c, a | D．c, d, b, a |
| A．showed | B．amused | C．caused | D．declared |
| A．Adventurous． | B．Humorous． | C．Demanding． | D．Skeptical． |
| A．Because he visited the islands． |
| B．Because he was admitted to the Privy Council． |
| C．Because he had close relationship with Captain Bligh． |
| D．Because he had helped arrange a previous expedition of Bligh's． |
3 . Shoppers in the United States have many different retail stores(零售店)to choose from. You can shop at large department stores, furniture stores，jewelry stores, electronic equipment stores and many others. Another type of retail store—the catalog(目录) store, has become popular in the U.S.
Catalog stores offer much of the same goods as traditional retail stores. However, in these stores, shoppers select the items they wish to buy from large catalogs that are filled with photos and descriptions of all the different goods. The variety of products listed in the catalogs includes everything from baby clothing to video equipment and watches. The prices of these items are very low. In fact, the same items often cost more in other retail stores. And that’s the reason many people prefer to shop in catalog stores.
Catalog stores usually don't have many salespeople, so customers can’t expect to receive much help from them. Customers need to know about the features and the quality of the items they wish to buy before they shop, since there isn’t much opportunity to ask questions or examine the product in the store.However, catalog stores offer quality items at lower prices, and consumers seem to like this.
When shoppers go to a catalog store, if they are interested in purchasing an item, they need to follow this simple procedure.
●First, they go to a counter to find the store’s catalog.
●They look in the catalog to find the exact item they wish to buy.
●Then, they fill out an order form with the name of the item, the item number from the catalog, the price, and their name and address.
●After completing the form, the customer gives it to a salesperson, who checks to see if the item is in stock.
If the item is available, the stockroom sends it on a conveyor belt(输送带)to the pick-up counter. When the item arrives at the pick-up counter, the customer’s name is called, and the customer pays for the item.
The whole procedure usually takes ten to twenty minutes. If the item isn’t available, the salesperson can usually check the store’s computer and find out when it will be in stock again.
1. What is the difference between the traditional retail stores and the catalog stores?| A．The prices of products in catalog stores are higher. |
| B．Shoppers select the items they need from large catalogs. |
| C．Catalog Stores offer more products than the traditional stores. |
| D．Catalog stores usually offer all the services that regular retail stores do. |
| A．become salespeople now |
| B．do the same as in retail stores |
| C．have more chances to examine the goods |
| D．should know the information of the goods ahead |
| A．offer quality goods at lower prices |
| B．have many salespersons for service |
| C．can help save much time when doing shopping |
| D．offer the exact items the customer wishes to purchase |
①Check the catalog to select the items.
②Fill out the order form.
③Wait at the pick-up counter.
④Find a catalog at a counter.
⑤Find a salesperson to cheek the form.
| A．④—①—③—⑤—② | B．①—④—②—③—⑤ |
| C．④—①—②—⑤—③ | D．④—②—⑤—③—① |
4 . My father, who was always drunk and angry, beat me more and more every day. He always locked the door when he went away and kept the key in his pocket. One day I found an old saw (锯子) that he hid in the roof. When I was alone in the house, I started to make a hole on the floor under the big table.
The next day my father said, "Huck, go to the river and catch some fish for breakfast. Quickly! And don't try anything. Remember, I’m watching you!"
While I was fishing by the river, I saw an empty boat nearby.
"A boat!" I thought, happily, "This is my chance to escape. I'll hide the boat near some trees and use it tonight!"
When my father went to town that afternoon, I got my saw and started to work on the hole. It was late afternoon when I finished making the hole.
"I did a good job, "I thought, looking at the hole. "Now I'll get my father's gun. I have a plan. "
I looked outside the window and there was nobody there. I quickly escaped through the hole. Then I ran into the woods to hunt a wild pig. Luckily, I found one. I shot it and took it back to the house and let the pig's blood fall on the wooden floor of the house. Then I pulled some of my hair out and put it on my father's ax (斧子)with some of the pig's blood.
