第三部分阅读理解(共20小题；每小题2分，满分40分)阅读下-优题课

Robots are common in todays world. They manufacture cars, work in space, explore oceans, clean up oil spills and investigate dangerous environments. And now, scientists at the University of Manchester are using a robot as a laboratory partner.
The researchers at the university created the robot in 2009 and named it Adam. Despite the name, Adam is not a humanoid robot. It is about the size of a car.
Adam was built to do science and make discoveries. Ross King is the leader of the University of Manchester research team. He says the robot made a discovery about yeast（酵母）, a kind of fungus used in science as a model for human cells.
“Adam hypothesized certain functions of genes within yeast and experimentally tested these hypothesizes and confirmed them. So it both hypothesized and confirmed new scientific knowledge.”
Adam's success as a scientist led to the creation of another robot scientist named Eve. Researchers developed Eve to design and test drugs for tropical and neglected diseases. These diseases kill and infect millions of people each year.
Drug development is slow and costly. Experts say it can take more than 10 years and about $1 billion to discover and develop new medicines. Drug manufacturers are unlikely to get their investment money back.
So the University of Manchester developed a low-cost test that shows whether or not a chemical is likely to be made into an effective medicine. Mr. King says that other drug testing methods were not very effective.
“How it works conventionally is you use robotics(机器人技术) as well and you have a large collection of possible drugs. You test every single compound(复合物). And you start at the beginning of your library and continue until the end, and stop. So it’s not a very intelligent process. The robotics doesn’t learn anything as it goes along, even if its tested a million compounds, it still doesnt have any expectation of what will happen next when it tests a new compound.”
Mr. King says that Eve is different because the robot learns as it tests different compounds. He says the robot is designed to ignore compounds that it thinks unlikely to be good. It will only test the compounds which have a good chance of working.
Eve has discovered that a compound known to be effective against cancer might also be used to fight against malaria and other tropical diseases.
Mr. King says he hopes to completely automate the drug testing process with robots like Eve to create and test new chemicals. But he says humans remain in control of the manufacturing process.
Adam can do all the following EXCEPT ________.

A．making discoveries	B．working in space
C．helping researchers	D．doing scientific research

The underlined word “hypothesized” probably means ________.

A．learned	B．guessed
C．discovered	D．created

The development of new drugs is slow because ________.
a. It takes long to test new drugs.
b. It takes long to produce new drugs.
c. New drugs are less effective.
d. It takes long to profit from new drugs.
e. Conventional testing methods dont work well.

A．abc

B．bcd

C．cde

D．ade

Eve has an advantage of ________.

A．testing a million compound at a time

B．controlling the manufacturing the process

C．expecting what will happen while testing drugs

D．making scientific research

What might be the best title for the passage?

