We all know the hard work that filmmakers and actors put in the film to provide us with entertainment, but it seems that even regular moviegoers like us have a big impact on how a movie turns out too.
For decades, film studios have used so-called test screenings to get feedback from members of the public before a movie comes out.
While test audience members are usually asked to fill in a questionnaire after a screening, telling the film studio what they liked and didn't like, media giant Disney has come up with a more high-tech solution.
According to a paper published this summer by the company's researchers, Disney is measuring the test audience's reactions by using special cameras placed inside cinemas.
Pairing the cameras with custom(定制的) software, the company can track what each audience member is feeling at any point in the movie, from anger to joy.
This works by mapping 68 different points on each audience member's face. The cameras can see in the dark, and the software can figure out a person's mood based on the slightest facial expressions.
It's hoped that this new method will allow more detailed feedback from the test audience. Rather than relying on audience members to recall their feelings after the movie's over,it can accurately read their reactions in real-time.
Test screenings are highly valued in the movie industry, and several well-known movies have been greatly altered(改变)following feedback.
Viewers of E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial would have left the cinema feeling a whole lot of difference if it had not been for its test audience's feedback.
"In one cut of the film that was tested,E.T. died instead of going home in his spaceship. You won't be surprised to hear that the test audience in question. didn't warm to this ending at all," wrote media website Den of Geek.
But for those who are concerned about privacy, the cameras won't be installed in public cinemas.
After all, unless you're part of the test audience,being in front of the camera is best left to the movie stars.
【小题1】How do the test audience influence a movie before it comes out?

A．They get involved in the shooting of a movie.

B．They help promote it after test screenings.

C．They give advice on how a movie should end.

D．Their views on the movie may help change it.

【小题2】What is the main advantage the cameras Disney researchers are using have over questionnaires?

A．They protect the audience's privacy better.

B．They allow the audience to recall their feelings more easily.

C．They are able to record the audience's moods accurately on the spot.

D．They can help audience members adjust their moods with custom software.

【小题3】With the example of

A．T. the Extra-Terrestrial, the author intends to ______.

B．illustrate the significance of test screenings

C．emphasize the importance of altering a movie

D．show what kind of endings are better received by viewers

E．explain what kind of feedback could be accepted in test screenings

【小题4】The underlined word "cut"in the third-to-last paragraph probably means ______.

A．a particular version of a movie

B．a part that is removed from a movie

C．a part of something that is shared among people

D．a reduction in the number or amount of something

A team of engineers at Harvard University has been inspired by Nature to create the first robotic fly. The mechanical fly has become a platform for a series of new high-tech integrated systems. Designed to do what a fly does naturally, the tiny machine is the size of a fat housefly. Its mini wings allow it to stay in the air and perform controlled flight tasks.
“It’s extremely important for us to think about this as a whole system and not just the sum of a bunch of individual components (元件),” said Robert Wood, the Harvard engineering professor who has been working on the robotic fly project for over a decade. A few years ago, his team got the go-ahead to start piecing together the components. “The added difficulty with a project like this is that actually none of those components are off the shelf and so we have to develop them all on our own,” he said.
They engineered a series of systems to start and drive the robotic fly. “The seemingly simple system which just moves the wings has a number of interdependencies on the individual components, each of which individually has to perform well, but then has to be matched well to everything it’s connected to,” said Wood. The flight device was built into a set of power, computation, sensing and control systems. Wood says the success of the project proves that the flying robot with these tiny components can be built and manufactured.
While this first robotic flyer is linked to a small, off-board power source, the goal is eventually to equip it with a built-in power source, so that it might someday perform data-gathering work at rescue sites, in farmers’ fields or on the battlefield. “Basically it should be able to take off, land and fly around,” he said.
Wood says the design offers a new way to study flight mechanics and control at insect-scale. Yet, the power, sensing and computation technologies on board could have much broader applications. “You can start thinking about using them to answer open scientific questions, you know, to study biology in ways that would be difficult with the animals, but using these robots instead,” he said. “So there are a lot of technologies and open interesting scientific questions that are really what drives us on a day to day basis.”
【小题1】The difficulty the team of engineers met with while making the robotic fly was that __________.

A．they had no model in their mind

B．they did not have sufficient time

C．they had no ready-made components

D．they could not assemble the components

【小题2】It can be inferred from paragraphs 3 and 4 that the robotic fly __________.

A．consists of a flight device and a control system

B．can just fly in limited areas at the present time

C．can collect information from many sources

D．has been put into wide application

【小题3】Which of the following can be learned from the passage?

A．The robotic flyer is designed to learn about insects.

B．Animals are not allowed in biological experiments.

C．There used to be few ways to study how insects fly.

D．Wood’s design can replace animals in some experiments.

【小题4】Which of the following might be the best title of the passage?

