1 . There’s a good chance something you've bought online has been in the hands of a “ picker” first. These are the workers in warehouses(仓库)who pick, pack and ship all those things we’re ordering.
At Amazon and other companies, they’re working side by side with robots. Experts say while the robots are replacing some human workers, the machines aren't quite ready to take over completely.
When a robot finds its storage unit, it slides underneath, lifts it up and then delivers it to a worker 一 they’re called pickers. On a recent day, the computer told a picker to grab what looked like a fantasy board (棋盘)game. The picker found it, canned it and placed it on the conveyor belt.
“In a traditional fulfillment center where the associate would walk to the different items , it can take hours to fulfill a customer order. “ Robinson says.
Now, with the help of robots, that task takes minutes 一 and fewer humans.
So is this a sign we're entering a new industrial revolution?
“It’s definitely going to take over a lot of jobs. " says Karen Myers, a scientist at SRI, one of Silicon Valley's oldest research centers.
At the same time, she says, we're running against the limits of technology. Take “the picker” at the Amazon fulfillment center. Myers says those skills are proving to be uniquely human.
“Our fingers are incredibly flexible and the current generation of robotic operators, they’re getting much, much better,” she says. “But they're just not quite there yet. ”
There’s also the robot’s brain.
Remember that board game the Amazon worker was looking for? She could barely see the box filled into the storage bin — but she could tell it was a board game. Robots can’t do that.
Technologists say that, increasingly, humans will work side by side with robots — instead of robots working alone.
Amazon says robots and humans enabled the Tracy warehouse to fulfill customer orders faster. That means more customers and more human workers.
1. A picker does some tasks except .| A．picking goods | B．producing goods | C．spotting goods | D．packing goods |
| A．more efficient | B．less straight | C．more difficult | D．less profitable |
| A．powerful | B．artificial | C．flexible | D．energetic |
| A．Robots replacing humans completely. |
| B．The advantages of shopping online. |
| C．The future of robots. |
| D．Robots and humans working side by side. |
2 . What are your retirement plans? Keep working? Get more exercise? Or learn something new? You may put them on hold. There’s a chance that, sooner or later, you might have to move further than you were thinking, as far as mars.
On Thursday, National Geographic will show the first-ever Mars show home, giving earthlings (地球人) an idea of what their life could look like on the Red Planet. In the not-so-distant year of 2037, the igloo-shaped structure could be the home of your future.
It shows a house built using recycled spacecraft (航天器) parts and Martian soil, called regolith, which has been microwaved into bricks. Some parts of the home are recognizable—a kitchen, a bedroom—but there are fundamental differences that are important to human survival.
As the Martian atmosphere is around one hundredth as thick as the Earth’s, people will need permanent (永久的) shelter from the sun; society will move largely indoors. Most buildings will be connected by underground passages and the houses won’t have windows. The homes will have simulated solar lighting, or natural light that has been bent several times.
Walls will need to be 10 to 12 feet thick to protect people from dangerous rays (光线) that can pass through six feet of steel, and a double air-locked entrance to keep the home under proper pressure.
“We don’t think of our houses as things that keep us alive, but on Mars your house will be a survival centre,” says Stephen Petranek, author of How We’ll Live on Mars. This is not just the stuff of sci-fi. “10 to 20 years from now there will certainly be people, on Mars.” Petranek says.
“We’ve had the technology for 30 years to land people on Mars, but we haven’t had the will,” Petranek says. But two main factors have “completely swung public attitudes”.
The private companies’ participation has forced government agencies to speed up their game, and influential films such as Gravity and The Martian have caught society’s eye.
1. What can we know about the show home from the text?| A．It has no windows or doors due to security concern. |
| B．Its design presents the idea of environmental protection. |
| C．It has thick walls keeping the home under proper pressure. |
| D．Its underground passages connect all the building together. |
| A．Put them off. |
| B．Give them away. |
| C．Carry them through. |
| D．Take them seriously. |
| A．The great influence of the Mars show home. |
| B．The development of related technology. |
| C．The competition from private companies. |
| D．The popularity of influential books on Mars. |
| A．Living on Mars: Possible or Not |
| B．Sending People to Mars: Yes or No |
| C．First-ever show home: How Is It Made |
| D．Future Home on Mars: What Will It Be Like |
3 . Each of Apple’s products such as the iPhone and the iPad sounds cool and has become a fashion. Apple has cleverly taken advantage of the power of the letter “i”, and many other brands are following suit. The BBC iPlayer, which allows Web users to watch TV programs on the Internet, used the title in 2008. A lovely bear — popular in the US and the UK — that plays music and video is called iTeddy. A simplified version of The Independent was launched in 2010 under the name i.
