HOW would you like to step into the world of ...

HOW would you like to step into the world of other people’s dreams? That’s just what Dom Cobb (Leonardo DiCaprio) does. His work is to steal secrets from people when they are asleep and dreaming. He has an even rarer ability: He can plant an idea in someone’s sleeping mind, and watch it grow and take root in reality. This ability is called inception.

The movie Inception (《盗梦空间》) was on show in Chinese cinemas not long ago. It is imaginative, of course. The movie leads one to wonder just how much we know about dreams. For years, scientists and researchers have been trying to solve sleep’s greatest mystery.

Is it possible to enter someone’s dreaming mind? In the movie, DiCaprio uses a drug and a dream machine to put a scenario (某一特定情节) into someone’s sleeping mind. He then goes to sleep himself, connected to the machine, and enters the other person’s dream.

In real life, there is a machine that can read someone’s mind. A brain scanner takes pictures of brain activity, and then the software recreates images of what the person was looking at.

Researchers say it may be possible one day to record someone’s dream – without the danger (or the fun) of actually sharing that dream.

What’s a dream, anyway? A dream is a group of images and sounds our brain creates when we’re sleeping. In the 1950s, researchers discovered a sleeping condition that happened around every 90 to 120 minutes during sleep: rapid eye movement, or REM. During this period you’re fast asleep, yet your eyes move around quickly under your eyelids (眼皮) and your brain is nearly as active as during the day. That’s when most dreams happen.

What do dreams mean? Dreams are not always filled with meaning. Sometimes dreams are just your mind playing with thoughts and images from your life, or things you may have read or seen on TV. But at other times, dreams show things that you want to achieve in real life, or things that cause you trouble or stress.

1.The movie Inception is mentioned at the beginning of the article to ______.

A. encourage readers to watch the movie

B. tell readers about people with special dreaming abilities

C. inform readers about the science of dreams

D. warn reader about the threat of dream stealers

2.According to the article, how does a brain scanner work?

A. It records dreams.

B. It uses a special drug that causes no pain.

C. It finds out what dreams mean.

D. It takes pictures of brain activity and recreates images.

3. According to the article, which of the following statements about REM sleep is TRUE?

A. Most dreams occur in REM sleep.

B. Over the last ten years scientists have solved the mystery of REM sleep.

C. People always remember what they have dreamed in a REM sleep.

D. People can have REM sleep all night.

4. The article claims that ______.

A. dreams tell us a lot about a person’s character

B. dreams are connected to real life

C. dreams are useful and help keep our brains active

D. dreams are usually about meaningful things

高三英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析

How would you like to wear the same underwear (内衣裤) for weeks? Owing to the work that has gone into developing intelligent materials, this may not be as 41  as it sounds. Self-cleaning clothes have now been created, and these new materials provide 42  resistance to dirt as well as water. As a result, they require much less cleaning than traditional materials.

The creation of self-cleaning clothes provides an example of how nature helps scientists develop better products. This self-cleaning nature is known as the “lotus effect”. The name comes, of course, from the lotus leaves, which are famous for growing in muddy lakes and rivers while remaining almost 43

clean. By observing nature, scientists are 44  the qualities of the lotus leaves to the materials they have engineered. Because of this, some remarkable new products have been 45 . Among them are special windows that are resistant to dirt and water. A special 46  on these windows not only prevents dirt from sticking to their surfaces, but also allows dust to be easily washed off by the rain. In fact, these new windows have already been 47  to some cars. Even when traveling at high speed through rain, these cars never have to use their windshield wipers (雨刮器).

Although we have already seen some practical applications, even more dramatic 48  will be made in the future, and they will, perhaps, change our world completely. Undoubtedly, technology is an important development, and it will have an even bigger 49  on our lives.

