A group of students in Japan have created a realistic robot baby to motivate young people to start planning a family so as to increase the country’s birth rate. The automated (自動化的)doll developed at the University of Tsukuba, called Yotara, laughs and “wakes up” when a rattle is shaken.
He can become angry and sleep like a real baby and he smiles when his stomach is pressed. The robot can also sneeze and have a runny nose, thanks to a heated water pump system. The students of the Graduate school of Comprehensive Human Science at the university created the robot last year with touch sensors. A projector sends the facial features onto a warm silicon balloon which makes up Yotara’s face. The robot’s facial expression and body movements change according to pressure applied to different parts of its body.
The information collected through touch sensors（傳感器）under the silicon skin is processed by a special programme. It then changes the baby’s expression projected onto the balloon-face from behind. There is a hat on the robot’s head and a colorful blanket covering the robot’s limbs which simulate wiggling(擺動) with the help of a geared motor. “We wanted to create a new type of robot that is soft, cuddly and cute,” said project leader Hiroki Kunimura.
“We’d like people to experience the innocent, joyful expressions typical of small babies. Through this experience, it would be great if some people started feeling that they wanted to have their own baby, if they started feeling that work is not everything.”
Japan’s birth rate is among the lowest in the developed world at 1.37%, compared to 2.12% in the United States and l.84%in Britain. Japan is facing serious economic consequences with over a quarter of its citizens expected to be aged over 65 by 20l5.The population is expected to reduce by a third within 50 years if the birth rate does not increase．
小題1:. What is the students’ purpose of creating such a baby?
A．To help old people who live alone．B．To give small children some pleasure
C．To comfort lonely young people．D．To increase the population of Japan．
小題2:What’s the new type of robot like in Hiroki Kunimura’s mind?
A．It can do everything for humans．B．It is clever, humorous and loyal．
C．It is gentle, lovely and smart．D．It makes humans unhappy．
小題3:. What can we learn from the passage?
A．Many young people in Japan don’t want to get married．
B．There may be a lack of workers in Japan in the future．
C．The lifespan(壽命)of Japanese people will decrease in the future．
D．The birth rate in Japan will start to increase slowly soon．

小題1:.D
小題1:.C
小題1:.A
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科目：高中英語 來源：不詳 題型：閱讀理解

Howling is a behavior commonly observed among a wolf nark. An animals, wolves work together to hunt and rely on howling was an important means of communication each other. There are different explants of a wolf’s howl and it appears that there may be more to discover.      One theory is that wolves howl to bend better together. It’s almost as if howling together helps the pack stay together. Perhaps something similar to people feeling a sense of involvement with each other when singing a song together . But this theory may be wrong, explains Fred H. Harington, a professor who studies wolf behavior.     Indeed, there have been tines when wolves have been seen one moment howling in a exhorts, and the next, quarreling anions each other. It appears that usually the lowest-tanking menthes of the pack may actually be “punished” for
Joining in the churs at times. So is howling a way to strcagthen a social boad or just a way to reconfirm status among its members? ——Why do welves howl for sure?
What is cleat, however, is that howling is often used among packmates to locate each other. Hunting grounds are distant and it happens that woloves may separate from one another at times. When this happens, howling appcars to be an ercellent means of gathering.
Howling, interestingly, is a contagious behaviour. When one wolf starts to howl, very likely others will follow. This is often seen to occat in the morning, as if wolves were doing some sotr of “roll rall”where wolves all howl togeter to howl, very likely others will follow. This is often seen to occar in the morning, as if wolves were doing w some sotr of “roll call”where wolves all howl together to repotr their pteence.
小題1:.What the por similarity between wolves’ how humaes ting in chorus?
A．The act of calling each other.
B．the sense of accomplishment.
C．The act of hunting for something.
D．The sense of belonging to a group.
小題2:.Why does Harrington think the“secial boad”theory may be wrong?
A．Wolves separate from each other after howling.
B．Wolves tend to protect their hunting grounds.
C．Wolves sometimes have quarrels after howling together.
D．Wolves of low rank are encouraged to join in the chorus.
小題3:Reseatchers are sure that wolves often howl to______.
A．show their ranks
B．find their companion
C．report the missing ones
D．express their lonelingess
小題4:“Howling… is a contagious behaviour”(in the last paragraph)means_ ______.
A．howling is a signal for hunting
B．howling is a way of communication
C．howling aften occurs in the morning
D．howling spreads from one to another

