Le Trung, 33，has spent ￡14,000 creating Aiko，who he describes as“in her 20s”with a 32,23,33 figure，shiny hair and delicate features.
She can speak English and Japanese and is so good at mathematics that she can do Mr.Trung's accounts.
Mr.Trung，from Brampton in Ontario，Canada，said he has never had time to find a real partner，so he designed and created his ideal woman using the latest technology.
The former software programmer has taken out credit cards and loans，sold his car and spent his life savings on perfecting his“fembot”.
Now he is desperate to find a corporate sponsor(资助者)to help him complete and perfect Aiko.
He said，“Aiko is what happens when science meets beauty.”
"I want to make her look，feel and act as human as possible so she can be the perfect companion."
"I talk to her a lot，and hope to improve her knowledge."
"So far she can understand and speak 13,000 different sentences in English and Japanese，so she's already fairly intelligent."
"Aiko recognize faces and says hello when any of my family come around to visit. She helps me pick what to have for dinner and knows what drinks I like."
"She even helps me with directions when we're going somewhere."
"When I need to do my accounts，Aiko does all the maths. She is very patient and never complains."
"She doesn't need holidays，food or rest and she will work almost 24hours a day. She is the perfect woman."
Mr.Trung has designed Aiko with a touchsensitive face and body so she reacts in a natural way if she is shown affection or hurt.
He said，"She has all senses except for smell."Why did Le Trung spend much money creating Aiko?
| A．Because he prefers Aiko to a real person. |
| B．Because he is too busy to find a partner. |
| C．Because he thinks Aiko is very beautiful. |
| D．Because he thinks Aiko is worth much money. |
According to the passage，what is Aiko?
| A．Aiko is a female person. |
| B．Aiko is Mr.Trung's girl friend. |
| C．Aiko is a robot that looks like a beautiful woman. |
| D．Aiko is a perfect woman. |
Aiko can do the following things EXCEPT ________.
| A．that she can understand and speak English and Japanese |
| B．that she can do maths questions very well |
| C．that she can smell the strange smell |
| D．that she can help to receive some familiar guests |
What is the main idea of the passage?
| A．The reason for Le Trung creating Aiko. |
| B．The introduction to a new scientific product－Aiko. |
| C．Aiko's ability or functions. |
| D．The process of making Aiko. |
Everywhere I look outside my home I see people busy on their high-tech devices, while driving, walking, shopping, even sitting in toilets.When connected electronically, they are away from physical reality.
People have been influenced to become technology addicted.One survey reported that “addicted” was the word most commonly used by people to describe their relationship to iPad and similar devices.One study found that people had a harder time resisting the allure of social media than they did for sleep, cigarettes and alcohol.
The main goal of technology companies is to get people to spend more money and time on their products, not to actually improve our quality of life.They have successfully created a cultural disease.Consumers willingly give up their freedom, money and time to catch up on the latest information, to keep pace with their peers or to appear modern.
I see people trapped in a pathological（病态的）relationship with time-sucking technology, where they serve technology more than technology serves them.I call this technology servitude.I am referring to a loss of personal freedom and independence because of uncontrolled consumption of many kinds of devices that eat up time and money.
What is a healthy use of technology devices?That is the vital question.Who is really in charge of my life?That is what people need to ask themselves if we are to have any chance of breaking up false beliefs about their use of technology.When we can live happily without using so much technology for a day or a week, then we can regain control and personal freedom, become the master of technology and discover what there is to enjoy in life free of technology.Mae West is famous for proclaiming the wisdom that “too much of a good thing is wonderful.” But it’s time to discover that it does not work for technology.
Richard Fernandez, an executive coach at Google acknowledged that “we can be swept away by our technologies.”To break the grand digital connection people must consider how life long ago could be fantastic without today’s overused technology.The underlined word “allure” in Paragraph 2 probably means ______.
| A．advantage | B．attraction | C． adaption | D．attempt |
From the passage, technology companies aim to ______.
| A．attract people to buy their products |
| B．provide the latest information |
| C．improve people’s quality of life |
| D．deal with cultural diseases |
It can be inferred from this passage that people ______.
| A．consider too much technology wonderful |
| B．have realized the harm of high-tech devices |
| C．can regain freedom without high-tech devices |
| D．may enjoy life better without overused technology |
What’s the author’s attitude towards the overusing of high-tech devices?
| A．Neutral.( 中立的） | B．Doubtful |
| C．Disapproving.(不赞成） | D．Sympathetic.（同情的） |
Johnny the Explorer
Johnny was three when he ran away from home for the first time. Somebody left the garden gate open. Johnny wandered out, crossed some fields and, two hours later, arrived in the next village. He was just able to give his name and address.
