While astronauts in space get to do many exciting things, they miss out on ordinary things that we all take for granted—being able to walk on firm ground, hanging out with family and digging into a slice of hot steaming pizza. Though not much can be done about the first two things, there may soon be a solution to the third one, thanks to this cool 3-D pizza printer!
About a year ago, NASA offered $125 ,000 to Anjan Contractor, a 3-D technology expert, to build a device (设备) that would allow astronauts to make pizza on demand. The mechanical engineer promised that his invention would produce pies in large quantities that looked, tasted and even smelled like pizza made in common ovens.
Late last year, the engineer presented a video of his first prototype (原型) that begins by creating a single slice of dough (面团) that is cooked and printed at the same time. Then comes the tomato “sauce” — a mix of tomato powder, oil and water and finally, a protein slice that resembles cheese. While the video doesn’t show the baking process, the inventor says that once the pizza is printed, it can be ready to be consumed in 7 seconds.
While the pie in the video looks delicious enough to attract any pizza lover, Anjan Contractor is far from ready for astronauts. That’s because he still has to find a solution to make the food container in the printer last for 30 years. Though that may sound unrealistic, actually it is not.
Anjan Contractor believes that the only way that is possible is that the water is removed from all the ingredients (配料) and then they are reduced to the powder form. This, as you can imagine, will not be so easy. But, while the printer may not be ready for space, it certainly looks ready enough for people on earth. Hopefully, NASA and Contractor will consider selling it to those not fortunate enough to go to Mars!
| A．To ask us not to take common things for granted. |
| B．To show they live a difficult life there. |
| C．To show their life is boring in space. |
| D．To introduce the topic of the text. |
| A．create some new type of 3-D printer |
| B．attract more companies to work for NASA |
| C．help astronauts in space enjoy fresh pizza one day |
| D．produce pizza in large quantities to earn great profits |
| A．he has no money left to go on with his research |
| B．the pizza doesn’t seem appetizing to pizza lovers |
| C．he has no way to make pizza that can last for thirty years |
| D．he cannot make the food container last for decades |
| A．NASA is trying its best to help astronauts eat better |
| B．Astronauts may soon be able to enjoy steaming hot pizza |
| C．NASA is working on making pizza for common people |
| D．A 3-D pizza printer has been used to make pizza |
All of my childhood and early, adult life, my mom weighed over 220 pounds (one pound =" 0.454" kilograms). I could feel the pain that my mom experienced with her fatness.
I was never uncomfortable about my mother, but I think she was uncomfortable about herself, and that feeling was painful for all of us. And she began to lose weight.
After more than twenty years of battling obesity（肥胖）, my mother completed a forceful eighteen-month diet that left her ninety pounds lighter than before. A new woman was born! At age twenty-eight, I got a new mom! For the first time, I met the woman my mother truly was, the beautiful little lady under the fatness. It wasn’t so much her new body that was the surprise, but rather her new spirit.
To celebrate her new size and to devote herself to dancing again, my mother joined a “Mrs. Forty-Plus” competition, where she would have to model, give a speech and provide a dance performance. She told our family that she did not care if she won — she simply had always wanted to perform on stage.
She told each one of us, “I’m not doing it to win; I’m doing it to dance!”
The competition was exciting! I prayed(祈祷) that my mom would win, but while watching her on stage I was simply overjoyed just by her effort. To me, she had already won. She posed to perfection, her speech brought tears to everyone’s eyes, and her performance was wonderful.
That night, at age fifty-three, my mother was crowned (为......加冕) “Mrs. Forty-Plus”. She was the first person in our family to ever win such a title. The first two paragraphs mainly show that the author’s mom was __________.
| A．experienced | B．painful | C．comfortable | D．fat |
After the author’s mom completed a forceful eighteen-month diet, she was about ______.
| A．85 kilograms | B．41 kilograms |
| C．130 pounds | D．90 pounds |
In order to join in the “Mrs. Forty-Plus” Competition, the author’s mom has to do the following EXCEPT __________.
| A．providing a dance performance |
| B．telling a funny story about herself |
| C．giving a speech to a large number of people |
| D．wearing special clothes to show to people |
The underlined part in Paragraph 6 means that __________.
| A．the author’s mom succeeded in modeling and speaking |
| B．the author’s mom’s performance was very wonderful |
| C．the author’s mom was not successful in modeling |
| D．the author’s mom succeeded in making a speech |
The deserts of the world are not all covered with sand. Many of them have surfaces of rock or clay or small stones. They are not flat, either. They often have high hills and deep valleys. There is some plants’ life in many parts of the desert. There is little rain in the desert, but it does fall often enough for most plants.
