While small may be beautiful，tall is just plain uncomfortable it seems，particularly when it comes to staying in hotels and eating in restaurants.
The Tall Persons Club Great Britain (TPCGB)，which was formed six months ago to campaign for the needs of the tall，has turned its attention to hotels and restaurants.Beds that are too small，shower heads that are too low，and restaurant tables with hardly any legroom all make life difficult for those of above average height，it says.
But it is not just the extratall whose needs are not being met.The average height of the population has been increasing yet the standard size of beds，doorways，and chairs has remained unchanged.
“The bedding industry says a bed should be six inches larger than the person using it，so even a kingsize bed at 6′6″ (6 feet and 6 inches) is falling short for 25% of men，while the standard 6′3″ bed caters for less than half of the male population，” said TPCGB president Phil Heinricy，“Sevenfoot beds would work fine.”
Similarly，restaurant tables can cause no end of problems.Small tables，which mean the longlegged have to sit a foot or so away from them，are enough to make tall customers go elsewhere.
Some have already taken note，however.At Queens Moat Houses’ Caledonian Hotel in Edinburgh，6′6″ beds are now put in as standard after requests for longer beds from taller visitors，particularly Americans. (2011·新课标全国，B)What is the purpose of the TPCGB campaign?
| A．To provide better services. |
| B．To rebuild hotels and restaurants. |
| C．To draw public attention to the needs of the tall. |
| D．To attract more people to become its members. |
Which of the following might be a bed of proper length according to Phil Heinricy?
| A．7′2″. | B．7′. | C．6′6″. | D．6′3″. |
What may happen to restaurants with small tables?
| A．They may lose some customers. |
| B．They may start businesses elsewhere. |
| C．They have to find easy chairs to match the tables. |
| D．They have to provide enough space for the longlegged. |
What change has already been made in a hotel in Edinburgh?
| A．Tall people pay more for larger beds. |
| B．6′6″ beds have taken the place of 6′3″ beds. |
| C．Special rooms are kept for Americans. |
| D．Guest rooms are standardized. |
Surtsey was born in 1963. Scientists saw the birth of this island．It began at 7：30 am . on 14th November . A fishing boat was near Iceland．The boat moved under the captain's (船长的) feet . He noticed a strange smell．He saw some black smoke ．A volcano (火山) was breaking out . Red hot rocks，fire and smoke were rushing up from the bottom of the sea . The island grew quickly．It was 10 metres high the next day and 60 metres high on 18th November. Scientists flew there to watch．It was exciting．Smoke and fire were still rushing up. Pieces of red hot rock were flying into the air and falling into the sea. The sea was boiling and there was a strange light in the sky. Surtsey grew and grew. Then it stopped in June 1967. It was 175 metres high and 2 kilometres 1ong．And life was already coming to Surtsey. Plants grew．Birds came．Some scientists built a house．They wanted to learn about this young island．
A new island is like a new world．
When did scientists fly there to watch the birth of the island?
| A．Before the volcano broke out. |
| B．On 14th November 1963 . |
| C．About four days after the volcano broke out . |
| D．In June 1967. |
Put the following sentences in correct order .
a. Some scientists built a house on Surtsey to learn about this island .
b. The captain saw fire , smoke and rocks rushing up .
c. The sea was boiling .
d. A fishing boat was near Iceland .
e. A new island appeared in the sea .
| A．a-b-c-d-e | B．d-a-c-b-e |
| C．d-c-b-a-e | D．d-b-c-e-a |
The best title of the text is .
| A．New Discovery . |
| B．The Birth of An Island. |
| C．A Captain and An Island . |
| D．How Does A Volcano Break Out. |
The global population is living longer，and getting older，which presents new challenges. “The question becomes：who will take care of everyone? While people will always be the best caregivers for people，there just aren’t enough people. That’s where robotic technology can really make a difference,” says Professor Maja Mataric at the University of Southern California.
