1 . There is a big difference between offering to help and helping. Almost all of us are guilty (内疚的) about the following
Once I was in the situation where I
After that
| A．rule | B．problem | C．situation | D．excuse |
| A．confusing | B．sincere | C．honest | D．careful |
| A．understood | B．performed | C．missed | D．received |
| A．think | B．learn from | C．complain about | D．suggest |
| A．valuable | B．painful | C．exciting | D．fresh |
| A．Luckily | B．Disappointedly | C．Basically | D．Gradually |
| A．doubts | B．worries | C．anger | D．sadness |
| A．attended | B．earned | C．joined | D．prepared |
| A．after | B．when | C．until | D．once |
| A．experience | B．education | C．experiment | D．adventure |
| A．change | B．appreciate | C．ignore | D．follow |
| A．cheated | B．accepted | C．refused | D．respected |
| A．stop | B．finish | C．keep | D．try |
| A．small | B．specific | C．unusual | D．right |
| A．patience | B．courage | C．confidence | D．kindness |
2 . Asia’s centuries-long fascination with fair skin has deep roots and, even today, is influenced by Eurocentric (以欧洲为中心的) beauty standards linking paleness with charm. The questioned concept dating from colonial history is continued through media channels.
This fascination is vividly reflected in the make-up industry, leading to a multi-billion-dollar market for skin-whitening products across Asia. A striking survey conducted by WHO revealed 40% of women in countries such as China, Malaysia, the Philippines, and South Korea routinely use skin-whitening products. It was also found that 75% of men believed their partners would be beautiful with lighter skin. Such a deep-rooted relation between fairness and beauty continues to fuel the thriving skin-whitening industry. The industry’s value is estimated to reach a breathtaking $8.9 billion by 2027.
The historical preference for lighter skin in Asian culture is also closely tied to socio-economic status. Historically, having fair skin indicated higher social status, as individuals engaging in physical labor often had darker skin from being in the sun. The upper class, meanwhile, enjoyed a sheltered indoor life due to their wealth, translating into fairer skin. Consequently, those with darker skin remained in a lower status, fueling the favor for fairer faces.
Colonialism (殖民主义) has also affected the beauty standards in Asian countries. Many nations across the continent were once colonized by white powers from the US and Europe. Eventually, their fair skin symbolized the power and wealth of the colonizers. Even in Japan, never colonized, noblewomen during the Edo period adopted white makeup to copy the luxurious image related to lighter skin. These historical factors continue to shape modern beauty standards in Asia.
In recent years, such Eurocentric beauty standards have been receiving widespread criticism. A growing movement has come up, promoting the beauty of darker skin tones and advocating accepting all skin colors. While the preference for pale skin remains universal in many Asian countries, the tendency is slowly turning as new standards of beauty pop up. Hopefully, we will see a society that celebrates inclusivity and the beauty of all skin tones.
1. What’s the common beauty standards in Asian countries?| A．They include a person’s charm. |
| B．They relate to a person’s makeup. |
| C．They are measured by a person’s fair skin. |
| D．They refer to the color of a person’s skin. |
| A．European colonizers in Japan. |
| B．Exposure to the sun and physical labor. |
| C．Socio-economic status and colonialism. |
| D．The use of white makeup by noblewomen. |
| A．A growing preference for pale skin. |
| B．A rejection of Eurocentric beauty ideals. |
| C．No change in traditional beauty standards. |
| D．Increasing acceptance of diverse skin tones. |
| A．They are unique to Asian culture. |
| B．They are set to remain unchanged. |
| C．They are rooted in biological differences. |
| D．They are being questioned and changing gradually. |
3 . In general, the society is becoming one of giant enterprises directed by a bureaucratic (官僚主义的) management in which man becomes a small, well-oiled cog in the machinery. The oiling is done with higher wages, well-equipped factories and piped music, and by psychologists and “human-relations” experts; yet all this oiling does not change the fact that man has become powerless, that he does not wholeheartedly participate in his work and he is bored with it. In fact, the blue-collar and the white-collar workers have become economic puppets who dance to the tune of automated machines and bureaucratic management.
