What if you arrived home to find a delicious hot meal waiting for you，prepared by your very own kitchen robot? It might sound like science fiction，but professors at the university of Tokyo have taken the first steps toward making that scenario a reality．The team recently introduced a humanoid kitchen robot that can pour tea and other drinks into cups and serve them to guests．When teatime is over，the robot can also wash the dishes and put them away．

In California，another interesting kitchen robot has been developed．Called the Readybot，it can pick up objects and either store them in cabinets or put them in the trash．It also carries a separate floor-cleaning robot that can operate by itself．Unlike the Japanese robot，Readybot is not humanoid．Instead，it looks more like a large box with arms and wheels．

Readybot was created by engineers and designers who established a club called the Readybot Challenge．They believe that in the future millions of robots will be needed in homes to perform ordinary household tasks．Readybot is just the first step in their plan to create a robot that can tackle jobs not only in kitchens but in other rooms of homes and in offices as well．

Clearly there are technological hurdles to overcome before robots can cook a complete dinner，and there are also many safety concerns．Not everyone（especially parents）would be comfortable with the idea of robots in their house，manipulating hot pans and sharp knives．The European Commission recently funded a project to study these concerns．

56．What does the writer imply about the Japanese robot?

A．It performs fewer functions than readybot can．

B．it looks more like a person than Readybot does．

C．It speaks more languages than Readybot does．

D．It costs 1ess to manufacture than Readybot does．

57．Where do the engineers and designers hope that Readybot will operate in the future?

A．On spacecraft                                            B．In automobiles

C．On playgrounds                                          D．At companies

58．What does the writer imply about parents?

A．They have shown tremendous interest in kitchen robots．

B．They don’t have strong opinions about kitchen robots．

C．They might think that kitchen robots could be dangerous．

D．They can’t wait to buy kitchen robots for their homes．

59．According to the writer，what has the European Commission done for the project?

A．It has built factories                                    B．It has printed manuals

       C．It has hired workers                                    D．It has provided money

When I come across a good article in reading newspapers，I often want to cut and keep it．But just as I am about to do so，I find the article on the   36   side is as much interesting．It may be a discussion of the way to   37   in good health，or advice about how to   38   and conduct yourself in society．If I cut the front articles，the opposite one is likely to suffer   39   ，leaving one half of it or keeping the text    40    the title．Therefore，the scissors（剪刀）would stay before they start，    41    the cutting would be halfway done when I find out the   42    result．

Sometimes two things are to be done at the same time，both worth your    43    ．You can only take up one of them；the other has to wait or be   44    up．But you know the future is unpredictable―the changed situation may not   45   you to do what is left behind．Thus you are   46   in a difficult position and feel sad．How come nice    47   and clever ideas should gather around all at once? It may happen that your life   48    greatly on your preference of your one choice to the other．

In fact that is what   49   is like；we are often   50   with the two opposite sides of a thing which are both desirable（引人的）    51   a newspaper cutting．It often occurs that our attention is drawn to the thing only   52   we get into another．The   53   may be more important than the latter and give rise to a divided mind．I   54   remember a philosopher’s remarks：“When one door shuts，another opens in life．”So a casual（不经意的）    55   may not be a bad one．

―How come you are late for school again，Bob?

―        ．

A．Because I missed the bus                              B．By bus and then on foot

C．I can’t agree more                                      D．It’s quite wrong

Our English teacher devoted herself        to her teaching and it earned her a good reputation in our school．

A．strongly                  B．extremely                C．entirely                   D．freely

―Which type of car do you like better?

―        ．They are both expensive and high emission（高排量）．

A．None                      B．Either                     C．Neither                   D．Both

The 2010 World Cup will be held in South Africa，and no one can        which country will be the champion．

A．fancy                            B．estimate                  C．value                      D．predict

It matters little        a teacher looks like but        matters much is how a teacher teaches his／her students．

A．how；what             B．how；it                  C．what；what            D．what；it

Which do you enjoy        your summer holiday，going to Tibet or going to Dalian?

A．spending                 B．to spend                  C．being spent             D．to be spent

―Could I have a word with you，mum?

―Oh，dear，if you        ．

A．can                        B．must                       C．may                       D．should

―He didn’t devote his time to his study，did he?

―        ．As a result，he failed all the final exams．

A．Yes，he did                                                  B．No，he didn’t

C．Yes，he didn’t                                           D．No，he did