The smallest kids on Earth are much smaller than you or your baby brother or sister. They’re even smaller than the hairs on your head. We call them “NanoPutians”(纳米小人). Also known as NanoKids, the NanoPutians aren’t real people. They are actually tiny molecules (分子) made to look a little bit like people.
James Tour invented the NanoPutians as a way to teach kids about nanoscience, which refers to the study of things that are smaller than about 100 or 200 nanometers. “The exact size is less important than the possible applications of working with such tiny things,” Tour says, “Nanoscience is the study and development of the small so that it will affect the large.”
One of the goals of the research is to control individual atoms. Carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, and other types of atoms are the building blocks of the universe. They make up planets, rocks, people, trees, CDs --- all the stuff out there. “Most things that people build come together in a top-down way”, Tour says. If you want to make a table, for instance, you cut down a big tree, make wooden boards, and hammer them together. Nature, on the other hand, builds things from the bottom up. When atoms join together they make molecules. Each molecule has a certain shape, and a molecule’s structure determines what it can do. Molecules can make them come together to make a cell --- or a tree.
Tour and his co-workers turned these molecular structures into cartoon figures and made an animated(动画的) science video about the little people, set it to music and started showing it to kids in school while talking about how exciting research on small things can be.
“Learning about the NanoKids has opened up a world of possibility for real kids who ordinarily would rather not study biology, chemistry or physics.” Tour says. When you look closely enough, the really small can be really cool.
1.What is the purpose of inventing NanoKids?
A. To clone two really similar children.
B. To arouse kids’ attention of the scientific world.
C. To know more about the top-down way.
D. To keep up with the development of nanotechnology.
2.How did Tour introduce the research on small things to kids?
A. By producing wonderful music.
B. By performing a play acted by kids.
C. By making animated science videos.
D. By turning molecular structures into little kids.
3.Which section of a newspaper is the text probably from?
A. Science. B. Economy.
C. History. D. Entertainment.
The World’s Unusual Libraries
Log Libraries
Alex Johnson writes in his new book—Improbable Libraries,“ The very idea of a library is developing:many of these libraries operate on principles that differ mainly from the traditional libraries. Some, for example, have no membership or identification requirements, and some do not even request that the books be returned.” The oversized bird box in a park in Lowa is part of the Little Free Library Movement, which was established in Wisconsin in 2009.
Phone Booths
This design from the firm, Stereotank, offers browsing shelter for passers-by. In the UK, a phone company’s programme, allowing communities to take over their phone booth for £ 1— means that many have been changed into tiny local libraries. Meanwhile , a solar light has been set in a phone booth so that late night visitors can still read.
Branches of Knowledge
Didier Muller’s libraries operate as hanging libraries: visitors can look through pages, taking any book they choose and exchanging it with their own. The equipment of hanging wooden houses is one of several art projects serving as a booklover’ s place.
Soundproofed Pods
Around the world, architects are designing buildings that bend bricks-and-mortar libraries into new forms. The Seikei University Library in Japan—the vision of Pritzker Prize winner Shigeru Ban—contains space-age soundproofed (隔音的) pods to encourage discussions between students.
1.What does Alex Johnson mean according to the first paragraph?
A. All the books must be returned in time. B. Books can be shared free of charge.
C. Libraries will disappear in the future. D. Log Libraries are bigger than traditional ones.
2.Readers can exchange books with their own in ______
A. Log Libraries B. Phone Booths
C. Branches or Knowledge D. Soundproofed Pods
3.What can we know from the text?
