In a few years, you might be able to speak Chinese, Korean, Japanese, French,and English — and all at the same time. This sounds incredible, but Alex Waibel,a computer science professor at US's Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) and Germany's University of Karlsruhe, announced last week that it may soon be reality. He and his team have invented software and hardware that could make it far easier for people who speak different languages to understand each other.
One application, called Lecture Translation, can easily translate a speech from one language into another. Current translation technologies typically limit speakers to certain topics or a limited vocabulary. Users also have to be trained how to use the programme.
Another prototype(雏形机) can send translations of a speech to different listeners depending on what language they speak. “It is like having a simultaneous translator right next to you but without disturbing the person next to you,” Waibel said.
Prefer to read? So-called Translation Glasses transcribe(转录) the translations on a tiny liquid-crystal(液晶) display(LCD) screen.
Then there's the Muscle Translator. Electrodes capture the electrical signals from facial muscle movements made naturally when a person is mouthing words. The signals are then translated into speech. The electrodes could be replaced with wireless chips implanted in a person's face, according to researchers.
During a demonstration held last Thursday in CMU's Pittsburgh campus, a Chinese student named Sang Jun had 11 tiny electrodes attached to the muscles of his cheeks, neck and throat. Then he mouthed — without speaking aloud — a few words in Mandarin(普通话) to the audience. A few seconds later, the phrase was displayed on a computer screen and spoken out by the computer in English and Spanish: “Let me introduce our new prototype.”
This particular gadget(器械),when fully developed, might allow anyone to speak in any number of languages or, as Waibel put it, “to switch your mouth to a foreign language”. “The idea behind the university's prototypes is to create ‘good enough’ bridges for cross-cultural exchanges that are becoming more common in the world,” Waibel said.
With spontaneous(自发的) translators, foreign drivers in Germany could listen to traffic warnings on the radio, tourists in China could read all the signs and talk with local people, and leaders of different countries could have secret talks without any interpreters there.
51. Which of the following statements is not true ?
A. A lecture translation can translate what you said into other languages easily.
B. Muscle Translators can translate what you think into speech if you just move your mouth.
C. There is no Muscle Translator in the world now.
D. The spontaneous translators will help us a lot.
52. What kind of equipment is NOT mentioned in this passage?
A. Lecture Translation. B. Multiple Translator.
C. Muscle Translator. D. Translation Prototype.
53. What's the final destination of inventing the language translators?
A. To make cultural exchanges between different countries easier.
B. To help students learn foreign languages more easily.
C. To make people live in foreign countries more comfortably.
D. To help people learn more foreign languages in the future.
54. What can be inferred from the seventh paragraph?
A. The translator is so good that it can translate any language into the very language you need.
B. The translator is becoming more and more common in the world as a bridge. C. With the help of the translator, you only need to open your mouth when you want to say something without saying the exact words at all.
D. The translator needs to be improved before being put into market.
55. Where can this passage probably be excerpted from?
A. A newspaper. B. A magazine on science.
C. A fairy tale. D. A scientific fantasy book.
In the West, advertisements are the fuel that makes mass media work. Many TV stations, newspapers, magazines, radio stations are privately owned. The government does not give them money. So where does the money come from? From advertisements. Without advertisements, there would not be these private businesses.
Have you ever asked yourself what advertising is? Through the years, people have given different answers to the question. For some time it was felt that advertising was a means of "keeping your name before the public" And some people thought that advertising was "truth well told" Now more and more people consider it in this way; Advertising is the paid, non-personal, and usually persuasive presentation of goods, services and ideas by some certain sponsors (发起人) through various media
First, advertising is usually paid for. Various sponsors pay for the advertisements we see, read, and hear over the various media. Second, advertising is non-personal. It is not face-to-face communication. Although you may feel that a message in a certain advertisement is aimed directly at you, in reality, it is directed at large groups of people. Third, advertising is usually persuasive. Directly or indirectly it asks people to do something. All advertisements try to make people believe that the product, idea, or service advertised can benefit them. Fourth, the sponsors of the advertisement must show their names. From the advertisement, we can see if the sponsor is a company, or a single person. Fifth, advertising reaches us through old and modem mass media. Included in the old media are newspapers, magazines, radio, television, and films. Modem media include emails, matchbox covers, and boards on top of buildings.
