Visitors to Henn-na, a restaurant outside Nagasaki, Japan, are greeted by an unusual sight: their food being prepared by a row of humanoid robots. The “head chef”, named Andrew, is using his two long arms; he stirs batter (面糊) in a metal bowl, then pours it onto a hot grill. In a nearby hotel, robots check guests into their rooms and help with their luggage.
CEO Hideo Sawada, who runs the restaurant and the hotel, predicts that 70% of the jobs at Japan’s hotels will be automated (自动化) in the next five years. He said, “Since you can work them 24 hours a day, and they don’t need vacation, eventually it’s more cost-efficient to use the robot.”
This is seemingly worrying. In fact, in America, automation helps the food-service and accommodation sector continue to grow. In the company Panera, because of its new kiosks, an app that allows online ordering, the chain is now processing more orders overall, which means it needs more total workers to meet consumer demand. Starbucks customers who use the chain’s app return more frequently than those who don’t, the company has said, and the greater efficiency that online ordering allows has boosted sales at busy stores during peak hours. Starbucks employed 8% more people in the U.S. in 2016 than it did in 2015, the year it launched the app.
Of course, whether automation is a net benefit for workers in restaurants and hotels, and not just a competitive advantage for one chain over another will depend on whether an improved customer experience makes Americans more likely to dine out and stay at hotels, rather than brown-bagging it or finding an Airbnb to book unique homes.
1.Why does the writer describe the unusual sight in Paragraph 1?
A.To promote robots. B.To introduce the topic.
C.To voice his opinion. D.To show the background.
2.What does the underlined sentence in Paragraph 3 mean?
A.Automation may be a challenge to human jobs.
B.Automation may increase business costs.
C.Workers may fail to focus on their tasks.
D.Many companies may fail to survive.
3.What can we learn from the two cases in Paragraph 3?
A.The two companies are trying to take over the market competitively.
B.Automation could open up more job chances for humans.
C.Starbucks employed more people than Panera did in 2016.
D.Automation helps the shops become famous online.
4.What is the author’s attitude towards the future of automation?
A.Critical. B.Negative. C.Objective. D.Indifferent.
Humans and elephants don’t always get along. In Africa and Asia, elephants damage infrastructure (基础设施), farmers’ crops, and natural habitat critical for other species. If an elephant becomes a problem, humans may kill it. So local people and conservationists are trying to find better ways to keep elephants away from sensitive places. Now, researchers think they have a good tool to stop elephants: honeybee pheromones (信息素).
“Elephants hate being stung (刺) in the trunk, so it’s an extremely sensitive organ. Imagine being stung in your nose by a bee, and multiply that a few thousand times.” said Mark Wright, a professor of entomology at the University of Hawaii at Manoa.
Kenyan farmers have long known that if they hang live beehives around their farms, they will repel elephants. “The problem is logistical, how do you manage hundreds of thousands of hives, if you have a huge area to protect? And then the idea came up to look at the alarm pheromones, which are chemicals that the bee release to launch an attack on something that’s damaging the hive.” Because elephants have a highly developed sense of smell, Wright and his team thought they might be able to use the bees’ alarm signal to affect elephant behavior.
So the researchers tested out a synthetic blend (合成混合物) of chemicals that imitates honeybees’ alarm pheromones. In Greater Kruger National Park in South Africa, the team hung white socks treated with the synthetic mixture as well as untreated control socks around an elephant watering hole, and then observed the animals’ behavior. “Elephants are really curious organisms, they’ll walk along and see something like a sock hanging on a branch in the environment, and they’ll inspect it. And if it’s not treated with the alarm pheromones, they’ll pick it up, throw it around, try to taste it, things like that. And in the case of the treated ones, we found that they would show immediate signs of unease or uncertainty, and they’d eventually back off from them. Very seldom would they go to pick them up and play with them.” The study is in the journal Current Biology.
1.What will the researchers do to prevent elephants from damaging human’s habitat?
A.Kill them. B.Scare them away.
C.Apply honeybee pheromones. D.Rebuild a new ecosystem.
2.What does Mr. Wright think of Kenyan farmers’ method if it’s applied to a huge area?
A.Scientific. B.Flexible. C.Awesome. D.Impractical.
3.Why did the researcher conduct the study?
A.To confirm what they thought.
B.To attract the elephants’ attention.
C.To preserve the elephants’ habitat.
D.To test out honeybee’s alarm pheromones.
4.What’s the main idea of the text?
A.Elephants and humans don’t get along well.
B.Honeybee pheromones can keep elephants away.
C.Elephants have a highly developed sense of smell.
D.Honeybees release pheromones to launch attacks.
When my grandmother died at the age of 96, there were two things she left behind in abundance — nearly 100 photo albums documenting decades of travel and home life, and a dozen quilts, one of which my mother gave me.
