While football fans feel strongly angry and shocked about mistakes made by referees (裁判) because they cannot see clearly what has happened, a small German company is quietly pleased.
For Carlos Technologies, mistakes made by referees are the kind of advertising that money cannot buy. The company has developed a tiny chip(芯片) that fits inside a football and determines whether the ball has crossed the goal line, by being able to discover its exact location on the field. The world football organization, FIFA, has shown interest in the technology. It is very possible that the new technology will be used in the 2006 World Cup in Germany.
"We've been testing the technology at the main soccer stadium in Nuremberg for some time and more recently in an under-17 FIFA Cup in Peru," said Gunter Rohmer, a director of the company. "The technology has performed well, and we're pretty optimistic that it will be used at the games in Germany next year."
The chip only weighs 12 grams, and is placed in the center of the football. It sends 2,000 signals a second to a receiver network of 12 antennas(天线),placed around the field. The receivers then send information about the ball's location to a central computer, and because it works in real time, it can immediately tell the referee whether a goal has been scored. The chip even can tell when the ball crosses the line in mid-air. Oliver Braun, one of the inventors of the chip, says that feedback from German referees was generally positive. Germany sports-wear giant Adidas is also optimistic about using this kind of chip in other ball sports.
FIFA aims to test the technology later this year at another game in Japan before deciding whether or not to introduce it in all 12 stadiums in Germany for next year's World Cup. Carlos Technologies is pleased because ________.
| A．football fans are angry with referees |
| B．their new product can satisfy football fans |
| C．their new product will have a good market |
| D．they can sell a lot of football in the future |
In the first sentence in Paragraph 2,"... mistakes made by referees are the kind of advertising that money cannot buy" means ___________.
| A．Carlos Technologies can't afford the high price for advertising their product |
| B．Mistakes in production are also a kind of advertisement |
| C．Carlos Technologies has already spent a lot of money on advertising their product |
| D．Referees' mistakes will be of great help for the sale of Carlos Technologies' new product |
The underlined word "feedback" probably means ___________.
| A．information given back by a user | B．advice given by someone |
| C．supplying food to customers | D．food given back by consumers |
The new product has drawn attention from some _________.
| A．famous people | B．referees | C．big companies | D．countries |
I was an extremely verbal child, and growing up with my dad was an experiment in linguistics(语言学). My father was a man of few words. Whenever I wanted his permission for a certain activity, I planned a speech that included who would be there, where it would take place, how long it would last, and why it was an incredibly wonderful opportunity for me. He would listen and then say either “Yes” or “No.” There were never any qualifiers; not “Yes, but be home by dinner” or “No, unless you can convince me otherwise.” It was yes or no, plain and simple.
My father’s phone messages were also lessons in patience and long-suffering to a teenage girl. I was quite active in high school. Not only did I enjoy being involved in many areas, but I came into contact with many a great teenage guy. I can recall one busy day when I had met two great guys and had given each of them my phone number. The first words out of my mouth when I walked through the front door were, “Dad! Did anyone call?” His answer, of course, was simply “Yes”.I required for a more accurate description of the caller. His answer: “A boy.” Since I had met two guys that day, this did not help me. I ran to my room in tears.
Knowing my dad’s dislike of language in general and his fondness for briefness, it surprised me to hear that he was going to teach the eleven-year-old boys’ Sunday school class. He did so for not one, but many years. I always wondered if he actually said anything, or if they all just sat in their chairs and stared at each other. I was sure that if people were waiting on my father to break the ice with brilliant conversation or a springboard comment, they’d be badly disappointed. Still, September after September, my father hung his sign outside the Sunday school room: Mr. Ernst—Eleven-Year-Old Boys. In order to get Dad to agree to the author’s outing, the author had to make up the following EXCEPT _____.
| A．the friends I shall meet in the activity |
| B．the activity is a chance for anyone |
| C．the place where the activity is to be held |
| D．the time that I shall spend in the activity |
When the author says “My father’s phone messages were also lessons in patience and long-suffering to a teenage girl.”, it means that when she was young _____.
| A．her father once gave her a lesson about patience and long-lasting pain |
| B．her father’s brief phone messages angered her a lot but made her patient |
| C．she was trained to be patient and brave because of her father’s brief phone messages |
| D．she suffered and had to be patient because of her father’s brief phone messages |
What’s the meaning of the underlined phrase “break the ice” in Paragraph 3?
| A．Make the ice crack. | B．Stop talking. |
| C．Start a talk. | D．Interrupt a talk. |
Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?
| A．My father would answer me with “Yes, but be home by dinner” sometimes. |
| B．I came into contact with just a few great teenage guys because I was active in high school. |
| C．That my father would teach the eleven-year-old boys’ Weekday school class surprised me. |
| D．I always wanted to know how my father, who talked so little, taught the boys. |
When Gretchen Baxter gets home from work as a New York City book editor, she checks her Blackberry at the door. “I think we are attached to these devices in a way that is not always positive,” says Baxter, who’d rather focus at home on her husband and 12-year-old daughter. “It’s there and it beckons(召唤). That’s human nature (but)…we kind of get crazy sometimes and we don’t know where it should stop.”
