1 . Amazon’s Alexa will be able to revive the voices of deceased relatives, allowing users to feel as if they are speaking to lost ones beyond the grave.
In a video shown on stage, Amazon demonstrated how, instead of the robot Alexa’s signature voice reading a story to a young boy, it was his grandmother’s voice.
Rohit Prasad, an Amazon senior vice president, said the updated system will be able to collect enough voice data from less than a minute of audio to make personalization like this possible, rather than having someone spend hours in a recording studio like how it’s done in the past.
The concept starts from Amazon looking at new ways to add more “human features” to artificial intelligence, especially “in the post-pandemic era, when so many of us have lost someone we love,” Prasad said. “While AI can’t rid that pain of loss, it can definitely make their memories last.”
Amazon has long used AI recreations of people’s voices to voice Alexa. But they have also increasingly improved over the past few years, particularly with the use of AI and deepfake (高仿真的) technology.
However, Amazon’s attempt at personalized Alexa voices may struggle most with the weird valley effect—recreating a voice that is so similar to a loved one’s but isn’t quite right, which leads to rejection by real humans. “For some, they will view this as creepy or outright terrible, but for others it could be viewed in a more profound way, perhaps for the first time and in a way that isn’t a strict recording from the past.” said Michael Inouye of ABI Research. He believes, however, the varying reactions to announcements like this speak to how society will have to adjust to the promise of innovations and their eventual reality in the years ahead.
The technology is also likely to lead to fears that it could be used to impersonate living people, which could be used to bypass security systems. In 2019, a manager at a British energy company lost almost￡200,000 after criminals used AI to fake his boss’s voice, directing him to transfer the company’s funds to a foreign bank account.
1. What is the feature of the updated system of Amazon’s Alexa?| A．It will use AI recreations of people’s voices. |
| B．It will free the grandmother from reading a story. |
| C．It will be highly efficient in collecting voice data. |
| D．It will make a breakthrough in deepfake technology. |
| A．We should tolerate the limitations of new technology. |
| B．Technology should meet the promises it made before. |
| C．Technology should recreate exactly our loved ones’ voice. |
| D．We should constantly increase our demand for technology. |
| A．Interact with. | B．Prove to be. |
| C．Have command of. | D．Pretend to be. |
| A．Critical. | B．Objective. | C．Supportive. | D．Skeptical. |
2 . Scientists have long considered the question of whether and how plants communicate. For years, the topic sparked controversy. Books like 1973’s The Secret Life of Plants suggest that plants grow well if you sing or play classical music. Such statements were later debunked: Any evidence that music helps plants grow is not convincing at all. Still, researchers firmly believe there is some sort of communication going on between plants.
Plant communication is a complicated topic. What we do know is that plants have a wide range of mechanisms for communicating with each other and their surroundings. “It’s quite clear that plants are not just unresponsive victims, but that they are very aware of nearby things,” says Richard Karban, an entomologist at the University of California. “And they respond to reliable information.”
When a plant sends out chemicals in the air in response to a perceived threat, other sensitive leavcs on that same plant, as well as the leaves of their neighbors, perceive those signals and subsequently increase their own defenses. Karban’s research, for instance, shows that plants sound the alarm when they’re attacked by pests, so that other plants respond by growing faster and stronger. Even other species, like tobacco, can sense and react to the alarm.
In a study published in the journal Cell this March, Lilach Hadany, a professor at Tel Aviv University, put tomato and tobacco plants in an isolated box and then recorded ultrasonic (超声的) sounds. They experimented with, cutting stems or leaving them without water to simulate drought. The researchers found that the plants emitted (popping and clicking sounds at around 60 decibels in response, approximately as loud as human chatter. These sounds were at an ultrasonic frequency that humans can’t naturally hear, however. Hadany’s team even matched different sounds to the plants’ environment. And each type of stress could be matched with a specific, identifiable sound.
“We don’t know if they’re using the sound, or if the sounds are emitted in a completely passive way due to physiological changes,” Hadany says. “But we do know they are in the air, and they contain information.”
