专四阅读详解 吃一堑长一智
英语专四阅读长难句分析
2013 TEXTA
【译文】2009 年12 月各国领导人在哥本哈 根会晤时，活动家们的劝导性话语鼓励他们 投身于更加坚定的行动中。
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Informative speeches from World Health Organization officials helped people to keep their
2013 TEXTA
Sad events are never easy to deal with but a speech that pays tribute to the loss of a loved one and gives praise for 01 t h e i r c on t r ib u ti on c a n b e comfБайду номын сангаасrting.
2013 TEXTA
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panic under control so they could take sensible precautions.
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【分析】本句为因果关系并列句。第一个分句位于so 前，主干为：
Informative speeches ...helped people to keep their
【译文】或者你有可能被要求在家庭活动中去 介绍一名发言者，也可能被要求在婚礼上发言， 在这些场合你的语言需要感动在场的人或使他 们开怀大笑。
• 【分析】本句为主从复合句。主句为 persuasive words ... encouraged them to commit themselves to firmer action。 其中from activists 作后置定语修饰words。 When 引导时间状语从句，修饰主句谓语 encouraged 发生的时间。
2023年12月大学英语四级考试阅读理解答案解析
2023年12月大学英语四级考试阅读理解答案解析一、题型概述在大学英语四级考试中，阅读理解部分占有很大的比重，通常包括三篇阅读文章，共计20道题目。
本部分主要测试考生通过阅读获取信息的能力，包括词汇理解、长篇阅读和仔细阅读三个部分。
以下是对2023年12月四级考试阅读理解部分的答案解析。
二、文章概述1. 第一篇文章：讲述了一项关于人工智能在医疗领域应用的研究，主要讨论了人工智能在诊断疾病、辅助治疗等方面的优势与不足。
2. 第二篇文章：介绍了一项关于大学生创业心态的调查，分析了大学生创业意愿、创业动机以及创业过程中遇到的问题。
3. 第三篇文章：探讨了中国传统文化在现代社会中的传承与发展，重点分析了传统节日、民间艺术等方面。
三、答案解析1. 第一篇文章（1）第一段：介绍了研究背景和目的，指出人工智能在医疗领域的应用日益广泛。
答案：A。
问题：文章的主题是什么？解析：根据第一段内容，可知文章主题是关于人工智能在医疗领域应用的研究。
（2）第二段：讲述了人工智能在诊断疾病方面的优势。
答案：D。
问题：以下哪项是人工智能在医疗领域的优势？解析：根据第二段内容，可知人工智能在诊断疾病方面具有优势，故选D。
（3）第三段：讨论了人工智能在辅助治疗方面的作用。
答案：B。
问题：以下哪项是人工智能在医疗领域的不足？解析：根据第三段内容，可知人工智能在辅助治疗方面仍存在不足，故选B。
2. 第二篇文章（1）第一段：介绍了调查背景和目的，指出大学生创业心态的变化趋势。
答案：C。
问题：文章的主题是什么？解析：根据第一段内容，可知文章主题是关于大学生创业心态的调查。
（2）第二段：分析了大学生创业意愿的原因。
答案：A。
问题：以下哪项是大学生的创业动机？解析：根据第二段内容，可知大学生的创业动机包括个人兴趣、实现自我价值等，故选A。
（3）第三段：讨论了大学生创业过程中遇到的问题。
答案：D。
问题：以下哪项是大学生创业过程中遇到的问题？解析：根据第三段内容，可知大学生创业过程中遇到的问题包括资金不足、经验不足等，故选D。
2021年12月大学英语四级考试阅读理解真题及答案详解(全套)
2021年12月大学英语四级考试阅读理解真题及答案（全套）——幸福就好我亦安2021年12月大学英语四级考试阅读理解真题（一）【阅读】Section CDirections：There are 2 passages in this section. Each passage is followed by some questions or unfinished statements. For each of them there are four choices marked A), B), C) and D). You should decide on the best choice and mark the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet 2 with a single line through the centre.Passage OneQuestions 56 to 60 are based on the following passage.In recent years, a growing body of research has shown that our appetite and food intake are influenced by a large number of factors besides our biological need for energy, including our eating environment and our perception of the food in front of us.Studies have shown, for instance, that eating in front of the TV (or a similar distraction) can increase both hunger and the amount of food consumed. Evensimple visual cues, like plate size and lighting, have been shown to affect portion size and consumption.A new study suggested that our short-term memory also may play a role in appetite. Several hours after a meal, people's hunger levels were predicted not by how much they’d eaten but rather by how much food they'd seen in front of them —in other words, how much they remembered eating.This disparity (盖弃）suggests the memory of our previous meal may have a bigger influence on our appetite than the actual size of the meal, says Jeffrey M. Brunstrom, a professor of experimental psychology at the University of Bristol."Hunger isn't controlled solely by the physical characteristics of a recent meal. We have identified an independent role for memory for that meal，" Brunstrom says. "This shows that the relationship between hunger and food intake is more complex than we thought."These findings echo earlier research that suggests our perception of food can sometimes trick our body’s response to the food itself. In a 2021 study, for instance, people who drank the same 3S0-calorie (卡路里）milkshake on two separate occasions produced different levels of hunger-related hormones （荷尔蒙），depending on whether the shake’s label said it contained 620 or 140 calories. Moreover, the participants reported feeling more full when they thought they'd consumed a higher-calorie shake.What does this mean for our eating habits? Although it hardly seems practical to trick ourselves into eating less, the new findings do highlight the benefits of focusing on our food and avoiding TV and multitasking while eating.The so-called mindful-eating strategies can fight distractions and help us control our appetite, Brunstrom says.注意：此部份试题请在答题卡2上作答。
英语专业四级阅读理解考试题及答案解析
英语专业四级阅读理解考试题及答案解析英语专业四级阅读理解考试题及答案解析韩愈说过这样一句话：“业精于勤荒于嬉，行成于思毁于随””。
天才就是无止境刻苦勤奋的努力。
