During the break, Ken was
2 . There is no doubt that technology has had a big influence on our lives. People from all around the world can now talk to each other almost at once on mobile phones and the Internet. People can easily solve their problems with the help of computers and the World Wide Web. With the technology, it seems that the world is more connected now than ever before. Even so, there have been worries about technology making people feel lonely and disconnected from others around them.
So does this mean that technology makes us lonely?
In my opinion, it is hard to say “Yes” or “No”.
It’s true that humans need communication with each other. If we depend on technology too much to communicate, this can badly impact our mental (心理的) health. For me, technology is a tool. And just like any other kind of tool—like scissors, a pencil or a ruler. For example, it depends on how we use it: in a right way or in a right place. Take social media (社交媒体) as an example. If you only use it to compare yourself with others, you might feel sad and lonely. But if you use it as a tool to connect with friends and family or to start a new community to talk about your hobbies and interests, the loneliness will turn into love and friendship.
When you feel lonely after staring at your computer screen all day, maybe you can use that technology to reach out to a reliable (可靠的) friend and invite him or her out for lunch or a coffee.
1. According to the passage, if people depend on technology too much, they may ________.| A．sleep less | B．live longer | C．feel lonely | D．get more jobs |
| A．帮助 | B．促进 | C．影响 | D．进入 |
| A．a tool | B．an influence |
| C．a pair of scissors | D．a way of communication |
| A．argue with | B．compete with | C．connect with | D．compare with |
| A．Social media is important to us. |
| B．Technology can be both good and bad. |
| C．People need to communicate with each other. |
| D．Computers and the Internet help us with our work. |
China’s first artificial intelligence (AI, 人工智能) theme park opened to the public in November, 2018, after 10 months’ renovation(整修) of Haidian Park in Beijing. It is free to the public, allowing anyone to check out the park’s AI devices(设备), Xinhua reported.
Haidian Park covers about 34 hectares near the 4th Ring Road. It received about 1.2 million tourists in 2017. The district government of Haidian and the Internet company Baidu signed an agreement in January to jointly explore the “smart city” building. Haidian Park was chosen to run the pilot programme.
Visitors can travel around the park on driverless buses. There is also a running road that has cameras at its starting point, midway point, and finishing point that can record health data when you run on it. The data include travel distance, time, heartbeat and pulse(脉搏). You can collect this data by following the park’s official WeChat account.
You can learn t’ai chi by practising in front of a screen in the park. Cameras record your movements and compare them with the teacher’s to help you improve.
“It’s hard to imagine that elderly people like me could have such a technological experience,” Mrs He told People’s Daily. Her husband made a video while she was practising t’ai chi.
In recent years, many Chinese hightech companies have set foot in the AI industry. The central government stressed that it would make the development of the country’s new generation of artificial intelligence become better and moresuccessful.
1. If you want to check out the park’s AI devices, how much will you pay?| A．￥5.00. | B．￥10.00. |
| C．￥34.00. | D．None. |
| A．More than one million people visited it in 2017. |
| B．It’s China’s first artificial intelligence theme park. |
| C．The Internet company Baidu manages the park now. |
| D．The park lies near the Fourth Ring Road in Beijing. |
①the running distance
②the running time
③the number of driverless buses
④the heartbeat and pulse
⑤the picture of practising t’ai chi
| A．①②③ | B．①②④ | C．②④⑤ | D．②③⑤ |
| A．Chinese hightech companies' setting foot in the AI industry. |
| B．The development of our new generation of AI. |
| C．The hightech company Baidu. |
| D．The AI industry. |
4 . Owners of Apple’s iPhone were given
One expert said, “Apple has been having a lot of problems recently and this is just the
Making sure you
| A．an | B．a | C．the | D．/ |
| A．succeed | B．succeeded | C．fail | D．failed |
| A．questions | B．problems | C．work | D．jobs |
| A．of | B．from | C．with | D．at |
| A．complaining about | B．worrying about |
| C．talking about | D．asking about |
| A．late | B．later | C．latest | D．earliest |
| A．like | B．say | C．make | D．speak |
| A．school | B．home | C．hospital | D．office |
| A．best | B．last | C．latest | D．earliest |
| A．dates | B．alarm clock | C．calls | D．time |
| A．funny | B．interesting | C．important | D．happy |
| A．go to bed | B．go to work | C．go home | D．wake up |
| A．how | B．what | C．who | D．that |
| A．said | B．reported | C．told | D．asked |
| A．anything | B．something | C．nothing | D．everything |
5 . The Internet, mobile phones and iPads are parts of our lives now. Technology is greatly affecting all ways of our lives, from the ways we work to the ways we play. And it even causes a number of social problems such as cloning (克隆) humans.
