I'd like to suggest that for sixty to ninety minutes each evening all television broadcasting in the United States be forbidden by law. Let us take a _______, reasonable look at what the results might be if such a (n) _______ were accepted.
Families might use the time for a real family hour. Without the distraction (分散注意力) of TV, they might _______ together after dinner and actually talk to one another. It is well known that many of our _______—everything in fact, from the generation gap to the high divorce rate to some forms of _______illness — are caused at least in part by _______ to communicate. By using the quiet family hour to _______ our problems, we might get to know each other better, and to like each other better. On evenings when such talk is _______, families could discover more active pastimes (消遣). Freed from TV and forced to find their own activities, they might take a _______ together to watch the sunset ________ they might take a walk together outdoors.
________ free time and no TV, children and adults might discover reading. There is more entertainment in a (n) ________ than in a TV program. ________ report that the generation growing up with television can hardly write an English sentence, ________ at the college level. ________ is often learned from reading. A more literate new generation could be a product of the quiet hour.
A different ________ of reading might also be done as it was in the past: reading aloud. The quiet hour could become the story hour. When the ________ ends, the TV networks might be forced to ________ with better shows in order to get us back from our newly-discovered activities.
At first glance, this idea seems radical (激进的). How will we spend the time then? The fact is: it has been only twenty-five years ________ television came to control American free time. Those of us thirty-five and older can ________ childhoods without television. It wasn't that difficult.
1.A.valuable B.controversial C.tentative D.serious
2.A.invitation B.suggestion C.agenda D.offer
3.A.get around B.sit around C.meet with D.stand still
4.A.misfortunes B.privileges C.affairs D.problems
5.A.mental B.physical C.flexible D.familiar
6.A.attempt B.failure C.ability D.permission
7.A.comment B.talk C.discuss D.remark
8.A.unfamiliar B.unpleasant C.unnecessary D.unconscious
9.A.ride B.look C.walk D.rest
10.A.and B.but C.or D.while
11.A.At B.With C.For D.In
12.A.good book B.fine poem C.outdoor activity D.composition
13.A.Doctors B.Scientists C.Educators D.Physicists
14.A.yet B.still C.just D.even
15.A.Skill B.Writing C.Speaking D.Listening
16.A.dilemma B.edition C.role D.form
17.A.talk B.programme C.quiet hour D.performance
18.A.come across B.come about C.come out D.come up
19.A.until B.after C.before D.since
20.A.remember B.recognize C.remind D.know
Whether you are racing or touring, long-distance cycling can be very rewarding. 1. In general, it is more important to prepare your mind and your gear (齿轮) for the challenge ahead than it is to train your body. The best way to physically train for a long cycling trip is to take a long cycling trip! There are several steps for you.
Stretch first! Warm up for at least ten minutes before each long-distance cycling session. 2. This way, you can reduce the risk of injury.
Pace yourself. 3. Try to keep up this pace as best you can. Use a lower gear so that you don't wear yourself out. Try to keep up a rate of roughly 90 rpm(revolutions［旋转］per minute) on a low gear to go easy on your muscles and lungs.
Shift gears. When you come to a hill, change into a lower gear so that you can more easily reach the top. 4. Throughout the ride, stay aware of how hard you are working. If you are struggling to push the pedals (踏板), you should switch into a lower gear to conserve your energy.
5. Even if you feel strong, stop every 10-20 miles to give your body a rest and ensure that everything is running smoothly. Rehydrate (补水) by drinking some water, and boost your energy levels with a quick snack. Keep doing so until you arrive at your destination.
A. Take regular breaks.
B. You are sure to face some challenges during your cycling.
C. You should make better use of gears.
D. Try some exercises like jumping and jogging in place.
E. When going down, you should change to a higher gear.
F. It trains your body and provides a chance to appreciate the beauty along the road.
G. Start cycling at a speed which suits you.
A team of engineers at Harvard University has been inspired by Nature to create the first robotic fly. The mechanical fly has become a platform for a series of new high-tech integrated systems. Designed to do what a fly does naturally, the tiny machine is the size of a fat housefly. Its mini wings allow it to stay in the air and perform controlled flight tasks.
“It’s extremely important for us to think about this as a whole system and not just the sum of a bunch of individual components (元件),” said Robert Wood, the Harvard engineering professor who has been working on the robotic fly project for over a decade. A few years ago, his team got the go-ahead to start piecing together the components. “The added difficulty with a project like this is that actually none of those components are off the shelf and so we have to develop them all on our own,” he said.
They engineered a series of systems to start and drive the robotic fly. “The seemingly simple system which just moves the wings has a number of interdependencies on the individual components, each of which individually has to perform well, but then has to be matched well to everything it’s connected to,” said Wood. The flight device was built into a set of power, computation, sensing and control systems. Wood says the success of the project proves that the flying robot with these tiny components can be built and manufactured.
While this first robotic flyer is linked to a small, off-board power source, the goal is eventually to equip it with a built-in power source, so that it might someday perform data-gathering work at rescue sites, in farmers’ fields or on the battlefield. “Basically it should be able to take off, land and fly around,” he said.
Wood says the design offers a new way to study flight mechanics and control at insect-scale. Yet, the power, sensing and computation technologies on board could have much broader applications. “You can start thinking about using them to answer open scientific questions, you know, to study biology in ways that would be difficult with the animals, but using these robots instead,” he said. “So there are a lot of technologies and open interesting scientific questions that are really what drives us on a day to day basis.”
1.The difficulty the team of engineers met with while making the robotic fly was that __________.
A.they had no model in their mind
B.they did not have sufficient time
C.they had no ready-made components
D.they could not assemble the components
2.It can be inferred from paragraphs 3 and 4 that the robotic fly __________.