The deserts of the world are not uninhabited(not lived by people). People also live outside oases(绿洲), but these people are not farmers. They have camels, goats, donkeys, sheep, etc. These animals can live on the desert plants and do not need much water.
The people of the desert have to move constantly from place to place, they must always look for grass or desert plants for their animals. They usually live in tents. When there is no more food for their animals, they fold up their tents, pat them on their camels and donkeys, and move to another place. In good years, when there is enough food for their animals, they trade their skins and their goats and camel hairs with the people of oases for wheat and fruit. But in bad years, when there is not enough food for their animals, the people of the desert would attack the oases people. But they are also hospitable, no man in the desert would ever refuse to give a stranger food and water.According to the passage, deserts are mostly made up of _______.
| A．clay | B．rock | C．sand | D．stones |
The underlined word “hospitable” has the meaning of being _______.
| A．brave | B．cruel | C．strange | D．kind |
In the desert _______.
| A．it rains in spring only |
| B．it rains for a short time every month |
| C．there is some rain, but far from enough |
| D．the rainfall is just enough for the plants |
People live _______.
| A．only inside the oases | B．only outside the oases |
| C．both inside and outside the oases | D．in places with regular rainfalls |
From the passage we know that life _______.
| A．is hard in deserts | B．is happy in deserts |
| C．is impossible in deserts | D．in deserts is much better now |
In a new article, Zehr, a professor at the University of Victoria, Victoria, British Columbia, describes his success in using the Caped Crusader (披篷骑士) to engage students in the study of physiology.
"Batman (蝙蝠侠) has such powerful influence on readers because he is a fictional human with superpowers that seem within reach if we only work at it," writes Zehr, in a new article published in Advances in Physiology Education, a journal of the American Physiological Society. Zehr believes that it is not Batman's vast wealth that allows him to protect the citizens of Gotham City (哥谭市) , but his dedication to developing a wide range of physical skills.
Zehr uses Batman to establish a framework, grounded in his fictional universe as well as our real one, in order to discuss the various components of exercise and physical training and illustrate how the body's physiological systems respond. His experiences in teaching undergraduate courses in physiology and neurophysiology made him realize that connecting science to popular culture helped students understand the lessons better.
He first presented a formal analysis of the personal and physical discipline that would be required to transform an ordinary person into a superhero in his book, Becoming Batman: The Possibility of a Superhero. The book drew on Zehr's understanding and work in human movement and the plasticity of nerves and muscles associated with exercise. By coincidence, the book was published in the wake of The Dark Knight, the blockbuster movie which recounts Batman and his arch-enemy, the Joker.
With the casting almost complete for the sequel(续集), The Dark Knight Rises, Dr. Zehr writes about his experiences connecting science to popular culture, which is captured in the Advances, article, "A Personal View: From Claude Bernard to the Batcave and Beyond: Using Batman as a hook for physiology education."In Zehr's opinion, what makes Batman be able to defend his citizens?
| A．his large amount of fortune | B．his devotion to developing varieties of physical skills |
| C．his habit of wearing a cape | D．his developing so wide range of magic power |
Which one of the following statements is TRUE according to the third paragraph?
| A．Students of physiology and neurophysiology should have more physical training |
| B．To become a batman needs developing a wide range of physical skills |
| C．Only Batman can illustrate the respond of the body’s physiological system |
| D．combining science with popular culture can be beneficial to students’ study |
To help students study physiology well, Dr.Zehr uses Batman to do the following EXCEPT___
| A．set up his theoretical principles of teaching physiology |
| B．discuss the different components of physical training |
| C．illustrate the ways of body’s physiology system responding |
| D．perform many physiology experiments on the body movement |
.According to the book Becoming Batman, what does the possibility of becoming a superhero mainly lie on?
| A．Dr. Zehr’s formal analyses of the body's movement rules |
| B．the flexibility of nerves and muscles when being trained well |
| C．the physical training conducted by Dr. Zehr |
| D．the final influence of Batman on one person |
This passage is mainly about .
| A．Batman’seducation significance in physiology | B．introduction to Zehr’ s books on physiology |
| C．how to become a superhero like Batman | D．Batman’s powerful effects on the readers |
Heavy downpours last month in Rhode Island led to widespread flooding, causing millions of dollars in property damage and leaving thousands homeless. The floodwaters also poured vast amounts of raw sewage (污水) into the rivers and streams that flow into Narragansett Bay.
