One advantage of the Internet is shopping conveniently online for clothes; one disadvantage of the Internet is also shopping conveniently online for clothes.
“Nothing fits,” said Lam Yuk Wong, a senior in electrical and computer engineering at Rice University. “Everyone says this. They order clothes and they don’t fit. People get very unhappy.”
Wong and her design partner, Xuaner "Cecilia" Zhang, are Team White Mirror, creators of what they call a "virtual (虚拟)fitting room". Their goal is simple and consumer-friendly: to let online clothing shoppers have a perfect fit and a perfect look when shopping every time. Both women are from China, Wong from Hong Kong and Zhang from Beijing. They both order most of their clothing online. They got the idea from their own experience as consumers and from listening to the complaints of friends and relatives. They say, ‘The color is wrong’ or ‘I got the right size but it still does not fit.’ We want to make it like you’re in the store trying on the clothes,” Zhang said.
Using a Kinect developed by Microsoft for use with its Xbox 360 video game player, Zhang scans Wong and turns her image into, in effect, a virtual model, keeping Wong's dimensions (尺寸), and even her skin and hair color
“We put the clothes on the shopper’s 3-D body models and show how they look when they are dressed,” Wong said. So far, Wong and Zhang have adapted the software to show dresses and shirts, and they are now working on shorts.
Asked if she thought men as well as women might be interested in using their virtual fitting room, Wong said, “I think their wives will care about this, so it will also be important to men.”
1. Why is shopping conveniently online for clothes a disadvantage?| A．Students may easily get addicted to it. |
| B．Clothes bought online may not fit |
| C．It attracts more online clothing shoppers. |
| D．It causes shoppers to waste too much money |
| A．scanning - trying on clothes - getting images |
| B．trying on clothes - getting models - scanning |
| C．scanning - getting models -trying on clothes |
| D．trying on clothes - getting images - scanning |
| A．It is perfectly developed | B．It will have its market share |
| C．It is limited to women shoppers. | D．It is like a kind of video game player |
相似题推荐
【推荐1】Delivery Robots May Soon Be Knocking at Your Door
With self-driving vehicle technology rapidly advancing, many companies are turning to autonomous robots for the final leg—the so-called last mile—of the delivery process, from the store or local distribution center to the customer. The latest to join the trend is Amazon. Following a successful eight-month test run in Snohomish County, Washington, the company’s Scout robots have been making the rounds of Irvine, California, since August 6, 2019.
The six-wheeled Scout is about the size of a large cooler with the ability to carry small or medium-sized packages. The battery-powered vehicle, which moves at a regular walking pace, has been programmed to avoid pedestrians, animals, and unexpected obstacles（障碍）, such as garbage cans. Its powerful sensors（传感器）can also detect the movement of a car backing out of a driveway.
While Amazon is focusing on home deliveries, San Francisco-based Starship Technologies has its eyes set on universities. On August 20, 2019, the company announced plans to use thousands of robots to deliver food and other things to students at college campuses across the country. Unlike Scout, Starship’s robots are seasoned workers. They have been tested in over 100 cities in 20 different countries and successfully completed over 100, 000 deliveries.
Meanwhile, food and grocery delivery company Postmates’ robots are currently making their rounds along the busy San Francisco streets. Also in testing, the robots can carry up to 50 pounds and travel 30 miles on a single battery charge.
Though the eco-friendly robots will help free our streets of bicycles and large delivery trucks that typically send packages, they have some limitations. They are unable to climb stairs or open gates, which means that they can only reach consumers who live on the ground level. Additionally, the robots are unable to leave packages at the front door if the customers are not home. Whether these problems get solved remains to be seen. For now, it appears that humans will still be needed to meet the ever-growing demand for home and office deliveries.
1. What does the underlined part in para l mean?| A．much more help | B．very close distance |
| C．substitute for human | D．the last section |
| A．Powerful robots sensors are gaining popularity in delivery. |
| B．The Postmates’ robots focus on students' food and grocery delivery. |
| C．The Scout can avoid obstacles because it moves at a regular pace. |
| D．Delivery robots have turned up in universities to serve students. |
| A．Objective | B．Optimistic |
| C．Pessimistic | D．Cautious |
| A．a biology textbook | B．a health magazine |
| C．a newspaper | D．a travel brochure |
【推荐2】Things Polite People Don't Do While Shopping
We all want to be polite. But sometimes we may have some bad manners in the store. Where do you start? Here are some things you shouldn’t do while shopping.
