Should we try to contact and make friends with other beings in the universe? Certainly not，says British physicist Stephen Hawking．
“If aliens（creatures from other planets）ever visit us, I think the outcome would be much as when Christopher Columbus first landed in America, which didn’t turn out very well for the Native Americans,’’ said the 68-year-old disabled scientist in a new Discovery documentary (纪实性电视节目) on April 25．
The program pictures an imagined universe where other life forms in huge spaceships hunt for resources after using up all those on their home planets．
“Such advanced aliens would perhaps become nomads(游牧民)，looking to conquer and colonize whatever planets they can reach，”warned Hawking．
On the probability of other life forms existing, he says, “To my mathematical brain, the numbers alone make thinking about aliens perfectly reasonable.”
Hawking’s concerns have frightened some people and been met with disagreement from other researchers．Paul Davies, author of the book Renewing Our Search for Alien Intelligence，thinks Hawking’s reasoning is wrong.
He argues that since Earth is about 4.5 billion years old，if intel1igent life is likely , communities of other beings may have been there for a very long time．
“If resources are the factor, then at least one group of aliens would surely have visited Earth as a destination mil1ions of years ago．
Even if other life forms do come to Earth in the near future, Davies believes comparisons with are wide of the mark(离谱的).
68. What is the article mainly about?
A. Other life forms coming to our planet．
B. Scientific evidence of other life forms．
C. Earth as the only place where human beings can survive．
D. Hawking’s belief that other life forms may exist in the universe．
69. Which of the following ideas is opposed to Hawking’s view?
A. Other life forms exist in the universe．
B. 0ther life forms may be more intelligent than human beings．
C. We should try to contact other 1ife forms from other planets．
D. Other life forms may exist in more than one part of the universe．
70. Paul Davies didn’t agree with Stephen Hawking ,believing that ________．
A. the universe is running out of resources
B. humans are the best creatures in the universe.
C. it is a good idea to avoid meeting with other life forms
D. Davies doesn’t think it proper to compare aliens with Columbus
71. Hawking referred to Christopher Columbus as an example to ____．
A. inspire interest in the universe
B. draw attention to other planets in the universe
C. warn people to watch out for other life forms
D. urge further exploration of the universe~
Anyone arriving in Shanghai at night from the airport for the first time is immediately attracted by the Oriental Pearl TV Tower（东方明珠电视塔）, which stands out in the evening sky like an amazing space ship landing. Dramatic lighting effects make this unusual structure attractive.
This ultra-modern（超现代的）tower combines ancient concepts such as the spherical (球形的)pearls, with 21st century technology, commerce, recreation, educational and conference facilities. In 1995 it began broadcasting nine television channels and 10 FM radio channels. The construction began in 1991 and was completed in 1995. This 468-meter-high (1,536 feet) tower is the tallest tower in Asia, and the third tallest tower in the world. The viewing area offers a great view of the most recently developed Special Economic Zone of Pudong（浦东经济开发区）. Visitors travel up and down the tower in double-decker elevators that can hold up to fifty people at the rate of seven meters per second.
At the base of the tower is Pudong Park, which was designed as a contrast to the massive commercial development of the Special Economic Zone of Pudong. There are wonderful views across the Huang-Pu River from the "New Bund(新外滩)" to the original.
The tower has three observatory levels. The highest one (Space Module) is at 350m. The lower ones are at 263m (Sightseeing Floor) and at 90m (Space City). There is a revolving(旋转) restaurant at the 267m level. The project also contains exhibition facilities, restaurants and a shopping mall. There is also a 20-room hotel called the Space Hotel between the two big balls.Which one is the best title of the passage?
| A．Beautiful View from the Oriental Pearl TV Tower |
| B．The Functions of the Oriental Pearl TV Tower |
| C． Special Economic Zone of Pudong |
| D．The Oriental Pearl TV Tower-the Landmark of Shanghai |
What can we infer from the passage?
| A．It took people about 5 years to complete the construction of the tower. |
| B．Visitors can have a cup of coffee and relax themselves in the tower. |
| C．The tallest tower in the world is not higher than1,536 feet. |
| D． Pudong Park faces the tower across the Huang-Pu River. |
The Sightseeing Floor is ______meters from the top of the tower.
| A．350 | B．263 | C．105 | D．267 |
For 52 years my father got up at 5:30 am every morning, went to work, and returned home at 5:30 pm. I never saw my father stayed home from work ill, nor did I ever see my father lay down to take a nap. He had no hobbies, other than taking care of his family. All he asked from me, his daughter, was to help him while he was repairing something, so we could have some time to talk.