A.consists of a flight device and a control system
B.can just fly in limited areas at the present time
C.can collect information from many sources
D.has been put into wide application
3.Which of the following can be learned from the passage?
A.The robotic flyer is designed to learn about insects.
B.Animals are not allowed in biological experiments.
C.There used to be few ways to study how insects fly.
D.Wood’s design can replace animals in some experiments.
4.Which of the following might be the best title of the passage?
A.Father of Robotic Fly
B.Inspiration from Engineering Science
C.Robotic Fly Imitates Real Life Insect
D.Harvard Breaks Through in Insect Study
“In life, we're often torn between the person we want to be and the person we ought to be. Yet, while many hesitate to take the risks associated with becoming their ideal selves”, a new study notes that people unavoidably regret not pursuing their passion.
Inspired by research published in the 1990s, psychologist Thomas Gilovich along with his colleague Shai Davidai built upon his original study, which proved that regrets often evolve from what people haven't done. According to the new research, our most enduring regrets grow from not living up to our ideal selves, as opposed to not living according to our “ought selves” (the people we should have been based on our duties and responsibilities).
Researchers began by explaining the difference between regrets concerning the “ideal self” and the “ought self”, before asking participants to list, name, and categorize their regrets. Across the six different studies conducted, participants said they experienced regrets concerning their ideal selves more often. They also mentioned more ideal-self regrets than ought-self regrets when asked to list their regrets in life. When asked to name their single biggest regret in life, participants were also more likely to mention a regret about not fulfilling their ideal selves than their ought selves.
However, Gilovich and Davidai still recommend that people move on with caution, as the best way to live depends on how much weight you attach to your ought self vs. your ideal self. “If you place a premium on your ought self, you would be wise to minimize (your) regrets by thinking twice before moving forward (and seizing the moment). ” they suggest. “However, if one is an adventurous soul guided by her ideal self, she might indeed end up happier by seizing the day and not looking back. ”
Despite this research, however, knowing what you want and pursuing that passion are two different things. Mark Twain's words may give you the courage to go for your goals：
Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did. So throw off the bowlines (帆脚索), sail away from the safe harbor, catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.
1.How did the researchers get their new findings?
A.By analyzing their six previous studies.
B.By asking people to explain what regret is.
C.By looking into the content of people's regrets.
D.By comparing people's regrettable and fulfilling experiences.
2.What can we know about the “ideal self” and the “ought self” according to the researchers?
A.They are equally important aspects in people's lives.
B.It's very difficult for people to choose between them.
C.The choice between them can affect people's lifestyles.
D.People may choose one and change to the other in life.
3.What does the underlined part “place a premium on” in Para. 4 mean?
A.Value. B.Know.
C.Ignore. D.Refuse.
4.What may the author advise us to do?
A.Never regret anything in life.
B.Look back now and then in life.
C.Be patient when going for our goals.
D.Do what we want to without hesitation.
It was with noble purpose that Eric Lichtblau came to write “ Return to the Reich” . He wanted to celebrate the anonymous, unsung heroes of World War Ⅱ. Eli Rosenbaum, a long-time Nazi hunter, suggested the author look up Freddy Mayer, who led one of the war's most successful spy efforts. Mr. Lichtblau seized on the advice and immediately set out to meet Mayer, who was by then 94.
During their conversation, the author learned how a Jewish kid from Freiburg fled Nazi Germany, arrived in America and eventually joined the Office of Strategic Services (OSS), to be dropped as a spy into occupied Austria. Later in life, he was asked by an interviewer what made him such a good spy. “Chutzpah!” he responded. “I was afraid of absolutely nothing.”
Mayer was only 11 years old in 1933 when Hitler became chancellor (JI) of Germany. The boy's father, a decorated war veteran, thought his prior service to his country would protect his family from the rising tide of anti-Jewish. This didn't stop a boy at school from calling Freddy a “stinking Jude” . Eventually he was forced out of school and in March of 1938 the Mayer family emigrated to the United States. In Brooklyn, New York, 16-year-old Freddy worked as an automobile mechanic, bouncing from job to job as he sought better wages to help support his family. In October 1942, Mayer finally succeeded in enlisting and left for basic training. He made himself a natural leader and an ingenious soldier with a remarkable ability to improvise in unexpected situations. Given that he was also trilingual — he spoke German, English and French — it's a wonder the OSS took so long to recruit him.
Mr. Lichtblau delivers the account with pure admiration for his hero. Despite his intention to reveal an untold story of bravery, Mr. Lichtblau does not furrow much new ground here. But one can understand why the author pursued it: Freddy Mayer, who died two months after his meeting with Mr. Lichtblau, is an irresistible subject, and he deserves a dozen more accounts of his adventures.
1.Why did Eric Lichtblau want to write “Return to the Reich” ?
A.Because he was a noble man.
B.Because he wanted to sing high praise for those unknown heroes in World War Ⅱ.
C.Because he enjoyed the experience of Freddy Mayer in World War Ⅱ very much.
D.Because he wanted his readers to know more about the secrets of World War Ⅱ.
2.What does the word “Chutzpah” in the second paragraph mean?
A.Craziness. B.Cleverness.
C.Fearlessness. D.Devotion.
3.What was the reason for Freddy Mayer and his family's emigration to the US?
A.That his father was a decorated war veteran.
B.That a boy at school called Freddy a “stinking Jude” .
C.That he had to support his family with a high salary.
D.That he and his family were Jews.
4.Among the following statements, which is WRONG?
A.Freddy Mayer once slipped into occupied Austria as a spy.
B.Young Freddy Mayer lived a hard life when he was in New York.
C.The OSS valued Freddy Mayer because he was a natural leader and an ingenious soldier.
D.Mr. Lichtblau revealed a lot of unknown stories of the hero's bravery in “Return to Reich” .
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