【推荐1】“What is civilization?” asked Kenneth Clark 50 years ago in the influential BBC series on the subject. “I don’t know, and I can’t define it in abstract terms, yet. But I think I can recognize it when I see it, and I’m looking at it now.” And he turned to gesture behind him, at the soaring Gothic towers and flying buttresses of Notre Dame (巴黎圣母院).

It seems inhuman to care more about a building than about people. That the sight of Notre Dame going up in flames has attracted so much more attention than floods in southern Africa which killed over 1,000 arouses understandable feelings of guilt. Yet the widespread, intense grief at the sight of the cathedral’s collapsing steeple (尖塔) is in fact profoundly human—and in a particularly 21st-century way.

It is not just the economy that is global today, it is culture too. People wander the world in search not just of jobs and security but also of beauty and history. Familiarity breeds affection. A building on whose sunny steps you have rested, in front of which you have taken a selfie with your loved one, becomes a warm part of your memories and thus of yourself.

This visual age has given beauty new power, and social media have turned great works of art into superstars. Only a few, though, have achieved this status. Just as there is only ever a handful of world-famous actors, so the pantheon (万神殿) of globally recognizable cultural symbols is tiny: the Mona Lisa, Michelangelo’s David, the Taj Mahal, the Great Pyramid— and Notre Dame. Disaster, too, is visual. In the 24 hours after the fire started, videos on social media of the burning cathedral were viewed nearly a quarter of a billion times.

Yet the emotions the sight aroused were less about the building itself than about what losing it might mean. Notre Dame is an expression of humanity at its collective best. Nobody could look up into that arched (拱形的) ceiling without wondering at the collective genius of the thousands of unknown craftsmen who, over a century and a half, realized a vision so grand in its structural ambition and so delicate in its hand-made detail. Its survival through 850 years of political unrest—through war, revolution and Nazi occupation—binds the present to the past.

1. The BBC series in the first paragraph is mentioned to show ________.

A．Notre Dame is a typical example of civilization

B．civilization is supposed to be defined in abstract terms

C．civilization was founded in the past and lasts for decades

D．it’s cruel to care more about buildings than about people

2. Notre Dame fire has aroused worldwide concerns because ________.

A．the disaster coincided with the floods in southern Africa

B．people has lost a historical landmark to take a selfie and rest

C．France’s economic prosperity has made it a must-see place for visitors

D．cultural globalization has bred a common sense of cultural identity

3. What can we learn from the last paragraph?

A．People’s sadness at the misfortune mainly lies in the building itself.

B．People wondered who contributed to such an artistic achievement.

C．Notre Dame is a witness to Nazi invasion and French revolution.

D．Fortunately we are blessed with countless splendid works of art.

4. What might be the best title for the passage?

A．Notre Dame: The Architectural Treasure

B．Notre Dame: The Humanistic Expression

C．Notre Dame: A Victim To Natural Disaster

D．Notre Dame: A Must-be Tourist Attraction

【推荐2】Informal conversation is an important part of any business relationship. Before you start a discussion, however, make sure you understand which topics are suitable and which are considered taboos (禁忌) in a particular culture. Latin Americans enjoy sharing information about their local history, art and customs. They expect questions about their family and are sure to show pictures of their children. You may feel free to ask similar questions of your Latin American friends. The French think of conversation as an art form, and they enjoy the value of lively discussions as well as disagreements. For them, arguments can be interesting ---- and they can cover pretty much or any topic ---- as long as they occur in a respectful and intelligent manner.

In the United States, business people like to discuss a wide range of topics, including opinions about work, family, hobbies, and politics. In Japan, China, and Korea, however, people are much more private. They do not share much about their thoughts, feelings, or emotions because they feel that doing so might take away the harmonious (和谐的) business relationship they’re trying to build. Middle Easterners are also private about their personal lives and family matters. It is considered rude, for example, to ask a businessman from Saudi Arabia about his wife or children.

