1 . A humanoid robot can relay video and touch sensations to a person wearing a haptic (触觉内) feedback suit and a virtual reality (VR) headset hundreds of kilometres away, offering away for people to attend events without travelling.
The iCub 3 robot is a 52-kilogram, 125-centimetre-tall robot with 54 joints across its body. Its head contains two cameras where a human’s eyes would be, and an Internet-connected computer where the brain would go. Along with the cameras, sensors covering its body send data to the robot’s “brain”. These sensations are then reproduced on a suit and VR headset worn by a remote human operator.
When the operators react to what they see and feel, the suit’s sensors pick up the movements and the robot matches them. “The key is to translate every signal and bit of digital data that can be sent through the network.” says Stefano Dafarra, who was part of the iCub3 team. There can be a small delay of up to 100 milliseconds to capture and transmit the visual shots, but the operator can case this by moving slightly slower than normal.
The team demonstrated the robot at the Venice Biennale, where it wandered through an exhibition while its operator stood 290 kilometres away in Genoa. Dafarra hopes people will use the iCub3 to attend events remotely, reducing the need to travel. “But at present, a fall could be hugely damaging to the robot, and it’s uncertain whether it could stand up again on its own," he says.
“iCub3 is an interesting robot and offers clear advantages from the previous versions.” says Jonathan Aitken, whose laboratory owns a prior version of the robot. However, he is disappointed that the team wasn’t clear in its research about the data transmission requirements of the new version of the robot. “It would be good to know just how much data was required, and what the upper and lower bounds were.” he says.
1. What’s the principle behind the humanoid robot?| A．It conveys sensations to the wearer and acts accordingly. |
| B．It receives commands from an operator through the Internet. |
| C．The cameras take pictures and then interact with the sensors. |
| D．The computer in the robot processes the data and gives orders. |
| A．Medical consultation. | B．Sports events. |
| C．Outdoor workouts. | D．Virtual tourism. |
| A．It fails to appeal to potential investors. |
| B．Its performance hasn’t been evaluated clearly. |
| C．Its present version still requires to be updated. |
| D．Its transmission of data came across technical problems. |
| A．Humanoid robots with sense of touch catch on |
| B．iCub 3 robot combines with VR to benefit more people |
| C．Humanoid robots let people see and feel things remotely |
| D．New advances in technology enable people to travel at work |
1. Who is the speaker?
| A．A sales assistant. |
| B．A volunteer firefighter. |
| C．A house designer. |
| A．He saved her dog. |
| B．He cleared up her house. |
| C．He got her a pair of shoes. |
| A．It’s worthwhile. |
| B．It’s demanding. |
| C．It’s easy. |
When I was a kid, my parents and I lived near the forest. They often told me that our family was a team that needed to work together for the household to function smoothly. There was always an abundance of work to do — cooking, cleaning, and walking dogs. I volunteered to walk our dog, Max, who had been adopted one month before. I never dared let this giant dog off the lead (牵狗绳), just in case he took off.
One morning, we were walking along in the forest when Max started pulling on the lead. At first, I was able to hold on despite the wet ground from a recent shower. But the more I tried to stop him pulling, the more it turned into a tug of war. And thanks to the slippery ground, I lost.
Pulling his lead, Max shot off like a bullet, leaving me screaming behind. I chased him but lost my footing and fell face-first into some mud. I stumbled (踉跄) to my feet, but looking ahead, I found him running back towards me. I thought he was going to stop and give me his “Sorry” look. But instead, the dog shot past me and returned after a while.
As soon as we got home, my mother immediately attended to Max with a warm towel and a doggy treat. I thought seeing me stumbling and covered in mud, I would also get a warm cup of tea and a motherly kiss. Instead, I got a very loud lecture about letting the dog loose in the forest.
I felt frustrated. It wasn’t fair that she didn’t understand how difficult it was to control Max. I fought back, “Stop lecturing me! Why is everything my fault?” With these words, I stormed into my bedroom and slammed the door shut.
In the evening, I heard my mother call Max and take him out. It wasn’t long before I heard my mother screaming and the door opening again.
注意：1. 续写词数应为150个左右；
2. 请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
I walked out of my room.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Dad stepped in, suggesting that we work together to train Max.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________4 . Some of our planet’s power pollinators (传粉昆虫) may have originated tens of millions of years earlier than scientists once believed. In a study published July 27 in the journal Current Biology, a team of researchers traced bee family back over 120 million years to the ancient supercontinent Gondwana (冈瓦纳大陆). While looking deeper into bee history, the team found evidence that bees originated earlier, diversified faster, and spread wider than previously suspected, putting together pieces of a puzzle on the origin of these pollinators.
In the study, an international team of scientists would be in sequence and compared genes from over 200 bee species. They then compared these bees with the traits from 185 different bee fossils and extinct fossils to develop an evolutionary history and genealogical model for how bees have historically been spread around the world. The team was able to analyze hundreds of thousands of genes at a time to make sure that the relationships they inferred were correct.
“This is the first time we have broad genome-scale data for all seven bee families,” study co-author and Washington State University entomologist Elizabeth Murray confidently said in a statement. Earlier studies established that the first bees potentially evolved from wasps (黄蜂), transitioning from predators up to collectors of pollen and nectar (花蜜). According to this study, bees arose in the dry regions of western Gondwana during the early Cretaceous period, between 145 million years ago to 100.5 million years ago.
