In my first week as a graduate student at Cambridge University in 1964 I met with a fellow student, two years ahead of me in his studies; he was unsteady on his feet and spoke with great difficulty. This was Stephen Hawking. I learned that he had a bad disease and might not live long enough even to finish his PhD degree.
But, amazingly, he has reached the age of 73. Even mere survival would have been a medical miracle, but of course, he didn’t merely survive. He has become arguably the most famous scientist in the world for his brilliant research, for his bestselling books, and, above all, for his astonishing victory over hardship.
Stephen received his “death sentence” in 1964, when I thought it was hard for him to go on with his study. Stephen went from Albans School to Oxford University. He was said to be a “lazy” undergraduate, but his brilliance earned him a first-class degree, an “entry ticket” to a research career in Cambridge and a uniquely inspiring achievement.Within a few years of the burst of his disease he was wheelchair-bound, and his speech was so unclear that it could only be understood by those who knew him well. But his scientific career went from strength to strength: he quickly came up with a series of insights into the nature of black holes (then a very new idea) and how the universe began. In 1974 he was elected to the Royal Society at the exceptionally early age of 32.
The great advances in science generally involve discovering a link between phenomena that were previously conceptually unconnected — for instance, Isaac Newton realized that the force making an apple fall to earth was the same as the force that holds the moon and planets in their orbits. Stephen’s revolutionary idea about a link between gravity and quantum(量子) theory has still not been tested. However, it has been hugely influential; indeed, one of the main achievements of string theory(弦理论)has been to confirm and build on his idea. He has undoubtedly done more than anyone else since Einstein to improve our knowledge of gravity and he is one of the top-ten living theoretical physicists.
What impressed the author most about Stephen Hawking?
| A．His brilliant research. | B．His bestselling books. |
| C．His serious disease. | D．His defeating hardship. |
What made Stephen Hawking start his research career at Cambridge?
| A．His death sentence. |
| B．His “lazy” attitude. |
| C．His above-average talent and ability. |
| D．His rich experience. |
It can be inferred that Stephen Hawking was born .
| A．in the early 1940s | B．in the late 1940s |
| C．in the early 1930s | D．in the late 1930s |
What can we learn from the text?
| A．Hawking’s theory was proved years ago. |
| B．Hawking was not as successful as Newton. |
| C．String theory built on Hawking’s idea. |
| D．Hawking’s theory has had little influence on others. |
Which of the following is Not True according the passage?
| A．He achieved one success after another in his career despite his disease. |
| B．He couldn’t walk when the author first met him at Cambridge. |
| C．He not only survived his disease but contributed greatly to science. |
| D．He is among the greatest scientists to improve the knowledge of gravity. |
King Midas used to love gold. One day he met a fairy who allowed him to make a wish for something. The king replied at once , ‘‘I love gold . I want everything I touch to change into gold”. ‘‘Very well , tomorrow morning, everything you touch will turn into gold .”Saying this, the fairy disappeared.
The king waited excitedly till the next morning. To his joy ,everything he touched changed immediately into gold. ‘‘I’m the richest man in the world now.” He shouted.
Soon Midas became hungry. He sat down at his table. All the foods and drinks turned into gold in his hand . ‘‘I’m dying of hunger.” He cried.
Just then his daughter came running in . ‘‘Why are you so sad , dad ?” she asked, putting her arms around him. There and then she became a golden statue. The king loved his daughter very much .Seeing this ,he began to cry. He looked up and suddenly saw the fairy before him. ‘‘Don’t you like the golden touch?” asked the fairy. ‘‘ Please take it away,” begged the king, ‘‘ give me back my daughter.” ‘‘Well, you have learned your lesson. Go and wash in the river. Then the golden touch will be gone.” The king ran quickly to the nearby river. The fairy allowed the king to make a wish because_____
| A．she hoped to make the king the richest in the world. | B．She loved gold too. |
| C．She wanted to teach the king a lesson. | |
| D．She wanted to turn the king’s daughter into gold gold. |
When the foods and drinks turned into gold the king was _____
A. excited B. hungry C. worried D happy Which of the following might have happened afterwards?
| A．The king died in the river. |
| B．The king’s daughter changed back from gold to a lovely girl. |
| C．All the things the king had touched changed back into real ones. |
| D．Both B and C |
What do you think the story tries to tell us?
