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

   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.

前不久，你班就是否应该克隆人类的问题进行了辩论，请根据下列要点写一篇100词左右的英语短文。

赞成	证明科学技术的突破； 帮助一些人实现特殊的愿望。
反对	人类生命将像商品一样进行销售； 是对生命的不尊重； 违背自然规律和伦理道德。
你的看法	……

 
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   Driverless technology will soon enter another major global industry: shipping. Several companies recently announced plans to launch self-sailing ships to improve safety and efficiency.

One of them is the Norwegian chemical company Yara International. Yara has teamed up with another Norwegian company, Kongsberg, to build an autonomous goods ship expected to be launched next year. Kongsberg developed the ship’s electrical technology and autonomous control systems. The ship is fully electric to reduce air pollution. It is designed to carry goods containers normally transported by truck. This means the ship will also improve road safety by replacing about 40,000 truck trips a year. The company plans to operate the ships by far-away control beginning sometime next year. By 2020, the ships should be loading and sailing themselves. While Yara’s ships will be limited to Norway at first, the company plans to greatly expand its autonomous shipping operations in the coming years.

Another company putting a high priority (优先) to self-sailing ships is the world’s largest mining company, Australia’s BHP Billiton. The company’s Vice President of Freight, Rashpal Bhatti, recently spoke about the technology in a website post. Bhatti believes automation will be one of the biggest changes for shipping in the future. He said, “Autonomous ships offer important opportunities to improve safety and provide more effective results to the supply chain of the sea.” He added that self-sailing ships could become a reality within the next decade.

Rolls-Royce, the British automobile and engine manufacturer (制造商), is also developing unmanned (无人驾驶的) shipping technologies. Oskar Levander is the company’s head of operations at sea. He said in a conference last year, “This is happening. It’s not if, it’s when.”

Levander said these autonomous ships could be controlled by far-away operators from anywhere. He added, “Because these ships will be designed to be unmanned, they can be built smaller, more efficient and environmentally friendly.”

【小题1】Why have several countries announced plans to produce self-sailing ships?

A．To save money.

B．To develop electrical technology in ships.

C．To compete in autonomous control systems.

D．To make shipping more effective and less risky.

【小题2】How will the Norwegian autonomous ship be developed?

A．On the basis of Rolls-Royce.

B．By a single company independently.

C．By two native companies working together.

D．By taking electrical technology from Australia.

【小题3】What do Oskar Levander’s words suggest in Paragraph 4?

A．It is too early to make autonomous ships.

B．The supply chain of the sea will be busier.

C．People are more concerned about autonomous ships.

D．Unmanned shipping technologies are becoming more mature.

【小题4】What would be the best title for the text?

A．Automation under Sail	B．Self-sailing Ships in Use
C．Automation in Some Fields	D．Automation in Imagination

   A new keyboard can tell whether you are its owner. The keyboard records information about the typing pattern（模式）and sends it to a computer program. The program then checks to see if the pattern matches the right user. If not, an alarm sounds, and the computer locks the typist out. It locks out everyone else, even if the person knows the password. What's more, this equipment needs no batteries. It collects all the energy it needs from your actions of typing. Besides, the keyboard is also self-cleaning and the keys are free of damage from water, oil and dirt.

The keys of the new keyboard are made of the same inexpensive plastic that might be found on any other standard keyboard. But instead of being smooth, the keys have millions of tiny plastic nanowires（纳米线）on their surface area, increasing the effective contact areas between the plastics and fingers. This guarantees that there's enough power to run the keyboard as someone types.

Liming Dai, a scientist, did not work on the new keyboard, but he thinks the design could be important in getting better performance from a variety of equipment. "It could also be applied to a touch screen, for example, "Dai says. " Then smart phones and notepads could collect energy from someone's actions of typing or drawing. "

"Future work might make the keyboard even more useful, "Dai adds. " A later design might build tiny capacitors onto the nanowires, "he suggests. Capacitors are little devices that temporarily store electric charge. Those might then be LEDs to light a keyboard in the dark.

Zhonglin Wang is a co-designer of the new keyboard. His team has built a working model of the keyboard. "If a company decides to fund（资助）its production, this keyboard could be in stores in as few as two years, "says Wang.

【小题1】How does the new keyboard tell whether you are its owner？

A．By matching the typing pattern to the right user.

B．By sending alarms to a computer program.

C．By checking the right user's passwords.

D．By just recording information about the typing pattern.

【小题2】Why are there many nanowires on the surfaces of the keys？

A．To keep the keyboard free of damage.

B．To improve the speed of typing.

C．To make the keys smooth.

D．To help produce power.

【小题3】What's Dai's attitude to the new keyboard？

A．Unconcerned.	B．Doubtful.
C．Positive.	D．Critical.

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

A．A New Keyboard Made of Nanowires

B．A New Keyboard Entirely Owned by You

C．A New Keyboard's Future

D．A New Keyboard Powered by Typing