As she ran her eyes over the flight-test calculation sheets the engineer had given her, Katherine Goble could see there was something wrong with them. The engineer had made an error with a square root (平方根). And it was going to be tricky to tell him so. It was her first day on this assignment, when she and another girl had been picked out of the computing pool at the Langley aeronautical laboratory, to help the all-male flight research unit.
But there were other, more significant snags (障碍) than simply being new—he was a man and she was a woman. In 1953 women did not question men. They stayed in their place, in this case usually the computing pool, tapping away on their desktop calculators or filling sheets with figures, she as neatly turned out as all the rest. Men were the grand designers, the engineers; the women were “computers in skirts”, who were handed a set of equations (方程式) and exhaustively, diligently checked them. Men were not interested in things as small as that.
Nonetheless, this engineer’s calculation was wrong. If she did not ask the question, an aircraft might not fly, or might fly and crash.
So, very carefully, she asked it. Was it possible that he could have made a mistake? He did not admit it but, by turning the colour of a cough drop, he ceded (屈服) the point. She asked more such questions, and they got her noticed. As the weeks passed, the men “forgot” to return her to the pool. Her incessant “why?” and “how?” made their work sharper. It also challenged them. Why were their calculations of aerodynamic forces so often out? Because they were maths graduates who had forgotten their geometry, whereas she had not; her high-school brilliance at maths had led to special classes on analytic geometry in which she, at 13, had been the only pupil.
Why was she not allowed to get her name on a flight-trajectory report when she had done most of the work? Because women didn’t. That was no answer, so she got her name on the report, the first woman to be so credited. Why was she not allowed into the engineers’ lectures on orbital mechanics and rocket propulsion? Because “the girls don’t go”. Why? Did she not read Aviation Week, like them? She soon became the first woman there.
As NASA’s focus turned from supersonic flight to flights in space, she was therefore deeply involved, though still behind the scenes. She ensured that Alan Shepards mercury capsule splashed down where it could be found quickly in 1961, and that John Glenn in 1962 could return safely from his first orbits of the earth. Indeed, until she had checked the figures by hand against those of the newfangled electronic computer, he refused to go.
Later she calculated the timings for the first moon landing (with the astronauts’ return), and worked on the space shuttle. But in the galaxy of space-programme heroes, despite her 33 years in the flight research unit, for a long time she featured nowhere.
It did not trouble her. First, she also had other things to do: Raise her three daughters, cook, sew their clothes, care for her sick first husband. Second, she knew in her own mind how good she was—as good as anybody. She could hardly be unaware of it, when she had graduated from high school at 14 and college at 18, expert at all the maths anyone knew how to teach her.
But when their story emerged in the 21st century, most notably in a book and a film called “hidden figure”, she had a NASA building named after her and a shower of honorary doctorates.
Do your best, she always said Love what you do. Be constantly curious. And learn that it is not dumb to ask a question; it is dumb not to ask it. Not least, because it might lead to the small but significant victory of making a self-proclaimed (自称的) superior realise he can make a mistake.
1.Why did Katherine hesitate about pointing out the engineer’s error?
A.Because she lacked working experience and wasn’t sure of the error.
B.Because she was worried about being sent back to the computing pool.
C.Because men played a dominant role in the lab and couldn’t be questioned.
D.Because the man was an authority in that field and wouldn’t admit his error.
2.Women took on the calculation work in the lab because ________.
A.they were more careful and diligent than men B.men showed great respect for them
C.they were fond of doing lighter work D.men were unwilling to do such minor thing
3.What happened after Katherine Goble asked many questions in the flight research unit?
A.Male engineers ignored her deliberately. B.She gave male engineers a deep impression.
C.She made small errors occasionally. D.Special classes on analytic geometry were arranged.
4.The example of John Glenn is given in Paragraph 6 to show that ________.
A.Katherine Goble was considered reliable
B.he was a stubborn but cautious person
C.computers were of less significance at that time
D.male engineers preferred checking figures by hand
5.Katherine Goble didn’t get troubled by being nameless, because ________.
