A robot created by Washington State University (WSU) scientists could help elderly people with dementia (痴呆) and other limitations live independently in their own homes.
The Robot Activity Support System, or RAS, uses sensors installed in a WSU smart home to determine where its residents are, what they are doing and when they need assistance with daily activities. It navigates (定位) through rooms and around obstacles to find people on its own, provides video instructions on how to do simple tasks and can even lead its owner to objects like their medication or a snack in the kitchen.
“RAS combines the convenience of a mobile robot with the activity detection technology of a WSU smart home to provide assistance in the moment, as the need for help is detected,” said Bryan Minor, a postdoctoral researcher in the WSU School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science.
Currently, an estimated 50 percent of adults over the age of 85 need assistance with every day activities such as preparing meals and taking medication and the annual cost for this assistance in the US is nearly $2 trillion. With the number of adults over 85 expected to triple by 2050, researchers hope that technologies like RAS and the WSU smart home will relieve some of the financial strain on the healthcare system by making it easier for older adults to live alone.
RAS is the first robot researchers have tried to incorporate into their smart home environment. They recently published a study in the journal Cognitive Systems Research that demonstrates how RAS could make life easier for older adults struggling to live independently.
“While we are still in an early stage of development, our initial results with RAS have been promising,” Minor said. “The next step in the research will be to test RAS’ performance with a group of older adults to get a better idea of what prompts, video reminders and other preferences they have regarding the robot.”
1.How does RAS serve elderly people?
A.Through sensors. B.Through objects.
C.Through a mobile robot. D.Through their daily activities.
2.What can we know about RAS?
A.It is the first robot used in daily life. B.Its function remains to be tested.
C.It can locate people and do any task. D.It can cook for owners on its own.
3.What’s Minor’s attitude toward the future of RAS?
A.Doubtful. B.Negative.
C.Optimistic. D.Uncertain.
4.What can be a suitable title for the text?
A.Elderly people leave the nursing home.
B.Smart Home Tests first elder-Care robot.
C.RAS, the first robot to make home smart.
D.Older adults have benefited from RAS.
Fear can be a wonderful feeling in our lives, protecting us from dangerous situations and keeping us safe. But fear can also limit our lives significantly. While it may not be conscious, fear may make us think we are unacceptable or that what we have to offer isn’t valuable. Fear may make us feel that we are not safe being ourselves.
To avoid feeling fear, we may limit our lives greatly, living in tiny boxes. Living this way gives us the illusion(假象) of safety but leaves us with an unfulfilling life of no passion. If we shine a light on many of our fears, we see they have a very limited view of what is “safe” and how to “protect” us. Many of our fears are concerned only with protecting us from humiliation(羞辱) and failure. While these fears are doing their jobs incredibly well, they are doing so with faulty and outdated programming. Many fears we have as adults are trying to protect us as they protected us when we were children. Indeed, many of our current, automatic reactions to fear were actually formed when we were children.
Even so, it’s important not to judge ourselves for feeling these types of fears. If we judge ourselves, we will bury our fears or disguise them. By denying our fears, however, we also deny our energy, creativity and passion.
So what do we do with fear? We recognize the fear for what it is— a feeling we’ve experienced many times in the past and a feeling we will experience many times in the future. We become very familiar with our own particular brand of fears and how we allow them to control our lives. It is especially beneficial for each of us to become aware of the particular behavior patterns we’ve adopted when we feel fear, so we can look at our reactions with a sense of humor and compassion. Then, if we wish, we can choose a different response, which can be a scary yet very exciting experience.
1.According to the first paragraph, fear sometimes ________.
A. protect us when we’ve made mistakes
B. makes sure our feelings are not hurt
C. brings great change to our everyday life
D. makes us lose confidence in ourselves
2.According to the author, the ways we react to fear ________.
A. vary from person to person
B. have been formed since childhood
C. develop during our growth
D. will not change until we get old
3.The last paragraph mainly tells us ________.
A. what is the essence of fears
B. usual reactions we have when feeling fear
C. how to deal with fears reasonably
D. the importance of humor and compassion
4.What would be the best title for the passage?
A. Is fear managing your life?
B. Be calm when feeling fear
C. What do you fear most?
D. Passion, chance and fear
After the examination, the doctor told my parents my sight would get worse and that I would lose my sight finally. On the way home from hospital, no one said a word. One day, would I only imagine the scenery beyond the glass rather than see it?
That September, I entered middle school. Most nights I had homework that included an armful of books to read. To keep up with other children, I took great trouble to finish the task. With my nose a couple of inches from the page, I was tired easily. What’s worse, after I had read several pages on my own, the words slipped off the page into inky pools.
