A widow with a fish to fry
A YOUNG WOMAN WALKS INTO THE BATHROOM of her Beijing apartment. She plans to ask her husband about their coming vacation, but notices he's facedown in their bathtub. Jokingly, she asks him if he's trying to wash his hair. No answer. He's dead.
These first pages of An Yu's novel, Braised Pork, sound like a domestic thriller. The dead husband . A fancy apartment. And a wife who shows that even if she's shocked by the unexpected death, she wasn't happy with her marriage to begin with. Yu writes, “He had betrayed（背叛）and deserted her."
But then, as she waits for the ambulance, Jia Jia discovers a picture of a strange fish-man left near her bathtub. She remembers her husband describing the creature on a trip to Tibet—it had shown up in a dream. Jia Jia doesn't know it yet, but the drawing will take her miles from home, changing what she knows to be true about herself. It's this experience that changes Braised Pork into an original narrative（叙事）one that doesn't fit into any genre（体裁）.
As JiaJia picks up the pieces of her life, she wonders how much of herself she suppressed （压 抑）to please her husband. She was once an artist, but her husband discouraged her from running after her dream. Now she can explore those desires alone, though .
ANOTHER AUTHOR might have chosen to follow a young widow on a journey of finding love after loss. But 28-year-old Yu smartly decides not to. Instead, she uses Jia Jia as a way to explore the anxiety of contemporary womanhood. Jia Jia does want to find love again, which is only a small part of the story. Yu leaves room for her to begin a more material search: uncovering the meaning behind the picture beside her husband's dead body.
There are some images that make us so uncomfortable. It's impossible to look away from them. For JiaJia, it's the fish-man at first, and then more memories of the past, which interrupt her present. In Braised Pork, Yu raises questions about why we keep an eye on those moments-and how they might relate to the company we wish for.
1. What's the genre of the novel Braised Pork?| A．Mystery. | B．Narrative. |
| C．Domestic thriller. | D．None of the above. |
| A．lonely and suppressed. | B．innocent but unlucky. |
| C．humorous and independent. | D．talented and passionate. |
| A．Jia Jia and Yu both wish for company |
| B．Jia Jia would rather live in the past than in the future |
| C．Yu uses Jia Jia to explore the anxiety of contemporary womanhood |
| D．The novel is mainly about a young widow finding her true love after loss |
| A．Yu uses uncomfortable images to catch reader's attention. |
| B．The picture of a strange fish-man will take Jia Jia away from home . |
| C．Jia Jia can take up art again after her husband's unexpected death. |
| D．Jia Jia isn't satisfied with her marriage due to her husband's betrayal. |
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【推荐1】For more than 25 years, search engines have been the Internet’s front door. AltaVista, the first site to allow searches of the full text of the web, was swiftly replaced by Google, which has dominated the field ever since. Google’s search engine, still the heart of its business, has made its parent, Alphabet, one of the world’s most valuable companies.
But nothing lasts forever, particularly in technology. Just ask IBM, which once ruled business computing, or Nokia, once the leader in mobile phones. Both were defeated because they missed big technological transitions (革新). Now tech firms are excited about an innovation that might bring a similar shift and a similar opportunity. Chatbots (聊天机器人) powered by artificial intelligence (AI) let users gather information via typed conversations. Leading the field is ChatGPT, made by OpenAI, a startup. By the end of January, two months after its launch, ChatGPT was being used by more than 100m people, making it the fastest- growing consumer application in history, according to UBS, a bank.
AI is already used behind the scenes in many products, but ChatGPT has put it center stage, by letting people chat with an Al directly. ChatGPT can write essays in various styles, explain complex concepts, summarize text and answer various questions. It can even pass legal and medical exams. And it can synthesise knowledge from the web: for example, listing holiday spots that match certain criteria, or suggesting menus. If asked, it can explain its reasoning and provide detail. Many things that people use search engines for today, in short, can be done better with chatbots.
