【推荐1】No one can believe that the over 6 300-kilometer long Great Wall might disappear some day. Believe it or not, the Great Wall is being destroyed by people. Less than 20 percent of the Great Wall built in the Ming Dynasty is still perfect, but about 80 percent is in danger. The Great Wall can be called “great” mostly because of its amazing length. But we should realize that the length was made up of one brick at a time. If we do nothing to save the Great Wall, it will become a series of separate wasteland rather than a historic site.

The Great Wall is actually a series of walls built and rebuilt by different dynasties over the past 2 000 years. It began in the rule of China’s first emperor, Qin Shihuang of the Qin Dynasty(221 BC～206 BC), and lasted into the Ming Dynasty. The parts built before the Ming Dynasty have nearly disappeared. People are familiar with sections such as Badaling in Beijing and Jiayuguan Pass in Gansu because they have been open to tourists for many years. But those sections far away from the public eyes have been almost forgotten.

Few local people knew the 3-meter-high walls made of earth and stones beside them are part of the Great Wall. The lack of knowledge is considered as one of the main reasons behind human.

The bricks on the Great Wall are carried off by countryside people to build their houses, sheep corral(畜栏) and pigsties(猪圈). Some were taken away to build roads. Bricks carved with people’s names are put away as remembrance. Rubbish is spread over the battlements(城垛). The bricks can be sold for 15 yuan per tractor load. Those who destroyed and are destroying the Great Wall know its name, but are not clear about its cultural meaning. It will take a long time to let them know this. The local farmers not only carried off the body of the Wall but dug out the entire base.

It is necessary to protect the Great Wall. First of all, the officials should be aware of the importance of the Great Wall. Young Chinese should know more about the nation’s great civilization(文明)and learn to love it.

1. The main reason for which the Great Wall can be called “great” is_________.

A．it is made by brick	B．it is very wide
C．it is very long	D．it has a long

2. Why does the author say the Great Wall might disappear           

A．It is useless from now on.

B．It will be replaced by a new one.

C．Some parts of it are being destroyed.

D．It’s too old to be used again.

3. The underlined part “those sections far away from the public eyes” refers to the parts of the Great Wall________.

A．that are too difficult to understand

B．nobody can watch

C．that are too far to been seen

D．that are not well known to the public

4. What’s the main reason of the Great Wall’s being destroyed               

A．The local people are short of culture knowledge.

B．The local people need bricks and stones to build houses.

C．The local people think that the Great Wall is not important.

D．The local people are against the government.

【推荐2】I came to Rio, Brazil to work one year ago. So what have I found here?

You need to learn Portuguese

I started studying Portuguese about two years ago. I didn’t end up improving my Portuguese as much as I’d hoped before I came here. While Spanish and Portuguese are structurally quite similar, there are huge differences between the two. You can’t just magically understand Brazilians if you speak Spanish.

I didn’t need to bring heels

Going out in cities like Buenos Aires is a big deal. You get dressed up, you do your hair, and you definitely wear heels- at least if you’re going out to dance. I had no idea how wrong I was. Yes, Rio is a city, but it’s a city on the beach. Of course, there are fancy clubs that probably expect everyone to show up in dress shoes(时装鞋), but most of the places I’ve been to are fine with sneakers, even for dancing.

Learning about pop music is a must

Whenever I go out and a pop song comes on, every single other person there sings along to all the words. I still haven’t understood if there are only 25 songs that get played in public or if people really do just have a fantastic memory for lyrics, but either way, I wish I’d spent a bit more time practicing Brazilian pop music so I wouldn’t look like such a lost foreigner.

Airplanes are a surprisingly sensitive subject

In Brazil, the credit for modern flight goes to Alberto Santos Dumont. Brazilians say the Wright Brothers’ use of a catapult(飞机弹射器) was technically cheating and point to their man as the real pioneer of the plane. Therefore, be careful before bringing up the subject of planes in Brazil unless you’re ready for a lecture.

1. What can we infer about Brazilians?

A．They are fond of dancing.

B．They understand Spanish.

C．They are informally dressed.

