It took 100 years, but finally, scientists, from CalTech, MIT and the LIGO Scientific Collaboration, proved Albert Einstein's theory that gravitational(引力的) waves exist. The waves were predicted as part of Einstein's General Theory of Relativity nearly 100 years ago. It was the theory of the physics behind the workings of our world and the universe. The idea was that the waves are like ripples in space, caused by some of the violent and energetic processes in the Universe. For example, two black holes crashing into each other.
What are these gravitational waves? Well, imagine throwing a rock into a pond. When the rock hits the flat surface of the water, it creates ripples or waves. Space time is like the surface of the water. So that means gravitational waves are like the ripples moving out from where the rock hits the water. It might be hard to understand, but those gravitational waves expand and contract space and time as they move through space. And when they get to the Earth, the waves pass through, and contract and expand the planet as the wave goes by.
It was Einstein who said these gravitational waves should be observable. But these are not huge waves. They are very, very small, which is why it took so long to find them. You cannot see them with your eyes. They are smaller than the size of an atom.
How did the scientists find them? For years, scientists have been watching two black holes in another galaxy faraway with the help of the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory. The two were spinning around each other, moving closer and closer together. When they finally crashed into each other, it was with such power and force, that gravitational waves rang throughout the universe, like a giant bell. Those waves, traveling at the speed of light, finally reached the Earth, some 1.3 billion years later. They are the same waves that the scientists announced this past week.
The National Science Foundation tweeted that each of the black holes was thought to be 29 to 36 times the mass of our sun. So, what does this discovery mean? Abhay Ashtekar, a Penn State physicist, who was not on the discovery team, said: "Our understanding of the heavens changed dramatically."
1.According to the 1st paragraph, we can learn that_______.
A. gravitational waves were part of Einstein's General Theory of Relativity
B. scientists proved that gravitational waves existed 100 years ago
C. gravitational waves were the theory of the physics behind the universe
D. gravitational waves result from two black holes crashing into each other
2.From the passage we can know that the gravitational waves______.
A. are not supposed to be observed.
B. are very huge.
C. are easy to be found.
D. can’t be seen with our eyes.
3.Why did scientists spend years watching two black holes?
A. Because they wanted to see how the two black holes crashed into each other.
B. Because they wanted to find the gravitational waves.
C. Because they wanted to see the gravitational waves reach the Earth.
D. Because they wanted to know how black holes formed.
4.What can we infer from the passage?
A. The discovery has no relation to Albert Einstein's theory
B. Throwing a rock into a pond can generate gravitational waves
C. The discovery will considerably affect people’s understanding of universe
D. gravitational waves can’t contract and expand the Earth
Aqeela Asifi, who fled to Pakistan as a young woman, has spent her life teaching other Afghan refugees.
For her efforts, Ms. Asifi, who is 49, has won the 2015 UNHCR Nansen Refugee Award. She also gets $100,000 to help pay for her education projects. The UNHCR Nansen Refugee Award honors extraordinary service to people who have been forced from their homes. Eleanor Roosevelt, Graca Machel and Luciano Pavarotti are some of the other winners of the award.
Asifi faced many problems in Afghanistan before she fled to Pakistan. Resources were limited and education for women was discouraged. However, in Pakistan, the 49-year-old was able to bring change to her conservative Afghan community. She persuaded parents to send their daughters to school in a tent at the Kot Chandana refugee village. The village was in the Punjab Province of Pakistan.
Since then, Ms. Asifi has guided more than a thousand refugee girls through their primary education. “When I began my mission to educate Afghan girls, I could not have imagined that one day it will win me this award. I cannot express my happiness,” she told VOA.
Ms. Asifi was a teacher in Kabul when she fled with her family in 1992. “In Afghanistan I was teaching both boys and girls,” she told VOA. “When I left Afghanistan and ended up in this refugee village with my family, I was saddened to find out there were no facilities here, particularly for women and girls.” They made their home in the distant refugee community in Kot Chandana. There she began teaching a small number of students in her tent. She made teaching materials by hand.
Her tent school has led to the opening of several permanent schools in the village. These schools teach more than one thousand children. Support from the UNHCR, local government, and non-governmental organizations helped make these new schools possible.
Ms. Asifi is a mother of six children. She has worked hard to pay for their education. She spends almost all her income to pay her son’s tuition to study engineering at Kabul University.
But seeking higher education for her four daughters is difficult. There is not enough money or secondary schools for girls in the village.
The Afghan teacher hopes more and more children will receive an education in Afghanistan. She hopes her home country becomes better known for higher levels of education, instead of war. “I want my goal to be introduced in parts of Afghanistan where conservative traditions and customs still prevent parents from sending their daughters to outdoor schools,” she said.
1.According to the passage, Asifi was able to win the 2015 UNHCR Nansen Refugee award mainly because________.
A. she suffered a lot more than other refugees who fled to Pakistan
B. she was the kindest person all over the world
C. she witnessed the cruelest event when she was in Afghanistan
D. she made great contributions to refugees despite leaving her homeland
2.Which of the following is TRUE about Asifi’s experiences?
