Robots that can cook are in growing demand in the United States. The increased demand comes at a time when restaurants are trying to put some distance between their workers and customers during the COVID-19.
In a few weeks, White Castle restaurants will test a robot arm that can cook French fries and other foods. The robot, called Flippy, is a product of Miso Robotics, a company based in Pasadena, California.
Robot food service was becoming popular even before the coronavirus pandemic (冠状病毒). Hospitals, college dining areas and other places tried to meet demand for food while keeping labor costs low. Robot chefs appeared at places like Creator, a restaurant in San Francisco. Now, some say, robots may become necessary for the food service industry. “I expect in the next two years you will see much more robotic adoption (采用) in the food space because of COVID-19,” Jain said.
Some people say, robots can lower the demand for labor. At the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences in Little Rock, cafe workers used to spend six hours per day making salads, notes Tonya Johnson, the school’s director of nutrition services. But two years ago, the university added a Sally, a kind of robot that now makes around 40 salads per day. By adding Sally, the school was able to cut a job opening in its cooking staff. Johnson said, “I think the pandemic has made us realize how much we need more equipment like Sally.”
Miso Robotics co-founder and chief Buck Jordan said fast food restaurants are already having trouble finding workers, partly as a result of a losing population of young workers. Jordan added that his company’s position is that “automation (自动化) is not a choice”. He added, “You must automate in order to survive in the future.”
1. Why is robot food service becoming popular?| A．It can take the place of human beings in the future. |
| B．It can shorten the distance between workers and customers. |
| C．It can make all kinds of delicious food in a very short time. |
| D．It can meet the demand for food and reduce the cost of labor. |
| A．It is just a common robot like others. | B．It is useless to improve the speed of work. |
| C．It helps the school employ fewer workers. | D．It makes as many salads as workers. |
| A．Worried. | B．Supportive. | C．Doubtful. | D．Indifferent |
| A．To tell us an increasing need for robot cooks in US restaurants. |
| B．To advertise robot cooks. |
| C．To introduce a new food service to deal with COVID-19. |
| D．To complain about the difficulties in finding enough labor workers. |
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【推荐1】The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was awarded to Sweden-born geneticist Svante Pääbo, recognizing him for discoveries related to the genomes (基因组) of extinct human groups that cast light on the genetic characteristics unique to present-day humans. The committee said Dr. Pääbo overcame challenges in recovering and analyzing ancient DNA to sequence (测序) the genome of the Neanderthal, an extinct relative of present-day humans. He also discovered a previously unknown human relative, called the Denisova.
Before Dr. Pääbo’s research, understanding of Neanderthals came from analysis of the features of ancient bone remains and from studies of tools and other archaeological artifacts (史前古器物). Dr. Pääbo’s work made it possible to precisely analyze the genetic characteristics of Neanderthals and helped illustrate how different types of humans mixed on the planet during periods of coexistence. Dr. Pääbo’s discoveries have laid the groundwork for research on how ancient gene sequences from extinct relatives influence the function of present-day humans. One example is a gene common among present-day Tibetans that makes those people better adapted to life at high altitude. It can be traced to the Denisovan genome.
Early in his career, Dr. Pääbo became focused on using advanced modern genetic techniques to study the DNA of Neanderthals. But DNA degrades over time meaning that, for ancient specimens (样本), only small amounts are left. When he worked in the University of Munich, he successfully sequenced DNA from a 40,000-year-old piece of bone. The DNA in question was so-called mitochondrial (线粒体的) DNA, a form of genetic material that is shorter, but more plentiful, than the extensive DNA found in the center of a cell. He went on to help establish the Max Planck Institute in Germany, where his research group continued to improve those methods with the aim of sequencing ever larger parts of an ancient genome. Those efforts ended in 2010.
Around the same time, the Max Planck group discovered that a 40,000-year-old finger bone found in the Denisova cave in the southern part of Siberia was unique when compared with all known sequences from Neanderthals and present-day humans. It marked the first time that a new type of human had been identified using only ancient DNA.
