1 . 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 |
2 . Plastic garbage is one of the world’s biggest environmental headaches. Some plastic items like water bottles and shopping bags can last for hundreds of years after being thrown away, with all this plastic rubbish disrupting ecosystems and disturbing the habitats of wildlife.
There have been several projects to help control plastic production, but researchers may have found a natural way to get rid of the products.
Waxworms, which are confusingly classed as caterpillars(毛毛虫), are the honey bee’s worst nightmares, as they lay their eggs inside their hives(蜂巢). Amateur beekeeper Federica Bertocchini decided to use plastic bags to protect the hives, however she was dumbfounded when she discover the insects were able to eat holes into the sides of the bags.
The beekeeper’s surprising findings sparked a study. Bertocchini, from the Spanish National Research Council, teamed up with scientists from Cambridge University to perform some tests.
When the team put about one hundred waxworms into a standard UK plastic shopping bag, they began feasting. After about 12 hours they’d eaten roughly 92 milligrams of the bag.
In all, this isn’t huge amount, but it’s a lot faster than other natural ways. Last year, researchers found a specific type of bacteria( 细 菌 )could eat plastic, but at a rate of 0. 13 milligrams a day, making this is a massive jump in the search for a natural way to dispose(处理) plastic.
The team is still not 100 percent sure how the worms do what they do, but they’re heralding this as an important first step to get rid of pollution.
Luckily, while that team works out the answer, plastic manufacturers have found a way to make their products much more environmentally friendly. There are three types of environmentally friendly plastics: bioplastics(which are made from corn starch), biodegradable plastics(which break down quicker) and recycled plastic.
Hopefully with these new products, we will get closer to a society that is less harmful to the environment.
1. Why is plastic garbage a huge environmental headache?| A．Because some plastic bottles can stay on the street for many years. |
| B．Because this kind of rubbish will do great damage to the environment for years. |
| C．Because more and more plastic bags will make the environment look dull and ugly. |
| D．Because the plastic rubbish will make the wild life get worse than before. |
| A．Shocked. | B．Frightened. | C．Embarrassed. | D．Uncomfortable. |
| A．They make the plastic into honey. |
| B．They help scientist develop new plastic. |
| C．They eat the plastic in an environmentally friendly way. |
| D．They work with some plastic factories to deal with plastic faster. |
| A．The author is optimistic about the environment. |
| B．There will be more plastic products. |
| C．The waxworms will play a major role in the future. |
| D．No one is 100 percent sure what the future will be like. |
3 . A four-year-old girl stunned paleontologists after she found a perfectly-preserved dinosaur footprint that dates back 220 million years.
Lily Wilder made the discovery on January 23 while walking along a beach in South Wales with her father and their dog.The family was on their way to the supermarket when Wilder saw the footprint imprinted on a rock.
“It was on a low rock, shoulder height for Lily, and she just spotted it and said, ‘Look, Daddy,’” her mother, Sally Wilder, said.“She is really excited but doesn't quite grasp how amazing it is.”
At first, the family thought the print, which is just over 10 cm (4 inches) long, was scratched out on the rock by an artist.But mother Sally was aware that similar footprints had been found along that piece of the coast before, so she posted about their discovery on social media.“I found this fossil identification page on Facebook and I posted it on there and people went a bit crazy,” she told Wales Online.
Shortly after, the National Museum of Wales got in touch with the Wilder family, and officials have since retrieved the print and put it in the museum.
Experts believe the footprint was most likely left by a dinosaur that stood about 75 centimeters (29.5 inches) tall and 2.5 meters (about 8 feet) long and walked on its two hind feet.It is impossible to identify exactly what type of dinosaur left it, although experts typically classify the print as a Grallator.
Welsh scientists are calling the girl's discovery “the finest impression of a 215 million-year-old dinosaur print found in Britain in a decade,” according to Wales Online.
The family says their daughter's interest in dinosaurs has been inspired since the discovery and that she's been playing with a collection of dino toys and models.“If her name goes down as the finder in the museum, it could be her grandchildren going to visit that in the museum one day, and for years and years and generations to come, which is quite amazing,” mother Sally told Wales Online.
