【推荐3】Google's new camera, called Clips, is a small, smart device. It comes with a case that has a clip (夹子) , but it's not designed to be worn on your clothing. Most interestingly, it uses artificial intelligence to take photography out of your hands so it can capture moments on its own.

This roughly 2-inch by 2-inch camera, with a three-hour battery life and Gorilla Glass for toughness, is intended for candid moments, like when a child does something cute that may happen too quickly for you to pull out your smartphone.

Onboard the Clips device, it uses machine learning algorithms (计算程序) to help capture scenes. Those algorithms include face recognition. "Once it learns that there's a face you see frequently, it'll try to get nice photos of those faces," said Juston Payne, the device's product manager. And they also want it to recognize facial expressions, which involved "training it to know what happiness looks like". The Google team also trained it to recognize what not to shoot—like when a child's hand is over the lens, or if it is tossed in a dark purse.

The only way to see the images is by connecting the camera with your phone, as it has no screen for viewing or editing.

Were people concerned it could seem strange? Yes, Payne admitted. But they said they addressed that by making it obvious what it is. A green light on the front signals that it is on. Besides, unlike a camera meant to monitor your home, it is not connected to the Internet.

"This product is only possible because of the way that silicon has advanced" Payne said, noting that it was only in the past year or so that they could squeeze the technology down into a device this size. Going forward, we're likely to get more assistance from the artificial intelligence packed into our apps and gadgets.

1. What is the most outstanding feature of Clips?

A．It is equipped with tough glass.

B．It enables easy Internet access.

C．It allows of hands-free photography.

D．It can be worn on your clothing.

2. What does the underlined word "candid" in Paragraph 2 mean?

A．brief.	B．touching.
C．unforgettable.	D．embarrassing.

3. What makes Clips a reality according to Juston Payne?

A．The popularity of the Internet.

B．The advance in technology.

C．The rise of the smartphone industry.

D．The reduction in the price of lens.

4. What is the best title for the text?

A．A New Digital Camera from Google.

B．New Gadgets in the Age of Apps.

C．Artificial Intelligence in Everyday Life.

D．An Alternative Way to Photograph.

【推荐1】Mountain regions are not just playgrounds for the richer citizens on the planet, however. The disappearing snows of Mount Kilimanjaro are a worrying sign that nowhere is safe from the adverse effects of human actions. The United Nations has identified three main areas that need to be addressed to ensure the future safety of the world’s mountains. These are: the protection of mountain ecosystems, the encouragement of peace and stability in mountain regions, and assistance for mountain people to maintain their ways of life.

From the busy cities of India to the farmlands of California, more than half the world’s population is dependent on mountains for their fresh water supply. Global warming, deforestation, mining and heavy farming seriously damage breakable mountain ecosystems and put vital fresh water sources at risk.

Mountain regions host a large proportion of the world’s wars. From Afghanistan to the Balkans and the Andes to many parts of Africa, territorial(领土的) and drug related conflicts have damaging effects on the local environment and the lives of the local people. Fighting makes essential tasks such as farming impossible. Land mines make large areas of potential farming ground unusable. Also schools, roads, bridges and other important infrastructure(基础设施) are left in ruins.

Mountain people are among the poorest, least represented groups on the earth. They face many hardships and each day can be, “a test of survival”. Damage to mountain ecosystems worsens their situation and leaves them even more unprotected to disease and ‘natural’ disasters such as floods and landslides. It’s been recommended that forest profit should be reinvested in mountain communities and the people living there should be given a stronger political voice. Their fate is in many ways directly connected with that of people living at sea level.

There is an old motto for visitors to the countryside which advises them to leave nothing but footprints. It is still as relevant today as it always was. Unfortunately, the size of our footprints seems to be getting larger.

