A report on a new software that enables eyes to do the typing appears in Wednesday’s edition of the journal Nature. Replacing a keyboard or mouse, eye-scanning-cameras mounted on computers have become necessary tools for people without limbs or those affected with paralysis. The camera tracks the movement of the eye, allowing users to “type” on a virtual keyboard as they look at the screen. And now, researchers from the Cavendish Laboratory at Cambridge University say they have developed software that replaces the standard QWERTY keyboard layout with one that is nearly twice as efficient, more accurate and easier on the eyes. Called Dasher, the prototype program looks into the natural gaze of the eye and makes predictable words and phrases simpler to write. Any off-the-shelf camera capable of scanning eye movement can be used with Dasher, though the person must sit fairly still during the interaction.

  The letters of the alphabet appear in a single column on the right of the screen, with an underline symbol to represent a space. Each letter is framed by a colored box. As the user looks at a particular letter on the right side of the screen and drags it to the left with their eye, another sub-alphabet column begins to emerge inside the box on the right-hand side, along with more letters framed in colored boxes. Dasher is designed to anticipate which letter will be needed, so although the successive sub-alphabet columns are initially very small, the letters or combination of letters that appear are most likely to be used next in that sequence. For example, if a person starts with the letter “h”, the language models in Dasher will bring up “a” “e” “i” “o” and “u” in the sub-alphabet box, along with a few other possible combinations like “ello” to form the word “hello”. Each box has a complete alphabet within it, though the first letters to appear have the highest probability of usage. The letters are then placed together to form a sentence on the left side of the screen.

  Researchers say people will be able to write up to 25 words per minute with Dasher compared to on-screen keyboards, which they say average about 15 words per minute. With a bit of practice, MacKay said, Dasher offers an easier and more satisfying way for disabled people to communicate, providing them with better tools to write e-mail or create word processor files. Mackay said Dasher could work in most languages.

72. With the new software Dasher, people can type with their eyes through_____.

A. a computer screen with eye-scanning sensors

　　B. an eye-scanning camera on computer

　　C. a colored box attached to the computer

　　D. a regular keyboard with sensors

73. The new method of typing will most benefit those people who___________ .

A. have reading difficulties     B are visually incompetent

　　C. are physically challenged.   D. do not have a big vocabulary

74. The software Dasher_______________ .

　　A. is able to predict the next sequence of words the user is going to write

　　B. can form coherent sentences based on the first word typed in by the user

    C. has to be used with eye-scanning cameras specially designed for the 

software

　　D. does not allow the user to move a lot during the interaction

75. Which of the following is true about Dasher?

　　A. It can be used to write ten more words than on screen keyboard per minute.

　　B. It is easier to use than ordinary keyboards.

　　C. It can provide hints for possible sentences to be written.

　　D. It is an independent text processor.

 The past ages of man have all been carefully labeled by anthropologists with names like ‘ Paleolithic Man（旧石器时代的）’, ‘Neolithic Man’ （新石器时代的）etc. When  anthropologists turn their attention to the twentieth century, they will surely choose the label ‘Legless Man’. Histories of the time will go something like this: ‘in the twentieth century, people forgot how to use their legs. Men and women moved about in cars, buses and trains from a very early age. There were lifts and escalators in all large buildings to prevent people from walking. This situation happened each day. But the surprising thing is that they didn’t use their legs even when they went on holiday. They built cable railways, ski-lifts and roads to the top of every huge mountain. All the beauty spots on earth were damaged by the presence of large car parks.’
   The future history books might also record that we were deprived of the use of our eyes. In our hurry to get from one place to another, we failed to see anything on the way. Air travel gives you a bird’s-eye view of the world. When you travel by car or train a vague image of the countryside constantly runs by the windows. Car drivers, in particular, are forever forced with the urge to go on and on: they never want to stop. And as for sea travel, it hardly deserves mention. It is perfectly summed up in the old song: ‘I joined the navy to see the world, and what did I see? I saw the sea’. The typical twentieth-century traveler is the man who always says ‘I’ve been there.’ You mention the remotest, most reminding place-names in the world like El Dorado, Kabul, Irkutsk and someone is sure to say  ‘I’ve been there’ meaning, ‘I drove through it at 100 miles an hour on the way to somewhere else. ’
  When you travel at high speeds, the present means nothing: You live mainly in the future because you spend most of your time looking forward to arriving at some other place. But actual arrival, when it is achieved, is meaningless. You want to move on again. By traveling like this, you suspend all experience; the present stops to be a reality: you might just as well be dead. The traveler on foot, on the other hand, lives constantly in the present. For him traveling and arriving are one and the same thing: he arrives somewhere with every step he makes. He experiences the present moment with his eyes, his ears and the whole of his body. At the end of his journey he feels a delicious physical weariness. He knows that sound. Satisfying sleep will be his: the just reward of all true travelers.
68.  Anthropologists label men nowadays ‘Legless’ because_________
     A.   people forget how to use his legs.
     B.   people prefer cars, buses and trains.
     C.   lifts and escalators prevent people from walking.
     D.   there are a lot of transportation devices.
69.  Traveling at high speed means__________
     A.   people’s focus on the future.        B.  a pleasure.
     C.   satisfying drivers’  great thrill.    D.  a necessity of life.
70. Why does the author say ‘we are deprived of the use of our eyes’?
     A.   People won’t use their eyes.
     B.   In traveling at high speed, eyes become useless.
     C.   People can’t see anything on his way of travel.
     D.   People want to sleep during traveling.
71. What is the purpose of the author in writing this passage?
     A.   Legs become weaker.
     B.   Modern means of transportation make the world a small place.
     C.   There is no need to use eyes.
     D.   The best way to travel is on foot.

