1 . According to a new study by Tampere University in Finland, making eye contact with a robot may have the same effect on people as eye contact with another person. The result predicts that interaction between humans and humanoid robots will be surprisingly smooth.

With the rapid progress in robotics, it is expected that people will increasingly interact with so-called social robots in the future. Despite the artificiality of robots, people seem to react to them socially. For instance, people may sense different qualities, such as knowledge ability, sociability and likability in robots based on how they look or behave.

Previous surveys have been able to throw light on people’s sensory ability of social robots and their characteristics, but the very central question has remained unanswered. Does interacting with a robot cause similar reactions to people as interacting with another human?

Researchers at Tampere University investigated the matter by studying the physiological (生理的) reactions that eye contact with a social robot produces. In the new study, the research participants sat face to face with another person or a humanoid robot. The person and the robot looked either directly at the participants and made eye contact or avoided their gaze. At the same time, the participants’ skin conductance (电导率), which reflected the activity of the autonomous nervous systems, the electrical activity of the cheek muscle reflecting positive affective reactions, and the heart rate reduction were measured.

The result showed that all the above-mentioned physiological reactions were stronger in the case of eye contact when compared to averted gaze (转移目光). This result is shared with both another person and a humanoid. Eye contact with the robot and another human focused the participants’ attention and brought about a positive emotional response.

“Our result shows that the non-linguistic (非语言的), interaction-regulating signals of social robots can affect humans in the same way as similar signals presented by other people. Such evidence allows us to assume that as robot technology develops, there may be no barrier to interaction between social robots and humans,” says doctoral researcher Helena.

1. What does the new study focus on?

A．When robots can respond like humans.

B．How humans make eye contact socially.

C．The reasons for humans having qualities of social robots.

D．Humans’ response when interacting with robots and humans.

2. Which of the following agrees with the result of the research?

A．Averted gaze makes no difference to robots.

B．Social robots can’t affect humans’ response.

C．Robots feel stronger than humans when interacting.

D．Eye contact with robots contributes to a positive response.

3. What does Helena expect of social robots in the future?

A．They can interact with humans smoothly.

B．They will have a side effect on interaction.

C．They can have regulating interaction as humans.

D．They will send out accurate human linguistic signals.

4. How does the author mainly develop the topic of the text?

A．By assuming relative effects.	B．By presenting past discoveries.
C．By referring to a questionnaire survey.	D．By indicating the result of research.

2 . China successfully sent three astronauts to its space station in June. It was confirmed to National Television by Yang Liwei, a chief designer for China’s manned space program. Yang was the country’s first astronaut to launch into orbit in 2003.

Three astronauts are to complete a three-month mission on the large space station. Its main module (舱) was launched into orbit on April 29. In May, a self-piloted spacecraft arrived at the space station carrying supplies. The Tianzhou 2 spacecraft reached the station eight hours after launching from Hainan, an island in the South China Sea. The spacecraft was carrying space suits, living supplies, equipment and fuel. The astronauts were carried to space aboard the country’s Shenzhou 12 spacecraft. It was launched from China’s Jiuquan base in the northwest.

Yang did not provide the identities of the astronauts or give a flight date in his comments to China Central Television. But he said the astronauts were expected to practice spacewalks, complete repairs and carry out some scientific operations. When asked whether any women were in the crew, Yang said none would be joining the upcoming mission. “But missions after that all will have them,” he added.

The Chinese space agency plans a total of 11 launches through the end of next year. The mission is to transport the remaining modules for the 70-ton space station and more supplies and crew.

China has sent over ten astronauts, including two women, into space, beginning with Yang’s flight in October 2003. The first female astronaut was Liu Yang in 2012. China’s first spacewalk was made in 2008 by astronaut Zhai Zhigang outside the Shenzhou 7 spacecraft. The space station mission marks the latest step forward for China’s space program.

