1 . If you’re interested in increasing your academic knowledge, consider taking an online college course.
Open Culture
It provides access to over 1,700 college courses for free. They’re chosen from subjects like literature and computer science or specific schools like Harvard and Oxford. If you want to obtain an online degree, you pay the relevant fees. The site also provides access to certificates, movies, and e-books. Some course categories include:
Architecture
Communication
FutureLearn
It offers free membership classes in several subjects, like law and literature, taught by college professors and industry experts. Premium (高级) membership courses are available for a fee. There are various course types, which are short courses, online degrees, ExpertTracks and Microcredentials. You can complete the courses at your own pace. Featured courses include:
Copywriting Fundamentals
A Beginner’s Guide to Fashion Design
Academic Earth
It matches prospective students with online coursework, either to audit (旁听) or work towards a degree. It’s free to audit classes, but if you seek course credits, you pay a fee before attending the class. You may also select the university you wish to receive your online degree based on the ones the site offers. Its degree program includes subjects like:
Business
Education
Coursera
It affords students access to free courses and paid degree courses from several distinguished international colleges and universities. From the site, you can explore earning a certification or a degree based on your learning goals. If you’re seeking a new career path, the site can help you with the process by offering courses to develop your skills and earn professional documents. A few of the free classes offered include:
Financial Markets
Introduction to Psychology
1. What is special about FutureLearn’s courses?| A．They can all be learned flexibly. | B．They all belong to premium members. |
| C．They’re all related to law and literature. | D．They’re all taught by college professors. |
| A．Academic Earth. | B．Open Culture. |
| C．FutureLearn. | D．Coursera. |
| A．They’re fit for beginners with free time. |
| B．They specifically serve working people. |
| C．They only charge for their certain courses. |
| D．They offer courses for awarding degrees only. |
2 . Confidence helps us take risks and push ourselves to excellence.It can also inspire more trust in other people and open doors that would remain closed otherwise.Here are a few ideas on how to build up your confidence.
Forgive yourself for your mistakes.
Try to remember that you’re only human.
Make a list of your positive qualities.
It might seem silly, but sit down and write out a list.Start with five things that you like about yourself and try to add something to the list every day. For example, you could write, “I’m kind, I’m loving, I’m passionate about art, I’m creative, and I’m a good friend.”
Negative people tend to lower your confidence. Instead, spend time with friends and family members who inspire you and push you to be your best self. You’ll know someone is good to be around if you feel excited and happy to hang out with them.
Learn a new skill.
| A．If you can’t think of anything |
| B．Then,use that forgiveness on yourself |
| C．Spend time with people who support you |
| D．Stop undervaluing yourself when you speak |
| E．When you express your idea in an insecure way |
| F．Do something outside of your own comfort zone |
| G．Everyone makes mistakes,and you’re no different |
3 . Four Must-visit Campsites in Western Australia
Fair Harvest
Playing host to campers looking for a more environmentally-friendly stay, Fair Harvest has an outdoor kitchen made from wood harvested on site and a farm cafe where you can buy fresh produce and home cooked meals. Guests are free to wander in the gardens, go bushwalking in the private forest, or take a class in the on-site yoga (瑜伽) barn—the only campsite yoga studio in the area.
Lucky Bay
In 2017, a scientific study was carried out to discover which Australian beach had the whitest sand and Lucky Bay, in Cape. Le Grand National Park on the southern coast of Western Australia, emerged victorious. Up close, the beach is often frequented by kangaroos bounding at the sand’s edge. The Lucky Bay campground sits right behind the beach and is well-equipped with toilets, showers, barbecues and picnic tables-though campers do need to bring their own drinking water.
Rottnest Island
More commonly a day trip destination, Rottnest is a car-free island best explored by bike and ringed by glorious Indian Ocean beaches. There are options for luxurious glamping (豪华野营) at Discovery Parks Rottnest Island, but those looking for a more traditional camping experience should head instead to the Rottnest Island campground. Here, you’ll find bathroom blocks, a camp kitchen and barbecues, but the highlight is the site’s large population of quokkas, which are close relatives of the kangaroo.
Imintji
Located at the foothills of the Wunaamin Miliwundi Ranges, Imintjii is a simple yet well-maintained campground that includes washing facilities, fire pits, barbecue shelters,outdoor seating and water taps. It’s a great base for visiting the dramatic landscapes of Bell Gorge, Tunnel Creek and Windjana Gorge. It’s also one of the few campsites in the world that are famous for their own art center, with works by local artists on sale.
