阅读下面材料，在空白处填入1个适当的单词或括号内单词的正确形式。
Traditionally, robots have been hard, made of metal and other rigid material. But a team of scientists at Harvard University in the US has managed to build an 1. (entire) soft robot —the “Octobot”.
2. (describe) in science journal Nature, the “Octobot” could pave the way for 3. (effective) autonomous robots that could be used in search, rescue and exploration than the traditional ones. “The Octobot is a minimal system which may serve 4.a foundation for a new generation of completely soft, autonomous robots,” the study’s authors wrote.
Researchers 5. (work) on building soft robots for decades. They’ve taken6.(inspire) from nature, looking to animals from jellyfish to cockroaches, which are often made up of more flexible matter.
However, creating a completely soft robot 7. (remain) a challenge. Even if engineers build a silicone(硅酮) body, 8. is still a grand challenge to construct flexible versions of essential parts, such as a source of power.
“9. soft robotics is still in its early stage, it holds a great promise for several applications, such as search-rescue operations and explorations,” Barbara Mazzolai of Technology’ Center for Micro-BioRobotics, wrote in a comment. “Soft robots might also open up new approaches to 10.(improve) wellness and quality of life.”
My dog died. Yes, she was very old, deaf, and partially blind. She had long lost her _______ energy. Watching her _______ into her bed was as painful for me as it was for her. In the past few months, she had begun to bark at strangers and neighbors. But she used to be _______ even if a child pulled her tail._______ her decline doesn’t lessen the loss, however.
My husband had found her _______ on his farm and brought her home. She was a black and dirty bag of bones who got _______ when we approached. I like to think the years she spent with us were filled with _______. Every so often, though, my husband would remind me her days were _______, and we agreed that if she showed any _______ of pain, we would put her down. No need for her to ________ ,no need for us to hold on tight. I prepared myself for her________ .
Yet, when it came eventually, I wasn’t ________ . I was angry about the __________ of it all. It appears as if we couldn’t negotiate with death, with fate but to __________ ourselves, assuming that we have more time. We can’t really live every day as if it were our last.
We do love our pets. They become a necessary part of the family. Now I still __________look for her in my home office, where she slept. I still ________ her to come and sit at my feet or to slide to the front door whenever one ________. And I miss my__________ of the walks, the feeding and the bathing. I miss her ________ and the sense of being around the house, but more than anything I miss the ________ that she loved me so unconditionally.
1.A.natural B.youthful C.special D.lasting
2.A.settle B.dive C.jump D.throw
3.A.angry B.brave C.friendly D.anxious
4.A.Feeling B.Enjoying C.Checking D.Knowing
5.A.rejected B.exposed C.abandoned D.protected
6.A.fearless B.disappointed C.proud D.nervous
7.A.sorrow B.love C.regret D.pain
8.A.finished B.approached C.counted D.ended
9.A.marks B.gestures C.aspects D.signs
10.A.fight B.suffer C.contact D.survive
11.A.departure B.arrival C.journey D.adventure
12.A.aware B.doubtful C.eager D.ready
13.A.unfairness B.failure C.battle D.challenge
14.A.inform B.convince C.remind D.fool
15.A.carefully B.unconsciously C.instantly D.actively
16.A.expect B.agree C.invite D.allow
17.A.shows off B.turns around C.stops by D.picks up
18.A.routine B.freedom C.hobby D.course
19.A.difference B.absence C.presence D.influence
20.A.reason B.knowledge C.wish D.desire
Ways to teach kids money management skills
No matter your financial situation, you can help your kids make smart money choices. Here are 3 ways my husband and I have started teaching money smarts to our children:
1. Review the family budget together
1.They also know that our income goes to pay for things like groceries, clothes, and toys. Recently, we’ve introduced some of the more unseen budget categories like retirement, car repairs, and Christmas savings.
Seeing what a budget is and how it works gives our kids ownership of the process and an understanding of why we do what we do each month. 2.
2. Let kids handle money
3.Our kids earn money on specific chores that are above and beyond the basic requirements of helping our family function. With the money they make for extra work, they practice counting, giving, saving, and, of course, spending!
3. Practice delayed gratification(满足)
My husband and I practice delayed gratification often and talk through our plans with the kids so they see that as a family we are saving rather than borrowing for immediate gratification.
4.And together we are all working a little extra to fund a trip to Disneyland.
No one likes to wait.5.But, delaying gratification is a valuable skill that our children can learn. It helps them discover many things are worth the wait.
A. That’s just not human nature!
B. Our kids know that Mum and Dad work to earn money.
C. Don’t worry if your current financial situation isn’t perfect.
D. Choose wise words when discussing money around your kids.
E. Right now they know that Daddy is saving for a new-to-him truck.
F. There is no better way to learn about money than to actually be responsible for it.
G. When we say, “There isn’t any more eating-out money left,” they understand why.
Take a walk through Washington and you’ll find plenty of marble memorials(纪念碑). But is that what the future of the memorial-rich city holds? If the winners of a new design competition have their way, probably not.
The Memorials for the Future design competition invited submissions (意见书) from teams throughout the world. Though, the memorials selected won’t actually be built in the city, they were intended to start a discussion about how to think of memorials in a very different future.
Climate Chronograph, the winning project by Team Azimuth Land Craft, greatly departs from memorials as we know them. The project memorializes the harmful effects of climate change by suggesting a memorial at Hains Point, a spot between the Potomac River and Washington Channel. Just 100 years ago, the man-made island was part of the river. It came into existence after the National Park Service decided to turn the confluence(合流点) of the waters into a tidal basin to protect the nearby National Mall from floods.
Those floods are expected to come more and more often as the climate changes. Climate Chronograph will memorialize those changes by planting cherry trees as a kind of tidal gauge(潮位计) that can be used by future visitors to determine just how much water levels have risen.
