1、AIt can greet people, show DVDs and hand out balloons. “Ubiko”, a robot-onwheels with a catlike face, is joining the crew of temporary workers supplied by a Japanese job-referral company, Ubiquitous Exchange, to stores, events and even weddings. Next month, the 44-inch tall robot will be selling mob
2、ile phones at a store. Ubiko can be hired as a temporary worker for two hours for 105,000 yen, or $890. “We see this as serious business. There are jobs that robots are better at,” Akiko Sakurai said “people do develop a relation with the robot, and its lovable.” The $255,000 robot, which is equippe
3、d with a camera and sensors, greets customers with a nasal electronic voice, shows DVDs with a projector in its head and hands out balloons and other goods with wireless remote-controllable arms. Ubiko sounds like a Japanese female name, which often ends with “ko”. Tmsuk, the Japanese company that m
4、akes the robot, sold three last month to hospital, where they are working as full-time, rather than temporary, receptionists and guides. One of the hospitals robots serves as a receptionist and has been programmed to greet visitors. It also has a touch-panel(控制板) on its body, and visitors can use it
5、 to get directions for where they want to go. “Just give it electricity, and a robot can work for long hours, even do repetitive work, and you dont have to worry about labor laws,” Sudo said.Japans lower birth rate means that in the coming years it could face a labor shortage, and some experts belie
6、ve robots could be part of the key to that problem. Robots are very popular in Japan partly because of the popularity of cartoons that describe robots as friends and assistants to humans.56. The news report is mainly to _.A. give praise to advanced robots in Japan B. introduce the development of rob
7、ots in JapanC. tell readers the advantage of the robots in Japan D. introduce a newly-developed robot in Japan57. We can learn from the passage that _.A. the price of Ubiko is $890 B. the purpose for a store to buy the robot is to greet customersC. Ubiko can work for long hours without using energyD
8、. three robots have been sold to a hospital58. Which of the following can be inferred about Ubiko according to the passage?A. It sounds beautiful, like a girls voice. B. It is named after a Japanese girl.C. It will have a wider market. D. It was designed for hospitals.59. Which of the following make
9、s robots more popular in Japan?A. The low price of robots. B. The interesting shapes of robots.C. The function of showing DVDs and handing out balloons.D. Cartoons showing good relationship between robots and humans.60. Which of the following about Ubiko is NOT true?A. It has a face of female. B. Th
10、ere is a projector in its head.C. It is equipped with a camera and sensors. D. It has wireless remote-controllable arms. BSurprisingly, no one knows how many children receive education in English hospitals, still less the content or quality of that education. Proper records are just not kept. We kno
11、w that more than 850,000 children go through hospital each year, and that every child of school age has a legal right to continue to receive education while in hospital. We also know there is only one hospital teacher to every 1,000 children in hospital.Little wonder the latest survey concludes that
12、 the extent and type of hospital teaching available differ a great deal across the country. It is found that half the hospitals in England which admit children have no teacher. A further quarter have only a part-time teacher. The special childrens hospitals in major cities do best; general hospitals
13、 in the country and holiday areas are worst off. From this survey, one can estimate that fewer than one in five children have some contact with a hospital teacherand that contact may be as little as two hours a day. Most children interviewed were surprised to find a teacher in hospital at all. They
14、had not been prepared for it by parents or their own school. If there was a teacher they were much more likely to read books and do math or number work; without a teacher they would only play games. Reasons for hospital teaching range from preventing a child falling behind and maintaining the habit
15、of school to keeping a child occupied, and the latter is often all the teacher can do. The position and influence of many teachers was summed up when parents referred to them as “the library lady” or just “the helper”. Children tend to rely on concerned school friends to keep in touch with school wo
16、rk. Several parents spoke of requests for work being ignored or refused by the school. Once back at school children rarely get extra teaching, and are told to catch up as best they can. Many short-stay child-patients catch up quickly. But schools do very little to ease the anxiety about falling behi
17、nd expressed by many of the children interviewed.61. Which of the following statement is true?A. Every child in hospital receives some teaching. B. Not enough is known about hospital teaching. C. Hospital teaching is of poor quality. D. The special childrens hospitals are worst off.62. It can be inf
18、erred from the latest survey that_.A. hospital teaching across the country is similar B. each hospital has at least one part-time teacherC. all hospitals surveyed offer education to children D. only one-fourth of the hospitals have a full-time teacher63. The hospital teachers are found_.A. not welco
19、med by the children and their parents B. unnecessaryC. not quite helpful D. capable64. In order to catch up with their school work, children in hospital usually turn to_.A. hospital teachers B. schoolmates C. parents D. school teachers 65. We can conclude from the passage that the author is_.A. unfa
20、vorable towards children receiving education in hospitalsB. in favor of the present state of teaching in hospitalsC. unsatisfied with the present state of hospital teachingD. satisfied with the results of the latest surveyCOne of the main challenges facing many countries is how to maintain their ide
21、ntity in the face of globalization and the growing multi-language trend. “One of the main reasons for economic failure in many African countries is the fact that, with a few important exceptions, mother-tongue education is not practiced in any of the independent African states. said Neville Alexande
22、r. Doctor of the Project for the Study of Alternative Education in South Africa at the University of Cape Town. In response to the spread of English and the increased multi-language trends arising from Immigration, many countries have introduced language laws in the laws in the last decade. In some,
23、 the use of languages other than the national language is banned in public spaces such as advertising posters. One of the first such legal provisions(条款) was the 1994 Toubon law in France, but the idea has been copied in many countries since then. Such efforts to govern language use are often dismis
24、sed as futile by language experts, who are well aware of the difficulty of controlling fashions in speech and know from research that language switching among bilinguals is a natural process.It is especially difficult for native speakers of English to understand the desire to maintain the purity of
25、a language by law. Since the time of Shakespeare, English has continually absorbed foreign words into its own language. English is one of the most mixed and rapidly changing languages in the world. But that has not been a barrier to acquiring prestige(声誉)and power. Another reason for the failure of
26、many native English speakers to understand the role of state regulation is that it has never been the Anglo-Saxon way of doing things. English has never had a state-controlled authority for the language, similar, for example, to the Academic Francaise in France.The need to protect national languages
27、 is, for most western Europeans, a recent phenomenon- especially the need to ensure that English does not unnecessarily take over too many fieldsPublic communication, education and new modes of communication promoted by technology, may be key fields to defend.66. Neville Alexander believes that . A.
28、 mother-tongue education is not practiced in all African countries B. lack of mother-tongue education can lead to economic failure C. globalization has led to the rise of multi-language trends D. globalization has resulted in the economic failure of Africa67. The underlined word futile(in paragraph
29、2) most probably means _ . A. useless B. practical C. workable D. necessary68. Why do many English-speaking countries not support the language protection efforts described in the passage? A. They think language protection laws are ineffective B. They want their language to spread to other countries
30、C. They have a long history of taking words from other languages D. It reduces a languages ability to acquire international importance69. What can we infer from the last paragraph? A. English has taken over fields like public communication and education B. Europeans have long realized the need to pr
31、otect their national Languages C. Most language experts believe it is important to promote a national language D. Many aspects of national culture are threatened by the spread of English70. The best title for the passage is . A. Fighting against the rule of English B. Globalization and multi-language trends C. Protecting local languages and identities D. to maintain the purity of language by law 55-60 DDCDA 61-65 BDCBC 66-70 BACDC
