Medical scientists are already putting computer chips directly into the brain to help people who have Parkinson's disease, but in what other ways might computer technology be able to help us? Ray Kurzweil is the author of the successful book The Age Of Intelligent Machines. He is also one of the world's best computer research scientists. He is researching the possibilities. Kurzweil gets computers to recognize voices. An example of this is Ramona, the _ hostess of Kurzweil's website, created by the computer, who is able to understand what you say. Visitors to the website can have their own conversations with her. Ramona also dances and sings. Kurzweil uses this technology to help people with physical problems. One of his ideas is a "seeing machine". This will be "like a friend that could describe what is going on around," he explains. Blind people will use a sensor which will probably be built into a pair of sunglasses. This machine will describe to the person everything it sees. Another idea, which is likely to help deaf people, is the "listening machine". This invention will recognize millions of words and understand any speaker. The listening machine will also be able to translate what it hears into other languages, so even people without hearing problems are likely to be interested in using it. But it is not just about helping people with physical problems. Looking further into future, Kurzweil sees a time when we will be able to store what we hear, see and think in a computer. This technology probably won't be ready for at least 50 years, but when it arrives, it means our minds will be able to live forever. What can Ramona do? A) She can talk with her visitors. B) She can treat brain diseases. C) She can help deaf people listen. D) She can teach people to sing.
A

In 1986,when Carlo Petrini first coined the term "Slow Food," he organized locally in his native Italy to preserve the food and wine culture and protest fast food. Today, slow food has spread to 132 countries with over 85, 000 members, addressing worldwide issues like farmer equity and  _ --the actions people take to respect the rights of all living things and all environments, to contribute to healthy and livable communities. Characterized by Slow Food International as "good, clean, and fair food," slow food must enrich the eaters' life,have no negative impact on human or environmental health,and compensate fairly for food producers' work. The average American meal travels about 1,500 miles to its final destination, with producing of food traveling by plane from overseas and other items shipped across the country. However,cost for food travel and heavy processing are not the only problems in the food industry that the environment faces. Industrial agriculture also has unsustainable practices like inefficient water use and decreased biodiversity. Our ideas in feeding ourselves are exceptional, but at various points our technologies come into conflict with nature's ways of doing things. A great many of the health and environmental problems created by our food system owe to our attempts to oversimplify natures complexities, at both the growing and the eating ends of our food chain. "Slowing" food, by purchasing locally and sustainably, allows consumers to reduce the impact of "food miles" and develop a closer relationship with their food producers." We need to change our food system," said David Prior, organizer of Slow Food Nation EatIn. "Our current food system is sick and we need to support farmers and agriculture to ensure that everyone has the right to nutritious food." What is David Prior's attitude towards current food system? A) Suspicious. B) Unsatisfied. C) Indifferent. D) Supportive.
B

Have you seen Jurassic Park? In this film, scientists use DNA kept for tens of millions of years to clone dinosaurs. They find trouble, however, when they realize that the cloned creatures are smarter and more dangerous than expected. That's nothing more than a fiction. But could we really clone endangered animals? To date, the most successful attempt to do so was the cloning of a gaur, a rare ox-like animal from southeast Asia. Scientists used a cow to bring the cloned baby gaur, named Noah. Two days after birth, however, Noah died from a common bacterial infection. Other endangered species that may be cloned include the African bongo antelope  , the Sumatran tiger, the cheetah  , and the giant panda. Next, could we really clone extinct animals? In theory? Yes. To do this, you need a well-kept source of DNA from the extinct animals such as wool mammoth  , Tasmanian tiger, or even dinosaur, and a closely related species, still living, which could serve as a surrogate mother. In reality? Probably not. On the one hand, it's not likely that extinct animals' DNA could survive undamaged for such a long time. Cloning extinct animals as wool mammoth, Tasmanian tiger, or dinosaur is much more difficult due to the lack of properly well-preserved DNA. On the other hand, for example, a gaur can have a cow as _ , definitely not a monkey. But what about an extinct animal as unique as the panda? What species could possibly serve as a surrogate mother? Cloning presents many exciting possibilities. However, even if extinct animals are brought back, they could not survive in today's world. Not only do most extinct animals have no habitat to live in, but the other plants and animals they depended on for food may also be gone as well. It can be learned from the passage that   _  . A) scientists have cloned the African bongo antelope B) both the cheetah and the giant panda live in Asia C) the gaur lives in Asia and is endangered D) the gaur is an extinct species
