Derek and Shirley walked out of the airport building and into the bright sunshine. Looking up at the brilliant blue sky and then at the faraway mountains rising above the swaying palm trees, they couldn’t wait to start their holiday.
A taxi pulled up swiftly and silently. Derek dropped their suitcases into the boot and joined Shirley in the back seat. “Palm Trees Hotel, please,” Derek said excitedly. “Certainly, sir,” replied the driver, as he turned around with a flashing white smile. Derek and Shirley gave each other a puzzled look as the taxi eased smoothly into the traffic. “Excuse me, er, your face seems very familiar—in fact, you remind us of that famous film star, Rocky Overton... but of course, you can’t be.”
Derek and Shirley sat in silent disbelief as the driver explained that he was not a real person, but a robot made to look like a famous actor. “Rocky” explained that the taxi company had purchased the latest model of robot drivers since they were programmed to be safer and more reliable than human drivers. “So, here I am,” “Rocky” continued, “your first robot taxi driver!”
Derek and Shirley held each other’s hands more lightly. “Relax,” “Rocky” reassured them, “there is nothing for you to worry about. I can assure you that my driving skills are excellent. I’m equipped with perfect vision and superior reactions, and I know every street in the city. I am instantly updated with the latest traffic information so that I can avoid traffic jams and get you to your destination in the quickest and least stressful manner. Please sit back, relax and enjoy the journey.”
Derek and Shirley, feeling a little better, leaned back in their seats and closed their eyes. “And another thing,” “Rocky” added, “my line of robots represents the ultimate (最高典范) in computer technology. I am beautifully designed, made from only the best materials and subject to the strictest quality checks. Therefore, you are entirely safe with me. Nothing could possibly go wrong... could possibly go wrong, wrong… go wrong…”
1. Why did Derek and Shirley feel puzzled when they got into the taxi?A.Because the driver was a robot. |
B.Because the driver was Rocky Overton. |
C.Because the driver gave them a big smile. |
D.Because the driver looked like a famous actor. |
A.It has the perfect vision and superior reactions. |
B.It is the first robot taxi driver in the world. |
C.It is instantly updated with the latest news. |
D.It has never get stuck in traffic jams. |
A.Threatened. | B.Persuaded. | C.Surprised. | D.Comforted. |
A.Robot drivers are perfectly designed. |
B.Robot drivers are able to repeat the words. |
C.Robot drivers are not so reliable as expected. |
D.Robot drivers are not safer than human drivers. |
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【推荐1】To develop one’s taste in English, the most effective way is to read English books widely. Yet one may be at a loss to choose the proper books, especially as a beginner. As a native Spanish, I would like to share some of my reading experience.
My first English novel was Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, recommended by many English teachers and professors as an ideal book for English learners. But my experience was somewhat horrible. I had great difficulty in understanding the novel, let alone enjoying it. It’s not the vocabulary that troubled me, but rather the way Austen constructs sentences, and her way of thinking, which seemed rather unfamiliar to me at that time. My fading enthusiasm was much recovered after reading Hemingway’s novel-A Farewell to Arms. No long and puzzling sentences. And I particularly liked his brief style. So my first suggestion is, as a beginner, you’d better choose modern novels instead of classical ones.
However, if you limit yourself to novels, you will miss a lot of treasures. Besides, English essays also play a key role. They can at once inform you, entertain you, and improve your taste in English. The best example is Bertrand Russell’s work. Its language is plain, yet you cannot help feeling the elegance and the special sense of humor. His simple language enables his philosophy within the reach of ordinary people. Therefore, here comes my second suggestion-essays are also vital.
Never follow others’ recommendations and opinions blindly, however famous or influential the person might be. We should be open to various ideas, but always think independently and determine for ourselves. As a saying goes, one man’s meat is another man’s poison. With that in mind, we are bound to find out our favorite writers through reading and develop our fine taste in English.
