How do people traditionally manufacture (制造) things? They usually start with a sheet of metal, wood or other material and cut, drill (钻) and shave it to create a desired shape. Sometimes, they use a mold (模具) made of metal or sand, pour liquid plastic or metal into it and let it cool to create a solid part.
Now, a completely different method is gaining popularity.
On Oct. 9, 2013, London Science Museum kicked off its new exhibition, 3-D: Printing the Future, with over 600 3-D printed objects on display, including space probes (探测器), toy dolls and even human organs – basically any product you can think of, reported Live Science.
You might find it hard to believe that an object can actually be “printed out” like a picture. But it is not that hard to understand how it works. Just as a traditional printer sprays (喷洒) ink onto paper line by line, modern 3-D printers spread material onto a surface layer by layer, from the bottom to the top, gradually building up a shape.
Instead of ink, the materials the 3-D printer uses are mainly plastic, resin (树脂) and certain metals. The thinner each layer is – from a millimeter to less than the width of a hair – the smoother and finer the object will be. And objects always come out in one piece, sparing you the trouble of putting different parts together afterward.
For example, 10 years ago a desktop 3-D printer might have cost ￡20,000 (200,000 yuan), while now it costs only about ￡1,000, according to the BBC. In fact, 3-D printers have been around for some time, but until recently they hadn’t been very popular since few people could afford them. Last year, though, saw a big decrease in the price of 3-D printers.
However, as 3-D printing technology becomes more commonplace, it may trigger certain problems. One of them is piracy (盗版). “Once you can download a coffee maker, or print out a new set of kitchen utensils (餐具) on your personal 3-D printer, who will visit a retail (零售的) store again?” an expert on 3-D printing told Forbes News.
Even more frightening, the world’s first 3-D printed gun was successfully fired in the US in May of this year, which means that 3-D printing could potentially give more people access to weapons.According to the article, in the future, 3-D printing technology will probably ______.
| A．change the way people make products |
| B．be applied as widely in our daily lives as computers |
| C．forbid many countries to make purchases of weapons |
| D．take the place of normal printers and save lots of energy |
What was the big event that happened in the 3-D printing industry last year?
| A．Over 600 3-D printed objects were on display in an exhibition. |
| B．3-D printing technology came to be used in various fields. |
| C．The world’s first 3-D printed gun was successfully made. |
| D．The 3-D printer became more affordable for consumers. |
What is the author’s attitude toward 3-D printing technology?
| A．Amused. | B．Objective. |
| C．Supportive. | D．Negative. |
A student is learning to speak British English. He wonders (想知道): Can I communicate with Americans? Can they understand me? Learners of English often ask: What are the differences between British and American English? How important are these differences? Certainly! there are some differences between British and American English. „There are a few differences in grammar. For example, speakers of British English say “in hospital” and “Have you a pen?” Americans say “in the hospital!” and “Do you have a pen?”. Pronunciation is sometimes different. Americans usually sound theirs in words like “bird” and “hurt”. Speakers of British English do not sound theirs in these words. There are differences between British and American English in spelling and vocabulary. For example, “colour” and “honour” are British, “color” and honor” are American. These differences in grammar, pronunciation, spelling and vocabulary are not important, however. For the most part, British and American English are the same language.American English and British English are different in ___ _____.
| A．spelling | B．pronunciation |
| C．grammar | D．all of the above |
What is not mentioned (提及) in the passage?
| A．Whether there are differences between British English and American English. |
| B．Whether British English and American English are one language or two. |
| C．How the differences between British English and American English came about. |
| D．How important the differences are. |
Most _____ say “Do you have a watch?”
| A．British people | B．Americans |
| C．children | D．teachers |
According to this passage, British people and Americans have _______ difficulty in understanding each other.
| A．little | B．much | C．some | D．great |
The following is a timetable in Shanghai Pudong International Airport．
| Airline |
Flight Number |
Destination（目的地） |
Departure |
Gate |
| Air Canada |
137 |
Beijing |
10:12 a．m． |
24 |
| Japanese Airlines |
320 |
Tokyo |
10:30 a．m． |
18 |
| British Airways |
405 |
Paris |
11:00 a．m． |
20 |
| Pan American |
226 |
London |
11:20 a．m． |
12 |
| Pan American |
12 |
Beijing |
11:43 a．m． |
15 |
| Air Canada |
178 |
Tokyo |
12:32 a．m． |
21 |
| CAAC |
289 |
Hong Kong |
12:32 a．m． |
14 |
| CAAC |
314 |
Moscow |
12:45 a．m． |
18 |
| British Airways |
230 |
New York |
12:55 a．m． |
23 |
A man wants to take Flight 178 to Tokyo． Which gate should he go to?
| A．14 | B．28 | C．21 | D．18 |
Lisa is at gate 23. Where is she going?
| A．Paris | B．Beijing |
| C．Tokyo | D．New York |
Now it’s 10:40. Mary is at gate 20. Which airline’s plane will she take?
| A．British Airway | B．Japanese Airlines |
| C．Pan American | D．Air Canada |
Gate _______ is the busiest among all these gates．
| A．23 | B．18 | C．24 | D．15 |
O. Henry was a pen name used by an American writer of short stories. His real name was William Sydney Porter. He was born in North Carolina in 1862. As a young boy he lived an exciting life. He did not go to school for very long, but he managed to teach himself everything he needed to know. When he was about 20 years old, O. Henry went to Texas, where he tried different jobs. He first worked on a newspaper, and then had a job in a bank, when some money went missing from the bank O. Henry was believed to have stolen it. Because of that, he was sent to prison. During the three years in prison, he learned to write short stories. After he got out of prison, he went to New York and continued writing. He wrote mostly about New York and the life of the poor there. People liked his stories, because simple as the tales were, they would finish with a sudden change at the end, to the reader’s surprise.In which order did O. Henry do the following things?
