TOKYO, Japan (AP) – Japan is very serious about robotics (机器人技术). If the droids are going to fit in, they probably need to learn the Japanese custom of serving tea. Fortunately, researchers at the University of Tokyo are exploring just that. In a show this week, a humanoid（有人类特点的）with camera eyes made by Kawada Industries Inc. poured tea from a bottle into a cup. Then another robot on wheels delivered the cup of tea in an experimental room that has sensors embedded in the floor and sofa as well as cameras on the ceiling, to simulate（模仿）life with robot technology.
“A human being may be faster, but you’d have to say ‘Thank you,’” said University of Tokyo professor Tomomasa Sato. “That’s the best part about a robot. You don’t have to feel bad about asking it to do things.”
Sato believes Japan, a rapidly aging society where more than a fifth of the population is 65 or older, will lead the world in designing robots to care for the elderly, sick and bedridden（卧床不起的）.
Already, monitoring technologies, such as sensors that automatically turn on lights when people enter a room, are becoming widespread in Japan.
The walking, child–size Asimo from Honda Motor Co. greets people at showrooms. NEC Corp. has developed a smaller companion robot–on–wheels called Papero. A seal robot available since 2004 can entertain the elderly and others in need of fuzzy companionship.
Sato says his experimental room is raising awareness about privacy questions that may arise when electronic devices（设备）monitor a person’s movements down to the smallest detail.
On the bright side, the tea – pouring humanoid has been programmed to do the dishes.What is the best title of this passage?
| A．“Thank You” Will Never Be Needed in Japan |
| B．Monitoring Technologies Are Widespread in Japan |
| C．Robot Is Designed to Care for the Elderly. |
| D．Robot Technologies Are Widespread in Japanese Daily Life. |
The underlined word “embedded” in the first paragraph probably means .
| A．fixed | B．established |
| C．settled | D．rooted |
According to Professor Sato, .
| A．the robot serves tea much faster than a human being |
| B．the robot does anything like human beings |
| C．tea – serving robot helps to form laziness of the aging society |
| D．tea – serving robot doesn’t need any reward for the service |
Which of the following statements is NOT true?
| A．A robot can imitate people to complete complicated tasks. |
| B．A robot has been programmed to clean the dishes. |
| C．All the problems in the aging society can be solved by robots. |
| D．The number of aging people is increasing rapidly in Japan. |
We can infer from the passage that .
| A．people are afraid of being monitored by robots. |
| B．the technology of robots has been highlighted in Japan. |
| C．robots can completely take the place of human beings. |
| D．people’s privacy should be strictly protected |
A recent study, published in last week’s Journal of the American Medical Association, offers a picture of how risky(冒险的) it is to get a lift from a teenage driver. Indeed, a 16-year-old driver with three or more passengers is three times as likely to have a deadly accident as a teenager driving alone, while the risk of death for drivers between 30 and 59 decreases with each additional passenger.
The authors also found that the death rates for teenage drivers increased sharply after 10 p.m., and especially after midnight. With passengers in the car, the driver was even more likely to die in a late-night accident.
Robert Foss, a scientist at the University of North Carolina Highway Safety Research Center, says the higher death rates for teenage drivers have less to do with “really stupid behavior” than with just a lack of driving experience. “The basic issue,” he says, “is that adults who are responsible for issuing licenses fail to recognize how complex and skilled a task driving is.”
Both he and the author of the study believe that the way to mitigate (使……缓解)the problem is to have states set up so-called graduated licensing systems, in which getting a license is a multistage process. A graduated license requires that a teenager first prove himself capable of driving in the presence of an adult, followed by a period of driving with night or passenger limits, before graduating to full driving licenses.
Graduated licensing systems have reduced teenage driver crashes, according to recent studies. About half of the states now have some sort of graduated licensing system in place, but only 10 of those states have limits on passengers. California is the strictest, with a new driver under 20 forbidden to carry any passenger (without the presence of an adult over 25) for the first six months.Which of the following situations can we infer is most dangerous according to the passage?
| A．A teenager driving after midnight with passengers in the car. |
| B．Adults giving a lift to teenagers on the highway after 10 p.m. |
| C．Adults driving with three or more teenage passengers late at night. |
| D．A teenager getting a lift from a stranger on the highway at midnight. |
According to Robert Foss, the high death rate of teenage drivers is mainly because of _______.
