An online supermarket company—Ocado in the UK, has recently displayed a robotic hand that can pick fruits and vegetables!
When an embryo is in the womb (子宫), the very first sense it develops is touch. The sense of touch is also the one that lasts the longest—as we get older and our vision and hearing begins to weaken, touch still remains. Humans use their touch to protect themselves, to create emotional relationships with other people and to experience pleasure. Can you imagine life without it?
The sense of touch comes from a net work of nerve endings (神经末梢) and special touch receptors on the surface of the skin. While there are different kinds of touch receptors, they help us judge pressure, texture and vibrations (震动). They are located in our fingertips, palms, soles of our feet, face, lips and tongue.
When we touch something, the mechano-receptors feel the touch and through a network of nerves send signals to the brain. This informs the brain about the location of the touch, the amount of force used, and the speed at which it was used.
Several different techniques have been tried in the past few years to create such a robotic hand—using three fingers. But this latest design by Soma copies the human hand. The gripper (钳子) is made up of flexible materials which grasp the thing based on its size and shape. Then air pressure is used to control the movement of the robotic fingers to pick objects safely and without causing damage.
The next step would be for the robot to judge how ripe the fruits and vegetables are, and apply pressure accordingly. Members of the research team are currently working on adding computerized vision to the robots, so that they can see what they are grasping.
Does all this mean robots can replace people? According to Ocado, it helps improve productivity by removing some of the repetitive tasks done by humans.
1.What is focused on in the second paragraph?
A. The origin of touch.
B. The importance of touch.
C. The development of touch.
D. The process of transporting touch.
2.What does the underlined word "it" in Paragraph 4 refer to?
A. The brain. B. The touch.
C. The nerve. D. The signal.
3.What is the typical feature of the latest robots?
A. They can see what they're taking hold of.
B. They can take the place of people in work places.
C. They can tell whether the fruits and vegetables are ripe.
D. They can hold things firmly according to their outer features.
4.What can be a suitable title for the text?
A. A Sense of Touch for Robots
B. A Robotic Hand for Classifying Fruits
C. A Robotic Hand with a Gentle Touch
D. A Robot Made of Flexible Materials
Have you ever caught yourself saying, "I hate small talk!" the minute you walk into a party? If so, you might be an introvert (内向的人). Introverts hate to chat about "small" subjects with people. They are fine when you talk one on one but seem to get lost in the crowd when there's a group around.
If you're talking to an introvert, you might find that your first few conversations go one of two ways. Either they'll seem to get bored and not say much or they'll seem to skate over small talk in favor of more in-depth topics. What you need to know is that the introvert is not being rude. It’s just that they don't like small talk. Here's why.
Small talk serves as a gateway toward deeper conversation. Some introverts don’t realize that small talk will actually help them get to the bigger topics. You don't need to stay on small talk forever. However, sometimes introverts feel that even the short amount of time it takes to get into the real conversation is a waste of time. Small talk is very fast. Someone says something and this should be followed up with a quick response. But introverts like to chew on their words before saying them aloud. Before they answer, they’ll mull over different thoughts.
Small talk by its very nature invites more people to join in. The more people who join the conversation, the more the introvert will tend to step back. As a result, they’ll be quiet. Small talk is about throwing out subjects in the hope that one or more of them can be turned into a common point of interest.
The listening involved with small talk is not in-depth. The purpose is about listening "lightly" so you can figure out the right topics to spend some time on. Introverts tend to be great listeners, but they use active listening rather than light listening. This makes them wonderful friends, but can also make it difficult for new people to understand why they’re so quiet.
1.How do introverts respond to a chat?
A. They try to avoid it.
B. They get excited about it.
C. They give it their full attention.
D. They focus on unimportant topics.
2.What do we know about small talk?
A. It goes slowly.
B. It costs people a lot of time.
C. It contributes to deeper topics.
D. It makes no sense.
3.What does the underlined phrase "mull over" in Paragraph 3 probably mean?
A. Give up. B. Think over.
C. Write down. D. Forget about.
4.How can we become a good talker in small conversations?
A. Figure out the deep meaning of questions.
B. Think twice before answering questions.
C. Try to find shared topics.
D. Be a quiet listener.
HANGZHOU-Chinese internet giant Alibaba on Tuesday opened a hotel loaded with artificial intelligence (Al) and robots, automating a series of procedures like check-in, lights control and room service.
FlyZoo Hotel, opened in Hangzhou, capital of East China's Zhejiang province, where Alibaba is headquartered, is known as the company's first "future hotel". Customers can check into the hotel by simply scanning their faces. The facial recognition system installed in the hotel also enables customers to use their faces as key cards to open doors and access other hotel service. Users can also control the lights, televisions and curtains in the room via Alibaba's voice-activated digital assistant, while robots are deployed to serve dishes, cocktails and coffee. Hotel bookings and check-out can also be done with a few clicks on mobile through an app. "The Al-based solution can help customers save time and relieve hotel employees from repetitive work," said Wang Qun, CEO of FlyZoo Hotel. The hotel is the latest example of Chinese tech companies' attempt into traditional industries such as the hotel industry.
E-commerce giant JD. com announced in October its strategy to put smart home and electronic devices sold on its platform into hotels, in an effort to improve online sales.
