There is a truth generally acknowledged by drivers in India, honk your horn (按喇叭) loud enough and the traffic light will surely change to green. But, fed up with the drivers who have no patience and cause a deafening noise every time they are forced to stop, the police in Mumbai have come up with a new system to punish those people. The new system, said the police, was quite simple: “Honk more, wait more.”
Known as “the punishing signal”, the Mumbai police fixed a new traffic light system to deal with the problem of “reckless honkers”, which resets the red traffic signal every time the sound of car horns goes above 85 decibels. For particularly honk- happy drivers, it could mean a very long wait at the lights.
Mumbai was recently listed as the fourth most congested city in the world, according to the TomTom traffic index, with 65% congestion and drivers spending an average of eight days and 17 hours in traffic each year. Speaking to local media, Mumbai traffic police commissioner Madhukar Pandey said, “Sadly, many Mumbaikars are addicted to reckless honking which not only causes noise pollution, but hurts eardrums, increases heart rates, causes stress and adds to traffic disturbance.”
He added, “All recognize it, but do little to control it. With this, I am sure that our road discipline can become better and the new system ensures honk-less, noise-free and stress free travel on Mumbai roads.”
The idea, which was tested in November and December, 2019, has already gained momentum and there is a plan for rolling it out in other cities in India. Across the country, Indian cities have the worst traffic in the world. Bangalore was recently named as the world’s most congested city, with drivers spending an average of 10 days stuck in traffic, while both Delhi and Pune were also in the top 10.
1.From the passage, we can infer that ________.
A.Mumbai’s traffic jam is very serious
B.overusing horns causes harm to the economy
C.Mumbai drivers doubt the new traffic light system
D.the new traffic light system works as soon as drivers honk
2.What information can you get from Madhukar Pandey’s words?
A.The new traffic light system has many disadvantages.
B.He thinks that the new traffic system is useful.
C.It is too late to carry out the new traffic light system.
D.It’s difficult to deal with overuse of horns in Mumbai.
3.According to the last paragraph, we can know that ________.
A.the new traffic system works well
B.Delhi’s traffic condition is better than that of Pune
C.the new traffic system will be spread around the world
D.people of Bangalore like to honk their horns when driving
4.What is the best title for this passage?
A.Mumbai Rewarded Patient Drivers
B.Mumbai Warns Honk-happy Drivers by Traffic Lights
C.Honk-happy Drivers Will Have No Way to Drive
D.“Honk More. Wait More”: Mumbai Tests Traffic Lights
Over the last 50 years, illegal trade in wildlife has become one of the greatest threats to our natural world. Traffickers (贩子) are exploiting communities in developing areas, driving them to illegally hunt down animals for their body parts. These criminal networks only pay a tiny portion of the final price they get for the animals they receive. Beautiful animals are shipped off to faraway markets, whole or apart.
Angry? We’ve barely started yet. The animal parts are being shipped along with weapons, drugs, even people". These heartless profiteers don’t care about the destruction they cause. Live animals are hidden during transport with no thought for their survival. Many of them don’t make it. Perhaps it’s a mercy when traffickers choose to kill and freeze the animals, before hiding them in the containers the size of a small bus. It’s not one or two animals here and there—it’s entire species that we are seeing driven towards extinction, lost forever from our global heritage. And for one reason alone: to put more money in the pockets of these criminals—whatever the cost.
Now, humans reap as they have sown. COVID-19 has “affected us all. It’s breaking our economies. It has sealed us in our homes and is attacking the weakest among us. In a short period? almost every person on the planet has been affected and we still don’t know the final toll. The source could well be these criminal profiteers. We don’t know for certain how the pandemic started. Some scientists suggest that the disease might have been transferred to a person from a pangolin (穿山甲) being traded illegally in one of these markets—these are most trafficked mammals in the world, with over a million consumed by the trade since 2000.
Yet we would never have imagined that these markets for body parts of wild animals would affect us in this way. It’s time to say “enough”. Dr, Rebecca Drury, Head of Wildlife Trade at Fauna & Flora International (FFI) says, We would like to see stronger action to stop illegal hunting, trafficking and consumption of illegally- sourced wildlife. It is no longer an option to ignore the dangers of illegal and unregulated wildlife trade and consumption, to human health and to healthy, functioning ecosystems needed for life on earth to thrive. We must ensure that the lessons from COVID-19 pandemic are applied to prevent repeats of this global crisis.
