【推荐2】If businesses are to get workers back into the office, finding ways to keep social distancing will be key. An Israeli company thinks it can help, using smart sensors installed on workplace ceilings.

PointGrab developed its technology before the Covid-19 to help workspace managers optimize how employees use office space. About the size of a smoke alarm, the sensors can record the exact number and location of people in buildings including offices, hotels and restaurants.

One of the company's first clients was Deloitte, which installed the system at its London office last year. PointGrab's sensors were connected to screens in the building to show the availability of desks and shared areas in real time. PointGrab CEO Doron Shachar says it was one of a series of innovations that helped Deloitte fit 30% more people into 3% less space.

Now PointGrab has adapted the technology so the sensors can also monitor social distancing by keeping track of how far apart people are, and whether they're traveling in one direction around a building. Workspace managers can set up alerts for when two people are closer than two meters for more than 30 seconds, for example.

The sensors have been included in the “six feet office” concept created by a company Cushman & amp; Wakefield to encourage employees to practice social distancing. They are currently being used in this way at a university in the Netherlands, and at an innovation centre in Belgium. While the social distancing innovation is new, PointGrab has installed more than 10, 000 sensors for workspace optimization, including in the offices of Coca-Cola, Facebook and Dell.

Workers might not like the idea of being monitored, but PointGrab says no images or identifying features are recorded. Instead, each employee is represented as an dot on a dashboard. “The sensor does not violate people’s privacy,” Shachar says. “This is extremely important in the workspace.”

1. What can we learn about PointGrab?

A．It has been dedicated to outdoor monitoring.

B．It established industry standards for monitoring.

C．It has developed a sensor to monitor social distancing.

D．Its new product gets inspiration from the smoke alarm.

2. Which has the closest meaning to the underlined word “optimize”?

A．Reduce workplace seriously.	B．Select employees wisely.
C．Take their time efficiently.	D．Make the most of.

3. What's the result of the use of PointGrab’s products?

A．Office efficiency will be greatly improved.

B．It will improve the availability of office space.

C．It can keep track of the whole working process.

D．It makes the staff work at ease without being disturbed.

4. What's the working staff’s anxiety?

A．Their privacy will be revealed.

B．The activity space has been reduced.

C．The change has affected work efficiency.

D．They cannot work under monitoring.

【推荐3】Gitanjali Rao, Colorado teenager who invented mobile device to test for lead (铅) in drinking water, was Time’s Kid of the Year for 2020. The magazine announced the award on Thursday, citing Rao’s ability to apply scientific ideas to real-world problems and her desire to motivate other kids to take up their own causes.

It was just the latest recognition for Rao, 15, who was named last year to the Forbes 30 Under 30 list. She won praise in 2017 after she responded to the water crisis in Flint, Michigan, by creating a device named Tehys, using carbon nanotube sensors to detect (探测) lead in water. The Lone Tree, Colo., native was named America’s Top Young Scientist when she was in the seventh grade. She went on to cooperate with scientists in the water industry to try to get the device on the market.

More recently, Rao has developed a phone and Web tool named Kindly, which uses artificial intelligence technology to detect possible early signs of cyberbullying (网络欺凌).

“You type in a word or phrase, and it’s able to pick it up if it’s bullying, and it gives you the choice to edit it or send it the way it is,” Rao told Time. “The goal is not to punish people. As a teenager I know teenagers tend to become very angry sometimes. Instead, it gives you the chance to rethink what you’re saying so that you know what to do next time around.”

Rao was chosen in part because of the way she has followed up her technical work with efforts to get other young people to work on solving the problems they see.

“I don’t look like your typical scientist. Everything I see on TV is that it’s an older, usually white man as a scientist,” she told Time. “My goal has really shifted, not only from creating my own devices to solve the world’s problems, but inspiring others to do the same as well. So I really want to put out that message: If I can do it, you can do it, and anyone can do it.”

1. What made Gitaniali Rao Time’s Kid of the Year for 2020?

A．Her desire to guide other kids.

