【推荐1】It is 6:00a.m.on the first day of the school year. In Chery brook Technology High School, mathematics teacher Eddie Woo is already at work.

One of the first things before the first bell rings is to set up his tripod（三脚架）and iPad in the middle of the classroom. “I’m Mr. Woo. I record my lessons. I record all of them. In fact, I’m about to record this one,” he explains to his new maths class.

He started posting videos online in 2012 for a student who was sick with cancer and missing a lot of school, so he started sharing them across the country and beyond. Wootube now has more than 38,000 subscribes(用户) and has attracted almost 4 million views worldwide.

Cherybrook Technology High School principal(校长) Gary Johnson said Mr. Woo was helping maths teachers in Australia and making maths popular again. “He has an ability to simplify(简化) maths to a level where kids can really understand it.” Mr. Johnson said.

12-year-old student Emily Shakespear said Mr. Woo’s teaching style made maths easy and interesting. “I don’t want to say it, but he sucked me into maths,” she said. Owen Potter, who attends high school in Cobar. agreed. “It’s difficult to understand how someone in Sydney can influence thousands of people across the whole country,” he said.

Mr. Woo won the 2017 University of Sydney Young Alumni Award for Outstanding Achievement, and he was one of 12 Australian teachers honored at the Commonwealth Bank Teaching Awards.

1. Eddie Woo set up an iPadin the middle of the classroom with the purpose of ________.

A．listening to music	B．playing a video
C．recording his class	D．showing pictures

2. What can we infer from the statistics（数据）in the third paragraph?

A．Mr. Woo’s teaching videos online are very popular.

B．Mr. Woo had made a lot of money by selling videos.

C．Mr. Woo posted videos online helping many adults.

D．Mr. Woo created his Wootube in 2012 in Sydney.

3. According to Gary Johnson, Mr. Woo’s maths lessons are ________.

A．difficult to follow	B．easy to understand
C．simple to handle	D．challenging to learn

4. What is the main idea of the last paragraph?

A．Mr. Woo is the most well-known maths teacher in Australia.

B．Mr. Woo graduated from the University of Sydney with honors.

C．Mr. Woo won the Commonwealth Bank Teaching Awards.

D．Mr. Woo’s contributions to teaching have been recognized.

【推荐2】In recent years American society has become increasingly dependent on its universities to find solutions to its major problems. It is the universities that have been charged with the principal responsibility for developing the expertise to place men on the moon; for dealing with our urban problems and with our deteriorating environment; for developing the means to feed the world’s rapidly increasing population. The effort involved in meeting these demands presents its own problems. In addition, this concentration on the creation of new knowledge significantly impacts on the universities’ efforts to perform their other principal functions, the transmission and interpretation of knowledge—the imparting (传授) of the heritage of the past and the preparing of the next generation to carry it forward.

With regard to this, perhaps their most traditionally acknowledged task, colleges and universities today find themselves in a serious bind generally. On the one hand, there is the American commitment, entered into especially since World War II, to provide higher education for all young people who can profit from it. The result of the commitment has been a dramatic rise in enrollments in our universities, coupled with a radical (激进的) shift from the private to the public sector of higher education. On the other hand, there are serious and continuing limitations on the resources available for higher education.

While higher education has become a great “growth industry”, it is also simultaneously a tremendous drain on the resources of nation. With the vast increase in enrollment and the shift in priorities away from education in state and federal budgets, there is in most of our public institutions a significant decrease in per capita (人均) outlay for their students. One crucial aspect of this drain on resources lies in the persistent shortage of trained faculty, which has led, in turn, to a declining standard of competence in instruction.

Intensifying these difficulties is, as indicated above, the concern with research, with its competing claims on resources and the attention of the faculty. In addition, there is a strong tendency for the institutions’ organization and functioning to fulfill the demands of research rather than those of teaching.

1. According to the passage, ________ should be the most important function of institutions of higher education.

A．creating new knowledge

B．providing solutions to social problems

C．making experts on sophisticated industries out of their students

D．preparing their students to transmit inherited knowledge

2. In American universities, there is a contradiction (矛盾) between ________.

A．more students and less investment	B．education quality and economic profit
C．low enrollment rate and high dropout rate	D．private ownership and American commitment

3. Which is True about American universities?

A．Most teachers are devoted to improving their competence in instruction.

B．Research occupies more resources and teachers’ attention than teaching.

