Have you ever taken photos by using mobile phones with selfie sticks(自拍桿)? 【1】

However, a pair of US artists from New Mexico, Arie Snee and Justin Crowe believe they have invented a better one and they call it "selfie arm".

【2】 It makes those people in the pictures seem to be holding hands with a loved one. They say it offers a far better experience than using a straight stick. The selfie arm makes people feel they are not alone when they take photos. 【3】 They think their invention solves the main problem that the selfie stick has-people look alone while they are taking pictures of themselves with great interests. The product, at present, just an art project and a model conveniently provides you a welcoming arm. 【4】 The pair say they are fascinated by these new ideas.

The "selfie arm" is made of fiberglass. 【5】 The project that they work on shows the growing selfie stick Phenomenon(現(xiàn)象)directly and the increasing need for narcissism(自戀)and Internet agreement.

A.It is lightweight and easy-taking.

B.Thousands of "selfie arms" have been made.

C.It seems that they are together with their friends.

D.For better or worse, they have taken the world by storm.

E.This new invention is a small, useful and cleverly-designed tool.

F.And better yet in the future, it'll talk in a friendly way and never get angry or upset.

G.These ideas give them a lot of happiness.

Where did water come from?

When it first came into being 4.5 billion years ago, Earth was a dry rock. So where did all of our water come from? Scientists think that it might have arrived in the form of ice by an asteroid(小行星) from outer space that hit our planet. But this theory has not been confirmed because there is very little related evidence(相關證據(jù))to be studied.

What's in the core(地核)?

Scientists used to study meteorites(隕石)as small examples of Earth, believing that Earth's core was made of iron and nickel(鎳). However, a later study in the 1950s proved this way to be wrong because it found that Earth would be too light to provide gravity if its core contained only iron and nickel. Today, scientists continue to bring forward different theories, but none have been confirmed.

How was the Moon born?

Scientists have found that the chemical compositions(成分)of Earth and the Moon are very similar. That suggests that the Moon actually came from Earth. For example, it could be a piece of Earth that separated when Earth hit another planet. It is also possible that when Earth first came into being, it spun(旋轉(zhuǎn))very fast and threw off enough molten(熔化的)rock to later from the Moon.

【1】What's the story mainly about?

A.How Earth came into being.B.Where Earth's water came from.

C.How the Moon was formed.D.Unexplained mysteries about Earth.

【2】What do we know about where water may come from?

A.Earth's water may come from ice that melted 4.5 billion years ago.

B.Earth's water may come from a small planet that hit Earth.

C.We don't know where water came from.

D.There is lots of evidence that tells us where water came from.

【3】What does the underlined phrase "bring forward" in Paragraph 5 probably mean?

A.Check.B.Raise.C.Improve.D.Receive.

【4】Which of the following is TURE according to the passage?

A.Scientists believed Earth's core was made of meteorites.

B.A study in the 1950s proved that Earth's core is made of iron and nickel.

C.The Moon and Earth are made of similar materials.

D.Three possibilities of where the Moon came from are mentioned.

A.have; itB.has; itC.have; thatD.has; that

A.contributionB.communicationC.celebrationD.construction

Most of us, when we talk about volcanoes, think of the classic cone (圓錐體) shapes of a Fuji or Kilimanjaro,which are created when erupting magma(巖漿) piles up. These can form remarkably quickly. In 1943, a Mexican farmer was surprised to see smoke rising from a small part of his land. In one week he was the confused owner of a cone five hundred feet high. Within two years it had topped out at almost fourteen hundred feet and was more than half a mile across. Altogether there are some ten thousand of these volcanoes on Earth, all but a few hundred of them extinct. There is, however, a second less known type of volcano that doesn’t involve mountain building. These are volcanoes so explosive that they burst open in a single big crack, leaving behind a vast hole, the caldera(火山噴口). Yellowstone obviously was of this second type, but Christiansen couldn’t find the caldera anywhere.

Just at this time NASA decided to test some new high-altitude cameras by taking photographs of Yellowstone. A thoughtful official passed on some of the copies to the park authorities and said that they might make a nice blow-up for one of the visitors’centers. As soon as Christiansen saw the photos, he realized why he had failed to spot the caldera: almost the whole park-2.2 million acres—was caldera. The explosion had left a hole more than forty miles across—much too huge to be seen from anywhere at ground level. At some time in the past Yellowstone must have blown up with a violence far beyond the scale of anything known to humans.

【1】What puzzled Christiansen when he was studying Yellowstone？

【2】Is Fuji or Kilimanjaro created when erupting magma piles up?

【3】What does the second paragraph mainly talk about？

【4】When did Christiansen realize why he had failed to spot the caldera?

【5】What was the caldera of Yellowstone?

Why does it matter that people are more impressed by the most recent changes?

It would not matter if these misjudgments were just a matter of people’s opinions. However, they have real impacts, as they result in misguided use of scarce（稀缺的） resources.

The fascination with the ICT(Information and Communication Technology) revolution, represented by the Internet, has made some rich countries wrongly conclude that making things is so ―yesterday that they should try to live on ideas. This belief in post-industrial society has led those countries to neglect（忽略） their manufacturing sector(制造業(yè)) with negative consequences for their economies.

