High speed viewing
Whenever a new technology begins to affect society, we hear arguments about the “soulless (没有灵魂的) modern way”, and the “good old days”, when things were slower. Often the older generation complains about the younger one.
This debate heated up again recently when The Beijing News reported that nearly 70 percent of young people in China speed-watch videos and shows online. It can be concluded that today’s youth are so caught up in the fast pace of modern life that they can no longer give something their full attention.
There may be some truth to this, but is it the only truth?
I am one of these so-called speed-watchers. I tend to play South Korean soap operas the 2014 sensation (大热剧) Man From the Stars (《来自星星的你》), for example at 1.5x or 2x speed. The reason is simple. I want to know what the fuss is about and I don’t want to be left out of conversations online and with friends. I also speed-listen to informative audio, like TED talks and lectures, with the only purpose of taking in as much information as possible.
But there are films and podcasts that have my full attention-and they will have it. When watching the likes of Downton Abbey (《唐顿庄园》) or Game of Thrones (《权利的游戏》), to name two, I won’t skim past even a second of the action. Every long pause and change of emotion carries meaning that would be lost by speed-watching.
So perhaps the debate shouldn’t be about which one is better-the fast life or the slow one. Instead, it’s about understanding what’s really important to you and taking control of the time you want to spend on it.
“This is the future of how we will appreciate television and movies,” wrote reporter Jeff Guo on The Washington Post. “We will watch videos in new ways using our powers of time manipulation (控制). We will be watching on our own terms.”
Indeed, there is no fast or slow there is only your own terms, and your own pace.
1. What can we conclude from what The Beijing News reported?| A．The older generation is afraid of new technology. |
| B．The older generation loves looking back at the good old days. |
| C．Young Chinese people like to watch videos at faster speeds. |
| D．Young people are more likely to be happy with their lives. |
| A．To complain about the quality of recent TV series. |
| B．To stress the importance of common interests with friends. |
| C．To tell readers what she thinks a good TV product is like. |
| D．To share how she chooses different speeds to watch videos. |
| A．Slow down to enjoy life. | B．Live life at your own pace. |
| C．Follow most people’s lifestyle. | D．Hurry up to take in as much as you can. |
相似题推荐
【推荐1】The Palace Museum also known as the Forbidden City, is shaping a new image for itself. With technology, it brings 600 years of history and culture closer to visitors.
The museum opened websites in Chinese and English. Visitors could check the latest information and book tickets on them before their trip. Interestingly, to attract more young visitors, there is also a website for children. It shows information and notices in short sentences with colorful cartoons.
Technology is making the visiting experience impressive (令人印象深刻的). The Palace Museum opened a digital gallery (数字馆) at Duanmen Gate. With VR, visitors may walk directly into the emperor’s living room and bedroom, make food that emperors had, wear their clothes and see their collections. Visitors can even talk to an AI senior minister (大臣)! Although buildings are of the same style in this big museum, visitors won’t get lost. A real time map with audio guide (语音导览器) on WeChat leads visitors to all the halls they plan to visit, It tells the buildings’ stories along the way.
Visitors can enjoy the museum home by visiting its online shops. Things like watches, books, paintings and scarves are quite popular among young people. Another way to enjoy the museum back home is following it on Weibo, Six million fans there have seen wonderful distant views of the museum. Don’t miss them!
1. How many years of history and culture does the Palace Museum bring to visitors?| A．500. | B．600. | C．700. | D．800. |
| A．On the websites. | B．In a magazine. | C．By telephone. | D．By e-mail. |
| A．walk directly into the emperor’s living room and bedroom |
| B．make food that emperors had |
| C．wear emperors’ clothes and see their collections |
| D．see a real time map with audio guide |
| A．visitors can even design an AI senior minister by themselves |
| B．visitors won’t get lost because of a real time map with audio guide on WeChat |
| C．things like watches, books, paintings and scarves are quite popular among old people |
| D．six thousand fans there have seen wonderful distant views of the museum |
| A．A Successful Technology | B．with the help of Technology |
| C．A New Image of the Palace Museum | D．History and Traditional culture |
【推荐2】AI makes our lives easier and better. Let’s see the amazing AI.
The cool driverless bus
A bus door opens and you get on the bus. Wait! Where is the driver? Here is a new kind of driverless bus called Apolong. It has 14 seats and doesn’t need a driver. The bus follows traffic rules. It will stop as soon as it sees the stop light.
Your close friend
Hi, everyone. I’m Xiaobing, a chatbot. I speak like a 17-year-old girl. If you feel lonely, you can talk with me. I’m talented at singing, writing poems and telling stories. I want to be your friend!
The world’s first AI anchor (主播)
Hey! Look! The famous Chinese anchor Qiu Hao is reporting the news for us. But, is “he” really Qiu Hao? The answer is “no”. This is the world’s first AI anchor. It looks and speaks just like a real person. It can work 24 hours and doesn’t make any mistakes. You might see it on TV soon.
