1 . European researchers say they have created a process that can produce oxygen from moon dust. The process could provide a major source of oxygen for humans taking part in moon exploration activities in the future.
Researchers from the European Space Agency, or ESA, carried out the experiments at a laboratory in the Netherlands. They reported their results in a study published in Planetary and Space Science.
The team says ESA’s experimental “plant” was able to successfully produce oxygen from simulated moon dust. The dust is part of a material known as regolith (月壤)，a top layer of dirt and rock pieces that sit on the surface of the moon.
Samples of regolith from the moon have confirmed that the material contains about 45 percent oxygen by weight. However, the oxygen is chemically locked in the form of minerals or glass, so it is not easily available for use. Having real samples of regolith from the moon made it possible for the researchers to create the simulated moon dust material used during testing.
The oxygen extraction (提取)process is carried out using a method called molten salt electrolysis (熔盐电解). This involves first placing the regolith in a metal container. Calcium chloride salt is added to the mixture, which is then heated to 950 degrees Celsius. At this temperature, the regolith remains solid. Next, an electrical current is passed through the material. The researchers say it is this step that results in oxygen being extracted from the regolith. The study reported that up to 96 percent of oxygen in the simulated moon dust was extracted during the experiments.
ESA’s long-term goal is to design an oxygen -producing “pilot plant” to operate full-time on the moon. The first technology demonstration of the system is expected to take place in the middle of 2020s.
The researchers reported that “as a bonus”，the process also results in the production of usable metallic materials.
1. What can benefit from the process?| A．The treatment of some patients. | B．The environment of the moon. |
| C．Future moon exploration activities. | D．Future experiment in the laboratory. |
| A．It exists in the form of solid. |
| B．It only exists on the surface. |
| C．It is mixed with other materials. |
| D．It is locked in a metal container. |
| A．Adding calcium chloride salt to the mixture. |
| B．Placing the regolith in a metal container. |
| C．Passing an electrical current through the material. |
| D．Heating the metal container to 950 degrees Celsius. |
| A．Mixed. | B．Copied. | C．Exposed. | D．Abandoned. |
2 . I did an experiment last week. No, nothing involving test tubes or beakers (烧杯). Instead, I experimented with not watching the news right before I went to bed.
This is a long-time habit of mine so it’s probably not surprising that the first couple of nights I got a little twitchy when news time rolled around and I wasn’t watching. To distract myself, I went to bed a little earlier and read. Wow, what a treat that was! I love to read but I don’t always make the time for it so this felt quite luxurious. On the nights I didn’t read, I spent a little extra time petting my dog, Henry. He loved it. There’s never enough ear scratching for him. The compromise nights were when I had a book in one hand and was petting the dog with the other. Happy all around!
The funny thing about happiness is that it’s a whole lot easier to feel when you’re not being bombarded (轰炸) by images of bad news. It’s not like skipping the late news means that I don’t know what’s going on in the world. I still do read, listen to, and watch news stories. Just not right before I go to bed. That makes it easier to fall asleep and then stay asleep without dreaming about crime, wars, or natural disasters. (Although that dream I had about going to the prom might count as a natural disaster!) It’s definitely a much gentler way to end the day. I like it so much that I’m going to not only continue the no news before bed practice, but I’m also going to experiment with turning off other electronics earlier in the evening, things like the computer and smart phone.
Do you have any experience with turning off your electronics early in the evening? Does setting a particular time, like digital Quiet Hours, work? Please share any tips you have. Something tells me that this could be a little more challenging for me than no news.
