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   A new study says that the faces on Lego minifigures have become less happy and more often mad or sad. The study was designed to find out if the Lego characters have become grumpier over the years.

Christoph Bartneck works at the University of Canterbury in New Zealand. He loves Lego and even worked for the company in the 1990s. He worked with another researcher on the project. They looked at all of the 6,000 figures made between 1975 and 2010. They made a note of each figure’s facial expression: happy, grumpy, afraid, surprised or satL They discovered that while in 1980, all of the figures were described as “smiley”, and that by 1990, only about 80 per cent of them had been “smiley” . And by 2010, just 50 per cent of the figures had had a smile on their little plastic faces.

The researchers are wondering how the increasingly sad, angry and unhappy faces on the Lego figures will affect the children who play with them. “Children’s toys can have an important influence on children,” said Bartneck on the university’s website. While Lego hasn’t issued an official response to the study, Bartneck said he thought the reason why Lego was producing angrier-faced characters was that children wanted them. He said it was likely that people wanted Lego characters to have different expressions, rather than just being sunny all the time. He said most of the unhappy faces were on characters based on a specific theme such as Harry Potter or pirates (海盗).

Bartneck will present his findings at the International Conference on Human-Agent Interaction in Sapporo.

【小题1】What does the underlined word “grumpier” probably mean?
A.Happier.B.Angrier.
C.Smarter.D.Prettier.
【小题2】It can be learned that since 1980 ________.
A.Bartneck has been studying Lego figures
B.the quality of Lego figures has gone from bad to worse
C.more and more Lego figures have lost their smiles
D.Lego figures’ facial expressions have become less rich
【小题3】What can we learn about Bartneck?
A.He likes to design different Lego figures.
B.He is a professor who studies facial expressions.
C.He wants to know the influence of unhappy figures on children.
D.He writes to the government to explain why children love angry Lego figures.
【小题4】The text mainly tells the readers ________ .
A.the history of the development of Lego figures
B.Lego characters are getting angrier
C.how Bartneck carried out his study
D.the angrier expressions on Lego figures do great harm to children
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同类题1

Things Your Pilot Won't Tell You
You may not be getting the airline you paid for.
You may go to an airline website and buy a ticket, and get onto an airplane that has a similar name painted on it, but half the time, you're really on a regional (地方的) airline.The regionals aren't held to the same safety standards as the majors: their pilots aren't required to have as much training and experience, and the public doesn't know that.
—Captain at a major airline
If you're a nervous flier, book a morning flight.
The heating of the ground later causes bumpier (颠簸的) air, and it's much more likely to thunderstorm in the afternoon.
—Jerry Johnson , pilot, Los Angeles
The smoothest place to sit is often over or near the wing.
The bumpiest place to sit is in the back.If you're in the middle, you don't move as much.
—Patrick Smith, pilot, and author of Cockpit Confidential
Sit in the front if you want fresher air.
The general flow of air in any airplane is from front to back.So if you're really concerned about breathing the freshest possible air or not getting too hot, sit as close to the front as you can.Planes are generally warmest in the back.
—Tech pilot at a regional airline, Texas
You never know where the safest seat is.
There is no safest place to sit.In one accident, the people in the back are dead; in the next, it's the people up front.
—John Nance, aviation safety analyst and retired airline captain, Seattle
I've been struck by lightning twice.
Most pilots have.Airplanes are built to take it.You hear a big boom and see a big flash and that's it.You're not going to fall out of the sky.
—Charlotte, pilot for a regional earner,.North Carolina
People don't understand why they can't use their cell phones.
Well, what can happen is 12 people will decide to call someone just before landing, and I can get a false reading on my instruments saying that we are higher than we ideally are.
—Jim Tilmon, retired American Airlines pilot, Phoenix
【小题1】Jerry Johnson advises nervous fliers to ______.
A.sit in the back
B.fly in the morning
C.fly with major airlines
D.avoid flying in bad weather
【小题2】The best seats for those who need fresh air are ______.
A.in the frontB.in the middle
C.in the backD.near the wing
【小题3】Passengers' use of cellphones before landing is likely to ______.
A.increase the risk of being struck by lightning
B.make it difficult for pilots to control the plane
C.cause the instruments of the plane to break down
D.affect pilots' judgment about the height of the plane

同类题2

   In the United States alone,over 100 million cell-phones are thrown away each year.Cell-phones are part of a growing mountain of electronic waste like computers and personal digital assistants.The electronic waste stream is increasing three times taster than traditional garbage as a whole.

