Abdul, 54-year-old man, has been working as a living statue for over three decades, standing perfectly still for six hours a day and resisting people’s attempts to make him move or smile, anything that proves he is a living person.
Known as “India’s Statue Man,” he has been performing his daily routine ever since 1985, soon after getting a job as a security guard. His boss had recently traveled to the UK, where he was so impressed by the statue-like members of the Royal Guard outside Buckingham Palace that he felt like doing something similar back home. So he had his guards receive three months of training, where they would sit perfectly motionless for around four hours. They weren’t allowed to talk or smile, eat, drink, or even shoo away a fly if it sat on their faces. In the end, Abdul proved the best of the group, so he got the strange job.
Abdul isn’t the only person in the world acting as a living statue but what makes him special is the fact that he can do it for as long as six hours without even blinking his eyes. Once, a $155 prize was put up for anyone who can make him move a muscle. But try as they might, no one has ever succeeded. Actually, Abdul tries to move about as much as he can in his spare time, and only eats healthy home-cooked food, to keep his body in shape. In the 32 years, Abdul has become a celebrity in India and other Asian countries. Many Bollywood celebrities have come to witness this living statue and try to finally make him move, but none has succeeded.
Abdul earns about 10,000 rupees ($156) a month, which is enough to support his family, but definitely not enough to encourage his children to follow in his footsteps. It’s just too stressful and taxing on the body. “Despite all the hardships and health problems, I love my job and I am thankful to people for the love and respect they have showered on me.” he says. “When the time comes, I want to die playing a statue.”
1. What is Abdul’s daily routine?| A．Performing as a living statue. | B．Proving to be a living person. |
| C．Smiling at his customers. | D．Keeping his body in shape. |
| A．He had his special ambition. | B．He was most familiar with the job. |
| C．He stood out among the group. | D．He knew the boss more than others. |
| A．It’s overpaid. | B．It’s satisfying. |
| C．It’s encouraging. | D．It’s instructive. |
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【推荐1】My name is Linda. I am from Isla de Maipo, Chile. I live with my dad, my mom and a rabbit happily. But I was born with a cleft lip (唇裂).
I don’t remember anything about my first years with my cleft lip. All I know is that when I was young, my parents found Fundación Gantz in Santiago, where I had been for free treatment.
Every time when I went to Fundación Gantz, my heart was full of thanks to my parents. It was not easy to arrive on time for medical examination. We had to get up at six in the morning to drive for more than an hour and be careful not to get hit by other cars, but my parents never complained about such busy and tiring days.
Doctors at Fundación Gantz helped me a lot. First, they healed my cleft lip. Then, with orthodontic treatment (正畸治疗), they managed to correct my bite, and later they performed an operation on my jawbone.
I thank the doctors there who treated me, and Dr. Angus is my favorite — he has known me since I was born. When I was in the waiting room waiting for my operation on my jawbone, I was sweating all over in fear. Dr. Angus came to my side and talked to me endlessly about the things I was interested in, such as Kayros’ music and Bolano’s books, making me feel relaxed.
In the past, before the treatment, I had no confidence, and children made jokes on my cleft lip at school. I started training in Taekwondo (跆拳道) at the age of four in a gym next to my kindergarten and it was just what I needed at that time. It changed me and the children around me — before, children played tricks on me, but later they respected me. Today, when people talk about something on my lip, I will tell them the little mark never bothers me because it is so small that it can hardly be seen.
I want to tell the medical experts at Gantz to keep it up because their work is admirable, and they help a lot of people in need.
1. Which of the following can best describe the author’s parents?| A．Selfless. | B．Impatient. | C．Fair. | D．Outgoing. |
| A．He read to her. | B．He talked about interesting things with her. |
| C．He played music for her. | D．He changed her operation plan. |
| A．It made her school time colorful. | B．It built her confidence. |
| C．It improved her school performances. | D．It prepared her for her future career. |
| A．The color. | B．The cost. | C．The operation. | D．The mark. |
【推荐2】“Meet me in the conference room with the contracts and a cup of coffee,” my boss barked at me. “Ten minutes. ”
I didn’t respond. I stood still as if my shoes had been glued to the floor. I had no intention of taking a cup of anything to anyone, supervisor or not.
