Many companies use guards and expensive alarm systems to protect their property(財(cái)產(chǎn))。 Soon a new kind of protection will be used- robots. Engineers have been working on the first mobile robots for businesses. The robots will patrol(巡邏) factories, warehoues(倉(cāng)庫(kù))，and museums at night.
The mobile robots will move around slowly on wheels. They will be able to detect people through walls and pick up sounds, such as breaking glass. They can be fixed with lound sirens(警笛) to frighten thieves, or radios to signal police or guards.
To protect a building, a robot will have to move around without knocking into the walls. Information about the building will have to be stored in the robot’s small, built-in computer. A floor map could be programmed into the computer’s memory, for example.
A mobile robot will not be able to do everything. Unlike human guards, it will not be able to climb stairs, open doors, or move along rough ground. It won’t be able to tell the difference between friends and enemies. Because of that, people will have to be barred from the area it patrols.
One kind of mobile robot will be able to “sense” whether a chair or box has been moved and go around it. This robot will also judge size well enough so that it won’t send an alam if a cat crosses the room. And if someone tries to steal this robot, it will sound a loud, painful siren. The three-foot-tall robot will be hard to steal anyway. It will weigh about 200 pounds.
U.S companies pay almost $10 billion a year to protect their property with alarm systems and human guards. Mobile robots may be cheaper.
【小題1】Why is the new kind of robots called mobile robots?

A．Because they are able to climb stairs.	B．Because they are able to send an alarm
C．Because they can open doors.	D．Because they can move around slowly on wheels

【小題2】 How will a robot get directions for moving around a building?

A．From a human guard .	B．From a built- in computer.
C．From another robot .	D．From radio signals.

【小題3】 What does the underlined word barred mean?

A．protected

B．a(chǎn)llowed .

C．marked

D．prevented

【小題4】 According to the text, a mobile robot will NOT be able to ___________.

A．sense whether something has been moved.	B．sense a cat crossing the room.
C．move over rough ground .	D．detect people through walls.

【小題5】This text mainly describes how robots will ___________.

A．protect the museum	B．set off a siren .
C．judge the size of a person.	D．patrol buildings.

Soon computers and other machines will be able to remember you by looking at your eyes! The programme works because everyone’s eyes are different. So in the future you won’t have to remember a number when you want to use a machine or take money out of a bank. You’ll just have to look at the machine and it will be able to tell who you are.
The eye-recognition(眼睛識(shí)別) programme is already being tested in shops and banks in the USA, Britain, Spain, Italy and Turkey. Soon, this technology will take the place of all other ways of finding out who people are.
However, scientists are working on other systems. Machines will soon be able to know you from the shape of your face or hand or even your smell! We already have machines that can tell who you are from your voice or the mark made by your finger.
Eye-recognition is better than other kinds because your eyes don’t change as you get older, or get dirty like hands or fingers. And even twins have different eyes, so the programme can be up to 94% correct, depending on(依靠) how good the technology is. Some programmes may only be right 51% of the time. In Britain, it was found that 91% of people who had tried it said that they liked the idea of eye-recognition.
In the future your computure will be looking at you in the eye. So smile!
【小題1】 How does the eye-recognition programme work?

A．You write your number.	B．You show your ID card.
C．You look at the machine.	D．You say your name.

【小題2】 Why can the programme be up to 94% correct?

A．Because eyes never change.

B．Because hands or fingers can get dirty.

C．Because people like the idea of the programme.

D．Because the programme is widely used around the world.

【小題3】 Which of the following is TRUE?

A．The programme is being tested in Japan.

B．Machines with other systems can also tell who you are.

C．91% people like the idea of the programme.

D．Computers can remember you by looking at your clothes.

【小題4】 What does Paragraph 4 talk about?

A．Introduction to other kinds of programmes.

B．Advantages of the programme.

C．The places where the programme is tested.

D．The way how the programme works.

