Technology affects the way individuals communicate, learn, and think. It helps society and determines how people interact with each other on a daily basis. It has positive and negative effects on the world and it impacts daily lives. We are living in a time when technological advancements are common. However, with technological advancements, there's a downside （弊端）to it all.
One aspect of technology that has bad a great impact on society is how it affects learning. It's made learning more interactive, which helps people better understand the material that they are learning and have trouble with. Also, it gets people better access to resources. With the creation of the Internet, it gives us access to information at a twenty-four-hour rate and you have access to almost anything online. In addition, it allows students to get work done easier. It also expands the boundaries of the classroom, encouraging self-paced learning. People can access learning through websites and social media. This helps students learn better than sitting down for lectures and reading from textbooks. These technological advancements have made learning more fun and convenient.
Besides, the technological advancements have also helped keep people safe and healthy. There are many apps on phones for people to monitor their weight, the calories they intake, heart rate and other health properties （属性） any time of the day. There's increased accessibility of treatment available, there's the change in healthcare that adds benefits for the elderly, and hospitals using advanced technology within their surgical rooms.
However, studies show that mobile communication affects people in a negative way when it comes to being sociable and making face-to-face contact. Mobile technology can decrease communication and relations between people. There's less personal time, because you're always in contact with someone. Also, it can be distracting from your schoolwork. There is also loss of privacy, because anyone can find you anywhere, at any time of the day.
In conclusion, all of these things impact how humans act today. Without technological advancements, our way of life would not be as complex. Thus, it has been wisely said that technology is a good servant but a bad master.
1. Which of the following is a downside of technological advancements?| A．Interactive learning methods. | B．Accessible learning resources. |
| C．Monitored health properties. | D．Decreased face-to-face meetups. |
| A．widens | B．narrows | C．shortens | D．contracts |
| A．It is wise to be mastered by technology. |
| B．Technology is good at serving but bad at mastering us. |
| C．Humans can totally survive with or without technology. |
| D．We'd better make technology serve rather than control us. |
| A．to criticize technology for its negative impacts. |
| B．to promote technology as it benefits us in several ways. |
| C．to prove technological advancements are second to none. |
| D．to introduce the pros and cons technology has on our lives. |
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【推荐1】If you live in San Diego, you’ve probably noticed some strangely coloured water on the beach lately. You might wonder about red tide, but it’s actually an intentional job. Scientists at UC San Diego Scripps Institution of Oceanography and University of Washington have been experimenting with dyeing (给……染色) the ocean at San Diego beach pink. What could they possibly be up to?
This is being done for a study that examines how fresh water on the outlet of the sea is intermixing with the ocean. The experiment is called Plumes in Nearshore Conditions (PiNC) . “I’m excited because this research hasn’t been done before and it’s a really unique experiment,” said Sarah Giddings, a Scripps coastal oceanographer leading the PiNC study. “The aim is to understand how fresh water interacts with ocean waves, since it is usually warmer than ocean water and more floating.” The researchers are hoping that this pink dye experiment will help them record more about how pollutants and sediments (沉积物) are distributed in the ocean water through these additions of fresh water.
The fresh water is dyed pink so that the team can easily keep track of it when fresh water is added to the sea water. The dye does not threaten the wildlife living there and is then spotted as it progresses in the water. It is tracked by sensors on poles that are located along the sand as well as by drones (无人驾驶飞机) . There’s also a device that tracks the light that is given off by the pink dye. The sensors record the height of the waves, ocean currents and temperature.
Giddings explained, “We’re bringing together a lot of different people with different expertise. I think it’s going to have some really great results and impacts. We will combine the results from this experiment with a former field study and computer models to help us further understand how the dyed fresh water spreads.”
1. How does the author lead in the topic of the text?| A．By showing a strange phenomenon. | B．By making an assumption. |
| C．By quoting a well-known saying. | D．By making a comparison. |
| A．To introduce the benefits of dyeing sea water pink. |
| B．To show how fresh water combines with sea water. |
| C．To prove that fresh water is warmer than sea water. |
| D．To examine the impact of fresh water on sea water. |
| A．It can enormously give off light. | B．It can function well with sensors. |
| C．It can be recognized easily and eco-friendly. | D．It seems to attract wildlife and spread rapidly. |
| A．Challenge the results with some experts. | B．Build more scientific computer models. |
| C．Experiment with dyes of another colour. | D．Integrate more results of former studies. |
【推荐2】The constant rise of global demand for protein poses a threat of meat shortage in the agricultural sector. To address this, a few scientists use artificial meat as an alternative to traditional ones, which from the growing process to its benefits proves it does no harm or even it does good to us.
