Plastic is one of the most important technological discoveries of the 20th century.However，it may soon be replaced.The new development—liquid wood—can replace plastics in all branches of modern industries.
Plastic as a material enjoys the biggest demand in the modern world，but it does have a number of drawbacks.First and foremost，plastic isn’t recyclable.Secondly，it contains toxins (毒物) helping develop cancerous diseases.Finally，it’s made of oil and oil reserves aren’t endless.
The liquid wood technology is likely to replace plastic and provide mankind with new materials for many years ahead.Norbert Eisenfreich，a senior researcher at the Faunhofer Institute for Chemical Technology (ICT) in Germany，said that arboform，the new material，is made of lignin (木质素)，which can be obtained from soft tissues of wood.Once mixed with several other materials，it turns into solid and nontoxic alternative for plastics.
ICT team leader Emilia Regina InoneKauffmann said the woodworking industry separates wood into three basic components，including lignin.Lignin isn’t used for the production of paper.Specialists of ICT mixed lignin with several natural materials and thus invented the material which could be melted and molded (铸型)．
When solid，arboform looks like plastic and possesses the qualities of polished wood.It can be used for the production of any items.Arboform is already used for the production of car parts which require extra strength.In addition，liquid wood can be recycled repeatedly.The material preserved all of its qualities even if it’s reprocessed ten times.
However，the new invention doesn’t enjoy an extensive use due to the high content of sulphur (硫) in it.German researchers are sure to reduce the amount of sulphur by 90 percent very soon to make arboform usable for home needs.
【小题1】According to the passage，plastic________.
| A．plays a big role in the modern world |
| B．helps to protect our environment in some way |
| C．has been replaced by the newly discovered material |
| D．helps us to reduce the use of petrol |
| A．It is easily made from natural oil. |
| B．It is more widely used in household. |
| C．It is recyclable and friendly to the environment. |
| D．It contains no poisonous materials. |
| A．the material’s extensive use |
| B．the content of sulphur in arboform |
| C．the production cost of arboform |
| D．the qualities of liquid wood |
| A．advertise the new material—arboform |
| B．introduce liquid wood which will replace plastic |
| C．advertise new products made of arboform |
| D．show readers how to produce arboform |
【小题1】A
【小题2】C
【小题3】B
【小题4】B
解析【小题1】 A
解析 细节理解题。由文章第一段第一句和常识可知，塑料是现代社会中不可或缺的原材料。
【小题2】 C
解析 细节理解题。由文章倒数第二段可知，arboform是可以被重复循环利用的，因而对环境也有利。
【小题3】 B
解析 推理判断题。由文章最后一段可知，arboform之所以还没有得到广泛应用是因为它的硫含量太高，故德国的研究者会首先把研究重点置于降低硫含量上。
【小题4】 B
解析 推理判断题。文章通过拿arboform和塑料作比较，一是为了介绍arboform这种新材料，同时也为了说明arboform即将取代塑料这一趋势。
科目：高中英语 来源： 题型：阅读理解
Want to travel as cheaply as possible while enjoying the great scenery as much as you like?
Backpacking is the way. As the most popular traveling choice among young western people, backpacking allows you to travel at your own free will. Carrying a tent, sleeping bag and clothes, backpackers also need to pack an attitude that will help them deal with many mental and physical challenges.
It is a thrill to put our ability to test and challenge ourselves with sorts of difficulties we might come across. So, backpacking is something young people can hardly deny.
Young people in Europe often travel around by train. Now, with plane tickets dropping in price, more are traveling to distant countries, such as Australia and China. And some just travel within their own countries.
But no matter where a backpacker travels, planning in advance is important if he or she wants to enjoy the trip.
Clothing
In summer, light, waterproof clothes are best. Backpackers must remember to travel lightly and not pack too many clothes.
Medicine
There are many medicines, especially for summer, such as those for sunstroke, snake bites and mosquitoes. Others are useful in every season, such as those for common colds, poisoning and diarrhea.
Cards
Three types of cards are of great value for backpacks: student Identity Card, personal ID and a credit card.
A student ID card can be helpful for saving money. It often gets train tickets and entrance tickets for cheaper prices in many Western countries.
Personal ID card can, not only get you out of trouble with local police, but also prove useful in all sorts of other situations.
Carrying a credit card can be a safe way of carrying money, as cash can easily get lost, stolen or wet.
And of course, don’t forget to enjoy your trip!
