Researchersfoundthatpeoplebeco-优题课

WASHINGTON – It’s a great achievement that inspires notions of robots with consciousness and independent minds.
When people or animals get hurt, they can usually compensate for minor injuries and keep limping along, but for robots, even slight damage can make them stumble and fall. However, a recently made robot has demonstrated a novel ability: it can heal its own damage.
The new robot, which looks like a splay – legged, four – footed starfish can sense injury to itself and adapt. That ability sets the new robot apart from earlier machines. Because the robot can recover from unfamiliar places. “There is a need for planetary robotic rovers to be able to fix things on their own,” says Josh Bongard, a professor in the University of Vermont, who is one of the device’s creator. “Robots on other planets must be able to continue their mission without human help if they are damaged and cannot communicate their problem back to Earth.”
A typical robot functions according to a computer program, but the new robot works differently. First, sensors in its four legs observe the robot’s movements and signals to its built – in computer. From the formation it collects, the robot creates its own programs that allow it to adapt to different situations. For example, when the researchers shortened one of the robot’s legs, the smart machine simply adjusted its way of walking – it used three legs instead of four.
The researchers are looking for other places to put the resilient robot to work. One pellicle spot is the ocean floor. That dark and dangerous undersea terrain might be a good choice for a robot the scientists call the Starfish. “We never officially named the robot, but we usually refer to it as the Starfish, even though a real starfish has five rather than four legs,” says Bongard. “Also, a real starfish is much better than our robot at recovering from injury, because it can actually grow its legs again.” Scientists have created robots that help humans in many ways: by exploring space, fighting fires, and even performing surgery.
46．The newly designed robot distinguishes itself from the former ones because it___________
A．can communicate with people on the earth about their problems
B．works according to a certain computer program
C．can find its problems and solve them automatically
D．can explore unfamiliar places
47．An example is given in the fourth paragraph in order to explain that the robot ___________
A．is used to create new programs
B．has typical robot functions
C．has sensors to observe its movements
D．can gather information and adapt to new conditions
48．The underlined word “resilient” in the last paragraph means the robot is ___________.
A．creative B．newly made C．able to recover D．informative
49．Which of the following is TURE about the robot “Starfish”?
A．It was spoken highly of by people for its special ability?
B．It will stumble and fall if damaged.
C．It can grow its legs again once they are broken.
D．It has started to work on the ocean floor.
50．What might be the best title of the passage?
A．How does the Starfish Robot work
B．Do – It – Yourself Robot Repair
C．Robots Designed to Work On Other Planets
D．New Robot Helping Us In Many Ways

III．阅读（共两节，满分40分）
第一节阅读理解（共15小题；每小题2分，满分30分）
阅读下列短文，从每题所给的A、B、C和D项中，选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
Can you imagine a stranger will read your e – mails without your permission or scan the website you’ve visited or perhaps someone will casually glance through your credit card purchases or cell phone bills? All of the things may happen to you one day.
In fact，it’s likely that some of these things have already happened to you. Who would watch you without your permission? It might be a spouse, a girlfriend, a marketing company, a boss, a cop or a criminal. Whoever it is，they will see you in a way you never intended to be seen or even do something that may bring a disaster to you.
Psychologists tell us boundaries are healthy, and that it's important to reveal to friends, family and lovers at appropriate times. But few boundaries remain nowadays. The digital bread crumbs (碎屑) you leave everywhere make it easy for strangers to know who you are, where you are and what you like. In some cases, a simple Google search can leak the deepest thought in your mind. Like it or not, increasingly we live in a world where you simply cannot keep a secret.
The key question is：Does that matter? For many Americans, the answer apparently is “no”.
When opinion polls ask Americans about privacy, most of them say they are really concerned about losing it. And 60 percent of the respondents say they feel their privacy is “slipping away, and that bothers me”.
But people say one thing and do another．Only a small of Americans change any behaviors in an effort to preserve their privacy．Few people turn down a discount attollbooths (收费站)to avoid using the EZ—Pass system that can track automobile movements. Privacy economist Acquisti has run a series of tests that reveal people will give up personal information such as telephone number, address, or social security numbers just to get their hands on a pitiful 50-cents-off coupon(优惠券). But privacy does matter—at least sometimes．It's like health；when you have it，you don’t notice it．Only when it’s gone do you wish you’d done more to protect it. Without privacy, one will be naked in front of others.
41．What would psychologists advise on the relationships between friends?
A．Friends should open their hearts to each other．
B．Friends should always be faithful to each other．
C．There should be a distance even between friends．
D．There should be fewer quarrels between friends
42．Why does the author say “we live in a world where you simply cannot keep a secret”?
A．Modern society has finally developed into an open society．
B．People leave traces around when using modern technology．
C．There are always people who are curious about others’ affairs．
D．Many search engines profit by revealing people’s identities．
43．What do most Americans do about privacy protection?
A．They change behavior that might disclose their identity．
B．People turn down a discount at tollbooths to avoid using the EZ – Pass system.
C．They rely more and more on advanced technology.
D．They talk a lot but hardly do anything about it.
44．According to the passage，privacy is like health in that___________.
A．people will make every effort to keep it
B．its importance is hardly understood
C．It is something that can easily be lost
D．people don’t value it until they lose it
45．What would be the best title for the passage?
A．No privacy, no health.
B．Treasure your privacy.
C．Boundaries are important between friends.
D．The information age has its own shortcomings.

