Q: Tim Welford, aged 33, and Dom Mee, aged 30, both from England, were keen on (="like..." very much) rowing boats. They made a plan to row across the Pacific Ocean from Japan to San Francisco. The name of their rowboat was "Crackers". It was about seven meters long.

They set out from Japan on May 17,2001. They had rowed nearly 5,500 miles when their boat was hit by a fishing ship on September 17,2001. Luckily they both escaped unharmed, but their boat was badly damaged and they had to abandon( =" stop)their" journey.

In a radio interview, Dom expressed his disappointment and explained how the accident took place.

"A fishing ship came towards us with nobody on the bridge and ran us down. It all happened so quickly. I managed to dive into the water. Tim felt it would be safer to stay on board. He was trapped inside as the boat was driven under the water. Finally some people appeared on the ship and saw me in the water. I shouted at them to stop the ship and to get Tim out. When the ship stopped, I eventually saw Tim, and I was very, very happy that we were still alive. We were very disappointed that we couldn't reach San Francisco. But we are alive. That above everything is the most important. "

Answer the following questions:
1. What does keen mean?
2. Whast were they keen on?
3. What were they planning on?
4. Where were they to start?
5. and end?
6. When did they leave?
7. Did they make the trip?
8. what happened?
9. How far had they went?
10. Who dived into the water?
11. why?
12. Was anyone on the bridge of the boat?
13. Did anyone appear eventually?
14. Did Dom shout at them?
15. What?
16. Was Tim happy?
17. why?
18. How old was Dom?
19. and Tim?
20. where were they from?
A: 1. Like very much.
2. Rowing boats.
3. Rowing across the Pacific Ocean.
4. Japan.
5. San Francisco.
6. May 17.
7. No.
8. Their boat was hit by a fishing ship.
9. Nearly 5,500 miles.
10. Dom.
11. He felt it was safer.
12. No.
13. Yes.
14. Yes.
15. Stop the ship and to get Tim out
16. No.
17. That we couldn't reach San Francisco.
18. 30.
19. 33.
20. England.
Q: The end of the 2014 World Cup does not mean the end of the international competition in Brazil. A major football event which is known as RoboCup will be held in the coastal city Joao Pessoa. Teams of robots from around the world will take part in _ and play the game known as soccer in the United States. The robot teams are guided by teams of human beings.

Watching robots play football is similar to watching children play the game. The kicks are not good, there are a lot of falls , and people are there to guide and support the robot players. Students of the University of Pennsylvania are trying for their fourth victory at the competition. The students have won the last three RoboCup competition in the Netherlands, Mexico and Turkey.

Jian Qiaoli is one of the leaders of the University of Pennsylvania team. He says one goal he has set for his team is to make sure the robots can find the ball and know where they are on the playing field. And he wants the team to be able to better control the walking ability of the robots. They should pay more attention to the kicking ability, which is the key to winning the game.

Qin He is another leader of the robot team. She says the abilities of the robots improve every year. The robots know the difference between the colors green and red, and they can decide where to go and where the ball is on the playing field. She says the robots are self-learning and don't need to be told what to do. If there are three robot players on the playing field at the same time, they will communicate with each other to decide different responsibility for each of them. They have very good team play right now.

As long as the radar detection works well, the robots will be very competitive. So RoboCup will be an exciting technology competition. Each team develops their own software. Actually, it's a competition of who has the best software. Some RoboCup participants hope to develop a team of robots that can play against human beings.

Answer the following questions:
1. is watching robots play football similar to watching children do it?
2. who is the leader of the University of Penn team?
3. what major event will be held in Jaoa Pessoa?
4. who else leads a robot team?
5. are there a lot of falls when the robots play?
6. what does each team develop on their own?
7. who won the last RoboCup?
8. how many times have they won it?
9. what are they in the process of trying to get?
10. what is one place where they have had the competition before?
11. where else have they had it?
12. is Qin a man or woman?
13. can the robots tell the difference between colors?
14. how many colors are they able to detect?
15. are the robots self learning?
16. how are they playing right now?
17. what is football known as in the united states?
18. is there a human element to the game?
19. are the kicks very good?
20. is Jian Qiaoli a man or a woman?
A:
1. yes
2. Jian Qiaoli
3. A major football
4. Qin
5. yes
6. their own software
7. Students of the University of Pennsylvania
8. three times
9. their fourth victory
10. Turkey
11. Mexico
12. unknown
13. yes
14. two
15. yes
16. very good
17. soccer
18. the teams are guided by teams of human beings.
19. no
20. a man