A．Robot Scientist Helps Design New Drugs

B．Adam—the Smart Robot

C．New Methods to Test Drugs

D．Scientists Develop Humanoid Robots

Nowadays, Chinese love to consume TV shows, particularly American TV shows. Some shows have become especially popular for certain reasons. When you meet Chinese people, try to mention these shows to strike up a conversation with them, as it is likely that they are fans of these shows.
1. The Big Bang Theory
Talk to any young Chinese person, and chances are that they are crazy about the lives of Sheldon, Raj, Howard, and Leonard. Many viewers describe themselves as in love with Sheldon, and they appreciate the science jokes and content on the show. People admire the young geniuses on the show and the large amount of funny jokes, but also recognizes the show’s message that being smart isn’t everything in life. The university lifestyle depicted on the show and the friendships and witty arguments between the main characters are especially attractive to Chinese audiences.
2. House of Cards
China is ridding itself of corruption(腐败) today. It’s no surprise, then, that a thrilling and brilliant drama about political corruption currently catches on in China. China is the top country where the show is being wildly pirated(盗版) on Chinese websites. The Chinese government has also featured prominently on the show. Even high-ranking Chinese political officials have been known to watch religiously this show and keep up with the exploits of Frank Underwood. Some Chinese politicians consider Underwood as a role model, fans create special videos to honor the show, and many viewers like to learn about American politics and society from the show, even though what they learn from the show may not be totally accurate. It’s interesting to wonder what a Chinese version of this show would be like.
3. Gossip Girl
China has become much wealthier in the last several decades, and people across the world always like to observe rich people’s lives and imagine themselves being rich as well. Like the Chinese movie series Tiny Times, Gossip Girl rose to fame in China because Chinese viewers enjoyed watching the lives of rich Westerners and living wealthily through the characters. Many Chinese fans also admired the romance between Chuck and Blair, and strongly supported them getting married. The show is full of passionate love affairs, pleasant young people, and brilliant drama that fascinated Chinese audiences.
4. Two Broke Girls
Many young Chinese viewers like following the struggles of Max and Caroline as they attempt to earn money and build their own cupcake business. This show has become extremely popular in China and is frequently downloaded online. One reason why this sitcom has been successful in China is that for many Chinese who are young like Max and Caroline, they must deal with the same problems in life. Finding work and earning enough money to join the middle class is difficult for many Chinese people today. The Chinese TV show WoJu (蜗居) shows a family working to save money for an apartment and dealing with many situations caused by poverty, wealth, and greed. Young Chinese work extremely hard to earn enough money to buy cars, homes, and find someone to marry, and they can easily sympathize with characters living in poverty and working towards similar goals.
Para 1 suggests that ________.

A．China has been open to America

B．American movie industry develops well

C．American shows are very popular in China

D．Chinese enjoy talking about American shows

Viewers struggling for life probably sympathize with characters by watching ________.

A．The Big Bang Theory	B．House of Cards
C．Gossip Girl	D．Two Broke Girls

Which of the following is NOT right?

A．The Big Bang Theory tries to convey that being smart means everything.

B．House of Cards is pirated more in China than other countries.

C．Gossip Girl and Tiny Times have a similar theme.

D．Two Broke Girls tells about a story of struggling for a better life.

The underlined word “depicted” means ________.

A．learned	B．described
C．made	D．accepted

Jennifer Lynn is turning into a master storyteller. She writes about young adults brilliantly. However, I have got to say Stay With Me wasn’t my favorite in this series, but I still really enjoyed it and I would absolutely recommend it to fans interested in the world of young adults.
Stay With Me is the third book in Jennifer’s Wait For You series, which features a couple that have been in previous books but have their own unique story and can be read as a standalone. I like that about this series. It’s nice to be able to pick up a book and read it, finish it and move on to the next, but the Wait For You series has the added bonus of a more deeper character connection, as theyve appeared previously, you have more of a feel for them and you look forward to their story.
Stay With Me is Calla and Jaxs story. Calla has a wreck(严重受损的人) of a mother, but she is finally coming to the end of college and is looking forward to a career in nursing. She has done pretty well up for herself and now it was her time to shine. Unluckily, it falls through when her mother robbed her of every penny and took her identity. Calla has to go back to her small home town and into the arms of Jax.
Jax is handsome and cheerful! He is a waiter in a bar and knows Calla’s mother very well and he agrees to help Calla. He is true alpha, with a sweet side and is very protective of Calla. I loved him, but not as much as Cam, sorry Jax! And that’s why Stay with Me isn’t as good as Cam’s book, Wait for You. Don’t get me wrong. Jax is an incredibly great character, well fleshed out and I did care for him, but he just wasn’t as lovely as Cam.
As for Calla, I liked her character, and I liked the connection between her and Jax. I loved how he came out of his shell and showed her to love herself, despite her unsatisfactory past. There are a lot of intense moments between these two characters and they are so well written. Jennifer’s writing is addictive and she wrote the scenes between Jax and Calla beautifully. Calla has never been, what she would call boyfriend material, and so she struggles to see what Jax sees in her and she bats him off and ignores it. There’s a lot of push and pull between them, and it’s very charming. At times I did get a little annoyed with Calla, especially with her insecurity but Jax soon made up for that!
Overall I really enjoyed Stay with Me. Anyway, they are a wonderful pair together. Despite all the troubles that Calla was going through, their relationship seemed more realistic and was made to last.
Who would like to read Stay with me most?

