The term “Industry 4.0” refers to the fourth industrial revolution. The first industrial revolution was the production of goods with machines like steam engines, which was followed by the second industrial revolution that introduced mass production with the help of electric power, followed by the digital revolution —the use of electronics and IT in production.
Industry 4.0 is a high-tech project, which promotes the computerization of manufacturing (制造业). The basic principle of Industry 4.0 is that by connecting machines, work pieces and systems, we are creating intelligent networks along the entire value chain that can control each other automatically. The goal is the Smart Factory, which adapts well and uses resources efficiently as well as linking customers and business partners with great intelligence. Technological basis are the Internet systems and advanced factories. Experts believe that Industry 4.0 could be a reality in about 10 to 20 years.
So, what effects does this change have on the classic manufacturing? According to an expert, “it is highly likely that the world of production will become more and more networked until everything is connected with everything else.” Networks and processes have so far been limited to one factory. But in the time of Industry 4.0, the boundaries (界限) of individual factories will most likely no longer exist. Instead, they will be lifted in order to inter-connect multiple factories or even geographical regions.
How is an Industry 4.0 factory different from a today’s factory? In current industry environment, providing high-end quality service or product with the least cost is the key to success. Factories are trying to increase their profit as much as possible. In the time of Industry 4.0, various data sources are available to provide worthwhile information about different aspects of the factory. Using data for understanding the current condition and checking faults and failures is a natural thing. The sharing of information around the clock and around the globe will enable these connected systems to manage themselves independently, work more efficiently and identify any errors quickly.
The good news is that Europe is much better prepared for the Industry 4.0 revolution than one might think. Europe will position itself as a pioneer in the fourth revolution. Industry 4.0 is a project in the high-tech strategy of the German government. Meanwhile, in the U.S., some companies are also working hard on it. But the success of industry depends on whether business and politics can work together. It’s not only politics that needs to help open the door for Industry 4.0. Every company is advised to seize the new digital opportunities.What marks the coming of Industry 4.0?
| A．Steam engines. | B．Mass production. |
| C．Use of electronics. | D．Intelligent networks. |
Industry 4.0 will probably result in ________ in the world of manufacturing.
| A．production limited to an individual factory |
| B．everything connected with everything else |
| C．networks and processes no longer existing |
| D．classic factories stopping their competition |
What’s the meaning of the underlined part in Para. 4?
| A．Sharing information of the world time. |
| B．Global news broadcast at any time. |
| C．Instant worldwide information exchange. |
| D．Spreading news widely on the hour. |
According to the last paragraph, who is the most active in pushing Industry 4.0?
| A．The European companies. |
| B．The American government. |
| C．The American companies. |
| D．The German government. |
There is one type of illness in the world that affects more people than anything else and is very deadly. If untreated this illness could affect everything you do. What is this illness? Depression. Serious depression requires professional treatment. Self-induced depression is something each of us can change.
Everyone's circumstances are different, but the causes of self-induced depression are common: low self-esteem, hurtful thinking and a bad attitude.
So how can we change the way we think, feel, and cultivate a cheerful attitude?
First we must look at ourselves, truly and honestly examining our motives for what we wish to achieve. If you are dissatisfied because you feel you haven't or can't do anything, then one step is needed - to set goals.
Always start your goals relatively small and easy to attain. Think of them as sand; one grain may be insignificant but as a group they form the beach. Once you have set and attained small goals for yourself, move on to slightly larger, more challenging goals.
It takes more than just setting goals to be happy. It takes positive thinking. How can we attain this?
There are a number of factors that can make us think negatively and one of those is diet.
In my opinion, a person who eats a lot of take out and fast food is feeding their body junk. Start by eating better foods which give the body much NEEDED minerals. If your physical body is happy, it's much easier for your mental body or "thinking ability" to be happy.
Next, exercise. A half-hour a day is recommended for positive well being. Then think about good memories you had, or generally think of things that make you smile. Remember, everything you wear costs money but to wear a smile is free. A smile can be the difference between an average day and a great day.
