TOKYO, JAPAN--What do you do when you see a cockroach (蟑螂）？ Do you hit it with a newspaper? Do you step on it?
When researchers at Tokyo University see a cockroach, they take the remote control and make the cockroach turn around, run left or right, or go forward. These scientists are changing the cockroaches into robots. Each cockroach has a very small pack that has in it a microprocessor(微处理器）.Then researchers can send signals from the remote control to the pack. The signals control the movements of the cockroaches.
Why does anyone want to control a cockroach? “Insects can do many things that people can’t,” says Isao Shimoyama, head of robot research at Tokyo University. In a few years, he says, these robot insects will carry very small cameras. They will be able to move through earthquake rubble(瓦砾）to look for people or move under doors to find information about someone.
This may seem strange, but the Japanese government thinks the research is very important. The government is giving the scientists $ 5 million for this research.
First, the researchers breed (培育)hundreds of cockroaches. They use only the American cockroach because it is bigger and stronger than other cockroaches. Then they choose the best cockroaches and remove their wings and antennae(触须）. They put small packs where the antennae were. The packs weigh about three grams, or about two times the weight of the cockroaches themselves. “Cockroaches are very strong,” says Ralph Holzer, who is a researcher at Tokyo University. “They can lift 20 times their own weight. ”
With a remote control, the scientists send signals to the packs. When a cockroach gets the signal, it moves. The problem is that the cockroaches don’t always move in the right direction.
1.The scientists are changing the cockroaches into robots because ______.
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A．they want cockroaches to do things people can’t in the future |
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B．they want to control the movements of the cockroaches |
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C．they want cockroaches to take photos of the earthquakes |
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D．they want to send signals to the packs on the cockroaches |
2.What can cockroaches do to help people?
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A．They can lift 20 times their own weight. |
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B．They can help people to carry very small cameras. |
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C．They can breed hundreds of cockroaches. |
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D．They can search for those people in rubble after an earthquake. |
3.Scientists control cockroaches’ movements ______.
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A．by removing their wings |
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B．by sending signals from the remote control |
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C．by using very small cameras |
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D．by removing their antennae |
4.What problem do the rcscarchcrs meet with?
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A．The cockroachcs sometimes clon;t move. |
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B．The cockroachcs sometimes move in ihc wrong direction. |
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C．The cockroachcs arc too big to move through earthquake rubble. |
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D．The cockroachcs can only lift 20 times their own weight. |
In 1901, the citizens of Colorado Springs in the USA decided to collect everyday items and to seal (封住）them in a special box. The box was marked “To be opened after midnight, December 31st, AD 2000”，and was kept in the Colorado College Library.
One hundred years later, on the appointed (约定）day, 300 people gathered to watch the opening of the box. Many in the crowd were the descendants (后代）of people who had placed things inside the box.
When the box was opened after midnight, the things inside the box were in very good condition. There were newspapers, photos, diaries, name cards, family trees, books and lots of letters, including one written by Theodore Roosevelt, who became the President of the USA later that year. One of Roosevelt’s friends lived in Colorado Springs at that time.
Many of the letters were written to their descendants. They describe the hopes that the people of 1901 had for the people of the next century. At that time, Colorado Springs had just a few thousand people. Now nearly half a million people live there.
Colorado College Library has scanned the materials and put them on a website. Cecil Muller, whose grandfather had placed a collection of postcards in the box, said that the time capsule was a great treasure. “This is a wonderful educational resource(资源）. We can learn so much about our history,”he said. “I never knew my grandfather, but now I feel very close to him. ”
1.According to the passage, “time capsule” means ______.
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A．a collection of clocks and watches |
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B．a machine for travelling through time |
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C．a collection of items for people to look at in the future |
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D．a collection of unwanted items |
2.Many of the letters in the time capsule talked about .
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A．the history of the town |
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B．the people who lived in the town |
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C．the politics of the USA |
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D．people’s hopes for the future |
3.Cecil Muller says that the time capsule ______.
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A．helps him to get to know his grandfather |
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B．is worth a lot of money |
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C．brings back his memories of his grandfather |
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D．helps him to remember his younger day |
What would you do if you found a snake in your house? Many people might be afraid or try to kill it. However, if you live in North Carolina in the USA, one thing you can do is to call the Snake Catchers.
The Snake Catchers are four men who love snakes, even poisonous ones. Their newspaper advertisement says, “Snake Catchers： free snake removal(除去）一Please do not kill them — Call us. ”
The Snake Catchers, who started their service in 1998, don’t charge anything for helping people. “We do this as a hobby,” explained Fred Johnson, one of the Snake Catchers.
Because of their love of snakes, the Snake Catchers try to keep them alive. “One man asked us to kill a python(蟒蛇), so he could make a pair of boots from the skin. We refused, because we like snakes, and we don’t want to see them killed, ” said Fred.
