Robots that can chat，find misplaced glasses，d...

Robots that can chat，find misplaced glasses，draw aeroplanes and play with your children are drawing thousands of visitors’ attention during an expo in Tokyo as Japan adapts to changes in society.

Robots，such as the sound­sensitive Chapit，answer simple questions and even joke with people to help the lonely fight loneliness and stay active in old age.

“Many older people in Japan live alone and have no one to talk to，” said Kazuya Kitamura，a representative of the expo organizer.“Communication robots accompany people and don’t mind listening to the same stories over and over again.”

While Chapit，a relatively simple robot，managed to allure a corporate partner，many researchers，such as Kiyoshi Matsumoto，a professor at the University of Tokyo，struggle to interest sponsors for more expensive projects.

Matsumoto’s “Personal Mobility Robot”，equipped with four cameras and a sensor to recognize the user’s centre of gravity，is designed to help the elderly move around without pressing buttons，using joysticks(操纵杆) or rotating(转动) wheels as in traditional wheelchairs.

The robot can also help find misplaced glasses by identifying them with a sensor.

“We have developed a robot that can assist many people，but because of the high cost，we still haven’t found a sponsor，”said Matsumoto，who added that the cost of the machine，if mass­produced，would be comparable to that of a car.

“In the current economic environment there are few companies willing to invest in such a costly project，” he said.

Other robots，such as the award­winning “DiGRO” can support busy parents who have little time to play with their children.

The robot can use the Internet to find a simple image and then draw pictures，keeping children company while their parents work.

Japan has one of the world’s fastest­ageing societies and the government predicts that by 2050 the proportion of people over 65 will reach 40 percent.

1.The underlined word “allure” in Paragraph 4 can be replaced by ________.

A．strike　                             B．exclude

C．connect　                             D．attract

2.Personal Mobility Robot can help people ________.

A．find misplaced glasses

B．move around with pressing buttons

C．use joysticks

D．rotate wheels

3.It is difficult to find sponsors for the robots because ________.

A．Japan is suffering economy depression

B．the robots are of poor design

C．the production of robots costs a lot

D．the future market is worrying

4.It can be inferred from the text that ________.

A．many children lack love from parents

B．robots helpful to the old will be in great demand

C．robots are the most useful to children

D．robots do better than people in healthcare

高三英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析

Robots that can chat，find misplaced glasses，draw aeroplanes and play with your children are　 attracting thousands of visitors during an expo in Tokyo as Japan adapts to changes in society．

Robots，such as the sound．sensitive Chapit，answer simple questions and even joke with　 people to help them fight loneliness and stay alert in old age．

Japan has one of the world’s fastest-ageing societies and the government predicts that by 2050　 the proportion of people over 65 will reach 40 percent．”Many older people in Japan live alone and have no one to talk to，”said Kazuya Kitamura representative of the expo organizer．“Communication robots accompany people and don’t mind listening to the same stories over and over again．”

Matsumoto’s“Personal Mobility Robot，”equipped with four cameras and a sensor to　 recognize the user's centre of gravity, is designed to help elderly move around without pressing　 buttons．using joysticks(操纵杆)or rotating wheels as in traditional wheelchairs．

The robot can also help find misplaced glasses by identifying them with a sensor．

Other robots，such as the award-winning“DiGRO”can support busy parents who have little time to play with their children．The robot can use the Internet to find a simple image and then draw pictures，keeping children company while parents work．

While Chapit，a relatively simple robot，managed to attract a corporate partner many　　 researchers，such as Kiyoshi Matsumoto，a professor at the University of Tokyo，struggle to attract sponsors for more expensive projects．

“We have developed a robot that can assist many people，but we still haven’t found a sponsor,”said Matsumoto，who added that the cost of the machine，if mass-produced，would be comparable to that of a car．”In the current economic environment there are few companies willing to invest in such a costly project，”he said．

1.It can be inferred from the text that_______．

A．many children lack love from parents

B．robots helpful to the old will be in great demand

C．robots are the most useful to children

D．robots do better than people in healthcare

2.It is difficult to find sponsors for robots because______.

A．Japan is suffering economy depression

B．the robots are of poor design

C．the production of robots costs a lot

D．the future market is worrying

3.What is the author’s attitude towards the robots referred to?

