When David Edwards founded the oPhone, he hoped scent (嗅觉的) messages would become the next big thing in the digitization of our online lives.
The device looked like a high-tech cruet set (调味瓶)， and allowed a friend with an iPhone app to send you scent messages alongside photos. Send a picture of your dinner, tag it with four different tones, and whoever is on the receiving end can sniff it from the vase-like tubes of the oPhone.
The oPhone didn’t take off, and the company has now shifted focus to a “scent speaker” called the Cyrano, which similarly uses a range of scent capsules to emit “play lists” of smells.
Compared to our real world interactions, our online lives are lacking in scent. Our digital culture, so soaked in visual and aural stimuli, is odorless (没有气味的). So why didn’t his marriage of smell and picture messaging excite more interest?
From a technical point of view, smell is simply harder to mass communicate than sounds and pictures. “There are two main technological obstacles to making smell transmissible by digital means,” explains biophysicist and author of Perfumes: The A -Z guide, Dr Luca Turin.
“First, there are no odor ‘primaries’like RGB or CMYK. Second, it has proved impossible to stimulate the olfactory epithelium (上皮组织) directly by any means tried so far. This means that it is currently impossible to induce a sensation of smell without there being an actual chemical in the inhaled air (吸入的空气).”
“The more we’re plugged into the virtual world, the more we deeply appreciate thecontrast-moments in our human, experience，” says designer and olfactory artist Mindy Yang.
“Intuitively, we realize that we are starved of certain sensations. With the rise of digital culture, society has become more interested in the missing sense-c-what we smell.”
This interest in scent isn’t only happening within the worlds of perfume and fashion. Over the past few years a number of cultural projects have set out to focus on the power of sensory experiences, from the use of a smell map, to the Tate Sensorium, which in 2015 let users experience visual art alongside smells, tastes and sounds.
Whether it’s devices like the oPhone that仕y to introduce scent into digital messaging, organizations are growingly aware of our culture’s desire for sensory experiences. In a time of virtual reality and scentless social networks, it’s perhaps no wonder that we as a culture have such a desire for something that instinctively feels real and authentic-even if it was made in a lab.
1.What can we learn about the oPhone?
A.The oPhone has defended our interest in what we smell.
B.The oPhone hasn’t caught on yet since it was founded.
C.The oPhone has swapped visual and aural stimuli for scent.
D.The oPhone is a vase tube to sniff specific messages from.
2.What makes it challenging to introduce scent into digital messaging?
A.The relevant tissue is impossible to stimulate directly.
B.Scent capsules should be applied to send out smells.
C.There exists no actual chemical in the inhaled air.
D.Sounds and pictures are easier to mass communicate.
3.What is the author’s purpose in writing the passage?
A.To promote the oPhone which can send scent messages.
B.To reveal the problems of the invention of the oPhone.
C.To predict the trend of the digitization of our online lives.
D.To introduce the oPhone based on smell-digital-technology.
高二英语阅读理解中等难度题
When David Edwards founded the oPhone, he hoped scent (嗅觉的) messages would become the next big thing in the digitization of our online lives.
The device looked like a high-tech cruet set (调味瓶)， and allowed a friend with an iPhone app to send you scent messages alongside photos. Send a picture of your dinner, tag it with four different tones, and whoever is on the receiving end can sniff it from the vase-like tubes of the oPhone.
The oPhone didn’t take off, and the company has now shifted focus to a “scent speaker” called the Cyrano, which similarly uses a range of scent capsules to emit “play lists” of smells.
Compared to our real world interactions, our online lives are lacking in scent. Our digital culture, so soaked in visual and aural stimuli, is odorless (没有气味的). So why didn’t his marriage of smell and picture messaging excite more interest?
From a technical point of view, smell is simply harder to mass communicate than sounds and pictures. “There are two main technological obstacles to making smell transmissible by digital means,” explains biophysicist and author of Perfumes: The A -Z guide, Dr Luca Turin.
