1 . Most online fraud(诈骗) involves identity theft Passwords help. But many can be guessed. Newer phones, tablets, laptops and desktop computers often have strengthened security with fingerprint and facial recognition. But these can be imitated. That is why a new approach, behavioural biometrics(行为生物识别) is gaining ground.
It relies on the wealth of measurements made by today’s devices. These include data from sensors that reveal how people hold their phones when using them, how they carry them and even the way they walk. Touchscreens, keyboards and mice can be monitored(监测) to show the distinctive ways in which someone’s fingers and hands move. These features can then be used to determine whether someone attempting to make a deal is likely to be the device’s habitual user.
“Behavioural biometrics make it possible to identify an individual’s unique motion fingerprint”, says John Whaley, head of Unifyid, a firm in Silicon Valley that is involved in the field. When coupled with information about a user’s finger pressure and speed on the touchscreen, as well as a device’s regular places of use—as revealed by its GPS unit—that user’s identity can be pretty well determined.
Used wisely, behavioural biometrics could be a great benefit. In fact, Unifyid and an unnamed car company are even developing a system that unlocks the doors of a vehicle once the pace of the driver, as measured by his phone, is recognized. Used unwisely, however, the system would become yet another electronic spy on people’s privacy, permitting complete strangers to monitor your every action, from the moment you reach for your phone in the morning, to when you throw it on the floor at night.
1. What is behavioural biometrics for?| A．To identify network crime | B．To ensure network security. |
| C．To track online fraud. | D．To gather online data. |
| A．By limiting and discovering users’ passwords. |
| B．By spotting and revealing where a device is regularly used. |
| C．By offering and analyzing users’ facial features. |
| D．By monitoring and comparing how users interact with devices. |
| A．Doubtful. | B．Concerned | C．Favorable. | D．Objective. |
| A．Science and technology. | B．Health and wealth. |
| C．Finance and economics | D．Books and arts |
2 . Patients often come into my office and ask, “How can I look younger?” While I always suggest healthy living — a balanced diet and regular exercise — in order to look and feel younger, I have never thought of facial exercises as part of that plan. That is, until a recent study, published in JAMA Dermatology (皮肤学), showed promising results that routine facial exercise may slow the merciless tide of time.
The theory behind the study originates from the fact that a major part of facial aging is due to the loss of fat and soft tissue, which leads to the growth and spread of wrinkles. If we can lift weights at the gym and enlarge muscles in arms, why couldn’t the same be done for muscles in our faces, therefore to create a more youthful face?
The concept of facial exercise is not a new one. A simple Internet search will produce a lot of blog posts and books on the subject, as well as various programmes that promise to be the next fountain of youth. What the JAMA Dermatology researchers did in their study, which was the first of its kind, was to examine this question from a more strict scientific aspect. They enrolled 27 women between the ages of 40 and 65 to perform daily, 30-minute exercises for eight weeks, and then continue every other day for a total of 20 weeks.
Dermatologists who did not know the participants were asked to rate their photographs before and after the exercise. The dermatologists found an improvement in cheek fullness and estimated the age of the participants at 51 years of age at the start of the programme and 48 at the end of the 20-week study. Furthermore, all the participants felt improvement in their own facial appearance at the end of the study.
While these results seem exalting, the study has some obvious limitations. Of the 27 patients involved, 11 gave up before completing the study. One reason may be that the programme was to time-consuming, clocking in at 30 minutes a day. The overall small size of the study also limits its generalizability to the larger population. In addition, there was also no control group, which would have helped reduce the possibility that this improvement happened by chance.
It’s also hard to draw conclusions about the longevity of these results. Probably the exercises must be continued to keep their effects. But for how long? And how frequently? Which exercises are most effective? Most studies are need to answer these questions.
