1 . Are aliens trying to contact Earth? Six new mysterious blasts (爆炸) of radio energy are detected from deep space. While the source of the waves remains unknown, some suggest the mysterious bursts of energy could be a sign of alien life trying to contact us. The waves were detected by researchers from McGill University in Montreal.
The detection follows 11 previously recorded outbursts from the same location, called FRB121102. This is the only known repeater of fast radio bursts (FRBs). Despite there being a number of FRBs from the site, the origin of the bursts is an ongoing puzzle to researchers.
But the researchers say that the repeated outbursts imply that whatever is causing the radio bursts is not a one-time event, such as an explosion or collision. Instead, they say that flares (耀斑) from a young neutron star (中子星) are a promising candidate.
Previously when waves have been detected, astronomers have also asked SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) to take a closer look at whether they could be a message from aliens. But it is unclear whether the McGill researchers will ask SETI to help this time.
If there are any intelligent alien life forms out there, Stephen Hawking thinks we’re playing a dangerous game by trying to contact them. The physicist believes if aliens discovered Earth, they would likely want to conquer and colonize our planet.
”If aliens visit us, the outcome could be much like when Columbus landed in America, which didn’t turn out well for the Native Americans, “he said in an interview.
But co-founder and former director of the SETI Institute, Jill Tarter, doesn’t think this will be the case. She argues any aliens who have managed to travel across the universe may be friendly and peaceful.
“The idea of a civilization which has managed to survive far longer than we have... and the fact that the technology remains an aggressive one, to me, doesn’t make sense,” she said.
1. Why does the author use a question in paragraph 1?A.To attract readers’ attention. | B.To let readers answer it. |
C.To make an argument. | D.To question the truth of others’ ideas. |
A.The explosion of a star. | B.Messages from aliens. |
C.Flares from a neutron star. | D.A collision between two stars. |
A.We should try to find the aliens. | B.We can play games with the aliens. |
C.The aliens may conquer the earth. | D.The aliens may land in America one day. |
A.Doubtful. | B.Critical. | C.Indifferent. | D.Optimistic. |
2 . Richard Browning has been attracted by flight ever since his father took him into the hills to fly gliders (滑翔机). He has certainly been an adventurer. Richard took it upon himself to develop his own jet suit and began to experiment with some of his friends. He made quick progress. In 2017, he felt confident enough to start a company called Gravity Industries that could make jet suits. It took 15 months to develop the very first one.
Five very small jet engines are built into the jet suit. These are powered by kerosene (煤油). Two engines are located on the pilot’s arms and one is placed on the back. Each engine weighs less than two kilos and can produce 22 kilos of thrust (推力).
The pilot is able to control the direction and speed of the flight. He does this by small movements of the arms which require hours of practice. One wrong move and you could end up falling to the ground.
Richard is not only in charge of his company; he is also the chief test pilot. He has spent hours and hours perfecting the correct moves to create a perfect flight. He was able to enter the Guinness Book of World Records in 2017 when he became the fastest man in a jet suit and flew at 51 kilometres per hour. Since then, he has presented his jet suit at 60 events in 20 different countries around the world. More recently, he flew alongside Brighton Pier on the south coast of England at 136 kilometres per hour!
The objective of Richard’s company has been to build a suit which members of the public can buy. The first went on sale in a department store in 2018 for f 340, 000. If you want to jet around your own hometown, it’s time to start saving—or to work for Richard Browning.
1. What do we know about Richard?A.He was absorbed in flight. | B.He is no stranger to misfortune. |
C.He is slow in making up his mind. | D.He started his company with his father. |
A.It is easy to control. | B.It is the lightest in the world. |
C.It consists of two engines. | D.It leads the world in its field. |
A.It’ll be much faster. | B.It’ll save more energy. |
C.It’ll reach ordinary customers soon. | D.It’ll ease his hometown’s heavy traffic. |
A.Being good is different from being great. | B.He who makes no mistakes makes nothing. |
C.One cannot succeed without time and practice. | D.Luck, talent and friendship help to achieve success. |
1.介绍活动;
2.你的看法;
3.欢迎他参加。
注意:
1. 词数 80 词左右;
2. 开头和结尾已给出,不计入总词数;
3. 可适当增加细节,以使行文连贯。
Dear Alan,
I’m excited to tell you about the campus activities to celebrate the second National Ecology Day on August 15, 2024.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Best regards,
Li Hua
Beautiful Birthmarks: The Power of Acceptance
Whenever you hear the word “birthmark (胎记)”, you probably think of one of those black or brown spots you have somewhere on your body. However, for me, it’s completely different — I have them both on my lips and inside my mouth, which make them quite visible and, to me, ugly. When
I was young, these birthmarks kept making me feel extremely awkward and self-conscious (难为情的). As these birthmarks always drew a lot of attention, people often asked me, “What are those black marks on your lips?” When I told people that they were birthmarks, they usually said, “How strange!”
In pictures, I used to hide my birthmarks by pursing (噘起) my lips, so I would not have to deal with people’s questions. As I was growing up, the situation didn’t get any better. In the school, my classmates would always tease me, making me feel hurt and helpless. In society, I often encountered individuals who would inquire about my birthmarks even before they knew my name.
