In recent news, it has been reported that Hollywood executives have decided to cancel an $800 million investment in a new studio. This decision comes after the emergence of a groundbreaking technology called Sora, which has sent shockwaves throughout the film industry.
Sora, developed by OpenAI, has quickly become a focal point of discussion within Hollywood. Unlike previous AI video generators, Sora has the ability to generate one-minute-long videos based on textual prompts (提示) while maintaining visual quality and consistency. It can switch between shots, adjust compositions and accurately combine video content with relevant background themes, resulting in incredibly realistic and virtual videos.
The introduction of Sora is just the beginning of a shocking shift in the film industry. Its ability to generate high-quality videos based on textual prompts raises questions about the future of traditional movie-making processes. The potential to replace certain job roles and disturb the livelihoods of some individuals is just a small part of the overall impact.
Looking ahead, the innovation of productivity tools and the potential for smaller teams to create Hollywood-level movies at a lower cost may completely transform the way films are produced. This shift could bring about new production methods, viewing experiences, and even business models within the film and entertainment industry.
This breakthrough technology has raised concerns within the film industry, as it has the potential to disturb the traditional movie production process and cause certain job roles’ losses. However, this technology also presents opportunities for innovation and cost-effective production methods. The film industry is on the edge of a transformative era, and only time will tell how Sora and similar technologies will shape its future. It likely won’t be long before audiences get to see film productions made with Sora. It can be stated with certainty that the film industry has entered a new era of rapid development in AI technology.
1. What is paragraph 2 mainly about?| A．The impact of Sora. | B．The concern of Sora. |
| C．The potential of Sora. | D．The advantage of Sora. |
| A．Textual creation. | B．Individual investment. |
| C．Relevant job chances. | D．Video content development. |
| A．Culture and business models. | B．Film production cost and methods. |
| C．Function and viewing experiences. | D．Innovation and background themes. |
| A．Objective. | B．Dismissive. | C．Unclear. | D．Doubtful. |
相似题推荐
Charlie Chaplin as the Little Tramp eats his shoe for Thanksgiving dinner while trapped in a snowstorm in this endearing silent film classic from 1925. Watch this one if you’re in the mood to see a leather shoe prepared and eaten as if it were a delicious turkey. It makes you thankful for what you have!
A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving (1973)
Return to the iconic moment when Lucy pulls the football away from Charlie Brown right as he’s about to kick it. Life is hard, but in this animated film, sweetness wins when the Peanuts group prepares a Thanksgiving feast, complete with jelly beans.
Planes, Trains and Automobiles (1987)
This John Hughes comedy starring Steve Martin and John Candy is already a Thanksgiving classic for many. Neal ends up rerouting the plane because of a snowstorm. As he struggles to find a way home for Thansksgiving, he gets stuck with extremely positive Del.
One True Thing (1998)
Mery1 Streep was nominated (提名) for an Academy Award for her performance in this movie as a wife and mom who struggles with cancer. Rente Zellweger plays the grown daughter who has to come home to help with the holiday. The two try to hold the family together, especially during a tense Thanksgiving meal when guests get all the attention.
1. What could The Gold Rush remind many viewers of?| A．History of football games. | B．Origin of animated films. |
| C．Thankfulness for something you have. | D．Sweet memories of good old days. |
| A．The Gold Rush. | B．Planes, Trains and Automobiles. |
| C．One True Thing. | D．A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving. |
| A．They tell interesting family stories. | B．They describe the holiday activities. |
| C．They are all related to Thanksgiving. | D．They are all based on the authors’ own lives. |
【推荐2】Four of the best films to watch this May
The Bob’s Burgers Movie
After 12 seasons and more than 200 episodes, the much-loved animated sitcom finally makes it to the big screen. In the movie, a huge sinkhole opens in the street in front of a fast-food restaurant, so the brave children investigate. The series’ creator promises a “musical comedy mystery adventure” that retains the programme’s warmth and quickfire humour.
Released internationally on 27 May
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness
The latest blockbuster (大片) has the Sorcerer Supreme risking beyond our own universe and into countless other realities, where he and Scarlet Witch meet various versions of themselves. The film’s director, Sam Raimi, is best known for The Evil Dead, and the Spider-Man trilogy starring Tobey Maguire, so who better to put horror and superheroes into one film? Raimi told Fandango. “It’s unknown what you’ll find in the multiverse. It’s within that unknown that suspense and darkness exists... Plus, Doctor Strange in the comics has always dealt in universes and dimensions that were quite spooky, so we tried to bring some of that into this film.”
