The biggest safety threat facing airlines today may not be a man with a gun but the man with the portable computer in business class. In the last 25 years, pilots have reported well over 200 incidents that (25) __________ have been caused by electromagnetic interference. Unclear (26)______________ the source of this interference remains, increasingly, experts have found out that portable electronic devices such as portable computers, radio and mobile telephones are (27)_____________(blame).

RTCA, an organization which advises aviation industry, has suggested that all airlines ban such devices from (28) _____________(use) during “key” stages of flight, particularly take-off and landing. Some experts have gone (29)______________ (far), calling for a total ban during all flights. Nowadays, rules on using these devices are left up to airlines. And although some airlines ban passengers from using such equipment during take-off and landing, most are not willing to enforce a total ban, if many passengers want to work during flights.

The difficulty is understanding (30)_____________ electromagnetic fields might affect an aircraft's computers. Experts know that the portable devices give off radiation, each (31) ______________(affect) those wavelengths which aircrafts use for communication. But, because they have not been able to reproduce these effects in a laboratory, they have no way of knowing whether the interference might be dangerous or not. .

The fact that aircraft may be in trouble because of the interference raises the risk (32)____________some people may use radio systems in order to damage navigation(导航) equipment. As worrying, though, is the passenger who can't hear the instructions to turn off his radio because the music's too loud.

The 45-year-old "distinguished technologist" Christian Belady for Hewlett-packard Co.(HP) teaches the art of innovation to HP employees around the country. He (33) _____________(pay) to inspire people. Last year, HP produced 1797 patents, (34) ________ _________ eight bore Belady's name. In the last six years, he has come up with more than 100 inventions to make computing hardware more powerful and energy-efficient. "But that number is unimportant (35)_____________I have infected (36)_____________with the passion for learning and innovation," says Belady at HP's international center for Supercomputing research and development next to the University of Texas at Dallas.

He has been called a deviant(不正常的人), which he considers a high praise. "Innovation is deviation. If you don't create an environment where people can deviate from (37) _____________(define) processes, they can't innovate."

As a father, he always says (38) _________two of his children are taught through the power of imaginative play. His 4-year-old son and 7-year-old daughter can't watch more than one hour of TV each day and must play outside for an hour --even when it's raining. (39)__________ ___________ the formal areas, the family house is always in a state of mess with the kids' projects.

As an innovator, he always emphasizes that the most powerful tool in innovation is a one-word question. "Why?" (40) _____________when we question basic assumptions of what we think of as normal, we find the opportunities.

A. equal     B. double     C. subject      D. deal     E. remarkably

F. supposedly  G. draw    H. assume    I. exploit    J. arithmetic    K. fox

When retailers want to tempt customers to buying a particular product, they typically offer it at a discount. According to a new study to be published in the Journal of Marketing, they are missing something.

A team of researchers, led by Akshay Rao of the University of Minnesota's Carlson School of Management looked at consumers' attitudes to discounting. Shoppers, they found, much prefer getting something extra free to getting something cheaper. The main reason is that most people are useless at __41__.

Consumers often struggle to realize, for example, that a 50% increase in quantity is the same as a 33% discount in price. They overwhelmingly __42__ the former is better value. In an experiment the researchers sold 73% more hand lotion when it was offered in a bonus pack than when it carried an equivalent discount.

This numerical blind spot remains even when the __43__ clearly favours the discounted product. In another experiment, this time on his undergraduates, Mr. Rao offered two options of loose coffee beans: 33% extra free or 33% off the price. The discount is by far the better proposition but the __44__ clever students viewed them as equivalent.

Studies have shown other ways in which retailers can __45__consumers' innumeracy. One is to confuse them with __46__ discounting. People are more likely to see a bargain in a product that has been reduced by 20%, and then by an additional 25%, than one which has been __47__ to an equivalent, one-off, 40% reduction.

Marketing types can __48__ lessons beyond just pricing, says Mr. Rao. When advertising a new car's efficiency, for example, it is more convincing to talk about the number of extra miles per gallon it does, rather than the equivalent percentage fall in fuel consumption.

There may be lessons for regulators, too. Even well-educated shoppers are easy to __49__. Sending everyone back to school for maths refresher-courses seems out of the question. But more __50__displayed unit prices in shops and advertisements would be a great help.

History has not yet __51__ what we will definitively call the postmillennial cohort (2000年后出生的人) that now __52__ more than 60 million people in the U. S. These kids and __53__ with no concept of life __54__ the Internet have so far been called the App Generation and Generation Z. They've been referred to as Homelanders, having grown up under the ghost of terrorism. They've also been __55__ the plurals, for their historic diversity, as well as the Founders, at least by MTV.

