【推荐1】The dream of the flying car could come down to earth soon as several start-ups like Chinese EHANG and Uber are developing so-called “passenger drones(无人机)”—self-flying drones big enough to ferry individual commuters around town—which could shrink commute(上下班往返) times from hours to minutes.

At first glance, human-carrying drones sound no more realistic than flying cars. Until recently inventors had never been able to marry automobiles and aircraft in a practical way. Yet a few companies have kept at it: Woburn, for example, has since 2006 been developing Transition, a “roadable aircraft” that resembles a small airplane that can fold its wings and drive on roads. A personal flying car in every garage has proved to be a tough sell, however, as there are serious safety concerns about asking the average commuter to train for a pilot’s license and take to the skies.

Passenger drones, by contrast, would operate autonomously and leave the “roadable” part behind in favor of larger versions of aircraft that already exist. Passenger drone designs favor “distributed electric propulsion(推进),” meaning instead of one large rotor powered by a large engine they have multiple propellers each powered by its own, smaller motor. This sacrifices lifting power and flight performance in exchange for mechanical simplicity and lighter weight—factors that could make them cheaper to operate. Quieter electric power would make the noise tolerable to city residents, although it remains to be seen how much weight such a vehicle could lift, and for how long.

With any of these vehicles, safety is the biggest concern and extends to both the aircraft and the automated systems flying them. Advanced artificial intelligence is needed to fly large numbers of autonomous aircraft without crashing them into one another or, say, the local news channel’s traffic helicopter. Carrying people from points A to B seems simple enough, but even the best AI struggles with surprises: What, for example, would a drone do if a landing area suddenly became unavailable? asks Sanjiv Singh, a Carnegie Mellon University robotics researcher. Instead of leaping to fully automated passenger drones, he suggests first testing the necessary AI in unmanned cargo(货物)runs, and adopting a “mixed mode” approach in early passenger services where pilots are assisted by AI co-pilots.

Technical challenges aside, start-ups promoting the technology will have to find a way to convince the public to give their drones a whirl, something that requires a much bigger leap of faith than getting into the backseat of a self-driving car. Passenger drone makers are “obviously still in the incubation(孵化) stages of technology development and improving the basics,” says Mike Hirschberg, executive director of the American Helicopter Society International. “But 20 or 30 years from now life may be a little like The Jetsons where you take advantage of the third dimension and have much more mobility, especially in urban close quarters where ground transportation is gridlocked.”

The passenger drone progress may follow a sloping takeoff rather than vertical leap. Carnegie Mellon’s Singh sees a long road ahead filled with lots of testing, analysis, regulation and efforts to win the public’s trust before the technology becomes a viable transportation option. “There is the danger of someone moving too fast and then having a problem that sets the industry back for some time,” he says.

1. Personal flying cars have failed to gain popularity among households mainly because ______.

A．people don’t have the courage to take the cars to the air.

B．people are unwilling to train for a pilot’s license.

C．people worry that they may not be qualified to fly the cars safely.

D．it is practically impossible to combine cars and aircraft together.

2. Which of the following is NOT an advantage of passenger drones?

A．It can lift more weight.	B．It is lighter in weight.
C．It makes less noise.	D．It is simpler in mechanical design.

3. What is Hirschberg’s attitude towards passenger drones?

A．Disapproving	B．Neutral
C．Skeptical	D．Cautiously optimistic

4. We can learn from the passage that ______.

A．artificial intelligence can easily tackle the problems occurring in air traffic.

B．human pilots in autonomous aircraft will endanger the safety of passengers.

C．the passenger drone industry will make major breakthroughs in the near future.

D．the public’s distrust may hinder the development of passenger drones.

【推荐3】Plastic is everywhere in our modern world. Its toughness makes it an extremely useful material from household items to vehicle parts, but that same toughness makes it hard to break down for recycling or disposal (处理). However, Japanese scientists at the University of Tokyo have developed a new plastic material that can be broken down more easily and can self-heal and remember past shapes.

Based on a kind of plastic called an epoxy resin vitrimer, which is brittle (脆性的), the new plastic has a huge range of advantages. Once scratched (刮划) with a knife, it can completely patch itself up after being heated to 150 ℃ for just 60 seconds. When shaped into the shape of a crane, then flattened, it can fold itself back into the crane shape by being heated up. It does all of this much faster than others of its type.