成绩优与良;才思浓与淡，都是由勤奋注定的。
以下是店铺为大家搜索整理的英语专业四级阅读理解考试题及答案解析，希望对正在关注的您有所帮助!As the merchant class expanded in the eighteenth?century North American Colonies, the silversmithand the coppersmith businesses rose to serve it.Only a few silversmiths were available in New Yorkor Boston in the late seventeenth century, but in theeighteenth century they could be found in all majorcolonial cities. No other colonial artisans rivaled thesilversmiths’ prestige. They handled the mostexpensive materials and possessed direct connections to prosperous colonial merchants. Theirproducts, primarily silver plates and bowls, reflected their exalted status and testified to theircustomers’ prominence. Silver stood as one of the surest ways to store wealth at a time beforeneighborhood banks existed. Unlike the silver coins from which they were made, silver articleswere readily identifiable. Often formed to individual specifications, they always carried thesilversmith’s distinctive markings and consequently could be traced and retrieved.Customers generally secure the silver for the silver object they ordered. They saved coins, tookthem to smiths, and discussed the type of pieces they desired. Silversmiths complied with theserequests by melting the money in a small furnace, adding a bit of copper to form a strongeralloy, and casting the alloy in rectangular blocks. They hammered these ingots to theappropriate thickness by hand, shaped them and pressed designs into them for adornment.Engraving was alsodone by hand. In addition to plates and bowls, some customers soughtmore intricate products, such as silver teapots. These were made by shaping or casting partsseparately and then soldering them together. Colonial coppersmithing also come of age in theearly eighteenth century and prospered in northern cities. Copper’s ability to conduct heatefficiently and to resist corrosion contributed to its attractiveness. But because it wasexpensive in colonial America, coppersmiths were never very numerous. Virtually all copperworked by Smiths was imported as sheets or obtained by recycling old copper goods. Copperwas used for practical items, but it was not admired for its beauty. Coppersmiths employed it tofashion pots and kettles for the home. They shaped it in much the same manner as silver ormelted it in a foundry with lead or tin. They also mixed it with zinc to make brass for maritimeand scientific instruments.?1、According to the passage, which of the following eighteenth century developments had strongimpact on silversmithsA. A decrease in the cost of silver.B. The invention of heat efficient furnaces.C. The growing economic prosperity of colonial merchants.D. The development of new tools used to shape silver.2.In colonial America, where did silversmiths usually obtain the material to make silver articles? ?A. From their own mines.B. From importers.C. From other silversmiths.D. From customers.3.The passage mentions all of the following as uses for copper in Colonial America EXCEPT ______A. cooking potsB. scientific instrumentsC. musical instrumentsD. maritime instruments4.According to the passage, silversmiths and coppersmiths in colonial America were similar inwhich of the following waysA. The amount of social prestige they had.B. The way they shaped the metal they worked with. ?C. The cost of the goods they made.D. The practicality of the goods they made.参考答案：1. C) 根据文章第一句“As the merchant classexpanded in the eighteenth?century North AmericanColonies,...”可知，随着在十八世纪的北美殖民地商人阶级膨胀起来，也就是说那时的商人财富有了很大的发展，银匠铜匠们有机会发挥他们的.专长了，这与选项C正好相符。
2012 年专四真题阅读长难句分析
2012 年专四真题阅读长难句分析TEXTA1. “Ta”, originated from the Danish word “tak”, was the second-most popular expression of thanks, and is also commonly used in informal situations, along with phrases such as “nice one”, and “brilliant”. 【分析】本句为并列宾语句，句子主干结构为“Ta”was the second-most popular expression of thanks, and is also used in informal situations。
originated from the Danish word “tak”作后置定语修饰“Ta”；along with phrases such as “nice one”, and “brilliant”作伴随状语。
【译文】从丹麦语“tak”演变而来的俚语“ta（谢谢）”，是受欢迎程度位居第二的答谢用语，它和其他诸如“nice one（你真好）”和“brilliant（太棒了）”等表达一样经常在非正式场合中使用。
2. For example, words like “awesome”, “brilliant”and “you star”featured highly in the new poll and they can hint at both your pleasure at someone’s action, as well as serving to express your thanks. 【分析】本句为and 引导的并列复合句。
两个分句的主干分别为：words featured highly in the new poll 和they can hint at both your pleasure at someone’s action, as well as serving to express your thanks。
英语专四阅读理解训练及答案解析
英语专四阅读理解训练及答案解析英语专四阅读理解训练及答案解析在英语越来越普及的21世纪，学好英语成了大学生的首要目标。
