Strawberry (草莓) fields dotted with hunched-over workers picking and packaging, then pushing the delicate red fruit to waiting trucks — it is a typical winter scene embedded in the patchwork of homes and farms that make up eastern Hillsborough County.
That scene is changing, though, as the labor pool shrinks and technology comes knocking. Wish Farms owner Gary Wishnatzki and his engineer partner Bob Pitzer are banking on technology.
As strawberry season wrapped up in February, their driverless strawberry-picking machine drove into the fields for some test runs. The results were impressive and enlightening（有启迪作用的）, Wishnatzki said.
For some three years now, farmers have been forced to abandon millions of dollars worth of strawberries in fields, mostly in Hillsborough and Manatee counties, because they lacked laborers, industry experts say. The problem has been just as serious in California, Arizona and other farm communities.
The reasons for the shrinking worker pool are numerous. Migrant（移民）workers who have picked the fields for years are aging. Young adults in migrant families already in the United States are getting better educations and have more choices these days, including the construction industry, which again is on the upswing. Stricter security is allowing fewer undocumented workers to cross the border from Mexico. And Mexicans are having much smaller families now — just over two children per family, compared with 7.3 per family in 1960, according to a Pew Hispanic Center report released in 2012.
And since Mexico’s economy bounced back faster than that of the U.S., more Mexicans have been able to find work closer to home, according to the study.
“We came up with a concept we perceive as a necessity,” Wishnatzki said. “The labor pool has been shrinking for over 10 years now. It has been pretty harmful.” So in 2012, he and Pitzer formed their partnership, Harvest CROO Robotics, to develop a mechanical picker.
The Harvest CROO design has multiple picking heads that will move across a field, picking 25 acres over a three-day period, the typical time for picking fruit as it ripens. It has a “vision system” to distinguish between red and green strawberries and is able to get under the leaves to find and pick the ripe berries.
Picking strawberries is nothing like using a combine on a corn field, coming through and thrashing down the plants. Strawberries are delicate and ripen in various intervals, which Harvest CROO is taking into account in developing its machine.
A strawberry-picking machine will never completely replace the need for human labor in the fields, Wishnatzki said, but if the machines can supplement（补充）labor enough to keep the industry profitable, he and Pitzer will have met their goal.
Which of the following describes the typical winter scene of eastern Hillsborough County?
| A．Farmers work hard on a corn field. |
| B．Workers pick and package strawberries. |
| C．Scientists test machines in strawberry fields. |
| D．Farmers operate strawberry-picking machines. |
The mechanical picker is introduced due to ______.
| A．the labor shortage |
| B．the market demand |
| C．the aging of the local population |
| D．the new concept of farming |
Which of the following statements about Mexicans is true according to the passage?
| A．Mexicans like to find jobs far away from home. |
| B．There are more Mexican laborers than needed in Arizona. |
| C．Security regulations now make it easier to employ Mexicans. |
| D．Young people from migrant Mexican families now have access to more career choices. |
The “vision system” is designed to ______.
| A．take pictures |
| B．locate leaves |
| C．find the ripe berries |
| D．help the color-blind |
The goal of developing the strawberry-picking machine is to ______.
| A．get rid of human labor |
| B．help farmers make money |
| C．show the power of robots |
| D．compete with the corn industry |
Disease, poverty, hate, love－Charles Dickens’ stories opened his readers eyes to the most important themes of his age. Two hundred years on, his stories still speak volumes across the world, proving that Dickens’ legacy（遗产）was far greater than just “great-literature”.
February 7 marks the 200th anniversary of the writer’s birthday. To mark this date, BBC writer Alex Hudson listed six things Dickens gave the modern world. Let’s take a look at two of them.
A White Christmas
Dickens is described as “the man who invented Christmas” － not the religious festival, but the cultural aspects that we associate with the festive season today.
In the early 19th century, Christmas was barely worth mentioning, according to critic and writer Leigh Hunt. The committee which ran the Conservative Party even held ordinary business meetings on Christmas Day－unthinkable in the West nowadays, when everyone but the most necessary workers takes at least three days off.
Many people believe that Dickens’ popular descriptions of the festive period became a blueprint for generations to come. In his classic novel, A Christmas Carol, he not only put forward the idea of snow at Christmas, but also painted a picture of glowing warmth－“home enjoyments, affections and hopes”.
In his biography of Dickens, Peter Ackroyd wrote: “Dickens can be said to have almost single-handedly created the modern idea of Christmas.”
“Dickens” poverty(贫穷)
Dickens was one of the first to take an honest look at the underclass and the poor of Victorian London.He helped popularize the term “red tape” to describe situations where people in power use needless amounts of bureaucracy(官僚作风) in a way that particularly hurts the weaker and poorer members of society.
