Close your eyes and imagine you are living in the next two centuries or more. You’ll be living in a world filled with smart robots, which will be helping you to take care of your children, or your elderly parents in your home. You’ll live much longer thanks to the medicine made by genetic (基因的) science. And mankind may be going farther in space than ever before ––you will be living on the moon or Mars.
How should we view the changes that wait for us in the future? Should we be optimistic about the years ahead, or worried about what the future holds? Some scientists and experts are having a discussion about how technology, science and society will develop in the future.
“I’m looking forward to the day when more technology will come to my life,” says John Searle, a professor at the University of California Berkeley Philosophy, “because I think further research in such areas as genetics, physics, chemistry and medicine will help us to overcome poverty, improve health, and make life longer.”
Hugh Herr, at MIT’s Biomechatronics Group, considers very powerful weapons as concern over the future. Another is the growing role of technology in our lives.“Machines taking over what humans do is not a good thing,” Herr says.
That is a similar concern shared by Daniela Cerqui, a social and cultural scientist. “I am afraid that the long-term future we are building will have no space left for human beings,” says Cerqui. “The main values of our society are related to information that must progress as quickly as possible, and computers are much better than humans in these tasks .”The first paragraph mainly tells us ________.
| A．how science will develop in the next two centuries |
| B．how people will live in a modern society |
| C．what life would be like in the future |
| D．what computers will bring to our society |
What is John Searle’s attitude towards the future of technology?
| A．Worried. | B．Optimistic. | C．Uncertain. | D．Disappointed. |
The underlined word “That” in the last paragraph refers to______.
| A．the poverty problem in the future |
| B．machines taking over what humans do |
| C．the technology of weapons |
| D．the health problem of humans |
What would be the best title for the passage?
| A．The future––full of hope or concern? |
| B．Great changes will take place in the future |
| C．The relationship between technology and humans |
| D．The role of robots and computers in the future |
Tu Youyou together with William Campbell and Satoshi Omura won the 2015 Nobel Prize for their work against parasitic diseases. Irish-born Campbell and Japanese Omura won half of the prize for discovering a new drug, avermectin, that has helped the battle against river blindness and lymphatic filariasis, as well as showing effectiveness against other parasitic diseases. The Chinese scientist Tu Youyou, an 85-year-old female scientist, was awarded the other half of the prize for the discovery of artemisinin(青篙素), a drug cure for malaria(疟疾) that has saved millions of lives all over the world, especially in the developing world.
When the news broke that Tu won the Nobel Prize, there were cheers as well as doubts. It also has highlighted differences in prize-awarding practices between China and the West. Some said the achievement was the result of collective efforts by lots of Chinese scientists, so it was unfair to award the prize only to Tu. Indeed, Chinese science awards are mainly presented to projects, instead of individual scientists. But Western awards tend to honor individual scientists who are the first to come up with a new idea or method. Li Zhenzhen, a researcher of the China Academy of Sciences said that the West believes that the advancement of science comes from individuals’ creative minds.
In 1969, Tu started to hold a government project aimed at eliminating malaria. Tu and her teammates experimented with 380 extracts in 2,000 candidate recipes before they finally succeeded in getting the pure substance qinghaosu, later known as artemisinin. In 2011, Tu was awarded the Lasker Debakey Clinical Medical Research Award, commonly referred to as “America’s Nobel Prize”. (278 words)Why Tu Youyou could be awarded the Nobel Prize for ?
| A．Because she discovered the avermectin, a drug cure for malaria |
| B．Because she contributed to the traditional Chinese medicine |
| C．Because she discovered the artemisinin which shows effectiveness against other parasitic diseases |
| D．Because she has saved millions of lives for the discovery of artemisinin. |
What is the difference in prize-awarding practices between China and the West?
| A．Chinese science awards are mainly presented to individual scientists, instead of projects |
| B．Chinese believes that the advancement of science comes from individuals’ creative minds |
| C．Western awards tend to honor individual scientists who are the first to come up with a new idea or method |
| D．Western awards are presented to both individual scientists and projects |
How old was Tu Youyou when she was awarded the “America’s Nobel Prize”.
| A．85 | B．81 | C．46 | D．39 |
What is the best title of the passage?
| A．Why Tu Youyou could be awarded the 2015 Nobel prize |
| B．Why Tu received the “America’s Nobel Prize”. |
| C．Tu Youyou won the 2015 Nobel Prize for the discovery of artemisinin |
| D．The difference in prize-awarding practices between China and the West |
Sometimes, kindness is a simple answer in a difficult and challenging world.