1. What is Paragraph 1 mainly about?| A．How Dr. Pääbo conducted the research. |
| B．What breakthroughs Dr. Pääbo has made. |
| C．How the committee contacted Dr. Pääbo. |
| D．Why Dr. Pääbo researched ancient genomes. |
| A．Comparing features of genes accurately. |
| B．Illustrating different mixtures of bones. |
| C．Collecting many ancient bone remains. |
| D．Distinguish all living humans at present. |
| A．Considerable specimens. | B．Poor genetic techniques. |
| C．Different research groups. | D．Limited DNA information. |
| A．Analyzing why present-day humans are better adapted to life. |
| B．Identifying a new human kind by using modern DNA specimens. |
| C．Providing the basis for exploring gene sequences unique to humans. |
| D．Innovating the method for discovering more extinct human relatives. |
【推荐2】Organic (有机的) farming is a type of agriculture that benefits from the recycling and use of natural products. Use of dried plants not only saves money, but also ensures the growth of crops. The technique is characterized (具有……的特征) by the use of green manure (肥料), biological pest control methods and special farming techniques to keep soil productive. Limiting the use of manmade chemicals or completely doing away with (去掉) them reduces the risk of diseases. Today, organic farming is a major and preferred industry around the world. Organically grown products have a huge market, with farmlands covering about 10% of the total world farmland. The initial effort made by Sir Albert Howard, the Father of Organic Farming, has paid off.
Advantages of Organic Farming：
1. The economics of organic farming are characterized by increasing profits (利润) through reduced water use and reduced soil erosion (侵蚀).
2. Organic farming produces the same crops as those produced through traditional farming methods, but uses half the energy, and holds 40% more top soil.
3. Farming the organic way enables farmers to get rid of weeds without the use of any chemicals.
4. The use of green pesticides (杀虫剂) is environmentally friendly and does no harm to human’s health.
Disadvantages of Organic Farming：
1. Organic methods of farming produce less, compared to traditional farming techniques.
2. Organic agriculture does little to fight global climate change. Though organic farming practices are recognized as giving out less CO2, but not to a significant degree.
However, though there are some disadvantages to organic farming, farms where organic methods for cropping have been used have more advantages than traditional farms. Organic agriculture is surely better in the long term.
1. Organic farming uses the manure made from ________.
| A．expensive soil | B．dried plants |
| C．harmful pests | D．manmade chemicals |
| A．worked hard for nothing |
| B．succeeded in organic farming |
| C．spent all his time on organic farming |
| D．didn’t expect organic farming to be successful |
a.is more environmentally friendly
b.produces a lot more food
c.uses less energy
d.results in more weeds in the farmland
e.is better for human’s health
| A．abc | B．acd | C．ace | D．bce |
| A．anxious | B．hopeless |
| C．unclear | D．optimistic |
【推荐3】In the near future IOT(Internet of 'Things)will drive huge innovation(革新)in the way our food is grown. Plants will have a "voice", not a human voice , but a voice based on data that can tell people, computers, and machines when , for example, they are thirsty, or need more sun, medicine, etc.
Take vertical(垂直的)farms for example. Farming is moving indoors where the growth of plants can be monitored and controlled. The facilities are built vertically, so growing areas can be put in piles. This greatly reduces the amount of land needed for farming.
From an IOT point of view, vertical farms are connected in two ways. First, small sensors(传感器)in the soil or connected to plants tell a control system exactly how much light, water, and nutrients are needed to grow the healthiest crops. Sensors will also tell vertical farmers when crops are nearing their peak for harvesting at just the right time to make sure it's still fresh when it reaches its final destination.
Second, vertical farms will be connected to other networks and information systems, including databases that track local demand. For example, local restaurants may input when they need fresh food supplies. And vertical farmers could get that information so they know which crops to grow in what quantities. This type of IOT system would have been unimaginable a generation ago.
Today, vertical farms are being experimented. Yet, the numbers point to a bright future for the industry, especially as the world's population continues to grow. For example, Green Sense Farms in Chicago is able to harvest crops 26 times a year using 85 percent less energy, one-tenth the water, and no pesticides. A side benefit of lower energy use is lower CO, output of two tons per month, with the added benefit of creating 46 pounds of oxygen every day.
