单选题She {{U}}eventually{{/U}} married the most persistent one of her admirers. A.in a way B.in due course C.in the end D.in any case

单选题Almost Human? Scientists are racing to build the world's first thinking robot. This is not science fiction: some say they will have made it by the year 2020. Carol Packer reports. Machines that walk, speak and feel are no longer science fiction. Kismet is the name of an android (机器人) which scientists have built at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Kismet is different from the traditional robot because it can show human emotions. Its eyes, ears and lips move to show when it feels happy, sad or bored. Kismet is one of the first of a new generation of androids—robots that look like human beings—which can imitate human feelings. Cog, another android invented by the MIT, imitates the action of a mother. However, scientists admit that so far Cog has the mental ability of a two-year-old. The optimists (乐观主义者) say that by the year 2020 we will have created humanoids (机器人) with brains similar to those of an adult human being. These robots will be designed to look like people to make them more attractive and easier to sell to the public. What kind of jobs will they do? In the future, robots like Robonaut, a humanoid invented by NASA, will be doing dangerous jobs, like repairing space stations. They will also be doing more and more of the household work for us. In Japan, scientists are designing androids that will entertain us by dancing and playing the piano. Some people worry about what the future holds, will robots become monsters (怪物)? Will people themselves become increasingly like robots? Experts predict that more and more people will be wearing micro-computers, connected to the Internet, in the future. People will have micro-chips in various parts of their body, which will connect them to a wide variety of gadgets (小装置). Perhaps we should not exaggerate (夸大) the importance of technology, but one wonders whether, in years to come, we will still be falling in love, and whether we will still feel pain. Who knows?

单选题Look After Your Voice Often speakers at a meeting experience dry mouths and ask for a glass of water. You can solve the problem by activating the saliva in your mouth. First gently bite the edges of your tongue with your teeth. Or, press your entire tongue to the bottom of your mouth and hold it there until the saliva flows. Or you can imagine that you are slicing a big juicy lemon and sucking the juice. Before you begin your talk, be kind to your voice. Avoid milk or creamy drinks which dry your throat. Keep your throat wet by drinking a little sweetened warm tea or diluted fruit juice. If you sense that you are losing your voice, stop talking completely. In the meantime, do not even talk in a low voice. Save your voice for your health. You may feel foolish using paper to write notes, but the best thing you can do is to rest your voice. If it is necessary, perhaps you can get some advice from a professional singer. What about drinking alcohol to wet your throat? I advice you not to touch alcohol before speaking. The problem with alcohol is that one drink gives you a little confidence. The second drink gives you even more confidence. Finally you will feel all-powerful and you will feel you can do everything, but in fact your brain and your mouth do not work together properly. Save the alcohol until after you finish speaking. Perhaps you want to accept the advice, but you may wonder if you can ever change the habits of a lifetime. Of course you can. Goethe, who lived before indoor skating rinks or swimming pools, said, "We learn to skate in the summer and swim in the winter". Take this message to heart and give yourself time to develop your new habits. If you are willing to change, you will soon be able to say that you will never forget these techniques because they became a part of your body.

单选题From my {{U}}standpoint{{/U}}, you know, this thing is just funny.

单选题The manager spoke highly of such characters as loyalty, courage and truthfulness shown by his employees.A. virtuesB. featuresC. propertiesD. characteristics

单选题Winston Churchill gave a {{U}}moving{{/U}} speech. A. nervous B. foolish C. stirring D. fast

单选题 El Nino (厄尔尼诺现象) While some forecasting methods had limited success predicting the 1997 El Nino a few months in advance, the Columbia University researchers say their method can predict large El Nino events up to two years in advance. That would be good news for governments, farmers and others seeking to plan for the droughts and heavy rainfall that El Nino can produce in various parts of the world. Using a computer, the researchers matched sea-surface temperatures to later El Nino occurrences between 1980 and 2000 and were then able to anticipate El Nino events dating back to 1857, using prior sea-surface temperatures. The results were reported in the latest issue of the journal Nature. The researchers say their method is not perfect, but Bryan C. Weare, a meteorologist at the University of California. Davis, who was not involved in the work, said it "suggests El Nino is indeed predictable". "This will probably convince others to search around more for even better methods," said Weare. He added that the new method "makes it possible to predict El Nino at long lead times". Other models also use sea-surface temperatures, but they have not looked as far back because they need other data, which is only available for recent decades, Weare said. The ability to predict the warming and cooling of the Pacific is of immense importance. The 1997 El Nino, for example, caused an estimated $9.0 billion in damage worldwide, offset by beneficial effects in other areas, said David Anderson, of the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts in Reading England. "The 1877 El Nino, meanwhile, coincided with a failure of the Indian monsoon and a famine that killed perhaps 40 million in India and China, prompting the development of seasonal forecasting," Anderson said. When El Nino hit in 1991 and 1997, 200 million people were affected by flooding in China alone, according to a 2002 United Nations report. While predicting smaller El Nino events remains tricky, the ability to predict larger ones should be increased to at least a year if the new method is confirmed. El Nino tends to develop between April and June and reaches its peak between December and February. The warming tends to last between 9 and 12 months and occurs every two to seven years. The new forecasting method does not predict any major El Nino events in the next two years, although a weak warming toward the end of this year is possible.

单选题The city centre was Uwiped out /U by the bomb

单选题By far the most common snake in Britain is the adder. In Scotland, in fact, there are no other snakes at all. The adder is also the only Britain snake with a poisonous bite. It can be found almost anywhere, but prefers sunny hillsides and rough open country, including high ground. In Ireland there are no snakes at all. Most people regard snake bites as a fatal misfortune, but not all bites are serious, and very few are fatal: Sometimes attempts at emergency treatment turn out to be more dangerous than the bite itself, with amateurs heroically, but mistakenly, trying do-it-yourself surgery and other unnecessary measures. All snakes have small teeth, so it follows that all snakes can bite, but only the bite of the adder presents any danger. British snakes are shy animals and are far more frightened of you than you could possibly be of them. The adder will attack only if it feels threatened, as can happen if you take it by surprise and step on it accidentally, or if you try to catch it or pick it up, which it dislike intensely. If it hears you coming, it will normally get out of the way as quickly as it can, but adders cannot move very rapidly and may attack before moving if you are very close. The effect of a bite varies considerably. It depends upon several things, one of which is the body-weight of the person bitten. The bigger the person, the less harmful the bite is likely to be, which is why children suffer far more seriously from snake bites than adults. A healthy person will also have better resistance against the poison. Very few people actually die from snake bites in Britain, and though these bites can make some people very ill, there are probably just as many cases of bites having little or no effect, as there are of serious illness.

单选题Accompanied by {{U}}cheerful{{/U}} music, we began to dance.

单选题Regular visits from a social worker can be of immense value to old people living alone.A. equalB. immediateC. moderateD. great

单选题It has been said that the Acts provided a new course of action and did not merely {{U}}regulate{{/U}} or enlarge an old one.

单选题He was not admitted to the club because he wasn"t a member.

单选题The astronomer was not interested in the way dolphins communicate with each other.

单选题The five classic foot positions in ballet are the basis for the {{U}}ethereal{{/U}} grace of the ballet dancer’s art.

单选题Airbus plans to build a mini-restaurant in the lower hold of A3XX.

单选题The two banks have announced plans to merge next year.A. closeB. sellC. breakD. combine

单选题The Spanish, French, Dutch, and English all vied for North American territory.

单选题Tim Lyons liked to play computer games in his spare time.

单选题It is obvious that there is difference in the way they view the matter.A. naturalB. certainC. inevitableD. clear