There’s a good chance something you've bought online has been in the hands of a “ picker” first. These are the workers in warehouses(仓库)who pick, pack and ship all those things we’re ordering.
At Amazon and other companies, they’re working side by side with robots. Experts say while the robots are replacing some human workers, the machines aren't quite ready to take over completely.
When a robot finds its storage unit, it slides underneath, lifts it up and then delivers it to a worker 一 they’re called pickers. On a recent day, the computer told a picker to grab what looked like a fantasy board (棋盘)game. The picker found it, canned it and placed it on the conveyor belt.
“In a traditional fulfillment center where the associate would walk to the different items , it can take hours to fulfill a customer order. “ Robinson says.
Now, with the help of robots, that task takes minutes 一 and fewer humans.
So is this a sign we're entering a new industrial revolution?
“It’s definitely going to take over a lot of jobs. " says Karen Myers, a scientist at SRI, one of Silicon Valley's oldest research centers.
At the same time, she says, we're running against the limits of technology. Take “the picker” at the Amazon fulfillment center. Myers says those skills are proving to be uniquely human.
“Our fingers are incredibly flexible and the current generation of robotic operators, they’re getting much, much better,” she says. “But they're just not quite there yet. ”
There’s also the robot’s brain.
Remember that board game the Amazon worker was looking for? She could barely see the box filled into the storage bin — but she could tell it was a board game. Robots can’t do that.
Technologists say that, increasingly, humans will work side by side with robots — instead of robots working alone.
Amazon says robots and humans enabled the Tracy warehouse to fulfill customer orders faster. That means more customers and more human workers.
1.A picker does some tasks except .
A. picking goods B. producing goods C. spotting goods D. packing goods
2.With the help of robots, some tasks are .
A. more efficient B. less straight C. more difficult D. less profitable
3.Compared with robots, humans are more .
A. powerful B. artificial C. flexible D. energetic
4.What is the best title for the text?
A. Robots replacing humans completely.
B. The advantages of shopping online.
C. The future of robots.
D. Robots and humans working side by side.
In the waters off Brisbane, Australia, a sevenfootlong sand tiger shark swims in pain. A twofootlong spike sticks out of her side. It’s a piece of fishing equipment that the shark ate carelessly. After traveling into her body, the spike punctured(刺) through the shark’s stomach.
A man swimming in the water notices the shark. Then, he warns Sea World Marine Park in the nearby town of Gold Coast. Sea World sends a 12person team from its rescue center to where the shark was discovered in Moreton Bay Marine Park. Soon, they find her lying on the seafloor. “She’ll die without help，”says Trevor Long, leader of the rescue center.
Using an onboard crane(吊车), the rescuers move the shark into their boat’s 13footlong tank(缸). Then Dr. David Blyde gives the shark pain medicine and performs an operation to remove the spike. After that, the team sails with the shark to Sea World 33 miles away. They place the fish in a 49footlong tank and wait to see if she gets better.
To give the shark's stomach time to get better, she isn’t fed for the first few days. A week after her operation, Long offers the shark a small, dead fish. The animal refuses to eat. But days later when he drops another fish into her tank, the shark enjoys her meal. By now the shark’s wounds are getting better.
Two weeks after her rescue, they take the shark back to the boat and return her to Moreton Bay Marine Park. As the fish is lowered by the crane to the water’s surface, two rescuers jump into the ocean and guide her into the sea. From the boat, Long watches her swim away.“The shark has another chance，” Long says.
1.What happens to the sand tiger shark?
A. She is unlucky and gets hurt badly.
B. She has nothing to eat for a few days.
C. She swims in Sea World and loses her way.
D. She is seriously ill because of sea water.
2.According to the text, Sea World________.
A. helps protect and save animals
B. is 33 miles away from Gold Coast
C. hasn’t enough space for another shark
D. has never performed operations on sharks
3.How does Long feel when feeding the shark for the first time after the operation?
A. Very proud. B. Quite worried.
C. Really relaxed. D. Extremely afraid.
4.What would be the best title for the text?
A. Dangers from sharks B. Sand tiger shark rescue
C. Moreton Bay Marine Park D. A rescue team from Sea World
In the four months since I last posted articles on my blog，I’ve been spending a lot of time studying Chinese.I wanted to pass the HSK.From the beginning of my program，the HSK was the end goal of my Chinese learning this year.Luckily，I passed it and now I have one and a half months to go home and stay with my family.
It’s really exciting to learn Chinese in an environment where I can study very fast.What’s more，I can see my own progress in different ways.When I got here eight and a half months ago，I only knew a few of the 150 words tested in the HSK 1.However,until now,I’ve taken and passed the 2500word HSK 5.