1. What the writer discussed in the previous sections is most probably about         .

A．mountain ecosystems	B．mountain regions
C．mountain people	D．mountain sports

2. The word “adverse” (paragraph 1) is closest in meaning to “__________”.

A．direct	B．harmful
C．positive	D．powerful

3. Wars have directly brought the following effects EXCEPT __________.

A．inadequate supply of fresh water	B．impossible farming
C．mountain people’s poor living condition	D．ruined infrastructure

4. Which of the following can be inferred from the passage?

A．Mountain people have enough political voice to protect themselves.

B．More money should be raised to establish mountain communities.

C．Worsened ecosystems put mountain people’s lives under threat.

D．Visitors to mountains have left nothing but large footprints.

【推荐3】Americans like to travel on their yearly holiday.Today,more and more travelers in the United States are spending nights at small houses or inns(客栈) instead of hotels.They get a room with breakfast the next morning.
Rooms for the night in private(私人的) homes with breakfast have been popular with travelers in Europe for many years.In the past five or ten years, these bed and breakfast places have become popular in the United States.Many of these American’s bed-and-breakfast inns are old historic buildings. Some bed-and-breakfast inns have only a few rooms, while others are much larger.Some inns do not provide telephones or televisions in the rooms,but others do.
Staying at a bed-and-breakfast inn is much different from staying at a hotel.Usually the cost is much less.Staying at an inn is almost like visiting someone’s home.The owners are glad to tell about the areas and the interesting places to visit.Many vacationers say that they enjoy the chance to meet local families.
1. Americans take a holiday trip_____.

A．all the year round	B．for years
C．every year	D．every other year

2. Why do American travelers prefer staying at bed-and-breakfast inns?

A．It is like visiting someone’s home.

B．The money they spend there is much less.

C．They can meet local families.

D．All of the above.

3. Staying at the bed-and-breakfast inns,_____.

A．the travelers needn’t pay anything

B．the travelers have to pay for the telephones or televisions

C．the travelers can meet and talk with the local people

D．the owners will show the travelers around the area

4. Which is TRUE according to the passage?

A．European and American vacationers like staying at bed-and-breakfast inns.

B．All Americans enjoy traveling.

C．These bed-and-breakfast inns are all old historic buildings.

D．Staying at a bed-and-breakfast inn is just like at the traveler’s home.

【推荐1】The Real Neighborhoods of Oscar-Winning Film 'Parasite'

South Korea's Oscar-winning movie "Parasite" tells the story of class (社会等级) struggle through the sights and smells of Seoul. It made history this week when it became the first non-English language movie to win the Oscar for best picture. People all over South Korean social media celebrated.

The film is a story of two South Korean families - the wealthy Parks and the poor Kims. It shows the deepening inequalities in South Korea. The story has been welcomed by people around the world.

Much of "Parasite" was filmed on movie sets. But the idea for the Parks' home and the Kims' sub-basement apartment came from real neighborhoods in Seoul. A sub-basement apartment is a usually small, dark apartment built partly underground.

POVERTY DOWNTOWN

Ahyeon-dong is one of the last of the poor areas near downtown Seoul. It is where the Kims are said to live in the film. The neighborhood, which is now mostly older people, with few young couples or children, made several appearances in the film.

Sitting on a hill near the main train station, Ahyeon-dong has steep, narrow streets. Many of them end in long staircases that people climb to reach their homes.

Local people said rents for sub-basement apartments in Ahyeon-dong have risen to around $340 each month. The rental costs there have more than doubled in the past 10 years.

SEOUL'S ‘BEVERLY HILLS'

Across town is the area of Seongbuk-dong. That is where the wealthy Parks' home is set in "Parasite." It is known as South Korea's version of Beverly Hills – an extremely wealthy community in Southern California The area is home to many business families and diplomats(外交官). Unlike in Ahyeon-dong, the streets in Seongbuk-dong are clear of waste. They are also very quiet, with most homes hidden behind high walls, fences and security cameras. Most of the houses in Seongbuk-dong have basements for home bars or small theaters and the rents there are usually $8,500 to $12,725 each month.

1. Which of the following statements about the movie “Parasite” is True?

A．Much of the movie was filmed in a real neighborhood in Seoul.

B．It becomes one of the best foreign movies to win the Oscar.

