If you’re encouraged by the tiny house movement and think 160 square feet is just enough for your needs, you may want to contact the Academy of Construction and Design (ACAD) at IDEA Public Charter School in northeast Washington.
Students in the program built a micro house with a kitchen, a bathroom, a sleeping loft with space for a queen-size bed and a storage loft, all set on a trailer for mobility. The exterior of the house was part of a continuous living exhibit in 2015 and was moved to the IDEA campus so students could work with builders to complete the interior earlier this year.
McMahon said the D. C. government’s approval to push companies to hire District residents was at odds with the school system not preparing students for careers in construction, exploring or electrical work. McMahon gathered industry and community leaders to establish ACAD in 2005, and he said 100 percent of the companies he contacted responded positively to the idea, including major firms such as JBG, Clark Construction, Hines Construction and Boston Properties.
“When students make the connection between what they are learning a potential career, their academics improve dramatically,” said Carol Randolph, chief operating officer of the D. C. Students Construction Trades Foundation. “Some of them who didn’t think college was an option now have a better chance because their classes have become relevant to a job.”
“We teach them life skills and explain that even if you start as a laborer, there are opportunities to move up quickly,” he said. “We rewrite the story for them and explain that they can work for a few years, make good money, get promoted, and start their own business or go to school with less debts.”
“Parents and school advisor can be the biggest obstacles because of the negative idea of construction as a blue-collar career,” Karriem said. “I get middle-school advisor on board to talk about the opportunities this education provides. These kids are learning lifelong skills that can help them in other fields, provide them with income and allow them to take care of their homes.”
1.What might be the main purpose of the first paragraph?
A. To advise the students to build houses.
B. To show IDEA Public Charter School.
C. To introduce the tiny house movement.
D. To get in touch with the ACAD organization.
2.What is the program of building a micro house aimed at?
A. Experiencing living in the tiny house.
B. Improving cooperating with related companies.
C. Learning lifelong skills from college classes.
D. Providing the opportunities to get a job.
3.What does the underlined part “at odds with” mean in the 3rd paragraph?
A. Inconsistent B. Favorable
C. Unusual D. Satisfactory
4.What can we infer from the words of Karriem?
A. Students tend to choose the blue-collar career.
B. It’s hard to make the micro house movement popular.
C. Education should provide more job opportunities
D. Life skills help improve students’ academics greatly
China has the highest adoption rate in the world for technology-enabled payment systems, according to a report released on Wednesday. The report, from the market research firm Nielsen, is based on a survey of 13,000 respondents in 26 countries.
The survey showed that 86 percent of Chinese respondents said they paid for online purchases during the past six months via digital payment systems compared with a global average of just 43 percent.
"Chinese consumers have more payment choices for products and services than ever while digital payments will continue to win over more Chinese consumers due to its convenient nature," said Kiki Fan, managing director of Nielsen China.
The increasingly popular payment method is part of the rapidly evolving purchasing behavior of Chinese consumers. About 98 percent of the respondents in China, the world's largest e-commerce market, said they had made purchases online.
The majority of them still make online purchases via computers, but the number of those who use mobile devices to make purchases is growing fast and is significantly higher than the average in other surveyed countries.
At 71 percent, food-related businesses topped the list of purchases made via smart phones while event ticket purchases stood at 51 percent.
The rising use of digital payments has attracted numerous players to the Chinese market.
Apple Inc launched its contactless payment system Apple Pay in the Chinese mainland last month. It allows users of the iPhone 6 or more advanced versions, certain iPads and Apple Watches to pay by their devices in bricks-and-mortar stores.
Apple's rival Samsung Electronics Co Ltd is expected to bring its own mobile payment service to China in mid-March—Sam-sung Pay.
China's Internet giants Alibaba Group Holding Ltd and Tencent Holdings Ltd have already taken about 90 percent of the mobile payment market, but industry observers said the competition is just about to start.
1.What do the first and second paragraphs mainly tell us?
A. China has the most digital payment users.
B. A digital report is released on Wednesday.
C. Chinese consumers have more payment choices.
D. People in 26 countries paid for online purchases.
2.Where do most of the Chinese make online purchases according to the passage?
A. On smart phones. B. On computers.
C. On iPads. D. In bricks-and-mortar stores.
3.What will probably take place in China according to the passage?
A. More and more businesses will enter the Chinese market.
B. Chinese consumes will have more payment choices.
C. Food-related companies will top the list of purchases.
D. The iPhone 6 or more advanced versions will appear.
4.What can we infer from the last two paragraphs?
A. Apple pay will become the most convenient payment system.
B. Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. has already brought its own mobile payment service to China.
C. The competition concerning the digital payment will began soon.
D. Alibaba group and Tencent cover the mobile payment market.
It encouraged us to visit Quora.com, the online question and answer community, to find out how users get the most out of every tank of gas.
Light makes right
Alex Elderfield noted that excess weight prevents an engine from burning fuel efficiently. "Only carry what is essential in your car, clean out any junk or necessary items otherwise you are paying for the fuel to cart these from place to place," he wrote.
Driving smoothly — that is, not mashing the gas and then slamming the brakes later down the road — was a fixture of many responses. Quora user Clint Law agreed on that advice, who wrote, "Every little bit of kinetic energy that your brakes lose, your engine burned in fuel to build up." Overbraking should consequently be viewed as wasted acceleration. "That's really what kills your fuel economy," he argued.
