Nao, the first robot able to show feelings, has been created by a European research team. When Nao is sad, he lowers his head and looks down. When he’s happy, he raises his arms for a hug. Nothing is out of the ordinary, except that Nao is a robot.
“We’re modeling the first years of life,” says Lola Canamero, a computer scientist at the University of Hertforshire. “The feelings are shown through physical gestures and body movements rather than facial or verbal (言语的) expressions.”
In the future, says the scientist, robots are likely to act as companions, provide support for old people, and help people shop online. In such uses, the display of feeling will be important in making the interactions (交往) more natural and comfortable.
Nao has been programmed to copy the emotional skills of a one-year-old child. It can memorize faces, and knows the basic rules of good and bad. Based on these it can decide how to react to what is going on. The actions going with each feeling are pre-programmed, but Nao decides for itself when to display them.
Nao is also programmed to have different personalities. A more independent robot is less likely to call for help when exploring a room, while a more fearful robot will show distress if it finds something in the room that may be harmful.
Canamero’s team will take its emotional programming forward into medical applications. Part of the project will look at ways to use robots in hospitals to support the roles of doctors, nurses and parents. Children might find that a small, friendly-looking robot that can understand their emotional states makes them less anxious. “We want to explore different roles—the robots will help the children to understand their treatment and explain what they have to do. We want to help the children to control their anxiety.” she says.
1.According to the text Nao_______.
A.displays different feelings in different situations
B.is able to copy adult emotional displays
C.can remember people’s feelings
D.learns feelings from facial expressions
2.What can we learn from the text?
A.Scientists worked on facial and spoken expressions to create Nao’s emotions.
B.The time when Nao displays feelings has been pre-programmed.
C.Emotional programming is used in medicine production.
D.Robots with emotional skills can help children feel more comfortable.
3.What can’t robots do in the future according to the scientist?
A.They can work as your companion.
B.They can aid old people .
C.They can shop with you.
D.They can show their feelings.
4.What is the text mainly about?
A.The relationship between humans and robots.
B.The roles that robots play in different fields.
C.The first robot able to show feelings.
D.The long history of robots.
Smoking is harmful. But as soon as you quit the habit, everything will be OK, right? Wrong.
New research has found that even if you give up smoking, the damage it has done to your genes will stay there for a much longer time. In the research, a team of US scientists studied the blood of 16,000 people. Among them, some were smokers, some used to smoke, and the rest were non-smokers. Scientists compared their genes and found that more than 7,000 genes of smokers had changed－a number that is one-third of known human genes.
According to NBC News, both heart disease and cancer are caused by genetic changes. Some people may have had the changes when they were born, but most people get them in their day-to-day lives while doing things like smoking.
When you stop smoking, a lot of these genes will return to normal within five years.
This means your body is trying to heal (治愈) itself of the harmful effects of smoking. But the changes in some of the genes stay for longer. They can stay for as long as 30 years, It’s almost like leaving a footprint on wet cement (水泥)－it will always be there, even when you’ve walked away and when the cement becomes dry.
Although the study results may make people unhappy, there is a bright side: the findings could help scientists invent medicine to treat genetic damage caused by smoking or find ways to tell which people have heart disease or cancer risks.
1.The purpose of Paragraph 1 is to______ .
A.raise a question B.give an example
C.make an argument D.show the main idea of the passage
2.Most genetic changes happen because of______ .
A.people’s condition at birth B.environmental pollution
C.heart disease and cancer D.people’s bad living habit
3.The underlined word “it” in Paragraph 5 refers to______ .
A.the footprint B.the cement
C.the harmful effect D.the genetic change
4.Which of the following statements is true?
A.The findings are the fruit of more than three years’ research.
B.The findings have prevented more people from starting smoking
C.The findings offer evidence that a damaged gene can heal itself.
D.The findings help to find cures for genetic damage caused by smoking.
The 92-year-old, thin, calm and proud lady, who is fully dressed each morning by eight o’clock, even though she is nearly blind, moved to a nursing home today.
Her husband of 70 years recently passed away, making the move necessary. After many hours of waiting patiently in the hall of the nursing home, she smiled sweetly when told her room was ready.
As she walked slowly to the elevator, I provided a true description of her tiny room, including the old sheets that had been hung on her window. “I love it,” she said with the happiness of an eight-year-old having just been presented with a new puppy.