1. How do sensors attached to plants work?| A．By recording farmers harvesting crops. |
| B．By monitoring farmers working in their field. |
| C．By passing information on to a control system |
| D．By analyzing information to preserve crops. |
| A．Expand the output of crops. | B．Move restaurants onto farms. |
| C．Determine the needs of farmers. | D．Match supply with demand. |
| A．Hopeful. | B．Unconcerned. |
| C．Negative | D．Doubtful, |
| A．Voice machines help plants speak up |
| B．Farmers are all turning to vertical farming. |
| C．Vertical farms driven by IOT are a future for agriculture. |
| D．IOT has brought great innovation to our future life. |
【推荐1】Acting as an art form has changed a great deal over the centuries. It’s no longer just about entertaining an audience in a stylised way to depict (刻画) characters and events that everyone is familiar with. Nowadays, acting has moved into a world of hyper realism. Audiences often expect to be challenged by a performance, and acting asks sometimes difficult questions about the world around us.
Given this change in emphasis, what kind of toll (损害) might acting take on somebody’s well-being? The idea that there is a psychological price to pay for good acting is nothing new, yet there is surprisingly little scientific research that examines the issue. Many scientists have been unwilling to examine the relationship in depth. This is changing, however, with academics now starting to investigate it further.
Actors often agree that performing can come with risks. Deborah Margolin, an award-winning actor, found the line between her stage self and her real personality started to blur (变模糊) the deeper into the character she went. She felt a real emotional impact especially when she played difficult or unpleasant roles. Margolin explains, “It was depressing...my character would cry, and I would cry.” She recalls the impact on her fellow actors: “Everybody backed away from me. These were lovely people—I loved them dearly—but my character was unattractive and somehow, so was I.”
These feelings are easy to understand, and would seem to be a natural outcome of acting styles such as “method acting”, which encourages actors to use their real-life experiences to fuel a role. There are some, however, who disagree. Actor Sanford Meisner felt that an actor’s most important tool is their imagination and that psychology has no place in performance. In fact, many performers mix these different methods and keep in touch with family to reconnect with the person beyond their character.
There’s no doubt that walking a tightrope between personalities can be a difficult task, however. As drama student Naomi Lorrain explains, “It can be hard. Offstage, you have to remember that it’s unreal and onstage you have to forget...”
1. What does the underlined word “it” in paragraph 2 refer to ?| A．The relationship between audiences and actors. |
| B．The relationship between old acting styles and new ones. |
| C．The connection between good acting and actors’ mental health. |
| D．The connection between actors’ personalities and those of the characters they play. |
| A．To show how acting influences her real life. |
| B．To explain why she is only understood by them. |
| C．To argue acting is a challenging job for her. |
| D．To prove they use a different acting style from her. |
| A．Actors should have rich social experiences. |
| B．Actors’ performances need creative imagination. |
| C．Actors should mix their real life with performance. |
| D．Actors’ mental problems should be given more attention. |
| A．To be or not to be? |
| B．No pains, no gains |
| C．Acting can change your brain |
| D．How to play a role successfully? |
【推荐2】People have speculated (思索) for centuries about a future without work. Some imagine that the coming work-free world will be defined by inequality: A few wealthy people will own all the capital, and the masses will struggle in a wasteland. A different prediction holds that without jobs to give their lives meaning future people will simply become lazy and depressed.
But it doesn’t necessarily follow from findings like these that a world without work would be filled with dissatisfaction. Such visions are based on the downsides of being unemployed in a society built on the concept of employment. In the absence of work, a society designed with other ends in mind could provide strikingly different circumstances for the future of labor and leisure.
These days, spare time is relatively rare for most workers. “When I come home from a hard day’s work, I often feel tired.” says John Danaher, a lecturer at the National University of Ireland, adding, “In a world in which I don’t have to work. I might feel rather different — perhaps different enough to throw myself into a hobby with the enthusiasm usually reserved for professional matters.”
Daniel Everett, an anthropologist (人类学家) at Bentley University studied a group of hunter-gathers in the Amazon called the Piranha for years. According to Everett, while some might consider hunting and gathering as work, hunter-gatherers don’t. “They think of it as fun.” he says. “They don’t have a concept of work the way we do.”