I had seen with my own eyes what such behavior did to a woman. It happened to Mrs. Wilson next door. Old Mr. Wilson couldn’t put in his own false teeth without his wife’s assistance, let alone make himself lunch. It was a miserable union. I vowed by age eight that I would never live like her. I adopted the motto: Don’t help those who won’t help themselves.
I rushed to the file room and pulled my phone. I explained to my father what had happened and asked his advice on what to do, only to be asked back. He must have forgotten the unwritten rule between us about not answering a question with a question. Fortunately, I came up with an idea that would have the best of both worlds.
I took up the files and headed for the coffee pot. I took two cups and made two cups of coffee. Then I walked into the boss’ office with a cup of coffee in each hand. I handed my boss a cup of coffee and drank at the same time as him.
“Let’s take a break,” partway through the meeting, my boss stood, saying. “I need more coffee.” I picked up my empty cup. “I do, too,” I said, and handed it to him across the table. “Thanks,” I added, looking at him expectantly. The boss was staggered for a moment, and then took the cup from me.
When I finally left my boss’ office, I hid in the bathroom and called my dad. My father’s laughter on the phone made me feel even prouder.
1. Why does the author mention the Wilsons?| A．To show how the couple grew old together. |
| B．To picture what she will be like when she ages. |
| C．To stress her opposition to inequality in society. |
| D．To explain her unwillingness to serve the coffee. |
| A．She meant to share instead of serving. |
| B．She planned to have the boss serve her later. |
| C．She intended to play a trick on her mean boss. |
| D．She wanted to save the trouble of doing it again. |
| A．Annoyed. | B．Shocked. | C．Confused. | D．Excited. |
| A．She figured out how to show respect for her superior. |
| B．She found it practical to seek solutions from her father. |
| C．She took a sensible approach to standing up for herself. |
| D．She considered it significant to fight against men bravely. |
【推荐3】My 17-year-old daughter went off to college and having her away from home brought back memories of watching Peter Pan when she was little. In the classic TV production, one scene in particular impressed me: when Mrs Darling puts her children into bed. As she turns off the last of the night lights, she takes one last look at the bedroom and says, “Dear night lights protect my sleeping children.” As a mother, I know how much she loves her children.
It has been several weeks since we took our daughter to college and she seems to be adjusting well after a short period of homesickness. For us, though, it’s another story. Like most parents, I love checking in on my children at night. But now she’s gone, and I find nighttime the hardest. I miss her most at night.
In my neighborhood, most of the parents whose kids are off to college are dealing with similar melancholy. My husband is filled with anxiety. One friend talked about getting this sick feeling in her stomach as she prepared for the college drop-off. We complained that many of us were too busy to truly enjoy being with our children while we had them.
For us moms, seeing Toy Story 3 only made the sadness worse as we watched the character Andy, who is the same age as our kids, say goodbye to his childhood as he prepares to leave for college. And it’s not just “first-time” parents like me. Two moms who have kids already well into college said the separation didn’t get any easier. “You feel like something has been taken away from inside you,” said one of them.
I imagine things will get easier with time, especially as I see my daughter adjust to college life. Meanwhile, as I keep my cellphone close to me in bed and text my daughter goodnight and sweet dreams every night, I like to think that messages serve as a night light that keeps her safe.
1. The writer was deeply impressed by the scene in Peter Pan because ___________.| A．she watched the scene with her daughter |
| B．the scene was very exciting and interesting |
| C．the scene taught her and her daughter a good lesson |
| D．the scene showed a mother’s deep love for her children |
| A．didn’t get used to the change for a long time |
| B．often cried as she missed her daughter so much |
| C．realized she hadn’t done enough for the daughter |
| D．failed to have a good sleep every night |
| A．Happiness | B．Anger |
| C．Sadness | D．Excitement |
| A．made the writer know her daughter didn’t want to go to college |
| B．improved the relationship between the writer and her daughter |
| C．helped the writer realize how important education was |
| D．made the writer miss her daughter even more |
【推荐1】Bob was born in Cambridge. When he was in elementary school, he asked his mother to take him to parks in their community so he could collect empty soda cans to recycle. His mother agreed, as long as he saved part of the money he earned for college.
