“NOW I just don't believe that." Surely all of us, at some point, have watched a movie and thought: It's simply badly researched, or, the makers must think we're idiots (白痴).
Recently, the British newspaper The Daily Telegraph ran a humorous piece on unconvincing(不让人信服的) tech moments from some top movies. Let's see what all the fuss (激动) is about.
Telegraph writer Tom Chiver's first example is from the end-of-the-world movie Independence Day, in which a character comes up with a virus capable of destroying Windows, the computer system the alien spacecraft uses. “It's a good thing they didn't have Norton Antivirus,” jokes Chivers.
It's just one case of a movie that takes a lot of license with its science. Another one Chivers mentions is from Star Wars, where glowing beams (闪亮的光束) of light traveling through space look very impressive. The problem is that in space there are no air particles (粒子) for the light to reflect off. In reality, they'd be invisible, which wouldn't look so cool on the big screen.
Chiver's second piece of Star Wars nonsense is the sound the fighters make in the movies: “the bellow (咆哮) of an elephant mixed with a car driving on a wet road”. But sound needs a medium (介质) to travel through, like air. In space, there wouldn't actually be any sound at all.
Few people would deny that the mind-bending Matrix films make for great viewing, but for Chivers, the science in the movies is a little silly.
He comments “…the film is based on the idea that humans are kept alive as electricity generator (发电机). This is not just unlikely – it's fundamentally impossible. They would need more energy to stay alive than they would produce. It's like saying you'll power your car with batteries, and keep the batteries charged by running a dynamo (发电机) from the wheels.”
And finally: as Chivers points out, DNA is not replaceable. But this bit of elementary genetics (遗传学) passed the makers of the 2002 Bond film Die Another Day by. In the film the villain (坏人) has “gene therapy (疗法)” to change his appearance and his DNA, which is completely impossible.
1.The following are all movies mentioned in the article except _______.
A. Die Another Day. B. Matrix C. Star War D. Norton Antivirus
2.Chivers uses the car as an example to show that _______.
A. cars can’t be powered by batteries
B. humans consume more power that they could have made
C. the villain has “gene therapy” to change his appearance and his DNA
D. it would take so much power to keep humans alive by electricity generator that it’s hardly possible
3.Which of the following is a scientific fact?
A. No virus can destroy Windows.
B. Light can be reflected with the help of air particles.
C. DNA is replaceable as long as there is enough energy.
D. We can design a car powered with batteries which are charged from the wheels.
4.What kind of people Chivers may be?
A. Humorous. B. Brave. C. Sensitive. D. Careless.
5.Chivers probably writes the article in order to _______.
A. persuade people not to watch some silly movies
B. criticize movie makers’ carelessness
C. provide readers with something to read for fun
D. educate the public on some basic scientific knowledge
When I saw a big handmade signboard “Welcome Yuxin” at the airport, I knew I had found a caring family at the other side of the world – the United States.
My host mom had already decorated (装饰) my room for me. There was a doll on one side of the room, and a bookcase full of books on the other – they had heard I loved reading. Mom had also prepared a keyboard for me, since she knew that I played the piano.
My life in the family did not go so well at first. Because I am the only child in my family in China, I was not used to having two younger kids – Zachary and Grace – running around me yelling (大喊大叫) all the time.
Mom had a serious talk with me about this problem on a Sunday afternoon. She told me: “You can’t just come home from school every day, go to your room and do your homework. You need to be part of this family. You need to play with my kids for at least an hour.” This rule was very annoying (烦人的) at first. I did not have much experience playing with children.
However, the more time I spent with the kids, the more I grew to love them. We played games and read books together. I even taught them Chinese. Thanks to Mom’s rule, I began to feel like I was really part of the family.
Mom also inspired (启发) me to live a healthier life. She got up early every morning to go running. On weekends, she took the whole family to visit parks or go camping.
I did not like sports much when I was back home, but now I love to join all kinds of sports. I am healthier and more confident too.
With my American family, I found joy and laughter. I learned to live with energy and optimism (乐观) thanks to the care and responsibility of my loving American parents.
1.From Paragraph 2, we can see that _______.
A. the host mom was good at decorating rooms
B. Yuxin was fond of American dolls
C. the host mom tried hard to make Yuxin feel at home
D. Yuxin kept busy with a lot of hobbies
2.What led Yuxin to feel like she was really part of the family?
