When you’re not at home,many worries may start to crowd your mind.Did I turn the coffee maker off?Did I lock the door?Are the kids doing their homework or watching television?With a smart home,you can quiet all of these worries.
A smart home is a home with a communication network.This network connects devices(装置),such as lights and TV sets,and allows them to be controlled from far away through electrical wiring,mobile phone communication or WiFi over the internet.
More and more people may start to consider owning a smart home,because it makes life much more convenient.It can help keep your room at a certain temperature.It can record what happens inside the home and send the video to your phone.When you are on vacation abroad,you can use a smart home controller to switch on or off the electricity when necessary.Some smart homes can receive a visitor,allowing him to come in and offering him a drink.They can even feed the cat and water the plants.
Besides,smart homes are easy to fix.Most smart home technology and devices are wireless and can be set up with a minimum of tools,using only the guiding information.When a problem appears,you can deal with it yourself without paying a professional.
However,for home-users,the smart home technology is far from perfect.It can be rather expensive to own the technology and the devices.Also,because the smart home system(系统)allow its owner to get home information from anywhere,it leaves the home easy to be attacked by hackers(黑客),who may secretly use or change the information in the system.
Now,many scientists are excited at the future of smart home technology.Imagine being able to get fashion advice from your mirror,or receive food shopping suggestions from your refrigerator.While there are others who worry that those smart devices will make people lazier and lonelier.Whatever it is,one thing is for sure---smart home technology will change the way we live and work.According to the passage,nowadays a smart home can lock the door through ______________.
| A．electric lights | B．mirror technologies |
| C．mobile phones | D．shopping programs |
The third paragraph of the passage is mainly about _________.
| A．the steps to use smart systems |
| B．the prices of smart programs |
| C．the advantages of a smart home |
| D．the tools for setting up smart devices |
Which of the following is TRUE about a smart home according to the passage?
| A．Smart homes can’t help feed pets nowadays. |
| B．Smart homes costs a lot of money at present. |
| C．You can’t control your smart home in other countries. |
| D．It’s hard for hackers to get information from smart homes. |
What’s the writer’s opinion according to the passage?
| A．People will become less happy in the future. |
| B．People’s life style will be different in the future. |
| C．Mobile phones are the most important in smart homes. |
| D．Smart homes are much better than other smart systems. |
If you could see a movie of your life before you lived it, would you want to live it? Probably not. The excitement of living is that you don’t know what’s coming.
Sure, it’s hard to see uncertainty(不确定) in such positive（积极的）light when you’re out of work, or when you feel like you’re failing. But uncertainty is really another word for chance.
When Allison graduated from Harvard, she had chances all over the place but had no idea what she wanted to do. She took a job in consulting（咨询）, but she knew she wouldn’t stay there. She took the GRE and scored so high that she was able to increase her income（收入）by teaching students. Still, she didn’t think she wanted to go to graduate school（研究院）. Allison knew she wasn’t doing what she wanted, but she didn’t know what she wanted.
She worried. All her friends were going to graduate school or starting their own businesses. She was lost and felt that she would never find anything out. After six years, Allison, by having a general（全面的）plan in mind, got married, moved to the Midwest and used her consulting experience to get a great job. Allison realized that she spent her years finding her way: time well spent.
The only way to lead an interesting life is to face uncertainty. Otherwise your life is not your own—it is a path someone else has chosen. Moments of uncertainty are when you create your life, when you become who you are. Uncertainty usually begins with a job hunt, but it doesn’t end there. Every new role we take on means another round of uncertainty. Instead of fearing it, you should find some ways to deal with uncertainty.From the first two paragraphs, we can learn that.
| A．being out of work is a sad thing |
| B．uncertainty is what makes life interesting |
| C．life in a film is more exciting than real life |
| D．chance never appears when we need it |
What troubles Allison after graduation?
| A．She couldn’t find a well-paid job. |
| B．She had no money to start a business. |
| C．She was not sure what to do. |
| D．She didn’t score high enough for graduate school. |
How did Allison feel about her six years’ working experience?
| A．Uncertain. | B．Amazed. |
| C．Sorry. | D．Satisfied. |
What may be discussed in the following paragraph?
| A．How to deal with uncertainty. |
| B．What role uncertainty plays in life. |
| C．Why people fear uncertainty. |
| D．Whom to go to when facing uncertainty. |
When a cake is brought to the table at a birthday party, it is usually decorated with candles. It is said that the tradition of lighting birthday candles was invented by the ancient Greeks; it has taken on different meanings through the years. Today, one of the most popular birthday traditions is to blow out the candles all at once to make a secret wish come true.
In order to please Artemis, the goddess of the moon, the ancient Greeks arranged something special for birthdays. A moon-shaped cake was baked and decorated with lit candles. They thought the smoke from the candles would carry an offering(祭品) up into the sky, where they believed Artemis lived.
The tradition of lighting birthday candles continued in Europe, where candles were sometimes kept burning all day on a person’s birthday, partly as celebration and partly to keep away evil spirits. It was believed that the blowing out of candles represented one’s prayers(祈祷) to the gods. Some cultures believe it is a bad luck to blow out the candles until after the evening meal is eaten.
