Stephen Hawking, the most famous physicist of his time, has passed away at the age of 76.
A family spokesman said Hawking, who was British, died peacefully early Wednesday at his home in Cambridge, England. Hawking was known worldwide for working to explain subjects like the beginnings of the universe and the complexities of black holes. He was diagnosed with a disease called amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS, at age 21. At the time, doctors predicted he would only live a few years. But he proved them wrong by surviving for more than 50 years more and continuing his scientific work.
In his 2013 book, ''My Brief History'', Hawking wrote about first learning of the illness: ''I felt it was very unfair - why should this happen to me? '' He added: ''At the time, I thought my life was over and that I would never realize the potential I felt I had. '' ''But now, 50 years later, I can be quite satisfied with my life, '' he wrote.
A sign of his being admired came in October 2017, when Cambridge put Hawking's 1966 thesis on the internet for the first time. Demand for the thesis was so high that it caused the university's website to go down.
Hawking said belief in a God who intervenes(介入) in the universe ''to make sure the good guys win or get rewarded in the next life'' was wishful thinking. ''But one can't help asking the question: Why does the universe exist? '' he said in 1991. ''I don't know an operational way to give the question or the answer, if there is one, a meaning. But it bothers me. ''
Hawking was a big supporter of human space travel to the Moon and Mars. He said such missions would help unite humanity in a shared purpose of spreading the human race beyond Earth. ''We are running out of space and the only places to go to are other worlds. It is time to explore other solar systems. Spreading out may be the only thing that saves us from ourselves. I am convinced that humans need to leave the Earth, '' he said last year.
1.What is Hawking's attitude towards life when just diagnosed with ALS?
A.Optimistic. B.Hopeless.
C.Disappointed. D.Confident.
2.What bothered Hawking?
A.The beginning of the universe.
B.The intervene of God in the universe.
C.The rewards that good people get in the next life.
D.The crash of the Internet.
3.Why is Hawking in favor of human space travel to other solar systems?
A.Because we have used up all the space.
B.Because we have explored the Moon and Mars for a long time.
C.Because it can help spread the human race beyond Earth.
D.Because it is a way to save the Earth.
4.What can be a suitable title for the text?
A.Stephen Hawking Is Recognized for His Research on Black Holes
B.Stephen Hawking Supports Human Space Travels
C.Stephen Hawking Is a Worldwide Famous Physicist
D.Famous Physicist Stephen Hawking Died at 76
A new study has found the amount of antibiotics（抗生素）given to farm animals is expected to increase by two-thirds over the next 15 years. Researchers are linking the growing dependence on the drugs to the increasing need for meat, milk and eggs. However, the drugs could quicken the development of antibiotic-resistant infections（感染）. Such infections are already a major public, health concern in the United States.
The World Health Organization notes when people stop living in poverty（贫困）, the first thing they want to do is eat better, rather than earn more money. For most people, that means their diet should contain more meat. With the rapid development of Asia, people there are eating nearly four times as much meat, milk and other milk products as they did 50 year ago.
To meet the need, farmers have put many animals into smaller spaces. As the animals are crowded together, the easiest way to deal with some of the problems of crowding is to give them antibiotics. It's clear that antibiotics help animals stay healthy in a crowded environment and grow faster. But bacteria can develop resistance to the drugs gradually.
Nowadays, doctors find antibiotics that once worked against the infections no longer work. The bacteria have learned ways to fight against the drugs. The heavy use of antibiotics in animals is responsible for the growth of antibiotic resistance worldwide. In the United States, at least two million people get drug-resistant infections each year and at least 23,000 die from an infection.
Europe has banned the use of antibiotics to increase animal growth. And the United States is hoping to persuade farmers to stop using antibiotics for that purpose.
1.What accounts for the increasing amount of antibiotics given to farm animals?
A.The desire for new drugs. B.The less effective antibiotics.
C.The outdated farm technology. D.The need for more various foods.
2.What do most people want to do first when they get rid of poverty according to the WHO?
A.Making a lot of money. B.Focusing more on health.
C.Having more meat in their diet. D.Living in a better environment.
3.What can be inferred from the passage?
A.Antibiotics do harm to animals.
B.Antibiotics help animals stay healthy.
C.Antibiotics are used heavily in Europe.
D.Antibiotic-resistant bacteria spread to people.
4.What's the passage mainly about?
A.A new way of raising farm animals.
B.The advantages of using antibiotics.
C.The reason for banning the use of antibiotics.
D.The negative effect of antibiotics in farm animals.
On March 10, 2019, eight-year-old Tanitoluwa ''Tani'' Adewumi defeated 73 young competitors to win the New York State Scholastic Chess Championship in his age group — kindergarten to third grade — with five wins and one draw. While the achievement is remarkable in itself, what is even more so is that the youngster, who was homeless at the time, began learning the game less than a year ago.
