COVID-19 shutdowns forced people out of work and pushed tens of millions into poverty worldwide. Governments tried hard to provide aid. It was easy in a small country, but difficult for a country with large population and vast rural areas.
Researchers have been finding ways to identify areas of wealth and poverty in satellite images. Through some satellite data and aerial images of one town or another, you can sort of tell whether it’s wealthy or not. Wealthier homes tend to have metal roofs while poor homes tend to have thatched roofs. Wealthier neighborhoods have paved roads and bigger plots of lands, more spaced out.
The researchers use the system to identify about 60,000 people to receive benefits. The advantage of the satellite imagery and phone data approach is that it’s extremely fast and very convenient.
| A．It was opposite in a big country. |
| B．How do they locate the neediest people? |
| C．So there’s a lot of information in the images. |
| D．Most importantly, it’s very cheap to carry out. |
| E．Worse still, it’s not so economical as a house-to-house survey. |
| F．However, in general, poorer people will just have feature phones. |
| G．What the researchers did next was to target the neediest people in those regions. |
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【推荐1】In 2050, one in four people will be over 60 in the Asia-Pacific region. Are countries there prepared to fully address the needs of older persons so that they age with dignity?
In the past, senior citizens might have been supported by their families and communities. Yet times are changing.
More than ever, there is an urgent need for policy reform in addressing population aging. This must be driven by a shift in mindset to turn the challenges into a demographic opportunity.
It is noteworthy that, in the Asia-Pacific, with more than half of the older population being women, it is crucial to adopt a life-cycle approach to population aging, grounded in gender equality and human rights. Investing in each stage of life determines the path of a woman’s life course. When a girl has access to quality education, it helps her make informed decisions about life-changing matters.
While there is no single comprehensive policy that can address population aging, we need to take action now.
| A．Couples are having fewer babies. |
| B．Pensions are increasing, pressuring governments further. |
| C．We must rethink population aging, celebrating it as the victory of development. |
| D．Migration and urbanization have shifted traditional support systems for the elderly. |
| E．The decisions she makes paves the way towards a healthier and wealthier silver age. |
| F．We must invest in better policies that focus on the needs of people at every age of their life. |
| G．Life-long gender discrimination leaves women even more disadvantaged in an aging society. |
【推荐2】Children born in the past four decades were the centre of their parents’ attention.
According to the Hangzhou Daily, when there are two children in the family, parents tend to choose public schools instead of private schools, which are usually more expensive.
But having a second child may cure some deep-rooted problems in China’s traditional family education. Having two children in the family can help to prevent one child being spoiled by too much attention.
“It’s not only the enrollment capacity of educational institutions that will feel the pressure.
He predicts the government may have to invest more to support the educational system as a result of the new family planning measure.
| A．The only child in the family may feel more burrned. |
| B．China’s public education system is also expected to improve. |
| C．Each child also takes part in fewer after-school training classes. |
| D．People are also placing more emphasis on the quality of education. |
| E．Besides, two children in the same school will be more convenient. |
| F．The whole family’s resources were poured into their education and well-being. |
| G．It also spares the only child from the pressure of shouldering parental expectations. |
【推荐3】Many economists argue that Canada could have developed economically with little facilitation of the settlers. But in my opinion the settlers were vital in the country’s development of economy.
Settlers in Canadian history provided labour force that was apparently lacking in the country. Due to the thriving timber (木材) industry that led to the arrival of foreigners, the local population could barely satisfy the international demand for the demand. Emery and Kenneth claimed that the settlers who came to Canada as mere loggers had an impact in the development of the economy. Indeed, the settlers helped the production of more volumes of timber leading to increase in incomes for the government.
Settlers created considerable storage facilities for fishing. It is through these preservation technologies that the country was able to exploit its rich fish industry and increase its exports. Fishing technology improved greatly with many technologies of deep sea fishing. The technologies that came with the settlers increased the trading potential of the country, which in turn increase the incomes for government.
The success of settlers who ventured in agriculture ended into increased urge by locals and the government to invest in agriculture. In Ontario, settlers began planting such plants as corn, vegetables and reared dairy cattle. In the Prairies, the settlers also invested in grain growing with wheat being the most profitable crop.