为帮助大学生掌握好英语知识，以下是店铺为大家搜索整理的英语专四阅读理解训练及答案解析，希望能对大家有所帮助!The discovery of the Antarctic not only proved one of the most interesting of all geographical adventures, but created what might be called “the heroic age of Antarctic exploration”. By their tremendous heroism, men such as Shakleton, Scott, and Amundsen caused a new continent to emerge from the shadows, and yet that heroic age, little more than a century old, is already passing. Modern science and inventions are revolutionizing the endurance, future journeys into these icy wastes will probably depend on motor vehicles equipped with caterpillar traction rather than on the dogs that earlier discoverers found so invaluable and hardly comparable.Few realize that this Antarctic continent is almost equal in size to South America, and enormous field of work awaits geographers and prospectors. The coasts of this continent remain to be accurately charted, and the maping of the whole of the interior presents a formidable task to the cartographers who undertake the work. Once their labors are completed, it will be possible to prospect the vast natural resources which scientists believe will furnish one of the largest treasure hoards of metals and minerals the world has yet known, and almost inexhaustible sources of copper, coal, uranium, and many other ores will become available to man. Such discoveries will usher in an era of practical exploitation of the Antarctic wastes.The polar darkness which hides this continent for the sixwinter months will be defeated by huge batteries of light, and make possible the establishing of air-fields for the future inter-continental air services by making these areas as light as day. Present flying routes will be completely changed, for the Antarctic refueling bases will make flights from Australia to South America comparatively easy over the 5,000 miles journey.The climate is not likely to offer an insuperable problem, for the explorer Admiral Byrd has shown that the climate is possible even for men completely untrained for expeditions into those frozen wastes. Some of his parties were men who had never seen snow before, and yet he records that they survived the rigors of the Antarctic climate comfortably, so that, provided that the appropriate installations are made, we may assume that human beings from all countries could live there safely. Byrd even affirms that it is probably the most healthy climate in the world, for the intense cold of thousands of years has sterilize this continent, and rendered it absolutely germfree, with the consequences that ordinary and extraordinary sickness and diseases from which man suffers in other zones with different climates are here utterly unknown. There exist no problems of conservation and preservation of food supplies, for the latter keep indefinitely without any signs of deterioration ; it may even be that later generations will come to regard the Antarctic as the natural storehouse for the whole world.Plans are already on foot to set up permanent bases on the shores of this continent, and what so few years ago was regarded as a “dead continent” now promises to be a most active center of human life and endeavor.1.When did man begin to explore the Antarctic?A.About 100years ago.B.In this century.C.At the beginning of the 19th century.D.In 1798.2.What must the explorers be, even though they have modern equipment and techniques?A.Brave and toughB.Stubborn and arrogant.C.Well-liked and humorous.D.Stout and smart.3.The most healthy climate in the world is___.A.in South America.B.in the Arctic Region.C.in the Antarctic Continent.D.in the Atlantic Ocean.4.What kind of metals and minerals can we find in the Antarctic?A.Magnetite, coal and ores.B.Copper, coal and uranium.C.Silver, natural gas and uranium.D.Aluminum, copper and natural gas.5.What is planned for the continent?A.Building dams along the coasts.B.Setting up several summer resorts along the coasts.C.Mapping the coast and whole territory.D.Setting up permanent bases on the coasts.答案：BDCBA词汇讲解1. comparatively比较地,相当地,多少All this was comparatively slow until, with the coming of science, the tempo was suddenly raised.所有这些发展都比较缓慢，直到出现了科学，其速度才突然加快。
专四阅读长难句练习
