Humans’ Greatest Achievements
The Earth is about 4.6 billion years old, but the humans have lived on it for just 200,000 years. In that short time, we have achieved some amazing things.
What about the arts? The arts have brought pleasure to many people, but are the Beatles and Bach more important than antibiotics?
Finally, we must not forget humans’ early achievements.
What are humans’ greatest achievements? To answer the question, we need to decide what we mean by “great”.
根据短文内容，将正确的选项还原到文中空白处，使短文内容完整、通顺（每个选项只能用一次）。
| A．Is it something that makes us rich or happy or saves lives. |
| B．They used fire for cooking and heating and invented the wheel. |
| C．Many of humans’ great achievements are in science and technology. |
| D．And is Mickey Mouse as important an achievement as going to space? |
| E．We could probably live without them, but life wouldn’t be as interesting. |
相似题推荐
Over the last year, 30 students between the ages of 21 and 25 from the Netherlands took a year off from university to work on developing a solar-powered car. The car is called Stella Terra.
In order to create a car that could deal with the kind of tough driving the team was planning for, the students had to design the car from top to bottom.
On top, of course, were the solar panels (嵌板). Most solar panels are only about 20% efficient (有效的). That means they waste about 80% of the sunlight they get. But the Stella Terra’s solar panels are 97% efficient.
Like most electric cars, Stella Terra stores energy in a battery. Thanks to its powerful solar panels and its battery, when it’s sunny, the car can run for 440 miles a day. Stella Terra can carry two people, and has a top speed of 90 mph. The car weighs just 2,600 pounds. That’s about two-thirds the weight of a common car.
On the bottom, the team designed a system to help the car deal with heavy shaking that comes when driving over rough (粗糙的) surfaces.
The team recently took the car on its biggest test—a challenging 620-mile test drive across Morocco. The car had to travel through forests as well as dry riverbeds. It had to drive across desert sand and up mountain roads. The car succeeded in doing all of this.
The team is very proud of their car, and they won’t be upset if car companies start to copy their ideas. In fact, they hope that other car companies try to work on similar projects.
1. What does NOT the author mention in the first paragraph?| A．The name of the car. | B．The team behind the car. |
| C．The time for making the car. | D．The good points of Stella Terra. |
| A．They are less efficient. | B．They are made by scientists. |
| C．They waste far less sunlight. | D．They can take in 80%of sunlight. |
| A．Some basic information on Stella Terra. |
| B．The way the solar panels work to run the car. |
| C．Difficulties the students met in making the car. |
| D．Stella Terra’s differences from most electric cars. |
| A．The car ran 600 miles in total. |
| B．It was a really successful test. |
| C．It was taken in the students’ country. |
| D．The car ran all kinds of roads for the test. |
| A．To ask car companies to speed up. | B．To introduce some creative students. |
| C．To show a new solar-powered car. | D．To encourage students to follow the team. |
【推荐2】新的科学发明——机器鱼
Scientists will put some robot fish into the sea near Spain (西班牙) this year. These robot fish will help people find out the pollution in the water. If the robot fish are able to finish their work successfully, the team of scientists hope the fish will be used in rivers, lakes and seas around the world.
The robot fish are about 1.5 meters long. There is a detector (探测器) in their bodies. It can find the pollution in the water, and then the robot fish will eat part of it.
They can “swim” for eight hours in the sea freely and send back information to people on the beach. After their energy runs down, they will go back to the beach on their own.
There are five robot fish altogether. Each costs about 29,000 dollars. They are part of a three-year project between engineering company BMT Group and Essex University in southeastern England.
