"We must learn not to take traditional morals（道德）too seriously." So said the biologist J. B. S. Haldane in a 1923 talk on science and the future. Haldane forecasted that scientific progress would destroy every belief and value. The future would be bright only "if mankind can adjust its morality to its powers". Haldane had a point: our powers have led to challenges that have never existed before. Climate change is a threat unlike any we have ever seen. Our machines might become smarter than us. Genetic engineering（基因工程）could change humanity forever.
In the face of such challenges, our evolved moral sense often proves not enough. Part of the problem is scale（规模）.The anthropologist Robin Dunbar says we can keep no more than about 150 meaningful relationships at once. But today, all 7 billion of us are connected—if not in meaningful relationships, not in meaningless ones, either. “Society" is now too big a concept for our brains to analyze.
One result is conflicting demands that are hard to solve. The bad situation of our fellow humans makes us use every possible way to deal with climate change. But that could hurt our own way of life. And then there's the urge to just forget all that pressure and get on a plane to somewhere sunny. Given this cognitive（认知的）overload, our original emotional responses tend to win out. We do what feels right. But such responses don't necessarily produce the best results. So how can we make sure we do what really is right?
It's a hard nut, but never fear: moral philosophers are on the case. Some, such as those based at the Centre for Effective Altruism in Oxford, UK, aim to maximize the good we can do by quantifying the results of our actions. Many of their suggestions have raised eyebrows: that it may be better to become a generous banker than work for a charity, for example.
Others suggest modifying our moral brains directly, through drugs. The difficulties with this idea are obvious: who decides what makes improvement? Given the practical difficulties of large-scale morality hacking（入侵），we should perhaps stick to education. We are not simply prisoners of our emotions: we can reason our way to workable solutions. Science alone will not get us there. So no, we shouldn't take traditional morality too seriously where it fails to address modern problems.
1. J. B. S. Haldane forecasted that scientific development would ______.| A．lead to the corruption of public morals |
| B．present a challenge to traditional morals |
| C．bring disasters and fears to human beings |
| D．affect human beings powers of adjustment |
| A．collective wisdom is a good solution to modern challenges |
| B．Robin Dunbar thinks it is hard to build up meaningful relationships |
| C．our evolved moral sense is too limited to solve the problems of modern society |
| D．the large scale of social connections makes our relationships less meaningful |
| A．Most people put the blame for modern problems on science. |
| B．Science can help with the modification of our moral brains. |
| C．The combination of reason and humanity can make more effective morality. |
| D．Human beings have a long way to go before they can overcome modern problems." |
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【推荐1】He examined my face. “Hmmm,” he said quietly. “Are you a model?” Is he kidding? No way would anyone ever confuse me with a fashion model. I was ugly. After all, I had the scar (疤).
The accident happened in fourth grade, when a neighbor boy threw a sharp stone through the side of my face. After a three-hour operation, a huge bandage (细带) covered half of my face for several months.
“You’ll always be pretty to me,’’ Dad sighed, “even if you aren’t to the rest of the world.” Right. Thanks. As if I couldn’t hear the unkind words of the other kids at school. As if I couldn’t see how different I looked from the pretty girls the teachers often paid attention to. As if I didn’t look at myself in the bathroom mirror from time to time. In a culture that values beauty, an ugly girl is not accepted.
“Of course, I’m not a model,” I replied. The doctor crossed his arms over his chest and looked at me. “Since you’re not a model, what brought you here today?” The room swam before me, as my eyes were filled with tears.
The doctor sat down beside me. His voice was low and soft. “Let me tell you what I see. I see a beautiful woman. Not a perfect woman, but a beautiful woman. Even Elizabeth Taylor has a tiny scar on her forehead,” he said in a low voice. Then he paused a while. “When a person falls in love, if their mate has an imperfection, that imperfection becomes special.” As tears were rolling down my face, He said, “You are a very attractive woman with a very small imperfection. Whether you know it or not, it makes you special.”
I left his office, not with the scar removed from ray face, but with a tear removed from my heart.
1. How did the woman get a scar on her face?| A．She was born with the scar. | B．She was injured by her neighbor. |
| C．She fell over a stone by accident. | D．She had an unsuccessful operation. |
| A．felt much better for her father’s comfort | B．was eager to make friends at school |
| C．was extremely upset about her looks | D．hated the teachers who ignored her |
| A．no pains, no gains | B．a good medicine tastes bitter |
| C．a little imperfection makes perfect | D．father’s love is as deep as the sea |
【推荐2】There is beauty in each moment of our lives, but often we're too distracted to notice it. Instead, we spend much of our time worrying about the future or regretting the past, and this habit can have negative consequences for our mental and physical health.
