Have you ever had dreams about building a robot? Or putting together a spaceship? Or even seeing your face made out of chocolate? Done. All you need is a 3-D printer!
The possibilities of 3-D printing seem endless. All the user has to do is to design(设计) an object on the computer and choose a material(材料) to print in. The printers print in hundreds of different materials including glass, sugar and even skin! When the user presses “print”, the 3-D printer spreads the material layer(层) by layer and like magic the object is produced.
The first 3-D printer was invented in 1986 by an American, Charles Hull. But 3-D printing has only become cheap enough recently for most people to use. Designers now use 3-D printing to create unusual things. The Dutch artist Dirk Vander Kooj prints furniture made from old fridges. And doctors have used 3-D printing to print human body parts! The Telegraph reported in February that scientists from Cornell Medical College even printed a man-made ear.
But like a lot of new technologies, if 3-D printing gets into the wrong hands, it can be dangerous. In 2011 a group of four men in the US used 3-D printing to produce ATM skimmers (提款机盗刷器). These were placed on an ATM and stole over $400,000 from users of the ATM. It is terrible to think that criminals like them might one day use a 3-D printer to print a gun.
But for better or for worse, 3-D printing has been put into use. In a few years, you’ll probably be wondering how you could ever live without your 3-D printer!
_______ invented the first 3-D printer.
| A．Charles Hull | B．Dirk Vander Kooj |
| C．A doctor called Cornell | D．Four men in the U.S |
What is the correct order for people to use a 3-D printer?
a. Choose a proper material.
b. Press the print button.
c. The 3-D printer spreads the material.
d. Use a computer to design an object.
| A．a-b-c-d | B．d-a-b-c |
| C．a-c-d-b | D．d-c-b-a |
The underlined word “criminals” in the fourth paragraph might mean ______________ in Chinese.
| A．技术员 | B．军人 | C．罪犯 | D．用户 |
According to the passage, people have NOT yet produced _________ with a 3-D printer.
| A．some furniture | B．a man-made ear |
| C．ATM skimmers | D．a gun |
What does the writer think of the 3-D printer?
| A．It is necessary only for our work. |
| B．It is helpful but dangerous. |
| C．It is too expensive for most people. |
| D．It is useless in our daily life. |
One day a man saw an old lady standing by her expensive car, clearly in need of help. So he stopped his old truck and got out. Although he was smiling, the old lady was worried. Was he gong to hurt her? He didn’t look safe.
The man could see that she was frightened, so in his friendliest voice he said, “I’m here to help you, madam. Why don’t you wait in the car where it’s warm? By the way, my name is Bryan Anderson.” Bryan quickly fixed the car and the lady thanked him. Then she asked how much she should pay him.
But Bryan wanted no money. He was just giving a hand to someone in trouble. This was normal for him. He said, “If you really want to repay me, next time you see someone in need, help them and think of me.”
After saying goodbye, the lady continued down the road until she reached a small café where she decided to stop for something to eat. As the pretty waitress took her order, the lady noticed she was nearly eight months pregnant(怀孕). Although the waitress looked tired she was very kind. As the lady was going to pay the $10 bill she remembered Bryan’s words.
She paid with a hundred-dollar bill. But when the waitress returned with the change the lady was gone. On the table she saw a small note. There ware tears in her eyes when she read it: “Somebody once helped me the way I’m helping you. If you want to pay me back, continue being kind to others.” Under the note were nine more $100 bills.
Was the old lady an angel? The waitress was so excited that she called her husband to tell him the news. “Bryan Anderson my dear…you’re not going to believe what just happened…”When the lady saw Bryan, she was worried because she thought_____ .
| A．he may hurt her | B．he wasn’t going to stop |
| C．he couldn’t help her | D．she didn’t have enough money |
答案: A
DIY, which means Do It Yourself, is quite popular in UK. Lots of stores and supermarkets sell DIY things. TV proprammes show people how to DIY.
