As a group of young African immigrants struggle to adapt to life in the United States, an after-school drama program at White Oak Middle School aims to make their lives easier by first making them a little harder.

Project X is a program that uses drama, dance, poetry and other creative outlets to help students discuss the tough and sometimes painful problems they face as pre-teen immigrants with language barriers. A final unveiling of their creation will be performed for friends and family at the end of the year at Imagination Stage.

Wanjiru Kamau, coordinator of White Oak’s African Club said it’s important to give troubles to group members to help them find their place at the school. “It comforts those who are uncomfortable, and it discomforts those who are comfortable,” Kamau said of Project X.

Kamau teamed up with Imagination Stage after she noticed that many African students seemed uncomfortable talking about problems, such as being laughed at by their fellow students about how they look and talk. When most of the kids join the club, they speak little or no English, Kamau said. Each week, the club typically draws five to ten students who are originally from Africa for discussion sessions and the Project X programme.

“We are going to express ourselves through our words and our actions, and that’s powerful,” said teaching artist Meg Green as she introduced fill-in-the-blank poems the students wrote about their identities.

One student, Frank Ketchouang, 13, wrote, “I am from the world; I am love,” which drew oohs and aahs from the group. Ketchouang has been in the United States for less than a year, said Program Coordinator Chad Dike. When Ketchouang started attending Project X, he had been in the United States for two months and spoke no English. Now he’s one of the group’s most outgoing members and helps translate instructions from English to Creole for the group’s newest member, who is from Haiti.

Many people will give up when there’s a language barrier, “but these students prove them wrong”. Kamau said. “You do have something to give. You are important. When TV, media, etc. are bringing them down, this program is bringing them up.”

1.Project X is intended for helping the young African immigrants to_________.

A. get over language barriers                               

B. enrich after-school life         

C. overcome tough problems                               

D. become more creative

2.How well the members learn in the Project X program is shown by_________.

A. their annual creative performances               

B. their annual scores gained at school

C. the comments of friends and family              

D. the comments of the program teachers

3.What do we know about the Imagination Stage?

A. It’s established by Kamau for Project X.

B. It’s a cooperative partner of White Oak’S African Club.

C. It’s a project designed by White Oak Middle School.

D. It’s operated once at the end of each year.

4.According to the author, what Franck Ketchouang wrote was______.

A. silly                 B. simple       C. excellent   D. contradictory

5.The passage is written mainly to_______.

A. introduce the Project X program

B. inspire immigrants to never give up

C. advocate White Oak’S African Club               

D. call for more attention to immigrants

Just put your special clothes on in the morning and you could jump 3 meters into the air and even carry more than 60 kilograms without getting tired. The walk to school would be very, very easy. Such supercharged clothing is one of the products that could be created using "wearable robotics” technology.

Designed to improve a person's senses and skills, the device could be as simple as a hearing aid. Or it could be a full-body suit that senses what you're going to do, then helps you do it better.

“A superman suit would be the final result in wearable robot i cs ”，s a id Francois Pin, head of robot­ics and energy systems at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory(橡树林国家实验室), US. While these suits are at least ten years away, in some areas the technology is already in use.

Researchers are developing artificial- arms and legs that allow old，disabled or injured people to move freely. Thus US Army is interested in using wearable robot legs to help soldiers run faster, carry more equipment and be stronger in battle. Jobs that involve lifting heavy loads or saving lives from the rubble of an earthquake could also become much easier.

A robot is a device that responds to a command. You're probably with simple robots, such as toy cars or airplanes that respond to buttons you push on a remote control.

Wearable robotics goes further. Instead of just receiving information through a wire or remotecontrol- the robotic device can send information back to its controller.

Suppose you wore a sleeve that has sensors where your joints are. Every time you move your arm, the sleeve senses your movements and sends the information to a robot, which then moves its arm just as you did. When the robot hits or touches something, it sends a signal back to the sleeve and you sense the action.

In this way，scientists are working to wrap the robot around the person. Their goal is to make the sleeve, shoe or suit help you do what you want to do.

1.Which of the following can replace the underlined word “supercharged” in Paragraph One?

A, expensive      B. overcharged C. advanced     D. full of electricity

2.Products resulting from this wearable robotics technology do not include _______. 

A．remote controls    B．hearing aids        C．wearable robot legs  D．superman suits

3.From the passage, we can infer that        .

A．it will be ten years before robotic devices are in use

B．the wearable robotics technology has been employed in some areas

C．the robots in the robotic devices will do whatever you want to do

D．people must become lazier and less healthier in the future

Sports News of the Week

Bolt regains 100m title in Moscow

Last updated: Mon, Aug-12-2013, 08:54

USAIN BOLT of Jamaica won the men's 100 meters final during the IAAF World Athletics Championships in Moscow on Sunday．

Usain Bolt was made to look human by a combination of a Russian rainstorm and a fired-up Justin Gatlin on Sunday but the Jamaican superstar was still good enough to regain his world 100 meters title in a surging 9．77 seconds．

With former world and Olympic champion and twice-banned doper Gatlin leading at halfway, Bolt was forced to race a rival, rather than the clock．

Jason Dufner wins PGA Championship

Last Updated: Monday, August 12, 2013, 10:38

Jason Dufner won his first major title at the 95th PGA Championship, the top U．S． golf competition, seizing an early lead on Sunday at Oak Hill, Texas and holding on for victory despite a bogey-bogey finish．

