In an economy where data is changing how companies create value — and compete — experts predict that using artificial intelligence (Al) at a larger scale will add as much as $I5.7 trillion to the global economy by 2030. As Al is changing how companies work, many believe that who does this work will change, too — and that organizations will begin to replace human employees with intelligent machines. This is already happening: intelligent systems are displacing humans in manufacturing, service delivery, recruitment, and the financial industry, consequently moving human workers towards lower-paid jobs or making them unemployed. This trend has led some to conclude that in 2040 our workforce may be totally unrecognizable.
Are humans and machine really in competition with each other though? The history of work—particularly since the Industrial Revolution—is the history of people transferring their labor to machines. While that began with rote, repetitive physical tasks like weaving, machines have evolved to the point where they can now do what we might think of as complex cognitive work, such as math equations, recognizing language and speech, and writing. Machines thus seem ready to reproduce the work of our minds, and not just our bodies. In the 21st century, Al is evolving to be superior to humans in many tasks, which makes that we seem ready to transfer our intelligence to technology. With this latest trend, it seems like there's nothing that can't soon be automated, meaning that no job is safe from being offloaded to machines.
This vision of the future of work has taken the shape of a zero-sum game, in which there can only be one winner.
We believe, however, that this view of the role Al will play in the workplace is wrong. The question of whether Al will replace human workers assumes that Al and humans have the same qualities and abilities — but, in reality, they don't. Al — based machines are fast, more accurate, and consistently rational, but they aren't intuitive, emotional, or culturally sensitive. And, it's exactly these abilities that humans possess and which make us effective.
1. How does Al influence human life according to Paragraph 1?| A．It increases huge economic costs. | B．It dominates company's future. |
| C．It makes workforce totally unnecessary. | D．It changes traditional working ways. |
| A．Doing repetitive work. | B．Doing physical tasks. |
| C．Doing translation work. | D．Doing reproducing tasks. |
| A．Al-based machine and humans. | B．Minds and bodies. |
| C．Future and past. | D．Imagination and Reality. |
| A．Al plays a vital role in the workplace. | B．Human has its own advantages over Al. |
| C．Al and humans have the same qualities. | D．Al is sure to replace humans one day. |
相似题推荐
【推荐1】Children’s Sci-fi Art Predicts Extraordinary Future
More than 80 sci-fi artworks are on display at the Shanghai Science and Technology Museum, showing a beautiful yet puzzling future. The “Brave New Sci-Fi World” exhibition features paintings and art installations (设备) by students from Shanghai, Beijing, Chongqing and other cities. They imagine the future as a world where robots and human beings co-exist.
Ru Chen, from Shanghai New Putuo Primary School, has pictured a robot chameleon (变色龙) to be used in outer space to aid in the search and rescue of human beings in case of danger.
Li Jiaqi from Guangzhou Dongfeng East Road Primary School has painted a city where advanced technologies are everywhere, and even the city itself turns into a large robot.
Huang Yanrui from Beijing Shijingshan Gucheng No. 2 Primary School imagines his rubber, pencil box and such stationery (文具) becoming conscious robots, and beginning to design future human beings.
Wang Zhihan, from Shanghai Shangde Experimental School and her schoolmates, stick electronic components on stone faces as a metaphor (隐喻) for the increasingly unclear boundaries between the reality and virtual world. “We hope to remind people never lose yourself in a world with advanced technologies,” she said.
The exhibition will last till November 4.
Opening hours:
Tuesdays-Sundays 9: 00- 17: 15; legal holidays 8: 45- 18: 30.
Transportation Guide:
Metro: Metro Line 2: Shanghai Science and Technology Museum Station.
Metro Line 4, Metro Line 6 and Metro Line 9: change to Metro Line 2 at the Century Avenue Station.
Bus Routes: Bus 184, 640, 794, 983, 984, 987, 1023, 640 inter-zonal bus will take you there.
1. Whose artwork is related with space?| A．Ru Chen’s. | B．Li Jiaqi’s. | C．Huang Yanrui’s. | D．Wang Zhihan’s. |
| A．Shanghai. | B．Guangzhou. | C．Chongqing. | D．Beijing. |
| A．Metro Line 2. | B．Metro Line 4. | C．Metro Line 6. | D．Metro Line 9. |
【推荐2】As cities around the world try to be smart, some have become stupid instead.
