When we heard that our friend astronaut Gregory Chamitorff was going to be on board the last flight of the space shuttle Endeavour, we asked him if he would answer some questions from space. He said yes!
Here are our questions and Greg’s answers from space.
What’s the best thing about being in space?
Zero-gravity（失重） is by far the best thing about being in space. It does not really mean that there is no gravity. It means that we are moving around Earth in the same way the space station is moving around Earth. So we are floating inside the space station.
We travel around Earth once every 90 minutes. That’s 16 sunrises and sunsets every day. Really fast!
Inside the station, we can fly around like superman. It’s an amazing feeling, and I hope everyone gets a chance to fly in space someday to experience the wonder of zero-gravity.
What do you do for fun in the space shuttle?
There are so many things you can do in zero-gravity that are fun. Flying around is fun. Eating food that floats is fun.
I like to play like Superman and see how far I can fly without touching any walls. Another fun thing is to play with water. Most of all, the most exciting thing to do is to look out the window at our beautiful planet Earth below. You never get tired of seeing it like that, the way it really is and it can never be seen that way while standing on its surface.
What’s the coolest thing about being on a spacewalk?
Wow! Doing a spacewalk is cool. There is nothing more wonderful than floating in space in your own space suit. It’s amazing, and when you are doing a spacewalk, you are “out there” just floating in empty space, like the earth, like the moon, like the sun, like the space station. It’s not science fiction. It’s real.
1. Why does Greg think doing a spacewalk is the coolest thing?
A. He can wear his own space suit then.
B. He can see the moon when doing that.
C. He can see the earth by doing so.
D. He thinks it’s great flying in empty space.
2.Which of the following best shows how Greg feels?
A. Frightened B. Excited C. Sad D. Surprised
3.What can we know from the text?
A. Greg thinks doing a spacewalk is science fiction.
B. Greg floats inside the space station without gravity.
C. Everyone has the chance to experience the wonder of zero-gravity.
D. In the space shuttle, Greg can see the shape of the whole earth clearly.
In the famous fairy tale, Snow White eats the Queen’s apple and falls victim to a curse; in Shakespeare’s novel, Romeo drinks the poison and dies; some ancient Chinese kings took pills that contained mercury, believing that it would make them immortal, but they died afterwards.
Poison has long been an important part in literature and history, and it seems to always be about evil, danger and death. But how much do you really know about poison?
An exhibition, The Power of Poison, opened last month at the American Museum of Natural History in New York, intended to give the audience a more vivid understanding of poison. The exhibition will continue until Feb. 2016, reported The New York Times.
The museum tour starts in a rainforest setting, where you can see live examples of some of the most poisonous animals: caterpillars, frogs and spiders. Golden poison frogs, for instance, aren’t much bigger than a coin, but their skin is covered in a poison that can cut off the signaling power of your nerves, and a single frog has enough venom to kill 10 grown humans.
The exhibition also features interactive activities. In an iPad-based game, visitors are presented with three puzzling illnesses and asked to identify the poisons based on symptoms. In one case, for example, a pet dog is found sick in a backyard and visitors have to figure out whether it was the toad (蟾蜍), the leaky batteries in the trash or the dirty pond water that did it.
“Poisons can be bad for some things,” Michael Novacek, senior vice president of the museum, told NBC News. “Yet they can also be good for others.”
This is what visitors learn from the last part of the exhibition, which displays how poisons can be used favorably by humans, including for medical treatment.
The blood toxins of vampire bats, for example, can prevent blood from clotting (凝结), which may protect against strokes. A poisonous chemical found in the yew tree is effective against cancer, which is what led to the invention of a cancer-fighting drug called Taxol. One chemical in the venom of Gila monsters can lower the blood sugar of its victims, so it has been used to treat diabetes.
1.By mentioning Snow White and Romeo at the beginning of the story, the author intends to ______.
A. show that poison has long been involved in literature
B. show that poison is always linked with evil and death
C. draw readers’ attention to the topic of the article
D. get readers to think of more examples of the use of poison in stories
2.The underlined word immortal probably means?
A. Live forever. B. Happy. C. Confused D. Famous
3.What is the main purpose of the exhibition The Power of Poison?
A. To give people more knowledge about poison.
B. To teach people how to handle poisonous animals.
C. To inform people about which animals are the most poisonous.
D. To show how poison has been used for medical treatment.
4.Which of the following statements about the exhibition is TRUE according to the article?
A. The exhibition will lead visitors to a real rainforest.
B. Golden poison frogs are the most poisonous animals on display.
C. Those who visit the exhibition can join in some iPad-based interactive games.
D. Visitors can listen to lectures on recent studies of poisonous animals.
My house is made out of wood, glass and stone. It is also made out of software.
If you come to visit, you'll probably be surprised when you come in. Someone will give you an electronic PIN (个人身份号码) to wear. This PIN tells the house who and where you are. The house uses this information to give you what you need. When it's dark outside, the PIN turns on the lights nearest to you, and then turns them off as you walk away from them. Music moves with you too. If the house knows your favorite music, it plays it. The music seems to be everywhere, but in fact other people in the house hear different music or no music. If you get a telephone call, only the nearest telephone rings.
