PITTSBURGH – For most people, snakes seem unpleasant or even threatening. But Howie Choset sees in their delicate movements a way to save lives.
The 37-year-old Carnegie Mellon University professor has spent years developing snake-like robots he hopes will eventually slide through fallen buildings in search of victims trapped after natural disasters or other emergencies.
Dan Kara is president of Robotics Trends, a Northboro, Mass.-based company that publishes an online industry magazine and runs robotics trade shows. He said there are other snake-like robots being developed, mainly at universities, but didn’t know of one that could climb pipes.
The Carnegie Mellon machines are designed to carry cameras and electronic sensors and can be controlled with a joystick(操縱桿). They move smoothly with the help of small electric motors, or servos, commonly used by hobbyists in model airplanes.
Built from lightweight materials, the robots are about the size of a human arm or smaller. They can sense which way is up, but are only as good as their human operators, Choset added.
Sam Stover, a search term manager with the Federal Emergency Management Agency based in Indiana, said snake-type robots would offer greater mobility than equipment currently available, such as cameras attached to extendable roles.
“It just allows us to do something we’ve not been able to do before,” Stover said, “We needed them yesterday.”
He said snifter dogs are still the best search tool for rescue workers, but that they can only be used effectively when workers have access to damaged building.
Stover, among the rescue workers who handled the aftermath (后果) of Hurricane Katrina, said snake robots would have helped rescuers search flooded houses in that disaster.
Choset said the robots may not be ready for use for another five to ten years, depending on funding.  
小題1:Which institution is responsible for the development of Choset’s robots?
A．Robotics Trends.B．Pittsburgh City Council.
C．Carnegie Mellon University.D．Federal Emergency Management Agency.
小題2:Choset believes that his invention ______.
A．can be attached to an electronic arm
B．can be used by hobbyists in model airplanes
C．can find victims more quickly than a snifter dog
D．can sense its way no better than its operators
小題3:By saying “We needed them yesterday” (paragraph 7), Stover means that snake-like robots _____.
A．could help handle the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina
B．would have been put to use in past rescue work
C．helped rescuers search flooded houses yesterday
D．were in greater need yesterday than today
小題4:What is the text mainly about?
A．Snake-like robots used in industries.
B．Snake-like robots made to aid in rescues.
C．The development of snake-like robots.
D．The working principles of snake-like robots.

小題1:C
小題2:D
小題3:B
小題4:B

小題1:本題考查理解細(xì)節(jié)信息的能力。由第二段中“The 37-year-old Carnegie Mellon University professor has spent years developing snake-like robots ….”可知蛇形機(jī)器人研制者Howie Choset屬于Carnegie Mellon University。
小題2:本題考查理解細(xì)節(jié)信息的能力。由第五段中 “They can sense which way is up, but are only as good as their human operators, Choset added.”可知目前這種機(jī)器人性能還不夠完善，主要取決于操作者控制水平。
小題3:本題考查根據(jù)上下文猜測(cè)句子含義的能力。聯(lián)系下文提到的Hurricane Katrina 知道，Howie Choset很希望這種機(jī)器人能夠早日派上用場(chǎng)，挽救許多生命。注意would have done 的非真實(shí)的用法(虛擬語(yǔ)氣)。 
小題4:本題考查概括主旨大意的能力。本文為新聞報(bào)道，新聞的主旨一般開(kāi)篇指出，由第一段可知本文介紹了用于緊急情況救助的機(jī)器人。
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科目：高中英語(yǔ) 來(lái)源：不詳 題型：閱讀理解

About 40 percent of the top students in college entrance examinations have chosen overseas universities for their postgraduate studies, according to a survey.
Most of them have stayed overseas after finishing their intended courses, showed a survey that tracked 130 top performers in college entrance exams from 1977 to 1998.
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But Cai, who also led the survey team, said "top in exams" does not necessarily mean "top in career" because the study found none of the top students at college entrance exams had become a top Chinese expert or academic. Some of them are just more adaptable to exam-oriented education than their peers, experts said.      
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Wang hoped future reforms would do away with the score-oriented method so that students can be judged from all aspects.
1. What is the best title of the passage? (Please answer within 10 words)
2. Which sentence in the passage can be replaced by the following one?
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科目：高中英語(yǔ) 來(lái)源：不詳 題型：閱讀理解

