At the end of 2019, I learned that a software start-up, whose goal is to let the living communicate with the dead, was looking for applicants of its new project. Intrigued by what it was promising, I applied to experiment the software on my very-much-alive parents.
At first, I thought it would be just a fun project to see what was technologically possible. Then the pandemic (流行病) added some importance to the experiment. I was frightened that my parents might die, and that with the strict control on hospital visits at the time, I might never have the chance to say goodbye.
The first step of the experiment was an interview. My parents were asked questions by a technician for hours — about everything from their earliest memories to what they believe will happen after they die. Whether through pandemic-related concerns or a willingness to humor their daughter, my parents put up zero resistance. The company then took their responses and started to create the voice assistants. A few months later, my virtual parents arrived via email.
When I communicated with them through the app on my phone, my hands were shaking. I hadn’t seen my actual, real parents for six months. They told me personal stories I’d never heard. They gave me life advice and told me things about their childhoods, as well as my own. It was fascinating.
Personally, I have mixed feelings about my experiment. I’m glad to have my virtual parents. They’ve enabled me to learn new things about my parents, and it’s comforting to think that those bots will be there even when my parents aren’t. On the other hand, I can’t help but find it sad that it took a stranger interviewing my parents for me to properly know the complex people they are. But I feel lucky to have had the chance to grasp that and to still have the precious opportunity to spend more time with them and learn more about them, face to face, no technology involved.
1. What does the underlined word “intrigued” mean in paragraph 1?| A．Puzzled. | B．Attracted. | C．Accepted. | D．Expected. |
| A．To record her parents’ voices when they are alive. |
| B．To relieve the fright brought by the pandemic. |
| C．To learn more about the life stories of her parents. |
| D．To test out what the new technology might be like. |
| A．They opposed joining the project at first. | B．They went through many interviews. |
| C．They were patient and caring. | D．They died because of the pandemic. |
| A．Technology allows us to learn more about our virtual parents. |
| B．The development of technology has advantages and disadvantages. |
| C．New technology means never saying goodbye to our parents. |
| D．The real connection with our parents matters most. |
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【推荐1】Everyone knows about Kentucky Fried Chicken, founded by “Colonel” Sanders in his 60s, an age when most people retire. Now imagine someone who began work at the age of 78! Such is the case with a simple woman who became known as Grandma Moses.
Born in 1860 in New York, Anna Mary Robertson left school at age 12 to work in other people's homes to help support her family. She became Mrs. Moses in 1887 when she married Thomas Salmon Moses. After Thomas died in 1927, the 67-year-old widow kept herself occupied with needle work, but because of arthritis (关节炎) in her hands, she eventually turned to painting as it was easier to hold a brush.
Though she had never received any formal art training, the septuagenarian (70至79岁的人) widow began painting scenes from her childhood memories. These centered on American rural life, a simple subject matter which she captured with luminous (鲜艳的), lively colors. Her first paintings sold at a local drugstore for only US $3 to US $5 each, but she was discovered by an art collector in 1938, and soon after, her works were placed in various shows and exhibits. Described as American Primitive style, her landscapes were soon fetching US $8,000 to US $10,000. By this time, she had been given the nickname “Grandma Moses”.
The elderly Grandma Moses even became quite the celebrity (名人). President Harry Truman invited her to the White House and played the piano for her. Then, when she turned 100 in 1960, she graced the cover of Life magazine. She received accolades even after her death in 1961, with President Kennedy stating that “All Americans mourn her passing.” As for herself, Grandma Moses once said, “I knew nothing better and made the best out of what life offered. And life is what we make it, always has been, always will be." Grandma Moses left us not only with lasting art but also words of wisdom.
1. Why did the writer most likely choose “Colonel” Sanders to introduce this passage about Grandma Moses？| A．Both people mentioned in the passage had nicknames. |
| B．Sanders and Moses both started careers very late in life. |
| C．Both people mentioned in the passage worked in the same field. |
| D．Sanders and Moses both had friends including United States presidents. |
| A．Her picture was put on the cover of a magazine. |
| B．She sold her paintings at a rural drugstore. |
| C．She was nicknamed Grandma Moses. |
| D．Her husband passed away. |
| A．praises | B．reviews |
| C．punishments | D．rewards |
【推荐2】I arrived at my mother’s home for our Saturday family dinner. The smells of food flew over from the kitchen. Mother was pulling out quilt after quilt from the boxes, proudly showing me their beauties. I knew they were all made herself. She was preparing for a quilt show on TV. When we began to fold and put them back into the boxes, I noticed something at the bottom of one box. I pulled it out. “What’s this?” I asked.
“Oh?” Mom said, “That’s Mama’s quilt.”
I spread the quilt. It looked as if a group of school children had made the pieces together.
“Grandmother made this?” I asked in surprise. My grandmother was a master at making quilts. This certainly didn’t look like any of the quilts she had made.
