Throughout history, technological progress has brought new wealth but has not always improved people’s lives. Economists now say it is not clear whether artificial intelligence (AI) will help or hurt society.
McKinley is a business consulting company. It said AI could add between $14 trillion and $22 trillion of value to the world’s economy. Supporters say the technology will create wealth and improve living standards. Some go as far as saying AI will increase people’s free time and help them be more creative. But others are worried the technology will lead to losing jobs. They point to Hollywood writers and actors who are worried that they will be replaced by technology.
The Internet arrived with a similar omen of more productivity, wealth and jobs. Recently, the French bank Natixis noted in its research that most of the wealth has gone to a few billionaires. And many of the jobs do not require highly paid, skilled workers. Some workers hope the technology will increase pay and job satisfaction. But they are also concerned that the technology could push people to work too hard.
Such concerns are not unfounded. History has shown the economic impact of technological progress is generally uncertain, unequal and even harmful. Johnson recently published a book, Power and Progress, with Dacron Acemoglu, another economist from MIT. They studied technological progress over the last 1,000 years including clothing production, train travel, and even food shopping. Johnson noted that it is easier to create something new than to make sure it works for everyone. The two economists looked at an invention called the spinning jenny that made it easier to turn cotton and wool into yarn (纱线). They said the device helped clothing production and created wealth for many people in the late 1700s. However, it also increased the demand for cotton and led to longer hours for workers. The demand also led to the growth of slavery in the southern United States.
As for AI technology, Johnson wonders if it will make existing inequalities worse, or “could it help us get back to something fairer”?
1. What does the underlined word “omen” mean in Paragraph 3?| A．Sign. | B．Requirement. | C．Experience | D．Level. |
| A．Lessons from history. | B．The excitement of creating new things. |
| C．Important technological innovations in history. | D．The application of the spinning jenny. |
| A．Surprised. | B．Scared. | C．Objective | D．Unfavourable |
| A．A book review. | B．A science fiction novel. | C．An economics textbook. | D．A technology report. |
相似题推荐
【推荐1】A short cooking video posted by a netizen on TikTok has recently become a popular hit on the site. Bearing the tag “Chinese food”, the video not only showed off the chief’s superb skills in making Chinese dishes, but it also got netizens abroad wanting to get a taste of China’s unique food culture.
Although the video was nothing master-level, just a rather standard homemade fried potato dish, it received more than 200, 000 likes after only three days of posting. In addition to praising the chef, commenters wondered why such a simple Chinese dish could look like a fancy cuisine that had been made through tons of effort. “Even the most basic Chinese dish needs to have three elements: color, smell and taste. For example, color not only requires a chef to have sharp eyes, but also valuable experience,” said Wang, an experienced Chinese chef in Guangzhou.
Chinese cooking is not the only type of content covered by the tag. Other popular videos under the tag include “odd food” challenges, traditional Chinese dishes and Chinese snack tasting, the latter of which has become particularly popular among young omnivore vloggers (video bloggers) living in a world of continually expanding cultural globalization.
“I have been a fan of Chinese food ever since my Chinese friend cooked me di san xian at university. I was surprised by the dish’s taste and its look, which was very different from my home food, but felt it was very familiar to me because I noticed we share similar cooking skills,” said Bianca, an Italian Asian food fan.
“I started my channel by recording my roommate tasting my cooking. These videos got likes and comments gradually. Seeing some people commenting in German or English and saying ‘I want to try it’, I felt these videos can narrow the gap between the two cultures,” said Mr. Bear, a vlogger on Bilibili who promotes Chinese cooking.
1. What does the underlined word “omnivore” in Paragraph 3 refer to?| A．people eating meat. | B．people eating diverse food. |
| C．people eating strange food. | D．people eating vegetables. |
| A．common and dear. | B．expensive and delicious. |
| C．similar and disconnected. | D．special and familiar. |
| A．He is an expert determined to become a Chinese chef. |
| B．The majority of his fans tasted the food he cooked. |
| C．His videos make a difference to cultural communication. |
| D．His roommate encouraged him to cook Chinese food. |
| A．Chinese cooking has become popular among young vloggers. |
| B．advanced technology plays a great part in modern society. |
| C．online videos can make young people internationally famous. |
| D．master-level Chinese dishes are attracting more foreign fans. |
【推荐2】In colleges around the country, most students are also workers.
