Supermarkets are trying out new computers that make shopping carts more intelligent(具备智能的). They will help shoppers find paper cups or toilet soap, and keep a record of the bill.
The touch-screen devices(触摸屏装置) are on show at the Food Marketing Institute’s exhibition here this week, “These devices are able to create value and get you around the store quicker,” said Michael Alexander, manager of Springboard Retail Networks Inc., which makes a smart cart computer called the Concierge.
Canadian stores will test the Concierge in July. A similar device, IBM’s “Shopping Buddy”, has recently been test-marketed at Stop & Shop stores in Massachusetts.
Neither device tells you how many fat grams or calories are in your cart, but they will flash you with items on sale. The idea is to make it easier for people to buy, not to have second thoughts that maybe you should put something back on the shelf.
“The whole model is driven by advertisers’ need to get in front of shoppers,” said Alexander. “They’re not watching 30-second TV ads anymore.”
People can use a home computer to make their shopping lists. Once at the store, a shopper can use a preferred customer card to start a system(系统) that will organize the trip around the store. If you’re looking for toothpicks, you type in the word or pick it from a list, and a map will appear on the screen showing where you are and where you can find them.
The device also keeps a record of what you buy. When you’re finished, the device figures out your bill. Then you go to the checker or place your card into a self-checkout stand and pay.
The new computerized shopping assistants don’t come cheap. The Buddy devices will cost the average store about $160,000, and the Concierge will cost stores about $500 for each device.
1. The underlined word “they” (paragraph 1) refers to ______.
A. supermarkets B. shop assistants C. shopping carts D. shop managers
2. Which of the following is the correct order of shopping with computerized shopping carts?
a. Start the system. b. Make a shopping list.
c. Find the things you want. d. Go to a self-checkout stand.
A. abdc B. bacd C. acbd D. bcad
3. We can learn from the last paragraph that ______.
A. intelligent shopping carts cost a large sum of money
B. the Concierge is cheaper than the Buddy devices
C. shop assistants with computer knowledge are well paid
D. average stores prefer the Concierge to the Buddy devices
4. What might be the most suitable title for the text?
A. New age for supermarkets
B. Concierge and Shopping Buddy
C. New computers make shopping carts smarter
D. Touch-screen devices make shopping enjoyable
In the course of working my way through school, I took many jobs I would rather forget. But none of these jobs was as dreadful as my job in an apple plant. The work was hard; the pay was poor; and, most of all, the working conditions were terrible.
First of all, the job made huge demands on my strength. For ten hours a night, I took boxes that rolled down a metal track and piled them onto a truck. Each box contained twelve heavy bottles of apple juice. I once figured out that I was lifting an average of twelve tons of apple juice every night.
I would not have minded the difficulty of the work so much if the pay had not been so poor. I was paid the lowest wage of that time—two dollars an hour. Because of the low pay, I felt eager to get as much as possible. I usually worked twelve hours a night but did not take home much more than $ 100 a week.
But even more than the low pay, what made me unhappy was the working conditions. During work I was limited to two ten-minute breaks and an unpaid half hour for lunch. Most of my time was spent outside loading trucks with those heavy boxes in near-zero-degree temperatures. The steel floors of the trucks were like ice, which made my feet feel like stone. And after the production line shut down at night and most people left, I had to spend two hours alone cleaning the floor.
I stayed on the job for five months, all the while hating the difficulty of the work, the poor money, and the conditions under which I worked. By the time I left, I was determined never to go back there again.
1. Why did the writer have to take many jobs at that time?
A. To pay for his schooling.
B. To save for his future.
C. To support his family
D. To gain some experience
2. The following facts describe the terrible working conditions of the plant EXCEPT ______.
A. loading boxes in the freezing cold
B. having limited time for breaks
C. working and studying at the same time
D. getting no pay for lunch time
3. What is the subject discussed in the text?
A. The writer’s unhappy school life.
B. The writer’s eagerness to earn money.
C. The writer’s experience to earn money.
D. The writer’s hard work in an apple plant.
4. How is the text organized?
A. Topic—Argument—Explanation
B. Opinion—Discussion—Description
C. Main idea—Comparison—Supporting examples
D. Introduction—Supporting examples—Conclusion
Special Bridges Help Animals Cross the Road
——Reported by Sheila Carrick
Why did the chicken cross the road? To get to the other side.
Most people know this joke. But recently, some people have been much more worried about how the grizzly bear and mountain lion can cross the road.
“Millions of animals die each year on U.S. roads,” the Federal Highway Administration reports. In fact, only about 80 ocelots, an endangered wild cat, exist in the U.S. today. The main reason? Roadkill.
“Ecopassages” may help animals cross the road without being hit by cars. They are paths both over and under roads. “These ecopassages can be extremely useful, so that wildlife can avoid road accidents,” said Jodi Hilty of the Wildlife Protection Society.
But do animals actually use the ecopassages? The answer is yes. Paul Beier of Northern Arizona University found foot marks left by mountain lions on an ecopassage that went under a highway. This showed that the lions used the passage.
Builders of ecopassages try to make them look like a natural part of an area by planting trees on and around them. Animals seem to be catching on. Animals as different as salamanders and grizzly bears are using the bridges and underpasses.
The next time you visit a park or drive through an area with a lot of wildlife, look around. You might see an animals overpass!
