[素材选自21st CENTURY READING Book 1]
新型机器人
Nexi is one of a new generation of robots. It moves on wheels and can pick up objects. But robots like Nexi are more than just entertaining toys.
Nexi, a social robot created by scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology(MIT), can express human emotions. Roboticists at MIT call Nexi a “social robot”. 1. Nexi can look sad, mad, and even bored. Some social robots can also “read” our facial expressions.
2. Autom is a robot health coach. It has a screen where you enter information about what food you ate that day or how much you exercised. Autom has a face with eyes that move. 3. Autom gives you advice about your diet and exercise and drives you to do better.
In a test, Autom helped people lose weight better than other ways of recording diet information. Breazeal thinks it's because Autom used facial expressions and words of encouragement. In other words, Autom communicated like a real person. In fact, many people who used Autom gave the robot a new name and talked to it. 4.
In the future, humans may communicate with social robots just like they do with other people. 5. Let's wait and see what will happen in the future!
Word Bank
entertaining 有趣的 synthesized 合成的
A.It speaks with a synthesized voice.
B.Autom is another social robot developed at MIT.
C.A social robot is a robot that can communicate like a human.
D.The robot of the future will be not just a machine; it may also be your coach, helper, or friend.
E.When robots use human expressions and body language, people reply to them like they reply to people.
Have you ever heard of Liu Hong? She was among the world's top race walkers in the summer of 2015. 1. few people knew about her before. Liu used to be a runner when she was 15. She ran very well at that time. As a result, walking coach Sun Li'an thought highly 2. her for her ability and took her in as a student. In 2010, Liu won her second Asian Championship gold medal. Again in 2012, she won the World Race Walking Challenge event in Taicang in a personal best result of 1: 25: 46 3. break Asian 20km record of 1: 26: 22. However,4. is unfortunate that Liu placed fourth at the 2012 London Olympics. After that, Liu Hong trained much harder and won the record back in 2015.5. an excellent person she was! Why not learn from her to be more energetic?
Basketball can be fun, or it can be trouble. People gather around a ball, but their reactions often go _____ the object.
It was a terribly hot summer day when the group of us _____ on the basketball court. Silently, we teamed up and played, as always. The sun was a big "squeezer", as it not only squeezed out of us sweat and _____, but also our unhappy feelings. Body contact became more and more often, and we could all _____ the attacks of elbows. After another round of game, one of the players and I fell to the ground at the same time. From his burning eyeballs, I could see a _____ was almost unavoidable.
It suddenly came to me that my tins of Cola were lying on the ground, about an inch away from me. "Buddy, hot down here. What about a _____?" I said to him._____ I rolled one to him, looking at him in the eyes with my most sincere facial expression. "I guess I'm quite fine. Lucky no _____ bones or we'll end up in the hospital!" I said.
Other players watching nearby all laughed. I could clearly see some movement on his face. My _____ did work! He picked the Cola up, tried _____ it, and walked over. As he passed by my side, he _____ his left hand, and smiled at me. I smiled back, took his hand, and gave him a _____ shake.
A gentle wind caught me on the face _____ I returned to the basketball court. The sun continued to provide _____ for us. What could be better than a group of school students _____ basketball skills on a warm, sunny afternoon?
1.A.towards B.about C.beyond D.for
2.A.appeared B.jumped C.came D.returned
3.A.time B.energy C.health D.pride
4.A.accept B.afford C.smell D.feel
5.A.match B.fight C.touch D.risk
6.A.game B.talk C.drink D.ball
7.A.Angrily B.Wisely C.Loudly D.Carefully
8.A.lazy B.hidden C.medical D.broken
9.A.humor B.chance C.advice D.trust
10.A.open B.to open C.opening D.opened
11.A.looked at B.thought of C.put away D.held out
12.A.light B.strong C.heavy D.sudden
13.A.since B.if C.before D.as
14.A.worry B.warmth C.stress D.peace
15.A.protecting B.encouraging C.communicating D.comparing
Playing video games and getting money for it seems like a dream job for many of today's teenagers. But is it all fun and games?