C．It has drawn people’s attention to social media in South Korea.

D．Its story has been well received by audience all over the world.

2. From the description the Poverty Downtown, we can learn that ______.

A．all the people there live in sub-basement apartments

B．people living there like to climb stairs for exercise

C．many young couples live there and suffer the hardship of life.

D．the rental cost there is around $340 a month now.

3. The differences mentioned in the passage between Poverty downtown and Seoul’s “Beverly Hills” cover the aspects like________.
a. working conditions   b. social status(地位)     c. the function of basements     d. eating habits

A．b and c

B．a and b

C．a and d

D．c and d

4. The main social problem reflected in the film is ________.

A．the darkness of social reality	B．the sadness of the poor
C．the inequality of social class	D．the sharp rise in house prices

【推荐2】Dyson has just unveiled its second beauty gadget and it’s certainly going to make waves in more ways than one. The Airwrap(卷发棒) is the much anticipated follow-up to the Supersonic hairdryer which proved a huge hit despite the ￡299 cost. This new gadget promises to be a whole new way to create waves and smooth blow-dries, but the price alone is enough to make your hair curl, coming in at an even heftier ￡399. So what, exactly, is your money buying you? Can there really be THAT different a way to curl your hair?

Well, this being Dyson, the answer is yes. It’s radically different from your typical curling irons that involve you physically winding your hair around a scorching-hot barrel.The new Airwrap technology uses jets of air to attract your hair onto the curling barrel, automatically wrapping it and shaping it. All you have to do is place a section of hair close to the styler, and it’ll wind itself around the styler by a (literally) invisible force.

If you’re a beauty geek, you might like to know that force has a name— the Coanda Effect. This occurs when a high speed jet of air flows across a surface and the difference in pressure makes the air flow (and any hair that gets caught up in its wake) attach itself to that surface. Dyson says the Coanda effect enables you to shape your hair at far lower temperatures than regular styling, which translates into less damage. Like the Supersonic dryer, the Air wrap employs “intelligent heat control”, measuring the temperature up to 40 times a second to ensure the heat never reaches the point where your hair is frazzled to the point of no return.

The Airwrap comes with different attachments, depending on the style you want to achieve.You can either go for a wavy look with the curling barrel or use the Coanda effect to guide your hair onto the brush attachment, replicating a salon style blow dry without the arm ache.

“Once my hair was wrapped in place and had been sufficiently whooshed for a few seconds, I hit the cool button to set the style, then slid the styler out of my hair. I felt shocked, proud, ecstatic, disbelieving. It was kind of like childbirth without the mess.” Then again, many people were initially sceptical about the idea of coughing up nearly ￡300 for a hairdryer, yet the Supersonic has blown away all the doubters. Who’s to say the Airwrap won’t be our new best curl friend?

The Dyson Airwrap is available at Dyson online and in Dyson stores.

1. Compared with the Supersonic hairdryer, the Airwrap _______.

A．is much bigger	B．is more expensive
C．couldn’t dry hair	D．needs more energy

2. What does the underlined sentence mean?

A．Is it worth your money?

B．Is it what you really want?

C．Could it curl your hair?

D．Is it affordable for you?

3. What do we know about the Airwrap?

A．It does little harm to your hair.

B．You need to wind your hair around the styler by force.

C．The “intelligent heat control” is unique to the Airwrap.

D．The key technology can ensure the temperature high enough to shape your hair.

4. How does the customer feel when she uses the Airwrap for the first time?

A．Satisfied.	B．Disappointed.
C．Embarrassed.	D．Skeptical.

【推荐3】Here’s a selection of festivals for tourists to the United States in summer.

San Francisco Silent Film Festival

Films at this odd cinematic event have a variety of musical accompaniments, including piano and violin. It includes some classic silent movies. If you want to see them all, you can buy a festival pass.

May 29 to June 1; www.silent film.org

Union Street Festival

This popular street fair stretches out over six blocks of the city, in the fashionable shopping area of Union Street. This year, there’s beer, wine, biscuits tasting and more separate themes-fashion, cuisine, tech, local, craft, and health and fitness.

