We have heard some interesting ways that 5G wireless technology might change our lives in the future.
5G, short for the 5th generation mobile communication technology, promises Internet speeds between 50 to 100 times faster than current 4G systems. While 5G is set to be used in some limited areas of America this year, much of the world is not expected to receive widely available service until 2023.
One project in Britain, however, is already testing this superfast technology on an unlikely group of Internet users-cows. The project was developed by American technology company Cisco Systems. It also receives money from the British government. Cisco says the program seeks to explore the future of 5G connectivity in rural areas around the world.
Testing areas were set up at farms in three rural areas of England. The cows are equipped with 5G-connected devices (装置) that link up to a robotic milking system, which uses sensors and machine learning to fully automate the process. System designers say technology takes over after a cow feels ready to be milked and walks toward an automatic gate. The device is designed to recognize each individual cow. It then positions equipment to the right body position for milking. During the process, machines release food for the cow as a reward.
Other 5G technology tools include automated brushes that turn on when the cow rubs up against them. Sensors also control the amount of light to the cows’ living areas depending on the weather. And, an automatic feeding system makes sure the animals always get enough to eat.
Duncan Forbes, head of the project, told Reuters that the project shows the farm’s cow operations can be greatly improved with 5G technology and that the experiment provides strong evidence that 5G technology can be widely used in the future, not just on farms in Britain, but in rural communities across the world.
1.What is the purpose of Cisco Systems’ program?
A.To win financial support from British government.
B.To test the effects of 5G technology on animals
C.To promote its technological development in Britain
D.To expand the future use of 5G in rural communities.
2.What does the underlined word “It” in Paragraph 3 refer to?
A.The project. B.The company.
C.The technology. D.The group.
3.What can we learn about 5G according to the text?
A.It is no worse than 4G in terms of speed.
B.It is already widely available in the world.
C.It enables cows to control their own milking.
D.It is based on sensors and machine learning.
4.In which section of a newspaper may this text appear?
A.Entertainment. B.Lifestyle.
C.Education. D.Technology.
For several months, Cara has been working up the courage to approach her mom about what she saw on Instagram. Not long ago, the 11-year-old girl discovered that her mom had been posting her photos for much of her life. “I’ve wanted to bring it up. It’s strange to see myself up there, and sometimes there are pictures I don’t like of myself,” she said.
Like most other modern kids, Cara grew up under the influence of social media. Facebook, Twiter and YouTube were all founded before she was born. Instagram has been around since she was a toddler (学步儿童). While many kids may not yet have accounts themselves, their parents, schools, sports teams have been organizing an online presence for them since birth. It is a shock to know that details about their lives have been shared online without their permission or knowledge. And this has become a common experience for many teenagers.
Recently a parenting blogger (博主)said that despite her 14-year-old daughter’s horror at discovering that her mother had shared years of highly personal stories and information about her online, she simply could not stop doing it.
But it’s not just crazy mommy bloggers who share their children’s information on social media. Plenty of average parents do the same. There’s even a special word for it: sharenting (晒娃). Almost a quarter of children begin their digital lives when parents upload their prenatal sonogram scans (产前超声波扫描) to the Internet, according to a study conducted by the Internet-security firm AVG. The study also found that 92 percent of kids under the age of 2 already have their own unique digital identity.
1.How does Cara feel about her mom’s behavior?
A.It’s supportive. B.It’s appropriate.
C.It’s annoying. D.It’s favorable.
2.Who is most likely to share children’s information?
A.A quarter of students. B.Some crazy doctors.
C.Kids under the age of 2. D.Many ordinary parents.
3.What can we learn from Paragraph 4?
A.Fathers don’t like to share their kids’ information on social media.
B.25% of children begin their digital lives before they are born.
C.The word “sharenting” can be found 10 years ago.
D.AVG is the name of an internet company.
4.What can be a suitable title for the article?
A.Growing up on the Internet B.A New Term Born
C.Parents Addicted to Blogging D.The Children’s Horror
The snow was falling. The schools were over earlier than usual, but much to my surprise my appointment wasn’t canceled. And so I went, feeling especially heroic. Snow or no snow, I’d be on time for my scheduled donation at the local blood center.
