A Battery’s Worst Nightmare(噩梦)
Portable electronics that can be carried about easily are only as good as their batteries and, let’s face it, batteries aren’t very good, especially when compared with, say, petrol, which packs 100 times a battery’s energy into an equal space. That’s why a large group of mechanical engineers (centered at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, but with partners at other universities and companies) are hard at work in an effort to replace batteries with a tiny engine that runs on fuel. Imagine a battery-free life!When the fuel runs out in your laptop or mobile phone, you just fill
up and go.
The engine, about the size of a ten-cent coin, starts with a combustion chamber (燃烧室) that burns hydrogen (氢). Its tiny parts are etched onto silicon wafers (硅片) in the same manner that computer parts are imprinted onto integrated circuits (集成电路). The first engine is made up of five wafers. And since these wafers could be produced in much the same way as computer chips, they could probably be produced quite cheaply.
But the devil in all this nice detail is efficiency(效率). Tiny engine parts don’t always behave like their scaled-up parts of the first engine. Something between the parts can slow down th
e work, according to Columbia University professor Luc Frechette, one of the engine’s designers. Extreme heat from the combustion chamber is also a problem, often leaking to other parts of the engine.
The scientists’ goal is to create an engine that
will operate 10 times better than batteries do. Frechette says that a complete system, with all parts in place and working, will be set up in the next couple of years, but commercial models aren’t available until at least the end of the next ten years. .
. According to the passage, the title suggests that ________.
| A．batteries should be greatly improved | B．petrol will be used instead of batteries |
| C．the time of batteries will be gone forever | D．pollution caused by batteries must be prevented |
.
What’s the meaning of the underlined word “devil” (In Paragraph 3)?
| A．Problem. | B．Advantage. | C．Invention. | D．Technique. |
.
What can we infer from the passage?
| A．The new invention doesn’t need any fuel. |
| B．The new engine has been produced in quantity. |
| C．The new invention is much cheaper than the battery. |
| D．The new engine needs to be improved before it’s on sale. |
.
. What is the main purpose of this passage?
| A．To introduce a new invention to readers. | B．To persuade readers not to use batteries. |
| C．To show us how the new invention works. | D．To declare when the engine will be on sale. |
Interviews can be quite frightening but our tips can help you. Don’t worry—relax! Remember these things and you’ll be fine.
Be on time. Find out exactly where the interview is and how to get there. Remember that buses and trains can often be late so allow plenty of time. It’s better to be early than late.
Be prepared. Think about what the interviewer will ask you. He or she will probably ask about your qualifications (资历) and your experience but they’ll also ask you why you want the job. Think of some possible questions and prepare your answers before you go.
Wear comfortable clothes. If you wear something new it will make you feel uncomfortable. It’s best to wear something smart but something you like and feel happy in.
Make eye contact（接触）. In the interview, don’t sit looking at your feet. Make sure you sit up and look the interviewer in the eye. This makes you look honest and more confident (自信).
Ask a question. It’s a good idea to ask questions at the interview. Ask about the company or the job. Prepare some questions before the interview. It makes you look more interested if you do this.How many tips（建议） does the writer give in this passage?
| A．Three. | B．Four. | C．Five. | D．Six. |
Finding out exactly where the interview is and how to get there will help you to .
| A．receive some advice |
| B．be on time |
| C．prepare your answers |
| D．remember the timetable |
According to this passage, the interviewer will probably ask you about .
| A．your family members |
| B．your health condition |
| C．your demand of payment |
| D．your working experience |
Which of the following does the writer say is a sign of honesty?
| A．Making eye contact. |
| B．Travelling by bus or train. |
| C．Wearing something smart. |
| D．Showing your qualifications. |
There is no doubt that Apple is well aware of the increased competition in the market and could be in a hurry to put another product out there, said Ramon Llamas, senior research analyst at IDC Mobile Devices Technology and Trends. Given its history with product launches and business policy, though, Apple probably isn’t going to rush an iPhone release simply to put it on shelves, he said.
“If you’re Tim Cook (CEO of Apple), you’re thinking if you want to pay more attention to how to keep growing that bottom line and keep investors(投资人) happy, or continue with the same approach from Apple, which is do what we can do and manage products and releases in the best way they can work for us. Apple usually does things in their own time, and I’m having a hard time buying this May or June timeline.” Llamas told Mac News World.
While it’s probable that Apple is surely in a testing stage for its next smartphone, consumers likely have a standard wait for the finished product, said Colin Gibbs, analyst at GigaOm Pro.
