A funny thing happened on the way to the communications revolutions: we stopped talking to one another.
I was walking in the park with a friend recently，and his cell phone rang, interrupting our conversation. There we were, walking and talking on a beautiful sunny day and…I became invisible, absent from the conversation.
The telephone used to connect you to the absent. Now it makes people sitting next to you feel absent. Why is it that the more connected we get, the more disconnected I feel? Every advance in communications technology is a tragedy to the closeness of human interaction. With email and instant messaging over the Internet, we can now communicate without seeing or talking to one another, With voice mail, you can conduct entire conversations without ever reaching anyone. If my mom has a question, I just leave the answer on her machine.
As almost every contact we can imagine between human beings gets automated, the alienation index goes up. You can't even call a person to get the phone number of another person my more. Directory assistance is almost always fully automated.
I am not against modern technology. I own a cell phone, an ATM card a voice mail system, and an email account. Giving them up isn't wise…they're a great help to use. It's some of their possible consequences that make me feel uneasy.
More and more .I find myself hiding behind e-mail to do a job meant for conversation. Or being relieved that voice mail picked up because I didn't really have time to talk, The industry devoted to helping me keep in touch is making me lonelier…or at least facilitating my antisocial instincts．
So I've put myself on technology restriction: no instant messaging. with people who live near me，no cell phoning in the presence of friends, no letting the voice mail pick up when I'm at home.Which of the following would be the best title of the passage?
| A．The Advance of Communications Technology |
| B．The Consequences of Modern Technology |
| C．The Story of Communications Revolution |
| D．The Automation of Modern Communications |
The sentence “Now it makes people sitting next to you feel absent，”means that .
| A．the people sitting beside you have to go away to receive a phone call |
| B．you can hardly get in touch with the people sitting beside you |
| C．modem technology makes it hard for people to have a face-to-face talk |
| D．people can now go to work without going to the office |
The writer feels that the use of modern communications is ．
| A．encouraging | B．disappointing | C．satisfying | D．embarrassing |
The passage implies that .
| A．modern technology is bridging the people. |
| B．modern technology is separating the people |
| C．modern technology is developing too fast |
| D．modern technology is interrupting our communications |
WASHINGTON—A chaotic scene unfolded near the U S．Capitol（美国国会大厦）on Wednesday after police shot and killed an armed man in what authorities described as a rush hour traffic stop that turned deadly．
U S．Capitol Police spokeswoman Sgt．Kim Schneider said the unidentified 35-year-old man sped away in a white car after being stopped a few blocks from the Capitol．The man drove the wrong way down a street and c
rashed into a police car in a heavily guarded area about a block north of the Capitol grounds，striking two officers with his car along the way，she said． Police then opened fire after seeing the man hold up his handgun and refuse to put it down，said Schneider，who described the melee（人群）as“very fast moving”．“The officers felt they were being threatened-they were in fear for their lives，”Schneider said．
She did not know if the man ever fired at police．He was taken to a hospital，where he was pronounced dead．
The officers who were hit——one of whom was on a motorcycle——had minor injuries，Schneider said．
The late afternoon scare occurred as lawmakers were wrapping up a third day of hearings for Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor．Police briefly closed up part of the Capiltol as a precaution，but the buildings were reopened about a half—hour later．Authorities said the
shooting was not related to the Capitol．
Carol Lanigan，of Toledo，Ohio，described how she save a white car come flying down the street with two police cars chasing it．She said she heard about four or five shots．
“There were so many gunshots being fired，my family got down．”said Robert Drumm of Oklahoma，who was touring the nation’s capital with his family．
Numerous emergency vehicles came together quickly on the area．
Lanigan’s husband，Dale Lanigan，described a similar scene，saying that as the car sped past him the driver had one hand on the wheel and it looked like he was reaching for something．What can be learned from the passage？
| A．Three police officers were hurt in the shooting． |
| B．The shooting had something to do with the Capitol． |
| C．The Capitol was unprotected when the gunshot happened． |
| D．The gunshot case had nothing to do with the Capitol． |
When the case happened，．
| A．CaroI Lanigan heard five shots exactly |
| B．many emergency vehicles appeared in the area |
| C．Robert Drumm stopped to tour the nation’s capital by himself |
| D．Carol Lanigan didn’t come to the scene |
Which of the following is closest in meaning to the underlined word“chaotic”？
