In the near future, we may be using our eyes to operate our smart-phones and tablets, even when it comes to playing popular games like Fruit Ninja.
The Gaze Group has been developing eye-controlled computer technology for nearly 20 years. But those devices have been firstly designed to help those with disabilities, and are very expensive.
“After a while, we figured out that probably the best way is to go for a mass-market way,” says Gaze’s Sune Alstrup Johansen. “where everybody would have this available."
Johansen and some of his colleagues have formed a new company, the Eye Tribe, which is hoping to develop the technology on a mass commercial level.
The technology works with the help of the computing device toward the user’s face. After making sure of the user’s eye movements, the technology is then able to easily find where a person’s eyes are moving, and then allow the eyes to control a cursor(光标).
“Our software can then determine the location of the eyes and know where you’re looking on the screen to make sure what you’re looking at, ” reads an explanation on the Eye Tribe site.
There has been a gradual change toward hands-free technology in recent years, particularly in the gaming world. Recently Xbox released the Kinect device, which lets users control their Xbox and play certain games using only their hands, legs and voices. But still, most of these devices have been more of a gimmick than a practical way to use one’s hands to control a mobile device. Johansen said a replaceable filter(滤光器)would be a cheap, convenient way for most consumers.
And even as companies like The Eye Tribe work to create such a product for the average user, making the eye-controlled technology more accessible and less expensive will have similar benefits for physically disabled users.
For more articles on modern science，please CLICK here．Which of the following is the main idea of the passage?
| A．An introduction of eye-controlling technology |
| B．An introduction of a new device. |
| C．An introduction of smart-phones |
| D．An introduction of a new technology for the disabled. |
The underlined word “gimmick” probably means ___________.
| A．a way | B．a trick | C．a lie | D．a dream |
According to the passage, we can learn that ___________.
| A．the eye-controlling technology was first developed for the blind |
| B．the present developing of the technology will bring no good |
| C．the eye-controlling technology is only intended for the disabled people |
| D．there is no such a phone as we can use only with our eyes at present |
This passage is probably taken from ___________.
| A．an experiment report | B．a science fiction |
| C．a science website | D．a school textbook |
The rising costs of health care have become a problem for many countries in the world. To deal with this problem, it is recommended that a big part of the government's health budget be used for health education and disease prevention instead of treatment. Actually，many kinds of diseases are preventable in many ways and preventing a disease is usually much cheaper than treating it. For example，people could avoid catching a cold if they dressed warmly when the weather starts getting cold. But many people get sick because they fail to do so，and have to spend money seeing a doctor.
Daily habits like eating more healthy food would have kept millions of families from becoming bankrupt if the patients had taken measures for early prevention. For instance, keeping a balanced diet，such as not consuming too much animal fat and insuring a steady intake of vegetables and fruits，seems to be quite important.
One very effective and costless way of prevention is regular exercise , which is necessary for a healthy mind and body. Regular exercise ，such as running，walking, and playing sports is a good way to make people feel better or reduce stress.
In addition, health education plays a key role in improving people's health. By giving people more information about health, countries could help people understand the importance of disease prevention and ways to achieve it. For example, knowing one's family medical history is an effective way to help keep healthy. Information about health problems among close relatives will make them aware of what they should do to prevent certain diseases through lifestyle changes, which will work before it is too late.
However，stressing disease prevention does not mean medical treatment is unimportant. After all，prevention and treatment are just two different means toward the same effect. In conclusion, we could save money on health care and treat patients more successfully if our country spends more money on health prevention and education. What's the best title of the passage?
| A．Prevention or Education? | B．Prevention or Treatment? |
| C．Health or Illness? | D．Exercise or Illness? |
Which of the following can replace the underlined word "bankrupt"?
| A．Unable to be cured. |
| B．Unable to pay one's debts. |
| C．Stronger than ever before. |
| D．More successful than ever before. |
We learn from the passage that ______ .
| A．dressing warmly can prevent diseases |
| B．a balanced diet is cheaper than regular exercise |
| C．the more health education，the better |
| D．the government's health budget should be increased |
Which of the following shows the structure of the passage?
CP( Central Point) P( Point) Sp( Sub-point 次要点)C ( Conclusion)
The WHO says alcohol abuse is the third leading cause of death and disability in the world and the harmful use of alcohol kills 2. 5 million people a year. So action is needed to reduce the problem.
