阅读理解

　　The weather in Britain changes very quickly．One day may be fine and the next day may be wet．The morning may be warm and the evening may be cool．You may go to bed with the stars shinning brightly, and wake up with rain falling heavily．This is what we mean when we say that the weather is very “changeable”．

　　In some parts of the world you can be quite sure what the weather is going to be like．You can make your plans for the next day or even for the next week, knowing exactly what sort of weather to expect．It is much more difficult to do this in Britain．It may be fine today and you may arrange to go to the countryside tomorrow．But when tomorrow comes you may find that you have to give it up because it is too wet．Making plans for activities out of door in Britain is therefore rather difficult．

　　People talk about the weather more in Britain than in most parts of the world．When two Englishmen are introduced to each other, if they can’t think of anything else to talk about, they talk about the weather．The weather is also considered a safe topic of conversation．If you do not know each other well enough to talk about personal matters, you can at least sound friendly by talking about the weather．When two people meet in the street and they have no time to stop and talk, they will often say something about the weather as they pass, just to show their friendliness．

　　As the weather is so changeable, it is of course quite important．It plays a big part in the lives of the British people．It has even been said that it is partly responsible for the character of the people．The British have to change their plans very often according to the weather and this has made them good at dealing with difficulties．But even if you can’t believe this story, you won’t have stayed in Britain long before you believe that the weather is certainly an important part of British life．Every daily newspaper publishes something about the weather．Both the radio and the television give reports on the weather several times each day．

阅读下面的短文，从每题所给的四个选项(A、B、C和D)中选出最佳选项。

　　The Cave Crawler mining robot

　　Why do human beings still risk their lives under ground and doing one of the dirtiest and most dangerous jobs in the world? It’ s an increasingly urgent question, given the recent high－profile(引人注目的)mining accidents in Sago, W．Va．, and Huntington, Utah．A small group of engineers and robotics experts envision(展望)a day in the not－too－distant future when robots and other technology do most of the dangerous mining work．

　　One of the first mining robots was developed five years ago at Carnegie－Mellon University's Robotics Institute．It was called Groundhog and it looked like a golf cart．It used lasers to “see” in dark tunnels and map abandoned mines－some of the most dangerous work in the business．

　　The latest prototype is called Cave Crawler．It's a bit smaller than Groundhog, and even more advanced．It can take photos and video and has sensors mounted that can detect the presence of dangerous gases．Incredibly, the robot has a real sense of logic．If it comes across an obstacle it gets momentarily confused, it has to think through the process and where to go next, and sometimes it throws a fit just like a real person．

　　The biggest obstacle, though, is cost．The original research project was federally funded, but that money has dried up, and it's not clear where future funding will come from．Partly for that reason, and partly because of advances in safety, mining is not nearly as dangerous as it was in the past．Since 1990, fatalities have declined by 67 percent, and injuries by 51 percent, according to the National Mining Association．

　　Some experts predict that robots in mines will serve much of the same function that they do in the automotive industry．The robots do the most repetitive and dangerous jobs, but don't eliminate the need for human workers．

阅读理解

　　A recent study, published in last week’s Journal of the American Medical Association, offers a picture of how dangerous it is to get a lift from a teenage driver．Indeed, a 16-year-old driver with three or more passengers in three times as likely to have a serious accident as a teenager driving alone．

　　The author also found that the death rates for teenage drivers increased dramatically after 10 pm, and especially after midnight．With passengers in the car, the driver was even more likely to die in a latenight accident．

　　Robert Foss, a scientist at the University of North Carolina Highway Safety Research Center, says the higher death rates for teenage drivers have less to do with “really stupid behavior” than with just a lack of driving experience．“The basic problem, ”he says, “is that adults who are responsible for giving out licenses fail to recognize how complex and skilled a task driving is．”

　　Both he and the author of the study believe that the way to mitigate(使缓解)the problem is to have states set up so called graduated licensing systems, in which getting a license is a process with several stages．A graduated license requires that a teenager first prove himself able to drive in the presence of an adult, followed by a period of driving with night of passenger restrictions before graduating to full driving rights．

　　Graduated licensing systems have reduced teenage driver crashes, according to recent studies．