Since the 1970s, scientists have been searching for ways to link the brain with computers．Brain-computer interface（BCI） technology could help people with disabilities send commands to machines．
Recently, two researchers, Jose Millan and Michele Tavella from the Federal Polytechnic School in Lausanne, Switzerland, demonstrated（展示）a small robotic wheelchair directed by a person’s thoughts．
In the laboratory, Tavella operated the wheelchair just by thinking about moving his left or right hand．He could even talk as he watched the vehicle and guided it with his thoughts．
“Our brain has billions of nerve cells．These send signals through the spinal cord（脊髓）to the muscles to give us the ability to move．But spinal cord injuries or other conditions can prevent these weak electrical signals from reaching the muscles,” Tavella says．“Our system allows disabled people to communicate with external world and also to control devices．”
The researchers designed a special cap for the user．This head cover picks up the signals from the scalp（头皮）and sends them to a computer．The computer interprets the signals and commands the motorized wheelchair． The wheelchair also has two cameras that identify objects in its path．They help the computer react to commands from the brain．
Prof．Millan, the team leader, says scientists keep improving the computer software that interprets brain signals and turns them into simple commands．“The practical possibilities that BCI technology offers to disabled people can be grouped in two categories: communication, and controlling devices．One example is this wheelchair．”
He says his team has set two goals．One is testing with real patients, so as to prove that this is a technology they can benefit from．And the other is to guarantee that they can use the technology over long periods of time．BCI is a technology that can .
| A．help to update computer systems | B．link the human brain with computers |
| C．help the disabled to recover | D．control a person's thoughts |
How did Tavella operate the wheelchair in the laboratory?
| A．By controlling his muscles． | B．By talking to the machine． |
| C．By moving his hand． | D．By using his mind． |
The team will test with real patients to .
| A．make profits from them | B．prove the technology useful to them |
| C．make them live longer | D．learn about their physical condition |
Which of the following would be the best title for the text?
| A．Switzerland, the BCI Research Center |
| B．New Findings About How the Human Brain Works |
| C．BCI Could Mean More Freedom for the Disabled |
| D．Robotic Vehicles Could Help to Cure Brain Injuries |
Urban citizens(市民)can enjoy a more colorful life than rural citizens.Townspeople are wellinformed because they have the easier access to news，while country people are uniformed because these districts are hard to get to.Urban traffic is so welldeveloped that the residents there often visit exhibitions and parks which are only a short bus ride away. For country people this is a major operation which involves considerable planning.Shopping，a necessary activity in everyday life is more convenient in the city than in the countryside. Townspeople can buy what they want at any time of a day.But rural residents go to town at most once a week.So after shopping they always stagger home loaded with heavy purchases. As for as meals and clothes concerned，townspeople are wellfed and welldressed as there is an adequate(足够的)supply of goods.But rural residents are too busy to pay particular attention to them.It is for these reasons that more and more people are moving into the city and looking for a rest there.
On the contrary，some people are attracted by the rural area.Air pollution，noise and overcrowding which are the biggest problems confronting townspeople seem strange for rural residents.Medical studies have proved that rural residents can live longer than urban residents, because they are free from a polluted environment. In addition，the crime rate in the city is several times higher than in the countryside.As is known to all，the life in any city is much more expensive than in the countryside.So the safe, quiet and cheap life in the country appeals to(对……有吸引力)many city residents.
Either an urban or a rural area gives pleasure and trouble.But，I believe，the suburban area has the excellencies(优点)of both and is superior to both.As the automobile industry develops，more and more people will make their homes in suburban areas.When visiting an exhibition in town，country people have to ________.
| A．listen to local news | B．take a bus |
| C．make a careful plan | D．ask friends for help |
Paragraph 1 mainly tells us the differences between urban and rural life in ________.
| A．communication，traffic and shopping |
| B．traffic，shopping and diet |
| C．education，living conditions and housing |
| D．traffic，medicine and shopping |
According to the passage，rural people are not as welldressed as urban citizens mainly because________.
| A．they live far away from town |
| B．they live a poorer life |
| C．they are busy with their work |
| D．they don't like to dress up |
For rural residents，the problems the urban citizens facing are________.
| A．common | B．unfamiliar |
| C．wellknown | D．unimportant |
Against the supposition than forest fires in Alaska, Canada and Siberia warm the climate, scientists have discovered that cooling may occur in areas where burnt trees allow more snow to mirror more sunlight into space.
