安徽省黄山市2019-2020学年高二下学期英语期末考试试卷

NASA Student Competitions

NASA Human Exploration Rover Challenge

    Teams of high school and college students are challenged to design and build a human-powered vehicle to travel across the simulated (模拟的) surface of another world. The course includes 14 roadblocks and 5 tasks, and teams must successfully follow NASA instructions. Each U.S. school may enter up to two teams. For international entries, no more than four teams from each country will be accepted.

    International Team Registration Deadline: July 12

    U.S. Team Registration Deadline: August 16

NASA Lunabotics Competition

    Lunabotics challenges teams to design, build and run their autonomously operated robot, travel through simulated off-world areas and dig the simulated lunar soil. This challenge includes presentations and demonstrations, and a systems engineering paper explaining the methodology the team uses to design and build their robot.

    Registration Deadline: July 18

NASA SUITS Design Challenge

    NASA Spacesuit User Interface Technologies for Students (SUITS) gives students an authentic engineering design experience supporting NASA's Artemis mission—landing American astronauts safely on the Moon by 2024! This activity challenges students to design and create spacesuit information displays within AR environments.

    Proposal Deadline: July 25

2020 BIG Idea Challenge

    NASA's 2020 Breakthrough, Innovative and Game-changing (BIG) Idea Challenge is open to teams of 5 to 20 students. Teams are challenged to submit proposals for sample lunar payloads (有效载荷) that demonstrate technology systems needed for exploration and science in the permanently shadowed regions in and near the Moon's polar regions. Selected teams will receive awards from $50,000 to $180,000 to bring their ideas to life!

    Entry Deadline: August 16

    The other day on a cold night, I left my wife and drove from Harrisburg to Lewisburg, a distance of about 100 miles. It was rather late. Several times I got stuck behind a slow-moving truck on a narrow road with a solid white line on my left, and I became increasingly impatient.

    At one point along an open road, I came to a crossing with a traffic light. I was alone on the road by now, but as I drove near the light, it turned red and I made a stop. I looked left, right and behind me. Nothing. Not a car, no suggestion of car lamps, but there I sat, waiting for the light to change, the only human being for at least a mile in any direction.

    I started wondering why I refused to run the light. I was not afraid of being caught, because there was clearly no policeman around, and there certainly would have been no danger in going through it.

    Much later that night, the question of why I'd stopped for that light came back to me. I think I stopped because it's part of a contract we all have with each other. It's not only the law, but it's an agreement we have, and we trust each other to honor it: we don't go through red lights.

    Trust is our first inclination. Doubting others does not seem to be natural to us. The whole construction of our society depends on mutual trust, not distrust. We do what we say we'll do; we show up when we say we'll show up; and we pay when we say we'll pay. We trust each other in these matters, and we're angry or disappointed with the person or organization that breaks the trust we have in them.

    I am so proud of myself for stopping for the red light that night.

    Bill Gates' body might live in the present, but his brain lives in the future. He has made a career out of predicting what will happen in matters of computing, public health and the environment. He correctly predicted the rise of smartphones and social media, and his latest predictions could come true, too. Here's what Gates predicts for the future of our world.

    In his Annual Letter 2015, Gates made the prediction that Africa's agriculture industry would increase productivity by 50% by 2030. Now the continent buys about $50 billion worth of food from other countries each year, although 70% of people in Africa are farmers. "In the next 15 years, however, creations in farming will solve the food problem in Africa," Gates wrote. "The world has already developed crops that are more productive; with all the technologies, African farmers could possibly double their harvests."

    By 2035, there could be almost no poor countries. In his Annual Letter 2014, Gates bravely predicted that continued levels of foreign help could mean there would be almost no more poor countries by 2035. "Almost all countries will be what we now call lower-middle income or richer," Gates explained. "Countries will learn from their most productive neighbors and benefit from things like better seeds and the digital revolution."

    By 2030, the world will discover a clean-energy breakthrough to power our world. One of Gate's more hopeful predictions which came in 2016 said that wind, solar, or some other renewable resources would power most of the world within 15 years. "The difficulty we face is big, perhaps bigger than many people imagine," he wrote in his letter. “But so is the chance to make things better." Many of the poor countries he visited had no running water or electricity. At night this meant they couldn't light or power their homes, and keep businesses open." If the world can find a type of cheap, clean energy, it will do more than prevent climate change," he wrote. "It will change the lives of millions of the poorest families."

    The reality TV wildlife edition has just come to a dramatic end. The world watched as the bears packed on pounds before they went into their den (兽穴) for the winter. Over the next few months, Fat Bear Week winner, 435 Holly, will go into hibernation (冬眠). Why do bears do this?

    The mysteries around hibernating bears have attracted curious researchers for ages. What is hibernation, and what causes it? And probably most interestingly — could humans do this someday?

    Dr. Kelly Drew, who studies hibernation, is one of the scientists consulting on a project funded by NASA, looking to put humans into hibernation for spaceflight. "For sending people to space, I think our first step is to perfect short-term hibernation-like periods in humans," she says. "If we can figure this out, we can then try for longer periods." We still have a long way to go before this science fiction dream becomes a reality, but several scientists around the country have been studying hibernation.