Bob’s mother remembers Bob as the most determined of her seven kids. Bob’s hard work paid off. On Friday, he will become the first person in his family, originally from El Salvador, to graduate from college. And he’s graduating with university honors.
For his honors thesis（毕业论文）he researched unmanned solar-powered（太阳能）airplanes, which BYU students have been building and testing for about 10 years. Bob’s study helps discover the best way to fly a solar-powered airplane so that it uses the least amount of power. The goal is to design and build an airplane that flies uncertainly. Bob’s thesis helps lay the basis for this work.
“My parents were always hard-working,” Bob said. “They often tell us hard work leads to success.” Bob’s father taught him to read at the age of 3, and his mother is now a student at Utah Valley University in a way to becoming a dentist.
Bob recognized he overcame some obstacles（障碍）to get where he is. For starters, English is his second language. He also faced stereotypes（模式化的形象）. Although Bob never doubted that he would be a college graduate, other people believed he wouldn’t because he didn’t come from a family of high income. There were other obstacles as well, but Bob viewed them all as opportunities.
Bob’s mother says she feels very happy and proud that her son is about to graduate with honors, and remembers the effort he’s made to get there. “He has worked very hard. He started something, and now he has finished it,” Cathy says. “I have always told him, ‘If this is your dream, then you can get it! Keep working hard and you can get it!’”
1. From the passage we can know that Bob’s honors thesis __________.| A．makes his mother feel surprised |
| B．helps to save the power of flying a solar-powered airplane |
| C．is done with BYU students |
| D．doubts the way of flying a solar-powered airplane |
| A．researched unmanned solar-powered airplanes for 10 years |
| B．paid for all his study by collecting empty soda cans |
| C．worked hard and has graduated from college |
| D．was affected by his family and has made some achievements |
| A．his parents had little money to support him |
| B．his teacher didn’t think he could graduate |
| C．he didn’t work hard on his study |
| D．he didn’t dare to face the obstacles for short of confidence |
| A．Bob’s mother is on the way to becoming a dentist |
| B．Bob’s mother works in their community |
| C．Bon’s father will graduate from Utah Valley University on Friday |
| D．Bob’s father learnt to read at the age of 3 |
【推荐2】Not so long ago,most people didn't know who Shelly Ann Francis Pryce was going to become.She was just an average high school athlete.There was every indication that she was just another American teenager without much of a future.However,one person wants to change this.Stephen Francis observed then eighteen-year-old Shelly Ann as a track meet and was convinced that he had seen the beginning of true greatness.Her time were not exactly impressive, but even so,he seemed there was something trying to get out,something the other coaches had overlooked when they had assessed her and found her lacking.He decided to offer Shelly Ann a place in his very strict training seasons. Their cooperation quickly produced results,and a few year later at Jamaica's Olympic games in early 2008,Shelly Ann,who at that time only ranked number 70 in the world,beat Jamaica's unchallenged queen of the sprint（短跑）.
"Where did she come from?"asked an astonished sprinting world,before concluding that she must be one of those one-hit wonders that spring up from time to time,only to disappear again without signs.But Shelly Ann was to prove that she was anything but a one-hit wonder.At the Beijing Olympic she swept away any doubts about her ability to perform consistently by becoming the first Jamaican woman ever to win the 100 meters Olympic gold.She did it again one year on at the World Championship in Briton,becoming world champion with a time of' 10.73—the fourth record ever.
Shelly-Ann is a little woman with a big smile.She has a mental toughness that did not come about by chance. Her journey to becoming the fastest woman on earth has been anything but smooth and effortless,She grew up in one of Jamaica's toughest inner-city communities known as Waterhouse,where she lived in a one-room apartment, sleeping four in a bed with her mother and two brothers.Waterhouse,one of the poorest communities in Jamaica,is a really violent and overpopulated place.Several of Shelly-Ann's friends and family were caught up in the killings;one of her cousins was shot dead only a few streets away from where she lived.Sometimes her family didn't have enough to eat.She ran at the school championships barefooted because she couldn't afford shoes.Her mother Maxime,one of a family of fourteen,had been an athlete herself as a young girl but,like so many other girls in Waterhouse,had to stop after she had her first baby.Maxime's early entry into the adult world with its responsibilities gave her the determination to ensure that her kids would not end up in Waterhouse's roundabout of poverty.One of the first things Maxime used to do with Shelly-Ann was taking her to the track,and she was ready to sacrifice everything.