| A．their frequent driving at night |
| B．their improper ways of driving |
| C．their driving with passengers |
| D．their lack of driving experience |
According to Paragraph 3, which of the following statements is TRUE?
| A．The licensing departments are partly responsible for teenagers' driving accidents. |
| B．Driving is too complex a skill for teenagers to learn. |
| C．Teenagers should be forbidden to apply to take driving lessons. |
| D．Teenagers should spend more time learning to drive. |
A suggested measure to be taken to reduce teenagers' driving accidents is that_______.
| A．driving in the presence of an adult should be made a rule |
| B．the licensing system should be improved |
| C．they should not be allowed to drive after 10 p.m. |
| D．they should be forbidden to take on passengers |
President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama ended their first trip to India on Monday. The First Couple set off on the ten-day tour of Asia on Friday. Obama’s goals for the tour are to improve ties between the US and the region, and to promote (促进) economic growth and job creation. The President and his team will return to Washington, D.C. on November 14.
The Obamas began their trip in Mumbai, India, the financial and economic center of the country, on November 6. There, they met with government officials, business leaders and school groups. Up first on the schedule was a visit to a memorial at the TajMahal Palace and Tower Hotel. Obama’s second day in India was lighter than the first. The Presidential visit took place on Diwali, or the Festival of Lights. The five-day religious festival is celebrated each year by Hindus, Sikhs and others. The Obamas spent the holiday visiting with local schoolchildren.
On Monday, Michelle Obama joined 15 Indian school girls on a field trip to a museum of Indian craft work. During the tour, the First Lady stressed to the students the importance of education. Most of the children on the trip are the first girls in their families to attend school. Mrs Obama also encouraged the young women to stay fit, telling them that she likes to exercise because “women have to stay strong”.
Early tomorrow, the Obamas will travel to Indonesia, the country in which the President spent four years as a boy. After that, they will fly to Seoul, South Korea, to attend the Group of Twenty, or G-20, economic summit. The conference brings together leaders from 20 wealthy and developing nations and the European Union. They meet twice a year to address challenges that affect the global economy.
The final leg of the tour will be in Japan, where Obama will attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit. According to Paragraph 1, what are the goals for the ten-day tour?
a. To improve ties between the US and Asia.
b. To do sight-seeing in the countries.
c. To help economy grow faster.
d. To help create more jobs.
| A．abc | B．acd | C．ad | D．abcd |
What is Paragraph 2 mainly about?
| A．What the First Couple did in India. |
| B．How long the First Couple stayed in India. |
| C．Introduction to a traditional holiday in India. |
| D．What the First Couple thought of their tour in India. |
During the field trip to a museum of Indian craft work, the First Lady _____.
| A．asked why only the first girls could go to school |
| B．told the students the importance of craft work |
| C．explained why women must stay strong |
| D．encouraged the students to study hard |
We can know from the passage that Mr Obama _____.
| A．will stay in Indonesia for four days |
| B．will stay in Japan for the shortest time |
| C．hasn’t attended the Group of Twenty before |
| D．will attend an important conference in Seoul |
How many countries does the First Couple plan to visit in total in their ten-day tour in Asia?
| A．3. | B．4. | C．5. | D．6. 32．B |
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Basic Photography
This is an eight-hour course for beginners who want to learn how to use a 35mm camera. The teacher will cover such areas as kinds of film, light, and lenses(镜头). Bring your own 35mm camera to the class.
Course Charge: $150
Jan. 10, 12, 17, 19, Tues. & Thurs. 6-8p.m.
Marianne Adams is a professional photographer whose photographs appear in many magazines.
Understanding Computers
This twelve-hour course is for people who don’t know very much about computers, but who need to learn about them. You will learn what computers are, what they can and can’t do, and how to use them.
Course Charge: $75
Equipment Charge: $10
Jan. 7, 14, 21, 28, Sat. 9-12 a.m.
Joseph Saimders is a professor of computer science at New Urban University. He has over twelve years of experience in the computer field.
Stop Smoking
Do you want to stop smoking? Have you already tried to stop and failed? Now it is the time to stop smoking using the latest methods. You can stop smoking, and this twelve-hour course will help you do it.
Course Charge: $30
Jan. 4, 11, 18, 25 Mon. 4-7 p.m.
Dr.John Goode is a practicing psychologist(心理学家)who has helped hundreds of people stop smoking.
Typing
This course on weekdays is for those who want to type as well as those who want to improve their typing. You are tested in the first class and practice at one of eight different skill levels. This allows you to learn at your own speed. Each program lasts 20 hours. Bring your own paper.