1. According to the passage, which statement is true?| A．Though the concept of facial exercise is new, much information about it can be found on the Internet. |
| B．Some participants did not feel improvement in their facial appearance at the end of the study. |
| C．If there is a control group, the possibility that the improvement in the facial appearance happened by chance will be increased. |
| D．The reason why some participants quit the study before it was completely may be that they had not enough time. |
| A．Calming. | B．Challenging. | C．Frustrating. | D．Exciting. |
| A．Doubtful. | B．Positive. | C．Opposed. | D．Indifferent (中立的). |
| A．The study published in JAMA Dermatology is not reliable. |
| B．Healthy living is the only way to make someone look and feel young. |
| C．More studies are needed to further the present study on facial exercises. |
| D．As a dermatologist, the author was involved in the research project on facial exercises. |
3 . Last year, 138,000 San Francisco residents used Airbnb, a popular app designed to connect home renters and travelers. It’s a striking number for a city with a population of about 850,000, and it was enough for Airbnb to win a major victory in local elections, as San Francisco voters struck down a debatable rule that would have placed time restrictions and other regulations on short-term rental services.
The company fiercely opposed the measure, Proposition F, with a nearly $10 million advertising campaign. It also contacted its San Franciscan users with messages urging them to vote against Proposition F.
Most people think of Airbnb as a kind of couch-surfing app. The service works for one-night stays on road trips and longer stays in cities, and it often has more competitive pricing than hotels. It’s a textbook example of the “sharing economy”, but not everyone is a fan.
The app has had unintended consequences in San Francisco. As the San Francisco Chronicle reported last year, a significant amount of renting on Airbnb is not in line with the company’s image: middle-class families putting up a spare room to help make ends meet. Some users have taken advantage of the service, using it to turn their multiple properties into vacation rentals or even full-time rentals. Backers of Proposition F argued that this trend takes spaces off the conventional, better-regulated housing market and contributes to rising costs.
“The fact is, widespread abuse of short-term rentals is taking much needed housing off the market and harming our neighborhoods,” said ShareBetter SF, a group that supported Proposition F. Hotel unions have protested the company’s practices in San Francisco and other cities, saying that it creates an illegal hotel system.
San Francisco is in the middle of a long-term, deeply rooted housing crisis that has seen the cost of living explode. Actually, explode is a generous term. The average monthly rent for an apartment is around $4, 000. Located on a narrow outcropping of land overlooking the bay, San Francisco simply doesn’t have enough space to accommodate the massive inflow of young, high-salaried tech employees flocking to Silicon Valley.
As the Los Angeles Times reported, some San Francisco residents supported the measure simply because it seemed like a way to check a big corporation. Opponents of Proposition F countered that the housing crisis runs much deeper, and that passing the rule would have discouraged a popular service while doing little to solve the city’s existing problems.
1. The intention of Proposition F is to ________.| A．place time limits in local election. | B．set limits on short-term rental. |
| C．strike down a controversial rule. | D．urge users to vote against Airbnb. |
| A．It shrinks the living space of middle-class families. |
| B．Users are taken advantage of by the service financially. |
| C．It makes the house market more competitive. |
| D．It indirectly leads to high house rental price. |
| A．explosion of the living cost | B．its geographic characteristics |
| C．generosity of local enterprises | D．inflow of migrant population |
| A．objective | B．supportive |
| C．negative | D．indifferent |
4 . Inequality in the workplace has long been a hot topic but gender economist Roy is actively turning that conversation into action. She founded Pipeline Equity, a company that employs artificial intelligence (AI) to identify and drive economic gains through gender equality. "The idea was: If we could change decisions that are made in organizations, we could actually make gender equality a reality in our lifetime, rather than the hundred or so years that we World Economic Forum (WEF) predicts." Roy said.
The WEF’s predictions were made before the COVID-19 pandemic hit, which Roy called a "she-session," because women have lost the majority of jobs during this particular economic downturn. "With remote work and with people being at home with children, most caregiving and unpaid work falls to women."
There has been much talk about such situations being good for gender equality, but Roy warned while working from home could help keep more women in the workforce, it could have a negative impact on female promotions.
"At this moment, there's the opportunity to employ AI to ensure we make progress on gender equality, ""Roy explained. "For companies, that is particularly important because in the 008 Great Recession（经济大萧条），companies that put equality at the core of their crisis management strategy actually increased the speed of their recovery."
