LAS VEGAS (AFP) — Children may not like it but a British technology firm has invented an electronic babysitter -- a wristwatch-like device that lets parents know where their children are at all times.

The GPS Child Locator, or num8, attaches securely to a child’s wrist and contains a Global Positioning System (GPS), said Matthew Salmon, a spokesman for the manufacturer, lok8u.

"It uses GPS and GSM (Global System for Mobiles) technology with an accuracy of 10 feet (three meters)," he said. "It tracks your child."

"It only starts working when the device is connected to the child’s wrist," Salmon said, and is "very difficult to get off."

"Even if the child managed to get it off it would send an emergency text message through to your mobile phone," he said. "It would give you a Google Maps image with their exact location, the street name and the zip code."

When a child is wearing the device, a parent sends the text message "wru" and the child’s current location is sent back to a mobile phone or computer.

Parents can also log on to the company website to discover their child’s present location.

"You can also set up a perimeter, an invisible fence, and if they wander out of this invisible fence which you put on the Internet it will warn you," Salmon said. "It will text you immediately."

Salmon said the device is waterproof and shockproof and lasts for three days with a full charge.

It will be available in both Britain and the United States this year and retails for 200 dollars with a 10 dollar a month subscription fee.

He said the company had received thousands of inquiries about the device since launching it this week. "Fifty percent are positive, 50 percent are negative, that it’s a bit Big Brotherish," he said. "But it’s really just about letting you have freedom of mind."

1.Only when       does the device begin to work.

         A．it uses GPS and GSM technology                B．it is put within about 3 meters

         C．it’s joined to parents’ computer                 D．it is fastened to the child’s wrist

2.If a child is wearing the “wristwatch”, parents can track them by      .

         A．sending the text message “wru”                B．replying to the text message

         C．getting a Google Maps picture                   D．phoning the local police station

3.What Can we conclude from the text?

         A．It won’t be easily found if a child loses t11e device

         B．The device won’t work while a child is swimming

         C．Parents can easily track children due to the device

         D．The new product needs to be fully charged daily

4.The purpose of the text is to      .

         A．explain how to use the new device

         B．a(chǎn)ttract more buyers to the new product

         C．discuss advantages of a new invention

         D．introduce a new electronic equipment

 

In a few years, you might be able to speak Chinese, Korean, Japanese, French, and English -- and all at the same time. This sounds incredible, but Alex Waibel, a computer science professor at US' s Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) and Germany' s University of Karlsruhe, announced last week that it may soon be reality. He and his team have invented software and hardware that could make it far easier for people who speak different languages to understand each other.

One application, called Lecture Translation, can easily translate a speech from one language into another. Current translation technologies typically limit speakers to certain topics or a limited vocabulary. Users also have to be trained how to use the programme.

Another prototype (雛形機(jī)) can send translations of a speech to different listeners depending on what language they speak. "It is like having a simultaneous translator right next to you but without disturbing the person next to you," Waibel said.

Prefer to read? So-called Translation Glasses transcribe (轉(zhuǎn)錄) the translations on a tiny liquid-crystal(液晶) display (LCD) screen.

Then there' s the Muscle Translator. Electrodes (電極) capture the electrical signals from facial muscle movements made naturally when a person is mouthing words. The signals are then translated into speech. The electrodes could be replaced with wireless chips implanted (植入) in a person' s face, according to researchers.

During a demonstration (演示) held last Thursday in CMU' s Pittsburgh campus, a Chinese student named Stan Jou had 11 tiny electrodes attached to the muscles of his cheeks, neck and throat. Then he mouthed -- without speaking aloud -- a few words in Mandarin(普通話) to the audience. A few seconds later, the phrase was displayed on a computer screen and spoken out by the computer in English and Spanish: "Let me introduce our new prototype".

This particular gadget (器械), when fully developed, might allow anyone to speak in any number of languages or, as Waibel put it, "to switch your mouth to a foreign language". "The idea behind the university' s prototypes is to create 'good enough' bridges for cross-cultural exchanges that are becoming more common in the world," Waibel said.

With spontaneous (自發(fā)的) translators, foreign drivers in Germany could listen to traffic warnings on the radio, tourists in China could read all the signs and talk with local people, and leaders of different countries could have secret talks without any interpreters there.

1. What kind of prototype did the Chinese student named Stan Jou try?

A. Lecture Translation.            B. Translation Glasses.

C. Muscle Translator.             D. We don' t know.

2.What is the purpose of inventing the translators?

    A. To help students to learn English.

    B. To help people to watch foreign TV programs.

    C. To help people travel in foreign countries.

    D. To promote cultural exchanges between countries.

3. What is the best title of this text?

    A. Speak different languages at the same time?

    B. Flow to learn to speak foreign languages?

    C. New ways to learn foreign languages

D. You' re welcome to learn foreign languages

 

With the development of science,a computer is to a manager_______a gun is to a soldier.