1. Why did Sally choose to post the print on Facebook?| A．To honor an artist. | B．To test her popularity. |
| C．To make people crazy. | D．To identify their discovery. |
| A．Divided. | B．Repaired. | C．Improved. | D．Gained. |
| A．It was left by a young dinosaur. | B．Its true maker is still unclear. |
| C．Its finder will soon be forgotten. | D．It was the finest ever found in a decade. |
| A．She likes walking along the beach. | B．She often asks for toys and models. |
| C．She has been attracted by dinosaurs. | D．She likes drawing dinosaur footprints. |
4 . Chinese audiences on average spent more time watching entertainment content online in this uncommon year when the battle against COVID-19 is still being fought.
An average consumer has spent 133.9 minutes each day watching TV dramas, a 10 percent increase compared to last year, according to the report. Interestingly, TV romantic dramas make up 36 percent of all 131 new television series this year, ranking the first.
In the overseas market, Chinese dramas are seeing a rise in popularity, such as hit costume dramas Three Lives Three Worlds, The Pillow Book, and The Romance of Tiger and Rose. The report shows that subscribers (订阅者) of WeTV, the overseas version of Tencent Video in more than 110 countries and regions, have risen 175 percent over last year, with time spent watching these programs up 300 percent year-on-year.
Shows with strong female roles are more popular, like the hit series Nothing but Thirty, I Will Find You a Better Home and A Murderous Affair in Horizon Tower, the report said. It also found that a quality trailer (预告片) played an important role in drawing an audience, as about 90 percent of consumers pick their choices from trailers.
As a result of the six-month shutting down of Chinese cinemas, a number of people have chosen watching films online.
Through Nov. 30, a total of 15 online films have earned more than 10 million yuan, propelling the annual box office income on Tencent Video to nearly 500 million yuan this year. While TV series are almost "dominated" by female audiences, men are favored online movies more. Nearly 70 percent of online film viewers are men, whose favorite themes center on fantasy, comedy and adventure.
1. The shows with strong female roles are mentioned except .| A．Nothing but Thirty |
| B．I Will Find Your a Better Home |
| C．The Romance of Tiger and Rose |
| D．A Murderous Affair in Horizon Tower |
| A．protecting | B．pushing | C．stopping | D．beating |
| A．Chinese audiences spent more time online due to the COVID-19. |
| B．Chinese dramas have made success in the overseas market. |
| C．A quality trailer plays an important role in consumers’ choices. |
| D．Compared with males, females have a more preference for online film. |
5 . A new study has found that animals feign（假装）death for long periods of time in order to escape capture from their predators. How long they are motionless depends on the circumstances, but they can wait out their predators for quite a long time when their lives are in danger.
Animals stay still to avoid capture for different lengths of time. “Most intriguingly, Charles Darwin recorded a beetle that remained motionless for 23 minutes. Antlions, our favorite study creature in this regard, set a record of 61 minutes,” says lead author Nigel R. Franks from the University of Bristol.
Antlions are members of large group of insects. Antlion larvae（幼虫）dig pits in loose soil and then aggressively attack ants and other small insects that fall into the sandy pits. In another study, researchers dug sandpits to understand the physics of how antlion larvae build their pits. As part of their research they needed to weigh the individual larvae. When they put them onto the microbalance scale to weigh them, they noticed that the larvae remained motionless for long periods of time. “This made it ‘piece of cake’ to weigh them but it aroused researchers’ curiosity, ‘What on earth were they playing at?’” Franks says.
The researchers found that the amount of time the antlions remained stationary after being disturbed was unpredictable and was often quite lengthy. In researching other animals, they found that how long they wait to move again can depend on factors such as hunger and temperature, but it always varies.
