【推荐1】UCLA bioengineers have designed a glove-like device（装置）that can translate American Sign Language into English speech in real time through a smartphone app．Their research is published in the journal Nature Electronics．

"Our hope is that this opens up an easy way for people who use sign language to communicate directly with non-signers without needing someone else to translate for them," said Jun Chen, an assistant professor of bioengineering at the UCLA Samueli School of Engineering and the principal investigator on the research．"In addition, we hope it can help more people learn sign language themselves．"

The system includes a pair of gloves with thin, stretchable sensors that run the length of each of the five fingers．These sensors, made from electrically conducting yarns, pick up hand motions and finger placements that stand for individual letters, numbers, words and phrases．The device then turns the finger movements into electrical signals, which are sent to a dollar-coin-sized circuit board worn on the wrist．The board transmits those signals wirelessly to a smartphone that translates them into spoken words at the rate of about one word per second．

The researchers also added adhesive（黏合的）sensors to testers' faces-in between their eyebrows and on one side of their mouths-to capture facial expressions that are a part of American Sign Language．

Previous wearable systems that offered translation from American Sign Language were limited by heavy device designs and were uncomfortable to wear, Chen said．The device developed by the UCLA team is made from lightweight and inexpensive but long-lasting, stretchable polymers．The electronic sensors are also very flexible and inexpensive．

In testing the device, the researchers worked with four people who are deaf and use American Sign Language．The wearers repeated each hand gesture 15 times．A custom machine-learning algorithm（程序）turned these gestures into the letters, numbers and words they represented．The system recognized 660 signs, including each letter of the alphabet and numbers 0 through 9．

1. What can we learn about the glove-like device from Jun Chen's words?

A．It is mainly intended for sign language learning．

B．It can make signers speak in a loud voice．

C．It can translate English into other languages．

D．It helps signers and non-signers communicate．

2. What is paragraph 3 mainly about?

A．The structure of the device．	B．The working process of the device．
C．The translating rate of the device．	D．The connection between the sensors．

3. Why do researchers add adhesive sensors to testers' faces?

A．To reduce the pressure of the main sensors．

B．To make the device transmit signals quicker．

C．To enrich the sign language users' facial expressions．

D．To make the device understand the sign language better．

4. What advantage does the glove-like device have over previous wearable systems?

A．It is completely wireless．	B．It is light and beautiful to wear．
C．It is cheaper and lasts longer．	D．It stores and recognizes more signs．

【推荐2】When you think about inventions that have completely changed human existence，what comes to your mind? Probably the wheel，the printing press，the refrigerator and definitely personal computers.     1    ，but without which we'd be much worse off，like eyeglasses.Imagine a world without glasses---many of us would walk around bumping into things and driving our cars up onto the sidewalk.     2    ?

The truth is that nobody knows who invented eyeglasses. At some point in ltaly between 1268 and 1289 someone came up with the idea, but the actual inventor remains unknown.What we do know is that the earliest lenses were made from quartz(石英) and were usually set into bone, metal, or leather.     3    ，they started making lenses out of glass.

Although glasses spread quickly throughoutEurope and Asia, there was one major problem: how to keep them on the wearer's face?     4    . It took nearly 400 years before opticians(验光师)figured out that hard sidepieces resting on top of the ears might do the trick.

    5    , who invented bifocals(双光眼镜) in the 1780s. Annoyed at having to constantly switch glasses whenever he wanted to read or take in the sights while traveling，he had his reading glasses cut in half and joined with his distance glasses. Now that's the American creative item for you.

A．So who invented glasses，and how were they first made

B．Early glasses were squeezed onto the bridge of the nose

C．So where were they first made and how were they improved

D．Once quartz was found limited in nature and harmful to health

E．Then there are those ordinary things that we seldom think about

F．As soon as people figured out how to make glass without bubbles and other problems

G．No history of eyeglasses would be complete without some mention of Benjamin Franklin

【推荐1】Researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have discovered a new way of gaining the sun’s energy. A team from MIT has created a new technique of using a kind of special windows with chemical dyes (化学染料). The dyes help catch the light from the sun and send it to a special place in the window and then change the light into energy. The scientists say this discovery could change buildings into energy plants. It could even one day mean that the windows in our houses could provide power for our homes. The scientists say their dyes can produce ten times more power than the traditional solar (太阳的) board used around the world today. They also say that this clean and new energy technology could be available (可用的) within the next three years.

