题目内容
Pulling luggage through the airport can be a pain, as any frequent traveler will tell you. A new suitcase called only “Hop” is looking to change all of that, though, using signals from your cell phone to go hands-free.
According to Hop’s official website, the suitcase uses three sensors (感应器) to identify the Bluetooth signal from your phone and pick you out of a crowd. Once it’s done that, a microprocessor not only figures out Hop’s position as it relates to your phone, but controls the two caterpillar tracks (履带) in the bottom of the unit to get it moving. Hop follows behind the user at a constant distance, so you don’t have to worry about it “stepping” on your heels, so to speak. If it loses the signal it’s following, your phone will vibrate, letting you know that your poor suitcase is lost and alone in a sea of strange people.
We can see Hop in action in the video below, and we have to say that it looks like a great little device. There’s just one problem: it looks as if you’ll have to walk at a relatively slow pace to keep the suitcase from losing the signal. Since a walk through an airport is rarely a leisurely experience, that could potentially cause troubles. Also, don’t expect TSA agents to just smile and wave as you walk through security with a remote-controlled suitcase tailing you.
Still, the idea behind Hop is really cool, and we’re willing to believe that there are some frequent flyers who would like to put down some money for it right this instant. However, this is just a model at the moment, so don’t expect it to be available for sale anytime soon (if it ever is, for that matter). Would you purchase one of these if Hop ever became available commercially?
66. What is “to go hands-free”?
A. The new suitcase. B. Your cell phone.
C. Signals from your cell phone. D. Frequent travelers.
67. Which paragraph tells about how Hop works?
A. Paragraph One. B. Paragraph Two. C. Paragraph Three. D. Paragraph Four.
68. The article is probably taken from _____.
A. Hop’s official website B. a website of worldwide news
C. a Western newspaper D. a Chinese newspaper
69. According to the article, Hop may run into trouble because _____.
A. your cell phone fails to tell you Hop is lost B. its caterpillar tracks aren’t powerful enough
C. you usually walk too fast for Hop to follow D. TSA agents won’t be patient enough
70. What does the writer think of the invention?
A. Hop will be in production soon. B. Hop is sure to be popular someday.
C. It’s silly to have thought of that. D. Hop might never go on sale.
ABBCD
The African elephant,the largest land animal remaining on earth,is of great importance to African ecosystem(生态系统).Unlike other animals,the African elephant is to a great extent the builder of its environment.As a big plant-eater,it largely shapes the forest-and-savanna(大草原) surroundings in which it lives,therefore setting the terms of existence for millions of other animals that live in its habitat(栖息地).
It is the elephant’s great desire for food that makes it a disturber of the environment and an important builder of its habitat.In its continuous search for the 300 pounds of plants it must have every day,it kills small trees and underbushes,and pulls branches off big trees.This results in numerous open spaces in both deep tropical forests and in the woodlands that cover part of the African savannas.In these open spaces are numerous plants in various stages of growth that attract a variety of other plant-eaters.
Take the rain forests for example.In their natural state,the spreading branches overhead shut out sunlight and prevent the growth of plants on the forest floor.By pulling down trees and eating plants,elephants make open spaces,allowing new plants to grow on the forest floor.In such situations,the forests become suitable for large hoofed plant-eaters to move around and for small plant-eaters to get their food as well.
What worries scientists now is that the African elephant has become an endangered species.If the elephant disappears,scientists say,many other animals will also disappear from vast areas of forest and savanna,greatly changing and worsening the whole ecosystem.
【小题1】What is the passage mainly about?
| A．Disappearance of African elephants. |
| B．Forests and savannas as habitats for African elephants. |
| C．The effect of African elephants’ search for food. |
| D．The eating habit of African elephants. |
| A．Fixing the time. |
| B．Worsening the state. |
| C．Improving the quality. |
| D．Deciding the conditions. |
| A．They result from the destruction of rain forests. |
| B．They provide food mainly for African elephants. |
| C．They are home to many endangered animals. |
| D．They are attractive to plant-eating animals of different kinds. |
| A．showing the effect and then explaining the causes |
| B．pointing out similarities and differences |
| C．describing the changes in spare order |
| D．giving examples |
There are two methods by which hydrogen (氢) can be used to power cars. The first way is to use hydrogen to drive the engine, in much the same way as many cars use gas. The second method is to use the reaction of hydrogen with oxygen in a battery, making the car a kind of electric one.
The dream of producing hydrogen in the car while driving along by electrolyzing（电解）water is a long way off, so we are still at the period of batteries and filling the tank with hydrogen gas. This is the difficulty for potential car users and producers. There are only sixteen hydrogen filling stations in Los Angeles and none in 99% of other cities worldwide.