When my granddaughter, Skylar, was young, one day we went out and had a contest called “Who can make the most people smile. “ And we continue it today. When shopping, we were walking in the supermarket and noticed someone walking down the aisle with her head down. Skylar walked up to her and gave her a big smile. I watched her walk down the aisle, turned around and smiled at Skylar again or perhaps smiled at someone else.
Kindness is a chain that pulls us all together. Every single act of kindness has a ripple effect(连锁反应). In 2002, my dad had a series of strokes and other illness. My dad had been doing nice things for all sorts of people for years, from the street crossing guard, to the waitress in a restaurant, to a friend’s mother. That same day, I made cookies for the janitor（门卫） at the post office. When I gave him the cookies he actually looked a little embarrassed. “Why, Linda?” he asked. “Because I appreciate you!” I answered. “When I get here at 6 am and it is still dark out and it is a little scary, I know you are inside and I feel safe. And when I first moved here and my post office box was always empty, you always cheered me on. And you always keep this place clean.”
That evening his wife called me and said that he was overwhelmed(受宠若惊的). “No one even knows his name, let alone bakes him cookies!” she said.（278 words）What was the author’s attitude to the contest in the supermarket?
| A．positive | B．negative |
| C．neutral | D．curious |
From the text, what can we know about the janitor?
| A．He led a very poor life at that time. |
| B．He always went to work after six o’clock. |
| C．He was fond of baking cookies. |
| D．He was kind and grateful. |
What does the passage mainly talk about?
| A．Kindness can always be passed on. |
| B．An experience in a supermarket. |
| C．The importance of having a kind dad. |
| D．Smile makes your life meaningful. |
Since around the later part of the 1950s, society started to realize that tobacco cigarettes caused health problems. As research progressed along with increasing numbers of people that developed lung cancer, emphysema, and other smoking related illnesses, cigarette smoking has become less accepted and popular. Unfortunately, the nicotine contained in cigarettes is one of the most addictive substances on the planet and makes quitting smoking one of the hardest things to do. In 2003, Chinese pharmacist, Hon Lik invented the electronic cigarette as a safer, and cleaner way to breathe in nicotine after his father, a heavy smoker, passed away from lung cancer attributed to smoking tobacco cigarettes.
Hon Lik applied for his first patent on the electronic cigarette in 2003 and afterwards introduced e-cigs to the Chinese market in the following year through his employer, Golden Dragon Holdings. Golden Dragon Holdings later changed the company’s name to “Ruyan” in order to better match the company’s name(Ruyan means “almost like smoke”)to the new product. Since the renaming, the Ruyan company has continued e-cigarette development and grown to be one of the largest global e-cig manufactures.
Dr.Sam Han, CEO of Cixi E-CIG Technology, Inc, Ltd. also has a number of e-cig related inventions, including four patents in the United States and two in China that are electronic cigarette and e-liquid technology related. Similar to Hon Lik’s father. Dr. Han was a heavy smoker for more than 40 years before beginning to work on electronic cigarette technologies in order to help himself and others make the shift to vapor smoking. Dr.Han continues to market and conduct R&D in e-cig related techonologies to this date.
After the successful deployment of Ruyan and Cixi E-CIG electronic cigarettes in China and Asia, the products started to be sold in significant quantities on the Internet.How many years is it since the electronic cigarette was first invented according to the passage?
| A．About 5 years. | B．About 11 years. |
| C．About15 years. | D．About 20 years. |
What’s the direct reason why Hon Lik invented the electronic cigarette according to the passage ?
| A．Tobacco cigarettes caused health problems. |
| B．Tobacco cigarettes were too expensive for customers to buy. |
| C．Quitting smoking became one of the hardest things to do. |
| D．His father died from lung cancer due to smoking tobacco cigarettes. |
Since when have Chinese smokers have been able to buy Hon Lik’s electronic cigarettes according to the passage?
| A．2000. | B．2003. | C．2004. | D．2005. |
What’s the correct order of the following events according to the passage?
① Hon Lik applied for his first patent on the electronic cigarette.
② Hon Lik’s father died from lung cancer because of smoking tobacco cigarettes.
③ Hon Lik’s electronic cigarettes were introduced to the Chinese market.
