The koala, one of Australia’s most treasured creatures, is in trouble.

Affected by habitat (栖居地) loss and climate change, like many other uniquely Australian animals, koalas are being squeezed into smaller regions. But at present, it is a deadly disease, a somewhat silent killer that causes a further decline in the koala population, that is worrying many scientists about the fate of the koala.
The killer is Chlamydia, which has caused symptoms in up to 50 percent of the wild koalas, with probably even more infected (感染) but not showing symptoms. It has been particularly severe in Queensland, where nearly all koalas are infected. The disease causes many symptoms including eye infections, which can lead to blindness, making it difficult for them to find their primary food.
Treating Chlamydia in wild koalas is a challenge. There is no treatment available for it. Only a small percentage of the animals can be treated successfully and returned to the wild. Besides, there is no national plan in Australia to save the koala; it is up to each region to make management plans for its koala population.
The good news is that researchers are working to test a vaccine (疫苗) that would help prevent further spread. If all goes well, plans can be carried out to distribute the vaccine more widely. But it’s impossible to vaccinate (给注射疫苗)  all wild koalas.
Another possibility would be to make vaccine distribution a routine part of treatment for the thousands of koalas brought into care centers every year after they are injured by cars or dogs.
While it is a combination of problems that are affecting the wild koala population, many experts believe this vaccine would be an important step in helping koalas survive longer. It may be enough time to give researchers a chance to solve some of the other problems facing Austalia’s koalas.
【小题1】Which isn’t considered the main cause of koala’s population decline?

A．A deadly disease.

B．Injuries from cars and dogs.

C．Climate change.

D．Habitat loss.

【小题2】The third paragraph mainly tells us         .

A．the serious result Chlamydia has caused to the koala

B．Chlamydia affected the koala only in particular regions

C．the most serious symptom of Chlamydia is eye infections

D．Chlamydia can seriously affect koala’s primary food

【小题3】We can learn from the text that the vaccine      .

A．would cure the killer Chlamydia quite effectively

B．would only be distributed in koala care centers

C．has already been put into practical use in Australia

D．cannot be distributed to all the infected koalas

【小题4】It can be inferred from the text that        .

A．a national plan for saving koalas will be made soon in Australia

B．koala population is declining only in a few regions

C．researchers need enough time to solve the koala problems

D．experts have lost the best chance to save the infected koalas

IMAGINE if there was a device that could do everything for you – wake you up every morning, chat with you and type your e-mails.

The piece of technology in question would be smart, able to tell you about the weather and where the nearest restaurants are.

The good thing is you no longer need to wonder, because something like this already exists. And its name is Siri.

Siri is a voice recognition application designed for Apple products and the concept has been around for almost a year.

When Siri first came out it could only speak English, but now it has “learned” lots of new languages, including Chinese, Cantonese and Taiwanese, reported The Wall Street Journal. So, you can give it orders in your mother tongue.

But how could a cell phone or a computer “hear” what you are saying and understand it? This is all because of voice recognition technology.

When you speak, your voice creates vibrations (振动) in the air – a bit like waves in the water when you throw a rock into the lake. The microphone receives the vibrations and the computer changes them into digital data that is then divided into many parts. They are analyzed one by one to see what pronunciations each part stands for. The computer then puts these pronunciations together into possible words according to its built-in dictionary.

But figuring out the words is far from enough; building words into meaningful sentences is the most difficult part. The computer has to compare what it hears to a large library of known phrases and sentences to determine what the user is saying.

However, people don’t always talk in the most standard way and sometimes make grammatical mistakes. This is why traditional voice recognition software always requires you to remember keywords and to speak in a certain way.

Fortunately, Siri isn’t like that. It’s not just “voice recognition”; it’s “natural language understanding (NLU)”. You can ask it things like “Do I need an umbrella today?” and it will know that you are asking about the weather, according to ABC News.

“The key thing is NLU – understanding what you mean and what you want,” Neil Grant from Nuance, a software company in the US, told The Guardian. “Historically, you had to learn a huge long list of commands . As NLU progresses, you can say what you want in a way that’s natural to you.”

1.What is the function of the first two paragraphs?

A．To show that invention usually results from need.

B．To clear doubts about voice recognition technology.