A popular AI artist
This beautiful painting was sold at an auction (拍卖会) in 2020. The painting is worth about 3,000,000 yuan! But it is not a work by a famous painter, such as Vincent Van Gogh. It was painted by an AI artist. Three Frenchmen created the AI artist. It studied over 15,000 paintings. In this way, it learned to paint.
1. What is the fact about Apolong?| A．The bus door can’t open itself. | B．It will stop as soon as it sees a stop light. |
| C．There are 24 seats in it. | D．It doesn’t follow the traffic rules. |
| A．She can sing, write poems and tell stories. |
| B．She can become your friend. |
| C．She can talk with you. |
| D．She can play basketball with you. |
| A．Driverless bus. | B．Xiaobing. | C．AI anchor. | D．AI artist. |
| A．AI makes our lives harder and worse. |
| B．This new kind of driverless bus also needs a driver to control it. |
| C．Xiaobing is a 17-year-old girl. |
| D．The AI anchor can work 24 hours and doesn’t make any mistakes. |
【推荐3】
Shenzhou V was the first man-controlled spaceship of China, which travelled around the earth for 21 hours in 2003. Since then, China has become the third nation that could send humans into space. Yang Liwei has become our hero because of this space flight. | Shenzhou VI was launched on October 12, 2005. It travelled around the earth for five days. Astronauts Fei Junlong and Nie Haisheng carried out this space flight and finished the task successfully. It stands for a great leap (跳跃) of China’s space industry. |
Shenzhou X was sent into space on June 16, 2012. It was launched in Jiuquan. The spaceship travelled in space for over ten days. This time the first woman astronaut of China called Liu Yang took part in the flying task. Jing Haipeng and Liu Wang flew into space with her. | On June 17, 2021, Shenzhou XII was launched in Jiuquan. Nie Haisheng, Liu Boming and Tang Hongbo carried out this important task. They were the first astronauts working in Chinese space station. They ended their task and returned to the earth in September, 2021. |
1. Which spaceship traveled around the earth for 21 hours?
| A．Shenzhou V. | B．Shenzhou VI. | C．ShenzhouI X. | D．Shenzhou XII. |
| A．Yang Liwei. | B．Fei Junlong. | C．Nie Haisheng. | D．Liu Yang. |
| A．In 2003. | B．In 2005. | C．In 2012. | D．In 2021. |
| A．It stands for a great leap of China’s space industry. |
| B．Two astronauts carried out this great task. |
| C．It went into space in September this year. |
| D．This space flight lasted about three months. |
| A．Technology. | B．Education. | C．Travel. | D．Business. |
【推荐1】Today more and more cars go into families. Which car is the best for people? Different people have different ideas. Some people like the bright colour car made in China. It’s really a good choice (选择). The bright colour car made in China is cheap, nice and safe. This kind of cars is suit for (适合于) the general income (收入一般的) family.
Some people love famous foreign cars like Japanese cars, American cars and German cars. They’re good but too expensive. But most people think famous foreign cars of better quality are better in safety. These are suit for the high income family or for business.
Some people like sports cars, because they’re fast and exciting. Some sports cars are very nice but very expensive. Only rich people can afford them.
Some people like travelling, so they need a travel car. Travel cars are comfortable. But they use much oil (油). What’s the best car for us? Maybe it’s a new and popular topic in life.
1. What does the writer think of the bright colour car made in China?| A．It’s nice but expensive. | B．It’s good but too expensive. |
| C．It’s cheap, nice and safe. | D．It’s comfortable. |
| A．cheap and nice | B．comfortable and save oil |
| C．good but too expensive | D．fast and exciting |
| A．Cars made in China are cheap. | B．famous foreign cars are too expensive. |
| C．Sports cars are also cheap. | D．Travel cars are comfortable. |
| A．some expensive cars | B．famous foreign cars |
| C．some cars made in China | D．different cars |
【推荐2】Have you ever felt like you needed your own space? Sometimes we all need to be alone. Plants need to have their own space, too. You can walk away or shut your door when you want to be alone, but what can plants do? They can’t walk or run anywhere. They use allelopathy (植化相克).
All plants need water to grow, but in some dry places there isn’t much water, so the plants have to use allelopathy to keep on living. Also all plants want to have as much soil for their roots to grow in as possible, and one way to do this is to make other plants’ roots die by using allelopathy. Finally, all plants need sunlight to live. If other plants grow nearby, their shade means less sunlight, so the plants use allelopathy to stop other plants from growing too close to them.
Here’s an example — pine trees. Each year the needles (针叶) from pine trees fall to the ground. These needles that cover the ground have a kind of acid (酸) in them. The acid doesn’t hurt the pine trees, but it won’t let other plants grow.