高三英语信息匹配困难题查看答案及解析

People in China, as in other parts of the world, are waiting to see how U.S. President-elect Barack Obama will deal with global problems such as the current economic slowdown once he takes office. As Sam Beattie reports from Beijing, there is widespread hope for closer U.S.-Chinese cooperation.

For many students in Beijing, Mr. Obama symbolizes all that is possible in the United States. He's a popular winner here, seen as a self-made man who has made it to the top.

"I think he is very charming, and a president who can create a new era," said Zhang Wei, a university student. "I like him very much and most of my friends do too." Ni Weibo, another university student, agrees. "Sino-U.S. relations still need more cooperation," she said. "I think he will help take it to a new era."

China's President Hu Jintao congratulated Mr. Obama within hours of his victory, saying he hoped bilateral ties could be made stronger.

Political analysts here say China will be looking for the incoming president to avoid contentious issues such as Taiwan's independence, human rights and Tibet.

Instead, they say Beijing would like Mr. Obama to focus on solving the global economic crisis, and to help China's slowing economy by opening up U.S. markets.

But trade relations might be a sticking point, says Renmin University's Professor of International Studies, Shi Yinhong.

He warns, "There is a possibility that President Obama will take some protectionist measures which China will not accept, then trade disputes could develop to a degree that we have not seen ever before."

Despite making the headlines, Mr. Obama faces some tough challenges in managing the U.S. relationship with China. China is now a stronger and more confident country than the China his predecessors dealt with. And in this time of economic uncertainty, analysts say it's a country with which Mr. Obama will want to maintain a good relationship.

1.What can we infer from the first three paragraphs?

A. Mr. Obama was popular with many students in Beijing mostly because he will take office soon.

B. Economic slowdown is the big problem that the world is facing and looking forward to solve except US

C. China’s President Hu Jintao congratulated Obama on his victory within hours.

D. Through Obama’s being elected, we can see all is possible in US and a new relationship may come.

2.What is not mentioned in this passage?

A. What Barack Obama is expected to do in dealing with the US-China relationship.

B. Why Barack Obama will maintain a good relationship with China.

C. How Barack Obama will deal with the current economic slowdown.

D. What image Barack Obama has given to Chinese people.

3.. What does “ a sticking point”( in para.7 ) mean?

A. a twist point     B. a disputed point   C. a good beginning     D. a understanding point

4.What is the best title for this report?

A. US-Chinese Cooperation Under the Current Economic Slowdown

B. Obama, Seen As A Popular Winner In China

C. Chinese Want Stronger Ties With US Under Obama Administration

D. The Current Economic Problem faces China As Well As US

高三英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析

How would you like to sleep with one half your brain asleep and the other half awake? Dolphins sleep this way. Recently, scientists at Indiana State University have discovered that ducks sleep this way too. They found that ducks sleep half awake so they can rest and watch for danger at the same time.

After putting their ducks in a row and videotaping them, some researchers found ducks on the end of each row spent more time asleep with one eye open, apparently looking for predators.

“The more the ducks felt threatened, the more they slept with one eye open,” said lead author Niels C. Rattenborg, a graduate student at Indiana State University, Terre Haute. “The unique aspect is not that they do it, but that they control it. When they sleep at the edge of a group, they tend to realize greater danger, so they spend more time sleeping with one half of their brain.” Ducks with one eye open were still awake enough to detect predators, said the authors of the study, which appears today in the journal Nature.

The researchers studied four groups of four ducks held in plastic boxes, which were arranged in a row. Ducks on the end were found to sleep with one eye open 31.8 per cent of the time, compared to 12.4 percent of the time for ducks in the central position.

Also, ducks in the central position did not open one eye more than the others, while ducks on each end kept the eye facing away from the group open 86.2 per cent of the time. Brain wave readings of the ducks showed that the half of the brain receiving signals from the closed eye indicated that half of the brain was sleeping. Signals from the half of the brain receiving signals from the open eye showed a state between fully awake and asleep.

1.The under lined word “predator” is most likely to mean________.