As a general rule, it’s best not to talk about politics or religion with your business friends. This can get you into trouble, even in the United States, where people hold different views. In addition, discussing one’s salary is usually considered unsuitable. Sports is typically a friendly subject in most parts of the world, although be careful not to criticize a national sport. Instead, be friendly and praise your host’s team.

1. The author considers politics and religion ________ with business friends.

A．sensitive topics	B．cheerful topics
C．rude topics	D．encouraging topics

2. According to the passage, all of the following are true EXCEPT that ________.

A．it is important to be aware of cultural customs during conversations

B．the French consider arguments to be interesting if conducted properly

C．Saudi Arabians would like to share the information about their family

D．sports is typically considered a friendly topic in most places in the world

3. Why are people from Asia more private in their conversation with others?

A．They don’t want to talk with others much.

B．They value their good relationship with others.

C．They are afraid to argue with their colleagues.

D．They want to keep their feelings to themselves.

4. Which of the following do you think is improper (不合适) according to the passage?

A．Asking Latin Americans about their family.

B．Discussing hobbies with American people.

C．Arguing with the French respectfully.

D．Criticizing your foreign friend’s national sports.

【推荐3】The Forbidden City is well known for being full of Chinese cultural and historical relics. But Masters in the Forbidden City (《我在故宫修文物》) does not just focus on the stories of the past.

Instead, the documentary movie, which came out in Chinese cinemas on Dec. 16, focuses on ordinary people—the restorers (修复者) of relics and antiquities (古董).

The stories are told at a slow and relaxed pace, reflecting the restorers’ work. Restoration of cultural relics and antiques can be time-consuming, and sometimes boring. Yet these restorers’ patience and peace of mind are especially precious in a society where everything is changing so fast.

“If you choose this job, you have to stand hours of work sitting on a chair. You need to be quiet and get used to being quiet,” says Wang Jin, an ancient clock repair expert.

A touching part of the documentary is the spirit of craftsmanship (工艺) in the restorers. “Years of humdrum work requires not only skill, but also faith and spirit,” China Daily commented. “Looking for preciseness and perfection, devoting yourself to work, patience, endurance (忍耐), loneliness... All these qualities come from the craftsman spirit.”

But unlike the popular idea of serious experts who sit around being serious, the documentary shows off the enthusiasm of the restorers. They play their guitars and make jokes about each other after a long day of restoration work.

One scene that has been very popular with Internet users features a young female restorer riding a bicycle through the empty Forbidden City on a Monday. While she is doing this, a narrator says, “The last person to do this was Puyi, the last emperor of the Qing Dynasty.”

Masters in the Forbidden City has proved wrong many people’s ideas about antique restorers, allowing them to realize that they are not old, dull professors, but people in their 40s, 30s and even 20s who can be quite pleasing to the eye.

1. According to the text, what’s the main purpose of the documentary Masters in the Forbidden City?

A．To show people how antiques are restored.

B．To display relics seldom seen by ordinary people.

C．To draw attention to Chinese antique restorers’ lives.

D．To praise the craftsmanship of Chinese antique restorers.

2. Which of the following statements is true?

A．The documentary mainly talks about the story of the past.

B．The documentary talks about the story of serious experts.

C．The idea of the documentary came out on Dec.16.

D．The documentary shows the enthusiasm of the restorers.

3. According to Wang Jin, we can learn that ________.

A．he often gets tired with his work

B．there is no need to do restoration work fast

C．antique restorers need to be patient and peaceful

D．it takes years of hard work to adapt to antique restoration

4. The underlined word “humdrum” probably means ________.

A．boring

B．different

C．relaxing

D．unusual

【推荐2】Can artificial intelligence uncover a liar? It sounds like science fiction, but such an AI system is possible. The question is: How accurate can it be? Rada Mihalcea, a professor of computer science and engineering at the University of Michigan, has worked on deception(欺骗) detection for about a decade. This is how they constructed one AI deception detector, and how it works.