| A．Gold makes people unhappy. |
| B．More gold , more happiness. |
| C．Gold is not the thing that makes life happy. |
| D．People feel happy if they have not gold. |
The Winter Palace was built between 1754 and 1762 for Empress Elizabeth, the daughter of Peter the Great. Unfortunately, Elizabeth died before the palace was completed and only Catherine the Great and her successors were able to enjoy the great interior (内部) of Elizabeth’s home. Many parts of the palace’s impressiv
e interior have been remodeled since then, particularly after 1837, when a huge fire destroyed most of the building. Today the Winter Palace, together with four more buildings arranged side by side along the river embankment, houses the extensive collections of the Hermitage. The Hermitage Museum is the largest art gallery in Russia and is among the largest and most respected art museums in the world.
The museum was founded in 1764 when Catherine the Great bought a collection of 255 paintings from the German city of Berlin. Today, the Hermitage boasts over 2.7 million exhibits and displays, a diverse range of art and artifacts (手工艺品) from all over the world and throughout history (from Ancient Egypt to the early 20th century Europe). The Hermitage’s collections include works by Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Raphael and Titian, a collection of Rembrandts and Rubens, many French Impressionist works by Renoir, Cezanne, Monet and Pissarro, and several works by Rodin. The collection is really worth a stop for all those interested in art and history. The experts say that if you were to spend a minute looking at each exhibit on show in the Hermitage, you would need 11 years before you’d seen them all. However, we suggest you choose a guided tour instead!
Location: Dvortsovaia Naberezhnaia, 32-38.
Open: 10:30 am to 5:30 pm, Sunday till 5 pm.
Closed: Mondays. Ticket-office closes 1 hour before closing time. According to the passage, the Winter Palace was built for ______.
| A．Catherine the Great. | B．Empress Elizabeth |
| C．Peter the Great. | D．Empress Elizabeth’s successors |
What’s the main reason why many parts of the palace’s impressive interior were remodeled?
| A．Catherine the Great and her successors didn’t like the design. |
| B．Empress Elizabeth wanted to remodel the palace. |
| C．A huge fire destroyed most of the building in 1837. |
| D．The building became old itself. |
According to the passage, which of the following is CORRECT?
| A．The Winter Palace was built between 1753 and 1761. |
| B．The Hermitage’s collections don’t include works by Monet. |
| C．The Hermitage Museum is the largest art gallery in Russia. |
| D．The Hermitage Museum was founded in 1764 when Empress Elizabeth bought a collection of 255 paintings from Berlin. |
If you want to visit the museum, when can you go?
| A．At 10:30 am on Monday. | B．At 10:00 am on Tuesday. |
| C．At 11:00 am on Sunday. | D．None of the above. |
Football is so popular in China. Almost everyone is interested in the sport — young and old, boys and girls, and now even robots.
Last week at Hangzhou Guangming Middle School, kids from several schools played football with their robots.
Robot football was very different from human football. Only two robots played in each match. The field was as big as a ping-pong table. One half was black and the other was white. Each robot tried to catch the “football” and score a goal. The robot with more goals won.
Gao Linge, a boy from Guangming Middle School, helped make one of the robots for the match.
“My school bought the main board (主板),” said Gao, 14. “Then I decided what my robot looked like and made a computer programme for it.”
Gao’s robot was eight centimeters tall and had two arms. It had four sensors (传感器) to “see” and “kick” the football.
Ying Xuehai, a 12-year-old student from Gao’s school, also made a robot. His robot played against Gao’s. The match decided who would go to the final game. Ying lost the game. So he gave many of his robot’s parts to Gao.
Even so, Gao’s robot didn’t win the final. It played well in the first five minutes. Then it slowed down. By the end of the match, it could hardly move. What was wrong? Gao and Ying found the problem — their robot ran out of batteries (电池)!
“We’ll solve the problem and beat the other school next time!” said the two boys. How many robots are needed in one match?
| A．Only one. | B．Two. | C．Three. | D．Four. |
The third paragraph mainly talks about ________.
| A．a wonderful robot football game. | B．how to let robots score more goals |
| C．the rules of the robot football games. | D．the way for robots to win the match |
Why did Gao Linge lose the final?
| A．Because his robot had no power. | B．Because he broke the rules of the match. |
| C．Because he used Ying Xuehai’s parts. | D．Because his robot went wrong. |
From the passage we know that if you want to take part in the match, ________.
| A．you must go to Hangzhou. | B．you must know something about computers |
| C．you must know how to play football on the playground | |
| D．you must get along with Gao Linge and Ying Xuehai |
From a young age, it was my dream to go to Africa and work with animals. Everybody laughed at me, but my mother, Vanne, told me never to give up, and that I could always find a way.