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After a long pause, a boy raised his hand, “Have you ever seen a grasshopper(蚱蜢) eat? When I try eating leaves like that, I get a stomachache. Why?”
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Never push a child to “Think”. It doesn’t make sense, children are always thinking, without your telling them to. What’s more, this can turn a conversation into a performance. The child will try to find the answer you want, in as few words as possible, so that he will be a smaller target(目標(biāo)) for your disagreement.
Lastly, show; don’t tell. Real-life impressions of nature are far more impressive than any lesson children can learn from a book or a television program. Let children look at their fingertips through a magnifying glass(放大鏡), and they’ll understand why you want them to wash before dinner. Rather than saying that water evaporates(蒸發(fā)), set a pot of water to boil and let them watch the water level drop.
小題1:According to the passage, children are natural scientists, and to raise their interest, the most important thing for adults to do is _______.
A．to let them see the world around
B．to share the children’s curiosity
C．to explain difficult phrases about science
D．to supply the children with lab equipment
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A．a(chǎn)ny questionsB．a(chǎn)ny problems
C．questions from textbooksD．a(chǎn)ny number of questions
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A．a(chǎn)sk them to answer quickly
B．wait for one or two seconds after a question
C．tell them to answer the next day
D．wait at least for three seconds after a question
小題4:In which of the following paragraph(s) does the author tell us what to say to encourage children in a science discussion?
A．The second and third. B．The fourth and fifth.
C．The fifth and sixth. D．The seventh.
小題5:The author mentions all of the following techniques for adults to share with their children’s curiosity except that adults should ________.
A．tell their children stories instead of reciting(背誦) facts
B．offer their children chances to see things for themselves
C．be patient enough when their children answer questions
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科目：高中英語(yǔ) 來(lái)源：不詳 題型：閱讀理解

C
Do’s and Don’ts in Whale(鯨) Watching
The Department of Fisheries and Oceans has developed guidelines for whale watching in Johnstone Strait, where killer whales are found on a daily basis each summer. It is strongly recommended that vessel(船只) operators follow these guidelines for all kinds of whales.
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· Start your boat only after the whales are more than 100 metres from your vessel.
· Leave the area slowly, gradually moving faster when you are more than 300 metres from the whales.
· Approach and leave slowly, avoiding sudden changes in speed or direction.
· Avoid disturbing groups of resting whales.
· Keep at low speeds and remain in the same direction if traveling side by side with whales.
· When whales are traveling close to shore, avoid crowding them near the shore or coming between the whales and the shore.
· Limit the time spent with any group of whales to less than 30 minutes at a time when within 100 to 200 metres of whales.
· If there is more than one vessel at the same observation spot, be sure to avoid any boat position that would result in surrounding the whales.
· Work together by communicating with other vessels, and make sure that all operators are aware of the whale watching guidelines.
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A．Tour guides.B．Whale watchers.
C．Vessel operators.D．Government officials.
小題2:65. When leaving the observation areas, the vessel should ______.
A．move close to the beachB．increase speed gradually
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A．keep moving in the same directionB．surround the whales with other boats
C．travel closer and closer to the shoreD．take a good viewing position
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A new study finds that the animal known as man’s best friend can also be a good friend to the heart. Researchers in California say they have found that even just a short visit with a dog helped ease the worries of heart patients.               
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B．the dog is the most popular pet for man
C．the findings of the research cannot be trusted
D．visits by a human work better than visits by a dog
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D．it’s impossible for heart patients to recover without dogs’ visits
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科目：高中英語(yǔ) 來(lái)源：不詳 題型：閱讀理解

