Facebook has taken over a start-up named CTRL-Labs, which is developing devices that can pick up electrical signals from the brain and transmit them to a computer. CTRL-Labs has designed a wristband that can identify the signals the brain sends to the hand telling it to move, and decode (解码) them. It could then transmit that command — for example, to press a button — to a computer or other devices.
It also captures (捕捉) your intention”, said Facebook VR president Andrew Bosworth. “So you can share a photo with a friend using an imperceptible (极细微的) movement or just by, well, intending to,” he said in a post on his personal Facebook page.
Facebook has not confirmed a report by CNBC which claimed that the deal was worth between $500 m and $ l bn (£0.4bn and £0.8bn).). Mr Bosworth said he hoped the CTRL-Labs team would help Facebook to “build this kind of technology, at scale and get it into consumer products faster”.
There was a mixed response to the news.
“Facebook needd to leave us alone. Step away from our lives more.” tweeted tech commentator Azeem Azhar.
“I’m very curious to see what the response is from regulators here,” wrote an analyst Fatemeh Khatibloo.
Underneath Andrew Bosworth’s Facebook post, Josh Chan, founder of an educational app, said the news was exciting.
“As an educator, I’m imagining how this could transform how we all learn,” he said.
Facebook implied it would be some time before the product came to market. “The CTRL-Labs technology is an innovative input that Facebook hopes will be used to significantly improve the upcoming Facebook VR experiences a few years down the road to fundamentally improve the user experience.” it said.
Facebook may have more to say about the new acquisition on Wednesday at its annual VR headset event, which the firm purchased in 2014 for around $2bn.
1.What does the underlined sentence imply?
A.Facebook should not affect people’s lives any more.
B.Facebook should get less involved in people’s lives.
C.Facebook should be less concerned about people’s lives.
D.People’s lives have been totally disturbed by Facebook.
2.What is the author’s attitude towards CTRL-Labs?
A.Positive. B.Negative. C.Objective. D.Indifferent.
3.What does the passage mainly talk about?
A.The acquisition of a start-up company that has designed a fancy wristband.
B.The design of a high-tech product that can greatly affect people’s lives.
C.The development of a wristband that can capture users’ intentions.
D.The purchase of a start-up company that is developing a mind-reading product.
Mid-Autumn Festival is the second grandest festival in China after Chinese New Year. It’s a time when families come together to appreciate the full moon and eat mooncakes during the festival. In fact, besides these two traditions, there are many others.
1. Watching the tide
In ancient times, watching the tide on the Qiantang River in East China’s Zhejiang province was another grand event of Mid-Autumn Festival. It has been recorded in detail since the Han Dynasty (206 BC-220). Many famous ancient poets, like Su Shi in the Song Dynasty (960-1279) wrote about the grand occasion in their poems.
2. Making colorful lanterns
On the night of the Mid-Autumn Festival, people usually make colorful lanterns to decorate th beautiful night. They also make Kongming lanterns, which can fly because the burning candles h t the air in the lanterns. Children write good wishes on the lanterns and let them fly up into the sky.
3. Burning pagodas (佛塔)
When night falls, people gather together in an empty place, and pick up broken bricks and tiles to pile up several pagodas. The pagodas are hollow and are filled with firewood. Then the firewood in the pagodas is lit, and the red flames rise and sparks explode, through which people express the joy of harvest in autumn.
4. Stealing vegetables
Among the Dong ethnic group in Central China’s Hunan province, it is the custom for young ladies to steal vegetables on Mid-Autumn Festival night. Whoever eats vegetables with sweet dew on this night will be healthy and happy. Also, women and girls express their adoration to their favorite young men by this way.
5. Drinking osmanthus-flavored wine
Osmanthus-flavored wine is a gift during this season. Drinking Osmanthus fragrance wine at Mid-Autumn Festival implies sweetness, wealth and luck, and prosperity of the family.
People gather together to appreciate the moon, on which Wu Gang, who chases Chang’e, is cutting a sweet-scented osmanthus tree outside the Moon Palace, according to a legend. They drink the sweet osmanthus-flavored wine to echo the festival atmosphere.
1.What do people usually do during Mid-Autumn Festival?
A.People in Hunan province steal vegetables on Mid-Autumn Festival night.
B.People drink Osmanthus fragrance wine to appreciate the moon and honor Chang'e.
C.People make Kongming lanterns to express good wishes and the joy of harvest in autumn.
D.People watch the tide on the Qiantang River, which dates back to the Han Dynasty.
2.Which column of a magazine does this article probably belong to?
A.Science. B.Culture. C.Advertisement. D.History.
As children enter and move through their school years, they become increasingly able to manage matters like homework and school projects on their own. _______, each year they should take on more responsibilities in the classroom and at home. These daily chores (家务) and responsibilities are an important part of learning that life requires _______, not just play.
Normally, of course, children are still single-minded with their _______ to have fun. While they may join in, particularly if _______ gives them time with their parents, children are not _______ to ask for household tasks, and parents often need to assign responsibilities as part of _______ to the family. At this age, many children find it difficult to _______ their chores, at least initially. Responsibility and initiative (积极性) are learned through a _______ process of guidance and reward.
As your own child takes on more responsibilities, he or she will probably have periods of acting _______, procrastinating(拖延) and dawdling (懒散). Most children do. During these times, parents need to step in and, with encouragement and gentle guidance, point him in the ________ direction.
Sometimes parents may demand too much ________ their children, or may see a problem in everything their children do. They may ________ them with too many responsibilities — an unfair number of chores, extra hours of taking care of younger siblings or a too strict schedule of after-school activities. When that happens, children may ________ taking on any responsibility at all. Parents need to ________ this kind of overloading, while still making sure that their youngsters are assuming a(n) ________ of responsibility. Children, of course ________ in the personalities. Some are simply not very persistent in the middle of chores. Others have difficulty getting organized. ________ others have trouble shifting from one activity to another. You should have a good ________ of your child’s style, and shape your ________ accordingly.
Children need to have some obligations and duties within the family, ________ they will notlearn to accept responsibility.
1.A.Next B.Also C.Therefore D.Alike
2.A.work B.music C.love D.sport
3.A.courage B.time C.effort D.desire
4.A.helping out B.coming out C.running out D.trying out
5.A.anxious B.likely C.afraid D.able
6.A.attending B.belonging C.appealing D.referring
7.A.check B.present C.record D.complete
8.A.gradual B.virtual C.casual D.punctual
9.A.inaccurately B.irresponsibly C.illegally D.impolitely
10.A.free B.usual C.right D.same
11.A.of B.with C.in D.out
12.A.replace B.compare C.combine D.burden
13.A.forget B.resist C.forgive D.risk
14.A.carry B.offer C.prevent D.protect
15.A.temporary B.limited C.universal D.appropriate
16.A.conflict B.differ C.fail D.change
17.A.Still B.Only C.Again D.Almost
18.A.point B.taste C.sense D.place
19.A.collections B.assumptions C.expectations D.conditions
20.A.and B.but C.for D.or
—I really think Johnson’s character is as good as that of Fang Yifan, a Senior 3 student in the TV play Xiao Huanxi.
—________. He often holds a positive attitude towards anything in life.
A.That’s not the point B.You can say that again
C.It counts for nothing D.It doesn’t matter
This television documentary will show you ________ 70 years ago.
A.how our city Wuxi looked like B.what did our city Wuxi look like
C.what our city Wuxi looked like D.how did our city Wuxi look like
With some extra work ________, the manager had to stay in the company to work overtime during the National Day holiday.
A.remaining to be done B.remained to be done
C.remained being done D.remaining to do
