A Battery’s Worst Nightmare(噩梦)Portable electronics that can be carried about ea

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A Battery’s Worst Nightmare(噩梦)
Portable electronics that can be carried about easily are only as good as their batteries and, let’s face it, batteries aren’t very good, especially when compared with, say, petrol, which packs 100 times a battery’s energy into an equal space. That’s why a large group of mechanical engineers (centered at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, but with partners at other universities and companies) are hard at work in an effort to replace batteries with a tiny engine that runs on fuel. Imagine a battery-free life!When the fuel runs out in your laptop or mobile phone, you just fill

up and go.
The engine, about the size of a ten-cent coin, starts with a combustion chamber (燃烧室) that burns hydrogen (氢). Its tiny parts are etched onto silicon wafers (硅片) in the same manner that computer parts are imprinted onto integrated circuits (集成电路). The first engine is made up of five wafers. And since these wafers could be produced in much the same way as computer chips, they could probably be produced quite cheaply.
But the devil in all this nice detail is efficiency(效率). Tiny engine parts don’t always behave like their scaled-up parts of the first engine. Something between the parts can slow down th

e work, according to Columbia University professor Luc Frechette, one of the engine’s designers. Extreme heat from the combustion chamber is also a problem, often leaking to other parts of the engine.
The scientists’ goal is to create an engine that

will operate 10 times better than batteries do. Frechette says that a complete system, with all parts in place and working, will be set up in the next couple of years, but commercial models aren’t available until at least the end of the next ten years.
小题1:.
. According to the passage, the title suggests that ________.

A．batteries should be greatly improved	B．petrol will be used instead of batteries
C．the time of batteries will be gone forever	D．pollution caused by batteries must be prevented

小题2:.
What’s the meaning of the underlined word “devil” (In Paragraph 3)?

A．Problem.　

B．Advantage.　

C．Invention.　

D．Technique.

小题3:.
What can we infer from the passage?

A．The new invention doesn’t need any fuel.

B．The new engine has been produced in quantity.

C．The new invention is much cheaper than the battery.

D．The new engine needs to be improved before it’s on sale.

小题4:.
. What is the main purpose of this passage?

A．To introduce a new invention to readers.	B．To persuade readers not to use batteries.
C．To show us how the new invention works.	D．To declare when the engine will be on sale.

答案

小题1:.C
小题1:.A
小题1:.D
小题1:.A

解析

略

举一反三

The disaster at the Chernobyl(former USSR前苏联) power station happened quickly and without warning. It was in the early hours of April 26, 1986 when the cooling system of the reactor(反应堆) failed. Minutes later, a violent (猛烈地) explosion blew the top off the reactor and blasted(爆炸生成) a huge cloud of radioactive gas high into atmosphere. Two people were killed imm

ediately. Hundreds received powerful radiation overdose (过量). And more than 25,000 had to b

e taken away from their homes.
Days later, the radioactive cloud had spread as far as Scotland. Its radiation was weak, but all over Europe radioactive rain was falling. In some areas people were advised not to eat fresh vegetables, or drink fresh milk, and the sale of meat was forbidden.
The accident at Chernobyl was the world’s worst nuclear accident. In Britain, it convinced (使……相信) many people that all nuclear power stations should be shut down for good. But the Central Electricity Generating Board didn’t agree. They claimed that ·similar disasters could not happen in Britain because of safer designs, fewer deaths are caused using nuclear fuel (燃料) than by mining for coal or drilling for oil and gas. Nuclear accidents are unusually fewer compared with other types of accidents-such as air crashes, fires or dam break-down more nuclear power stations are necessary because the world’s

supplies of oil, coal and natural gas are running out.
In 1957 in Cumbria (Britain) a nuclear reactor overheated and caught fire. No one was killed but fourteen workers received radiation overdose. Small amounts of gas and dust were let out over the local countryside.
An official report said the accident was nearly a full-scale disaster. The Nuclear Authority wanted the report published but the Prime Minister at the time refused. He thought that it would make people less confident in Britain’s nuclear industry. Thirty years later, the cabinet(内阁) records of 1957 were published. Only then did the public discover what had really happened in Cumbria.
小题1:. One result of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster was that ______.