1. What made the first English novel that the author read hard to understand?A.Difficult conversations. |
B.The old-fashioned vocabulary. |
C.Not knowing the social background. |
D.Sentences and Austen’s way of thinking. |
A.Important. | B.Challenging. |
C.Typical. | D.Convenient. |
A.Compare books before buying. |
B.Read books that are influential. |
C.Don’t blindly follow others’ choices. |
D.Choose books that challenge us most. |
A.Give comments on literature works. |
B.Tell beginners how to choose English books. |
C.Encourage people to read more English books. |
D.Recommend first class books to English learners. |
阅读下列短文,从每题所给的四个选项(A、B、C和D)中,选出最佳选项。
Ammie Reddick from East Kilbride, Lanarkshire, was only 18 months old when she had the accident that had scarred(留下创伤) her for life. The child reached up to get a hot bottle in the family kitchen and poured boiling water over her body.
Her mother Ruby turned round and, seeing Ammie badly burnt, rushed her daughter to a nearby hospital. Twenty percent of Ammie’s body had been burned and all of her burns were third-degree. There, doctors performed an operation that took about six hours to control her injuries. Over the next 16 years, Ammie received 12 more operations to repair her body.
When she started school at Maxwelton Primary at age 4, other pupils said cruel words or simply wouldn’t play with her. “I was the only burned child in the street, the class and the school,” she said, “some children refused to become friends because of that.”
Today, aged 17, Ammie can only ever remember being a burned person with scars; pain is a permanent part of her body. She still has to have two further operations. Yet she is a confident, outgoing teenager who offers hope to other young burns victims(受害者).
She is a member of the Scottish Burned Children’s Club. This month, Ammie will be joining the younger children at the Graffham Water Center in Cambridge for the first summer camp. “I’ll show them how to get rid of unkind looking from others,” she says. Ammie loves wearing fashionable(时尚的) clothes, and she plans to show the youngsters at the summer camp that they can too. “I do not hide my burns scars,” she says, “I gave up wondering how other people would say years ago.”
1. What did other children do when Ammie first went to school?
A.They were afraid of her. |
B.They showed pity to her. |
C.They were friendly to her. |
D.They looked down upon her. |
A.live a normal life |
B.recover quickly |
C.face others’ unkindness bravely |
D.hide their scars by proper dressing |
A.Necessary. | B.Life-long. | C.Difficult. | D.Important. |
A.Burned Pains For a Girl |
B.A Seriously Burned Girl Survives |
C.A Seriously Burned Angel of Hope |
D.Ways to Get Rid of Unkind Looking |
【推荐3】In 1867, Caroline Shawk Brooks and her husband, Samuel, had a farm in Arkansas. Life on the farm was not easy. From sunrise to sunset, Caroline and Samuel milked cows, gardened, and picked cotton. This left Caroline no time for her dream of becoming an artist.
Time was not the only problem. Money was a worry too. The cotton crops were failing. What could Caroline and Samuel do?
Caroline decided to make butter from their cows’ milk and sell it at the market. But other farms also made and sold butter. How would Caroline set her butter apart from the rest? This is where Caroline’s artistic talent came in. To draw attention to her butter, she began making small butter sculptures (雕塑). She used many different tools, such as broom straws, and tree sticks. She also put the butter in a small tin plate, which sat in a larger tin plate filled with ice to stop the butter sculpture out of shape.
Caroline’s butter sculptures were a huge success. Before long, she was showing them at markets and exhibitions. One of her largest butter sculptures was a life-size statue called A Study in Butter. It was transported all the way to Paris for the 1878 world’s fair.
Caroline also made sculptures using marble (大理石). She finally opened a studio in New York City where she created many marble sculptures, some of which were shown at the 1893 world’s fair in Chicago.
But Caroline never stopped making butter art. She considered butter an excellent material to work with. At the 1893 market, she also displayed her butter techniques with a sculpture of Christopher Columbus.
Caroline Shawk Brooks died in St. Louis, Missouri, in 1913. She is remembered as the first known American butter sculptor (雕刻家).
1. According to paragraph3, why did Caroline make butter sculptures?A.To realize her dream. | B.To make her butter better known. |
C.To make her farm famous. | D.To show her sculptures at the market. |
A.Caroline made her art works all by machine. |
B.The sculptures were all made from cow’s milk. |
C.Ice was used to keep the butter sculptures in shape. |
D.Caroline stopped making sculptures after being world-famous. |
A.Hardworking and curious. | B.Responsible and competitive |
C.Talented and successful. | D.Confident and caring. |
A.A Farming Pioneer. | B.A Great woman. |
C.The Butter Sculptures. | D.The Butter Artist. |
【推荐1】I was driving home the other day on a sunny afternoon. It was such a beautiful day that I felt very happy. My good mood (心情) ended, however, when I suddenly heard a piece of news on the radio about a rich famous man who had broken the law. I shook my head as I came to a red traffic light.
