1 . Independent living at home is the ideal for every aging person. But a fall or other health-threatening incidents can change everything rapidly.
The wearable “panic buttons” introduced in the late 1980s were a great advance. But they only work if people actually wear them and can reach the button in an emergency. Today there are passive wearables that automatically detect falls, and camera-based systems to monitor elder safety.
Coming from a 40-year career in the semiconductor and wireless communication field, Rafi Zack decided to find a better alternative. “People aren’t devoted to wearing small devices 24/7, and camera-based systems are an invasion（侵犯）of privacy,” he points out, “The most challenging aspect is a fall. How fast we can detect a fall matters because the medical situation worsens quickly. Sometimes people stay on the floor for a long time. We have to find out how to solve that problem.”
Zack is a co-founder, CEO and vice president of R&D at EchoCare Technologies which has developed ECHO (Elderly Care Home Observer), a cloud-connected monitor based on radar technology and machine learning.
Because radar sees through walls, one ECHO unit fixed on the ceiling or wall can monitor one person (or two persons, in a future version) in a standard-sized apartment in a senior living facility. The device detects falls, breathing difficulties, drowning in a bathtub and other dangerous events. It gives out warnings to potential health worsening conditions by continuously monitoring and analyzing the person’s location, posture（姿势）, motion and breath. EchoCare tested the device in the United States, Japan, Australia and Israel. ECHO was certified（认证）in 2019 in Japan with the most aging population in the world.
“Bathrooms were the main testing area where about 17,000 deadly accidents happen annually.” said SMK Director and Executive Vice President Tetsuo Hara. “Bathroom makers, home security service providers and nursing homes are highly interested in EchoCare’s solution.” Zack noted, “As more and more elder people live alone as a result of social distancing, there is an increased need to monitor them without the burden of wearables or privacy-invading cameras.”
1. What’s the advantage of ECHO over “panic buttons”?| A．It has camera-based systems. | B．It has been widely accepted. |
| C．It can function without cameras. | D．Its buttons can be easily reached. |
| A．It is designed to send out warnings regularly. |
| B．It monitors dangerous health-related events. |
| C．It was certified in many developed countries. |
| D．It detects more than one person at the same time. |
| A．It’ll become more popular with the elderly. |
| B．It’ll stop 17,000 deaths happening annually. |
| C．It’ll be used in nursing homes and hospitals. |
| D．It’ll help elderly people to live an active life. |
| A．An Advanced Medical Instrument |
| B．A High-tech Monitor for the Elderly |
| C．The Invention of a Healthcare Device |
| D．The Improvement of a Medical Facility |
2 . My life as a tax-paying employed person began in middle school, when, for three whole days, I worked on an assembly (装配) line. My best friend Betsy’s father was an executive (管理者) at Hough Bakeries, which, at special festivals, made little rabbit-shaped cakes for all its stores. The plant downtown needed eight kids for temporary help, and the shift (轮班) fell over spring break, during which I had no plans. Cake? I loved cake-icing especially. I’d earn minimum wage. I’d see how a factory worked. My parents thought all of this was a grand idea for a girl like me and called Betsy’s dad with their permission.
Our roles on the line were simple: Place cakes on conveyor belt. Attach icing ears. Apply icing eyes and nose. Remove the cakes from belt; place onto trays. This was harder than it sounds. With your mind wandering, the cakes pile up. As I told my parents that first night, it was all a little more high-pressure than I’d expected. Dad smiled. This was the sort of work that made you appreciate the money you earned, he told me. And if your feet hurt or the minutes felt like hours, well then that was just motivation to keep those grades up and get that college education.
And the icing? We kids were allowed to eat as much as we wanted. By noon the first day, I could barely look at the stuff. To borrow a favorite phrase from my father: The executives weren’t born yesterday.
1. Why did the writer decide to take the job?| A．To earn lots of money. |
| B．To enjoy her spring break. |
| C．To help Betsy’s father temporarily. |
| D．To learn of the operation of the plant. |
| A．The writer found the job simple. |
| B．The job needed great concentration. |
| C．The writer quit the job the first night. |
| D．Father laughed at the writer’s performance. |
| A．Inspiring. | B．Doubtful. | C．Critical. | D．Sympathetic. |
| A．She found the icing ugly. | B．She was tired from the work. |
| C．She had eaten too much icing. | D．She felt depressed with the job. |
3 . Skyscraper didn’t always mean a tall building. The earliest reference to the word dates back to 1788, when it was used to describe a really tall horse, according to The Oxford English Dictionary. By the 1790s, a Philadelphia doctor had used the term to describe the triangular sail at the very top of a ship.
After the Great Chicago Fire of 1871, the Home Insurance Company hired architect William Jenney to design a tall, fire-proof head office. Jenney was inspired to design the building’s steel framework (框架)after his wife placed a heavy book on a small birdcage and found that the cage supported the weight. Today, that revolutionary structure is widely considered to be the first skyscraper.
Since then, the competition to build the world’s tallest building has been as sharp as the top of the Empire State Building. In the late 1920s, Walter Chrysler and his architect arranged for the secret construction of a roof that added 125 feet of height to the new Chrysler Building, making it 1,046 feet tall. The plan allowed them to eclipse(使逊色)the 927-foot Bank of Manhattan Trust Building.
However, only 11 months after the Chrysler Building was ranked the world’s tallest, it was surpassed by a new neighbor — the Empire State Building. Yet when it opened in 1931, less than 25 percent of the building was occupied. New York jokers called it the “Empty State Building”.
The largest skyscraper in the world always seems to be under construction. Jeddah Tower in Saudi Arabia is the latest and it’s expected to stretch nearly one kilometer (3, 280 feet) into the sky.
1. What did the word “skyscraper” originally mean？| A．A triangular sail. | B．A high building. |
| C．A fire-proof head office. | D．An extremely tall horse. |
| A．given away | B．left behind | C．put off | D．taken up |
| A．It was ranked the world’s tallest. |
| B．Tourists were not allowed to visit it. |
| C．Its construction lasted eleven months. |
| D．Only a few people lived or worked in it. |
| A．In order of time. | B．In order of space. |
| C．By analyzing causes. | D．By giving definitions. |
4 .
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1. What does tinnitus refer to?
| A．Hearing disorder. | B．Suffering anxiety. |
| C．Drumming in ears. | D．Sleeping problems. |
| A．By listening to soft music. | B．By relieving short-term depression. |
| C．By reducing brain’s activities. | D．By offering high-frequent stimulation. |
| A．To recommend a treatment for tinnitus. |
| B．To introduce the benefits of Sound Therapy. |
| C．To tell people ways of learning about tinnitus. |
| D．To explain the common problems tinnitus causes. |
