Technology is making life easier for some dairy farmers. They use robotic systems to milk their cows. Cows are trained to follow a series of paths that lead to milking stations. Only one cow at a time can enter a station.
Once inside, the cow is rewarded with food. As the cow eats, a robotic arm cleans and connects the animal to the milking machine. A few minutes later, milking is complete. The gate is opened, the cow is released and the next cow enters.
The robotic systems are designed to operate 24 hours a day. The cows get to decide when they want to be milked. Cows are milked an average of about three times a day. Some are milked four to six times a day.
The cows wear collars around their necks that identify them to the system. A computer keeps records on their eating and milking. A cow is released from the station if the computer decides it should not be milked.
The automated system also measures the temperature and color of freshly produced milk. Milk is thrown away if it does not pass the tests.
Professor Plaut believes the systems will appeal especially to the next generation of farmers. She means young people who are more interested in technology and less interested in working all the time on the farm. Still, she says the price of robotic milking systems will continue to limit their use.
Doug and Tina Suhr have more than 100 cows on their family farm. Last year it became the fourth farm in southeast Minnesota to get a robotic milking system. A recent story in a local agricultural newspaper said the first robot cost 175 000 dollars. The second cost 150 000.
Doug told AgriNews that wages that would have been paid for one employee in five years will pay for one robot. He says the increase in milk production reaches a high of more than six kilograms per cow per day.From the first paragraph, we can infer________.
| A．the robotic system is designed to reduce labor |
| B．cows can be raised by robots in the future |
| C．robots direct cows into milking stations |
| D．cows are kept clean by robots on some farms |
Besides milking cows, the robotic system also can ________.
| A．adjust the temperature of milking stations |
| B．judge the quality of fresh milk |
| C．improve the appetite of cows |
| D．keep fresh milk for two weeks |
Why is the robotic system not popular now?
| A．Because young people have no interest in it. |
| B．Because it is difficult to learn how to use it. |
| C．Because people can’t afford to buy it. |
| D．Because it usually causes the waste of milk. |
According to Doug, what is the wage of an employee?
| A．150, 000-170, 000. | B．750, 000. | C．150, 000 -30, 000. | D．30, 000- 32, 000 |
The best title for the passage may be_______.
| A．Letting robot milk your cow | B．Milking cows by hand |
| C．Improving the quality of milk | D．Drinking fresh milk every day |
Just the mention of the TOEFL, GRE and GAMT exams brings a thought of long hours of dull paper work. But that idea is becoming increasingly out of date. As planned, computerized tests will begin next year which will bring a series of changes from test psychology to scoring techniques.
From computer - equipped rooms, examinees will answer the questions on a computer. If they are sure about their choices, they can pass to the next question by pressing the entry(条目) “next”. Then another question will be randomly(任意地)selected from a vast test item bank and appear on the screen. After answering all the questions, examinees can choose the entry “quit” if they are not satisfiedwith their performance, or “score” if they want to see the result. Scores will be calculated immediately and appear on the screen. By that point, student's marks are official--there is no going back.
Since they greatly shorten the painful waiting process-which used to be two or three months, computerized tests have won worldwide popularity. Besides, there will be no rushing to the registration offices( 登记处)for these exams. Computerized tests will be given every workday in an exam center with all three kinds of tests being held in the same room. All test takers need to do is to call the exam center and book their seats for a particular day.
In addition it will become technically possible to apply new testing procedures. In the past，each examinee had the same set of test items despite differences in their ability. Under a computerized system, however, if the computer judges an answer is right, a question of a relatively difficult nature will follow. But if an examinee continues to give wrong answers and is judged as un-qualified by the computer system, he will be automatically denied the chance to go further in the test. Computerized tests allow the examinee to know their scores.
| A．immediately on a central computer for scoring test papers |
| B．a few minutes after the exam with the help of a test center worker |
| C．on the next day after they have taken the exam |
| D．immediately after the exam by means of the same computer |
If an examinee is not satisfied with his performance .
| A．he can admit defeat and give it up |
| B．he can ask the computer to give some advice |
| C．he can ask another chance within a few days |
| D．he is allowed to do it once again |
Under a computerized system, all of the following would be possible except that.
| A．different exams can be taken in the same room |
| B．one doesn’t need to rush to the registration officer for taking an exam |
| C．it will be much easier to pass an examination |
| D．one can take an exam almost at any time of the year |
The word “denied” in the last sentence most probably means .
| A．refused | B．allowed | C．lost | D．passed |
The rise in smartphones（智能手机）among young people may be having a direct effect on how successful they become as adults.