The idea was first developed in the 1970s but was given up. Scientists then found that too much of the collected sunlight failed to reach the places on the edges of (在……边上) the windows. Then the MIT engineers thought out the idea of using colored dyes to stop the light from escaping. At the same time, their method only requires cells (电池) around the edges of the windows. MIT’s Professor Baldo explained, “This special glass would let through about 10 percent of the sun to light up the room, and the left would be caught and used to create electricity for other fields. It would look like smoked glass because of the dyes.” He says the new technology could help fight environment change.

1. We can learn from the text that the dyes ______.

A．could also be used to get energy from plants

B．produce more energy than the traditional board

C．catch more light from the sun in the daytime

D．keep the light in the windows for longer time

2. What is the main advantage of this new technique?

A．It can be used to heat the room in winter.

B．It can be used to make the room colorful.

C．It saves people a large amount of money.

D．It is clean and good for the environment.

3. What’s the purpose of the text?

A．To show the importance of protecting the environment.

B．To encourage people to fix this special window.

C．To explain how to use this special window.

D．To introduce a new energy technique.

【推荐2】This holiday season, holiday shoppers can for the first time send festive greetings that contribute to protecting rather than destroying our evergreen world. The beautiful e-card can be sent via TreeGreetings, available at http://www. TreeGreetings. com.

Each $8.95 TreeGreetings e-card comes with a virtual tour of the actual location where the gift tree will be planted along with a full-color, personalized planting certificate. The greetings feature musical slide shows with nature photography and inspirational messages.

“Our cards exemplify the spirit of holiday giving,” said Alan Shamir, founder and CEO of Your True Nature Inc., which markets TreeGreetings electronic products. “Our customers can give back to the Earth by contributing to reforestation while sharing holiday goodwill with friends and family.” TreeGreetings offers a full range of e-cards to celebrate any occasion including birthdays, weddings, anniversaries, new homes, congratulations, Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day, and Father’s Day.

Individuals and organizations can easily send personalized TreeGreetings to their entire holiday lists at quantity-discounted rates, and distribution on a selected date can be scheduled days, weeks, or months in advance.

Gift trees are planted and cared for by well-established, reliable non-profit organizations including the internationally recognized Trees, Water & People, which has planted 1.2 million trees in Central America, and Plant-It 2020, a foundation created by singer John Denver in 1992.

After having received a Magnolia tree for his 11th birthday, Shamir gained a lifelong appreciation for the value and joy of receiving a living growing gift. He said, “My tree and I ‘grow up’ together! It has been such a valuable and important part of my life that I want to give others the experience of having a tree planted for their special occasions.”

1. What will happen if you buy a TreeGreetings e-card?

A．You will be presented with a gift.

B．You’ll receive a photograph with music.

C．You can determine the type of gift trees.

D．You’ll know where the tree will be planted.

2. What can we infer from Para. 3?

A．TreeGreetings e-card brings high profits.

B．TreeGreetings e-card does prove popular.

C．TreeGreetings e-card helps protect the Earth.

D．TreeGreetings e-card deserves to be stored.

3. What do we know about John Denver from the 5th paragraph?

A．He has a high fame worldwide.

B．He must be possessing a big farm.

C．He founded Plant-It 2020 himself.

D．He’s abandoned singing completely.

4. Why did the author mention Shamir’s 11th birthday?

A．To show it has a lasting influence on him.

B．To emphasize he didn’t get gifts ever before.

C．To call on people to value teenagers’ growth.

D．To collect data for his support for the project.

【推荐1】The AlphaGo program’s victory is an example of how smart computers have become. But can artificial intelligence (AI) machines act ethically(合乎道德地), meaning can they be honest and fair?

One example of AI is driverless cars. They are already on California roads, so it is not too soon to ask whether we can program a machine to act ethically. As driverless cars improve, they will save lives. They will make fewer mistakes than human drivers do. Sometimes, however, they will face a choice between lives. Should the cars be programmed to make a sudden turn to avoid hitting a child? What if the only risk is damage to the car itself not to the passengers?

