Unit 3 Life in the future.閱讀理解Some young engineers from the United States have brought the Internet to several areas of rural Kenya. Their idea was to connect the communities to the Web by satellite. But there was a problem. The areas are not even connected to Kenyas electric power supply. The answer: solar panels. Energy from the sun powers the satellite dishes(蝶形衛(wèi)星天線) and computers that link the areas with the world outside. Kelly Moran, Joan Ervin and Tricia Donajkowski spent ten days in Kenya in November. The women recently earned masters degrees in space systems engineering from the University of Michigan. Another engineer, Drew Heckathorn, did not go to Africa but worked on parts of the project.Kelly Moran says there was excitement when the team would arrive to connect communities to the Internet. People would sometimes run alongside the car carrying the engineers to welcome them. And local residents would offer to help the team build the Internet stations.People now have access to educational, medical and all kinds of other information. Farmers, for example, can easily find weather, crop and price information online.The project began back at the college of engineering in Ann Arbor, Michigan, in 2007. That was when twenty five students in a class taught by Thomas Zurbuchen first talked about the idea. The goal was to test whether Internet stations could be set up, how much they would cost, and how long they could operate. But the engineers also had to consider others thingslike social needs. Students from the public health and business schools offered advice.The young engineers also had to design the equipment to survive the heat in Africa. Professor Zurbuchen praises his former students for “making something work in a different climate far away from home.” Google paid for the final design of the equipment. The company is also supporting the costs of the satellite bandwidth needed for the connections. Google has invested in a new company that wants to put up a system of satellites over Africa. The availability of more satellites would reduce the costs. Just five percent of Africans have Internet connections. The International Telecommunication Union says one-third of Kenyans have mobile phones. But mobile phones may or may not work well with the Internet. 1.What is the main idea of the whole passage? A.Solar energy has been used to operate the Internet. B.Engineers from America to help the communities in Kenya. C.The Internet stations to be set up in some areas of rural Kenya. D.The Internet to play an important part in peoples life in Kenya. 2.Why did Google give the project financial support? A.It intends to help to rid Kenyas residents of poverty. B.The use of satellites would benefit a lot its business in Kenya. C.The project is one of its investments in Africa. D.It wants to test whether its equipment is the best in the world. 3.The underlined part in the ninth paragraph suggests that _. A.what Kelly and her partners will do will make a difference to the residents in KenyaB.it is difficult for Kelly and her partners to build the Internet stations in Kenya C.the climate in Kenya is so bad that Kelly and her partners will have difficulty in building the Internet stationsD.To help Kenya build the Internet stations, Kelly and her partners have to leave their homes 4.From the passage we can learn that_. A.the idea of building the Internet stations in Kenya was put forward by Professor ZurbuchenB.the Internet stations are powered by solar energyC.the project hasnt got any support from Kenyas governmentD.Professor Zurbuchen is giving the project the technical directionWhy do human beings still risk their lives under ground and doing one of the dirtiest and most dangerous jobs in the world? Its an increasingly urgent question, given the recent highprofile（引人注目的）mining accidents in Sago, W.Va, and Huntington, Utah. A small group of engineers and robotics experts envision(展望) a day in the not-too-distant future when robots and other technology do most of the dangerous mining work.One of the first mining robots was developed five years ago at CarnegieMellon Universitys Robotics Institute. It was called Groundhog and it looked like a golf cart. It used lasers to “see” in dark tunnels and map abandoned minessome of the most dangerous work in the business. The latest prototype is called Cave Crawler. Its a bit smaller than Groundhog, and even more advanced. It can take photos and video and has sensors mounted（裝置） that can detect the presence of dangerous gases. Incredibly, the robot has a real sense of logic. If it comes across an obstacle it gets momentarily confused, it has to think through the process and where to go next, and sometimes it throws a fit just like a real person.The biggest obstacle, though,is cost. The original research project was federally funded, but that money has dried up, and its not clear where future funding will come from. Partly for that reason, and partly because of advances in safety, mining is not nearly as dangerous as it was in the past. Since 1990, deaths have declined by 67 percent, and injuries by 51 percent, according to the National Mining Association. Some experts predict that robots in mines will serve much of the same function that they do in the automotive industry. The robots do the most repetitive and dangerous jobs, but dont eliminate the need for human workers.5.The phrase “throw a fit” in 3rd paragraph probably means_.A.get angry B.get shockedC.become excited D.become cheerful6.The latest robot is more advanced than Groundhog mainly because_.A.It can map abandoned minesB.Its a bit smaller than GroundhogC.It can see in the dark tunnelD.The robot has a real sense of logic7.We can infer from the last paragraph that_.A.the mine robots will have a very bright futureB.robots in mines will serve much in the automotive industryC.there will be no need for human workers in minesD.robots in mines have a long way to go8.Which of the following can be the best title of this passage?A.High-profile mining accidents in AmericaB.Could robots replace humans in minesC.The development of robotD.Cave Crawler, the latest robot.