June 7 to 10; www.unionstreetfestival.com

North Beach Festival

This is San Francisco’s oldest street party, with live entertainment, delicious food and arts and crafts. Situated in the Little Italy district, known for its associations with the “Beat Generation”, festival goers are guaranteed plenty of good Italian food. There is also as the “blessing of the animals”, a San Francisco tradition which takes place at the National Shrine of Saint Francis of Assisi (610 Vallejo Street) at 2 pm on both days of the festival.

June 14 to 16; www.sfnorthbeach.org

Stern Grove Festival

This is the oldest free summer arts festival of its kind in the United States. It includes a wide variety of acts, from the local symphony orchestra to well known artists such as Smokey Robinson.

Sundays from June 22 to Aug 24; www.stemgrove.org

1. Which of the following festivals contains the most themes?

A．Union Street Festival.	B．San Francisco Silent Film Festival.
C．North Beach Festival.	D．Stem Grove Festival.

2. How is North Beach Festival different from the other festivals?

A．Festival goers can enjoy food in it.	B．It lasts the shortest time.
C．It has the longest history of food.	D．Some foreign culture is presented in it.

3. When can you enjoy the oldest arts festival in the United States?

A．Saturdays in July.	B．Saturdays in May.
C．Sundays in May.	D．Sundays in July.

【推荐1】Your teenage best friend could be good for your long-term mental health，according to a new study published in the journal Child Development According to the findings, teenagers aged 15 to 16 who had a close friendship rather than a larger group of friends they were less close to had a greater sense of self-worth by the time they were 25 years old. Those people with a very close best friend were also less likely to experience depression and social anxiety, the study found．

“Close friendship strength in mid-adolescence predicted relative increases in self-worth and decreases in anxiety and depressive symptoms by early adulthood，”the authors, led by Rachel K, Narr，a postdoctoral student focused on clinical psychology at the University of Virginia, wrote.

A past research has suggested that adolescent friendships are important. Friendships during the teenage years predict academic success and improved mental health. But the new research further explores the type of friendships teenagers have. “My hunch（预感）was that close friendships compared to broader friendship groups and popularity may not function the same way,” Narr told Quartz. "Being successful in one is not the same as being successful in the other."

Many study participants did not continue to have a close relationship with their high-school best friend, leading the researchers to wonder what exactly was responsible for the mental health benefits. They suspected that the skills and ability to build such a friendship may be more important than the friendship itself.

And as the researchers point out, those skills are not necessarily brought to bear in the world of social media. "As technology makes it increasingly easy to build a social network of shallow friends, focusing time and attention on developing close connections with a few individuals should be a priority," study co-author Joseph Allen said in a statement.

1. What is the benefit of having a close teenage friendship?

A．Excellent performance in high school.	B．A larger group of friends.
C．Mental health by early adulthood.	D．A large social network in the future.

2. What can we learn about the past research?

A．It attached great significance to adolescent friendships.

B．It was totally different from the new research.

C．It helped improve teenagers' mental health.

D．It compared broader friendship groups with popularity.

3. What did the researchers think might lead to the mental health benefits?

A．Not continuing to have a close relationship.	B．Having a best friend in high school.
C．Understanding the world of social media.	D．Knowing how to build a close friendship

4. What did the researcher Joseph suggest?

A．Learning to use social media.

B．Broadening your social circle.

C．Improving the skills of making friends.

D．Concentrating on high-quality relationship.

【推荐2】Ecuador may have a new tourism jingle (广告歌). But they don’t want anyone to actually sing it. Indeed, the country’s latest national park is built on the belief that silence is golden. The South American country has become the first in the world to build a “quiet park” beside the Zabalo River where silence is protected like a natural resource.

There are no transport routes here. Nor residential and commercial developments. You can’t even hear the sound of power lines.