“First, there are no odor ‘primaries’like RGB or CMYK. Second, it has proved impossible to stimulate the olfactory epithelium (上皮组织) directly by any means tried so far. This means that it is currently impossible to induce a sensation of smell without there being an actual chemical in the inhaled air (吸入的空气).”
“The more we’re plugged into the virtual world, the more we deeply appreciate thecontrast-moments in our human, experience，” says designer and olfactory artist Mindy Yang.
“Intuitively, we realize that we are starved of certain sensations. With the rise of digital culture, society has become more interested in the missing sense-c-what we smell.”
This interest in scent isn’t only happening within the worlds of perfume and fashion. Over the past few years a number of cultural projects have set out to focus on the power of sensory experiences, from the use of a smell map, to the Tate Sensorium, which in 2015 let users experience visual art alongside smells, tastes and sounds.
Whether it’s devices like the oPhone that仕y to introduce scent into digital messaging, organizations are growingly aware of our culture’s desire for sensory experiences. In a time of virtual reality and scentless social networks, it’s perhaps no wonder that we as a culture have such a desire for something that instinctively feels real and authentic-even if it was made in a lab.
1.What can we learn about the oPhone?
A.The oPhone has defended our interest in what we smell.
B.The oPhone hasn’t caught on yet since it was founded.
C.The oPhone has swapped visual and aural stimuli for scent.
D.The oPhone is a vase tube to sniff specific messages from.
2.What makes it challenging to introduce scent into digital messaging?
A.The relevant tissue is impossible to stimulate directly.
B.Scent capsules should be applied to send out smells.
C.There exists no actual chemical in the inhaled air.
D.Sounds and pictures are easier to mass communicate.
3.What is the author’s purpose in writing the passage?
A.To promote the oPhone which can send scent messages.
B.To reveal the problems of the invention of the oPhone.
C.To predict the trend of the digitization of our online lives.
D.To introduce the oPhone based on smell-digital-technology.
高二英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析
When David Edwards founded the oPhone, he hoped scent (嗅觉的) messages would become the next big thing in the digitization of our online lives.
The device looked like a high-tech cruet set (调味瓶)， and allowed a friend with an iPhone app to send you scent messages alongside photos. Send a picture of your dinner, tag it with four different tones, and whoever is on the receiving end can sniff it from the vase-like tubes of the oPhone.
The oPhone didn’t take off, and the company has now shifted focus to a “scent speaker” called the Cyrano, which similarly uses a range of scent capsules to emit “play lists” of smells.
Compared to our real world interactions, our online lives are lacking in scent. Our digital culture, so soaked in visual and aural stimuli, is odorless (没有气味的). So why didn’t his marriage of smell and picture messaging excite more interest?
From a technical point of view, smell is simply harder to mass communicate than sounds and pictures. “There are two main technological obstacles to making smell transmissible by digital means,” explains biophysicist and author of Perfumes: The A -Z guide, Dr Luca Turin.
“First, there are no odor ‘primaries’like RGB or CMYK. Second, it has proved impossible to stimulate the olfactory epithelium (上皮组织) directly by any means tried so far. This means that it is currently impossible to induce a sensation of smell without there being an actual chemical in the inhaled air (吸入的空气).”
“The more we’re plugged into the virtual world, the more we deeply appreciate thecontrast-moments in our human, experience，” says designer and olfactory artist Mindy Yang.
“Intuitively, we realize that we are starved of certain sensations. With the rise of digital culture, society has become more interested in the missing sense-c-what we smell.”
This interest in scent isn’t only happening within the worlds of perfume and fashion. Over the past few years a number of cultural projects have set out to focus on the power of sensory experiences, from the use of a smell map, to the Tate Sensorium, which in 2015 let users experience visual art alongside smells, tastes and sounds.