It didn't take long for Shelly-Ann to realize that sports could be her way out of Waterhouse.On a summer evening in Beijing in 2008,all those long,hard hours of work and commitment finally bore fruit.The barefoot kid who just a few years previously had been living in poverty,surrounded by criminals and violence,had written a new chapter in the history of sports.
But Shelly-Ann's victory was far greater than that.The night,she won Olympic gold in Beijing,the routine murders in Waterhouse and the drug wars in the neighbouring streets stopped.The dark cloud above one of the world's toughest criminal neighbourhoods simply disappeared for a few days.“I have so much fire burning for my country,”Shelly said.She plans to start a foundation for homeless children and wants to build a community centre in Waterhouse.She hopes to inspire the Jamaicans to lay down their weapons.She intends to fight to make it a woman's as well as a man's world.
As Muhammad Ali puts it,"Champions aren't made in gyms.Champions are made from something they have deep inside them.A desire,a dream,a vision."One of the things Shelly-Ann can be proud of is her understanding of this truth.
1. Why did Stephen Francis decide to coach Shelly-Ann?| A．He had a strong desire to free her family from trouble. |
| B．He sensed a great potential in her despite her weaknesses. |
| C．She had big problems maintaining her performance. |
| D．She suffered a lot of defeats at the previous track meets. |
| A．She was highly rewarded for her efforts. |
| B．She was eager to do more for her country. |
| C．She became an athletic star in her country. |
| D．She was the envy of the whole community. |
| A．players should be highly inspired by coaches |
| B．great athletes need to concentrate on patience |
| C．hard work is necessary in one's achievements |
| D．motivation allows great athletes to be on the top |
| A．The Making of a Great Athlete |
| B．The Dream for Championship |
| C．The Key to High Performance |
| D．The Power of Full Responsibility |
【推荐3】Andrew Feldman is a student at Lawrence Woodmere Academy (LWA) in Woodmere, New York. On June 25, 2018, he took home the top prize at the National High School Musical Theatre Awards(全美高中生音乐剧奖) at Broadway’s Minskoff Theatre.
Also known as the Jimmy Awards, the awards were named to remember James M. Nederlander, a theatre owner and Broadway producer who died in 2016.
Feldman won the award for Best Performance by an Actor for playing Frank Abagnale Jr. in LWA’s production of “Catch Me If You Can.” He and Reneé Rapp each received a $10,000 scholarship. Rapp from Charlotte, North Carolina, is the winner of the Best Performance by an Actress award. The other remaining seventy-eight finalists received $3,000 scholarships.
The finalists received a week of training at the New York University Tisch School of the Arts(TSOA) before the awards event. Instructors from Broadway taught them basic skills of performing arts.
Feldman also won the Carnegie Mellon Pre-College Scholarship. Carnegie Mellon University, based in Pittsburgh, was founded in 1900 by Andrew Carnegie. Feldman received an additional $7,500 to attend the university’s six-week summer play program.
He has been a Broadway lover since seeing “Beauty and the Beast” when he was young. And then he performed in his first play, a production of “Annie” at eight.
The shock of winning had still not disappeared. “Winning the Jimmy Award is not something I even imagined,” Feldman said. “I didn’t think it could actually happen! It’s now been about a week and a half and I still don’t believe it.”
In 2014, Feldman created a theatre company called Zneefrock Productions. The company was run totally by teens. It was set up to raise money for NEXT for Autism, an organization helping to support autism programs.
1. What did Feldman do during the week before June 25?| A．He traveled around Pittsburgh. | B．He received training at TSOA. |
| C．He performed at the Minskoff Theatre. | D．He visited Carnegie Mellon University. |
| A．He was certain of it. | B．He was not expecting it. |
| C．It took him a lot of effort. | D．It was not a great achievement. |
| A．A group of Broadway lovers. | B．A theatre company run by teens. |
| C．The winner of the Jimmy Awards. | D．The influence of the Jimmy Awards. |
【推荐1】An 8-year-old Nigerian, Tani Adewumis, whose family is homeless, won first place at the New York State chess championship without a single defeat at the beginning of 2019 and he says he is not done yet.
