I had a picnic one day with my sister. We both like to ride her motorcycle and that day we rode it to the nearest park. We bought some coffee and cakes, and then we enjoyed our food. Within a few hours, the sky changed and looked ready for a heavy rain. We packed everything and were ready to go. My sister, who was sitting on a bench then, suddenly was very still and couldn't talk to me. She couldn't move. Her eyes were rolling and she was about to lose consciousness(知觉). I held her in my arms and asked if she wanted to rest. She didn't answer and only said "Sorry."

    It started to rain and I didn't know what to do. She was fighting to stay aware but her skin was pale and her eyes were acting strangely. Suddenly, from nowhere, a woman on a bicycle appeared, wearing a raincoat. "She isn't looking good. Do you want me to call an ambulance (救护车)?" "Yes, please, yes!" I begged.

    She did. Struggling with the rain, she managed to call some policemen, who quickly helped me carry my sister to a safer place. The ambulance arrived and we went to a hospital, where she was treated in time and she came to life the next morning after some rest and medical help.

    An interesting fact was that I guessed the woman in the raincoat was a doctor or a nurse. I later learned from one of the police officers who told me: "No. She was an ordinary person who took some courses on emergency situations (紧急情况).

"I am so grateful that she appeared exactly at the right moment. I don't know why or how. I didn't even get the chance to say thanks to her.

1.What happened when the author and her sister were ready to go?

A.They had a fight.

B.The sister fell ill suddenly.

C.They were caught in the rain.

D.They had difficulty packing things.

2.How did the woman help the author?

A.By giving first aid to her sister.

B.By protecting her sister from the rain.

C.By carrying her sister to the hospital.

D.By asking for emergency medical help.

3.Why did the woman call the policemen?

A.To keep order in the park.

B.To send the sick girl to hospital.

C.To carry the sick girl to a safer place quickly.

D.To carry the sick girl onto the ambulance.

4.What was the author's main attitude towards the woman?

A. Thankful.                B. Friendly.                  C. Doubtful.                 D. Admirable.

Researcher Ramon Llopis of the University of Valencia is a member of the international group behind Football Research in an Enlarged Europe (FREE), the aim of which is to develop a better understanding of football as a social and cultural phenomenon in Europe. The starting point is the “strong belief that football has important things to say about Europe and its citizens”.

Llopis tells us that the research points to football as “an important presence in the daily lives of many Europeans. Even people who are not particularly interested in the sport cannot avoid the discussions it creates regardless of age, class and region.” He adds that “football is more than an activity which is done for enjoyment. It increases a sense of collective identity (集体认同).”

Football is a topic of exchange and conversation between Europeans of different ages and social classes. Based on the surveys carried out in the early stages of the project, 63.3%of people who call themselves football fans have chatted about football with someone from another European country in the past twelve months, 70%of football fans watch matches and summaries from leagues (联赛) outside of their country of origin, and 53.4% habitually follow the results and news from other European leagues on the Internet and social media.

So, rather than consider professional football as an economic activity or a healthy activity for both players and fans, public authorities should be aware of its huge socio-cultural impact. They should also pay attention to the increasing bad feeling surrounding football as a result of its commercialization (商业化), since it is causing many to turn away from the game.

1.What can we learn about FREE from Paragraph 1?

A.It studies the impact of football on world culture.

B.It educates the public about the history of football.

C.It brings together researchers from several countries.

D.It is a project carried out by the University of Valencia.

2.What is Paragraph 2 mainly about?

A.The history of football.                                 B.The power of football.

C.The growth of football.                                 D.The standard of football.

3.How does the author explain that football is a big part of Europeans' conversation?

A.By using research findings.                           B.By providing examples

C.By telling true stories.                                                                      D.By following the order of time.

4.What’s the author’s attitude to the future of football in Europe?

A.Hopeful.                   B.Uncertain.                 C.Satisfied.                  D.Worried.

What will power your house in the future? Nuclear wind or solar power? According to scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology(MIT) in the US, it might be artificial leaves.

Natural leaves are able to change sunlight and water into energy. It is known as photosynthesis (光合作用). Now researchers have found a way to imitate this process.

The artificial leaf developed by Daniel Nocera and his colleagues at MIT can be seen as a special silicon chip with catalysts(催化剂). Similar to natural leaves, it can split water into hydrogen and oxygen when put into a bucket of water. The hydrogen and oxygen gases are then stored in a fuel cell (电池), using those two materials to produce electricity, located either on top of a house or beside the house.

Though the leaf is only about the shape of a poker card, scientists claimed that it is promising to be an inexpensive source of electricity in developing countries. “One can imagine villages in India and Africa not long from now purchasing an affordable basic power system based on this technology” said an American scientist, Nocera.   

An artificial leaf is not a new idea. The first artificial leaf was invented in 1997 but was too expensive and unstable for practical use. The new leaf, however, is made of cheap materials, easy to use and highly stable. In laboratory studies, Nocera showed that an artificial leaf could operate continuously for at least 45 hours.

The wonderful improvements come from Nocera’s recent discovery of several powerful new, inexpensive catalysts. These catalysts make the energy transformation inside the leaf more efficient with water and sunlight. Right now the new leaf is about 10 times more effective at carrying out photosynthesis than a natural one. Besides, the device can run in whatever water is available. This is important for some countries that don’t have access to pure water.

Hopefully, each home could have access to the new application in the future.

1.The purpose of this article is to _____.

