1 . Wearable sensors (传感器) could one day interpret the gestures in sign language and translate them into English，providing a hightech solution to communication problems between deaf people and those who don't understand sign language.
Engineers at Texas A & M University are developing a wearable device that can sense movement and muscle activity in a person's arms. The device works by figuring out the gestures a person is making by using two sets of sensors：one that responds to the motion of the wrist and the other to the muscular movements in the arm. A program then wirelessly receives this information and changes the data into the English translation. “Most of the technology was based on visionbased or camerabased solutions,” said study lead researcher Roozbeh Jafari，an associate professor of biomedical engineering at Texas A & M University.
These existing designs, Jafari said，are not enough，because often when someone is talking with sign language，he or she is using hand gestures combined with specific finger movements.“I thought maybe we should look into combining motion sensors and muscle activation，”Jafari told Live Science. “And the idea here was to build a wearable device.”
The researchers have built a system that can recognize words that people use most commonly in their daily conversations. Jafari said that once the team starts expanding the program，the engineers will include more words that are less frequently used，in order to build up a more substantial vocabulary.
One drawback of it is that the system has to be “trained ” to respond to each individual that wears the device，Jafari said. This training process involves asking the user to repeat or do each hand gesture a couple of times，which can take up to 30 minutes to complete.
1. How does the new device work?| A．By figuring out gestures from fingers. |
| B．By connecting the wrist and the fingers. |
| C．By linking the arm and the fingers. |
| D．By collecting information from the wrist and the arm. |
| A．make it easier to monitor the gestures when people are talking |
| B．make the translation process faster |
| C．compete with existing designs |
| D．make it userfriendly |
| A．necessary | B．influential |
| C．extensive | D．essential |
| A．The device has greatly increased in sales. |
| B．The device still requires much improvement. |
| C．We should work out of 30 minutes. |
| D．We should be trained to respond quickly. |
2 . Where can you go to listen to a cook, a senator (参议员) or a scientist talk about important subjects? BigThink.com is a new website created to provide discussions between world experts and Internet users. Victoria Brown and Peter Hopkins created Big-Think.com. They said that people need an international stage on which to exchange, discuss, and debate the important ideas of our time. Subjects discussed on BigThink include the environment, music and questions about happiness and personal identity.
The the BigThink website has been called a YouTube for thinkers. At the BigThink website , when you click on a subject, you find a video (视频) of a person talking about his or her ideas. For example, you can listen to United States Senator Ted Kennedy talking about education and civil rights. Under their videos, you can read the comments and questions written by other visitors to the website. More than one hundred experts express their ideas on the website.
BigThink also has an important list of financial (财政的) supporters. These include Peter Thiel who helped create the PayPal company; Larry Summers, a former United States secretary of the Treasury, and David Frankel, a businessman from South Africa.
BigThink’s creators started the website by first getting famous people to agree to be videotaped（录像）. They began by interviewing several well-known professors from Harvard University, which they had attended. Then they used the names of these professors to gain the trust of others and get them to take part in the project.
The website helps everyone whose motto is: “We are what you think.” So, go online and start thinking big.
1. BigThink.com was created to ______.| A．introduce the latest IT knowledge | B．share funny videos with Internet users |
| C．teach ordinary people some useful skills | D．offer chances to communicate with experts |
| A．a famous library | B．a online chat-room |
| C．a video website | D．a radio station |
| A．scientists | B．professors | C．politicians | D．cooks |
| A．How to set up one’s own website. | B．The importance of sharing ideas with others. |
| C．How to become experts in some fields. | D．A brief introduction to a new website. |
3 . A mother of a cheerful five-year-old just returned from a meeting of the National Organization for Women. Inspired by exciting dreams for the possibilities of womanhood, she asked her daughter what she wanted to be when she grew up. Little Lisa quickly answered, “A nurse.”
There was a time when nursing was thought of as a woman’s job and the answer somehow seemed not to be satisfied. She had, after all, just returned from a new meeting.
“You can be anything you want to be,” she reminded her daughter. “You can be a lawyer, a doctor, a banker, president of the country — you can be anything.”
“Anything?” Lisa asked.
“Anything!” her mother smiled.