Released internationally on 6 May
Top Gun: Maverick
It’s been delayed and delayed and delayed again, but Top Gun: Maverick is flying into cinemas at last, exactly four years after shooting began in May 2018. In the first Top Gun film, which came out back in 1986, Tom Cruise starred as Pete “Maverick” Mitchell, a fighter pilot in the US Navy. What we can expect are lots of supersonic flight sequences, and magazine-worthy shots of Cruise on the runway in his Aviator shades. Altogether now: “I feel the need, the need for speed.”
Released internationally on 27 May
Firestarter
Firestarter, a horror film about psychic-powered children, is adapted from Stephen King’s 1980 novel. It’s the story of Charlene, a girl with “pyrokinesis”: whenever she gets upset, things burst into flames. The previous adaptation came out in 1984, with Drew Barrymore in the title role. But the new film’s director, Keith Thomas, believes that there was room for improvement.
Released internationally on 13 May
1. What kind of person will prefer The Bob’s Burgers Movie?| A．loving adventure and tragedy | B．loving music and humour |
| C．loving serial war film | D．loving science fiction |
| A．The Bob’s Burgers Movie | B．Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness |
| C．Top Gun: Maverick | D．Firestarter |
| A．The characters all have super power. | B．They are released in the same month. |
| C．They are designed for children. | D．They all include magic scenes. |
【推荐3】Disney’s live-action remake of Mulan tells the story of a young Chinese woman, Hua Mulan (Yifei Liu), who disguises herself as a man and takes her father’s place in the army. The new movie is a more realistic take than the previous 1998 animated film-causing it to receive the first PG-13 rating given to a Disney live-action reboot. The movie won’t be released in theaters until March 27, but critics got a first look at the film Monday night at the Hollywood premiere and took to social media to post their initial reactions.
The responses from journalists are relatively positive so far. Slash Film’s Peter Scretta tweeted on Monday, “It’s so majestic, the action is thrilling, it aims for a level of sophistication (复杂) and beauty you don’t expect.” “Mulan is exciting, vibrant, emotional, and different from the animated version,” Fandango’s Erk Davis tweeted. “It’s definitely its own thing, which I dug-a more mature Disney film, featuring stunning production design and fight choreography (战斗编排). Director Niki Caro and star Liu Yifei are the big stand-outs.” Mashable’s Alison Foreman wrote, “Disney’s Mulan remake leaves a lot behind, but offers much more in its absence. Plenty of 1998 throwbacks pepper a story full of incredible action, humor, and heart.”
Not all the reviews were positive. Screen Rant’s Mansoor Mithaiwala tweeted, “There’s a great film yearning to break out in Mulan, but it’s surprisingly stuck by adapting the animation. It has its moments, but the poor villains and inconsistent action quality results in an ordinary movie.”
1. What can we know about the new movie Mulan according to the text?| A．It tells the story of a woman soldier who fought heroically in the war. |
| B．It will be on show in theaters before March. |
| C．It is the second time that Hua Mulan’s story have been made into a movie. |
| D．The comments on the movie are definitely positive. |
| A．Peter Sciretta | B．Mansoor Mithaiwala |
| C．Erk Davis | D．Alison Foreman |
| A．Critical. | B．Negative. |
| C．Indifferent. | D．Positive. |
| A．To criticize the new movie Mulan. |
| B．To show some reviews about the new movie Mulan. |
| C．To attract more people to watch the movie. |
| D．To defend for the new movie Mulan. |
【推荐1】An innovative creation will help transform treating diseases. Scientists at Tufts University and Harvard University’s Wyss Institute developed tiny biological robots “Anthrobots” from human cells. These Anthrobots possess the astonishing ability to move across surfaces and have exhibited a remarkable healing (治愈) effect by stimulating neuron (神经元) growth in damaged lab dish regions. This discovery serves as a crucial stepping stone toward the researchers’ vision of employing biological robots as innovative tools for healing, and disease treatment.
This breakthrough originates from earlier research conducted by Michael Levin, Professor of Biology at Tufts University School of Arts & Sciences, and Josh Bongard at the University of Vermont. They once created biological robots called Xenobots from frog cells, capable of various functions including self-copying, for a limited number of cycles. However, it was unclear if biological robots could be formed using cells from other species.
In their latest study, Levin and Tufts PhD student Gizem Gumuskaya discovered that Anthrobots can indeed be crafted from adult human cells, with capabilities outperforming those observed in Xenobots.
