A major development to self-driving cars may change the way we will drive in the future. Google, the leading company in self-driving technology, has changed its development plan. It had driverless cars built by car factories, but now will start building its own cars.
Google has started to build some kinds of experimental electric self- driving cars that look like a Smart car or Fiat 500. There is no steering wheel (方向盘)，gas pedal (油门) or brake (刹车). The only thing a human passenger controls is a red “e-stop” button for fear stops and a start button. The car’s only “friendly” face is designed to make it help people accept self-driving technology.
Google workers took part in a long experiment, in which they used self-driving cars for their usual travel to work. No accident happened, but Google’s heads realized that depending on a human passenger to drive in an emergency wouldn’t work because they may be reading, working, or sleeping. Now the self-driving car drives by itself if the driver takes his hands off the wheel for over ten seconds.
Google’s self-driving cars are now limited to a speed of 25 miles per hour for safety reasons. The cars aren’t allowed to drive on highways. However, a Google engineer said that once the cars are solved to run safely, we can drive at the speed of 50, even 80 miles an hour.
Google recently announced that its cars had covered 700,000 miles of public roads, and they were now running in busy city streets. People who love self-driving cars say this will improve transport by making roads safer, cutting down accident, and making less pollution.
1. Google is planning to start building its own driverless car, isn’t it?
2. How does a human passenger control the self-driving car?
3. Why does Google “give” the self-driving car a “friendly” face?
4. What will the new self-driving car do when the human driver takes his hands off the wheel for over ten seconds?
5. How fast can we drive a self-driving car at the moment?
6. Would you like to drive such a cute self-driving car to work in the future? Why? (Give at least two reasons.)
相似题推荐
It is the e-bike. The e-bike is a battery-powered (电池供电的) bicycle.
E-bikes are hard for customers to buy now. Who is buying them? They are people who do not want to take buses or subways. Amazon stores and Walmart stores have run out of most models.
A few years ago, older people and those who did not like to ride bought e-bikes. The e-bike can make bike riding much easier. You can go faster by pushing a button (按钮). So riding a bike goes from a hard exercise into a joy ride.
An e-bike maker said, “E-bikes would completely change cities all over the world in the next 10 years. But because of COVID-19, it is all happening in the next three or four months.”
A customer tested two e-bikes. He tested the e-bikes in San Francisco, a city with steep (陡峭的) hills. He said, “After the tests, I can’t wait to have one.” They are for people who want to get around fast and easily.
E-bikes come in many models with different features (特征). And different models have different prices. Some cost a few hundred dollars, while others cost tens of thousands of dollars. In a word, e-bikes can keep you out of the car, save money and provide exercise and outdoor fun.
阅读下面短文，并用英语回答问题（请注意每小题后面的词数要求）。
1. Who is buying e-bikes?（不超过15个单词）
2. What should you push if you want to go faster? （不超过5个单词）
3. What are the advantages of the e-bikes according to the text? （不超过15个单词）
【推荐2】Some etiquette (礼仪) in modern life
Do you often use a mobile phone? Do you take the underground to school every day? These items make our modern life easier. But do you know how we should behave properly while using them? The following suggestions might be helpful.
For mobile phone users
◆Keep your voice down when you make a phone call in public. Shouting on the phone may make others feel uncomfortable. And you’d better not use it during an appointment (约会).
◆Stop sending messages or playing games with your mobile phone at a dinner or a party. It’s a good time to communicate with your family and friends.
◆Don’t make or answer a call while driving. It is not only very dangerous for both you and your passengers but also against the law.
For underground passengers
◆You are supposed to wait in line while buying tickets and getting on the underground.
◆You can’t eat, drink or smoke on the underground train. The smell and noise may bring others trouble. It’s our duty to keep the train clean and tidy. Besides, smoking is bad for health.
◆You can’t take pets onto the train. As we all know, animals may spread diseases (传播疾病) and make the train dirty.
◆You’d better not lie on the underground seats even if the train isn’t crowded. Offering your seat to someone who needs it is regarded as good manners.
根据短文内容，完成下面的表格。
Some etiquette in modern life | ||
| People | Dos | Don’ts |
| Mobile phone users | Make a phone call in a | Don’t Don’t make or answer a call while driving because it is not |
| Underground | Wait in Offer your seat to someone in | Don’t eat, drink, or smoke on the train because the smell and noise may Don’t take |
Uncle Wang works in a book shop in the middle of the city. The shop is not far from his home. It’s about one kilometer away. So Uncle Wang seldom goes to work by bus. He usually goes there by bike, sometimes on foot. It takes him twenty minutes to get there by bike and forty minutes on foot.