Perhaps there will be lessons to learn from driverless cars, but they are not super-intelligent beings. Teaching ethics to a machine even more intelligent than we are will be the bigger challenge.

About the same time as AlphaGo’s victory, Microsoft’s ‘chatbot’ took a bad turn. The software, named Taylor, was designed to answer messages from people aged 18-24. Taylor was supposed to be able to learn from the messages she received. She was designed to slowly improve her ability to handle conversations, but some people were teaching Taylor racist ideas. When she started saying nice things about Hitler, Microsoft turned her off and deleted her ugliest messages.

AlphaGo’s victory and Taylor’s defeat happened at about the same time. This should be a warning to us. It is one thing to use AI within a game with clear rules and clear goals. It is something very different to use AI in the real world.

Eric Schmidt is one of the bosses of Google, which owns AlphoGo. He thinks AI will be positive for humans. He said people will be the winner, whatever the outcome. Advances in AI will make human beings smarter, more able and “just better human beings.”

1. What’s the second paragraph mainly about?

A．Whether AI machines are capable to predict possible risks.

B．What AI machines will do to save human lives.

C．Whether AI machines can make ethical decisions.

D．What AI machines will do to avoid damages to themselves.

2. What is said to be the bigger challenge facing humans in the AI age?

A．How to prevent AI machines doing harm to humans.

B．How to avoid being over-dependent on AI machines.

C．How to ensure that super-intelligent AI machines act ethically.

D．How to make super-intelligent AI machines share human feelings.

3. What do we learn about Microsoft’s ‘chatbot’ Taylor?

A．She could not tell good from bad.

B．She could turn herself off when necessary.

C．She was not made to handle new situations.

D．She was good at performing routine tasks.

4. What is Eric Schmidt’s attitude towards artificial intelligence?

A．negative	B．unconcerned
C．positive	D．doubtful

【推荐2】“Selfie”, taking a picture of yourself to post on social media, became an official word in the Oxford dictionary in 2013. The idea seems simple, just pose and snap a photo of yourself with your cell phone camera. How difficult could that be?

But in 2014 a reported 15 people died while taking selfies. That number has risen each. year since then. Thirty-nine deaths connected to selfies were reported in 2015. And, this year has seen more than 70 such deaths.

Researchers from universities in the US and India have released findings from the first study of deaths due to selfies. The investigators examined the causes and characteristics of the deaths.

The researchers found that people who take selfies for sharing on social media often have a narcissistic tendency. The report says these people “use selfies as a form ‘of self-identification and expression”. They may take selfies in more dangerous settings because they seek greater attention. These dangerous situations can lead to injury, and even death. The researchers define a selfie death as “death of an individual or a group of people that could have been avoided had the individual(s) not been taking a selfie.”

One example of a dangerous selfie in the study involved bicycle races. People sometimes get on the track to take a picture of themselves with the racing bicycles behind them. Crashes and injuries have resulted. Another example described people standing on train tracks trying to get a selfie’ as a train moves toward them from behind. The most common cause of selfie death was falling from high places. It caused 32 of the 172 deaths during the last two and a half years. Drowning was another common cause of death.

And it might be more dangerous to be a man with a smartphone. Although women take more selfies, males were far more likely to die during selfies.75.5% of the reported deaths were of mien. About one-third of the 172 reported selfie deaths had a single death while 24 incidents involved the deaths of groups. Two of the incidents killed seven people each.

1. The passage is mainly about _________ .

A．selfie deaths on the rise	B．the danger of taking selfies
C．what a selfie death is	D．the causes of selfie deaths

2. What does the underlined phrase “a narcissistic tendency” in Paragraph 4 probably refer to?

A．A physical state.

B．A psychological state.

C．A difficulty.

D．A camera.

3. Which of the following is an example of selfie deaths?

A．A man addicted to taking selfies died.

B．A taxi-driver died with one of his. passengers taking selfies.

C．A man fell off the cliff while taking a selfie and died.

D．An old lady. died from heart attack when taking a selfie.

4. From the passage; we can learn that _________.

A．selfie deaths are always single deaths

B．women are more likely to die during selfies

C．it is dangerous to participate in .bicycle races

D．selfie deaths happened in various ways