The study on facial recognition technology (FRT) began in the late 1960s. In the late 1990s, FRT began to enter the market gradually but its accuracy had a long way to go though it cost governments a lot, which made it unpopular at that time. FRT attracted wide attention after September，11, 2001 and it has been widely used now.
Recognizing the potential abuse in the use of FRT, Microsoft is asking the U. S. government to study facial recognition (FR) and keep a dose watch over its use. Personally, I hold this is a positive job that Microsoft is doing. FRT has grown to be so powerful. It can be used to identify people in photos, video feeds，and of course in person, without their permission.
Mr. Bradford Smith, Microsoft’s president, suggests that “governments around the world should examine commercial uses of FR.” The European Union (EU) is ahead of others in this aspect, thanks to its tough new data protection law, which forbids companies to gather the biometric (生物特征) data needed for facial recognition without first obtaining users, permission.
San Francisco has become the first city in the USA to forbid using facial recognition software. And Oakland discussed a similar rule last month. San Francisco has said that police and other public departments cannot use FRT. San Francisco already uses surveillance (监视) cameras for reading car number plates and police officers wear body cameras. San Francisco official Aaron Peskin said FRT was like “Big Brother” from the book 1984 by George Orwell. The phrase Big Brother is now used to describe attempts to increase surveillance and “spy” on citizens. Mr. Peskin said, “We can have good policing without being a police state.”
1. Why was FRT unpopular in the 1990s?| A．It was inconvenient to use. | B．It was expensive to produce. |
| C．Its accuracy needed improving. | D．Its roles weren’t fully found out. |
| A．He says yes to it. | B．He is doubtful of it. |
| C．He feels worried about it. | D．He can’t understand it. |
| A．San Francisco. | B．Microsoft. |
| C．Oakland. | D．The EU. |
| A．Big Brother Technology | B．Different Uses of FRT |
| C．Strong Protection of FRT | D．FR Data’s Disadvantages |
相似题推荐
【推荐1】Can a small group of drones (无人机) guarantee the safety and reliability of railways and, at the same time, help railway operators save billions of euros each year? That is the very likely future of applying today’s “eyes in the sky” technology to making sure that the millions of kilometres of rail tracks and infrastructure (基础设施) worldwide are safe for trains on a 24/7 basis.
Drones are already being used to examine high-tension electrical lines. They could do precisely the same thing to inspect railway lines and other vital aspects of rail infrastructure such as the correct position of railway tracks and switching points. The more regularly they can be inspected, the more railway safety, reliability and on-time performance will be improved. Costs would be cut and operations would be more efficient (高效) across the board.
That includes huge savings in maintenance costs and better protection of railway personnel safety. It is calculated that European railways alone spend approximately 20 billion euros a year on maintenance, including sending maintenance staff, often at night, to inspect and repair the rail infrastructure. That can be dangerous work that could be avoided with drones assisting the crews’ efforts.
By using the latest technologies, drones could also start providing higher-value services for railways, detecting faults in the rail or switches, before they can cause any safety problems. To perform these tasks, drones for rail don’t need to be flying overhead. Engineers are now working on a new concept: the rail drones of the future. They will be moving on the track ahead of the train, and programmed to run autonomously. Very small drones with advanced sensors and AI and travelling ahead of the train could guide it like a co-pilot. With their ability to see ahead, they could signal any problem, so that fast-moving trains would be able to react in time.
1. Which of the following statements is true?| A．The frequency of drones has nothing with railway safety. |
| B．Maintenance and design costs can be hugely reduced by using drones. |
| C．Drones cannot offer protection to the rail crews. |
| D．Drones will be able to provide early warnings. |
| A．The drones. | B．The costs.. |
| C．The operations. | D．The savings. |
| A．Indifferent. | B．Negative. | C．Positive. | D．Not mentioned. |
| A．How Drones Will Change the Future of Railways |
| B．How Production of Drones Can Be Expanded |
| C．What Difficulty Drone Development Will Face |
| D．What Faults Can Be Detected with Drones |
【推荐2】Heat is the biggest end use for energy all over the world. It’s also critically important for survival in a country like Finland where the winter is long, cold and dark. And the recent move by Russia to cut off supplies of gas and electricity in response to Finland joining NATO has caused concern.