So, what is a “stupid city”? It is a city that gives in to urban sprawl( 扩张), with people moving from central areas to less-crowded communities, said Mr. Nicholas You, a director of the Guangzhou Institute for Urban Innovation in China. Such communities are heavily reliant on cars.
Another problem Mr. You stressed is that public administration bodies in “stupid cities’’ tend to work alone, refusing to share data that could help develop solutions to urban problems. He made the point during a discussion on urban transformation in Asia, saying, “A real smart city is one that looks at everything as a whole—you can’t look at water issues without looking at energy.”
A South Korean member, Mr. Jong Sung Hwang, suggested that some of the biggest barriers to creating a smart city are cultural. South Korean society is less forgiving of mistakes, noted Mr. Jong. For example, some in Seoul tried to push for an intelligent traffic system but were met with resistance from the police. He said, “We have ideas, data and even money, but we could not make it happen.”
India, however, is not adopting a one-size-fits-all approach to create smart cities for its 1.3 billion people, said a member from India.
In Singapore, which launched its Smart Nation initiative( 行 动 ) in 2014, the authorities fear that technology can worsen the divide between the haves and the have-nots, said Dr. Limin Hee, director for research at the Centre for Liveable Cities here. “Thankfully, many cities are considering such issues as how to make better use of data and technology to create smart cities,” she added.
1. What can we learn about a smart city?| A．It encourages urban expansion. |
| B．It has few people in its central areas. |
| C．It solves urban problems by sharing data. |
| D．It treats every issue as a separate unit. |
| A．People are tolerant of mistakes. |
| B．The police are afraid of making mistakes. |
| C．The government is lacking enough money. |
| D．The traffic system in Seoul is very advanced. |
| A．Its population is decreasing. |
| B．It has no examples to follow. |
| C．It fails to adopt a universally right system. |
| D．It lacks advanced technologies. |
| A．The disapproval of the public. |
| B．More money spent than expected. |
| C．The development of cities being limited. |
| D．The increasing gap between the rich and the poor. |
【推荐3】Online Learning’s Big Issue
Supporters of education technology have made remarkable promises over the past two decades that by 2019, hall of all secondary school courses would be online; videos and practice problems can let students learn mathematics at their own pace, or that typical students left alone with internet-connected computers can learn anything without the help of schools or teachers.
Then in 2020, people around the world were forced to turn to online learning as the coronavirus pandemic shut down schools serving more than 1 billion students. It was education technology’s big moment, but for many students and families, remote learning has been a disappointment. When the world needs it most, why has education technology seemed so dull?
Educational software has a long history, but throughout this history there have been two major challenges. The first is that most people depend on human connection to maintain their motivation. When a student closes their laptop in frustration in a classroom, someone can see it and respond. When the same thing happens while using an education technology product, human connections are shut down with it. Well-designed online learning environments can encourage meaningful relationships, but in practice, many online students struggle to stay focused.
The second challenge is that the mapping out of different courses are complex. On any given day in a school, one teacher may introduce a new sound-letter mapping in phonics, another finish a unit on plate tectonics (板块构造学), and a third facilitate a seminar on Hamlet. In a traditional classroom setting, a teacher could simply walk down the hall straight into a new classroom and teach an entirely different subject matter. But for every new curriculum area for education technology, new content, tools, resources and assessments need to be developed.
Assessments are also a thorny challenge. In some domains, like mathematics and computer science, education technology can instantly detect when a student solves a problem or creates a correctly functioning computer program. We can reward students for getting answers correct, push them towards resources when they get things wrong, and create the feedback loops of instruction, assessment and repetition that good learning requires.
Unfortunately, the same approach doesn’t work so well in other areas. We can ask students to calculate how far a tectonic plate might move given a certain speed and time and computers involved would easily be able to instantly evaluate a correct numerical answer. But if we ask students to write a paragraph that explains how plate tectonics work, computers can’t reliably identify correct, partially correct and incorrect responses. Computers cannot reliably evaluate how humans reason from evidence, and reasoning from evidence is the very core of schooling.
