Saya, the teacher doesn’t mind being pinched(掐), or if the students play in class: she’s a robot designed to show children that science and technology can be fun subjects．
Saya, a life – like female who started her career as a robot receptionist at Japanese companies and was then reprogrammed to teach, gave a lesson to fifth – graders at Tokyo’s Kudan Elementary School after being carried to the podium in the classroom．
Professor Hiroshi Kobayashi, who built Saya, says she’s not meant to replace human teachers, but to bring the joy of technology to children. “We’re not looking at making something that will take over from teachers. Our main reason for building this robot is to use new technology to teach children about technology,” he said. “But Saya may be able to help in schools where there’s a shortage of teachers,” he added. “In the countryside and in some small schools, children don’t have the chance to come into contact with new technology and also few teachers there can teach these lessons．So we hoped to be able to develop this robot to be remotely controlled to teach these classes.”
Many of the children were attracted by Saya, and didn’t take their eyes off her throughout the lecture. When class was over, some students pinched her. “ It’s so much more fun than regular classes,” said10 – year – old Nanako Iijima．
The children’s human teacher, however, was not as impressed with the robot as her students. “I am impressed that they’ve got robots to go this far, but on the other hand they still have a long way to go before they can make it a truly robotic teacher.” Akito Fukuda, the school’s science teacher said．
Japan, home to almost half of the world’s 800,000 industrial robots, expects the industry to expand to $10 billion in the future including models that will be able to care for its fast – growing elderly population．
1.Saya was first designed to ．
A．be touched by students B．teach children about science
C．work as a robot receptionist D．work together with scientists
2.The underlined word “podium” in Paragraph 2 probably means “ ”.
A．a surface for teachers to stand on B．a board for teachers to write on
C．a toy for students to play with D．a video for students to watch
3.What can we learn from Paragraph 3?
A．Saya needn’t be remotely controlled while having classes.
B．Robots like Saya will replace human teachers in the future.
C．Some children in the countryside know little about new technology.
D．It’s difficult for most Japanese teachers to teach children about technology.
4.Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the passage?
A．Saya is the first life – like female robot in history.
B．Robots like Saya will replace human teachers in the future.
C．Some children in the countryside know little about new technology.
D．It’s difficult for most Japanese teachers to teach children about technology.
5.In which section of a newspaper can you find this passage?
A．Entertainment. B．Technology. C．Politics. D．Opinion.
Research by Scotland Yard published in a London newspaper, has proven that knife crime in London is a serious non – white phenomenon, with 165 of the 225 under- 18s accused of knife crime in the past three months being from the black or other non – white groups．
According to Scotland Yard, only 60 of the 225 crimes were white．Despite being a small minority of the knife holding criminals, whites did, however, make up the single largest group of victims of knife crime．
According to the Scotland Yard report, whites made up 222 of the 637 victims of knife crime over the last three months．This number could probably be higher, as 292 victims were not identified by race．
This month Scotland Yard Deputy Commissioner Sir Paul Stephenson suggested knife crime has replaced drug selling as the top concern for London police．
Sir Paul said so as he announced a specialist knife crime unit to deal with teenagers carrying knives in the capital．It will use a team of 75 specialist officers to find criminal group members and their supporters．
Detective Inspector, George Rhoden, president of the National Organisation of Black Law Enforcement Executives said, “In the black community we have all noticed that there is major concern about gun and knife crime．Clearly we are not the only part of the community affected by the problem of children who have no fathers, but parental responsibility should be of major concern.”
Around 59 percent of black Caribbean children and 54 percent of mixed – race youngsters are looked after by a parent．In the white British population, the number is 22 percent．
1.From the above, we can see that in knife crimes in London．
A．there are more whites than Asians as victims
B．there are more blacks than whites as victims
C．Asians make up the smallest group of criminals
D．blacks make up the second largest group of criminals
2.What Sir Paul Stephenson said suggests that ．
A．drug selling has replaced knife crime as the top concern for London police
B．drug selling had been the top concern for London police in the past
C．knife crime used to be the top concern for London police
D．London police now pay no attention to drug selling
3.Whatmeasurehasthegovernmenttakentodealwiththeproblemofknifecrime?
A．Punishing the parents of teenagers carrying knives．
B．Arresting the teenagers carrying knives．
C．Forming a specialist knife crime unit．
D．Fining the teenagers carrying knives．
4.According to George Rhoden, which of the following factors contributes to so many young blacks turning to crime?
A．That they are poorly educated．
B．That they are influenced by their fathers．
C．That many of them come from incomplete families．
D．That their parents are too busy to take care of them．
5.Whichofthefollowingwordscanbeusedtofillintheblankinthelastparagraphy?
A．lone B．loving C．busy D．lazy
Father Maurice Chase used a special way to celebrate his 90th birthday. The Catholic priest took $ 15,000 in cash to Los Angeles’ Skid Row (贫民区) and gave it away. Twenty wheelchair – bound people received $100 bills, while the rest received $1to $ 3 each．
“I come out here to tell them that God loves them and I love them and that some one is concerned about them,” Chase said．
Chase has given away cash and blessings every Sunday at the same corner for 24 years．Several hundred people wait for him every week．
He makes a point of coming on Thanksgiving and Christmas, too, but this is the first year he spent his birthday in the downtown neighborhood where people live mainly in shelters and on dirty sidewalks．
“ It’s the place that makes me the happiest．I just love it,” said Chase. “I look forward to coming here.”
