第二篇
A Phone That Knows You’re Busy
  It’s a modern problem：you’re too busy to be disturbed by incessant(连续不断的)phone
calls so you turn your cellphone off .But if you don’t remember to turn it back on when you’re
less busy．you could miss some important calls if only the phone knew when it was wise to
interrupt you，you wouldn’t have to turn it off at all. Instead，it could let calls through when you
are not too busy
    A bunch of behavior sensors(传感器)and a clever piece of software could do just that，by
analyzing your behavior to determine if it’s a good time to interrupt you．If built into a phone，the
system may decide you’re too busy and ask the caller to leave a message or ring back later．
  James Fogarty and Scott Hudson at Camegie Mellon University in Pennsylvania based their
system oil tiny microphones，cameras and touch sensors that reveal body language and activity．
First they had to study different behaviors to find out which ones stongly predict whether your
mind is interrupted
  The potential“busyness”signals they focused on included whether the office doors were left
open or closed，the time of day，if other people were with the person in question，how close they
were to each other, and whether or not the computer was in use．
  The sensors monitored these and many other factors while four subjects were at work . At
random intervals，the subjects rated how interruptible they were on a scale ranging from“highly
interruptible’’to“highly not—interruptible” . Their ratings were then correlated with the various
behaviors . “It is a shotgun(随意的)approach：we used all the indicators we could think of and
then let statistics find out which were important，” says Hudson
  The model showed that using the keyboard，and talking on a landline or to someone else in
the office correlated most strongly with how interruptible the subjects judged themselves to be．
  Interestingly，the computer was actually better than people at predicting when someone was
too busy to be interrupted . The computer got it right 82 per cent of the time，humans 77 per cent．
Fogarty speculates that this might be because people doing the interrupting are inevitably biased
towards delivering their message，whereas computers don’t care．
  The first application for Hudson and Fogarty’s system is likely to be in an instant messaging system，followed by office phones and cellphones．“There is no technological roadblock(障碍)
to it being deployed in a couple of years，” says Hudson
36 A big problem facing people today is that
A they must tolerate phone disturbances or miss important calls．
B they must turn off their phones to keep their homes quiet．
C they have to switch from a desktop phone to a cellphone．
D they are too busy to make phone calls．
37 The behavior sensor and software system built in a phone
A could help store messages．
B  could send messages instantly
C could tell when it is wise to interrupt you．
D could identify important phone calls．
38 Scientists at Carnegie Menon University tried to find out
    A why office doors were often 1eft open．
    B when it was a good time to turn off the computer．
    C what questions office workers were bothered with．
    D which behaviors could tell whether a person was busy
39 During the experiment，the subjects were asked
    A to control the sensors and the camera．
    B to rate the degrees to which they could be interrupted．
    C to compare their behaviors with others’．
    D to analyze all the indicators of interruption．
40 The computer performed better than people in the study because
    A  the computer worked harder．
    B  the computer was not busy
    C  people tended to be biased．
    D  people were not good at statistics．