A. Communities turn the phone booths into Log Libraries.
B. Readers can’t read books in Log Libraries without membership.
C. Readers can read books by solar light in Branches or Knowledge.
D. Students can have discussions without disturbing others in Soundproofed Pods.
假如你是学校学生会主席，请你以学校学生会的名义给全校学生写一封倡议书，主题为"校园拒绝零食"
要点提示如下：
1．目前学校里学生吃零食现象很严重，有些同学每天花很多钱买零食吃；
2．吃零食是一种浪费；
3．大多数零食是不健康食品，容易使人发胖，甚至生病；
4．有些同学乱扔包装袋；
作为高中生，我们应当养成良好的饮食习惯，拒绝零食
注意：
1．词数100左右，格式已为你写好；
2．内容可适当发挥，注意行文连贯．
参考词汇：现象phenomenon零食snacks包装袋wrapper
Dear fellow students，
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
The Students'Union．
短文改错
Dear Ron，
I am very exciting to hear that you are coming to our school soon．Now let me to introduce our school to you．Our school is a very famously school with long history．We have many experienced teachers and excellent equipments． There are two teaching buildings； one is for seniors and the others is for juniors．There are two lab buildings or a library．Except Chinese，maths，English，physics and chemistry，we have some optional courses．The students can choose that they like to attend．We love our school．I am looking forward to meet you soon．
Yours sincerely，
Li Hua
语法填空
A man looking at his Smartphone while walking across a railway1. （have） a close knock on Oct 22．He was so2.（ absorb） in his Smartphone that he didn't see a train approaching until it brushed past him，3.（throw） him to the ground．This should serve4.a warning that people should be aware of their surroundings，especially5.crossing roads．6.（lucky），the man survived，but the incident forced the driver 7.（stop） the train．An l8-minute delay followed the incident，8.led to a break in the running of other trains on the route．
The Smartphone9.（ addict） has spread like an infectious disease．It's evident that it will do great harm to society．What's even10.（bad），some addicts become impatient with relatives and friends．Some people blame the Smartphone for the sad story，yet in fact people's weakening self-control and self-discipline are to blame．
In our modern world, when something wears out, we throw it away and buy a new one. The ___ is that countries around the world have growing mountains of ___ because people are throwing out more rubbish than ever before.
How did we ___ a throwaway society? First of all, it is now easier to ___ an object than to spend time and money to repair it. ___ modern manufacturing(制造业)and technology, companies are able to produce products quickly and inexpensively. Products are plentiful and ___.
Another cause is our ___of disposable(一次性的)products. As ___ people, we are always looking for ___ to save time and make our lives easier. Companies ____ thousands of different kinds of disposable products:paper plates, plastic cups, and cameras, to name a few.
Our appetite for new products also ____ to the problem. We are ____ buying new things. Advertisements persuade us that ____ is better and that we will be happier with the latest products. The result is that we ____ useful possessions to make room for new ones.
All around the world, we can see the ____ of this throwaway lifestyle. Mountains of rubbish just keep getting bigger. To ____ the amount of rubbish and to protect the ____, more governments are requiring people to recycle materials. ____, this is not enough to solve(解决)our problem.
Maybe there is another way out. We need to repair our possessions ____ throwing them away. We also need to rethink our attitudes about ____. Repairing our possessions and changing our spending habits may be the best way to reduce the amount of rubbish and take care of our environment.
1.A. key B. reason C. project D. problem
2.A. gifts B. rubbish C. debt D. products
3.A. face B. become C. observe D. change
4.A. hide B. control C. replace D. withdraw
5.A. Thanks to B. As to C. Except for D. Regardless of
6.A. safe B. funny C. cheap D. powerful
7.A. love B. lack C. prevention D. division
8.A. sensitive B. kind C. brave D. busy
9.A. ways B. places C. jobs D. friends
10.A. donate B. receive C. produce D. preserve
11.A. adapts B. returns C. responds D. contributes
12.A. tired of B. addicted to C. worried about D. ashamed for
13.A. newer B. stronger C. higher D. larger
14.A. pick up B. pay for C. hold onto D. throw away
15.A. advantages B. purposes C. functions D. consequences
16.A. show B. record C. decrease D. measure
17.A. technology B. environment C. consumers D. brands
18.A. However B. Otherwise C. Therefore D. Meanwhile
19.A. by B. in favour of C. after D. instead of
20.A. spending B. collecting C. repairing D. advertising