Such experiences left me feeling disheartened. I felt like people judged me by my appearance without considering my personality.
My birthmarks are caused by a genetic condition from my mom’s side of the family. My mom’s mom has birthmarks on her lips, and my mom’s uncle and my uncle have some on their bodies. I used to try to cover them up with makeup, but it never looked good. I even consulted a doctor, wanting to have surgery to remove them. But when imagining the process, I would get nervous and eventually give up.
Whenever I cried to my mom about them, she would always comfort me and say, “Learn to accept them and see them as beautiful birthmarks.” However, it wasn’t easy for me to accept my own birthmarks. Every time I showed my birthmarks, people would look at me with strange eyes. I began to regret why I had given up on the surgery and chosen to accept my birthmarks.
注意:1. 续写词数应为 150 词左右。2. 请按如下格式在相应位置作答。
Paragraph 1:
One day, I met my cousin, who also had a large birthmark on his arm._
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Paragraph 2:
From then on, when I met people, I began to change myself.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________5 . Having worked as a village doctor for nearly two decades, Yang Lianying, a 44-year-old deputy to the 14th National People’s Congress, stands out as a voice for her profession. “My biggest hope is that villagers are healthy,” says Yang.
Born in Mengzi, Yunnan, in 1980, Yang was a farmer for many years before she began to receive medical training in 2005 in the hope of making a better living. Speaking about why she chose to become a doctor, she remembers when she was about 8 years old, her mother went into shock due to an allergic reaction. With no village doctor, her mother’s life seemed to hang by a thread. The experience planted a seed in her heart and made her think that if she had a chance to learn medicine in the future, she would work hard, and maybe one day be able to help patients who experienced emergencies like her mother.
In 2008, Yang’s dream came true when she was appointed as a doctor in Henan village, and made responsible for providing basic public health services, but she soon found out that it was not an easy job.
Since Henan village is located in a mountainous area and villagers live far apart, she often has to hike long distances to visit them at home and check on their health regularly. Moreover, village doctors don’t earn much, and have heavy workloads. Yang is responsible for the healthcare of the entire village of nearly 2,000 with one other colleague. Additionally, village doctors don’t earn large pensions for life after retirement. Because of this, few young people are eager to step into the profession.
But Yang keeps going. “Actually, I love this job and regard all the difficulties I encounter as obstacles to conquer. I get on well with the villagers, and they trust and respect me. It’s a great pleasure to hear them call me ‘doctor’,” she says.
She has suggested that the government offer village doctors more support, especially in terms of pensions and medical training.
1. Why did she choose to be a doctor?A.To live a different life. | B.To help the poor in need. |
C.To be in honor of her mother. | D.To rescue people in an emergency. |
A.Escape from death. | B.Be in great danger. |
C.Hang out. | D.Be in a balanced state. |
A.Bad working condition. | B.Satisfactory salary. |
C.Abundant pension. | D.Misunderstanding of villagers. |
A.A Heartbroken Village Doctor | B.Medical Development for Villages |
C.From Farmer to Healer | D.China’s Healthcare Dilemma |
6 . I’m from India and I love saris — a traditional costume for Indian women. My first
To me, the sari is the love,
I still have such a
As an immigrant trying to
But when I’m wearing one, my 3-year-old son, who has already come to love the garment, will exclaim that I look
In 2012 when I was on a
A.experience | B.association | C.communication | D.realization |
A.lovely | B.random | C.unique | D.single |
A.warmth | B.grace | C.calmness | D.concern |
A.public | B.informal | C.special | D.relaxing |
A.beautiful | B.vivid | C.poor | D.rewarding |
A.recall | B.picture | C.restrict | D.switch |
A.gradually | B.greedily | C.instantly | D.intimately |
A.absorbed | B.occupied | C.trapped | D.involved |
A.truth | B.key | C.expression | D.expansion |
A.give in | B.fit in | C.grow up | D.pop up |
A.amazing | B.outstanding | C.influential | D.convincing |
A.practicing | B.reporting | C.lecturing | D.researching |
A.presented | B.provided | C.remained | D.appeared |
A.reminds | B.informs | C.relieves | D.cures |
A.security | B.confidence | C.belief | D.pride |
7 . Want to “Feel Something” When You Look at Art?
Many of you would love to have deep connection with art when you look at a painting or sculpture. But how do you do that exactly?
Keep an open mind
Some artworks may be surprising, and others might be a letdown. And that’s OK. So allow yourself to feel however the art makes you feel.
First, be realistic about how long you can spend at the museum. You don’t need more than an hour or two. After that, it becomes “information overload” and it’s hard to stay focused. Next, be strategic about what you want to look at. Either way, there’s no right way to go through an art museum. So mind your time and make sure you concentrate on what really interests you.
Observe the art in person
Get up close and personal. We have the luxury of seeing the real thing at a museum. So take your time to observe qualities about a work that may not come through on a computer screen.