English people like DIY. There is a saying in UK –“An Englishman’s home is his castle”. Huge numbers of people spend their holidays making their homes beautiful “castles”. If there is anything that needs fixing around their houses, such as painting the walls or putting in a new shower, they will do the jobs themselves. They share DIY experiences with their friends. More and more people have discovered the joy of DIY. Sometimes people also DIY for saving money. With the economic downturn at present, many people can not afford to buy a bigger house. They are looking at how they can make their house better without spending a lot of money. It is not surprising that DIY is so popular.
DIY can be difficult. There is a huge market for DIY furniture which people need to put together themselves with a few basic tools. However, people often find it not easy to build a piece of furniture because they can’t understand the instructions. Sometimes the instructions are simple and clear, but the furniture itself is difficult to build. One thing is for sure, though most DIY projects are started with the best intentions, many of them may not get finished. DIY can also be dangerous. For example, anything electrical should be done by a professional worker. Unluckily, many people don’t care about this warning and put themselves in danger. It is reported that in just one year over 230,000 people were hurt while doing DIY in UK, including 41,000 who fell off ladders.
Therefore, DIY can bring us fun and help us save money, but it is not always as easy as it is thought to be if we bite off more than we can chew. Maybe factories should make products that are easier and safer for us to DIY.How do many English people spend their holidays according to the passage?
| A．Making their homes beautiful. | B．Visiting their friends. |
| C．Travelling all over the world. | D．Making a lot of money. |
Why do English people like DIY?
| A．Many stores sell DIY things. | B．DIY can bring them fun. |
| C．TV programmes teach them to DIY | D．All DIY projects are easy. |
What can we learn from the passage?
| A．DIY is a waste of money. | B．It is always difficult to DIY. |
| C．We should be careful while doing DIY. | D．It’s very safe for us to DIY |
In the passage, “we bite off more than we can chew” probably means ___________.
| A．we can eat everything we like | B．we should do something difficult |
| C．we do something that is too difficult | D．we eat too much food that is not safe |
Jack Johnson is one of the most popular singer-song writers in the world.
Jack was born on May 18, 1975 in Hawaii. Being the son of a famous surfer, Jack naturally has an interest in surfing. Most of his life lesson were learned in the water. At the age of 17, Jack entered the finals of the Pineline Masters – the world’s most famous surfing competition. Everyone thought Jack would become a professional surfing like his father. Unluckily, one month later, he had a deadly accident while surfing and was seriously hurt.
Life is like a revolving door. When it closes, it also opens. Jack started to practice playing the guitar and write songs when he was staying in hospital. At first, his father thought Jack only did it for fun, but soon he was surprised at the great progress his son had made.
When studying in the university, Jack didn’t stop practicing his guitar skills. He played the guitar for school parties. He wrote songs and sang for his teachers and friends. They liked his songs. His first music album Brushfire Fairytales came out in 2001. It was a great success. His second album, On and On, was much like his first. They were filled with sweet, easy-going songs that everybody liked listening to. Later Jack had lots of concerts in and out of America. He became popular all over the world.
Jack had five albums by 2010 and more than 15 million copies of them were sold. His music doesn’t fall into any of the popular music styles like pop, R&B or hip-hop. It is more like folk music, played with a guitar and beautiful voice. When listening to his songs, you feel like lying on the beach enjoying the warm sunshine.
Jack is a talent, though he himself says he is only a surfer who loves music. In his songs we can find his secret of success: Whatever happen in our lives, we have to accept it and do the best we can.At the age of 17, Jack __________.
| A．had his first music album | B．took part in a surfing competition |
| C．had his first concert | D．became popular all over the world |
Jack started to write songs ___________.
| A．while he was staying in hospital | B．when he had concerts out of America |
| C．after his second album came out | D．after he played the guitar at the school party |
What is the secret of Jack’s success?
He was born in Hawaii.
