TOKYO, JAPAN--What do you do when you see a cockroach (蟑螂）？ Do you hit it with a newspaper? Do you step on it?

When researchers at Tokyo University see a cockroach, they take the remote control and make the cockroach turn around, run left or right, or go forward. These scientists are changing the cockroaches into robots. Each cockroach has a very small pack that has in it a microprocessor(微处理器）.Then researchers can send signals from the remote control to the pack. The signals control the movements of the cockroaches.

Why does anyone want to control a cockroach? “Insects can do many things that people can’t,” says Isao Shimoyama, head of robot research at Tokyo University. In a few years, he says, these robot insects will carry very small cameras. They will be able to move through earthquake rubble(瓦砾）to look for people or move under doors to find information about someone.

This may seem strange, but the Japanese government thinks the research is very important. The government is giving the scientists $ 5 million for this research.

First, the researchers breed (培育)hundreds of cockroaches. They use only the American cockroach because it is bigger and stronger than other cockroaches. Then they choose the best cockroaches and remove their wings and antennae(触须）. They put small packs where the antennae were. The packs weigh about three grams, or about two times the weight of the cockroaches themselves. “Cockroaches are very strong,” says Ralph Holzer, who is a researcher at Tokyo University. “They can lift 20 times their own weight. ”

With a remote control, the scientists send signals to the packs. When a cockroach gets the signal, it moves. The problem is that the cockroaches don’t always move in the right direction.

1.The scientists are changing the cockroaches into robots because ______.

2.What can cockroaches do to help people?

3.Scientists control cockroaches’ movements ______.

4.What problem do the rcscarchcrs meet with?

Hip-hop dancing (街舞)  is popular with many young people today. They like it because they can invent their own moves. They use this dance to show their love for life. It also shows that they feel good about life, that they just want to be themselves and enjoy life, and that they are not afraid of problems.
Hip-hop dancing has a history of more than 20 years. It first began in the 1980s in the USA. In early times, in New York and Los Angles, many young black people often danced to the music in the streets. They used their legs, arms, heads and even shoulders to dance. Many young people still use most of these moves today.
Hip-hop dancing became popular all over the world because of the 1983 film Flashdance. Some people performed (表演) Hip-hop dancing in the movie. People enjoyed their performance. They began to dance like them. Then it became popular. There are two kinds of Hip-hop dancing: new school and old school. More and more young people are learning Hip-hop dancing. People believe that it is a good way to exercise their bodies, and that it is good for their health.
【小题1】 Young people like Hip-hop dancing because_______.
A. It has a story of more than 20 years.    
B. It first began in the USA.
C. They can invent their own moves     
D. Many young black people often dance it.
【小题2】 At first , people can see Hip-hop dancing ________.

For most people, the word "fashion (时尚)" means "clothes". But people may ask the question, "What clothes are in fashion?" And they use the word "fashionable" in the same way:

"She was wearing a fashionable coat. His shirt was really a fashionable colour. "

But of course there are fashions in many things, not only in clothes. There are fashions in holidays, in restaurants, in films and books. There are even fashions in school subjects, jobs ... and in languages.

Fashions change as time goes. If you look at pictures of people or things from the past, you will see that fashions have always changed. An English house of 1750 was different from one of 1650. A fashionable man in 1780 looked very different from his grandson in 1860.

Today fashions change very quickly. Some of this is natural. We hear about things much more quickly than in the past. Newspapers, radios, telephones and television send information from one country to another in a few hours.

New fashions mean that people will buy new things, so you see there is money in fashion.

1.Most people think that "fashion" means __________.

2.By          we can see that fashions change as time goes.

3.In the 5th paragraph the writer mentions            kinds of ways to send information.

4."There is money in fashion" means

5.The passage is mainly about              .

Mary likes to invent things. She creates a new language and teaches it to her friend, Jean. Mary and Jean like to talk to each other in their own language because they think no one understands them and it is funny. When they go shopping, they say things like: “Look! He is fat.” “This CD is awful.” “I want to eat free hamburgers.” A clerk comes but he can’t understand what they say. He asked them: “May I help you?” Mary and Jean just laugh. What fun it is to create something new.
【小题1】Which is Mary’s invention?