The idea of humanoid robots is not new. They have been part of the imaginative landscape ever since Karl Capek, a Czech writer, first dreamed them up for his 1921 play "Possum's Universal Robots".(The word "robot" comes from the Czech word for drudgery, robota.)Since then, Hollywood has produced countless variations on the theme, from the sultry False Maria in Fritz Lang's silent masterpiece "Metropolis" to the withering C-3PO in "Star Wars" and the ruthless assassin of " Terminator". Humanoid robots have walked into our collective subconscious, coloring our views of the future. But now Japan's industrial giants are spending billions of yen to make such robots a reality. Their new humanoids represent impressive feats of engineering: when Honda introduced Asimo, a four-foot robot that had been in development for some 15 years, it walked so fluidly that its white, articulated exterior seemed to conceal a human. Honda continues to make the machine faster, friendlier and more agile. Last October, when Asimo was inducted into the Robot Hall of Fame in Pittsburgh, it walked on to the stage and accepted its own plaque. At two and a half feet tall, Sony's QRIO is smaller and more toy-like than Asimo. It walks, understands a small number of voice commands, and can navigate on its own. If it falls over, it gets up and resumes where it left off. It can even connect wirelessly to the Internet and broadcast what its camera eyes can see. In 2003, Sony demonstrated an upgraded QRIO that could run. Honda responded last December with a version of Asimo that runs at twice the speed. In 2004, Toyota joined the fray with its own family of robots, called Partner, one of which is a four-foot humanoid that plays the trumpet. Its fingers work the instrument's valves, and it has mechanical lungs and artificial lips. Toyota hopes to offer a commercial version of the robot by 2010. This month, 50 Partner robots will act as guides at Expo 2005 in Aichi, Japan. Despite their sudden proliferation, however, humanoids are still a mechanical minority. Most of the world's robots are faceless, footless and mute. They are bolted to the floors of factories, stamping out car parts or welding pieces of metal, making more machines. According to the United Nations, business orders for industrial robots jumped 18% in the first half of 2004. They may soon be outnumbered by domestic robots, such as self-navigating vacuum cleaners, lawn mowers and window washers, which are selling fast. But neither industrial nor domestic robots are humanoid.

One of the responsibilities of the Coast Guard is to make sure that all ships______follow traffic rules in busy harbors.

The prodigal son spent his money extravagantly and soon after he left home, he was reduced to a beggar.

The restaurant's patrons enjoyed the food and atmosphere so much that they recommended it to their friends.

A. it gets its name from the man who invented itB. he lost his sight at the age of three as the result of an accidentC. another Frenchman had already come up with the idea of printing embossed lettersD. he invented his writing system at the age of only 15 in 1824 Chairman: Now, Dr. Graycar, what is Braille and where does it get its name from?Dr. Graycar: Well, as you said, Braille is a system of writing used by and for people who cannot see. Er,【D7】______, the Frenchman Louis Braille who lived in the early 19th century.Chairman: Was Louis Braille actually blind himself?Dr. Graycar: Well...he wasn't born blind, but【D8】______in his father's workshop. Louis Braille then went to Paris to the National Institute for Blind Children and that's where【D9】______while he was at the institute.Chairman: But he wasn't the first person to invent a system of touch reading for the blind, was he?Dr. Graycar: No,【D10】______that stood out from the paper but this was very cumbersome and inefficient.

It was no______that his car was seen near the bank at the time of the robbery.

It's apparent that the wooden bridge is not strong enough to______the weight of a lorry.

For the people who have never traveled across the Atlantic voyage is a fantasy. But for the people who cross it frequently one crossing of the Atlantic is very much like another, and they do not make the voyage for the【C1】______of its interest. Most of us are quite happy when we feel tired enough to go to bed and pleased when the journey【C2】______On the first night this time I felt especially lazy and went to bed【C3】______earlier than usual. When I arrived in my cabin, I was surprised to see that I was to have a companion during my trip, which made me feel a little unhappy. I had expected【C4】______but there was a suitcase like mine in the opposite corner. I wondered who he could be and what he would be like. Soon afterwards he came in. He was the sort of man you might meet anywhere, except that he was wearing such good clothes that I made up my mind that we would not get on well together whoever he was and did not say【C5】______As I had expected, he did not talk to me either but went to bed immediately. I supposed I slept for several hours because when I woke up it was already the middle of the night. I felt cold but covered【C6】______as well as I could and tried to go back to sleep. Then I realized that a draft was coming from the window opposite. I thought perhaps I had forgotten to close the door, so I got up【C7】______the door but found it already locked from the inside. The cold air was coming from the window opposite. I crossed the room and【C8】______the moon shone through it on to the other bed.【C9】______there. It took me a minute or two to【C10】______the door myself. I realized that my companion must have jumped through the window into the sea.