Even more worryingly, the fascination with the Internet by people in rich countries has moved the international community to worry about the digital divide between the rich countries and the poor countries. This has led companies and individuals to donate money to developing countries to buy computer equipment and Internet facilities. The question, however, is whether this is what the developing countries need the most. Perhaps giving money for those less fashionable things such as digging wells, extending electricity networks and making more affordable washing machines would have improved people’s lives more than giving every child a laptop computer or setting up Internet centres in rural villages, I amnot saying that those things are necessarily more important, but many donators have rushed into fancy programmes without carefully assessing the relative long-term costs and benefits of alternative（別的，可替代的） uses of their money.

In yet another example, a fascination with the new has led people to believe that the recent changes in the technologies of communications and transportation are so revolutionary（革命的） that now we live in a borderless world. As a result, in the last twenty years or so, many people have come to believe that whatever change is happening today is the result of great technological progress, going against which will be like trying to turn the clock back. Believing in such a world, many governments have put an end to some of the very necessary regulations on cross-border flows of capital, labour and goods, with poor results.

Understanding technological trends is very important for correctly designing economic policies, both at the national and the international levels, and for making the right career choices at the individual level. However, our fascination with the latest, and our under valuation of what has already become common, can, and has, led us in all sorts of wrong directions.

【1】Misjudgments on the influences of new technology can lead to .

A.a lack of confidence in technologyB.a slow progress in technology

C.a conflict of public opinionsD.a waste of limited resources

【2】The example in Paragraph 4 suggests that donators should .

A.take people's essential needs into considerationsB.make their programmes attractive to people

C.ensure that each child gets financial supportD.provide more affordable internet facilities

【3】What can we learn from the passage?

A.People should be encouraged to make more donations.B.Traditional technology still has a place nowadays.

C.Making right career choices is crucial to personal success.D.Economic policies should follow technological trends.

【4】What’s the best title of the passage?

A.The influences of ICTB.The trends of technology

C.The fascination with ICTD.The use of ICT

Welcome back to school. My child is so happy to be in your class this year. We know you care so much about your students. I want to tell you a little bit about my child. Although he really loves to learn, he is somewhat anxious about being back in school again.

My child is thought to be gifted and that has brought some unexpected challenges to him and our family. To many people, being gifted means he will do very well in school, but that hasn’t always been true for him. He is just a kid thinking differently, and he sometimes struggles in school. Last year, school wasn’t easy for him for a few reasons.

He may be ahead a few grade levels in some subjects, but not in all subjects. He just doesn’t do better in all areas all the time. And although he may seem older than his years, he doesn’t always behave like you would think he should. I’m sure you know how gifted children can be emotionally immature –that is exactly my kid.

Also, he can be really intense in class when you are teaching one of his favorite topics. He may raise his hand often and constantly talk about what he thinks about it. I’ll apologize in advance because he will also likely challenge you on information or facts which he feels are not quite right especially when it’s a topic he is hooked on. He is not being impolite and he isn’t just being a know-it-all, or a show-off, he is really just very excited to be learning about a subject he feels strong about. He just gets carried away!

Last year, he was teased about looking like a know-it-all in school by some of his classmates, which hurts him A LOT. Being laughed at is part of his fear of going back to school. He fears being called a show-off at school and he feels like he doesn’t fit in. His teacher said he often kept to himself and chose to work alone. I know as a teacher, you are incredibly busy, but could you keep an eye out for anyone teasing him or if he seems to be keeping to himself too much?

Lastly, his therapist（理療師） mentioned that because of the being laughed at and maybe because he was bored last

year in school, he is showing signs of becoming an underachiever. Please let me know if his grades start slipping.

Thank you for taking the time to read and understand about my child. Don’t hesitate to call or email me if there are any problems with him at school. Believe me, we know very well how sensitive, emotional and intense he can be.

I hope you have a wonderful school year!

Sincerely,

Mom of a Gifted Child

【1】From the passage, we learn that the author’s son________.

A.fails to get along well with classmatesB.has fallen behind the other students

C.has lost interest in learningD.is rude to the teachers

【2】What does the underlined sentence in Paragraph 4 mean?

A.He has been taken away from school.B.He is too excited to control himself.

C.He is so absorbed in observing.D.He has been overpraised.

【3】Why does the author write the letter?

A.To ask the teacher to reduce children’s burden.B.To call on the school to stop school teasing.

C.To suggest that his child has special needs.D.To explain how gifted her child is.

A.attractiveB.more attractiveC.most attractiveD.the most attractive

請你寫一篇短文，說一說在日常生活，我們應該怎樣做才能預防新冠病毒的傳播？從全社會抗擊新冠肺炎疫情的共同努力中，你學到了什么？為了更好地服務社會，你想成為什么樣的人？

提示詞語：fight against novel coronavirus, prevent keep away,

提示問題：

● How should we do to prevent the novel coronavirus?

● What have you learnt from the hard work of fighting against the virus?

● What kind of person do you want to be in order to serve the society?

Novel coronavirus is spreading around the world and many countries are fighting against it.

提示詞語：plan, well organize,

提示問題：

● Do you have a good plan for the life every day?

● How do you organize your activities effectively in one day?

● What do you think is the most important point in one day?

Hi,

How is it going?

I’m writing to tell you about my life in one day.

I hope everyone in our class can make progress every day.

Li Hua