A. Yuxin’s talks with her host parents.
B. Having to join in sports with the family.
C. The host mom’s rule about playing with the kids.
D. Enjoying weekends with the host family.
3.What can we infer from the passage?
A. Yuxin’s life with her American host family went very smoothly from the beginning.
B. The host mom cared about Yuxin’s overall development.
C. The host family’s two children didn’t like Yuxin at all.
D. Yuxin didn’t notice what the host family did for her.
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Reading about history is nice, but finding ties to long-ago historical events in your own back yard is really exciting.
In their heavily populated area, neighbors Adam Giles, 13, and Derek Hann, 12, uncovered pieces of glass that looked quite different from what’s used today. “After digging about two feet down, I came across an interesting bottle,” Derek said. The bottle had a “scar” on the bottom, an indication that it was hand-blown rather than machine made. It also had the name “Fraser” on one side. Adam found remains of a green bottle and some very thick brown glass – again, far different from today’s.
After doing research on the computer, the boys contacted Aimee Wells of the county’s (县) Cultural Resources Office. She showed them a computer program that digitally puts old maps over modern satellite photographs.
Bingo! Their back yards were once part of a military (军事的) encampment (营地) called Camp Alger used by Ohio soldiers on their way to fight in the Spanish-American War in 1898.
So how do a few bottles get connected to a brief war that was more than a century ago? “We get there by good judgment,” Wells said. “We know the time period of the bottles and what happened in that area.” Anyone can dig a hole, but archaeologists(考古学家) seek a deeper understanding. How do the objects found relate to things around them?
When Derek and Adam realized that a soldier might have held that Fraser bottle 110 years ago, they wondered what he might have been thinking. What did he see as he looked around him? How did he pass the time waiting to go into battle?
Historical records show that while waiting for orders, the soldiers in and around Camp Alger played baseball, played instruments and walked seven miles to the Potomac River once a week for baths. A spread of strange fever forced the closing of the camp, and there are no buildings to study. “What’s left is only what’s in the ground,” Wells said.
Derek’s and Adam’s back yards have joined the 3,400 places listed on the county’s register of archaeological sites. The boys were given tips on how to dig effectively and safely, and on how to document the location of items found.
The official record of their finds serves as another piece of the puzzle for historians seeking to form a more complete story of what happened.
“Not everybody is going to have historical objects in their own yard,” Wells said. “That’s okay. Make your own time capsule and bury it. What would you want people to know about your life years from now?”
1.What is the passage mainly about?
A. What Adam Giles and Derek Hann found in their back yard and its relationship with an encampment.
B. How Adam Giles and Derek Hann dug out the remains of an ancient military encampment.
C. The great contributions Adam Giles and Derek Hann made to the cause of archaeology.
D. The tips on how to dig out ancient objects buried under the ground safely and effectively.
2.From the passage, we can see that the boys’ discovery ______.
A. includes all kinds of hand-made and machine-made glass
B. couldn’t have been meaningful without Aimee Wells’ help
C. has helped historians find out what happened in 1898
D. has added the county to the list of archaeologist sites
3.When Wells said “We get there by good judgment.” (Paragraph 6), she meant that ______.
A. they have figured out how to get to the place where the brief war happened
B. they have established the ties to Camp Alger by finding out the time period of the bottles
C. they have managed to dig out the bottles in the back yard safely with common sense
D. they were able to locate the soldier who used the Fraser bottles 110 years ago
4.Which of the following fits the description of historical records?
A. The soldiers in and around Camp Alger delighted in playing basketball in their spare time.
B. When Camp Alger was forced to close, all the buildings there were destroyed.
C. The soldiers in and around Camp Alger often buried some bottles underground as time capsules.
D. Camp Alger was forced to close because of a spread of a strange fever.
In the virtual (虚拟的) world, she is a popular Kungfu writer Ling Feng. At school, she is a quick-witted party emcee (主持人) and competent student union leader. She is always one of the top three scorers of her grade and the winner of various academic competitions. Last week she became the only student to be recommended by her school principal (校长) to Peking University.
She is 18-year-old Zhu Zhenhui of Haimen High School in Jiangsu, one of the 39 high schools from which Peking University will enroll students recommended by their principals next year.
Zhu stood out among more than 30 candidates(候选人), but not only for her excellent high school reports and test scores. More importantly, she has performed outstandingly in other areas, which the principal believes will not cause the least controversy (争议) among students and teachers.
