Have you ever heard of “a ball of energy”? People often use it to describe very active children. But today we tell about an invention called the socket, that is a real soccer ball of energy. Julia Silverman explains that in fact the socket is a portable generator.

Julia Silverman and Jessica Matthews developed the socket as part of a group project for an engineering class at Harvard University. There are mechanisms in a socket. When you kick, hit or throw it, energy is then kept in it by these mechanisms instead of disappearing into the environment.

Then the user can put something directly into the ball, like a lamp, or a mobile phone charger so that they can get energy from it. For every fifteen minutes of the game play, the socket can provide enough electricity for an LED lamp for three hours, and the ball can store up to 24 hours’ electricity.

The International Energy Association reported last year that nearly one and a half billion people in the world had no electricity to use, and most of them live in sub-Saharan Africa and in India and other countries in Asia.

Julia Silverman and Jessica Matthews both had experiences in developing countries before they began the project. They knew that power shortages are a serious problem in really areas. There’s an energy crisis in the world. One out of every five people in the world don't have any electricity, there are a lot of health problems because what people use instead of any electricity are harmful choices like kerosene lamps, which produce a lot of smoke.

Julia Silverman says the socket ball is one small solution to a big problem. Jessica Matthews and Julia Silverman hope their socket ball will shine more light on the problem of power shortages. It offers people a chance to put their energy into the world’s most popular sport and get some energy in return.

1.From the passage, we know the socket is__________.

A.an active child B.an invention C.a lamp D.a mobile phone

2.The underlined word “crisis” in the passage means a time of__________.

A.difficulty B.safety C.success D.sadness

3.We can infer from the passage that__________.

A.active children care more about playing socket

B.people are expected to get some energy by playing socket

C.Julia Silverman has never been to developing countries before

D.kicking a socket can let the energy disappear into the environment

4.The best title for the passage should be__________.

A.A soccer ball that gives energy B.The way to help save electricity

C.The best way to solve energy problems D.An invention changing the world

I remember the day that I was changed into a new class and I felt unwanted.

The first day that I was in my class, my table didn’t talk to me and I didn’t either. The next day in that class, the teacher let me sit next to this girl who had her pierced ears, lips and nose. She said, “You’re new to class, aren’t you? Well, my name is Ashley.” I looked at her for a second and then said, “Hi.” She knew that I was shy. She introduced me to the rest of the table loudly, who didn’t look nice, but then again I thought Ashley was wild when I saw her up close.

That whole week the other girls at my table would look at me like a hungry animal who was to kill its prey (猎物) and they whisper to one another about my looks and how I wasn’t wanted in this class.

One day I felt upset and Ashley asked, “What’s wrong?” I didn’t answer but she found out that I went through bullying (威逼), and depression. Then I told her what was up. She said, “I thought you were a rich girl with good grades and no problems, but I was wrong.” The rest of the table heard about the real me and they apologized for what they had said.

Later, Ashley introduced me to new people who had gone through the same things that I had. Thanks to Ashley, I was no longer alone in the world. And that same day I met Perla, my best friend now, who taught me not to judge others on their appearance. I really understood it from Ashley.

1.When the writer was changed into a new class, she felt she was not ________.

A.lonely B.shy C.sad D.welcome

2.What does the underlined word “table” mean in Paragraph 2?

A.A group of students who are in the same class with you.

B.A name of someone that you are so familiar with.

C.A piece of furniture on which you can put something.

D.A kind of form in which you can fill in words and numbers.

3.What was the writer’s feeling when Ashley helped her for the first time?

A.She thought she was too cool.

B.She thought she was nice and kind.

C.She thought she was rude and wild.

D.She thought she was clever and generous.

4.Why did the other girls say sorry to the writer?

A.Because Ashley forced them to do so.

B.Because the writer became a good friend of Ashley’s.

C.Because they knew how powerful the writer was.

D.Because they once treated the writer badly.

5.What did the writer learn from Ashley?

A.No pains, no gains.

B.Rome was not built in a day.

C.Never judge a book by its cover.

D.The harder you work, the luckier you get.

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