“I know,” Lisa said. “I want to be a horse!”
Lisa’s dream may need some improvement, but there is plenty of time for that. When do we give up dreaming about the future? When do we resign (听任) ourselves to simply replaying dreams from the past?
Maybe her dream needs to mature (成熟) a bit, but would you rather have the optimism (乐观) of a five-year-old girl who wants to be a horse, or the pessimism (悲观) of an adult who says in despair, “I can’t be anything at all”?
Teddy Roosevelt said, “Keep your eyes on the stars and your feet on the ground.” I believe that is the way to make those dreams come true. So everyone need look up and dream of something beautiful while working hard to the dream.
1. What did the girl really want to be when she grew up?| A．A nurse. | B．A horse. | C．A banker. | D．A lawyer. |
| A．Satisfied. | B．Puzzled. | C．Disappointed. | D．Excited. |
| A．stop children dreaming of something strange |
| B．advise parents how to educate children |
| C．encourage adults to learn from children |
| D．help children to set up a big goal |
| A．Stand on the ground and watch the stars |
| B．Have a big dream and work hard |
| C．Protect your eyesight while working |
| D．Find a good way to watch the stars |
4 . Driving in Canada is similar to driving in many parts of the United States. Distances and speeds, however, are posted in kilometers per hour and some signs, particularly in Quebec, may only be in French.
Unless otherwise posted, the maximum (最大限度的) speed limit in Canada is 50km/hr in cities and 80km/hr on highways. On rural highways, the posted speed limit may be 100km/hr. It is illegal to take automobile radar detectors (汽车雷达检测器) into Quebec, Ontario, Manitoba, and the Yukon. In Canada, seat belt use is required by law for all people, and child car seats must be used by children under 40 pounds. Some provinces require drivers to keep their vehicles’ headlights on during the day and some have banned (禁止) driving while using a hand-held cell phone. Motorcycles cannot share a lane (车道), and safety helmets for motorcycle riders and passengers are necessary. Running a red light is a serious crime throughout Canada and drivers are advised to stop before starting when a light turns green.
Winter travel can be dangerous due to heavy snowfalls and icy conditions. Some roads and bridges are often closed in winter. Snow tires are required in some provinces. Travelers should also be careful about animals while driving at night in rural areas.
Highway 401, from Detroit to Montreal, is one of the busiest highways in North America. It has been the scene of many deadly traffic accidents due to sudden and severe weather changes, high rates of speed, and heavy truck traffic. Thus drivers should be alert while travelling here.
Please refer to our Road Safety page for more information. Also, we suggest that you visit the website of Canada’s national authority responsible for road safety.
1. Which of the following is TRUE according to the text?| A．All signs on the roads in Quebec are in English. |
| B．Automobile radar detectors are allowed to be used in Manitoba. |
| C．People may choose not to wear seat belts while in a car in Canada. |
| D．The speed of cars in Canadian cities should be less than 50km/hr. |
| A．careful | B．relaxed |
| C．nervous | D．pleased |
| A．Entertainment. | B．Travel. | C．Education. | D．Science. |
5 . It was about five in the morning in Ontario，Canada，when Donna Strickland's phone rang. The Nobel Prize committee was on the line in Stockholm，calling to tell her she had won the prize in physics.
“I wondered if it was a joke，” Strickland said in an interview with a Nobel official after the call. She had been asleep when the call arrived. “Something was wrong because it came so early in the morning. But then I knew it was the right day，and it would have been a cruel joke.”
Strickland，an associate professor at the University of Waterloo，shares the honor with two other scientists for their work in the 1980s in transforming lasers (激光) into tiny tools that today have countless applications. The prize money of $1.4 million will be shared among the three. Half of the prize went to Strickland and her cooperator Gérard Mourou，a professor at the École Poly technique in France. The other half was awarded to Arthur Ashkin，a retired physicist who worked at the famous Bell Labs in the United States.
Strickland's win is historic in more than one way. It's been over 55 years since a woman was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics last time. And she is only the third woman to receive the prize in the Nobel's over 117year existence. In 1903，Marie Curie became the firstever woman to win a Nobel Prize in Physics.For the next 60 years，no women physicists were awarded. Maria GoeppertMayer became the second woman physicist to win the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1963.