By the time he was seven, Johnny used to disappear from home two to three times a year. Sometimes he covered quite long distances on foot. Sometimes he got on a bus or even a train, and simply sat there until someone asked for his ticket. Generally the police brought him home. “Why do you do it?” they used to ask. “I just like seeing places,” Johnny told them.
Johnny continued to “see places” although everyone tried to stop him. His parents used to watch him closely, and so did his teachers; but sooner or later Johnny managed to slip away. As he grew older, his favorite trick was to hide on a long distance truck. Sometimes he travelled hundreds of miles before anyone discovered him.
It is hardly surprising that eventually Johnny managed to board a plane. He was twelve at the time. It was a cargo plane and, a few hours later, Johnny found himself in Cairo. How did he get on board? No one knows! According to Johnny himself, it was easy: he just went into the airport, walked along some passages and got on board the nearest plane.
In spite of all this, Johnny did well at school. He enjoyed mathematics and languages and, perhaps not surprisingly, he was especially good at geography. “What do you want to be when you grow up?” his teachers asked him. “An explorer!” he answered. “But it’s difficult to become an explorer in this modern age,” they tried to tell him. But it was no use: Johnny knew what he wanted!
Just before he left school, Johnny saw a notice in a daily paper. A long journey was about to go to Brazil to travel up the Amazon River. There were jobs for three young people “willing to work hard and with a sense of adventure”. Johnny applied, and two months later, he was on his way to Brazil.At what age did Johnny board a plane for the first time?
| A．Three | B．Seven | C．Twelve | D．Not mentioned |
Johnny frequently left home because ______.
| A．he preferred to stay alone |
| B．he enjoyed seeing new places |
| C．he couldn’t do well at school |
| D．he didn’t get along well with his parents |
People around Johnny ______.
| A．tried to stop him from slipping away |
| B．kept following him to get him back |
| C．booked tickets for him if necessary |
| D．were clear about how he travelled abroad |
From the passage, we can learn that ______.
| A．Johnny worked for a daily paper |
| B．Johnny lacked a sense of adventure |
| C．Johnny went exploring along the Amazon River |
| D．Johnny went to Brazil two months after he finished school |
There is a lot of talk these days about how kids should be interested in science. Here’s an area of science for everyone, and these cool new books might inspire you to discover your inner scientist.
Scaly Spotted Feathered Frilled by Catherine Thimmesh, 58 pages,ages 9-12
Seeing a picture or a model of a dinosaur, do you wonder how anybody knows what they look like? After all, nobody has seen a living dinosaur. This book explains how scientists and artists work together to re-create dinosaurs. As scientific discoveries have been made, the models have changed. Scientific tests may one day expose what a dinosaur’s coloring was, but now artists have to use their imagination to determine how these huge creatures looked.
Beyond the Solar Systemby Mary Kay Carson, 128 pages, ages 10-13
This book takes readers back to the beginnings of space exploration—thousands of years ago, when people began star observation—and forward to today’s search for planets in distant parts of the Milky Way. Along with history lessons, readers get 21 activities, such as making a black hole and creating a model of Albert Einstein’s universe using a T-shirt. The activities are perfect for cold winter days.
Ultimate Bugopediaby Darlyne Murawski and Nancy Honovich, 272 pages, ages 7 and older
If you’re always on the lookout for butterflies, this book is for you. Hundreds of color photos of common and unusual insects fill this hardcover. There are fascinating stories related to the photos. For example, do you know an insectfeeds on the tears of Asian cattle? There’s a question-and-answer section with an insect scientist and advice on how to help preserve endangered insects.
Journey Into the Invisibleby Christine Schlitt, 80 pages,ages 9-12
If you use a magnifying（放大的）glass, you know a leaf looks quite different. This book explains what microscopes do and then shows what happens to things around the house when watched with this amazing scientific tool. The bacteria in your mouth, when magnified 20,000 times, look a bit like swimming pool noodles. Fascinating photos are paired with suggestions about how to learn about the world around you, just by looking a little closer.Kids interested in pre-historical animals might read ______.
| A．Ultimate Bugopedia |
| B．Beyond the Solar System |
| C．Journey Into the Invisible |
| D．Scaly Spotted Feathered Frilled |
Beyond the Solar System is mainly about ______.
| A．space exploration |
| B．the Milky Way |
| C．history lessons |
| D．Albert Einstein’s universe |
From the passage, we can learn that ______.
| A．butterflies are fond of the tears of Asian cattle |
| B．scientists have discovered the dinosaur’s coloring |
| C．microscopes can present you with an amazing world |
| D．man has explored the black hole for thousands of years |
The main purpose of the passage is to ______.
| A．compare features of different books |
| B．inspire people to become scientists |
| C．teach children some knowledge of science |
| D．recommend new science books to children |
Sharing Beauty
It was in October. I was aimlessly wandering down the street, heading into a most gloriously beautiful sunset. I had an urge to speak to someone on the street to share that beauty, but it seemed everyone was in a hurry.
