Since the 1970s, scientists have been searching for ways to link the brain with computers. Brain-computer interface (BCI) technology could help people with disabilities send commands to machines.
Recently, two researchers, Jose Millan and Michele Tavella from the Federal Polytechnic School in Lausanne, Switzerland, demonstrated a small robotic wheelchair directed by a person's thoughts.
In the laboratory, Tavella operated the wheelchair just by thinking about moving his left or right hand. He could even talk as he watched the vehicle and guided it with his thoughts.
“Our brain has billions of nerve cells. These send signals through the spinal cord (脊髓) to the muscles to give us the ability to move. But spinal cord injuries or other conditions can prevent these weak electrical signals from reaching the muscles.” Tavella says. “Our system allows disabled people to communicate with external world and also to control devices.
The researchers designed a special cap for the user. This head cover picks up the signals from the scalp (头皮) and sends them to a computer. The computer interprets the signals and commands the motorized wheelchair. The wheelchair also has two cameras that identify objects in its path. They help the computer react to commands from the brain.
Prof. Millan, the team leader, says scientists keep improving the computer software that interprets brain signals and turns them into simple commands. “The practical possibilities that BCI technology offers to disabled people can be grouped in two categories: communication, and controlling devices. One example is this wheelchair.”
He says his team has set two goals. One is testing with real patients, so as to prove that this is a technology they can benefit from. And the other is to guarantee that they can use the technology over long periods of time.BCI is a technology that can ________.
| A．help the disabled to recover |
| B．control a person's thoughts |
| C．help to update computer systems |
| D．link the human brain with computers |
How did Tavella operate the wheelchair in the laboratory?
| A．By talking to the machine. |
| B．By controlling his muscles. |
| C．By using his mind. |
| D．By moving his hand. |
Which of the following would be the best title for the text?
| A．Robotic Vehicles Could Help to Cure Brain Injuries |
| B．BCI Could Mean More Freedom for the Disabled |
| C．New Findings About How the Human Brain Works |
| D．Switzerland, the BCI Research Center |
Parents are a child’s first teachers．But some parents never learned from good examples．In New York City, a nonprofit agency called Covenant House tries to help homeless young mothers become good parents．
The twelve or so teenagers who live at the shelter attend parenting classes four days a week．The class is called Mommy and Me．Teacher Delores Clemens is a mother of five and a grandmother．She teaches basic skills, like how to give a baby a bath and how to dress a baby depending on the season．
She remembers one student who learned from her mother not to pick up a crying baby．The mother said that would only make the child needy and overly demanding．Delores Clemens says, “that's not true．You have to hold your baby! He is crying for a reason．If you never pick him up, he's going to keep crying．Pick your baby up．Cuddle your baby．Hug him! And she started to do that．They just want a little cuddling and a little love．And it works!”
Delores Clemens says her students also learn how to be good mothers by letting themselves be mothered．Around three hundred fifty teenage mothers graduate from Covenant House's Mommy and Me class every year．
In class, with her baby son is Natasha．She lived on the streets．She is glad not only for the warmth and shelter of Covenant House．As she told reporter Adam Phillips, she is also glad for the help they offer in seeking a more secure life．
The World Health Organization says the United States has forty-one births for every one thousand girls age fifteen to nineteen．That is higher than other developed countries, as well as some developing ones．By comparison, northern neighbor Canada has fourteen births and southern neighbor Mexico has eighty-two．What is the text mainly about?
| A．Parents who are a child’s first teachers． |
| B．A class where teens learn mothering and are mothered． |
| C．A nonprofit agency that offers a more secure life． |
| D．A kind teacher who help homeless young mothers． |
Covenant Houses’ Mommy and Me class is intended to _____．
| A．help homeless young mothers become good parents |
| B．provide homeless young mothers with a warm shelter |
| C．help mothers in New York be good parents |
| D．teach some parents how to love their children |
What can we know about Delores Clemens from the text?
| A．She has a mother of five and a grandmother． |
| B．She thinks a crying baby should be picked up and hugged． |
| C．She teaches advanced skills on how to be good mothers． |
| D．She is very glad for the warmth and shelter of Covenant House． |
According to the World Health Organization, which country has the highest births for girls age fifteen to nineteen?
| A．Canada | B．the United States of America |
| C．Mexico | D．Britain |
People smile at times. However, the meaning of a smile in different cultures may be different. Depending on different cultures, smiling can express joy and amusement, but it can also show embarrassment(尴尬).
People in the United States smile a lot. Every one smiles at each other in order to show they are open and friendly. However, in China, smiling is not only an expression of happiness, but also a way to avoid being embarrassed. Chinese people like smiling when they are embarrassed in order to avoid embarrassment. Smiling is a kind of good will but not sneer（嘲笑）. For example: When a child falls down from a bike, the adults in China may smile, which is a kind of gentle encouragement and not a kind of impolite laugh.