C．The institutions’ organization tends to meet the demands of teaching.

D．The lack of trained faculty leads to the decline in the quality of researches.

4. We can infer from the passage that________.

A．high quality attracts students to stay in public universities

B．the American commitment is to blame for all the difficulties

C．higher education used to have a priority in government budgets

D．the increasing expenses for each student drain the national resources

【推荐1】There are two basic ways to see growth: one as a product, the other as a process. People have generally viewed personal growth as an external result or product that can easily be identified and measured. The worker who gets a promotion, the student whose grades improve, the foreigner who learns a new language -- all these are examples of people who have measurable results to show for their efforts.

By contrast, the process of personal growth is much more difficult to determine, since by definition it is a journey and not the specific signposts or landmarks along the way. The process is not the road itself, but rather the attitudes and feelings people have, their caution or courage, as they encounter new experiences and unexpected obstacles. In this process, the journey never really ends; there are always new ways to experience the world, new ideas to try, new challenges to accept.

In order to grow, to travel new roads, people need to have a willingness to take risks, to confront the unknown, and to accept the possibility that they may “fail” at first. How we see ourselves as we try a new way of being is essential to our ability to grow. Do we perceive ourselves as quick and curious? If so, then we tend to take more chances and to be more open to unfamiliar experiences. Do we think we’re shy and indecisive? Then our sense of timidity can cause us to hesitate, to move slowly, and not to take a step until we know the ground is safe. Do we think we’re slow to adapt to change or that we’re not smart enough to cope with a new challenge? Then we are likely to take a more passive role or not try at all.

These feelings of insecurity and self-doubt are both unavoidable and necessary if we are to change and grow. If we do not confront and overcome these internal fears and doubts, if we protect ourselves too much, then we cease to grow. We become trapped inside a shell of our own making.

1. A person is generally believed to achieve personal growth when _____.

A．he has abandoned the habit of idleness

B．he has made great efforts in his work

C．he is keen on learning anything new

D．he has tried to determine where he is on his urgent journey

2. In the author's eyes, one who views personal growth as a process would _____.

A．succeed in getting a high position in society

B．judge his ability to grow from his own achievements

C．face difficulties and take up challenges

D．aim high and reach his goal each time

3. When the author says" a new way of being " in the third paragraph, he is referring to _____.

A．a new approach to experiencing the world

B．a new way of taking risks

C．a new method of holding our ground

D．a new attitude towards our failure

4. For personal growth, the author approves of all the following EXCEPT _____.

A．curiosity about more chances

B．quick adaptation to new conditions

C．open-mindedness to new experiences

D．avoidance of internal fears and doubts

【推荐2】How do you feel about socks? Depending on how you view them, they can either be a necessity — in which case black, blue or grey will do — or they are a window to the way you can show off your personality and attitudes different from others’. Sounds too dramatic and crazy? Well, a new study has found the crazy socks you choose not only say a lot about you, but also say a lot about how people see you.

Despite our traditional attitudes, the study published in The Journal of Consumer Research confirmed the theory that people who are nonconformists (不墨守成规的人) can potentially be viewed as having higher status and more competent (能干的) than those who obey social rules. So what does this say about your choice of wearing bright neon or rainbow-striped socks?

Well, it found people who have shown to deliberately (故意地) choose to wear strange socks, are seen as having increased status and competency in the eyes of others.

“We believed that, under certain conditions, nonconforming behaviors can be more beneficial to someone than simply trying to fit in. In other words, when it looks deliberate, a person can appear to have higher status and a sense of competency,” stated authors of the study, Silvia and Francesca Gino from Harvard University.

Dr. Adam, a social psychologist from the Northwestern University, conducted a study that showed what we wear affects the way we think, feel and act. And this includes our socks. When we put on our silly and crazy socks, we are, in part, showing off our uniqueness and our confidence. It’s this belief that helps us to skillfully achieve more success without lack of bravery or confidence.

So, if you’re a lover of fun and unusual socks, then go out into the world and embrace them. Not only will you give people an insight into your nonconforming, unique personality, but they will hold you in good status as a result!

1. What is the study published in The Journal of Consumer Research mainly about?

A．The function of socks.	B．The different characters of people.
C．The influence of wearing crazy socks.	D．The reason why people achieve success.

2. How do people view those who wear unusual socks?

A．They hate social rules.	B．They appear silly and crazy.
C．They are much wealthier.	D．They are more outstanding and talented.

