Researchers are placing robotic dogs in the homes of lonely old people to determine whether they can improve the quality of life for humans. Alan Beck, an expert in human-animal relationship, and Nancy Edwards, a professor of nursing, are leading the animal-assisted study concerning the influence of robotic dogs on old people's depression, physical activity, and life satisfaction. “No one will argue that an older person is better off being more active, challenged, or stimulated, Edwards points out. "The problem is how we promote that, especially for those without friends or help. A robotic dog could be a solution. ”
In the study, the robot, called AIBO, is placed for six weeks in the houses of some old people who live alone. Before placing AIBO in the home, re-searchers will collect baseline data for six weeks. These old people will keep a diary to note their feelings and activity before and after AIBO. Then, the researchers will review the data to determine if it has inspired any changes in the life of its owner.
“I talk to him all the time, and he responds to my voice，” says a seventy-year-old lady, “When I'm watching TV, he'll stay in my arms until he wants down. He has a mind of his own. ”
The AIBOs respond to certain orders. The researchers say they have some advantages over live dogs, especially for old people. Often the elderly are disabled and cannot care for an animal by walking it or playing with it. A robotic dog removes exercise and feeding concerns.
"At the beginning, it was believed that no one would relate to the robotic dog, because it was metal and not furry，" Beck says. "But it's amazing how quickly we have given up that belief. "
"Hopefully, down the road, these robotic pets could become a more-valuable health helper. They will record their masters' blood pressure, oxygen levels, or heart rhythms. AIBOs may even one day have games that can help stimulate older people's minds. " The purpose of Beck and Edwards' study is to __________.
| A．understand human-animal relationship |
| B．make lonely old peoples life better |
| C．find the causes of old people's loneliness |
| D．promote the animal-assisted research |
In the research, the old people are asked to __________
| A．note the activities of AIBOs |
| B．keep AIBOs at home for 12 weeks |
| C．record their feelings and activity |
| D．analyze the collected information |
What is the advantage of AIBO over live dogs?
| A．It is easier to keep at home. |
| B．It can help the disabled people. |
| C．It responds to all the human orders. |
| D．It can watch TV with its owner. |
The author seems to suggest that the future robotic dogs may __________.
| A．cure certain diseases |
| B．keep old people active |
| C．change people's beliefs |
| D．look more like real dogs |
Almost every machine with moving parts has wheels, yet no one knows exactly when the first wheel was invented or what it was used for. We do know, however, that they existed over 5,500 years ago in ancient Asia.
The oldest known transport wheel was discovered in 2002 in Slovenia. It is over 5,100 years old. Evidence suggests that wheels for transport didn't become popular for a while, though. This could be because animals did a perfectly good job of carrying farming tools and humans around.
But it could also be because of a difficult situation. While wheels need to roll on smooth surfaces, roads with smooth surfaces weren't going to be constructed until there was plenty of demand for them. Eventually, road surfaces did become smoother, but this difficult situation appeared again a few centuries later. There had been no important changes in wheel and vehicle design before the arrival of modem road design.
In the mid-1700s, a Frenchman came up with a new design of road—a base layer (层) of large stones covered with a thin layer of smaller stones. A Scotsman improved on this design in the 1820s and a strong, lasting road surface became a reality. At around the same lime, metal hubs (the central part of a wheel) came into being, followed by the pneumatic tyre(充气轮胎) in 1846. Alloy wheels were invented in 1967, sixty years after the appearance of tarmac roads (柏油路). As wheel design took off, vehicles got faster and faster.What might explain why transport wheels didn't become popular for some time?
| A．The existence of transport wheels was not known. |
| B．Humans carried farming tools just as well. |
| C．Animals were a good means of transport. |
| D．Few knew how to use transport wheels. |
What do we know about road design from the passage?
| A．It provided conditions for wheel design to develop. |
| B．It was easier than wheel design. |
| C．It was promoted by fast-moving vehicles. |
| D．It improved after big changes in vehicle design. |
How is the last paragraph mainly developed?
| A．By giving examples. |
| B．By making comparisons. |
| C．By following time order. |
| D．By making classifications. |
What is the passage mainly about?
| A．The beginning of road design. |
| B．The history of public transport. |
| C．His invention of fast-moving vehicles. |
| D．The development of transport wheels. |
In 1978, I was 18 and was working as a nurse in a small town about 270 km away from Sydney, Australia. I was looking forward to having five days off from duty. Unfortunately, the only one train a day back to my home in Sydney had already left. So I thought I’d hitch a ride (搭便车).