There is good news, however, that the world’s fully first working sand battery has been installed in Finland. It is a device which can store sustainably produced heat for months at a time and can be used to keep homes warm in winter. That’s why the new technology was developed by researchers there. Researchers believe it can solve the country’s year-round crisis in power supply, which is a significant issue for green energy.
The sand battery was installed in the Vatajankoski power plant that runs the heating system for the houses in the area. It works by heating the sand, circulating the heat generated in the sand using a heat exchanger. Researchers used low-grade sand to charge the devices with heat from cheap electricity coming from either solar or wind energy. The sand battery can store energy and heat up to 500 degrees Celsius. which can be used to warm homes during winter when electricity is more expensive.
It is a cost-effective method because when the battery releases the hot air, it warms the water for the district heating system that is pumped around homes, offices, and the local swimming pool. Sand is an ideal material because it is cheap and readily available everywhere. While other inexpensive items like water can store heat, sand can be heated to much higher temperatures. The sand used is of the lowest quality so it cannot be used in construction thus making it a sustainable choice. Besides, sand-based batteries last longer than other batteries. According to a study, researchers obtained silicon using sand to create a battery that lasts three times longer than lithium-ion(锂离子) batteries.
“This innovation is a part of the smart and green energy transition. Heat storage systems can significantly help to increase intermittent (间歇性的) renewables in the electrical network,” said Markku Ylönen, cofounder of Polar Night Energy. “At the same time, we can make full use of the heat waste to keep the city warm.”
1. Why did researchers install sand battery in Finland?| A．Because Finland is in desperate need of it owing to the climate. |
| B．Because people there can use it to keep warm in summer. |
| C．Because Russia cut off supplies of gas and electricity there. |
| D．Because sand in Finland can generate a great deal of solar power. |
| A．It generates electricity with seawater. | B．It stores heat from green energy. |
| C．It charges electronic devices. | D．The hot air is circulating inside a plant. |
| A．other material can’t store heat | B．it is thrown everywhere |
| C．it is a kind of unsustainable resource | D．it is inexpensive |
| A．Indifferent. | B．Negative. | C．Positive. | D．Neutral. |
【推荐3】Need an app for that?Anvitha Vijay,9 years old,can build it.With the help of YouTube videos,the young girl from Melbourne,Australia,Learned to code（编程）at age 7.Soon,she was trying her hand at making apps.
"When I first got my iPad, I was attracted by all the apps on it,"she told TFK."It wasn't long before I wanted to create my own."
She built her first two apps with her younger sister in mind.Smartkins Animals helps children know more than 100 animals and their sounds.Smartkins Rainbow Colors teaches kids colors. Each app has been downloaded thousands of times.
Anvitha's skills won her an award to attend a big tech conference hosted by Apple in San Francisco,California There,she got tips from so many smart people.She went to workshops where she learned about the latest software（软件）for app building.
All that training led to an idea for a third app. This one, called GoalsHi, inspires kids to practice good habits. Users are rewarded for achieving goals, such as eating their vegetables or practicing piano."Kids can set goals with this app and get stars when they achieve them,"she says,"The idea is to encourage kids to achieve one little step a day."
Anvitha's goal is to continue creating technology that helps kids learn while having fun.But even more important to her is that the world sees the power of technology in kids' hands."The more training we get in technology at an early age,"she says,"the better chance we have of becoming people who will one day change the world."
