北师大版初中英语九年级Unit 8 综合检测卷

— Of course I can.

— Oh, sorry. I _________________ it.

    "This Friday we'll have the yearly Egg Drop Challenge," said our science teacher, Mr Baker. "You can work alone or with a partner."

    My friend, Cassie, and I smiled at each other. We always1on projects together.

    The goal of the challenge was simple--to build a protective container(容器) to keep an egg from breaking when it dropped over the stadium wall.

    I made my sandwich that afternoon while waiting for Cassie. Spreading the buttercream gave me an idea. "I have a wonderful design for our,2container!" I said when Cassie arrived. "We can3the egg with some buttercream."

    "Why not put the egg in a basket with a parachute attached?" Cassie rolled her eyes. "The parachute is better than that stupid idea.

    I couldn't believe it, Of course we'd had our, little4in the past, but she'd never called any of my ideas "5"before.

    "Then I'll build mine and you build yours!"

    Since words had been out, our friendship was, challenged.

    When Friday finally arrived, I had to admit Cassie's Egg Force One looked pretty good, Anyway, my Egg-cellent Egg Cream didn't look quite scientific. We kids carried our containers up three stadium steps and dropped them over the side wall. Those whose eggs broke were out, and those whose eggs survived(幸存)6three more steps and dropped them again. This would go on till the last egg broke.

    After four rounds, only Cassie and I were7. I let go of my box. I heard someone say "ow" after seconds. Had my egg broken? I raced down the8. The sidewalk was dotted with egg shells(蛋壳) from those failed drops. Finally I found my little Egg-cellent Egg Cream.

    "That looks like egg drop soup, Laura," Cassie said. She was holding her Egg Force One. My heart raced. Had she won? I looked at her basket.9.

    "My egg bounced (弹起)10," she explained, pointing to a broken shell.

    "A tie(平局)," Mr Baker said.

    Cassie looked at me, and her glare (瞪眼) softened. I laughed. She smiled...

The Chinese first made paper about 2, 000 years ago. China still has pieces of paper which were made as long ago as that. But Chinese paper was not made from the wood of trees. It was made from the hair一 -like parts of certain plants.

    Paper was not made in southern Europe until about the year 1100. Scandinavia(斯堪的纳维亚半岛), which now makes a great deal of the world's paper, did not begin to make it until 1500. It was a German named Schaeffer who found out that one could make the best paper from trees. After that, the forest countries of Sweden, Norway, Finland, and the United States became the largest paper producers. Today in Finland, which makes the best paper in the world, the paper industry is the biggest on land. New paper-making machines are very big, and they make paper very fast. The biggest machines can make a piece of paper 300 metres long and 6 metres wide in one minute.

    When we think of paper, we think of newspapers, books, letters, envelopes and writing paper. But there are many other uses. Only half of the paper that is made is used for books and newspapers, etc.

    Thomas Edison lit up the world with his invention of the electric light. Without him, the world might still be in the dark. However, the electric light was not his only invention. He also invented the motion picture camera and 1,200 other things. About every two weeks he created something new.

    Thomas Edison was born in 1847. He attended school for only three months. His mother taught him at home, but Thomas was mostly self-educated. He started experimenting at a young age.

    When he was 12 years old, he got his first job. He be- came a newsboy on a train. He did experiments on the train in his spare time. Unluckily, his first work experience did not end well. They fired him when he accidentally set fire to the floor of the train. Then Edison worked for five years as a telegraph operator , but he continued to spend much of his time in experimenting his first patent(专利权) in 1868 for a vote recorder run by electricity.

    Thomas Edison was totally deaf in one ear and hard of hearing in the other, but he thought of his deafness as a blessing in many ways. It kept conversations short, so that he could have more time for work. He always worked 16 out of every 24 hours. Sometimes his wife had to remind him to sleep and eat.

    Thomas Edison died at the age of 84.He left a great many inventions that greatly improved the quality of life all over the world.

    Spam(垃圾邮件) is a factof Internet life. Some of it carries bad things, but the main problem with spamis that it is unpleasant because it fills your mail box with pointless messages.

