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Hawking was perhaps the most famous scientist in the world when he died in 2018 at age 76.His 1988 book，A Brief History of Time，sold ten million copies and made him an unlikely superstar even to people who sweated through high school science.
Humor was always a big part of Hawking’s effort to bring physics to the masses.In his 2010 book，The Grand Design，for instance，he recounts how，in 1277，the Catholic Church declared scientific laws such as gravity to be wrong，since they seemed against God's idea.“Interestingly，”the text adds jokingly，“Pope John was killed by the effects of the law of gravity a few months later when the roof of his palace fell in on him.”
Hawking was only 21 when he was diagnosed with the disease ALS.For most people，the condition would have been a disaster.But Hawking rolled over hardship as if it were just a pebble under his wheelchair.“Life would be tragic，”he once said，“if it weren’t funny.”He kept smiling even though he spent more than 50 years in a wheelchair.
“He loved adventure and fun，”says Mlodinow，who once took Hawking on a punt-boat trip down the fiver Cam in Cambridge，England，despite the obvious danger of the boat turning over.“You know about when he went on the Vomit Comet? It’s a plane that flies in a parabolic(抛物线的)path so you are weightless，like you are in space.A lot of people vomit，but he loved that sort of thing.”And he was 65 at the time.
Hawking’s greatest hit，humor-wise，was probably the cocktail party he threw in 2009.It was a“welcome reception for future time travelers，”he said，so naturally，he sent out the invitations the day after the party.No one showed up yet.“Maybe one day someone living in the future will find the information and use a wormhole time machine to come back to my party，proving that time travel will one day be possible，”Hawking explained.And if that happens，don’t be surprised if Hawking is there too.After all，he never missed a chance to have fun.
1.What does the text mainly tell us about Hawking?
A. He related physics to humor closely.
B. He made great contributions to physics.
C. He went through many funny experiences.
D. He was optimistic about the future of science.
2.What can we learn about Pope John?
A. He was not in favor of God.
B. He was a scientist like Hawking.
C. He was opposed to the law of gravity.
D. He was killed due to the discovery of gravity.
3.What drove Hawking to go on the Vomit Comet?
A. His fondness of adventure.
B. The invitation from his friend.
C. The requirements of his work.
D. His desire for recovery from ALS.
4.What can be inferred from the last paragraph?
A. The cocktail party was a great success.
B. The possibility of time travel was not proved.
C. Hawking was a man who enjoyed holding parties.
D. The wormhole time machine was used at that time.
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Stephen Hawking was both one of the world's most famous scientists and most famous disabled people. His life was a juxtaposition of sparkling intellect and failing body. Prof Hawking was diagnosed with a rare form of motor neurone(运动神经元) diseases when he was 21.
The nerves that controlled his muscles were failing and he became trapped in his body, but his mind was still free. He reached the height of his field while being a wheelchair user.
Professor Hawking certainly raised awareness of motor neurone diseases. One of his major contributions to disability in general was simply being visible---often at a time when disabled voices were missing from popular culture. He made small-screen appearances on The Simpsons, Star Trek and The Big Bang Theory. His life was dramatised (将…改成剧本)by the BBC and in the film The Theory of Everything.
Steve Bell, from the MND association, said: "He was probably the most famous person with a physical disability and it almost normalises it to see his absolute genius. I think it affected a lot of people, seeing he's more than a trapped body. The public's view of disability has changed.
But Prof Hawking’s life was exceptional. He lived five decades longer than doctors expected. Many others with motor neurone diseases die in the years after diagnosis. He was a theoretical physicist. His laboratory was in the mind; his scientific equipment was mathematics.
Prof Hawking was able to continue to pursue his career in a way that would have been much harder in other scientific disciplines and impossible in many other professions. It remains an open question how much he would have achieved if he was disabled from birth rather than after graduating with a first at Oxford. Today, disabled people are more than twice as likely to be unemployed than people without disability. Prof Hawking 's only advice on disability was to focus on what could be achieved. "My advice to other disabled people would be, concentrate on things your disability doesn’t prevent you doing well, and don 't regret the things it interferes with. Don't be disabled in spirit, as well as physically,” he said in an interview with the New York Times.
1.What does the underlined word juxtaposition in Paragraph 1 mean?
A.Combination. B.Trouble.
