1 . These beautiful reading spots are best enjoyed with no one for company but the inhabitants of your favorite fictional worlds ...

---By Anna Walker Women's Library, Glasgow

Rows of books on women's issues throughout history line the shelves of the only official museum in the UK dedicated to women's lives, histories and achievements and a number of events across the year transform this library into a living social hub, with creative writing classes, performance groups, craft sessions and more.

The library's key aim is to support women, with services teaching literacy, calculations, and handling a range of issues including poverty, and surviving violence.

Visit womenslibyaryore.uk
Sir Duncan Rice Library, Aberdeen

The outside of the modern facility is a huge glass structure - made of 760 glass panels and 2,200 tons of steel.

The Sir Duncan Rice is also conscious of its carbon footprint; designed to collect rainwater which is reused to flush its toilets, harvesting power through solar cells on the roof and using timers to control the use of its fluorescent lighting.

Visit abdn.ac.uk/library
John Ryland, Manchester

Created over 100 years ago as a gift to Manchester and its people, the John Ryland welcomes over 250,000 visitors through its doors each year. The project began as a honor by Enriqueta Ryland to her late husband John Ryland, and has grown to become the third largest academic library in the UK, home to over a million manuscripts （手稿）

Modern extensions to the building added since the 2000s create a breath-taking collision （冲突）of historic and modern architecture. Regular events planned with the whole family in mind make this library one to visit time and time again.

Visit library.manchesterac. uk/rylmds
Wellcome Reading Room, Lo

Spend an afternoon studying in the Reading Room of London's Wellcome Museum and you may just find yourself enjoying a side of people-watching with your literature. With drawing classes, pop-up exhibitions and artistic displays accompanying rows of educational books, it's an enjoyable spot to visit, revisit and declare your number one study spot. The impressive stairway and desks are allowing you the perfect spot to pause and reflect, whatever your library mission.

Visit wellcomecollection.org/visit-us
1. What do we know about Women's Library in the passage?

A．It is a good place for women to survive violence.

B．People can learn how to earn a better life in classes.

C．Women can promote their relationship and education in the library.

D．Only books on women's issues in modern times can be found in the library.

2. What is the unique feature of the Sir Duncan Rice Library?

A．It has environmental-friendly design.

B．The library is only made of 760 glass panels.

C．People can take writing courses in the library.

D．The outside of the modern facility is a huge steel structure.

3. What information can we probably find when visiting librarv.manchesterac.uk/rylands?

A．The library has been rebuilt since the 2000s.

B．The library was built in memory of John Ryland.

C．Over a million manuscripts were donated from homes in the UK.

D．It was the third largest academic library in the UK when it was built.

4. Which of the following descriptions of Wellcome Reading Room is correct?

A．It is hardly worth revisiting.

B．People can buy artworks by attending drawing classes.

C．Those coming with different purposes are also admitted to it.

D．Visitors can extend their understanding of the benefit of reading.

5. Which one presents the combination of ancient and modern buildings?

A．John Ryland

B．Women's Library

C．Sir Duncan Rice Library

D．Wellcome Reading Room

2 . There are two types of people in the world. Although they have equal degree of health, wealth and other comforts of life, one becomes happy and the other becomes unhappy. This arises from the different ways in which they consider things, persons, events and the resulting effects upon their minds.

People who are to be happy fix their attention on the convenience of things: the pleasant parts of conversation, the well prepared dishes, the goodness of the wine and the fine weather. They enjoy all the cheerful things. Those who are to be unhappy think and speak only of the opposite things. Therefore, they are continually dissatisfied. By their remarks, they sour the pleasure of society, offend many people, and make themselves disagreeable everywhere. If this turn of mind was founded in nature, such unhappy persons would be the more to be pitied. The intention of criticizing and being disliked is perhaps taken up by imitation. It grows into n habit, unknown to its possessors. The habit may be strong, but it may be cured when those who have it realize it had effects on their interests and tastes. I hope this little warning may be of service to them, and help them change this habit.

Although in fact it is chiefly an act of the imagination, it has serious results in life since it brings on deep sorrow and bad luck. Those people offend many others; nobody loves them, and no one treats them with more than the most common politeness and respect. This frequently puts them in bad temper and draws them into arguments. If they aim at getting some advantages in social position, or fortune, nobody wishes them success. Nor will anyone start, step or speak a word to favor their hopes. If they bring on themselves public objections, no one will defend or excuse them, and many will join to criticize their wrong doings. These should change this bad habit and be pleased with what is pleasing, without worrying needlessly about themselves and others. If they do not, it will be good for others to avoid any contact with them. Otherwise, it can be disagreeable and sometimes very inconvenient, especially when one becomes mixed up in their quarrels.