What’s your dream vacation? Watching wildlife in Kenya? Boating down the Amazon? Sunbathing in Malaysia? New chances are opening up all the time to visit the world. So we visit travel companies, compare prices, and pay our money.
We know what our vacation costs us. But do we know what it might cost someone else? It’s true that many poorer countries now depend on tourism for foreign income. Unfortunately, though, tourism often harms the local(本地的) people more than it helps them.
It might cost their homes and lands. In Myanmar, 5,200 people were forced to leave their homes among the pagodas(佛塔) in Bagan so that tourists could visit the pagodas.
Tourism might also cost the local people their jobs and dignity(尊嚴(yán)). Local workers often find only low-paying jobs in the tourist industry. And most of the money do not help the local economy（經(jīng)濟(jì)）. Instead, money return to the tour operators in richer countries, When the Maasai people in Tanzania were driven from their lands, some moved to poor places of the city. Others now make a little money selling things or acting for photos.
Problems like these were noticed more than 20 years ago. But now tour operators and local governments are working together to begin correcting them. Tourists, too, are putting on the pressure.     
The result is “ethical（合乎職業(yè)道德的）tourism”. Ethical tourism has people at its heart. New international agreements and rules can help protect the people’s lands, homes, economies and cultures. The beginnings are small, though, and the problems are complex(復(fù)雜的).
But take heart. The good news is that everyone, including us, can play a part to help the local people in the places we visit. Tour operators and companies can help by making sure that local people work in good conditions and earn the money they should get.
They can make it a point to use only locally owned hotel, restaurants and guide services. They can share some money to help the local economy. And they can help the local people plan and manage tourism.
What can tourists do? First, we can ask tour companies to provide information about the conditions of local people. We can then make our choices and tell them why. And while we’re abroad, we can:
Buy local foods and products.
Pay a fair price for goods and services and not bargain for the cheapest price.
Ask before taking photographs of people.
They are not just part of the scenery!
Let’s enjoy our vacation and make sure others do, too.
【小題1】Which of the following is not mentioned?

A．Local people protected the pagodas in Bagan well.

B．Tourists may stay in hotels opened by local people.

C．Local people are mainly provided with low-paying work.

D．Tourists had better not bargain with local people for a cheap price.

【小題2】 The underlined phrase "take heart" means"      ".

A．pay attention

B．take care

C．cheer up

D．give up

【小題3】 According to the passage, the writer thinks          .

A．tourism is not a promising industry

B．dream vacations should be spent abroad

C．the problems caused by tourism are easy to settle

D．tourists should respect local customs and cultures

【小題4】What is probably the best title for the passage?

A．Tourism Causes Bad Effects.	B．Tourism Calls for Good Behavior.
C．Vacations Bring a Lot of Fun.	D．Vacations Cost More Than You Think.

Thinking is something you choose to do as a fish chooses to live in water. To be human is to think. But thinking may come naturally without your knowing how you do it. Thinking about thinking is the key to critical(批判性的) thinking. When you think critically, you take control of your thinking processes（過程）. Otherwise, you might be controlled by the ideas of others. Indeed, critical thinking is at the heart of education.
The word “critical” here has a special meaning. It does not mean taking one view against another view, as when someone criticizes another person for doing something wrong. The nature of critical thinking is thinking beyond the easily seen--beyond the pictures on TV, the untrue reports in the newspapers, and the faulty reasoning.
Critical thinking is an attitude as much as an activity. If you are interested in life and want to dig deeper into it, you are a critical thinker. If you find pleasure in deep thinking about different ideas, characters, and facts, you are a critical thinker.
Activities of the mind and higher-order reasoning（推理）are processes of deep and careful consideration. They take time, and do not go hand in hand with the fast speed in today’s world: fast foods, instant coffee, and self-developing film. If you are among the people who believe that speed is a measure（尺度）of intelligence（智慧）, you may learn something new from a story about Albert Einstein. The first time Banesh Hoffman, a scientist, was to discuss his work with Albert Einstein. Hoffman was too nervous to speak. But Einstein immediately made Hoffman feel comfortable by saying, “Please go slowly. I don’t understand things quickly.” 
【小題1】Critical thinking is important to us because if we do not think critically, _______.

A．it will be hard for us to think naturally and fast

B．we might be controlled by other people’s ideas

C．we will follow the ideas of others naturally

D．we might be fooled by other people’s ideas

【小題2】If you are a critical thinker, you will ________.

A．take one view against another view

B．trust the reports in the newspapers

C．think deeply about different ideas

D．criticize other people for their mistakes

【小題3】 In the last paragraph, “something new” suggests that ________.

A．speed can improve intelligence

B．intelligence is not decided by speed

C．the smarter you are, the faster you do things

D．the faster you do things, the smarter you become

    Colourful fruit and vegetables are good for our health. Their natural colours help protect our bodies from disease(病，疾病). Think about the colours of fruit and vegetables: the red of tomatoes, the orange of carrots, the green of kiwi and the purple of grapes.
You can enjoy eating fruit and vegetables of all colours---green, yellow, blue, purple, and white. Each colour is important to our health. These colours work together to protect our bodies. Scientists have studied them and discovered the good of colourful fruit and vegetables. The list below shows the good of some colours in fruit and vegetables:
Red gives us a healthy heart. It can reduce(減少，降低) heart disease. Red helps improve our memory(記憶力).
Yellow is good for our eyes.
White can reduce cholesterol (膽固醇) .
Green is good for our eyes, too. It also gives us strong bones and teeth.
Blue helps us keep a good memory as we grow old. It also help fight heart disease. So when you are buying or eating fruit and vegetables, remember to try different colours of fruit and vegetables.
【小題1】Red can reduce___________.

