As the underwater robot OceanOneK carefully navigated toward the upper deck railing of the sunken Italian steamship Le Francesco Crispi about 500 m below the Mediterranean’s surface this month, roboticist Oussama Khatib felt as though he himself were there.
OceanOneK looks like a human diver from the front, with eight multi-directional thrusters (推进器) that allow careful operation underwater. The robot’s touch-based feedback system and 3D vision produced incredibly realistic sensations that equaled what he would have experienced were he down below, rather than above onboard the control ship. Observing through OceanOneK robot’s eyes and feeling through its hands, Khatib perceived a new dimension of colorful life — pink and green and orange — layered on and around the ship. He felt the resistance of the water and could recognize the shapes of the historic relic around him.
The mission of OceanOneK to these depths had two purposes: to explore places no one has gone to before and to show that human touch, vision, and interactivity can be brought to the sites far-removed from where people can operate.
While OceanOneK had many noteworthy adventures and successes during two multi-stop trips around the Mediterranean, the accomplishment of the team and the ship’s crew was demonstrating functional autonomy at nearly 1,000 m down. It was this advance that earned OceanOne’s renaming to OceanOneK.
“This is the first time that a robot has been capable of going to such a depth, interacting with the environment, and permitting the human operator to feel that environment,” said Khatib. “It has been an incredible journey.”
“Distancing humans physically from dangerous and unreachable spaces while connecting their skills and experience to the task promises to fundamentally alter remote work,” said Khatib. “Robotic avatars (化身) will search for and acquire materials, build structures, and perform disaster prevention and recovery operations — be it deep in oceans and mines, at mountain tops, or in space.”
1. How does OceanOneK work?| A．By sending operators deep down the ocean. |
| B．By enhancing divers’ vision underwater. |
| C．By creating an at-the-scene experience. |
| D．By measuring the resistance of water. |
| A．The origin of OceanOneK’s name. |
| B．The demonstration of the ship’s crew. |
| C．The noteworthy successes of the team. |
| D．The adventures around the Mediterranean. |
| A．Their promising future. | B．Their technical advances. |
| C．Their present applications. | D．Their scientific significance. |
| A．OceanOneK: Taking on a New Dimension of Colorful Life |
| B．OceanOneK: Connecting Human Sensations to Deep Sea |
| C．Robotic Avatars: Saving Human from Disasters |
| D．Robotic Avatars: Altering Human Work Patterns |
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【推荐1】With selfdriving vehicle technology rapidly advancing, many companies are turning to autonomous robots for the final leg of the delivery process, from the store or local distribution center to the customer. The latest to join the trend is ecommerce giant Amazon. Following a successful eightmonth test run in Snohomish County, Washington, the company’s Scout robots have been making the rounds of Irvine, California, since August 6, 2019.
The sixwheeled Scout is about the size of a large cooler with the capacity to carry small or mediumsized packages. The batterypowered vehicle, which moves at a regular walking pace, has been programmed to avoid pedestrians, animals, and unexpected obstacles, such as garbage cans. Its powerful sensors can also detect the movement of a car backing out of a driveway.
To accelerate Scout’s development and bring it nationwide sooner, the company has created several detailed virtual maps of American suburbs and conducted trial deliveries to homes there.
Though Amazon has not shown how Scout ensures the delivery is picked up by the right person, it most likely requires the customer to apply a unique code, texted to them prior to the delivery, to unlock the store box. Also unclear is the number of deliveries Scout can complete before its battery needs to be recharged. Though the initial tests are being conducted with a human for company, the robot will be autonomous in the future. Its location, however, will be tracked at all times—if someone attempts to steal Scout, Amazon employees will be instantly sensed.
However, the ecofriendly robots are unable to climb stairs or open gates, which means that they can only reach consumers who live on the ground level. Additionally, the robots are unable to leave packages at the front door if the customers are not home. Whether these problems get resolved remains to be seen. For now, it appears that humans will still be needed to achieve the evergrowing demand for home and office deliveries.