Her group is developing robots to work with stroke (中风) patients and elderly people. The research team has found that people react well to a robot gym instructor，and seem to get less frustrated with it than with instructions given on a computer screen. The robot can act as a perfect trainer，with infinite(极大的) patience.
“People say things like ‘I prefer this robot to my husband！Can I take it home?’” according to Professor Mataric. “In fact there’s a really important point here. As we create these care giving technologies，we’re helping not only the people that need the care，but also the people caring for them. We can give them a break，and help them avoid burnout.”
People are going to have to like，and importantly trust robots before they welcome them into their homes，and several groups around the world are working on making it easier to communicate with them.
Much of human communication takes place through body language. Gestures， eye contact , and concepts of personal space are all things that robots are being taught. In learning about how people interact(互动) with machines，researchers are also discovering new roles for robots in our lives. Robots can communicate with humans in ways that other technologies can not.
“If someone finds the robot to be more persuasive and more reliable，that’s going to affect how they interact with it,” says Dr Cynthia Breazeal, director of the Personal Robots Group at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. “We can now start to think about fields where it’s the social interaction，which is the main means by which a robot helps someone.” Dr Breazeal says that means robots could be used in education，learning，and health care，where social support is important.
Professor Maja Mataric mainly focused on robots’ function of ________.
| A．teaching | B．exploring |
| C．making things | D．giving care |
Why can robots be wonderful trainers in the gym?
| A．Because they are more clever. |
| B．Because they give correct instructions. |
| C．Because they cost less money. |
| D．Because they are more patient. |
The underlined word “burnout” in Paragraph 3 probably means “________”．
| A．feeling tired | B．feeling angry |
| C．getting hurt | D．becoming disappointed |
The scientists are presently working hard to help robots .
| A．to use less electricity | B．to communicate better |
| C．to react more quickly | D．to have more functions |
I walked down the hall heading to see my 88-year-old grandma who had been in hospital. Each member of the family was taking turns sitting with her because of her dementia (痴呆). As I did I looked very carefully at some of the rooms on this wing of the hospital, and it seemed that almost every bed held an elderly person. Some appeared to be confused, and some just looked lonely. I couldn’t help but notice that there was no family there, no one to care them, and no one to reduce the ache of loneliness. My heart broke inside me.
They are aging, with withered (萎缩的) skin on their faces and hands, their eyes look tried, and yet no one notices them. Could it be that we are far too busy to slow down and give a moment of our time to anyone that may swerve (使突然转向) us off the course we are traveling on? Are we afraid of those who have come before us to pave the way, afraid that they carry some awful disease that if we get too close we might catch it?
Whatever the case may be, one day we will be those same people that we long to avoid. We pay thousands of dollars for staying young, and we may turn up the music to forget the thoughts of getting older. But, try as we might, time and age will catch up with us.
We seem to have come to detest (嫌恶) the elderly. While we once held them in high regard and honor, always enjoying their stories of history, we now see them as a pain, always in our way. Isn’t it time we wake up?
So, next time you see a withered hand extended in need, or peer into the eyes of a lonely aging face, don’t run or look away. Remember, it might just be you in that place one day.What made the author deeply sad?
| A．The poor food for the patients. |
| B．The sight he saw in the hospital. |
| C．The hopeless patients in the hospital. |
| D．The bad service of the hospital. |
What’s people’s excuse for not visiting the old?
| A．They are too busy. |
| B．They can’t afford it. |
| C．They live too far away. |
| D．They usually travel abroad. |
What can we learn from the passage?
| A．Time will tell the truth. |
| B．People are afraid of being old. |
| C．A doctor is important to old people. |
| D．Respecting elderly people is a good tradition. |
What does the author advise us to do in the last paragraph?
| A．Respect the old. |
| B．Get along well with the old. |
| C．Help and pay attention to the old. |
| D．Spend more time with our parents. |
After mom died, I began visiting my father every morning before I went to work. He was weak and moved slowly, but he always had a glass of freshly squeezed orange juice on the kitchen table for me, along with an unsigned note, reading, ‘Drink your juice.” Such a gesture, I knew, was as far as my father had ever been able to do in expressing his love. In fact, I remember, as a kid I had questioned mom, “Why doesn’t father love me?” Mom frowned, “Who said he doesn’t love you?” “Well , he never tells me,” I complained. “He never tells me either.” She said, smiling. “But look how hard he works to take care of us, to buy us food and clothes, and to pay for this house. That’s how your father tells us he loves us.”