In general, single-letter prefixes(前缀) have been popular since the 1990s, when terms such as e-mail and e-commerce first came into use.
Most “i” products are aimed at young people and considering the major readers of The Independent’s sister paper I, it’s no surprise that they’ve selected this fashionable name.
But it’s hard to see what’s so special about the letter “i”. Why not use “a” , “b”, or “c” instead? According to Tony Thorne, former Director of the Language Centre at King’s College London, “i” works because its meaning has become unclear. “When Apple uses ‘I’, no one knows whether it means the Internet, information, individual or interactive,” Thorne told BBC Magazines. “Even when Apple created the iPad, it seems it didn’t have one clear definition,” he said.
“However, thanks to Apple, the term is now connected with portability (轻便),” added Thorne.
Clearly the letter “i” also agrees with the idea that the Western world is centered on the individual. Each person believes they have their own needs, and they love personalized products for this reason.
Along with “Google” and “blog”, readers of BBC Magazines voted “i” as one of the top 20 words that have come to define the last decade.
But as history shows, people grow tired of fashion. From the 1900s to the 1990s, products with “2000” in their names became fashionable as the year was connected with all things advanced and modern.
However, as we entered the new century, the trend unavoidably disappeared.
1. Why do people use iPlayer?| A．To listen to music. |
| B．To make a call. |
| C．To watch TV programs online. |
| D．To read newspapers. |
| A．Engineers. |
| B．Young readers. |
| C．Fashionable women. |
| D．Old readers. |
| A．easy to carry |
| B．environmentally friendly |
| C．advanced |
| D．personalized |
| A．“i” products are often of high quality. |
| B．Actually nobody likes products with “2000”. |
| C．Fashion is closely connected with time. |
| D．The popularity of “i” products may not last long. |
4 .
In the future your automobile will run on water instead of gas! You will be able to buy a supercomputer that fits in your pocket! You might even drive a flying car!
Not all past predictions have been proved wrong.
Where’s the robot in my kitchen? Nowhere, of course. And he’s probably not coming any time soon. Robots do exist today, but mostly in factories and other working environments.
Back in the 1950s, however, people said that by now personal robots would be in most people’s homes.
So why hasn’t it happened? Maybe because robots are still too expensive and clumsy. And probably the clothes is just too strange. At home we seem to be doing fine without them.
In 1964 an American company introduced the video telephone. They said by the year 2000 most people would have a video phone in their homes. But of course the idea hasn’t caught on yet.
Why? The technology worked fine, but it over-looked something obvious: People desire for privacy. Would you want to have a video phone conversation with someone after you just stepped out of the shower?
Probably not-it could be uncomfortable! Just because technology doesn’t always mean people will want to use it.
And finally, how about that crazy prediction of the Flying car?
| A．It’s not so crazy any more! |
| B．a few of them have been surprisingly accurate. |
| C．Robot Helpers |
| D．Predictions of the Future |
| E．It hasn’t appeared yet! |
| F．What will our future life be like? |
| G．Telephones of Tomorrow |
5 . The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is mostly a desert. However, this has not stopped the country from creating great building projects. On September 26, UAE officials announced another ambitious project — Mars Science City. Expansive deserts and miles of coastline provide plenty of options for safe rocket launches (发射). And its position on the Earth makes it especially appealing as the spin of the Earth provides an extra push, meaning less fuel is needed to get payloads into orbit. All these seem to make it possible.
The Mars City Project, designed by Bjarke Ingels Group, or BIG, will provide a realistic model to simulate (模仿) living on the surface of Mars, the red planet. It is part of the UAE’s Mars 2117 Project to lead the global race to land humans on Mars and be the first to build a settlement there. Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Prime Minister and ruler of Dubai, says, “The UAE seeks international support to develop technologies that benefit humans, and lay the foundation of a better future for more generations to come.”
Built outside Dubai, the 1.9 million square feet city is expected to cost $135 million. It will consist of several dome-shaped laboratories, similar to the ones imagined for the first Mars settlers. Scientists from around the word will be invited to conduct research to come up with methods to create food, water and energy, using techniques which can be copied onto the red planet. The living spaces, where the researchers can live for up to a year, will simulate the planet’s conditions as much as possible.