The new plastic can also break down easier. Even if it’s thrown into the environment, it still has less of a problem than other kinds of plastic, which the team demonstrated by placing it in seawater for 30 days. It biodegraded (生物降解) by 25% and released something that is eatable for ocean life.

The new plastic is more resistant to breaking. It can also repair itself, and can recover its original memorized shape. It even biodegrades safely in a ocean environment, according to Shota Ando, a researcher of the study.

The material can be used in a variety of applications. “Building materials for roads and bridges are often composed of epoxy resins mixed with compounds (化合物) such as concrete and carbon,” said Ando. “By using the new plastic, these would be easier to maintain as they would be stronger and healable using heat. Unlike conventional epoxy resins, this new material is hard but flexible, so it could also be expected to strongly bond materials of different hardness and stretch.”

1. What is the author’s purpose in writing paragraph 1?

A．To introduce the topic of the text.	B．To show the disadvantages of plastic.
C．To highlight the importance of plastic.	D．To show his views on previous plastic.

2. What do the underlined words “patch itself up” mean in paragraph 2?

A．Change itself.

B．Destroy itself.

C．Repair itself.

D．Burn itself.

3. What do we know about the new plastic?

A．It is safe for animals in the ocean.	B．It is made up of concrete and carbon.
C．It can change its shape when frozen.	D．It is more brittle than previous plastic.

4. What can be the best title for the text?

A．How to Make a New Plastic	B．An Interesting Scientific Study
C．The Widespread Application of Plastic	D．A New Environmentally Friendly Plastic

【推荐2】It's a popular belief that a fish's memory lasts for only seven seconds. It may seem sad to think that they don't remember what they've eaten or where they've been, and they don't identify you or any of their friends — every moment in their life would be like seeing the world for the first time.

But don't be so quick to feel sorry for them. A new study has found that fish have a much better memory than we used to think. In fact, certain kinds of fish can even remember events from as long as 12 days ago. In the study, researchers from Mac Ewan University in Canada trained a kind of fish called African cichlids to go to a certain area of their tank to get food. They then waited for 12 days before putting them back in the tank again. Researchers used computer software to monitor the fish's movements. They found that after such a long break the fish still went to the same place where they first got food. This suggested that they could remember their past experiences.

In fact, scientists had been thinking for a long time that African cichlids might have a good memory. An earlier study showed that they behaved aggressively in front of certain fish, perhaps because they remembered their past “fights”. But until the latest findings, there was no clear evidence.

Just as a good memory can make our lives easier, it also plays an important part when a fish is trying to survive in the wild." If fish are able to remember that a certain area contains safe food, they will be able to go back to that area without putting their lives at risks, “ lead researcher Trevor Hamilton told Live Science.

For a long time, fish were placed far below chimpanzees, dolphins and mice on the list of smart animals. But this study has given scientists a new understanding of their intelligence.

1. According to Paragraph 1, people commonly believe that                  .

A．fish can return to the area where they've been before

B．fish can remember things that happened long time ago

C．fish can remember things for only seven seconds

D．fish can well recognize their friends

2. What do we know about African cichlids according to the new study?

A．They treat other fish gently.

B．They often forget the area for food.

C．They may remember things for 12 days.

D．They are on top of the list of smart animals.

3. What is the text mainly about?

A．Fish having very bad memories.	B．Fish being smarter than we thought.
C．How fish improve their memory.	D．What we can learn from fish.

4. Where is the text most likely taken from?

A．A geography textbook.	B．A science magazine.
C．A travel brochure.	D．A medical journal.

【推荐3】I had just won a bidding for a 1950s cookie tin full of memories at an estate sale. Delighted at my victory, I took the box and gave it a shake. The contents rattled. Inside were hundreds of buttons, pins, and other items, all glittering in the sunlight. As a girl, I'd always enjoyed digging through my mom's box, just as my daughters enjoyed looking through mine.

My eye caught the movement of a swing on the front porch of the house. An old woman watched the happenings in her yard. As I carried my purchases to my car, I stopped to chat with her. She told me she was selling almost all her possessions because she was moving to a nursing home.

Her eyes fell to the button box, and when she looked up, they were glistening with tears. I took the lid off the tin, and her rough hands lifted a handful of buttons and then slowly dropped them back into the container. Her fist closed around a delicate pearl button, now yellow with age. "It was from my first husband's uniform," she said. "It's one of the few things that remind me of him when he didn't return home alive." They had been married seven months before he left to serve his country in World War II.

