In 1905, as part of his Special Theory of Relativity, Albert Einstein published the point that a large amount of energy could be released from a small amount of matter. This was expressed by equation E = me 2(energy = mass times the speed of light squared). But bombs were not what Einstein had in mind when he published this equation.

In 1929, he publicly declared that if a war broke out he would “refused to do war service, direct or indirect…” His position would change in 1933, as the result of Adolf Hitler’s coming into power in Germany.

Einstein’s greatest role in the invention of the atomic bomb was signing a letter to President Franklin Roosevelt urging that the bomb be built because some physicists feared that Germany might be working on an atomic bomb. Among those concerned were physicists Leo Szilard and Eugene Wigner. But Szilard and Wigner had no influence with those in power. So in July 1939 they explained the problem to someone who did: Albert Einstein. After talking with Einstein, in August 1939 Szilard wrote a letter to President Roosevelt with Einstein’s signature on it, which was delivered to Roosevelt in October 1939.

Germany has invaded Poland the previous month; the time was ripe for action. That October research of a-bomb began but proceeded slowly because the invention of the atomic bomb seemed distant and unlikely. In April 1940 an Einstein letter, ghost-written by Szilard, pressed the researchers on the need for “greater speed”.

As the realization of nuclear weapons grew near, Einstein looked beyond the current war to future problems that such weapons could bring. He wrote to his friend about his fear about the future use of the a-bomb.

The atomic bombings of Japan occurred three months after Germany gave in.

In November 1954, five months before his death, Einstein summarized his feelings about his role in the creation of the atomic bomb: “I made one great mistake in my life… when I signed a letter to President Roosevelt recommending that atom bombs be made; but there was some justification---- the danger that the Germans would make them”.

1.What can we learn about Szilard and Wigner?

A. They were not as influential as Einstein.

B. They were responsible for the invention of nuclear weapons

C. They had cheated their friend Albert Einstein.

D. They had an intention to destroy the world.

2.We can conclude that Einstein ___________.

A. was important in the development of atomic bomb

B. was not involved in the invention of atomic bomb

C. directly participated in the invention of the atomic bomb

D. helped with the invention of atomic bomb

3.The best title for the passage would be __________.

A. A Story of Albert Einstein

B. Albert Einstein and the Atomic Bomb

C. It was Unfair for Einstein

D. How the Atomic Bomb was Invented

This day marks the rising of a new food startup, the first company to be financed entirely by the crowd, and of it every business thus relies on thousands of customers to grow. Lisa, 25, its main founder and CEO, believes it will be a path that will become increasingly popular, and ultimately will produce more thriving(繁荣的)businesses from the scratch.

“In the food industry, no venture capital (VC, 风险投资) will even look at you until you’ve hit a million in sales. As a fresh hand in business, unless you’re independently wealthy, you will likely need to raise some money before then,” Lisa complained. So few businesses approached VC firms at the beginning. It was no exception with her. Thus, she turned to a new financing tool at hand, crowdfunding, to raise money from the crowd who’d like to take a bet on her company.

But for a company, it didn’t make sense to seek investments when all they had was an idea and a few months of consumer testing data. The food market is extremely competitive. No investor would put money behind a totally unproven new super food product founded by a bunch of twenty-somethings. “But we had a story. And crowds love stories.” Lisa said delightedly. So she put together an online crowdfunding campaign, explaining how she began working with this amazingly nutritious plant in the Peace Corps and then started selling it in the U.S. to support the poor in the West Africa.

On the online platform where they were to raise the money, a friend convinced them to change their goal from $20,000 to $50,000. Lisa stayed up all night worrying they wouldn’t hit it. But they reached $24,000 in 24 hours and ended their funding with $53,000. Seeing the number, Lisa said, “Thank you! To my crowd and for your belief!”

1.Why couldn’t Lisa get investments in a traditional way?

A. She lacked confidence in business.

B. Her food company was in poor condition.

C. VC demanded too much in choosing partners.

D. Consumers were not satisfied with her new products.

2.According to the passage, crowdfunding ________.

A. ensures the investors a good return

B. aims to help badly managed companies

C. attracts more people to become investors

D. helps startups deal with money shortages

3.The underlined word “twenty-somethings” refers to ________.

A. twenty impractical ideas B. young people over twenty

C. twenty inexperienced partners D. a company with twenty branches

4.Which of the following best explains Lisa’s success?

A. Great minds think alike. B. Honesty is the best policy.

C. Many hands make light work. D. A friend in need is a friend indeed.

“Old wives’ tales” are beliefs passed down from one generation to another. For example,most of us remember our parents’ telling us to eat more of certain foods or not to do certain things. Is there any truth in these teachings? Some of them agree with present medical thinking,but others have not passed the test of time.

Did your mother ever tell you to eat your carrots because they are good for your eyes? Scientists now report that eating carrots can help prevent a serious eye disease called macular degeneration. Eating just one carrot a day can reduce the possibility of getting this disease by 40%. Garlic is good for you,too. It can kill the type of virus that causes colds.

