【推荐1】Have you ever shouted at your computer because it wasn’t working? Your computer couldn’t “yell” back – until now. AI researchers are now working on computers that can argue and perhaps even win debates with humans.

IBM scientists published a paper in Nature on March 17 about their new AI system – Project Debater. After listening to arguments from its opponent (对手), the system can search around 400 million online articles in less than five minutes. It looks for ideas that can support its own argument.

Testing on the system began in 2019 when it debated with Harish Natarajan, a professional debater who holds the world record for most debate competition victories. The debate topic was whether or not preschool should be funded, and the AI system argued in favor of this idea. Although the AI lost the debate in the end based on the audience vote, the audience said it did very well. Interestingly, 58 percent of the audience said that Project Debater increased their knowledge about the topic, while only 20 percent said the same about Natarajan. Also, Project Debater has shown strength at making impressive and logical opening statements in the debate, according to Scientific American.

Humans and technology have been battling for decades. In 1997, IBM’s Deep Blue became the first computer to defeat a reigning (卫冕的) chess champion, Garry Kasparov in a six-game match. So after two decades, have IBM’s researchers just reproduced a “Deep Blue” to debate? It’s much more than that, the researchers noted. Argument and debate are fundamental abilities of human intelligence, and it’s a step outside of AI’s comfort zone to enter this field, according to the article in Nature.

1. What is the function of the first paragraph?

A．To give background information.	B．To ask a question about computer.
C．To make a comparison.	D．To introduce the topic.

2. How can Project Debater debate with humans?

A．By collecting a lot of data in a short time.

B．By listening to researchers’ instructions.

C．By making use of its internal data.

D．By learning from humans.

3. What did the audience think about the performance of Project Debater?

A．Its statements were not logical enough.

B．Its opening statements were boring.

C．Its overall performance was better than Natarajan’s.

D．It made them more informed of the topic.

4. What can be inferred from the last paragraph?

A．AI technology hasn’t progressed much for decades.

B．AI has advanced itself by stepping in debating.

C．Project Debater is much better than Deep Blue.

D．AI has lost the battle against humans in debating.

【推荐2】The huge Florida wetland known as the Everglades is a slow﹣moving river 80 kilometers wide but only a few centimeters deep. People call the Everglades a "river of grass" because sawgrass covers most of it. Sawgrass is not really grass. It is a plant that has leaves edged with tiny sharp teeth that can easily cut through clothes ﹣and skin!

Travel in the Everglades is difficult. You cannot walk through shallow water because the sawgrass will cut you. The water is too shallow for regular boats. So， we use an airboat. An airboat is a flat， open boat. Like an airplane， it has a big propeller to move it. The propeller is fixed on the rear of the boat. It makes a loud noise but it does the job. The boat skims along the water's surface. Although we can still get lost in an airboat， at least we are above the alligators （短吻鳄）.

For a long time， dangers have threatened the Everglades. Around 1900， some people felt this precious wetland should be drained（排干）. They said it was just a big swamp and not good for anything. In the 1920s， there was a land boom in Florida. People wanted to build homes everywhere， including in the Everglades. They built canals， levees， and other water systems that stopped the rivers flowing into the Everglades. Factories were built near rivers that flowed into the wetland. These factories poured poisonous waste that damaged the environment of the everglades.

People are now working to preserve the Everglades National Park for the future. Right now one big problem is the paperbark tree. This tree is an invader from Australia.

Paperbark trees soak up a lot of water. In the early 1900s，people brought them to Florida because they thought they would help drain the Everglades. However， the invaders adapted too well. Paperbark trees have taken over hundreds of thousands of acres of the everglades and killed other trees. Scientists are cutting down these trees or spraying them with herbicides to kill them.

1. What possibly cause（s） airboats to get lost in the Everglades？

A．The sawgrass.

B．The vast river.

C．The alligators.

D．The shallow water.

2. Why do airboats take the place of normal boats？

A．Because they can move faster.

