Goldie's Secret
She turned up at the doorstep of my house in Cornwall. No way could I have sent her away. No way, not me anyway. Maybe someone had kicked her out of their car the night before. "We're moving house. "No space for her any more with the baby coming. " "We never really wanted her, but what could we have done? She was a present. " People find all sorts of excuses for abandoning an animal. And she was one of the most beautiful dogs I had ever seen.
I called her Goldie. If I had known what was going to happen I would have given her a more creative name. She was so unsettled during those first few days. She hardly ate anything and had such an air of sadness about her. There was nothing I could do to make her happy, it seemed. Heaven knows what had happened to her at her previous owner's. But eventually at the end of the first week she calmed down. Always by my side, whether we were out on one of our long walks or sitting by the fire.
That's why it was such a shock when she pulled away from me one day when we were out for a walk. We were a long way from home, when she started barking and getting very restless. Eventually I couldn't hold her any longer and she raced off down the road towards a farmhouse in the distance as fast as she could.
By the time I reached the farm I was very tired and upset with Goldie. But when I saw her licking (舔) the four puppies (幼犬) I started to feel sympathy towards them. "We didn't know what had happened to her," said the woman at the door. "I took her for a walk one day, soon after the puppies were born, and she just disappeared. " "She must have tried to come back to them and got lost," added a boy from behind her.
I must admit I do miss Goldie, but I've got Nugget now, and she looks just like her mother. And I've learnt a good lesson: not to judge people. How did the author feel about Goldie when Goldie came to the house?
| A．Shocked | B．Sympathetic | C．Annoyed | D．Upset. |
In her first few days at the author's house, Goldie _______.
| A．felt worried | B．was angry | C．ate a little | D．sat by the fire |
Goldie rushed off to a farmhouse one day because she ________.
| A．saw her puppies | B．heard familiar barkings |
| C．wanted to leave the author | D．found her way to her old home |
The passage is organized in order of ________ .
| A．time | B．effectiveness | C．importance | D．complexity |
After record increase in over 40 countries, Universal Robots’ lightweight robotic arms are now making their US debut (首次露面) at this year’s International Manufacturing Trade Show (IMTS) in Chicago.
The UR5 robotic arm made by Universal Robots has been announced officially “The world’s most innovative (创新的) robot” by The International Federation of Robotics and IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) Robotics and Automation Society. The US audience will now see the award-winning robot — along with its big brother UR10 — for the first time.
The UR5 and UR10 robotic arms are aimed at small-sized companies that thought robots were too expensive and hard to operate in existing production. The robotic arms are easily moved around the production area and present a simple user interface (界面) which lets workers quickly operate them.
Esben Ostergaard, founder and CTO (Chief Technical Officer) at Universal Robots, explains how the robots were designed to be as user⁃friendly as possible:
“We decided to make programming easy by developing a user interface worked together with a “teaching function” allowing the user to simply took hold of the robot arm and show it how a movement should be done. The robot can work in any production process very quickly. Our experience shows this is generally done in a few hours.”
The robots weigh as little as 40 pounds, making it possible for them to be moved around the production area to do different tasks. The UR5 can handle a load of up to 5 kilos (11 pounds), the UR10, 10 kilos (22 pounds). As soon as a worker touches the robot arm and uses a force of at least 150 Newton, the robot arm will automatically stop operating. According to the text, the UR5 robotic arm _____.
| A．was designed by IEEE |
| B．is aimed at small companies |
| C．has won a number of awards |
| D．made its appearance in 40 countries |
The underlined word “it” in Paragraph 4 refers to _____.
| A．the programme | B．the user interface |
| C．the robot arm | D．the “teaching function” |
What’s the text mainly about?
| A．An introduction to Universal Robots’ new robots. |
| B．The difference between the UR5 and the UR10. |
| C．Why the UR5 and the UR10 were invented. |
| D．How to operate the UR5 and the UR10. |
College is a fresh start, and a chance to make new friends. These friends may become your lifelong friends, or the person you want to spend the rest of your life with. Whether you are going to a nearby college or the university far away from home, you are likely to meet new people wherever you are. Here are some advice to help you make friends at college.
Clearly, your classmates are all possible friends! Get to class early on the first day, and if you get there early enough, you will be in the room, or waiting outside it, with one other person, or a small group. A good casual opener would be to ask if you’re in the right classroom, then introduce yourself, and explain that you’re new, and a freshman. Do this at all of your classes, and you will have a group of friends that you can make study groups with, take notes for you when you’re absent or sick.
If you live in a dormitory, your hall will most likely have many fun activities to take part in. Take advantage ofthem, and go to as many as you can. Knowing your friends living in the same hall will also come in convenience because they will be the ones hosting and inviting you to parties that you will be missing out. Joining as many organizations as possible will also help you make new friends quickly. Parties are there to help students form close relationship with each other. Doing a team sport is another great idea. The best part of joining an organization is that you’ll find people who share your interests, and with whom you’ll therefore have a lot to talk about.Getting to class early will ___________.
| A．give you more information about the teacher |
| B．let you concentrate more on your class |
| C．give you a good chance to make friends |
| D．leave a good impression on others |
According to the text, the friends you get to know in class may __________.
| A．share your interests | B．invite you to parties |
| C．help you to become a good player | D．take notes for you |
What is the meaning of freshman in paragraph 2?
| A．A classmate. | B．A student in the first year. | C．A girl student. | D．A new teacher. |
Which piece of advice is NOT given by the author?
| A．Make friends with your classmates. |
| B．Take part in dorm activities. |
| C．Do the same team sports as your classmates. |
| D．Join as many organizations as possible. |
Robert Ballard was born in 1942. From an early age, he loved the sea. Ballard grew up in Southern California. He spent his free time at the beach near his home. He enjoyed fishing and swimming. He even learned to dive. 