第三篇
The Exploding Lakes of Cameroon
  What comes to mind when you think of a lake? You probably imagine a pretty scene with
blue water，birds，and fish．For the people in the northwestern Cameroon，however, the image is
very different.  For them，lakes may mean terrible disasters.  In 1984，poisonous gases exploded
out of  Lake Monoun and came down into the nearby villages，killing thirty—seven people．Two
years later,Lake Nyos erupted A cloud of gases rolled down the hills and into the valleys and
killed 1,700 people．
    Lake Nyos and Lake Monoun are crater(火山口)lakes They were formed when water
collected in the craters of old volcanoes The volcanoes under Lake Nyos and Lake Monoun are
not active anymore.  However, poisonous gases from the center of the earth continue to flow up
through cracks in the bottom of the lake. This is normal in a crater lake. In most crater lakes，these
gases are released often because the water‘turns over’regularly．That is，the water from the
bottom of the lake rises and mixes with the water at the top，allowing the gases to escape slowly．
    However，in Lakes Nyos and Monoun，there is no regular turning over．No one knows the
reason for this fact，but as a result，these lakes have more gases tapped at the bottom than other
crater lakes.  In fact，scientists who have studied Lakes Nyos and Monoun have found 16,000
times more gases．When a strong wind，cool weather a storm，or a landslide(滑坡)causes the
water to turn over suddenly，the gases escape in a violent explosion．
  In the past，no one knew when the gases might explode，so there was no way for the villagers
to escape disaster.  Now scientists from the United States，France，and Cameroon have found a
way to reduce the gas pressure at the bottom of Lake Nyos．They stood a 672-foot plastic pipe in
the middle of the lake，with one end of the pipe near the bottom and the other end in the air．Near
the top of the pipe，the team put several holes that could be opened or closed by a computer．Now，
when the gas pressure gets too high，the holes are opened and some of the gas-filled water shoots
up through the pipe into the air like a fountain．With less pressure，a disastrous explosion is much
less likely．However, the scientists are not sure that one pipe will be enough to prevent explosions．They hope to put in others soon and they plan to install a similar pipe and a computer system at Lake Monoun as well．
  To protect people nearby until all of the pipes are in place．the scientists have installed early
warning systems at both lakes.  If the gas pressure rises to a dangerous level，computers will set
off loud sirens(警报)and bright lights to warn the people in the villages．That way, they will
have time to escape from the dangerous gases．
41 What will happen when Lake Nyos and Lake Monoun explode?
    A  Water will flow down the hills
    B  Poisonous gases will be released suddenly．
    C  A strong wind will rise from the lakes
    D  The volcanoes will come to life．
42 Which of the following statements about Lake Nyos and Lake Monoun is true?
  A  They were formed in 1984．
  B  They are at the top of two active volcanoes．
  C  They are not like most other crater lakes．
  D  Water in them turns over regularly．
43 Lake Nyos and Lake Monoun explode because
A  the gases rise to the top and mix with air．
B  people from the villages turn over the water．
C  scientists have put in a computer system．
D  they have more gases trapped at the bottom than other crater lakes
44 A team of scientists has
A  erected a pressure-releasing pipe in the lake
B  identified the gases at the bottom of the lake
C  built a beautiful fountain near the lakes

D  removed all dangerous gases from the lakes
45 What do we learn from the last paragraph?
A  Scientists are planning to install pipes in all crater lakes．
B  Scientists still do not know how to prevent gas explosions
C  Explosion disasters could be avoided in the future
D  Warning systems have been set up in the villages nearby．
 
第5部分：补全短文  (第46～50题，每题2分，共1 0分)
    阅读下面的短文，文章中有5处空白，文章后面有6组文字，请根据文章的内容选择5
组文字，将其分别放回文章原有位置，以恢复文章原貌。请将答案涂在答题卡相应的位置
上。
Every Dog Has Its Say
Kimiko Fukuda，a Japanese girl，always wondered what her dog was trying to say.
Whenever she put on makeup，it would pull at her sleeve．_____(46)When the dog barks，
she glances at a small electronic gadget (装置)．The following“human”translation appears on its
screen：“Please take me with you．”“I realized that’s how he was feeling．”said Fukuda．
  The gadget is called Bowlingual，and it translates dog barks into feelings．People laughed
when the Japanese toymaker Takara Company made the world’s first dog-human translation
machine in 2002．But 300，000 Japanese dog owners bought it．______(47)
  “Nobody else had thought about it，”said Masahiko Kajita，who works for Takara“We
spend so much time training dogs to understand our orders；what would it be like if we could
understand dogs?”
Bowlingual has two parts．____(48)The translation is done in the gadget using a database(资料库)containing every kind of bark．
  Based on animal behaviour research，these noises are divided into six categories：happiness，
Sadness, frustration，anger，declaration and desire．_____(49)In this way，the database
scientifically matches a bark to an emotion，which is then translated into one of 200 phrases．
  When a visitor went to Fukuda’s house recently，the dog barked a loud“bow wow”．This
translated as“Don’t come this way”_____(50)
  The product will be available in US pet stores this summer for about US$120 It can store up
to 100 barks，even recording the dog’s emotions when the owner is away．
A  A wireless microphone is attached to the dog’s collar,which sends information to the gadget
    held by the owner．
B  Nobody really knows how a dog feels
C  It was followed by“I’m stronger than you”as the dog growled(嗥叫)and sniffed(嗅)at the
    visitor
D  More customers are expected when the English version is launched this summer
E  Now，the Japanese girl thinks she knows
F  Each one of these emotions is then linked to a phrase like“Let’s play”，“Look at me”，or
    “Spend more time with me”．

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