专四阅读长难句练习2017专四阅读长难句练习引导语：为了帮助大家更好准备2017专四考试，以下是店铺为大家整理的2017专四阅读长难句练习，欢迎阅读!1. Even the doctoral degree, long recognized as a required “ union card” in the academic world, has come under severe criticism as the pursuit of learning for its own sake and the accumulation of knowledge without immediate application to a professor’s classroom duties.2. While a selection of necessary details is involved in both, the officer must remain neutral and clearly try to present a picture of the facts, while the artist usually begins with a preconceived message or attitude which is then transmitted through the use of carefully selected details of action described in words intended to provoke associations and emotional reactions in the reader.3. Articles in the popular press even criticize the Gross National Production (GNP) because it is not such a complete index of welfare, ignoring, on the one hand, that it was never intended to be, and suggesting, on the other, that with appropriate changes it could be converted into one.4. Other experiments revealed slight variations in the size, number, arrangement, and interconnection of the nerve cells, but as far as psychoneuaral correlations were concerned, the obvious similarities of these sensory fields to each other seemed much more remarkable than any of the minute differences.5. The Chinese have distributed publications to farmers and other rural residents instructing them in what to watch for their animals so that every household can join in helping to predictearthquakes.6. Supporters of the Star Wars defense system hope that this would not only protect a nation against an actual nuclear attack, but would be enough of a threat to keep a nuclear war from ever happening.7. Neither would it prevent cruise missiles or bombers, whose flights are within the Earth’s atmosphere, from hitting their targets.8. Civil rights activists have long argued that one of the principal reasons why Blacks, Hispanics, and other minority groups have difficulty establishing themselves in business is that they lack access to the sizable orders and subcontracts that are generated by large companies.9. During the nineteenth century, she argues, the concept of the “useful” chil d who contributed to the family economy gave way gradually to the present day notion of the “useless” child who, though producing no income for, and indeed extremely costly to its parents, is yet considered emotionally “ priceless”.10. Well established among segments of the middle and upper classes by the mid-1800’s, this new view of childhood spread throughout society in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries as reformers introduced child labor regulations and compulsory education laws predicted in part on the assumption that a child’s emotional value made child labor taboo.1、即使是学术界被长时间认作必须“同盟卡”的博士学位，现在也因为仅仅为了学习本身和知识的累积而学习，却不把知识应用到教授的教学职责中去而受到了严厉的批评。
2009年专四阅读详解
PART V READING COMPREHENSION [25 MIN]In this section there are four passages followed by questions or unfinished statements, each with four suggested answers marked A, B, C and D. Choose the one that you think is the best answer. Mark your answers on Answer Sheet Two.TEXT ADo you realize that every time you take a step, the bones in your hip are subjected to遭受forces between four and five times your body weight? 81 When you are running, this force is increased further still. What happens if through disease a hip-joint ceases to be able to resist such forces? For many years hip-joints and other body joints have been replaceable either partially or completely. It is after all a simple ball and socket joint球窝关节; it has certain loads负荷imposed on施加it; it needs reliability over a defined life; it must contain materials suitable for the working environment. 82 Any engineer will recognize these as characteristic of a typical engineering problem, which doctors and engineers have worked together to solve, in order to bring a fresh lease of life to people who would otherwise be disabled.B 推断81. According to the passage, when would most weight be imposed on hip-joints髋关节?A. When one is walking.B. When one is running.C. When one is standing.D. When one is lying down.A细节82. Engineers regard the replacement of hip-joints as a(n) ____ Problem.A. mechanicalB. medicalC. healthD. agricultural1. the bones in your hip are subjected to遭受forces between four and five times your body weight.are subjected to遭受No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. 任何人不得加以酷刑，或施以残忍的、非人道的或侮辱性的待遇或刑罚。
2023年专四写作常用谚语句
专四写作常用谚语1.An idle youth, a needy age.少壮不努力，老大徒伤悲。
2.Adversity leads to prosperity.穷则思变。
3. A hedge between keeps friendship green.君子之交淡如水。
4. A light heart lives long.静以修身。
5. A stitch in time saves nine.小洞不补，大洞吃苦。
6.Action speaks louder than words.行动胜过语言。
7.All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.只工作不玩耍，聪明孩子也变傻。
8. A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.千里之行始于足下。
9. A fall into the pit, a gain in your wit.吃一堑，长一智。
