Surface Exploration. Robots make great explorers on planets,moons,and other landing areas.Aside
from Earth,just about every surface in the solar system is unsafe for humans to explore.The air on most
other planets is insufficient for humans to breathe,making it necessary to wear a space suit and oxygen
equipment.The temperatures on these surfaces are much too hot or much too cold for any humans to
withstand.Plus there would be complications with radiation,weather,and a lack of gravity.Robots have
much less limitation in these areas and can survive much longer under these conditions.
Data Collection. Robots are designed for collecting scientific data.Robots are also able to perform
many tasks at one time and can process information much quicker and more efficiently.Important scientific projects from detecting minerals,analyzing ground samples,and finding water are all performed much quicker and more accurately(精确地)by robots.
Cost Effective. The use of robots has made the cost of space exploration much less expensive than it would cost for humans to do the work.In order to successfully send humans into space we would need to build a vehicle that can not only carry humans,but also have enough food and water to keep them alive for
the duration of the trip.Moreover,robots have no problems working for hours on end.Robots never
complain,they don"t require food or water,and they never need a bathroom break.
Space Travel. Over the past 30 years or so there have been many different types of robots used
successfully in the exploration of space.Perhaps the most famous and successful robots are the Spirit and Opportunity who have both been exploring the surface of Mars.They have both been very successful with experiments on soil and rocks and have even found evidence of water in Mars" history.
1. According to the passage,which of the following is NOT true?
A. The use of robots in space exploration costs more than the use of humans.
B. It may be dangerous for human to explore the solar system except the earth.
C. Both the Spirit and Opportunity have found the evidence of water in the Mars.
D. Many different types of robots have explored the space successfully.
2. Which column of the passage could come from?
A. Education.
B. Finance.
C. Travel.
D. Science.
3. The underlined phrase "withstand" most probably means "________".
A. arise
B. bear
C. defeat
D. diverse
4. What is the writer"s attitude in writing this passage?
A. Negative.
B. Persuasive.
C. Subjective.
D. Objective.
物) from the earth.This idea may sound like something from a science fiction (科幻小说), but it is
actually being taken seriously by many researchers.
This suggested future for the "red planet" will be the main topic for discussion at an international
conference hosted by NASA (美国宇航局) this week.Leading researchers as well as science fiction
writers will attend the event.It comes as NASA is preparing a multibilliondollar Mars research programme."Turning Mars into a little earth has long been a topic in science fiction, "said Dr Michael Meyer, NASA"s senior scientist for astrobiology (太空生物学). "Now, with scientists exploring the reality, we can
ask what are the real possibilities of changing Mars."
Most scientists agree that Mars could be turned into a little earth, although much time and money
would be needed to achieve this goal.
But many experts are shocked by the idea."We are destroying our own world at an unbelievable
speed and now we are talking about ruining another planet, " said Paul Murdin, of the Institute of
Astronomy, Cambridge, UK.Over the past months, scientists have become increasingly confident they
will find Martian life forms.Europe and America"s robot explorers have found proof that water, mixed
with soil, exists in large amounts on the planet.
In addition, two different groups of scientistsannounced on March 28 that they had found signs of
methane (甲烷) in the Martian atmosphere (大气). The gas is a waste product of living creatures and
could be produced by microbes (微生物) living in the red planet"s soil.
But scientists such as Dr Lisa Pratt, a biologist at Indiana University, say that these microbes will be
put in danger by the little earth project."Before we have even discovered if there is life on Mars, we are
talking about carrying out projects that would destroy all these native life forms, all the strange microbes
that we hope to find buried in the soil, " said Dr Pratt.This view is shared by Monica Grady, a planetary
scientist at the Natural History Museum, London."We cannot risk starting a global experiment that would wipe out the precious information we are looking for." she said, "This is just wrong."
1. The passage is about________.
A. a plan turning Mars into a little earth
B. the necessity of changing Mars
C. Mars supporting life
D. finding water in the Mars
2. Which of the following is NOT the reason why some scientists are against the plan?
A. The project would wipe out all the native life forms on the Mars.
B. The project will cost too much money and work.
C. We would ruin Mars.
D. We are destroying our own world at an unbelievable speed.
3. We can infer from the passage that________.
A. water is a crucial factor for life
B. the project will have little effect on the native life forms supposed to live on the Mars
C. Monica Grady is in favour of carrying out the little earth project
D. the idea turning Mars into a little earth is nothing but a science fiction
4. Which of the following supports the conclusion of microbes living in the Mars soil?
A. Scientists found liquid water in the Mars.
B. Scientists found signs of methane in the Martianatmosphere.
C. Scientists found a lot of good soil on the Mars.
D. Scientists found some creatures living on the Mars.
The latest research suggests that the key factor separating geniuses from the merely accomplished is
not IQ, a generally bad predictor of success. Instead, it"s purposeful practice. Top performers spend
more hours practising their craft. If you wanted to picture how a typical genius might develop, you"d take
a girl who possessed a slightly above average language ability. It wouldn"t have to be a big talent, just
enough so that she might gain some sense of distinction. Then you would want her to meet, say, a
novelist, who coincidentally shared some similar qualities. Maybe the writer was from the same town,
had the same family background, or shared the same birthday.