Education technology has long promised to transform education, but at best, the field has developed individual tools for inches of the curriculum. For large areas of school learning, we don’t have online tools or resources that are any better than a printed textbook. For most teachers, the road to more effective teaching with technology looks less like a transformation, and more like tinkering: a slow and steady process towards identifying the right tool or approach for particular students in a particular context.
1. The first two paragraphs indicate that ________.| A．education technology is advancing as fast as expected |
| B．online education is taking the place of conventional teaching |
| C．the predictions about the rise of education technology were overly optimistic |
| D．education technology has played an important role during coronavirus pandemic |
| A．students are under pressure to learn all the subjects |
| B．education technology is not ready for all curriculum areas |
| C．teachers lack new tools and resources when teaching new content |
| D．a teacher can teach only one subject while education technology can teach many |
| A．overtake printed textbooks |
| B．offer flexible, large-scale teaching tools |
| C．provide individual tools in a particular field |
| D．evaluate reliably how humans reason from evidence |
| A．education technology may improve how we connect as humans |
| B．teachers should help develop tools and resources of education technology |
| C．education technology will soon bring about an educational transformation |
| D．teachers need to think carefully before they utilize technology in their teaching |
【推荐1】Nearly 10,000 protesters came out in support of the Black Lives Matter rally in London. Londoners filled Victoria Park in support of the Black Lives Matter movement against the systemic racism and police brutality (暴行) happening in the United States and Canada.
The Black Lives Matter movement has seen thousands of people across Canada, the United States and the world join together following the death of George Floyd, a black man died in police custody after a white police officer was filmed kneeling on his neck. Floyd’s death in Minneapolis was only the latest in a number of cases of Black men dying while in police custody.
“Racism happens here, it happens to me, it happens to my son, it happens to my friends, and we have just been quiet and silent for far too long,” said Alexandra Kane, a spokesperson for Black Lives Matter London movement. She is hoping that from the Black Lives Matter movements they can see reform and changes within the government so that both Black and Indigenous people are “viewed and treated fairly”. “We want people within our own Black community to know we support each other. We don’t often congregate and come together, but now we can do so safely without the fear of being put into a stereotypical category.”
“I can’t even begin to name all of the times in the 18 years of my life that someone or something has made me feel less than because of the color of my skin,” one of the organizers, Simone Schacht, said when speaking at the rally. Meanwhile, “It disgusts me because we are human beings just like anyone else and we should not be treated differently,” cried 10-year-old Noah.
Nichelle Samuel was there with her husband and daughter in solidarity with her fellow Black Canadians calling for change. “Every time my husband leaves the house, it’s a constant worry something may happen,” she said. “Seeing what happens in the states only kind of effects here on a silent level. I want this rally to let people know this stuff happens silently, and if you see it, you hear it, do something about it.”
1. What does the author indicate to us by the example of Floyd in Paragraph 2?| A．American police are very violent. |
| B．Floyd’s tragic death was caused by a white cop. |
| C．People all over the world sympathized with Floyd. |
| D．Black people have long suffered from racial discrimination. |
| A．Nichelle Samuel. | B．Alexandra Kane. | C．Simone Schacht. | D．Noah. |
| A．unite | B．defeat | C．transform | D．congratulate |
| A．The government should not be blamed for the failure of white police. |
| B．The death of Floyd was a trigger for the Black Lives Matter. |
| C．Discrimination based on skin color is bad but inevitable. |
| D．Black Lives Matter rally may not work. |
【推荐2】The college years are supposed to be a time for important growth in autonomy and the development of adult identity. However, now they are becoming an extended period of adolescence, during which many of today’s students are not shouldered with adult responsibilities.
For previous generation, college was decisive break from parental control; guidance and support needed help from people of the same age and from within. In the past two decades, however, continued connection with and dependence on family, thanks to cell phones, email and social media, have increased significantly. Some parents go so far as to help with coursework. Instead of promoting the idea of college as a passage from the shelter of family to autonomy and adult responsibility, universities have given in to the idea that they should provide the same environment as that of the home.