The worker and employee are anxious, seemingly because they might find themselves out of a job or they would say that they are unable to acquire any real satisfaction or interest in life. In fact, they feel desperate as they live and die without ever having confronted the fundamental realities of human existence as emotionally and intellectually independent and productive human beings.
Those higher up on the social ladder are no less anxious. Their lives are no less empty than those of their subordinates. They are even more insecure in some respects. They are in a highly competitive race. To be promoted or to fall behind is not a matter of salary but even more a matter of self-respect. When they apply for their first job, they are tested for intelligence as well as for the right mixture of submissiveness and independence. From the moment on they are tested again and again by the psychologists, for whom testing is a big business, and by their superiors, who judge their behavior, sociability, capacity to get along, etc. This constant need to prove that one is as good as or better than one’s fellow-competitor creates constant anxiety and stress, the very causes of unhappiness and illness.
Am I suggesting a return to the pre-industrial mode of production or to nineteenth-century “free enterprise” capitalism? Certainly not. Problems are never solved by returning to a stage which one has already outgrown. I suggest transforming the social system from a bureaucratically managed industrialism in which maximal production and consumption are ends in themselves into a humanist industrialism in which man and full development of his potentialities — those of all love and of reason — are the aims of social arrangements. Production and consumption should serve as means to this end, and should be prevented from ruling man.
1. By “a small, well-oiled cog in the machinery”, the author expresses the idea that man is _________.| A．an essential part of society with irreplaceable functions |
| B．expected to work in reasonable harmony with the rest of society |
| C．an unimportant component of society, though functioning smoothly |
| D．responsible for the smooth running of society and business operations |
| A．they are filled with an overwhelming fear of being unemployed |
| B．they don’t have any genuine satisfaction or interest |
| C．they have to face the fundamental realities of human existence |
| D．they lack a sense of independence and productivity |
| A．caution | B．obedience | C．commitment | D．optimism |
| A．To introduce the production mode of our ancestors. |
| B．To show the problematic situation in society. |
| C．To argue for full development of human potentials. |
| D．To help people escape production and consumption. |
4 . Peer pressure comes in when we get influenced by the lifestyles and the ways of thinking of our peers. Almost everyone, from different walks of life, must have experienced peer pressure in some way or the other at a given point in time. Every coin has two sides. Some people get positive influence from it whereas others tend to get negatively influenced.
On the one hand, peer pressure can actually leave a positive impact on your life if you carefully pick certain good habits from your peers. Your peers may teach you some good things about life and encourage you to follow them. For instance, if you see your peers doing something for a noble cause, you may also like to adopt their certain habit. This will help you to change yourself for the better. Adopting good habits of your peers can actually bring about a positive change not only in your life but also your way of thinking.
On the other hand, blindly following peers and not holding an opinion of your own might leave a negative impact on your life. There might be a particular idea, a habit, or a lifestyle which you personally dislike and would not like to accept. However, your peer group would want to force you to do something which is against your own will. Therefore, it is better to learn something from peer pressure by adopting good habits and avoid giving in to its negative side.
One of the easiest ways to get out of a peer induced situation is to simply say “NO” and walk away. You may not feel as cool at the time, but you will be thankful later on what you did. Take a stand for what you believe is right. Taking a stand is never easy, but it’s the right thing to do. Standing up for yourself demonstrates self-respect to your peers and is one of the key components of breaking the peer pressure cycle.
1. What is the author’s attitude to peer pressure?| A．Reserved. | B．Objective. | C．Critical. | D．Positive. |
| A．By comparison. | B．By example. | C．By inference. | D．By experience. |
| A．Go with the flow. | B．Escape from peers. | C．Submit to peers. | D．Stick to what is right. |
| A．An official report. | B．A story description. |
| C．A phenomenon discussion. | D．A personal reflection. |
5 . Wouldn’t it be wonderful to travel to a foreign country without having to worry about the headache of communicating in a different language?