The first thing that researchers working on artificial intelligence and machine learning need is data. In the case of the work that Mihalcea did, they began with videos from actual court cases. For example, a defendant speaking in a trial in which they were found guilty could provide an example of deceit(欺骗); they also used testimony(证词) from witnesses as either example of truthful or deceitful statements. Altogether, they used 121 video clips and the corresponding transcripts of what they said—about half represented deceptive statements, and half truthful. It was this data that they used to build machine learning classifiers that ultimately had between a 60 to 75 percent accuracy rate.

One thing the system noticed is the use of pronouns—people who are lying would tend to less often use the word ‘I’ or ‘we’, Mihalcea explains. “Instead, people who are lying would more often use ‘you,’ ‘yours,’ ‘he,’ ‘they,’ and ‘she.’” That’s not the only linguistic signal: someone telling a lie would use “stronger words” that “reflect certainty,” she says. Examples of those types of words are “absolutely,” and “very,” while interestingly, people telling the truth were more likely to use words such as “maybe” or “probably.” “I think people who are deceptive would try to make up for the lie they are putting forward,” she says, “and so they try to seem more certain of themselves.” As for gestures, she points out that someone being deceitful would more likely look directly into the eyes of the person questioning them. They also tended to use both hands when gesturing. Instead of just one—also, she suspects, as part of trying to be convincing.

However, Mihalcea’s work is “far from perfection,” she concedes. “As a researcher, we are content that we were able to get to 75 percent accuracy.” But looked at another way, that’s an error rate of one in four. Ultimately, she sees technology like this as being assistive for people—it could, for example, indicate that it noticed something “unusual” in a speaker’s statement, and then perhaps have a person “investigate more.”

1. Why did the researchers gather testimony from the court?

A．To test the accuracy of AI deception detector.

B．To provide data base for machine learning.

C．To help the judges find the guilty people.

D．To understand how deception works.

2. According to Professor Mihalcea, which is a symbol of deception?

A．Avoiding direct eye contact.	B．Using first-person pronouns.
C．Gesturing with only one hand.	D．Trying to be sure of themselves.

3. What does Professor Mihalcea think of the new technology?

A．Flawed but promising.	B．Unsatisfying but helpful.
C．Accurate and meaningful.	D．Imperfect and impractical.

4. Which will be the best title for this passage?

A．Will AI Rid the World of Liars?

B．What Can AI Do for Us in Court?

C．Where Is AI Leading Us in the Future?

D．Can AI Become a Convincing Detective?

【推荐3】If you followed the Rio Olympic Games, you may have noticed that several athletes, including US swimmer Michael Phelps, had circular bruises (青肿) on their bodies. These bruises were the result of “cupping (拔火罐) therapy”, a traditional Chinese medicinal practice that has been around for more than 2,000 years.

Many athletes say that they have benefited from the therapy. Phelps used the therapy in the fall of 201 and has used it about twice a week since, reported ABC News. Another US swimmer, Dana Vollmer, also believes that “it really helps with blood flow”.

However, some have said that the supposed health effects result from people’s feeling that the treatment works, rather than any physical effect of the treatment. To figure out cupping therapy has any physical effect, last year researchers from Germany carried out a test in which a false treatment was provided.

In the study, the same type of cups was used in the real treatment and the false treatment. But in the false treatment, the cups had a hole at the top so that they couldn’t create the proper suction (吸力).

The tested patients, who suffered from a disorder that caused a lot of pain, were told that they would receive either a traditional cupping or “soft cupping”. But they were not informed that the so-called “soft cupping” was a false treatment.

It turned out that most patients correctly guessed which kind of cupping they had received. In both groups, patients also experienced about the same reductions in pain. “The results suggest the effects of cupping therapy might come from factors that are not necessarily part of the treatment itself,” the researchers told the Live Science website.

The question of whether cupping therapy works still needs to be answered. “But because the treatment is relatively safe and it could be helpful for some people, the therapy can be used as part of a comprehensive treatment program involving other exercises, nutritional choices and lifestyle changing,” Dr Brent Bauer, director of the US Complementary and Integrative Medicine Program at Mayo Clinic, told Live Science.

1. Why does the author mention Michael Phelps in Paragraph 1?

A．To give athletes a new way to swim faster.

B．To provide athletes with a new way of treatment.