This finding suggests that taking steps to prevent northern forest to limit the release of greenhouse gases may warm the climate in northern regions. Usually large fires destroyed forests in these areas over the past decade. Scientists predict that with climate warming, fires may occur more frequently over next several centuries as result of a longer fire season. Sunlight taken in by the earth tends to cause warming, while heat mirrored back into space tends to cause cooling.
This is the first study to analyze all aspects of how northern fires influence climate. Earlier studies by other scientists have suggested that fire in northern regions speed up climate warming because greenhouse gases from burning trees and plants are released into the atmosphere and thus trap heat.
Scientists found that right after the fire, large amounts of greenhouse gases entered the atmosphere and caused warming. Ozone(臭氧)levels increased, and ash from the fire fell on faroff sea ice, darkening the surface and causing more radiation from the sun to be taken in. The following spring, however, the land within the area of the fire was brighter than before the fire, because fewer trees covered the ground. Snow on the ground mirrored more sunlight back into space, leading to cooling.
“We need to find out all possible ways to reduce the growth of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.” Scientists tracked the change in amount of radiation entering and leaving the climate system as a result of the fire, and found a measurement closely related to the global air temperature. Typically, fire in northern regions occurs in the same area every 80 to 150 years. Scientists, however, found that when fire occurs more frequently, more radiation is lost from the earth and cooling results. Specifically, they determined when fire returns 20 years earlier than predicated, 0.5 watts per square meter of area burned are soaked_up by the earth from greenhouse gases, but 0.9 watts per square meter will be sent back into space. The net effect is cooling. Watts are used to measure the rate at which energy is gained or lost from the earth.According to the new findings, taking steps to prevent northern forest fires may ________.
| A．result in a warming climate |
| B．cause the forest fires to occur more frequently |
| C．lead to a longer fire season |
| D．protect the forests and the environment there |
The following are all the immediate effects after a forest fire EXCEPT________.
| A．large amounts of greenhouse gases enter the atmosphere |
| B．the levels of ozone which is a type of oxygen increase |
| C．snow on the ground mirrors more sunlight back into space |
| D．ashes from the fire fall on the ice surface and take in more radiation from the sun |
Earlier studies about northern forest fires ________.
| A．analyze all aspects of how northern fires influence climate |
| B．indicate that forest fires will pollute the atmosphere |
| C．suggest that people should take measures to protect environment |
| D．suggest that the fires will speed up climate warming |
The underlined phrase “soak up” in the last paragraph most probably means ________.
| A．released | B．absorbed | C．created | D．distributed |
Most mornings, the line begins to form at dawn: scores of silent women with babies on their backs, buckets balanced on their heads, and in each hand a brightblue plastic jug. On good days, they will wait less than an hour before a water tanker goes across the dirt path that serves as a road in Kesum Purbahari, a slum on the southern edge of New Delhi. On bad days, when there is no electricity for the pumps, the tankers don't come at all. “That water kills people，” a young mother named Shoba said one recent Saturday morning, pointing to a row of pails filled with thick, caramel (焦糖)colored liquid. “Whoever drinks it will die.” The water was from a pipe shared by thousands of people in the poor neibourhood. Women often use it to wash clothes and bathe their children, but nobody is desperate enough to drink it.
There is no standard for how much water a person needs each day, but experts usually put the minimum at fifty litres. The government of India promises (but rarely provides) forty. Most people drink two or three litres—less than it takes to wash a toilet. The rest is typically used for cooking and bathing. Americans consume between four hundred and six hundred litres of water each day, more than any other people on earth. Most Europeans use less than half that. The women of Kesum Purbahari each hoped to drag away a hundred litres that day—two or three buckets' worth. Shoba has a husband and five children, and that much water doesn't go far in a family of seven, particularly when the temperature reaches a hundred and ten degrees before noon. She often makes up the difference with bottled water, which costs more than water delivered any other way. Sometimes she just buys milk; it's cheaper. Like the poorest people everywhere, the people of New Delhi's slums spend a far greater percentage of their incomes on water than anyone lucky enough to live in a house connected to a system of pipes.The underlined word “slum” most likely means________.
| A．a village |
| B．a small town |
| C．an area of a town with badlybuilt, overcrowded buildings |
| D．the part of a town that lacks water badly |
Sometimes the water tanker doesn't come because________.
| A．the weather is bad |
| B．there is no electricity |
| C．there is no water |
| D．people don't want the dirty water |
A person needs at least________litres of water a day.
| A．a hundred | B．four hundred |
| C．forty | D．fifty |
Which of the following statements is WRONG?
| A．A hundred litres of water a day is enough for Shoba's family. |
| B．Americans uses the largest amount of water each day. |
| C．In Kesum Purbahari milk is cheaper than bottled water. |
| D．Shoba has a family of seven people. |
Today，people all over the world are moving out of small villages in the country to go and live in big，noisy cities.They are moving from the peaceful hills，mountains，fields，rivers and streams of the countryside to the busy world of streets，buildings，traffic and crowds.This movement from rural areas to urban_areas has been going on for over two hundred years.
