I log onto a computer at the doctor's office to say I have arrived and then wait until a voice calls me into the examination room.
There, a robotic nurse directs me onto a device and then takes my blood pressure. Some time later, in steps the doctor, who is also a robot. He notes down my symptoms and gives me a prescription (处方). I pay for my visit using a credit card machine and return home without having met another human being.
When I call my dentist's office and actually get a human being on the line, I am thrilled. And when I see the introduction of yet more self-service checkout stations at the grocery store, I feel like shouting, "When it comes to cashiers, make mine human, please!"
After all, human cashiers sometimes give you a store coupon (优惠券) for items you are buying. Even more than that, real-life cashiers often take an interest in particularly cute children, which can brighten a young mother's day. A cashier may also show compassion (同情)for an elderly person struggling to get that last penny out of her purse.
What technological device would do any of this? I don't want to go back to the Stone Age, but I'm also worried about a world run by machines. Sometimes when you're chatting with someone, you discover things you need to know. Maybe a receptionist needs prayers said for a sick child. Maybe a salesperson can offer a bit of encouragement to a customer who is feeling tired.
Machines can be efficient and cost-effective and they often get the job done just fine. But they lack an element so important to everyday life.
Call it the spirit, the soul or the heart. It is something no machine will ever have. It is being human that prompts us to smile at others, which may be what they need at that moment.What's the author's purpose in writing the first two paragraphs?
| A．To indicate high technology can make our future life very easy |
| B．To describe a possible future scene where robots take control of our life |
| C．To warn readers of the possible dangers of robotic nurses and doctors |
| D．To predict how technology can affect the way we see a doctoring the future |
Why does the author prefer being served by humans rather than by robots?
| A．Robots are indifferent and emotionless |
| B．Robots can't provide efficient services |
| C．Robots don't offer to give store coupons |
| D．Robots are unable to do a job as well as humans |
What's the author's attitude towards machines?
| A．He wishes one day they would come to life |
| B．He is absolutely against their existence in his life |
| C．He doesn't like they get involved in his life too much |
| D．He is afraid they would take the place of human beings |
Just at that time, a telegram arrived from his brother．Mr．Jameson opened it quickly．It said, “Come home at once．Your wife is ill and in a critical condition．West End Hospital．”Mr．Jameson began to think．Since the work at the mine was going well, he decided to go home at once．He just told himself again and again that he couldn’t lose his wife, or his life would be meaningless．
At about 6 the next morning, he and one of his assistants reached Lamesa, where they were going to Chicago at 6:30．There was still half an hour left before the train started, so Mr．Jameson decided to telephone to Chicago to ask about his wife．And after that, if still enough time was left he could see a doctor and have the piece of coal or the piece of metal removed out of his eye．His eye and his whole head ached now．
After he sent his assistant to the railway station to buy tickets for the train, he went to make the phone call．When the operator put through his call, he sat down and waited．His eye felt like a piece of hot iron．And he was worried about his sick wife．The phone rang．Soon Mr．Jameson talked with the hospital in Chicago．A voice said, “Yes, sir! Your wife is here．She is much better．There is no danger now．You don’t have to return．”
Everything was all right．His wife was going to live．He would not lose his wife．Quite excited, Mr．Jameson began to cry like a little child and could not stop．Big tears rolled out of his eyes and down his cheeks．Soon his eye felt better．He touched his eye and felt something in the corner of his eye．That was a small piece of coal．His tears had washed it out of his eye!
59．What happened to Mr．Jameson before setting off?
A．He was hurt and couldn’t walk．
B．His eye was suffering from a certain disease．
C．A small piece of coal stuck him in the eye．
D．A piece of metal got into his eye．
60．The writer doesn’t mention but we can infer that Mr．Jameson probably _____．
A．worked in a factory in Chicago
B．worked as a mining engineer in a company
C．was worried about his work on the way to Chicago
D．sold coal in a faraway village
61．How was the coal removed out of Mr．Jameson’s eye?
A．It was taken out by a doctor．
B．A good rest helped it out．
C．He rubbed his eyes slightly．
D．It was washed out by his tears．
62．How can we describe the feeling of Mr．Jameson?