The WHO released the "Global Status Report on Alcohol and Health 2011" on February 11,2011. The report shows young people are at risk. It says 320,000 people between the age of 15 and 29 die yearly from the causes related to alcohol. That is 9% of all deaths in that age group.
Shekhar Saxena is director of the Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse at the WHO. He says alcohol is responsible for one-third of the deaths among young people in some parts of the world.
Shekhar Saxena said, "Consumption and harmful effects of alcohol are increasing in developing countries, particularly in Africa and Asia，which have fewer powerful regulations and which have fewer health services available."
The WHO report finds that 6% of all male deaths worldwide are related to alcohol. This is true in only 1% of female deaths. The report says one in five men die from the causes related to alcohol in the 'Russian Federation and neighboring countries.
There are four main causes of death related to alcohol. Injury, from car accidents or violence, is one cause. Diseases like cirrhosis (肝硬化), cancer, heart and blood vessel diseases are the others. Alcohol abuse also leads to the development of 200 other diseases.
However， the majority of people in the world are not alcohol drinkers. The report says in 2005 , almost half of men and two-thirds of women did not drink alcohol at all.
Dr. Saxena says people who are dependent on alcohol live ten years less on average than those who do not have the problem.
The WHO has a plan to reduce the harmful use of alcohol, which includes raising taxes on alcohol，reducing the number of places to sell alcohol and increasing the drinking age. Officials say other measures include effective laws that punish drunk driving and banning some alcohol advertising. Shekhar Saxena thinks increasing people suffer from drinking alcohol in developing countries because ______ .
| A．they lack medical knowledge |
| B．they lack effective regulations |
| C．social customs encourage drinking |
| D．no health care is available to drinkers |
The percentage of men dying from the causes related to alcohol
worldwide is ______ .
| A．20% | B．9% | C．7% | D．6% |
Paragraph 6 talks mainly about.
| A．the side effects of alcohol abuse |
| B．reasons for high death rate in Russia |
| C．common diseases related to alcohol abuse |
| D．the main causes of death |
The underlined part in Paragraph 8 probably refers to ______ .
| A．those who don't drink at all |
| B．those who already quit drinking |
| C．those who are not addicted to alcohol |
| D．those who are free from health problems |
With the advent (到来，出现)of fast food chains from the West such as McDonald's, Kentucky Fried Chicken and Pizza Hut, the Chinese are being introduced to a diet that markedly increases the death rate from certain diseases.
The main killers in North America，the degenerative diseases such as heart attack and stroke as well as colon cancer, will become ways of death in this country if the Chinese do not act quickly and compete with these health-destroying food chains.
Scientific studies from all over the world show that a diet high in animal foods、such as pork, beef, including sugar, white flour, white noodles and even white rice, undermines one's health. Deposits of animal fat cling to the walls of arteries, blocking the blood supply to various organs.
This causes diseases in almost every organ，but in particular it damages two of the most vital ones, the heart and the brain.
Compare these problems with the excellent health one may enjoy if one consumes good Chinese food. The cook goes out every day, procures tasty，fresh vegetables, then cooks them for just a few minutes so that their nutritional value is preserved and afterwards serves them in a most artistic and elegant fashion. Please cling to your traditional ways of eating. They are far superior to those of the West.
Certainly the fast food chains make lots of money，but who wants to fill the pockets of a foreign food chain that proceeds to ruin the health of the Chinese people?
Another reason why Western fast food restaurants make money is that the food they serve, which comes from assembly lines, will not attract bugs or spoil easily.
How the Chinese could patronize (经常光顾)these fast food places when Chinese cook such delicious food, not just in this country but over the entire world, is beyond my comprehension.
Western restaurants are clean and tastefully decorated. Moreover, these restaurants do have "good service and an inviting dining atmosphere". However, Chinese food chains could do likewise if they would organize themselves as the Western chains do.
These lessons in management and decoration are the only ones worth learning from the invasion of this country by the Western fast food chains. In other words, only imitate the style of the restaurants' form.
