If you had to pick one, who do you think is greater in terms of their contributions to the Western world: British physicist Isaac Newton or Greek philosopher (哲学家) Aristotle?
Chances are that you’d find it hard to make a decision, at least right away.
In fact, by comparing science and liberal arts, we’re drawing “an artificial (人造的) line” between the two, wrote Loretta Jackson-Hayes, an associate professor of chemistry at Rhodes College in Memphis, on the Washington Post website. And to some of the greatest innovators (革新者) in history, this line never existed in the first place.
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| A．But somehow, when it comes to picking a major at college, the decision couldn’t be easier. |
| B．This gap has now become so wide that the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point in the US is actually considering dropping 13 majors. |
| C．Leonardo da Vinci, for example, was just as successful a scientist as he was a painter. |
| D．It’s in Apple’s DNA that technology alone is not enough. |
| E．Human civilization isn’t just about technological inventions. |
| F．But if we take our eyes away from job skills for one second and look at liberal arts from a different perspective (视角), we can see how important they are. |
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【推荐1】Languages have been coming and going for thousands of years, but in recent times there has been less coming and a lot more going. When the world was still populated by hunter-gatherers, small, tightly knit(联系) groups developed their own patterns of speech independent of each other. Some language experts believe that 10,000 years ago, when the world had just five to ten million people, they spoke perhaps 12,000 languages between them.
Soon afterwards, many of those people started settling down to become farmers, and their languages too became more settled and fewer in number. In recent centuries, trade, industrialization, the development of the nation-state and the spread of universal compulsory education, especially globalisation and better communications in the past few decades, all have caused many languages to disappear, and dominant languages such as English, Spanish and Chinese are increasingly taking over.
At present, the world has about 6,800 languages. The distribution of these languages is hugely uneven. The general rule is that mild zones have relatively few languages. Often spoken by many people while hot, wet zones have lots, often spoken by small numbers. Europe has only around 200 Languages: the Americas about 1,000, Africa 2,400; and Asia and the Pacific perhaps 3,200, of which Papua New Guinea alone accounts for well over 800. The median number(中位数) of speakers is a mere 6，000, which means that half the worlds languages are spoken by fewer people than that.
Already well over 400 of the total of 6,800 languages are close to extinction(消亡), with only a few elderly speakers left. Pick, at random, Busuu in Cameroon (eight remaining speakers), Chiapaneco in Mexico(150). Lipan Apache in the United States(two or three) or Wadjigu in Australia (one, with a question-mark): none of these seems to have much chance of survival.
1. What can we infer about languages in hunter-gatherer times?| A．They developed very fast. | B．They were large in number. |
| C．They had similar patters. | D．They were closely connected |
| A．Complex. | B．Advanced. |
| C．Powerful. | D．Modern. |
| A．About 6,800 . | B．About 3,400 |
| C．About 2,400 | D．About 1,200. |
| A．New languages will be created. |
| B．Peoples lifestyles are reflected in languages. |
| C．Human development results in fewer languages. |
| D．Geography determines language evolution. |
1. How should we read the following sentence with proper pauses?
| A．Buffalo buffalo Buffalo/ buffalo buffalo/ buffalo Buffalo buffalo. |
| B．Buffalo buffalo/ Buffalo buffalo buffalo/ buffalo Buffalo buffalo |
| C．Buffalo buffalo Buffalo/ buffalo buffalo buffalo/ Buffalo buffalo. |
| D．Buffalo buffalo/ Buffalo buffalo/ buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo. |
| A．The relative pronouns in English can be omitted. |
| B．In English, place names can be used as adjectives. |
| C．The city has the same name with a kind of American bison. |
| D．The word buffalo has the same form of singular and plural. |
| A．Wandering the Earth |
| B．Linguistics Around Us |
| C．Popular Animal Science |
| D．Collins English Grammar |
【推荐3】Words have the power to build us up or tear us down. It doesn’t matter if the words come from ourselves or someone else. The positive and negative effects are just as lasting.
We all talk to ourselves sometimes.
Often, words come out of our mouths without us thinking about the effect they will have.