Americans are connected at unprecedented(前所未有的) levels—93% now use cell phones or wireless devices; one third of those are “smart phones” that allow users to browse the web and check e-mails, among other things. The benefits are obvious: checking messages on the road, staying in touch with friends and family, efficiently using time once spent waiting around. The downside: often, we’re effectively disconnecting from those in the same room.
That’s why, despite all the technology that makes communicating easier than ever, 2010 was the year we stopped talking to one another. From texting at dinner to posting on Facebook from work or checking e-mails while on a date, the connectivity revolution is creating a lot of divided attention, not to mention social anxiety. Many analysts say it’s time to step back and reassess (再评价).
“What we’re going to see in the future is new opportunities for people to be plugged in and connected like never before,” says Scott Campbell. “It can be a good thing, but I also see new ways the traditional social construction is getting somewhat torn apart.”
Our days are filled with beeps and pings—many of which pull us away from tasks at hand or face-to-face conversations. We may feel that the distractions(干扰) are too much, but we can’t seem to stop posting, texting or surfing. “We’re going through a period of adjustment and rebalancing, ” says Sherry Turkle and she wants to remind people that technology can be turned off. “Our human purposes are to really have connections with people,” she says. “We have to reclaim it. It’s not going to take place by itself.”According to Paragraph 1, Gretchen Baxter thinks _____.
| A．the new technology always influences people’s life in a positive way |
| B．the new technology always influences people’s life in a negative way |
| C．the family isn’t that important compared to the new technology |
| D．people are too dependent on the new technology to let go |
The underlined word “downside” in Paragraph 2 probably means _____.
| A．advantage | B．weakness |
| C．strength | D．effect |
Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?
| A．The wide use of mobile devices has nothing to do with the traditional social construction. |
| B．Mobile devices play a less important part in American life. |
| C．Mobile devices create a lot of divided attention and social anxiety. |
| D．Many analysts speak highly of the wide popularity of mobile devices. |
What can be inferred from the last paragraph?
| A．Something must be done to get connection with people in reality again. |
| B．Using mobile services can help people get con- nection with each other. |
| C．Mobile services have a strong impact on people’s life. |
| D．The connection with people can happen naturally. |
People often talk as if shyness is a disease or mental condition that can be cured. I prefer to think of it as an emotional disability. It’s something we are born with and something we carry with us in our entire lives. There are too many people, however, who seem to be determined to find some way of doing away with their shyness. In my opinion, it’s a waste of time. I don’t mean that we should do nothing about it; quite the contrary, I think we need to separate the basic fact of our shyness from our ability to take part in a social environment.
Look at one of the most famous shy people of them all, Johnny Carson. This man is painfully shy, yet for decades he made a living talking and associating with different people every night, in front of a national audience. Carson has never done away with his shyness, but he has successfully found a way to deal with it to the extent that he could be, not just a talk show host, but a legend among talk show hosts. Look also at Sally Fields, who has recently admitted her problem with shyness. This is a woman who has appeared in many films, TV shows and interviews, yet in her early years she was so shy that she turned down a lunch invitation from Jane Fonda because she was terribly afraid of meeting her.
I guess that our shyness is there because each of us is born with some insecurity and this insecurity prevents us from reaching out to others the way people with a more open personality do. As we grow up and become adults, we allow our social skills to grow and develop. But we are still stuck in kindergarten or elementary school or wherever it was when our shyness took root in our soul. In the author’s view, shyness can be explained as .
| A．a not very normal mental condition |
| B．a disease that can be easily cured |
| C．something we pick up after birth |
| D．a kind of emotional disability |
From the passage, we know that Johnny Carson .
| A．has dealt with shyness very successfully |
| B．has done away with his shyness carefully |
| C．is described as a hero in some legend books |
| D．failed to become a good talk show host |
The passage tells us that Sally Fields was .
| A．proud all the time |
| B．close to Jane Fonda |
| C．impolite when young |
| D．shy in her early years |
The author thinks that our shyness is there because .
| A．we are not open enough |
| B．we don’t feel secure at heart |
| C．we try to reach out to others all the time |
| D．we lack some social skills |
In the future your automobile will run on water instead of gas! You will be able to buy a supercomputer that fits in your pocket! You might even drive a flying car!
