Matt Mason has seen the future—and it’s fun. Mason likes thinking about how machines can make our lives easier by doing the work we hate, such as cleaning. He shows a hard floor cleaning system（系统）that’s built into the wall: it will blow dirt to a part of the room where it will be collected by a vacuum（吸尘器）. Then the system will drop some cleaner on the floor and an arm will mop（用拖把擦）it up. “This may trouble you,” says Kara, an expert in Mason’s company. “But you can program it to come on at 3 a. m., and it will just wet-mop the floor for you.”

When it comes to the kitchen, Bruce Beihoff, another expert at Whirlpool, is sure that in a few years, robots will be doing most of the boring work, freeing us to relax. “More than just fun, future kitchens will be environmentally friendly,” he says. “A new system will be built in the house which can recycle energy（能量）lost from your kitchen to make the whole home warm.”

“The fridge will be the center of the home,” says Daniel Lee, a market expert. The fridge will have a touch screen （触摸屏幕）where you can watch TV, surf the Internet, check your e-mail, keep a shopping list and order vegetables. “Your fridge is the first place you go in the morning and the last place at night,” says Lee.

Ever wonder why a 1.9-meter man and a 1.6-meter woman have to cook meals on counters（工作台）of the same height. “The height was decided over 50 years ago, according to the height of ordinary women,” says Jane Langmuir, an expert of cooking machines. “But times have changed. We have made a new counter where you press a button and it moves to whatever height you want.” At the same time, Ted Selker at MIT’s Counter lab has made the Dishmaker which lets you make dishes and bowls out of plastics at home. After each meal, the dishes are changed straight back into plastics.

1. How many inventions are mentioned in the passage?

    A. Three.               B. Four.                C. Five.          D. Six.

 2. In future, if you want to clean your house, you will _________.

A. have a recycling system built in the wall

B. get up early to start your cleaning system

C. use your fridge to give orders to a cleaner

D. leave the work to a kind of cleaning machine

  3. What is future kitchen work like?

A. Terrific and relaxing.               B. Easy and interesting.

C. Enjoyable and exciting.            D. Funny and amazing.

  4. From the passage, we know _________.

A. people will have more and more time enjoying themselves

B. future kitchens can provide all the energy for our life every day

C. the fridge can be found in the center of a future house

D. people must be expert at computers to use these inventions

　　Matt Mason has seen the future--and it's fun. Mason likes thinking about how machines can make our lives easier by doing the work we hate, such as cleaning. He shows a hard floor cleaning system（系统）that's built into the wall: it will blow dirt to a part of the room where it will be collected by a vacuum（吸尘器）. Then the system will drop some cleaner on the floor and an arm will mop（用拖把擦） it up. “This may trouble you,” says Kara, an expert in Mason's company. “But you can program it to come on at 3 a m, and it will just wet-mop the floor for you.”

　　When it comes to the kitchen, Bruce Beihoff, another expert at Whirlpool, is sure that in a few years, robots will be doing most of the boring work, freeing us to relax. “More than just fun, future kitchens will be environmentally friendly,” he says. “A new system will be built in the house which can recycle energy（能量）lost from your kitchen to make the whole home warm.”

　　“The fridge will be the center of the home,” says Daniel Lee, a market expert. The fridge will have a touch screen（触摸屏幕）where you can watch TV, surf the Internet, check your e-mail, keep a shopping list and order vegetables. “Your fridge is the first place you go in the morning and the last place at night,” says Lee.

　　Ever wonder why a 1.9-meter man and a 1.6-meter woman have to cook meals on counters（工作台）of the same height. “The height was decided over 50 years ago, according to the height of ordinary women,” says Jane Langmuir, an expert of cooking machines. “But times have changed. We have made a new counter where you press a button and it moves to whatever height you want.” At the same time, Ted Selker at MIT's Counter lab has made the dishmaker which lets you make dishes and bowls out of plastics at home. After each meal, the dishes are changed straight back into plastics.

[　　]

[　　]

A．have a recycling system built in the wall

B．get up early to start your cleaning system

C．use your fridge to give orders to a cleaner

D．leave the work to a kind of cleaning machine

[　　]

[　　]

A．We will eat something in the fridge from the morning to the evening.

B．We can surf the Internet and check our e-mails from it.

C．We can buy vegetables and watch TV from it.

D．We will have some fridges in our homes.

[　　]

A．people will have more and more time enjoying themselves

B．future kitchens can provide all the energy for our life every day

C．the fridge can be found in the center of a future house

D．people must be expert at computers to use these inventions

选择方框里的词填空。

1．A：Please keep quiet! I'm trying to ________ for a test.

B：Sorry, I won't do it again.

2．A：I need some help. Can you ________ the tomatoes, please?

B：Ok, I'm coming now.

3．A：John ________ the first prize in the speech competition.

B：Really? He is great.

4．A：Mary is a ________ girl. She always makes us laugh.

B：Yeah, but she is a little wild.

5．A：I'm going to ________ from Beijing to Hong Kong this summer.

B：Have a good time.

6．A：How do you ________ the transportation in your city?

B：Just so-so.

7．A：My mum gets really angry when I ________ to clean my room.

B：You'd better help your mum do chores.

8．A：Can I ________ your dictionary, please? Mine is at home.

B：Sure. Here you are.

9．A：Can you come to my birthday party?

B：Sorry. I can't ________ you. I have to help my mum.

10．A：Jane isn't very ________. She likes to stay at home and read.

B：Let's help her together.

　　I got up very early this morning. My parents took Lily and me to a small village. We visited a farmer's house there. We went there in a big bus with lots of other people.

　　Everybody called the farmer Uncle Li, and his wife Aunty Li. They were very happy to see us. They had a big house, a sitting-room and a kitchen in it. They were all clean and tidy. We sat in the sitting-room for a short time. There was a round table in the middle of the room. On it were cups of tea, bottles of orange, fruit and nuts. I like the peanuts very much.

　　Uncle Li's house was not far from a lake. From the lake they could catch fish. We saw his ducks swimming in the lake.

　　There were a few fruit trees behind his house and there was a vegetable garden. Uncle Li grew tomatoes, cabbages and peas. Near the garden there was a small house. It was full of farm animals. Uncle Li told us he often went to town to sell his chickens, ducks, fish and vegetables.

　　There are five people in Uncle Li's family. They are always very busy, but they feel very happy.

1．Lily and Lucy went to the farm house by themselves.

2．Uncle Li had a big house with a sitting-room and a kitchen in it.

3．From the lake they could catch fish and ducks.

4．There were few fruit trees behind Uncle Li's house.

5．Uncle Li often went to town to sell his farm animals and vegetables.