1 . Ever wondered why your virtual（虚拟的）home helper doesn't understand your questions? Or why your navigation app took you on the side street instead of the highway? In a study published April 21st in the journal iScience, Italian researchers, Arianna Pipitone and Antonio Chella, designed a robot that “thinks out loud”.
To explore how inner speech might influence a robot’s actions, the researchers built a robot called Pepper that speaks to itself. It has the ability to reason and think. They then asked people to set the dinner table with Pepper according to etiquette（礼仪）rules. In one experiment, the user asked Pepper to lay the napkin at the wrong place, going against the rules. Pepper started asking itself a series of self-directed questions and concluded that the user might be mistaken. To be sure, Pepper confirmed the user’s order, which led to further inner speech.
“Ehm, this situation troubles me. I would never break the rules, but I can’t make the user unhappy, so I’m doing what he wants,” Pepper said to itself, laying the napkin where it was required to be. Through Pepper’s inner voice, the user can learn Pepper was facing a difficult situation and solved it by prioritizing the user’s order.
Comparing Pepper’s actions with and without inner speech, Pipitone and Chella discovered the robot had a higher task-completion rate when having self-dialogue.
However, some people find the robot spends more time completing tasks when it talks to itself. The robot’s inner speech is also limited to the knowledge that researchers gave it. Pepper’s designers still say their work provides a framework（构架）to further explore how self-dialogue can help robots focus, plan, and learn. “In some ways, we are creating a generational（世代的）robot that likes to chat. From navigation apps and the camera on your phone to medical robots in the operation rooms, machines and computers alike can take advantage of this chatty feature,” says Chella.
1. Why does the writer ask two questions at the very beginning of the passage?| A．To draw the reader’s attention to the topic. |
| B．To show the writer likes electronic products. |
| C．To tell the reader about the history of robots. |
| D．To prove the writer often faces trouble in life. |
| A．To see how much time Pepper spent laying the napkin. |
| B．To confirm how popular Pepper was among its users. |
| C．To test how many etiquette rules Pepper remembered. |
| D．To study how self-dialogue might influence Pepper’s actions. |
| A．repeating | B．dealing with… first | C．going against | D．complaining about |
| A．The designers are proud of their work about Pepper. |
| B．Pepper has already been in use in the operation rooms. |
| C．Pepper’s inner speech depends on its user’s communication skills. |
| D．With or without inner speech, Pepper could complete a task equally well. |
2 . While I was jumping rope, my smartphone took a fall to the floor which created cracks (裂缝) on my screen. However, the music kept playing 30 minutes later, I could see only one tenth of my screen while the rest was black. The next morning, I decided not to use it for 24 hours. I felt a sense of calm that day, which led to my not using it for one week. One week ended up becoming 60 days in total without my smartphone.
Here are some advantages I noticed in this challenge.
—You’ll become “bored”
Without my phone, I became bored, but my mind went through all kinds of topics. Boredom（无聊) is a perfect way to create new ideas on a business or project. When you are bored, you allow your mind to relax to reach all possibilities.
—You’ll be able to reduce your “work” hours
A survey found that adults checked their smartphones 85 times a day, or once every 10 minutes. As I learned in my challenge, by not having my smartphone, I fell into deep work more easily, so I completed my tasks in a shorter time.
—You’ll improve your mental health
Without my phone, I avoided reading negative (负面的) news and comments. While that helped make a big improvement in my mental health, the biggest reason for it was truly communicating with people. It brought me more connections with humans in the real world. I went to more dinners with friends and asked more questions to strangers.
1. What happened to the writer’s smartphone?| A．It was lost. | B．It had no sound. |
| C．Its music stopped playing. | D．Its screen was mostly black. |
| A．For 24 hours. | B．For one week. |
| C．For one month. | D．For sixty days. |
| A．to create new ideas | B．to start a business |
| C．to set up a project | D．to relax the body |
| A．more terribly | B．more quickly |
| C．more carelessly | D．more comfortably |
| A．Chatting on the phone. | B．Reading negative news. |
| C．Communicating in the real world. | D．Avoiding meeting friends and strangers. |
3 . Shopping used to mean going to shops, but now you can shop without even leaving your house.Just sit in front of your computer, click （点击） your mouse, and then your things will be sent to your house in several days.