I waited by the side of the highway for three hours but no one stopped for me. Finally, a man walked over and introduced himself as Gordon. He said that although he couldn’t give me a lift, I should come back to his house for lunch. He noticed me standing for hours in the November heat and thought I must be hungry. I was doubtful as a young girl but he assured （使…放心）me I was safe, and he also offered to help me find a lift home afterwards. When we arrived at his house, he made us sandwiches. After lunch, he helped me find a lift home.
Twenty-five years later, in 2003, while I was driving to a nearby town one day, I saw an elderly man standing in the glaring heat, trying to hitch a ride. I thought it was another chance to repay someone for the favour I’d been given decades earlier. I pulled over and picked him up. I made him comfortable on the back seat and offered him some water.
After a few moments of small talk, the man said to me, “You haven’t changed a bit, even your red hair is still the same.” I couldn’t remember where I’d met him. He then told me he was the man who had given me lunch and helped me find a lift all those years ago. It was Gordon.The author had to hitch a ride one day in 1978 because ______.
| A．she was going home for her holidays |
| B．she missed the only train back home |
| C．the town was far away from Sydney |
| D．her work delayed her trip to Sydney |
Which of the following did Gordon do according to Paragraph 2?
| A．He watched the girl for three hours. |
| B．He gave the girl a ride back home. |
| C．He bought sandwiches for the girl. |
| D．He helped the girl find a ride. |
The reason why the author offered a lift to the elderly man was that ______.
| A．she had known him for decades |
| B．she realized he was Gordon |
| C．she wanted to repay the favour she once got |
| D．she was going to the nearby town |
What does the author want to tell the readers through the story?
| A．Giving sometimes produces nice results. |
| B．People should offer free rides to others. |
| C．Good manners bring about happiness. |
| D．Those who give rides will be rapid. |
I have had just about enough of being treated like a second-class citizen, simply because I happen to be that unfairly treated member of society --- a customer. The more I go into shops and hotels, banks and post offices, railway stations, airports and the like, the more I am convinced the things are being run merely to suit the firm, the system, or the union. There seems to be a deceptive (欺骗的) new motto for so-called “service” organizations --- Staff Before Service.
How often, for example, have you queued for what seems like hours at the Post Office or the supermarket because there was not enough staff on duty to manage all the service grilles or checkout counters? Surely in these days of high unemployment it must be possible to hire cashiers and counter staff. Yet supermarkets, hinting darkly at higher prices, claim that uncovering all their cash registers at any one time would increase operating costs. And the Post Office says we cannot expect all their service grilles to be occupied “at times when demand is low”.
It is the same with hotels. Because waiters and kitchen staff must finish when it suits them, dining rooms close earlier or menu choice is cut short. As for us guests, we just have to put up with it. There is also the nonsense of so many friendly hotel night porters having been thrown out of their jobs in the interests of “efficiency” and replaced by coin-eating machines which offer everything. Not to mention the tea-making kit in your room a kettle with a mixed collection of tea bags, plastic milk boxes and lump sugar. Who wants to wake up to a raw teabag? I do not, especially when I am paying for “service”.
Can it be stopped, this worsening of service, this growing attitude that the customer is always a trouble? I angrily hope so because it is happening, sadly, in all walks of life.
Our only hope is to hammer home our anger whenever and wherever we can and, if all else fails, bring back into practice that other, older slogan --- Take Our Deal Elsewhere.The writer feels that nowadays customers __________.
| A．have become victims of modern organizations |
| B．are unworthy of proper consideration |
| C．have received high quality service |
| D．deserve the lowest status in society |
The writer argues that the quality of service is changing because __________.
| A．customers’ demands have greatly changed |
| B．customers’ needs have become more complex |
| C．the staff receive more consideration than customers |
| D．staff members are less considerate than their employers |
According to the writer, long queues at counters are caused by __________.
| A．not having enough male staff on duty |
| B．difficulties in hiring more efficient staff |
| C．not providing enough staff on purpose to reduce budget |
| D．lack of cooperation between staff members |
The writer suggests that a customer __________.
| A．go to other places where good service is available |
| B．put up with the rude manners of the staff |
| C．try to control his temper when ill-treated |
| D．be patient when queuing before checkout counters |
They once seemed more at home on the busy streets of Asia like Delhi, Calcutta and Bangkok but cycle powered rickshaws (人力车) can now be seen taking people across town in many European cities. Many people believe that rickshaws are a good way of experiencing a city close-up, while also cutting down on traffic jams and pollution. In Berlin, one of the first cities to introduce this new model of transport, more than 200 bike-taxis go along at 15km per hour, past many tourist attractions and city parks.
“It is completely environmentally friendly; we have new models with an engine to help the driver up the hills but they use renewable energy.” said a spokesman for VELOTAXI, the leading rickshaw company which has carried a quarter of a million people this year.
