In a few years, you might be able to speak Chinese, Korean, Japanese, French, and English -- and all at the same time. This sounds incredible, but Alex Waibel, a computer science professor at US' s Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) and Germany' s University of Karlsruhe, announced last week that it may soon be reality. He and his team have invented software and hardware that could make it far easier for people who speak different languages to understand each other.

One application, called Lecture Translation, can easily translate a speech from one language into another. Current translation technologies typically limit speakers to certain topics or a limited vocabulary. Users also have to be trained how to use the programme.

Another prototype (雏形机) can send translations of a speech to different listeners depending on what language they speak. "It is like having a simultaneous translator right next to you but without disturbing the person next to you," Waibel said.

Prefer to read? So-called Translation Glasses transcribe (转录) the translations on a tiny liquid-crystal(液晶) display (LCD) screen.

Then there' s the Muscle Translator. Electrodes (电极) capture the electrical signals from facial muscle movements made naturally when a person is mouthing words. The signals are then translated into speech. The electrodes could be replaced with wireless chips implanted (植入) in a person' s face, according to researchers.

During a demonstration (演示) held last Thursday in CMU' s Pittsburgh campus, a Chinese student named Stan Jou had 11 tiny electrodes attached to the muscles of his cheeks, neck and throat. Then he mouthed -- without speaking aloud -- a few words in Mandarin(普通话) to the audience. A few seconds later, the phrase was displayed on a computer screen and spoken out by the computer in English and Spanish: "Let me introduce our new prototype".

This particular gadget (器械), when fully developed, might allow anyone to speak in any number of languages or, as Waibel put it, "to switch your mouth to a foreign language". "The idea behind the university' s prototypes is to create 'good enough' bridges for cross-cultural exchanges that are becoming more common in the world," Waibel said.

With spontaneous (自发的) translators, foreign drivers in Germany could listen to traffic warnings on the radio, tourists in China could read all the signs and talk with local people, and leaders of different countries could have secret talks without any interpreters there.

What kind of prototype did the Chinese student named Stan Jou try?

A. Lecture Translation.            B. Translation Glasses.

C. Muscle Translator.             D. We don' t know.

What is the purpose of inventing the translators?

    A. To help students to learn English.

    B. To help people to watch foreign TV programs.

    C. To help people travel in foreign countries.

    D. To promote cultural exchanges between countries.

What is the best title of this text?

    A. Speak different languages at the same time?

    B. Flow to learn to speak foreign languages?

    C. New ways to learn foreign languages

D. You' re welcome to learn foreign languages

Computers are very important to modern life.Many people think that in the future computers will be used in lots of everyday life.It is thought that we won’t have to go shopping because we will be able to get most things which are sold in shops on the Internet.There will be no more books because we will be able to get all texts from computers.The Internet will be used to play games, see films and buy food.Most telephone calls will be made by computers, too.

Some people are glad about those new ways of shopping and communicating.Others do not think that computers will replace our old ways.

Some people think that one day we will not read books made of paper.Instead, we will buy and read books using computers, which will keep many different books in them at the same time.We won’t need to turn lots of pages and paper will be saved.Computerized books will be used more and more.

While many people say it is a pleasure to go into shops and look at things you want to buy.It is also unlikely that many people will want to read large texts on our computers.Because paper books will perhaps be more friendly.Maybe computers won’t change these two habits.

1.Which is the main idea of this passage?

       A.People like going shopping                    B.Reading books is important

       C.Computers are important                      D.Computer can be used to play games

2.There will be no more books because________.

       A.There is no paper in the future.         B.People don’t like reading books.

       C.They are very expensive.                   D.We can read passages from computers.

3.Which of the following is TRUE?

       A.We can see films by computers.      

       B.People all like to go shopping by computers.

       C.We can’t buy anything using computers.

       D.All the people like reading books from computers.

4.Which of the following is mentioned in the passage?

       A.Computers can help us e-mail our friends.   

