A Battery’s Nightmare
Portable electronics that can be carried about easily are only as good as their batteries (电池) and, let’s face it, batteries aren’t very good, especially when compared with, say, petrol, which packs 100 times a battery’s energy into an equal space. That’s why a large group of mechanical engineers (centered at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, but with partners at other universities and companies) are hard at work in an effort to replace batteries with a tiny engine that runs on fuel. Imagine a battery-free life! When the fuel runs out in your mobile phone, you just fill up and go.
The engine---about the size of a ten-cent coin---starts with a combustion chamber (燃烧室) that burns hydrogen. Its tiny parts are etched (蚀刻) onto silicon wafers (硅片) in the same manner that computer parts are etched onto integrated circuits (集成电路). The first engine is made up of five wafers. And since these wafers could be produced in much the same way as computer chips, they could probably be produced quite cheaply.
But the devil in all this nice detail is efficiency. Tiny engine parts don’t always behave like the bigger parts of the first engine. Something between the parts can slow down the works, according to Columbia University Professor LucFrechette, one of the engine’s designers. Extreme heat from the combustion chamber is also a problem, often leaking to other parts of the engine.
The scientists’ goal is to create an engine that will operate 10 times better than batteries operate. Frechette says that a complete system, with all parts in place and working, will be set up in the next couple of years, but commercial models aren’t likely until at least the end of the next ten years.According to the passage, the title suggests that _______ .
| A．batteries should be greatly improved |
| B．petrol will be used instead of batteries |
| C．the time of batteries will be gone forever |
| D．pollution problems caused by batteries must be solved |
What’s the meaning of the underlined word “devil” in paragraph 3?
| A．Problem | B．Advantage | C．Invention | D．Technique |
What can we infer from the passage?
| A．The new invention doesn’t need any fuel. |
| B．The new engine has been produced in large quantities. |
| C．The new invention is much cheaper than the battery. |
| D．The new engine needs to be improved before it’s on sale. |
Lose yourself in the sights and sounds of Madrid –– a three-night break from £175 per person.
● Have a three-night break in Madrid, with a four-star hotel.
● Prices range from £175 to £245 per person, depending on when you travel (£350 as usual).
● Stay in the Hotel Santo Domingo in the heart of the city.
● Return flights are included in the cost of the voucher (代金券).
Details
● The voucher is valid (有效的) from January 9th, 2014 to March 25th, 2014 (no discounts during January 16th –18th, February 1st–2nd, 12th–16th, March 1st–2nd).
● £175 per person for arrivals between January 9th and January 31st; £210 per person for arrivals between February 1st and February 28th; £245 per person for arrivals between March 1st and March 25th.
● Once you have bought the voucher, book by calling 0800 368 0300. Book as early as you can. You cannot call off your deal once you book one.
● One voucher can only be used for one stay. You cannot use more vouchers to extend your stay. It’s not available with any other discounts. The unused parts of the deal are not exchanged for cash or any other service.
What you will get
Madrid’s mix of culture, wisdom and fun makes it one of Europe’s most exciting capital cities. By day, go to the Golden Museum Triangle to enjoy works of art by Picasso and Van Gogh, and visit the Royal Palace. At night, go to clubs to experience the culture. When it comes to the food, no words can describe it.
In the hotel, you can have free Wi-Fi, air conditioning, LCD televisions and bathrooms. As well as being based in the best shopping area in Madrid, the hotel is also close to the biggest museum.
If a customer arrives at the Hotel Santo Domingo on January 20th, he’ll be offered a discount of ________.
| A．50% | B．40% | C．30% | D．10% |
What do we know about the Hotel Santo Domingo?
| A．It is a five-star hotel. |
| B．It lies in the west of Madrid. |
| C．It is located in a shopping area. |
| D．It is far from the biggest museum. |
What is the purpose of this passage?
| A．To introduce the sights of Madrid. |
| B．To offer help to visitors to Madrid. |
| C．To advertise a hotel in Madrid. |
| D．To tell visitors how to book hotels in Madrid. |
If Confucius（孔子）were still alive today and could celebrate his September 28 birthday with a big cake, there would be a lot of candles. He’d need a fan or a strong wind to help him put them out.
