“Is it art?” Tyka, an artist and software engineer, asked the audience at Christie's 2019 Art + Tech Summit in New York in June 2019. The event's theme was “The A. I. Revolution”, and Tyka was referring to artwork created using artificial intelligence. He flashed an image of urinal （小便池） on two large screens at either side of the stage —Marcel Duchamp's famous and controversial sculpture Fountain. The audience laughed. “Obviously, it can be,” he said.
However, many in the art community are wrestling with several unanswered questions after an algorithm-produced （演算法） print that resembled 19th century European portraits was sold for $432, 500. For example: when artwork is accomplished by means of the algorithm, who is the artist—the programmer or the computer? Because many works of AI art are digital, how do you value a creation that's designed to live natively on the Internet and be widely shared? There are few clear answers.
Claire Marmion, the founder and CEO of Haven Art Group, says collectors are still trying to figure out where the market for AI art is heading, and that it may not be the disruptive （破坏性的） force that some think it will be. Or, at least, the industry will adapt to it.
Mario Klingemann, whose work was sold by Sotheby's, prefers the term “generative art”, which includes all works created using algorithms, and believes the current buzz will eventually die down, otherwise AI art isn't going anywhere. Instead, he thinks it will one day be viewed as simply another tool of the artist.
“Just like photography never goes away, or making movies doesn't, I'm pretty sure it will establish itself as a new media format,” he says. “Right now, of course, it's all this mystery about AI, but I expect this to become really just a normal thing, where people will focus on what artists are actually saying with their art.”
1. What's the function of the first paragraph?| A．To show what art is. | B．To entertain readers. |
| C．To explain the event's theme. | D．To lead to the topic of the passage. |
| A．Who is the real creator of a piece of AI artwork. |
| B．Where people can by AI artwork. |
| C．How to sell AI artwork at a high price. |
| D．How to share AI artwork. |
| A．Excitement. | B．Objection. |
| C．Revolution. | D．Argument. |
| A．Its future is unclear. |
| B．It will disturb the traditional art industry. |
| C．It will be as common as photography and movies. |
| D．It will be applied to photography and film industry. |
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【推荐1】Chinese television maker Skyworth Group is strengthening efforts to venture into the 5G-powered 8K ultra-high definition TV section, especially the whole industrial chain related to the top-notch 8K technology, as it aims to grab a bigger slice of the country’s high-end TV market.
Wang Zhiguo, chairman and president of Shenzhen Skyworth-RGB Electronic, said the company is committed to providing a complete 8K solution that covers 8K video cameras, monitors, content creation and cloud operating systems, and expands application in a wide range of fields such as aerial photography, education, healthcare and advertising.
The company uncovered its new 8K TV product Q71, which supports 8K signal reception, decoding, image signal processing and screen display. The 8K TVs have a screen resolution ratio that is 4.3 times clearer than human eyesight and four times higher than the 4K ones. 8K UHD livestreaming and cloud-based broadcasting will give viewers a more immersive experience.
“5G offers technological support for the adoption of 8K, while 8K is one of the best application scenarios of the superfast wireless technology, ” said Wu Wei, chief engineer of Skyworth, adding 5G has the advantages of high speed, large capacity and low latency, which brings about a good opportunity for the popularization of 8K ultra-high definition TV. And the country’s 8K video industry will see robust growth with the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics, which will use 8K UHD livestreaming and transmission.
The domestic 8K TV industry is now in a nascent stage, Wu said, adding that Skyworth will intensify research and development efforts in 8K chips to improve the clarity, contrast and brightness of images.
“While there is a shortage of 8K video content, which requires advanced, professional equipment such as special cameras and monitors, increasing the cost of producing content, with the advent of superfast 5G technology and the popularization of big TVs, 8K has created many opportunities. The broadcasting of sporting events via 8K equipment has also motivated people to demand high-definition image quality,” said Liu Fei, research director of the consumer electronics department of Skyworth.