I was a freshman in college when I met the Whites. They were completely different from my own family, yet I felt at home with them immediately. Jane White and I became friends at school, and her family welcomed me like a long-lost cousin.
In my family, it was always important to place blame when anything had happened.
“Who did this?” my mother would scream about a dirty kitchen.
“This is your entire fault, Katherine,” my father would insist when the cat got out or the dishwasher broke.
From the time we were little, my sister, brothers and I told to each other. We set a place for blame at the dinner table.
But the Whites didn’t worry about who had done what. They picked up the pieces and moved on with their lives. The beauty of this was driven home to me the summer Jane died.
In July, the Whites sisters and I decided to take a car trip from their home in Florida to New York. The two older sisters, Sarah and Jane, were college students, and the youngest, Amy, had recently turned sixteen. Proud of having a new drivers license, Amy was excited about practicing her driving on the trip. She showed off her license to everyone she met.
The big sisters shared the driving of Sarah’s new car during the first part of the trip, but when they reached less crowded areas, they let Amy take over. Somewhere in South Carolina, we pulled off the highway to eat. After lunch, Amy got behind the wheel. She came to a crossroads with a stop sign. Whether she was nervous or just didn’t see the sign no one would ever know, but Amy continued into the crossroads without stopping. The driver of a large truck, unable to stop in time, ran into our car.
Jane was killed immediately.
I was slightly injured. The most difficult thing that I had ever done was to call the Whites to tell them about the accident and that Jane had died. Painful as it was for me to lose a good friend, I knew that it was far worse for them to lose a child.
When Mr. and Mrs. White arrived at the hospital, they found their two daughters sharing a room. Sarah had a few cuts on the head; Amy’s leg was broken. They hugged us all and cried tears of sadness and of joy at seeing their daughters. They wiped away the girl’s tears and made a few jokes at Amy as she learned to use her crutches(拐杖).
To both of their daughters, and especially to Amy, over and over they simply said, “We are so glad that you are alive.”
I was astonished. No blame. No accusations.
Later, I asked the Whites why they never talked about the fact that Amy was driving and had run a stop sign.
Mrs. White said, “Jane is gone, and we miss her terribly. Nothing we say or do will bring her back. But Amy has her whole life ahead of her. How can she lead a full and happy life if she feels we blame her for her sister’s death?”
They were right. Amy graduated from the University of California and got married several years ago. She works as a teacher of learning-disabled students. She’s also a mother of two little girls of her own, the oldest named Jane.
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A．The author’s parents were less caring.B．The author’s parents were less loving.
C．The author’s parents were less friendlyD．The author’s parents were less understanding
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A．Amy didn’t stop at a crossroad and a truck hit their car.
B．Amy didn’t know what to do when she saw the stop sign.
C．Amy didn’t slow down so their car ran into a truck.
D．Amy didn’t get off the highway at a crossroad.
小題3:The accident took place in _____.
A．FloridaB．CaliforniaC．South CarolinaD．New York
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A．they didn’t want Amy to feel ashamed and sorry for the rest of her life
B．Amy was badly injured herself and they didn’t want to add to her pain
C．They didn’t want to blame their children in front of others
D．Amy was their youngest daughter and they loved her best
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A．Amy has never recovered from the shockB．Amy changed her job after the accident
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科目：高中英語(yǔ) 來(lái)源：不詳 題型：閱讀理解

Children who drink alcohol with their parents are less likely to binge drink (狂飲)in later life, a recent report claimed yesterday.
The survey of 10,000 teens aged 15 and 16 found 75 per cent have drunk alcohol - but those who do it in moderation(適度地)at home are less likely to go on binges.
On the other hand, the findings contradict a recent call from charity Alcohol Concern for parents. Prof Mark Bellis, of Liverpool John Moores University, told Radio 4's Today programme that this would only make matters worse.
He said: "The key points are around people understanding alcohol, learning about alcohol, being set a good example by parents. Something that criminalises(宣布有罪) the parent is likely to stop these things happening."  
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Prof Bellis, whose team carried out the survey in schools in the North West, added: "By the age of 14 the majority are drinking.
"The question is, are they learning in a proper environment or learning behind the bushes in a park or in a bar?
"The chances are if they are in the latter position, they are learning to binge drink easily."
小題1:The author writes the passage mainly to tell us that________.
A．Home Drink Kids don’t Binge
B．A Recent Report on problem boozers is announced
C．Parents are a good example for children
D．The prevention of binging drink is possible
小題2:Which of the followings is WRONG according to the passage?
A．The report says children who drink alcohol with their parents have little chance to become boozers in later life easily.
B．Prof Mark Bellis thinks the findings doesn’t help prevent binge drink
C．Children learn to binge drink in an advantageous environment as well as in a bad situation.
D．Prof Mark Bellis thinks that parents should be a good model for children
小題3:Which of the following is the closest to the underlined word “contradict” in meaning ？
A．a(chǎn)re the same asB．a(chǎn)re similar to
C．think well ofD．disagree with
小題4:Prof Bellis thinks the key to dealing with the problem is________.
A．examples and understanding
B．education and punishment
C．lowering pocket money
D．law and advice centres
小題5:We can infer from the passage that________.
A．Parents should answer for those who binge drink
B．Drinking is a common and acceptable thing in Brtain
C．Well-behaved parents usaully don’t have children who binge drink
D．Teenagers who drink outside the home were more likely to develop drinking problems .