A．25,000 people were killed

B．fresh foods were polluted

C．people in Scotland were taken away from their homes

D．hundreds of houses in Chernobyl were destroyed

小题2:.According to the passage, nuclear accidents______.

A．are most unlikely to cause death	B．are always kept secret from the public
C．can only happen in underdeveloped countries	D．may happen in any country that has nuclear power station.

小题3:. After the nuclear accident at Chernobyl many people in Britain _______.

A．still believed it could not happen in their country.

B．were not convinced that nuclear power stations could be safe

C．accepted that there would be fewer deaths than in drilling for oil

D．supported nuclear power stations because world fuel supplies were low

小题4:.. The British Government refused to publish the report on the Cumbria accident because _______.

A．Britain’s supplies of oil, coal and gas were running out

B．it takes thirty years for the effects of radiation to appear

C．fewer people died in that accident than in other types of accidents

D．it was conce

rned that the British people would doubt their country’s nuclear expertise (核技术)

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It was the district sports meet. My foot still hadn’t healed(痊愈) from a(n)_________(21) injury. I had_________(22) whether or not I should attend the meet. But there I was,__________(23) for the 3,000-metre run.
“Ready… set…”. The gun popped and we were off. The other girls rushed________(24) me. I felt_________(25) as I fell farther and farther behind.
“Hooray!” shouted the crowd. It was the loudest________(26) I had ever heard at a meet. The first-place runner was two laps(圈)）ahead of me when she
crossed the finish line.
“Maybe I should________(27).” I thought as I moved on. _______(28), I
decided to to keep going. During the last two laps, I ran _______(29) and decided not to_______(30) in track next year.It wouldn’t be worth it, ______(31) my foot did heal.
When I finished, I heard a cheer--- ________(32) than the one I’d heard earlier. I turned around, _________(33) the boys were preparing for theirs. “They must be cheering for the boys.”
I was leaving________(34) several girls came up to me. “Wow, you’ve got courage!” one of them told me.
“Courage? I just __________(35) a race!” I thought.
“I would have given up on the first lap,” said another girl. “We were cheering for you. Did you hear us?”
Suddenly I regained _________(36). I decided to ________(37) track next year. I realized strength and courage aren’t always__________(38) in medals and victories, but in the _________(39) we overcome. The strongest people are not always the people who win, _________(40) the people who don’t give up when they lose.

小题1:

A．slighter

B．worse

C．earlier

D．heavier

小题2:

A．expected

B．supposed

C．imagined

D．doubted

小题3:

A．late

B．eager

C．ready

D．thirsty

小题4:

A．from behind

B．ahead of

C．next to

D．close to

小题5:

A．ashamed

B．astonished

C．excited

D．frightened

小题6:.

A．cheer

B．shout

C．cry

D．noise

小题7:.

A．slow down

B．drop out

C．go on

D．speed up

小题8:.

A．Therefore

B．Otherwise

C．Besides

D．However

小题9:.

A．with delight

B．with fear

C．in pain

D．in advance

小题10:.

A．play

B．arrive

C．race

D．attend

小题11:.

A．even if

B．only if

C．unless

D．until

小题12:

A．weaker

B．longer

C．lower

D．louder

小题13:

A．well enough	B．sure enough
C．surprising enough	D．strangely enough

小题14:.

A．while

B．when

C．as

D．since

小题15:.

A．finished

B．won

C．passed

D．lost

小题16:.

A．cheer

B．hope

C．interest

D．experience

小题17:.

A．hold on

B．turn to

C．begin with

D．stick with

小题18:.

