1 . In your school bags, you may have a pencil, some kinds of pens, a ruler, and some books. None of these things grow in the fields. They were all made in factories. And, of course, they were invented by some people. There have not always been pencils or pens, a ruler and books. Thousands of years ago no one knew about these things.
Who invented them first? How did they have such clever ideas? We always don’t know. There have been many thousands of inventions, large and small, in the human history. Some of these inventions have changed the world. Such as paper, printing, radio, telephone and computer, and we know the inventors. But we have forgotten most of the other inventors.
Who invented the clock, for example, or the lock to the door? We don’t know. There have been thousands of inventors and we should grateful to them for their clever ideas. Will you be one of them when you grow up?
根据短文内容，选择正确答案
1. Most things in your school bags are made of _________.

A．paper

B．wood

C．metal

D．nylon

2. The inventors invented these things because _________.

A．their children were at school	B．they hoped to save some money
C．they have a lot of clever ideas	D．they have good machines

3. The history books tell us _________.

A．who invented paper and printing	B．who invented clocks and doors
C．when the first key was invented	D．how much the silk cost

4. We don’t know ________.

A．the names of the inventors of paper	B．the names of the inventors of telephone
C．the names of the inventors of lamp	D．the names of most inventors

5. The writer wonders _________.

A．if you are an inventor	B．if you want to be an inventor
C．what’s invented by you	D．how many inventors you know

2 . George: What are you doing?
User: Saying hello to you!
George: Are you a moneky?
User:       Do you think monkeys can type?
George: Sure.
User:       Are you a monkey?
George: Do you think monkeys can type?
User: You told me they could.
This is a chat between a human “user” and a computer. The computer was designed to be as human as possible. It was taught to talk to humans. It has also learnt from what people have said to it. This has helped it to become even more human.
The technology that makes George talk is called Jabberwacky. This technology recently won the Loebner Prize. The Loebner Prize is a competition to find the most realistic artificial intelligence (人工智能). The judges had to talk to the computer. They typed questions to it. The computer answered.
   Jabberwacky’s design team say it will be a long time before the programme is very realistic.
It was first created in 1982. It has been getting better every year since then. Each time it chats   to a human, the list of things to say gets bigger. This means the computer has more things to say when you talk to it.
It is hoped that a computer like this will replace humans in call centres. When the programme is more realistic, this will be possible.
1. From the passage we can know that George is a .

A．monkey

B．computer

C．judge

D．scientist

2. Jabberwacky is a kind of technology that can make the computer .

A．sing songs	B．look like humans
C．talk to people	D．draw pictures

3. Jabberwacky was first created in the year of .

A．1980

B．1982

C．2006

D．2007

4. The Loebner Prize is a competition for science and technology in .

A．chemistry	B．computer science
C．physics	D．geography

5. Which of the following statements is NOT true according to the passage?

A．Jabberwacky has been getting better since it was created.

B．The more you talk to a computer, the fewer things it has to say.

C．The computer may replace humans in call centres in the future.

D．It takes a long time to make Jabberwacky more realistic.

3 . Bananas, always the fashion victims of the produce section, are wearing another new label this spring．Bananas with “Fair Trade Certified” stickers have been available in the United States since October．They represent the new front of an international effort to help first-world consumers improve the living standards of the third-world farmers who grow much of their food．

By expanding its reach to the produce section, Fair Trade is now trying to reach the American supermarket shopper．Fair Trade deals directly with farmer cooperatives (合作社)．It helps organize, avoiding brokers (代理人) and middlemen．It guarantees higher prices for the farmers' goods and helps them set up schools and health clinics．

The Fair Trade movement took root in Europe in the 1990's as a way of supporting coffee farmers as prices were collapsing．Since Fair Trade began, more than a million coffee growers and other farmers have joined cooperatives that sell their products through Fair Trade channels instead of directly to a commercial producer．

Not everyone is greeting the Fair Trade label with open arms．Several American coffee importers recently pulled out of Fair Trade, saying TransFair's “corporate friendly” policies that allow large companies to use the Fair Trade logo in their marketing even if only a small amount of the company's overall purchases are Fair Trade certified．

Edmund LaMacchia, the national produce coordinator(协调员) for Whole Foods, said Fair Trade is only one of many consumer choices．“Whole Foods has its own team of inspectors and has no plans to carry Fair Trade products”, Mr．LaMacchia said．“Our standards are higher than Fair Trade's, actually．” Fair Trade is only one of several labels your bananas might be wearing this year．Another is that of the Rainforest Alliance, which certifies the use of sustainable(可持续发展) agriculture methods．

