SEE a cell phone cover that you like on Taobao? Forget about placing an order, paying the bill online and waiting for days for it to be delivered to you. In the near future, you'll be able to get it in minutes just by hit­ting "print" on your computer.
You might find it hard to believe that you could actually "print" an object like you would a picture. But it is not that hard to under­stand how it would work. Just as a traditional printer sprays (喷) ink onto paper line by line, modern 3-D printers spread material onto a surface layer by layer, from the bottom to the top, gradually building up a shape.
Instead of ink, the materials the 3-D printer uses are mainly plastic, resin (树脂)and certain metals. The thinner each layer is --- from a millimeter to less than the width of a hair ---  the smoother and finer the object will be.
This may sound like a completely new technology, but the truth is that 3-D printing has been around since the late 1980s. Back then, it was barely affordable for most people, so few knew about it.
Last year, though, saw a big change in the 3-D printing industry--- printers became much cheaper. For example, 10 years ago a desktop 3-D printer might have cost £20,000 (200,000 yuan), while now they cost only about £ 1,000, according to the BBC.
Taken out of the factory and in­troduced to more diverse and com­mon uses, 3-D printing can create just about anything you can think of ---flutes (笛子), bikinis, jewelry, aircraft parts and even human organs. In fact, scientists from Cornell Univer­sity in New York have just made an artificial ear using a 3-D printer, accord­ing to Science Daily. The fake ear looks and acts exactly like a natural one.
However, as 3-D printing becomes more commonplace, it may bring about certain problems --- such as piracy. "Once you can download a coffee maker, or print out a new set of kitchen utensils (餐具) on your personal 3-D printer, who will visit a retail (零售的) store again?" an expert in 3-D printing told Forbes News. Even more frightening, what if anyone in the world could use a 3-D printer to print out a fully functioning gun?
【小题1】According to the article, in the future, the 3-D printing technology will ___.

A．enable people to make better purchases online

B．be applied as widely in our daily lives as computers

C．change the way we make many products

D．shorten the time it takes for people to get what they buy online

【小题2】What was the big event happening in the 3-D printing industry last year?

A．The 3-D printing technology was taken out ofthe factory.

B．The 3-D printer became more affordable forconsumers.

C．The 3-D printer was used for medical treatmentfor the first time.

D．3-D printing technology began to be used invarious fields.

【小题3】How is the last paragraph developed?

A．By analyzing a cause and an effect.	B．By making comparisons.
C．By giving examples.	D．By presenting research findings.

【小题4】What is the best title of the passage?

A．Printing out everything	B．Technology in the future
C．Online shopping disappearing	D．Great demand for 3-D printers

Two Chinese farmers who became an overnight sensation(轰动)when their heart-rending version of a famous pop song appeared on the Internet took to the stage in front of thousands of fans in Shanghai last Saturday.

Wang Xu, 44，and Liu Gang, 29, sang “In the Spring" alongside the song's star composer Wang Feng, in front of about 80,000 people at the Shanghai Stadium.

The audience buzzed with excitement and let out deafening cheers, the moment as they were introduced on the stage and then when Liu started the first sentence of their parts of the song.

The two migrant workers became stars after singing the tearjerker(催人泪下的）song during an evening drinking session in a 6-square-meter rented room in a late August evening. A friend recorded the performance on a cell phone and posted it on the Internet.

“If someday I am dead, please bury me in the spring," they sing. Wang's penetrating chorus, delivered with his eyes closed, has moved thousands to tears.

Wang and Liu consider the song a true portrait of lower-class groups like themselves. "With no credit card, no girlfriend, or a home with hot water, but only a guitar, I am singing happily, on streets, under bridges or in wild country, though nobody pays attention to the music," they sing.

To support his wife and two sons, Wang came to Beijing in 2000 from the countryside and has worked as a boiler man, and street peddler, before becoming a medical warehouse keeper, with a monthly pay of around 1,500 yuan. Little is left after he pays 600 yuan for rent and buys food.

Liu came to Beijing in 2002. “I wanted to try my luck in the big city，，，he said. He had worked as a guard, roadside peddler, and porter, but never had a stable job. Street performing was his main income, even after he married and became a father three years ago.

