US chat show queen Oprah Winfrey surprised 300 members of her audience (观众) by saying she would send them on a trip to Australia in December.Winfrey will also film an episode (集) of her show at the Sydney “Oprah” House.
The Australian government said it was spending AUS$(澳元) 3 million to help bring The Oprah Winfrey Show to the country.
Tourism Minister (旅游部部长) Martin Ferguson insisted it was money well spent as it would put Australia in the spotlight，with the popular TV show watched by 40 million Americans and screened in 145 countries.“Oprah is a famous name and she has the power to improve Australia’s image as an important tourist country，” he said in a statement.
Winfrey made the announcement on Monday.After telling the audience that she might take them on a trip to New York，Philadelphia or Los Angeles，she said her last season would provide something “bigger”．
“I started to think about where I would most want to go.Maybe I should take all of you with me to the other side of the world.We’re going to Australia！”she said.
Several episodes will be filmed during the trip，which had been planned for almost a year and will take in beaches，Sydney Harbour and so on.It marks the first time that the show will be filmed with its US audience outside North America.The Australian trip follows a similar act in 2004 when Winfrey gave a car to each member of her audience.
Winfrey is to start her own television channel (频道)，the Oprah Winfrey Network，in 2011，at the age of her 57.What ’s the Australian government’s aim in inviting Oprah Winfrey?
| A．To spread Australia’s culture. |
| B．To develop Australia’s tourism. |
| C．To introduce The Oprah Winfrey Show to the country. |
| D．To improve the relations between the two countries |
Which word can best describe Martin Ferguson’s attitude towards Oprah Winfrey’s Australian trip?
| A．Worried. | B．Doubtful. |
| C．Proud. | D．Confident. |
Which of the following about Winfrey is TRUE?
| A．She once brought her audience outside North America in 2004. |
| B．Her Australian trip and episodes have been planned for a month. |
| C．She will film her show at Sydney Harbour. |
| D．She was born in the year of 1964. |
What might be the best title for the text?
| A．Oprah Winfrey takes audience to Australia |
| B．Australians love to see The Oprah Winfrey Show |
| C．Americans want to know more about Australia |
| D．Oprah Winfrey will start her own channel |
An underwater robot that can hear the calls of whales, and to help ships to avoid them, has just been successfully tested in the Bahamas.
The scheme relies on a fish-shaped glider that moves freely through the ocean. It can dive down as far as 200 meters below the surface and direct itself by shifting a weight from fore to aft. A microphone attached to the bottom of the glider can pick up calls from all whales, including the high frequency call of the beaked whale, which until now has been difficult to detect. The glider returns periodically to the surface to radio its data back to base, or if that's too far away, it can call a satellite phone and send its information anywhere in the world.
"We are entering a new era of underwater sensing' says Jim Theriault of Defence Research and Development Canada, in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia who ran the trial. "We can put a glider in the Bahamas and monitor it in Nova Scotia. ”
The hope is that naval or other ocean-going operations that use sonar (声呐）will be able to more easily track where whales are, and so avoid using their noisy equipment when they are close by. There is circumstantial evidence that sonar can upset whales and a number of strandings (搁浅）have been seen shortly after naval sonar operations. “We're trying to lower the potential risk by knowing the animals are there，” says Theriault. The shape of the underwater robot is like __________
| A．a man |
| B．a fish |
| C．a snake |
| D．a turtle |
The underwater robot is built to __________.
| A．help whales move to the Bahamas |
| B．help whales give birth to their young |
| C．help ships avoid whales |
| D．help humans kill more whales |
To radio its data back to base, the robot has to __________
| A．dive down as far as 200 meters below the surface |
| B．stay deep in the water |
| C．call a satellite phone |
| D．come to the surface periodically |
The best title for this passage is “ __________ ”.
| A．Whales are in danger |
| B．Whales are difficult to find |
| C．Robot built to kill whales |
| D．Robot built to spy on whales |
Which of the following statements is FALSE?
| A．Whales can be disturbed by naval sonar operations. |
| B．Whales can be disturbed by noisy equipment. |
| C．Whales can be disturbed by noisy ocean-going operations. |
| D．Whales' strandings have nothing to do with naval sonar operations. |
Scientists are racing to build the world's first thinking robot. This is not science fiction： some say they will have made it by the year 2020，Carol Packer reports.
Machines that walk, speak and feel are no longer science fiction. Kismet is the name of an android (人形机器人）which scientists have built at the Massa-chusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Kismet is different from the traditional robot because it can show human emotions. Its eyes, ears and lips move to show when it feels happy, sad or bored. Kismet is one of the first of a new generation of androids—robots that look like human beings—which can imitate human feelings. Cog, another android invented by the MIT, imitates the action of a mother. However, scientists admit that so far Cog has the mental ability of a two-year-old.