So far, though, Fair Trade is the biggest．A Fair Trade label by itself does not guarantee an organic product, but most Fair Trade bananas are also organic, Ms．Bourque said, because pesticides are usually too costly for the small farmers who grow them．If the bananas are organic, they will be labeled as such, and will probably be wearing a sticker to prove it．

1. Why are bananas wearing “Fair Trade Certified” stickers?

A．It represents an international effort to help the third-world farmers．

B．It means bananas have got a new label．

C．It means bananas with these stickers are available in the United States．

D．It means bananas are the fashion victims of the produce section．

2. What does Fair Trade do?

A．It appoints brokers and middlemen to deal with farmer cooperatives．

B．It brings down the price of farmers' goods．

C．It sets up schools and health clinics for American farmers．

D．It helps farmers sell their products for a higher profit．

3. What was the original purpose of the Fair trade movement?

A．To cooperate with coffee growers and other farmers.

B．To help coffee farmers as prices were collapsing.

C．To prevent farmers from selling their products to commercial producers.

D．To sell products through coffee growers and other farmers.

4. What can we infer from this passage?

A．American coffee importers will never buy their products through Fair Trade channels．

B．Fair Trade is the only label that bananas might be wearing this year．

C．Not every consumer considers Fair Trade products the only choice．

D．Whole Foods and the Rainforest Alliance are more influential than Fair Trade．

5. What is the best title for this passage?

A．Consumers Face More Choices

B．Fair Trade － the Best Sticker

C．The Fair Trade Movement

D．Helping the Third World：One Banana at a Time

4 . Computers are useful machines. They can help people a lot in their daily life. For example, they can help people to save much time to do much work, and they can help people to work out many problems they can’t do easily. Our country asks everyone to learn to use computers except the old people.
Today more and more families own computers. Parents buy computers for their children. They hope that computers can help them to improve their studies at school. But many of their children use computers to play games and watch videos. For most students, computers can not help them to study better but make them fall behind. So computers are locked in boxes by parents.
In some other countries, even some scientists also hate computers. They say computers let millions of people lose their jobs or bring them a lot of trouble. Will computers really bring trouble to people or can they bring people happiness? It will be decided by people themselves!
1. Why do we say the computer is a useful machine?

A．Because our country asks us to learn to use it.

B．Because it can help us a lot.

C．Because we can use it to play games.

D．Because it can help us to find jobs.

2. What do many parents complain about?

A．They complain that their children use computers to play games.

B．They complain that computers let them lose their jobs.

C．They complain that computers bring them a lot of trouble.

D．They complain that computers can’t bring them happiness.

3. In this passage we know computers ______.

A．also bring us trouble	B．bring us happiness only
C．are hated by people	D．are bad for people’s health

4. Can computers really help children to study better?

A．Yes, they can.	B．It’s hard to say.
C．No, they can’t.	D．Of course not.

5. How do you understand the last sentence of this passage?

A．It means computers are used by people.

B．It means people can live well without computers.

C．It means one must decide how to use computers.

D．It means computers are strange machines.

5 . We humans can play the piano . of course we play the piano with our ten fingers . But Teotronica can play with its 19 fingers . Teotronica is not a human . It is a robot . It is a special robot which can play the piano like humans .
Nattei Suzzi is the inventor of Teotronica . Matteo Suzzi comes from Italy and he is more than thirty years old . He was interested in science when he was young . He always likes to use his head to create amazing things . He spent four years making the musical robot . He made the piano-playing robot at a cost of about 4,700 dollars .
Teotronica is a special and great robot . It has more fingers than humans . It plays the piano faster than a human . Teotronica can sing as well when it plays the piano . It is the first robot to do so and many people feel excited to see it . Teotronica can even use its eyes to interact with humans because there are cameras in its eyes .Teotronica is amazing , isn’t it ?
1. How many fingers does Teotronica have ?

A．Ten

B．Fifteen

C．Nineteen

D．Twenty

2. How long did it take Matteo Suzzi to make Teotronica ?

A．Two years .	B．Three years .
C．Five years .	D．Four years .

3. How can Teotronica interact with humans ?

A．By using its eyes .

B．By using its arms .

C．By moving around .

D．By playing music and singing .

4. Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage ?

A．Matteo Suzzi is only nineteen years old .

B．Matteo Suzzi was interested in music when he was young .

C．Matteo Suzzi spent 7,400 dollars creating Teotronica .

D．Teotronica can sing when it plays the piano .

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

A．An Amazing Robot and a Musician .

