Robots industry is developing so rapidly that there is no denying that we may one day find ourselves surrounded by robots.
The humanoid (human like) robots with two legs such as Honda Motor Co. Ltd’s ASIMO would likely have an easier time climbing up stairs inside homes than a robot that moves on wheels, developers say.
But it will be some time before such devices make their way into people’s homes.
“They may look smart, but they are still quite stupid,” Shimoyama said. “I don’t think they will ever be as smart as humans.”
While safety is an obvious concern, robots also need to be sensitive to people’s needs.
Researchers at Fujitsu Frontech Ltd and Fujitsu Laboratories responsible for developing “Enon”, a guide and patrol (巡逻) robot designed for use in shopping malls and corporate facilities (公共场所), are working on this.
Enon, which has a humanoid upper body but no legs, is equipped with a touch screen on its chest and space in its stomach to carry loads weighting up to 10 kg.
In guide mode, it will check a newcomer and approach the person with a nod and a greeting: “Are you a visitor? Hello.”
Visitors requiring directions can point to icons (图标) displayed on Enon’s chest screen. If the restroom icon is pressed, the screen will display a map that shows the way.
The robot will then face and point in the direction of the restroom, although it won’t actually walk the visitor there.
Enon is now in use at four locations in Japan, including a shopping mall near Tokyo. The main goal is to make it more helpful for the elderly.
“People who work in the transportation sector often ask whether we can build a robot that will find elderly people who look lost in train stations, and ask them if they are all right,” said Toshihido Marita, director of Fujitsu Laboratories Ltd’s autonomous system laboratory. “Actually that is hard to do, very hard,” he said. The advantage of Honda Motor Co. Ltd’s ASIMO is that _________.
| A．it can do any housework for us |
| B．it can talk with patients or old people |
| C．it can climb up stairs as humans |
| D．it can walk smoothly with its wheels |
According to Shimoyama, robots _________.
| A．can be made to do everything humans do |
| B．will be made as smart as humans in the future |
| C．will remain as stupid as before |
| D．can never compete with humans in intelligence |
Most important of all, a robot should be made _________ at present.
| A．safe and elegant | B．safe and functional |
| C．elegant and cheap | D．sensitive and cheap |
Which of the following statements about “Enon” is NOT true?
| A．It can be used as a guide in hospitals. |
| B．It can help shoppers carry goods selected. |
| C．It can be used to welcome guests in restaurants. |
| D．It can be used to stop thieves in malls. |
Enon is mainly designed to help _________.
| A．old people | B．mall owners | C．tourists or newcomers | D．shoppers |
There have been discussions about retire age limit recently. Does it make sense to make people retire at a particular age, say, 55? 60?
Some people work well into their 70s and 80s, running families, countries or corporations while other people, despite being fit and highly talented, are forced to retire in their fifties or even earlier. Here I will examine whether people should be allowed to continue working as long as they want or whether they should be encouraged to retire at a particular stage.
Some people think there are several reasons for allowing older people to continue working. Firstly, older employees are more experienced and their knowledge can be lost to his company or business if they are made to retire. Secondly, older employees are often extremely loyal and more willing to carry out company policies than younger staff. Another point is related to our society’s attitudes to the old. To force someone to retire at 50 or 60 indicates that the society does not value the contribution of these people, which may be regarded as age discrimination.
However, others believe that allowing older people to work indefinitely(无限期) is not a good policy. Age alone is no guarantee of ability. Old people are ambitious workaholics. Many young employees are more skillful than older staff, who may have been stuck in one area or unit for most of their working lives. Having compulsory retirement encourages new ideas in an organization. In addition, without age limits, many people would continue to work purely because they did not have any other plans. Another reason is that older people should be rewarded by society for their life’s labor by being given generous pensions and the freedom to enjoy their leisure. We now have youngsters who can’t find jobs because old people refuse to retire. This new generation of “old people” may think they will never die due to modern advances in medicine.
With many young people unemployed or frustrated in low-level positions, older workers are expected to retire. However, this can affect their right to work. I feel that giving workers more flexibility and choice over their retirement age will benefit both society and the individual.All the following statements are reasons for allowing old people to continue working EXCEPT that _______.
| A．their contributions should be valued |
| B．their experience should be appreciated |
| C．they can be ambitious workaholics |
| D．they are extremely loyal employees |
The underlined sentence in the fourth passage suggests that _______.