A．Adults.	B．Young adults.
C．Fans of young adults.	D．Parents.

The author shows a preference for Calla by ________.

A．analyzing some plots from the book

B．comparing her with Jax

C．stating what Jax did to her

D．presenting her sad past

The underlined expression “came out of his shell” probably means ________.

A．fell in love with others

B．expressed his ideas

C．left his home town

D．overcame the difficulties

The author’s overall attitude towards Stay With Me is ________.

A．Unclear	B．Negative
C．Indifferent	D．Positive

What style does the passage belong to?

A．An essay.

B．A novel.

C．A review.

D．A debate

It’s amazing how we grow from careless kids to responsible teens. What happens in the course that makes us responsible now? It’s the seed that we sow in the beginning which grows and becomes a huge tree. As I sit here, silently thinking about my growth, I wonder over some questions which don’t have an answer but it’s because of such unanswerable situations that life has become a roller coaster ride.
As a kid, I used to read a lot of story books. In one particular book, I read a story of a bird. From then on, that has become an integral (必不可少的) part of my life. It described a male bird which takes a lot of pain to build a nest and the female bird takes shelter in it and nourishes the baby. When the bird learns to fly, the whole family flies off to a different place leaving behind the beautiful nest for other birds to grow their family in it. It made me wonder. How could they so easily sacrifice their house built with so much effort?
One night, when I was deep in sleep, I got this particular dream. I was walking miles on the endless road, totally isolated but lined with beautiful trees on the either side. Fascinated by the greenery, I marched towards it only to end up deeper and deeper into the greenery. I happened to stop upon seeing something. It was a massive, wonderful house. I fell in love with that amazing part of art. Yeah, it was indeed a piece of art with every nook and corner touched artistically and lovingly. I don’t know why I felt that it was done lovingly. Maybe because, things turn out to be beautiful only when we put our love into it — just like the food prepared by mom which tastes more delicious with her love.
I explored the house only to fall more in love with it. There was a sloping roof which matched with the greenery around; the large central open courtyard reminded me of the activities that might have taken place there which felt lively even now when it is completely deserted. The small water body that kept the house cool added to the beauty of the house — of course, it was all dried up now. It’s really wonderful how such things add life to the spaces which otherwise just become structures. Such liveliness and happening turns the house into a home. They say ‘THE HOME IS WHERE THE HEART IS’, but now I began to feel it. This is where my heart belongs. This is what I’m destined to do.
When I woke up from the dream, I was clear about everything. I realized where that mile of walk was intending me to lead. I realized what message my dream wanted to convey me. And years later, when finally my turn of choosing my destination came, I simply closed my eyes, held that book in my hand, pressed it against my chest and relived the dream. When I opened my eyes, I was sure what to do. I decided to choose the road — less traveled. Yes, I took up architecture as my profession because this is what I am destined to do. I wanted to do the same thing that the male bird in the story did, to take pain in building a beautiful house and let others stay in it. This is my dream come true and the happiness that I gain now from this profession is indescribable.
When the writer read the story of the bird, he probably felt _______.

A．upset

B．confused

C．amazed

D．amused

To the writer, “the seed that we sow in the beginning” (Paragraph 1) is _______.

A．the house in his dream	B．his mother’s food
C．the story of the bird	D．his story books

Mom’s food always tastes better because _______.

A．mom cooks with her love

B．we are so familiar with mom’s food

C．moms are better cooks than fathers

D．mom is experienced in cooking

In the writer’s dream, what part of the house attracted him most?

