Honda is a Japanese company (公司) famous for its cars. In 1986, Honda started to make a robot which would be able to walk. In 1997, ASIMO _________. And now, 29 years later, ASIMO can do many kinds of things—It can jump, run, walk and _________ hop (单脚跳行)！

These years, Honda is taking ASIMO all around the world to _________ it to young people. They want to encourage (鼓励) them to study _________. Honda also says that in the future, ASIMO will be able to do _________ work for humans like fire fighting. Many people think that ASIMO is very fantastic because _________ can help people do daily work, such as cleaning or washing up.

ASIMO is not cheap, so not every person has enough money to _________ one. And a robot can’t do everything. “I really don’t think that ASIMO can make the _________ people feel less lonely (孤独的). _________ if your family has an old person, maybe you should call him or her on the phone each week or go to his or her house __________ a cup of tea or coffee. I’m sure he or she will be very happy,” said a scientist in Honda.

Have you chosen different passwords for your accounts(账户) — email accounts, bank accounts, etc.? Are you having a hard time remembering them all? Researchers always ______ us to use different passwords for different accounts. And for security (安全) reasons, we should also remember all the passwords, ______ writing them down somewhere. However, for lots of people, it’s a big headache to have to memorize so many passwords.

Now, an IT company has offered a (n) ______ to this problem. It designed a tiny device (设备) with an electronic circuit (电子电路) in it. The circuit can recognize you. After putting this microchip (微芯片) under the skin of your hand, you can enter to your accounts without using _______ password. In other words, you no longer suffer the headache of trying to recall your passwords!

_____ company has carried out a test in Stockholm, Sweden. Office workers in the city were offered the chance to have the microchip put under ______ skin if they wished. With this microchip, access cards (门禁卡) became a thing of the past. People could get in and out of their offices ______ . Besides, they could log in to their computers in seconds without a password. They could even use the new technology to pay for food in the company dinning hall.

Some people welcomed the new technology. Some, however, thought it was not ______ to have a microchip put under their skin. They wondered if the microchip would harm their health.

But this technology is really _____. The coming years might see further improvements in it. Perhaps many years later, we will all become part human and part machine. By that time, we ______ have to worry about forgetting our passwords!

We are now living in the 21st century. Is your classroom living in the 21st century, too? Tony is a student in Grade 8 at an American middle school. He was ________ when he saw his modern classroom on his first day of school.

In Tony’s classroom, there are many new ________, like iPads. This semester, they will use the electronics to take notes, ________ videos and do projects and homework. ‘‘It’s ________,’’ said Tony. “I prefer using an iPad to work on math or other projects with my team members.”

The school uses new technology(技术)in classrooms to help students see, hear, touch and sometimes experience their tasks. “Technology is pretty common in most of our classrooms now,’’ the head teacher said. “We are trying to use technology to ________ the world to kids. It can bring the outside world in.”

Science teacher Mr Miller agrees. ‘‘It is a ________ way for students to know the outside world,” he said.

Mr Miller now regards himself as a guide of learning ________ a teacher. “If they have a question for me, I will try to teach them ________ to find the answers rather than tell them what the answers are,” he said.

Dale, another student, loves technology. He was not really interested in class before, ________ now he likes the classes very much. “It helps me use what I know about technology at school,” Dale said. “Most importantly, I ________ the classroom. This, of course, will help my studies.”