Students from Florida International University in Miami walked on water Thursday for a class assignment. To do it，they wore aquatic (水上的)shoes they designed and created.
Alex Quinones was the first to make it to the other side of a 175－foot lake on campus in record time—just over a minute. Quinones，who wore oversized boat－like shoes，also won last year and will receive $ 500.
Students had to wear the aquatic shoes and make it across the lake in order to earn an “A” on the assignment for Architecture Professor Jaime Canaves'Materials and Methods Construction Class.“It's traditional in a school of architecture to do boats out of cardboard for a boat race. I thought our students were a little bit more special than that，” Canaves said.“We decided to do the walk on water event to take it to the next level.”
A total of 79 students competed in the race this year in 41 teams. Only 10 teams failed to cross the lake. Others who fell got back up and made it to the end. The race is open to all students and anyone in the community. The youngest person to ever participate was a 9－year－old girl who competed in place of her mother，while the oldest was a 67－year－old female.
A large crowd on campus joined Canaves as he cheered on the racers. He shouted encouraging words，but also laughed as some unsteadily made their way to the end.
“A part of this is for them to have more understanding of designing and make it work better，” he said. It is also a lesson in life for the students.
“Anything，including walking on water，is possible，if you do the research，test it and go through the design process seriously.
1.Which statement about Alex Quinones is true ?
A. He finished the race in less than a minute.
B. He won the race with the help of 2 boats.
C. He failed the race last year.
D. He set a new record this year.
2.For what purpose did the students take part in the race?
A. To go across the lake to school.
B. To test their balance on the water.
C. To pass Professor Canaves' class.
D. To win the prize money of $ 500.
3.Which of the following is true about the race?
A. The students who fell into the water had to quit.
B. More than 20 teams failed to cross the lake.
C. The students kept silent when the other racers competed.
D. The youngest competitor competed instead of her mother.
4.According to Canaves，this race can help the students .
A. understand designing better
B. achieve almost everything
C. work together and unite as one
D. walk on the surface of water
BEIJING — Rising smartphone star Xiaomi is moving upmarket and taking aim at Apple's iPhone. The Chinese maker known for low-priced phones on Thursday unveiled (发布) a new model that Chairman Jun Lei said is comparable to Apple's iPhone 6 but thinner, lighter and much cheaper. The phone starts at 2, 299 yuan ($375), less than half the 5,288 yuan ($ 865) price of an iPhone 6 in China.
Xiaomi, founded in 2010, passed South Korea's Samsung Electronics Co. in the second quarter of last year as the best-selling smartphone brand in China by number of phones sold. The company is expanding into India and other developing markets but has yet to announce plans to enter the United States or Europe.
Xiaomi "is a respected brand that already has an Apple-like following" in China, said analyst Brian Blair, who tracks mobile device makers at Rosenblatt Securities. Apple is still a relatively small player in China, selling about 45 million iPhones there last year, Blair estimates, but will continue to grow.
"Apple is very much a premium (高端的) brand," said Blair. "The company that's more at risk is Samsung, which has been losing share in that market."
Privately held (私人控股的) Xiaomi said last year's sales tripled to 61. 1 million phones and revenue (收益) more than doubled to 74. 3 billion yuan ($12.2 billion). The company, based in Beijing, recently completed a round of fundraising from investors that it said valued Xiaomi at $ 45 billion, making it one of the world's most valuable technology brands.
Xiaomi ran into legal trouble in India in December after a court blocked sales while it hears a complaint by Sweden's LM Ericcson that the Chinese company violated its patents（专利）.
In a blog post earlier this month, Lei called the case a "rite of passage" (成年礼) for a young company.
1.Which of the following statements is true?
A. Xiaomi sold more cellphones than Samsung in 2010 in China.
B. Compared to Xiaomi, Apple's iPhone 6 is thinner and lighter.
C. Low-price is Xiaomi's advantage over Apple's iPhones.
D. The company is expanding into the United States or Europe.
2.What can be inferred from the passage according to Brian Blair?
A. More than 45 million iPhones will be sold this year.
B. Xiaomi can beat Apple in the market of China.
C. He thinks Xiaomi is superior to Apple.
D. Samsung will be closed for losing share in the market.
3.How is the 5th paragraph developed?
