Children of all ages gathered in New York City recently for the International Toy Fair. Hidden among already popular toys were new, high-tech educational products. Toymakers are working to create these products for improving a child’s emotional intelligence.
Companies showed off their products last week at New York’s Jacob Javitz Convention Center.
PleIQ is a set of plastic toy blocks. It uses visual reality technology to teach words, numbers and other things. Edison Duran directs the company that makes PleIQ. She showed people at the toy fair how virtual images appear on the blocks when they are held in front of a tablet camera. PleIQ has children act as teacher or guide to a companion character.
On the other side of the convention center, Karen Hu from another company demonstrated an educational robot called Woobo. The robot comes programmed with educational games and activities. Children use its touch-screen face to get them started. Hu described how the robot can help a child who has autism (自闭症). “The child can communicate with Woobo and follow some of the instructions Woobo is giving because he thinks of this as a companion instead of a parent or someone else telling him about certain things.”
At the EQtainment stand, sales director Jonathan Erickson explained the company’s toys. “The purpose of all of our products is to develop emotional and social intelligence.” he said. Erickson showed off a board game called “Q’s Race to the Top”. He said the game got his 4-year-old daughter to open up. “The biggest thing is her talking. And that’s the key of all this—getting her feelings expressed out. Like, ‘Hey, what does it feel like to be sad? Or how does it feel like to be happy?’”
It remains to be seen whether a game or toy can improve emotional intelligence. But toymakers are doing what they can to help parents in their efforts to raise well-rounded children.
1.How does PleIQ instruct children to learn?
A.By playing the role of a companion. B.By giving direct guidance.
C.By taking photos with a camera. D.By presenting visual images.
2.What can be inferred about Woobo from Paragraph 4?
A.It is programmed to replace teachers. B.It may be good company for kids.
C.It can get started automatically. D.It is intended to design games.
3.What does Jonathan Erickson think of his toys?
A.They are quite easy to operate. B.They can teach children numbers.
C.They help kids express themselves well. D.They can show their emotions clearly.
4.What is the main idea of the text?
A.Toys are made to help to build emotional intelligence.
B.Educational toys sell well at the International Toy Fair.
C.Toymakers are making profits in education.
D.Children celebrate the International Toy Fair.
Our mother didn’t trust us, my sister and me, to manage our own appearance when we were young. As a result, there were rules, and trends were largely ignored.
A few years ago, I was home for a visit when my mom, now in her early70s, called me into her bedroom. We were about ready to leave for dinner. “I don’t know what to wear,” she complained from her seat. “You girls always look so good.”
I paused in the doorway and looked at her, wondering if I’d misheard. “What do you mean?” I asked her. “You know what to wear.”
“No,” she answered. “I don’t. Can you pick something?”
I was so surprised.
This was the same woman who, in 1989, told my younger sister she wasn’t allowed to leave the house wearing a pair of ripped (有破洞的) jeans; the same woman who, in high school, called me while I was out at a party to ask if my hair was up. “You look better with it down.” she told me before I could answer.
I realized, suddenly, that my mother—always so strong—not only wanted my opinion, but needed my care.
I pulled a pair of blue jeans from the closet and a light blue sweater from her drawer. “Wear this with your black shoes.” I told her. She did.
My mother certainly doesn’t need anyone to take care of her. In fact, she still cares for my grandmother who lives with her. But with that one question, my mother and I started the role reversal (改变) that happens with all parents and all children, from caregiver to receiver.
Now, if I’m visiting or we’re together, it’s rare for her to wear anything without checking with me first.
I’m still always a bit surprised by her admission of the uncertainty.
But every so often, it seems like she asks me just to be able to disagree with my answer and pick out something on her own. And when she does, I just tell her what I think of the way she looks. Sometimes it’s “great” and sometimes it’s “awful”.
1.When the author was young, she ________.
A.could never know what to wear
B.always wore trendy clothes and hairstyles
C.was not allowed to go to parties at night
D.had to pick her clothes according to her mother’s rules
2.The first time the author’s mother asked her for advice on clothes, she _______.
A.came to realize that her mother needed her care
B.was happy to do something for her mother
C.was worried that her mother was too old to live alone
D.had no idea what was suitable for her mother
3.When the author gives her opinion about clothes, her mother _______.
A.always accepts her suggestions happily
B.sometimes chooses to follow her own ideas
C.is often surprised by what the author says
D.still shows uncertainty about what to wear
4.The author wrote this article mainly to ________.
A.show what it is like to have a strict mother
B.remind readers to visit their parents often
C.show how the role of parents and their children can change
D.stress her mother’s great influence on her clothes and hairstyles.
More cycling, better public transport and car bans...Places all over the world are taking a range of measures to lower traffic pollution.
Paris
Paris bans cars in many historic central districts on weekends, places odd-even (单双日的) bans on vehicles，makes public transport free during major pollution events and encourages car-sharing programs. A long section of the right bank of the river Seine is now car-free and a monthly ban on cars has come into force along the Champs-Elysees.
The Netherlands
Politicians want to ban the sale of all petrol cars from 2025, allowing only electric or hydrogen vehicles. The new law will allow anyone who already owns a petrol car to continue using it. Most cities encourage bicycle use.
Freiburg
Freiburg in Germany has 500km of bike routes and a cheap and efficient public transport system. One town, Vauban, forbids people to park near homes and makes car-owners pay $18,000 for a space on the edge of town in return for living without a car. People are offered cheaper housing, free public transport, and plentiful bicycle spaces.
Curitiba
The southern Brazilian city of two million people has one of the biggest and lowest-cost bus systems in the world. Nearly 70% of its people go to work by public transport and the result is pollution-free air and traffic-free streets.
Copenhagen
Copenhagen prioritizes (优先考虑) bikes over cars and now has more cycles than people. The city calculates that one mile on a bike is worth $0.42 to society, while one mile in a car is a $0.2 loss. Large parts of the Danish capital have been closed to vehicles for decades.
1.What will happen in Paris during major pollution events?
A.Historic central districts won’t allow cars in.
B.Car-sharing programs will raise money publicly.
C.People must obey the odd-even traffic restrictions on weekends.
D.People can take public transport free of charge.
2.From 2025, the Netherlands will ________.
A.put 500km of bike routes into full use
B.only allow the sale of electric or hydrogen vehicles
C.completely forbid the use of petrol cars
D.own the biggest and lowest-cost bus system in the world
3.Which of the following cities attach great importance to cycling?
A.Freiburg and Copenhagen B.Park and Curitiba
C.Paris and Freiburg D.Curitiba and Copenhagen
_______ is the power of TV that it can make a person suddenly famous.
A.It B.This C.That D.Such
Yang Liwei is the 438th person _______ in space.
A.to travel B.travelling C.having travelled D.travelled
I walked in our garden, where Tom and Jim _______ a big sign onto one of the trees.
A.were tied B.are tying C.have tied D.were tying