For 22 years, after I left home for college, my father called me at 9:00 am every Sunday. Nine years ago when I bought my first house, my father, 67 years old, spent eight hours a day for three days painting my house. He would not allow me to pay someone to have it done. All he asked for was a glass of iced tea. Five years ago, at age 71, my father spent five hours putting together a swing set for my daughter.
On the morning of January 16, 1996, my sister telephoned me; my father was in the hospital with an aneurysm（动脉瘤） in Florida. I got on an airplane immediately, and on the way I realized that I hadn't communicated with him as much as I'd always wanted to. I vowed（发誓） that when I arrived, I would have a long talk with him. I arrived in Florida at 1 am, only to find that my father, at the age of 76, had passed away at 9:12 pm. This time it was he who did not have time to talk, or time to wait for me.From the first paragraph we can infer that the author's father ______.
| A．was a good driver | B．was in good health |
| C．sometimes fell ill | D．had no hobbies |
The underlined phrase "other than" in the first paragraph can be replaced by "______".
| A．except | B．including |
| C．without | D．due to |
According to the last paragraph, we can know that the author's father was born in ______.
| A．1916 | B．1918 |
| C．1920 | D．1922 |
The author wrote the article in order to ______.
| A．praise her father | B．remember her father |
| C．show her father loved her | D．let her father be known |
We’ve been covering standing desks for a long time now because experts agree that sitting all day is killing us．We want to be productive while also keeping our bodies healthy．Over the years，there have been several solutions to this from fixed standing desks to adjustable ones，portable desks to ones that change into shelves．
However, the most high tech and elegant solution has to be this new smart desk called The Stir Kinetic Desk．The desk learns your daily behaviors and moves between a sitting and standing height regularly throughout the day to keep you moving without interrupting your work flow．
You can program specific sitting and standing intervals or let the desk set the schedule．If you tend to sit while returning emails in the morning，but always want to stand during that afternoon conference call，the desk will learn those regular habits and adjust the schedule to fit them. Of course，the desk can always be manually lowered or raised by using the touch screen on the lower left comer of the desk．
When switching positions，the desk gently dips and rises to let you know that a change is coming up．If you’re not ready to switch positions at that time，you can tap the touchscreen to stay sitting or standing for a while longer．
The built．in touchscreen also keeps track of your daily sitting and standing times and tells you how many calories you’ve burned．You can even set goals for how long or often you want to stand．The desk also works with fitness devices like the FitBit to track your movements．
All of that smart tech doesn’t come cheap though．The M1 desk，which is the everyday model，runs a steep $2，990，while the more executive model with added features，the F1，goes for$4，190．
While expensive，it’s worth thinking of how much time we spend at our desks．Much like a good mattress(床垫)，a good desk that works with you is worth the investment．Hopefully in a few years these smart，integrated desks will be more common and less expensive．
The Stir Kinetic Desk has been designed to_______．
| A．help users with their work |
| B．keep users moving all the time |
| C．get users to exercise while working |
| D．remind users of their working schedule |
Which is the feature of the touchscreen of the desk?
| A．It can tell users when to change positions． |
| B．It can track users’changes of positions． |
| C．It can keep users in a fixed position． |
| D．It can detect users’health condition． |
Which of the following can best describe the desk?
| A．Productive but challenging． |
| B．Convenient but unaffordable． |
| C．Complex and impractical． |
| D．Multi-functional and intelligent． |
What does the author intend to tell us in the last paragraph?
