Maybe it's because it was our first purchase as homeowners. The salesman must have spotted just how green we were, so he began persuading. And soon he led us to a classic leather chair. All these years later, I remember he used words like rich and handsome, the thing every living room needed.
We believed him. So we bought that chair — just less than $100, a great deal in the 1970s for a young couple!
How we loved that chair! It always occupied a place of honor in our various living rooms, moving with us from our first tiny house to our beloved new house.
Somehow, conversations were better on that chair, and life was more fun around it. Three daughters spilled their secrets on it. Old friends seemed to be attracted by it on those wonderful occasions. Crazy as it sounds, that leather chair seemed to have — well, powers. All for good.
At first, we didn't really care that the leather was showing signs of wear or that it had lost its sheen (光泽). But in our most recent move, when the chair was moved in our new living room, it suddenly looked terribly lonely sitting close to newly painted walls and a couple of shiny new tables.
My husband and I tried but still we couldn't ignore the rough spots. Our chair had a skin disease. Even our adult kids raised eyebrows, urging us to at least remove the chair to some dark comer of the room. Neither of us could imagine such a retirement for it.
So we had an inspired idea. We'd call in an upholsterer (修理工) to give our old chair a whole new life. Our friend Joe studied the chair and then took out a simple leather conditioner. He explained that although it wouldn't work miracles, it would definitely get our weary chair looking younger again. It certainly doesn't look new, but its seat and back are shining, and some of its deeper wrinkles have lightened.
Best of all, it's back in the living room, looking like a wise old friend to the furniture around it. And, yes, there it will stay.
Because some things, like some people, just deserve a happy old age.
1.How did the salesman persuade the author into buying the chair?
A.By thinking highly of the author.
B.By saying that the author was green.
C.By describing how great the chair was.
D.By comparing the chair with others.
2.What is the fourth paragraph mainly about?
A.Sweet memories with the chair.
B.Various functions of the chair.
C.People's comments on the chair.
D.Family activities and parties of friends.
3.Why did the author finally decide to repair the chair?
A.Because he was persuaded by Joe.
B.Because he didn't have enough money.
C.Because it showed signs of hardness.
D.Because it couldn't match his new house.
4.What can we learn from the text?
A.East or west, home is best. B.From saving comes having.
C.It is never too late to mend. D.Old friends and wine are best.
A population of the world's most aggressive mosquito species was almost completely wiped out by an experiment on two islands in the southern Chinese province of Guangdong, according to a study published.
The experiment successfully reduced the female Asian Tiger Mosquito population — the main source of bites and disease spread — by up to 94%, reducing the number of reported human bites by 97%.
One of the Chinese study's researchers, Xi Zhiyong, a professor at Michigan State University, has been a longtime pioneer in this field of study. Running a mosquito factory in southern China, he previously attempted to use sterilized male mosquitoes to mate with unaltered females which developed normally. In the new study, published by the International Journal of Science, Xi and his colleagues attempted to cut mosquito numbers even further by limiting both males and females' ability to reproduce. The results were so successful that they nearly killed the entire female mosquito population on the two islands.
It isn't the first attempt by researchers to reduce mosquito populations across the world. In 2018, scientists from the Imperial College of London used gene-editing tools to make female mosquitoes sterile, while males developed normally and continued spreading the genetic mutation (突变).Experts said the Asian Tiger Mosquitoes are particularly hard to kill using traditional population control methods, such as pesticides (杀虫剂) and removing stagnant (不流动的) water where the insects lay their eggs.
Mosquitoes create grave threats to human health beyond just bites. The World Health Organization (WHO) has described the insects as "one of the deadliest animals in the world," due to their ability to rapidly spread deadly diseases such as dengue fever and malaria. There is currently no effective vaccine or treatment for most mosquito-spread diseases, leaving controlling the insects' populations one of the most effective control methods, according to the International Journal of Science. “A new tool like what's being described in this paper is very much needed” said Stephen Dobson, a professor of medical insectology at University of Kentucky.
1.What does the underlined word "unaltered" in paragraph 3 refer to?
A.Unchanged. B.Undivided.
C.Unadopted. D.Unfinished.
2.Why do mosquito populations have to be controlled?
A.Mosquitoes cause genetic changes in humans.
B.Mosquitoes spread some deadliest diseases.
C.Mosquitoes limit people's ability to reproduce.
D.Mosquitoes make traditional vaccines ineffective.
3.What has been the most successful way of reducing mosquito numbers?
