1 . A NASA-funded study used satellite to search for penguin poops (粪便) in Antarctica: funny at first sight though, it resulted in unique insights on the Adelie penguin’s diet and its future as the climate changes. The findings published recently unlocked the secrets about the species that can provide an early-warning of threats to Antarctica’s delicate ecosystem.
Researchers from Stony Brook University used satellite images to see if the Adelie penguin’s diet has been changing in response to Antarctica’s changing climate. Adelie penguin population has dropped greatly in some areas even as the global population increases. The satellite images cannot show the penguins individually, but their presence can be detected by the stain (污渍) left on the ice by their waste, called guano.
Male and female penguins take turns incubating (孵化) in the nest. The guano builds up in the same areas occupied by the nests. Heather Lynch, associate professor at Stony Brook, along with his team, used the area of the colony as defined by the guano stain to work back to the number of pairs. A global survey for Adelie penguins turned up 3.8 million breeding pairs. Also, the satellite data can detect the color of the penguin guano, ranging from white to pink to dark red. White guano is from eating mostly fish; pink and red would be from eating mostly krill (磷虾). The team found that while the Adelie penguin’s diet did show changes from year to year, no consistent pattern was obvious.
“This was a big surprise, since the abundance and distribution of Adelie penguins has changed dramatically over the last 40 years and scientists had assumed that a change in diet might have played a role,” said Casey Young flesh, a graduate student from the university. However, continued changes in the physical environment and a growing krill fishery in the region are likely to have an influence on penguin prey (猎物) and penguin population itself. “Tools like this will be important for the management of the Antarctic ecosystem, which is often considered among the most primitive areas in the world,” said Young flesh.
1. What concerned scientists most according to paragraph 1?| A．The climate change. | B．The Adelie penguin’s diet. |
| C．The Antarctica’s ecosystem. | D．The secret of penguin poops. |
| A．By doing experiments. | B．By conducting surveys. |
| C．By making observations. | D．By collecting documents. |
| A．The Adelie penguin population was 3.8 million worldwide. |
| B．Guano colors reflected the health condition of the penguin. |
| C．The Adelie penguin’s diet stayed the same most of the time. |
| D．Adelie penguin waste helped estimate the penguin population. |
| A．More Adelie penguins have appeared over the last 40 years. |
| B．There was not an obvious changing pattern of penguin’s diet. |
| C．Diet changes didn’t actually affect penguin population as assumed. |
| D．Fishery was important for the management of the Antarctic ecosystem. |
2 . Having a microchip implanted in a man's brain may be common in sci-fi movie plots, but it may soon become an actual possibility.
Elon Musk -a US tech tycoon, founder of Space X- has been working on this technology. On Aug 28, Musk gave a display of the chip, which was implanted into the head of a pig named Gertrude.
The chip, developed by Musk's company Neuralink, is the size of a coin. But don't let its size fool you. The tiny chip has over 3,000 electrodes （电极）attached to flexible threads, which can monitor about 1,000 neurons （神经元）.It collects neural signals from an area of the brain, and then transmits those signals wirelessly to nearby computers, according to MSN. That enabled researchers to monitor Gertrude's brain activity while she was walking around in the display.
Though the technology is still in its early stage, it is encouraging for humans. This technology would solve a lot of brain injuries and is essentia] for Al symbiosis, which will allow the human brain to combine with an artificial intelligence.
When the device can be applied to humans, its main goal will be to help those who have mobility difficulties. Musk hopes this technology can also be used to help those with hearing and eyesight issues.
Although such a device could repair those problems, putting it into practice is by no means a piece of cake. Currently, the device can transmit signals from about 500 neurons in the pig's brain. Compared to 80 billion neurons in a human brain, this number is tiny. And to cover the whole human brain also means the electrodes have to be much smaller.
Also, implanting the chip into the brain poses a potential danger. There is a risk of the immune system attacking this foreign body.
Right now, the hope of controlling the brain via controlling a few neurons seems overly optimistic. "There are many technological challenges ... to overcome before Neuralink can put its devices to the purposes," Yuan Lanfeng, an associate professor at the University of Science and Technology of China, told China Daily.