●Text and shop. Everyone is trying to accomplish the same thing—surviving holiday shopping in one piece and in peace. So focus on the shopping plan, not sending texts.
●Be angry with staff. Don't take any built up anger or stress out on staff during your shopping trip.
●Cut the line.
●
| A．Argue with other shoppers. |
| B．Run the risk of losing money. |
| C．Say thank you to the shoppers who help you. |
| D．Polite shoppers don't text and shop at the same time, |
| E．It's attractive to steal into an open place ahead of the line, but it 's rude. |
| F．Kindness and thankfulness are keys to getting through the hard situation. |
| G．They try to ensure each shopper has a pleasant holiday shopping experience. |
【推荐3】Buying secondhand clothing has many benefits. Many people who are into buying secondhand clothing love the idea that you never know what you'll find at secondhand clothing stores. Sometimes you might not find anything in your size that you like.
Buying secondhand clothing can be especially beneficial for families on a budget.
High-end clothing for both adults and children is sometimes donated to secondhand stores. You can check out stores near high-grade neighborhoods for new donations regularly and you may even find designer pieces for next to nothing.
If you like buying secondhand clothes, you should also consider donating clothing you're no longer using.
| A．This helps keep it becoming rubbish. |
| B．Different shoppers shop for different things. |
| C．There are lots of places to buy secondhand clothing. |
| D．So do buy clothing secondhand which is in excellent condition. |
| E．At other times you might find many items totally perfect for you. |
| F．Kids grow fast and sometimes grow out of their clothing before it's worn out. |
| G．Some stores sell designer clothing for higher prices than other clothing, however. |
【推荐1】I was really nervous about English class this year because I was an eleventh grader taking a twelfth grade class. I knew that I wouldn't know anyone in the class, and that scared me a little. But since I didn't know anyone, I had the chance to do something I love almost as much as socializing—people watching.
One of the most interesting girls in the class sat directly behind me. She was always laughing and talking, and she just seemed so happy. She was friendly, too—she was one of the very few people in the class who made any attempt to acknowledge me.
At the end of the year, we were assigned a big project. It was a very open-ended project, where the instructions were basically to read something, then read or watch something else that related to it, and then come up with a class presentation based on what you learned.
The presentations were spread out over the last month of school. The girl behind me presented on one of the very last days. She got up in front of the class, and told how she had read about eating disorders, because she herself had struggled with one. Since it would have been too difficult for her to talk to us about it directly, she and a friend (who had also suffered from an eating disorder) had made a movie, where they interviewed each other about their eating disorders, how they had felt while they were struggling with them, and how they had overcome them. By the end of the presentation, almost everyone was in tears.
The most shocking thing about the whole presentation was how surprising it was. I never expected that she would have had a problem like that. She always seemed so happy and confident; it was hard to picture her counting calories because she thought she wasn’t good enough.
You also never know what kind of impact you have had on people's lives. The courage of the girl behind me to talk about something so personal, and her strength to ask for help and overcome her problems have inspired me.
1. What can we learn from the first paragraph?| A．The writer was a twelfth-grader. |
| B．The writer liked observing people. |
| C．The English class was too challenging. |
| D．The writer had a few friends in the class. |
| A．She sat directly behind the writer. |
| B．She attempted to disturb the writer. |
| C．She was always laughing and talking. |
| D．She said hello to the writer in some way. |
| A．The writer's presentation. | B．The girl's presentation. |
| C．Eating disorders. | D．A moving movie. |
| A．The girl wasn’t good enough. |
| B．The girl was happy and confident. |
| C．You can never really know a person. |
| D．It takes long to really know a person. |
| A．The Girl behind Me | B．An Open-ended Project |
| C．My English Class | D．Strength to Ask for Help |
【推荐2】As Europe entered the 17th century, when traditional attitudes still held that a woman’s proper role was as a daughter, wife, and mother, more females were attracted to the Scientific Revolution, just like they had been drawn to humanism over the previous centuries.