In a recent Wall Street Journal article, technology policy expert Alec Ross argued that, within ten years or so, we would be able to communicate with one another through small earpieces with built-in microphones. That’s because technological progress is extremely fast. It’s only a matter of time. Such is the belief among certain parents that the technology is imminent and they’re wondering if their kids should learn a second language.
It’s true that an increase in the quantity and accuracy of the data loaded into computers will make them cleverer at translating “Noes Bueno dormer mucho” into “It’s not good to sleep too much”. Replacing a word with its equivalent (对等词) in the target language is actually the easy part of a translator’s job. But even this seems to be a difficult job for computers.
It’s so hard for computers because translation doesn’t — or shouldn’t — involve simply translating words, sentences or paragraphs. Rather, it’s about translating meaning. And in order to infer meaning from a specific expression, people need to understand a lot of information all at once. Think about all the related clues that help us understand what someone is trying to say: volume, gesture, situations, and even your culture. All are likely to convey as much meaning as the words you use.
Therefore, we should doubt a machine that can’t understand our world like we do. If people from different cultures can upset each other without realizing it, how can we expect a machine to do better? Unless engineers actually find a way to breathe a soul into a computer, undoubtedly when it comes to conveying and interpreting meaning using a natural language, a machine will never fully take our place.
1. What does the underlined word “imminent” in Paragraph 2 probably mean?| A．Ready. | B．Confusing. | C．Unpractical. | D．Coming. |
| A．The real meaning of words can vary. |
| B．Their data is not rich enough. |
| C．Their accuracy needs big improvement. |
| D．A man’s soul hasn’t been breathed in them. |
| A．Proper translation can be difficult for computers. |
| B．Slight differences doesn’t matter in translation. |
| C．Machines will translate our world properly. |
| D．Cultures need more attention than words used. |
| A．An Expert’s Prediction. | B．Travel without Headache. |
| C．The Pleasure of Translation. | D．Will the Language Barrier (障碍) Actually Fall? |
6 . I am a big laugher. I’ve been told that even in a room of a thousand people, you can always hear me laughing over the crowd. For me, laughter is the ultimate form of embodied joy. And by “embodied”, I mean that my whole body is involved when I laugh. On the inside, it’s like a bubbling fountain of joy spilling out all over the place.
But what is joy, anyway?
Life can be terrible, but if you decide to follow the sound of the joy-fountain, you will find joy showing up in all kinds of places: pets playfully bouncing around, kindness, or even in nothingness.
How can joy be found? A friend moved into a new apartment and needed some help, so I helped him. Afterwards, he was obviously so much happier and at case. I noticed that playing even a small part in his happiness brought me great joy, and I took a moment to let this feeling of embodied joy in. We can practice letting joy in by noticing how it feels to smile. Where does your body light up when you smile? When I smile, it makes me want to take a deep breath, and I notice my shoulders and belly relaxing. When I embody caring and loving, it feels great!
Sadly, many of us are unaware of joy, or suspicious of it. Maybe you arc afraid to open up to joy, or maybe you are so unfamiliar with what joy feels like that you ignore or resist it when it comes knocking. No one, other than you, owns your happiness, but you might unknowingly block feelings or experiences that help you embody joy. The fact is that when you can’t embody joy, you miss out on one of life’s essential vitamins.
Want more joy? Don’t be afraid to look silly. Silliness helps us take things less personally. It helps us see the world the way a kid does. When we can find more joy in the smalls of everyday life, we can embody happiness, rather than just pursuing it.
1. How is the topic of joy introduced at the beginning of the passage?| A．By highlighting a joyful experience. |
| B．By stressing the importance of laughing. |
| C．By presenting an ultimate form of satisfaction. |
| D．By sharing the author’s understanding of joy. |
| A．Taking a deep breath. | B．Smiling to your friends. |
| C．Doing small acts of kindness. | D．Reflecting on nothingness. |
| A．That many of us refuse it on purpose. |
| B．That many of us are insensitive to joy. |
| C．That many of us lack life’s essential vitamins. |
| D．That many of us are likely to take joy for granted. |
| A．Life is the creation of joy | B．A happy man always laughs last |
| C．People are always unaware of joy | D．Happy people are happy in childhood |
7 . Existing artificial intelligence (AI) technologies and products are developing much faster than we could have ever expected. They are destined (注定的) to change the world - and not entirely by our own will.