1. What do we know about Elon Musk's microchip?| A．It was inspired by sci-fi movie plots. |
| B．It is able to collect wireless signals. |
| C．It is tiny in size but powerful in function. |
| D．It has been implanted into a human's brain. |
| A．The operation of the chip in Gertrude’s brain. |
| B．The attachment of electrodes to flexible threads. |
| C．The development of neurons inside Gertrude's brain. |
| D．The transmission of signals from a nearby computer |
| A．To monitor animals’ brain activity. |
| B．To help people with mobility issues. |
| C．To develop a cure for immune system problems. |
| D．To contribute to the research on Al technologies. |
| A．Worried. | B．Excited. | C．Optimistic. | D．Challenged. |
3 . Imagine this: you walk into work and the camera above the doors scans your face, opening them automatically without you lifting a finger. Oh, but you need to run to the chemist's at lunch. You walk up to a camera, and your prescription（药方）is deposited in front of you. After work, you look at your face in the mirror, and it reminds you to wear sun-cream the next day. Sounds pretty good, right?
Now imagine this: when you are walking down the street, a pair of policemen pull their guns and tell you to drop to the ground. After several days in jail, they let you know you were misidentified as a violent criminal on the loose. Regardless of your innocence, you're in the system. Now wherever you go, cameras that capture you will alert police to watch out for you. Even worse, as you enter stores, the facial recognition system lets the staff know a recently arrested individual has entered the building. Doesn't sound so good?
As fantastical as either of those pictures might seem, it's quite possible that this will be the future we're headed towards. The "benefits" of the technology are already being implemented by airlines, as seen by JetBlue Airways. Rather than scanning a boarding pass or handing over a passport, you simply stare into a camera and you're identified. This does save time and make processes the best possible, but it raises the question: do you have the right to your own face? Who is responsible for the protection of this information? Can I even remove my face from this database and just go the old-fashioned way?
We humans have the never-ending need to make things smoother, better and faster. This desire has helped drive the remarkable progress we have achieved as a society. However, it's time to take a step back and ask some necessary questions. We need to discuss whether we actually need the extensive use of facial recognition technology and how to ensure law enforcement (执行) doesn't abuse this technology. If we act now, I believe we can succeed in preventing technology companies from infiltrating（潜入）every aspect of our lives. If we don't, though, I fear the worst.
1. What does the underlined word "fantastical" probably mean?| A．Unreal. | B．Optimistic. | C．Reasonable. | D．Unbearable. |
| A．Inequality of rights. | B．Disorder of society. |
| C．Violation of privacy. | D．Denial of responsibility. |
| A．Improper enforcement of laws. | B．People's lack of awareness. |
| C．Ignorance of the technology. | D．Companies' pursuit of profit. |
| A．How do we live safely with facial recognition technology? |
| B．Are we prepared for the use of facial recognition technology? |
| C．What will the future be like without facial recognition technology? |
| D．Can we prevent the development of facial recognition technology? |
4 . The Ebro Delta, in Spain, famous as a battleground during the Spanish Civil War, is now the setting for a different contest, one that is making rice farmers fight against two enemies: the rice-eating giant apple snail, and rising sea levels. What happens here will have a bearing on the future of European rice production and the overall health of southern European wetlands.
Located on the Mediterranean, just two hours south of Barcelona, the Ebro Delta produces 120 million kilograms of rice a year, making it one of the continent’s most important rice-growing areas. As the sea creeps into these fresh-water marshes, however, rising salinity (盐度) is hurting rice production. At the same time, this sea-water also kills off the greedy giant apple snail, an introduced pest that feeds on young rice plants. The most promising strategy has become to play one enemy off against the other.
The battle is currently being waged on land, in greenhouses at the University of Barcelona. Scientists working under the banner “Project Neurice” are seeking varieties of rice that can withstand the increasing salinity without losing the absorbency that makes European rice ideal for traditional Spanish and Italian dishes.
“The project has two sides,” says Xavier Serrat, Neurice project manager and researcher at the University of Barcelona, “the short-term fight against the snail, and a mid- to long-term fight against climate change. But the snail has given the project greater urgency.”
