4.A Japanese toy maker says that they've developed a gadget (小器具)that translates dog barks(吠)into human languages and plan to begin selling the gadgets-under the name of Bowlingual-in the US pet stores and present shops this summer.
People laughed when the Japanese toy maker Takara company made the world's first dog-human translation machine last year.But about 300,000of them have been sold since it was on sale in Japan last year.Far bigger sales will be expected once an English language translation machine for dogs comes to America in August.The United States is home to about 67million dogs,more than six times the number in Japan.
"We know that the Americans love their dogs so much,so we don't think they'll mind spending﹩120on this gadget",the Takara marketing manager said before the journalists at a meeting in Atlanta.Bowlingual,one of US Time magazine's coolest inventions of 2002,has two parts.A microphone is tied to the dog's collar(项圈)and sends out sound information to the gadget held by the owner.Then the translation is done in the gadget by a database(数据库)with every kind of barks.Those barks show six feelings-happiness,sadness,disappointment,anger,declaration and desire.Each of the feelings is then translated into words like"Let's play.""Look at me!"or"Spend more time with me."
Takara says it has spent millions of dollars developing the gadget.One thing that seems certain is that the markets for animal translation machine will probably be a dog's world since Takara has no plans to develop such a gadget for cats."They are too unpredictable(反复无常),"the marketing manager said.
32.The first three paragraphs of the passage mainly tell us that BowlingualC.
A.was invented in Japan B.has developed quickly
C.will be sold in America D.sells well for its price
33.The underlined word"they"in the last sentence refers toD.
A.markets B.dogs C.plans D.cats
34.When was this passage most probably written?B
A.In the winter of 2002.B.In the spring of 2003.
C.In the summer of 2002.D.In the autumn of 2003.
35.From the passage,we can see that Takara isC the sale of its new gadget in the US.
A.proud of B.pleased with C.confident of D.worried about.
分析 本文是一篇说明文,说明了日本制造商宣布,他们开发了一个小玩具,把狗叫成人类语言,计划卖这个小玩具Bowlingual
解答 32.C 细节理解题.根据第一段and plan to begin selling the gadgets-under the name of Bowlingual-in the US pet stores and present shops this summer可知主要告诉我们bowlingual将在美国售卖;故选C.
33.D 推理判断题,由最后一段since Takara has no plans to develop a similar gadget for cats.因为Takara没有计划开发猫类的小工具;可知意为猫类的玩具,所以选D.
34.B 推理判断题;根据第一段and plan to begin selling the gadgets-under the name of Bowlingual-in the US pet stores and present shops this summer可知今年是2003年,因此文章最可能写自2033年的春天;故选B.
35.C 推理判断题,由第二段第三行t is forecasting far bigger sales once an English language translation for dogs comes to America in August可知从这篇文章中,我们可以看到,Takara对新玩具在美国的销售十分自信,所以选C
点评 考察学生的细节理解和推理判断能力,做细节理解题时一定要找到文章中的原句,和题干进行比较,再做出正确的选择.在做推理判断题不要以个人的主观想象代替文章的事实,要根据文章事实进行合乎逻辑的推理判断.