第4部分：阅读理解(第31～45题，每题3分，共45分)
下面有3篇短文，每篇短文后有5道题。请根据短文内容，为每题确定1个最佳选项。
第一篇 Eye-tracker Lots You Drag and Drop Files with a Glance
Bored of using a mouse? Soon you'll be able to change stuff on your computer screen – and then move it directly onto your smartphone or tablet(平板电脑) –with nothing more than a glance.
A system called EyeDrop uses a head-mounted eye tracker that simultaneously records your field of view so it knows where you are looking on the screen. Gazing at an object – a photo, say – and then pressing a key, selects that object. It can then be moved from the screen to a tablet or smartphone just by glancing at the second device, as long as the two are connected wirelessly.
"The beauty of using gaze to support this is that our eyes naturally focus on content that we want to acquire, "says Jayson Turner, who developed the system with colleagues at Lancaster University, UK.
Turner believes EyeDrop would be useful to transfer an interactive map or contact information from a public display to your smartphone or for sharing photos.
A button needs to be used to select the object you are looking at otherwise you end up with the "Midas touch"(点石成金) effect, whereby everything you look at gets selected by your gaze, says Turner. "Imagine if your mouse clicked on everything it pointed at," he says.
Christian Holz, a researcher in human-computer interaction at Yahoo Labs in Sunnyvale, California, says the system is a nice take on getting round this fundamental problem of using gaze-tracking to interact. "EyeDrop solves this in a slick (灵巧的)way by combining it with input on the touch devices we carry with us most of the time anyway and using touch input as a clutching mechanism," he says. "This now allows users to seamlessly(无缝地) interact across devices far and close in a very natural manner."
While current eye-trackers are rather bulky, mainstream consumer devices are not too far away. Swedish firm Tobii is developing gaze-tracking technology that can be installed in laptops and tablets and is expected to be available to buy next year. And the Google Glass headset is expected to include eye-tracking in the future.
Turner says he has also looked at how content can be cut and pasted or drag-and-dropped using a mix of gaze and taps on a touch screen. The system was presented at the Conference on Mobile and Ubiquitous Multimedia in Sweden, last week.
31. The eye-tracker technology enables us to______
A. change our computer screen.
B. focus on anything that interests us.
C. get a smartphone connected wirelessly.
D. move an object from screen with a glance.
答案：D
32. Why is a button needed?
A. To minimize the cost of EyeDrop.
B. To choose as many objects as possible.
C. To make EyeDrop different from others.
D. To select what we want.
答案：D
33. The word “this” in Paragraph 6 refers to_______
A. application of gaze-tracking in human-computer interaction.
B. interaction between human and computer.
C. combination of gaze-tracking with input on touch devices.
D. generalization of EyeDrop system.
答案：C
34. Which of the following statement is true of eye-trackers for consumer devices.
A. They are costly.
B. They are available.
C. They are installed in Google Glass headset.
D. They are expected to come out soon.
答案：D
35. What is Turner likely to study next?
A. How to drag and drop with gaze and taps.
B. How to present the system in public.
C. How to get touch screen involved.
D. How to cut and paste content from a public display.
答案：C
第二篇 The Mir Space Station
The Russian Mir Space Station, which came down in 2001 at last after 15 years of pioneering the concept of long-term human space flight, is remembered for its accomplishments in the human space flight history. It can be credited with many firsts in space.
The Soviet Union launched Mir, which was designed to last from three to five years, on February 20, 1986, and housed 104 astronauts over 12 years and seven months, most of whom were not Russian. In fact, it became the first international space station by playing host to1 62 people from 11 countries. From 1995 through 1998, seven astronauts from the United States took turns living on Mir for up to six months each2. They were among the 37 Americans who visited the station during nine stopovers by space shuttles.
The more than 400 million the United States provided Russian for the visits not only kept Mir operating, but also gave the Americans and their partners in the international station project valuable experience in long-term flight and multinational operations.
A debate continues over Mir’s contributions to science. During its existence, Mir was the laboratory for 23,000 experiments and earned scientific equipment, estimated to be worth $80 million, from many nations.3 Experiments on Mir arc credited with a range of findings, from the first solid measurement of the ration of heavy helium atoms in space to how to grow wheat in space. But for those favouring human space exploration, Mir showed that people could live and work in space long enough for a trip to Mars. The longest single stay in space is the 437.7 days that Russian astronaut Valery Polyakov spent on Mir from 1994 to 1995. And Sergie Avdeyev accumulated 747.6 days in space in three trips to the space station. The longest American stay was that of Shannon Lucid4, who spent 188 days aboard Mir in 1996.