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科目：高中英語 來源：不詳 題型：完形填空

Thanks to a combination of young businessmen, large numbers of university students and revitalization (新生) efforts by the local and national governments, today’s Nanjing has an      36   of youthful exuberance (繁茂) that would have been    37   only a few decades ago.   38  , the city, a booming city of 6.5 million on the banks of the Yangtze River some 185 miles west of Shanghai, bears    39   resemblance to the former capital of China that suffered the worst cruelty and violence of World War II.
40   Nanjing has shown a remarkable capacity for reinvention during its 2,500-year history. And in recent years, the city has moved    41   its tragic past to become a vital engine of China’s economic growth, thanks    42   to its position in the middle of China’s prosperous eastern seaboard. Growth has also    43   thanks to improved ground transportation: A new bullet train linking Nanjing and Shanghai started service last year,    44   travel time between the cities from several hours to just 75 minutes, and a Beijing-Shanghai high-speed line is    45  to open later this year, with a stop in Nanjing. Within the city, two metro lines were built in the last few years; 15 more are planned to begin service by 2030.
Signs of Nanjing’s    46   wealth and optimism can be seen everywhere. In the heart of the downtown Xinjiekou district, a bronze statue of Sun Yat-sen,    47   the father of modern China, looks    48   over a busy    49   area.
There is perhaps no more    50   symbol of the city’s transformation than the Zifeng Tower, a 1,480-foot skyscraper that opened its doors last May.    51   offices, restaurants and an InterContinental hotel, the tower is the second-tallest building in China and billed as the seventh-tallest in the world.
Underlying all this development is a large Chinese and    52  student population — there are several major universities, plus a branch of Johns Hopkins’s international studies school. In fact, art and music    53   in all sorts of places.
On a larger    54  , local government officials and private investors are pushing the city as a rising center for contemporary art and architecture, hoping to attract    55   from the neon-bathed streets of its neighbor Shanghai.
小題1:
A．a(chǎn)dvanceB．a(chǎn)ffectionC．a(chǎn)irD．a(chǎn)bility
小題2:
A．unforgettableB．unthinkableC．unbearableD．unnecessary
小題3:
A．ActuallyB．RegretfullyC．HopefullyD．Consequently
小題4:
A．closeB．slightC．muchD．little
小題5:
A．BecauseB．ButC．AsD．Since
小題6:
A．beyondB．onC．offD．out
小題7:
A．in addition B．in allC．in partD．in fact
小題8:
A．startedB．enlargedC．existedD．a(chǎn)ccelerated
小題9:
A．removingB．cuttingC．dividing D．lowering
小題10:
A．scheduledB．inventedC．desiredD．meant
小題11:
A．a(chǎn)ttractiveB．well-receivedC．newfound D．discovered
小題12:
A．thoughtB．treatedC．consideredD．elected
小題13:
A．outB．a(chǎn)tC．a(chǎn)boutD．for
小題14:
A．remoteB．regionalC．ruralD．commercial
小題15:
A．universalB．visibleC．traditionalD．political
小題16:
A．KeepingB．ConsistingC．OpeningD．Housing
小題17:
A．BritishB．westernC．AmericanD．foreign
小題18:
A．spring upB．stand upC．set upD．keep up
小題19:
A．extentB．degreeC．scaleD．level
小題20:
A．businessmenB．studentsC．touristsD．painters

