1 . Dutch designer Daan Roosegaarde has spent much of his time seeking artistic solutions(解决方案)to solve our environmental problems. His past projects include "Bioluminescent(生物发光)Trees" to light streets, a "Smog-Free Tower" to clean Beijing's polluted air. and "Gates of Light". which uses the headlamps of passing cars to light up the 60 floodgates of the Afsluitdijk, a major dam in the Netherlands. Now, he is hoping to use his skills to solve a pressing global problem-space junk!
Scientists guess that there are over 500，000 bits of large rubbish. To deal with the problem, Roosegaarde intends to achieve his goal by educating the public about the need of the situation and coming up with possible solutions. The plan. called the Space Waste Lab. started in October 2018 with a laser(激光)show in the Netherlands. The unique outdoor artwork of LEDs used real-time tracking information to point at pieces of space junk floating at altitudes of 200 to 20,000 kilometers. The experience was designed to make the public know more about how much space junk there are.
To find a solution, the designer has been thinking with experts. One of the projects being considered is "Shooting Stars"，which attempts to reintroduce the trash to the atmosphere in a controlled way. Upon reentry. the waste would burn in the atmosphere like a shooting star. Roosegaarde envisages that if successful .burning space trash could someday replace fireworks at large public events!
In September 2018。the RemoveDEBRIS satellite successfully sent a net to catch a target while orbiting at an altitude of about 300 kilometers(190 miles). Sometime this year. the capsule will set free a harpoon that has been designed to remove space trash. At the end of its task，RemoveDEBRIS will let go a sail to bring the satellite itself and hopefully some trash, back into the atmosphere where it will burn up.
1. What can we infer about Daan Roosegaarde?| A．He is too aggressive to put forward good plans. |
| B．He is creative in solving environmental problems. |
| C．He is fond of spending all of his time seeking art skills. |
| D．He is sensitive to art reflected in environmental projects. |
| A．To confirm real-time information about space trash. |
| B．To show the great beauty of LEDs to common people. |
| C．To raise public awareness of the amount of space trash. |
| D．To inspire people to consider the solution to space trash. |
| A．Suspect. | B．Demand. |
| C．Advise. | D．Imagine. |
| A．Bringing the satellite to atmosphere to burn. |
| B．Keeping trash traveling along its own orbit. |
| C．Taking the satellite away from atmosphere. |
| D．Removing space trash out of the capsule. |
2 . As a first responder, you never know what type of situation you might walk into, or who you’ll meet along the way. That’s definitely been the case for Jeffrey Lanenberg, a 51-year-old paramedic(急救医务人员) since 1984.
Ten years into the job, Lanenberg received a call that reported that a man in his early 30s had fallen down in the Mall of America. When Lanenberg and his partner arrived at the scene, they found the young male face down on the ground. He had gone unconscious, making weak attempts to breathe. His wife stood beside him holding their small son in horror. They quickly rushed to defibrillate(除颤) and calm the man to keep him under control. After Lanenberg dropped the patient off at the neighboring hospital, he thought about the man and his family for a long time.
Lanenberg thought he had experienced everything under the sun until one random visit to Office Max three years ago, where he met a man repeatedly walk back and forth while staring at him. As it turned out, the man was the patient he had saved 20 years earlier.
＂You gave me 20 years more than I ever thought I’d have,＂ the man said. He thanked Lanenberg repeatedly and told him he had someone he wanted him to meet. He stepped around the corner and reappeared with a 20-something-year-old man. Lanenberg instantly knew that it was the son he had seen standing by his mother all those years ago.
＂That day changed my life,＂ Lanenberg said. ＂Before that, everything was about work…When I talk to my beginner-training class, I tell them you never know the impact you can have on someone’s life.＂
1. What did Lanenberg do with the young man?| A．He gave the man the first aid. | B．He cured the man at the scene. |
| C．He only sent the man to hospital. | D．He took care of the man’s wife and son. |
| A．It was unbelievable. | B．It was a common routine. |
| C．It was a matter of course. | D．It was a dangerous situation. |
| A．Lanenberg helped bring up his little son. |
| B．Lanenberg donated to support his family. |
| C．Lanenberg gave him the present happy life. |
| D．Lanenberg taught his son to be a new doctor. |
| A．He changed his attitude to his job. |
| B．He was rewarded with much money. |
| C．He got a promotion to be a team leader. |
| D．He took up teaching work to train newcomers. |
3 . Last week, Vodafone started a test of the UK’s first full 5G service, available for use by businesses in Salford. It is part of its plan to trial the technology in seven UK cities. But what can we expect from the next generation of mobile technology?
One thing we will see in the preparation for the test is lots of tricks with the new tech. Earlier this year, operators paid almost £1.4 billion for the 5G wavelengths, and to compensate for that cash, they will need to catch the eye of consumers. In September, Vodafone used its bit of the range to display the UK’s first hologram (全息) call. The Manchester City captain Steph Houghton appeared as a hologram in Newbury. It isn’t all holograms, however: 5G will offer faster internet access. with Ofcom (英国通讯管理局) suggesting that video that takes a minute to download on 4G will be available in just a second.
