Why do human beings still risk their lives under ground and doing one of the dirtiest and most dangerous jobs in the world? It is an increasingly urgent question, given the recent mining accidents in Sago, W. Va and Huntington, Utah. A small group of engineers and robotics experts look forward to a day in the not-too-distant future when robots and other technology do most of the dangerous mining work. Robotic technology, in particular, holds much promise, McAteer says, especially when it comes to mapping mines and rescuing trapped miners—the special operations of the mining industry. One of the first mining robots was developed five years ago at Carnegie Mellon University’ s Robotics Institute. It was called Groundhog. It used lasers(激光器) to “see“ in dark tunnels and map abandoned mines—some of the most dangerous work in the business. The latest design is called Cave Crawler. It’ s a bit smaller than Groundhog, and even more advanced. It can take photos and videos and has more sensors that can detect the presence of dangerous gases. Incredibly, the robot has a real sense of logic. If it comes across an obstacle it gets momentarily confused. It has to think about what to do and where to go next. Sometimes it throws a fit just like a real person. The greatest problem, though, is cost. The money of the earliest research project was provided by the government, but that money has dried up, and it’ s not clear where future money will come from. Partly for that reason, and partly because of advances in safety, mining is not nearly as dangerous as it was in the past. Since 1990, fatalities(死亡率) have declined by 67% and injuries by 51% , according to the National Mining Association. Some experts predict that robots in mines will serve much of the same function that they do in the automotive industry. The robots do the most boring and dangerous jobs, but won’ t get rid of the need for human workers.

After walking for two hours, we stopped to take______rest. a ten minute’s a ten minutes’ ten minute’s a-ten-minutes

The company ______ its sales by an average of 10% per year since its establishment in 1993. increases increased is increasing has increased

It has been rather costly to install the machine, but it should______ in the long run. pay off keep off turn off put off

I wish I______in the sun by a swimming pool now instead of sitting in this classroom. have lain were lying lay lie

—What do you think of the professor’ s speech? —I was listening carefully but I could not ______ everything he said. He spoke too many local idioms. take on take in take up take over

______puzzles me most is that I don’t know______the difference between the two lies. What: how What: where That: what How: which

Why do human beings still risk their lives under ground and doing one of the dirtiest and most dangerous jobs in the world? It is an increasingly urgent question, given the recent mining accidents in Sago, W. Va and Huntington, Utah. A small group of engineers and robotics experts look forward to a day in the not-too-distant future when robots and other technology do most of the dangerous mining work. Robotic technology, in particular, holds much promise, McAteer says, especially when it comes to mapping mines and rescuing trapped miners—the special operations of the mining industry. One of the first mining robots was developed five years ago at Carnegie Mellon University’ s Robotics Institute. It was called Groundhog. It used lasers(激光器) to “see“ in dark tunnels and map abandoned mines—some of the most dangerous work in the business. The latest design is called Cave Crawler. It’ s a bit smaller than Groundhog, and even more advanced. It can take photos and videos and has more sensors that can detect the presence of dangerous gases. Incredibly, the robot has a real sense of logic. If it comes across an obstacle it gets momentarily confused. It has to think about what to do and where to go next. Sometimes it throws a fit just like a real person. The greatest problem, though, is cost. The money of the earliest research project was provided by the government, but that money has dried up, and it’ s not clear where future money will come from. Partly for that reason, and partly because of advances in safety, mining is not nearly as dangerous as it was in the past. Since 1990, fatalities(死亡率) have declined by 67% and injuries by 51% , according to the National Mining Association. Some experts predict that robots in mines will serve much of the same function that they do in the automotive industry. The robots do the most boring and dangerous jobs, but won’ t get rid of the need for human workers.

Sometimes you’ll hear people say that you can’ t love others until you love yourself. Sometimes you’ll hear people say that you can’ t expect someone else to love you until you love yourself. Either way, you’ ve got to love yourself first and this can be tricky. Sure we all know that we’ re the apple of our parents’ eye, and that our grandmas think we are great talents and our uncle Roberts think that we will go to the Olympics, but sometimes it’ s a lot harder to think such nice thoughts about ourselves. If you find that believing in yourself is a challenge, it is time you built a positive self-image and learnt to love yourself. The self-image is your own mind’ s picture of yourself. This image includes the way you look, the way you act, the way you talk and the way you think. Interestingly, our self-images are often quite different from the images others hold about us. Unfortunately, most of these images are more negative than they should be, and thus changing the way you think about yourself is the key to changing your self-image and your whole world. The best way to defeat a passive self-image is to step back and decide to stress your successes. That is, make a list if you need to, but write down all of the great things you do every day. Don’ t allow doubts to occur in it. It very well might be that you are experiencing a negative self-image because you can’ t move past one flaw or weakness that you see about yourself. Well, roll up your sleeves and make a change of it as your primary task. If you think you are silly because you aren’ t good at math, find a tutor. If you think you are weak because you can’ t run a mile, get to the track and practice. If you think you are dull because you don’ t wear the latest trends, buy a few new clothes. The best way to get rid of a negative self-image is to realize that your image is far from objective and to actively convince yourself of your positive qualities. Changing the way you think and working on those you need to improve will go a long way towards promoting a positive self-image. When you can pat yourself on the back, you’ll know you’ re well on your way.