“Things online are often much cheaper.It also saves me a lot of time.And we often have more choices at many online stores than in shopping malls,” said Wang Xin, an online shopping lover in Beijing.
Another big advantage of online shopping is that it helps people get things from different cities, even different countries.“I like eating duck necks very much and I often buy them from online shops in Wuhan. They’re much more delicious than what our local stores sell,” said Zhang Xi, a girl in Yangzhou.
While enjoying online shopping, many people also have worries, especially for middle school student buyers.Some young students are easily attracted by advertisements on the Internet and they often buy things that they don’t need．
“Middle school students should pay more attention to their study,” said Jing Chunling, an education expert.“It’s dangerous when young students can buy things such as cigarettes so easily.”
Shopping online | |
| Advantages | ►For some people, it can help save ►Online stores provide more ►People can buy things from different cities or |
| Disadvantages | ►Some young students buy things they don’t ►Buying things like cigarettes online so easily is |
4 . How do blind people get around safely? Some people use special guide dogs. A well-trained dog knows how to help its owner cross busy streets and get from place to place. Some people use long white canes（手杖）to help them get around.
Guide dogs and canes are helpful, but there must be a better way for blind people to get around. A scientist in England thought so. His name is Waters and he studies bats（蝙蝠）. He knows that bats are able to fly in the dark. Besides, he knows that bats go by using sound to “see”. Dr. Waters wondered if people could do something similar.
Bats make sounds as they fly. These sounds travel in waves（波）in the air. When the waves hit an object such as a tree or house, they bounce back（反射回来）. The waves travel back to the bat’s ears. A bat learns the location and shape of objects around it.
Dr. Waters talked to other scientists. including Withington from America and Hoyle from Germany. They all worked together and invented a new kind of cane. They called it a “bat cane” because their idea started with bats. The new cane has a computer in the handle（手柄）,
With a little training, a person using the cane can easily tell where objects are and can “see” with sound!
1. A ________ helps the blind go across busy streets.| A．bat | B．black cane | C．computer | D．well-trained dog |
| A．Germany | B．England | C．America | D．France |
| A．it looked like a bat | B．a bat had been trained |
| C．their idea began with bats | D．they thought a bat may bring good luck to the blind |
| A．It makes noise that helps humans |
| B．It produces some songs that humans can hear |
| C．It sends out high sounds that humans cannot hear |
| D．It tells the blind that there isn’t anything around them. |
| A．funnier | B．more exciting | C．more difficult | D．more convenient |
5 . Believe it or not, dental floss(牙线) has been around for thousands of years. Researchers have discovered dental floss in the ancient teeth of prehistoric(史前的) humans. After all, people have been getting food stuck in their teeth since they began to eat!
In the early 1800s, a dentist advised people to use the dental floss. In 1819, New Orleans (新奥尔良) dentist Levi Spear Parmly wrote a book called A Practical Guide to the Management of the Teeth. In the book, he advised people to floss waxed(含蜡的) silk thread(线).
Although historians believe Parmly was the inventor of modern dental floss, the first patent(专利) for dental floss was presented to Asahel M. Shurtleff in 1874. Shurtleff's company didn’t begin to provide unwaxed silk floss for home use until 1882.
However, dental floss didn't become popular right away. Professional dentistry was still a developing field, and silk thread was expensive. Flossing didn’t become more common until World War II ended. At that time Dr. Charles C. Bass used nylon (尼龙) floss to replace silk floss. Then today, dental floss is still made of nylon, as well as other types of plastic fibers(纤维).
Some dentists say that we’d better floss at least once each day if we want to keep our teeth clean and healthy. Sadly, studies have shown that only 10 percent to 40 percent of Americans floss every day.