Anthrobots showed the ability to move across a surface covered in human neurons grown in a lab dish, facilitating new growth to fill gaps caused by cell layer damage.
“It is extremely interesting and completely unexpected that normal patients’ cells, without changing their DNA, can move on their own and encourage neuron growth across a region of damage. We’re now looking at how the healing mechanism works, and asking what else these constructs can do,” says Levin.
One of the main advantages of using human cells lies in constructing biological robots from a patient’s cells to perform healing tasks without leading to immune (免疫的) responses. These Anthrobots naturally break down after a few weeks and can be easily absorbed into the body once their function is complete.
Anthrobots can only survive under specific laboratory conditions, posing no risk of exposure or unintended spread outside the controlled environment. They do not reproduce, have no genetic changes, and therefore carry no risk of developing beyond safety measures.
1. What do Anthrobots do in healing patients?| A．Replace human cells. | B．Facilitate neuron growth. |
| C．Create new human cells. | D．Move across tissue surfaces. |
| A．Made. | B．Divided. | C．Copied. | D．Designed. |
| A．They can be easily created from patients’ cells. | B．They can be used in many controlled environments. |
| C．They can avoid causing immune responses. | D．They can have genetic changes when necessary. |
| A．Advanced Science. | B．Sportsnet Magazine. | C．Art in America. | D．National Geographic. |
【推荐2】Are Superheroes Good Role Models?
Superheroes are everywhere. But what effect, if any, do superheroes have on our behavior? Some experts believe superheroes may have a particularly important influence on children.
Children have very limited control over many areas of their lives. Therefore, pretending to be a superhero allows a child to act out and process any anxiety that they have, and thereby overcome or reduce hidden fears, says Dr. Amy Bailey, a clinical psychologist.
Bailey adds, "The risk to superhero play is that sometimes children’s behavior can become out of control and turn into chaotic play as a child becomes completely lost in these roles." She advises parents to keep children away from more aggressive（暴力的）shows and to have children focus on "other positive characteristics of their favorite hero, such as their clever thinking and care of others". Concern over the possible effect of aggressive behavior has led to some schools banning（禁止）superhero play from the classroom.
Other psychologists（心理学家）share this concern. Some point to the change of the superhero over time, and are dissatisfied with modern images. "There is a big difference in the movie superhero of today and the comic book superhero of yesterday" says Sharon Lamb. She compares the selfish, playboy millionaire Tony Stark（Iron Man）to a superhero of the past, such as Superman. Superman she points out, had a real job as a newspaper reporter and was devoted to fighting injustice（不公平）. More recent characters such as Iron Man "take advantage of women, show off wealth, and show their manhood with high-powered guns".
Jeff Greenberg, a social psychology professor, has his own idea of modern superheroes. According to him, superheroes give children confidence and can deliver a positive moral message. Many superheroes-such as Spider-Man or Superman-use their powers to protect the weak. And more modern superheroes such as Daredevil, who is blind, and Charles Xavier（Professor）, who is disabled, bring diversity（多样性） and present positive images of disability.
1. What can we learn from the passage?| A．Superheroes can have a negative effect on children. |
| B．Superheroes always encourage children to be confident. |
| C．The idea of the superhero remains the same over time. |
| D．Children should be kept away from superhero movies. |
| A．The ban on superhero play in classroom. |
| B．The possible effect of aggressive behavior. |
| C．The various characteristics of superheroes. |
| D．The belief of children in superhuman strength. |
| A．Paragraph 1 to Paragraph 2. |
| B．Paragraph 1 to Paragraph 3. |
| C．Paragraph 3 to Paragraph 5. |
| D．Paragraph 1 to Paragraph2 & Paragraph 5. |
| A．Science Research. | B．Breaking News. |
| C．World Screen. | D．Environment. |
【推荐3】Every year, over 7.72 trillion kilograms of plastic is washed into the oceans. There are five huge areas in the world’s oceans that are a “soup” of floating rubbish. One of these areas, the Great Pacific Garbage Patch (GPGP), is three times as large as France.
Over a year ago, a group called Ocean Cleanup began using a huge floating screen to try to clean up plastic pollution in the ocean. After several failures, the group is now collecting plastic in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. But the plastic is spreading out over a large area, so it's impossible to collect it piece by piece. So, the Ocean Cleanup had a plan. They got a long floating U-shaped tube with a screen hanging below it. As the tube and screen are pushed by the water and the winds, the U is meant to collect plastic rubbish, making it easy for a ship to collect and remove the plastic. The system uses the power of the wind and ocean, so it doesn’t need fuel.