1. What can we learn from the text?| A．Anvitha has created educational apps. |
| B．Anvitha won an award for practicing piano. |
| C．The power of technology has been in kids' hands. |
| D．Educational apps are very popular among parents. |
| A．YouTube videos. | B．Her younger sister. |
| C．All apps on her iPad | D．All training in Australia. |
| A．They teach kids to paint. |
| B．They teach kids to keep pets. |
| C．They help kids to invent instruments. |
| D．They help kids learn while having fun. |
| A．Kids should keep having a beautiful dream. |
| B．Kids mastering technology must change the world. |
| C．Work hard and you'll have a better life in the future. |
| D．Children had better get training in technology as early as possible. |
【推荐1】Like most people living in the suburb, Janice Monkowski, who lives some 30 miles east of San Francisco, gets around mainly by car. For much of her life, public transportation was not even an afterthought. That changed recently when Monkowski, a self-described technophobe (技术恐惧者), discovered Moovit. When she goes to San Francisco to meet friends, the smart-phone app let her plan bus and train trips down to the minute. “Moovit tells me where to walk and how long it might take to catch a bus to get to the train station,” Monkowski says.
Much like the navigation app Waze, which follows its users on the road to determine the best driving routes. Moovit collects location data of nearby users to show how to travel along the way with less time and energy between two locations. Nir Erez who cofounded Moovit says, “Most commuters (每天长途上班的人)don’t know when a bus might arrive, let alone how it might connect with another transit service, or when walking or bicycling might be faster.”
In just several years Moovit has had 100 million users. Moovit is available in 44 languages and 82 countries, and commuters in more than 2,500 cities rely on it to get to and from work. In 2016 Moovit became the official transit app for the Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. In 2018, Moovit was also chosen as the official mobility app of the Asian Games. When public transit doesn’t get a user all the way to where they want to go, Moovit may connect her to bike-share programs or services like Uber.
As Moovit has grown to 100 employees, with headquarters (总部)near Tel Aviv and offices in big cities such as San Francisco, Athens and Rio, Moovit can provide better, more up-to-date information at a lower cost. Best of all: It’s all built one data point at a time by people like Monkowski. When you go to San Francisco and don’t want to drive before the city’s “terrible” parking and traffic, Moovit can give you another option. It’s very simple.
1. How does Moovit help Janice Monkowski ?| A．By helping her have a comfortable trip. |
| B．By helping her learn advanced technology. |
| C．By helping her balance her tight travel budget. |
| D．By helping her arrive at where she wants to go. |
| A．It provides more good services. | B．It involves more simple orders. |
| C．It predicts the most efficient trip. | D．It stores more available information. |
| A．The exact location of Moovit. | B．The bright future of Moovit. |
| C．The development of big cities. | D．Some special opinions on public transportation. |
| A．The wide use of Moovit | B．The unique development of Moovit |
| C．The historical development of Moovit | D．The obvious advantage of Moovit |
【推荐2】Back in ancient times, philosophers（哲学家）like Aristotle were already thinking about the origins of taste, and how the tongue sensed basic tastes like sweet, bitter, salty and sour.
“What scientists discovered just a few years ago is that there are areas of the brain where certain fields of neurons（神经元）respond to these different tastes. So there’s a sweet field, a bitter field, a salty field and so on, ” said Nick Ryba, a neuroscientist at the National Institutes of Health.
But Ryba and his colleagues have found that we can actually taste without a tongue at all, simply by turning on or off the “taste” part of the brain. And by turning on the “bitter” sensing part of the brain, they were able to make mice pucker up（咧着嘴）, as if they were tasting something bitter—even though nothing bitter was touching the tongues of the mice.
In another experiment, the researchers fed the mice a bitter taste on their tongues—but then made it more palatable by turning on the “sweet” zone of the brain. “What we were doing here was adding the sweetness, but only adding it in the brain, not in what we were giving to the mouse. ”Think adding sugar to our coffee—but doing it only in our mind.
Ryba says the study suggests that a lot of our basic judgments about taste—sweet means good, bitter means bad—are actually made at the level of the brain. As for that virtual（虚拟的）-sugar-in-your-coffee idea? “I thought it’s basically science fiction to think that this would be something that would be used on humans. But today’s science fiction might be tomorrow’s artificial sweetener, ”he added.