B．Her invention of testing lead in water.

C．Her idea of making devices commercial.

D．Her excellent personal ability and desire to encourage other children.

2. What is the function of Rao’s Web tool “Kindly”?

A．To make sure the security of the network.

B．To punish teenagers’ wrong thoughts.

C．To use artificial intelligence technology.

D．To type a word or phrase on the Internet.

3. Why did Rao say “anyone can do it” in the last paragraph?

A．A white man can work as a scientist.

B．We ought to set a goal at an early age.

C．We are supposed to inspire others to do the same.

D．Everybody may succeed in solving world’s problems.

4. In which section of newspaper may this text appear？

A．Health.

B．Science.

C．People

D．Entertainment.

【推荐1】A shark that walks in water instead of swimming might sound strange. However, that is precisely how the four new species of the fish-found in the waters of the Indo - Australian islands-move across the seafloor. The unique ocean animals were discovered by a team of scientists,led by Dr.Christine Dudgeon from Australia's University of Queensland.

The newly-found species belong to the genus Hemiscyllium, the same family as the previously known five species. At less than a meter long on average, much shorter than most known species,walking sharks are incredibly cute little animals and present no threat to people. They have all evolved(进化） to survive in low oxygen environments, enabling them to hunt during low tides. The researchers believe their ability to live in low oxygen environments gives them a remarkable advantage over the unsuspecting smaller animals they mainly feed on.

A DNA analysis of skin piece from the live fish suggests that walking sharks broke away from their swimming brothers and sisters about nine million years ago and became a distinct species. Though that may appear to be a long time ago, it is relatively recent given that sharks have been around for more than 400 million years. In fact, Dudgeon and her team believe walking sharks are the youngest kind of sharks on Earth!

The scientists say that the sharks' small number and shallow habitat make them extremely vulnerable to natural disasters and overfishing.Three of the nine walking shark species, all of which live in the waters off Northern Australia,eastern Indonesia, and near the island of New Guinea, are currently on the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List,which lists species at risk. Dudgeon and her team believe sensible conservation management plans are urgently needed to protect the walking sharks and other endangered animals from further threats.

1. What's a characteristic of the newly-found shark species?

A．They're dangerous to human.

B．They swim across the seafloor.

C．They can survive without oxygen.

D．They're smaller than many other species.

2. What can we infer from the third paragraph?

A．People have long known walking sharks.

B．Walking sharks are the oldest of their kind.

C．Researchers learn a lot from the sharks' habitats.

D．Walking sharks are closely linked to swimming sharks.

3. What does the underlined word “vulnerable" in the last paragraph mean?

A．Easy to be hurt.

B．Hard to get along with.

C．Fond of attacking.

D．Picky about the environment.

4. What's the purpose of the text?

A．To educate.

B．To inform.

C．To advertise.

D．To argue.

【推荐2】Mr. Ma, a famous mental doctor from Beijing once said at an important meeting, “Now many young students can have problems with their minds. Some students become worried because they have to study very hard. Others have trouble getting on well with people around them like their parents and classmates. Parents and teachers should care more about this mental problem.”

Then Mr. Ma gave some examples. One patient, a middle school student from Xi’an was doing badly in his lessons. He thought his teachers and friends often laughed at him, and he became so nervous and worried that one night he left his home without telling his parents. Another student, a14-year-old school girl from Shanghai, was very afraid of exams. While she was reading the exam paper, she couldn’t think of anything to write.

A recent report from Jiefang Daily says about 18% of young students in Shanghai have mental problems. They often feel worried and very unhappy. Unluckily many of them won’t go and ask for help. Some think they will look stupid if they go to see a doctor.   Others won’t talk about their secrets.

At the end of the meeting,   Mr. Ma offered some good ideas for young people:

• Talk to your parents or teachers often.

• Take part in group activities.

• Try to get on well with the people around you.

• Go to see a doctor if you often feel unhappy.