1. What are many companies developing autonomous robots for?| A．Final tests. | B．The socalled last mile. |
| C．Robots’ safety. | D．The delivery speed. |
| A．It looks like a cooler. |
| B．It adjusts its speed accordingly. |
| C．Its sensors play a key role. |
| D．It will be widely used soon. |
| A．the whole delivery process needs no human participation. |
| B．this new delivery method might cause pollution to the environment. |
| C．the track of Scout is monitored all the time. |
| D．consumers living in upper floor can receive packages at home. |
| A．A biology textbook. | B．A travel brochure. |
| C．A health magazine. | D．Newspaper. |
【推荐2】You wait 50 years for a flying car,and then three come along at once.First up is Vahana:an airbus project to develop batterypowered,single- seater aircraft,designed to follow predetermined routes,only changing directions to avoid accidents.Propellers(螺旋桨)on the wings will let it take off and land without a runway.
Second,Dubai recently announced plans to use self-controlled air taxis as a way to beat the terrible traffic jams.The Volocopter is an electric multi-copter with 18 propellers and a fully self-controlled system.It’s essentially a self-controlled aircraft with two seats and up to 30 minutes of flying time.
But,if you want something more like the flying cars of 1950s science fiction,try Urban Aeronautics’ Fancraft.The Israel-based company wants to realize the dream of”an aircraft that looks like the classic vision of a flying car:doesn’t have a wing,doesn’t have a propeller that can be seen,and can fly exactly from point to point,”says Janina Frankel-Yoeli,Urban Aeronautics’ vice president of marketing.Earlier flying cars needed runways to take off and land which was,as Frankel-Yoeli says,”not much better than owning a car and an aircraft.”To go from point to point requires vertical take-off and landing,but for many years that could only be done by helicopters or larger aircraft.Urban Aeronautics’ solution is to use light but powerful engines,lightweight materials,and a self-controlled system.Their fan design-propellers housed in some special tubes-is powerful but unstable,so the Fancraft would be challenging for a human to fly without any help.Instead,computer-aided control technology takes over the tiny,quick changes required to keep the car stable at speeds of 160km/h or more.
But don’t be glad too early yet.The main problem to a sky full of flying cars is rules.Not only will every aircraft need to pass strict safety tests,but a new system of air traffic control will be needed to deal with 3-D traffic jams above people who are not aware of what is happening in the sky.NASA is already working on that.Tests have shown that multiple unmanned(无人的) flying cars can communicate with each other to avoid accidents.In the meantime,flying cars will mainly be reserved for emergency services and a few VIPs.
1. Vahana is different from the Volocopter in that____| A．it is power-free |
| B．it is self controlled |
| C．its routes are fixed |
| D．its propellers can be seen |
| A．going straight up or down |
| B．flying high and fast |
| C．going across back or forth |
| D．flying quietly and safely |
| A．NASA helps flying cars to communicate. |
| B．There will be no traffic jams if cars can fly. |
| C．Rules for flying cars have already been made. |
| D．It is unusual for ordinary people to use flying cars. |
【推荐3】Robert Jarvik, born on May 11, 1946 in Michigan and raised in Stamford, is a medical scientist and researcher, who played an important role in the invention of the artificial heart. He was interested in medicine from a young age. He watched his father perform operations and gained a patent （专利权）for a machine applied in the medical operation before he graduated from high school.
Jarvik attended Syracuse University and considered a career in art. When his father developed heart disease suddenly, he decided then to work on a medical career. He applied to medical schools, but was not admitted to any schools in the US. Before long, he was admitted to the medical school in Italy and stayed there for two years. He returned to get a degree in medicine from New York University in 1971.
After working for a period of time; Jarvik got a job in the organ transplant（器官移植） program at the University of Utah in 1972. He worked with the director of the program, Willem Kolff, who invented the kidney dialysis（肾透析）machine.