1. If a plant wants to have its own space, it can ______.| A．walk away | B．close its leaves | C．use allelopathy | D．cover the ground |
| A．To make other plants’ roots die. | B．To stop other plants from getting sunlight. |
| C．To cover the ground with acid needles. | D．To get enough water for other plants. |
| A．hurt the pine trees | B．help other plants grow |
| C．stop other plants growing | D．make the soil richer |
| A．How do plants look after their own space? | B．What makes plants grow well? |
| C．Why do plants need to stay alone? | D．What plant needs allelopathy? |
【推荐3】ChatGPT is back! OpenAI, the company behind the popular chatbot, has now introduced a powerful new language model: GPT-4.
On March 14, GPT-4 showed the world how smarter it is than the GPT-3.5. One of its best new features is that it can understand pictures. For example, if you show a picture of a phone using the wrong charger (充电器), GPT-4 can tell why the picture looks strange.
But GPT-4’s developments don’t stop there. The new language model can code (用代码编写) classic games in a few minutes, and produce the code and layout (布局) for a website based on a hand-made drawing. GPT-4 is much better than the older GPT at passing tests. According to CNN, GPT-4 did really well on a law school test, with a score in the top 10 percent of test takers. ButGPT-3.5 only got a score in the bottom 10 percent.
GPT-4 will also power other apps and services. For example, the language learning app Duolingo plans to use GPT-4 in their coming products. Users can learn languages by talking with AI. Another app, Be My Eyes, will have a digital assistant (数字助手) to help blind people better understand the world around them. The government of Iceland also plans to use GPT-4 to protect the Icelandic language.
There are still problems with the new language model, however. GPT-4 still tries hard to get completely correct answers. And it will sometimes insist that wrong information is true.
1. What does the underlined word “it” refer to?| A．OpenAI. | B．GPT-3.5. | C．GPT-4. | D．A chatbot. |
| A．Because GPT-4 is much new er than GPT-3.5. |
| B．Because GPT-4 can spend less time coding games. |
| C．Because GPT-4 got better scores than GPT-3.5 at tests. |
| D．Because GPT-4 powers other apps and services. |
| A．let users learn language by talking with AI |
| B．help blind people understand the world better |
| C．give support to the Icelandic language |
| D．earn much money by selling services |
(①=Paragraph 1, ②=Paragraph 2, … )
A． | B． | C． | D． |
1. According to the passage, the tips on road trip preparation do not include ________.
| A．checking your car | B．packing things to kill the time |
| C．buying no snacks | D．relaxing yourself during the trip |
| A．①③ | B．①④ | C．③④ | D．②③ |
| A．YOU ARE GOOD TO GO! | B．THE POWER OF PREPARATION! |
| C．TO BE AN INDEPENDENT MAN! | D．WE’LL BE THERE FOR YOU! |
I’m Sabrina Taylor and I’m studying at a junior high school. I am worried about forests because they are disappearing (消失) around the world every year. This happens because people are making paper and energy, building more and more houses and factories. Every minute of the day, people cut down or burn a lot of trees.
If it goes on, forests could disappear in 50 years. Trees are important in making the Earth’s air clean. If they disappear, it will be very dangerous to people. We must stop doing these things. It’s important for us to protect the Earth for our future. Now I hope you can help stop forests from disappearing. You may stop burning wood to make energy in your factory. This will help a lot. There are also many other things to do to save forests. If you would like to know more, please visit www. rainforestweb. org. By doing some small things, we can make the Earth more beautiful. If you want to talk about it with me, you can email me at shazadinol@hotmail. com. uk.
Thank you for taking the time to read this email.
Best wishes,
Sabrina Taylor
1. What does Sabrina do?| A．A teacher. | B．A student. | C．A worker. | D．An engineer. |
| A．Forests on the Earth are getting fewer and smaller. |
| B．There are more and more houses on the Earth. |
| C．Mr. Lambert knows a lot about forests. |
| D．She can do nothing to protect the Earth. |
| A．To stop driving his car. | B．To stop working in the factory. |
| C．To stop making paper. | D．To stop burning wood. |
| A．By calling her. | B．By visiting her. |
| C．By sending her emails. | D．Byvisiting www. rainforestweb. org |
| A．To know more about forests on the Earth. |
| B．To make friends with Mr. Lambert. |
| C．To invite Mr. Lambert to teach in her school. |
| D．To ask Mr. Lambert to help protect forests. |
【推荐3】When I first entered college, I wasn’t good at making friends. I wanted to get friendship very much, so I searched on the Internet and found some good tips on how to make friends at college.
Be yourself. That’s what I often do. Trying to be someone else in order to make friends will get you nowhere and will end up hurting you. The more you express your true self in the good way, the more true friends you will make at college.
Know about everything. It will allow you to keep any conversation. You don’t have to know everything well.
Be kind to others. Throughout your life, you will learn that if you are kind to others, they will usually be kind to you. Praise someone. Open the door for someone. Wave to a friend.
Invite people to join you.
根据材料内容，从下面五个选项中选出能填入文中空缺处的最佳选项，使短文意思通顺、内容完整。
| A．Encourage someone who is discouraged. |
| B．You work out, run, or watch football? |
| C．Now I’d like to share them with you. |
| D．A little bit of information on each topic is enough. |
| E．Join people when eating. |