I took the pig's body outside and put it in a big bag with some rocks, and threw it into the river.
"This way people will think ▲ !" I thought. "They'll come and look for my body in the river." This idea made me smile.
I waited until it was dark and got into the boat and went to Jackson's Island. I knew about Jackson's Island because Tom, Ben, Joe and I had a lot of fun adventures there.
(Adapted from The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain）
1. What's the correct order of the following?①Huck hid a boat. ②Huck found a saw. ③Huck went fishing. ④Huck killed a wild pig.
| A．①④②③ | B．③②①④ | C．②①③④ | D．②③①④ |
| A．my father went away and I'm sad | B．the pig's blood is mine and I'm dead |
| C．I killed the wild pig and I'm brave | D．my friends helped me and I'm lucky |
| A．meet his friends | B．look for the treasure |
| C．take an adventure | D．escape from his father |
| A．Brave and clever. | B．Funny and helpful. |
| C．Lazy and careless. | D．Boring and stupid. |
5 . Zoos have been around for centuries — and they’ve changed a lot over the years. In the Middle Ages, wealthy people kept animals in their gardens. Public animal parks appeared in European cities in the late 1700s and early 1800s. The Philadelphia Zoo, the first in the United States, opened in 1874.
Until a few decades (十年) ago, most zoos were organized by creatures — monkeys in one area, cats in another, birds somewhere else, just like museum collections. In recent years, zoos have instead begun grouping animals that would normally interact (互相作用) in the wild. Moreover, instead of closing animals behind bars, designers are creating landscapes like the environments in which these creatures would naturally be found. Nearby signs provide information about the animals and their habitats in parts of the world where they normally live.
The Denver Zoo’s new Predator Ridge exhibit, for example, aims to teach visitors about Africa. Eight acres of land provide homes for 14 animal species, including lions, porcupines, cranes, and wild dogs. Plants from the region grow alongside African-like landform. Ten-foot-tall mounds (土墩) give lions a place from which to survey their surroundings, just as they would do in the wild.
Landscape design makes visitors to the Denver Zoo’s Predator Ridge exhibit feel like they’re really in Africa.
Animals in Predator Ridge can’t actually be mixed with one another, for safety reasons. But hidden deep channels and other smart features allow visitors to see all the animals at once. Different species can see each other too.
1. What is the passage mainly about?| A．The safety problem of zoos. |
| B．The living habits of zoo animals. |
| C．Changes of zoos over the time. |
| D．Protection of zoo animals. |
a. Different species were kept in a group.
b. Zoos were organized by species.
c. Natural environments were created in zoos.
d. Animals were kept in people’s gardens.
| A．b; d; c; a | B．d; a; c; b | C．b; d; a; c | D．d; b; a; c |
| A．protect the safety of visitors |
| B．create a natural environment for lions |
| C．separate lions from other animals |
| D．offer visitors a better view of lions |
| A．the Denver Zoo | B．the Predator Ridge exhibit |
| C．Africa | D．the ten-foot-tall mounds |
| A．the earliest zoos were probably rich people’s gardens |
| B．the Philadelphia Zoo is the first zoo in the world |
| C．the new Predator Ridge exhibit is held in Africa |
| D．more animals will be kept in zoos in the future |
6 . If you exhibit positive characteristics such as honesty and helpfulness, the chances are that you will be thought as a good-looking person, for a new study has found that the perception (认知) of physical attractiveness is influenced by a person's personality.
The study, which was led by Gary W. Lewandowski, has found that people who exhibit negative characteristics, such as unfairness and rudeness, appear to be less physically attractive to observers. In the study, the participants viewed photographs of opposite-sex individuals and rated them for attractiveness before and after being provided with information about their personalities.