A．Unsatisfied．　　 B．Doubtful．

C.Favorable． 　　　 D．Regretful．

高三英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析

Now it is becoming more and more popular to chat over the Internet, because you can find it 1. _______ expensive to do that than to make a long distance call. This makes Internet chatting 2. _______ attractive option if you live far away from family and friends,3. ______ you are on a budget.

You can also complete 4. _______ tasks while chatting over the Internet. For example, you can read and reply to emails, finish typing a document, or have a conversation 5.______ someone who is in the room. This can be an advantage 6. ______ you are busy and don’t have much time for personal chatting. This can also be a disadvantage because you aren’t giving the other person or task your full attention.

Because you can do kinds of tasks7. _______ chatting on the Internet, it can become easy to lose track of time. You can end up chatting longer than you intended to, 8.______ can make it difficult to complete other tasks.

高三英语填空题中等难度题查看答案及解析

What is TrackR?

TrackR is the simplest way to find lost or misplaced items. Join the millions of people who are connected to their most important items.

Order a TrackR today and never lose anything again.

1.What do you think is the passage?

A. Descriptions of several products.　　 B. An advertisement of a product.

C. An introduction to lost items.　　 D. Directions of a new item.

2.How many functions does a TrackR have?

A. Three.　　 B. Four.　　 C. Five.　　 D. Six.

3.Which of the following can replace the underlined “a snap” in the passage?

A. An easy job.　　 B. A necessary task.

C. An available method　　 D. A quiet action.

高三英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析

What is TrackR?

TrackR is the simplest way to find lost or misplaced items. Join the millions of people who are connected to their most important items.

Order a TrackR today and never lose anything again.

1.What do you think is the passage?

A. Descriptions of several products.　　 B. An advertisement of a product.

C. An introduction to lost items.　　 D. Directions of a new item.

2.How many functions does a TrackR have?

A. Three.　　 B. Four.　　 C. Five.　　 D. Six.

3.Which of the following can replace the underlined “a snap” in the passage?

A. An easy job.　　 B. A necessary task.

C. An available method　　 D. A quiet action.

高三英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析

—Hey, dad. ______

　—I can’t find my glasses.

A. How are you?                                                           B. So what?

C. What are you like?                                                  D. What’s up?

高三英语单项填空中等难度题查看答案及解析

That robots, automation, and software can replace people might seem obvious to anyone who’s worked in automotive manufacturing. But MIT business scholars Erik Brynjolfsson and Andrew McAfee’s claim is more troubling and controversial. They believe that rapid technological change has been destroying jobs faster than it is creating them.

They believe that technology increases productivity and makes societies wealthier, but it became clear to them that the same technologies making many jobs safer, easier, and more productive were also reducing the demand for many types of human workers. Technologies like the Web, artificial intelligence, and big data are automating many routine tasks. Countless traditional white-collar jobs, such as many in the post office and in customer service, have disappeared.

As evidence, Brynjolfsson and McAfee point to a chart on which separate lines represent productivity and total employment in the United States. For years after World War II, the two lines closely tracked each other, with increases in jobs corresponding to increases in productivity. Then, beginning in 2000, the lines diverge; productivity continues to rise steadily, but employment suddenly shrinks. By 2011, a significant gap appears between the two lines, showing economic growth with no parallel increase in job creation.

United States Productivity and Employment

But are these new technologies really responsible for a decade of lackluster (无生气) job growth? David Autor, an economist at MIT who has studied the connections between jobs and technology, doubts that technology could account for such a sudden change in total employment. Moreover, he also doubts that productivity has, in fact, risen steadily in the United States in the past decade. If he’s right, it raises the possibility that poor job growth could be simply a result of a depressed economy. The sudden slowdown in job creation “is a big puzzle,” he says, “but there’s not a lot of evidence that it’s linked to computers.” “To be sure, computer technologies are changing the types of jobs available, but that is very different from saying technology is affecting the total number of jobs,” he adds. “Jobs can change a lot without there being huge changes in employment rates.”

Lawrence Katz, a Harvard economist, says that while technological changes can be painful for workers whose skills no longer match the needs of employers, no historical pattern shows these shifts leading to a net decrease in jobs over an extended period. Still, Katz doesn’t dismiss the notion that there is something different about today’s digital technologies. Though he expects the historical pattern to hold, it is “genuinely a question,” he says. “If technology disrupts enough, who knows what will happen?”

1.Which period on the chart strongly supports McAfee’s claim?

