Scientists have created a “ human-like robot” that can dance and do the housework.
“ Mahru” has been developed to imitate humans and can move its lips, eyebrows and pupils(瞳孔). The machine can also move its upper and lower body freely and automatically stop itself when walking.
In addition, it has been programmed to give out two kinds of pleasant smells to match its emotions.
The 1.5 tall robot was produced by researchers at the Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST) and is the first South Korean- developed machine of its kind.
“‘Mahru’ will open the way for the commercial use of humanoid robots doing housework,” You Bum-Jae, leader of the development research team ,said. “‘Mahru’ can dance while walking on its legs and is able to work in place of a human.”
Through an advanced motion capture (捕获) system, “Mahru” can follow a variety of human movements and move its hands freely enough to deal with any obstacles that may get in its way when walking.
State-funded KIST showed the robot during a presentation at its head office in Seoul.
People here were treated to an entertaining demonstration which saw the robot show off the full range of its skills, most notably s series of dance moves.
The research team added that they had designed another “ Mahru”, this time with sensors(传感器) allowing it to distinguish(分辨) between faces and objects.
The showing of “ Mahru” came a week after researcher in Japan said they had created the “most human-like” robot in the world. A team at robotics department of Osaka University in Japan claimed that “ robogirl”, Repliee R-1, “ looks, moves and interacts (相互作用) like a human, and has silicone(硅胶) skin that feels almost human to the touch.” “Mahru” made by KIST can do the following things EXCEPT____________
| A．dance with other human –like robots | B．move its body freely |
| C．stop automatically when walking | D．express certain feelings through smells |
According to what You Bum- Jae said in Paragraph 5, his research team wants to ________.
| A．help robots with doing housework | B．show its scientific power |
| C．make Mahru offer more fun | D．explore Mahru’s commercial use |
When Mahru” meets something in its way, it will be likely to________.
| A．go around it | B．turn back quickly |
| C．deal with it using its hands | D．ask humans for help |
According to the last paragraph, Repliee R-1 __________.
| A．is another Mahru | B．was made by KIST |
| C．has skin feeling similar to humans’ | D．looks like a boy |
The passage is probably a __________.
| A．news report | B．research report | C．healthy report | D．entertainment report |
I will never forget the Saturday I took my great-grandfather to his first movie. I was nine. Granddad was over 90 years old.
We were a little late when we got to the movie. The lights already turned low. The girl at the piano had started to play. In those days, the movies had no sound. The only sounds that went with them came from a piano.
I helped Granddad find a seat in the first row. He sat back just as Hoot Gibson came riding across the screen on his horse. I looked at Granddad. His eyes were fixed on the screen and his lips were moving. I saw that he was riding right along with Hoot Gibson ！ Hoot was running away from outlaws(逃犯）• Faster and faster the horses ran. The girl at the piano played louder and louder.
Suddenly Granddad jumped to his feet and yelled at Hoot. ‘‘Look out!” he cried. ‘‘Run for it, Hoot! They're getting closer!”
The girl at the piano turned around. Right behind her she saw a tall old man with arms stretched (伸展） widely, it was my granddad. She thought he had gone crazy. With a scream, she climbed to the top of the piano. Then she jumped through the movie screen, making a big hole in it. She ran out of the back door of the movie, yelling.
There were about 40 people at the movie that afternoon. Granddad was the only one there over 12 years old. All the excitement made us boys feel we should do something. But what? Hoot showed us! He was shot from his horse right into the hole in the screen！
A friend of mine named Sammy climbed up to see what had become of Hoot. Three or four others followed Sammy. Soon about 12 yelling boys were crowd-ed around the screen. What noise！
Sammy shot this cap gun. Someone saw the smoke from the cap gun and screamed “Fire!”
Granddad was still standing. He called out，“Get the fireman! Where's the fire?”
Just then several men came in through the backdoor. The girl who played the piano had told them about the crazy man. They were coming to get Grand-dad!
Before they got to him, a fireman came in through the front door. He was carrying a horse. "Water ！he shouted to the firemen behind him. Then he turned his horse on the screen, full force. The hole in the screen became larger and larger. Now we could see only the top of Hoot's head and his horse's tail.
"I'm getting out of here!” Granddad said to me. "I've been in many a battle, but this is the worst of all. ”
We pushed past the firemen and got to the street at last. By this time there was a big crowd of people. "What's happened? Where's the fire?" everyone wan-ted to know.
But we didn't wait to talk. Granddad took me to his little house and gave me some ice cream.
"I'm sorry you didn't get to see the whole show, Granddad’ "I said. "Will you go with me next Saturday?” Granddad shook his head. “No, Robert，" he said.