1. People who are unhappy           .

A．always consider things differently from others

B．usually are affected by the results of certain things

C．usually misunderstand what others think or say

D．always discover the unpleasant side of certain things

2. The phrase “sour the pleasure of society” most nearly means “           “.

A．have a good taste with social life

B．make others unhappy

C．tend to scold others openly

D．enjoy the pleasure of life

3. We can conclude from the passage that           .

A．we should pity all such unhappy people

B．such unhappy people are dangerous to social life

C．people can get rid of the habit of unhappiness

D．unhappy people cannot understand happy persons

4. If such unhappy persons insist on keeping the habit, the author suggests that people should         .

A．prevent any communication with them

B．show no respect and politeness to them

C．persuade them to recognize the bad effects

D．quarrel with them until they realize the mistakes

5. In this passage, the writer mainly           .

A．describes two types of people in our 1ife who have negative effect on others

B．give some examples to laugh at the unhappy people in our society

C．suggests the unhappy people should get rid of the habits of unhappiness

D．tells people get away from unhappy people and how to be happy in life

3 . Apple, a 34-year-old doctor, had been on call at Atlanta Medical Center for more than two days, with only a few hours’ sleep. And now tiredness was clouding her eyes as she drove to a meeting in Kentucky, nearly seven hours away. She tried turning on her CB radio, which enthusiasts used to warn one another about road conditions, but the airwaves (广播频道) were silent. Soon Apple’s car started to weave.

A 41-year-old trucker named Woody Key found a car ahead, drifting (漂移) off the road. Key shouted into his CB microphone (麦克风), “Four-wheeler, are you all right?”

Apple woke up. She talked on her CB radio. “I’m tired, and I’m lucky I’m still alive driving this tired. Thanks!”

“Call me Woodpecker, my CB nickname (昵称),” the trucker said. “I’m going to Kentucky. And you?”

“Kentucky.”

“I’ll travel behind and help keep you awake. What’s your CB nickname?”

“Dr. Froot Loops,” she told him.

As they drove, they shared stories, and the time passed quickly. They parted near the Kentucky state line. She thanked him for keeping her awake and safe on the long, dark road.

Years later, Apple found several doctors checking a person brought in from an accident. His head was badly hurt. She put both hands on his head, hoping to calm him. “It’s not your time to die!” she said.

Then, he asked for her name.

“Dr. Sherry Apple,” she replied.

“No ... your CB nickname.”

“How did you guess I have a CB?”

“... I know your voice ...”

“My nickname is Dr. Froot Loops.”

“Oh … It’s me … Woodpecker!”

It was her truck driver! She said, “It’s not your time, Woodpecker!” Then Key was rushed into the operating room.    

The first days out of the operating room were very painful for Key. Often Apple would get home and find her phone ringing. Nurses, unable to calm Key, asked her to return. She always did.

About two months after his accident, Key was ready to leave the hospital. As he was leaving, he told Apple, “I don’t think I could have made it without you.” Apple’s eyes welled up. “And I wouldn’t have made it without you.”

1. What happened to Apple on her way to Kentucky?

A．She was called back to hospital halfway.

B．.She was disconnected from her friend.

C．She fell asleep as she drove.

D．She met with a car accident.

2. How did Key help Apple reach Kentucky?

A．By giving her a lift.

B．By driving her car instead.

C．By talking with her by phone.

D．By keeping her eyes on the road.

3. What can we learn about Key after his accident?

A．He fought to survive.

B．He returned home quickly.

C．He stayed quite calm in the hospital.

D．He was looked after by Apple every day.

4. How did Key and Apple look at their relationship?

A．It was heart-breaking.

B．It was life-saving.

C．It was serious.

D．It was strange.

4 . Purdue University researchers have engineered flying robots that behave like hummingbirds, trained by machine learning algorithms (计算程序) based on various techniques the bird uses naturally every day. The robot would be able to fly better through collapsed buildings to find trapped victims.

Even though such a robot can’t see yet, it senses by touching surfaces. Each touch changes an electric current, which the researchers realized that they could track. Xinyan Deng, a professor, and her colleagues at Purdue have been trying to decode (破译) hummingbird flight so that robots can fly where larger aircraft can’t. Deng’s group studied hummingbirds themselves for many summers in Montana. They documented key hummingbird actions, such as making a rapid 180-degree turn, and translated them to computer algorithms that the robot could learn from when connected with a simulation (模拟操作).