1. Parmly gave advice to people that they could use ________ to clean teeth.| A．waxed silk thread | B．unwaxed silk thread |
| C．nylon floss | D．plastic “floss picks” |
| A．Levi Spear Parmly. | B．Asahel M. Shurtleff. | C．Dr. Charles C．Bass. | D．Not mentioned. |
| A．take the place of | B．change the place of | C．help to produce | D．give up |
| A．A Practical Guide to the Management of the Teeth is an article |
| B．there hadn’t been unwaxed silk floss since people use dental floss |
| C．you need to wrap(包，缠绕) it around your finger when you use “floss picks” |
| D．some dentists advise us to floss at least once each day |
| A．Development of Dental Floss |
| B．Famous Dentists in America |
| C．A Famous Book about Dentistry |
| D．Different Materials of Dental Floss |
In some parts of the world，they're called muskegs or moors. In the United States，you probably know them as swamps or bogs. But no matter what they're called，wetlands（湿地；沼泽地）have one thing in common around the world—they're very important to plants，animals and the environment. Thousands of kinds of plants and animals，including many on the endangered animal list，depend on wetlands for a living. Some animals live in or near wetlands all year long. Others，like migrating birds（候鸟），stop by wetlands to feed and rest on their journey.
Wetlands are very important to people，too. They hold water that could cause floods（洪水）.During dry times，they slowly let water run back into rivers. Plants that grow in wetlands help cut down on pollution. That helps to keep our drinking water clean.
Many wetlands in the United States have been used to build shopping malls，roads and homes.
It's said that about 243 km2 of wetlands are lost in the United States every year. Without wetlands，rivers dry up and streets become flooded. That also creates big problems for animals that can't live anywhere else.
May is American Wetlands Month. It's the perfect time to remind people to save wetlands.
1. What are wetlands called in the USA？2. Why are wetlands important to migrating birds？
3. How do wetlands protect people from floods？
4. What will happen to animals without wetlands？
5. When do people in the USA celebrate the importance of wetlands？
Tai Chi is a form of Chinese martial arts (武术). Lots of people are crazy about it. Among them is Ye Yongxiang.
Ye, in fact, is a talented Tai Chi master. She started online videos to teach Tai Chi on “Mixiong TV” in February, 2017. She hopes to share the traditional martial art with people around the world.
Ye is known in China’s online community as the Tai Chi Goddess. Her Weibo now has more than 70,000 followers, and her online lessons have made thousands of young people fall in love with the ancient martial art.
Ye was born in the mid-1980s in Shanghai. She started learning Tai Chi from her mother, a professional martial artist, when she was just three years old. Her first Tai Chi performance took place when she was six. And she began formal (正式的) training at the age of eight.
After graduating from a top sports university in Shanghai, Ye worked as a Tai Chi coach. In 2014, she competed in the Hong Kong Wushu championship (冠军赛). After winning gold medals (金牌) in all of the three Tai Chi events, Ye bacame China’s youngest Tai Chi master.
For Ye, her wish is to spread the Tai Chi culture, and she also hopes to bring it to modern society.
1. When did Ye Yongxiang appear on “Mixiong TV” to teach Tai Chi?2. Are Ye Yongxiang’s online lessons very popular?
3. Who did Ye Yongxiang first learn Tai Chi from?
4. How many gold medals did Ye Yongxiang win at the Hong Kong Wushu championship?
5. What does Ye Yongxiang hope to do?
8 . Plants and animals are largely made of water. So are humans. They need to keep enough water inside them, or they could die.
We get some of the water we need by eating food that has water in it. Drinks, such as milk and tea, are mostly water, too. A person needs water every day. If we go without water for three or four days, we will lose too much water from our bodies. In very hot weather, we could lose this water in just one day.
What does water do to help our bodies? Water helps to take the nutrition（营养）from food to our bodies. It also helps to take the wastes away from different parts of our bodies.
In our homes, we also need water for many things. We need water for cooking, washing and flushing（冲水）the toilet. About three quarters of the water is used in the bathroom and toilet. The rest is mainly used in the laundry（洗衣房）and kitchen.