1. What is the main idea of this passage?| A．Skyworth Group is accelerating efforts to tap into 8K technology. |
| B．5G technology and 8K are developing hand in hand. |
| C．5G-powered 8K ultra-high definition TV has a promising future. |
| D．Skyworth will provide viewers a more immersive experience. |
| A．bottlenecked | B．vial |
| C．immature | D．developed |
| A．Q71 is Skyworth’s 5G-powered 8K ultra-high definition TV product. |
| B．The Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics will help the growth of 8K video industry. |
| C．8K products need much improvement in some aspects. |
| D．The popularization of 5G draws on the advantages of 8K TV. |
| A．Doubtful. | B．Confused. |
| C．Supportive. | D．Indifferent. |
【推荐2】If your image of a computer programmer is a young man, there’s a good reason. Data from many big tech companies have shown how few of their employees working in programming and technical jobs are female. Google has the highest rates: 17% of its technical staff is female.
It wasn’t always this way. Decades ago, it was women who pioneered computer programming. But too often, that’s a part of history that even people in the computing industry don’t know.
Last week, I took a trip to the birthplace for today’s computer revolution, Stanford University, and randomly asked over a dozen students if they knew who was the first computer programmer. Only one student, Cheng Daofan, got close. “It’s a woman,” she said, searching her mind for a name. “It’s not necessarily an electronic computer. I think it’s more like a mechanic computer.”
She’s probably thinking of Ada Lovelace, who was born in England on December 10,1815. Lovelace was Lord Byron’s child, and her mother, Lady Byron, did not want her to turn out to be like her father, a romantic poet. So Lady Byron used mathematics to keep her from becoming a poet.
But Lovelace saw poetry in math. At 17, she met Charles Babbage, who showed her his plans for the Analytical Engine that he believed would be able to do complex mathematical calculations. He asked her to write about his work for a scientific journal. In the article, Lovelace expressed a vision for the machine that went beyond calculations.
“A computer could do anything. Letters of the alphabet, musical notes and even the positions on a chess board could be represented by numbers,” wrote Lovelace. She even gave an example on how to load an instruction into the machine.
Babbage’s machine was never built. But his designs and Lovelace’s article were read by people building the first computer a century later. In 1979, a new computer language was named “Ada” in recognition of her pioneering work with Charles Babbage.
1. What phenomenon is described in the first paragraph?| A．Women are not allowed to work as programmers. |
| B．Women play a key role in computer programming. |
| C．The environment in big companies is not friendly. |
| D．Most of the programmers in big companies are men. |
| A．She was skilled in educating children. |
| B．She might be unhappy with her husband. |
| C．She was good at discovering her daughter’s talents. |
| D．She was wise to see the potential of the computer so early. |
| A．Invent a program for his computer. |
| B．Write a poem about his new invention. |
| C．Explain his Analytical Engine in a journal. |
| D．Do some complex mathematical calculations. |
| A．Ada, an Advanced Computer Language |
| B．Charles Babbage, the Pioneer of Computers |
| C．Analytical Engine, the First Modern Computer |
| D．Ada Lovelace, the First Computer Programmer |
【推荐3】Scientists have discovered a "monster black hole" so massive that, in theory, it shouldn't exist
It’s a stellar black hole---the type that forms after stars die, collapse, and explode. Researchers had previously believed that the size limit was no more than 20 times the mass of our sun because 8S these stars die, they lose most of their mass through explosions that expel matter and gas swept away by stellar winds
This theory has now been toppled by LB-1, the newly discovered black hole. Located about 15.000 light years away, it has a mass 70 times greater than our sun, according to a press release from the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
The findings were published by Chinese researchers in the journal Nature on Wednesday.
"Black boles of such mass should not even exist in our galaxy, according to most of the current models of stellar evolution," said Liu Jifeng, head of the team that made the discovery. "LB-1 is twice as massive as what we thought possible. Now theorists will have to take up the challenge of explaining its formation."
Scientists are now scratching their heads at how LB-1 got so huge.
The Chinese team has proposed a number of theories. LB-1' sheer size suggests that it “was not formed from the collapse of only one star," the study said--- instead, it could potentially be two smaller black holes orbiting each other.
Another possibility is that it formed from “fallback supermova.” This is when a supernoma---the last stage of an exploding star---ejects material during the explosion, which then falls back into the supernova, creating a black hole.
