This could be the perfect gift for the partner, who embarrasses you on the dance floor. Smart socks, which can teach to dance, may be the answer for anyone with two left feet.
The socks have been developed as a running tool to help runners improve their skills. Thanks to the socks, users can accurately record not only how far and fast they run but also how well. It means the user maximizes their performance, and reduces damage to body and prevents hurt. The hi-tech socks are made of special fibers that watch the movements of your feet. They look, feel and can be washed like normal clothes.
Sensors (传感器) record each movement and send it by an ankle transmitter (脚踝发射器) to a smart phone. Then a “virtual coach” application shows the information and can tell the user what they are doing wrong, and help to improve skill in any task with feet.
The socks should be useful to athletes and weekend joggers. “People think running is so easy and of course everybody can do it but not necessarily safely and well,” Dr. Davide Vigano said. A recent study showed that between 60 and 80 percent of runners got hurt per year. This is pretty much more than any other human activity. Researchers say the technology can also be developed to teach people how to dance, play sports such as golf, or even to help to teach women to walk better in high heels.
Mr. Vigano said, “People could all benefit from the idea. We have had interest from all sorts of sports, like skiing, football, cycling and golf. Anything where you have to use your feet can use it. It could even be put in high heels to help women walk in them safely.”
Socks are just the start, and the technology could be used in gloves, hats and boots. The socks, anklet and software package, are expected to be sold for around￡120, which will go on sale in March.
1.What does the underlined part “anyone with two left feet” refer to?
A.People who are disabled.
B.People who are interested in dancing.
C.People who are not good at dancing.
D.People who invented the socks.
2.What’s special about fibers that the socks are made of?
A.They feel much softer than normal clothes.
B.They can monitor the movement of feet.
C.They are expensive to produce.
D.They act as a smart phone for users.
3.Which of the following is NOT mentioned about the socks?
A.They can improve the skill of running.
B.They can help women walk better in high heels.
C.They can teach people to dance well.
D.They can be worn for days without washing.
4.According to Dr. Vigano, ________.
A.everyone can make good use of the smart socks
B.users can run as fast as they like with the socks
C.60 to 80 percent of runners would like to buy the smart socks
D.no runners will get hurt, thanks to the socks
Businesses are witnessing a difficult time, which has in turn produced influence on consumers, desire to go green. However, shoppers are still laying stress on environmental concerns.
Two thirds of customers say that environmental considerations inform their purchases to the same degree as they did a year ago, while more than a quarter say that they are now even better aware of the environmental effect on what they buy.
This may help to influence how shops store goods on their shelves. And the companies should still make efforts to become more environmentally friendly. Two out of three people think it is important to buy from environmentally responsible companies, with about one in seven saying that they had even decided to take their custom elsewhere if they felt a company’s environmental reputation was not good enough.
Harry Morrison, chief executive (主管) of the Carbon Trust, sympathizes: “I understand this situation where survival is very important now. But from environmental considerations, the clock is ticking — we don’t have much time. In addition, cutting carbon has an immediate effect as costs drop and a medium-term benefit for the brand.”
Larger companies have an extra motivation to look at reducing their carbon footprint, as new rules next year will require businesses to buy carbon allowances to make up for their emissions (排放). Those that have taken early action will have a head start. More than two thirds of consumers are not clear about which companies are environmentally responsible. This suggests that firms that are able to relay clearly their message to the public will be in a pole position to attract shoppers.
The Carbon Trust believes that it can help by informing customers about the good work companies are doing. “When companies are granted (授予) the standard, they can use a logo (标识) in all their marketing which makes it clear that they are working towards cutting emissions,” Mr. Morrison said.
1.What’s the main idea of the passage?
A.Businesses are finding ways to send their message to the shoppers.
B.Companies will soon get information about cutting carbon emissions.
C.Firms are making efforts to encourage customers to keep goods at home.
D.Firms are urged to cut carbon emissions by shoppers, environmental awareness.
2.The underlined word “inform” in Paragraph 2 probably means “ ”.
A.affect B.change
C.disturb D.reject
3.According to Harry Morrison, businesses .
A.will benefit from cutting carbon emissions
B.should buy carbon allowances for shoppers
C.are required to make up for their carbon emissions
D.have encouraged shoppers to take their custom elsewhere
4.We can learn from the passage that businesses will .
A.have a strong desire to reduce costs
B.use the same logo in their marketing
C.gain advantages by taking early action
D.attract more shoppers by storing goods
In 1977, a University of Oxford statistician named Richard Peto pointed out a simple yet puzzling biological fact: we humans should have a lot more cancer than mice, but we don’t.
Dr. Peto’s argument was simple. Every time a cell divides, there’s a small chance it will gain a mutation(突变) that speeds up its growth. Cells that accumulate (聚集) several of these mutations may become cancerous. The bigger an animal is, the more cells it has, and the longer an animal lives, the more times its cells divide. We humans undergo (经历) about 10,000 times as many cell divisions as mice—and thus should be far more likely to get cancer.
A number of scientists have assumed that large, long-lived animals must have evolved extra cancer-fighting weapons. Otherwise, these species would die out.
Dr. Joshua D. Schiffman, an oncologist (肿瘤学家）at the Huntsman Cancer Institute, reviewed zoo records on the deaths of 644 elephants and found that less than 5 percent died of cancer. By contrast, 11 percent to 25 percent of humans die of cancer.