Exposure to environmental tobacco smoke (ETS)-also called “second-hand smoke” and “passive smoking” contains over 4 000 chemicals, including over 50 known carcinogens (致癌物) and many poisonous things. No safe level of ETS exposure has been proved. Nor is there any expectation that further research will identify such a level.
Several recent reviews have confirmed the serious risks to health and life associated with passive smoking. Long time exposure to second-hand smoke has been proved as a cause of many of the same diseases caused by active smoking, including lung cancer, cardiovascular (心脏血管的) disease, and childhood disease.
Living with a smoker has been shown to increase the risk of coronary heart disease (冠心病) among non-smokers by 25-30% (a recent study indicates that this figure may actually be higher). There is also growing evidence that passive smoking is causally linked to stroke in non-smokers, although further research is needed to estimate the risk.
Second-hand smoke is especially dangerous for young children and infants, being associated with sudden infant death, pneumonia, bronchitis (支气管炎), asthma (哮喘) and respiratory symptoms as well as middle ear disease. ETS exposure in pregnant women can cause lower birth weight, foetal (胎儿的) death and preterm delivery.
Most of the adverse health outcomes brought about by ETS show that the risk increases steadily with increasing exposure. The level of individual risk is lower compared to active smoking. Nevertheless, the fact that large numbers of people are exposed results in a substantial burden of disease.
Action on smoke-free environments would not only protect people from the harm of ETS exposure but also contribute to the reduction of tobacco consumption in the whole population. The health effects of reduced passive and active smoking would include reduced illness and death from major disease types-in particular lung cancer, coronary heart disease, and stroke-and increased life expectancy.
51. Which of the following statements is true? _______
A. Although ETS contains many harmful things, it is not unsafe.
B. The fact that second-hand smoke is safe has been recently found.
C. It is expected that further research will be done to test the level of ETS.
D. By far the safe level of ETS has not been found and will not in the future.
52. Cardiovascular disease can be caused by _______.
A. long time passive smoking B. accidental active smoking
B. occasional passive smoking D. short term active smoking
53. According to the article, the statements about the risk of coronary heart disease are wrong EXCEPT that________
A. if you smoke, the risk of this disease will increase by 25-30%.
B. the non-smokers exposed to smoke will increase the risk of this disease by 25-30%.
C. for the smokers, the risk of getting this disease is higher than that of the non-smokers.
D. the non-smokers exposed to smoke will be more easily to get this disease than the smokers.
54. What does the underlined word “delivery” mean? ________.
A. Transferring to another B. Giving birth C. Throwing away D. Giving out
55. What’s the author’s main purpose in writing this passage? ______
A. To introduce what is ETS.
B. To tell the readers how to avoid ETS.
C. To call for the action against ETS.
D. To warn the readers against smoking.