Currently, one of the most advanced techniques to grow meat in the lab involves taking cells from an animal and changing them to muscle cells. The cells are then cultured with nutrients and essential vitamins and can be developed to any quantity and then shaped into hamburgers, steaks or mince, and so it is also called “cultured” meat. “Cultured meat is not genetically engineered,” Dr. Mark Post of Maastricht University says. “It is meat grown from the same cells that produce the meat in the cow, but this time outside the cow.” He believes that cultured meat shouldn’t be any better or worse for you than old-school animal flesh.
This may sound like science fiction, but it is not such a strange idea and there are reasons to be excited about it. “The environment impacts of cultured meat could be lower than those of meat produced in the conventional way,” said Hanna Tuomisto, a researcher at Oxford University. The process would require between 7% and 45% less energy than the same volume of conventionally produced meat such as pork, beef or lamb, and could be engineered to use only 1% of the land and 4% of the water associated with conventional meat. Tuomisto’s research also shows that cultured meat could be part of the solution to feeding the world’s growing population, at the same time cutting emissions and saving both energy and water.
Aside from the above benefits, cultured meat should also provide cheap nutrition. Animal protein is an increasing part of diets, as millions of people in rapidly emerging economies are drawn out of poverty and become able to afford more meat in their diets. The pressure this creates has been an important factor in rapidly rising grain prices, deforestation in the Amazon basin, increasing water shortage and rising pressure to find new farmland. Growing meat artificially could potentially take huge pressure off farmlands around the world.
Another benefit would be to help animal welfare and protect endangered species. If most of our meat was grown, there would be no need for factory farms. Conditions for animals could be greatly improved. Elsewhere, it could also stop illegal endangered species hunts by providing an alternative way to produce meat form these species.
Exactly how long it takes before the meat is sold in supermarkets depends on the investment in research and development. One thing seems clear: Unless vegetarianism catches on in a very big way, the world’s demand for meat will soon outpace our supply of cows, chickens, pigs and other edible animals. The health and environmental impacts of cultured meat aren’t going to be hypothetical for much longer.
1. What does the underlined word “cultured” probably mean?| A．grown. | B．sorted. | C．connected. | D．shaped. |
| A．tastes much better | B．contains more nutrients |
| C．saves more natural resources | D．changes people’s habit of eating meat |
| A．comparing the results from different researches |
| B．explaining the advantages of the artificial meat |
| C．presenting the problems caused by meat shortage |
| D．showing the current situation of food consumption |
I: introduction P: point SP: sub-point C: conclusion
A． | B． |
C． | D． |
【推荐3】For the first time, scientists have created baby mice from two males.
“It’s a very clever strategy,” said Diana Laird, a stem cell and reproductive expert at the University of California, San Francisco, who was not involved in the research. “It’s an important step in both stem cell and reproductive biology.”
Scientists described their work in a study published Wednesday in the journal Nature. First, they took skin cells from the tails of male mice and transformed them into “induced pluripotent stem cells,” which can develop into many different types of cells or tissues. Then, through a process that involved growing them and treating them with a drug, they converted male mouse stem cells into female cells and produced functional egg cells. Finally, they fertilized those eggs and implanted the embryos into female mice. About 1% of the embryos — 7 out of 630 – grew into live mouse pups.
The pups appeared to grow normally and were able to become parents themselves in the usual way, research leader Katsuhiko Hayashi of Kyushu University and Osaka University in Japan told fellow scientists at the Third International Summit on Human Genome Editing last week.
In a commentary published alongside the Nature study, Laird and her colleague, Jonathan Bayerl, said the work “opens up new avenues in reproductive biology and fertility research“ for animals and people. Down the road, for example, it might be possible to reproduce endangered mammals from a single male.
But they raised several cautions. The most notable one? The technique is extremely inefficient. They said it’s unclear why only a tiny fraction of the embryos placed into surrogate mice survived; the reasons could be technical or biological. They also stressed that it’s still too early to know if the protocol would work in human stem cells at all.