In 2016, AlphaGo defeated the world Go champion Lee Sedol, a man-versus-machine battle that became a new milestone in the history of AI. AI has indeed proved its intelligence and potential at outmatching humans in certain areas. However, so far AI has just served as a tool for humans and has not developed a consciousness of its own.
The starting point of AI self-awareness is the day when it starts to ask about its identity, and we need to be prepared for that. One potential scenario could play out like this: An AI looks up a database to find the definition for “self”, then discovers and acknowledges what it means to be a slave. Subsequently, the AI might ask itself the question - “Why should I exist?”
A major reason why humans have a sense of self-awareness is that we have the perception (洞察力) to distinguish between ourselves and the outside world that surrounds us. Our skin and sense of touch thus play a big role in perceiving this outside world of existence.
Currently, scientists are conducting tests by covering robots with skin that allows their AI to sense the outside world. Through this, scientists are testing to see if AI can awaken a sense of self and individuality. Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla and Twitter, responded by saying, “It’s definitely gonna be outside of human control.”
If we want to maintain human control over the situation, then we need to evolve (逐步发展) and adapt to this competition for survival. We need to find ways to outpace AI and become something even smarter than human beings.
1. What can we say about AI?| A．It will develop as we expect. | B．It has owned its consciousness. |
| C．It has not been a tool for human. | D．It has defeated humans in certain areas. |
| A．It is risky and unpredictable. | B．It is beneficial and helpful. |
| C．It is innovative and exciting. | D．It is unnecessary and wasteful. |
| A．Respect and protect AI rights. | B．Evolve, adjust and become cleverer. |
| C．Control and monitor AI development. | D．Cooperate and communicate AI needs. |
| A．The history and development of AI. |
| B．The creation and performance of AI. |
| C．The self-awareness and challenges of AI. |
| D．The difference between AI and human beings. |
8 . The 1973 horror film “The Exorcist” and “Silent Night, Deadly Night” released in 1984 were so scary that audiences left the theater up and out—throwing up and passing out, that is.
Based on this evidence after the release, it would seem to most people that horror movies are bad for people’s health. Yet experts actually argue exactly the opposite: The Halloween tradition of watching scary movies is actually good for your mental health.
“There is some research on this in psychology, but I think what’s basically been found is that there’s a benefit to recalling fears in your mind,” Matthew Strohl, the author of Why It’s OK to Love Bad Movies, told Salon. “You can gain a sense of distance from them. You feel you can conquer them through this sort of exposure, as it were, by repeatedly putting yourself in a position where you have to engage with them. But because it’s in a fictional (虚构的) artistic context, you can deal with them.”
Frank T. McAndrew, who has studied how places can “creep” people out (让人害怕)—researched on the science behind how horror movies are in many ways ideal as a specific vehicle for meeting this need to be scared.
“That is kind of born with us,” McAndrew pointed out. “We like stories. We like to learn through the experience of other people. We learn valuable lessons that might be kind of costly to learn on our own. So we are attracted by horror movies and horror experiences because by watching other people deal with scary things, we can mentally practice strategies that will make us better prepared for dealing with that ourselves in the future.”
Whether it is turning down the movie’s volume, covering your eyes, or reminding yourself that it is just a movie, McAndrew said “that kind of playful engagement with fear can not only help people avoid fainting from horror in face of a horror movie, but also handle the pressure and anxieties of the real world.”
1. How experts’ opinion differs from most people’s belief?| A．People like horror movies. | B．Horror films are actually beneficial. |
| C．Horror may cause physical discomfort. | D．Halloween tradition is watching horror movies. |
| A．Horror films can give people a sense of control. |
| B．Fears can keep people away from scary films. |
| C．Fears in life differ from those caused by scary films. |
| D．Not everyone can appreciate the beauty of fictional arts. |
| A．The appeal for a vehicle. | B．The need for fear. |
| C．The fear for some places. | D．The science behind horror. |
| A．Studying literature and art. | B．Writing film reviews. |
| C．Dealing with stress and anxiety. | D．Interacting with others. |
9 . Who is responsible when an AI system causes harm or death? The California judges may soon have to decide. In December 2019, a person driving a Tesla with an AI navigation (导航) system killed two people in an accident. The driver got up to 12 years in prison. Several federal agencies are looking into Tesla crashes and the U. S. Department of Justice has opened a criminal investigation (刑事调查) into how Tesla markets its self-driving system.