A.Editing genes in female mosquitoes.
B.Sterilizing male mosquitoes before mating.
C.Limiting both genders' reproduction ability.
D.Using pesticides and removing stagnant water.
4.What can we learn from Stephen Dobson's words?
A.The things described in this paper are not practical.
B.A better way of mosquito control is yet to be found.
C.Xi Zhiyong' s method has proven to be very effective.
D.A new tool is needed in order to improve Xi's research.
Runners never forget crossing the finishing line at their first marathon, and that will be especially true for Mike Kohler. When Kohler crossed the starting line in Fargo last Saturday, he thought he was going to run 13.1 miles, his first half marathon. Six hours later, he had "mistakenly” completed his first full marathon, 26.2 miles.
Kohler, a 26-year-old plumber (水管工) who now lives in West Fargo, had lined up for the half marathon that he hoped to complete in 150 minutes. He didn't realize he was in a starting fence with the full marathoners. Several miles later, Kohler began to realize he was on the course for the full marathon. "The 8-mile mark was when I figured out that I had made a mistake," he said. "Between then and 13.1, I debated with myself about what I should do.”
At some point — he doesn't remember when — he doubled down on the distance. "After I decided I was going to keep going, the thought of quitting didn't come back. Run, walk, or crawl, I wanted to finish," he said.
Until Saturday, Kohler's longest race was a 10-kilometer run, just over 6 miles. Even the most casual marathoners do a training run of 18 miles before the race. From his experience, he said he learned one thing: sometimes people can do more than they think they can.
After his long race, he went right back to work, put in a 10-hour day and then boarded a flight to Scotland for a vacation. "I was pretty sore, but I found the more I kept moving, the less sore I was, so I tried my best to go about life normally — minus running,” Kohler said from Glasgow. "I needed a break from that for a bit."
Not for too long, though. He's already considering the Bemidji Blue Ox Marathon in October.
1.When did Kohler realize that he made a mistake?
A.Before starting the race.
B.After running 8 miles.
C.When being with the full marathoners.
D.While lining up for the half marathon.
2.Which of the following best describes Kohler?
A.Determined. B.Cooperative.
C.Open-minded. D.Well-prepared.
3.What can we infer from the text?
A.He went to Scotland to get a break from work.
B.He had never trained for the full marathon before.
C.He decided to complete the race at the 8-mile mark.
D.He was debating with himself when he finished the race.
4.What might be the best title for the text?
A.Life Lies in Movement
B.Life Means Never Quitting
C.One Can Always Do More Than He Can
D.One Mistakenly Runs Full Marathon Not a Half
Coolest Bookstores in the World
Where did you buy your last book? Chances are that you bought it on the Internet. But if you did, you missed the remarkable experience of browsing in a real bookstore. These days bookstores offer lots of great books and plenty more.
Eslite Dunnan Store
Time magazine once named Eslite Dunnan Store in Taiwan province, China "Asia's best bookstore". One visit to the store tells you why. The store, spread across five floors, offers a combination of restaurants, music and over 200,000 books. With its comfortable reading spots, visitors sometimes say it's like a library. Others have called it the "7-Eleven of bookstores" because it's open 24 hours a day.
Book Garden
The world's biggest bookstore is Tehran, Iran's Book Garden with 700,000 square feet of space. In addition to restaurants and a theater, the Book Garden features a park on the roof. Visitors can pick up one of 1,000 free books to read while enjoying the fresh air and sunshine from the Book Garden's rooftop park.
Saraiva Bookstore
Rio de Janeiro's Saraiva Bookstore might be the world's most colorful bookstore. The visible upper level is lined with books arranged by their colors. This rainbow effect provides a color welcoming for shoppers as they arrive. A rainbow path also leads young readers into the children's section.
Liberia Acqua Alta
Venice, Italy, is a city surrounded with water. Its books are displayed in all things related to water such as boats, bathtubs to protect them when the shop floods during high tide. It overlooks one of Venice's many canals, and the smell of old books fills the air.
1.Which bookstore provides a special reading place on the roof?
A.Eslite Dunnan Store. B.Book Garden.
C.Saraiva Bookstore. D.Liberia Acqua Alta.
2.What do we know about Saraiva Bookstore?
A.It is open twenty-four hours a day.
B.Shoppers can paint books with color.
C.It greets people with colorful books.
D.Shoppers can find a rainbow there .
3.Why are the books in Liberia Acqua Alta kept in boats?
A.Because the store is known for floods.
B.Because they match canals in Venice.