3. What does the author advise people to do?

A．Wear the socks they like.	B．Have fun and enjoy the life.
C．Hold good status in the world.	D．Let people have their own personality.

4. What can be inferred from the passage?

A．Trying to fit in will help you have higher status.	B．Unusual socks are fashionable in society.
C．People should avoid wearing silly socks.	D．What we wear may affect who we are.

【推荐3】Microsoft announced this week that its facial-recognition system is now more accurate in identifying people of color, touting （吹嘘）its progress at tacking one of the technology’s biggest biases （偏见）.But critics, citing Microsoft's work with immigration and Customs Enforcement ,quickly seized on how that improved technology might be used. The agency contracts with Microsoft for cloud-computing tools that the tech giant says is largely limited to office work but can also face recognition.

Columbia University professor Alondra Nelson tweeted. “We must stop confusing 'inclusion5 in more 'diverse' surveillance （监管）systems with justice and equality.”

Facial-recognition systems more often misidentify people of color because of a long-running data problem: The massive sets of facial images they train on skew heavily toward white men. A Massachusetts Institute of Technology study this year of the face-recognition systems designed by Microsoft, IBM and the China-based Face found facial-recognition systems consistently giving the wrong gender for famous women of color including Oprah Winfrey, Serena Williams, Michelle Obama and Shirley Chisholm, the first black female member of Congress.

The companies have responded in recent months by pouring many more photos into the mix, hoping to train the systems to better tell the differences among more than just white faces. IBM said Wednesday it used 1 million facial images, taken from the photo-sharing site Flickr, to build the "world's largest facial data-set" which it will release publicly for other companies to use.

IBM and Microsoft say that allowed its systems to recognize gender and skin tone with much more precision. Microsoft said its improved system reduced the error rates for darker-skinned men and women by "up to 20 times,n and reduced error rates for all women by nine times.

Those- improvements were heralded （宣布）by some for taking aim at the prejudices in a rapidly spreading technology, including potentially reducing the kinds of false positives that could lead police officers misidentify a criminal suspect.

But others suggested that the technology's increasing accuracy could also make it more marketable. The system should be accurate, "but that’s just the beginning, not the end, of their ethical obligation,” said David Robinson, managing director of the think tank Upturn.

At the center of that debate is Microsoft, whose multimillion-dollar contracts with ICE came under fire amid the agency's separation of migrant parents and children at the Mexican border.

In an open letter to Microsoft chief executive Satya Nadella urging the company to cancel that contract, Microsoft workers pointed to a company blog post in January that said Azure Government would help ICE “accelerate recognition and identification.” “We believe that Microsoft must take an ethical stand, and put children and families above profits,”the letter said.

A Microsoft spokesman, pointing to a statement last week from Nadella, said the company's "current cloud engagement” with ICE supports relatively anodyne （温和的）office work such as calendar, massaging and document management workloads.” The company said in a statement that its facial-recognition improvements are “part of our going work to address the industry-wide issues on bias.”

Criticism of face recognition will probably expand as the technology finds its way into more arenas, including airport. stores and schools. The Orlando police department said this week that it Would not renew its use of Amazon. Com's Rekognition system.

“Companies have to acknowledge their moral involvement in the downstream use of their technology,” Robinson said : “The impulse is that they're going to put a product out there and wash their hands of the consequences. That’s unacceptable”.

1. What is “one of the technology's biggest biases ”in Paragraph 1?

A．Class bias.	B．Racial discrimination.
C．Professional prejudice.	D．Regional difference.

2. What can we know about the improvement of facial-recognition technology?

A．It is due to the expansion of the photo database.

B．Justice and equality have been truly achieved.

C．It has already solved all the social issues on biases.

D．Migrant parents and their children can be reunited.

3. What is the focus of the face-recognition debate?

A．Data problems.	B．The market value.
C．The application field.	D．A moral issue

4. What is David Robinson's attitude towards facial-recognition technology?

A．optimistic.	B．Approval.
C．Skeptical.	D．Neutral.

5. We can infer from the last paragraph that ______.

A．companies had better hide from responsibilities

B．companies should not launch new products on impulse

C．companies deny problems with the technical process of facial-recognition system

D．companies should be responsible for the new product and the consequences

6. Which can be the suitable title for the passage?

A．Fears of facial-recognition technology	B．The wide use of Microsoft system
C．The improvement of Microsoft system	D．Failure of recognizing black women