A. an animal that is likely to be friends with ducks

B. a human being who looks after and feeds ducks

C. a scientist who does research work on animals

D. an animal that hunts, kills and eats other animals

2.Ducks at the end of each row sleep with one eye open because________.

A. they are looking for food

B. they are watching out for danger

C. they want to enjoy the scenery

D. they are unique in their sleeping habit

3.Which of the following is true according to the passage?

A. Ducks with one eye open at the edge can still enjoy a certain degree of sleep.

B. Ducks with less sense of duty usually choose to stay in the center of a row.

C. Ducks on the northern end of a row would keep their eye facing the south open.

D. A video tape recorder was the only electronic device used in the experiment.

高三英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析

How would you like to teach yourself, rather than have teachers? According to the UK’s Department of Education and Skills, students will teach themselves in the schools of the future. This means that there will be no more problems such as finding enough teachers.

Estelle Morris, the UK Education Secretary, opened the 2002 Education Technology Conference in London recently. To start the conference, she presented a video showing a computer—generated model of the school of tomorrow.

Greater use of computer technology and classroom assistants will help students develop their own way of learning, Morris said. She added that this is a more exciting as well as a more interesting way of learning.

At the same time, teachers will be “freed from their traditional role as the source of all knowledge”.

Children of all abilities will “form the curriculum(课程)around their individual needs.” They will “learn in their own time, at their own speed and in their own environment”.

At home or at school, they will follow their learning programmes by looking at online libraries and watching lessons by world-class teachers and subject experts.

Instead of going on field trips, students will use virtual reality. If they don’t understand something, they can ask other students—“take part in virtual communities with learners with similar needs”—or e-mail their teachers. They will hand in their work electronically to be “auto-marked”.

The classroom of the future is fast becoming a reality.

And the Department of Education will soon produce a guide to help schools adapt buildings for new technology, Morris said. These ideas are based on the UK government’s plan to create an education system that provides students with a strong grounding of knowledge and skills at primary school level. And provides the chance for students to develop their individual skills at secondary school level.

1.According to the UK’s Department of Education and Skills, the school of the future will ______.

A. cause more problems such as being able to find enough teachers

B. set no homework and no tests for students

C. make good use of the computer technology and classroom assistants

D. enable students to learn by themselves without teachers

2.Estelle Morris thinks that computer technology does good to teachers in ________.

A. helping students develop their own way of learning

B. enabling students to experience interesting and exciting ways of learning

C. providing students with knowledge of all sorts

D. not being considered the source of various knowledge

3. If the students do not understand something, they can _______.

A. go on a field trip

B. go to ask their teachers to help them

C. send e-mail to ask for a teacher’s help

D. have a look at other learners’ homework

4. If s a student is under the UK’s newly-developed education system,he will be ________.

A. provided with a basic knowledge from the beginning

B. given more knowledge at primary school level

C. helped to use computers better

D. supplied chance to develop their basic skills

高三英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析

Have you ever stopped _____ how our lie _____ if the world ran out of ol?

A.to think, would change    B. thinking, would change

C. to think, will change   D. thinking, should change

高三英语单项填空中等难度题查看答案及解析

Have you ever stopped _____ how our lie _____ if the world ran out of ol?

高三英语单项填空中等难度题查看答案及解析

How come you stepped into the lab with your shoes on? You’re ________to take them off before you enter it. I told you so.

A.suggested   B.supposed  C.forbidden  D.permitted

高三英语单项填空中等难度题查看答案及解析

In the competition, each side works like crazy to stay one step ______ the other.

A. ahead of　　 B. apart from

C. rather than　　　 D. except for

高三英语单项填空简单题查看答案及解析

How would you like 　　　　 if you were watching your favorite TV program and someone came into the room and just shut it off without asking you?

A. them　 B. one　 C. those　 D. it

高三英语单项填空中等难度题查看答案及解析