If you follow these steps, positive change is inevitable. Which of the statements about depression is TRUE?
| A．Depression is a kind of illness that can’t be cured like some cancer. |
| B．Depression can all be cured successfully by patients themselves. |
| C．Those who suffer from depression feel dissatisfied with themselves. |
| D．Those who suffer from depression live in similar circumstances. |
According to the passage we can learn that ____________.
| A．a practical goal can help people to achieve a sense of success |
| B．we shouldn’t be satisfied with small goals that are insignificant |
| C．we should avoid challenging goals that may lead to failure |
| D．people can enjoy happiness only if they set reasonable goals |
In order to achieve positive thinking a person should do these things EXCEPT____________.
| A．set challenging goals | B．eat healthier foods |
| C．exercise half an hour a day | D．always wear a smile |
What’s the passage mainly about?
| A．To prove the argument that depression can be changed. |
| B．To analyze the danger depression can bring to people. |
| C．To introduce to readers how to keep positive thinking. |
| D．To recommend some ways to deal with depression. |
Barack Obama makes his first trip to Asia as president this week, leaving behind a host of domestic (国内的) problems with the visit that recognizes the region’s economic and diplomatic importance. “Obama”s trip includes stops in Japan, Singapore, China and South Korea, and his message will be simple, says Nicolas Lardy at the Peterson Institute for International Economics. “Well, I think his broadest aim is to convince Asians that the United States is fully committed to the region that we have an agenda that’s much broader than they saw over the past eight years of the very heavy focus on anti-terrorism.”
Obama’s first stop is Japan, where he meets with the new Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama who has promised to steer a diplomatic course more independent of Washington. While Japan is seen as a getting-to-know-you stop, when Obama heads to the Singapore for the APEC meeting, he will likely face pressure on trade. “Many Asians are concerned about what US trade policy will be, and they’ve been somewhat alarmed by the fact that the president really hasn’t set out very much revision for what US trade policy is in his administration.”
But the critical leg of the trip will come in China, his third stop where Obama will have to navigate the complex relationship with the country that is the largest holder of US debt. “As you say, you know, if you owe the bank one dollar, it’s your problem, if you owe the bank, you know, 3 million dollars, it’s the bank’s problem, so it’s similar with China. I mean they have no interest in trying to use the influence with us, because eventually, they’re the one that they own all those dollars.”
Also on the table will be North Korea and Iran’s nuclear ambitions as well as cooperation on Afghanistan.
With Obama enjoying sky high popularity level in the countries he is visiting, detailed results may be beside the point, given that Obama is still in his first year in office, analysts say this trip is mostly about laying the ground work for the future. From the second paragraph, we can infer that.
| A．Japan has not been the closest friend of America |
| B．Japan and Singapore will give America some pressure on trade |
| C．Japan is concerned about what US trade policy will be |
| D．Japan decides not to rely on America too much |
What can you infer about China’s relation with America in the third paragraph?
| A．China will sell all its shares in US national debt. |
| B．It will hurt China if the value of the dollar falls. |
| C．China will not be the largest debt holder of US. |
| D．China is US’ s overseas bank where US can borrow money. |
The author develops the passage mainly.
| A．by examples | B．by cause and effect |
| C．by comparison | D．by order in time |
“In only six days I lost seven pounds of weight.”
“Two full inches in the first three days！”
These are the kinds of statements used in magazine，newspaper，radio and television ads，promising new shapes and new looks to those who buy the medicine or the device. The promoters of products say they can shape the legs，slim the face，smooth wrinkles，or in some other way to add to beauty or desirability.
Often such products are nothing more than moneymaking things for their promoters. The results they produce are questionable，and some are dangerous to health.
To understand how these products can be legally promoted to the public，it is necessary to understand something of the laws covering their regulation. If the product is a drug，FDA(Food and Drug Administration)can require proof under the Food，Drug，and Cosmetic Act that is safe and effective before it is put on the market. But if the product is a device，FDA has no authority to require premarketing proof of safety or effectiveness. If a product already on the market is a danger to health，FDA can request the producer or distributor to remove it from the market voluntarily，or it can take legal action，including seizure(查封)of the product.
One notable case a few years ago involved an electrical device called the Relaxacisor，which had been sold for reducing the waistline. The Relaxacisor produced electrical shocks to the body through contact pads. FDA took legal action against the distributor to stop the sale of the device on the grounds that it was dangerous to health and life.
Obviously，most of the devices on the market have never been the subject of court proceedings(法律诉讼)，and new devices appear continually. Before buying，it is up to the consumer to judge the safety or effectiveness of such items.It can be inferred that the ads mentioned in the text are________.
| A．objective | B．costly | C．unreliable | D．illegal |
FDA can ask for the proof of safety and effectiveness of a product ________.
| A．if it is a drug |
| B．if it is a device |
| C．if its consumers make complaints |
| D．if its distributors challenge FDA's authority |
The Relaxacisor is mentioned as________.
| A．a product which was designed to produce electricity |
| B．a product whose distributor was involved in a legal case |
| C．a successful advertisement of a beauty product |
| D．an example of a quality beauty product |
The author intends to________.
| A．make consumers aware of the promoters' false promises |
| B．show the weakness of the law on product safety |
| C．give advice on how to keep young and beautiful |
| D．introduce the organization of FDA |
Even plants can run a fever, especially when they're under attack by insects or disease. But unlike human, plants can have their temperature taken from 3,000 feet away—straight up. A decade ago, adopting the infrared(红外线)scanning technology developed for military purposes and other satellites, physicist Stephen Paley came up with a quick way to take the temperature of crops to determine which ones are under stress. The goal was to let farmers precisely target pesticide(杀虫剂)spraying rather than rain poison on a whole field, which invariably includes plants that don't have pest problems.