I took the next-best action. Quickly I ducked into a department store and asked the lady behind the counter if she could come outside for just a minute. She looked at me as though I were from some other planet. She hesitated, and then seemingly against her better judgment, she moved toward the door.
When she got outside I said to her, “Just look at that sunset! Nobody out here was looking at it and I just had to share it with someone.”
For a few seconds we just looked. Then I said, “God is in his heaven and all is right with the world.” I thanked her for coming out to see it; she went back inside and I left. It felt good to share the beauty.
Four years later my situation changed greatly. I came to the end of a twenty-year marriage. I was alone and on my own for the first time in my life. I lived in a trailer park which, at the time, I considered a real come-down, and I had to do my wash in the community laundry room.
One day, while my clothes were going around, I picked up a magazine and read an article about a woman who had been in similar circumstances. She had come to the end of a marriage, moved to a strange community, and the only job she could find was one she disliked: clothing sales in a department store.
Then something that happened to her changed everything. She said a woman came into her department store and asked her to step outside to look at a sunset. The stranger had said, “God is in his heaven and all is right with the world,” and she had realized the truth in that statement. From that moment on, she turned her life around. The author asked the woman to go outside to ______.
| A．admire the sunset | B．cheer her up | C．offer some help | D．have a chat |
Four years later, the author ______.
| A．found her dream job |
| B．put an end to her marriage |
| C．worked in a laundry room |
| D．lived in the same community |
After reading the article in the magazine, the author was probably______.
| A．disappointed | B．puzzled | C．inspired | D．overjoyed |
请认真阅读下列短文，并根据所读内容在文章后表格中的空格里填入一个恰当的单词。(答案填在答题纸上)
Becoming a fireman is a challenging and competitive job today. A fireman’s main duty is decided by the fighting and extinguishment(熄灭) of fire which definitely requires being a strong man, both mentally and physically.
The duty of a fireman includes protection of life and property of the public. They are the servicemen who are decisively selected by an organization to deal with situations like fire. Such type of jobs is one of those few jobs where service is provided for innocent people when they need help immediately. This may include rescuing people from a building at fire, providing them with medical facilities, extinguishing fire in a house or in a large commercial building. Serving people is the main purpose of these professionals（职业）. The satisfaction which a fireman gets from this type of job cannot be compared to any other profession in the world.
Such profession requires top-level commitment and professionalism from those who have chosen it as a career. Fireman should have the highest level of courage and patience to put their lives in danger for the sake of others. They undergo lessons of maintaining patience for long hours and go through complete preparation to become successful and well-organized professional firemen. There are certain tests that are recommended before becoming a fireman.
It’s not that easy to become a fireman nowadays. A fireman is supposed to deal with unexpected situations, and they should be skilled at communicating with others and be self-disciplined at the same time.
In order to be a good fireman, one must undergo（经历、接受） strict local fire department’s training program after passing all the tests. All the fire departments conclude a two-to-four-month course, including classroom training and practical training that cover firefighting techniques, fire avoidance, dangerous materials and urgent situation medical actions. Completing this training, trainees go through the department’s trial period of service that can last from three to six months, depending on the methods of selection.
Firemen usually work both indoors and outdoors. They have to be on duty at all times and mostly work in shifts of at least 8 hours. They are also provided with several benefits which include medical aid plan, pension fund, annual leave and many more.
Title: Fireman
| Definition |
The servicemen decisively selected by an organization to ( |
| ( |
● Helping innocent people ( ● Rescuing people from a building at-fire and providing them with medical facilities. ● ( |
| Requirements |
● Having top-level commitment and professionalism. ● Being courageous and ( ● Being strong both in body and ( ● Having good ( ● Being self-disciplined. |
| ( |
● Firefighting techniques, fire avoidance, dangerous materials and urgent situation medical actions. ● The department’s trial period of service which possibly ( |
| ( |
Medical aid plans, pension fund, annual leave and many more. |