That's why many people today are turning to the practice of mindfulness(正念减压法). Simply put, mindfulness means focusing on the present moment. Let's say you're sitting in traffic after a long day's work. Rather than dwelling on(老是想着)an unpleasant incident that occurred earlier or worrying about your schedule for the next day, you might direct your attention to the sound of the rain drops battering the windshield or to a specific image before you. By directing your attention to the here and now, you automatically shift your focus away from self-image, success, and other stress-inducing concerns.
Such a shift in consciousness helps us form more meaningful connections with others and handle problems with greater ease. It also lets us appreciate life's many little pleasures. So, it's not surprising that mindfulness has been found to help in the treatment of depression, anxiety, eating disorders, and even physical problems related to stress, such as heart disease, high blood pressure, and upset stomachs.
How do you practice mindfulness? While it's often associated with meditation, you don't actually need to be in a particular place or position to cultivate it. In fact, it can be incorporated(使并入)into almost any daily activity, including eating, walking, showering, or doing the dishes. Let's take this last activity as an illustration:
Begin by bringing your attention to your breath. Inhale(吸入)through your nose allowing the air to expand your belly, and exhale through your mouth. Notice the sensations as each breath goes in and out.
As you engage in the task of washing the dishes, direct your awareness to the scent of the soap, the sound of the running water, and the feel of the suds(肥皂泡沫)between your fingers. Simply be aware of these and any other immediate sensations without forming any judgments about them.
At times, this process may not be relaxing, especially when what you're doing is boring or unpleasant. Nevertheless, by practicing mindfulness, we can learn to accept whatever situations life brings us and, over time develop greater happiness.
1. Why is the example of “sitting in traffic” mentioned in Paragraph 2?| A．To appreciate beauty at the present moment. |
| B．To explain the meaning of mindfulness. |
| C．To describe the traffic accident in the street. |
| D．To attract the reader's attention to the traffic. |
| A．Finding out problems in study more easily. |
| B．Helping cure diseases like high blood pressure. |
| C．Allowing us to enjoy small pleasures in life. |
| D．Making friends with other people in the traffic. |
| A．finding a particular place to cultivate it |
| B．bringing our attention to our breath |
| C．burying ourselves in washing the dishes |
| D．putting it to use in our everyday life |
| A．The reasons why people begin to practise mindfulness. |
| B．The differences between mindfulness and meditation. |
| C．The benefits of mindfulness and the way to practice it. |
| D．The ways we should keep healthy mentally and physically. |
【推荐3】There was once a lonely girl who longed so much for love. One day while she was walking in the woods she found two starving songbirds. She took them home and put them in a small cage, caring them with love. Luckily, the birds grew strong little by little. Every morning they greeted her with a wonderful song. The girl felt great love for the birds.
One day the girl left the door to the cage open accidentally. The larger and stronger of the two birds flew from the cage. The girl was so frightened that he would fly away. So as he flew close, she grasped him wildly. Her heart felt glad at her success in capturing him. Suddenly, she felt the bird go weak, so she opened her hand and stared in horror at the dead bird. It was her desperate love that had killed him.
She noticed the other bird moving back and forth on the edge of the cage. She could feel his strong desire—needing to fly into the clear, blue sky. Unwillingly, she lifted him from the cage and threw him softly into the air. The lucky bird circled once, twice, three times.
The girl watched delightedly at the bird. Her heart was no longer concerned with her loss. What she wanted to see was that the bird could fly happily. Suddenly the bird flew closer and landed softly on her shoulder. It sang the sweetest tune that she had ever heard.
Remember, the fastest way to lose love is to hold on it too tight; the best way to keep love is to give it wings!
1. What did the girl do after the girl found the two birds?| A．She became scared immediately. |
| B．She fed them and raised them. |
| C．She greeted them happily. |
| D．She began to treat them badly. |
| A．The bird wanted to fly alone. |
| B．The girl disliked the bird any longer |
| C．The bird intended to find some food. |
| D．Because the girl loved the bird deeply. |
| A．East or west, home is best. |
| B．Catch what you can catch on your way to success. |
| C．Going too far is as bad as not going far enough. |
| D．A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. |
【推荐1】In 2020, we can expect new developments in voice technology. These include technology that can understand regional accents and gender-neutral（中性的）voice assistants. People have criticized products such as Alexa and Siri because they often misunderstand women and people with regional accents. In response to this criticism, the voice tech industry is trying to become more inclusive by introducing a range of new projects. One study asked people to read out different news headlines and then looked at what Alexa though people had said. The difference between what the people said and what Alexa understood was 30% bigger for people with non-native accents. Recent research also shows that Google’s speech recognition is 13% more accurate for men than it is for women.
