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 |
2 . Tokyo restaurant Sushiya no Nohachi reportedly serves great sushi, but it is most famous for its gimmick—making the world’s smallest sushi with a single grain of rice.
Located in Asakusa, a slightly quieter part of Tokyo, Sushiya no Nohachi is the place to go if you want to enjoy the tiniest, most adorable sushi in the world. Each piece is made with only a grain of rice and a tiny slice of topping wrapped in the thinnest piece of nori(海苔). Every served piece is actually perfect, which hints at the amount of work and patience that Bes into making them. They are the work of Hironori Ikeno, the chef of Sushiya no Nohachi, who came up with the idea in 2002 when a client asked him how small he could make his sushi. He answered, “as small as a grain of rice”, and proceeded to demonstrate that he wasn’t kidding. Over the years, the restaurant has become internationally famous for making the world’s smallest sushi.
Despite its size, miniature sushi actually takes a bit longer to make than regular-sized me, because of the precision and concentration required to put the tiny ingredients together. That is part of the reason why the restaurant only prepares tiny sushi for customers a few times a week and no more than five times a day, although they do sometimes make exceptions for foreign visitors who travel to the restaurant just to experience the world’s smallest sushi.
“I had a client from Sweden who came just to see my tiny sushi and the moment she saw it, she literally cried with joy.” Hironori Ikeno said.
Interestingly, one cannot simply order the tiny sushi at the restaurant. It is served for f re upon request with a regular-sized sushi course. Considering the sushi served at this place is reportedly delicious, you should probably be more excited about that. Plus, it also justifies the gimmick that the restaurant is so famous for.
1. What does the underlined word “gimmick” in paragraph 1 probably refer to?A.A class to teach cooking skills. |
B.A trick to attract customers. |
C.A plan to promote the sushi. |
D.A dish to win over opponents. |
A.His pursuit for perfection. |
B.The curiosity of a customer. |
C.The requirement from his boss. |
D.A bet he made with others. |
A.Take more time to make one |
B.Unpopular among customers |
C.costs more money to buy one |
D.needs more expensive materials |
A.Diversity of the customers. |
B.His lack of experience. |
C.Special treatment to foreigners. |
D.His sense of achievement. |
3 . After a heavy snowstorm, I ran outside excitedly to build a snowman. No matter how I rolled my snowball, it refused to grow. After resting for a while, I restarted the job. Then I noticed I had an audience — a prim (古板的) — looking couple with obvious disapproval. My face turned red as I tried to answer their unspoken question: Don’t you have anything better to do?
An adult playing by herself seems strange, but maybe it shouldn’t. New research suggests that modern adults have ignored their play instinct (本能). Most animals stop playing as adults. However, there are a handful of animals that never stop.
One possibility is that adult play is important and beneficial, a theory supported by a study. Researcher Camilla Cenni from the University of Lethbridge left some puzzle boxes for some monkeys to solve. To get the food inside, they had to drop a rock into the container. The monkeys that previously had dropped rocks for fun were more likely to solve the puzzle. This finding also suggests somewhere in our evolutionary history, a playful human invented stone tools. Even today, the urge to play accounts for some of humanity’s greatest inventions. Adult play is also about preparing for the unexpected. And biologists found its most important function is improving relationships and helping individuals get along.
Adult play promotes inclusivity, cooperation and creativity — all qualities that we humans could use. Unfortunately, social norms hold back our urge to let loose. When studying the last remaining hunter-gatherer communities, Peter Gray, a play researcher at Boston University, noticed they were often described as “joyful”. “This makes evolutionary sense,” Graysays. “Generally speaking, we like to do the things that are necessary for our survival.” Humans took one giant step away from fun when started planting crops. Plowing fields is hard and boring. Then we invented factories and lost sight of play.
With threats like climate change, it’s easy to get into seriousness. But we should understand the value of encouraging adult play. The next time I’m caught playing, I know what to say, “I’m playing for the benefit of all humanity. You’re welcome.”
1. Why did the author feel embarrassed?A.She was laughed at while playing as an adult. |
B.She had a hard job making a snowman. |
C.She considered herself too old to play. |
D.She was judged to behave improperly. |
A.It can contribute to useful discoveries. |
B.It is particularly noticeable in animals. |
C.It is the natural need of humans. |
D.It promotes human evolution. |
A.Climate change. | B.The arrival of agriculture. |
C.Modern science. | D.The need to look for food. |
A.Let’s play to save our world |
B.Play is enjoyed not just by animals |
C.Why adults need to make time for play |
D.How adult play changed its role for humans |
4 . Anyone who’s used noise-canceling headphones knows that hearing the right noise at the right time can be vital. Someone might want to remove sirens (汽笛) when working indoors, but not when walking along busy streets. Yet people can’t choose what sounds their headphones cancel.
