Fancy a trip down a wormhole? Calculations suggest that this might be possible, because these entrances through space-time could stick around forever.
Wormholes are essentially a pair of connected black holes. Two types could theoretically exist. A non-traversable wormhole is like a room with two doors that can be used only from the outside—the doors are black holes through which things can enter, but never escape. “These are not very interesting, as any astronaut who is brave enough to venture in won’t be able to make it back to tell the story,” says Diandian Wang at the University of California.
Traversable(能横过的) wormholes are also possible, but until now we didn’t know whether they could exist for long enough for anything to pass through them. For such a wormhole to form, space-time needs to naturally change shape. In classical physics, this can’t happen. But the rules of quantum mechanics(量子力学) allow space-time to do so for brief periods.
Wang worked on a scenario(设想) involving string theory, in which the fundamental ingredient of reality is tiny strings. If one of these strings breaks, it can create a traversable wormhole with black hole-like entrances either end that allow both entry and exit.
Although researchers had shown that this was a possibility before, it seemed that the energy involved would always break the wormhole.
Now, Wang and his team have calculated that the curvature of space-time could counteract this acceleration, keeping the fake black holes still and allowing the throat of the wormhole to remain open. This scenario is extremely unlikely, and becomes even more unlikely, the longer the wormhole is and the larger the black holes are. Thanks to quantum mechanics, though, the probability of it happening isn’t zero. Wang’s team also calculated that, once a traversable wormhole exists, it could remain stable for at least as long as the universe has been around.
“The work shows how wormholes could be created from scratch,” says Aron Wall at the University of Cambridge. But he points out that they couldn’t be used to time travel or move faster than light.
1.What are wormholes in the text?
A.Real worm holes on the earth. B.Tunnels through space and time.
C.Rooms with two doors. D.A pair of strings.
2.What does “this” refer to in Paragraph 5?
A.The wormhole. B.The black hole.
C.The scenario. D.The calculation.
3.Which theory supports Wang’s scenario?
A.String theory. B.Quantum mechanics.
C.Classical physics. D.Modern research.
4.What is the best title for the text?
A.Wormholes: A New Possibility for Human Being
B.It Is Possible for People to Go Back
C.How Amazing It Is to Travel in Space
D.A New Space-time Study Is Going on
The term "quiet stress” is gathering pace among experts, who say it's an often overlooked form of the more widely known version, which is characterised by visible outbursts: losing tempers, swearing, shouting, and anger.
"We quietly hold our stress within: we don't speak up about how we feel. And very importantly, we become inactive. We stay in unhappy relationships and unfulfilling jobs. We feel overwhelmed（被压倒的）, yet ignore important administration tasks. Quiet stress creates a form of emotional paralysis （麻痹）that keeps us ' stuck' in unhappy situations, says Jillian Lavender, who runs the London Meditation Centre.
Cary Cooper, a professor of psychology and health at the University of Manchester, likens the effects of quiet stress to shrapnel（榴弹）:“You can learn to quieten your stress responses, but eventually the stress will emerge: as well as a suppressed immune system, you may withdraw socially, isolate yourself and begin to engage in unhealthy habits like comfort eating or drinking too much. Despite getting a bad rap over the years, expressing anger or frustration is far healthier than smiling sweetly while feeling quietly stressed."
A recent study from Stanford University in the US backs this theory up. The researchers found that seeing stress as a helpful part of dealing with life's challenges, rather than as something to be avoided, was associated with better health, emotional well being and productivity at work.
“Stress isn't always harmful,” said Kelly McGonigal, a business school lecturer at Stanford who worked on the study. "Once you appreciate that going through stress makes you better at it, it can be easier to face each new challenge.”
1.Which behavior belongs to “quiet stress” ？
A.Reacting slowly. B.Speaking up.
C.Smiling sweetly. D.Scolding others.
2.What is the best way to relieve from quiet stress according to Cary Cooper?
A.Developing a good habit. B.Eating much junk food.
C.Finishing tasks on time. D.Making your feelings known.
3.According to Paragraph 4 stress is.
A.something beneficial sometimes B.something harmful to health
C.something to be kept D.something affecting work
4.Which of the following statements can describe stress according to the text?
A.Silence is gold. B.Life is not easy.
C.One coin has two sides. D.Stress is everywhere.
A trick question: Can you name the only three writers who have won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction twice? Faulkner, yes； Updike. And? Hats off if you came up with Booth Tarkington.
And yet his two prize-winners——"The Magnificent Ambersons" and " Alice Adams”, just reissued in one volume by the Library of America—are not even the most commercially successful novels of his extraordinarily successful career. Nine of his books were ranked among the top ten sellers of their year, and the strangely dissimilar The Turmoil and Seventeen were the No. 1 sellers in consecutive（连续的）years. And then there's Penrod, probably the most beloved boys' book since Tom and Huck, though I can't recommend a stroll down that particular memory lane.
There are thirty or so novels, countless short stories and serials, a string of hit plays. And there were countless honors: Tarkington was not only commercial but literary—not just the Pulitzers but in 1933 the gold medal for fiction from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, which Edith Wharton and William Dean Howells had won previously. As early as 1922, the Times had placed him twelfth on a list of the twelve greatest contemporary American men.
