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Imagine how you’d feel if you had to get more than 9,000 tons of junk out to the sidewalk. That’s how much trash is floating around in space. In fact, there’s about 4 million pounds flying over our heads in low-Earth orbit. Daan, a Dutch artist, and his team at Space Waste Lab have come up with a creative plan that could clear up space junk in a spectacular fashion.
①Most space waste comes from dead satellites and rockets. Functioning satellites are the backbone of the information systems that keep our world running smoothly. But all the satellites eventually become obsolete within just a few decades. When they die out, there’s the problem of them drifting in outer space, collecting in what scientists call the “graveyard orbit.”
Maybe you’re thinking, “Why should I care about garbage 12,500 miles above me?” Well, all that fun stuff that satellites help beam down to us—mobile games, Instagram, cat videos—could be shut down by space waste. Lots of old junk floating around up there, plus new satellites added each year, means more and more high-speed collisions (碰撞). And when chunks of junk crash into one another, they break apart into millions of pieces, quickly building up speed and turning into fast-moving objects, which are dangerous to operational satellites as well as astronauts working on the International Space Station.
②Space waste is a problem that’s escalated so much, some scientists say that by 2050 we’ll be forced to stop launching new spacecraft altogether, including new satellites. Think about that for a minute. When the last satellites finally become disused, GPS, cell phones, and the Internet will no longer function.
③So we have to find a way to deal with this space garbage, and Daan pictures a sort of trash pickup, which involves groups of small spacecraft casting large nets into orbit that would collect space debris (碎片) and send it back toward Earth at top speed. Here’s the best part—while reentering Earth’s atmosphere, the pieces of junk would burn up all at once, creating a light show similar to hundreds of shooting stars falling in the night sky. A spectacle indeed!
To get ready for such an amazing effort, Space Waste Lab has been traveling to major cities across Europe and enlightening the public on the problem of the junk in space. ④But Daan doesn’t just talk about ways to relieve the problem—he’s created something a little grander than that. In October 2018, his team launched Space Waste Lab Performance, an outdoor art exhibition that shows the location of each piece of space trash using large lasers that make each debris look a bit like a star wandering slowly and silently over the sky, allowing viewers to wave and say, “Hallo, space trash!”
1.The word “obsolete” (paragraph 2) is closest in meaning to “______”.
A.accessible B.profitable
C.floating D.outdated
2.According to the passage, which sentence best replaces the question mark in the diagram?
A.Working satellites can be damaged and astronauts can be hurt.
B.Satellites can help people track the weather and find new locations.
C.There is more junk floating in space each year as new satellites are added.
D.The Space Waste Lab Performance can show people where satellites are located.
3.Which of the following best supports the idea that space waste should be dealt with very soon？
A.Sentences ① B.Sentence ②
C.Sentence ③ D.Sentence ④
4.Which of the following might be the best title of the passage?
A.Space Junk Harms Digital Systems
B.Artists’ Proposal to Save Space
C.A New Glimpse into Outer Space
D.Test of Waste Collection Nets
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Charlie was a rich boy who had more toys than you could imagine. A time came when he was so used to all his toys __________ he began to want something different.
A．as B．which C．that D．when
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If you want to get more information on how to apply for studying overseas, you can go to the office of foreign________for details.
A．events B．matters C．affairs D．business
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Charlie was a rich boy who had more toys than you could imagine. His family had a lot of money, and 1 he liked something, they would buy it for him. Then, he had no idea what things cost, and wouldn't 2 to take care of what he had. Nor did he realise how difficult it was for other children to get toys like the ones he had.
A time came, though, when he was 3 used to all his toys and various stuff that he began to want something 4. One of his uncles found a fine horse and he gave it to Charlie. Charlie was very 5 at having a horse. He had never got something like that before.
However, he 6 the horse just as badly as he did all his other toys, and it soon started looking 7. For the first time in his life Charlie became truly 8. He loved the horse, and the fact that his family had offered to exchange it for a new one meant nothing to him. One day, while in the countryside, he saw a girl with a horse. The girl looked very poor, but the horse seemed happy and looked great.