Do not let the desire for money destroy the wonderful tradition that China has established in producing fantastically tasty as well as healthful food. The following are fast food chains from the West EXCEPT ______ .
| A．McDonald's | B．Kentucky Fried Chicken |
| C．Pizza Hut | D．Chinese restaurants |
The underlined word" undermines" in the third paragraph may have the similar meaning with "______".
| A．improves | B．damages |
| C．affects | D．strengthens |
What will be worth learning from the Western fast food chains?
| A．The content of the food. |
| B．The menus. |
| C．The lessons in management and decoration. |
| D．Shape or form of the food. |
In the passage, the author thinks ______.
| A．Chinese should learn everything from Western fast food restaurants. |
| B．Chinese should say no to Western fast food. |
| C．Western fast food restaurants offer healthy diets. |
| D．Chinese food doesn't contain enough nutrition. |
The cost of rice is expected to go up in the coming months，as an improving global economy raises demand，and drought (旱灾) cuts production in countries such as India. Some economists say prices for rice，the Precision Casting staple food for much of the world's population, could be returning to levels that sparked inflation (通货膨胀)fears in much of Asia last year.
Charuk Singhapreecha is dean of the faculty (系)of economics at Thailand's Kasetsart University. He says prices—especially for Thai rice are being pushed higher by new customers coming into the market after the economic slowdown of the past year. "They expect that the world demand will increase and Cast steel we expect that the price of rice will increase next year," Charuk said. "There are many new markets for the Thai rice and also we still have for our old customer —China，some Arab countries—they will increase the demand."
Prices on the global market could again near the record above $1,000 a ton set in the middle of 2008. This month, export prices for Southeast Asian rice have jumped from about $550 a ton or less to more than $650.
Vichai Sriprasert, president of the Thai Rice Exporters Association ，says further weakness in the US dollar and concerns over drought add to pressure on prices. Market experts say next year India is likely to try to import three million tons of rice—entering the world market for the first time in 21 years—because of a drought.
Vichai also warns that increasing demand for bio-fuels (生物燃料)from grain could reduce food crops，forcing the price of food grains higher. "This is very serious. That's why the price of rice will not go back to the level that we used to see," Vichai said. "It will have to be elevated at a higher level, but I don't know where."
The Philippines this week said it is cutting rice imports because of high prices, even though the country lost more than a million tons of grain to typhoons this year. Officials from Vietnam, a leading export competitor with Thailand，predict prices will reach about $800 a ton by the middle of 2010. This week the Philippines' National Food Authority offered almost $ 665 a ton for 600，000 tons of Vietnamese rice.
Economists say higher food prices will only increase the problems faced by the region's poor, who are highly dependent on rice as a staple food.
(VOA News 16 December,2009) Which of the following is NOT true according to Paragraph 1?
| A．Drought reduces production of rice in India. |
| B．Prices for rice were lower all the time in 2008. |
| C．Rice is a major food for the world's population. |
| D．The improving global economy increases the need for rice. |
How many reasons did Vichai mention about rice price's going up?
| A．1. | B．2. | C．3. | D．4. |
Why does the Philippines plan to cut rice imports?
| A．Because of high prices. | B．Because of typhoons. |
| C．Because of civil war. | D．Because of drought. |
What's the best title of the passage?
| A．Higher food prices will increase problems. |
| B．There are many new markets for the Thai rice. |
| C．The global economy is improving. |
| D．Prices for rice are expected to rise. |
Organic food has no nutritional or health benefits over ordinary food, according to a major study.
Researchers from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine said consumers were paying higher prices for organic food because of its imagined health benefits，creating a global organic market worth an estimated $48 billion in 2007.
A systematic review of 162 scientific papers published in the scientific literature over the last 50 years, however, found there was no significant difference.
"A small number of differences in nutrient content were found to exist between organically and conventionally (通常)produced foodstuffs， but these have nothing to do with public health，" said Alan Dangour， one of the report's authors.
"Our review indicates that there is currently no evidence to support the selection of organically over conventionally produced foods on the basis of nutritional superiority."
The results of research， which was commissioned by the British government's Food Standards Agency, were published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
Sales of organic food have fallen in some markets，including Britain，as a slowdown in economic growth has led consumers to cut back on purchases.
The Soil Association said that growth in sales of organic products in Britain slowed to just 1.7percent, well below the average annual growth rate of 26 percent over the last decade. Why does organic food cost more than conventionally produced food?
| A．Because people think they are much healthier. |
| B．Because they are more delicious. |
| C．Because people prefer organic food. |
| D．Because they sell better. |
According to the study, organic food is ______ than conventionally produced food.
| A．much healthier | B．better |
| C．no healthier | D．less healthier |
Sales of organic food have fallen because of ______ .
| A．high price | B．economic decline |
| C．bad service | D．poor quality |
Where can you find this passage in a newspaper?
| A．Economy. | B．Science. |
| C．Food & Nutrition. | D．Fashion. |