A. They were to advise people who were used to gas lighting not to light the electricity with a match.
B. There were many cases where people had no idea how to use new technologies, causing embarrassment (尴尬) in the would-be user and amusement in the observer.
C. Seeing this, her husband asked her what she was doing. She replied, “Shaking the tape. It says on the tape ‘Shake before use’”. Her husband told her the name of the film was “Shake Before Use”!
D. At the turn of the 20th century, when electricity was set up in many homes, signs were placed on the wall next to the light-switches.
E. Then when videos first came on the market, a woman, who had never seen a videotape (录影带) before, took one tape out of the box and began shaking it violently.
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| A．That’s when they decided they had to learn to live without so many gadgets. |
| B．It may be time to question how ”convenient“ these advances really are. |
【推荐2】Quantum ( 量子 ) computers have been on my mind a lot lately. A friend has been sending me articles on how quantum computers might help solve some of the biggest challenges we face as humans. I’ve also had exchanges with two quantum-computing experts. One is computer scientist Chris Johnson who I see as someone who helps keep the field honest. The other is physicist Philip Taylor.
For decades, quantum computing has been little more than a laboratory curiosity. Now, big tech companies have invested in quantum computing, as have many smaller ones. According to Business Weekly, quantum machines could help us “cure cancer, and even take steps to turn climate change in the opposite direction.” This is the sort of hype ( 炒作 ) that annoys Johnson. He worries that researchers are making promises they can’t keep. “What’s new,” Johnson wrote, “is that millions of dollars are now potentially available to quantum computing researchers.”
As quantum computing attracts more attention and funding, researchers may mislead investors, journalists, the public and, worst of all, themselves about their work’s potential. If researchers can’t keep their promises, excitement might give way to doubt, disappointment and anger, Johnson warns. Lots of other technologies have gone through stages of excitement. But something about quantum computing makes it especially prone to hype, Johnson suggests, perhaps because “‘quantum’ stands for something cool you shouldn’t be able to understand.” And that brings me back to Taylor, who suggested that I read his book Q for Quantum.
After I read the book, Taylor patiently answered my questions about it. He also answered my questions about PyQuantum, the firm he co-founded in 2016. Taylor shares Johnson’s concerns about hype, but he says those concerns do not apply to PyQuantum.
The company, he says, is closer than any other firm “by a very large margin ( 幅度 )” to building a “useful” quantum computer, one that “solves an impactful problem that we would not have been able to solve otherwise.” He adds, “People will naturally discount my opinions, but I have spent a lot of time quantitatively comparing what we are doing with others.”
Could PyQuantum really be leading all the competition “by a wide margin”, as Taylor claims? I don’t know. I’m certainly not going to advise my friend or anyone else to invest in quantum computers. But I trust Taylor, just as I trust Johnson.
What leads to Taylor’s optimism about quantum computing?
| A．His dominance in physics. |
| B．The competition in the field. |
| C．His confidence in PyQuantum. |
| D．The investment of tech companies. |
A. Smartphones and their immediate pleasure reward your brain with stimulus to keep you wanting even more.
B. The device uses sensors to warn users when they’re about to run into something while looking down at their phone.
C. Ask yourself this honest question, how much time do you spend looking at your phone? In fact, how often have you hit something as you were walking while looking down?
D. It’s a trap that many fall into, but only a few have the determination to get out of it. The designer of a new device wants to draw attention to the dangers of this behavior—before it’s too late.
E. Industrial design student Minwook Paeng’s developed a robot eye called the Third Eye, which attaches to a smartphone user’s forehead.
I’m a gift-giver. I always have been, especially at Christmas. There s nothing more exciting than shopping for the people I love, then watching them open the present that’s perfect for them.
But this year I was afraid there’d be no shopping. It was a few weeks before Christmas and I sat at my kitchen table staring at my checkbook. Bills had left me with next to nothing in my gift budget. There were a dozen people on my list—my husband, Frank, our son, my sister, nieces, nephews (basketball lovers).
The newspaper was on the table next to me. I read it, and an article about a weekend estate (财产) sale practically stood out on the page. I decided to check it out, so I wrote down the address. I turned the page. There, in the middle, was an ad for the Goodwill Store. On the next? A garage sale listing. After that, one for a thrift (节俭) shop.
That weekend I drove over to the estate sale. First I looked through the living room. There was antique furniture, tables crowded with vases and lamps. Nothing caught my eye. I walked over to an office area and looked at some electronics. Nothing there either. Another room had beautiful artworks, but everything was out of my price range. “Maybe this is a waste of time,” I thought, wandering into the kitchen. A table loaded with lace handkerchiefs for a dollar apiece. My sister collected handkerchiefs!
