Since the 1970s, scientists have been searching for ways to link the brain with computers. Brain-computer interface(BCI) technology could help people with disabilities send commands to machines.

Recently, two researchers, Jose Millan and Michele Tavella from the Federal Polytechnic school in Lausanne, Switzerland, demonstrated(展示)a small robotic wheelchair directed by a person’s thoughts.

In the laboratory, Tavella operated the wheelchair just by thinking about moving his left or right hand. He could even talk as he watched the vehicle and guided it with his thoughts.

“our brain has billions of nerve ceils. These send signals through the spinal cord(脊髓)to the muscles to give us the ability to move. But spinal cord injuries or other conditions can prevent these weak electrical signals from reaching the muscles,” Tavella says.  “Our system allows disabled people to communicate with external world and also to control devices.”

The researchers designed a special cap for the user. This head cover picks up the signals from the scalp(头皮) and sends them to a computer. The computer interprets the signals and commands the motorized wheelchair. The wheelchair also has two cameras that identify objects in its path. They help the computer react to commands from the brain.                                               

Prof. Millan, the team leader, says scientists keep improving the computer software that interprets brain signals and turns them into simple commands. “The practical possibilities that BCI technology offers to disabled people can be grouped in two categories: communication, and controlling devices. One example is this wheelchair.”

He says his team has set two goals. One is testing with real patients, so as to prove that this is a technology they can benefit from. And the other is to make sure that they can use the technology over long periods of time.

1.BCI is a technology that can______.

A.help to update computer systems           B.link the human brain with computers

C.help the disabled to recover               D.control a person's thoughts

2.How did Tavella operate the wheelchair in the laboratory?                                                                    

A.By controlling his muscles.                B.By talking to the machine

C.By moving his hand.                      D.By using his mind.

3.Which of the following shows the path of the signals described in Paragraph 5?

A.scalp→computer→cap→wheelchair        B.computer→cap→scalp→wheelchair

C.scalp→cap→computer→wheelchair        D.cap→computer→scalp→wheelchair

4.The team will test with real patients to _____ .

A.make profits from them                  B.prove the technology useful to them

C.make them live longer                    D.learn about their physical condition

5.Which of the following would be the best title for the text?

A.Switzerland, the BCI Research Center

B.New Findings About How the Human Brain Works

C.BCI Could Mean More Freedom for the Disabled

D.Robotic Vehicles Could Help to Cure Brain Injuries

 

I'm feeling sad.My 19-year-old∞nleft home about a week ago to  36  the Air Force, and my 23-year-old daughter left two days ago to marry in another state.I'm so  37  of my son as he had to really work hard to get into the Air Force, and my daughter moved to be with her fiance(未婚夫).I'm just simply upset.It  38  feels like someone has ripped my heart from my chest.I’ve tried to talk to their father, friends, and family but it just feels like no one around me   39  what I'm going through.

My children were  40  to me.I put all my energy into   41  both of them and doing all types of activities with them, even sometimes at the  42 of my own best interests.I understand they grow up and need their _43 ,but for some reason I just can't seem to let go.I am go _ 44  that they're establishing their own lives,   45 I get so depressed whenever I have even a simple _46 of them.I've been crying for over a week now.I really don't know what to do to make this  47 go away.I can't even walk by either one's room without bursting into tears.I don't understand why I'm unable to _48 this sense of great loss.I'm  49  that I need to move on with my own life and find  _50 things to devote my attention to, but I _51 being a mom and spending time on my children.I've    52  adopting a child but it's _53  atthe moment for me considering my poor health.

I'm just thankful to have found this website and found there are others who are  54 similar problems.It helps to   55 I'm not crazy or overreacting.Thank you for sharing your problems and showing others like myself this isn’t so abnormal.

1.

A.join

B.visit

C.contact

D.lead

 

2.

A.afraid

B.proud

C.ashamed

D.guilty

 

3.

A.hardly

B.even

C.almost

D.truly

 

4.

A.reminds

B.regrets

C.understands

D.questions

 

5.

A.everything

B.everyone

C.nothing

D.anyone

 

6.

A.persuading

B.raising

C.paying

D.charging

 

7.

A.mercy

B.distance

C.sight

D.cost

 

8.

A.freedom

B.country

C.career

D.house

 

9.

A.anxious

B.embarrassed

C.amazed

D.happy

 

10.

A.if

B.and

C.but

D.unless

 

11.

A.thought

B.look

C.impression

D.idea

 

12.

A.moment

B.decision

C.feeling

D.event

 

13.

A.recognize

B.realize

C.achieve

D.overcome

 

14.

A.afraid

B.aware

C.doubtful

D.confident

 

15.

A.expensive

B.great

C.new

D.simple

 

16.

A.forgot

B.tried

C.stopped

D.enjoyed

 

17.

A.admitted

B.considered

C.suspected

D.remembered

 

18.

A.impossible

B.disappointing

C.worthy

D.surprising

 

19.

A.researching

B.experiencing

C.imitating

D.recording

 

20.