When a person from the United States might blush（脸红）with embarrassment or become offensive(冒犯的), a Chinese might blush with smile. To avoid serious misunderstanding, people who engage in intercultural (跨文化的) communication should be able to understand the meaning of smiling properly.We can use smile to express all of the following feelings except _________,
| A．joy and happiness | B．amusement |
| C．embarrassment | D．fear |
People often smile at each other in the United States because _________.
| A．they are very happy |
| B．they want to show they are friendly |
| C．they want to hide their true feelings |
| D．they want to avoid embarrassment |
In China, seeing a child falls off a bike, an adult will smile in order to _______.
| A．laugh at him |
| B．avoid his own embarrassment |
| C．avoid embarrassment and encourage the boy |
| D．show his politeness |
What is mainly talked about in the passage?
| A．People smile at times. |
| B．Smiling can express different feelings depending on different cultures. |
| C．Americans are more open and friendly than Chinese people. |
| D．The Chinese people often hide their true feelings. |
In the past ten years, many scientists have studied the differences between men and women. And they all got the same answer: The sexes(性别) are different, because their brains are different. And this, the scientists say, makes men and women see the world in different ways.
Boys, for example, generally are better than girls at mathematical ideas. Boys also generally are better than girls at the kind of hand and eye movements necessary for ball sports. Girls, on the other hand generally start speaking earlier than boys. And they generally see better in the dark than boys and are better at learning foreign languages.
What makes men and women better at one thing or another? The answer is the brain. The brain has two sides connected by nerve(神经) tracks. The left side generally is used for mathematics, speech and writing. The right side is used for artistic creation(创造) and the expression for emotions(情感). In men and women, different areas in each side of the brain develop differently. In boys, for example, it’s the area used for mathematics. In girls, it is the area used for language skills. Another interesting difference is that the two sides of a man’s brain are connected by a smaller number of nerves than the two sides of a woman’s brain are.Which of the following is the best title of the article?
| A．Research on the Brain |
| B．Men and Women are Different in Brain |
| C．People’s Different Brains |
| D．Who Are Better, Boys or Girls |
__________ men and women think differently.
| A．The different brains make |
| B．Sex makes |
| C．The different experiences make |
| D．The influences(影响) of society make |
According to the article, girls are generally better than boys at __________ in your school.
| A．mathematics | B．physics |
| C．English | D．chemistry |
Which of the following is true?
| A．The left side of brain in boys generally develops better than that in girls. |
| B．The left side of brain in girls generally develops better than that in boys. |
| C．Men are better than women in all things. |
| D．The area in girls used for language skills develops better. |
It would be very exciting to be a reporter on a newspaper. As soon as a reporter’s boss gives him a story to write, the reporter is on the job. He keeps his mind on what he is going to do. He does not begin writing the story until he knows what he should find out. He must know why he should write the story.
At times a reporter must search hard to find all of the facts he needs for a story. The facts may not be right under his nose. To find the facts, he has to recognize important details. While gathering information for a story, he asks himself questions：Should I use this information? Is this an important fact?
A reporter writes the story as fast as he can, so it can go right away into the newspaper. The story also needs a headline, which tells very quickly what the news story is about and is printed bigger and blacker than the rest of the news story.
Every big newspaper has many reporters，because many stories are needed in the newspaper. Would you like to be one？A reporter writes the story as fast as possible because ________________.
| A．he wants it to go into the newspaper quickly |
| B．people prefer to buy today’s newspaper |
| C．he wants to have a rest |
| D．he is good at writing it |
Which statement is true according to the passage?
| A．Being a reporter is a tiring job. |
| B．It is easy for a reporter to find the facts. |
| C．The headline must tell the details of the news story. |
| D．A reporter begins to write when knowing what he should find out. |
Which is the writer’s opinion?
| A．A reporter’s boss is usually very hard to his men. |
| B．The job of a newspaper reporter is exciting but not easy. |
| C．Everyone can write a good news story. |
| D．No one likes to be a reporter. |
The passage is about ______________.
| A．the job of a news reporter |
| B．big newspapers in the world |
| C．how to write the headline of all articles |
| D．how to gather information for a news story |
Knowing about yourself not only means finding out what you’re good at and what you like, but also means discovering what you’re not good at and what you don’t like. Both help you to see your aim （目标）in life.
Although most students would be unhappy if they failed a very difficult physics examination, they have in fact learned a lot about themselves. They know that they should not become engineers or physical scientists. So failing can help a student to live a happier life if he learns something from it. They may then decide on their aims and choose the work they like and are fit for.
It is impossible to decide whether you like something until you have tried it. If you decide to play the piano, you need to take more than one lesson before knowing whether you are really interested in it or able to do well. It is not enough if you want to be a great pianist. You also have to like the hard practice and long training. If you enjoy being a great pianist but hate the work, forget it.
It’s a good plan to try as many ideas as possible when you are young. Then you will find out what your true interests are. If you say you really know yourself,_______________.
| A．you know what you don’t like |
| B．you know what you are good at |
| C．you have no interest in your work |
| D．you’ve got the whole picture of yourself |
Failing can turn into something good ______________.
| A．if you have aim in life |
| B．if your decision is fight |
| C．if you lead a happier life |
| D．if you learn something from it |
What can we learn from the second paragraph?
| A．Failure is a better mirror |
| B．Success is more helpful |
| C．No one is fit for the job of a physical scientist |
| D．Physics can help students live a better life |