A gadget (器具) which makes water out of air could become the greatest household invention since the microwave.
Using the same technology as a dehumidifier (除湿器), the Water Mill is able to create a ready supply of drinking water because it can always get it from an unlimited source—the air.
The company behind the machine says not only does it offer an alternative to bottled water in developed countries, but it is a solution for the millions who face a daily water shortage.
The machine works by drawing in wet air through a filter (过滤器) and over a cooling instrument which changes it into water drops. It can produce up to 12 liters a day. The Water Mill will also produce more water when storms pass over, as the amount of water which is contained in the air increases. In keeping with its eco-development, the machine uses the same amount of electricity as three lights.
Inventor Jonathan Ritchey said: “The demand for water is off the chart. So people are looking for freedom from water distribution systems that are shaky and unreliable.”
The machine, which is about 3 feet wide, is likely to cost ￡800 when it goes on sale here in the spring. Its maker, Canadian Firm Element Four, roughly (粗略地) calculates that a litre of water cost around 20p to produce.
Environmentalists state that half the world’s population will face water shortage because of climate change by 2080. One in five is said to lack access to safe drinking.
The Water Mill is not effective in areas where the amount of water contained in the air is below about 30 percent, but in Britain that won’t be much of a problem.
49. What does the underlined word “it” refer to?
A. Drinking water. B. Invention. C. Microwave. D. Water Mill.
50. What do we learn about the machine?
A. It works in the same way as microwaves.
B. It is very expensive for families to afford.
C. It absorbs steam and turns it into water.
D. It helps to make the water clean to drink.
51. What does the passage lead us to believe?
A. The cost of water will go up. B. Bottled water will disappear sooner.
C. The machine is energy saving. D. The machine will be popular worldwide.
52. What’s the best title for the passage?
A. A New Way to Solve Water Problem. B. A Machine to Make Water out of Air.
C. A Dehumidifier to Produce Water. D. An Absolutely New Invention
Peter and his seven-year-old sister ,Kate , were at the same school. Not long after his tenth birthday Peter was entrusted to take her to school.
It was only two stops down the road , but the way his parents kept going on about it , you might have thought Peter was taking Kate to the North Pole . He was given instructions the night before. When he woke up , he had to listen to them over and over again. He was to keep hold of Kate’s hand at all times , sit close to the front nearest the window , and tell the bus driver the name of his stop.
Peter repeated all this back to his mother and set out for the bus stop with his sister. They held hands all the way. Actually he didn’t mind this but simply hoped that none of his friends would see him holding a girl’s hand. The bus came. They got on and sat close to the front. It was ridiculous sitting there holding hands and there were some boys from school there, so they let go of each other.
Peter was feeling proud of himself. He could take care of his sister anywhere. If they were alone tighter on a mountain pass and came face to face with a pack of hungry wolves, he could know exactly what to do. Taking care and not to make sudden movement, he would move away with Kate until they had their backs to a large rock. That way the wolves would not be able to surround them.
Then he takes from his pocket two important things—his hunting knife and a box of matches. He takes the knife from its sheath(鞘) and sets it down on the grass, ready in case the wolves attack. They’re coming close now. They’re so hungry and are watering and growling (咆哮). Kate is crying, but he cannot comfort her. He knows he has to concentrate on his plan. Right at their feet are some dry leaves and twigs. Quickly and skillfully, Peter gathers them into a small pile. The wolves are edging closer. He has to get this right. There’s only one match left in the box. He bends down, cups his hand and lights the match. There’s strong rush of wind. The flame flickers, but Peter holds it close to the pile and then first one leaf, then another, then the end of a twig catch fire, and soon the little pile is burning. He piles on more leaves and twigs and larger sticks. The wolves are backing off. Wild animals are terrified of fire. The flames are leaping higher and the wind is carrying the smoke right into their jaws. Now Peter takes holds of the hunting knife and …
Ridiculous! A daydream like this could make him miss his stop if he wasn’t careful. The bus had come to a halt. The kids from his school were already getting off. Peter leaped to his feet and just managed to jump to the pavement as the bus was starting off again. It was more than fifty yards down the road when he realized he had forgotten something. Was it his backpack ? No. It was his sister. He had saved her from the wolves and left her sitting there. For a moment, he couldn’t move. He stood watching the bus pull away up the road. “Come back,” he murmured, “Come back.”Which of the following is true according to the passage?
