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Cristina, a teen who grew up in a poor neighborhood in Madrid, never imagined herself playing the violin. But today she is first violinist in an inventive orchestra (乐团), bringing together two dozen other disadvantaged youths, using instruments made from recycled materials. “I am really happy, because the project has changed my life a lot,” said Cristina, her eyes gleaming.

Luis, 18, credits the project with keeping him on a right track in a neighbourhood like Vallecas, which has a high school dropout rate. “Instead of meeting up with friends, I preferred to listen to music, play it, and little by little it became a way of life,” he said.

The project, called “Music of Recycling”, aims to breathe new life into junk while also benefiting youths from disadvantaged backgrounds and it is run by Spanish environmental group Ecoembes and is inspired by Paraguay’s Cateura orchestra, made up of musicians from a poor neighborhood who play instruments made from materials found in waste.

After Ecoembes invited the Cateura orchestra to perform in Madrid in 2014, the group decided to found its own similar ensemble (小乐团) that same year, said Gil, the director of Music of Recycling. The ensemble put on its first concert just four months later and “the kids could not play more than four notes,” said Gil.

Now after having performed in cities across Spain, “We already have four boys studying in scholarships at music schools,” he added. More than 100 children are taking music classes from members of the orchestra as part of the project.

The instruments are created by Soler, a third-generation instrument maker, from cans, wooden boxes and parts of abandoned instruments. He tried to make the instruments as close to their “normal” shape as possible so the children won’t have difficulty playing regular equipment in the future.

1．What does the author intend to do by referring to Cristina and Luis?

A．Praise the teens for their efforts.	B．Introduce the startup of the project.
C．Show the effects of the project.	D．Present ways to mix music and recycling.

2．Where does the project’s inspiration come from?

A．A group of musicians.	B．A children’s orchestra.
C．Disadvantaged youths.	D．An environmental group.

3．What can we learn about the project?

A．It was started in 2014.	B．It was funded by the government.
C．It spread across the world.	D．It made a large amount of money.

4．What’s Soler’s attitude towards the project?

A．Doubtful.

B．Supportive.

C．Tolerant.

D．Uncaring.

正是我朋友的母亲，对我的朋友大声喊道他的孩子已经停止呼吸，正在被送往医院。(汉译英）

我做过的最重要的一件事发生在1990年10月8日。(汉译英）

Imagine this: you walk into work and the camera above the doors scans your face, opening them automatically without you lifting a finger. Oh, but you need to run to the chemist's at lunch. You walk up to a camera, and your prescription（药方）is deposited in front of you. After work, you look at your face in the mirror, and it reminds you to wear sun-cream the next day. Sounds pretty good, right?

Now imagine this: when you are walking down the street, a pair of policemen pull their guns and tell you to drop to the ground. After several days in jail, they let you know you were misidentified as a violent criminal on the loose. Regardless of your innocence, you're in the system. Now wherever you go, cameras that capture you will alert police to watch out for you. Even worse, as you enter stores, the facial recognition system lets the staff know a recently arrested individual has entered the building. Doesn't sound so good?

As fantastical as either of those pictures might seem, it's quite possible that this will be the future we're headed towards. The "benefits" of the technology are already being implemented by airlines, as seen by JetBlue Airways. Rather than scanning a boarding pass or handing over a passport, you simply stare into a camera and you're identified. This does save time and make processes the best possible, but it raises the question: do you have the right to your own face? Who is responsible for the protection of this information? Can I even remove my face from this database and just go the old-fashioned way?

We humans have the never-ending need to make things smoother, better and faster. This desire has helped drive the remarkable progress we have achieved as a society. However, it's time to take a step back and ask some necessary questions. We need to discuss whether we actually need the extensive use of facial recognition technology and how to ensure law enforcement (执行) doesn't abuse this technology. If we act now, I believe we can succeed in preventing technology companies from infiltrating（潜入）every aspect of our lives. If we don't, though, I fear the worst.

1．What does the underlined word "fantastical" probably mean?

A．Unreal.

B．Optimistic.

C．Reasonable.

D．Unbearable.

2．What is the downside of facial recognition technology?

A．Inequality of rights.	B．Disorder of society.
C．Violation of privacy.	D．Denial of responsibility.

3．What may be to blame for the negative effect of facial recognition technology?

