题目内容
In Los Angeles, drivers spend sixty-one hours every year stuck in traffic. These drivers know all too well how bad the traffic can be. “There're too many cars, and you can't move around a lot.”
Professor Cyrus Shahabi also knows about traffic jams. He lives more than 65 kilometers from his office at the University of Southern California, in Los Angeles. He is always late even with the help of a navigation (导航) system.
He decided to develop a program called ClearPath for that. He says his program uses historical data to predict traffic conditions even before the driver leaves the house. “What’s unique is that we use a lot of data that’s currently become available including traffic data, weather data, and we analyze that so that we can predict what's going to happen in front of you when you leave home.”
Professor Shahabi says his system does more than just respond to current traffic conditions. With ClearPath, he says, a driver can decide what time he wants to leave, and ClearPath will give the fastest route. It looks at the entire road network, including surface streets as well as highways, before the driver hits the road. Professor Shahabi hopes to have ClearPath available nationwide and overseas once they can collect traffic data from other cities.
“I always thought that Los Angeles had the worst traffic, but now I know that Shanghai, Beijing, Seoul, Tokyo, believe it or not, Singapore, Hong Kong certainly are examples that can immediately use this. ”
Professor Shahabi hopes to share this new technology with companies that already have navigation systems, such as Google and Apple.
1.Drivers in Los Angeles were mentioned in order to__________.
A. show care for them
B. introduce their life
C. solve traffic problems
D. raise the topic
2.What is unique about Clear Path?
A. It can use a lot of information all over the world.
B. It can ensure that you will never be late for work.
C. It helps drivers see clearly what happens on the road.
D. It helps drivers know the road conditions ahead of time.
3.The underlined word “hits” in the fifth paragraph probably means __________.
A. have an accident B. get to
C. turn left or right D. collect traffic data
4.What's Professor Shahabi’s attitude toward his invention?
A. Disappointed. B. Proud.
C. Optimistic. D. Worried.
Tickets for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil have gone on sale, with fans able to apply on FIFA’s website. FIFA is expecting a similar demand to that in Germany 2006, when there were about seven applicants for every ticket of the 64 matches. And now around 3.3 million tickets will be available for the matches in 2014.
Tickets will range in price from£58 for first-round matches to£632 for the final at Maracana Stadium in Rio de Janeiro. Brazilian citizens over 60, local students and members of some social programs can purchase tickets for £15.
The Price of Football - World Cup 2014
Items | Prices | Items | Prices |
Ticket | £58-£112 | Final ticket | £281-£632 |
Sun cream | £9.50 | T-shirt | £13 |
McDonald’s meal | £11 | Water | £1.28 |
Imported beer | £3.83 | Domestic beer | £1.91 |
Coffee | £2.55 | Average dinner | £29 |
“It’s always difficult to predict,” said FIFA marketing director Thierry Weil. “But I truly believe that it will be more similar to what happened in Germany than in South Africa in 2010.” According to FIFA, the 2006 World Cup was attended by more than 3.3 million fans. Almost two million tickets were sold to the general public in South Africa, although the number of applications during the first ticketing phase was significantly lower.
All applications made before 10th October 2013 will enter a random selection draw if there are not enough tickets available to fulfill all requests. The sales of the leftover tickets will begin on 5th November on a first-come, first-served basis. Another phase will begin on 8th December after the draw is made. The tournament begins on 12th June, with Brazil playing the opener in Sao Paulo.
A study on the price of World Cup 2014 looked at the ticket prices and the cost of travelling to Brazil and found that our English fans face hotel costs of between£46 and£797 a night, while packages range from£2,999 to£14,999.
1.How much should a Brazilian student pay for the opening match?
A.£15 B.£58 C.£112 D.£632
2.From the passage we know that Thierry Weil_______.
A.feels proud of what they achieved in South Africa 2010
B.feels worried about the sales of the tickets for Brazil 2014
C.holds the belief that Brazil 2014 will be the greatest world cup
D.believes that more fans will attend Brazil 2014 than South Africa 2010
3.What will FIFA do if there are not enough tickets available for requests before Oct.10, 2013?
A.They will sell the spare tickets to the applicants.
B.They will sell on a first-come, first-served basis.
C.They will choose the applicants based on a random selection draw.
D.They will sell them the tickets to be sold on Dec.8.