But to close the gender pay gap, we can't start by talking about pay. "Pay is the symptom it’s not the disease." Roy said. "Pay is the quantitative（数量的）value that you place on your talent. But the actual value happens before that in performance and potential. "That's where Pipeline's platform steps in.
Using natural language processing, Pipeline's platform reads through performance reviews and calls out any biased phrases. They've found that on average, women are under-valued 4 percent of the time, and that actually impacts their ability to be promoted, as well as their pay.
"As this moment, we have the opportunity to embrace AI as a tool to achieve get equality." Roy said
1. Women in the workplace may face problems EXCEPT________.| A．Being under-valued | B．getting a lower pay |
| C．Heavy economic burden | D．smaller chances of promotion |
| A．AI had long been employed in the workplace |
| B．gender equality was the key to solving the crisis |
| C．Gender equality could play an important role during economic crisis |
| D．the present situation was similar to that of the 2008 Great Recession |
| A．Pay is the root of gender inequality. |
| B．Pay is not worth attaching importance to. |
| C．Pay is just an indicator of gender inequality. |
| D．Pay is the first step towards ensuring gender quality. |
| A．Pay gap will soon be closed. |
| B．AI brings equality into the workplace. |
| C．It’s time to ensure equality in the workplace. |
| D．The more women in the workplace, the better. |
5 . What is the best part of a typical relaxing summer day? Nothing is better than sitting in an armchair with a beer and some chips in your hand, enjoying the great comfort.
The much-loved combination of beer and chips is being exploited for the first time to deal with climate change. Chips firm Walkers has adopted a technique it says will cut CO2 emissions (排放) from its production process by 70%.
The technology will use CO2 captured from beer processing in a brewery (啤酒厂), which is then mixed with potato waste and turned into fertilizer. It will then be spread on UK fields to feed the following year’s potato crop. Creating fertilizer normally produces high CO2 emissions, but the technology adopted by Walkers makes fertilizer without generating CO2. So, the beer-and-chips combination performs a double function. It stops the emission of brewery CO2 into the atmosphere — and it saves on the CO2 normally generated by fertilizer production.
This Creative win-win solution was developed with an approval from the UK government by a 14-employee start-up called CCm. The fertilizer was experimented on potato seed beds this year, and next year Walkers will install CCm equipment at its Leicester factory to prepare for its 2022 crop.
A decision has not yet been made on which brewery Walkers will work with on this. The new technology adds to carbon-saving techniques already under way. The firm has installed an anaerobic digester (厌氧消化池), which feeds potato waste to bacteria to produce a useful gas. The gas is burned to make electricity for the chip-frying process — so this saves on burning gas or coal.
The new system will go a step further by taking away potato “cake” left after digestion — and mixing the brewery CO2 into it to make an enriched fertilizer which will help put carbon back into the soil as well as encouraging plant growth.
It’s an example of scientists finding ways to use CO2 emissions which otherwise would increase the over-heating of the planet.
1. What is the purpose of the first paragraph?| A．To draw readers’ attention. |
| B．To entertain readers. |
| C．To show how useful beer and chips are to our life. |
| D．To introduce a way of life. |
| A．It will be totally cost-free. |
| B．It doesn’t consume any energy. |
| C．It will be a perfect solution to climate change. |
| D．It is environmentally-friendly. |
| A．How CO2 is turned into fertilizer. |
| B．How the technology stops CO2 emissions. |
| C．How an energy-saving green technology works. |
| D．The advantages of a new technology. |
| A．The technology will fix the problem of global warming. |
| B．Walkers has a wide range of partner choices.? |
| C．This technology will be adopted by many chips firms soon. |
| D．Scientists are seeking solutions to climate change. |
6 . Gottfried Wilhelm von Liebniz was a philosopher and mathematician in search of a model. In the late 1600s Leibniz decided there was a need for a new, purer arithmetic than our common decimal（十进制）system. He got his inspiration from the 5000-year-old book that is at the heart of Chinese philosophy：the I-Ching, or Book of Changes.