Appreciate and reflect
A.Arrange your time properly. |
B.Reflection is a key to art appreciation. |
C.Keep your museum visit short and focused. |
D.The following tips may help you better enjoy art. |
E.Viewing art can have a profound impact on your psychology. |
F.This will help you see and feel what it is like from the artist’s perspective. |
G.The observation can help you appreciate how artists express their emotions. |
8 . Two and a half months before the 2024 Atlantic hurricane season officially begins, forecasters have already predicted and warned that warm sea surface temperatures in the Atlantic and the development of a La Niña in the Pacific may create a “perfect storm” of the conditions needed for major hurricanes.
Key to the formation of any tropical cyclone (气旋) is the combination of warm ocean temperatures and the absence of what is known as wind shear. Alex DaSilva, a forecaster, explains that wind shear occurs when wind changes direction and speed at different heights in the atmosphere. When there’s much wind shear, it essentially knocks over those clouds and prevents tropical systems from really becoming stronger. Besides, hurricanes also need surface water to be at a temperature of 26 degrees Celsius or higher. That warm water, and the warm air just above it, provides fuel for the storm. The record data for February are 1.2 degrees Celsius above normal.
Over periods ranging from three to seven years, the waters of the central and eastern tropical Pacific Ocean alternately (交替地) warm and cool as a result of a repeatedly occurring climate pattern called the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO). During an El Niño, sea surface temperatures in the eastern Pacific increase, and those warmer temperatures affect the path of the Pacific jet stream, which in turn brings drier, warmer weather to the northern United States and Canada, and wetter conditions to the Gulf Coast and southeast. El Niño reduces the possibility of Atlantic hurricane formation because it lowers hurricane activity and increases wind shear. La Niña has just the opposite effect of El Niño. During the 2023 season, ENSO was in an El Niño phase. By the time the 2024 season starts, it is likely to have shifted fully into a La Niña.
“If a tropical storm system comes into this area, it could rapidly intensify, potentially close to land,” DaSilva cautions. “And that’s why people need to be on alert and have their hurricane plans ready. Because any system with these kinds of conditions can explode very quickly. That’s what we’re concerned about.”
1. Where can you probably read this article?A.www.huffpost.com/entertainment/ |
B.www.bbc.com/innovation/science |
C.www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/ |
D.www.nytimes.com/spotlight/global-culture-sports |
A.The explanation of wind shear. |
B.The timing of the hurricane season. |
C.The process of hurricane formation. |
D.The reason for warmer surface water. |
A.Generate less wind shear. |
B.More rainfall in the Gulf Coast. |
C.Block the path of the Pacific jet stream. |
D.Higher temperature in the northern America. |
A.To report the hurricane-struck areas. |
B.To remind people of getting prepared. |
C.To introduce some geographic knowledge. |
D.To explain the features of El Niño and La Niña. |
9 . Robots have proved very useful in different situations. But those robots are small remote-controlled tanks with a mechanical (机械的) arm, and they can get stuck on narrow stairwells (楼梯井) and are stopped by ladders. “A lot of the places where you do disaster recovery are only accessible for people,” says Marc Raibert, the president of Boston Dynamics, which is providing advice and help for Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), to create the most advanced robots on earth. “If you have a humanoid (a machine or creature with the appearance and qualities of a human), access can be increased and you can use available tools.” In the future, DARPA hopes a humanoid robot will be able to drive trucks, and enter power plants.
That future is a long way off. Simple movements like squatting (蹲) are almost impossible for something with metal parts and skin that cannot bend, says Raibert. Still, recent progress is impressive enough that the military has begun to develop legged robots. The Office of Naval
Research is working with Virginia Tech on a humanoid firefighting robot, and Dynamics showed off its latest projects: Cheetah, a four•legged and headless robot able to run 28 miles per hour and do backflip. It can run with energy efficiency that could compete that of real running animals. “Half the land on earth is too rough, sandy, or rocky for wheeled things,” says Raibert. “Humans and animals can go to those places. However, they don’t have the capacity to carry heavy loads in all kinds of terrains (地形). Legged robots like cheetah are the only successful examples that do what we’re trying to do.”
None of the walking robots is meant to fight. They’re designed to put out fires and clean up industrial accidents. But they are all funded by the military. “I’m well aware of how the world works,” says Dennis Hong, founding director of Virginia Tech’s robotics lab. “Robots for me are tools to help society, not to fight in wars. But once a technology leaves our lab, there’s no way to control how people can use it.”
1. What is a humanoid robot designed to do according to Marc Raibert?A.To accomplish complex tasks. |
B.To be controlled efficiently. |
C.To appear friendly. |
D.To survive disasters. |
A.![]() | B.![]() | C.![]() | D.![]() |
A.It can run as fast as running animals. |
B.It can improve the energy efficiency. |
C.It can adapt to different surroundings. |
D.It can help human in tough situation. |
A.Supportive. | B.Careful. | C.Uninterested. | D.Disapproving. |
The appearance of text-to-video artificial intelligence technology, Sora, has the potential
Sora can generate videos up to a minute long while it
Liu Xingliang, director of the Beijing-based Data Center of China Internet, suggests that more resources should