| A．Kate didn’t know their destination at all. |
| B．Peter and Kate missed their stop in the end. |
| C．Peter is thought to take Kate to the North Pole. |
| D．Mother asked Peter to hold Kate’s hand all the way. |
Before getting on the bus, ________.
| A．Peter and Kate let go of each other |
| B．Peter was told instructions twice |
| C．Peter recited the instructions to his mother |
| D．Peter managed to avoid meeting his friends |
Which of the following shows the right order of Peter fighting against the wolves?
a. gather dry leaves and twigs into a small pile
b. take out his hunting knife and matches
c. light the leaves and twigs
d. move carefully with back to a rock
e. attack wolves with knife
f. strike a match
g. pile more leaves and sticks
| A．d-b-f-c-a-e-g | B．d-b-a-f-c-g-e | C．B-f-a-g-c-e-d | D．A-g-b-c-f-e-d |
What can we infer from the passage?
| A．Peter felt anxious and helpless when the bus left. |
| B．Peter succeeded in fighting against wolves. |
| C．Kate would be absent from school that day. |
| D．Peter brought hunting knife and matches with him. |
Narayana Hrudayalaya, a complex of health centers based in southern India, offers low-cost, high-quality specialty care in a largely poor country of 1.2 billion people. By thinking differently about everything from the unusually high number of patients it treats to the millions for whom it provides insurance, the hospital group is able to continually reduce costs. Narayana Hrudayalaya’s operations include the world’s largest and most productive cardiac (心脏病的) hospital, where the average open-heart surgery runs less than $2,000, a third or less what it costs elsewhere in India.
Narayana Hrudayalaya’s origins date back to 2001, when it built its massive cardiac center on the outskirts （市郊）of Bangalore. But it has expanded since then into what founder Dr. Devi Shetty calls a "health city," a series of centers specializing in eye, trauma, and cancer care. Narayana Hrudayalaya now manages or owns hospitals in 14 other Indian cities.
Expanding access is paired with a ongoing focus on efficiency. Typically, says Shetty, private hospitals in India focus on patients who can easily afford treatment. "We did it the other way around," he says. "This hospital is for poor people, but we also treat some rich people. We don’t look at people who are sgabbily dressed and have trouble paying as outsiders. " Narayana Hrudayalaya’s flagship hospital has 3,000 beds and negotiates for better prices and buys directly from manufacturers, cutting out distributors.
In addition to cost-cutting, Narayana Hrudayalaya finds creative ways to make the economics work. The company started a micro-insurance program backed by the government that enables 3 million farmers to have coverage for as little as 22 cents a month in premiums（保险费）. Patients who pay discounted rates are in effect compensated by those who pay full price
Doing something--doing more, actually--is the point. By 2017, Shetty, 58, plans to expand from 5,000 beds throughout India to 30,000. Before becoming one of India’s best-known health-care entrepreneurs, Shetty was its best-known heart surgeon. He was interrupted in surgery one day during the 1990s by a request to make a house call. "I said, 'I don’t make home visits,' " Shetty says, "and the caller said, 'If you see this patient, the experience may transform your life.' " The request was from Mother Teresa. Inspired by the her work with the poor, he then set out to create a hospital to deliver care based on need, not wealth. "One lesson she taught me," he says, quoting a saying he keeps framed in his office, "is 'Hands that sew are holier than lips that pray.' "Narayana Hrudayalayastarted a micro-insurance to _______.
| A．cut down on the cost of the treatment | B．get the support of the government |
| C．make the company run smoothly | D．attract more people to its hospital |
We can infer from the passage that _______.
| A．the cost of medicine care in India is very low |
| B．Shetty wouldn’t have succeeded without Mother Teresa |
| C．Shetty and his colleagues are likely to make home visits now |
| D．Shetty has expanded his hospitals to most of other cities in India |
Why did Shetty build the massive cardiac center in 2001?
