Driving while talking on a hand-held mobile phone has long been considered a danger. But even drivers who use hands free devices are a nuisance – because they are slowing everyone else down, according to a study.
David Strayer, a psychology professor in Utah University’s traffic lab, conducted a study involving 36 university students driving on motorways. Each used a hands free phone for half the trip but not for the other half. The students were told to obey posted speed limits and use turn signals but the rest of the driving decisions were up to them . What Strayer found is that when the drivers were distracted（使分心）by a phone conversation , they made fewer lane（车道） changes, drove slower and took longer to get where they were going. Fellow researcher Professor Peter Martin, who teaches civil and environmental engineering at Utat University, said,“Ordinarily a slower driver should be safer ， but that’s not the case when people are talking on a cell phone.”
In general , drivers who used mobile phones while driving took three percent longer to drive along the same high-density route than drivers who didn’t. When stuck behind a dawdling(磨蹭的) driver , it took them between 25 and 50 seconds longer to switch to an open lane to overtake. Those delays can add up when you consider studies that suggest as many as 10 percent of US drivers are using a cell phone at any one time. And delays in traffic streams of very small amounts can grow into massively when drivers are crossing a highway.” Our next step is to use computer models to determine just how much those delays are costing drivers in time and in extra fuel costs,” Martrin said.
1.What does the underlined word in the first paragraph mean?
A. A person who is a volunteer. B. A person who breaks the traffic law
C. A person who is annoyed by others. D. A person who causes trouble
2.Which of the following is TRUE , according to Martin?
A. The more slowly a person drove, the safer he was.
B. Measures should be taken to stop using mobile phones.
C. Drivers using hand-held phones had less effect on traffic than those using hands free phones
D. Driving while using mobile phones could cost drivers time and money.
3.The passage is mainly about .
A. traffic conditions in rush hours
B. the use of mobile phones in the USA
C. using hands free devices behind the wheel
D. a comparison between hand-held phones and hands free ones
There are robots all around us. Some do very complicated jobs like flying airplanes and driving subway trains. And some do one simple job. When an automatic washing machine is switched on , water pours in. The machine waits until the water is warm enough for washing clothes. It does this by “feedback(反馈)” . Information about what is happening is feedback into the robot to tell what to do next. Our eyes, ears and other senses are our feedback. They tell us what is going on around us . So robots are like human beings in two ways.
They work and they have feedback.
In some ways robots are better than human beings. They work quickly and do not make mistakes. They do not get bored doing the same job over and over again. And they never get tired. So robots are very useful in factories. They can be taught to do many different jobs. First their electronic brain must be shown how the job is done, A person moves the robot’s “arms” and “hands” through each part of the job.
The most intelligent robots can move and see. Their eyes are cameras. Their fingers can feel shapes and sizes of the objects. These robots have computer brains linked to their eyes and fingers, which control their actions. The expensive robots are used in scientific research. They do such jobs as handling radioactive materials.
1.In this passage the author tells us that .
A. robots are very popular B. there are various kinds of robots
C. we see robots only at certain times D. robots can be easily controlled
2.What does the author seem to inform you about robots?
A. They should be greatly improved
B. They will probably take over in the future
C. They are very hopeful and useful to humans
D. They are machines that break down a lot
3.The author says that in industry .
A. robots break down a lot B. robots can do many jobs
C. robots only get in the way D. robots sometimes cause troubles
4.The fact that a robot never gets bored doing the same job means that .
A. it is very much like human beings B. it can do boring jobs for people
C. it will never bore people D. it will work much better than human beings
I was born in Mississippi in the 1960s. My disabilities were caused by lack of oxygen to my brain when I was a five-year-old boy. I grew up knowing I was different. The first time I felt hurt and left out was in Grade Five. The other fourth and fifth graders played together in gym class, while I was put in the second grade gym class. One day, a famous football player visited the fourth and fifth grade P.E. class. All the kids got his autograph except me because I was with the second graders playing games. Mom called the school to tell them it wasn’t fair, but the school scolded me for complaining too much.
