中级职称英语试题增项及押题答案

第十一篇When Our Eyes Serve Our Stomach

Our senses aren’t just delivering a strict view of what’s going on in the world；they’re affected by what’s going on in our heads. A new study finds that hungry people see food-related words more clearly than people who’ve just eaten.

Psychologists have known for decades that what’s going on, inside our head affects our senses. For example, poorer children think coins are larger than they are, and hungry people think pictures of food are brighter. Remi Radel of University of Nice Sophia-Antipolis，France，wanted to investigate how this happens. Does it happen right away as the brain receives signals from the eyes or a little later as the brain’s high-level thinking processes get involved. Radel recruited 42 students with a normal body mass index. On the day of his or her test, each student was told to arrive at the lab at noon after three or four hours of not eating. Then they were told there was a delay. Some were told to come back in 10 minutes; others were given an hour to get lunch first. So half the students were hungry when they did the experiment and the other half had just eaten.

For the experiment, the participant looked at a computer screen. One by one, 80 words flashed on the screen for about l/300th of a second each. They flashed at so small a size that the students could only consciously perceive. A quarter of the words were food-related. After each word，each person was asked how bright the word was and asked to choose which of two words they’d seen — a food-related word like cake or a neutral word like boat. Each word appeared too briefly for the participant to really read it.

Hungry people saw the food-related words as brighter and were better at identifying food- related words. Because the word appeared too quickly for them to be reliably seen, this means that the difference is in perception, not in thinking processes, Radel says.

“This is something great to me. Humans can really perceive what they need or what they strive for. From the experiment, I know that our brain can really be at the disposal of our motives and needs,” Radel says.

练习：

1. What does the new study mentioned in Paragraph 1 find?

A Hungry people see every word more clearly than ordinary people.

B Hungry people are always thinking of food-related words.

C Hungry people are more sensitive to food-related words than stomach-full people.

D Hungry people do not have lower-level of thinking process.

2. Why was there a delay on the day of the experiment?

A Because hungry people needed time to fill their stomach.

B Because Radel wanted to create two groups of testees, hungry and non-hungry.

C Because noon was not the right time for any experiment.

D Because Radel needed time to select participants in terms of body mass index.

3. What does the writer want to tell us?

A Human's senses aren’t just delivering a strict view of what’s going on in the world.

B What's perceived by our senses affects our way of thinking.

C Human brains can really be at the disposal of our motives and needs.

D Thinking processes guarantee the normal functions of our senses.

4. What did the results of the experiment indicate?

A 80 words flashed on the screen too fast for the participant to intentionally perceive.

B Hungry people were better at identifying neutral words.

C People who had just eaten were better at identifying food-related words.

D The participants could barely perceive what they needed or what they strived for.

5. What can we infer from the passage?

A 42 participants are too small a number for a serious investigation.

B An experiment with hungry and non-hungry participants is not reliable.

C Our thinking processes are independent of our senses.

D Humans can perceive what they need without involving high-level thinking processes. 第十九篇Musical Robot Companion Enhances Listener Experience

Shimi, a musical companion developed by Georgia Tech’s Center for Music Technology, recommends songs, dances to the beat and keeps the music pumping based on listener feedback. The smartphone-enabled, one-foot-tall robot is billed as an interactive “musical friend”.

“Shimi is designed to change the way that people enjoy and think about their music，” said Professor Gil Weinberg, the robot’s creator. He will unveil the robot at the June 27th Google I/O conference in San Francisco. A band of three Shimi robots will perform for guests, dancing in sync with music created in the lab and composed according to its movements. Shimi is essentially a docking station with a “brain” powered by an Android phone. Once docked, the robot gains the sensing and musical generation capabilities of the user’s mobile device. In other words, if there’s an “app” for that, Shimi is ready. For instance, by using the phone’s camera and face-detecting software，Shimi can follow a listener around the room and position its “ears”，or speakers, for optimal sound. Another recognition feature is based on rhythm and tempo. If the user taps a beat, Shimi analyzes it, scans the phone’s musical library and immediately plays the song that best matches the suggestion. Once the music starts，Shimi dances to the rhythm.

