Have you dreamed of building your own machine? Do you wish you could invent something new? Here we look at a few British inventions of recent times.
Adaptable glasses
Do you wear glasses? If so, can you imagine life without them? In 1985, Joshua Silver, a professor at Oxford University, asked himself, “Can I invent a pair of glasses that could be changed by the wearer?” He designed two plastic lenses（透镜）that are filled with a special liquid. Using syringes（注射器）you change the liquid between the lenses until you can see clearly. The glasses are not beautiful but they are easy to use and cheap to make.
The wind-up radio
When you switch your TV on tonight, think about all those people without electricity. Thinking about this, Trevor Baylis came up with the idea of designing a radio that could be powered by hand. In common with Joshua Silver he wanted his invention to be cheap and easy to use. He wanted even the poorest people in developing countries, who don’t have electricity and cannot afford batteries, to use it. The radio has a generator (发电机) which is powered by turning a handle. In 1996 it won a BBC Design Award for Best Protect and Best Design.
The Dyson cleaner
In many homes around the world you can see a cleaner that looks like a spaceship. This is the Dyson vacuum (真空) cleaner which uses something called “cyclonic separation” to separate the dirt. You do not need a bag for your cleaner and it does not get blocked so it is very practical. The idea came to Sir James Dyson after he kept having problems with his vacuum cleaner. He decided he could design a better one and in 1993 he opened his own factory. The Dyson is now one of the best-selling cleaners in the UK and Dyson is believed to have earned over a billion pounds.
The Zapata fly-board
Ever dreamed of zooming through the water and leaping in the air like a dolphin? Now you can thanks to a fly-board, built by water sports enthusiast Frank Zapata. With it you can dive back in the water and out again. It’s possible to jump to incredible heights out of the water — over 30 feet. The basic fly-board model comes in at ￡4,200.
So keep dreaming and inventing. One day you might get it right. What can we learn about Adaptable glasses?
| A．They are very expensive. | B．The inventor is a student. |
| C．The glasses are fragile. | D．They don’t look very nice. |
Which invention won an award?
| A．Adaptable glasses. | B．The wind-up radio. |
| C．The Dyson cleaner. | D．The Zapata fly-board. |
The Dyson cleaner was invented with the purpose of _________.
| A．helping people use cleaners more easily |
| B．making Dyson a rich businessman |
| C．keeping the house cleaner than before |
| D．taking the place of human cleaners |
Supermarkets are trying out new computers that make shopping carts more intelligent (具备智能的). They will help shoppers find cups or toilet soap, and keep a record of the bill.
The touch-screen devices (触摸屏装置) are on show at the Food Marketing Institute's exhibition here this week. "These devices are able to create value and get you around the store quicker," said Michael Alexandor, manager of Springboard Retail Networks Inc., which makes a smart cart computer called the Concierge.
Canadian stores will test the Concierge in July. A similar device, IBM's "shopping buddy," has recently been test-marketed at Stop & Shop stores in Massachusetts.
Neither device tells you how many fat grams or calories are in your cart, but they will flash you with items on sale. The idea is to make it easier for people to buy, not to have second thoughts that maybe you should put something back on the shelf.
"The whole model is driven by advertisers' need to get in front of shoppers," said Alexandor. "They're not watching 30-second TV ads anymore."
People can use a home computer to make their shopping lists. Once at the store, a shopper can use a preferred customer card to start a system (系统) that will organize the trip around the store. If you're looking for toothpicks, you type in the word or pick it from a list, and a map will appear on the screen showing where you are and where you can find them.
The devices also keep a record of what you buy. When you're finished, the device figures out your bill. Then you go to the checker or place your card into a self-checkout stand and pay.
The new computerized shopping assistants don't come cheap. The Buddy devices will cost the average store about $160,000, and the Concierge will cost stores about $500 for each device.
53. The underlined word “they” (Paragraph 1) refers to_________.
A．supermarkets B．shop assistants C．shopping carts D．shop managers
54. Which of the following is the correct order of shopping with the computerized shopping carts?
a. Start the system. b. Make a shopping list.
c. Find the things you want. D. Go to a self-checkout stand.