On February 7th, Microsoft, which has invested more than $11bn in OpenAI, revealed a new version of Bing, its search engine, which includes ChatGPT. Satya Nadella, Microsoft’ s boss, sees this as his chance to challenge Google. For its part, Google has announced Bard, its own chatbot, as a companion to its search engine. The share price of Baidu, known as the Google of China, jumped when it said it would release its chatbot, called Ernie, in March.
But can chatbots be trusted? Can tech firms make money from this? Only time will tell.
1. Why does the author mention IBM and Nokia in the second paragraph?| A．To prove his idea. |
| B．To show their popularity. |
| C．To introduce them to readers. |
| D．To emphasize the value of them. |
| A．Spread. |
| B．Combine. |
| C．Stress. |
| D．Advance. |
| A．Comprehend meaning. |
| B．Write essays. |
| C．Replace doctors. |
| D．Chat with people. |
| A．Will ChatGPT be popular? |
| B．Will AI replace human beings? |
| C．Will Microsoft defeat Google? |
| D．Will ChatGPT eat Google’s lunch? |
【推荐2】Breakdancing is close to becoming an Olympic sport after the organizers of the 2024 Paris Olympics suggested its being included in 2024. The other three sports—surfing, skateboarding and sport climbing—will all debut (面世) at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
The organizers said the four sports had been chosen because they would reflect the city’s identity and help take the Olympics to the street. They said they wanted to deliver a Games that were in keeping up with the times and encouraged new audiences and attracted young people. Breakdancing is an example of a sport which can be played without the limitation of time and places in urban and other environments.
Breakdancing was one of the sports at the Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires in 2018, and now could see its popularity greatly raised. But the International Olympic Committee (IOC) needs to approve (批准) the French suggestion before it can be formally added to the 2024 Paris Olympics sports programme.
Under new IOC rules first introduced to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, Olympic host cities can select sports and propose them for inclusion in those Games if they are popular in that country and add to the Games’ appeal.
Antonio Espinós Ortueta, the president of the World Karate Federation said, “Our sport has grown rapidly over the last years. We believed that we had met all the requirements and that we had the perfect conditions to be added to the sports programme. However, we have learned today that we still haven’t had the chance to prove our value as an Olympic sport.”
1. What is mentioned about the coming 2020 Tokyo Olympics?| A．They will be much better organized. |
| B．They will include more sport events. |
| C．They will attract more foreign audiences. |
| D．They will spread the local culture worldwide. |
| A．It is the symbol of Paris. |
| B．It attracts people of all ages. |
| C．It can be played anytime and anywhere. |
| D．It was performed at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. |
| A．Give useful advice. |
| B．Make final decisions. |
| C．Offer enough support. |
| D．Give detailed explanations. |
| A．He didn’t expect the final decision of IOC. |
| B．He was confident about the future of breakdancing. |
| C．It is too difficult for a new sport to be included in Olympics. |
| D．It is impossible for breakdancing to be performed in Olympics. |
【推荐3】See a cellphone cover that you like on Taobao? Forget about placing an order, paying the bill online and waiting for days for it to be delivered to you. In the near future, you’ll be able to get it in minutes just by hitting “print” on your computer.
You might find it hard to believe that you could actually “print” an object like you would a picture. But it is not that hard to understand how it would work. Just as a traditional printer sprays ink onto paper line by line, modern 3D printers spread material onto a surface layer by layer, from the bottom to the top, gradually building up a shape.
Instead of ink, the materials the 3D printer uses are mainly plastic, resin and certain metals. The thinner each layer is—from a millimetre to less than the width of a hair—the smoother and finer the object will be.
This may sound like a completely new technology, but the truth is that 3D printing has been around since the late 1980s. Back then, it was barely affordable for most people, so few knew about it.
Last year, though, saw a big change in the 3D printing industry—printers became much cheaper. For example, 10 years ago a desktop 3D printer might have cost ￡20,000, while now they cost only about ￡1,000, according to the BBC.
