A huge mass of rock slid down a mountainside above a Swiss village Brienz that was evacuated (撤离) last month, stopping just short of the settlement, relieved local officials said Friday.
Brienz is a small village in the mountains of Switzerland. For hundreds of years, the mountain rocks above the village have appeared as if it might fall on the village at any moment.
It didn’t just look that way. The mountain was actually moving. Research indicates that since the 1920s, the mountain has been shifting a little over an inch a year. But the movement increased about 20 years ago. Since then, the mountain’s rocks have been moving about a yard every year.
In May, the government told the people of Brienz to evacuate. They warned that rock and dirt were expected to slide off the mountain, and it could happen in as little as a week. Last Thursday night, it did happen. It completely covered the road and left a pile of rubble (碎石) as high as a four-story building. But somehow, it missed the village by a “hair”.
The building closest to the mountain is the village school. The rubble stopped just a few yards from the school. But villagers are still worried about their church, St. Calixtus, which is over 500 years old. Last Friday, a helicopter flew over the village to check the area. The system that’s used to keep an eye on the mountain’s movements was damaged in the rockslide. Experts have been working day and night to rebuild it. The local government won’t have enough information to decide when the villagers can go back to Brienz until the system is repaired.
According to scientists, it was climate change that made some other recent landslides in Europe happen. But they say the rockslide that threatened Brienz was not caused by it. In fact, nature has long eaten away the rock in the region, causing the rockslide.
1. On what basis is the author’s statement about the movement of the mountain?| A．The villagers’ reports. | B．The published statistics. |
| C．The local people’s experience. | D．The government’s warnings. |
| A．Moving the village school in danger. | B．Protecting the time-honored church. |
| C．Repairing the monitoring system. | D．Rebuilding the homes of the people. |
| A．Human activity. | B．Climate change. | C．Heavy rain. | D．Rock weathering. |
| A．A science magazine. | B．A local newspaper. | C．A geography textbook. | D．A guide book. |
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【推荐1】In a natural disaster—a hurricane, flood, volcanic eruption, or other catastrophes—minutes and even seconds of warming can make the difference between life and death. Because of this, scientists are working to use the latest technological advances to predict when and where disasters will happen. They are also studying how best to analyze and communicate this information once it is obtained.
On September 29, 1998, Hurricane Georges made landfall in Bilxi, Mississippi, after damaging Haiti, Dominic Repubic, PueroRico, and several islands of the Caribbean badly with per hour. Few people lost their lives along the Gulf Coast of the United States, although hundreds died in the Caribbean.
This was a very different outcome from 1900, when a powerful Gulf Coast hurricane made an unexpected direct hit on Galveston, Texas, killing at east 6,000 people.
Vastly improved hurricane warnings explain the different circumstances at either end of the 20th century-residents of Galveston had no advance warning that a storm was approaching, while residents of Biloxi had been warned days in advance, allowing for extensive safety precautions.
At the same time that people in Biloxi were thankful for the advance warning, some residents of New Orleans, Louisiana were less satisfied.A day before Georges made landfall, forecasters were predicting that the hurricane had a good chance of striking New Orleans. Because much of New Orleans lies below sea level, the city is at risk for flooding. Emergency management officials must begin evacuations well before a storm strikes. But evacuation costs money: businesses close, tourists leave, and citizens take precautionary measures.The mayor of New Orleans estimated that his city’s preparations for Georges cost more than 50 million. After Georges missed New Orleans, some residents questioned the value of the hurricane forecasts in the face of such high costs.
The different views on the early warnings for Hurricane Georges show some of the complexities related to predicting disasters. Disaster prediction is a process of providing scientific information to the government officials and other decision makers who must respond to those predictions.
1. What is the purpose of disaster prediction according to the passage?| A．To identify the cause of disasters. |
| B．To save people’s lives and property. |
| C．To prevent natural disasters from happening. |
| D．To apply advanced technology to disaster prediction. |
| A．their preparations were made in vain |
| B．the hurricane warning arrived rather late |
| C．the forecast hurricane did not hit the city |
| D．they suffered from a heavy hurricane attack |
| A．The different ways of disaster prediction. |
| B．Technological advances in disaster prediction. |
| C．The benefits and preparations of disaster prediction. |
| D．The importance and uncertainty of disaster prediction. |
【推荐2】Having lived in California until 1970,my family has felt a number of earthquakes. We have been fortunate, however, to have suffered no bodily harm or property damage.
There is a website that lists all California earthquakes recorded from 1769 to the present.The site lists the dates and times as well as the magnitude (震级) and the exact location of any quake that measured more than 6.0. There are only a few quakes that stand out in my memory and, luckily, none is shown in the website. So, my personal experience with earthquakes might be considered insignificant.