1. The schoolgirl’s problem happened whenever she _______.

A．studied very hard	B．had exams
C．talked with her parents	D．went to school

2. Why do students often have trouble getting on with others?

A．They may have no parents.

B．They may have poor memories.

C．They may have no secrets.

D．They may have mental problems.

3. The underlined words “mental problems” in this passage mean _____.

A．difficult things	B．strange mind
C．something wrong with mind	D．great thought

4. Some of those with mental problems won’t ask for help because ______.

A．they don’t want to tell their secrets to others

B．their parents are too busy to look after them

C．doctors can’t help them with the problems

D．they don’t have time to ask anyone for help

5. According to Ma’s ideas, which of the following is TRUE?

A．It’s good for kids to have more group activities.

B．It’s helpful for you to see doctors every day.

C．It’s useful for students to keep quiet in class.

D．We can only go to the doctor when we are ill.

【推荐3】The baby monkey is much more developed at birth than the human baby. Almost from the moment it is born, the baby monkey can move around and hold tightly to its mother. During the first few days of its life the baby will approach and hold onto almost any large, warm, and soft object in its environment, particularly if that object also gives it milk. After a week or so, however, the baby monkey begins to avoid newcomers and focuses its attentions on “mother” ---- the real mother or the mother-substitute(母亲替代物）.
During the first two weeks of its warmth is perhaps the most important psychological（心理的） thing that a monkey mother has to give to its baby. The Harlows, a couple who are both psychologists, discovered this fact by offering baby monkeys a choice of two types of mother-substitutes ---- one covered with cloth and one made of bare wire. If the two artificial mothers were both the same temperature, the little monkeys always preferred the cloth mother. However, if the wire model was heated, while the cloth model was cool, for the first two weeks after birth the baby monkeys picked the warm wire mother-substitutes as their favorites. Thereafter they switched and spent most of their time on the more comfortable cloth mother
Why is cloth preferable to bare wire? Something that the Harlows called contact（接触的） comfort seems to be the answer, and a most powerful influence it is. Baby monkeys spend much of their time rubbing against their mothers’ skins, putting themselves in as close contact with the parent as they can. Whenever the young animal is frightened, disturbed, or annoyed, it typically rushes to its mother and rubs itself against her body. Wire doesn’t“rub”as well as does soft wire cloth. Prolonged（长时间的）“contact comfort” with a cloth mother appears to give the babies confidence and is much more rewarding to them than is either warmth or milk.
According to the Harlows, the basic quality of a baby’s love for its mother is trust. If the baby is put into an unfamiliar playroom without its mother, the baby ignores the toys no matter how interesting they might be. It screams in terror and curls up into a fury little ball. If its cloth mother is now introduced into the playroom, the baby rushes to it and holds onto it for dear life. After a few minutes of contact comfort, it obviously begins to feel more secure. It then climbs down from the mother-substitute and begins to explore the toys, but often rushes back for a deep embrace（拥抱）as if to make sure that its mother is still there and that all is well. Bit by bit its fears of the new environment are gone and it spends more and more time playing with the toys and less and less time holding on to its “mother.”
1. Psychologically, what does the baby monkey desire most during the first two weeks of its life?

A．Warmth

B．Milk

C．Contact

D．Trust

2. After the first two weeks of their life, baby moneys prefer the cloth mother to the wire mother because the former is ________.

A．larger in size	B．closer to them
C．less frightening and less disturbing	D．more comfortable to rub against

3. What does the baby monkey probably gain from prolonged “contact comfort”?

A．Attention

B．Softness

C．Confidence

D．Interest

4. It can be inferred that when the baby monkey feels secure, ________.

A．it frequently rushes back for a deep embrace when exploring the toys

B．it spends more time screaming to get rewards

C．it is less attracted to the toys though they are interesting

D．it cares less about whether its mother is still around

5. The main purpose of the passage is to ________.

A．give the reasons of the experiment

B．present the findings of the experiment

C．introduce the method of the experiment

D．describe the process of the experiment