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题型:阅读理解-阅读单选 难度:0.65 引用次数:20 题号:10908751

Automatic dishwashers have been around for more than 100 years. It started in 1886 with Josephine Cochrane, a woman in Shelbyville, Illinois. She was a rich woman who could afford servants to wash her dishes, so she really didn’t mind the work. What she did mind was that her servants broke the dishes. She hosted quite a few dinner parties, and after every party the servants broke more of her expensive dishes.

Finally, Cochrane took action. First, she measured her dishes and bent wire into racks to hold them. Next, she put the racks on a wheel in a large copper boiler. Then, the boiler sprayed hot, soapy water on the dishes as a motor turned the wheel. After a hot water rinse(冲洗), the dishes were clean!

Josephine Cochrane’s friends were impressed with the machine and asked her to build more. After that, word got out fast. Soon hotel and restaurant owners who didn’t like broken dishes also were interested. Cochrane then knew that she had a wonderful machine, so she received a patent from the government, which said that only the inventor can make money from an invention. Then in 1893 Chicago held a World’s Fair where inventions from all over the world were shown. Cochrane’s labor-saving machine was a big hit. Her dishwasher won the highest award.

Cochrane’s company came out with a smaller machine in 1914. It was supposed to be for the ordinary home, but it wasn’t an immediate success. Many homes couldn’t produce the extremely hot water it needed. Also, in most homes, dishwashing wasn’t considered very difficult compared to most other housework. In fact some people liked to relax at the sink after a hard day! Sales of the home model finally picked up in the 1950s when people had more money and wanted to have more time to enjoy themselves. Now many homes have electric dishwashers that aren’t very different from the one Josephine Cochrane invented more than 100 years ago.

1. Why did Josephine Cochrane invent the dishwasher?
A.To avoid possible damage to the dishes.
B.To reduce the number of servants.
C.To host more dinner parties.
D.To make the dishes cleaner.
2. What does the underlined words in Paragraph 3 suggest?
A.The machine wasn’t as efficient as described.
B.Josephine Cochrane could no longer keep it a secret.
C.The invention drew immediate attention of the public.
D.Josephine’s friends soon began to talk about the new machine.
3. The smaller machine became popular only when      .
A.people had more relaxing jobsB.hot water was not needed
C.housework became easierD.people’s living conditions improved

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阅读理解-阅读单选(约340词) | 适中 (0.65)
文章大意:本文是一篇说明文。文章介绍了创业公司 FacePrint通过分析人们的面部表情来判断某人是否患有帕金森病。

【推荐1】Health-tech startup (初创公司) FacePrint hopes to find a new diagnosis (诊断) of Parkinson’s disease from Facebook photos, but it started with a journey down the YouTube rabbit hole. Around three years ago, founder Erin Smith, then a high school student in Kansas, was watching an interview with actor Michael J. Fox, the star of Back to the Future, who was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. Smith noticed something strange about the way Fox smiled: his facial expressions seemed forced. A few years ago, Smith liked watching the TV show Lie to Me, based on the work of psychologist (心理学家) Paul Ekman’s study of facial “micro-expressions”. This led to an idea: could you diagnose Parkinson’s through changes in facial expressions?

Smith decided to run a controlled study. After writing to a local Parkinson’s support group, she spent her spring break recording videos of the facial expressions of local people with Parkinson’s, as well as healthy control subjects (实验对象). Once she had collected the data, she needed to analyze it. “I hadn’t coded (编码) before. I basically locked myself in my house and totally at a loss,” she says.

Later, with the help of Afidex, a facial recognition software package, she was able to show that there was a difference in facial expressions between people with Parkinson’s and people without.

Smith contacted the Michael J. Fox Foundation (基金会) to tell them about her work, and they helped her run two more studies. Her technology is now the basis for FacePrint, which is still based in San Francisco and has made big progress. Smith has put off her offer of a place at Stanford University to work on the company, with the help of $100, 000 from the Thiel Foundation. “I really want to better my personal learning,” Smith says, “as well as the best way I can help shape and build the future of mental healthcare.”

1. What is the main idea of the first paragraph?
A.Why facial expressions differed greatly.
B.What Smith did to prepare for FacePrint.
C.How Parkinson’s disease interested Smith.
D.How a new diagnosis of Parkinson’s was inspired.
2. What was Smith’s biggest problem at first?
A.Being unable to find enough subjects.
B.Lacking a start-up fund for her study.
C.Not knowing how to deal with her data.
D.Being refused by a local support group.
3. How does Smith’s startup diagnose Parkinson’s disease?
A.By taking people’s photos at different times.
B.By analysing changes in facial expressions.
C.By comparing psychological changes.
D.By recording people’s daily activities.
4. What can we learn about in the last paragraph?
A.Smith has left the company in San Francisco.
B.Smith has decided to receive further education.
C.FacePrint has been supported by two foundations.
D.FacePrint has been developed at Stanford university.
2023-02-13更新 | 50次组卷
阅读理解-阅读单选(约400词) | 适中 (0.65)
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【推荐2】Windows are a key component in a building's design, but they are also the least energy- efficient part. According to a 2009 report by the United Nations, buildings account for 40 percent of global energy usage, and windows are responsible for half of that energy consumption. If conventional windows are used to better block sunlight passing into a building, they need expensive coatings. Even so, they can not adjust the indoor temperature effectively.

