【推荐1】阅读下面的一篇文章，并按照要求回答问题。
The Frost looked forth one still, clear night,
And whispered, “Now I shall be out of sight,
So through the valley and over the height,
In silence I’ll take my way,
I will not go on, like that blustering train,
The wind and the snow, the hail and the rain,
Who make so much bustle and noise in vain,
But I’ll be as busy as they.”
He flew up, and powdered the to the mountain’s crest,
He lit on the trees, and their boughs he dressed,
With diamonds and pearls; and over the breast,
Of the quivering lake, he spread,
A bright coat of mail, that it need not fear,
The glittering point of many a spear,
That he hung on its margin, far and near,
Where a rock could rear its head.
He went to the windows of those who slept,
And over each pane, like a fairy, crept,
Wherever he breathed, wherever he stepped,
Most beautiful things were seen,
By morning’s first light! There were flowers and trees,
With bevies of birds and swarms of bright bees,
There were cities with temples and towers; and these,
All pictured in silver sheen!
But he did one thing that was hardly fair,
He peeped in the cupboard, and, finding there,
That all had forgotten for him to prepare,
“Now just to set them a-thinking,
I’ll bite this basket of fruit," said he,
“This costly pitcher—I’ll burst in three,
And the glass with water they’ve left for me,
Shall ‘tchick’! to tell them I’m drinking!”
1. Read the stanza: “ He flew up, and powdered the mountain’s crest...” What did the frost do to the tree boughs? (No more than 8 words)
2. What do the first three lines of the poem communicate about the setting?

A．The frost quietly moves through a clear night.

B．The frost went blustering through the valley like a train at night.

C．The frost is awakened by the clear morning sun.

D．The frost ventured out during a windy and rainy evening.

3. What does the underlined word “bevies” in Stanza3 mean, a couple, nests or flocks?(No more than 2 words)
4. What is the poet trying to tell the readers about frost?(No more than10 words)
5. Read the 1^st stanza in the poem. For what purpose does the poet include a description of trains, wind, snow, hail and rain?

【推荐2】    1    Snowboarders, delighted! North America gets a lot more snow than previously imagined — so much that each year if spreading equally across the continent, it would add up to about 19 centimeters.     2    

    3     In the analysis, researchers used computer simulations (模拟) to calculate the typical annual snowfall in each of 11 North American mountain ranges. Researchers used supercomputer to simulate the regional climate.     4     Although those ranges together cover only about 25% of the area stretching from the Arctic Ocean down to Mexico’s southern border, they get about 60% of its snow, the researchers report in Geophysical Research Letters. That’s nearly three times the amount for mountain snow from one previous study.

The researchers combined their new result with another team’s value for snow in the continent’s non-mountainous areas.     5     That’s enough to cover no-ice-covered areas of the continent to a depth of about 6.4 centimeters (2.5 inches) of water once it melts. Good luck when that refreezes.

A．How those figures are obtained?

B．Those figures come thanks to a new analysis.

C．And if piled up only in Ohio, the snow would be up to 45 meters deep.

D．And if gathering only in the United States, the snow would be 10 meters deep.

E．North American mountains get almost 3 times the amount of the snow previously thought.

F．And they calculate that North America each year gets about 5052 cubic kilometers of snow.

G．And they found that those mountain ranges receive about 3018 cubic kilometers of snow a year.

【推荐1】After the movie ended, two ladies in their 80s were invited on stage. One of the women, who was sitting in a wheelchair, couldn't hold back her tears as she spoke in front of the audience. The other woman, leaned in and brush away her tears. The entire theater fell quiet for a while as the two held each other, then slowly the applause began to build until it became a thunderous roar.

About Chinese composer Xian Xinghai, the film is the first coproduction between studios in China and Kazakhstan. The woman in the wheelchair was Kazakh musician Bakhytzhan Baikadamov's niece Kalamkas Arislanova, while the woman at her side was Xian's daughter Xian Nina.

Xian Xinghai was the first Chinese student admitted to the Paris Music Conservatory. A household name in China, he is best known for his Yellow River Cantata,a patriotic (爱国的) work that inspired numerous Chinese during the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression (1931-1945). Even though most Chinese people know Xian as one of the greatest musicians in the country, few know that during the early 1940s, the last few years of his life, he got stuck in Kazakhstan while trying to return to China from Russia.

