【推荐1】For people, who are interested in sound, the field of sound technology is definitely making noise. In the past, sound engineers worked in the back rooms of recording studios, but many of today’s sound professionals are sharing their knowledge and experience with professionals in other fields to create new products based on the phenomenon we call sound.

Sound can be used as a weapon. Imagine that a police officer is chasing a thief. The thief tries to escape. And the officer can’t let him get away. He pulls out a special device, points it at the suspect, and switches it on. The thief drops to the ground. This new weapon is called a Long Range Acoustic Device (LRAD, 远程定向声波发射器). It produces a deafening sound so painful that it temporarily disables a person. The noise from the LRAD is directed like a ray of light and travels only into the ears of that person, but it is not deadly.

For those who hunger for some peace and quiet, sound can now create silence. Let’s say you are at the airport, and the little boy on the seat next to you is humming (哼唱) a short commercial song. He hums it over and over again, and you are about to go crazy. Thanks to the Silence Machine, a British invention, you can get rid of the sound without upsetting the boy or his parents. One may wonder how the Silence Machine works. Well, it functions by analyzing the waves of the incoming sound and creating a second set of outgoing waves. The two sets of waves cancel each other out. Simply turn the machine or point it at the target, and your peace and quiet comes back.

Directed sound is a new technology that allows companies to use sound in much the same way spotlights (聚光灯) are used in the theater. A spotlight lights up only one section of a stage; similarly, “spotsound” creates a circle of sound in on targeted area. This can be useful for businesses such as restaurants and stores because it offers a new way to attract customers. Restaurants can offer a choice of music along with the various food choices on the menu, allowing customers more control over the atmosphere in which they are dining. Directed sound is also beginning to appear in shopping centers and even at homes.

1. What could be inferred from Paragraph 2 about the effect of the LRAD?

A．It causes temporary hearing loss.

B．It slows down a running man.

C．It makes it easy to identify a suspect.

D．It keeps the suspect from hurting others.

2. The Silence Machine is a device specially designed to ________.

A．silence the people around you

B．remove the sound of commercials

C．block the incoming sound waves

D．stop unwanted sound from affecting you

3. What feature do spotsounds and spotlights share?

A．They travel in circles.

B．They clear the atmosphere.

C．They can be transformed into energy.

D．They can be directed onto a specific area.

4. What does the passage focus on?

A．How professionals invented sound products.

B．Inventions in the field of sound technology.

C．The growing interest in the study of sound.

D．How sound engineers work in their studios.

【推荐2】Science not always so serious

Did you know that if you attach a weighted stick to the back of a chicken, it walks like a dinosaur?

No, you did not know (or care to know) such things, but now you do! Thanks to this year’s winners of the Ig Nobel Prizes! Now in its 25th year, the Ig Nobel is the goofy younger cousin of the honored Nobel Prize. It applauds achievements in the fields of medicine, biology, physics, economics, literature, etc. Every September at Harvard University, awards are presented in 10 categories that change year to year, depending on — according to the organization — what makes the judges “laugh, then think”.

The ceremony officially begins when audience members launch paper airplanes at an assigned human target on the stage, then speakers only have 60 seconds to present their research. In previous years, the one-minute rule was imposed by a young girl — nicknamed Miss Sweetie Poo — who would go up to the platform and repeat the words: “Please stop, I’m bored,” in a sharp tone until the speaker left the stage.

Fortunately for candidates though, the Ig Informal Lectures are held afterwards on Saturday to give presenters more time to explain the crazy things they’re working on.

The research can seem more like the brainchildren of teenage boys than of respectable adults. Justin Schmidt won the physiology Ig for creating the “Sting Pain Index,” which rates the pain people feel after getting stung (蛰) by insects. Smith pressed bees against 25 different parts of his body until they stung him. Five stings a day for 38 days, Smith concluded that the most painful sting locations were the nostril (鼻孔) and the upper lip. Ouch.

