1 . As more and more people speak the global language of English, Chinese, Spanish, and Arabic, other languages are rapidly disappearing. In fact, half of the 6,000-7,000 languages spoken around the world today will be likely to die out by the next century, according the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).
In an effort to prevent language loss, scholars from a number of organizations — UNESCO and National Geographic among them — have for many years been documenting dying languages and the cultures they reflect.
Mark Turin, a scientist at the Macmillan Center, Yale University, who specializes in the languages and oral traditions of the Himalayas, is following in that tradition. His recently published book, A Grammar of Thangmi and Their Culture, grows out of his experience living, working, and raising a family in a village in Nepal.
Documenting the Thangmi language and culture is just a starting point for Turin, who seeks to include other languages and oral traditions across the Himalayan reaches of India, Nepal, Bhutan, and China. But he is not content to simply record these voices before they disappear without record.
At the University of Cambridge Turin discovered a wealth of important materials —including photographs, films, tape recordings, and field notes — which had remained unstudied and were badly in need of care and protection. Now, through the two organizations that he has founded — the Digital Himalaya Project and the World Oral Literature Project — Turin has started a campaign to make such documents, found in libraries and stores around the world, available not just to schools but to the younger generations of communities from whom the materials were originally collected. Thanks to digital technology and the widely available Internet, Turin notes, the endangered languages can be saved and reconnected with speech communities.
1. Many scholars are making efforts to ________.| A．promote global languages | B．rescue disappearing languages |
| C．search for languages communities | D．set up language research organizations |
| A．having detailed records of the languages | B．writing books on language users |
| C．telling stories about language speakers | D．living with the native speakers |
| A．The cultural studies in India. | B．The documents available at Yale. |
| C．His language research in Bhutan. | D．His personal experience in Nepal. |
| A．Write, sell and donate. | B．Record, repair and reward. |
| C．Collect, protect and reconnect. | D．Design, experiment and report. |
2 . There are around 100 tribes(部落)that live in global isolation, mostly in South America and India. The Sentinelese have lived on one of the Andaman Islands in Eastern India for 60, 000 years. They protect their island by fighting against people from outside. Their language is different from any other known language. Another Andaman tribe is the Jarawa. In the past, they were independent and fought against anybody trying to make contact with them. But in 1998, the Indian government built a road across their land, and since then, they’ve had more contact with the outside world.
Some Amazon tribes avoid contact because of unhappy memories. The Mashco-Piro left their vegetable gardens after rubber companies killed most of their tribe at the beginning of the 20th century. Those who survived became nomadic(游牧的)and started hunting animals in the forest.
The Awa live in the Amazon forests ofBrazil. Out of 350 members, 100 have no contact with the outside world. They left their villages and adopted a nomadic lifestyle around 1850 to escape attacks by Europeans. In the following years, farmers in nearby communities started cutting the trees to expand their farmland. The Awa lost most of their hunting land. The few Amazon tribes that still exist are fighting to keep their traditional way of life.
Survival, an organization that fights for the rights of tribal people, says that uncontacted tribes are the most vulnerable(弱势的)humans on the planet and that’s why their environment should be unavailable to the rest of us. After years of pressure, the organization got Brazil’s government to clear non-natives from the Awa land. All non-Awa people are leaving so the tribe can get their forest back.
But some think it's impossible for tribes to stay isolated forever in a connected world. Contact will be made one day. So the question is：Whose choice should it be, ours or theirs?
1. What can we learn about the Sentinelese from the first paragraph?| A．They resist contact from the outside world. |
| B．They speakthe same language as the Jarawa. |
| C．They are wild about fighting with other tribes. |
| D．They have got help from the Indian govemment. |
| A．To protect their hunting land. | B．To search for food sources. |
| C．To avoid threats from Europeans. | D．To maintain their original way of life. |
| A．The tribes should be left undisturbed. |
| B．The tribes should fight for more living space. |
| C．The cribes should live in harmony with nature. |
| D．The tribes should adapt to the connected world. |
| A．The Nomadic Tribes in the World | B．Seeking Survival of Tribes |
| C．The Unavailable Tribal Environment | D．Protecting the Tribal Forests |
3 . A robot with a sense of touch may one day feel “pain”, both its own physical pain and sympathy for the pain of its human companions. Such touchy-feely robots are still far off, but advances in robotic touch-sensing are bringing that possibility closer to reality.