A．Improper enforcement of laws.	B．People's lack of awareness.
C．Ignorance of the technology.	D．Companies' pursuit of profit.

4．What is the best title for the text?

A．How do we live safely with facial recognition technology?

B．Are we prepared for the use of facial recognition technology?

C．What will the future be like without facial recognition technology?

D．Can we prevent the development of facial recognition technology?

I have written him a letter and suggested ________ it to Tagore.

A．him to sending	B．him to send
C．that he sending	D．that he send

阅读下面短文，根据所给情节进行续写，使之构成一个完整的故事。

I was moving as fast as I could, stepping cautiously from rock to rock along the uneven jetty(栈桥). Far ahead, I could see the back of my brother’s sandy hair and the bright orange of his shorts.

“Too slow, sister!” I heard Sam yell as he hopped with ease.

“I’ll show him,” I thought, and attempted a double jump. What a mistake! My left foot came down hard between the edges of two gray rocks. scraping my ankle. “Ouch!” I yelled. I tried to wiggle(扭动) my foot out, but my shoe was stuck. I bent closer to the rock and that’ s when I saw it: a shiny, square shaped stone the color of water, attached to a glittery gold chain. It was just lying there on the wet sand, and a few seconds later it was in my pocket.

       Sam squinted(眯着眼睛看) in the sun. Could he tell I was hiding the most perfect discovery of the summer? I kept turning the treasure around in my pocket, pushing each corner of the square stone into my finger. I was dizzy, but I didn’t want Sam to notice. He liked to tell everybody my business.
       “Ryan saved the mini cola bottle from the carnival! It happened to be perfect for sand art!

“Ryan wasted her allowance on salt and pepper shakers from the yard sale!” They were antique little pig and cost only 50 cents.

My family calls me their “little collector. Some mean kids at school call me “trash girl”.

       Sam and I walked along the main street, the small buildings giving us a break from the sun. Through the window of the candy shop, I could see tubes of colorful jelly beans. A sign on the window’s glass read LOST: Gold and blue necklace. Very special. If found, call Chrissy at 555-9924.
       Chrissy had drawn a crayon version of the necklace at the bottom of the poster. The necklace looked different from the one I clutched in my pocket, I decided. Rounder, bluer. The poster appeared old and weathered. It must have been put up months ago. We continued to walk, and I noticed four more posters. Someone must have returned that necklace by now, I thought.
注意：
1.所续写短文的词数应为150左右;
2.续写部分分为两段，每段的开头语已为你写好。
Paragraph 1: Once home, I placed the necklace in my special spot for special things, lost in thought.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Paragraph 2: Fifteen minutes later, I was sitting across from Chrissy in the candy shop.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Directions: Complete the following passage by using the words in the box. Each word can only be used once. Note that there is one word more than you need.

A. non-existent B. idea   C. frustrated     D. surge                 E. application F. instantly G. repetitive H. timely I. consideration J. swollen     K. fault

Being an information technology, or IT, worker is not a job I envy. They are the ones who, right in the middle of a critical meeting, are expected to 1．fix the projector that’s no longer working. They have to tolerate the bad tempers of colleagues 2．at the number of times they’ve had to call the help desk for the same issue. They are also the ones who know there are systems that are more powerful, reliable and faster, but their employer simply will not put up the funds to buy them.

According to a recent survey, employees who have a job reliant on IT support consider IT a major source of job dissatisfaction. Though no 3．of their own, they can suddenly find their productivity deteriorating or quality control 4．. And there’s little they can do about it.

The experience of using IT penetrates( 渗 透 ) almost the entire work field. It has become a crucial part of employees’ overall work experience. When IT is operating as it should, employee self-confidence swells. Their job satisfaction, too, can   5．when well-functioning machines relieve them of dull tasks or 6．processes. But if there’s one thing that triggers widespread employee frustration, it’s an IT transformation project gone wrong, where 7．-expectations have been popped and a long list of promised efficiencies have been reversed. This occurs when business leaders implement IT initiatives with little 8．of how those changes will impact the end user, which is why managers should appreciate just how influential the IT user experience is to their employees, and exert substantial effort in ensuring their IT team eliminates programming errors and 9．crashes. Adequate and 10．IT support should also be available to enable users to cope with technological issues at work. More importantly, IT practitioners need to understand what employees experience mentally when they use IT.