A. 1947—1967.　　 B. 1985—1987.

C. 1997—2000.　　 D. 2011—2013.

2.According to David Autor, the change in job growth ________.

A. is not necessarily caused by technology

B. results from a weakening economy

C. has no connection with productivity

D. affects the current types of jobs

3.What is Lawrence Katz’s attitude towards the topic?

A. Optimistic.　　 B. Defensive.

C. Objective.　　 D. Disapproving.

4.The main purpose of the passage is to ________.

A. show the relation between productivity and job creation

B. discuss the effect of technological advances on employment

C. argue against the wide use of artificial intelligence

D. explain the impact of technologies on productivity

高三英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析

That robots, automation, and software can replace people might seem obvious to anyone who’s worked in automotive manufacturing. But MIT business scholars Erik Brynjolfsson and Andrew McAfee’s claim is more troubling and controversial. They believe that rapid technological change has been destroying jobs faster than it is creating them.

They believe that technology increases productivity and makes societies wealthier, but it became clear to them that the same technologies making many jobs safer, easier, and more productive were also reducing the demand for many types of human workers. Technologies like the Web, artificial intelligence, and big data are automating many routine tasks. Countless traditional white-collar jobs, such as many in the post office and in customer service, have disappeared.

As evidence, Brynjolfsson and McAfee point to a chart on which separate lines represent productivity and total employment in the United States. For years after World War II, the two lines closely tracked each other, with increases in jobs corresponding to increases in productivity. Then, beginning in 2000, the lines diverge; productivity continues to rise steadily, but employment suddenly shrinks. By 2011, a significant gap appears between the two lines, showing economic growth with no parallel increase in job creation.

United States Productivity and Employment

But are these new technologies really responsible for a decade of lackluster (无生气) job growth? David Autor, an economist at MIT who has studied the connections between jobs and technology, doubts that technology could account for such a sudden change in total employment. Moreover, he also doubts that productivity has, in fact, risen steadily in the United States in the past decade. If he’s right, it raises the possibility that poor job growth could be simply a result of a depressed economy. The sudden slowdown in job creation “is a big puzzle,” he says, “but there’s not a lot of evidence that it’s linked to computers.” “To be sure, computer technologies are changing the types of jobs available, but that is very different from saying technology is affecting the total number of jobs,” he adds. “Jobs can change a lot without there being huge changes in employment rates.”

Lawrence Katz, a Harvard economist, says that while technological changes can be painful for workers whose skills no longer match the needs of employers, no historical pattern shows these shifts leading to a net decrease in jobs over an extended period. Still, Katz doesn’t dismiss the notion that there is something different about today’s digital technologies. Though he expects the historical pattern to hold, it is “genuinely a question,” he says. “If technology disrupts enough, who knows what will happen?”

1.Which period on the chart strongly supports McAfee’s claim?

A. 1947—1967.　　 B. 1985—1987.

C. 1997—2000.　　 D. 2011—2013.

2.According to David Autor, the change in job growth ________.

A. is not necessarily caused by technology

B. results from a weakening economy

C. has no connection with productivity

D. affects the current types of jobs

3.What is Lawrence Katz’s attitude towards the topic?

A. Optimistic.　　 B. Defensive.

C. Objective.　　 D. Disapproving.

4.The main purpose of the passage is to ________.

A. show the relation between productivity and job creation

B. discuss the effect of technological advances on employment

C. argue against the wide use of artificial intelligence

D. explain the impact of technologies on productivity

高三英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析

That robots, automation, and software can replace people might seem obvious to anyone who’s worked in automotive manufacturing. But MIT business scholars Erik Brynjolfsson and Andrew McAfee’s claim is more troubling and controversial. They believe that rapid technological change has been destroying jobs faster than it is creating them.

They believe that technology increases productivity and makes societies wealthier, but it became clear to them that the same technologies making many jobs safer, easier, and more productive were also reducing the demand for many types of human workers. Technologies like the Web, artificial intelligence, and big data are automating many routine tasks. Countless traditional white-collar jobs, such as many in the post office and in customer service, have disappeared.

As evidence, Brynjolfsson and McAfee point to a chart on which separate lines represent productivity and total employment in the United States. For years after World War II, the two lines closely tracked each other, with increases in jobs corresponding to increases in productivity. Then, beginning in 2000, the lines diverge; productivity continues to rise steadily, but employment suddenly shrinks. By 2011, a significant gap appears between the two lines, showing economic growth with no parallel increase in job creation.