This ancient text was such an influence on Liebniz that he titled his article on the new arithmetic “Explanation of a new arithmetic and the ancient Chinese figure of Fu X”. Fu Xi was the legendary first author of the I-Ching. The arithmetic that Liebniz described was binary（二进制）code, which is used in almost every modern computer, from iPhones to China’s own Tihane-2 supercomputer.
To figure out what Liebniz learned in the I-Ching, we need to understand something that most of us have taken for granted. When we listen to an MP3, look at a digital photo or watch the latest TV drama, we are experiencing a digital representation of reality. That representation is basically just a string of binary signals that are commonly known as 1s and 0s. What Liebniz’s gained from the book was that even the most complex reality could be represented in the binary form as 1s and 0s.
In the philosophy of the I-Ching, reality is not entirely real. It is something more like a dream. This dream of reality arises from the binaries of Yin and Yang, as they play out countless combinations, practically everything in the universe. It’s not surprising then, from the l-Ching’s perspective, that anything in the dream of reality can be represented in a string of 1s and 0s, processed by a computer.
The I-Ching was far more ambitious than the current practical applications of binary code. It is claimed that the I-Ching represents nothing less than the basic situation of human life itself. As a system for predicting the future, the I-Ching might disappoint, but as a way of questioning your own unconscious mind, it can be remarkably useful.
The I-Ching’s teachings also contain warnings about our digital revolution. Binary code, powered by modern computers, has an amazing capacity to represent reality. However, the ancient authors of the I-Ching might have understood its potential-and its dangers-even better than we now do.
So when scientific thinkers ask whether computers can create “virtual realities” or “artificial intelligence”, they are missing the point. Of course, we can create ever deeper and more complex layers of the dream of reality. The real question is, can we wake up from the dream we’ re in already?
1. Which of the following is TRUE about binary codes?| A．They share the same source with the decimal system. |
| B．They can form numerous combinations. |
| C．They are documented in the Book of Changes. |
| D．They are first discovered by Fu Xi. |
| A．media products are digitally represented using 1s and 0s. |
| B．TV dramas and digital photos are not worth seeing. |
| C．Reality is made more complex by binary codes. |
| D．Licbniz’s model is hardly understandable. |
| A．Computers’ ability to represent reality is quite limited. |
| B．Human life is now in grave danger according to the I-Ching. |
| C．We have yet to understand the complete teachings of the I-Ching. |
| D．The I-Ching is perfectly accurate in predicting the future. |
| A．The Ancient Book of Wisdom at the Heart of Every Computer |
| B．The Supercomputer that Employs Ancient Chinese Culture |
| C．The Father of Binary Code, Gottfried Wilhelm Liebniz |
| D．The Origin of Eastern and Western Philosophy |
7 . Google has announced plans to stop supporting tools designed to follow Internet users across the web in order to target them with specific advertising.
Such tools are known as cookies-small data files that are stored on an Internet user's computer as they browse （浏览）different websites. This data can be read by web servers to identify web browsing behaviors of the user. Cookies make it possible for users to avoid having to repeatedly enter their user names and passwords to get access to websites they use often. But the use of cookies raises major privacy concerns, with critics saying a user's browsing history should not be recorded just to target them with ads.
Google announced in 2020 it had decided “to remove support for third-party cookies" from its Chrome browser. In another online announcement, Google repeated this promise, saying it will not build new tools to replace current cookie technology.
In explaining its decision, Google referred to a Pew Research study that found 72 percent of Americans feel that almost all of what they do online is tracked by advertisers. Google's decision to remove third-party cookies also followed increasing efforts to protect privacy in Europe and the United States. Google said the current Internet advertising model needs to change to answer “the growing concerns people have about their privacy and how their personal identity is being used.”
In January, however, Google's plan was questioned by British competition regulators. The country's Competition and Markets Authority announced it had launched an investigation into whether the changes would give Google an unfair advantage over competitors in Internet advertising. The agency said it received objections to the plan from Marketers for an Open Web, a league of technology and publishing companies. The group accuses Google of “abusing its dominant position” by attempting to create a new advertising model.
In its latest statement, Google said, “We will not build alternate identifiers to track individuals as they browse across the web, nor will we use them in our products.”