Therefore, businesses need to set up their IT infrastructure so that it is designed to fit in with their employees’ work, rather than adjust their wok to fit in with the company’s IT limitations.

How to Retain More of Every Book You Read

In recent years, I have focused on building good reading habits and learned how to read more. For most people, the final goal of reading a nonfiction book is to actually improve their life by learning a new skill, understanding an important problem, or looking at the world in a new way. 1． With that in mind, I’d like to share three reading comprehension skills that I use to make my reading more productive.

Make all of your notes searchable. Having searchable book notes is important for returning to ideas easily.2． An idea is only useful if you can find it when you need it. There is no need to leave the task of reading comprehension merely up to your memory.

3． When you go to the library, all of the books will be divided into different categories. In the real world, of course, knowledge is not separated into neatly defined boxes.4． For that reason, I try to consider how the book Fm reading is connected with all of the ideas that are already inside my head. Whenever possible, I try to combine the lessons Fm learning with previous ideas.

Summarize the book in one paragraph.5． It forces me to review my notes and consider what is really important about the book. In many cases, I find that I can usually get just as much useful information from reading my one-paragraph summary and reviewing my notes as I would if I read the entire book again.

A．Combine thoughts as you read.

B．All knowledge is interconnected.

C．Describe the book to your friends.

D．Read widely if you want to practice the skills.

E．It increases the chances that you will apply what you read in real life.

F．Once I finish a book, I challenge myself to conclude the text in just three sentences.

G．It’s important to read books, but it is just as important to remember what you read and use it.

Plants may tell us when they’re in trouble. Thirsty tomato and tobacco plants make clicking sounds, researchers have found. The sounds are ultrasonic (超声波的), meaning they are too high-pitched for human ears to hear. But when the sounds are transformed to lower pitches, they sound like popping bubbles (爆破的泡泡). Plants also make clicks when their stems (茎) are cut.

“It’s not like the plants are screaming,” says Lilach Hadany, an evolutionary biologist working at Tel Aviv University in Israel. “Plants may not mean to make these noises. We’ve shown only that plants create informative sounds.”

Hadany and her colleagues first heard the clicks when they set microphones next to plants on tables in a lab. The microphones caught some noises. But the researchers needed to make sure that the clicking was coming from the plants. So, the scientists placed plants inside soundproof boxes in the basement, far from the noise of the lab. There, microphones picked up ultrasonic pops from thirsty tomato plants. Though it was outside humans’ hearing range, the clicking made by plants was about as loud as a normal conversation.

Cut tomato plants and dry or cut tobacco plants clicked, too. But plants that had enough water or hadn’t been cut stayed mostly quiet. Wheat, corn and grapevines also made sounds when stressed out.

The researchers don’t yet know why plants click. Bubbles forming and then popping inside plant tissues that transport water might make the noises. But however they happen, pops from crops could help farmers, the researchers suggest. Microphones, for example, could monitor fields or greenhouses to detect when plants need to be irrigated (灌溉).

Hadany wonders whether other plants and insects already tune into plant pops. Other studies have suggested that plants respond to sounds. And animals from pests (害虫), moths to mice can hear in the range of the ultrasonic clicks. Sounds made by plants could be heard from around five meters away. Hadany’s team is now studying what the living things near the plants will do after hearing the sounds.

1．What is the main idea of the first paragraph?

A．Interpreting plant sounds isn’t easy.

B．Plants sound off when they’re in trouble.

C．It’s interesting to hear the sounds of plants.

D．Plants make sounds in a different way from humans.

2．Why did the scientists put plants inside soundproof boxes in the basement?

A．To enjoy the sounds made by the plants.

B．To have a better conversation with the plants.

C．To find out whether the plants did make sounds.

D．To keep the plant sounds within their hearing range.

3．In what way can microphones be used to benefit plants?

A．Weed prevention.	B．Pest control.
C．Temperature monitoring.	D．Timely irrigation.

4．What still remains unknown to Hadany’s team?

A．Whether the sounds of plants can travel far.

B．Whether animals can hear the sounds of plants.

C．How the neighbors of plants respond to their sounds.

D．How plants and animals communicate with each other.

既尴尬又愧疚，她低下头，泪水滑落脸颊。
________________, she lowered her head, ________________.