Today his bike is broken . He wants to walk there. Now he is having breakfast. He leaves home at ten minutes to eight and he walks to work twenty minutes earlier .
His work starts at half past eight in the morning and finishes at a quarter to five in the afternoon.
1. Where does Uncle Wang work?
2. Why does he seldom go to work by bus?
3. How long does it take him to ride to his book shop?
4. How does he go to work today?
5. When does his work finish in the afternoon?
Do you think that you could build your own business at a young age? Would you like to be the CEO of your own company? Nina Denvani, a 14-year-old girl made an app（应用程序）for smart phone users and has become a CEO of her own company, the BBC reported.
Prompt Me Nina is the app Nina Devani developed. It can make your online world much easier. A lot of people often forget their passwords（密码）when they are surfing on the Internet.
Prompt Me Nina can help with this. First, people save their password with the app. When they press the app later, it will tell them what the password is.
“I came up with the idea when my dad’s Facebook account（脸书账号）was hacked（侵入）,” said Devani. She found that people have many passwords for different accounts. Once they change one of the passwords, it is hard to remember them all.
“I thought that there must be a way out.”Devani said.
She didn’t make the app herself.
“I only had some coding（编码）skills so I found the developers.”
Now Devani is the CEO of her own company called Devanisoft. At the same time, she is also a student. She works hard at school and also chooses courses connected with coding. After school, she puts all her efforts into her business. Even when she is asleep, she is still thinking about coming up with new ways to run her business.
Devani encourages teenagers who have dreams to start early. “Don’t think that you are too young to achieve your dreams. Find what you like and jump into it, you will be well on the path to success,” she said.
1. How old is Devani?2. When do people need to use Prompt Me Nina?
3. Does Devani work hard both at school and after school?
4. What courses could interest Devani most?
5. What is the writer’s purpose of writing the passage?
【推荐2】It’s hard to predict what computers in the future will be like. However they will be different from what they are now for sure.
Firstly, computers in the future can be changed in size, color and shape easily. These changes can make them suitable for many different situations. Secondly, they can be in control of themselves whenever there is light instead of being controlled by electricity, which is environmentally friendly. Finally, computers in the future will be more intelligent（智能的）and they can communicate with humans like friends. What will make people more excited is that they can sense human feelings and react accordingly (根据情况回应). You can’t wait to own such a wonderful computer, can you?
任务2：阅读短文（B），根据英文释义及首字母提示拼写单词。
i
c
任务3：阅读短文（B），进行同义句转换，每空一词。
However, they will be different from what they are now for sure.
However,
任务4：根据短文（B）内容回答问题。
Is it hard or easy to predict what computers in the future will be like?
How can computers in the future be changed in size, color and shape?
What does “they” refer to in the sentence “What will make people more excited is that they can sense human feelings and react accordingly (根据情况回应)”?
The Internet has changed our habits, including our habit of sending greeting cards. There are many e-card websites that make it so easy to find the right greeting cards. They have greatly changed the way we send greetings to each other. There are many reasons why people choose to send e-cards.
First, our lives have become so busy that we have limited personal time. These e-card websites have allowed everyone to easily share their feelings and emotions(感情)with the people they love. They contain(包括)plenty of greeting cards that can be used right away. The users can choose any card they like, from festival greetings to birthday wishes. It’s so convenient and can save a lot of time.
What’s more, if the users are interested in making their own greeting cards on the Internet, they can create a card within only a few minutes.
Another reason why people send e-cards is that the e-card websites have made it possible for them to send their greetings on a specific date. So they can plan for the situation when they want to send the card. For example, they can send their e-cards on a certain day and then visit the person with some flowers the next day. This will surely create a good impression on the person they love.
Lastly, we have never forgotten the importance of saying sorry to our beloved ones. But sometimes we fail to do so because we are not brave enough to face those we hurt. Some e-cards on these websites allow us to express our feelings in a more thoughtful way.
Although some people still would rather buy traditional cards in the shop, more and more people are choosing to send e-cards.
1. What has greatly changed the way we send greetings to each other?The
2. According to the passage, how many reasons are there for sending e-cards?
There are
3. What does the underlined word “This” refer to in the fourth paragraph?
It refers to
4. Why do we sometimes fail to say sorry to our beloved ones?
Because we are not
5. How did the writer support the main idea in the passage?
The writer supported the main idea by
The world is in danger
Our world is in danger. We must do something to protect the environment. But, what are the main problems we face?