“Many people think that robots are limited by their programming instructions, said Music Technology Ph. D. candidate Mason Bretan. “Shimi shows us that robots can be creative and interactive. ’’Future apps in the works will allow the user to shake their head in disagreement or wave a hand in the air to alert Shimi to skip to the next song or increase/decrease the volume. The robot will also have the capability to recommend new music based on the user’s song choices and provide feedback on the music play list.

Weinberg hopes other developers will be inspired to create more apps to expand Shimi’s creative and interactive capabilities. “I believe that our center is ahead of a revolution that will see more robots in homes.” Weinberg said.

Weinberg is in the process of commercializing Shimi through an exclusive licensing agreement with Georgia Tech. Weinberg hopes to make the robot available to consumers by the 2013 holiday season. “If robots are going to arrive in homes, we think that they will be this kind of machines一small, entertaining and fun，，，Weinberg said. “They will enhance your life and pave the way for more intelligent service robots in our lives.”练习：1. Which of the following is NOT true according to the first three paragraphs?

A Shimi is a one-foot tall robot.

B Shimi is the creator of the musical companion.

C Shimi is a docking station with a“ brain” powered by an Android phone.

D Shimi can gain the sensing and musical generation capabilities of the user’s mobile device.

2. What does Shimi do if the user taps a beat?

A It stores the beat in the musical library.

B It transmits the beat to the docking station.

C It positions its speakers for optimal sound.

D It selects a perfectly-matched song and plays it in sync with that beat.

3. Which of the following about Shimi is true?

A Robots are limited by their programming instructions, and Shimi is no exception.

B Present apps allow the user to shake their head to alert Shimi to skip to the next song.

C Existing apps allow the user to wave a hand to alert Shimi to turn up/down the volume.

D Shimi can be creative and interactive.

4. What does the author want to tell us?

A The research center is developing a stronger and more versatile Shimi.

B Weinberg only expects staffs from Georgia Tech. to develop more apps for Shimi.

C Shimi is not yet technologically ready for commercialization.

D Robots such as Shimi are created for large corporations rather than homes.

5. Which of the following is Weinberg’s assertion?

A Shimi as a robotic musical companion can be applied to all types of smart phones.

B human lives will be filled with more fun if Shimi is going to arrive in homes.

C Shimi's creative and interactive capabilities are appreciated by most of its users.

D Weinberg has reached an agreement with Georgia Tech to commercialize Shimi. 第四十八篇Researchers Discover Why Humans Began Walking Upright

Most of us walk and carry items in our hands every day. These are seemingly simple activities that the majority of us don’t question. But an international team of researchers, including Dr. Richmond from GW's Columbian College of Arts and Sciences，have discovered that human walking upright, may have originated millions of years ago as an adaptation to carrying scarce, high- quality resources. The team of researchers from the U. S., England, Japan and Portugal investigated the behavior of modern-day chimpanzees as they competed for food resources，in an effort to understand what ecological settings would lead a large ape — one that resembles the 6 million-year old ancestor we shared in common with living chimpanzees — to walk on two legs.

“These chimpanzees provide a model of the ecological conditions under which our earliest ancestors might have begun walking on two legs, "，said Dr. Richmond.

The research findings suggest that chimpanzees switch to moving on two limbs instead of four in situations where they need to monopolize a resource. Standing on two legs allows them to carry much more at one time because it frees up their hands. Over time，intense bursts of bipedal activity may have led to anatomical changes that in turn became the subject of natural selection where competition for food or other resources was strong.