Electronic devices contain valuable metals such as gold and silver.A Swiss study reported that while the weight of electronic goods represented by precious metals was relatively small in comparison to total waste,the concentration(含量)of gold and other precious metals was higher in So-called e-waste than in naturally occurring minerals.

Electronic wastes also contain many poisonous metals.Even when the machines are recycled and the harmful metals removed,the recycling process often is carried out in poor countries,in practically uncontrolled ways which allow many poisonous substances to escape into the environment.

Creating products out of raw materials creates much more waste material,up to 100 times more,than the material contained in the finished products.Consider again the cell-phone,and imagine the mines that produced those metals,the factories needed to make the box and packaging(包装)it came in.Many wastes produced in the producing process are harmful as well.

The U.S Environmental Protection Agency notes that most waste is dangerous in that"the production, distribution,and use of products-as well as management of the resulting waste-all result in greenhouse gas release." Individuals can reduce their contribution by creating less waste at the start-for instance,buying reusable products and recycling.

In many countries the concept of extended producer responsibility is being considered or has been put in place as an incentive(动机)for reducing waste.If producers are required to take back packaging they use to sell their products,would they reduce the packaging in the first place?

Governments' incentive to require producers to take responsibility for the packaging they produce is usually based on money.Why,they ask,should cities or towns be responsible for paying to deal with the bubble wrap(气泡垫)that encased your television?

From the governments' point of view,a primary goal of laws requiring extended producer responsibility is to transfer both the costs and the physical responsibility of waste management from the government and tax-payers back to the producers.

【小题1】By mentioning the Swiss study,the author intends to tell us that .
A.the weight of e-goods is rather small
B.natural minerals contain more precious metals
C.E-waste deserves to be made good use of
D.the percentage of precious metals is heavy in e-waste
【小题2】The responsibility of c-waste treatment should be extended .
A.from producers to governments
B.from governments to producers
C.from individuals to distributors
D.from distributors to governments
【小题3】What docs the passage mainly talk about?
A.The increase in e-waste.B.The creation of e-waste.
C.The seriousness of e-waste.D.The management of e-waste.

同类题4

   Do you like eating processed meat? If you do, think twice now if you want to eat such meat for the sake of your health.  Why? "It's because eating processed meat can cause cancer, " World Health Organization (WHO) experts said last Monday.

Processed meat is the meat that has been preserved by salting, smoking, drying or canning. Experts from the WHO's International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) in Lyon, France studied 800 patients.  The experts connected processed meat, such as hot dogs and bacon, with at least three kinds of cancer.  A person who eats 50 grams of processed meat per day— about two pieces of bacon— increases his or her risk of bowel (肠) cancer by 18 percent.

The IARC has included processed meat in its Group 1 list, for which there is " enough evidence" of its connection with cancer. Tobacco is also on the Group 1 list.

The experts also said red meat, including beef, lamb and pork, is "probably" carcinogenic (致癌的)to humans. Dr. Kurt Strait is with the IARC. He said in a statement that the risk of cancer increases with the amount of meat a person eats. Health experts in some countries advised people against eating large amounts of red and processed meat. But those suggestions had been centered on the increased risk of heart disease and obesity.

However, meat industry groups protest the result of the WHO's study.  They say that meat is part of a balanced diet.  They also say the causes of cancer are broad, and include environment and lifestyle factors.

The WHO's report cites (引证) the Global Burden of Disease Study's project, which shows that diets high in processed meat lead to 34, 000 cancer deaths per year worldwide.

【小题1】It can be inferred that the items on the Group 1 list of the IARC    .
A.are all processed foods
B.aren't often eaten by people
C.can be the most dangerous to humans
D.can greatly increase the risk of cancer
【小题2】Which can take the place of the underlined word "protest"?
A.Learn from.B.Disagree with.
C.Take interest in.D.Pay attention to.
【小题3】Which is the best title of the passage?
A.WHO: Processed Meat Can Cause Cancer
B.The Importance of Having a Balanced Diet
C.Eating Too Much Red Meat Is Bad for Humans
D.The Causes of Some Kinds of Cancer