This unpredictability is absolutely crucial for their survival, Franks says. For example, if a bird visits these antlion pits and the larvae “play dead”. the birds will fly around the antlions to see if they move. “Imagine if antlions always remained immobile for 5 minutes. In such case, the predator could look for alternate prey（猎物）and then return to its original one when the time is up,” he says. “If that happened, it would be a short life for the predictable death-feigner.” But because the time is unpredictable, the birds leave and go find something else to eat. The predators turn their attention from the unmoving prey that no longer catches their eye to something nearby that is a better alternative.
1. What is the new study about?| A．Animals’ hunting skills. |
| B．Animals’ living conditions. |
| C．Animals’ self-protecting behavior. |
| D．Animals’ means of communication. |
| A．To introduce a new topic for discussion. |
| B．To offer supporting data for the discovery. |
| C．To make a comparison between the two studies. |
| D．To provide some background information on the study. |
| A．Unmoving. | B．Alarmed. | C．Energetic. | D．Peaceful. |
| A．By scaring away predators. |
| B．By distracting predators’ attention. |
| C．By staying still for an uncertain amount of time. |
| D．By waiting for predators to eat something else |
6 . Those days of sucking (吮吸) up the sides of your rapidly melting (融化) ice cream may soon be over. Researchers have discovered a natural protein that could be added to everyone’s favorite summertime snack to keep it solid for longer, according to a press release from the University of Edinburg in Scotland.
Most people know that, at its most basic, ice cream is made of milk and sugar. But it has other ingredients that give it a solid consistency (黏稠度) — a fat (often oil), air bubbles, and ice crystals. The protein that the researchers discovered, called BsIA, coats all three of them to slow down the rate at which the ice melts and the air escapes. In one study of the protein, published earlier this year, the researchers call BsIA a “raincoat” that can act as a film to keep everything inside it for just a little longer. That same quality prevents big pieces of ice crystals from forming, which can happen if you leave ice cream in the fridge for too long.
BsIA is found in bacteria called Bacillus subtilis that is common in soil, and is already present in some foods. So adding the protein to ice cream wouldn’t bring the same sorts of long-term health concerns as would artificial ingredients (人造添加剂). The researchers note that producers could also add BsIA to ice cream to reduce their fat and sugar content.
Though the researchers have published two papers about BsIA and have tested it in the lab, they are staying quiet on the most recent data they collected, as the Washington Post notes. Importantly, the researchers make no mention about how the new ingredient might affect ice cream’s taste or how much we might enjoy eating it. What’s the good of long-lasting ice cream if you don’t even like it? But it might not be too long before you can try it out for yourself; ice cream with BsIA might be available within three to five years.
1. According to the passage, what is BsIA?| A．A group of ice crystals. | B．A sort of natural protein. |
| C．A kind of man-made bacteria. | D．A type of artificial film. |
| A．Covers. | B．Produces. | C．Melts. | D．Changes |
| A．It exists widely in food. |
| B．It has the same function as sugar. |
| C．It can speed up the freezing of ice crystals. |
| D．It can slow down the melting rate of ice cream. |
| A．They can add extra flavor to food. |
| B．They are more costly than BsIA. |
| C．They may do harm to people’s health. |
| D．They can’t be mass-produced like BsIA. |
| A．There is still uncertainty in BsIA. |
| B．BsIA faces an unpromising future. |
| C．BsIA won’t affect the taste of ice cream. |
| D．Everyone likes the ice cream with BsIA. |
| A．A guidebook. | B．A magazine. | C．A novel. | D．A diary. |
7 . Norway aims to discover new resources beneath the sea, but its push into mining has raised environmental concerms.
Norway could license companies for deep-sea mining as early as 2023. That could place it among the first countries to harvest seabed metals. Copper, zinc and other metals are in high demand for electric vehicle batteries, wind turbines and solar energy centers. However, that could also place Norway on the front line of controversies over the environmental risks of mining the world’s unexplored seabeds.
Norway recently announced it was carrying out an environmental study needed to start mineral exploration and mining. Once that is completed, the govemment plans to have public comments on its environmental study and on a proposal to open areas for exploration and production by the end of 2022.
The demand for minerals is being driven by what are often called “clean” technologies. But the process of getting those minerals from the seabed could cause environmental problems.