C.Because the store is surrounded with water.
D.Because they can be preserved from water.
Some cities and lawmakers are resisting crime-fighting tech owing to bias (偏见) and accuracy concerns. Police departments around the U.S. are asking citizens to trust them to use facial recognition software as a handy tool in their crime-fighting toolbox. But some lawmakers — and even some technology giants — are against it.
Take the western Massachusetts city of Springfield, where many residents are Latino or black. Springfield police say they have no plans to use facial recognition systems, but some City Council members are moving to block any future government use of the technology anyway.
At an October hearing on the subject, Springfield City Councilman, Orlando Ramos, defended the technology. “The facial recognition technology does not drop a net from the sky and put you to prison,” he said, noting that it could serve as a useful investigative tool. However, he doesn’t want to take any risks. “It would only lead to more racial discrimination.” he said, citing studies that found higher error rates for facial recognition software used to identify women and people with darker skins.
Similar debates across the country are highlighting racial issues and concerns about the technology’s accuracy. Axon, which supplies body-worn cameras nationwide, had already formed an artificial intelligence ethics board (伦理委员会)that concluded facial recognition technology isn’t yet dependable enough to justify its use on police cameras. Axon Chief Executive Rick Smith said, “Even if facial recognition software was perfectly accurate, the ability to track people raises privacy concerns. “Do we want everybody who walks near a police officer to get their face identified and logged in a database?” he said.
Nevertheless, Todd Pastorini, general manager at biometric forensics (生物取证) company DataWorks Plus, said it’s the “extremely effective” method of running images through photos to help identify a suspect. “Society and the public are going to get frustrated, if governments refuse to adopt a technology that keeps improving”, he said. In his eyes, facial recognition hits are just one part of an investigation.
1.What is Orlando Ramos’ attitude towards facial recognition?
A.Hopeful. B.Cautious. C.Ambiguous. D.Tolerant.
2.What is one focus of the debates about facial recognition?
A.Gender discrimination. B.Speed limit.
C.Accuracy rate. D.Steadiness control.
3.What does Rick Smith think of facial recognition?
A.It appears to cause prejudice. B.It brings about privacy concerns.
C.Its technology is reliable. D.Its accuracy needs improving.
4.What can we learn from the passage?
A.Facial recognition tool meets with resistance.
B.All the people disapprove of facial recognition.
C.Facial recognition is the only tool of investigation.
D.Governments should ban facial recognition.
A star athlete at the college where I work recently stopped by my office. After committing a few unforced errors during a weekend match, she suffered severely by self-criticism.
This student, like many I teach, strongly believes she should be able to control the outcomes of her life by virtue of her hard work. In her mind, “Nothing can stop me but myself”. So when these students fall short of what they imagine they should accomplish, they are filled with self-blame, reasoning, “If my accomplishments are mine to control, my failures must be entirely my faults, too”, which makes it extremely difficult for them to move on.
We often owe young adults struggling with failure to their parents’ overprotection of them from discomfort. But there is another factor at play: a message transmitted by indulging (纵容的) parents who have falsely promised them that they can achieve anything if they are willing to work for it. However, the cruel reality of life is that you can do everything in your power — and still fail. Then what should be done to help?
Psychologists Luthar and Kumar urge parents and teachers to spend time helping students find purpose, or goals they genuinely love to pursue and that make an impact on the world, which may help them gain greater life satisfaction and become more psychologically mature. Besides, instead of allowing our kids to beat themselves up when things don’t go their way, we might all question a culture where one is considered lazy without full devotion. The point is to remind them that life has a way of sucker-punching (出其不意) us when we least expect it. It’s often the people who learn to say “stuff happens” who get up the fastest.
1.What does the underlined phrase “by virtue of” in paragraph 2 mean?
A.in addition to B.in spite of C.by means of D.for fear of
2.The author believes that young adults find it hard to struggle with failure because __________.
A.they are not taught how to deal with difficulties
B.they are short of the ability to handle failure
C.they are under the protection of their parents
D.they are misled by their parents’ false message
3.What did psychologists Luthar and Kumar urge parents and teachers to do?
A.To teach students how to avoid faults.
B.To lead students to set their truly loved goals.
C.To help students to discover a path to success.
D.To allow kids to blame themselves.
4.What can be inferred from the passage?
A.Students don’t care about failure at all.
B.Students are sure to succeed if they try their best.
C.Students should bear all the failures on their own.
D.Students with positive attitudes can move on more easily.