a. Lived in New York.
b. Worked in a bank.
c. Travelled to Texas.
d. Was put in prison.
e. Had a newspaper Job.
f. Learned to write stories.
| A．e. c. f. b. d. a | B．c. e. b. d. f. a |
| C．e. b. d. c. a. f. | D．c. b. e. d. a f. |
People enjoyed reading O. Henry’s stories because
| A．they had surprise endings |
| B．they were easy to understand |
| C．they showed his love for the poor |
| D．they were about New York City |
O. Henry went to prison because.
| A．people thought he had stolen money from the newspaper |
| B．he broke the law by not using his own name |
| C．he wanted to write stories about prisoners |
| D．people thought he had taken money that was not his |
What do we know about O. Henry before he began writing?
| A．He was well-educated. |
| B．He was not serious about his work. |
| C．He was devoted to the poor. |
| D．He was very good at learning. |
Where did O. Henry get most material for his short stories?
| A．His life inside the prison. |
| B．The newspaper articles he wrote. |
| C．The city and people of New York. |
| D．His exciting early life as a boy. |
What are you going to do if you are in a burning house？ How will you escape？ Do you know how to save yourself？ Please read the following passage.
Escaping a fire is a serious matter. Knowing what to do during a fire can save you life. It is important to know the ways you can use and show them to everyone in the family， such as stairways and fire escapes， but not lifts.
From the lower floors of the buildings， escaping through windows is possible， learn the best way of leaving by windows with the least chance of serious injury.
The second floor window is usually not very high from the ground. An average person， hanging by the finger-tips will have a drop of about six feet to the ground. It is about the height of an average man. Of course， it is safer to jump a short way than to stay in a burning building.
Windows are also useful when you are waiting for help. Be sure to keep the door closed. Or smoke and fire may be drawn into the room. Keep your head low at the window to be sure you get fresh air rather than smoke that may leaked（渗） into the room.
On a second or third floor， the best windows for escape are those that open onto a roof. From the roof a person can drop to the ground more safely. Dropping onto cement（水泥） might end in injury. Bushes（灌木丛） and grass can help to break a fall.
根据以上短文内容，然后从每题所给的四个选项中选择最佳选项。It is important to _______.
| A．put out the fire in the burning house |
| B．know the ways to escape the fire |
| C．jump off a burning house |
| D．keep the door closed |
It is possible to escape through the windows _______.
| A．if there are some bushes on the ground |
| B．if you are strong enough |
| C．if you live on a lower floor |
| D．If you have a long rope |
Which of the following escaping way is NOT right？ _______.
| A．You can escape though stairways. |
| B．You can choose fire escapes. |
| C．Escape from the windows that open onto a roof. |
| D．Use a lift to come down at once. |
Open the window so that _______ if the building is on fire.
| A．you can get fresh air | B．you can call for help |
| C．you can easily jump off | D．you can be seen first |
The best title of the passage is _______.
| A．Escaping from the Windows |
| B．Save Yourself in the Burning House |
| C．Knowledge on Fire |
| D．Waiting for Help |
When Juliet was a child, she often went to the city park and played with her friends. On a sunny morning, when Juliet came to the park with her mum, she looked around and felt very unhappy.
“What’s the matter, dear?” asked her mum.
Juliet replied, “Mum, there’s so much trash on the ground.”
Juliet’s mum looked around. There was paper, boxes and glass bottles everywhere.
“What can we do?” asked Juliet.
“I’m sure you will think of something,” said her mum.
As soon as Juliet and her mum went home, Juliet painted a picture of the park and wrote a sign in large black letters at the top of the picture. The sign read “PLEASE KEEP OUR PARK CLEAN”. Later, she took plenty of bags and went back to the park with her mum. Juliet put up her picture on a big trash can (垃圾桶).
“Will you help me pick up the trash, Mum?” Juliet said as she handed her mum a bag.
“I sure will,” replied her mum.
The children at the park ran over to see what was going on. Juliet handed them each a bag. “Let’s clean this place up,” said Juliet. Then they began to pick up the trash, talking and laughing. Soon all the bags were full.
“We need to come back another day. There’s still some trash on the ground, but the park looks much better,” said Juliet.
Her mum said, “So it does. I knew you would think of a way to help.”Why was Juliet sad?
| A．Because the weather was bad. |
| B．Because she couldn’t find her mum. |
| C．Because her friends were not at the park. |
| D．Because there was too much trash at the park. |
Juliet put up the picture to ______.
| A．show off her painting skills |
| B．give her mum a big surprise |
| C．encourage people to keep the park clean |
| D．show people how beautiful the park was |
From the underlined sentence, we can learn that Juliet’s mum ______.
| A．was proud of Juliet |
| B．was angry with Juliet |
| C．thought Juliet was lazy |
| D．thought Juliet was difficult |
Which of the following is TRUE about the children?
| A．They laughed at Juliet. |
| B．They had an awful and tiring day. |
| C．They bought some bags from Juliet. |
| D．They joined Juliet in picking up the trash. |
What’s the topic of the passage?
| A．A cleanup story. |
| B．Juliet and her mum. |
| C．A beautiful park. |
| D．How to protect the environment. |