Environmentalists including Britain’s David Attenborough have called for a temporary (暂时的) stop to deepseabed mining until more is known about how it affects sea life. The environmental group Greenpeace called for a total ban in a recent report. In another report, the High Level Panel for a Sustainable Ocean Economy, known as the Ocean Panel, also called for greater knowledge about the effects of deep-sea mining. The Ocean Panel is cochaired by Norway and has 14 member states that want to shape policy on the world’s oceans.
Norway is known as a major oil producer. But, the country of 5. 4 million people wants to find something to replace its top industry that is better for the environment and can grow in the future.
The move toward deep-sea mining follows three years of expeditions(探险). The Norwegian Petroleum Directorate, which carried out the work, said it found copper, zinc, cobalt, gold and silver. The expeditions also discovered large armounts of lithium and the rare earth metal scandium used in electronics and metal mixtures.
1. What does the underlined word “controversies”in paragraph 2 probably mean?| A．Power. | B．Benefits. |
| C．Arguments. | D．Popularity. |
| A．Decide mining areas. | B．Ask for people’s opinions. |
| C．Start seabed mining at once. | D．Take action to protect nature. |
| A．Unsupportive. | B．Positive. |
| C．Unclear. | D．Uncaring. |
| A．Earning more money. | B．Controlling the areas. |
| C．Developing clean energy. | D．Learning about sea resources. |
8 . When he was two years old, Ben stopped seeing out of his left eye. His mother took him to the doctor and soon discovered he had cancer in both eyes. After possible treatments failed, doctors removed both his eyes. For Ben, vision was gone forever.
But by the time he was seven years old, he had developed a technique for feeling the world around him: he clicked with his mouth and listened for the returning echoes. This method enabled Ben to determine the locations of open doorways, people, parked cars, garbage cans, and so on. He was echolocating: bouncing his sound waves off objects in the environment and catching the reflections to build a mental model of his surroundings.
Echolocation may sound like an improbable feat for a human, but thousands of blind people have perfected this skill, just like Ben did. The event has been written about since at least the 1940s, when the word ''echolocation" was first invented in a science article titled “Echolocation by Blind Men , Bats, and Radar.”
How could blindness give rise to the amazing ability to understand the surroundings with one's ears? The answer lies in a gift on the brain; huge adaptability.
Mother Nature filled our brains with flexibility to adapt to circumstances. Just as sharp teeth and fast legs are useful for survival, so is the brain's ability to reset, which allows for learning, memory, and die ability to develop new skills.
In Ben's case, his brain's flexible wiring repurposed his visual cortex for processing sound. As a result, Ben had more neurons available to deal with listening information, and this increased processing power allowed Ben to interpret soundwaves in shocking detail. Ben's super-hearing proves a more general rule: the more brain area a particular sense has, the better it performs.
1. How did Ben “see” after he had his eyes removed?| A．By using a walking stick. | B．By asking others for help. |
| C．By inventing a new system. | D．By echolocating surroundings. |
| A．Skill. | B．Task. | C．Sense. | D．Invention. |
| A．He laughs best who laughs last. | B．Actions speak louder than words. |
| C．God shuts one door but he opens another. | D．Man becomes learned by asking questions. |
| A．Culture Shock. | B．Human Biology. |
| C．Scientific Technology. | D．Environmental Protection. |
9 . Liu Xiangping, a Chinese-Canadian artist and stamp designer, recalls his remarkable experiences in designing the stamps which develop friendship between China and Canada.
It was 1997, the year when Hong Kong was returned to China, and Canada Post, along with the then-Hong Kong Postal Administration and China, celebrated the Chinese New Year with a stamp.
In January 2017, special 45-cent stamp designed by Liu and two other Chinese Canadian artists was issued. Since then, Canada Post has been issuing zodiac(属相) stamp for the Chinese Lunar New Year each year. “Many traditional customs related to the Chinese New Year are indeed transnational(跨国的). They are beyond political and cultural differences. They powerfully reflect the close connections of the overseas Chinese to their ethnic roots,” Liu said.