B．Because their noise frightens the alligators.

C．Because they have flat bottoms.

D．Because they carry more passengers.

3. How did people try to drain the Everglades？

A．By cutting down trees

B．By building factories.

C．By growing sawgrass.

D．By digging water channels.

4. Which category does the underlined word "herbicides" in the last paragraph belong to？

A．Seeds.

B．Poisons.

C．Crops.

D．Paints.

【推荐3】Now, Earth Day is celebrated every year on April 22. A man, called Senator Gaylord Nelson Take, was determined to change the way we treated our planet. He didn’t stop his work until he had made a difference.

In 1963, Senator Gaylord Nelson wasn’t happy with the earth’s condition. He wanted to clean up the planet and solve pollution and environmental problems. As a senator, Gaylord Nelson was someone chosen by US citizens to help make laws, so he had a lot of power. He went to John F. Kennedy, the President at the time, with his concerns. The President agreed that the planet’s environment was a serious issue, so President Kennedy went around the country on a five­day tour to promote (宣传) the idea of cleaning up the planet. People began making small changes, but it wasn’t enough.

A few years later, Senator Nelson decided to put one day aside every year for the cause of saving the planet. On April 22,1970, the first Earth Day was celebrated; 20 million American demonstrators (示威者) took part in Earth Day activities. Since then, Earth Day has become an international holiday. People all over the world are doing something to make the earth a cleaner, better place. Today more than 500 million people in 164 countries participate (参与) in Earth Day festivities!

Then, what can you do to make a difference?

*Encourage your family to recycle on a regular basis. It is a good way to help the earth!

*Switch to energy­efficient light bulbs in your house to reduce the effects of global warming.

*Every glass bottle you recycle saves enough energy to run a TV for an hour and a half, while recycling an aluminum (铝) bottle can save enough energy to run your TV for three hours!

*Turn out the lights when you leave a room — unless someone’s still there!

*Use re­useable containers for your school lunches and snacks.

1. What does a senator usually do according to the passage?

A．Cleaning up the planet.	B．Solving population problems.
C．Helping make laws.	D．Talking to the President.

2. The first Earth Day was celebrated ________.

A．in America	B．in Britain
C．in 164 countries	D．across the world

3. How long can you use the energy to run a TV if you recycle an aluminum bottle?

A．For a half hour.	B．For an hour.
C．For an hour and a half.	D．For three hours.

4. Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?

A．It was in 1963 that Senator Nelson came up with the idea of choosing a day as Earth Day.

B．John F. Kennedy agreed to put April 22 aside every year as Earth Day.

C．President Kennedy agreed with Nelson’s idea of cleaning up the planet.

D．More than 500 million people took part in the first Earth Day activities.

【推荐1】Last week I had to attend an event that required me to look better than my regular self (having left "effortless beauty" behind somewhere in my 20s), so I did what any self-respecting woman would do, which was to go for a blowout at a nearby Drybar. After the visit, my hair looked much better - so much better, in fact, that I was feeling almost effortlessly beautiful until I got back to my desk to find an email from Drybar, asking if I would rate my experience.

Life is so complicated now. In order to buy, visit or do anything, you need to follow this six-step process:

1. Decide and plan to do the thing

2. Do the thing

3. Take a photo of yourself doing the thing

4. Post the photo of you doing the thing on social media

5. Repeatedly check how many likes the post of you doing the thing got

6. Rate the thing

However, sensible ones like me would usually like to stop after step 2.

As I see it, there are two problems with our rate-everything way of living. First, the mystery-of-life issue. By my completely unscientific estimation, every time a new social-media platform is introduced, before long we will all know everything about everybody, and most of it will be things you don't want to know in the first place. Though some people may argue that expressing ourselves through ratings can help businesses perfect themselves. I dare say there can be more power in keeping your opinions to yourself than in giving a business a terrible review. I once worked for a legendarily scary woman whose power was all about her inscrutability. Every day her staff is doing anxious tea-leaf reading. " Did she like that thing you showed her?" "I don't know, she hasn't responded." "Where did she go all afternoon?" "I don't know, she didn't tell anybody." She was strict, changeable, reserved, and above all, mysterious, which both explained her attraction and enabled her to keep us firmly within her control.