While the city still has 7,000 motor-taxis, rickshaw company officials say their taxis’ green ideas, speed and safety make them more than just a tourist attraction. While now increasingly out of fashion in Delhi, Berlin people have eagerly accepted the new fleet since their launch in 1997.
“It’s better than a taxi, better than a bus, better than the train,” said ULF Lehman, 36, as he leapt out of a rickshaw near the world famous Brandenburg gate. “It feels so free.”
“This is something out of the ordinary, you feel you are on holiday in Bangkok instead of Berlin,” said another traveler.
In Amsterdam, driver Peter Jancso said people like to be driven around in his bright yellow rickshaw and pretend to be a queen in a golden carriage. “I like my passengers to feel important,” he said as he dropped off another passenger. Another visitor noted how cheap it was compared with a normal taxi.
Although increasingly popular in Europe, it is the opposite in India, where hand-pulled rickshaws are considered inhuman and a symbol of India’s backward past.
Nearly 500 bike-rickshaws are running in London and are not required to pay the city’s road tax but things may change as other taxi drivers complain of unfair treatment.Where are rickshaws becoming more popular?
| A．Delhi, Berlin, Paris. | B．Berlin, Amsterdam, London. |
| C．Athens, London, Berlin. | D．Amsterdam, Bangkok, Delhi. |
Why are rickshaws no longer as widely used in India as in the past?
| A．They have been banned because they are inefficient. |
| B．They are a reminder of a bad period in India’s history. |
| C．The streets of India are too crowded for them to move through easily. |
| D．Indians now prefer to travel by car because they are richer. |
What does the underlined sentence “This is something out of the ordinary, you feel you are on holiday in Bangkok instead of Berlin” suggest?
| A．The passenger didn’t like taking a rickshaw as it reminded him of Bangkok. |
| B．The passenger was impressed when taking a rickshaw and considered it unusual. |
| C．The passenger enjoyed being on holiday in Berlin more than in Bangkok. |
| D．The passenger disapproved of rickshaws because they were not original to |
Berlin.What is the author’s attitude towards rickshaws?
| A．He thinks they will reduce pollution |
| B．He believes they will be of no use. |
| C．He gives no personal opinion. |
| D．He thinks they are old-fashioned. |
For several days I saw little of Mr. Rochester. In the morning he seemed much occupied with business, and in the afternoon gentlemen from the neighborhood called and sometimes stayed to dine with him. When his foot was well enough, he rode out a great deal.
During this time, all my knowledge of him was limited to occasional meetings about the house, when he would sometimes pass me coldly, and sometimes bow and smile. His changes of manner did not offend me, because I saw that I had nothing to do with the cause of them.
One evening, several days later, I was invited to talk to Mr. Rochester after dinner. As I was looking at him, he suddenly turned, and asked me, “Do you think I’m handsome, Miss Eyre?”
The answer somehow slipped from my tongue before I realized it “No, sir.”
“Ah, you really are unusual! You are a quiet, serious little person, but you can be almost rude.”
“Sir, I’m sorry. I should have said that beauty doesn’t matter, or something like that.”
“No, you shouldn’t! I see, you criticize my appearance, and then you stab（刺）me in the back! You have honesty and feeling. There are not many girls like you. But perhaps I go too fast. Perhaps you have awful faults to counterbalance your few good points.”
I thought to myself that he might have too. He seemed to read my mind, and said quickly, “Yes, you’re right. I have plenty of faults. I went the wrong way when I was twenty-one, and have never found the right path again. I might have been very different. I might have been as good as you, and perhaps wiser. I am not a bad man, take my word for it, but I have done wrong. It wasn’t my character, but circumstances that were at fault. Why do I tell you all this? Because you’re the sort of person people tell their problems and secrets to, because you’re sympathetic and give them hope.”
“Don’t be afraid of me, Miss Eyre.” He continued. “You don’t relax or laugh very much, perhaps because of the effect Lowood school has had on you. But in time you will be more natural with me, and laugh, and speak freely. You’re like a bird in cage. When you get out of the cage, you’ll fly very high. Good night.”Which of the following cannot describe Miss Eyre’s first impression of Mr. Rochester?
| A．Sociable. | B．Friendly. | C．Busy. | D．Changeable |
Why did Mr. Rochester say “…and then you stab me in the back!”?
| A．Because Jane had intended to kill him with a knife. |
| B．Because Jane had said something else to correct herself. |
| C．Because Jane had regretted having a talk with him. |
| D．Because Jane had intended to be more critical. |
From what Mr. Rochester said to Miss Eyre, we conclude that he wanted to_____.
| A．tell her all his troubles | B．change his circumstances |
| C．change her opinion of him | D．tell her his life experience |
At the end of the passage, Mr. Rochester sounded______________.
| A．rude | B．encouraging | C．depressing | D．cold |