1. What’s the mission of the flight of the Tianzhou 2 spacecraft?

A．To replace Shenzhou 12.	B．To transport the main module.
C．To carry the astronauts into space.	D．To send some items to the space station.

2. What can we confirm from Yang Liwei’s comments?

A．The launch site.	B．The launch date.
C．The astronauts’ tasks.	D．The astronauts’ identities.

3. What does the author say about China’s space program?

A．It is imperfect.

B．It is promising.

C．It is to be aimed at women.

D．It is about to take its final step.

4. Where is the text likely taken from?

A．A travel brochure.

B．An art magazine.

C．An entertainment commentary.

D．A science report.

3 . New efforts are being made to prevent American college campuses from cigarette smoking. Twenty colleges in the United States recently received money to help protect their campuses from the harm of cigarettes.

Supporters say that every child deserves to grow up in a safe and healthy environment free from harmful second-hand cigarettes. And in November, smoking at college campuses may become illegal.

Before banning smoking at college campuses, the US has passed laws banning smoking at most workplaces. 27 American states ban smoking in all indoor workplaces.

Those supporting smoke-free at workplaces and college campuses give one major reason: the bad influence of smoking on health.

The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) says smoking has a great influence on health. They think cigarette smoking is the leading cause of preventable deaths in the United States. Smoking is responsible for 480,000 deaths every year.

Supporters say the bad influence of second-hand smoke makes it a public health problem. Some also say that college campuses are a good place to ban smoking.

Gary Reedy, the CEO of the American Cancer Society, said it was important to stop college students from smoking, and he expected to successfully create a cigarette-free generation (世代).

The CDC found that 13 percent of adults between the ages of 18 and 24 smoke cigarettes. Reedy says that reducing the number of college students who smoke can help reduce the number of older adult smokers. He also says once a person starts smoking, it is hard to stop.

1. Who are the new efforts good for?

A．College students.	B．The CDC.
C．Young smokers.	D．People in public places.

2. What makes the action to ban smoking possible?

A．The bad influence of smoking.	B．Money wasted on cigarettes.
C．Laws passed by the US.	D．Public attention to health.

3. Which one is Reedy’s opinion?

A．Smoking spreads easily among college students.

B．Smoke-free campuses have a long-term influence.

C．It is easier for college students to stop smoking.

D．There’re more older adult smokers in the world.

4. What is the best title for the text?

A．Second-hand smoke is affecting college students too

B．Groups take steps to protect college students

C．Cigarettes should be totally banned in college

D．Banning smoking is being tried at US colleges

4 . I watched a child in the supermarket yesterday, as she was screaming. Her parents were trying their best to ________ her down. Some people passing by ________ their heads and saw the child as a spoiled (宠坏的) child. Others ________ and offered a few kind words to both the ________ and the parents.

“You’re such a beautiful little girl. Such a ________ girl shouldn’t cry,” one lady said.

“Don’t be so sad. We all have ________ days,” added another.

“I think she’s spoiled,” I heard one whisper to a friend.

None of them was ________. The child was neither spoiled nor having a bad day. She was simply ________. The parents told me afterwards that someone walking a ________ had scared her.

She was afraid of dogs. They went on to explain that it was a ________ for them to go to some places.

Friends had dogs, and nearby neighbors ________ their dogs down the street. I can remember the feeling of fear when I was a child. Every time while I was walking up steps at night, I would get the ________ that someone or something was going to grab my feet. I ran most of the time.

________can happen at any time in our life, and sometimes we cannot avoid it. And what we fear most can own us, control us and limit us. However, the truth is that fear can be ________. As we grow up, we can find more ________ and energy to overcome what we fear most in life.

1.

A．look

B．put

C．bring

D．calm

2.

A．changed

B．shook

C．nodded

D．compared

3.

A．paused

B．protested

C．pretended

D．opposed

4.

A．child

B．teacher

C．friend

D．doctor

5.