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科目：高中英語 來源：不詳 題型：閱讀理解

A new study has found that it may be possible to train people to be more intelligent, increasing the brainpower they had at birth．
Until now，it has been widely assumed that the kind of mental ability that allows us to solve new problems without having any relevant previous experience—what psychologists call fluid intelligence—is innate and cannot be taught（though people can raise their grades on tests of it by practicing）．
But in the new study，researchers describe a method for improving this skill，along with experiments to prove it works．
The key, researchers found, was carefully structured training in working memory—the kind that allows memorization of a telephone number just long enough to dial it．This type of memory is closely related to fluid intelligence，so the researchers reasoned that improving it might lead to improvements in fluid intelligence．
First they measured fluid intelligence of volunteers using standard tests．Then they trained each in a complicated memory task—the child’s card game，in which they had to recall a card they saw and heard．During the course, they needed to ignore irrelevant items, monitor ongoing performance，manage two tasks at the same time and connect related items to one another in space and time．
The four groups experienced a half-hour of training daily for 8, 12, 17 and 19 days, respectively．To make sure they were not just improving their test-taking skills，the researchers compared them with control groups that took the tests without the training．
The results, published Monday in The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences，were striking．Improvement in the trained groups was a lot greater．Moreover，the longer they trained, the higher their scores were．All performers，from the weakest to the strongest，showed significant improvement．
“Our results show you can increase your intelligence with proper training．” said Dr Jaeggi, a co-author of the paper．“No one knows how long the gains will last after training stops,” he added, “and the experiment’s design did not allow the researchers to determine whether more training would continue to produce further gains．”
小題1:.The researchers thought the key to improving the intelligence was ______________．
A．memorizing telephone numbersB．improving working memory
C．training in concentrationD．recalling a card
小題2:.The following aspects of the training help increase intelligence EXCEPT___________．
A．ignoring irrelevant itemsB．monitoring ongoing performance
C．managing two tasks at the same timeD．using previous experience
小題3:.When the experiment was conducted, the researchers______________．
A．trained the four groups for the same period of time
B．only made comparisons between the four groups
C．compared the four groups with control groups
D．trained the four groups together
小題4:.By writing the article，the writer intends to ______________．
A．inform the readers of a new study
B．call on people to be trained to increase intelligence
C．prove one’s born brainpower can be improved
D．tell people the improved intelligence will last forever

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科目：高中英語 來源：不詳 題型：閱讀理解

Who’s in control of your life? Who’s pulling your strings? For the majority of us，it’s other people—society，colleagues，friends，family or our religious community．We learned this way of operating when we were very young，of course．We were brainwashed．We discovered that feeling important and feeling accepted was a nice experience and so we learned to do everything we could to make other people like us．As Oscar Wilde puts it，“Most people are other people．Their thoughts are someone else’s opinions，their lives a mimicry，their passions a quotation．”
So when people tell us how wonderful we are，it makes us feel good．We long for this good feeling like a drug—we are addicted to it and seek it out wherever we can．Therefore，we are so eager for the approval(贊同)of others that we live unhappy and limited lives，failing to do the things we really want to．Just as drug addicts and alcoholics live worsened lives to keep getting their fix(一劑毒品)，we worsen our own existence to get our own constant fix of approval．
But，just as with any drug，there is a price to pay．The price of the approval drug is freedom—the freedom to be ourselves. The truth is that we cannot control what other people think．People have their own agenda，and they come with their own baggage and，in the end，they’re more
interested in themselves than in you．Furthermore，if we try to live by the opinions of others，we will build our life on sinking sand．Everyone has a different way of thinking，and people change
their opinions all the time．The person who tries to please everyone will only end up getting exhausted and probably pleasing no one in the process．
So how can we take back control? I think there’s only one way—make a conscious decision to stop caring what other people think．We should guide ourselves by means of a set of values—not values imposed from the outside by others，but innate values which come from within．If we are driven by these values and not by the changing opinions and value systems of others，we will live a more authentic，effective，purposeful and happy life．
小題1:．What Oscar Wilde says implies that        ．
A．we have thoughts similar to those of others
B．most people have a variety of thoughts
C．other people’s thoughts are more important
D．most people’s thoughts are controlled by others
小題2:．What does the author try to argue in the third paragraph?
A．Changing opinions may cost us our freedom．
B．We may lose ourselves to please others．
C．We need to pay for what we want to get．
D．The price of taking the drug is freedom．
小題3:．It can be concluded from the passage that         ．
A． it’s better to do what we like
B．we shouldn’t care what others think
C．we shouldn’t change our own opinions
D．it’s important to accept others’ opinions
小題4:．The author tries to persuade the readers to accept his arguments mainly by      
A．a(chǎn)nalyzing causes and effectsB．providing examples and facts
C．discussing questionsD．making suggestions