When I got there, I discovered four more “hero-types” were already there, with machines quietly collecting their lifesaving gifts. Seeing them made me believe that while I was proud to be there, I wasn’t a hero. And any silly heroic thoughts quickly disappeared as I lay back in my own donor chair and began my donation. I was ready to make a difference in the life of someone I’ d never meet.
My wife Karen is a donor, too. She’s been on the bone marrow (骨髓) list for fifteen years, ever since she signed up to provide bone marrow to a child. That little girl died before Karen’s bone marrow could help her, but Karen was called again recently as it turned out she might be a match for someone else. The caller asked Karen if she’d still be willing to become a bone marrow donor. “Yes,” she said and then immediately began answering questions in preparation for the pages of paperwork to follow. It was a race against time. I wish I could say this race was won, but again it wasn’t.
Last week Karen gave blood and next week I’ll make my usual donation. I’ll clear an afternoon from my schedule and call for an appointment. Whatever blood product they need whole, I’ll gladly give. I don’t know whose life my donation may affect, but it really doesn’t matter. And sadly, while so few among us actually take the time to donate, Karen and I always will.
1.What can be inferred about the author from the first paragraph?
A.He is quite fond of taking risks.
B.He is a man who always keeps his word.
C.The snow almost ruined his appointment.
D.He never thinks donating blood is a heroic deed.
2.What influence did other donors have on the author?
A.They changed his attitude to himself.
B.They helped him find joy in donating.
C.They made him feel it a duty to donate.
D.They strengthened his belief not to be a donor.
3.What does the passage say about Karen and her bone marrow donation?
A.She has been found a match to nobody.
B.She decided to join in it over 20 years ago.
C.She fell in trouble when she came to paperwork.
D.She has already met with two failures in donation.
4.Which of the following shows the author’s opinion?
A.More people should have become donors.
B.The donation itself should have been made easier.
C.Receivers should have been introduced to donors.
D.More blood products should have been developed.
If you’ll be taking vacation time in the coming year and plan on flying, here are some shopping tips for you. Those who fly first class and don’t care what airline tickets cost are excused from this lesson.
When to buy
If you are shopping for domestic (国内的) flights, check prices on Tuesday afternoons. This is an old tip but still useful because most US carriers continue to release sales on Tuesday morning, and competitors quickly drop their fares to match the better deals.
When to fly
Weekdays continue to be generally cheaper times to fly than weekends for most flights. In the US, the cheapest days are typically Tuesday, Wednesday and Saturday. A good itinerary (Ðг̱í) for the expensive US spring break travel period is Tuesday to Saturday; it will save you money over weekend-to-weekend travel.
Where to fly
We continue to see good deals to Boston and Denver and more and more nice prices to Chicago, Seattle and Washington, D.C. As for Europe, there have been surprising deals throughout the fall and those will continue into the winter.
Direct vs. connecting flights
Compare the price of direct with connecting flights. Sometimes adding a stop to your route will save you money. An example: an Francisco to Raleigh/Durham: $553 direct, $362 one-stop.
You’d better think twice about the direct flight for San Francisco to Raleigh.
Compare, compare, compare
Stifle the impulse to go to your favorite airline site to purchase tickets without doing any comparison. Example: Let’s say you want to fly from New York to London and figure your favorite US legacy carrier will get you there for the best price. Airline price: $554 round-trip.
However, the comparison site also showed a cheaper flight from the same legacy carrier ($521). See what you’re missing when you fail to compare?
1.When can you possibly find the best price for flights within the US?
A.On Monday morning. B.On Tuesday morning.
C.On Tuesday afternoon. D.On Sunday morning.
2.What does the underlined phrase “stifle the impulse” in the last but one paragraph mean?
A.Feel free to do something. B.Hold off on doing something.
C.Get well prepared for something. D.Make quick decision on something.
3.Who is the text intended for?
A.Those who usually choose first class for their flights.
B.Those who want to find suggestions on where to fly.
C.Those who are traveling during the spring break.
D.Those who are looking for the best airline ticket prices.