A．healthy

B．beautiful

C．little

D．outgoing

6.

A．hot

B．nice

C．bad

D．cold

7.

A．possible

B．convenient

C．right

D．wrong

8.

A．terrible

B．afraid

C．sad

D．ill

9.

A．dog

B．dark

C．goose

D．fur

10.

A．control

B．touch

C．use

D．challenge

11.

A．started

B．affected

C．caused

D．walked

12.

A．promise

B．feeling

C．mistake

D．impression

13.

A．Fear

B．Joy

C．Doubt

D．Danger

14.

A．combined

B．received

C．performed

D．overcome

15.

A．complaint

B．lack

C．courage

D．interest

5 . Now more than 40 million foreigners around the world are learning Chinese，according to a report. The relationship between the United States and China is becoming more and more important in the world. This has really influenced the growth of Chinese language learning in U.S.

I am Chris from the United States. I am one of the many people who are learning Chinese. I am studying at a Confucius Institute in New York. There are 10 students in our class. Some are over thirty years old. Some are middle school students. Our teacher comes from Beijing. He is fun and often tells us interesting things in China.

I think Chinese is difficult to learn. The biggest challenge for American learners is the writing. Chinese is completely different from any other language in the world. It will take me a lot of time to learn enough Chinese characters. But 1 think there are many benefits of spending time in learning Chinese. One important benefit is that it makes me see things from a different point of view, because Chinese is such a different language from English. I think for American students the most important benefit is that learning a challenging language can open up their eyes.

1. From the passage we know that ________.

A．Chris has been to China	B．Chris is thirty years old
C．Chris is an American	D．Chris is in China now

2. ________is the most difficult thing of the language for foreigners according to the writer.

A．Listening

B．Writing

C．Reading

D．Speaking

3. According to the passage, which of the following is TRUE?

A．Chris’ Chinese teacher is a Chinese.

B．More than 40 million Americans are learning Chinese.

C．Chris thinks there are few benefits of learning Chinese.

D．Most foreigners don’t think it’s difficult to learn Chinese.

4. The last paragraph is mainly about________ .

A．the differences between Chinese and other languages	B．the reason for learning Chinese
C．the challenges and benefits of learning Chinese	D．ways of learning Chinese

6 . A free two-hour guided walking tour is a great way to get the best out of the Smithsonian’s National Zoo in a limited amount of time. They do not require scheduling except for groups of more than 10 people.

On the tour you’ll...

•See some of the Zoo^’s most interesting animals, including cheetahs (非洲猎豹), Asian elephants, Aldabra tortoises, lions and Andean bears, to name just a few.

•Have a trained guide answer your questions.

•Learn how the Zoo takes care of its animals.

•Hear first-hand how the Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute is working to save species.

Highlights tours are best suited for general Zoo audiences and are not designed for school groups.

Guests wishing to take a tour should meet at the front desk in the Visitor Center lobby shortly before 9:45 a.m. To schedule a group tour for more than 10 people, please call 202-633-3061.

All tours are wheelchair accessible and accommodate up to 10 people per group on weekdays and more on weekends. Access services for guided tours, including sign language interpretation, hearing assistance devices and tactile (触觉的) tours with verbal description, are available by request. Please call 202-633-3061 at least two weeks prior to your visit to request any additional accessibility services.

Snore&Roar Sleepovers (通宵派对)

Available from May through to September

Fall asleep to the sounds of howling wolves or wake up to barking sea lions when you spend the night at the Zoo! It’s the best way to see the animals after hours and have the park all to yourself. Snore& Roar Sleepovers include games, activities, a walk through the Zoo and more. Separate family and adult-only options are available.

1. You can ______ when you tour the National Zoo.

A．have close contact with Andean bears

B．ask a professional guide questions

C．gain knowledge about wild animals

D．learn how to protect rare animals and plants

2. If you want to experience a Snore&Roar Sleepover, you should ______.

A．call 202-633-3061

B．form a group of more than 10 people

C．sign up for games and services

D．choose a day from May to September

3. This passage is possibly from ______

A．research report.