Originally from South America, the snails were accidentally introduced into the Ebro Delta by Global Aquatic Technologies, a company that raised the snails for fresh-water aquariums (水族馆) but failed to prevent their escape. For now, the giant apple snail’s presence in Europe is limited to the Ebro Delta. But the snail continues its march to new territory, says Serrat. “The question is not whether it will reach other rice-growing areas of Europe, but when.”
Over the next year and a half investigators will test the various strains of salt tolerant rice they’ve bred. In 2018, farmers will plant the varieties with the most promise in the Ebro Delta and Europe’s other two main rice-growing regions along the Po in Italy, and France’s Rhone. A season in the field will help determine which, if any, of the varieties are ready for commercialization.
As an EU-funded effort, the search for salt-tolerant varieties of rice is taking place in all three countries. Each team is crossbreeding a local European short-grain rice with a long-grain Asian variety that carries the salt resistant gene. The scientists are breeding successive generations to arrive at varieties that incorporate salt tolerance but retain about 97 percent of the European rice genome (基因组).
1. Why does the author mention the Spanish Civil War at the beginning of the passage?| A．It has great impact on the lives of Spanish rice farmers. |
| B．It is of great significance in the records of Spanish history. |
| C．Rice farmers there are engaged in another kind of battle of similar importance. |
| D．Rice farmers there are experiencing the hardships of wartime. |
| A．Striking the weaker enemy first. | B．Killing two birds with one stone. |
| C．Eliminating the enemy one by one. | D．Using one evil to fight against the other. |
| A．It can survive only on southern European wetlands. |
| B．It will invade other rice-growing regions of Europe. |
| C．It multiplies at a speed beyond human imagination. |
| D．It was introduced into the rice fields on purpose. |
| A．Cultivating ideal salt-resistant rice varieties. |
| B．Increasing the absorbency of the Spanish rice. |
| C．Introducing Spanish rice to the rest of Europe. |
| D．Popularizing the rice crossbreeding technology. |
5 . China is determined to land its astronauts on the moon and set up a scientific station there,according to a project leader.
Zhou Yanfei,deputy chief designer of China's manned space program,said on Friday that China wishes to use the manned lunar missions to carry out scientific surveys and technology demonstrations,explore ways to develop lunar resources and strengthen the nation's space capabilities.
＂A new wave of lunar explorations has been emerging in the world,with participants aiming to make sustainable missions to deepen knowledge of the moon and exploit resources there,"he said in a report delivered at the 2020 China Space Conference in Fuzhou,Fujian province."Unlike other nations,China must depend on its own science and technology to realize our goals."
The country is independently able to land its astronauts on the moon because it has the technologies,a group of well-trained,innovative professionals and high-efficiency research and management systems,Zhou said."However,our existing carrier rockets can't perform landing missions to the moon because they are not powerful enough.The Shenzhou- series manned spaceships are not suitable for lunar expeditions.We don't have a lunar landing capsule,"he said."Our ground support system was designed for operations in low-Earth orbit rather than on the lunar surface.
To solve the problem, we set out to produce a powerful launch vehicle. Zhou said researchers thought about two approaches-making a new heavy-lift rocket,or adjusting the next-generation rocket designed to carry astronauts,which is under development.Researchers prefer the latter approach because it would be easier to design and make and would become operational earlier.
The new rocket is being designed at the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology.Its main body will be 87 meters tall,with a diameter of 5 meters,which would make it almost twice as tall as the Long March 5,currently the biggest of China's rockets.