___________It may come from a lake or a river. It may come from the sea, from the rain and snow or from the underground. Water rises from rivers and seas to make clouds, and then falls again as rain and snow. The water you drink has been around for millions of years. It just keeps being recycled.
Many people work hard to make sure we always have clean water in our homes. Water is very important for all living things, so we should use it carefully.
1. Living things could ___________ without enough water inside them.| A．grow | B．die | C．live | D．develop |
| A．taking wastes away | B．losing water quickly |
| C．changing water slowly | D．eating and drinking |
| A．nutrition | B．food | C．wastes | D．drinks |
| A．kitchen | B．living room | C．toilet | D．bedroom |
| A．How do we save water? | B．What do we use water for? |
| C．Where does water come from? | D．Where do we wash our clothes? |
It is everyone's duty to help animals to stop extinction (灭绝). As a student, there are so many things you can do yourself too! Please look at the following tips (建议) to help the endangered animals.
Send a letter to your local environment protecting center and show how you feel about the quick extinction of animals. Use the facts to write what you have found. Give some advice to the officers who make the strong rules to save animals.
Draw pictures and make a poster. Put this poster somewhere at school or where people will usually see it. Add some texts in the sign to make it clear why you care about the loss (丧失) of animals. It may encourage people to do something to protect the animals.
Avoid buying things that come from endangered species (物种). When you travel, be careful about what you buy. You shouldn't buy things made from endangered animals or endangered tree species from forests that the animals live on.
Watch your diet. Before eating meals, you should see if you will break a food chain. If you see somebody doing something bad for the food chain, please stop him at once.
1. Who make rules to save the endangered animals?___________________________________________________________________
2. Where should we put the poster?
___________________________________________________________________
3. Is it right to buy a gift made of ivory (象牙) while travelling?
___________________________________________________________________
4. Why should we watch our diet?
___________________________________________________________________
5. What is the writer's purpose according to the passage?
___________________________________________________________________
10 . Laugh at yourself. Learning to laugh at yourself is one of the biggest differences between happy people and depressed(沮丧的) people. If you can turn hard moments, mistakes, and shortcomings as chances for a good laugh at yourself, those things will affect you less.
Laughing at yourself helps to tell the differences between “who you are” and “what you do”. Everyone possibly makes a mistake sometimes, and it doesn’t have to define(定义) you as a person. Laughing at yourself communicates to both you and the people around you that it’s okay.
Don’t worry about the sound of your laugh. Everyone’s laugh is different, if yours is polite and the source(来源) of legitimate(合理的) joy, you don’t need to worry about having an “ugly” laugh. There’s no such thing.
If you’re worried about laughing and often worried what people will think of you, it’s hard to really have fun. If you’re with the kind of people who make fun of someone for laughing, find new friends.
Take your time. Even a busy person should learn to spare time for himself and spend time just staying alone. Doing these will help you relax and keep you calm and ready to laugh.
Make sure you do something you enjoy each day. Relax by playing a record and smiling to yourself, having your favorite drink. Keep control of your mood.
Try to add 15 minutes to your day where you can do something like watch a comedy TV play or look at humorous photos online. Try to put this in your timetable right after the most stressful part of your day if you can.
1. Laughing at yourself can _______.| A．make you depressed | B．make a few mistakes |
| C．give you a good chance | D．make you happy |
| A．the differences between “who you are ” and “what you do” |
| B．everyone possibly makes a mistake sometimes |
| C．you think of yourself as a kind person |
| D．you know the people around you who is important |
| A．even your laugh is polite and the source of legitimate joy, it may be an ugly laugh |
| B．everyone’s laugh is different from each other |
| C．those who laugh at your laugh are not true friends |
| D．a busy man should spare time for himself and spend time just staying alone |
| A．Have a lot of drinks and sing. | B．Do nothing but watch TV. |
| C．Play a record and smile to herself. | D．Look at humorous photos on the wall. |
| A．Laugh at Yourself | B．Laugh at Your Friends |
| C．The Sound of Your Laugh | D．Laugh 15 Minutes a Day |