Further study on the physics of insects and hummingbirds allowed Purdue researchers to build robots smaller than hummingbirds--and even as small as insects-without compromising the way they fly. The smaller the size, the greater the wing flapping frequency, and the more efficiently they fly. The robots have 3D-printed bodies and wings made of carbon fiber. The researchers have built one hummingbird robot weighing 12 grams--the weight of the average adult hummingbird. The hummingbird robot can lift up to 27 grams.

Designing their robots with higher lift gives the researchers more room to eventually add a battery and sensing technology, such as a-camera or GPS. Currently, the robot needs to be tied to an energy source while it flies-but that won’t be for much longer, the researchers say. The robots could fly silently just as a real hummingbird does, making them more ideal for covert (转换) operations.

Robotic hummingbirds would not only help with search-and-rescue tasks, but also allow biologists to more reliably study hummingbirds. In their natural environment through the senses of a realistic robot. This work is part of Purdue’s 1501° anniversary. This is one of the four themes of the celebration’s Ideas Festival, designed to show Purdue as an intellectual center solving real-world issues.

1. The hummingbird robot could be helpful in searching for victims           .

A．in a very wide area	B．in a desert
C．in a dark place	D．in the sea

2. What can we know about the hummingbird robot?

A．It is as light as an insect.	B．It can fly to any place.
C．It can see where to go.	D．The smaller it is, the better.

3. What is the disadvantage of the robotic hummingbird at present?

A．It barely lifts its weight.	B．It’s not equipped with a battery.
C．It can’t fly too high in the sky.	D．It produces a little noise outside.

4. Besides being useful in rescues, the hummingbird robot can help           .

A．biologists to study hummingbirds	B．biologists to study wildlife
C．transport dangerous goods	D．protect birds in the wild

5 . The law requires that everyone should be equal ________ race, religion or sex.

A．in search for

B．in support of

C．on behalf of

D．regardless of

6 . John tried hard to figure out ______ he has left his schoolbag but in vain.

A．what

B．which

C．where

D．that

7 . In the past 10 years, great changes ________ in my hometown with the development of tourism under the leadership of the government.

A．took place

B．take place

C．are taking place

D．have taken place

8 . Branksome Hall
Class Size: 12 to 22
Grades: JK to Gr. 12
Gender(性别): All girls
Living: day, Boarding(提供住宿的）

Founded in 1903, Branksome Hall is Toronto’s only all-girls, all-years International Baccalaureate (IB）World School. From the earliest grades, students learn to become leaders and to understand the value of serving the community. Discover Branksome hall’s programs at www.brunksome.on.ca.

Stanstead College
Class Size: 13
Grades: Gr. 7 to Gr.12
Gender: Open to both sexes
Living: Boarding

Stanstead College is a private boarding school for boys and girls in Grades 7 through 12. It is an English school that embraces (包含) French in and out of the classroom. It is also uniquely placed to open doors to top universities and colleges in the United States, Canada and around the world.

Oakwood Academy
Class Size: 1 to 4
Grades: JK to Gr. 12.
Gender: Open to both sexes
Living: Day

Oakwood Academy is a private school for students who require an individualized education plan and small class size to meet their unique learning styles. Direct Instruction is used to teach academics in small groups and a meaningful curriculum (课程) allows students to truly learn.

TEAM School
Class Size: 8 to 12
Grades: Gr. 1 to Gr.12
Gender: Open to both sexes
Living: Day

TEAM School provides an academic program for students in Grades 1 through 12. Students from ages 6 to 14 benefit from small class sizes (8 students) and an individualized academic program to provide an educational upgrading.

1. Which of the following is a single-gender school？

A．TEAM School.	B．Branksome Hall.
C．Stanstead College.	D．Oakwood Academy.

2. How is Stanstead College different from the others？

A．It is for preschoolers.

B．It involves two languages in class.

C．It is characterized by small class sizes.

D．It provides places for students to stay overnight.

3. What can we learn from Oakwood Academy?

A．It has a small class size.	B．It’s a boarding school.
C．It offers job opportunities.	D．It has its own website.

4. Which of the following is TRUE about TEAM School?

A．There are at least 12 students in a class.

B．It is just open to children of school age.

C．Students can. learn how to work together as a team there.

D．Most of its students enter top universities after graduating.

5. What do Oakwood Academy and TEAM School both value?

A．Personalized ways of studying.

B．A sense of serving the community.

C．Preparing students for top universities.

D．Designing meaningful lessons for students.

9 . —What about the two of us going downtown?
—___________. I hate spending time hanging around.

A．That suits me fine	B．Why not
C．It depends on the weather	D．Well, that’s the last thing I will do

10 . Human life is regarded as part of nature and, as such, the only way for us to survive is to live_________nature.

A．in view of

B．in need of

C．in touch with

D．in harmony with