This fallback formation is theoretically possible, but scientists have never been able to prove or observe it. If this is how LB-1 formed, then we may have "direct evidence for this process” for the first time, the study said.
There are several types of black holes and stellar black holes like LB-1 are on the smaller side, according to NASA. Supermassive black holes are much bigger---they can be billions of times the mass of our sun,
Scientists believe supermassive black holes may be connected to the formation of galaxies, as they often exist at the center of the mass star stems but it is still not clear exactly how, or which form first.
1. Why does the writer write the article?| A．To report the great achievement Chinese scientists have made in black hole theory, |
| B．To inform the readers of the basic knowledge about the black hole, |
| C．To share with the readers the new development of the black hole discovery, |
| D．To demonstrate the significance of discovering new black holes for science. |
| A．It is the biggest black hole ever discovered, |
| B．It lost only a small part of its mass through explosion. |
| C．It couldn't have been formed from the collapse of one star, |
| D．Its discovery may lead to some breakthrough in the “fallback formation theory". |
| A．If the sun in our galaxy dies some of its mass will be taken away by stellar winds. |
| B．A massive supernova will be formed and then exploded if the sun in our galaxy dies. |
| C．"The Milky Way" was formed after a supermassive black hole collapsed and exploded. |
| D．If “the Milky Way" dies, a supermassive black hole will be formed after its death. |
【推荐1】We all know that water is tasteless. But it happens from time to time: you pick up the bottle of water you didn’t finish yesterday, and it tastes strange. Most often, you tend to drop the bottle in the trash bin, believing that the water has gone bad. But is it true?
According to Time, of course not, taste has little to do with quality of water.
As is mentioned in Time, when water is exposed to the air for 12 hours, carbon dioxide interacts with the H2O in the water, and the pH value lowers slightly. As a result, the water has a different taste.
“But it’s most likely safe to drink,” Norwegian expert Truls Krogh told Science Nordic. “If the water is covered and of good quality to start with, in principle it can last a thousand years. That’s because when water is fresh, it contains little organic matter. As long as water is held in clean glasses or bottles, no pollutants will enter it to harm our health.”
People in countries like the US, the UK and Australia usually drink tap water. According to Time, if tap water is drunk within six months, the chlorine (氯气) in the water will be enough to kill any bacteria and keep it safe to drink.
However, there are also some exceptions. If you accidentally put your fingers into water or store water in unclean containers day after day, microorganism (微生物) will enter the water.
With the help of surrounding temperature, and sunlight streaming through windows, these microorganisms multiply quickly. Sooner or later, the water will be full of the unfriendly bacteria. And if you drink the water too often, then you’re more likely to be ill.
And what about water in plastic bottles? Heat and plastic are a bad combination, US researcher Kellogg Schwab stresses. When plastic bottles are used at high temperatures, they produce a chemical called BPA. BPA is something that affects hormones (荷尔蒙) and research has tentatively linked it to “several health damage, including heart disease and cancer”, Time reported.
Schwab suggests replacing disposable (一次性的) plastic bottles with the refillable containers made of metal or glass to deal with BPA.
1. The purpose of the first paragraph is to ________.| A．show an example | B．draw a conclusion |
| C．introduce a topic | D．analyze a phenomenon |
| A．Covered water can last for a thousand years. |
| B．If the water tastes different, we shouldn’t drink it. |
| C．Although kept fresh, water may still have much organic matter. |
| D．The water held in a clean container is likely safe to drink. |
| A．Increase. | B．Reduce. | C．Die. | D．Adapt. |
| A．Why Water Is Tasteless | B．How to Get Clean Water |
| C．Does Water Really Go Bad? | D．Learn to Protect Water |
【推荐2】The Forbidden City is well known for being full of Chinese cultural and historical relics. But Masters in the Forbidden City（《我在故宫修文物》）does not just focus on the stories of the past.
Instead, the documentary movie, which came out in Chinese cinemas on Dec. 16, focuses on ordinary people-the restorers（修复者）of relics and antiquities（古董）.
The stories are told at a slow and relaxed pace, reflecting the restorers’ work. Restoration of cultural relics and antiques can be time-consuming, and sometimes boring. Yet these restorers’ patience and peace of mind are especially precious in a society where everything is changing so fast.
