2019年全国英语等级考试二级阅读习题（12）

　　The £109 Nest Protect Smoke Alarm promises Internet alerts(警报)and an end to the low battery chirp(短而尖的叫声). Besides, it uses a voice to tell you where the fire is.

　　The alarm is the first UK product from Nest, which is run by iPod-inventor Tony Fadell. The company claims the device’s batteries will last for up to seven years. The device will offer a spoken warning before it sounds a major alarm. Also it will use text messages and apps on your phones to alert users to low-level risks.

　　The present smoke alarms constantly alert users to non-existent threats, which will make many users annoyed and finally remove their batteries altogether. “We’ve all experienced the smoke alarm going off while we’re cooking. Sometimes, we need to search for the source of that non-stop low-battery chirp at midnight,” said Fadell. “Therefore, every time a smoke alarm cries wolf, we trust it a little less, and then — in a moment of frustration — we take the batteries out to stop the beep(嘟嘟声). And that leaves us and our families at risk.”

　　If the Protect smoke alarms are used, they can be set up in up to ten zones, so that the clear warnings tell users where the risk has been detected.

　　“Safety shouldn’t be annoying,” said Matt Rogers, Nest founder and vice president of engineering. “It was unacceptable to us that one in eight houses in the UK has a non-functioning smoke alarm. These products are required by law and are supposed to keep us safe, yet people hate them. We wanted to change that.”

　　小题1:For what purpose did Nest create the Protect Smoke Alarm?

　　A.To predict low-level fire risks.B.To experiment with a new battery.

　　C.To improve present smoke alarms.D.To avoid the low-battery chirp.

　　小题2:What did Tony Fadell really want to tell us in Paragraph 3?

　　A.One of his cooking experiences.

　　B.Disadvantages of present smoke alarms.

　　C.His growing distrust of smoke alarms.

　　D.His source of annoyance to crying wolf.

　　小题3:Which of the following are the advantages of the Protect Smoke Alarm?

　　a. Rechargeable batteries b. A talking smoke alarm

　　c. Longer battery life d. Going off constantly

　　e. Internet connectionA.a, b, cB.c, d, eC.a, c, eD.b, c, e

　　小题4:What can we know from the last paragraph?

　　A.In the UK people seldom set up smoke alarms.

　　B.Matt Rogers didn’t like the safety requirements.

　　C.Non-functioning smoke alarms make people annoyed.

　　D.The government should pay attention to safety issues.

　　参考答案及解析

　　小题1:C

　　小题2:B

　　小题3:D

　　小题4:C

　　试题分析：文章大意：本文主要介绍了Nest的新科技发明，该发明在原有设置的基础上进行了大量的改进和创新。

　　小题1:C 细节题。根据文章第二段的The device will offer a spoken warning before it sounds a major alarm.可知Nest创办该警报的目的改进原来的装置，故选C。

　　小题2:B推断题。根据第三段的第一句话The present smoke alarms constantly alert users to non-existent threats推断本段主要介绍的现有的警报器的不足。故选B。

　　小题3:D 推断题。根据文章第二段的The company claims the device’s batteries will last for up to seven years. The device will offer a spoken warning before it sounds a major alarm. Also it will use text messages and apps on your phones to alert users to low-level risks判断该新设备的优点在于电池寿命长、会说话的警报器、还有互联网的信息。故选D。

　　小题4:C 推断题。根据It was unacceptable to us that one in eight houses in the UK has a non-functioning smoke alarm故选C。