A.she led a relatively busy life and was confident about her ability
B.she devoted all her time to taking care of her children
C.she received a good education at an early age
D.she was ordinary among mathematicians
6.What’s the best title of the passage?
A.a girl who asked questions B.A figure who worked up to her fame
C.A woman who was ignored by male workmates D.A scientist who was crazy about maths
高三英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析
You’ve got the butter, the eggs, the organic salad greens and the laundry soap. And so you make your way to the front of the grocery store, which is where you’ll face your moment of truth:
Will you step in behind the mom with a wiggly baby and a full cart? Or take your chances with the young couple you spotted arguing over the best milk in Aisle 3B?
Better make up your mind, quick. Because, faster than the guy with “just one item” who’s about to cut in line, this whole scene is going to disappear.
Amazon recently opened its own convenience store, Amazon Go, in Seattle. It’s the first of its kind: a truly cashless grocery experience in which shoppers enter through gates that look like subway turnstiles (闸机), take what they want from the shelves and exit the way they came. No carts, no lines, no waiting. The store accurately lists what you take and charges your Amazon account, efficiently delivering an electronic receipt after you’ve left. Like most things that Amazon does, this smells like inevitability. We know, as surely as we knew the day that first Amazon box showed up on the doorstep, that the future of shopping has arrived.
Like all progress, it comes at a cost. “Based on data”, says Manoj Thomas, a professor of marketing at Cornell University, “we know that when people use any abstract form of payment, they spend more. And the type of products they choose changes too.”
Decades of psychological research has reinforced the knowledge that the further we are removed from “the pain of paying,” the less we understand how much were really spending. “If you are paying by credit card,” says Thomas, “you might pause at the checkout and suddenly think,” Should I be buying this? “Or if you are paying cash, that reflection happens at the very beginning. Both will be gone with the Amazon store.” Unhealthy impulse purchases and overspending will result from it, he says. “Both are completely related because they are influenced by our impulse urges.”
Win Is Thomas advocating that we all make a run for the atm and attempt to turn back time by using old hard currency? “No, no, no,” he says.
He envisions a world in which you’ll be able to set budget or calorie limits on an app that will recognize when you pick up unhealthy or budget-busting items and will warn you that they fall outside your goals. He expresses confidence that there is some tech hero out there right now, figuring out this exact solution to keep us all on the straight and narrow.
1.What does the underlined phrase “this whole scene” in Paragraph 2 refer to?
A.Customers arguing over the best item. B.Customers lining up at the checkout.
C.Customers cutting in line for the bargains. D.Customers doing shopping with their babies.
2.What might you experience if you do shopping in Amazon Go?
A.Less “pain of paying” at the checkout counter.
B.Convenient entering through subway turnstiles.
C.Overspending on more than you actually need.
D.Quicker delivering of goods to your car.
3.Manoj Thomas probably holds the view that ________.
A.abstract payment contributes to market prosperity
B.impulse consumption may be regulated with the new app
C.extra spending will surely not happen with the warning of the app
D.it is better for people to use cash or credit cards to avoid overspending
高三英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析
Who Can Apply
*First-year fall applicants
*Transfer students through the transfer admission process
How to Apply
For each class, we bring together a varied mix of high-achieving, intellectually gifted students from diverse backgrounds to create an exceptional learning community.
We care about what students have accomplished in and out of the classroom. The process is highly selective. In recent years, we’ve offered admission to less than 7 percent of applicants.
As you prepare your application, help us to appreciate your talents, academic accomplishments and personal achievements. We’ll ask for your transcript (成绩单) and recommendations, and we will want to know more than just the statistics in your file. Tell us your story. Show us what’s special about you. Tell us how you would seize the academic and nonacademic opportunities at Princeton and contribute to the Princeton community. Above all, please write in a style that reflects your own voice.
Princeton accepts the Coalition Application and Common Application. Princeton treats them all equally. To apply, you will need to submit online either the Coalition Application or the Common Application, plus the Princeton Supplement.
When to Apply
You have two choices for applying to Princeton for first-year admission—single-choice early action or regular decision. Before you begin preparing your application, we strongly encourage you to review our standardized testing policy, which includes detailed information regarding our standardized testing requirements.