10.A friend in need is a friend indeed.患难见真情。
11.A little learning is a dangerous thing.一知半解最危险。
12.A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.一鸟在手，胜于两鸟在林。
13.All roads lead to Rome.条条大路通罗马。
14.A bosom afar brings a distant land near.海内存知己，天涯若比邻。
15.All things are difficult before they are easy.凡事总是由难而易。
16.As a man sows, so he shall reap.种瓜得瓜，种豆得豆。
17.Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder.情人眼里出西施。
专业英语四级(阅读)模拟试卷66(题后含答案及解析)
专业英语四级（阅读）模拟试卷66(题后含答案及解析) 题型有： 5. READING COMPREHENSIONPART V READING COMPREHENSION (25 MIN)Directions: In this section there are four passages followed by questions or unfinished statements, each with four suggested answers marked A, B, C and D. Choose the one that you think is the best answer.Considering that industry analysts claim that hospital price calculations are arbitrary, we asked hospitals nationwide a simple question: How do you calculate your sticker prices? Five declined to comment or didn’t provide an answer, leaving Murray Askinazi, senior vice-president and CFO of Lawrence Hospital Center in Bronxville, New York, to offer this explanation; For an outpatient MRI(核磁共振成像), as an example, his hospital calculates its charge based on such factors as the cost of buying or leasing the machinery, the wear and tear on that machine, staff salaries, the climate control and electric bill, cleaning costs, local competitive pricing, and other costs related to the hospital’s overhead, like malpractice insurance. Surprisingly, medical services can vary wildly from one hospital to the next. The median charge for acute appendicitis admissions at 289 medical centers and hospitals throughout California, for example, ranged from $1,529 to almost $183,000, an Archives of Internal Medicine study reported in April. Within San Francisco alone, the range between the lowest and highest charge was nearly $172,000. But hospital sticker prices matter only to a limited extent because they typically get trumped(胜过)by a higher power: the amounts that insurance companies are willing to pay for those services. The figures are determined by a negotiated contract that dictates the rate at which the companies will reimburse the hospital on the patient’s behalf. In addition, the rates paid by Medicare and Medicaid, Askinazi adds, often fail to cover the hospital’s cost of providing the service in the first place, which means some of those costs are often shifted to commercially insured patients. Now, all those factors affect the math for one simple outpatient test. For an inpatient hospital stay, those computations sprout into an intricate vine in which every service(from radiology to pathology)generates its own charges. The hospital also has facility charges, covering room and board, certain room-use fees(such as the operating room), and nursing services, all of which get consolidated into the bill sent to you and your insurance company. As technology advances, those charges rise. Palmer had a client from Louisville, Kentucky, who was astonished to receive a charge of $45,330 for a prostate surgery and an overnight stay(insurance would cover only $4,845). The billing department told Palmer that the steep price was not only because it was a robotic procedure but also because patients who receive the high-tech surgery shortly after the hospital starts offering it are helping to recoup(偿还)the facility’s equipment costs.1．According to Murray Askinazi, the charge for an outpatient MRI is based on the following factors EXCEPT______.A．the maintenance of the machineryB．staff salariesC．local taxationD．malpractice insurance fees正确答案：C解析：细节题。
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星期4 Thursday A fall into a pit, a gain in your wit.吃一堑，长一智。
学习内容 题 材 词 数 建议时间 错误统计 做题备忘 Text A 日常生活 410 5.5分钟 /6 Text B 科技应用 379 5分钟 /4 Text C 体育人物 538 7.5分钟 /5 Text D 文学评论 455 7分钟 /5
今日练习 Text A The dog, called Prince, was an intelligent animal and a slave to Williams. From morning till night, when Williams was at home, Prince never left his sight, practically ignoring all other members of the family. The dog had a number of clearly defined duties, for which Williams had patiently trained him and, like the good pupil he was, Prince lived for the chance to demonstrate his abilities. When Williams wanted to put on his boots, he would murmur “Boots” and within seconds the dog would drop them at his feet. At nine every morning Prince ran off to the general store in the village, returning shortly with not only Williams’ daily paper but a half-ounce packet of Williams’ favorite tobacco, John