On Thanksgiving weekend, the Heffelmire family gathered for a meal at their home. After dinner, the family went down to the finished basement to relax except Charlotte’s father, Eric, who was in the garage to fix his truck．
Around 8 p.m., Charlotte decided to check on her dad. She walked through the kitchen. When she opened the side door to the garage, black smoke rose up into the kitchen. She could barely make out her father lying on his back, trapped under the truck. He’d removed the front passenger-side tyre and raised the truck on a jack（千斤顶）. The truck had slipped off the jack, and now the whole weight of the wheel was on his chest and shoulders．
Charlotte ran to the front of the truck and struggled to lift it. Eric was still conscious, and he yelled, “You got it! One more try!” She tried again and was able to tip the truck backward just enough for her to pull her dad by the shirt with both hands from under the truck．
She dragged him across the garage and 20 feet down the driveway. Then she ran back to the garage, which had burst into flames. “I was afraid the car was going to explode,” says Charlotte, so she climbed into the truck, which faced forward, turned the key, and pressed the gas pedal（油门）. The car slowly rolled out, the metal wheel scratching loudly against the concrete．
Safely on the driveway, Charlotte stopped the truck and ran back to the basement. “There’s a fire! Everybody get out!” she yelled as she picked up her three-month-old niece and ran out. Outside, she handed the baby to her mom, and then ran around to the burning garage. She picked up a garden hose（水管）and sprayed the fire while calling 911．
A few minutes later, firefighters and an ambulance arrived. Charlotte was treated for second-degree burns on both her feet and face. Her dad had injuries on his chest and shoulders, as well as minor burns on his face. The garage and the house were damaged but the family survived．
The Heffelmires are staying in an apartment while their house is rebuilt. “Charlotte is a remarkable kid,” says her dad. Charlotte, however, simply says, “ I was saving my family and my house. I wasn’t going to let my dad die.”
1. Eric got trapped because_________| A．the truck slipped off the jack. |
| B．the wheel fell off the truck. |
| C．the front tyre was removed. |
| D．the kitchen was on fire. |
a. Charlotte called the firefighters．
b. Charlotte saved Eric from under the truck．
c. Charlotte drove the truck out of the garage．
d. Charlotte warned the family to leave the house．
| A．b, c, a, d | B．a, b, d, c |
| C．b, c, d, a | D．a, c, b, d |
| A．the house was not fit to live in. |
| B．the truck exploded. |
| C．the three-month-old baby was injured. |
| D．Charlotte was burned on her chest and shoulders. |
| A．proud and clear-headed. |
| B．calm and quick-minded. |
| C．modest and easy-going. |
| D．independent and self-centered. |
Recently, two researchers, Jose Millan and Michele Tavella from the Federal Polytechnic School in Lausanne, Switzerland, demonstrated (展示) a small robotic wheelchair directed by a person's thoughts.
In the laboratory, Tavella operated the wheelchair just by thinking about moving his left or right hand. He could even talk as he watched the vehicle and guided it with his thoughts.
“Our brain has billions of nerve cells. These send signals through the spinal cord (脊髓) to the muscles to give us the ability to move. But spinal cord injuries or other conditions can prevent these weak electrical signals from reaching the muscles.” Tavella says. “Our system allows disabled people to communicate with external world and also to control devices.”
The researchers designed a special cap for the user. This head cover picks up the signals from the scalp (头皮) and sends them to a computer. The computer interprets the signals and commands the motorized wheelchair. The wheelchair also has two cameras that identify objects in its path. They help the computer react to commands from the brain.
Prof. Millan, the team leader, says scientists keep improving the computer software that interprets brain signals and turns them into simple commands. “The practical possibilities that BCI technology offers to disabled people can be grouped in two categories: communication, and controlling devices. One example is this wheelchair.”
He says his team has set two goals. One is testing with real patients, so as to prove that this is a technology they can benefit from. And the other is to guarantee that they can use the technology over long periods of time.