1. What can know about Diana Laird from Para. 2?| A．She kept mice for experiments. | B．She was an expert in ecology. |
| C．She spoke highly of the research. | D．She made contributions to the research. |
| A．Male mice were not needed in the process. |
| B．The technique in the experiment is not that efficient. |
| C．Scientists refused to describe the experiment. |
| D．Scientists changed female mouse cells into male ones. |
| A．Extinct mammals | B．Endangered tigers |
| C．Protected turtles | D．Fierce eagles |
| A．Plan | B．Cell | C．Regulation | D．Slogan |
【推荐1】Goldfish have pretty boring lives, so maybe it’s a good thing they can only concentrate for nine seconds! But according to new research, humans are becoming like goldfish. Our attention span (时长) is getting shorter...and it’s all because of technology.
“We move quickly from one site to another on the web, ”says Doctor Ted Selker, a computer scientist from Massachusetts, “and we are losing the ability to concentrate.” With millions of websites to choose from, the attention span of the average internet user is just seconds. There are other digital distractions (分心) too: email, instant messaging and quickie movies on websites. Some people are worried about the effect on young people. “You need time to understand and think about what you read,” says Julia Wood, from London. “Young people search the net all the time and their brains become full of useless information but there is no time to make sense of it. I am trying to persuade my pupils to read more books, so that they concentrate on one subject for longer.”
Other teachers are trying more unusual methods to improve students’ concentration. Anne Savan, from Wales, was so worried about her students that she started playing Mozart during her science lessons. She says that it had an amazing effect: “The music made them calmer, and their concentration was much better.”
But not everyone believes that there is a problem. Ray Cole, an educational psychologist says: “On the web, young people learn to make quick decisions about what is and isn’t worth reading.
They might look at five unhelpful websites very quickly, before stopping and reading a sixth useful website more carefully. In a world with so much information available, this is an important skill.”
1. Why does the writer mention “goldfish”?| A．To analyze data. | B．To introduce a topic. |
| C．To settle problems. | D．To suggest a way out. |
| A．Skipping around the internet. | B．Time to digest information. |
| C．Traditional methods of reading. | D．Making decisions. |
| A．Receiving emails. | B．Texting messages. |
| C．Reading more books. | D．Watching quickie movies. |
| A．Cautious. | B．Unfavorable. |
| C．Skeptical. | D．Supportive. |
【推荐2】A China’s face-swapping app that allows users to superimpose their own likeness over characters in movies or TV shows has rapidly become one of the country’s most download apps.But it has also triggered concerns about the issue of privacy.
Released on Friday, the Zao app went viral as Chinese users pursued the chance to act out scenes from well-known movies. This is done using “deepfake” technology, which has already caused concerns elsewhere over its potential misuse.
Users provide a series of selfies in which they blink, open their mouths or assume other expressions. The app will then realistically change the person’s animated likeness onto movies, TV shows or other similar content.
But this has also resulted in privacy concerns as the app’s policy reportedly gave it “free, permanent, transferable, and re-licenseable” rights to all user-generated content.
Apart from worrying that their personal information can be disclosed, users are also concerned that the app, through facial recognition technology, can compromise their online payment accounts.
On Sunday, the app issued a statement promising to modify its privacy policy. It also assured users that the app will not result in any compromise to their payment accounts. The app has since changed its terms to ensure that it will not use headshots or videos uploaded by users other than to improve the app. It also promised to remove from its servers any content that was uploaded but subsequently deleted by users.
Zao is owned by Momo Inc, a Tinder-like Chinese dating service that is listed on the Us Nasdaq. The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology spoke to the developer of the AI face-changing app on Wednesday. The Ministry’s department of network security said it demanded the company sick to relevant laws regarding the collection of personal information. Apart from calling on the company to standardize its terms of agreement it also made it clear that the company should do its utmost to ensure the protection of user data.
1. What’s the main idea of this passage?| A．The face-changing app is becoming popular. |
| B．The Zao app has revealed personal information. |
| C．Deep fake technology is applied in a new app. |
| D．There’re potential worries about face-changing app. |
| A．Users provide smiling photos to act out scenes from famous movies. |
| B．The app can find likeness between users and actors in the movies. |
| C．The technology applied in the app can be misused in other places. |
| D．The app can have access to users’ online payment accounts. |
| A．Privacy policy uploaded by users | B．Privacy policy to assure the safety |
| C．Any private content deleted by users | D．The compromise with users' accounts |
| A．give some possible solutions to the problem | B．give some particular reasons for the phenomenon |
| C．present some current difficulties of the concern | D．present some simple tips on payment accounts |
【推荐3】A child sits beside a bookshelf at Beijing Book Building in the downtown, listening as his mother reads a picture book to him, one word at a time. “We go to bookstores every week or two,” says Wang Bin, the mother. “Kids love reading.”