As silly as they sound, not all of the Ig awards lack scientific applicability. A group of scientists from 12 different countries won in the medicine category for accurately diagnosing patients with appendicitis (阑尾炎) based on an unusual measurement: speed bumps (减速带). They found that patients are more likely to have appendicitis if they report pain during bumpy car rides.

All these weird experiments have just one thing in common. They’re improbable. It can be tempting to assume that “improbable” implies more than that — implies bad or good, worthless or valuable, trivial or important. Something improbable can be any of those, or none of them, or all of them, in different ways. And what you don’t expect can be a powerful force for not only entertaining science, but also for the boundary-pushing science we call innovation.

1. The underlined word   “goofy”   in Paragraph 2 probably means __________.

A．timid	B．funny
C．glorious	D．warm-hearted

2. According to the passage, what can we know about the awarding ceremony of Ig Nobel?

A．It is held at a fixed place.

B．Candidates should know how to fold paper planes.

C．Miss Sweetie Poo is one of the hostesses.

D．Ig Informal Lecture gives presenters 60 seconds to finish their speeches.

3. The example in Paragraph 6 is used to illustrate that Ig Nobel __________.

A．celebrates the diligent work of researchers

B．offers another opportunity to those who miss the Nobel Prizes

C．serves as a platform for the creative and practical achievements

D．amuses the audience

4. Among the four candidates below, who is most likely to win an Ig Nobel?

A．A chemist who invents a chemical method to partially un-boil an egg.

B．A novelist who criticizes social injustice severely.

C．A physicist who studies the origin of the universe.

D．An economist who achieves a breakthrough in the study of international trade.

【推荐3】Table-Waiting Robot Cat

A table-waiting robot cat built by a Chinese technology firm can carry plates of food, navigate a restaurant, miaow(喵喵叫) at dinners—and even react to having its ears stroked.

Making its debut(初次露面) at the 2020 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, the so-called BellaBot was built for Chinese restaurants lacking enough waiters. It is the brainchild(智慧结晶) of the Chinese robotics and artificial intelligence firm PuduTech.

It features four shelves in the center of its tower-like body to carry plates. Having been loaded up with meals by its human colleagues, the cat-themed robotic waiters miaows when it delivers food to diners to encourage them to take their plates. If customers thank BellaBot by stroking its ears, it will initially respond with a look of pleasure on its on-board screen, which displays animations of a cat's face. “The owner’s hand is so warm,” BellaBot has been programmed to respond.

However—much like a real cat—the robot’s reaction soon changes if it is petted for too long. “It gets mad to remind you not to interrupt its job,” the designers introduced. The BellaBot waiter robot is a more personality-rich update to PuduTech’s previous model, which featured a more utilitarian(实用主义的) design and user interface.

Both BellaBot and its predecessor were designed with a particular mind to Chinese restaurateurs which are often short of waiting staff.

In a real-world food-service setting, however, BellaBot may find it difficult to operate at peak times. Nevertheless, restaurants are anticipated to increase their reliance on automation—whether in the form of robotic waiting staff or otherwise.

Furthermore, improvements in technology will see consumer robot designs grow steadily better at communicating with humans.

1. In what way can the cat robot serve as a waiter?

A．By serving food to the customers in time.

B．By stroking its ears to express its pleasure.

C．By sending food on the shelves set in its body.

D．By loading up meals with its human colleagues.

2. What does the response “The owner’s hand is so warm” imply?

A．Delight.

B．Anger.

C．Surprise.

D．Anxiety.

3. What’s the purpose of creating the cat robots?

A．To attract more customers.

B．To liberate humans from busy labor.

C．To advance the development of technology.

D．To help to solve the shortage of human labor.

4. What will the cat robots be like in the future?

A．They can cook the delicious food.

B．They can talk with the customers better.

C．They will replace the human waiters completely.

D．They will be fond of the customers’ long-time petting.

【推荐1】A new study suggests that people who drank a certain amount of alcohol（酒）had a lower risk of cancer and death than those who drank more or none during a nine-year period. And with each additional drink a week, the risk of cancer and death from any cause increased, the scientists reported.

