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听力原文： Many a young person tells me he wants to be a writer. I always encourage such people, but I also explain that there is a big difference between being a writer and writing. In most cases they are dreaming of wealth and fame, not the long hours alone at a typewriter. "You've got to want to write", I say to them, "not want to be a writer."
The reality is that writing is a lonely, private and poor-paying affair. For every writer kissed by fortune there are thousands more whose works are never rewarded. When I left a 20-year career in the U.S. Coast Guard to become a freelance writer, I had no prospects at all. What I did have was a friend who found me my room in a New York apartment building. It didn't even matter that it was cold and had no bathroom. I immediately bought a used typewriter and felt like a good writer.
After a year I still hadn't got a break and began to doubt myself. It was so hard to sell a story that barely made enough to eat. But I knew l wanted to write. I had dreamed about it for years. I wasn't going to be one of those people who die wondering, what if？ I would keep putting my dream to the test, even though it meant living with uncertainty and fear of failure. Anyone with a dream must learn to live there.
(30)
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The evolution of speech may have been the most important factor of all. When early man mastered the loom (工具) of language, his progress accelerated dramatically. Through the spoken word a new invention in tool-malting, for example, could be communicated to everyone; in this way the innovativeness of the individual enhanced the survival prospects of his fellows, and the creative strength of one became the strength of all. More important, through language the ideas of one generation could be passed on to the next, so that each generation inherited not only the genes of its ancestors but also their collective wisdom, transmitted through the magic of speech. A million years ago, when this magic was not yet perfected and language was a cruder art, those bands of men who possessed the new gift in the highest degree were strongly favored in the struggle for existence. But the fabric of speech is woven out of many threads. The physical attributes of a voice bow, lips, an tongue were among the necessary traits; but a good brain was also essential, to frame. an abstract thought or represent an object by a word.
Now the law of the survival of the fittest began to work on the population of early men, Steadily, the physical apparatus for speech improved. At the same time, the center of the brain devoted to speech grew in size and complexity, and in the course of many generations the whole brain grew with them. Once more, as with the use of tools, reciprocal forces came into play in which speech stimulated better brains, and brains improve the art of speech, and the curve of brain growth spiraled upward.
Which factor played the most important role in the evolution of human intelligence？ Was it the most pressure of the Ice-Age climate？ Or tools？ Or language？ No one can tell; all worked together, through Darwin's law of natural selection, to produce the dramatic increase in the size of the brain that has been recorded in the fossil record in the last million years. The brain reached its present size about one hundred thousand years ago, and its growth ceased. Man's body had been shaped into its modern form. several hundred thousand years before that. Now brain and body were complete. Together they made a new and marvelous creature, charged with power, intelligence, and creative energy. His wits had been honed (磨砺) by the fight against hunger, cold, and the natural enemy; his form. had been molded in the crucible of adversity. In the annals of anthropology his arrival is celebrated by a change in name, from Homo erectus--the Man who stands erect--to Homo sapiens--the Man of wisdom.
What can be preceded according to the passage？
Automation
The term automation was coined around 1946 by the automobile industry to describe the increased use of automatic devices and controls in mechanized production lines. Today, it is widely used in a manufacturing context but is also applied outside of manufacturing in connection with a variety of systems in which there is a significant substitution of mechanical, electrical, or computerized action for human effort and intelligence. An operation is commonly described as automated if it is Substantially more automatic than its predecessor.
In its most general usage, automation can be defined as a technology concerned with carrying out a process by means of programmed commands combined with the automatic feedback of data relating to the execution of those commands. The resulting system is capable of operating without human intervention. The development of this technology has become increasingly dependent on the use of computers and computer-related technologies. As a consequence, automated systems have become sophisticated and complex. Advanced systems of this sort now represent a level of capability and performance that surpass in many ways the abilities of humans to accomplish the same activities.
Automation technology has matured to a point where a number of other technologies have developed from it and have achieved a recognition and status of their own. Robotics is one such technology. It is a specialized branch of automation in which the automated machine possesses certain characteristics. The most typical humanlike characteristic of a modern industrial robot is its powered mechanical arm. The robot's arm can be programmed to do a sequence of motions to perform. useful tasks, such as loading and unloading parts at a production machine or making a sequence of spot-welds on the body of an automobile. The robot will repeat the motion pattern until it is reprogrammed to perform. some alternative task. As these examples of robot applications suggest, an industrial robot is typically used to replace a human worker in a factory operation.
The field of robotics has its roots in the development of automation technology. Numerical control (NC) and telecherics are two important areas of technology that constitute the foundations of robotics technology.
Over the years, the social merits of automation have been argued by labour leaders, government officials, business executives, and college professors. No doubt the biggest controversy has focused on the employment issue: What is the effect of automation on employment？ There are other important aspects of the automation issue as well, including its effect on productivity, economic competition, education, and quality of life.
The advantages commonly attributed to automation include increased production rates, more efficient use of materials, better product quality, improved safety, shorter workweeks for labour, and reduction of factory lead times.
Automated machines are usually designed to operate at higher production rates than humans are capable of achieving. This increased productivity has been one of the biggest reasons for justifying the adoption of automated systems. Notwithstanding the claims of high quality from good workmanship by humans, automated systems are generally capable of carrying out the manufacturing process with less variability that humans make, thus yielding greater control and consistency of product quality. In addition, the increased process control makes possible more efficient use of materials, resulting in less waste.
Automated manufacturing systems often, remove workers from the workplace, thus safeguarding them against hazards in the work environment. In the United States, the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 (OSHA) was enacted with the objective of making work safer and protecting the physical well-being of the worker on a
听力原文：M: Joe just went down to the engineering meeting.
W: Where is it？.
What does the woman want to know？
(16)
听力原文： February has long been a month of romance. With the sweet smell of roses in the air, romantic films hit cinemas and love stories fill newspapers and magazines.
On the 14th day, it is customary for a boy to take his girlfriend out to dinner, buy her flowers and chocolates, write poems, sing to her or even spell out her name with rose petals!
This is the scene that greets you on Valentine's Day, named after Valentine who was a priest in third century Rome. When the emperor decided that single men made better soldiers than those with wives, he banned marriage.
But Valentine continued to perform. marriage ceremonies for young lovers in secret. When his actions were discovered, the emperor had him put to death..
While in prison, it is said that Valentine fell in love with the daughter of his prison guard. Before his death, he wrote her a letter, which he signed "From your Valentine", an expression that is still in use today.
Valentine died for what he believed in and so was made a Saint, as well as becoming one of history's most romantic figures.
Nowadays, Valentine's Day wins the same popularity among Chinese young people. It is a time when students "don't want to be alone". Some students make Valentine's cards for parents, teachers and friends. Others hold parties at which they exchange small gifts and eat heart-shaped cakes. The idea is to have fun and encourage people to share in the spirit of St. Valentine.
(30)
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