【小题1】What does the underlined sentence mean?
| A．Backpackers also need to be in high spirits when they want to travel. |
| B．Backpackers may also face dangerous situations. |
| C．Backpackers also need to talk with doctors about their traveling. |
| D．Backpackers need to make preparation for many kinds of difficulty in advance. |
| A．Easy to wash. | B．Not letting water go through. | C．Washed without water. | D．Used in water. |
| A．your student ID | B．your credit card | C．your personal ID | D．your passport |
| A．They can travel very easily. |
| B．They won’t worry about where to live. |
| C．They can have the chance to take some adventures. |
| D．They can take some physical exercise. |
| A．To give some ideas about traveling. |
| B．To encourage the young to travel. |
| C．To tell people how to avoid something unpleasant. |
| D．To offer some useful advice for traveling. |
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科目：高中英语 来源： 题型：阅读理解
The color red often means danger --- and by paying attention, accidents can be prevented. At railroad crossings, flashing red fights warn cars to stay back. A red light at a traffic crossing tells cars to stop, so they don't run into other cars.
In the future, the color red also may help prevent danger at construction sites. Thanks to new work by engineers, bridge supports --- or other kinds of materials --- could one day contain a color-changing material. It will turn red before a structure collapses(倒塌) or falls apart.
The secret behind the color-changing material is a particular type of molecule(分子). Molecules come in all shapes and sizes, and make up everything you can see, touch or feel. How a molecule behaves depends on what kinds of atoms(原子) it contains, and how they're held together.
To get a rough picture of one way atoms are held together in a molecule, imagine you and your friends standing in a large circle, holding hands. Each person represents one atom, your clasped hands represent the bond, and the entire circle represents a molecule.
The molecule being used to turn the material red is called mechanophore(机械响应性聚合物). When one chemical bond in the mechanophore molecule breaks, the rest of the molecule turns red.
There is a way to get rid of~ the red color: light. When a bright light is shone on the mechanophore, the broken bond is fixed and the red color disappears. This "self-healing" may be a problem for engineers who want to use the color-changer in big construction projects that will be outside, in the sunlight. And if bright light keeps the red color from appearing, then the mechanophore's warning system will be useless.
Scientists still have a lot of work to do before the color-changing molecules can be used outside the lab. If mechanophore can be used in the real world, they are suggested to be employed in a new kind of paint.
【小题1】The first paragraph mainly tells us __________.
| A．the color red is widely used in our life |
| B．how to prevent car accidents |
| C．the color is an important signal of warning |
| D．how to use color red |
| A．tell different materials used in the building |
| B．warn people that the building is dangerous |
| C．make the building more beautiful |
| D．tell people the building is under construction |
| A．the way atoms are held together in a molecule |
| B．how a molecule behaves in an object |
| C．how to play an old game |
| D．how people get along with each other |
| A．Paints | B．Water | C．Poor building materials | D．The bright light |
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科目：高中英语 来源： 题型：阅读理解
Why Doesn’t Anybody Copy Apple?
Apple’s products are the envy of the world. They have been spectacularly successful and are widely imitated, if not copied. The minute Apple crystallizes a product, everyone knows how to compete．This idea that the basis of competition is set by Apple and then the race is on to climb the path of improvement is unquestionable．When Apple releases a product that defines a category or dramatically changes the structure of an industry, it becomes obvious what needs to be built. But what I wonder is why everyone wants to copy Apple’s products but nobody wants to copy being Apple?
I can think of two reasons. Firstly, Apple is not worth copying because it's not successful; secondly, Apple’s success cannot be copied because it is a magical process．
There is a great deal of evidence for the first hypothesis. The idea of Apple being successful is not something reflected in its stock price．Being valued lower than the average company in the S&P（标准普尔）500 indicates that to whatever degree Apple was successful in the past, it's not seen by the vast majority of observers as successful in the future．Why should one bother copying Apple if it results in being punished with a low valuation? If one works really hard at innovation and then that innovation becomes commoditized（商品化）very quickly, why should one bother?
