TOKYO —Imagine a bicycle seat connected by mechanical frames(机械支架) to a pair of shoes for an idea of how the new wearable assisted-walking machine from Honda works．
The experimental machine, showed on Friday, is designed to support bodyweight, reduce stress on the knees and help people organize steps and stay in crouching（蹲坐） positions．Honda showed a video of its employees wearing the machine.
Engineer Jun Ashihara also said the machine is useful for people standing in long lines and to people who run around to make deliveries．
"This should be as easy to use as a bicycle," Ashihara said．"It reduces stress, and you should feel less tired．"
To wear it, you put the seat between your legs, put on the shoes and push the “on” button．Then just start walking around．
In a test run for media, this reporter found it does take some time to get used to the machine. “I could sense how it supported my moves, pushing up on my bottom when I crouched and pushing at my soles(脚底) to help lift my legs when I walked,” he said.
The system has a computer, a motor, gears（齿轮）, batteries and sensors in it, so it responds to a person's movements, according to Honda Motor Co．
Pricing and commercial product plans are still undecided．Japan's No．2 automaker will begin testing a prototype（模型） later this month．
The need for such mechanical help is expected to grow in Japan, which has one of the most rapidly aging societies in the world．
Other companies are also eyeing the potentially attractive market of helping the weak and the old get around．Japan is among the world's leading nations in robotics technology, not only for industrial use but also for entertainment and companionship．
1．Honda's new wearable assisted-walking machine is mainly to .
A．show Honda's power in technology B．protect the environment
C．meet the social needs in the future D．improve social progress
2．According to the passage, the power of the new wearable assisted-walking machine is from_________.
A．manpower B．batteries
C．a computer D．the machine movement
3．It can be learned from the passage that .
A．the new machine has been produced m large numbers
B．Honda will control the future market for the new machine
C．the price of Honda's new machine will be very low
D．the future market for the new machine will be promising
4．What would be the best title for the passage?
A．Wearable machine that helps walk
B．Hondo's new bicycle for the old
C．Wearable machine helps go to work
D．New development of the bicycle
Danielle Steel, America's sweetheart, is one of the hardest working women in the book business. Unlike other productive authors who write one book at a time, she can work on up to five. Her research time before writing takes at least three years. Once she has fully studied her subjects, ready to dive into a book, she can spend twenty hours nonstop at her desk.
Danielle Steel comes from New York and was sent to France for her education. After graduation, she worked in the public relations and advertising industries. Later she started a job as a writer which she was best fit for. Her achievements are unbelievable: 390 million copies of books in print, nearly fifty New York Times best-selling novels, and a series of "Max and Martha" picture books for children to help them deal with the real-life problems of death, new hobbies and new schools. Her 1998 book about the death of her son shot to the top of the New York Times best-selling list as soon as it came out. Twenty-eight of her books have been made into films. She is listed in the Guinness Book of World Records for one of her books being the Times best-seller for 381 weeks straight.
Not content with a big house, a loving family, and a view of the Golden Gate Bridge, Danielle Steel considers her readers to be the most important resource(资源) and has kept in touch with them by e-mail. While she is often compared to the heroines(女主人公) of her own invention, her life is undoubtedly much quieter. But, if she does have anything in common with them, it is her strength of will and her inimitable(独特的) style. There is only one Danielle Steel.
60. Danielle Steel is different from other writers in that ____.
A. she can write several books at the same time
B. she often does some research before writing a book
C. she is one of the most popular American women writers
D. she can keep writing for quite a long time without a break
61. Children who have read "Max and Martha" picture books may know ______.
A. how to deal with affairs at school B. what to do if Max and Martha die
C. what to do when new babies are born into their families
D. how to solve the difficult problems in their writing classes
62. One of Danielle Steel's achievements is that ______.
A. some TV plays were based on her books B. her picture books attracted a lot of young men
C. one of her books became a best-seller in 1998
D. she wrote the Guinness Book of World Records
63. We can learn from the passage that Danielle Steel _____.
A. lives an exciting life B. values her readers a lot
C. writes about quiet women D. is pleased with her achievements
Anyone who cares about what schools and colleges teach and how their students learn will be interested in the memoir（回忆录）of Ralph W. Tyler, who is one of the most famous men in American education.
Born in Chicago in 1902, brought up and schooled in Nebraska, the 19-year-old college graduate Ralph Tyler became hooked on teaching while teaching as a science teacher in South Dakota and changed his major from medicine to education.