To prepare for increased autonomy and responsibility, college needs to be a time of exploration and experimentation. This process involves “trying on” new ways of thinking about oneself both intellectually and personally. While we should provide “safe spaces” within colleges, we must also make it safe to express opinions and challenge majority views. Intellectual growth and flexibility are fostered by strict debate and questioning.
Learning to deal with the social world is equally important. Because a college community differs from the family , many students will struggle to find a sense of belonging. If students rely on administrators to regulate their social behavior and thinking pattern, they are not facing the challenge of finding an identity within a larger and complex community.
Moreover, the tendency for universities to monitor and shape student behavaior runs up against another characteristic of young adults: the response to being controlled by their elders. If acceptable social behavior is too strictly defined and controlled, the insensitive or aggressive behavior that administrator are seeking to minimize may actually be encouraged.
It is not surprising that young people are likely to burst out, particularly when there are reasons to do so. Our generation once joined hands and stood firm at times of national emergency. What is lacking today is the conflict between adolescent’s desire for autonomy and their understanding of an unsafe world. Therefore, there is the desire for their dorms to be replacement homes and not places to experience intellectual growth.
Every college discussion about community values, social climate and behavior should include recognition of the developmental importance of student autonomy and self-regulation, of the necessary tension between safety and self-discovery.
1. What’s the author’s attitude toward continued parental guidance to college students?| A．Sympathetic | B．Disapproving | C．Supportive | D．Neutral |
| A．change | B．choice | C．text | D．extension |
| A．To develop a shared identity among students |
| B．B. To define and regulate students’ social behavior |
| C．To provide a safe world without tension for students |
| D．To foster students’ intellectual and personal development |
| A．Adolescent Autonomy VS Adult Interference |
| B．Social Behavioral Cultivation for College Life |
| C．College Should Be a HomeAway From Home |
| D．Why College Is Not Home |
【推荐3】Photography is a very popular art form. Anyone with a camera – or a mobile phone – can practice it. A picture communicates in a way that words often can’t. As the photographer Destin Sparks put it, “Photography is the story I fail to put into words.” And there’s no better opportunity to practice the art of photography than during our vacation time.
Holiday photos have been a part of the culture of travelers for a long time. For decades, vacationers have made sure they’ve packed a camera along with bathing suits, Hawaiian shirts and sunglasses. A camera is an important holiday item. But over the last 10 years, photography has become much more popular. It’s easy to capture (捕捉) still and moving pictures of places of interest, and it’s also easy to show off these pictures on social media. Armed with their smart phones, tourists, this year more than ever, are capturing the beauty of our planet.
Of course, travel companies have caught on to this. Trekksoft has an example of photo-tourism from the United States, a land with a vast choice of beautiful locations. Antelope Slot Canyon Tours in Arizona specializes in tours of the state’s famous canyons（峡谷）, which gives photographers the opportunity to capture them on camera.
Not that any great technology is needed for this: most of the tourists are able to make beautiful images with just their mobile phones. Still, help is on hand from the tour guide for those who aren’t great at using their cameras. These tour guides have taken a course in photography in case the skills they’ve learned would help their customers.
1. According to the writer, which of the following can be the best time to practice photography?| A．the time when people have no words to say. |
| B．the time when people are traveling around. |
| C．the time when you have a mobile phone with you. |
| D．the time when you have a tour guide to help you. |
| A．The tourism in the United States. | B．The beauty of our planet. |
| C．The technology of photography. | D．The popularity of holiday photography. |
| A．Its wide choices. | B．Its best tour guide. |
| C．Its photo-tourism. | D．Its great photography course. |
【推荐1】Have you ever run into a careless cell phone user on the street? Perhaps they were busy talking, texting or checking updates on WeChat without looking at what was going on around them. As the number of this new “species” of human has kept rising, they have been given a new name — phubbers(低头族).
Recently, a cartoon made by students from China Central Academy of Fine Arts put this group of people under the spotlight. In the short film, phubbers with various social identities（身份）are buried in their phones. A doctor plays with his cell phone while letting his patient die, a pretty woman takes selfie(自拍照)in front of a car accident site, and a father loses his child without knowing about it while using his mobile phone. A chain of similar events eventually destroys the world.
