We were depressed and things were tough．...

Children's Games in Ancient China

Unlike the children nowadays, the children during ancient times didn't have smart phone, iPad or computer to entertain(娱乐) themselves. 1. Let's take a look.

Flying kites

Kites have quite a long history. The earliest kites were made of wood, instead of paper. Nowadays, the three most famous kites are the Beijing kite, Tianjin kite and Weifang kite. 2. For example, the swallow-shaped kite is a well-known Beijing style.

Playing hide-and-seek

Hide-and-seek is a traditional game for children, popular around the nation. Even nowadays, many children like playing it. There are two ways to play. One way is covering a child's eyes while other kids run around to tease(戏弄) him. 3.

4.

The closest thing to watching a film or television for entertainment during ancient times was going to see a shadow play. Folk artists manipulate puppets behind the screen, narrating stories and accompanied by music.

Setting off firecrackers(鞭炮)

Firecrackers have a history of more than 2,000 years. It is said that there was a beast (野兽)named Nian in ancient China. 5. After gunpowder was invented, it gradually replaced the bamboo joint cracker. Crackers are still set off during Spring Festival to symbolize auspiciousness(吉利).

A. Watching shadow plays

B. Each of them has special features.

C. Different materials are used to make the kite.

D. Shadow plays were the popular entertaining form in ancient times.

E. And to scare off the beast, people burnt bamboo joints to make it blast.

F. More commonly, participants hide and one child must try to find them.

G. Instead, they came up with(想出) interesting games to play in their childhood.

    Next week California will try to take cell phones from the hands of drivers， telling everyone from millionaires to workers that conversations behind the wheel must be on an earphone．

Californians interviewed by Reuters mostly supported the law requiring hands﹣free phones in cars and banning cell phones entirely for drivers under 18， which will take effect on Tuesday， though they were puzzled by a loophole（漏洞） that allows seemingly more dangerous text messaging． Some were doubtful about lawmakers， who they blamed for failing to build more freeways or public transportation in the face of increasingly crowded roads in the nation's most populous state and said hands﹣free conversations were not safer．

KFI﹣AM radio talk﹣show host John Kobylt told Reuters． "It's stupid because we've one over about seven different studies and each one of them says it's the conversation that distracts you， not holding the phone．"

State Senator Joe Simitian， who introduced the bill， said keeping both hands on the wheel was always safer． He expected his law to save hundreds of lives． The Democratic lawmaker was considering introducing a new law to ban text messaging in the car， which he said wasn't an issue when he began working on the first one in 2001．

Connecticut， New Jersey and New York have already banned drivers from talking on hand﹣held cell phones． In New Jersey， police have issued 35，000 tickets for using a hand﹣held phone or texting while driving since the law went into effect on March 1．

But Californians interviewed by Reuters expressed ambivalence．"On the one hand I don't want to see people crash into each other， but I'm not going to get an ear thing．" 38﹣year﹣old bank employee Jason Fischer said in Los Angeles．

1.We can infer from Paragraph 2 that　   　．

A. most Californians hate to use an earphone while making a call in the car

B. public transportation in California isn't developed enough

C. in New Jersey few people use a hand﹣held phone

D. most of Californians are probably against the new law

2.According to John Kobylt，　   　．

A. all the lawmakers are stupid

B. holding the phone is safer than using an earphone

C. it isn't dangerous to make a phone call while driving

D. it is the phone conversation while driving that is really dangerous

3.What will State Senator Joe Simitian probably do in the future？

A. He will suggest a law to forbid text messaging while driving

B. He will conduct a new survey among Californians

C. He will suggest building more roads in California

D. He will suggest a law to completely ban cell phones while driving

4.The underlined word "ambivalence" in the last paragraph probably refers to　   　．

A. a positive attitude

B. a negative attitude

C. a confused feeling

D. an excited feeling

    Many people don't consider their breakfast without a glass of milk． Right now， cows， buffalos， goats and sheep provide most of the world's milk． But soon， people could get milk from roaches（蟑螂）．

That isn't as crazy as it might sound． New research shows this "milk" is super﹣nutritious． What's more， some scientists have already begun referring to a lot of insects as source of milk．

In 2004， Subramanian Ramaswamy started studying milk crystals found inside the roach． At the time， he was teaching biochemistry at the University of Iowa City．

To learn more about the milk crystal from roaches， the scientists used X﹣rays to look at the atoms in it． The data basically revealed the chemical recipe of the roach crystal． They showed that roach milk is a "complete food"． It contains sugar with a fatty acid stuck to it． Fatty acids are the building blocks of fats． The protein in the milk is also full of essential amino（氨基的） acids， which are the building blocks of proteins． Since our bodies can't produce the "essential" ones， we need to get them from our food． And so do baby roaches．

Barbara Stay， a biologist at Iowa University， also worked on the new study． She says the new data show that the roach milk is "three times more nutritious than cow's milk and four times more nutritious than buffalo's milk"．

