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

You are watching a film in which two men are having a fight.They hit one another hard.At the start they only fight with their fists.But soon they begin hitting one another over the heads with chairs.And so it goes on until one of the men crashes through a window and falls thirty feet to the ground below.He is dead!

Of course he isn’t really dead.With any luck he isn’t even hurt.Why?Because the men who fall out of high windows or jump from fast moving trains,who crash cars or even catch fire,are professionals.They do this for a living.These men are called stuntmen.That is to say,they perform tricks.

There are two sides to their work.They actually do most of the things you see on the screen.For example,they fall from a high building.However,they do not fall on to hard ground but onto empty cardboard boxes covered with a mattress(床垫).Again,when they hit one another with chairs,the chairs are made of soft wood and when they crash through windows,the glass is made of sugar!

But although their work depends on trick of this sort,it also requires a high degree of skill and training.Often a stuntman’s(特技表演者的) success depends on careful timing.For example,when he is “blown up” in a battle scene,he has to jump out of the way of the explosion just at the right moment.

Naturally stuntmen are well paid for their work,but theylead dangerous lives.They often get seriously injured,and sometimes killed.A Norwegian stuntman,for example,skied over the edge of a cliff a thousand feet high.His parachute(降落伞) failed to open,and he was killed.

In spite of all the risks,this is no longer a profession for men only.Men no longer dress up as women when actresses have to perform some dangerous action.For nowadays there are stunt?girls too!

1.Stuntmen are those who ________.

A.often dress up as actors

B.prefer to lead dangerous lives

C.often perform seemingly dangerous actions

D.often fight each other for their lives

2.Stuntmen earn their living by ________.

A.playing their dirty tricks

B.selling their special skills

C.jumping out of high windows

D.jumping from fast?moving trains

3.When a stuntman falls from a high building,________.

A.he needs little protection

B.he will be covered with a mattress

C.his life is endangered

D.his safety is generally all right

4.Which of the following is the main factor(因素) of a successful performance?

A.Strength. B.Exactness.

C.Speed. D.Carefulness.

5.What can be inferred from the author’s example of the Norwegian stuntman?

A.Sometimes an accident can occur to a stuntman.

B.The percentage of serious accidents is high.

C.Parachutes must be of good quality.

D.The cliff is too high.

 

About this time every year, I get very nostalgic(怀旧的). Walking through my neighborhood on a fall afternoon reminds me of a time not too long ago when sounds of children filled the air, children playing games on a hill, and throwing leaves around in the street below. I was one of those children, carefree and happy. I live on a street that is only one block long. I have lived on the same street for sixteen years. I love my street. One side has six houses on it, and the other has only two houses, with a small hill in the middle and a huge cottonwood tree on one end. When I think of home, I think of my street. Only I see it as it was before. Unfortunately things change. One day, not long ago, I looked around and saw how different everything has become. Life on my street will never be the same because neighbors are quickly grown old, friends are growing up and leaving, and the city is planning to destroy my precious hill and sell the property to contractors.
It is hard for me to accept that many of my wonderful neighbors are growing old and won’t be around much longer. I have fond memories of the couple across the street, who sat together on their porch swing almost every evening, the widow next door who yelled at my brother and me for being too loud, and the crazy old man in a black suit who drove an old car. In contrast to those people, the people I see today are very old neighbors who have seen better days. The man in the black suit says he wants to die, and another neighbor just sold his house and moved into a nursing home. The lady who used to yell at us is too tired to bother any more, and the couple across the street rarely go out to their front porch these days. It is difficult to watch these precious people as they near the end of their lives because at once I thought they would live forever.
The “comings and goings” of the younger generation of my street are now mostly “goings” as friends and peers move on. Once upon a time, my life and the lives of my peers revolved around home. The boundary of our world was the gutter at the end of the street. We got pleasure from playing night games or from a breathtaking ride on a tricycle. Things are different now, as my friends become adults and move on. Children who rode tricycles now drive cars. The kids who once played with me now have new interests and values as they go their separate ways. Some have gone away to college like me, a few got married, two went into the army, and one went to prison. Watching all these people grow up and go away makes me long for the good old days.
Perhaps the biggest change on my street is the fact that the city is going to turn my precious hill into several lots for new homes. For sixteen years, the view out of my kitchen window has been a view of that hill. The hill was a fundamental part of my childhood life; it was the hub of social activity for the children of my street. We spent hours there building forts, sledding, and playing tag. The view out of my kitchen window now is very different; it is one of tractors and dump trucks tearing up the hill. When the hill goes, the neighborhood will not be the same. It is a piece of my childhood. It is a visual reminder of being a kid. Without the hill, my street will be just another pea in the pod.
There was a time when my street was my world, and I thought my world would never change. But something happened. People grow up, and people grow old. Places changes, and with the change comes the heartache of knowing I can never go back to the times I loved. In a year or so, I will be gone just like many of my neighbors. I will always look back to my years as a child, but the place I remember will not be the silent street whose peace is interrupted by the sounds of construction. It will be the happy, noisy, somewhat strange, but wonderful street I knew as a child.
【小题1】The writer calls up the memory of the street _____________.