The optimists (乐观主义者） say that by the year2020 we will have created humanoids (人形机器人） with brains similar to those of all adult human beings. These robots will be designed to look like people to make them more attractive and easier to sell to the public. What kind of jobs will they do? In the future, robots like Robonaut , a humanoid invented by NASA, will be doing dangerous jobs, like repairing space stations. They will also be doing more and more of the household work for us. In Japan, scientists are designing androids that will entertain us by dancing and playing the piano.
Some people worry about what the future holds：Will robots become monsters(怪物）？ Will people themselves become increasingly like robots? Experts predict that more and more people will be wearing micro-computers，connected to the Internet, in the future. People will have micro-chips in various parts of their body, which will connect them to a wide variety of gadgets (小装置）. Perhaps we should not exaggerate (夸大）the importance of technology, but one wonders whether, in years to come，we will still be falling in love, and whether we will still feel pain. Who knows? Kismet is different from traditional robots because __________.
| A．it thinks for itself |
| B．it is not like science fiction |
| C．it can look after two-year-old children |
| D．it seems to have human feelings |
What makes Cog special?
| A．It looks like a mother. |
| B．It behaves like a child. |
| C．It can imitate the behavior of a mother. |
| D．It has a huge brain. |
In about 10 years' time from now, robots __________
| A．will become space designers |
| B．will look like monsters |
| C．will behave like animals |
| D．will think like humans |
In the future robots will also __________.
| A．explore space |
| B．entertain people |
| C．move much faster |
| D．do all of the housework |
What is the writer's attitude to robots in the future?
| A．Critical. |
| B．Hostile. |
| C．Objective. |
| D．Enthusiastic. |
An underwater robot that can hear the calls of whales, and to help ships to avoid them, has just been successfully tested in the Bahamas.
The scheme relies on a fish-shaped glider that moves freely through the ocean. It can dive down as far as 200 meters below the surface and direct itself by shifting a weight from fore to aft. A microphone attached to the bottom of the glider can pick up calls from all whales, including the high frequency call of the beaked whale, which until now has been difficult to detect. The glider returns periodically to the surface to radio its data back to base, or if that's too far away, it can call a satellite phone and send its information anywhere in the world.
"We are entering a new era of underwater sensing' says Jim Theriault of Defence Research and Development Canada, in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia who ran the trial. "We can put a glider in the Bahamas and monitor it in Nova Scotia. ”
The hope is that naval or other ocean-going operations that use sonar (声呐）will be able to more easily track where whales are, and so avoid using their noisy equipment when they are close by. There is circumstantial evidence that sonar can upset whales and a number of strandings (搁浅）have been seen shortly after naval sonar operations. “We're trying to lower the potential risk by knowing the animals are there，” says Theriault. The shape of the underwater robot is like __________
| A．a man |
| B．a fish |
| C．a snake |
| D．a turtle |
The underwater robot is built to __________.
| A．help whales move to the Bahamas |
| B．help whales give birth to their young |
| C．help ships avoid whales |
| D．help humans kill more whales |
To radio its data back to base, the robot has to __________
| A．dive down as far as 200 meters below the surface |
| B．stay deep in the water |
| C．call a satellite phone |
| D．come to the surface periodically |
The best title for this passage is “ __________ ”.
| A．Whales are in danger |
| B．Whales are difficult to find |
| C．Robot built to kill whales |
| D．Robot built to spy on whales |
Which of the following statements is FALSE?
| A．Whales can be disturbed by naval sonar operations. |
| B．Whales can be disturbed by noisy equipment. |
| C．Whales can be disturbed by noisy ocean-going operations. |
| D．Whales' strandings have nothing to do with naval sonar operations. |
Everyone gathered around and Paddy read out loud, slowly, his tone growing sadder and sadder. The little headline said: BOXER RECEIVES LIFF SENTENCE.
Frank Cleary, aged 26, professional boxer, was today found guilty of the murder of Albert Gumming, aged 32, laborer, last July. The jury（陪审团）reached its decision after only ten minutes, recommending the most severe punishment to the court. It was, said the Judge, a simple case. Cumming and Cleary had quarreled violently at the Harbour Hotel on July 23rd and police saw Cleary kicking at the head of the unconscious Gumming. When arrested, Cleary was drunk but clear-thinking.
Cleary was sentenced to life imprisonment with hard labour. Asked if he had anything to say, Cleary answered, “Just don’t tell my mother.”
“It happened over three years ago,” Paddy said helplessly. No one answered him or moved, for no one knew what to do. “Just don’t tell my mother,” said Fee numbly（麻木地）. “And no one did! Oh, God! My poor, poor Frank!”
