Technology is making life easier for some dairy farmers. They use robotic systems to milk their cows. Cows are trained to follow a series of paths that lead to milking stations. Only one cow at a time can enter a station.
Once inside，the cow is rewarded with food. As the cow eats，a robotic arm cleans and connects the animal to the milking machine. A few minutes later，milking is complete. The gate is opened，the cow is released and the next cow enters.
The robotic systems are designed to operate 24 hours a day. The cows get to decide when they want to be milked. Cows are milked an average of about three times a day. Some are milked four to six times a day.
The cows wear collars around their necks that identify them to the system. A computer keeps records on their eating and milking. A cow is released from the station if the computer decides it should not be milked.
The automated system also measures the temperature and color of freshly produced milk. Milk is thrown away if it does not pass the tests.
Professor Plaut believes the systems will appeal especially to the next generation of farmers. She means young people who are more interested in technology and less interested in working all the time on the farm. Still，she says the price of robotic milking systems will continue to limit their use.
Doug and Tina Suhr have more than 100 cows on their family farm. Last year it became the fourth farm in southeast Minnesota to get a robotic milking system. A recent story in a local agricultural newspaper said the first robot costs 175,000 dollars. The second costs 150,000 dollars.
Doug told AgriNews that wages that would have been paid for one employee in five years will pay for one robot. He says the increase in milk production reaches a high of more than six kilograms per cow per day.According to Doug，what is the wage of an employee per year?
| A．$150,000～$175,000. | B．$150,000～$30,000. |
| C．$30,000～$35,000. | D．over $75,000. |
Besides milking cows，the robotic system also can ________.
| A．judge the quality of fresh milk |
| B．keep fresh milk for two weeks |
| C．adjust the temperature of milking stations |
| D．improve the appetite of cows |
Why is the robotic system not popular now?
| A．Because it usually causes the waste of milk. |
| B．Because it is difficult to learn how to use it. |
| C．Because young people have no interest in it. |
| D．Because people can't afford to buy it. |
From the first paragraph，we can infer ________.
| A．cows can be raised by robots in the future |
| B．robots direct cows into milking stations |
| C．the robotic system is designed to reduce labor |
| D．cows are kept clean by robots on some farms |
It’s 8;30, time for John to start work. So he turns on his radio. Then he eats breakfast. As he eats , he reads his e-mail and reviews his to do list. Then he sits on the sofa and thinks about an article he needs to write --- wait a minute! Radio ? Breakfast ? Sofa ?What kind of workplace is this ? Well,actually it is John’s house, and he is a telecommuter—he works at home,communicating with the workplace through the internet.
Like John,millions of people ---and their employers--- are finding that telecommuting is a great way to work . Telecommuters can follow their own schedules. They work in the comfort of their homes, where they can also look after young children or elderly parents,they save time and money by not traveling to work. Their employers save,too,because they need less office space and furniture. Studies show that telecommuters change jobs less often.This saves employers even more money.Telecommuting helps society,too,by reducing pollution and traffic problems.
Jobs that are suited to telecommuting include writing,design work, computer programming and accounting(会计). If a job involves working with information, a telecommuter can probably do it.From the passage we know that John does his job ______.
| A．By telephone | B．Through the Internet |
| C．In his office | D．Away from home |
One of the advantages of telecommuting is that you can ____.
| A．work for several employers |
| B．Enjoy a lot of traveling |
| C．Get along well with other workers |
| D．Work on your own schedule |
Telecommuters change jobs less often,so ______.
| A．their employers can save money |
| B．their employers will give them a higher pay |
| C．they can get more work experience |
| D．they will have a longer paid holiday. |
The underlined phrase “suited to”in the third paragraph probably means “______”.
| A．acceptable | B．bad for |
| C．difficult for | D．fit for |
A man once said how useless it was to put advertisements in the newspaper."Last week," he said,"my umbrella was stolen from a London church. As it was a present, I spent twice its worth in advertising, but didn't get it back."
"How did you write your advertisement?" asked one of the listeners, a merchant.
"Here it is," said the man, taking out of his pocket a slip cut from a newspaper. The other man took it and read,"Lost from the City Church last Sunday evening, a black silk umbrella.. The gentleman who finds it will receive ten shillings on leaving it at No. 10 Broad Street."
"Now," said the merchant,"I often advertise, and find that it pays me well. But the way in which an advertisement is expressed of extreme importance. Let us try for your umbrella again, and if it fails, I'll buy you a new one."
The merchant then took a slip of paper out of his pocket and wrote: "If the man who was seen to take an umbrella from the City Church last Sunday evening doesn't wish to get into trouble, he will return the umbrella to No.10 Broad Street. He is well known."
This appeared in the newspaper, and on the following morning, the man was astonished when he opened the front door. In the doorway lay at least twelve umbrellas of all sizes and colors, and his own was among them. Many of them had notes fastened to them saying that they had been taken by mistake, and begging the loser not to say anything about the matter.The result of the first advertisement was that _____.
| A．The man got his umbrella back |
| B．The man wasted some money advertising |
| C．Nobody found the missing umbrella. |
| D．The umbrella was found somewhere near the church. |
The merchant suggested that the man should ________.
| A．buy a new umbrella |
| B．go on looking for his umbrella |
| C．write another and better advertisement |
| D．report the police |
"If it fails, I'll buy you a new one," suggested that the merchant ________.
| A．was quite sure of success |
| B．wanted to buy him a new umbrella |
| C．didn't know what to do |
| D．was rich enough to buy one |
The story is mainly about _________.
| A．a useless advertisement |
| B．how to make an effective advertisement |
| C．how the man lost and found his umbrella |
| D．what the merchant did for the umbrella owner |
A farmer grew some vegetables in his garden. One day his wife was ill and he had no money. He had to sell some cabbages and carrots in the market. The next morning he took two baskets of vegetables to town. But it was raining hard that afternoon and there were few people in the street. When his vegetables were sold out, it was dark. He bought some medicine and hurried to his village.