D．They have a good memory.

2. How did the author react when the others were singing?

A．She sang along.

B．She felt ashamed.

C．She felt like an outsider.

D．She pretended to be lost.

3. What topic should you avoid in Rio?

A．The history of planes.

B．Dressing styles.

C．Pop music.

D．Spanish.

4. What’s the author’s purpose in writing the text?

A．To tell us something about Brazil.

B．To share her life in Rio as a foreigner.

C．To give foreigners in Rio some suggestions.

D．To encourage us to learn a foreign language.

【推荐1】France has the most beautiful castles throughout Europe. Here are some of the best French castles to visit. You’ll surely want to visit one of them during your travels in France. Have a look and enjoy!

Versailles Castle

The Versailles Castle is about 20km southwest of Paris. When the castle was built, Versailles was a small village. Today, however, it is a famous area in Paris. The castle was originally built as a small hunting lodge (乡间小屋) for Louis XIII in the 1620s.Years later, he made it bigger. Later, Louis ⅩⅣ also made it larger, making it one of the largest palaces of the world.

Chambord Castle

The Chambord Castle is one of the largest castles around the world. It sits in the Loire Valley. Being at the heart of Europe’s largest enclosed wooded park, Chambord, it was built for King Francis I to serve as a hunting lodge. It is one of the most well-known castles in the world because of its French Renaissance (文艺复兴) unique building.

Chenonceau Castle

As one of the most famous castles in the Loire Valley, the castle was built during the 11th century on the River Cher. It was passed through many hands. The castle was not destroyed during the French Revolution because it was the only bridge across the river for many miles.

Chantilly Castle

This historic castle sits in the town of Chantilly, France. This beautiful castle is made up of two buildings: the Petit Château built around 1560 for Anne de Montmorency, and the Grand Château which was destroyed during the French Revolution and rebuilt in the 1870s. There are many interesting pieces of 17th century history concerning the castle. Every two years a fireworks competition is held in the castle gardens.

1. What do we know about the Versailles Castle?

A．It sits in a small village.	B．It was first built for Louis XIII.
C．It serves as a hunting place now.	D．It was the largest castle in the 1620s.

2. What makes the Chambord Castle special?

A．Its long history.	B．Its building style.
C．Its wealthy owner.	D．Its important position.

3. Which castle has a fireworks show every two years?

A．Versailles Castle	B．Chambord Castle
C．Chantilly Castle	D．Chenonceau Castle

【推荐2】To help you plan your trip, here are my favorite hotels in Chicago.

Freehand Chicago

It’s housed in a historic building from 1927. Its design with tons of character of its own attracts tourists greatly. Freehand is worth the price if you feel like treating yourself. The common areas are laid back. Like other hotels mentioned here, it’s located in the center of the city.

●Female-only dorms for added privacy and security

●Bed for $45 USD a night, room for $173.

Wrigley Hotel

It’s for any traveler looking to enjoy the city’s nightlife. There’s an outdoor place with a BBQ, where you can grill burgers with friends, and the hotel organizes paid walking tours. Here it’s easy to learn about the local culture from friendly locals and it offers many latest books, too. The staff are awesome.

●Free breakfast

●Bed for $36 USD a night, room for $141.

HI Chicago

HI Hotels know exactly what the travelers whose money is tight want: affordable accommodations. HI Chicago is no exception. It organizes a free walking tour, the common areas are spacious, and there’s a fully equipped kitchen. It offers free breakfast.

●Social atmosphere makes it easy to meet local people

●Bed for $32 USD a night, room for $85.

Parthenon Hotel

It has a large common room with a huge TV and lots of books. The staff can help you organize tours, and there’s free breakfast. The dorms aren’t huge, and the beds aren’t anything special, but they’re clean and safe. It has all the makings of your classic backpacker hotel.

●Female-only dorms for added privacy and security

●Bed for $34 USD a night, room for $90.

1. What is special about Freehand Chicago?

A．It has the oldest history of the four.	B．It lies in the center of Chicago.
C．It only caters to female travelers.	D．It is uniquely designed.

