In June 2013 a five-year-old boy, Toby, was walking home from school thinking about the long summer ahead. Money was tight that year and Toby's parents had told him they would not be able to afford a holiday. Instead of dreaming about foreign travel, he had been reading a book, Letter to New Zealand, where the author explains what happens in an envelope's journey from England to the other side of the world. As they neared their house, Toby asked his mum, Sabine, if he could write a letter to New Zealand. After a few more steps he was struck by an even better idea. "Can I write a letter to every country in the world?" Sabine says she often wonders what would have happened if she had replied differently that day. "It was just one of those typical questions that five-year-olds have," she says. " If he had asked me in the evening when I was tired, I might have refused. But as parents you realize there's a lot of power in just allowing kids to have a go. Also, it seemed a nice way to do some armchair exploration. So I told him" Let's see how far you get." The answer was very far indeed. Toby has since written and posted letters to all 193 UN mumber states, as well as numerous other bad-conditioned areas with comforting ones. To date he has written 681 letters- the best of which have been selected to appear in a new book called Dear World, How Are You?- although so productive is Toby' pen that the number will have risen by the time you read this. "Writing these letters has made me realize that the world isn't actually all that big," he says with a grin. In the future, part of him would like to be a musical director to turn his beloved Star Wars into a ballet. Of course, he also hopes to travel the globe in person to see some of the countries where his letters have ended up. "We're so lucky to have this wonderful world, and I hope we can live on planet Earth in peace." From Toby's mother's words, we know that at first _ . A) she thought her son's idea was of no value B) she got tired of her son's request C) she believed her son would succeed D) she thought she should give her son a try
D
In the near future,we may be using our eyes to operate our smart-phones and tablets,even when it comes to playing popular games like Fruit Ninja. The Gaze Group has been developing eye-controlled computer technology for nearly 20 years.But those devices have been firstly designed to help those with disabilities,and are very expensive. "After a while,we figured out that probably the best way is to go for a mass-market way," says Gaze's Sune Alstrup Johansen."where everybody would have this available." Johansen and some of his colleagues have formed a new company,the Eye Tribe,which is hoping to develop the technology on a mass commercial level. The technology works with the help of the computing device toward the user's face. After making sure of the user's eye movements,the technology is then able to easily find where a person's eyes are moving,and then allow the eyes to control a cursor . "Our software can then determine the location of the eyes and know where you're looking on the screen to make sure what you're looking at,"reads an explanation on the Eye Tribe site. There has been a gradual change toward hands-free technology in recent years, particularly in the gaming world.Recently Xbox released the Kinect device,which lets users control their Xbox and play certain games using only their hands,legs and voices. But still,most of these devices have been more of a _ than a practical way to use one's hands to control a mobile device.Johansen said a replaceable filter would be a cheap,convenient way for most consumers. And even as companies like The Eye Tribe work to create such a product for the average user, making the eye-controlled technology more accessible and less expensive will have similar benefits for physically disabled users. For more articles on modern science,please CLICK here. This passage is probably taken from _ . A) an experiment report B) a science fiction C) a school textbook D) a science website
D
Most people agree that honesty is a good thing. But does Mother Nature agree? Animals can't talk, but can they lie in other ways? Can they lie with their bodies and behavior? Animal experts may not call it lying, but they do agree that many animals, from birds to chimpanzees, behave dishonestly to fool other animals. Why? Dishonesty often helps them survive. Many kinds of birds are very successful at fooling other animals. For example, a bird called the plover sometimes pretends to be hurt in order to protect its young. When a predator gets close to its nest, the plover leads the predator away from the nest. How? It pretends to have a broken wing. The predator follows the "hurt" adult, leaving the baby birds safe in the nest. Another kind of bird, the scrub jay, buries its food so it always has something to eat. Scrub jays are also thieves. They watch where others bury their food and steal it. But clever scrub jays seem to know when a thief is watching them. So they go back later, unbury the food, and bury it again somewhere else. Birds called cuckoos have found a way to have babies without doing much work. How? They don't make nests. Instead, they get into other birds' nests secretly. Then they lay their eggs and fly away. When the baby birds come out, their adoptive parents feed them. _ After a fight, the losing chimp will give its hand to the other. When the winning chimp puts out its hand, too, the chimps are friendly again. But an animal expert once saw a losing chimp take the winner's hand and start fighting again. Chimps are sneaky in other ways, too. When chimps find food that they love, such as bananas, it is natural for them to cry out. Then other chimps come running. But some clever chimps learn to cry very softly when they find food. That way, other chimps don't hear them, and they don't need to share their food. As children, many of us learn the saying "You can't fool Mother Nature." But maybe you can't trust her, either. By "Chimpanzees, or chimps, can also be sneaky" , the author means _ . A) chimps are ready to attack others B) chimps are sometimes dishonest C) chimps are jealous of the winners D) chimps can be selfish too
B