1. From the passage we know the robot fish can ________.| A．finish the work successfully now | B．work in the sea near England |
| C．help people find out the pollution in the water | D．eat out all bad animals in the water |
| A．They carry the pollution to the deep sea. | B．They will eat part of it. |
| C．They will stop working. | D．They will swim back to tell people to pull the rubbish out. |
| A．14,500 | B．29,000 | C．145,000 | D．38,000 |
| A．The robot fish can catch a lot of real fish in the water. |
| B．The robot fish never stop working. |
| C．People have to keep giving the robot fish energy when they’re under the water. |
| D．The robot fish can go back to the beach by themselves. |
【推荐3】Li Lirong opened the iShenzhen app, chose two bottles of milk and pressed OK on the screen. A few minutes later, she picked up the milk, which was free, from a nearby dispenser（自动售货机）. The cleaner in Shenzhen has been enjoying free products for several months. “It’s really heart-warming,” Li said. “Although it is a small act by the government, it shows great love.”
Shenzhen’s Futian District has launched a “Futian food bank” program. It encourages companies（公司）dealing with the food business to give away products that are about to expire（到期）. People can choose the products on the iShenzhen app and collect them from certain dispensers. The service is now open to people with low pay, such as cleaners and gardening workers, and people with special needs, such as childless elderly people.
“In order to prevent food waste in Futian, we set up the food bank program,” said Tang Yuhong, an officer of Futian District. “We also hope to give real help to people in need.” Tang hopes more companies and people can take part in the program.
Freshippo, a shopping platform（平台）, is one of the companies taking part in the program. And it has given away thousands of products so far. “Freshippo wants to play a leading role in the fight against food waste and help people in need. We will do more in the future.” said Shang Jun, one director of the company. Other shopping platforms such as Meituan and Dingdong Maicai are also taking part in the program.
Futian District plans to increase the number of dispensers and provide more help for people in need.
1. What may Li Lirong think of the iShenzhen app?| A．It is fun. | B．It is helpful. | C．It is strange. | D．It is dangerous. |
| A．checked | B．imagined | C．started | D．mentioned |
| A．by Shang Jun | B．by Tang Yuhong |
| C．for online shopping platforms | D．for the poor and the people with special needs |
| A．Freshippo will do more to prevent food waste. |
| B．Freshippo is popular among the people in Futian District. |
| C．Freshippo will start more food bank programs in Shenzhen. |
| D．Freshippo plans to work with Meituan and Dingdong Maicai. |
It happened in a New York classroom. Sixteen-year-old Taylor Engler came face to face with a cow. But it was all in her head.
She was trying out a virtual reality (VR, 虚拟现实) headset (头戴式眼罩). It took junior students of Berkeley Carroll School to a farm. The farm was 400 kilometers away.
Students across the US are taking VR “trips”. They are swimming in the deep sea. They are watching medical operations (手术). They are even “walking” through the human body. Teachers say this helps students understand their learning material and get better grades.
“It grabs the students right away,” Colin Jones, a science teacher from Plainview-Old Bethpage Central School District, told AP News. He uses a VR system called Space to cut up cells (细胞). “It’s something that can be done in 40 minutes,” he said. “But it could take even a week when you are doing a lab.”
“It is different from watching a video because you can have more than one perspective (视角). You can actually move.” Taylor said during her “trip” on the farm.
But there are not many classrooms that can use this technology. VR systems are very expensive. Experts hope that more students can use it in the future, especially for doing science experiments (实验) that could be too dangerous to do in real life.
1. How did Taylor Engler see a cow in class?| A．By visiting a farm. | B．By drawing a picture. |
| C．By watching a film. | D．By using a VR headset. |
| A．It can take students to have a trip. | B．It helps students study easier and better. |
| C．Students can swim in the deep sea. | D．Students can watch medical operations. |
| A．影响 | B．破坏 | C．利用 | D．吸引 |
| A．It is quicker to cut up cells by using a VR system. |
| B．Using VR is the same as watching a video. |
| C．VR systems are cheap enough to use. |
| D．Most students can use this technology for doing dangerous science experiments now. |
| A．Boring VR Classes | B．Interesting VR Classes |
| C．Meaningless VR Classes | D．Expensive VR Classes |
【推荐2】According to the China Manned Space Engineering Office, the Tiangong space station has made key technology breakthroughs in its major system. It is expected to be fully operational around 2022.