Second problem: the time-suck factor. No, Drybar, I do not want to be in a committed, dynamic relationship with you. I don't want to fill out a survey, and while I appreciate the email from user-support associate Katie, I feel upset for the time I spent reading it. Katie, if I need more help, I will reach out. Am I just a bad-tempered middle-aged lady who left effortless beauty behind in her 20s and now mostly wants to be left alone? Perhaps yes!

In summary, and to businesses everywhere: I just want you to provide me with something that I pay for, and then I want no contact with you until the next time I need you. Isn't it enough that I gave you my credit-card number? If time is indeed money, then by taking my money and afterword making me rate the experience of your taking my money, you're essentially double-billing me. And I'm pretty sure that's illegal, as least in most states.

1. Which is NOT true about Drybar?

A．Women gain self-respect there.	B．It is near the author's place.
C．It's a place making women look good.	D．It collect customer's reviews.

2. The example of a legendarily scary woman is used to illustrate ________.

A．we can know everything about everybody

B．we actually didn't want to know all the things

C．ratings can help business leaders in perfection

D．there's more power in keeping opinions to oneself

3. The woman's inscrutability indicates that she ________.

A．wants others to solve her mysteries

B．is reluctant to answer questions

C．doesn't like to reveal her feelings

D．likes to stay and act alone

4. What would the author probably say to Drybar in response to the email she received?

A．I am very satisfied because of your wonderful service.

B．Spending time reading it and rating really disturbs me.

C．I feel upset because you make me lose my beauty.

D．Do I need to worry about leaving you my credit-card number?

【推荐2】Psychology tells us that many people hate to take risks. But it is good for us to take risks, especially when the risk is to achieve a desired result. In that way, we become stronger and braver.

Our human nature should be to take risks, but some people just sit and wish they didn't have the fear to move on. This is because they failed a few times in their lives. Please step out and don't let the past hold you back from living life to the fullest. Move forward and move on! In studying the psychology of taking risks, we find that human provides us with the desire to experiment and take chances.

Risk taking is a great advantage that allowed our ancestors to become stronger and stronger day by day. By taking risks they fought off enemies and discovered new territories. This attitude has become a part of our modern culture. Riding a roller coaster is a common risk taking activity. Even each person seems to enjoy the risk although they have the understanding that it is dangerous. This psychological and biological connection creates an interesting connection between what is unsafe and what humans enjoy.

Getting in a car each day is a risk. Getting out of bed is a risk, too. We need to take risks so that we can complete many things. Astronauts take risks when they get inside a rocket; however, the things they achieve are great. Businessmen take a risk when they buy parts of a company, however, without doing that, they could not make more money.

We need to take risks so that we can gain something. It is impossible to move forward in life, earn money, enjoy a relationship, play a sport, or doing anything else without taking a risk. It is all part of the game. It's one of the most important parts of life.

1. Some people don't want to take risks, mainly because ________.

A．they are too lazy to move on

B．they feel pleased with the present life

C．they have failed several times before

D．they show little interest in the strange world outside

2. What does the underlined part "This attitude" in Paragraph 3 mean?

A．Taking risks.	B．Fighting off enemies.
C．Discovering new territories.	D．Becoming stronger and stronger.

3. What can we infer from the passage?

A．Daily life is full of risks.

B．The safest place has the greatest risk.

C．People should take risks when they are young.

D．We can always achieve our goals by taking risks.

4. What would be the title for the passage?

A．Taking Risks Is Easier Said than Done	B．Risks Taken by Ancestors
C．Live Our Life to the Fullest	D．No Risk, No Gain

【推荐3】Ian Mercer doesn’t set an alarm clock. The former Microsoft senior manager doesn’t check the weather, either. He doesn’t turn on lights, water the yard, or adjust the thermostat ( 恒温器 ). He doesn’t open the curtains, answer the phone, or call his children for dinner. There’s something unique about Ian’s home. He has programmed it to do all these things for him.