B．A tour introduction.

C．book about animals.

D．science magazine.

7 . It is a well-known fact that plastic bottles, which take hundreds of years to rot, are harmful to our environment. However, efforts by environmentalists to encourage consumers to switch to alternatives, like water fountains or reusable bottles, have not been very effective. The U.S. alone uses over 50 million plastic bottles annually, 80% of which end up in landfills.

To try to stop that, Rodrigo García González, Pierre Paslier and Guillaume Couche from the Imperial College London have been working on a revolutionary solution — water wrapped inside an eatable container made mostly from seaweed. All the customer has to do to relieve his/her thirst is pop the entire drop into the mouth.

The inventors, who have been working on the Ooho bubble since 2014, use a simple two-step cooking process called spherification (球化) to create the delicate container. They begin by dipping a frozen ball of water or juice into a chemical solution (溶液). This helps form a layer around the liquid. The ball is then absorbed in a solution made from seaweed extract. This creates a second layer, helping strengthen the structure so that the water or juice does not leak. In addition to saving our environment, the biodegradable (可降解的) packaging costs just two cents each, making it cheaper to produce than plastic.

After three years of perfecting the design, the inventors, who recently raised over 1 million USD from a financial activity, are ready to bring the Ooho bubble to local market. However, there are a few challenges that still need to be overcome before the product’s launch. In addition to getting accustomed to the taste of the covering, each eatable container contains just a mouthful of water, requiring consumers to drink multiple bubbles to relieve their thirst. There is also the issue of finding an eco-friendly packaging to transport the bubbles so that they remain clean and do not burst. Hopefully, the inventors will find ways to handle the issues so that we can reduce, or perhaps even remove, plastic bottles.

1. Why was the Ooho bubble created?

A．To test a newly-designed material.	B．To change consumers’ drinking habit.
C．To reduce pollution caused by plastic.	D．To take a share of drinking water industry.

2. What will the inventors probably do next?

A．Solve some specific problems of the product.	B．Collect more money to expand production.
C．Distribute the Ooho bubble to global market.	D．Advertise the advantages of the Ooho bubble.

3. What is the author’s attitude towards the Ooho bubble’s launch?

A．Uncaring.

B．Doubtful.

C．Confident.

D．Opposed.

4. Which of the following could be the best title for the text?

A．Scientists Work out a New Kind of Water

B．Plastic Bottles Will Be Replaced by the Ooho Bubble

C．Environmental Pollution is Expected to Be Solved

D．The Ooho Bubble Aims to Remove Plastic Bottles

8 . 阅读下面材料，根据其内容和所给段落开头语续写两段，使之构成一篇完整的短文。

My grandfather had started experiencing major problems with his left eye due to his old age. He had visited the hospital on many occasions to seek treatment, but his condition was not getting any better. Finally, his doctor told him the only way left was to go for eye surgery as a way of trying to correct the abnormality with the eyes.

Since it was a weekend and I had no classes on that day, I thought it would be a good idea to accompany my grandfather to the hospital rather than to stay home and be bored despite the fear I had of surgeries and hospitals in general.

My uncle drove us to the hospital. After ensuring that my grandfather bad checked in, he had to leave for an important appointment. Luckily, there were several helpful nurses available to offer any assistance that my grandfather required, and the doctors were very friendly. Even though things were taking their natural course, the situation was tearing me apart. I guessed the nurses sensed the high level of nervousness that both my grandfather and I had at that moment. They talked to us nicely so that we ended up relaxing and seeing the surgery as something normal and nothing to worry much about.

