03 发明与创造-2024年中考英语新热点时文阅读

2024年中考英语新热点时文阅读

03 发明与创造 

01

Across the world, humans buy around 1.3 billion single-use plastic bottles a day. However, only about 9% of them are recycled and most of them end up in landfills, the ocean or elsewhere in nature.

When beach-loving Madison Checketts noticed that many plastic bottles polluted the sand during her family trip to California, the 12-year-old American girl realized that this needed to be changed. So for her school science project, she decided to focus on reducing plastic litter.

During her research, Madison came across a special method of packing water within an eatable material—a gel membrane（凝胶膜）. At that time, the girl got her idea: She would design an eatable water bottle called the Eco-Hero.

To carry out her idea, Madison developed the method by doing scientific tests with common food additives （添加剂）. She also learned from previous research on eatable water bottles. Based on the past research, she improved the method and made her bottles bigger and able to last for a longer time. She found that water, lemon juice and other chemicals could be used together to make a gel bag that wouldn’t break. And the bag could hold up to 3/4 cup of water and could be kept in the fridge for three weeks.

“My biggest goal with this project is to help the world,” says the young inventor. She hopes her invention can encourage others to take better care of the planet. “It doesn’t necessarily have to be in a big way,” she adds. “People can make a difference in the world, even if it’s just in a small way.”

1．How many plastic bottles are recycled?

A．Around 1.3 billion.                               B．About 91%.            C．About 9%. D．3/4.

2．What is Paragraph 2 mainly about?

A．The reason why Madison did the project. B．The results of Madison’s project.

C．The influence of plastic bottles.              D．The hobby of Madison.

3．Madison got the idea of designing an eatable water bottle during ________.

A．her family trip   B．her research            C．her scientific tests    D．her talk with teachers

4．What does the underlined word “previous” in Paragraph 4 mean?

A．Great.               B．Past.                      C．Common.               D．Interesting.

5．Which can be the best title for the passage?

A．Plastic Bottle Pollution                          B．A Cool Invention

C．Ways to Solve Pollution                        D．Eatable Water Bottle

02

A mini-program on WeChat has changed people’s lives at West Lake, as they can now make appointments(预约) to sell recyclables—things that can be recycled.

For a long time, the problem of recyclable rubbish troubled restaurants and hotels around the lake. Lots of recyclables have low value and high recycling costs,so collectors don’t feel like recycling them door-to-door.

In order to solve the problem, the Management Committee of West Lake Scenic Area worked with a company to develop the Jingling Recycle mini-program. Now, people can make an appointment on WeChat, and the next day collectors will come to pick up recyclables. The mini-program helps people to deal with plastic bottles, foam packing cases(泡沫包装箱), cardboard (硬纸板), newspapers and other low-value recyclables. People are paid to sell them.

The local people speak highly of the mini-program. “No collectors came to my restaurant in the past. Thanks to the Jingling Recycle mini-program, it has changed. I can make a little money by selling recyclables. At the same time, it protects the environment,” said the owner of a restaurant.

6．The mini-program is used for making appointments to ________.

A．buy takeaway     B．sell recyclables        C．buy clothes             D．sell desserts

7．Collectors don’t want to pick up recyclables door-to-door because they have ________.

A．high value and low recycling costs          B．low value and high recycling costs

C．high value and high recycling costs         D．low value and low recycling costs

8．The underlined sentence in the last paragraph means the local people ________.

A．are against the mini-program                 B．don’t like the mini-program

C．think the mini-program is useless            D．think the mini-program is helpful

9．Which of the following is NOT TRUE according to the passage?

A．Recyclable rubbish troubled hotels around the lake for long.

B．The mini-program can help to protect the environment.

C．People can make a lot of money by selling recyclables.

D．The mini-program has changed people’s lives at West Lake.

10．What does the passage mainly talk about?

A．A cool mini-program.                          B．How to sell recyclables.

C．Things that can be recycled.                  D．How to make appointments.

03

Type in “A cat wants to go to space” and ask the robot to write a bedtime story. Just one second later, you’ll get the story of Max, who clawed his way past many difficulties to sing among the stars.

This robot writer is real. It’s called ChatGPT. From writing Shakespeare-style poetry to making music, ChatGPT has amazed the world since its launch out in late 2022 by the US company OpenAI. It can translate languages, talk with people and write songs, poems and even jokes. It’s one of the most powerful AT of its kind, with the complete writing abilities of a real person!

People around the world have tried ChatGPT and posted their results on social media. Some used it to write history reports, some asked it to take notes of presentations, and some even asked advice on how to communicate with people at a party, reported The Atlantic.

The power of ChatGPT lies in its speed and understanding of complicated(复杂的) matters. We may spend hours researching, understanding and writing an article on the theory of evolution(进化论).  Another good thing about it is that if you ask dark, harmful question, such as how to make weapons(武器), it will not give you an answer.

ChatGPT comes along at a time when AI is becoming increasingly able to do creative tasks. There is no doubt that ChatGPT is a powerful tool. However, some schools in the US, Ausiralia and France have students and teachers from using ChatGPT on the local networks and computers, CNN reported. The move comes out of worries that the tool could make it easier for students to cheat on homework. Some also worry that ChatGPT could be used to spread improper information.