As I stopped I noticed four leather-jacketed motorbikers. They were standing in the middle of the road with two on either side of the light. They looked dangerous, but as I got closer I noticed each one was holding their helmet (头盔) in their hands. I rolled down my window as one approached my car. “We are the Brother of the Wheel,” he said. “We are collecting money for Christmas Toy Drive for needy children.” As I pulled a dollar out of my wallet I looked past his beard and into his eyes. They shined with kindness that came right from his heart. I dropped the money in his helmet and waved to the other three men as I drove off. My good mood had returned. And I remembered once again never to judge (判断) people by their appearance (外表).
Our society often judges books by their covers. Perhaps one day we will realize that actions (行为) are much more important than appearance.
1. The writer’s good mood ended when ________.A.he had to give money to the man | B.he had to stop at a red traffic light |
C.he heard a rich man broke the law | D.he saw four leather-jacketed motor bikers |
A.Selling helmets to the passers-by. | B.Preparing for Christmas holidays. |
C.Having a motorbike race in the street. | D.Raising money to help kids in need. |
A.bad | B.poor |
C.kind | D.jobless |
A.judge others by their actions | B.change our attitude to society |
C.manage to help others in need | D.trust young people |
【推荐2】In January 2015,I left my hometown and family in Virginia and moved to Iowa so I could be coached by Jackson. I'd been dreaming of an Olympic gold medal since I was eight—but gradually, that dream seemed like a million miles away.
On February 2,2016,while Mom was visiting me in Iowa, I told her," I don't like swimming any more. I want to try dancing, or become a singer. I can get a job in Virginia. I just want to come home."
Mom's eyes narrowed and her expression turned to stone." You're breaking my heart! Brie," she said. "You've been doing swimming for ten years, and now you want to quit? Have you lost your mind?"
I hadn't lost my mind, but I had lost my fire. It's an entirely different thing to push toward that dream when you feel alone.
"I'm not trying to break your heart, Mom,"I said." I just don't want to do it any more."
"I know you miss home. But you've signed a contract that says you will represent your country to the best of your ability. You've got a responsibility to your teammates. And now you just want to walk away? I will not let you be dishonorable. If you don't like swimming, then at the very least, you'll finish the season."
The next afternoon as I dragged myself into Jackson's swimming center, I thought of the efforts Mom had made in order to pay for my training. I thought of my two sisters: Arielle, who gave up ballroom dancing, and Joyelle, who stopped ice skating so that our single mom could afford to keep me in swimming.
For now, here's what you need to know: Exactly 210 days before I ever attempted my first event(赛事)in the Rio Summer Olympics, my leap(飞跃,跳跃) of faith came this close to ending in a crash of disaster.
1. How did the author's mother feel toward her intention to quit swimming?A.Heart-broken | B.Dishonorable | C.Helpless | D.Calm |
A.changed her mind in the end |
B.realized her Olympic dream |
C.loved singing and dancing more |
D.was so overcome with homesickness that she gave up her dream |
A.My Dream | B.My Mother |
C.My Leap of Faith | D.Responsibility |
A.Those who are graduating from university. | B.Those who want to give up dreams. |
C.Those who are looking for customers. | D.Those who dislike swimming. |
【推荐3】Recently, a homeowner in Illinois came face to face with five furry chipmunk (花栗鼠) babies that crowded together in a window well. Shocked and concerned, the homeowner contacted Wildlife Allies (WA), a team committed to the caring removal and rescue of sick and injured wildlife.
Wildlife technician Cat Downs soon arrived at the scene along with an assistant. Together, Downs and the assistant netted the chipmunks, removing them from the window well, and placed them inside a new plastic carrier. The rescuers then moved the five chipmunk babies to a grassy area nearby and put them under a wooden basket where the mother could see them. To make sure the reunion was a success, the rescuers set up cameras and hoped the chipmunk mom would soon return.