United States Productivity and Employment

But are these new technologies really responsible for a decade of lackluster (无生气) job growth? David Autor, an economist at MIT who has studied the connections between jobs and technology, doubts that technology could account for such a sudden change in total employment. Moreover, he also doubts that productivity has, in fact, risen steadily in the United States in the past decade. If he’s right, it raises the possibility that poor job growth could be simply a result of a depressed economy. The sudden slowdown in job creation “is a big puzzle,” he says, “but there’s not a lot of evidence that it’s linked to computers.” “To be sure, computer technologies are changing the types of jobs available, but that is very different from saying technology is affecting the total number of jobs,” he adds. “Jobs can change a lot without there being huge changes in employment rates.”

Lawrence Katz, a Harvard economist, says that while technological changes can be painful for workers whose skills no longer match the needs of employers, no historical pattern shows these shifts leading to a net decrease in jobs over an extended period. Still, Katz doesn’t dismiss the notion that there is something different about today’s digital technologies. Though he expects the historical pattern to hold, it is “genuinely a question,” he says. “If technology disrupts enough, who knows what will happen?”

1.Which period on the chart strongly supports McAfee’s claim?

A. 1947—1967.　　 B. 1985—1987.

C. 1997—2000.　　 D. 2011—2013.

2.According to David Autor, the change in job growth ________.

A. is not necessarily caused by technology

B. results from a weakening economy

C. has no connection with productivity

D. affects the current types of jobs

3.What is Lawrence Katz’s attitude towards the topic?

A. Optimistic.　　 B. Defensive.

C. Objective.　　 D. Disapproving.

4.The main purpose of the passage is to ________.

A. show the relation between productivity and job creation

B. discuss the effect of technological advances on employment

C. argue against the wide use of artificial intelligence

D. explain the impact of technologies on productivity

高三英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析

Those who are concerned that robots are taking over the world can rest easy—for now. Though the androids have proved useful at performing ordinary tasks, they are not ready for the greatest time. At least that appears to be the case at Japan’s Henn-na Hotel chain where over half of the robot staff are being replaced by humans.

The first location of the unique hotel opened in July 2015 was at Nagasaki’s Huis Ten Bosch Theme Park. The hotel’s owner, Hideo Sawada, promised the hotel to be managed primarily by robots. Guests were greeted and checked-in by a dinosaur robot, while a cute android called Churi, placed inside each room, provided information about attractions. Not surprisingly, the lodging, recognized in 2016 as the world’s first robot-staffed hotel by Guinness World Records, drew in curious visitors from all around the world.

But as the years have passed, the hotel’s main draw is becoming less novel and more unsatisfactory. Also as the robots are “aging”, they are costing more to repair. Among the 283 androids being replaced are the chain’s two dinosaur receptionists. In addition to scaring young guests, they are also unable to photocopy guests’ passports, forcing human employees to step in each time. Also out are the cute Churi robots, which annoyed guests by interrupting their conversations. For example, one guest told The Wall Street Journal that Churi mistook his snoring for a command and kept asking him to repeat his request all night.

Sawada told The Wall Street Journal, “When you actually use robots you realize there are places where they aren’t needed—or just annoy people.” While Sawada may be cutting back on his use of androids, the recently-opened Smart LYZ Hotel and the Fly Zoo Hotel in China, are run entirely by robots, with not a human in sight. Whether the employees have more competence than those “hired” by the Henn-na Hotel chain remains to be seen.

1.What makes Japan’s Henn-na Hotel unique?

A.Its robot employees. B.Its advanced equipment.

C.Its convenient location. D.Its successful management.

2.What is the author’s purpose with the example in paragraph 3?

A.To entertain readers. B.To prove Churi’s drawback.

C.To introduce Churi’s functions. D.To persuade people not to book the hotel.

3.What does the owner of Japan’s Henn-na Hotel think of his robot staff now?

A.Attractive. B.Costly.

C.Pioneering. D.Disappointing.

4.What is the best title for the text?

A.Robots Are Taking Over the World.

B.The Boom of Robots-staffed Hotel.

C.Robot Staff Are Fired For No Competence.

D.The First Robots-staffed Hotel Won Guinness World Record.

高三英语阅读理解困难题查看答案及解析