“Dickensian” has now become a powerful word for describing an unacceptable level of poverty. In 2009, when the president of the Association of Teachers and Lecturers in the UK wanted to talk about poverty in some areas of Britain, she did not use words like “terrible” or “horrific”, but rather described it as “life mirroring the times of Dickens”.The article is mainly about____________
| A．a brief introduction to Charles Dickens |
| B．Charles Dickens’ influence on the world |
| C．the characters in Charles Dickens’ stories |
| D．Charles Dickens’ achievements in literature |
Why is Dickens called “the man who invented Christmas”?
| A．Because he created both religious and culture festival. |
| B．Because all his novels have something to do with Christmas. |
| C．Because one of his novels helped to shape Christmas celebrations. |
| D．Because he was the first man to have proposed celebrating Christmas. |
We can learn from the passage that______.
| A．Dickensian is widely used to describe the Christmas |
| B．Charles Dickens’ novels reflect the true life at his age |
| C．Every person can take three days off for Christmas |
| D．The theme of Charles Dickens’ stories is about poverty |
For centuries, the body’s blood has been linked closely with the emotions. People who show no human emotions or feelings, are said to be cold-blooded killer. For example, the police are searching for a cold-blooded killer. He seems to kill for no reason, and no emotion, as if taking someone’s life as nothing.
Cold can affect other parts of the body. The expression “get cold feet” has nothing to do with cold or your feet. The expression means being afraid to do something you have decided to do. For example, you agree to be president of an organization. But then you learn that all the other officers have resigned, and all the work of the organization will be your responsibility. You are likely to get cold feet about being president when you understand the situation.
The expression “give someone the cold shoulder” probably comes from the physical act of turning your back toward someone, instead of speaking to him face to face. You may give a cold shoulder to a friend who has not kept a promise he made to you. Or, to someone who has lied about you to others.
A cold fish is not a fish.It is a person.But it is a person who is unfriendly, unemotional and shows no love or warmth. A cold fish does not offer much of himself to anyone.Someone who is a cold fish could be cold-hearted. Now a cold-hearted person is someone who has no sympathy.Several popular songs in recent years were about cold-hearted men or cold-hearted women who, without feelings, broke the hearts of their lovers.
Out in the cold means not getting something that everybody else got.A person might say that everybody but him got a pay raise---he was left out in the cold.And it is not a pleasant place to be.When you refuse to speak to a man and treat him in a distant way, you may express by “____”.
| A．I think he is a cold fish |
| B．I give him the cold shoulder |
| C．I think he is a cold-blooded man |
| D．I’m likely to get cold feet |
If Sue shows absolutely no reaction to those awful pictures of starving children in Africa, you will say _________.
| A．she is a cold fish | B．she is out in the cold |
| C．she is a cold-blooded killer | D．she gets cold feet |
We can use the expression “__________” to describe a man who abandons or hurts his lover without mercy.
| A．cold feet | B．cold shoulder |
| C．cold-hearted | D．cold-blooded |
The topic of this passage is about _________.
| A．some expressions about friendship |
| B．how cold weather comes into being |
| C．some expressions connected with cold |
| D．the relationship between cold and our body |
◇Share flats happy valley big flat, 1 room ready for use immediately. quiet and convenient, fully furnished, park view. $6, 800 including bills with maid. female nonsmoker. no pet. sara 25720836 or 10077809.
◇ moving sale 2 armchairs, red/brown at $400 each; coffee table, black, wood, $800; oil painting, big, $900; tianjin carpet, green 3×7, $600; double bed, $500; mirror, big, square, $500; fridge, big, double-door, $1000; old pictures, $140, up, each; plants, big and small. tel: weekend, 2521-6011/weekday, 2524-5867.
◇ part-time laboratory assistant wanted required by busy electronics(电子) company to help with development of computer. should have an electronics degree and some practical experience of working in an electronics laboratory. hours 9:30 a.m.-1:00 p.m. mon.-fri. fourteen days paid leave. salary ￥6598-￥10230 dependent on experience. letter of application to: mrs. g chan, nova electronics, 45 gordon rd, hung hom kowloon.The one who put on the first ad probably wants to _______.
| A．rent(租) a beautiful flat of her own in happy valley |
| B．find another lady to share the cost to rent a flat |
| C．share her room in a flat with whoever has no pet |
| D．take on a maid to look after herself and the flat |
According to the ads, you may _______.
| A．call at 2521-6011 and see a beautiful park |
| B．buy an old picture for $150 |
| C．buy two armchairs for $ 400 |
| D．hire a maid by paying $6 800 |
If you want to buy some old furniture, you may_______.
| A．get in touch with nova electronics |
| B．call at 2524-5867 any day except Monday |
| C．do it before you move to another place |
| D．call at either 2524-5867 on Monday or 2521-6011 on Saturday |
Once you can get a part-time job in nova electronics, _______.
| A．you have to work at least 4 hours a day |
| B．you should write a letter to mrs. g chan |
| C．you will get no more than $6 598 each money |
| D．you will be given 14 days off each year besides weekends |
DALLAS – A suburban Dallas woman accused of killing her two young children told a 911 operator that she first tried to poison them because they were autistic(自闭症) and she wanted "normal kids," then choked(窒息) them with a wire until they stopped moving, according to the recorded call.