Now, a team led by researchers at the University of Washington (UW) has developed deep-learning algorithms (算法) that let users pick which sounds pass through their headphones in real time. The system, called “semantic hearing”, works with headphones that stream the captured sounds to a connected smartphone which cancels all environmental sounds. Either through voice commands or a smartphone app, headphone wearers can select which sounds they want to include from 20 classes, such as sirens, baby cries, speech and bird chirps. Only the selected sounds will be played through the headphones.
“The challenge posed to today’s noise-canceling headphones is that the sounds headphone wearers hear need to sync (同步) with their visual senses. You can’t hear someone’s voice two seconds after they talk to you,” said senior author Shyam Gollakota, a UW professor. “This means the algorithms must process sounds in under a hundredth of a second.”
That need for speed is why the system must process sounds on a device such as a connected smartphone, instead of on cloud servers. Additionally, because sounds from different directions arrive in people’s ears at different times, the system must preserve these delays and other clues so people can still meaningfully perceive sounds in their environment.
Tested in environments such as offices, streets and parks, the system was able to capture sirens, bird chirps, alarms and other target sounds, while removing all other real-world noise. When 22 participants rated the system’s voice output for the target sound, they said that the quality improved compared to the original recording. In some cases, the system struggled to distinguish between sounds that share many properties, such as vocal music and human speech. The researchers note that training the models on more real-world data can improve these outcomes. In the near future, the researchers plan to release a commercial version of the system.
1. What’s the innovative feature of the UW’s new hearing system?A.It can capture noise more precisely. |
B.It is connected with efficient cloud servers. |
C.It can customize sounds for users’ preferences. |
D.It lets wearers perceive the surroundings better. |
A.They can’t feel the directions of sounds. |
B.They can’t recognize the target sounds. |
C.They lack relevant technical support. |
D.They lack real-time intelligence. |
A.It’ll come onto the market soon. |
B.It’ll improve the sound quality. |
C.It’ll capture sounds from nature. |
D.It’ll be tested in noisier environments. |
A.An effective way to avoid noise around us. |
B.The development of deep-learning algorithms |
C.A new noise-canceling headphone technology. |
D.The application of noise-canceling headphones. |
5 . Three young men were on a crowded train when they encountered a heavily armed terrorist. With little regard for their personal safety, they rushed the terrorist and controlled him. Only some people seem capable of this split-second form of heroism. Why some men rise to the occasion — and others don’t — has been a bit tricky to explain. Psychologists have explored this question through biological and personality psychology.
Of course, heroism and courage can appear in many forms, and men and women risk their reputations, health, and social standing to do what they think is right. When it comes to physically risky bravery, people assume that men will take the lead. There are sound biological reasons for this fixed image. One of the most common fears in men is that they’ll be outed as a coward (懦夫), and a man who fails to display physical courage will suffer damage to his reputation in a way that a woman will not. Throughout human history, attaining a position of high status or dominance among one’s peers (同龄人) has been the ticket that needs to get punched for men to attract mates and father children.
People tend to have an idea of what heroes are like. When rating the personalities of movie heroes, participants expected them to be more careful and hard-working, open to experience, agreeable, and emotionally stable than the average person. But some studies indicate that people who exhibit heroic behavior score high on personality usually associated with madmen: risk-taking, sensation seeking, coolness under stress, and a tendency to take over in social situations.
The study of the relationship between personality and heroism is at an early stage. Psychologists are still at a loss to predict in advance who will heroically step up when needed. Often, the hero is an otherwise ordinary person who finds himself in extraordinary circumstances. Meanwhile, some individuals trained to behave heroically might hesitate during a crisis. Future disasters will cry out for further acts of true heroism. Hopefully, the right mix of circumstances and personalities enable courage to carry the day.
1. How is the topic introduced in the first paragraph?A.By presenting a question. | B.By giving an example. |
C.By making a comparison. | D.By drawing a conclusion. |
A.Be bought. | B.Be talented. | C.Be abandoned. | D.Be acquired. |
A.There are numerous factors affecting heroism. |
B.Heroes and ordinary people are always difficult to tell apart. |
C.Unknown circumstances play a crucial role in heroic acts. |
D.Individual personality is not a reliable indicator of heroism. |
A.How Are Heroes Trained? | B.Why Are Heroes Important? |
C.What Makes a Person Heroic? | D.Who Are the True Heroes? |
6 . Edinburgh is famous for its many museums where you can learn its rich history.
Museum on the MoundLocated in the heart of Edinburgh’s city center, this appealing museum takes a fresh look at money — and much, much more. You will see coins and banknotes from over the ages, including the first Scottish banknote printed in 1727. There are also interesting interactive displays and you can even try your hand at opening a safe!
