【推荐1】A new algorithm(演算法)raises parking rates in busy neighborhoods and lowers them elsewhere，guaranteeing free parking spots regardless of location，Christopher Intagliata reports.

If you drive in a city，you’ve no doubt experienced the headache of circling block after block，cruising for parking.But scientists who study that phenomenon have a solution to free up more spots:“You make them more expensive，so people have to decide whether to park farther away and Pay less，or closer and pay more.”Itzhak Benenson，a system scientist at Tel Aviv University.

San Francisco has piloted a program that raises parking rates based on demand—and it's been shown to reduce cruising.But the sensors required for those systems can cost millions of dollars to install and operate，Benenson says.So instead，writing in IEEE Intelligent Transportation Systems Magazine，he and his colleague Nir Fulman describe an algorithm that can determine smart pricing，without the use of sensors.

They tested it on the Israeli city of Bat Yam，near Tel Aviv.First，they divide the city into zones.They estimate the parking demand in each zone，by calculating the number of apartments and offices there.Then they take account of parking supply in the area，along with how wealthy potential parkers might be.Using that data，the algorithm suggested pricing for each zone that would guarantee a 90-percent occupancy rate of parking spots city-wide.Meaning 10 percent of spots were always available to drivers willing to pay the price，regardless of neighborhood.

Of course，not everyone will agree that raising parking prices will reduce the press of parking.Last time Benenson proposed hiking rates for city residents?“I got about 100 reactions on the web and 99 of them that said they have never heard such a stupid statement from the professors，and I should be punished and fired.”

Eventually，he says，it'll be up to cities themselves to estimate their residents’political appetites for an easier parking spot.

1. What does the underlined word“them”in paragraph 1 refer to?

A．Parking spots.	B．Parking rates.
C．Busy neighborhoods.	D．New algorithms.

2. How does the new algorithm work?

A．Adopting different parking rates.

B．Counting the apartments and offices.

C．Making farther parking spots more expensive.

D．Setting the price of parking spots with sensors.

3. Which is the process of carrying out the smart pricing?
①Choosing a target city.
②Counting the parking demand.
③Dividing the city into zones.
④Suggesting pricing for each zone.
⑤Considering the parking supply.

A．②⑤④③①	B．①③②⑤④
C．②⑤①③④	D．①③④②⑤

4. What will the public think of Benenson’s smart pricing?

A．Supporting.

B．Disapproving.

C．Optimistic.

D．Controversial.

【推荐1】It is often difficult for farmers to identify diseases quickly enough to protect their crops and those on neighboring farms. Now, some farmers are using a simple device directly in the field to find viruses before they spread.

In Tanzania, several viruses are a threat to cassava crops. Farmers struggle to identify the diseases in an urgent effort to avoid severe crop damage. The disease identification process is often difficult when farmers are acting on their own. If they do not know what is attacking their crops, they cannot decide the best way to fight the disease. A device from British technology company Oxford Nanopore is changing that. The device extracts deoxyribonucleic acid, better known as DNA, from plants. DNA is the carrier of genetic information in nearly all living things. The device helps farmers identify what is harming their crops so they can change to more resistant crops.

Laura Boykin is with the University of Western Australia and also works with the Cassava Virus Action Project. She brought the device to a Tanzanian farm owned by Asha Mohamed. She said, “We are here collecting leaf punches from infected material to test, to do a DNA extraction and then start sequencing (排序) in the field.” The testing identified a number of viruses in the cassava fields near Mohamed’s farm. The process also discovered that plants considered resistant to disease had a very low viral level. Once the viruses were identified, Asha Mohamed was given two kinds of seeds that are resistant to the diseases.

In another case, DNA was collected from a pawpaw tree farm in Kenya. With that test, the technology was able to identify diseases affecting Naomi Mumo’s crops. Naomi Mumo said, “All my pawpaw were affected by a disease, and I didn’t know what kind of disease it was. But now, I have people who have identified the disease using new technology, and within a very short time. So I’m very happy.”

The speed at which farmers identify diseases can mean the difference between the success or failure on large areas of crop land. Now, the use of such simple and easily transportable DNA sequencing devices is making that possible.

1. What’s the main idea of the whole passage?

A．Farmers In Tanzania struggle to identify the diseases in their crops

B．How Laura Boykin helped Asha Mohamed to identify the viruses.

C．DNA sequencing device helps farmers to find viruses and identify the diseases in their crops quickly.

D．A DNA sequencing device helps farmers to identify the diseases and keep healthy.