Graduate work at the University of Chicago found him connected with honorable educators Charles Judd and W. W. Charters, whose ideas of teaching and testing had an effect on his later work. In 1927, he became a teacher of Ohio State University where he further developed a new method of testing.
Tyler became well-known nationality in 1938, when he carried his work with the Eight-Year Study from Ohio State University to the University of Chicago at the invitation of Robert Hutchins.
Tyler was the first director of the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences at Stanford, a position he held for fourteen years. There, he firmly believed that researchers should be free to seek an independent（独立的）spirit in their work.
Although Tyler officially retired in 1967, he never actually retired. He served on a long list of educational organizations in the United States and abroad. Even in his 80s he traveled across the country to advise teachers and management people on how to set objectives（目标）that develop the best teaching and learning within their schools. 68. Who are most probably interested in Ralph W. Tyler’s memoir?
A. Top managers. B. Language learners.
C. Serious educators. D. Science organizations.
69. The words “hooked oh teaching” underlined in Paragraph 2 probably mean ________.
A. attracted to teaching B. tired of teaching
C. satisfied with teaching D. unhappy about teaching
70. Where did Tyler work as the leader of a research center for over 10 years?
A. The University of Chicago. B. Stanford University.
C. Ohio State University. D. Nebraska University.
71. Tyler is said to have never actually retired because ____________.
A. he developed a new method of testing B. he called for free spirit in research
C. he was still active in giving advice D. he still led the Eight-Year Study
Australia warns on migrant cuts
Australia may cut the number of immigrants who are allowed into the country if the global financial crisis raises unemployment levels.
Australian Immigration Minister Chris Evans said a decision on reducing numbers would be taken after mid-year financial data is published next month.
Around 190, 300 immigrants are forecast to arrive in Australia in 2008/09. Earlier this month, a British minister said the country could reduce migrant flows due to the economic crisis. Mr Evans said the country's current migrant programme, which is aimed at skilled workers, was designed when Australia was forecasting good economic growth and a skills shortage.
"The government will take a calm look at those issues and make a decision when we have got proper information," he told Nine Network television.
"Clearly if the demand for labour comes off, you'd adjust the migration programme appropriately," he said. "We can turn the taps off if we need to. " Mr Evans said that any decision on cutting migrant flows was complex, considering their contribution to the country's economy. "We know that they consume, they buy property, and they're a net positive to the budget, " he said. "And a lot of the skills that are coming in at the moment are in the mining sector, which has allowed us to increase our exports. "
He said there were still industries which had a "strong demand" for labour and the government would analyse the economic situation and consult industry before deciding on what to do.
1.
Which of the following can we know from this passage?
| A．Australia may decide to increase the number of migrants. |
| B．Britain has decided to reduce the number of migrants. |
| C．Australia has decided to increase the number of migrants. |
| D．Britain has decided to increase the number of migrants. |
2. Australia may cut off the number of migrants mainly because ______ .
| A．Britain has decided to reduce the number of migrants |
| B．it is forecast Australian will have good economic growth |
| C．Australia has no demand for skilled workers in mining |
| D．the global economic crisis is getting worse and worse |
3. What does Mr Evans imply by saying the underlined sentence?
| A．It is necessary for the country to cut off the number of migrants. |
| B．Citizens should turn off the taps when they don’t use the water. |
| C．Britain shouldn’t have reduced the number of migrants. |
| D．Increasing migrants to the country will consume more water. |
4. From the passage, what does Mr Evans think of migrants’ contributions to Australia’s economy?
| A．Negative | B．Doubtful | C．Positive | D．Critical |
E
I began working in journalism(新闻工作)when I was eight. It was my mother’s idea. She wanted me to “make something” of myself, and decided I had better start young if I was to have any chance of keeping up with the competition.
With my load of magazines I headed toward Belleville Avenue. The crowds were there. There were two gas stations on the corner of Belleville and Union. For several hours I made myself highly visible, making sure everyone could see me and the heavy black letters on the bag that said THE SATURDAY EVENING POST. When it was suppertime, I walked back home.
“ How many did you sell, my boy?” my mother asked.
“ None.”
“ Where did you go?”
“ The corner of Belleville and Union Avenues.”
“ What did you do?”
“ Stood on the corner waiting for somebody to buy a Saturday Evening Post.”
“ You just stood there?”
“ Didn’t sell a single one.”