Wondering how she had 9 this, Charlie secretly followed her, watching everything she did. First he followed them through the forest, where he saw that she never used the whip, and never 10 the horse. Then they came to the stable, and 11 they arrived the girl fed and watered the horse. Then she carefully groomed (照顾) it. Charlie was surprised. This was the 12 of what Charlie had done to his horse.
Charlie wanted to 13 and become like the girl. As no one had shown him how to do this, he 14 to her and asked her to teach him how to look after his horse. After her initial surprise, she happily 15. With her he learned how to 16 care and effort into things. He learned that he could be much 17 with only a few special things that you truly 18 , than with thousands of toys that were only good for a short time and were then 19 aside. When the horse finally 20 all its strength and health, Charlie was happy that his effort had been worthwhile.
1. A．whichever B．whenever C．whatever D．however
2. A．refuse B．bother C．obey D．hesitate
3. A．so B．as C．quite D．very
4. A．usual B．different C．right D．expensive
5. A．excited B．interested C．annoyed D．hopeful
6. A．operated B．commanded C．trained D．treated
7. A．tired B．puzzled C．grateful D．sick
8. A．worried B．patient C．ashamed D．doubtful
9. A．controlled B．learned C．managed D．prepared
10. A．scratched B．hit C．broke D．damaged
11. A．even if B．every time C．now that D．soon after
12. A．glory B．devotion C．opposite D．assumption
13. A．change B．continue C．inspect D．overcome
14. A．got over B．turned over C．took over D．went over
15. A．agreed B．received C．adopted D．responded
16. A．give B．put C．spend D．take
17. A．stringer B．higher C．happier D．smarter
18. A．cared for B．cut down C．poured into D．looked up
19. A．picked B．dropped C．passed D．thrown
20. A．relieved B．recovered C．lost D．grasped
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Four ways to get a feel for a college on your own
There's more to visiting a college than a campus（校园）tour. And there's a critical part for students and parents: testing the school on your own. 1.
1.Go to a dining hall or student union.
The best common place where students relax and hang out is the cafeteria or student center，where you can see what college kids are like in their natural habitat.
“Go to lunch in a cafeteria right at noon，”says Edward Walker，founder of Independent Consultants in Education，“ 2.”
2.Sit in on a class.
A lot of high school students aren't sure what they want to study yet when they are visiting colleges，but familiarizing yourself with the academic atmosphere is important. 3. You can come up with a few academic areas that you think you'd like to study and reach out to those classes.
3.4.
Chat with anyone walking around campus. Don't let mom and dad do it for you. “Your parents can talk to people，too and then you can compare notes，"says Walker. "Talk to various groups of students so you'll get a well-rounded picture. ”
Tour the community.
Whether the school is in the countryside or in a city center，check out the off-campus area nearest the college. 5.
A. Talk to parents.
B. Talk to students.
C. Many schools offer people chances to sit in on a class.
D. Here are four ways to get more familiar with a prospective（预期的）school.
E. That's one of the best places where you can learn about a school's atmosphere.
F. Big communities are still the major places that attract tourists in our society today.
G. If there's time，tour some of the museums or other points of interest and eat at a local restaurant.
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The big earthquake is reported to have ____ more than 4,000 people homeless.
| A．remained | B．had | C．brought | D．left |
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IMAGINE if, to collect your salary each month, you had to walk to the nearest town, perhaps tens of miles away, to gather in a school or a football court or a church. There, you and your colleagues wait for a man to arrive from the capital, perhaps a thousand miles away, with a suitcase of cash.
Few countries are as corrupt as Congo(刚果). Mobutu Sese Seko, a former strongman, used state funds to charter a Concorde to take him on shopping trips to Paris. By the time of his overthrow in 1997, graft was endemic. Government employees were not paid but rather expected to use their positions to make a living. Among the most prized government jobs was that of accountant: the people responsible for transporting bags of cash to the provinces to hand out to employees.
