A team of engineers at Harvard University has been inspired by Nature to create the first robotic fly. The mechanical fly has become a platform for a series of new high-tech integrated systems. Designed to do what a fly does naturally, the tiny machine is the size of a fat housefly. Its mini wings allow it to stay in the air and perform controlled flight tasks.

“It’s extremely important for us to think about this as a whole system and not just the sum of a bunch of individual components (元件),” said Robert Wood, the Harvard engineering professor who has been working on the robotic fly project for over a decade. A few years ago, his team got the go-ahead to start piecing together the components. “The added difficulty with a project like this is that actually none of those components are off the shelf and so we have to develop them all on our own,” he said.

They engineered a series of systems to start and drive the robotic fly. “The seemingly simple system which just moves the wings has a number of interdependencies on the individual components, each of which individually has to perform well, but then has to be matched well to everything it’s connected to,” said Wood. The flight device was built into a set of power, computation, sensing and control systems. Wood says the success of the project proves that the flying robot with these tiny components can be built and manufactured.

While this first robotic flyer is linked to a small, off-board power source, the goal is eventually to equip it with a built-in power source, so that it might someday perform data-gathering work at rescue sites, in farmers’ fields or on the battlefield. “Basically it should be able to take off, land and fly around,” he said.

Wood says the design offers a new way to study flight mechanics and control at insect-scale. Yet, the power, sensing and computation technologies on board could have much broader applications. “You can start thinking about using them to answer open scientific questions, you know, to study biology in ways that would be difficult with the animals, but using these robots instead,” he said. “So there are a lot of technologies and open interesting scientific questions that are really what drives us on a day to day basis.”

(392 words)

1.The difficulty the team of engineers met with while making the robotic fly was that __________.

A．they had no model in their mind

B．they did not have sufficient time

C．they had no ready-made components

D．they could not assemble the components

2.It can be inferred from paragraphs 3 and 4 that the robotic fly __________.

A．consists of a flight device and a control system

B．can just fly in limited areas at the present time

C．can collect information from many sources

D．has been put into wide application

3.Which of the following can be learned from the passage?

A．The robotic flyer is designed to learn about insects.

B．Animals are not allowed in biological experiments.

C．There used to be few ways to study how insects fly.

D．Wood’s design can replace animals in some experiments.

4.Which of the following might be the best title of the passage?

A．Father of Robotic Fly

B．Inspiration from Engineering Science

C．Robotic Fly Imitates Real Life Insect

D．Harvard Breaks Through in Insect Study

 

閱讀下面短文,從短文后所給各題的四個選項(xiàng)(A、B、C、D)中選出可以填入空白處的最佳選項(xiàng)，并在答題卡上將該項(xiàng)涂黑。

　　At the 1924 Olympic Games in Paris, the sports of canoe (劃船) racing was added to the list of international competition. The  31  team in the four-man canoe race was the United States team. One member of that team was a young man named Bill Havens.

   As the time for the Olympics  32 , it became clear that Bill’s wife would give birth to their first child at about the  33  that the U.S. team would be competing in the Pairs games. In 1924 there were no planes form Paris to the United States, only  34  ships. Bill found himself in a dilemma (左右為難的困境).

Bill’s wife insisted that he go to Paris.  35 , competing in the Olympics was a lifelong dream. But Bill felt  36  and, after much soul-searching, decided to remain home, where he could  37  his wife when the child arrived. He considered being at her  38  his highest priority (優(yōu)先考慮的事), even higher than going to Paris to fulfill his  39 .

The team won the gold medal in Paris. And Bill’s wife was  40  in giving birth to their child.  41 , Bill could have competed in the event and returned home  42  to be with he when she gave birth.

People said, “What a shame!” But Bill said he had no  43 . For the rest of his life, he  44  he had made the better decision.

Bill Havens knew what was most important to him. Not everybody  45  that out. Not everybody has the strength to say no to something he or she truly  46  in order to say yes to something that truly  47 . Peace begins to  48  our lives when we learn to say yes to the things that really matter.

Twenty eight years later, Bill  49  a telegram. It was from Finland, where the 1952 Olympics were being held. The telegram read, “Dad, I won. I’m bringing home the gold medal you  50  while waiting for me to be born.”

A. new B. favorite      C. special       D. weak

A. arrived  B. passed C. neared D. ended

A. moment   B. opportunity       C. time    D. promise

A. fast       B. old     C. small  D. slow

A. In all     B. After all     C. As a result  D. As usual

A. honored   B. worried      C. conflicted   D. delighted

A. persuade       B. accompany C. support      D. satisfy

A. place       B. side    C. door   D. mercy

A. duty B. promise      C. dream D. demand

A. favoring       B. successful   C. safe    D. late

A. In addition    B. For example      C. In fact D. At last

A. on time       B. in time       C. on purpose D. in need

A. judgments   B. excuse C. choices       D. regrets

A. believed      B. wished       C. wondered   D. proved

A. puts     B. takes   C. figures       D. gives

A. trusts     B. wants  C. understands       D. respects

A. matters       B. happens      C. appears      D. continues

A. turn into     B. look into    C. settle on    D. rely on

A. discovered    B. wrote  C. sent    D. received

A. grasped       B. offered       C. took    D. lost

閱讀下面短文，掌握其大意，然后從所給的A、B、C、D四個選項(xiàng)中，選出最佳選項(xiàng)。

At the 1924 Olympic Games in Paris, the favorite team in the four-man canoe race was the United States team. One member of that team was a young man by the name of Bill Havens.