Unfortunately, not all of Mom’s advice passed the test of medical studies. For example, generations of children have been told not to go swimming within an hour after eating. But research suggests that there is no danger in doing so. Do sweets cause tooth problems?Well, yes and no. Sticky sweets made with grains(谷物) tend to cause more problems than sweets made with simple sugars.

Even though science can tell us that some of our traditional beliefs don’t hold_water,_there is still a lot of truth in the old wives’ tales. After all, much of this knowledge has been accumulated (积累) from thousands of years of experience in family health care. We should respect this body of knowledge even as we search for clear scientific support to prove it true or false.

1.Which of the following is TRUE according to the text?

A. Sticky sweets are damaging to our teeth.

B. Eating garlic is good for our eyes.

C. Swimming after a meal is dangerous.

D. Carrots prevent people from catching colds.

2.The author develops the third paragraph mainly________.

A. by cause and effect

B. by order in space

C. by examples

D. by order in time

3.The phrase“ hold water” in the last paragraph most probably means“________”.

A. to be valuable

B. to be believable

C. to be admirable

D. to be suitable

4.What is the author’s attitude towards“old wives’ tales”in the text?

A. Subjective(主观的).

B. Objective(客观的).

C. Dissatisfied.

D. Curious.

The spread of Western eating habits around the world is bad for human health and for the environment. Those findings come from a new report in the journal Nature.

David Tilman is a professor at the University of Minnesota. In the study, he examined information from 100 nations to show what people ate and how diet affected health. Mr. Tilman noted a movement beginning in the 1960s. He found that as nations industrialized(工业化), population increased and earnings rose. More people began to adopt what has been called the Western diet. The Western diet is high in sugar, fat, oil and meat. By eating these foods, people began to get fatter and sicker.

“The food, let us say, in the 15 richest nations of the world, right now contains about 400 or 500 extra calories(热量) a day that are eaten beyond what people need, and that leads people to gain weight.”

David Tillman says overweight people are at greater risk for diseases like diabetes, heart disease and some cancers. Diabetes is shooting to very high rates in the United States and across Europe. Heart disease is a major cause of death in the Western nations. Unfortunately when people become industrialized, if they adopt this Western diet, they are going to have these same health problems.

A diet bad for human beings, it seems, is also bad for the environment. As the world’s population grows, experts say more forests and areas will become farmland for crops or grasslands for raising cattle. These areas will be needed to meet the increasing demand for food.

Mr. Tilman calls the link between diet, the environment and human health, “a dilemma”, a situation where it is very difficult to decide what to do. He says one possible solution is leaving the Western diet behind.

1.Why did people get fatter in the 1960s?

A. They ate foods high in calories.

B. They adopted a western lifestyle.

C. They set aside little time for exercise.

D. They had a better life and became lazier.

2.According to the text, overweight people may suffer the following diseases EXCEPT_______.

A. diabetes B. skin disease

C. cancers D. heart disease

3.What can we infer from Paragraph 5?

A. There will be fewer and fewer forests.

B. People won’t care about the environment.

C. The world’s population will grow faster than ever.

D. Raising cattle will be the most moneymaking business.

4.What is the purpose of the author in writing this passage?

A. To tell people effective ways to keep healthy.

B. To call on people to give up the Western diet.

C. To show the problems industrialized nations are facing.

D. To draw people’s attention to environmental protection.

I have never forgotten the firm belief I had in the arrival through the chimney (烟囱) of the little Santa Claus (圣诞老人), the kind, white-bearded old man who at midnight left in my tiny shoe a present I found the next morning.

Midnight! It’s the perfect hour children don’t know. What great efforts I made not to go to sleep before the little old man appeared!

I had both a great desire and great fear of seeing him, but could never stay awake until then, and the next day my first look was for my shoe. He never failed to carefully wrap (包装) every present for me. I would run barefoot to get my treasure. It never was a very expensive present, for we were not rich. It was a cookie, an orange, or very simply a fine red apple. But it felt so precious that I barely dared to eat it. What a great role imagination plays in a child’s life!

I do not at all agree with the idea that the lies about Santa Claus should be stopped. Doubts and truth come all too soon on their own. I very well remember the first year, when I was five or six, I doubted that it was not Santa Claus who put the cookie in my shoe. Since then, it has never tasted as good as the first few years of my life.

I noted that my son believed in him longer; boys are more na?ve (天真的) than little girls. Like me, he made great efforts to stay awake until midnight. Like me, he loved the cookie baked in Heaven’s kitchens. And like me, the first year of his doubts was the last year of the visit of the good old man.

1.As a little girl, the author loved the gifts on Christmas Day because ________.

A. they usually cost a lot of money

B. she always got the very gifts she asked for

C. they were beautifully wrapped

D. she believed they were from Santa Claus

2.According to the article, what role does imagination play in a child’s life?

A. It adds value to the common Christmas gifts.

B. It makes a child curious about everything.

C. It encourages him to climb the chimney.

D. It makes him doubt whether Santa Claus really exists.

3.By saying “Doubts and truth come all too soon on their own” in Paragraph 4, the author feels ________.

A. unsatisfied with being cheated

B. sorry for realizing that Santa Claus doesn’t exist

C. happy at finding out the facts of Santa Claus

D. angry about parents’ lying to children about Santa Claus

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