Irving police on Wednesday released recordings of the 911 call after Saiqa Akhter was charged with capital murder in the death of her 5-year-old son, Zain Akhter and her 2-year-old daughter, Faryaal Akhter. Police said the children were attacked at the family's apartment Monday night.
In the recording released Wednesday, the woman identified herself as Saiqa Akhter and repeatedly told the operator she killed her two children. At one point, the woman hung up and the dispatcher(调度员) called her back.
"I killed both of them. I told you," she told the operator. Later, she explained that both children were lying motionless on the bed in the master bedroom.
"They are not doing anything. They are just blue and they are not taking any breaths and ... their heart is not beating," she said.
She told the operator she initially tried to poison the children with bathroom cleaner but they refused to drink it. When that didn't work, "I used a wire on their necks," she said.
When the operator asked the woman why she attacked her children, she said, "They're both not normal, not normal. They're autistic. Both are autistic." Pressed further, she said, "I don't want my children to be like that. ... I want normal kids."
Later, the dispatcher asked the woman what she was feeling. "Nothing," she responded.
At one point, water could be heard running in the background and the dispatcher asked what the woman what she was doing. She told the operator she was trying to wash the smell of cleaner off of her hands. The dispatcher then told the woman to go sit on a couch in the living room and wait for police.
At the end of the recording, police can be heard arriving at the home.The woman killed her two young children by____.
| A．poisoning them |
| B．choking them |
| C．first poisoning and then choking them |
| D．striking them with bathroom cleaner |
According to this passage, the killing happened_____.
| A．on Wednesday | B．on Monday night |
| C．on Monday morning | D．after the woman telephoned the 119 |
What can be inferred from the passage?
| A．The woman`s two children were autistic. |
| B．The woman did not take the killing seriously. |
| C．The woman hanged up immediately after she called 911. |
| D．The children did not drink the bathroom cleaner. |
What would be the best title for this text?
| A．A Dallas Mom Killing Her Two Children |
| B．A Woman Who Suffers From Autism |
| C．A Woman and Her Two Children |
| D．A Dallas Woman Murderer |
"A photograph that one has taken of oneself, typically with a smart phone or webcam and uploaded to a social media website" is the definition of "selfie" in the Oxford English Dictionary. In fact, it wasn't even in the dictionary until August of last year. It earned its place there because people are now so obsessed with (对……痴迷) selfies ─ we take them when we try on a new hat, play with our pets or when we meet a friend whom we haven't seen in a while.
But is there any scientific explanation for this obsession? Well, you should probably ask James Kilner, a neuroscientist(神经系统科学家) at University College London.
Through our lifetime we become experts at recognizing and interpreting other people's faces and facial expressions. In contrast, according to Kilner, we have a very poor understanding of our own faces since we have little experience of looking at them ─ we just feel them most of the time.
This has been proved in previous studies, according to the BBC.
Kilner found that most people chose the more attractive picture. This suggests that we tend to think of ourselves as better-looking than we actually are. To further test how we actually perceive our own faces, Kilner carried out another study. He showed people different versions of their own portrait ─ the original, one that had been edited to look less attractive and one that was made more attractive ─ and asked them to pick the version which they thought looked most like them. They chose the more attractive version.
But what does it say about settles? Well, isn't that obvious? Selfies give us the power to create a photograph ─ by taking it from various angles, with different poses, using filters (滤色镜) and so on ─ that better matches our expectations with our actual faces.
"You suddenly have control in a way that you don't have in non-virtual(非虚拟的) interactions," Kilner told the Canada-based CTV News. Selfies allow you "to keep taking pictures until you manage to take one you're happy with" , he explained.What is the passage mainly about?
| A．The definition and fun of taking selfies. |
| B．A study of why people love taking selfies. |
| C．How taking selfies influences people's daily lives. |
| D．How to interpret people's facial expressions in their selfies. |
The underlined word "perceive" in Paragraph 5 can be replaced by "______".
| A．interpret | B．beautify | C．choose | D．explain |
What did Kilner discover from his researches?
| A．People interpret others' facial expressions worse than their own. |
| B．People tend to spend more time looking at their faces than at others'. |
| C．People tend to believe they look more attractive than they actually are. |
| D．People who like taking selfies know more about their facial expressions. |
According to Kilner, people like taking selfies probably because they think ______.
| A．it is a good chance to learn more about their actual faces |
| B．it is a way to respond to others' facial expressions correctly |
| C．it enables them to interact with their friends in social media |
| D．it allows them to satisfy their expectations with their appearances |