Canadian settlers also led to changes in social and economic policies of the land. Due to increased immigration, land became a debatable issue where many people did not access land in a fair manner. The Canadian authorities came up with a wise land policy. Settlers could buy large amount of land cheaply and later resell the lands at a proper profit. This increased the ability of the country to increase its agricultural profits by having a superior land system.
1. Which contribution of the settlers in Canada is not covered in the passage?| A．Timber industry | B．Fishing industry. |
| C．Agriculture. | D．Tourism. |
| A．To give evidence of the lack of local population in history. |
| B．To tell readers that the settlers were only common loggers. |
| C．To prove what an important role settlers played in Canadian economy. |
| D．To state that the thriving timber industry led to the arrival of foreigners. |
| A．Canadian government urged settlers’ more invest in agriculture. |
| B．Settlers’ success made the people and the government angry. |
| C．Canadian government got inspiration from settler’s success in agriculture. |
| D．To succeed in agricultural venture, settler had to cooperate with government. |
| A．the reform of land policies |
| B．the increase of immigration |
| C．increasing amount of land |
| D．their creation of a superior land system |
【推荐1】If you thought that only the likes of Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos were racing to reach Mars, this one will surprise you —— ketchup (番茄酱) and dressing (加调味酱的) maker Heinz partnered with the Florida Institute of Technology to grow tomatoes in Mars - like soil and then made ketchup. It’s called the Marz Edition.
Nutrition on a distant planet is definitely going to be a tough task. While astronauts carry dehydrated (脱水的) food packets with them, if we are looking to establish settlements on different planets in our solar system, we will need more than food packets; we will need to make food self - reliant.
Astrobiologist Andrew Palmer is one such scientist looking for means to solve this problem. Palmer and his team have created Mars - like conditions in a greenhouse. They sourced soil from the Mojave Desert that is similar to that found on Mars and also created light, temperature, and water conditions, similar to the red planet.
They teamed up with Heinz for its expertise in tomatoes and found four plant varieties that could potentially grow in these tough conditions. After a small 30 - plant study, the team found that only two varieties actually did and then expanded their experiment to 450 plants grown in individual pots. The project took more than 2, 000 hours and finally they were able to produce a Crop that could be harvested.
The result was hundreds of tomatoes up to the standards that Heinz uses for the production of its signature ketchup. The company did exactly that and packaged it into a special edition bottle. Before you ask, the ketchup is not for sale.
Palmer believes the technique is far from perfect because the yield (产量) was much less than what they bad anticipated. This indicates that Martian tomato farming could be improved by growing the plants in troughs (槽) instead of pots introducing a wider variety of micro - organisms, and adding various plants to reduce the spread of diseases. The experiment also provided insights into how it would be possible to grow plants in the toughest environments on Earth.
1. What does “this problem” in paragraph 3 refer to?| A．Growing crops on Mars. | B．Bringing ketchup to Mars. |
| C．Creating Mars - like conditions. | D．Establishing settlements on Mars. |
| A．A strong sense of customer - oriented service. | B．The wide knowledge or special skill in particular field. |
| C．The generous financial support. | D．The commitment coupled with creativity. |
| A．It is available for purchase. | B．It enjoys a high yield. |
| C．It has a strange taste. | D．It is of good quality. |
| A．Improve their experiment with a trough system. |
| B．Grow tomatoes in the toughest environments on Earth. |
| C．Explore the variety of micro - organisms affecting crop yields. |
| D．Find ways to stop diseases spreading among their experimental plants. |
【推荐2】If you’ve ever been on a fishing boat, you’ve probably seen crowds of birds following it, hoping to catch a snack. Now scientists use those birds’ behavior to track illegal fishing boats.
Researchers attached data loggers to the backs of 169 albatrosses (信天翁) in Indian oceans. Weighing only 42 grams, the devices included a GPS, which enabled them to detect the presence and intensity of radar signals emitting from boats. That information was then sent by satellite, so the researchers could track the location of the birds—and thus the radar-emitting boats—in real time.
