There are some very good inventions which， for one reason or another， don’t become popular. These inventions should be better known， even though I think that some of them are crazy. Let’s have a look at some of these inventions and see if you agree that they should be more successful.
The Australians had a great idea to stop people from drinking and driving. The idea was that if a driver wanted to start the car， she or he would have to blow into a bag first. If there was too much alcohol(酒精) in their breath， the car wouldn’t start. It sounded like a great idea to me， but people said that they might need to drive the car in an emergency even if they had drunk too much alcohol. Another idea I liked was an invention by a scientist who thought his children watched too much TV. He linked the TV to an exercise bike so that the electricity to power the TV was generated(产出) by the bike. If the children wanted to watch a lot of TV， they had to pedal(踩踏板) very hard. I found another invention on the Internet which was intended (倾向于) to encourage good habits. Believe it or not， this invention was an ashtray(烟灰缸) which spoke to you when you lit a cigarette! The “voice” of the ashtray was activated (启动) by the heat from the cigarette and reminded you how dangerous it is to smoke.
One of the strangest inventions I have come across is a bicycle which can cross rivers! The idea was that when you came to a river， you could inflate a huge plastic ball all around the bike. You would then get into the ball which would float on the river while you pedaled the bike inside the ball! Why not use a bridge instead? A friend of mine at school once bought a strange pair of football shoes. On the bottom of the shoes there was a rotating pad of studs (转动钉垫). The idea was that you would change direction more quickly if the studs rotated with you. The problem was that every time you stopped you changed direction whether you wanted to or not! I think he wore those shoes twice! One thing I would like is a baseball cap with a built-in radio so you can listen to sport all day with your hands free. While we are on the subject of sport， the Americans invented a kind of robot for sports fans. If you were watching your team on TV on your own， you could press a button and the robot would do “high fives” with you! Fantastic! I wonder if you have any good ideas for inventions like these.
1.What’s the writer’s attitude towards the inventions mentioned in Paragraph 2?
A. The writer regrets he knew nothing about the inventions.
B. The writer wonders if the inventions will be popular soon.
C. The writer thinks people will benefit from the inventions.
D. The writer finds these inventions are the strangest of all.
2.The underlined word “inflate” in the third paragraph means ____________.
A. check out B. blow up C. look into D. turn over
3.What’s the best title for the passage?
A. Popular Inventions Today.
B. Technology and Invention.
C. The History of Invention.
D. Inventions with a Difference.
If you're ever apart from your children， a new study says just talking on the phone will help just as much as a hug (拥抱).
If you're a parent who spends long hours on the job， you probably feel sorry for spending so much time away from your kids. But the results of a new study show that a mother's voice alone can be just as comforting to an anxious child as physical contact (接触).
In an experiment， researchers from the University of Wisconsin Madison asked a group of girls between the ages of 7 and 12 to solve math problems in front of judges — a stressful situation for anyone. Before the girls were set to give their answers， the researchers measured their levels of two hormones(荷尔蒙)：cortisol，which goes up during stressful periods， and oxytocin， the “love” hormone， which goes down at the same time.
After the girls finished the problems， some of them got to meet up with their mothers right away. The moms came in and hugged the girls. Another group of the girls didn't see their mothers， but received phone calls from them， in which their mothers told them how well they'd done. The final group had no contact with their mothers， but instead watched an animal movie， March of the Penguins.
Finally， the girls' hormone levels were measured again. Although the movie was interesting， it did nothing to reduce the children's anxiety—but， surprisingly， both the physical contact and phone calls from their mothers had the same effect on reducing the girls' stress levels.
So， no matter how old you are， if you're feeling stressed about something in your life， a phone call to Mom might be just the key to help you feel better.
1.If a girl is under stress， _______.
A. she can’t solve math problems
B. she will have high levels of hormone
C. oxytocin will remain at a high level
D. cortisol will go up with oxytocin down
2.Which of the following is the right order in which the study was carried out?
a. The girls' levels of hormones were measured again.
b. The girls solved math problems.
c. The girls' levels of hormones were measured.
d. The girls were divided into three groups.
A. b-c-d-a B. d-b-c-a C. c-b-d-a D. d-c-b-a
3.From the passage， we can infer that _______.
A. it is easy for girls to solve math problems
B. the girls who had watched the movie remained anxious
C. mothers should hug their kids as often as possible
D. older girls have higher cortisol than younger ones
4.What’s the main idea of the passage?
A. A mother’s voice can comfort her anxious kids.
B. Mothers should often hug their kids.
C. Mothers should spend enough time caring about their kids.
D. Scientists discovered why kids become stressed when having tests.
Have you learned something about robots? There are all kinds of robots. They are in different shapes. They can do lots of work.
Robot teachers， who are working in elementary schools now， have been very popular with pupils during a project in some South Korean school， a government report said on Thursday.