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科目：高中英語 來源：不詳 題型：閱讀理解

You might think that “global warming” means nothing more than a rise in the world’s temperature. But rising sea levels caused by it have resulted in the first evacuation of an island nation. The citizens of Tuvalu will have to leave their homeland.
During the 20th century, sea level rose 8~12 inches. As a result, Tuvalu has experienced lowland flooding of salt water that has polluted the country’s drinking water.
Paani Laupepa, a Tuvaluan government official, reported to the Earth Policy Institute that the nation suffered an unusually high number of fierce storms in the past ten years. Many scientists connect higher surface water temperatures resulting from global warming to greater and more damaging storms.
Laupepa expressed dissatisfaction with the United States for refusing to sign the Kyoto Protocol, an international agreement calling for industrialized nations to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions（導致溫室效應的氣體排放）,which are a main cause of global warming. “By refusing to sign the agreement, the US has effectively taken away the freedom of future generations of Tuvaluans to live where their forefathers have lived for thousands of years.” Laupepa told the BBC.
Tuvalu has asked Australia and New Zealand to allow the gradual move of its people to both countries.
Tuvalu is not the only country that is vulnerable （易受影響的）to rising sea levels. Maumoon Gayoon, president of the Maldives, told the United Nations that global warming has made his country of 311,000 an “endangered nation”.
小題1:. The text is mainly about_________.
A．rapid changes in earth’s temperature
B．bad effects of global warming
C．moving of a country to a new place
D．reasons for lowland flooding
小題2:.. What is the probable meaning of the underlined word in the first paragraph?
A．撤離B．危險C．淹沒D．消失
小題3:. According to scientists, the DIRECT cause of more and fiercer storms is_________.
A．greenhouse gas emissions in industrialized nations
B．continuous global warming
C．higher surface water temperatures of the sea
D．rising sea levels
小題4:. Laupepa was not satisfied with the United States because it did not_________.
A．believe the problems facing Tuvalu were real
B．sign an agreement with Tuvalu
C．a(chǎn)llow Tuvaluans to move to the US
D．a(chǎn)gree to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions
小題5:. The country whose situation is similar to that of Tuvalu is_________.
A．Australia
B．New Zealand
C．the United States
D．the Maldives

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科目：高中英語 來源：不詳 題型：閱讀理解

WHAT happens to a teenage kid when the world he thought he knew suddenly changes? Find out in Little Brother by American author Cory Doctorow． It is a fascinating book for a new generation of sci-fi readers．
Marcus Yallow, 17, from San Francisco is much more comfortable in front of a computer than obeying the rules of society． Smart, fast and wise to the ways of the networked world, he has no trouble outwitting （騙過） his high school's monitoring system． This way he and his friends get to head off to play a popular online game in real life．
While they are playing, a bomb explodes on the Bay Bridge． Marcus stops a military vehicle to get help for his injured friend, but this simple act throws him into a Department of Homeland Security （DHS） secret prison． There he is treated as a possible terrorist． He is eventually let go after four days, but his injured friend disappears．
When he returns, Marcus discovers that there are many "security measures" in place and that now all citizens are treated like potential terrorists． While some consider this government action necessary for public safety, Marcus sees this as a complete destruction of the rights he is supposed to have as a citizen．
He knows that no one will believe his story, which leaves him with only one thing to do: to take down the DHS himself． He helps organize a large network called Xnet to spread the truth, anonymously （匿名地）．
The book presents a young man who is irresponsible, but learns about himself, and grows, in the course of the story． As part of this learning and growing he becomes aware of very serious issues about his society．
小題1: What kind of article does this passage belong to?     
A．A fascinating story．B．A book review．
C．News reportD．A TV programme
小題2: The underlined word destruction in the passage means         ．     
A．damageB．rewardC．ruinD．protection
小題3: Marcus Yallow was sent to prison because         ．        
A．he killed his friend
B．he bombed a military vehicle
C．he did something that a possible terrorist could do
D．his injured friend disappeared
小題4: From the second paragraph we can infer that         ．     
A．Marcus Yallow is much more comfortable obeying the rules of society
B．Marcus Yallow is smart, fast and wise in real life
C．Marcus Yallow always plays online games in real life
D．Marcus Yallow is expert at the network world
小題5: In the end of the book, Marcus Yallow         ．      
A．is supposed to be more irresponsible
B．becomes aware of very serious issues about his society
C．presents a young man who is irresponsible
D．plays a popular online game in real life

