Le Trung, 33，has spent ￡14,000 creating Aiko，who he describes as“in her 20s”with a 32,23,33 figure，shiny hair and delicate features.

She can speak English and Japanese and is so good at mathematics that she can do Mr.Trung's accounts.

Mr.Trung，from Brampton in Ontario，Canada，said he has never had time to find a real partner，so he designed and created his ideal woman using the latest technology.

The former software programmer has taken out credit cards and loans，sold his car and spent his life savings on perfecting his“fem­bot”.

Now he is desperate to find a corporate sponsor(资助者)to help him complete and perfect Aiko.

He said，“Aiko is what happens when science meets beauty.”

 "I want to make her look，feel and act as human as possible so she can be the perfect companion."

    "I talk to her a lot，and hope to improve her knowledge."

"So far she can understand and speak 13,000 different sentences in English and Japanese，so she's already fairly intelligent."

"Aiko recognize faces and says hello when any of my family come around to visit. She helps me pick what to have for dinner and knows what drinks I like."

"She even helps me with directions when we're going somewhere."

"When I need to do my accounts，Aiko does all the maths. She is very patient and never complains."

"She doesn't need holidays，food or rest and she will work almost 24­hours a day. She is the perfect woman."

Mr.Trung has designed Aiko with a touch­sensitive face and body so she reacts in a natural way if she is shown affection or hurt.

 He said，"She has all senses except for smell."

1.Why did Le Trung spend much money creating Aiko?

A. Because he prefers Aiko to a real person.

B. Because he is too busy to find a partner.

C. Because he thinks Aiko is very beautiful.

D. Because he thinks Aiko is worth much money.

2. According to the passage，what is Aiko?

A. Aiko is a female person.

B. Aiko is Mr.Trung's girl friend.

C. Aiko is a robot that looks like a beautiful woman.

D. Aiko is a perfect woman.

3. Aiko can do the following things EXCEPT ________.

A. that she can understand and speak English and Japanese

B. that she can do maths questions very well

C. that she can smell the strange smell

D. that she can help to receive some familiar guests

4.What is the main idea of the passage?

A. The reason for Le Trung creating Aiko.

B. The introduction to a new scientific product－Aiko.

C. Aiko's ability or functions.

D. The process of making Aiko.

You are careful with your money: you collect all kinds of coupons; look for group-buy deals if you eat out; you don't buy clothes unless in a sale. Does all this make you a wise consumer?

Let's do the math first: you walk into a coffee shop and see two deals for a cup of coffee. The first deal offers 33 percent extra coffee. The second takes 33 percent off the  regular price. What's the better deal? Well, they are about the same, you'd think. And you'd be wrong. The deals appear to be equal, but in fact, they are different. Here's the math: Let's say the standard coffee is 10 yuan and let's divide the amount of coffee into three portions(部分). That makes about 3.3 yuan per portion, The first deal gets you 4 portions for 10 yuan (2.5 yuan per portion) and the second gets you 3 portions of coffee for 6.6 yuan (2.2 yuan per portion) and is therefore a better deal.

In a new study published by the Journal of Marketing, participants were asked the same question, and most of them chose the first deal, the Atlantic website reported. Why? Because getting something extra for free feels better than getting the same for less. The applications of this view into consumer psychology(心理) are huge. Instead of offering direct discounts, shops offer larger sizes or free samples.

According to the study, the reason why these marketing tricks work is that consumers don't really know how much anything should cost, so we rely on parts of our brains that  aren't strictly quantitative.

There are some traps we should be aware of when shopping. First of all, we are heavily influenced by the first number. Suppose you are shopping in Hong Kong. You walk into Hermes, and you see a 100,000 yuan bag. "That's crazy." You shake your head and leave. The next shop is Gucci, a handbag here costs 25,000 yuan. The price is still high, but compared to the 100,000 yuan price tag you just committed to your memory, this is a steal. Stores often use the price difference to set consumers' expectation. zxxk

Another trap we often fall to Is that we are not really sure what things are worth. And so we use clues(暗示) to tell us what we ought to pay for them. US economist Dan Ariely has done an experiment to prove this. According to the Atlantic, Ariely pretended he was giving a lecture on poetry. He told one group of students that the tickets cost money and another group that they would be paid to attend. Then he informed both groups that thelecture was free. The first group was anxious to attend, believing they were getting something of value for free. The second group mostly declined, believing they were being forced to volunteer for the same event without reward.