Whether it’s devices like the oPhone that仕y to introduce scent into digital messaging, organizations are growingly aware of our culture’s desire for sensory experiences. In a time of virtual reality and scentless social networks, it’s perhaps no wonder that we as a culture have such a desire for something that instinctively feels real and authentic-even if it was made in a lab.
1.What can we learn about the oPhone?
A. The oPhone has defended our interest in what we smell.
B. The oPhone hasn’t caught on yet since it was founded.
C. The oPhone has swapped visual and aural stimuli for scent.
D. The oPhone is a vase tube to sniff specific messages from.
2.What makes it challenging to introduce scent into digital messaging?
A. The relevant tissue is impossible to stimulate directly.
B. Scent capsules should be applied to send out smells.
C. There exists no actual chemical in the inhaled air.
D. Sounds and pictures are easier to mass communicate.
3.What is the author’s purpose in writing the passage?
A. To promote the oPhone which can send scent messages.
B. To reveal the problems of the invention of the oPhone.
C. To predict the trend of the digitization of our online lives.
D. To introduce the oPhone based on smell-digital-technology.
高二英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析
When Mr. David retired(退休), he bought a small house in a village near the sea. He liked it and hoped to live a quiet life in it. But to his surprise, many visitors came to see his house in summer holidays, for it was the most interesting building in the village. From morning to night, there were visitors outside the house. They kept looking into the rooms through the windows and many of them even went into the house. He decided to drive the visitors away. So he put a notice on the window. The notice said，“If you want to satisfy your curiosity(好奇心),come in and look around. Price: twenty dollars.”Mr. David was sure that the visitors would stop coming, but he was wrong. More and more visitors came and Mr. David had to spend every day showing them around his house. “I came here to retire, not to work as a guide(导游)”, he said angrily. In the end, he sold the house and moved away.
1.Mr. David’s house was ________ that many visitors came to see it.
A．so small B．so quiet C．so interesting D．such interesting
2.Mr. David put a notice on the window in order________.
A．to drive the visitors away
B．to satisfy the visitors curiosity
C．to let visitors come in and look around
D．to get some money out of the visitors
3.The notice made the visitors ________.
A．more interested in his house B．lost interest in his house
C．angry at the unfair price D．feel happy about the price
4.After Mr. David put up the notice ________.
A．the visitors didn’t come any more
B．fewer and fewer visitors came to see his house
C．more and more visitors came for a visit
D．no visitor would pay the money for a visit
5.At last he had to sell his house and move away because ________.
A．he did not like it at all
B．he could not work as a guide
C．he made enough money and wanted to buy a new expensive house
D．he could not live a quiet life in it
高二英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析
A study found that young people have a stronger and more unpleasant scent (气味) than the elderly，while elderly people’s smell was the most distinctive，less intense and unpleasant. Researchers said the change in our smell is driven by the chemicals we release through our glands (腺) and the bacteria on our skin.
To test whether or not it really exists，scientists collected a series of samples from three groups of 12 to 16 donors，aged 20 to 30，45 to 55 and 75 to 95.Volunteers wore special T－shirts fitted with underarm pads (护垫) as they slept for five nights，after which the pads were cut up and put in glass jars. A separate group of 41 people aged 20 to 30 was then asked to smell two jars at a time and asked which group of the donors was older，as well as rating how strong and unpleasant each smell was.
When asked to specify whether a particular sample was from a young，middle aged or old person，they were much more successful at identifying older people. Despite being the most distinctive，the older people’s smell was also rated as being obviously less intense and less unpleasant than those from the other groups.
Researchers said their findings appeared to contradict people's negative ideas about the old person’s smell but admitted other factors，like smelly breath or skin，could be to blame for its bad reputation.
“Similar to other animals，humans can give off body scents that allow us to identify biological age，avoid sick individuals and pick a suitable partner. Elderly people have a distinctive scent that younger people consider to be not very unpleasant. This was surprising given the popular conception of old age scent as smelly. However，it's possible that other sources of body scents，such as skin or breath，may have different qualities,” said Dr Johan Lundstrom，who led the study.
