The United Kingdom is hosting the AI Safety Summit, bringing politicians, computer scientists and big AI company leaders to a site chosen for its symbolism: Bletchley Park, the birthplace of computing and code-breaking (密码破译).
During World War II, a group of mathematicians, chess masters and other experts gathered at the Victorian country house 72 kilometers northwest of London to start a secret war against Nazi Germany. Their goal was to break a set of constantly changing codes produced by Nazi Germany’s Enigma machine. To do it, Bletchley Park’s wartime scientists — building on work done by Polish code-breakers — developed Colossus, the first programmable digital computer. Some historians say cracking the code helped shorten the war by up to two years.
“It has oversimplified its true contribution by describing Bletchley Park as a playground for Turing and other scientists.” said historian Chris Smith, author of The Hidden History of Bletchley Park. “Although it fits into the romantic idea that a group of smart men with a bit of wool and some yards of wire can win the war. In fact, almost 10,000 people worked at Bletchley Park during the war. Three quarters of them were women. It’s basically a factory... Twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. When peace came, the code-breakers returned to civilian life and promised to keep secret about their wartime work. It was not until the 1970s that the work at Bletchley Park became widely known in Britain.”
In 1994, the site opened as a museum, after local historians banded together to prevent it from being pulled down to build a supermarket. It was restored to its 1940s appearance, complete with old typewriters, phones and cups—including the one tied to a heater in Hut 8, where Turing led the Enigma team.
1. What can we learn about Colossus?| A．It was invented by Nazi Germany. |
| B．It was designed to send secret messages. |
| C．Polish code-breakers also made a contribution to it. |
| D．The project’s goal was to produce the first computer. |
| A．Women’s hard work was overlooked. | B．The secret should not be kept for so long. |
| C．The computer ought to be more powerful. | D．It is silly to say the machine shortened the war. |
| A．To highlight the government’s support. | B．To show the perfect restoration of the site. |
| C．To stress Turing’s important role in the project. | D．To tell the difficulty in collecting the lost items. |
| A．To advocate women’s equal rights with men. |
| B．To advertise a newly restored computer museum. |
| C．To show the significance of an important meeting. |
| D．To add some background to the AI safety meeting. |
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【推荐1】It may seem as if Mother’s Day was invented by a company named Hallmark, but people have been giving a shout-out to Mom for a long time. A more recent tradition was Mothering Sunday, which developed in the British Isles during the 16th century. On the fourth Sunday in April, young men and women who were living and working apart from their families were advised to return to their mothers’ houses.
Mother’s Day as it is observed in the United States started in the 1850s with Ann Jarvis, a West Virginia woman who held “Mothers’ Work Days” to promote health and hygiene at home and in the workplace. During the Civil War, Jarvis organized women to improve sanitary conditions for soldiers on both sides, and after the war she became a peacemaker, bringing together mothers of Union and Confederate soldiers and promoting a Mother’s Day holiday.
Jarvis’s work inspired another 19th-century woman, Julia Ward Howe. In 1870, Howe published her “Mother’s Day Proclamation”, which envisioned the day not as appreciation of mothers by their children but as an opportunity for women to exercise their collective power for peace. Howe started holding annual Mother’s Day celebrations in Boston, her hometown, but after about a decade the tradition faded away.
It was Jarvis’s daughter, Anna, who succeeded in getting Mother’s Day recognized as a national holiday. After her mother died in 1905, Anna started holding yearly ceremony on the anniversary. In 1912, West Virginia and a few other states adopted Mother’s Day. Two years later, Woodrow Wilson signed a resolution naming the second Sunday in May as Mother’s Day, making it an official US holiday.
It wasn’t long before whatever ideals the day was supposed to celebrate were buried under an amount of greeting cards and candy. By the 1920s, Anna Jarvis was campaigning against the holiday she had created. “I wanted it to be a day of emotionalism, not profit,” she said.