A．measured

B．praised

C．tested

D．increased

小题19:

A．sadness

B．struggles

C．disease

D．tiredness

小题20:

A．or

B．nor

C．and

D．but

题型：不详难度：| 查看答案

May was born with a cleft palate(腭裂). When she was a little girl, she had to 36 the jikes from naughty chidren who teased her about her misshaped lip. With all the teasing, Mary grew up 37 the fact that she was“diffrernt”. She was 38  that no one, outside her family,could ever love her until she 39 Mrs. Leonard"s class.
In Mrs. Leonards" school at that time, it was   40  for teachers to give their children an annual 41  test. However, in Mary"s case, 42 her cleft palate, she was hardly able to hear out of one ear.   43 not to let the other children have another“ 44 "to point out, she would 45  when her bad ear was tested each year. The “hearing test”was 46 by having a child walk to the classroom door,turn sideways, 47 one ear with a fingre, and then   48  what the teacher whispered. When Mary had to turn her bad ear towards her teacher she would 49  to cover her good ear. She knew that teachers   50  often say things like,“The sky is blue,”or“What color are your shoes?”But not on that day. Surely, God   51  seven words in
Mrs. Leonard"s mouth that   52  Mary"s life forever. When the test came, Mary heard:“ I wish you were my little girl.”You can imagine how deeply these words   53  Mary.
Yes, affirming (肯定）words are   54  to say to the people around you. While words from
a godly teacher can soften a heart, words form you can powerfully set the    55   of another
One"s life.

小题1:

A．play

B．make

C．bear

D．tell

小题2:

A．hating

B．changing

C．forgeting

D．accepting

小题3:

A．expected

B．requested

C．convinced

D．informed

小题4:

A．left

B．entered

C．admitted

D．taught

小题5:

A．unusual

B．common

C．admittde

D．strange

小题6:

A．speaking

B．reading

C．terrible

D．hearing

小题7:

A．instead of

B．in addition to

C．writing

D．in spite of

小题8:

A．determined

B．Supposed

C．Delighted

D．Satisfied

小题9:

A．belidf

B．mistake

C．proof

D．difference

小题10:

A．cheat

B．escape

C．suffer

D．negotiate

小题11:

A．given

B．cancelled

C．taken

D．passed

小题12:

A．pull

B．close

C．touch

D．point

小题13:

A．realize

B．recite

C．repeat

D．create

小题14:

A．pretend

B．refuse

C．manage

D．decide

小题15:

A．must

B．will

C．would

D．shall

小题16:

A．wasted

B．put

C．take

D．write

小题17:

A．wasted

B．cost

C．changed

D．harmed

小题18:.

A．hurt

B．moved

C．upset

D．scared

小题19:

A．seldom

B．reasonable

C．easy

D．never

小题20:

A．purpose

B．routine

C．result

D．course

题型：不详难度：| 查看答案

The next morning Alex was waiting in the FMA president’s suite when Jerome Patterton arrived. Alex filled him in quickly on the Jax report. Then he said, “I want you to give an order to the trust department to sell every share of Supranational we’re holding.”
“I won’t!” Patterton’s voice rose. “Who do you think you are, giving orders-----“ “I’ll tell you who I am, Jerome. I’m the guy who warned the board against in-depth involvement with SuNatCo. I fought against heavy trust department buying of the stock, but no one-----including you -----would listen. Now Supranational is caving in.” Alex leaned across the desk and slammed a fist down hard. “Don’t you understand? Supranational can bring this bank down with it.”
Patterton was shaken. “But is SuNatCo in real trouble? Are you sure?”
“If I weren’t, do you think I’d be here? I’m giving you a chance to salvage something at least.” He pointed to his wristwatch. “It’s an hour since the New York stock market opened. Jerome, get on the phone and give that order!”
Muscles around the bank president’s mouth twitched nervously. Never decisive, strong influence often swayed him. He hesitated, then picked up the telephone.
“Get me Mitchell in the trust department… Mitch? This is Jerome. Listen carefully. I want you to give a sell order immediately on all the Supranational stock we hold… Yes, sell every share.” Patterton listened, then said impatiently, “Yes, I know what it’ll do to the market. And I know it’s irregular.” His eyes sought Alex’s for reassurance. The hand holding the telephone trembled as he said, “There’s no time to hold meetings. So do it! Yes, I accept responsibility.”
He hung up and reached for a glass of water. “The stock is already down. Our selling will depress it more. We’ll be taking a big beating.”
“It’s our clients-----people who trusted us-----who will take the beating. And they’d have taken a bigger one still, if we’d waited. Even now we’re not out of the woods. A week from now the SEC may disallow those sales. They may rule we had inside knowledge that Supranational was about to be bankrupt, which we should have reported and which would have halted trading in the stock.
小题1: Alex filled him in quickly on the Jax report. The sentence means:

