It was a physical class. But it was nothing like previous ones — the class was “attended”
by over 60 million students across China, and the teacher was not even on the planet: she was 340 kilometers above the earth.
“Hello, everyone. I’m Wang Yaping. I’ll host your lecture today.” Smiling to the camera, Wang, China’s second female astronaut, started her video class on June 20 on board the Tiangong-1 space station.
To show how Newton’s Laws work in space, Wang and her fellow astronauts used simple items like balls and spinning tops. The highlight of the lecture was when Wang made a film of water using a metal ring, something that only happens in zero gravity, where the surface tension(张力) of water is much higher than it is on the earth. She then took it a step further by pouring more water onto the film and turning it into a water ball, leaving the audience amazed by what they saw.
The 40-minute lesson seemed to have passed too quickly for students to see enough of those magical experiments. But sending stuff into space is really expensive. According to The Beijing Times, every kilogram launched into space cost 20,000 dollars. The experimental items taken this time were all strictly selected and weighed about 2.9 kilograms in total. This adds up to quite a large price tag.
The organizers of the event also had to consider the time of day: the communication signal between the earth and Tiangong-1 was best during that specific 40 minutes, when the spacecraft was flying within the coverage of all of the ground-based testing stations.Why is the class different from a common one?
| A．Because it took 40 minutes. |
| B．Because over 60 million students across the world attended it. |
| C．Because the teacher was on the planet. |
| D．Because the lecturer was in space. |
One of the experiments shows .
| A．object motion under weight conditions |
| B．laws of physics under weightless conditions |
| C．laws of physics under weight conditions |
| D．how Newton’s Laws work on the earth |
Which phrase can best replace the underlined words in the passage?
| A．took a photo of water. |
| B．recorded moving pictures of water. |
| C．made a thin layer of water. |
| D．all the above. |
Which of the following statements can be the best title of the passage?
| A．Teaching from the Sky. | B．Teaching on Physics. |
| C．Teaching Experiments. | D．Teaching by an Astronaut. |
阅读下列短文，从每题所给的四个选项(A、B、C和D)中选出最佳选项。
Environmentalists said our planet was doomed to die. Now one man says they are wrong.
“Everyone knows the planet is in bad shape，”thundered a magazine article last year. Species(物种) are being driven to die out at record rates，and the rivers are so poisonous that fish are floating on the surface，dead.
But there's a growing belief that what everyone takes for granted is wrong：things are actually getting better. A new book is about to overturn our most basic assumptions about the world's environment. Rivers，seas，rain and the atmosphere are all getting cleaner. The total amount of forests in the world is not declining. The Skeptical Environmentalist by Bjorn Lomborg，professor of statistics at the University of Aarhus in Denmark，is an attack on the misleading claims of environmental groups，and the “bad news” culture that makes people believe everything is getting worse.
Now the attacks are increasingly coming from leftwing environmentalists such as Lomborg，a former member of Greenpeace. The accusation is that，although the environment is improving，green groups－with profits of hundreds of millions of pounds a year－are using scare tactics(谋略) to gain donations. Lomborg's book doesn't deny global warmingprobably the biggest environmental threat－but destroys almost every other environmental claim with many official statistics.
The Worldwatch Institute claims that “deforestation has been accelerating over the last 30 years”．But Lomborg says that is simply rubbish. Since the dawn of agriculture the world has lost about 20 per cent of its forest cover，but in recent decades the forest area's depleting has come to a stop. According to UN figures，the area of forests has remained almost steady，at about 30 per cent of total land area，since the 1940s.Forests in countries such as the US，the UK and Canada have actually been expanding over the past 40 years. Despite all the warnings the Amazon rainforest has only shrunk(缩小) by about 15 per cent.
Nor are all our species dying out. Some campaigners claim that 50 per cent of all species will have died out within 50 years. But other studies show only 0.08 per cent of species are dying out each year. Conservation efforts have been successful. Whales are no longer threatened and the bald eagle is off the endangered list.
Environmental groups claim that many of the improvements are the results of the success of their campaigns. Stephen Tindale，director of Greenpeace UK，said，“There are important examples，such as acid rain and ozone，where things aren't as bad as predicted，and that's because behavior has changed.”In his book，The Skeptical Environmentalist，what is Lomborg's main argument?
| A．Our planet is in bad shape. |
| B．The world's environment is improving. |
| C．The total amount of forests in the world is not declining. |
| D．Conservation efforts have been successful. |
What is Lomborg's main accusation of environmentalists?
| A．They scared people into making donations. |
| B．They overturned our basic assumptions about the world's environment. |
| C．They changed their behavior toward the environment. |
| D．They only told people bad news about the environment. |
The underlined word “depleting” in Paragraph 5 is closest in meaning to “________”．
| A．reducing |
| B．limiting |
| C．expanding |
| D．accelerating |
According to the passage，which of the following statements is true?
| A．The total area of forests in the world has increased significantly. |
| B．The effects of global warming are not as bad as first expected. |
| C．It appears that the bald eagle will survive. |
| D．In the last 50 years the number of whales has increased. |
阅读下列短文，从每题所给的四个选项(A、B、C和D)中选出最佳选项。
We may all have had the embarrassing moment：Getting halfway through a story only to realize that we've told this exact tale before，to the person we're boring with it now. Why do we make such memory mistakes?