1. What is the second paragraph mainly about?| A．The philosophical ideas about the origins of different tastes. |
| B．The discovery about which part of the brain responds to a certain taste. |
| C．The way that scientists have found the taste-related zones in the brain. |
| D．The latest breakthrough in controlling the brain's response to the tastes. |
| A．Controllable. | B．Unacceptable. | C．Pleasant. | D．Real. |
| A．It is impossible. | B．It can become true. |
| C．It is a reality. | D．It is unbelievable. |
| A．A science fiction. | B．A biology textbook. |
| C．A science report. | D．An experiment record. |
【推荐3】Li Bai holds a wine cup in his hand, while Du Fu sits in front of a desk, writing poems on the paper in front of him. It’s not that we have traveled to the past. Modern technology has brought ancient poets “back to life” .
The two great poets, along with other humanoid robots were presented at the World Robot Conference 2023 in late August in Beijing. They looked similar to real human beings.
“The skin is made of medical-grade bionic silicone (仿生硅胶) which is why the skin looks soft and veins can be seen through it,” CGTN explained in a video about Liaoning-based producer EXROBOTS. Goosebumps (鸡皮疙瘩) and palm lines can also be seen on the arms and hands.
Researchers are also trying hard to create other features of humans on robots. A US robotics company Apptronik brought out its humanoid robot called Apollo on Aug 23. Apollo has around 30 muscles. However, humans have around 300 muscles in our bodies. For now, engineers can only simplify the muscles, allowing them to do basic movements like holding objects and walking.
The robot also contains cameras, helping it map out a 360-degree view of its environment. It also has sensors (传感器) in its head to help keep balance when walking on uncertain surfaces.
Nowadays, bionic human-like robots mostly work with humans, as tour guides or by helping visitors at front desks. There are also robots that share the work of nurses, such as handing out medicine. This could be because people are comfortable living and working with machines that look or act like them. “They can strike a chord (引起共鸣) with people,” a US robotics scientist Marc Raibert told New Yorker.
As more humanoid robots come out, safety will be the key, according to the Robot Reportwebsite. When a 70- kilogram robot breaks down and falls, humans nearby may be hurt.
1. What does brought ancient poets “back to life” mean in Paragraph 1?| A．The robots can create better poems than poets. |
| B．Technology can make ancient poets back to life. |
| C．Visitors can experience real ancient life with robots. |
| D．The robots looked and acted like real ancient poets. |
| A．How human-like their robots are. |
| B．How soft the robots skin is. |
| C． How the robots’ skin should be made. |
| D．How different they are from other robots. |
| A．Wave at humans. | B．Walk stably. | C．Know human faces. | D．See better. |
| A．People may be at war with the robots. | B．Human-like robots look scary. |
| C．The robots weight may cause problems. | D．The robots may get out of control. |
【推荐1】A lot of people feel that it's much harder to learn a foreign language as you grow older—and they're right. A new study found that if you want to achieve the proficiency（精通）of a native speaker, you'd best start when you're 10 years old.
There is a lot of evidence that shows children find it much easier than adults to learn a foreign language, which has made researchers suggest that there is an "important period" for language learning. But until now, no one has really been sure what that age period is. Now. MIT researchers believe they have solved one of those things.
They found that the window starts to close when you're about 10 years old. Although children up to 17 or 18 learn a new language faster than adults, and their ability drops slower than that in adults, it becomes very difficult to reach the proficiency of a native speaker if you start later than age 10.
The findings are based on an analysis of a grammar test taken by nearly 670,000 people. Researchers took snapshots（快照）of thousands of people who were in different stages of learning English. They also used a game called “Which English?” to judge which dialect of English the test-taker speaks. Within hours after being posted on the social media, the 10-minute test "Which English?" spread quickly.