One of the most wellknown female scientists of the 17th century, Margaret Cavendish came from a noble family in England.Cavendish was an active participant (参与者) in the important scientific debates of her time. Despite her achievements, however, she was not included in the Royal Society. She wrote a number of works on scientific matters. In these works, she attacked what she considered the faults of the conventional approaches to scientific knowledge and was especially doubtful about the growing belief that humans were the masters of nature: “We have no power at all over natural causes and effects...for man is but a small part. His powers are but particular actions of Nature, and he cannot have a supreme and absolute power.”
Another famous female scientist was Maria Winkelmann who lived in Germany and was educated by her father and received advanced training from a local selftaught astronomer (天文学家).When she married Gottfried Kirch, Germany’s foremost astronomer, she became his assistant.She made some original contributions, including an undiscovered comet, as her husband related: “Early in the morning (about 2：00 a．m.) the sky was clear and starry. Some nights before, I had observed a variable star, and my wife (as I slept) wanted to find and see it for herself. In doing so, she found a comet in the sky, at which time she woke me, and I found that it was indeed a comet. I had not seen it the night before.” In 1710, she applied for a position as an assistant astronomer. As a woman, with no university degree, she was denied the post by the Academy of Sciences in Berlin.
Cavendish’s and Winkelmann’s difficulties with the scientific societies of their times reflect the barriers women faced in the field of early modern science.The work of these female scientists is still viewed as being against the domestic duties women are expected to perform.
1. Which of the following would Cavendish probably agree with?| A．Nature was the master of humans. |
| B．Conventional methods always worked. |
| C．Humans’ knowledge had absolute power. |
| D．Science changed natural causes and effects. |
| A．Walking under the starry sky. |
| B．Studying a known comet. |
| C．Working with her husband. |
| D．Watching a star. |
| A．Both received formal education. |
| B．Both came from a family of scientists. |
| C．Both were rejected by scientific societies. |
| D．Both worked for male scientists as an assistant. |
| A．Women’s Study of Humanism in the 17th Century |
| B．Female Scientists’ Difficulties with Early Modern Science |
| C．The Role of Women in the Origins of Modern Education |
| D．The Cooperation Between Male and Female Scientists |
【推荐3】Like a lot of science fiction fans, I read William Gibson’s novel Neuromancer not long after it came out in 1984 and, for decades, I had been wondering how he was able to imagine the future when the technologies he wrote about had barely been invented, until I eventually had an opportunity to interview him in the fall of 2020.
During the interview, I asked how he could see the future of the Internet in 1984, when no one other than a few geeks (极客) had heard of it and whether he had been to scientific talks.
“I have never read or listened to the tech leaders’ talks about new technologies,” he replied. “I would rather sit in a room full of either artists or criminals. Their talks would be more helpful with my writing.”
As a journalist who has reported on Silicon Valley (硅谷) for 15 years, I found his comment really convincing. I’ve sat through press conferences and interviews with many famous tech leaders—Mark Zuckerberg, Steve Jobs, Marissa Mayer and many others. I never heard Zuckerberg predict fake (假的) news or Steve Jobs worry about iPhone addiction.
“These men are driven by an ideal of how much their technology will change people’s lives or by promises of a lot of money, or both. But one thing is clear: They usually avoid talking about what might happen when their inventions hit the real world,” Gibson explained. “On the other hand, artists are more about holding a mirror up to society and showing us how we behave with the new tools we are given, while criminals are in effect businessmen without brakes, who will look at whatever the latest technology is and think what they can do with it. Neither of them is bound by social conventions at all.”
Since the interview, I have decided to take a page out of William Gibson’s playbook and will go and find some artists or criminals and see what they are going to do with any new technology as soon as it appears in the news.
