下面有3篇短文，每篇短文后有5道题。请根据短文内容，为每题确定1个最佳选项。
第一篇Pool Watch
Swimmers can drown in busy swimming pools when lifeguards fail to notice that they are in trouble. The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents says that on average 15 people drown in British pools each year, but many more suffer major injury after getting into difficulties. Now a French company has developed an artificial intelligence system called Poseidon that sounds the alarm when it sees someone in danger of drowning.
When a swimmer sinks towards the bottom of the pool, the new system sends an alarm signal to a poolside monitoring station and a lifeguard's pager. In trials at a pool in Ancenis, near Nantes, it saved a life within just a few months, says Alistair McQuade, a spokesman for its maker, Poseidon Technologies.
Poseidon keeps watch through a network of underwater and overheard video cameras. AI software analyses the images to work out swimmers trajectories. To do this reliably, it has to tell the difference between a swimmer and the shadow of someone being cast onto the bottom or side of the pool. "The underwater environment is a very dynamic one, with many shadows and reflections dancing around. "says McQuade.
The software does this by "projecting" a shape in its field of view onto an image of the far wall of the pool. It does the same with an image from another camera viewing the shape from a different angle.
If the two projections are in the same position, the shape is identified as a shadow and is ignored. But if they are different, the shape is a swimmer and so the system follows its trajectory.
To pick out potential drowning victims, anyone in the water who starts to descend slowly is added to the software's "pre-alert" list, says McQuade. Swimmers who then stay immobile on the pool bottom for 5 seconds or more are considered in danger of drowning. Poseidon double-checks that the image really is of a swimmer, not a shadow, by seeing whether it obscures the pool's floor texture when viewed from overhead. If so, it alerts the lifeguard, showing the swimmer's location on a poolside screen.
The first full-scale Poseidon system will be officially opened next week at a pool in High Wycombe. Buckinghamshire. One man who is impressed with the idea is Travor Baylis, inventor of the clockwork radio. Baylis runs a company that installs swimming pools, and he was once an underwater escapologist with a circus. "I say full marks to them if this works and can save lives," he says. But he adds that any local authority spending 30,000-plus on a Poseidon system ought to be investing similar amounts in teaching children to swim.
31. AI means the same as
A. an image.
B. an idea.
C. anyone in the water.
D. artificial intelligence.
32. What is required of AI software to save a life?
A. It must be able to swim.
B. It must keep walking round the pool.
C. It can distinguish between a swimmer and a shadow.
D. It can save a life within a few months.
33. How does Poseidon save a life?
A. He plunges into the pool.
B. It alerts the lifeguard.
C. He cries for help.
D. It rushes to the pool.
34. Which of the following statements about Trevor Baytis is NOT true?
A. He runs.
B. He invented the clockwork radio.
C. He was once an entertainer.
D. He runs a company.
35. The word "considered" in paragraph 5 could be best replaced by
A. "thought".
B. "rated".
C. "regarded".
D. "believed".
第二篇Can Buildings Be Designed to Resist Terrorist Attack
In the aftermath of the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center, structural engineers are trying hard to solve a question that a month ago would have been completely unthinkable : Can building he designed to withstand catastrophic blasts inflicted by terrorists?
Ten days after the terrorist attacks on the twin towers, structural engineers from the University at Buffalo and the Multidisciplinary Center for Earthquake Engineering Research (MCEER) headquar-tered at UB traveled to ground zero as part of a project funded by the National Science Foundation.
Visiting the site as part of an MCEER reconnaissance visit, they spent two days beginning the task of formulating ideas about how to design such structures and searching for clues on how to do so in buildings that were damaged, but still are standing.
"Our objective in visiting ground zero was to go and look at the buildings surrounding the World Trade Center, those buildings that are still standing, but that sustained damage," said M. Bruneau, Ph.D. " Our immediate hope is that we can develop a better understanding as to why those buildings remain standing, while our long-term goal is to see whether earthquake engineering technologies can be married to existing technologies to achieve enhanced performance of buildings in the event of terrorist attacks. " he added.
Photographs taken by the investigators demonstrate in startling detail the monumental damage inflicted on the World Trade Center towers and buildings in the vicinity. One building a block away from the towers remains standing, hut was badly damaged. "This building is many meters away from the World Trade Center and yet we see a column there that used to be part of that building ", explained A. Whhittaker,Ph. D. "The column became a missile that shot across the road,through the window and through the floor. "
The visit to the area also revealed some surprises, according to the engineers. For example, the floor framing systems in one of the adjacent buildings was quite rugged, allowing floors that were pierced by ions of falling debris to remain intact. "ttighly redundant ductile framing systems may provide a simple, but robust strategy for blast resistance. " he added. Other strategies may include providing alternate paths for gravity loads in the event that a load bearing column fails. " We also need a better understanding of the mechanism of collapse", said A. Whittaker. "We need to find out what causes a building to collapse and how you can predict it. "
A. Rcinhorn, Pb. D. noted that "earthquake shaking has led to the collapse of many buildings in the past. h induces dynamic response and extremely high stresses and deformations in structural components.
