A rainy day can be a chance to recharge. While you relaxed on the sofa with a movie, the raindrops falling on your windows might one day provide the power for your TV. This is the idea behind an invention that harvests energy from water.
The technology is based on the triboelectric (摩擦电的)effect. An engineer at the University of Hawaii, David Ma knew that it’s possible to generate electricity by rubbing two things together. So, he thought, “Why don’t we use water?”
A drop of water sliding across a surface coated with two different materials would generate enough friction to create an electrical charge. By placing metal wires that the drop of water touched as it moved, it should be possible to harvest electricity, he reasoned.
It worked. In fact, the researchers lit up 15 LED bulbs with a single moving water drop.
This is not the first time that scientists have got electricity from water-generated friction( 摩 擦 ). Earlier experiments, though, harvested the charge produced in a surface by a sliding drop of water. There, the surface had acted as an electrode(电极). This is different. The energy of friction is being harvested from the water itself.
“It turns out,” Ma says, “the charge in the water drop is way more than the charge produced in the other electrode.” In fact, his team’s model generated almost 100 times more power than previous experiments from a single drop of water.
“The technology could someday power phones, sensors or other small electronics,” says Christopher Oshman, an engineer at the Colorado School of Mines. “This work is a step toward harvesting the energy of moving objects all around us, including ourselves, to power the electronic appliances we use every day,” he says.
Ma has shown that the technology can work in a lab, Oshman says. Next, the Colorado researcher would like to see it tried on a larger scale, such as on an umbrella.
1.How did the author introduce the topic of the text?
A.By telling a story.
B.By raising a question.
C.By giving an example.
D.By imagining a situation.
2.What does the underlined word “it” in Paragraph 3 refer to?
A.The wire. B.The drop of water.
C.The surface. D.The electricity.
3.What is unique about Ma’s technique compared with earlier experiments?
A.The water itself acts as an electrode.
B.It is based on the triboelectric effect.
C.It produces electricity from water-made friction.
D.It uses a surface coated with two different materials.
4.What does Oshman say about Ma’s technology?
A.It has a promising future.
B.It will do well on an umbrella.
C.It works well in the real world.
D.It will replace batteries someday.
“New and improved. “These words are put in so many marketing campaigns that we tend to accept them as linked. But many new drugs aren’t an improvement over the best existing drug for a given condition, and the fast drug-approval processes in recent years have added to the uncertainty about their advantages.
A recent report in the British Medical Journal, “New Drugs: Where Did We Go Wrong and What Can We Do Better? “Analyzed the issue. The authors looked at 216 drugs approved between 2011 and 2017:152 were newly developed, and 64 were existing medicine approved for new uses. Only 25%offered a major advantage over the established treatment, and fully 58%had no confirmed added benefit to reduce symptoms or improve health-related quality of life.
“This doesn’t mean there’s no added benefit, “lead author Wissler said. “It just means we have no positive proof. Either we have no studies or have studies not good enough. “Wissler and her co-authors work for a German institute which evaluates new treatments and advises on whether the country’s health care system should pay a premium(补贴)for them. Such organizations, known as health technology assessment(HTA)agencies, work a little differently in the US, says Sean Tunisia researcher in Baltimore: “If payers think a new drug isn’t better than an existing drug, these agencies will require that hospitals try the cheaper drug first.”
Germanys HTA demands trials to prove that a new treatment beats the existing standard. This isn’t always practical. For one thing, such studies can be expensive and time-consuming, with no guarantee of success. Secondly, it can discourage companies from attempting to develop new alternatives. This is already happening. Drug developers are increasingly focused on areas where there are no good treatments to compete with, such as rare diseases.
This lack of meaningful data to guide patients is a major point of Wissler’s paper. With accelerated approval, there are more products approved, with a greater amount of uncertainty about risks and benefits. But there are other solutions besides drug trials. One idea is to require postmarked studies to track the effectiveness of newly approved drugs—a step too often neglected.
1.What message does the recent report convey?
A.Improved drugs have advantages over old ones.
B.Many new drugs have no improved advantages.
C.Before 2017 no improvement was made to drugs.
D.The approval processes for new drugs are too fast.
2.What will US HTA agencies do when no advantage is found in new drugs?
A.Get hospitals to use the cheaper drugs.
B.Remove government premium on them.
C.Arrange financial support for the patients.
D.Put new drugs on further trials and studies.
3.What’s the disadvantage of Germany’s HTA trial demands?
A.Getting patients to depend on the government for support.
B.Making drug companies think of illegal ways to cut cost.
C.Holding companies back from improving existing drugs.
D.Pushing companies to try alternatives for existing drugs.
4.What is the best title for the text?
A.The Advantage of Existing Drugs
B.A Dilemma with New Drug Alternatives
C.Misunderstanding of New and Old Drugs
D.People’s Preference for New or Old Drug
When Lina was awoken by the sound of thunder, she was alone on the island. The air was cool and bullfrogs croaked. It was that brief moment when the summer sun had set but the stars hadn’t yet appeared. Lina rubbed her eyes and looked around. “Hello?” she called. “Celia? Marie?” There was no response.