A．abdc B．bacd C．acbd D．bcad
55. We can learn from the last paragraph that_________.
A．intelligent shopping carts cost a large sum of money
B．the Concierge is cheaper than the Buddy devices
C．shop assistants with computer knowledge are well paid
D．average stores prefer the Concierge to the Buddy devices
56. What might be the most suitable title for the text?
A．New age for supermarkets
B．Concierge and Shopping Buddy
C．New computers make shopping carts smarter
D．Touch-screen devices make shopping enjoyable
When I was small and my grandmother died, I couldn’t understand why I had no tears. But that night when my dad tried to cheer me up, my laugh turned into crying.
. So it came as no surprise to learn that researchers believe crying and laughing come from the same part of the brain. Just as laughing has many health advantages, scientists are discovering that so, too, does crying.
Whatever it takes for us to reduce pressure is important to our emotional (情感的) health, and crying seems to study found that 85 percent of women and 73 percent of men report feeling better after crying.
Besides, tears attract help from other people. Researchers agree that when we cry, people around us become kinder and friendly and they are more ready to provide support and comfort. Tears also enable us to understand our emotions better; sometimes we don't even know we're very sad until we cry. We learn about our emotions through Crying, and then we can deal with them.
Just as crying can be healthy, not crying — holding back tears of anger, pain or suffering — can be bad for physical (身体的) health, Studies have shown that too much control of emotions can lead to high blood pressure, heart problems and some other illnesses. If you have a health problem, doctors will certainly not ask you to cry. But when you feel like crying, don't fight it. It's a natural — and healthy — emotional response (反应).
60. Why didn't the author cry when her grandmother died?
A. Because her father did not --ant her to feel too sad.
B. Because she did not love her grandmother.
C. Because she was too shy to cry at that time.
D. Tie author doesn’t give the explanation.
61, It can be inferred from the text that ______.
A. there are two ways to keep healthy
B. crying does more good to health than laughing
C. crying and laughing play the same roles
D. emotional health has a close relationship to physical health
62. According to the author, which of the following statements is true?
A. Crying is the best way to get help from others.
B. Fighting back tears may cause some health problems.
C. We will never know our deep feelings unless we cry.
D. We must cry if we want to reduce pressure.
63. What might be the most suitable title for the text?
A. Power of Tears B. How to Keep Healthy
C. Why We Cry D. A New Scientific Discovery
Good tool design is important in the prevention of overuse injuries. Well-designed tools and equipment will require less force to operate them and prevent awkward（别扭的）hand positions. They will allow the worker to keep the elbows（肘）next to the body to prevent damage to the shoulder and arm.
Overuse injuries can therefore be prevented or reduced if the employer provides, and workers use:
●power tools rather than having to use muscle（肌肉）power
●tools with specially designed handles that allow the wrist（手腕）to keep straight （See figure 1）. This means that hands and wrists are kept in the same position as they would be if they were hanging relaxed at a person’s side
 |
Figure1. Bend the tool, not the wrist
●tools with handles that can be held comfortably by the whole hand. This means having a selection of sizes—remember that tools that provide a comfortable firm Hold for a person with a very large hand may be awkward for someone with a very small hand. This is a particularly important consideration for women who may use tools originally designed for men.
●tools that do not press fingers (or flesh) between the handles, and whose handles do not have sharp edges or a small surface area.
60. What is the best title for the passage?
A. Good tool Design for Women B. Importance of Good Tool Design
C. Tool Design and Prevention of Injuries D. Overuse of Tools and Worker Protection
61. Which of the following describes a well-designed tool?
A. It’s kept close to the body. B. It fully uses muscle power.
C. It makes users feel relaxed. D. It’s operated with less force.
62. What is Figure 1 used to show?
A. The effective use of the tool. B. The way of operating the tool.
C. The proper design of the handle. D. The purpose of bending the wrist.
63. In choosing tools for women, _____of the handle is the most important.
A. the size B. the edge C. the shape D. the position
As any homemaker who has tried to keep order at the dinner table knows, there is far more to a family meal than food. Sociologist Michael Lewis has been studying 50 families to find out just how much more.