A. By giving examples.
B. By analyzing cause and effect.
C. By providing data.
D. By making comparisons.
4.What's the attitude of Jun Lei towards the case of Xiaomi in India?
A. Negative. B. Satisfied. C. Positive. D. Doubtful.
书面表达
假如你是学生会负责人，学校将在五月份与美国姊妹学校共同开展文化月活动，校报急需在学校内聘一位同学任英文版的编辑，请你用英文写一则招聘启事，并请感兴趣的同学于4月31日前与学生会联系。主要内容如下：
1.主要工作：
①从英文报刊杂志及互联网上选择有关中西方文化的文章；
②选择与编辑同学们的来稿。
2.应聘要求：
① 乐意奉献出一些业余时间为同学们服务；
② 英文与美术皆好；能熟练使用电脑。
注意：1. 词数100左右, 开头和结尾已给出，不计入总词数；
2. 可适当加入细节，以使充实、行文连贯，请勿提及真实学校名称。
A Cultural Month activity will be carried out in May between our school and our sister school in the USA.
The Students’ Union
阅读下面短文，并按照题目要求用英语回答问题。
When I was growing up, I was embarrassed to be seen with my father. He was severely lame and very short, and when we would walk together, his hand on my arm for balance, people would stare. I would feel ashamed at the unwanted attention. If he ever noticed or was bothered, he never let on, nor did he say anything about it.
It was difficult to coordinate(协调) our steps—his pausing, my impatience—and because of that, we didn’t say much as we went along. But as we started out, he always said, “You set the pace, I will try to adjust to you.”
Our usual walk was to or from the subway, which was how he got to work. He went to work sick, and despite bad weather. He almost never missed a day, and would make it to the office even if others could not. A matter of pride.
When snow or ice was on the ground, it was impossible for him to walk, even with help. At such times my sisters or I would pull him through the streets of Brooklyn, NY, on a child’s sleigh to the subway entrance. Once there, he would grasp the handrail until he reached the lower steps that the warmer tunnel air kept ice-free. In Manhattan the subway station was the basement of his office building, and he would not have to go outside until we met him in Brooklyn on his way home.
When I think of it now, I wondered at how much courage it must have taken for a grown man to subject himself to such indignity and stress. And at how he did it—without bitterness or complaint.
He never talked about himself as an object of pity, nor did he show any envy of the more fortunate or able. What he looked for in others was a “good heart”, and if he found one, the owner was good enough for him.
Now that I am older, I believe that is a proper standard by which to judge people, even though I still don’t know precisely what a “good heart” is. But I know the times I don’t have one myself.
My father has been gone many years now, but I think of him often. I wonder if he sensed my unwillingness to be seen with him during our walks. If he did, I am sorry I never told him how sorry I was, how unworthy I was, how I regretted it. I think of him when I complain about incident, when I am envious of another’s good fortune, when I don’t have a “good heart”.
At such times I put my hand on his arm to regain my balance, and say, “You set the pace, I will try to adjust to you.”
1.What wouldn’t the author like others to see?(No more than 10 words)
_________________________________________________________________________
2.What’s the meaning of the underlined phrase “let on” in the first paragraph? (No more than 5 words)
________________________________________________________________________
3.According to the third paragraph, what conclusion can you get about the father’s attitude toward his work? (No more than 8 words)
_________________________________________________________________________
4.Find an example in the passage that shows the father was a man with a “good heart”. (No more than10 words)
_________________________________________________________________________
5.What does the author learn from his father? (No more than 15 words)
_________________________________________________________________________
There’s no doubt that our character has a profound effect on our future. What we must remember, however, is not merely how powerful character is in influencing our fate (命运), but how powerful we are in shaping our own character and, therefore, our own fate. Character may determine our fate, but character is not determined by fate.
It’s a common mistake to think of character as something that is fully formed and fixed very early in life. It calls to mind old proverbs like “A leopard can’t change its spots” and “You can’t teach an old dog new tricks.”
This perspective that our character is “etched in stone” is supported by a great deal of modern psychology emphasizing self-acceptance. As Popeye says, “I am what I am.” The hidden message is:Don’t expect me to be more, better, or different.
