Anyone driving between San Francisco and Los Angeles recently may have seen a Toyota Prius (丰田普锐斯) with a curious chimney-like cylinder (汽缸) on the roof. It is hard to notice that the person at the wheel was not actually driving.

   The car is a project of Google, which has been working in secret but in plain view on vehicles that can drive themselves, using artificial-intelligence software that can sense anything near the car. “The car is never unmanned,” the project leader Dr. Thrun wrote on Google’s company blog. He said a driver was always behind the wheel to take control if something went wrong.

The unmanned cars are still years from mass production, but technologists who have long dreamed of them believe that they can transform society as greatly as the Internet has.

Engineers consider the cars are safer because they react faster than humans, having 360-degree perception and never getting absent-minded, sleepy or drunk. And they state that lives may be saved and injuries avoided, as more than 30,000 people are killed by car accidents in the United States per year. The engineers say the technology could double the capacity of roads by allowing cars to drive more safely while closer together. Because the robot cars would eventually be less likely to crash, they could be built lighter, reducing fuel consumption. But of course, to be truly safer, the cars must be far more reliable than, say, today’s personal computers, which crash on occasion and are frequently infected with virus.

Google has started doing what might seem like a technology area unrelated to its bread-and-butter business as the king of Internet search and advertising. The self-driving car is an example of Google’s willingness to gamble on technology that may not pay off for years, Dr. Thrun said. One way Google might be able to profit is to provide information and navigation (导航) service for makers of unmanned vehicles, with a plan to make traveling safer, avoid accidents and reduce the carbon emission (排放).

But the arrival of driverless vehicles arouse legal issues, the Google researchers acknowledged. Under current law, a human must be in control of a car at all times. And in the event of an accident, who would be liable — the person behind the wheel or the maker of the software?

58. According to Google, the driverless car ______.

A. is without a human presence at all times         B. will react faster but be less reliable

C. will increase efficiency of road and fuel         D. will safely navigate the roadways

59. With its new invention, Google hopes the following except ______.

A. the driverless car will make a lot of sense       B. its business will reach beyond its usual range

C. it will profit by making unmanned vehicles      D. laws will have to catch up with the technology

60. The underlined word “liable” in last paragraph probably means “______”.

   A. dependable          B. responsible               C. trusted                            D. sensible

61. The best title of the passage might be ______.

A. Google Cars Drive Themselves in Traffic       B. Driverless Cars Could Be the Wave of Future

C. Google Hopes to Reduce Traffic Accidents            D. Unmanned Cars Closer to a Commercial Reality

                                             

Tommy’s mother entered and took one of the chairs I had placed near my desk. Soon the father arrived. Good! At least they were concerned enough to be on time. A look of surprise and anger passed between them, and then they pointedly tried to ignore each other.

As I gave a detailed account of Tommy’s behavior and schoolwork, I prayed for the right words to bring these two together, and to help them see what they were doing to their son. But somehow the words wouldn’t come. Perhaps if they saw one of his spotted, carelessly done papers, I would reach my aim more easily.

I found a crumpled (压皱的) tear-stained sheet stuffed in the back of his desk; writing covering both sides — not the assignment, but a single sentence scribbled (潦草地写) over and over.

Silently, I smoothed it out and gave it to Tommy’s mother. She read it and then without a word handed it to her husband. He frowned. Then his face softened. He studied the scribbled words for a long time.

At last he folded the paper carefully, placed it in his pocket, and reached for his wife’s outstretched hand. She wiped the tears from her eyes and smiled up at him. My own eyes were brimming (湿润的), but neither seemed to notice me. He helped her with her coat and they left together.

In his own way, God had given me the words without being spoken out to reunite that family. He had guided me to the sheet of yellow copy paper covered with the painful outpouring (流露) of a small boy’s troubled heart.

The words written were, “Dear Mummy ... Dear Daddy ... I love you ... I love you ... I love you.”

54. Which of the following word has the closest meaning to the word “disruptive” (in Para.1) mean?

A. terrible                    B. careless                 C. cheerful               D. good

55. What caused Tommy’s failing behavior and schoolwork?

A. His parents’ ignorance of his education.            B. His parents’ separation and divorce.

C. His parents’ lacking love for him.                     D. His parents’ firm administration to him.

56. What helped Tommy’s parents see their influence on their son?

   A. A single sentence on paper by him.                   B. Tear stains on Tommy’s papers.

C. Tommy’s disruptive behavior.                     D. A gray sweater on Tommy’s desk.

57. You can infer from the passage that ______.

A. The teacher said suitable words to persuade Tommy’s parents to reunite.

B. Tommy’s love for his parents saved their marriage and the whole family.

C. Tommy’s parents scheduled their time well to come to school together.

D. A broken family can cause a child’s bad behavior and lack of love for others.

Most young people enjoy some form of physical activity. It may be walking, cycling or swimming;

in winter, skating or skiing. It may be a game of some form — football, basketball, hockey, golf or tennis. It may be mountaineering. 

Those who have a passion for climbing high and difficult mountains are often looked upon with astonishment. Why are the men and women willing to suffer cold and hardship, and to take risks in high mountains? This astonishment is caused, probably, by the difference between mountaineering and other forms of activity to which men give their leisure time.

Mountaineering is a sport and not a game. There are no man-made rules, as others, as there are for such games as golf and football. There are, of course, rules of different kinds which it would be dangerous to ignore, but it is this freedom from man-made rules that makes mountaineering attractive to many people. Those who climb mountains are free to use their own methods.

If we compare mountaineering and other more familiar sports, we might think that one big difference is that mountaineering is not a “team game”. We should be mistaken in this. There are, it is true, no “matches” between “teams” of climbers, but when climbers are on a rock-face linked by a rope on which their lives may depend, there is obviously teamwork.

The mountain climber knows that he may have to fight forces that are stronger and more powerful than man. He has to fight the forces of nature. His sport requires high mental and physical qualities.

A mountain climber continues to improve in skill year after year, while a skier is probably past his best by the age of thirty. But it is not unusual for men of fifty or sixty to climb the highest mountains in the Alps. They may take more time than younger men, but they perhaps climb with more skill and less waste of effort, and they certainly experience equal enjoyment.

51. Mountaineering is a sport, not a game because ______.

A. it has more man-made rules                                   B. it is too dangerous for young climbers

C. it can’t bring people joy and leisure                 D. it is free for us to use our own methods

52. A mountain climber must be strong both mentally and physically because ______.

A. there is no regular man-made rule for him to follow

B. there is no teamwork and he has to depend on himself

C. his competitor is not one or several people but nature

D. mountaineering requires the skills practiced year after year

53. We know from the passage that ______.

A. mountaineering has not any appeal to ordinary people

B. physical quality is more important than mental one for climbers

C. it is possible for someone in his fifties to climb the Alps

D. a mountain climber would pass his best by the age of thirty

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