1. The writer uses the example of “ocelots” to show that ______.
A. wild animals have become more dangerous
B. the driving conditions have improved greatly
C. the measure for protecting wildlife fails to work
D. an increasing number of animals are killed in road accidents
2. From the news story, we know an ecopassage is ______.
A. an underground path for cars
B. a fence built for the safety of the area
C. a bridge for animals to get over a river
D. a pass for animals to cross the road
3. When the writer says that animals seem “to be catching on”, he means ______.
A. animals begin to realize the dangers on the road
B. animals begin to learn to use ecopassages
C. animals are crossing the road in groups
D. animals are increasing in number
4. The writer asks visitors and drivers to look around when traveling because ______.
A. wild animals may attack cars
B. wild animals may jam the road
C. they may see wild animals in the park
D. they may see wild animals on ecopassages
第二部分：阅读理解（第一节20小题，第二节5小题；每小题2分，满分50分）
第一节：阅读下列短文，从每题所给的四个选项（A、B、C和D）中，选出最佳选项，并在答题纸上将该选项标号涂黑。
Compassion is a desire within us to help others. With effort, we can translate compassion into action. An experience last weekend showed me this is true. I work part-time in a supermarket across from a building for the elderly. These old people are our main customers, and it’s not hard to lose patience over their slowness. But last Sunday, one aged gentleman appeared to teach me a valuable lesson. This untidy man walked up to my register(收款机) with a box of biscuits. He said he was out of cash(现金), had just moved into his room, and had nothing in his cupboards. He asked if we could let him have the food on trust. He promised to repay me the next day.
I couldn’t help staring at him. I wondered what kind of person he had been ten or twenty years before, and what he would be like if luck had gone his way. I had a hurt in my heart for this kind of human soul, all alone in the world. I told him that I was sorry, but store rules didn’t allow me to do so. I felt stupid and unkind saying this, but I valued my job.
Just then, another man, standing behind the first, spoke up. If anything, he looked more pitiable. “Charge it to me,” was all he said.
What I had been feeling was pity. Pity is soft and safe and easy. Compassion, on the other hand, is caring in action. I thanked the second man but told him that was not allowed either. Then I reached into my pocket and paid for the biscuits myself. I reached into my pocket because these two men had reached into my heart and taught me compassion.
1. The aged gentleman who wanted to buy the biscuits ______.
A. promised to obey the store rules
B. forgot to take any money with him
C. hoped to have the food first and pay later
D. could not afford anything more expensive
2. Which of the following best describes the old gentleman?
A. kind and lucky B. poor and lonely
C. friendly and helpful D. hurt and disappointed
3. The writer acted upon the store rules because ______.
A. he wanted to keep his present job
B. he felt no pity for the old gentleman
C. he considered the old man dishonest
D. he expected someone else to pay for the old man
4. What does the writer learn from his experience?
A. Wealth is more important than anything else.
B. Helping others is easier said than done.
C. Experience is better gained through practice.
D. Obeying the rules means more than compassion.
第二节：完型填空（共20小题；每小题1.5分，满分30分）
It was raining. I went into a café and asked for a coffee. 21 I was waiting for my drink, I realized there were other people in the place, but I sensed 22 . I saw their bodies, but I couldn’t feel their souls 23 their souls belonged to the 24 .
I stood up and walked between the tables. When I came to the biggest computer, I saw a thin, small man 25 in front of it. “I’m Steve,” he finally answered after I asked him a couple of times what his name was. “I can’t talk with you. I’m 26 ,”he said. He was chatting online and, 27 , he was playing a computer game—a war game. I was 28 .
Why didn’t Steve want to talk with me? I tried 29 to speak to that computer geek(怪人), 30 not a word came out of his mouth. I touched his shoulder, but no reaction(反应). I was 31 . I put my hand in front of the monitor, and he started to shout, “ 32 !”
I took a few steps back, wondering if all those people in the café were looking at me. I 33 , and saw nobody showed any interest.
34 , I realized that the people there were having a nice conversation with their machines, not with people. They were more 35 having a relationship with the 36 , particularly Steve. I wouldn’t want to 37 the future of human beings if they preferred sharing their lives with machines 38 with people.
I was worried and sank in my thoughts. I didn’t even 39 that the coffee was bad, 40 Steve didn’t notice there was a person next to him.
21. A. Before B. Since C. Although D. While
22. A. pain B. loneliness C. sadness D. fear
23. A. because B. when C. until D. unless
24. A. home B. world C. Net D. Café
25. A. sleeping B. laughing C. sitting D. learning
26. A. busy B. thirsty C. tired D. sick
27. A. first of all B. just then C. at the same time D. by that time
28. A. surprised B. delighted C. moved D. frightened
29. A. once B. again C. first D. even
30. A. but B. so C. if D. or
31. A. excited B. respected C. afraid D. unhappy
32. A. Shut up B. Enjoy yourself C. Leave me alone D. Help me out
33. A. walked about B. walked out C. raised my hand D. raised my head
34. A. From then on B. At that moment C. In all D. Above all
35. A. interested in B. tired of C. careful about D. troubled by
36. A. computer B. soul C. shop D. geek
37. A. tell B. plan C. imagine D. design
38. A. other than B. instead of C. except for D. as well as
39. A. pretend B. understand C. insist D. realize
40. A. as if B. just as C. just after D. even though
High way and air transport will have to compete with _____ service for passangers nowadays.
A. good B. better C. best D. the best
