Motorists who used to listening to the radio or their favourite tunes on CDs may have a new way to entertain themselves, engineers in Japan developed a musical road surface.

A team from the Hokkaido Industrial Research Institute has built a number of "melody roads", which use cars as tuning forks to play music as they travel. The concept works by using grooves, which are cut at very specific intervals in the road surface. Just as travelling over small speed bumps or road markings can emit a rumbling tone throughout a vehicle, the melody road uses the spaces between to create different notes. Depending on how far apart the grooves are, a car moving over them will produce a series of high or low notes, enabling cunning designers to create a distinct tune.

According to reports, the system was the brainchild of Shizuo Shinoda, who accidentally scraped some markings into a road with a bulldozer before driving over them and realising that they helped to produce a variety of tones. The designs were refined by engineers at the institute in Sapporo. The team has previously worked on new technologies including the use of infra-red light to detect dangerous road surfaces.

However , the engineer still have a long way to go perfect the musical road. Motorists expecting to create their own hard rock soundtrack(MUSIC) could find themselves struggling to live the dream. In addition, they have to obey some rules to enjoy the music. They have to drive at 45 kilometers per hour with the car windows closed to hear well. Driving too fast will sound like playing fast forward, while driving around 20mph has a slow backward effect, and can almost make you car sick."

49. What can be the best title for the text?

A. Musical roads in Japan              

B. Hokkaido Industrial Research Institute in Japan

C. How to build the musical roads in Japan

D. How to Produce Notes on Musical Roads

50. How do motorists enjoy music on musical road?

A. By using bulldozers over the bumps.

B. By using cars over the marking roads

C. By controlling car speed

D. By producing car rumblings.

51. It can be inferred from the text that Shizuo Shinoda probably was a(n)        

A. engineer        B. musician      C. worker        D. researcher.

52. What prevent drivers expecting their own music form realizing their dreams?

A. Lacking musical gift               B. Lacking musical roads

C. Imperfect technology and rules limit.  D. Driving speed limit and distance limit

Death Valley is one of America’s great national parks, which can be extremely cold during the winter months. Storms in the mountains can produce sudden flooding on the floor of the valley. The air temperature during the summer has been as high as 57C. The extreme heat of Death Valley has killed people in the past. It will continue to kill those who do not honor this extreme climate.

Death Valley is a good example of the violence of nature, it contains evidence of several ancient volcanoes that caused huge explosions. Evidence of one of this explosions left a huge hole in the ground. This movement has created unusual and beautiful rock formations. Some are red, others are dark brown, gray or yellow.

However, it would be wrong to think that nothing lives in Death Valley. The Valley is beautiful and full of life. Wild flowers grow up very quickly after a little rain. Many kinds of birds live in Death Valley. So do many other animals—mammals and reptiles. Here you can see many kinds of snakes, including one that is extremely poisonous with long sharp teeth called fangs.

  Almost everyone who visits Death Valley visits a huge house called Scotty’s Castle. The building has high thick walls to provide protection from the fierce heat. Many people come for just  a day.  Buses bring visitors from the famous city of Las Vegas, Nevada. They ride around the park in their bus, visit several places and are back in their Las Vegas hotel by night. However ,many other visitors can watch the sun set, slowly turn the Valley a gold color, and then change to a dark red.,

45. The word “it” in the paragraph means   

A. the coldness     B. the flooding     C. the  Valley      D. the extreme heat

46. The unusual rocks were caused by the

A. huge hole in the ground             B. fierce climate of Death Valley

C. explosion of a volcano              D. storms and floods there

47. If bitten by        , you are most likely to lose your life.

A. birds          B. mammals        C. reptiles          D. snakes with fangs

48.Why would visitors like to go to Scotty’s Castle?

A. To stay  in Furnace Creek           B. To escape from the extreme climate

C. To watch the sun set                D. To enjoy its high thick walls.

 A restaurant owner in Nuremberg, Germany has figured out a way to remove bad service forever. How did he do it? He just removed service completely. Michael Mack has opened the world’s first restaurant to feature fully automated ordering and table service. Instead of tie-wearing waiters, each table is connected to the kitchen by spiraling metal rails. Meals are ordered using a touch screen. Food is then delivered to the customers using the rails that run down from the kitchen, which is above the dining room. The computer system also tells guests how long their food will take to prepare.