Words possess power because of their lasting effect. Many of us regret something we once said. We remember unkind words said to us as well. Before speaking, we should always ask ourselves:
Will we use our words to hurt or to heal? The choice is ours.
| A．So we should only speak encouraging words to ourselves. |
| B．We’re usually too embarrassed to admit it, though. |
| C．Generally people like positive and pleasant words. |
| D．Words possess power: both positive and negative. |
| E．But we should be aware that our words cause certain responses in others. |
| F．How should we say it? |
| G．Is it loving? |
【推荐1】Sue Hendrickson is a self-taught fossil（化石）hunter. As a kid, Sue Hendrickson often walked with her head down. “People said, ‘Look up. Smile!” she says. “Now, I realize I was born to look for things and just didn’t know it.”
Sue Hendrickson does more than look—she finds valuable things: Shipwrecks（沉船）with treasure, ancient sunken cities, and in 1990, she found Sue, the world’s largest, most complete Tyrannosaurus rex（霸王龙）. Is Hendrickson lucky? Well, maybe. But she also knows how to look.
“I limit the area where I’m going to look,” she says. No one knew the location of the sunken ship San Diego in the Philippines. For a year, Hendrickson and other researchers searched papers and sailors’ diaries. “The descriptions of the ship’s sailors led us to the wreck,” she says. The team also used a tool that can respond to metal. This tool found the San Diego. All the work paid off. The 400-year-old ship was complete, with valuable gold and silver coins.
To find the dinosaur she calls “the biggest animal that ever walked on earth,” Hendrickson started with maps made to search for oil. What Hendrickson found was the largest and most complete T-rex found to date. The T-rex is 42 feet long with 200 bones! Because it is so complete, scientists were able to infer that Sue walked at about 6 miles per hour and did not run faster than 15 miles an hour. Before Sue was discovered, they thought T-rex was much faster. To learn more about T-rex Sue, go to the Field Museum in Chicago.
There’s plenty left to be found, Hendrickson says, including answers to mysterious such as how T-rex lived. “I tell kids that they need to grow up and work them out because all of us old persons haven’t yet!”
1. What’s Paragraph 2 mainly about?| A．An ancient city. | B．Hendrickson’s hobby. |
| C．The world’s largest T-rex. | D．Hendrickson’s great findings. |
| A．With a self made tool. | B．By starting with research. |
| C．By following sailor’s lead. | D．With the help of oil maps. |
| A．It helped scientists learn new things about T-rex. |
| B．It ran faster than any other T-rex. |
| C．It let people know how T-rex lived. |
| D．It was the biggest dinosaur. |
| A．Find more details. | B．Explore mysteries. |
| C．Visit the Field Museum. | D．Respect scientific research. |
【推荐2】A baby born today will be thirty-something in 2050. If all goes well, that baby will still be around in 2100, and might even be an active citizen of the 22nd century. What should we teach that baby to help them survive and flourish in the world of 2050 and beyond? What kind of skills will they need in order to get a job, understand what is happening around them, and navigate their tough life?
At present, too many schools across the world focus on providing pupils with a set of predetermined skills, such as writing computer code in C++ and conversing in Chinese. Yet since we have no idea how the world and the job market will look in 2050, we don’t really know what particular skills people will need. We might invest a lot of effort in teaching kids how to write in C++ or to speak Chinese, only to discover sooner or later that AI will have been able to code software far better than humans, and that a new translation app will have enabled you to conduct a conversation in almost flawless Mandarin, Cantonese or Hakka, even though you only know how to say ni hao.
So what should we be teaching? Many experts argue that schools should downplay technical skills and emphasize general-purpose life skills: the ability to deal with change, to learn new things, and to preserve your mental balance in unfamiliar situations. In order to keep up with the world of 2050, you will above all need to reinvent yourself again and again.
To succeed in such a demanding task, you will need to work very hard on getting to know your operating system better—to know what you are and what you want from life. This is, of course, the oldest advice in the book: know thyself. This advice was never more urgent than in the mid-21st century, because unlike in the days of Laozi or Socrates, now you have serious competition. Coca-Cola, Amazon and Facebook are all racing to hack you.
Right now, the algorithms (算法) are watching where you go, what you buy, and who you meet. Soon they will monitor all your steps, breaths and heartbeats. They are relying on big data and machine learning to get to know you better and better. And once these algorithms know you better than you know yourself, they could control and manipulate (操纵) you. In the end, authority will shift to them.