1. Who plays the most important role in creating Mother’s Day?| A．Ann Jarvis. | B．Julia Ward Howe. | C．Woodrow Wilson. | D．Anna Jarvis. |
| A．In 1914. | B．In 1912. | C．In 1905. | D．In 1870. |
| A．Because the festival was not profitable. |
| B．Because the festival made her feel emotional. |
| C．Because the celebrations went against the original spirit. |
| D．Because she had no passion on holding celebration activities. |
| A．The Objection to Mother’s Day |
| B．The Argument on Celebrating Mother’s Day |
| C．The Story Behind the Creation of Mother’s Day |
| D．Different Forms of Celebrations on Mother’s Day |
【推荐2】Although tea is considered typically English, it did not really become part of English daily life until the 18th century.
The first man to sell tea was Thomas Garway in 1657 in his coffee house in London. It soon became fashionable all over London in 1662. Catherine of Braganza sailed to England from Portugal to become Charles II’s wife, taking boxes of tea with her. They said she was the first to introduce tea drinking in the home. The custom of afternoon tea probably originated with one person: Anna, 7th Duchess of Bedford. In the early 1800s she came up with the idea of having tea in the late afternoon to bridge the gap between lunch and dinner, which in fashionable circles was not served until 8 o'clock at night. Tea drinking became popular among the lower classes too, but they are their evening meals much earlier! Nowadays British homes serve tea at all times of the day. If you visit British homes in the daytime they are likely to offer you a cup of tea. If it is after six this will probably be something stronger like beer or wine. Some families drink tea with breakfast, lunch, and dinner!
Tea shops originated in the 1800s and you can still find them today all over England especially in villages and small towns. You can choose from a wide variety of teas as well as herbal teas (花草茶) and coffees. Tea rooms usually serve a selection of fresh sandwiches and cakes as well as ice cream. They are usually open from 9:00 am 10:00 am to around 5:00 pm. Some are open seven days a week, others close mid-week as weekends are usually the busiest time.
Tea was originally sold in coffee shops and was advertised as a drink with medicinal properties which made you strong and gave you energy, as well as preserving perfect health until extreme old age. This may not be true, but it is true that drinking tea can be refreshing. Tea breaks, or a short break from work to drink a cup of tea, is still vert popular in the UK. However, too much tea, like too much coffee, can also lead to sleeplessness and palpitations (心悸). This is why today some people prefer to buy herbal teas which do not contain caffeine.
1. What is the purpose of the text?| A．To inform. | B．To persuade. |
| C．To describe. | D．To instruct. |
| A．To memorize the first person to introduce tea drinking. |
| B．To meet the growing needs of tea shops. |
| C．To relieve people of hunger. |
| D．To introduce tea to the lower class. |
| A．Tea rooms in England provide tea drink only. |
| B．English people only drink tea before 6:00 pm. |
| C．Tea was introduced to England in the 18th century. |
| D．Tea rooms are spread in many parts of England. |
| A．Why tea is popular in Britain. | B．What a tea break is. |
| C．Tea and health. | D．The beginning of tea advertisements. |
【推荐3】In June 1852, Epps ordered me (Platt) to help a carpenter called Mr Avery､build a house for him. Among Avery’s men was one called Bass. He lived in Marksville, visiting his home once a fortnight. He was a kind and liberal man, always ready to discuss any topic from politics to religion.
One day, Bass and Epps got into an argument about slavery. I listened with great interest.
“It’s all wrong, Epps,” said Bass. “What right do you have to own black slaves?”
“What right!” said Epps, laughing. “Why, I bought them!”
“Of course you did. The law says you can do that, but the law is wrong,” stated Bass. “Now, what is the difference between a white man and a black one?”
“All the difference in the world,” replied Epps. “You might as well ask what the difference is between a white man and a monkey!”
“But Epps,” continued Bass, “are all men created free and equal as the Declaration of Independence says they are?”
“Yes,” responded Epps, “but all men—not slaves and monkeys.”