Named as Wilderness Quiet Park, the land is owned by the Cofán people of Ecuador. But hopes are high that this unique space in a world increasingly affected by noise will kickstart (启动) tourism in the region — quiet tourism, that is.

These days, it’s almost impossible to escape the human noise. And it’s a serious effect on the health of animals, including humans.

“Science has made it clear that noise pollution is not just an annoyance, it causes health loss and impacts wildlife’s ability to survive. By recognizing the Zabalo River as the world’s first quiet park, we are paving the way for many more quiet parks around the globe.” says Gordon Hempton, an ecologist and co-founder of Quiet Parks International, an organization which aims at spreading quiet across the globe.

So, what’s it actually like when nature is the only soundtrack? Here’s how Sam Goldman, a journalist, describes it: “The monkeys roar; insects buzz; and birdsong cackles …”

But the park not only gives nature a chance to find its voice. The people who own the land — the Cofán people — have long regarded themselves as caretakers of the rivers and rainforests in the region but their numbers have decreased to fewer than 2,000. Quiet Parks International will help the Cofan Nation “defend their lands and preserve their culture.”

1. What’s the purpose of this text?

A．To introduce a special park.

B．To explain a new living concept.

C．To warn people of noise pollution.

D．To recommend a travel destination.

2. What do we know about Wilderness Quiet Park?

A．It vaules natural quiet much.

B．It develops rapidly in business.

C．It can easily get rid of the human noise.

D．It provides tourists with various transport routes.

3. According to Gordon Hempton,       .

A．wildlife in Ecuador are in danger of extinction

B．noise pollution has become a serious problem

C．the Zabalo River is the best quiet park in the world

D．there are already many quiet parks around the globe now

4. What can we infer about the Cofán people from the last paragraph?

A．They care little about environmental protection.

B．They are in need of help to protect their safety.

C．Their numbers have decreased due to noise pollution.

D．They have long been protecting their living surroundings.

【推荐3】In 2011, the old style Malta buses were taken off the road and replaced by modern vehicles. Most of the old buses were deserted, a few were sold, and about 100 of them were put into storage in the hope of showing them in a museum at some stage.

A pre-2011 visit to Malta wouldn’t have been complete without a ride on one of the colorful buses. Until 1973 you could tell the destination of the bus just by looking at its color — Sliema was green and white, Zabbar was red and white with a blue stripe(条纹)etc. . Later, the buses all had numbers. For a while, they were all painted green and white before the ‘final’ orange, yellow and white.

In their prime, walking around the Triton fountain at the Valletta bus station, you would have found it very difficult to see two buses of exactly the same design. Most of them had locally built bodies. On the front of the buses carried names like Dodge, Leyland, Bedford etc. . You were equally likely to find football pennants(锦旗)and the like decorating the cabs. Real bus experts would have recognized that these were there mainly for decorative reasons, and were seldom an accurate reflection of the vehicle’s origins.

Nowadays much more modern buses are to be found at the Floriana bus station. They are more environmentally friendly and possibly even more comfortable than the older types. However, I miss the old buses. I remember, when you boarded your bus, you had to prepare the correct change to pay the usually bad-tempered driver as you got on. If you were seated anywhere near the front, you would have noticed that most drivers sat well to the right of their steering wheel. The reason for this, as any Maltese would tell you, was to leave space for their pet to sit alongside them. I wonder where the pet sits these days.

1. What makes a pre-2011 visit to Malta special according to Paragraph 2?

A．Traveling in colorful buses.

B．Using buses with stripes.

C．Painting buses bright colors.

D．Telling destinations by different colors.

2. Which of the following best explains “prime” underlined in Paragraph 3?

A．Painful time.	B．Exciting time.
C．Moment of fantasy.	D．Moment of glory.

3. What can we learn about Malta buses when they were popular?

A．They were of the same pattern.

B．The decorations reflected their origin.

C．Most were uniquely designed.

D．Only football pennants decorated the cabs.

4. How would the author feel about the old style Malta buses?

A．Comfortable.	B．Environment-friendly.
C．Safe.	D．Memorable.