1 . After beating bone cancer, Hayley Arceneaux thinks rocketing into orbit on SpaceX’s first private flight should be no problem at all. St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital announced the 29-year-old doctor’s assistant will rocket into space later this year.
Arceneaux, a former patient at St. Jude, will become the youngest American in space, beating NASA record-holder Sally Ride by over two years. She will travel with businessman Jared Isaacman, who is using the spaceflight he bought to raise money for charity. Two other yet-to-be-chosen space flyers will join them. Arceneaux will be the first person to launch with a prosthesis an artificial device that replaces a missing or injured part of the body. When she was 10, Arceneaux had an operation at St. Jude to replace her knee and a piece of metal was put in her left leg. She still limps and has occasional leg pain.
“My battle with cancer really prepared me for space travel,” she recently told The Associated Press. “It made me tough, and then also I think it really taught me to expect the unexpected and go along for the ride.” Arceneaux wants to show her young patients and other cancer survivors that “the sky is not even the limit anymore.” “It’s going to mean so much to these kids to see a survivor in space.” she said.
Isaacman announced his space flight on February 1, promising to raise $200 million for St. Jude. As the flight’s self-appointed commander, he offered one of the four seats aboard SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft to St. Jude. The hospital chose Arceneaux from among its many workers who had once been patients. The idea was that one of them could represent the new generation, noted Rick Shadyac, president of St. Jude’s financing organization.
Arceneaux was at home in Memphis, Tennessee, when she got a surprising call in January. She was asked if she would represent St. Jude in space. As a lifelong space fan who loves adventures, Arceneaux has traveled widely and loves roller coasters. Isaacman, who flies fighter airplanes for fun, considers her a perfect fit. The launch is planned for this fall at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, with the spacecraft orbiting Earth for two to four days.
1. Which statement is true about Hayley Arceneaux?| A．She works where she used to be a patient. |
| B．She is an adventure hater. |
| C．She is the youngest American in space. |
| D．She is the first woman space flyer. |
a. She received a surprising call. b. She was diagnosed with a serious disease.
c. She was chosen to rocket into space. d. She was operated on at St.Jude.
| A．a c d b | B．b c d a | C．b d a c | D．c a b d |
| A．To carry out medical research. |
| B．To explore space. |
| C．To expect the unexpected. |
| D．To collect money. |
| A．Generous and strong. |
| B．Caring and optimistic. |
| C．Brave and honest. |
| D．Patient and representative. |
2 . Tobias Weller is nothing short of extraordinary.
At 9-years-old, he’s dealt with things most of us won’t face in our lifetimes. Simple tasks, like standing on his own two feet, are impossible for him and he requires assistance for most activities we consider basic. But Just because he’s someone who needs help, that doesn’t mean he can’t give help.
At first Tobias decided to complete a sponsored one-kilometer walk. But for some reasons, the race was canceled, and Tobias’ plans were destroyed.
The moment young Weller learned about Captain Tom, a 100-year-old British vet who has now raised 41 million dollars for charities by walking in his walker, he decided if a century-year-old man could walk for miles, he could also make it happen.
Forget the one kilometer, Tobias was going to walk a marathon—26.2 miles—in order to raise money for his two favorite charities. He went up and down his street for months. First with 50 meters a day, but as he grew stronger, the distance expanded and eventually he built up to 750 meters a day. It took him 70 days to cross that finish line, but he did it.
His mother, Ruth Garbutt, presented him with a medal as he crossed the finish line.
She said: “I’m so, so proud of Tobias. I’m bursting with pride for all he’s achieved and how hard he’s worked during the marathon…He couldn’t push the walker at the start of the marathon and now he can, he can push it on the flat and he’s proved today he can push it uphill as well.”
Honestly, just wow. The amount of pain and extreme tiredness he must have suffered during his walks is unimaginable. But he never stopped, he just kept pushing, and in the end he raised over $111, 000 for his charities.