2. What activity can you attend if you stay in Wrigley Hotel?

A．A barbecue party.	B．A reading discussion.
C．A free walking tour.	D．A fellowship party with locals.

3. Which hotel is the most suitable for those who travel on a budget?

A．Parthenon Hotel.

B．Wrigley Hotel.

C．HI Chicago.

D．Freehand Chicago.

【推荐3】How many coins have you got in your pocket right now?Three?Two?Or one? With a phone card you can make up to 200 calls without any change at all.

What do you do with it?

Go to a telephone box marked “Card Phone”.Put in your card,make your call and when you’ve finished,a screen tells you how much is left on your card.

It costs no extra for the cards,and the calls cost 10p per unit,the same as any other payphone call.

You can buy them in units of 10,20,40,100 or 200.

Now appearing in a shop near you

Near each Card Phone place you’ll find a shop where you can buy one. They’re at bus,train and city tube(地铁) stations.

At many universities,hospitals and clubs,restaurants and gas stations on the highway and shopping centers.

At airports and seaports.

No more broken payphones

Most broken payphones are like that because they’ve been vandalized(破坏了的).There are no coins in Card Phone to excite thieves’interest in it. So you’re not probably to find a vandalized one.

Get a phone card yourself and try it out.Or get a bigger wallet.

1. There are three parts in the passage.Which section do you think is about why card phones are good?

A．Part 1.

B．Part 2.

C．Part 3.

D．None.

2. According to the information you get from the passage,how much does a card with 40 units cost?

A．4 pounds.	B．40 pounds.
C．400 pounds.	D．100 pounds.

3. Choose the right order of the steps under “How you use phone card”.
a.Put in your phone card.
b.Look at the screen to find out how many calls you can still make.
c.Go to the telephone box marked “Card Phone”.
d.Make your call.

A．a,b,c,d

B．c,a,d,b

C．a,d,c,b

D．c,d,a,b

4. The last sentence “Or get a bigger wallet” means “　　　”.

A．Phone cards are cheap	B．You cannot use all payphones
C．Thieves will not break card phones	D．Or people have to carry much money

5. The passage is most probably 　　　.

A．a warning	B．a note
C．an advertisement	D．an announcement

【推荐1】Just last month，AI-generated art arrived on the auction (拍卖) stage of Christie’s, proving that artificial intelligence can not only be creative but also produce world-class works of art — another significant AI milestone blurring the line between human and machine.

Naturally, the news sparked off debates about whether the work produced by Paris-based art collective Obvious could really be called art at all. Popular opinion among creatives is that art is a process by which human beings express some ideas or emotions, filter them through personal experience and set them against a broader cultural context. The story raised additional questions about ownership. In this circumstance，who can really be named as the author? The algorithm (算法) itself or the team behind it?

At GumGum, an AI company that focuses on computer vision, we wanted to explore the intersection of AI and art by devising a Turing Test of our own in association with Rutgers University’s Art and Artificial Intelligence Lab and Cloudpainter, an artificially intelligent painting robot. We were keen to see whether AI can，in fact, replicate (复制) the intent and imagination of traditional artists, and we wanted to explore the potential impact of AI on the creative sector.

To do this，we enlisted a broad collection of diverse artists from traditional pain-on-canvas artists to 3-D rendering and modeling artists alongside Pindar Van Arman — a classically trained artist who has been coding art robots for 15 years. Van Arman was tasked with using his Cloudpainter machine to create pieces of art based on the same data set as the more traditional artists. This data set was a collection of art by 20th century American Abstract Expressionists. Then, we asked them to document the process, showing us their preferred tools and telling us how they came to their final work.

Amazingly, while at face value the AI artwork was indistinguishable from that of the more traditional artists, the test revealed that the creative spark and ultimate agency behind creating a work of art is still very much human. Even though the Cloudpainter machine has evolved over time to become a highly intelligent system capable of making creative decisions of its own, the final piece of work could only be described as a collaboration (合作) between human and machine. Van Arman served as more of an “art director for the painting”.