A．eye disease

B．cholesterol

C．reduce cholesterol

D．heart disease

【小題2】Which colour can improve our memory?
A. Red.          B. Green.          C. Blue.            D. A and C.
【小題3】If you want to keep your body strong, which colours are good for you

A．Red and green.	B．Yellow and blue.
C．White and orange.	D．All the above.

【小題4】The passage mainly tells us_____________.

A．the importance of colourful fruit and vegetables

B．white can reduce cholesterol

C．yellow is also good for our eyes

D．green gives us strong bones and teeth

When you are learning English, you find it not clever to put an English sentence, word for word, into your own language. Take the sentence "How do you do?" as an example. If you look up each word in the dictionary, one at a time, what is your translation (翻譯)? It must be a wrong sentence in your own language.
Languages do not just have different sounds, they are different in many ways. It’s important to master(掌握) the rules(規(guī)則) for word order (順序) in the study of English, too. If the speaker puts words in a wrong order, the listener can’t understand the speaker’s sentence easily.Sometimes when the order of words in an English sentence is changed, the meaning of the sentence changes. But sometimes the order is changed, the meaning of the sentence doesn’t change.
Let’s see the difference between the two sentences:"She only likes apples. " "Only she likes apples. "
When you are learning English, you must use it as the English speaker does.
【小題1】From the passage we know that _______when we are learning English.

A．we shouldn’t put every word into our own language

B．we should look up (查閱) every word in the dictionary

C．we need to put every word into our own language

D．we must read word by word

【小題2】 The writer thinks it is________in learning English.

A．difficult to understand different sounds

B．possible to remember the word order

C．important to master the rules in different ways

D．easy to master the rules for word order

【小題3】We can learn from the passage that_______.

A．the meaning of an English sentence always changes with the order of the words

B．the order of words can never change the meaning of an English sentence

C．sometimes different order of words has a different meaning

D．if the order of words is different, the meaning of the sentence must be different

Everybody can suffer from stress．No matter what your age is，you can feel stressed out by things that are happening in your life．Teenagers，however，have many more opportunities to get stressed than people in any other age group．Being a teenager is hard．You are not a child any more，but you are not an adult，even though you have to deal with some very grown-up problems and decisions．Families can be one of the biggest causes of stress，such as problems with parents arguing at home．or problems with brothers and sisters．Teenagers also have a lot of stress from school，either from their teachers or from their friends．Some teenagers also feel stressed about choosing their education after high school．Getting a place at university can be very difficult and some cannot afford to go to university．The stress about getting a job when finishing school is hard for some teenagers．There are so many young people finishing school and not enough jobs for them．Sadly，there is nothing we can do to remove these causes of stress from the 1ives of teenagers，but you can learn the best way to deal with it．Talking to people is one of the best ways to deal with stress．It may sound simple，but it is true．A problem shared is a problem halved．
【小題1】Why is being a teenager often difficult?

A．Because even though you are not an adult，you must deal with adult problems．

B．Because even though you are an adult，you must deal with children’s problems．

C．Because even though you are a teenager，you must do a lot of homework．

D．Because adults often make them feel stressed．

【小題2】Families can add to the stress a teenager might experience ________．

A．by asking them to go to university

B．by helping them with their homework

C．a(chǎn)s teenagers quarrel with their parents，and their brothers or sisters

D．a(chǎn)s families never support their children enough

【小題3】Why can leaving school be a stressful time for teenagers?

A．Because they will be leaving their favourite teachers．

B．Because many people’s favourite memories are at school．

C．Because they may worry about getting a place at university．

D．Because they may worry about becoming an adult．

【小題4】Why can finding a job after finishing school be difficult?