Researchers have found that short, intense exercise sessions prove to be healthier than longer, more moderate sessions with an equal caloric burn. The study found that activities like running and jumping reduced participants' risk of developing metabolic syndrome(代谢综合征)by two-thirds, compared with moderate activities like walking and leisurely bike rides that burned an equal number of calories. Metabolic syndrome is a set of health conditions that significantly increase your risk of heart disease and type 2 diabetes(糖尿病). Insulin(胰岛素)resistance and extra weight around the middle—that dreaded "belly fat"—are two major health conditions associated with the syndrome. The researchers used data collected from 1, 841 American adults. It is suggested that vigorous physical activity should be emphasized in public health guidelines for exercise. Currently, the non-profit organization Society for Exercise Physiology recommends 150 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity per week for adults aged 18-64. Avoiding metabolic syndrome isn't the only reason to change your exercise routine. One study found that gym goers who totaled 150 minutes of vigorous activity a week looked about 10 years younger than those who skip the gym altogether, while another study found that physical activity can cut the risk of breast cancer by up to 30 percent in older women at a healthy body weight. Also in recent years, studies have determined that three minutes of intense exercise, three times a week, could be the equivalent to five one-hour sessions, reducing the risk of heart disease and diabetes. Comment 1: Exercising is very personal. Nobody can say which one suits you except yourself. I have been walking for 45 -50 minutes every day for the past 10 years, and it's fine with me now. I think walking is the best way to keep me healthy. Comment 2: Exercise is just like anything. Don't overdo it but also don't just use it as an excuse to say you are working out. It needs to be in a good range to give you a good sweat but don't destroy yourself as well. The bottom line is to get out and exercise. It might not make you live longer but it definitely will make you healthier. Comment 3: Any exercise is good, short or long, fast or slow, especially the exercise in the fresh air. Comment 4: I've always done 15 -20mins but I don't take breaks. I move from one machine to the next, after my first round, I grab some water and then do a second round and then I'm finished. 20mins solid, only one water break.

A. Do you have the baggage claim tagsB. I've been waiting in the baggage claim area for one hourC. we are terribly sorry for the inconvenience Traveler:【D4】______, but still can't find my luggage.Staff: May I know your airline company and the flight number? Traveler: It's United Airline. The flight number is 311.Staff:【D5】______?Traveler: They are here.Staff: I am sorry. Your luggage was probably misplaced in Seattle while you transited there.Traveler: What should I do now?Staff: Would you please fill out this form and leave your address and phone number where we can contact you here? We'll contact you as soon as we can, and deliver them to where you are staying.Traveler: What if my luggage was damaged?Staff: Then, we will give you compensation for it. Again,【D6】______

A. at the minimum costB. reinforced by the factoryC. crowed togetherD. as self-reliant farmersPhrases: A. where too large masses of residents are【T13】 1B. by the artificial mode of existence【T14】 2C. based on the conception of maximum productivity【T15】 3D. for those who used to live here【T16】 4 Since the start of the Industrial Revolution, the influence of the factory on the physical and mental state of the workers has received no attention at all. Modern industry is【T17】 5so as to make it possible for an individual or a group of individuals to earn as much as possible. It has expanded without any idea of the true nature of the human beings who run the machines, and without any consideration to the impacts produced on the individuals or on their children【T18】 6 Great cities have been built with no regard【T19】 7The lack of space has given rise to the construction of enormous apartment buildings【T20】 8While civilized men enjoy such a way of living, they do not realize that they have had some of their necessities of life taken away, including peace, ease and health. 【T13】

A completely new situation is bound to______when the examination system is introduced.

These veterans still remember the rigorous discipline and hard training in these camps.

A. marine B. have discovered C. slowsPhrases: A. This turbulence muses friction and【T1】 1the fish downB. Another kind of【T2】 2animals is dolphinC. Biologists studying the dolphin【T3】 3that 【T4】 4This seagoing mammal has been clocked at speed of 32 kilometers(20miles)an hour.【T5】 5, like the shark, the animal's efficient locomotion can be traced to its skin. A dolphin's skin is made up in such a way that it offers very little resistance to the water flowing over it. Normally when a fish or other object moves slowly through the water, the water flows smoothly past the body. This smooth flow is known as laminar flow. However, at faster speeds the water becomes more turbulent along the moving fish.【T6】 6 【T1】