“It typically takes a year or longer to create a state-of-the-art smartphone, so no one should be surprised Apple is in the testing stages with the next iPhone. And while it’s possible that Apple could launch the next iPhone this spring or summer, I’m not expecting to see it until a little later in the year,” he told Mac News World.
When it does launch, though, it could be in a variety of colors, said Gibbs. “Apple has already tested the waters with releasing colored products when it revamped (更新，翻新）its iPod line last fall, so it is understood that it would want the new change with its smartphone, as well”.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if the new iPhone becomes available in some new colors,’’ he said. “That could be done pretty cheaply, and it would give Apple a new marketing angle.”According to Ramon Llamas, Apple always ______.
| A．tries to please its investors |
| B．rushes to put new products to market |
| C．ignores the fierce market competition |
| D．does things as planned |
As for the next iPhone, Colin Gibbs didn’t mention ______.
| A．the stage of its being tested |
| B．the rough time of its being released |
| C．the function to be improved |
| D．the wide variety of its color |
What’s Colin Gibbs’ attitude towards the next iPhone?
| A．Disapproving. | B．Indifferent (漠不关心的). | C．Doubtful. | D．Objective. |
This passage is presented in the form of ______.
| A．stories | B．comments | C．advertisements | D．debates |
Eddie’s father used to say he’d spent so many years by the ocean, breathing seawater. Now, away from that ocean, in the hospital bed, his body began to look like a beached fish. His condition went from fair to stable and from stable to serious. Friends went from saying, “He’ll be home in a day,” to “He’ll be home in a week.” In his father’s absence, Eddie helped out at the pier (码头), working evenings after his taxi job.
When Eddie was a teenager, if he ever complained or seemed bored with the pier, his father would shout, “What? This isn’t good enough for you?” And later, when he’d suggested Eddie take a job there after high school, Eddie almost laughed, and his father again said, “What? This isn’t good enough for you?” And before Eddie went to war, when he’d talked of marrying Marguerite and becoming an engineer, his father said, “What? This isn’t good enough for you?”
And now, regardless of all that, here he was, at the pier, doing his father’s labor.
Parents rarely let go of their children, so children let go of them. They move on. They move away. It is not until much later, as the heart weakens, that children understand: their stories, and all their achievements, sit on top of the stories of their mothers and fathers, stones upon stones, beneath the waters of their lives.
Finally, one night, at his mother’s urging, Eddie visited the hospital. He entered the room slowly. His father, who for years had refused to speak to Eddie, now lacked the strength to even try.
“Don’t sweat it, kid,” the other workers told him. “Your old man will pull through. He’s the toughest man we’ve ever seen.”
When the news came that his father had died, Eddie felt the emptiest kind of anger, the kind that circles in its cage.
In the weeks that followed, Eddie’s mother lived in a confused state. She spoke to her husband as if he were still there. She yelled at him to turn down the radio. She cooked enough food for two. One night, when Eddie offered to help with the dishes, she said, “Your father will put them away.” Eddie put a hand on her shoulder. “Ma,” he said, softly, “Dad’s gone.”“Gone where?”In Paragraph four, the writer wants to say that __________.
| A．Children wouldn’t have achieved so much without their parents’ support |
| B．Children often feel regretful because they leave their parents |
| C．Children like moving away from their parents |
| D．Children can never understand how much their parents have devoted to them |
The underlined sentence “Don’t sweat it” (Para. 6) probably means __________.
| A．Don’t touch it | B．Don’t worry about it |
| C．Don’t let him down | D．Don’t give it up |
Which of the following shows the right order of the story?
a. Eddie’s father died.
b. Eddie married Marguerite.
c. Eddie worked as a taxi driver.
d. Eddie was bored with his father’s job.
| A．dbca | B．dcab | C．bcda | D．bacd |
From the last paragraph, we learn that __________.
| A．Eddie’s mother liked to listen to the radio |
| B．Eddie and his wife lived in his mother’s apartment |
| C．Eddie’s mother missed her husband so much that she was at a loss |
| D．Eddie often helped his mother wash the dishes |
We all know what it is like to be unable to turn your head because of a cold in the muscles of your neck, or because an unexpected twist has made your neck ache and stiff. Your whole body feels tight. The slightest move makes you jump with pain. Nothing could be worse than a pain in the neck. That is why we use phrase to describe some people who give you the same feeling. We have all met such people.
One is the man who always seems to be clapping his hands—often at the wrong time—during a performance in the theater. He keeps you from hearing the actors.