1. What can campers do at Fair Harvest?| A．See kangaroos. | B．Buy home-cooked meals. |
| C．Admire the whitest sand. | D．Get works from local artists. |
| A．Walking. | B．Driving. | C．Taking a boat. | D．Riding a bike. |
| A．Imintji. | B．Lucky Bay. | C．Fair Harvest. | D．Rottnest Island. |
4 . 4 Poetry Collections to Read and Enjoy
In honor of National Poetry Month, celebrated every April, we’re sharing a roundup of poetry collections that have been published within the last year.
Black Girl You Are AtlasBy Renee Watson,
illustrated by Ekua Holmes
Renee Watson, the best-selling author of Ways to Make Sunshine, draws from her childhood for some of these poems, which include haiku and free verse. The subjects range from racial injustice to self-love. The artwork is spectacular.
Ages 12 and up
In and Out the Window
By Jane Volen,
illustrated by Cathrin Peterslund
In addition to being the author of more than 350 novels, Jane Yolen is an esteemed poet. This new collection includes more than 100 of her works on popular childhood topics including school, animals, and sports. One title: “On My Toes: A True Story. ”
Ages 8-12
Poetry Comics
By Grant Snider
illustrated by Leo Dawson
The dozens of short poems in this collection are written and illustrated in comic panels. The book contains four chapters—one for each season of the year. Titles for the spring poems include “Bubbles,” “Balloon Story,” and “Tadpole.” The subjects for the poems feel fresh and fun.
Ages 8-12
She’ll Be the Sky
By Ela Risbridger,
illustrated by Anna Shepeta
Dozens of female poets, including Amanda Gorman, contributed to this collection. Topics range from animals to activism. Most poems are accompanied by a full-page color illustration.
Ages 8 and up
1. Which book is tailored for readers who are over 12 years old?
| A．Poetry Comics. | B．She’ll Be the Sky. |
| C．In and Out the Window. | D．Black Girl You Are Atlas. |
| A．Animals and activism. | B．Four seasons of the year. |
| C．Popular childhood topics. | D．Racial injustice and self-love. |
| A．To fascinate poetry-goers. | B．To advertise 4 poetry collections. |
| C．To celebrate National Poetry Month. | D．To comment on 4 poetry collections. |
5 . Pindar Van Arman is a painter, but he’s also a software designer. He has built some machines and worked on a DARPA challenge team in California to build a self-driving car. His latest project? A robot painter, BitPaintr.
BitPaintr is Van Arman’s fifth robot in 10 years. Earlier versions included devices that produced simpler paintings with algorithms (算法). But the idea for BitPaintr is simple: A user just uploads a picture, and it can paint totally on its own and develop its own style.
Although his friends joke that he has invented a really expensive, slow, bad painter, Van Arman says teaching a machine how to be creative has helped him get to the bottom of what creativity is — and appreciate it.
“When you’re trying to teach a machine to do something that’s easy for humans, it really makes you sit back and see what humans are doing,” he says.
So what is creativity, then, if a robot with a paintbrush can be — or appear to be — just as creative as a human with a paintbrush?
Mark Riedl, a professor at the Georgia Tech School of Interactive Computing, says it depends on how you define creativity. “There is creativity and Creativity,” Riedl says. “Being ‘creative’ usually has something to do with the little things that we do hundreds of times in our daily lives. They could be creative, but usually aren’t. To be ‘Creative’ is to have an imagination that will have a huge impact on a social level — the Picassos and the Mozarts of the world; the people who have produced something that’s taken on this additional level of meaning.”
Riedl admits what robots create is far from human-level quality art, but he sees robots entering the creative process as a positive thing.
“We want the computers to keep up with us,” he says. “And thanks to researchers like Van Arman, it seems like they will, although they will not replace us, but to help us to be more creative.”
1. Which is a new quality of BitPaintr?| A．Simplicity. | B．Creativity. | C．Speed. | D．Profitability. |
| A．Favorable. | B．Doubtful. | C．Unclear. | D．Hopeful. |
| A．They will defeat the greatest artists soon. |
| B．They can produce “Creative” things by themselves. |
| C．They will learn more from the Picassos and the Mozarts. |
| D．They can help us to do daily things in more “creative” ways. |
| A．Can BitPaintr-like Robots Replace Artists in the Future? |
| B．Why Do People Have Sharply Different Views on AI Robots? |
| C．What Is the Difference Between the Two Kinds of Creativity? |
| D．Can BitPaintr Be Considered a “Creative” Painting Software? |
6 . Discovering your passion is a journey of self-exploration and understanding. It involves delving into your innermost thoughts and feelings to find what truly ignites (点燃) your spark.
