A Battery’s Nightmare
Portable electronics that can be carried about easily are only as good as their batteries (电池) and, let’s face it, batteries aren’t very good, especially when compared with, say, petrol, which packs 100 times a battery’s energy into an equal space. That’s why a large group of mechanical engineers (centered at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, but with partners at other universities and companies) are hard at work in an effort to replace batteries with a tiny engine that runs on fuel. Imagine a battery-free life! When the fuel runs out in your mobile phone, you just fill up and go.
The engine---about the size of a ten-cent coin---starts with a combustion chamber (燃烧室) that burns hydrogen. Its tiny parts are etched (蚀刻) onto silicon wafers (硅片) in the same manner that computer parts are etched onto integrated circuits (集成电路). The first engine is made up of five wafers. And since these wafers could be produced in much the same way as computer chips, they could probably be produced quite cheaply.
But the devil in all this nice detail is efficiency. Tiny engine parts don’t always behave like the bigger parts of the first engine. Something between the parts can slow down the works, according to Columbia University Professor LucFrechette, one of the engine’s designers. Extreme heat from the combustion chamber is also a problem, often leaking to other parts of the engine.
The scientists’ goal is to create an engine that will operate 10 times better than batteries operate. Frechette says that a complete system, with all parts in place and working, will be set up in the next couple of years, but commercial models aren’t likely until at least the end of the next ten years.
1.According to the passage, the title suggests that _______ .
A. batteries should be greatly improved
B. petrol will be used instead of batteries
C. the time of batteries will be gone forever
D. pollution problems caused by batteries must be solved
2.What’s the meaning of the underlined word “devil” in paragraph 3?
A. Problem B. Advantage C. Invention D. Technique
3.What can we infer from the passage?
A. The new invention doesn’t need any fuel.
B. The new engine has been produced in large quantities.
C. The new invention is much cheaper than the battery.
D. The new engine needs to be improved before it’s on sale.
Dear mommy and daddy,
I write this letter to you in hopes that you should consider your method of parenting me before I arrive. I am a joyous child. I expect love and respect, order and discipline. When I arrive, I will seem very small to you. Even though I don’t look like an adult, please understand that I am a human being.
Even though I will not speak words to you, I will know you with my heart. I will feel all your feelings, absorb your thoughts. I will come to know you more than you may know yourself. Do not be misled (误导) by my silence. I am open, growing and learning more rapidly than you can imagine.
I will keep in heart all that I see, so please give me sweet music and language that tells me how much I am loved. Give me silence to rest my ears. I will absorb all that I feel, so please wrap life in love.
I am waiting patiently to be with you. I am so happy to have the opportunity to be alive. Maybe when you see me you will remember how precious life is too!
Your joyous child
1.According to the letter, why did the child write this letter?
A. Because the child wanted to apologize to its parents.
B. Because the child wanted the parents to consider the method of being parents.
C. Because the child expressed the happiness of having such parents.
D. Because the child wanted to show how much it understood its parents.
2.According to the text, we can infer the “child” is in fact _______ .
A. a lovely boy B. a joyous child
C. an unborn baby D. a lovely girl
3.The child in the text required all the following EXCEPT that ________ .
A. it should be looked on as a human being
B. it would like to be loved by its parents
C. it wanted to be with the parents an soon as possible
D. it wanted a place full of beautiful music and love language
4.The letter is likely to be printed in the part of ______ in a magazine.
A. “Baby’s world” B. “Current news”
C. “Young parent center” D. “Science and our life”
阅读下面短文,掌握其大意,然后从每题所给的四个选项(A、B、C和D)中,选出最佳选项。
School was over and I felt quite tired. I sat at the very 1.of the crowded bus because of my anxiety to get home. Sitting there makes me 2.out like a shiny coin in a pile of dull pennies.
Janie, the 3. tries to break the uncomfortable atmosphere by striking the match of 4.. I tried to mind my manners and 5.listen, but usually I am too busy thinking about my day. On this day, 6., her conversation was worth listening to.
“My father’s sick,” she said to no one in 7. I could see the anxiety and fear in her eyes. “What’s wrong with him?” I asked. With her eyes wet and her voice tight from 8. the tears, she answered, “Heart trouble.” Her eyes 9. as she continued. “I’ve already lost my mum, so I don’t think I can stand losing him.”
I was 10. My heart ached for her. And this reminded me of the great 11.that my own mother was thrown into when her father died. I saw how hard it was, and 12. is, for her. I wouldn’t like anyone to 13.that.
Suddenly I realized Janie wasn’t only a bus driver. That was 14.her job. She had a whole world of 15.and concerns, too. I suddenly felt very selfish. I realized I had only thought of people as 16.as what their purposes were in my life. I paid no attention to Janie17. she was a bus driver. I had 18. her by her job and brushed her off as unimportant.
For all I know, I’m just another person in 19. else’s world, and may not even be 20. . I should not have been so selfish and self-centered. Everyone has places to go, people to see and appointment to keep. Understanding people is an art.
21.A. front B. end C. side D. middle
22.A. find B. take C. think D. stand
23. A. doctor B. driver C. teacher D. assistant
24. A. fire B. topic C. conversation D. discussion
25.A. politely B. slightly C. carelessly D. partly
26.A. however B. therefore C. instead D. otherwise
27.A. surprise B. particular C. silence D. purpose
28.A. fighting B. turning C. clearing D. protecting
29.A. opened B. shone C. closed D. lowered
30. A. recognized B. worried C. shocked D. excited
31. A. victory B. pain C. respect D. disappointment
32.A. away B. seldom C. still D. never
33.A. pick up B. work out C. go though D. get down
34.A. almost B. nearly C. ever D. just
35.A. family B. factory C. school D. friend
36.A far B. long C. much D. well
37.A. while B. because C. though D. until
38.A. criticized B. received C. considered D. judged
39. A. everyone B. anyone C. someone D. nobody
40.A. happy B. wise C. useful D. important
—John and I will celebrate our fortieth wedding anniversary next month.
—Oh, _________!
A. cheer up B. well done C. go ahead D. congratulations
_____ I admit that there are problems, I don't' think that they cannot be solved.
A. Unless B. Until C. As D. While
As your instructor(教师) advised, you ought to spend your time on something ____ researching into.
A. precious B. worth C. worthy D. valuable