However, then I did not have audio books and electronic devices like kids do now. Instead, Mom volunteered to read out loud. Mom worked part time, cleaned the house, cooked and spent time with Grandma. In spite of being so busy, she showed up in my room like clockwork. She put on her reading glasses. Mom always thought those glasses made her look old. To me, she looked like a teacher.
In my room, Mom’s voice compared with the ticking of the clock. Being forced to focus on listening, I found a way to keep my marks up and compete with the other kids. When the teacher asked a question, I raised my hand with confidence. Teachers praised me for having a good memory. Reading removed my fear for my failing sight, reading also made me curious about other people’s challenges and how they managed. Though I could not use my eyes to fix on each passage, my mind lit up with every new book.
True to what the doctor said, the worst came, but thanks to Mom, my sense of hearing now allows me to “see”. This was the most precious gift from a mother to her child.
1.The author and his parents keep silent on their way home from hospital because .
A. what the doctor said was worrying
B. the author failed in the exam
C. they were exhausted
D. they focused on the scenery along the road
2.The author manage to raise his marks in learning by .
A. being confident
B. getting help from his teacher
C. listening attentively（专心地）
D. competing with his classmates
3.What can be inferred from the passage?
A. The author’s eyes recovered finally.
B. Reading made the author more sensitive.
C. The author’s mother quitted her job to look after him.
D. Reading helped the author a lot both academically and mentally.
4.Which of the following could be the title of the text?
A. My eyesight trouble
B. An unforgettable experience
C. My good hearing
D. A precious gift from mother
If you’ve never bought organic food, you might be wondering what’s so special about it. Is it really better for you? How does that work? This text will give you a short introduction to the subject.
Organic food is produced without the use of artificial fertilizers or pesticides (insect and bug killers) and many people buy it because they think it’s better for their health. Whether that’s true or not is still debated, but there are lots of other reasons for organic food. Intensive agriculture (集约型农业) gives us cheap and plentiful food, but it’s also one of the biggest sources of environmental pollution. According to a report by the World Resources Institute, half of all the chemical fertilizers ever produced have been used since 1984. Fertilizers — and the much more deadly pesticides and herbicides (weed killers) used with them — finally find their way into rivers and seas. Sometimes they break down harmlessly, but they’re just as likely to build up in creatures that eat them (including humans). Organic food, grown without artificial chemicals, is one way to help reduce the problem.
Many people find it puzzling that organic products are more expensive. After all, you’re doing away with expensive chemicals ... so shouldn’t they be cheaper? Organic farming is typically a more labor-intensive(劳动密集型) way of farming and that’s why it costs more. As a responsible (有责任的) consumer, it’s up to you to decide where to put your money. Are you happy to buy products that may have been grown in a harmful way? Are you willing to pay more to buy organic products that may help to protect the environment?
1.Which of the following does the author agree on?
A. Organic food is better for people’s health.
B. Organic food is better for the environment.
C. Organic food tastes better than traditional food.
D. Organic food can be produced in great amounts.
2.The underlined words “doing away with” in the last paragraph can best be replaced by “______”.
A. making use of B. getting rid of
C. keeping away from D. taking advantage of
3.What’s the author’s attitude towards organic food?
A. Doubtful. B. Uncertain.
C. Worried. D. Supportive.
假如你是李华，你的英国朋友Tom得知你将要作为交换生去他们的学校学习，特意来信表示欢迎，并且问你有什么需要他们帮助的。请你给Tom回信，内容包括：
1.表示感谢；
2.询问相关课程；
3.了解注意事项。
注意：1.词数100左右；
2.可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯；
3.开头和结尾已经给出。
Dear Tom,
Long time no see.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Looking forward to seeing you as soon as possible.
Yours sincerely,
Li Hua
假定英语课上老师要求同桌之间交换修改作文，请你修改你同桌写的以下作文。文中共有10处语言错误，每句中最多有两处。每处错误仅涉及一个单词的增加、删除或修改。
增加：在缺词处加一个漏字符号（∧），并在其下面写出该加的词。
删除：把多余的词用斜线（＼）划掉。
修改：在错的词下划一横线，并在该词下面写出修改后的词。
注意：
1.每处错误及其修改均仅限一词；
2.只允许修改10处，多者（从第11处起）不计分。
Our school offers a variety of activities to students after school, especially arts activities. There are lots of music club on campus. In my great delight, I have joined the orchestra there I have made lots of new friends. Sometime, we represent our school in regional competitions and that is worthwhile to join in these contests. Amazingly, we also have a robotics club, which wins a national robot contest last month so it is getting increasing popular at present. In addition, academic clubs are offered as well, include the writing club and the French film club.
Although we have much burden of homework, but we still manage to take active part in various activities after school.
