Reading Comprehension

Cloze Test

　　Think you're good at reading people's expressions? Well, think again．New software is ten per cent better at it than the average person．There's even a device to improve your emotional intelligence．

　　Every time you interact with people, you 　　1　　 unconscious signals that you're following what they're saying．　　2　　, you might nod to show that you're following or squint(眯眼看)a bit to show that you've lost track．However, we're not very good at interpreting these signals．　　3　　 we only get it right about half of the time．

　　Now social X-ray glasses can help you 　　4　　 some of these signals better by means of a built-in camera 　　5　　 to software which 　　6　　 facial expressions．The six basic 　　7　　 facial states it recognizes are：thinking, agreeing, concentrating, interested, confused and disagreeing．The device can read 24 'feature points' on a face and 　　8　　 which of these six general facial states is being 　　9　　．You get the information via an earpiece, which tells you how the listener is responding．There's also a traffic light system displayed on the lens with a red, amber(yellowishbrown)or green light to show that the listener is interested, 　　10　　 interested or not interested．If it shows red, it's time to shut up!

　　The other novelty(something new)is sociometric badges．These are 　　11　　 to provide feedback on how often you're speaking, for how long and who with．Each person is represented by a dot, which is larger if you're talkative and smaller if not．If you speak in a monologue the dot will turn red, but if it's a dialogue it turns white．The interaction between speakers is represented by lines between them, so a thick line if two people speak a lot to each other and very thin if they 　　12　　 speak．The information is sent wirelessly to any device that can display it graphically．In one experiment, 　　13　　 some of the speakers started with very different dots, by the end of the experiment all the dots were more or less the same size and color, 　　14　　 that people had changed their behavior and made the interaction more even．

　　Think how differently our interactions with people could be if we could read their 　　15　　 to what we're saying with x-ray specs and track how well we work as a group with a sociometric badge! It's early days, but these devices may well transform how we interact with each other in the future．

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完形填空

We’re trying to decide where to go on our vacation this summer．We 　　1　　 go to Lake Arrowhead for a 　　2　　 of weeks, but we’d like to go somewhere else 　　3　　 year．We’re tired of doing 　　4　　 thing summer after summer．Some 　　5　　 of ours suggested that we go to Hawaii．That would be 　　6　　!I’m sure we’d 　　7　　 a trip like that, but of course it’s impossible．In the first place, it would be terribly 　　8　　, and in the second place, there wouldn’t be enough 　　9　　．If we were to make a trip like that, I would want to be able to 　　10　　 three or four weeks．If we’re 　　11　　 enough to save some money between now and next summer, and if I’m fortunate① enough to get four weeks of 　　12　　 instead of two weeks, maybe we can go to 　　13　　 next year．As a matter of fact, if we wanted to 　　14　　 a trip like that, it might be 　　15　　 to stay home this summer and not to go to 　　16　　 place．　　17　　, if we were to stay here, I could 　　18　　 to work instead of taking two weeks 　　19　　; then maybe my 　　20　　 would recommend② that I be given four weeks’ vacation next summer instead of two weeks．

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完形填空

　　One night I decided to spend some time building a happier and closer relationship with my daughter．For several weeks she had been 　　1　　 me to play chess(棋)with her, so I suggested a game and she eagerly 　　2　　．It was a school night, however, and at nine o’clock my daughter asked if I could 　　3　　 my moves, because she 　　4　　 to go to bed; she had to get up at six in the morning．I 　　5　　 she had strict sleeping habits, 　　6　　 I thought she ought to be able to 　　7　　 some of this strictness．I said to her, “　　8　　, you can stay up late for once．We’re having 　　9　　．” We played on for another fifteen minutes, during which time she looked 　　10　　．Finally she said, “Please, Daddy, do it quickly．” “No,” I replied．“If you’re going to play it 　　11　　, you’re going to play it slowly．” And so we 　　12　　 for another ten minutes, until 　　13　　 my daughter burst into tears, and 　　14　　 that she was beaten．

　　Clearly I had made 　　15　　．I had started the evening wanting to have a 　　16　　 time with my daughter but had 　　17　　 my desire to win to become more 　　18　　 than my relationship with my daughter．When I was a child, my desire to win 　　19　　 me well．As a parent, I 　　20　　 that it got in my way．So I had to change．

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