Researchers found that the grammar-learning ability remains strong until age 17 or 18, after which it starts to drop—which was rather unexpected. It's not clear why the drop starts to happen. It may either be a cultural reason or a biological one. You shouldn't let this disappoint you. Even if it's a bit harder, you should try it. It's not just the ability to talk to someone from another country. Studies have shown that learning a second or third language does wonders for your brain and mental health.
1. What does the word "window" in Paragraph 3 refer to?| A．A good period to learn a foreign language. |
| B．A better way to solve a problem. |
| C．The ability to learn a foreign language. |
| D．A good memory to recite new foreign words. |
| A．It is a kind of grammar test. |
| B．It is a new method of learning English. |
| C．It helps analyze the way to learn English. |
| D．It can tell what kind of English people speak. |
| A．Culture affects language learning greatly. |
| B．Learning a foreign language can be very useful. |
| C．You had better not learn a new language when old. |
| D．The author, doesn't think the research is complete. |
| A．When is the best time to learn a foreign language? |
| B．What kind of people are fit for learning a foreign language? |
| C．Things we should care for when learning a foreign language |
| D．Some special ways to learn a foreign language |
【推荐2】Have you ever wondered why elephants get so big? Thanks to their enormous size, they have been able to survive for thousands of years in all kinds of circumstances. Their size has allowed them to reach high food sources, knock down trees instantly and find water underground. Not only does their size benefit them but also their ecosystem.
Elephants use their size to create holes in the ground to find water. During droughts, they will start to dig holes to find water that might be stored underground. Elephants are not just helping themselves but also smaller species. Those water holes that they create become water sources for other species. These holes are essential, especially during droughts. Without elephants, some smaller species would not have access to water.
Elephants spend a lot of time eating. To be exact, they spend 12 to 18 hours a day eating. Since they eat so much, they are always on the shift to find food sources. These magnificent creatures can walk up to 50 miles a day. As elephants make their way to their next location, they drop dung filled with seeds along the way. Once on the ground, those seeds will begin to grow. The elephant dung helps the seeds shoot. This helps increase the biodiversity of plants and trees.
Elephants create homes for other species. Another one of the roles and importance of elephants in the ecosystem is creating homes for smaller creatures. Unexceptional small species do not have the size to knock down trees or create holes in the ground to create a home. These animals rely on elephants to do that for them. Elephants use their powerful kicks and teeth to knock down trees. Small species will then use that as shelter. Furthermore, elephants help spread seeds that grow into trees and plants that animals will call home.
1. What is the cause of elephants’ survival for thousands of years?| A．Their huge size. | B．Rich food sources. |
| C．Their unique shape. | D．Plenty of water underground. |
| A．They eat a lot. | B．They knock down trees. |
| C．They cover a long distance. | D．They produce waste along the way. |
| A．They make shelters for other species. |
| B．They dig water holes for other creatures. |
| C．They help the seeds of plants spread and grow. |
| D．They find food sources for other plants and animals. |
| A．It encourages people to protect elephants. |
| B．It talks about the importance of elephant dung. |
| C．It introduces the benefits of elephants to the environment. |
| D．It informs readers of the reasons why elephants grow big. |
【推荐3】Imagine a cat that does not need someone to clean up after it keeps an older people company and helps them remember to take their medicine. That is the shared dream of the toy maker Hasbro and scientists at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island. The researchers received a 3-million-dollar from the National Science Foundation for a special project. They want to find ways to add artificial intelligence, or AI, to Hasbro’s “Joy for All” robotic cat.
The cat has already been for sale for two years. Though priced at over 1, 000 dollars, it sold quite well. It was meant to act as a “companion” (陪伴) for older people. Now the project is aimed at developing additional abilities for the cat. Researchers are working to decide which activities older adults may need the most. They hope to make the cat perform a small number of activities very well. Such activities include finding lost objects and reminding the older people to take medicine or visit their doctor. They also want to keep the cost down to just a few hundred dollars.