Quilting is the process of sewing together fabric (布料) to make one large piece of fabric. In my family, quilting and sewing is a tradition that has been passed down through the generations. My mother says her great-grandmother would occasionally travel around New York State to sew clothing for other families.
In the United States, quilting was a craft (手艺) that started as a necessity and eventually became much more. In 1862, the U.S. government offered millions of acres of land to Americans who wanted to move west. This allowed families to settle on land that they could eventually own. They often built their own homes and lived off the vegetables in their gardens and the livestock they had. Sewing was very important for women because they were responsible for clothing their families and keeping them warm.
Quilting also became a chance for women to socialize with each other. They would gather for so-called “quilting bees”, where they would meet and work on one quilting project together. This provided a much-needed relief from the lonely life of living on a large piece of land.
Throughout history, the different patterns on American quilts have conveyed all kinds of information. From them, we can tell where a person lived, what region of the world they originated from, or sometimes a story is told in pictures on a quilt. Even today, women still gather to quilt together in a show of friendship and a love for the craft, just like the old days. My sister has tried quilting a few times, and hopefully, her two daughters may one day continue this family tradition.
1.What do we know about quilting?
A.It is a lost traditional craft.
B.It is a major means of making a living in the USA.
C.It is a craft that has become a cultural symbol.
D.It was a way to carry on the American history.
2.What does the author intend to do in paragraph 3?
A.Introduce a new topic for discussion.
B.Summarize the previous paragraphs.
C.Add some background information.
D.Praise the U.S. government’s policy.
3.What does the underlined word “this” in paragraph 4 refer to?
A.Working on the land. B.Participating in “quilting bees”.
C.Clothing the family. D.Designing a quilting project.
4.What can we infer from the last paragraph?
A.Quilting patterns can convey limited information.
B.Quilting can’t meet the need to socialize nowadays.
C.Quilting is not a tradition in the author’s family.
D.The author hopes quilting can be passed on to younger generations.
Crazy-Creative Traditions in Schools
Here are a few schools’ crazy-creative traditions that will probably have you wish to go there so you could celebrate in all the graduation fun. Learn about them all in the below.
Attire (服装) and Flowers at College of Charleston
You fashionista will love this one. During December ceremony, women wear black dresses and men wear black tuxedos (燕尾服). During May ceremony, women wear white dresses and men wear summer tuxedos. It’s also been a tradition since the 1930s to carry flowers onto the stage: women carry bouquets of six red roses in a red bow and men wear a single red rose boutonniere (扣眼). So classy!
Hoop Rolling at Wellesley College
This all-women’s college tradition was originally held on May day, but it’s now held in April. The purpose was to allow students to essentially leave all their worries behind and just participate in some fun games outdoors. Back in the day, it was said that the winner of the hoop rolling race was the first to be married, and in the 1980s she would be the first to be CEO. Nowadays, the winner would be the first to achieve her own happiness…that is, after being thrown into Lake Waban by all her classmates.
Fabric and Green Grad Recycling Program at University of New Hampshire
You’ll absolutely love this tradition. UNH’s vendor provides wrinkle-resistant caps and gowns made of recycled plastic bottles. Graduates then have the opportunity to donate their gowns to be cleaned and reused. Graduates are still able to keep their caps and tassels as keepsakes, all while helping to save the environment. The tradition has become a trend for many universities to follow, such as Husson University and Wake Forest University.
1.Which can you choose if you want to participate in December ceremony?
A.College of Charleston. B.Wellesley College.
C.The University of New Hampshire. D.Husson University.
2.What does Hoop Rolling at Wellesley College aim at enabling the students to do?
A.Be CEO. B.Have fun.
C.Achieve happiness. D.Be married.
3.What are UNH’s caps and gowns made of?
A.Flowers. B.Silk and cotton.
C.Leather. D.Recycled plastic bottles.
听下面一段独白，回答以下小题。
1.Which competition is suitable for the listeners?
A.The high level. B.The middle level. C.The low level.
2.What is the topic for this year?
A.Weather. B.Travel. C.Change.
3.What are the listeners advised to do to get ideas?
A.Ask Maria for help.
B.Read the poem called Rain.
C.Borrow books from the library.
4.What will the school spend the prize money on this year?
A.The library. B.The computers. C.The lab.
听下面一段较长对话，回答以下小题。
1.What kind of people is The Knife and Talk popular with?
A.Truck drivers. B.Actors. C.Office workers.
2.What does the woman like most about the restaurant?
A.Quiet environment. B.Great waitresses. C.Pop music.
3.What does the man say about his favorite restaurant?
A.Its tables are pink. B.It offers great food.
C.It was just opened.
4.What does the man have for lunch?
A.Pancakes. B.Fish pie. C.Sausages.