When Ballard wasn’t at the ocean, he loved reading about it. At age 10, he read 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, a book which describes the undersea adventures of Captain Nemo. Ballard decided he wanted to be like Captain Nemo when he grew up. His parents helped him follow his dream.
Ballard was a hardworking student. He spent many years learning all he could about the ocean. By the age of 28, he was an expert. In 1970, he took a job as a scientist at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute in Massachusetts. There he studied underwater mountains of the Atlantic Ocean. He came up with ways to predict（预知）volcanoes under the oceans. Working with other scientists, Ballard also found previously（以前）unknown sea animals. These animals lived far below the ocean’s surface, where scientists had believed no animals could live.
By the 1980s, Ballard’s interests changed. He developed unmanned（无人的）vehicles to explore the ocean bottom. His first find, the well-known ship Titanic, made Ballard famous. He was not happy with just one big find, however. He looked for — and found — other well-known ships. One was the German battleship Bismarck. Another was the U.S.S. Yorktown, an aircraft carrier (航空母舰) that sank during World War II.
Today Robert Ballard is still an underwater explorer. He also heads an organization that encourages students to learn about science. Ballard hopes that some of the students will follow in his footsteps. After all, the world’s huge oceans are mostly unknown. Who knows what remains to be discovered under the sea?What was Ballard’s dream when he was young?
| A．To be a science teacher. | B．To be an underwater explorer. |
| C．To be an animal expert. | D．To be a famous writer. |
When Ballard worked at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute, he _____.
| A．explored the undersea world by ship |
| B．thought of ideas to predict underwater volcanoes |
| C．found some unknown sea animals alone |
| D．set up an organization to teach students science |
Which is the correct order of the events mentioned in the text about Ballard?
a. He found the German battleship Bismarck.
b. He read a book about Captain Nemo.
c. He found the famous ship Titanic.
d. He became an expert in science.
| A．b-c-d-a | B．d-b-c-a | C．b-d-c-a | D．d-c-a-b |
What can we learn from the text?
| A．Ballard’s parents felt disappointed at his undersea adventures. |
| B．Ballard didn’t like fishing and swimming in his childhood. |
| C．Ballard was greatly influenced by 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. |
| D．Human beings have explored more than half of the sea. |
How many family members are there in Mandy’s host family?
| A．4. | B．5. | C．6. | D．7. |
Next month, Mandy is going to visit__________.
| A．Pattaya beach | B．Phuket Island |
| C．Phairat’s hometown | D．Bangkok |
From the letter we know that Mandy is__________ when she stays in Thailand.
| A．bored | B．quiet | C．excited | D．proud |
What is the letter mainly about?
| A．Study trip in Thailand | B．Food culture in Thailand |
| C．Elephant riding in Thailand | D．International schools in Thailand |
For most people, shopping is still a matter of wandering down the street or loading a cart in a shopping mall. Soon, that will change. Electronic commerce (trade) is growing fast and will soon bring people more choices. There will, however, be a cost: protecting the consumer from being cheated will be harder. Many governments therefore want to apply street regulations to the electronic world. But politicians would be wiser to see cyberspace as a basis for a new era of corporate self-regulation.
Consumers in rich countries have grown used to the idea that the government takes responsibility for everything from the stability of the banks to the safety of the drugs or their rights to refund when goods are faulty. But governments cannot enforce national laws on businesses whose only presence is on the screen. Even in a country where a clear right to compensation exists, the on-line customer in Tokyo, say, can hardly go to New York to get a refund (退款) for a clothes purchase.
One answer is for government to cooperate more: to recognize each other’s rules. But that requires years of work and volumes of detailed rules. And plenty of countries have rules too fanciful for sober countries to accept. There is, however, another choice. Let the electronic businesses do the regulation themselves. They do, after all, have a self-interest in doing so.
In electronic commerce, a reputation for honest dealing will be a valuable competitive asset. Governments, too, may compete to be trusted. For instance, customers ordering medicines on- line may prefer to buy from the United States because they trust the rigorous screening of the Food and Drug Administration; or they may decide that the FDA’s rules are too strict, and buy from Switzerland instead.
Customers will still need to use their judgment, but precisely because the technology is new, electronic shoppers are likely for a while to be a lot more cautious than customers of the normal sort. And the new technology will also make it easier for them to complain when a company lets them down. In this way, at least, the advent(出现) of cyberspace may argue for fewer consumer protection laws, not more.In case an electronic shopper bought faulty goods from a foreign country, what could he do?
| A．Refuse to pay for the purchase. | B．Go to the seller and ask for a refund. |
| C．Appeal to consumer protection law. | D．Complain about it on the Internet. |
In the author’s view, businesses would place a high emphasis on honest dealing because in the electronic world _______.
| A．international cooperation would be much more frequent |
| B．consumers could easily seek government protection |
| C．a good reputation is a great advantage in competition |
| D．it would be easy for consumers to complain |
We can infer from the passage that in licensing new drugs the FDA in the United States is______.
| A．very quick | B．very cautious | C．very slow | D．rather careless |
According to the author, what will be the best policy for electronic commerce?
| A．Self-regulation by the business. | B．Strict Consumer protection laws. |
| C．Close international cooperation. | D．Government protection. |