A. Before she fled to Afghanistan, she had been a teacher in Pakistan.
B. Asifi succeeded in changing attitudes of Afghan refugees toward girl education.
C. Asifi determined to win the award when she began to educate Afghan girls.
D. All the materials needed for teaching were borrowed.
3.What can be inferred from the passage?
A. Resources were unlimited and education for women was encouraged before Asifi fled to Pakistan.
B. Eleanor Roosevelt, Graca Machel and Luciano Pavarotti all fled to other countries from Afghanistan.
C. Asifi’s daughters can enjoy equal opportunities like their brothers to receive higher education at university.
D. Asifi still treats her own country with great affection though living as a refugee in another country.
With online courses, anyone can acquire knowledge in any field of interest for free. All you need is a computer, laptop or Smart phone, internet connection and a self-made schedule. You can even get a certificate on completing the course.
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Skillfeed If you are looking to learning a new skill, or improving on your skills in Photoshop, or HTML, it offers unlimited access to high-quality video courses from a worldwide community of instructors. You have a month’s free trial, after which you will pay a monthly fee to gain unlimited access to all courses. See more at https://skillfeed.com |
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UC Berkeley It offers courses in bio-engineering, Japanese, legal studies and public health. Since they are recordings of actual lectures, they lack lecture notes and extra materials. However, each course has audio recordings of lectures via iTunes or video recordings of lectures via YouTube. Learn more at https://ucberkeley.com |
1.Learners who choose Skillfeed need to ________.
A. equip themselves with the ability to use the computer
B. pay some fee if they want to continue after a month
C. have some knowledge of the design of website
D. learn to upload their own high-quality video
2.We can learn from the passage that Academic Earth ________.
A. charges learners nothing for any course
B. has many lectures given by 8,500 lecturers
C. provides college courses mainly to young men
D. offers college courses at the learners’ convenience
3.If you want to improve your skill of Japanese language, you can visit ________.
A. https://skillfeed.com
B. https://ucberkeley.com
C. https://udemy.com
D. https://iTunesU.com
完型填空
阅读下面短文，掌握其大意，然后从1—20各题所给的A,B,C,D四个选项中选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
When you are five years old, your mother is your everything. She is your______ , friend, nurse; the only person you rely on ______with your hopes, dreams, and wishes. But for me, this was not the case.
My mother suffered from ______ problems that would keep her in bed for days, leaving me to care for her and look after myself. This situation ______ me to grow up much faster. While I knew my mother was sick, I felt deep down that we could ______ it and everything would be okay. ______ , in 1997 everything went terribly wrong, and my life changed forever.
Adoption is a______ word to a five-year-old, but when I realized that my own mother had signed me over to ______, I felt it was the worst betrayal. I suffered from shock, anger, and confusion as I attempted to adjust to my new family. No longer could I trust anyone since the person I had loved more than all else had______me. Hearing people tell me that she did it in my best interest, I felt it even more ______ . I could not forgive her and always______ how she could reject me like an old sofa.
However, the more I got older, the more I began to understand how______ our situation had been. We had been ______ on boxes of noodles, and at one point we ______ lived in our car. I was once passed from drug-addicted cousins to mentally unstable neighbors as my mother ______ to try and save me from what our lives were becoming______ each day passed.
______ recently have I began to understand why my mother gave me to strangers. ______ , she really did save me. She loved me more than anything, so she wanted me to have a chance in life, ______ she could no longer offer me. I now know my life has been a special ______ only because she was selfless enough to give me up.
1.A. hostess B. candidate C. provider D. colleague
2.A. mainly B. completely C. gradually D. occasionally
3.A. moral B. social C. psychological D. physical
4.A. inspired B. convinced C. motivated D. forced
5.A. stick to B. flee from C. decide on D. get through
6.A. Otherwise B. Meanwhile C. However D. Therefore
7.A. familiar B. negative C. simple D. foreign
8.A. cousins B. servicemen C. neighbors D. strangers
9.A. applied B. abandoned C. allocated D. avoided
10.A. unavailable B. unfortunate C. unbelievable D. unacceptable
11.A. imagined B. wondered C. remembered D. questioned
12.A. ridiculous B. urgent C. hopeless D. complex
13.A. focusing B. working C. acting D. surviving
14.A. also B. even C. still D. yet
15.A. fought B. learnt C. hesitated D. tended
16.A. with B. before C. as D. once
17.A. Until B. Specially C. Only D. Especially
18.A. In the long run B. Time and again C. For quite a while D. All at once
19.A. that B. one C. the one D. what
20.A. gift B. fact C. test D. deal
—Do you mind choosing Peter to be the new chairman?
—________.
A. Of course. He is the best choice
B. Certainly not. We can’t find a better one
C. Yes, I do. He is the most suitable person
D. No, I don’t. I don’t think he is the suitable person
________ these messages always seem important at the time, most people can’t really remember them the next day.
A. Now that B. Unless C. While D. Since