Sensors set in soft, artificial skin that can detect both a gentle touch and a painful strike have been hooked up to a robot that can then signal emotions, Asada reported February 15 at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. This artificial “pain nervous system,” as Asada calls it, may be a small building block for a machine that could ultimately experience pain. Such a feeling might also allow a robot to “sympathize” with a human companion’s suffering.
Asada, an engineer at Osaka University, and his colleagues have designed touch sensors that reliably pick up a range of touches. In a robot system named Affetto, a realistic looking child’s head, these touch and pain signals can be converted to emotional facial expressions.
A touch-sensitive, soft material, as opposed to a rigid metal surface, allows richer interactions between a machine and the world, says neuroscientist Kingson Man of the University of Southern California. Artificial skin “allows the possibility of engagement in truly intelligent ways”.
Such a system, Asada says, might ultimately lead to robots that can recognize the pain of others, a valuable skill for robots designed to help care for people in need, the elderly, for instance.
But there is an important distinction between a robot that responds in a predictable way to a painful strike and a robot that’s able to compute an internal feeling accurately, says Damasio, a neuroscientist also at the University of Southern California. A robot with sensors that can detect touch and pain is “along the lines of having a robot, for example, that smiles when you talk to it,” Damasio says. ‘It’s a device for communication of the machine to a human.” While that’s an interesting development, “it’s not the same thing” as a robot designed to compute some sort of internal experience, he says.
1. What do we know about the “pain nervous system”?| A．It is named Affetto by scientists. | B．It is a set of complicated sensors. |
| C．It is able to signal different emotions. | D．It combines sensors and artificial skin. |
| A．Delivered. | B．Translated. | C．Attached. | D．Adapted. |
| A．Robots can smile when talked to. |
| B．Robots can talk to human beings. |
| C．Robots can compute internal feelings |
| D．Robots can detect pains and respond accordingly. |
| A．Machines Become Emotional | B．Robots Inch to Feeling Pain |
| C．Human Feelings Can Be Felt | D．New Devices Touch Your Heart |
4 . Immersive Van Gogh
From the creators of the blockbuster show in Paris seen by over two million visitors and still wowing crowds in Toronto, the west coast premiere (首场) of the Immersive Van Gogh Exhibit will bring the art of Vincent to life in Los Angeles.
Immersive art is not just a technical way to represent video and audio in huge spaces. The word immersive indicates a deep commitment of intentions which connect images and sounds in a way that the audience is able to experience a different way of the art.
True to its name, this exhibition transforms the iconic (偶像的) paintings of Vincent van Gogh into moving, wall-filling projections. “Immersive Van Gogh” promises half-a-million cubic feet of projections that pull from some of the post-impressionist’s most recognizable pieces, including The Bedroom, Sunflowers and, yes, The Starry Night.
You will experience art like never before—lose yourself in entrancing, moving images that highlight brushstrokes, detail, and color—truly illuminating (照亮) the mind of the genius.
LOCATION
The Immersive Van Gogh Exhibit is located at a secret place situated in the heart of Los Angeles. To be announced before the exhibit opens, existing ticket holders will receive an email with the place name and location once it is made public.
TICKET PRICES
| VIP TICKETS—$99.99 ●Priority access ●Van Gogh cushion (a gift for you) ●Limited edition poster | PREMIUM TICKETS—$59.99 ●Van Gogh cushion (rental) ●Limited edition poster |
| BASIC TICKETS—$54.99 ●Admission only | CHILD TICKETS—$29.99 ●Ages 6—16 (children 5 and under do not require a ticket) ●Admission only ●Child tickets are not subject to change of date fees |
Tickets are available online at www.vangoghla.com.
GIFT SHOP
Stop by our Exhibit Gift Shop to take the magic of Van Gogh home with you! From clothing and jewelry to home décor, children’s books, and so much more, you will find unique and thoughtful souvenirs at the Immersive Van Gogh Exhibit. Also be sure to check out at our online store!
Experience the organic landscapes of Van Gogh’s imagination, and journey through his brilliance and madness in a completely new and unforgettable way.
1. According to the passage, the Immersive Van Gogh Exhibit ________.| A．presents Van Gogh’s art in a modern way |
| B．begins a journey to Van Gogh’s hometown |
| C．displays Van Gogh’s paintings on moving walls |
| D．designs projects on Van Gogh’s learning experience |
| A．An email. | B．A website. |
| C．The ticket office. | D．The gift shop. |
| A．$109.98. | B．$154.98. |
| C．$159.98. | D．$199.98. |
5 . Starman, the dummy(仿真人) riding a cherry-red Tesla Roadster(特斯拉敞篷车) through space, has made his closest approach ever to Mars. The electric roadster and its passenger were attached to the top of a Falcon Heavy rocket during the SpaceX rocket’s first test launch on 6 February 2018.