Although the ending sounds overstated(夸大), the damage phubbing can bring is real. Your health is the first to bear the effect and result of it. “Continuously stretching(伸展) your head to check your cell phone could damage your neck,” Guangming Daily quoted doctors as saying. “the neck is like a rope that breaks after long-term stretching.” Also, staring at cell phones for long periods of time will damage your eyesight gradually, according to the report.
But that’s not all. Being a phubber could also damage your social skills and drive you away from your friends and family. At reunions with family or friends, many people stick to their cell phones while others are chatting happily with each other and this creates a strange atmosphere, Qilu Evening News reported.
It can also cost you your life. There have been lots of reports on phubbers who fell to their death, suffered accidents, and were robbed(抢劫) of their cell phones in broad daylight.
1. The author gives the example of a cartoon in Paragraph 2 _________.| A．to advertise the cartoon made by students. |
| B．to inform people of the bad effects of phubbing. |
| C．to show the world will finally be destroyed by phubbers. |
| D．to warn doctors against using cell phones while treating patients. |
| A．hide | B．use |
| C．cover | D．pay all attention to |
| A．His social skills could be affected. |
| B．His neck and eyesight will be gradually harmed. |
| C．He will cause the destruction of the world. |
| D．He might get separated from his friends and family. |
| A．negative(消极的). | B．supportive. |
| C．positive. | D．objective(客观的). |
| A．Advice on how to use a cell phone. | B．People addicted to phubbing. |
| C．Consequences of phubbing. | D．Measures to reduce the risks of phubbing. |
【推荐2】About 6.000 different languages are spoken around the world. The Foundation for Endangered Languages estimates that between 500 and 1,000 of those are spoken by only a handful of people. And every year the world loses around 25 mother tongues. This week a conference organized by the foundation is being attended by about 100 academics. They are discussing rare languages in Ireland, China, Australia and Spain.
“I do think it is a good thing for a child on the Isle of Man to learn Manx(the language of the Isle of Man with about 100 speakers now). I value continuity in a community,” says Nicholoas Ostler, the foundation’s chairman. In Europe, Mr Ostler’s view seems to command official support. There is the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages (ECRML), which every European Union (EU) member has signed, and the EU has a project called the European Language Diversity for All (ELDIA), designed to protect the most threatened native tongues. At the end of last year the project received $2.7m to identify those languages most at risk.
But for some this is not just a waste of resources but a misunderstanding of how language works. “To have a public policy that a certain culture or language should be preserved shows a fundamental misunderstanding. In the end, whether or not a language can exist is very simple. If a language is one that people don’t participate in, it’s not a language anymore,” says writer and broadcaster Kenan Malik.
American journalist Jeff Bell agrees that languages are decided by people not politicians. And Mr Bell says politicians make a “category mistake” when they try to get in the way of language, mentioning an experiment in Glasgow’s schools. “Offering Gaelic to children of people who don’t speak it seems like the preservation of lost glories. It’s very romantic to try and save a language but nonsense,” says Bell.
“Language is not a plant that rises and falls, lives and dies. It’s a tool that is perfectly adapted by the people using it. Get on with living and talking.” adds Bell.
1. What do the ECRML and the ELDIA aim at?| A．Studying the origins of minority languages. |
| B．Introducing more official languages to the EU. |
| C．Identifying regional languages across the EU. |
| D．Preventing rare languages from extinction(灭绝). |
| A．The development of a language is in the hands of speakers. |
| B．Languages are equally important. |
| C．Language protection lies in governmental effort. |
| D．The preservation of a language is to preserve a culture. |
| A．It will be considered a glory. |
| B．It will very likely be a vain attempt. |
| C．It will make Gaelic popular again. |
| D．It will be opposed by the teachers. |
| A．How should we protect threatened tongues? |
| B．Why is it important to learn our mother tongues? |
| C．Are dying languages worth saving? |
| D．Do we speak the languages our ancestors speak? |
【推荐3】What does music mean to you? Do you use it to help relieve stress, anxiety and fall asleep to? For many, the value of music is endless, and scientists and Nobel winners are no exception. From seeing problems in a new way to developing discipline (自律), expressing creativity to working as a team, music has helped many winners in both work and life.