In 2012, however, the Congolese government started helping civil servants to open bank accounts. Around three-quarters of them—some 670,000 people—now have one. In the process, the government has weeded out tens of thousands of ghost employees, since the embezzlers who invented them could not open accounts in their names without a matching ID.
Yet in a vast country with fewer roads than Luxembourg, hardly anyone lives anywhere near a bank branch. So Congolese banks must now do the work the government accountants used to: shipping money to the remote area. Cash has to be transported to branches in regional capitals, and thence to account-holders on the backs of motorbikes, in canoes or by foot. Bank staff with suitcases of cash make easy targets, just as they did in the west of America in the 19th century. Though they usually travel with armed policemen, there have been at least ten armed robberies of bank employees since January.
At the moment banks are little more than money-transfer companies, and not very sophisticated ones at that. The transfers tend to go only one way—out of Kinshasa—so cannot be netted against each other; instead cash almost always has to be moved physically. Therefore, most Congolese bankers hope that the new system will promote the growth of a proper banking system.
1.The underlined word “charter” (Paragraph 2) can be replaced by “_______________”.
A. drive B. rent C. write D. push
2.How did government employees use to earn a living?
A. By getting enough salaries
B. By talking to employees
C. By transporting bags of cash
D. By benefiting from their positions
3.What is not one of the challenges that bank staff have to face while transferring each?
A. The transfers are netted against one another
B. The cash may be robbed away
C. Most cash has to be moved physically
D. They sometimes have to walk to transfer cash
4.Which of the following can be the best title of the article?
A. Unavoidable robberies B. Frequent corruption
C. Cash on the way D. Best banking system
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How cool can libraries be in an era of iPods and Kindles? More than you think. Only if you know where to go.
Central Library: Seattle, Washington, United States
The Central Library in Seattle is modern and fashionable and has tourists from around the world paying visits and taking tours. It was designed by Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas and American designer Joshua Ramus. Tours began in 2006, two years after its opening. The library holds various art exhibitions, book signings and other events, while visitors can stop by the Chocolate cart for a coffee and scan through the gift shop anytime.
Trinity College Library: Dublin, Ireland
The Trinity College Library in Dublin is in Ireland, founded at the end of the 16th century by Queen Elizabeth I. It is the largest single library in the world, also known as the Long Room, which contains more than 200,000 of the library's oldest books. The Long Room houses one of the oldest harps（竖琴）in Ireland. Dating to the 15th century, the old harp is the model for the symbol foreland.
Geisel Library, University of California: San Diego, United States
At first glance, it looks like a spaceship. Architect William Pereira, who helped design actual space launch facilities at Cape Canaveral in Houston, Texas, designed the library in 1970. It has been featured in sci-fi films, short stories and novels. The library hosts “Dinner in the Library,” which invites readers for cocktails, and also special speeches from distinguished authors．
TU Delft Library: The Netherlands
The library at the Delft University of Technology was constructed in 1997 and has more than 862,000 books, 16,000 magazine subscriptions and its own museum. The building itself exists beneath the ground, so you can't really see the actual Library. What makes it interesting is the roof, which is a grassy hill. The roof covers 5,500 square meters. And it has become one of the most striking and greenest structures in the area.
1.Which of the four libraries has the longest history?
A.Central Library B.Trinity College Library
C.Geisel Library D.TU Delft Library
2.What makes Geisel Library different from the others is that _____.
A.a spaceship designer founded the library
B.it has a roof of grassy hill
C.famous writers often deliver speeches there
D.it is the largest single library in the world
3.In Central Library, you can _____.
A.drink cocktails B.buy souvenirs
C.create paintings D.book events
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How cool can libraries be in an era of iPods and Kindles? More than you think．Only if you know where to go.