1. Which is NOT the goal of the manned lunar mission?| A．To explore lunar resources. |
| B．To perform scientific experiments. |
| C．To set up a scientific station. |
| D．To strengthen the national space power. |
| A．China is not capable of pursuing the manned lunar program. |
| B．There are still difficulties in pursuing the manned lunar program. |
| C．There are a series of steps in the Manned Lunar program. |
| D．It is manageable to carry out the Manned Lunar program. |
| A．Nations must depend on themselves to explore the moon. |
| B．The Long March 5 is the biggest of China's rocket. |
| C．The newly-designed rocket will not carry astronauts. |
| D．Producing a powerful launch vehicle is the most difficult part in the program. |
| A．The new rocket is big enough to perform landing missions. |
| B．The new rocket is being made to launch lunar spaceship. |
| C．China's scientific power has improved. |
| D．The new rocket will be put into use soon. |
6 . Some students get so nervous before a test. They do poorly even if they know the material. Sian Beilock, a professor at the University of Chicago in Illinois, has studied these highly anxious test-takers. The students start worrying about the results. And when we worry, it actually uses up attention and memory resources（资源）.
Professor Beilock and another researcher, Gerardo Ramirez, have developed a possible solution. Just before an exam, highly anxious test-takers spend ten minutes writing about their worries about the test.
The researchers tested the idea on a group of twenty anxious college students. They gave them two short maths tests. After the first one, they asked the students to either sit quietly or write about their feelings about the upcoming second test.
Professor Beilock says those who sat quietly scored（得分） an average of 12% worse on the second test. But the students who had written about their fears improved（提高） their performance by an average of 5%. Next, the researchers used younger students in a biology class. They told them before final exams either to write about their feelings or to think about things unrelated（不相关的） to the test. Professor Beilock says highly anxious students who did the writing got an average grade of B+, compared to a B-for those who did not.
"What we showed is that for students who are highly test-anxious, and who'd done our writing intervention（干预）, all of a sudden there was no relationship between test anxiety and grades. They were performing just as well as their classmates who don't normally get nervous in these tests."
But what if students do not have a chance to write about their fears immediately before an exam? Professor Beilock says students can try it themselves at home or in the library and still improve their performance.
1. What do the students start worrying about before an exam?| A．Whether they can pass the exams. |
| B．What other students do during the test. |
| C．Whether they have remembered the materials. |
| D．What kind of problems they will meet on the test paper. |
| A．Making the students focused on the test. |
| B．Asking the students to sit quietly before the test. |
| C．Having the students write about their worries about the test. |
| D．Asking the students to direct the attention away from the test. |
| A．became less nervous before the test |
| B．were better at controlling their feelings |
| C．did worse than those who wrote about their feelings |
| D．did better than those who wrote about their feelings |
| A．writing about our worries before an exam can work a bit |
| B．we can only write about our worries right before an exam |
| C．the best place to write about our worries is in the test room |
| D．it doesn't matter where we write about our worries before an exam |
7 . Certain forms of AI are indeed becoming ubiquitous. For example, algorithms (算法) carry out huge volumes of trading on our financial markets, self-driving cars are appearing on city streets, and our smartphones are translating from one language into another. These systems are sometimes faster and more perceptive than we humans are. But so far that is only true for the specific tasks for which the systems have been designed. That is something that some AI developers are now eager to change.
Some of today’s AI pioneers want to move on from today’s world of “weak” or “narrow” AI, to create “strong” or “full” AI, or what is often called artificial general intelligence (AGI). In some respects, today’s powerful computing machines already make our brains look weak. AGI could, its advocates say, work for us around the clock, and drawing on all available data, could suggest solutions to many problems. DM, a company focused on the development of AGI, has an ambition to “solve intelligence”. “If we’re successful,” their mission statement reads, “we believe this will be one of the most important and widely beneficial scientific advances ever made.”
Since the early days of AI, imagination has outpaced what is possible or even probable. In 1965, an imaginative mathematician called Irving Good predicted the eventual creation of an “ultra-intelligent machine…that can far surpass all the intellectual (智力的) activities of any man, however clever.” Good went on to suggest that “the first ultra-intelligent machine” could be “the last invention that man need ever make.”
Fears about the appearance of bad, powerful, man-made intelligent machines have been reinforced (强化) by many works of fiction — Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein and the Terminator film series, for example. But if AI does eventually prove to be our downfall, it is unlikely to be at the hands of human-shaped forms like these, with recognisably human motivations such as aggression (敌对行为). Instead, I agree with Oxford University philosopher Nick Bostrom, who believes that the heaviest risks from AGI do not come from a decision to turn against mankind but rather from a dogged pursuit of set objectives at the expense of everything else.