C．To introduce something that offers these helpful services.

D．To show how the voice recognition works.

2.Which step is the most complicated in the process of voice recognition according to the article?

A．Changing the received vibrations into digital data.

B．Analyzing the digital data to see what pronunciations it represents.

C．Putting the pronunciations together into possible words.

D．Figuring out meaningful sentences based on the words.

3.How can you get Siri to respond according to the article?

A．You can speak in a natural way as you would to a person.

B．You can only speak English and Chinese.

C．You have to say things in a certain way.

D．You have to remember keywords and speak specific commands.

4.What can be concluded from the article?

A．Siri can record and save what you say frequently into a computer dictionary.

B．Siri will fail to understand what you say if you make grammatical mistakes.

C．The biggest advantage of Siri is that it’s NLU is rather than just voice recognition.

D．Since first applied to Apple products a year ago, Siri has made great improvements.

5.The text is mainly about ________.

A．the convenience of future life.

B．an introduction to the Apple products.

C．the working system of voice recognition

D．the introduction to Siri

 

The koala, one of Australia’s most treasured creatures, is in trouble.

    Affected by habitat (栖居地) loss and climate change, like many other uniquely Australian animals, koalas are being squeezed into smaller regions. But at present, it is a deadly disease, a somewhat silent killer that causes a further decline in the koala population, that is worrying many scientists about the fate of the koala.

    The killer is Chlamydia, which has caused symptoms in up to 50 percent of the wild koalas, with probably even more infected (感染) but not showing symptoms. It has been particularly severe in Queensland, where nearly all koalas are infected. The disease causes many symptoms including eye infections, which can lead to blindness, making it difficult for them to find their primary food.

    Treating Chlamydia in wild koalas is a challenge. There is no treatment available for it. Only a small percentage of the animals can be treated successfully and returned to the wild. Besides, there is no national plan in Australia to save the koala; it is up to each region to make management plans for its koala population.

    The good news is that researchers are working to test a vaccine (疫苗) that would help prevent further spread. If all goes well, plans can be carried out to distribute the vaccine more widely. But it’s impossible to vaccinate (给注射疫苗)  all wild koalas.

Another possibility would be to make vaccine distribution a routine part of treatment for the thousands of koalas brought into care centers every year after they are injured by cars or dogs.

While it is a combination of problems that are affecting the wild koala population, many experts believe this vaccine would be an important step in helping koalas survive longer. It may be enough time to give researchers a chance to solve some of the other problems facing Austalia’s koalas.

1.Which isn’t considered the main cause of koala’s population decline?

A. A deadly disease.       

B. Injuries from cars and dogs.

C. Climate change.         

D. Habitat loss.

2.The third paragraph mainly tells us          .

    A. the serious result Chlamydia has caused to the koala

    B. Chlamydia affected the koala only in particular regions

    C. the most serious symptom of Chlamydia is eye infections

    D. Chlamydia can seriously affect koala’s primary food

3.We can learn from the text that the vaccine       .

    A. would cure the killer Chlamydia quite effectively

    B. would only be distributed in koala care centers

    C. has already been put into practical use in Australia

    D. cannot be distributed to all the infected koalas

4.It can be inferred from the text that         .

    A. a national plan for saving koalas will be made soon in Australia

    B. koala population is declining only in a few regions

    C. researchers need enough time to solve the koala problems

D. experts have lost the best chance to save the infected koalas

 

There are various reasons why cancers appear to be on the increase. For one thing, though their sufferers are to be found in all age groups, cancers are particularly likely to attack persons in their middle and advanced years. Naturally, since people live longer these years, there are more cancer sufferers than before. Again, with better methods of diagnosis (诊断), doctors can more easily recog??nize cancerous growths that would formerly have passed unnoticed or that would have been wrongly di??agnosed. It is also believed that certain habits and conditions of modem living, including heavy smok??ing and the pollution of the air, may leave people living in more cancer-causing conditions than before.

We all look forward to the day when a simple medical test can find cancer while it is still small. Researchers around the world are working on such a test. Most of their work deals with the examina??tion of the blood.

Researchers in Boston have found something in the blood of cancer patients that does not appear in healthy persons. The test showed which persons had cancer and which did not. It was correct more than 90 percent of the time.