In cities with rent control, the city government sets the maximum rent that a landlord can charge for an apartment. Supporters of rent control argue that it protects people who are living in apartments. Their rent cannot increase; therefore, they are not in danger of losing their homes. However, the critics say that after a long time, rent control may have negative effects. Landlords know that they cannot increase their profits. Therefore, they invest in other businesses where they can increase their profits. They do not invest in new buildings which would also be rent-controlled. As a result, new apartments are not built. Many people who need apartments cannot find any. According to the critics, the end result of rent control is a shortage of apartments in the city.

　　Some theorists argue that the minimum wage law can cause problems in the same way. The federal government sets the minimum that an employer must pay workers. The minimum helps people who generally look for unskilled, low-paying jobs. However, if the minimum is high, employers may hire fewer workers. They will replace workers with machinery. The price, which is the wage that employers must pay, increases. Therefore, other things being equal, the number of workers that employers want decreases. Thus, critics claim, an increase in the minimum wage may cause unemployment. Some poor people may find themselves without jobs instead of with jobs at the minimum wage.

　　Supporters of the minimum wage say that it helps people keep their dignity. Because of the law, workers cannot sell their services for less than the minimum. Furthermore, employers cannot force workers to accept jobs at unfair wages.

　　Economic theory predicts the results of economic decisions such as decisions about farm production, rent control, and the minimum wage. The predictions may be correct only if “other things are equal”. Economists do not agree on some of the predictions. They also do not agree on the value of different decisions. Some economists support a particular decision while others criticize it. Economists do agree, however, that there are no simple answers to economic questions.

64. According to the critics, rent control____________ .

　　A.  will always benefit those who rent apartments  B.  is unnecessary

　　C.  will bring negative effects in the long run      D.  is necessary under all circumstances

65. The problem of unemployment will arise__________ .

　　A.  if the minimum wage is set too high.  B.  if the minimum wage is set too low

　　C.  if the workers are unskilled         D.  if the maximum wage is set

66. The passage tells us_______________ .

　　A.  the relationship between supply and demand

　　B.  the possible results of government controls

　　C.  the necessity of government control

D.  the urgency of getting rid of government controls

67. Which of the following statements is NOT true?

　　A.  The results of economic decisions can not always be predicted.

　　B.  Minimum wage can not always protect employees.

　　C.  Economic theory can predict the results of economic decisions if other factors are not changing.

　　D.  Economic decisions should not be based on economic theory.

Car alarms are a public nuisance. Their persistent and disruptive noise has been shown to boost stress hormones that are linked to physiological illness and psychological distress. Studies also show that children regularly exposed to car alarm noise have difficulty concentrating on quiet tasks like reading. Because car alarm noise makes people irritable, it also increases the tendency to be impatient and rude. In short, noisy car alarms are helping erode public civility. And for what? For nothing. According to police, criminologists, insurance companies, auto manufacturers, and even car thieves themselves, car alarms are next to useless. A 1997 analysis of insurance claims from 73 million vehicles concluded that alarms did not deter car theft. No one pays any attention to car alarms any more because 95 to 99 percent of the alarms are false. According to the Progressive Insurance Company, fewer than 1 percent of people surveyed say that they would call the police if they heard a car alarm. Plus, today's car thieves are professionals undeterred by the presence of alarms, which they can readily disable when necessary. Consequently, GM, Ford, and other manufacturers have begun to stop putting alarms in their cars. This is their way of acknowledging that the alarms are nothing but "noisemakers." It's outrageous that audible car alarms continue to needlessly reduce our quality of life. They should be made illegal immediately.