When innovation practitioners are asked what makes Apple successful, the answers regarding the cause of this success border on the mythical. The climax of this hypothesis is the “chief-sorcerer” theory of success which places one magician, like Steve Jobs, in charge of casting all the right spells（符咒）．
What about Apple’s own opinion of what makes it tick? Tim Cook refers to a great team and integration of hardware, software and services as unique Apple advantages. It’s a better explanation．Integration is something that can take a long time, but it is possible with great effort．A few companies are starting to make moves in that direction, but efforts are half-hearted．There is no “move the Earth” panic to become an integrated company from Samsung, Google or Microsoft．
My own suspicion is that Apple is more aware of what makes it special than it lets out． However, as Tim points out, it’s not a formula．It’s complex, it’s subtle, but it’s not magic．It’s a process that requires a degree of faith and courage．
【小题1】When a new product of Apple comes out, often it ______．
| A．ruins an industry dramatically |
| B．starts a revolution of an industry |
| C．puts itself in an unbeatable position |
| D．is soon overtaken by imitated products |
| A． Apple is not a successful company |
| B． they have no access to relevant resources |
| C． It’s hard to find a magician like Steve Jobs |
| D．being Apple takes more than time and efforts |
| A．other companies are dedicated to integration |
| B．Apple itself is fully aware of its unique advantages |
| C．Apple will hold the leading position in this industry |
| D．other companies don't have a great team as Apple does |
| A．Acceptable． | B．Disappointing． | C．Unquestionable． | D．Convincing． |
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科目：高中英语 来源： 题型：阅读理解
People from East Asia tend to have more difficulty than those from Europe in distinguishing facial expressions — and a new report published online in Current Biology explains why.
Rachael Jack, University of Glasgow researcher, said that rather than scanning evenly(均匀的) across a face as Westerners do, Easterners fix their attention on the eyes.
"We show that Easterners and Westerners look at different face features to read facial expressions," Jack said. "Westerners look at the eyes and the mouth in equal measure, whereas Easterners favor the eyes and neglect (忽略) the mouth."
According to Jack and her colleagues, the discovery shows that human communication of emotion is more complex than previously believed. As a result, facial expressions that had been considered universally recognizable cannot be used to reliably convey emotion in cross-cultural situations.
The researchers studied cultural differences in the recognition of facial expressions by recording the eye movements of 13 Western Caucasian and 13 East Asian people while they observed pictures of. expressive faces and put them into categories: happy, sad, surprised, fearful, disgusted, angry, or neutral. They compared how accurately participants read those facial expressions using their particular eye movement strategies.
It turned out that Easterners focused much greater attention on the eyes and made significantly more errors than did Westerners. "The cultural difference in eye movements that they show is probably a reflection of cultural difference in facial expressions," Jack said. "Our data suggest that whereas Westerners use the whole face to convey emotion, Easterners use the eyes more and mouth less."
In short, the data show that facial expressions are not universal signals of human emotion. From here on, examining how cultural factors have diversified these basic social skills will help our understanding of human emotion. Otherwise, when it comes to communicating emotions across cultures, Easterners and Westerners will find themselves lost in translation.
【小题1】 The discovery shows that Westerners .
| A．pay equal attention to the eyes and the mouth |
| B．consider facial expressions universally reliable |
| C．observe the eyes and the mouth in different ways |
| D．have more difficulty in recognizing facial expressions |
| A．To make a face at each other. | B．To get their faces impressive. |
| C．To classify some face pictures. | D．To observe the researchers' faces. |
| A．The participants in the study. |
| B．The researchers of the study. |
| C．The errors made during the study. |
| D．The data collected from the study. |
| A．do translation more successfully |
| B．study the mouth more frequently |
| C．examine the eyes more attentively |
| D．read facial expressions more correctly |
| A．The Eye as the Window to the Soul |
| B．Cultural Differences in Reading Emotions |
| C．Effective Methods to Develop Social Skills |
| D．How to Increase Cross-cultural Understanding |
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科目：高中英语 来源： 题型：阅读理解
LONDON—Here’s a new warning from health experts：Sitting is deadly.
Scientists are increasingly warning that sitting for long periods—even if you also exercise regularly—could be bad for your health.And it doesn’t matter where the sitting takes place—at the office，at school，in the car or before a computer or TV—just the overall number of hours it occurs.Several studies suggest people who spend most of their days sitting are more likely to be fat，have a heart attack or even die.
In an editorial published this week in the British Journal of Sports Medicine，Elin EkblomBak of the Swedish School of Sport and Health Sciences suggested that authorities rethink how they define physical activity to highlight the dangers of sitting.
While health officials have issued guidelines recommending minimum amounts of physical activity，they haven’t suggested people try to limit how much time they spend in a seated position.