Big business
1. In 2017, there were more than 3,000 gaming competitions and over 10,000 professional players worldwide. A large number of people watch their competitions online, and successful gamers can get more than 1,000,000 dollars from prize money and ads.2.
What it takes
Becoming a professional is not just about being good at playing games—it also takes a lot of hard work.3. "You need to spend much time and put all your efforts to it", says exgamer George.
Not all fun and games
It can be a difficult job as well.4. Tiredness is another, and injuries are common.5.Careers are short, and many gamers retire before they are 30 and try to find another job.
However, the bad points probably won't change the dreams of many teenage gamers. And angry parents are still likely to hear the excuse, "But I'm just practicing for my future job!"
A.The industry is clearly thriving.
B.Stress is a big problem for gamers.
C.Pro(professional) gaming is certainly big business.
D.Some pro gamers practice for fourteen hours a day.
E.Top player Hai Lam had wrist problems after years of pro gaming.
阅读短文，根据语篇要求填空，使短文通顺、意思完整。每空限填一词。
Do you like doing sports? I like playing table tennis very much. I joined our school's table tennis team last year.At1. I played table tennis to keep fit. Now I hope I can become an excellent table player in the future.
Last Saturday, we played table tennis with students 2. came from a famous school. I was chosen by our coach to play the first game. I felt excited but nervous. My teammates cheered me up 3. the match began. Their words made me feel warm. I told myself I 4. win the game. Unfortunately, I failed in the first game. But my teammates 5. blame me. They all came to encourage me. I followed their advice and tried hard to play the game. Finally I became the hero of this field. My teammates are the backbone of my success.
Word Ban k
Blame 责备 backbone 支柱
Have you ever eaten a dandelion? Me neither. Have you ever blown it to make a wish? Me, too.
“Time to pick dandelions, Athena.”Mum opened the car door and I entered with a _____. My hometown is in Greece, where dandelions are _____ on the menu. But I didn't eat dandelions.
Why did I have to _____ them with my family every spring?
Then I said goodbye to my new friend Brigid, whose family had _____ moved in our neighborhood in New York. I was _____ Brigid didn't ask where we were going. Nobody in America ate dandelions. I always worried that _____ would notice us picking dandelions.
We _____ into a wild field. Hundreds of lively yellow flowers appeared everywhere. Then we stopped our _____. Dad went over to cut dandelions and put them in his bag. But I just hid in the book. “Why do we eat dandelions？” I asked. “The best food in the world，” Dad answered, shaking a handful of greens. _____ we were ready to leave, we had enough dandelions. On the way home, Mum and Dad talked about hosting a dinner party for the new neighbors to try our ______ Greek food.
The night of the party, Brigid arrived with her parents. Mum served them different Greek foods. Our ______ ate everything. Finally came the dandelions. “Wait！” I said to Brigid. But it was too ______．“You ate the dandelions！” I told her. We both ______， and she ate another bite. “Not bad，” she said.
Mum was smiling at us. After ______， Brigid and I went to the backyard and lay on the grass. The stars reminded me of dandelions in the soft field. I closed my eyes and made a ______： to be as openminded as my family and my new friend.
Word Bank
Dandelion 蒲公英
1.A.pencil B.book C.schoolbag D.note
2.A.often B.never C.always D.hardly
3.A.pick B.plant C.watch D.water
4.A.quickly B.quietly C.finally D.recently
5.A.sad B.glad C.proud D.worried
6.A.anyone B.someone C.everyone D.no one
7.A.ran B.flew C.drove D.walked
8.A.car B.work C.talk D.test
9.A.When B.Since C.Unless D.Although
10.A.delicious B.healthy C.expensive D.traditional
11.A.guests B.doctors C.parents D.teachers
12.A.late B.early C.lucky D.slow
13.A.nodded B.shook C.laughed D.greeted
14.A.lunch B.dinner C.breakfast D.food
15.A.wish B.report C.speech D.role