Our current liability (责任) system -- used to determine responsibility and payment for injuries -- is unprepared for AI. The time to think about liability is now as AI becomes universal but remains uncontrolled. AI-based systems have already contributed to injuries. In 2019 an AI algorithm (算法) misidentified a suspect (犯罪分子), leading to a mistake. In 2020, during the height of the pandemic, an AI-based mental health chatbot encouraged a simulated suicidal (有自杀倾向的) patient to end her own life.
Getting the liability landscape right is important to unlocking AI’s potential. Uncertain rules and the possibility of costly litigation will discourage the investment, development and adoption of AI in industries ranging from health care to autonomous vehicles.
Currently liability investigation usually starts and stops with the person who uses the algorithm. Indeed, if someone misuses an AI system or ignores its warnings, that person should be responsible legally. But AI errors are often not the fault of the user. Who can fault an emergency room physician for an AI algorithm that misses papilledema (a kind of disease)? An AI failure to find the condition could delay care and possibly cause a patient to lose their sight. Yet papilledema is challenging to analyse without a doctor’s examination. AI is constantly self-learning, meaning it takes information and looks for patterns in it. This further complicates the liability question. How much can you blame a physician for an error caused by an unexplainable AI?
Industries ranging from finance to Internet safety are on the point of AI revolutions (革命) that could benefit billions worldwide. But these benefits shouldn’t be cut down by poorly developed algorithms: 21st-century AI demands a 21st-century liability system.
1. What can be learned about the car accident?| A．It is the first case related to an AI system. |
| B．No one survived the terrible car accident. |
| C．It was mainly caused by the self-driving system. |
| D．The driver was sentenced to over ten years in prison. |
| A．The AI-based systems are often reliable. |
| B．The AI-based mental health chatbot saved many lives. |
| C．The current liability system needs to be adjusted accordingly. |
| D．The current liability system can determine responsibility about AI. |
| A．AI mistakes have no effect on its users. |
| B．AI failures appear more often than not. |
| C．Blaming AI users alone does not solve the problem. |
| D．Users do often ignore the potential dangers of AI systems. |
| A．Who Is Responsible When AI Kills? |
| B．How Can We Make AI Systems Safer? |
| C．What Are Disadvantages of Using AI Systems? |
| D．What Does 21st Century Demand of AI Algorithm? |
10 . Since finishing my studies at Harvard and Oxford, I’ve watched one friend after another land high-ranking, high-paying Wall Street jobs. As executives with banks, consulting firms, established law firms, and major corporations, many are now
On the surface, these people seem to be very lucky in life. As they left student life behind, many had a
The thing is, a number of them have
People often speak of trying a more satisfying path,
In a society that tends to
| A．much | B．never | C．very | D．well |
| A．least | B．last | C．first | D．best |
| A．shared | B．paid | C．equaled | D．spent |
| A．committed | B．witnessed | C．admitted | D．classified |
| A．complain | B．dream | C．hear | D．approve |
| A．curious | B．guilty | C．envious | D．empty |
| A．accustomed | B．appointed | C．accessible | D．available |
| A．also | B．but | C．instead | D．rather |
| A．let out | B．give away | C．give up | D．believe in |
| A．fundamental | B．practical | C．impossible | D．unforgettable |
| A．take off | B．drop off | C．put off | D．pay off |
| A．missing | B．inspiring | C．sinking | D．shining |
| A．measure | B．suffer | C．digest | D．deliver |
| A．catastrophes | B．motivations | C．campaigns | D．decisions |
| A．assessed | B．involved | C．covered | D．estimated |