C.Difficulty. D.Mess.
2.How did Hawking raise awareness of motor neurone diseases?
A.By trying not to get trapped by the disease.
B.By making the voice of the disabled heard.
C.By making people be used to the small screen.
D.By working for the BBC and film companies.
3.What did Steve Bell think of Hawking?
A.He was the most well-known person.
B.He was affected greatly by many people.
C.He changed people's view of disabled people.
D.His physical disability affected his mind.
4.What's Hawking’ s tip to disabled people?
A.Try to find a job and don't be unemployed.
B.Don't ignore your health.
C.Stick to the goals that you can reach.
D.Don’t think you are physically disabled.
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Stephen Hawking is one of the most famous scientists in this century. He was born in 1942. He’s world well-known on space and time. Stephen was searching some very big questions, such as How did the universe begin? How will it end?
Stephen was a student at Oxford University. He studied math and science. Then, at the age of twenty, he became sick. He was so young, but the doctors said to his family, “He has only two more years to live.” As a matter of fact, the doctors were wrong – he didn’t die. He can’t walk but he uses a wheelchair. He can’t feed himself and get in or out of bed himself. But he refused to give in to the condition. He talks with the help of a computer. After Oxford, Stephen went to Cambridge University. Three years later, in 1965, he became a doctor of philosophy(哲学).
Because of his serious health problems, it was difficult for him to draw diagrams(图表) or to write. So he started to think in pictures. With this new way of thinking, he became one of the most famous scientists in the world. In 1981, he met the Pope(教皇) in Rome. They talked about his ideas. Then in 1988, he wrote his first important book, A Brief History of Time. It sold more than 5.5 million copies in 33 different languages. He was once invited to China, he impressed us with his self-confidence, humorous and witty conversation.
1.A Brief History of Time is ________.
A. a book which is well-known all over the word
B. a book about Rome’s history
C. Stephen’s talk collection with the Pope in Rome
D. Stephen’s talk collection with me in China
2.Stephen’s studies DO NOT relate to ________ according to the passage.
A. science B. math
C. philosophy D. art
3.The right order of Stephen’s main experiences in ________.
a. He went to Cambridge University.
b. He became very ill.
c. He wrote his first important book.
d. He met the Pope in Rome.
A. c-a-b-d B. a-b-c-d
C. b-a-d-c D. a-c-b-d
4.What does the underlined word “witty” mean?
A. Inspiring. B. Confident.
C. Intelligent. D. Funny.
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Perhaps Van Gogh（1853-1890）isn’t the most famous artist in the world, but his personal story is probably the most well known. The paintings he created didn’t become famous until after he died. Last year marked the 125th anniversary of his death. An art exhibition was in Beijing till Dec. 6, in which more than 3,000 photos of the artist’s masterpieces we
re shown. However, the paintings that made him famous after his death did little for him when he was alive.
Van Gogh was born into a rich family in the Netherlands. He started his career working for an art dealer. But then he tried other things like teaching in England. He also tried to become a priest, but failed the exams.
Finally, he found something else to believe in while he was living in a small mining town in Belgium—art. He returned to his childhood love of painting and drawing.
He was an important and great artist in a generation that challenged the Impressionist style. Post-Impressionists, like Van Gogh, wanted to show the world as it felt to them, not always as it looked.
Van Gogh used different forms and colors to make his art more abstract. The way he used colors was especially impressive. In Wheatfield with Crows (1890), the colors are very intense. Corn is yellow, g
rass is green, and crows are black. But the colors are used in such a way that it looks better than a photograph.
Unfortunately, Van Gogh’s art wasn’t very popular while he was alive. He was poor and was thought to have mental problems, which led him to cut off his ear and eventually die by shooting himself. Arguably, it wasn’t the art that gave him mental problems. What made him so sad may have been the difficulty of working as an artist in a practical world.
1.What can we know about Van Gogh from the passage?
A. He was born into a rich family in the Netherlands 125 years ago.
B. He was a teacher, a priest and a miner before he became an artist.
C. He did not get much wealth or fame from his works before he died.
D. He decided to be an artist when he worked as an art dealer.
2.According to the passage, Van Gogh impressed people deeply by ________.