“I’m pleased to raise loads of money. Other children who aren’t as lucky as me can benefit from the money that’s been raised.” Tobias said.
1. Tobias decided to walk a marathon mainly to ________.| A．challenge himself |
| B．strengthen his body |
| C．contribute to charities |
| D．compete with Captain Tom |
| A．It was canceled finally. |
| B．It lasted more than two months. |
| C．Tobias finished it without a walker. |
| D．Tobias was awarded the first prize. |
| A．Ambitious and calm. | B．Strong-willed and kind. |
| C．Courageous and honest. | D．Determined and cooperative. |
3 . Because the commercial internet has been developed with so little regard for privacy, tech companies have been able to turn personal data into considerable profits, raising billions of dollars off their ability to collect and sell information about anyone who has wandered within shouting distance of their software. This week, Google announced a step in the right direction-but not a huge step, nor one that will stop Google from continuing to collect immense amounts of personal data.
At issue is how online companies track internet users as they browse (浏览) from site to site online, typically through cookies (information that a website leaves in your computer so that the website will recognize you when you use it again). The most harmful version, “third-party” cookies, is the web alternative of a company posting security guards across the internet to monitor what you do, even when you’re on other companies’ sites.
Google declared in a blog post Wednesday that it would no longer use or support third-party cookies, nor would it create or use any other technology that tracks individual users across the web. Given that Google is a main supplier of online advertising technology, its change in approach will impact far and wide.
That’s welcome news, although with huge amounts of warning. As Lee Tien of the Electronic Frontier Foundation noted, third-party cookies were already on the retreat, with Apple and other makers of popular web browsers moving to block them. Meanwhile, Google, Facebook and other Big Tech companies continue to collect personal information in large quantities from people who use their sites and services through first-party cookies and similar techniques.
The concerns about personal data collection are the same whether it’s being collected through first-party or third-party techniques, said Michelle Richardson of the Center for Democracy and Technology. “Companies may use the information to discriminate among internet users, offering different goods, services and even prices to different users.”
Instead of helping advertisers track individuals, Google says, it is improving a technology that assigns users namelessly to large groups with common interests. That’s an improvement, even though it too may be at risk of abuse. But why do any form of tracking at all? Privacy advocates say pitches (兜售) can be targeted effectively by basing them on where the user is at the moment, not where he or she has browsed previously online.
Ultimately, lawmakers are going to have to lay down regulations giving people far more control over whether and how personal information is used online. Ideally the federal (联邦的) government will set a strong floor under online privacy protections, but until then it will be up to state lawmakers or voters to act, as this state has done with its groundbreaking online privacy laws. It’s good to see Google move the ball forward, but there’s much farther to go.
1. What does the underlined phrase “on the retreat” in Para 4 most probably mean?| A．Exposed. | B．Removed. | C．Emerging. | D．Fading. |
| A．is developing new technologies to stop data collection |
| B．refuses to work with companies tracking privacy |
| C．intends to abandon its advertising technologies |
| D．resolves to stop the use of third-party cookies |
| A．are still collecting personal information |
| B．are blocked by big companies like Apple |
| C．are mainly used by advertising companies |
| D．are less concerning than third-party cookies |
| A．It is less satisfactory than expected. |
| B．It needs to be more forceful to be effective. |
| C．It will accelerate the disappearance of cookies. |
| D．It has driven lawmakers to make new regulations. |
4 . Sawyer Current’s first visit to Isla Mujeres, a small island off the coast of Cancun, Mexico, was meant to be a getaway. But instead of relaxing on white sand beaches, Current was disappointed at the number of unwanted animals wandering the streets. “Dogs were everywhere, coming out of the bushes and along the sides of the road,” she recalls of that trip 25 years ago. “They were dirty and covered with fleas and scars.” “It was sad,” she says. “I just couldn’t stand to watch it.”
