As a boy growing up in India, I had longed to travel abroad. I used to listen to the stories my father would tell me about his stay in Canada and tours to Europe in the 1970s, with great interest.
My big moment finally came in the summer of 1998 when I was able to accompany my parents to Europe, where my father was to attend a meeting. We planned to travel to Belgium, Netherlands and West Germany.
I have clear memories even today of going to Mumbai airport at night all excited about finally going abroad. I had heard several great things about Lufthansa till then but now I finally got to experience them first hand, during the flight to Frankfurt. We flew business class and even today I can remember the excellent service by the Lufthansa crew (工作人员). The flight was really smooth and thoroughly enjoyable, even for someone like me, who is especially afraid of flying.
After spending almost two weeks in Europe, we took the Lufthansa airport express from Dusseldorf to Frankfurt airport, for our return flight. What a journey that was! All along the Rhine (莱茵河), it was simply an unforgettable experience. I had a sombre feeling on the flight back to Mumbai as it marked the end of a wonderful vacation, but the Lufthansa crew members were able to change it into a most enjoyable experience yet again, with the quality of their service.
Being the first airline to take me abroad, Lufthansa will always hold a special place in my heart. Even today,I continue to enjoy flights on Lufthansa and simply cannot dream of choosing any other airline. Flying, in general,for me,has always been a terrible and painful experience.Flying on Lufthansa,however, is something I always have and always will look forward to. Which country does the author live in now? ________.
A.India. | B.Canada. | C.Belgium. | D.Germany. |
What made the author so interested in traveling abroad? ________.
A.Growing up in India. |
B.Once staying in Canada. |
C.Once traveling to Canada with his father. |
D.His father's stories about his traveling experiences. |
Which of the following is true about the author's trip to Europe in 1998? _________.
A.The author traveled with one of his parents. |
B.Both their going and return were by air. |
C.They traveled in spring that year. |
D.They stayed in Europe for nearly two months. |
It can be inferred from the passage that Lufthansa is ________.
A.a city in India | B.a city in Europe |
C.an airline company | D.a travel agency |
he underlined word “somber” in the 4th paragraph probably means “________”.
A.happy | B.sad | C.angry | D.enjoyable |
Want a glance of the future of health care? Take a look at the way the various networks of people about patient care are being connected to one another, and how this new connectivity is being exploited to deliver medicine to the patient - no matter where he or she may be.
Online doctors offering advice based on norman symptoms(症状)are the most obvious example. Increasingly, however, remote diagnosis(远程诊断)will be based on real physiological data(生理数据)from the actual patient. A group from the University of Kentucky has shown that by using personal data assistance plus a mobile phone ,it is perfectly practical to send a patient’s important signs over the telephone. With this kind of equipement, the cry asking whether there was a doctor in the house could well be a thing of the past.
Other medical technology groups are working on applying telemedicine to rural (countryside) care. And at least one team wants to use telemedicine as a tool for disaster need - especially after earthquakes. On the whole, the trend is towards providing global access to medical data and experts’ opinions.
But there is one problem. Bandwidth(宽带) is the limiting factor for sending complex (复杂)medical pictures around the world,—CU photos being one of the biggest bandwidth users. Communication satellites say be able to deal with the short - term needs during disasters such as earthquakes or wars. But medicine is looking towards both the second - generation Internet and third generation mobile phones for the future of remote medical service.
Doctors have met to discuss computer - based tools for medical diagnosis, training and telemedicine. With the falling price of broadband communications, the new technologies should start a new time when telemedicine and the sharing of medical information, experts’opinions and diagnosis are common.
The writer chiefly talks about ________ .
A.the use of telemedicine |
B.the on -lined doctors |
C.medical care and treatment |
D.communication improvement |
Which of the following statements is true according to the text?
A.Patients don’t need doctors in hospitals any more. |
B.It is impossible to send a patient’s signs over the telephone. |
C.Many teams use telemedicine dealing with disasters now. |
D.Broadband communications will become cheaper in the future. |
The“problem”in the fourth paragraph refers to the fact that ________ .
A.bandwidth isn’t big enough to send complex medical pictures |
B.the second - generation of Internet has not become popular yet |
C.communication satellites can only deal with short - term needs |
D.there is not enough equipment for spreading the medical care |
A few days ago I asked my sons’ governess(女家庭教师)Julia to come into my study. “Be seated, Julia, ”I said, “Let’s settle our accounts. I guess you most likely need some money, but maybe you’re too polite to mention it. Now then, we agreed on thirty dollars a month...”
“Forty.”
“No, thirty. I made a note of it. I always pay our governess thirty. Well, um, you’ve been here two months, so...”
“Two months and five days.”
“Exactly two months. I made a special note of it. That means you have sixty dollars coming to you. Take off nine Sundays... you know you didn’t work with Tom on Sundays, you only took walks. And three holidays... ”Julia was biting her finger nail nervously, her face red, but - not a word.
