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Passage 1
Would you trust a robot to park your car?The question will confront New Yorkers in February as the city's first roboticparking opens in Chinatown.
The technology has been successfullyapplied overseas, but the only other public robotic garage in the United Stateshas been troublesome, dropping vehicles and trapping cars because of technicalproblems.
Nonetheless, the developers of theChinatown garage are confident with the technology and are counting on it tosqueeze 67 cars in an apartment-building basement that would otherwise fit only24, accomplished by removing a maneuver space normally required.
A human-shaped robot won't be stepping intoyour car to drive it. Rather, the garage itself does the parking. The driverstops the car on a flat platform and gets out. The platform is lowered into thegarage, and it is then transported to a vacant parking space by acomputer-controlled device similar to an elevator that also runs sideways.
There is no human supervision, but anattendant will be on hand to accept cash and explain the system to newly users.Parking rates will be attracted about $400 monthly or $25 per day, according toAri Milstein, the director of planning for Automation Parking Systems, which isthe U.S. subsidiary of a German company. This company has built automatedgarages in several countries overseas and in the United States for residents ofa Washington, D.C. apartment building.
Questions 26 to 29 are based on the passageyou have just heard.
26. What do we learn about the robotparking in the U.S. so far?
27. What advantage does robotic parkinghave according to the developers?
28. What does the attendant do in theautomated garage?
29.What does the company say about the parking rate?
Passage 2
A recent study shows that meat consumptionis one of the main ways that human can damage the environment, second only tothe use of motor vehicles. So how can eating meat have a negative effect on theenvironment? For a start, all animals, such as cows, pigs and sheep, always gaslimed methane, which is the second most common green house gas after carbondioxide. Many environmental experts now believe that methane is moreresponsible for global warming than carbon dioxide. It is estimated that 25% ofall methane that released into the atmosphere coming from farm animals. Anotherway in which meat production affects the environment is through the use ofwater and land. 2,500 gallons of water are needed to produce one pound of beef.While 20 gallons of water are need to produce one pound of wheat. One acre offarmland use to for raising cows can produce 250 pounds of beef. One acre offarmland use to for crop production can produce 1,500 pounds of tomatoes. Manypeople now say the benefits of switching to vegetarian diet which excludes meatand fish. Not just for health reasons, but also because it plays a vital rolein protecting the environment. However, some nutritionists advise againstswitching to a totally strict vegetarian diet. They believe such a diet whichincludes no products from animal sources can be deficient in many of thenecessary vitamins and minerals our bodies need. Today many people have come torealize that help the environment and for the human race to survive, more of uswill need to become vegetarian.
Questions 30 to 32 are based on the passageyou've just heard.
30. What does the recent study show?
31. What do some nutritionists say aboutthe strict vegetarian diet?
32. What does the speaker think more peopleneed to do?
Passage 3
Alcoholism is a serious disease. Nearlynine million Americans alone suffer from the illness. Many scientists disagreeabout what the differences are between the alcohol addict and social drinker.The difference occurs when someone needs to drink. And this need gets in theway of his health or behavior. Alcohol causes a loss of judgment and alertness.After a long period, alcoholism can deteriorate the liver, the brain and otherparts of the body. The illness is dangerous, because it is involved in half ofall automobile accidents. Another problem is that the victim often denies beingan alcohol addict and won’t get help. Solutions do exist. Many hospitals andcenters help patients cope. Without the assistance, the victim can destroy hislife. He would detach himself from the routines of life. He may lose hisemployment, home or loved ones.
All the causes of the sickness are notdiscovered yet. There is no standard for a person with alcoholism. Victimsrange in age, race, sex and background. Some groups of people are morevulnerable to the illness. People from broken homes and North American Indiansare two examples. People from broken homes often lack stable lives. Indianslikewise had the traditional life taken from them by white settlers who oftenencourage them to consume alcohol to prevent them from fighting back. The problemhas now been passed on. Alcoholism is clearly present in society today. Peoplehave started to get help and information. With proper assistance, victims canput their lives together one day.
Question 33 to 35 are based on the passageyou have just heard.
Q33. What is the problem of the victimsabout alcoholism according to the speaker?
Q34. Why did white settlers introducealcohol to Indians?
Q35.What does the speaker seem to believe about those affected by alcoholism?