In July, Baidu teamed up with Intercontinental Hotels Group in Beijing to allow guests to use its voice-controlled assistant to adjust room temperature and order room service at ease.
Before that, social media giant Tencent introduced QQfamily, a similar tech solution for hotel operators, in the southern city of Zhuhai last year.
" We want to install a 'smart brain' for hotels, " said Wang. "In the future, we will continue to make hotels smarter and more automated, as well as create more personalized experiences for consumers."
1.How can customers check into FlyZoo Hotel?
A. By scanning their faces.
B. By clicking their mobile phones.
C. By showing hotel staff their ID cards.
D. By using voice-activated digital assistant.
2.Which of the following hasn't been realized?
A. All hotel service is provided by robots.
B. Room service can be controlled by artificial intelligence.
C. Room temperature can be adjusted by artificial intelligence.
D. Televisions can be turned off by voice-activated digital assistant.
3.What will probably happen to hotels in the future?
A. Customers will get less personalized experiences.
B. Human work will completely disappear in hotels.
C. Intelligent hotels won't meet any difficulties in the development.
D. Just staying in your room, you can easily get many kinds of services by Al.
4.What does the passage mainly talk about?
A. Internet giants open AI "future hotel".
B. Artificial intelligence is used in hotels.
C. Internet giants switch to hotel industry.
D. Traditional hotels will disappear soon.
Dark Sky Parks around the World
Warrumbungle National Park
Situated in the central west slopes of New South Wales is Australia’s only dark sky park, Warrumbungle. The park has served as a dark sky park since July 2016. Its crystal-clear night skies and high altitude make it a natural, educational, and astronomical heritage site in the southern half of the earth. Tourists can use Australia’s largest optical telescope within the park boundaries to view the auroras(极光)，the Milky Way, and faint shooting stars.
Sark
Sark is a Channel Island near the coast of Normandy under the protection of the UK. It was the World’s First Dark Sky Island set up in January 2011. Its historical and cultural blend attracts over 40,000 tourists annually. With no motor vehicles and public lighting on the island, there is an exceptional view of the dark skies. A rich Milky Way is visible in the dark night skies from the shores of the island.
Pic du Midi de Bigorre
Pic du Midi de Bigorre in France was designated as a dark sky park in December 2013 making it the second largest dark sky park in the world. The park covers 3.112 square kilometers spread across the Pyrenees National Park and UNESCO’s World Heritage site, Pyrenees-Mont Perdu. The park attracts over one hundred star watchers every year. The Observatory Midi-Pyrenees, which was built in 1870, is one of the world’s highest museums at a height of 2,877 meters above sea level.
Ramon Crater/Makhtesh Ramon
Ramon Crater is a unique 1,100-square-kilometer nature reserve located in the Negev Desert in Israel. In 2017, the Ramon Crater became the first designated dark sky park in the Middle East. Its location, rough climate, and forbidding landscape that are characteristic of the Negev have largely defeated historical attempts for human settlement, making it a great place to view the night skies. Stargazers usually camp in the desert to have an uninterrupted view of the stars, planets, and the Milky Way.
1.Which park serves as a heritage site for astronomy?
A. Sark.
B. Pic du Midi de Bigorre.
C. Warrumbungle National Park.
D. Ramon Crater/Makhtesh Ramon.
2.What do we know about Sark from the passage?
A. Not a single car runs there.
B. It was an island belonging to Normandy.
C. The Milky Way can only be seen there.
D. Visitors like to stay on the island in groups.
3.What makes it difficult for humans to live in Ramon Crater?
A. High altitude. B. The large area.
C. Geographical conditions. D. Cultural features.
假定你是李华，你的朋友Lily因为节食减肥而生病，请根据下列要点用英语给她写一封邮件鼓励她加强锻炼, 早日恢复健康。
要点：1. 坚持健康均衡的饮食；
2. 养成良好的生活习惯：定期锻炼，保证睡眠等；
3. 保持愉快的心情。
注意：1. 词数100左右；
2. 可以适当发挥，以使行文连贯；
3. 开头和结尾已为你写好，不计入总词数。
Dear Lily,
I’m sorry to hear that
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Yours,
Li Hua
假定英语课上老师要求同桌之间交换修改作文，请你修改你同桌写的以下作文。文中共有10处语言错误，每句中最多有两处。每处错误仅涉及一个单词的增加、删除或修改。
增加：在缺词处加一个漏字符号（∧），并在其下面写出该加的词。
删除：把多余的词用（＼）划掉。
修改：在错的词下画—横线，并在该词下面写出修改后的词。
注意：1．每处错误及其修改均仅限一词；
2．只允许修改10处，多者（从第11处起）不计分。
It is almost five years since I begin to learn English. I’m glad to say I’m getting along good with it. But first I came across a lot of difficulties. I couldn’t pronounce English words well, so could I remember the words I had learned. I couldn’t even understand that the teacher had said in class. When I almost lost heart, the teacher told me, “Keeping on, and you’ll do well.” I was greatly encouraged. I started working hard at English. Under the help of him and my classmates, I’ve made a great progress. I am very pleasing and I’ll work even hard in future.