“It does not build critical-thinking and problem-solving skills,” said Jenna Lyle from the New York City Department of Education. “The materials they create arc difficult to tell from those made by humans. This causes many problems, such as the issue of copyright(版权). Since the system is largely trained using words from the internet, it can also pick up on the Internet’s biases(偏见). These are all the things that depend on humans to solve.”

11．The cat story was written to ______.

A．show what creative work ChatGPT can do

B．introduce a cat that wants to go to space

C．introduce a series of bedtime books

D．show how robots create scientific research

12．Paragraph 3 is mainly about ______.

A．the disadvantages of ChatGPT

B．the most popular report of ChatGPT

C．what people think about ChatGPT

D．how ChatGPT has helped people so far

13．Which sentence should go in the empty box in the fourth paragraph?

A．But ChatGPT can write almost anything humans can write.

B．But ChatGPT is faster and safer compared with human writing.

C．But ChatGPT can produce a well-written one in seconds.

D．But ChatGPT is a powerful tool to spread information.

14．What’s the main idea of the last paragraph?

A．How people feel about writing in the future.

B．What problems A1 writing can cause.

C．People’s wrong ideas about AT writing.

D．Human efforts in developing A1 writing.

04

用括号中所给单词的正确形式填空，使短文完整、通顺。

Book crossing, a new way of reading, is     15    （develop）with book lovers leaving     16    （they）books in public places to be picked up and “borrowed” by others.

The Belarusian National Technical University was the first     17    （support）the idea in the country. Several     18     （year）ago, the director of its library, Alexey Kalaban,     19    （see）a large glass box of books which were free for anyone to read at a Swedish（瑞典的）airport. He was very     20    （excite）about how great the idea was. So he wanted to bring it to his country. The question was only where such books might     21    （keep）in public.

“We created a bookcase in the main building. It is available to everyone. People can be     22    （easy）encouraged to read,” Kalaban explained. “Inside the case, there is a special list     23    （show）who gave the book and when they gave it”. With the help of so many people, every year, more such “safe” places are found.

Nowadays, book crossing is being     24    （well）known to the world than before. No doubt, it’s a great way to push more people to read and make the whole world a library.

05

阅读下面材料，在空白处填入适当的内容(1个单词)或括号内单词的正确形式。

The growth in tall buildings has led to a great need for window washers. The job is dangerous and     25     (accident) happen from time to time. However, the dangerous job may soon be done by Ozmo,     26     smart window cleaning robot.

Much like humans, Ozmo sits     27     platforms hanging from the buildings and uses     28     (it) arms and brushes to clean the dirt on the windows. A 3D map of the building    29    (allow) the robot to move up and down. The robot can move out of the way     30     there are unexpected events, such as the sudden opening of a window. Unlike other window washers, the robot cleaner does not need soap    31    (clean) the glass. Instead, it uses distilled water    32    does no harm to the environment.

It takes three cleaners 480 hours each to clean the windows of a 40-story glass building while the robot     33     (complete) the task in just 80 hours. However, unlike other robots, Ozmo will not replace human workers, only making their jobs      34      (safe). Human workers will control the robot from below.

06

（2023·黑龙江大庆·统考一模）Fill in each blank with a proper form of the word given or a proper word(阅读下面短文，在空白处填入1个适当的单词或括号内单词的正确形式。).

Hand washing with soap can reduce(减少) illnesses. One of the easiest     35     (way) to stop the spread of illness is to wash your hands. But many children haven’t     36     (develop) the right habit of hand washing. Children do not wash     37     (they) hands often enough or long enough. It’s such a simple habit, but the children aren’t doing it.

Issar and his friend decided     38     (solve) the problem using a fun method. They tried many times and created a tool     39     (call) Soapen. It turned hand washing into a fun activity.

As the name suggests, Soapen is a pen     40     is made out of soap. The children draw on hands with the Soapen and then wash the drawing off. The colors will remain on the children’s hands     41     they don’t spend enough time washing them off. It is very     42     (help) for a teacher in a classroom. After all, not all the teachers have the time to make each child wash his hands     43     (proper).

“Children wash hands much     44     (long) than before now because they like drawing on hands. Soapen does help children make a good habit of hand washing,” said Issar.

…………

参考答案

1．C    2．A    3．A    4．B    5．D

【导语】本文主要介绍了一个12岁的美国女孩Madison Checketts为了减少塑料垃圾而发明的可食用水瓶的故事。

1．细节理解题。根据第一段“However, only about 9% of them are recycled and most of them end up in landfills, the ocean or elsewhere in nature.”可知，只有约9%的塑料瓶被回收。故选C。

2．段落大意题。根据第二段“When beach-loving Madison Checketts noticed that many plastic bottles polluted the sand during her family trip to California, the 12-year-old American girl realized that this needed to be changed.So for her school science project, she decided to focus on reducing plastic litter.”可知，第二段主要内容是Madison Checketts做这个项目的原因。故选A。

…………