Oceanography has been defined as "The application of all sciences to the study of the sea". Before the nineteenth century, scientists with an interest in the sea were few and far between. Certainly Newton considered some theoretical aspects of it in his writings, but he was reluctant to go to sea to further his work. For most people the sea was remote, and with the exception of early intercontinental travelers or others who earned a living from the sea, there was little reason to ask many questions about it let alone to ask what lay beneath the surface. The first time that question "What is at the bottom of the oceans?" had to be answered with any commercial consequence was when the laying of a telegraph cable from Europe to America was proposed. The engineers had to know the depth profile of the route to estimate the length of cable that had to be manufactured. It was to Maury of the U. S. Navy that the Atlantic Telegraph Company turned, in 1853, for information on this matter. In the 1840s, Maury had been responsible for encouraging voyages during which soundings were taken to investigate the depths of the North Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. Later, some of his findings aroused much popular interest in his book The Physical Geography of the Sea. The cable was laid, but not until 1866 was the connection made permanent and reliable. At the early attempts, the cable failed and when it was taken out for repairs it was found to be covered in living growths, a fact which defied contemporary scientific opinion that there was no life in the deeper parts of the sea. Within a few years oceanography was under way. In 1872 Thomson led a scientific expedition which lasted for four years and brought home thousands of samples from the sea. Their classification and analysis occupied scientists for years and led to a five-volume report, the last volume being published in 1895.

Singletons, referring to those who live alone, are being comforted by well-meaning friends and family and told that not having a partner is not the end of the world. So, it would seem that they can say, yes, it is not. But no, in fact, it is the end. A gloomy study has just been released that says that the international trend towards living alone is putting an unprecedented strain on our ecosystem. For a number of reasons—relationship breakdown, career choice, longer life spans, smaller families—the number of individual households is growing. And this is putting intolerable pressure on natural resources, and accelerating the extinction of endangered plant and animal species. And there is worse news. Running a refrigerator, television, cooker, plumbing system just for selfish little you is a disastrous waste of resources on our over-populated planet. " The efficiency of resource consumption" is a lot higher in households of two people or more, simply because they share everything. Well imagine that. Just when you thought living alone was OK, you would find that all the time you were the enemy of mankind. Every time you put the kettle on the stove for a cup of coffee you were destroying Mother Earth. Indeed, it is not just your mother who is a bit worried by your continuing single status—you are letting down the entire human race by not having a boyfriend or girlfriend. The trouble is that society has a group instinct and people panic and hit out when they see other people quietly rebelling and straying away from the " standard" of family and coupledom. The suggestion is that singledom should be at best a temporary state. Unless you are assimilated into a larger unit, you can never be fully functional. Try "communal living". There are all these illustrations of young attractive people having a "great time", laughingly bumping into each other. It looks like an episode of the TV series "Friends". And the message is clear: Togetherness is good, solitude is bad, and being single on your own is not allowed.

The island where these rare birds nest has been declared a______.

There are over 6,000 different computer and online games in the world now. A segment of them are considered to be both educational and harmlessly entertaining. One such game teaches geography , and another trains pilots. Others train the player in logical thinking and problem solving. Some games may also help young people to become more computer literature, which is more important in this technology-driven era. But the dark side of the computer games has become more and more obvious. " A segment of games features anti-social themes of violence, sex and crude language" , says David Walsh, President of the National Institute on Media and Family. "Unfortunately, it's a segment that seems particularly popular with kids aged eight to fifteen. " One study showed that almost 80 percent of the computer and online games young people preferred contained violence. The investigators said" These are not just games anymore. These are learning machines. We're teaching kids in the most incredible manner what it's like to pull the trigger. What they are not learning are the real-life consequences. " They also said "The new and more sophisticated games are even worse, because they have better graphics and allow the player to participate in even more realistic violent acts. " In the game Carmageddon, for example, the player will have driven over and killed up to 33,000 people by the time all levels are completed. A description of the outcome of the game says: " Your victims not only squish under your tires and splatter blood on the windshield, they also get on their knees and beg for mercy, or commit suicide. If you like, you can also dismember(肢解)them. " Is all this simulated violence harmful? Approximately 3,000 different studies have been conducted on this subject. Many have suggested that there is a connection between violence in games and increased aggressiveness in the players. Some specialists downplay the influence of the games, saying that other factors must be taken into consideration, such as the possibility that kids who already have violent tendencies are choosing such games. But could it be that violent games still play a contributing role? It seems unrealistic to insist that people are not influenced by what they see. If that were true, why would the commercial world spend billions of dollars annually for television advertising?

To suppress this uprising completely seemed to be too difficult a mission to these officials.

He is too young to be able to______between right and wrong.