What's a lecture on poetry by an economist worth? The students had no idea. That's  the point. Do we really know what a shirt is worth ? What about a cup of coffee? What's the worth of a life insurance.policy? Who knows? Most of us don't. As a result, our shopping  brain uses only what is knowable:  visual(祝觉的) clues, invited emotions, comparisons, and  a sense of bargain. We are not stupid. We are just easily influenced.

1.The first paragraph of the passage is intended to      

A．ask a question                          B．introduce a topic

C．give some examples                     D．describe a phenomenon

2.The writer takes the math for example in Paragraph 2 to show      .          _.

A．consumers usually fall into marketing traps

B．consumers' expectation is difficult to predict

C．consumers' purchasing power is always changing

D．consumers rely on their own judgment when shopping

3.What consumer psychology is mentioned in the passage?

A．The first number has little influence on which item should be bought.

B．Consumers never use visual clues to decide how much should be paid.

C．Getting something extra for free is better than getting the same for less.

D．Consumers never rely on parts of the brains that aren't strictly quantitative.

4.According to the passage, shops use the following tricks to make more profits EXCEPT         .  

A．showing price differences                 B．offering larger sizes

C．providing free samples                   D．giving direct discounts

5.What can we know from US economist Dan Ariely's experiment?

A．Ariely's free lecture enjoyed popularity among students.

B．The students actually didn't know what the lecture was worth.

C．The second group was willing to be volunteers without reward.

D．The first group was eager to find out the value of Ariely's lecture.

—Do you have any idea what Paul does all day?

—As I know,he spends at least as much time playing as he______.

At one time, computers were expected largely to remove the need for paper copies of documents (文件) because they could be stored electronically. But for all the texts that are written, stored and sent electronically, a lot of them are still ending up on paper.

    It is difficult to measure the quantity of paper used as a result of use of Internet-connected computers, although just about anyone who works in an office can tell you that when e-mail is introduced, the printers start working overtime. "I feel in my bones this revolution is causing more trees to be cut down," says Ted Smith of the Earth Village Organization.

    Perhaps the best sign of how computer and Internet use pushes up demand for paper comes from the high-tech industry itself, which sees printing as one of its most promising new markets. Several Internet companies have been set up to help small businesses print quality documents from a computer. Earlier this week Hewlett-Packard Co. announced a plan to develop new technologies that will enable people to print even more so they can get a hard copy of a business document, a medical record or just a one-line e-mail, even if they are nowhere near a computer. As the company sees it, the more use of the Internet the greater demand for printers.

   Does all this mean environmental concerns (环境问题) have been forgotten? Some activists suggest people have been led to believe that a lot of dangers to the environment have gone away. " I guess people believe that the problem is taken care of, because of recycling (回收利用) " said Kelly Quirke, director of the Rainforest Action Network in San Francisco. Yet Quirke is hopeful that high-tech may also prove helpful. He says printers that print on both sides are growing in popularity. The action group has also found acceptable paper made from materials other than wood, such as agricultural waste.

1. The growing demand for paper in recent years is largely due to ________.

A. the rapid development of small businesses

B. the opening up of new markets

C. the printing of high quality copies  

D. the increased use of the Internet

2.Environmentalists believe one possible way of dealing with the paper situation is ________.

A. to encourage printing more quality documents

B. to develop new printers using recycled paper

C. to find new materials for making paper 

D. to plant more fast-growing trees

3.Hewlett-Packard Co. has decided to develop new technologies because _______.

A. people are concerned about the environment

B. printers in many offices are working overtime

C. small companies need more hard copies

D. they see a growing market for printers

 ---Do you know what Tom does all day?

---I know he spends at least _______ time watching TV as he does spend doing his lessons.