The money comes from donations he receives from rich and famous people he met during his work as assistant to the president of Loyola Marymount University．
The crowd broke into choruses of “Happy Birthday” several times. Some people presented him birthday cards, to his delight．
Travis Kemp, a 51 – year – old disabled man with long black hair, was one of the lucky 20 to receive $ 100. He said he had no special plans for spending the money. “He has a lot of respect from me,” Kemp said. “I know I couldn’t do it.”
1.On his 90 th birthday, Chase ．
A．handed out cash to the needy
B．collected money for poor people
C．visited poor people’s homes with gifts
D．held a party at Los Angeles’ Skid Row
2.Which of the following makes Chase feel the happiest?
A．Celebrating his birthday with his neighbours．
B．Working in Loyola Marymount University．
C．Celebrating Christmas with the people he has helped．
D．Going to Los Angeles’ Skid Row to help people there．
3.What’s the source of the money Chase used to help people?
A．All his savings．
B．His earnings as a Catholic priest．
C．Donations from the wealthy and celebrities．
D．Donations from Loyola Marymount University．
4.Travis Kemp is mentioned in the text to show ．
A．he was the luckiest person on that day
B．the disabled need to be taken care of
C．Chase is greatly appreciated by the needy
D．even old people came to celebrate Chase’s birthday
5.Which statement is CORRECT according to the passage?
A．Every recipient could get $100 in cash from Father Maurice Chase．
B．Father Maurice Chase gave the cash away not only on his birthday but also on other occasions．
C．Although Father Maurice Chase gave the cash away on his birthday, he didn’t receive anything in return．
D．Father Maurice Chase earned a lot of money as assistant to the president of Loyola Marymount University．
Directions: Complete the following passage by filling in each blank with one word that best fits the context．
My speech pathology (病理学) practice used to be successful．But by last year, 1.people wanted to join in such practice. Icutmyownpayby20percent 2.I didn’t want to let any of my staff go. My husband3.to find a job, too.
We have114.in all．Although our oldest four are already on their own, we couldn’t live on anything less than what we were making．We’ve always been interested in food safety and in teaching the kids 5.their food comes from．We love fresh vegetables from small farms．6..
We began with two pigs．A local farmer suggested we get hens because there was a market for fresh eggs, so we got more animals. We were excited 7.also nervous. What if no one bought anything from our farm?
But people did buy. The farmer who sells eggs to his customers buys about 20 dozen a week from us. At farmers’ markets, we sell out our eggs completely, earning $250 to $500 in a day．I once spent $160 a week 8.food; now I spend just $ 40 to $50 a week．
Directions: For each blank in the following passage there are four words or phrases marked A,B,C and D．Fill in each blank with word or phrases that best fits the context．
Rosa Laevigata, the official name of Cherokee Rose, is the state flower of Georgia． 1,it is not native to Georgia, having been naturalized from China．However, Cherokee Rose is a wonderful rose with a good story 2its introduction．
The story started with the Trail of Tears in 1838. the mothers of the Cherokece were 3and crying so much, because they were unable to help their children survive the 4. The elders prayed for a sign that would lift the mothers’ spirits to give them 5. The next day a beautiful rose began to grow where each of the mothers’ tears 6. The rose is white for their 7, a gold center 8the gold taken from Cherokee lands, and seven leaves on each stem for the seven Cherokee clans (部落). The wild Cherokee Rose grows 9the route of the Trail of Tears into eastern Oklahoma today. Certainly, it is a 10tale, but there is more to the story. Thomas Affleck sold huge numbers of Rosa Laevigata to large homesteads and plantations, 11the rose as a fence. The Cherokee Rose naturalized successfully and is now a common sight blooming in the South during spring.
Cherokee Rose is often confused with Rosa Bracteata (Macartney Rose) which is 12in form, but is so easy to overspread that biologists place it in the category of pest．Macartney Rose flowers in summer, while the Cherokee Rose flowers in spring．
Cherokee Rose is a climber which blooms once a year, bearing large, white flowers, each with five petals (花瓣)．It is energetic, climbing upwards of 20 feet．
Make sure that you have plenty of room for this historic, yet non – native and thus thankfully, non – invasive rose．
(＊homestead: n. a house with the land and buildings around it, especially a farm
＊plantation : n. a large area of land, where crops such as coffee, sugar, rubber, etc. are grown)
1.A．However B．Thus C．So D．Occasionally
2.A．exhibiting B．surrounding C．telling D．drafting
3.A．prejudiced B．supreme C．sorrowful D．disturbing
4.A．trend B．voyage C．slavery D．journey
5.A．strength B．torture C．privilege D．fame
6.A．fell B．trembled C．floated D．stuck
7.A．crime B．trail C．debts D．tears
8.A．resists B．represents C．repeats D．shows
9.A．below B．in C．along D．under
10.A．abstract B．moving C．loving D．terrifying
11.A．constituting B．composing C．recommending D．reserving
12.A．similar B．familiar C．different D．interesting
If carefully, the experiment will be successful．
A．do B．does C．done D．doing
