Monitoring the mood of a pet dog could be used as an early warning sign that an elderly owner is struggling to cope, a new report has claimed.
Researchers placed movement sensors (探测器) on dogs to track their behaviour and identified 17 distinct activities, including chewing, barking, sitting and digging.
This allowed them to map the normal behaviour of a healthy, happy dog, which means any changes can be monitored and could indicate an issue with their owner.
Nils Hammerla, part of the team from Newcastle University, said, “Humans and dogs have lived together in close relationships for thousands of years, which has led to strong emotional and social mutual bonds.”
“A dog’s physical and emotional dependence on their owner means that their well-being is likely to reflect that of their owner. Any changes such as the dog being walked less often, perhaps not being fed regularly, or simply demonstrating “unhappy” behaviour could be an early indicator for families that an older relative needs help. This is the first system of its kind which allows us to remotely monitor a dog’s behaviour in its natural setting.”
The team of academics, who presented their findings at the 2013 UbiComp conference in Zurich, created a hi-tech, waterproof (防水的) dog collar for the study.
Dr Cas Ladha, who led the study, said: “A lot of our research is focused on developing intelligent systems that can help older people to live independently for longer. But developing a system that reassures family and carers that an older relative is well without intruding on (侵犯) the individual’s privacy is difficult. This is just the first step but the idea behind this research is that it would allow us to support people without the need for cameras.”
A range of dogs was used for the study, as the team needed to map distinct behaviours that correlated between different breeds.From the text, we know that Nils Hammerla ____________.
| A．led the study and identified 17 activities of dogs |
| B．thinks some activities of dogs can reflect senior owners’ health |
| C．studied the relationship between humans and animals |
| D．developed a hi-tech, waterproof dog collar |
The underlined word “reassure” in Paragraph 7 probably means ____________.
| A．protect | B．comfort |
| C．warn | D．recognize |
Which of the following is an advantage of the intelligent system mentioned in the text?
| A．It can indicate that people aren’t well. |
| B．It can identify different activities of dogs. |
| C．It monitors an elderly owner without disturbing his privacy. |
| D．It lets people see the dog’s behavior clearly. |
Which of the following could be the best title for the text?
| A．Dogs’ mood can be an indicator of owners’ health |
| B．Strong bonds between dogs and their senior owners |
| C．Signs that your older relative needs help |
| D．A special way of taking care of the old |
.
Today, air travel is far safer than driving a car on a busy motor-way. But still there is a danger that grows every year. Airliners get larger and larger. Some airplanes can carry over 300 passengers. And the air itself becomes more and more crowded. If one large airliner struck into another in midair, 600 lives could be lost.
From the moment an airliner takes off to the moment it lands, every movement is watched on radar screens. Air traffic controllers tell the pilot exactly when to turn, when to climb, and when to come down. The air traffic controllers around a busy airport like London-Heathrow may deal with 2,500 planes a day. Not all of them actually land at the airport. Any plane that flies near the airport comes under the orders of the controllers there. Even a small mistake on their part could cause a terrible accident.
Recently such a disaster almost happened. Two large jets were flying towards the airport. One was carrying 69 passengers from Toronto, the other 176 passengers from Chicago. An air traffic controller noticed on his radar screen that the two planes were too close to each other. He ordered one to turn to the right and to climb．But he made a mistake. He ordered the wrong plane to do this. So, instead of turning away from the second plane, the first plane turned towards it. Fifteen seconds later it flew directly in front of the second plane. They avoided (避免) each other by the smallest part of a second. The distance between them was less than that of a large swimming pool. This is an example of the danger that grows every year.
61. Which of the following is true according to the passage?
A. Traveling by air is as safe as by car．
B. Traveling by air is not as safe as by car．
C. Traveling by car is as dangerous as by air．
D .Traveling by car is more dangerous than by air．
62. The air traffic controllers of an airport ____．
A. control all the planes flying near the airport
B. give orders to planes leaving the airport
C. only deal with the planes that want to land there
D. are allowed to handle 250 planes a day
63. The danger of air crashes grows every year because ____．
A. airliners are getting larger and air traffic is becoming heavier
B. a pilot does not always hear a controller’s order
C. a controller is likely to make more and more mistakes
D. airports can hardly serve the growing number of airplanes
64. The example in the passage is to show that ____．
A. air traffic controllers are often careless
B. air traffic controllers should pay much attention to avoiding accidents
C. it is difficult for airplanes to avoid terrible accidents
D. two planes should not fly too close to each other
.
第三部分：阅读理解（共20小题；每小题2分，满分40分）
阅读下列短文，从每题所给的四个选项中选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
An 80-year-old couple was having problems remembering things, so they decided to go to their doctor to get checked out to make sure nothing was wrong with them.