1. What does the underlined word “debunked” in Paragraph 1 mean?| A．Confirmed. | B．Ignored. | C．Disproved. | D．Promoted. |
| A．Plants can make no response to their attackers. |
| B．Chemicals are sent by plants to attack the perceived threat. |
| C．Plants rely little on their neighbors’ information to survive. |
| D．The alarm sounded by one plant travels beyond plants and species. |
| A．The sounds are loud enough to scare away pests. |
| B．The sounds are produced when plants are in danger. |
| C．The sounds can be heard by man without equipment. |
| D．The sounds can be matched to the human environment. |
| A．To inform readers. | B．To compare things. |
| C．To warn readers. | D．To advertise things. |
3 . Ariel Procaccia has thought a lot about how to cut a cake over the last 15 years. As the father of three children, he knows how hard it is to divide a birthday cake to everyone’s satisfaction. But it’s also because Procaccia’s work focuses on exploring the mathematical rules for dividing stuff up fairly. One way to do that is to think abstractly about dessert.
For decades, researchers have been asking the seemingly simple question of how to cut a cake fairly. The answer reaches far beyond birthday parties. A mathematical problem at its heart, cake cutting connects strict reasoning to real-world issues of fairness, and so attracts not only mathematicians, but also social scientists, economists and more. “It’s a very elegant model in which you can distill what fairness really is, and reason about it,” Procaccia says.
The simplest approach is called the “divider-chooser” method, where one person cuts the cake into two equal pieces in his view, and the other person picks first. Each receives a piece that they feel is as valuable as the other’s. But when personal preferences are taken into account, even the easiest rule becomes complicated. Suppose Alice and Bob are to divide a cake, and Alice knows Bob prefers chocolate, she may knowingly divide the cake unequally so the smaller piece contains more chocolate. Then Bob will choose according to his preference, and Alice will get the larger piece. Both of them are satisfied with what they get, but the meaning of fairness changes in this situation.
The cake is a symbol for any divisible good. When cake-cutting principles are employed to settle disagreements, they are potentially helping the world find solutions. Procaccia has used fair division algorithms(算法) to model food distribution. Social scientist Haris Aziz is exploring situations ranging from how to divide up daily tasks to how to best schedule doctors’ shifts in hospitals.
Even after decades of investigation, cake cutting isn’t like a simple jigsaw puzzle(拼图) with a well-defined solution. Instead, over time, it has evolved into a kind of mathematical sandbox, a constructive playground that brings together abstract proofs and easy applications. The more researchers explore it, the more there is to explore.
1. What does the underlined word “distill” in paragraph 2 mean?| A．Get the essence of. | B．Find the opposite of. |
| C．Keep the focus on. | D．Reduce the impact on. |
| A．Its standard is stable. | B．It prevents unequal division. |
| C．Its concept is complex. | D．It dominates personal preferences. |
| A．The application of its rules. | B．The details of its process. |
| C．The problems it produces. | D．The harmony it symbolizes. |
| A．Who benefits most from fairness? |
| B．How has fairness changed over time? |
| C．What method works best in cake-cutting? |
| D．Why are researchers so interested in cake-cutting? |
4 . Conflict in communities is usually about the task or the person. Of course, sometimes it’s hard to separate one from the other.
Task conflict happens when people have different ideas of what needs to be done. It points to potential differences in opinion about everything you can imagine that is essential for a group: mission, priorities of tasks, compensation mechanism (机制), decision-making mechanisms, etc. Task conflict is not a problem when people realize the source of the conflict is the task and not the people. Community members must resolve tension inclusively with everyone’s voice being heard and acknowledged. However, this does not mean that the solution must include everyone’s opinion. After the conversation, everyone should feel that they had a fair chance to express their opinion and that it was taken seriously by others and not brushed aside.
Conflict between people is tricky because it’s attacking a person’s essence and self-worth. Often this form of conflict, relationship conflict, happens when two conditions are met: First, people have different values or are holding different assumptions, and secondly, neither party can see beyond their own biases. With relationship conflict, the person is perceived to be the problem and is being attacked by others. Each party assumes that most people are on their side and that the other person is acting out of self-interest. This eventually leads to people disagreeing with each other, not for the task’s sake but to prove the other person is wrong.