“I want to be the youngest grandmaster,” Tani told The New York Times. Tani placed first in the tournament for kindergarten through third grade — an outstanding win for anyone. “It’s unheard of for any kid, let alone one in a homeless shelter,” said Russell Makofsky, who is in charge of the chess program.
Tani hasn’t had an easy life. His family left northern Nigeria in 2017 fearing attacks on Christians, and moved to New York City over a year ago where the boy learned how to play chess at school. School chess coach Shawn Martinez saw Tani’s potential after observing him stand out in the game a few weeks after first learning it early last year. He reached out to Tani’s family about joining in the school’s chess program, and learned they were unable to pay costs associated with membership. Shawn decided to abandon Tani’s fees, which can easily reach thousands with travel and chess camp admissions.
Seven victories later, the elementary school boy is one of the top players in the country for his age group. “He works very hard at his game,” Martinez said, believing Tani could achieve master status in the next year or two. The world’s youngest grandmaster qualified at the age of 12.
As Tani’s story hits national headlines, more people want to help. Makofsky, who set up a GoFundMe for Tani, said the family has received offers for a car, legal services, jobs and even housing. “My hope is that he’ll be in a home tonight,” Makofsky said.
1. How did Makofsky find Tani’s achievement?| A．Confusing. | B．Amusing. |
| C．Amazing. | D．Ridiculous. |
| A．Makofsky told him to do so |
| B．Tani's family were unable to pay costs associated with their daily life. |
| C．Shawn took charge of the chess program |
| D．Tani had a great gift for chess. |
| A．All things are difficult before they are easy. |
| B．A good beginning makes a good ending. |
| C．A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. |
| D．God helps those who help themselves. |
| A．A Chess Coach Helped to Support a Nigerian Child |
| B．A Nigerian Family Hit National Headlines in the USA |
| C．A Homeless Nigerian Won the State Chess Championship |
| D．An 8-year-old Became the Youngest Grandmaster in 2019 |
【推荐2】In 2003, Mary Marggraff was a 47-year-old California mother, devoted to school committees and car pool (拼车) schedules. But after losing her trusty notebook and buying a new one, she had an inspiration. ''It was blank, '' says Marggraff, now 64. ''What else could I fill it with?'' Soon she was thinking about her childhood love of flying, and next thing she knew, she determined to register in flight school. ''In my first class, all the students were single men half my age. I felt like a housemother attending a fraternity (兄弟会), but I loved it too much to walk away. '' she says.
Marggraff earned her first pilot's license in 2005. Six years and four additional licenses later, her addiction to being in the air changed into something grander: a desire to go to space. To move closer to her starry dreams, Marggraff got a part-time job as a mission support representative at Virgin Galactic, Richard Branson's commercial space line. In that role, she attended space-related gatherings where she educated people about the future of universe voyages. Though space tourism isn't quite a reality yet, Marggraff has already begun space training in expectation of being on one of Virgin's early flights. ''I've completed acceleration force exercises, '' she says, ''which require getting inside a machine, spinning around at 2,500 miles per hour, and trying not to black out. ''
Marggraff's training has meant more than getting her wings—it's expanded her sense of what the future may hold. ''It turns out I’m capable of much more than I imagined, '' she says. ''I used to think it'd be a miracle if I got my first license. Now I've completed nearly 1,000 hours of flight! I'm rotten in the kitchen and I burn anything I iron, but if you need someone to land a plane, call me. ''
1. Why did Marggraff register in flight school?| A．To break away from car pool schedules. |
| B．To fill her new blank notebook. |
| C．To prove women are equal to men in flying. |
| D．To pursue her childhood dream of flying. |
| A．She got into space on one of Virgin's early flights. |
| B．She instructed people in how to make universe voyages. |
| C．She received space training in preparation for space tourism. |
| D．She tried in vain to overcome faintness from high speed. |
| A．It proves her a miracle. | B．It increases her self-confidence. |
| C．It wins her a qualification. | D．It improves her imagination. |
| A．Aggressive and hopeful. | B．Creative and fragile. |
| C．Energetic and sensitive. | D．Considerate and persistent. |
【推荐3】As a little girl, I’d sit in the kitchen and watch my mother cook, but I didn’t really get into cooking. When I graduated from college and moved lo Washington DC, I left all of my friends behind. There were no new roommates. I was on my own and felt lonely. Home-cooked meals were my best attempt at changing my condition.