Central Library: Seattle, Washington, United States
The Central Library in Seattle is modern and fashionable and has tourists from around the world paying visits and taking tours. It was designed by Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas and American designer Joshua Ramus. Tours began in 2006, two years after its opening. The library holds various art exhibitions, book signings and other events, while visitors can stop by the Chocolate cart for a coffee and scan through the gift shop anytime.
Trinity College Library: Dublin, Ireland
The Trinity College Library in Dublin is the oldest library in Ireland, founded in 1592 by Queen Elizabeth I. It is the largest single library in the world, also known as the Long Room, which contains more than 200,000 of the library's oldest books. The Long Room houses one of the oldest harps（竖琴）in Ireland. Dating to the 15th century, the old harp is the model for the symbol foreland.
Geisel Library, University of California: San Diego, United States
At first glance, it looks like a spaceship. Architect William Pereira, who helped design actual space launch facilities at Cape Canaveral in Houston, Texas, designed the library in 1970. It has been featured in sci-fi films, short stories and novels. The library hosts “Dinner in the Library,” which invites readers for cocktails, and also a special speech from distinguished authors．
TU Delft Library: The Netherlands
The library at the Delft University of Technology was constructed in 1997 and has more than 862,000 books, 16,000 magazine subscriptions and its own museum．The building itself exists beneath the ground, so you can't really see the actual Library. What makes it interesting is the roof, which is a grassy hill. The roof covers 5,500 square meters. And it has become one of the most striking and greenest structures in the area.
1.Which of the four libraries has the longest history?
A. Central Library B. Trinity College Library
C. Geisel Library D.TU Delft Library
2.What makes Geisel Library different from the others is that _____________.
A. Queen Elizabeth I founded the library
B. it has a roof of grassy hill
C. famous writers often deliver speeches there
D. it is the largest single library in the world
3.In Central Library, you can _________________.
A. drink cocktails B. buy souvenirs
C. enjoy sci-fi films D. see the old harp
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How cool can libraries be in an era（时代）of iPods and Kindles? More than you think．Only if you know where to go．
Central Library: Seattle, Washington, United States
The Central Library in Seattle is modern and fashionable and has tourists from around the world paying visits and taking tours．It was designed by Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas and American designer Joshua Ramus．Tours began in 2006, two years after its opening．The library holds various art exhibitions, book signings and other events, while visitors can stop by the Chocolate cart for a coffee and scan through the gift shop anytime
Trinity College Library: Dublin, Ireland
The Trinity College Library in Dublin is the oldest library in Ireland, founded in 1592 by Queen Elizabeth I．It is the largest single library in the world, also known as the Long Room, which contains more than 200,000 0fthe library's oldest books．The Long Room houses one of the oldest harps（竖琴） in Ireland．Dating to the 15th century, the old harp is the model for the symbol foreland．
Geisel Library, University of California: San Diego, United States
At first glance, it looks like a spaceship．Architect William Pereira, who helped design actual space launch facilities at Cape Canaveral in Houston, Texas, designed the library in 1970．It has been featured in sci-fi films, short stories and novels．The library hosts "Dinner in the Library," which invites readers for cocktails, and also a special speech from distinguished authors．
TU Delft Library: The Netherlands
The library at the Delft University of Technology was constructed in 1997 and has more than 862,000 books, 16,000 magazine subscriptions and its own museum．The building itself exists beneath the ground, so you can't really see the actual Library．What makes it interesting is the roof, which is a grassy hill．The roof covers 5,500 square meters．And it has become one of the most striking and greenest structures in the area．
1.Which of the four libraries has the longest history?
A．Central Library．
B．Trinity College Library．
C．Geisel Library．
D．TU Delft Library．
2.What makes Geisel Library different from the others is that
A．famous writers often deliver speeches there
B．it has a reoffer grassy hill
C．Queen Elizabeth I founded the library
D．it is the largest single library in the world
3.In Central Library, you can
A．buy souvenirs
B．drink cocktails
C．enjoy sci-fi films
D．see the old harp