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tjO 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 cells. 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.

Professor 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 guarantee 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

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

   A. Switzerland,the BCI research centre

   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

 Recently,one of my best friends,whom I’ve shared just about everything

with since the first day of kindergarten，spent the weekend with me. Since I

moved to a new town several years ago,we’ve both always looked forward to

the few times a year when we can see each other.

Over the weekend，we spent hours and hours，staying up late into the night，talking about the people she was hanging around with. She started telling me stories about her new boyfriend,about how he experimented with drugs and was into self-destructive behaviour. I was blown away!She told me how she had been lying to her parents about where she was going and even stealing out to see this guy because they didn’t want her around him. No matter how hard I tried to tell her that she deserved(值得) better,she didn’t believe me. Her self-respect seemed to have disappeared.

I tried to convince(使确信) her that she was ruining her future and heading for big trouble. I felt like I was getting nowhere. I just couldn’t believe that she really thought it was acceptable to hang out with a bunch(—串) of losers,especially her boyfriend.

By the time she left,I was really worried about her and exhausted by the experience. We’d been friends for far too long. I had to hope that she valued me enough to know that I was trying to save her from hurting herself. I wanted to believe that our friendship could defeat anything.

A few days later,she called to say that she had thought long and hard about our conversation，and then she told me that she had broken up with her boyfriend. I just listened on the other end of the phone with tears of joy running down my face. It was one of the truly rewarding moments in my life. Never had I been so proud of a friend.

1. In the writer’s opinion,her friend        .

   A. was a girl with no self-respect

   B.  could find a better boyfriend

   C.  was brave enough to stick to her own choice

   D.  didn’t value the writer’s suggestion

2. What did the writer worry about?

   A. She would lose the friendship with her.

   B.  Her friend s parents would be worried about their daughter.

   C.  Her friend would get into great trouble with the boy.

   D.  Her friend’s boyfriend would be in great trouble.

3. We may learn from Paragraph 3 that the writer          .

   A. didn’t want to go anywhere else

   B.  understood her friend’s hanging with her boyfriend

   C.  couldn’t believe that her friend’s choice was acceptable

   D.  doubted that she could in any way help her friend

4. What can be concluded from the passage?

   A. Friendship starting from childhood is not reliable.

   B.  Friendship is a cure for any injury in life.

   C.  Friendship should be everlasting once begun.

   D.  Friendship can have magical power in life.

选词填空

die out   give up   take the advice   break into   out of danger 

1. As you see,the tiger is in danger of      .

2. The stubborn boy didn’t       so that he missed the chance.

3. The sick man has been very ill,but he is now        .

4. While the old man was reading a book in his study,a thief       the house.

5. —Would you like a cigarette?

—No. I have       smoking.

10. When asked why he went there,he said he was sent there       (train) for a space flight.

9. We’ve been walking in the rain for hours. Let’s stop       (have) a rest until it has stopped       (rain) .

8. David,as well as some of his classmates,      (play) basket ball on the playground when I saw him.

7.Chinais a country      (belong) to the Third World,which means her economy still needs developing very much.

6. What makes us      (worry) is that the number of the people (addict) to drugs is increasing.

5. Scientists say they have found a way to produce the human body’s own cancer-killing cells through gene treatment,      (offer) new hope to cancer sufferers.

4. He felt unhealthy,so his wife advised him      (give) up smoking.