Some of the snakes that they catch are kept as pets; some are given to the North Carolina State University. Most, including the poisonous snakes, are set free in the wild, usually in a national park.
Fred suggests that people should treat snakes with care. “Actually snakes are very shy and gentle creatures. They only attack if they are frightened. However, you have to know how to treat a snake properly!”
According to one happy family, the Snake Catchers are good. One day, the Greenwood family found a snake skin in the kitchen. They looked very carefully and saw a snake sleeping behind a cupboard. They thought about what to do. Then Steve Greenwood remembered the advertisement for the Snake Catchers. He called them.
“The Snake Catchers arrived within an hour and they finished the job quickly too,” said Steve Greenwood. “One of them went into the kitchen, found the snake and took it out alive. The Snake Catchers did a very good job.”
Last year, the Snake Catchers removed more than seventy snakes from houses in North Carolina.
1.The Snake Catchers catch snakes because ______.
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A．they want to kill the snakes |
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B．they like trying to catch snakes |
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C．they don’t want people to hurt snakes |
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D．they like eating snakes |
2.When a man asked them to kill a python, the Snake Catchers ______.
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A．made some boots from the skin |
B．were very happy |
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C．gave him some old boots |
D．did not agree |
3.The Snake Catchers set most of the snakes free ______.
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A．in a national park |
B．in a university |
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C．in a garden |
D．in their own houses |
4.According to Fred, ______.
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A．snakes are very dangerous |
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B．people should attack snakes |
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C．snakes are not usually dangerous |
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D．people should run away if they see a snake |
You may not have heard the words “freshman fifteen” before, but they are very important for students who are entering university. A freshman is a first-year college student. “Fifteen” refers to fifteen pounds—the fifteen pounds added to a student’s weight in his or her first year. There are a number of reasons why first-year university students gain (增力n) weight; but it’s encouraging to know that freshmen don’t have to add these harmful fifteen pounds.
Mistakes choosing food
University kitchens serve(供应）many kinds of food. Some students choose unhealthy food，because now their parents are not nearby to help them choose. Some students visit the kitchen many times while studying. Late at night, some students get harmful fast food such as fish and chips with Coke to drink. Students also have less time for walking, running, and doing sports because of their schoolwork.
Eating right
If you，re careful, you don，t have to add fifteen pounds. Here are some ideas：
l Think more about what you eat.
l Eat plenty of vegetables and healthy meats.
l Don’t eat desserts full of sugar； have fruit after dinner.
l Try not to eat so much unhealthy food while you study.
l It，s all right to have a little fast food sometimes—but not often.
l Write down the foods you eat.
l Walk, run, do sports—move and you will feel better!
Remember that the “freshman fifteen” can happen to anyone. Talk to your friends about it. Together, try to eat healthy food and not to eat unhealthy food. Walking, running, and playing sports is always more fun with friends. Help each other and you can have a healthy and happy freshman year.
1.The “freshman fifteen” is ______.
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A．weight that high school students gain |
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B．weight that first-year university students can gain |
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C．fifteen pounds of food that first-year students eat |
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D．fifteen students who eat unhealthy food |
2.The main idea of this reading is to ______.
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A．get students ready to gain fifteen pounds |
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B．sell healthy food to new students |
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C．help new university students not to gain fifteen pounds |
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D．show the mistakes students make in studying |
3.Which of these mistakes students make choosing food is not mentioned in the reading?
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A．Choosing unhealthy food. |
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B．Visiting the kitchen while studying. |
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C．Getting fast food at night. |
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D．Eating too much chocolate. |
4.Which of these ideas would the writer of the reading probably agree with?
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A．You’d better not eat unhealthy food. |
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B．Not eating unhealthy foods is easier with friends’ help. |
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C．Gaining fifteen pounds can help you study better. |
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D．Some students can eat anything they want. |
Is the art of conversation dying? The other day, my wife 16 two teenage children did something we haven’t 17 for ages. It didn’t require the Internet, a TV screen, batteries… or anything else for that matter. But we all 18 it so much we’re thinking of doing it again sometime.
We had a conversation. The kind of real, live conversation that was 19 when I was growing up, but which seems all too rare these days. Today we have chat rooms, text messages, e-mails but we seem to be losing the 20 of communicating face-to-face. We all know 21 young people are out on a date(约会）these days, they spend most of that time 22 their mobile phones. And teenagers nowadays seem to 23 communicating with their friends by sending text messages rather than actually 24 to them.
If we carry on like this，in the future, we’ll lose the use of our 25 . What do you think? E-mail me, and who knows? Maybe we could even have a real conversation about it!
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The film made by ______ Walt Disney all over the world.
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