Imagine having an idea, drawing it on paper, bringing it to a store and seeing it turned into an object. This is now possible with the help of 3D printers. Such machines were once used just by universities and big companies, but now, stores with 3D printing services are appearing around the United States.
Bryan Jaycox and his wife opened The Build Shop LLC in Los Angeles two years ago. The Jaycoxs offer 3D printing classes and services for anyone who is interested.
“I think 3D printing is going to be huge. It’s going to have a huge influence on society as a whole.” says KiChong Tran, one of the students in a recent class. He plans to open a 3D printing business in Cambodia (柬埔寨).
3D printing services are coming into American people’s life. The UPS Store is a nationwide retailer (零售商) that provides copying and other services. The UPS Store recently put 3D printers in three of its independently-owned stores. Burke Jones owns one of the stores in San Diego.
“The demand has been amazing. There has been a lot of interest from people. It’s been much more than I would have imagined.”
The UPS Store plans to add 3D printers in three more stores.
For $11, someone used a 3D printer to produce two small plastic parts as part of a knuckle (指节) for a hand. He works for the company which is testing finger prosthetics (假肢). He says the same–day or next-day printing services will speed up testing of parts and get them to patients faster.
Staples, an American store, is selling 3D printers on its website for as low as about $1,300. As with any technology - experts expect the printing speed to increase and the price to go down.
Bryan Jaycox requires $15 an hour to print an object. He also sets the price depending on the size of the object and up to $50 an hour for design and labor services.
Mr Jaycox thinks that within five years, 3D printing technology could become more user friendly. But KiChong Tran says even today’s technology can make a difference in a developing country like Cambodia.
“With 3D printing you can give them tools, so they are responsible more for their own development and they learn skills beyond just like learning English and becoming a tour guide or something like that. You can actually create things that give value to the world.”
He says it’s not just Cambodia but anywhere where there is a 3D printer, it can turn a good idea into reality.What can 3D printers do according to the passage?
| A．Come up with an idea. |
| B．Draw on a piece of paper. |
| C．Help users to spend less money. |
| D．Turn an idea into a physical object. |
What does the underlined part mean in this passage?
| A．Make users’ life better. |
| B．Make friends with users. |
| C．Make 3D printers easier to use. |
| D．Use 3D printers to make money. |
What can we infer from the passage?
| A．3D printing is becoming popular in the world. |
| B．There is no 3D printing business in Cambodia. |
| C．The UPS Store is the biggest 3D printing company. |
| D．3D printing plays the most important role in daily life. |
What’s the passage mainly about?
| A．The future of 3D printing in the world. |
| B．The 3D printing business in Cambodia. |
| C．The development and growth of 3D printing business. |
| D．The 3D printing classes and services in different places. |
It was a morning, about 8:30 am, when an old man in his 80’s reached my hospital to take care of his finger. He said he was in a hurry because he had an appointment at 9 am.
While taking care of his finger I asked him if he had another doctor’s appointment this morning, as he was in such a hurry. The old man told me no, that he needed to go to the nursing home to have breakfast with his wife. I asked if she would be unhappy if he was a bit late. He replied that there was something wrong with his wife’s mind and she hadn’t known who he was since five years ago.
I was surprised, and asked him, "And you still go every morning, even though she doesn’t know who you are?"
He smiled to me and said, "She doesn’t know me, but I still know who she is."The old man went to meet his wife ___________.
| A．in the evening | B．at night | C．in the morning | D．on weekends |
The old man went to the nursing home to _____________ with his wife.
| A．play sports | B．have breakfast | C．enjoy music | D．have classes |
There was something wrong with his wife’s ____________.
| A．finger | B．feet | C．heart | D．mind |
I know what you’re thinking: pizza? For breakfast? But the truth is that you can have last night’s leftovers in the a. m. if you want to.
I know lots of women who skip (跳过) breakfast, and they have a lot of different excuses for doing it. Some say they don’t have time. Others think they’re “saving” calories, still others just don’t like breakfast food.
But the bottom line is that eating in the morning is very important when you’re trying to lose weight. “Eating just about anything from 300 to 400 calories would be better than nothing at all,” says Katherine Brooking, R, D, who developed the super-easy eating plan for this year’s “SELF CHALLENGE”. And even pizza can be healthy if it’s loaded（装填） with vegetables, and you just eat one small piece.
Breakfast is one meal I never miss, and the same goes for most weight loss success stories. Research shows that eating breakfast keeps you from overeating (吃得过多) later in the day. Researchers at the University of Southern California found that breakfast skippers have a bigger chance of getting weight than those who regularly have a morning meal.