As AI becomes an unstoppable force, it raises some difficult questions about the future role of humans in an increasingly automated world. Instead of worrying about AI’s threat to human creative supremacy, the future will be about accepting new technologies and the possibilities it brings for speeding up the process. It’s better to think of AI as your next creative assistant; beautiful pieces of work can be produced in collaboration with it.

1. According to popular opinion, the AI-generated work_______.

A．should have been based on personal experience

B．was set against a broader cultural context

C．couldn’t be considered art at all

D．expresses no idea or emotion

2. What did the experiment at GumGum show?

A．AI artworks could be easily identified

B．AI artworks could show human emotions.

C．AI had trouble making sensible decisions.

D．AI couldn’t complete a work independently.

3. Which of the following statements would the author agree with?

A．Beautiful pieces cannot be works of AI.

B．AI could be an advanced tool for artists.

C．AI could challenge the supremacy of humans.

D．New technologies can pose a danger to humans.

4. What is the best title for the passage?

A．Can AI Create True Art?	B．Can AI Threaten Humans?
C．Will Human Art Disappear?	D．Are AI Artworks Distinguishable?

【推荐3】During the day we work and play and at night we sleep. Our bodies rest while we sleep. In the morning we are ready to work and play again. It is while we are asleep that our bodies grow most. When children feel tired and angry, they usually need more sleep. We can get our lessons better, and we feel better, too, when we have had plenty of rest. Boys and girls, eight or nine years old, need ten hours of sleep every night. Our bodies need plenty of air when we sleep. If we do not get enough fresh air, we wake up feeling tired. While in bed we must not cover our heads. If we do, our lungs will not get enough fresh air. If we open our windows at night, we can have plenty of fresh air. Cool air is better than warm air. Boys and girls must get plenty of sleep if they want to grow and be strong.

1. Our bodies grow most while we are ________.

A．eating

B．playing

C．sleeping

D．exercising

2. What often makes us feel tired in the morning?

A．Too much air.	B．Not enough fresh air.
C．Too much cold air.	D．Too much sleep.

3. The writer is trying to tell boys and girls________.

A．to get their lessons better	B．not to cover their heads
C．how to go to bed	D．to get plenty of sleep

【推荐1】The populations of common animals are just as likely to rise or fall in number in a time of accelerating global warming as those of rare species, a study suggests.

Until recently, scientists were still accumulating data on how animal populations were shifting over time globally across the different regions of the planet.

Making use of the newly available data, a team of University of Edinburgh researchers studied nearly 10000 animal populations recorded in the Living Planet Database between 1970 and 2014 to provide a new perspective on animal population change. These include records of mammals, reptiles, sharks, fish, birds and amphibians.

The team found that 15 percent of all populations declined during the period, while 18 percent increased and 67 percent showed no significant change. Amphibians were the only group in which population sizes declined, while birds, mammals and reptiles experienced increases. The overall decline in amphibians makes them a priority for conservation efforts, researchers say, as their loss could have knock-on effects in food chains and wider ecosystems.

Gergana Daskalova, of the University of Edinburgh’s School of GeoSciences, who led the study, said, “We often assume that declines in animal numbers are prevalent everywhere. But we found that there are also many species which have increased over the last half of a century, such as those which do well in human-transformed landscapes or those which are the focus of conservation actions.”

Dr. Isla Myers-Smith, also of the School of GeoSciences, who co-authored the study, said, “Only as we bring together data from around the world, can we begin to really understand how global change is influencing the biodiversity of our planet.”

1. With the global temperature rising, what happens to the animals?

A．Rare animal species tend to decline.

B．Common animal species tend to increase.

C．Global wanning is accelerating with the loss of animal species.

D．The population of common animals changes just like rare ones.

2. How did scientists carry out the study?

A．By analyzing existing information.	B．By studying animals，behavior.
C．By comparing different studies.	D．By recording the data of animals.

3. What does the underlined word “prevalent” in Paragraph 5 mean?

A．Sharp.

B．Common.

C．Steady.

D．Relative.

4. What is Dr. Isla Myers-Smith's attitude toward the study?

A．Objective.