Course Charge: $125
Materials Charge: $25
Two hours each evening for two weeks.
This course is taught by a number of business education teachers who have successfully taught typing courses before.The word “professional” in this advertisement most probably means “_____”
| A．spiritual | B．journalist |
| C．experienced | D．professor |
The shortest course is _____.
| A．Typing | B．Understanding Computers |
| C．Stop Smoking | D．Basic Photography |
A course which can do something good for your health will cost____.
| A．$30 | B．$50 | C．$10 | D．$125 |
There are typing courses_____.
| A．on Saturdays and Sundays |
| B．from Monday to Friday |
| C．from Monday to Saturday |
| D．on each day in the week |
If you can have free time only on weekends, you should take the course _________.
| A．Basic Photography | B．Understanding Computers |
| C．Stop Smoking | D．Typing |
Many young people tell me that they want to be writers. I always encourage such people, but I also explain that there is a big difference between being a writer and writing. In most cases these people are dreaming of wealth and being famous, not the long hours alone at the typewriter.
When I became a writer, I had no future. What I had was a friend called George. He found me a home. It was cold and had no bathroom. I could only afford a used typewriter. A year later, however, I still hadn’t received a break and began to doubt myself. But I knew I wanted to write. I would keep putting my dream to the test—even though it meant living with fear of failure. This is the shadow land (阴影) of hope, and anyone with a dream must learn to live there. Then one day I got a call from a friend who asked me to be an assistant for $6,000 a year. As the dollars were dancing in my head, something brought me to my sense. “Thanks, but no,” I heard myself saying. After that, I walked around my little room and started to feel like a fool. I felt a little low.
Later, I gradually began to sell my articles. It was after 17 years of being a writer that Roots was published. At once I had the kind of fame and success that few writers ever experienced. The shadows had turned into great sunlight. Before that, it was a long and slow climb out of the shadows.The second paragraph is mainly about ______.
| A．the job chance the author ever had |
| B．the difficulties before the author succeeded |
| C．the great help from the author’s friends |
| D．the important choices the author made |
The underlined word “something” in Paragraph 2 refers to _______.
| A．the author’s dream of being a writer |
| B．the author’s trouble in making money |
| C．the author’s hard life before success |
| D．the author’s wish to be successful |
How did the author feel after he refused the job offer?
| A．confident | B．angry |
| C．excited | D．Unhappy |
Do you know of anyone who uses the truth to deceive(欺骗)? When someone tells you something that is true, but leaves out important information that should be included, he can give you a false picture.
For example, someone might say, “I just won a hundred dollars on the lottery(彩票). It was great. I took that dollar ticket back to the store and turned it in for one hundred dollars!”
This guy is a winner, right? Maybe, maybe not. We then discover that he bought $ 200 worth of tickets, and only one was a winner. He’s really a big loser!
He didn’t say anything that was false, but he left out important information on purpose. That’s called a half-truth. Half truths are not technically lies, but they are just as dishonest.
Some politicians often use this trick. Let’s say that during Governor Smith’s last term, her state lost one million jobs and gained three million jobs. Then she seeks another term. One of her opponents says, “During Governor Smith’s term, the state lost one million jobs!” That’s true. However, an honest statement would have been, “During Governor Smith’s term, the state had a net gain of two million jobs.’’
Advertisers will sometimes use half-truths. It’s against the law to make false statements so they try to mislead you with the truth. An advertisement might say, “Nine out of ten doctors advised their patients to take Yucky Pills to cure toothache.” It fails to mention that they only asked ten doctors and nine of them work for the Yucky Company.
This kind of deception happens too often. It’s a sad fact of life: Lies are lies, and sometimes the truth can lie as well.We may infer that the author believes people should ________.
| A．buy lottery tickets if possible |
| B．make use of half-truths |
| C．be careful about what they are told |
| D．not trust the Yucky Company |
Which of the following is true according to the passage?
| A．Using half truths is against the law. |
| B．Technically, half truths are in fact lies. |
| C．Yucky Pills is a very good medicine for toothache. |
| D．Governor Smith did a good job during her last term. |
Which of the following best expresses the main idea of the passage?
| A．He’s really a big loser! |
| B．Sometimes the truth can lie as well. |
| C．Advertisers will sometimes use half truths. |
| D．It’s against the law to make false statements. |
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