B．A Musician Robot and Its Inventor

C．An Inventor from the USA

D．Differences Between Humans and Robots

6 . Soon computers and other machines will be able to remember you by looking at your eyes! The program works because everyone’s eyes are different. So in the future you won’t have to remember a number when you want to use a machine or take money out of a bank. You’ll just have to look at the machine and it will be able to tell who you are.

The eye-recognition (眼睛识别) program is already being tested in shops and banks in the USA, Britain and France. Soon, this technology (技术) will change all other ways of finding out who people are.

However, scientists are working on other systems. Machines will soon be able to know you from the shape of your face or hands or even your smell! We already have machines that can tell who you are from your voice or the mark made by your fingers.

Eye-recognition is better than other kinds because your eyes don’t change as you get older, or get dirty like hands or fingers. And even twins have different eyes, so the program can be up to 94％ correct, depending on (依靠) how good the technology is. Some programs may only be right 51％ of the time. In Britain, it was found that 91％ of people who had tried it said that they liked the idea of eye-recognition.

In the future your computer will be looking at you in the eye. So smile!

1. The eye-recognition program has already been tested in ________ in a few countries.

A．shops and banks

B．libraries and schools

C．banks and schools

D．hospitals and hotels

2. How does the eye-recognition program work?

A．You type a number.

B．You look at the machine.

C．The machine listens to your voice.

D．You need to walk with the machine.

3. We already have machines that can tell who you are from ________.

A．your eyes or your smell

B．your face or your voice

C．your face or your foot print

D．your voice or the mark made by your finger

4. The eye-recognition program can be up to ________ correct, depending on how good the
technology is.

A．51%

B．14%

C．94%

D．49%

5. Which of the following is true?

A．Eye-recognition program has already been tested in the USA.

B．Smell-recognition will take the place of all other ways of finding out who people are.

C．51% of people like the idea of eye-recognition program.

D．Computers can remember you by looking at your clothes.

7 . Man has invented four kinds of satellites. The first kind of satellite studies the___of the earth. They are used to make maps. They also help people to see where they may ____oil or gold.

The second kind of satellite is used to guide ships and planes. A ship or a plane can____ a message to the satellite, and the satellite can find out____the ship or the plane is.

The third kind studies the weather. These satellites ______ cloud and strong winds moving across the earth. They warn countries to make preparations when very ____weather is coming.

____ kind is used for communication. Telephone calls____countries can be sent to these satellites. Some can carry hundreds of calls at one time. A call is sent to the satellite, then the ____ sends it to the station in the country that is being phoned. These satellites also carry pictures; they can receive and send about eight ____ at a time, which we can watch on TV.

1.

A．physics

B．chemistry

C．biology

D．geography

2.

A．carry

B．find

C．keep

D．choose

3.

A．write

B．take

C．send

D．boring

4.

A．where

B．what

C．which

D．that

5.

A．have

B．watch

C．notice

D．see

6.

A．sunny

B．cool

C．bad

D．fine

7.

A．The last

B．Other

C．One

D．Another

8.

A．among

B．along

C．between

D．of

9.

A．TV

B．telegraph

C．telephone

D．satellite

10.

A．plays

B．programs

C．films

D．languages

8 .
A science fiction flying car looks like a normal car, but it is an aircraft (飞行器) that anybody can fly directly from any place to another without using roads or runways. Science fiction writers have written about flying cars for a long time. But now flying cars will soon fly out of the world of science fiction into our real world. And the dream of the science fiction writers will soon come true.
The first-known sky car is the FSC-1. The FSC-1 looks like an expensive sports car. You can drive the FSC-1 on the road like a normal car. If you touch a button, its wings and propeller (螺旋桨) fold out and then it can take off, fly and land as an airplane. The owners of the FSC-1 can choose if they want to drive or fly.
Another flying car or sky car is the Moller Skycar M400. Although you can’t drive it on the roads, it is small and easy to fly and can take off and land like a helicopter (直升飞机). Urban Aeronautics’ X-Hawk is another type of sky car. It is expected to be available for about $3 million.
Just like any new technology, flying cars have taken a long time to be developed. But some experts think the technology is far from what people imagine when they are sitting in traffic. It still needs to be improved.
1. ______ kinds of flying cars are mentioned in the passage.

