题目内容
A group of students in Japan have created a realistic robot baby to motivate young people to start planning a family so as to increase the country’s birth rate. The automated (自动化的)doll developed at the University of Tsukuba, called Yotara, laughs and “wakes up” when a rattle is shaken.
He can become angry and sleep like a real baby and he smiles when his stomach is pressed. The robot can also sneeze and have a runny nose, thanks to a heated water pump system. The students of the Graduate school of Comprehensive Human Science at the university created the robot last year with touch sensors. A projector sends the facial features onto a warm silicon balloon which makes up Yotara’s face. The robot’s facial expression and body movements change according to pressure applied to different parts of its body.
The information collected through touch sensors（传感器）under the silicon skin is processed by a special programme. It then changes the baby’s expression projected onto the balloon-face from behind. There is a hat on the robot’s head and a colorful blanket covering the robot’s limbs which simulate wiggling(摆动) with the help of a geared motor. “We wanted to create a new type of robot that is soft, cuddly and cute,” said project leader Hiroki Kunimura.
“We’d like people to experience the innocent, joyful expressions typical of small babies. Through this experience, it would be great if some people started feeling that they wanted to have their own baby, if they started feeling that work is not everything.”
Japan’s birth rate is among the lowest in the developed world at 1.37%, compared to 2.12% in the United States and l.84%in Britain. Japan is facing serious economic consequences with over a quarter of its citizens expected to be aged over 65 by 20l5.The population is expected to reduce by a third within 50 years if the birth rate does not increase．
1.. What is the students’ purpose of creating such a baby?
A. To help old people who live alone． B. To give small children some pleasure
C. To comfort lonely young people． D. To increase the population of Japan．
2. What’s the new type of robot like in Hiroki Kunimura’s mind?
A. It can do everything for humans． B. It is clever, humorous and loyal．
C. It is gentle, lovely and smart． D. It makes humans unhappy．
3.. What can we learn from the passage?
A. Many young people in Japan don’t want to get married．
B. There may be a lack of workers in Japan in the future．
C. The lifespan(寿命)of Japanese people will decrease in the future．
D. The birth rate in Japan will start to increase slowly soon．
1..D
2..C
3..A
【解析】 略
名校课堂系列答案A few days ago we – that’s me and the husband – took a cab to the station. Chat with the driver fell to the wrong of cyclists, and the misunderstanding of the road rules. So far as the rules of the road go, there seems to be one basic principle: when you are driving a car you hate bikes, when you are riding a bike you hate cars (and I guess walkers hate everyone).
There is an obvious difference of viewpoint built in here. It wasn’t until I started to drive a car (almost 20years after I had first rode a bike) that I actually realized that you could not see a cyclist at night without lights. In fact I now want to shout at late night cyclists without lights(like motortists once did at me): “You’ll get killed, sunshine, I can’t see you.”
The problem is that cyclists do ride headlong into danger. It's not just not having lights. It’s biking on pavements (and so threatening to injure a load of innocent walkers in the process) and biking down one-way streets the wrong way.
I admit that I do bike the wrong way down a one-way street sometimes. My feeble(软弱无力) defense is that I try always to do it as if I know I was doing wrong. That is slowly, with an apologetic look on the face, and ready to get off at any minute. I can’t bear the guys(一伙人) (usually, but not always it is guys) who do it as if they owned the place, and at high speed.
So cyclists are not entirely innocent. But they are among the disadvantaged groups, because the bottom line is that a car or a lorry can kill a cyclist and not the other way around.
1.When did the writer realize the danger for late night cyclists without lights?
A. Not until she became a driver herself.
B. Not until she had driven a car for 20 years.
C. After she was shouted at by a motorist.
D. After she was once knocked down by a group of guys.
2.When the writer biked the wrong way down a one way street, she felt_________.
A. angry B. guilty C. innocent D. proud
3.Which group is most likely to face danger according to the writer?
A. walkers B. passers-by C. cyclists D. motorists
4.What can we learn about the writer?
A. She often took a cab with her husband.
B. She has been a motorist for over 20 years.
C. She used to ride a bike without lights at night.
D. She often biked the wrong way down a one way street.