Scientists think they have the answer to a puzzle that confused even Charles Darwin： How flowers evolved and spread to become the most important plants on earth．
Flowering plants, or angiosperms (被子植物), make up about 90% of all living plant species,but how they did this has been a mystery. New research suggests it is due to genome (基因组) size．
Hundreds of millions of years ago,the earth was dominated by ferns (蕨类)and conifers(针叶树) - they were the main plants on the earth． Then, about 150 million years ago， the first flowering plants appeared on earth. They quickly spread to all parts of the world．
Why angiosperms were successful and diverse on earth has been debated for centuries.Charles Darwin himself called it a "mystery", fearing this apparent sudden change might challenge his theory of evolution．
Kevin Simonin from San Francisco State University in California US and other researchers analyzed data held by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew， on the genome size of hundreds of plants, including flowering plants, gymnosperms (a group of plants including conifers) and ferns. They then compared genome size with anatomical (结构上的) features. This provides "strong evidence" that the success and rapid spread of flowering plants around the world is due to "genome downsizing"．
By reducing the size of the genome, which is contained within the nucleus (核) of the cell, plants can build smaller cells. The researchers say genome-downsizing happened only in the angiosperms, and this was "a necessary condition for rapid growth rates among land plants"．
1.What do we know about angiosperms？ ______
A.They are superior in number among all living plant species．
B.They controlled the earth for hundreds of millions of years．
C.They challenge Charles Darwin's theory．
D.They are extinct plants in the world．
2.It can be implied that ______ ．
A.Simonin works in the Royal Botanic Gardens Kew
B.Simonin is probably an American biologist
C.Darwin was confident of his theory of evolution
D.Darwin succeeded in figuring out the flower evolution
3.What contributed to the success and diversity of angiosperms？ ______
A.The weaker ferns and conifer．
B.The larger nucleus．
C.The stronger cell．
D.The smaller genome．
4.What can be a suitable title of this passage？ ______
A.Why were gymnosperms successful on earth？
B.What puzzle confused even Charles Darwin？
C.Why angiosperms dominated the earth？
D.When angiosperms outnumbered conifers and Ferns？
The development of a V-shaped fuel-efficient airplane design known as the Flying-V will be funded by Dutch national carrier KLM Royal Dutch Airlines．
To improve the sustainability （持续性） of air travel, the Flying-V was developed by researchers at Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands, also known as TU Delft．
Its futuristic design puts the passenger cabin into the wings. It's said the plane will use 20% less fuel than the Airbus A350-9-while carrying a similar number of passengers．
"In recent years, KLM has developed as a pioneer in sustainability within its airline industry," said Pieter Elbers, CEO and president of KLM. "We are proud of our progressive relationship with TU Delft"．
"Air travel is contributing about 2.5% of global CO₂ emissions (排放物)， and the industry is still growing, so we really need to look at more sustainable airplanes," said TU Delft project leader Roelof Vos．
"We cannot electrify planes, as electrified airplanes become way too heavy and you can't fly people across the Atlantic on electric airplanes- not now, not in 30 years," Vos said. "So we have to come up with new technologies that reduce fuel burning in a different way."
"We've been flying traditional airplanes for decades now, but it seems like they are reaching the limit in terms of energy efficiency," he said."The new design actively contributes to the lift of the airplane, and creates less air drag."
The plane's increased fuel efficiency is largely a result of its design, Vos explained．
The researchers hope to fly a model this September, Vos said, while the new cabin design will be open to the public at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol in October. The completed plane is expected to enter service between 2040 and 2050．
1.What can we infer from the text？ ______
A.Flying-V was developed by KLM Royal Dutch Airlines．
B.Researchers at TU Delft have raised enough money．
C.20% of the passengers will sit in Flying-V's wings．
D.KLM plays an important role in sustainability．
2.Why sustainable planes are needed？ ______
A.To save electricity．
B.To reduce global CO₂ emissions．
C.To make air travel more affordable．
D.To develop air industry．
3.How does the Flying-V save energy？ ______
A.It's the V-shaped design that makes a big difference．
B.The idea of electrified airplanes is applied to its development．
C.It depends on a kind of more efficient fuel．
D.Its futuristic design leads to a limited number of passengers．
4.What's the purpose of the text？ ______
A.To instruct us the importance of environment protection．
B.To inspire us to explore the unknown area of technology．
C.To inform us of the fuel-efficient Flying-V．
D.To appeal to us to raise fund for technology．