Indeed, some of the big name automobile producers have pulled out of the race to put the first practical hydrogen car on the streets. Ford and GM have announced that they are pulling out in America and so has Renault in France.
However, the Japanese companies are pressing on. In fact, Honda introduced its first hydrogen fuel cell car in 1999. They are now producing second generation hydrogen car known as the FCX Clarity. Guess where they are available for sale? In only one city because of its filling stations.
Honda thinks that they could go into full-scale production of the FCX Clarity by 2020 if the world is prepared for them by then.
Then there are hydrogen-powered buses in several European cities including Amsterdam, Barcelona, Hamburg, London, Luxembourg and Madrid. Lotus, the makers of London taxis, have announced that they propose to manufacture hydrogen-powered taxis in time for the London Olympics.
So, the hydrogen vehicle is out there and the numbers will be growing fairly soon. The buses go back to their bus station, where an electrolyzing machine changes water into fuel for them to fill up on and the same will be the case for many of London’s taxis.
Unfortunately, getting fuel is not the only difficulty for the average motorist, a number of these vehicles cost about $300,000 each.
【小题1】According to the text, hydrogen-powered buses ________.
| A．can easily be filled up with gas. |
| B．are likely to sell well in the future. |
| C．are mainly used in the United States |
| D．won’t be used in the London Olympics |
| A．Japanese companies | B．Hydrogen buses |
| C．The FCX Clarity | D．Filling stations |
| A．In Barcelona | B．In Hamburg | C．In London | D．In Los Angeles |
| A．there are sixty hydrogen filling stations all over the world |
| B．hydrogen vehicles fueled by water will be very expensive |
| C．Honda will mass-produce the FCX Clarity by 2012 |
| D．Honda produced its first hydrogen car in 1989 |
When an ant dies, other ants move the dead insect out. Sometimes, the dead ant get moved away very soon—within an hour of dying. This behavior is interesting to scientists, who wonder how ants know for sure—and so soon—that another ant is dead.
One scientist recently came up with a way to explain this ant behavior. Dong-Hwan Choe is a biologist. Choe found that Argentine ants have a chemical on the outside of their bodies that signals to other ants, “I’m dead—take me away.”
But there’s a twist to Choe’s discovery. Choe says that the living ants—not just the dead ones—have this death chemical. In other words, while an ant crawls around, perhaps in a picnic or home, it’s telling other ants that it’s dead.
What keeps ants from dragging away the living ants？Choe found that Argentine ants have two additional chemicals on their bodies, and these tell nearby ants something like, “Wait—I’m not dead yet.” So Choe’s research turned up two sets of chemical signals in ants: one says, “I’m dead,” and the other set says, “I’m not dead yet.”
Other scientists have tried to figure out how ants know when another ant is dead. If an ant is knocked unconscious, for example, other ants leave it alone until it wakes up. That means ants know that unmoving ants can still be alive.
Choe suspects that when an Argentine ant dies, the chemical that says “Wait-I’m not dead yet” quickly goes away. Once that chemical is gone, only the one that says “I’m dead” is left. “It’s because the dead ant no longer smells like a living ant that it gets carried to the graveyard, not because its body releases(释放) new unique chemicals after death,” said Choe. When other ants detect the “dead” chemical without the “not dead yet” chemical, they drag away the body.
Understanding this behavior may help scientists figure out how to stop Argentine ants from invading new places and causing problems. Choe would like to find a way to use the newly discovered chemicals to spread ant killer to Argentine ant nests.
The ants’ removal behavior is important to the overall health of the nest. “Being able to quickly remove dead individuals and other possible sources of disease is extremely important to all animals living in societies, including us,” says Choe. “Think about all the effort and money that we invest daily in waste management.”
【小题1】The underlined word “twist” in Paragraph 3 means .
| A．an unexpected change | B．a clear mistake |
| C．an important key | D．a shocking conclusion |
| A．the sense of taste | B．the sense of smell |
| C．the sense of touch | D．the sense of sight |
| A．kill troublesome pests |
| B．solve the problem of endangered species |
| C．prevent further expansion of the ants’ territory |
| D．keep the balance of nature |
| A．Because it is easier to manage the living. |
| B．Because it can save money to deal with the waste. |
| C．Because it can provide more space for the living. |
| D．Because it can keep the living from suffering disease. |
| A．Dead or living? It is easy to judge |
| B．Pulling away the dead ants is a difficult task |
| C．Ant nests have great undertaking capacity |
| D．Leaving it alone or taking it away? Ants feel puzzled |