④ The name of the company Golden Dragon Holdings was changed to “Ruyan”.
| A．①③②④ | B．①④②③ |
| C．②④①③ | D．②①③④ |
You may have heard of the American Dream, an ideal that has powered the hopes of Americans for generations.
It began as a belief that the US was a land of opportunity, and that anyone could achieve success through hard work. At times, the dream has referred to home ownership, a good job, retirement security or each generation doing better than the last.
Yet today, this concept seems to have greatly changed. As Time magazine pointed out, quite different from the older generation, many Millennials (the generation born after 1980) redefine(重新定义) the American Dream as “day-to-day control of your life”. They “prize job mobility, flexible schedules, any work that is more interesting than typing, and the ability to travel”, said the magazine.
Home ownership, once the cornerstone of the American Dream, is becoming a smaller priority for this generation. Meanwhile, nearly 40% of them choose travel as part of their dream. And entrepreneurship(创业) is a rising favorite, as nearly 26% of Millennials consider self-employment as part of their dream.
So what has led to this huge change?
Many point fingers at the poor economy. “Modern young Americans seem bound to face a world stamped by ever narrowing opportunity and social stagnation(停滞),”noted The Daily Beast.
“The rate of 16-to 24-year-olds out of school and out of work is unusually high at 15%. Many college graduates have taken jobs that don’t require a degree,” Time reported.
The magazine worries that these difficulties may lead to a lost generation who are “unable to ever truly find their feet on the corporation’s ladder”.
Dan Kadlec, a reporter of Time, sees Millennials as resetting their expectations.”This situation is different for young adults today,” he wrote. “A true American dream has to feel attainable, and many Millennias are feeling they can only attain a day-today lifestyle that suits them.”The underlined word “cornerstone” in Paragraph 4 is closest in meaning to “ ”.
| A．growth | B．balance | C．basis | D．purpose |
What has changed Millennials’ view of the American Dream according to the passage?
| A．A lack of confidence in themselves |
| B．Fierce competition in the job market |
| C．Their dissatisfaction with the government |
| D．The discouraging economy and unemployment |
Dan Kadlec thinks Millennials’ new definition of the American Dream is ______.
| A．beautiful | B．understandable |
| C．worrying | D．positive |
What can be the best title for this passage?
| A．Redefinition of American Dream |
| B．Meaning of American Dream |
| C．Value of Achieving American Dream |
| D．History of Changing American Dream |
Shyness is the cause of much unhappiness for a great many people. Shy people are anxious and self-conscious; that is, they are concerned with their own appearance and actions too much. Negative thoughts are constantly occurring in their minds: What kind of impression am I making? Do they like me? Do I sound stupid? Am I wearing unattractive clothes?
It is obvious that such uncomfortable feelings must affect people unfavorably. A person's self-concept is reflected in the way he or she behaves and the way a person behaves affects other people's reactions. In general, the way people think about themselves has a deep effect on all areas of their lives.
Shy people, who have low respect, are likely to be passive and easily influenced by others. They need faith that they are doing "the right thing". Shy people are very sensitive to criticism. It makes them feel inferior（自卑）.They also find it difficult to be pleased by praises because they believe they are unworthy of praise. A shy person may respond to a praise with a statement like this one: "You're just saying that to make me feel good, I know it's not true.” It is clear that, while self-awareness is a healthy quality, overdoing it is harmful.
Can shyness be completely got rid of, or at least reduced? Fortunately, people can overcome shyness with determination since shyness goes hand in hand with lack of self respect. It is important for people to accept their weakness as well as their strengths. Each one of us has his or her own characteristics. We are interested in our own personal ways. The better we understand ourselves, the easier it becomes to live up to our chances for a rich and successful life.The first paragraph is mainly about______.
| A．the cause of shyness |
| B．the effect of shyness on people |
| C．the feelings of shy people |
| D．the questions in the minds of shy people |
According to the writer, self-awareness is______.
| A．harmful to people |
| B．a weak point of shy people |
| C．the cause of unhappiness |
| D．a good characteristic |
What is the shy people's reaction to praise?
| A．They are pleased by it. |
| B．They feel it is not true. |
| C．They are very sensitive to it. |
| D．They feel they are worthy of it. |
We can learn from the passage that shyness can ______.
| A．block our chances for a successful life |
| B．help us to live up to our full development |
| C．enable us to understand ourselves better |
| D．have nothing to do with lack of self respect |