Strickland herself was surprised to learn she was the third woman to receive the honor in physics. “Is that all，really？I thought there might have been more，” she said at a press conference Tuesday. “We need to celebrate women physicists，because we're out there. Hopefully，in time，it will start to move forward at a faster rate.”
1. What was Donna's first reaction when told she won the Nobel Prize?| A．She felt all efforts paid off. |
| B．She was skeptical of the news. |
| C．She was too excited to say a word. |
| D．She was annoyed at being awaken up. |
| A．About $350，000. |
| B．About $700，000. |
| C．About $1.4 million. |
| D．About $2.8 million. |
| A．Strickland's achievements in physics. |
| B．The history of the Nobel Prize in Physics. |
| C．The struggle of women physicists to win the Nobel Prize in Physics. |
| D．Three women scientists who won the Nobel Prize in Physics in history. |
| A．The Nobel Prize in Physics. |
| B．The achievement of women physicists. |
| C．The celebration of the Nobel Prize winners. |
| D．Awarding women physicists the Nobel Prize in Physics. |
6 . A License to Heal
Steven Bentley, M. D.
www.iuniverse.com
$11.95 soft cover
In the world of emergency medicine, there are pain and blood, but there are also hope and compassion (同情). A License to Heal shows readers the stories from an ER (emergency room) doctor that brings this world to life. In this book, an emergency room physician describes the world of the ER — as one filled with pain and fear, but also compassion, hope, and a surprising amount of humor.
Batting Rocks over the Barn
Lawn Griffiths
www.xlibris.com
$19.99 soft cover
Country life during the 1950s and 1960s comes alive through the eyes of an Iowa boy who grew up to become a newspaperman and farm editor. Follow his stories in Batting Rocks over the Barn.
Honeyball
Pete Liebengood
www.xlibris.com
$17.99 soft cover
A group of women pull together in a campaign to find success at the box office while their leader finds the love of her life and the persons responsible for the death of her father in a plane crash.
The Armageddon Virus
Robert Gallant
www.iuniverse.com
$16.95 soft cover
Travis Weld, leader of a secret government team pursuing (追踪) terrorists, discovers the meaning of a phone message from someone offering to sell a deadly new virus to an illegal weapons (武器) dealer. Can he track the seller and secure this mysterious Armageddon virus?
1. Which book is probably written by a doctor?| A．Honeyball. |
| B．A License to Heal. |
| C．The Armageddon Virus. |
| D．Batting Rocks over the Barn. |
| A．They can be found on the same website. |
| B．They tell stories of the same time. |
| C．They focus on the same topic. |
| D．They cost the same. |
| A．Humorous. | B．Touching. |
| C．Common. | D．Thrilling. |
7 . The first newspapers were written by hand and put up on walls in public place.The earliest daily newspaper was started in Rome in 59 BC.In the 700’s the world’s first printed newspaper was published.Europe didn’t have a regularly published newspaper until 1609, when one was started in Germany.
The first regularly published newspaper in the English language was printed in Amsterdam in 1620.In 1621, an English newspaper was started in London and was published once a week.The first daily English newspaper was the Daily Courant (每日新闻).It came out in March 1702.
In 1690, Benjamin Harris printed the first American newspaper in Boston.But not long after it was first published, the government stopped the paper.In 1704, John Campbell started The Boston Newsletter (波士顿新闻通讯), the first newspaper published in the American colonies.By 1760, the colonies had more than thirty daily newspapers.There are now about 1,800 daily papers in the United States.
Today, as a group, English language newspapers have the largest circulation (发行量) in the world.But the largest circulation for a newspaper is that of the Japanese newspaper Asahi Dhimbun (朝日新闻).It sells more than 11 million copies every day.