1.What do we know from the study?
A．People of different ages give off different scents.
B．People's scent can only be changed by the bacteria on their skin.
C．People show great interest in old people's scent.
D．People's scent can help distinguish a man and a woman.
2.Which of the following ages of people have the chance to participate in the study?
A．16 B． 77 C．74 D．56
3.According to the passage, people usually think that________．
A．old people's scent is simply from their breath
B．old people have a bad reputation mainly for their skin
C．old people's scent is terrible and unpleasant
D．old people give off a more pleasant scent
4.What is the author’s purpose in writing this passage?
A．To tell old people how to remove their terrible scent.
B．To prove that people often hold wrong ideas.
C．To show how researchers carried out their study about the scent.
D．To report the findings of a study about people's scent.
高二英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析
—So David wants to sell the house and move to New York.
— ______. He has found a job there.
A. I agree B. No problem
C. What fun D. Exactly
高二英语单项填空中等难度题查看答案及解析
—So David wants to sell the house and move to New York.
— ______. He has found a job there.
A. I agree B. No problem C. What fun D. Exactly
高二英语单项填空中等难度题查看答案及解析
The president hopes that the people will be better off when he quits than when he ________.
A．has started B．starts C．started D．will start
高二英语单项填空中等难度题查看答案及解析
When David Carter started to study art at The University of Texas (UT)at Austin in 1971, he had big dreams of becoming an artist or a writer. But his study came to a stop at 23 after he hurt his hand in an unpleasant event. He developed schizophrenia(精神分裂症) later and spent many years without a home.
Carter liked to spend time around UT, because he dreamt of being able to continue his study in the university and becoming a writer. After running into Carter many times, UT student Ryan Chandler decided to interview him for a project for the Daily Texan, the student newspaper of UT.
“I interviewed him on Austin’s homeless problems. After I heard his story, we kept in touch and really became friends. I learned he wanted to get back to UT, so I decided to help him,” said Chandler. “He had got 87 hours, very close to a degree. Now, with changing degree requirements, he only has 64 hours to go.”
With the help of Chandler, who worked with the university office, Carter was assigned an adviser by UT’s College of Fine Arts. “It' s the greatest gift I’ve ever received,” Carter said. “He did what had to be done to get me back to school, and I couldn't have done it without him”
After seeing a magazine article about Carter, a UT schoolmate decided to pay his tuition fees (学费)without telling Chandler his name.
Doug Dempster, dean of the College of Fine Arts, said in a statement, “David Carter's decision to complete his degree is a testament (证明) to finishing well what was started, and stopped, even many years earlier. We welcome him back as we do many students each year whose education could not be completed easily. We’ re going to help him through his remaining course work.”
1.Why did Carter stop studying in the university?
A.He hurt an artist. B.He couldn’t afford his study.
C.He got a strange disease. D.He had a hand injury.
2.What was Chandler’s purpose in interviewing Carter?
A.To do a project on homelessness.
B.To know why he hung around UT.
C.To make friends with a homeless person.
D.To finish his homework on helping others.
3.Which of the following words can best describe Chandler?
A.Brave. B.Honest.
C.Warm-hearted. D.Strong-minded.
4.What can we learn from Dempster’s words in the statement?
A.He encourages Carter to study hard.
B.He supports students who never give up.
C.He calls on other students to help Carter.
D.He suggests other students learn from Carter.
高二英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析
When he got home, he found the door _____, the window ______, the money and the necklace in the drawer _____.
A. shut; opened; stolen B. shut; open; stolen
C. shut; open; steal D. shuted; open; stolen
高二英语单项填空中等难度题查看答案及解析
When he entered the room, he found Mary ________ at the desk, reading.
A. seating B. sat
C. seated D. sitting himself
高二英语单项填空中等难度题查看答案及解析