Two years later, the Falcon Heavy rocket and the vehicle at its tip are making their second trip around the Sun. Mr. McDowell, a Harvard astrophysicist, found that Starman passed 7.4 million kilometers from Mars at 06:25 GMT 7 October, 2020.
The closest recent approach between the Earth and Mars was 56 million kilometers in 2003, though the planets are often hundreds of millions of miles apart depending on where they are in their orbits. No one can see the Falcon Heavy rocket at its current distance, but orbits over periods of a few years are fairly straightforward to predict, and Mr. McDowell used data about how the rocket was moving when it left the Earth’s gravity behind to locate its recent movements exactly.
Last time Starman circled the Sun, McDowell said, it crossed Mars’ orbit while the Red Planet was quite far away. But this time the crossing lined up with a fairly close approach, though still not close enough to feel a strong tug from Mars.
At this point in time, if you were able to go look at the Roadster, it would probably look pretty different. The strong solar radiation environment between the planets would probably have destroyed all the exposed organic materials.
Without the Earth’s atmospheric and magnetic(磁场的) protection, even the plastics and carbon-fibre materials would start to break up. Over the course of decades or centuries, the car will end up with its aluminium(铝) frame and hard glass parts----that’s assuming that none of them get destroyed in impacts with passing space rocks.
1. What can we infer from the first two paragraphs?| A．Starman is now circling around the Earth in its orbit. |
| B．Starman has set out on its second trip around the Sun. |
| C．Starman has traveled 7.4 million kilometers after launch. |
| D．Starman still has a long way to go before getting to Mars. |
| A．By keeping Starman under visual observation. |
| B．By predicting its future orbit around the earth. |
| C．By seeking professional help from SpaceX. |
| D．By analyzing data about the rocket’s movement. |
| A．pull | B．drive | C．resistance | D．pressure |
| A．It is circling around Mars and will finally crash onto it. |
| B．It will finish its mission and return to SpaceX on earth. |
| C．Starman is likely reduced to at most its frame and glass. |
| D．SpaceX will try to recover it during its next space mission. |
6 . Writer Walter Benjamin argued that what makes certain works of art great is that they contain a mysterious “aura（气息）”. This mystery is part of what makes the works wonderful. However, since the late 1990s, with the spread of high-quality digital photography, there have been many discoveries about famous paintings.
Hieronymus Bosch has been at the centre of art-historical controversy（争论）this year. After an exhibition at the Noordbrabants Museum in the artist’s hometown, a new exhibition at the Prado in Madrid is on the way. The Noordbrabants displayed 17 existing Bosch paintings, while the Prado now exhibits 24. The difference is the result of digital discoveries, first accepted at the Noordbrabants show.
Artists did not regularly sign their works until the 19th century, and attribution（归属）based on a work’s style leaves room for error. Since artists always worked in studios or workshops, students would develop a style very similar to that of their master. Then again, later artists learned by copying past masters, sometimes so well that it’s hard to tell the difference. However, attribution can change, especially when new technology comes to light.
In the case of the Bosch discoveries, some researchers found evidence that led them to downgrade（降级）the attribution of certain works. Extracting the Stone of Madness, which was originally going to be lent by the Prado to the Noordbrabants, is listed as “by Bosch”, and considered to have been painted between 1501 and 1505. But the researchers informed the Prado that they would be listing the painting as “by the workshop or a follower of Bosch”, and dating it 1500-1520 （Bosch died in 1516）. The museum’s director Miguel Falomir said, “It is unacceptable to request a painting as a Bosch and then show it as something different.”
One of the beautiful things about art history is that it can never be an exact science. Digital art-historical discoveries have led to controversy rather than resolutions（问题解决）. The evidence is there, but it’s up to us how we explain it.
1. Why are some artworks great according to Walter Benjamin?| A．They didn’t survive in history. | B．Their styles are kind of mystery. |
| C．They leave room for imagination. | D．Their creators were not well-known. |
| A．It owns the paintings by Bosch. |
| B．It was convinced by the researchers. |
| C．It broke the agreement with the Prado. |
| D．It borrowed all Bosch paintings from the Prado. |
| A．Find out the signature hidden in the picture. |
| B．Consult the museum that has been displaying it. |
| C．Interview the followers of the master who did it. |
| D．Analyze its style and the year when it was created. |
| A．Digital discoveries explain art in a better way. |
| B．Museums have a fierce debate on Bosch paintings. |
| C．Hieronymus Bosch paintings become controversial. |
| D．Digital discoveries destroy the beauty of art history. |
7 . This is the moment a cleaner at a British university burst into tears after students raised $ 2,063 to send him to Jamaica on vacation to see family.