Before long, both my grandfather and I felt relaxed and ready for the surgery, as we forgot the high degree of nervousness we had felt just a few moments earlier. I have always had this fear of doctors and injections so even as I began to relax, thoughts of the upcoming surgery were drilling my mind. I knew the surgery would be more serious than the injections that I feared so much as well. In an hour or so, I was just sitting on the couch and waiting while the nurses were preparing my grandfather for the surgery.

注意：
1.续写词数应为150左右；
2.请按如下格式在相应位置作答。

All of a sudden, a cup of coffee appeared before my eyes.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

After only an hour, my grandfather was wheeled out with a bandage on the operated eye.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

9 . 阅读下面短文，按照句子结构的语法性和上下文连贯的要求，在空格处填入一个适当的词或使用括号中词语的正确形式填空。

Born in 1998 in Yichun, Heilongjiang Province, Jiang Yufan is the designer of Shuey Rhon Rhon, the Paralympic mascot. Jiang got the     1     (inspire) from the strong festive atmosphere in her hometown,     2     red lanterns can be seen everywhere.     3     the process of the design was challenging, she     4     (true) hoped the lantern could warm the world and light people’s dreams.

Her design is based     5     the red lantern, a cultural symbol associated with harvest, celebration and brightness. The name “Shuey Rhon Rhon” has several meanings as well. The word “Shuey”     6     (pronounce) the same way as the Chinese character for snow. The first “Rhon” refers to friendship and the second indicates integration. Combined, the full name sends a message of understanding and promotes     7     harmonious society.

Dominated by “Chinese red”, Shuey Rhon Rhon has a small hoop on the top of     8     (it) head, as well as snowy features, patterns     9     (take) from Chinese paper cutting and a red body that shines warmly. The mascot itself represents friendship, courage and strength,     10     (reflect) the fighting spirit of the Winter Paralympic athletes and the Winter Paralympics tenet (宗旨).

10 . The Iron Lady of Pakistan

Everybody has different life stories, some inspiring and some tragic. Muniba Mazari, a(n) ________ Pakistani woman proved that something positive can come out of sorrow.

In 2007, she was ________ in car crash. Many people came to the rescue, tried to ________ her out of the car and rushed her to hospital as she was ________ injured.

The terrible accident ________ her serious injury including the major one on her backbone. Doctors were able to perform a successful ________ on Muniba but she was unable to walk again. “Doctors have put a lot of titanium (钛钢) in my body to ________ the major damages. That’s why people call me the Iron Lady.” She once said.

She spent nearly two years in the hospital where she ________ multiple surgeries. But with ________ in her heart, she managed to smile back at what life had planned for her. She ________ sat in a wheelchair and chose to rise rather than cry. She planned to write down all of her ________ and face them one by one, like facing people and the look of sympathy in their eyes.

Later on, Muniba emerged in various fields, including performing and motivational speaking. She refused to ________ her disability and made the best out of her talent. She not only motivated herself to work but ________ the rest of the world.

Muniba’s perfectly ________ life shaped who she is today, showing that even a serious accident cannot break you if you have the ________.

1.

A．intelligent

B．brave

C．creative

D．modest

2.

A．attacked

B．trapped

C．buried

D．engaged

3.

A．push

B．force

C．drag

D．throw

4.

A．slightly

B．completely

C．hardly

D．severely

5.

A．resulted in

B．brought out

C．arose from

D．impacted on

6.

A．transplant

B．examination

C．operation

D．test

7.

A．fix

B．prevent

C．cause

D．reduce

8.

A．performed

B．recorded

C．suffered

D．underwent

9.

A．hope

B．patience

C．mercy

D．justice

10.

A．carefully

B．fortunately

C．eventually

D．necessarily

11.

A．goals

B．questions

C．choices

D．fears

12.

A．live on

B．battle against

C．break away from

D．give in to

13.

A．inspired

B．discouraged

C．comforted

D．bridged

14.

A．ordinary

B．imperfect

C．admirable

D．unpleasant

15.

A．urge

B．wisdom

C．will

D．chance