Sometimes conflict originates in a task. People might prefer different tools or different approaches. If this initial controversy is ignored or not dealt with appropriately, the relatively easy task conflict turns into a more complex relationship conflict. When relationship conflict occurs, a lot of things are reactive rather than reflective. People stop thinking and act impulsively (冲动地).
All in all, remember that every culture has its own way of handling conflict. Some people consider it dishonest if an argument is not addressed openly, while in other cultures, such a discussion will not be acceptable. It comes down to “Don’t assume everyone thinks like you”.
1. What does the underlined phrase “brushed aside” in Paragraph 2 mean?| A．Approved. | B．Ignored. | C．Swept. | D．Denied. |
| A．Eric has a quarrel with his girlfriend in shopping mall. |
| B．Group members are debating which approaches to be used. |
| C．Tom is criticized by his best friend for being irresponsible. |
| D．Two neighbors have a big argument over community health issues. |
| A．Relationship conflict originates from task conflict. |
| B．Task conflict is easier to resolve than relationship conflict. |
| C．Conflict in communities causes people to make impulsive decisions. |
| D．Task conflict can be sometimes transformed into relationship conflict. |
| A．Give a warning. | B．Offer a suggestion. |
| C．Make an assumption. | D．List a misconception. |
5 . As a traveler with a disability, I have always avoided cruises. This expedition-style small-ship cruise changed my mind.
When our expedition leader
In fact, the possibility of
Our visit there wasn’t about what we could do or see. It was an opportunity to just be—to exist in a brief
| A．knew | B．announced | C．remembered | D．replied |
| A．living | B．return | C．landing | D．mark |
| A．failing | B．choosing | C．struggling | D．hoping |
| A．Instead | B．Finally | C．Thus | D．Otherwise |
| A．strategic | B．remote | C．favorable | D．central |
| A．set foot on | B．fell victim to | C．kept track of | D．gained control of |
| A．constructions | B．conditions | C．descriptions | D．distributions |
| A．unwanted | B．unsecured | C．unplanned | D．unauthorized |
| A．mistakenly | B．nervously | C．routinely | D．happily |
| A．walk | B．flight | C．ride | D．path |
| A．dampen | B．share | C．convey | D．fuel |
| A．changed | B．lost | C．fought | D．made |
| A．in response to | B．in view of | C．in contrast to | D．in defense of |
| A．moment | B．experiment | C．glance | D．ceremony |
| A．value | B．need | C．miss | D．experience |
6 . In Favour of Simple Writing
Do you edit text messages carefully before sending them? If so, you may be the kind of person who takes pride in
People are constantly receiving messages, from the mailbox to the inbox to the text-message alert. What to read, what to skim (略读) and what to ignore are decisions that nearly everyone has to make dozens of times a day. A new book titled All Readers are Busy Nowadays makes the argument for being the careful kind of
Take “less is more”. Most books on writing well advocate the advice to
Keeping messages to a
Syntax (句法) and
If everyone is a busy reader, everyone is a busy writer, too. That may make it tempting to sent as many messages as
| A．conveying | B．understanding | C．crafting | D．sending |
| A．care | B．quantity | C．simplicity | D．technology |
| A．reader | B．poster | C．learner | D．writer |
| A．structures | B．principles | C．aims | D．alternatives |
| A．remove | B．ignore | C．reconsider | D．interpret |
| A．conveyed | B．translated | C．tested | D．shaped |
| A．lowered | B．affected | C．doubled | D．maintained |
| A．basic | B．positive | C．definite | D．single |
| A．Recording | B．Reducing | C．Counting | D．Estimating |
| A．in comparison | B．after all | C．for instance | D．in particular |
| A．word-choice | B．pattern-design | C．target-setting | D．platform-selection |
| A．difficult | B．suitable | C．challenging | D．common |
| A．carefully | B．often | C．politely | D．quickly |
| A．outcomes | B．points | C．figures | D．benefits |
| A．received | B．written | C．read | D．answered |
7 . Those who had the pleasure of watching Benny Goodman at work saw a rather ordinary-looking man in rimless glasses and a conservative business suit; but they also saw a human being who could play the clarinet(单簧管) like no one before or since. This made Benny Goodman a unique individual.