Music has often helped Nobel winners think and process scientific information in a new way. Albert Einstein was influenced by his mother who taught him to play the violin at a very early age. He was especially fond of Mozart, Bach and Schubert. For Einstein, music worked as a brainstorming technique to help him reflect on his theories and solve difficulties he met with. Einstein’s scientific ideas were often firstly created in the shape of images and intuition (直觉), which music later helped to turn into mathematics, logic (逻辑) and words.
Besides helping them reflect on scientifically complex problems, music has helped Nobel winners learn discipline and the importance of a creative mind. For Thomas Südhof’s awarded the 2013 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, music gave him important inputs and ideas. Südhof mostly enjoys classical music by masters like Mozart, which requires a creative mind as well as great discipline. It is said that these two factors shaped Südhof’s development as a scientist.
Furthermore, the cooperation between the members of a music band can be compared with the team effort found within a research group. According to Medicine winner James Allison, it is necessary in both fields to build a team where each individual makes their own contribution to the overall work. However, it is important that the communication between the members work so smoothly that each individual also knows what needs to be done to achieve breakthroughs. As James Allison states, “Every now and then my lab has been as well tuned—it feels like a really good band”—the concept of great team work leading to great success can be applied to both science and music.
1. What does the passage mainly tell us?| A．Music inspires a team to work together. |
| B．Music helps to relieve stress and anxiety. |
| C．Scientists worked together with the help of music. |
| D．Music helps scientists to achieve scientific success. |
| A．They both valued discipline. |
| B．They both liked classical music. |
| C．They studied the same area of science. |
| D．Intuition often came first to their mind. |
| A．The lab members enjoy music. |
| B．The lab has made breakthroughs. |
| C．The lab works through great teamwork. |
| D．The lab members understand each other. |
| A．By comparing different ideas. | B．By giving supporting examples. |
| C．By doing musical experiments. | D．By referring to famous sayings. |
【推荐1】Questioning the existence of aliens is something that scientists have done for decades. In fact, most people do believe that aliens exist in some fashion. The main necessities for life are water and some form of energy source. Not surprisingly, there are some planets, exoplanets and moons that fit the bill. Here are several best chances at finding life in the universe.
◆TRAPPIST-1
TRAPPIST-1 is a planetary system a few dozen light-years away, whose discovery was announced in early 2017. This system consists of seven Earth-like exoplanets orbiting an "ultra-cool" star, and it is one of our shots at finding possible life beyond our own solar system.
◆Titan
Titan is the largest moon of Saturn, the sixth planet from our Sun. This moon could potentially harbor life but possibly not in the sense that we think. Titan does not exactly fit the description of being in a typical habitable zone.
Titan has water, and it has liquid. It just doesn't have liquid water. The water on this moon is completely solid because of the extremely cold temperature.
◆Europa
Europa is one of Jupiter's moons here in our own solar system. It is another candidate due to its potential to hold liquid water. Europa is thought to have all the necessities for life including water, energy sources, and the right chemical build-up.
◆Mars
The Red Planet, the fourth from the Sun, is probably one of the most talked-about potential candidates for extraterrestrial(地球外的) life and even for human colonization. Despite some different voices, finding extraterrestrial life on Mars really is a serious possibility.
We know by now that we won't find little green men or any intelligent form of life that we understand. However, there is evidence that there was and may still be microscopic life on the small red planet.
1. The common point of these celestial bodies is that _______.| A．solid water exists on them respectively |
| B．life might exist on each of them |
| C．they all contain liquid water |
| D．each of them has living things on it |
| A．TRAPPIST-1. | B．Titan. |
| C．Europa. | D．Mars. |
| A．Europa is the most talked-about potential candidate for extraterrestrial life. |
| B．TRAPPIST-1 is the only body that contains life beyond the solar system. |
| C．All the scientists do believe that aliens exist in some manner. |
| D．There is proof that life existed on the celestial body Mars. |
【推荐2】In January 2017, I left a 30-year career in radio to find a new path. Fear, doubt, and anxiety filled my life at that time. I had no idea where life was going to take me.