“Three holidays, therefore take off twelve dollars. Four days Tom was sick and there were no lessons, as you were occupied only with Dick. Three days you had a toothache and my wife gave you permission not to work after lunch. Twelve and seven - nineteen. Take nineteen off ... that leaves. hmm.... forty one dollars. Correct?”
Julia’s left eye reddened with tears welling up. Her chin trembled; she coughed nervously and blew her nose, but - still not a word.
“Around New Year’s Day you broke a teacup and a saucer; take off two dollars. The cup cost more, it was a treasure of the family, but- forget it. When didn’t I take a loss! Then, due to your neglect (疏忽), Tom climbed a tree and tore his jacket; take away ten. Also due to your carelessness the maid stole Dick’s shoes. You ought to watch everything! You get paid for it. So, that means five more dollars off. The tenth of January I gave ten dollars.”
“You didn’t. ”sobbed Julia.
“But I made a note of it.”
“Well... if you say so.”
“Take twenty seven from forty one -that leaves fourteen.”
Both her eyes were filled with tears. Beads of sweat stood on the thin pretty little nose. Poor girl!
“Only once was I given any money,” she whispered, her voice trembling, “and that was by your wife. Three dollars, nothing more.”
“Really? You see now, and I didn’t know that! Take three from fourteen.. leaves eleven. Here’s your money, my dear. Three, three, three, one and one. Here it is !”
I handed her eleven dollars. She took them and pocketed them.
“Merci (法语: 谢谢),”she whispered.
I jumped to my feet and started pacing the room. I was overcome with anger. “For what, this - ‘merci’?” I asked.
“For the money. ”
“But you know I’ve cheated you - robbed you ! I have actually stolen from you ! Why this‘merci’?”
“In my other places they didn’t give me anything at all.”
“They didn’t give you anything? No wonder! I played a little joke on you, a cruel lesson, just to teach you... I m going to give you all the eighty dollars! Here they are in the envelope all ready for you... Is it really possible to be so spineless (懦弱)?Why didn’t you protest? Why were you silent? Is it possible in this world to be without teeth and claws(爪)—to be such a fool?”
Embarrassed, she smiled. And I could read her expression,“It is possible.”
I asked her pardon for the cruel lesson and, to her great surprise, gave her the eighty dollars. She murmured her little“merci”several times and went out. I looked after her and thought,“How easy it is to crush the weak in this world !”
While talking to Julia, the wrier expected from her ________.
A.a protest | B.gratitude |
C.obedience | D.an explanation |
What shocked the writer was Julia’s ________.
A.nervousness in front of her boss |
B.acceptance of injustice |
C.shyness when talking about money |
D.reluctance to express herself |
The writer said, “Is it possible in this world to be without teeth and claws?” He was actually telling the governess ________.
A.to be more aggressive |
B.to be more careful in her work |
C.to protect her right |
D.to live independently |
At the end of the story, the writer said,“ How easy it is to crush the weak in this world!”to show ________.
A.his understanding of Julia’s anxiety |
B.his worry about Julia’s future |
C.his concern on the living condition of working - class people |
D.his sympathy for the mental state of those exploited |
In a few years, you might be able to speak Chinese, Korean, Japanese, French,and English—and all at the same time. This sounds incredible, but Alex Waibel,a computer science professor at US's Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) and Germany's University of Karlsruhe,announced last week that it may soon be reality. He and his team have invented software and hardware that could make it far easier for people who speak different languages to understand each other.
One application, called Lecture Translation, can easily translate a speech from one language into another. Current translation technologies typically limit speakers to certain topics or a limited vocabulary. Users also have to be trained how to use the programme.
Another prototype(雏形机) can send translations of a speech to different listeners depending on what language they speak.“It is like having a simultaneous translator right next to you but without disturbing the person next to you,” Waibel said.
Prefer to read? So-called Translation Glasses transcribe(转录) the translations on a tiny liquid-crystal(液晶) display(LCD) screen.
Then there's the Muscle Translator. Electrodes capture the electrical signals from facial muscle movements made naturally when a person is mouthing words. The signals are then translated into speech. The electrodes could be replaced with wireless chips implanted in a person's face, according to researchers.
During a demonstration held last Thursday in CMU's Pittsburgh campus, a Chinese student named Stan Jou had 11 tiny electrodes attached to the muscles of his cheeks, neck and throat. Then he mouthed—without speaking aloud—a few words in Mandarin(普通话) to the audience. A few seconds later, the phrase was displayed on a computer screen and spoken out by the computer in English and Spanish: “Let me introduce our new prototype.”
This particular gadget(器械),when fully developed, might allow anyone to speak in any number of languages or, as Waibel put it, “to switch your mouth to a foreign language”. “The idea behind the university's prototypes is to create ‘good enough’ bridges for cross-cultural exchanges that are becoming more common in the world,” Waibel said.