*Single-choice Early Action, also known as restrictive early action (If you have thoroughly researched your college options and have decided that Princeton is your first choice)
Nov. 1 Application Due
Nov. 9 Princeton Financial Aid Application Due
*Regular Decision
Jan. 1 Application Due
Feb. 1 Princeton Financial Aid Application Due
1.What should be included in the application to Princeton University?
A.Talents that you have great appreciation for.
B.Stories that reflect what people think of you.
C.Statistics that show your academic accomplishments.
D.Contributions that you have made to the Princeton community.
2.We can learn from the passage that ________.
A.transfer students are not qualified for application
B.students need to submit their application by fax
C.the chance of being admitted is relatively low
D.applicants should take Princeton as their single choice
高三英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析
Next time you find yourself tending to your flower garden, you may want to stay quiet. The flowers are listening.
Israeli scientists discovered that the plants hear bees approaching and attempt to lure them in with sweeter nectar (花蜜). In several experiments, they found that playing audio recordings of buzzing bees around certain flowers will cause the sugar concentration in the nectar to rise by about 20% in less than five minutes. Such a rapid reaction by plants to sound had never previously been reported. Just to compare, the researchers also tried a higher frequency noise-like that made by a mosquito or a bat-and the flowers did not respond.
The authors point out that the behavior is actually in line with the natural order of things, considering that a plant’s ability to sense its environment and respond to it is critical for its survival. So, it would seem that plants have some sort of consciousness.
This is not the first time that plants have reacted to the sound around them. In a 2009 study, the researchers found that women’s voices help make plants grow faster. In that experiment, tomato plants were found to grow up to two inches taller when they were tended to by a female gardener.
What if we told you that a potato chip bag left on the floor of a break room could listen in on office gossip? As people were talking around the potato chip bag, they were sending tiny sound vibrations (振动) into the air. Those vibrations then hit lifeless objects around the room. Now imagine if you had a camera that was zoomed in on one of those objects extremely closely. In theory, you could actually see the object move along with the vibrations. You could then feed that video into a computer program that could translate the vibrations and you can play back the audio of the conversation that just took place.
So the next time you're at the botanical garden or in a grocery aisle, careful what you say. Someone-or something-might be listening.
1.Which of the following best explains "lure" in Paragraph 2?
A.Shut B.Attract C.Trap D.Lead
2.What is vital for plants to survive?
A.The soil depending on to grow in.
B.The audio recordings played to them.
C.The identification to the sound frequency.
D.The power to sense and react to the environment.
3.What can speed up the growth of plants?
A.The women's voice. B.The strength of the vibration.
C.The species of the young plant. D.The number of the music played.
4.What is the main idea of the text?
A.Plants may have the ability to listen.
B.Sound vibrations can be processed into an audio.
C.Buzzing bees can increase the production of nectar.
D.The frequency of vibration determines plants’ growth.
高三英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析
"Keep your eyes open. This is where the Ewoks live.'' The one-hour drive outside of San Francisco, covered in clouds along windy roads, has inspired my husband to say this sentence at least a dozen times.
We finally arrive at Muir Woods National Park. I explain the strange green stuff on trunks of trees as we pass by--mos (苔藓), something my 5-year-old son Cole has never seen in the desert where we live.
"Mom, are Ewoks real? I think they maybe aren't real. " There's a question in Cole's voice,like he's trying on this idea.
We've been down the road of pretending versus reality before, what with all the talk of superheroes and such around our house. "I think you are right. Ewoks are just in the movies. But it would be cool if they were real, right ?"
Cole's silent for a while, thinking. "I just saw an Ewok’s ear back there!" Coles spotted an additional Ewok arm and one full body of the tiny hairy creatures. It does indeed look like we are in the Ewok forest of Star Wars.
Cole's imagination is more than I can understand. What do plants eat? Which is the best planet? Which rocks float? He loves life. He loves his inner world and outer existence equally.