The 36-year-old American, who squandered a four-shot lead with four holes to play in losing the 2011 PGA Championship, fired a final-round two-under par 68 to finish on 10-under par 270 for 72 holes．

Isinbaeva leads harvest day for host Russia at Moscow worlds

Last updated: WeD．August 14, 2013, 10:35

Russia's "pole vault queen" Elena Isinbaeva ignited the Luzhniki stadium as she claimed her third world title on the fourth day of the 2013 IAAF World Championships here on Tuesday, which saw host Russia harvested two gold and one silver medals in seven finals,

Ireland's Heffernan wins world walk title at 35

Last Updated: Wednesday, August 14,2013,15:15

Ireland's Robert Heffernan won the world championship 50km walk title on Wednesday as the 35-year-old finally tasted glory after 13 years of heartbreak and near-misses．

Heffernan, fourth in the 2012 Olympic 50km and fourth in both walks at last year's European championships, broke clear of Mikhail Ryzhov after 35km to deny Russia a clean sweep of the walks after they took gold in both 20km events earlier in the week．

1.When did Bolt regain the men's 100 meters final?

A．August 11．                 B．August 12

 C．August 13．                D．August 14

2.Where is the PGA held?

A．JamaicA．                   B．RussiA

C．AmericA．                   D．Ireland

3.______ won the world championship at last after trying hard for 13 years．

A．Jason                        B．Bolt

C．Isinbaeva           D．Heffernan

When I began planning to move to Auckland to study .my mother was worried about  a lack of jobs and cultural differences, Ignoring these 36  ,I got there in July 2010,37  I arrived ,I realized the importance of getting a job 38  my living  experience, Determined to do this 39  ,  I spent several weeks going door-to-door for a job, but found  40 response.

  One afternoon, I walked into a building to ask  41  there were any job opportunities，The people there advised me not to continue my job search in that  42 .As I was about to 43. a man who had been listening approached me and asked me to wait outside    44 .Nearly ten minutes later, he 45 ,He asked me about my plans and encouraged me to stay 46 . Then he offered to take me to Royal Oak to 47 a job.

  I was a little surprised. but had a 48  feeling about him. Along the way ,I realized that I had 49  resumes(简历).Seeing this, the man  50  at his business partner’s office to make me fifteen 51  copies. He also gave me some  52  on dressing and speaking. I handed out my resume and went home feeling very  53   . The following day, I received a  54  from a store in Royal Oak offering me a job.

  It seems that the world always 55  to you when you need it .And this time, it was a complete stranger who turned out to be a real blessing.

1.A. doubts      B. concerns      C. instructions        D. reasons

2.A. Even if     B. Every time      C. Now that         D. Soon after

3.A. of          B. at            C. for              D. with

4.A. on my own    B. on my way     C. by any chance   D. by the day

5.A. any          B. much          C. some          D. little

6.A. why          B. wherever      C. whether        D. whenever

7.A. direction    B. attitude        C. language         D. manner

8.A. answer       B. work          C. leave         D. refuse

9.A. for ever     B. at any time   C. as usual         D. for a while

10.A. returned     B. hesitated     C. passed           D. regretted

11.A. silent       B. busy          C. positive         D. comfortable

12.A. pick out      B. search for     C. take on         D. give up

13.A. dull          B. good         C. guilty          D. general

14.A. made use of   B. taken care of  C. run out of      D. become tired of

15.A. stopped       B. knocked       C. glanced         D. appeared

16.A. right          B. more         C. former          D. different

17.A. pressures      B. agreements     C. impression      D. suggestions

18.A. lonely        B. funny         C. disappointed     D. satisfied

19.A. call           B. tip            C. present         D. report

20.A. turns off       B. goes over      C. gives back       D. looks up

When I was young, I had an old neighbor named Dr. Gibbs. He didn’t look like any doctor I’d ever known. He never shouted at us for playing in his yard. I remembered him as a neighbor who was nicer than anyone else in the neighborhood.

When Dr. Gibbs was happy, he was planting trees. And his life’s goal was to make it a forest.

Dr. Gibbs had some interesting theories about planting. He talked about trees that weren’t watered would grow deep roots in search of water. So he never watered his trees. He planted an oak (橡树) and, instead of watering it every morning, he beat it with the rolled-up newspaper. I asked him why he did that, and he said it was to get the tree’s attention.

Dr. Gibbs died a couple of years. Every now and again, I walk by his house and look at the trees that he planted twenty-five years ago. They’re very strong now.

I planted a couple of trees a few years later. I watered them regularly and took good care of them. Whenever a cold wind blows, they shake their leaves and branches.

The funny thing about those trees of Dr. Gibbs was that difficulty seemed to help them in ways comfort and ease never could.

1.What was Dr. Gibbs’ life goal?

A．To build a forest.                        B．To save more lives.

C．To make a lot of money.                   D．To study plants.

2.One of Dr. Gibbs’ theories about planting was that ______.

A．he often talked to the trees               B．he kicked the trees heavily

C．he never watered the trees               D．he buried the leaves around the roots

3.What does the writer mainly want to tell us?

A．Trees are not as weak as we think.

B．We should listen to others’ advice.

C．Difficulty is necessary for growth.

D．Planting trees is good for the environment.