The group began testing the first version, called “System 001”, last September. But it soon became clear that the screen was just moving with the plastic, not collecting it. Sometimes plastic would wash over the top of the tube. Even worse, System 001 got broken by surging seas and had to be towed to Hawaii for repairs.
But Mr. Slat, who got the idea for the Ocean Cleanup system, sees the project as an experiment, which means a failure is a chance to learn. The team collected and studied lots of information about what worked well and what didn’t. Then they changed the design. In June, an improved version, called “System001/B” was towed back to the GPGP.
The new version has a parachute (降落伞) attached to it. This makes the system move slightly slower than the plastic, allowing the plastic to be collected inside, as planned. But this success is still just the beginning of the work of the Ocean Cleanup. They want a better and larger system.
1. What does the author want to show in Paragraph 1?| A．Humans should try to prevent plastic waste. |
| B．The GPGP is facing different kinds of pollution. |
| C．Plastic pollution in the oceans has become a serious problem. |
| D．A series of problems has been caused by plastic pollution. |
| A．To make use of the water and the winds. |
| B．To create a ship to collect waste in the oceans. |
| C．To collect the floating plastic waste piece by piece. |
| D．To gather up the floating plastic waste in the oceans. |
| A．It was a failure. | B．It was a great success. |
| C．It worked with a parachute. | D．It needed to be fueled regularly. |
| A．vast | B．rough | C．calm | D．peaceful |
【推荐1】From AI-made jokes to Harry Potter fashion videos, AI can be used to make funny stuff. But can it be as funny as a human? And if it can, does it present a danger to comedy writers in the future? That’s something performers have been looking at in this year’s Edinburgh Festival Fringe, running from Aug 4 to 28.
Anyone can put on a show at the Fringe, and this year even robots were getting in on the act. One of Fringe’s big shows even used a small robot to come up with jokes from audience suggestions, which were then performed by humans. The results could be very funny, but sometimes they weren’t funny at all. That was part of the point, explained Piotr Mirowski, the show’s co-maker.
“We do not use humans to ‘show off’ AI; instead, we use AI ‘to show’ its limitations, to showcase human creativity on the stage,” said Mirowski, according to the Guardian.
But one performer at the Fringe said he’s using AI to make jokes for him because he’s out of ideas. Comedian Peter Bazely’s show has him playing a supporting role to “an entirely computer-generated comedian” called AI Jesus. The Fringe review website, Chortle, talked about today’s AI concerns: “In a world where artists are worried that AI could end up doing their jobs for them, Bazely is said to be praying this one will do exactly that.”
The reasons for companies wanting to use AI are certainly understandable, but the dangers they present to many people’s jobs are becoming more and more real, and that’s not very funny. From concerns in schools and colleges about students using ChatGPT for their work, to writers and actors worrying that AI could be used to replace them, fears about the dangers of AI are a hot topic in the world.
Back in March of this year, a letter calling for a six-month stop on advanced AI development was signed by over 1,000 people working with AI technologies including Elon Musk and other well-known tech leaders, reported The New York Times. Then, in May, leaders in the AI industry signed a document from the Center for AI Safety warning that AI could present an extinction-level danger and “should be a global priority alongside... pandemics and nuclear war.”
1. In what way is the Fringe unique this year?| A．Some jokes were created by robots. | B．It presented dangers to comedy writers . |
| C．Harry Potter fashion videos were shown. | D．The AI-made jokes were very funny. |
| A．AI Jesus is an expert in jokes. |
| B．AI was used to show its creativity. |
| C．Bazely was positive about using AI. |
| D．Chortle was concerned about the use of AI. |
| A．Because many people will use AI to show off. |
| B．Because some people will probably be out of work. |
| C．Because well-known tech leaders will stop developing AI. |
| D．Because AI can present pandemics and nuclear war. |
| A．Positive. | B．Negative. | C．Unclear. | D．Objective. |
【推荐2】With the explosion of chatbots like ChatGPT driving the tech boom, many people have considered the fear in mind: will AI replace human beings? Discussion in the media would have us believe that such fear is unnecessary. However, the runaway success of a Chinese AI-powered digital portrait generator (生成器) has ignited such fears again, especially among social media users.
Users of the mobile app need to pay 9.9 yuan ($1.4) and upload at least 20 recent portraits each to get a digital clone, which can be used to create different types of portraits fit for ID purposes, formal occasions or even everyday lifestyle.