| A．He wanted to build a health city. |
| B．He was motivated and decided to help more people. |
| C．He intended to develop his career in different areas. |
| D．He meant to help more poor people get free treatment. |
How would you understand the underlined sentence in the last paragraph ?
| A．It’s doing something and doing more that really matters. |
| B．It’s not easy to take positive action to contribute to society. |
| C．Healthcare workers are the holiest persons in the world. |
| D．Praying alone is of no significance in face of difficult situation. |
From the outer of New York to the heart of Singapore, nature is everywhere you're not looking in some of Earth's most crowded big cities. Outdoor adventure is often just a few stops on the train - or a short drive- away from the annoying crowds. Here are a few favorites to get you going:
Mount Hollywood Trail, Los Angeles
It's not a skyscraper or a Ferris wheel, and there's no expensive restaurant up top. But if you want an absolutely unforgettable, no-admission-charged, 360-degree view of the entire Los Angeles region , it's yours. All you have to do is walk a little. One of the preferred exercise routes, the Mount Hollywood Trail, is easily accessed from the parking lot of the famous Griffith Observatory; you see what you get at the end of this steep 1.5-mile trail, which winds its way through the Griffith Park wilds up to the mountain's 1,640-foot peak.
Bronx River, New York
It may not be on your Top 10 list of things to do when you finally get to the Big Apple, but exploring the almost-secret river that flows through one of New York's most mysterious boroughs (自治市) is an unforgettable experience. The Bronx River Alliance, a non-profit group that has worked tirelessly to bring the much-abused river back to life , operates cycling and canoeing trips along the river, from the rugged Hunts Point section down near the harbor on up through the borough.
Southern Islands, Singapore
Believe it or not, tightly packed Singapore does have plenty of open space left . There are actual trails right in the middle of everything, if you know where to look . But to really get away from it all, the Southern Islands, a small group of little green dots just off the city-state's southern shoreline, are just the thing.
Lee Valley, London
This East London river valley changed last summer, when anyone near a television got an eyeful of Olympic Park, built directly in the middle of the valley. Inside the park, beautifully landscaped sections quickly became a favorite relaxation spot for games goers. At present, you'll find miles of walking paths worth exploring. Start at the Waltham Cross train and follow the signposted walking route southbound, guiding you past important historic industrial areas, through interesting city neighborhoods, past the western side of Olympic Park and on to the Thames.If someone wants to enjoy an unforgettable experience for free , he can go to ______.
| A．Mount Hollywood Trail and Bronx River |
| B．Mount Hollywood Trail and Southern Islands |
| C．Lee Valley and Southern Islands |
| D．Bronx River and Lee Valley |
The writer of the passage wants to ________.
| A．inform the readers that nature exists in crowded big cities |
| B．appeal to more people to outdoor adventure |
| C．recommend several historical spots to readers |
| D．present various approach to outdoor adventure |
We know from the passage ________.
| A．it’s difficult to find a proper trail in packed Singapore |
| B．the Thames is not far away from the East London river valley |
| C．The Bronx River Alliance has succeeded in running the river |
| D．you may have trouble reaching the Mount Hollywood Trail |
American researchers found females are the more talkative sex because of a special “language protein(蛋白质)” in the brain.
The study, conducted by neuroscientists （神经学家）and psychologist from the University of Maryland, concluded that women talked more because they had more of the Foxp2 protein. The research, published in the Journal of Neuroscience, found that higher levels were found among humans that were women but in rats that were males. Their findings came after it was previously claimed that ladies speak about 20,000 words a day – over 13,000 more than men. "This study is one of the first to report a sex difference in the expression of a language-associated protein in humans or animals,” said Prof Margaret McCarthy, who led the study. In their study, the researchers attempted to determine what might make male rats more vocal than their female friends.
