It’s late at night, the weather is bad and yo...

It’s late at night, the weather is bad and you’re hungry. Your favorite restaurant is less than a mile away, but you don’t want to leave the house, and you don’t want to pay a $5 delivery fee. So, what do you do? Back in the old days, you would have braved the weather. But those days are coming to an end, at least in Washington, D.C.

A group of about 20 knee-high robots recently has appeared on the sidewalks of the nation’s capital. Their tasks are to bring take-out food from restaurants to hungry customers at home—while keeping the delivery cost to around a dollar.

The robots are European, created in Estonia by a company called Starship Technologies. Each of them is a middle-sized cooler on six wheels, drives at an average speed of about 4 miles per hour, about the speed of a walker. It has lights and a tall, bright orange flag so that it can be noticed by people on the sidewalk.

Here in Washington, Starship has teamed up with Postmates, the online delivery service, and the robots already are completing deliveries around the city.

They move almost silently. They are electric so there isn’t much sound aside from their wheels. Their cameras recognize a lot—including traffic lights and stop signs.

The robots have only been in Washington for about a month, and they’re still causing quite a stir, often getting stopped for photos. A young mother Maria is on the sidewalk, pointing out the robot to her daughter. “It’s super cool,” she says. “But the only thing that concerns me—is it going to put people out of jobs?”

The company does not see robots as a replacement, says Russell Cook, the director of Postmates. “We have people that drive cars, walk and bike, and we see robots as another type of vehicle that helps us offer deliveries,” he says.

1.What purpose does Paragraph 1 serve in the text?

A.To introduce the topic. B.To express the main idea.

C.To tell an interesting story. D.To offer some suggestions.

2.What do we know about the robots?

A.They can communicate with walkers.

B.They create little noise while walking.

C.They are able to travel at a high speed.

D.They were developed by a US company.

3.Why is the mother worried about the robots?

A.They may be not as safe as expected.

B.They may cause a stir on the sidewalk.

C.They may be destroyed by some people.

D.They may take the place of deliverymen.

4.What can be a suitable title for the text?

A.A Leading Online Delivery Company

B.Delivery Robots in Washington, D.

C.C. The Latest Development of Postmates

D.The Growing Concern about Delivery Robots

高三英语阅读理解困难题查看答案及解析

What would you do if you were lost in the dark forest at night? The first sensible lesson is that you shouldn’t bother trying to find your way in the dark at all, but just stay where you are until dawn. Because then you won’t trip over things? No, mainly because you’ll have an idea of direction. The sun rises in the east. But you will be amazed at how many people forget they know that. Apparently, the area underneath a holly bush provides a good makeshift shelter — they are thick, and evergreen. The next thing to do — or rather not to do — is panic, for the obvious reason that unless there is someone there to hear you scream, it will get you nowhere. Just try to think of nice, happy things.

There is always a point in films when a person who is lost in the desert or the snow, dehydrated (脱水的) and exhausted, comes across a set of their own footprints and realizes they have just walked in a huge, round circle. It is wrong to owe it to the unequal strengths or different lengths of your legs. Experiments prove that, without the sun or the moon (or landmarks) as a fixed guide, lots of small errors add up over time so the brain can’t correctly identify the “straight ahead” direction. To just get out of somewhere, pick a spot on the horizon and just head for it.

There are several ways to find directions in the dark, and by far the best is to establish north using the stars. Most people can identify the Plough, which is part of Ursa Major. It looks a lot like a saucepan. The Plough rotates（旋转）through the sky, but let’s imagine the saucepan lying horizontally (水平地), with its handle on the left. You need to trace a line from the star at the right-hand base of the pan, through the star at the right-hand rim (边沿), and follow it upwards; the north star is roughly five times the distance between those two “pointer” stars. Then drop a vertical line from the North Star to the horizon and that’s north.

“Tonight is very cloudy and I can’t see the Plough.” Maybe luckily, it is quite windy. Keep in mind that almost all of our weather comes from a south-westerly direction. (This only works if you are in the British Isles). To find the direction, you can throw light bits of dried-out grass in the air and see which way they blow; or, if there are clouds and patches of clear sky, see which way they blow across the stars. You can also get an idea of direction from leggy plants. If they look as if they have been blown over, they will probably be pointing north-east. If they are simply leaning in one direction as they grow, there’s a good chance that is south (they will be reaching towards the sun). The last thing to do is to judge your direction and off you go.

What might be the best title of the passage?

A. How to survive in the forest

B. How to protect yourself in the forest

C. How to direct your way out of the wild

D. What to do if you are lost

【小题２】Which of the following pictures matches the description of the position of the north star?

【小题３】Why will people often walk in a circle if they are lost in the desert or the snow?

A. Because without anything to refer to for directions, the brain will be confused by errors.

B. Because one of the legs is longer and stronger than the other.

C. Because the desert or the snow usually covers a large area for people to get across.

D. Because people usually feel dehydrated and exhausted in the desert or the snow.

【小题４】If you were lost in Taklimakan Desert in China, _________ would NOT be dependable for you to identify the directions.

