Robots that can chat，find misplaced glasses，draw aeroplanes and play with your children are drawing thousands of visitors’ attention during an expo in Tokyo as Japan adapts to changes in society.
Robots，such as the soundsensitive Chapit，answer simple questions and even joke with people to help the lonely fight loneliness and stay active in old age.
“Many older people in Japan live alone and have no one to talk to，” said Kazuya Kitamura，a representative of the expo organizer.“Communication robots accompany people and don’t mind listening to the same stories over and over again.”
While Chapit，a relatively simple robot，managed to allure a corporate partner，many researchers，such as Kiyoshi Matsumoto，a professor at the University of Tokyo，struggle to interest sponsors for more expensive projects.
Matsumoto’s “Personal Mobility Robot”，equipped with four cameras and a sensor to recognize the user’s centre of gravity，is designed to help the elderly move around without pressing buttons，using joysticks(操纵杆) or rotating(转动) wheels as in traditional wheelchairs.
The robot can also help find misplaced glasses by identifying them with a sensor.
“We have developed a robot that can assist many people，but because of the high cost，we still haven’t found a sponsor，”said Matsumoto，who added that the cost of the machine，if massproduced，would be comparable to that of a car.
“In the current economic environment there are few companies willing to invest in such a costly project，” he said.
Other robots，such as the awardwinning “DiGRO” can support busy parents who have little time to play with their children.
The robot can use the Internet to find a simple image and then draw pictures，keeping children company while their parents work.
Japan has one of the world’s fastestageing societies and the government predicts that by 2050 the proportion of people over 65 will reach 40 percent.The underlined word “allure” in Paragraph 4 can be replaced by ________.
| A．strike | B．exclude |
| C．connect | D．attract |
Personal Mobility Robot can help people ________.
| A．find misplaced glasses |
| B．move around with pressing buttons |
| C．use joysticks |
| D．rotate wheels |
It is difficult to find sponsors for the robots because ________.
| A．Japan is suffering economy depression |
| B．the robots are of poor design |
| C．the production of robots costs a lot |
| D．the future market is worrying |
It can be inferred from the text that ________.
| A．many children lack love from parents |
| B．robots helpful to the old will be in great demand |
| C．robots are the most useful to children |
| D．robots do better than people in healthcare |
Louis Pasteur, the famous French chemist and bacteriologist(微生物学家), invented “pasteurization”. In 1854 Pasteur was made head of the department of science at the University of Lille, and it was there that he made one of his most famous discoveries. Lille was a major center for wine and beer-making, and some of the local wine-makers asked Pasteur if he could help solve the problem of keeping wine fresh. At that time, it was believed that food and drinks go “bad” due to a purely chemical process. But during a series of experiments Pasteur proved that tiny living organisms(微生物)caused food and drinks to go bad. In the case of wine and beer the organisms are already present in the form of the various yeasts (酵母) that caused the fermentation(发酵) process. Pasteur discovered that heating the wine gently for a few minutes after it had fermented would kill off the yeast that was left in the wine, with the result that the wine would remain fresh for much longer. He also proved that food and drinks could be turned bad by other organisms that were present in the air, and that they too would keep fresh much longer if they were kept in airtight containers.
The heating process was so successful that it made Pasteur famous. It was named “pasteurization” in his honour, and by about 1900 it had been widely used for processing and bottling cows’ milk. The result was a huge drop in the number of bottle-fed babies dying from infant diarrhea(婴儿腹泻)and from that time on it has been a standard treatment for milk and many other food products. This simple process has saved thousands, possibly millions, of lives worldwide. Pasteur became ___________ in 1854.
| A．the chairperson of the science department at the University of Lille |
| B．the director of a chemical laboratory at the University of Lille |
| C．the general manager of a large beer-making company |
| D．the president of the University of Lille |
According to the passage, Lille was a major center for ___________ in the mid-19th century.
| A．growing grain crops | B．making beer and wine |
| C．doing chemical research | D．producing various kinds of yeasts |
In the last sentence of Paragraph 1, the underlined word “they” refers to ___________.
| A．wine and beer | B．food and drinks | C．the various yeasts | D．other organisms |
We can infer from the passage that Pasteur’s discovery __________.
| A．is no longer widely used for treating milk and other food products |
| B．did not bring much profit to the wine makers in Lille |
| C．has done a lot of good to children in the world |
| D．has greatly reduced the number of wars in the world |
According to the passage, we know it is that causes food and drinks to go bad.
| A．a purely chemical process. | B．tiny living organisms(微生物) |
| C．keeping them in airtight containers. | D．the heating process |
Did anyone find the names of “Great Britain”, “the United Kingdom”, “England” and “the British commonwealth” which have the same meaning? Strictly speaking, these names all refer to something different. None of them are exactly the same as any of the others.
