The art centre is _____ used to be a factory, _____ millions of tractors were made.

Today just as technology changed the face of industry, farms have undergone an “agricultural ”. On the farm of today, machines provide almost all the power.

One of the most important benefits will be the farm computer. A few forward-looking farmers are already using computers to help them run their farms more efficiently. The computers help them keep more accurate records so they can make better decisions on what crops to plant, how much livestock to buy, when to sell their products, and how much profit they can expect. Many computer companies have been developing special computer programs just for farmers. Programs are being written for hog producers, grain farmers, potato farmers, and dairy farmers. In the future, farmers will be able to purchase computer programs made to their needs. Because of the growing importance of computers on the farm, students at agricultural colleges are required to take computer classes in addition to their normal agricultural courses. There can be no doubt that farmers will rely on computers even more in the future. While the old-time farm depended on horse power, and modern farms depend on machine power, farms of the future will depend on computer power.

Another technological advance which is still in the experimental stage is the robot, a real “mechanized hired hand” that will be able to move and, in some ways, think like a human being. Agricultural engineers believe that computer-aided robots will make startling changes in farming before the end of the century. Unlike farmers of the present, farmers of the future will find that many day-to-day tasks will be done for them. Scientists are now developing robots that will be able to shear sheep, drive tractors, and harvest fruit. Even complex jobs will be done by robots. For example, in order to milk their cows, farmers must first drive them into the barn, then connect them to the milking machines, watch the machines, and disconnect them when they are finished. In the future, this will all be done by robots. In addition, when the milking is completed, the robots will automatically check to make sure that the milk is pure. The complete mobilization of the farm is far in the future, but engineers expect that some robots will be used before long.

Which sentence carries the main idea of the whole passage?

   A. The first sentence of the first paragraph.

   B. The first sentence of the second paragraph.

   C. The first sentence of the third paragraph.

   D. The last sentence of the second paragraph.

According to the passage, computers can not help farmers decide _______.

A. how much money they can earn from their products

B. whether to plant a certain kind of crop

C. what livestock to raise

D. when to sell their products

Which of the following statements is true?

A. Farmers in the future will depend totally on computers.

B. Both computers and robots have been in use on today’s farms.

C. Farmers mainly use machines on their farms at present.

D. Students at agricultural colleges must take computer classes because they can do nothing without the help   of computers on today’s farms.

What is the best title for the whole passage?

A. Computer, Farmers’ Best Friend                

B. Farmers in The Future

C. The Agricultural Revolution                       

D. Computers and Robots

Farmers in China began to use tractors ___ cattle for farming work.

About this time every year, I get very nostalgic(怀旧的). Walking through my neighborhood on a fall afternoon reminds me of a time not too long ago when sounds of children filled the air, children playing games on a hill, and throwing leaves around in the street below. I was one of those children, carefree and happy. I live on a street that is only one block long. I have lived on the same street for sixteen years. I love my street. One side has six houses on it, and the other has only two houses, with a small hill in the middle and a huge cottonwood tree on one end. When I think of home, I think of my street. Only I see it as it was before. Unfortunately things change. One day, not long ago, I looked around and saw how different everything has become. Life on my street will never be the same because neighbors are quickly grown old, friends are growing up and leaving, and the city is planning to destroy my precious hill and sell the property to contractors.

It is hard for me to accept that many of my wonderful neighbors are growing old and won’t be around much longer. I have fond memories of the couple across the street, who sat together on their porch swing almost every evening, the widow next door who yelled at my brother and me for being too loud, and the crazy old man in a black suit who drove an old car. In contrast to those people, the people I see today are very old neighbors who have seen better days. The man in the black suit says he wants to die, and another neighbor just sold his house and moved into a nursing home. The lady who used to yell at us is too tired to bother any more, and the couple across the street rarely go out to their front porch these days. It is difficult to watch these precious people as they near the end of their lives because at once I thought they would live forever.

The “comings and goings” of the younger generation of my street are now mostly “goings” as friends and peers move on. Once upon a time, my life and the lives of my peers revolved around home. The boundary of our world was the gutter at the end of the street. We got pleasure from playing night games or from a breathtaking ride on a tricycle. Things are different now, as my friends become adults and move on. Children who rode tricycles now drive cars. The kids who once played with me now have new interests and values as they go their separate ways. Some have gone away to college like me, a few got married, two went into the army, and one went to prison. Watching all these people grow up and go away makes me long for the good old days.