| A．disordered | B．accessible | C．lifelike | D．arranged |
Which of the following is the best title of the passage？
| A．A police accident near the U．S．Capitol |
| B．Defend the U．S．Capitol |
| C．Police chasing the peace breaker |
| D．Armed man was shot near the Capitol by police |
I still remember the days when l was a youthful student in an engineering school．I lived a casual life，without caring about the future．I smoked，drank with friends and made girl friends．Little did I realize that casualness would certainly lead to loss．
Two years had passed and l was staring down a report card that highlighted FAII in more than half the subjects．I didn’t care，at least not till my dad found out about it．You see．I studied in India and unlike the United States where the students are expected to finance their own education，my dad financed me．
Then came the day when my dad found out my habit of smoking．He lost his temper but he just told me，“Son，your allowance is cut in half from this moment on”．It hit me like a roundhouse kick（回旋踢） from Bruce Lee．I was jolted（震摇）out of my bones！I couldn’t comprehend how to pay off the debts that I had accumulated in college．I owed everybody money：the grocery store，the bars．the restaurants，my friends，etc．I was living a life filled with credit．
When I went back to college，I knew that if I don’t change the way I live my life I won’t be able to pay everybody off．So I decided to make some changes．drastic changes．I quit smoking，cut off from my friends who led me down the wrong road，starting hanging out in libraries and reading my engineering books．
One year later，I went from a miserable failure to a magna curn laude（优等成绩）．Life was never the same again．This incident made me know that anything is possible if you take action and do something about it，however small or large．Even today it still motivates me when I feel that l’m about to lose or give up．It reminds me that I can do it！The author wrote this text with the purpose of ．
| A．introducing his university life to the teenage readers |
| B．showing you can overcome any difficulty if you take action |
| C．calling on the readers not to develop bad habits in college |
| D．introducing his university life to the teenage readers |
The author didn’t care about his study until．
| A．he was in heavy debt he couldn’t bear | B．he decided to give up smoking |
| C．his allowance was cut in half | D．he entered th e engineering school |
The underlined sentence in the last paragraph means that the author．
| A．removed his bad habits and didn’t lead a casual life |
| B．never hung out with his friends but studied all day |
| C．began to live a happy life due to his good grades |
| D．paid off his debt and life wasn’t hard for him any more |
Which of the following statements is TRUE？
| A．The author did well in making good friends in the school． |
| B．The author made great progress with the help of his friends． |
| C．Students were encouraged to do part-time jobs in Indian schools． |
| D．Students tended to earn money for college expenses in America． |
Recently, scientists have developed a wireless brainmachine interface that help restore communication to people who can no longer speak by reading brainwaves using electrodes(电极) stuck on their heads. Unfortunately, these have proved very slow, at roughly one word typed per minute, making normal conversations and social interactions virtually impossible.
Scientist Frank Guenther and his colleagues reveal a brainmachine interface that uses electrodes implanted directly into the brain for research into real time speech.
"It should soon be possible for extremely paralysed individuals who are incapable of speaking to produce speech through a laptop computer, " said Guenther.
The scientists worked with a 26-year- old male volunteer who experience near-total paralysis due to a stroke he suffered when he was 16. They implanted an electrode that had two wires into a part of the brain that help plan and execute movements related to speech. The electrode recorded brain signals when the volunteer attempted to talk and the wires spread them across the scalp(头皮)to help drive a speech synthesizer (合成器). The delay between brain activity and sound output was just 50 milliseconds on average, roughly the same with regular speech.
"He was quite excited, particularly on the first few days we used the system, as he got used to its properties, " Guenther recalled." I am sure the work proceeds slowly from his perspective, as it does from ours. Nonetheless, he was very excited about getting real-time audio feedback of his intended speech and happy to work very hard with us throughout the experiments."
"The current system uses data from just two wires. Within a year it will be possible to implant a system with 16 times as many." Guenther said." This will allow us to tap into neurons(神经元)，which in the end means better control over a synthesizer and thus better speech."In the study of Guenther, electrodes are _______.
| A．fixed on the heads | B．put into the heads |
| C．tied to the heads | D．separated from the heads |
The underlined word "them" in Paragraph 4 refers to _______.
| A．movements | B．wires | C．brain signals | D．Scientists |
What might be the best title for the passage?