Who are these people rushing by you in the street? More than 215 million people now call America “home“ , but most of them can trace their families back to other parts of the world. If you look at the names on shop windows, you will see that Americans come from many different lands. The idea that these people, who once were strangers to the United States, have lost the customs and cultures of their original countries and have become “Americans“ is really not true. In fact, what exists in America is more often a kind of “side-by-side“ living, in which groups of people from other countries often have kept many of their customs and habits. They join the general American society only in certain areas of their lives—such as in schools, business, and sports—but they keep many of their own native customs and manners socially and at home. This “side-by-side“ living has both advantages and disadvantages. Sometimes it may cause disagreements to develop between groups whose ways of life are very different from one another. However, there are also great advantages that come from the variety of cultures brought by settlers from other lands. There is great freedom of choice among ideas and dress, food, and social customs in America. Everyone can find some part of his or her familiar world in the United States, in churches, music, food, national groups, or newspapers.

When I spent the summer with my grandpa in Warwick, he sent me to Miss Bee’ s store.【C1】______the counter was Miss Bee. A pair of glasses teetered (摇摇欲坠) on the side of her nose, grey hair was【C2】______on her head. “Excuse me. I need to get these. “ I said. “So?“ She pushed her glasses up her nose. “There’ s no one here except you and me and I’ m not your【C3】______. Go get them. If you’ re lucky you’ll finish shopping by sundown. “ Sundown was five hours【C4】______. I wasn’ t sure I would【C5】______it. How could I hope to find anything on the packed, jumbled(混乱的) shelves around me? I visited Miss Bee several times a week. Sometimes she short-charged me. Other times she overcharged me. Or she sold me a(n)【C6】______newspaper instead of one that was current. Going to the store was more like going into battle. “That bread is only twenty-nine cents!“ I corrected her one afternoon. I had watched the number change on the cash register(收款机) closely, and Miss Bee had added 35 cents. She didn’ t seem【C7】______that I had caught her charging more. She just looked at me and【C8】______the price. All summer I learned the hard way to add up my list. But she still found ways to tricking me into making mistakes. No sooner【C9】______the items located on the shelf【C10】______Miss Bee rearranged the shelves and made me hunt for【C11】______all over again. The morning I was to【C12】______to Brooklyn, I stopped in to get a packet of gum. “All right,“ she said. “What did you learn this summer?“ She was mean! I pressed my lips together. To my【C13】______, Miss Bee laughed. “I know what you think of me,“ she said, “but when you get older you’ll be glad our paths【C14】______!“ Glad I met Miss Bee? The idea was【C15】______. Now I grow up and I finally understand I really learned a lot from Miss Bee.

As was expected, her good command of English enabled her to express herself without difficulty in the interview.

A lot of new problems arose in the company as soon as he took office.

这是一个有争议的问题，它引起了人们的激烈讨论。

不管有多忙，他总是抽时间帮我复习物理。

If you______ here a minute, the manager will be here in a moment. will wait wait are going to wait are waiting

In order to make his story interesting, he took Charlie’ s case as an______. advice lesson example information

He is one of the leaders______to attend the important international conference. who have been invited who has been invited whom they have invited him whom has been invited

I bought a______table in the biggest shopping mall the day before yesterday. small round wooden small wooden round round wooden small round small wooden

______your defence, he would have been given a sentence of 10 years. Except for Because of In spite of But for

The number of the employees in our company is______that in theirs. twice as large as twice as many than as twice many as as twice as

The latest robot is more advanced than Groundhog, mainly because______.

The underlined phrase “throws a fit“ in Paragraph 4 probably means “______“.

We can infer from the last paragraph that______.

We can infer from the passage that______.

What can be the best title for the passage?