In many countries，the main reason why people come to live in towns and cities is work.After one or two large factories have been built in or near a town，people come to find work，and soon an industrial area begins to grow.There is usually a residential area nearby，where the factory workers can live.The families of these workers need schools，hospitals and shops，so more people come to live in the area to provide these services and a city grows.
In every major city in the world，there is a business district where the big companies have their main offices.In the United States，this area is usually in the city centre.It is here that you can see the huge skyscraper office blocks.The people who work here often travel a long way to work each day.Many of them live in the suburbs of the city，far away from the industrial area and the city centre.Some suburbs are very pleasant，with nice houses and big gardens.There are usually parks for children to play in and large department stores where you can buy all you need.
But what is the future of the big cities? Will they continue to get bigger? Perhaps not.Some major cities have actually become smaller in the last ten years，and it is quite possible that one day we will see people moving out of the major cities and back into smaller towns and villages.We can easily know that the underlined phrase “urban areas” means________.
| A．areas of the countryside |
| B．areas of a town or city |
| C．areas near the countryside |
| D．areas near a town or city |
Why do people move to live in cities or towns?
| A．Because they can live more comfortably there. |
| B．Because they prefer a noisy life to a peaceful life. |
| C．Because they want to find work. |
| D．Because they are sure of having a better life there. |
In a residential area，you can see________.
| A．rows of houses，schools and shops |
| B．many offices and factories |
| C．a lot of factories and farms |
| D．many houses with offices and factories |
In the United States many people work in the centre of a big city________.
| A．while living on the faraway edge of the city |
| B．and live there |
| C．but live in another city |
| D．but live far away out of the city |
Tim Richter and his wife, Linda, had taught for over 30 years near Buffalo, New York—he in computers, she in special education.“Teaching means everything to us，” Tim would say. In April 1998, he learned he would need a heart operation. It was the kind of news that leads to some serious thinking about life's purpose.
Not long after the surgery, Tim saw a brochure describing Imagination Library, a program started by Dolly Parton's foundation (基金会) that mailed a book every month to children from birth to age five in the singer's home town of Sevier, Tennessee. “I thought, maybe Linda and I could do something like this when we retire，”Tim recalls. He placed the brochure on his desk，“as a reminder.”
Five years later, now retired and with that brochure still on the desk, Tim clicked on imagination library .com. The program had been opened up to partners who could take advantage of book and postage discounts.
The quality of the books was of great concern to the Richters. Rather than sign up online, they went to Dollywood for a looksee. “We didn't want to give the children rubbish，” says Linda. The books reviewed each year by teachers, literacy specialists and Dollywood board members included classics such as Ezra Jack Keats's The Snowy Day and newer books like Anna Dewdney's Llama Llama series.
Satisfied, the couple set up the Richter Family Foundation and got to work. Since 2004, they have shipped more than 12,200 books to preschoolers in their area. Megan Williams, a mother of four, is more than appreciative: “This program introduces us to books I've never heard of .”
The Richters spend about $400 a month sending books to 200 children. “Some people sit there and wait to die，” says Tim. “Others get as busy as they can in the time they have left.”What let Tim think seriously about the meaning of life?
| A．His health problem. | B．His love for teaching. |
| C．The influence of his wife. | D．The news from the Web. |
What did Tim want to do after learning about Imagination Library?
| A．Give out brochures. | B．Do something similar. |
| C．Write books for children. | D．Retire from being a teacher. |
According to the text，Dolly Parton is________.
| A．a wellknown surgeon | B．a mother of a fouryearold |
| C．a singer born in Tennessee | D．a computer programmer |
Why did the Richters go to Dollywood?
| A．To avoid signing up online. |
| B．To meet Dollywood board members. |
| C．To make sure the books were the newest. |
| D．To see if the books were of good quality. |