【推荐2】In the west of the city Seville in Spain, a sea of giant mirrors is reflecting the sun’s energy to provide “concentrated solar power (CSP)” while brightening the path to a new wave of green energy projects.

The 624 carefully positioned mirrors reflect the sun’s heat towards a 50-meter-tall central tower where it is concentrated and used to boil water into steam. The superheated steam is then used to turn a turbine (汽轮机) that can produce up to 11 megawatts of electricity—enough power for 6,000 homes—according to Solucar, the Spanish company that has built the power plant.

The Spanish tower, known as PS10, is the first stage of an ambitious development. By 2025 it is hoped that additional towers will create “a solar farm” with an output of 500 megawatts, which would be enough power for 180,000 homes, almost the entire population of nearby Seville.

CSP produces no greenhouse gases and the only pollution is visual. There is also the possibility that production can keep going around the clock-even when the sun has gone down. Solucar is currently testing technology at a plant near Granada that will pump 50 percent of the electricity generated in the day into the Spanish national grid (国家输电网), and use the other 50 percent to melt salt, which will then act as a kind of battery, storing the sun’s power. When dusk falls, the heat stored in the molten salt can be used to generate power through the night.

The Sahara, the world’s largest desert, has always been seen as a problem. But with large-scale CSP projects, suddenly all that empty space, with its year round clear skies and hot sun, has a value that could transform local economies. It could potentially turn Africa into an exporter of energy to power-hungry Europe.

1. What is the Spanish tower PS10 used to do according to the text?

A．Store boiled water.	B．Generate electricity.
C．Reflect the sun’s energy.	D．Brighten the path nearby.

2. The underlined phrase “a solar farm” in paragraph 3 refers to a place where       .

A．towers like PS10 are set up

B．greenhouses are built to make profits

C．crops are grown with new technology

D．farmers mainly use solar energy at home

3. The plant near Granada melts salt in the day so that       .

A．molten salt works better than water when producing electricity

B．melting salt can reduce environmental pollution

C．some sun power can be saved for the night use

D．salt is easy to melt in the sun

4. Which word can best describe the author’s attitude towards the future of CSP?

A．Critical.

B．Doubtful.

C．Subjective.

D．Optimistic.

【推荐3】Someone who types while on a video call may be giving away more information than they realize. A computer model can work out the words that the person is typing just by tracking the movements of their shoulders and arms in the video stream.

"There are significant movements that occur when typing, " says Murtuza Jadliwala at the University of Texas at San Antonio. "We think if we are able to model them scientifically, we should be able to infer different keystrokes by looking at the video data."

Jadliwala and his colleagues developed a model to do just that. They mapped the movements onto a keyboard and cross-referenced the results against a dictionary of commonly typed words, finding it could correctly identify the words being typed 75% of the time. However, their experiment was based on the fact that the typists used traditional physical QWERTY keyboards in the video. The randomized keyboard, which is different from the traditional QWERTY keyboard, can prevent it from making accurate inferences. Those who wear clothing with some sort of sleeve are also less likely to be analysed accurately.

The computer model removes the background information from a frame of a video call. It then detects the outer edges of the shoulder by analysing each frame using an image processing technique called optical flow, which watches closely how pixels (像素) change in a video and maps arm movements onto a keyboard.

Jadliwala says pixelating (打上马赛克) the shoulders would lessen the effect of the issue, but Alan Woodward at the University of Surrey, UK, argues that such a solution defeats the purpose of video calling. "The whole point of a video call is to see people," he says, adding that it is alarming that video calls can reveal so much.

1. Which of the following may affect the model's identification accuracy?

A．The speed of typing.	B．The head movement.
C．The position of keys on the keyboard.	D．The color of the typist's clothing.

2. What is paragraph 4 mainly about?

A．What matters most in analysing the frame.

B．How the background information is removed.

C．How the computer model works.

D．What role optical flow plays in the experiment.

3. What does Alan Woodward think of the finding?

A．Promising.

B．Shocking.

C．Convincing.

D．Disappointing.

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

A．Software can spy on what you type on video calls

B．You are giving away your secret unconsciously

C．Is it safe to type when chatting on the phone?

D．Who are spying when we are on video calls?

【推荐2】The boulders (巨石) look generally unremarkable, besides the fact that they stretch up and down the ridge in a curved line. Most people who don’t know their story would probably choose to look at the sweeping view of San Jose below them instead.

The timeworn line of boulder, is part of a system of stone walls, the remains of which stretch along the East Bay Hills all the way from Grimly Peak in Berkeley to where I watched a man tie his shoes at the Sierra Vista Open Space Preserve above East San Jose.