The choice to make the film was inspired by Chinese President Xi Jinping's speech at Kazakhstan's Nazarbayev University in 2013, according to Shen Jian, executive producer of the film and the CEO of Shinework Pictures, the studio behind the film. During his speech,Xi said that at a time when Xian had no family and was struggling with poverty and sickness,Kazakh musician Bakhytzhan Baikadamov gave him a family.

Throughout his time in Kazakhstan, Baikadamov's niece Kalamkas Arislanova was like a daughter to him. However, when Xian left China, Nina was only 8 months old. Due to the war, the musician was never able to return to his motherland before he died in 1945.

Shen told Global Times that the Nina and Arislanova were very excited about the film as it enabled them to reunite with Xian through the big screen. Nina noted that the film is particularly significant for her, as most films about Xian have focused on describing him as a great musician, while this one is about him as her father.

As shown in the movie, Xian was able to concentrate on music with the generous help of Baikadamov and his family. Inspired by the Kazakh people, Xian created many works during his time in Kazakhstan.

1. What is special about the movie?

A．It is about a famous Chinese composer.

B．It is the first movie produced between China and Kazakhstan.

C．It is about Xian's daughter Xian Nina.

D．It stands for the friendship between two women.

2. Why was Xian Xinghai famous in China?

A．He was the first Chinese student admitted to the Paris Music Conservatory.

B．He met difficulties when trying to return to China.

C．He joined the war of Resistance against Japanese Aggression.

D．His masterpiece inspired many people to fight against Japanese.

3. How was the movie made?

A．It was set in Kazakhstan's Nazarbayev University.

B．It was directed by the CEO of Shinework Pictures.

C．It was inspired by Chinese President Xi's speech in 2003.

D．It focused on how he became a great musician.

【推荐1】In some countries where racial prejudice is acute, violence has so come to be taken for granted as a means of solving differences that it is not even questioned. There are countries where the white man imposes his rule by brute force; there are countries where the black man protests by setting fire to cities and by looting and pillaging. Important people on both sides, who would in other respects appear to be reasonable men, get up and calmly argue in favor of violence --- as if it were a legitimate solution, like any other. What is really frightening, what really fills you with despair, is the realization that when it comes to the crunch（关键时刻）,we have made no actual progress at all. We may wear collars and ties instead of war-paint, but our instinct remain basically unchanged. The whole of the recorded history of the human race, that tedious documentation of violence, has taught us absolutely nothing. We have still not learned that violence never solves a problem but makes it more acute. The sheer horror, the bloodshed（流血）, the suffering mean nothing. No solution ever comes to light the morning after when we dismally contemplate the smoking ruins and wonder what hit us.

The truly reasonable men who know where the solutions lie are finding it harder and harder to get a hearing. They are despised mistrusted and even persuaded by their own kind because they advocate such apparently outrageous things as law enforcement（执行）. If half the energy that goes into violent acts were put to good use, if our efforts were directed at cleaning up the slums and ghettos, at improving living standards and providing education and employment for all, we would have gone a long way to arriving at a solution. Our strength is sapped by having to mop to the mess that violence leaves in its wake. In a well-directed effort, it would not be impossible to fulfill the ideals of a stable social programme. The benefits that can be derived from constructive solutions are everywhere apparent in the world around us. Genuine and lasting solutions are always possible, providing we work within the framework of the law.

Before we can even begin to contemplate peaceful co-existence between the races, we must appreciate each other’s problems. And to do this, we must learn about them: it is a simple exercise in communication, in exchange information. “Talk, talk, talk” the advocates of violence say, “all you ever do is talk, and we are none the wiser.” It’s rather like the story of the famous barrister who painstakingly explained his case to the judge. After listening to a lengthy argument, the judge complained that after all this talk, he was none the wiser. “Possibly, my lord,” the barrister replied, “none the wiser, but surely far better informed.” Knowledge is the necessary prerequisite to wisdom: the knowledge that violence creates the evils it pretends to solve.