Even better, Paley's Remote Scanning Services Company could detect crop problems before they became visible to the eye. Mounted on a plane flown at 3,000 feet at night, an infrared scanner measured the heat emitted by crops. The data were transformed into a colourcoded map showing where plants were running “fevers”. Farmers could then spotspray, using 50 to 70 percent less pesticide than they otherwise would.
The bad news is that Paley's company closed down in 1984, after only three years. Farmers resisted the new technology and longterm backers were hard to find. But with the renewed concern about pesticides on produce, and refinements in infrared scanning, Paley hopes to get back into operation. Agriculture experts have no doubt the technology works. “This technique can be used on 75 percent of agricultural land in the United States, ” says George Oerther of Texas A & M. Ray Jackson, who recently retired from the Department of Agriculture, thinks remote infrared crop scanning could be adopted by the end of the decade. But only if Paley finds the financial backing which he failed to obtain 10 years ago.Plants will send out an increased amount of heat when they are________.
| A．facing an infrared scanner |
| B．sprayed with pesticides |
| C．in poor physical condition |
| D．exposed to excessive sun rays |
In order to apply pesticide spraying precisely, we can use infrared scanning to________.
| A．estimate the damage to the crops |
| B．draw a colourcoded map |
| C．measure the size of the affected area |
| D．locate the problem area |
Farmers can save a considerable amount of pesticide by________.
| A．resorting to spotspraying |
| B．transforming poisoned rain |
| C．consulting infrared scanning experts |
| D．detecting crop problems at an early stage |
The application of infrared scanning technology to agriculture met with some difficulties—________.
| A．its high cost |
| B．the lack of official support |
| C．the lack of financial support |
| D．its failure to help increase production |
High Speed Book Scanner
Simply turning pages of a book quickly may not seem like the best way to scan it. A Japanese research group at Tokyo University has created new software that allows hundreds of pages to be scanned within minutes. Scanning text is normally a boring process with each page having to be inserted into a scanner, but the team led by Professor Masatoshi Ishikawa uses a high speed camera that takes 500 pictures a second to scan pages as they are turned by workers.
Normal scanners can only scan the information that is actually before them on the page. This high speed book scanner uses a camera that captures pages at 1000fps as they are turned. A system built in allows it to automatically correct any changes to the text due to the page bending as well as light differences due to shadows. “It takes a shot of the shape, then it calculates the shape and uses those calculations to film the scanning,” Ishikawa said, explaining the system used to reconstruct the original page.
The current system is able to scan an average 250-page book in a little over 60 seconds using basic computer hardware. While it now requires extra time to process the scanned images (影像), the researchers hope to eventually make the technology both faster and much smaller. “In the more distant future, once it becomes possible to put all of this processing on one chip (芯片) and then put that in an iPad or iPod, one could scan just using that chip. At that point, it becomes possible to scan something quickly to save for later reading,” Ishikawa said.
Being able to scan books with an iPhone may be further off, but Ishikawa says that a commercial version of the large-scale computer based scanning system could be available in two or three years. While the technology has the potential to take paper books into the digital age, it remains to be how publishers will react to people scanning their books while just turning pages quickly. According to the passage, the advantage of the new scanning software is that ______.
| A．there is no need to scan every page |
| B．it can work much more effectively |
| C．no manpower is needed in operating the scanner |
| D．it can make the scanning process more interesting |
According to Ishikawa, the scanner works by_____.
| A．changing the shape of the images |
| B．reducing the size of the images |
| C．reconstructing the original page |
| D．scanning several pages at the same time |
What is Ishikawa’s attitude towards the development of the scanning system?
| A．Optimistic. | B．Uncertain. | C．Disapproving. | D．Cautious. |
What does the underlined sentence mean?
| A．People will get any book they like more easily. |
| B．Publishers will refuse to comment on the new software. |
| C．Publishers will probably not welcome the new software. |
| D．People won’t need to buy books any more with an iPhone. |