However, the study found only an association between alcohol and cancer and death, and did not prove cause and effect, the researches said. What sets the new study apart, said lead study author Andrew Kunzmann, is that previous studies looked at cancer and death separately. “What our study does is combine the two outcomes together and we find that lighter drinking is associated with the lowest risk of cancer or death,” Kunzmann said.

But Kunzmann noted that the participants（参与者）were all older adults. That means that “we’re not really showing what happens in younger people if they drink,” he said. Also, it’s difficult to account for other lifestyles that could have affected the results. “These could also influence health. But the results did take into consideration differences in diet, smoking and education among participants,” Kunzmann noted.

The researchers said that they hope their study sparks conversation about reducing the suggested alcohol intake in countries’ guidelines. “We’re not telling people what they can or can’t do or what they can or can’t drink,” Kunzmann said. “We’re just trying to give them reliable evidence so that they can make their own informed, healthy decisions.”

1. What is the finding of the new study?

A．Nondrinkers are least likely to have cancer.

B．Drinking helps lower the risk of cancer.

C．Lighter drinking is helpful to health.

D．Heavy drinkers are at more risk.

2. Which of the following best explains “previous” underlined in Paragraph 2?

A．Future.	B．Present.
C．New.	D．Former.

3. What is the main idea of Paragraph 3?

A．The result is of little value.

B．The research has its limitations.

C．The participants are all adults.

D．The influence of diet is included.

4. What does the researchers suggest people do about drinking?

A．Make their own decisions.

B．Reduce the amount they drink.

C．Have additional drinks occasionally.

D．Drink according to the countries’ guidelines.

【推荐2】Have you ever dreamed of visiting a planet in the Milk Way? While the trip sounds exciting, it would take years and years to reach your destination. So in the future, bedtime for astronauts may be more than a few hours of regular shut-eye. They would have to sleep for years.

European researchers are now conducting hibernation experiments. The study may help them understand whether humans could ever sleep through the years it would take for a space flight to distant planets. “If there was an effective technology, it could make deep-space travel a reality,” said Mark Ayre of the European Space Agency last month.

What seems like science fiction is not completely unlikely. Researchers have been able to use chemicals to put living cells into a sleep-like state where they don’t age. They have now moved on to small, non-hibernating mammals like rats.

A major challenge is the fact that cells can be very simple systems, whereas body organs are far more complex.

“It’s like moving from a simple Apple computer to a supercomputer,” said Marco Biggiogera, a hibernation researcher at Italy’s University of Pavia.

Just like bears and frogs, the hibernation of human beings would cause a person’s metabolism (新陈代谢) to lower so they would need less energy.

Medical research, however, is just half of a space flight hibernation system.

There is the challenge of designing a suitable protective shelter. Such a shelter would provide the proper environment for hibernation, such as the proper temperature. It would also have to monitor (监控) life functions and serve the physiological needs of the hibernator.

According to Ayre, the six-person Human Outer Planets Exploration Mission to Jupiter’s moon (木星的卫星) Callisto, could be an opportunity to use human hibernation. The mission aims to send six humans on a five-year flight to Callisto, where they will spend 30 days, in 2045.

1. European researchers are conducting hibernation experiments to ________.

A．ensure astronauts to get a complete sleep

B．find the secret of some creatures

C．make preparations for the journey to Jupiter’s moon Callisto

D．know if man can sleep for years

2. The sentence “What seems like science fiction is not completely unlikely” means ________.

A．Science fiction is people’s imagination

B．Science fiction is imaginative, but it can be realized

C．Things seem impossible may come true

D．Things described in science fiction are sure to become true

3. The passage implies that ________.

A．putting living cells into a sleep-like state is full of failure

B．Biggiogera is confident with the experiment

C．human’s hibernation needs no energy

D．medical research is the key to space flight hibernation system

4. What’s the best title for the passage?

A．Six humans to fly to Callisto	B．Human hibernation improves health
C．Space travel attracts people	D．Deep sleep for deep space travel