His father was very famous
He wrote many songs for his teachers and friends.
He always faced difficulties bravely and tried his best. What’s the best title for the passage?
| A．A Famous Writer | B．Surfing in the Sea |
| C．A Guitar Player | D．Surfing in the Music |
There are about 80,000,000 mines* under the ground in more . than 60 countries. It is difficult and dangerous to clear these rnines, About 50 people including many children were’ killed ‘or htirt each iay. In 2003, APOPO, a Dutch research com pan y that uains the an imals, came up with the-idea of s\ng rats to search for the mines.
The animal trainers ‘found that a kind of rats from Africa were clever and had.a sharp* sense of smell. The rats were about 75 cm long and.weighed about l.35 kg, light enough to run across a minefield without setting off the mines.
In January 2004, the APOPO started this project. First, the trainers let the 4-week-old baby rats get familiar with humans. A few weeks later, the rats were no Ionger afraid of people and ‘the things around them. Then they were trained to connect a click* sound with food. After the rats had leamed that, the trainers then taught them to tell the difference between the smell of mines and other smells. When the rats could do it, the click was sounded and they were given a bit of banana. The method was called clicker training. “The training isn’t easy, said trainer Abdullah Mchomvu. “You have to be patient. Sometimes I get angry, but then again, I tell myself these are animals.”
After nine months’training, the rats were taken to a minefield. They’ran across the minefield, stopped, sat and scratched the ground to tell the deminers* that they smelt out’a mine. Then the mine was cleared. It had taken two ‘deminers a day to clear a 200㎡ . minefield, but with the help of two rats ‘they could finish it in two hours.
The rats and the deminers saved thousands of lives, “The rats did this job much better than we expected. So far they have helped to make almost 2,000,000㎡ of land safe. They are heroes,” said Bart Weeqens, the head of the APOPO. The APOPO trained the rats to search for .
| A．children | B．animals | C．mines | D．bananas |
While training the rats, the trainers have to be
| A．patient | B．clever | C．brave | D．serious |
How long did the training last?
| A．Two hours. | B．One day. | C．Four weeks. | D．Nine months. |
Which of the following is NOT TRUE according to the passage?
| A．Each day about 200 people were killed or hurt by mines, |
| B．The APOPO started to train the rats in January 2004. |
| C．The trainers gave the rats food after they smelt out a mine. |
| D．The rats and the deminers saved thousands of lives. |
Canberra is the capital of Austrlia. It is a modern and lively city with a pupulation of over 345,000.
| History Canberra is the eighth largest city in Australia It is 238 km from Sydney and 507 km from Melboume. Melbourne was once the capital of Australia. Sydney people also wanted to make their city the capital. It was difficult for the govement to make the decision. Then n 1911, the government chose a pl.ace to build the new apital. It w.as between Sydney and Melbourne, the two Argest cities in Australia. Jt took more than 14 years to build the city, In 1927, the city was set up.It became the apital and was named Canberra. “Canberra” means “a place for friends to get together”. |
| Cutture Canberra is a beautiful city with trees and flowers everywhere. There’s a Flower Festival in Septem ber each year. People can enjoy aii kinds of beautiful flowers and welcome the spring to amve. A man-made lake –Lake Burley Griffin is in the centerof the city, It’s about 25 km fong. People like to ride bikes, walk or run around the lake. In Canberra, there’re many famous universities like the Australian Nationa/ University and the University of Canberra. The National Library and the National Museum of Australia are also famous places that people like to visit. |
How far is Canberra from Sydneyt?
| A．25 knL | B．238 km. | C．345 km. . | D．507 km. |
Tboword “Canbena means ______.
| A．the largest city | B．beautiful man-made lake |
| C．the old capital city | D．a place for friends to get together |
Canberra Flower Festival is a festival to .
| A．ride bikes | B．visit universities |
| C．welcome the spring | D． walk around the lake . |
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