A.introduce a new kind of device                      B.ask people to do the research

C.advertise the new product                              D.show the process of photosynthesis

2.Which of the following is NOT the advantages of the new leaf?

A.It’s low in cost.                                            B.It’s small in size.

C.It has a wonderful fuel cell.                           D.It’s convenient for people to use.

3.What conclusion can be drawn from the text?

A.Nocera thought the new leaf is expensive for developing countries.

B.Villages in Africa have benefited a lot from the new invention.

C.Silicon chip can help the new leaf work more effectively.

D.The equipment doesn’t necessarily operate in pure water.

4.What’s the writer’s attitude towards the new device?

A.Negative.                  B.Optimistic.                C.Doubtful.                  D.Uncertain.

Artificial intelligence (AI) technology may soon be a useful tool for doctors. It may help them better understand and treat diseases like breast cancer in ways that were never before possible.

Rishi Rawat teaches AI at the University of Southern California’s (USC) Clinical Science Center in Los Angeles. He is part of a team of scientists who are researching how AI and machine learning can more easily recognize cancerous growths in the breast. Rawat provides information about cancer cells to a computer. He says this data helps the machine learn. “. . . You can put the data into computers and they will learn the patterns and the pattern recognition is important to making decisions.”

David Agus is another USC researcher. He says machines are not going to take the place of doctors. “Computers will not treat patients, but they will help make certain decisions and look for things that the human brain can’t recognize by itself. Once a confirmed cancerous growth is removed, doctors still have to treat the patient to reduce the risk of cancer returning. The form of treatment depends on the kind of cancer.”

Currently, researchers take a thin piece of tissue, put it on a small piece of glass and add color to better see the cells. That process could take days or even longer. Scientists say artificial intelligence can do something better than just count cells. Through machine learning, it can recognize complex patterns, or structures, and learn how the cells are organized.

The hope is that machines will soon be able to make a quick identification of cancer that is free of human mistakes. “All of a sudden, we have the computing power to really do it in real time. . . We couldn’t have done this, we didn’t have the computing power to do this several years ago, but now it’s all changed.” Agus adds that the process could be done for almost no cost in the developing world. He says that having a large amount of information about patients is important for a machine to effectively do its job in medicine.

The University of Southern California researchers are now only studying breast cancer. But doctors predict artificial intelligence will one day make a difference in all forms of cancer.

1.In Rishi Rawat’s research, ________.

A.the data put into computers contributes to cancer recognition

B.many cancers are being studied at the moment

C.machine learning has replaced doctors’ work

D.the focus is on the cure for cancer

2.David Agus’s words in Paragraph 3 are used to ________.

A.provide some advice for doctors                    B.introduce the development of cancer

C.appeal to scientists to research into cancer       D.explain the function of AI in treating cancer

3.What can we infer from the text ?

A.AI can make decisions for doctors.

B.Developing countries might be lack of funds.

C.AI will hopefully make an accurate identification of cancer.

D.Computing power has long helped with the identification of cancer.

4.What is the author’s attitude towards AI used in treating cancer?

A.Positive.                   B.Indifferent.               C.Doubtful.                  D.Negative.

Since App Store was set up, it has been selling consumers one simple thing choice. Whether you wanted to play games, read the news, or do a thousand other things, there was something for whatever you desired.

Then something funny happened. Logging into the App Store today is like going into a shopping mall with only a coupon(优惠券) for one thing: There's so much choice; it might be easier to give up than to choose.

It isn't consumers who are burdened, though. Too much content of all kinds also has economic effects. When countless choices are available, it causes pressure, pushing prices down and driving us a bit crazy.

So what is the way forward? It may well be to turn less choice itself to the marketing strategy. There are already signs that this is happening. Firstly content companies are looking to prevent their offerings from getting lost in the tons of stuff. Most obvious is Disney, which is planning to open its own streaming service next year. The point is to narrow the focus so that those seeking Disney cartoons will have one place to go, rather than being around various services.

Yet if that represents a careful first step, there are more extreme options too. Consider the idea of a wine club: from tens of thousands of bottles each year, subscribers pay someone to select the most interesting ones. Perhaps what comes next for digital content is similar﹣carefully selected offerings from trusted sources that put choices in the hands of someone else in order to get rid of the anxiety of choosing.

Up to now, too much choice in digital media has only one solution: the algorithm(运算法则). But we' ve seen the trouble with algorithms on You Tube They feed you only what you've already said you like, not things you may not know you re into. Worse, they have a tendency to serve up disturbing content. The way forward can’t simply be more or better algorithms.

Instead, it's time for digital companies to start thinking about how to put limits on things: on how much we can use a device, or what we are available to choose from.

As we move further into the digital revolution, what people ask for is clear: Less.

1.What will too much choice of content on the market result in?

A.The shutdown of companies                          B.The anxiety of consumers

C.The poor quality of products                          D.The slowdown of economy

2.Which of the following statements is TRUE according to Paragraphs 4 and 5?

A.Content companies should withdraw their offerings online

B.Content companies should post their offerings on App Store

C.Content companies adopt different methods to narrow the consumers focus

D.Content companies open their own streaming services on You Tube

3.How do algorithms probably respond to consumers needs?

A.They make a better choice for them                B.They help to remove disturbing content

C.They change their interest in digital media      D.They fail to offer what they possibly like

4.What is the authors attitude towards limiting the choice consumers have ____.

A.Approving.               B.Skeptical                   C.Opposing.                 D.Neutral