A．The greenery surrounding the house.

B．The body of water that keeps the house cool

C．The liveliness he sensed around the house.

D．The fact that the house was very large.

The above passage is mainly about _______.

A．how the writer finally becomes an honest citizen

B．where the true meaning of responsibility lies

C．what we need to do when we are seeking fortune

D．why the writer takes up architecture as his career

My children are perfect. All four of them. Perfect and beautiful and clever. I bet yours are, too. Except, of course, they are not. In reality, my children and yours are likely to be reasonably average in terms of looks, behavior, intelligence and charm. That’s why it is called average. Your belief in your child being special is more probably a biological thing than a fact.
A loved one, particularly a loved child, is edited as we observe them. Other people’s children are spoiled; ours are spirited. Theirs are naughty; ours are confident.
This is all natural and even touching when not taken too far. However, it is one thing feeding this idea to ourselves but feeding it to our children may be a little less desirable. We have the idea that — unlike my parents’ generation — we should build our children’s self-respect as high as we can. Therefore, their random scribble (胡写乱画) is up there with Picasso, their C-minus is an unfortunate oversight on the part of the teacher, and the fact that no one wants to be friends with them is because they are particularly clever or sensitive.
Children see through this kind of thing very quickly and ignore their parents’ praises as a matter of course. As they grow up, they sense that the wider world judges them differently. This leads to a – hopefully gentle – cynicism (猜忌) about anything their parents tell them about their achievements. Perhaps that is OK — but I’m not sure if it is good for them to have the parental praise so overlooked.
If parents were a little harsher sometimes, this could have two positive effects — first, when praise came, it would be more likely to be believed and, second, it would fit in rather more accurately with the picture of reality that the child is forming in their heads.
A lot of pressure is put on children who are told they are beautiful, special and perfect. Because then, where is there to go? Only downwards. They become too much aware of their status in your eyes, and a danger must be that they fear failing you. To be over-praised by your parents is the counter side of being criticized all the time. Both can have negative consequences.
It is important to give your children the freedom to be flawed (缺点) — to know that it’s OK to be imperfect, and that, in fact, we often love people for their flaws — perfect people (whom we can only imagine, as they do not exist) are easy to respect, but hard to love.
Now I am nearly 60, my main insight is that I am much less special than I once believed. This knowledge has actually been helpful in leading a more well-balanced life.
I certainly wouldn’t like to go back to attitudes that my parents, particularly my father, held, that to praise the child was to “spoil them” or make them bigheaded. However, the history of families is like the history of everything else — the story of overreactions. We praise our children to the skies, partly because we think it makes them feel good, but also because it makes us feel good. And perhaps it is more the latter than the former.
Too much love can be as big a burden as a shortage of it. My advice is to limit your praise. Then every piece of praise will count, rather than being just ignored.
In some parents’ eyes, who is to blame for their children’s poor grades at school?

A．Picasso.	B．The children
C．The teacher.	D．The children’s friends.

One possible consequence of parents’ over-praising is that _______.

A．the children will therefore become more confident

B．the children will not take their praise seriously

C．the children will doubt the way the world judges them

D．the children will understand no one can be perfect

According to the passage, some children feel pressure because _______.

A．they are often told they are unique and perfect

B．the society judges them differently from their parents

C．they are worried that they may let their parents down

D．they have no freedom to express how they really feel

The word “harsher” (Paragraph 5) is closest in meaning to ________.

A．severer

B．gentler

C．weaker

D．rougher

Which of the following will the writer most probably agree with?

A．Children’s self-respect shouldn’t be parents’ major concern.

B．The easiest way to spoil a child is to praise him or her.

C．Perfect people deserve our respect but not our love.

D．Parents should praise their children but not too much.

Which best describes the writer’s tone in the passage?

A．Concerned.	B．Approving.
C．Enthusiastic.	D．Pessimistic.