1. What is Neuromancer?| A．A good handbook for geeks. | B．An investigating report. |
| C．An amazing science fiction. | D．A collection of interviews. |
| A．They are usually narrow-minded. |
| B．They just want to make more money. |
| C．They are always blinded by their success. |
| D．They tend to be too optimistic about their inventions. |
| A．Rules. | B．Abilities. | C．Hopes. | D．Profits. |
| A．Don’t trust famous tech leaders at all. |
| B．Artists and criminals can be more reliable. |
| C．Take a balanced view toward new technologies. |
| D．We should let others try the latest technologies first. |
【推荐1】It is a good time to travel in summer for many Americans. They can take their children who don’t need to go to school. And most important of all, people all need a rest after working hard for half a year. When Americans take a rest, they often go to their favorite places.
Most Americans want to make their vacations very special. So families would like to plan their trips with the kids ahead of time. There are special programs for children in more and more “family friendly” vacation resorts so that children can also have a great time there.
Not only Americans like traveling. People from all over the world choose to relax themselves in different places. For example, history lovers search for places of interest and museums where they could see some wonders. Some parents take their children to see many flowers and animals very closely, without disturbing(破坏) the sensitive(敏感的) balance of nature. Some people like to go boating, fishing or skiing. Still others even travel around the world.
Nowadays, it is very easy and fast for people to travel by plane, train, car or bus. Though traveling makes people very busy, we can get knowledge and relax ourselves. So try our best to spare some time to travel and enjoy ourselves.
1. For many Americans, ______ is a good time to travel.| A．spring | B．summer |
| C．autumn | D．winter |
| A．libraries | B．schools |
| C．museums | D．cinemas |
| A．convenient traffic | B．enough money |
| C．busy life | D．enough knowledge |
【推荐2】THE BEST BOOKS OF 2020
In our efforts to increase and spread knowledge, we highly recommend these titles issued this year.
You Never Forget Your First: A Biography of George Washington
Treating the first president’s masculinity (刚毅) as a ‘‘previous conclusion”, historian Alexis Coe explores lesser-known aspects of Washington’s life, from his interest in animal husbandry (畜牧业) to his role as a father figure.
All We Can Save: Truth, Courage, and Solutions for the Climate Crisis
Johnson, a marine biologist and the founder of Ocean Collective, and Wilkinson, the editor in chief of Project Drawdown edited appealing pieces on climate change crafted by 60 women. The collection, All We Can Save, showcases a diverse range of experts, all working to tackle climate issues in powerful ways.
Feasting Wild: In Search of the Last Untamed Food
Gina Rae La Cerva travels the globe in search of some of the planet’s last truly wild foods. Her journey takes her to a place in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where she investigates the “bush meat" trade that is common in the region’s rainforest and results in the illegal hunting of wild animals.
The Man Who Ate Too Much: The Life of James Beard
James Beard Award-winning author, John Birdsall writes this book to show a more complete picture of Beard’s life, examining the cook’s use of coded language in early cookbooks. The language itself is as rich as Beard’s fried chicken.
1. What can we learn from You Never Forget Your First?| A．Washington’s wide interests. |
| B．Washington’s masculinity as a father. |
| C．Some popular aspects of Washington’s life. |
| D．Some unfamiliar aspects of Washington’s life. |
| A．Feasting Wild. | B．All We Can Save. |
| C．You Never Forget Your First. | D．The Man Who Ate Too Much. |
| A．Foods are both mentioned. | B．Both are about traveling. |
| C．Their languages are vivid. | D．Their authors are famous. |
【推荐3】A decade ago, colored lights danced around the living room on New Year’s Eve and happy music was played. Upstairs, the children were asleep. But I wasn’t feeling happy. In mid-December, my husband and I had been informed that he had cancer and that he was going to die. He had less than a year left, the doctors said.
In the years since that painful season, I have come to look back upon New Year’s Eve as an ending and a beginning. New Year’s Eve brings a halt to the endless commitments that fill our daily lives and a chance to reflect.
New Year’s Eve is full of possibility and anticipation. What will be the surprising experiences and delightful successes in the coming year? But also, what disappointments are waiting for us in the next twelve months?
In many ways, New Year’s Eve and the days that surround it are a line between past and future. That line is made up of a series of moments of transition(过渡) that take us out of the old and into the new. Transition can be challenging for many of us. It’s about letting go of the familiar and diving headlong (迅猛地) into the unfamiliar.