Lewis and his co-workers carried out their study by videotaping (录像) the families while they ate ordinary meals in their own homes. They found that parents with small families talk actively with each other and their children. But as the number of children gets larger, conversation gives way to the parents’ efforts to control the loud noise they make. That can have an important effect on the children. “In general the more question-asking the parents do, the higher the children’s IQ scores,” Lewis says. “And the more children there are, the less question-asking there is.”
The study also provides an explanation for why middle children often seem to have a harder time in life than their siblings (兄弟姐妹). Lewis found that in families with three or four children, dinner conversation is likely to center on the oldest child, who has the most to talk about, and the youngest, who needs the most attention. “Middle children are invisible,” says Lewis. “When you see someone get up from the table and walk around during dinner, chances are it’s the middle child.” There is, however, one thing that stops all conversation and prevents anyone from having attention: “When the TV is on,” Lewis says, “dinner is a non-event.”
66．The writer’s purpose in writing the text is to _________.
A．show the relationship between parents and children
B．teach parents ways to keep order at the dinner table
C．report on the findings of a study
D．give information about family problems
67．Parents with large families ask fewer questions at dinner because ____________.
A．they are busy serving food to their children
B．they are busy keeping order at the dinner table
C．they have to pay more attention to younger children
D．they are tired out having prepared food for the whole family
68．By saying “Middle children are invisible” in Paragraph 3, Lewis means that middle children _________.
A．have to help their parents to serve dinner
B．get the least attention from the family
C．are often kept away from the dinner table
D．find it hard to keep up with other children
69．Lewis’ research provides an answer to the question _________.
A．why TV is important in family life
B．why parents should keep good order
C．why children in small families seem to be quieter
D．why middle children seem to have more difficulties in life
70．Which of the following statements would the writer agree to?
A．It is important to have the right food for children.
B．It is a good idea to have the TV on during dinner.
C．Parents should talk to each of their children frequently.
D．Elder children should help the younger ones at dinner
Have you ever had the strange feeling that you were being watched? You turned around and, sure enough, someone was looking right at you!
Parapsychologists（灵学家）say that humans have a natural ability to sense when someone is looking at them. To research whether such a “sixth sense” really exists, Robert Baker, a psychologist（心理学家）at the University of Kentucky, performed two experiments.
In the first one, Baker sat behind unknowing people in public places and stared at the backs of their heads for 5 to 15 minutes. The subjects（受试者）were eating, drinking, reading studying, watching TV, or working at a computer. Baker made sure that the people could not tell that he was sitting behind them during those periods. Later, when he questioned the subjects, almost all of them said they had no sense that someone was staring at them.
For the second experiment, Baker told the subjects that they would be stared at from time to time from behind a two way mirror in a laboratory setting. The people had to write down when they felt they were being stared at and when they weren’t. Baker found that the subjects were no better at telling when they were stared at and when they weren’t. Baker found that the subjects were no better at telling when they were started at than if they had just guessed.
Baker concludes that people do not have the ability to sense when they’re being stared at. If people doubt the outcome of his two experiments, said Baker, “I suggest they repeat the experiments and see for themselves.”
68. The purpose of the two experiments is to .
A. explain when people can have a sixth sense
B. show how people act while being watched in the lab
C. study whether humans can sense when they are stared at
D. prove why humans have a sixth sense
69. In the first experiment, the subjects .
A. were not told that they would be stared at
B. lost their sense when they were stared at
C. were not sure when they would be stared at
D. were uncomfortable when they were stared at
70. The underlined word “outcome” in the last paragraph most probably means .
A. value B. result C. performance D. connection
71. What can be learned from the passage?
A. People are born with a sixth sense.
B. The experiments support parapsychologists’ idea.
C. The subjects do not have a sixth sense in the experiments.
D. People have a sixth sense in public places.
粤公网安备 44130202000953号