Whatever we __56__ naming them, marketers and academics are turning their attention to this group, which has billions in __57__ and is already shaping the culture. This generation is growing up “totally and utterly connected," says California State University psychologist Larry Rosen. Experts like Rosen have concerns about these kids' Google-inspired expectations that everything be __58__. They worry about their inability to __59__ even five seconds of boredom. And they worry about the demands that come with __60__ several identities online, from Facebook to twitter to Snapchat. "There's so much pressure on young people, who are still __61__ their identities, to present this crystallized, idealized identity online," says the University of Washington's Katie Davis.

Historian Neil Howe sees __62__ with the Silent Generation, the spoilt, risk-avoiding, "nice" generation of kids who grew up during the Great Depression and World War II, although some marked differences are found. Today's youths are also coming of age among geopolitical trouble and fears about the economy, he says, __63__schools emphasize an intense far-reaching sensitivity to other kids. He suspects this __64__ will be known for being well behaved and perhaps boring the culture by playing it safe. "There are typical examples that occur repeatedly," Howe says, "even if they go by different __65__."

51. A. remarked                B. convinced               C. guaranteed             D. revealed

52. A. numbers                 B. houses                    C. accommodates       D. contains

53. A. adults                      B. adolescents            C. folks                        D. guys

54. A. over                        B. without                    C. besides                   D. beyond

55. A. diagnosed               B. dismissed                C. labeled                   D. coined

56. A. end up                    B. consider about        C. appeal for               D. approve of

57. A. distribution force     B. purchasing power    C. global view              D. unique outlooks

58. A. vivid                        B. instructive               C. instant                    D. profitable

59. A. feed up with            B. put up with              C. make up for            D. identify with

60. A. faking                      B. revising                   C. illustrating               D. maintaining

61. A. supervising             B. forming                   C. representing           D. promoting

62. A. parallels                  B. contrasts                 C. comparisons           D. reservations

63. A. because                  B. although                 C. while                       D. when

64. A. emphasis                B. generation              C. intensity                  D. cultivation

65. A. routes                     B. schemes                 C. names                    D. definitions

Many experts complain that media too often take advantage of the science fiction aspects of nanotech. Reports of nanotech often refer to K. Eric Drexler's book Engines of creations, which predicts an age full of dominant molecular manufacturing and a world without material scarcity. Whatever humans need will one day be built cheaply with microscopic self-replicating machines that put atoms together to create copies of anything alive in the world -- from trees to human bodies.

In fact, the scientific community is deeply divided over whether self-replicating machines are possible. If they are, major dangers could exist. Dr. Drexler himself thought that self-replicating machines could go out of control. He writes in his book that man-made "plants" with leaves no more efficient than today’s solar cells could win over real plants crowding the earth with leaves that are not suitable to be eaten. Tough “bacteria" could be more competitive than the real bacteria, they could spread everywhere, replicate swiftly, and reduce the earth to dust in a matter of days.

Critics of nanotech have made use of such images, calling for a delay on commercial nanotech until regulations are established. They also point to the possible military uses of nanotech. Bill Joy, the co-founder of Sun Microsystems, wrote in a Wired magazine essay in 2000 that if nanotech falls into the wrong hands, it could bring dangers to society.

Opponents say Mr. Joy is over-reacting, "In a way, calling for bans on research, into molecular manufacturing is like calling for a delay on faster-than-light travel because no one is doing it." says Glenn Reynolds, a University of Tennessee law professor.

Professor Reynolds says it is a good idea to regulate nanotech, but in ways the government would regulate any that could be dangerous. Expert controls and certification systems for nanotech companies are examples. US lawmakers lave put forth four bills on nanotech research and development.

66. K. Eric Drexler in his book predicts a future world with sufficient material, because ________.

      A. man-made plants could replace real plants and grow more quickly

      B. plants produced by nanotech would be as sufficient as today's solar

      C. man-made bacteria would be wide-spread and capable of self-replicating

      D. humans could create copies of anything alive with high technology

67. To call for a delay on commercial nanotech critics of nanotech make use of _________.

      A. current social problems                              

      B. science fiction descriptions

      C. disagreements in the scientific community 

      D. the fact that no one is doing molecular manufacturing

68. Opponents of Bill Joy would NOT agree to_________.

      A. control nanotech expert

      B. ban nanotech research to avoid any possible dangers

      C. put forth bills on nanotech research and development

      D. establish a certification system for nanotech companies

69. Which of the following is the main idea of the passage?

      A. Nanotech should not be put into wrong use in the military field.

      B. The government should regulate products that could be dangerous.

      C. Nanotech regulations should be established in spite of the divided opinions.

      D. The media should not take advantage of the science fiction aspects of nanotech.