Current decided to help fix it. She built a second home on Isla Mujeres in 2000, and beginning with a skinny, toothless cat she rescued from the streets, she went on to find homes for more than 2,000 dogs and cats. Today, thanks to Current’s efforts, the island no longer has a wild-dog problem, and “people are more aware of their pets’ needs,” says Marcelino Velazquez, 34, a property manager from Isla Mujeres. “They vaccinate them and don’t abandon them on the streets. The way of thinking has changed.”
For Current, it was a hard-fought transformation. “At first I was angry and thought it was horrible,” Current says of the conditions on the island when she began her work. “But these weren’t bad people. They were people without resources.” When she first arrived, the community had no small-animal vet, and animal control consisted of a team of government workers who’d round up street dogs in a truck and kill them. “I used to follow the truck, and when they’d go for lunch, I’d let the dogs out,” she says. “One time I let the air out of their tires.”
At one point she was caring for more than 65 rescued dogs in her home, and she estimates she has spent about $1 million of her own savings on her efforts. “It was exhausting,” she admits. Now Isla Animals has an on-site shelter with a small staff, and many volunteers and donors among the island’s tourists. Each year the group re-homes more than 170 pets, many of which fly with volunteers to families in the U.S. and Canada.
“There’s nothing in the world like finding a starving dog, nursing it back to good health and finding it a loving home,” Current says.
1. What made Current feel disappointed with the island?| A．Insects biting people. | B．People without resources. |
| C．Houses in poor conditions. | D．Animals abandoned in the streets. |
| A．To show the local people how to solve their problems. |
| B．To draw public attention to what she was doing. |
| C．To stop the workers from killing the animals. |
| D．To help the government punish bad people. |
| A．Loving. | B．Ambitious. | C．Intelligent. | D．Cautious. |
5 . My Biggest Challenge
As a writer on an adventure sports magazine, I’d always fought shy of doing the adventurous stuff myself, preferring instead to observe the experts from a safe distance and relay their experiences to readers in the form of written language. Thus, when I was challenged to take part in a mountain climb in aid of raising money for charity — and to write about it afterwards — I was unwilling, to say the least.
I was lucky enough to have a brilliant climbing coach called Keith, who put me through my paces after my daily work. He gave me knowledge about everything from the importance of building muscle groups to how to avoid tiredness through nutrition. It quickly became apparent that the mechanics of climbing were more complex than I had imagined. There was the equipment and techniques I’d never even heard of, all of which would come in handy on the snow-capped peak I’d be climbing.
Aware of the challenge, Keith made a detailed action plan and I forced myself to stick to it, doing a daily workout at the gym and going on hikes with a heavy pack. I perfected my technique on the climbing wall and even went to climb the mountains to get vital experience. My self-belief increased alongside my muscle power and I became confident about finishing the climb.
All too soon I was on a plane to my destination. On that day, when I looked up at the mountain, I thought of abandoning it. But then I remembered all the hard work I’d done and how disappointed Keith would be if I gave up at the last minute-not to mention letting down the charity and the sense of failure I’d experience myself. With a deep breath I gathered my equipment and headed out into the sunshine to meet the rest of the group.
And as I sit here now, tapping away on my laptop, I’m amazed at the details in which I can recall every second of the climb: the burning muscles, the tiredness, the minor problems along the way. Could I have been better prepared? Possibly. Would I be back for another go? Thankfully not. The feeling of being excited when I stood on top of the world is a never-to-be-repeated experience but one I will enjoy forever nevertheless.