With spontaneous(自发的) translators, foreign drivers in Germany could listen to traffic warnings on the radio, tourists in China could read all the signs and talk with local people, and leaders of different countries could have secret talks without any interpreters there.Which of the following statements is not TRUE?
A.A lecture translation can translate what you said into other languages easily. |
B.There is no Muscle Translator in the world now. |
C.Muscle Translators can translate what you think into speech if you just move your mouth. |
D.The spontaneous translators will help us a lot. |
What kind of equipment is NOT mentioned in this passage?
A.Lecture Translation. |
B.Muscle Translator. |
C.Multiple Translator. |
D.Translation Prototype. |
What's the final destination of inventing the language translators?
A.To make cultural exchanges between different countries easier. |
B.To help students learn foreign languages more easily. |
C.To make people live in foreign countries more comfortably. |
D.To help people learn more foreign languages in the future. |
Where can this passage probably excerpted from?
A.A newspaper. | B.A magazine on science. |
C.A fairy tale. | D.A scientific fantasy book. |
For some time past,it has been widely accepted that babies—and other creatures—learn to do things because certain acts lead to “rewards(报酬)”,and there is no reason to doubt that this is true. But it used also to be widely believed that effective rewards, at least in the early time, had to be directly connected to such basic physiological(生理的) “drives” as thirst or hunger. In other words, a baby would learn if he got food or drink or some sort of physical comfort, not otherwise.
It is now clear that this is not so. Babies will learn to behave in ways that produce results in the world with no reward except success in sight.
Papousek began his studies by using milk in the normal way to “reward” the babies and to teach them to carry out some simple movements, such as turning the head to one side or the other.Then he noticed that a baby who had had enough to drink would refuse the milk but would still go on making the learned response(回答) with clear signs of pleasure. So he began to study the children's responses in situations where no milk was provided. He quickly found that children as young as four months would learn to turn their heads to right or left if the movement “turned on” some lights—and indeed that they were able to learn some more turns to bring about(产生) this result,for example,two left or two right,or even to make as many as three turns to one side.
Papousek's light experiment was placed directly in front of the babies and he made the interesting observation that sometimes they would not turn back to watch the light closely although they would “smile and speak” when the light was on.Papousek concluded that it was not the sight of the lights which pleased them.It was the success they were achieving in solving the problem,in mastering the skill,and then there is a basic human nature to make sense of the world and bring it under control.According to the writer,babies learn to do things which _______.
A.will satisfy their surprise | B.will meet their physical needs |
C.are directly connected to pleasure | D.will bring them a feeling of success |
Papousek noticed in his studies that a baby _______.
A.would make learned responses when it saw the milk |
B.would continue the simple movements without being given milk |
C.would turn its head to right or left when it had enough to drink |
D.would carry out learned movements when it had enough to drink |
In Papousek's experiment babies make learned movements of the head in order to _______.
A.be praised | B.please their parents |
C.be rewarded with milk | D.have the lights turned on |
The babies would “smile and speak” at the lights because _______.
A.they succeeded in “turning on” the lights |
B.the sight of lights was interesting |
C.they need not turn back to watch the lights |
D.the lights were directly connected to some basic “drives” |
Perhaps you will visit New York one day. You might be a student there. Here is some advice.
Get a good map of the city. It will also have subway and bus maps. Remember the directions—uptown, downtown, east and west. Feel the excitement of New York .Have fun!
NEW YORK CONVENTION AND VISITORS BUREAU
Address:90 East 42nd Street,N.Y.100017
Telephone:6871300
TIMES SQUARE INFORMATION CENTER
Address:43rd Street between Seventh Avenue and Broadway
Telephone:5938983
TRAVELERS' AID SOCIETY
Address:204 ast 39th Street,N.Y.10016(central office)
Telephone:6790200
TRAVEL INFORMATION:NEW YORK SUBWAYS AND BUSES
Telephone:3301234
OTHER TELEPHONE NUMBERS
The weather:WE 61212.The time:ME 71212
Emergency (Police,Fire,or Ambulance):911 or “0” for operator
A doctor:8971000
USEFUL BOOK
Seeing New York; The official MTA Travel Guide,published by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.What would be the best title for the passage?
A.Introductions and directions |
B.This is New York |
C.Information and advice |
D.Have fun here |
If you lose your passport in New York, you may probably get help from _______.
A.CONVENTION AND VISITORS BUREAU |
B.TIMES SQUARE INFORMATION CENTER |
C.USEFUL BOOK |
D.TRAVEL INFORMATION |
If a visitor wanted to take a train, he could get some help by dialing the number “_______”.
A.8971000 | B.3301234 | C.WE 61212 | D.911 or “0” |