The governments of the world are doing what they can. But while bans are put in place, the greedy individuals driving the trafficking will try to use their illegal networks to keep selling, lining their pockets until they are stopped. It’s precisely because this is a trade that happens in the shadows, so we must stop it at source. That’s why FFI is raising funds—to help put a stop to this mean trade. To do so they are asking readers of The-Week to make an urgent contribution today.
1.What can we know from Paragraph 2?
A.Most of the live animals can’t survive the long trip.
B.Most of the live animals were killed and frozen during the trip.
C.Generally, the animal parts won’t shipped along with drugs or people.
D.Traffickers will give it a second thought when considering the cost of the trafficking.
2.What does the author want to convey mainly in Paragraph 3?
A.Humans are paying a price for the illegal animal trafficking.
B.COVID-19 has brought disasters to humans.
C.COVID-19 originates from the pangolin.
D.Scientists have known the transferring path of COVID-19.
3.Which of the following statement is TRUE?
A.Dr Rebecca Drury suggests stopping the trade of wildlife.
B.The most trafficked mammals in the world are the pangolin.
C.FFI is trying to find the source of the illegal wildlife trade.
D.Humans can prevent global crisis if they stop the illegal wildlife trade.
4.What is the purpose of the article?
A.To show us millions of endangered animals are being cruelly killed.
B.To confirm illegal wildlife trade threatens some of our beloved animals.
C.To discuss how to stop the trafficking.
D.To call on immediate action to end the illegal wildlife trade.
When Mike Mushaw decided to join the national bone marrow (骨髓) registry nearly three years ago, he never ready gave it a second thought. After all, he did it only because his college, football coach had encouraged him and his teammates to register. But about six months after the sign-up, he did get a call. The now 21-year-old linebacker’s bone marrow matched a patient in Virginia. Mushaw had to decide whether to go all in. It would mean spending a night in the hospital and undergoing general anesthesia, which carries some risk. And he’d likely never know whether his donation worked. “Once they took 17 vials (试管) of blood, I was like, ‘All right this is real. This is going to happen.’”
His donation went to a five-month-old girl named Eleanor who was sick with a rare immune-deficiency disease that was diagnosed when she was only three month old. Eleanor had rarely left her house other than to travel to the hospital or the doctor. “Eleanor was going to die without a bone marrow transplant,” her mother, Jessica, told NBC.
Still, there was no guarantee of success. Eleanor’s family had hoped that she would have some improvement from the transplant, enough to live a more normal, life. Instead, after a few weeks, the doctors at Children’s National Hospital in Washington, D.C., came back with shocking news: Eleanor’s condition hadn’t just improved—Mushaw’s bone marrow had cured her.
Mushaw didn’t know any of this until months after his donation. In most cases, the donor and recipient remain anonymous to each other. But about six months after the procedure, Eleanor’s parents sent him an e-mail to thank him for saving her life.
“When they told me it was a little girl, I got a little choked up,” Mushaw says. But their surprising connection was only beginning. Mushaw asked whether he and Eleanor could FaceTime regularly so he could check on her progress. “It was amazing to watch her and be a part of her life,” he says. Eleanor kept tabs on him, too, by watching his football games on TV. Mushaw often invited her family to drive from Virginia to Connecticut to meet at his games where tiny shouts of “Mike! Mike!” could be heard from the stands as the little girl cheered on her very own hero.
“I had waited by that point well over a year to finally give a hug to this guy who saved my daughter’s life,” Jessica says. “We felt like we were on cloud nine all weekend getting to spend time with him and have him be with Eleanor.” In January, Mushaw reunited with Eleanor, this time in Virginia, to celebrate her birthday. It will likely be the first of many celebrations together. “As a parent, it feels really great to watch someone love your kid as much as you do,” Jessica says. We were two complete strangers, and now we’ve become such a big part of each other’s lives.”
1.What can we learn from the first paragraph?
A.Mushaw decided to join the national bone marrow registry on his own.
B.Mushaw was unwilling to donate his bone marrow.
C.Mushaw at first wondered whether his donation would work.
D.Mushaw signed up the bone marrow registry at 21.
2.What does the underlined phrase “kept tabs on” in paragraph 5 mean?
A.pay a price to B.pay close attention to
C.keep a record of D.keep pace with
3.What can we know about Eleanor from the article?
A.Eleanor was often taken out to travel before deceiving the donation.
B.Eleanor’s family was certain that she could be cured with the donation.
C.Eleanor was excited when watching Mike’s football game.
D.Eleanor first saw Mushaw when Mushaw went to Virginia to celebrate her birthday.
4.Which is the best title for the article?