The wider application is to support connected equipment on the “internet of things” -not just the internet-enabled fridge that can reorder your milk for you, but the network that will enable driverless cars and delivery drones (无人机) to communicate with each other.
Prof William Webb has warned that the technology could be a case of the emperor’s new clothes. Much of the speed increase, he claims, could have been achieved by putting more money in the 4G network, rather than a new technology. Other different voices have suggested that a focus on rolling out wider rural broadband access and addressing current network coverage would be more beneficial to the UK as a whole.
Obviously, 5G will also bring a cost to consumers. It requires a handset for both 5G and 4G, and the first 5G-enabled smart phones are expected in the coming year. With the slow pace of network rollout so far, it is likely that consumers will end up upgrading to a new 5G phone well before 5G becomes widely available in the next couple of years.
1. Why does Prof William Webb say “the technology could be a case of the emperor’s new clothes”?| A．He is in favor of the application of the new technology. |
| B．5G will bring a cost to consumers in their daily life. |
| C．5G helps people communicate better with each other. |
| D．He prefers more money to be spent on 4G networks. |
| A．making a speech to | B．trying to solve |
| C．managing to decrease | D．responding to |
| A．it’ll take several years to make 5G accessible to the public in the UK |
| B．5G service shows huge development potential and a broad market |
| C．customers are eager to use 5G smart phones instead of 4G ones |
| D．it’s probable that 5G network rollout is speeding up in Britain |
| A．Vodafone is successful in spreading the 5G service. |
| B．Steph Houghton appeared as a hologram by 4G . |
| C．The application of 5G will make life much easier. |
| D．5G phones are available in rural areas of the UK. |
4 . A new study has shown how computers and robots powered by artificial intelligence can read human eye movements to “read” human personalities.
The eyes, they say, are the windows to the soul. And if that is true, computers and robots powered by sophisticated(复杂的) artificial intelligence algorithms(算法) may soon have the ability to peer into your soul. That is the result of a new study on the connection between eye movements and personality, conducted by neuroscience researchers based at the University of South Australia and Published in the scientific Journal Frontiers in Neuroscience.
“Eye movements during an everyday task predict aspects of our personality,” wrote the researchers, led by University of South Australia neuroscientist Tobias Loetscher, whose team follows 42 study subjects around the university campus recording their eye movements, then determines their personality traits(特点) with “well-established questionnaires” for determining personality type, according to a summary of the study published by the site Science Daily.
The researchers fed the data into their AI algorithms and found that computers running the algorithms were able to record human eye movements and immediately determine a person’s major personality traits, such as “neuroticism, extraversion(外向), agreeableness, conscientiousness, as well as perceptual(感知的) curiosity”, the scientists wrote.
“The new findings could improve the way human beings interact with their computers and other high-tech devices, even robots, allowing for more natural and realistic social interactions with machines,” Loetscher said.
“People are always looking for improved, personalized services. Today’s robots and computers are not socially aware so they cannot adapt to non-verbal information,” Loetscher said in a statement quoted by Indian Express. “This research provides opportunities to develop robots and computers so that they can become more natural, and better at interpreting human social signals.”
The study revealed previously undiscovered relations between specific personality characteristics and specific eye movement tendencies, according to a summary in Britain’s Daily Mail newspaper.
1. What do the underlined words “peer into” in Paragraph 2 probably mean?| A．understand | B．stare at |
| C．search for | D．concern about |
| A．It was carried out in a lab. |
| B．42 subjects’ eye movements were recorded. |
| C．The students’ daily movements were tracked. |
| D．Its subjects’ personalities were determined by computer. |
| A．Robots and computers are socially conscious. |
| B．People care less about improved, personalized services. |
| C．Today’s robots and computers can accustom to non-verbal information. |
| D．The discovery will improve the interaction between human beings and machines. |
| A．Human Personality Traits |
| B．What Human Eye Movements Are |
| C．Tell Personalities by Eye Movements |
| D．How Humans and Machines Interact |
5 . Although most hitchhikers (搭便车的人) are people, passers-by tend to ignore them because they are cautious about giving rides to strangers. But what will they do if they come across a hitchhiking robot? Will they take it to its destination or will they just leave the helpless machine by the wayside?
That is the answer Canadian professors, David Harris Smith and Frauke Zeller, who study the relationship between humans and technology, are seeking for after they came up with the idea of building a hitchhiking robot.
HitchBOT is built with cheap household items. Thanks to a PC tablet, GPS tracker and camera, hitchBOT not only can send its thoughts and pictures to the general public, but also can answer general questions and keep drivers entertained with small talks. The smart robot is even able to quote interesting facts about the areas it has passed through.
