Curly the robot beats athletes at curling
A robot has beaten top-class humans at the sport of curling (冰壶运动). Klaus-Robert Muller at the Berlin Institute of Technology in Germany and his workmates built the robot,
In curling, players slide heavy stones down an icy path towards a target (宫垒). Players compete in two teams of four, with most players
Curly won three out of four
Placed on wheels, the robot has
2 . Fun facts about Antarctica
At the southernmost point of the world, you find Antarctica a giant mass of ice that’s its own continent. You, may not know much about the continent, so why not read on?
There’ s a lake that runs blood red in Antarctica.
As though someone has cut into the ice, the properly named Blood Falls come out over the Taylor Glacier. The water is extremely high in iron and salt, and when it comes into contact with the air, it shows the special red color against the pure white surroundings. The water here is three times saltier than ocean water, and therefore, too salty to become ice.
Antarctica has its own treaty (条约).
Because the environment of Antarctica is so delicate and unique, there is a treaty saying that only peaceful research can be done there. In 1959, 12 countries signed this treaty, with the number now sitting at 53. This also makes it certain that Antarctica doesn’t end up being caught in an international conflict, and that the continent is only used for scientific purposes and sensible traveling. The treaty prevents army and nuclear activities, and also mineral mining.
There is a unique phenomenon in Antarctica called diamond dust.
While there are low levels of precipitation (降水) in Antarctica, that doesn’t mean the air is clear of nature’s beauty! The air is so cold there that moisture (水汽) can condense while air-borne. This results in ice falling to the ground. The sun’s light will cause the ice to shine, creating a shining shower called diamond dust. It happens when the skies are clear, known as clear-sky precipitation.
If any of these Antarctic facts have increased your interest in visiting this unique continent, be sure to get in touch with the team al Aurora Expeditions today.
Phone：+61 (0)2 9252 1033
1. What do we know about the Blood Falls?| A．The water has been polluted. | B．The water comes from a river. |
| C．The water is rich in iron and salt. | D．The water usually freezes in winter. |
| A．where moisture comes from | B．how diamond dust is formed |
| C．where diamond dust can be found | D．how precipitation can be increased |
| A．A tour report. | B．research plan. |
| C．An advertisement. | D．An exploration guide. |
3 . Learning to read provides foundation for future learning in all areas of study. And experts say students need to have a working knowledge of 10,000 words. Now, a new vocabulary program claims to greatly speed up a child’s understanding of language.
Sofia Fenichell created the system.
Each word in the Mrs. Wordsmith system of teaching has a child-friendly definition.
For example, the word shriveled is defined as “ wrinkled, like hippo skin that’s been in the bath too long. ” Underneath the definition is a drawing of a very wet hippopotamus. There are also exercises to help strengthen the student’s understanding.
Fenichell spoke at a recent education technology show in London.
Mrs. Wordsmith is now set to expand into schools in other countries, including the United States.
| A．Words bring meaning to life |
| B．It is called Mrs. Wordsmith |
| C．Children will search for the right words to use |
| D．And each word has a picture showing how the word is used |
| E．She said the Mrs. Wordsmith system has been popular in schools across Britain |
| F．She worked with researchers from Cambridge University in Britain to develop the list of words |
| G．These words are typically the words they find in the books they read, in newspapers, in adult conversation |
4 . America’s youth is turning its back on tobacco. According to a study recently published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), cigarette smoking among US high school students is at an all-time low. One in 5 US high school students in 2016 reported using a tobacco product within the past 30 days, an improvement from 1 in 4 students just one year before.
“These findings show the importance of continuing to implement the evidence-based strategies that we now work to reduce all forms of tobacco product use, including e-cigarettes, among our nation’s youth,” says Brian King, of the CDC’s Office on Smoking and Health and senior author of the study.
And it’s not just tobacco: Drug use among US teens is down across the board. The National Institute on Drug Abuse has published annual reports on US teens’ drug use since 1996, and the 2016 survey shows the lowest rates of illegal drug and alcohol use. Marijuana (大麻) use remained “mostly steady”. “It is encouraging to see more young people making healthy choices not to use illegal substances,” says former National Drug Control Policy Director Michael Botticelli.
All individual forms of tobacco such as cigarettes, e-cigarettes, cigars, and smoke-less tobacco saw declines in usage in 2016. Experts are especially encouraged by the decline in cigarettes, the most popular tobacco product among teens. In 2016, 11.3 percent of high school students reported using e-cigarettes, down from 16 percent in 2015.