Liu said that what he was most proud of last year was the creation of a stamp for China Post on the theme of fighting the COVID-19 pandemic.
When China Post issued a set of special stamps in 2003 to mark the victory over SARS, Liu was one of the designers.
In January 2020, Liu left Toronto for Beijing. With the influence of COVID-19 drawing the attention of the entire country, China Post invited him once again to be one of two chief designers of a set of anti-pandemic-themed stamps.
On May 11, 2020, China Post issued the two stamps. One featured the phrase “Pursue Together, Combat the Pandemic” to pay admiration and respect to the Chinese people in the fight against the virus. Liu said the most important principle for the designs is to present the Chinese spirit of solidarity(团结) as well as that of human nature in tough times. “I tried to express the sense of perseverance, anxiety and sorrow at the same time through people’s eyes,” Liu said.
To memorize the centennial(百年纪念) of Norman Bethune’s birth and his accomplishments, Canada and China jointly issued a pair of commemorative stamps in 1990. Bethune devoted his life to medicine and humanitarianism in China in the late 1930s. Jean Morin and Wanda Lewicka of Canada designed the stamps, and Liu illustrated(加插图)them.
“The stamps are the product of close cooperation and cultural exchanges between Canada and China. They symbolize the fundamentals(基本原则) of the friendship between the two countries,” said Liu. “We’ll never forget that Chinese and Canadian people were committed to the common values of justice and peace in WWⅡ.”
1. When did Canada Post begin issuing a zodiac stamp for the Chinese Lunar New Year?| A．In 1997. | B．In 2003. | C．In 2017. | D．In 2020. |
| A．Wonderful. | B．Difficult. | C．Busy. | D．Common. |
| A．He designed a stamp to celebrate the Chinese New Year with a stamp in 1997. |
| B．He designed a stamp to honor the Chinese people fighting against the pandemic |
| C．He designed a set of special stamps in 2003 to mark the victory over SARS. |
| D．He designed the stamps to memorize the centennial of Norman Bethune’s birth. |
| A．Stamps develop friendship between Canada and China. |
| B．Stamps show cultural exchanges between Canada and China. |
| C．Liu Xiangping is a Chinese-Canadian artist and stamp designer. |
| D．Liu Xiangping enjoys designing stamps reflecting Chinese customs. |
10 . Just one in five workers use their lunch break to actually eat every day-with most using the time to catch up on personal things and play social media instead. A study of 2,000 UK professionals found 79% will have their food as they work, so they can use their “lunch” to do other things. Watching YouTube videos, walking the dog and playing with apps on their phones are also among some of the ways people spend their lunch break.
The study, conducted by Samsung KX, is designed to inspire people to reclaim their lunch breaks. “We all need to make time for ourselves and our research has shown how few really are,”said Tanya Weller, director of Samsung Showcase KX. “It’s easy to get caught up in a piece of work, but people aren’t even giving themselves a moment to eat—let alone do anything else.”
According to the study, approximately 40% of respondents would like more time to pursue hobbies and interests during their lunch break, as they feel work has completely taken over. But 67% will frequently skip their meal altogether, with the average person only managing to take a proper break from their work three days a week.
But 37% said they don’t know what to do with their time, so they just don’t bother to take a lunch break. It also showed that 43% will usually spend their allocated break time at their desk, with just a fifth stepping away to rest on the sofa. As a result, around 70% confessed to checking work emails or taking calls during their lunch time, rather than enjoying themselves. Participants said they would prefer to spend their downtime watching episodes of their favourite TV shows, playing computer games or even getting creative by painting, drawing or making music on a device.
1. What will most of people during their work do ?| A．Eat food. | B．Watch videos. |
| C．Check the email. | D．Download some apps. |
| A．Make fun of. | B．Make use of. |
| C．Come up with. | D．Keep up with. |
| A．They feel their life is fully occupied. |
| B．They find their good jobs in their free time. |
| C．They expect to have no more time to have lunch. |
| D．They think their work is too tiring to go out to play. |
| A．They have fun. | B．They’re fond of working. |
| C．They send emails. | D．They don’t know what to do. |