2. Which of the following best explains “extracts” underlined in paragraph 2?

A．produces

B．creates

C．refuses

D．gets

3. We can infer from the passage that Naomi Mumo is ________ with the DNA sequencing device.

A．relaxed

B．satisfied

C．disappointed

D．annoyed

4. Which of the following is not true according to the passage?

A．Farmers often have difficulty in identifying diseases in their crops quickly by themselves.

B．DNA carries genetic information in nearly all living things.

C．Both Asha Mohamed and Naomi Mumo are farmers in Tanzania.

D．If farmers can identify diseases in their crops quickly, they can protect their crops and succeed on large areas of crop land.

【推荐2】Let me tell you, Johnson, this is going to be the biggest development in animal-imitative cybernetics     (动物模仿控制学) since Hayes pioneered the field way back in 2014. Everybody’s going to want a piece of my discovery! Everyone! Even United States of Earth Defense! I’m going to be the richest man alive!

I can see you don’t share my excitement yet. Just wait, old friend. Accompany me to my lab, and we will see who has the last laugh. You’ll be begging me to take you on as a lab assistant after I...Oh, here we are. You first, my good man. You see, I had already come up with the perfect cybernetic engine, able to copy any life form. The question was, which creature would be the best show of my discovery? I’ve used a life form nobody’s considered for cybernetics. It is powerful, graceful, intelligent, and best of all people love it. I chose the tiger!

Go on, have a glance! Ha! Don’t look so shocked, Johnson. I leave it powered down when I’m not testing it. It is rather great, though. Yes, all the latest technology, including claws ( 爪 ) I had made from vanadium alloy(合金). It cuts through steel like its wet cardboard. The process that I used to get its mind in the computer will be enough to ensure me fame and fortune.

Huh? It did move, didn’t it? I guess I left it on yesterday. No, don’t look so nervous; I can shut off its main power with this remote(遥控器)right here. Nothing to worry about. I really don’t think it’s regarding you as a meal. Be reasonable, old...Oh, God! Johnson! The remote, where is it? Where?!

Ah, there we go! Too late to save Johnson, though. What a pity. Better safe than sorry. There! God, what a mess. Even worse, I can’t call the police now; the bad publicity would overshadow my breakthrough, and certainly frighten the investors. I’ve got to get rid of the body secretly, somehow. I could bury it, but I might be seen. I could burn it, but the smoke would be very doubtful. What to do?

What to...

I wonder...How fast can this cat eat?

1. What’s the author’s attitude towards his invention?

A．Proud.	B．Disappointed.
C．Cheerful.	D．Astonished.

2. It can be inferred that the invention in the passage is a____.

A．surprise	B．success
C．failure	D．wonder

3. According to the passage, what was the worst result of this invention?

A．He couldn’t get rid of his friend’s body.	B．The robot tiger killed his friend.
C．He couldn’t control the robot tiger.	D．The robot tiger had to be improved.

4. What does the last sentence “I wonder...How fast can this cat eat” suggest?

A．The writer wanted to know if he could find a cat to eat John’s body.

B．The writer wondered how fast this cat could eat a person.

C．The writer wanted to test whether this machine tiger is powerful enough.

D．The writer wanted to cover up the facts that his experiment is a failure.

【推荐3】When a laptop or smartphone battery starts losing its power, the only options are to buy an expensive replacement, or just keep it plugged in all the time. But a woman Mya Le Thai may have found the answer to this problem.

Thai was frustrated that the batteries for her wireless devices degraded over time, until they failed to charge fully. She did not like having to keep her laptop connected to an electrical outlet to keep it powered on. So, she decided to do something about that problem. At first, she and her team at UC Irvine thought about inventing a new battery. But as they experimented, Thai discovered something that might permit lithium-ion(锂离子) batteries to last forever.

Lithium-ion batteries power most wireless devices. Over time, the batteries lose the ability to hold a charge. Most of these batteries have a life span of about 7,000 charging cycles before they die. One of the reasons lithium-ion batteries degrade is their use of nanowires to carry electricity. Nanowires are extremely thin. A human hair is thousands of times thicker, for example. Nanowires are extremely efficient carriers of electricity, which makes them useful in batteries.

But, Thai had a theory-the nanowires might last longer if covered with a gel(凝胶). She and her team tested this theory. “It was a long process and a lot of work,” Thai said. The team tried many coverings for the wires. PMMA, a type of plastic, was one of them. The nanowires were coated with PMMA and cycled through charges 200,000 times. The PMMA-coated nanowires showed no evidence of damage. The results suggest that batteries could last forever, without losing charging ability.