A．Two

B．Three

C．Four

D．Five

2. The writer thinks that flying cars will be no longer a dream because ______.

A．science fiction writers’ ideas are stupid

B．they are too expensive to make

C．they will soon be available

D．they are only in science fiction

3. The FSC-1 can ______.

A．change itself into a robot

B．move on water like a ship

C．be flown only like an airplane

D．be driven like a car and flown like an airplane

4. The Moller Skycar is different from the FSC-1 because ______.

A．it can’t fly

B．it can’t be driven like a car

C．it is difficult to land

D．it is much more expensive

5. Some experts think the technology of flying cars is ______.

A．normal	B．traditional
C．not good enough	D．strange

9 . What’s going to happen in the future? Will robots control our planet? Will computers become smarter than us? Not likely. But here are some things that scientists say are most likely to happen in 10 to 30 years from now, according to the BBC.

Digital money

We used to pay with cash(现金) for everything we bought. Now when we use a credit card(信用卡) to shop online, money is spent without us seeing it. That means we are already using digital money. Using a card is much easier than searching our pockets for change. It is also safer than carrying a lot of cash.

When ATM cards were first introduced, they were not accepted everywhere. But now it’s hard to live without them. It’s reported that people in Sweden completely stopped using cash last year, and the US might be next.

Bionic(仿生的) eye

It’s no longer something only in a science fiction movie. People who are blind may have a chance to get their sight back—by wearing bionic eyes.

A blind eye can no longer sense light, but a bionic eye can use a camera to “see” the environment and send data(数据) to the mind. Now the bionic eye only allows patients to see lights and unclear shapes. A high resolution(高清的) image could be just a few years away.

Self-driving cars

Unlike a human driver, a self-driving car won’t get distracted(分神) by a phone call, the radio or something outside the window. Sensors(探测器) and cameras on the car would allow it to stick strictly to the rules of the road and keep a safe distance from other cars. This would greatly reduce the number of road accidents. You could even take a nap while the car drives itself. In the future, driver-less cars would be widely accepted.

1. ______ has stopped using cash completely.

A．Sweden

B．ATM

C．BBC

D．America

2. What does the writer mainly tell us about digital money?

A．We use digital money to shop online without paying money.

B．Digital money is most likely to be used instead of cash.

C．Using cash is easier and safer than a credit card.

D．ATM cards are always popular.

3. Which of the following statements is TRUE?

A．Bionic eyes only appear in the science fiction film.

B．Human drivers won’t get distracted by something outside.

C．The blind wearing bionic eyes may see clearly in the future.

D．There will be no road accident at all if self-driving cars are used.

4. From the report, we can learn some information about ______.

A．culture and Art	B．industry and farming
C．science and technology	D．traffic and journey

5. Which of the following can be predicted(预测) from the passage?

A．There would be a number of self-driving cars on the road.

B．The blind could use cameras to see things around.

C．We would live a hard life with digital money.

D．Robots would control the world.

10 . Have you noticed your life becoming a little easier? Now, when you go to a certain shopping mall, you can enjoy its free Wi-Fi there. When you want to take a taxi, you can book one with your phone. In fact, all these can be seen as the basic parts of a smart city.
The idea of a smart city was brought up by US company IBM in 2010. Generally, a smart city is a city that uses digital technologies such as the Internet to improve city planning, save money and resources, and make our life convenient. How smart can a city be? Here are great examples that we can learn from.
In 2009, Dubuque became the first smart city in the US. The city used smart water meters to take the place of traditional water meters. They can detect（探测）water waste and leakage（泄漏）and send data to let the house owner know. The same system is used for other city resources like electricity and natural gas. This way, people know how they use their resources and are glad to help reduce waste.
Santander in Spain also gives us a look at the future. If people point a phone toward a nearby bus stop, the phone immediately shows all bus lines that serve the stop as well as their arrival times. The government organized a research team and provided an App（应用程序）that collects data on almost everything: light, temperature, and the movements of cars and people. Opening the App near a supermarket provides immediate information on special things.

1. According to the passage, which of the following is RIGHT?

A．Digital technologies are used in smart cities.

B．An English company first raised the idea of a smart city.

C．A smart city is mainly made up of free Wi-Fi and phones.

D．A smart city is still an idea and hasn’t come into being.

2. The underlined word “convenient” is the closest in meaning to _____.

A．useful

B．normal

C．suitable

D．easy

3. Compared to traditional water meters, smart water meters do better in _____.

A．cleaning water	B．supplying water
C．saving water	D．producing water

4. The example of Santander shows the use of smart systems in aspects（方面）EXCEPT _____.

A．business	B．health care
C．traffic controlling	D．public transportation

5. What’s the main idea of the passage?

A．Digital technologies help improve city planning.

B．Smart cities will make our future life better and smarter.

C．Smart cities are very common in both Dubuque and Santander.

D．Spain and the US take the leading position in building smart cities.