“The chipmunk babies were enveloped in fear and tiredness,” a representative from Wildlife Allies recalled. Rescuers didn’t wait long and soon found an empty wooden basket. Then, checking the camera recording, they joyfully realized that the whole family had been reunited. “When we loaded the photos on to our computer and saw the mom, a burden was lifted from our hearts and pure joy came over us,” one Wildlife Allies representative said.
The Wildlife Allies team watched in satisfaction as the chipmunk mom tended to each of her babies. “The chipmunk mom emerged and heroically freed her precious babies from the wooden basket,” Anderson Humane wrote in a post about the rescue. “With determination, she made multiple trips, releasing all five babies and carrying the last one away to safety!”
According to Skedaddle Humane Wildlife Control, chipmunk babies rely heavily on their mother throughout the first few months of their lives, as she teaches them what to eat and how to survive. Usually, families like these stick together until the fall, when the babies are old enough to stand on their own feet.
Together at last, this little family is filled with happiness, thanks to those rescuers.
1. Where did the chipmunk mom find her babies?A.Beside a grassy area. | B.Inside a window well. |
C.In a new plastic carrier. | D.Under a wooden basket. |
A.Relieved. | B.Regretful. | C.Discouraged. | D.Motivated. |
A.They stick together for food. | B.They can standup afterbirth. |
C.They are dependent on moms. | D.They get survival skills in the fall. |
A.Wildlife Allies: Our Last Hope | B.Guide for Wildlife Rescuers |
C.Chipmunk Mom’s Rescue Trip | D.Reunite a Chipmunk Family |
【推荐1】The US Ambassador to the UK officially launched a ship named Mayflower on Wednesday, 400 years to the day after a wooden ship with that name sailed from an English port and changed the history of two continents.
Unlike the merchant ship that carried a group of European settlers to a new life across the Atlantic Ocean in 1620, the new Mayflower named by U S Ambassador Robert Wood Johnson has no crew or passengers. It will cross the sea powered by sun and wind, and controlled by artificial intelligence (AI).
Johnson said the high-tech ship, developed jointly by British-based research organization ProMare and US tech giant IBM, showed that “the pioneering spirit of the Mayflower really lives on”. “We’re heading out with the same spirit of adventure and determination and hope for the future as the original colonists (殖民者),” said Johnson.
Like the Mayflower in 1620, the new ship will travel from Plymouth, England, to Plymouth, Massachusetts. The ship’s launch in Plymouth is one of several Mayflower commemorations. They involve British, Americans and Dutch institutions — many of the 17th-century colonists had left England for Holland before the voyage — and the Wampanoag people, who had lived for thousands of years in what is now New England. In 1620, the Wampanoag helped the exhausted Mayflower settlers survive their first winter. But soon colonial expansion and new diseases were having a big impact on North America’s Native Indians. Wampanoag stories have been marginalized (使边缘化) on past Mayflower anniversaries (周年纪念), but they are playing a big part in events and exhibitions this time around. “The story of the Mayflower is one that really can’t be told without telling also the story of the Wampanoag,” said Paula Peters, a Wampanoag writer.
The Mayflower Autonomous Ship is intended to explore parts of oceans too difficult or dangerous for people to reach. Andy Stanford-Clark, Chief Technology Officer for IBM in the UK and Ireland, said the ship’s launch “is a very exciting stage of the journey toward crewless shipping” that could pave the way for AI-driven commercial ships and research ships.
The 50-foot ship will go through six months of sea trials and make short trips before setting out on its trans-Atlantic trip to measure ocean health: assessing the impact of climate change, measuring micro-plastic pollution and studying populations of whales and dolphins.
1. What do we know about the new Mayflower?A.It is a wooden ship. |
B.It is powered by clean energy. |
C.It will carry a large load of goods. |
D.It will carry a small number of passengers. |
A.The sufferings of the British people in history. |
B.The friendship between the US and the UK. |
C.The long-lasting bravery of humankind. |
D.The development of high technology. |
A.It will seek help for Native Americans. |
B.It will bring Wampanoag stories to light. |
C.It will encourage more and more sea exploration. |
D.It will help describe the colonists’ journey in detail. |
A.It can protect commercial ships. |
B.It can carry out certain surveys. |
C.It can save animals stuck in water. |
D.It can get rid of underwater dangers. |
【推荐2】One day, you might be ordering your favorite pizza from a robot.Researchers at a university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, are working on creating a pizza-making robot.