1. According to the text, what do you know about cookies?| A．Cookies are inconvenient for web users. |
| B．The users should repeat their passwords to enter websites. |
| C．Google uses Cookies to monitor the web users' private life. |
| D．The tracks of the web users can be followed by the web servers. |
| A．To use a alternative tool. |
| B．To get more personal information, |
| C．To respond to concerns about privacy. |
| D．To create a fair Internet advertising platform. |
| A．It was organized by an agency of the US. |
| B．All people don't accept the Google's plan. |
| C．Google has the biggest advantages on the Internet. |
| D．Marketers for an Open Web is in favor of the Google's plan. |
| A．Privacy should be protected. |
| B．Google will change advertising model. |
| C．There should not be many advertisements on the web. |
| D．Cookies will be removed from Google for privacy protection. |
8 . Do you continue to be healthy in social isolation? NASA is looking for people to spend 8 months locked in a Russian lab for a new experiment.
When humans go to the moon and travel to Mars, they will need to be prepared for long-term space travel and even longer stays on these far-off destinations. Currently, NASA's Artemis program aims to land humans on the moon for the first time since NASA's Apollo 17 mission landed in 1972.
While the moon is the main goal of NASA's Artemis program, the agency's larger goal is to send people to Mars. But long-term space travel and habitation won't be easy. Such missions will present both physical and mental challenges as astronauts work to not only survive, but perform important scientific research in uniquely difficult environments.
In the upcoming NASA-Russia experiment, a group of people will live in a closed facility at Russia's Institute for Biomedical Problems, which is in Moscow. This habitat facility was used in2011 for notable series of Russian mock (模拟的) Mars missions known as Mars 500. During these missions, groups of people spent 520 and 105 days on two separate missions in the facility.
The facility, according to the statement, will have "environmental factors similar to those astronauts are expected to experience on future missions to Mars". The group of people will spend 8 months living together in isolation and working on scientific research.
By living and working in this Mars-like environment, participants in this study will help NASA researchers better understand the psychological and physiological (心理和生理的) effects of isolation. These missions help researchers not only perform relevant science experiments but also see how people might get on under strange conditions for long periods of time.
So, if you're finding that living in social isolation works for you, you might be particularly well-suited for living in a Mars-like environment and this could be for you. But first, you have to qualify. NASA is looking for "highly motivated" Americans between the ages of 30-55, who must speak both Russian and English fluently and have a Master of Science, Doctor of Philosophy, Doctor of Medicine, or military officer training. Applicants with other related experience may also be considered. Those who are chosen to be a part of this group will be paid for their work.
1. What do we know about the new experiment?| A．It will find the best way for humans to live on Mars. |
| B．It is the first of its kind to be carried out since 1972. |
| C．It is prepared for NASA's human spaceflight program. |
| D．It will decide the people to be sent to the moon by NASA. |
| A．To explain why the facility has been chosen. |
| B．To compare the similarities among related missions. |
| C．To show Russia's achievement in space exploration. |
| D．To indicate the new experiment will have great success. |
| A．The process of the experiment. | B．The purposes of the experiment. |
| C．The popularity of the experiment. | D．The preparations for the experiment. |
| A．Artemis: NASA's new program | B．Love isolation? NASA wants you! |
| C．NASA's Mars exploration program | D．Want to have a trip to Mars? Come! |
9 . Earthquake rescue robots have experienced their final tests in Beijing. Their designers say with these robots, rescuers will be able to save lives during an earthquake. This robot looking like a helicopter, is called the detector-bot. It’s about 4 meters long, and it took about 4 years to develop the model. Its main functions (作用) are to collect information from the air, and send goods of up to 30 kilos, to people trapped by an earthquake.
This robot has a high definition 360 degree panoramic (全景) camera. It can work day and night and will also be able to send the latest pictures from the quake area.
Dr. Qi Juntong, Chinese Academy of Science, said, “The most important feature of this robot is that it doesn’t need a distant control. We just set the destination (目的地) information on it, and then it takes off, and lands by itself. It flies as high as 3,000 meters, and as fast as 100 kilometers per hour.”
This robot has a different function — it can change as the environment changes. Its main job is to search for any signs of life in places where human rescuers are unable to go.