B．Optimistic.

C．Subjective.

D．Pessimistic.

【推荐2】The United States celebrates Valentine's Day each year on February 14. Many other countries celebrate Valentine's Day, too, each in their own way. Here is a look at the Valentine's Day traditions in three countries.

Wales：land of love spoons

In Wales, it is called St. Dwynwen's Day, which takes place on January 25. The traditional romantic gift on this day is a love spoon.

Beginning in the 17th century, Welsh men made beautiful wooden spoons as a show of their love for that special person in their lives. Each shape of the spoons has a different meaning. For example, horseshoes mean good luck；keys represent the key to a lover's heart；and wheels are a sign of support.

Argentina：a week of sweets

Argentina celebrates Valentine's Day in February, but also gives a whole other week to love in July. They call it Sweetness Week. If you kiss someone, they have to give you a sugary treat.

Sweetness Week started in 1989 with a candy company called Arcor. They made an advertisement called “Candy for a Kiss". The idea was to give the company's chocolates and other candies in exchange for a sweet kiss on the cheek. The campaign had a stronger effect than the company expected—it led to a new holiday!

Every July, couples who take part give each other candies and kisses all week long.

South Korea: three is a charm

For South Koreans, Valentine's Day happens in three parts：February 14, March 14 and April 14.

On February 14, women traditionally give men gifts of chocolate to show their love. One month later, on a holiday known as White Day, men show their thanks by giving women a sweet gift. The name “White Day" comes from the custom of giving white-colored gifts.

Let's not forget Black Day on April 14. Single people who did not get gifts on February 14 or March 14 often gather on Black Day to eat noodles with black bean soup.

1. What does a key-shaped spoon mean?

A．Deep love.

B．Good luck.

C．Strong support.

D．Real thanks.

2. When is Sweetness Week celebrated?

A．In February.

B．In March.

C．In April.

D．In July.

3. What would be a good gift on White Day?

A．Brown chocolates.

B．Black beans.

C．White milk candies.

D．Silver spoons.

【推荐3】One argument for why robots will never fully measure up to people is because they lack human-like social skills. But researchers are experimenting with new methods to give robots social skills to better interact with humans.

The experiment was carried out by researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology(MIT). The team developed a machine learning system for self-driving vehicles that is designed to learn the social characteristics of other drivers. The researchers studied driving situations to learn how other drivers on the road were likely to behave. Since not all human drivers act the same way, the data was meant to teach the driverless car to avoid dangerous situations.

The researchers say the technology uses tools borrowed from the field of social psychology. In this experiment, scientists created a system that attempted to decide whether a person's driving style is more selfish or selfless. In road tests, self-driving vehicles equipped with the system improved their ability to predict what other drivers would do by up to 25 percent.

In one test, the self-driving car was observed making a left-hand turn. The study found the system could cause the vehicle to wait before making the turn if it predicted the oncoming drivers acted selfishly and might be unsafe. But when oncoming vehicles were judged to be selfless, the self-driving car could make the turn without delay because it saw less risk of unsafe behavior.

The MIT team plans to expand its research model to include other things that a self-driving vehicle might need to deal with. These include predictions about people walking around traffic, as well as bicycles and other things found in driving environments. The researchers say they believe the technology could also be used in vehicles with human drivers. It could act as a warning system against other drivers judged to be behaving aggressively.

1. What is the purpose of the new research?

A．To reduce human drivers' mistakes.

B．To develop a machine learning system.

C．To give robots human-like social skills.

D．To prove robots can never replace humans.

2. What caused the self-driving car to wait or turn quickly?

A．The colors of the traffic lights.

B．The orders from police officer.

C．The directions from human drivers.

D．The oncoming driver's driving style.

3. What can we learn from the last paragraph?

A．More traffic participants will be involved in the research.

B．Other colleges will be invited to join in the project.

C．New rules will be developed for road users.

D．Human drivers will give way to robots.

4. In which section of a newspaper may this text appear?

A．Entertainment.	B．Science.
C．Education.	D．Business.