There are three earthquakes that are difficult to forget. The first one was in 1955 and our oldest daughter was walking with me in our backyard in Redwood City in California. As the shaking became stronger I held her to me with one arm as I held on to one of our fruit trees with the other. All three of us (my daughter, I and the tree) shook for two or three minutes that to us felt like hours.
The second one was in 1963. Our entire family was visiting Disneyland in Southern California. The earth started to shake just as we were beginning to walk from our hotel toward the famous landmark.
My third experience with an earthquake was a lonely one in California. It was in my sixties and I was alone in an old church. As the building started to shake, I quickly headed for the door to go outside. I remember I said a little prayer — something like, “Help me get out of here in time, Dear Heavenly Father”. Minutes later, I was safe outside.
1. The earthquakes the author has experienced .| A．all caused bodily harm |
| B．are all recorded in a website |
| C．all measured more than 6.0 |
| D．all happened in California |
| A．A church. |
| B．Disneyland. |
| C．A building destroyed by an earthquake. |
| D．The place where the author was born. |
| A．It happened in the author’s sixties. |
| B．The author succeeded in getting outside. |
| C．When it happened, the author was in a church. |
| D．The author was too afraid to walk when it happened. |
| A．a new film about an earthquake |
| B．how to survive an earthquake |
| C．his three earthquake experiences |
| D．how to save children in an earthquake |
【推荐3】Venice, Italy is experiencing its worst flooding in more than 50 years.The floods resulted in calls Wednesday to help protect the historic city from rising sea levels. The water reached 1.87 meters above sea level Tuesday. It was the second-highest level ever recorded in Venice and just 7 centimeters lower than the historic flood of 1966.
Another wave of very high water followed on the same day."Venice is on is knees" Mayor Luigi Brugnaro said on Twitter.He added that St.Mark's Basilica suffered serious flood.like the entire city and its islands, while many squares and passages between buildings were left under water.The mayor said the city was in a state of emergency.
Nearly every home on the island appeared to have flood waters reaching their front doors or entrances.Water poured through wooden boards that were placed in front of doors to hold back water Travelers staying on the ground floor of hotels had to move to upper floors.At least one man died and 60 boats were damaged in the flooding.
The flood is believed to have caused hundreds of millions of euros in damage. "It is not just about the financial damage, but of the very future of the city.People would leave the city because of the flooding", Brugnaro continued. He blamed climate change for the "disastrous situation". He called for a quick finish of a project about building moveable undersea barriers to stop flooding. No start date is in sight. But now, the river levels are still rising. The worst may be yet to come. More bad weather is believed to come over the next few days.
1. What can the underlined part in paragraph 2 probably mean? ______| A．Under control | B．In trouble. | C．At an end | D．Out of order |
| A．The damage is beyond repair | B．The rising sea is out of control |
| C．Tourists may stop visiting it | D．The city may disappear soon |
| A．It could have been stopped. | B．It may cause more damage soon |
| C．It has destroyed undersea barriers | D．It has been a regular natural disaster |
| A．By telling real stories | B．By introducing his experience |
| C．By giving explanations | D．By providing detailed results |
【推荐1】WeChat, the Chinese social media smartphone app, saw an increase in user numbers of 41 percent year on year to 500 million at the end of last year, in a sign that parent company Tencent is extending its reach for the mobile Internet. As one of the largest Internet integrated service providers in China and one of the most Internet users in China, Tencent’s profit grew 24 percent to RMB 20.98 billion per year, slightly higher than forecasts, driven mainly by online gaming profits. It is unclear how much WeChat contributed to Tencent’s profits but the app’s growth is a strong indicator of the company’s long-term health as it tries to adjust its business to be more suitable for mobile devices.
“We extended our leadership in games and online media, and made breakthroughs in emerging platforms such as online security and mobile payments.” Ma Huateng, Tencent chairman, said in a statement. WeChat is the second highest ranked social app in China, behind QQ, Tencent’s another chatting app, which claimed to have 815 million registered monthly users at the end of 2014.
Tencent has been unwilling to earn money through WeChat by flooding it with advertising, which could influence the users’ experience. But this is expected to change. Some analysts anticipated(预期) that advertising would be introduced on a large scale later this year. Early attempts to test ads on the service have not always gone smoothly. After a BMW ad was introduced on some users’ feedbacks in January, many users who were not targeted by the brand’s marketing complained of “discrimination” by Tencent’s data mining algorithm(数据挖掘算法). They claimed it unfairly treated them as not wealthy or successful enough to view the BMW ad.