A．Because there is a lot of competition for jobs．

B．Because there are no jobs．

C．Because a job is more difficult than school work．

D．Because there is a lot of competition for places at university．

【小題5】We can deal with the stress in our life ________．

A．by not trying to find a job

B．by forgetting about our problems

C．by getting a place at university

D．by sharing our problems with our friends

People cannot reach an agreement on the use of science and technology. For example, will radiation from electronic equipment destroy the environment? Should medical scientists change gene structures to prevent genetic disease or to create “more perfect” human beings? While people are arguing about these and others, technology continues to influence our everyday lives—the home, health and education, entertainment and communication, and so on.
Some people carry on active social lives with computers —their own or the ones in public places like cafes, social centers, libraries, and so on. Communicating with others in chat rooms,  computer users can get to know people they might never meet in traditional ways. With live online video connections, two people with cameras in their computers can see and talk to each other from separate places.
With modern telephone technology, most people stopped writing lettters—especially personal letters and notes. But now, writing to communicate has returned in electronic form, or e-mail, which is a way of sending messages from one computer to another. For some computer users, the wish to communicate intelligently or creatively with others makes them want to write better.
Computer technology has also made it possible to run a house electronically. From turning lights on and off to starting the coffee and cooking the hot meal, computers are taking care of people at home. Many modern machines have computer chips that allow their owners to program them. For instance, you can “instruct” a microwave oven how to cook a dish. Most entertainment equipment operates with computer technology too. Computers can even start cars automatically so that on cold winter mornings you can get into a warmed-up vehicle and drive off.
Although much of the technology in our everyday lives has good effects, there are some uses that raise questions. For example, are interactive media ( i.e., a combination of television, telephone, and computer) going to control minds, cause people to forget about family life and personal relationships? What effects will the genentic engineering of food have on people’s health? High-tech medical treatments can make a person live a much longer life, but can they improve the health and happiness of human beings? Only time will tell, but, in the meantime, science and technology will continue to move forward. 
【小題1】What does the underlined word “ chips” mean?

A．thin pieces of potatoes

B．small holes

C．small pieces of wood

D．central parts

【小題2】 We can know from the passage that _________.

A．technology never stops changing our everyday lives

B．with computers each of us can live a comfortable life

C．people can do more activities with computers

D．the more you use computers, the better you might write

【小題3】 What can we infer from the underlined sentence in the last paragraph?

A．The longer you live, the happier you are.

B．High-tech medical treatments can’t improve our health and happiness.

C．High-tech medical treatments can’t help us with everything.

D．The writer questioned high-tech medical treatments somehow.

【小題4】What is the best title for the passage?

A．Science and New Technology	B．Computers Change Our Lives
C．Everyday Uses of Technology	D．Only Time Will Tell

The Bermuda Triangle(百慕大三角)is in the Atlantic Ocean, near Florida in the USA. During the past 60 years, more than 1,000 seamen in ships and pilots in planes have lost their lives. It is known as “The Triangle of Death”for its strange seawater and sudden storms. What’s the strangest is the light of the seawater, which looks so bright that it can be seen even from an outer spaceship.
　　At 2:00p.m. on Dec. 5, 1945, five planes took off in fine weather from the airport of Florida, on a training task. Two hours later, the leader in the sky radioed that he was “completely lost”. Then there was silence. Another plane was sent to look for them and also disappeared.
　　One of the largest ship that had disappeared in the triangle was an American coal ship, 500meters long. The weather was good, and there were no messages for help before it was “gone”. No broken ships or dead bodies have been found so far.
　　No one is able to tell how all these accidents have happened. A group of Japanese scientists were there to see what it was really like in 1995, but nothing has been heard of them ever since.
【小題1】 What is the passage mainly about?

A．How the Bermuda Triangle ate up the planes and ships.

B．Why many of the planes and ships have disappeared.

C．Strange accidents happened in the Bermuda Triangle, no one can tell why

D．When the Bermuda Triangle was formed very strangely.

【小題2】 How many planes had lost in December 1945?

A．Five.

B．Six.

C．Seven.

D．Eight.

【小題3】 What does the underline word “radioed” mean?

A．Wrote sound message using a radio.

B．Listened to sound message using a radio.

C．Sent sound message using a radio.

D．Received sound message using a radio.

【小題4】 Why was the leader in the plane lost?

A．He met with terrible weather.

B．He was losing the right direction.

C．Airport didn’t give him an answer.

D．The reasons are still unknown.

【小題5】 What about the group of Japanese scientists who went to Bermuda?

A．They have also disappeared very strangely.

B．They have not heard of anything important.

C．They are still working hard in Bermuda.

D．They’ve come back, knowing nothing about it.

If someone is lost in a forest( 森林 ), he needs only study the trees around him carefully to find his way. On this half of the earth, he will find that the side of the tree with the most leaves and branches(樹枝 ) is the south side. Also, by checking the tops of the trees, he will find that they lean(傾斜 ) to the south too.
Another sign( 標(biāo)志物) for him to know where he is going is found in the bark.( 樹皮) That is brighter on the south side.The remanining(樹樁 ) of a cut tree is also a finder, for its rings can give him another sign. The rings will be thinner on the south side and thicker on the north side.
One more sign: some very small plants grow at the foot of a tree and they point to the north.
【小題1】 The passage is mainly about __________.
how to find a big tree if one is lost in the forest.
How to cut down trees in the forest
How to find the direction(方向 )in the forest
How to grow trees in the forest .
【小題2】 From a cut tree we can know that ___________.

A．the direction is written on it

B．the rings will be thinner on the south side and thicker on the north side

C．the rings will be thinner on the south

D．its rings can send messages to you

【小題3】 The passage tells us __________ ways of finding the direction in the frorest.

A．three

B．four

C．five

D．six