Researchers are placing robotic dogs (机器狗) in the homes of lonely old people to determine whether they can improve the quality of life for humans. Alan Beck, an expert in human-animal relationship, and Nancy Edwards, a professor of nursing, are leading the animal-assisted study concerning the influence of robotic dogs on old people’s depression, physical activity, and life satisfaction. “No one will argue that an older person is better off being more active, challenged, or stimulated (刺激) ,” Edwards points out. “The problem is how we promote(使……成为现实)that, especially for those without friends or help. A robotic dog could be a solution.”
In the study, the robot, called AIBO, is placed for six weeks in the houses of some old people who live alone. Before placing AIBO in the home, researchers will collect baseline data for six weeks. These old people will keep a diary to note their feelings and activity before and after AIBO. Then, the researchers will review the data to determine if it has inspired any changes in the life of its owner.
“I talk to him all the time, and he responds to my voice,” says a seventy-year-old lady.“When I’m watching TV, he’ll stay in my arms until he wants down. He has a mind of his own.”
The AIBOs respond to certain orders. The researchers say they have some advantages over live dogs, especially for old people. Often the elderly are disabled and cannot care for an animal by walking it or playing with it. A robotic dog removes exercise and feeding concerns.
“At the beginning, it was believed that no one would relate to the robotic dog, because it was metal and not furry,” Beck says. “But it’s amazing how quickly we have given up that belief.
“Hopefully, down the road, these robotic pets could become a more-valuable health helper. They will record their masters’ blood pressure, oxygen levels, or heart rhythms. AIBOs may even one day have games that can help stimulate older people’s minds.”
48. The purpose of Beck and Edwards’ study is to ______
A. understand human-animal relationship B. make lonely old people’s life better
C. find the causes of old people’s loneliness D. promote the animal-assisted research
49. In the research, the old people are asked to ______
A. note the activities of AIBOs B. keep AIBOs at home for 12 weeks
C. record their feelings and activity D. analyze the collected information
50. What is the advantage of AIBO over live dogs?
A. It is easier to keep at home. B. It can help the disabled people.
C. It responds to all the human orders. D. It can watch TV with its owner.
51. The author seems to suggest that the future robotic dogs may ______
A. cure certain diseases B. keep old people active
C. change people’s beliefs D. look more like real dogs
One day, a train was approaching the small town of Cheekyville. On the train was a young man with a big suitcase. He was called William Warbler, and he looked very common indeed. What made him most unusual, though, was the fact that whenever he needed to communicate he did it by singing opera (歌剧). It didn’t matter to William whether it was simply a matter of answering a brief greeting, like “good day”. He would clear his voice and respond, “Gooood dayyy to youuuuuuuu... toooooo!”
No one could get a normal spoken word out of him and no one knew how he made his living. As he lived quite simply, always wearing his same old second-hand suit, people often looked down on him.
William had been in Cheekyville for some years, when, one day, word spread round town like wildfire: William had played a role in a very important opera in the nation’s capital. Everyone in the capital went to see it, and it was a great success. Everyone in Cheekyville felt it was a surprise. But something more surprising was, when William was being interviewed by reporters, he answered their questions by speaking rather than singing. And he did it with great manners, and with a clear and pleasant voice.
From that day, William gave up singing at all hours. Now he did it only during his stage appearances and world tours. Some people suspected why he had changed, but others continued believing him to be somewhat mad. They wouldn’t have thought so if they had seen what William kept in his big suitcase. It was a large stone, with a hand-carved (手工雕刻的) message on it. The message said: “Practice, my boy. Practice every second, for you never know when your chance will come.”
Little did people realize that he only got the role in the opera because the director had heard William singing while out buying a newspaper.Why did people in Cheekyville consider William strange?
| A．He always carried a big suitcase. |
| B．He always spoke by singing opera. |
| C．He always greeted people gladly. |
| D．He always wore an old suit. |
Hearing the news about William, people in Cheekyville felt it was _____.
| A．unbelievable | B．satisfying |
| C．disappointing | D．interesting |
According to the text, William _____.
| A．had no idea whether he should continue doing something mad |
| B．was nervous and didn’t know how to sing when he was interviewed |
| C．was selling newspapers when the opera director heard him singing |
| D．practiced singing whenever possible before he became famous |
What can we learn from the story?
| A．Live and learn. |
| B．Better late than never. |
| C．Practice makes the master. |
| D．Experience is the best teacher. |
Former South African President Nelson Mandela who was treated for a recurring (复发的) lung infection, dies on Dec. 5th, 2013, at the age of 95.
