单选题 The Japanese are fascinated by automata and new inventions. Japanese children are used to friendly robots in their comics, in toys, and in TV animated cartoons. When as adults they join the workforce, robots mean that there is no need to import cheap foreign labor, as happens in many other parts of the world. There is no need for humans to put up with dirty, mind-deadening mechanical work the robot does it all without complaint, around the clock. Robots don' t go on strike over tea breaks they don' t have tea, or any other kind of breaks: they work, day and night, without having to be paid overtime, without making mistakes. Human tasks are subject to human error: robot error seldom or never occurs except as a result of human error!
In Japan, robots are almost respected for their virtues. When a new robot is introduced to a small suburban factory, a Shinto priest is invited to inaugurate it. He inaugurates the robot with words along the lines of "Welcome to our co-worker, we hope you' II help him settle in. " No one laughs.
FANUC demonstrates the Japanese tendency to conform particularly strikingly. The founder of FANUC, Dr. Inaba, has created an army that makes no distinction between blue-collar, white-collar and steel-collar worker: everyone, including the warlord himself, is dressed in yellow clothing issued free by the company. Perhaps to make up for the boring nature of the work, there are a number of other company perks. Company benefits, including pay, are much higher than in similar companies in Japan. Travel to and from work is provided free in the company' s yellow buses. However, workers are expected to put in demanding unpaid "overtime. " There is a clock in the product development laboratory set to run at ten times the normal speed, the remind everyone that the company is on a war footing.
As we watched Dr. Inaba' s yellow helicopter soar away to Narita airport, we couldn' t help thinking that his dream of world domination in robotics and allied applications might be more elegantly achieved if he had also thought to program his robots to whistle while they work.

单选题 According to the author, which of the following is not true to the Japanese?

【正确答案】 B

【答案解析】[试题分析] 分析判断题。通讯全文，并仔细比较四个选项；但要注意选择不正确的那一项。
[详细解答] 在理解全文的基础上，比较四个选项。A)是第一段第三句话的原话，所以正确；B)“机器人意味着人们不必从事肮脏和吵闹的工作”，与第一段第四句话含义有所区别，原文是说，有了机器人人们就没有必要“忍受(put up with)肮脏、吵闹的工作，所以B与原文意思不完全一致；C)和D)也是文章中所提及的。相比较，A)、C)和D)都是文章中的原话，只有B)不符原意。故选B。

单选题 What can be inferred form the words "He inaugurates the robot with words along the lines of 'Welcome to our co-worker, we hope you'll help him settle in. ' No one laughs. "

【正确答案】 C

【答案解析】[试题分析] 细节推理题。理解这句话的含义，然后推理出其中的深层含义，可进行比较选择。
[详细解答] 这句话是对上帝说的。在场的人都很肃穆，没有一个人笑，说明日本人在这种场合表现出虔诚，这是对机器人的…种尊敬。四个选项中，C)最符合原意。日本人不笑并不能说明他们没有幽默感，也不是没有听懂牧师的话，他们的尊敬也没有过头，所以A)、B)、D)均不符题意。

单选题 Which of the following is not true about FANUC?

【正确答案】 A

【答案解析】[试题分析] 分析判断题。
[详细解答] 文章倒数第二段中提到FANUC，这是日本一家专门研制机器人的公司。A)“工人们在加班时会有更高的回报”，可是文章中有一句话：“However, workers are expected to put in demanding unpaid overtime.”这种overtime是unpaid(没有报酬的)，所A不正确。B)、C)、D)选项均为文章中的原话。故选A)。

单选题 What is not implied in the following works "we couldn' t help thinking that his dream of world domination in robotics and allied applications might be more elegantly achieved if he had also thought to program his robots to whistle while they work. "?

【正确答案】 A

【答案解析】[试题分析] 分析判断题。
[详细解答] 这段文字中think的宾语从句中使用的是虚拟语气，表示不可能的假设，同时对Inada没有想到这样做表示一种遗憾和惋惜。A)是表示我们的技术还不足以让Inada实现梦想，原文中是说他的梦想会更加娴雅地实现，意即他的梦想已经实现，所以A错；B)和C)均是说他的梦想太现实，缺乏人性，他设计的机器人并没有边工作边吹口哨(这代表一种休闲的工作方式)，而作者认为这样，所以B和C均对；D)是说作者赞同Inada博士的梦想，从文字的语气中可以得知作者是希望他实现梦想的，而且还提出了更好地实现梦想的建议，所以D也对。根据题意的要求，选A。

单选题 What does "our co-worker" refer to in the sentence "Welcome to our co-worker, we hope you'll help him settle in?"

【正确答案】 B

【答案解析】[试题分析] 猜测词义题。根据上下文猜测文中的指代名词，这需要分析这个指代名词的真正所指。
[详细解答] 这句话中，这位同事(co-worker)显然与后半句中的“他”是同指，“他”安顿下来，那么“他”指什么呢?结合这是机器人投入使用的典礼仪式，是准安顿下来呢?显然就是即将投入使用的机器人。所以“这位同事”(co-worker)是指即将投入使用的机器人，即B。