When they arrived at the doctor’s, they explained to the doctor about the problems they were having with their memory. After checking the couple out, the doctor told them that they were physically okay but might want to start writing things down and make notes to help them remember things. The couple thanked the doctor and left.
Later that night, while watching TV, the man got up from his chair and his wife asked, “Where are you going?”
He replied, “To the kitchen.”
She asked, “Will you get me a cup of ice cream?”
He replied, “Sure.”
She then asked him, “Don’t you think you should write it down so you can remember it?”
He said, “No, I can remember that.”
She then said, “Well, I would also like some strawberries on top. You had better write that down because I know you’ll forget that.”
He said, “I can remember that. You want a cup of ice cream with strawberries.”
She replied, “Well, I also would like some whipped cream on top. I know you will forget that so you’d better write it down.”
With anger in his voice, he said, “I don’t need to write that down! I can remember that.” He then went into the kitchen.
After about 20 minutes he returned from the kitchen and handed her a plate of bacon and eggs. She stared at the plate for a moment and said angrily, “I told you to write it down! You forgot my bread!”
56. The doctor suggested the couple that they should ____.
A. live with their childrenB. keep notes to improve their memory
C. do some sportsD. have an operation
57. While watching TV, the wife asked her husband to take her ____.
A. some strawberries B. something in the kitchen
C. a plate of bacon and eggs D. ice cream with strawberries and whipped cream
58. After seeing the doctor, the couple ____.
A. changed their life totally B. followed the doctor’s advice
C. did anything as before D. found the way of taking notes helpful
59. The husband got angry because his wife ____.
A. asked him to take her an ice cream
B. complained he forgot to take her bread
C. asked him to take her a plate of bacon and eggs
D. reminded him to write down what he would do
60. From the passage we can infer that the old couple ____.
A. still had something wrong with their memory after seeing the doctor
B. had poor health, so they went to see their doctor
C. obeyed their doctor’s advice and carried it out successfully
D. got their memory improved after seeing the doctor
You can love them or hate them, but no matter which tourist destination you visit, chances are you’ll see someone with their head buried in a Lonely Planet guidebook.
Lonely Planet is one of the world’s largest travel guide brands, publishing more than 500 different guides in eight languages. The popular brand also produces television shows, websites and podcasts(播客)all devoted to travel.
Some people praise Lonely Planet books because they make traveling easy and affordable. They also save time and make sure you don’t miss the best things.
They also provide the reviews of hostels, restaurants and ticket information about your destination.
This can be great if you’re a nervous traveler, or if you haven’t traveled by yourself before. If you’re in a country where you don’t speak the language, sometimes there’s nothing better than getting into a taxi and opening up a guidebook. You simply point to a map that directs the taxi driver to a hostel that’s cheap and clean, with friendly staff and cold beer.
But others criticize Lonely Planet and other travel guide publishers like them. They say guidebooks take the fun and spontaneity(自发性)out of 
traveling, and that part of the enjoyment of travel comes from the fact that anything can happen. They also regret that if you follow a guidebook, you’ll end up doing the same thing and having the same experience as everyone else. You might end up seeing the same group of people over and over, because everyone is reading the same book and following the same route.
Another criticism of travel guides is that they have a large impact on local communities. For example, some locals devote their lives to behaving in ways that attract tourists. They pretend to live a traditional lifestyle, wear traditional clothes and live in traditional houses in order to attract the tourist dollar.The Lonely Planet guidebook can bring you the following advantages EXCEPT th
at ___.
| A．you can speak a foreign language when opening a guidebook |
| B．you can easily find a nice place to stay in a strange city |
| C．it provides lots of useful information about your destination |
| D．it can help you save time and money when traveling |
People criticize the guidebook because __________.
| A．it is not as useful as most travelers expect |
| B．tourist destinations will be crowded if everyone follows the same route |
| C．travelers may not get the chance to have unexpected adventures |
| D．local people keep modern lifestyles under its influence |
What do we know about the Lonely Planet guidebook from the text?
| A．It’s a world-famous brand only producing guidebooks for travelers. |
| B．It’s very useful to a person who’s nervous about touring an unfamiliar place. |
| C．It’s very useful to a tourist who likes to repeat others’ experiences. |
| D．It is loved by all travelers because of the convenience it brings to travelers. |
Which of the following best shows the structure of the text? (①—⑦ stand for Paragraph 1 — Paragraph 7 )
Nuclear power's danger to health, safety, and even life itself can be described in one word; radiation(辐射).
Nuclear radiation has a certain mystery about it, partly because it cannot be detected (探测) by human senses. It can't be seen or heard, or touched or tasted, even though it may be all around us. There are other things like that. For example, radio waves are all around us but we can't detect them, sense them, without a radio receiver. Similarly, we can't sense radioactivity without a radiation detector. But unlike common radio waves, nuclear radiation is not harmless to human beings and other living things.