The scientists then cross-checked that data against the known locations of boats, collected from a system boats use to declare themselves, called the Automatic Identification System (AIS). And noticeable differences appeared frequently.
More than a third of the times the birds “loggers” detected radar signals, and therefore a boat, but no such boat appeared in the official log—meaning that the vehicles had likely switched off their AIS—something that probably happens in illegal fishing operations.
The work suggests birds could be an effective boat-monitoring tool as long as illegal fishing operations don’t target the birds.
Fortunately, such a task would be difficult. Around fishing boats, you can find hundreds of birds at any one time that are flying around. And the birds with loggers are not marked in any way. So it’s not really possible for fishermen to pick out a specific bird.
But what concerns researchers is that albatrosses often get caught by some fishing boats. Though regulations have been established to protect against that happening—with success—illegal boats don’t necessarily obey. So scientists might be underestimating the risk posed to albatross populations.
1. What characteristic of albatrosses do scientists take advantage of in their research?| A．Their feeding patterns. |
| B．Their sense of direction. |
| C．Their greedy behaviors. |
| D．Their habit of following fishing boats. |
| A．To seek more fishes. |
| B．To have it mistaken for another. |
| C．To avoid being detected. |
| D．To save the trouble of declaring itself. |
| A．Identifying birds with loggers. |
| B．Monitoring illegal boats. |
| C．Tracking radar signals automatically. |
| D．Fishing illegally. |
| A．AIS: an Effective System to Locate Boats |
| B．Humans Are Good at Discovering Birds’ Nature |
| C．Data Loggers Help Fishermen Get a Good Harvest |
| D．Scientists Use Birds to Track Illegal Fishing Operations |
【推荐3】Predicting extreme weather events is a challenging business. Changing climate conditions have increased the frequency of severe storms, floods, and heatwaves, along with larger wildfires. As a result, scientists are using artificial intelligence (AI) techniques for more accurate forecasts that help to reduce damage and save lives.
Researchers at Pennsylvania State University have worked together with meteorologists(气象学家) to analyze more than 50,000 weather satellite images to quickly identify storms. They found comma-shaped(点状) cloud formations that often lead to severe weather such as high winds and thunderstorms. Computers were then taught using computer vision and machine learning to automatically detect these clouds from satellite images, with almost 100 percent accuracy, in less than a minute.
By refocusing meteorologists' attention on potential storm cloud formations the AI tool helped predict 64 percent of severe weather events and beat established detection systems. Senior meteorologist Steve Wistar said it let forecasters find storm formations in a sea of cloud data. “ The calling of our business is to save lives and protect property, ” he said. “ The more advance notice we give to people that would be affected by a storm, the better we're providing that service.”
Using AI techniques generates highly accurate and inexpensive forecasts for hours or days ahead. Negative impacts from climate change on weather are being felt everywhere. The US National Climate Assessment says frequent severe events will affect communities across the nation. There were 20 billion dollar weather disasters in 2021 alone, including wildfires, winter storms, floods, and tornadoes. “And average costs associated with extreme weather events in the United States have increased steadily since 1980,” said Renny Vandewege, a company's vice president of weather operations. “ These have costly impacts on cities’ basic services, housing, human livelihoods, and health. AI helps us to calculate that risk and can be used as a preventive measure.”
1. Why do scientists use AI techniques for extreme weather forecasts?| A．To prove AI techniques' accuracy. | B．To prevent the occurrence of disasters. |
| C．To obtain weather satellite images. | D．To reduce impacts of disasters and save lives. |
| A．Most cloud formations can lead to severe weather. |
| B．Computers can finish its predicting task in less than a second. |
| C．Established detection systems help forecasters find storm formations. |
| D．The AI tool has better predictive power than established detection systems. |
| A．City services should be improved at all costs. |
| B．AI may help people reduce the cost of living. |
| C．The US spends most on dealing with extreme weather. |
| D．AI is the only measure to predict natural disasters. |
| A．The Future Will See More Uses of AI |
| B．AI Has Entered Every Corner of Our Life |
| C．AI Helps to Predict Extreme Weather and Save Lives |
| D．Extreme Weather Will Claim More Lives in the Future |