The elementary school children get on well with the robot teachers. They like the robotic teachers more than the ordinary ones because they never get angry and always kind to the students. The Ministry of Knowledge said.
English teaching robots were sent to three provincial schools for eight weeks starting in late December. There they teach students as teachers. More and more students like studying and the other robot teachers were also sent out. They can teach math， science and art.
The researchers found that the English-teaching robots helped raise interest in the language and helped the students feel more confident.
“Tele-presence” robots are controlled by an English and are equipped with a microphone and video camera. Many people think we can use these robot teachers in the village far away from the cities so that the children in these areas can also get better education.
The government has expressed great interest in robots to give rural school children more learning chances. I think in the future we can see more and more robot teachers working with the students. But I think the robot teachers can’t replace the real teachers. What’s your opinion?
1.Where do these robot teachers work now?
A. In shops. B. In elementary schools
C. In universities. D. In middle schools.
2.Why do school children like the robotic teachers more than the ordinary ones?
A. Because robot teachers are very clever.
B. Because they know much knowledge.
C. Because they are very kind to the students.
D. Because they never feel tired.
3.How long have the English-teaching robots been teaching?
A. Five weeks. B. Six weeks.
C. Seven weeks. D. Eight weeks.
4.From the passage we know that ____________.
A. there will be more robot teachers in schools
B. there will be no human teachers in the future
C. South Korean schools have too many robot teachers
D. there are no teachers in the village far from cities
Take a look at our library! Our library is open to everyone and the library card is free.
Books | ☆ books in 36 languages ☆ information about the world ☆ all kinds of stories ☆ picture books for children ☆ novels – You can enjoy newspapers and magazines in the reading room. – You can borrow two books at a time and keep them for three weeks. |
Videos | ◆ all kinds of video films ◆ music videos ◆ TV plays – You can enjoy yourself and watch your favorite videos at home. – You can rent a video at two yuan for a week. |
Audios | music for everyone language cassettes； 42 world languages – Special rooms for you to enjoy listening. CDs and cassettes can be borrowed – FREE. – You can borrow one CD or one cassette at a time and keep it for two weeks. |
E-books | ● many different kinds of e-books ● e-newspapers and e-magazines – You can browse all the e-books in the computer room – FREE. |
1.How many CDs can you borrow at a time?
A. One. B. Two. C. Three. D. Four.
2.How much should you pay if you keep two videos for a week?
A. Two yuan. B. Three yuan. C. Four yuan. D. Free.
3.What can you do in the computer room?
A. Enjoy music videos. B. Borrow some books.
C. Borrow some CDs D..Enjoy e-books.
4.How long can you keep the books at a time?
A. For a week. B. For three weeks.
C. For two weeks. D. For four weeks
A poor farmer had a friend who was famous for the wonderful apples he grew. One day， his friend gave him a young apple tree and told him to take it home and it.
Seeing the gift， the farmer was very happy， and he thought he would also have a lot of wonderful apples， but when he got home， he felt . He did not know where to plant it. He thought over and over and considered every place he could think of. ， he decided to plant the tree in his woods. There were many high trees with thick leaves in the woods. With those trees around ，no one else could see the young apple tree. He even felt proud of himself for finding so secret a place for the apple tree. Every day he went to take care of the tree， watering it. To his surprise and ， the apple tree didn't grow as well as he expected. It died without sunlight and good soil.
Later the friend asked the farmer why he had planted the tree in such a place. "What's the difference?" the farmer said angrily. "If I had planted the tree near the ， passers-by(行人) would have stolen the fruit. If I had planted the tree in one of my fields， my neighbors would have come at night and some of the apples! If I had planted it near my house， my own children would have taken the fruits. No matter where I plant the tree， I can't have to enjoy the apples： So there is no difference where I planted it."
"Yes，" said the friend. "But sooner or later someone could have enjoyed the fruit. Now you not only have robbed(抢夺) everyone of the fruit， but also have a good apple tree! You don't know the true meaning of 'share'!"
We should learn to in our life. The more you want to own something all by yourself， the less you get at last.
1.A．study B．keep C．plant D．develop
2.A．interested B．worried C．bored D．tired
3.A．Finally B．Generally C．Suddenly D．Recently
4.A．pleasure B．excitement C．disappointment D．disagreement
5.A．poor B．great C．suitable D．comfortable
6.A．park B．river C．hill D．road
7.A．borrowed B．stolen C．chosen D．collected
8.A．rights B．hopes C．chances D．interests
9.A．destroyed B．thrown C．pulled D．won
10.A．wait B．share C．compare D．apologize
—Do you know _____ the work last night?
—At about eleven， I think.
A. when did Mr Li finish B. when Mr Li finished
C. when does Mr Li finish D. when Mr Li finishes