A. how he used colors in his paintings
B. how he became famous for his paintings
C. how he showed the world exactly as it looked
D. how he began to love art while living in Belgium
3.What might have caused Van Gogh’s mental problems?
A. The art of painting. B. The loss of one of his ears.
C. Pressure from his family. D. Not being accepted or recognized.
4.What can be the best title of this passage?
A. Wheatfield with Crows B. An Artist’s Sad Story
C. Childhood of Van Gogh D. An Art Exhibition of Van Gogh
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Perhaps the most famous theory, the study of body movement, was suggested by Professor
Ray Birdwhistell. He believe3s that physical appearance is often culturally programmed. In other
words, we learn our looks--- we are not born with them.A baby has generally informed face features. A baby, according to Birdwhistell, learns where to set the eyebrows by looking at those
around- family and friends. This helps explain why the people of some areas of the UNITED States look so much alike, new Englanders or Southerners have certain common face features that can not be explained by genetics (遗传学). The exact shape of the mouth is not set at birth it is learned after. In fact the final mouth shape is not formed until well after new teeth are set. For many this can be well into grown-ups. A husband and wife together for a long time often come to look somewhat alike. We learn our looks from those around us. This is perhaps why in a single country there are areas where people smile more than those in other areas. In the US for example the south is the part of the country where the people smile most frequently. In New England they smile less and in the western part of New York States still less. Many southerners find cities such as New York cold and unfriendly partly because people in Madison Avenue smile less than people on Peachtree Street in Atlanta Georgia. People in largely populated areas also smile and greet each other in public less than people in small towns do.
1.Ray Birdwhistell believes that physical appearance ___________.
A．has little to do with culture B．has much to do much culture
C．is ever changing D．is different from place to place
2.According to the passage the final mouth shape is formed _________.
A．before birth B．as soon as one’s teeth are newly set
C．some time after new teeth are set D．around 15 years old
3.Ray Birdwhistell can tell what area of the US a person is from by _______.
A．how much he or she smiles
B．how he or she raise his or her eyebrows www.91beidou.com
C．what he or she likes best
D．the way he or she talks
4.This passage might have been taken out of a book dealing with________.
A．physics B．chemistry C．biology D．none of the above
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Perhaps the most famous theory, the study of body movement, was suggested by Professor Ray Birdwhistell. He believes that physical appearance is often culturally programmed. In other words, we learn our looks ---- we are not born with them. A baby has generally informed face features. A baby, according to Birdwhistell, learns where to set the eyebrows by looking at those around-family and friends. This helps explain why the people of some areas of the United States look so much alike, new Englanders or Southerners have certain common face features that cannot be explained by genetics(遗传学). The exact shape of the mouth is not set at birth, it is learned after. In fact, the final mouth shape is not formed until well after new teeth are set. For many, this can be well into grown-ups. A husband and wife together for a long time often come to look alike. We learn our looks from those around us. This is perhaps why in a single country area people smile more than those in other areas. In the United States, for example, the South is the part of the country where the people smile most frequently. In New England they smile less, and in the western part of New York State still less. Many southerners find cities such as New York cold and unfriendly, partly because people on Madison Avenue smile less than people on Peachtree Street in Atlanta, Georgia. People in largely populated areas also smile and greet each other in public less than people in small towns do.
1.Ray Birdwhistell believes that physical appearance ____.
A. has little to do with culture
B. has much to do with culture
C. is ever changing
D. is different from place to place
2.According to the passage, the final mouth shape is formed ____.
A. before birth
B. as soon as one’s teeth are newly set
C. sometime after new teeth are set
D. around 15 years old
3.Ray Birdwhistell can tell what area of the United States a person is from by ____.
A. how much he or she laughs
B. how he or she raises his or her eyebrows
C. what he or she likes best
D. the way he or she talks
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The scientist won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, ________ made him famous all over the world.
A．this B．that
C．what D．which
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Most of the people ________ to the party tomorrow are famous scientists.
A. inviting B. invited C. invite D. to be invited
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US universities are among the best in the world. Since World War Ⅱ, American scientists --- mostly working in universties or colleges --- have won more than half of all Nobel Prizes in physics and medicine. Foreign students rush to the United States by the tens of thousands. Last year they earned more than one quarter of the doctoral degrees awarded in the country. Yet while American universities produce the great research and great graduate program, they sometimes pay little attention to the task that lies at their very core: the teaching of undergraduate students.
