1 . What would it be like to live on the moon? Students in the 2021 Future City Competition were challenged to find out. Nine middle school students from AI-Hadi School of Accelerative Learning in Huston, Texas, America took home the prize in the competition.
Middle school teams from the United States, Canada, Nigeria and China joined in the 29th yearly competition. The students used their STEM (science, technology, math and engineering) skills to create a city on the Moon.
The minerals and other resources(矿物质和其他资源) from the Moon helped the team design solutions to the problems humans might face on the planet, including providing enough water, as well as gases(气体) that are necessary for people, animals and plants to live. When asked if they’d like to live in their city on the Moon in the future, the students showed great excitement and interest in the possible moving from the planet Earth.
One winning student Sukaina Salim said, “One of our members had to leave the project because of his bad health. What was worse, COVID-19 created several difficulties for us. But we always encouraged each other to keep trying to achieve our common goals. It was a hard but great experience.”
Team teacher Syeda Batool encouraged the students and offered practical advice for their project.
“The most important thing we learned from our teachers was how to work together to do our job well,” said Mohammad Hani Mirza, who is a seventh grader. “That’s one thing we were missing because we all came from different backgrounds with different ideas, and we worked together to create a beautiful city.”
The winners were given a chance to go on an all-term trip to U.S. Space Camp in Huntsville, Alabama, and $7,500 for their school’s STEM program.
1. What do we know about the Future City competition?| A．It is designed for STEM students. | B．It is an international competition. |
| C．It is held in America every other year. | D．It is set up to protect the environment. |
| A．To list their challenges. |
| B．To show us their goals. |
| C．To advise us how to work with team members. |
| D．To encourage others to take part in the competition. |
| A．Hard work will pay off. | B．One should set a goal first. |
| C．Teamwork is the key to success. | D．Creativity comes from challenges. |
| A．Important skills to win a competition |
| B．The best way to achieve common goals |
| C．Middle school students wanted to live in a city on the Moon |
| D．Students from America won the 2021 Future City Competition |
2 . It may be one of Britain’s most successful exports—Miss World. This 53-year-old event took place in China last week and attracted over 120 women worldwide with knockout looks in a mad struggle for the crown.
Traditional values have long kept the Chinese, especially women, from displaying beauty. But Chinese people have now changed their attitude towards beauty contest, although some men will still be shouting that the winner is no more beautiful than his wife or his former girl-friend or even his mother in a sour tone.
And a further question to be asked is: does taking part in a beauty contest show a woman’s courage, wisdom and liberation or rather the opposite—a forced choice and a revolting act made under conditions of long-term discrimination?
Organizers of such beauty contests claim that the contestants are judged on qualities other than just their physical appearance. But still no answer is given to why there isn’t a Mr. Beauty or a Mr. World Contest.
Think about who is always standing beside a fancy car on show?
The beauty contests go on year after year, with winners enjoying fame which quickly disappears.
| A．Or at least, why isn’t that kind of contest popular |
| B．While such events go on and on |
| C．Though a Mr. World Contest is also held |
| D．But such men are not shouting for the right reason |
| E．What never changes is the fate of women as a class |
| F．Is it a boy or a girl |
| G．Women were not allowed to show their beauty in China |
3 . Japan's prime minister encouraged the decision to ban viewers, even family members, by issuing a state of emergency order in Tokyo earlier this month in response to rising COVID-19 case numbers.
From the perspective of sports psychologists, an Olympics without fans is a real-life science experiment that is helping researchers and clinicians to comb through the true impact of a crowd of fans on its players—and on viewers at home. The strange circumstances under which the games are held may place unexpected pressure on some athletes. On Tuesday, superstar gymnast Simone Biles dropped out of the women's team event, telling teammates and reporters she wasn't in the right “headspace” to compete. “It's been really stressful this Olympic Games. There are a lot of different variables going into it,” Biles told the Washington Post.
The 2020 Summer Olympics bears similarities and differences to other major sporting events without viewers. The English Premier League supplemented (增加) game broadcasts with crowd noise from the soccer video game FIFA 20, mixed with game audio in real time. A Taiwanese baseball team and German soccer team began populating stands with cardboard cutouts of fans, and the trend caught on internationally.
Jamey Houle, the lead sports psychologist for Ohio State University Athletics and a former Al-American gymnast, says competitive athletes are trained in visualization— imagining performing a certain action or motion, such as doing a roundoff back handspring in gymnastics. Without moving a muscle, players using visualization can solidify neural (神经的) connections and activate their motor cortex (皮层). To visualize most effectively, Houle says, athletes working with sports psychologists will try to simulate as closely as possible the conditions of actual gameplay. Empty stadiums may thus have a measurable impact on players' performance. This phenomenon is grounded in a psychological concept called “social facilitation”, referring to a change in a person's performance that occurs when others are around compared to when a person is alone.