Anything new in life can be exciting, but it can also come with anxiety. I was beginning a new career with little experience. The language on the ramp(舷梯)was foreign to me. What is involved with a “turn” (a plane being downloaded and loaded) was foreign to me. All of the excitement I had about this job on the first day was slowly changing to fear and doubt by week three.
After two weeks in the classroom, it was time for training on the ramp. On my first day as a trainee, I was partnered with a man named Fernando. My job was zone assist. A zone assist is usually at the back of the plane, bringing the belt loader(带式行李装载机)to the aircraft, unloading the back bins(箱子), servicing the drinking water, and wing walking at a push(紧急时). I was 48 years old at the time and had been without extreme physical activity since high school, so I was about to hit the ramp for the first time in extremely hot conditions.
Another deep fear I had, other than hurting myself, was damaging an airplane. Granted, things happen and we’re human. But making a mistake and damaging a plane that could lead to a delay or taking it out of service would be a disaster for a ramp agent. With that in mind, I was so nervous driving the belt loader up the airplane.
Fernando and I did eight turns that day. I don’t remember how many bags I downloaded. Eventually, I got through the day, tired and sore afterwards. Looking at the schedule for the next day, I believed I would do it better.
1. Why did the author feel anxious at the beginning?| A．Because he was out of work. |
| B．Because he had no idea how he could make his living. |
| C．Because the new job was totally unfamiliar to him. |
| D．Because the new job was very dangerous. |
| A．His physical condition. | B．His carelessness. |
| C．The extreme physical work. | D．The hot environment. |
| A．Having an old partner. | B．Being too tired. |
| C．Hurting himself. | D．Damaging the plane. |
| A．The author would continue his new job. | B．The author would change his job. |
| C．The author would have a higher salary. | D．The author would get a promotion |
【推荐3】Bald eagles are a breathtaking sight, no matter where you see them. Bald eagles are making headlines again, as proven by NPR’s story about the birds’ amazing recovery in Chesapeake Bay.
“Forty years ago, we probably would not have seen a single bald eagle here,” says Bryan Watts, a conservation biologist. This is a familiar story across a nation where pollution and pesticides(杀虫剂) nearly wiped out the species in the United States. The bald eagle was on the endangered species list for decades, and considerable recovery efforts were put into place to bring the national symbol back.
It was delisted in 2007, and stories of its recovery have continued to be a source of celebration from Glenwood, Iowa to Chicago to Sandy Island Eagle Sanctuary in Missouri. The fascination with watching this species come back with vigor(活力) has been equally as wonderful as witnessing the recovery itself. Some efforts to help endangered species recover can be controversial, but the recovery of the bald eagle has been a story everyone can get behind. A bald eagle nest in Decorah, Iowa brings in millions of viewers every season as the parents hatch their chicks. It’s not often a livestream angled on a bird’s nest gets that kind of viewership!
The conservation effort has not been easy and in some areas, such as the Channel Islands off the California coast, it is really tough to carry out. Bald eagles once called these islands home but disappeared with the emergence of the pesticide DDT. In addition, humans changed the ecosystem there by introducing invasive species. Restoration efforts have included removing the alien species and helping native species. A program for reintroducing bald eagles starting in 2002 has been a success, with 2010 seeing a record-setting 15 wild chicks hatched.
At present, while there are many dangers that still face the bald eagle, the incredibly successful recovery over the last several decades is a conservation story to champion - and one to feed hope for other endangered species whose recovery is still underway.
1. What were bald eagles faced with four decades ago?| A．They were at risk of extinction. |
| B．They were nearly killed by pesticides. |
| C．They were facing hunted by human beings. |
| D．They were saved through some recovery efforts. |
| A．Confidential. | B．Casual. | C．Effective. | D．Conservative. |
| A．The concepts and difficulties. |
| B．The challenges and measures. |
| C．The strategies and promises. |
| D．The methods and achievements. |
| A．Not all hopes were lost in protecting nature. |
| B．Ups and downs are common in the ecosystem. |
| C．There is still a long way to protect wild animals. |
| D．Dangers in the wild advance the growth of wildlife. |
