C

Each year, we are exposed to ten thousand ads on average. They try to sell us their products by using beautiful art, videos, images or slogans that are catchy. The most famous companies have highly popular logos that can be recognized by almost everybody. For those of you who have seen the movie Finding Forrester, there is a scene where Jamal walks up to some guy with a BMW and asks him what the car logo means. The man does not know the answer and since that day, whenever I see a famous company logo I try to find the meaning of it.

Many think the horse on the Ferrari logo represents the horsepower of the cars they manufacture. The story behind it is far more interesting. During World War Ⅰ, a pilot, Count Francesco Barraca, painted the horse on his airplane to bring him luck. He had it on his plane because it was the logo of his squadron (空军中队). Barraca’s mother then convinced Enzo Ferrari to put the logo on his racing cars in the early 1930’s to bring good luck to the drivers. The logo then stayed the same ever since. The yellow on the background represents the birthplace of Enzo Ferrari.

Starbucks started in 1971, in Seattle. The mermaid (美人鱼) represented on the logo is now known by any coffee drinker. It is a mythological sea creature with the look of a female, the only difference being that they have a tail of a fish. The reason why Starbucks incorporated one in their company logo is that it was believed mermaids used to sing to sailors in order to make them walk away from their ship or to ground their ships, and tea and coffee were popular merchandise to trade. So the mermaid in the logo of Starbucks is the one that “brings” coffee and tea to the stores.

8. The writer became interested in logos of some famous brands after ________.

A. he saw a scene in a movie

B. he heard about an attractive movie

C. he walked up to some guy with a BMW

D. he noticed some famous logos

9. Which of the following is TRUE according to Paragraph 3?

A. The logo of Starbucks is believed to make the business better.

B. Hearing mermaids sing, sailors would know the right direction.

C. Mermai is a creature of a male with a tail. D. Starbucks was once a company trading spices, tea and coffee.

10. From the second paragraph, we can conclude that ________.

A. Barraca once served in the navy

B. Barraca took part in car racing

C. Enzo Ferrari liked horses very much

D. Enzo Ferrari owned a car company

11. The underlined word in the last paragraph probably means ________.

A. abandoned B. included C. corrected D. created

D

Imagine shopping for clothes online and being able to run your hand across the screen on your computer to feel the fabrics. That kind of technology could be available within the next five years.

“We are talking about reinventing the way the computers operate and you interact with them as humans,” says IBM Vice President Bernie Meyerson. Extending sense of touch is one of five innovations (创新)that IBM believes will change the world in the next five years, according to the company’s annual “ five in five list”.

Smart machines will also soon be able to listen to the environment and highlight (使……显著)the sounds we care about most. For instance, an advanced speech recognition system will tell new parents why their baby is crying. “From the sound the baby is creating, that particular frequency in the voice of the child, you know the difference between a child, for instance, who is sick as opposed to a child who is just lonely.”

In the near future, personal computers will be able to do more than recognize images and visual data. Their built-in cameras will be able to analyze features such as colors, and understand the meaning of visual media, such as knowing how to sort family photos.

Smart machines will also be able to smell. If you sneeze on your computer or cell phone, tiny sensors built in the machine will be able to analyze thousands of molecules(分子)in your breath. Then it can tell you whether you need to see a doctor.

IBM scientists are also developing a system which can examine and combine flavors to be used by chefs to create recipes. It breaks down ingredients to their molecular level and blends (调和)them to create the most popular flavors and smells.

One of the most impressive things about the IBM list, says Georgetown University computer science professor Mark Maloof, is how powerful these tiny, smart devices are becoming. Maloof hopes the advances will encourage more students to study science, technology, engineering and math, preparing them to play a role in future innovations.

12. The author mentions the example of baby’s crying to ________.

compare whether a child is ill or lonely

show various reasons for baby’s crying

teach new parents how to raise their children

explain the sound-analyzing of the system

Which of the following about new technologies is not true?

They help identify medical conditions.

They prevent people from getting sick.

They can sort family photos among media.

They create the most popular flavors and smell.

Maloof believes that the IBM list will ________.

warn students of the dangers of the Internet

encourage students to invent voice system

lead more students to create future inventions

advocate students to use computers frequently

Which of the following would be the best title for the passage?

Future Computers Will Extend Our Sense

Shopping Online in the Future

Computers Will See and Hear Better in the Future

Science Fiction Will Become a Part of Our Everyday Life