A．Father of Robotic Fly

B．Inspiration from Engineering Science

C．Robotic Fly Imitates Real Life Insect

D．Harvard Breaks Through in Insect Study

   Would you buy a car that can release calming smells into the air when you are stuck in heavy traffic? Would you buy a robot that smells like a human being?

Many people have seen the 3-D computer-made environments of virtual reality（虚拟现实）. Now these virtual worlds will not just look and sound real. Researchers have created VR environments that even smell like the real ones. With the new technology, users open a virtual door and step into a new environment, like a rainforest. After they enter this virtual world, special equipment releases forest-like smells into the air to make the experience feel more real.

Suzanne Fisher-Murray said, “It is a really wonderful experience that you have because you’re exploring this environment and you have smells with it.”

In the United States, Smell-O-Vision was designed to provide smells during the showing of a movie. The Smell-O-Vision system was once popular in the 1960s. Now, Emanuela Maggioni says it is close to becoming popular again. “It connects emotions and memories with the sense of smell,” Maggioni said. “It is unbelievable what we can do with the technology.”

The uses of smell technology are not just limited to films and the performing arts. Researchers showed a computer program where users could imagine themselves driving a car. The system included a special smell-spraying machine. Dmitrijs Dmitrenko said, “We want to deliver the smell of lavender(薰衣草) every time the person drives over the speed limit. We choose lavender because it’s a very calming smell.”

Scientists are experimenting with smells instead of sounds or image-based alerts on telecommunications equipment. And businessmen have already used smells to influence people’s behavior. “Not only in stores, but also in other places you can create and stimulate(刺激) immediate purchase,” Maggioni said. “So you’re in a library and when you smell coffee you will unconsciously have the need to drink a coffee.”

【小题1】Using smell technology, researchers make VR environments ________.

A．have a smell of a rainforest

B．even smell like the real ones

C．look like a 4-Denvironment

D．frighten people with a virtual world

【小题2】The example of Smell-O-Vision proves that________.

A．America is the first to use smell technology

B．cinemas are the most suitable places for the sense of smell

C．smell technology has been used before

D．it is out of date to use smell-spraying devices

【小题3】How is smell technology used by businessmen？

A．To make buyers understand salesmen better.

B．To remind people of their unrealistic purchase.

C．To help customers choose their favorite goods.

D．To stimulate people to buy things.

【小题4】What is the main idea of the passage？

A．The new developments of smell technology.

B．A major breakthrough of VR technology.

C．The sense of smell in human communication.

D．The advanced smell-spraying machines.

   Scientists are debating how to limit their newly-discovered power to change genetic structure. Scientists have already changed the genes of farm animals and agricultural plants to make them more productive or stronger. But now they can also change genes in wild animals and plants. These genes would continue into later generations. For example，it may be possible for scientists' to remove from existence the kind of mosquitoes that carry the Zika virus. They might also be able to permanently remove species of plants and animals that are destructive to other species.

In a report published last week，the U.S. National Academies of Sciences，Engineering and Medicine said it supports continuing research on this kind of gene control. But it warned that it is not possible to know what will happen when these changed plants and animals are released into the wild.

Sixteen biologists，ethicists（伦理学家）and policymakers are on a National Academy of Sciences（NAS）committee that is examining the issue. They say that there is value to the new technology. But，they say，there is not enough evidence to support the release of changed organisms（生物）from the laboratory into nature.

Many people would support stopping mosquitoes and rats from carrying diseases. But scientists say we must understand the possible scientific，ethical，legal and social results of such action before we decide whether to take it. Gene modification is spread through reproduction（繁殖）.Changed genes will continue to spread as long as an animal or plant continues to reproduce. They cannot be limited to a farm or kept within a country's borders. Scientists are wondering what may happen if a changed organism mates with another species. They are not yet sure how the changed genes would affect the other species. It is possible that those genes could harm those creatures or even lead to their disappearance from our planet.

【小题1】What possible advantage does gene control in wild animals and plants have?

A．Changing the Zika virus permanently.

B．Removing the destructive species forever.

C．Having changed genes in their next generations.

D．Making all the species more productive and stronger.

【小题2】Which of the following is NOT true according to the passage?

A．Scientists are not sure what exact results gene modification leads to.

B．Scientists won't change any genes before they make the final decision.

C．Gene modification has benefited some farm animals and agricultural plants.

D．Scientists have not applied gene modification to wild animals and plants in case of possible danger.

【小题3】As for genetically changed wild animals and plants, what are scientists worried about?

A．They may become weaker or die out.

B．They may be more productive.

C．They may cause damage to their living habitat.

D．Their genes may spread to later generations.

【小题4】What can be the best title for the passage?

A．Stop research on gene control

B．How to change genetic structure

C．Power and danger of gene control

D．Advantages of gene control in wild animals and plants