Taken out of the factory and introduced to more diverse and common uses, 3D printing can create just about anything you can think of—flutes , bikinis, jewelry, aircraft parts and even human organs. In fact, scientists from Cornell University in New York have just made an artificial ear using a 3D printer, according to Science Daily. The fake ear looks and acts exactly like a natural one.
However, as 3D printing becomes more common, it may bring about certain problems—such as piracy. “Once you can download a coffee maker, or print out a new set of kitchen utensils on your personal 3D printer, who will visit a retail store again？” an expert in 3D printing told Forbes News. Even more frightening, what if anyone in the world could use a 3D printer to print out a fully functioning gun?
1. According to the article, in the future, the 3D printing technology will _______.| A．enable people to make better purchases online |
| B．change the way we make many products |
| C．be applied as widely in our daily life as computers |
| D．shorten the time it takes for people to get what they buy online |
| A．The 3D printing technology was taken out of the factory. |
| B．The 3D printing technology began to be used in various fields. |
| C．The 3D printer was used for medical treatment for the first time. |
| D．The 3D printer became more affordable for consumers. |
| A．By giving examples. |
| B．By making comparisons. |
| C．By analyzing the cause and effect. |
| D．By presenting research findings. |
| A．Great Demand for 3D Printers |
| B．Technology in the Future |
| C．Online Shopping Disappearing |
| D．Printing out Everything |
However, people all over the world remember her. Why? It is because Jane Austen is the author of some of the best-loved novels in the English language. These novels include Emma, Pride and Prejudice, Sense and Sensibility and Persuasion.
Jane completed her last novel Persuasion in 1816, but it was not published until after her death. Persuasion is partly based on Jane’s naval brother.
Anne, the daughter of Sir Walter Elliot, falls in love with Captain Wentworth, a person of a lower social position. But she breaks off the engagement when persuaded by her friend Lady Russell that such a match is unworthy. The breakup produces in Anne a deep and long-lasting regret. Eight years later, Wentworth returns from sea a rich and successful captain. He finds Anne’s family on the edge of financial ruin. Anne and the captain rediscover their love and get married.
Jane Austen once compared her writing to painting on a little bit of ivory（象牙）, two inches square. Readers of Persuasion will see that neither her skill of delicate, ironic(讽刺的) observations on social custom, love, and marriage nor her ability to apply a sharp focus to English manners and morals has abandoned her in her final finished work.
Persuasion has produced three film adaptations: a 1995 version starring Amanda Root and Ciaran Hinds, a 2007 TV miniseries with Sally Hawkins and Rupert Penry-Jones, and a 1971 miniseries with Ann Firbank and Bryan Marshall.
People who are interested in Jane Austen can still visit many of the places she visited and lived. These places include the village of Steventon, although her family house is now gone. Many of the places Jane visited in Bath are still there. You can visit Jane Austen’s home in Chawton, where she did her best writing, and Winchester, where she died.
1. What is the theme of Persuasion?
| A．Never regret what you’ve chosen. |
| B．True love lasts forever. |
| C．Be matched for marriage. |
| D．Love waits for no man. |
| A．Her application of symbolism. |
| B．Her delicate observations. |
| C．Her focus on manners and morals. |
| D．Her use of irony. |
| A．Her family house is now in the village of Steventon. |
| B．Many of the places she visited in Bath are still available. |
| C．The latest film adaptation of Persuasion was produced in 1995. |
| D．Her last novel Persuasion is considered her most successful one. |
| A．Jane Austen’s unique writing style |
| B．the original residence of Jane Austen |
| C．Jane Austen’s last novel: Persuasion |
| D．the popularity of Jane Austen’s novels |
【推荐2】My favorite novel is Albert Camus's The Plague （鼠疫）. It was published in 1947, after Word War II.
On the surface, it's a story about an Algerian coastal town threatened by a mysterious plague. But the symbolic idea works on the concrete presentation of a metaphysical （形而 上学的）problem, which is the cruel fact of suffering. Like the plague, it's just a thing that happens in the world whether we want it to or not. Camus's novel asks if we can think of suffering not as an individual burden but as a shared experience — and maybe turn it into something positive.