They exist only in sections, and some are better preserved than others — where I found the man, the walls are short and thick and half-sunk into the earth, hut further north at Ed R. Levin County Park in Milpitas, they remain almost perfectly assembled and stand several feet tall.

The first recorded mention of the walls is from an article in the San Francisco Chronicle from 1896. “Half a mile east of Grizzly Peak stand the remains of stone walls which have long baffled the researchers. By whom they were built, when and why is an unsolved mystery,” the article stated. The unnamed author went on to write a generally-accepted theory of the walls that they were constructed by “some long-forgotten race, possibly Aztec”.

Of course, the people who originally inhabited the hills and the land surrounding them are far from forgotten. The Ohlone people thrived in the area for thousands of years until they were largely displaced by European settlers — however, there’re no records of them constructing stone walls.

“Some of my colleagues have heard the rocks were placed there by Spanish settlers clearing their fields, and there have been speculations that it could have been part of Indigenous practice,” said Charlotte Graham, a spokesperson for the Santa Clara Valley Open Space Authority. “We’ve also heard it could be a natural occurrence.”

However, there isn’t enough evidence on the walls to be entirely certain. A study dated lichen (地衣) on the walls in Berkeley as being from 1851 to 1880, though other sections of the walls haven’t been tested, and there’re few historical accounts on their presence.

1. How may most people never hearing about the boulders react when seeing them?

A．Ignore them.	B．Collect them.
C．Post the photos of them online.	D．Report them to the government.

2. Which section of the stone walls is most probably best preserved?

A．The one along the East Bay Hills.

B．The one near Grizzly Peak in Berkeley.

C．The one at Ed R. Levin County Park in Milpitas.

D．The one at the Sierra Vista Open Space Preserve.

3. What does the underlined word “baffled” probably mean in paragraph 4?

A．Prevented.

B．Confused.

C．Annoyed.

D．Inspired.

4. What can be the best title for the text?

A．Functions of stone walls	B．Newly-found boulders
C．The history of boulders	D．Stories behind mystery walls

【推荐3】All parents tell their children little white lies from time to time. For example, they always say, “Of course father Christmas comes down the chimney!” It is all part of the magic of childhood. However, there is one lie that’s bigger than all the others. It’s “I don’t have a favorite child”.

American writer, Jeffrey Kluger writes, “95% of parents in the world have a favourite child, and the other 5% are lying.” He may be exaggerating (夸大) the figures for dramatic effect, but scientific research shows that Kluger is not far off the truth, although every parent refuses to admit that they have a favorite child.

According to one recent study by the researchers from the University of California, which followed 384 sibling (兄弟姐妹) pairs and their parents for three years, 65% of the mothers and 70% of the fathers showed a preference for one of their children. As this study was among families that knew they were being monitored, there is a strong possibility the true figures could be significantly higher.

Generally, parents would say there is no favoritism in their families. But interestingly, a lot of personal stories from parents shows that they or their siblings were indeed their mother or father’s favorite children. It seems everyone knows favoritism exists, but nobody wants to put their hand up and say they are guilty of it themselves.

Another research suggests that mothers do tend to show a preference for their first-born son, while fathers often choose their youngest daughters as their favorite. Parents will often be drawn to the child who is easiest to get along with, or the child that share similar features to them. For example, mum will have a special bond with their sensitive, arty son while dad focuses attention on his sporty daughter.

Professor Scott says being least favoured in a family can colour our behaviour as adults. “Children who feel they are less loved within their family are more likely to develop anxiety, depression and low self confidence.” But some experts believe being less favoured can have positive consequences. Professor Scott agrees that favored children can sometimes find life difficult when they have to live in the real world without their parents.

1. The passage mainly tells the readers about _______________.

A．parents’ preference for their children

B．different ways of raising children

C．people’s love for their parents

D．parents’ influences on their children

2. What can be learned from Paragraph One and Two?

A．There was no father Christmas or chimney at all.

B．People remember the magic of their childhood.

C．Parents really want to lie to their children.

D．Few parents admit they have a favorite child.

3. Who is most likely to become a mother’s favorite child?

A．The son who shares similar features with his father.

B．The most beautiful youngest girl in the family.

C．The son who loves art and has a sensitive feeling.

D．The daughter who plays basketball very well.

4. What might happen if someone is the least favoured in a family?

A．His behavior as an adult will be affected.

B．He will have a colorful life in the future.

C．He will become more confident.

D．He will find that life is difficult.