The race was on! The next day I hit the Goodwill. I found a men’s designer dress shirt, in just the right size for my hard-to-fit son, still with original packs, for just a few dollars. A couple of days later I discovered a beautiful necklace with an unusual stone in the center. Just the thing for my fashionable niece! Next up were the garage sales. There were two terrific finds for my husband, Frank: a CD of Oklahoma’s centennial anniversary celebrations and a movie featuring Andy Griffith, his favorite actor.
“Have you bought anything for yourself?” Frank asked one afternoon when I came home with more packages.
1. 阅读短文，完成下面的表格(每空一词)5W | Details |
When | A few weeks before |
Where | A |
Who | The |
Why | To buy |
What | Perfect presents with the limited gift |
But I went to the thrift shop the next day.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Not only did I have special gifts for everyone on my list,
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
A funny thing happened to Arthur when he was on the way to work one day. As he walked along Park Avenue near the First National Bank, he heard the sound of someone trying to start a car. He tried again and again but couldn’t get the car moving. Arthur turned and looked inside at the face of a young man who looked worried. Arthur stopped and asked. “It looks like you’ve got a problem,” Arthur said.
“I’m afraid so. I’m in a big hurry and I can’t start my car.”
“Is there something I can do to help?” Arthur asked. The young man looked at the two suitcases in the back seat and then said, “Thanks. If you’re sure it wouldn’t be too much trouble, you could help me get these suitcases into a taxi.”
“No trouble at all. I’d be glad to help.”
The young man got out and took one of the suitcases from the back seat. After placing it on the ground, he turned to get the other one. Just as Arthur picked up the first suitcase and started walking, he heard the long loud noise of an alarm.
It was from the bank. There had been a robbery!
Park Avenue had been quiet a moment before. Now the air was filled with the sound of the alarm and the shouts of people running from all directions. Cars stopped and the passengers joined the crowd in front of the bank. People asked each other, “What happened?” But everyone had a different answer.
Arthur, still carrying the suitcase, turned to look at the bank and walked right into the young woman in front of him.
She looked at the suitcase and then at him. Arthur was surprised. “Why is she looking at me like that?” He thought. “The suitcase! She thinks I am the bank thief!”
Arthur looked around at the crowd of people. He became frightened, and without another thought, he started to run.
As he was running, Arthur heard the young man shouting behind, “Stop, stop!”
The taxi stopped in front of the police station and Arthur
| A．So scared was Arthur that he ran faster with that suitcase. He continued to rush among the people and the cars with the purpose of handing in the suicase to the policeman no matter how hard the young man shouted to him behind. Just at this moment he saw a taxi and jumped into it. Nervously, he told the driver the young man shouting behind was a bank thief and asked him to drive to the nearest police station. The driver followed what Arthur said and drove away quickly. |
| B．Zarina found it interesting to see her mother at work. “It’s really strange seeing Mum at work-running around, getting serious and telling people what to do.” She has always liked this idea of going into law and thinks it likely that she will follow in her mother’s footsteps. Having a chance to see how her mother works has given her more self-confidence. |
| C．Avoiding a handshake may have been considered impolite a couple of years ago, but it is now getting more and more common, especially because of the outbreak of COVID-19. |
| D．jumped off with the suitcase, running to the police office. He handed it to a policeman and reported what had happened on the Park Avenue. Arthur insisted that the suitcase be opened to make sure the money in it was not lost. Much to Arthur’s surprise, there was no money except some clothes and many books. Immediately, Arthur realized that he mistook the young man for the bank thief. Arthur felt embarrassed but quite relieved. What a funny thing it was for Arthur! |
【推荐3】A schoolgirl saved her father’s life by kicking him in the chest after he suffered a serious allergic (过敏的) reaction which stopped his heart.
Izzy, nine, restarted father Colm’s heart by stamping (踩) on his chest after he fell down at home and stopped breathing.
Izzy’s mother, Debbie, immediately called 999 but Izzy knew doctors would never arrive in time to save her father, so decided to use CPR.
However, she quickly discovered her arms weren’t strong enough, so she stamped on her father’s chest instead.
Debbie then took over with some more conventional chest compressions (按压) until the ambulance arrived.
Izzy, who has been given a bravery award by her school, said: “I just kicked him really hard. My mum taught me CPR but I knew I wasn't strong enough to use hands. I was quite scared. The doctor said I might as well be a doctor or a nurse. My mum said that Dad was going to hospital with a big footprint on his chest.”
What’s the right order of the events?
①Izzy kicked Colm. ②Debbie called 999. ③Izzy learned CPR. ④Colm’s heart stopped.
| A．③①②④ | B．④②③① | C．③④②① | D．④③①② |