The promise and danger of true AGI are great. But all of today’s excited discussion about these possibilities presupposes the fact that we will be able to build these systems. And, having spoken to many of the world’s foremost AI researchers, I believe there is good reason to doubt that we will see AGI any time soon, if ever.
1. What does the underlined word “ubiquitous” in Paragraph I probably mean?| A．Enormous in quantity. | B．Changeable daily. |
| C．Stable in quality. | D．Present everywhere. |
| A．Help to tackle problems. | B．Make brains more active. |
| C．Benefit ambitious people. | D．Set up powerful databases. |
| A．supportive | B．disapproving |
| C．fearful | D．uncertain |
| A．It may be only a dream. |
| B．It will come into being soon. |
| C．It will be controlled by humans. |
| D．It may be more dangerous than ever. |
8 . I looked at my beautiful Christmas tree and sighed.It was time.The New Year was a week old and my tree still stood in the corner of our room with its collection of memories proudly displayed in a shower of colorful lights.I’d procrastinated long enough.
I got up, went to the garage and dragged all the boxes into the room.The garland (花环) was the first to come down.The tree looked naked (光秃秃的) already.I took the large ornaments off next.They made a large pile on our bed.An hour later, our bed was covered with Christmas memories.Each pile contained an ornament along with its matching brothers and sisters from sets purchased many years ago.
I prepared the boxes and carefully placed ornaments in their protective packaging, pausing every few minutes to admire a favorite.“Hey, little Santa!” I held the Santa from my childhood.“Thanks for being my friend for almost 50 years.” He was a little ragged (衣着破烂的) but still gives me a flood of wonderful memories.“Until next year, my dear friend.”
There was a collection of handmade ones.My children made in their first years of school, more than 20 years ago.Made by tiny hands, they are far from perfect in design, but every year they go on my memory tree – memories of young giggles on Christmas morning and a smiling face when they handed them to me when I came home from work.“Look what we made, Daddy!”
“Oh! It is beautiful.Let’s find a special spot on the tree for it.” Every year since, they are displayed.
A few hours after I started, the filled boxes were back in the garage, the room was vacuumed (用吸尘器清扫) and I sat staring at a barren (空荡荡的) corner.The room seemed so empty.It took me two days of work to assemble (收集) and decorate my tree, but only a few hours to take it apart.
My tree is a good marriage or a great friendship.Like the tree, they take a long time to assemble and decorate with memories, but can be torn down quickly.
Every year I have to put my tree away, but not my marriage or friendships.I take great care of those.They get to glow in the corner of my life for as long as I live.I get to analyze my tree and find memories for a few weeks every year.I can do the same with the loves in my life every day.Take great care of your friendships and your marriage.Once they come down, they aren’t as easy to put back together as a Christmas tree.Stand them in that special spot in the corner of your heart and admire their glow.
1. In the author’s eyes, the Christmas tree _____.| A．is a collection of childhood memories | B．is a symbol of long-lasting relations |
| C．takes too much time to decorate | D．is full of out-of-date ornaments |
| A．reflected | B．celebrated |
| C．decorated | D．delayed |
| A．both take time to build but fall apart easily |
| B．both remind him of bittersweet memories |
| C．both need to be admired for some time |
| D．both get less attractive over the years |
| A．We’d better put away Christmas decorations and recycle them each year. |
| B．Friendships and marriages should be valued and managed carefully. |
| C．Memories with friends and family should be cherished and relived. |
| D．We should decorate Christmas trees with personal stuff and recycle. |
9 . We’ve all seen them. They were the unfamiliar and often socially awkward kids. “Who are they?” we all whispered. When we asked our parents about these kids, they replied in that slightly high-nosed tone, “Oh, they’re homeschooled.”
Despite the disgrace which still surrounds homeschooling, parents who choose this form of education are finally getting their benefits. Since 1999, the number of parents who choose to homeschool their children has grown by 75%. And although the number of children in a homeschooling environment still only account for only 4% of the total number of school-going youth, the number of parents choosing to give up “traditional” public education is growing seven times faster than the rate of children being enrolled in public schools each year.