       B.We can chat by using computers.

       C.Computers can help us make telephone calls.

       D.We can listen to the music by computers.

Facebook means never having to say goodbye. The social media website has earned a reputation for reconnecting old friends. Last week, a guy whom I hadn’t seen since my bachelor party five years ago sent me a friend request. I accepted and waited for “Easy E” to send me a greeting of some kind. He had sought me out, after all.
I learned from his profile that he was in a relationship and had a son. However, I’m pretty sure we won’t ever write wall-to-wall, let alone e-mail each other. But he’ll remain a friend of online until one of us makes a point of removing the other from his official list.
My pool of friends consists of family members, college buddies, co-workers from past and present, and friends of friends. There are 35 in all. If I spent some time uploading old e-mail addresses, I’m confident that I could increase my friend count actually.
A person could make a mission out of reconnecting with childhood friends, former classmates, distant cousins, and those one would like to get to know better. And some people can even handle hundreds of on-screen relationships, keeping up with the daily happenings of their small army of companions. After all, there are worse fates than having too many friends.
Thanks to e-mail, the inability to schedule face-to-face meetings no longer means a friendship must come to a close. But even with e-mail, people will lose touch if one or both parties stop writing back. That’s normal. People move from school to school, job to job, city to city. You never have to feel guilty for breaking away.
Every day, the masterminds of Web 2.0 find new ways of making human communication easier. However, convenience can be a walking stick. Some things shouldn’t be simplified. When it comes to friendship, there can be no shortcuts.
【小题1】According to Paragraph 1, the website is famous because       .

A.it has an interesting name of “Facebook”
B.it can send people a greeting of some kind
C.it helps people get in touch with old friends
D.it reminds people of events in the past
【小题2】From the second paragraph we can learn that the writer       .
A.would write to the friend quite often
B.did get some information about the friend
C.asked the friend to e-mail him
D.would keep in touch with the friend forever
【小题3】Which of the following statements is NOT true?
A.The author communicates with all the 35 friends by e-mails.
B.There are 35 people in the author’s list of friends right now.
C.The list of 35 friends doesn’t include the old e-mail addresses.
D.It is not difficult for the author to increase his friend count.
【小题4】What does the writer mean by saying “However, convenience can be a walking stick”?
A.The masterminds of Web 2.0 also sell walking sticks online.
B.Taking a walking stick is a new way of making friends online.
C.Convenience is dangerous for human communication.
D.Convenience is not really good for human communication.

第Ⅱ卷(共35分)

第四部分任务型阅读(共10小题,每题1分,满分10分)

请认真阅读下列短文,根据所读内容在文后71~80的空格里填上适当的单词。(每空1词)

A great life doesn’t happen by accident.A great life is the result of arranging wisely Your time,energy,thoughts,and hard work towards what you want your life to be.A great life is the result of using what you get in a creative and thoughtful way,instead of just what comes next.Make these”secrets”to fit your own needs and style,and start creating your own great life today!

Simplify.People don’t interpret what simplify means in a correct way.It’s not a way to remove work from your life.When you focus on simplifying your life,you free up energy and time for the work that you enjoy and the purpose for which you are here.

Effort.Creating a great life requires that you make some adjustments.It may mean evaluating how you spend your time,or choosing to spend your money in a different way.It may mean looking for new ways to spend your energy.Life will reward your best effort.

Create priorities.It’s easy to spend your days just responding to the next thing that gets your attention,instead of intentionally using the time,energy and money you have in a way that’s important to you.Focus on getting rid of the obstacles that get in the way of you making sure you are honoring your priorities.

Reserves.A great life is the result of having reserves--reserves of things,time,space,energy,money.Reserves are important because they reduce the fear of consequences,and that allows you to make decisions that are based on what you really want instead of what the fear decides for you.

Eliminate distractions.Look around at someone’s life you admire.Ask them how they did it.Find ways to free up your mental energy for things that are more important to you.