A.as        B.what           C.that             D.when

Section C

Directions: Read the following text and choose the most suitable heading from the list A-F for each paragraph. There is one extra heading which you do not need.

(D)

A. the future of computer-human relationship

B. the programming system of the computer

C. the reason of the complexity of the human brain

D. the possibility of a real supercomputer

E. the way for computers to kill humans

F. the shortages of the computer compared with a human brain

76. ____________________

The difference between a human brain and a computer is more complicated than we can imagine. The large mammalian brain is the most complicated thing, for its size. Though the human brain only weighs three pounds, in that three pounds are ten billion neurons and a hundred billion cells. The many billions of cells are interconnected in such a vastly complicated network that we can’t begin to explore as yet.

77. ____________________

Even the most complicated computer man has yet built can’t compare with the brain.  Computer switches and processes number in the millions rather than in the billions. What’s more, the computer switch is just an on-off device, whereas the brain cell is itself possessed of a complex structure.

78. ____________________

It’s frequently said that computers solve problems only because they are “programmed” to do so. They can only do what men have them do, in which way it is like the human brain. We can also do what we are “programmed” to do. Our genes “program” us the instant the zygote (授精卵) is formed, and our potentialities are limited by that “program.”

79. ____________________

Surely, though, if a computer can be made complex enough, it can be as creative as people.  If it could be made as complex as a human brain, it could be the replacement of a human brain and do whatever a human brain can do. Then the real supercomputer comes along.

80. ____________________

In other words, once we pass a certain critical point, the computers will gain a dominating position and present a complexity explosion. In a very short time thereafter, computers may exist not only taking after the human brain, but far passing it. When the time comes, we might as well step aside and hand over all our work to them and really have them serve us.

 

In a few years, you might be able to speak Chinese, Korean, Japanese, French, and English

— and all at the same time. This sounds incredible, but Alex Waibel, a computer science professor at US's Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) and Germany's University of Karlsruhe, announced last week that it may soon be reality. He and his team have invented software and hardware that could make it far easier for people who speak different languages to understand each other.?

One application, called Lecture Translation, can easily translate a speech from one language into another. Current translation technologies typically limit speakers to certain topics or a limited vocabulary. Users also have to be trained how to use the programme.?

Another prototype(雛形機(jī)) can send translations of a speech to different listeners depending on what language they speak. “It is like having a simultaneous translator right next to you but without disturbing the person next to you,” Waibel said.?

Prefer to read? So-called Translation Glasses transcribe(轉(zhuǎn)錄) the translations on a tiny liquid-crystal(液晶) display(LCD) screen.?

Then there’s the Muscle Translator. Electrodes capture the electrical signals from facial muscle movements made naturally when a person is mouthing words. The signals are then translated into speech. The electrodes could be replaced with wireless chips implanted in a person's face, according to researchers.?

During a demonstration held last Thursday in CMU's Pittsburgh campus, a Chinese student named Stan Jou had 11 tiny electrodes attached to the muscles of his cheeks, neck and throat. Then he mouthed — without speaking aloud — a few words in Mandarin(普通話) to the audience. A few seconds later, the phrase was displayed on a computer screen and spoken out by the computer in English and Spanish: “Let me introduce our new prototype.”?

This particular gadget(器械),when fully developed, might allow anyone to speak in any number of languages or, as Waibel put it, “to switch your mouth to a foreign language”. “The idea behind the university's prototypes is to create ‘good enough’ bridges for cross-cultural exchanges that are becoming more common in the world,” Waibel said.?

With spontaneous(自發(fā)的) translators, foreign drivers in Germany could listen to traffic warnings on the radio, tourists in China could read all the signs and talk with local people, and leaders of different countries could have secret talks without any interpreters there.?

Which of the following statements is not TRUE?

A. A lecture translation can translate what you said into other languages easily.?

B. There is no Muscle Translator in the world now.?

C. Muscle Translators can translate what you think into speech if you just move your mouth.?

D. The spontaneous translators will help us a lot.

What kind of equipment is NOT mentioned in this passage?

A. Lecture Translation.                       

B. Muscle Translator.?

C. Multiple Translator.                       

D. Translation Prototype.

What’s the final destination of inventing the language translators??

A. To make cultural exchanges between different countries easier.?

B. To help students learn foreign languages more easily.?

C. To make people live in foreign countries more comfortably.?

D. To help people learn more foreign languages in the future.

What can be inferred from the seventh paragraph?

A. The translator is so good that it can translate any language into the very language you need.?

B. The translator is becoming more and more common in the world as a bridge.?

C. With the help of the translator, you only need to open your mouth when you want to say something without saying the exact words at all.?

D. The translator needs to be improved before being put into market.

Where can this passage probably be excerpted from?

A. A newspaper.                         

B. A magazine on science.?

C. A fairy tale.                                

D. A scientific fantasy book.