Places of Interest in Wales

Conway: On the north Wales coast, Conway is where you’ll find the world’s smallest house, as well as a much larger “house”, Conway Castle, which was built in the 13th century.

Anglesey: This beautiful island is joined to the rest of north Wales by a road bridge and a railway bridge, and it’s just a short drive from Conway. Here you can visit the village of Llanfair Pwllgwyngyll which has the strangest name in Europe. Don’t miss the station. The sign runs the complete length of the platform! Also on Anglesey is Beaumaris Castle, which was started in the 13th century and to this day remains unfinished.

Snowdonia: Just a couple of hours’ drive from Beaumaris is the Snowdonia mountain range, which takes its name from the highest mountain in Wales, Mount Snowdon. From there, visit the famous Swallow Falls at nearby Betwsy-Coed.

Portmeirion: In 1925 Clough, Williams-Ellis bought an attractive piece of Welsh land for less than ￡5,000. He then set out to show the world how a naturally beautiful castle could be built without being damaged and spent the next 50 years building the town of Portmeirion with a style of Italy.

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1. What do we know about Anglesey?

A．It is far from Conway.

B．It lies in the south of Wales.

C．It can be reached by train.

D．It has the smallest house in the world.

2. What can visitors get from the brochures?

A．Introduction of the climate in Wales.

B．Characteristics of buildings in Wales.

C．Detailed information about people in Wales.

D．Information about adventure activities.

Claude Monet, Pablo Picasso and Leonardo da Vinci…the art world has never lacked talent. And now, a new painter is ready to join the list, although this one isn’t even human.

Next month, auction house(拍卖行) Christie’s Prints and Multiples will make history by offering the first piece of art created by artificial intelligence (AI) for sale. The painting is a portrait of a man called Edmond De Belam, and is expected to be sold for up to $10,000 (69,000 yuan).

The work, which features a man with a mysterious look on his face, was created by software developed by the French art group Obvious. Laugero-Lasserre, an art collector, called the work “odd and amazing at the same time”. This isn’t the first example of Al-produced artwork, as AI has already been used to write poems and compose songs. However, many people doubt whether it should be called art at all.

According to Russian writer Leo Tolstoy (1828 -1910), art is about creating emotion. It’s “a means of…joining people together in the same feelings” he once said.

So, if the emotion behind art is what makes it, the ability to create and use tools is what makes human beings different from other species. And as a tool itself, the AI technology used to create the portrait is the result of a lot of effort made by several designers. Together, they “fed” the AI a huge collection of paintings from the 14th to the 18th centuries, until it was able to work out how to make similar paintings of its own.

The introduction of AI art could be the beginning of a new artistic movement. However, not everyone is ready to welcome these high-tech artists just yet.

“The human mind is what’s behind the AI technology. And the human mind is not a cold, hard fact,” Oscar Schwartz, a professor of AI, said during a Ted X Sydney speech. “Rather, it is something that’s created with our opinions and something that changes over time.”

3. Why are Monet, Picasso and da Vinci mentioned at the beginning of the passage?

A．To list world famous talented artists.

B．To highlight the inhuman painter by contrast.

C．To show the prosperity of the art world.

D．To introduce a new painter as great as them.

4. Why does the painting mentioned in Paragraph 2 gain special concern?

A．It’ll be auctioned in a famous auction house.

B．It’s the first AI-produced artwork for sale.

C．It’s the portrait of a man with mysterious look.

D．Its auction price is expected to be the highest.

5. Which of the following statement may Leo Tolstoy agree with?

A．AI technology is a tool for artistic creation.

B．AI is taught to express human emotions in art.

C．AI copied paintings of the 14th -18th centuries.

D．AI art joins people together in the same feelings.

6. What might be the future of the new artistic movement?

A．Predictable.	B．Unacceptable.
C．Popular.	D．Unclear.

A woman held her phone tightly to her heart the way a minster might hold a Bible. She was anxious to take a picture of an impressive bunch of flowers that sat not so far away, but first she had to get through a crowd of others pushing their way to do the same. The cause of this was Bouquets to Art, one of the most popular events at the de Young Museum in San Francisco. Flower sellers were asked to create flower arrangements that respond to pieces of art on display, from ancient carvings to contemporary sculptures. It’s extremely attractive and also memorable, to the point that it has become a problem.

In recent years, the de Young received more than a thousand complaints from people who felt that cell phones had spoiled their experience of the exhibit. Institutions of fine art around the world face similar problems as the desire to take photographs becomes a huge attraction for museums, as well as something that upsets some of their patrons (资助人). So the de Young responded with a kind of compromise: carving out “photo free” hours during the exhibition’s six-day run.