“There are monkeys among white people, too,” remarked Bass coolly. “These slaves are human beings. They’re not allowed to know anything. You have books and papers, and can go where you please, but your slaves have no privileges. This goes on generation after generation. Slavery is evil and should be abolished.”
Here Epps stood up and left, but there were similar conversations after this.
Bass remained at Epps’ through the summer. The more I saw of him, the more I became convinced he was a man in whom I could confide (吐露). Nevertheless､my previous ill-fortune had taught me to be extremely cautious. It was not my place to speak to a white man except when spoken to, but I seized every opportunity of throwing myself in his way.
I told him my story. I begged him to write to my friends in the north to help me get my freedom back. He agreed to do so. We then made a plan. The next night we met again and he noted down the names and addresses of those I wanted him to write to.
When Bass next returned from Marksville he told me he’d spent Sunday writing letters to the Customs House in New York, to Judge Marvin, and to Mr Parker and Mr Perry jointly. From then on whenever he visited Marksville I was very excited, only to be disappointed when he returned with nothing.
Ten weeks passed. The night before Bass’s departure I was in complete despair. He said he was coming back the day before Christmas.
In his absence the time passed slowly indeed. I looked forward to Christmas with extreme anxiety and impatience. I had about given up the expectation of receiving any answer to the letters. The faith I had in him enabled me to stand up against my disappointment.
1. What gave Platt hope of regaining freedom?| A．Bass’s view on slavery. |
| B．Epps’s attitude to the law. |
| C．Black-White differences in race. |
| D．Slaves’ equal status with their owners. |
| A．Talkative. | B．Reliable. | C．Confusing. | D．Well-educated. |
| A．He got involved in a conflict with Bass. |
| B．He trusted Bass totally at the beginning. |
| C．He had learned how to behave cautiously before. |
| D．He had a bad experience for trusting a white man. |
| A．The despair of receiving no answer. |
| B．The longing for the coming Christmas. |
| C．The continuous sufferings Platt bore. |
| D．The complaints Platt made about Bass. |
【推荐1】Early in the Iliad, Homer's epic poem（史诗）about the legendary, Trojan War, there occurs a famous anecdote known as the catalogue of ships, which names all the Greek leaders and contingents(小分队) who came to fight at Troy. Before unfolding this impressive muster roll (花名册)，Homer makes a special, public appeal to the Muses to ensure he gets the facts right:
Tell me now, Muses, who have your homes on Olympus-- for you are goddesses, and ever-present, and know all things, and we hear only rumour: nor do we know anything
These lines reflect a central claim of epic poetry—that through the inspiration of the Muses, daughters of Memory, it can preserve the knowledge of people and the events of the past —a formidable power in the non-literate, oral cultures in which the Iliad evolved. The Iliad was composed around 750-700 BC, but its origins lie at least some five centuries earlier, deep in the Mycenaean Bronze Age---the world the Iliad poetically evokes.
The Iliad is keenly aware of its role as the keeper of memory, and credibility is central to its storytelling. The epic is a work of fiction, and relates the events of a few weeks in the tenth and final year of the Trojan War fought between Greeks and Trojans over beautiful Helen, the Greek queen who deserted her husband to elope with a Trojan prince. Its cast of characters includes not only warriors and their captives and families, but the immortal Olympian gods, who perform many supernatural acts in the course of their eager participation in the action around Troy.
The Iliad has the reputation for being an exclusively(专门地) male epic, weak on female characters, but to choose only one example—Homer's delicate characterization of Helen as a woman driven by reluctant remorseful(悔恨的) passion is as hauntingly（萦绕心头地）credible as any Anna Karenina.
Longinus, a scholar in the 1st Century AD wrote that in recording as he does the wounding of the gods, their quarrels, vengeance, tears, imprisonment and all their passions Homer has done his best to make the men in the Iliad gods and gods men. The scene between Achilles and Priam displays this inversion and crystallises what the Iliad poets had learned in the course of the epic’s Journey. That the gods we worship might not answer, and on occasion humanity must rise to fill their place. That glory is closely associated with painful loss. That the victor shares the humanity of the most vulnerable of the vanquished（战败者）; that there is no such thing as pure victory in war.