Just as, back then, I had to face letting go of the life I had led with my beloved husband and stepping into a new world as a widowed mom. I find that each year I have to step out of the version of me that suited the year that is ending and ease into the version of me who will rise to the goals I am holding for myself for the year ahead.
Last year at this time, I sat in a chair in southern France and drank in the stillness(沉静) and beauty of the countryside around me. The three children and I had brought into this world talked and laughed around the table beside me as we enjoyed a lunch of bread and cheese.
I was filled with a sense of joy and I had a glowing(热情洋溢的) heart that was full of hope. It was another ending and another beginning. May we all transition into the best of what lies ahead. May we all find happiness this holiday season.
1. What does the underlined word “halt” in Paragraph 2 mean most probably?| A．Stop. | B．Beginning. | C．Meaning. | D．Tradition. |
| A．The pressure she faced in her work. | B．The health problem her husband faced. |
| C．The information received from her family. | D．The relationship between her and her husband. |
| A．Set challenging goals for the next year. | B．Break with daily routines and form a new habit. |
| C．Spend more time with family members. | D．Think about the past and get ready for the future. |
| A．To memorialize her husband. | B．To show how she got through a hard time. |
| C．To share her view of New Year’s Eve. | D．To remind us that uncertainty is part of life. |
【推荐1】A woman whose sports car was stolen with her dog in it put up notices all over the area that made it clear getting back her pet was more important than her car.
“Whoever did this can keep my car. Please let Benjerman come home,” the notice said.
It is not known whether the thief showed any pity, but almost 30 hours after the 1 p.m. theft Friday, Kimberly Atkins of Dover and Benjerman, a 12-year-old black retriever(猎犬), were reunited after police located them in Barrington.
“He’s hungry, he’s dirty, but he’s very happy to be home,” Atkins said.
The car was found at about 5 p.m. Saturday off Route 125 in a swampy area frequented by off-the-road cars and dirt bikes. However, the police couldn’t control Benjerman, and they had to call Atkins to come and get him.
Atkins said the thief cared for Benjerman a little by providing him with some dry cat food. She believed Benjerman ended up drinking some muddy water in the area.
She said they have been together for nearly 11 years after she took him hack from a society shelter in Dallas, Texas.
Before Benjerman was found, Atkins and several friends put up notices all over the city and in Somersworth. They also contacted animal shelters throughout southern New Hampshire and Massachusetts.
The notice stated there was a reward, and also that the dog needed medication. Any caller could remain anonymous(匿名的).
Atkins had parked the car outside a hardware store with the keys inside and gone in to rent a carpet cleaner.
“It was 10 minutes and I came out and my car was gone along with Benjerman in broad daylight,” Atkins said.
The car thief threw Atkins’ wallet and other personal items out of the car before escaping from the scene.
1. What could be the best title for the passage?| A．A car with a dog was stolen |
| B．Lucky dog was returned to his owner |
| C．Stealing cars: a most important social problem |
| D．Woman wants dog back more than stolen car |
a. Notices were put up saying there was a reward.
b. Atkins saw Benjerman again.
c. Police found Atkins’ car.
d. Atkins took Benjerman back from a society shelter.
e. Atkins hired a carpet cleaner in a hardware store.
| A．d, e, a, b, c | B．e, a, c, d, b |
| C．e, a, d, b, c | D．d, e, a, c, b |
| A．the dog was treated extremely badly by the thief |
| B．car stolen accidents happen frequently nowadays |
| C．the dog was found because of the reward |
| D．the thief stole the car easily |
【推荐2】Kids,whose imaginations have no limit,frequently come up with inventive ideas.However,few see them come to life mainly because adults don't believe in their practicality.That is about to change thanks to Little Inventors,an innovative(创新的）project that connects inventors to producers and artists who can help bring even the most impossible invention ideas to life.
The project is the brainchild of Dominic Wilcox,a British artist and inventor,who is world-famous for his fun creations like GPS shoes that can find their way home.Wilcox,who was encouraged to create things at a very young age by his teacher,believes that"we are all born creators"and thinks children's ideas are just as valuable as those of adults'.