Everett described a typical day for the Piraha: A man might get up, spend a few hours fishing, have a barbecue, and play until the evening. Does this relaxing life lead to the depression and purposelessness seen among so many of today’s unemployed? “I’ve never seen anything like depression there, except people who are physically ill.” Everett says. While many may consider work necessary for human life, work as it exists today is a relatively new invention in the course of human culture. “We think it’s bad to just sit around with nothing to do,” says Everett. “For the Piraha, it’s quite a desirable state.”
1. How does the author introduce the topic in Paragraph 1?| A．By comparing wealthy people with the majority. |
| B．By giving a definition to inequality in society. |
| C．By listing different predictions of a work-free world |
| D．By picturing a lazy and depressed atmosphere. |
| A．Challenges. | B．Losses. | C．Disadvantages. | D．Risks. |
| A．work plays an important role in our future life |
| B．people’s work-free future life will be full of charm |
| C．people don’t know how to balance work and life |
| D．higher unemployment makes life tougher for workers |
| A．To justify John Danaher’s opinion. |
| B．To show a future life without work. |
| C．To compare different views on work. |
| D．To introduce the Piraha in the Amazon. |
| A．Some people dislike a work-free world. |
| B．The Piraha don’t think they are working at all. |
| C．Future people might become lazy and depressed. |
| D．Daniel Everett prefer to sit around doing nothing |
【推荐3】Stepping into the period of aging life means a new chapter in the life. It brings great problems and challenges to both the elder people and their family members.
You can become an advocate for seniors by helping them individually where they live. Volunteering in a nursing home to help with daily life is one of the common ways to offer help. Speaking and spending time with the elderly will increase your awareness of their daily concerns and challenges.
Helping get seniors online is another way to win them more resources for self-help. One major daily challenge faced by seniors is that they fail to locate certain necessary services because they lack vital computer knowledge. Work with seniors to get wired and train them in basic computer skills.
It’s essential for you to learn some basic healthcare practices.
| A．You can also arouse awareness in your community. |
| B．You can deliver a speech on eldercare, too. |
| C．There are many ways you are able to help professionally for the elderly. |
| D．Healthcare is a major part of senior care, and it helps improve the lives of the seniors. |
| E．These facts may include common health problems, nutritional needs and social isolation. |
| F．Ask the seniors, “What are your goals when you go online?” so that you provide specific guidance. |
| G．In-depth communication like that helps you better understand their difficulties. |
【推荐1】Annette Prince moves quickly in the pre-dawn light, looking carefully at the base of each building she passes in downtown Chicago.
She finds a warbler(莺) sitting on the ground, upright but dazed(恍惚的). Then she traps it with a net. “It probably hit one of the upper floors,” says Ms. Prince, a volunteer to protect birds from striking glass windows. “It’s a little weak.” She’ll take it to the rescue center.
The warbler is fortunate. In the battle between birds and cities, cities are winning. Scientists suggest that crashing into buildings kills as many as 1 billion birds a year in the United States. The light from ever-expanding cities is making it difficult for the movement of creatures that migrate(迁徙)in the dark. And the preference for glass in buildings has proved deadly.
There are growing efforts to make cities safer for birds. Lights Out programs, in which owners and managers agree to turn off outdoor lights during migration times, have spread to 45 U.S. cities. Architects are learning how to make buildings bird-friendly by using specially treated glass that birds can see. More activists are asking homeowners to consider their own windows as well.
The issue is far more than birds. “It concerns a need to reduce the human influence on the natural world in an age of habitat destruction and climate change,” says Andrew Farnsworth, a bird expert in the University of Chicago. “The fact that architects and builders are using bird-friendly technology is a positive,” he says. “But it’s not happening as fast as it needs to be.”