The Long March 5B carrier rocket is planned to make its first flight in the first half of 2020. The fight will also be the first of China's manned space station missions.
China's space station program will include three phases. Long March 5B's first flight belongs to the first phase, and it will include six missions. The second phase will also include six such missions.
The Tiangong station will include a core module and two space labs. When it becomes operational, Shenzhou manned spaceships will carry astronauts while Tianzhou cargo spaceships will deliver supplies.
The space station is designed for a ten-year service life .This could be extended through repairs according to future research needs. The station can hold three astronauts for long stays. During special times, it can hold up to six astronauts for short periods, The Chinese space station is open to the world, 18 countries have been admitted, except one country.
China has made many achievements in its manned space program. Up to now, it has successfully launched six manned spaceships. Eleven Chinese astronauts have gone into space and returned to the Earth safely.
1. The Tiangong space station has made key technology breakthroughs in its _________.| A．major system | B．flight time | C．core module | D．space labs |
| A．in 2020 | B．in2021 | C．in 2022 | D．in 2024 |
| A．车辆 | B．货物 | C．科技 | D．载人 |
| A．Six. | B．Seven. | C．Ten. | D．Eleven. |
| A．China's First Space Station. |
| B．The Long March 5B Carrier Rocket. |
| C．A Core Module and Two Space Labs. |
| D．China Has Made Many Achievements. |
【推荐3】①AI (artificial intelligence 人工智能) and machine learning refer to the ability of machines to learn and act intelligently. It means they can make decisions, finish tasks, and even tell the possible future results based on what they learn from data (数据).
②AI and machine learning already play a bigger role in everyday life than you might imagine. Health care, banking, video games, every search on the Internet you make..., all are driven by AI.
③AI is going to change almost every field of modern life. Stephen Hawking said, “Success in creating AI would be the biggest event in human history.” And Hawking added at once, “Unluckily, it might also be the last, unless we learn how to avoid the risks.”
④ ▲ especially when you consider some countries are racing to develop AI-enabled autonomous weapons (人工智能自主武器). It is also going to change and take the place of many human jobs. The same worries also come from the public. According to the survey result from Centre for the Governance of AI, 91% of the people (tend to and totally) agree that “AI is a technology that requires careful management” in Europe.
⑤But rather than agreeing with an idea of a helpless future where all human jobs are given over to robots, some people believe AI will make on working lives better. It will improve the work of humans, and new jobs will appear to take the place of the old ones.
⑥What’s more, machines become more intelligent and they are able to finish more human tasks. Things which only belong to humans lie creativity and critical (批判性的) thinking, will become even more valuable in the future.
⑦Like it or not, AI is here. Maybe changing ourselves and managing it well are the best way out. Just as Benjamin Franklin once said, “When you’re finished changing, you’re finished.”
1. What do we know from Paragraph 3? ________| A．The creator of AI. |
| B．Ways to create better AI. |
| C．Hawkings worries about AI. |
| D．Changes to our lives by AI. |
| A．Also, you can find AI serving our daily lives in every possible field |
| B．Humans are surely more creative and better at many things than AI |
| C．Without doubt, AI is a fantastic technology to lead us into the future |
| D．As we know, there are possible huge risks for society and human life |
| A．To warn us that AI will take humans’ place. |
| B．To show us that there are a lot of uses of AI. |
| C．To tell us that many people are worried about AI. |
| D．To suggest we prepare for the changes brought by AI. |
Paragraph 1＝①.
| A．①②/③④/⑤⑥⑦ |
| B．①/②/③④/⑤⑥/⑦ |
| C．①/②③/④⑤/⑥/⑦ |
| D．①②/③④⑤/⑥⑦ |