To understand the elephants’ defenses, the scientists investigated a gene that is vital to preventing cancer called p53. The protein encoded by the gene monitors cells for damage to the DNA they contain. Dr. Schiffman and his colleagues found that elephants have evolved new copies of the p53 gene. While humans have only one pair of p53 genes, the scientists identified 20 pairs in elephants.
To see whether these extra copies of p53 made a difference in fighting cancer, they ran experiments on elephant cells. They treated elephant cells with damaging radiation, chemicals and UV light.
“In all cases, instead of trying to repair the damage, the elephant cells simply committed suicide” said Dr. Schiffman. He said he thought the way the elephant cells responded was a very effective way to block cancer.
Patricia Muller, an oncologist at the MRC Toxicology Unit at the University of Leicester, who was not involved in the studies, said the results, though convincing, didn’t firmly establish exactly how elephants use p53 to fight cancer. One possibility is that the extra copies don’t actually cause cells to commit suicide. Instead, they may act as decoys (诱饵) for enzymes (酶) that destroy p53 proteins.
Dr. Muller said it was especially important to understand precisely how elephants fight cancer before trying to copy their strategies with drugs for humans.
1.What does the 2nd paragraph want to tell us?
A.Human should be more likely to develop cancer than mice.
B.Cell division can increase the speed of growth of mutations.
C.The bigger an animal is, the smaller chance of getting cancer it has.
D.Dr. Peto’s argument was not simple.
2.According to the passage, p53 is ______.
A.a protein to prevent cancer B.a gene to defend against cancer
C.a protein to destroy damaged cells D.a gene to change cells
3.What does Dr. Schiffman say about the extra copies of p53 fighting cancer?
A.They cause the cells to repair the genes.
B.They stop cells from dividing further.
C.They act as decoys for enzymes that destroy p53 proteins.
D.They cause the cells to commit suicide.
4.Which of the following is TRUE?
A.Dr. Schiffman pointed out that we humans don’t have more cancer than mice.
B.The cancer death rate of humans is five percent higher than that of elephants.
C.The scientists found there are 20 pairs of p53 genes in elephants.
D.Dr. Muller also took part in the studies.
The International Voluntary Service runs a number of Youth Exchanges throughout the year. Youth Exchanges give small groups of 4-5 young people the opportunity to take part in volunteering trips abroad for an average of two weeks．These young people are joined by 4-5 young people from 3-4 other nationalities and are a wonderful intercultural experience in a safe environment.
Example Youth Exchanges：
Youth Exchange 1
Location：Ireland
Other nationalities：Ireland，Spain，Italy，Hungary
Theme：Focuses on the topic of community reconstruction and community activities—exploring how local issues facing our communities are connected to global issues．The group will also learn about the eco-village as an example of a community and take part in team-building activities.
Youth Exchange 2
Location：France
Other nationalities：Bulgaria，Italy，France
Theme：Organic gardening & continual living．This project will take place in a natural park，where the group will take part in gardening activities and games／workshops about continuous development．
Youth Exchange 3
Location：Macedonia
Other nationalities：Serbia，Turkey，Ireland
Theme：Foster social inclusion and motivate personal development of young people through sports and outdoor activities．Promote outdoor activities as a tool to help inclusion of young people with fewer opportunities．
Youth Exchange 4
Location：Italy
Other nationalities：Italy，Bulgaria，Greece
Theme：A sociaI-environmental project that intends to promote social inclusion and continuable development，regarded as a process of civil rights and active citizenship. Over 10 days, the group will participate in activities to raise awareness about the effect of our behavior on the environment．
1.What do you focus on when travelling in France?
A.Gardening work.
B.Civil rights.
C.Developing social inclusion.
D.Rebuilding communities.
2.If you are interested in protecting the environment，you can take part in ________.
A.Youth Exchange 1 B.Youth Exchange 2
C.Youth Exchange 3 D.Youth Exchange 4
3.Which nationality are Youth Exchanges most popular with?
A.Spain． B.Italy. C.Ireland. D.France.
假如你是李华，你们班同学打算本周六去爬长城，请你给外教Chris写一封信，邀请他参加此次活动。请包括以下内容：
1. 介绍活动的相关信息（时间、集合地点、交通工具等）；
2. 携带物品（午餐、相机、雨伞等）。
注意：1. 词数100左右；2. 开头和结尾已给出，不计入总词数。
Dear Chris,
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Yours,
Li Hua
假定英语课上老师要求同桌之间交换修改作文，请你修改你同桌写的以下作文。文中共有10处语言错误，每句中最多有两处。错误涉及一个单词的增加、删除或修改。
增加：在缺词处加一个漏词符号（∧ )，并在其下面写出该加的词。
删除：把多余的词用斜线（\ )划掉。
修改：在错的词下划一横线（一），并在该词下面写出修改后的词。
注意：1.每处错误及修改均仅限一词；
2.只允许修改10处，多者(从第11处起)不计分。
Last Friday, we went to Beijing Survival Island to go on an outing, that left us with a deep impression.
Early in the morning, we gathered the school gate and the school bus takes us there. In the way, we talked and laughed, full of excitement. Upon arrive, we were attracted by various activities and got involved immediate. The monkey bars were really challenging. One of the boys managed to make it with the encouragement of her classmates. I was interested in making cakes. I was being taught to make my first cake on my own! At lunchtime, we sat around, enjoying the delicious food. Everyone had the good time.
We really enjoyed our stay there. Before we left, we had a photo taken to record the unforgettable days.