So, I started calling my mom and asking for the recipes (食谱) for my favorite dishes. It turned out that my mom didn’t have any recipes. She couldn’t give me a single measurement (计量) for any dish. She grew up in the kitchen with her mom too, and my grandma shared her knowledge through oral (口头的) tradition. Then it was my turn. My mom taught me how to “measure with my heart” when cooking. I learned to cook by tasting and feeling my food. And my food was pretty good. Soon enough, everyone was asking me for the recipes. That was why Bun Bo Bae, my cooking blog, came into being in 2019.
Bun Bo Bae was a space for me to put what I learned into writing. I didn’t want all of the secret knowledge behind dishes like my mom’s noodles and my dad’s tomato soup to disappear if the oral tradition ended one day. I wanted to write down every piece of advice I was given in detail.
These days, I experiment more. I’m not as strict with myself about recreating the dishes exactly as I remember about eating them. I use seasonal food materials when I can’t find some items. My food blog and flower count grew, and so did my confidence in the kitchen.
Bun Bo Bae also increased my confidence at work and gave me a space to write about what I love. It has connected me to countless new Internet friends.
Most importantly, writing for Bun Bo Bae has taught me that celebrating my culture doesn’t have to be about perfectly recreating my parents’ tradition. It’s about mixing what I’ve been taught with my own experiences, and cooking up something entirely new.
1. Why did the author begin her home-cooked meals?| A．To lead a healthy lifestyle. | B．To get rid of her loneliness. |
| C．To try out her mother’s recipes. | D．To improve her cooking skills. |
| A．She had trouble creating new recipes. |
| B．She followed strict measurements in cooking. |
| C．She made tastier dishes than her mom and grandma. |
| D．She mastered cooking skills under her mom’s oral guidance. |
| A．To bring her family members together. |
| B．To discuss local fine foods with followers. |
| C．To keep a record of her family’s cooking tradition. |
| D．To encourage people to develop healthy eating habits. |
| A．It’s important to learn a basic living skill, |
| B．It’s necessary to share her food knowledge online. |
| C．It’s better to understand different cooking cultures. |
| D．It’s wise to connect traditional cooking methods with new ideas. |
【推荐1】Guide to Stockholm University Library
Our library offers different types of studying places and provides a good studying environment.
Zones
The library is divided into different zones. The upper floor is a quiet zone with over a thousand places for silent reading, and places where you can sit and work with your own computer. The reading places consist mostly of tables and chairs. The ground floor is the zone where you can talk. Here you can find sofas and armchairs for group work.
Computers
You can use your own computer to connect to the Wi-Fi specially prepared for notebook computers; you can also use library computers, which contain the most commonly used applications, such as Microsoft Office. They are situated in the area known as the Experimental Field on the ground floor.
Group-study Places
If you want to discuss freely without disturbing others, you can book a study room or sit at a table on the ground floor. Some study rooms are for 2-3 people and others can hold up to 6-8 people. All rooms are marked on the library maps.
There are 40 group-study rooms that must be booked via the website. To book, you need an active University account and a valid University card. You can use a room three hours per day, nine hours at most per week.
Storage of study material
The library has lockers for students to store course literature. When you have obtained at least 40 credits (学分), you may rent a locker and pay 400 SEK for a year’s rental period.
Rules to be followed
Mobile phone conversations are not permitted anywhere in the library. Keep your phone on silent as if you were in a lecture and exit the library if you need to receive calls.
Please note that food and fruit are forbidden in the library, but you are allowed to have drinks and sweets with you.