So, when I was 23, after saving up my earnings from working as a waitress, I went to wild, untamed (野性的) Africa and began my work. In 1960 I went to the Gombe Stream Chimpanzee Reserve. At that time, we knew nothing of the behavior or social structure of chimps (黑猩猩), and I was to go there and see what I could find out. Usually, when you wake up, you leave your dreams behind you, but I found myself waking up to my dream.
As the British government wouldn’t let me go without older women’s company, my amazing mother came with me and stayed for four months. We shared a second-hand army tent, and we used the stream for fresh water and washing. We could swim in the lake, although there were crocodiles.
It was beautiful there, although both my mother and I nearly died of malaria (疟疾). I was scared I wouldn’t be able to do what I had set out to, because, at first, the chimps ran away from me in fear. I spent my days watching, listening, tracking and in the evenings writing up my notes.
For my mother, who stayed back at the camp, it must have been terrifying, and very lonely. There were snakes and spiders, as well as an old leopard who would come by. But she had an amazing way with people, and would hand out medicines to the fishermen, who saw her as a witch doctor.
In my fifth month there, I finally saw one of the chimps, which I called David Greybeard, stripping (剥光) straw to “fish” for termites (白蚁). It proved that man wasn’t the only toolmaker, and that everything had to be redefined.What does the author mean by saying “I found myself waking up to my dream” in the second paragraph?
| A．She lacked sleep due to busy work. |
| B．She found her dream was hard to realize. |
| C．She had more new dreams about her work. |
| D．She tried to realize her dream every day. |
The author was afraid at the Reserve in the beginning because _____.
| A．there were crocodiles in the lake | B．she could not get close to the chimps |
| C．it was hard to get clean water | D．the chimps attacked her sometimes |
The author’s mother was thought of by the local people as _____.
| A．helpful and warm-hearted | B．funny and selfish |
| C．romantic and talkative | D．honest and hardworking |
Which of the following is the author’s important discovery?
| A．She found a new kind of termite. |
| B．Chimps can communicate with each other. |
| C．Some other animals can also make tools. |
| D．Chimps can find medicines to cure themselves. |
Officials in a remote Russian city have drawn up a list of practical tips for locals on how to survive encounters (相遇) with bears, after growing numbers have wandered into the streets in search of food.
Officials in the city of Syktyvkar drew up the guidelines to guide the local people, after several bears were caught sight of in the city, going hungry after a heat wave shriveled their usual diet of nuts and berries.
The guide warns that city people there should stay calm and stand still if they meet with a bear. “Speak to the bear in a firm voice” and “Don’t turn your back on it,” it adds. In the worst case, if the bear attacks, the person should also be ready to attack, the guide says. “Shout angrily at it and look it straight in the eye,” the guide advises. “Bears have started coming into the areas where people live more and more often,” the city officials said in a statement. “Any encounter with a bear is unsafe for humans, so our task is to do all we can to prevent such accidents.”
In September, a bear attacked a 25-year-old man in a central street of the city, wounding him in the neck before he managed to run away, police said. “Three or four people who met with brown bears have been recorded recently,” the head of the hunting department in the regional agriculture organization, Alexander said.
Officials have asked police to patrol (巡逻) streets close to wooded areas in the evenings.
Syktyvkar is the regional capital of the remote Komi region in northwest Russia. Its population is just over 230,000. The city issued the guidelines to help the local people to _____.
| A．avoid bear encounters | B．survive bear encounters |
| C．get along well with bears | D．drive hungry bears away |
The underlined word “shriveled” in Paragraph 2 probably means _____.
| A．piled up | B．saved up | C．kept up | D．dried up |
What can be inferred from Alexander’s words?
| A．Bears have been seen frequently recently. |
| B．Bears like to wander around schools. |
| C．Brown bears are usually very fierce. |
| D．Too many bears have disappeared. |
What would be the best title for the passage?
| A．Bears are short of food worldwide |
| B．Ways to got along well with bears |
| C．Tips are issued on bear encounters |
| D．Bears have started coming into cities |
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