Inside the Rain Room

The Rain Room has arrived and local art lovers are taking notice. Is it worth the wait? Yes, I assure you it is. Once inside, visitors find a long, dark room with a high ceiling. A single bright light shines through heavy rain falling around visitors. The mist. The damp air. The noise. It feels like a mighty storm is pouring down. But the storm is inside. And visitors aren’t getting wet. Instead, visitors wander in awe, admiring the rain and the artists who created it.

The Rain Room was created to highlight the connection between humans, nature and technology. With a tracking system that senses movement and stops the rain wherever visitors move, it does just that. Light and sound produce an experience that feels both natural and foreign. The exhibit is moving on to Atlanta next month. I urge you to visit before then. It’s time to experience the Rain Room for yourself!

Welcome to the Rain Room

The Rain Room features falling water. Please be aware you may get slightly wet. However, visitors wearing raincoat will be turned away.

This exhibit features advanced technology. To ensure its effectiveness, please avoid wearing dark or reflective clothing.

Visitors are welcome to take photographs of the exhibit.

Children must be accompanied by an adult.

For the convenience of all guests, visits are limited to 10minutes.

1.What’s the purpose of the text?

A. To attract visitors to a new art exhibit.

B. To explain how an exhibit has been created.

C. To describe the technology used in the exhibit.

D. To promise the artists taking part in an exhibit.

2.What’s the function of the exhibit’s tracking system?

A. To keep visitors from getting wet.

B. To protect the exhibit from water damage.

C. To time how long visitors are in the room.

D. To count the number of visitors in the room.

3.What must you do when visiting the Rain Room?

A. Wear a raincoat

B. Wear dark clothing

C. Leave your camera outside.

D. Pass through within 10 minutes.

While dog keepers realize their dogs can read their moods accurately,scientists have always been a little doubtful.Now thanks to some researchers at the University of Veterinary Medicine in Vienna,Austria,we finally have some convincing evidence.

For their study,biologist Corson Miller and his team exposed eleven selected dogs to digital images of women that were either angry or happy.Half the dogs were rewarded for touching the screen when shown a happy face,while the other half got their treat for selecting those that appeared angry.

Interestingly,the dogs were not provided with the entire face.Some dogs were shown only upper halves while the others observed lower halves.That’s because the scientists believe humans show their emotions on their entire face.

After some training like how to recognize small differences like the wrinkles between the eyes or the changes in their shape that accompany the happy or angry expressions,the dogs were mostly able to identify the correct expression not only on a familiar face but on a strange face.The researchers concluded the dogs were smart enough to read human emotions.

They also found those being trained to read angry expressions took a longer time to learn.They guess it may be because dogs find angry faces disgusting,causing them to withdraw quickly.However,once the smart dogs realized they were getting rewarded,the trepidation seemed to disappear.In fact,the dogs had such a good time playing the computer "game" that scientists had a hard time keeping them away from the touch screens after the study was completed.

The researchers also noticed only dogs with a male owner had a harder time understanding the expressions correctl. Since the touchscreen models were all females, this confirmed what has been observed in previous studies-dogs are more efficient at reading facial expressions of people that are the same gender as their owner.

1.How did the scientists conduct the experiment?

A. By mixing the selected dogs together.

B. By leaving dogs to women who are either happy or angry.

C. By showing digital pictures of women’s happy or angry faces.

D. By rewarding only half of the dogs touching the screen.

2.Which of the following statements is TRUE about the dogs in the study?

A. The dogs were not all provided with the entire face.

B. The dogs couldn’t read strangers facial emotions.

C. According to their size,the dogs were given either upper or lower halves.

D. The dogs could make out small changes accompanying facial expressions.

3.The underlined word "trepidation" in Paragraph 5 probably means _________ .

A. curiosity B. horror

C. excitement D. doubt

4.How might the results change if the dogs with female owners are shown pictures of male faces?

A. They would be scared away at the sight of the pictures.

B. They found it easy to tell the emotions on the entire face.

C. They could only tell emotions on partial faces rather than on entire faces.

D. They found it hard to tell the moods on the faces of a different gender.

I was on a plane returning home to Dallas, Texas after completing my duty in Vietnam. There were no hometown parades for us veterans (退役老兵) from that _________ war and I had been warned about the unfriendliness from our countrymen at that time. _________, I was just trying to get home without incident.

I sat, in uniform, in a window seat, _________ eye contact with my fellow passengers. No one was sitting in the seat next to me, which _________ my loneliness. A little girl, not more than 10 years old, suddenly _________ in the passage. She smiled and, without a word,_________ handed me a magazine. I accepted her _________ together with her quiet “welcome home”. I turned to the window and wept. Her small _________ of caring was the first I had _________ in a long time.

I believe in the __________ between strangers when we reach out to one another.

Today, that young girl __________ has no memory of what happened years ago. I like to think of her as having grown up, continuing to __________ others and teaching her children to do the same. I know she might have been told to give me the “__________” by her parents. It doesn’t matter why she gave me the magazine. The __________ thing is she did.

From then on, I have followed her __________ and tried, in different ways for __________people, to do the same for them. I know that my __________ since then are all due to that little girl. Her offer of a magazine to a tired, scared and __________ soldier has echoed throughout my __________. I have to believe that my small gestures have the same __________ on others.

1.A. fair B. great C. unpopular D. unexpected

2.A. However B. Therefore C. Besides D. Meanwhile

3.A. making B. keeping C. reducing D. avoiding

4.A. resulted from B. accounted for C. contributed to D. added to

5.A. screamed B. appeared C. jumped D. waved

6.A. anxiously B. casually C. shyly D. unconsciously

7.A. admiring B. offering C. apology D. invitation

8.A. gesture B. discussion C. idea D. exchange

9.A. predicted B. imagined C. experienced D. evaluated

10.A. coincidence B. connection C. conflict D. conversation

11.A. ridiculously B. surprisingly C. undoubtedly D. unfortunately

12.A. panic B. tease C. touch D. judge

13.A. gift B. lesson C. reminder D. reward

14.A. important B. unusual C. appropriate D. concrete

15.A. advice B. dream C. example D. requirement

16.A. old B. wounded C. homeless D. different

17.A. worries B. attempts C. puzzles D. emotions

18.A. unfit B. tough C. lonely D. desperate

19.A. life B. duty C. career D. journey

20.A. stress B. effect C. threat D. consequence

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