I hear a lot of worry from parents about media sucking the souls from our children, taking away their time for creative play. For us, this hasn’t been the case. Cole and his brother are quite knowledgeable in the realities of life when it comes to Angry Birds, Curious George, and the adventures of Indiana Jones. These characters, and others of their own invention, live in my home like visitors, joining us on walks and outings. I appreciate them, though not all the time, for the company they give my sons and their busy minds.
I think of media characters as an add-on to already busy minds, by carefully monitoring who gets invited into our lives, they become part of the parenting team. They teach loyalty adventure, curiosity--lessons I'm trying to convey, but in a much cooler way than I can.
Pretence is awesome. It provides practice for real life without the ordinary interfering.
1.Where are the family heading for?
A.The cinema. B.A park. C.San Francisco. D.A desert.
2.What can we know about Cole from the passage?
A.He is proud of himself. B.He is full of curiosity.
C.He is courageous. D.He is considerate.
3.What do many parents think of their children playing via media?
A.It wastes children's time.
B.It can make their children relaxed.
C.It can engage their children in learning actively.
D.It can accompany their children in their absence.
4.What's the authors attitude to the media characters in parenting children?
A.Indifferent. B.Critical. C.Supportive. D.Disapproving.
高三英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析
Coral reefs are a necessary part of sea life and support it by providing shelter and habitat to various organisms. They also supply and recycle nutrients as well as enable a fish population to boom, along with other species, for a healthy and diverse ecosystem.
However, the rise in average water temperatures due to climate change has resulted in more frequent and extended “coral bleaching(珊瑚白化)” events that damage their health, causing fish and other sea species to abandon them.
In order to repair this delicate ecosystem, scientists from the UK and Australia conducted a study that involved using speakers underwater near damaged coral reefs to make them sound healthy and attract fish, potentially starting the natural recovery press of coral reefs and their dependent life forms.
The location for this experiment was the Great Barrier Reef in the Coral Sea, found alongside the east coast of Queensland Australia, which is famous to have the largest coral reef system in the world that’s 2, 300 kilometers long and covers an area of nearly 344, 400 square kilometers. By using loudspeakers to reproduce such sounds, areas of dead coral reefs were found to attract twice as many fish, compared to places where no sounds were played. These returning fish could help in the recovery of this ecosystem by giving those areas of coral a chance of new life.
“Fish are important for coral reefs to function as healthy ecosystems. Increasing fish populations in this way could help to start natural recovery process, reducing the damage we’re seeing on many coral reefs around the world. Of course, attracting fish to a dead reef won’t bring it back to life automatically, but the recovery process relies on fish that clean the reef to make space for corals to regrow.” said Mark Meekan.
1.What is the first paragraph mainly about?
A.The importance of coral reefs. B.The influence of climate change.
C.The perfect place for sea species. D.The ecosystem diversity and complexity.
2.What's the purpose of using speakers underwater?
A.To make fish more active. B.To test damaged coral reefs.
C.To help recover the ecosystem. D.To help speed the growth of reefs.
3.Why is the experiment carried out in the Great Barrier Reef?
A.It can attract rich sea species. B.It can draw public attention easily.
C.There exist more dead coral reefs. D.There is the largest coral reef system.
4.What is Mark Meekan's attitude towards the use of speakers?
A.Doubtful B.Positive
C.Disappointed D.Indifferent
高三英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析
Picasso paintings regularly sell for millions of dollars, making it unlikely that the majority of art lovers will ever own a work by the famous Spanish painter. But Care International, a Paris-based nonprofit is offering individuals around the world the chance to acquire a Picasso original for just $111 and contributes to a worthy cause at the same time.
As Caroline Elbaor reports for artnet News, Aider les Autres is offering tickets for Nature Morte, a 1921 Picasso painting describing a newspaper and a glass of absinthe(苦艾酒). The painting, which is on display at the Picasso Museum in Paris, has been valued at SI. I million. But one lucky winner will be able to obtain the painting for a mere small amount of that price.
By selling the Picasso painting at an extremely discounted rate, Aider les Autres hopes to raise a lot of money for Care International. Around 200, 000 rale tickets (抽奖券)are available for purchase, meaning the organization will be able to raise up to $22 million. Some of the money will be used to buy the painting and cover other costs, but the majority will be donated to the charity.