The British isles refer to the main islands and several thousand small ones as well, which you can see on the map. Great Britain, or Britain, refers to the larger of the two main islands. But the word “Britain” is often used as a short form for the United Kingdom or you call it the UK.
Now as for England, it refers simply to the largest of the three countries on the island of Great Britain. The United Kingdom is the name of the state and the official name of the country, which many people popularly refer to England.
Finally, the Britain commonwealth is the usual name for what is left of the British Empire (帝国). This change shows the weakening of British Empire and the rising of the national liberation movements throughout the world today. According to the passage, we know that _____________.
| A．Great Britain has the same meaning as Britain |
| B．all the names refer to England |
| C．the United Kingdom has the same meaning as Britain or England |
| D．all the names in the first paragraph have the same meaning |
It is clear that the British isles refer to _____________.
| A．Britain, England and the UK |
| B．the two main islands and thousands of small ones |
| C．three countries and several islands |
| D．Great Britain or the United Kingdom |
We can infer that .
| A．The country hasn’t an exact name. |
| B．Few people know its real name. |
| C．All the names have exact meaning. |
| D．Generally speaking,the names can all be used to stand for the country. |
Which of the following shows the right relationship (关系) between the British isles (BI), Britain (B) and England (E)?
A. B>BI>E. B. BI>E>B. C. E>B>BI. D. BI>B>E. If you want to write to someone in Edinburgh that lies in Scotland, you should write the address as _____________.
| A．Edinburgh, England |
| B．Edinburgh, Scotland ,Great Britain |
| C．Scotland, Edinburgh, England |
| D．Great Britain, Scotland, Edinburgh |
We humans love to scare ourselves. Newspapers and TV news are full of shock-horror stories about the killer flu virus(流感病毒)but are there things we can do to cut our risk of catching it?
Every year, people in Britain catch the flu virus and some of those who are already ill, or are very young, may die. It is very sad, but modern treatment means that many deaths can be avoided.
Experts tell us that the world is another flu epidemic(流行)and that the latest bird-flu virus would be the most likely cause. Humans can catch the disease only after closely contacting with a sick bird. However, if someone who had normal flu was to come into contact with bird flu, this could be very dangerous. The bird flu virus could attach(附在)itself to the human flu virus, mutate and then start to spread from person to person.
Coughs and sneezes(打喷嚏)always have spread diseases, especially colds and flu, and they still do. If bird flu does begin to infect humans, it will spread through coughs and sneezes.
If you want to stay free of flu and someone coughs or sneezes at you, what should you do?
First, keep your hands away from your face and wash them and your face as soon as you can. If a cough or a sneeze spray misses your face and you accidentally touch a droplet with your hands and then touch your face, the flu or cold bug could creep into your system. The chances of most people catching bird flu are very small because __________.
| A．they are strong enough to resist the infection |
| B．only after closely contacting a sick bird can they be infected |
| C．bird flu does not happen very often in the world |
| D．only those who are ill can be infected |
In the passage the underlined word “mutate” probably means“__________”.
| A．differ | B．produce | C．increase | D．change |
If a man with common flu is infected with bird flu, __________.
| A．there must be no cure for him |
| B．the disease will spread among humans |
| C．he must feel cold |
| D．he is likely to die |
Which of the following statements is true according to the passage?
| A．Bird flu is the most dangerous disease. |
| B．Normal flu can be easily changed into Bird flu. |
| C．We don’t need to worry about flu virus. |
| D．The person who has normal flu and comes into contact with bird flu can easily get Bird flu. |
The last paragraph of the passage tells us __________.
| A．the reason why people with flu often cough |
| B．coughs and sneezes are very dangerous |
| C．how to protect ourselves from being infected |
| D．how to avoid coughs and sneezes |
A 16-year-old boy finds himself on a boat in the Pacific Ocean after escaping a shipwreck(海难). Even worse, he is left with a huge tiger for company. But he manages to survive after 227 days of fighting against all the hardships of the sea.
Pi, the lead character in Oscar-winning Ang Lee’s new movie Life of Pi, went through an inspiring journey of growth and self-discovery. So did 19-year-old Suraj Sharma, the Indian actor who plays him.