Zhu loves public speaking, in both Chinese and English. Her eloquence (口才) and quick mind make her an obvious choice to introduce ceremonies and parties on campus. As a news reporter and broadcaster on her school's radio station, Zhu has a keen sense of current affairs. The young journalist interviewed Sophia Ming Ren Leung, the first female Chinese Canadian senator (议员), when the politician visited a Nanjing school where she once studied. In the same year, she won the opportunity to question Kaifu Lee when the former Google vice-president appeared at a talk show on a local TV station.
Every Sunday Zhu chairs a student union meeting, where she leads discussion on timetables, events and routine (例行) work for the following week. Under her are the ministers of the union's six departments. “The work has made me organized and decisive,” she said. On November 21, at the invitation of Zhu and other union members, the famous gymnast Huang Xu attended the opening ceremony of the school's Sports Festival.
Some girls dream of being a princess, but not Zhu. Her fantasy is to be a knight (侠士) in one of Louis Cha (Jin Yong)'s or Gu Long's works. Her online novel, in the Jianghu World, is a huge success under her pen name Ling Feng. In the 120,000-character story, a girl learns to be tolerant and positive after an accidental journey to the ancient world. A book of the same title came out in June. “I'm working on the sequel (续集),” she said.
1.Which of the following is NOT the correct description of Zhu Zhenhui?
A. An admired writer. B. An eloquent speaker.
C. A gifted dancer. D. A born leader.
2.As a leader of the student union, Zhu has done quite a lot of impressive work EXCEPT _______.
A. interviewing former vice-president of Google
B. leading discussion on routine work
C. helping organize major events in school
D. inviting gymnast Huang Xu to attend Sports Festival
3.What does the underlined word in the first paragraph mean?
A. quick in mind B. fast in action
C. speak quickly D. rapid in memorizing
4.What can be inferred from the passage?
A. Zhu learns to be tolerant and positive after leading the student union.
B. Zhu’s first novel which has 120,000 different characters has come out.
C. The school principal recommended Zhu to be enrolled in Peking University because it would cause the least controversy.
D. The first female Chinese Canadian senator is Zhu’s schoolmate.
阅读下面短文，从短文后各题所给的四个选项（A、B、C和D）中，选出可以填入空白处的最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
James’s New Bicycle
James shook his money box again. Nothing! He carefully 1the coins that lay on the bed.$24.52 were all that he had.The bicycle he wanted was at least $90! 2on earth was he going to get the 3of the money?
He knew that his friends all had bicycles. It was 4to hang around with people when you were the only one without wheels. He thought about what he could do. There was no 5asking his parents, for he knew they had no money to 6
There was only one way to get money, and that was to 7it. He would have to find a job. 8who would hire him and what could he do? He decided to ask Mr. Clay for advice, who usually had 9on most things.
That was the 10of James’s odd- job(零工) business. For three months he worked every day after finishing his homework. He was amazed by the 11of jobs that people found for him to do. He took dogs and babies for walks, cleared out cupboards, and mended books. He lost count of the 12of cars he washed and windows he cleaned, but the 13increased and he knew that he would soon have 14for the bicycle he longed for.
The day 15came when James counted his money and found $94.32. He 16no time and went down to the shop to pick up the bicycle he wanted. He rode 17home, looking forward to showing his new bicycle to his friends. It had been hard 18for the money, so James knew that he valued his bicycle far more 19he had bought it with his own money. He had 20what he thought was impossible, and that was worth even more than the bicycle.
1.A. cleaned B. covered C. counted D. checked
2.A. How B. Why C. Who D. What
3.A. amount B. part C. sum D. rest
4.A. brave B. hard C. smart D. unfair
5.A. point B. reason C. result D. right
6.A. split B. spend C. spare D. save
7.A. borrow B. earn C. raise D. collect
8.A. Or B. So C. For D. But
9.A. decisions B. experience C. opinions D. knowledge
10.A . beginning B. introduction C. requirement D. opening
11.A. similarity B. quality C. suitability D. variety
12.A. brand B. number C. size D. type
13.A. effort B. pressure C. money D. trouble
14.A. all B. enough C. much D. some
15.A. finally B. instantly C. normally D. regularly
16.A. gave B. left C. took D. wasted
17.A. patiently B. proudly C. silently D. tiredly
18.A. applying B. asking C. looking D. working
19.A. since B. if C. than D. though
20.A. deserved B. benefited C. achieved D. learned