Even worse are those who can never arrive before the curtain goes up and play begins. They come hurrying down to your row of seats. You are comfortably settled down, with your hat and heavy coat in your lap. You must stand up to let them pass. You are proud of your self-control after they have settled into their seats…Well, what now…Good God, one of them is up again. He forgot to go to the men’s room, and once more you have to stand up, hanging on to your hat and coat to let him pass. Now, that is “a pain in the neck.”
Another, well-known to us all, is the person sitting behind you in the movies. His mouth is full of popcorn; he is chewing loudly, or talking between bites to friends next to him. None of them remain still. Up and down, back and forth, they go for another bag of popcorn, or something to drink.
Then, there is the main sitting next to you at a lunch counter smoking a smelly cigar. He wants you to enjoy it too, and blows smoke across your food into your mouth.
We must not forget the man who comes into a bus or subway car and sits down next to you, just as close as you will let him. You are reading the newspaper and he leans over and stretches his neck so that he can read the paper with you. He may even turn the paper to the next page before you are ready for it.
We also call such a person a “rubberneck”, always putting out his neck to where it does not belong, like neighbors who watch all your visitors. They enjoy invading your privacy. People have a strong dislike for rubbernecks. They hate being spied upon.Where can you find this passage?
| A．Medicine dictionaries. | B．A travel guide. |
| C．Social science books. | D．Students text books. |
How do you feel when late comers walk back and forth in front of you in a cinema?
| A．Disturbed. | B．Ignored. | C．Bored. | D．Relaxed. |
A “rubberneck” often .
| A．says bad words behind people |
| B．quarrels face to face with neighbors |
| C．bargains the price with sales women |
| D．asks about other people’s business |
Which of the follow is “a pain in the neck”?
| A．Someone who helps you find your seat in a movie theatre. |
| B．Someone who smokes in a smoking section on a train. |
| C．Someone who throws trash out of his car window on the highway. |
| D．Someone who goes to the doctor for his severe pain on the neck. |
Many of Nalade Resorts’ hotels have Kids Club with special facilities for young children, making holidays more relaxing for parents and undoubtedly more pleasant and interesting for youngsters!
Kids Club in Beau Rivage (9 a.m. to 10 p.m.)
The club has a lovely atmosphere, with a large room for activities and a fenced, grass play-area outside. The qualified hostesses really know how to get on with children, as they look after and entertain youngsters from 3 to 12.
Activities are adapted according to children’s ages and talents and include:
●Glass-bottom boat trips to see the brightly colored games
●Drawing and painting
●Making things and a whole host of indoor games
●Learning how to snorkel and water-ski
A baby sitting service is also available on request, for a fee. Children’s dinner is served in the main restaurant at 6:30 p.m.
Kids Club in Legends (9 a.m. to 10 p.m.)
Three qualified hostesses entertain youngsters from 3 to 11 years old. For children under 3, a baby sitting service is also available on request, for a fee.
Children’s lunch is served between 12:30 and 1:30 p.m. in the main restaurant or in the Kids Club depending on the day. The children have dinner in the main restaurant between 6:30 and 7:30 p.m.
Kids Club in Les Pavillons (9:30 a.m. to 10:00 p.m.)
Friendly, experienced, well-trained staff keep youngsters from 3 to 11 happy and occupied throughout the day and evening. Activities include:
●Learning the local dance, the Sega
●Gathering crabs on the beach by torchlight
●Making things and a whole host of indoor games
●Learning to play a traditional musical instrument
A special children’s dinner is served from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. Baby sitting service can also be provided, for a fee.
Kids Club in Diva
The ideal arrangement for both parents and their youngsters! Qualified staffs look after children aged from 3 to 11 from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily and organize a whole range of activities to keep them busy and happy.
Children have dinner between 6 and 7 p.m. A baby sitting service is also available, for a fee.If you have a 12-year-old child, you can choose ______ for your Family holidays.
| A．Diva | B．Legends | C．Beau Rivage | D．Les Pavillons |
Children may have two meals in ______.
| A．Legends | B．Beau Rivage | C．Les Pavillons | D．Diva |
According to the activity lists, children can learn some water sports in the Club of ______.
| A．Les Pavillons | B．Beau Rivage | C．Diva | D．Legends |
We know from the passage that ______.
| A．the staff in all hotels can get along well with the youngsters |
| B．all the hotels open daily from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. |
| C．all the hotels provide baby-sitting service for fee |
| D．parents have to play with their children in the activities |