This contact would give the girl a vision of her future self. It would give her some idea of a fascinating
circle she might someday join. It would also help if one of her parents died when she was 12, giving her
a strong sense of insecurity and fuelling a desperate need for success. Armed with this ambition, she
would read novels and life stories of writers without end. This would give her a primary knowledge of her
field. She"d be able to see new writing in deeper ways and quickly understand its inner workings.
Then she would practise writing. Her practice would be slow, painstaking and errorfocused. By
practising in this way, she delays the automatizing process. Her mind wants to turn conscious, newly
learned skills into unconscious, automatically performed skills. By practising slowly, by breaking skills
down into tiny parts and repeating, she forces the brain to internalize a better pattern of performance.
Then she would find an adviser who would provide a constant stream of feedback, viewing her
performance from the outside, correcting the smallest errors, pushing her to take on tougher challenges.
By now she is redoing problems-how do I get characters into a room-dozens and dozens of times. She
is establishing habits of thought she can call upon in order to understand or solve future problems.
The primary quality our young writer possesses is not some mysterious genius. It"s the ability to
develop a purposeful, laborious and boring practice routine. The latest research takes some of the magic
out of great achievement. But it underlines a fact that is often neglected. Public discussion is affected by
genetics and what we"re "hardwired" to do. And it"s true that genes play a role in our capabilities. But the
brain is also very plastic. We construct ourselves through behaviour.
1. The passage mainly deals with ________.
A. the function of IQ in cultivating a writer
B. the relationship between genius and success
C. the decisive factor in making a genius
D. the way of gaining some sense of distinction
2. By reading novels and writers" stories, the girl could________.
A. come to understand the inner structure of writing
B. join a fascinating circle of writers someday
C. share with a novelist her likes and dislikes
D. learn from the living examples to establish a sense of security
3. In the girl"s long painstaking training process, ________.
A. her adviser forms a primary challenging force to her success
B. her writing turns into an automatic pattern of performance
C. she acquires the magic of some great achievement
D. she comes to realize she is "hardwired" to write
4. What can be concluded from the passage?
A. A fuelling ambition plays a leading role in one"s success.
B. A responsible adviser is more important than the knowledge of writing.
C. As to the growth of a genius, IQ doesn"t matter, but just his/her effort.
D. What really matters is what you do rather than who you are.
the flights across the Atlantic Ocean, leaving hundreds of passengers stuck in airports.
Grimsvom is one of the largest and most active volcanoes in Europe. What makes Grimsvom different
is that it lies under a huge glacier(冰川) of ice up to 12 meters thick. The hot volcano heats up the ice
above it, which then forms a layer(层)of water between the glacier and the volcano.This layer of water
puts pressure on the volcano, keeping it stable. As the water flows out from under the glacier, the pressure lifts. The lava(岩浆) from the volcano then comes up to the surface. This is exactly what happened today.
Now, airlines have to make changes to their flights so as not to fly through the clouds of volcanic ash.
According to KLM,one of Europe"s biggest airlines, airplanes cannot go under the cloud or over it. Going
through the cloud can result in ash getting stuck in the airplane"s engines, causing damage to the plane.
The eruption has also caused problems for animals in Iceland. The volcano left ash and sharp glasslike
rocks all over the countryside. Farmers are keeping their animals inside to stop them from eating
ashcovered grass or the sharp object.
1．What makes Grimsvom different from other volcanoes?
A．It is below ice.
B．It lies under the sea.
C．It is the largest volcano.
D．Its lava affects the airlines.
2．What keeps Grimsvom still?
A．The slow flow of water.
B．The low water temperature.
C．The thick glacier.
D．The water pressure.
3．Which of the following is the result of the volcanic eruption?
A．People stop traveling in Europe.
B．Airlines suffer from the loss of planes.
C．It becomes dangerous for animals to eat outside.
D．Farmers have lost many of their animals.
4．This text is most probably taken from________.
