B

   I am a Kid Reporter, Linda Scott. I took part in the third /early State of Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (SoSTEM) event on Wednesday January 21.

   Before SoSTEM started, I interviewed Charles Bolden. He was an astronaut (宇航员）and has been to space four times. “ 1 enjoy watching young people take their ideas and turn them into reality,' he said.

   Next I spoke to Dr. Ellen Stofan. She spoke about her lifelong interest in science.  When I was in the middle school, I knew I wanted to be a scientist, but I wasn't sure what kind,' she told me. As she grew up, she became interested in space. Her advice to young people who want to become a scientist is to “follow your dreams”.

   My third interview was with Megan Smith. She talked about encouraging more girls to step into STEM fields. She told me that women have always been part of amazing scientific discoveries, even though sometimes history records have left women out.

   Finally, I interviewed Kathy Pham, who is working to improve health care for more Americans through IT services. I asked her advice for young people who want a career (职业）in computer science. She advised kids to join in groups working on science and technology and to read more books on the subject.

   After the interview, we had a free talk. When I asked which technology careers were going to be most in need in the next 10 years, Dr. Stofan noted that careers having something to do with energy sources  are certainly going to be needed.

   My biggest take-away from the event was that the future holds many wonderful chances for people interested in STEM. Just as the computer scientist Kathy Pham said： Whatever your love is—whether it's clothing, space or cars一 today you can find a STEM field where you can do something you like.

44.How many people did Linda interview before SoSTEM started?

A. Three.                     B. Four.                       C. Five.                        D. Six

45.When Dr. Stofan was young, she wanted to become_________ .

A. a report                 B. a teacher                C. a scientist              D. an astronaut

46.Kathy Pham advised kids who want a career in computer science to_________.

A. talk with famous people                        B. write a scientific report

C. read more books on the subject            D. make scientific discoveries

47.What can we learn from the passage?

A. Charles Bolden has never been to space.

B. Megan Smith encouraged boys to step into STEM fields.

C. Linda Scott attended the event on January 25.

D. There will be many chances for people interested in STEM

                                         C

   We all know that zebras have stripes (条纹）.But why? It’s hard to get a black-and-white answer. This is a question not just common people like us have asked, but scientists too.

   Several studies have been done to find out the reason behind the stripes and many theories (理论）have been suggested.According to a recent study, the type of stripes changes depending on the temperature where zebras live. The warmer the place is, the more stripes they may have. From this study, scientists believe that stripes may help to keep a zebra cool in warmer places.

   According to the cooler temperature theory, when air hits a zebra, the movements of air are stronger and faster over the black parts and slower over the white. This is because black color takes in more heat than white. So at the point where the black and white meet, there is cooling airflow. It can quickly cool a zebra’s skin! In fact，scientists have noticed that heavily striped zebras have 5.4T lower skin temperature than other animals without stripes in the same area.

   Some scientists believe that stripes may be an adaptation (适应)by zebras to defend (防卫） themselves from the horseflies that follow zebras. The cooler temperature theory holds merit here too, since disease-carrying flies like horseflies like it hot. Flies also don't like landing on striped surfaces.

   There also have been many other theories that have been suggested for why zebras have stripes. Some explanations are very common. One of them is that stripes may help zebras hide in grass especially from lions. Lions are color blind and even if they are not far away they may see stripes as grey and be confused by them. What’s more, zebras are a large group of animals living together. When a number of zebras stand or move together, stripes may confuse lions into thinking it is one large animal.

48.Stripes are helpful for zebras to_________.

A. stay cool                                                 B. move together     

C. live in cold places                                  D. fight against diseases

49.How do zebras' stripes protect them from lions?

A. Lions may be frightened away by strips.

B. Lions may see stripes as many animals.

C. Stripes can prevent zebras from being seen.

D. Stripes may make lions confused.

50.The underlined words “holds merit 'in Paragraph 4 probably mean'_________'.

A. works well                                                B. sounds unreasonable

C. causes disagreement                              D. needs supporting facts

51.What is the passage mainly about?

A. Why lions can't eat zebras.                          

B. How horseflies keep away from zebras.

C. Why zebras have stripes.                   

D. How animals adapt to nature.

                                          D

   Entertainment (娱乐）is a developing business. Its popularity continues to grow as it keeps up with technology. More people are willing to pay for entertainment with their time and money. Sometimes entertainment is a form of escapism（逃避）.It takes us away from our reality and gets us into another world—not our own.

   Boredom or loneliness: The boredom of daily life gets to us and we feel we need some excitement and a bit change. A TV running in the background, and maybe catching our attention every now and then, keeps us company.