As we sifted through the box together, we found hairpins ranging from black to brown to shades of gray and even white; a key to a music box that played a special love song; garter clips, wooden nickels, ruby buttons; all took her further down memory lane. I learned about her wedding, the birth of her children, and much more of the life she'd led for 89 years.

After our chat, I set the woman's box of memories down on the swing and slid my hands into hers. I knew we would talk again, when I went to visit her at her new home. And I knew that when l reached my own home, my heart would pull me to my sewing room, where I would rediscover my own lifetime of memories in my own button box.

1. How did the author feel when she got the tin?

A．Curious.	B．Regretful.
C．Joyful.	D．Embarrassed.

2. What can we infer about the old woman from the text?

A．She was to sell her house and move to a new one.

B．She had to sell many things to make ends meet.

C．She didn't marry again after her husband died.

D．She was the former owner of the cookie tin.

3. What does the underlined phrase "sifted through" in Paragraph 4 probably mean?

A．Examined.	B．Picked.
C．Carried.	D．Decorated.

4. What does the button box represent?

A．Antiques that add history to a place.

B．Memories of unpleasant experiences.

C．Objects that bring moments to mind.

D．Expressions of kindness from strangers.

【推荐1】Online programs to fight depression are already commercially available. While they sound efficient and cost-saving, a recent study reports that they’re not effective, primarily because depressed patients are not likely to engage with them or stick with them.

The study looked at computer-assisted cognitive(认知的) behavioral therapy (CBT) and found that it was no more effective in treating depression than the usual care patients receive from a primary care doctor.

Traditional CBT is considered an effective form of talk therapy for depression, helping people challenge negative thoughts and change the way they think in order to change their mood and behaviors. However, online CBT programs have been gaining popularity, with the attraction of providing low-cost help wherever someone has access to a computer.

A team of researchers from the University of York conducted a randomized(随机的) control trial with 691 depressed patients from 83 physician practices across England. The patients were split into three groups: one group received only usual care from a physician while the other two groups received usual care from a physician plus one of computerized CBT programs. Participants were balanced across the three groups for age, sex, educational background, severity and duration of depression, and use of antidepressants(抗抑郁药).

After four months, the patients using the computerized CBT programs had no improvement in depression levels over the patients who were only getting usual care from their doctors.

“It’s an important, cautionary note that we shouldn’t get too carried away with the idea that a computer system can replace doctors and therapists.” says Christopher Dowrick, a professor of primary medical care at the University of Liverpool. “We do still need the human touch or the human interaction, particularly when people are depressed.”

“Being depressed can mean feeling in your own small, negative, dark world,” Dowrick says. Having a person, instead of a computer, reach out to you is particularly important in combating that sense of isolation. “When you’re emotionally vulnerable(脆弱的), you’re even more in need of a caring human being.” he says.

1. Why have online CBT programs been increasingly popular?

A．Because of their easy and inexpensive access by patients.

B．Because of their effectiveness in fighting depression.

C．Because of their recommendation by primary care doctors.

D．Because of their attraction of changing mood and behavior.

2. What is the conclusion of the experiment done by researchers at the University of York?

A．The online programs are more advanced than regular care from physicians.

B．The combination of traditional CBT and computerized CBT is most effective.

C．Online CBT programs are as ineffective as regular care from physicians.

D．Online CBT programs have no advantages over regular care from physicians.

3. Which of the following can best convey Professor Dowrick’s advice on online programs?

A．They should be used to help people touch these patients.

B．They should not be ignored in primary care.

C．Their effectiveness should not be overestimated.

D．Their use should be encouraged by doctors.

4. What is more important to an emotionally vulnerable person?

A．A positive state of mind.	B．An advanced CBT program.
C．A devoted doctor.	D．Human interaction.

【推荐2】In June 2014, Huffington Post and Mail Online reported that three-year-old Victoria Wilcher, who had suffered facial scarring, had been kicked out of a KFC because she was frightening customers. Later, KFC announced that no evidence had been found to support the story. This phenomenon is largely a product of the increasing pressure in newsrooms that care more about traffic figures.

Brooke Binkowski, an editor, says that, during her career, she has seen a shift towards less editorial oversight in newsrooms. “Clickbait is king, so newsrooms will uncritically print something unreal. Not all newsrooms are like this, but a lot of them are.”

Asked what the driving factor was, a journalist said, “You’ve an editor breathing down your neck and you have to meet your targets. And there are some young journalists on the market who are inexperienced and who will not do those checks. So much news that is reported online happens online. There is no need to get out and knock on someone’s door. You just sit at your desk and do it.”