Other Americans who have stood out from the flock include Joe DiMaggio, Beverly Sill, Ernest Hemingway and Jonas Salk. They, like Benny Goodman, were recognized and honored for no other reason than excellence.
It is doing something better than other people that makes us unique. Yet a surprising number of people still see individuality as a surface thing. They wear garish clothes, dye their hair strange colors and decorate their skin with tattoos to make some kind of social statement. But an ordinary guy who has dyed his hair purple or orange is nothing more than the same person with a funny-looking head.
The whole purpose of individuality is excellence. Those who invent, who improvise(即兴发挥), who know more about a subject than other people do, and who take something that doesn’t work and make it work––these people are the very soul of capitalism.
Charles Kettering didn’t like the idea of cranking a car to make it start, so he invented the electric starter. Henry Ford figured out the assembly-line technique and made it possible to mass-produce automobiles, and Elisha Otis, inventor of the elevator, indirectly created the city sky-line. These people understood that individualism means working at the top of one’s capacity.
The ones with the purple hair and the funky jewelry are just along for the ride, trying to be “different” and not knowing how to go about it.
The student who earns straight A’s on his report card has grasped the idea and has found the real meaning of individuality. So has the youngster who has designed his own spaceship, who gives piano recitals, who paints pictures of the world around him.
Benny Goodman understood it too. This is why he was at his best, blowing his clarinet, in a blue suit and black shoes.
1. The author mentions the appearance of Benny Goodman to _________.| A．show what a talented musician should look like |
| B．introduce an important figure in the musical world |
| C．contrast with his talent in music performance |
| D．indicate that he can’t stand out from the flock |
| A．an individualist tends to seek difference both in character and appearance |
| B．the essence of individualism lies in pursuing excellence to the full |
| C．being different in appearance is the very first step to being individual |
| D．those who strive to win the recognition of others are real individualists |
| A．A scientist who conducts research solely advancing knowledge for the greater good rather than for personal recognition. |
| B．A social media influencer who conforms to popular opinions to maintain a large following. |
| C．An artist who creates unique works but fail to gain fame and recognition from others. |
| D．An entrepreneur who prioritizes ethical considerations over profit in his business practices. |
| A．specific to general | B．cause and effect |
| C．examples and conclusion | D．comparison and contrast |
8 . Sharks and their relatives are some of the most threatened vertebrates (脊椎动物) on Earth. Coral reefs (珊瑚礁) provide homes for countless fish species that are vital for fisheries and are therefore an especially important ecosystem for humans — and one where the decline of shark populations seems to be especially acute.
The study by Simpfendorfer with his team is the result of a worldwide collaboration called the Global FinPrint project. The data analyzed include more than 20,000 hours of standardized underwater video taken at nearly 400 reefs in 67 countries around the world. It reveals declines of 60 to 73% of once-abundant coral reef shark species at reefs around the world. The global conservation status of sharks and rays (鳐鱼) is worse than a decade ago and is even more concerning for some groups of sharks.
However, the findings of Simpfendorfer with his team include signs of hope and a clear path forward. Their results show that although shark populations in many reefs had declined, some healthy reef shark populations remained. The reefs with healthier shark populations had some important similarities: They tended to be in the waters of high-income countries with stronger natural resource management regulations. Unfortunately, such countries are relatively rare, and lower-income countries tend to have fewer resources for sustainable management.
The most unexpected result of the study is that a decline or complete loss of shark species in one reef was not always associated with similar changes in nearby reefs. They found that one reef can be overfished so badly that a once-common reef shark species is totally gone, but another reef a short distance away can have healthy populations of that same species.
The problem is clear — animals that provide ecosystem services that are vital for human food security and livelihoods are disappearing at an alarming rate. The loss of sharks and the ecosystem services they provide represents an ecological disaster that can cause substantial harm to humans.