"I don't like movies. They are too noisy. My first movie will be my last ！ ” The phrase “ running away” in Paragraph 4 can be best replaced by __________.
| A．escaping |
| B．setting loose |
| C．leaving |
| D．setting off |
Thegirl yelled because she was __________.
| A．angry |
| B．frightened |
| C．asking for help |
| D．crazy |
Sammy and other yelling boys climbed up and crowded around the screen to see __________.
| A．what's the matter with the screen |
| B．where the girl had gone |
| C．whether Hoot was in the hole |
| D．what had happened about Hoot |
Which of the following statements is TRUE?
| A．Sammy shot his cap gun and caused fire. |
| B．Granddad and I escaped from the policemen. |
| C．At last, the fire was put out by firemen. |
| D．Granddad would not see amovie any more. |
No other band has had the same influence in the world as the Beatles. Over eight years and more than a dozen albums, four young men from Liverpool, Eng-land—John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Star changed popular music and culture forever.
People in the UK became crazy about the Beatles in late 1963. The phenomenon was called “Beatlemania” by the British press. The term referred to the young women seen screaming at the band's concerts. Beatlemania came to North America in early 1964，and the band's popularity spread across much of the world.
Within five years, the Beatles' music changed greatly from their simple early hits like “ She Loves You” and “I Want to Hold Your Hand”.
The band wrote their own songs, explored new ways to create music and strived for high quality in every album they released.
However, with their popularity came criticism. The press criticized the band as symbols of the 1960s youth culture, which celebrated freedom from traditional family roles.
In 1970，Paul McCartney announced he was leaving the Beatles, and the group quickly came to an end.
In the 1970s, fans hoped for a reunion, but the group decided to follow their own careers with different degrees of success.
Fans lost hope with a tragedy. John Lennon was murdered in New York in 1980. The“word” Beatlemania" refers to __________ in thepassage.
| A．being most crazy |
| B．the band's popularity |
| C．young women's screaming |
| D．bothA and C |
Which of the following is not true according to the passage?
| A．Beatlemania first appeared in the UK. |
| B．The band came to an end when John Lennon was murdered. |
| C．Th0e four members of the Beatles were from Liverpool, England. |
| D．The youth culture in the 1960s celebrated freedom from traditional family roles. |
The press that criticized the Beatles may probably __________.
| A．be unable to understand their music |
| B．hate freedom too much |
| C．envy the popularity of the band |
| D．hope for freedom |
From the passage, we can infer that the writer __________.
| A．introduces the band to readers, both from their achievements and from their ending |
| B．feels it a pity that the reunion failed |
| C．thinks that no other band as the Beatles has ever created popular music |
| D．doesn't like the Beatles, early hits “She Loves You" and “I Want to Hold Your Hand" |
Almost a year after Michael Jackson s death, the spirit of King of Pop appears to live on a 4-year-old Chinese boy, who is fast becoming internationally popular.
Wang Yiming, who is known as Xiao Bao, has already been making waves across the world with his dance moves. 
A favorite of Chinese media, Xiao Bao draws curious crowds whenever he breaks into a dance routine, which his mother says happens almost every time he hears music. "When he was young, we just started playing music to him and he started moving around like this，"his mother said. "When he was just a couple of months old, we would let him listen to music and he would immediately stop crying and calm down，" she told Reuters Television.
Xiao Bao was born prematurely (早产），and doc-tors suggested moving his body to music would do good to him, but his parents were surprised by how quickly and interestedly he took to the rhythm.
Dancing since he was two years old, he has now mastered the moonwalk and other Jackson moves, such as Beat It, Billie Jean and Dangerous.
Before long, his passion turned into an obsession (着迷）——the family spends up to 20，000 yuan a month on dance training with a professional and outfits including tailor-made suits, hats and shirts.
Xiao Bao is serious about his dancing career and says he will not mind becoming famous one day. But his parents say that no matter how talented their son is, his schooling will be their first choice. What Xiao Bao's mother said suggested that __________.
| A．she didn't expect her son to take up music |
| B．Xiao Bao had a strong love for music |
| C．she taught him music when Xiao Bao was young |
| D．she was very sad at the beginning |
How did Xiao Bao's parents feel when they saw his reaction to music?
| A．Amazed. |
| B．Happy. |
| C．Angry. |
| D．Anxious. |
We can learn from the passage that __________.
| A．his parents taught him the moonwalk |
| B．he began to perform on stage at two |
| C．moonwalk moves were first done by Jackson |
| D．his parents found him hard to please |
Theunderlined word "outfits"in Paragraph 6 is closest in meaning to __________.
