An ordinary cotton T- shirt can be changed into body armour(盔甲), thanks to scientists from South Carolina, Switzerland and China. They combined the carbon in the cotton with boron to create a tough, lightweight fabric of boron carbide(碳化硼), the same material used to protect tanks.
Available at Wal-Mart, the new T- shirt would be not only bulletproof, but also resistant to ultraviolet light from the sun and life -threatening radioactive rays.
“The present armour is strong, but it’s not flexible and it’s very heavy. We tried to solve this problem with a different approach. In our approach, we used cotton T- shirts,” said Xiaodong Li, a scientist at the University of South Carolina. The trick for the scientists was combining melting boron with the carbon fibers inside the cotton fibers to form boron carbide. The great research began with a package of plain, white T-shirts purchased at Wal-Mart, which the scientists cut into pieces. They put those white cotton pieces into a black liquid of boron. After an hour, the cotton pieces were taken out from it and baked in an oven at a temperature of more than 1,000 degrees Celsius for an hour. As a result, only carbon and boron was left and then boron carbide came into being.
The resulting material is very different from the original ones at the start of the process—it’s lighter, stronger, tougher and stiffer than the original cotton, but it can still be bent, unlike normal boron carbide armour.
Li said that the physical features of the new material are still being tested, but “from our initial results we can say the test has been very, very promising.” “We expect that the material can stop a bullet,” Discovery News quoted Li as saying.
Covering cars or aircraft with cotton-based boron carbide, instead of the metal used today, would make these vehicles much lighter and more fuel- saving.
1.What does Paragraph 3 mainly talk about?
A.The features of new boron carbide. B.The advantages of new boron carbide.
C.The disadvantages of former boron carbide. D.The process of making new boron carbide.
2.What can we know from the text?
A.Many T- shirts are used to produce new materials.
B.The new T- shirts must be popular with children.
C.The new boron carbide contains many chemicals.
D.The new material has more advantages.
3.What’s Li Xiaodong’s attitude towards the new material?
A.Confident. B.Negative. C.Neutral. D.Ambiguous.
4.What might be the best title for the passage?
A.Traditional T-shirts are out of date. B.An ordinary T- shirt can become body armour.
C.New boron carbide has been widely used. D.Cotton- based boron carbide will easily change our life.
高二英语阅读选择中等难度题
An ordinary cotton T- shirt can be changed into body armour(盔甲), thanks to scientists from South Carolina, Switzerland and China. They combined the carbon in the cotton with boron to create a tough, lightweight fabric of boron carbide(碳化硼), the same material used to protect tanks.
Available at Wal-Mart, the new T- shirt would be not only bulletproof, but also resistant to ultraviolet light from the sun and life -threatening radioactive rays.
“The present armour is strong, but it’s not flexible and it’s very heavy. We tried to solve this problem with a different approach. In our approach, we used cotton T- shirts,” said Xiaodong Li, a scientist at the University of South Carolina. The trick for the scientists was combining melting boron with the carbon fibers inside the cotton fibers to form boron carbide. The great research began with a package of plain, white T-shirts purchased at Wal-Mart, which the scientists cut into pieces. They put those white cotton pieces into a black liquid of boron. After an hour, the cotton pieces were taken out from it and baked in an oven at a temperature of more than 1,000 degrees Celsius for an hour. As a result, only carbon and boron was left and then boron carbide came into being.
The resulting material is very different from the original ones at the start of the process—it’s lighter, stronger, tougher and stiffer than the original cotton, but it can still be bent, unlike normal boron carbide armour.
Li said that the physical features of the new material are still being tested, but “from our initial results we can say the test has been very, very promising.” “We expect that the material can stop a bullet,” Discovery News quoted Li as saying.
Covering cars or aircraft with cotton-based boron carbide, instead of the metal used today, would make these vehicles much lighter and more fuel- saving.
1.What does Paragraph 3 mainly talk about?
A.The features of new boron carbide. B.The advantages of new boron carbide.
C.The disadvantages of former boron carbide. D.The process of making new boron carbide.
2.What can we know from the text?
A.Many T- shirts are used to produce new materials.
B.The new T- shirts must be popular with children.
C.The new boron carbide contains many chemicals.
D.The new material has more advantages.
3.What’s Li Xiaodong’s attitude towards the new material?
A.Confident. B.Negative. C.Neutral. D.Ambiguous.
4.What might be the best title for the passage?
A.Traditional T-shirts are out of date. B.An ordinary T- shirt can become body armour.
C.New boron carbide has been widely used. D.Cotton- based boron carbide will easily change our life.
高二英语阅读选择中等难度题查看答案及解析
U.K. astronomer Martin Rees says that in future, some people may decide to leave Earth in order to live on other worlds. Finally, he added, they might use high technologies to change themselves to adapt to their new environment.