The chain of events leading to the founding of Little Inventors dates back to a series of workshops held by Wilcox around his hometown of Sunderland,England in 2015.The 19 events, organized to encourage children aged 5-12 to describe their ideas,were a huge success,attracting over 300 kids and resulting in more than 450 fun inventions.The designs were presented to a group of twenty-three local artists and producers who selected one idea and then worked alongside its young creator to bring it to life.
The success of the workshops has led to the creation of Little Inventors.The website allows inventors from all over the world to submit their invention ideas.Though not all submissions will be built,inventors will receive valuable feedback on their designs and also suggestions on ways to
improve them.So,upload an idea or two to little inventors.org and see if you can make your crazy,or world-changing invention a reality.
1. What is"Little Inventors"?
| A．It's a company. | B．It's an organization. |
| C．It's a task. | D．It's a school. |
| A．To help bring children's imaginative ideas to life. |
| B．To help avoid children's failure. |
| C．To call on adults to help children invent things. |
| D．To persuade adults into inventing with children. |
| A．He took great interest in his teacher's inventions like GPS shoes. |
| B．He started thinking creatively when he was very young. |
| C．He was well-known to the world as a British artist. |
| D．He was encouraged to make inventions by his parents. |
a. collecting kids' ideas
b.artists and producers helping bringing the ideas to life
c.organizing events
d.encouraging kids to describe their ideas
e.presenting kids' ideas to artists and producers
| A．bcdea | B．acbed |
| C．ecdab | D．cdaeb |
【推荐3】With the commercialization of so many holidays, we often forget the true meaning of the day we are celebrating. The National Retail Federation estimated that in 2018, the average person spent more than $180 on Mother’s Day with a total forecast at over $23 billion spent on the day. Mother’s Day, the day to honor the special women in our lives, was initially created as something very different.
The origins of Mother’s Day can date back to ancient Greek and Roman times when festivals honored the mother goddesses Rhea and Cybele. Later, 16th century England celebrated Mothering Sunday with celebrations on the fourth Sunday of Lent. In America, our tradition began in 1908 with a woman named Anna Jarvis. While not a mother herself, she established the day to honor her mother, Ann Reeves Jarvis, who had passed away three years before.
This commitment to pay honor to and help other women ran in the Jarvis family. Living in West Virginia before the Civil War, Ann had an idea for a community-service based program to help mothers in need of assistance. This concept developed into the Mother’s Day Work Clubs, a program that taught women how to care for their children.
In 1914, President Woodrow Wilson declared Mother’s Day an official holiday. The yearly celebration would take place on the second Sunday in May. Anna’s original idea of Mother’s Day was a day to honor her mother Ann, but once it became a nationally recognized day, things changed dramatically. The idea of celebrating mom on Mother’s Day caught on quickly and became heavily commercialized with cards and flowers.
After seeing a Mother’s Day Salad on the menu in the John Wanamaker tearoom(茶馆) in Philadelphia in the early 1900s, Anna realized the day had become nothing but a marketing scheme. She then began to hold protests, and demand face-to-face meetings with the president.
In the end, she spent decades fighting a no-win battle to claim back the day as her own using every penny of hers. She died at age 84 in 1948, blind and alone in a hospital.
1. Which is the correct order of the following events?① Mother’s Day became an official holiday
② England celebrated Mothering Sunday
③ Mother’s Day became heavily commercialized
④ Anna Jarvis established Mother’s Day
| A．④①②③ | B．④②③① |
| C．②④①③ | D．②④③① |
| A．Because she hoped to meet with the president. |
| B．Because Mother’s Day had been heavily commercialized. |
| C．Because Mother’s Day Salad appeared on the menu without her permission. |
| D．Because she would fight a no-win battle to claim back the day as her own. |
| A．By providing examples. |
| B．By making comparisons. |
| C．By following the order of time. |
| D．By following the order of space. |
| A．Why the Founder of Mother’s Day Came to Regret Her Invention? |
| B．How Mother’s Day Commercialized? |
| C．How We Deal with the Commercialization of Mother’s Day Correctly? |
| D．Why Mother’s Day Commercialized? |