“Robots are basically preprogrammed to repeat the same actions over and over,” says David Held, a robot expert from Carnegie Mellon University, and one of the members of a pizza-making team.But making pizza has challenges.For instance, the flour (面粉) will become squishy when meeting water, with a shape that can change in many ways.Also, pizza-making requires many steps—such as rolling and cutting—and several tools, including a rolling, a knife and so on.In what order should the steps be done? Which tools should be picked, and when? “If you need to do a cooking task, there are several levels that you have to reason about,” Held says.Once people get the hang of it, “We don’t even need to think about exactly how we’re doing it- it sort of just happens.But robots can’t really “understand what to do on their own”.
To start, the team used a computer to consider how a robot could lift, fatten, gather, move and cut dough (生面团).The method has two levels of robotic reasoning: one that thinks how it should approach the overall task, and the other that thinks how it should move its “hands” to perform each action.The result was better than with the usual programming techniques.“We got a little bit closer to the right shape than the former methods,” Held says.“‘But there’s still a lot of room for improvement.”
For now, people will continue to make pizza the old-fashioned way: with their own hands.Sill, a pizza-making robot is a good goal.And if a robot could deal with dough, it could also work with other objects that can change shapes.“You can imagine robots helping in hospitals, or robots that clean up toys in day cares,” Held says.“The general goal is to eventually have robots that can help with whatever the task may be.”
1. What does the underlined word “squishy” in paragraph 2 mean?A.Soft. | B.Dirty. | C.Plain. | D.Precious. |
A.Separating flour from water. |
B.Doing all the steps in order. |
C.Using several tools at once. |
D.Repeating the same actions. |
A.Methods of moving a pizza. |
B.Problems with pizza making. |
C.Improvements to the pizza robot. |
D.Suggestions on how to make pizza. |
A.They will help humans in different fields. |
B.They will replace humans to do all the work. |
C.They will do better than humans in day cares. |
D.They will do whatever task as well as humans. |
【推荐3】To make sure everything is OK with the elderly citizens living alone, community workers on Jiangsu Street in Shanghai recently equipped them with smart devices on water taps. If an elderly citizen uses less than 0.01m3 of water in around 12 hours, the device will automatically send an alarm to the community workers, who will then rush to check. Meanwhile, they also plan to install a device on the doors of the lonely elderly citizens to remind them of shutting the doors for a certain length of time.
The move has won much applause (掌声) on social networking sites, with many praising a major example of technology serving people and calling for its application across the country.
Smart devices indeed make our lives better, but the key element in the Shanghai experience is not technology, but the human touch. Installing smart devices on water taps and doors is not difficult. All one needs is a sensor, a SIM card, and a coding allowing it to make calls. However, no one knows when an emergency occurs. One needs to ensure that a community worker is waiting behind the system to hear the alarm which could go off late in the night or at lawn. When getting the alarm, the worker must go and have a check.
To ensure that the system works smoothly, community workers have to be there on duty 24 hours a day and seven days a week. Therefore, it is the community workers’ devotion, and not so much the smart device, that plays the most important part in the whole system by caring for the elderly citizens.
Of course, the contribution of those who came up with the idea should not be forgotten. It might be a good idea to reward them so that they can be encouraged to do even better.
1. What’s the purpose of equipping smart devices for the lonely elderly people?A.To check the amount of water used. |
B.To send an alarm to the elderly citizens. |
C.To ensure the elderly’s health and safety. |
D.To help the community workers to do their jobs. |
A.Doubtful | B.Opposed. |
C.Indifferent. | D.Appreciative |
A.The device installing techniques. | B.The technology itself. |
C.The community workers’ devotion. | D.The operating system. |
A.How to help the lonely elderly equip smart devices. |
B.How to use smart devices to care for the lonely elderly. |
C.How to take care of the lonely elderly in the community. |
D.How to work for the lonely elderly as a community worker. |