1. The Iliad about the legendary Trojan War, might date back to _______.| A．the third century BC | B．the seventh century BC |
| C．the eighth century BC | D．the thirteenth century BC |
| A．being reliable is essential to the storytelling of the Iliad |
| B．Trojan War between Greeks and Trojans lasted over a decade |
| C．Trojan War ended owning to the Olympian gods’ absence |
| D．beautiful Helen is a woman worth respecting in the Iliad |
| A．Because it focuses only on men and war. |
| B．Because too few females were well depicted. |
| C．Because its cast of characters includes only males. |
| D．Because Helen was described as a passionate woman. |
| A．Pure victory in war does not exist at all. |
| B．Glory is naturally accompanied with saddening loss. |
| C．The victor gains everything without any emotional loss. |
| D．Both the victor and the vanquished share the same humanity. |
【推荐2】“They tell me that you’d like to make a statue of me — is that correct, Miss Vinnie Ream?”
The deep, gentle voice helped calm the nervous girl. Asking a favor of the President of the United States was no casual matter, especially for a seventeen-year-old girl.
“Yes, sir,” she replied, her dark eyes meeting his. “I wouldn’t have dared to ask you, but my teacher, Mr. Mills, says I am ready. I plan to make it in an admirable manner.”
President Lincoln smiled.“Painters, sculptors — they’ve all tried to make the best of this ordinary face, but I’m afraid there’s not much hope. What did you have in mind, Miss Ream? A bust (半身像)?”
Before Vinnie could say yes, the President hurried on, a shade of apology in his voice. “Of course — I shouldn’t have asked. A full-length pose would be much too big a project for a young woman your size.”
Vinnie’s face turned red. She realized she looked like a child, with her tiny figure. “Small does not mean weak, sir,” she defended herself. “I was born in the country of Wisconsin. I’ve driven teams of horses and carried water. Making a full-length clay (黏土) figure would not exhaust my strength — and that is what I intend to do!”
The President’s eyes, brightened at her show of spirit. “Sorry, madam, I have underestimated you as I didn’t know your background.”
But his smile faded as he rubbed his beard with bony fingers, in thought. “Miss Ream,” he sighed, “I’d like to let you do it, but as you know, we are in the middle of a war. How could I possibly take the time to pose for a sculpture now? I hardly have a minute to myself.”
Vinnie glanced around and noted the size of his office. “I work quickly,” she said. Her voice was soft but confident as she pointed to the corner near the windows. “If I were to bring my clay here and work for three hours every afternoon, I could complete most of the project while you are at your desk.”
The President seemed to consider her idea seriously. He got up and shook Vinnie’s hand warmly, “I’ve heard that you are a talented young woman, and I have found you charming and intelligent as well. I cannot make my decision immediately, but you will hear from me soon.”
The very next day, Vinnie received an invitation from the President.
1. How did President Lincoln first respond to Vinnie’s request?| A．Doubtful. | B．Thrilled. |
| C．Regretful. | D．Pleased. |
| A．her experience from other projects |
| B．the heavy labor she had done before |
| C．her innocent childhood in the country |
| D．the skill she picked up in Wisconsin |
| A．avoid disturbing the president’s work |
| B．keep all her tools within easy reach |
| C．observe the President at a right angle |
| D．achieve effects of natural lighting |
| A．Ups and downs make one strong. |
| B．Experience helps to promote excellence. |
| C．A strong-willed soul can reach his goal. |
| D．Devotion requires enthusiasm. |
【推荐3】On June 16, 2020, Virginia governor Ralph Northam made an announcement. The state would move to recognize June 19, or Juneteenth, as a paid state holiday. The next day, New York governor Andrew Cuomo tweeted that he' d do the same in his state. This makes Virginia and New York the latest states to officially honor Juneteenth. Now, at least 45 out of 50 states, plus Washington, D. C., recognize Juneteenth. “We became independent in 1776. Every year as a nation, we mark the Fourth of July Independence Day," Northam said during a press conference. “But that freedom we celebrate did not include everyone.