At very high levels, radiation can kill an animal or human being completely by killing masses of cells in important organs (器官). But even the lowest levels can do serious damage. There is no level of radiation that is completely safe. If the radiation does not hit anything important, the damage may not be significant. This is the case when only a few cells are hit, and if they are killed completely. Your body will replace the dead cells with healthy ones. But if the few cells are only damaged, and if they reproduce themselves, you may be in trouble. They reproduce themselves in an unusual way. They can grow into cancer. Sometimes this does not show up for many years.
This is another reason for some of the mystery about nuclear radiation. Serious damage can be done without the knowledge of the person at the time that damage has occurred. A person can be irradiated(放射治疗) and feel fine, then die of cancer five, ten, or twenty years later as a result. Or a child can be born weak or easy to get serious illness as a result of radiation absorbed by its grandparents.
Radiation can hurt us. We must know the truth. According to the passage, the danger of nuclear power lies in ________
__.
| A．nuclear mystery | B．radiation detection |
| C．radiation level | D．nuclear radiation |
Radiation can lead to serious results even at the lowest level ________.
| A．when it kills few cells | B．if it damages few cells |
| C．though the damaged cells can repair themselves | |
D． unless the damaged cells can reproduce themselves |
Radiation can hurt us in the way that it can _____.
| A．kill large numbers of cells in main organs so as to cause death immediately |
| B．damage cells which may grow into cancer years later |
| C．affect the healthy growth of our younger generation |
| D．lead to all of the above results |
Which of the following can be best inferred from the passage?
| A．The importance of protection from radiation can be overemphasized (过分强调). |
| B．The mystery about radiation remains unsolved. |
| C．Cancer is mainly caused by radiation. |
| D．Radiation can hurt those who do not know about its danger. |
Eight-year-old Bethany and seven-year-old Eliza are having a great time jumping around in the orchard of their home in a village near Penrith. They can play any time they like because they don't go to school. Instead, they are educated at home by their parents, Paul and Veronika Robinson. But they don't have lessons, have never used a timetable and learn only what and when they want to learn. .
“I want my kids to have freedom in their childhood,
not spend it in an institution," says 37-year-old Veronika, "School is all about control and following the rules." Veronika and her 56-year-old husband Paul have never experienced the daily rush to get dressed and out of the door that is common in most households with school-aged children. "We get up at our leisure - usually around 8:30," says Veronika. "We might visit a friend, or go to the library, and on Tuesdays we shop at the market. In summer, we spend most of our time outside and the girls entertain themselves a lot.” .
New research due to be published this spring reveals a very different picture of Britain's home educators. "Out of 297 families, 184 said that they never use a timetable,” says Mike Fortune-Wood of Home Education UK. "Ninety per cent never or rarely use textbooks, and nearly all said that happiness, contentment and self-fulfillment were more important than academic achievement. Only 15% felt that planning what to learn was very important.” .
So far, so good. But what, you might ask, are the children actually learning?
"It wasn't important to me that the girls could read by a certain age, but they both picked it up for themselves at around seven," says Robinson. "Weighing cooking ingredients uses maths, and making a shopping list teaches them to write. Observing five hens has taught the girls about survival of the fittest. "
But what about when the children grow up? Can they go to university? The home educators' answer is they can if they want to. There are a variety of routes into higher education, but probably the most common is to join a local college. This is what Gus Harris-Reid has done. "I was educated at home al
l my life. I'd never had a lesson or been inside a classroom until I started GCSEs," says the 18-year-old. "I'm now studying for 4 A-levels at Exeter College. I've had no problem with the work or with fitting in." When asked to reflect on his experience of home education, his considered response is, "Like a permanent holiday, really!" Not a bad start for someone who plans to take a mechanical engineering degree next year. .What is the topic of this article?
| A．New ways of learning to read and write | B．Problems with UK schools |
| C．Home education in the UK | D．Wild, undisciplined children |
According to the article, in homes with school-going children, ______.
| A．mornings are rushed and stressful. |
| B．the children hardly ever go outside. |
| C．the family wakes up around 8:30am. |
| D．the children must ask permission to go to the toilet. |
Which of the following statements is NOT true?
| A．Most home educators believe that happiness is more important than good grades. |
| B．Most home educators believe that planning is important. |
| C．Most home educators do not follow a timetable or use textbooks. |
| D．Most home educators are not worried about when their children learn to read and write. |
What does the article say about home-educated children getting into university?
| A．They learn so many useful skills at home that universities are happy to accept them. |
| B．They can get into university if they have 4 A-levels. |
| C．They can go to school later and get the qualifications they need in order to enter university. |
| D．Home education is so relaxed that they are likely to experience problems when faced with the pressures of a degree course. |