60. What can we learn from the passage?

A. People report it to the police whenever they hear car alarms.

B. Thieves can easily disable all alarms.

C. Since car alarms are nothing but “noisemakers”, people no loner use them.

D. Car alarms don’t reduce auto theft.

61. What does the underlined part mean? ______________________.

A. learning    B.   saying     C. admitting                  D. denying

62. The author’s purpose is ________________.

A. to inform    B. to persuade     C. to criticize     D. to entertain

63. The author’s tone is_________________.

A. emotionally neutral (中立的)   B.  amused   C. sad  D. annoyed

The seven-member Harvard Corporation elected Faust, a noted scholar of the American South and dean of Harvard's Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, as the university's 28th president. The 30-member board of overseers ratified the selection.
   Faust, 59, recognized the significance of her appointment. "I hope that my own appointment can be one symbol of an opening of opportunities that would have been inconceivable even a generation ago," Faust said at a news conference on campus. But she also added, "I'm not the woman president of Harvard, I'm the president of Harvard."

With Faust's appointment, half of the eight Ivy League schools will have a woman as president. Her selection caused another round of debates about equality at Harvard and nationwide after Summers' remarks that genetic differences between the sexes might help explain the lack of women in top science jobs.    

Faust has been dean of Radcliffe since 2001, two years after the former women's college was merged into the university as a research center with the mission to study gender issues. "This is a great day, and a historic day, for Harvard," said James R. Houghton, chairman of the presidential search committee.
   Some professors have quietly complained that the 371-year-old university is appointing a fifth consecutive president who is not a scientist. No scientist has had the top job since James Bryant Conant retired in 1953; its last four have come from the fields of classics, law, literature and economics. Faust is the first Harvard president who did not receive an undergraduate or graduate degree from the university since Charles Chauncy, an alumnus of Cambridge University in England, who died in office in 1672. She attended Bryn Mawr College and the University of Pennsylvania, where she was also a professor of history.
56. Who was appointed as the first female president in its 371-year history?

A. A woman scientist.

B. A historian without a Harvard degree.

C. The historian who made the comments that genetic differences between the sexes might help explain the lack of women in top scientific areas.

D. An alumnus of Harvard University.

57. Which of the following is not true?

A. Havard is one of Ivy League schools.
B. It was unbelievable decades ago for a woman to lead such a famous university.
C. Radcliffe, a former women's college, was merged into Harvard in 2001.

D. Radcliffe is a research center focusing on the world's issues and those of women in particular.

58. What does the underlined word in the first paragraph mean?

A. agreed with   B. witnessed    C. held   D. announced

59. What would be the best title for this news?

A. Faust becomes Harvard's first female president.

B. Being the president of Harvard is a tough job.

C. Faust being named president is a story about Harvard and women.

D. A historic day for Harvard and women.

  Some plays are so successful that they run for years on end. In many ways, this is __36__ for the poor actors who are required to go on repeating the same __37_ night after night. One would __3_8_ them to know their parts by heart and __39__ have cause to falter（结巴）. Yet __40_ is not always the case.

A famous actor in a __41_successful play was once cast in the role of an aristocrat __42_ had been imprisoned in Bastille for twenty years. In the last act, a jailer ( 监狱长，看守) would always come on to the stage with a letter which he would hand to the prisoner. __43_ the noble was expected to read the letter at each __44_ , he always insisted that it should be written out in full.

One night, the jailer decided to play a joke __45_ his colleague to find out if , after so many performances, he had managed to learn the __46_ of the letter by heart. The curtain went up on the final act of the play and revealed (使暴露) the aristocrat sitting alone behind bars in his dark cell. Just  then, the jailer __47___ with the precious letter in his hands. He entered the __48__ and presented the letter to the aristocrat. But the copy he gave him had not been written out in __49__ as usual. It was simply a blank sheet of paper. The jailer looked on eagerly, __50__ to see if his fellow actor had at last learnt his lines. The noble stared at the blank sheet of paper for a few seconds. Then, squinting (眯着眼看) his eyes, he said, “ The light is __51_. Read the letter to me.” And he promptly handed the sheet of paper to the jailer. __52_ that he could not remember a word of the letter either, the jailer replied, “The light is indeed dim , sir. I must get my __53_” With this, he hurried off the stage. Much to the aristocrat’s __54_ , the jailer returned a few moments later with a pair of glasses and the __55__ copy of the letter which he proceeded (继续进行) to read to the prisoner.

In front of me_______, where many athletes from all over the world will compete for Olympic gold medals.

A. stands the Water Cube   B. stand the Water Cube

C. the Water Cube stands   D. does the Water Cube stand

At minus 18 ℃, dumplings can be ______ for at least one month.

A. spared    B. protected   C. preserved D. developed

Shirley’s strong love for her hometown is ______ in her new songs.

A. relieved  B. reflected  C. responded D. recovered