Thoughts.A great life is the result of controlling your thoughts so that you accept and allow for the possibility that it actually can happen to you! People who have specific goals look for ways to achieve them.Believing there is a solution to the same old problems you meet with year after year is really important to creating a life that you love.

Start.There’s the old saying everyone’s familiar with”a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.”There’s no better time to start than today.Today,right now,is the right day to start to take a step in the direction of your heart’s desires.It’s what you do TODAY that will make a difference in your life tomorrow.

A brief

introduction

A great life doesn’t happen by 71 ____________

A great life 72 __________ from arranging wisely your time energy,thoughts and hard work towards what you want your life to be

A great life is the result of suing what you get in a creative and thoughtful way 73_______ than just what comes next

Seven 74

________to

a great life

When you focus on simplifying your life you 75______ energy and time to the work that you enjoy and the purpose for which you are here

It is 76______ that you should make some adjustments in order to create a great life

Focus on 77______ the obstacles that get in the way of you making sure you are honoring your priorities

Reserves are important because they reduce the fear of consequences and that allows you to make decisions 78_________ on what you really want instead of what the fear decides for you

Fin ways to devote yourself to things that are more important to you

Believing there is a solution to the same old problems you 79_______ into year after year is really important to creating a life that you love

The old saying “ a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step” is familiar 80_______ us all It’s what you do TODAY that will make a difference in your life tomorrow

 

Facebook means never having to say goodbye. The social media website has earned a reputation for reconnecting old friends. Last week,a guy whom I hadn't seen since my bachelor party five years ago sent me a friend request. I accepted and waited for “Easy E” to send me a greeting of some kind. He had sought me out,after all.
I learned from his profile that he was in a relationship and had a son. However,I'm pretty sure we won't ever write wall-to-wall,let alone e­mail each other. But he'll remain a friend of online until one of us makes a point of removing the other from his official list.
My pool of friends consists of family members,college buddies,co­workers from past and  present,and friends of friends. There are 35 in all. If I spent some time uploading old e­mail addresses,I'm confident that I could increase my friend count actually.
A person could make a mission out of reconnecting with childhood friends,former  classmates,distant cousins, and those one would like to get to know better. And some people can even handle hundreds of on­screen relationships,keeping up with the daily happenings of  their small army of companions. After all,there are worse fates than having too many friends.
Thanks to e­mail,the inability to schedule face-to-face meetings no longer means a  friendship must come to a close. But even with e­mail,people will lose touch if one or both  parties stop writing back. That’s normal. People move from school to school,job to job,city to city. You never have to feel guilty for breaking away.
Every day,the masterminds of Web 2.0 find new ways of making human communication  easier. However,convenience can be a crutch(拐杖).Some things shouldn't be simplified. When it comes to friendship,there can be no shortcuts.

  1. 1.

    According to Paragraph 1,the website is famous because ________.

    1. A.
      it has an interesting name of “Facebook”
    2. B.
      it helps people get in touch with old friends
    3. C.
      it can send people a greeting of some kind
    4. D.
      it reminds people of events in the past
  2. 2.

    From the second paragraph we can learn that the writer ________.

    1. A.
      would write to the friend quite often
    2. B.
      asked the friend to e­mail him
    3. C.
      did get some information about the friend
    4. D.
      would keep in touch with the friend forever
  3. 3.

    Which of the following statements is NOT true?

    1. A.
      There are 35 people in the author's list of friends right now.
    2. B.
      The author communicates with all the 35 friends by e­mails.
    3. C.
      The list of 35 friends doesn't include the old e­mail addresses.
    4. D.
      It is not difficult for the author to increase his friend count.
  4. 4.

    What does the author think of the convenience of communicating online?

    1. A.
      The technology could not keep true friendship forever.
    2. B.
      The social website of Facebook means nothing at all.
    3. C.
      There will be no ways of making real friends online.
    4. D.
      People will not lose friends with the help of the Facebook.

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