1. What does the underlined word “twitchy” mean?| A．Angry. | B．Sad. | C．Anxious. | D．Pleased. |
| A．To treat himself with snacks. |
| B．To read to his dog. |
| C．To turn off the TV. |
| D．To read in bed. |
| A．He had more time to walk his dog. |
| B．He was less exposed to images of bad news. |
| C．He was cut off from the current world. |
| D．He had nightmares. |
| A．To encourage the readers to cut down time on electronics. |
| B．To gather the readers’advice in watching TV. |
| C．To share the effect of watching news. |
| D．To tell the readers the importance of reading. |
3 . A painting stamped with more than 4.8 million fingerprints and cost over 80, 000 yuan in paper has set the Guinness World Record for the largest fingerprint painting.
The fingerprint painting, named Descendants of the Dragon, was created by Kuang Xianpeng, a 35-year-old painter from Zhuzhou, Hunan Province. It describes a mix of nine Chinese dragons and six arts in ancient Chinese culture.
With a surface area of 1195. 14 square meters, 51. 526 meters long and 23. 195 meters wide, the whole painting used 685 pieces of xuan paper and took Kuang over two years to complete. It also took 40 volunteers two whole days to lay out the painting for Guinness certification officer to measure.
Kuang said it was a very arduous journey, and he had used up all his spare time to finish the work. “It was very hard to master the amount of strength you put in your fingers, ” he said. “You can’t press too hard or too light. Otherwise, your prints will blur. I have wasted over 300 pieces of paper due to blurred fingerprints. ”
The Guinness certification officer Luo Qiong said this world record wasn’t easy to earn. She said each fingerprint must be clear, the painting must have more than four different colors, and the distance between each fingerprint mustn’t be more than 1 centimeter.
The world record for this category had been broken 15 times since 2014, with the previous one set by an Indian with a work measuring 1, 188 square meters.
Before this painting, Kuang had spent 14 years in drawing a pen-and-ink painting of 247 meters long and 1. 6 meters wide, telling stories of historical myths. He also said he would never stop exploring more creative works.
1. What can we know about the painting created by Kuang Xianpeng?| A．It’s worth at least 80, 000 yuan. |
| B．It measures 1, 188 square meters. |
| C．It took him 14 years to complete it. |
| D．It consists of over 4.8 million fingerprints. |
| A．Difficult. | B．Satisfying. |
| C．Thrilling. | D．Frightening. |
| A．The colors of paints. |
| B．The amount of strength. |
| C．The quality of xuan paper. |
| D．The distance of fingerprints. |
| A．He is full of creativity. |
| B．He is full of imagination. |
| C．He is very courageous. |
| D．He is rich in experience. |
4 . The populations of common animals are just as likely to rise or fall in number in a time of accelerating global warming as those of rare species, a study suggests.
Until recently, scientists were still accumulating data on how animal populations were shifting over time globally across the different regions of the planet.
Making use of the newly available data, a team of University of Edinburgh researchers studied nearly 10000 animal populations recorded in the Living Planet Database between 1970 and 2014 to provide a new perspective on animal population change. These include records of mammals, reptiles, sharks, fish, birds and amphibians.
The team found that 15 percent of all populations declined during the period, while 18 percent increased and 67 percent showed no significant change. Amphibians were the only group in which population sizes declined, while birds, mammals and reptiles experienced increases. The overall decline in amphibians makes them a priority for conservation efforts, researchers say, as their loss could have knock-on effects in food chains and wider ecosystems.
Gergana Daskalova, of the University of Edinburgh’s School of GeoSciences, who led the study, said, “We often assume that declines in animal numbers are prevalent everywhere. But we found that there are also many species which have increased over the last half of a century, such as those which do well in human-transformed landscapes or those which are the focus of conservation actions.”
Dr. Isla Myers-Smith, also of the School of GeoSciences, who co-authored the study, said, “Only as we bring together data from around the world, can we begin to really understand how global change is influencing the biodiversity of our planet.”