How do the customers pay? Their credit cards are taken first. Mack believes that there is a global market for his new invention. Mack said, "It’s very simple. I’m surprised that it’s not done elsewhere." His rail system is patented2 in Germany. Now he is seeking protection for the invention internationally so that he can license it to restaurants abroad. Mack would like to do business with fast food chains.

"Billions of euros in labor costs could be saved using this system," Mack said. "We don’t need service at the table."
     The strange mechanism certainly attracts a large number of curious people. Whether or not the guests will like the restaurant, which opened earlier in August, is unclear. "We prefer a nice friendly waiter to this cold steel system you can’t talk to," one visitor complained. Another visitor said that the spiraling steel rails reminded her of the automated feeding system used to feed pigs on large farms.

41. What is the first paragraph mainly about?

A. A restaurant owner.

B. The world’s first restaurant.

C. An automated table service.

D. A computer system

42. Many people go to the restaurant mainly because they

A. have a strong desire to experience it

B. feel it quick and convenient to eat  there

C. needn’t pay by cash

D. needn’t talk to any waiter

43. If Mach brings his invention to the international market

A. hundreds of people will lose their jobs

B. it will be popular among customers

C. more waiters will serve for the customers

D. more pigs can be fed on farms by the system

44. Which of the following words best describes the new system’s future?

A. Bright    B. Unfair      C. Uncertain      D. Attractive

Michael is the kind of guy you love to hate. He is always in a good mood. He is a 21 optimist. If someone was having a bad day, Michael was there telling him how to 22  on the positive side situation. 23  this style really made me curious, so one day I went up to Michael and asked him. “I don’t 24 it .” You can’t be positive all the time. How do you do it?” Michael replied, “Each morning I 25 up and say to myself, Mike, you have two  26  today: to be in a good mood or bad,” I choose to be in a good mood. Each time something  27    happens, I choose to learn from it instead of suffering from it. “ Yeah, right, it is that 28  ” I said “Yes, it is.” ”Michael said, “life is all about choices. Every  29  is a choice. You choose how you react to situations. You choose how people will affect your mood.

The bottom 30 is: it is your choice   31  you live life.”

Several years later, Michael was part of a serious 32  , falling off sixty feet from a tower. Six months after the accident I saw Michael with rods  33  in his back. I asked him, “Weren’t you 34  ? ”Michael replied. “Yes, I was. I saw the 35  on the faces of the doctors and nurses. In their eyes, I  36 he ‘s a dead man.” I knew I needed to take 37   .So I took a deep breath and shouted I ‘m choosing to live. Operate on me as if I am  38  , over their laughter.”

Michael lived, 39 his amazing attitude. I learned from him that every day we have a choice to live 40  . Attitude is everything.

21. A. brave    B. natural     C. careful    D. foolish

22. A. carry    B. go       C. wait     D. look

23. A. Following  B. Hearing    C. Seeing     D. Using

24. A .make    B. get      C. love      D. achieve

25. A. stay     B. stand     C. go       D. wake

26. A. wishes    B. ways     C. choices     D. ideas

27. A. strange    B. good     C. interesting   D. bad

28. A. lucky    B. easy     C. pleasing    D. hard

29. A. thought   B. event     C. situation    D. mood

30. A. cause    B. need     C. line      D. step

31. A. where    B. how      C. when     D. why

32. A. accident   B. operation    C. damage     D. illness

33. A. dropped   B. cut      C. placed     D. moved

34. A. surprised   B. excited     C. frightened   D. delighted

35. A. expressions  B. smiles     C. anger     D. coldness

36. A. knew    B. heard      C. found     D. read

37. A. medicine   B. advice     C. control    D. action

38. A. alive     B. well      C. dead     D. tired

39. A. rather than  B. according to   C. other than    D. thanks to

40. A. fully    B. practically   C. simply      D. freely

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