A.every year when autumn comes
B.in the afternoon every day
C.every time he walks along his street
D.now that he is an old man
【小题2】 The writer finds it hard to accept the fact that _____________.
A.many of his good neighbors are growing old
B.the lady next door who used to yell at him and his brother is now a widow
C.the life of his neighbors has become very boring
D.the man in his black suit even wanted to end his own life
【小题3】 The writer thinks of the past all the more when he sees those who had grown up with him _____________.
A.continue to consider home to be the center of their lives
B.leave the neighborhood they grew up in
C.still enjoy playing card games in the evenings
D.develop new interests and have new dreams
【小题4】 The biggest change on the writer's street is _____________.
A.removing the hill to make way for residential development
B.the building of new homes behind his kitchen window
C.the fact that there are much fewer people around than in the past
D.the change in his childhood friends' attitude towards their neighborhood
【小题5】 What does the writer mean by saying “my street will be another pea in the pod”?
A.his street will be very noisy and dirty
B.his street will soon be crowded with people
C.his street will have some new attractions
D.his street will be no different from any other street
【小题6】 Which could be a good title for the passage?
A.The Past of My Street will Live Forever
B.Unforgettable People and Things of My Street
C.Memory Street Isn’t What It Used to Be
D.The Big Changes of My Street

You are watching a film in which two men are having a fight. They hit one another hard. At the start they only fight with their fists(拳头).But soon they begin hitting one another over the heads with chairs. And so it goes on until one of the men crashes through a window and falls thirty feet to the ground below. He is dead!
Of course he isn’t really dead. With any luck he isn’t even hurt. Why ? Because the men who fall out of high windows or jump from fast moving trains, who crash cars of even catching fire, are professionals(职业).They do this for a living. These men are called stuntmen. That is to say, they perform tricks(骗局).
There are two sides to their work. They actually do most of the things you see on the screen. For example, they fall from a high building. However, they do not fall on to hard ground but on to empty cardboard boxes covered with a mattress(床垫). Again, when they hit one another with chairs, the chairs are made of soft wood and when they crash through windows, the glass is made of sugar!
But although their work depend on trick of this sort, it also requires a high degree of skill and training. Often a stuntman’s success depends on careful timing(计时).For example, when he is “blown up” in a battle scene, he has to jump out of the way of the explosion(爆炸)just at the right moment.
Naturally stuntmen are well paid for their work, but they lead dangerous lives. They often get seriously injured, and sometimes killed. A Norwegian stuntman, for example, skied over the edge of a cliff a thousand feet high. His parachute(降落伞)failed to open, and he was killed.
In spite of(尽管)all the risks, this is no longer a profession for men only. Men no longer dress up as women when actresses have to perform some dangerous action. For nowadays there are stuntgirls too!
【小题1】Stuntmen are those who____________

A.Often dress up as actors
B.prefer to lead dangerous lives
C.often perform seemingly dangerous actions
D.often fight each other for their lives
【小题2】Stuntmen earn their living by___________
A.playing their dirty tricks
B.selling their special skills
C.jumping out of high windows
D.jumping from fast moving trains
【小题3】When a stuntman falls from a high building,___________
A.he needs little protection
B.he will be covered with a mattress
C.his life is endangered
D.his safety is generally all right
【小题4】Which of the following is the main factor(因素) of a successful performance?
A.StrengthB.ExactnessC.SpeedD.Carefulness
【小题5】What can be inferred from the author’s example of the Norwegian stuntman?
A.Sometimes an accident can occur to a stuntman.
B.The percentage of serious accidents is high.
C.Parachutes must be of good quality.
D.The cliff is too high.

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