1. With the global temperature rising, what happens to the animals?| A．Rare animal species tend to decline. |
| B．Common animal species tend to increase. |
| C．Global wanning is accelerating with the loss of animal species. |
| D．The population of common animals changes just like rare ones. |
| A．By analyzing existing information. | B．By studying animals，behavior. |
| C．By comparing different studies. | D．By recording the data of animals. |
| A．Sharp. | B．Common. | C．Steady. | D．Relative. |
| A．Objective. | B．Optimistic. | C．Subjective. | D．Pessimistic. |
5 . A group of second-year college students have discovered hidden writing on a page from a book from the 1500s, using a special camera system they built.
Surprisingly, finding hidden writing on very old documents isn’t all that unusual. In fact, there’s even a special name for documents like this: a palimpsest (再生羊皮纸卷).
Long ago, writing was done on parchment — thin, dried animal skins specially prepared for writing. But parchment wasn’t easy to make and wasn’t cheap. So it became common to erase the old writing off a parchment and then reuse it for another piece of writing. That’s what creates a palimpsest.
The writing erased off the parchment can’t be seen directly, but scientists have learned ways to use special lighting to reveal the original writing. But it’s unusual for young college students to discover palimpsests.
Last year, first-year students at the Rochester Institute of Technology took part in a class that brought together many students to take on a project as a group. The project was to build a special camera system that could take pictures using different kinds of light.
Over the summer, the students working on the imaging camera managed to finish it. When they were done, they borrowed several old parchments from the collection at the school’s Cary Graphic Arts Collection. When they put one of the pages under their camera system with UV light, the hidden writing suddenly appeared. Under the UV light, handwriting in French could easily be seen behind the fancy writing and decorations normally visible on the page.
Zoe, a student involved in the project, said, “This was amazing because this document has been in the Cary Collection for almost 10 years and no one noticed it.” The students are even more excited because even though the parchment is no longer part of a book, they know where 29 other pages from the same book are. The students, who are now working with others to locate the other parchments, hope these, too, will have hidden writing and that they can figure out what it means.
1. What was parchment designed for in ancient times?| A．Writing. | B．Decorating. |
C．Imaging.  | D．Collecting. |
| A．Heat up. | B．Bring out. |
| C．Adjust to. | D．Clear away. |
| A．Make a handwriting-recognizing camera. |
| B．Identify what the parchments are made of. |
| C．Track the origin of the palimpsests in the Cary Collection. |
| D．Discover hidden writing and its meaning on more parchments. |
| A．To tell about a new discovery. | B．To recommend a special book. |
| C．To explain a cultural phenomenon. | D．To introduce an old document. |
6 . If you don't use it, you lose it. At least, that's how the old saying goes. It refers to the idea that something which does not get used regularly quickly falls into a state of decline. Muscles, for example, will waste away without use. In order to resist this, people take regular exercise to keep their skills sharp.
Well, what about the brain? As we age, our brains can naturally begin to decline. In some cases, this can lead to certain mental conditions such as dementia(痴呆)，which I'm sure you will agree, no one wants. However, all is not lost because these days it's relatively easy to train your brain. Smart phones and apps have put programmes into our hands that can test, maintain and even improve our memories, mathematical skills and a lot of other mental abilities. With a little practice every day, we can keep our brains nice and sharp, right?
Well, no, actually. According to a report from the Global Council on Brain Health, even though many people thought it was important to play online games, such as puzzles and mind games, which are designed to improve brain health, the evidence of the benefits was “weak to non-existent”.
There are other ways to promote the old grey matter. It recommends seeking out new activities that challenge the way you think and are socially engaging，while leading to a healthy lifestyle. Among their suggestions are practising tai chi, taking photography classes, learning new technologies, gardening, art projects or volunteering.
There's more good news, too, James Goodwin, chief scientist at Age UK has said that brain decline is not inevitable (不可避免的）. As long as the activities are “new to you and require your concentrated attention”, they can provide benefits for brain health. So, hurry up, get out there and try something new. Maybe it's time to try that hobby you've always wanted to do. And as for me? I'm off to learn the piano.