“There’s been a long-time puzzle about the origin of bees,” study co-author and Washington State University entomologist Silas Bossert said in a statement. “For the first time, we have statistical evidence that bees originated on Gondwana. We now know that bees are originally southern hemisphere insects.” The team found evidence that as new continents formed, the bees moved northward. They continued to diversify and spread in parallel partnership with flowering plants called angiosperms. The bees later moved into India and Australia and all major bee families appear to have split off from one another before the beginning of the Tertiary period (65million years ago).
1. What’s the purpose of bee history researchers do research on?| A．To discover the origin of these pollinators. |
| B．To find out some reasonable proofs. |
| C．To know much about our planet. |
| D．To study the life of bee species. |
| A．in danger. | B．in need. | C．in order | D．in favor. |
| A．Unbelievable. | B．Reliable. | C．Positive. | D．Negative. |
| A．The earliest home of bees may be in Gondwana. |
| B．The world’s earliest bees were found in India and Australia. |
| C．The researchers are going on doing research on bee families. |
| D．The researchers get a lot evidence to prove their research. |
It was a hot day. The sun scorched (炙烤) down and everywhere you looked, you could see the heat waves blowing above the sand. John rolled over, realizing that half of his body was well and truly burnt. He had not meant to sleep in the sun but the heat and late nights studying for his examinations made him miserable. Stretching, he got to his feet, picked up his surfboard and looked around. The beach, which had earlier been crowded in the sun, was now comparatively empty. Seagulls flew down to clean up the food of people’s picnic lunches.
The ice-cream van had gone, and so were the lifeguards who were doing first aid on the beach. John looked up to where the sun was and estimated it was about five o’clock. Time to head home. It was “Mum’s Kitchen Rule” that had him moving homewards. If he did not get home in time for dinner, he would go hungry. Wandering along the water’s edge, he happened to glance out to sea. What made him look up at that particular moment, he never knew, but it was the right time for the swimmer he spotted. His hand was up, signaling distress (险情) and he was calling out something.
Quickly John glanced around the beach — no one else was close enough to help the man, and crucially, no one had noticed. Cupping his hands to his mouth, he shouted “Help” to get the attention of other people on the beach. Someone waved back to him and John pointed to the swimmer. “Get help,” he shouted. Then without hesitation, he jumped into the sea with his surfboard. John was a strong swimmer and had a good skill for distance swimming. His coach had tried hard to persuade him to go into competitions but he was not interested.
注意：1.续写词数应为150个左右；2.请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
Now he was swimming for more than enjoyment or medals.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Fortunately, the sea was not rough and there was no wave.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________6 . Researcher Ruijia Hu said wildlife habitat in crowded places like south went Ohio is becoming increasingly fragmented (分散) as forests give way to new construction. Eventually, this could make trouble to an animal with specific habitat needs like Ohio’s pileated (红冠) woodpecker.
Pileated woodpeckers have the nickname carpenter birds for their never-ending natural woodworking. They peck out holes in trees for their nests every year, creating lots of valuable homes for animals like fox squirrels and owls. “They make new nests every year. They won’t reuse old ones,” Hu said. “Other animals depend on them.”
Pileated woodpeckers are private birds that are more often heard than seen. Studying them can be especially difficult. So Hu turned to citizen science for help. To identify where woodpeckers have been seen, she used eight years of sightings collected by birders and logged into the website eBird, a free online tool and app that anyone can use to record their observations and locations. She overlaid these sightings with remote sensing data and found that corridors along rivers and creeks with abundant mature trees and deadwood helped the birds adjust to their increasingly fragmented urban landscape.
“With fragmented forests, many habitats that were once suitable for wildlife are broken up,” Hu sa id. “Wildlife is unable to find habitat big enough to meet their survival needs. And even if there are suitable habitats, the distance between them can be too great. Wildlife corridors link up these habitat patches. Since wildlife can travel and migrate from one patch to another, the probability of finding food and shelter is higher.”
“There are so many species in urban areas that we don’t pay attention to, especially when they’re not considered vulnerable,” Hu said. “With development chipping away at more forest in this crowded county, the tipping point (临界点) could come quickly and unexpectedly. You can’t fix it overnight. It’s not just about planting more trees. The birds need mature forest, so it could take 30 to 50 years to replace their habitat. At least we can protect these riverside forest corridors and see that existing trees reach maturity.”
1. What can we infer from the second paragraph?| A．The magpie’s nest is occupied by the dove. |
| B．Birds abandon the old for the new easily. |
| C．Friendship really exists among animals. |
| D．One’s trash is another treasure. |
| A．The effect of Hu’s study on birds. |
| B．The process of Hu’s research. |
| C．The difficulty Hu had in his study. |
| D．The application of technology. |
| A．Helping them survive in the fragmented landscape. |
| B．Making them adjust to deadwood quickly. |
| C．Providing them with enough food for survival. |
| D．Ensuring them a stable and safe habitat. |
| A．One tree doesn’t make a forest. |
| B．Be wise after the event. |
| C．Prepare for a rainy day. |
| D．Take things as they come. |