A. the sun           B. the North Star        C. wind         D. the moon

高三英语阅读理解简单题查看答案及解析

-_____you sing and dance at this late hour of the night?

-Sorry, I will stop right now.

A. May         B. Shall       C. Will       D. Must

高三英语单项填空中等难度题查看答案及解析

Despite the bad weather, the garden party last night turned out _____ success. We sang and danced until it came to _____ end at 12:00.

A. a; an                B. a; the               C. the; an          D. /; an

高三英语单项填空中等难度题查看答案及解析

(2013·山西太原一模)—My neighbor is always playing loud music late at night.

—________. You really should talk to him about it.

A．That's annoying      B．It's a good point

C．You've got it right      D．This is tricky

高三英语单项填空中等难度题查看答案及解析

It is the second time that you have been late, ______?

A. haven’t you　　　　　　　　　 　　　 B. isn’t it　　　　　　　 C. is it　　　　　　　　　 　　　　　　　　 D. have you

高三英语单项填空中等难度题查看答案及解析

短文改错

Once，lately at night，an Englishman came out  of his room into the passage of the hotel and ask the servant to bring her a glass of water.The servant did as he asked.The Englishman reentered his room，and a few minutes later he came into the passage again and once more asked the servant a glass of water.Every few minutes the Englishman would come out of his room and repeat his request.After a half hour the astonished servant decided to ask the man what he was doing with the water.“Nothing，” he answered calmly,“It’s simply that the room is on fire.”

高三英语短文改错中等难度题查看答案及解析

The sandwich man

Michael rises every morning at 4:00, in good and bad weather, and walks into his sandwich shop. By 5:50, he’s making the rounds of the shelters on Centre Streets. He ______ out 200 sandwiches to the homeless, before beginning his workday.

It started 20 years ago when Michael came across a homeless man named John. He began to help him ______ effort then. Day after day, he brought John some food and, when it was really ______, a resting place in his car while he worked. Once he asked John if he wanted to get cleaned up. It was a(n) ______ offer, because Michael thought John would refuse. ______, John said, “Are you going to wash me?” Michael knew that he was looking at a ______ of his promise. It was at the moment that Michael ______ to help the homeless.

Michael began his work. He received no sponsorship, saying, “I’m not getting media ______. I just want to do some good in my way. There are days when it’s snowing, and I have a hard time leaving my warm bed and the ______ of my family to go downtown with sandwiches. But I’ve ______.”

Michael makes 200 sandwiches every day for the past 20 years. “I don’t simply ______ the sandwiches on a table for the homeless to pick up. I shake their hands and ______ them a good day,” says Michael. Once Mayor (市长) Koch came to make the rounds with him. They ______ the media, and it seemed like it was just the two of them. But of all Michael’s ______, working side by side with the Mayor was not as important as working next to someone else…

A man had ______ from the sandwich takers, and Michael thought about him from time to time. He hoped the man had moved on to a more ______ environment. One day, the man came back, greeting Michael and ______ sandwiches of his own to hand out. He said Michael’s daily food, warm handshakes and wishes had given him the ______ he badly needed. After achieving some success, he decided to do the same thing as Michael.

The moment needed no ______. The two men worked silently, side by side, handing out their sandwiches. It was another day on Centre Streets, but a day with just a little more ______.

1.A. picks B. sets C. gives D. finds

2.A. with B. around C. from D. over

3.A. sunny B. warm C. cloudy D. cold

4.A. silly B. empty C. crazy D. free

5.A. Fortunately B. Disappointedly C. Surprisingly D. Thankfully

6.A. test B. gift C. trick D. view

7.A. demanded B. agreed C. pretended D. determined

8.A. benefit B. attention C. sympathy D. information

9.A. comfort B. wealth C. value D. honor

10.A. suffered B. hesitated C. managed D. wondered

11.A. check B. lay C. match D. cover

12.A. witness B. predict C. follow D. wish

13.A. ignored B. blamed C. confirmed D. handled

14.A. situations B. memories C. schedules D. professions

15.A. escaped B. volunteered C. disappeared D. survived

16.A. competitive B. complex C. familiar D. stable

17.A. carrying B. seeking C. occupying D. treating

18.A. responsibility B. permission C. encouragement D. achievement

19.A. purpose B. dialogue C. relief D. doubt

20.A. luck B. fun C. pride D. hope

高三英语完形填空简单题查看答案及解析

The engine of the ship was out of order and the bad weather _____ the helplessness of the crew at sea．

A．turned out      B．resulted from         C．added to        D．made up

高三英语单项填空中等难度题查看答案及解析

The engine of the ship was out of order and the bad weather_______ the helplessness of the crew at sea.

高三英语单项填空简单题查看答案及解析