The Writers’ MuseumIt is housed in the beautiful Lady Stair’s House, a category A listed building. The collection celebrates the legacy (遗产) of Scotland’s literary contributions, with special emphasis given to Sir Walter Scott, Robert Louis Stevenson and Robert Burns. The museum is home to numerous paintings, books and manuscripts (手稿), and you can also see Burns’ writing desk and Scott’s chess set.
Our Dynamic EarthIt celebrates the beauty of the earth via technology. Interactive exhibits allow visitors to experience earthquakes, the ocean floor, ice ages and mountains by the use of computer software. Particularly interesting is the “tour” around the eleven Earthscapes. It is educational fun for the whole family and can serve as a good introduction to concepts surrounding the formation of the planet and the creatures we share the earth with.
National Museum of ScotlandThe diverse collections here include the history of Scotland with exhibitions of international interest. The natural world, science and technology, discoveries, art, and world cultures are all explored. There are interactive elements and activities to suit children of all ages, including science experiments and musical instruments.
1. Which might be the most attractive to finance majors?A.Our Dynamic Earth. | B.Museum on the Mound. |
C.The Writers’ Museum. | D.National Museum of Scotland. |
A.They have an artistic atmosphere. | B.They have interactive exhibits. |
C.They provide hands-on activities. | D.They showcase world cultures. |
A.Play with your family. | B.Tour the world virtually. |
C.Design computer software. | D.Learn about ancient creatures. |
7 . Great whites, the largest predatory(捕食性的)sharks in the world with the most fatal attacks on humans, are tough to imagine as newborn babies. That is partially because no one has seen one in the wild, it seems, until now.
Wildlife filmmaker Carlos Gauna and UC Riverside biology doctoral student Phillip Sternes were scanning the waters for sharks on July 9, 2023, near Santa Barbara on California’s central coast. That day, something exciting appeared on the viewfinder of Gauna’s drone camera. It was a shark pup(幼崽)unlike any they’d ever seen.
“We enlarged the images, put them in slow motion, and realized the white layer was being shed(脱落)from the body as it was swimming,” Sternes said. “I believe it was a newborn white shark shedding its embryonic layer.”
These observations are documented in a new paper in the Environmental Biology of Fishes journal. What Gauna and Sternes observed could help solve the longstanding mystery of great white birthing habits. This may well be the first evidence we have of a pup in the wild. Great whites, referred to only as white sharks by scientists, are gray on the top and white on the bottom. But this roughly 5-foot-long shark was pure white.
Though the paper authors acknowledge it is possible that the white layer the shark shed could have been a skin condition, the two believe what they saw was in fact a newborn great white. First, great white females give birth to live pups. A second reason is the presence of large, likely pregnant great whites in this location. Finally, this location off the coast of central California has long been proposed as a birthing location for great whites. Many scholars believe great whites are born farther out at sea.
Great whites are listed as an international endangered species. “Further research is needed to confirm these waters are indeed a great white breeding ground. But if it does, we would want lawmakers to step in and protect these waters to help white sharks keep thriving,” Sternes said.
1. What do we know about what appeared on Carlo s Gauna’s camera?A.It is rare in the world. | B.It is tough to identify. |
C.It is not open to the public. | D.It is unbelievable to scientists. |
A.Pure gray. | B.White only on the bottom. |
C.Gray on the top. | D.Pure white. |
A.How great white females give birth to pups. |
B.How the authors prove they saw a baby shark. |
C.Why the authors believe they saw a newborn shark pup. |
D.Why the authors think the white layer is a skin condition. |
A.Helping white sharks to stop breeding. |
B.Using laws to protect shark pups and their habitats. |
C.Listing white sharks as endangered species. |
D.Further study to confirm white sharks breeding waters. |
8 . The famous jianbing, a roadside pancake that can be grabbed on the go, is so well-known in China that most people would barely give it a second glance.
Brian Goldberg, founder of Mr. Bing, and Reuben Shorser, co-founder of the Jianbing Company found jianbing while studying Putonghua in Beijing.
“Jianbing is the most common, traditional breakfast to eat when I studied in China,” BrianGoldberg said.
To ensure the authentic taste of their jianbing, Mr. Bing enlisted the help of Chinese jianbing-makers to train their workers in New York.
A.And that business model still seems to be working. |
B.The city now has a choice of places offering the snack. |
C.He recently opened one of the first jianbing stands in Manhattan. |
D.In China, street sellers sell the snack for less than a dollar a piece. |
E.However, in New York City, it’s becoming a new food trend. |
F.After coming back to New York, they both started their own jianbing businesses. |
G.Another up-and-coming business serving jianbing is The Flying Pig Food Truck. |
9 . Mobile phones and Personal Digital Assistants have varied precious metals and plastic. When we choose to recycle mobile phones and other such devices, it not only helps to conserve the valued resources within, but it also reduces greenhouse gas emissions that occur during manufacturing and processing.