Not surprisingly, many people are doubtful about hitchBOT’s ability. Most people think the cute robot will be damaged by someone. Actually, they are all wrong. The robot hitchhiked all the way from Halifax, Nova Scotia, to Victoria, British Columbia, a distance of 3,700 miles. It was first picked up on July 27th by an elderly couple. It not only reached its destination on August 21st, but also had some amazing adventures along the way. It visited national parks, went fishing, went camping, and even attended a wedding where it experienced its first dance and interrupted the bride’s speech.
In addition to helping it get to its destination, its Canadian fans have gone out to ensure its safety from covering the robot with a plastic cape (披肩) to help keep it dry to ensuring that it stays healthy with motor oil.
1. Why is the hitchhiking robot built?| A．To help passers-by reach their destinations. |
| B．To find out how people might react to it. |
| C．To see if it will give rides to strangers. |
| D．To entertain drivers on their way. |
| A．talking with the driver | B．dancing with people |
| C．sending its thoughts and pictures | D．answering any question raised |
| A．Nearly a month. | B．Over one month. |
| C．Two months. | D．One week. |
| A．It was ignored by an elderly couple. |
| B．It didn’t meet with any danger along the way. |
| C．It experienced a long and amazing journey. |
| D．It will be put into the market quickly. |
6 . There is always something that happens in the world that everyone fears will happen to their town, city or country: natural disasters. The scariest part of it is that no one will ever see it coming. Though technology helps us prepare, but it never actually tells the people when it’s going to hit. It is always estimated but the result is never 100% accurate.
However, that is not the point of this article. Two different natural disasters in two different parts of the world have happened in the past few weeks. One was a major flood that has hit Louisiana in the United States. The other was an earthquake that hit Amatrice, Italy. However, there is a major difference in the news coverage of the two tragedies.
As for the flooding in Louisiana, it is reported that this disaster is the worst to hit the United States since Super-storm Sandy and it’ll cost at least $30 million. In only the first couple of weeks, 13 people had died. However, like me, many people did not hear about this tragic event. I did not learn about it until about three weeks after it happened.
In Italy, however, it covered all media instantly. The earthquake in Italy happened on Tuesday morning. That same day, I was on Twitter and that was all that was over the news feed. Every other post was about the earthquake. Some would have the opinion that Amatrice, Italy was one of the most beautiful towns in that country. I got in deep sorrow because there were more people killed in this quake than the flooding. So far, they have a total of 73 dead and over one hundred missing.
I understand that technically the earthquake in Italy was worse than the floods in Louisiana. However, I believe that if a natural disaster happens, they all should be equally covered and taken equally seriously. We are one world united and should be there for all of the people who are in need of help. We may not be able to accurately predict disasters but, we can surely lend a hand out for the needy.
1. What really concerns the author about the two natural disasters?| A．The death and the injured. |
| B．The media report. |
| C．The government’s responsibility. |
| D．Their economic loss. |
| A．He didn’t care about the flood. |
| B．He felt nervous about the news. |
| C．The media didn’t cover it in time. |
| D．The flood frightened the author a lot. |
| A．Italy isn’t good at predicting the natural disasters. |
| B．All natural disasters should be covered equally. |
| C．The world should be united into one instantly. |
| D．America should help Italy predict natural disasters. |
| A．By making a comparison. |
| B．By following the time order. |
| C．By listing some examples. |
| D．By analyzing the causes. |
The Tropical Paradise Holiday
Welcome to St Anna, our tropical paradise just off the coast of Latin America. You can spend two weeks in our luxury four-star hotel. The cost of your flight is included in the holiday, and you can be picked up from your home by our special airport bus. On your arriving, our coach will be waiting to take you to the hotel. All flights leave from Heathrow on a Monday morning.
The Cowrie Hotel is built right on the beachfront, and many rooms have wonderful ocean views. If swimming and surfing are not enough for you, the hotel also offers horse rides on the island, and a discount membership of the golf club.
The Rain Forest Adventure Holiday
Every year Broughton holidays offer twelve days of unforgettable adventure in a tropical rain forest. You may have a choice of Borneo, Malaysia, Indonesia, or even to the greatest rain forest of them all, the mighty Amazonian forest.
You will fly to our special base camps at the edge of the forest, where you will be given five days of survival training, and talks on the local wildlife.
Then you take a bus into the forest. You will have to walk the final five miles to the camp sites to avoid disturbing the local ecology. All of the camp sites have been carefully built to cause the minimal amount of disturbance to the local wildlife.
Remember that these adventure holidays take you deep into the wilderness, and they are not suitable for families with young children. Also remember that no more than two dozen guests can stay at any camp at one time, so if you want to go on one of these very special holidays, you will need to book early!
1. What can we learn about the rain forest holiday?
| A．Travelers will learn to talk with wild animals. |
| B．Different means of transportation will be used. |
| C．The holiday will end with a survival training. |
| D．Booking early, travelers will get a discount. |
| A．People loving water sports. |
| B．People travelling with children. |
| C．People preferring comfortable hotels. |
| D．People concerned with environment and wildlife. |
| A．Transportation. | B．Price. |
| C．Reservation. | D．Departure time. |
