1 . 阅读下面短文，在空白处填入1个适当的单词或括号内单词的正确形式。

Seagrass meadows (海草床) are wonder plants growing beneath the sea. Thanks to the assistance of tiger sharks,     1     huge seagrass meadow in the Bahamas Banks was recently discovered, offering the world a tool     2     (fight) climate change.

In this study, tiger sharks were selected as research tools due to their     3     (high) consistent associations with seagrass ecosystems. They spend 70% of their time in seagrass meadows. The team equipped eight tiger sharks     4     satellite tags, and used a 360-degree camera on a shark for the first time ever.

So far, the world’s largest seagrass ecosystem, measuring at least 66,900 square kilometers,     5     (discover). This reflects a 41% increase from previous estimates of global seagrass. In terms of climate change, seagrass is 35 times     6     (fast) at removing carbon than tropical rainforests. Yet seagrass meadows are rapidly disappearing, with over 92% of meadows in the UK     7     (go). Scientists are collecting seeds and trying to grow new seagrass meadows through restoration     8     (project). This new discovery offers optimism and proves the importance of the ocean for healing.

The sharks led us to the seagrass ecosystem in the Bahamas,     9     is likely to be the most significant blue carbon sink on the planet. The discovery shows us that ocean exploration and research play an important role in solving     10     (globe) issues like climate change.

In my community, there is a little boy who suffered from congenital muscle disease. He always considered himself the most unfortunate person in the world. Although he looked no different from ordinary people, it’s difficult for him to do some delicate movements. He often lost control of his hands and dropped things on the ground. Even after a short run, he would easily get out of breath. Depression and inferiority made him almost always alone. All of these make his mother very worried.

Then one spring, the boy’s mother bought some saplings (树苗) from a nearby market. She intended to plant them in the forecourt. She told her children to plant a sapling each person. The mother said to her three children, “Whose seedling grows best, I will buy him or her a favorite gift.” The boy also wanted to get his mother’s gift. But seeing his brothers and sisters carrying water to water the trees happily, anyhow, an idea hit him: he hoped the tree he planted would die soon. So watering it once or twice, he never attended to it.

Several days later, when the little boy went to see his tree again, he was surprised to find it grew some fresh leaves instead of withering (枯萎), and compared with the trees of his brother and sister, his appeared greener and more vital. He wondered what on earth had happened. As expected, his mother kept her promise, bought the little boy his favorite gift and said to him, “From the tree you plant, you will become an outstanding botanist (植物学家) when you grow up.”

Since then, the little boy slowly became optimistic. One day, the little boy lay on the bed but couldn’t sleep. Looking at the bright moonlight outside the window, he suddenly recalled what the bi ology teacher once said, plants generally grow at night.

“Why not go to the forecourt and take a look at my tree?” he said to himself.

From that night on, he understood what his mother meant and decided to change himself.

4 . As far as we know batteries are playing an important role in our life. We couldn’t live without batteries. Why so? Batteries provide power for anything from small sensors to large systems. While scientists are finding ways to make them smaller but even more powerful, problems can arise when these batteries are much larger and heavier than the devices themselves. University of Missouri (MU) researchers are developing a nuclear energy source that is smaller, lighter and more efficient.

“To provide enough power, we need certain methods with high energy density (密度)”, said Jae Kwon, assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering at MU. “The radioisotope (放射性同位素) battery can provide power density that is much higher than chemical batteries.”

Kwon and his research team have been working on building a small nuclear battery, presently the size and thickness of a penny, intended to power various micro / nanoelectromechanreal systems (M/NEMS). Although nuclear batteries can cause concerns, Kwon said, they are safe.

“People bear the word ‘nuclear’ and think of something very dangerous,” he said, “However, nuclear power sources have already been safely powering a variety of devices, such as pace-makers, space satellites and underwater systems.”

His new idea is not only in the battery’s size, but also in its semiconductor (半导体). Kwon’s battery uses a liquid semiconductor rather than a solid semiconductor.

“The key part of using a radioactive battery is that when you harvest the energy, part of the radiation energy can damage the lattice structure (晶体结构) of the solid semiconductor, Kwon said, “By using a liquid semiconductor, we believe we can minimize that problem.”

Together with J. David Robertson, chemistry professor and associate director of the MU Research Reactor, Kwon is working to build and test the battery. In the future, they hope to increase the battery’s power, shrink its size and try with various other materials. Kwon said that battery could be thinner than the thickness of human hair.