It sounds like the makings of an environmental nightmare, but in fact it’s just the opposite. To scientists’ delight, the sewage-loaded floodwaters have caused a well-timed growth of phytoplankton, the microscopic creatures that form the foundation of marine food chains. With more food available for fish, clams and other sea creatures, the bay’s fisheries industry is expected to benefit.
In decades past, Narragansett Bay typically experienced a late winter/early spring algal (海藻) bloom that fed creatures up and down the water column. But in recent years, the waters of Narragansett Bay have warmed greatly, interrupting this seasonal event.
Mark Berman, an oceanographer with the National Marine Fisheries Service, said the flood seemed to have sent the bay back to its normal state.
However, local, state and federal officials in Rhode Island have been battling other algal blooms that, by contrast, are causing widespread harm to the Narragansett Bay ecosystem. During summer months, sewage and agricultural runoff flows into the bay, causing large blooms. But instead of becoming food for sea creatures, much of the phytoplankton is consumed by bacteria, which grow fast in the warmer waters. The rapid bacteria growth leads to hypoxia – a decrease of oxygen in the water that can cause large fish kills. One such die-off occurred in 2003, when millions of oxygen-starved fish washed up on the beaches of Narragansett Bay.
The flood’s positive impact will probably be a one-time event, Mr. Berman said. Meanwhile, efforts to curb the harmful summer blooms continue; in 2008, for instance, Providence completed a $359 million sewage tunnel under the city designed to reduce the polluted storm overflow into Narragansett Bay. Scientists believe that the raw sewage flowing into the bay will _______.
| A．pollute the island’s environment | B．cause lots of property damage |
| C．increase the fisheries production | D．destroy the food chains in the bay |
The potential benefit of fisheries industry relies on the _______.
| A．warm temperatures of the bay | B．growth of phytoplankton |
| C．large summer alga blooms | D．consumption of oxygen by bacteria |
People struggle against the summer blooms because they will ________.
| A．pollute the local natural environment | B．increase the production of fishery industry |
| C．cause large fish kills of the bay indirectly | D．provide too much food for sea creatures |
It can be inferred that _______.
| A．money spent on the summer blooms has been wasted |
| B．the government is investing to promote the local fisheries |
| C．research of oceanology should be encouraged |
| D．opinions on the raw sewage impact are currently contradictory |
The underlined word “curb” in the last paragraph can be defined as “______”.
| A．control | B．consume | C．cause | D．cure |
Your House Will Take Care of You In Old Age
Have you ever thought what your life would be like in old age? Everyone talks about the “aging” society with large numbers of elderly people needing home care. Now German researchers have set up a “smart” house, programmed to help the elderly live at home with dignity. Scientists at Germany’s Fraunhofer Institute say the house combines existing technology with future-oriented technology.
For example, the “smart” bathroom has a touch screen mirror that can remind people to take their medicine, wash their hands or brush their teeth. The hardware behind Fraunhofer’s electronic bathroom is not new, and the software runs on a regular personal computer.
When the medicine cabinet is opened, a display in the middle of the mirror tells the person how many pills to take. The mirror is linked to a care provider, who can remotely check whether a patient at home is actually taking medicine and brushing his or her teeth. As many elderly people have arthritic(关节炎的) conditions that make it difficult to operate water taps, the mirror also has displays that turn the water tap on or off or control the water temperature.
The bathroom is only the start. Kitchens, bedrooms and all other parts of the “intelligent” home will become “user-friendly” to meet all kinds of individual needs. Sensors in doors, toilets, taps, light switches and carpets detect every activity and record them electronically. Doctors or care staff can see from the computer records what personal hygiene tasks have been completed, how often the elderly person visits the bathroom or uses the toilet. In case of an emergency, the computer automatically alerts the chosen contact person or calls the care center. The ‘smart” bathroom has a touch screen mirror ________.
| A．that can help the elderly brush their teeth | B．which is linked to a nursing house |
| C．behind which is a medicine cabinet | D．that can remind people to do many things |
The underlined word “them” in the last paragraph refers to ________.
| A．every activity | B．doors, toilets, taps, light switches and carpets | C．individual needs | D．sensors |
The house mentioned in the passage can be described as _________.
| A．smart but expensive | B．intelligent and convenient |
| C．smart and environmentally-friendly | D．fashionable and energy-saving |
How is the passage mainly developed?
| A．By inferring | B．By listing examples. | C．By comparing. | D．By introducing a practical method. |
The author of the text mainly _________.
| A．calls on people to care for the old | B．encourages the old to live with dignity |
| C．introduces a new house | D．promotes a new house |