“They will find themselves ill-adapted to conditions there, so they will redesign themselves using powerful genetic engineering (基因工程) technologies,” Rees says. “These techniques will, I hope, be kept under control on Earth; but those on other planets will be freer to try.”
“We should surely wish them luck in changing their children to adapt to outer planets. This may be the first step towards the development of a new species,” says Rees. He says that these “post-humans” could one day turn into “fully inorganic intelligences” which may not even need an atmosphere to live and may grow well in zero-gravity environments, which ordinary people are not adapted to. “So it is in deep space, not on Earth, that ‘brains’ may develop powers that humans can’t even imagine,” says Rees.
Rees also warns that human beings shouldn’t fall back on the idea that they can avoid disaster on Earth by heading deeper into space. “It’s dangerous to think that space offers an escape from Earth’s problems,” he says. “We must solve them here. Dealing with climate change is a doddle compared with changing other planets; there’s no environment in our solar system as mild as even the top of Qomolangma.”
This isn't the first time Rees has made interesting predictions. Last year, Rees predicted possible dangers of nuclear physics (核物理学) tests taking place on Earth. “Maybe a black hole could form, and then take in everything around it,” he said. However, some scientists were not worried about this prediction. Stefan, a physicist, said he wouldn't be “losing any sleep” over that prediction.
1.What might be Rees’s prediction?
A.People might live on other planets soon.
B.Space technologies might be improved greatly.
C.People might avoid using genetic technology in outer space.
D.Space exploration might lead to genetically-changed humans.
2.Which of the following might be a description of “post-humans” ?
A.They have better survivability.
B.They are sensitive to zero gravity.
C.They are as smart as ordinary people.
D.They cannot adapt to the global environment.
3.What might the underlined part “a doddle” Paragraph 4 mean?
A.The top dog. B.A hot potato.
C.A piece of cake. D.A white elephant.
4.What did Stefan think of Rees’s prediction?
A.It was doubtful.
B.It made great sense.
C.It required special attention.
D.It questioned many popular beliefs.
高二英语阅读选择中等难度题查看答案及解析
Justin Bieber used to be an ordinary Canadian boy, but his life totally changed in 2008. With his great musical talent, this seventeen-year-old boy has become a superstar in the music industry.
Justin Drew Bieber was born in 1994 in Stratford, Ontario and was raised by his single mother. Bieber learned to play musical instruments when he was very young. In 2007, he took part in a local singing competition in his hometown, and he did it just for fun. He never took singing lessons before but surprisingly he placed second in the competition. Then, with the help of his mother, he uploaded (上传) videos of him singing on a website and they successfully attracted the attention of thousands of viewers. His videos got popular through word of mouth and some of them have received up to 10,000,000 views.
Justin Bieber would have never gotten a career in the music business without his videos. Scooter Braun, a former marketing executive (主管) of So So Def Recordings, had watched Bieber’s videos and he was impressed by the boy’s talent. Braun then contacted Bieber and he flew the boy into Atlanta seven months after the first video was posted. Bieber showed his talent in singing as well as his ability in playing musical instruments. He then got a record deal.
In 2009, Justin Bieber released (发行) his first single “One Time” while he was recording the debut album (首张专辑). The single “One Time” tells a story about love. This song had success not only in Canada and the US, but also in the international market. Then he released his debut album “My World 2.0” in 2010 and the song “Baby” became the lead single. This album successfully entered the Top Ten Charts in seven countries. In June 2010, he started his first world tour in Hartford, Connecticut. One month later, he started recording his second album.
1.Justin Bieber’s career in music began to take off when _____.
A．he met with Scooter Braun
B．he released his debut album
C．he won second place in a competition
D．his singing videos were uploaded to a website
2.It can be inferred from the text that Justin Bieber _____.
A．owed his success to good luck
B．showed a gift for music when he was young
C．is the youngest superstar ever in the music industry
D．released his debut album with the help of Scooter Braun
3.What do we learn about Justin Bieber’s “One Time” according to the text?
A．It is about love and was released in 2010.
B．It attracted the world’s attention after released.
C．It successfully entered the Top Ten Charts in seven countries.
D．It is the lead single of his debut album “My World 2.0”.
4.What is the best title for the text?
A．Justin Bieber’s journey to success
B．Lucky boy — Justin Bieber
C．What made Justin Bieber a singer?
D．Secrets of Justin Bieber’s success
高二英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析
You’re growing up. That means you’re probably experiencing lots of changes, all at once. Your body is changing. It might even seem as if your entire self is changing. It can be confusing and even scary. 1.. And it’s good!