Care International plans to use the donated money to build and restore wells, washing facilities and toilets in Cameroon, Madagascar and Morocco. Having easy access to clean water not only reduces the risk of water borne diseases, but also reduces the time that people and particularly women and girls have to spend walking to clean water sources.
“Besides the huge waste of time, women and girls are at risk as they walk alone along remote paths and tracks,” Aider les Autres explains. “Girls are also more likely to miss school because of lack of hygiene (卫生). By providing clean water, we will increase girls' attendance by many thousands.”
1.Where are art lovers likely to get a Picasso original at a very low price?
A.From the lucky winner. B.From Caroline Elbaor.
C.From the Picasso Museum. D.From Care International.
2.What will most money from raffle tickets be used to do?
A.Buy tickets for art overs.
B.Buy the painting Nature Morte.
C.Contribute to charitable projects.
D.Give away to the lucky winner.
3.Why will Care International build wells in Morocco?
A.To promote its status. B.To store more clean water.
C.To improve people’s health. D.To increase girls 'learning time.
4.Where is this text most likely from?
A.A personal diary. B.A news report.
C.A book review. D.A science fiction novel.
高三英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析
Founder Lia Grimanis herself experienced homelessness as a teen growing up in Toronto. She got the idea for Up With Women when she received career coaching while working for a teel company. Unlike consultation, where clients work through issues from their pasts, coaching is about the future.
She realized that women who really needed professional development help from a coach could never actually afford it. “All of our clients are living below the poverty line, but some coaches are charging $350 to $600 an hour.” she says.
Up With Women matches participants with certificated career coaches who provide one-on-one sessions twice a month for one year. The strategy is working. So far, the organization has helped more than 400 women. In the 2016-2017 group, roughly 70 percent of them saw an increase in their income, On average, they were making S 12, 383 more per year than women still on the organization’s waiting list. While it’s harder to measure confidence levels. Grimanis sees an increase there, too. And those difficult to quantify results can be the most powerful.
Harmeet Toor, Up With Women’s director of operations and programs, was once a client herself. For Toor, one of the most powerful parts of her coaching experience was learning to shed the idea that she should limit her goals.
Five months into Toor’s coaching sessions. she 'd found a place to live. By the eight-month mark, she 'd landed a job at a doctor’s office. And now she’s figuring out how to help others like Smith, who was finally able to start a law school in 2018.
“I owe it to Up With Women for helping me get here,” Smith says. “Of course, I have the drive and the determination, but I wouldn’t be in the law school if I didn’t have that coaching.”
1.What do we know about Lia Grimanis?
A.She is a caring woman. B.She has a sense of humor.
C.She makes lots of money. D.She is born in a rich family.
2.What does the underlined word “shed” in Paragraph 4 probably mean?
A.Get used to. B.Make sense.
C.Get rid of. D.Hold on to.
3.What does Smith think played a key role in her success?
A.A tech company. B.Up With Women.
C.Her determination. D.Her family’s support.
4.What is the text mainly talking about?
A.How winery should develop their own career.
B.How-women should balance their family and career.
C.How Up With Women is set up with the help of Harmeet Toor.
D.How a Toronto woman helps other women pull themselves out of poverty.
高三英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析
The stomach is an extremely strong organ, full of acid to break down each meal. In order to prevent this acid from burning a hole in our stomachs and damaging other organs, our stomach lining is specially adapted to contain the acid safely.
H. pylori are able to live in the stomach by living in the lining, safe from harsh stomach acid. These bacteria are actually pretty common in people, approximately a third of Australians have H. pylori in their bodies, but not all have symptoms.
The bacteria can eventually create infection in stomach lining, a condition known as gastritis (胃炎), by wearing away the lining and allowing stomach acid to burn away stomach tissue, causing painful ulcers (溃疡)。
Up until the 1980s, it was thought that bacteria could not survive in stomach acid. The cause of stomach ulcers was due to lifestyle choices: stress, smoking, spicy foods; the stomach acid was breaking through the lining on its own.
This belief was first questioned in 1979 by Robin Warren, an Australian pathologist, who found bacteria on a microscope slide containing the stomach lining of a patient with gastritis. In the years that followed Warren continued his research.