A．a research paper
B．a newspaper report
C．a class presentation
D．a geography textbook
By generating the proper brainwaves-picked up by a cap with electrodes(电极)that sense the signals
and reflect a person"s instructions-scientists can instruct a humanoid robot to move to specific locations
and pick up certain objects.
The commands are limited to moving forward, picking up one of two objects and bringing it to one of
two locations.The researchers have achieved 94 percent accuracy between the thought commands and
the robot"s movements.
"This is really a proofofconcept demonstration, "said Rajesh Rao, a researcher from the University of
Washington who leads the project."It suggests that one day we might be able to use semiautonomous
robots for such jobs as helping disabled people or performing routine tasks in a person"s home."
The person wearing the electrode cap watches the robot"s movement on a computer screen through
two cameras installed on and above the robot.
When the robot"s cameras see the objects that are to be picked up they pass on the information to the
user"s computer screen.Each object lights up randomly on the computer screen.When a person wants
something to be picked up and it happens to light up, the brain registers surprise and sends this brain
activity to the computer and then to the robot as the choice object.The robot then proceeds to pick up
the object.
A similar program is used to decide where the robot will go.
"One of the important things about this demonstration is that we"re using a "noisy" brain signal to
control the robot, "Rao said."That means we can only obtain brain signals indirectly from sensors on the
surface of the head, and not where they are generated deep in the brain.As a result, the user can only
generate highlevel commands such as indication which object to pick up or which location to go to, and
the robot needs to be autonomous enough to be able to execute such commands."
In the future, the researchers hope to make the robot more adaptive to the environment by having
them carry out more complex commands.
1. What is special about the robot introduced in the passage?
A. It is controlled by human thoughts.
B. It can be made humanoid.
C. It can be used to help the disabled.
D. It has high intelligence itself.
2. Which of the following is TRUE about the robot?
A. It can move forward and backward and pick up two objects at the same time.
B. It can move forward, pick up both objects and bring them to either location.
C. It can only move forward, pick up one object and put it in one location.
D. It can read all human thoughts and do as instructed.
3. What Rao says in the eighth paragraph suggests that the new robot________.
A. is still at its early stage of development
B. will be widely used in our daily routines soon
C. is autonomous enough to complete complex commands
D. is only limited to doing routine work at home
4. The sixth paragraph mainly describes________.
A. how the robot controls a person"s action
B. how the robot picks up the right object
C. how the person controls the robot
D. how the robot finds out where to go
psychology professor David DeSteno, and his colleagues, who are conducting a research to determine
how humans decide to trust strangers.
The interdisciplinary(跨学科的)research project, funded by the National Science Foundation(NSF),
is being conducted together with Cynthia Breazeal, director of the MIT Media Lab"s Personal Robots
Group, Robert Frank, an economist, and David Pizarro, a psychologist, both from Cornell.
The researchers are examining whether gestures could affect our trustworthiness judgments. "People
tend to mimic(模仿)each other"s body language, "said De Steno, "which might help them develop
intuitions(直觉)about what other people are feeling."
This project tests their theories by having humans interact with the social robot, Nexi, in an attempt to
judge her trustworthiness. Without knowing the participants, Nexi has been programmed to make
gestures while speaking with selected participants-gestures that the team thinks could determine whether
or not she"s considered trustworthy.
During the first part of the experiment, Nexi makes small talk with them for 10 minutes, asking and
answering questions about topics such as traveling, where they"re from and what they like most about
living in Boston.
"The goal was to create a normal conversation with accompanying movements to see what the mind
would intuitively(直觉地)collect about the trustworthiness of another, "said DeSteno.
The participants then play an economic game called "Give Some", which asks them to determine how
much money Nexi might give them at the expense of her individual profit. Meanwhile, they decide how
much, if any, they"ll give to Nexi. The rules of the game allow for two distinct outcomes:higher individual
profit for one and loss for the other, or relatively smaller and equal profits for both partners.
"Trust mightn"t be determined by only one gesture, but rather a "dance" that happens between the
strangers, which leads them to trust or not trust the other, " said DeSteno, who will continue testing their
theories by seeing if Nexi can be taught to predict the trustworthiness of human partners.
1. How many fields does the research involve?
A. Two fields.
B. Three fields.
C. Four fields.
D. Five fields.
2. According to the text, the researchers focused on ________.
A. the writing communication
B. the voice communication
C. the gesturebased communication
D. the online communication
3. According to the text, the first part of the experiment is to ________.
A. create a special conversation
B. intuitively watch the trustworthiness
C. accompany the robot closely
D. play an economic game
4. The underlined word "dance" in the last paragraph means ________.
A. the gestures from each other
B. a kind of entertainment
C. a simple gesture
D. one person"s gestures
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