9. The existence of the privately owned mass media depends on the support of ________.
A. the government B. their owners’ families
C. advertisements D. the TV stations
10. The passage seems to say that different ideas of advertising are given due to ________.
A. the change of time B. the subject of the advertisements
C. people’s age difference D. people’s different opinions
11. Which of the following is considered modem mass media?
A. Newspapers. B. Emails. C. Magazines. D. Films.
12. According to the passage, which of the following statements about advertisements is NOT true?
A. The sponsors are always mentioned.
B. Advertising must be honest and humorous.
C. There is the description of things advertised.
D. Advertising is meant for large groups of people.
Since life is short and the world is wide, the sooner you start exploring it, the better. Soon enough the time will come when you are too tired to move farther than the terrace of the best hotel. Go now.
No need, you may say, to tell that. But what I need to tell you is that you will meet with a surprising amount of opposition the moment you try to set out. Rubbish, you will reply. More people go abroad nowadays than ever before; never has travel, particularly among the young, been more strongly visit, of international exchanges. Perhaps not; but none of this, my dear young friends, is travel. Travel is not going on a round coach trip for $ 67 in all, or spending ten days at a hotel by the sea. Travel is when you want to see how much money and resources you have and then set out, alone or with chosen friends, to make an unhurried journey to a distant goal without a set date for your return.
Real travel, then, is independence in action, and is not liked by most parents. They don’t mind your going in a school party to Athens, because they know just where you are and when you’ll be back, and they can therefore permit you the imagination of freedom without for one second letting you beyond their control. But what they cannot bear is that you should travel all on your own, without giving them your address and return date. In fact, their fears are quite reasonable because that shows how much they love you. So in order to enjoy real travel and at the same time put your parents’ mind at ease. It would be really important for you to bear the following advice in mind.
5. Which statement is true according to the passage?
A. People travel more than before.
B. Young people are encouraged to travel abroad.
C. People should not go on a round coach trip for $ 67.
D. Educational visits should not be encouraged as they are not real travel.
6.What does real travel mean according to the writer?
A. It means telling your parents nothing about the travel
B. It means not knowing where you want to go.
C. It means traveling to a distant goal in an unhurried manner.
D. It means traveling without any plan.
7. Your parents allow you to travel in a school party because ________.
A. they want you to be truly free B. you are still under their control
C. they don’t have time to travel with you D. they know it’s good for you
8. According to the writer, when you do real traveling, you should ________.
A. never mind how worried your parents are
B. give your parents your address and return date
C. tell your parents details about your travel
D. not let your parents worry about you
You want something you can’t get by behaving within the rules, and you want it badly enough you’ll do it regardless of any guilt or deep regret, and you’re willing to run the risk of being caught. That’s how Ladd Wheeler, psychology professor at the University of Rochester in New York, defines cheating. Many experts believe cheating is on the rise. "We’re suffering a moral breakdown," Pinkard says. "We’re seeing more of the kind of person who regards the world as a series of things to be dealt with. Whether to cheat depends on whether it’s in the person’s interest." He does, however, see less cheating among the youngest students. Richard Dienstbier, psychology professor at the University of Nebraska in Lincoln, believes that society’s attitudes explain much of the increase in cheating. "Twenty years ago if a person cheated in college, that is extremely serious, he will be dropped for a semester if not kicked out permanently," he says. "Nowadays, at the University of Nebraska, for example, it is the stated policy of the College of Arts and Science that if a student cheats in an exam, the student must receive an "F" on what he cheated in. That’s nothing. If you’re going to fail anyway, why not cheat? Cheating is most likely in situations where the interests are high and the chances of getting caught are low," says social psychologist Lynn Kahle of the University of Oregon in Eugene.
1. The passage focuses on ________.
A. making the reader believe that cheating is immoral
B. discussing the reasons for cheating
C. describing how students cheat in exams
D. suggesting how to control cheating
2. Cheating tends to occur in all the following situations except when ________.
A. one wants something badly B. one can’t get something in a right way
C. it is not very likely to be found out D. a series of things have to be dealt with
3. Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?
A. It is forgivable to cheat unless money is involved.
B. There has been an increase in cheating.
C. Most cheaters are college students.
D. Cheaters do not feel guilty and regretful.
4. What can be inferred from the passage?
A. Cheating is widespread because society is too understanding.
B. Cheating is the result of heavy pressure.
C. Cheating is cheating, whether in a test or on any other occasions.
D. Cheating comes together with civilization
If you look for a book as a present for a child. You will be spoiled for choice even in a year there is no new Harry Patten J.K Powling’s wizard is not alone the past decade has been a harvest for good children’s books, which has set off a large quantity of films and an increased sales of classics such as The lard of the Rings.