| A．retired people support the young to be creative |
| B．more fresh employees mean more fresh ideas |
| C．retired people are unwilling to praise new ideas |
| D．young employees are forced to be creative |
The structure of the passage is arranged as __________
The author is likely to agree that ________’
| A．it’s not wise to suggest lengthening the retirement age |
| B．it does make sense to set a particular retirement age |
| C．having different retirement age sounds unreasonable |
| D．when to retire should depend on the employees themselves |
| School is over and it’s time for the family to get your children moving and have fun. Choose a suitable one from the following family activities. |
| Gymnastics Gymnastics helps to improve flexibility, strength, and teaches self-discipline. Although Olympic-level gymnastics take years of practice to master, more simple moves are easy to learn in a day and can be practiced at home. Suitable for: 4+ Cost: £6 an hour Contact: British Gymnastics; 084 512 97129; www.british-gymnastics.org |
| Surfing What is required to learn the art of surfing is to combine balance, coordination and patience, which means that it’s not easy to learning that, but the excitement of jumping to your feet on the board for the first time and riding a wave into the shore is an excellent experience. Suitable for: 8+ Cost: £30 an hour Contact: www.nationalsurfingcentre.com, 016 378 50737 |
| Sailing Sailing is beneficial for developing confidence and provides a pure mental and physical challenge from the beginning. It can be done alone, and picking up the basics is not difficult. Suitable for: 8+ Cost: Free Contact: Royal Yachting Association; 084 534 50400; www.rya.org.uk |
| Diving This is a great way to make swimming even more fun. High board diving needs muscle control. Lessons begin at the poolside, where you will learn some basic skills before moving on to the boards, Try a saltwater pool, on warmer days, and enjoy the fresh air, high boards and water games. Suitable for: 13+ Cost: The first lesson, which lasts one hour, is usually free if you decide to carry on. £10/£20 an hour. Contact: Find your local swimming pool at www. britishswimming.org; 015 096 18700 |
If you have a child of seven, you would like to choose ______ for him/her.
| A．Diving | B．Sailing | C．Surfing | D．Gymnastics |
Taking a 10-hour course in diving needs at least .
| A．£200 | B．£100 | C．£90 | D．£30 |
In order to build up your children’s confidence, you can call .
| A．015 096 18700 |
| B．084 534 50400 |
| C．016 378 50737 |
| D．084 512 97129 |
According to the passage, we know that .
| A．it is very difficult to learn basic sailing skills. |
| B．it is impossible to practice gymnastics at home |
| C．self-discipline is needed to do high board diving |
| D．surfing needs qualities of patience and balance |
I do desire to help my Chinese students to find a better way of learning. I once divided my Chinese MBA students into six groups and set them an assignment: brainstorming on “two-hour business plans”, for example: a restaurant chain. Originality would be valued most. As a result, five groups proposed projects for restaurant chains. The sixth showed a catering service. I couldn’t help expressing my disappointment, though the time limit had been rather challenging.
Those middle managers and financial analysts from state-owned enterprises and global companies were not untalented or without opinions, but they had been accustomed to an educational system that rarely rewarded critical thinking or Originality. Papers were often copied from the Internet and the Harvard Business Review. Students insisted that copying was a superior business strategy, better than inventing and creating.
In China, you can see almost all kinds of products you can imagine have been made and sold, but so few well developed marketing and management minds have been produced that it will be a long time before most people in the world can name a Chinese brand!
Partnerships with institutions like Yale and MIT have been established so as to solve the problem mentioned above. And there’s also the “thousand talent scheme”: this new government program is designed to improve technological modernization by inviting top foreign trained scientists to the mainland with large sums of money. But there are concerns about China’s research environment, which is known for lacking in encouraging independent thinking and inventiveness, and even high salary offers may not be attractive enough to overcome this.
If China wants to become a major world creator, it is no good just seeking partnerships with top Western universities or gathering a group of well-educated people and telling them to think creatively. It’s time to establish a rich learning environment for young minds. Yes, new way of learning is the key!The author feels disappointed when the students hand in their plans because_____
| A．there’s one group presenting a catering service. |
| B．all groups followed his idea of restaurant chains. |
| C．the students’ ideas were lacking in creativeness. |
| D．the time limit had been rather challenging. |
Which statement is TRUE according to the passage?
| A．China can make and sell all kinds of product all over the world |
| B．High pay can solve the problem of China’s research environment |
| C．Foreign trained scientists are expected to invent a Chinese brand |
| D．The new government program is aimed at encouraging imagination |
Which can serve as the best title of the passage?
| A．Look for a New Way of Learning |
| B．Develop MBA Students’ Creative Thinking |
| C．Help China to Become a Creator |
| D．Improve China’s Research Environment |
Emanuel’s father liked to declare he’d spent ages by the sea, breathing seawater. Now, away from the sea, in the hospital, his body just looked like a beached fish. His condition went from bad to worse. The doctor came from saying, “He’ll be home in a day,” “He’ll be home in a week,” to “He will be home in a month.”