| A．clothes |
| B．shoes |
| C．bags |
| D．tools |
The richest man in the world is an American, Bill Gates. He started Microsoft, the company that makes computer programs and operating systems. Two years ago, Mr Gates and his wife Melinda decided to use some of their money to improve the lives of people in developing countries. They started the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation in Seattle»Washington. The foundation has twenty-four thousand million dollars. It is the biggest not-for-profit organization in the world. Bill and Melinda Gates started the foundation because they believed progress in medical science and information technology was not reaching people in developing countries. Their foundation finances programs aimed at improving health and education in poor countries. One of the foundation's major goals is the develop-ment of new medicines to prevent and treat tuberculosis(肺结核），malaria (疾疾）and AIDS. The World Health Organization reports that these three diseases kill more than five million people a year.
Another leading foundation project is an effort to reduce death rates for babies in poor countries. The foundation also supports efforts to provide necessary medicines to prevent diseases among children in seventy-four developing countries. It also supports training programs for health workers. Bill and Melinda Gates are also concerned about connecting people to the Internet computer system. The foundation believes men and women of all ages and races should be able to use the Internet as a tool for life-long learning. For example, the foundation gave nine million dollars to more than three hundred fifty public libraries in Chile (智利）for computers and technology training. The Gates Foundation usually provides money to developing countries in the form of a gift or a grant. However, there are conditions for receiving grants. Governments or other not-for-profit organizations working in a country must promise to provide an equal amount of money. The receiver must also meet performance goals or risk losing the money.
What's NOT the aim of the Bill and Melinda GatesFoundation?
| A．Providing information technology for the developing countries. |
| B．Developing new medicines to prevent diseases. |
| C．Earning more money from these developing countries. |
| D．Helping men and women of all ages and races use the Internet. |
What do you think of Bill Gates from this passage?
| A．Clever. |
| B．Rich. |
| C．Able. |
| D．Warm-hearted. |
What's the main idea of this passage?
| A．Bill Gates, the richest man. |
| B．Bill Gates set up foundation to help the people in developing countries. |
| C．Information technology needs popularizing. |
| D．The people in developing countries need to be helped. |
Which of the following statements is NOT true ac-cording to the passage?
| A．Tuberculosis, malaria and AIDS kill many people every year. |
| B．A person can receive a grant as long as he lives in a developing country. |
| C．Gates Foundation is the largest not-for-profit organization in the world. |
| D．Bill Gates supported training health workers. |
What's the meaning of the underlined word “grant”？
| A．Money. |
| B．Food. |
| C．Clothes. |
| D．Equipment. |
For more than six million American children, coming home after school means coming home to an empty house. Some deal with the situation by watching TV. Some may hide. But all of them have something in common. They spend part of each day alone. They are called latchkey (门锁钥匙）children. They're children who look after themselves while their parents work. And their bad condition has become a subject of concern.
Lynette Long was once the headmaster of an elementary school. She said，“We had a school rule against wearing jewelry. A lot of kids had chains around their necks with keys attached. I was constantly telling them to put them inside shirts. There were so many keys. It never came to my mind what they meant. ” Slowly, she learned they were house keys.
She and her husband began talking to the children who had them. They learned of the effect working couples and single parents were having on their children. Fear is the biggest problem faced by children at home alone. One in each three latchkey children the Longs talked to reported being scared. Many had nightmares and were worried about their own safety.
The most common way latchkey children deal with their fears is by hiding. It might be in a shower stall, under a bed in a closet. The second is TV. They'll often play it at high volume. It's hard to get statistics (统计数字）on latchkey children, the Longs learned. Most parents are slow to admit they leave their children alone. The main idea about "latchkey children” is that they_________
| A．are growing in numbers |
| B．are also found in middle-class neighborhoods |
| C．watch too much television during the day |
| D．suffer problems from being left alone |
Which sentence in the second paragraph is the topic sentence?
| A．We had a school rule against wearing jewelry. |
| B．A lot of kids had chains around their necks with keys attached. |
| C．Iwas constantly telling them to put them inside shirts. |
| D．Slowly, she learned they were house keys. |
Themain feeling these children have when they areat home by themselves is_________.
| A．tiredness |
| B．freedom |
| C．loneliness |
| D．fear |
We may draw a conclusion that_________.
| A．latchkey children enjoy having such a large amount of time alone |
| B．latchkey children try to hide their feeling |
| C．latchkey children often watch TV with their parents |
| D．it's difficult to find out how many latchkey children there are |
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