Research from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln has discovered the average university student checks their phones 11 times per lesson, and more than 80 percent believe this tech addiction is interfering with(干扰) their learning.
A quarter of students across five U.S states also blamed poor grades in exams specifically on the fact they used mobile devices（设备） when they should have been concentrating and revising - and these grades could determine the jobs they end up going into.
Barney McCoy, an associate professor of broadcasting at the university, surveyed 777 students at six universities across five states about how they used digital devices in the classroom.
The students were from UNL and the University of Nebraska at Omaha in Nebraska, Morningside College in Iowa, the University of North Carolina, the University of Kansas and the University of Mississippi.
Around two thirds said they used phones, tablets and laptops for “non-classroom purposes” up to ten times during a typical university day, while 15 percent admitted this figure was closer to 30 times.
Among the top reasons why students checked their devices so regularly were staying connected and fighting boredom, at 55 percent. Less than half said the devices were used for classwork.
Texting was the most popular distraction（注意力分散） technique at 86 percent, while 68 percent said they used their phones to check personal emails. Two thirds used social networks, 38 percent surfed the web and eight percent admitted to playing games when they should have been studying.
Despite eight out of ten students admitting their devices were distracting, fewer than five percent considered it to be a “very big” distraction.
“I don’t think students necessarily think it’s a big problem,” said McCoy said. “They think it’s part of their lives.”
“It’s become automatic behavior on the part of so many people - they do it without even thinking about it.”
He continued, “They’ve got their laptops open, but they’re not always taking notes. Some might have two screens open -- Facebook and their notes.”The majority of the students think that using smartphones _________ .
| A．helps to improve their grades. |
| B．contributed to their poor grades. |
| C．has a bad effect on their studies. |
| D．determines their jobs in the future. |
How many students surveyed used digital devices for “non-classroom purposes” about 30 times during a day?
| A．About 518 | B．About 116 | C．About 427 | D．Less than 388 |
_________ was the most popular form of distraction.
| A．Texting | B．playing games | C．surfing the web | D．Checking personal emails |
The text is most likely to be found in a section about _________ .
| A．successful people | B．political systems |
| C．science and technology | D．historical events |
I have had just about enough of being treated like a second–class citizen, simply because I happen to be that put–upon member of society ---- a customer. The more I go into shops and hotels, banks and post offices, railway stations, airports and the like, the more I'm convinced that things are being run only to suit the firm, the system, or the union. There seems to be a harmful new motto for so–called “service” organizations ---- Staff Before Service.
How often, for example, have you queued for what seems like hours at the post office or the supermarket because there weren’t enough staff on duty to man all the service grilles (栅门) of checkout counters? Surely in these days of high unemployment it must be possible to employ cashiers and counter staff. Yet supermarkets, hinting darkly at higher prices, claim that enshrouding all their cash registers at any one time would increase overheads(operating cost). And the Post Office says we cannot expect all their service grilles to be occupied “at times when demand is low.”
It’s the same with hotels. Because waiters and kitchen staff must finish when it suits them, dining rooms close earlier or menu choice is curtailed. As for us guests, we just have to put up with it. There’s also the nonsense of so many so friendly hotel night porters(行李员) having been dismissed in the interests of “efficiency” and replaced by coin guzzling machines. Not to mention the coldness of the tea–making kit in your room: a kettle with an assortment of teabags, plastic milk cartons and lump sugar. Who wants to wake up to a raw teabag? I don't, especially when I am paying for “service”.The writer feels that nowadays a customer is ____.
| A．one who is well served |
| B．unworthy of proper consideration |
| C．classified by society as lower-ranking |
| D．the victim of modern service |
In the writer’s opinion, the quality of service is changing because ____.
| A．the customer’s demands have changed |
| B．the organizations receive more consideration than the customers |
| C．the customers’ needs have increased |
| D．the staff are less considerate than their employers |
According to the writer, long queues at counters are caused by ____.
| A．difficulties in employing staff |
| B．improper staffing arrangements |
| C．staff being made lazy |
| D．lack of co–operation between the staff |
The disappearance of old–style hotel porters can be attributed to the fact that ____.
| A．few people are willing to do this type of work |
| B．machines are more reliable than human beings |
| C．the personal touch is less appreciated nowadays |
| D．automation has provided cheaper choices |
If you are a wealthy resident of India, madly in love and planning your big fat wedding—or being pressured into arranged marriage—Thailand wants you to exchange vows（誓言） in Bangkok, Phuket or elsewhere in this "wedding Paradise（乐园）".