Traffic jam and cities, it seems, go hand in hand. Everyone complains about being stuck in traffic; but, like the weather, no one seems to do anything about it. In particular, traffic engineers, transportation planners, and public officials responsible for transportation systems in large cities are frequently criticized for failing to solve traffic jam.
But is traffic jam a sign of failure? Long queues at restaurants or theater box offices are seen as signs of success. Should transportation systems be viewed any differently? I think we should recognize that traffic jam is an unpreventable by-product of successful cities, and view the “traffic problem” in a different light.
Cities exist because they promote social interactions and economic transactions.
Traffic jam occurs where there are lots of people but limited spaces. Culturally and economically successful cities have the worst traffic problems, while decaying cities don’t have much traffic. New York and Los Angeles are America’s most crowded cities. But if you want access to major brokerage houses (经纪行), you will find them easier to reach in crowded New York than in any other large cities. And if your firm needs access to post-production film editors or satellite-guidance engineers, you will reach them more quickly through the crowded freeways of LA than through less crowded roads elsewhere.
Despite traffic jam, a larger number and wider variety of social interactions and economic transactions can be made perfect in large, crowded cities than elsewhere. Seen in this light, traffic jam is an unfortunate consequence of prosperity, not a cause of economic decline and urban decay.
So while we can consider traffic jam as increasing costs on the areas of big cities, the costs of inaccessibility (交通不便) in uncrowded places are almost certainly greater.
There is no doubt that traffic jam brings the terrible economic and environmental damage in places like Bangkok, Jakarta, and Lagos. But mobility is far higher and traffic jam levels are far lower here in the US, even in our most crowded cities. That’s why, for now, we don’t see people and capital streaming out of San Francisco and Chicago, heading for cities like California, and Illinois.
46. We can conclude from the first paragraph that_______.
A. traffic jam and weather are the two factors preventing the development of the big city
B. traffic jam seems to be very difficult to deal with
C. if traffic engineers try their best, traffic jam can be solved
D. public officials are always criticized for misusing their power
47. According to the passage, what’s the author’s opinion towards traffic jam？_____
A. In cities, traffic jam is unavoidable.
B. Traffic jam is both a sign of failure and a sign of success.
C. Traffic jam is the consequence of successful cities.
D. For a successful city, traffic jam is not unpreventable.
48. By saying “decaying” (in Para. 4), the writer probably means_______.
A. declining B. developing
C. rich and successful D. strong and healthy
49. According to this article, which statement about “New York” and “Los Angeles” is true? _____
A. The traffic jam in the two cities has been worsened.
B. New York and Los Angeles are the most successful cities in the USA.
C. It is easier to reach major brokerage houses in the two cities than in other cities.
D. Despite the traffic jam in LA, you’ll find a satellite-guidance engineer more quickly there.
50. What can we learn from the last paragraph? _______
A. Traffic jam has caused terrible bad effects in cities such as Bangkok and Lagos.
B. The traffic jam in San Francisco has resulted in the capital becoming empty.
C. The traffic jam level in Jakarta is lower than that in the US.
D. California is as crowded and successful as San Francisco.

Ⅲ阅读 (共两节，满分40分)
第一节阅读理解 (共15小题；每小题2分，满分30分)
阅读下列短文，从每题所给的A、B、C和D项中，选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
A person may have an idea about himself that will prevent him from doing good work. He may have the idea that he is not capable of it. A child may think he is stupid because he does not understand how to make the most of his mental faculties (机能), or he may accept another person's mistaken estimate (评价) of his ability. Older people may be handicapped (阻碍) by the mistaken belief that they are incapable of learning anything new because of their age.
A person who believes that he is incapable will not make a real effort, because he feels that it would be useless. He won’t go at a job with the confidence necessary for success. He is therefore likely to fail, and the failure will strengthen his belief in his incompetence. Alfred Adler, a famous doctor, had an experience which illustrates this. When he was a small boy he got off to a poor start in arithmetic. His teacher got the idea that he had no ability in arithmetic, and told his parents what she thought in order that they would not expect too much of him. In this way, they too developed the idea, “Isn’t it too bad that Alfred can’t do arithmetic?” He accepted their mistaken estimate of his ability, felt that it was useless to try, and was very poor at arithmetic, just as they expected.
One day Adler succeeded in solving a problem which none of the other students had been able to solve. This gave him confidence. He rejected the idea that he couldn’t do arithmetic and was determined to show them that he could. His newfound confidence stimulated him to go at arithmetic problems with a new spirit. He now worked with interest, determination and purpose, and he soon became extraordinary good at arithmetic.
This experience made him realize that many people have more ability than they think they have, and that lack of success is as often the result of lack of knowledge of how to apply one’s ability, lack of confidence, and lack of determination as it is the result of lack of ability.
41. Why might a person be prevented from doing good work? _______.
A. Because he thinks he is old enough to make the most of his mental facilities
B. Because he accepts another person’s mistaken estimate of his ability
C. Because he has the idea that he is incapable of doing everything
D. Because he believes in what other people think of him
42. A person who believes in his low ability will________.
A. spare no efforts to do things
B. fail to go at a job but never lose heart
C. change to learn other course instead of mathematics
D. show complete lack of confidence
43. As a boy, Alfred Adler was poor at arithmetic because ________.
A. he lost his self-confidence
B. he was weak in thinking
C. his parents expected too much of him
D. his teacher had no confidence in herself
44. Which of the following is the most important factor to Alder's success? ______
A. Spirit and experience B. Interest and self-respect
C. Confidence and determination D. Purpose and knowledge
45. Alder’s experience made him realize that _______.
A. people are not as capable as they think
B. people can be more capable than they think
C. lack of confidence leads to failure
D. lack of ability results in lack of determination

A．A Gallup organization.	B．A university in New York.
C．A popular science magazine.	D．A research institution