Growing up means that you can do more, learn more, and start to make your mark on the world. In order for that to happen, your body produces chemicals called hormones that help both body and mind grow. Hormone levels change constantly, rising and falling.
2.. But it’s partly to blame for intense emotions, surprising reactions, and mood swings.
Because of the way your brain develops, it is somewhat ruled by emotion now and through your teen years. As a result, growing up can seem like an emotional roller coaster!
3.
Take care of yourself. If you eat right, sleep enough, and get good exercise, your brain will be much more able to deal with the stress.
4.. When you feel your moods swinging or you’re upset, or confused, some quiet time will allow you to gather your thoughts and get calmer.
Practice relaxing your body and take a deep breath when you wake up and when you go to bed. 5.. Plus, when stuff happens during the day, you’ll be able to calm yourself quickly with a deep breath or two before you react. Your body is changing.
A.Work out regularly to keep physically fit.
B.Take a time-out.
C.But the truth is,it happens to every teen.
D.It will help you fall asleep------and start the morning right.
E.Here are a few things you can do to make the ride smoother.
F.This changing is needed for your body’s development.
G.Usually,these feelings settle down when you realize what is going on.
高二英语七选五中等难度题查看答案及解析
Thirteen can be a challenging age. Not only did I have to adapt to my changing body, I also had to deal with my parents’ painful separation, a new family and the upsetting move from my country home to a crowded town.
When we moved, my beloved companion, a small brown pony had to be sold. I was heartbroken and terribly lonely. I couldn’t eat or sleep and cried all the time. Finally, realizing how much I missed my pony, my father bought me another horse, Cowboy.
Cowboy was without doubt the ugliest horse in the world. But I didn’t care. I loved him beyond all reasons.
I joined a riding club. When Cowboy and I entered the events where the horse was judged by appearance, we were quickly “shown the gate”. I knew nothing could turn Cowboy into a beauty. My only chance to compete would be in the timed speed events. I chose the jumping race.
For the whole next month we practiced running and jumping for hours in the hot sun and then I would walk Cowboy home, totally exhausted.
All of our hard work didn’t make me feel confident by the time the show came. One girl named Becky rode a big brown horse in the race events. She always won the blue ribbons. I sat at the gate and sweated all out while I watched Becky and her horse charge through the court and finish in first place.
My turn finally came. At the signal, we dashed toward the first fence, jumped over it without trouble and raced on to the next one. Cowboy then flew over the second, third and fourth fences like a bird and I turned him toward the finish line.
No cheers filled the air. The end of our run was met with surprised silence. Cowboy and I had beaten Becky and her fancy horse by two seconds!
I gained much more than a blue ribbon that day. At thirteen, I realized that no matter what the odds, I’d always come out a winner if I wanted something badly enough to work for it. I can be the owner of my destiny(命运).
1.Why did the author like Cowboy so much in spite of its ugliness?
A. Because she was sad and lonely and needed a companion.
B. Because Cowboy was a strong and smart young horse.
C. Because Cowboy had a lot in common with her pony.
D. Because she loved horses more than anything else.
2.The audience fell into silence at the end of the run probably because _______.
A. they didn’t like Cowboy, for it was too ugly
B. they didn’t expect Cowboy would win the event
C. they never saw a horse running as fast as Cowboy
D. they were unhappy that Becky was beaten in the event
3.What did the author come to realize after the competition?
A. She could be the master of her own fate if she tried hard enough.
B. She ought to gather the courage to solve all the problems.
C. It was time to forget her pony and treat Cowboy better.
D. She needed to work harder to win more blue ribbons.
4.What can you infer from the story?
A. All of their hard training was totally in vain.
B. A blue ribbon must be the second highest prize.
C. Both Becky and the author won in the jumping event.
D. Cowboy lost in the event of being judged by appearance.
高二英语阅读理解困难题查看答案及解析
________to such a big party can be a great honour for an ordinary person like me.
A.Being taken B.Taken C.Taking D.Having been taken
高二英语单项填空中等难度题查看答案及解析
Talking to strangers along your travels can change your trip into an adventure. Here are rules of thumb to serve as your guide.
Don't ignore your fellow tourists. When you go to some place off the beaten path, you're likely to meet other tourists there. Find them, and ask where you would go.1.
Abandon your phone. Phones often get between you and the surroundings, ruining your chances to make contact with the people you see.2., take a deep breath and put it in a different pocket or cover it with tape.
3..The easiest way to do this is to talk to people who are in "open roles", such as anyone in a public service job, or a taxi driver. Or ask someone seated near you; ask where the person's favorite street is; ask if there's a residential area where it would be nice to take a walk.
Use a map-or none at all.4..However, the truth is, sometimes those small streets are nowhere to be found with a map. So ask for directions a lot. Asking for any kind of help is the key to many doors.
