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 ceils. 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 make sure 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. |
Which of the following shows the path of the signals described in Paragraph 5?
| A．scalp→computer→cap→wheelchair | B．computer→cap→scalp→wheelchair |
| C．scalp→cap→computer→wheelchair | D．cap→computer→scalp→wheelchair |
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 |
Many teenagers feel that the most important people in their lives are their friends．They believe that their family members, especially their parents．Don’t know them as well as their friends do．In large families．it is often for brothers and sisters to fight with each other and then they can only go to their friends for advice．
It is very important for teenagers to have one good friend or many friends．Even when they are not with their friends, they usually spend a lot of time talking among themselves on the phone．This communication is very important in children’s growing up, because friends can discuss something difficult to say to their family members.
However, parents often try to choose their children’s friends for them．Some parents may even stop their children from meeting their good friends. The question of “choice” is an interesting one．Have you ever thought of the following questions?
Who choose your friends?
Do you choose your friends or your friends choose you?
Have you got good friend your parents don’t like?Many teenagers think their know them better than their parents do．
| A．friends | B．teachers | C．brothers and sisters | D．classmates |
When teenagers stay alone，the usual way of communication is to,
| A．go to their friends. |
| B．talk with their parents |
| C．have a d discussion with their family |
| D．talk with their friends on the phone |
The passage suggests（暗示）that．
| A．Parents cannot choose friends for their children successfully． |
| B．Perhaps some children’s friends are chosen by their parents． |
| C．Children won’t let their parents choose friends for them． |
| D．Parents often try to choose their children’s friends for them． |
Lisa was running late．She had a lot to do at work, plus visitors on the way; her parents were coming in for Thanksgiving from her hometown．But as she hurried down the subway stairs, she started to feel uncomfortably warm．By the time she got to the platform, Lisa felt weak and tired - maybe it hadn't been a good idea to give blood the night before, she thought．She rested herself against a post close to the tracks．
Several yards away, Frank, 43, and his girlfriend, Jennifer, found a spot close to where the front of the train would stop．They were deep in discussion about a house they were thinking of buying．
But when he heard the scream, followed by someone yelling, "Oh, my God, she fell in!" Frank didn't hesitate．He jumped down to the tracks and ran some 40 feet toward the body lying on the rails．"No! Not you! his girlfriend screamed after him．
She was right to be alarmed．By the time Frank reached Lisa, he could feel the tracks shaking and see the light coming．The train was about 20 seconds from the station．
It was hard to lift her．She was just out．But he managed to raise her four feet to the platform so that bystanders could hold her by the arms and drag her away from the edge．That was where Lisa briefly re-gained consciousness, felt herself being pulled along the ground, and saw someone else holding her purse．
Lisa thought she' d been robbed．A woman held her hand and a man gave his shirt to help stop the blood pouring from her head．And she tried to talk but she couldn't, and that was when she realized how much pain she was in．
Police and fire officials soon arrived, and Frank told the story to an officer．Jennifer said her boyfriend was calm on their 40 - minute train ride downtown - just as he had been seconds after the rescue, which made her think about her reaction at the time．"I saw the train coming and I was thinking he was going to die．"she explained．What was the most probable cause for Lisa' s weakness?
| A．She had run a long way． |
| B．She felt hot in the subway． |
| C．She had done a lot of work． |
| D．She had donated blood the night before． |
Why did Jennifer try to stop her boyfriend?
| A．Because they would miss their train． |
| B．Because he didn't see the train coming． |
| C．Because she was sure Lisa was hard to lift． |
| D．Because she was afraid the train would kill him． |
How did Frank save Lisa?
| A．By lifting her to the platform． |
| B．By helping her rise to her feet． |
| C．By pulling her along the ground． |
| D．By dragging her away from the edge． |
The passage is intended to _____．
| A．warn us of the danger in the subway |
| B．show us how to save people in the subway |
| C．tell us about a subway rescue |
| D．report a traffic accident |
Young people and older people do not always agree with each other. They sometimes have different ideas about living, working and playing. But in one special program in New York State, adults and teenagers live together in a friendly way.
Each summer 200 teenagers and 50 adults live together for eight weeks as members of a special work group. Everyone works several hours each day. They do so not just to keep busy but to find meaning and enjoyment in work. Some teenagers work in the woods or on the farms near the village. Some learn to make things like tables and chairs and to build houses. The adults teach them these skills.
There are several free hours each day. Weekends are free, too. During the free hours some of the teenagers learn photo-taking or painting. Others sit around and talk to sing. Each teenager chooses his own way to spend his free time.