This wedding business starts from overseas with the Indians. Thai embassies in India give quick services for the visas. Not only the couples, you can bring anyone, say, your own cook. So, feel free to invite hundreds of your friends and relatives.
Why would Indians want to spend so much on weddings in Thailand? Because they have similarities in religion. When Indian weddings want to have some religious prayer for the couples, Thailand can do that. But the more obvious appeal are Thailand's fancy hotels, tropical islands, and delicious Thai food, allowing newlyweds to include a honeymoon in Thailand after they say "I do" while their guests also celebrate on a holiday here. But on the other hand, love does have a price.
Kasu Rajagopal arranged for his daughter to have a wedding in Phuket. They arranged entertainment to begin three days before the wedding, because guests' arrival time varied. Yachts were chartered to take guests to small islands, while a DJ, flown in from Bangalore, India, was booked to help them dance in the evening. Kasu also arranged priests for the Hindu wedding, and cooks to prepare Indian food. The approximate costs are around half a million U. S. dollars, including the airfares, hotel accommodation, food, transportation, the yachts on hire and the wedding ceremony expenses, for 225 to 250 guests.
Thailand wants to make itself a wedding paradise for all couples, not just from India, but from around the world. Last year, there were around 500 to 600 couples from China, and the numbers are slowly coming up. Westerners also arrive to get married, but in much smaller numbers. What is the main reason why the Indians would go to Thailand for weddings?
| A．They will be pressured into arranged married in India. |
| B．India shares the same religion as Thailand. |
| C．Thailand offers them more than just a wedding ceremony. |
| D．Guests are not satisfied with Indian weddings. |
We can learn from the passage that____.
| A．guests do not need visas to get into Thailand |
| B．changing vows is a necessary step for an Indian wedding |
| C．islands are people's first honeymoon destination choice |
| D．some Indians prefer the food prepared by their own cooks |
Kasu Rajagopal's example in the fourth paragraph shows____.
| A．it may cost you a fortune to have such a wedding |
| B．you can bring whatever you want to Thailand |
| C．what Thailand offers hardly satisfies customers' needs |
| D．there are quite a few activities after the wedding |
It can be predicted that____.
| A．cost of weddings in Thailand will be reduced |
| B．more people will get married in Thailand |
| C．fewer westerners will have Thai weddings |
| D．Chinese will be Thailand's No. l customers |
I used to think of myself as a person learned in books, but my bookshelves told a different story. Apart from a few Indian novels and an Australian book, my literature collection only consisted of British and American titles. Worse still, I couldn’t ever found anything in translation. My reading was limited to stories by English-speaking authors.
So, at the start of 2012, I set myself the challenge of trying to read a book from every country in a year to find out what I was missing.
With no idea where to get those books, I was unlikely to find publications from nearly 200 nations on the shelves of my local bookshop, so I decided to ask the readers all over the world for help. I created a blog called A Year of Reading the World and put out an appeal for suggestions of titles that I could read in English.
The response was amazing. People all over the world were getting in touch with me, offering ideas and book lists. Some posted me books from their home countries. In addition, several writers, like Turkmenistan’s Ak Welsapar and Panama’s Juan David Morgan, sent me unpublished translations of their novels, giving me a rare opportunity to read works unavailable in Britain. Even with such an extraordinary team of bibliophiles(爱书者) behind me, however, sourcing books was no easy task. With translations making up only around 4.5 per cent of literary works published in the UK, getting English versions of stories was tricky.
One by one, the books from the countries on the list filled my heart with laughter, love, anger, hope and fear. Lands that had once seemed exotic and remote became close and familiar to me. At its best, I learned, reading makes the world real.The author realized she was not a learned person when she found ________.
| A．she could do nothing but read books |
| B．she had never been to Indian and Australian |
| C．she didn’t have any translated books. |
| D．she could only read simple English stories |
What was the challenge the author set for herself?
| A．Reading books from nearly 200 countries in a year. |
| B．Creating a blog to offer help to other readers. |
| C．Looking for publications to publish her own books. |
| D．Giving some suggestions on learning English. |
Which of the following is NOT the help from people around the world?
| A．Offering book names. | B．posting local books |
| C．Giving financial supports | D．Sending unpublished translations |
It was not easy to find the books mainly because ________.
| A．the readers were unwilling to offer help |
| B．there were too few translations in the UK |
| C．the author had no time and no chance to do it |
| D．the writers didn’t want to publish their books |