1. What can we learn from the passage?| A．WeChat is ranked behind QQ in China. |
| B．Tencent wants to earn more through QQ. |
| C．WeChat contributed most to Tencent’s profits. |
| D．More advertising would not be introduced later this year. |
| A．Uninterested. | B．Untouched. |
| C．Unhappy. | D．Unlucky. |
| A．WeChat, a Popular APP in China |
| B．WeChat, a Smartphone APP in China |
| C．WeChat, a Profitable APP of Tencent |
| D．WeChat, a Nonprofit APP of Tencent |
【推荐2】A few days ago, the Brooklyn Nets basketball player Ben Simmons donated a basketball court to Machang township in Southwest China’s Guizhou Province during a ceremony. Simmons has visited China several times since he was young. He has been deeply touched by the Chinese people’s warmth and friendly feelings toward him and their enthusiasm for basketball.
Impressed by the news that basketball competitions had been held in Guizhou at a village with their own “Village Basketball Association (VBA)”, Simmons decided to donate a basketball court to the village during the Chinese New Year Basketball Competition in January. After conducting a survey, he set up the basketball court in Machang township in Gui’an New Area in the hope that it would create more opportunities for young fans to play basketball.
In the mountainous village of Machang, there are no huge electronic screens or advertisements at basketball games, but they can still be thrilling thanks to local players’ love for the sport. These players later became a hit in China and even went viral (迅速传播). A recent final competition attracted 30, 000 viewers on site and more than 1 billion viewers online.
Comparatively, the NBA boasts the best players in the world, top-class basketball gyms and professionally made commercials, so its exciting games draw fans around the world. The NBA and the “VBA” are thousands of miles apart, but their games are equally striking, fueling thousands of fans’ enthusiasm. Both focus on a common interest of basketball fans in the U. S. and China and their shared pursuit of sports and a better life.
Although Machang township lacks modern sports facilities, the local people’s love for basketball remains strong. So Simmons’ donation will surely help improve the village’s situation to a certain extent, but more importantly, it will bring people separated by the Pacific Ocean closer through this sport.
1. How did Ben Simmons give a hand to Machang township?| A．By donating electronic screens and some equipment for playing basketball. |
| B．By giving some money to help the township to build a stadium. |
| C．By training some local people to practise playing basketball. |
| D．By offering a basketball court to the township for free. |
| A．The recent match appealed to a large number of viewers. |
| B．The local players can earn an amount of money by playing the game. |
| C．The players, professional skills make the local basketball games exciting. |
| D．Advertisements contributed to the successful promotion of the local sport. |
| A．To suggest the “VBA” should learn from the NBA. |
| B．To show the NBA is much more exciting than the “VBA”. |
| C．To express the NBA and the “VBA” have something in common. |
| D．To prove the rules of the “VBA” and the NBA are almost the same. |
| A．The living standard of the village. |
| B．The significance of the donation. |
| C．The sports facilities of the township. |
| D．The meaning of the basketball competitions. |
【推荐3】Robots are increasingly being developed to think and act like humans. But one common human quality that has been difficult for engineers to recreate in machines is humor.
Most robots are powered by artificial intelligence, or AI. Some have performed better than humans in tests designed to measure machine intelligence.
Computer scientists have also hoped to give robots technical skills to help them recognize, process and react to humor. But these attempts have mostly failed.
Kiki Hempelmann is a computational language expert who studies humor at Texas A&M University. “Artificial intelligence will never get jokes like humans do,” he told the Associated Press. The main problem, Hempelmann says, is that robots completely miss the context of humor.
Tristan Miller is a computer scientist and linguist at Darmstadt University of Technology in Germany. In one research project, he studied more than 10,000 puns(双关语).
Puns are a kind of joke that uses a word with two meanings. For example, you could say, “Balloons do not like pop music.” The word “pop” can be a way of saying popular music; or, “pop” can be the sound a balloon makes when it explodes.
But a robot might not get the joke. Tristan Miller says that is because humor is a kind of creative language that is extremely difficult for computer intelligence to understand.
Despite the difficulties, Darmstadt University’s Miller says there are good reasons to keep trying to teach humor to robots. It could make machines more relatable, especially if they can learn to understand sarcasm(讽刺), he noted. Humans use sarcasm to say one thing but mean another.
But Texas A&M’s Kiki Hempelmann is not sure such attempts are a good idea. “Teaching AI systems humor is dangerous because they may find it where it isn’t, and they may use it where it’s inappropriate,” he said. “Maybe bad AI will start killing people because it thinks it is funny,” he added.
1. Which is difficult for robots to gain according to the passage?| A．Thinking. | B．Humor. |
| C．Intelligence. | D．Action. |
a. They lack creativity and skills.
b. They have no sense of humor at all.
c. They don’t understand the situation.
d. They have no related ideas that make a joke funny.
| A．ab | B．ac |
| C．bd | D．cd |
| A．The risk of teaching humor to AI. |
| B．The necessity of making AI smart. |
| C．The reason to keep robots humorous. |
| D．The possibility of robot understanding humor. |
| A．To Be Smarter, Be Humorous. |
| B．AI can Get Jokes Like Humans. |
| C．How to Help Robots Learn Humor? |
| D．Why Robot Humor Mostly Falls Flat. |