The other winning projects include a project that frees mechanical parrots that fly over the Jefferson Memorial and collect and retell stories about monuments，a podcast (播客) platform that puts immigrant stories on public transportation, and an interactive memorial that brings national parks to the D. C. Metro. The competition also produced a report that points to ways America can better memorialize the things that matter—strategies that could help cities save money and space.
That’s good news, especially given that D.C.’s iconic Mall has been closed to new construction. The memorials of the future won’t just turn collective memories toward the stories of new phenomena and groups like climate change and immigrants. Rather, it seems that they’ll make use of space in new creative ways—no marble needed.
1.What is the purpose of the design competition?
A.To select the best design team.
B.To find new uses for old memorials.
C.To design new memorials for Washington.
D.To explore new ways of experiencing memorials.
2.What can be used to replace the underlined word “departs” in Paragraph 3?
A.Differs B.Benefits
C.Suffers D.Learns
3.What do we know about Climate Chronograph?
A.It will be located in a park.
B.It will be built after the competition.
C.It clearly shows the effects of climate change.
D.It uses high-tech equipment to measure climate change.
4.What would be the best title for the text?
A.A memorial to a sad future.
B.Marble memorials are out of date.
C.Climate Chronograph, memorial for our future.
D.What will the memorials of the future look like?
Survey after survey indicates that one of our biggest worries in retirement is running out of money. More than a third of retired investors and half who aren’t retired said they worry they will run out of money and be forced to depend on Social Security as their main income source, according to a Wells Fargo-Gallup survey.
You might think that it would make people save more. But few of us even know how much we need to save for a comfortable retirement. However, one way people can feel better about retirement is to start out with as little debt as possible. And that leads us to a question many financial planners are asked by pre-retirees: Should you pay off that mortgage(房贷) before you retire? Unlike many areas of retirement planning, there is no easy answer to this question. The simplest answer is: It depends.
“It’s very dependent on the actual individual,” says Jimmy Lee, chief executive of the Wealth Consulting Group in Las Vegas. “The people who have more reliable sources of income may be more suited to carrying a mortgage,” he says. “Interest rates are a big factor. In today’s low-interest environment, it would make sense to carry a mortgage if your mortgage rate is under 4 percent and you can get an investment rate of 6 percent.”
Mitch Katz, financial adviser and partner at Capital Associates in Bethesda, says having that mortgage paid off helps some people sleep at night. “It’s kind of an emotional thing more than a financial thing,” Katz says. “At the end of the day, financially it makes more sense to not pay off the mortgage. But that’s easy to say in theory and harder in practice.”
“We can control only what we can control,” he says. “You can go to the gym and eat healthy, and walk outside and get hit by a bus. We can’t control that. But, paying off a mortgage, it gives you the ability to pay off other things. Emotionally, it’s very powerful.”
1.How will those depending on Social Security probably feel?
A.Proud B.Awkward
C.Hopeful D.Ignorant
2.What benefit might worry in retirement bring?
A.It may result in more savings. B.It leads to a wiser investment.
C.It will reduce the mortgage greatly. D.It ensures a comfortable retirement.
3.What’s Jimmy Lee’s advice for those carrying a mortgage?
A.Ask financial planners for suggestions.
B.Pay off the mortgage before retirement.
C.Seek new investment opportunities after retirement.
D.Balance the mortgage against the investment return.
4.What does Mitch Katz’s answer focus on?
A.Interest rates B.Mental burden
C.Social changes D.Financial theory
It was the week before Christmas, and the line at the post office snaked twice around the lobby(大厅). It seemed that no one was moving. The office looked like an exhibit in the Postal Wax Museum. I came to the self-service machine where the line was much shorter.
I don’t like self-service. I tell people it’s because I don’t approve of taking jobs away from people, but the real problem is that I’m not good at it. The machine always asks me something I don’t know the answer to. I hate this. I am a retired letter carrier, and we moved mail in the old-fashioned way hand to hand, human to human. We were fast, friendly, and frequently accurate.
The woman in the front of the line was clicking away at the screen. And the clicks were surprisingly loud. Any signs of hesitation on her part were telegraphed to the whole lobby. I felt sorry for her: The machine could smell fear. The next person took a long time, too. I breathed deeply. By the time it was my turn, I had the heart rate of a yogi(瑜伽修行者).
Under the weight of concern from the people in line behind me, I felt a growing obligation to minimize the seconds between clicks. Finally it was time to slide in a credit card. The machine didn’t take it. “Try putting it in the other way” the gentleman behind me suggested. No good.
“I’ve got a different card,” I said, and fished around for that one, beginning to sweat. The machine wanted a PIN, but not the one I suggested.
“Start over.” I clicked, intending to try the first card again.
Oh no. I had to start all over again.
“I’ m sorry,” I said, looking back, sheepish. “I guess I don't know what I’m doing. You all go ahead.”
“Don’t give up,” said the nice man behind me. “Try it again. We’re all friends here, right?”
Smiles were blooming all down the line. I tried again, clicked with deliberation and sincerity, and introduced my credit card as though I were presenting it to the queen. Finally, I made it!
I couldn’t have been happier. Everyone burst into applause. Comfort and joy!
1.What do we know about the post office?
A.It was pretty large. B.Something went wrong there.
C.It was very busy at Christmas. D.Efficient services were provided.
2.While waiting for his turn, the author was .
A.a little excited B.totally relaxed
C.bored and impatient D.nervous and anxious
3.What does the underlined word “sheepish” in Paragraph 8 mean?
A.Grateful B.Surprised
C.Embarrassed D.Determined
4.What did the man behind the author do?
A.He rushed the author. B.He laughed at the author.
C.He mailed for the author. D.He encouraged the author.