Another journalist says, “There is undoubtedly pressure to churn out(粗制滥造) stories in order to get clicks, because they equal money. At my former employer in particular, the pressure was on due to the limited resources. That made the environment quite horrible to work in.”

In a February 2015 report for Digital Journalism, Craig Silverman wrote, “Today the bar for what is worth giving attention to seems to be much lower. Within minutes or hours, a badly sourced report can be changed into a story that is repeated by dozens of news websites, resulting in tens of thousands of shares. Once a certain critical mass is reached, repetition has a powerful effect on belief. Thus, the rumor simply becomes true for readers.”

And, in spite of the direction that some newsrooms seem to be heading in, a critical eye is becoming more, not less important, according to the New York Times’ public editor, Margaret Sullivan. “Reporters and editors have to be more careful than ever before. It’s extremely important to question and to use every verification(验证) method available before publication.” Yet those working in newsrooms talk of doubtful stories being tolerated because, in the words of some senior editors, “a click is a click, regardless of the advantage of a story”. And, “if the story does turn out to be false, it’s simply a chance for another bite at the cherry.”

Verification and fact-checking are regularly falling victim to the pressure to bring in the numbers, and if the only result of being caught out is another chance to bring in the clicks, that looks unlikely to change.

1. According to Brooke Binkowski, newsrooms produce false news because ______.

A．clicks matter a lot	B．resources are limited
C．money is needed for news	D．journalists lack experience

2. What does the underlined sentence in Paragraph 5 probably mean?

A．Lies can’t sell without an atom of truth.

B．Rumors are like a flame blown by the wind.

C．You can hear rumors, but you can’t know them.

D．A lie, repeated frequently enough, will end up as truth.

3. What’s Margaret Sullivan’s attitude towards false news online?

A．Negative.

B．Supportive.

C．Skeptical.

D．Neutral.

4. What is the passage mainly about?

A．Consequences of false stories.	B．Causes of online false news.
C．Inability of journalists.	D．A craze to get clicks.

【推荐3】Job sharing refers to the situation in which two people divide the responsibility of one full-time job．The two people willingly act as part-time workers, enough hours between them to fulfill the duties of a full-time worker．If they each work half the job, for example, they each receive 50 per cent of the job's wages, its holidays and its other benefits．
Job sharing differs from conventional （常规的） part-time work in that it occurs mainly in the more highly skilled and professional areas, which require higher levels of responsibility and employee commitment．
Job sharing should not be confused with the term work sharing, which refers to increasing the number of jobs by reducing the number of hours of each existing job, thus offering more positions to the growing number of unemployed people．Job sharing, by contrast, is not designed to address unemployment problems; its focus, rather, is to provide well-paid work for skilled workers and professionals who want more free time for other activities．
As would be expected, most job sharers are women．A survey carried out in 1988 by Britain's Equal Opportunities Commission showed that 78 per cent of sharers were female, the majority of whom were between 20 and 40 years of age．Subsequent studies have come up with similar results．Many of these women were re-entering the job market after having had children, but they chose not to seek part-time work because it would have meant lower status．Job sharing also offered an acceptable shift back into full-time work after a long absence．
The necessity of close cooperation when sharing a job with another person makes the actual work quite different from conventional one-position jobs．However, to ensure a greater chance that the partnership will succeed, each person needs to know the strengths, weaknesses and preferences of his or her partner before applying for a position．Moreover, there must be a fair division of both routine tasks and interesting ones．In sum, for a position to be job-shared well, the two individuals must be well matched and must treat each other as equals．
1. In what way is work sharing different from job sharing?

A．Work sharing requires more working hours．

B．Work sharing is aimed at creating more jobs．

C．Work sharing provides a more satisfactory salary．

D．Work sharing depends on the employer's decision．

2. According to Paragraph 4, young mothers preferred job sharing to conventional part-time work mainly because ________．

A．they sought higher social status

B．they were over ideal working ages

C．they had difficulty finding full-time jobs

D．they had to take care of both work and family

3. In job sharing the partners should ________．

A．enjoy equal social status

B．have similar work experience

C．keep in touch with each other

D．know each other very well

4. The main purpose of the passage is to ________．

A．describe job sharing in general

B．discuss how to provide more jobs

C．recommend job sharing to women

D．compare job sharing with work sharing