A．Worried ---relaxed B．Excited ---dull
C．Anger---calm．D．Depressed ---nervous．
第三部分：阅读理解（共20小题，共40分）
第一节（共15题, 每小题2分，满分30分）
阅读下列短文，从每题所给的四个选项（A,B,C和D）中，选出最佳选项。
We often hear the phrase: “You have a greater chance of being struck by lightning．”It is used to describe something that hasn’t got much chance of happening．However, the common saying undermines（掩盖）the very real dangers of lightning．
Last Friday, at least 5 people were killed by lightning in Nepal（尼泊尔）．
Lightning strikes are the second most common cause of deaths during natural disasters in the US．The first is floods．Around 400 people nationwide are struck by lightning each year, and of those, 70 people die．That is, more people are killed by lightning than by tornadoes and hurricanes．
Because lightning kills only one or two people at a time, its danger does not receive as much attention as other disasters．
“If you hear thunder, you are in danger from lightning, ”said Rocky Lopes, a disaster educator at the American Red Cross．
“Thunder means that lightning is close enough to hit you at any time, so you should move indoors immediately and stay there until the storm has ended．The most important thing to remember is to seek shelter,”Lopes said．
Summer is the peak time for lightning storms, so when lightning strikes across the sky, remember these safety tips:
*Stop working, fishing, swimming or playing in open fields．
*Do not stand under a tree．
*Get off bicycle and motorcycles．
*Crouch down（蹲下）if there is no shelter．
*Avoid open spaces, wire fences, metal objects and electrical objects such as hair driers．
56．Of the people who are struck by lightning each year in the U．S．A．, about ____ people are lucky enough to continue to live．
A．400 B．330 C．70 D．5
57．If you hear the thunder, the most important thing you do is to _____．
A．find shelter to hide in B．stand still in the open spaces
C．stand under a tree D．stop working in the fields
58．Which of the following is NOT true?
A．If you hear the thunder, you needn’t move indoors right away．
B．Fewer than 70 people are killed by tornadoes and hurricanes each year in the U．S．A．
C．People don’t pay as much attention to the danger of lightning as that of floods．
D．Floods are the first most common cause of deaths during natural disasters in the U．S．A．
In 1993, New York State ordered stores to charge money on beverage (饮料) containers. Within a year, consumers had returned millions of aluminum cans and glass and plastic bottles. Plenty of companies were eager to accept the aluminum and glass as raw material for new products, but because few could figure out what to do with the plastic, much of it wound end up buried in landfills (垃圾填埋场). The problem was not limited to New York. Unfortunately, there were too few uses for second-hand plastic.
Today, one out of five plastic soda bottles is recycled in the United States. The reason for the change is that now there are dozens of companies across the country buying discarded (被丢弃的) plastic soda bottles and turning them into fence post, paint brushes, etc.
As the New York experience shows, recycling involves more than simply separating valuable materials from the rest of the rubbish. A discard remains a discard until somebody figures out how to give it a second life — and until economic arrangements exist to give that second life value. Without enough markets to take in materials collected for recycling, throwaways actually reduce prices for used materials.
Fewer landfill space and rising costs for burying and burning rubbish are forcing local governments to look more closely at recycling. In many areas, the East Coast especially, recycling is already the least expensive waste-management choice. For every ton of waste recycled, a city avoids paying for its disposal (清除，处理), which, in parts of New York, amounts to savings of more than $100 per ton. Recycling also stimulates the local economy by creating jobs and reduces the pollution control and energy costs of industries that make recycled products by giving them a better raw material.What regulation was issued by New York State concerning beverage containers?
| A．A fee should be charged on used containers for recycling. |
| B．Throwaways should be collected by the state for recycling. |
| C．Consumers had to pay for beverage containers and could get their money back on returning them. |
| D．Beverage companies should be responsible for collecting and reusing discarded plastic soda bottles. |
The returned plastic bottles in New York used to .
| A． be turned into raw materials |
| B． be separated from other rubbish |
| C． have a second-life value |
| D． end up somewhere underground |
The key problem in dealing with returned plastic beverage containers is .
| A． how to reduce their recycling costs |
| B． to sell them at a profitable price |
| C． how to turn them into useful things |
| D． to lower the prices for used materials |
Recycling has become the first choice for the disposal of rubbish because .
| A． recycling causes little pollution |
| B． other methods are more expensive |
| C． recycling has great appeal for the jobless |
| D． local governments find it easy to manage |
It can be concluded from the passage that .
| A． recycling is to be suggested both economically and environmentally |
| B． local governments in the U. S. can expect big profits from recycling |
| C． rubbish is a potential remedy for the shortage of raw materials |
| D． landfills will still be widely used for waste disposal |
Why should you learn Sign Language? Do you want to improve your communication with a family member or friend who is deaf? Do you want to be able to communicate with deaf people in general? Would you like to advance in your career by being able to communicate in ASL? Do you want to be a Sign Language interpreter?