While many people in China will remember Confucius on his special day, few people in the United States will give him a passing thought. It’s nothing personal. Most Americans don’t even remember the birthdays of their own national heroes.
But this doesn’t mean that Americans don’t care about Confucius. In many ways he has become a bridge that foreigners must cross if they want to reach a deeper understanding of China.
In the past two decades, the Chinese studies programs have gained huge popularity in Western universities. More recently, the Chinese government has set up Confucius Institutes in more than 80 countries. These schools teach both Chinese language and culture. The main courses of Chinese culture usually included Chinese art, history and philosophy. Some social scientists suggest that Westerners should take advantage of the ancient Chinese wisdom to make up for the drawbacks of Westerners philosophy. Students in the United States, at the same time, are racing to learn Chinese. So they will be ready for life in a world where China is an equal power with the United States. Businessmen who hope to make money in China are reading books about Confucius to understand their Chinese customers.
So the old thinker’s ideas are still alive and well. Today China attracts the West more than ever, and it will need more teachers to introduce Confucius and Chinese culture to the West. As for the old thinker, he will not soon be forgotten by people in the West, even if his birthday is.The first paragraph is mainly intended to ______.
| A．provide some key facts about Confucius |
| B．attract the readers’ interest in the subject |
| C．show great respect for the great thinker |
| D．prove the popularity of modern birthday celebrations |
We can learn from Paragraph 4 that American students _______.
| A．have a great interest in studying Chinese |
| B．take an active part in Chinese competitions |
| C．try to get high scores in Chinese exams |
| D．fight for a chance to learn Chinese |
What is the best title for the passage?
| A．Forgotten Wisdom in America |
| B．Huge Fans of the Chinese Language |
| C．Chinese Culture for Westners |
| D．Old Thinkers With a Big Future |
The passage is likely to appear in ___________.
| A．a biography | B．a history paper |
| C．a newspaper | D．a philosophy textbook |
Many of us feel uneasy when someone stands too close to us, talks to us too loudly or makes eye contact (接触) with us for too long. But have you ever wondered why those things make you uncomfortable?
It’s all about personal peace, which means not only an imaginary space around the body, but also the space around all the senses. People feel that their space is being violated (侵犯) when they meet with an unwelcome sound, smell or look. This is probably why a man on a crowded bus shouting into his mobile phone or a woman next to you putting on strong perfume (香水) makes you feel angry.
Whether people have had a stronger wish to protect their personal space in recent times is hard to say. Yet studies of airlines show that people have a strong desire (渴望) to have space to themselves. In a survey(调查) by Trip Advisor, a travel website, people said that if they had to pay more for some extra service, they would rather have larger seats than extra food.
Although people may need their personal space, some hardly realize it. For example, people on a bus who hold newspapers in front of their faces to read in fact keep a distance from strangers.
Go and watch a library table. You will notice that one of the corner seats will usually be taken first, because they are the farthest way. What if someone sits opposite to you? Maybe you will pile up books as if to make a wall.
Preference(偏好) for personal space are different from culture to culture. Scientists have found that Americans generally prefer more personal space than people from other cultures. In Latin(拉丁人的) cultures, however, people are more comfortable standing close to each other.The writer mainly _________ in this article.
| A．tells us how to achieve personal space |
| B．explains what personal space people need is |
| C．introduces some knowledge about personal space |
| D．argues for the importance of keeping personal space |
Who might feel his personal space is safe according to the passage?
| A．A person who has to sit next to a lady putting on strong perfume. |
| B．A person who has been watched by a stranger for a long time. |
| C．A person who hears strange noises when reading at home. |
| D．A Latin boy who is chatting with a friend sitting close to him. |
What can we know from the survey by TripAdvisor?
| A．People need a smaller personal space in recent times than before. |
| B．People have a strong desire for personal space in recent times. |
| C．There are not enough seats on the plane to meet people’s needs. |
| D．Food service is better provided than seats on the plane. |
Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?
| A．The space around the body is more needed than that around all the senses. |
| B．If you hold newspapers on the bus, your personal space won’t be violated. |
| C．People usually choose the corner seats first in a library for personal space. |
| D．Different cultures share the same preferences for personal space. |
阅读下列短文，从每题所给的四个选项A、B、C和D中，选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
I hate nosy (爱管闲事的) neighbors and it’s very unlucky that I had one for myself. They moved in a couple of months back and although I never felt that they were a strange family, I’ve always hated the way they get “too close” to me, my house, my garden, and even my garbage cans.