1. At the beginning of the activity, the author revealed his ______.| A．disappointment in the coming adventure. |
| B．expectation of writing about his experience. |
| C．lack of enthusiasm for the challenge he’d been offered. |
| D．curiosity about taking part in the mountain climb for charity. |
| A．The knowledge about climbing was really confusing. |
| B．The equipment was the key factor to reach the peak. |
| C．Climbing was much more complicated than expected. |
| D．Hard training was far more important than making plans. |
| A．He was relieved that he wouldn’t have to do it again. |
| B．He was well satisfied that he had done his best for it. |
| C．He was surprised that he had managed to complete it. |
| D．He was regretful that it wasn’t as smooth as imagined. |
6 . Sevenhugs HugOne
Do you want to improve the quality of your sleep? Sevenhugs has created HugOne that tracks different sleep patterns to help families consistently rest better. There are dozens of devices and tools devoted to monitoring the sleep. But, HugOne is the world’s first family smart home sleep system, which integrates a calculation rule for sleep patterns of children and adults.
HugOne is a well-designed product, full of a sense of science and technology. It connects to a number of smaller sensors called “minihugs”, which are placed on the edge of each bed. They monitor the sleep patterns and other data coming from the person sleeping in that bed. The data are then sent to an app on the smartphone.
● The benefits of HugOne include:
* Having a smart alarm clock on the app as HugOne learns your sleep cycle and automatically sets and sounds to when the best moment in your sleep cycle is identified.
* Monitoring temperature and humidity in your bedroom as well as indoor air quality for the main living space.
* Linking with smart lamps and thermostats, allowing users to fall asleep with sunset light and preferred nighttime temperatures, and wake up to sunrise light and preferred daytime temperatures.
* Ensuring safety from electronic transmissions when you sleep-when the minihug senses a presence in bed, it shuts off its electronic transmissions and starts recording sleep data and sending them to the app.
● The following are selected from customers’ comments:
I prefer HugOne, since it’s convenient to use. I simply place the minihug in the corner of my bed under the sheet and it goes to work monitoring my sleep cycle. It’s really good.
—Robert Compton
● HugOne available for purchase includes:
I think HugOne is a humanized product. It’s shareable, and I’ve connected eight minihugs to the HugOne base in my house. All my family members think highly of it.
—Chris Hanawalt
HugOne will provide maximum protection for your sleep. If you want to get more detailed information, please call the sellers at 1-800-576-1899 or visit devicesforbettersleep.com.
Style: Sleep Tracking System ＋ 2 Sleep Sensors
Colour: Blue ＋ Rose
1. How does HugOne effectively work?| A．It controls sleep patterns automatically. | B．It creates smart systems for a better sleep. |
| C．It collects sleep data through the minihugs. | D．It makes a calculation of the data sensors need. |
| A．adjust temperature, humidity and air quality in bedrooms |
| B．update the sleep cycles by aid of an alarm clock on the app |
| C．record sleep data when there are electronic transmissions in bed |
| D．help users fall asleep and wake up naturally with preferred temperatures |
| A．providing statistics | B．drawing a comparison |
| C．giving a demonstration | D．using recommendations |
7 . Aubrey is a FedEx driver who has made regular delivery stops in a rural neighborhood in Indiana. During her stops there, she would see an 11-year-old boy, Elijah, playing basketball with an old and rusty bent hoop.
"It was crazy to me how happy he was with the broken hoop. Every time I saw him, he was so joyful playing basketball. Seeing him so happy stuck with me," said Aubrey.
The FedEx driver thought about Elijah many times over the months, and decided that she wanted to bless him in a special way. "I just wouldn't stop thinking about it. I really wanted to get him a hoop. He deserves it."
Aubrey went out and bought a new basketball hoop and installed it when the family wasn't home. She left a note that read: "Just wanted you and your son to have the best hoop that'll grow with him and all his friends." She signed herself "just one of the FedEx drivers in the area".
"I read the note, and the moment I realized who it was from, I started to cry," said Coledo, Elijah's mom. "When Elijah came home and I showed it to him, he got really emotional. He got teary-eyed but he's an 11-year-old boy, so he really didn't want to admit he was crying," laughed Coledo. "He just sat there for 10 minutes staring at the hoop until it really touched him that she went out of her way to do something just for him."