Most Important: Ask good questions. Finding good questions means observing and noticing. A well-turned question shows that you are really paying attentions you are curious and ready to listen.5..
A. Let strangers make your plans
B. Maps can be of great assistance
C. When the unwillingness gets in the way
D. A good question will get you everywhere
E. They are going to offer advice made of gold
F. Those fellow tourists can make sense of your journey
G. If abandoning your phone isn't practical or feels insecure to you
高二英语七选五中等难度题查看答案及解析
How to Avoid the Worst Cold-Weather Packing Mistakes
Yes, you can definitely blame winter clothes for your overstuffed(塞得过满的)suitcase. After all, warm clothing takes up a lot more room than summer T-shirts and shorts. To make matters worse, you’ve got to pack for overheated restaurants and freezing outdoor conditions. 1. . Here are some winter-packing mistakes we learned the hard way, and tips you need.
2.
Your shoes face a big challenge in the winter. They need to be: insulated, waterproof, and warm; provide great traction in case of ice; be able to withstand salt; and be comfortable to walk in. So, your sneakers aren't going to cut it. Just remember to wear your heavier snow boots on the plane; otherwise, they'll take up half your suitcase space.
Packing the wrong materials
3., It absorbs moisture and sweat, which will make you cold and keep you freezing. You can replace cotton with wool, as wool is naturally odor-resistant and breathable.
Leaving behind sunglasses
Since you're not headed to the beach, you might forget to pack your sunglasses. The sun can shine brightly on freezing days too tough, so be able to pack yours. 4..
Not bringing medicine
Cold and flu cases rise during the winter, and while you definitely don't plan on getting sick while traveling, you should be prepared in case it does happen. Make sure you've packed medication for upset stomach, fever relief, body aches, and congestion, 5.. Just get travel-sized versions of you go-to drugs.
A.But we're here to help
B.Choosing the right shoes
C.Wearing the wrong shoes
D.Cotton is a terrible choice for the winter
E.Better be a pair which is easy to pack and hard to break
F.You don't have to travel with the whole medicine chest though
G.Also throw some sunscreen in there as you can get sunburned in winter
高二英语七选五中等难度题查看答案及解析
________ abroad for a tour can be a great honor for an ordinary person like me.
A．Taking B．Taken
C．Being taken D．Having been taken
高二英语单项填空中等难度题查看答案及解析
Ice volcanoes erupted on the shores of Lake Michigan last weekend, and an employee from National Weather Service ( NWS) caught sight of an astonishing scene on the spot. “You never know what you'll find at the lake until you go out there," the employee said, "Today it were volcanoes. ”
Despite their nickname, ice volcanoes aren't really volcanoes at all. They form at the edges of lakes, where thin sheets of ice form, and water shoots through holes in the ice, Water flows beneath the ice sheet and builds up enough pressure to push water to the surface. If the air above is cold enough, the released water freezes over the surrounding ground, forming a mini volcano of sorts.
Ice volcanoes can be very dangerous to climb on because they are empty inside and built over that hole in the ice. Although some frozen volcanoes were discovered a few years ago, it is still rare to witness one.
Ice volcanoes typically form near large bodies of water where freezing temperatures below allow an ice shelf to form over the water’s surface along the coastline. Meanwhile, waves beneath the shelf must be strong enough to crack the ice and push water out. For this reason, ice volcanoes tend to form along shorelines where winds blow up waves constantly.
For example, when the Oval Beach volcanoes were spotted, the wind was almost due west, which was perfect for pushing waves right into the shoreline at this location. Due to their superior size, the Great Lakes may be more likely to form ice volcanoes along their shores than smaller lakes.
So if you want to see an ice volcano in person, the Great Lakes may be your best choice—but be cautious where you step!
1.What did the NWS employee discover in Paragraph 1?
A.The eruption of ice volcanoes. B.Volcanoes erupting on the mountain.
C.Frozen shores of Lake Michigan. D.An ordinary scene of Lake Michigan.
2.What can we learn about ice volcanoes according to the passage?
A.They appear whenever it is freezing. B.They are real volcanoes in the ocean.
C.It is uncommon to see their eruptions. D.It takes years to form an ice volcano.
3.Where do the ice volcanoes usually form?
A.Shorelines with suitable weather conditions.
B.Smaller lakes where wind direction is perfect.
C.Along shorelines where waves are not powerful.
D.In the center of the ocean or large bodies of water.
4.What is this passage mainly about?
A.Dangers of ice volcanoes. B.Ice volcanoes and their formation.
C.Different kinds of volcanoes. D.The Great Lakes and ice volcanoes.
高二英语阅读选择中等难度题查看答案及解析