“After four hours of sitting，the body starts to send harmful signals，”said EkblomBak.She explained that genes regulating(调节) the amount of glucose(葡萄糖) and fat in the body start to shut down.
Even for people who exercise，spending long periods of time sitting at a desk is still harmful.Tim Armstrong，a physical activity expert at the World Health Organization，said people who exercise every day—but still spend a lot of time sitting—might get more benefit if that exercise was spread across the day，rather than in a single bout(一回)．
Still，in a study published in 2009 that tracked more than 17,000 Canadians for about a dozen years，researchers found people who sat more had a higher death risk，whether or not they exercised.
“We don’t have enough evidence yet to say how much sitting is bad，” said Peter Katzmarzyk of the Pennington Biomedical Research Center in Baton Rouge，who led the Canadian study.“But it seems the more you can get up and interrupt this sedentary behavior，the better.”
Figures from a U．S. survey in 20032004 found Americans spend more than half their time sitting，from working at their desks to sitting in cars.
Experts said more research is needed to figure out just how much sitting is dangerous，and what might be possible to offset those effects.
“People should keep exercising because that has a lot of benefits，” EkblomBak said.“But when they’re in the office，they should try to interrupt sitting as often as possible，” she said.
【小题1】What is the best title for the text?
| A．Not Sitting Too Much While Working |
| B．How to Avoid Sitting Too Much |
| C．Sitting Too Much Could Be Deadly |
| D．More and More People Sit Too Much |
| A．the more time you spend in exercising in a single bout(一回)，the healthier you will be |
| B．those who often sit too much are sure to grow fat or suffer from a heart attack |
| C．regular exercise is effective to get rid of the side effects of sitting too much |
| D．you had better not sit for more than four hours in a single bout |
| A．It results in a higher death risk. |
| B．It increases glucose and fat in the body. |
| C．It makes a person unable to exercise long enough in a day. |
| D．It causes the gene to fail to balance the glucose and fat in the body. |
| A．improve | B．avoid |
| C．ignore | D．achieve |
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科目：高中英语 来源： 题型：阅读理解
Many people think of the brain as a mystery.They don't know much about intelligence and how it works.When they do think about what intelligence is，many people believe that a person is born smart，average，or dumb—and stays that way in the whole life.But new research shows that the brain is more like a muscle—it changes and gets stronger when you use it.And scientists have been able to show just how the brain grows and gets stronger when you learn.
Everyone knows that when you lift weights，your muscles get bigger and you get stronger.A person who can't lift 20 pounds when he/she starts exercising can get strong enough to lift 100 pounds after working out for a long time.That's because the muscles become larger and stronger with exercise.And when you stop exercising，the muscles shrink and you get weaker.That's why people say “Use it or lose it！”
But most people don't know that when they practice and learn new things，parts of their brain change and get larger a lot like muscles do when they exercise. Inside the cortex(皮层)of the brain are billions of tiny nerve cells，called neurons. The nerve cells have branches connecting them to other cells in a complicated network. Communication between these brain cells is what allows us to think and solve problems. When you learn new things，these tiny connections in the brain actually multiply and get stronger.The more you challenge your mind to learn，the more your brain cells grow.Then，things that you once found very hard or even impossible to do—like speaking a foreign language or doing algebra(代数)—seem to become easy after learning them for a period of time.The result is a stronger，smarter brain.
Scientists started thinking that the human brain could develop and change when they studied animals'brains.They found out that animals that lived in a challenging environment were more perspicacious—they were better at solving problems and learning new things.
【小题1】According to the first paragraph，________.
| A．the function of our brain is like that of the muscle |
| B．until now it's impossible to explain the brain's mystery |
| C．many people believe one's intelligence is naturally determined |
| D．one's brain grows stronger as the age increases |
| A．using the brain |
| B．connecting things in your brain |
| C．lifting weights |
| D．doing research about the brain |
| A．Strong. | B．Smart. |
| C．Popular. | D．Active. |
| A．the differences between animals'brains and humans'brains |
| B．the relation between human brains and muscles |
| C．scientists' findings about animals' brains |
| D．how to make your brain smarter through self?development |
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科目：高中英语 来源： 题型：阅读理解
Boredom and Creativity
Most of us think of being bored at work as a negative experience, but a new study suggests it can have positive results including an increase in creativity because it gives us time to daydream.