Aubrey had no idea how much her surprise gift had impacted Elijah and his family. They all had gone through a difficult year with Coledo's husband suffering a serious injury, and Coledo crashing her car. "It's just been a hard year. We're so humbled and grateful she would do this for us. This has been a huge thing for us," said Coledo.
When Aubrey made another FedEx delivery to their neighborhood, Elijah saw her, ran to her and hugged her. Elijah also gave Aubrey a card he made for her. And he invited her to play a game of basketball with him and his younger brother.
"It was almost like we'd always known each other. I really bonded with the boys," said Aubrey. "I'm just really happy they know that someone is out there for them."
1. Aubrey bought Elijah a new basketball hoop because ________.| A．she wanted to make a friend using a surprise gift |
| B．she was eager to donate to children in the rural area |
| C．she was impressed by Elijah's passion for basketball |
| D．she thought Elijah was unhappy with the broken hoop |
| A．Touched. | B．Satisfied. | C．Relaxed. | D．Honored. |
| A．It helped Elijah achieve his dream. |
| B．It reduced the family's financial burden. |
| C．It gave the family warmth at a difficult time. |
| D．It encouraged Elijah to bond with the other boys. |
8 . An 8-year-old boy I know is small for his age, shorter and slighter than his friends, even smaller than his 5-year-old sister. Concerned about the increasing use and possible risks of growth hormone(生长激素), I asked his mother if she’d considered treating him with it. She replied, “Not really. He’s built like his father, who was short and slight as a boy and didn’t shoot up until college.”
His father, at 41, is now 6 feet tall, though still very slender. He recalls being a reasonably athletic child but without the physical power of his friends, making up for what he lacked in mass with speed and agility. “I enjoyed competitive sports and worked on skills others didn’t have,” he told me, and said he encourages his son to recognize and capitalize on the skills he has.
If only every parent with a short but healthy child approached the matter as sensibly. Experts estimate that 60% to 80% of children who are short for their age do not have a growth hormone deficiency(缺乏) or other medical condition that limits growth. But knowing there’s a therapy available to increase height, some parents seek a medical solution for a perceived problem, even when there is no medical abnormality. They should also know, however, that new research has linked growth hormone treatment to serious unfavorable health effects years later.
Dr. Adda Grimberg, a doctor at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, recalled that “Twenty years ago, families were focused on health. They came in with a child who was not growing right and wanted to know if there was an underlying disease. Now, more and more, they’re focused on height. They want growth hormone, looking for a specific height. But this is not like online shopping; you can’t just place an order and make a child the height you want.”
In 2003, the Food and Drug Administration approved use of recombinant human growth hormone for the condition known as “idiopathic short stature”, or short build of unknown cause, which is not a disease. But it has caused a growing number of parents to consider using the hormone to boost the height of their children.
The resulting rush to therapy reflects concerns about a widespread societal bias(偏见) against shortness, rather than a true medical need. Experts have noted that the practice backs up the belief that short stature is unacceptable, leading to an increasing demand for therapy. It is far better, Dr. Grimberg suggested, to help a short child develop coping skills than to buy inches through medicine.
1. As for the parents’ attitude to their 8-year-old boy’s shortness, the author is ________.| A．critical | B．tolerant | C．supportive | D．worried |
| A．They are eager to get the expected result. |
| B．They spare no effort to sort out the cause. |
| C．They feel disturbed by their children’s health. |
| D．They help develop their children’s coping skills. |
| A．It might be officially recommended. |
| B．It may fuel height discrimination. |
| C．It is pushed by a medical need. |
| D．It is targeted at certain diseases. |
| A．Shower the Short with Growth Hormones |
| B．Find Replacement for Growth Hormones |
| C．Assess the Effects of Growth Hormones |
| D．Weigh the Use of Growth Hormones |
9 . For people who struggle to read text, technology can be a lifeline. Actually, assistive technology (AT) tools for reading can also be useful to students who just need some extra assistance to aid reading fluency or comprehension. These tools are inexpensive and easy to find. They open up the wonderful world of reading, making text accessible to students of all abilities. But with so many tools out there, it’s not always easy to know which ones to use.