As the time for the Olympics   36  it became clear that Bill’s wife would give birth to their first child about the time that the U.S. team would be   37  in the Paris games. In 1924 there were no jet airliners from Paris to the United States, only   38  ocean-going ships. And so Bill found himself in a   39 . Should he go to Paris and   40  not being at his wife’s side when their baby was born? Or should he   41  from the team and remain with his family?

Bill’s wife   42  that he go to Paris.   43 , competing in the Olympics was his life long   44 . But Bill felt   45 and, after much   46  searching decided to withdraw from the competition and remain home, where he could   47 his wife when the child arrived.

As it   48 , the United States four-man canoe team won the gold medal in Paris. And Bill’s wife was   49  in giving birth to their child. She was so late,   50 , that Bill could have competed in the event and returned home in time to be with her when she gave birth.

People said, “What a shame.” But Bill said he had no   51 . For the rest of his life, he believed he had made the   52  decision. Bill Havens knew what was most   53  to him. Not everybody figures that out. And he acted on what he believed was best.   54  everybody has the strength of character to say no to something he or she truly wants in order to say yes to something that truly   55 . But for Bill, it was the only way to peace; the only way to no regrets.

1.	A．neared B．started C．ended D．narrowed

 

2.	A．practising B．competing C．entering D．trying

3..

A．expensive

B．heavy

C．large

D．slow

 

4.	A．hurry B．puzzle C．dilemma D．trouble

 

5.	A．a(chǎn)void B．risk C．bear D．missed

 

6.	A．break B．keep C．wander D．withdraw

 

7.	A．complained B．preferred C．insisted D．promised

8..

A．After all

B．Above all

C．In all

D．At all

9..

A．purpose

B．struggle

C．opportunity

D．dream

 

10.	A．disappointed B．conflicted C．confused D．encouraged

 

11.	A．memory B．decision C．soul D．peace

12..

A．support

B．watch

C．comfort

D．raise

 

13.	A．fed back B．pointed out C．came out D．turned out

 

14.	A．effortless B．sorry C．late D．hard

15..

A．a(chǎn)t last

B．in fact

C．without doubt

D．in brief

 

16.	A．pains B．sufferings C．defeats D．regrets

 

17.	A．better B．bigger C．worse D．more

18..

A．obvious

B．true

C．important

D．close

 

19.	A．Almost B．Certainly C．Surely D．Not

20..

A．1asts

B．matters

C．works

D．rewards

 

— How are the team playing ?

— They are playing well, but one of them _____ hurt.

A. got      B. gets       C. are       D. were

My parents ran a small restaurant in Seattle. It was open twenty-four hours a day, six days a week. And my first real job, when I was six years old, was   31   the diners’ shoes. My father had done it when he was young, so he taught me  32   to do it well, telling me to  33   to shine the shoes again if the customer wasn’t  34  .

I was proud of working in the restaurant   35  I was also working for the good of the family. But my father   36   said that I had to meet certain standards(標(biāo)準(zhǔn)) to be part of the team. I   37   to be on time, hard-working, and polite to the  38  . I was    39   paid for the work I did at the restaurant. One day I made the mistake of suggesting to Dad that he  40   give me $10 a week. He said, “OK. How about you paying me for three meals a day you have here? And for the times you bring in your friends  41   free soft drinks?” He   42   the amount of money I owed him, about $40 a week.

I remember returning to Seattle after being  43   in the US Army for about two years. I had just been promoted（升職） to Captain at that time. And full of pride, I walked into my parents’ restaurant, but the   44   thing Dad said was, “How about your   45   up tonight?” I couldn’t  46   my ears! I am an officer in the Army! But   47  didn’t matter. As far as Dad was concerned, I was just  48   member of the team. I reached for the mop(拖把).Working for Dad has taught me that the devotion(奉獻(xiàn)) to a  49   is above all. It has nothing to do with  50   that team is for a family restaurant or the US Army.

1.A. washing               B. shining                    C. changing                          D. repairing

2.A. why                      B. what                                  C. when                                D. how

3.A. offer                    B. refuse                    C. continue                    D. forget

4.A. interested           B. annoyed                           C. relaxed                   D. satisfied

5.A. if                               B. because                   C. when                           D. though

6.A. anxiously          B. strangely                     C. clearly                 D. secretly

7.A. had                       B. tended                             C. hated                              D. pretended

8.A. family                            B. workers                            C. customers                        D. friends

9.A. never                            B. always                               C. seldom               D. already

10.A. must                            B. should                              C. might                           D. could

11.A. by                                B. to                                       C. on                                D. for

12.A. worked out                B. decided on                C. set aside           D. cut down

13.A. absent                        B. over                                  C. away                       D. alone

14.A. usual                           B. last                                    C. next                                  D. first

15.A. washing       B. going                                  C. cleaning                           D. turning

16.A. cover                         B. follow                     C. believe                      D. understand

17.A. they                            B. I                                    C. he                              D. it

18.A. no                         B. either                             C. any                                D. another

19.A. team                           B. family                          C. leader                           D. restaurant

20.A. when                          B. whether                           C. how                                   D. why