Supermarkets are trying out new computers that make shopping carts more intelligent. They will help shoppers find cups or toilet soap and keep a recorder of the bill.

The touch-screen devices are on show at the Food Marketing Institute’s exhibition here this week, “These devices are able to create value and get you around the store quicker,” said Michael Alexander, manager of Springboard Retail Networks, which makes a smart cart computer called the Concierge.

Canadian stores will test the Concierge in July. A similar device, IBM’s “Shopping Buddy”, has recently been tested at Stop & Shop stores in Massachusetts.

Neither device tells you how many fat grams or calories are in your cart, but they will flash you with items on sale. The idea is to make it easier for people to buy, not to have second thoughts that maybe you should put something back on the shelf.

People can use a home computer to make their shopping lists. Once at the store, a shopper can use a preferred customer card to start a system that will organize the trip around the store. If you’re looking for toothpicks, you type in the word or pick it from a list, and a map will appear on the screen showing where you are and where you can find them.

The devices also keep a record of what you buy. When you finished, the devices figure out your bill. Then you go to the checker or place your card into a self-checkout stand and pay.

The new computerized shopping assistants don’t come cheap. The buddy devices will cost the average store about $160,000, and the Concierge will cost stores about $500 for each device.

1．The underlined word “they” (in paragraph 1) refers to ___  ___.

A．supermarkets            B．shop assistants  C．shopping carts      D．shopping managers

2．Which of the following is the correct order of customers shopping with computerized shopping carts?

a．start the system.                                    b．make a shopping list.

c．find the things they want.                         d．go to a self-checkout stand.

e．the screen tells their location

A．a,b,e,d,c                  B．b,a,e,c,d           C．b,a,e,d,c           D．a,e,b,c,d

3．What might be the most suitable title of the passage?

       A．New Age for Supermarkets

       B．Concierge and Shopping Buddy

       C．Computers Make Shopping Carts Smarter

       D．Touch-Screen Devices Make Shopping Enjoyable

4．All of the following about the devices are right except that             .

       A．they can tell you how much you will pay for your bill before you check

       B．they can tell you where you can find the things you want

       C．they will cost a large sum of money

       D．they are widely used in American and Canadian stores

Teens are more likely to behave badly if their parents expect them to，a new US study has found.
“Parents who believe they are simply being realistic might actually be having a bad effect on their children，” Christy Buchanan，a teacher at Wake Forest University and one of the authors of the study，said. “Bad expectations on the part of both parents and children predict more rebellious (叛逆的) behaviors later on.”
The finding came from a study of more than 250 sixth­ and seventh­graders and their mothers. They were examined at the start of the study and again one year later. If kids’ mothers expected them to take more risks and be more rebellious，higher chances of risky behavior were seen.This_was_also_true when kids had bad expectations of themselves.
“Sometimes parents expect more negative behavior from their children than they should based on the children’s history of behavior，” Buchanan said.Parents shouldn’t be naive (无知的) about the possibility of bad behavior，she said，but it’s also a mistake to think that children who are well­behaved will naturally become rebellious at the age of 13.
“By thinking risk­taking or rebelliousness is normal for teenagers and showing that to their children，parents might add to other messages from society that make teenagers feel that they are strange if they are not willing to take risks or break laws，” she said.“This can mean，for example，that when parents expect teens to drink before they turn 21 or to do other risky behaviors，kids are less likely to refuse to do so later in their lives.”
On the other hand，parents’ expectations that teens can exhibit good behaviors and refuse to behave badly or to take risks could help reduce the possibility of bad behavior，Buchanan said.“As a parent，you should put expectations on your children carefully.”
【小题1】The passage is centered around the topic of________.