C．To introduce the topic on cupping therapy.

D．To show swimmers suffer from disorders.

2. The purpose of the test by researchers from Germany was to ________.

A．promote the health effects of cupping therapy

B．see whether cupping therapy has a physical effect

C．compare traditional cupping with the soft cupping

D．compare cupping therapy’s effects on different groups of people

3. What can be learned from the passage?

A．Different people need different types of cupping therapy.

B．The real treatment and false treatment almost have the same effects.

C．The results show that cupping therapy is surely not part of the treatment.

D．Cupping therapy is only effective when used with lifestyle changing.

4. According to Dr Brent Bauer, cupping therapy ________.

A．is a fast and easy treatment for people to carry out

B．is a newly invented way to cure some diseases

C．needs a long period of time to take effect

D．can be used together with other treatments

【推荐1】“Anyone who offends China will be killed no matter how far the target is.” That is the tagline for Wolf Warriors 2, the Chinese box office hit. It sees a soldier entering into an African war-zone and saving hundreds of lives from Western bad guys. It’s basically the plot of your typical Hollywood action movie, but this time it’s a Chinese man upholding justice and keeping the world safe.

Following in the footsteps of Jackie Chan and Jet Li, martial arts expert Wu Jing is among a new generation of directors who were initially Chinese action stars. His first Wolf Warrior film came out in 2014, but it didn’t catch much attention. Mainstream movies, especially those promoting patriotism, usually don’t do very well in China. Wolf Warrior 2, however, has become a phenomenon. The massive response in China also made the film top the global box office worldwide last weekend, beating Hollywood blockbuster Dunkirk.

Many moviegoers said online that they were touched by the patriotic plot. “This movie is the best Chinese action movie,” one social media user wrote. “Shockingly good — hot blood and tough guys. I cried after watching it,” said another.

One reason for the enthusiastic response compared to the first Wolf Warrior film is its improved action scenes. Many in China have praised the film for its fighting scenes and special effects, saying they are of “Hollywood quality”. The movie, which is entirely privately funded, has also been lauded for its attention to details and features of close replicas of many of the latest weapons used by the Chinese army. Timing has also contributed to its success, with the Chinese nation in the times of a new wave of patriotism.

The film first came out just ahead of the 90th anniversary of the founding of the Chinese army, a hugely symbolic event for the country. Over the weekend, the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) held a grand military parade, which presented the latest weapons of China. In a serious speech, which in parts was not different from lines from the film, President Xi Jinping promised to fight anyone who tried to tear China apart.

1. The text is meant to ________.

A．introduce a recent action movie

B．explain why Wu Jing is a successful director

C．compare Wolf Warriors 2 with Hollywood movies

D．claim that China is a super power in terms of weapons production

2. The reason why Wolf Warriors 2 becomes a box office hit is that ________.

A．it doesn’t promote patriotism

B．its combat scenes are of higher quality

C．the weapons in the movie are the most advanced

D．Wu Jing is becoming better at directing after failing his first movie

3. According to the passage, which of the following is true?

A．Dunkirk has attracted more audiences compared to Wolf Warriors 2.

B．Social media users think highly of Wu Jing’s acting skills.

C．In the past, movies about patriotism often appeal to the public.

D．Jackie Chan, Jet Li and Wu Jing were actors at first.

4. The word “lauded” in paragraph 4 means ________.

A．encouraged

B．praised

C．criticized

D．awarded

【推荐2】Alibaba Group will extend its digital operating system to 1.5 million small neighborhood stores in China. Under the so-called Plan W, Alibaba is looking to develop a number of smaller shops with a daily revenue of over 10,000 yuan ($1,456) in lower-tier cities, townships and villages.

The latest move falls under Alibaba’s Ling Shou Tong (LST) business unit, which connects the millions of street stands in China and improves marketing, delivery, and inventory management abilities through digital means. The data-backed retail management system has been designed to digitize the business of millions of mom and pop stores and neighborhood convenience stores.

