B
WASHINGTON-What will the cities of the future look like? That was the challenge addressed by 40,000 middle school students from 1,350 schools across the U.S. in an annual competition to design the urban landscape of tomorrow. Thirtyseven teams made the finals and traveled to Washington, D.C., to defend their ideas before the judges at the Future City competition.
The annual contest aims to direct young people toward careers in science and technology. The students built tabletop scale models of their designs using recycled materials, costing no more than $100. The teams also had to write essays about their solutions, explain their ideas to the crowd and answer the questions asked by a sixmember expert group.
Urban transportation
This year's theme was ‘urban transportation’-an increasingly important issue for the world's cities.
Eighthgraders from the southern state of Georgia-David Straub, Katherine Barri and Rebecca North-imagined their city far into the future. Straub said they predicted that public transport would be effortless and ecofriendly.
Young teens compete
Leila Mezza, Oha Hassan and Mousa Seid from Houston, Texas, imagined a city in Brazil in 2084, with transport relying on electric cars.
The Future City competition, now in its 22nd year, is mainly focused on young teens. Because at that age in the United States, they have to elect the math courses, the advanced math courses. If they aren't at that age, they will never be an engineer.
The grand prize of $7,500 went to St. John Lutheran School in Michigan. The team members won a trip to U.S. Space Camp.
Even if they didn't win, the experience of working on an engineering project has encouraged many of the kids to think about a career in science and technology. One of them is Eric Swyler from New Mexico, who said, “I plan to become a scientist of some kind, but I'm not sure exactly what kind.”
5.How many teams took part in the final competition?
A.1,350. B.40,000.
C.37. D.6.
6.What's the purpose of holding the annual contest?
A.To lead teens to careers in science and technology.
B.To choose the excellent teenagers to work in science.
C.To find the better designs of building future cities.
D.To find out what the cities of the future look like.
7.Which team won the grand prize of the Future City competition?
A.A school team from New Mexico.
B.A team from Houston, Texas.
C.A team from the southern state of Georgia.
D.St. John Lutheran School in Michigan.
8.What can be inferred from the passage?
A.The math courses are very important to be an engineer.
B.The winners of the grand prize won a trip to British Space Camp.
C.The students at the Future City competition were all from New York.
D.Public transport is becoming effortless and ecofriendly now.
答案：
【语篇解读】 本文是一篇说明文。介绍了学校的学生们所设计的未来的城市。
5.C 解析：细节理解题。根据第一段“Thirtyseven teams, made the finals and traveled to Washington，D.C.，to defend their ideas before the judges at the Future City competition.”可知，答案为C项。
6.A 解析：目的意图题。根据第二段的首句“The annual contest aims to direct young people toward careers in science and technology.”可知，举办每年比赛的目的就是指导青少年通向科学和技术上的事业。故选A项。
7.D 解析：细节理解题。根据倒数第二段中的“The grand prize of $7,500 went to St. John Lutheran School in Michigan.”可知，该题选D项。
8.A 解析：推理判断题。根据倒数第三段中的“Because at that age in the United States, they have to elect the math courses...they will never be an engineer.”可知，数学对于想成为一个工程师来说是非常重要的。故A项正确。