Scientists at the Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU) have developed a smart liquid window panel that can help. By creating a mixture of micro-hydrogel (水凝胶), water, and a stabilizer, they found that it can effectively reduce energy consumption in a variety of climates. Thanks to the hydrogel, the mixture becomes hard-to-see- through when exposed to heat, thus blocking sunlight, and, when cool, it returns to its original clear state. The high heat capacity of water allows a large amount of heat energy to be stored instead of getting transferred through the glass and into the building during the hot daytime when office buildings mainly operate. The heat will then be gradually cooled and released at night when the staff are off duty.

As a proof of concept, the scientists conducted outdoor tests in hot (Singapore, Guangzhou) and cold (Beijing) environments. The Singapore test revealed that the smart liquid window had a lower temperature (50°C) during the hottest time of the day (noon) compared to a normal glass window (84°C), The Beijing tests showed that the room using the smart liquid window consumed 11 percent less energy to maintain the same temperature compared to the room with a normal glass window. They also measured when the highest value of stored heat energy of the day occurred. This "temperature peak" in the normal glass window was 2 pm, and in the smart liquid window was shifted to 3 pm. If this temperature peak shift leads to a shift in the time when a building needs to draw on electrical power to cool or warm the building, it should result in lower energy charges for users. The research team is seeking ways to cut down the cost of producing the smart window and so far, they have found several industry partners to commercialize it.

1. What is the disadvantage of conventional windows?
A.They are expensive.
B.They are not heatproof.
C.They contribute less to energy saving.
D.They can't block light into the building.
2. How does a smart liquid window panel work to cool buildings?
A.By taking in much of heat energy.
B.By returning to its original clear state.
C.By getting most of sunlight transferred.
D.By spreading sunlight in different directions.
3. According to paragraph 3, what is the value of the temperature peak shift?
A.It will make the windows long-lasting.
B.It could help the building users reduce costs.
C.It makes the buildings rely on no electrical power.
D.It helps the windows maintain a constant temperature.
4. What can we expect of the smart window in the future?
A.It will be unaffordable.
B.It needs to be further improved.
C.It will be widely used in the city.
D.It will come onto the market soon.
2021-05-18更新 | 123次组卷
阅读理解-阅读单选(约330词) | 适中 (0.65)

【推荐3】Japanese engineer Masaaki Nagumo had always dreamed of operating a robot from “Mobile Suit Gundam”, a popular animation(动画) TV series.It was Nagumo's favourite show when he was a child. The series features huge, human­controlled machines in battle.

Now Nagumo has made the show come to life. Inspired by the machines, he has built a large robot called LW­Mononofu.The farming machinery company Sakakibara Kikai developed it.The robot is 8.5 meters tall, has two legs and weighs more than seven tons.It has a seating area with devices for the pilot to control the robot's arms and legs.

The “Mobile Suit Gundam” series inspired movies, video games and more.And Nagumo thought the robot could be popular as well.“I think this can be turned into a business opportunity.”he said.

Sakakibara Kikai develops robots and entertainment machines in addition to its main agriculture machinery business. At a price of about $930 an hour, people can rent the machines for children's birthday parties and other events. The company has created robots of all sizes. There is the almost 3.5­meter­tall Landwalker, the smaller Kids' Walker Cyclops, and the MechBoxer boxing(拳击) machine.

But the Mononofu stands above them all. It also does more complex movements. It can move its fingers and turn its upper body, and walk forward and backward. However, it moves very slowly—at a speed of less than one kilometer per hour. Although it may be slow, the Mononofu is very powerful.The air gun on its right arm shoots(发射) balls of soft material at 140 kilometers per hour.

“As an animation­inspired robot that one can ride, I think this is the biggest in the world,”Nagumo said. But Mononofu might be a bit too large.It is unable to leave the factory without being taken apart because it was built taller than the entrance.

1. What inspired Nagumo to create LW­Mononofu?
A.A machine.B.A video game.
C.A movie.D.An animation series.
2. What's the advantage of LW­Mononofu, compared with other robots made by Sakakibara Kikai?
A.It's safer.B.It's more powerful.
C.It walks faster.D.It's more flexible.
3. What makes LW­Mononofu outstanding?
A.Its size.B.Its popularity.
C.Its function.D.Its material.
4. What may be the best title for the text?
A.Movie robots to be remembered
B.New robots popular with farmers
C.A Japanese engineer builds a huge robot
D.Robots step into the daily lives of Japanese
2020-09-08更新 | 24次组卷
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