Motorists used to listening to the radio or their favorite tunes on CDs may have a new way to entertain themselves, after engineers in Japan developed a musical road surface.
The Hokkaido Industrial Research Institute has built a number of “melody roads”, which use cars as tuning forks to play music as they travel.
The concept works by using grooves(凹槽). They are cut at very specific intervals(间隔) in the road surface. The melody road uses the spaces between to create different notes(音符).
Depending on how far apart the grooves are, a car moving over them will produce a series of high or low notes, and designers are able to create a distinct tune.
Patent documents for the design describe it as notches “formed in a road surface so as to play a melody without producing simple sound or rhythm and reproduce melody-like tones”.
There are three musical roads in central and northern Japan---one of which plays the tune of a Japanese pop song. Reports say the system was invented by Shizuo Shinoda. He scraped some markings into a road with a bulldozer(推土机) before driving over them and found that they helped to produce all kinds of tones.
The optimal speed for melody road is 44 kph, but people say it is not always easy to get the intended sound.
“You need to keep the car windows closed to hear well,” wrote one Japanese blogger. “Driving too fast will sound like playing fast forward, while driving around 12 mph (20 kph) has a slow-motion effect, making you almost car-sick.”
59. According to the passage, to create different notes, melody roads use ______.
A. cars B. grooves C. spaces between internals D. bulldozers
60. We can learn from the passage that the highness of notes is dependent on ______.
A. how far the grooves are B. how big the grooves are
C. the number of the grooves D. the speed of the car
61. The underlined word “optimal” in the passage might mean ______.
A. fastest B. possible C. best D. suitable
62. In order to hear the music well, you have to ______.
A. drive very fast B. drive slowly
C. open the window wide D. keep the window closed
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Short Story Contest : Win $8,000 First Prize $5,000 in Cash Writers Creative Writing Correspondence Program offers non-professional authors an opportunity to have a novel, book of short stories, volume of poetry, or a work of creative non-fiction, critiqued(评论) by professors and professionals. Second Prize $2,000 / Third Prize $1,000 |
Short Story Contest Rules
·The contest begins at 9 am Friday, November 29, 2008 and ends at 4 pm Thursday, January 17,2009.
·The contest is open to all residents of Ontario who are at 16 or over, except for employees, judges, and anyone living with any employee of the sponsors or judges.
·The author’s name, address, phone number, and a 25-50-word self-introduction must be included with each entry on a separate sheet of paper. The name of the author should not appear in the story itself.
· Stories must be original and unpublished up to the time the winners are declared on June 23, 2009.
·Stories must be written on a computer or typewriter, be double-spaced and no longer than 2,500 words. Total word count should be printed on the front page of the story.
· No changes to a story are allowed once the Star receives your entry. Manuscripts will not be returned.
· A $5 entry fee must accompany each entry. Cheques or money orders should be made out to the Sunday Star Short Story Contest. Please do not send coins.
·Winners will be informed by telephone between 9 am and 5 pm on June 23, 2009.
·Professors from the writing Centre at Ryerson University will complete the first round of judging. Another group of professional writers will select the final three.
SEND YOUR STORY TO:
SHORT STORY CONTEST, THE SUNDAY STAR ONE YONGE STREET, TORONTO, Ontario M5E1E6
Full contest rules are available at www.the star.com / contests Tel: 416 – 367 – 2000
56. Which of the following is allowed to be written on the front page of the story?
A. The total word count. B. The author’s name.
C. The author’s self-introduction. D. The author’s phone number.
57. From the above advertisement, we can find out ______.
A. the topic of the stories
B. the number of winners
C. the money the sponsors give to the organizer
D. the total number of contestants
58. It can be learned from the passage that ______.
A. Winners will get a book of short stories besides the money
B. Citizens over 16 living in Ontario can compete in the contest
C. Contestants should send printed stories to the organizer
D. Professors from universities will decide the winners
James’s New Bicycle
James shook his money box again. Nothing! He carefully __36__ the coins that lay on the bed.
$24.52 was all that he had. The bicycle he wanted was at least $90! __37__ on earth was he going to get the __38__ of the money?
He knew that his friends all had bicycles. It was __39__ to hang around with people when you were the only one without wheels. He thought about what he could do. There was no __40__ asking his parents, for he knew they had no money to __41__.
There was only one way to get the money, and that was to __42__ it. He would have to find a job. __43__ who would hire him and what could he do? He decided to ask Mr. Clay for advice, who usually had __44__ on most things.
“Well, you can start right here,” said Mr. Clay. “My windows need cleaning and my car needs washing.”
That was the __45__ of James’s odd-job business. For three months he worked every day after finishing his homework. He was amazed by the __46__ of jobs that people found for him to do. He took dogs and babies for walks, cleared out cupboards, and mended books. He lost count of the __47__ of cars he washed and windows he cleaned, but the __48__ increased and he knew that he would soon have __49__ for the bicycle he longed for.
The day __50__ came when James counted his money and found $94.32. He __51__ no time and went down to the shop to pick up the bicycle he wanted. He rode __52__ home, looking forward to showing his new bicycle to his friends. It had been hard __53__ for the money, but James knew that he valued his bicycle far more __54__ he had bought it with his own money. He had __55__ what he thought was impossible, and that was worth even than the bicycle.
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36. A. cleaned 37. A. How 38. A. amount 39. A. brave 40. A. point 41. A. split 42. A. borrow 43. A. Or 44. A. decisions 45. A. beginning 46. A. similarity 47. A. brand 48. A. effort 49. A. all 50. A. finally 51. A. gave 52. A. patiently 53. A. applying 54. A. since 55. A. deserved |
B. covered B. Why B. part B. hard B. reason B. spend B. earn B. So B. experience B. introduction B. quality B. number B. pressure B. enough B. instantly B. left B. proudly B. asking B. if B. benefited |
C. counted C. Who C. sum C. smart C. result C. spare C. raise C. For C. opinions C. requirement C. suitability C. size C. money C. much C. normally C. took C. silently C. looking C. than C. achieved |
D. checked D. What D. rest D. unfair D. right D. save D. collect D. But D. knowledge D. opening D. variety D. type D. trouble D. some D. regularly D. wasted D. tiredly D. working D. though D. learned |
---Well, it’s been fun talking with you. Thank you for your time.
---______.
|
A．With pleasure. |
B．It depends. |
C．That’s right. |
D．You’re welcome. |
He put a finger in his mouth, ______ it and smiled, ______ rather pleased.
|
A．tasting; looking |
B．tasted; looking |
C．tasted; looked |
D．tasting; looked |
We are bent on reforming our teaching, because what we have done is far from ______.
|
A．satisfaction |
B．satisfied |
C．satisfy |
D．satisfactory |