It is an idea that has appealed (有吸引力) to Jeanne Elliott. Her 93-year-old mother Mary Derr lives with her in South Kingstown. Derr has dementia (痴呆) The Joy for All cat that Elliot bought this year has become a true companion for Derr. The cat stays with Derr and keeps her relaxed while Elliott is at work. Elliot said a robotic cat that helps her mother to remember to take her medicine and be careful when she walks would be greater.
The researchers are trying to learn how the improved cats will complete helpful activities and how they will communicate. They say that they do not want a talking cat, however. Instead they are trying to design a cat that can move its head in a special way to successfully communicate its message. In the end, they hope to create an exchange between the human and the cat in which the human feels the cat needs them. By doing so, the researchers hope they can even help prevent feelings of loneliness and sadness among elderly people.
1. What can we know about the cat?| A．It will be on sale in two years. |
| B．It may be cheaper in the future. |
| C．Its abilities will be made simpler for the elderly. |
| D．It can tell activities older adults need the most. |
| A．The cat gives much help to the elderly. |
| B．The cat works well to talk with the patient. |
| C．The cat can make the dementia patient less painful. |
| D．The cat should be designed to satisfy patients’ need. |
| A．Each family can afford such a cat in the future. |
| B．A talking cat is quite popular among the elderly. |
| C．Feelings of sadness among the elderly are unavoidable. |
| D．The feeling of being needed is important to the elderly. |
【推荐1】Jax, a Belgian malinois, was too gentle to be a military dog and found work attacking a different kind of enemy: invasive species taking over North America.
The two-year-old animal has been trained by Working Dogs for Conservation, a charity based in Montana that uses dogs to help conservatives. From Yellowstone, Wyoming, to Alberta, Canada, they sniff out unwelcome ants, and weeds threatening natural ecosystem.
Jax and two other dogs, Barley and Tobias, were used in Yellowstone to detect zebra and quagga mussels, which have reached 46 US states and can damage lake ecosystems by eating algae that fish feed on. Their spread is hard to stop because their larvae can be picked up on boats.
Kayla Fratt, who trained the dogs, said, ''People were more willing to have their boats inspected and to learn about the mussels as soon as we were there with the dogs. We talked to over 700 people about invasive species.''
Invasive species cost the US economy more than $ 120 billion a year, the US Fish and Wildlife Service said in a report last month. Americans national parks had become overrun with invasive species, the Service said.
The 35 animals trained by Working Dogs come from shelters or previous training programs, but all have high energy and intense focus. They'll do anything to get their reward, making them easier to train. Tobias started life as a stray, and Barley was given up by a family who couldn't handle his energy.
The group also helped others to train dogs. Last year was its first working with US national parks and they hope the work would continue. Ms Fratt said, "We were joking that 2020 is going to shape up to be the year of the ferret for us. ” Conservationists are eager to study black-footed ferrets, a highly endangered North American species with signs of recovering. They're difficult to track and it's hoped that the dogs can help.
1. What's the daily duty Jax performs?| A．Helping a charity dealing with annoying ants. |
| B．Collecting information for conservative charities. |
| C．Detecting foreign species invading North America. |
| D．Guarding American borders against enemy invasion. |
| A．They are always energetic and attentive. |
| B．They're afraid to be abandoned by the base. |
| C．They were once well-trained military dogs. |
| D．They're willing to do something for a reward. |
| A．An endangered species hard to find. |
| B．An invasive species difficult to handle. |
| C．Traditional dog food existing in nature. |
| D．A kind of algae that attaches easily to boats. |
| A．Abandoned Dogs Used to Detect Species |
| B．Different Kinds of Dogs Sniff out Eco-invaders |
| C．Dogs Rise to Protect American Ecosystem |
| D．Ecosystem Can be Protected in Different Ways |
【推荐2】You Mi, a lovely and confident 17-year-old student, is the first Chinese high school student to appear on the cover of the popular young adults’ fashion magazine Seventeen.