Paddy wiped the tears from his face and said. “Fee, pack your things. We’ll go to see him.”
She half-rose before sinking back, her eyes in her small white face stared as if dead. “I can't go,” she said without a hint of pain, yet making everyone feel that the pain was there. “It would kill him to see me. I know him so well—his pride, his ambition. Let him bear the shame alone, it’s what he wants. We’ve got to help him keep his secret. What good will it do him to see us?”
Paddy was still weeping, not for Frank, but for the life which had gone from Fee’s face, for the dying in her eyes. Frank had always brought bitterness and misfortune, always stood between Fee and himself. He was the cause of her withdrawal from his heart and the hearts of his children. Every time it looked as if there might be happiness for Fee, Frank took it away. But Paddy’s love for her was as deep and impossible to wipe out as hers was for Frank.
So he said, “Well, Fee, we won’t go. But we must make sure he is taken care of. How about if I write to Father Jones and ask him to look out for Frank?”
There was no excitement in the eyes, but a faint pink stole into her cheeks. “Yes, Paddy, do that. Only make sure he knows not to tell Frank we found out. Perhaps it would ease Frank to think for certain that we don’t know.”Paddy cried because he thought ___________.
| A．Frank did kill someone and deserved the punishment |
| B．Frank should have told Fee what had happened |
| C．what had happened to Frank was killing Fee |
| D．Frank had always been a man of bad moral character |
The underlined sentence “She half-rose before sinking back…”in Paragraph 6 shows that___________.
| A．Fee was so heart-broken that she could hardly stand up |
| B．Fee didn’t want to upset Paddy by visiting Frank |
| C．Fee couldn’t leave her family to go to see Frank |
| D．Fee struggled between wanting to see Frank and respecting his wish |
What can be inferred from the passage?
| A．The jury and the judge agreed on the Boxer’s Sentence of Life Imprisonment. |
| B．The police found Gumming unconscious, heavily struck by Frank. |
| C．The family didn’t find out what had happened to Frank until 3 years later. |
| D．Frank didn’t want his family to know the sentence to him, most probably out of his pride. |
What is Frank and Paddy’s probable relationship with Fee?
| A．Frank is Fee’s son and Paddy is Fee’s brother． |
| B．Frank is Fee’s son and Paddy is Fee’s husband. |
| C．Frank is Fee’s brother and Paddy is Fee’s lover． |
| D．Frank is Fee’s lover and Paddy is Fee’s husband. |
Humans may not have landed on Mars （火星） just yet, but that isn’t stopping a European company from devising a plan to send four people to the Red Planet within the next few years. This project, called Mars One, aims to send a small group of people to Mars in 2022 and eventually establish a permanent colony on the planet.
“Everything we need to go to Mars exists,” said Mars One co-founder Bas Lansdorp in March 2014. “We have the rockets to send people to Mars, the equipment to land on Mars, the robots to prepare the settlement for humans. For a one-way mission, all the technology exists.” Yet the four astronauts chosen for the trip will be stuck on Mars—forever. And despite Mars One’s thorough planning, there are a number of challenges that may prevent the mission from ever taking place. The biggest road block could be the mission's huge cost （$6 billion）. However, Lansdorp is confident that Mars One will be able to fund the project by selling the broadcast rights for the mission and subsequent experiences living on the planet.
Those broadcast rights will also play a part in helping to select the people who will be sent to Mars. Lansdorp said the company will hold a selection process similar to a reality show. Lansdorp is expecting at least 1 million applications from people around the world. In addition to the cost, several other potential problems could inhibit （阻止） the mission to Mars.
“It’s even more challenging to send people there with life support, with food, with air, with all the other things like books, entertainment, means of communication and of providing for their own resources for a long stay on Mars,” said Adam Baker, senior lecturer in space engineering at Kingston University in London. “The size of the rockets you’d need to do this would be absolutely colossal.”According to Project Mars One, humans could send four people to Mars within the next ________years.
| A．seven | B．eight | C．ten | D．six |
According to Bas Lansdorp, which of the following is NOT TRUE?
| A．Robots are prepared for the settlement for humans. |
| B．He could not come up with the fund for Mars One. |
| C．We humans have the rockets to send people to Mars. |
| D．The equipment is ready for humans to land on Mars． |
The word “colossal” in the last paragraph is closest in meaning to ___________.
| A．very large | B．very small |
| C．medium | D．average |
Which of the following is an appropriate title for this passage?
| A．Ready for a Round Trip to Mars |
| B．Ready for a Short Visit to Mars |
| C．Ready for a One-way Trip to Mars |
| D．Ready for a Walk on Mars |
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