The reality of college can be pretty different from the images presented in movies and television. Instead of the students who wake up late, party all the time, and study only before exams, many colleges are full of students with pressing schedules of not just classes and activities, but real jobs, too.
This isn't a temporary phenomenon. The share of working students has been on the rise since the 1970s, and one-fifth of students work year round. About one-quarter of those who work while attending school have both a full-course load and a full-time job. The arrangement can help pay for tuition （学费） and living costs, obviously. And there's value in it beyond the direct cause: such jobs can also be vital for developing important professional and social skills that make it easier to land a job after graduation. With many employers looking for students with already-developed skill sets, on-the-job training while in college can be the best way to ensure a job later on.
But it's not all upside. Even full-time work may not completely cover the cost of tuition and living expenses. The study notes that if a student worked a full-time job at the minimum wage, they would earn just over $15,000 each year, certainly not enough to pay for tuition, room, and meals at many colleges without some serious financial aid. That means that though they're sacrificing （牺牲） time away from the classroom, many working students will still graduate with at least some debt. And working full time can reduce the chance that students will graduate at all, by cutting into the time available for studying and attending classes.
There is little reward for attending but not finishing college. Students who end up leaving school because of difficulty in managing work and class are likely to find themselves stuck in some of the same jobs they might have gotten if they hadn't gone to college at all. The difficulty of working too much while in school can create a cycle that pushes students further into debt without receiving any of the financial or career benefits.
1. It can be learned from the passage that today's college students actually _______.| A．attend a number of parties | B．work while attending school |
| C．stay up late all the time | D．care little about exams |
| A．The chance of finding a job after graduation. |
| B．The shortage of holiday jobs for college students. |
| C．The need of improving social skills. |
| D．The high tuition and living expenses. |
| A．working students are more likely to graduate from college |
| B．the pay from working can cover students' college costs |
| C．working too much while in college may not benefit a student's career |
| D．students can receive a reward for managing work and class well |
| A．An Introduction of Working College Students |
| B．The Advantages of Working While Studying |
| C．The Struggle to Balance Work and School |
| D．The Difficulties of Landing a Job |
【推荐3】An 18-year-old girl from Austria is taking her parents to court for posting over 500 photos of her on Facebook since 2009, without her permission.
Anna Meier has apparently become fed up with her parents refusal to take down intimate and embarrassing photos of her dating back to when she was a toddler, and is now seeking justice in court.
She said that when she was 11 years old, her parents started sharing photos of her with several hundreds of Facebook friends, without ever asking if it was alright with her. “They didn’t care whether it was a picture of me sitting on the toilet or lying naked in my cot – every stage was photographed and then made public,” she said. The girl added that she was only able to see the photos posted on Facebook by her parents when she was 14, after setting up her own account on the world’s most popular social network. Angry and upset, Anna asked her mother and father to remove the over 500 photos of her immediately, but they refused. She kept asking them over the years, but faced with constant refusal, she felt that she had no other way to coerce them than taking them to court. Which she did as soon as she turned 18, this year.
Although Anna is convinced that her right to privacy has been violated, her parents, on the other hand, see nothing wrong with posting baby photos of her. However, a German law firm advises parents not to post photos of children on Facebook without their consent. Apart from legal consequences and subsequent compensation, they also risk making their children-especially those of school age-targets for cyber-bullying(网络暴力).
1. What does the underlined word “intimate”(in Paragraph 2) mean?| A．close | B．shameful |
| C．private | D．ugly |
| A．1998 | B．2002 |
| C．2009 | D．2012 |
| A．The photos her parents posted were embarrassing |
| B．Her parents refused to remove the photos of her. |
| C．She became fed up with her parents |
| D．She wanted her parents to be punished |
| A．Protect children from cyber-bullying |
| B．Never post photos of children |
| C．Post photos of children with their permission |
| D．Always take children seriously |
There aren’t many believable numbers, but we do know the number of people who eat while sitting in front of some type of screen is growing. A recent study found that 33 percent of families always have the TV on during meal times and another 27 percent people have it on at least half the time. Another 10 percent may be texting, emailing or talking on a cell phone while eating.