After personality information was received, participants also rated the probability of each individual's becoming a friend and a dating partner. Information on personality was found to significantly change the probability, showing that cognitive (认知的) processes modify (修改) judgments of attractiveness.
"Thinking a person as having a desirable personality makes the person more suitable in general as a close relationship partner of any kind," said Lewandowski.
The findings show that a positive personality leads to greater expectation of becoming friends, which leads to greater expectation of becoming romantic partners and, finally, to being viewed as more physically attractive. The findings remained consistent regardless of how "attractive" the individual was formerly thought to be or of the participants' current relationship status.
"This research provides a positive outcome by reminding people that personality goes a long way toward determining your attractiveness; it can even change people's impressions of how good-looking you are," said Lewandowski.
1. In the study the participants were required to ______.| A．try to make friends with each other |
| B．try to prove positive characters make people more attractive |
| C．exhibit negative characters such as unfairness and rudeness |
| D．rate one's attractiveness by photos before and after knowing her or his personality |
a. find a person with a positive personality
b. view the person more physically, attractive
c. want to make friends with the person
d. want to be his/her romantic partner
| A．a→c→d→b | B．d→c→b→a |
| C．c→b→a→d | D．a→d→c→b |
| A．The research reminds people to pay more attention to the personality. |
| B．Personality can change people's impressions of one's appearance. |
| C．The judgment of one's attractiveness always stays unchanged. |
| D．Positive personality may lead to more friends. |
| A．subjective | B．objective | C．skeptical | D．negative |
7 . Curtis Whitson knew the water fall was coming. He'd rafted down the Arroyo Seco, a river in central California, before. But this year was different. Heavy snow and spring rains had turned the usually manageable falls into something fierce. And this year, instead of his friends, Whitson's companions were his wife, Krystal Ramirez, and his 13-year-old son, Hunter. As the three of them approached the falls late in the afternoon of the third day of their camping trip, Whitson could tell from the increasing roar of water in the narrow canyon that they were in serious trouble. There was no way they’d be able to rappel down(绕绳下降) the rocks as planned.
“The water was just gushing through there with tremendous force,” recalls Whitson.
They could wade to the shore, but would anyone find them there? They had no mobile phone service, and they hadn’t seen a single person in the past three days.
As he considered what to do, Whitson hit on a bit of luck-he heard voices coming from the other side of the falls. He yelled, but the sound of the rushing water drowned him out.
We have to get these people a message, Whitson thought.
Then he spotted his green Nalgene water bottle. Whitson grabbed it and carved “Help!” on it. Ramirez also reminded him that he had a pen and paper, which she'd brought to play games with, in his backpack. Whitson knew it was a long shot. But he scrawled “We are stuck here at the waterfall. Get help please!” and pushed the note into the bottle, throwing it over the waterfall perfectly.
“All right, that’s all we can do,” Whitson told Hunter.
It took 30 minutes to navigate back upstream to the beach where they made a fire. With no reasonable expectation that their message in a bottle would find its way to anyone, they spelled out SOS in white rocks. As the evening wore on, they placed a headlamp with a flashing light on a ledge (岩石突出部) . Then, just after midnight, they heard a helicopter hovering above them. Whitson ran over to the headlamp and started flashing it at the helicopter. He, Ramirez, and Hunter were waving and hollering when they heard the magic words: “This is Search and Rescue. You have been found.”
It was a moment of pure happiness as the three chatted with the officers who had rescued them. Together, they marveled at the unlikelihood of it all. Two men had seen the water bottle in the water. When they picked it up, they noticed the writing on it - “Help!”.
A few days after news of the rescue broke, one of the hikers contacted Whitson.
That’s when he learned the story. There were actually two little girls hiking with the men that day. It was the girls who first spotted the bottle and swam to get it. Whitson is planning on having a big barbecue to meet the hikers-and thank them.