Two studies were conducted by the team in Guinea. The first study was conducted by the team in Kyoto University’s “outdoor laboratory ”in a natural clearing in Bossou Forest. Researchers allowed the wild chimpanzees access to different combinations of two different types of nut — the oil palm nut，which is naturally widely available, and the coula nut, which is not. The chimpanzees’ behavior was monitored in three situations:(a) when only oil palm nuts were available,(b)when a small number of coula nuts were available，and(c) when coula nuts were the majority available resource.

When the rare coula nuts were available only in small numbers, the chimpanzees transported more at one time. Similarly, when coula nuts were the majority resource, the chimpanzees ignored the oil palm nuts altogether. The chimpanzees regarded the coula nuts as a more highly-prized resource and competed for them more intensely.

In such high-competition settings，the frequency of cases in which the chimpanzees started moving on two legs increased by a factor of four. Not only was it obvious that bipedal movement allowed them to carry more of this precious resource, but also that they were actively trying to move as much as they could in one go by using everything available 一even their mouths.

The second study, by Kimberley Hockings of Oxford Brookes University, was a 14-month study of Bossou chimpanzees crop-raiding, a situation in which they have to compete for rare and unpredictable Resources. Here, 35 percent of the chimpanzees activity involved some sort of bipedal movement, and once again, this behavior appeared to be linked to a clear attempt to carry as much as possible at one time.

练习：

1.Which of the following statements is NOT true according to the first two paragraphs?

A Many people question the simple human activities of walking and carrying items.

B Chimpanzee’s behaviors may suggest why humans walk on two legs.

C Human walking upright is viewed as an adaptation to carrying precious resources.

D Our ancestors' ecological conditions resembled those of modern-day chimpanzees.

2. Dr. Richmond conducted the experiment with the purpose of finding

A when humans began walking on two legs.

B what made our ancestors walk upright.

C what benefits walking upright brought to our ancestors.

D how walking upright helped chimpanzees monopolize resources.

3. Kyoto, University's study discovered that chimpanzees.

A regarded both types of nut as priced resources.

B preferred oil palm nuts to coula nuts.

C liked coula nuts better than oil palm nuts.

D ignored both types of nut altogether.

4. Why did the chimpanzees walk on two limbs during Kyoto University's experiment?

A Because they imitated the human way of walking just for fun.

B Because they wanted to please the researchers to get more coula nuts from them.

C Because they wanted to get to die nut-rich forest faster by walking that way.

D Because they wanted to carry more nuts with two free limbs.

5. What can we infer from the reading passage?

A Chimpanzees are in the same process of evolution as our ancestors were.

B Chimpanzees are similar to humans in many behaviors.

C Walking on two limbs and walking on four limbs each have their advantages.

D Human walking on two legs developed as a means of survival.

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第三篇Giant Structures

It is an impossible task to select the most amazing wonders of the modem world since every year more wonderful constructions appear. Here are three giant structures which are worthy of our admiration although they may have been surpassed by some more recent wonders. The Petronas Twin Towers

The Petronas Towers were the tallest buildings in the world when they were completed in 1999. With a height of 452 metres, the tall twin towers, like two thin pencils, dominate the city of Kuala Lumpur. At the 41st floor, the towers are linked by a bridge, symbolizing a gateway to the city. The American architect Cesar Pelli designed the skyscrapers. Constructed of high-strength concrete, the building provides around 1，800 square metres of office space on every floor. And it has a shopping centre and a concert hall at the base. Other features of this impressive building include double-decker lifts, and glass and steel sunshades.

The MiUau Bridge

The Millau Bridge was opened in 2004 in the Tam Valley，in southern France. A.t the time it was built，it was the world’s highest bridge, reaching over 340m at the highest point. The bridge is described as one of the most amazingly beautiful bridges in the world. It was built to relieve Millau's congestion problems. The congestion was then caused by traffic passing from Paris to Barcelona in Spain. The bridge was built to withstand the most extreme seismic and climatic conditions. Besides, it is guaranteed for 120 years!

