What will power your house in the future?Nuclear,wind,or solar power?According to scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the US,it might be leaves — but artificial (人造的) ones.

Natural leaves are able to change sunlight and water into energy. It is known as photosynthesis (光合作用).Now researchers have found a way to imitate this seemingly simple process.

The artificial leaf developed by Daniel Nocera and his colleagues at MIT can be seen as a special silicon chip with catalysts (催化剂).Similar to natural leaves,it can split water into hydrogen and oxygen when put into a bucket of water. The hydrogen and oxygen gases are then stored in a fuel cell,which uses those two materials to produce electricity,located either on top of a house or beside the house.

Though the leaf is only about the shape of a poker card,scientists claimed that it is promising to be an inexpensive source of electricity in developing countries. “One can imagine villages in India and Africa not long from now purchasing an affordable basic power system based on this technology,” said Nocera at a conference of the American Chemical Society.

The artificial leaf is not a new idea. The first artificial leaf was invented in 1997 but was too expensive and unstable for practical use. The new leaf,by contrast,is made of cheap materials,easy to use and highly stable. In laboratory studies,Nocera showed that an artificial leaf prototype (原型) could operate continuously for at least 45 hours without a drop in activity.

The wonderful improvements come from Nocera's recent discovery of several powerful,new and inexpensive catalysts. These catalysts make the energy transformation inside the leaf more efficient with water and sunlight. Right now,the new leaf is about 10 times more efficient at carrying out photosynthesis than a natural one. Besides,the device can run in whatever water is available;that is,it doesn't need pure water. This is important for some countries that don't have access to pure water.

With the goal to “make each home its own power station” and “give energy to the poor”,scientists believe that the new technology could be widely used in developing countries,especially in India and rural China.

1.Which of the following orders correctly shows how the artificial leaf is used to produce electricity?

a.artificial leaves split water into hydrogen and oxygen

b.the hydrogen and oxygen gases are stored in a fuel cell

c.the artificial leaves are put in water

d.the fuel cell uses hydrogen and oxygen to produce electricity

A.c,a,b,d B.c,b,a,d

C.b,c,a,d D.c,a,d,b

2.The purpose of the scientists at MIT in developing the new artificial leaf is to________.

A.build up more power stations in the world

B.provide cheaper energy for developing countries

C.offer people in developing countries access to pure water

D.gain a deeper understanding of the photosynthesis process

3.The main idea of this passage is ________.

A.an introduction to the history of artificial leaves

B.a mixture of water power and solar energy

C.giving energy to the poor

D.an invention copying photosynthesis

阅读理解

阅读下列短文,从每题所给的A、B、C、D四个选项中,选出最佳选项。

D

Failure is probably the most exhausting experience a person ever has. There is nothing more tiring than not succeeding.

We experience this tiredness in two ways: as start-up fatigue(疲惫) and performance fatigue. In the former case, we keep putting off a task because it has either too boring or too difficult. And the longer we delay it, the more tired we feel.

Such start-up fatigue is very real, even if not actually physical, not something in our muscles and bones. The solution is obvious though perhaps not easy to apply: always handle the most difficult job first.

Years ago, I was asked to write 102 essays on the great ideas of some famous authors. Applying my own rule, I determined to write them in alphabetical(按字母顺序), never letting myself leave out a tough idea. And I always started the day’s work with the difficult task of essay-writing. Experience proved that the rule works.

Performance fatigue is more difficult to handle. Though willing to get started, we cannot seem to do the job right. Its difficulties appear so great that, however hard we work, we fail again and again. In such a situation, I work as hard as I can-then let the unconscious take over.

When planning Encyclopaedia Britannica (《大英百科全书》), I had to create a table of contents based on the topics of its articles. Nothing like this had ever been done before, and day after dat I kept coming up with solutions, but none of them worked. My fatigue became almost unbearable.