Dr. King says adaptation is key to the decline of e-cigarettes. “We have over a half-century of science telling students about the harmful effects of tobacco use and what works best to prevent it,” says King. “E-cigarettes are the most commonly used tobacco product among our nation’s youth, and it’s critical that our proven strategies are modernized to keep pace with the changing tobacco product landscape.”
1. What does the underlined word “implement” in Paragraph 2 mean?| A．Delay. | B．Perform. | C．Schedule. | D．Control. |
| A．US teens’ drug use has decreased. |
| B．There are many forms of tobacco. |
| C．E-cigarettes are popular among US teens. |
| D．The strategies are put forward by experts. |
| A．Disapproving. | B．Suspicious. | C．Favorable. | D．Ambiguous. |
| A．US teen tobacco use declines. | B．High percent of teen tobacco use. |
| C．The harmful effects of tobacco use. | D．The strategies to reduce tabasco use. |
5 . A major emergency can create hundreds of thousands of refugees (难民) overnight. The most immediate way in which organizations like UNHCR and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) can help these refugees is by setting up refugee camps. Refugee camps are designed to be temporary, but they often remain in place for decades. In some parts of the world, children have grown up and had children of their own without ever leaving their camp.
Critics argue that they force refugees to be entirely dependent on donations. One journalist who visited the Nyadeou camp in the south of the Republic of Guinea A (Africa) in 2001, described how normally peaceful people were reduced to fighting with each other when the food truck arrived.
Refugees camps can easily become dirty, overcrowded and are overrun with disease or crime. In many camps, drug dealers hide themselves among the majority of innocent refugees.
One alternative for refugees is to settle in a town or village, making them become part of the local population. This is known as the “self-settlement”. Several aid agencies argue that the self-settlement is a better option in many cases than refugee camps. They say that self-settled refugees can start to rebuild their lives straight away, and are freer and safer than refugees in camps. Oxfam, the ICRC and many other international aid agencies support programs in which refugees are helped to self-settle.
Representatives of UNHCR argue that refugee camps are the best way of saving the greatest possible numbers of lives. They point out that it is much easier to help people if they are all gathered in one place. This is certainly true of emergency relief, for example the distribution of food, water, shelters and medical supplies. It is also true that long-term aid programs, such as family tracing, orphan support and, perhaps most importantly, education, can all be carried out much more easily when refugees are all living together in one place.
1. Who are responsible for the refugees’ dependence on donations?| A．Critics. | B．Children. | C．Refugee camps. | D．UNHCR and the ICRC. |
| A．More personal aid. | B．More living space. |
| C．Better training programs. | D．A better sense of security. |
| A．It can help save much land. | B．It’s easier for them to get schooling. |
| C．It can reduce the number of orphans. | D．It allows families to better help each other. |
| A．The advantages of refugee camps. | B．The disadvantages of refugee camps. |
| C．The advantages of the self-settlement. | D．The disadvantages of the self-settlement. |
1．选择中国寄宿家庭；
2．多看中文电视节目；
3．多同中国学生交流；
4．参加校汉语学习班。
注意：
1．词数100左右；
2．可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。
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Last year, China’s League of Legends Pro League (LPL) English broadcast expanded its live show
Xia An was a student majoring in philosophy at the University of Hong Kong in 2019 when she applied for the position. After fierce competition, she got the job doing translation work for LPL. At the beginning of last year,
“I had studied in Singapore since 2012 and easily picked up English because all the courses were taught in the language. As for Korean, I was interested in K-pop and watched a lot of LCK
“Also, since I was interested in E-sports, and Mandarin, English and Korean
“During the interviews, I’m not representing myself
8 . The world that we live in is beautiful because it’s made up of people from a diverse set of backgrounds and cultures.
During this time, our multicultural world is embraced and celebrated for all of the variety and joy it brings. Can you imagine a world where everyone looks the same, has the exact same hobbies and interests, and even eats the same thing for breakfast, lunch and dinner?
To put it simply, our diversity and inclusiveness (包容性)are our biggest strengths. We’ll all profit from a more diverse, inclusive society, understanding, accommodating, even celebrating our differences, while pulling together for the common good. As such, Global Diversity Awareness Month is a great chance for us to learn more about the beliefs, values and customs of other cultures.
There is no doubt that diversity and inclusiveness make our world a better place.
| A．There are many ways we can celebrate diversity. |
| B．How can we make the world a better place to live in? |
| C．What can possibly be a better way to celebrate that diversity? |
| D．Respect for world diversity is the key to bridging the differences. |
| E．It’s our unique differences that make the world so wonderful and interesting. |
| F．What’s important is that we reach out to other people and appreciate those differences. |
| G．In this way, we can open our mind to new ideas and ways of thinking to better our society. |
9 . Starch(淀粉)is the main component of flour, rice and corn among others, while carbon dioxide makes up the vast majority of greenhouse gases. One day, humans may be able to “eat” carbon dioxide, and global warming could be “eaten away” by carbon lovers. Although it sounds wild, the day is coming.