We have had lots of technology and it has changed our lives a lot. There is no doubt that humans will continue to use more and more technology. Here are some examples of modern technology that will change our ideas and will affect our lives greatly.
| Global positioning system (GPS) It’s a system that uses radio signals from satellites to show exact (精确的) information. It tells you where the user is on the Earth in all weather conditions. It’s made up of three parts: satellites, control equipment (设备) on land and receivers. |
| Space technology Russian and American scientists have worked together for the International Space Station (ISS) for a long time. They hope the ISS will provide a long-lasting lab. Such a lab will bring humans limitless (无限的) advantages. It’s even hoped that one day space technology will take humans to their new houses in space. |
| Underwater robot Hercules is a kind of underwater robot with some high technology equipment. It will be used to search for ancient ships which were destroyed into the deep sea during their journey long ago. |
The world is changing so quickly that it’s hard for us to catch up with all the new inventions because they seem to come out every month. It’s important for us to learn about new technology and the role that it plays in our lives. So we should be willing to accept modern technology, or we will fall behind the times.
1. According to the passage, which is NOT true about the ISS?| A．It has carried people to other planets. |
| B．It will provide a long-lasting lab for us. |
| C．Russians and Americans are working for it. |
| D．Humans will get a lot of advantages from it. |
| A．Save lives in the sea. | B．Take picture in the sea. |
| C．Repair the broken ships. | D．Look for the ancient ships in the sea. |
| A．The use of GPS is affected by the weather conditions. |
| B．It’s very important for us to learn about new technology. |
| C．It’s easy for us to catch up with all the new inventions. |
| D．Technology brings us many advantages such as cloning humans. |
| A．It’s a system that uses radio signals from satellites to show exact information. |
| B．It can tell where the users is on the Earth in any weather conditions. |
| C．It’s made up of three parts: satellites, control equipment on land and receivers. |
| D．All above are right. |
| A．To help us study some new technology. |
| B．To tell us technology is changing the world. |
| C．To help solve the problems that technology causes. |
| D．To remind us the advantages of technology are limitless. |
6 . Self-driving cars are believed to be the future of driving. Companies including Toyota, Uber and Google are all competing to be the first to bring them to market.
However, car makers need to solve one problem first: How driverless cars communicate with passers-by, bikers and other drivers. Most drivers today use gestures to show their purposes. They wave a car into a lane(车道), or nod at passers-by and cyclists, to let them cross the street. But self-driving cars don’t have this ability. What can they do? US carmaker Ford and its partner Virginia Tech think they have the answer, reported Business Insider. The team is testing a method that uses light signals to show what self-driving cars are doing. For example, if a driverless car is yielding, it could flash two white lights side to side. A solid white light tells there are no humans in the car. A slow blinking light shows the car is coming to a stop. A rapidly flashing light tells passers-by that the car is about to speed up. To test the method on real roads, the team designed a special suit that looks exactly like a car seat. When a driver wears it, it appears to people that the car is really driverless. The team then successfully got more than 1,500 hours of data after about 2,900 kilometres of “self-driving” through busy cities. The data recorded how people interacted with a driverless vehicle. Ford says they plan to share the data with 11 other companies, reported dogonews. com. The company wants to work with other carmakers to design a signaling system that would be understood by all.