For each prediction that has come true today, several others have missed by a mile. Many of these predictions didn’t consider how people would want to use the technology, or whether people really needed it in their lives or not. Let’s look at some predictions from the not-too-distant past.
Robot Helpers
Where’s the robot in my kitchen? Nowhere, of course. And he’s probably not coming anytime soon. Robots do exist today, but mostly in factories and other manufacturing environments.
Back in the 1950s, however, people said that by now personal robots would be in most people’s homes.
So why hasn’t it happened? Probably because robots are still too expensive and clumsy. And maybe the idea of robots cooking our dinners and washing our clothes is just too weird. At home we seem to be doing fine without them.
Telephones of Tomorrow
In 1964 an American company introduced the video telephone. They said by the year 2000 most people would have a video phone in their homes. But of course the idea hasn’t caught on yet.
Why? The technology worked fine, but it over-looked something obvious: people’s desire for privacy. Would you want to have a video phone conversation with someone after you just step out of the shower? Probably not—it could be embarrassing! Just because a technology available doesn’t always mean people will want to use it.
And finally, how about that crazy prediction of the flying car? It’s not so crazy anymore! But a flying car remains one of the most fascinating technology ideas to capture our imagination. Keep watching the news, or perhaps the sky outside your window, to see what the future will bring. The whole passage is mainly about .
| A．predictions that have come true |
| B．predictions that haven’t come true |
| C．why predictions don’t come true easily |
| D．what technology will bring about |
The author of this passage won’t believe that .
| A．predictions needn’t consider people’s practical use of technology |
| B．the future isn’t always easy to guess |
| C．not all past predictions have come true |
| D．many of the high-tech things our parents thought we’d be using by now simply never appeared |
The underlined word “weird” in Para. 5 probably means .
| A．wonderful | B．stupid |
| C．practical | D．strange |
What does the author think of the flying car?
| A．It is too difficult to imagine. |
| B．It is too crazy an idea. |
| C．It is likely to be made. |
| D．It is often reported in the news. |
You might notice something new in the next few years as you watch Disney programs: Starting in 2015, there won’t be any candy, sugary cereal or fast-food commercials aimed at kids. 
The Walt Disney Company has become the first major media company to ban ads for junk food on its TV channels, radio stations and websites. It hopes this will stop kids from making poor food choices.
First Lady Michelle Obama called it a “game changer” that is sure to send a message to the rest of the children’s entertainment industry. “Just a few years ago, if you had told me or any other mom or dad in America that our kids wouldn’t see a single ad for junk food while they watched their favorite cartoons on a major TV network, we wouldn’t have believed you, ”said the First Lady, who heads a campaign to help stop child obesity.
The ban would apply to Disney-owned ABC stations as well as Radio Disney and Disney-owned websites aimed at families with young children. In addition, Disney plans to make changes to its kids’ menus at theme parks and resorts(度假胜地). Fast-food options will be replaced with healthier choices, such as smoothies(果汁), apples, vegetables and yogurt.
In addition to candy bars and fast-food meals, other foods that don’t meet Disney’s nutritional standards will be banned from the company’s kid-targeted media. Any cereal with 10 grams or more of sugar per serving will be off the air. There will be no ads for full meals of more than 600 calories. Juices with high levels of sugar and foods with too much salt will also be pulled.
Leslie Goodman, Disney’s senior vice-president of Corporate Citizenship, said a company that wants to advertise will need to show that it offers a range of healthy options.
Disney isn’t the only one pushing away unhealthy foods. Last week, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg suggested a ban on drinks over 16 ounces sold in movie theaters, restaurants and convenience stores in the Big Apple. He says large, sugary drinks are partly to blame for obesity. What will the Walt Disney Company do from 2015?
| A．Produce more and better cartoons for young kids. |
| B．Stop broadcasting advertisements for junk food on TV. |
| C．Help kids develop healthy lifestyle in the program. |
| D．Provide healthier food for kids while they are watching programs. |
What Michelle Obama said suggests that while watching cartoons .
| A．kids didn’t believe what the commercials said |
| B．kids don’t enjoy eating candy, sugary cereal or junk food |
| C．kids would see a lot of fast-food commercials on TV |
| D．kids find pleasure in watching fast-food commercials |
The underlined phrase “be off the air” in Paragraph 5 probably means“ ”.
| A．not be broadcast | B．be in need |
| C．become popular | D．be praised |
According to Michael Bloomberg, to fight child obesity, kids should .
| A．watch fewer cartoons |
| B．drink less sugary drinks |
| C．not go to movie theaters |
| D．take more physical exercise |
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