The boy’s father wanted his son to taste his first oyster because ________.

Famed singerSteve Wonder can't see his fans dancing at his concerts. He can't see the hands of his audience as they applaud wildly at the end of his Superstition.

Blind from birth, Wonder has waited his whole life for a chance to see. Recently, Wonder visited Mark Humayan, a vision specialist. He thought that a new device currently being studied by Humayan might offer him that chance.

The device, a retinal prosthesis, is a tiny computer chip implanted inside a patient's eye. The chip sends images to the brain and allows some sightless people to see shapes and colors. Wonder hoped the retinal prosthesis might work for him. "I've always said that if ever there's possibility of my seeing," said Wonder, "then I would take the challenge."

Unfortunately for Wonder, that challenge will have to wait. Humayan explained that the device isn't ready for people who have been blind since birth. Their brains may not be able to handle signals from a retinal prosthesis because their brains have never handled signals from a healthy eye.

However the retinal prosthesis and other devices show great promise in helping many other sightless people who once had vision see again. Perhaps one day soon, some formerly sightless people may be in Wonder's audience looking up—and seeing him—for the very first time.

Wonder's willingness to take part in retinal prosthesis studies and the results of those studies are giving new hope to people who thought they would be blind for the rest of their lives. More than one million people in the United States are considered legally blind, meaning that their eye- sight is severely impaired. Another one million are totally blind.

Two types of specialized cells in the retina—rods and cones—are critical for proper vision. Light enters the eye and falls on the rods and cones in the retina. Those cells convert the light to electrical signals, which travel through the optic nerve to the brain. The brain interprets those signals as visual images. Rods detect light at low levels of illumination. For instance, rods allow you to see faint shadows in dim moonlight. Cones, on the other hand, are most sensitive to color.

Some diseases can damage cells in the retina. For instance, macular degeneration causes blind ness and other vision problems in 700,000 people in the United States each year. The condition i caused by a lack of adequate blood supply to the central part of the retina. Without blood, the rods, cones, and other cells in the retina die.

Devices such as the retinal prosthesis won't prevent or cure our eye diseases, but they ma help patients who have eye disorders regain some of their vision. Different forms of retinal presto sis are currently being developed. On one type, a tiny computer chip is embedded in the eye The chip has a grid of about 2,500 light-sensing elements called pixels.

Light entering the eye strikes the pixels, which convert the light into electrical signals. The pixels then send the electrical signals to nerve cells, behind the retina. Those cells send signals vi the optic nerve to the brain for interpretation.

Many people who have had a retinal prosthesis implanted say they can see shapes, colors and movements that they couldn't see before. "It was great," said Harold Churchey, who n ceived his retinal prosthesis 15 years after he became totally blind. "To see light after so long—was just wonderful. It was just like switching a light on."

Why did Steve Wonder visit Mark Humayan?

A．He thought Mark's device might recover his eyesight.

B．He thought Mark might need his help in developing the device.

C．He thought Mark might want to listen to his Superstition.

D．He thought Mark might implant a chip into his right eye.

Famed singer Stevie Wonder can't see his fans dancing at his concerts. He can't see the hands of his audience as they applaud wildly at the end of his Superstition.

Blind from birth, Wonder has waited his whole life for a chance to see. Recently, Wonder visited Mark Hamayan, a vision specialist. He thought that a new device currently being studied by Humayan might offer him that chance.

The device, a retinal prosthesis, is a tiny computer chip implanted inside a patient's eye. The chip sends images to the brain and allows some sightless people to see shapes and colors. Wonder hoped the retinal prosthesis might work for him. "I've always said that if ever there's possibility of my seeing," said Wonder, "then I would take the challenge."

Unfortunately for Wonder, that challenge will have to wait. Humayan explained that the device isn't ready for people who have been blind since birth. Their brains may not be able to handle signals from a retinal prosthesis because their brains have never handled signals from a healthy eye.

The retinal prosthesis and other devices, however, show great promise in helping many other sightless people who once had vision see again. Perhaps one day soon, some formerly sightless people may be in Wonder's audience looking up—and seeing him—for the very first time.