Keep the pressure up
Keeping the recommended tire pressure for your car was another mantra among Quora users. Marlyn Rosent said she checked her tire pressure every time she filled up her SUV. Quora user Doug Dingus checks his tire pressure every weekend. “Less tire contact means reduced rubbing, requiring less fuel,” he said.
Air conditioning or windows
Though the summer heat get many drivers to roll up the windows and turn on the air conditioning, some people argued that running the A/C wastes too much gas. In between were many shades of grey.
Achilleas Vortselas said it would depend largely on a car’s speed. He wrote that as a general rule, people should drive with the windows down around the city and turn the air conditioning on when hitting the highway, where a car’s aerodynamic(空气动力的) characteristics would be influenced by opened windows.
More seriously minded people, however, said to travel as much as possible with windows up and the A/C off. Eddie Xue gets by with just a wisp of outside air. “Use the fan and open your windows every now and then at lower speeds," he wrote.
1.What can we learn from what Clint Law wrote?
A. Overbraking is a waste of gas.
B. Carry what we need in the car.
C. Build up energy to drive smoothly.
D. Stepping on the gas freely can keep a balance.
2.What do we know from Doug Dingus’ words?
A. Checking tire pressure will require less fuel.
B. Filling up the SUV leads to reduced rubbing.
C. Keeping the recommended tire pressure is necessary.
D. Braking fiercely can keep wasting acceleration.
3.The author says “In between were many shades of grey” to indicate that ________.
A. rolling up the windows and turning on the air conditioning waste too much gas
B. people should try their best to travel with windows up and the A/C off
C. when a car approaches higher speeds, the A/C should come on
D. there’s balance between the air conditioning and windows usage
4.Which is the suitable title of the passage?
A. Fuel efficiency, straight from source
B. Driving with the windows down and using the A/C
C. How to save at the pump this summer
D. Reducing the weight and increasing the vehicle’s fuel economy
The next time someone asks you where the biggest ocean is, point them toward Jupiter. While earth harbours about 320 million cubic miles(1,333 cubic km)of water, our planet is practically a desert compared to the rest of the Solar System.
A moon of Jupiter called Europa, for example, which is roughly the size of our own Moon, likely hides a subsurface ocean with more than twice as much water as there is on Earth.
Yet even that pales into insignificance in comparison to Europa's neighbour Ganymede; more than 30 times as much water as our home planet is thought to reside there as liquid and ice.
And scientists keep finding more water wherever they look. On September 28, researchers reported that Dione — a small moon of Saturn — probably has a subsurface ocean, too.
To see just how Earth stacks up against other ocean worlds, Business Insider contacted Steve Vance, a planetary scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory who's calculated the numbers on just how much water might be out there.
In order of how much water they have, from the least to the most, they are: Enceladus, Dione, Earth, Europa, Pluto, Triton, Callisto, Titan, and Ganymede. Mimas, a moon of Saturn, and Ceres, the largest asteroid in the Solar System, are also thought to have subsurface oceans —but scientists aren't yet sure how big each one might be.
1.How many stars are mentioned in this passage?
A. Eleven. B. Twelve.
C. Thirteen. D. Fourteen.
2.What can we know according to the passage?
A. Compared with the Solar System, Jupiter looks as if it is a desert.
B. Ganymede is thought to be covered with more water than Europa.
C. Business Insider is a planetary NASA’s laboratory of Steve Vance.
D. Ceres harbours the largest subsurface ocean in the Solar System.
3.What does the passage mainly tell us?
A. The order of how much water the stars have has been figured out.
B. Scientists keep exploring more water in the universe wherever they look.
C. These ocean worlds reveal just how little water we have on Earth.
D. NASA’s planetary scientists are calculating the water numbers in the sky.
假如你是红星中学高三学生李华。你的美国笔友Chris在给你邮件中提到他最近在准备SAT考试（美国高考），心理压力很大，很苦恼，希望得到你的帮助。请你给他回信，内容包括：
1．安慰对方；
2．分析心理压力过大会导致的后果；
3．给出相应的建议及其理由。
注意：词数不少于100。
Dear Chris,
_______________________________________________________________
Yours,
Li Hua
假定英语课上老师要求同桌之间交换修改作文，请你修改你同桌写的以下作文。文中共有10处错误，每句中最多有两处。每处错误仅涉及一个单词的增加、删除或修改。
增加：在缺词处加一个漏字符号(∧)，并在其下面写出该加的词。
删除：把多余的词用斜线(＼)划掉。
修改：在错的词下画一横线，并在该词下面写出修改后的词。
注意：1．每处错误及其修改均仅限一词；
2．只允许修改10处，多者(从第11处起)不计分。
I am honored to have the chance to write for you. I have noticed that our school has very limited resources in term of students’ opportunities to do sports.
It is known to all what sports are very important to young people. If they have an access to good sports facilities, young people can adopt a healthy lifestyle and become more confident.
I suggest build a new playground, where should be designed for students with different interests. They should have a different section for each activity and available to students all year round. I believe so a sports area will meet our sporting needs.
Thanks for your reading.