But it was a lucky chance that opened up the opportunity for the new star. Sharma was a regular student who lived with his mathematician parents in Delhi, India. As the director traveled to Mumbai to find his Pi, the teenager went along with his younger brother, who had acted in a couple of movies, to audition(试镜). But little did Sharma know that he would end up winning the role from 3, 000 hopefuls.
Lee said he saw Pi in Sharma: “Not only does he have a compelling and wise look. He has this rare talent.” The director said that in the final round, Sharma gave one of the “most compelling readings we had. In the end, he was in tears.” Understandably, Sharma didn’t want to let Lee down. “He (Lee) had given me this opportunity. I had to give it my best,” Sharma told the Philippine Daily Inquirer.
Sharma swam for four or five hours a day until he was completely comfortable with the water. He also worked on his body because he had to first gain weight and then quickly lose weight as the story developed. He even had rats run all over him to prepare for his role. Lee was impressed by the teenager, especially his endurance and patience in staying in a water tank for many hours each day. Sharma was only 16 when Lee signed him. After three years of shooting, Sharma said he had matured with Pi’s journey.What is the function of the first paragraph?
| A．To introduce the topic of the passage. |
| B．To appeal to readers to watch a movie. |
| C．To attract readers to continue reading. |
| D．To suggest the theme of this passage. |
We can know from the passage that ________.
| A．Sharma wanted to become a mathematician |
| B．Sharma had acted in a couple of movies |
| C．Sharma was sure to win in the audition |
| D．Many teenagers wanted to act the role Pi |
What does the phrase “to let somebody down” in Paragraph 4 mean?
| A．To make somebody disappointed. |
| B．To seat somebody down. |
| C．To reject somebody’s requirement. |
| D．To take down somebody’s information. |
Which of the following words can be used to describe Sharma?
| A．Confident and passionate. |
| B．Talented and diligent. |
| C．Strong and courageous. |
| D．Endurable and easily-excited. |
The passage is intended to introduce ________.
| A．the thrilling escape from a shipwreck |
| B．how an Oscar-winning movie attracts audience |
| C．a young actor became matured when acting in a movie |
| D．the difficulty in winning a role in a movie |
China's top labor official said the country is planning to push back the age at which workers can retire.
Yin Weimin, minister of human resources and social security, demonstrated that we did not put a timetable on the move when he spoke about it during a forum at the weekend.
"Delaying the retirement age is a very complicated issue and we will study it according to the situations of population and employment and consider different groups of people," Yin said.
He noted that hikes in the retirement age have been brought in by many countries and can be a good way to deal with an aging population and ensure the healthy and stable development of social security.
The life expectancy of Chinese people is now 73 years and is expected to rise to 74 during the next five years, he said.
Nearly three out of 10 Chinese people will be older than 60 by 2040, according to a United Nations forecast.
The retirement age in China currently is 60 for men and 55 for female civil servants and 50 for female workers.
The idea of delaying the retirement age is being widely supported by government officials, while many laborers and non-government employees were less enthusiastic about the prospect of working for longer. Currently, they have to pay into their pension plans for at least 15 years before they can retire.
Chen Xianlian, a female worker at a motorcycle parts manufacturer in Chongqing municipality is among those who would like to see the retirement age left as it is. “I have to do lots of tough and repetitive work every day and I feel very tired after my working day,” the 41-year-old said. “All my colleagues are discussing the government's possible move to lift the retirement age. None of us wants to work any extra years.”
University graduates also fear that any rise in the retirement age could limit their employment opportunities.We can learn from the passage that ________.
| A．China is not planning to push back the age at which workers can retire |
| B．China is discussing the problem of delaying the retirement age now |
| C．China is probably going to delay the retirement age |
| D．China has pushed back the age at which workers can retire |
The underlined word “hikes” in Paragraph 4 means ________.
| A．increasing | B． marching | C． pushing | D． discussing |
According to the current policy, Chen Xianlian has to work ________ more years from now before her retirement
| A．14 | B． 9 | C． 19 | D． 15 |
Which of the following is true according to the passage?
| A．All the Chinese people support the new policy. |
| B．The life expectancy of Chinese people is expected to rise to 73 during the next five years. |
| C．The retirement age in China will be 60 for men and 55 for female civil servants and 50 for female workers. |
| D．The government did not set a fixed timetable on the new policy. |
It can be inferred from the text that ________.
| A．Chen Xianlian is a civil servant. |
| B．Delaying the retirement age is a very complicated issue. |
| C．Many countries have begun to delay the retirement age. |
| D．It may be harder for the university graduate to find a job in the future. |
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