Despite the many firsts Mir accomplished, 1997 was a bad year out of 15 for Mir, In 1997, an oxygen generator caught fire. Later, the main computer system broke down, causing the station to drift several times and there were power failures.
Most of these problems were repaired, with American help and suppliers, but Mir’s reputation as a space station was ruined.
Mir’s setbacks arc nothing, though5, when we compare them with its accomplishments. Mir was a tremendous success, which will be remembered as a milestone in space exploration and the space station that showed long-term human habitation in space was possible. But it’s time to move on to the next generation. The International Space Station being built will be better, but it owes a great debt to Mir.
36. We can learn from the passage that the Mir Space Station
A. was designed to last over 5 years.
B. played host to 7 astronauts from different countries.
C. was visited only by Americans.
D. was built by Russians.
答案：D
37. One of the contributions Mir makes to science is that, it
A. help astronauts get close to Mars.
B. enables scientists to develop new scientific equipment.
C. sets a record of the longest single human stay in space.
D. shows that multinational operations in space are less expensive.
答案：C
38. What happened to Mir in 1997?
A. it ran out its fund.
B. it was completely damaged by fire.
C. its reputation was ruined due to power failures.
D. its main computer system broke out.
答案：D
39. It can be inferred from the last paragraph that
A. space exploration will not experience setbacks.
B. it is difficult for other space stations exceed Mir’s success.
C. Mir is the best long-term human habitation in space in history.
D. multinational space operation are getting more accomplishments.
答案：D
40. What is the author’s attitude toward Mir?
A. indifferent.
B. ironic.
C. favorable.
D. negative
答案：C
第三篇 Approaches to Understanding Intelligences
It bays to be smart, but we are not all smart in the same way .You may be a talented musician, but you might not be a good reader. Each of us is different.
Psychologists disagree about what is intelligence and what are talents or personal abilities .Psychologists have two different views on intelligence .Some believe there is one general intelligence .Others believe there are many different intelligences .
Some psychologists say there is one type of intelligence that can be measured with IQ tests .These psychologists support their view with research that concludes that people who do well on one kind of test for mental ability do well on other tests .They do well on tests using words, numbers or pictures. They do well on individual or group tests, and written or oral tests .Those who do poorly on one test, do the same on all tests.
Studies of the brain show that there is a biological basis for general intelligence .The brain of intelligence people use less energy during problem solving .The brain waves of people with higher intelligence show a quicker reaction .Some researchers conclude that differences in intelligence result from differences in the speed and effectiveness of information processing by the brain .
Howard Gardner, a psychologist at the Harvard School of Education, has four children .He believes that all children are different and shouldn’t be tested by one intelligence test .Although Gardner believes general intelligence exists, he doesn’t think it tells much about the talents of a person outside of formal schooling .He think that the human mind has different intelligences .These intelligences allow us to solve the kinds of problems we are presented with in life .Each of us has different abilities within these intelligences .Gardner believes that the purpose of school should be to encourage development of all of our intelligences .
Gardner says that his theory is based on biology .For example ,when one part of the Brain is injured ,other parts of the brain still work .People who cannot talk because of Brain damage can still sing .So ,there is not just one intelligence to lose .Gardner has Identified 8 different kinds of intelligence; linguistic, mathematical, spatial, musical, Interpersonal, intrapersonal, body-kinesthetic(身体动觉的),and naturalistic .
41. What is the main idea of this passage?
A. How to understand intelligence.
B. The importance of intelligence.
C. The development of intelligence tests.
D. How to become intelligent.
答案：A
42. Which of the following statements is true concerning general intelligence?
A. Most intelligent people do well on some intelligence tests.
B. People doing well on one type of intelligence test do well on other tests.
C. Intelligent people do not do well on group tests.
D. Intelligent people do better on written tests than on oral tests.
答案：B
43. Gardner believes that ________.
A. children have different intelligences.
B. all children are alike.
C. children should take one intelligence test.
D. there is no general intelligence.
答案：A
44. According to Gardner, schools should ________.
A. test students’ IQs.
B. train students who do poorly on tests.
C. focus on finding the most intelligent students.
D. promote development of all intelligences.
答案：D
45. Gardner thinks that his theory has a ________ .
A. musical foundation.
B. biological foundation.
C. intrapersonal foundation.
D. linguistic foundation.
答案：B