One day, my neighbors were mowing their lawn (草坪). My garbage cans were near their lawn. For some strange reason, I found the wife looking through my garbage cans. I felt angry but since they were from a different culture, I thought that maybe it was “normal” from their ideas.
That afternoon, the couple knocked on my front door. When I opened, they gave me a plastic bag. Inside were my old daily bills, credit cards and bank statements, and an old birthday card that my old uncle sent. They said that they were returning them to me because these documents contained very private information that may be used by others.
I’ve heard it before. I asked them how those documents can be used by others and they started telling me their very own experience, which forced them to leave their home and move next door to us. The wife told me that she never destroyed the bills. They also had a “nosy neighbor” who looked through their garbage cans which they actually thought was pretty strange. Little did they know that this “nosy neighbor” was collecting their personal information from their rubbish. Then all their money was taken out from the bank by their neighbor.
It was a very painful experience for all of them and they wanted to leave them all behind so they left. I was very thankful. They were not nosy neighbors. They simply didn’t want us to experience the same thing that they did.What made the author angry?
| A．His neighbor’s wife was looking through his rubbish. |
| B．His neighbors were mowing their lawn one morning. |
| C．His neighbors got too close to his own home. |
| D．His neighbors came to knock at his door at night. |
Why did the couple come to the author’s home?
| A．To introduce themselves to the author. |
| B．To get to know each other better. |
| C．To return the documents to the author. |
| D．To borrow some money from the author. |
The neighbors came to live next door to the author because ______.
| A．they no longer had money to live in their former home |
| B．they didn’t want to live in such a noisy home as before |
| C．their personal documents were used by their former neighbor |
| D．they thought the author was much better than their former neighbor |
Which of the following can we infer from the last paragraph?
| A．The author was kind and helpful to the neighbors. |
| B．The neighbors had to move from place to place. |
| C．The neighbors didn’t have enough money. |
| D．The author changed his idea about his neighbors. |
As you move around your home, take a good look at the things you have. It is likely that your living room will have a television set and a video, Your bedroom drawers will be filled with almost three times as many clothes as you need. You almost certainly own a car and possibly a home computer. Now, people are wondering what life is all about, and what it is for. Seeking material success is beginning to trouble large numbers of people around the world. They feel that the long hours work culture to make more money is eating up their lives, leaving them very little time or energy for family or pastimes. Many are turning to other ways of living and downshifting is one of them. Six percent of workers in Britain took the decision to downshift last year.
One couple who downshifted is Daniel and Liz. They used to work in central London. They would go to work by train every day from their large house in the suburbs, leaving their two children with a nanny. Most evenings Daniel wouldn’t get home until eight or nine o’clock. They both earned a large amount of money but began to feel that life was passing them by.
Nowadays, they run a farm in the mountains of Wales. “I always wanted to have a farm then,” says Daniel, “and we took almost a year to make the decision to downshift. It’s taken some getting used to, but it’s been worth it. I think it’s made us stronger as a family, and the children are a lot happier.
Liz, “I’m gradually getting used to looking after the animals. One thing I do like, though, is being able to see more of my children. My advice for other people wanting to do the same is not to think about it too much or you might not do it at all.”The passage tells us that .
| A．people seldom work long hours to make money |
| B．people hardly buy more things than necessary |
| C．people are sure everything they own is in the right place |
| D．people realize there is more to life than just making money |
Daniel and Liz both agree that the move to the farm ____.
| A．was easy to organize | B．has improved family life |
| C．was extremely expensive | D．has been a total success |
What does the author mean by saying“the long hours work culture to make more money is eating up their lives” in the second paragraph ?
| A．People work long hours to earn their living. |
| B．To make more money through hard work is the aim of people’s life. |
| C．Long hours of hard work occupy too much of people’s life. |
| D．People spent too much time and money eating meals. |
The underlined word “downshifting” in the second paragraph refers to _________.
| A．repairing your car by yourself |
| B．spending money carefully |
| C．moving out to the countryside to live a simpler and better life |
| D．living in a big house in the suburbs and dining out once a week |
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