【推荐1】The 2022 World Internet Conference closed on November 11, 2022 in Wuzhen, Zhejiang Province. There were a lot of cool inventions shown there. Let’s have a look at some of them.

A Smart Helmet

When delivery people send food around, they often use their mobile phones while riding. It’s very dangerous. To make them safer, a company has created a new helmet. It connects with the mobile phone and can “talk”. It can tell delivery people new orders and where the customers are. Delivery people can also take orders and answer messages by talking to the helmet. If the wearer has an accident, the helmet can make a call for help right away.

Type with Eyes

Many disabled people can’t move their hands. They find it hard to type on a computer. A company has developed eye-controlling technology. By looking at the screen and moving their eyes, people can type words easily.

A Business Card? A Computer!

A computer which was as big as a business card caught people’s eyes. It’s called Raspberry Pi. It’s one of the world’s smallest computers. Although it only costs a few hundred yuan, it has a memory of 8G. It is designed for learning computer programming. It can do a lot of difficult calculations. You can also use it to create your computer games.

Magic Mirror for Health

Scan your face, and then the software will know a lot about your health. This is what Magic Mirror can do. It’s a smart health check system. You don’t need to wear any devices. Just stand in front of it for 30 seconds, and it will know your heart conditions, blood pressure and the risks of some diseases.

1. Which is true about the smart helmet?

A．It can help delivery people ride slowly.

B．It can remind delivery people of danger.

C．It can make delivery people relaxed by talking.

D．It can help delivery people work much safer.

2. How do disabled people type words with the new technology?

A．By talking loudly.	B．By moving their eyes.
C．By waving their hands.	D．By touching the keys.

3. Magic Mirror can tell people some information EXCEPT___________.

A．eating habits	B．blood pressure
C．heart conditions	D．risks of some diseases

4. In which section of a website can we most probably read the text?

A．Nature.

B．Business.

C．Science.

D．Lifestyle.

【推荐2】Four New Inventions We Should Be Proud of

Recent media reports have highlighted the “four new great inventions” of modern China-high-speed railway, Alipay, shared bicycles and online shopping. The four new inventions are technological breakthroughs that will help China move toward overall prosperity.

High-speed railway

This invention plays an important role in China’s modern development. Featuring high speed, huge passenger carrying capacity, low pollution and high safety, it consumes limited energy and resources and has greatly improved the transportation efficiency of the country. China is not only developing a high-speed railway network within the country; it is also building high-speed railways overseas to improve infrastructure (基础设施) in other countries and regions.

Alipay

Alipay, the other new invention, has to a large extent solved the trust problem of online trade with modern technologies, by introducing real-name registration, digital certificates and dynamic (动态的) password based on smartphones.

Alipay is freeing people of the burden of carrying cash. All people need to have is a smartphone, which enables them to pay for almost everything. That saves business cost for the whole society and promotes sales. And Chinese consumers are proud of it.

Shared bicycles

The business of shared bicycles is also based on mobile network, third-party payment and big data technologies. Before shared bikes were introduced, urban residents had almost given up on bicycles. But shared bikes have made people realize the benefits of eco-friendly transportation.

Bike sharing has also helped ease traffic jams in cities, by encouraging more people to use bicycles, instead of cars, for short-distance travel.

Online shopping

Thanks to online shopping, people can now buy anything from anywhere in the world. Moreover, it has helped develop logistical (物流) technology to meet the needs of transporting large quantities of goods across long distances in a short time.

True, online shopping poses a challenge to physical stores, but it has also made them improve their services and cut their costs. And the result could be an overall improvement in business.

1. How can Alipay benefit people?

A．Its real name registration can make sales more convenient.

B．People don’t need to carry a lot of cash with them.

C．All things can be bought by using Alipay.

D．It can increase business cost for the shops.

2. Which is NOT an advantage of shared bicycles according to the passage?

A．People can use shared bicycles without causing much pollution.

B．It’s convenient to use shared bicycles for short-distance travel.

C．Shared bicycles enable people to do much physical exercise.

D．There will be fewer traffic jams in cities.

3. What may happen if online shopping becomes popular?

A．People can receive the goods they’ve bought in three days.

B．Many physical shops will also improve their service quality.

C．Most goods can be bought at very low prices.

D．There will be more kinds of goods for people to choose from.

【推荐3】An innovative agriculture startup plans to open an indoor vertical farm in Compton to help bring fresh produce to the California city.

Plenty, the company behind the project, said it will condense(压缩) 700 acres of farmland into a 95,000 square foot warehouse in Los Angeles County, where food-bearing plants will grow vertically and in abundance. The Compton site will be the company’s second and largest vertical farm. Plenty opened its first vertical farm in San Francisco in 2018, and keeps a research and development farm in Laramie, Wyoming.

By building farms vertically, Plenty said it is able to grow healthy, quality produce without harming the environment. The unique layout will also make it possible to establish farms in urban areas, where land resources are limited and food insecurity is widespread.

Plenty uses a range of technologies to realize its goal of more productive and Earth-friendly farming — including vertical plant towers, LED lighting and robots to plant, feed and harvest crops. “The farms are able to grow plants faster, with greater nutritional density(密度), and without the help of pesticides,” the company said. To create them, the company said it does not clear lands or pollute grounds, and only uses a small part of the water that traditional farming requires.

“It’s good for the environment,” said Shireen Santosham, Plenty’s head of strategic initiatives. “Eighty to ninety percent of water used around the world is for agriculture. Because we grow our plants using precise nutrient recipes, we can use a very small amount of water.”

Traditional farms are usually only able to harvest crops a few times a year. But because Plenty’s farms are free of limitations like seasonal and weather changes, harmful pests and natural disasters, they can produce food all year long.

