Almost everyone stood when the bride walked down the aisle in her white dress,but not the wedding conductor,because she was fixed on her chair. The wedding was led by "IFairy",a 1.5meter tall seated robot with flashing eyes and plastic hair. Sunday's wedding was the first time a marriage had been led by a robot,according to manufacturer,Kokoro Co. "Please lift the bride's veil ," the robot said in a tinny voice,waving its arms in the air as the newlymarried couple kissed in front of about 50 guests. The wedding took place at a restaurant in Hibiya Park in central Tokyo,where the IFairy wore flowers and directed a rooftop ceremony. Wires led out from beneath it to a black curtain a few feet away,where a man clicked commands into a computer. Japan has one of the most advanced robotics industries in the world,with the government actively supporting the field for future growth. Industrial models in factories are now standard,but recently Japanese companies have been making a push to inject robots into everyday life. Honda makes a walking childshaped robot,and other firms have developed robots to entertain the elderly or play baseball. Kokoro,whose corporate goal is to "touch the hearts of the people",also makes giant dinosaur robots for exhibitions and lifelike Android models that can smile and laugh. The company is a subcompany of Sanrio Co.,which owns the rights to Hello Kitty and other Japanese characters. "This was a lot of fun. I think that Japanese people have a strong sense that robots are our friends. Those in the robot industry mostly understand this,but people mainly want robots near them to serve some purpose," said the bride,Satoko Inoue,36,who works at Kokoro. The IFairy sells for about 6.3 million yen ($68,000) and three are in use in Singapore,the US and Japan,according to company spokeswoman,Kayako Kido. Which of the following products is NOT made by Kokoro? A) The IFairy. B) A walking childshaped robot. C) Giant dinosaur robots. D) Lifelike Android models.
B
(Question)
U.S. first lady Michelle Obama and her family have just ended their one-week trip in China. The whole world has paid attention to the two elegant and beautiful first ladies who have made a difference in the relationship between China and the U.S.A. Mrs. Obama has visited the Forbidden City, the Great Wall, the Terracotta Warriors, and the pandas. She has tasted Peking Duck and experienced some other Chinese traditional culture. It is hoped that this trip to China can bring a real understanding of our eastern world to the first family of the United States. Today, the number of exchange students between China and the U.S. has reached more than 4 million every year. There are more than 11,000 people traveling to and from each side of the Pacific. If the two countries can increase the exchange in travel, language, cuisine, and cultural understanding, this will help a lot in improving the understanding between the two countries. Education was an important theme of Mrs. Obama's visit, and it is crucial to the development of Sino-US relationship. China has an ancient tradition of placing a high value on education, and the first lady herself is an outstanding example of a person who changed her own destiny through education. She took education as the key theme of her speech at Peking University, encouraging students from the two countries to learn more about and get wider experience of each other. The theme of Mrs. Obama's speech at Peking University is _ . A) education B) understanding C) Sino-US relationship D) exchange students
(Answer)
A
Ques: I once had a house guest from Cuba. During his visit, I happened to throw an old broken blender in the trash. The next day it was sitting on my counter - in working order. In his world, people simply cannot afford to replace an item which doesn't work properly. They take the time and figure out how to fix it. In Cuba, they are still driving cars from the 1960's, mainly because they do not have a choice. In contrast, the U.S. is a "throw-away society." Statistics show that each American produces six pounds of trash per day. I believe a combination of factors has contributed to this phenomenon. "Planned obsolescence " is not a secret. It is a manufacturing philosophy developed in the 1920's and 1930's, when mass production became popular. The goal is to make a product or part that will fail, or become less desirable over time or after a certain amount of use. This pressures the consumer to buy again. Planned obsolescence does keep costs down. Instead of making an expensive product that will last a long time, businesses produce more affordable, disposable items. Some electronic items have become so inexpensive that it is cheaper to replace them than to repair them.[:&&Z&X&X&K] Busy people often value their time and convenience more than money. If a car starts to have mechanical problems, replacing it with a newer, more reliable model may be more appealing than tolerating it being in the garage for a week. In addition, advertising trains consumers to want what is new and improved. It convinces them that the more they have, the happier they will be. Unlike people in many developing countries, we live in a world of abundance. A study by Dr. Timothy Jones of the University of Arizona also found that in the U.S., 40-50 percent of all food ready for harvest is wasted. Abundance and waste soon became closely associated in the American way of life. Which of the following is NOT true about the "throw-away society" in the U.S.? A) People prefer to buy a new blender rather than repair the broken one. B) A large quantity of food has been wasted. C) People believe that the more they have, the happier they will be. D) People all hold the belief that money comes first.
Ans: D
Ques: Market analysts in the United States have recently been quoted as saying that the biggest threat to the luxury industry in the US is the tech industry. This is according to an article by fellow journalist Ashley Lutz. Her suggestion is sound. The main idea of her article is that products from Tiffany & Co. find their biggest competition not from other luxury brands but from companies like Apple. Lutz points out that luxury products are often only for "show," while the attraction behind tech products is functionality. You find few people in the United States today willing to purchase luxury goods at full price. It didn't use to be that way. Luxury goods used to be actually _ . That meant you needed to travel to the right store to purchase them, and you didn't even have the option of getting a deal. Today, no one wants to pay full price for luxury goods. People have the unfortunate belief that fakes somehow are equal to originals, and if you can't get a deal on eBay, Amazon, or in an outlet store, purchasing a luxury product probably isn't worth it. Luxury brands struggle to remain high-end images despite the reality that the American consumer is motivated much more by discounts than they are by brand names or image. Yet people stand in line to pay full price for a new product from Apple and crowds gather to hear about a new smart phone. While electronics are updating every day, people are purchasing technology at full prices much more than they are purchasing luxury goods. What are high-tech makers doing right that luxury makers are pitifully failing at? Carefully looking at the situation, it would appear as if the Internet didn't hurt the luxury industry, expectation from the consumers did. What people want these days more than anything is stuff that does something. They want cars that drive, shoes that are comfortable, games that are fun to play, screens that are beautiful to look at, tools that are useful, and entertainment that is entertaining. Little of that fits into what the luxury industry has... What do people pay most attention to nowadays? A) The Internet service. B) The images of luxuries. C) The function of products. D) The expectation from the consumers.
Ans:
C