“Yes, right before she died. I brought it home with me last year and made some changes,” Mom said, “I’m still working on it. See, this is what I've done so far.”
I looked at it more closely. She had made a line straight(直的). At the center of the quilt, she had stitched a piece of cloth with these words: “My mother made many quilts. She didn’t get all lines straight. But I think this is beautiful. I want to see it finished. Her last quilt.”
“Oh, this is so nice, Mom.” I said. I was sure now that by completing my grandmother’s quilt, my mother was honoring her own mother. I realized that I held in my hands a family treasure. It started with the loving hands of one woman, and continued with the loving hands of another.
1. When the writer got home, his mother .| A．was cooking dinner | B．was preparing for a quilt show |
| C．was watching TV | D．was changing her mama's quilt |
| A．She took it to a TV show. |
| B．She brought it home and made some changes. |
| C．She gave it to her daughter as a family treasure. |
| D．She made some changes with a group of children. |
| A．画出 | B．剪开 | C．写下 | D．缝上 |
| A．was highly thought of by her daughter |
| B．wasn’t good at making quilts |
| C．was dead many years ago |
| D．lived with the writer before she died |
| A．The writer wanted to know what their family treasure was. |
| B．The writer’s mother wanted to learn how to make a beautiful quilt. |
| C．The writer’s mother wanted to honor her own mama by finishing the quilt. |
| D．The writer’s mother wanted to take her mama's quilts to the show. |
【推荐3】I love training with my husband Chris. We do our own exercises separately, but then we really enjoy spending 30—40 minutes doing something we both like together. I also train with my family — my brother, his wife and our cousins will come to our house every now and then to train together. It's like family fun time! A little bit of competition also makes us work out harder.
Laziness, as you know, is contagious. But so is enthusiasm. If you can get your partner on board, you will be able to encourage each other on those days when the other doesn't feel like moving. If you set yourself a challenge and add competition to the mix, I promise you that the training will be much more fun. Time will fly by and you'll want to do it again.
This is why I wanted to learn Chris' favourite sport — surfing. Not only would we have more things to do together, but it would be a great challenge for me. In turn, I have introduced Chris to two of my favourite activities: horse riding and motorbiking. Now he also loves them, which means we have even more chances to have fun together. Encouraged by our example, my brother and his wife now train together too. This is what it's all about at the end of the day: quality time with your partner.
What if you don't have a partner? Well, I'm sure you have a friend who would love to train with you. Or, if you have young children, why not train in the backyard with another parent while they play? You just need some music. The important thing is to have a plan and to make the time to do it. It will be much more fun than doing it on your own.
1. How does the author train with her husband?| A．They train on a daily basis. | B．They start with separate training. |
| C．They train for half an hour each time. | D．They always try to do the same exercise. |
| A．Everyone gets more active. | B．Everyone relaxes after work. |
| C．Everyone is very competitive. | D．Everyone feels time is slowing down. |
| A．It's more for men than women. | B．It makes her feel discouraged. |
| C．It's not so hard as she expected. | D．It requires lots of hard work to learn. |
| A．To look for help. | B．To express thanks. |
| C．To make a promise. | D．To give encouragement. |
【推荐1】Winona Ryder was once one of Hollywood’ s biggest stars. During the 1990s, she received critical praise and box office success. And in 2000, she was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. But then it went wrong. In December 2001, she was arrested for shoplifting. She was caught leaving a Beverly Hills department store carrying thousands of dollars worth of clothes. Her sentence? 480 hours of community service in hospital. Afterwards, Winona quit acting for a few years. And she moved from los Angeles to San Francisco to get out of the spotlight. But now she’s on a comeback. She recently appeared in the award-winning Black Swan.
Bill Gates doesn’t seem like a bad boy. But on 29th April 1975 (just two weeks after founding Microsoft) he was arrested in Albuquerque, New Mexico. What for? Speeding and driving without a driver’s license. But Bill’s rap sheet doesn’t end there. In 1977 he was arrested again, this time for speeding, driving his Porsche through a stop sign road and, once again, driving without a license.
Bill has never commented on his wild past. But a Microsoft spokesperson said, “It’s well known that when Bill was young, he didn’t have a very good driving record.”
Can someone with a criminal record become president of the Unite States? They certainly can. And George W. Bush did. In 1976, the 30-year old Bush was drinking in a bar near his parents’ house. A few hours later, he decided to drive home. But on the way, a police officer pulled him over. Bush had been driving suspiciously slowly. The future president was arrested for drunk driving. Bush kept his arrest secret for 24 years. But it leaked to the press just before the 2000 presidential election (which he won). He admitted it was true and said he had learned his lesson that night.