Alibaba will offer a smart point-of-sale system, some 10,000 new product offerings, and a variety of online touchpoints to help users access offline stores virtually. Alibaba intends to help these mom and pop stores double or even triple their revenue, and they can sell more efficiently, and get flexibility to refill stocks based on their changing needs.

Its POS machine performs every function throughout the retail process and provides real-time suggestions. For instance, it would send out alerts on potential stock shortage, and would recommend cost-effective purchase to enhance the store’s profitability. The machine also collects average selling price for a certain product in the nearby areas, thereby giving references to shop-owners to make informed pricing decisions.

Furthermore, an inventory monitoring system is in operation to give real-time advice on product display. This is coupled with a three-layer warehouse system covering 200 cities and townships to ensure the timely delivery of products, based on geographical shopping preferences that are present in Alibaba’s data book.

Despite slow consumption growth at home and abroad, one in every five small shops surveyed by LST reported they have witnessed positive revenue growth. Average daily revenue surpassed 7,000 yuan,   compared with the 3,000 yuan to 5,000 yuan range for average offline stores.

1. Why does Alibaba come up with Plan W?

A．To open 1.5 million small neighbourhood stores in China.

B．To improve supermarkets’ digital operating system in urban areas.

C．To increase revenue of smaller shops through digital means.

D．To move Ling Shou Tong business unit to under-developed areas.

2. How can Alibaba’s POS machine make a difference?

A．By warning possible stock shortage.

B．By increasing profit at a higher price.

C．By comparing prices of a product in different cities.

D．By offering shop-owners advice on bargaining.

3. Which of the following systems functions as a platform where products are distributed punctually?

A．The data-backed retail management system.	B．The point-of-sale system.
C．The inventory monitoring system.	D．The three-layer warehouse system.

4. Which of the following can be the best title for the text?

A．Application of Digital Means to Small Shops	B．Real Secrets of Alibaba Group’s Success
C．Great Hope of Street Stands in China	D．Possible Ways of Increasing Small Shops’ Profit

【推荐3】Baby bats learn language from peers (同伴) in their social group, and will adopt the group’s dialect, or accent, instead of their mother’s, researchers said on Tuesday. The findings shed new light on crowd-learning of language, a skill thought to belong mainly to humans and just a few other mammals. It also shows that bats are different from songbirds, which tend to learn songs by copying one of their parents. “The ability to copy vocalizations (发音) from others is extremely important for speech learning in humans, but it’s believed to be rare among animals”, said lead author Yossi Yovel of Tel Aviv University.

For the study, researchers captured 14 pregnant Egyptian fruit bats. They separated them into three different bat social groups, where they raised the young bats with their mothers. Each bat group was exposed to a different recording of bat vocalizations. “The baby bats all adopted the manner of vocalizing of the group they heard, not their mothers. The difference between the vocalizations of the mother bat and those of the group is comparable to the difference in a London accent and, say, a Scottish accent,” Yovel said.

“The babies heard their mothers’ London dialect, but also heard the Scottish dialect produced by many dozens of Scottish bats. The babies eventually adopted a dialect that was more similar to the local Scottish dialect than to the London accent of their mothers.” Researchers hope to conduct future studies to examine how bats’ dialects change when they leave their social groups, and if it affects how they integrate with others.

1. What are the latest findings about bats?

A．Bats are born to adopt their mother’s dialect.

B．Bats can understand peers with different dialects.

C．Bats’ accents are influenced by their peer’s accents.

D．Bats pick up language quickly in company with their peers.

2. In paragraph 2, what does the underlined word they refer to?

A．Accents.	B．Baby bats.
C．Researchers.	D．Mother bats.

3. Why are London and Scottish accent mentioned?

A．To show the differences in dialects among social groups.

B．To explain why bat produce different sounds.

C．To indicate the birthplace of baby bats.

D．To compare how the two accents influenced understanding.

4. What will the future study most probably focus on?

A．How bats adopt a new dialect after entering a new social group.

B．What changes might occur to bats’ accent after entering a new social group.

C．Whether bats leave their social group if they change their accents.

D．Why some bats fail to be accepted in a new group after they are born.