According to a study published last week in the journal Science，scientists have found a way to change a plant's genes（基因）in order to make it use sunlight more quickly. Someday，the results could increase the amount of food produced around the world.

By changing a plant's genes，the scientists were able to increase leaf growth on plants by 14-20 percent. Specifically，scientists changed the plant's protective（保护的）system. “Normally，this system is activated when a plant gets too much sunlight，”said scientist Krishna Niyogi，co-author of the study. “When the plant senses the light，it gets rid of extra energy and creates more leaves. When the plant is in the shade，the protective system is turned off. But the process is slow.”

Stephen Long is the lead author of the study. He compared a plant's protective system to light-adjusting glasses.“When a person wears the glasses outside during the day，the lenses（镜片）darken and lighten depending on how sunny it is. Plants do the same thing，”he said.“But in plants the adjustment can take anywhere from 10 minutes to an hour. This makes it hard for plants to get the right amount of sunlight needed to create food.”

The new study sped up the process. By changing the plant's genes，it's more quickly than normal to turn on and turn off the protective system. As a result，leaf growth on the plants scientists used in the study increased. Leaf growth on two plants increased by 20 percent, while leaf growth on a third plant increased by 14percent. Scientists conducted the study on tobacco plants. But they thought the genetic modification would produce the same results in corn or rice.

【小题1】What does the plant's protective system need to keep activated?

A．Mild shade.	B．Leaf growth.
C．Genetic changes.	D．Enough sunlight.

【小题2】What does the underlined word“modification”in Paragraph 4mean?

A．Development.	B．Decoration.
C．Change.	D．Copying.

【小题3】What can we infer from this text?

A．Changing how a plant uses sunlight could mean more food in the future.

B．When the plant is in the shade, its protective system is turned off slowly.

C．Too much sunlight will damage plants' protective system.

D．It is hard for plants to create food without enough sunlight.

   You'll probably never go to Mars or sing on the stage with The Rolling Stones. But if virtual reality （VR）ever lives up to its promise, you might be able to do all these things - and many more - without even leaving your home.Unlike real reality, virtual reality means simulating（模拟）bits of our world. Apart from games and entertainment, it's long been used for training airline pilots and surgeons and for helping scientists to figure out difficult problems such as the structure of protein molecules（蛋白质分子）. Then how does it work?

Close your eyes and think of virtual reality and you probably picture something like this:a man wearing a wrap-around headset and data gloves wired into a powerful workstation or supercomputer. What distinguishes VR from an ordinary computer experiences the nature of the input and output. While an ordinary computer uses things like a keyboard, a mouse, or speech recognition for input, VR uses sensors that detect how your body is moving. A PC displays output on a screen while VR uses two screens （one for each eye） , surround-sound speakers, and maybe some forms of touch and body feedback as well.

VR has been routinely used by scientists,doctors, engineers, architects, archaeologists, and the military for about the last 30 years. Difficult and dangerous jobs are hard to train for. How  can you safely practice taking a trip to space, making a parachute jump, or carrying out brain surgery? All these things are obvious candidates for virtual reality applications.

Like any technology, virtual reality has both good and bad points. Critics always raise the risk that people may be addicted to alternative realities to the point of ignoring their real-world lives, but this criticism has been leveled at everything from radio and TV to computer games and the Internet. Like many technologies, VR takes little or nothing away from the real world: you don't have to use it if you don't want to.

【小题1】According to the passage, virtual reality means ____________ .

A．imagining beautiful things in our mind

B．creating something that doesn't exist

C．creating an environment that seems real

D．cloning something that has died out

【小题2】What equipment do we probably need for virtual reality?

A．A keyboard, a headset and a supercomputer.

B．A headset, data gloves and speech recognition.

C．A headset, data gloves and a supercomputer.

D．A keyboard, a mouse and speech recognition.

【小题3】Paragraph 3 is mainly about ____________ .

A．the principles of virtual reality

B．the applications of virtual reality

C．the history of virtual reality

D．the study team of virtual reality

【小题4】What is the writer's attitude towards VR?

A．Appreciative.	B．Cautious.
C．Skeptical.	D．Indifferent.