1. The library’s upper floor is mainly for students to ______.| A．read in a quiet place | B．have group discussions |
| C．take comfortable seats | D．get their computers fixed |
| A．help students with their field experiments |
| B．contain software essential for schoolwork |
| C．are for those who want to access the Wi-Fi |
| D．are mostly used for filling out application forms |
| A．A group must consist of 8 people. |
| B．Three-hour use per day is the minimum. |
| C．One should first register at the university. |
| D．Applications must mark the room on the map. |
| A．can afford the rental fee | B．attends certain courses |
| C．has nowhere to put his books. | D．has earned the required credits |
【推荐2】If you frequently google language-related questions, you've probably seen an advertisement for Grammarly, an automated grammar-checker. Grammarly claims that it has the ability not only to fix mistakes, but also to improve style and polish too. Does it achieve what it claims to? Maybe not.
Artificial-intelligence systems like Grammarly are trained with data. Developers also manually add certain rules to the patterns Grammarly has taught itself. The software then looks at a user's essay : if a string of words seems ungrammatical, it tries to spot how the acknowledged mistake most closely resembles one from its training inputs.
All this shows how far artificial intelligence (AI) is from the human kind. Computers outsmart humans at problems that can be solved with pure maths, such as chess. Advances in language technology have been impressive in, for example, speech recognition, which involves another sort of statistical guess-whether or not a stretch of sound matches a certain string of words.
But grammar is the real magic of language. And machines are no match for humans. Computers can analyze grammatical sentences fairly well, labeling things like nouns and verb phrases. But they struggle with sentences that are difficult to analyze, precisely because they are ungrammatical.
To correct such essays requires knowing what the writer intended. But computers don't work in meaning or intention, they work in formulae. Humans, by contrast, can usually understand even rather damaged syntax, because of the ability to guess the contents of other minds. Grammar-checking computers focus on not how bad humans are with language, but just how good.
1. What's the text mainly about?| A．What AI system Grammarly is. | B．What problem AI has with grammar. |
| C．How AI system works on grammar. | D．How AI outsmarts humans in language. |
| A．Because they are trained with data. | B．Because they have taught themselves. |
| C．Because they easily spot mistakes. | D．Because maybe sound matches words. |
| A．Analyzing ungrammatical sentences. | B．Figuring out meaning and intention. |
| C．Identifying nouns and verb phrases. | D．Understanding damaged syntax. |
| A．Doubtful. | B．Favorable. | C．Indifferent. | D．Worried. |
【推荐3】Most young people enjoy some form of physical activity. . It may be walking, cycling or swimming, or in winter, skating or skiing. It may, be a game of some·kind, football, hockey, golf or tennis. It may be mountaineering.
Those who have a passion for climbing high and difficult, mountains are often looked upon with astonishment. Why are men and women willing to suffer cold and hardship,and to take risks on high mountains? This astonishment.is caused probably by the difference between mountaineering and other forms of activity to which men give their leisure.
Mountaineering is a sport and not a game. There are no man-made rules, as there are for such games as golf and football. There are, of course, rules of a different kind which it would be dangerous to ignore, but it is this freedom from man-made rules that makes mountaineering attractive to many people. Those who climb mountains are free to use their own methods.
If we compare mountaineering and other more familiar sports, we might think that one big difference is that mountaineering is not a “team game”. We should be mistaken in this. There are, it is true, no “matches” between teams of climbers, but when climbers are on a rock face linked by a rope on which their lives may depend, there is obviously team work. The mountain climber knows that he may have to fight forces that are stronger and more powerful than man. He has to fight the forces of nature. His sport requires high mental and physical qualities.
A mountain climber continues to improve in skill year after year. A skier is probably past his best by the age of thirty, and most international tennis champions are in their early twenties. But it is not unusual for a man of fifty or sixty to climb the highest mountains in the Alps. They may take more time than younger men, but they probably climb with more skill and less waste of effort, and they certainly experience equal enjoyment.
1. Which of the following can be the best title for the passage?| A．Differences between Golf and Mountaineering. |
| B．Sports and Games. |
| C．Mountaineering. |
| D．Why are so many people crazy about mountaineering? |
| A．mountain climbers usually compete in,groups |
| B．mountaineers depend on each other while climbing |
| C．mountaineering climbers are free to use their own rules to climb |
| D．mountaineering is a sport not a game |
| A．there are no man-made rules, for mountaineers |
| B．mountaineering is a sport and not a game |
| C．it is one of the most dangerous sports |
| D．mountaineering bring us more enjoyment than other sports |