The moon was rising now, shedding light on the island. They had always called it “Forgotten Island “because no one but they seemed to remember its existence. It wasn't on any of the maps they could find, and even the forest rangers didn’t know about it. Lina loved that the island, hidden in a heavily-wooded side stream of the river, was a secret between the three friends-her, Celia, and Marie. But now Lina was here alone, and it was night. Worse still, it was her own fault.
“Come on, Lina,let Marie row the boat.” Celia had said. Marie was two years older than Lina, but she was a hopeless rower. That’s why Lina refused and rowed the boat to the island. The argument that followed the refusal took the usual form. Celia took Marie’s side, as she always did. Lina exploded and yelled at them to just leave. So they got back in the boat and left.
A bolt of lightning crossed the darkened sky, accompanied by a deafening thunder clap. The storm was here. As the first cold raindrop slid down her neck, Lina’s mind returned to her current problem. She was stuck here by herself. She just hoped she didn’t become as forgotten as the island. The thought of it sent a chill down her back.
Suddenly, Lina spotted something in the water. It was a boat, and inside it were Marie, Celia, and Marie’s dad, who was steering through the fast flowing waters. As the boat approached, they saw Lina waving and the worried expressions on their faces turned to relief.
In her excitement Lina jumped into the river. Only once she was in the icy water did she remember how fast the water was moving. Luckily a strong arm reached into the water and pulled her out. She smiled weakly at Marie’s dad and, without a word, hugged Celia and Marie. They didn’t seem to mind becoming wet.
1.What is special about the island?
A.It is very near the ocean.
B.It is a popular place for boating.
C.It is surrounded by thick forest.
D.It has never been reached by others.
2.Why did Lina get angry？
A.Lina was left alone on the island.
B.Marie would not help row the boat.
C.Marie didn't know how to row the boat.
D.Celia supported Marie in the disagreement.
3.What caused Lina to feel scared?
A.Her shame about the unnecessary argument.
B.The first raindrop of the approaching storm.
C.The idea that no one would come to save her.
D.The drop in temperature as the sun went down.
4.What can we infer about the three girls?
A.All of them could swim well.
B.They had an adventurous spirit.
C.They lived far away from the island.
D.They quarreled with one another badly.
The following books have been published recently, and maybe you would like to read them.
This Atmosphere of Love
Franklin Bass Jr.
www.authorhouse.com
Paperback丨E-book
$12.95丨$3.99
This Atmosphere of Love shares Franklin Bass Jr.’s poetry collection from 2008 to 2012 that speaks about his true feelings and experiences of love.
An Irish Girl
Marilyn Hering
www.iuniverse.com
Paperback丨E-book
$13.99丨$3.99
Inspired by true events of the Irish famine(饥荒), An Irish Girl combines a tale of the famine with a heart-broken story of love and loss.
The Prison Planet
Handbook
Denis Goodwin
www.xlibris.com
Hardback丨Paperback丨E-book丨Audiobook
$46.98丨$34.45丨$4.99丨$9.99
Sometimes, the reality prescribed to us doesn’t explain what we experience. If you too know something isn’t right and want to see the bigger picture, the bottom line is here.
A Deadly Homecoming
Jane Bennett Munro
www.iuniverse.com
Hardback丨Paperback丨E-book丨Audiobook
$23.99丨$13.99丨$3.99丨$9.99
When her mother asks her to investigate a friend’s disappearance, Toni Day heads to her hometown to solve a complex murder case that leaves her own life hanging in the balance.
1.Who is a poet among the following writers?
A.Jane Bennett Munro B.Marilyn Hering.
C.Denis Goodwin. D.Franklin Bass Jr.
2.What kind of book is An Irish Girl?
A.A biography B.A storybook
C.A documentary. D.A reference book.
3.Which book will you read if you like a thriller?
A.The Prison Planet. B.A Deadly Homecoming.
C.An Irish Girl. D.This Atmosphere of Love.
假定你是李华，寒假期间，你居住的社区忙于新冠疫情防控工作。社区中有数位来自国外的居民，因此社区工作人员在小区内招募能讲英语的志愿者，负责与这些外国居民沟通，并在疫情隔离期间向他们提供必要的服务。请你向社区办公室写封申请信，担任志愿者。
主要内容包括：1、你的优势；2、你所做的准备工作；3、表达帮助社区的愿望。
参考词汇：新冠疫情COVID-19 epidemic
注意：1.词数100左右；
2.可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
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。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。
删除:把多余的词用斜线(\)划掉。
修改:在错的词下划一横线，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。
Have you ever had headache during a test? Have you ever been too concerned about something that you even can’t sleep at night? If so, then you know that stress is. Too much stress can result in angry, depression and other related problems, which we need to take them seriously.
However, not all stress was harmful to you. Some kinds of stress can help you getting things done better, like when you are running towards the finishing line or when you are asking to deliver a speech to your class. Stress sometimes can push you to make full preparations for a test.
The best approach of reducing stress is to have a balanced life. If you get enough sleep, eat proper, take more exercise and have enough fun time, you might feel less stressed.