1. Which was NOT the trouble the Whitsons faced?| A．The water falls were fierce. |
| B．There was no mobile phone service. |
| C．All of them were not experienced in rafting. |
| D．They had to rappel down the rocks. |
① They spelled out SOS on the rocks.
② Whitson squeezed the note “Get help please” into the bottle.
③ Whitson yelled to the other side of the falls.
④ Whitson carved “help” on his green bottle.
| A．③④②① | B．②③④① | C．①④③② | D．④③②① |
| A．It is a fantastic idea. | B．It’s a big challenge. |
| C．It’s a wild attempt. | D．It’s a long exploration. |
| A．to celebrate their survival |
| B．to show gratitude to the hikers |
| C．to have a family union |
| D．to meet and thank the rescue officers |
8 . Rocky was a 65-pound dog. Rita was his eleven-year old owner. When Rocky was given to her, Rita immediately liked him. Whenever she was not in school,the two were always together and within touching distance. The family would lovingly call the pair “R and R".
But Rocky had one shortcoming. He feared water very much because of a terrible experience. When he was at the age of seven weeks long before he met Rita,he was nearly drowned by a naughty boy who had been blamed by his father.
One late afternoon,Rita's mother took R and R to a shopping area near a lake. Rita was running along the wooden bridge over the water,enjoying the beautiful scenery around. Suddenly a boy on a bicycle hit Rita. She let out a cry of pain and fell into the lake.
Rita's mother was at the entrance of a store not far away. She rushed to the lake shouting for help. Rocky seemed to forget his fear and jumped into the water to save his owner. Rocky immediately swam to Rita and held her by the shoulder's clothes with his mouth. Rita's face was quickly out of the water and she could cough.Luckily,the water was calm,they were not far from the bank,and Rocky finally reached a depth where his feet were on solid ground. He pulled Rita hard until her head was completely out of the water, and then he stood beside her, licking(舔） her face.
Rita and her family firmly believed that it was only the big dog's love for the little girl that caused him to take action that might be life-dangerous.
1. From the text, we know .| A．Rita was once blamed |
| B．Rocky was eleven years old |
| C．Rita spent her spare time with Rocky |
| D．Rocky lived in Rita's home since his birth |
| A．Brave. | B．Honest. | C．Unkind. | D．Dangerous. |
| A．At noon. | B．At night. | C．In the morning. | D．In the afternoon. |
① Rocky came into Rita's life.② Rocky was nearly drowned.
③ They were playing near the lake. ④ Rocky saved Rita from the water.
| A．①②④③ | B．②①③④ | C．③①②④ | D．④③②① |
| A．It is love that can defeat fear when in danger. |
| B．It is life-dangerous for children to be left alone. |
| C．Anyone who treats animals badly should be blamed. |
| D．Children should be encouraged to keep a pet as a friend. |
9 . When I was young at school, I loved to talk, which was not appreciated by Miss Jordan, my tenth-grade English teacher.
She wasn't a popular teacher because she was not good-looking and was so strict. Whenever she got upset, she would lower her head and look at you over the top of her glasses.
One day in her class, while I was busy talking, I didn't realize that she had stopped teaching. She stared straight at me. “Young lady, I would like to see you after school.”
For punishment she told me to write a thousand-word essay on education and it must be handed in by the following Wednesday. Well, that day came. I wasn't worried. It was a good paper. And I expected praise from her. The next day, however, she called me forward, looking at me over her glasses, and returned my paper. "Go back and rewrite. Remember, each paragraph must have a topic sentence." Then came the second time, the grammar. The third time, the spelling. The fourth time, the punctuation. The fifth, it wasn't neat enough. I was sick.
The sixth time, I rewrote the whole paper slowly, in ink, leaving generous space. Seeing it, she removed her glasses and smiled. She finally accepted the paper. After that, I put the whole thing out of my mind.
Two or three months passed, one day Miss Jordan said to us, “Class, do you still remember an essay contest held citywide? They have announced the winners. Yes, Mary has won the first prize."