One common complaint about the effect of social media on museum culture is that people seem to be missing out on experiences because they are so busy collecting evidence of them. A study recently published in the journal Psychological Science suggests there is some truth to this. It finds that people who keep taking photos of an exhibit and posting them on social media rather than simply observing it have a hard time remembering what they see. But the issue is complex for the professionals running museums. Linda Butler, the de Young’s head of marketing and visitor experience, acknowledges that not everyone wants a museum to be “a photo-taking play land.” Yet a lot of people do, and she believes that the de Young is in no position to judge one reason for buying a $28 ticket to be more valid than another. “If we removed social media and photography,” she says, “we would risk becoming irrelevant.” If this is a battle, signs indicate that the pro-phone crowd has already won.

7. How did the de Young respond to the dilemma?

A．By making the exhibition free of charge.

B．By setting periods without photo-taking.

C．By compromising with the government.

D．By extending the free exhibition hours.

8. The recent study finds that the use of social media in museums may _______ .

A．uncover the truth	B．cause many complaints
C．accumulate evidence	D．play a negative role

9. Which of the following may Linda Butler support?

A．Catering to visitors.	B．Reducing admission prices.
C．Reserving judgment in public.	D．Banning social media and photography.

10. What does the underlined word “irrelevant” in the last paragraph mean?

A．divorced from society	B．unrelated to art
C．in line with museum regulations	D．in touch with the times

Intelligence makes for better leaders —from undergraduates to managers to presidents — according to multiple studies. It certainly makes sense that handling a market shift or anything alike requires intelligence. But new research on leadership suggests that, at a certain point, having a higher IQ stops helping and starts hurting.

Although previous research has shown that groups with smarter leaders perform better by objective measures, some studies have suggested that followers might subjectively view leaders with extremely high intellect as less effective. Decades ago, Dean Simonton, a psychologist from the University of California, Davis, proposed that brilliant leaders’ words may simply go over people’s heads, their solutions could be more complicated to carry out and followers might find it harder to relate to them. Now Simonton and two colleagues have finally tested that idea, publishing their results in the July 2017 issue of the Journal of Applied Psychology.

The researchers looked at 379 male and female business leaders in 30 countries across fields including banking, retail and technology. The managers took IQ tests and each was rated on   leadership   style   and   effectiveness   by   an   average   of   eight   co-workers.   IQ   positively correlated (和......正相关)with ratings of leader effectiveness, strategy formation, vision and several other characteristics—up to a point. The ratings peaked at an IQ of around 120, which is higher than roughly 80 percent of office workers. Beyond that, the ratings declined(降低).

The researchers suggest the “ideal” IQ could be higher or lower in various fields, to 140 or 100, depending on whether technical or social skills are more valued in a given work culture.

“It’s an interesting and thoughtful paper,” says Paul Sackett, a management professor at University of Minnesota, who was not involved in the research. “To me, the right interpretation of the work would be that it highlights a need to understand what high-IQ leaders do leads to lower understanding by followers,” he says. “The wrong interpretation would be, “Don’t hire high-IQ leaders.”

The study’s lead author, John Antonakis, a psychologist at the University of Lausanne in Switzerland, suggests leaders should use their intelligence to use creative language that will persuade and inspire others—the way former U.S. President Barack Obama did. “I think the only way a smart person can signal their intelligence properly and still connect with the people,” Antonakis says, “is to speak in charming ways.”

11. The reason why those with high IQs are viewed as worse leaders is probably that _______.

A．followers think of their leaders to be less effective

B．it is hard for them to get their plans across to followers

C．their IQ has a positive correlation with leader effectiveness

D．their social skills can’t be recognized in some work culture

12. Which of the following graphs shows the correct relationship between IQ points and leadership qualities?

A．	B．
C．	D．

13. To improve their leadership, high-IQ leaders can _______.

A．use inspiring and accessible language	B．interpret the work they are involved in
C．take a course in leader effectiveness	D．communicate more with their followers

14. What is Paul Sackett’s attitude towards hiring high-IQ leaders?

A．Unconcerned.

B．Positive.

C．Doubtful.

D．Unclear.

15. What could be the best title for the passage?

A．A Way to Success for High-IQ Leaders.

B．The Latest Research on Intelligence.

C．Does a High IQ Advance Your Leadership?

D．Choose to be a Leader of Low Intelligence.