According to a research published in Psychological Science，it may have to do with the way our brains process different types of memory.
Researchers Nigel Gopie，of the Rotman Research Institute in Toronto，and Colin Macleod，of the University of Waterloo，divided memory into two kinds. The first was source memory，or the ability to keep track of where information is coming from. The second was destination memory，or the ability to recall who we have given information to.
They found that source memory functions better than destination memory，in part because of the direction in which that information is travelling.
To study the differences between source and destination memory，the researchers did an experiment on 60 university students，according to a New York Times report. The students were asked to associate 50 random(随意的) facts with the faces of 50 famous people. Half of the students “told” each fact to one of the faces，reading it aloud when the celebrity's picture appeared on a computer screen. The other half read each fact silently and saw a different celebrity picture afterward.
When later asked to recall which facts went with which faces，the students who were giving information out (destination memory) scored about 16 percent lower on memory performance compared with the students receiving information(source memory)．
The researchers concluded that outgoing information was less associated with its environmental context(背景)－that is，the person－than was incoming information.
This makes sense given what is known about attention. A person who is giving information，even little facts，will devote some mental resources to thinking about what is being said. Because our attention is finite(有限的)，we give less attention to the person we are giving information to.
After a second experiment with another group of 40 students，the researchers concluded that selffocus is another factor that undermines destination memory.
They asked half the students to continue giving out random information，while the other told things about themselves. This time around，those who were talking about themselves did 15 percent worse than those giving random information.
“When you start telling these personal facts compared with nonself facts，suddenly destination memory goes down more，suggesting that it is the selffocus component(成分) that's reducing the memory，”Gopie told Live Science.The point of this article is to ________.
| A．give advice on how to improve memory |
| B．say what causes the memory to worsen |
| C．explain why we repeat stories to the same person |
| D．introduce different kinds of memories |
Those who read each fact silently and saw a different celebrity picture afterward ______.
| A．can memorize more information |
| B．have worse memory |
| C．are more likely to repeat stories |
| D．paid more attention to themselves |
The person who is giving information ________.
| A．may receive little facts |
| B．focuses more on what he is saying |
| C．has finite attention |
| D．pays much attention to his own behavior |
The underlined word “undermines” probably means ________.
| A．weakens |
| B．benefits |
| C．explains |
| D．supports |
What did the scientists conclude from the second experiment?
| A．Destination memory is weaker than source memory. |
| B．Focusing attention on oneself leads to relatively poor source memory performance. |
| C．Associating personal experience with information helps people memorize better. |
| D．Selffocus is responsible for giving information twice or more to the same person. |
“I never expected that I would be so busy. Why can't there be 25 hours in a day？” complained Liu Ran in Hong Kong as midterm exams were going on.
The 18yearold was Shandong Province's top scorer in this year's college entrance examination. After graduating from Tai'an No.1 High School，she chose the Chinese University of Hong Kong (香港中文大学)，although both Peking University and Tsinghua University promised her a place.
“I want to experience a more international school and social life in Hong Kong. I'm majoring in journalism，so Hong Kong will surely help widen my horizons，” Liu said.
It is two months since Liu first set foot on Hong Kong. She missed home a lot at the beginning，because of the food and language problems.
“The canteen offers mostly western or Guangdong food，but it's convenient to cook for ourselves in our dorm if we like. People speak Cantonese and almost all classes are in English，” Liu explained.
Her English and Cantonese are now both improving，but she still needs more time to adapt to the new environment.
“I'm happy that I made the right decision to study here. With a mix of the Eastern and Western cultures，there is so much to discover and learn，” she said.
Liu has 18 credit hours(学分)of classes every week and 23 noncredit hours every other week. She has signed up for four associations including the Chinese Language Debating Team and the drama club. Essays，book reports and presentations also take plenty of time to prepare. And，of course，there are various parties to attend.
“I wasn't a party animal before，but that may be interesting part of college. I sense myself changing，” Liu said.Liu Ran chose the Chinese University of Hong Kong，because________.
| A．she couldn't be admitted to Peking University |
| B．Hong Kong is a good place to learn Eastern cultures |
| C．she wants to be far from her homeland |
| D．Hong Kong can widen her horizons |
According to the passage，we can infer________.
| A．Liu Ran still doesn't like attending parties |
| B．Liu Ran hates the busy life in the Chinese University of Hong Kong |
| C．Liu Ran likes the food of Hong Kong |
| D．the full life makes Liu Ran feel good |
Liu Ran had to overcome the difficulties in many aspects EXCEPT________.
| A．food |
| B．language |
| C．missing home |
| D．no friends |
阅读下列短文，从每题所给的四个选项(A、B、C和D)中选出最佳选项。
An online post listing office people's four most hated modern inventions is gaining popularity. Read on to discover what modern professionals dislike.