    Most email programmes have built-in filters(过滤器) that will discover unwanted messages and put them into a, junkfolder(垃圾文件夹). You can make the filter learn what you considerto be spam or block certain senders.

    Avoid letting your email address appear onwebsites spammers search the Internet for email addresses. Be careful who yougive your email address to, and if you need to send out several copies of anemail, use blind copy instead to cover the other people s addresses.

    Delete(删除) spam emailswithout opening them. Signs of possible spam are bad spelling in email headers,strange sender addresses, or emails sent at unusual hours. If you do open aspam mail, never reply to it or click on any pictures it may have.

    If you receive an unexpected email pretending(伪装) to come from your bank, credit card company or other sup- pliers, bevery careful. If the email asks you to reply, don't do it! Instead, call up theseplaces or visit their websites.

    Consider setting up a second email address andkeep one address for your personal use and another for your onlinecommunication.

    Have you ever seen the movie Big Hero 6? Baymax (大白) is a main character in the movie. He's a friendly big robot that looks after people's health. If there is a robot like Baymax in our real life, people will get more benefits. The robot will be especially helpful in caring for the old. The health of old people needs greater monitoring and care.

    Scientists in America are now working to make Bay- max a reality(现实). Actually, they have already produced some health care robots. These robots provide brain video games to improve people's memory. The games can help the old remember things for longer. Besides, these robots provide special apps(应用程序) to help the old manage their health at home. The apps can check the old people's heart rate(心率) and tell them to take their medicine on time. The apps can also record their daily activities. Such collected information helps doctors discover the cause of an illness faster and more correctly. But the health care robots aren't as clever as Baymax yet.

    Nowadays, scientists are working on improving the health care robots. They hope the robots can produce electricity by walking across the floor. If they succeed, batteries will not be needed. They also hope the robots can communicate with humans in the daily life so as to make people happier and healthier.

    Scientists are trying to realise these dreams. Like Baymax, these health care robots may save people's lives in the future. We are looking forward to them.

    Have you had a headache during a test? Have you ever been so worried about something that you have a headache or even can't sleep at night? If so, then you know what stress is. . This worry in your mind can make your body feel bad. You may feel angry, sad, scared, or afraid--all of which can give you a stomachache or a headache.

    However, there are different kinds of stress. . Good stress might happen when you re called to answer questions in class or when you have; to give a speech no . For example, you may do a better job on your test if the stress pushes you to prepare better before the test.

    On the other hand, bad stress can happen if the stress lasts too long. You may not feel well if your parents are fighting, if a family member is sick, if you're having problems at school, or if anything else makes you unhappy every day. That kind of stress isn't going to help you. .

    The best way to fight the stress is to have a balanced life. . If you get enough sleep and eat properly, and if you exercise and leave time for fun, you'll probably feel less stressed.

    Confidence is very important in daily life. It can help you to develop a healthy attitude (态度). A study shows that the people who are more confident are much happier. They can have more chances to make themselves successful. But how to be more confident? Here are some suggestions:

    Speak loud. When you are not confident, you can't do well what you want to do. You speak in a voice so low that other people can hardly hear you. Try to speak loud enough so that people can hear you clearly. The high voice can help you become more confident.

    Play sports. It is tiring to do physical exercise, but it can make you completely relaxed. A strong body helps you be filled with confidence.

    Encourage yourself. Write down a list of things you did during the day to see how many things you have done well. Did you finish your homework? Did you tell a joke that made everybody laugh? Give yourself praise for the good things you've done.

    Get rid of(消除) fear. Fear comes along with failure (失败). But it's easy to overcome(克服) if you know that failure is part of your life. Don't hide your head just because you said something stupid last time. Try to start again and believe you can do better.

    Pick up a hobby. If you like singing, sing as much as you can. In some ways, a hobby can make you outstanding. And it will make you happy and confident.

How Was the Ballpoint Pen Invented?

Who: John Loud, an American tanner

When: in 1888

Advantages: help write faster, make life easier

Disadvantages: need refilling

Where to be used: many fields

Price: low

Changes: become smaller and lighter