1. Why is Simpfendorfer with his team mentioned in paragraph 2?| A．To stress the result of global collaboration. |
| B．To state the urgency of protecting the ocean. |
| C．To show the severe condition of certain sharks. |
| D．To present the figures of their contributions to sharks. |
| A．developed countries | B．strict laws in rich countries |
| C．similarities between other waters | D．overfishing management regulations |
| A．Humans and animals coexist in ecosystem. |
| B．Changes in reefs lead to loss of shark species. |
| C．It’s not clear whether humans cause damage to biodiversity. |
| D．The declined shark species have nothing to do with overfishing. |
| A．Acute Decline of reef sharks | B．Potential recovery of reef sharks |
| C．Global cooperation of food security | D．Amazing discovery of Coral reefs |
9 . More than one-third of the world’s food is wasted or thrown away, most of which ends up in landfills, producing very large amounts of planet-warming greenhouse gases. Now, many studies show that it is becoming harder to grow enough food to feed an increasing population due to climate change and soil degradation.
But one of the most promising and simplest solutions lies in the problem itself: this wasted food — if composted (堆肥) — could slow climate change and improve soil quality. Higher-quality soil also continues to absorb more carbon from the atmosphere, helping to improve plants and contributing further to fighting climate change. Returning one ton of organic matter to each hectare of soil would increase the production of cereal crops each year in Africa, Asia and South America by millions of tons.
While it is true that people can compost in their yards, community gardens, or even on their kitchen counters, larger-scale efforts, including infrastructure (基础设施) and incentives (激励) for consumers, would take it to the next level. Imagine if consumers could just leave unwanted food in a roadside bin for pickup, or drop it off at a local store, earning a few cents a bucket, just like what has been offered for recycling bottles or newspapers.
Moreover, in the case of composting, the payment incentive system would be sustainable because the end-product of compost can be sold to farmers, making it an economically workable model, something that is often lacking in recycling, especially for certain materials, like many types of plastics.
Eventually, more widespread composting of food would pave the way for solutions to additional waste challenges, such as the disposal of packaging and clothing. This will have other positive effects as well; if more consumers compost, companies will be more inspired to make and use compostable packaging, clothing, and other products. While more compostable items are starting to emerge today, additional composting will further drive demand and innovation, and offer a game-changing solution for the planet.
1. What is paragraph 1 mainly about?| A．The uneven distribution of food around the world. |
| B．The burden of population growth on the planet. |
| C．The urgency of properly dealing with wasted food. |
| D．The great impact of climate change on food. |
| A．A good system is needed to carry out it effectively. |
| B．It would take a long term to have an effect. |
| C．It is only workable on a small scale. |
| D．It may raise people’s awareness of reducing food waste. |
| A．It is highly profitable. |
| B．It is easy to carry out. |
| C．It is a sustainable economic cycle pattern. |
| D．It is more effective than other recycling systems. |
| A．How Wasted Food Could Be Reduced |
| B．How Wasted Food Could Save the Planet |
| C．How Wasted Food Could Impact Humans |
| D．How Wasted Food Could Become a Business |
10 . To adapt is to move ahead
That was the afternoon when I knew I would never swim. I remembered how my weak neck
Spinal muscular atrophy（脊髓性肌萎缩症）, a genetic disease, causes severe
Swimming had once
When the moment arrived, it was
Like other people with disabilities, I often feel societal pressure to
I had to find other ways to connect with the water and my loss. Swimming is now
Swimming was the first big physical
| A．gave way | B．took place | C．gained ground | D．kept control |
| A．appearance | B．voice | C．body | D．soul |
| A．pain | B．shortage | C．depression | D．weakness |
| A．aimless | B．weightless | C．restless | D．helpless |
| A．said | B．meant | C．offered | D．left |
| A．increasingly | B．barely | C．slightly | D．fortunately |
| A．appeal | B．dream | C．request | D．attempt |
| A．boring | B．encouraging | C．stressful | D．pleasant |
| A．acceptance | B．embarrassment | C．comfort | D．regret |
| A．forgive | B．entertain | C．push | D．defend |
| A．Denying | B．Recognizing | C．Ignoring | D．Forgetting |
| A．significant | B．fantastic | C．available | D．impossible |
| A．effect | B．joy | C．inspiration | D．damage |
| A．disability | B．activity | C．loss | D．advantage |
| A．change | B．miss | C．practise | D．admit |