1. BCI is a technology that can ________.
| A．help to update computer systems |
| B．link the human brain with computers |
| C．help the disabled to recover |
| D．control a person's thoughts |
| A．By controlling his muscles. |
| B．By talking to the machine. |
| C．By moving his hand. |
| D．By using his mind. |
| A．scalp→computer→cap→wheelchair |
| B．computer→cap→scalp→wheelchair |
| C．scalp→cap→computer→wheelchair |
| D．cap→computer→scalp→wheelchair |
| A．make profits from them |
| B．prove the technology useful to them |
| C．make them live longer |
| D．learn about their physical condition |
| A．Switzerland, the BCI Research Center |
| B．New Findings About How the Human Brain Works |
| C．BCI Could Mean More Freedom for the Disabled |
| D．Robotic Vehicles Could Help to Cure Brain Injuries |
3 . Kincaid looked at his watch: eight-seventeen. The truck started on the second try, and he backed out, shifted gears, and moved slowly down the alley under hazy sun. Through the streets of Bellingham he went, heading south on Washington 11, running along the coast of Puget Sound for a few miles, then following the highway as it swung east a little before meeting U.S Route 20.
Turning into the sun, he began the long, winding drive through the Cascades. He liked this country and felt unpressed stopping now and then to make notes about interesting possibilities for future expeditions or to shoot what he called “memory snapshots.” The purpose of these causal photographs was to remind him of places he might want to visit again and approach more seriously. In later afternoon he turned north at Spokane, picking up U.S. Route 2, which would take him halfway across the northern United States to Duluth, Minnesota.
He wished for the thousandth time in his life that he had a dog, a golden retriever, maybe ,for travels like this and to keep him company at home. But he was frequently away; overseas much of the time and it would not be fair to the animal. Still, he thought about it anyway. In a few years he would be getting too old for the hard fieldwork. “I must get a dog then.” He said to himself.
Drives like this always put him into a sentimental mood. The dog was part of it. Robert Kincaid was alone as it’s possible to be—an only child, parents both dead, distant relatives who had lost track of him and he of them, no close friends.
He thought about Marian. She had left him nine years ago after five years of marriage. He was fifty-two now, that would make her just under forty. Marian had dreams of becoming a musician, a folksinger. She knew all of the Weavers’ songs and sang them pretty well in the coffeehouse of Seattle. When he was home in the old days, he drove her to the shows and sat in the audience while she sang.
His long absences—two or three months sometimes—were hard on the marriage. He knew that. She was aware of what he did when they decided to get married, and both of them had a vague sense that it could all be handled somehow. It couldn’t when he came from photographing a story in Iceland and she was gone. The note read, “Robert, it didn’t work out. I left you the Harmony guitar. Stay in touch.”
He didn’t stay in touch. Neither did she. He signed the divorce papers when they arrived a year later and caught a plane for Australia the next day. She had asked for nothing except her freedom.
1. Which route is the right one taken by Kincaid?| A．Bellingham—Washington 11—Puget Sound—U.S Route 20—U.S Route 2—Duluth |
| B．U.S. Route 2—Bellingham—Washington 11—Puget Sound—U.S Route 20—Duluth |
| C．U.S. Route 2—U.S Route 20—Duluth –Bellingham—Washington 11 |
| D．Bellingham—Washington 11—U.S. Route 2—U.S Route 20—Duluth |
| A．Kincaid’s parents were dead and he only kept in touch with some distant relatives. |
| B．Kincaid would have had a dog if he hadn’t been away from home too much. |
| C．Kincaid used to have a golden retriever. |
| D．Kincaid needed a dog in doing his hard fieldwork. |
| A．To write “memory snapshots” |
| B．To remind himself of places he might want to visit again. |
| C．To avoid forgetting the way back. |
| D．To shoot beautiful scenery along the road. |
| A．She died after five years of marriage. |
| B．She was older than Kincaid. |
| C．She could sing very well and earned big money. |
| D．She was not a professional pop singer. |
| A．Marian knew what would happen before she married Kincaid. |
| B．Kincaid thought his absence would be a problem when he married Marian. |
| C．It turned out that Marian could not stand Kincaid’s absence and left him. |
| D．After Marian left him, they still kept in touch with each other. |
