After years of research and tests, the hybrid car was developed and put on the market. It's an interesting and exciting new improvement in today's world as we look for better ways to protect the quality of the air we breathe and protect our natural resources.

The quality of our air is affected by many different things. But one of the largest sources of air pollution is the burning of fossil fuel such as coal and gasoline which is used to power a car's engine. The Environmental Protection Agency（EPA）has set national standards to help control the level of harmful pollutants sent off into the air, and the automobile industry has acted by producing the hybrid car that uses less gas and therefore causes less pollution.

A hybrid car is a combination of a regular car that runs on gasoline and an electric car that is battery-powered. Some people tend to think that since the hybrid car is partially electric, you have to plug it in to charge it. But that's not how it works. The 144 volt battery pack（电池组）is actually recharged through the energy that is produced when the car's brakes are used. This is referred to as "regenerative braking", because it generates electricity.

Although the hybrid car still runs on gasoline most of the time, this helps it use less gas than a regular car. When the driver stops at a traffic light, the engine automatically shuts off to save fuel. Then, as soon as the driver puts the car in gear and touches the gas pedal（踏板）, the engine starts backing up.

Have you ever ridden in a car with someone which ran out of gas？That probably wouldn't happen if you were riding in a hybrid car. It flashes a warning on its computer screen that says, "I am low on gas. "When it completely runs out, the warning reads, "YOU ARENOW OUT OF GAS！"Then the electric power supply starts to work to let the driver travel a few more miles to a gas station.

【小题1】Which of the following is true according to the passage？

A．The hybrid car will be put on the market.

B．Hybrid cars run faster than regular cars.

C．When the hybrid car stops at a traffic light, the driver will get a warning.

D．The burning of fossil fuel is one of the largest sources of air pollution.

【小题2】According to the passage, the word "hybrid" refers to_________.

A．a high-tech discovery	B．energy saving
C．a new invention	D．a combination of two things

【小题3】"Regenerative braking" is an important process of the hybrid car because _________.

A．it allows the car to come to a quick stop

B．it gives the driver a smoother ride

C．it produces energy to charge the battery

D．it can control the speed of the car

【小题4】Which of the following is the reason for developing hybrid cars?

A．They use less gas than regular cars.

B．They' re safer to drive than most cars.

C．They' re more modern than other cars.

D．They cost less than regular cars.

语法填空

China's first manned spaceship lifted off at 9 a. m. on Wednesday, October 15th, 2003 in Jiuquan, Gansu Province. It carried China's first astronaut, Yang Liwei, 【小题1】 was a pilot in the army. The launch was 【小题2】（success）. "When the spaceship separated 【小题3】 the rocket, I suddenly got 【小题4】 feeling of soaring into the sky because of the zero gravity, "said Yang Liwei. The Shenzhou V circled the earth 14 times. When the spaceship 【小题5】（do）its seventh circle, Yang showed the flags of China and the United Nations, 【小题6】（express）the wishes of the Chinese people 【小题7】（explore）and use space 【小题8】（peaceful）. Yang landed in Inner Mongolia safely at 6：23 a. m. on October 16th. He told 【小题9】（report）that when Shenzhou V let out its parachute, he felt the ship was shaking. Millions of people all over China were watching TV when the spaceship landed safely. Yang was happy to return home 【小题10】 he thought 21 hours was too short to stay in space.

   Leon，12，was born without fingers on his left hand. That didn't stop him from being able to do many tasks. But Leon could not grasp more than one object at a time. So Leon's father，Paul，created a prosthesis（义肢），using a3-D printer. Now Leon has fingers that can open and close. "It was a do-it-yourself，father and son adventure，" says Paul.

When Leon was a baby，his doctor advised his parents not to give him a prosthetic hand until he was in his early teens. "The doctor said Leon should first learn to get full use of the hand he was born with，"says Paul. As Leon got older，his father considered buying a prosthetic hand，which can cost as much as $30，000. Then Paul found a more affordable solution.

One day，Paul discovered a video on the Internet about Robohand，a prosthesis created by a 3--D printer. He downloaded the free instructions and called Robohand's creators for advice. They told him all he needed was a 3-D printer-which costs around $2，000 and some materials.

Luckily，Leon's school had recently bought a 3-D printer and it offered to help Paul build the hand for Leon. "We used a soccer shin pad（护胫），cardboard，and tape. They cost about $10，"says Paul.

With his new hand，Leon can do things better. "I can help my mom more，because now I can carry two grocery bags，"he says.

Leon's father has already built several hands for Leon. Leon helps design each one. He says there's one thing in particular that he wants to do with a future prosthesis. "The goal，"he tells the reporter from the local evening paper，"is to be able to tie my shoelaces（鞋带）".

【小题1】Why did Leon's doctor disapprove of his using a prosthesis in his childhood?

A．The prosthetic technology was underdeveloped then.

B．A prosthesis was very expensive at that time.

C．To learn to use the disabled hand was important.

D．The original hand could do many tasks.

【小题2】Leon's father managed to get Leon a new hand by _________.

A．collecting money on the Internet

B．buying a prosthetic hand

C．buying a 3-D printer

D．printing a hand

【小题3】The materials used for Leon's hand can be described as _______.

A．cheap and common

B．strange and valuable

C．personal and lovely

D．basic and solid

【小题4】What is the best title for the passage？

A．A DIY Enthusiast	B．A Helping Hand
C．A Great Adventure	D．A Lucky Escape

   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 difficult	B．less straight
C．more efficient	D．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

   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 by	B．be beneficial to
C．make a difference to	D．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．ab	B．bc
C．bd	D．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 toys	B．the popularity of robot pets
C．living pets are dying out.	D．robot pets are coming.