The company said it also prioritizes health and cleanliness. Its crops are grown in clean environments, where staff dress in full personal protective equipment and robots do much of the picking. The first time produce is touched by bare hands is when a consumer opens a food package at home. Plenty said it’s all part of its mission “to improve the lives of Plants, People and our Planet.”

1. Where did Plenty open its first vertical farm?

A．In California.

B．In Los Angeles.

C．In Laramie.

D．In San Francisco.

2. What can we know about the company Plenty?

A．It is similar to traditional farms.

B．Its farms are influenced by weather.

C．It uses less water to grow crops year-round.

D．It kills harmful pests with the help of pesticides.

3. What can we infer from the last paragraph?

A．Plenty’s produce are safe to eat.

B．Robots do all of the picking on the farm.

C．Plenty’s produce are popular with consumers.

D．The produce is delivered directly to consumers’ home.

4. What’s the best title for the text?

A．The Necessity of Developing Vertical Agriculture

B．How to Grow Healthy and Fresh Produce in Urban Cities

C．A Vertical Farm Aims to Bring Fresh Produce to Compton

D．Plenty's Task Is to Improve the Lives of Plants and People

【推荐1】A nervous 11-year-old called Anthony showed up at Peter Mutabazi’s doorstep around 3 a.m., wearing blue sleepwear and a gray Batman blanket over his shoulders. Having been abandoned at a hospital by his adopted parents and desperately needing a place to stay for the weekend, he carried a bag holding a sweater, a pair of sneakers and not much else.

It was January 2017. Mutabazi wasn’t ready to take in more kids—he had just said goodbye to two foster(寄养的) brothers and needed time to regroup. Then he remembered what it was like to feel scared, alone and unwanted. As a boy, he fled from his home where his parents abused him and lived on the streets of Kampala, Uganda, before a stranger paid his high school tuition(学费), leading to a college scholarship and an eventual move to the US.

Within minutes of his arrival, Anthony asked Mutabazi if he could call him dad. The boy, who had been in the foster care system since he was a little kid, never left Mutabazi’s house that weekend as planned. Mutabazi adopted him and gave him his last name.

Last month, Mutabazi formally adopted two more children: brothers who had lived with him for three years. Mark, 8, is the new boss of the house while Luke, 7, is a shy boy with a sweet smile. Their family is an unconventional one—he is Black, and his adopted kids are White—but Mutabazi, 49, believes that love transcends racial differences.

Since becoming a foster father in 2016, he has hosted about three dozen kids of all races and cultures. Some of his foster children are reunited with their families, while others remain in his care. Mutabazi shares glimpses of his life as a foster dad with his 328, 000 followers on Instagram to encourage other men to be active fathers and signal that a healthy family is based on love, not skin color.

1. Why did Anthony show up at Peter Mutabazi’s doorstep?

A．He hoped to help Mutabazi.

B．He begged for more sneakers.

C．He fled from a hospital secretly.

D．He wanted Mutabazi to adopt him.

2. What happened to Mutabazi when he was young?

A．He was abused by his brother.

B．He was brought to the US by his parents.

C．He was sponsored by a stranger for education.

D．He loved playing on the streets of Kampala, Uganda.

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

A．Goes beyond.

B．Walks through.

C．Runs after.

D．Takes off.

4. What does the author want to convey in the text?

A．Hard work pays off.

B．Love really makes a difference.

C．Education is a key to success.

D．The roses in her hand, the flavor in mine.

【推荐3】We’ve all had a guilty pleasure or two. Maybe it was an awkward TV show that we enjoyed a little bit too much, maybe a song we listened to ironically until it became a bit too unironic. Perhaps a snack so disgusting it wound up coming back around to be delicious, or a movie so egregious that it ended up being a fantastic watch. Though we often wonder why we enjoy these things, we should really be asking ourselves why we feel guilty for enjoying them.

With the obvious exception of things that are harmful to people, our harsh judgment toward ourselves and others over what we enjoy does nothing but harm our individual expression and enjoyment.

It’s natural to want to appear “cool” to other people — whatever that may mean to you. With the cultural tendency and the means to share literally anything and everything you enjoy via social media, we perfectly curate (管理) the media we consume to match some sort of imagined ideal aesthetic (美学) — a trap that’s much too easy to fall into. Don’t fall into the trap!

My point is, the things that hold us back from openly enjoying our “guilty pleasures” often come from completely unfounded places. This is especially true that a teenage girl would rather be misunderstood than admit she likes pink. Frankly, what’s the point? Who are you proving yourself to, and why do you feel the need to? If you’re not harming anyone, and you are getting happiness from something, then why bother holding yourself back from it just to preserve some kind of curated image of who you’re supposed to be?

Life is hard enough as it is. If you’ve found something that eases the stress of life even just a little bit, hold onto it for dear life. Marathon the Twilight movies. Read a super tacky (俗气的) romance novel. Throw that guilt right out of the window with absolutely no regrets, and do whatever it is that makes you happy.

1. What does the underlined word “egregious” mean in the first paragraph?

A．Moving.

B．Unpopular.

C．Thrilling.

D．Unbearable.

2. What can we learn from paragraph 3?

A．Most people want to gain recognition from others.

B．Social media has a bad impact on self-recognition.

C．Culture tendency sets a standard for ideal aesthetic.

D．People enjoy curating the media that they consume.

3. What would hold us back from enjoying “guilty pleasure”?

A．The desire to lead a simple life.	B．The intention to show off ourselves.
C．The need to admit that we like pink.	D．The purpose to guard our ideal image.

4. Which of the following may the author agree with?

A．Find ways to overcome hard life.

B．Set ourselves free from fixed opinions.

C．Have an in-depth self-talk to find our souls.

D．Talk with people and make our own decisions.