Warren then teamed up with Barry Marshall in 1981 and the two continued with the research, trying to separate the mystery bacteria and find a cure. Over the next three years, they tested their theories with some positive results, however the idea that bacteria could be the cause of gastritis was not widely accepted or even acknowledged.
Finally, fed up with being ignored and confident in his findings, Barry Marshall decided to test on himself. He infected himself with H. pylori and soon developed gastritis and terrible stomach ulcers. Marshall then began to cure himself by taking a dose of antibiotics (抗生素). This once and for all proved not only that bacteria could grow in stomach acid, but it could also cause gastritis and stomach ulcers.
Eventually, the world fully acknowledged Warren and Marshall's huge contribution to science and medicine and the two were awarded the Nobel prize in Medicine in 2005. Twenty-six years after Robin Warren first began his research.
1.Why did the academics initially refuse to accept that H. pylori caused gastritis?
A.Lifestyle choices caused stomach ulcers.
B.Stomach acid could break through the lining on its own.
C.They thought that bacteria couldn't survive in the stomach.
D.The Australian pathologist Robin Warren provided no evidence.
2.How did Barry Marshall prove that H. pylori caused gastritis?
A.Choosing unhealthy lifestyles. B.Introducing H. pylori to his own stomach.
C.Finding the bacteria on stomach lining. D.Growing H. pylori in the lab.
3.What can we infer from the text?
A.Scientific progress takes time. B.Science guides medical practices.
C.Warren is not a productive scientist. D.Only Marshall deserves the prize.
4.The text is most likely written to .
A.Chemists B.Patients C.Researchers D.The general public
高三英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析
You feel especially smart and funny when talking to a particular person, only to feel hopelessly unintelligent and tongue-tied in the presence of another.
Experiments show when people report feeling comfortable with a conversational partner, they are judged by those partners and by observers as actually being more witty (机智的)。
It's just one example of the powerful influence that social factors can have on intelligence. As parents, teachers and students settle into the school year, this work should encourage us to think about intelligence not as a “lump of something that's in our heads,” as the psychologist Joshua Aronson puts it, but as “a transaction among people.”
Mr. Aronson, an associate professor at New York University, has been a leader in investigating the effects of social forces on academic achievement. Along with the psychologist Claude Steele, he identified the phenomenon known as “stereotype (刻板印象) threat.” Members of groups believed not to be academically good score much lower on tests when reminded in advance of their race or gender.
The pair's experiments in the 1990s concluded that the performance of these students suffered because they were worried about confirming negative stereotypes about their group.
Minorities aren't the only ones easily hurt by stereotype threat. We all are. A group of people especially confident about their mathematical abilities did worse on a math test when told that the experiment was intended to investigate “why Asians appear to perform better than other students on tests of math ability.”
And in a study published earlier this year in the journal Learning and Individual Differences, high school students did worse on a test of spatial (空间的) skills when told that males are better at solving spatial problems because of genetic differences between males and females. The girls were anxious about confirming assumptions about their gender, while the boys were anxious about living up to them.
The evolving literature on stereotype threat shows that performance is always social in nature. Even alone in an exam room, we hear a chorus of voices assessing, evaluating, passing judgment. And as social creatures, humans are strongly affected by what these voices say.
1.What does the underlined word “transaction” in paragraph 3 refer to?
A.Spatial reasoning skills. B.The ability to remember information.
C.Interaction between us and the environment. D.Passing on knowledge from teachers to students.
2.After being told males typically perform better than females in math, males are most likely to perform .
A.better than females B.the same as females
C.worse than usual D.worse than females
3.Which of the following “voices” in our head may influence performance on an exam?
A.“I am as prepared as I can be.”
B.“I am supposed to do well on this.”
C.“The testing room is different from my classroom.”
D.“I am solving the problems faster than the one sitting in front of me.”
4.How do stereotypes threaten our academic achievement?
A.Making us unintelligent. B.Reminding us of our weaknesses.
C.Limiting our spatial reasoning skills. D.Raising our anxiety level.
高三英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析