When Emanuel was a teenager, if he ever seemed bored with the pier(码头), his father would shout, “What ? This isn’t good enough for you?” And later, when he suggested Emanuel take a job at the pier after high school, the boy almost laughed, and his father again said, “What? This isn’t good enough for you?” And before Emanuel went to war, when he talked of marrying Maggie and becoming an engineer, his father said, “What? This isn’t good enough for you?”
And now, here he was, Emanuel helped out at the pier, working evenings after his taxi job, doing his father’s labor.
Parents rarely let go of their children, so children let go of them. They move on. They move away. It is not until much later that children understand: their stories and all their accomplishments sit on top of the stories of their mothers and fathers.
One night his father, lying in hospital, was practically too weak to speak. Others comforted him. “Your old man will pull through. He’s the toughest man we’ve ever seen.”
When the news came that his father had died, Emanuel felt heart-broken.
In the following weeks, Emanuel’s mother lived in a confused state. She spoke to her husband as if he were still there .She yelled at him to turn down the radio. She cooked enough food for two .One night, when Emanuel offered to help with the dishes, she said. “Your father will put them away.” Emanuel put a hand on her shoulder. “Ma,” he said softly, “Dad’s gone.”
“Gone where?” murmured Mum.Which of the following shows the right order of the story?
a．Emanuel’s father fell ill.
b．Emanuel helped out at pier.
c．Emanuel went to the war.
d．Emanuel wished to be an engineer.
e. Emanuel’s mother lived in a confused state
| A．bacde | B．dcabe | C．bceda | D．decba |
In Paragraph 4, the writer inplies that.
| A．Children can never understand how much their parents have devoted to them |
| B．Children wouldn’t have achieved so much without their parents’ support |
| C．Children often feel regretful because they leave their parents |
| D．Children like moving away from their parents |
The underlined phrase “pull through” can probably be replaced by ________
| A．wake up | B．give up | C．pick up | D．get up |
The last paragraph mainly tells us that.
| A．Emanuel’s mother was at a loss at her husband’s death. |
| B．Emanuel often helped his mother to wash the dishes. |
| C．Emanuel lived with his mother and often comforted her. |
| D．Emanuel’s mother doesn’t like to listen to the radio. |
The African elephant, the largest land animal remaining on earth, is of great importance to African ecosystem (生态系统). Unlike other animals, the African elephant is to a great extent the builder of its environment. As a big planteater, it largely shapes the forestandsavanna (稀树草原) surroundings in which it lives, therefore setting the terms of existence for millions of other animals that live in its habitat.
It is the elephant's great desire for food that makes it a disturber of the environment and an important builder of its habitat. In its continuous search for the 300 pounds of plants it must have every day, it kills small trees and underbushes, and pulls branches of big trees. This results in numerous open spaces in both deep tropical forests and in the woodlands that cover part of the African savannas. In these open spaces are numerous plants in various stages of growth that attract a variety of other planteaters.
Take the rain forests for example. In their natural state, the spreading branches overhead shut out sunlight and prevent the growth of plants on the forest floor. By pulling down trees and eating plants, elephants make open spaces, allowing new plants to grow on the forest floor. In such situations, the forests become suitable for large hoofed planteaters to move around and for small planteaters to get their food as well.
What worries scientists now is that the African elephant has become an endangered species. If the elephant disappears, scientists say, many other animals will also disappear from vast areas of forest and savanna, greatly changing and worsening the whole ecosystem.What is the passage mainly about?
| A．Disappearance of African elephants. |
| B．Forests and savannas as habitats for African elephants. |
| C．The effect of African elephants' search for food. |
| D．The eating habit of African elephants. |
What does the underlined phrase “setting the terms” most probably mean?
| A．Fixing the time. | B．Worsening the state. |
| C．Improving the quality. | D．Deciding the conditions. |
What do we know about the open spaces in the passage?
| A．They result from the destruction of rain forests. |
| B．They provide food mainly for African elephants. |
| C．They are home to many endangered animals. |
| D．They are attractive to planteating animals of different kinds. |
According to the passage, which of the following statements is TRUE?
| A．The African elephant is the largest animal on earth. |
| B．African elephants have 300 pounds of plants every day, including small trees and under bushes. |
| C．The African elephant is in a way the builder of the environment like other land animals. |
| D．If the African elephant disappears, the whole ecosystem won't be affected. |
The passage is developed mainly by ________.
| A．showing the effect and then explaining the causes |
| B．pointing out similarities and differences |
| C．describing the changes in space order |
| D．giving examples |