They separated four-day-old rats from their mothers and then counted the number of times they cried out in the “ultrasonic range”, the frequencies higher than humans can hear, over five minutes. While both sexes called out hundreds of cries, the males called out twice as often, they found. But when the pups were returned to their mother’s cage, she fussed over her sons first. Tests conducted on the parts of the brain known to be associated with vocalcalls showed the male pups have up to twice as much Foxp2 protein as the females. The researchers then increased the production in the brains of female pups and reduced it in males. This led to the female rats crying out more often and their mothers showing more interest to them. In contrast, males became less “talkative”.
The researchers then tested samples from ten children, aged between three and five, which showed that females had up to 30 per cent more of the Foxp2 protein than males, in a brain area key to language in humans.
“Based on our observations, we assume higher levels of Foxp2 in girls and higher levels of Foxp2 in male rats is an indication that Foxp2 protein levels are associated with the more communicative sex,” said Prof McCarthy.
"Our results imply Foxp2 as a component of the neurobiological basis of sex differences in vocal communication in mammals."From the second paragraph, we can learn that ________.
| A．women always speak more words than men |
| B．men and male rats have low levels of language protein |
| C．women and male rats have similar levels of Foxp2 |
| D．McCarthy isn’t the first to find females more talkative |
The underlined phrase “fussed over” in the third paragraph probably means______.
| A．paid attention to | B．related to | C．put pressure on | D．counted on |
The researchers carried out the experiments on rats in order to _______.
| A．test which part of the brain is key to language in rats and humans |
| B．prove the levels of Foxp2 protein in humans and rats are different |
| C．determine the reason why female rats are more talkative than male rats |
| D．discover the association between Foxp2protein and vocal communication |
Which of the following can be the best title for the passage ?
| A．Tests on humans and rats | B．Why women are the talkative sex |
| C．Sex differences in Foxp2 protein | D．Foxp2 protein determines oral ability |
Rae Armantrout, who has been a poetry professor at the University of California San Diego(UCSD) for two decades, has won the 2010 Pulitzer Prize in the poetry category for her most recent book, “Versed”.
“I’m delighted and amazed at how much media recognition that the Pulitzer brings, as compared to even the National Book Critics Award, which I was also surprised and delighted to win,” said Armantrout.
“For a long time, my writing has been just below the media radar, and to have this kind of attention, suddenly, with my 10th book, is really surprising.”
Armantrout, a native Californian, received her bachelor’s degree at UC Berkeley, where she studied with noted poet Denise Levertov, and her master’s in creative writing from San Francisco State University. She is a founding member of Language Poets, a group in American poetry that analyzes the way language is used and raises questions to make the reader think .
In March, she won the National Book Critics Circle Award for “Versed.”
“This book has gotten more attention,” Armantrout said, “but I don’t feel as if it’s better.”
The first half of “Versed” focuses on the dark forces taking hold of the United States as it fought the war against Iraq. The second half looks at the dark forces casting a shadow over her own life after Armantrout was diagnosed with cancer in 2006.
Armantrout was shocked to learn she had won the Pulitzer but many of her colleagues were not. “Rae Armantrout is a unique voice in American poetry,” said Seth Lerer, head of Arts and Humanities at UCSD.
“Versed”, published by the Wesleyan University Press, did appear in a larger printing than her earlier works, which is about 2,700 copies. The new edition is scheduled to appear in May. According to Rae Armantrout, ____________.
| A．her 10th book is much better |
| B．her winning the Pulitzer is unexpected |
| C．the media is surprised at her works |
| D．she likes being recognized by her readers |
Which of the following is true of Rae Armantrout?
| A．She published a poetry textbook. |
| B．She used to teach Denise Levertov. |
| C．She started a poets‟ group with others. |
| D．She taught creative writing at UC Berkeley. |
What can we learn about “Versed”?
| A．It consists of three parts. |
| B．It is mainly about the American army. |
| C．It is a book published two decades ago. |
| D．It partly concerns the poet’s own life. |
Rae Armantrout’s colleagues think that she ____________.
| A．should write more | B．has a sweet voice |
| C．deserves the prize | D．is a strange professor |
What can we learn from the text?
A. About 2,700 copies of “Versed” will be printed.
B. Cancer made Armantrout stop writing.
C. Armantrout got her degrees at UCSD.
D. “Versed” has been awarded twice
粤公网安备 44130202000953号