The U. K. produces about 55 pounds of e-waste per person. Mary Creagh MP, Chair of the Environmental Audit, mentions that the household e-waste, which makes up a large number of cell phones, is piling up in a “tsunami of e-waste”.
Most Europeans change their cell phone every 18 to 24 months. The next time you have a new phone, don’t throw your old one anywhere or slide it into a drawer to gather dust. Either recycle it or if it still does its job well, consider donating it to a program that serves essential technology to low-income groups and individuals. There are also some recycling programs that work with community organizations and schools to collect unused cell phones as fundraising projects.
Apple accepts taking back the old iPhones to recycle and reuse them through its Renew pro-gram. In 2015, Apple recycled 90 million pounds of electronic waste. The composition thus recovered includes 23 million pounds of steel, 13 million pounds of plastic, and nearly 12 million pounds of glass. There were some high-value recovered materials too—2.9 million pounds of copper (铜), 6.6 pounds of silver, and 2.2 pounds of gold!
We live in threatening times when our planet is subject to risks that shouldn’t be ignored. With the decreasing metal reserves, the valuable metals inside cell phones are more precious than ever.
Let’s walk the talk and not just crawl when it comes to protecting our natural resources. Every human being on the planet has a responsibility to do their part in stopping e-waste by choosing to recycle mobile phones.
1. What can we know about e-waste from Mary Creagh MP’s statement?A.It is alarming in amount. | B.It is kept in people's houses. |
C.It is made up of cell phones. | D.It is mainly produced in the U. K. |
A.Sell it to raise funds. | B.Put it in a secret place. |
C.Keep it to continue its job. | D.Give it away for a worthy cause. |
A.To warn us of the decrease in metal. |
B.To remind us to care about our planet. |
C.To show the benefits of recycling e-waste. |
D.To inform us of the various components of e-device. |
A.Recycle Mobile Phones: Let's Think |
B.Recycle Mobile Phones: Let's Donate |
C.Recycle Mobile Phones: Let's Be Careful |
D.Recycle Mobile Phones: Let's Be Responsible |
10 . Iceberg Water, which is harvested from icebergs off the coast of Newfoundland Canada, is achieving new heights of popularity in North America.
Arthur, Von Wiesenberger who carries the title “Water Master”, is one of the few water critics in North America. As a boy, he spent time in the larger cities of Italy, France and Switzerland, where bottled water is consumed daily. Even then, he kept a water journal, noting the brands he liked best. “My dog could tell the difference between bottled and tap water.” He says.
But is plain tap water all that bad? Not at all. In fact. New York’s tap water for more than a century was called the champagne of tap water and until recently considered among the best in the world in terms of both taste and purity. Similarly, a magazine in England found that tap water from the Thames River tasted better than several leading brands of bottled water that were 400 times more expensive.
Nevertheless, soft-drink companies view bottled water as the next battle-ground for market share — despite the fact that over 25 percent of bottled water comes from tap water: Pepsi Co’s Aquafina and Coca-Cola’s Dasani are both purified tap water rather than spring water.
As diners thirst for leading brands, bottlers and restaurateurs are desperate for the profits. A restaurant’s typical mark-up (加价) on wine is 100 to 150 percent, whereas on bottled water it’s often 300 to 500 percent. But since water is much cheaper than wine, and many of the fancier brands aren’t available in stores, most diners don’t notice or care.
As a result, some restaurants are turning up the pressure to sell bottled water. According to an article in The Street Journal, some of the more shameless methods include placing attractive bottles on the table for a visual sell, listing brands on the menu without prices, and pouring bottled water without even asking the diners if they want it.
Regardless of how it’s sold, the popularity of bottled water taps into our desire for better health. our wish to appear cultivated, and even a longing for lost purity.
1. What is Arthur’s purpose in mentioning his dog in paragraph 2?A.To indicate his own preference for bottled water. |
B.To show the importance of bottled water to dogs. |
C.To clarify the difference between bottled water and tap water. |
D.To exhibit the large consumption of bottled water in big cities. |
A.tap water from the Thames River |
B.famous wines not sold in ordinary stores |
C.PepsiCo’s Aquafina and Coca-Cola’s Dasani |
D.pricey bottled water with very impressive names |
A.Most diners find bottled water affordable. |
B.Competition from the wine industry is fierce. |
C.Bottled water can bring in huge profits. |
D.Bottled water satisfies diners’ desire to be fashionable. |
A.Tap water: why tastes better? | B.Bottled water: why so popular? |
C.A new favorite of. restaurants; bottled water | D.A rising star: tap water |