I nodded slowly. I understood in my head, but not in my heart. I still wanted my father to put his arms around me and tell me he loved me. He owned and operated a small scrap metal (废旧金属) business, and after school I often hung around while he worked. He fed scrap steel into a device that chopped it as cleanly as a butcher chops a rack of ribs. The machine looked like a giant pair of scissors, with blades thicker than my father’s body. If he didn’t feed those terrifying blades just right, he risked serious injury. “Why don’t you hire someone to do that for you?” mom asked him one night as she bent over him and rubbed his aching shoulders with a strong smelling liniment. “Why don’t you hire a cook?” my father asked, giving her one of his rare smiles.
Many years later, during my first daily visit, after drinking the juice my father had squeezed for me, I walked over, hugged him and said, “I love you, father.” From then on I did this every morning. My father never told me how he felt about my hugs, and there was never any expression on his face when I gave them.
The author’s father always prepared a glass of freshly squeezed orange juice for him because .
| A．that was the author’s favorite |
| B．he was sure the author would be thirsty |
| C．the author was always complaining |
| D．that was a gesture of love |
The author’s fathe didn’t hire a helper because .
| A．his job was too dangero |
| B．his job required high skills |
| C．he wanted to save money |
| D．he was not good at working with others |
We can infer from the passage that .
| A．the author’s father lacked a sense of humor |
| B．the author quite understood his father as time went on |
| C．the author’s father didn’t love him very much |
| D．the author’s father was too strict with him |
What’s the passage about?
| A．The proper attitude towards life. |
| B．The importance of education. |
| C．Silent fatherly love. |
| D．Ways to live happily. |
Here’s something to think about the next time you ask your teacher for help：trying hard to do schoolwork on your own can help you learn．According to a recent study，the more you try while you are learning new information，the better you can remember it later．
This might surprise you．When teachers are presenting new information，they often give students lots of help．But a new study shows this may not be the best way to support learning．“Don’t be too quick to get help when learning something new，”education expert Manu Kapur said．“Try to work on it yourself even if it means trying different ways．’’
Kapur came up with the idea that trying hard can lead to better learning．Then he tested it out on students in Singapore．He separated students into two groups．In the first group，students were asked to solve math problems with the teacher’s help．In the second group，students were asked to solve the same problems by helping one another，instead of getting help from the teacher．
With the teacher’s help，students in the first group were able to find the correct answers．Students in the second group did not solve the problems correctly．But they did come up with a lot of good ideas．
The students were then tested on what they had 1earned．The group without any help from a teacher scored much higher than the group who had help．Kapur said working to find the answers helped students understand the process(过程)，not just the solution．
Kapur’s advice for kids is to put a 1ot of effort(努力)into learning something new rather than going to your teacher for help．“Simply doing a little work or nothing at all won’t work.”says Kapur．“Try to solve a problem in as many ways as possible．’’
What is the best title for the text?
| A．Work Your Mind |
| B．Practice Makes Perfect |
| C．The Best Way to Learn |
| D．Teachers’ Role in Schoolwork |
Manu Kapur holds that _______ ．
| A．it’s necessary for students to ask for teachers’ help |
| B．students should try to solve problems by themselves |
| C．students with teachers’ help have more good ideas |
| D．students in the first group are cleverer than those in the second group |
The author develops the text mainly by _________ ．
| A．presenting research findings |
| B．comparing different opinions |
| C．showing scientific information |
| D．setting down general rules |
粤公网安备 44130202000953号