1. From which is the text probably taken?| A．A biology textbook. | B．A healthy magazine. |
| C．A travel brochure. | D．A research paper. |
| A．Making more shopping. | B．Avoid brain decline. |
| C．Doing exercises alone. | D．Going out with friends. |
| A．Trying something new. | B．Using smart phone regularly. |
| C．Playing games online. | D．Doing what you are good at. |
| A．Advantages of trying something new. |
| B．Disadvantages of using smart phones. |
| C．Ways to keep our brain as sharp as possible. |
| D．How to spend time meaningfully at an old age. |
7 . It's likely that you don't think you've invited a spy into your home when setting up a new TV. But new Samsung, LG, and Vizio smart TVs can record and share everything that's viewed, whether it's a broadcast or something streaming from the Internet. And some smart TVs can even track what DVD you're watching.
Your viewing habits are valuable information for marketers who might want to use the information to advertise new shows and products, offer extra content on shows you want to watch. The advertisements are like the ones you see on your computer.
You might not realize that you allowed TVs to collect your viewing habits when you agreed to the long privacy policy during setup. With Samsung, there are 47 screens of text. LG and Vizio also ask you to agree to the privacy policy in thousands of words in fine print.
When Consumer Reports emailed the makers to ask how they are using the technology, representatives for Samsung and Vizio didn't say anything. An LG representative said that the company isn't using any data to send personalized ads and has no plans to do so. But Consumer Reports says that could change at any time.
You might think, “How can I turn those advertisements off?" It's not always so easy. To stop tracking, you have to fight your way through menu settings. On an LG set, go to settings , then options, then Live plus, click off, then close. With Vizio, it's like a long tour through three menus to turn off the advertisements. With Samsung, it's a similar trip to find the box "SyncPlus and Marketing” to disable it.
Consumer Reports says that countermanding the marketing feature may cause you to lose some extra services from makers, but it's more important to protect your privacy.
1. What will the marketers use customers' viewing habits to do?| A．Build a good relationship with customers. | B．Collect some suggestions about shows. |
| C．Advertise new shows and products. | D．Improve the quality of smart TVs. |
| A．Supportive. | B．Doubtful. | C．Reasonable. | D．Believable. |
| A．How we learn to use TVs’ settings. |
| B．How we can get more shows from TV. |
| C．How we send personal information to others. |
| D．How we stop advertisements from appearing on the screen. |
| A．cancelling | B．reading | C．researching | D．learning |
8 . Body language has always been a hot topic of interesting dinner conversations and now today it is still a hot topic. It is perhaps one of the most powerful forms of human expression or human communication!
Body language is a very important part of communication which can constitute 50% or more of what we are communicating to the other person. If you wish to communicate effectively, then it makes sense to understand how you can (and cannot) use your body to say what you mean.
Body language can be used to discover all sorts of things ,such as knowing when someone is attracted to you, finding truth and lies, showing confidence, winning respect in any situation, and you can use body language to put people at ease, make friends quickly, persuade, and influence.
So what is body language? Body language is a term used to describe the method of communication using body movements or gestures instead of sounds, verbal(口头的) language or other communication. Body language includes the most subtle(微妙的)movements that many people are not aware of, including winking(眨眼) and slight movement of the eyebrows and other facial expressions.
Body language is one of the easiest ways for you to tell what's really going on in a conversation with another person. The body language that you observe from other people will tell you whether or not those people are being straight up with you or whether there is more to the story that’s not being said. Watch, look,and observe. Sometimes you can tell more by a person’s body language than the words they speak.
1. The underlined word “constitute” in Paragraph 2 probably means ___________.| A．make up | B．take up | C．turn up | D．put up |
| A．What body language is. | B．When people use body language. |
| C．Body language is very useful. | D．Body language is very convenient. |
| A．winking your eyes | B．making eye contact |
| C．the movement of the eyebrows | D．the communication in a low voice |
| A．remember everything they say | B．understand the hidden meaning |
| C．find lies from them | D．show respect for them |
9 . World Environment Day is celebrated annually on June 5th and was created to inspire people around the globe to take an active part in environmental protection and learn more about ways we can help to guarantee the future of our planet is safe.