A．He filled his name on the Jax report quickly.

B．Alex signed his name to the Jax report quickly.

C．He offered the FMA president the Jax report smartly.

D．He prepared the Jax report for Patterton to sign smartly.

小题2: From the context we can infer that ________.

A．SuNatCo would bring the stock market down if it sold all the Supranational stock they held.

B．The president was stubborn and would never listen to others.

C．Alex will take the place of Patterton in the future.

D．the clients would take a bigger beating than the bank

小题3: The New York stock market is the place where_____.

A．the old stock can be bought and sold

B．shares can be bought and sold

C．paper stock can be bought and sold

D．some of the stock can be taken without being paid for

小题4: In the sentence “Even now we’re not out the woods.” The phrase “out of the woods” means _____.

A．free from danger	B．short of wood
C．running out of wood	D．set free

小题5:In the writer’s opinion, the president is _____.

A．good leader of the U.S.A	B．a good manager of a company
C．headmaster	D．banker, an indecisive sort of person

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One Sunday a few of us decided to take advantage of the first sunny day we’d have for ages to take a trip down to the coast to visit the penguins again. Last time I went down there was a couple of months ago and it was a dull cold day. Sunday couldn’t have been more different — clear skies and sunshine made it feel like summer, although it was still -25°C.
Six of us drove to the coast. It was the first time we’d been off the base on our own without our field assistant, so it had a slightly different feeling — more like a few friends going to the seaside than an Antarctic field trip! When we reached Windy Creek, we luckily caught sight of quite a few small flying seabirds, which are seldom seen there.
Once on the sea ice we found that some of the more curious penguins had wandered over from the main group to come and check us out. We’d been told that then they were nursing their chicks (刚孵出的幼雏) and they would be more careful and nervous than last time, but that didn’t seem to be the case. We walked across to the main group which were stretched for a couple of miles along the coast. We sat down for some sandwiches and soon found ourselves surrounded by many curious observers. Without any attackers on land, they were very brave and came within a meter of us to pose (摆姿势) for photos.
Before heading back, we spent a few hours on the sea ice watching the penguins and their chicks, which had grown dramatically (明显地) since our last visit. It was such a nice day.
小题1:
When did the trip most probably happen?

A．On a dull Sunday.	B．On a warm Sunday.
C．On a summer Sunday.	D．On a winter Sunday.

小题2:
It can be inferred from the second paragraph that the six people _____.

A．felt a little nervous

B．felt a little excited

C．were left all by themselves on their Antarctic base

D．got bored with staying with their field assistant

小题3:
What does the writer mean by saying “but that didn’t seem to be the case”?

A．They were told a lie.

B．A wrong decision was made.

C．The truth was the opposite.

D．They didn’t believe what they were told.

小题4:
The six people did the following during the trip EXCEPT _____.

A．feed the penguins

B．take pictures of the penguins

C．enjoy watching flying seabirds

D．watch the young penguins

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