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Unit 3 Life in the future.阅读理解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(蝶形卫星天线) 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（装置） 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.语法填空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.”.短文改错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. 书面表达假如你是某中学学生李华，刚从美国交流学习回来。你的美国好友Simon送给你一款MP3播放器。请你根据以下提示，用英语给他写一封电子邮件，表示你非常喜欢这件礼物。1.你喜欢礼物的原因；2.礼物带给你的好处；3.你的期待和愿望。注意：1.词数 100左右。2.可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。答案阅读理解A语篇导读：本文主要讲了美国的一些年轻工程师把网络带到了肯尼亚的一些贫穷的地方，使那里的人们利用网络接触外面的社会。这一想法是在一次课堂上萌发的。他们所做的一切对肯尼亚人们的生活产生了一定的影响。 1.C主旨大意题。根据文章总的内容可以看出是美国的一些工程师将在肯尼亚建立因特网站，帮助那里的人们接触外面的世界，故选C项。2.C细节理解题。根据倒数第二段中的最后1句“The availability of more satellites would reduce the costs.”可得出答案。3.A词义猜测题。根据划线前的praise，可知Zurbuchen教授对自己以前的学生的行为是认可的，因此推出划线部分的意思是Kelly和她的同伴所做的工作对肯尼亚农村地区的居民有很大的意义。 4.B推理判断题。根据第二段的第4、5两句得出答案。B语篇导读：本文介绍了可代替人类从事挖煤等危险工作的机器人以及它的发展及发展中的障碍。5.A细节理解题。遇到障碍mine robots 首先：gets confused,然后：think through process and where to go 有时也会throw a fit just like human beings.（障碍不能解决时）也会像人一样大发脾气。 遇到障碍不可能会cheerful, excited。shocked 也与上下文不符。6.D细节理解题。根据第三段Incredibly, the robot has a real sense of logic. 可知D项正确。A, C 是第一代机器人的特点。B是先进的地方之一，但不是主要的。7.A推理判断题。第五段：虽然有障碍但专家预测“robots in mines will serve much of the same function that they do in the automotive industry;”可推断矿山机器人会前景广阔。8.B主旨大意题。第一段引入话题：robots in mines; 第二、三段：矿山机器人发展；第四段：robots in mines 的研发存在的障碍；第五段：虽然有障碍但专家预测robots in mines 的将来will serve much of the same function that they do in the automotive industry.概括起来答案为B项。A项偏离主题；C项范围太大；D项范围太小，不能概括全文。.语法填空1.Receiving 2.when 3.twelfth 4.really 5. Wore 6.off7.it 8.easier 9.that 10.if.短文改错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. 书面表达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
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