5 . I thought I knew a lot about Hamlet. I had been always full of ________ about it before I saw The Revenge of Prince Zidan-the Peking Opera version of Hamlet. ________ an orchestra playing traditional Chinese instruments, the opera brought a ________ new sound to my Western ears. At first, I thought what I ________ was a violin, ________ later I learnt that it was an instrument with two strings called jinghu. Then, I was ________ when the main characters came on ________. The costumes and masks were amazing. Although the performers sang in Chinese, the music, exaggerated movements and mime helped get the ________ across to the audience. The voices sounded really ________. So ________ were some of the female voices that I was sure they could break glass! And the stage was really ________: a decorated whip represented a horse, and a screen with Chinese character, a study. Using such techniques, the opera had transformed a small stage into the whole universe. What I liked most was how the characters moved on stage. It was so dazzling and ________ that I wasn’t sure if the characters were performers or athletes! Everyone was ________. Feeling the strong emotions of love, anger, fear and grief in the ________, I could easily ________ the theme of Hamlet.

Emily White was born seventeen years ago with so many birth problems in her body. Some of her organs, bones and muscles were out of shape. No one expected her to survive. She did make it but with her strange body figure, everyone could recognize her, even from a distance.

In Emily White’s hometown, there was a yearly outdoor performance in the school auditorium (大礼堂). It had been performed for so many years and actually had become one of the most important events of the Christmas season for many of the town’s people.

Many people tried out each year for it, but so many were turned away. It can only include the most excellent people in the field.

Emily had a beautiful singing voice. Last year she went to Mrs. Owens — her music teacher to ask to join in the performance. Without letting her sing, Mrs. Owens took a look at Amy’s body and said, “Child, you just don’t fit. Everyone would stare at you and that would make you uncomfortable. It would make them uncomfortable, too.”

Without singing a single note, Emily was sent back through the door of the choral room. Hurt and upset, she decided never to try out again. But Mrs. Owens then retired.

This year, there came a new music teacher, Mr. Buttler. He heard about Emily and suggested that she have a try.

Emily didn’t want to be rejected again, so she hesitated a little about it. As Emily struggled, the door was pushed open and Mr. Buttler called, “Emily, you’re next.” Although kind of nervous, Emily did as Mr. Buttler told her to do. Mr. Buttler sat by the piano to keep Emily company. When Emily finished her testing performance, she thanked Mr. Buttler and knew the result would be posted on the door of the choral room the next day.

Emily couldn’t sleep that night. She was suffering from the feelings that she didn’t fit and the great need to be accepted. By the next morning, her stomach was even in pain because of stress.

Paragraph 1: The next day, Emily nervously glanced at the list on the door of the choral room.

Paragraph 2: Finally, the day of performance came.

7 . Tired of standing in line? Wait a bit longer, and you may never have to again.

Amazon has opened 24 of its Amazon Go stores, which use cameras and artificial intelligence (AI) to see what you’ve taken off shelves and charge you as you walk out. Some companies are closely copying Amazon’s approach to using Al-powered cameras fixed in ceilings. But others are trying an entirely different way to skip the checkout: smart shopping carts, companies have added cameras and sensors to the carts, and are using AI to tell what you’ve put in them. Customers pay by entering a credit card, or through an online payment system. When a customer exits the store, a green light on the shopping cart shows that their order is complete, and they’re charged.

The companies behind the smart carts, including Caper and Veeve, say it’s much easier to add technology to the shopping cart than to an entire store. Amazom’s Go stores rely on hundreds of cameras in the ceiling. The shelves also include sensors to tell when an item is removed. Ahmed Beshry, co-founder of Caper, believes the technology to run Go is too expensive to use in a large-format grocery store. Neither Caper nor Veeve have said how much their smart shopping carts will cost, making it difficult to compare the different formats. Shariq Siddiqui, CEO of Veeve, said, “We’re always happy when Amazon is doing something. They force retailers to get out of their old school thinking.”

Each time a business uses artificial intelligence and cameras, it raises questions about customers’ privacy and the effect on jobs. Beshry notes that the cameras in his shopping cart point down into the cart, so only a customer’s hand and part of their arm will be captured (拍摄) on camera.

8 . Help? Teen Line Is Here

·CALL800—852—8336 Nationwide (6:00 p.m.—10:00 p.m.)

·TEXT TEEN to 839863(6:00 p.m.—9:00 p.m.)

·EMAIL US at teenline@org.com

Are you a teen looking for help?

Opening up to someone can be scary. Talking about what you’re dealing with is often hard, but at Teen Line we do everything we can to make it as easy as possible for you. Our only goal is to help you in whatever way we can.

What to expect when you call or text Teen Line?

When you call or text Teen Line, another teen will be there to listen, understand, and answer your questions. Many of our callers are talking to someone about what they’re going through fur the first time. Our teen listeners are aware of that and try to make you as comfortable as possible.

When you call or text Teen Line, we won’t judge you or tell you what to do. We will listen to you and work with you to find a way to improve your situation.

Who is going to answer your call or text?

Our volunteers, who are high school students from Los Angeles, California, will answer your call. Our volunteers —who we call “Listeners”—receive over 100 hours of training from mental health professionals so that they can respond and understand the needs of the teens reaching out.

What topics can you discuss with us?

Listeners are ready to talk about anything you are going through. The most common topics teens reach out about are relationships, anxiety, depression and loneliness.