Question

Mary Masterman hasn't decided where she will attend college, but when she does, she'll have plenty of money to pay for it. The 17-year-old took home a $100,000 scholarship Tuesday as the top winner of the 2007 Intel Science Talent Search.

"It was a complete surprise," said the senior at Westmoore High School in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. "I wasn't expecting it." Masterman earned first place at this year's competition by building a low-budget spectrograph (摄谱仪)— an instrument that identifies the unique characteristics, or "fingerprints," of different molecules. Spectrographs are used in a variety of fields, including astronomy, medicine, and law enforcement. They can sense the presence of explosives or drugs, and they can also help determine the age of a piece of artwork.

Normally, the cost of a spectrograph can run as high as $100,000．Mary, however, built her device—which she crafted from lenses, a laser, aluminum (铝) tubing, and a camera—for just $300．"I wanted to build one that was lower-costing so it would be more available to anyone interested in spectrography," she said.

Sticking to a budget was only half the battle. Getting the machine to work was another challenge. "I had to keep coming up with creative ways to adjust or change something," Mary admitted. "It took three months to build and another three months before it actually functioned properly."

Mary competed with more than 1,700 other high school seniors in this year's science challenge. Forty finalists were invited to Washington, D.C., where they presented their projects at the National Institute of Science. In all, 10 students took home awards for their innovative projects.

1．What’s the best title of the passage?

　 A．Oklahoma teen comes to a great invention

　 B．Science competition for high school students

　 C．The 2007 Intel Science Talent Search

　 D．Oklahoma teen wins science scholarship

2．_____ is the biggest difference between Mary’s spectrograph and the normal one?

　 A．Use fields B．Function　　 C．The cost 　　 D．The size

3．How long did it take Mary to put his spectrograph into use?

　 A．Three months. 　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 B．Half a year. 　

　 C．About a year.　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 D．Several years.

4．It can be inferred that the Intel Science Talent Search is _____.

　 A．a high-tech research institute of fine instruments

　 B．an institute of science based in Washington, D.C.

　 C．a most highly regarded science competition for high school students

　 D．the nation's oldest award for the top scientists with great achievements

 

Answer 1

这是一篇新闻类阅读材料。奖金高达10万美元的英特尔科学发明奖已经揭晓，来自俄克拉荷马十七岁的高中学生获得2007年度此项大奖。

1．D。主旨题。短文第一段提到：这位十七岁的高中学生获得2007年英特尔科学发明奖，领回了十万美元的奖学金。下文介绍了她的发明的基本情况。由此可知D项最能概括全文的中心。

2．C。细节题。短文第三段提到，一般的摄谱仪的费用在十万美元，而她的花费却只有三百美元，因此最大的区别是在成本上的不同。

3．B。细节题。由第四段最后一句可知，制作她的摄谱仪花了三个月时间，然后又花了三个月进行调试，共花了半年的时间才制作成功。

4．C。推测题。通读全文可知，英特尔科学发明奖的奖金高达十万美元，参加此项竞赛的参加者全是高中学生，由此推断可知，英特尔科学发明奖是一项专门为高中学生设立的一项关注度极高的科学竞赛。