Ironically, a study finds that we’re awful gift-givers precisely because we spend too much time trying to be considerate.We imagine our friends 46 a gift that is impressive,expensive,and sentimental. We imagine the look of happinessand surprise on their faces and the warmth we feel. 47 .But there’s something thatthe most sentimental-gift-givers tend not to think too much about: 48 the gift is practical in the first place. 49 , practicality seems like an enemy of great gift giving. Beautiful jewelry, lovely watches, perfect rugs, finely crafted kitchen hardware: These things50great gifts because they communicate something beyond practicality. Theycommunicate that the giver cares. But do the receivers care Often,no. "Gift receivers would be 51 ifgivers gave them exactly what they requested 52 . attemptingto be’thoughtful and considerate’ by buying gifts they did not explicitly request" to surprisethem, the researchers write. Their clever paper asks givers and receivers to 53 gifts from two perspectives: desirability (e.g. the cost of a coffee maker) and feasibility(e.g. the 54 of the coffee maker).Across several experiments, theyfind that givers consistently give gifts based on desirability and receivers 55 favor gifts based on feasibility .
A. in person
B. in turn
C. in place
D. in return
The idea of humanoid robots is not new. They have been part of the imaginative landscape ever since Karl Capek, a Czech writer, first dreamed them up for his 1921 play "Possum’s Universal Robots". (The word "robot" comes from the Czech word for drugery, robota. ) Since then. Hollywood has produced countless variations on the theme, from the sultry False Myria in Fritz Lang’s silent masterpiece "Metropolis" to the withering C3PO in "Star Wars" and the ruthless assassin of "Terminator". Humanoid robots have walked into our collective subconscious, coloring our views of the future. But now Japan’s industrial giants are spending billions of yen to make such robots a reality Their new humanoids represent impressive feats of engineering: when Honda introduced Asimo, a four-foot robot that had been in development for some 15 years, it walked so fluidly that its white articulated exterior seemed to conceal a human. Honda continues to make the machine faster, friendlier and more agile. Last October, when Asimo was inducted into the Robot Hall of Fame in Pittsburgh, it walked onto the stage and accepted its own plaque. At two and a half feet tall, Sony’s QRIO is smaller and more toy-like than Asimo. It walks, understands a small number of voice commands, and can navigate on its own. If it falls over, it gets up and resumes where it left off. It can even connect wirelessly to the Internet and broadcast what its camera eyes can see. In 2003, Sony demonsrated an upgraded QRIO that could run. Honda responded last December with a version of Asimo that runs at twice the speed. In 2004, Toyota joined the fray with its own family of robots, called Partner, one of which is a four-foot humanoid that plays the trumpet. Its fingers work the instrument’s valves, and it has mechanical lungs and artificial lips. Toyota hopes to offer a commercial version of the robot by 2010. This month, 50 Partner robots will act as guides at Expo 2005 In Aichi, Japan. Despite their sudden proliferation, however, humanoids are still a mechanical minority. Most of the world’s robots are faceless, footless and mute. They are bolted to the floors of factories, stamping out car parts or welding pieces of metal, making more machines. According to the United Nations, business orders for industrial robots jumped 18% in the first half of 2004. They may soon be outnumbered by domestic robots, such as self-navigating vacuum cleaners, lawn mowers and window washers, which are selling fast. But neither industrial nor domestic robots are humanoid. In paragraph 1 the author introduces his topic by relating ______.
A. the idea of humanoid robots
B. Karl Capek’s creation of robots
C. Hollywood’s production of robot films
D. The origin of and popular movies about robots
Directions: You are to write a composition of no less than 200 words with the following information and do your composition on the ANSWER SHEET, You are to come up with the title for the essay.Now many people enjoy emails and other people prefer face-to-face conversations. Which is better and why
There are two ways to create colors in a photograph. One method, called addtive, starts with three basic colors and adds them together to produce some other color. The second method, called subtractive, starts with white light (a mixtu re of all colors in the spectrum) and, by taking away some or all other colors, leaves the one desired. In the additive method, separate colored lights combine to produce various other colors. The three additive primary colors are green, red and blue (each providing about one third of the wavelengths in the total spectrum). Mixed in varying proportions, they can produce all colors. Green and red light mix to produce yellow; red and blue light mix to produce magenta; green and blue mix to produce cyan. When equal parts of all three of these primary colored beams of light overlap, the mixture appears white to the eye. In the subtractive process colors are produced when dye (as in paint or color photographic materials) absorbs some wavelengths and so passes on only part of the spectrum. The subtractive primaries are cyan (a bluish green), magenta (a purplish pink) and yellow; these additive primaries or dyes that absorb red, green and blue wavelengths respectively, thus subtracting them from white light. These dye colors are the complementary colors to the three additive primaries of red, green, and blue. Properly combined, the subtractive primaries can absorb all colors of light, producing black. But, mixed in varying proportions, they too can produce any color in the spectrum. Whether a particular color is obtained by adding colored lights together or by subtracting some light from the total spectrum. The result looks the same to the eye. The additive process was employed for early color photography. But the subtractive method, while requiring complex chemical techniques, has turned out to be more practical and is the basis of all modern color films. How is the passage organized
A. The reasons for a choice are explained in depth.
B. A general statement is justified by a series of historical examples.
C. Two basic causes are compared.
D. Related processes are desribed one afer the other.