1. What caused Biles to drop out of the women's team event?| A．The poor physical condition. | B．The absence of the audience. |
| C．The fiercely competitive event. | D．The influence of crowds of fans. |
| A．The Taiwanese baseball team is a success. |
| B．The tendency mentioned is popular among some sporting events. |
| C．The 2020 Summer Olympics is stricter in preventing the pandemic. |
| D．The crowd noise plays a leading role in the English Premier League. |
| A．By doing a roundoff back handspring. | B．By simulating the conditions of actual gameplay. |
| C．By using the concept called social facilitation. | D．By changing the viewers of a player. |
| A．Athletes should be trained in visualization. | B．Audience should be admitted to the Olympics. |
| C．Social facilitation is helpful to sporting events. | D．Viewers present may influence players' performance. |
4 . Most people would tremble at the idea of getting caught up in a 73.5-foot wave. But for Brazilian pro-surfer Maya, it presented the perfect opportunity to break her 2018 world record for the largest wave surfed by a female. The athlete skillfully maneuvered (操控) the massive wave at the World Surf League (WSL) Nazare Tow Surfing Challenge in Praia do Norte, Portugal, where she established her first world record by riding a 68-foot wave.
“When I let go of the rope, I had a feeling it could be the one but wasn’t sure. The speed was very high, but the noise that the wave made when it broke made me realize that this was probably the biggest wave I’d ever ridden.
Her record, earning her WSL’s 2020 women’s Biggest Wave Award, was two feet higher than Dupont’s wave, who had ridden the largest wave. It was also 3.5 feet higher than the 70-foot wave ridden by the 2020 men’s Biggest Wave Award winner Kai Lenny!
“Our sport is very male-dominated, with the performances on the male side being often much stronger than ours as females,” she said. “This year, a woman did surf the biggest, tallest wave of the year. It opens the idea that in other categories and other areas of surfing, this could be accomplished, too.”
Though Maya, who has been surfing competitively since she was 15, seemed to effortlessly move over the monster surf, it has not all been smooth sailing. Her first attempt at pursuing the world’s biggest wave in Nazare, Portugal, in 2013 could have ended her career. The surfer suffered a disastrous wipeout that broke her ankle and almost caused her to drown. However, it did not reduce her determination to create her record as one of the world’s greatest surfers!
1. What was Maya’s result in WSL Nazare Tow Surfing Challenge in 2018?| A．71.5 feet. | B．68 feet. |
| C．70 feet. | D．73.5 feet. |
| A．The noise of the wave. | B．The speed of the wave. |
| C．The size of the wave. | D．The height of the wave. |
| A．It reflected people’s idea about surfing. |
| B．It represented the highest level of surfers. |
| C．It proved the ability of female surfers. |
| D．It indicated the domination of males. |
| A．Her strong will. | B．Her talent. |
| C．Her attempt. | D．Her frustration. |
5 . A 24-year-old Ethiopian runner Shura Kitata won the men’s race in the 2020 Virgin Money London Marathon, crossing the line in 2:05:41.
Kitata finished second in the 2018 London Marathon behind the world record holder Eliud Kipchoge. However, this weekend, Kitata won the Virgin Money London Marathon and thanked fellow Ethiopian, Kenenisia Bekele for his win when he talked to a reporter from the BBC. Kitata said Bekele was helping him for the race and advised him how to run. He trained hard for the same course in this way. Fortunately, he won the race for his hard training.
Kitata showed his excellent performances including victories at the 2017 Rome Marathon and 2017 Frankfurt Marathon title victories, where he finished separately with the times 2:07:30 and 2:05:50.
Kitata was born on a family farm in central Ethiopia, not far from the capital of Addis Ababa, and has four sisters and three brothers. As a youngster at school, he learned quickly about his country’s marathon history. The names Abebe Bikila, Kenenisia Bekele and Derartu Tulu left a deep impression on him. They seemed to be everywhere t—textbooks, news-papers and on the radio so that even before he started running, he knew about the marathon, and thought it very thrilling.
He loved sports and began running at primary school. When he performed well, he just rode the wave. Kitata took part in his first marathon five years ago in Shanghai, finishing third in 2:08:50 and soon joined an elite training group in Addis Ababa.
Now he appears calm to join the ranks of great Ethiopian marathoners. He is a famous sportsman, like the ones he read about and heard so much about during his childhood. He said it would be a great joy to add his story to the stories of those who came before him.
1. What’s Shura Kitata’s attitude towards Kenenisia Bekele?| A．Doubtful | B．Tolerant |
| C．Grateful. | D．Unclear. |
| A．He attended two marathons in total. |
| B．He learned about marathon from his brothers. |
| C．He became a marathon runner at primary school. |
| D．He had a passion for marathon when he was young. |
| A．Young children | B．Great marathon runners |
| C．High ranks | D．Joyful stories. |
| A．Focused and athletic. | B．Modest and brave |
| C．Warm-hearted and humorous. | D．Open-minded and helpful |