Wang and her child are among the growing number of people in China who are attracted to physical bookstores, the appeal of which has lasted despite the growth of digital reading. For many, bookstores are a place to hang out, a venue for relaxation, entertainment and cultural enrichment.
Zhao Xianghan, a 20-year-old college student, looks through the books on display at a PageOne bookstore. He didn’t come to buy anything in particular, but to see what is on offer and seek inner peace in preparation for a new term. “Bookstores used to simply sell books, but now they have more functions,” says Zhao. “For example, when selling books, they may sell some cultural and creative products and stationery. They also increasingly have coffee shops connected to them.”
During the 2023 Spring Festival holiday, more than 160 bookstores remained open in Beijing, attracting plenty of visitors, according to the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Press and Publication. They presented themed reading events, held lectures and exhibitions, and organized traditional cultural activities. At a bookstore in Shunyi district, children gave a concert in celebration of Spring Festival. Bookstores also ran programs featuring intangible cultural heritage (非物质文化遗产). At Zhongguancun Book Building, masters of folk art showed young readers how to make small rabbit statues with dough (面团), to mark the arrival of the Year of the Rabbit.
1. Why did Zhao Xianghan go to the PageOne bookstore?| A．To sell some cultural products. | B．To read picture books to children. |
| C．To purchase books and stationery. | D．To find some quietness in heart. |
| A．They have gradually changed into coffee shops. |
| B．They are a combination of reading and relaxation. |
| C．They are aimed to promote intangible cultural heritage. |
| D．They attract more readers compared with digital reading. |
| A．The best-sellers in physical bookstores. | B．The development of physical bookstores. |
| C．The activities held in physical bookstores. | D．The physical bookstores remaining in Beijing. |
| A．To present various functions of physical bookstores. |
| B．To require more people to visit physical bookstores. |
| C．To spread traditional culture via physical bookstores. |
| D．To show the increasing number of readers in bookstores. |
【推荐1】Computer games have seriously caught the attention of Mass Media. The increasing amount of games with violent scenes socks the society and makes it very aware of them. The fact that violent games cause violence in people is not even doubted by most people. Some say that the reason lies in games being too close to reality. But is it justified only according to the external similarity of these two worlds?
Games originally are entertainment. Contemporary games are very realistic and for this reason they are a source of great experience for the player and develop the imagination. Games are more than entertainment. The research of the New York University led by Green and Bavelier claims that the player preferring active games get an improvement of some types of brain activity, related to processing of visual information. In particular, game players cope with problems of simultaneously (同时地) tracking several moving objects at the average level of 30% better than people who do not play active computer video games. A game is an abstraction. A player gets abstract tasks and acts according to abstract rules. Games are also the possibility to be whoever a person wants to be and to rest from the outside world for some time.
But what if a person gets so much excited with the game scenes that he becomes violent in reality? Then, it proves that the games cause people to become violent. A psychologically healthy person will never confuse or connect these two different worlds. A game is a virtual world with visual images very similar to human. These images represent by themselves nothing but simple playing obstacles. A game may potentially give the opportunity to “destroy the obstacles” that may not be destroyed according to the rules, but it is more about personal choice whether to do it or not. This leads us to the conclusion that violence is not a consequence but the cause. People who originally tend to violence may get annoyed by games and perform violence in the “real world”. In this case violence in games is a simple justification of the violent nature of the player.
1. Which of the following best explains “sock” underlined in Para. 1?| A．Transform. | B．Strike. | C．Interest. | D．Confuse. |
| A．Games can promote some kinds of brain activity. |
| B．Games can give people space to be themselves. |
| C．Games can be a source of great experience. |
| D．Games can help players solve problems. |
| A．Abstract violent tasks. | B．Violent visual images. |
| C．Realistic computer games. | D．Individuals’ violent nature. |
| A．Violence: Not a Consequence of Games | B．Violence: Not a Justification of Players |
| C．Games: The Violent Virtual Reality | D．Games: The Cause of Violence |
【推荐2】Studying a subject that you feel pointless is never a fun or easy task. If you’re studying history, asking yourself the question “why is history important” is a very good first step. History is an essential part of human civilization. You will find something here that will arouse your interest, or get you thinking about the significance of history.