By the time Jarvik came to the University of Utah, the organ program had already developed the primary artificial heart. He improved it by creating a diaphragm （横膈膜）， which solved many issues with the heart. Eventually, he created the first artificial heart in 1981, the Jarvik-7, to be placed in a human patient, which was considered one of the most important inventions in human history.
Barney Clark, a retired dentist suffering from serious heart disease, received the Jarvik-7 transplant on December 2, 1982. He lived for 112 days after the operation, but the transplant was considered a success. Though receiving criticism for the risk referred to transplant an artificial heart, the Jarvik-7 still became very important for patients who were waiting for a heart. In 1987, Jarvik moved to New York City and formed Jarvik Research Inc. He began developing a new heart——the Jarvik 2000. This smaller machine fits inside a patient's heart rather than replacing the entire organ.
1. How does the writer develop the passage?| A．By presenting some research results. |
| B．By following the natural time order. |
| C．By discussing research experiments. |
| D．By comparing opinions from different fields. |
| A．His family went to Italy. |
| B．Italian medicine was advanced. |
| C．No medical school admitted him. |
| D．He couldn't afford the high cost of studying medicine. |
| A．His father developed heart disease suddenly. |
| B．He received a patent for the medical operation. |
| C．He took part in the organ program at the University of Utah. |
| D．He was refused to be admitted to any medical school in the US. |
| A．He invented the kidney dialysis machine. |
| B．His greatest achievement was the man-made artificial heart. |
| C．He created a diaphragm to fit inside a patient's heart. |
| D．He did the first heart transplant operation for a heart patient. |
【推荐1】You don’t need to get in a time-travelling machine to see how technology will reshape our lives,such as the way we shop.Several new technologies that are to change your buying habits already exist.Let’s see what’s in store for your future shopping.
Try it on,virtually (虚拟的).Want to shop online for a new pair of eyeglasses?You don’t need to guess which pair looks best on you — use the eBay Fashion iPhone app (程序) to try a pair of eyewear you’re checking out on a picture of your face.But what if you want to buy something bigger?Thanks to Microsoft Kinect’s motion tracking camera,you can cover clothes on your screen body.You can even choose the background of your virtual fitting room to enrich your shopping experience.
Get a perfect,custom fit.Everyone’s body is shaped differently.To get a perfect fit,you sometimes have to get your clothes changed.But by using 3D scanning technology,all the clothes you buy will fit your body perfectly.Some companies scan your body using high-tech to get the most accurate measurements,so they can make special clothes just for you.
High-tech shopping carts and checkout counters.High-tech shopping carts could,in time,be a common sight in malls and supermarkets.Microsoft Kinect-enabled carts are currently under test.The cart can follow you along the aisles (通道),controlled merely by your movement and your voice.In China,a supermarket chain introduced tablet-equipped carts that guide shoppers around the stores’ aisles.
In the United States,several supermarkets use a device called Scan It that gives buyers the freedom to scan purchases on their own while they shop.While it’s great not having to line up at a checkout counter,we wouldn’t mind it if the store used Toshiba’s new Object Recognition Scanner.The machine identifies a product as soon as it’s placed in front of a camera just by its shape and color,even if it has no bar code.
1. According to paragraph 2,the eBay Fashion iPhone app can .| A．only make pictures of our faces |
| B．help us sell more clothes online |
| C．create us a virtual dressing room |
| D．choose suitable glasses for us |
| A．Object Recognition Scanner. |
| B．The eBay Fashion iPhone app. |
| C．3D scanning technology. |
| D．Microsoft Kinect-enabled carts. |
| A．Checkout counters will disappear from supermarkets in future. |
| B．High-tech shopping carts will be widely used in malls and supermarkets. |
| C．“Scan It” cannot be used by buyers themselves. |
| D．The new technologies are only dreams that are impossible to come true. |
| A．a new time-travelling machine |
| B．the influence of new technologies |
| C．some inventions to change habits |
| D．the ways for future shopping |
The seeds, and the power to grow them, are contained in the most awesome machine ever created: the human mind. Success is a choice and not a chance. You were born a winner. You were born rich. You can be a success if only you make the right choice.