Rhine’s Mixed. A gun-dog by breed, Prince possessed a large soft mouth specially evolved for the safe carrying of hunted creatures, so that the paper and the tobacco came to no harm, never even showing a tooth mark. Williams was a railway man, an engine driver, and he wore a blue uniform which smelled of oil and oil fuel. He had to work at odd times — “days”, “late days” or “nights”. Over the years Prince got to know these periods of work and rest, knew when his master would leave the house and return, and the dog did not waste his knowledge. If Williams overslept, as he often did, Prince barked at the bedroom door until he woke, much to the annoyance of the family. On his return, Williams’ slippers were brought to him, the paper and tobacco if previously delivered. A curious thing happened to Williams during the snow and ice of last winter. One evening he slipped and fell on the icy pavement somewhere between the village and his home. He was so badly shaken that he stayed in bed for three days, and not until he got up and dressed again, did he discover that he had lost his wallet containing over fifty pounds. The house was turned upside down in the search, but the wallet was not found. However, two days later — that was five days after the fall — Prince dropped the wallet into Williams’ hand. Very muddy, stained and wet through, the little case still contained fifty-three pounds, Williams’ driving license and a few other papers. Where the dog had found it no one could tell, but found it he had and recognized it probably by the faint oil smell on the worn leather. 1. How did Prince perform his duties? [A] He was delighted to show them off. [B] He did his best but was not often successful. [C] He did them quickly, so as not to be punished by his master. [D] He had few opportunities to do them. 2. According to the passage, gun-dogs [A] were the fastest runners of all dogs. [B] had their teeth removed when they were young. [C] could carry birds, etc, without hurting them. [D] bred well, producing many young dogs. 3. We learn from the passage that [A] Williams did not get enough sleep. [B] Williams had unfixed working times. [C] the dog grew accustomed to traveling by train. [D] the dog was confused about the time of day. 4. It upset Williams’ family when [A] Williams had to go to work at night. [B] the dog made too much noise in the house. [C] Williams made them all get up early. [D] the dog would not let them see the newspaper. 5. Williams did not realize his loss for several days because [A] he trusted the dog to find the wallet. [B] he was unconscious all that time. [C] he had thought the wallet was left in the office. [D] he had no occasion to feel in his pockets. 6. The dog thought it was Williams’s wallet because [A] he found it where Williams had fallen. [B] he had seen it before and recognized it. [C] he found a wallet and by chance it was Williams’s. [D] he was familiar with the scent of it.
Text B What will people use the Internet for? Shopping and banking will be big growth areas. Henley predicts that, from under 1% of all purchases today, it will account for 6.4% of purchases within four years, amounting to 42 billion. Sales have already started with dry goods such as books and CDs and, as people learn to trust it, will move on to regular purchases such as food. Iceland, the supermarket chain, began computer shopping trials two weeks ago and has already signed up at least 15,000 customers, ranging from busy executives to the housebound. When it links up with digital television, Iceland expects to double that immediately. Yet internet-linked televisions and phones may be only the start. One potential breakthrough is Bluetooth, named after a 10th-century Danish king famed for his rotten front tooth and uniting warring factions in Denmark and Norway. The modern Bluetooth allows an unlikely array of machines to talk to each other, so that a phone tucked away in a briefcase can remember to send out a signal that turns on a video machine 50 miles away, switches on the heating or starts the cooker. Cars, offices and kitchens will all speak to each other. In Finland, the idea of phones communicating with computerized tills so that you press a button and pay for your supermarket goods or drink from a vending machine is being tested. Said one enthusiast: “Your phone will be your remote control for life.” As with all revolutions, there are reservations. Health concerns about mobile phones are unresolved, with microwave radiation linked to increased tiredness and headaches in one recent study in Sweden.