For those who argue that these numbers do not justify the effectiveness of a homeschooled education, we might instead look to the statistics. The typical homeschooled child scores in the 65th to 89th percentile on standardized testing, while the average child in a public school environment scores somewhere around the 50th percentile. Further, homeschooled children have been shown to score consistently higher on the ACT and go on to earn higher GPAs as college students. Homeschooled children have even been shown to achieve four year degrees at much higher rates than students from public school and private schools.
The benefits don’t stop there. Whereas the average total expenditures for a child in public school is near $10,000 a year, those for the homeschooled child average is somewhere between $500 and $600 a year. So not only does homeschooling provide educational benefits, but it provides financial payoffs as well.
But what about socialization? Homeschooled children are considered by many to lack basic social skills, supporters of homeschooling claim this is not true. The National Home Education Research Institute claims that homeschooled children have actually shown to become more socially engaged individuals than their peers, showing “healthy social, psychological, and emotional development, and success into adulthood.”
So what might the future bring? Will more parents opt for homeschooling than public schooling? And what can be done to stop the apparent downfalls in public schooling?
1. The underlined words “Oh, they’re homeschooled” in Para. 1 suggests that parents__________.| A．are proud of their own children | B．respect homeschooled kids |
| C．don’t accept socially awkward kids | D．have a low opinion on homeschooling |
| A．is worrying | B．is on the rise |
| C．remains consistent | D．is going downward |
| A．homeschooled kids do better |
| B．public school education is more effective |
| C．homeschooled children earn higher GPS at college |
| D．public school children score in the 50th percentile |
| A．critical | B．negative | C．supportive | D．neutral |
10 . Bumblebees(大黄蜂）aren't simply dancing around our gardens.Now,a new study suggests that bumblebees force plants to flower by making small bites in their leaves.
Consuelo De Moraes,a scientist at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich, noticed bumblebees making tiny bites in the leaves of their greenhouse plants.The insects didn't seem to be carrying off the bits of leaves to their nests or eating them.
Supposing the bees were causing the plants to flower,Consuelo De Moraes and his team set up a series of experiments.They placed flowerless tomato plants and two kinds of worker bees in cages.The bees fed with enough pollen(花粉）seldom damaged the plants,while the ones without having pollen for three days busily did so.Scientists then removed the plants after the bees made five to ten holes in their leaves.The small holes caused the tomato plants to flower a month sooner than usual.
＂In a sense,the bees are signaling,'Hey,we need food.Please speed up your flowering, and we'll pollinate(授粉）you."said Lars Chittka,a behavioral scientist at Queen Mary University of London.
To make sure that their discoveries didn't result from the man-made conditions in the lab, the scientists placed bumblebees and a variety of flowerless plant species on their Zurich rooftop in late March 2018.The bees were free to fly as far as they could.Yet they set to work damaging the leaves on all the non-flowering plants nearest to their nests.The bees lost interest in this activity toward the end of April as more flowers came out,according to the study.
The research is of great value,for it can increase the human food supply.However,some questions remain to be answered,like"Why do the bites cause the plants to flower?"and ＂Does flowering early lead to higher fitness for the plants?"
1. Why did the bumblebees bite the leaves?| A．Because they wanted to eat the leaves. |
| B．Because they were to get pollen to eat. |
| C．Because they were exercising to be stronger. |
| D．Because they would carry the leaves to the nests. |
| A．Dancing on the leaves. |
| B．Flying as far as they could. |
| C．Making small holes in the leaves. |
| D．Damaging the flowers near their nests. |
| A．Humans may produce more food. |
| B．Bumblebees can have more to eat. |
| C．Some plants can have more flowers. |
| D．Some plants will gain higher fitness. |
| A．Bumblebees speed up plants flowering by biting leaves. |
| B．Human food supply will largely depend on bumblebees. |
| C．Bumblebees like to damage the plants nearest their nests. |
| D．Rooftop plants flower more than the ones in greenhouses. |