I was amazed! It was the first time I had won a prize. Years later, I told a reporter the story and expressed my great thanks to Miss Jordan. Soon after that, I got a letter from Miss Jordan, and it said, "What I did wasn't that important. What mattered was the lesson you had learnt. When you wrote and rewrote that paper for me, you began to learn how to discipline yourself.”
1. What made Miss Jordan unhappy with the author?| A．She often lowered her head in class. | B．She always talked too much in class. |
| C．She often made her classmates upset. | D．She often laughed at Miss Jordan's glasses. |
①Grammar. ②Punctuation. ③Topic sentence. ④Spelling. ⑤Neatness.
| A．③②①⑤④ | B．③①⑤②④ | C．③①④②⑤ | D．③⑤④②① |
| A．Active and open-minded. | B．Honest but cold-blooded. |
| C．Energetic and kind-hearted. | D．Strict but broad-minded. |
| A．A naughty girl | B．A good lesson in life |
| C．An essay contest | D．A terrible memory in mind |
| A．No pains, no gains. | B．Love me, love my dog. |
| C．All roads lead to Rome. | D．Two heads are better than one. |
10 . On a trip to India in 2012, Anirudh Sharma took a photo of a diesel generator (柴油发电机) blowing black soot (烟灰) against a white wall. That dark stain made Sharma, who was then a student in the Media Lab of Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), think seriously about pollution—and also about coloring matters, like ink.
The black ink we use in our pens or in inkjet printers is essentially from soot. The technical term for the substance is “carbon black”, and it is the powder that remains after burning coal or oil. The powder is mixed with other chemicals to turn it into smooth, flowing black ink.
“So, if you can do it with soot, can we do the same with air pollution?” Sharma explains. “The black ink in the pen you use is made by burning fossil fuels. But you shouldn’t need to burn new fossil fuels just to make ink. Fossil fuels are already being burned.” If he could find a way, he thought, to catch the soot that produced that stain on the wall in his photograph, he could not only reduce the amount of pollution released into the air, but also turn it into something new, or perhaps something beautiful.
In 2014, following the completion of his Master’s degree at MIT, Sharma returned to India to focus fully on developing what would become a product called AIR-INK, the first commercial ink made entirely from air pollution. He and his team built a lab in a small garage in Bangalore to create a device that could catch air pollution at the source, in engines or factory machinery.
They first developed a filtering device called Kaalink that consisted of a steel container that could be attached to an exhaust pipe. Now Kaalink can filter air pollution from almost any source, and turn it into soot, which is then processed to form ink that can be used in AIR-INK pens and markers. Each marker holds about 30 milliliters of AIR-INK, which is equal to approximately 45 minutes of diesel car pollution.
The inventor would like AIR-INK to have practical applications, like in inkjet printers in offices, newsprint, or textbooks. “We’ve set up industries for our comfort, but the environment has to bear the price of it.” Sharma explains, adding that AIR-INK isn’t a complete solution to the world’s pollution problem. “It’s a start, and it can inspire several others to start looking at new forms of waste that are lying outside, unused.”
1. What inspired Sharma to make ink out of air pollution?| A．A photo he took in India. | B．The lack of ink in his studies. |
| C．The serious pollution in the U.S.. | D．His experiments in the laboratory. |
| A．It is a useful kind of fuel. | B．It is the main air pollutant. |
| C．It is the key component of ink. | D．It is usually in the form of a liquid. |
| A．Soot→exhaust pipe→Kaalink→AIR-INK | B．Soot→Kaalink→exhaust pipe→AIR-INK |
| C．Air pollutants→soot→Kaalink→AIR-INK | D．Air pollutants→Kaalink→soot→AIR-INK |
| A．It needs more tests. | B．It is costly but practical. |
| C．It helps raise environmental awareness. | D．It has gained the admiration of other inventors. |