Perhaps the biggest change on my street is the fact that the city is going to turn my precious hill into several lots for new homes. For sixteen years, the view out of my kitchen window has been a view of that hill. The hill was a fundamental part of my childhood life; it was the hub of social activity for the children of my street. We spent hours there building forts, sledding, and playing tag. The view out of my kitchen window now is very different; it is one of tractors and dump trucks tearing up the hill. When the hill goes, the neighborhood will not be the same. It is a piece of my childhood. It is a visual reminder of being a kid. Without the hill, my street will be just another pea in the pod.

There was a time when my street was my world, and I thought my world would never change. But something happened. People grow up, and people grow old. Places changes, and with the change comes the heartache of knowing I can never go back to the times I loved. In a year or so, I will be gone just like many of my neighbors. I will always look back to my years as a child, but the place I remember will not be the silent street whose peace is interrupted by the sounds of construction. It will be the happy, noisy, somewhat strange, but wonderful street I knew as a child.

1.The writer calls up the memory of the street _____________.

A．every year when autumn comes

B．in the afternoon every day

C．every time he walks along his street

D．now that he is an old man

2. The writer finds it hard to accept the fact that _____________.

A．many of his good neighbors are growing old

B．the lady next door who used to yell at him and his brother is now a widow

C．the life of his neighbors has become very boring

D．the man in his black suit even wanted to end his own life

3. The writer thinks of the past all the more when he sees those who had grown up with him _____________.

A．continue to consider home to be the center of their lives

B．leave the neighborhood they grew up in

C．still enjoy playing card games in the evenings

D．develop new interests and have new dreams

4. The biggest change on the writer's street is _____________.

A．removing the hill to make way for residential development

B．the building of new homes behind his kitchen window

C．the fact that there are much fewer people around than in the past

D．the change in his childhood friends' attitude towards their neighborhood

5. What does the writer mean by saying “my street will be another pea in the pod”?

A．his street will be very noisy and dirty

B．his street will soon be crowded with people

C．his street will have some new attractions

D．his street will be no different from any other street

6. Which could be a good title for the passage?

A．The Past of My Street will Live Forever

B．Unforgettable People and Things of My Street

C．Memory Street Isn’t What It Used to Be

D．The Big Changes of My Street

Dickson Despommier, a public health professor at Columbia University in New York City developed an idea with his students nine years ago. They imagined people in cities growing crops inside a tall building. Tomatoes could grow on one floor of the skyscraper(摩天大楼), potatoes on the next, small animals and fish on the floor above.
This vertical(垂直的) farm, or "farmscraper", could have space for restaurants and other places that serve food, like schools or hospitals. They could serve foods that are truly locally grown.
But why would anyone want to build a farm indoors in a city? Dickson Despommier believes it will become necessary. The world needs to find places to produce enough food to feed the growing population. Space, he says, is an all-important issue.
The professor also points to the problems of traditional farms. They use a lot of freshwater. Their fertilizer and animal waste can pollute water resources. And their growing seasons can be limited.
But inside the vertical farm, crops could grow all year. And there would be no wind to blow away soil. Farmers would not have to worry about too much or too little rain, or about hot summers, freezing winters or insects. And without insects there would be no need for chemicals to kill them.
Farm machines that .use fossil fuels, like tractors, would not be needed either. And water could be recycled for drinking. "The vertical farm reuses everything, so there is no waste," says Professor Despommier.
Even buildings could be saved. Old buildings could become new farms and provide jobs.
The professor has been actively proposing the idea to cities as far away as Dubai and Canada. But so far it exists only in plans and drawings, and a model at the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago.
Critics say building a farmscraper would cost too much, especially considering the price of land in many cities. Dickson Despommier estimates the cost at about twenty to thirty million dollars.
But he says the building would not have to be very tall. And his graduate students have found many empty lots and unused buildings in New York City that could provide space.
【小题1】According to the passage the purpose of proposing the idea of a farm scraper is to      .