People around the world are mourning the loss of the country's first black president. He was often called humble, charming, loyal person and a man who cared about others.
“He seemed to have that special charismatic(有魅力的) personality,” said Herman Cohen, U.S. assistant secretary of state for Africa from 1989 to 1993. “He became the symbol in the fight against apartheid.”
Mandela was born on July 18, 1918. As a young man he became active in the anti-apartheid movement and joined the African National Congress, or ANC, in the 1940s.
The white-led government banned the ANC in 1960, but the group continued to operate secretly. Mandela became head of the group's new military wing, coordinating a sabotage campaign against South African military and government targets.
In 1962, he was arrested and put on trial for his actions and sentenced to life in prison on Robben Island off the coast of Cape Town. He spent 18 years there, refusing a government offer to release him if he would renounce the ANC's armed struggle. But he was freed in 1990 after South African President Frederik de Klerk legalized all political parties and discharged most political prisoners.
Shortly after his release, Mandela was elected president of the African National Congress. And in 1994, when the ANC won South Africa's first all-race elections, he was inaugurated (就职) as the county's first black president at age 75.
“Never, never and never again shall it be that this beautiful land will again experience the oppression of one by another,” he said.
President Mandela said he would stay for only one five-year term. Cohen says Mandela earned international respect for South Africa's national reconciliation.
“Mandela devoted himself mainly to rallying the Africans to this new era to work on economic development, having good education, also he was very much of a spokesman on the international scene.” he said.
In 1993, Mandela shared the Nobel Peace Prize with his once bitter enemy F.W. de Klerk for their contribution to the peace process in South Africa. After receiving the award, Mandela praised the South African people.
“All have created a society which recognizes that all people are born equal,” he said. In a country torn apart by years of racial conflict, Nelson Mandela is considered a remarkable leader -- a man who turned South Africa away from violence and hatred into a country of greater peace and understanding.The underlined word “apartheid” in the 3rd paragraph probably means______.
| A．racial separation | B．financial aid |
| C．infectious illness | D．fulfilling life |
How long was Nelson Mandela sent to prison?
| A．18 years | B．28 years |
| C．6 years | D．19 years |
What is the author’s attitude in the passage?
| A．negative | B．positive |
| C．subjective | D．neutral |
Why was his bitter enemy F.W. de Klerk awarded the Nobel Peace Prize with Mandela?
| A．F.W. de Klerk did not kill Mandela during his presidency. |
| B．F.W. de Klerk was one of Mandela’s friends in the early years. |
| C．F.W. de Klerk made his own contribution to the process peacefully as well. |
| D．F.W. de Klerk was considered a remarkable leader turning South Africa away from violence. |
It was about 11:15 pm on the passenger ship California. The night was freezing cold and the water was filled with ice from the North Pole, making it difficult for the ship to sail on.
In the radio room, ship California’s operator Cyril Evans listened to the radio-talk between a nearby passenger ship and the telegraph station on the Canadian island of Newfoundland. Evans interrupted it and said, “We’re stopped and surrounded by ice. Be careful as you pass through these waters.” The radio operator on the nearby ship replied, “I’m too busy to talk now. I have many messages to send to the telegraph station. ” Twenty minutes later, as he turned off his radio and went to bed, Evans could still hear the ship sending its passengers’ telegrams.
Earlier in the evening the California’s captain, Stanley Lord, had seen another ship approaching. It looked about the size of his own, but attempts to contact the ship failed. It lay dark and mysterious about 10 miles away. At 00:40 am there appeared a sudden flash of light just over the mystery ship. Captain Lord, thinking the ship might need help, ordered his officers to signal the ship by lamp. There was no reply. Three more rockets then exploded, none appeared to go higher than halfway up the mast(桅杆）of the mystery ship. Then at about 2:00 am it turned and slipped into the darkness.
In the light of the dawn there was no mystery ship, but 20 miles away was the scene of a great disaster. Unfortunately, the mystery ship had stopped directly in front of the California, preventing people on board from seeing clearly. If this ship had not been there, Captain Lord would have recognized that the rockets were SOS rockets that came not from the mystery ship but from a more distant ship which the California could not see. If Cyril Evans had kept his radio on for just 30 minutes more he would have heard SOS signals coming from that distant ship he spoke with the night before. That ship was the Titanic which was sinking fast, leaving 1,500 of its passengers dead. It was April 14, 1912.Why were the rockets really fired?
| A．To celebrate the journey. |
| B．To signal for help. |
| C．To contact the Titanic. |
| D．To warn other ships. |
What is the main function of the last paragraph of this passage?
| A．It shows how unlucky the Titanic was. |
| B．It describes how the Titanic sank. |
| C．It indicates that the people on the California were careless. |
| D．It lists how many people died in the disaster. |
How many ships are mentioned in the passage?
| A．One. | B．Two. | C．Three. | D．Four. |
From the passage we know that .
| A．the rockets were fired from the mystery ship |
| B．Cyril Evans worked on the mystery ship that night |
| C．the Titanic started sinking at dawn the next day |
| D．the Titanic sent out many telegrams that night |
The Swiss army knife is a popular device that is recognized all over the world. In Switzerland, there is a saying that every good Swiss citizen has one in his or her pocket. But the knife had poor beginnings.