Chinese scientists have created starch using carbon dioxide, hydrogen and electricity, according to a study published in Science in September, 2021.
“Plants create starch through photosynthesis(光合作用), which is a complex and inefficient (效率低得)process,” Ma Yanhe, the director of the Tianjin Institute of Industrial Biotechnology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, told China Daily. He added that it would take a plant about 60 steps to turn carbon dioxide, water and sunlight into starch.
“Our breakthrough shows that making starch is achievable in a lab. This method makes it possible to produce food in factories and there are many industries that can benefit from this technology,” Ma told China Daily.
The team has been working on the process for 6 years. “The first step of the method is to convert carbon dioxide and hydrogen into methanol(甲醇), which is a molecule(分子)that contains a single carbon atom,” Cai Tao, one of the first authors of the study, told China Daily.
Scientists then piece these single-carbon molecules into bigger and more complex molecules. With the help of supercomputing, Chinese scientists have simplified the natural starch-making process from about 60 steps into 11.
“The new process has made it possible to turn starch production from traditional agricultural fanning to industrial production. And it may be possible to satisfy our needs without farming in the future. This will not only help save water, fertilizer and land but also help recycle carbon dioxide to deal with climate change,” a research fellow with the Chinese Academy of Sciences told the Global Times.
The study can also benefit space exploration in the future. The starch may provide a secure food source for astronauts as they travel long distances in space by simply turning the carbon dioxide they breathe out into food.
1. What does Ma Yanhe think of the new method of creating starch?| A．It’s extremely complex and inefficient. |
| B．It’s achievable through photosynthesis. |
| C．It’s a way of dealing with global warming. |
| D．It’s more efficient than the natural method. |
| A．push | B．change | C．divide | D．mix |
| A．It can help improve people’s health. |
| B．It can change the way of starch production. |
| C．It can provide astronauts with nutritious food. |
| D．It can save farmers from traditional agriculture. |
| A．Smart with starch | B．Hungry for starch |
| C．Secure about food supply | D．Beneficial to food diversity |
10 . Praised as the “Edgar Snow of a New Era”, British journalist Andrew Moody devoted himself to accurately reporting on China for over a decade. Born in Nottinghamshire in September 1960, Moody’s interest in journalism began at age 15. What came next was a storied career that would last 4 decades. A visit to Shenzhen, Guangdong province, in 1997 turned his attention to China. During that visit, he was surprised by the great changes that had taken place in China. Moody began working for China Daily in 2008. In his 13 years at the paper, he published more than 1 million words in the newspaper group’s different publications.
“These stories aim to explain to a wider audience the strategies(策略)and aims of the Chinese government, and also look at the challenges and difficulties it faces,” Moody wrote. “I also attach importance to issues which go largely ignored in the mainstream Western media, and which often fail to provide a full or true image(形象)of China.”
To better cover China, Moody read a lot. In his Beijing apartment, there were more than 160 books about the nation. Su Qiang, a China Daily editor who worked with Moody for 8 years, said, “He had read all the books that top experts had written about China, and he closely followed how the world viewed China.” Moody also learned to speak Mandarin, traveled to most provinces and autonomous regions throughout China and exposed himself to the Chinese way of life.
“China is moving into a new era in which it is much more confident about its position and status in the world. I have a definite sense of history in the making,” said Moody. He hoped that he could be one of the witnesses and reporters of this historic time.
“So even when he was suffering from a serious disease, Moody still soldiered on. All he cared about was whether he could keep on working,” said Wang Liping, Moody’s attending doctor.
When he passed away in June 2021, many people were sad. “His death will be a huge loss to those who are working hard on the dialogue between China and the outside world,” said Kerry Brown, a professor of Chinese Studies at King’s College London.
1. What can be known about Andrew Moody?| A．He moved to China to work in 1997. |
| B．He reported on China for four decades. |
| C．He considered Edgar Snow to be his role model. |
| D．He began to show interest in journalism as a teenager. |
| A．He drew a wider audience to the newspaper. |
| B．He reported on the typical Chinese way of life. |
| C．He accurately introduced China to more people. |
| D．He communicated with the mainstream Western media. |
| A．Fearless. | B．Devoted. | C．Optimistic. | D．Ambitious. |
| A．To praise an honorable foreign journalist. |
| B．To describe Moody’s colorful life in China. |
| C．To correct Western media’s impression of China. |
| D．To show an accurate image of China to the outside world. |