Reflect on your experiences
Look back on your life and identify moments that have brought you joy, fulfillment, or a sense of purpose. Think about the activities, people, or causes that have excited you in the past.
Experiment with new hobbies, skills, or activities. Try something that piques (激起) your curiosity or that you’ve always been interested in but never had the chance to explore. This could be anything from learning a new language to taking up a sport or trying an artistic medium.
Listen to your emotions
Surround yourself with supportive people
Seek out individuals who are passionate about their lives and who can inspire and encourage you. Surround yourself with a supportive network of friends, family, or mentors who can provide guidance and encouragement on your journey.
Embrace failure and setbacks
Discovering your passion isn’t always a smooth process.
| A．Explore your interests |
| B．Take an active role in developing your habits |
| C．You may encounter failure, setbacks, or even doubts |
| D．Find something that can really piques your curiosity |
| E．The following are tips to help you discover your passion |
| F．Pay attention to the emotions you experience throughout your day |
| G．These experiences can provide clues to what might ignite your passion |
7 . A young Irishman, Fionn, has come up with a method to solve the microplastic pollution problem, winning Google’s international science fair. He created a kind of liquid magnet (磁铁) by mixing magnetized iron oxide (Fe2O3) and vegetable oil. It can collect microplastics and remove them, leaving only water behind.
Since the age of 12, he has been looking to find a solution for the hard-to-clean microplastics. During childhood, he frequently went beaches where he saw a growing number of plastic garbage. Once, he saw a rock with oil remaining, and stuck to it were small plastic pieces. He then found out that the plastic pieces are what we call non-polar, and oil is non-polar too. In chemistry likes attract likes, which means non-polar things attract non-polar things. He heard of something that was a kind of magnetic water by combining vegetable oil with magnetized iron oxide (Fe2O3). He noticed oil could attract the microplastics and magnet finally cleaned the microplastics. Inspired by it, he made the liquid magnet.
Indeed after 5,000 experiments it was shown that his method could clean 87％ — 93% of microplastics from the water, despite the fact that the microplastics came from a variety of sources like car tires, plastic bottles, and washing water.
Larissa Kelly, Fionn’s science teacher commented,” The invention, based on very Simple components, makes a breakthrough. It has powerful potential to provide solutions that will contribute to the worldwide effort to remove microplastics from the environment,” Fionn showed his method at the 2019 Google Science Fair and won a $50,000 scholarship. After the Google Science Fair, scientists gave him credit for what he had done. Fionn is now trying to fit his method into a device that can be used in home waterpipes, or the pipes at a wastewater plant, allowing the liquid magnet to continuously clean water that moves through it. He also plans to make it used on boats.
1. What does the underlined word “it” in Paragraph 2 refer to?| A．Magnet. | B．Rubbish. | C．Plastic. | D．Oil. |
| A．The effectiveness of the method. |
| B．The creation of the experiment. |
| C．The influences of microplastics. |
| D．The sources of plastic pollution. |
| A．Easy and creative. |
| B．Old and effective. |
| C．Costly and imaginative. |
| D．Reliable and traditional. |
| A．It will be widely used soon. |
| B．It is still at the experimental stage. |
| C．It mainly deals with the sea pollution. |
| D．It has successfully been used in household. |
Rembrandt Harmenszoon was born in the Netherlands in the city of Leiden. There were six children in his family. His parents wanted him to get a good education and provided opportunities for him to study with successful painters. Among them was the famous painter, Pieter Lastman in Amsterdam.
Rembrandt was very talented and studied with Lastman for six months and then moved back to Leiden and began to teach other artists even though he was only 22 years old.
Sometimes he used members of his family as models. His father was the subject of Bearded Man in Furred Oriental Cape and Robe. His son Titus is seen in Titus at His Desk, and Prodigal Son in the Tavern features Rembrandt and his wife Saskia.
One of his most famous paintings is Nightwatch which shows a group of men in their military uniforms. A war had recently ended in the country and the men were dressed up for a military practice. Nightwatch was a controversial(有争议的) piece. Some of the people in the painting were not pleased with the results because they did not have a prominent(突出的) place in the picture. When Rembrandt painted it, the colors were bright, but it became clouded with smoke and dirt and eventually became known as Nightwatch. In this painting we see Rembrandt’s use of light and shadow which makes his work so distinctive.