1. What was Annette Prince doing at pre-dawn?| A．To look for the warbler. | B．To search for injured birds. |
| C．To check the safety of the building. | D．To make preparations to trap a warbler. |
| A．It was rescued by a volunteer. |
| B．It won the battle against cities. |
| C．It probably hit one of the upper floors. |
| D．It’s prevented from striking glass windows. |
| A．The spread of Lights Out programs. |
| B．The architects and activists protecting birds. |
| C．The bird-friendly buildings using special glass. |
| D．The measures taken to make cities safer for birds. |
| A．Bird-friendly technology has not taken effect. |
| B．Measures taken to protect birds are pretty enough. |
| C．The mass death of birds is related to human activities. |
| D．Architects and builders are positive about bird protection. |
But it has already spread like wildfire online in China, appearing more than 8 million times on China's micro-blog site Weibo, where it spawned a top-trending hashtag that drew 312,000 discussions among 15 ,000 users. On China's biggest online search engine Baidu,it has been looked up almost 600,000 times. It's been noticed in the west, too.
But what does it mean? "Everyone's duang-ing and I still don't know what it means! Looks like it's back to school for me," said Weibo user Weileiweito. Another user asked, “Have you duang-ed today? My mind is full of duang duang duang.’’‘‘To duang or not to duang, that is the question," wrote user BaiKut automan.
“Duang"seems to be an example of onomatopoeia（拟声词），a word that phonetically imitates a sound. It all seems to have started with Hong Kong action star Jackie Chan, who in 2004 was featured in a shampoo commercial where he said famously defended his sleek（光亮的）, black hair using the 'rhythmical-sounding "duang". The word resurfaced again recently after Chan posted it on his Weibo page. Thousands of users then began to flood Chan's Weibo page with comments, coirung the word in reference to his infamous shampoo appearance.
The word appears to have many different meamngs, and there's no perfect translation, but you could use it as an adjective to give emphasis to the word that follows it. A kitten might be "duang cute", for example. Or you might be "very duang confused" by this blog.
For readers of Chinese characters, the Jackie Chan theme is also apparent from the quirky way in which the word is written:a combination of Chan's Mandarin names.
1. What does Paragraph l mainly talk about?| A．Many countries use the word "duang". |
| B．Debates arise online about the word "duang". |
| C．Chinese dictionaries will contain a new character. |
| D．The word "duang" is used very often on the Internet. |
| A．“duang"is popular among students |
| B．young users can use "duang" freely |
| C．using "duang" is recognized as afashion |
| D．different people have their own understanding of“duang" |
| A．To invent a new character. |
| B．To advertise for an action film. |
| C．To show off his good hair in an ad. |
| D．To ask his fans to flood his Weibo page. |
| A．unusual | B．modem | C．perfect | D．quick |
【推荐3】Shortly before Christmas last year, one of Brazilian pianists Joao Carlos Martins invited his friends to a bar near his home. He wanted to show them the best gift he had received: a new pair of gloves. They are not just any gloves, however. The special bionic devices let the 79-year-old pianist play with both hands for the first time in more than 20 years.
By his retirement last March, Martins had received 24 medical operations to try to reduce pain caused by a disease and from a series of accidents. Before the gloves, which were especially developed for him, Martins could only play songs slowly with his thumbs and, sometimes, his pointer fingers.
However, one designer believed Martins’ retirement had come too early. The designer, Ubirata Bizarro Costa, created special bionic gloves for Martins’ hands. The gloves help move his fingers up after they press on the piano keys. Costa said he created early models based on images of Martins’ hands, but he said those models were not good. He then decided to tell Martins about his work. Costa and Martins then spent several months testing different models. Finally, the perfect model came in December, and cost only $125.
These days, Martins never takes off his new gloves, even when he goes to sleep. Martins said, “I have received more than 100 devices in the last 50 years. None of those devices worked well or long enough, but these gloves do. ”
The new gloves have given Martins a new goal. He hopes to play the piano at New York’s Carnegie Hall in October. He is already set to conduct a concert celebrating the 60th anniversary of his first appearance there.
1. What can we know about Joao Carlos Martins?| A．He enjoys playing the piano in a bar. | B．He has received the best gift in his life. |
| C．He has just retired from a music company. | D．He often discusses with his friends about music. |
| A．A failed operation. | B．His friend's death. |
| C．The new pair of gloves. | D．A disease and some accidents. |
| A．By testing different models. | B．By pressing Martins’ fingers. |
| C．By examining Martins’ hands. | D．By working with other companies. |
| A．They are useless. | B．They are strange. |
| C．They are satisfying. | D．They are frightening. |