Herman Gordon, who has worked at Bristol University for more than a decade, is described as “one of the most loved” members of its cleaning staff. He is so well liked that a group of students raised money to give him a holiday. A video shows a student hands an envelope of cash to the surprised Gordan with tears rolling down his cheeks. He wipes away tears with a cleaning cloth and hugs the student who gave it to him. Gordan said: “I want to thank every one of you and God bless every one of you.”
The group of students started the fundraising because they liked Gordon so much. A post said: “The Jamaican cleaner in the biomedical library is the jolliest man I have ever met; he makes me smile even when I’m in the deepest depths of sorrow, if you want a reason to smile, go talk to him for a minute or two.”
Anyone who has been to the biomedical library knows who Herman the cleaner is. Simply put, Herman is the epitome（典范）of happiness, “All year round, this man works hours on end to provide us with a clean working space in which to study. But most importantly, his everlasting positive attitude has managed to turn many students’ dark days into positive ones filled with joy,” said a student. Whether you’re just feeling generally down or stressed out due to exams, Herman is always there to encourage you.
This legend proves that happiness is not about what you own, what job you have or how much money you’ve got, but about appreciating what you currently have in life even if it’s small.
1. What was Herman Gordon’ reaction when receiving the fundraising?| A．grateful. | B．stressed. | C．delighted. | D．astonished. |
| A．most miserable. | B．most cheerful. | C．most generous. | D．most glorious. |
| A．Building confidence. | B．Developing exam skills. |
| C．Learning self-control. | D．Gaining biomedical knowledge. |
| A．A biomedical library cleaner. . | B．A group of warm-hearted students. |
| C．Money-raising to send a cleaner on vacation. | D．The most loved cleaning staff. |
8 . For many of us, good friends are the next closest thing to family. According to a new study, good friends are actually the next closest thing to family from the aspect of genes (基因).
U.S. researchers have found that we are more genetically similar to our friends than to any stranger. The study suggested that genes may affect how we choose our friends, reports the BBC.
The study looked at the gene information of nearly 2,000 people, who were chosen from a small U.S. town as part of a larger heart study. Nearly half a million single-letter markers from the genome (基因组) were studied, showing that friends share about 0.1 percent more DNA, on average, than strangers do. While that might not sound like much, it’s as if they shared a great-great-great-grandparent in common.
Except for providing DNA information, participants (参与者) in the study were also asked who their closest friends were. Because all of the participants were chosen from such a small community, it made this group particularly suitable for such studies.
However, the fact that all of the study was based on such a small community has also led to argument. Friendships in small communities might be more likely to be genetically related, because such communities have fewer types of genes in general.
“I wonder whether the methods used in the study can fully explain the causes known to drive friendships,” said Oxford’s Dr. Rory Bowden.
There was one interesting finding from the study. Some of the genes that friends are most likely to have in common are about smell. “You may really love the smell of coffee. And you’re drawn to a place where other people have been drawn because they love the smell of coffee too,” Fowler explained. “And so that might be the opportunity space for you to make friends. You’re all there together because you love coffee and you make friends because you all love coffee.”
1. What did the participants do in the study?| A．They named their closest friends. |
| B．They made friends from a small community. |
| C．They changed the methods of making friends. |
| D．They provided DNA information of their friends. |
| A．Coffee helps strangers come together. |
| B．Good friends will love the smell of coffee. |
| C．Genes about smell among friends are similar. |
| D．Smell may influence people in making friends. |
| A．A study on the relationship between making friends and genes. |
| B．The methods of carrying out different studies. |
| C．A way to choose participants in a study. |
| D．The similar genes between good friends. |
9 . Captured(捕获的) carbon dioxide(CO2) could be used to extract(提炼) useful metals(金属) from recycled technology such as smartphone batteries rather than just being buried underground. The technique could help make it more economical to capture the greenhouse gas before it enters the atmosphere.
“If you also extract metals by filling CO2, you add value to a process that is known to be costly,” says Julien Leclaire at the University of Lyon, France.
CO2 is the main cause of modern climate change, so many people have attempted to develop technologies to capture it when it comes from power plants and other major sources. The gas can then be stored underground. The problem is that such carbon capture and storage (CCS) is expensive. “No one wants to pay the price for it,” says Leclaire.