Yet despite that , reading is increasingly unpopular among children. According to statistics in 1997 23% said they didn’t like reading in all. In 2003, 35% did . And around 6% of children leave primary school each year unable to read properly.
Maybe the decline is caused by the increasing availability of computes games. Maybe the books boom has affected only the top of the educational pile. Either way, Chancellor Cordon Brown plans to change things for the bottom of the class. In his pre-budget report, he announced the national project of Reading Recovery to help the children struggling most.
Reading Recovery is wined at six year olds, who receive four months of individual daily half-hour classes with a specially trained teacher. An evaluation either this year reported that children on the school made 20 months’ progress in just one year, whereas similarly weak readers without special help made just five months’ progress, and so ended the year even further below the level expected for their age.
International research tends to find that when British children leave primacy school they read well, but read text often for fun than those elsewhere. Reading for fun matters because children who are been on reading can report lifelong pleasure and loving books is an excellent indicator of future educational success. According to the OECD, being a regular and enthusiastic reader is of great advantage
Which of the following is true of Paragraph 1?
| A．Marry children’s books have been adapted from films. |
| B．Marry high-quality children’s books have been published. |
| C．The sales of classics have led to the popularity of films. |
| D．The sales of presents for children have increased. |
Statistics suggested that .
| A．the number of top students increased with the use of computers |
| B．a decreasing number of children showed interest in reading |
| C．a minority of primacy school children read properly |
| D．a huge percentage of children read regularly |
What do we know about Reading Recovery?
| A．An evaluation of it will be made sometime this year. |
| B．Weak readers on the project were the most hardworking. |
| C．It aims to train special teachers to help children with reading. |
| D．Children on the project showed noticeable progress in reading. |
Reading for fun is important because book-loving children _______.
| A．take greater advantage of the project |
| B．show the potential to enjoy a long life |
| C．are likely to succeed in their education. |
| D．would make excellent future researchers |
The aim of this text would probably be _______.
| A．to overcome primary school pupils reading difficulty. |
| B．to encourage the publication of more children’s books |
| C．to remind children of the importance of reading for fun |
| D．to introduce a way to improve early children reading |
When I met him, I had a lot of anger inside of me. I’ve lived my whole life in Spanish Harlem, but in my neighborhood, there are shoot-ups all the time. I know kids who have been shot or beaten up. I have friends who ended up in prison. I could have ended up that way, too, but Mr. Clark wouldn’t let that happen.
Mr. Clark worked long hours, making sure I did my work. My grades rose. In fact, the scores of our whole class rose. One day, he took our class to see The Phantom of the Opera, and it was the first time some kids had ever been out of Harlem. Before the show, he treated us to dinner at a restaurant and taught us not to talk with our mouths full. We did not want to let him down
Mr. Clark was selected as Disney’s 2000 Teacher of the Year. He said he would draw three names out of a hat; those students would go with him to Los Angeles to get the award. But when the time came to draw names, Mr. Clark said, “You’re all going.”
On graduation day, there were a lot of tears. We didn’t want his class to end. In 2001, he moved to Atlanta, but he always kept in touch. He started giving lectures about education, and wrote a bestselling book based on his classroom rules, The Essential 55. In 2003,
Mr. Clark took some of us on a trip to South Africa to deliver school supplies and visit the orphanages(孤儿院). It was the most amazing experience of my life. It’s now my dream to one day start a group of women’s clubs, helping people from all backgrounds.
Without Mr. Clark, the writer .
A. might have been put into prison
B. might not have won the prize
C. might have joined a women’s club
D. might not have moved to Atlanta
The Essential 55 is_____________
A. a show B. a speech
C. a classroom rule D. a book
How many students’ names were finally drawn out of a hat by Mr. Clark?
A. None B. Three C. Fifty-five. D. All.
What can we learn in the short reading?
A. It was in Harlem that we saw The Phantom of the Opera for the first time.
B. Mr. Clark taught us not to talk with our mouths full, and we did.
C. Mr. Clark was selected as Disney’s 2000 Teacher of the Year in Los Angeles.
D. In 2003, Mr. Clark moved to Atlanta, and he always kept in touch with us.
In the passage, the writer intends to tell us that .
A. Mr. Clark went to South Africa because he liked travelling
B. Mr. Clark helped to set up a group of women’s clubs
C. a good teacher can help raise his or her students’ scores
D. a good teacher has a good influence on his or her students