The research city will also include a museum featuring famous space achievements to help educate and inspire children to undertake space exploration and discovery. To discover whether the construction method works on Mars, the museum’s walls will be 3D printed using the sand from the nearby desert. Now, if they would only add some living quarters for the general public to experience life on Mars without leaving Earth, life would be perfect.
1. What can we conclude about the United Arab Emirates?| A．It is short of fine weather. |
| B．It is a nice place for launching. |
| C．It can provide adequate fuel supply. |
| D．It has the greatest architects in the world. |
| A．Educate visitors on trips to Mars. |
| B．Develop the Mars settlers’ imagination. |
| C．Find ways to produce food, water and energy on Mars. |
| D．Create a climate-controlled environment for future use. |
| A．To show famous space techniques. |
| B．To make full use of the nearby desert. |
| C．To inspire children to love exploration. |
| D．To test building skills used by Mars settlers. |
| A．UAE to Build Mars Science City |
| B．UAE’s Great Exploration of Mars |
| C．UAE to Build First Mars Settlement |
| D．UAE’s Scientistific Contribution to Humans |
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
7 . Self-driving cars are so popular that the University of Michigan has even established a town called Mcity to allow car manufacturers to safely test their autonomous cars.
While Mcity can be used to simulate（模拟）many real-life road conditions，it can't help test gestures drivers use to communicate their intention（意图）to other drivers，pedestrians or cyclists. To find a solution，US car manufacturer Ford，with researchers from Virginia Tech，at the beginning considered using text as a way to communicate the car's intention，but decided it would probably not work universally. The option of using symbols was also rejected，because research shows that a majority of people do not have a good understanding of what they mean.
Finally, the researchers settled on light signals. A white light warned that there were no humans in the car. A slow blinking one indicated that the car was coming to a stop, while a rapidly flashing light cautioned passersby that the car was about to speed up.
Then came the big challenge—testing the signals on real roads. "We needed to try out this new lighting to communicate the intention of the vehicle, but if you've got a driver behind the seat, you still have natural communication between humans," said Andy Shaudt, who led the research team. "So we needed to make it look like a driverless car."
The team designed a car seat costume（戏装）that the driver would wear to cover his or her face and upper body. Of course，the drivers could see very clearly. The researchers then equipped the car with cameras to capture human reactions to a light bar，which flashed one of the three signals when appropriate. Six drivers，all keeping their hands low on the wheel so as not to be noticed，took turns to test driving the car through the busy streets.
The overall reaction to the flashing lights was very encouraging. Who knew costumes could be useful for more than Halloween？
1. What did the team first consider using as a way to communicate the car's intention?| A．Light. | B．Language. |
| C．Symbols. | D．Sound. |
| A．symbols | B．drivers |
| C．researchers | D．flashes |
| A．The car was coming to a stop. |
| B．There was no driver in the car. |
| C．The car was about to speed up. |
| D．The car was about to slow down. |
| A．amuse the driver | B．attract the pedestrians |
| C．warn the cyclists | D．confuse the people |
8 . How to change the world
You want to change the world, but you aren’t sure where to start. First, remember that changing the world can mean so many different things.
Understand what's wrong.
Know that change doesn't come overnight.
Start small.
Find ways to make a difference every day. It may feel as though you are just one tiny part of a huge system. At first, you almost certainly will be. Be patient.
Write letters to newspapers; post an article, video, or idea on the internet; wear a T-shirt. If you think that it is important and worthy of attention, try to raise awareness(意识) by telling as many people as you can.
Consider a career.
Think about which sort of job might put you in the best position to change the world.
| A．Read the news. |
| B．Spread the word. |
| C．All things begin small |
| D．Remember that you don’t need to do it alone |
| E．You could be a teacher, a reporter, or something else. |
| F．There are other, less public ways to show your support! |
| G．Don’t expect to change the world with one big heroic act. |
增加：在缺词处加一个漏字符号（
），并在其下面写出该加的词。删除：把多余的词用斜线（
）划掉。修改：在错的词下划一横线，并在该词下面写出修改后的词。
注意：1.每处错误及其修改均仅限一词；
2.只允许修改10处，多者（从第11处起）不计分。
With the development of science and technology, intelligent robots will be wide used in the future. At home, robots will help people do some housework and taking care of the elderly, babies and patients. In addition to these task, robots will even be able to play the chess and do exercise with people. In factories, robots will be used to perform some dangerous jobs avoid accidents.
Robots will change our future life by many ways, what will make it more colorful and comfortable. Therefore, we shouldn’t depend on intelligent robots too much, for they were made to help humans rather than replace us. As helpers of we humans, robots should be used properly.