You cannot be successful without first developing your self-esteem (自信心). Your level of self-esteem is always based on the degree of control that you are able to exercise over yourself, and thus over your life. People with low self-esteem are people who do not believe that they have any power，or responsibility for their lives. They are always victims. They are leaves tossed (摇摆) by the winds of chance blown about with any sudden change in the weather.
You can exercise control over your life only to the degree that you believe you are responsible for everything that happens in your life. Failures think that everything happens by accident and chance. Successful people realize that they are responsible.
Everything happens as a result of something. If we can identify the cause，we can control the effect. We are responsible for what we choose to think and believe. One generally rises to the level that one expects. We are responsible for setting our expectations. Our success is dependent upon our level of confidence.
If you associate with positive-thinking people，you are definitely going to achieve success. On the contrary，the opposite happens. We are responsible for finding，planting，and nurturing (培育) the seeds that contain future victory, born from setbacks (挫折).
In short, in all areas of your life，whether they are financial, physical, emotional, or spiritual, you are responsible. Once you recognize this, accept it, and firmly believe it. You are on the road to success.
1. Why people with low self-confidence are compared to leaves?
| A．Because they can’t exercise control over themselves |
| B．Because they are easily affected by windy weather |
| C．Because they don’t have the power to face their fate |
| D．Because they are ready to change their minds |
| A．Success is the result of hard work |
| B．Working hard will lead to success |
| C．They fail only because of bad luck |
| D．They don’t make efforts to succeed |
| A．Setting our expectations is essential before taking action |
| B．Knowing cause and effect is the key to future success |
| C．Thoughts and beliefs are the result of creative mind |
| D．Whether we will succeed depends on our attitudes |
| A．The proof of the author’s points |
| B．The conclusion of the argument |
| C．An introduction to another topic |
| D．A comparison between two views |
【推荐3】For most dog owner, the expression “Work like a dog” doesn’t make much sense. The lovely pets usually live a life of leisure. They go from the simple days of childhood directly to the relaxation of retirement, skipping the working part of life completely.
But some dogs happily perform very difficult jobs for much of their life. They put in a full day’s work just like the rest of us. Guide dogs, one of the most familiar kinds of working dog, provide an important service to humans. During the Beijing Paralympics, guide dogs received much attention as they helped their masters--those blind athletes--get from place to place safely.
Dogs were first used to guide blind people in 1819. In 1916, Dr. Gerhard Stalling set up a school to train dogs to help German soldiers who had been blinded in World War I. As time passed, trainers began to recognize which kinds of dogs are best for guide work. Today, Golden Retrievers, Labradors and German Shepherds are favorites because they are smart and work hard.
Guide dogs help blind people get around in the world. To do this, they must know how to:
1. Keep on a direct route.
2. Keep a slow, even pace.
3. Stop at all curbs(路边) until told to start moving again.
4. Turn left and right and move forward and stop when told.
5. Recognize and avoid obstacles that the handler won’t be able to deal with.
6. Lie quietly when the handler is sitting down.
7. Help the handler to get on and move around buses, subways and other forms of public transportation.
As a guide dog, gets more experience with its handler, it may be able to take on even more responsibilities. For example, many guide dogs that have worked for years know all of places their master usually goes. All the handler has to tell them is “go to the office” or “find the coffee shop”, and the guide dog will follow the complete route!
1. In Para. 2, the writer mentioned the guide dogs in Beijing Paralympics in order to _______.| A．arouse readers’ interest in reading the rest part |
| B．emphasize the importance of their hard work |
| C．compare the job of guide dogs with that of humans |
| D．tell the difference of the guide dogs and lovely pets |
| A．avoid leading the handlers to some obstacles impossible to handle |
| B．keep a proper pace that is easy for the handlers to follow |
| C．assist the handlers when taking a bus, subway or train, etc. |
| D．look for some quiet places for the handlers to have rests |
| A．responsible | B．careful |
| C．obedient | D．approachable |