“You is IN,” said Wang Lihua, Editor-in-Chief of Seventeen. “She is active and mature (成熟的) because of her knowledge on everything from academic studies, to books on art, to movies. We found she’s the very style we’re looking for to represent young people’s attitudes.”
You also impressed Wang with her fluent English when they first met last year. As the hostess of an English broadcasting programme at the High School Affiliated to Renmin University, You is always praised for speaking English almost like a native speaker. “I’ve built up my English by watching thousands of English DVDs since I was 10,” she explained.
But for You, watching isn’t enough. Last year, while in Senior 1, she met a talented boy who showed self-made DV movies at the English Corner in her school.
“I thought it was so cool and I knew that I should start making my own films,” she said. So she wrote a campus (校园 ) story, persuaded schoolmates to star in it and then began shooting a 30-minute DV movie, all in English. “I played one of the leading roles， actually I was everything in my film. I worked on it every single day during the SARS holidays,” she recalled. The movie finally became a big hit on campus, earning You a strong reputation (名气) as a DV movie director.
But this is not the only field she wants to master. Despite being a science student, You likes art, literature and fashion design very much.
“There are people who can be artists，there are people who edit books, and there are people who become film producers. But I just hope to mix all the things up!” she said. “There is an old saying I believe: Chance favours only the prepared mind.”
1. You Mi was chosen to be a cover of Seventeen, mainly because she _____.| A．is beautiful |
| B．she is lovely and full of confidence |
| C．is active and mature |
| D．has rich knowledge |
| A．her chance to host an English broadcasting programme |
| B．the influence of her parents |
| C．her deep interest in it |
| D．her making DV movie |
| A．director | B．musician |
| C．actress | D．producer |
| A．You Mi hopes to be a mixed talent |
| B．the success of a 30-minute DV movie shocked You Mi |
| C．You Mi dreams of becoming a scientist |
| D．the outbreak of SARS delayed You Mi’s studies |
Greetings shareholders(股东) ,
GLA Electronics of America Inc. is placed to show a summary of its yearly income report for the year 2014. Thanks to our recently-enlarged international markets, the total earnings reached US$160 million in 2014, with a net profit of US$ 40 million
CarPhone Quarterly Sales
GLA Electronics sold l.6 million CarPhones the whole year, with half of these being sold during the fourth quarter, which ended September 24, 2014. In addition, the first quarter saw sales of 400,000 units, with the remaining units sales divided equally between the second and third quarters.
CarPhone Sales Have Improved Greatly since 2011.
We are excited to announce that we sold more CarPhones in 2014 than in the year of 2011 to 2013 combined. In 2011, only 150,000 units were sold. Thanks to strong advertising afterwards, sales increased by 50% in 2012, and then double in 2013.
Distribution of CarPhone Sales by Region
Sales onside of North America made up nearly 50% of the total sales volume in 2014. Half of the units sold internationally were in Asian markers, with 300,000 units sold in Europe. The remaining units were sold in South America.
A Vision of the Future
GLA Electronics will continue to invest(投资) in the growth of our company. In 2015, we expect sales to increase by up to 300% , partly due to the upcoming opening of three large factories in China, Taiwan, and Malaysia. In addition, the demand for CarPhones continues to increase worldwide and shows no sign of slowing down. We are grateful for the success of 2014. Hopefully, the coming year will see continued growth.
Sincerely,
Brian Fisher
CEO
GLA Electronics of America Inc.
1. Based on the report, which of the following is true about GLA Electronics' earnings in 2014?
| A．The first half of山e year saw the most earnings. |
| B．All four quarters showed similar earnings. |
| C．The least successful quarter was the first. |
| D．The most successful quarter was the fourth. |
| A．Sales growth has continued year after year. |
| B．Sales growth slowed down in 2013. |
| C．All the units were sold in North America. |
| D．Sales will increase thanks to strong advertising in China. |
| A．Quarters. | B．CarPhones. | C．Dollar amounts. | D．Store locations. |
| A．cautious | B．modest | C．confident | D．worried |