1. What is the best title for this passage?

A．Advocating Violence.

B．Violence Can Do Nothing to Diminish Race Prejudice

C．Violence as a Legitimate Solution

D．Violence: The Instinet of Human Race

2. Recorded history has taught us_______.

A．violence never solves anything

B．nothing

C．the bloodshed means nothing

D．everything

3. It can be inferred that truly reasonable men________.

A．can’t get a hearing

B．are looked down upon

C．are persecuted

D．have difficulty in advocating law enforcement

4. “He was none the wiser” means_______.

A．He was not at all wise in listening

B．He was not at all wiser than nothing before

C．He gains nothing after listening

D．He makes no sense of the argument

5. According to the author, the best way to solve race prejudice is ______.

A．low enforcement	B．knowledge
C．nonviolence	D．mopping up the violent mess

【推荐2】DNA analysis has revealed family relationships between more than 10 generations of Stone Age people at megalithic(巨石的) tombs in Ireland and Sweden.

The evidence suggests that megaliths, prehistoric large stone structures, sometimes acted as graves for family groups in northwestern Europe thousands of years ago. The latest findings throw new light on the origins and social structure of the groups that built megaliths in this region—a history that has long been hidden in mystery.

For their study, the international team of researchers analyzed the genomes—the complete set of genetic material in a cell—of 24 Stone Age individuals from five megalithic burial sites in lreland, Scotland and Gotland, a large Swedish island in the Baltic Sea.

This analysis showed that many of the individuals buried at each megalith, who all lived between 3,800 B.C. and 2,600 B.C., according to radiocarbon-dating of their remains, were closely related via family ties.

The results also showed that the individuals buried at the megaliths were related to Neolithic(新石器时代的) farmers in northern and western Europe but genetically distinct from other hunter-gatherers. This was particularly noticeable at the Ansarve site on the island of Gotland.

“The people buried in the Ansarve tomb are remarkably different on a genetic level compared to the individuals dug out from hunter-gather contexts, showing that the burial tradition in this megalithic tomb, which lasted for over 700 years, was performed by distinct groups with roots in the European Neolithic expansion,” Magdalena Fraser, co-first author from Uppsala University, said in the statement

1. What’s the significance of the new finding?

A．It reveals the family ties between people in Ireland and Sweden.

B．It implies that many people buried in the tombs were closely related.

C．It indicates the long-hidden mystery concerning DNA analysis.

D．It suggests that the megaliths became tombs thousands of years ago.

2. How did the researchers reach their findings?

A．By interviewing individuals.	B．By travelling to different regions.
C．By analyzing genes.	D．By studying the burial sites.

3. What’s the main idea of this passage?

A．Megaliths served as tombs thousands of year ago.

B．People buried at the megaliths were recently analyzed.

C．Latest findings shed light on a mystery about burials.

D．Stone-age people in Ireland and Sweden had close ties.

【推荐3】Your first big-screen experience is likely to have been Disney productions --- whether we are talking about Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs or Frozen --- that have long been considered safe, healthy choices for kids, and pictures that parents can feel they don’t need to screen in advance.

When you are a big person, a movie seen in a theatre is much larger than life; when you're a little person, it can be like a new entry opening in the universe. Those experiences matter, and Disney knows the power --- and the profit potential --- of what's in its values, which helps explain the studio's ongoing strategy of remaking its most popular animated films, often in live-action versions.

How do you feel about director's interpretation of these movies, a combination of live-action filmmaking techniques, virtual-reality methods and computer-generated imaginary, depends largely on how you feel about the original. The stories, even with a gently updated script, are roughly the same. If you've seen the original, you know how the rest of them go.

In the following years, we'll also watch other Disney’s remakes such as Mulan. Any children raised by Disney films would think that this is a great time to be alive. Right?

But judging by critics’ ratings of some live-action movies, it seems that the powerful studio has been unable to wow audiences.

So why more live actions?

The money

Let's face it: Walt Disney Pictures is all about generating more revenue. Even though it did not manage to capture critics, it still managed to catch the audience's hearts. And that is more than enough. After all, films are not made to entertain critics; it's all about creating an ultimate cinematic experience for casual moviegoers. And as long as they're entertained with new interpretations of beloved stories, why stop making live-action films?