So eat something in the morning, anything. I know plenty of friends who end up having no breakfast altogether, and have just coffee or orange juice. I say, try heating up last night’s leftovers — it may sound crazy, but if it works for you, do it! I find if I tell myself, “You can always eat it tomorrow.” I put away the leftovers instead of eating more that night. Try it…you may save yourself some pre-bedtime calories. And watch your body get the fat-burning effects.The word “leftovers” in Paragraph 1 probably means_______.
| A．food left after a meal | B．things left undone |
| C．meals made of vegetables | D．pizza topped with fruit |
What can we infer from the text?
| A．Working women usually have breakfast in a hurry. |
| B．Many people have wrong ideas about breakfast. |
| C．There are some easy ways of losing weight. |
| D．Eating vegetables helps save energy. |
According to the last paragraph, it is important to_______.
| A．be careful about what you eat | B．eat calorie-controlled food |
| C．heat up food before eating it | D．eat something for breakfast |
The text is written mainly for those_______.
| A．who want to lose weight | B．who go to work early |
| C．who stay up late | D．who eat before sleep |
Is learning a foreign language ever easy? Yes. If you are five and move to another country, you will quickly pick up the language. But what about for the rest of us who are no longer five, and need to be polite when traveling for business or for pleasure? I think that answer is also yes. Language learning can be easy if you don’t want or need to learn too much.
The key to successful language learning in my mind is not to set the goal too high. It is rather like running. Even if you run twice a week, you don’t necessarily want to be able to run a marathon (马拉松). You might just want to keep a level of fitness. I think the same can be true for language learning.
Let’s get back to the goal. If you decide to learn ten words in a foreign language before visiting the country, you know that you will be sure to do this. However, if you decide to talk to people with great fluency (流利), unless you are quite a talented person, you will probably fail and give up in half-way.
It is also far easier to start learning a foreign language than to finish. In other words, the better you are, the slower it can be to improve, because you will not be able to move further because of grammar, making sentences, learning less common words, etc. If you are only trying to learn a few foreign words and sentences, you will enjoy faster progress, have more fun, and won’t have to spend too much time.
The idea of learning only a few hundred words in a language, and then stopping, isn’t the usual way to language learning, but it can be a very meaningful and enjoyable activity. In the writer’s opinion, it is easy for adults to learn English if _______.
| A．they are especially talented people |
| B．they don’t want or need to learn too much |
| C．they have to spend a lot of time on it |
| D．they have a chance to go abroad |
The writer believes that if you want to be good at a foreign language, you will probably _______.
| A．forget your own goals |
| B．become a talented language learner |
| C．get tired of learning it |
| D．reach your learning goal |
The best title of this passage would be _______.
| A．Easy Language Learning | B．Hard Language Learning |
| C．Fluency in a Foreign Language | D．A way of Language Learning |
Rent(出租)a room
Spare room? Not only will a lodger (房客) earn you some money, but also, thanks to the government-backed “rent a room” program, you won’t have to pay any tax (税) on the first ￡4,500 you make per year. Try advertising your room on Roomspare or Roommateeasy.
Make money during special events
Don’t want a full-time lodger? Then rent on a short-term basis (基础). If you live in the capital, renting a room out during the Olympics or other big events could bring in money. Grashpadder can advertise your space.
Use your roof (屋顶)
You need the right kind of roof, but some energy companies pay the cost of fixing solar equipment (around￡14,000), and let you use the energy produced for nothing. In return, they get paid for unused energy fed back into the National Grid. However, you have to sign a 25-year agreement with the supplier (供应商), which could prevent you from changing the roof.
If you earn ￡5,000 from renting a room in one year, the tax you need to pay will be based on ________.
| A．￡300 | B．￡500 | C．￡4,500 | D．￡5,000 |
If you want to use energy free, you have to ________.
| A．sign an agreement with the government |
| B．pay around ￡14,000 for the equipment |
| C．sell the roof to some energy companies |
| D．keep the roof unchanged for within 25 years |
Who would most like to read the passage?
| A．Lodgers. | B．Advertisers. |
| C．House owners. | D．Online companies. |
A farmer had a cow. He took very good care of this cow and one day when it was ill. He was very worried. He telephoned the vet (兽医).
“What’s the problem?” The vet asked him when he arrived.
“My cow is ill.” the farmer said. “I don’t know what’s the matter with her. She’s lying down and won’t eat. She’s making a strange noise.”
The vet looked over the cow. “She’s certainly ill, ” he said, “and she needs to take some very strong medicine.”
He took a bottle out of his box, put two pills into his hand and said, “The pills should make her better.”
“How should I give them to her?” the farmer asked.
The vet gave him a tube (管子) and said,“Put this tube in her mouth, then put the pills in the tube and blow. That’ll make it.”
The next day the vet came to the farm again. The farmer was sitting outside his house and looked more worried.
“How’s your cow?” the vet asked.
“No change,” the farmer said. “and I’m feeling very strange myself.”
“Oh?” the vet said. “Why?”
“I did what you said,” the farmer answered. “I put the tube in the cow’s mouth and then put two pills down it.”
“And?” the vet asked.
“The cow blew first.” the farmer said.The farmer asked the vet for help when his cow ________.
| A．couldn’t make any noise | B．didn’t eat the pills |
| C．was ill | D．couldn’t lie down |
The vet taught the farmer how ________.
| A．to blow the tube | B．to make the cow take the pills |
| C．to take the medicine | D．to put the tube in his mouth |
Which of the following is true?
| A．The farmer ate the pills himself. |
| B．The cow got better after taking the medicine. |
| C．The vet came to help farmer change the cow the next day. |
| D．The farmer waited for the vet outside his house the next day. |
粤公网安备 44130202000953号