Ultimately, these views of humanity totally undervalue the lifelong potential for growth that comes with the power of reflection and choice.
How depressing it would be to believe that we can’t choose to be better, more honest, more respectful, more responsible, and more caring. None of us should give up the personal seeking to improve our character. Not because we’re bad, we don’t have to be sick to get better , but because we’re not as good as we could be.
There are so many things in life we can’t control, whether we’re beautiful or smart, whether we had good parents or bad, whether we grew up with affirmation or negation. It’s inspiring to remember that nothing but moral will power is needed to make us better.
No, it isn’t easy. But if we make a great effort to become more aware of the habits of heart and mind that drive our behavior, we can begin to place new emphasis on our higher values so that we become what we want our children to think we are.
1.What is the best title of the passage?
A. We shape our own character.
B. Character determines our fate.
C. Character is fully formed and fixed.
D. We must meet what our children need.
2.The author agrees that _____________.
A. a leopard can't change its spots
B. in life we must attach importance to self-acceptance
C. we shouldn’t expect us to be more different
D. character is not fully formed and fixed very early
3.In the author’s opinion, which of the following is TRUE?
A. We can’t choose to be better.
B. We should seek to improve our character for we’re bad enough.
C. We should value our lifelong potential for growth.
D. We should make choices constantly.
4.What do we need to improve ourselves according to the author?
A. Our smartness. B. Our will power.
C. Our fate. D. Our character.
5.What can we infer from the passage?
A. It is not difficult to improve ourselves.
B. We must try our best to be as good as possible.
C. Our children should copy our behavior.
D. We should control as many things as possible in life.
Researchers around the world have been trying their hand at making better use of the huge amount of wind energy available in nature to produce clean energy. Apart from this, studies are being carried out to harness(利用) usable wind energy produced by man-made technologies.
One useful source identified by Indian inventor Santosh Pradhan about two years ago is a speeding train, which produces fierce wind that can be transformed into electricity.
According to Pradhan’s proposal, with a few small improvements in existing trains running in Mumbai, the largest city in India, at least 10,000 megawatts(兆瓦) of electricity could be harvested each day.
Building on this principle, designers Ale Leonetti Luparinia and Qian Jiang from Yanko Design have created a device(装置) called T-Box that harnesses wind energy from speeding trains.
T-Box can be placed within the railway tracks. It is half-buried underground between the concrete sleepers(水泥枕木), which does not disturb the normal train operating at all. According to Yanko, around 150 T-Boxes can be fitted along a 1,000-meter railway track.
A train running at a speed of 200 kph can produce winds blowing at 15 miles a second. Based on this calculation, 150 T-Boxes can produce 2.6 KWH of electricity per day. The T-Box’s design won a silver medal in last year’s Lite-On Awards and was exhibited last summer at the Xue Xue Institute in Taipei, Taiwan Province.
Though the figures look impressive, it is important to remember that the design is still at a conceptual stage and hasn’t taken into account issues such as pieces of waste material produced by the device and the efforts and costs involved in the maintenance(维护) of the device.
We can expect the technology to see the light of the day only after it clears these issues. If so, rail travel, one of the greenest forms of travel, will become greener and more energy-efficient.
1.What can we learn about T-Box?
A. It will be fitted on the trains.
B. It is based on Pradhan’s idea.
C. It can turn electricity into light.
D. It was invented by an Indian scientist.
2.How much electricity can be produced per day by T-Boxes along a railway track of 100km?
A. 260 KWH. B. 2.6 KWH.
C. 150 KWH. D. 1.5 KWH.
3. It can be concluded from the last two paragraphs that ______.
A. T-Box has proved to be effective in harvesting wind
B. the maintenance of T-Box will be costly
C. there is much to do about T-Box
D. T-Box will come into use soon
4.According to the passage, which of the following statements is TRUE?
A. The Indian inventor Santosh Pradhan invented the speeding train.
B. The T-Box’s design won a silver medal in Lite-On Awards last year.[来源:Z
C. Rail travel has become one of the energy-efficient technologies in the world.
D. The India harvests 10,000 megawatts of electricity each day on average.
5.The passage is mainly written to _______.
A. encourage more people to travel by train
B. explain the advantages of electricity
C. tell readers how to save energy and money
D. introduce a new invention to readers