In the late nineteenth century, the Swiss army issued (发给) its soldiers a gun that required a special screwdriver (螺丝刀) to take it apart and clean it. At the same time, canned food was becoming common in the army. Swiss generals decided to issue each soldier a standard knife to serve both as a screwdriver and a can opener.
It was a lifesaver for Swiss knife makers, who were struggling to ask for cheaper German imports. In 1884, Carl Elsener, head of the Swiss knife manufacturer (maker) Victorinox, seized that opportunity with both hands, and designed a soldier’s knife that the army loved .It was a simple knife with one big blade (刀片), a can opener, and a screwdriver.
A few years after the soldier’s knife was issued, the “Schweizer Offizer Messer,” or Swiss Officer’s Knife, came on the market, Interestingly, the Officer’s Knife was never given to those serving in the army. The Swiss army purchasers considered the new model with a corkscrew (瓶塞钻) for opening wine not “essential for survival,” so officers had to buy this new model by themselves. But its special multi-functional design later launched(发行)the knife as a global brand. After the Second World War, a great number of American soldiers were stationed in Europe. And as they could buy the Swiss army knife at shops on army bases, they bought huge quantities of them. However, it seems that “Schweizer Offizer Messer” was too difficult for them to say, so they just called it the Swiss army knife, and that is the name it is now known by all over the world.What is the main purpose of the passage?
| A．To emphasize the importance of the Swiss army knife. |
| B．To introduce the functions of the Swiss army knife. |
| C．To explain the origin of Swiss army knife. |
| D．To tell a story about the designer of the Swiss army knife. |
What does “It” in the third paragraph refer to?
| A．Canned food was becoming popular in Swiss army. |
| B．Every good Swiss citizen had a knife in his pocket. |
| C．The Swiss army needed a knife for every soldier. |
| D．Swiss knives were competing with imported knives. |
Why didn’t the Swiss army purchase the Swiss Officer’s Knife?
| A．The new design was not considered necessary for officers to own. |
| B．The army had no budge to the purchase. |
| C．The knife was sold out to American soldiers. |
| D．The design of the knife was too simple. |
Who gave the name “ the Swiss army knife” to the knife discussed in the passage?
| A．Swiss generals | B．Carl Elsener |
| C．German businessman | D．American soldiers. |
The day of my holiday arrived, but I wasn’t looking forward to it. I had little money and had only been able to afford to stay with my Aunt Rosa in Spain. So, I wasn’t really excited as I knew exactly what it was going to be like; Lots of noisy cousins and Aunt Rosa begged me to take her for a ride.
After I had checked in, I made my way slowly to the departure gate. As I was waiting to board the plan, I kept thinking about my ideal holiday destination; Jamaica, with its long, sandy beaches and crystal clear water.
As soon as the plane took off, I fell fast asleep and only woke to the sound of the announcement; “Ladies and gentlemen, please fasten your seat belts, as we will shortly be landing in Kingston.” I froze in my seat. Was I dreaming? Kingston? Jamaica? I had boarded the wrong plane!
Immediately after the plane landed, I explained the situation to the authorities. It seems there were also three of other passengers heading for Spain. Apparently it had been the airline’s fault, since the flight numbers for Spain and Jamaica were exactly the same! Therefore, with no flight to London for a week, the airline had no choice except to pay for our stay.
So there I was, lying on the beach, enjoying the music and marvelous food of Jamaica! As for Aunt Rosa, I suppose she just had to live without me!Why did the waiter choose to spend her holiday with her aunt in Spain?
| A．She could hardly afford any better trip. |
| B．Her aunt begged her to go there. |
| C．She missed her cousins very much. |
| D．Spain was her ideal destination. |
In the story, the writer ended up _____.
| A．heading for Spain from Jamaica |
| B．flying to London immediately |
| C．enjoying a free beach holiday |
| D．complaining to the authorities |
Which of the following might be the best title of the passage?
| A．Terrible Adventure | B．Nice Dream |
| C．A Well-Planned | D．A Lucky Mistake |