Each year, 1,400 high-school students from more than 40 countries are invited to compete in the prestigious Intel International Science and Engineering Fair(Intel ISEF), the world’s largest precollege science contest．The select group of young scientists is chosen from the several million students who compete in local and regional science fairs throughout the year．Participants compete for ＄3 million in scholarships and prizes, presenting projects in 15 categories like medicine, biochemistry, computer science and zoology．Earning top honors isn’t the only goal for contestants．Nineteen percent(or 274)of the finalists at the 2005 competition held last month have already begun the process to patent their projects．
Ammem Abdulrasool, a senior at the Illinois Junior Academy of Science, won top honors at this year’s Intel ISEF for his project, “Prototype for Autonomy：Pathway for the Blind．” He walked away with ＄70,000 in prize money and a free trip to October’s Nobel Prize ceremony．Abdulrasool developed technology that allows visually impaired individuals to navigate themselves from one location to another by using the Global Positioning System．Individuals wear a half-kilo Walkman-size device, a bracelet on each arm and a pair of earphones．After entering a starting and ending location into a personal digital assistant(PDA), they are guided with verbal commands that tell them when and in what direction to turn．Simultaneously, a bracelet vibrates signaling the correct direction．To test his device, Abdulrasool recruited 36 blind adults and asked them to visit five landmarks in his neighborhood．The navigational tool saved people an average of 26 minutes in travel time and reduced the number of errors(wrong turns and missed locations)．“Looking at how hard it was for them to travel and how they were dependent on everyone else motivated me to do something,” he said．Abdulrasool hopes are applying for a patent and then plan to market the product commercially．
In the fair’s 56-year history, a number of projects have been implemented for commercial use．Michael Nyberg, a 2001 competitor, hoped to reduce the number of West Nile virus infections through acoustics．With a bucket of mosquito larvae and a sound generator, Nyberg discovered that a 24 kHz frequency resonated with the natural frequency of mosquitoes’ internal organs：larvae that absorbed the acoustic energy would explode．His sound-emitting device, Larvasonic, is now sold online(www．larvasonic．com)．Tiffany Clark, a 1999 competitor, found evidence that bacteria produced the methane gas found inside coal seams in Wyoming’s Powder River Basin．This suggested that injecting nutrients into coal seams might provide an unlimited supply of natural gas．A Denver-based technology firm is now continuing Clark’s high-school research．And someday soon, blind people around the world may be wearing bracelets that issue GPS commands．
(1)
How are young people selected to participate in Intel ISEF?
[ ]
A．
They are pre-university students．
B．
They must win science competitions in their home countries．
C．
They must patent or be about to patent an invention．
D．
They are chosen from young people who take part in science competitions．
(2)
Which of these is NOT mentioned as an advantage of Abdulrasool’s device?
[ ]
A．
It enables blind people to get from A to B faster．
B．
It helps them avoid obstacles．
C．
It gives information to blind people in more than one way．
D．
It is extremely light．
(3)
How are Abdulrasool’s invention and those of Michael Nyberg and Tiffany Clark similar?
[ ]
A．
Their inventions all have organic components．
B．
They all won the Intel ISEF competition, though in different years．
C．
They all have, or could have, profitable applications．
D．
None of them have patents yet．
(4)
How does Tiffany Clark’s idea work?
[ ]
A．
She feeds underground bacteria and they produce natural gas．
B．
Bacteria eat coal and produce natural gas．
C．
Bacteria are injected with coal molecules and produce natural gas．
D．
Bacteria extract natural gas from coal and are then harvested．
(5)
Which of the following statements about the Intel ISEF competition is true?
[ ]
A．
It began in the 1960’s．
B．
The biggest prize this year was ＄3 million．
C．
There are 15 prizes in a variety of categories．
D．
Many participants have patented ideas and inventions．
A device that stops drivers from falling asleep at fine wheel is about to undergo testing at Department of Transport laboratories and could go on sale within 12 months．
The system, called Driver Alert, aims to reduce deadly road accidents by 20％－40％ that are caused by tiredness．Airline pilots can also use it to reduce the 30％ of all pilot-error accidents that are related to fatigue．
Driver Alert is based on a computerized wristband．The device, worn by drivers or pilots, gives out a sound about every four minutes during a car journey．After each sound the driver must respond by．squeezing the steering wheel(方向盘)．A sensor in the wristband detects this pressing action and measures the time between the sound, and the driver’s response．
Tiredness is directly related to a driver’s response time．Usually, a watchful driver would take about 400 milliseconds to respond but once that falls to more than 500 milliseconds, it suggests that the driver is getting sleepy．
In such cases the device gives out more regular and louder sounds, showing that the driver should open a window or stop for a rest．If the driver’s response continues to slow down, the sounds become more frequent until a nonstop alarm warns that the driver must stop as soon as possible．
The device has been delivered to the department’s 1aboatories for testing．If these tests, scheduled for six months’ time, are successful, the makers will bring the product to market within about a year．
(1)
According to the text, Driver Alert ________．
[ ]
A．
aims to reduce tiredness－related accidents
B．
has gone through testing at laboratories
C．
aims to prevent drivers from sleeping
D．
has been on sale for 12 months
(2)
How should a driver respond to the sounds from Driver Alert?
[ ]
A．
By sounding a warning．
B．
By touching the wristband．
C．
By checking the driving time．
D．
By pressing the steering wheel．
(3)
We can learn from the text that the driver needs to stop for a break when his response time is ________
[ ]
A．
about 400 milliseconds
B．
below 500 milliseconds
C．
over 500 milliseconds
D．
about 4 minutes
(4)
When the driver gets sleepy while driving, Driver Alert ________．
[ ]
A．
moves more regularly
B．
stops working properly
C．
opens the window for the driver
D．
sounds more frequently and loudly
阅读理解：
Most animals have little connection with animals of a different kind, unless they hunt them for food．Sometimes, however, two kinds of animals come together in a partnership which does good to both of them．You may have noticed some birds sitting on the backs of sheep．This is not because they want a ride, but because they find easy food in the parasites(寄生虫)on sheep．The sheep allow the birds to do so because they remove the cause of discomfort．So although they can manage without each other, they do better together．
Sometimes an animal has a plant partner．This relationship develops until the two partners cannot manage without each other．This is so in the coral(珊瑚)of the sea．In their skins they have tiny plants which act as " dustmen", taking some of the waste products from the coral and giving in return oxygen which the animal needs to breathe．If the plants are killed, or are even prevented from light so that they cannot live normally, the corals will die．
(1)
Some birds like to sit on a sheep because ________．
[ ]
A．
they can eat its parasites
B．
they depend on the sheep for existence
C．
they enjoy travelling with the sheep
D．
they find the position most comfortable．
(2)
The underlined word "they" in the last sentence of the first paragraph refers
to ________．
[ ]
A．
birds and parasites
B．
birds and sheep
C．
parasites and sheep
D．
sheep birds and parasites
(3)
It can be learnt from the text that the coral depends on the plant for ________．
afraid. A person with a green thumb