History grounds us in our roots. History is an important and interesting field of study, and learning the history of our home country can give us a deeper, more meaningful glimpse (一瞥) into our ancestors’ pasts, and how we got to where we are today. Many people feel like they need a sense of cultural belonging, which is something that studying your roots and being open-minded to the evolution (进化) of your culture can provide.
History enriches our experience. Reading history is an amazing experience because it enables us to reflect on the social and economic life of the people living long time ago. According to the experts, problems faced by people regardless of the past and present are the same. With the information about the ancestors, one can become more experienced in handling challenges of life.
History makes us more empathetic (具有共情能力的). Studying history can give us insight (洞察力) into why our culture does certain things, and how the past has shaped it into what we know now. It also provides a rather strong foundation (基础) for empathy across cultures. Fear and hate for others is usually caused by ignorance (无知). We’re scared of the things that we don’t understand. History has the potential to break down those boundaries by offering us insight into entire worlds that would otherwise be foreign to us.
History can inspire us to learn more. What’s fantastic about history is the way it broadens our horizons. It’s almost impossible to learn about one historical period without having dozens of questions about related concepts (概念). Study the 19th century England, and you might catch a glimpse of Charles Dickensˈ Oliver Twist. Look up Charles Dickens, and you might learn a thing or two about realism. Or maybe you end up switching your attention away from novels, and discover the history of romantic poets in England. It can go anywhere, and there is something in there for absolutely anybody.
The value of history cannot be ignored. We don’t have to live in the past, but we can definitely do better by learning from it and using the lessons learnt to lead more meaningful lives.
1. The underlined part “where we are today” in Para.2 probably means _________.| A．the turning point in our history | B．the present state of our nation |
| C．the location of our homeland | D．the total area of our country |
| A．The problems at present are similar to those in the past. |
| B．Ancient people laid economic foundations for people today. |
| C．The current challenges of life were predicted by the ancestors. |
| D．People living long time ago knew more about how to solve problems. |
| A．Charles Dickens contributes much to British literature |
| B．Oliver Twist can satisfy our curiosity for romantic poets |
| C．reading novels is a way to learn about a historical period |
| D．studying history can arouse people’s interest in other fields |
| A．How to Build Cultural Identity | B．Why Studying History Matters |
| C．Know the Past, Know the Present | D．History: a Way to Broaden Horizons |
【推荐3】Most people agree that being a good driver means being safe and not aggressive on the road. One debate some people still argue, however, is who drives better: men or women? Although it’s impossible to say that one gender drives better than another definitively, there are some noteworthy trends.
Male drivers tend to have more accidents
Data from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) shows that male drivers tend to have more total accidents than females. The IIHS, an independent non-profit devoted to reducing car accidents, also found that 71 percent of all motor vehicle crash deaths in 2017 were males. Although the gap has narrowed, almost every year from 1975 to 2017, the number of male crash deaths was more than twice the number of female crash deaths, per the IIHS.
Women might be less-confident behind the wheel
Although male drivers have more accidents, other research shows women aren’t “perfect” drivers, either. Researchers from the University of Michigan’s Transportation Research Institute studied traffic accidents over 20 years and found that female drivers are more likely to run into a car driven by another woman than a man. The study, however, doesn’t explain possible reasons for this pattern.
One that they might consider testing in the future is that some research also shows women are less-confident behind the wheel than men. A study from UCLA exploring the relationship between new drivers’ skills and different variables, including gender(性别), shows female students were less confident drivers than men.
So are men better drivers than women?
Gender is just one factor when it comes to safe driving, along with others such as age, and even the time of day people drive. One study shows that both genders have a greater accident risk when driving at night, but males still have a higher risk at all times of the day. Driving quality also changes based on location, too, as some states are more dangerous than others. Data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration shows that Wyoming, Mississippi, and Montana have high accident death rates, without regards to gender. It goes to show that everyone should learn and practice safe driving habits instead of worrying about who drives better.
1. According to the data from the IIHS, what is the percentage of males among car accident victims before 2017?| A．Bigger than 71% | B．Smaller than 71% | C．Exactly 71% | D．Not clear. |
| A．In recent years, the number of car accidents caused by males is twice as much as that that by females. |
| B．Researchers have found out why there's higher possibility for women drivers to run into each other. |
| C．While driving in the daytime, male drivers have a greater accident risk than female drivers. |
| D．Many studies have shown that females are better and safer drivers than males. |
| A．factors | B．varieties | C．phenomena | D．consequences |
| A．Science | B．News | C．Culture | D．Traffic |