Tani and his family arrived in New York City from Nigeria in 2017, seeking religious protection. A church pastor(牧师)helped find the family of four space in a homeless shelter in Manhattan and, soon after, Tani entered the local elementary school. It was here that the young talent was first introduced to the basics of chess by a part-time teacher. Attracted by the game, the then seven-year-old begged his mother, Oluwatoyin, to allow him to join the school's chess club. The family were concerned that they would be unable to afford the fees and expenses, which add up to thousands of dollars due to travel and chess competition admissions, Oluwatoyin emailed chess instructor Russell Makofsky, who ran the club. To her surprise and delight, Makofsky agreed to waive all costs for young Tani. The rest, as they say, is history. The young boy, who has got seven prizes in less than a year, currently ranks 27 in America in his age group.
Though the chess club certainly helps, Tani's success can be largely owed to the efforts he has put into the game. The chess talent practices the game for several hours a day either on the floor with his board, or online, using his dad’s laptop. Every Saturday, Tani and his mother head to Harlem for a free 3-hour class to help further sharpen his game skills.
Not surprisingly, Tani's incredible story, first reported by The New York Times, has resulted in an outpouring of support from the American public. Shortly after the young boy won the New York State Championship, Makofsky began a GoFundMe campaign for Tani and his family to ''secure a home where he can continue on his journey''.
And the heartwarming story gets even better! Since they now have a home, the family have decided to ''pay it forward'' and donate the over $200,000 collected on GoFundMe to African immigrants in America who are struggling the way the family was.
1.What made Tani's achievement especially remarkable?
A.His young age B.His quick learning
C.Support from his family D.Help from his teacher
2.What does the underlined part ''to waive all costs for young Tani'' in Paragraph 2 mean?
A.To pay for Tani's schooling. B.To raise money for Tani's family.
C.To teach Tani free of charge. D.To spend more on Tani’s training.
3.What's paragraph 3 mainly about?
A.Success of Tani. B.Activities of the chess club.
C.Tani's devotion to the game. D.Public reaction to Tani's story.
4.What does the last paragraph tell us about the family?
A.They are caring. B.They live in poverty.
C.They are honest. D.They are pitiful.
Big messaging apps abroad
While WeChat is China's biggest mobile messaging app,there are many equivalent apps in other countries that offer similar features.
WhatsApp (US)
Users: more than 300 million
Platforms: Android,iOS,Windows Phone,BlackBerry
Features: Text chat,push-to-talk,file sharing,location sharing
With more than 300 million active users,WhatsApp is one of WeChat's biggest competitors.Developed by two ex-Yahoo employees in 2009,WhatsApp originally focused on text chat,but on Aug.6 it also started push-to-talk service.It's noted for its accessibility,ease of use and the absence of adverts.The service is free for the first year,after which $0.99 (6.06 yuan) is charged for a one-year subscription.
Kakao Talk (South Korea)
Users: more than 100 million
Platforms: Android,iOS,Windows Phone,BlackBerry and Bada (an operating system developed by Samsung)
Features: Text chat,group chat,push-to-talk,group calls,file sharing
With more than 100 million users in more than 230 countries,Kakao Talk is a multi-platform texting applicbtion that allows users to send and receive messages for free.With Kakao Talk,users can message each other one-on-one or in group chats with unlimited numbers of friends.You can also choose from more than 250 animated emoticons and share them with friends.
Line (Japan)
Users: more than 200 million
Platforms: Android,iOS,Windows Phone,BlackBerry and PC
Features: Text chat,group chat,push-to-talk,file sharing,location sharing,gaming,stickers
Line tops the list of the most downloaded free apps in 52 countries.Apart from text and voice messaging,Line provides its users with more than 250 original stickers and emoticons to buy from its own shop.In the first quarter of 2013 alone,it made $17 million just from stickers.The popular app also allows friends to battle each other in the LINE Game.
1.Compared with the other two apps,which of the following features makes Line stand out?
A.Group mobile games. B.Free emoticons.
C.Free download of the app. D.Text and group chat.
2.Which of the statements is TRUE according to the passage?
A.Users can always send and receive messages for free with WhatsApp.
B.Users can share files with any of the three apps.
C.Kakao Talk frees users from unwanted advertisjments.
D.Line ranks first in the list of the most downloaded apps in 52 countries.
3.In which part of the newspaper may this article be found?
A.Advertisement. B.Economy and Finance.
C.Entertainment. D.Science and Technology.
假定你是李华，美国交换生Linda 交流学习期满，即将回国，来信表示想带一些具有中国特色的工艺品(art craft)给美国的家人和朋友。请回复邮件推荐一至两样并说明推荐理由。
注意:1. 词数100左右；
2. 可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。
Dear Linda,
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Yours,
Li Hua
假定英语课上老师要求同桌之间交换修改作文，请你修改同桌写的以下作文。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。
删减:把多余的词用斜线( \ )划掉。
修改:在错词下面划一横线, 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。
Last Monday, our class hold a speech contest on the theme of thankfulness. Both of us took an active part in it because we were interesting in it. In beginning, our teacher made a speech, appeal to us to be thankful. After that, many participants impressed us on their wonderful performances. They expressed their love and appreciations to their parents, teachers and people who love them. I learned a lot of from this activity. There are many people around us who have helped us great. We should be grateful to them in return for which they have done for us.