On his way home he saw a person lying on the snow. He placed his baskets on the ground and was going to help the person to get up. At that time he found it was a dead man and there was much blood on his body. He was so afraid that he ran away quickly, without taking the baskets with him.
The next afternoon the farmer was sent to the police station. Having shown the baskets, an officer asked: “Are these yours?” “Yes, sir.” the farmer answered timidly(胆怯地)。”Have you killed the man?” “No, no, sir.” the farmer said in a hurry.” When did you see the dead man?” ”About seven last evening.” “Did you see who killed the man?” “No, Sir.” The officer brought out a knife and asked, “Have you seen it yet?” ”No, Sir.’ The officer became angry and told the policemen to beat him up and send him into prison.
That evening the officer went on trying .Pointing to the knife, he asked again,” Have you seen it yet?” ”Yes, Sir.” The officer was happy and asked,” When and where?” “I saw it here this afternoon, sir.”The farmer decided to sell the vegetables to .
| A．buy some food for his family |
| B．buy some medicine for his wife |
| C．go to see a doctor |
| D．go to the cinema |
The farmer didn’t sell out his vegetables until the evening because .
| A．they were too bad |
| B．they were very expensive |
| C．it rained hard that morning |
| D．few people liked to go out on such a bad day |
The farmer ran away quickly because .
| A．the policemen were coming towards him. |
| B．his wife was waiting for him at home |
| C．he was afraid to see a dead man. |
| D．it was so late that he couldn’t stay there any longer. |
The following are letters to the editor of a school newspaper.
Dear editor,
I’d like to express my opinion about grades. Students should be allowed to study without worrying about grades. Fortunately, most educators are becoming aware of the fact that students have different interests and abilities. I understand that grades are useful, but grades often limit creativity. Competing for better grades causes many students to turn down opportunities to pursue music, dramatics and sports. Grades force an arbitrary(武断的) standard of success on everyone. I do not demand as some extremists do, that grades be removed immediately. However, I do believe that less emphasis should be placed on grades. I hope that someday grades will become optional at Village High School.
Magdalena Smith
Drama Club
Dear editor,
I’d like to say something about grades. Let’s face the facts about grades. Grades perform three basic functions. First, grades motivate(激发) students to work at their highest level of competence（能力）. Second, they act as a reward for hardworking students and as a punishment to students who do not work hard. Finally, grades are used as an effective standard by which to measure students’ achievement. Good grades help students to get jobs and to get into university. I've spoken with a number of students who have jobs, and most of them say that they were hired primarily on the basis of their grades. My grades helped me land a part-time job and will help me get into university next year. I think grades are extremely important at Village High School.
Simon Harper
Science ClubWhich of the following is not Magdalena Smith’s opinion?
| A．Grades should not be used to measure a person’s success. |
| B．Students may give up the chance to learn music and sports for grades. |
| C．Students’ creativity may not be developed for grades. |
| D．Grades should be taken away at once. |
We can learn Simon Harper _____.
| A．is concerned about students' creativity |
| B．believes in the benefits of good grades |
| C．doesn't work too hard at his studies |
| D．supports students' interests and abilities |
From the second letter, we can infer that Simon Harper is a/an_____.
| A．student | B．teacher |
| C．headmaster | D．advertiser |
Mom’s birthday present? It may be a difficult thing for some people, but for me, it is an easy thing. Mom loved flowers, so every year I sent her flowers. Actually she had a bed of irises (鸢尾花) in the backyard of her small, Indiana farm. They were beautiful. “Take some,” she said, “Dig some up and plant them on the side of your own house.”
But in my yard they became lacking in energy. A year passed, then two, but not one flower appeared. I cut back all their green leaves. I was tired of seeing them so lonely. Finally, I dug the irises up and threw them away.
About that time Mom died unexpectedly. My sister and I sold the farm. I never went back to see the irises. I just couldn’t stand seeing another family living in our home—Mom’s home. Autumn came, then winter. The following spring, as Mom’s birthday approached, I struggled with the question of how to remember her. I stared out of the window and saw a few stubborn irises in my side yard sprouting (发芽), —tall, thin but flowerless. Because of seeing them, I decided to order flowers as I always did on Mom’s birthday, and send them to my sister. I wished so badly I could still send flowers to Mom. But that was impossible.
On the morning of Mom’s birthday, I was in my car ready to work. Something in the yard caught my eye. The irises! One had bloomed with flowers, big, showy and purple, as lovely as they ever had been on Mom’s farm. I smiled and turned my eyes upward. I could no longer send flowers to Mom. But somehow, she’d been able to send them to me.According to the first paragraph, Mom ________.
| A．didn’t like the presents from the author |
| B．wanted to give the author some flowers |
| C．lived with the author on an Indiana farm |
| D．got different birthday presents from the author every year |
At first, the irises in the author’s yard ________.
| A．all died quickly |
| B．grew as well as on Mom’s farm |
| C．didn’t bloom at all |
| D．grew better than those on Mom’s farm |
What troubled the author?
| A．She didn’t know how to grow irises. |
| B．She regretted they had sold Mom’s farm. |
| C．She couldn’t bear others living in Mom’s home. |
| D．She didn’t know what to do in memory of Mom. |
What can be learned from the last paragraph?
| A．All the irises in the author’s yard bloomed. |
| B．The author went to see the irises in Mom’s yard. |
| C．It was Mom who took care of these irises in the author’s yard. |
| D．The author thought the blooming irises were gifts from Mom. |