   We all know the hard work that filmmakers and actors put in the film to provide us with entertainment, but it seems that even regular moviegoers like us have a big impact on how a movie turns out too.
For decades, film studios have used so-called test screenings to get feedback from members of the public before a movie comes out.
While test audience members are usually asked to fill in a questionnaire after a screening, telling the film studio what they liked and didn't like, media giant Disney has come up with a more high-tech solution.
According to a paper published this summer by the company's researchers, Disney is measuring the test audience's reactions by using special cameras placed inside cinemas.
Pairing the cameras with custom(定制的) software, the company can track what each audience member is feeling at any point in the movie, from anger to joy.
This works by mapping 68 different points on each audience member's face. The cameras can see in the dark, and the software can figure out a person's mood based on the slightest facial expressions.
It's hoped that this new method will allow more detailed feedback from the test audience. Rather than relying on audience members to recall their feelings after the movie's over,it can accurately read their reactions in real-time.
Test screenings are highly valued in the movie industry, and several well-known movies have been greatly altered(改变)following feedback.
Viewers of E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial would have left the cinema feeling a whole lot of difference if it had not been for its test audience's feedback.
"In one cut of the film that was tested,E.T. died instead of going home in his spaceship. You won't be surprised to hear that the test audience in question. didn't warm to this ending at all," wrote media website Den of Geek.
But for those who are concerned about privacy, the cameras won't be installed in public cinemas.
After all, unless you're part of the test audience,being in front of the camera is best left to the movie stars.
【小题1】How do the test audience influence a movie before it comes out?

A．They get involved in the shooting of a movie.

B．They help promote it after test screenings.

C．They give advice on how a movie should end.

D．Their views on the movie may help change it.

【小题2】What is the main advantage the cameras Disney researchers are using have over questionnaires?

A．They protect the audience's privacy better.

B．They allow the audience to recall their feelings more easily.

C．They are able to record the audience's moods accurately on the spot.

D．They can help audience members adjust their moods with custom software.

【小题3】With the example of

A．T. the Extra-Terrestrial, the author intends to ______.

B．illustrate the significance of test screenings

C．emphasize the importance of altering a movie

D．show what kind of endings are better received by viewers

E．explain what kind of feedback could be accepted in test screenings

【小题4】The underlined word "cut"in the third-to-last paragraph probably means ______.

A．a particular version of a movie

B．a part that is removed from a movie

C．a part of something that is shared among people

D．a reduction in the number or amount of something

   Technological innovation（创新）may not give you a warm feeling. 【小题1】 Messaging apps are examples of technology that is helping bring people together. It’s ready to continue improving our lives as innovation allows technology to really understand how we live.

【小题2】

Some of the most popular and widely adopted innovations make things we’re already doing easier. A well-designed piece of technology can transform something that consumes time into a worry-free touch of your finger, giving you more time to spend with friends and family.

Proving that you really are you

Developers keep finding new and brilliant ways to prove our identities online. With fingerprints and voice recognition, technology keeps getting better at proving we are who we say we are. 【小题3】 .The more trust we have, the easier it will be to fully welcome the aspects of fintech（金融科技）and have control of our financial data.

Helping make good ideas a reality

Crowdfunding（众筹）technology keeps breaking down walls that may have previously kept good ideas from being realized. Here’s how it works: You throw your project to people through an online platform. 【小题4】 . By connecting dreamers and inventors to a new type of capital, technology is giving more creative ideas the opportunity to become a reality.

Adding even more quality to quality time

As technology continues improving, it becomes easier to build and keep a connection with someone who isn’t in the same location as you. 【小题5】 . And think about how great it will be when you can communicate with your friends and relatives in virtual reality. It will be the next best thing to be together in person.

A．Sparing some time to make friends

B．Freeing up more time for friends and family

C．However, when at its best, it opens our eyes to many things

D．Actually, it can do wonders to deepen our interpersonal connections

E．Think about how much easier it is to have a video meeting than before

F．This can make it easier to trust the connections we make online

G．If they are interested in your project, they donate money to fund your project

短文改错

Can you imagine wear a pretty sweater made from garbages? It could happen! A few companies across the country are making clothes from things that are being thrown away by people. For example, company makes sweaters of old plastic bottles. First, the bottles are cut into small pieces. The pieces are melted. Then the melting plastic is made into long and thin threads. The threads are used to make sweaters which feels very soft and light.

Believe it or not, these sweaters sell good in spite of the fact which they are not cheap at all. Many people thought that these recycled clothes can help us cut down on garbage.