Ian doesn’t live in a typical home or have a typical lifestyle. He spent over a decade designing the systems that feature in his unique home. He bought a home automation software package and then improved it.

Now there are 79 sensors and monitors, and 48 light switches in his home. Lights turn on automatically in rooms with people in them. Even being out, Ian can also control his home remotely using voice commands or his phone in any location. That is only the beginning of what this home has been programmed to do.

It connects with online calendars, caller ID, online weather services, online address books, and email, among other things, to get Ian through his day. For example, if there is a meeting in Ian’s calendar, it will wake him up, open his bedroom curtains, start and set his shower to his desired temperature. It also informs Ian about traffic conditions.

There is plenty more this home has been programmed to do. It keeps him updated on his favourite sports teams and scores. It even monitors online activity to check that Ian’s children are doing their homework. The “dinner’s ready” command stops operation of their computers and TVs. This is easier than asking his children to shut them down.

Ian’s home is unique. Most homes are not this smart, but soon more homes will be technologically advanced.

1. What makes Ian’s home unique?

A．Having more furniture than usual.

B．Being programmed with smart software.

C．Creating a traditional atmosphere for Ian.

D．Working automatically without Ian’s order.

2. What can we learn about Ian?

A．He invented the home automation software.

B．He devoted years to improving the systems.

C．He is seeking to control his home remotely.

D．He failed to monitor his children’s homework.

3. What does the underlined sentence in the last paragraph imply?

A．Smart homes are future trends.

B．Ian’s home is far from satisfaction.

C．Technology of the smart home is too expensive.

D．Homes smarter than Ian’s can be found everywhere.

【推荐1】The popularity of Chinese-owned video-sharing service TikTok(抖音)continues to grow among young people in the United States. In 2019, experts say the service more than doubled its American user base to 37 million. TikTok is especially popular with teens and young adults.

The service lets users create and share their short videos that they think interesting and useful. Many of them are under 15 seconds. The TikTok app offers a wide choice of sounds, brief parts of songs and special effects tools to help create a video. Some TikTok-based memes(表情包)are very popular. Videos often include popular songs from well-known artists and TikTok has even helped launch the careers of new music stars.

TikTok is considered a competitor to the video-sharing app Snapchat, as well as Facebook's Instagram service. Snapchat and Instagram also mainly interest young users with a wide mix of photos and videos centered largely on fashion, pop culture and humor.

Last year, TikTok was the second-most downloaded app from Apple and Google stores. Only WhatsApp was downloaded more. Research company Sensor Tower guesses people have downloaded the TikTok app 1.65 billion times.

TikTok has been used by many major companies to reach young people who use little or no traditional media. One of those companies is American-based e. l. f. Cosmetics(化妆品). The makeup company's chief marketer, Kory Marchisotto, said that TikTok is "where the Gen Z party is". Gen Z is a name used to call the generation born between the late 1990s and the early 2000s.“That's where they're all hanging out," Marchisotto said.

Companies appearing on TikTok can make money through advertising. Often, the companies create user "challenges" as part of their advertisement campaigns. TikTok users created 3 million videos that received more than 4 billion view.

1. Which word can best describe the videos created on TikTok?

A．Traditional.

B．Boring.

C．Various.

D．Serious.

2. Which was downloaded most from Apple and Google stores last year?

A．TikTok.

B．Snapchat.

C．Instagram.

D．WhatsApp.

3. What can companies do on TikTok?

A．Challenge their competitors.	B．Make advertisements.
C．Hold music concerts.	D．Promote users' abilities to make videos.