    Cory Williams, at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, says, "A huge variety of mammals (哺乳动物) hibernate. However, hibernation in bears is different from that in small mammals…their body temperature only drops a few degrees and they don't experience periodic rewarming." In general, mammals with lower body temperatures during hibernation awaken every few days to raise their body temperature, or eat a bit. Bears do not emerge for any of these activities. Instead, they live off the fat they have collected during the summer and autumn months and even recycle their metabolic (新陈代谢的) waste.

    At the moment, the study of hibernation has and continues to contribute greatly to applications in the human world. For example, bears are able to maintain their bone mass during hibernation, and understanding this could help advance the study of treating people with weak bones. Perhaps one day, it will be the key to sending humans far off into space too.

    School success means different things to different people. No matter what success means to you, strong study skills, confidence and goals are key components. . Therefore, why not try the following tips to achieve it?

Organize yourself

    When a student lacks organization, he struggles to complete schoolwork on time, or find time to study. . When you sit down to study, you need to organize your time well by allowing enough time for each task. You also need an organized backpack that allows you to transport materials to and from classes.

    Spending time with friends, working a part-time job and pursuing other interests has a place. However, you also need to leave time to achieve academic goals, or else your studies will be affected negatively. For example, working too many hours at a job reduces study and sleep time, possibly meaning missed school and difficulty concentrating due to being tired.

Look for support

    Whether or not you struggle in school, a support network helps you succeed. So communicate with your teacher outside of class time to ask for help when you struggle. . If your friends think school is a waste of time, you may be influenced to think so.

Go beyond the classroom

    Learning doesn't stop at the classroom doors. . When a topic in the classroom interests you, you should do a little research on your own. For example, set up your own experiment based on something you learned in science class.

A. Balance activities and your studies

B. It isn't limited to the information on the next exam

C. Never miss school

D. Surround yourself with classmates who also want to succeed in school

E. For students who struggle in school, additional support is necessary for success

F. You need an organized study place at home for completing homework and studying

G. School success opens up doors for future achievements for students at all grade levels

    I experienced great bitterness five years ago. At that time, my father 1 from an accident. As the eldest son, I had no 2 but to drop out of school and work in a factory. I didn't dare to ask for more, just hoping to 3 my two younger brothers. However, that's not a(n)4 thing, for I couldn't afford to 5 their tuition (学费) even if I worked from day to night. Without my father's protection, I 6 I was only a slave to the life.

    Later on, something changed my life. I still remember that it was a 7 day. I walked slowly in the 8. Suddenly the rain stopped. I 9 my head and found that "the sky" was in fact an umbrella. Then I heard a deep 10. "Why not 11 without an umbrella?" a one-leg man with a walking stick said to me. "If you run, you would get less wet." His words 12 me deeply. He told me he once had dreamed of being a policeman, but an incident ruined his 13. Later he became a promoter (促销). Though his work was demanding and did't suit for his 14, he still thought every outing was a wonderful start to him. He stated that he felt 15 he didn't lose his 16 and still "ran" on the road of life.

    Inspired by his words, I became an insurance agent. After two years' 17, I did well and my family turned better 18. I got the time to return to my senior school, and eventually succeeded in my entrance to 19.

    Everything is so simple: to run without an umbrella! When you run out of the rainy season of your life, there will be a 20 sky ahead of you!

    The 21st century is dominated by more technology-oriented inventions than before. The 20th century  (see) man land on the moon. The 21st century will witness man landing on several planets. The first will be Mars, also  (call) the Red Planet. As planned by NASA, the mission can be achieved by 2030. That will set a precedent (先例) for explorations by future generations. Furthermore, increased investment in research is likely   (lead) to the discovery of a vaccine for AIDS.

    Technology is advancing fast. Social media at present acts as one of the leading 64. (source) of news and interaction,  has a negative influence on traditional media,  (particular) print newspapers. Social media will soon take over the market.

    Mobile phones will play a greater role  the purchase of goods, as well as the withdrawing and depositing of money. Electronic money will replace paper money. In addition, with declining oil reserves across the world, electric cars will replace petrol cars in a few decades. As  result, there will be a major shift in job trends.

    Global warming will become an even  (big) problem, with sea levels  (continue) to rise. Freshwater sources will be polluted. Fresh water will become a major issue. Hence environmental destruction will increase greatly.

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。

    It was raining light when I got up yesterday. After a quick breakfast, I took an umbrella with me and went to school in the hurry. It was fifteen minutes after school began. I was running quickly when I see an old man walking slowly in the rain. I stopped, wondered whether to help him or not, as I might be late for school. Then I made a decision walk him home. About ten minutes late, we arrived at his house. He thanked for me again and again. I smiled and said it was nothing. I was late when I got to school. Hearing my story, the head teacher, that was giving his lecture, praised me before all the student.

内容包括：

1）活动目的；

2）活动安排；

3）表达期待。

注意：

1）词数100左右；

2）可适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。

Dear Chris,

     ……

Yours sincerely,

Li Hua