A.hear

B.imagine

C.know

D.say

 

She was dancing. My lame grandmother was dancing. I stood in the living room doorway, looking at her beautiful movements, absolutely shocked. She was the pet of the dancing world. And then she’d had her accident and it was all over. I had read that in an old newspaper article.

‘‘So… Your leg? I mean, how did your leg heal (恢复健全)?”

“To tell you the truth — my legs have been well all my life,” she sighed.

“But I don’t understand!” I said, “Your dancing career (事业)… You pretended all these years?”

‘‘Very much so, and for a very good reason.”

She thought for a while and then continued. “We were talking about engagement (订婚) when your grandfather had to go to war. I was so afraid of losing him that the only way I could stay normal was to dance. I put all my energy and time into practicing and I became very good. Critics praised me, the public loved me, but all I could feel was the ache in my heart, not knowing whether the love of my life would ever return. Then one day a letter came. There were only three sentences: ‘I have lost my leg. I am no longer a whole man and now give you back your freedom. It is best you forget about me.’’’

“I made my decision there and then. I traveled away from the city. When I returned I had bought myself a stick. I told everyone I had been in a car crash and that my leg would never completely heal again. My dancing days were over. No one doubted the story — I had learned to limp (一瘸一拐地走) convincingly before I returned home. And I made sure the first person to hear of my accident was a reporter I knew well. Then I traveled to the hospital. They had pushed your grandfather outside in his wheelchair. I took a deep breath, leaned on my stick and limped to him.”

“I showed him newspaper articles of my accident. ‘There is a whole life waiting for us out there! But I am not going to carry you. You are going to walk yourself.’”

“I limped a few steps toward him and showed him what I’d taken out of my pocket. ‘Now show me you are still a man.’ I said. He bent to take his stick from the ground and struggled out of that wheelchair. He managed it on his own and walked to me and never sat in a wheelchair again in his life.”

“What did you show him?” I had to know. Grandma looked at me and smiled. “Two engagement rings, of course. I had bought them the day after he left for the war and I was not going to waste them on any other man.”

1.What does the underlined word “it” in the first paragraph refer to?

A.Her accident.

B.Her pet.

C.Her leg.

D.Her dancing career.

2.Which is the correct order of the following events according to the passage?

a. Grandfather lost his leg in the war.

b. Grandmother bought two engagement rings.

c. Grandfather was inspired to stand up on his own.

d. Grandmother pretended she was lame.

e. Grandmother became an excellent dancer.

f. Grandfather had to go to war.

A.e-f-b-a-d-c

B.f-e-a-c-b-d

C.f-b-e-a-d-c

D.e-b-f-a-c-d

3.Which of the following words can best describe grandmother?

A.Thoughtful and determined.

B.Unselfish but stubborn.

C.Courageous but unreliable.

D.Sensitive and dishonest.

4.What’s the main idea of the passage?

A.The love of a disabled couple.

B.The grandmother’s unconditional love.

C.The meaning of an engagement.

D.The grandfather’s brave story.

 

The day was warm and the sun shone down like a new beginning on my life. I was waving goodbye to my son, the last one of my fledglings (刚会飞的鸟)to leave home and go to new woods, "University actually" . I felt so lighthearted after spending many years looking after my four children—cooking, washing, ironing, teaching them how to look after themselves and manage their finances—that I actually thought “At long last, freedom".

But, as I watched my last one leave, although it was a joyous occasion, I realized I had not really prepared for this day, I was too tied up with bringing up these adults of the future to realize that they would all leave the nest and lives independently.

At first I didn't know what "I" wanted to do. I tried a part time job, which ended in me running out in tears. I started a business making soft furnishings, but that didn't work either.  I grew my own veggies and fruit, which lasted 3 years, until I was advised by my doctor that my feet couldn't take any more "tools” driven through them.

I began wondering if I had a future of my own. I cried for the life I was used to, and hadn't known or wanted anything different.

Then one day I saw an ad. for foster parents, I discussed it with my husband who was always behind everything I tried and with great disturbance , I rang up the number.

I now laugh and sing with my 14-year-old foster daughter, even when my cooker is a mess and my bathroom is a disaster area. I now know, 8 years later, what “I” was meant to be doing with all the spare hours, days, and weeks I had on my hands when my last fledgling flew the nest. The sun shines once again in my home.

1.How did the mother first feel when her last child went off to university?

A.Lonely.

B.Anxious.

C.Relieved.

D.Annoyed.

2.The underlined phrase “was tied up with” in the second paragraph means “        ”.

A.was occupied in

B.was associated with

C.was tired of

D.was addicted to

3.In the third paragraph, the poor mother did all the things just to         .

A.live a greener and healthier life

B.earn more money for her kids’ education

C.shift her attention and ease her anxiety

D.start her own decorating business

4.What did the empty-nested mother think of her husband?

A.Skilled

B.Supportive

C.Stubborn

D.Open-minded

5.Thanks to the foster daughter, the author         .

A.got rid of her busy work

B.forgot her other children

C.found a suitable job

D.knew what she really wanted

 

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