Thai hopes to continue her research to understand why this gel works so well and to see if any other gel could create better results and she is enjoying the publicity about her discovery. She said she never expected her research to get media coverage. “It’s kind of cool,” she said. “I’m really glad people are showing interest in my work and not just in the work itself, but also in technology and energy.”

1. What can we infer about nanowires?

A．They last only 7,000 charging cycles.	B．They are too weak to carry electricity.
C．They are not suitable to use in batteries.	D．Their thinness is a cause of batteries degrade.

2. What might be Thai and her team’s breakthrough?

A．Coating nanowires in gel.	B．A new kind of battery.
C．New materials for batteries.	D．A new way of charging batteries.

3. What may be the best title for the passage?

A．The options of batteries for wireless devices	B．A woman invents a life-long battery.
C．Mya Le Thai discovered Nanowires	D．The reasons for batteries degrading

【推荐1】(You are going to read four review of a science documentary series on TV. For questions 1-10, choose from the reviews (A-D). The reviews may be chosen more than once.)

Reviews of TV science documentary series

Paul Hansen looks at the latest science programmes.

A   Science for All Fortunately for me and non-scientists everywhere, the makers of Science for All are there to plug the gaps in our knowledge. The series is rather like a knowledgeable parent who doesn’t mind being pestered by wide-eyed and curious children: It takes the time to explain all those fascinating mysteries of nature in an entertaining and understandable way. The last series opened my eyes to all manner of interesting facts and demystified some of the problems faced by modern physics. And the new series show no lack of inspiration for subjects to tackle: everything from the existence of life on other planets to the odd properties of human memory are rightly considered suitable subjects. So, while it’s a shame that factual programs are getting increasingly scarce these days, it’s a comfort that Science for All shows no signs of dipping in quality or disappearing from public view.

B   Out in Space Although I wasn’t expecting much from this series, I’m pleased that the producers of Out in Space persisted with their unpromising subject. In the course of the first program we learn about hurricanes, deserts, and even how the Moon was made; a bewildering mix of phenomena that, we were assured, were all caused by events beyond our planets’ atmosphere. That’s not to say the program explored them in any great detail, preferring to skip breathlessly from one to the next. The essential logic of the series seemed to be that if you take any natural phenomenon and ask “why?” enough times, the answer will eventually be that it’s something to do with space. The two presenters attempted to get it all to fit together, by taking part in exciting activities. Sadly, these only occasionally succeeded.

C   Stars and Planets The second series of Stars and Planets is an attempt to take advantage of the success of the first, which unexpected gained a substantial general audience. Like its predecessor, this is big on amazing photography and fabulous graphics, most of which are much less successful at communicating the immensity of the ideas involved than one human being talking to you directly. This time the scope is given wider, astronomically speaking. What we are being introduced to here are ambitious ideas about time and space, and the presenter succeeds rather better than you might expect. It helps that he doesn’t go too deep, as once you start thinking about it this is tricky stuff to get your head around. The point of such programs is less to explain every detail than to arouse a generalized sense of amazement that might lead to further thinking, and Stars and Planets is certainly good at that.

D   Robot Technology This ground-breaking science documentary series follows a group of experts as they attempt to build a complete artificial human from robotic body parts. The project sees scientists use the latest technology from the world’s most renowned research centers and manufacturers. It is the realization of a long-held dream to create a human from manufactured parts, using everything from bionic arms and mechanical hearts, eye implants and microchip brains. The series explores to what extent modern technology is capable of replacing body parts—or even improving their abilities. The presenter, very appropriately, has an artificial hand himself. This ambitious series gives us a guided tour of the wonders of modern technology. Though it can be a slightly upsetting journey at times, it engages the audience in a revolution that is changing the face of medicine.

In which review does it say that:
1. an effort was made to connect a number of unrelated issues?
2. the topics covered are well chosen?
3. viewers are shown how science can occasionally do better than nature?
4. the series deals with something people have hoped to achieve for a while?
5. the series unfortunately didn’t spend a lot of time explaining the topics covered?
6. viewers are clearly informed?
7. it’s good that viewers are not required to consider all aspects of the subject carefully?
8. the series was worth making despite the topic not appearing very interesting at first?
9. viewers may not always find the series comfortable to watch?
10. the series achieves its aims by astonishing its viewers?

【推荐2】To move visual technology into the future, sometimes it helps to make a little noise. Researchers have used sound waves to produce floating 3-D images, create a sense of touch and even supply a soundtrack.