| A．To spend money on such a desk is rewarding． |
| B．We should get such a desk as soon as possible． |
| C．It won’t be long before the desk is widely used． |
| D．Desks play a very important role in our daily life． |
The world’s richest man might seem to have it all，but Bill Gates has one regret．The self-made billionaire said he felt stupid for not knowing any foreign languages．
Speaking in his third Ask Me Anything question-and-answer session for online forum Reddit(红迪网)，the Microsoft founder said that he wished he spoke French，Arabic or Chinese．
He said：“I took Latin and Greek in high school and got A's and I guess it helps my vocabulary．I keep hoping to get time to study one of these—probably French because it is the easiest．I did Duolingo for a while but didn’t keep it up．”
Gates，who is worth $79．3 billion，praised Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg for surprising an audience in Beijing when he spoke fluent Chinese．“Mark Zuckerberg amazingly leamed Chinese and did a Q&A with Chinese students—unbelievable，isn’t it?”he said．
This isn’t the first time for Gates to admit his regret over language．He also showed his habits at home and personal insights．
Last February, Gates said he likes to do the dishes himself—to his own special standards every night and also told the interviewer that his wife，Melinda，would likely want Samuel L．Jackson to play her husband in a biopic(传记片)．
He also admitted that he would pick up a $100 bill if he found it on the street．
As he took the top spot on Forbes(福布斯)28th Annual Billionaires list last year for the fourth time，he said he is pretty basic when it comes to so ending on clothes and food，but that he enjoys investing in shoes and racquets(球拍)when he plays tennis．
When asked a life lesson he had to learn the hard way，the billionaire said staying up too late is a habit he is still trying to break．‘‘Don’t stay up too late even if the book is really exciting．You will regret it in the morning．Pam still working on this problem，”he said．Which of the following can be the best title for the passage?
| A．An Interview with Bill Gates |
| B．How Bill Gates Succeeded |
| C．Bill Gates’Regret |
| D．The Richest Billionaire |
The underlined part in Paragraph 8 may actually mean that_____．
| A．it is important to lay a good foundation of life |
| B．food and clothing are basic needs for people’s life |
| C．he doesn’t spend much money on food and clothes |
| D．he never cares about buying food and clothing |
What advice did Bill Gates give?
| A．Avoid staying up too late． |
| B．Be a good language learner． |
| C．Do the dishes yourself at home． |
| D．Pick up the $100 bills in the streets． |
Which of the following is true according to the passage?
| A．Bill Gates is also the founder of Facebook |
| B．Bill Gates topped the list of Forbes 28 times． |
| C．Bill Gates was good at learning languages in high schoo1． |
| D．Bill Gates’wife wants Samuel to play a game with Gates． |
The International Painting Contest on Google’s homepage in 2015 may look pretty strange，but it spotlightings a very serious issue：clean water, which is unusual for an 11-year-old from Long Island．
Audrey Zhang，a fifth-grader from Levittown，N．Y，is the winner of this year’s Doodle 4 Google contest，rising to the top of some 100，000 entries on the theme of“draw one thing to make the world a better place．”
Her piece，titled“Back to Mother Nature，”describes a detailed water-cleaning machine．Zhang worked with a team of artists at Google to animate(使……生动)her drawing．
“To make the world a better place，I came up with a transformative water purifier, a machine used to remove dirty or harmful substances，”Google quoted Zhang as saying．“It takes in dirty and polluted water from rivers，lakes and even oceans，then massively transforms the water into clean，safe and pure water. When humans and animals drink this water, they will live a healthier life．”
She created a whole world around the device—one populated by humans， a whale in a top hat and dragons．
Zhang，s piece is“so vivid and so rich and so full and so complete，’’Google Doodle team leader Ryan Germick told the Washington Post．“Every leaf seemed to have life in it．”
Along with having her artwork featured on Google’s homepage，Zhang wins a $30，000 college scholarship．In addition，her school will receive a $50，000 Google for Education technology grant，and the company is donating $20，000 in her name to a charity devoted to bringing clean water to schools in Bangladesh．
On Sunday, the night before her work was revealed on net，Zhang told Newsday she was excited by the big win，but said she wouldn't be awake when her art first went online at midnight．
“I have school-tomorrow, so I can’t stay up late，”she told the paper．
What’s the passage mainly about?
| A．The winner and her work in the painting contest． |
| B．The team of artists at Google to animate drawings． |
| C．The painting contest of Google’s homepage in 2015． |
| D．The water-cleaning machine in the painting contest． |
According to the passage，we know that______．
| A．Audrey Zhang is creative and self-disciplined |
| B．a water-cleaning device was made in the contest |
| C．$50，000 will be donated in Audrey Zhang’s name |
| D．Zhang’s piece was printed in all major newspapers |
The underlined word in Paragraph l probably means“_____”．
| A．put up with | B．1ook for ward to |
| C．breakaway from | D．focus attention on |
粤公网安备 44130202000953号