The greenhouse effect
The atmosphere(大气) around the Earth is necessary for all living things. It is like the glass of a greenhouse, letting sunlight in and keeping heat from getting out. Without it, the Earth would be the same as the Moon—cold and lifeless.
When we burn fuels such as petrol and coal, we produce a gas called carbon dioxide (CO2). Too much of this gas pollutes the atmosphere and causes it to keep in too much heat. As a result of the greenhouse effect, the Earth’s temperature is increasing. This causes sea level to rise, and in the future may cause cities to disappear.
Cutting down forests
Every year, we destroy nature by cutting down huge areas of forests. This makes the greenhouse effect worse because trees take in CO2 and produce oxygen. Cutting down trees also destroys the homes of the animals that live in our forests, and causes the surface of the soil to be easily destroyed by rain. This can result in floods and even more damage to the environment.
Bad habits
Many of our habits cause pollution. People often use things once and then throw them away, or leave them on the ground as litter. This creates mountains of rubbish and pollutes our land and seas.
In order to protect the environment, we need to take proper action. We should be different from many consumers and become “green consumers”. This means that we should only buy and use products friendly to the environment. We should also recycle as many things as we can. We can reuse things for the same purpose as before, or we can use them for new purposes. If we just learn to live in new and different ways, we can make a difference.
1. What problems does the article discuss?2. What does greenhouse effect cause?
3. Why does cutting down trees result in floods?
4. A consumer is someone who buys and uses things. Can you guess what a “green consumer” is?
5. What can we do to protect the environment as teenagers? (Please list at least two pieces of advice)
(1)
(2)
【推荐2】If you love music, here is an easy game that you can play with your classmates.
Number of participants: At least three
You will need:
★A music player
★At least 20 different songs
★Paper and a pen for keeping scores
How to prepare:
★One person is the judge. The others will be the players.
★You need to prepare enough music for the game. Make sure you have pop, jazz and other music.
★The judge should know the name of the artist and the title of each song.
How to play:
★The judge randomly picks a song and plays it for around 10 to 15 seconds.
★Players will show the name of the artist and the title of the song in 30 seconds.
★If the first player fails, the question will be passed to the next player. If none of the players knows the answer, the judge will show the answer.
Do you think it is interesting? You can play it with your classmates now!
任务一：根据短文内容回答下列问题。
1. How many students can take part in the activity?
2. What kind of music do you have to prepare?
3. When will the judge show the answer?
4. 将文中处划线部分译成汉语。
5. 给文章拟一个恰当的标题。
【推荐3】
Can a cricket really tell you the temperature outside? Do fish know if it’s going to be a cold winter? You’ve probably heard stories about animals that can predict (预测) the weather. Some of the sayings, like, “if a cat sits with its back to the fire, hard weather can be expected” may sound silly or unbelievable, but some are based on animals that seem to sense (感觉到) more about our environment than we do.
Do animals tell us when a storm is coming? Birds react to the drop in air pressure (气压) before a storm by flying low, and not flying at all an hour or so before the storm hits. Other animals behave strangely before a storm too. Insects stay close to the ground and wolves howl (嚎叫) because their ears can sense the pressure change.
Before a hurricane, sharks will run away from the path of the storm, although they hardly ever leave their home waters. Seabirds also know they should fly inland.
While not really “weather,” earthquakes are also something that animals can predict. You may have heard stories about animals and earthquakes: many are far more sensitive to earthquakes than humans. Unusual animal behavior sometimes can tell us what is about to happen. After the 2005 tsunami in Sri Lanka, it was reported that very few animals were killed. Many of them were also acting strangely the day before the tsunami hit. It seems that they knew something was coming and ran to safety. A good rule is, if the animals are running away, you probably should too.
The sound of crickets chirping (鸣叫) can tell you summer is near, but do you know that it can also tell you how hot it is? Crickets are cold-blooded so when the temperature in the air changes, the cricket’s body temperature changes with it. As the temperature rises, the cricket’s metabolism (新陈代谢) increases. When the heat rises, crickets chirp. To get the exact temperature in degrees Fahrenheit (℉), count the number of chirps in 14 seconds, and add 40.
Do you have a tried and true weather animal that predicts the weather?
1. Can wolves predict a storm?2. What will sharks do before a hurricane?
3. How can we know the exact temperature from a cricket?
4. Why can animals predict the weather?