Inclusion

When you spend your entire childhood dancing and singing along to these characters, it's beyond magical to see them again when you’re an adult and are the same age as them. That's one of the few magical effects of movies. Not to mention, Aladdin's South Asian cast is also a strong statement for the world. Perhaps this is also the reason why Disney wants Mulan to have an all Asian cast. Let's hope they're not the only ones and Disney is bringing more diverse stories to be told.

Nostalgia (怀旧)

All of these Disney remakes are designed to fuel the nostalgia of boomers, Gen X-ers and millennials, and many of the moviegoers who grew up with these movies, in particular, now have young kids of their own. Little wonder the studio is seeing big dollar signs in them.

1. Disney productions are parents' first choice for kids because they _______.

A．promote children's overall health

B．don't need booking in advance

C．don't need a screen to enjoy them

D．have been enjoying a good reputation

2. Your feeling about the live-action films remade mainly relies on _______.

A．the film-making technology

B．the popularity of the films

C．the familiarity with the story line

D．the computer-generated imaginary

3. In the author's opinion, what could be the main reason for Disney's more live actions?

A．It's trying its best to satisfy both critics and audience.

B．It's sparing no efforts to earn as much revenue as possible.

C．It's seeking and adding global elements to make diverse stories.

D．It's bringing back those sweet memories to its loyal aging fans.

【推荐1】It often happens that a number of applicants with almost identical qualifications and experience all apply for the same position. In their educational background, special skills and work experience, there is little, if anything, to choose between half a dozen candidates. How then does the employer make a choice? Usually on the basis of an interview.

There are many arguments about the interview as a selection procedure. One argument is that it gives rise to a wholly subjective decision. As often as not, employers do not choose the best candidate, but the one who makes a good first impression on them. Some employers, of course, reply to this argument by saying that they have become so experienced in interviewing staff that they are able to make a sound assessment of each candidate’s likely performance. Unfortunately, both for the employers and applicants, there are many people of great ability who simply do not interview well. There are also, of course, people who interview extremely well, but are later found to be very unsatisfactory employees.

Those in favour of the interview insist that the well-structured procedure is valid in assessing a candidate’s ability, an essential guarantee for the future job. They also argue that an employer is concerned not only with a candidate’s ability, but with the suitability of his or her personality for the particular work situation. Many employers, for example, will overlook occasional inefficiencies from their secretary so long as she has a pleasant personality. Perhaps the real purpose of an interview is not to assess the assessable aspects of each candidate but to make a guess at the more intangible things, such as personality and social ability.

Today, interview is still a common section of the entire selection procedure, though different employers have different standards for competence. Generally speaking, candidates who interview well tend to be quietly confident, but never boastful; direct and straight-forward in their questions and answers; cheerful and friendly, but never over-familiar; and sincerely enthusiastic and optimistic. Candidates who interview badly tend to be at either end of the spectrum of human behaviour. They are either very shy or over-confident. They show either a lack of enthusiasm or an excess of it. They either talk too little or never stop talking. They are either over-polite or rudely abrupt.

1. According to the passage, which of the following statements is TRUE?

A．Employers are experienced in assessing the interviewees’ performance.

B．Interview is not always recognized as a sensible way to choose employees.

C．The interview helps the employers to pick the desired employees.

D．The remarkable candidates often distinguish themselves in an interview.

2. Which may not be considered in an interview?

A．Personality	B．Communication skills
C．Background	D．Capability

3. What is the author’s attitude towards the interview as a selection procedure?

A．Supportive	B．Negative
C．Objective	D．Unconcerned

4. The last paragraph indicates _________________.

A．a link between success in interview and character

B．connections between work abilities and character

C．differences in interview experience

D．differences in personal behaviour

【推荐2】The Google Brain team has been working on computing systems called “neural networks”—systems that were designed based on how neurons work in the human brain.

This time, they gave a mission to three of the neural networks, which they named Alice, Bob and Eve. Each of the networks had its own job—Alice sent messages to Bob, Eve tried to “eavesdrop”(偷听) and find out the messages, and Alice and Bob had to figure out a way to hide the messages from Eve. All the help that Alice and Bob got from the researchers before the mission began was made up of a set of numbers, which Eve didn’t have access                    to.

