Best Inventions
Sun Power
People who buy solar panels (嵌板）for their home hope to help the environment and save some money. But they end up with large metal boxes on their roof. Tesla, a car company, solved the problem. The solution is the Solar Roof. It is a series of tiles (瓦) made to look like traditional roofing material while using the power of the sun. Tesla developed it with SolarCity, a longtime provider of solar panels. It is now available to the public.
Talking Tech
Echo gives users the ability to talk to their tech. Apple’s Siri and Microsoft’s Cortana do that too. But in many ways，Amazon’s version，Alexa, which is built into Echo，is more powerful. Alexa has grown since it was put on the market in 2014, and today, you can use it to turn on the lights, order a pizza, and more. Echo costs $ 180. Amazon recently developed a junior version, the $ 50 Echo Dot.
Spin and Roll
Goodyear is reinventing the wheel. It introduced its Eagle 360 spherical tire (球形轮胎) in March, 2016. The tires allow cars to move in many directions, including sideways, and at angles to handle slippery surfaces. The key is magnetic levitation (磁悬浮). Tires are fixed to cars, but Eagle 360s float beneath them. They’re meant for self-driving cars of tomorrow.
Cycle Safety
Jeff Woolf had a serious bike crash. If he hadn’t been wearing his helmet, he would have been badly hurt. He wondered why so many riders didn’t wear helmets. That turns out it was mostly because helmets were big and hard to carry around. Woolf, an engineer, came up with Morpher. The helmet is made from interwoven plastics (交错编织的塑料). It is strong, but it’s also flexible enough to fold almost totally flat. That makes it easy to carry. Morpher is priced at $ 119.
1.What we can know about the Solar Roof?
A. It is designed for cars. B. It is currently on the market.
C. It is costly but energy-saving. D. It consists of large metal boxes.
2.What can users do with their Alexa?
A. Chat with their friends. B. Control their tech through voice.
C. Reduce noise in their home. D. Save money on their purchases.
3.What do we know about the Eagle 360?
A. It is fastened to cars. B. It is a self-driving system.
C. It is environmentally-friendly. D. It is intended for autonomous cars.
4.What is good about Morpher?
A. It prevents bike crashes. B. It is conveniently foldable.
C. It can be bought worldwide. D. It is cheaper than traditional helmets.
假定你是李华，你校英文报将举办以“Scientists and Our Life"为主题的英语征文大赛,你想邀请你的英国朋友Mary参加,请你给她写一封邀请函。内容包括：
1. 写信缘由；
2. 征文要求（介绍至少两位科学家及其成就；举例说明科学对生活的影响；你对科技影响的看法）。
注意：1. 同数100左右；
2. 可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。
Dear Mary,
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
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处语言错误，每句中最多有两处。错误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：在错的词下划一横线，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。
Li Mei and I are friends and we are getting on well each other all time. But last week, I had a quarrel about her. The reason was what she broke the watch my parents had bought for me. I knew he didn’t break it on purpose. Besides, I got really angry. As a result, I had shouted at her, say I would never forgive her. She felt very sad and left in silent. But after I calmed down, I realized I were wrong. So I phoned her and apologized to her. She forgave me and we became better friends again.
Two decades after they 1. (see) on the Versova beach, Olive Ridley turtles appear to the beach that was once drowned in plastic waste.
Workers 2. (volunteer) during a regular cleanup campaign last week spoiled at 3. (little) 80 little turtles climbing towards the Arabian Sra -a historic moment for a place once buried under 4. (million) of pounds of waste.
The turnaround started in 2015 5. a young lawyer and environmentalist named Afroz Shah saw a depressing sight from the window of his new oceanside apartment.
Determined 6. (make) a difference, the young man railed on the local people to take part in weekly cleanups along the beach.7. started as Shah’s collecting waste has quickly got more than 1,000 volunteers.
To make sure each turtle 8. (safe) reached the sea, Shah and his leam camf)ed oul overnight and kepi guard.
“I am 9.ocean lover and feel it our duty to make our wean free of plastic, “he told the UN.” I just hope this is the 10. (begin) for coastal communities across India and the world.”
A couple of years ago, I bagged up all the things I no longer used. It is always my hope to re-purpose those things that take up ______ in our homes, the ones other people might make better ______ of. Nothing bothers me more than ______ putting away what we will never use or wear,______ the homeless go without.
I found a(n)______ pair of socks in a bag. I had to ______ —garbage or donation (捐献). It wasn’t like they were ______. They were simply unpleasant lo look at.
I put the socks in the ______, but then I look them bark and put them in the donation pile. Later that afternoon, I put the things into my jeep and took them to the people ______ on the streets.
As I ______ clothing and food to the homeless, I ______ into the bag and pulled out the last ______ —the socks.
I held them in my hand as the crowd walked away, each with a ______ smile. Just as I was about to drop the socks back into the ______ bag, laughing at myself for even bringing them along for the ______, a teenage boy came up to me.
“Can I have those socks?” he asked.
“Of course,” I replied,______ him the thick, ugly socks.
“Thank you so much!” he smiled, “These socks ______ me of my grandmother, who used to make things like this for me!”
Seeing that he had no socks on his feet in such cold weather, my heart ______.
As he put on those socks, not only were his feet ______ that day, but so was his heart---and mine. To this day when I think about that young man and those silly socks, they continue to bring me ______.
1.A. energy B. space C. time D. attention
2.A. sense B. fun C. use D. advantage
3.A. generally B. carefully C. selfishly D. personally
4.A. while B. so C. once D. until
5.A. new B. ugly C. strange D. little
6.A. agree B. answer C. drove off D. slowed down
7.A. beautiful B. reliable C. useless D. valuable
8.A. garbage B. bag C. car D. suitcase
9.A. moving B. living C. working D. chatting
10.A. picked out B. packed up C. gave away D. pointed at
11.A. knocked B. ran C. fell D. reached
12.A. item B. baggage C. souvenir D. award
13.A. generous B. forced C. fake D. grateful
14.A. last B. heavy C. big D. empty
15.A. ride B. walk C. flight D. hike
16.A. promising B. handing C. showing D. rewarding
17.A. convince B. inform C. warn D. remind
18.A. broke B. stopped C. beat D. burnt
19.A. saved B. warmed C. covered D. defended
20.A. confidence B. wealth C. joy D. luck
Building the thinking habit is important because it helps you live with a purpose. How can we build the thinking habit? Here are some tips.
※ Be curious.
Curiosity is powerful. 1. It also helps you recognize the ideas when they come. Curiosity is an important attitude to have in building the thinking habit.
※ Read widely.
If you want to come up with good ideas, you need to feed your mind with good ideas.2. This will give you fresh, new ideas. Don’t just read from the fields you are familiar with. Read from other fields as well.
※ Read actively
Not only should you read widely, but also you should read actively. Find some ideas and think about how you can use them. My favorite way to do this is by highlighting the book I read. I will then put the actionable ideas in my idea journal.3.
※ Keep an idea journal.
When you find a good idea, don’t just keep it in your mind. Instead, write it down to catch the idea.4. Keeping an idea journal makes you more alert lo new ideas. You will quickly recognize them because you already have the habit of catching ideas.
※ 5.
Of course, it doesn’t do you much good if you just write down ideas. Take time to read these ideas every now and then. In my case, I mark the ideas that I consider important and review them regularly. This often opens the way to new ideas.
A. Go over your ideas
B. Design your own ideas
C. One way to do that is to read.
D. It makes you like finding new ideas.
E. Otherwise, the idea might be gone forever.
F. This helps me get the most out of the book.
G. In this way, others ran also benefit from your ideas.