“If you choose this job, you have to stand hours of work sitting on a chair. You need to be quiet and get used to being quiet,” says Wang Jin, an ancient clock repair expert.
A touching part of the documentary is the spirit of craftsmanship（工艺）in the restorers. “Years of humdrum work requires not only skill, but also faith and spirit,” China Daily commented. “Looking for preciseness and perfection, devoting yourself to work, patience, endurance（忍耐）, loneliness…All these qualities come from the craftsman spirit. ”
But unlike the popular idea of serious experts who sit around being serious, the documentary shows off the enthusiasm of the restorers. They play their guitars and make jokes about each other after a long day of restoration work.
One scene that has been very popular with Internet users features a young female restorer riding a bicycle through the empty Forbidden City on a Monday. While she is doing this, a narrator says, “The last person to do this was Puyi, the last emperor of the Oing Dynasty.”
Masters in the Forbidden City has proved wrong many people’s ideas about antique restorers, allowing them to realize that they are not old, dull professors, but people in their 40s, 30s and even 20s who can be quite pleasing to the eye.
1. According to the text, what’s the main purpose of the documentary Masters in the Forbidden City?| A．To show people how antiques are restored |
| B．To display relics seldom seen by ordinary people |
| C．To draw attention to Chinese antique restorers’ lives |
| D．To praise the craftsmanship of Chinese antique restorers |
| A．He often gets tired with his work | B．There is no need to do restoration work fast |
| C．Antique restorers need to be patient and peaceful | D．It takes years of hard work to adapt to antique restoration |
| A．Boring | B．Different | C．Relaxing | D．Unusual |
| A．To remind the audience of the last Qing emperor |
| B．To show the strange hobbies of young antique restorers |
| C．To encourage the young to consider a career in antique restoration in the future |
| D．To show that the documentary breaks from the old, dull image of antique restorers |
【推荐3】Literature makes us better thinkers. It moves us to see the multi-sidedness of situations and therefore expands the width of our own visions, moving us towards dreams and solutions we might not otherwise have imagined.
－Judith Langer,Envisioning Literature.
When students study Literature, they learn to appreciate words and their power. They travel to other areas and times through the texts they read. They understand about their own culture and others’. They learn to empathize (共情) with characters, to feel their joys and pain. For example, one 15-year-old student shared with me that when studying the short story The Shoes of My Sensei by Goh Sin Tub, he could put himself into the shoes of those who lived through World War II, and understand their suffering, and what it was like during that time.
Importantly, they lean to consider multiple aspects and understand the complexity of human nature. Take, for example, George Orwell’s Animal Farm. Do we feel Napoleon is fully responsible for the miserable lives the animals lead? Aren’t the other animals responsible for their own misfortune too, having allowed Napoleon to bully them? In Literature, as in life, things aren’t always so clear cut, in black and white. And there lies the value of the subject—it prepares one for the ambiguities (模棱两可) of life, to take uncertainties in one’s stride.
Literature develops in students lasting values, such as integrity, sympathy, loyalty and responsibility. For example, in a text like Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, the main character chooses to sacrifice his own life rather than betray his friends and neighbors. When considering this character’s motivations, students discuss the value of integrity. They reflect on what it takes to be a man or woman who commands the respect of the people around them even in difficult situations. The texts students explore give them multiple opportunities to discuss and re-evaluate their own values and beliefs. These act as a compass in life as students grow up.
1. Why is an example of a 15-year-old student mentioned in the first paragraph?| A．To raise people’s awareness of appreciating others’ culture. |
| B．To appeal to readers to read more Literature on World War II. |
| C．To remind students that Literature can make the world free of war. |
| D．To show Literature can make one think from others’ points of view. |
| A．Accept something uncertain without special effort. |
| B．Allow one to take the ambiguities of life for granted. |
| C．Have the courage to face the misfortune occurring in life. |
| D．Take the responsibility to fight against the miserable lives. |
| A．lead a happy life |
| B．build up right values |
| C．get on well with friends |
| D．handle difficult situations |
| A．Where should students start when they study Literature? |
| B．What will students gain through the study of Literature? |
| C．Why will Literature help students in their future success? |
| D．How can we support students in their study of Literature? |