Since the 1940s, scientists have toyed with the concept of acoustic levitation(声悬浮), the use of soundwave vibrations to trap tiny things in midair. The technology has gained greater capabilities in the past decade. Some researchers believe this improvement could lead to applications such as contributing to novel 3-D printing methods, or creating displays that would be visible from any angle without requiring a screen.

Other researchers have also worked on visual displays that use acoustic levitation. In addition to visuals, the system can also produce audible noise to give the display a soundtrack. And the ultrasound speakers can also concentrate vibrations in one spot so that a finger might feel a sense pushing back—a little like the object shown by the floating image is really there. Soundwaves create a 3-D display!

Display without a screen is remarkably useful. It means that everybody in the room can see the image—any angle, location—and that’s extremely helpful. As a communications system, such a display might one day allow users to chat with a 3-D projection(投影) of a person who can turn his or her head to follow as they move around a room.

The display will require a lot more work before you can install it in your living room, however. So far, this has been done in the research laboratory. We need to push it a little bit harder. We need to do more analysis to see if it would make sense to create a real display that people would have at home. The current system can only show simple graphics, such as a smiley face or figure eight, in real time.

Still, we are optimistic about the potential for this type of technology. If the system had only one speaker-covered surface instead of two, it could generate images that are bigger than the device itself. We can’t make a TV image that’s bigger than the TV—even a projector has to have a projection screen that’s bigger than the image itself. But with a volumetric(容积的) display, a small, portable device might produce a much larger picture. We can imagine, in the future, having volumetric displays in watches, for example, that create large images that just project out of your watch.

1. From the first two paragraphs soundwave vibrations can be used to _________.

A．catch very small objects in midair

B．develop 3-D printer’s capabilities

C．replace a creative display screen

D．compose soundtracks by making no noise

2. What do we know about display without a screen?

A．It has resulted in visual technology.

B．It is possible to see the image from any direction.

C．It is already ripe to create a real one at home.

D．It has yet to be tested in the research laboratory.

3. What does the last paragraph mainly talk about?

A．Outlooks for the new technology.

B．Situations of the modern technology.

C．Praise for the cutting-edge technology.

D．Room for the technical improvement.

4. What can be a suitable title for the passage?

A．Hearing Is Seeing—Sound Waves Create a 3-D Display

B．Seeing is Believing—3-D Printing Methods Arrive

C．Advancing Sense of Touch—3-D Images Float in the Air

D．Promoting TV Technology—Chat with 3-D Projections

【推荐3】What if a rollercoaster ride looked like this: no rails, no trains, just a chair on a mechanical arm (机械手臂) and a pair of glasses—VR glasses meaning virtual reality? That’s how it is in Nanchang, China, where a new amusement park relies entirely on digital entertainment.

Compared with a traditional theme park, this VR theme park takes up smaller space and much less time to build, but it brings visitors similar playing experience. The park uses VR for a variety of attractions, including the roller coaster ride, a musical video game where you have to hit the right notes, and a shooter in a completely unreal environment. It really gives you the feeling of reality.

The park wants to invest in a future technology and hopes to keep people’s fascination with virtual reality of life. For the technology, it is still highly experimental. What we want to do with virtual reality is to experience things in and beyond reality, but in fact the VR we can experience right now has a lot of limits. For example, although on the visual front, we can say we’ve broken past reality in our visual experience, there’s still a lack of physical feedback, meaning we can see the virtual world around us but we can’t feel them. That limits the technology’s appeal from many applications.

For now, one of its main uses is in professional training. For example, for pilots in a Boeing VR simulator(模拟器), a real touchable interface is combined with a virtual world outside. Some significant development is still needed before we can virtually wander around in our houses, go for a walk without leaving the house or actually hold a product in our hands before buying it online. Nanchang hopes to become a significant VR player in the future not just with digital rollercoasters.

1. What can be an advantage of the VR theme park over traditional ones?

A．Its lower cost.	B．Its shorter building time.
C．Its larger area.	D．Its more exciting attractions.

2. What is the third paragraph about?

A．The limits of the present VR technology.

B．The uses of VR technology in the future.

C．The vivid experience of playing a VR roller coaster.

D．The experiments done to improve VR technology.

3. What can be done now with the aid of VR technology?

A．Playing a musical instrument.	B．Walking out without leaving the house.
C．Training pilots in a simulator.	D．Touching a product when shopping online.

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

A．A Roller Coaster without Rails

B．Nanchang: the Next King of VR Technology

C．Virtual Reality: Advantages and Disadvantages

D．VR Brings Theme Park Visitors New Experience