One day, mentally exhausted, I wrote down all the reasons why this problem could not be solved. I tried to convince myself that the trouble was with the problem itself, not with me. Relived, I sat back in an easy chair and fell asleep.

An hour later, I woke up suddenly with the solution clearly in mind. In the weeks that followed, the solution which had come up in my unconscious mind provided correct at every step. Though I worked as hard as before, I felt no fatigue. Success was now as exciting as failure had been depressing.

Human beings, I believe must try to succeed. Success, then, means never feeling tired.

1.People with start-up fatigue are most likely to .

A. delay tasks

B. work hard

C. seek help

D. accept failure

2. What does the author recommend doing to prevent start-up fatigue?

A. Writing essays in strict order.

B. Building up physical strength.

C. Leaving out the toughest ideas.

D. Dealing with the hardest task first.

3.On what occasion does a person probably suffer from performance fatigue?

A. Before starting a difficult task.

B. When all the solutions fail.

C. If the job is rather boring.

D. After finding a way out.

4. According to the author, the unconscious mind may help us .

A. ignore mental problems

B. get some nice sleep

C. gain complete relief

D. find the right solution

5.What could be the best title for the passage?

A. Success Is Built upon Failure

B. How to Handle Performance Fatigue

C. Getting over Fatigue: A Way to Success

D. Fatigue: An Early Sign of Health Problems

根据短文内容,从短文后的选项中选出能填入空白处的最佳选项。选项中有两项为多余选项。

Both men and women are living longer these days in industrialized countries. 1. In general, they can expect to live six or seven years more than men. One reason for this is biological.

One important biological factor that helps women live longer is the difference in hormones between men and women. 2. Between the ages of about 12 and 50, women produce hormones that are involved in fertility(生育能力). These hormones also have a positive effect on the heart and blood flow. In fact, women are less likely to have high blood pressure or to die from heart attacks.

3. They help the body defend itself against some kinds of infections. This means that women generally ger sick less often and less seriously than men. The common cold is a good example: women, on average, get fewer colds than men. 4. Scientists are still not exactly sure how influence aging, but they believe that they do. Some think that a woman’s body cells have a tendency(向) to age more slowly than a man’s. Others think that a man’s body cells have a tendency to age more quickly. 5.

A.However, women, on average, live longer.

B .The biological factor plays an important part.

C. Women are also helped by their female genes.

D. The female hormones also protect the body in another way.

E. Recent research seems to support both of these possibilities.

F. Therefore, women are more healthy than men and can live a better life.

G. Hormones are chemicals which are produced by the body to control carious body functions.

根据短文内容,从短文后的选项中选出能填入空白处的最佳选项。选项中有两项为多余选项。

A garden that’s just right for you

Have you ever visited a garden that seemed just right for you, where the atmosphere of the garden appeared to total more than the sum(总和) of its parts? 1. . But it doesn’t happen by accident. It starts with looking inside yourself and understanding who you are with respect to the natural world and how you approach the gardening process.

●___2.

Some people may think that a garden is no more than plants, flowers, patterns and masses of color. Others are concerned about using gardening methods that require less water and fewer fertilizers(肥料). 3. . However, there are a number of other reasons that might explain why you want to garden. One of them comes from our earliest years.

●Recall(回忆)your childhood memories

Our model of what a garden should be often goes back to childhood. Grandma’s rose garden and Dad’s vegetable garden might be good or bad, but that’s not what’s important. 4. --how being in those gardens made us feel. If you’d like to build a powerful bond with your garden, start by taking some time to recall the gardens of your youth. 5. then go outside and work out a plan to translate your childhood memories into your grown-up garden. Have fun.

A. Know why you garden

B. Find a good place for your own garden

C. It’s our experience of the garden that matters

D. It’s delightful to see so many beautiful flowers

E. Still others may simply enjoy being outdoors and close to plants

F. You can produce that kind of magical quality in your own garden, too

G. For each of those gardens, writer down the strongest memory you have

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