A. Wireless Device Are Used to Read Words in the Brain.
B. New Equipment Helps you read others’ mind.
C. Virtual tongue can make you speak fluently.
It is no secret what you are thinking in mind.
There are many rights to make sure that people will be treated fairly when they are suspected or accused of a crime. Sometimes these rights are called "due process of law". In using these rights, a person should have the help of a lawyer.
You have a right to protect against unreasonable searches and seizures. The police generally may not search you or your home, or take things you own, without a "warrant". A warrant is a paper which states, very exactly , the place to be searched and the things to be taken. Sometimes, however, the police will not need a warrant to search you or your property. If an officer sees you committing a crime, or if he has a good reason to believe you have committed a serious crime, he may arrest you and search you and the area right around you without a warrant.
If you invite a police without a warrant to come into your house and he finds proof of crime, the evidence may be used against you in court. If you do not want an officer to search you or your home and he does not have a warrant, tell him that you do not give him the right to search. However, if the officer will not listen, do not try to stop him. It is dangerous to resist and it may be illegal to do so. Any evidence which a policeman gets during an unlawful search and seizure cannot be used against you.
Police officers must act reasonably and fairly at all times. They should use physical force only when it is needed to arrest someone to enforce a law. They may not use physical violence to "teach someone a lesson". According to the passage, a "warrant" is______.
| A．an identification card | B．an access card |
| C．an official written order | D．a special license |
In which case can the policeman use the evidence he gets against you in court?
| A．He makes an unreasonable search of your home and gets the evidence. |
| B．He is allowed to search your home with no warrant and finds proof of crime. |
| C．He gets the information you do not want to give him by using physical force. |
| D．He obtains the information from you when you are alone with him. |
The police can use physical force only when____.
| A．they want to teach the habitual thief a lesson |
| B．they catch the criminal on the spot |
| C．the suspect talks back |
| D．the criminal resists arrest |
The passage centers around____.
| A．the rights of citizens | B．the importance of warrants |
| C．the duty of the police | D．criminal cases |
Salvation Army Angel Program
Angel Tree collects gifts for children and families in need. Participate by selecting an angel from any Angel Tree at all Cyprus Credit Union location or any Utah Macy's Department store. Shop for your angel, then return your new, unwrapped gift to the same Angel Tree. Gifts must be returned before December 14. For more information, call (801) 988-5678 in the Salt Lake area,(801) 374-2588 in the Provo area.
Utah Association for People with Intellectual Disabilities Holiday Gift Box Program
The program serves primarily low-income adults with intellectual disabilities who don't qualify for other programs because of age limits, said Joyce Whalen, the association's board president. To donate, visit the association at 1326 S.2100 East from 9am to about 5:30 pm to choose an ornament(装饰物) that provides information about an individual who will benefit from the program. Shop for new items and return them by December 14. Donations of generic items, such as towels, socks and hygiene products also accepted, as are monetary donations. For more information, call 801-440-1674.
Utah Foster Care Foundation's Giving Tree Program
The program seeks new gifts and cash donations to fulfill the holiday wishes of more than 1,000 children in state-licensed foster homes." Many of the children in care have been removed from their biological homes because of neglect or abuse," said Nikki Mackay, the foundation's director. " Christmas can be a difficult time for them." To learn how to support the program, call 877-505-5437.
Utah State Hospital Forgotten Patient Program
The program provides Christmas gifts for hundreds of patients with mental illness. In the history of the program--which may go back as far as 60 years, organizer Shawna Peterson said, "we've never had a forgotten patient." And she doesn't want this year to change that. To support the program, contact Peterson at 801-344-6088.After you buy an angel, you should ________.
| A．post it to where you bought | B．open its package to examine it |
| C．send it to families in need for yourself | D．bring it back in its original form |
If you want to help adults with intellectual disabilities, you should call_____.
| A．801-440-1674 | B．801-988-5678 |
| C．877-505-5437 | D．801-344-6088 |
The underlined phrases "biological homes" in the third program refers to ______.
| A．homes where they are just brought up |
| B．homes where their natural parents live |
| C．homes where they learn biology |
| D．homes where are related to bacteria |
From the last program, we can infer that ______.
A. the patients often forgot to come to the hospital
B. the patients are often forgotten to be looked after
C. the patients are being taken good care of
the patients had a poor memory in the hospital