As for booksellers, in 1921 they voted him the most significant contemporary American writer. Nothing ever changes. How to explain this remarkable career—the quick rise to fame, the unaffected reputation over several decades, and then the pronounced fall into shadowiness? If you read all his fiction, you find a steady although uninspired hand at the helm. Slowly, painstakingly （费力地），Tarkington had taught himself to write reliable prose （散文）and construct appealing fictions ； he was modest—always literate but never showy. You could count on him to catch your interest even if he failed to grasp your imagination or your heart. And he was always a gentleman.
1.What does "Hats off" underlined in Paragraph 1 mean?
A.Show respect. B.Feel nervous.
C.Throw away hats. D.Take off hats.
2.Which book is possibly popular among boys?
A.The Magnificent Ambersons. B.Alice Adams.
C.Penrod. D.Seventeen.
3.What is Paragraph 3 mainly about?
A.Tarkington's works and honors. B.Tarkington's personality.
C.Tarkington's social position. D.Tarkington's achievements.
4.What's the authors attitude to Tarkington?
A.Doubtful. B.Objective.
C.Negative. D.Admiring.
The following books have been published recently, and maybe you would like to read them.
This Atmosphere of Love
Franklin Bass Jr.
www.authorhouse.com
Paperback丨E-book
$12.95丨$3.99
This Atmosphere of Love shares Franklin Bass Jr.’s poetry collection from 2008 to 2012 that speaks about his true feelings and experiences of love.
An Irish Girl
Marilyn Hering
www.iuniverse.com
Paperback丨E-book
$13.99丨$3.99
Inspired by true events of the Irish famine(饥荒), An Irish Girl combines a tale of the famine with a heart-broken story of love and loss.
The Prison Planet
Handbook
Denis Goodwin
www.xlibris.com
Hardback丨Paperback丨E-book丨Audiobook
$46.98丨$34.45丨$4.99丨$9.99
Sometimes, the reality prescribed to us doesn’t explain what we experience. If you too know something isn’t right and want to see the bigger picture, the bottom line is here.
A Deadly Homecoming
Jane Bennett Munro
www.iuniverse.com
Hardback丨Paperback丨E-book丨Audiobook
$23.99丨$13.99丨$3.99丨$9.99
When her mother asks her to investigate a friend’s disappearance, Toni Day heads to her hometown to solve a complex murder case that leaves her own life hanging in the balance.
1.Who is a poet among the following writers?
A.Jane Bennett Munro B.Marilyn Hering.
C.Denis Goodwin. D.Franklin Bass Jr.
2.What kind of book is An Irish Girl?
A.A biography B.A storybook
C.A documentary. D.A reference book.
3.Which book will you read if you like a thriller?
A.The Prison Planet. B.A Deadly Homecoming.
C.An Irish Girl. D.This Atmosphere of Love.
I was responding to a call from a small brick flat(用砖做的公寓) in a quiet part of town. I assumed I was being sent to pick up some party-goers，or someone who had just had a fight with a lover，or a worker heading to an early shift at some factory for the industrial part of town.
When I arrived at 2：30 a.m., thebuildingwas dark except for a single light in a ground floor window. Under such circumstances, manydriversjust honk(按喇叭) once or twice，wait a minute，then drive away. But I had seen too many weak people who depended on taxis as their only means of transportation.
Unless a situation smelled of danger，I always went to thedoor.
This passenger might be someone who needsmy assistance，I reasoned to myself. So I walked to the door and knocked. “Just a minute，” answered a frail，elderly voice. I could hear something being dragged across the floor. After a long pause，the door opened.A small womanin her 80s stood before me. She was wearing a print dress and a pillbox hat，like somebody out of a 1940s movie. By her side was a small nylon suitcase.
The apartment looked as if no one had lived in it for years. All the furniture was covered with sheets. There were no clocks on the walls, noequipmenton the counters. In the corner was a cardboard box filled with photos and glassware.
“Would you carry my bag out to the car？” she said. I tookthe suitcaseto the cab, then returned to assist the woman. She took my arm, and we walked slowly toward the cab.
She kept thanking me for my kindness. “It's nothing,” I told her. “I just try to treat my passengers the way I would want my mother treated.”
注意：
1.所续写的短文词数应为150左右；
2.应使用5个以上短文中标有下划线的关键词语；
3.续写部分分为二段，每段的开头语已经为你写好；
4.续写完成后，请用下划线标出你所使用的关键词语。
Paragraph 1:
Having given me an address, a hospice, she asked. “Could you drive through downtown?” _______________________________________________________________________________
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Paragraph 2: we drove in silence to the address she had given me , and it…
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为了帮助中学生健康成长，某中学英文报开辟了“HEART-TO-HEART”专栏。假设你是该栏目的编辑Jamie，收到一封署名为Worried的求助信。信中该同学向你诉说了自己的困扰：近日容易发脾气，正常的学习和生活受到了影响。请用英文给该同学写一封电子邮件。内容要点如下：
1. 表示理解并给予安慰；
2.提出建议并说明理由。
注意：词数80左右。参考词汇：脾气，情绪temper
Hi Worried，
I’ m sorry to know that you’ re having such a had time at the moment.
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Yours，
Jamie