I remember a time around January.I thought my Chinese had reached the point where I was comfortable in my daytoday conversations.So my progress would slow down greatly.However，it turned out that I was totally wrong.The conversations I can have now far surpass(超过) the ones I was having in January.
Today I hit a languagelearning landmark(里程碑) that was particularly exciting for me:I finished reading Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone in Chinese.It might not seem that exciting，but it was for me because it’s the first full book I’ve read in Chinese.And it’s the third language I’ve read Harry Potter in.I’m especially proud because I spent about seven months reading the first 35 pages,but in the last month and a half,I managed to read about 150 pages.My next challenge is to read a novel written by a Chinese author，rather than one that I’ve already read many times in English!
Hopefully，I’ll be able to keep up my languagelearning progress over the next month and a half，because I know I’ll probably never have another opportunity to learn a language like this.
Do you want to learn a new language？If you do，go to the country where people speak it and learn it from the locals.
1.What do we know about the author when she first came to China?
A. She didn’t want to learn Chinese.
B. She took the HSK 1 immediately.
C. She was extremely poor at Chinese.
D. She just knew 150 words tested in the HSK 1.
2.Why does the author say she was totally wrong in Paragraph 3?
A. Because she didn’t really know how to learn Chinese.
B. Because she could learn better in a Chinese environment.
C. Because she was uncomfortable in her day to day conversations.
D. Because she made rapid progress in her day to day conversations.
3.What does the author want to show by mentioning reading Harry Potter?
A. She could read books really fast.
B. It’s good to learn through reading.
C. She learned the Chinese language quickly.
D. The Harry Potter books are worth reading.
4.What does the author’s Chinese learning experience mainly tell us?
A. We should learn a language through travelling.
B. Learning a second language is really important.
C. The Chinese language is not so difficult to learn.
D. The language learning environment is important.
John Michael Thomas, 14, Florida
When John Michael Thomas decided to honor his friend and classmate Elizabeth Buckley, who died from cancer, he remembered how much she loved peacocks(孔雀).
He wanted to build a lifesized peacock fountain(喷泉) in Elizabeth’s favorite park in the city. He thought it could be a place for people to relax and be inspired.
John Michael raised $52,000 to build the fountain.
Barrett England,13,Utah
The wheels began to turn for Barrett England when he heard about Karma Bike Shop, a place where young people can earn a free bike by reading and performing community(社区) service.
Barrett visited Karma’s owner with his idea: He would collect and repair used bikes and donate(捐赠) them to the shop.
He expected to get about 10 donated bikes. In the end, Barrett received 39.
Zachary Blohm,15, Wisconsin
The 25yearold playground at an elementary school near Milwaukee, Wis., was so small that only 70 of its 575 students could play on it at a time.
That’s when Zachary Blohm saved the day:He and some volunteers built a huge playground.To raise money, Zac planned Tshirt and bake sales, sold tickets and more. He held monthly moneyraising events for more than a year. Overall, he collected $130,000—enough to finish his project.
Jack Zimmerman, 16,New Jersey
For some people, finding a meal is as simple as opening the refrigerator. For more than 366,000 hungry kids in New Jersey, it’s not that easy.
That fact didn’t sit well with Jack Zimmerman, who organized a drive to lessen childhood hunger in his state. His goal: create 40,000 packaged meals that could be donated to those in need.On game day, Jack and his volunteers started their work. After the final count, the team had packaged 47,124 meals—well above Jack’s goal.
1.The peacock fountain was built in a park________.
A. to inspire people B. for the love of animals
C. in memory of a teenager D. to encourage a cancer sufferer
2.What did Barrett do for Karma Bike Shop?
A. He donated bikes to it. B. He repaired bikes there.
C. He helped it win customers. D. He offered a reading service there.
3.What do the four people have in common?
A. They’re top students. B. They care about others.
C. They like various public activities. D. They’re money raisers for the poor.
听下面一段独白，回答以下小题。
1.What subject is added this year?
A. Comedy. B. Mystery. C. World travel.
2.Who is Jenny Paige?
A. A children’s author. B. A short story writer. C. A writer of travel books.
3.What will happen to the first prize winners?
A. They will have a chance to travel.
B. A $2,000 prize will be given to them.
C. Their stories will be published in a magazine.
4.When is the deadline?
A. September 1. B. September 25. C. October 1.
听下面一段较长对话，回答以下小题。
1.What is the woman doing?
A. Selling CDs to the man.
B. Helping the man choose CDs.
C. Looking for some new music.
2.Why doesn’t the man want to buy New Country by Benny?
A. He doesn’t like Benny. B. He has got one. C. He dislikes country music.
3.What does the man think of boy bands?
A. They’re gifted. B. They’re creative. C. They’re untalented.
4.What will the man do next?
A. Choose more CDs. B. Go to the woman’s house. C. Listen to his new CDs.