The Itaipu Dam

The Itaipu hydroelectric power plant is one of the largest constructions of its kind in the world. It consists of a series of dams across the River Parana, which forms a natural border between Brazil and Paraguay. Started in 1975 and taking 16 years to complete, the construction was carried out as a joint project between the two countries. The dam is well-known for both its electricity output and its size. In 1995 it produced 78% of Paraguay’s and 25% of Brazil’s energy needs. In its construction, the amount of iron and steel used was equivalent to over 300 Eiffel Towers. It is a truly amazing wonder of engineering.

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第八篇Why India Needs Its Dying Vultures

The vultures in question may look ugly and threatening, but the sudden sharp decline in three species of India’s vultures is producing alarm rather than celebration, and it presents the world with a new kind of environmental problem The dramatic decline in vulture numbers is causing widespread disruption to people living in the same areas as the birds . It is also causing serious public health problems across the Indian sub-continent.

While their reputation and appearance may be unpleasant to many Indians，vultures have long played a very important role in keeping towns and villages all over India clean. It is becausethey feed on dead cows. In India, cows are sacred animals and are traditionally left in the open when they die in their thousands upon thousands every year.

The disappearance of the vultures has led to an explosion in the numbers of wild dogs feeding on the remains of these dead animals. There are fears that rabies may increase as a result. And this terrifying disease may ultimately affect humans in the region, since wild dogs are its main carriers. Rabies could also spread to other animal species, causing an even greater problem in the future.

The need for action is urgent, so an emergency project has been launched to find a solution to this serious vulture problem. Scientists are trying to identify the disease causing the birds，deaths and, if possible, develop a cure.

Large-scale vulture deaths were first noticed at the end of the 1980s in India. A population survey at that time showed that the three species of vultures had declined by over 90 per cent. All three species are now listed as “critically endangered”. As most vultures lay only single eggs and take about five years to reach maturity, reversing their population decline will be a long and difficult exercise.

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第十三篇Better Solar Energy Systems: More Heat, More Light

Solar photovoltaic thermal energy systems, or PVTs, generate both heat and electricity, but until now they haven’t been very good at the heat-generating part compared to a stand-alone solar thermal collector. That’s because they operate at low temperatures to cool crystalline silicon solar cells, which lets the silicon generate more electricity but isn’t a very efficient way to gather heat.

That’s a problem of economics . Good solar hot-water systems can harvest much more energy than a solar-electric system at a substantially lower cost. And it，s also a space problem：photovoltaic cells can take up all the space on the roof, leaving little room for thermal applications.

In a pair of studies, Joshua Pearce, an associate professor of materials science and engineering, has devised a solution in the form of a better PVT made with a different kind of silicon. His research collaborators are Kunal Girotra from ThinSilicon in California and Michael Pathak and Stephen Harrison from Queen’s University, Canada."

Most solar panels are made with crystalline silicon，but you can also make solar cells out of amorphous silicon, commonly known as thin-film silicon. They don’t create as much electricity, but they are lighter, flexible, and cheaper. And, because they require much less silicon, they have a greener footprint. Unfortunately，thin-film silicon solar cells are vulnerable to some bad-news physics in the form of the Staebler-Wronski effect. “That means that their efficiency drops when you expose them to light — pretty much the worst possible effect for a solar cell,” Pearce explains，which is one of the reasons thin- film solar panels make up only a small fraction of the market.

However, Pearce and his team found a way to engineer around the Staebler-Wronski effect by incorporating thin-film silicon in a new type of PVT. You don’t have to cool down thin-film silicon to make it work. In fact，Pearce’s group discovered that by heating it to solar-thermal operating temperatures，near the boiling point of water, they could make thicker cells that largely overcamethe Staebler-Wronski effect. When they applied the thin-film silicon directly to a solar thermal energy collector , they also found that by baking the cell once a day，they boosted the solar cell’s electrical efficiency by over 10 percent.