Traditionally, one candle represents a year of the person’s age. Some families prefer to add an extra candle for good luck. But that practice is improper when a very young child is celebrating a third birthday. Generally, older people’s birthdays are celebrated by placing just a few candles to represent, such as an eight for 80th birthday.
Today’s birthday candles are made in different shapes, like animals or flowers. One or two candles in the shape of numbers are sometimes used instead of lots of candles; for example, a four-shaped and a zero-shaped candle would represent 40.Why did the ancient Greeks arrange something special for birthdays?
| A．To make their dreams come true. |
| B．To celebrate a person’s birthday. |
| C．To protect themselves from evil spirits. |
| D．To please the goddess of the moon. |
What is the tradition of lighting candles for birthdays like in Europe?
| A．The candles were always kept burning all day on a person’s birthday. |
| B．The blowing out of candles represented one’s prayers to the god. |
| C．Some cultures believe it is right to blow out the candles before the evening meal. |
| D．The Europeans sometimes keep burning the candles all day just as a celebration. |
What can we infer from the last two paragraphs?
| A．In some families, people would add an extra candle without any special meaning. |
| B．It is common to see a cake with four candles on a three-year-old child’s birthday. |
| C．Traditionally, people can use an eight-shaped and a zero-shaped candle to represent 80. |
| D．Usually one candle is placed on a cake for each year of the person’s age. |
To write a great news story, you have to make sure it is correct, relevant and fresh.
For a start, all the information in a story must be correct. Not only the spelling and grammar, but also the facts.
Any mistakes that appear in a story can get a newspaper into big trouble. For example, if a newspaper said that Yang Liwei was the first man to go into space, it would be wrong. He wasn’t the first. The newspaper would probably lose lots of readers because of that mistake.
A news story is not only correct，but also relevant to its readers . People are mostly interested in news that happens near to them. That is why you care more about what happens at your school than at American schools. It is also why newspapers in Beijing don’t talk about much news in Shanghai or Hong Kong.
Finally, news must always be fresh. When you pick up your evening newspaper, you want to read about news that happens that day. You don’t want to read about news from last week!
So, now you know what makes a good news story. Have a good look at our newspaper and see if it is full of good news. You can try writing a news story for our newspaper like a real reporter.What is the meaning of the underlined word “relevant”.
| A．有趣的 | B．相关的 |
| C．最新的 | D．正确的 |
According to the writer, newspapers in Wuxi should talk much about news in __________.
| A．Wuxi | B．Hong Kong |
| C．Shanghai | D．Beijing |
Which of the following is true?
| A．A small mistake can’t get a newspaper into trouble. |
| B．A lot of people like reading about news from last week. |
| C．The passage doesn’t tell us who was the first man to go into space. |
| D．People are mostly interested in news that happens far away from them. |
Some top students are giving advice.
| Bill, Canada When taking tests, relax. If you’re worried that you’ll fail the test, you’re sure to get a low score. If you have studied for it long enough, you shouldn’t be worried about getting a low grade. |
| Lily, America Remember the most important advice to get good grades is very simple; do well on tests to get an A or an A-. Do what your teacher says, and the chances are fairly good that you’ll get an A+. Don’t stress yourself. Act cool! |
| Betty, Britain Write good notes. Coloured pens are fun to write with if you want to get more creative with your notes, but use them only for parts of your notes that will probably be on a test or that are important. It makes them stand out. Go over your notes before you take the exams. |
| Tom, Australia In order to get good grades, try to do your homework immediately after school. Time management is important. If you’re told to do the homework next week, get started the same day you know it. Before you start, you’d better make clear what to do and how to do it. |
Who gives advice on homework?
| A．Betty. | B．Bill. | C．Lily. | D．Tom. |
Lily tells uswhen taking tests.
| A．not to worry |
| B．not to stress ourselves |
| C．to get more creative |
| D．to make clear what to do |
The top students are giving advice on _______.
| A．how to get good grades |
| B．how to start learning |
| C．what to do when taking tests |
| D．what to take when going to school |
任务型阅读（共5小题，每小题2分，计10分）
Chria Hass invented a basketball training tool for children . At that time , he was only 9 years old.
One day, when Chris was playing basketball with his friends, he saw them miss many easy shots(投篮)。Chris was the son of a basketball coach and he knew much about the best way of shooting. After showing it to his friends, he came up with a good idea. He thought that he could invent a tool for his friends. In this way, they could practice shooting in a right way.
After he went home, he told his father the idea. With his father’s help, Chris started to carry out his plan. He took a basketball and painted two hands on it. The hands showed people the best way to hold a _____ while trying to shoot. Then he joined in an invention competition at his school with the invention, but he didn’t win. He was sad but didn’t give up. With the help of his parents, he patented ( 获得专利权) the invention and tried to sell it.
Sadly, Chris couldn’t sell his invention until one year and a half later, a sports company bought it. The company brought the invention to market and a lot of people could practice shooting with its help.
1题完成句子；2题简略回答问题；3题将文中横线处空缺的一个单词写在下面的横线上；4题找出并写下全文的主题句；5题将文中划线句子译成中文。 After showing how to shoot to his friends, Chris ______ the good idea of inventing a tool for his friends.
How long did it take Chris before he sold his invention?
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