When people live together, rules are necessary. In this program the teenagers and the adults make the rules together. If someone breaks a rule, the problem goes before the whole group. They talk about it and ask, “Why did it happen? What should we do about it?”
One of the teenagers has this to say about the experience: “You stop thinking only about yourself. You learn how to think about the group.”In one special program in New York State, young and older people_______.
| A．are friendly to one another |
| B．teach one another new ways of building houses |
| C．live together but do not work together |
| D．spend 8 weeks together, working as farmers. |
Living together, _________.
| A．the teenagers have to obey the rules the adults made. |
| B．the members don’t have to obey the rules. |
| C．the members are not allowed to break the rules they make together. |
| D．the members have no free time except on weekends |
The last paragraph shows that the teenager thinks his experience in the program is _________.
| A．disappointing | B．helpful | C．tiring | D．unpleasant |
The best title for the passage is ________.
| A．Sadness of Living Together | B．Different Ideas About Living |
| C．Teenagers and Adults Together | D．Life in New York State |
Your body, which has close relations with the food you eat, is the most important thing you own, so it needs proper treatment and proper nourishment(食物). The old saying “an apple a day keeps the doctor away.” is not as silly as some people think. The body needs fruit and vegetables because they contain vitamins. Many people take extra vitamins in pill form(丸剂), believing that these will make them healthy. But a good diet is made up of nutritive food and this gives all the vitamins you need. The body doesn't need or use extra vitamins, so why they waste money on them?
In the modern Western world, many people are too busy to bother about eating properly. They throw anything into their stomachs, eating hurriedly and carelessly. The list of illnesses caused or made worse by bad eating habits is frightening.The old saying referred to in the passage tells us that .
| A．eating apples regularly does lots of good to our health. |
| B．the apple is the best among all kinds of fruits |
| C．apples can take the place of doctors |
| D．an apple is a sure cure for illness |
In the second paragraph, the writer tries to let us know .
| A．our bodies need food, or we can’t live |
| B．often eating apples is a good habit |
| C．taking extra vitamin pills is completely useless |
| D．a good diet is of great importance for our health |
In the modern western countries .
| A．people won't want to pay more attention to their eating. |
| B．people throw everything into their stomachs without chewing. |
| C．a lot of people’s illness are caused or made worse by bad eating habits |
| D．people are only too busy to cook meals for themselves |
From the passage we can draw a conclusion that if we want to keep healthy, we should .
| A．only eat an apple a day |
| B．take as many vitamin pills as possible |
| C．eat properly |
| D．throw something into our stomachs slowly and carefully. |
I have nothing to say about whether or not "A Day Without Immigrants" had a positive or negative effect on the question of how the federal government should deal with the huge population of undocumented illegal immigrants in this country. I'll leave that question to others.
Regardless of how you feel about the event, one conclusion is obvious. Using the theme of" A Day Without" as a way to focus national attention on a particular subject is a great idea, and could serve as a method for increasing public awareness about other issues that affect daily life in America. Here are my top three examples:
"A Day Without Speeding." How hard could this be? If all drivers would strictly obey every posted speed limit on highways, downtown, on neighborhood streets, and in parking lots for one 24-hour cycle, the benefits would be huge.
"A Day Without Losing Your Temper." A higher degree of difficulty here, and I know that from personal experience. When something goes wrong at home or on the job, there may be brief satisfaction in yelling or kicking the furniture, but erupting with anger usually doesn't do anything to solve the problem, and in many cases it makes the situation more unpleasant.
"A Day Without Having All The Answers." I would like to get a break from hearing anyone speak the phrase, "Here's what you're doing wrong." Right now the US is jampacked with citizens who believe they can point out the cause of every single problem in existence and then solve it on the spot. I believe they need to be quiet sometimes and use their ears instead of their voices.
I wonder how would average Americans react to such a collective pause? Would it be a day of angry protests, or joyful celebrations?The first paragraph suggests .
| A．the writer is against A Day Without Immigrants |
| B．immigrants are not equally treated by the US federal government |
| C．the writer cares little about the problems of the country. |
| D．some people move to America without the permission of the US government |
"The event" in the second paragraph is related to .
| A．"A Day Without Immigrants" |
| B．"A Day Without Having All The Answers" |
| C．"A Day Without Speeding" |
| D．"A Day Without Losing Your Temper" |
According to the writer, losing one's temper is .
| A．personal | B．satisfying | C．pointless | D．unpleasant |
The writer suggest a day without having all the answers because .
| A．he thinks the American are too proud |
| B．he doesn't think what he is doing is wrong |
| C．he wants others to keep quiet |
| D．the writer is so tired that he needs a break |