C

    After a long day's study at school, you are very tired. So after school you go home to relax. When you get home, a robot greets you. He's happy to see you and helps you take your school things to your room. He listens to you talk about your school life and tells you a new joke. And he tells you to call your cousin and to say happy birthday. And then he helps you with your homework.

    This is your future, and the robot's name is NAO. NAO has a small body, big eyes and a large head. He can walk and dance. He listens and talks, and he even learns and thinks for himself. His creators(创造者) predict that the robot will be in people's homes before 2040.

    This $16,000 robot knows who you are. NAO can even express emotions(表达情感). He is a self-guided robot. A self-guided robot can sense(感觉), think and act. Other robots might do two out of the three. For example, a robot might sense things using cameras and think using computers, but with no arms, he can't act. Another robot can move and sense things, but he can't think for himself. These aren't self-guided robots. But NAO can do them all.

阅读下列短文,从每小题所给的A、B、C、D四个选项中选出一个最佳选项。

    You know how much your telephone has changed over the past 10 years? Your car will change even more than that in the next 10 years.

    One of the biggest changes is that cars will drive themselves. Some day you may not need to drive a car. You will just tell the car where you want to go and it will drive itself.

    Google

    The American company Google has been working on a self-driving automobile for years. These cars are already on the roads in the United States, mainly in California.

    Google cars are truly self-driving. These cars have no steering wheels(方向盘) or pedals(刹车踏板).

    Last week, police ordered one of Google's cars to stop for driving too slowly on a public road. The car was not against any law, so no one was punished. But police did speak to the operators of the vehicle(车辆).

    According to Google, its self-driving cars have been driven nearly 2 million kilometers. That is equal to the distance the average person drives in 90 years.

    So far, no Google self-driving car has gotten a traffic ticket. Some of them have been in accidents when other cars hit them.

    Tesla

    Another American company, Tesla, added an “Autopilot(自动驾驶仪)” feature to its cars last month. Tesla put the feature, a computer software program, in cars that were built after September 2014.

    With the Autopilot turned on, the vehicle drives itself. The car will speed up, slow down, brake and steer by itself.

    You can take over driving any time by turning the steering wheel or touching a pedal. Your car will slow down if the vehicle in front of you gets closer. It will turn at bends and change lanes if you use the turn signal.

    Tesla Autopilot takes over driving at speeds over 29 kilometers per hour when you press a button twice. Autopilot is made for cross-country driving. It keeps you in the lane and helps you avoid hitting other cars.

    Other Self-Driving Cars and Buses

    Other companies such as Mercedes-Benz, Audi, BMW, Volvo and Toyota are working on self-driving cars. Another company called BestMile is also working on self-driving buses in Switzerland. The buses can hold up to nine people and will be tested for two years.

    Honey(蜂蜜）from African(非洲）forest is very delicious.

    Most people and many animals like eating it. However, the only way for them to get that honey is to find a wild bees' nest(蜂巢）and take honey from it. Often, these nests are high up in trees, and it is difficult to find them. But in parts of Africa, people and animals have a strange helper — a little bird called a honey helper.

    In fact, the honey helper does not like honey, but it likes the wax(蜂蜡）in the nest. The little bird cannot reach the wax because it is inside the bees' nest. So, when it finds a nest, it looks for someone to help. The little bird sings loudly to get the attention(注意） of both passing animals and people. When it has their attention, it flies through the forest, waiting for the following animal or person that loves honey. Then it helps them find the nest. When they finally arrive at the nest, the follower tries to get the delicious honey and the bird waits and watches. Some of the honey and the wax always fall to the ground, and this is when the bird takes its share.

    Scientists do not know why the bird likes eating the wax, but they seem to be able to smell the wax far away.

    These days, many students like playing 3D games. Do you know what 3D games are like? In most 3D games, game players need to control (控制) a character. The character can be a robot or a soldier (士兵). Game players usually use the mouse to make the character move around in his own world. Game players can find things such as food and weapons (武器) to help them go on with the game. The character can go straight, sit down, turn left, turn right or pick up things in the game.

    Some 3D games have many levels (等级). The character needs to finish different goals for each level. Game players can play against their computers, and sometimes they can play with other players on-line. It's great fun to play 3D games. But playing 3D games for long is not good for our study.

    Why is music so important to children? Here are some of my thoughts on the subject.

    Music has a positive（积极的） effect on young children's development!

    New research shows that music has a good influence on young children's cognitive（认知的） skills, such as spatial reasoning（空间推理） and memory. Research also shows that offering children an interesting environment can support children's healthy growth and development.

    Young children enjoy making music with others!

    Making music with others gives children a wonderful feeling of belonging to the group. Children might have difficulty joining in activities with others because they are shy, have limited language ability or special needs, but they can freely take part in a music activity.

    Music makes young children happy!

    Children seem to experience much pleasure and joy when listening to music, making music and dancing to music. Whether they are singing along to a CD, playing an instrument or dancing to music around the classroom, most children seem to thoroughly（彻底地） enjoy participating in a music activity. How wonderful it is to offer children the chance to do some activities about music!

    When a computer runs a group of programs, it can get very Cooling the computer can cost a lot. So some scientist's wonder what will happen if the heat from the computer can be used.

    Large Internet companies (公司) such as Google and Microsoft have thousands of computers. As these computers deal with information, they produce lots of heat, so they need huge cooling systems(系统). These systems send the heat into the air.

    A company in Holland (荷兰) thinks paying to make the computers work and then paying again to cool them are a waste of energy. So the company developed a special device—the e-radiator.

    Boaz Loupe, the head of the company, says the e-radiator works as a heating system and saves money. He explains that the energy is used twice—once to heat the home and once to cool the computer. So the users don't have to pay to cool their computers.

    Five homeowners in Holland are testing the heating system in their homes.

    "We pay for the computer using, so, in that way, homeowners get heating for free," Boaz says.

    Jan Visor is one of the homeowners. "If you use the computer more the e-radiator produces more heat," he says. "It cannot provide enough heat if you don't use your computer often. "But he is ready to try it. It's a great help for his family.

    The company says e-radiators can produce heat at a temperature of 55℃. It says the system can save its users about S 440 a year.