A project that wants to make voice tech more inclusive is Project Q. It is a gender-neutral voice assistant expected to be launched in 2020. “Current voice technology is gendered,” says Ryan Sherman, of Project Q. “Siri or Google Assistant mainly start out as female by default（默认）, so we asked a question: why do we gender AI? Research shows that female voices are more compliant. Male voices indicate superiority an intelligence. All voice tech only offers two options.”
Project Q launched in 2019 with a prototype voice developed by non-binary（非二元性别的）linguists. They asked a sample of 4,500 people from across Europe whether it sounded male or female. The answers were split 50/50. “We want this voice to be used in voice assistants but also in metro stations, games, etc. There is huge potential,” says Sherman.
Other companies are also trying to diversify voice tech. Mozilla launched the Common Voice project in 2019 to find global voices to help diversify AI speech. “Companies that started years ago with voice recognition often got their data from public radio,” said Katharina Borchert, from Mozilla. “Those were mostly male, native speakers with really trained voices. There are not a lot of female voices, and it doesn’t have people with regional accents. That’s why the early version had real problems understanding women. So the larger the diversity of speakers, the greater the quality in the end”.
The BBC is developing a voice assistant called Beeb to be launched in 2020, designed to respond to users’ requests. Mukul Devichand, executive editor of voice and AI, says it is also looking at how to respond better to regional accents. “We’ve been involving people from all corners of the country to make sure that our conversation assistant represents regional accents,” he says.
Dr Saul Albert, of Loughborough University, is not sure that these projects give full assistance and highlights one area that needs attention. “Amazon, Google and other technology companies are going to have to involve disabled people in design,” he says. “There are standard features in products like the Google Home and the Amazon Echo, as well as Google’s Euphonia project, which learns the voice patterns of users with speech impairments（障碍）”.
Dr Leigh Clark, of Swansea University, is more optimistic, but he says there are still important things to remember when developing some of these projects: “If we have gender-neutral voices, do these become the norm or do these become another option for the user to choose?”
1. The products like Alexa and Siri were criticized, because _________.| A．their voices got from Europeans were split into half male and half female |
| B．they had difficulty recognizing women and those with regional accents |
| C．regional accents and gender-neutral voice assistants were included |
| D．they boasted about the great efficiency of their voice assistants |
| A．By launching Project Q and developing Beeb. |
| B．By collecting voice data from public radios. |
| C．By adding regional accents to the data base. |
| D．By diversifying voice tech with global voices. |
| A．Voice assistants mainly started out as female by default. |
| B．Standard features must be included in voice assistants. |
| C．The more diverse the speakers, the greater the quality in the end. |
| D．Users with speech impairments can’t have the priority in design. |
| A．Expecting new developments in voice tech. |
| B．Responding to users with speech impairments. |
| C．Solving the problem of understanding women. |
| D．Developing voice assistants for metro stations. |
【推荐2】International demand for black rhinos horn has seen the animals killed cruelly for decades in countries such as Namibia, Zimbabwe and South Africa. In 1960 there were an estimated 100, 000 left, and by 1995 fewer than 2, 500 remained. Conservation efforts have brought the number up to around 5, 600 today, but the species is still critically endangered, and poaching (非法捕猎) is among its biggest threats. Scientists have worked to protect these rare creatures by tracking them with GPS devices tied to their necks or ankles or implanted in their horns. The resulting data let researchers monitor the rhinos’ numbers and when they enter poaching hot spots. But the devices can fail, and drugging the animals to attach them may cause harm.
A recent study describes a new tracking technology that uses smart phones to record rhino footprints. Called the footprint-identification technique (FIT), this system includes software that can analyze the animals’ movements from a distance to help keep them safe from poachers. The idea came from working with local trackers in Zimbabwe. These footprint-reading experts can identify individual black rhinos from the shape of their feet and, when visible, the impressions left by cracks in the animals’ heel pads, which are as distinctive as a human fingerprint. “We probably wouldn’t even have looked at the footprints in the first place if we didn’t have local trackers,” says Sky Alibhai, co-founder of WildTrack.
To use the system, scientists gather rhino footprint images with a smart phone application and upload the pictures to a global database. FIT software analysis can then identify the individual animal and determine its age and sex with up to 99 percent accuracy. Researchers can also estimate the number of black rhinos in an area and watch their movements.