“ My God, Russell!”
Uncle Allen put in, “ Well, I’ve decided to take the Post.” I handed him a copy and he paid me a nickle(五分镍币). It was the first nickle I earned.
Afterwards my mother taught me how to be a salesman. I would have to ring doorbells, address adults with self-confidence(自信), and persuade them by saying that no one, no matter how poor, could afford to be without the Saturday Evening Post in the home.
One day, I told my mother I’d changed my mind. I didn’t want to make a success in the magazine business.
“ If you think you can change your mind like this,” she replied, “ you’ll become a good-for-nothing.” She insisted that, as soon as school was over, I should start ringing doorbells, selling magazines. Whenever I said no, she would scold me.
My mother and I had fought this battle almost as long as I could remember. My mother, dissatisfied with my father’s plain workman’s life, determined that I would not grow up like him and his people. But never did she expect that, forty years later, such a successful journalist as me would go back to her husband’s people for true life and love.
56. Why did the boy start his job young?
A. He wanted to be famous in the future. B. The job was quite easy for him.
C. His mother had high hopes for him. D. The competition for the job was fierce.
57. From the dialogue between the boy and his mother, we learn that the mother was _______.
A. excited B. interested C. ashamed D. disappointed
58. What did the mother do when the boy wanted to give up?
A. She forced him to continue. B. She punished him.
C. She gave him some money. D. She changed her plan.
59. What does the underlined phrase “this battle”(last paragraph) refer to?
A. The war between the boy’s parents.
B. The arguing between the boy and his mother.
C. The quarrel between the boy and his customers.
D. The fight between the boy and his father.
60. What is the text mainly about?
A. The early life of a journalist. B. The early success of a journalist.
C. The happy childhood of the writer. D. The important role of the writer in his family.
A
If you were to walk up to Arthur Bonner and say, “ Hey, Butterfly Man,” his face would break into a smile. The title suits him. And he loves it.
Arthur Bonner works with the Palos Verdes blue butterfly(蝴蝶), once thought to have died out. Today the butterfly is coming back — thanks to him. But years ago if you’d told him this was what he’d be doing someday, he would have laughed, “ You’re crazy.” As a boy, he used to be “ a little tough guy on the streets”. At age thirteen, he was caught by police for stealing. At eighteen, he landed in prison for shooting a man..
“ I knew it had hurt my mom,” Bonner said after he got out of prison. “ So I told myself I would not put my mom through that pain again.”
One day he met Professor Mattoni, who was working to rebuild the habitat(栖息地) for an endangered butterfly called El Segundo blue.
“ I saw the sign ‘ Butterfly Habitat’ and asked, ‘ How can you have a habitat when the butterflies can just fly away?’” Bonner recalls. “ Dr. Mattoni laughed and handed me a magnifying glass(放大镜) , ‘Look at the leaves.’ I could see all these caterpillars(蝴蝶的幼虫) on the plant. Dr Mattoni explained, ‘ Without the plant, there are no butterflies.’”
Weeks later, Bonner received a call from Dr. Mattoni, who told him there was a butterfly that needed help. That was how he met the Palos Verdes blue. Since then he’s been working for four years to help bring the butterfly back. He grows astragalus, the only plant the butterfly eats. He collects butterflies and brings them into a lab to lay eggs. Then he puts new butterflies into the habitat.
The butterfly’s population, once almost zero, is now up to 900. For their work, Bonner and Dr. Mattoni received lots of awards. But for Bonner, he earned something more: he turned his life around.
For six years now Bonner has kept his promise to stay out of prison. While he’s bringing back the Palos Verdes blue, the butterfly has helped bring him back, too.
41. When he was young, Arthur Bonner _______.
A. broke the law and ended up in prison B. was fond of shooting and hurt his mom
C. often laughed at people on the streets D. often caught butterflies and took them home
42. Bonner came to know the Palos Verdes blue after he _______.
A. found the butterfly had died out B. won many prizes from his professor
C. met Dr. Mattoni, a professor of biology D. collected butterflies and put them into a lab
43. From the last sentence of the text, we learn that raising butterflies has _________.
A. made Bonner famous B. changed Bonner’s life
C. brought Bonner wealth D. enriched Bonner’s knowledge
44. Which of the following would be the best title for the text?
A. A Promise to Mom B. A Man Saved by Butterflies
C. A Story of Butterflies D. A Job Offered by Dr. Mattoni
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