Number one：The punch(打卡) machine.
32yearold Mr. Zhang works for an IT company. He lists the punch machine as his number one workday enemy after a number of unavoidable incidents made him late to punch in for work. Zhang says most of his colleagues are hardworking people，but they feel like the boss doesn't trust them when he uses a machine to evaluate their performance. Zhang plans to find another job at a company that does not use a punch machine.
Number two：Instant noodles.
More and more people today realize that instant noodles do not make a healthy meal，but lack of time forces many whitecollar workers to eat them instead of a regular dinner.27yearold Mr. Zhu is a salesperson who is so busy at work that he doesn't even have time to wash his socks. He regularly eats fast food takeaways or instant noodles for dinner.
Number three：Mattresses.
Some elder employees tell newcomers that having a mattress at work is just like having a home at the company. To encourage their employees to work overtime，a number of companies have issued their employees with mattresses so that they can take a rest under their desks at any time of a day. People have started refusing the mattress and taking better care of their health after the media reported on a number of people who died due to overwork last year.
And last，but not least，the mobile phone.
A surgeon from a Beijing hospital says more and more whitecollar workers are turning up with a strange disease which they call “mobile phone elbow”．The patients' elbows are painful，and sometimes they can't even raise their hands. The doctor says the disease occurs when patients spend more than 4 hours on their mobiles.Why do some employees want to find a job in a company without punch machines?
| A．They often meet with unavoidable incidents on their way to work. |
| B．They feel less trusted when evaluated with the punch machine. |
| C．It is unnecessary for them to punch in for work every day. |
| D．They can work less hard in companies without punch machines. |
Whitecollar workers have to eat instant noodles because they ________.
| A．can't make a healthy meal |
| B．can't afford a regular dinner |
| C．don't have time to wash their socks |
| D．are always so busy at work |
In the eyes of the boss，the mattresses can ________.
| A．make employees work more time |
| B．make the new comers love the company |
| C．make employees have a good rest at any time |
| D．take care of the employees' health |
According to the doctor，________.
| A．the painful elbow caused by mobile phone can't be cured |
| B．only whitecollar workers turn up with the painful elbow |
| C．long time of using mobile phones possibly causes the painful elbow |
| D．if your elbows are painful，or you can't raise your hands，you catch the disease |
What is the best title of this passage?
| A．Most hated modern inventions |
| B．Modern inventions are gaining popularity online |
| C．Modern inventions bring us inconvenience |
| D．Modern inventions and overwork |
Dirty language，curse(诅咒) words，swearing. These are all ways of describing words people consider socially unacceptable. But such words are commonly said after a painful injury. So，do they serve a purpose in reducing physical pain？That is what researchers in Britain set out to discover.
Psychologist Richard Stephens wondered if using curse words truly helped people reduce physical pain. To test the theory，he asked more than 60 college students to take part in an experiment.
The students were asked to write down five words they might say after injuring their finger. One of the words was chosen as their swear word. The students were also asked to choose five words they might use to describe another object：a table. These words were their control words.
The students were then asked to hold their hand in freezing water for as long as they could. While holding their hand underwater，they were asked to repeat a swear word. Then they repeated the experiment using their control word instead.
The researchers found a link between swearing and an increased ability to deal with pain. When students repeated a swear word，they were able to hold their hand longer in the cold water. They said they experienced less pain when using swear words.
The experiment showed that swearing caused people's heart rate to increase，which permits the body to experience or ignore pain better. It also found interesting differences between men and women. The heart rate of both men and women increased. Yet swearing had a greater effect on women.
It is unclear to scientists exactly how swearing affects physical reactions to pain. Professor Stephens believes that swearing activates a different part of the brain than normal language. He says more experiments on different kinds of pain are needed to better understand the effect of swearing.
The researchers note that swear words have existed for hundreds of years. Their findings offer one reason why the custom of cursing may have continued for so long. Swear words are said with emotion. For that reason，the more someone swears，the less of an effect the words have.Which of the following can be the best title of the passage?
| A．Using Curse Words Can Reduce Physical Pain |
| B．People Consider Curse Words Socially Unacceptable |
| C．Dirty Language Is Commonly Said After a Painful Injury |
| D．Curse Words Are Spoken by Inexperienced Psychologists |
How did Richard Stephens carry out the experiment?
| A．With a questionnaire. |
| B．Through some examples. |
| C．By comparison. |
| D．With the help of the Internet. |
How many experiments should each college student take part in at least?
| A．One. |
| B．Two. |
| C．Three. |
| D．Four. |
What does the underlined word “activates” mean?
| A．Makes something active. |
| B．Changes something totally. |
| C．Stops something from happening. |
| D．Discovers something new. |
Which of the following is one of the findings from the experiment?
| A．Women use more swearing words than men. |
| B．The more someone swears the greater effect the words have. |
| C．Men's heart beats faster than women's when using dirty language. |
| D．Using swearing words helps women deal with pain better than men. |