   Fear and avoidance: We don’t want to face something we fear, or can’t bring ourselves to move past the fear and do something about it. We’re scared to go for what we want, so we choose to turn on the TV.

   Struggle: Life sometimes feels like a battle—traffic, work, taking care of ourselves and keeping up with what's going on. Al the end of the day all we want to do is forget about all of it and sit mindlessly in front of TV.

   Escaping has never been easier than today. We have many forms of escape. And the most favored is entertainment.

• _________

   Easy to reach and affordable： You can stay at home and watch TV, or surf online all day long.

   Social connection： one can line up for a new movie and socialize with other people or go to a ballgame and cheer for his or her favorite team. Entertainment has become something people have in common and can talk about.

   All forms of entertainment are okay if we know what we're doing.  And more importantly, we have complete control over when entertainment comes to an end.

•To face our fears and reality or to escape?

   If you tried escaping before and it didn't help, it's time to deal with the problems you face.

   Before watching a TV show, make sure that the important thing is taken care of. Leave your favorite show to the end of the day, after you've taken care of what matters to you. This will allow you to enjoy every minute.

   There is nothing wrong with entertainment, if we don' t place a higher value on it than our own reality and what matters to us.

   When we entertain ourselves mindfully, we won't need to escape. We turn entertainment into the reality of the moment. And when we're done, we move on一with no regret. And that can be a lot of fun.

52.One reason why we want to escape is that___________ .

A. we are eager to get over our fear           B. we prefer to sit mindlessly before TV

C. people are willing to pay for their entertainment

D. people need some excitement and change in daily life

53.Which of the following sentences might be the best to fill in the blank?

A. Who can we socialize with?                    B. What's the best form of escapism?

C. Why is entertainment in such great need?

D. How does the entertainment business develop?

54.Which of the following can explain the underlined sentence?

A. We can stop entertaining when we want to.

B. It's more important to control our daily life.

C. Entertainment leads to the loss of self-control.

D. We need to learn about all forms of entertainment.

55.The writer may agree that________ .

A. escape from life is more difficult than ever

B. entertainment is the best way for us to enjoy life

C. the popularity of entertainment depends on technology

D. we can truly entertain ourselves with real matters done

                                                     Following Their Dreams

       Florence lived in the countryside of Kenya (肯尼亚）in Africa. When she was 12, she wanted nothing more than to finish school. But for many girls like her, school is not a choice.___56___. Families will probably spend money educating boys. Many girls are forced to marry.

      ___57___. It was Beads for Education, started by Lisa Stevens, that helped realize her dream. Beads has provided many girls with the best education possible. Florence was the first of 320 Kenyan girls in third grade.

      ___58___. During her visit, she heard that many women made and sold baskets. They used the money to send their daughters to school. Two years later, she started to help sell the Kenyan crafts in the U. S. In 1998, Stevens began helping girls continue their education.

     ___59___. In January, 2015, she opened the fourth one. 'I want to provide the girls with the best education possible and prepare them for college and beyond,' Stevens said.

      The new high school is named Tembea, which means 'to walk'. Florence is walking toward a bright future. ___60___ . 'Florence is the first in her family to finish high school and college,' says Stevens. 'She is an example for all girls in Kenya.'

 

 

    Our views towards life change over the time. When I was around five years old, I was in a car accident. At that time, I did not realize the seriousness of it and how lucky I was to still be alive. As I look back to think what happened on that night, I now realize how lucky my family members and I were to not have gotten serious injuries.

    The clay of the accident started out great. My brother, Troy and I had spent the night before at JoAnn's house, with Heather, and JoAnn's husband Gary. The next day we spent playing inside the house, because it was cold, windy and rainy outside. At night, JoAnn told us we were going out and that where we were going was a surprise. The five of us climbed into an old car, and we set off for our surprise. It was still cold, windy, and raining cats and dogs outside when we left. Troy, Heather and 1 sat in the backseat together happily. The next thing I knew was that everything was chaos (混乱)! The road was so slick (滑的）that the car lost control. Glass was flying everywhere, and it sounded like there was noise all around us. Then it was totally quiet, except for the sound of the rain and wind. Troy, Heatlier and I were all lying on top of one another. The three of us were crying, not knowing what had happened. JoAnn and Gary were trying to calm (使平静）us down and kept asking us if we were all right. Luckily, none of us was injured, just a few cuts. After that I only remember sitting there in the cold, dark night waiting for Gary to get back with people to help us. We never got to the surprise that night. Bui at least we were able to go home in one piece.

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