Researchers have adapted the technology for diverse animals, including African lions, Bengal tigers. “I think this is great for monitoring animals and counting individuals,” says Ciska Scheijen, a conservation scientist in South Africa. He wonders about FIT’s performance during the rainy season, when footprints are often indistinct, and if it can track larger herds as opposed to the 35-odd individuals this study monitored.
1. What is mainly described in Paragraph 1?| A．Illegal hunting is on the rise. |
| B．Black rhinos horn is a major business. |
| C．Black rhinos are at risk of extinction. |
| D．Conservation efforts are getting nowhere. |
| A．To check rhino footprints. |
| B．To analyze black rhinos’ daily routines. |
| C．To keep track of black rhinos for their safety. |
| D．To monitor the rhinos’ numbers at poaching spots. |
| A．It may fail with footprints unclear. |
| B．It will monitor animals on rainy days. |
| C．It can be used for tracking larger herds. |
| D．It can track other animals besides rhinos. |
| A．How Does the Tracking System Work? |
| B．Why Are Black Rhinos Endangered? |
| C．Measures Are Taken to Protect Black Rhinos |
| D．New App Tracks Black Rhinos Through Footprints |
【推荐3】Technology usually distracts us from nature. But now technology is “offering us an opportunity to listen to nonhumans in powerful ways, reviving our connection to the natural world,” wrote professor Karen Bakker in her new book, The Sounds of Life: How Digital Technology Is Bringing Us Closer to the Worlds of Animals and Plants.
All around the animal kingdom, there are sounds that we struggle to pick up and decipher. Elephants, for example, communicate with each other using infrasound, a sound frequency far below our human hearing range. Coral in the ocean also communicates with each other through sound waves, with one purpose being to attract baby coral to areas where it can successfully grow.
This is a shocking fact as coral doesn’t have any ears! Scientists have placed listening devices in these environments to pick up sounds humans are normally unable to detect.
After the sounds are recorded, AI is then able to determine their meaning, according to the news website Vox. There are now whole databases of whale songs and honeybee dances. Bakker wrote that one day this information could be turned into “a zoological version of Google Translate”.
One animal language Bakker wrote about is that of the elephant. She explained how elephants “have a different signal for honeybee, which is a threat, and a different signal for human,” in an interview with Vox. “Moreover, they distinguish between threatening humans and non-threatening humans,” she said.
This technology can not only understand the animals, but also communicate back to them. For example, bees use dances to communicate to their peers where to go in search of nectar. A research team in Germany, therefore, fed the bee language AI database system into a robot bee, allowing the robot to create a dance routine that can tell the bees which direction to move, Vox reported. Whereas in the past language creation had been limited to mainly apes, with there being many examples of chimpanzees (黑猩猩) having been taught sign language to communicate with humans, this new technology now allows humans to socialize with different animals throughout the animal kingdom.
1. What does the underlined word “decipher” most probably mean in paragraph 2?| A．Understand. | B．Hear. | C．Produce. | D．Record. |
| A．Infrasound. | B．Sounds within human range of hearing. |
| C．Sounds through its ears. | D．Sound waves. |
| A．Bees used dances to warn their peers of danger. |
| B．Human fed listening devices into coral to detect it. |
| C．Elephants have different signals for different purposes. |
| D．Elephants can tell whether there are threatening animals around. |
| A．To collect more bee dances. | B．To convey direction to bees. |
| C．To learn the language of bees. | D．To help bees search for their friends. |
【推荐1】Most adults firmly believe that as kids reach their teens, they start to take crazy risks that get them in trouble. Do teenagers simply love taking all risks much more than adults? A recent study suggests otherwise.Scientists designed a simple experiment involving 33 teenagers and three other age groups.
In the experiment, the researchers tried to distinguish between two very different kinds of risk-taking. The first they called a willingness to take known risks (when the probability of winning is clear) and the second they called a willingness to take unknown risks (when the possibility of success is uncertain).
The study offered participants the opportunity to play two kinds of games. They had the chance to win money, with one game offering a known risk and the other offering an unknown risk. On each round of the game, each participant had to choose between taking a sure $5 and known or unknown risks of choices. In the known risk condition, people always knew the exact chance of winning more money, from as low as 13% to as high as 75%. In the unknown risk condition, researchers did not reveal the exact chances of winning.
What the scientists found was really quite surprising. It turned out that the average teenager was very hesitant when risks were known—more careful than college students or parents-aged adults, and about as careful as grandparent-aged adults. This means that when the risks were known, teenagers were not risky in their behavior at all. Only when the risks were unclear did teenagers choose them more often than other groups. Under those kinds of conditions, they were much more willing to take a risk than any other group.