This great Dutch artist was very productive and popular with people. He enjoyed painting pictures of Bible characters and scenes of Bible stories. During his lifetime he produced over 600 paintings. You can see his paintings in museums and galleries all over the world today.
1. When did Rembrandt begin to teach other artists? (no more than 8 words)2. Who in Rembrandt’s family appeared in his paintings according to Paragraph 3? (no more than 10 words)
3. What makes Rembrandt’s work Nightwatch very distinctive? (no more than 10 words)
4. What does the author want to tell us about Rembrandt in the last paragraph? (no more than 7 words)
5. What are you interested in? And why? (no more than 20 words)
9 . I wanted to buy something today -- until I figured out the cost versus the benefit. At that point I knew it was a completely stupid idea.
What I wanted to buy was an older car to have in addition to my four-year-old Smart Car that I absolutely like. So you wonder, why would I want to have another car as well? The reason is ... grandkids. I have several and in the Smart Car I can only have one passenger (It’s a two-seater). Besides, one of my daughters-in-law does not trust the Smart Car as a vehicle for her daughter Lily to ride in, so that’s one little girl I can’t take anywhere at all. My husband also has a car -- and a truck.
So that’s why I had the stupid idea to buy an old Toyota I found on the lot of an honest used car salesman. Thank heavens I came to my senses before I spent $ 8000 to buy it, $ 80 or so to license it and probably $ 500 to insure it for a year. It would be senseless to buy that car.
My grandkids just have to continue to come with me one by one. I can’t take two girls out to lunch or two girls shopping or pick up the brother and sister that live in the same house. As for the little one that’s not allowed to ride with me ... well, Grandpa will have to pick her up. As for me, I didn’t get money in my savings account by being totally stupid. Sure, doing things with the kids is fun, but spending that kind of money to put two or more of them in a group -- which would probably drive me crazy anyway -- is really dumb. Sometimes temptation can prove that you still have a little sense.
1. The author’s little grandkid Lily ______.| A．refused to stay with her |
| B．was not allowed to take her car |
| C．was always picked up by her husband |
| D．thought it was dangerous to drive a Smart Car |
| A．it was a used car |
| B．she couldn’t afford it |
| C．there was no need for it |
| D．the salesman was unreliable |
| A．difficult | B．stupid | C．reasonable | D．amazing |
| A．Look before you leap. |
| B．Better late than never. |
| C．Don’t judge a book by its cover. |
| D．Every advantage has its disadvantage. |
10 . Deanna Jump made headlines when it was announced she’d brought in a million dollars selling her lesson plans online. Despite the windfall, Jump, has no plans to quit the work she considers her calling. She spoke with us about her secrets for creating units that kids and fellow teachers can’t resist.
How did you get the idea of selling your work online?
Deanna Jump: I’ve always created my own activities and units, and I’ve always shared them with my fellow teachers. A few years ago, one of my team members said, “Your stuff is so good. You’ve got to put it on Teachers Pay Teachers.” I got started. The first year, my sales were really slow with about $300. But I thought that was great.
How has the income changed your life?
DJ: Teachers in America don’t make a lot of money, so I really consider it a blessing. I have a brother who’s a quadriplegic (四肢瘫痪的人). For about 13 years, he was stuck at home unless he had a doctor’s appointment. With my first big check, we bought a van so our mother could take him around. I also give some to my community. But I still drive a Kia. I still live in the same house.
What advice would you give fellow teachers who might want to sell their lessons?
DJ: Stay true to yourself. My teaching style is reflected in my units. I don’t try to say, “Okay, how would this teacher over here do it?” and try to create something for her. Also, be a teacher first, and a seller second. Be careful to make sure that you don’t say, “Oh, my goodness, I haven’t put anything out for two months. I need to get something out.” I never think like that. I create things with my students in mind.
1. Deanna Jump’s lesson plans ______.| A．brought her great fame | B．were put online by her colleague |
| C．sold well as soon as they were put online | D．were created with the help of her colleagues |
| A．other teachers are in need of it | B．it’s successful in her classroom |
| C．it’s expected to be a good seller | D．she adopts a new teaching style |
| A．To tell how to create lesson plans. | B．To discuss Deanna Jump’s teaching style. |
| C．To show the secret for being a great teacher. | D．To offer more information about a million-dollar teacher. |