1. What are considered to be the future of driving?| A．Flying cars. | B．Driverless cars. | C．Energy-saving cars. | D．Electric cars. |
| A．Communicating with people. | B．Not having enough seatbelts. |
| C．Driving into a lane. | D．Crossing a street. |
| A．加速 | B．减速 | C．让路 | D．超车 |
| A．Flashing light signals. | B．Sending information to smartphones. |
| C．Designing special suits for drivers. | D．Only driving in small cities. |
| A．A solid white light. | B．A slow blinking light. |
| C．A fast flashing light. | D．No lights. |
Do you feel like someone is watching you, even when you’re in a room alone? Well, maybe they are.
A recent article in Los Angeles Times
If you own a smartphone, the phone
In many American
In a word, in this age of technology, it’s
| A．picked up | B．looked after | C．talked about | D．gave up |
| A．losing | B．buying | C．inventing | D．collecting |
| A．never | B．always | C．sometimes | D．hardly |
| A．company | B．owner | C．maker | D．keeper |
| A．animals | B．operas | C．news | D．shows |
| A．table | B．television | C．room | D．body |
| A．museums | B．supermarkets | C．parks | D．theatres |
| A．card | B．gift | C．letter | D．prize |
| A．allowing | B．warning | C．preventing | D．encouraging |
| A．dangerous | B．exciting | C．difficult | D．possible |
| A. medical B. addresses C. difficult D. facing E. burning |
In Kansas City, Missouri, a computer helps fire-fighters. The computer keeps information about every one of the 350,000 street
| A. themselves B. care C. relax D. record E.cure |
With this information, the fire fighters can take special
The Kansas City computer system also keeps a medical
The fire-fighters
9 . Nook’s arrival, Good or Bad?
Booklovers, most of them, will tell you what a pleasure it is to lend a favorite read to a friend—the novel you stayed up all night to get to the end of; the travel book that made you feel as if you yourself were on a train ride through India. For a while it seemed that e-book users were to be denied this pleasure of lending to friends. You could b
But now, with the Nook, the US book chain Barnes and Noble’s response to Amazon’s Kindle, electronic readers will be able to have their l
The Nook offers other features too. You read in black and white on the main screen, just like with Kindle. The difference is that on the lower part of the device there’s a c
Another exciting thing about the Nook is that it offers Wi-Fi, arguably a big advance on previous e-book readers. Customers in the United States can use the Internet connection to read whole e-books at Barnes and Noble’s hundreds of bookstores for free. None of Barnes and Noble’s c
But the Nook, ironically, has t
10 . Researchers said they had found out that there was once an ancient fresh water lake on Mars that might have been able to support life.
A team of researchers from the US Curiosity Rover Mission, analyzed (分析) some mudstone and fine-grained sediment (细粒沉积物) which can tell us that there was at least one lake around 3.6 billion years ago.
The team said their analysis showed that the lake was calm and likely had fresh water, including key biological elements, such as carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen and sulphur (硫磺). Theoretically, such a lake would provide perfect conditions for simple living things.
The findings were published in the US Journal Science and presented at the American Geophysical Union’s fall meeting in San Francisco. “It is important to note that we have not found signs of ancient life on Mars. What we have found is that there once existed a lake on its surface which might make it possible for some simple living things to live billions of years ago,” Professor Sanjeev Gupta said in a statement. Gupta described the new research as “a huge positive step” for the exploration of Mars.
In previous studies, scientists found evidence of water on Mars’ surface in other rocks. However, the new research provides the strongest evidence yet that Mars could have been habitable enough for life to continue.
1. Researchers have found evidence that an ancient fresh water lake probably existed on ________.| A．the Earth | B．Venus | C．Mars | D．the Moon |
| A．oxygen | B．nitrogen | C．hydrogen | D．carbon dioxide |
| A．可居住的 | B．无法生存的 | C．习惯的 | D．不可能的 |
| A．The researchers thought it impossible for a fresh water lake to exist on Mars. |
| B．Gupta thought of the new research as “a huge positive step” for the exploration of Mars. |
| C．Researchers have taken great efforts to find signs of ancient life on Mars. |
| D．The findings about the fresh water lake haven’t been published in the US Journal Science. |
| A．Science. | B．Travelling. | C．Life. | D．Education. |
| A．How did the fresh water lake disappear on Mars? | B．Ancient life signs found on Mars. |
| C．An ancient fresh water lake on Mars. | D．The importance of water. |