As well as a detector (探测器) that finds victims and detects poisonous gas, a camera is placed in the 40 centimeter long robot, which can work in the dark.
Another use for the rescuers is the supply part, with its 10 meter long pipe. People who are trapped in the ruins, will be able to get supplies including oxygen and liquids.
Experts have said that the robots will enter production, and serve as part of the national earth-quake rescue team as soon as next year.
1. According to the passage, this robot________.| A．is carried by the helicopter | B．weighs about 30 kilos |
| C．is a machine with a length of 10 meters | D．hasn’t been put into production so far |
| A．a camera | B．a robot | C．a rescuer | D．a detector |
| A．It is designed to prevent the earthquake. | B．It is unable to send goods. |
| C．It can take and send pictures even in the dark. | D．It can be used to take in poisonous gas. |
| A．what the robot looks like | B．an introduction to the robot |
| C．how the robot is made | D．information about earthquakes |
10 . Humans’ overconsumption of resources is a leading contributor to global climate change, says University of Arizona researcher Sabrina Helm. Therefore, it’s increasingly important to understand the choices consumers make and how those decisions affect the health of a planet with limited resources. In a new study, published in the journal Young Consumers, Helm and her colleagues explore how materialistic values influence pro-environmental behaviors in millennials, who are now the nation’s most influential group of consumers.
The researchers focused on two main categories of pro-environmental behaviors: reduced consumption, which includes actions like repairing instead of replacing older items; and “green buying,” or purchasing products designed to limit environmental impacts. The researchers also looked at how engaging in pro-environmental behaviors affects consumer well-being.
More materialistic participants, the researchers found, were unlikely to engage in reduced consumption. However, materialism did not seem to have an effect on their likelihood of practicing “green buying.” That’s probably because “green buying,” unlike reduced consumption, still offers a way for materialists to fulfill their desire to get new items, Helm said.
Study participants who reported having fewer materialistic values were much more likely to engage in reduced consumption. Consuming less was, in turn, linked to higher personal well-being and lower psychological suffering. Green buying—which may have some positive environmental effects, although to a smaller degree than reduced consumption—was not found to improve consumer well-being, Helm said.
The take-home message for consumers: “The key is to reduce consumption and not just buy green stuff. Having less and buying less can actually make us more satisfied and happier,” Helm said. “If you have a lot of stuff, you have a lot on your mind,” she said. “For example, it requires maintenance and there’s a lot of burdens of ownership, and if you relieve yourself of that burden of ownership, most people report feeling a lot better and freer.”
Helm and her colleagues additionally looked at how materialism affects millennial consumers’ proactive financial behaviors, such as budgeting and saving. Examining financial behaviors alongside pro-environmental behaviors provides a picture of how young adults proactively deal with resource limitations in two contexts: environmental and financial, Helm said.
As expected, Helm and her colleagues found that those who reported having more materialistic values engaged in fewer proactive financial behaviors than their less materialistic counterparts (对应的人). The researchers also found that, consistent with previous studies, proactive financial behaviors were associated with better personal well-being, life satisfaction and financial satisfaction, as well as lower psychological suffering.
Understanding how materialistic values impact consumer behaviors, and how those behaviors in turn affect personal and environmental well-being, is important, Helm said. However, she acknowledges that for many consumers, shifting behaviors to be more financially proactive and consume less will be challenging.
1. What do we know about pro-environmental behaviors?| A．They are a cause of climate change. |
| B．They lead to a more satisfying life. |
| C．They vary in different age groups. |
| D．They are affected by materialism. |
| A．ownership of green products brings a sense of happiness |
| B．materialists prefer practicing green buying to buying less |
| C．green buying helps control people’s desire to buy new items |
| D．buying less and green buying have similar effects on people |
| A．Replacing older items. | B．Developing new resources. |
| C．Buying greener products. | D．Being careful with expenses. |
| A．When people develop proactive financial behaviors. |
| B．Which financial behaviors lead to mental well-being. |
| C．Why it is hard to change people’s financial behaviors. |
| D．How materialistic values influence financial behaviors. |