To help, here’s a guide to some best ones.
Graphic organizers
They are visual representations, like diagrams and mind maps, of ideas and concepts. You can use graphic organizers to help with comprehension while reading. Graphic organizers can be digital or pen and paper.
Annotation aids
They let you take notes and write comments while reading. This can make it easier to keep information. Annotation aids can be part of software or apps, or they can be traditional pens, markers, and sticky notes.
Display control
It allows you to control how text is displayed. When reading on a screen, you can change the font(字体), font size, and spacing of text. You can also cover parts of the screen to lessen distractions(干扰) while reading.
Text-to-speech (TTS)
It lets you see text and hear it read aloud at the same time. To use this tool, you click on words, and you’ll hear the words read by computer-generated voices. You can even read after it and record your own voice. TTS can also be used to change any digital text files into audio files.
Optical character recognition (OCR)
It can read aloud text from images and pictures. You can use OCR by taking photos of worksheets, paper documents, and even objects like street signs. Like TTS, OCR uses computer-generated voices.
Keep in mind that using AT reading tools won’t prevent people from learning to read. For example, experts say audiobooks can actually help kids become better readers.
1. If a reader prefers taking his feelings down while reading, he’d better use ________.| A．graphic organizers | B．annotation aids |
| C．display control | D．text-to-speech |
| A．Changing file types. | B．Editing photos of documents. |
| C．Reading words in pictures. | D．Using computer-generated voices. |
| A．accessible and beneficial | B．expensive but worthwhile |
| C．helpful and energy-efficient | D．innovative but complicated |
10 . About IVHQ
At International Volunteer HQ, we bring people from all walks of life together to make a difference on the adventure of a lifetime. Established in 2007, we have grown to become the world’s leading volunteer travel company, working in over 50 destinations around the world and placing thousands of volunteers abroad every year.
We’re focused on providing affordable volunteer travel experiences that are responsible, safe and high quality. Our programs heighten global awareness and cultural understanding through the skills and expertise taken by volunteers to their host communities, and through the experiences and lessons that volunteers take back to their own countries and cultures.
How IVHQ Works
IVHQ provides affordable volunteer programs by partnering with organizations based in each of our program countries. We believe this is the best approach to international volunteering.
First, local organizations are in the best position to see where volunteers are genuinely needed. The staff in these organizations are locals, they have been raised in the area and know it inside and out.
Second, partnering with local organizations reduces the costs associated with hosting volunteers, making programs more affordable. This means more people are enabled to volunteer and that enables greater social outcomes to be achieved.
Why Volunteer Abroad with IVHQ
Having supported thousands of people to volunteer abroad since 2007, IVHQ is proud to be the most popular volunteer travel organization for international volunteers. One of the major strengths of IVHQ is our careful selection process in choosing our partner organizations and the high quality volunteer programs that we offer through these partners. Every program that IVHQ offers has been personally inspected by IVHQ. We have experienced the programs first-hand, we have assessed the local teams and we have provided comprehensive IVHQ training to all of our local teams.
How to Get Started
Want to make a difference? Click this simple step-by-step guide to choose the perfect volunteer program and secure your place with IVHQ. We’re here for you from start to finish.
1. According to the passage, we can learn that IVHQ ________.| A．is the largest and most popular international adventure agency |
| B．has helped promote international cultural exchange and understanding |
| C．is experienced and has already made huge profits since it was established |
| D．has provided various and expensive volunteer programs all over the world |
| A．Comprehensive and practical. | B．Reliable and affordable. |
| C．Environmental friendly and cheap. | D．High-quality and adventurous. |
| A．A fashion magazine. | B．A science newspaper. |
| C．A website. | D．A guide booklet. |