語(yǔ)法填空Many books have been writing about “the art of giving”. But what about the art of receiving? 1. (receive) a gift sometimes can be difficult, especially 2. someone buys you a gift you dont want!“I remember when it was my 3. (twelve) birthday, my parents bought me a purple purse,” laughed Angella. “It 4. （real） made me feel embarrassed, because to be honest, I thought the purse was ugly! Still, I pretended that I liked it because I knew it would make my parents happy.”Allan agrees. “That sounds like my grandparents! A few years ago, my grandparents gave me an orange sweater for my birthday. I 5. (wear) it every time I visited them, but when I left their house, I took it 6. ! Of course, this made me feel guilty. It was a very nice thought, but my grandparents and I have different tastes! I think 7. hard to buy clothes or other personal things for people.”To make things 8. (easy), some people would rather just give money. In some countries, however, receiving money can make people uncomfortable. “When someone gives me money, it just makes me think theyre being lazy,” says John Wilson. “In England, we have a saying: Its the thought 9. counts. When someone gives me money, I feel they didnt think at all. I prefer to receive a gift that has some thought behind it. I dont mind it 10. its something I dont need. When someone has thought about a gift for me, it always makes me happy.”.短文改錯(cuò)Once, when 1 was a teenager, my father and I were standing in line to buy tickets for the circus. Finally, there was only one family among us and the ticket counter.This family made deep impression on me. There were eight children, both probably under the age of twelve. You could tell they didnt have a lot of money. Their clothes was not expensive, and they were clean. The children were wellbehaved, all of us standing in line, twobytwo behind their parents, held hands. They were excitedly talking about the clowns, elephants and another performances where that they would see that night. Everyone could sense they have never been to the circus before. 書(shū)面表達(dá)假如你是某中學(xué)學(xué)生李華，剛從美國(guó)交流學(xué)習(xí)回來(lái)。你的美國(guó)好友Simon送給你一款MP3播放器。請(qǐng)你根據(jù)以下提示，用英語(yǔ)給他寫(xiě)一封電子郵件，表示你非常喜歡這件禮物。1.你喜歡禮物的原因；2.禮物帶給你的好處；3.你的期待和愿望。注意：1.詞數(shù) 100左右。2.可以適當(dāng)增加細(xì)節(jié)，以使行文連貫。答案閱讀理解A語(yǔ)篇導(dǎo)讀：本文主要講了美國(guó)的一些年輕工程師把網(wǎng)絡(luò)帶到了肯尼亞的一些貧窮的地方，使那里的人們利用網(wǎng)絡(luò)接觸外面的社會(huì)。這一想法是在一次課堂上萌發(fā)的。他們所做的一切對(duì)肯尼亞人們的生活產(chǎn)生了一定的影響。 1.C主旨大意題。根據(jù)文章總的內(nèi)容可以看出是美國(guó)的一些工程師將在肯尼亞建立因特網(wǎng)站，幫助那里的人們接觸外面的世界，故選C項(xiàng)。2.C細(xì)節(jié)理解題。根據(jù)倒數(shù)第二段中的最后1句“The availability of more satellites would reduce the costs.”可得出答案。3.A詞義猜測(cè)題。根據(jù)劃線前的praise，可知Zurbuchen教授對(duì)自己以前的學(xué)生的行為是認(rèn)可的，因此推出劃線部分的意思是Kelly和她的同伴所做的工作對(duì)肯尼亞農(nóng)村地區(qū)的居民有很大的意義。 4.B推理判斷題。根據(jù)第二段的第4、5兩句得出答案。B語(yǔ)篇導(dǎo)讀：本文介紹了可代替人類(lèi)從事挖煤等危險(xiǎn)工作的機(jī)器人以及它的發(fā)展及發(fā)展中的障礙。5.A細(xì)節(jié)理解題。遇到障礙mine robots 首先：gets confused,然后：think through process and where to go 有時(shí)也會(huì)throw a fit just like human beings.（障礙不能解決時(shí)）也會(huì)像人一樣大發(fā)脾氣。 遇到障礙不可能會(huì)cheerful, excited。shocked 也與上下文不符。6.D細(xì)節(jié)理解題。根據(jù)第三段Incredibly, the robot has a real sense of logic. 可知D項(xiàng)正確。A, C 是第一代機(jī)器人的特點(diǎn)。B是先進(jìn)的地方之一，但不是主要的。7.A推理判斷題。第五段：雖然有障礙但專(zhuān)家預(yù)測(cè)“robots in mines will serve much of the same function that they do in the automotive industry;”可推斷礦山機(jī)器人會(huì)前景廣闊。8.B主旨大意題。第一段引入話題：robots in mines; 第二、三段：礦山機(jī)器人發(fā)展；第四段：robots in mines 的研發(fā)存在的障礙；第五段：雖然有障礙但專(zhuān)家預(yù)測(cè)robots in mines 的將來(lái)will serve much of the same function that they do in the automotive industry.概括起來(lái)答案為B項(xiàng)。A項(xiàng)偏離主題；C項(xiàng)范圍太大；D項(xiàng)范圍太小，不能概括全文。.語(yǔ)法填空1.Receiving 2.when 3.twelfth 4.really 5. Wore 6.off7.it 8.easier 9.that 10.if.短文改錯(cuò)Once, when I was a teenager, my father and I were standing in line to buy tickets for the circus. Finally, there was only one family among us and the ticket counter.betweenThis family made deep impression on me. There were eight children, both a allprobably under the age of twelve. You could tell they didnt have a lot of money. Their clothes was not expensive, and they were clean. The children were wellbehaved, all of uswere but themstanding in line, two-by-two behind their parents, held hands. They were excitedly talking about holdingthe clowns, elephants and another performances where that they would see that night. Everyone othercould sense they have never been to the circus before.had. 書(shū)面表達(dá)Dear Simon,How is everything? Thank you for your nice gift! I like it very much. Its tiny and looks pretty, so Im always taking with me wherever I go. I also find it quite easy to operate with a reasonable design.Now, it is playing an important part in my life. With it, I am able to listen to English regularly, which helps improve my listening ability. In addition, I can enjoy a large number of songs whenever possible.It often reminds me of the happy days we spent together and I hope to visit your country again. I am looking forward to your visit to China this summer!Best wishes!Li Hua