Wang and Liu are still uncertain where their fame will lead. Wang has started learning to use a computer. They even have a microblog(微博）account to communicate with fans.

Wang Xu and Liu Gang first became nationally known after______.

A.  they sang the song “In the Spring" with a star composer Wang Feng

B.  the video of them singing “In the Spring" was posted on the Internet

C.  they sang on streets and under bridges

D.  they started their microblog

People like Wang and Liu's version of “In the Spring" because ______ .

A.  they sang the song better than other singers

B.  they were introduced to the public by the song writer himself

C.  it was specially composed for them two

D.  it is a heartfelt expression of the two singers as migrant workers

It can be inferred from the passage that  ______.

A.  migrant workers' conditions will be improved soon

B.  they will learn to write songs on computers

C.  a song showing people's real life and feelings is more likely to be accepted

D.  singers for migrant workers are more likely to become popular

The best possible title for the passage is______.

A.  Internet Farmer Stars Make Stage Appearance

B.  “In the Spring"—A Touching Song

C.  A Successful Internet Performance

D.  No Pains, No Gains

There are two methods by which hydrogen (氢) can be used to power cars. The first way is to use hydrogen to drive the engine, in much the same way as many cars use gas. The second method is to use the reaction of hydrogen with oxygen in a battery, making the car a kind of electric one.

The dream of producing hydrogen in the car while driving along by electrolyzing（电解）water is a long way off, so we are still at the period of batteries and filling the tank with hydrogen gas. This is the difficulty for potential car users and producers. There are only sixteen hydrogen filling stations in Los Angeles and none in 99% of other cities worldwide.

Indeed, some of the big name automobile producers have pulled out of the race to put the first practical hydrogen car on the streets. Ford and GM have announced that they are pulling out in America and so has Renault in France.

However, the Japanese companies are pressing on. In fact, Honda introduced its first hydrogen fuel cell car in 1999. They are now producing second generation hydrogen car known as the FCX Clarity. Guess where they are available for sale? In only one city because of its filling stations.

Honda thinks that they could go into full-scale production of the FCX Clarity by 2020 if the world is prepared for them by then.

Then there are hydrogen-powered buses in several European cities including Amsterdam, Barcelona, Hamburg, London, Luxembourg and Madrid. Lotus, the makers of London taxis, have announced that they propose to manufacture hydrogen-powered taxis in time for the London Olympics.

So, the hydrogen vehicle is out there and the numbers will be growing fairly soon. The buses go back to their bus station, where an electrolyzing machine changes water into fuel for them to fill up on and the same will be the case for many of London’s taxis.

Unfortunately, getting fuel is not the only difficulty for the average motorist, a number of these vehicles cost about $300,000 each.

1.According to the text, hydrogen-powered buses ________.

A．can easily be filled up with gas.

B．are likely to sell well in the future.

C．are mainly used in the United States

D．won’t be used in the London Olympics

2.What does the underlined word “them” in paragraph 5 refer to?

A．Japanese companies	B．Hydrogen buses
C．The FCX Clarity	D．Filling stations

3.Where are hydrogen cars currently available for sale?

A．In Barcelona

B．In Hamburg

C．In London

D．In Los Angeles

4.We can learn from the text that ________.

A．there are sixty hydrogen filling stations all over the world

B．hydrogen vehicles fueled by water will be very expensive

C．Honda will mass-produce the FCX Clarity by 2012

D．Honda produced its first hydrogen car in 1989

 