4. What is the best title for the text?

A．TikTok Keeps Growing Among US Youth	B．How to Share Short Videos
C．Facebook Achieves Great Success	D．Companies Benefit Much from Videos

【推荐2】Should we be thrilled that, for the first time in a century, Australia went more than a week without using any coal to make electricity? While some are welcoming this as a sign that the country is going green, the bigger picture is less encouraging. For one thing, renewables （可再生能源）supplied only 23 per cent of electricity during this coal-free period, while 45 per cent came from natural gas. In the past decade, the country has gone from getting a third of its electricity from coal to obtaining more than a third from renewables like onshore wind on average. Australia now gets 11 per cent of its electricity from “renewable” biomass （生物质能）, much of it using imported wood. But forest campaigners say swapping coal for wood isn’t truly renewable and is actually doing huge damage to the environment.

For another, Australia is off-track when it comes to meeting its long-term targets for cutting greenhouse gas emissions (排放).Producing electricity without burning fossil fuels is relatively easy. But it is much harder to heat homes, to make cement and steel, to grow food and to power cars, ships and planes without producing any greenhouse gases. In view of this, we should handle the energy and climate crises at the same time by finding climate-friendly alternatives to coal.

Australia has now stopped the financial aid that drove its renewables revolution. So growth in renewable energy is expected to come to a stop in a decade. The global renewables revolution seems to be following the same trend. The International Energy Agency （IEA） recently announced that the world added 180 gigawatts （千兆瓦）of solar, wind, hydro power and bioenergy in 2018, the same as in 2017. But IEA said we must add 300 gigawatts a year to have a chance of limiting global warming to under 2°C by 2100. So we should cheer the end of coal, but continue to worry about how it will be replaced.

1. In the “coal-free week”, what did Australia use most to make electricity?

A．Natural gas.	B．Onshore wind.
C．Biomass.	D．Wood.

2. What can be inferred about the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions in Paragraph 2?

A．Positive results are tracked.

B．Long-term goals are ambitious.

C．Additional efforts are required.

D．Climate changes are unavoidable.

3. What can we learn about renewable energy in Paragraph 3?

A．It ought to be replaced.

B．It will see an adequate increase.

C．It starts a revolution in Australia.

D．It needs constant financial aid.

4. What is the author’s attitude towards the coal-free week?

A．Skeptical.	B．Optimistic.
C．Thrilled.	D．Ambiguous.

【推荐3】Students who say they never or hardly ever used dictionaries often speak English well but usually write poorly, because they make many mistakes.

The students who use dictionaries most do not learn especially well either. The ones who look up every new word do not read fast. Therefore they do not have time to read much. Those who use small two-language dictionaries have the worst problems. Their dictionaries often give only one or two words as translations of English. But one English word often has many translations in a foreign language and one foreign word has many translations in English.

The most successful students are those who use large college edition dictionaries with about 100,000 words but do not use them too often. When they are reading, these students first try to get the general idea and understand new words from the context. Then they reread and use the dictionary to look up only key words that they still do not understand. They use dictionaries more for writing. If they are not sure how to spell a word, or divide it into syllables, they always use a dictionary. Also, if they think a noun might have an unusual plural form, they check these in a dictionary.

1. The writer tends to think that_____________.

A．choose a good dictionary, and you’ll be successful in learning English

B．dictionaries are not necessary to the students who learn English

C．it is very important for students to use good dictionaries properly

D．using dictionaries very often can’t help to improve writing

2. According to the passage, which of the following is wrong?

A．Dictionaries have little effect on learning to speak English.

B．Whatever new words you meet while reading, never use dictionaries.

C．Small two-language dictionaries have serious defects (缺陷).

D．Reading something for the first time, you’d better not use dictionaries.

3. This passage mainly tells us____________.

A．that students shouldn’t use small two-language dictionaries

B．what were the defects of small two-language dictionaries

C．why students should use large college edition dictionaries

D．what dictionary students should choose and how to use it

4. Which is not mentioned in this passage?

A．How to make good use of a dictionary.	B．When to use a dictionary.
C．How to improve spoken English.	D．How to practise reading fast.