Saya, the teacher doesn’t mind being pinched(掐), or if the students play in class: she’s a robot designed to show children that science and technology can be fun subjects．

Saya, a life – like female who started her career as a robot receptionist at Japanese companies and was then reprogrammed to teach, gave a lesson to fifth – graders at Tokyo’s Kudan Elementary School after being carried to the podium in the classroom．

Professor Hiroshi Kobayashi, who built Saya, says she’s not meant to replace human teachers, but to bring the joy of technology to children. “We’re not looking at making something that will take over from teachers. Our main reason for building this robot is to use new technology to teach children about technology,” he said. “But Saya may be able to help in schools where there’s a shortage of teachers,” he added. “In the countryside and in some small schools, children don’t have the chance to come into contact with new technology and also few teachers there can teach these lessons．So we hoped to be able to develop this robot to be remotely controlled to teach these classes.”

Many of the children were attracted by Saya, and didn’t take their eyes off her throughout the lecture. When class was over, some students pinched her. “ It’s so much more fun than regular classes,” said10 – year – old Nanako Iijima．

The children’s human teacher, however, was not as impressed with the robot as her students. “I am impressed that they’ve got robots to go this far, but on the other hand they still have a long way to go before they can make it a truly robotic teacher.” Akito Fukuda, the school’s science teacher said．

Japan, home to almost half of the world’s 800,000 industrial robots, expects the industry to expand to $10 billion in the future including models that will be able to care for its fast – growing elderly population．

1.Saya was first designed to         ．

       A．be touched by students                        B．teach children about science

       C．work as a robot receptionist                  D．work together with scientists

2.The underlined word “podium” in Paragraph 2 probably means “        ”.

       A．a surface for teachers to stand on          B．a board for teachers to write on

       C．a toy for students to play with               D．a video for students to watch

3.What can we learn from Paragraph 3?

       A．Saya needn’t be remotely controlled while having classes.

       B．Robots like Saya will replace human teachers in the future.

       C．Some children in the countryside know little about new technology.

       D．It’s difficult for most Japanese teachers to teach children about technology.

4.Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the passage?

       A．Saya is the first life – like female robot in history.

       B．Robots like Saya will replace human teachers in the future.

       C．Some children in the countryside know little about new technology.

       D．It’s difficult for most Japanese teachers to teach children about technology.

5.In which section of a newspaper can you find this passage?

       A．Entertainment.     B．Technology.        C．Politics.               D．Opinion.

When I was learning calligraphy my teacher told me a story.
A calligrapher taught handwriting. One of his students who often practised handwriting with old sheets of newspapers complained that he made very little progress though he had learned it with the calligrapher for a long time. His teacher said to him, “Try to use the best paper. Maybe you’ll write better. ”
　The student did as he was told. It really worked. He made headway not long afterwards and felt curious. He asked his teacher about the reason. The calligrapher answered, “When you used old newspapers to practice handwriting，you would think you were writing a draft（草稿）.  It didn’t matter if you wrote badly as old newspapers were plenty in supply. In that case you wouldn’t pay much attention to it. Now you use the best paper you’ll treasure it. Each time you write you feel strongly about the rarity (稀少) of chances and you’ll devote to it with all your heart and soul; you’ll do the handwriting much more attentively than otherwise practising it. Of course you’ve made rapid progress.”
Indeed，we spend our ordinary days just as they are worthless “old newspapers”. We don’t care if we scrawl and waste them, thinking that they will come endlessly --- those “old newspapers” are inexhaustible. In such a mood we may each day pass by opportunities but fail to catch any of them.
Life is not a military exercise but an actual war in which real weapons are used. In everyday life there’s no chance for us to draw a draft. That’s because what we call “draft” actually is the answer sheet we write that cannot be changed. Every day of our life is something new. Let us take every day as a sheet of best paper.
【小题1】The calligrapher in the story told the student to write on the best paper because he thought _______.

When I was learning calligraphy (书法), my teacher told me a story.

A calligrapher taught handwriting. One of his students who often practiced handwriting with old sheets of newspaper complained that he made very little progress though he had learned it with the calligrapher for a long time. His teacher said to him, “Try to use the best paper. Maybe you'll write better.”

The student did as he was told. It really worked. He made headway not long afterwards and felt curious. He asked his teacher about the reason. The calligrapher answered，“When you used old newspaper to practice handwriting, you would think you were writing a draft. It didn't matter if you wrote badly as old newspaper was plenty in supply. In that case you wouldn't pay much attention to it. Now you use the best paper and you'll treasure it. Each time you write you feel strongly about the rarity of chances and you'll devote to it with all your heart and soul; you'll do the handwriting much more attentively than practicing. Of course you've made rapid progress.”

Indeed, we spend our ordinary days just as they are worthless “old newspaper”．We don't care if we scrawl and waste it, thinking that it will come endlessly—the “old newspaper” is inexhaustible. In such a mood we may each day pass by opportunities but fail to catch any of them.

Life is not a military exercise but an actual war in which real weapons are used. In everyday life there's no chance for us to draft. That's because what we call “draft” actually is the answer sheet we write that cannot be changed.

Every day of our life is something new. Let us take every day as a sheet of the best paper.

1.The calligrapher in the story told the student to write on the best paper because he thought ________.

A．the student would practice more carefully on the best paper

B．it was comfortable to write on the best paper

C．the student had enough money to buy the best paper

D．the student could write more on the best paper

2.The student didn't make much progress at first because ________.

A．he didn't follow his teacher's advice

B．he was too poor to buy better paper to write on

C．he regarded his writing on old newspaper just as a draft

D．he was not used to the calligrapher's teaching manner

3.We learn from the passage that ________.

A．the student finally gave up

B．the student made rapid progress by practicing more carefully

C．the calligrapher was strict with his students

D．old newspaper is not useful

4.Which of the following is true according to the passage?

A．What teachers say is always true.

B．Success calls for attentiveness.

C．Handwriting is easy to practice.

D．New things are always better than old ones.

5.The writer wants to tell us that ________.

A．there are some good ways to practice handwriting

B．life is like old newspaper

C．we should learn from the student in the story

D．life will not give us a chance to draw a draft