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科目：高中英語(yǔ) 來(lái)源：不詳 題型：閱讀理解

A month after Hurricane Katrina, I returned home in New Orleans. There lay my house, reduced to waist-high rains, smelly and dirty.
Before the trip, I’d had my car fixed. When the office employee of the garage was writing up the bill, she noticed my Louisiana license plate. “You from New Orleans?” she asked. I said I was, “No charge.” She said, and firmly shook her head when I reached for my wallet. The next day I went for a haircut, and the same thing happened.
As my wife was studying in Florida, we decided to move there and tried to find a rental house that we could afford while also paying off a mortgage(抵押貸款) on our ruined house. We looked at many places, but none was satisfactory. We’d began to accept that we’d have to live in extremely reduced circumstances for a while, when I got a very curious e-mail from a James Kemmedy in California. He’d read some pieces I’d written about our sufferings for state, the online magazine and wanted to give us (“no conditions attached”) a new house across the lake from New Orleans. It sounded a good to her return, but I replied, thinking him for his exceptional generosity, then we to go back. Then the University of Florida offered to let him house to me. While he want to England on his one year, paid leave. The rent was rather reasonable. I mentioned the poet’s offer to James Kemdedy, and the next day he sent a check covering our entire rent for eight months.
Throughout this painful experience, the kindness of strangers has done much to bring back my faith in humanity. It’s almost worth losing you wordy possessions to be reminded that people really when given had a channel.  
小題1:The garage employee’s attitude toward the author was that of        .
A．unconcern B．sympathyC．doubt D．tolerance
小題2:What do we know about James Kemnedy?
A．He was a written of an online magazine
B．He was a poet at the University of Florida
C．He offered the author a new house free of charge.
D．He learned about the author’s sufferings.
小題3:It can be inferred from the text that        .
A．the author’s family was in financial difficulty
B．rents were comparatively reasonable despite the disaster
C．houses were difficult to find in the hurricane stricken area
D．the mortgage on the ruined house was paid off by the bank
小題4:The author learned from his experience that        .
A．wordy possessions can be given up when necessary
B．generosity should be encouraged in some cases
C．people benefit from their sad stories
D．human beings are kind after all.
小題5:Which would be the best title for the text?
A．Terrible Hurricane Katrina.
B．Hurricane Is Heartless While Strangers Are Kind.
C．Study in Florida.
D．The Importance of Helping Others.

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科目：高中英語(yǔ) 來(lái)源：不詳 題型：閱讀理解

In only two decades Asian Americans have become the fastestgrowing U. S. minority. As their children began moving up through the nation schools, it became clear that a new class of academic achievers was emerging. Their achievements are reflected in the nation’s best universities, where mathematics, science and engineering departments have taken on a decidedly Asian character. This special liking for mathematics and science is partly explained by the fact that Asian-American students who began their education abroad arrived in the U. S. with a solid grounding in mathematics but little or no knowledge of English. They are also influenced by the promise of a good job after college. Asians feel there will be less unfair treatment in areas like mathematics and science because they will be judged more objectively. And the return on the investment in education is more immediate in something like engineering than with an arts degree.
Most Asian?American students owe their success to the influence of parents who are determined that their children take full advantage of what the American educational system has to offer. An effective measure of parental attention is homework. Asian parents spend more time with their children than American parents do, and it helps. Many researchers also believe there is something in Asian culture that breeds success, such as ideals that stress family values and emphasize education.
Both explanations for academic success worry Asian Americans because of fears that they feed a typical racial image. Many can remember when Chinese,Japanese and Filipino immigrants were the victims of social isolation. Indeed, it was not until 1952 that laws were laid down giving all Asian immigrants the right to citizenship.
8.While making tremendous achievements at college, Asian?American students           .
A.feel they are mistreated because of limited knowledge of English
B.are afraid that their academic successes bear a strong Asian character
C.still worry about unfair treatment in society
D.generally feel it a shame to have to depend on their parents
9.What are the major factors that determine the success of Asian Americans?
A.A solid foundation in basic mathematics and Asian culture.
B.Hard work and intelligence.
C.Parents’ help and a limited knowledge of English.
D.Asian culture and the American educational systerm.
10.Few Asian American students major in human sciences mainly because            .
A.their English is not good enough
B.they are afraid they might meet with unfair judgment in these areas
C.there is a wide difference between Asian and Western cultures
D.they know little about American culture and society
11.Why do “both explanations” (Para. 3) worry Asian Americans?
A.They are afraid that they will again be isloated from American society in general.
B.People will think that Asian students rely on their parents for success.
C.Asian Americans will be a threat to other minorities.
D.American academic achievements have taken on too strong an Asian character.

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