Wonder's willingness to take part in retinal prosthesis studies and the results of those studies are giving new hope to people who thought they would be blind for the rest of their lives. More than one million people in the United States are considered legally blind, meaning that their eyesight is severely impaired. Another one million are totally blind.

Two types of specialized cells in the retina—rods and cones—are critical for proper vision. Light enters the eye and falls on the rods and cones in the retina. Those cells convert the light to electrical signals which travel through the optic nerve to the brain. The brain interprets those signals as visual images. Rods detect light at low levels of illumination. For instance, rods allow you to see faint shadows in dim moonlight. Cones, on the other hand, are most sensitive to color. Some diseases can damage cells in the retina. For instance, macular degeneration causes blindness and other vision problems in 700,000 people in the United States each year. The condition is caused by a lack of adequate blood supply to the central part of the retina. Without blood, the rods, cones, and other cells in the retina die.

Devices such as the retinal prostheses won't prevent or cure our eye diseases, but they may help patients who have eye disorders regain some of their vision. Different forms of retinal prostheses are currently being developed. On one type, a tiny computer chip is embedded in the eye. The chip has a grid of about 2,500 light-sensing elements called pixels.

Light entering the eye strikes the pixels, which convert the light into electrical signals. The pixels then send the electrical signals to nerve cells behind the retina. Those cells send signals via the optic nerve to the brain for interpretation.

Many people who have had a retinal prosthesis implanted say they can see shapes, colors, and movements that they couldn't see before. "It was great," said Harold Churchey, who received his retinal prosthesis 15 years after he became totally blind. "To see light after so long—it was just wonderful. It was just like switching a light on."

(572 words. Current Science. April 7, 2000)

Why did stevie Wonder visit Mark Humayan?

A．He thought Mark's device might give him the ability to see.

B．He thought Mark might need his help in developing the device.

C．He thought Mark might want to listen to his Superstition.

D．He thought Mark might implant a chip into his right eye.

She Was Poor (贫穷的)

Robert doesn't like to use his head. so he isn't good at his lessons. His Teachers tell his Father. Mr. Turner about it. The man worried about it.

It was Saturday yesterday. Mr. Turner didn't go to work. After lunch he began to talk with his son.

"You're nine years old now. " said Mr. Tumer. 'When I was nine. Histened to the tmchem carefully (认真地) at school and did all my homework on lime. So I could answer all my teacher's questions. I was tile best at all only lessons in class. And Miss Yang. our English teacher. liked me very much. I was her pet (宠儿). "

"Your teacher was poor. I think" said Robert.

"How do you know about it?

"She didn't have enough money to keep a dog. "

Robert isn't good at His lessons. so his father worried about it.

A．True.

B．False.

听力原文： A proud US father has named his son after a computer software term. Jon Blake Cusack, from Michigan, told local newspapers the US traditional way of adding "Junior" or " II " after a boys name was too common. So, when his son was born last week, he decided on the name Jon Blake Cusack 2.0, as if he were a software upgrade. Mr Cusack admitted that it took months to persuade his wife, Jamie, to accept the idea. Mrs Cusack said she asked several friends whether they can accept this name or not. All the men, she said, felt the name was "cool". However, her women friends did not think so. "I think the women will end up liking it," she said. Mr Cusack told the local newspaper he got the idea from a film called The Legend of 1900, in which an abandoned baby is given the name 1900 to remember the year of its birth. "I thought that if they can do it, why cant we?" he said. After little Jon Version 2.0 was born, Mr Cusack even sent a celebratory email to the family and friends designed to look as though he and his wife had created new software. "I wrote things like there are a lot of new features from Version 1.0 with additional features from Jamie," he said. And he is already planning for his sons future. "If he has a child, he could name it 3.0," he said. Questions 23 to 25 are based on the passage you have just heard. 23. What do we know about "Jon Black Cusack 2.0" according to the passage? 24. What do the names of "1900" and "Jon Version 2.0" have in common? 25. What does "Version 1.0" refer to according to the passage?23．

A．They"re both untraditional.

B．They"re to be equally popular.

C．They both tell about the births.

D．They"re both connected with computer.