That is the finding of Dr. Sandi Mann from the University of Central Lancashire. Dr. Mann conducted two studies. In the first experiment, 40 people were asked to carry out a boring task. They were told to copy numbers out of a telephone directory for 15 minutes. After that they were asked to complete another task. A pair of cups were given to each of them. Everyone tried to come up with different uses of the cups, and was given a chance to display their creativity. Meanwhile, another group of 40 people were just asked to come up with uses for the cups without doing any boring tasks before. It turned out that the 40 people who had first copied out the telephone numbers were more creative than the control group(对照组).
To see if daydreaming was a factor in this effect, a second boring task was introduced that allowed even more daydreaming than the boring writing task. This second study saw 30 people copying out the numbers as before, but also included a second group of 30 reading rather than writing them.
Again the researchers found that the people in the control group were least creative, but the people who had just read the names were more creative than those who had to write them out. This suggests that more passive boring activities, like reading or perhaps attending meetings, can lead to more creativity. Compared with reading, writing reduced the scope（范围） for daydreaming. As a result, it reduces the effects of boredom on creativity.
Dr. Mann says: “Boredom at work has always been seen as something to be avoided, but perhaps we should accept it in order to promote our creativity. What we want to do next is to see what the practical implications of this finding are. Do people who are bored at work become more creative in other areas of their work -- or do they go home and write novels?”
【小题1】Who proved to be the most creative in the two studies?
| A．The people who attended meetings. |
| B．The people who did the reading task. |
| C．The people who invented uses for cups. |
| D．The people who copied telephone numbers. |
| A．creative tasks |
| B．controlled activities |
| C．the range of daydreaming |
| D．reading and writing ability |
| A．Positive. |
| B．Skeptical. |
| C．Subjective. |
| D．Disapproving. |
| A．The real causes of creativity. |
| B．The actual use of boredom. |
| C．The practical reasons of boredom. |
| D．The writing ability improved by boredom. |
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科目：高中英语 来源： 题型：阅读理解
People in several American states may be surprised to see cars on city streets without a driver. Experimental driverless vehicles now are legal in Florida, Nevada and California. They are pointing the way to a future that is not far down the road. The high-tech company Google has a number of self-driving cars, which had covered 480,000 kilometers by August. Volvo is among the companies doing road tests and says it plans to sell driverless cars by 2020.
In September, California Governor Jerry Brown signed an act to allow autonomous vehicles on the roads of his state. " Today we're looking at science fiction becoming tomorrow's reality-the driverless car. " The technology for these cars includes cameras, radar and motion sensors. The systems have been improved through competitions sponsored by the U. S. government agency DARPA. Engineer Richard Mason of the Rand Corporation helped design driverless vehicles for DARPA challenge races.
Cars have become much more fuel-efficient, and new electronic features are' making Hondas safer, said Angie Nucci of Honda America. " A camera on the passenger-side mirror actually engaged on your guiding screen so you can safely change lanes. " Other safety features include warning systems on the front and the sides of the cars. These systems help drivers , but don't replace them. Curator Leslie Kendall of the Petersen Automotive Museum said autonomous cars will make the high ways safer．
"By taking out drivers, you also remove most risks of an accident," Kendall said. He said consumers, however, may be unwilling to lose control. "It may take them time to come to realize that the technology is indeed reliable, but it will have to prove itself first. "
Mason said the technology already works and the biggest challenge now is getting down the cost for driverless vehicles from hundreds of thousands of dollars to something more affordable. He said this will happen as the technology is improved.
【小题1】What can we learn from Paragraph l?
A. Driverless vehicles are now legal in the whole USA.
B. Volvo will be the first to sell driverless cars.
C. Driverless cars are pointing us' a faraway future.
D. Google's self-driving cars have covered a long distance.
【小题2】We learn that Governor of California Jerry Brown_________.
| A．helped design self-driving cars. |
| B．supports self-driving cars on roads. |
| C．considers self-driving cars science fiction. |
| D．improved the self-driving car systems. |
| A．They can help people drive more safely. |
| B．They can take the place of drivers now. |
| C．They can make cars run without fuel. |
| D．They can help cars run much faster. |
| A．They are not allowed to run on the road. |
| B．Their technical problems remain to be solved. |
| C．They are now too expensive for consumers. |
| D．They are more dangerous for people on the street. |
| A．The benefits of the self-driving cars. |
| B．The biggest challenge of the self-driving cars. |
| C．Safer or more dangerous-self-driving cars. |
| D．Self-driving cars-science fiction future is near. |
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