Of course, you are also able to tell the house if you want something. There is a home control console(控制台), a small machine that turns things on and off around you.
The PIN and the console are new ideas, but they are in fact like many things we have today. If you want to go to a movie, you need a ticket. If I give you my car keys, you can use my car. The car works for you because you have the keys. My house works for you because you wear the PIN or hold the console.
I believe that ten years from now, most new homes will have the systems that I've put in my house. The systems will probably be even bigger and better than the ones I've put in today.
I like to try new ideas. I know that some of my ideas will work better than others. But I hope that one day I will stop thinking of these systems as new, and ask myself instead, "How will I live without them?"
1. What does the passage mainly discuss?
A. How to develop a new system.
B. The function of the PIN.
C. A home for the future.
D. Easy life in the future.
2.What can’t be done in the writer’s new house according to the passage?
A. Turning on the lights. B. Going swimming.
C. Getting a telephone call. D. Playing music.
3. The writer's new house is different from ordinary ones mainly because _______.
A. it has your favorite music following you
B. you can make a telephone call anywhere
C. the writer is able to change his new idea into practice
D. it has been controlled by computers
4.What is the writer most likely to be according to the passage?
A. An IT expert B. A famous doctor
C. An idealist D. An experienced teacher
That woman carried a new blanket over her arm. Wordlessly, she gave it to me.
“Is it finished?” I asked.
She shook her head. “No. It is ready,” she replied. I handed her the money and took the blanket.
“It is beautiful, so skillfully woven(编织）,” I said to my mother. “But what did she mean when she said it was not finished? How can it be ready if it is not finished?”
“I will tell you later,” my mother said, “but first I will take you to the Navajo village.”
We went down to the village. A group of young men were making sand pictures. We walked through the whole village, watching the different things the people were doing.
It was not until that evening that my mother finally explained the Navajo woman’s words.
“Did you notice anything about the things the people were making?” my mother asked.
“What should I have noticed?” I looked at her and asked.
“Each thing the Navajo make has one small part that is not complete. The designs in their sand pictures are often not perfectly done, for example---the line of a circle may not quite close. If you look carefully at your blanket, you will probably find a stitch(一针）missing.”
I took the blanket off, but it looked as perfect as any design could be. Then suddenly, I noticed that sure enough a stitch was missing!
“But why do the Navajo intentionally leave some tiny part unfinished?” I asked.
“They believe that when anything is completed or finished, it means the end has come--it will not be perfect until then. Then too, with a circle, they believe that they must leave a pathway for the bad spirits to run away and the good spirits to come in. So, often, they do not make the line close.”
1. The blanket the author received_____ .
A. was poorly woven.
B. made her think a lot.
C. cost her a lot of money.
D. was finished, but not ready.
2. Why was the author shown around the village?
A. To buy more things made by the Navajo.
B. To make friends with some of the Navajo.
C. To have a deeper understanding of the Navajo.
D. To look for the woman who sold her the blanket.
3.Which of the following may the Navajo believe?
A. A stitch in time is very important.
B. Life only becomes perfect when you die.
C. He who makes no mistake is a perfect man.
D. You must always try to make your life complete.
4.What’s the main idea of the text?
A. The Navajo are good at making things.
B. The Navajo are brave and hard-working.
C. A blanket tells a lot about the Navajo culture.
D. Skills are needed to do business with the Navajo.
书面表达
假如你是李华，你校学生会将为来访的美国学生们举办一个晚会，要在学校广播中宣布此事，并欢迎大家参加。为使美国学生听懂，请你用英语写一篇广播通知。
要点如下:
目的: 欢迎来访的美国学生
组织者:学生会
时间:2月18日(星期六)晚7:30
地点: 一楼报告厅
活动内容:音乐,跳舞.唱歌,游戏,交换小礼品
注意：1. 词数： 不少于100词 ；
2. 可根据内容要点适当增加细节，以使行文连贯；
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短文改错
假定英语课上老师要求同桌之间交换修改作文，请你修改你同桌写的作文。文中共有10处语言错误，每句中最多有两处。每处错误仅涉及一个单词的增加、删除或修改。
增加：在缺词处加一个漏字符号 (∧) ，并在其下面写出该加的词。
删除：把多余的词用斜线 (\) 划掉。
修改：在错的词下画一横线，并在该词下面写出修改后的词。
注意：1. 每处错误及其修改均仅限一词。
2. 只允许修改10处，多者 (从第11处起) 不计分。
I was from Detroit in the United States. During his senior year in high school I win a scholarship to study singing in London. I went there in summer, and I stayed with someone’s home. People there were very sweetly, and it was a really fun summer. I got the inside view of that it’s like to live there. I loved it but one thing that surprising me was that people had to go to such many different stores to do their shopping. There was also a lot of differences in language. They said things like “ring you up” instead of “give you a call.” It took me a little while figure out these differences. So it was fun.