To make CCS more appealing, Leclaire’s team has found a use for the gas.
His team collected CO2 from a car gas, cooled it, then pumped it into a mix of chemicals. The CO2 combined with the mix to make many molecules(分子) of various shapes and sizes.
The team found that this process could sort out mixtures of metals, because one metal would dissolve(溶解) in the liquid while another would form a solid. In a series of experiments, they successfully separated three kinds of metals-all of which are used in batteries, smartphones and computers.
If the process can be widely used, it could be a more environmentally friendly way to recycle batteries and other electrical equipment, says Leclaire. This is normally done using highly reactive chemicals, which are potentially polluting. Replacing them with CO2 should lead to a much lower environmental pollution, he says.
Other researchers and companies are trying to change captured CO2 into useful materials like plastics, which are normally produced from petrol, but this is chemically difficult. Leclaire says his approach is more in line with how CO2 behaves naturally. “Instead of copying what we know how to do better and cheaper with oil, let’s find things you can only do with CO2,” he says.
1. What can we learn from the first paragraph?| A．Extracting useful metals from recycled technology is widely used now. |
| B．Useful metals in the atmosphere are used to make smartphone batteries. |
| C．Abandoned smartphone batteries may have been buried underground before. |
| D．The greenhouse gas CO2 could be cleaned up after entering the atmosphere. |
| A．CO2 is the main cause of modern climate change. |
| B．CO2 can be used to recycle many resources. |
| C．Captured CO2 can be changed to useful gas. |
| D．CO2 is harmful to people’s health. |
| A．It could end the use of plastics. |
| B．It could reduce environmental pollution. |
| C．It could make more metals available to humans. |
| D．It could help reduce the cost of battery production. |
| A．The Ways to Make Smartphone Batteries |
| B．The Reason for Capturing Greenhouse Gas |
| C．Collecting CO? Is Starting to Make New Progress |
| D．Captured CO2 Could Be Used to Help Recycle Useful Metals |
10 . Dandelions
I remember as a young child bringing a bunch of brilliant yellow flowers to my mother. It didn’t matter that the stems felt sticky or that both my parents cursed the presence of these flowers in the lawn. I thought they were beautiful!
And there were so many of them! We spent hours picking the flowers and then popping the blossoms off with a snap of our fingers. But the supply of dandelions (蒲公英) never ran out. My father or brothers would chop off all the heads with the lawnmower (割草机) at least once a week, but that didn't stop these hardy wonders.
And for those flowers that escaped the honor of being hand-delivered to my mother or the sharp blades of the lawnmower, there was another level of existence. The soft roundness of a dandelion gone to seed caused endless laughter of delight as we unconsciously spread this flower across the yard.
As I worked in my garden last week, pulling unwanted weeds out of the space that would become a haven for tomatoes, corn, peas and sunflowers, I again marveled at the flower that some call a weed.
And I thought, if only I had the staying power of a dandelion. If only I could stretch my roots so deep and straight that something tugging on my stem couldn’t separate me completely from the source that feeds me life. If only I could come back to face the world with a bright, sunshiny face after someone has run me over with a lawnmower or worse, purposely attacked me in an attempt to destroy me. If only I could spread love and encouragement as freely and fully as this flower spreads seeds of itself.
The lawns at my parents' home are now beautiful green blankets. The only patches of color come from well-placed, well-controlled flowerbeds. Chemicals have managed to kill what human interference couldn’t. I hope you and I can be different. I hope that we can stretch our roots deep enough that the strongest poison can't reach our souls. I hope that we can overcome the poisons of anger, fear, hate, criticism and competitiveness.
1. The author’s parents probably viewed the dandelions in the lawn as ________.| A．supplies of seeds | B．beautiful wonders |
| C．unwanted weeds | D．patches of colors |
| A．The flowers were meant as a joyful gift to her mother. |
| B．The flowers evolved into a stronger species because of frequent mowing. |
| C．The flowers were tough enough to spread new lives themselves. |
| D．The flowers that some called a weed were difficult to pull out. |
| A．The author’s family enjoyed the dandelions as much as she did. |
| B．The author purposefully replaced some dandelions with crops. |
| C．The dandelions were never successfully removed from the lawn. |
| D．The author felt sorry but encouraged by the fate of the dandelions. |
| A．share the inspirations she gained from the dandelions |
| B．arouse public awareness to pay close attention to the beauty in life |
| C．show the importance of planting dandelions |
| D．express the shame that only she saw the beauty of the dandelion |
