题干

   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D.it is out of date to use smell-spraying devices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.
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同类题1

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

同类题2

   Nature has its own way of balancing itself out,but when we humans get involved,we tend to throw things out of control. Forests and oceans are natural carbon sinks that absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, but since we’ve been pumping too much into the air, those sinks can’t keep up. Scientists at the Max Planck Institute for the Advancement of Science in Germany, led by biologist Tobias Erb,have figured out a way to supercharge plants to make them better at absorbing carbon dioxide, which could be a key defense against climate change.

Erb and his team figured out a way to make plants more efficient(效率高的)at absorbing carbon, so that they consumed more carbon in a shorter amount of time. “If you think about plants, they are efficient carbon dioxide -fixing filters, but they are not fast,” Erb said. “I think there is a chance to improve existing biology with synthetic(人造的)biology.”

Erb’s team identified 17 enzymes(酶)from nine different organisms, re-engineering three of them, which had enlarged carbon consumption. When those enzymes worked together as a team, they worked better at not only plants’ natural enzymes, but also themselves individually.

Existing enzymes in plants consume about 5 to 10 molecules(分子)of carbon dioxide per second. The team of enzymes that Erb used consumed 80 molecules per second.

So far, these enzymes have only been tested in test tubes in the lab, but the next step is real world testing where the enzymes would be introduced into plants to see if the same result occurs. If those tests show that plants really can be supercharged, we will have a new tool in the fight against climate change where not only do we protect the amazing carbon-absorbing forests we have, but we also apply these super plants or an artificial leaf technology using the enzymes into other fields.

【小题1】Why can't forests and oceans balance nature nowadays?
A.Oceans and forests are getting smaller.
B.We human beings give off too much carbon dioxide.
C.A large number of forests are cut down.
D.There are too many creatures in the world.
【小题2】Which is the key defense against climate change according to Erb and his team?
A.To increase the plants' ability and efficiency to absorb carbon dioxide.
B.To make oceans and forests absorb more carbon dioxide quickly.
C.To reduce humans' activities giving off too much carbon dioxide.
D.To increase the number of plants in the world.
【小题3】What can we conclude from the last paragraph?
A.The enzymes have proved useful in the real world.
B.Erb’s team are confident about the technology.
C.The enzymes only work in the lab.
D.The technology may have a bright future.
【小题4】This passage is intended to ____.
A.introduce a possible way to better plants’ ability to absorb carbon dioxide
B.call on people to pay more attention to the balance of nature
C.analyze the cause and result of climate change related to plants
D.explore the possibility of using plants to fight against climate change

同类题3

   Virtual reality is no longer a concept of the future. 3-D technology can now change a desktop computer into an interactiveworld of adventure, fashion, fun and entertainment.

Using the Internet as an entry platform, the new technology is blurring the lines between the real and virtual worlds.

In contrast to a traditional two-dimensional(二维的)interface, the 3-D environment provides a very large and highly social world, enabling access to people and places that would be impossible in the real world.

Through the use of avatars(虚拟替身), a virtual replica of yourself, or whoever you want to be, life can take on new dimensions in cyberspace.

Shopping online is not such a new world to most people, but the 3-D experience is completely different. Via avatars, shoppers can pick up, try on and test out products in virtual shopping centres. The avatar, set with real-life measurements, can try on a new pair of jeans, get a trendy haircut and see if certain accessories suit.

Avatars can also join with like-minded people as they travel, take on adventures and socialize.

From a businessman’s point of view, interactive 3-D experiences allow him to exactly judge consumer demand via instant feedback and requests.

Buying property and taking a holiday in the real world also presents great virtual opportunities. Before buying a home, renting an apartment or booking a hotel, you can walk through a digital version of the property, making sure that it meets all your needs.

For people short of time and money in the real world, virtual tourism allows adventures in a virtual dimension. A virtual tourist can step inside the Louvre, trek into the Sahara, or go bungee jumping in New Zealand.

“3-D technology will influence many aspects of human life in that we can entertain ourselves from similar cyber games and experience exciting 3-D tourism,” explained Martin Tong, marketing director of The 1st Virtual Business and professional creator of a vitual world.

“Our understanding of the virtual world is to give customers a strong interactive experience; it is not only a game, but also life itself,” he added.

The new way of traveling will not necessarily meet everyone's satisfaction. Dong Lifen, an engineer in China Unicom commented that while the virtual world gives the freedom of traveling to popular destinations, it is not the same as the real thing.