1. What punishment was given to Winona Ryder after she was caught shoplifting?| A．She was forbidden acting for a few years. |
| B．She was put in prison for 480 hours. |
| C．She did community service for 480 hours. |
| D．She was forgiven for her outstanding acting skills. |
| A．Criminal record. | B．Careless behavior. |
| C．Sentence. | D．Impolite behavior. |
| A．The police were checking drunk driving and caught him by chance. |
| B．Bush was driving so slowly as to cause the police’ s suspicion. |
| C．Bush drove through a stop sign. |
| D．Bush drove in the wrong direction. |
| A．Some famous people without morality. |
| B．Some famous people and their life stories. |
| C．Some interesting stories of famous people. |
| D．Some arrests of famous people. |
【推荐2】Ever since she received a little toy airliner as a birthday gift, Kate Koralevskaya has been attracted by flight. From flying remote-controlled airplanes to building her own model ones, Kate has always considered flying a plane one of her passions, but only until recently has she been able to take that to new heights.
When Kate heard about the Upwind Scholarship from her school counselor, she knew it was an extraordinary opportunity to realize her dream. The program's mission is to provide all the training necessary to obtain a private pilot's license (PPL) for students in between their junior and senior year of high school free of charge.
After completing a lengthy application and her subsequent acceptance into the program, Kate began her training last spring. Normally, recipients of the scholarship would attend ground school in person where they learn the fundamentals of flying. Due to the pandemic (大流行病), however, Kate spent hours each weekend studying online lessons in her room whenever she got a break from homework. Once summer came around, Kate and three peers put in two straight weeks of ground school, reviewing fight training from nine to five every day. "It was the toughest part of the program," Kate said.
After completing that portion of ground school, Kate was finally able to begin flying at the San Carlos Airport with the other scholarship recipients from around the Bay Area. Flying, especially for first-timers like Kate, is a hands-on process involving lots of checklists to make sure the important tasks are being taken care of.
Now, having finished the program and earned her PPL, Kate plans on training as a fight instructor and hopes to become an airline pilot in her future.
She credits the Upwind Scholarship for all she's been able to accomplish so far and hopes that anyone who shares her passion will look into it. “It is a very hard scholarship to get into, and you have to be truly interested in flight,” Kate said. “It can't be something like ‘Oh, why don't I try flying this summer?’ You have to be ready to do a lot of work and put in effort in order to succeed in the program. ”
1. What does the underlined word “that” in Paragraph 1 refer to?| A．Her skill of building model airplanes. |
| B．Her wish to take fights around the world. |
| C．Her childhood dream of becoming a pilot. |
| D．Her desire to fly remoter-controlled airplanes. |
| A．To help students in need to achieve their dreams. |
| B．To provide necessary training for private pilots for free. |
| C．To give students expert advice on earning a scholarship. |
| D．To prepare high school students to become a private pilot. |
| A．She took online lessons on flying. |
| B．She went over the fundamentals of flying. |
| C．She did some research into the pandemic. |
| D．She finished applying for the program. |
| A．Confident and aggressive. |
| B．Strong willed and patient. |
| C．Demanding and courageous. |
| D．Ambitious and hard-working. |
【推荐3】One day, when I was working as a psychologist in England, an adolescent boy showed up in my office. It was David. He kept walking up and down restlessly, his face pale, and his hands shaking slightly. His head teacher had referred him to me. “This boy has lost his family,” he wrote. “He is understandably very sad and refuses to talk to others, and I’m very worried about him. Can you help?”
I looked at David and showed him to a chair. How could I help him? There are problems psychology doesn’t have the answer to, and which no words can describe. Sometimes the best thing one can do is to listen openly and sympathetically
The first two times we met, David didn’t say a word. He sat there, only looking up to look at the children’s drawings on the wall behind me. I suggested we play a game of chess. He nodded. After that he played chess with me every Wednesday afternoon—in complete silence and without looking at me. It’s not easy to cheat in chess, but I admit I made sure David won once or twice.
Usually, he arrived earlier than agreed, took the chess board and pieces from the shelf and began setting them up before I even got a chance to sit down. It seemed as if he enjoyed my company. But why did he never look at me?
“Perhaps he simply needs someone to share his pain with,” I thought. “Perhaps he senses that I respect his suffering.” Some months later, when we were playing chess, he looked up at me suddenly.
“It’s your turn,” he said.
After that day, David started talking. He got friends in school and joined a bicycle club. He wrote to me a few times about his biking with some friends, and about his plan to get into university. Now he had really started to live his own life.
Maybe I gave David something. But I also learned that one-without any words-can reach out to another person. All it takes is a hug, a shoulder to cry on, a friendly touch, and an ear that listens.
1. When he first met the author, David ________.| A．looked a little nervous | B．walked energetically |
| C．felt a little excited | D．showed up with his teacher |
| A．wanted to ask the author for advice | B．liked the children’s drawings in the office |
| C．need to share sorrow with the author | D．beat the author many times in the chess game |
| A．His teacher’s help. |
| B．The author’s friendship. |
| C．His exchange of letters with the author. |
| D．The author’s silent communication with him. |