Of course, you might be perfectly happy giving up all authority to the algorithms and trusting them to make decisions for you and for the rest of the world. If, however, you want to maintain some control over your personal existence and over the future of life in general, you have to run faster than the algorithms. To run fast, don’t take much luggage with you. Leave all your illusions (幻想) behind. They are very heavy.
1. What does the underlined word “downplay” in paragraph 3 most probably mean?| A．Give too much emphasis on something. |
| B．Make people think that something is less important. |
| C．Offer your reasons why something is right or wrong. |
| D．Decide something in advance so that it does not happen. |
| A．imagination | B．adaptability | C．self-discipline | D．a good sense of balance |
| A．if we don’t, algorithms will hack all our devices. |
| B．it is an essential skill for us to succeed in the world of 2050. |
| C．we need to learn how algorithms work and make full use of them. |
| D．we need to outrun algorithms to keep some control over our personal life. |
| A．the importance of knowing yourself |
| B．the threats and dangers of technology |
| C．what kind of skills we might need in the future |
| D．some potential benefits algorithms would bring to humankind |
【推荐3】The term “metaverse (元宇宙)” is the latest popular word to catch the tech industry’s imagination. Neal Stephenson coined this term in his novel Snow Crash:“In the lingo, this imaginary place is known as the metaverse. Hiro spends a lot of time in the metaverse.” In its current meaning, it generally refers to the concept of a world of endless, interconnected virtual communities where people gather to socialize, play and work, using VR headsets, AR glasses, smartphone apps or other devices. It is a “virtual environment” you can go inside of — instead of just looking at on a screen. It also could be a game-changer for the work-from-home shift during the COVID-19 epidemic. Instead of seeing co-workers on a video call, employees could join them in a virtual office.
A big reason why metaverse is popular with young people is the more real gaming experience.Gamers will feel that they themselves are playing in an alternate world rather than controlling a game character.This creates a real-time experience for all the players.
In addition, it has more far-reaching significance. Some advocates believe that blockchain (区域链) technology and decentralized (分散式的) apps will be the keys to unlocking the next big step forward for the Web: the metaverse, a place where AR, VR, next-generation data networks and decentralized financing and payment systems contribute to a more realistic digital world where people can socialize, work and trade digital goods. It is known that many products need to be tested and it costs a lot. With metaverse, the variables and environment can be changed within the digital world to obtain more comprehensive results and the new product will be tested with minimum cost. In the medical field, using metaverse patients just do not have any need to visit doctors physically. They can just interact with them face to face in real-time in the digital world. Additionally, the newcomer to medicine can learn and practice inside the alternate world by gaining experience before they can take on real-world tasks.
Metaverse brings many new and advanced technologies such as VR headsets, blockchain and other requirements. However, every individual on this planet does not have access to advanced technologies. For example, fast Internet connectivity is one of the mandatory (强制性的) requirements for participating in the metaverse. Majority of people worldwide cannot access fast Internet and cannot capitalize on the full potential of the metaverse. Furthermore, with the objective of introducing immersive experiences to users, the metaverse makes the gap between real and virtual worlds less clear. It also brings the possibilities of influencing the ways in which people perceive real relationships and interactions.
Despite the arguing, metaverse is a new windfall for the future development of the Internet. The companies can seize the opportunity that the metaverse presents to connect with audiences in ways that were never possible before and provide exciting and memorable brand experiences.
1. The author mentions Neal Stephenson’s novel to show ________.| A．the effect of metaverse | B．the origin of metaverse |
| C．the definition of metaverse | D．the popularity of metaverse |
| A．To show the potential of the metaverse. |
| B．To state the limitations of the use of metaverse. |
| C．To introduce new and advanced technologies. |
| D．To teach how to have access to advanced technologies. |
| A．It helps people develop real relationships and interactions. |
| B．It provides cheaper labor cost to make product testing easier. |
| C．It can be accepted in medical field for its help to doctors and patients. |
| D．It is welcomed because people prefer to control a character in a game. |
| A．Neutral. | B．Approved. | C．Opposed. | D．Doubtful. |