“Mrs. Jones, you haven’t seen the room…just wait.”
“That doesn’t matter,” she replied. “Happiness is something you decide ahead of time. Whether I like my room or not doesn’t depend on how the furniture is arranged. It’s how I arranged my mind. I have already decided to love it. It’s a decision I make every morning when I wake up. Each day is a gift, and as long as my eyes open I’ll focus on the new day and all the happy memories I’ve stored away.” She went on to explain, “Old age is like a bank account. You take what you’ve put in. So, my advice to you would be to put in a lot of happiness in the bank account of memories. Thank you for your part in filling my memory bank.” And with a smile, she said, “All my memories are happy ones.”
Mrs. Jones was always happy in the nursing home and she died at the age of 108.
1.We can infer from the passage that the author ________.
A.is one of Mrs. Jones’ children B.is a relative of Mrs. Jones
C.works in the nursing home D.is the owner of the nursing home
2.The room in which the old lady will live ________.
A.is very comfortable B.is fairly big
C.isn’t well equipped D.is equipped with new furniture
3.Mrs. Jones was very happy when told about her room because she ________.
A.couldn’t see what her room was like
B.thought the nursing home was her home
C.would have to live in the nursing home
D.had already made up her mind to be happy
4.Which of the following words can best describe Mrs. Jones?
A.Proud. B.Cheerful. C.Determined. D.Honest.
Part-time jobs for 15 and 16 years olds
Waiter / Waitress |
Work in a library |
Internet jobs |
1.A student who is busy with his research paper will probably choose to work ______.
A.in a restaurant B.in a library
C.on the Internet D.in an IT company
2.The writer wrote this text to ______.
A.tell us the importance of doing part-time jobs
B.advise teenagers how to choose a part-time job
C.teach young people how to make lots of money
D.introduce his/her experience of doing part-time jobs
3.Why do some companies ask the teens to do surveys?
A.The teens have more free time.
B.They can pay less to the teens.
C.They need advice to make products for teens.
D.The teens usually express their true opinions.
完形填空。
阅读下面短文，从短文后各题所给的四个选项(A、B、C和D)中，选出可以填入空白处的最佳选项。
My sister and I grew up in a little village in England. Our father was a struggling____，but I always knew he was____He never criticized us，but used____to bring out our best. He’d say，“If you pour water on flowers，they flourish. If you don’t give them water，they die.” I____as a child I said something____about somebody，and my father said，“____time you say something unpleasant about somebody else，it’s a reflection of you.” He explained that if I looked for the best____people，I would get the best____From then on I’ve always tried to____the principle in my life and later in running my company.
Dad’s also always been very____At 15，I started a magazine. It was____a great deal of my time，and the headmaster of my school gave me a____：stay in school or leave to work on my magazine.
I decided to leave，and Dad tried to sway me from my decision，____any good father would. When he realized I had made up my mind，he said，“Richard，when I was 23，my dad____me to go into law. And I’ve____regretted it. I wanted to be a biologist，____I didn’t pursue my____You know what you want. Go and fulfill it.”
As____turned out，my little publication went on to become Student，a national____for young people in the U．K. My wife and I have two children，and I’d like to think we are bringing them up in the same way Dad____me.
1.A. biologist B. manager C. lawyer D. gardener
2.A. strict B. honest C. special D. learned
3.A. praise B. courage C. power D. warmth
4.A. think B. imagine C. remember D. guess
5.A. unnecessary B. unkind C. unimportant D. unusual
6.A. Another B. Some C. Any D. Other
7.A. on B. in C. at D. about
8.A. in case B. by turns C. by chance D. in return
9.A. revise B. set C. review D. follow
10.A. understanding B. experienced C. serious D. demanding
11.A. taking up B. making up C. picking up D. keeping up
12.A. suggestion B. decision C. notice D. choice
13.A. and B. as C. even if D. as if
14.A. helped B. allowed C. persuaded D. suggested
15.A. always B. never C. seldom D. almost
16.A. rather B. but C. for D. therefore
17.A. promise B. task C. belief D. dream
18.A. this B. he C. it D. that
19.A. newspaper B. magazine C. program D. project
20.A. controlled B. comforted C. reminded D. raise
The pot ______ for ______ hot water.
A.used; keeping B.was used; keeping
C.is used; to keep D.are used; keep