Any type of these behaviors is bad, considering the following evidence:
A Canadian study found that children who watch more than three hours of cartoons a day are 50 percent more likely to be fat than children who watch fewer than two hours. The researchers concluded that more than 60 percent of overweight incidents can be connected with screen watching too much.
A three-week study found that adults who usually play with smartphones less burned 119 more calories per day.
One Chicago researcher found that people eat more potato chips while reading online than when they have the laptop turned off.
There has been very little investigation(调查) into eating with your eyes staring at a screen or reading a book, but it is likely that his mindless eating is related to weight gain. Simply speaking, your brain has no idea what is going on with your mouth because it is occupied by other things. You don’t notice how full your stomach is, and you often don’t even notice the taste or the act of chewing and swallowing, as a result of which, developing an adapted dietary habit is a must.
1. The author answers the question raised in the first paragraph with ________.
| A．stories and explanations |
| B．examples and investigations |
| C．an argument and evidence |
| D．facts and descriptions |
| A．Being focused while eating is a good way to have a good figure. |
| B．Adults’ weight is not affected by their eating habits. |
| C．There exist many investigations into eating while reading. |
| D．This text must be found on a website. |
| A．How Should You Lose Weight? |
| B．Should You Do Other Things While Eating? |
| C．Healthy and Unhealthy Eating Habits |
| D．TV and Eating |
| A．Express healthy eating ways. |
| B．Give more useful investigations into eating. |
| C．Describe the study about the old who watch less TV while eating. |
| D．Tell the proper ways to watch TV. |
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1. We can learn from the first paragraph that Blogit is __________.
| A．a website on which people can make friends |
| B．located at a small community |
| C．a website which makes no money |
| D．developing fast |
| A．Replying to most questions every day. |
| B．Upgrading its system regularly. |
| C．Giving writers special software to install. |
| D．Choosing different topics for readers |
| A．tell people a good way to make money online |
| B．offer some information about Blogit |
| C．attract people to sign up for Blogit |
| D．guide people to realize their dream to write |
【推荐3】Every March, the country celebrates the achievements of women in American history. Even though these achievements go back a long way, most schools didn’t start focusing on women pioneers and their achievements until recently. Today, most schools teach kids about the contributions women have made to our country. How did this change come about?
On March 19, 1911, a German woman named Clara Zetkin organized the very first International Women’s Day. Inspired by American working women, the event took on the causes of peace in an effort to end World War I as well as women’s rights. However, people’s interest in International Women’s Day still dwindled over the years. It gained momentum (势头) again in the 1960’s when the women’s movement caused women to wonder why they weren’t included in the history books.
By the 1970s, more female historians began to look back at women’s contributions in history. In 1978, a California school district started Women’s History Week to promote the teaching of women’s history. School officials picked the week of March 8 to include International Women’s Day. It was so popular that, in 1981, Congress passed a resolution, making the week a celebration for the entire country. The concept of studying women’s history continued to grow in popularity. In 1987, a group of women asked Congress to expand the celebration. That same year. Congress declared the entire month of March National Women’s History Month.
Today, schools and communities across the country celebrate the month with special lessons and activities designed to teach the ways women have helped shape the US. The women who have worked hard to make Women’s History Month a reality would like to see women’s history studied all year, not just every March. In 1996, the National Women’s History Museum was founded. It is a commonweal (公益) organization dedicated to preserving and celebrating the various historic contributions of women. The organization is working with Congress to open a permanent (永久的) museum site in Washington D. C.
1. What was ignored in school education in the past according to the text?| A．Popularizing American history. |
| B．Introducing the history of WWI. |
| C．Sharing Americans global contributions. |
| D．Teaching about American women’s achievements. |
| A．Started. | B．Survived. | C．Decreased. | D．Completed. |
| A．How women were included in the history books. |
| B．How Women’s History Month became a reality. |
| C．Why women’s history should be taught at school. |
| D．Why women’s contributions should be honored in history. |
| A．It is a non-profit organization. | B．It was founded by Clara Zetkin. |
| C．It was confirmed by Congress. | D．It is a museum in Washington D.C. |