Solutions developed for earthquake-resistant design may be directly applicable to blast engineering and terrorist resistant design. Part of our mission now at UB is to transfer these solutions and to develop new ones where none exist at present."
36. The question raised in the first paragraph is one__________
A. that was asked by structural engineers a month ago
B. that is too difficult for structural engineers to answer even now
C. that was never thought of before the terrorist attack
D. that terrorists are eager to find a solution to
37. The project funded by the National Science Foundation__________
A. was first proposed by some engineers at UB
B. took about two days to complete
C. was to investigate the damage caused by the terrorist attack
D. was to find out why some buildings could survive the blasts
38. The column mentioned by Dr. Whittaker__________
A. was part of the building close to the World Trade Center
B. was part of the World Trade Center
C. was shot through the window and the floor of the World Trade Center
D. damaged many buildings in the vicinity of the World Trade Center
39. A surprising discovery made by the investigators during their visit to ground zero is that__________
A. floors in the adjacent buildings remain undamaged
B. some floor framing systems demonstrate resistance to explosion
C. simple floor framing systems are more blast resistant
D. floors in one of the adjacent buildings were pierced by tons of debris
40. What Dr. Reinhorn said in the last paragraph may imply all the following EXCEPT that
A. blast engineers should develop new solutions for terror resistant design
B. blast engineering can borrow technologies developed for terror-resistant design
C. solutions developed for earthquake resistant design may apply to terrorist resistant design
D. blast engineering emerges as a new branch of science
h had been boring hanging about the hotel all afternoon. The road crew were playing a game with dollar notes. Folding them into small planes to see whose would fly the furthest. Having nothing betterto do, I joined in and won five.and tben took the opport unity to escape with my profit, Despite the evil
第三篇 To Have and Have Not
looking clouds,I had to get out for a while.
I headed for a shop on the other side of the street. Unlike the others,it didn't have a sign shouting its name and business, and instead of the usual impersonal modern lighting, there was an appealing glow inside. Strangely nothing was displayed in the window. Not put off by this,I went inside.
It took my breath away. I didn't know where to look, where to start. On one wall there hung three hand-stitched American quilts that were in such wonderful condition they might have been newly-made. I came across tin toys and antique furniture, and on the wall in front of me, a 1957 Stratocaster guitar , also in excellent condition. A card pushed between the strings said $ 50. I ran my hand along a long shelf of records, reading their titles. And there was more...
"Can I help you?" She startled me. I hadn't even seen the woman behind the counter come in. The way she looked at me, so directly and with such power. It was a look of such intensity that for a moment I felt as if I were wrapped in some kind of magnetic or electrical field. I found it hard to take and almost turned away. But though it was uncomfortable. I was fascinated by the experience of her looking straight into me, and by the feeling that I was neither a stranger, nor strange, to her.
Besides amusement her expression showed sympathy. It was impossible to tell her age;she reminded me faintly of my grandmother because, although her eyes were friendly, I could see that she was not a woman to fall out with. I spoke at last. 'I was just looking really, ' I said, though secretly wondering how much of the stuff I could cram into the bus.
The woman turned away and went at once towards a back room, indicating that I should follow her. But it in no way lived up to the first room. The light made me feel peculiar, too. It came from an oil lamp that was hung from the centre of the ceiling and created huge shadows over everything. There
were no rare electric guitars, no old necklaces, no hand-painted boxes with delicate flowers. It was also obvious that it must have taken years, decades, to collect so much rubbish, so many old documents arid papers.
I noticed some old books, whose gold lettering had faded, making their titles impossible to read.'They look interesting,' I said, with some hesitation. 'To be able to understand that kind of writing you must first have had a similar experience,' she said clearly. She noted the confused look on my face, but didn't add anything.
She reached up for a small book which she handed to me. 'This is the best book I can give you at the moment, ' she laughed. "If you use it. " I opened the book to find it full. or rather empty, with blank white pages, but paid her the few dollars she asked for it, becoming embarrassed when I realised the notes were still folded into little paper planes. I put the book in my pocket, thanked her and left.
41. Why did the writer want to leave the hotel?
A. To enjoy the good weather.
B. To have a change of scene.
C. To spend all his winnings.
D. To get away from the crew.
42. What attracted the writer to the shop?
A. The lack of a sign or name.
B. The fact that it was nearby.
C. The empty window display.
D. The light coming from inside.
43. The writer found the stock in the front of the shop
A. of top quality
B. of good value
C. difficult to get at
D. badly displayed
44, What was unusual about the way the woman looked at him7
A. It made him feel self-conscious.
B. She was happy to stare at him.
C. She seemed to know him well.
D. It made him want to look away.
45. The writer disliked the back room because
A. there was hardly anything in it
B. she had ordered him to go there
C. he saw nothing he really liked
D. it was too dark to look around
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