At first, Alice was not very good at sending secret messages. But slowly it worked on a way to encrypt(加密) them—putting information into a special code so that others could not understand it if they got the information—using he numbers given by researchers. And after practice, Bob also came to be able to decrypt(解密) Alice’s messages. Without the numbers or keys, Eve failed to understand Alice’s “speech” most of the time.

This test is considered a big step in the development of computers’ learning skills. “Computing with neural networks on this scale has only become possible in the last few years, so we truly are at the beginning of what’s possible, ” Joe Sturonas of US encryption company PKWARE told New Scientist magazine.

Unfortunately, the test happened only one week after UK physicist Stephen Hawking, While speaking at Cambridge University, warned how AI(artificial intelligence)could develop a will of its own. This could be “either the best or the worst thing ever to happen to human being”, he said.

But just as Sturonas pointed out, no matter what the possibilities of computers are in the future, they are just starting out. We still have plenty of time to work out a solution before they get anywhere near becoming a threat to humanity.

1. For what purpose was the test conducted?

A．To study how neurons work in the human brain.

B．To study how computing systems work and learn.

C．To find out a more effective way to keep secrets.

D．To find out a more powerful way to break the codes.

2. How does the computing system work in the test?

A．encrypting—messages—code—messages—decrypting

B．messages—encrypting—code—decrypting—messages

C．code—messages—encrypt—decrypting—messages

D．messages—code—decrypting—encrypting—messages

3. What can we learn from Hawking’s warning?

A．AI must be a blessing.	B．AI should be forbidden.
C．AI is sure to be a failure.	D．AI is a double-edged sword.

4. What’s Sturonas attitude towards the development of AI?

A．Hopeful.	B．Doubtful.
C．Puzzled.	D．Panicked.

【推荐3】Walmart will soon use 360 robot cleaners across a few hundred of its stores. Using maps input by human employees, the AI-powered cleaners will travel in the store with no difficulty, sweeping the floor--just as human employees used to do.

Perhaps the most striking thing about these robot workers is how not-striking they are. Sci-fi movies suggest a future full of human-like robots who appear with their horrible qualities. Now the future is coming into view, and it looks like a giant lie. It's easy to imagine walking past an Auto-C on a shopping trip without even noticing its presence.

AI has already started to become a part of our everyday life. In New Jersey this week, dozens of workers were hospitalized after a robot at an Amazon fulfillment centre accidentally broke a can and enveloped workers in eye-and-lung-damaging gas. Days earlier in California, an auto-piloted Tesla drove a drunk, sleeping driver down a highway, which no doubt did some potential risk to the other drivers on the road. Highway patrol officers figured out on the spot how to stop the AI car.

Of course, industrial accidents and drunk drivers existed well before AI. Tools with the power to release the burden of physical labor—horses, steam machines, self-driving cars—also come with the power to injure. And the presence of AI-powered machines just steps away from us is, for now, still a rare thing for most people.

But the nature of robots’ coming into our daily life lives will make it harder to recognize—or object to—the bigger changes they bring later. Walmart insists that the robot cleaners give employees more time for customer service and other tasks. Critics point out that they could just as easily become an excuse to reduce staff and wages.

1. What is the difference between sci-fi movies and the reality?

A．Now the human-like robots is hard to recognize.

B．Now people don’t go to see the sci-fi movies.

C．Now the human-like robots can tell lies.

D．Now it is easy to ignore the robots.

2. Why were some workers in hospital in New Jersey?

A．They damaged the robot first.

B．The robot caused an accident on purpose.

C．The robot made a mistake by chance.

D．The robot driving them on the highway had an accident.

3. What is the attitude of the author to AI?

A．Supportive

B．Objective

C．Doubtful

D．Indifferent

4. What is the main idea of the passage?

A．Artificial intelligence is bringing great effect to our daily life.

B．Walmart will soon use 360 robot cleaners across its stores.

C．We should say no to artificial intelligence.

D．Artificial intelligence is dangerous to our life.