Learning more about the holiday means going back in history to the Civil War. On January 1, 1863, President Abraham Lincoln delivered the Emancipation Proclamation ( 解放黑人奴隶宣言). His speech declared freedom for enslaved people. The Civil War ended more than two years later，in April 1865. The Union won. But there were many enslaved people who had not been told of this. On June 19, Union soldiers told crowds in Galveston, Texas, that the state' s 250 ,000 enslaved people were free. They were among the last to find out. The day became known as Juneteenth, which refers to June and 19th and is sometimes called Emancipation Day. Over the years, as black people from Galveston moved to different cities, the celebration spread slowly. And in the 1960s, the civil rights movement brought a really wider awareness of Juneteenth because it broke out all over the country.
It's believed that such a holiday helps educate people about what happened in the past. Sheila Jackson Lee represents Texas in the US House of Representatives. Earlier this week, she introduced a bill to Congress, which asks for national recognition of the holiday. Juneteenth has been celebrated in a variety of ways people can choose from. Usually, there are community gatherings, cookouts, and festivals.
1. What did Northam mean by saying the underlined part in Paragraph 1?| A．Not every American state accepted Juneteenth. |
| B．Americans should show respect for each other. |
| C．Black people should unite to get more freedom. |
| D．Slavery still existed after the fourth of July in 1776. |
| A．Washington, D. C. | B．Texas. |
| C．Virginia. | D．New York. |
| A．President Lincoln’s proclamation. | B．Black people’s living in big cities. |
| C．American civil rights movement. | D．Freedom Day' s being recognized. |
| A．To remember the history. | B．To set a paid state holiday. |
| C．To have richer celebrations. | D．To give people more choices. |
【推荐1】Exercise has an undeniable link to the development of better bodies. A recent study conducted by University of Delaware researchers found that speech-language therapy (疗法) improves children’s vocabulary growth. The study, which was published in the journal Journal of Speech-Language and Hearing Research, highlights one of the first studies on the impact of exercise on vocabulary learning in children.
Children ages 6 to 12 were taught new words before doing one of three things: swimming, CrossFit exercises, or coloring a sheet. In follow-up tests of vocabulary words, the children who swam were 13% more accurate.
It makes sense to the lead researcher, Maddy Pruitt, a former college swimmer who now attends CrossFit classes on a regular basis. "Motor movement aids in the encoding (编码) of new words, "she explained, adding that exercise has been shown to increase levels of brain derived neurotrophic factor (脑源性神经营养素), a protein Pruitt refers to as the “Miracle-Gro for the brain”.
So, why did swimming make a difference but CrossFit didn’t? Pruitt attributes it to the amount of energy required by the brain during each exercise. Swimming is an activity that children can do without much thought or instruction. While the CrossFit exercises were new to them, it was more automatic. The children had to learn the moves, which took mental energy.
“We were very excited about this study because it is applicable to clinicians, caregivers, and educators who can put it into practice,” Pruitt said. “It’s not anything out of the ordinary. However, it has the potential to significantly improve the outcomes.”
1. What does the research focus on?| A．The effect of exercise on word learning in children. |
| B．The impact of exercise on body development in children. |
| C．The children’s growth through speech-language therapy. |
| D．The denial link between exercises and body development. |
| A．Adds. | B．Introduces. |
| C．Owes. | D．Contributes. |
| A．Politicians. | B．Engineers. |
| C．Reporters. | D．Teachers. |
| A．Researchers study speeeh-language therapy |
| B．Exercise helps children develop vocabulary |
| C．A new way significantly improves the vocabulary |
| D．Motor movement aids in the invention of new words |
【推荐2】Many of us listen to music while we work, thinking that it will help us to concentrate on the task at hand. And in fact, recent research has found that music can have beneficial effects on creativity. When it comes to other areas of performance, however, the impact of background music is more complicated.