The key is to recognize the universality of suffering. A plague is an extraordinary event and the horror it results in is extraordinary, too. But suffering is anything but extraordinary. Every day you leave the house, something terrible could happen. The same is true for all. All of us are subject to forces over which we have no control.
A pandemic （大流行病）forces us to think about our responsibilities to the people around us. The hero of The Plague is a committed doctor named Rieux. From the very beginning, Rieux devotes himself to resisting the plague that united its victims. Each character in the story is defined （刻画）by what they do when the plague comes. No one escapes it, but those who reduce the suffering of others are the most fulfilled. The only villains are those who cannot see beyond themselves. The plague, for these people, is either an excuse to flee or an opportunity to make profits. Because they can't see that their condition is shared, a spirit of unity is completely foreign to them. And that blindness makes community impossible.
At the very end of The Plague, Camus stated his philosophy that the struggle against suffering is never over for good. The plague will return, and so will everything else that upsets humans. But the point of the book is that a shared struggle is what makes community possible in the first place.
A pandemic, terrible though it is, highlights our mutual interdependence in a way that only tragedy can. The beauty of The Plague is that it asks the reader to map the lessons of the pandemic onto everyday life. The principles that drive the hero, Rieux, are the same principles that make every society worthwhile —understanding, love and unity.
If we learn these lessons, in a moment of crisis, we'll all be better off on the other side of it.
1. What is the symbolic idea of The Plague?| A．An individual burden. | B．A positive experience. |
| C．A universal suffering. | D．An extraordinary event. |
| A．The blind. | B．Businessmen. | C．Foreign victims. | D．Wrongdoers. |
| A．To introduce a book. | B．To solve a social problem. |
| C．To remember a writer. | D．To express an opinion. |
【推荐3】"Make way, good people, make way, in the King's name! "cried he. "Open a text; and, I promise you, Mistress Prynne shall be set where man, woman, and child, may have a fair sight of her brave clothing, from this time till an hour past noon. A blessing on the moral Colony of the Massachusetts, where immorality is dragged out into the sunshine! Come along, Madam Hester, and show your scarlet （鲜红色的；罪孽深重的）letter in the market-place!
A lane was at once opened through the crowd. Led by the beadle （狱吏），and attended by an irregular procession of serious-looking men and unkind-looking women, Hester Prynne set forth towards the place appointed for her punishment. A crowd of eager and curious schoolboys, understanding little of the matter in hand, except that it gave them a half-holiday, ran before her progress, turning their heads continually to stare into her face, and at the winking baby in her arms, and at the shameful letter on her breast.
It was no great distance, in those days, from the prison-door to the market-place. Measured by the prisoner's experience, however, it might be considered to be a rather long journey; for, though her manner was proud, she perhaps underwent an extreme pain from every footstep of those who thronged to see her, as if her heart had been thrown into the street for them all to step upon. In our nature, however, there is a condition that the sufferer should never know the intensity of what he endures by its present suffering, but chiefly by the pain that rankles （使痛心）after it. With almost a calm manner, therefore, Hester Prynne passed through this portion of her suffering, and came to a sort of scaffold （刑台），at the western end of the market-place. It stood nearly beneath the eaves of Boston's earliest church, and appeared to be a fixture there.
1. What can we know about the schoolboys?| A．They knew a little of the matter. |
| B．They were full of curiosity and eagerness. |
| C．They were happy for having a one-day holiday. |
| D．They like Hester Prynne and her baby very much. |
| A．Gathered. | B．Happened. |
| C．Pretended. | D．Regretted. |
| A．The prison was really far from the market-place. |
| B．The scaffold is at the eastern end of the market-place. |
| C．Hester Prynne was thrown into the street for people to step on. |
| D．The sufferer mainly knows the intensity of the pain after the suffering. |
| A．She would be set free. | B．She would give a public speech. |
| C．She would put on a performance. | D．She would receive serious punishment. |