The research, published in Proceeding of the National Academy of Sciences, suggests that adults should probably focus more energy on trying to educate teenagers about risks than limiting them. Teenagers who understand the risks associated with a decision are more likely to be careful in their behavior.
1. The two kinds of games differed in whether________.| A．the risks were willing taken | B．the chances of winning were clear |
| C．the participants could be careful | D．the choices they can make are enough |
| A．ambitious | B．anxious | C．curious | D．cautious |
| A．College students | B．Teenage participant | C．Parent-aged students | D．Grandparent-aged adults |
| A．set age limits on dangerous activities | B．encourage children to be conservative |
| C．help teens know more about risks | D．allow teens to make their own decisions |
【推荐2】In American schools there is something called Homecoming Day. Many high schools and colleges with a football team have a homecoming game. This can be the most important event of the year except graduation or commencement (毕业典礼) Day. Students plan Homecoming Day many weeks in advance.
Several days before Homecoming, students start to decorate the school. There are signs to wish luck to the team, and many other signs to welcome all the graduates. Many people still come to Homecoming twenty or thirty years after their graduation.
The members of school clubs build booths(售货棚) and sell lemonade(柠檬汽水), apples and sandwiches. Some clubs help to welcome visitors.
During the day alumni and their wives will gather at the school. They like to look for teachers that they remember. Often they see old friends and they talk together about those happy years in school.
Everyone soon comes to watch the football game. When the game is half over, the band comes onto the field and plays school songs. Another important moment is when the Homecoming Queen or King appears. All the students vote the most popular student Homecoming Queen or King. It is a great honor to be chosen.
Homecoming is a happy day, but it is not perfect unless the football team wins the game. Even if the game loses, the students still enjoy Homecoming. Some stay at the school to dance, and others go to a party. For everyone it is a day worth remembering.
1. The best title of this passage is .| A．American School | B．Homecoming Game |
| C．Homecoming Queen or King | D．Homecoming Day |
| A．To see old friends. | B．To organize clubs. |
| C．To watch the football game. | D．To call on teachers they remember. |
| A．female former students of a school or college |
| B．male former students of a school or college |
| C．grandfathers of the students in a school or college |
| D．grandmothers of the students in a school or college |
【推荐3】Some scientists have detected a chemical on Venus (金星) that isn’t expected to be there, which leads them to wonder what is producing the chemical.
Venus may look beautiful in the night sky, but it’s a harsh planet. Its clouds are made of acid. And its atmosphere is so thick that if you could stand on the planet’s surface, you would feel like you were 3,000 feet under the sea. It is the hottest planet in the solar system, with an average temperature of 464℃. Though people have often wondered if Venus used to have life, most people don’t believe life exists there. Now, as a result of work by a group of scientists led by Dr. Jane Greaves from Cardiff University, there may be reason to question that.
The scientists found a molecule called phosphine (磷化氢) in Venus’ atmosphere. On Earth, some bacteria produce small amounts of phosphine in oxygen-free environments. Phosphine molecules aren’t very stable, so they tend to break apart or burn up easily.
Many scientists believe phosphine might be a sign of life on other planets. So the scientists were puzzled when they found signs of phosphine high in the atmosphere of Venus. They double-checked their result and it was the same — high in the clouds there appeared to be too much phosphine.
That led the scientists to think about what could make the phosphine. They studied many ideas, from sunlight, lightning strikes to volcanoes. But none of these could produce the amount of phosphine they detected. One possible explanation for the phosphine is simple — life. For example, some sort of bacteria can somehow survive in the acid clouds of Venus.
The discovery of phosphine on Venus has caused a lot of excitement. The scientists behind the study are eager to do more research. Now, many other people are also looking to focus on the planet and perhaps even create missions to explore Venus’ atmosphere.
1. According to Paragraph 2, what’s generally believed about Venus?| A．Life exists there for long. |
| B．It is an unlivable planet. |
| C．It is one of the hottest planets. |
| D．The clouds on Venus are thin and acidic. |
| A．It is a kind of gas low in the clouds. | B．It is a possible marker of life. |
| C．It contributes to the birth of life. | D．It is stable in oxygen-free environments. |
| A．The presence of phosphine. | B．The amount of acid. |
| C．The instability of phosphine. | D．The high temperature. |
| A．Is There Life on Venus? | B．Oxygen Spotted on Venus |
| C．A New Way to Explore Venus | D．Will Astronauts Land on Venus? |