A.A Little Life Saved, A Big Friend Made
B.A Medical Miracle
C.A Lucky Transplant
D.Donation Working, Girl Saved
Mini Cooper introduced its fastest street legal model yet at the Los Angeles Auto Show this week.
Mini has already decided that the car number 0001 will go to a customer in the United States, but hasn’t decided yet how to choose who will get it. It will not be decided through an auction (拍卖). said Mike Peyton, Mini’s vice president for the Americas.
On this Mini John Cooper Works GP, the fender flares (轮眉) are made from carbon-fiber-reinforced plastic. The material is recycled waste left over from the production of BMW i3 and i8. The rear wing is actually two wings combined and provides downforce at the back of the car to keep it pressed to the ground at high speeds. The turbocharged four-cylinder engine is the most powerful that has ever been used in a Mini. It has 75 horsepower more than the next most-powerful Mini John Cooper Works model.
The John Cooper Works GP has a special eight-speed automatic transmission, according to the company. It also has paddle shifters (换档器) on the steering wheel so the driver can shift modes by hand. To save weight, the car only has front seats which are special light weight sports seats.
There’s no choice of paint color on this Mini Cooper. The cars will be painted in Racing Gray, with the mirrors finished in Melting Silver.
The cars are named for John Cooper, a racing driver and race car designer who worked with the British Motor Corporation to create performance versions of the original Minis in the 1960s. Those cars became extremely popular with car racers.
Details:
Engine power: 301 horsepower
Top speed: 165 miles an hour
Amount: 3000
Time of production: July, 2020
Price: starting about: $45,000
1.What makes this Mini Cooper environment friendly?
A.Parts of it are made from waste.
B.It’s completely powered by electricity.
C.Its fender flares are produced by BMW.
D.Its ownership won’t be decided through an auction.
2.The new Mini Cooper doesn’t provide ________.
A.manual shifters B.backseats
C.back wings D.automatic modes
3.We can know from the passage that the new Mini Cooper ________.
A.is designed by John Cooper
B.mainly aims at car racers
C.is not yet on the market
D.will be produced in the British Motor Corporation
假如你是晨光中学的李津，为配合学校的科技月活动，你校英语社团的微信公众号开展征文活动。要求同学们写一篇英语短文，介绍我国科学家设计的一款生活型智能机器人。现请你投稿，文章内容包括：
1. 简要介绍这款生活型智能机器人。
2. 谈谈这款生活智能机器人的功能（至少写2点）
3. 说明生活型机器人的意义。
注意：1. 词数不要少于100。
2. 可适当加入细节，使内容充实，行文连贯。
3. 开头和结尾已给出，不计入总词数。
参考词汇：智能机器人intelligent robot
June 10, 2020
Here I would like to introduce a new type of intelligent household robot to you.
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阅读表达
David Carter stands outside of the University of Texas’ Austin campus every day, offering the same warm greeting to students who pass by. “Hello, my friend!”
Carter, now 68, is a beggar who once attended the school from 1972 to L975. Then, he was involved in a crash and got serious injuries. He then had trouble with substance abuse and faced mental health challenges, leading him to drop out before completing his degree.
“If I could change one thing about my past life, I would have stayed in school,” Carter says. He says he knows an education can change someone’s quality of life.
Carter had to beg in the last few years fora simple reason. “I’m always flat broke,” he said. While most people would walk right by a beggar, Ryan Chandler, a junior at the university, decided to stop and chat with Carter-and he learned a valuable lesson: You can’t judge a book by its cover.
“A lot of UT students see them as criminal vagrants (无业游民,乞丐) or think that they are dangerous or unfriendly, and that idea just isn’t true,” says Chandler.
Chandler got to know Carter and saw his potential. “He completed 87 hours of course credits, which is enough for a degree for most people, but he just never finished,” Chandler says.
The student wrote a blog post about his new friend, and luckily, the right people heard about Carter and stepped in to help. The University of Texas readmitted Carter as a student, and a kind person who used to be a student UT offered to pay for Carter’s tuition.
“I want to be a student and I want to learn,” Carter said. Since the course requirements have changed, Carter is far from having the amount of credits needed to graduate. But his friend knows he’s willing to take up the challenge. “He is capable, he is ready, and he is dedicated to this,” Chandler says.
1.Why didn’t Carter finish his study at UT more than 40 years ago? (no more than 10 words)
2.How does Carter feel as a dropout? (no more than 5 words)
3.What does the underlined part in the fourth paragraph probably mean? (no more than 5 words)
4.What can be inferred about Carter in his study at UT? (no more than 15 words)
5.What do you think is the right way to know someone? Please explain. (no more than 25 words)