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科目：高中英語 來源：不詳 題型：閱讀理解

By 2050
Futurologists predict that life will probably be very different in 2050.
TV channels will have disappeared. Instead, people will choose a program from a “menu” and a computer will send the program directly to the television. Today, we can use the World Wide Web to read newspaper stories and see pictures on a computer thousands of kilometers away. By 2050, music, films, programs, newspapers, and books will come to us by computer.
Cars will run on new, clean fuels and they will go very fast. Cars will have computers to control the speed and there won’t be any accidents. Today, many cars have computers that tell drivers exactly where they are. By 2050, the computer will control the car and drive it to your destination. Space planes will take people halfway around the world in 2 hours. Today, the United States Space Shuttle can go into space and land on Earth again. By 2050, space planes will fly all over the world and people will fly from Los Angeles to Tokyo in just 2 hours.
Robots will have replaced people in factories. Many factories already use robots. Big companies prefer robots—they don’t ask for pay rises or go on strike, and they work 24 hours a day. By 2050, we will see robots everywhere—in factories, schools, offices, hospitals, shops and homes.
Medical technology will have conquered many diseases. Today, there is equipment that connects directly to the brain to help people hear. By 2050, we will be able to help blind and deaf people to see and hear again.
Scientist will have discovered how to control genes（基因）. Scientists have already produced clones(克隆) of animals. By 2050, scientists will be able to produce clones of people, and decide how they look, how they behave and how clever they are. Scientists will be able to do these things, but should they?
小題1:
According to the passage, the following can be realized today EXCEPT __________.
A．reading newspapers on a computer
B．making a space shuttle go into space and land on Earth again
C．creating cloned animals
D．choosing TV programs freely from a “menu”
小題2:
We can learn from the passage that some big companies prefer robots to human workers, because human workers __________.
A．can work 24 hours a dayB．often ask for more pay
C．a(chǎn)re not clever enoughD．a(chǎn)re often late for work
小題3:
From Paragraph 5 we can infer that __________.
A．there will be no blind and deaf people by 2050
B．few diseases will attack people by 2050
C．equipment is connected directly to the brain to help people hear today
D．medical technology will be more effective by 2050
小題4:
What is the author’s attitude towards the cloning technology?
A．The author does not support the use of cloning technology.
B．The author thinks human cloning is impossible.
C．The author does not really support the idea of human cloning.
D．The author is quite excited about human cloning.

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科目：高中英語 來源：不詳 題型：閱讀理解

The hole in the Earth’s ozone layer(臭氧層) has until now protected Antarctic from the worst effects of global warming, but scientists have warned that as the hole closes up in the next few decades, temperatures on the continent could rise by around 3℃ on average, with melting ice contributing to a global sea level increase of up to 1.4 meters.
In the past decades the western Antarctic has seen rapid ice loss as the world has warmed, but the other parts of the continent have, paradoxically, been cooling, resulting in a 10% increase in ice in the seas around the region. This is because the hole in the ozone layer has increased cold winds in Antarctic, making much of the continent surface colder than usual.
But now that the gases that cause the ozone hole have been banned, scientists expect the hole to repair itself within the next 50 to 60 years. By then the cooling effect will have faded out and the Antarctic will face the full impact of global warming. This means an increase in average air temperatures of around 3℃ and a reduction in sea ice by around a third.
The biggest threat to the continent comes from warming seas. Robert Johnson, a scientist who monitors Antarctic ice sheets, said, “The ice sheets in Antarctic are hundreds of meters thick. But once warm ocean waters start flowing underneath, the ice will begin thinning and could break up very quickly.” Thinning ice sheets cause ice to break away from the continent and to melt even faster. Escaping ice from western Antarctic has already resulted in a 10% rise in global sea level in recent decades.
Johnson believes that international action to reduce global warming is required immediately or it may be too late. “Everything is connected——Antarctic may be a long way away but it is an important part of the Earth’s system,” said Johnson. “It contains 90% of the world’s ice, 70% of the world’s fresh water and that is enough, if it melts completely, to raise sea levels by 63 meters.”
Even in a worse-case situation scientists don’t expect the ice to entirely disappear, but predict that, because of the melting ice sheets, average sea level rise will be around 1.4 meters higher by the end of the century.
小題1:
The underlined word “paradoxically” (in paragraph 2) most probably means “     ”.
A．rapidlyB．generallyC．contradictorilyD．a(chǎn)pparently
小題2:
What is the effect of the hole in the ozone layer on Antarctic?
A．It is causing the ice to melt faster.
B．It is making much of the continent colder.
C．It is making the effects of global warming in the region worse.
D．It is reducing the amount of water in Antarctic.
小題3:
What do scientists think is the biggest danger facing Antarctic?
A．Rising sea levels.B．Warming sea water temperature.
C．Water pollution.D．Growing ice sheets.
小題4:
Which of the following is true according to the passage?
A．Antarctic is currently experiencing the full effects of global warming.
B．The average temperature has increased by 3℃ in recent decades.
C．Antarctic contains most of the world’s fresh water.
D．Ten percent of Antarctic’s ice has already been lost.

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