Ramaswamy would like to see roach milk turned into a protein supplement to feed hungry people． But not everyone is confident that it can be done．

Marcel Dicke studies insects as a potential source of human food at Wageningen University in the Netherlands． Dicke says this is a "sound study"． However， in his opinion， "Extracting（提取） milk from roaches can only likely be done in a destructive way with only small quantities"． That means you'd have to raise and kill many bugs to get even tiny quantities of the milk．

1.What is the opinion of the scientists about milk in Paragraph 2？

A. Many insects are sources of milk．

B. Milk is an important part of breakfast．

C. Milk from insects is the most nutritious．

D. Milk from insects is well accepted now．

2.What can we know about the use of roach milk in life？

A. It will replace the milk from animals like cows．

B. Scientists think it the key to solving world hunger．

C. All people don't think it can be used in life soon．

D. Most people depend on roach milk from protein．

3.According to Marcel Dicke， extracting insect milk on a large scale is　   　．

A. simple

B. challenging

C. safe

D. necessary

4.What should be the best title for the text？

A. Roach milk has been found scientifically

B. Roach milk could be produced industrially

C. Roach milk could be a new super food

D. Roach milk will be widely used soon

    I grew up in a middle﹣class family． Dad worked hard to support our family and Mom tried to save money while making sure we had enough food to eat and clothes to wear． One of their greatest desires was to raise decent， loving children who had an opportunity to finish college．

My brother， Gene， never hesitated to learn new things． He had an artistic hand， so he went into fine arts for a while． He also did a lot of screens about computers． He became so good at it that the school hired him to teach there after he completed his studies． My younger brother also pursued computers， following in his footsteps．

Gene did not have a history of any health problems from his very young age to adulthood． One day， he came home from teaching， ate his dinner and went to bed． That evening，my "healthy" brother died suddenly of a cardiac arrest（心跳骤停）．My parents were extremely sad．

At the viewing in the funeral house， amidst the sadness， my parents felt so much pride． So many people came and each was relating a story of how they were touched by Gene．

A cleaner came to say that practically every day Gene brought him a sandwich． Finally， Mom found out why Gene had taken so many sandwiches to school! Then there was a man who came in bringing money， saying that Gene had lent him some when he was down and out． Gene had never asked him for the money back．

From the school president to the guard， people came． And because of his good heart and deeds， my younger brother was awarded a full scholarship in the school as a tribute to my dead brother．

In the end， my parents realized that even at the young age of 26， my brother had lived a full life and was very instrumental in helping others live theirs a little better．

1.What was the biggest wish of the author's parents？

A. To have a better life．

B. To save enough money for the future．

C. To give their children a college education．

D. To raise their children to be respectable people．

2.The author's parents felt proud in the funeral house because　   　．

A. many people from all walks of life came．

B. Gene was praised by the school president．

C. Gene's brother was awarded a full scholarship．

D. they heard about many good deeds done by Gene．

3.What can we learn about Gene from the passage？

A. He took many sandwiches to school to share with others．

B. He lent a man some money and then asked for it back．

C. He was not in very good health from an early age．

D. He taught fine arts in his school．

4.What is the message conveyed in the passage？

A. Good deeds deserve praise．

B. A friend in need is a friend indeed．

C. Kindness in students should be encouraged．

D. The meaning of life consists in its devotion， not its length．

An Oceans Vacuum

There's a collection of plastic trash in the middle of the Pacific Ocean．It's bigger than Texas﹣and growing．The way to clean it up now is to catch it with nets．That is both costly and slow．Instead，the Ocean Cleanup Project proposes 62﹣mile﹣long floating barriers that would use natural currents to trap trash．If next year's trials succeed，a full cleanup operation would aim to start in 2020．It could reduce the trash by 42% over 10 years．

Easy﹣On Shoes

In 2012，Mathew Walzer，a high school student with a disability，sent a note to Nike．"My dream is o go to college，"he wrote，"without having to worry about someone coming to tie my shoes every day．"Nike assigned a design team to the challenge．This year，they came out with their solution：the FlyEase．The basketball shoe can be fastened with one hand．A pair of Nike FlyEase shoes sells for $130．

An Airport for Drones（无人机）

As Amazon，Google，and others get ready for drone delivery service，there is one big question：what kinds of home bases will their drones have？Rwanda，in Africa，may have the answer．There，workers will soon start work on three"drone ports"．The goal is to make it easier to transport food，medical supplies，electronics，and other goods through the hilly countryside．Construction is set to be completed in 2020．

1.What's the advantage of the Oceans Vacuum？

A. It can be a money﹣saver

B. It can grow year by year

C. It can tear plastic into pieces

D. It can be put into wide use soon

2.What do we know about Nike？

A. It offers free shoes to the disabled

B. It is designing new shoes frequently

C. It provides customer﹣friendly services

D. It responded to Matthew's request passively

3.Why is Rwanda setting up"drone ports"？

A. Because road travel there is rough

B. Because there are too many drones

C. Because they're easier to construct than roads

D. Because they are receptive to new technology