Sign language is not just a random (随意的) collection of gestures but a full-blown (完全成熟的) language in its own right, complete with its own grammatical rules. Each country or region has its own sign language, as different from each other as English is from Spanish. Each version of sign language is somewhat linked to the spoken language in its region. For example, American sign language does share similarities with English, even though it is its own language.
The advantages of knowing sign language in addition to a spoken language are many. Communication becomes possible on many levels with the deaf community, with other people either hearing or not in any of the above situations, as well as many more.
While other languages take years to learn, American Sign Language can be taught in a much shorter time period. It is one of the easiest languages to learn because most of the signs were developed to mimic the actual word or phrase it is representing. Even the alphabet signs look like the letters of the English alphabet.
American Sign Language, or ASL, is the third most used language in the United States. Used by the deaf community, interpreters, and friends and family of the deaf. There are a lot of sites on the internet that not only shows you the sign with video, but will help you practice reading signs as well.
Teaching even hearing babies sign language seems to be the fashion in recent years and for good reason. Communicating in sign language is fun and natural as babies naturally use body gestures in early communication. Teaching baby sign language actually appears to enhance the learning of verbal skills and brain development of the children involved.Which two regions share similarities in their sign language?
A. Spain and Britain.
B. Mexico and USA.
C. Australia and Canada.
D. Japan and Korea.Sign language ________.
| A．is a collection of gestures |
| B．is easier to learn than English |
| C．is not very popular in USA |
| D．has no link to the spoken language |
One of the reasons for learning sign language is that it ________.
| A．increase self-confidence |
| B．provides more choices of career |
| C．trains brains |
| D．is interesting |
Babies’ learning sign language cannot ________.
| A．help them talk sooner |
| B．help them walk sooner |
| C．increase communication at a very early age |
| D．enrich relationship with parents and the people who take care of them |
Which of the following topics is not discussed in the passage?
| A．What is sign language? |
| B．The advantages of knowing sign language. |
| C．The relation of American sign language and English. |
| D．Ways of learning sign language. |
How to protect children Web fans from unsuitable material online while encouraging them to use the Internet has long been discussed in the US. For some parents, the Internet can seem like a jungle, filled with danger for their children. But jungles contain wonders as well as danger and with good guides, some education, and a few precautions, the wilds of the Internet can be safely navigated. “Kids have to be online. If we tell our kids they can’t be allowed to surf the Internet, we’re cutting them off from their future,” said an expert.
Most kids have started to use search engines. Many of them are great for finding tons of interesting Internet sites, and they can also locate places where you might not want your kids to go. There are search engines designed just for kids. A certain software contains only sites that have been selected as safe. The most popular way would be to use what is known as a “content screener”. But this can’t be wholly reliable, and the best thing parents can do is to talk to their kids and let them know what is OK or not OK to see or do on the Internet. Another way is that mum or dad is nearby when the child is surfing the Internet.
A few other tips:
—Don’t put the PC in a child’s room but keep it in an area where mum or dad can keep an eye on things. That also makes the Internet more of a family activity.
—Ask your child what he or she has been doing and about any friends they make online.
—Tell your child not to give online strangers personal information, especially like address and phone number.
And tell your children never to talk to anyone they meet on line over the phone, send them anything, accept anything from them or agree to meet with them unless you go along.Who is this article written to?
| A．Teachers. | B．Parents. |
| C．Researchers. | D．Children web fans. |
What is the main subject about the passage?
| A．Opposing children’s online. | B．Internet in America. |
| C．American children going online. | D．Appreciating the Internet. |
What is the best way to protect children from improper material?
| A．To talk to the children and persuade them to tell right from wrong. |
| B．To be nearby when they are surfing the Internet. |
| C．To fix a content screener on the computer. |
| D．To buy some search engines for children. |
Which of the following is right according to the passage?
| A．Surfing the Internet is the best way of educating children. |
| B．Using a content screener is most reliable for keeping children having ways to the Internet. |
| C．Searching engines can help children to select materials fit for them. |
| D．Children’s not having chances to go to the Internet may have effect on their progress. |
According to the passage, we can infer that ________.
| A．software fit for children want programming |
| B．the Internet contains a lot of harmful sites |
| C．the Internet will be protected by law |
| D．a child who is online is in danger |