1. The first daily newspaper came out in _____.| A．59 BC | B．700’s | C．1609 | D．1620 |
| A．England | B．Germany | C．France | D．Sweden |
| A．Washington | B．New York | C．Boston | D．New Orleans |
| A．1621 | B．1704 | C．1760 | D．1800 |
8 . A young woman carrying a three-year-old child got on a bus．The conductor hurried to give her a warm welcome and then kindly asked the other passengers to make more room for the woman and her child．On seeing this, people were surprised and began to talk．．"You know this conductor used to be very rude．Now suddenly he has changed his bad behavior , "said a middle-aged man．
"Yes, he should be praised and we must write a letter to the company," said a second passenger．"That's right," another lady said, "I wish a newspaper reporter were here so that more people could learn from this conductor．”
Just then a gentleman who looked like a teacher turned to the conductor and said, "Excuse me, but can I know your name, please? Your excellent service must be praised．．．"
Before he could open his mouth, the three-year-old child sitting on the young woman's lap interrupted, "I know his name．I call him Dad．"
1. The passengers were ________ to see the conductor's kindness to the woman and the child．
| A．excited | B．pleased |
| C．interested | D．surprised |
| A．make a demand for more buses | B．praise the conductor for his good service |
| C．criticize the conductor for his rude behavior | D．invite a newspaper reporter to write about the conductor |
| A．the gentleman | B．the conductor |
| C．the middle-aged man | D．the three-year-old child |
| A．has changed his attitude towards his work |
| B．has been kind and polite to all passengers now |
| C．has not changed his rude behavior to passengers |
| D．has been kind and polite to women with children now |
9 . We’re Hiring Shift Workers for Our Production Plant
Looking for a career with a company that values its employees, and promotes them from within? Then Black Cat Blades is the company for you!
Cutting Operators
CNC Operators
Heat Treat Operators
Full training provided, starting at ﹩14．50 per hour, with the potential to move to ﹩18．16 in one year．
We also require a Skilled Welder(焊接工), to work 12-hour rotating shifts (轮班) in our cutting department．The successful candidate must be a registered journeyman(熟练工) within the Province of Alberta or with a Red Seal．
We offer a great benefit package, including health and RRSPs． Desirable welfare: Profit Sharing, Pay for Years of Service, Fitness Program Allowance, and fun social events for you and your family．
Apply in person, and we'll take you on a tour of our production equipment or forward your personal information by fax or e-mail．
Black Cat Blades Ltd
HR@ blackcatblades． com
5604-59 St．, Edmonton, AB T6B 3C3
Fax: (780)465-9595
1. What is the most attractive about the company?| A．Charged training | B．Desirable welfare |
| C．Working time | D．Free travelling |
| A．An experienced operator | B．A person without a Red Seal． |
| C．A registered journeyman in Alberta | D．A clerk from Black Cat Blades |
| A．Three． | B．Four |
| C．Five | D．Six |
10 . Music
Opera at Music Hall: 1243 Elm Street The season runs June through August, with additional performances in March and September. The Opera honors Enjoy the Arts membership discounts. Phone: 241-2742.
http://www.cityopera.com
Chamber Orchestra: The Orchestra plays at Memorial Hall at 106 Elm Street, which offers several conceits from March through June. Gall 723-1182 for more information.
http://www.chamberorch.com.
Symphony Orchestra: At Music Hall and Riverbend. For ticket sales, call 381-3300. Regular season runs September through May at Music Hall in summer al Riverbend.
http://www.symphony.org/honie.asp.
College Conservatory Of Music (CCM): Performances are on the main campus of the university, usually at Patricia Cobbett Theater. CCM organizes a variety of events, including performances by the well-known LaSalle Quarter, CMM's Philharmonic Orchesira, and various groups of musicians presenting Baroque through modern music. Students with I.D. cards can attend the events for free. A free schedule of events for each term is available by coiling the box office at 556-4183.
http://www.ccm. uc.edu/events/calendar.
Rivebent Music Theater.6295 Kellogg Ave« Large outdoor theater with the closest seats under cover (price difference). Big name shows all summer long! Phone:232-6220.
http://www.riverbendmusic.com
1. Which number should you call if you want to nee an opera?| A．241-2742. | B．723-1182. |
| C．381-3300. | D．232-6220. |
| A．February. | B．May. |
| C．August | D．November. |
| A．Music Hall. | B．Memorial Hall. |
| C．Patricia Cobbett Theater. | D．Riverbend Music Theater. |
| A．It has seats in the open air. | B．It gives shows all yew round. |
| C．It offers membership discounts. | D．It presents famous musical works. |