The idea that listening to music when working is beneficial to output probably has its roots in the so-called “Mozart Effect”. Put simply, this is the finding that the spatial reasoning ability is increased immediately after listening to the music of Mozart’s, compared to no sound at all.
How sound affects performance has been the topic of research for over 40 years, and is observed through a phenomenon called the irrelevant sound effect. To study the irrelevant sound effect, participants in the research are asked to complete a simple task which requires them to recall a series of numbers or letters in the exact order in which they saw them. The tricky thing is being able to do this while ignoring any background noise.
Two key characteristics of the irrelevant sound effect are required for its observation. First, the task must require the people to use their rehearsal ability, and second, the sound must contain acoustical variation. Where the sound does not vary much acoustically, the performance of the task is much closer to that observed in quiet conditions.
The irrelevant sound effect itself comes from attempting to process two sources of ordered information at the same time—one from the task and the other from the sound. Unfortunately, only the former is required to successfully perform the recall task, and the effort to ensure that irrelevant order information from the sound is not processed actually hinders this ability.
A similar conflict is also seen when reading in the presence of lyrical music. In this situation, the two sources of words—from the task and the sound—are in conflict. The cost is poorer performance of the task in the presence of music with lyrics.
What this all means is that whether having music playing in the background helps or hinders performance depends on the task and the type of music, and only understanding this relationship will help people maximize their productivity levels.
1. “Mozart Effect” is mentioned to .| A．explain how music can relax people | B．show music can improve performance |
| C．advise people to listen to Mozart’s music | D．stress Mozart’s music gains wide attention |
| A．Interesting. | B．Awkward. | C．Unexpected. | D．Expected. |
| A．support an idea | B．make a contrast | C．introduce a topic | D．describe a fact |
| A．Music shapes your life | B．Music develops your creativity |
| C．Choose quiet music for your work | D．Does music make you concentrate? |
【推荐3】Mastering a foreign language is probably a skill that's in high demand. Whether you're doing international business, social work, or just on holiday abroad, the ability to effectively communicate with anyone in their own language is of great help and significance.
Using AI technology, two famous Japanese inventors have developed a more advanced language translation device—an instant translator called MUAMA Enence. It can easily translate what you are saying into over 40 languages in quite a short time, using only a few touches of fingers.
Learning a new language takes months, or even years of hard work and practice,while MUAMA can offer instant communication in another language. An experienced professional translator is more expensive and must be paid for more than once. But MUAMA requires only a single payment for a wide selection of languages, which cost you much less to use. MUAMA is more convenient and simpler thanks to its lightweight design and small size, and it is also easy to carry around in a pocket or a bag, as well as being there when one needs it. It works well even in noisy and crowded places since it has a perfect sound quality, which is powerful enough to be heard clearly, And text translation function is available.
MUAMA was created primarily for travelers. With a MUAMA translator abroad you can ask for directions, order a meal, or just have a friendly conversation in 40 different languages! Take your next foreign trip to a whole new level you've never experienced before. Language barriers should no longer be a problem.
Moreover, it has begun to gain great popularity even among people in other areas. What has amazed us is that more and more international social workers and rescue workers, as well as volunteers, choose MUAMA to simplify their work. After using the translator, people effectively raised the quality of work.
1. What ability does the author stress in the beginning?| A．Making a plan for a holiday. | B．Starting international business. |
| C．Doing significant social work. | D．Communicating with foreigners. |
| A．It is cheap but inconvenient. | B．It is lightweight but complex. |
| C．It can help to get rid of noise. | D．It can translate speech and text. |
| A．Foreign travelers. | B．Social workers. | C．Exchange students. | D．Volunteers abroad. |
| A．The tools for learning foreign languages. |
| B．The skills to communicate with foreigners. |
| C．The features of a translator and its application. |
| D．The methods of translating languages instantly. |
