What should you
do? (a) Run away; (b) Call the police; or, (c) Listen closely for the device to say, in
German, “Konnen Sie mir bitte sager, which Sauerkraut Kaufen Kann?”
The most appropriate response would be (c) because the person in front of you is
only a tourist trying to enjoy himself. The device is said to he the world’s first portable
transistor—a hand-held microcomputer that—at the same time converts one spoken
language into another.
The four-pound battery-operated product is called the Voice, and it is the creation of
Advanced Products and Technologies an American electronics company. When the Voice
is introduced in the United States in late April—at a price of $1,500—it will be capable
of converting spoken English into Italian, German, French and Spanish. The product
comes with separate cartridges (盒式储存器) for each of the four languages, which can
be changed when the user travels from one country to another. The item will be sold in
Europe soon after the U.S. Introduction, with cartridges that covert Italian, German,
French and Spanish into English.
The Voice uses a microchip (微型集成块) and artificial Intelligence to translate
Languages. It is started by voice command and produces voice output through a built-in
speaker. Then the user makes a statement or asks a question, the Voice immediately
repeats what has been said in another Language.
21. The stranger holding the Voice seems to be ________.
A) asking for some information
B) greeting the German
C) amusing himself
D) practising his German
22. The German sentence “Konnen Sie Kann?” means ________.
A) “Why don’t you ask the policeman.”
B) “Would you listen closely for the device to say?”
C) “Can you say it again, please?”
D) “Can you tell me where I can buy some sauerkraut?”
23. The word “speaker” in the last paragraph refers to ________.
A) the person who speaks to the device
B) a component part of the Voice
C) the person who speaks German
D) the speech produced by the Voice
24. Which of the following is NOT TRUE?
A) The voice is an invention of an electronics company.
B) The voice is a hand-held translator.
C) The voice is new product in wide use.
D) The voice is mainly a microcomputer.
25. The Voice can translate ________.
A) from German into any of the other four languages mentioned
B) from and into English by using the same cartridges
C) between any two of the above-mentioned languages
D) from English into any of the other four languages or the other way round
Passage Two
Questions 26 to 30 are based on the following passage.
Computers may one day turn night into day—with good old, natural sunlight.
Colossal computer-controlled mirrors, thousands of feet across, may one day orbit
the earth, reflecting sunlight onto a darkened United States.
Some Scientists say that 16 of these mirrors, each about a half mile across, could aim
their reflected light at one area on the earth that was about 200 miles by 300 miles. That
much light would equal about 56 moons.
The mirrors would be so high that they could catch the sun’s light as it was shining
on the other side of the earth. The mirrors could orbit—thousands of miles high—at the
same speed as the earth turns on its axis (轴). That way, the mirrors would always be over
the same spot.
The aluminum-coated (涂铝的), plastic mirrors could be folded up and packed into
a spaceship, according to the scientists. Once released a few hundred miles in space, the
mirrors, powered by a solar-powered engine, could mark the rest of the trip into space on
their own.
The scientists say that the computer-controlled mirrors could also be made to tilt (倾
斜) slowly, so the reflected sunlight would sweep slowly along the surface of the earth.
For example, as night fell, the mirrors could be tilted to light up Boston. Later on, as
darkness spread slowly westward. Chicago, for example, then San Francisco could be lit
up. The reflected sunlight would allow these cities to save up electricity. And in
emergencies, such as power-failures, the mirrors could light up the affected area.
What no one knows yet is what effect this artificial daytime would have on plants,
animals, and humans. Would it confuse some animals and harm plants that are used to
regular day-night cycles?