According to an online survey from lifestyle platform Xiaohongshu, 72% of the users preferred the photo created by the generator to those created by a renowned professional portrait photography chain in China. Facial expressions, lighting, overall appearance ... the whole range of technical aspects seemed superior. Take me for example, most importantly, I didn’t need to spend more time and money in dressing up and striking unnatural poses in front of a group of unfamiliar people. I could get various photos at the price of, say, a cup of Starbucks coffee, without having to step out of my home.
So, in the next step, will photographers, image specialists and such people lose their jobs? Unlikely.
Tech without the human touch has its own shortcomings. I soon discovered that many of my friends also tried out the app, and their portraits had the same or similar poses and costumes etc.— a kind of one-size-fits-all setting. Which is to say that homogenization (均质化) makes offline photo studies a necessity still. It’s too early to say that AI portrait apps will replace offline photo studios.
Some people feel AIGC (生成式人工智能) may be just a passing tech trend. A real-world assessment took place between AI doctors and human doctors in June. To everyone’s surprise, human doctors scored an average of 7.5 out of 10, while AI doctors scored 7.2. AI doctors’ recommendations, however, were found to be 96 percent as good as those of top-level physicians.
Ma Ting, a professor of neuroinformatics said when doctors make decisions based on patients’ diagnoses, they consider multidimensional data, which are difficult for AI to access and assess. “To fully allow AI to move from its general understanding to advanced intelligence, we still need more research, more data and more intelligent algorithms.” Ma said.
1. What does the underlined word “ignited” mean in the article?| A．Reduced. | B．Caused. | C．Increased. | D．Reminded. |
| A．Most users prefer AI-generated portraits for formal occasions. |
| B．Most users prefer well-known portraits photography chains. |
| C．Most users believe that AI-generated portraits are unique and personalized. |
| D．Most users value convenience and cost-effectiveness by the portrait generator. |
| A．AI portrait apps offer a variety of poses and costumes. |
| B．AI-generated portraits lack uniqueness of an individual. |
| C．offline photo studios offered the similar poses and costumes. |
| D．Offline photo studios have a kind of one-size-fits-all setting. |
| A．AI can consider multidimensional date when diagnosing patients. |
| B．Doctors make decisions based merely on AI assistance. |
| C．AI has moved from its general understanding to advanced intelligence. |
| D．Further improvement to AI’s capabilities is needed at present. |
【推荐3】Billions of dollars have been spent researching, developing, and using artificial intelligence systems effectively in recent years. A few examples of artificial intelligences replacing humans are saving or withdrawing money in or from banks; face recognition at supermarkets or airports; ridesharing (拼车) apps helping people to find taxis and there are still so many more! Recently, it shocks the world that AI chatbot ChatGPT (智能聊天机器人) can write essays, give feedback on computer code, and even compose beautiful poems and so on. However, AI still fails to catch up with humans in most areas. Many experts agree that AI can mostly assist rather than replace humans. Giving up all things to depend on AI would not only deepen tech dependence but also affect the essential aspects of the human experience; critical thinking and reflection. We must continue to teach children how to think.
However, AI is forcing us to reimaging education. About 40% of the world’s population is under 24. If schools fail to prepare this generation of youth for the age of thinking machines, the following social and economic consequences may be dire.
AI has the potential to completely change the education. For instance, AI-powered computers can significantly benefit learners with visual and hearing disabilities by vision and voice-to-text apps. AI can also reduce teachers’ workloads, especially in environments where teachers are not sufficient. On the other hand, the technology also has a high potential for harm. AI could aid students to cheat easily in exams. Moreover, AI chatbots often offer results that are incorrect.
Human educators must remain central to teaching and learning. AI requires the government or educational authorities to review the school curriculums and teacher professional development programs. As machines become better at answering questions, educators should guide students to ask better questions, Beyond writing good prompts for conversational AI, today’s schools should inspire students to be curious because this is essential to conduct primary research in the future. Additionally, as AI indicates rapid transformation and change in future labor markets, adaptability should become central to curriculums. Educators should aim to plant the seeds.
1. What does the author use the examples of artificial intelligence to show?| A．AI can better serve humans than before. | B．AI will replace teachers sooner or later. |
| C．AI starts teaching humans how to reflect. | D．AI is expected to do anything for humans. |
| A．Acceptable. | B．Satisfying. | C．Frightening. | D．Unavoidable. |
| A．Unclear. | B．Negative. | C．Indifferent. | D．Objective. |
| A．The teachers should rely on AI to teach. |
| B．A school education revolution is on the way. |
| C．The school education is difficult to get changed. |
| D．The teachers should instruct students to ask questions. |