Which are you more likely to have wath you at sny given mement—your cell phone or your wallet? Soon you may be able to throw your wallet away and pay for things with a quick wave of your smart phone over an electroue scannet.
In January, Starbucks announced that customers could start using their phones to buy coffee in 6,800 of its states. This is the first pay-by-phone practice in the U.S., but we’re likely to see more witeless payment alternatives as something called ucar field communcation(NFC)GETS IN TO America’s consumet electanies. Last Deccmbet some new smart phanes which cantain an NFC chip were introduced to the public.
Already in use in part of Asia and Europe, NFC allows shoppers to wave theie phones a few inchs above a payment terminal-a contact-free system build for speed and convenience.  plan a few incees live a payment tetminal a one a few ptaht need to be worked out, like who will get to collect the profitable trunsacian(交易)fees. Although some credit card providers have been experimenting with wave and pay systems that use NFC enabled credit cards, cellphone service providers truay try to mused their way into the point of sale (POS)market. Three big cell phone service providers have formed a joinf tenture(合资企业)that will go into opention over the next 15 months. Its goal is“to lead the U.S. payments industry from cards to mobile phone.”
The other big NFC sue, apart from how paymeats will be processed, is security, For instance, what’s to stop a thief from digitally pickpocketing you? “We’re still not at the point where an attacker can just brush against yee in a crowd and steal all the money out of your phone,”says Jimmy Shah. A mobile security rescarcher, “Usera may also be able to set transaction timeits,requiring a password to be enteced for larger putchases.
Bussiness? Keep in mund you lost your smart phone, it can be located on a located on a map and remotely disabled. Plus, your phone can be password protected, Your wallet isn’t.
【小题1】What is predicted to happen in the U.S.?

A．The expansion of cellphone companices.

B．The boom of pay by phone business.

C．The dissppearanceof credit cards.

D．The increase of Starbucks sales.s

【小题2】The NFC technology can be used to________.

A．ensure the safety of shoppers

B．collect transaction fees easily

C．make purchase faster and smpler

D．improve the quality of cellphones

【小题3】Three cellphone service providers form a joint venture to__________.

A．strengthen their relationship

B．get a share in the payments industry

C．sell more cellphones

D．test the NFC teehnoingy

【小题4】According to the what can users do if they lose their smart phones?

A．Stop the luneting of niet phones.

B．Stop a passwant.

C．Cat all the money out of their phones.

D．Can large purchases.

The Crowne Plaza Copenhagen Towers has been named the greenest one in the world by the travel and tourist organization Skaal International, reported the Danish news agency Ritzau on Monday.

The hotel has been awarded the EcoTourism Award for setting an environmental-friendly example to other hotels, said the report.

The Crowne Plaza Copenhagen Towers is located in the Copenhagen suburb of Oerestad and has the largest solar cell facility in the Nordic. This facility delivers energy to the hotel while Danish groundwater supplies cooling and heating in the air condition of the hotel.

The Crowne Plaza Copenhagen Towers

TV and lights in the hotel are all of energy-saving brands. Shampoo bottles, toothbrushes and washing accessories are biologically degradable, which means that the nature can easily absorb the materials.

The hotel restaurant is only buying local goods and the food leftovers are used for bioenergy as well as fertilizer. The fitness facilities also provide a green touch to the hotel, as the training bikes of the fitness center are linked to the power grid（电网） of the hotel, thereby providing free energy if any guest wishes to exercise. People who do contribute free energy this way are supposedly getting a free meal in the hotel restaurant. “It is the first time that a Danish hotel receives this award. I think our throughout green thinking is the reason why we have been awarded. It is all the small details, as well as the big picture，” says Allan Agerholm, the CEO of the hotel, in a press release.

?The Crowne Plaza Copenhagen Towers opened its doors last year. Skaal International was founded in 1932 by travel managers and has approximately 20,000 members in 89 nations. It is an organization promoting global tourism.

Which of the following is the best title of this passage?

A. Hotel in Copenhagen named world’s greenest

B. Copenhagen-the world’s greenest city

C. Eco Tourism Award in Copenhagen

D. The Crowne Plaza Copenhagen Towers

The hotel has been awarded the EcoTourism Award because         .

A. delivers green energy to the hotels in Nordic

B. is located in the Copenhagen suburb not in the city center

C. has the largest solar cell facility

D. it sets an environmental-friendly example to other hotels

The underlined word “degradable” in passage 3 means it can be         .

A. rejected by people who don’t like it

B. accepted by guests from all over the world

C. absorbed easily by nature

D. recycled by the nature

What is so special about the fitness facilities?

A. It is free for those who like to exercise.

B. It uses green power to drive.

C. It generates free electricity while being used.

D. It offers free meal to guests who use it.

What is Skaal International?

A. Another name for this green hotel.

B. An organization promoting global tourism.

C. The Danish news agency Ritzau.

D. A branch hotel restaurant in Danmark.