【小题1】What’s the passage mainly about?
A.The concept of 3-D technology.
B.Various uses of 3-D technology.
C.The future of 3-D technology.
D.Different views on 3-D technology.
【小题2】The underlined part in Paragraph 2 means “______”.
A.combining the real world with the virtual world
B.separating the real world from the virtual world
C.making it difficult to tell the real world from the virtual world
D.making the difference between the real world and the virtual world become less important
【小题3】What can people do through the use of avatars?
A.Pick up, try on and test out products in real shopping centres.
B.Buy property and take a holiday in the real world.
C.Experience virtual tourism even though they are short of time and money.
D.Experience the joy of traveling just as they do in the real world.
【小题4】On the whole, the writer’s attitude to the wide use of 3-D technology is ______.
A.criticalB.optimistic
C.negativeD.skeptical

同类题4

   Humans have been keeping animals as pets for tens of thousands of years, but Dr Jean-Loup Rault, an animal scientist at the University of Melbourne in Australia, believes new companions are coming: robot pets.

“Technology is moving very fast,” Rault told ABC News, “The Tamagotchi in the early 1990s was really the first robotic pet, and now Sony and other big companies have improved them a lot.”

This may not sit well with pet lovers. After all, who would choose a plastic toy over a lovely puppy? But Rault argues that the robotic kind has a lot going for it: “You don’t have to feed it, you don’t have to walk it, it won’t make a mess in your house, and you can go on a holiday without feeling guilty.” The technology also benefits those who are allergic to pets, short on space, or fearful of real animals.

It’s not clear whether robot pets can replace real ones. But studies do suggest that we can bond with these smart machines. People give their cars names and kids give their toy animals life stories. It’s the same with robots. When Sony stopped its repair service for its robot dog Aibo in March 2014, owners in Japan held funerals.

As an animal welfare researcher, Rault is concerned about how robotic pets could affect our attitudes towards live animals. “If we become used to a robotic companion that doesn’t need food, water or exercises, perhaps it will change how humans care about other living beings,” he said.

So are dogs and cats a thing of the past, as Rault predicts? For those who grew up with living and breathing pets, the mechanical kind might not do. But for our next generation who are in constant touch with smart technology, a future in which lovely pets needn’t have a heartbeat might not be a far-fetched dream.

【小题1】What does the underlined phrase “sit well with” means?
A.be refused byB.be beneficial to
C.make a difference toD.receive support from
【小题2】What are the advantages of robot pets?
a. They are plastic and feel smooth.
b. Owners needn’t worry about them when going out.
c. They can help cure allergies(过敏).
d. They save space and costs.
A.abB.bc
C.bdD.cd
【小题3】We can learn from the passage that___________.
A.Sony is the first company to produce robot pets Aibo.
B.People can develop strong bond(联系、关系) with their robot pets.
C.Rault thinks robot pets still have a long way to go.
D.Robot toys may help people care more about living beings.
【小题4】The passage mainly tells us___________.
A.the advantages of robot toysB.the popularity of robot pets
C.living pets are dying out.D.robot pets are coming.

同类题5

   There's a good chance that something you've bought online has been in the hands of a " picker". These are the workers in warehouses (仓库) who pick, pack and ship all those things we ordered.

At Amazon and other companies, they're working side by side with robots. Experts say while the robots are replacing some human workers, the machines aren't quite ready to take over completely.

When a robot finds its storage unit,' it slides underneath, lifts it up and then delivers it to a worker they're called pickers. On a recent day, the computer told a picker to grab what looked like a fantasy board (#t 3#)game. The picker found it, packed it and placed it on the conveyer belt.

"In a traditional fulfillment center where the workers would walk to the different items, it can take hours to fulfill a customer order," Robinson says.

Now, with the help of robots, that task takes minutes and fewer humans.

So is this a sign that we're entering a new industrial revolution?

" It's definitely going to take over a lot of jobs ", says Karen Myers, a scientist at SRI, one of Silicon V alley's oldest research centers.

At the same time, she says, " We're running against the limits of technology. " Take the picker at the Amazon fulfillment center for example. Myers says those skills prove to be uniquely human.

"Our fingers are incredibly flexible and the current generation of robotic operators are getting much, much better," she says. "But they're just not quite there yet."

There's also the robot's brain.

Remember that board game the Amazon worker was looking for? She could barely see the box when it was filled into the storage bin——but she could tell it was a board game. Robots can't do that.

Technologists say that, increasingly, humans will work side by side with robots——instead of robots working alone.

Amazon says robots and humans enabled the Tracy warehouse to fulfill customer orders faster. That means more customers and more human workers.

【小题1】What does a picker do according to the text?
A.Selling goods.B.Storing goods.
C.Delivering goods.D.Producing goods.
【小题2】With the help. of robots, the tasks involved will become .
A.more difficultB.less straight
C.more efficientD.less profitable
【小题3】Compared with robots, which of the following is the advantage of human beings?
A.Flexible.B.Artificial.
C.Powerful.D.Energetic.
【小题4】What would be the best title for the text?
A.Robots replacing humans completely
B.Robots and humans working side by side
C.The future of robots .
D.The advantages of shopping online