In the 1980s, when my mom was giving birth to my sister, she had made a major stroke（中风）and died. My dad became even more distant. I was very sad and began using alcohol to ease the pain.
Dad got remarried in 1985. Everyone went to his wedding except me; he told me to stay at home and watch the house. When my high school ball came around, I wanted to go but wasn’t allowed. When I graduated, my dad and step-mom refused to hold a party for me. They put me in a group home after graduation.
My life changed when I became a local leader of the National Self-advocacy（自我辩护）Group. At first, I thought the group wasn’t for me, until I found out it was all about empowerment（授权）! My goal is to be the voice for people who haven’t been heard and to empower them. Many families, like mine, don’t believe their disabled families have a voice or mind of their own.
Looking back over my 16 years of leadership experience, I ’m proud that I ’ve helped disabled people. They should be encouraged to never give up and to follow their own path.
1.When the writer was in the fifth grade, he .
A. was hurt by his classmates in school
B. felt left out for the first time in his life
C. studied with the second graders
D. often complained about the school
2.According to the passage, the writer .
A. was born disabled B. didn’t study well at school
C. was happy in his childhood D. didn’t get along well with his father
3.From the passage we can know that the National Self-advocacy Group is .
A. an organization that gives disabled people help
B. a club organized completely by disabled people
C. a hospital which only treats people with disabilities
D. a school that teaches parents how to deal with their disabled kids
Are you carrying too much on your back at school? Lots of kids at the same age as you are. Not only are students in China ___1___ from this problem, but kids in the United States are ___2___ fed up with（饱受…之苦） heavy school bags.
Experts are starting to___3___ that more and more young students are having back and neck problems as a result of school bags ___4___ too heavy for them. “It’s hard for me to get up the___5___ with my bag because it’s so heavy,” said Rich Hammond, ___6___ 11-year-old student in the US. Rick is among the students who have ___7___ backpacks with two straps (带子) to carry them, ___8___ a number of other students choose rolling backpacks. However, even with rolling backpacks, ___9___ up stairs and buses with them is ___10___ a problem for kids. Many of them have hurt their knees, backs or necks because of heavy school bags.
But how much is too ___11___? Experts say students should carry ___12___ more than 10 to 15 per cent of their own body weight. Scott Bautch, a Wisconsin ___13___ doctor, said kids under 4th grade should ___14___ with 10 per cent. But it’s also important that older kids don’t go ___15___ 15 percent, because their bones are still growing. Bautch explained that there are other injuries caused by backpacks. “Kids are ___16___ their balance and falling down with these backpacks,” he said．
Parents and teachers are starting to tell the kids to only take ___17___ library books they will be reading that night. Some teachers are using worksheets (作业纸) or ___18___ workbooks for students to take home. One of the best answers is, as some ___19___ themselves suggested, to have no homework ___20___!
1.A．meeting B．facing C．experiencing D．suffering
2.A．already B．always C．yet D．also
3.A．explain B．say C．worry D．announce
4.A．being B．be C．are D．is
5.A．schools B．stairs C．houses D．homes
6.A．this B．that C．a D．an
7.A．special B．unusual C．ordinary D．regular
8.A．when B．but C．then D．and
9.A. getting B．climbing C．going D．turning
10.A．only B．still C．even D．just
11.A．more B．very C．much D．many
12.A．no B．not C．any D．much
13.A．children B．student C．bag D．back
14.A．carry B．stay C．take D．bring
15.A．about B．under C．beyond D．before
16.A．keeping B．missing C．losing D．making
17.A．home B．class C．school D．city
18.A．valuable B．thin C．important D．interesting
19.A．reports B．teachers C．parents D．kids
20.A．at all B．after all C．in all D．for all
The storm left, _________ a lot of damage to this area.
A. caused B. to have caused C. to cause D. having caused
After a 3-month drought, the rain _______ a good crop this year.
A. brought B. managed C. made D. guaranteed