The researchers believe the test may be able to show cancer very clearly in its development. Cancers discovered early usually can be treated successfully.

The test examines very small bits of fat in the blood called lipids (脂质). Cancers seem to change lipids although doctors do not know why. The test showed differences between the lipids of the persons with cancer and the lipids of those without cancer.

The researchers say the new test could be a step to develop a simple way to check patients for cancer before the disease shows on an X-ray.

1. Who will fail cancer from the study of the researchers?

A. The young.                           B. The middle age and the older.

C. The man.                                    D. The woman.

2. The underlined words "such a test" refer to________.

A. the test that shows which persons have cancer and which don’t     .

B. the test that may be able to show cancer very early in its development,.

C. a simple medical test that cannot find cancer when it is -small

D. a new test that could be a step to develop a difficult way

3. Which of the following statements is true according to the passage?

A. Cancers have much to do with something in patients’ blood.

B. People living in better conditions are most likely to be attacked by cancer.

C.X-raying is the best way to determined whether a person has cancer or not.

D. Cancers have nothing to do with a person’s habits and living conditions.

4. What would be the best title for the passage?

A. A simple way to cancer                 B. Cancers can be cured

C. How to find cancer                            D. Early discovery of cancer

IMAGINE if there was a device that could do everything for you – wake you up every morning, chat with you and type your e-mails.
The piece of technology in question would be smart, able to tell you about the weather and where the nearest restaurants are.
The good thing is you no longer need to wonder, because something like this already exists. And its name is Siri.
Siri is a voice recognition application designed for Apple products and the concept has been around for almost a year.
When Siri first came out it could only speak English, but now it has “learned” lots of new languages, including Chinese, Cantonese and Taiwanese, reported The Wall Street Journal. So, you can give it orders in your mother tongue.
But how could a cell phone or a computer “hear” what you are saying and understand it? This is all because of voice recognition technology.
When you speak, your voice creates vibrations (振动) in the air – a bit like waves in the water when you throw a rock into the lake. The microphone receives the vibrations and the computer changes them into digital data that is then divided into many parts. They are analyzed one by one to see what pronunciations each part stands for. The computer then puts these pronunciations together into possible words according to its built-in dictionary.
But figuring out the words is far from enough; building words into meaningful sentences is the most difficult part. The computer has to compare what it hears to a large library of known phrases and sentences to determine what the user is saying.
However, people don’t always talk in the most standard way and sometimes make grammatical mistakes. This is why traditional voice recognition software always requires you to remember keywords and to speak in a certain way.
Fortunately, Siri isn’t like that. It’s not just “voice recognition”; it’s “natural language understanding (NLU)”. You can ask it things like “Do I need an umbrella today?” and it will know that you are asking about the weather, according to ABC News.
“The key thing is NLU – understanding what you mean and what you want,” Neil Grant from Nuance, a software company in the US, told The Guardian. “Historically, you had to learn a huge long list of commands . As NLU progresses, you can say what you want in a way that’s natural to you.”
【小题1】What is the function of the first two paragraphs?

A．To show that invention usually results from need.

B．To clear doubts about voice recognition technology.

C．To introduce something that offers these helpful services.

D．To show how the voice recognition works.

【小题2】Which step is the most complicated in the process of voice recognition according to the article?

A．Changing the received vibrations into digital data.

B．Analyzing the digital data to see what pronunciations it represents.

C．Putting the pronunciations together into possible words.

D．Figuring out meaningful sentences based on the words.

【小题3】How can you get Siri to respond according to the article?

A．You can speak in a natural way as you would to a person.

B．You can only speak English and Chinese.

C．You have to say things in a certain way.

D．You have to remember keywords and speak specific commands.

【小题4】What can be concluded from the article?

A．Siri can record and save what you say frequently into a computer dictionary.

B．Siri will fail to understand what you say if you make grammatical mistakes.

C．The biggest advantage of Siri is that it’s NLU is rather than just voice recognition.

D．Since first applied to Apple products a year ago, Siri has made great improvements.

【小题5】The text is mainly about ________.

A．the convenience of future life.

B．an introduction to the Apple products.

C．the working system of voice recognition

D．the introduction to Siri