With the increase in fees, educators feel obliged to improve undergraduate teaching. In speeches and interviews the nation’s higher educators have rediscovered teaching. Robert Rosenzweig, president of the Association of American Universities, said, “Our organization was never very concerned about teaching. In the last 18 months, we have spent more time on undergraduate education than on any other subject.”
Despite such promising efforts, no one doubts that research still outranks teaching at some of the leading universities, not least because it is a surer and faster way to earn status. Some people don’t think it has to be that way. They argue that the reward system for college faculty can be changed, so that professors will be encouraged to devote more time and effort to teaching. They say that they are beginning to believe that the first ten years of the 21st century may come to be remembered as the decade of the undergraduate.
That would bring it full circle. For more than two centuries after the founding of Harvard College in 1636, the instruction of undergraduate students was an essential condition of American higher education.
1.According to the passage, at some of the leading American universities ________.
A．research is declining in importance B．teaching now ranks above research
C．teaching is a sure way to gain position D．research still ranks above teaching
2.It is implied in the passage that about 200 years ago undergraduate instruction ________.
A．began to change all of a sudden
B．was already threatened by research work
C．was the central part of higher education
D．began to be neglected in most universities
3.What would be the best title for the passage?
A．University education in the US B．University education challenged
C．Teaching and research in universities D．Undergraduate teaching rediscovered
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On Tuesday August 11th, 1911, in the room where the world’s most famous painting, the Mona Lisa by Leonardo da Vinci, was on display, there was an empty space where the painting should have been．The next day headlines all over the world announced the theft．
Actually the Leonardo had been long gone．The museum was always closed on Mondays for maintenance(维修)．Just before closing time on Sunday three men had entered the museum, and hid themselves in a storeroom．Early next morning, they took the painting and left．
Nothing was seen or heard of the painting for two years until Perrugia tried to sell it to a dealer for half a million lire．Perrugia was arrested and imprisoned for seven months．It seemed that the crime of the century had been solved．
But had it? Perrugia claimed all responsibility for the theft, and it was twenty years before the whole story came out．In fact Perrugia had been working for Valfierno and Chaudron, who went unpunished for their crime．They would offer to steal a famous painting from a gallery(美术馆) for a dishonest dealer or private collector．They would then make a copy of the picture and, with the help of bribed(受贿的) gallery workers, would then attach the copy to the back of the original painting．The dealer would then be taken to the gallery and make a secret mark on the back of the painting．Of course the dealer would actually be marking the copy．After having been given the marked painting, if the dealer were to see the painting still in the gallery, he would be persuaded that it was a copy, and that he possessed the genuine one．
This time, however, they stole the original．Before Perrugia was arrested, Valfierno and Chaudron had gone to New York．Valfierno told the story to a journalist in 1914, on condition that it would not be published until his death．
Does the story end there? Collectors have claimed that Perrugia returned a copy．It is also possible that Leonardo may have painted several versions of the Mona Lisa, or they might be copies made by Leonardo’s pupils．There has been a lot of argument about the 450-year-old painting, but after all, maybe that’s what she’s smiling about．
1.The Mona Lisa was stolen on _________．
A．August 9th B．August 10th C．August 11th D．August 12th
2.Choose the right time order of the following events．
a．Valfierno told the story to a journalist． b．Perrugia was arrested．
c．The truth was published． d．The Mona Lisa was stolen．
e．Valfierno went to New York． f．The theft was announced．
A．d, f, b, e, a, c B．d, f, e, b, a, c C．d, f, b, e, c, a D．f, d, e, b, c, a
3.We can infer from the passage that _________．
A．In most cases, Valfierno did not sell the original paintings
B．The Mona Lisa was painted 45 years ago
C．Perrugia returned a copy
D．Perrugia was not to blame for the theft
4.All of the following about Valfierno and Chaudron are true EXCEPT_________．
A．They stole paintings and then sold them to dishonest dealers．
B．They were not punished for stealing the Mona Lisa．
C．They kept the story to themselves until death．
D．They sometimes bribed gallery workers to help them．
re shown. However, the paintings that made him famous after his death did little for him when he was alive.
rass is green, and crows are black. But the colors are used in such a way that it looks better than a photograph.