The very first World Environment Day took place in 1974, established by the United Nations General Assembly on the first day of the Stockholm Conference on the Human Environment that took place in 1972.
Each year the United Nations pick a theme and a host city where anyone who is concerned about the environment can talk about environmental topics with others, followed by different kinds of exhibits to promote environmental awareness. Environmentalists, academics and scientists come together to bring new ideas on the table concerning the environment.
The 2018 World Environment Day is hosted by India, and the theme is Beat Plastic Pollution. It urges people to explore and choose supportable alternatives like paper or cloth bags to reduce the production and use of disposable plastic, which makes up 10% of all of the waste. Even though the United Nations pick a specific host city every year, people around the world still celebrate World Environment Day in their hometowns with parades(游行), concerts, cleaning up and tree planting and all kinds of green actions to work towards having a beautiful planet and battling pollution.
World Environment Day is not a public holiday, so you won't be getting the day off work or school, but if you want to celebrate, why not bring it to the attention of your parents, friends, colleagues or classmates? World Environment Day is all about working together to take action for the planet, so try to get everyone you know interested in helping do something. Things as small as making sure people have a way to recycle can make a difference. You could also try beautifying your neighborhood by planting gardens, learn about green foods, raise money for a local wildlife conservation group of simply learn about the effects of different products on the earth.
1. Why is World Environment Day set up?| A．To make people know more about nature. | B．To ask people to help to protect the globe. |
| C．To warn people of the danger of air pollution. | D．To encourage people to plan the earth's future. |
| A．Decide a host city. | B．Hold a theme party. |
| C．Discuss environmental ideas. | D．Show some plastic products. |
| A．High cost. | B．Poor- quality. | C．Secondhand. | D．Single use. |
| A．Every bit of effort counts/ matters Count | B．Doing is better than saying. |
| C．Many hands make light work. | D．Nothing is impossible to a willing heart. |
10 . I have been receiving so much kindness. It was difficult for an independent girl like me to accept it at first. At times, my financial situation is not the best. But with that comes a great lesson in appreciation, budgeting, and deciding what is and what isn't important.
A few times I've had to put off or even give up things. Because of my scarcity on money, I had to give up a keep fit exercise, which is something I like to treat myself regularly. When my coach Lisa heard about this, she offered me training at a highly discounted price. At first this made me very uncomfortable. I feared that she would wrongly think that I was going to bargain (砍价) and of course I wasn't. ; Instead, I was just being honest about my situation being short of money. I finally accepted her offer, remembering that I deserve kindness, too.
Another time, I noticed a friend of mine selling his old exercise bike, which was perfect for me, as I was looking to replace my broken one. {I told him that I would take it when I had the money, but then life got in the way. When I finally got the time to pick it up, I realized my financial shortcomings again, I asked him if he could hold onto it for one more week, as then I'd have the funds again. He was happy to do this, but instead he insisted on offering me the bike as a gift. Another opportunity presents itself to teach me how to receive with dignity(尊严).
I continue to slowly learn how to accept the kindness from others. In fact, the relationship between giving and receiving is closely linked. When you accept the kindness from others with joy, they will feel happy, too.
1. How did the author feel at first when she received kindness from others?| A．Happy. | B．Unfair. | C．Proud. | D．Uncomfortable. |
| A．Request. | B．Independence. | C．Principle. | D．Lack. |
| A．Being punished. | B．Being misunderstood. |
| C．Accepting her coach's strict training. | D．Giving away the secret of her being short of money. |
| A．She paid much money for it. | B．She got it for free. |
| C．She bought it from her coach. | D．She borrowed it from her friend. |
